Disclaimer: Dream Works and Cressida Cowell own the How to Train Your Dragon franchise.
Four dragon bodies burst out of the entrance of the human shelter to greet their companions, showering the other humans with slobber and affection. In at least one case, the dragon tackled down one of the humans all to make sure that the human was receiving their undivided attention.
And then they realized that someone else was there, causing them to break their affectionate licks and pay attention to the newcomer.
I gave them all an uncomfortable look, showing my teeth in an awkward, un-Night Fury like fashion. "Hello there…" I voiced.
The other dragons all blinked at me a few times again, as if they were trying to make sure I was really there. I got the feeling they were not expecting me to return on my own. The Nadder had an especially stunned look in her eyes, jaw slack open. "What are you doing here!?"
The Nightmare was the only one in the whole group who did not appear to be phased. In fact, he looked positively ready to take a nap, whether his companion would accept that or not. "He is back. No need to leave now."
"Leave where?" I asked.
"To save you. Like always." The Nightmare rolled his eyes. "You do not need saving. More time to sleep now."
"Oh." Yeah, come to think of it, if I, for that matter any one of my friends, ever ended up in danger or got separated from the group, the first thing we all did was immediately mount a rescue mission or try to deal with the danger. Trouble happened so often, there was a point where my father joked about organizing his weekly schedule after my friends' antics… of course, how was I able to understand a human joke was beyond me.
"But why are you here?" shouted the Nadder. "How did you return?"
"I flew…?" I responded. Was it safe for me to just… say I got away from my former captors because they decided to send me back for some arcane reason? That might not have boded well with any of my dragon friends.
The Nadder was about to huff something in response to that, but my potential mate patted the Nadder and myself on the head to settle us down. She looked quite tired looking in that moment and the Nadder and I both silently decided to wait a little longer before we discussed anything. Humans had a much earlier bed time than plenty of dragons after all.
The group all piled inside the human dwelling at my potential mate's commands. The area was sparse, save for a few piles of hay on the ground. The dragons all took a pile each, taking the human they were closest to along with them. I went alongside my mate and the Nadder, as I had nowhere else to go. I figure this might have been a temporarily dwelling, some place set aside for my friends to sleep in.
The other dragons all looked at me warily from around the room, unsure of what to say or do about me. Which was fine by me, as I had no idea what to say or do about them. I mean, I know they were my friends, but I honestly knew them so much… less than my human friends.
It was so strange. Shouldn't that association be inverted, that I would know more about my dragon friends instead of my human friends?
I knew of the Gronckle mostly as an association through my eldest friend, someone I confided in and trusted with important matters, no matter how much he refused. Yet the larger than average male did not speak the same language as me, how could I tell him things he never understood?
I had some experience with the Nightmare, but the dark furred human that sat under his wings was a long time rival, one that I often found myself losing against when we competed for the same things. Yet there was a whole world of difference between a human and a dragon, why would he be my rival?
The Zippleback was mostly a stranger to me, yet I was able to get a good idea of what the blond furred twins were discussing about despite not knowing their own tongue. Apparently, they were bickering something as usual, but I knew that it was more than a simple matter of food or thievery. I think they were trying to take… score on something? How would I as a dragon ever know about that without extreme familiarity with those two?
Lastly, was the Nadder. I knew about her mannerisms, like her fondness for hens or her almost crippling weakness towards her own reflection, yet beyond those things, I hardly knew her. Instead, I have always sought after the female that became my potential mate. She was the one I sought approval from the most other my own father and after an ordeal and one very lucky opportunity I had to woo her, I finally had her. Except, I was a dragon and last I checked, dragons never had simply potential mates, especially not when a mating season passed months ago.
I growled in frustration. More and more, I got the feeling my best friend was right; how was a dragon supposed to have all these strange connections towards humans in the first place? It made no sense. I tried to think back to how this confusing mess all started out, a few days ago. Sadly, the furthest I could recall was a few days ago, when many of my friends were all injured and recovering. At the very least, they recovered from that, but I still wanted to have definite answers.
While I busied myself thinking to myself, the other dragons went back to accommodating their human companions. In exchange, the humans all offered some of the dragons little tidbits of food. The humans did not dine as well, but they did not seem to mind. They had their own little discussions amongst themselves, their tone slightly raised, but no anger or shouting from what I could gather. My friends all seemed to enjoy themselves a little, better than I could hope. I wish my best friend was not as alone.
The Nadder's head turned towards me, noticing that I was sitting on the outskirts from her small nesting site. She slurped down a small fish and then called out to me, eyes sharp. "What bothers you?"
I frowned. "My… being human." There was no real way to get around it. I'm really starting to think my best friend had a really good point I could not just ignore. "My memories make no sense."
"...Nothing about you did…" commented the dragon.
I glowered. "I am serious!" At this point, my potential mate decided I also needed some of her attention and beckoned me closer. I did so and found myself on a heap nearby her while she worked her hands over my head in a gentle fashion, while offering me some fish to slurp down.
"And so am I!" yelped the Nadder, slurping up another fish. My potential mate caught notice of us screeching at each other, I mean, how could she not. I got the feeling she was trying to tell us to play nice. "Hey. I am speaking truthfully. Your mate is strange! I wish i could tell you that!"
"She already knows…" I said almost automatically. I guess it went without saying that everyone I knew thought I was crazy, odd, or just plain weird.
"So long as she knows." The Nadder slurped on another fish, seemingly content.
I had my fair share as well, my potential mate offering something for me to munch on, alternating with the Nadder. The conversation grinded to a halt as our mouths ended up getting stuffed with raw seafood. Come to think of it, I never really liked raw fish until just recently, didn't I?
"Did you find him?" The Nadder was the first to break.
