3. First New Dragon
Story Start: Ten Miles From Village
Hiccup was once more in charge of a small group of ten Viking/dragon pairs. Also once more, Astrid and her dragon Stormfly were with him. It was becoming quite the common sight for the girl to wind up near him at least once a day Hiccup mused to himself before he barked out "Shingle, no peeking!"
"Sorry Hiccup." The singled out Viking said sheepishly, dropping his hand from where he had started to reach for the blindfold over his eyes. His dragon partner, a Terrible Terror who chose the name Stalking Mantis of all things for herself, snickered from by his feet for a bit before she chirped at her partner and he neatly sidestepped the tree he was just about to hit.
"Alright, I get why they're walking around, but why aren't the rest of us allowed to ride our partners?" Astrid asked as she made a winding path around the trees on his right side, Stormfly providing her vision from up in the branches of the trees for that extra little bit of challenge.
"Yeah, I thought we were supposed to be learning how to fly blindfolded today!" Tuffnut complained before he yelped as his sister used Barf and Belch's shared vision to smack him with a fallen branch causing the pair to wind up in yet another fight, blindfolds quickly ripped off so that they could see each other better. Hiccup sighed at their actions before he answered his (maybe?) girlfriend's question.
"We'll get to flight eventually, but I want you guys to get used to the sight sharing trick on the ground so that way if something makes you loose your balance and fall you won't be hurt too bad. As for the not riding your partners bit, it's for multitasking practice."
"Fair enough." Astrid acknowledged with a nod.
Glancing around, Hiccup frowned and asked "Hey, does anyone know where Fishlegs is?"
A rather girlish scream and a panicked dragon yelp sounded through the woods and Tuffnut snickered as she pointed in the direction it came from and said "I think he's over that way."
Hiccup sighed and said "Well, let's go see what spooked them."
All of the pairs followed Hiccup and Toothless to Fishlegs' position, all of the others by unspoken consent removing their blindfolds as they did so. A minute later, the group came to the sight of Fishlegs and his Gronkle partner struggling to get out of a thick bush. Shingle pulled to the head of their group, purposeful strides taking him up to the two. The bulky Viking easily pulled the pair out together and set them on their feet as he said "You alright there lad?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm good, thanks sir." Fishlegs said, removing his blindfold before pulling his shirt down and reaching back into the bush for his rider's vest. Meatlug meanwhile scratched at her off centered harness before giving it up as a bad job and going over to Toothless for help. The Night Fury let out a slight huff but indulged the Gronkle in hooking a clawed digit in one of the loops and tugging it back into position.
As Meatlug was getting her saddle straightened, Hiccup walked over to Fishlegs and asked "You two alright, what happened?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, and I'm not sure. One moment, Meatlug and I are just taking notes on the fauna and flora and then what looked like a flaming squirrel shot past us and we accidentally tripped into the bush." Fishlegs said.
"A flaming squirrel, really?" Hiccup asked skeptically with crossed arms.
"Or a flaming chipmunk, or some other kind of flammable rodent." Fishlegs said with a small shrug idly tapping his fingers together.
"Un, huh." Hiccup said before glancing at Meatlug and asked "Meatlug, which way did this supposed 'flaming squirrel' go?"
Meatlug jerked her head to the right and Hiccup nodded as he said "Alright, Astrid, you and Stormfly are with me and Toothless. Everyone else, stay here and keep a watch out, there might be an irritable dragon nearby that got their nap interrupted by some now crispy critter."
"So why are we coming with you?" Astrid asked even as the two pairs started walking in the direction Meatlug indicated.
"Because it might NOT have been a 'critter'." Hiccup said, flinging his right arm downwards causing his shield to spin into combat mode.
"Fair enough." Astrid said, doing the same with her left arm and the same type of shield attached there, along with taking the knife out of her rider's vest.
The pair walked for a short distance before both dragons informed them that they smelled something reptilian near a patch of rocks that formed a small cubby hole. The two pairs slowly stepped closer only to stop as a small dragon warily poked its head out before spotting them and quickly backing back into the hole with a frightened squawk.
Astrid blinked and said "That didn't look like any kind of dragon I've ever seen. Have you?"
"Un uh." Hiccup said with a shake of his head before he continued "But it definitely looks young."
