~Draegon Childe~

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2 ~ Seeker and Eldest

It is the choices we make in life that define us – far more so than who or what we are born as. As beings within whom flows the blood of two of the three original races, we are given the unique chance of picking the race that we identify ourselves as. It matters little whether you pick to live out your life as a human or a dragon – or even if you decide to hold true to your cursed blood and try to live as part of both. Whichever path you pick, just make sure that it is the path that you decided upon and not just something others forced on you.

Do that my love, and I will always be proud of you, no matter how far away from each other we are.

- Valhalarama's parting words to her son, several days before her disappearance. Fifth winter of the seventh generation since the founding of Berk.

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I came back to find my visitor asleep, and smiled at the curled up figure. It was almost painfully obvious that she had lived almost her entire life in a human body – if I had to haphazard a guess I would say she had taken to wing no more than five times throughout her life, as I have seen dragon hatchlings only a few moons old fly better than that sad excuse of a glide she had done. Even if I had not seen that, the way her wings sprawled along the ground behind her as she lay on her side simply screamed that she was all too used to the human form.

It made sense though – what with the humans coming up with more and more ways to monitor the world around them, the times when a draegon could fly freely through the skies had decreased from 'every night' to 'nearly never'. Few draegons ever learned to channel the abilities inherent in our blood like me, and even those that learned to do so were capable of only a fraction of what I was.

The ancient blood was slowly diluting, and there was nothing to be done about it – those most recently born were beginning to show signs of aging as immortality was replaced by long life… that was in turn replaced by a hundred-year lifespan. Amusing really, as by the time human ingenuity gives birth to something capable of keeping track of everyone on earth and their respective age, the draegons' lifespan wouldn't differ all that much from those of normal humans.

On the positive side, the curse that had haunted us for so long would also leave – from what I had seen, only a third of hatchlings born into a coupling of a draegon and a human are in turn draegons. Much different from the time I had lived through when it was a foregone conclusion that a hatchling of a draegon would be a draegon.

Perhaps it was better this way – of the three original races that have populated the planet, only the humans would be left.

Shaking my head to clear off my melancholy mood, I burned a circle of ash a few feet away from my visitor and changing into my human form settled down to wait. I always found the slight tickling sensation of sitting on red hot rocks to be soothing; and having lived to see the passing of over a thousand winters, have learned to value the little things in life.

Glancing over to the still blissfully asleep draegon next to me, I toyed with the idea of flaming her back to life, but ultimately discarded it. It wouldn't do to scare off the first visitor I've had in ages. Besides, I doubted it would be long before the appetizing smell of fish brought her out of the world of dreams, as changing shape always took quite a big chunk of energy out of us – especially if one wasn't used to it.

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Di awoke to dull pain emanating from her back – somewhere a bit below her shoulder blades. Attempting to reach the affected area with her arm proved futile because for some reason it did not want to move in a way that it always had. Feeling the soothing clouds of sleep release their grasp on her and be replaced by worry, she made a move to sit up and experienced that brief sinking moment when she lost balance and began to tilt over.

Releasing a strangely animalistic bellow she instinctively moved her legs to prevent herself from falling, but only managed to get even further tied up as her legs got tangled up with her tail. Now sufficiently immobilized, she landed on her back and winced at the short flash of pain from her wings.

… Wings? … Tail?

Blinking several times to clear up her blurry vision, Di curled her neck to the right where she heard a gruff and almost bark like sort of laugher. The first thing she noticed was that the laughter was emanating from a guy sitting with his legs crossed only a few feet away from her. The next thing was that the ground upon which the strange human was sitting was red hot, with the air shimmering even a foot above the ground. Before surprise and worry for the obviously suicidal human could set in (let alone his state of undress), she saw the bright white core just a few inches below where she expected the human's heart to be, and everything fell into place.

The eldest, noticing that he had Dianna's attention, stood up; and for a moment she could clearly see the chiselled muscles adorning his strangely ageless body that spoke of countless years of training before the eldest's flesh seemed to ripple and flow outwards. The entire outlook of the body changed as the bones themselves shifted into their more natural state, beautifully black scales appearing to cover the skin even as the eldest's wings and tail shot outwards. Within a span of a few seconds it was all over, and the cove held two draegons in their draconic forms within its walls once more.

:: Good to see you awake once more hatchling. The waters around this island were plentiful today as well contrary to my expectations that the human boats would scare away all the schools – so sit down and join me for lunch, or dinner I should say seeing as how the sun is going to set in a couple of hours more.

