So a new chapter yeah! I meant to post yesterday, but got caught up reading another fic, and before I knew it... Bed time! I had to go to work early. Anyway, some fun happens here, and action... a little bit anyway. Enjoy.=^-^=
For - dracologistmaster
Ch. 7 - Misty Grave
Only a few hours later were the young dragon riders ready, and out searching for the small island Johann had mentioned the new dragon defending. Fishlegs was flipping through the Dragon Manuel which seemed pointless considering how much he'd memorized from it. "Isn't this exciting?" He stated with a childlike tone.
"Uh…. No?" Snotlout remarked as he leaned on one arm over his dragon. "I can think of so many better things I could be doing than looking for another Skrill."
"Wait, we're looking for a Skrill?" Tuff asked as he snapped out of his dazed state.
"What did you think we were going to look for." His obviously annoyed sister asked.
"Uh…. Didn't the last one of those things try to kill us?" He wondered back, stating a rather valid point.
"Yeah, but first, this isn't the same one, and second, we don't really know if it is a Skrill. We should just assume it's a new dragon and can breathe lightning since that's the only solid fact we know about it." Hiccup interjected from the head of the flock. "Just try not to startle it if you see it." He continued with a glare back at the twins.
"Come on, even we're not stupid enough to piss off a Skrill." Tuff defended only to receive deadpan stares from the others, and even his own sister. "Oh fine." He grumbled as he crossed his arms.
"Land ho!" Astrid called from the left side of their flock and pointed off to the horizon. "Think that's the island Johann was talking about?"
Hiccup took a good look through his spyglass, and noted the cove Johann had described earlier that day. "Yeah, but it's closer to the ship graveyard's mists than he mentioned before." From their position in the sky, the thick clouded waters north of the island were very noticeable, and the riders were more than wary of them. The waters were not only perilous to sailors, but eel infested as well, and that made them dangerous for dragons too. "Alright gang, let's land just off the cove and take a look around. We don't want to startle the dragon by flying right in."
Now on the ground, the riders and their dragons swept the lightly wooded area just east of the cove. Snotlout seemed more annoyed than anything while his dragon eagerly looked around with the others. The twins seemed to be seriously looking as well, but seldom ever stuck to the plan. Astrid, and Hiccup were at the head of the group as they approached the rocky cliff that created the cove.
"I think I found something." Fishleg's called from behind a bush. The others approached, but only Astrid and Hiccup joined to look up close. Fishleg's quickly pointed out the splintered tree stump along with the grove in the ground nearby. "It kinda looks like a boulder rolled through."
Astrid raised a brow. "Okay, but what's so interesting about that?"
Hiccup quickly pointed to an impression partly covered by the shade of the bush. "This claw print." He kneeled down and framed it with his fingers. "Definitely a dragon track. What do you think Fishleg's?"
The stout Viking took a comprehensive look before pulling what appeared to be cards from his pouch. "Definitely not a Gronkle track….. it doesn't seem to match any boulder class dragons actually."
"It's not very big. Maybe a Speed Stinger." Astrid tried to propose with less interest then the dragon enthusiasts she stood with. It's not that she didn't like dragons, she just didn't go crazy over little things like claw marks.
"No, it has too many claws for that. This one clearly has four claws, and Speed Stingers only have three." Fish corrected in an educated tone. "The size is about right though. There's one more over here." He pointed to the base of the downed tree. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think a maybe a Gronkle had rammed it down. The grove in the ground behind the stump looks like something bigger than the tree dug into it."
Hiccup stood up with a hand on his chin. "You think this might be a new dragon that can bowl down a tree, and breathe lightning?"
"Maybe." Fishleg's responded as he felt the splintered parts of the stump. "This tree isn't burned anywhere."
"Are we going to look anymore, or did we come to find those tracks?" Snotlout complained with a bored tone.
Hiccup turned to him with annoyance. "Yes, we came out here….. Where are the twins?" He quickly corrected as he looked around. They and their dragon were nowhere to be found.
Snotlout shrugged. "Do I look like their babysitter?" Hookfang looked at him a moment before heading over towards the cove with a growl. All the Vikings followed, and saw the two of them off along the shore looking at something.
"Why am I surprised?" Toothless seemed to mirror his expression with a low grunt. He enjoyed their antics most of the time like the other dragons, but they messed a lot of things up with them too. The Night Fury jumped from the cliff gracefully followed by the other dragons. The Viking teens took a simple rock path nearby.
"What are you guys doing?" Fish shouted at them furiously. He'd surprised many with his dash ahead.
Both twins turned to him with careless expressions. "Well we were thinking about eating these fish." Tuff admitted with a shrug. "I mean…. If nobody else wants em." It was an interesting sight to see the small pile of fish next to a burned out fire. There were a few fish bones too, but not many.
Hiccup looked it over after catching up, and seemed just as confused as Fishlegs. "You think someone else found the dragon first?"
Fishleg's gave a nod. "It's possible. This doesn't look very old."
