Walking to Paw's clearing took a lot more out of me than usual, given my injury. I huffed through my nose as the forest floor rushed beneath my feet. I skid through fallen leaves as I finally reached the familiar sun-dappled spot.
"Paw!?" I called out near-breathlessly, "You home?! It's kinda important!" I huffed, shuffling as I looked for the old bear. He ambled leisurely out from beyond the trees, blinking sleep out of his eyes.
"Is that Pepper? Here I thought you'd gone and given up on training..." He yawned.
"Not a chance, if anything I need it now more than ever! But actually I came here to-" I was cut off by him noticing the sheared fur on my side and the accompanying scar and snorting.
"Who gave you that one?" He asked, looking aggrieved
"It's a long story, but it's why I need you to tell me something." I sighed, turning so he couldn't see the proof of my weakness. "The cats. What kind of activity have you seen from them?"
"Now that you mention it... I haven't seen them much at all." Paw admitted.
"Why do I feel like that's worse than them being even more active?" I groaned to myself. "Where the hell could they be hiding?!"
Paw loped along to stand in front of me. "You're doing an awful lot for just one little pup, kid. Look at your paws, you aren't even fully grown. You take it easy until you're ready to come train again." He was right. I'd never noticed until he said it, but my paws were rather big for me. I was just a puppy. Just a kid. Completely out of my depth.
"Sorry, Paw. I can't rest until I fix this." I sighed, turning and getting ready to run again. "Please understand..." The bear plopped himself onto the ground with a thud.
"I can't tell just what you're trying to prove here and to whom, kid, but I don't rightly think I can stop you." He grumbled. He closed his eyes and turned his face to the dappled sunlight leaking in from behind the trees. "You've got gumption Pepper. Too much of it. You just promise you don't die before I do, alright?" I sniffled.
"I don't promise you I won't..." I uttered solemly, "But I can promise you I can try." He chuckled.
"'Suppose that's the most an old man can ask of the young, isn't it?" He asked. I nodded.
"I'll be back as soon as I can." I told him, before running out of the forest at less than half speed. I had to get to a certain hole-in-the-cliff by the beach to check on Petite's egg. I had thought that she would go back to doting on it after she recovered, but... Well, no use dwelling on that can of wyrms. Worms. Fuck.
As I cut through Berk proper's back alleys, Petite's story cut through my head, matching me pace for pace. There was something about the timing that just felt... Wrong. The way she said everything about the riders. The story itself made sense. She has a right to feel that way, but her behavior and her attitude now compared to when we first met on that very same beach... It's like her opinion on humans in general did a complete one-eighty. What did Whittney do to her that made the excitable girl that immediately thought of the humans as the help I needed become so enraged at the mere thought of them? By all accounts, it just didn't add up, but this is magic we're dealing with. That disgusting pulsating goo growing out of Petite's wounds was definitely her doing. Could there maybe be correlation between the two? Or are they separate tricks she pulled from her fluffy white sleeve?
As usual when you find yourself thinking too hard and going someplace at the same time, I got to Petite's cave much sooner than I expected. Or was really emotionally ready for, if we're being honest. I steeled my nerves and hopped into the sand, careful not to stretch my sides too much. The cave itself hadn't changed at all. It was a simple tunnel, no bigger than a car, with a few larger chambers inside. And the salt of course. I drifted in, stepping carefully. The sun was almost setting, lighting the entrance in burning jasper tones. It caught on the crystals growing from the walls like glittering snow, almost the same color as the girl that lived here. I picked up the pace. I had a job to do. Just check on the egg and leave. Don't think too hard, don't get emotional. In and out. I inhaled stiffly and got to the egg chamber. Nothing had changed. The egg was still there, unmoving, sitting in a puddle.
I walked up to the unborn serpent and realized I had no idea what I was doing.
I sniffed around it, nothing smelled weird. I pawed at it gently, not even rocking it, nothing happened. I put my ear up to it.
It sounded like my ear was up against an egg.
I groaned loudly. The hell was I doing? Petite's the enemy now! I shouldn't have to house-sit! Cave-sit. Whatever! I stormed away from the egg and out of the cave, frustrated.
