"Are you sure it's this way?"
Hiccup nodded from Toothless's back as he, Fishlegs and Heather flew around Berk. "The noise came from this direction, so that dragon has to be here somewhere."
"How can we know it's a dragon?" Heather stated. "I know no dragon who has feathers."
"Unless there's a bird big enough to grow feathers that size, it must be some kind of dragon. It could be a dragon from another part of the world."
Fishlegs nodded. "I agree on that one! I have never heard a call like that, I can be certain it's not from any of the types of dragons found in Berk or the archipelago."
The dragons stopped in mid-flight wen the same bird-like screech echoed through the air, coming from below. It seemed like the dragon was in the cove, and it sounded like it was in distress.
"The sound is coming from the cove, guys!" Hiccup called out. "It must be trapped there. Let's go down and see what type of dragon it is."
"Oh, I brought the book in case it's not a dragon from these parts!" Fishlegs chirped, holding out the leather-bound book. Meatlug snorted and rolled her eyes with a grin.
As the dragons descended towards the cove, Goblin and Toothless caught sight of a flash of blue rushing through the place and jumping into the tree when they got closer. The dragons landed in the middle of the cove, and watched as their humans dismounted; the screeching was gone, as well as the dragon that made it. Or so it seemed.
"Where did it go?" Heather glanced around the cove, searching for anything unfamiliar.
Fishlegs started examining the area near the pond, and found something strange. "Guys, look at these!" There were small but still oversized feathers of all types were floating on the surface, all of various shades of blue.
"More Feathers. Just like the one Bucket found in his barn."
Hiccup noted that from the pond, there was a trail of more feathers leading to the tree on the other side of the cove. "Guys, I think the dragon climbed unto the tree."
Toothless approached the tree where he used to sleep upside down, but stopped when his ears caught a growl coming from the upper branches of the tree, where the leaves were so thick he couldn't see whoever was hiding in there.
"It's up there." Heather stated.
"We have to get him down somehow." Hiccup added, approaching the three warily. "Maybe if we got some food we could-" He couldn't finish the sentence as Meatlug rushed to the three and tackled it with her head, shaking it.
"MEATLUG!" Goblin and Toothless yelled in anger.
The Gronckle glanced back at them. "What? I love meeting new friends!"
A blue shape fell from the branches of the tree and fell to the ground with a loud thud, letting out a screech of pain. The humans and their dragons stepped back in surprise when the dragon stood up quickly and stepped back from them, letting out a hiss.
Neither the humans or dragons could believe their eyes.
Like Fishlegs had said, this was not a dragon they had ever seen in their lives. It was seventeen hands tall, and two meters long, with a 5.30 meter long tail. Its medium-length neck was slender and elegant, as well as it's legs. Green eyes with two thin lines were staring at the group with hostility. But the shocking thing about this dragon was that it had feathers; feathered wings, feathers growing like a fan along the sides of its tail, and a crown of feathers on its head; even its two long ears seemed to be feathery at the edges to some extent.
This dragon in particular was of many shades of blue, most of all moderate sapphire blue scales, with a lighter Persian blue underbelly. The tip of his ears were of a dark blue color, as well as down his crocodile-like head, and his feathered paws. His crown of head feather were of the same color, but at the tips they blended into icy blue. The fan-like giant feathers at the end of his tail were a darker and grayish Persian blue, with an even darker middle and ice blue tips. Its feathered wings seemingly had all the colors of its body; the marginal coverts and the alula were moderate sapphire blue like the rest of its body, the primary and secondary coverts were Persian blue with ice blue edges. Finally, the primary and secondary feathers of the wings were dark Persian blue, turning into a darker shade at the half, and finally blended into a black-like blue in the tips. Its eyelids were pale blue as well.
Hiccup tried to get closer, but the dragon hissed and lifted his crow feathers, baring its teeth. Toothless stood in front of his human protectively, but the dragon was not intimidated.
"Oh, Thor…!" Fishlegs could barely contain his excitement. "I can't believe it! This is a new species!"
"Look at those feathers!" Heather added, pointing at the dragon's wings. "They're beautiful!" She noted the dragon's right wing was hanging, and the dragon seemed to wince every time he moved it. "Hiccup, I think that dragon is injured."
Hiccup took a closer look at the limp wing, and realized she was right. "It must be broken. That's why he can't get out of the cove. We must take him back to the village to see how bad it is."
"How?" Fishlegs stated, flinching when the feathered dragon's eyes set on him. "He's technically growling at us."
"We need to show him we're not going to harm him."
The dragons decided to try and calm this stranger down. Goblin, in particular, sympathized with this dragon, since both of them had been through the same.
Finally, the dragon talked. "¿Quiénes son ustedes?!"
The three dragons stared at him with dumbfounded expressions.
"Listen, friend, cool it down!" Goblin spoke first. "We're not going to hurt you!"
Despite his hesitance and fear, the feathered dragon responded. "You don't speak Spanish? Where am I?"
