Goblin
Chapter 10- First Flight
Reply to Nox Descious:
I named the Skrill Goblin in honor of my pet snake, Goblin, who passed away when I was working on the first chapter of this story. T_T. I miss you, bud.
Well, on with the chapter.
Today was the day.
The two weeks had passed in the blink of an eye. The hatchlings were now old enough to fly, having grown twice their size, like the size of a big dog, and not old enough to fend for themselves just yet. It took years for hatchlings to become completely independent.
Teaching them how to fly was not that hard, it just depended on the hatchling's innate ability. Before even getting off the ground, their parents showed them how to level off with the wind, as well as to speed up and brake. The methods of leveling off and actual flight were different, depending on the breed.
In Goblin and Quinarth's case, she took care of teaching Nibblertooth, Kyra, Kyroc and Vermillion. Goblin, on the other hand, taught Lightingbolt, Peal and Syrilth.
"Daddy, when are we going to fly?" Pearl whined, staring at the other hatchlings that were already trying to fly.
"Before learning to run, you learn to walk." Goblin simply said. "Do you remember what I taught you last week?"
"Lift force is produced by the action of air flow on the wing, also known as airfoil. It occurs because the air has a lower pressure just above the wings and higher pressure below. Additional net lift may come from airflow around our bodies, especially during intermittent flight while our wings are folded or semi-folded." Lightingbolt explained.
"That's… right." Sometimes Goblin thought his son was smarter than him. "First of anything, I want you to try to lift off and stay off the ground for at least ten seconds."
Pearl whined in dismay, but her brother did as told. Lightingbolt's flapping was too fast, and after five seconds he fell to the ground after seven seconds. Pearl's wings didn't synchronize with each other and she couldn't lift off the ground at all. Syrilth just stared at his siblings with wide pupils.
"If you flap your wings too fast, you'll get tired and you won't be able lift off at all." Goblin told Lightingbolt, before turning to Pearl. "Try to flap your wings at the same time, Pearl."
"What about him?" Pearl pointed at Syrilth. "He didn't to anything!"
"Maybe he's just nervous." Lightingbolt suggested.
"Syrilth, it's okay." Goblin approached his youngest hatchling. "It doesn't matter if you can't do it at first, all you have to learn is how to flap your-"
Before he could continue, Syrilth got off the ground, and flapped his wings in perfect synchronization and at the right speed. In fact, he was the only one who could spend the ten seconds in the air.
"…wings." Goblin finished in surprise.
"Cool! How did you do that?" Lightingbolt scrambled to his younger brother excitedly, his tail wagging. But like always, Syrilth didn't reply.
"Beginners luck." Pearl muttered under her breath. She tried to get off the ground once more, but again her wings were unsynchronized.
It took about twenty minutes for Lightingbolt and Pearl to properly learn to flap their wings. Quinarth was a little a little ahead of Goblin, and their other hatchlings were already attempting to fly, so Goblin tried to speed up things a little bit.
"Do you remember what flapping was?" Goblin asked his children, half-expecting Lightingbolt to answer.
"It's opposed to gliding, because the wings continue to develop lift, but rotate forward to provide thrust, counteracting drag and increasing speed. It also has the effect of increasing lift to counteract weight, allowing to maintain height or to climb." He was right.
"Thanks, Lightingbolt, and-"
"Flapping involves two stages. The down-stroke, which provides the majority of the thrust, and the up-stroke, which can also provide some thrust. At each-up stroke the wing is slightly folded inwards to reduce the energetic cost of flapping-wing flight."
"Can I continue, son?"
"Sorry dad."
Pearl rolled her eyes. "Bookworm."
"You don't even know what a book is."
"Anyway, children." Goblin spoke up before they started to argue again. "You have to synchronize your flapping as you gain speed. Like this." Goblin looked for an empty path so he would not bump into other dragons. Then he started running, stretching out his wings and taking off with a flap. He looked down at his hatchlings. "Now you try it. Don't worry if you can't take off, the winds will blow you back to the island."
Various other dragons had stopped in their flying lessons to see how the Skrill younglings turned out.
"I go first!" Pearl pushed her brothers aside, and ran down the same pathway her father had used. She flared her wings open and flapped, but she fell to the ground again. She tried again, but her wings wouldn't help her.
"Pearl, don't flap your wings so fast!" Goblin called to her, but she ignored her father and kept trying to take off.
"Look, daddy!" Pearl managed to stay a few seconds above the ground, but she fell with a loud thud, only to try it again. "I'm going to be the best flier! That's because Skrills are best at everything!"
