Foreign desires of unforeseen transformations
Chapter 60 - Mysterious situation
"Wait! No! He's with me!" Sleuther shouted at Visskara, rushing to shield Dagur with his body. His tail clicked warningly as Dagur stayed cautious behind his dragon.
"Toothless?" Dagur frowned in concern when he finally saw the captured and tortured Nightfury. Until now his attention had been on the large white and blue dragon before him.
Visskara coughed away her plasma blast and squinted her eyes, scrutinizing the human guardedly. He obviously knew her ameor, but was he friend or foe? She wasn't taking any chances; she blocked them from advancing on Toothless's vulnerable body until she could be sure of their intent. She berated herself for letting her guard down; had her attention not been so deeply immersed in what had become of her ameor, she would have heard them approaching, as it was, she had been too presumptuous in thinking she had eradicated all possible threats.
"Why are you here?" Visskara demanded, her question snapped impatiently at the brown-black and yellow dreki. She needed to be direct, needed to neutralise the situation and get back to her ameor quickly.
"I heard you. We came to help. Toothless is a friend. Dagur's my rider, he knows Hiccup, they're friends too." Sleuther explained, his voice clipped every few words and his tail tapped nervously.
Visskara growled at them in frustration, pacing the cold dank cell floor, before returning her attention back to her ameor. Toothless's 'dragon proof' chains had been melted away - by herself, but when she had tried to remove the leather straps and muzzle … Toothless had been in too much pain. She either had to severely hurt her ameor to free him, or she needed help. It was also clearly obvious that Toothless couldn't fly yet either, and she couldn't carry him without causing him serious pain and discomfort - or without the risk of dropping him altogether. She was no Grutregrasvattir, she could only do so much, but if this human could help…
Dagur had been edging slowly around Sleuther, trying to get closer and analyse the situation. He could clearly see that Toothless was in need of serious aid, but he wasn't stupid to rush over and get attacked by an unknown dragon. He wondered if this new dragon could have possibly been the cause of the destruction up-top, but eventually, he decided that surely one dragon didn't have that much power over a ship of dangerous dragon hunters. He slowly slipped his sword away and cautiously tried to get nearer, but the dragon somehow heard his silent foot falls. She growled and snapped at him in warning, forcing him back.
"Vissy?" Toothless mumbled weakly. He knew she was there; she had been helping him - albeit painfully, but he was torn between relief of having his ameor with him and fear for her safety. His mind was far too foggy to register much of his surroundings, and the pain was far too distracting to think much at all. When Visskara had blasted and melted the dragon proof shackles and chains away it had been agonising, but he finally managed to open his eyes again. He squinted through the headache and tried to make sure his ameor was safe. He saw her, but then he saw the familiar crazy red headed Viking. "Dagur?"
"Toothless!" Visskara's head snapped round to face him. "I need to know, is this 'Dagur' human safe?"
"Safe?" Toothless muttered. Trying to sort through the loud throbbing, burning, and stinging, to get to his thought process.
"Can we trust this 'Dagur' Human? Is he safe, or should I kill him?" Vissy asked again. Sleuther growled, Dagur reached for his sword.
"What? No! D-D-Dagur's okay. D-Don't kill him!" Toothless stuttered, trying to raise his head and chest off the floor. All that futile movement caused was a searing pain down his back, and he ended up with his head on the floor, his eyes squeezed shut, and was forced to focus all his attention on breathing. He made a mental note to himself: Do not try to get up in a blind panic that your sister will kill the husband of Mala - the Queen of the Defenders of the Wing tribe, and an ally of Hiccup's, because it fucking hurts!
Visskara nodded as Toothless calmed down, her ameor obviously felt very strongly about the life of this human. She stepped aside before looking down at Dagur expectantly. Sleuther observed Visskara with a questioning, cautious scrutiny - he wasn't happy that she was willing to kill his rider, or the fact that it was said so matter of fact.
"He can help then. I need to remove these." Visskara said, placing her nose against the straps before looking back at Dagur pointedly. Sleuther decided it was safe for now, and he nuzzled Dagur closer to Toothless, but he would remain vigilant.
