The Dragons' Convention Chapter 02
"Do any of you dragons have any questions you'd like to ask Toothless?"
Wings were raised all over the valley floor. Evidently, a lot of dragons had questions for him! Kalessin noticed an unfamiliar-looking species a few rows behind where Toothless had been standing. "I'll hear your question first, but before you ask it... what are you?"
"I'm a Thunderwing," he replied proudly. Blank looks were the only response he got.
"Is that even a thing?" Draco wondered.
"Of course it is – it's a custom species that a fanfic writer made up," the dragon answered. "That's just as valid as a dragon that Cressida Cowell made up, isn't it?"
"Technically, this convention is for famous dragons," Lockheed pointed out.
The Thunderwing looked peeved. "Technically, I think a lot of dragons have the same question I have, and it's this: Toothless, if your tail is injured and your human isn't around, how the heck did you get here?"
"How did I get here?" Toothless echoed him. "Why would you ask a question like that? We have dragons here like Smaug and Vermithrax who are certifiably dead; how did they get here?"
"Don't remind me," Vermithrax growled.
Toothless went on. "I could give you some philosophical gobbledygook about how you can't keep a good dragon down – or a bad one," he added, with a glance at Vermithrax. "But that would be a human approach to the question, and even though I spend most of my time with humans, I refuse to let myself think like one! The reality is that Hiccup put a lock on my tail fin so he can jump off and glide – not fly, I might add, no matter what he might call it – and he locked my tail down just before I took off to join this conference. It's awkward, trying to fly with my tail almost immobile. It takes me half a mile to reverse my direction. But at least I can make it this year, unlike the past few years when I was stuck on that frostbitten Viking island."
"Toothless raises an interesting point," Kalessin cut in. "Smaug, you died in front of many witnesses, and your bones were seen for years afterward, just under the water. How did you get here?"
Smaug looked embarrassed. "I really don't know. Maybe the human gobbledygook-speakers are right; maybe you can't keep a good dragon down. Does it matter? I mean, I've been coming to this convention since 1938, as humans reckon the years, and now you're asking me how I got here?"
"As some humans reckon the years," Mushu reminded them. "Them crazy humans can't even agree on which calendar to use! I mean, they live a lot less years than us powerful dragons, so you'd think they could figure out one good way to keep track of what year it is? But no-o-o! They got to make up fourteen different –"
"That's good, thank you," Kalessin cut him off. "My own opinion is that there is some kind of time/space effect that allows dragons from different times and places to all get together. So if we're from all times and places, then the dragons who are known to be dead are visiting us from the time when they were still alive. It's not a perfect explanation, but I can't think of anything better. Yes, Saphira? Do you have a question?"
"Yes, I do. Toothless, how did you arrange to become the Most Loved dragon?"
"Well, it involved some sacrifices," Toothless admitted. "For starters, I had to alter my image. I mean, when the first movie started, I was the Unholy Offspring of Lightning and Death Itself! I was the thing that never steals food, never shows myself, and – boom! – never misses. But what's the scene about me that everyone remembers? This one!" He sat down and assumed the puppy-dog-eyed look from the "Forbidden Friendship" sequence, right after Hiccup kicked away his dagger.
"So you gave up your self-respect?" Rhaegal asked him.
"No, I gave up my killer image," Toothless replied. "I'm still as awesome as I ever was. If you don't believe me, ask the Muddy Alpha."
"We can't," Shrek-Dragon noticed. "The big guy isn't here."
"I think he's being fitted for a prosthetic tusk," Trogdor added.
"Prosthetics are good things if you need them," Toothless said, with a swish of his tail. "But anyway, all I traded away was people's perceptions of me as a monster. I mean, I could have gone for Most Feared, like Drogon did and like Smaug has always done, and I might have won. I can still dial up the 'awesome' when I need to. But meeting Hiccup changed everything for me. I realized that being liked was a good thing, even better than being feared. So I made my choice, and here I am. Saphira, I think your real question is, 'How can I become Most Loved?' My answer is, you can be Most Loved, or you can be Most Feared, but you can't do both. You're walking a middle path, and if that works for you, great! But you won't win either prize that way."
They were interrupted by the entrance of a man with long brown hair and Asian features, carrying a guitar case. He took one look at all the dragons, his mouth fell open, and he turned and ran away before anyone could react.
"Who was that?" H.R. Pufnstuf asked. "He looked lost."