Goblin shook his head and landed next to his daughter just in time to stop Pearl from doing another failed attempt. "You have strength, Pearl. But Skrills make one of the best hunters for a reason alone."
"I know, their stealth and silent flight." Pearl replied. "By the time my wings grow-"
"The prey will have run away. And you and your hatchlings will go hungry."
"Dad, can I try now?" Lightingbolt yelled from the other side of the path.
"Remember, you have to flap your wings at the right speed!"
Lightingbolt sped down the rock path, opening his wings, and starting to flap. It took him a while, but he managed to take off. The hatchling let out a squeal of excitement, and flew around other dragons. "Look at me, dad!"
Pearl felt a pang of jealously when she noticed her father glancing proudly at her brother. "That was just luck."
Syrilth stared at his airborne brother with awe, before deciding to try too. He ran towards the cliff overlooking the ocean, stretching his wings; with clumsy but decided wing beats, Syrilth jumped off the cliff and the wind currents lifted him towards the air. The hatchling did not let any sound, but anyone could see he was very excited. Quinarth flew towards her sons, followed by the rest of their now airborne siblings. The two baby Skrills circled around their mother.
"Mama! We're flying!" cried Lightingbolt.
"Wee!" Kyroc flew after Lightingbolt, followed soon by Nibblertooth and Vermillion.
Pearl whined. "Daddy! I want to fly like them! It's not fair!"
Goblin looked down at his daughter. "Don't worry, you will. Let's try again."
By midday, Pearl had managed to finally take off, and was soon flying with her siblings. Goblin could tell, however, she resented having being the last to fly.
At sundown, it was finally time to return to Berk. Since it was a three-day journey without any stopovers, and hatchlings were not yet used to flying for that long, their parents would have to carry them all the way to Berk.
"Why can't we fly with you, mama?" Vermillion inquired from her mother's back.
"You're too young to fly without rest for three days, dear." Quinarth replied simply.
"And believe me, children, it's exhausting." Goblin sighed in dismay. He would carry Lightingbolt, Syrilth, Kyroc and Nibblertooth. "You wouldn't last more than an hour, considering you've just learned to fly."
Before any of the hatchlings could protest, all dragons in the island took off the ground, taking their hatchlings on their backs. Goblin and Quinarth took off and followed the rest of the dragons, within minutes the island was only a tiny spot on the ocean. Nibblertooth gulped and lowered his small frame closer to his father's body. It seemed like a long fall.
It had been two days since the dragons departed for Berk. Two days without food, drink nor rest. Adults could withstand weeks without feeding, but hatchlings couldn't. They were hungry every few hours. One of the reasons hatchlings had to be taken by their parents back to Berk was that sometimes they got lost in the massive flight of dragons.
"Mommy, I'm hungry." Vermillion whined.
"How long until we get there?" Lightingbolt protested. "I'm bored!"
"Only one more day, children." Goblin replied with a yawn. He was exhausted.
"Dad, how's Berk like?" Lightingbolt inquired.
"Is it like the island we just left?" Kyra asked.
"Oh, no, children, it's much larger." Quinarth explained. "There are forests, mountains, coves and there's a beautiful beach near the village."
Of course, this only made the children ask even more questions.
"What's a village?"
"Are there more dragons there?"
"Is there any food?"
"The village is where the humans live, children." Goblin explained. "Don't be afraid, they won't harm you. Besides, I want to introduce you to a friend."
"What kind of friend, daddy?" Vermillion asked.
"Is he a dragon?" Kyroc asked.
"No. She is a human, and a very nice human. If you heard how we met, you'd burst out in laughter." Goblin chuckled at this.
"Does she have food?"
Quinarth shook her head. "Nibblertooth, can you think in nothing else than food?"
"I'm hungry!"
"Hey, Gob!" Just then, Hookfang joined the pair of dragons in flight. Three of his hatchlings-the purple male Grapefang, the red female Flamebite and the gray blue male Oceanshock-were on his back, and exchanged greetings with Goblin and Quinarth's hatchlings.
"Hey, uncle Hookfang!" Kyra waved her wing at the Monstrous Nightmare.
"Tired?" Hookfang inquired with a yawn, showing his row of sharp teeth. "I feel like I'm going to faint at any moment."
"Tell me." Goblin replied with another yawn of his own. "Why did the nesting site have to be that far? Couldn't you have chosen a place closer to Berk?"
"We thought about that, but at that time we were at war with the humans. We didn't want to risk a Viking boat finding the island and smash our eggs."
"Sounds logical."