"Neither does the fish…. Seriously, anybody gonna eat 'em?" While Hiccup and Fishleg's seemed annoyed by the question someone else took it upon themselves to take the fish. Barf and Belch made quick work of them rather suddenly. "Aww…."
"Shut up." Ruff scolded with a fist to his arm. "Anyway, if this is the cove where Johann saw the dragon then they're not here anymore."
Toothless took a good look from the other side of the fire while Hiccup and Fishlegs thought it over. "But where did it go then?"
"And if it is the lightning dragon that was here, why was it so close to the water. I mean Skrills can't use their lightning when in water." Their attention was then suddenly drawn away by a surprise whine from Toothless. His nose was to the ground as he sniffed the area with urgency. "Toothless?" The black dragon was on high alert from the familiar scent. He may have not known the scent very long, but he knew what he smelled.
"Maybe he found their scent?" Astrid proposed which elicited a jerk of the Night Fury's head.
"I think you're right Astrid. Why not have Stormfly take a whiff?" One of the many interesting qualities of the Nadder was its supreme sense of smell. Hiccup and Fishlegs were even thinking of putting them in their newest dragon class called Tracker class. Aside from the sense of smell, however, the Deadly Nadder was still the epitome of the Sharp class, and they were still giving it some thought.
Stormfly trotted over happily and sniffed the area near the Night Fury. In seconds the Nadder seemed just as alert as Toothless, and let out a cry to show it. "She found it too so should we follow it?"
Hookfang was the first dragon in the air. "It beats listening to you two." He remarked in his standard mocking tone. None of the others said anything else before joining him the sky where Stormfly quickly headed their flock.
The dragon's enthusiasm faltered slightly after realizing where the scent led them. Not an hour later were they carefully flying through the eerie mists of the ship graveyard. Stormfly continued on with the support of her rider's calming hand on her neck. "Easy girl." It was obvious she wasn't the only one bothered as deep whines emanated from the other dragons as well.
Toothless was the most comfortable of all of them with his thoughts distracted by looking for the dragons he smelled. Ever since the weird blue gem incident, he wanted nothing more than to find them. They knew something that much was obvious. After a few minutes the Nadder slowed her pace and seemed to look around. The further into the fog, the older the ships appeared or what was left of them. Sailors kept their distance from this place, and even 'would be' salvagers kept to the edge. This is the deepest the riders had ever gone in as they looked over the rotten wooden ship ruins around them. "This must be where the scent ends." Astrid declared as Stormfly hovered in place in the air. The Nadder seemed to look around carefully.
Toothless dropped out of the sky to land on the sturdiest ship he saw. The wood under one of his back claws sank under his weight, but held everywhere else. "What's up bud? Hear something?" Hiccup asked as he looked at the alert and upright ears of his dragon.
"Maybe he hears the screech of the monster eels that live here." Tuff commented absent mindedly.
That of course unnerved a few others especially Fishlegs who held close to his dragon. "Don't worry girl h-he's just kidding."
"Or maybe a whole bunch of 'em" Ruff added in with a grin.
Fishleg's whimpered at the thought while Snotlout wore an uneasy expression. "So no dragons….. let's just go. Maybe they went back to the island?"
"Oh come on Snotlout." Astrid remarked as she landed Stormfly. "Man up would you?"
"Hey I'm not scared!" He defended. "It's uh…. Hookfang. You know how dragons are with eels." The Nightmare, though bothered by the eels, wasn't happy with his rider as he lit up a small fire under him. Seconds later Snotlout jumped and landed on the ship partially falling through the deck in the process. "Hookfang!"
"Quiet!" Hiccup ordered as he watched Toothless' ears twitch. The Night Fury then placed his head against the wooden deck beneath him curiously. He then began a disdainful clicking noise as he backed away from the spot he'd investigated. "Toothless? What's wrong?"
"Uh guys? You might want to get up here….. like now!" Fishlegs cried out in fear as he pointed to the horizon. In the dim light of the mists a large dragon like form appeared that was amplified by a flickering light at the head.
Hiccup at Toothless only saw the bolt fire just as they turned to see the mysterious dragon. It flew past them before they could even register what happened. Toothless finally responded with a roar in outrage, but felt a tug on his saddle before he could fire back. "Over here bud!" Hiccup ordered as he pulled at the handles and swung himself on his back. The angry hiss that came from behind was all Toothless needed to remember what had his attention before. The monstrous eel that slithered up through a hole in the deck seemed only grazed by the bolt, but angry none the less. It cocked its head back to attack while Toothless jumped into the air. The incredible length of the sea beast darted forwards and easily closed the distance between it and the dragon. Before it could snap down its jaws on the Night Fury's tail, however, a large boulder seemed to fly through the air, and wedged into its mouth. The eel fell back from the impact and further damaged the ship it came out of. "What was that!?"
"Is someone launching a catapult in here?" Fishlegs wondered in amazement as he looked off into the distance. While he couldn't see the source of the boulder, he couldn't see the dragon either. "Where'd the dragon go?!" He yelped in worry.