"This is Berk, friend." Toothless replied, softly. "You don't have to be afraid, we are not going to hurt out."
The feathered dragon's crown feathers relaxed and bent back against his body, his ears perked up. "Are those humans yours?"
"Yes." Goblin replied, approaching the feathered dragon warily. "They want to help you with your injured wing, but you have to trust them."
The stranger dragon turned towards the humans, and noted Hiccup had walked closer to him, stretching out his hand."
"Hello there, boy, or girl…" the dragon growled softly at the world 'girl'. "Well, boy. It's okay, I just want to help you."
The feathered dragon growled softly as Hiccup outstretched his hand. However, he bent his neck forward after a few seconds, and gently touched the human's hand with his nose.
"That's right, you're a good boy…" Hiccup ran his hand down the dragon's neck, and much to his surprise he realized that instead of scales, this dragon was covered in feathers just like a bird. "This is amazing, he is covered in feathers!"
"You know what this means?! This could be a new class of dragons!" Fishlegs approached the blue dragon and examined him from tail-to-head, sketching him in the Book of Dragons. "He's covered in feathers, so it could be Feathery Class! What do you think?"
The newcomer stepped away from Fishlegs, grunting in pain at his broken wing and lowering his ears in discomfort. "Is this fat human always like this?"
"Don't worry, he's enthusiastic about meeting new dragons." Meatlug said. "That's why I love him so much!"
"Anyway, what's your name?" Toothless inquired.
"Blueberry." The feathered dragon said.
Heather had the feeling something was off. "Hiccup, don't you think taming this dragon was a bit too… easy?"
"What do you mean?" Hiccup inquired, glancing at her.
"I mean, he is not that hostile at all. Wild dragons are usually distrustful towards humans, but this one acts like he's already accustomed to them."
"Maybe this species is docile, wherever it is from…"
Suddenly, Blueberry lifted his ears in alarm as he remembered his situation. "Have you seen a female human around here?!" he asked the other three dragons, stepping towards them with some difficulty.
"Uh, could you be a bit more specific?" Goblin stared at him in confusion. "There are many female humans in this island."
"How does she look like?"
"CRAH!" Blueberry cried out. "NORA!"
Out of sudden, Blueberry started screeching again as he ran towards the stony walls of the cove and tried to fly, but his broken wing crunched and he let another screech of pain as he fell back to the ground with a loud thud, making the group run towards him in worry.
"Blueberry, stop!" Toothless growled. "You're hurt, you'll make it worse!"
He paid no heed and crawled against the stone. "I HAVE TO FIND HER!"
"Did you separate from your human?" Meatlug stated. "If you tell us how she is we might be able to help-!"
"THEY HAVE HER! I HAVE TO SAVE HER!"
"What's wrong, boy?!" Hiccup's words fell on deaf ears as the dragon continued to let out desperate screeches.
"He looks like he's desperate to go somehere…" Heather pointed out.
"We have to stop him! He'll make his wing worse!"
Fishlegs glanced at his dragon. "Meatlug! On top of him!"
Blueberry cawed in surprise when suddenly he felt a very heavy weight on top of him as Meatlug jumped on top of him, though careful not to hurt his already broken wing any further. "QUE DEMONIOS?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" he struggled to get free, but the pain in his wing made him stop.
"You're going to hurt your wing further if you keep doing that!" Goblin snapped, though there was concern in his tone of voice.
"GET OFF ME!"
"We need to calm him down somehow!" Hiccup quickly took some dragon nip from his pocket and ran towards Blueberry's head, placing the herb near his nostrils. Blueberry tried to free himself, but the soothing aroma of the dragon nip soon overwhelmed him, and his body became immobile in a matter of seconds, his mind momentarily clearing as his whole body relaxed, the pain in his wing became a numb feeling.
"We should take him back to the village and take a look at his wing." Fishlegs commented, running a hand down the broken wing gently.
"How will we take him back? It's not like we can carry him back just like that, we could hurt his wing even more." Heather commented.
Hiccup thought for a moment. "Actually, I got an idea…"
Blueberry didn't know how much time he was unconscious, but when he woke up, he realized he was not in the cove anymore. In fact, he soon realized he was not in the forest at all. When his vision cleared, he realized all around him was gray, and the ground felt very hard, like stone. On closer inspection, he realized his surroundings were made of stone, except for the upper area, which was actually a sort of fencing that would prevent him from flying out. As his vision cleared, he realized there lots of humans all outside and around the fencing, staring at him in awe; there were other shapes which he thought were dragons. His feathery ears twitched when he heard whispers of awe and fear.
"I've never seen such a dragon before!"
"Could it be it comes from another part of the world?"
"Look at those feathers! I thought it was a gryphon!"
"I want it!"
"I offer two of my best swords and three of my best sheep for it!"