After a while of chattering, the group heard a commotion in the upper section of the flight. Goblin spotted Steelhorn and his mate flying above, but what caught him by surprise was that their hatchlings were flying alongside their parents. That was a terrible mistake, if the hatchlings' wings failed and their parents failed to catch them in time, they would fall into the ocean and drown.
"Dad, I'm tired." He heard Fireblaze complain.
"My wings are aching!" One of the female hatchling's protested.
"Quit whining like a ton of lizards!" Steelhorn scolded them harshly. "You're Monstrous Nightmares, you have to learn to endure trivial things like this!"
Goblin thought their mother would say something, but she remained silent. What kind of mother let her mate treat her children like that? Sometimes he wondered why she had mated with him if he was so mean-spirited.
"I feel sorry for Karlya." Stormfly sighed, her two green hatchlings-male and female- on her back.
"She chose a terrible dragon as a mate." Akkyold, her mate, added. He carried the other two, blue-scaled hatchlings. Both males.
Goblin had not noticed they were just above them. "You know her?"
"We're distant friends." Hookfang replied. "But when she mated with Steelhorn, he forbad her to go near other males. I'm glad you didn't get to see that, he nearly killed her."
"And why did she mate with him if he's such an asshole?" Goblin inquired.
Akkyold chuckled at the term he used with Steelhorn. "He wasn't always like that. He fooled her into thinking he was a good dragon, and didn't realize who he really was until it was too late."
"The worst of all is that he raises all his clutches to be like him." Hookfang sighed sadly. "His male hatchlings, at least. He pays almost no heed to his female offspring."
"Haha! I can't believe you subdued him in a matter of seconds, Goblin!" Akkyold chuckled.
"He was insulting Quinarth, I just couldn't let that go unpunished." Goblin replied. "Besides, someone had to put him a stop on his attitude."
"Just be careful around him, Gob." Quinarth stated. "He's the type to hold a grudge. I don't want you getting hurt."
Goblin gave his mate a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. The least thing he can do to my is burn my feet."
Besides, it's not like they were going to be mortal enemies, right?
Next day, the dragons arrived to Berk until nightfall. The snow was still there, so the hatchlings were in for a cold, uncomfortable surprise. Immediately, all dragons who had a human headed to their homes, were they and their hatchlings were received warmly.
Goblin and Quinarth, however, landed with other dragons on the outskirts of the village. Quinarth agreed on living on Berk, but she thought it would be better to make a nest for them to live in, thinking they wouldn't fit on Heather's house. The hatchlings hopped down from their parents' backs into the snow, but quickly regretted it as soon as they felt their feet touching the coldness.
"Its cold!" Kyroc protested, jumping and looking for a snowless spot.
"My feet are freezing, mommy!" Lightingbolt whined, trying to get into his mother's feet.
As soon as the Skrill landed with his family, the villagers approached the family, in curiosity of seeing Skrill hatchlings. They seemed to think the children's jumping and lifting their paws was some sort of playing routine.
"Look at that! They're playing in the snow!"
"They're cute!"
"I want one!"
"Hush! They're just babies!"
Among the crowd, Goblin was looking for a certain black-haired girl. His wish came true as Heather ran through the crowd and came to greet him, wrapping her arms around his thick neck.
"Goblin, you're back!" She exclaimed, before looking down at his children. "Awww, you brought your hatchlings!"
When they realized they were the center of unwanted attention, the hatchlings hid behind their father from the crowd of curious Vikings. When Heather kneeled down, however, Syrilth was the first to approach her with curious eyes. Maybe this was the friend their father was talking about. Heather ran her hand down Syrilth's back, and the little one purred contently. Immediately, the rest of his siblings scrambled to Heather to get her attention.
Shortly after, the rest of the teens came to where Goblin had landed, and saw the three Skrill hatchlings playing fondly with Heather. Fishlegs had the Book of Dragons with him, as almost always, and immediately started sketching the baby Skrills. Hiccup, meanwhile, approached Heather and caught the attention of Goblin's children.
"Looks like we're famous, Gob." Quinarth giggled.
Goblin sighed. "I just hope it won't get into their heads."
"Look at that, the Nadder hatchling got Goblin's looks." Hiccup spoke in awe as he petted Nibblertooth's head.
"A female Skrill? This is big!" Fishlegs added. "It means we can grow the Skrill population in Berk!"
Pearl obviously had no idea what that meant, something which Goblin was thankful for.
Astrid rolled her eyes. "Fishlegs, don't you think she's a little too young for that?"
"Awww, look at you guys!" Heather was overwhelmed as all of Goblin's offspring climbed unto her to escape from the cold snow. "You don't stand the cold either? Haha!"
They were so excited none of them realized they were being watched.