Recap of the last chapter
Exploration turned into an unexpected turn of events. When Morgan touched a crystal out of curiosity, a beaming , boiling crystal within The Hidden World, he burnt the tip of his finger, rendering his hand with said finger numb, and he fell to the ground. Yet Morgan, despite it being a wild dragon, had the presence of a calm, sympathetic Hobblegrunt comfort him when the dragon sensed Morgan's vulnerability and pain.
CHAPTER 26: Under a dragon's care
Morgan kept his head resting on the space of the Hobblegrunt's head between its nostrils, and below its horn, which was also given a purple shade from the rest of the dragon's transformed scales. Just hearing the Hobblegrunt calmly and slowly inhale air through its nostrils as Morgan rested his head practically on its nostrils like a pillow was soothing.
After about ten more seconds of Morgan keeping the side of his head on the dragon's purple and blue nostrils, he lifted himself up, as did the dragon. The reptile neutrally stared at the vulnerable human.
Morgan had no idea that there was a species of dragon called 'Hobblegrunt', but could you really blame him? they were hardly seen in any of the films when he watched them back at home before coming back to the How To Train Your Dragon world.
It was at the point now where Morgan no longer had to harshly grip his affected hand with the burnt finger tip. He held his affected finger out slowly, and although the pain had calmed down, he could still feel bits of it. He could make out the blister, as the skin around it had a flaring red colour. The Hobblegrunt in front of Morgan caught a glance of where the 19 year old was looking, and it too noticed where this human had injured itself upon sighting the blister.
The dragon, still in its curious state with its purple and blue scales, slowly descended ts head towards Morgan's held out hand; the 19 year old didn't think anything of it since this dragon was hopefully, judging by its actions thus far, a peaceful and friendly one. He wanted the dragon to see the cause of his pain anyways.
The dragon slowly made a couple of sniffs towards the finger; its wings were still in the air, its body was once again lowered, as its two clawed arms within its light-purple scaly chest were downwards as it looked ahead at Morgan's hand.
Whilst it did this, Morgan couldn't help but be fascinated at the colouration of this dragon; even its long scaly arms had blue spots amongst the purple. When it was red and orange just now, it looked like a menacing beast ready to attack, but these colours had given Morgan a calming sense the second the Hobblegrunt transformed into them. The colours now were clearly a sign of its soft side.
Again, being a Hobblegrunt, it could make any dragon/human calm down or soothed with its colours, alongside its abilities to detect the emotions of nearby humans/dragons and predict things shortly before they happen, good or bad.
The dragon had unfortunately gotten too close to Morgan's burnt finger; accidentally, the gap just above its under-bite jaws and between its nostrils had tapped Morgan's finger, causing him to flinch and take his hand back.
"OUCHHHH..." Morgan exclaimed, getting a brief return of the burning pain he suffered just a short time ago.
Almost instantly, the dragon moved its head back rapidly, with its eyes turned directly to the human's face; Morgan was gritting his teeth again as the pain reached a slight height. The dragon could sense the pain and the agony in the human again, and it knew this time it was because it tapped its nostrils to the human's hand; because of this, the Hobblegrunt felt guilty, and it emitted a low rumble of guilt, sounding somewhat like the end of a question. It tilted its head as its pupils stared with a saddened-look at the human.
"No, no, it wasn't you..it was me...I didn't mean..I-I didn't mean to yell, honestly?" Morgan exclaimed, worried that he was about to make the dragon enraged from him yelling.
He wanted to make one thing absolutely clear to the reptile; it wasn't its fault that it accidentally tapped its scaly nostrils to his hand, it was the fault of his own; he wanted to make this clear because he was scared the dragon would feel threatened by him yelling just now, thereby returning to a dangerous state.
"I just need to get up but I can't, oh god...I'm sorry for yelling, honestly, I didn't mean to?" Morgan repeated, as the dragon stood up higher on its two spiiky, Deadly Nadder-like legs.
It walked ever so closer to a panicking Morgan against the stalagmite wall of The Hidden World; this only caused Morgan to panic even more. The dragon was now at its full height, walking closer to Morgan, who once again released his affected hand from the grip of his not-affected hand. The dragon's long scaly neck was practically towering above Morgan's head at this point, and its big clawed feet resembling that of a Deadly Nadder were nearly touching Morgan's exposed knees from his shorts.
All Morgan could basically see were the dragon's clawed arms, as well as its lightly shaded purple chest. What was the dragon doing? it began emitting soothing rumbles suddenly, sensing that the human was once again panicking. It wanted to calmly make the human relaxed again.
"What are you doing, wha-" Morgan was silenced by not only a croon from the dragon as it stared at him from above, but also by one of its clawed arms; Morgan had suddenly felt his face gently pressed upon by the dragon's purple and blue scaly arms, in which one of them were seemingly placed across his mouth.
Morgan instantly stopped talking the second one of the dragon's clawed arms were on his face; this was meant as an act of neutrality and peace on the dragon's behalf since it had sensed panic and uncertainty in Morgan. Morgan, remarkably, stopped stuttering and panicking once the claws were near his mouth gently. It was as if the dragon was expressing the message 'don't worry, calm down'.