Blueberry felt his head dizzy, but he managed to get on his feet, making the crowd gasp. However, as he took a shaky step forward, he felt his broken wing forcefully close to his body. Confused, he twisted his neck rightwards to take a look at his wing, and found it folded against the side of his body, in its natural position, and it was held in place with a soft but strong rope; he managed to move it a bit, wincing, but it remained firmly on place.
"What….?" Blueberry didn't understand what was going on, or how he got there.
"You are awake."
Blueberry turned around to find Toothless and Goblin a few steps away from him.
"Where am I?" the feathered dragon inquired, glancing at his tied wing. "What happened to my wing?!"
"The structure of your wing is similar to a bird's, so Fishlegs and Hiccup treated it the best they could." Toothless explained.
"Where are we?! How did I get here?!"
"We brought you with a stretcher made of a sail from a ship." Goblin stated. "Like we said before, this is the Island of Berk. Don't worry about those humans, they are just curious about you. We've never seen one of your kind around here."
"I've never seen featherless dragons like you either. Am I so far from Mesoamerica?"
"Meso-what?"
"My homeland. That's where me and Nora come from-!" Realization hit Blueberry when he realized he still did not know about Nora's whereabouts. "NORA!" He let out another shriek, scaring most of the humans and dragons away, but before he could try to find a way out, Toothless jumped in his way.
"Wait!" he cried out. "Before you panic, tell us what happened to you!"
"And who is Nora? Is she your human?" Goblin continued.
Realizing it was futile to keep panicking, Blueberry sighed in irritation, bristling all of his feathers, which gave him a funny look. "Me and Nora come from Mesoamerica. We were sent to follow after some ships that had captured some dragons from out territory. But it seemed they were expecting us, when we approached they attacked us; Nora and I tried to fly into a the hurricane to lose them, but the wind was too strong and… We got separated. I don't remember much after that, only that I woke up in this island."
"Dragon hunters." Goblin hissed, his scales sparking. Blueberry jumped back with bristled feathers.
"Que fue eso?!" he snapped in fright.
"Don't worry, he's a Skrill. It's what he does." Toothless explained. "Just try not to get too close or you will receive a shock." The Night fury grew serious again. "So, the dragon hunters have Nora?"
"That's what I've been trying to say all along! I have to go save her!"
"You're in no condition to go anywhere, Blueberry." Goblin stated, and regurgitated some mutton for him. "Here, have some mutton."
However, Blueberry only had to take a look at it to let out a hiss of disgust. "What is that?!"
"It's mutton. You know, sheep."
"If you don't like it, we could get you some fish or chicken." Toothless said.
Blueberry didn't seem convinced, however. "Don't you have fruit?"
"Fruit? You eat fruit?" Both Goblin and Toothless took a look at his teeth. They didn't look flat or gave the impression that his diet was that of a frugivore.
"Yes, why?"
Before Goblin or Toothless could say anything, Hiccup and their humans entered the ring, accompanied by Stoic and Gobber. Blueberry hissed warningly, stepping back and stretching out his good wing.
"So this is the new dragon?" Stoic stared at Blueberry in surprise, overall at his feathers. "I never thought I'd see one of these …"
"What do you mean, chief?" Heather asked in surprise. "Do you know about this species?"
"Long story. Back when we and the dragons weren't on good terms, we heard rumors of a tribe, who lived very far from our archipelago, who rode on feathered dragons." Gobber explained. "We merely dismissed those tales as children's stories, but now that I'm seeing one of those with my own eyes…"
"And you say this dragon did not show that much aggression?"
"Usually, wild dragons tend to avoid humans and if they can't they turn defensive, but this dragon didn't show much hostility. It's like he's already accustomed to humans." Fishlegs explained.
"Which means he could have a rider. It would explain why he was so stressed." Hiccup deduced.
"If he does have a rider, where is he?" Heather noticed Blueberry letting out a hiss-like sound when she said 'he'. "Or is your rider a woman?" this time, Blueberry gave a squawk as a positive reply.
"Could it be the dragon hunters had something to do with them separating?"
As soon as Fishlegs mentioned the dragon hunters, Blueberry let out an angry hiss and his whole feathers bristled. Goblin and Toothless let out gentle growls to let their humans know they were right.
"If the dragon hunters have this dragon's rider, then it means they must have captured more dragons like him as well." Stoic concluded.
"Looks like their hunting areas are expanding if they captured dragons from beyond the archipelago." Hiccup didn't want to imagine how many other parts of the world suffered from the hunters' raids. "We have to rescue his rider!"
"Speaking of which, do you think he's hungry?" Fishlegs noticed the feathered dragon was staring at Goblin's attempt to offer him food in disgust. "I mean, it looks like he doesn't eat any of the food we have."
"Maybe we should try with other things. He probably is not familiar with the fauna around these parts. We just need to find something close to what he eats back home." Hiccup stated.
"That's the problem, we don't know what kind of food he is used to." Heather stated matter-of-factly.
"I'm sure we'll find something he'll like. How hard can it be?"