Dagur eyed the new white and blue dragon for a moment, but then he worked to free Toothless from his leather bounds, starting with the muzzle. "Hey buddy, what happen to you? No matter … we'll get you out of here. Dagur will get you all fixed up and back to Hiccup in no time." Dagur's slow motherese voice confused Visskara, but she watched his every move very closely.
Toothless panicked; he couldn't go back to Berk! He tried desperately to express this, but after his last movement attempt, he didn't have the strength. The noise that came from him only caused Dagur to rub his now free maw to soothe him.
"Easy there Toothless. There's a good boy. You just relax now buddy, you poor thing. Dagur will make it all better, yes he will." Dagur told him gently in motherese again, assuming Toothless was just in pain and scared for the situation he had found himself in.
When Dagur went to remove the leather bounds restricting Toothless's wings, he winced in empathy at the damage the hunters had done to him. The leather was so tight it had rub and cut into the skin, breaking through the scales. Toothless's back was worse, deep gushes and swollen spike shaped holes crusted over with dried blood, and the skin was bruised and scale-less in many places. Dagur had to close his eyes. He sighed sadly and thought: How had he ever affiliated with dragon hunters? It would always be his guilt to bare, and he carried it heavily.
"This is gonna sting a bit, but then it will all be over." Dagur gently warned Toothless.
Toothless closed his eyes and waited, but when it came, no amount of bracing could have prevented him from roaring out in agony. It felt like his skin was being torn apart and peeled from his bones.
Visskara was immensely grateful for Dagur's warning; if he hadn't alerted her to this fact, she would have jumped to the conclusion that he was only trying to hurt her ameor. So, when Dagur unbuckled the complicated straps and started to peel it away from his wings, she was prepared when Toothless roared and howled in agony. It wasn't easy to hear, and she wanted to take the pain away, but she would have to settle with the knowledge that the hunters were no more - they had suffered and died at her own paw.
Dagur had instantly stopped trying to remove the leather. He knew it must be removed but other factors were causing him to hesitate. The leather had cut into Toothless's skin, it had started to fuse into the wound, and removing it was causing a bleed and leaving it open to the elements.
"Just do it!" Toothless croaked out, begging for it to be over quickly. "Please, just do it quick!" He whimpered desperately.
Visskara shoved Dagur aside now that the leather straps were unbuckled. She took them in her teeth and braced herself for hearing her Ameor's agonising howls of pain, and then, she pulled. Toothless's howling cries were like claws piercing her heart, Dagur flinched and curled his fingers, and even Sleuther winced and ducked his head in sympathy, but Visskara didn't stop until it was removed. Toothless's cries carried out across the ocean, and then he finally slumped forward into blissful unconsciousness.
Dagur was on top-deck - wrinkled nosed, as he surveyed the scene. Sleuther was with him while Visskara stayed to lick Toothless's wounds and keep him safe.
The ship was too damaged to sail, but he wanted to get the deck cleared of death as best as possible. Dagur wondered if Sleuther could pull the ship to Berserker island. Berk was too far, and he knew Mala, Heather, and Jelaurna would be able to help Toothless. Hopefully that new white and blue dragon would be okay with his plan, it seemed rather fond of the Night-fury, protective too, and he didn't know what powers it had. That made him think of the dragon riders; did they know about this new dragon, and where was Hiccup? Maybe Toothless had been away on his alpha missions alone and got caught by the hunters, he would have to find Hiccup and let him know about Toothless if that was the case.
"Okay Sleuther, time to clean deck!" Dagur fervently announced, although he didn't look forward to touching pieces of dead bodies.
Sleuther was able to throw the broken mast overboard - with the aid of some ropes Dagur had used to help him pull it up and over the side. The ship rocked before an almighty splash was heard, and soon enough, Visskara appeared on deck anticipating danger.
"Easy there … Dragon!" Dagur soothed with his palms up, he hadn't failed to noticed how quickly it had appeared beside him. He had no idea if the dragon was female or male, or what species it was, but it was exciting to bare-witness to a new dragon. "Im'ma call you Blue for now. Cos, look at them wings!" Dagur informed it loudly, opening up his arms and smiling brightly at it.
