Disclaimer: All familiar ideas are not mine (and athingofvikings helped me refine a couple of world-building details); you know what to expect.
Feedback: Appreciated as always.
The Doctor's Dragon
Fishlegs was never sure if Hiccup gave him these kind of assignments to help him grow as a person or punish him for some past act. He understood Hiccup's argument that there was likely to be a connection between the recent dragon migrations they'd witnessed going by the Edge and the relatively rowdy behaviour of their own dragons, and he understood that someone had to investigate it, but he just wished it hadn't been his turn to work with the twins on this particular patrol flight. Admittedly, the twins had been relatively tame to work with so far barring the occasional shoving match, but he was sure it would only be a matter of time before-
The sound of an unfamiliar roar from a nearby island cut off Fishlegs' train of thought. He barely had to open his mouth before Meatlug was already turning around to fly towards the island in question, Barf and Belch close behind him as the twins began their familiar debate about how dangerous this particular dragon was going to be.
"For the love of-" Fishlegs muttered to himself as they rounded a corner, only for him to bring Meatlug to an abrupt halt at the sight in front of him.
"Whoa!" Tuffnut's voice yelled from behind him, Fishlegs glancing around just in time to see the Zippleback round the corner and nearly fly directly into Meatlug's tail, the Gronckle only just ascending out of the way in time.
"What was-?" Ruffnut began as Barf and Belch regained control of themselves and came to a halt, allowing the twins to see what had caught Fishlegs' attention. As they'd approached the island they'd only seen a series of rock formations around the edge of it, much like the area where Hiccup had experimented with his original flight-suit just before they'd rescued the new Speed Stinger, but after flying around that last corner the three were now looking at a secluded beach that led up to a relatively thick forest for such a small island. The most important thing about the beach, however, was the two men in unusual clothing standing over a large blue dragon wrapped in a strange silver net, the net lying a short distance from the sea.
Fishlegs couldn't immediately identify the dragon, but if those men were part of the hunters (and what other reason was there for anyone to be in this area if they weren't hunting dragons?)…
"Going in," he said to the twins in a low voice, only to realise his mistake after he'd given the order and the twins flew past him, green gas already spreading from Barf's mouth as Belch's head drew back-
"Doctor!" one of the men on the beach yelled, looking anxiously up at the descending dragon. As the other man glanced up, he quickly got to his feet, raising his hands to wave urgently at the Riders.
"Wait!" the fair-haired man said, desperation so obvious in his voice that Fishlegs actually brought Meatug to a halt a short distance away from the other man. "I appreciate how this might look, but I assure you that we had nothing to do with this; we found this dragon trapped when we arrived!"
"Really?" the twins said, looking at him with their usual exaggerated scepticism even as Barf and Belch took up a hovering position alongside Fishlegs, the gas apparently dissipated before Belch could trigger the necessary spark.
"Of course!" the man protested, lowering his hands as he indicated the net. "My… apprentice and I just discovered this creature after we reached this island; we were actually trying to take the net off when you found us!"
Fishlegs thought he saw the red-haired man hiss something at the other man, but for the moment he was more concerned with re-assessing his initial assessment of what he'd just seen. He admitted that he might have reacted a bit too hastily when he saw a dragon in trouble, but when Fishlegs paused to think about it, the blonde man had looked like he was more concerned with examining the dragon's trap then trying to take it somewhere else…
"So you're not with the Hunters?" Tuffnut asked.
"Hunters?" the redhead repeated.
"I assume we're talking about dragon hunters?" the fair-haired man inquired, even as the three riders began to slowly move towards the ground; Fishlegs was still going to wait until he was sure these men weren't a threat, but so far he was starting to trust them. "As in, there are enough dragons to make such a profession worthwhile? Beyond these three, I mean?"
"Duh," Ruffnut affirmed. "What kind of idiot starts working as a hunter when there are only three things to catch?"
"A fair point," the fair-haired man nodded at her. "I don't suppose you could tell me more about this dragon here… and what species of dragons are these, anyway?"
"Hideous Zippleback," the twins said simultaneously as they indicated Barf and Belch.
"Meatlug here is a Gronckle," Fishlegs added, before looking uncertainly at the trapped dragon. "And that one… I mean, I've only read about them, and that's through a very tricky medium, but I think… I think that's a Tide Glider."
"Tide Glider?" the redhead looked at the blue dragon in surprise. "Are you saying that this thing is a swimming dragon?"
"It can swim or fly," Fishlegs nodded, only realising when he felt the slight thump that Meatlug had landed. "That's part of what makes it a Tidal-class dragon; I also read that it's meant to attack with boiling water rather than the usual fire, but I repeat that I've never actually seen one before now…"
"Really?" the fair-haired man said, before looking apologetically at Fishlegs as the Viking got off his dragon. "You know, before we take this any further, I feel we should introduce ourselves; I'm the Doctor, and this is my… apprentice, Turlough."
"Doctor?" Fishlegs looked at the man uncertainly.
"It's my title," the Doctor explained. "It's… a part of my culture; once we become adults, we forsake our birth name to reflect our dedication to our chosen cause."
"Like dedicating yourself to a god?" Ruffnut asked, grinning slightly at the man as she and her brother walked up to join Fishlegs, Barf and Belch looking curiously at the two new faces from behind Meatlug.
"Essentially, I suppose," the Doctor nodded, before he turned back to the dragon behind them. "In any case, if there are any of those hunters you mentioned around, it would probably be a good idea for us to get this net off and take this dragon somewhere safe as soon as possible; do you have something that could cut it?"
"Maybe…" Fishlegs said, walking back to Meatlug and examining his bag before he pulled out the Gronckle Iron sword Gobber had given him when they'd first discovered the substance. "How about this?"
