Dragon Friend (sequel to the dragon boy) Chapter 10 - Storm vs Sky
frostcup fanfic

Authors note: okay I'm really tired so I'll make this short^^ hope you enjoy the chapter, please a review and I will see you all tommorow with a bit of Cloudjumper POV.^^ I wasn't joking when I said this would be short:-) later!

They landed to be greeted by an enthusiastic Valka.
"Oh, that was incredible! I can't remember the last time I had so much fun." Cloudjumper gave a sort of rumbling cough behind her.
"Except when I'm flying with you, Cloudjumper." She amended.

The Stormcutter raised his head, satisfied by this answer, and began to walk off, sensing that his rider and her son would want some time alone. The other two dragons accompanied him- one of them still in human form.

Hiccup shared a secretive look with his mother. She'd seen the little trick he'd pulled up in the air a few moments ago, and was astonished by it.

Hiccup saw Jack look back and notice their little secret sharing expressions, and his eyes narrowed, but he continued walking. Valka followed his gaze to the white haired boy.
"Will he be okay with the dragons?" Valka asked. "I'm not being rude, am I?" She wondered.
"No, he'll be fine. He has a thing for dragons. We both do." Hiccup reassured her, she smiled at him. Hiccup was still drinking in the fact that she was here, in front of him- and she was doing the same.
"I'm sorry I left you..." Valka began.
"It's alright." Hiccup said, and the strange thing was, he meant it.

For a long time, he'd been upset, even angered, at his mothers absence, and had come up with a thousand things to yell at her, if they ever met. But now, he didn't care about any of that. All that mattered, was that she was here. "I just have so many questions. That's all." He told her.
"Like what?" She queried, and Hiccup smiled. Finally, he'd get some answers.

Jack narrowed their bond. He figured Hiccup would want some "privacy" (as he so gently put it earlier). He needed the opportunity to talk alone with his mum, to sort out a few things. But Jack couldn't help but notice the twinkly secret eyes they'd gave each other, as he'd walked off. Like they'd just shared a secret right under his nose, and he hadn't even seen it. Oh well. Perhaps Hiccup did have some fancy new secret- he'd pester it out of him sooner or later. For now, though, he'd leave him to his mother.

He didn't mind leaving them behind. Besides, it wasn't as if he was alone. He still had the two dragons, who'd left with him. Speaking of them, Jack had noticed that one didn't seem to have grasped the whole concept of "playtime".

Once they rounded a corner- out of sight of the Vikings- Jack switched into his original dragon shape, so he could talk with the slightly larger dragon. He didn't so much as blink at the transformation- dragons never did, they could smell the dragon in him.
"So, I noticed you didn't take much part in the game." He pointed out to the Stormcutter. Cloudjumper snorted with a little derision.
"Games. They are hatchlings to play, and grown ones to watch." He replied.

Of course, Jack thought, he was one of those high and mighty dragons, who seemed to think themselves above everything- including, apparently, enjoyment. Jack never understood them- honour and dignity and all that stuff he got, but how did they not have enjoy games? As near as he could figure, they'd forgotten why fun was fun. He might not understand those dragons, but he knew how to deal with them.

"Yeah right. I bet you were just afraid of getting shown up." He taunted. Cloudjumper turned a cool, though somewhat annoyed, head to him.
"Ha. No one shows me up. I can accomplish aerial feats, regular fliers would only attempt in their dreams." He informed, proudly. Jack hid a smile- brilliant, a good sense of self pride was always useful... to him, at least.
"Well how about a little contest, then." He challenged. "Sky Dragon against Stormcutter. First to land a touch in midair. All airspace is open, and youre free to use anything to your advantage." He said, laying out the rules- the posh dragons were always big lovers of them. Cloudjumper's eyes glimmered with confidence as he replied.
"I accept."

Together, both dragons made themselves airborne. Toothless watched from below, excited to see some high quality acrobatics- like he was about to watch a high action sport. Both the dual winged and long winged dragons flew to face each other, a considerable distance apart. Each narrowed their eyes at their competitor. Toothless roared underneath them, to signify the start of the competition.