Oh, and do remember that you are in your true form now – don't try and stand on your back paws again. I doubt my ribs can handle a second time. ::

It was fortunate for Di that she was in her draconic form, for her scales kept most of the embarrassment from being visible on her face. Pushing all of that down she carefully stood up and slowly followed the eldest to the pile of fish, the sight of which caused her stomach to rumble. It took quite a bit of concentration not to trip over her own feet, and she was thankful that the eldest didn't glance back – she knew that her wings and tail were dragging along the ground behind her, but it took all of her focus to move her legs properly, now that he had four of them instead of two.

Coming to a halt in front of the pile of fish, Di looked at the eldest who had settled down across from him and bowing her head let off a single thank you. Or at least that was what she had wanted to do; but what came out was something akin to a cross between a growl and a croon as her draconic vocal cords attempted to deal with something they were never meant to pronounce.

The eldest let out a series of light growls that Vlad quickly understood to be chuckling.

:: You may want to speak through your mind hatchling – in our true form it is difficult, to say the least, to pronounce human words. ::

Silence stretched as Di tried to follow the eldest's vague instructions, but simply couldn't grasp it.

The eldest shook his head – perhaps his estimates on how quickly their cursed blood was washing away have underestimated the speed… or perhaps the visitor's inability to grasp the innate concept of mind speak was simply the result of her burying her draegon heritage for so long.

Either way…

:: Just eat hatchling. Once you have sated your hunger you can turn back to your human form and we can talk. It saddens me to know that you consider your human form as more natural, but I will not begrudge you for that – It was your choice after all. ::

Dianna flinched at that, and slowly reaching out bit into one of the cods in the pile. The eldest was right of course – in the end it had been her choice to bury away her inheritance and attempt to live as if she was completely human. Wasn't that her reason for attempting to find the eldest in the first place – to try and find a way to end the curse once and for all so she could truly live out the rest of her life as a human?

Biting off a chunk of fish and proceeding to chew at it, Dianna wondered if she had made the right choice in the first place. It really took seeing a true draegon who had accepted who he was for her to understand just how much she had been missing. Di had fought hard to hide the signs of her ancestry – always keeping her eyes under control, never taking the true draegon form… even going so far as to request middle seats during flights so as not to get caught looking out in longing at the endless skies and their eternal beauty.

The only thing she could not stop was part of the curse – the wanderlust that caused all those who had draegon blood flowing through their veins to leave their homes seven or so years after they had come there. She had searched out the eldest draegon of whom legend told for this exact reason – the eldest was the only draegon that had beaten off the wanderlust that had been the only barrier standing between him and normal human life, and perhaps he would be able to tell her how she could do the same.

Now though… she wasn't sure what she wanted anymore.

:: Do not chew hatchling – just bite and swallow. :: There was amusement in the eldest's voice, and Di came out of his thoughts even more embarrassed than she had been going in.

The remaining fish were eaten in silence. When the last one disappeared down her gullet, Di closed his eyes and forced the change upon herself. Feeling her bones shift under her skin and the scales that had adorned her disappear, she felt the tension that he didn't even know was there disappearing along with them. For a brief moment she had been afraid that she would be unable to change back to human form – her change into her draconic form had been almost a subconscious response to finding the eldest, and it had been so long since she had last followed her mother's instructions and shifted forms that she could barely remember how she had done it.

Shivering as her now completely human body was exposed to the freezing temperatures, Dianna glanced around to try and find out where her clothing went, while at the same time trying to keep the eldest from spotting her growing unease at being completely in the buff before him. Not that he was paying much attention to that though – Di wouldn't be surprised if he had found her more appealing when she had been in her draconic form than now. Still, she would feel much better once clothed – for both the warmth they provided and her own state of mind if nothing else.

Her hopes were quickly dashed as she spotted the tattered remains of her fur lined jacket on the ground halfway across the cove, along with other ripped pieces of clothing. There was a flash of light from the periphery of her sight, followed by a wave of heat. Jerking her head around she noticed that the elder had flamed a small portion of the ground, effectively turning it into a makeshift heater.

:: Keep yourself comfortable with that. I have a couple of jackets and jeans that would fit you back in the cave. ::

The eldest walked away, and soon returned with said items. To Di's astonishment they were quite modern in appearance and in quite a well-kept state, their forest green coloring accentuated by the white Nordic patterns running up and down the legs and sleeves along with a much more intricate pattern covering the chest. The fur lining the inside spoke of their design being made for colder climates, and Dianna felt herself shiver as she was reminded once more of the freezing cold temperatures common to this latitude.

:: Put them on. I can always get more when I visit Iceland or Norway again. I am quite partial to Norse patterns and have several people who know that and specialize in comfortable clothing. You did not expect me to live out my entire life doing nothing but waiting for hatchling draegons like yourself to find me so I can instill my wisdom upon them, did you? ::

In the middle of pulling her pants on, Di opened her mouth to reply, and closed it again. It was true – for some reason she had expected the eldest to be sitting up high in a nigh inaccessible mountain somewhere, patiently awaiting the next person who would stop by.