Mostly with myself.
"What the hell even happened! One moment she's fine then she's a... A... Manphobe!" I muttered, pacing holes in the beach. "Stupid cats, stupid Petite, stupid magic, stupid Whittney, fucking stupid, stupid, stupid!" I growled the last bit loudly, scaring some seabirds. I huffed as a loose feather fell out of one and gently drifted towards the ocean, easily being swallowed by the cold waves. My tense muscles relaxed, but my brow remained furrowed staring at the reflecting sunset. I turned tail and began the long trek home, made slower by my annoyed trudge.
I had just barely made it before B.B. intercepted me and gently hoisted me off the ground without a word.
"Hey, hey! What's the big idea?!" I squawked, "You know where I come from you normally say a 'hello' first!" I wriggled indignantly in his grasp. Not enough to actually break loose and hit the ground, but enough to make him at least regret not giving me a warning. He nosed me with his other head to get me to stop squirming.
"We've been waiting for you. We need to talk with you about something." He said, carrying me behind the house, where the rest of the riders' dragons sat. He set me down and backed away a pace or two.
"What's... Going on?" I asked, feeling like a huge idiot. "Look i've kinda been having a shitty day, and I really just wanna go inside and sleep-"
"We never got the chance to thank you for getting that information from the cats." Toothless interrupted me.
"You even got hurt for getting it!" Stormfly chimed in, worry faint in her voice.
"You're kinda the only dog we've ever met, so I really hope we're doing this right, but..." Hookfang continued.
"Welcome to the 'pack'." Mee finished, deadpan as ever. I stood there, mouth slightly agape. I floundered for a minute, barely processing what was happening.
"What." I articulated.
"You've proven yourself to care about us, the island, and most importantly, our humans." Toothless explained, nodding towards the house.
"You're one of us now!" B.B. cheered. I just stood there, dumbstruck. Then it hit me. They accepted me. Even after all my bullshit. My eyes started watering.
"You guys..." I squeaked, voice wavering. B.B. walked back up me and lay a wing over me as I scootched to hide my face in his leg.
"Are you supposed to be leaking?" The zippleback asked. I snuffled a little.
"Ye-yeah. Yeah this is... G-good leaking." I mumbled. "Thank you..."
The others moved to get in on the hug too. After it broke up and I had stopped crying, Toothless adressed the group.
"From this point onwards we must be vigilant. Any suspicious activity will be investigated by us. Mee, Hookfang, Stormfly, keep your eyes peeled. I'll be combing the island during my flights with Hiccup. Pepper, B.B., you two... Keep your kids in check." He smirked. The first joke i've heard him tell. I giggled.
"Yes sir!"
"The battle's only just begun. We won't let the cats win, no matter what it is they plan on doing. But for tonight... Let's get some rest." And with that, the group dispersed. I was let into the house and grabbed my pillow, dragging it to the corner of the main room where the twins were already passed out on the floor. I arranged myself neatly inbetween them, ready for the day to be over.
It was exhausting today, but it was nice to know i'm part of something. Even if the worst has yet to come.
Author's Note:
Yes I named the chapter after a holiday thing despite it not being an explicit holiday chapter. No I don't feel bad about it. Ok fine, maybe a little. It's December, shut up.
Pepper's finally one of the gang! Only took her, what, almost three years? A month? Who knows. Speakin' of almost three years, ADGTV is almost three years old! Time sure fuckin' flies, we aren't even halfway in yet. We'll be there soon though. Next chapter is where things start coming together! Get excited. Please.
In the life and times of me, the glorious and totally-still-sane author, I've been brutally attacked by the public education system once more and lost my primary time for writing, so that's why it took me a little extra for this one. Unfortunately until I get my free period back it's gonna keep taking a little extra, so you might have to bear with me for a while. Might be a little while, might be a long while. Only time will tell.
I've been only getting like, one or two reviews for each chapter and not gonna lie it's kinda bumming me out but if people don't like my writing y'know what screw them i'm gonna keep updating this stupid story out of spite. Wait ignore all that please review actually.
Happy Decembertime to ye and for whatever reason you want it to be! -Carly