Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be.
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Toothless had not approved of the idea of returning to the human areas. Granted, he didn't have a large number of options available, but still he didn't want to endanger his new Rider. However, his human had ridiculously flimsy clothing, no supplies, not even a basic knife for chores! How did his people expect him to survive? He knew everyone carried a knife, though it had unsettled him at first. Until he realized that since humans had no useful claws or sharp teeth, they needed some kind of substitute. Then a thought occurred to him. All humans used to need a knife…
He finally decided to listen to his Rider's urgings. Not that he really understood all the words. "Campsite" he knew, that was where all of the humans tended to stay. "Rangers" he was pretty sure meant the humans that had attacked his Rider, and the nonsense linking those two words together had enough of a slight whine to it he assumed they translated as some form of "Please?" It was at least more than he'd understood when getting to know his first Rider.
But he hadn't really expected the press of humans his sharp sight had picked out below him. It was a mostly fan-shaped gathering, focused on a single point. Suddenly a sense of glee filled him and he remembered the fun of hearing "Night Fury! Get Down!" shouted as he dove. He chortled to himself as he decided to revisit those memories through a reenactment. Mike only made a faint gasp as he put himself into a steep dive that he quickly began to regret. Sky and Stars he was out of shape! The ache that had faded began to build up in his wings again as he held them steady, but the joy of flight made up for it as he cried out his warning scream.
And oh, how much fun it was to see the stupid humans run like rabbits as he descended. He purred to himself as he managed, despite his less than perfect condition, a perfect landing. As befit such a remarkable creature as he, of course, and gave him an added joy.
Having the humans then immediately try to attack his human on the other hand was simply irritating. Fortunately his Rider had the sense to stay by him this time. And his Rider even snarled at the larger, armed humans, even at whole groups of them. He felt so proud.
The female who had approached had an odd scent, something that picked at his memory, but couldn't place until the other male had approached calmly. The sheer fury had distorted the scent of the female, but having the second human right next to his Rider helped him place it. Siblings. That was what he had scented from this one and the female. After identifying the puzzle, he relaxed. Even when he heard a quiet sound of a scuffle he didn't really react. Instead it brought back memories of the decades he'd spent among his first Rider's descendants.
He'd been astonished at the fragility of Hiccup's first offspring. While a dragon's eggs were vulnerable, the hatchlings themselves were only less dangerous in comparison to their parents. By the time their scales had dried and hardened, which only took about an hour or so, their claws were hard enough to kill, as were their teeth. Comparing that to the tiny reddish worm cradled protectively in his Hiccup's hands, he honestly wondered how any human survived their first hours.
As the baby had grown he'd become more interested. He remembered crouching down behind his remaining fin, flicking it open and shut to the delight of the child. It was a good memory. Though he'd learned that a happy human young could make a shrill screech that rivaled an adult Skrill's attack scream. His ears had rung for several moments afterwards. And as more children came, the happy chaos increased, and he had spent many nights having the children crawl over him, or curl up against him. Like now.
Given that Astrid and Hiccup had had five children reach adulthood, not to mention all the children their children had, he'd gotten long used to the sibling quarrels. He could tell the difference between a fight that was in a way affectionate, and the ones that would draw blood. He'd learned to tune it out, or to use his tail to good effect in separating them. It was hard, even for Viking children at their brattiest, to fight when one of them had been picked up and now dangled a few feet above the other. He kept that in mind should the other sibling, the female one (didn't humans have a word for that?), approach again in such a hostile way.
It was still nice to have several siblings curled against him again. Even with the idiot humans surrounding him, he felt calm.
-xXx-
Mike had figured it would take, oh, a max of five minutes for somebody to notice there were now two humans leaning against the dragon rather than one. He checked his watch again. Yeah, heading on towards fifteen had definitely not been planned.
However, he hadn't taken into account how utterly insane things had gotten while he was talking to Drew, hidden away by Toothless' wings.
First off, the woman who had started yelling at the rangers for bringing out deadly weaponry had apparently resorted to physical violence. There was a fight going on to left of them, which had spread, dragging in the woman's colleagues and other park service personnel who had been trying to break it up. Somebody must've called the state troopers, because one of their squad cars had more or less bullied its way through the crush of news crew vans, and one of the officers was trying to get everybody calmed down, though apparently he'd threatened to smack one of the reporters if they didn't back up, and get out of the way. Which had caused somebody in the crowd to scream "Police brutality!" Which certainly hadn't helped much.
