Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter, I hope you all enjoy!
Part 2
Solitude
Chapter 3: The Boy
A few months later
It is late in Fall, winter slowly approaching. This is the last chance that us dragons on Dragon Island can collect enough food for the queen. Another raid will descend upon the small viking village at the place the humans call: Berk.
The last several attacks had seen little success. The queen dragon has been getting irritated with us all...hopefully this next raid will be better, I think to myself as I sit by a rocky cliff. It's the same island Friea and I used to spend our free time on…
Over the course of several months I've really started acting more like the other dragons: my human life seeming like a distant dream or a past life sometimes. Each day, even now, I hold on to hope that I would become human again and wake up in my bed; however, I feel myself apart of this strange new world now...and the days now just bleed into one another.
I thought about flying away from here long time ago, and the thought would come up every once in a while...maybe to search for the gray man, but...where would I go? Ironically I've become quite accustomed to this region despite its dangers…
Anyways...the stars are out tonight and there is a chill breeze striking my black scales. I just rest by the cliff, remembering the day everything changed when Friea went away...I've been so lonely ever since. The other dragons are scared of me, have no interest in having conversations since they rather be scavenging to survive, or they end up victims in the raids, fledgling pirates, or the queen herself.
Once it gets to that time to fly again, I leave the island to meet with the others and prepare for our morning raid. Like all the other times before, the first dragons swoop in and take the livestock one by one. The vikings soon realize, however, what is happening and it isn't long before their night watch alerted the others of our presence. A Monstrous Nightmare, the only one with us today, flies next to me as the skirmish on Berk quickly escalates.
"Night Fury, they've moved their catapults by the eastern side of the island" the nightmare mutters with a deep and intimidating voice as I nod to him, "I'll disable them right away."
"We're counting on you. The Gronckles and Nadders will aid the scavengers and hold off the Viking advance, I will help them."
"Got it" I finish before we both disperse. I prepare my attack run as the reddish dragon ends up near the higher portion of town. He spots a young human by a door and unleashes a barrage of flames toward the child, but the latter quickly closes the door in time.
The dragon continues its onslaught before the humans pour out of their homes to confront him and the others. It isn't long before the vikings light up their torches and send the towers up into the sky: revealing a swarm of reptiles flying just a few meters above.
I reach the space needed to attack and I quickly turn around and head back toward Berk, gaining speed as I do so. I accelerate ever more slightly as I reach top speed. I narrow my slit eyes as my target gets closer and closer to me. I open my mouth, letting out a wailing screech before a bolt of plasma shoots out: it strikes one of the towers!
Bingo, direct hit!
I pass by quickly afterwards while the foes on the building hastily jump off to safety. The catapult tower collapses behind them. I look back, smiling slightly at this: that should stave off the vikings and help the others escape with the sheep. Once again I ready for another attack, and I'm going to do the same thing to another tower nearby. From the corner of my eye I see my next target: an unlit catapult that will soon be used for the last dragons leaving Berk.
Once I acquire my target I gain speed once again, racing toward the structure at fighter-jet speed. Once back in Berk, I unleash the same blast and destroy the next tower before flying through it like before.
Then...it happened…
I felt something wrap around me...entangling me before I can even react. I look back and immediately recognize the strange device: it's a type of throwing bolas that has ensnared me! This is bad...really bad! Still in mid-air I am not unable to flap my wings or even move an inch of my body. I quickly fall from the sky as I let out a yell of panic, but it's all in vain. At these ridiculous speeds, I end up in a forest in the outskirts of the town in a matter of seconds. I crash through the ground as my body brings down trees, branches and other things in the way as I leave behind a trail of carnage. When I finally stop, I gasp sharply...and then...I pass out from the pain...
...
When I was fifteen my parents had a friend who was a pilot at Stanburd Regional Airport near Wilkerson County. One day, my father asked him if the three of us could go flying with him and the latter agreed. It would turn out to be my first time on a small plane. Though we had gone on bigger, commercial, planes before this was different and it felt more personal to me. He let us ride in a Cessna 172 where we spent the next few hours in, a small and cramped space...like a commercial plane!
It was early in the morning and weather conditions were more than favorable. Once the pilot, known as Sam, goes through his pre-flight check and testing his instruments, we taxied at the small runway. We soon gained speed before lifting off the ground a quarter of the runway left. I looked out from the side window (I was sitting in the back) and saw the world get smaller and smaller as we climbed! We were all wearing headsets and could hear Air Traffic control directing us and other planes in the sky.
It takes a bit, but we reached 3,000 feet...something I noticed my first time in a small plane was how there is a lot more turbulence than on bigger planes, so I was quite anxious at first. Once we were at a high enough altitude, Sam had told us suddenly that he was going to train his stall recovery. At that time I didn't know what 'stall' meant, but my dad did and his anxious yelp told me what I needed to know.
Out of nowhere, Sam pits the nose higher and an alarm sounds as the plane stops moving...and falls...it spins as my heart jumps. Soon, however, the aircraft recovers and stabilizes, clear of conflict. I wiped sweat off my brow as the two adults in front of me laugh, though my dad's laughter was a rather nervous one.
"How was that for you" Sam asks me as I sigh, "other than being scared to death, it was kind of exhilarating..."
Heck...flying does get your heart pumping...I could really get used to that. I might actually like to be a pilot, someday…
Someday…
...
I feel something against my body as I physically recoil from it. I hear a short cry of shock and the sound of something, or worse...somebody, falling over. I groan in pain...I'm disoriented and it takes me a moment to come to my senses again. I open my eyes...and the first thing they see is a boy and he is holding a knife toward me.