Immediately, Jack swooped down, away from Cloudjumper, who had expected an immediate attack from the Sky Dragon, but soon followed the quick flier, straining to gain ground on him. Cloudjumper was confused. Where was he going? The aim was to tap the opponent, not run away! What strategy was he employing? He wondered.

Continuing the pursuit, they soon came to an abandoned entrance to the nest. The reason it was so was because it was deemed too dangerous for most dragons to navigate. The end might be sealed, but the narrow route still remained, and it was into here the white scaled led the chaser.

What was he planning- some kind of hide and ambush technique? Ha, he knew the ice routes and cave systems better than any dragon- especially this newcomer. Victory would soon be his.

They shot into the passage like bullets. Ice spikes protruded from the ground at random intervals, so they both had to dive, bank and climb to maintain the chase. Cloudjumper struggled to keep sight of his target. The white hide blending perfectly with the ice around him, even though it was tinged slightly green in colour. He had to finish this thing, and soon... before... No! He lost him. After one particularly tight turn, the dragon vanished.

Cloudjumper kept his eyes, and ears, peeled for any sudden attacks the youngster might spring on him, whilst, simultaneously, searching for him, to launch an attack of his own. He wove through the spikes with astonishing speed and skill. He had to admit- he was mildly impressed with the young dragons flying skills, especially in an unfamiliar territory. This win wasn't going to be so easy as he thought. He was clearly a clever thinker- a tactical planner. He had to anticipate every possibility, expect the unexpected.

Suddenly, his ears raised. That was something he hadn't expected.

The white scaled dragon was roaring with delight, as he rolled and jumped off the surrounding ice spikes.

The Stormcutter was confused- what was he doing?! He was giving away his position! He temporarily turned human for no other reason than to spring off the point of one of the obstacles. Cloudjumper shook his head- why?... Oh well- why question stupidity when it works in your favour, he thought. He leaned into a vertical turn, planning to tackle him.

The nimble dragon slipped out of the lunge with the speed and suddenness of lightning. Cloudjumper's eyes widened in surprise. Woah, he was good.

The slimmer dragon led them back out into the open. Finally! He could start flying without having to concentrate to avoid-. A missile whistled by his head, and he had to duck to avoid it. What the?! Was that even in the rules? Another one narrowly missed his lower wing. Cloudjumper narrowed his eyes at the rock throwing flyer, a slight curve appearing at his mouth. So... this tricky, little kid wants to play with rocks? Then lets play.

The bigger dragon broke off a large, boulder like chunk of ice off a neaby wall, and lugged it at the dragon throwing much smaller projectiles. It sailed towards him, and Cloudjumper lifted his head smugly.

Ha, he'd won! He'd shown that- wait... why was that rock getting bigger... whoa! He dodged just in time, as the same missile he'd thrown at the Sky Dragon rebounded on a blast of wind, and turned on its thrower. Oh, so that's how he wants to play it! Well then, time to show him what he could do.

More missiles flew, both away from and towards Cloudjumper. Both of the dragons pulled off some pretty amazing dodges- rolling backwards shooting side wards, they had to make sure it didn't hit a single part of them, a single misplaced wing, tail , even head and it was all over.

Cloudjumper flipped upside down. This was brilliant! He wasn't any closer to winning the game, but he didn't care. He was having fun! He didn't understand it- there wasn't any reason, or purpose, to this pointless little rock throwing contest... and yet, he couldn't remember feeling so elated. The last time he felt this way was when he was a hatchling. Oh how he'd missed that simple euphoria of childlike enjoyment- never again would he scorn the young. They weren't immature, they were enjoying themselves- they were happy, and that was how he felt right now.

He crowed in delight, as he sucessfully dodged the oncoming projectile. The cry of joy echoed by his Sky Dragon opponent. Bring on the next one, Cloudjumper thought. But, this time he found something much bigger, and whiter, than a rock heading towards him. He flipped backwards to avoid the attack.

Now for the moment he'd been waiting for since the beginning of the competition- close quarter, fast fire avoidance and attack.