It continued to croon, and as Morgan took his eyes up to the dragon's head from its light shaded purple chest, the 19 year old stared at it with a calm expression. Just how intelligent and soothing could this dragon get? for a wild dragon, it was certainly unexpected of it to be THIS intelligent/soothing.
"C-Can I get up?" Morgan calmly whispered, looking at the dragon.
The dragon once again purred and rumbled sounds of softness and relaxation, keeping its right clawed arm near Morgan's head as it slightly moved the claws from Morgan's mouth. Morgan slowly clung his other, non-affected hand onto the dragon's purple and blue arm just a little behind the scales. This Hobblegrunt had indeed predicted that Morgan wanted to get up, and it sensed that the human couldn't do it on his own. As one of the more sensitive stoker class dragons, it was more than determined to help this human out however it needed.
But the Hobblegrunt was intending on more than just helping the human. Because it looked so young and bright, with not a single bit of white hair or general signs of oldness, it wanted to keep this human under its care for as long as possible.
"Wow..." Morgan slowly smiled, as he reluctantly at first, but eventually, pulled himself up to his feet from the sat-down position using the dragon's purple and blue clawed arm.
He was amazed at the dragon just now seemingly putting one of its menacing-looking claws over his mouth, as a way to stop him from panicking when the panic wasn't needed at all. He had no words for it at all. This wild dragon seemingly held the intelligence to the levels of the dragons that used to live on Berk, which, for a wild dragon, was incredible.
As soon as it had seen the human up on its feet, it lowered its head down face-to-face with Morgan, wanting to give it an embracing that would show the human it had no intention of hurting him, but rather, caring and protecting him. How that'd work in a place with over 60,000 other wild dragons was questionable, but the Hobblegrunt seemed determined regardless.
"T-thank you..." Morgan whispered, staring at the dragon practically eye-to-eye as the reptile was lowered from its height, with Morgan letting out small chuckles as he spoke, at the amazement of the actions this dragon has just done.
He moved his free hand up to the Hobblegrunt's chin, scratching it there ever so gently. The dragon purred and emitted low croons, as Morgan continued to gently scratch it on its chin. As he gave the dragon a small scratch, Morgan took one last glance at the details this particular dragon had; the two single spikes at the front of its wings reminded him of Cloudjumper's wings.
He had no idea what to do beyond this point, as Morgan slowly removed his hand from the dragon's chin. He wasn't sure if the dragon was going to fly away now or stay with him. Morgan, wanting to see what the dragon would do, spotted his bag just right near the mushroom he left it at before touching that boiling crystal (which he, in hindsight, rightfully regrets doing). Walking over to it to pick it up, turning his back to the dragon, Morgan ducked down to get the bag, before feeling a gentle nudge on his back, followed by a low purr.
He looked back, as the dragon had clearly followed him right from behind. Morgan genuinely had no problem in this caring and soothing dragon staying by his side, and he was amazed at how calm he now was around the reptile, compared to a few minutes ago, where he was against the stalagmite wall, begging for it to not roar to alert the other dragons of The Hidden World. What Morgan didn't know was that a Hobblegrunt can have that effect on you.
"You're a lovely dragon, you know that? literally...I dunno where you get this sympathy or...personality, but...I really mean it...thank you..just...genuinely, thank you..." Morgan said, expressing his gratitude to the beast in a higher pitched voice than usual, "..this hand still feels numb, so maybe I should uh...stay with you for the time being?" Morgan asked.
The word Morgan was looking for to say to the reptile was 'hospitable', because indeed, that was pretty much what the dragon was being to Morgan for the past few minutes.
The dragon once again stood up to its full height, raising its head up, unveiling its super long neck and chest for Morgan to look at; it had another surprise for Morgan. Morgan, holding his bag handle with his free hand, briefly flinched at the crunching noise returning as the dragon's scales were undergoing another transformation; the scales, one by one, shifted from purple to yellow, and the blue spots were becoming small patches of dark green.
What this now signified was the Hobblegrunt's new mood; it was overly happy.
Morgan chuckled at the dragon's transformation from an amazed perspective, and once the transformation had been completed, the Hobblegrunt rapidly, with its now yellow and green scaly neck, wrapped its neck halfway around Morgan and nudged the 19 year old gently into its pale-yellow chest. The clawed arms were out, and they surrounded Morgan's back once Morgan had hit the reptile's chest gently. Morgan instantly held his two arms out, keeping his burnt hand from touching the dragon of course, across the Hobblegrunt's chest; they were HUGGING.
Morgan closed his eyes, fully embracing the dragon as he rubbed the dragon's chest, as it purred and crooned with lowness and sooth, hugging it. The dragon's yellow and green scaly clawed arms were literally behind Morgan's back...was the dragon hugging him like a human would?
"Thank you..." he whispered once again as held the dragon tightly, as it slightly wrapped its neck around Morgan in the midst of the hug.
It purred and rumbled. To be hugged by a dragon in this manner, where you're cozy and tightly held, feeling protected and as if you were a priority to that dragon, was a dream-come-true. If only he could get Toothless to do the same eventually, if the Night Fury remembers him.