'Definitely younger than a year old, it's voice sounds like that of a child.' Toothless sent in agreement, Stormfly lowly rumbling something similar to her own partner. Cocking his head a little, Toothless continued 'I'm not entirely sure, but I THINK that's a Typhoomerang.'
"It's a whatta now?" Hiccup asked incredulously.
"Typhoomerang is what Stormfly called it." Astrid offered.
"That's what I thought he said." Hiccup said with a frown. Scratching his head, he said "There isn't a 'Typhoomerang' in the Dragon Book."
'You Vikings don't know EVERY dragon out there Hiccup.' Toothless sent even as he crouched to the ground to make himself as small as possible and slowly made his way to the hole, the young dragon warily watching every step he took.
"Fair enough." Hiccup admitted with a shrug. He repeated his dragon's words to Astrid as her own dragon slowly approached the hole and Astrid nodded her agreement before she cast a wary look around and said "You know usually, when there's baby, there's usually mama."
"That's a very good point." Hiccup said, now warily looking around for said mama.
A little bit of conversation happened between the three dragons before Stormfly stood up and looked at Astrid. The Viking cocked her head as she listened before she said "Stormfly says that the little guy was riding his mother's back up in the sky when a powerful wind blew him off. He wound up on the island and had a bad landing which hurt his leg."
"Which means we're going to have a rather concerned mama dragon looking for him, great." Hiccup said, rubbing his head a bit before he nodded and said "Alright, we'll take the kid with us back to the others and leave him with Shingle and Stalking Mantis to take back to the den where the other dragons can watch over him. The rest of us will go top side and form a circling perimeter to hopefully intercept the mother on final approach and direct her to the Den to pick up her kid." Glancing over at the young dragon, he asked "That sound good to you buddy?"
The dragon studied Hiccup for a moment before it let out a small cry and hobbled out of the hole. Toothless scooped him up with a wing earning a startled squawk but thankfully didn't try to get off as Hiccup's partner walked him over. Astrid sheathed her knife and the pair collapsed their shields as the dragons approached in order to make the little one less wary. Kneeling down once Toothless got close enough, Hiccup gently picked him up and glanced at his leg as he said "We should probably have Gobber or the Elder have a look at that leg while he's at the den too."
"Yeah, that looks bad." Astrid said wincing at the dark bruising on the little guy's leg. Putting a smile on her face, she reached over and rubbed the Tyhoomerang's head between its horns and said "Don't worry little guy, everything's going to be alright."
Said little guy closed his eyes in pleasure at the touch, leaning up into her hand before happily chirping as the pairs made their way back to the group.
Time Skip
Three hours of circling the island later, Hiccup spotted a few newcomers at the Den and as Toothless landed nearby he asked "Who spotted her?"
"Coincidently enough, Fishlegs and Meatlug were the ones to spot her coming in." Astrid said, leaning against Stormfly with crossed arms as they watched the young dragon they had found playing with two other Typhoomerangs his age while the much larger mother carefully looked over them.
"Huh, that is quite the coincidence." Hiccup said, Toothless nodding his agreement before he continued "Anyone register the species in the Dragon Book yet?"
"Gobber and Fishlegs did. I think Fishlegs was about ready to pass out from happiness." Astrid said, smirking a little at the end and earning a chuckle from Hiccup and their partners. Astrid then huffed and said "Oh, by the way, the Chief named the one we found Torch."
"Really?" Hiccup asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yep, apparently, one of the non partnered Terrors was being annoying and the little guy chased him off with a quick fireball in the Chief's sight." Astrid said with a nod.
"Huh." Hiccup said before shaking his head and said "Well, I want to go have a word with the mother, see what her range normally is and if we should expect more Typhoomerangs in the near future, come on bud."
'Right.' Toothless sent, following behind his rider in order to serve as translator.
A few hours later, the mother took off with her three kids on her back, flying rapid circles while 'sparking' to gain height from the artificial thermal she created before leveling off and heading westward, leaving the Vikings of Berk just that little more knowledgeable about what was out there in the wider world.
END
Author's Notes: Poll and Update Schedule on Profile
Sorry for the delay on this one, work has been exhausting these last few days. Also yes, I know Fishlegs was the one to name the species, but the dragons are capable of communicating with their riders in this story so prenamed by other dragons.
