The Dragons' Convention Chapter 01
A/N
When all the dragons get together, they vote Toothless the #1 Most Loved Dragon. Many of them want to ask him questions... but what kinds of questions? You, the readers, get to choose. Rated K-plus.
This story is sort of a sequel to "The Fanfic Panel Discussion." It will be written as much by you, the readers, as by me.
o
At a certain time of year, usually in the dead of winter (in the Northern Hemisphere), all the famous dragons in the world disappear. To some humans, that's good news; it means the relentless war against them has taken a short break. Other humans sadly watch the skies and wonder where all the colorful flying reptiles have gone, and hope they'll be back soon.
Where do they go? They gather in a huge valley, in a mountain range where people never go, and they have something like a convention. They renew acquaintances, strike up new friendships, exchange news about the world at large and about humanity in particular, and generally enjoy each other's company for a week, free from fear that a battle-crazed dragon slayer will cut any of them down. The valley needs to be huge because some of the dragons are huge.
This year's convention was going pretty much the way it had gone in past years. Spike, from "My Little Pony," was at the bar, commiserating with Spyro about being small and purple in a society where dragons were respected only if they were big, fierce, and a cool color like red or black. The semi-dragons, Jake Long and Trogdor the Burninator, were swapping stories about living among humans and dealing with their many foibles. Ruth, the white dragon from Pern, was munching on wherries brought in from Pern for this occasion; Earth livestock just didn't taste right to him. He was chatting amiably with Toothless about the ups and downs of being bonded to a young man who was destined to rule other humans. Over by the sheep pen, Drogon from "A Game of Thrones" was patiently enduring a heartfelt lesson from Elliot, of "Pete's Dragon" fame, about how being kind and pleasant would be better for his image than being wild and out of control. He said nothing until Elliot took him to task for the way he treated children.
"If I'd been cruel to kids, I'd be nowhere today," Elliot was saying. "I know your agent told you that the 'vicious' persona would get you more screen time and more fan mail, but trust me – if you want to get ahead in a world that's being run by humans, you have to love children."
"But I do love children!" Drogon protested. "Especially when they're cooked golden brown, and just a little bit crunchy on the outside... hey, where are you going?" Elliot ran off in dismay. It looked like he'd be spending his time with either the Reluctant Dragon or with Puff the Magic Dragon, as usual. The other dragons just didn't understand him. At least he hoped he wouldn't wind up sitting next to H.R. Pufnstuf; that dragon gave him the creeps!
As the sun approached high noon, Kalessin (from "Earthsea"), oldest and wisest of them all, called the meeting to order. The dragons lay down in rows, with the very small ones (like Mushu from "Mulan" and Lockheed from the X-Men) in front, and the really big ones in the back.
"Welcome back, everyone," Kalessin began. "It's always good to see all your faces again. I am sorry to say that the humans are still running the world, and our kind are still very rare, and actually unwanted in many places... but I'm sure you already knew that. Still, we have a strong and devoted fan club of people who would love to meet us, and who would defend us if they could."
"It's a sad day when a dragon needs to be defended by a human!" shouted Draco, from "Dragonheart." Many of the others nodded in agreement.
"Still, this is the world we live in," Kalessin went on. "We may not be as numerous as we once were, but we are much more well-known than in the past, and that is just as important. In fact, we've grown so popular that, after thinking long and hard about it, I have decided that the rules for getting into the Dragon Hall of Fame need to be changed.
"In the past, getting your name in the Hall of Fame required you to be an awesome dragon, in one way or another. But there are so many of us who deserve admission that, as of this year, we'll add two dragons a year instead of one. One will be the winner of the Most Feared competition, and the other will be the Most Loved."
"Feared and loved by humans, you mean?" asked Dragon from "Shrek."
"He doesn't mean by donkeys!" retorted Saphira from "Inheritance Cycle." They all laughed except Dragon.
"Anyway," Kalessin went on, "we'll start with the 'Most Feared' category. I don't think there will be much argument when I inform you all that this year's top vote-getter is... Drogon!" The big red-and-black dragon reared up on his hind legs and roared in victory; Rhaegal and Visarion looked on enviously.