"I think that was the dragon…." Astrid commented as she watched the boulder drop from the eel's jaws with an eerie glow. The dragon uncurled its form and landed on the ship with a defensive stance. It took no time at all for Hiccup to recognize the familiar dragon glaring at him and the others. "Spyro?" The purple dragon only responded with a fierce bolt of lightning. Thought it surprised the riders and their dragons, it quickly became clear that the dragon was after the second eel that had risen up in the commotion. He then dashed over to the fresh hole that Snotlout had finally gotten out of and swiped at the monstrous eel that was emerging. His claws proved effective in forcing the creature to retreat as he watched the hole intently.
Toothless was amazed at the dragon's abilities, and how he'd not been afraid of the eels. While fighting eels was something he could do if he had to, the Night Fury knew he'd rather fly away. Just as the third eel ducked back into the boat he noticed the first one was slithering silently behind Spyro. He gave little hesitation when he charged up his attack, and blasted the eel back away from the purple dragon. Spyro seemed surprised at the assistance before flying up into the air. "Let's get out of here!" Hiccup finally announced as Toothless took flight as well. The other riders quickly complied with relief in their expressions. Spyro dashed back through the mist before any of the riders could get a solid bearing, and Toothless was quick to follow. "Toothless what are you doing? He doesn't want us to go after him." He informed in protest, and in a loud voice audible to the other riders.
"What do you mean Hiccup?" Astrid asked as she flew just behind. "They escaped didn't they?"
"And you couldn't find them?" Fishlegs added in from a bit further back.
Hiccup only took a passing glance back and let out a breath. "Not exactly….." He then pat Toothless' neck to get his attention. "Come on bud." Toothless roared his disagreement as he picked up the pace. The Night Fury was gaining on the smaller dragon rather well, and seemed to be clearly faster. If it weren't for the mist, and Spyro's head start, he would have caught up. He then let out a grunt as his spine fin split with a collection of clicks. His jump in speed almost assured him catching up until this strange black smoke appeared out of nowhere.
It was thick, and Hiccup couldn't see his hand in front of his face once they were in it. While Hiccup just hugged down tighter on the Night Fury's saddle he heard disgruntled shouts from behind. Toothless was not impeded at all from his pursuit as he let out a harsh screech. His bat-like echo location ability made dark places a breeze. The determined Night Fury wouldn't let anything stop him from getting to that dragon. He knew that dragon knew something about those rocks. Those rocks did something to him, and he still didn't really understand what; but it made him stronger, faster, and more maneuverable. Hiccup could understand that much, but not everything. All he could tell was that Toothless had been determined to find those dragons since that strange glowing incident. "I don't really know what's going on with you, but if you need to find those dragons, I'm with you. Astrid should be able to lead the others out of the mists." He proclaimed to the pleasure of the black dragon he rode.
Toothless knew Astrid could handle things as well, even though he felt a little bad leaving them behind. Now that he got Hiccup's attention though, there was no way he wanted to lose that dragon. Toothless let out another screech to guide his way, and realized the purple dragon was with another before the blue bolt tore through the strange smoke. It didn't even graze him as it shot by, but their flight ended none the less. Regardless of whether the shot was to warn or if it missed, the metal on Toothless' tail pulled it right in, and the artificial fin burst into flame. He was instantly pulled to the side from the imbalance. "Whoa!" Hiccup cried out along with Toothless who was finding it very hard to straighten up.
Just keeping in the sky was hard enough as they were pulled further and further off course towards the right. After a few minutes of grazing ruined ship masts, and flags, they finally couldn't keep in the sky and tumbled down on a surprisingly solid surface. Toothless, though sore from the landing, took solace in the fact that he had gotten Hiccup safely into his wings after nearly losing him with the last mast they hit. He let out a grunt before lifting his wing to check on the human.
Hiccup leaned up with his hand on his head. "Thanks bud that was a close one." He said with a pained smirk. Toothless trilled with a tired expression. He happily whipped his tail around, and the frayed wires creaked from the strain. Hiccup stood up carefully on the dragon's wing since the bones could be delicate, and allowed Toothless to retract it and roll over. "Looks like we lost 'em anyway bud." The Viking stated as he looked around the misty rock they landed on. He could see the shadows of nearby sunken boats where they'd come from, but after this rocky surface they weren't as close or common. It seemed he'd found a small island out in the ship graveyard, and they were lucky to land there instead of the water or into a ship. Now though, they had to figure out a new plan for themselves, and the dragons.
Boom! And stuff happens! I thought this could be a cool place to go into after rewatching "Race to the Edge." It quickly became a perfect location for interesting events... which I will not spoil! Anyway, so the gang is split up with Hiccup and Toothless lost in the mists. I wonder where this will lead?
BTW, the other riders really just stopped before heading into the smoke. Hiccup and Toothless weren't being careless about leaving them behind, and I wasn't trying to make it sound that way.
I hope you enjoyed dracologistmaster, and everyone else who's read this far. Comments and questions are more than welcome.=^-^=