:: I did that you know – just sat around and waited for several centuries after the last Viking of this island fell to the illness that spread through them. One day I just woke up with the thought that I had lived for over three human lifetimes and yet have not been further than a day's flight from my birthplace. Left the very next day after that. It wasn't as if there was anything keeping me here. ::

Now being fully dressed once more, Di watched in fascination as the eldest burned himself a patch of grass until the ground crackled and glowed red in places. A puff of ash flew into the air as the eldest settled in, and through the quickly dispersing cloud the two of them locked gazes, the bright green tint of Dianna's a sharp contrast to the dark green rimmed holes of darkness that stood as a testament to the true nature of the world they had seen.

:: Now that we are both comfortable, tell me young one just why you have come seeking me out. Hatchling draegons have sought me out for over a millennium now – seeking answers that I do not have or blessings that I cannot impart. Age does not equal wisdom after all… If you live long enough you will understand.

Still, let that not prevent you from asking your questions. Perhaps they are not as difficult as I imagine them to be. ::

Gathering her thoughts, Di prepared herself to ask the question that she had sought an answer to ever since her mother had left him. Her question was twofold really – she wanted to know just how the curse upon their blood came about, and how the eldest had managed to win over it.

Now that she was here though, sitting within a few feet of the being upon whom she had placed all his hopes, Di felt strangely afraid to voice her questions – afraid that there would be no answers for her to be found here.

Licking her suddenly dry lips, she took a deep breath to steady herself and spoke in a clear and formal tone of voice.

"I came here Eldest of our blood, to learn of our history. To hear of the origins of our curse, and to find out how it is that you have escaped its grasp – if not entirely, then at least managing to stave off the inescapable wanderlust."

The eldest looked at her, and perhaps it was Di's own fear, but it seemed as if there was sadness within those ancient eyes. There was no immediate reply, and suddenly it struck her that there was no way that she was the first one to ask these questions – that she was the first draegon seeking reprieve from their cursed blood. The eldest's words on others seeking answers that he didn't have flew through Di's mind, and she could almost hear the eldest thinking – 'You too, eh?'

Perhaps she did at that…

:: You too eh? I thought as much, seeing as how you deny your heritage insofar as to be a newly-born hatchling when forced to move about in your true form…. But it is not your true form is it? You are not so much a draegon as a human that has been cursed since birth to carry a burden you are afraid others would discover. ::

Dianna flinched away, the words striking home. The eldest must have seen it, for his next words carried with them an almost soothing quality.

:: Do not think I am judging you – as draegons we are granted the unique chance of picking the race we count as our own even as the curse makes sure we can never truly be a part of them. How can I begrudge your decision to be a human in so far as you can when I have seen many others pick the same? I may have chosen differently myself and so do most draegons, but I am not you, and you are neither them nor me.

Now come, sit, and listen. ::

Pausing to make sure that his words had the intended impact, the eldest uncurled slightly from his position and motioned for Di to come over and lean against his side. The ground had sufficiently cooled that it was not uncomfortable to do so, and Di allowed herself to relax ever so slightly as the inner fire of the eldest's draconic body pushed away the last hold that the island's cold winds had on him.

:: While I can easily impart upon you the story of how our cursed blood came into existence, I will leave that for later. Instead, why dont I will start with my own story – the tale of how I was born, the story of the Viking tribe that had once lived on this island over a millennia in the past, and the legends that my own mother spoke of to me before she had to leave, much like your own probably did.

For me it all started here, on this island of Berk. It was, as was told by many when the winters caused the few oak trees that managed to take root upon the island to crack, twelve days north of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death.

When harsh winters caused local dragon tribes to seek food from the only place they could – the Viking settlement of Berk – it was not all too rare to hear mutterings of dark times, gods' anger, or even ill put thoughts that the Jotnar from Jotunheimr walked the lands of Midgard once more.

What with winters becoming steadily worse, and dragon raids becoming more and more frequent, you could almost believe that the isle of Berk was located solidly on the meridian of misery… ::

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A/N

Well, that is the end of the prologue chapters. As you can probably all tell, the next part will be Hiccup telling his own story (the start of which is right here at the end of this chapter).

Unfortunately I am quite busy and am not even sure I can get enough time to keep writing Ouroboros (my main story), so I might not update this for a while (I only have perhaps 200 words written of chapter 3, so I don't have any padding for this story...). Even if I do, updates will probably not be on a schedule but more of -if there is time-.

Sorry for that, and thank you all who reviewed!

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That's all from me today folks,

Saienai Signing off.