"As usual, I'll let last year's top vote-getter make the presentation." Kalessin stepped aside as Smaug crawled forward. He was quite a bit bigger than the current winner, but Drogon was not intimidated.
"Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking, I'll keep this short," Smaug began.
"Short like a hobbit?" muttered Falkor the Luck Dragon.
"I'll ignore that," Smaug growled. "As for Drogon, his record speaks for itself. From a tiny little hatchling sitting on a naked woman's shoulder, to an uncontrollable killer who will let that woman ride him, but not let her tell him what to eat, we've seen him grow into the kind of dragon most of you can only dream of being." He shot an accusatory glance at the Reluctant Dragon. "He may be one of the newest among us, but he's a rising star with few equals. I've won the award several times through the years, and it's always a thrill, so it must be even more thrilling to win at such an early point in his career. Drogon, we salute you!" At that, all the dragons threw back their heads and breathed out a fiery salute. A few low-flying birds quickly high-tailed it out of there; some of their tails were scorched and smoking.
"Well done, well done," Kalessin nodded as he re-took center stage. "We'd give you a big hand, but most of us don't have hands." A few dragons chuckled out of politeness; Kalessin had been telling the same jokes for thousands of years. "But now it's time for our very first winner in the Most Loved category. This one was a tight race; so many of you have given up fierceness in exchange for popularity that it was hard to pick one winner. But we did pick one, based on fan mail, fan fiction, merchandising, and overall appeal. Our winner is... Toothless!"
The Night Fury left his place in the middle of the pack and strutted forward. He was quite surprised to find another dragon doing the same thing. This other dragon was tiny and green, with red wings and the same proud strut as the much bigger black dragon.
"No, not you!" Kalessin hissed. "Not the book Toothless, the movie Toothless!"
"T-t-toothless was here first!" the little dragon protested. "Is only one Toothless! Is me!"
"I hate to break it to you," sighed Stanley Steamer from the "Xanth" novels, "but the movie Toothless is awesome, powerful, and deadly, and he is much-loved because he willingly sets those qualities aside to be Hiccup's best friend. You, on the other hand, are a selfish, insignificant little git who has to be talked into doing anything good or decent. Popular? Maybe. Loved? Not so much."
"You hurt Toothless' f-f-feelings," the small one sniffed.
"Please take your place, little fellow," Kalessin said soothingly. "There's always next year."
"Toothless will be f-f-first next year!" book-Toothless threatened. He walked back to his place, then angrily turned to the Night Fury. "I'll make a poo on your sleeping stone!"
"I think you won't," movie-Toothless said casually. "Don't you remember what I did to that Terrible Terror who stole my fish in the first movie? He got off lightly." He finished striding to the front of the convention area, sat down, and assumed the same proud look he'd worn near the end of the second movie, when the dragons were accepting him as their new Alpha.
"Toothless, we didn't have a Most Loved winner last year, so we don't have anyone to make your speech for you," Kalessin continued. "Next year, you'll make the speech, assuming that you don't win the award twice in a row. Instead of that, we'll open the floor to questions.
"Do any of you dragons have any questions you'd like to ask Toothless?"
o
A/N
Well, do you? What kinds of questions would you ask Toothless if you could? Please send those questions in the form of reviews, and I'll help Toothless answer them. Also, if you want to, please specify which dragon you'd like to ask the question. It can be one of the dragons I've mentioned so far, or another dragon from HTTYD, or it could be a dragon from some other story. Perhaps a vicious killer like Vermithrax Pejorative from "Dragonslayer," or a more kind-hearted reptile like Gorbash from "A Flight of Dragons"? You choose. Please don't pick a completely obscure dragon; pick one that I can learn about from a quick Google search, in case I'm not familiar with him/her/it. If you don't specify a dragon, I'll select one.
The questions can be about HTTYD, or about dragons in general, or any other subject that Toothless might know something about. I'll answer as many questions as I can. The more questions you send, the more I'll write. Please keep them kid-friendly. Now, let those questions flow!