Visskara huffed.
"Sorry, but it's Blue, or Dragon. I prefer Blue!" His wide smile soon fell when she looked less than impressed. "Well, erm … we're just cleaning up deck." He gesticulated around him.
Visskara glanced around. She watched as Sleuther dropped a severed arm into the sea, returned to collect broken wood and did the same with other broken pieces of human or ship. Dagur, was basically doing the same but he kept looking over at her. Understanding what they were trying to do at least, Visskara decided to help. This way she could return to Toothless faster and not be distracted by them and their shenanigans. She didn't care about the mess, but if that's what would make them settle down then so be it.
Dagur, was suddenly knocked back onto his butt as a blast of wind took him clean off his feet. He could only see a blur of white and blue as the dragon moved about. A few blinks and rushes of strong winds later, and the top of the deck was bare and cleared off. All that remained was the anchor and the helm. Even Sleuther looked stunned.
"You have just become my new favourite dragon!" Dagur gushed with wide green eyes. Sleuther snarled. "What - didn't you see that? Okay fine! Blue can be my new favourite dragon after you, happy?" Dagur placated his dragon as he stood up. "Besides, you and me have a special kinda bond. Daddy could never replace you." Dagur pouted as he hugged his Triple-Stryke, and he planted kisses on Sleuther's face.
Visskara had confirmation now; humans were insane, deranged, totally unbalanced, and like the wind was blowing but nothing was moving.
"… Just need some rope, then we can pull this baby to little sis." Dagur's loud and eager voice threw Visskara from her thoughts.
Visskara watched as Sleuther pulled rope out of the ocean, then Dagur tied it to the front of the ship. Sleuther flew up with the other end of the rope clenched in his paws and proceeded to pull. The ship strained and creaked, Sleuther tugged harder, but it wouldn't budge. Visskara flew up to help him, taking hold of the rope in her paws, and together they managed to get the ship moving. Once the boat was sailing evenly across the ocean, she let go of the rope. Luckily, it continued to move with only Sleuther keeping the rope taught.
"Thanks." Sleuther thanked her a little breathlessly.
"Where are we going?" Visskara asked, noticing they were sailing away from Berk.
"Berserker Island. Chief Heather will help Toothless." Sleuther informed her.
"We need to go to Berk!" Visskara demanded, but Sleuther interrupted her.
"Too far. Trust Dagur! Toothless is safe on Berserker island. They will help him there."
Visskara huffed but gave in. She was confident in her ability to protect Toothless if anything went wrong, and she really didn't have much choice in the matter - unless she killed Sleuther and Dagur and took over herself. Something told her that Toothless wouldn't be too pleased with her if she killed them, and he did need healing. Speaking off Toothless…
She suddenly glided a foot over the ocean, dived into the sea, and re-emerged a moment later with two fish. Then she disappeared below deck, returning to her ameor.
Toothless didn't feel like eating, and really, it had only been about a day since Maligon attacked. It wasn't like he was starved, but Visskara wasn't pleased with him.
"You need your strength!" She insisted.
"I'd rather not vomit!" Toothless snapped, wincing at his pounding headache. Visskara huffed, but she finally realised it was futile. Her ameor was too stubborn for his own good.
"Are you sure it is safe on this 'Berserker' island? It does not sound safe, and that Dagur human is strange."
"It's safe! I can't go back to Berk, and I've been to Berserker island many times."
"Why can you not return to Berk. Hiccup misses you; he needs you!" Visskara tried. Toothless had mention that he could not returned to Berk before, but he had yet to elaborate.
"Vissy please!" Toothless begged. "Leave off the questions, I don't have the energy." He whimpered as he tried to shift positions, to move his numb legs, but even the slightest of movements still burned.
"Toothless?" Vissy's concerned voice, although a hundred times better than any hunters, still caused his head to pound in protest. "If you just eat-"
"Shhh." He cut her off. "Please Vissy! My fucking head." He whimpered, squeezing his eyes closed. It wasn't just his head - obviously, but he really wasn't ready to answer his ameor's questions. He didn't even have answers to her questions, because he didn't know them himself.
