"This is where you fought her?" Toothless asked me, investigating the area behind the Thorston residence. I nodded wearily, still blinking sleep from my eyes. He had roused me away from the beachside camp sometime around three in the morning, making what would be a ten minute sprint a thirty minute speedwalk.
"Did the goo dissapear, or just get absorbed into the ground?" I mumbled. "Coulda swore she was dripping it everywhere..." I tripped over a rock I hadn't noticed in my half-asleep battle-worn stupor. I managed to keep upright by sheer dumb luck.
"That does seem to be the question."
I yawned, trying to catch any sign of what had happened besides scuffed dirt. There wasn't any. To anyone the area would just appear to be the victim of a regular everyday fight between animals.
"Can we go back now?" I mumbled. "I get a bad feeling from this place..."
"Right." Toothless accepted, understanding my discomfort. I yawned heavily once more, sleep still fighting to reclaim me. "Here" The night fury extended a wing to the ground. I stared dumbly. "You're tired. Let me carry you." He explained.
"Oh, uh... Okay. " I squeaked, gently using the outstretched digits as a bridge. He waited until I was nestled behind his head before walking back the way we came. It was silent, save for his footfalls.
"Have you remembered anything yet?" He asked right as I was about to fall asleep again. I cringed, nearly falling off if he hadn't caught me by gently raising his shoulderblades.
"No- nope... I kinda... Well, maybe?" I stuttered. So thats the real reason he offered a ride, he didn't want me getting away. Bastard. "It's... Kind of... Not good."
"What do you mean, 'not good'? You remembered something, isn't that good enough for you?" He sighed.
"No! At least, not what I did... I don't even know if I interpreted it right." I mumbled into his neck. "It's probably nothing, just a dream, that's all.."
"So it came from a dream." He replied, prompting me to continue.
"Yeah. That's why it might be wrong. I never remember my dreams." I paused, recognizing the slip. "Or at least, I used to."
"Are you going to explain what this dream of yours was, or do I have to ask?" Toothless grunted.
"Alright fine, asshole..."
"What was that?"
"Nothing! Anyways, it was... A siren. An EMS siren. I couldn't actually see anything." I explained.
"What is that? Why would you name something after a sea monster?" He asked. Right, technology. They don't have that here. And if they did, the dragons probably wouldn't understand it anyway.
"No, it's like... An EMS truck is a vehicle that they used to transport really badly hurt people, where I come from. They make it sound a warning to other people so they get out of its way when it's carrying someone to the hospital. Thats where the 'siren' cones from." I elaborated, letting the words fall out of my mouth.
"So you heard this warning, and that was all the dream was." He cocked an ear flap.
"Yes. Well, I don't know?" I huffed, "It might not have even be me but it was... Muffled, like I was in the truck." Neither of us spoke for a while.
"And that's all you've remembered?" Toothless asked, after passing the port. It wouldn't be long until we reached the beach, and then it would be another dozen or so minutes until we got back to camp. At least, it would be at the amble Toothless was going. He really did want to get me alone to poke my brain, didn't he?
"Yes. Wait, no. There's other things. Little things." I blurted. "The words to songs, games i've played... Little bits about what I did and what I was."
"That's good." Toothless nodded, apparently pleased with my answer. "Anything important in there?" He asked jokingly.
"I was allergic to wool, cactus juice, and- Get this-" I started eagerly, trying not to laugh. "Dog and Cat fur." He let out a single laugh, while I was shaking with giggles trying to not fall backwards again.
"You aren't allergic to any of those now, are you?" He retorted with an audible smirk. I faked a gasp.
"God, I hope not!"
We walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence, Toothless focusing more on getting us there before our troop noticed us missing, and picking up the pace accordingly. We made it just as the sun was starting to peek through a break in the clouds, and as I hopped off of the night fury's back the sound of waves picked up, as North heaved himself out of the water to greet us.
"Dame Pepper, Lord Toothless! I hath wondered where thou hast gone off to!" He boomed. Toothless and I winced at the volume, but greeded him anyways.
"We've told you, just our names is fine." Toothless instructed the serpent, who only shook his head.
"Nay! Thou hath earned thine titles verily and deserved to be adressed so!" He stated, putting his foot down. The metaphorical one, of course. His claws were more like hands. "While I have thine attention, Dame Pepper, mayhaps we should see to the small dragons egg." I tried holding back a cringe. Emphasis on tried. "Yes, the circumstances are quite vulgar, but one must agree that if I am to remain here I must maintain my end of the bargain!" North consoled my discomfort. I shot a worried glance back to the group, then Toothless, then further down the beach where Petite's cave hid just behind a corner.