"Impressive weapon," the Doctor nodded politely at Fishlegs before he stepped aside to indicate the dragon. "If you-"
Before the Doctor could finish his sentence, the Tide Glider turned its head to face them and fired another blast of water in their direction, Fishlegs only realising that he'd dropped the sword after he had dived out of the way. Before he could get back to his feet, he looked up to see that the Doctor had grabbed the sword as it fell, the older man diving forward in an awkward roll that brought him up close to the bound blue dragon, where it was easy for him to stick the sword into the net and cut it. The net was large enough that the sword obviously couldn't take it completely apart in one go, but it did enough damage for the Tide Glider's trapped wings to do the rest, the remaining links not enough to keep the dragon contained on their own.
Now freed from the net, the Tide Glider's body spread out, revealing a long tail with a fan-like shape on its end, along with small fins on its side that looked a little like arms. Supporting itself on its front fins, the creature looked around the beach for a moment before its gaze settled on the Doctor, who tossed the sword aside and held his hands out in front of himself in a calming gesture. For a moment, the man and the dragon looked at each other in silence, before the dragon lowered its head and nudged the Doctor's right hand with its nose, looking at him with a tentative smile around the edges of its mouth.
"Well… hello?" the Doctor said, looking uncertainly at the Tide Glider before he glanced back at the three Riders, only just registering their surprised expressions. "Did I do something wrong?"
"Not… wrong," Fishlegs conceded, looking at the Doctor with a tentative smile as he picked up the discarded sword. "It's just… well, I take it you've never been to Berk?"
"Berk?" Turlough repeated. "Where's that?"
"It's our village," Fishlegs explained. "Anyway, our group were the first generation to actually train dragons rather than just fighting them, and even then we were-"
"Point is you just did something that only Hiccup did on his own before now," Tuffnut cut in, looking at the Doctor with an approving grin. "Nice trick, Doc."
"Hiccup?" the Doctor and Turlough said in surprise.
"Hiccup Haddock," Fishlegs explained; he appreciated that he was probably going to get a lecture about this when he got back to the Edge, but the reactions these two had to everything he was telling them reassured him that they weren't part of the Hunters. "He's… well, he was the first Viking to ever train a dragon."
"Dragon Conqueror!" the twins yelled from behind Fishlegs.
"He prefers 'Dragon Rider'," Fishlegs shrugged as the Doctor and Turlough exchanged glances. "And don't worry about the twins; they're… well, they prank people."
"Ah contraire, dear Fishlegs; we Loki¸ we do not just 'prank'," Tuffnut corrected him. Fishlegs was about to turn and face Tuffnut directly when the Tide Glider let out a pained screech, the group turning back to see that its wing was at an awkward angle and there were various marks on its skin where the net had been pressed against it.
"Oh dear," the Doctor said, walking over to examine the wing carefully before looking up at Fishlegs. "I don't suppose you have any idea how to treat an infection for these dragons? It appears that the bones in its wing have been damaged, and there are some scratches here that don't look entirely healthy."
"Well… we don't have anything like that here, but you might have better luck back at the Edge…"
"The Edge?" the twins and Turlough said at once, the redhead confused and the twins shocked.
"Fishlegs, are you seriously suggesting we bring two strangers to the Edge?" Ruffnut looked at him in surprise. "I'm not sure if I should admire the rebellion or wonder at the stupidity?"
"It's not like that!" Fishlegs protested. "The Glider needs help, the Doctor's already bonded with it and wants to help; it's not like we're just bringing him along because he's asked!"
"Shouldn't we-?" Turlough began.
"I think we'll be safe enough with these people for the moment, Turlough," the Doctor said, before turning back to Fishlegs. "So, if my actions have given me a… bond to this Tide Glider, I take it that means you're willing to help me treat it?"
"Once we have a better idea what to do for him, yeah."
"Him?" The Doctor raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You can tell?"
"Yeah… I think so…" Fishlegs studied the dragon for a moment before he nodded. "Yeah, I definitely read that female Tide Gliders had a few less horns than this guy does; he's male."
"Right," the Doctor said, looking at the dragon with a tentative smile. "Then in that case, until you're recovered, if I'm going to be spending more time with you, I'll have to call you something… is 'Sullivan' acceptable?"
The Tide Glider seemed to study the Doctor for a moment, and then reached out to press his nose against the Doctor's outstretched hand once again, making a low rumble in its throat that seemed to be an approving one.
"Sullivan?" Fishlegs asked, noting with slight relief that Turlough had asked the same question.
"An old friend of mine," the Doctor explained. "He was a sailor himself before he travelled with me for a time; it seems… appropriate to use his name here."
"Right…" Fishlegs said, briefly wondering where these men had come from before deciding it wasn't worth asking that kind of question when they had the more immediate concern of a sick dragon to deal with.
"Doctor," Turlough said uncertainly, "if we're leaving this island, shouldn't we-?"
"Our property will be safe enough here, Turlough," the Doctor smiled at his apprentice. "While we're still working out what we're dealing with, best not to put all our eggs in one basket, after all."
"Particularly not dragon eggs," Tuffnut added.
"Dragon eggs?"
"Something to talk about once Sullivan has been treated, I think," the Doctor cut off that particular conversation, gaze shifting between Sullivan and the net for a moment before he looked at the three Dragon Riders. "In the meantime, if the three of you are willing to give Turlough and I a lift, I think I have an idea how we can use this to get Sullivan here back to 'the Edge'…"
AN: To those who might wish to know, 'Sullivan' is a reference to the Doctor's companion Harry Sullivan, a former lieutenant in the navy who worked as UNIT's medical officer and travelled with the Fourth Doctor for a brief period after his regeneration; the name seemed appropriate for more reasons than just the Tide Glider being a tidal dragon, but more details will be revealed later