Secondly, with the park service people tied up with that fight, and the news crews, they'd lost control of the gates, and more people had come into the park. It was rather amazing, Mike hadn't believed that there were actually people who dressed like stereotypical hippies , yet here they were. Most were claiming that a person riding a dragon was a sign. A sign of what they couldn't quite agree on. End of the world, beginning of a new one, something prophetic anyways, and they had their copy of the be-all end-all of Nostradamus' prophecies and that proved it! It was the beginning of an age, not that they were exactly eager to label said age, since people tended to laugh at one when you began to babble about The Age of Aquarius. One very loud guy was shouting that this was proof of the Military Industrial complex doing experiments to make a human-dragon hybrid super soldier. Another loud woman was shouting something about aliens. Each group had some of the news crews filming whatever they were yelling about, though it mostly seemed to be the crews who were too far away to get footage of the now three-way brawl between the park service crew, the researchers, and the state police.
Mike had elbowed Drew sharply when he'd suggested they do some jumping jacks to drag people's attention back to the freakin' dragon. Who was lying there quite calmly actually. If anything, Toothless seemed fascinated by the display of lunacy in front of them. The large fins on top of his head were up as he cocked his head back and forth, studying the humans. He kept twisting his head back and forth to keep up with all that was going on, but since all of the humans surrounding them seemed more interested in each other than them, he seemed calm as well.
"Y'know, I wish I had my camera," Drew commented. "I'd take a picture of all that," he waved at the crowds, "and upload it to Wikipedia or Urban Dictionary or something as a visual representation of the phrase 'clusterfuck'."
Toothless snorted, his fins going down as one voice yelled loud enough to be heard over everything, before shaking his head.
"See? Your dragon agrees with me." Drew added, grinning at Mike.
Mike rolled his eyes before trying to kick Drew in the ankle. Since they were both sitting next to each other with their legs stretched out in front of them, and Drew had the stupidly long legs from mom's side of the family, it was more of a kick to the shin. Drew simply snorted and ruffled his hair, much to his annoyance.
"I swear, if I wanted to I could fly off right now, and I don't think they'd even notice." Mike muttered in exasperation. He ran his hands through his hair, straightening what Drew had messed up.
"Try it and I'm not going to get between Ashley and you when she finally finds you."
Mike paused for a thought. "… You fight dirty." He accused his brother. "Anyway, I was just saying if, not that I was planning it. Its not like I have any survivalist training, and I couldn't exactly hide Toothless in a city. I don't care how much people in a big city can ignore, I just can't see them not noticing a big black dragon."
While they had been talking a cameraman in front of them had been panning around to get a shot of the whole scene when he paused, camera pointed at them. He lowered it, still staring at the two of them. Drew waved, elbowing Mike to do the same. The man stared at them, his jaw dropping. The cameraman then turned around, obviously looking for someone. He apparently found who he was looking for, poking one reporter in the shoulder with a finger. The reporter was towards the back of the crowd around the fight, looking like he wanted to get closer to see what was happening, but turned when his camera guy jabbed harder at him. The camera guy jerked his finger towards them, causing the reporter to turn to see, and then stare at them as well. Mike had to bite his lip to keep from laughing at both guys dumbfounded expressions. The pair then cautiously approached.
Toothless' head swiveled to stare directly at them, and he bared his teeth apparently when he felt they were close enough. Prudently, both men stopped.
"Hi, I'm David Melchamp, on-the-scene reporter for WKTU…" The man started a patter before trailing off. "How the hel- ah, heck did you get so close?" He asked, staring straight at Drew.
"I walked." Drew replied, keeping his face completely straight.
Mike rolled his eyes, hard, before shoving at his brother, who started laughing. Toothless glanced at the pair of them and huffed, almost sounding as exasperated as Mike felt.
"Dad's right, you're going to be doing push-ups every five minutes at the academy for your smart mouth." Mike told him.
"Really all I did was come up to my brother here without swinging a weapon, or trying to grab him. I did smack him once in the arm, but as much trouble as he's caused I figured he'd earned it." Drew replied, a bit more seriously once he'd stopped snickering.
"And why did you attempt to approach the dragon, despite the rangers warning everybody to stay away from such a dangerous animal?" The reporter asked. He looked like he wanted to asked Mike questions, but was too unnerved by Toothless' stare to try. He was also trying to stay professional, but kept twitching at every movement Toothless made. Mike could almost swear the dragon was treating it as a game. He would hold still for a while, only to suddenly flick his tail, causing the reporter to jump or flinch.