"You... Do think she's still in there, right?" I asked the boys, careful to not let too much worry paint the tone of my voice. North settled a bit in the water, Toothless shifted uncomfortably. I shook, like I was getting water off. "Whatever, forget her. Let's go." I began trotting in the direction of the cave. I heard North slip under the water, and Toothless padding gently behind me. Our little party of three moved silently, not even a whisper to ease the mood. North went ahead of us, able to swim much faster even in the shallows, but when he emerged he let out a startled growl, glaring at something hidden behind the cliff face that Toothless and I couldn't see yet. We glanced at eachother before sprinting to the location to see a gaping hole expanding the cave mouth and a team of eight or so cats guarding it, now hissing angrily at North.
"Cats! What are they doing here?!" Toothless growled, getting into an attacking position.
"Who invited the reptiles?!" A munchkin yowled to his squadron.
"Who cares?! Get the egg and scram!" A singapura hissed back, shaking in her paws at North's hulking form and the roiling of plasma dancing behind Toothless' maw.
"How?!" Panicked a russian blue. "The thing's huge!" The singapura snorted angrily, tail flicking.
"I think we need backup..." Whined an abyssinian. A second abyssinian cried out in alarm from behind their twin.
"Miss Whittney, help!" The last three cats darted back into the cave. At that, North gurgled up a blast of water, aiming for the top of the cave mouth. The splash drenched the five cats standing outside, sending them running up the beach in a panic. Toothless was about to loose his shot before I stopped him.
"Stop, you'll trigger a cave-in!" I pleaded with him, he swallowed his blast and glared at the crumbling entrance. Sure enough it was barely holding on, mud already sloshing down from North's attack. "I'll go in and deal with them myself!"
"Thou art mad!" North chastised me. "Dame Pepper, they outnumber you!" I huffed.
"It's not like anybody else can fit!" I huffed. "I dunno what they want that egg for but i'm not gonna let them get it sitting down!" I barked, running in before the boys could try and stop me. I dashed straight for the egg chamber, which was also blasted open. The three extra cats stood at attention in front of Whittney herself, standing with her two front paws on top of a glowing clouded gemstone.
She didn't notice me, her eyes were closed and she was murmuring something, but with a yowl her eyes opened, glowing the same shade as the rock which let out a flash of light and a shower of sparks. When I blinked the stars out of my eyes, every cat was missing along with the egg.
"DAMN IT!" I howled, furious at how slow I was. However, seconds later, I heard a crack as one of the salt crystals sprouting from the wall chipped and fell down, followed by a rock and some other cave shrapnel. The cave was collapsing. I made a run for it, getting out in time for the rest of the dragons to see me almost get caught by the tail from the falling dirt. "God fucking damn it!"
"Pepper! What happened?!" Stormfly asked, shocked by what she saw. I growled wordlessly, glaring at the ground.
"I went to get everyone else when you ran in." Toothless explained. "You have to tell us what happened in there."
"How are they always two steps ahead of me?!" I demanded of nobody. "They have magic, the have Petite..." I hiccuped, letting a few angry tears slip.
"And now they have the egg too."
Author's Note:
Why do I always wind up posting the egg chapters around Easter it makes no sense.
Well it does make a little bit of sense what with how I spaced and planned everything but the fact that it and a holiday about eggs and Jesus overlap just kinda fucks my mojo about it up yanno. Whatever the Pope says Jesus stays dead this year so it doesn't even matter I don't even gotta go to my homophobic relatives this year everythings fine. (Read: it's, for the most part, a little less than fine)
I told y'all we were getting to the good shit. I fucking told yall and we're still only skin deep. Two. More. Chapters. That's all that's left. That's how long you gotta wait for the fun to REALLY begin. Are you hyped? I'm a little hyped. And by a little I mean REALLY FUCKIN HYPED. This is just the sizzle of the steak babes. This. Is just. The sizzle.
Also my english teacher's a bitch and doesn't comprehend that when online school starts on the fifteenth that doesn't mean she piles on the work now and expects us to turn it all in on the fifteenth. In the spirit of rebellion I am going to Not Do It. The education system is fucked anyhow, it was fucked before so it's double fucked now.
I sound like a gay old guy with a walker talking to a young probably supposed to be gay man in a bathroom that was closed down fourty years ago.
Anyways personally quarrantine's been alright enough to me as I am the opposite of an extrovert, but my extroverted family has been driving me up the wall with incessant nagging because they have nothing else to do. I should know when I snapped at my sister for barging into my room without knocking for the third time in one day she literally replied 'no' when I asked if she had anything better to do. I don't even remember what she was bothering me about it was that unimportant.
So yeah. I haven't run out of TP, I haven't caught the virus, I haven't burned my house down. I'm just waiting for the american government to fall apart once this is all over and the money to either be hoarded or rendered obsolete. Ho hum just your average economic apocalypse.
I'm ready to be left alone!- Carly
P.S. Happy egg day, STAY HOME. I MEAN IT DON'T YOU DARE.