It was a very close competition. Jack's smaller size gave him greater agility and speed than the larger dragon, but Cloudjumper had greater reach and power, so it was anyone's game.

It was almost like a dance, the way they wove into and out of each other- so close, but never quite touching. The contest was fast and furious, neither of them were willing to lose.

Eventually, Cloudjumper swerved to avoid a swipe from the dragon's tail, and turned to face his opponent- but... he wasn't there.

He sniffed the air. Even his scent had vanished... but how?

An instinct- or perhaps it was the disturbance of air- made him look up. A white haired boy grinned mischievously back at him, and though it was much too late, he dived anyway. A second later, a white wing hit him with a resounding slap.

Cloudjumper looked up at Sky Dragon. His eyes were shining, and lip was curved into a grin only the Sky Dragon could grin. The Stormcutter attempted a smile back, the buzz of excitement still with him. Well played, he thought to himself, and he swooped down to land.

Quite by deliberate chance, Jack had taken them a full loop, so that they were greeted by an enthusiastic Night Fury. His expression as he'd watched only slightly less amazed than when he saw the glittering rainbow ice.

When the black dragon had calmed down, and they'd both regained enough breath and energy to speak, they did so.
"I must admit, I thought you a disgrace to your species, at first." Cloudjumper admitted. "But, it seems I held that belief in error. You are a fine flyer." He amended, gazing admirably at the white dragon. Jack wasn't sure how to take it at first, but by the end of the comment his eyes shone with appreciation, and he nodded at the Stormcutter- it was quite high praise coming from one so high strung such as Cloudjumper.

"So how are they, the two four flyers?" He queried, using the dragon name for the Sky Dragons. "I remember they were a noble race. Haven't seen many about of late." He recalled.

Jack's head dropped a little, as he lowered his gaze.
"Just me now." He muttered. The four winged dragon looked quite taken aback by this news. Toothless butted his friend, gently, with his head, comforting him with his presence. Jack rumbled gently in the back of his throat, and playfully returned the nudge- he'd learned by now not to let the past weigh down on him too much.

The Stormcutter was watching him, as though seeing him anew.
"Yours is a great burden you carry, young one." He said, sympathy clear in his tone. Jack looked up to meet his slightly saddened gaze, forcibly reminded of the words of the Alpha.
"It's not as heavy as you think." He told him, echoing the great dragon. He thought he'd finally figured out what those words meant.

He looked across at the two riders- one of them in particular.

Toothless looked with him, and purred softly at the scene in front of them. Valka held Hiccup in a warm embrace. Mother and son, together at last.

Cloudjumper looked mildly impressed with Jack's strong words, and turned his owl like head to follow the white dragon's gaze, to the two humans. The dual winged bowed his head in understanding.

He had the boy.

Seeking solace, and company, in the form of a human... Cloudjumper of all dragons could relate to that.
"They are fascinating creatures." The Stormcutter commented.

Toothless snorted- fascinating?! Who really cared about that? They were good fun, and good friends- and that was all that mattered- to him, anyway.

"I've known my rider for a good..." Cloudjumper tilted his head, in consideration of the length of time they'd flown together. "At least fifteen season cycles." He decided.
"So you've known Valka a pretty long time, then." Jack said, the regal dragon tilted his head round the other way.
"Valka, is it? A curious thing, this name business." He mused. "Humans, and your kind, were the only two to ever use them. Then again, the two fours always were more connected to them than most. It is a shame they are gone. I always thought they represented the best of both them, and us." He reflected, rather philosophically.

Toothless had stopped paying attention halfway through. He seemed to have picked up the habit of mouthing from his time on Berk, and was silently blah blah blahing behind the bigger dragon's back.

The Night Fury seemed to be trying more and more to be like a human, lately. He loved the strange two legged things.

Jack chuckled slightly- which he quickly hid as a cough, when the Stormcutter turned to him.
"So, uh, how did you two meet" Jack prompted, mildly curious, and seeking to escape a scolding from not paying attention.

The large dragon's eyes seemed to grow faraway, as they journeyed to the land of the past. He began to recount his tale to them.