I blinked a few times and then frowned, realizing who she was talking about. "Oh...the other Night Fury?" My best friend was also friends with the Nadder. Simply because my potential mate and I were…. coupled, the two dragons often spent the most time with each other.
At the mention of my best friend, the other dragons' heads all turned to my direction, breaking from attending to our human friends. All of them gave startled reactions and attentive, wary stares in my direction. My best friend also happened to be the undisputed leader of the dragon side of our little group, him being the best flier after all.
The Nadder's eyes narrowed, looking me in the eyes. It felt like she was reading me like the air currents. "And you found him?"
I frowned. I did not want to answer, because then, that might lead to more questions. But I broke down and answered, not wanting to fight. I was the kind of dragon that knew his place. "I did."
The Nadder's eyes grew a little hopeful at the answer. "You did? Then where is he?"
And then I dashed all those hopes right afterwards. "He cannot fly. He cannot come back."
The Nadder was clearly displeased, almost angry." So, you left him?" My potential mate, thankfully held the dragon back and kept her from invading my personal space any further.
"Then make him fly again!" suggested the Gronckle. "Like you usually do!"
"Yes," Nightmare agreed. "No need to carry him here. Let him fly himself!"
"Ooh. Can we find the sheep?" One of the Nadder's heads suggested.
"Yeah! We love that!" said the other.
"But… I cannot!" I said, causing all of the dragons to give me sad looks.
"Then why not?" snarled the Nadder, growing quite upset at me for being unable to do that task. "You have done it before. Many times I add!"
Come to think of it, that design for a replacement tailfin I worked out not too long ago was something I had worked on loads of times before. I mean, how else was a dragon that was missing very critical pieces of his body able to fly without them? How could I have done it before, yet find myself unable to perform even the simplest part of it now? Something had to have changed. I looked at my paws. "I lack the means."
"So turn yourself human?" suggested the Zippleback.
"Like you are normally?"
I cringed, not sure about how I was going to do about that. I mean, there was alot of things telling me that I might have been human, but I still was not one hundred percent convinced. I mean, really, humans turning into dragons is just… weird. Aside from that, even if that was all true, I had no idea at all about how I was supposed to shift back into human form. I mean, was there anyone here that could tell me all of that?
And then the entrance opened, revealing a large male, similar in many ways to my old rival, but no where near as familiar stepped in the room. The humans all gave some greetings to the new human, the feelings were slightly warmer, more inviting than the conversation they had with the other, more adult humans earlier. He might have been a friend, he certainly had that kind of familiarity to him.
But then there was a growling sound coming from behind him and the male stepped forward and out of the way to make room for someone else. A dragon, more precisely, a Night Fury with three legs and a body clad in battlescars stepped into the room.
All of my friends, both human and dragon alike, raised their guard at the newcomming dragon, their expressions on their guard. Meanwhile, I kept my body low and onto the ground, feeling quite afraid. This was the Alpha for this nesting site, or at least the dragons of this place. Worse yet, I knew who he was. My former Alpha was right there in front of me and I knew he was the kind of dragon who did not take too kindly to deserters… maybe I should not mention the "former" bit?
The new dragon stepped into the dwelling, his posture commanding the respect and authority in his motions. He did not seem to care at all at what the other dragons did, or pay attention to them at all, like they were beneath his notice or not worth the time. Unfortunately for me, it seemed like I was not beneath notice. He flashed me a sharp toothy grin and made his way over.
My potential mate grabbed me by the head, keeping her paws close to my neck either to get attop me on a moment's notice or more likely to keep me from fleeing. She looked at the dragon, uttering a few defiant noises.
The new dragon huffed out a few puffs of smoke from his nostrils, seemingly annoyed. "Stand down. I mean no harm."
I raised my head slowly, fearful but at the same time inquisitive. "You do not?"
The Nadder snarled, threatening the dragon. "You better not." My potential mate however did some work trying to keep the Nadder in line.
The new Night Fury's grin grew all the more frightening to me.. "Good." He then turned to me. "How are you? Are you well?"
"I am…. fine?" I said. I blinked a few times, confused. What was the Alpha Night Fury talking about?
The other dragon's head bobbed up and down, much like how mine did some times. Was he… nodding? "That is good." He narrowed his eyes over my body, no where near as critical as the last time he did, but uncomfortable all the same.. "You have less injuries.. You have recovered well. Did they treat you well?"
Obviously, he was talking about the dragons in the Sanctuary. I really did not know how to respond on this as I had no idea how my answers would affect the outcome. On the one hand, if I said I was treated well, that might prompt the Alpha to get upset at me. If I said I was treated poorly, well, that might set the Alpha off on a one way warpath towards the Sanctuary. I mean, I might have not matter much, but well, it was a reasonable thing for a dragon Alpha to get angry about "... I do not know." That was the only thing I could think off that was not going to end up being a poor answer.
The other Night Fury did not like that answer. He sighed. "How did you escape?" He asked, changing topics.
"I flew…" I said, deliberately choosing not to say that I was practically escorted out. That was not going to go well with the Alpha if I left him know.
The other dragon's eyes rolled, clearly not liking my answer. "Dry as ever…" he muttered.
"I try to be," I replied. Maybe if I was lucky, the Alpha was not going to press the issue if I just buried it under several layers of bad witticisms.
The dragon shook his head. "I see you are fine enough." He then turned his way towards the shelter's entrance and promptly stepped a few paces towards the exit. "Young one. I shall see you tomorrow. Sleep well." And with that, the dragon walked out the entrance, his human companion vanishing along side of him.
The Nadder turned to me, her expression somewhat stunned. "That was…. unexpected."
My head nodded up and down in agreement. "Yes." I would never have expected in a million years for the Alpha to talk to me so… casually.