"I think that was Herman Li from Dragonforce," Jake Long replied. At the other dragons' blank looks, he explained, "They're a power-metal band."
"Did he think this was a Dragonforce convention?" asked Firedrake from "Dragonrider."
"Oh, mama, did he take a wrong turn!" Mushu added.
"That's what happens when you don't read the whole memo," Kalessin concluded. "Did someone else have a question for Toothless? Yes, Lockheed?"
The small purple alien dragon rose. "I hope this isn't a touchy subject, but do you think you're the last of the Night Furies?"
"Yeah!" Mushu exclaimed. "If you're the Most Loved, then where's your hot girl friend? Huh?"
Toothless sighed. "I'm the only Night Fury I know of. I never met my father, and my mother sent me away as soon as she thought I could fend for myself, so our population wouldn't get too concentrated. That's how I wound up under the Queen's control – I was too immature to see that kind of trouble coming until I was in over my head, and I didn't have any adult guidance.
"Are there any others like me? I sure hope so, but I don't know. It would be nice to meet others of my kind, but I'm not unhappy the way things are. I think it means more to Hiccup to find another Night Fury than it means to me. I'm perfectly content with him, and besides, I couldn't go flying with another Night Fury unless he makes some major improvements on my tail rig."
"Didn't he make you a tail that worked without his help?" the Reluctant Dragon asked. "You could have flown just fine without your human, but you threw that tail away."
"Well... yes, I did that," the black dragon admitted. "That was because I... I just don't want to fly without Hiccup anymore. If I had to choose, I think I'd rather be with him than with another Night Fury. I'm kind of glad I don't have to make that choice."
"That was my question," Charizard the Pokémon called. "Exactly how do you feel about your human?"
"Yes," Puff added. "How much do you love him?"
"That's an easy one," Toothless smiled. "This much!" He spread his wings to their full span. Puff and Elliot smiled and nodded; the more ferocious dragons had no idea what he was talking about.
"From the moment we first made eye contact, I knew he was different from other humans," the Night Fury went on. "Every dragon knows that a Viking will always, always go for the kill. But he didn't. He spared my life instead, so I spared his. When he trusted me, I trusted him back. When he showed me that he wanted to help me fly again, I let him ride me. And when we saved each other's lives in mid-air, that sealed our bond forever. The two of us are one. There's no other way to put it."
"Did you know it was his fault that you couldn't fly in the first place?" Smaug growled.
"When he said, 'I have brought down this mighty beast,' that kind of gave me a clue," Toothless said with a straight face. "But, as one fanfic author put it, that was in the middle of a war. Vikings and dragons were all trying our best to destroy each other, and sometimes people get hurt that way. I knew it was nothing personal. When he offered me peace in the middle of that war, the least I could do was forgive."
"Forgive?" Vermithrax snarled. "I don't even know what that word means!"
"There's a reason why I'm the Most Loved and you aren't," Toothless answered smugly.
The bigger dragon bristled with anger. "How would you like to be the Most Burnt, hot shot? One fire blast, and that phony tail of yours is toast, and then what will you do?"
"I'll blow your gases up in your belly before that fire blast even leaves your mouth," Toothless threatened. His muzzle and back began shining purple; Vermithrax pawed the ground and lashed his tail. The dragons who were near him edged away.
"Vermithrax, sit down," Kalessin ordered in a powerful voice. The command of an Alpha dragon cannot be ignored, and Kalessin was the ultimate Alpha. The big fire-breather glared at him, but slowly relaxed and sat. Toothless let himself power down when he saw that the impending attack wasn't going to happen.
"That's better," the ancient dragon went on. "Please remember – we're all on the same side. You don't have to maintain your reputations for ferocity here. All of us know what the others can do, and none of us has anything to prove. Vermithrax, I think Toothless was saying that he's better at getting along with humans than you are, and that's why he won the award. No one would argue with that – certainly not you! He isn't claiming to be a better dragon than you are. Isn't that right, Toothless?" The Night Fury nodded after a moment.
"Now, are there any more questions for our Most Loved dragon?"
o
A/N
Well? Are there any more questions? I've got a couple left over from the first batch of reviews and comments that this story has received, and I've got a few of my own, but it will be more fun if you, the readers, contribute some more questions to stretch the boundaries of this story. The questions in this story were contributed by Drunken Hamster, Eeveecat1248, The Crimson Commando, movielover48, Ohsochich, Kuchey18, TooLazyToLogIn, and Spritefire (in the order they were received).