He was meant to have died, not that he wasn't grateful to be alive, just that … he hadn't planned to survive this. He'd kissed Hiccup in front of the tribe, believing his cost to be death, so what was he meant to do now? Assuming he could fly again, he could go to Sanctum island, but Hiccup would look for him. Dagur would tell Hiccup where he was, and he would either kill him for betraying their secret or would do something stupid. He could turn human and make Dagur swear to say nothing, but that could be a terrible idea - the more people that knew of his secret the greater the risk to himself, Hiccup, and the Tribe. There was of course the small fact that he couldn't seem to change form anymore anyway - he would have to figure that out later. It was a good thing Vissy had killed all the hunters, at least they couldn't spread that knowledge around at least.
"Toothless?" Visskara whispered.
"Just stay with me … quietly. I'll be okay now." Toothless reassured her.
Visskara did as he asked; she ceased her questioning and just stayed by his side. He was so grateful to have her with him again, so grateful to be alive, but he just wanted to know she was there. No questions, no being forced fed, just his ameor's presence to remind him he was safe for now. It was a great comfort to know that he no longer had to worry about the hunters, and he wished he was in better form to speak with his ameor again, but … how was she here? She had gone back to Sanctum island, right? He'd have to ask her later; his wounds from the mettle-studded whip had done so much damage that his body refused to let him stay awake. He needed to sleep, he needed the respite from the pain, and his body wasn't giving him much choice in the matter. His plans for his future would also have to wait, he'd figure it all out later when he wasn't fighting with his own body.
Visskara heard the moment Toothless's breath changed from laboured to smooth slow breaths, and she sighed. She wished Acacia and Storrkeldan were here to heal him. She only hoped that this 'Berserker' island had humans that could help Toothless feel better.
Visskara was currently pulling the ship by herself, the fresh air was such a welcome after the damp, cold, rotten depths of the death filled cells below, but she couldn't stop worrying about Toothless. Toothless was still asleep, she could see his body heat from the air, but he was still suffering and alone below deck.
Sleuther had grown tired - exhausted from pulling the ship so far already, and with nothing else to do, she had taken over for him. Sleuther, was therefore, currently asleep himself. Dagur had been rather pleased to say the least, when he realised that she could pull the ship much faster than Sleuther could. The water churned in high waves in the wake of the ship as it sailed its course through the calm sea, and the salty sea air blew Dagur's hair as he helped keep the ship on course. He would call up to the blue and white dragon with slight adjustments in direction now and then using his compass.
Dagur, had at some point, visited Toothless again, but after observing him sleeping he had returned to the top deck. They had been sailing for hours, Berserker island shouldn't be too much further. Blue, had yet again, amazed him; the dragon had correctly followed every direction without any issues. Its speed, strength, and ability to understand him, made him again wonder what happened to the hunters that used to sail this ship? The more he learnt about Blue, the more he started to reconsider its involvement; maybe Blue played a part in the hunters' downfall at least.
As Berserker island came into sight and grew closer, Dagur yelled up to the Dragon. "Blue! We need to slow down, slooowww. That's our stop, that island there." He enunciated, pointing to said island.
Visskara huffed at him in insult, but she slowed her speed as directed and prepared to stop at the new island. She was dreading the humans that lived there; she still did not trust humans at all, and her anxiety grew the closer they got to Berserker island. If it wasn't for Toothless, she wouldn't be seen dead near them, but her ameor had to go and make human friends. Toothless also needed healing, something she couldn't provide, so she would bare what was to come if it meant her ameor would receive the care he required.
Dagur huffed in wonder at Blue's intelligence, wanting to befriend and train the new dragon, see what it was made of and what it could do. Right now, he had to direct the ship into the docks.
"We need to slowly, very slowly, stop the ship against the wooden deck and anchor it to the docks. We don't want to crash into the docks or the island. Crashing would be very bad! Slowly does it, then stop before the wood. Got that?"