Drew shrugged. "Because he's my brother. He may or may not be crazy, the jury's still out on that one," Mike punched him in the arm, "but he's not suicidal. And the dragon didn't actually hurt anybody here, only protected the brat here. I figured with all of the screaming and shouting going on, somebody ought to at least try talking."
Having asked some questions, and not been eaten by the dragon seemed to give David a bit more bravery, though he still jumped about a foot in the air when Toothless' tail flicked lightly against his ankle. He still turned towards Mike, intent on asking him some questions as well. Mike noticed that their little group had actually attracted attention from the other reporters hovering around, mostly the ones who were too far away from the action going on around them to get good footage and had actually noticed what was going on. They all stopped at the point that made Toothless growl, but were getting braver, like David, since the dragon was still lying down, rather than clawing the earth snapping and snarling. Toothless was actually looking somewhat cute, the fins on his head were up, and he tilted his head as he watched the crews point the cameras at them.
Mike was actually able to field most of the questions tossed at him relatively easily. Telling the story to Drew first had helped organize it in his mind, making it easier to answer. Most of the reporters were fairly polite about asking questions, Toothless just had to drop the fins on his head slightly and peel a lip back and all of a sudden manners came out in full force. Which was an immense improvement according to Drew. He actually muttered a comment to Mike, during one of the pauses as all of the reporters thought up another question, saying it would be no big loss if Toothless ate a couple of the more obnoxious ones. He would be more than happy to point them out, of course.
Eventually the park people managed to get things sorted out from the chaos, only to notice the relaxed Night Fury surrounded by reporters, though they kept their distance, with two young men leaning against it. This time, given that many people, civilian people, were surrounding the dragon, they approached a lot more carefully. After staring stupidly at the scene for a moment.
Toothless noticed them first, rolling swiftly to his feet, ducking his head down and snarling, scaring the crap out of an inoffensive woman reporter who had come the closest in order to ask Mike a bit more about his flight(s).
"Easy, Toothless," Mike murmured, noticing the rangers were coming to them openly, with their hands held out to show they didn't have anything. "See? I told you if you didn't attack, neither would he." Mike called to them.
"Kid, I've seen that dragon toss people a good twenty feet with that tail of his. And that was before he got cranky. Excuse me for assuming the worst." The man that spoke sounded familiar to Mike. It took him a moment to place him as the man who had talked to him at the cliff-side. He really hadn't gotten a good look at him between the twilight under the trees and clouds, and the whole being thrown to the ground and all hell breaking loose part. It hadn't really been a good time for introductions.
Mike absently petted Toothless' head, which was pressed against his middle as the dragon watched the rangers come close. He felt the faint vibration from the dragon, showing that even if he hasn't snarling, he still wasn't happy about the other humans. "Now will you listen?" He asked hopefully, praying Toothless would stay calm.
The man sighed, glancing to the side , apparently reassuring the several people who had followed him, and they backed off a bit. "I can't see how we have much of a choice. Unless you leave the dragon, he doesn't seem to want to leave you." He shook his head. "Damnedest thing I've ever seen. I've tracked that dragon down for the check-ups the past three times, and I've never seen Loki act like this before." He finally had come close enough that Toothless had peeled himself away from Mike and Drew to sniff at the man. His wedge shaped head swung up and down, and he narrowed his eyes, but seemed satisfied, before immediately turning around and curling around Mike, a deep rumbling coming from his chest as he leaned into Mike. Drew stumbled slightly, having been shoved a bit by the dragon as he'd returned to Mike. "Nope, never seen any dragon act like this."
"Is my mom okay?" Mike asked, quietly, the worry having been pushed back but still there in the back of his head. "Do you think we can go see her? Without causing chaos," he peered around the man, seeing the park service people corralling all of the people who had gotten in, "or at least not add to it?"
The man stared at him a long while before throwing his hands in the air. "Sure, fine, why not? It's only a creature I've seen attack a number of my people, what could go wrong?" He gave Mike a dark look, "I will warn you, if Loki goes after anybody, we will have to take steps." His voice had deepened as he gave the warning, and Toothless bared his teeth in response.
