I blame this piece's creation on the boring day. Either way, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't remember where I read this fanfic about dragons bein' possessive, but I want you to know that it was inspired by someone aside from me, and How to Train Your Dragon isn't mine either.
Prompt: Riders
Dragons are possessive.
It was a known fact anybody knows. Well, the ones who have been in contact with dragons anyway.
They protected their territories and foods jealously, and one who tries to thief from a dragon – don't count on seeing them again. To the intelligent reptiles, anything taken from them was like a tooth taken from a human, and although it doesn't physically hurt, when a dragon lets something in its possession gets stolen, that's one hell of a blow to their ego.
For a dragon to actually share its property with anybody or anything, one of its kin or another kind, was a sign of complete trust and respect. Few dragons have willingly done this, and certainly not more than a handful of the Higher Dragons.
When a dragon says something like "my friend", it means that the friend belongs to it – more like a property as well. It was just like how humans say "my most treasured reminder of a dead grandma" and meant it exactly that way, no more, no less. So when a dragon considers something a friend, except for or even its own mate, it will be extremely territorial over that friend.
However, when a dragon says "my rider", that is a completely different story.
By saying that, the dragon accepted, grudgingly or not, that the person referred by that title is its equal – and dragon egos have crazy sizes – in all ways except for physical, and the mind always goes deeper than the body. It means that this "rider" has almost complete control over the dragon and can charm it into doing almost anything, as long as enough persuasive words were given. It means that when this rider is gone, there will be no second, and there never will be. No substitute, no betrayal. The contract is signed as soon as the dragon utters this word to refer to its partner.
Few people understood this, and certainly not on Berk. In fact, not one understood that. The dragon riders there were referred to by their dragons as "friends" and "masters" for the humblest ones.
Of course, humans often don't understand anything more intelligent than an ape, but there was one boy who went very close to totally understanding that term, and his dragon, of course, perfectly understood that.
In his generation and seven more after that, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was the only one referred to by his Night Fury, Toothless, as "my rider".
Dragon respect. Nothing harder to earn...except for a walk alone around the neighborhood from your overprotective mom. I think.
I'll do a pair of this. The next one will be "dragons". Until then, read and review and know that I'm thankful that you click on this story!
~the Apprentice