Visskara rolled her eyes, of course she wouldn't crash.
Okay, so she might have crashed … a bit. They probably did not even need that wooden thing anyway. It was not like they could not swim! Besides, that was not her concern right now. She was fearful and anxious of the humans surrounding her ameor.
They were still on the ship, Toothless was trying to reassure her through the pain and chaos, and Sleuther and … Windshear? Were both insisting that their riders would help Toothless. It was only her strong desire that Toothless receive help, that stopped her killing these humans on sight. She eventually decided to stay out of the way, back against the opposite cell wall to her ameor, but her eyes were still locked onto Toothless. The humans eventually got the message that she would not hesitate to attack them if they touched her, and thankfully, most of them decided to focus on Toothless instead. There were a few that stood with weird metal skin and held spears, that kept staring at her.
"Where did that dragon come from?" Heather asked her brother, Dagur. She was helping Jelaurna spread the poultice over Toothless's wounds. "Are you sure it's safe? It doesn't look trained."
"I really have no idea." Dagur admitted with a smile. He looked over at the blue and white dragon that was sitting and observing them closely. "Amazing dragon though, I must say. It moves so fast! I called it Blue, and it's really protective of Toothless, so best not hurt him. I'm sure Blue's okay though, if we don't try and get too close to it. I definitely wouldn't want to piss it off."
"Blue?" Heather questioned.
"It's a good name! It has blue wings. I need to find my dear brother though - I have some questions for Hiccup?" Dagur rubbed his stubbled chin.
Toothless whimper and roared as Jelaurna added more poultice to the deeper lacerations on his back. Visskara was instantly on her feet and growled. The three humans with spears, pointed their metal at her. She would have ripped their metal apart and torn their heads off if it wasn't for the Black-haired female human that seemed to be their leader.
"Stand down!" Heather shouted at her guards. "Now!" The three men hesitated at first, but did as ordered with caution - knuckles turning white at the grip on their lowered spears, still ready to attack if needed.
"Whoa there Blue. Let them help. It's gonna sting Toothless a bit, that can't be helped." Dagur placated the dragon. When Toothless calmed and Blue sat back down, Dagur continued. "That's it. Nice and calm. We want Toothless to get all better and back to his Toothy ways too, but his wounds are really bad so its gonna hurt." Blue looked between Toothless and Dagur, but eventually relaxed. Dagur then turned to his sister, Heather. "Like I said, protective!"
"That could prove to be quite a problem." Mala spoke up.
"Why are YOU even here?" Dagur questioned his pregnant wife in exasperation. Flipping his arms in defeat when she glared at him. He sighed before addressing his sister again. "My advice, don't try and separate Blue from Toothless. I would also say what your doing before you do it, I think Blue understands."
"Dagur, I know how you get around new dragons but seriously-" Heather had been saying.
"Just trust me." Dagur interrupted his sister. He huffed in exasperation at their looks of disbelief. "Fine, I'll prove it." He turned to speak to Blue directly. "For the sake of my adorable small-minded little sister, would you please prove that you're an amazing intelligent dragon. If you would please … I don't know, erm, lay down?"
Visskara huffed, and rolled her eyes. She refused to obey a strange human. Unlike their drekis and her ameor, she was no trained dragon.
"Oh, come on! Please don't make me look like a fool here." He begged through gritted teeth, chuckling nervously as all eyes were now on him. "I know you understand me, you followed my directions on the ship, just do this one thing, please. It will make them leave you alone."
Visskara huffed in Dagur's face, blowing his strange red hair back.
"Obviously you are mistaken-" Mala had started to say, when the mysterious white and blue dragon suddenly lay down with an annoyed huff.
"See! What did I tell you?" Dagur shouted, beaming in his success.
"It probably got bored of your insane ramblings." Heather injected, but her attention was peaked. She knew Toothless needed treatment, but until they were sure this new dragon wouldn't attack them, they had to tread carefully.
Mala started to walk slowly closer to 'Blue' as her husband had named it. Dagur grumbled about his unborn child and how she never listened to him, but Mala ignored him.