The dragon's neck slowly moved back up, as Morgan moved away as its clawed arms released him. Suddenly, the Hobblegrunt was warily looking around the mushroom forest. Morgan wanted the hug to last longer, but there was one thing the dragon and Morgan had forgotten; they were in The Hidden World.
What's meant by that is that they've literally been acting as if they weren't in a place where there were other dragons about; the Hobblegrunt itself acknowledged what would happen to this newly-found human if it were to be seen by the other dragons, which was what alarmed the Hobblegrunt. Morgan stepped back, looking right up to the dragon's height as he remained close to its now pale-yellow chest and its Deadly Nadder-like legs.
As if Morgan was one of its own, the Hobblegrunt nudged Morgan close to its left wing, before lowering its wing down to Morgan, as a way to cover the human. Although they were in the mushroom forest, dragons were still flying high altitudes beyond the purple and crystal shades of the upper Hidden World. The Hobblegrunt wanted to protect this human. For Morgan, he felt like he was exactly where he wanted to be; protected and cared for by a dragon, but deep down, he knew he wanted to be somewhere else; with Toothless, remembered, and so on. But as of now, he couldn't believe a wild dragon like this was not only this hospitable, but also caring. He knew the dragon was deliberately concealing him amongst its wing.
"Oh yeah..." Morgan whispered, as he too realized that the Hobblegrunt wasn't the only dragon here; he had completely forgotten where he was for a moment, during everything that went on in the past few minutes.
The reason why the Hobblegrunt was only just doing this was not just the realization of what'll happen to this human if it gets seen, but also for what it was predicting; the human will be seen any time now, and you can bet that the Hobblegrunt will go to extreme lengths to guard and protect the 19 year old.
Morgan could genuinely cry right now, because of the personality of this dragon; things like this was, to him, the main magic of How To Train Your Dragon, but he still had his own goal and task of being remembered by Toothless, so he had to hold it in. He...he was more than happy, though, that a dragon was being THIS caring to him.
It was a dream come true for any fan of HTTYD.
The Hobblegrunt's prediction usually takes place a second before the actual occurrence happens, so that was why it was doing this now; Morgan WILL be seen in a bit, but how will one Hobblegrunt defend a helpless 19 year old from probably 50+ or 100+ so dragons?
The deodorant scent was gradually building up in Toothless's nostrils. This deodorant was the exact same scent Morgan had from his first time in the How To Train Your Dragon world, (the fact that this scent had lasted for THAT long during his first time in the HTTYD world was remarkable), which meant that more and more memories of the now 19 year old was coming back to the Night Fury.
All of the dragons in the concealed, pitch black, blue misty rocky cove were still sleeping, including Toothless of course. The Light Fury was also fast asleep with her Night Lights, alongside Stormfly, Cloudjumper, and the others. The blue, cloudy mist gave this place the vibe of some sort of heaven, but the pitch blackness above had contrasted the mist, so it wasn't entirely within that vibe. You could pretty much hear some glittering sounds emitting from above though.
The Hidden World was a strange place, but for areas like these, it was also a beautiful place.
Toothless, in his sleeping state, suddenly embarked upon another quote from Morgan during the lad's first time in this world, at the time Morgan was 17 years old.
"Man, Toothless, you need to stop doing this to me..." a sat-down Morgan said, as he and Toothless were in the cove back at Berk, with Cloudjumper and Stormcutter in the forest above, staring down at the strange, yet interesting 17 year old lad as he was seemingly writing in a book.
Hearing that voice like it was being spoken to right next to his sleeping self, Toothless emerged with widened green eyes, raising his black scaly neck and head from the blue mist; he looked around...why was he hearing voices, and why did it sound so familiar, from some years ago? the Night Fury emitted purrs of curiosity to himself, looking right up to the pitch black surface of this hidden rocky cove of The Hidden World.
Toothless huffed and sneezed quietly as to not wake up the other dragons, once again letting whatever he just heard in his sleep go. He lit up the space where he rested his head before emerging up from hearing that voice, warming it up with his powerful blaze. Placing his two front paws on it, Toothless dropped his head down, once again attempting to sleep after hearing yet ANOTHER quote.
The memory is coming back. It'll be coming back in its full entirety in a bit if this keeps up.
The Hobblegrunt has gone a step further, becoming not just a hospitable friendly beast, but one that's dedicated to protecting the young, helpless, and vulnerable human in Morgan it's found, from the other dragons of The Hidden World. But sadly, its prediction that Morgan will get seen by another wild dragon probably means he really will; in that event, what can the Hobblegrunt do to protect the 19 year old? Morgan personally couldn't believe his luck with the Hobblegrunt either, so to see it go down from the other dragons if it attempts to protect him, after the personality its shown, would be more than upsetting for him. Toothless had once again emerged from his sleep, with the Night Fury recalling a moment and a quote from Morgan from all those years ago. The memory is coming back, and it'll hit home in Toothless's head once he fully realizes just who the 19 year old he left in The Hidden World earlier is.