Mike rolled his eyes. "He's not dangerous." He felt like he'd been saying that for ages already. He walked forward, feeling Toothless matter-of-factly fall in beside him. The man backed off as they walked forward, before shaking his head again muttering something under his breath and staying to the side as they walked. Mike knew, somewhere deep within him, the part that had settled into him when he had flown, that Toothless wouldn't harm anyone, unless they tried to hurt him first. And Toothless did behave. Mostly. Okay, so he flicked his tail the way he had at the reporter at a knot of rangers they passed who were talking, but they only jumped. Toothless' hadn't even actually hit any of them. The ranger gave them a narrow glance, but Toothless only looked over mildly at him. Drew walked ahead, taking the lead since Mike wasn't exactly sure where their parents were.
"The name's Aaron Mitchell." The man said, keeping a careful eye on the dragon staying between him and Mike. "Since I never introduced myself before."
"Nice to meet you." Mike replied absently, keeping an eye on Drew. The crowds may have pulled quickly away once they realized the dragon was heading towards them, but they kept swirling around Drew. "Excuse me for not shaking your hand."
The man snorted. "Like the dragon would let me get that close."
They were met by Ashley, who saw Drew first through the crowd. Apparently the brawl had gotten near the canopy where their parents were. Ashley was still clutching a hefty sized branch she'd found, god only knew where, her hair was falling down around her face, and several scratch marks on her arms. She looked straight at Drew. "You call that dealing with it?" She then seemed to notice the way the crowd was parting, spotting Mike and staring straight at him. Mike found himself flinching. Roaring dragon? Fine, no problem. Furious sister? Run away! Run away! He hadn't seen her this pissed since, well, the last time he'd upset mom badly.
Fortunately she dropped the branch. Granted that was probably because she was making motions to strangle him. She'd gotten fairly close before a black blur shot between them. It resolved into Toothless' tail, which was gently resting against Ashley's chest. Mike went pale, remembering how the Night Fury ad flung that one ranger when they'd been attacked at the cliff side, and what Ranger Mitchell had said, but the dragon merely used it to push the stunned girl away. Toothless then reared back, dipping his head down and picked Mike up, rather uncomfortably by his shirt. Even though he could feel the dragon had retracted his teeth, the shirt ripped a little, and strangled him slightly, before Toothless set him down a little further from Ashley. The dragon then landed back on his forelegs.
Ashley swayed slightly as Toothless shifted, removing his tail from where it had rested against her and turning to lean lightly against Mike. The dragon looked at both of them and snorted, shaking his head, before settling.
"Did your dragon just tell us to knock it off?" She managed dazedly.
"Uh…" Mike replied, thanking whoever was listening that Toothless hadn't killed his sister. Yeah, they didn't always get along, but still… "I think so?"
"Oh, thank god. Some being exists that can keep you two from killing each other. Maybe when I get leave I'll be able to come home to visit without seeing bloodshed." Drew said, obviously not hiding his amusement.
Given that Ashley was farther away, and Toothless had set him down right next to Drew, Mike was the one to stomp on his brother's foot.
"Mikey?" Mike looked over to see his mom, definitely pale as she stared in horror at Toothless standing right next to him. His dad's hand was obviously reaching for a weapon, as though he was on a mission during deployment. "Wha… How… Mikey, what is that doing here?" She asked faintly.
"Mom, really it's okay. He's not going to hurt you. Or the retard here." Well, that was Drew's attempt at being helpful. Could've been better. But he did step over next to Toothless and placed a hand on the dragon. Toothless glanced at him quickly, but relaxed once he recognized the human next to him.
Mike saw his mother's eyes widen at seeing both of her boys next to the dragon. But she seemed a bit steadier. Or so far into shock she wasn't really focused on what was happening.
Mike stepped forward, drawing both of his parent's attention. "I suppose I better start at the beginning…"
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A/N: Well, since I made everybody wait so long for the last update, I challenged myself to put out a chapter before I started my new job. I hope you like this bit.
BTW, saw Rango today (Spoilers?) . The way I would describe it is "Support Your Local Sherriff" meets "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." At least I think the writers did the entire list of recreational pharmaceuticals from the first paragraph of the Fear and Loathing book while writing the script for Rango. I mean it was pretty good, then it got to the point of the moles riding bats for an aerial attack with Ride of the Valkyries as background music, with the bats exploding into fireballs when they hit the rocks, and yeah... I knew then the writers were not just relying on dime bags. It's a decent movie though. I might try watching it drunk the next time.