"Hello Blue, my name is Mala. We only wish to help Toothless. Will you let us assist your friend? I assure you, on my honour, that no harm will come to him!" Mala then bowed her head and raised her hand out.
"Vissy." Toothless gritted out and winced. The pain had lessened - if only slightly now that they were no longer touching him, but the process of applying the poultice stung and burned simultaneously. "Let them help. Mala protects and worships dragons. Put your maw on her hand to show you trust her." His breath was laboured, but Visskara had heard him clearly. "Please Vissy!"
"They are hurting you!" Visskara replied, but she had already decided to let the humans do what they had to - within reason.
"I'm already hurt. It's going to fucking hurt. Just trust them, for me." Toothless insisted.
"Fine!" Visskara fully relented. She hadn't noticed the looks the humans were sharing - looks of bewilderment, as she conversed with her ameor. She looked down at Mala and eventually nudged her hand with her maw. "If anything goes wrong, I'm totally blaming you." Visskara told her Ameor. Toothless just huffed quietly.
When Mala tried to stoke Visskara, she turned her face away. Mala just smiled in understanding. "I see. You would rather we didn't touch you? Am I correct?"
When Visskara eyed her again before nodding once, hushed gasps could be heard from a couple of the humans.
"Very well. It will hurt as we treat him. His wounds are very deep and open, but it will help them to heal. I only ask that you stay calm. Can you do that?"
Once Visskara had nodded in confirmation, the humans continued their work. It didn't pass her observations that Dagur seemed to be rather pleased that he had been right about her understanding the majority of human speech. Still, her attention was mostly on Toothless. It hurt her to hear him in pain, and she was relieved when the humans finally left the ship. Toothless, now covered by some human 'blanket', was exhausted by the ordeal, and he had only managed to reassure her that he was fine before he fell asleep. She would stay to keep guard.
On Berserker Island, in chief Heather's house, she was conversing with Dagur and Mala. They had agreed that it was unwise to try and move Toothless yet, and that he was safe on the ship for now. Heather had assigned two guards to watch over the ship - to make sure no one disturbed the Dragons, and wanted to see if Blue would allow them to wash the cells - they reeked with death and decay.
Dagur had also explained why he had left Berserker that morning, what he had found, and how he had returned. They'd all agreed that it was mysterious how Dagur had come across such death and destruction, and that Blue was most likely involved, but it didn't explain how the ship had been attacked. Still, they agreed to be wary around this new dragon - female, according to Mala.
"As long as we remain cautious, explain our actions gently to Blue and gain her permission first, we should be safe around her. I would otherwise leave them be." Mala added.
"I agree Mala. As far as we're aware, Toothless is still the alpha. I don't see him wishing any harm to come of Berserker Island." Heather agreed, nodding, and hoping that was the case. Dagur placed down his mug and stood up.
"Me and Sleuther will go to Berk. The dragon riders might know more. At any rate, I should make sure chief Hiccup is there and safe, and inform him that Toothless is wounded." Dagur insisted, but Mala and Heather agreed.
"Stay safe my king. No heroic solo missions." Mala insisted, kissing her husband. She was angry that dragon hunters had inflicted such pain on Toothless, but grateful they no longer remained a threat. From Dagur's description of the wreckage, they had been violently attacked - she just hoped that whatever or whoever had attacked them were not an even bigger adversary then their victims.
"You too my Queen." Dagur rubbed his noes against Mala's, causing her to blush, he then bent down to kiss her stomach. "Daddy won't be gone long my little boulder. Be good for mummy." Dagur gushed in motherese.
Once Dagur was ready to leave, had mounted the saddle on Sleuther's back, he nodded to his wife and his sister.
"Sis, please make sure my queen follows the healer's advice." Dagur pleaded. Knowing full well that Mala was far too stubborn.
"I will." Heather replied, with a knowing smile.
"I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I am pregnant, not injured." Mala insisted.
"Well, off to see my dear brother! I wonder what our Hiccupy chief is up to these days?" Dagur said as Sleuther took to the skies.