What is going on, I think, but that's when I remember what happened the last time I was awake: especially when I look around to find myself in a dense, and foggy, forest. During the raid...I was shot down...it must have been a while ago...it's daytime now…
I look down to find myself still restrained by the bolas. I am literally trapped…
This kid...what is he doing here alone in this forest? Of course...the knife...his clothes…he's a viking!? He...he's the one who shot me down!? There's no other logical explanation: this small, unnaturally thin and weak spawn of a viking managed to catch me when I was flying fast, and in pitch-black darkness no less!
What is he going to do…
We stare at one another for what appears to be forever before the human finally breaks the silence. He breathes in and out and soon fills my heart with dread. The first words that he mutters sends a chill down my spine, "I'm going to kill you, dragon...I'm gonna...cut out your heart and take it to my father."
Speaking of my heart...it quite literally skipped a beat from this…
The teen softly mutters to himself, but I can hear what he says thanks to my dragon ears, "I'm a viking," and he suddenly yells the same exact sentence to me, "I'M A VIKING!"
Please, don't…
I try to beg him to stop, maybe hopefully he would understand me unlike the other humans, but to him: all he hears from me are the grunts and growls of a feral beast.
The next thing he does is lift that small dagger of his above his head as he prepares to finish me off. I try to convince him not to follow through, but I am totally at the mercy of this kid. All I can seem to do...is stare into the eyes of the person who will end my existence. It's a very intense exchange that occurs between us, but finally I can't seem to watch anymore and I look away.
This is how my story ends...I'll never find out who the mysterious man who brought me here was or why he did it. I hope that at least this will be over quick, and I won't have to be alone anymore…
Maybe I'll see Friea again...wherever she is…
I wait for the weapon to pierce my body, but it never does. It's only moments after that I realize what is happening. I quickly open my eyes to catch the teen using the dagger to cut the restraints and set me free. As I feel myself able to move more and more, I think to myself what I should do next. Once he cuts the last rope off I spring into action: pouncing the teenager with no warning. I pin him against a rock with a paw and I stare him down.
Now he's the one at my mercy, and I think long and hard about what to do with him. He'd probably be a nuisance again if I let him go, but he DID just spare my life...and he's also JUST A KID. So, I figure I might just scare him off and teach him a lesson.
I open my mouth to reveal my razor sharp teeth as I extend my bat-like wings to widen my presence to him. With a deep inhale, I let out a loud and deafening roar in his face before setting off. Very soon after, however, I run into a major problem…
As I am in the air my body automatically veers to the right without any warning and as a consequence I hit a wall next to me. I'm struggling to stay in flight and I yell with frustration...it's all in vain I soon realize.
"W-what is going on!?"
I crash into the ground. I stand up, shaking my head. I look behind me and check my wings: they're...fine...so...why can't I fly!?
That's when I look back and find myself cringing in response: one of the smaller wings at the tip of my tail is gone...it's no longer there...what happened!?
That's when I realize, to my horror, that it was from the crash…it must have…
I clutch my head with my black paws in despair, and I let out another cry before finding a tree to slash at to vent my frustration. I use both my paws and all my dragon strength to send the tree down to the ground.
STUPID VIKINGS, STUPID KID, STUPID EVERYTHING!
I...I can't fly anymore. What good am I now!? I'm doomed! What am I going to do!?
I lay my snout/head against the remains of the tree bark in defeat, but then hope overwhelmed me afterwards:
What if it can grow back? I am a reptile now after all...lizards can grow their tails back in the real world...right? Who's to say it can't happen here? Maybe...maybe I have to just wait a while? In the meantime though I should get out of this place, find somewhere to rest. After all, I am STILL in viking territory.
And so...I walk the rest of the way, aimlessly of course, through the forest: descending a hilly portion until it gets pretty steep. From what I can see: below me is a large uninhabited cove. I groan softly before turning around to ascend once more...I can't continue this way. Suddenly, my foot slips from the slippery rock and I find myself tumbling down into the large cove below. I land hard against grass as I grumble angrily at myself.
"You made the right choice calling me SheepBrain, Friea."
I shake my head as my dragon ears roll in the same direction. I look around: this place is massive, it must be a sinkhole from who knows when...some birds are flying high above while I spot some fish in the water in the middle of this place. I didn't think about it earlier, but I am thirsty...and at least this place has a pond where I can drink from. And so, I make my way to the water source and drink from it. Feeling refreshed, I stare down at the small creatures swimming around underwater. My stomach growls before I hold it with both paws, "hungry..." I mutter softly. I narrow my eyes to the fish and try to catch one. It might sound easy, but it's ridiculously hard, especially for someone like me. The ones I usually catch and eat are flying fish near the shore, but these are NOT flying fish, and they're NOT any easier to catch. As one of them approaches the edge of the water, I move forward to try and catch it with my mouth, but it is so quick that I actually fall into the pond. I thrash around underwater before finally resurfacing. I gasp loudly before making it back to shore. Once I'm back on dry land I shake my entire body to try and get rid of as much water as possible.
Once that's over with, I slump into the floor, giving a hefty sigh.
I gotta rest…I'll try and get out of here later.
...
Sometime passes by. The sun is beginning its descent for the day and it will be night soon. I just paced back and forth or took naps throughout the day, and even tried going for the fish in the pond again. But it all just seemed irrelevant in the long run.
I have water here in this place...but food...that's going to be a problem...so I think it's time to leave…
I finally start searching for a way out. At first I just walk and try and climb the walls, but they're too high or too smooth for my claws to dig into. It takes a while to check every single wall in this cove because of how large the place is, but ultimately, my frustration only grows.
Come on… there's gotta be a way out of this stupid cove!
I keep trying to find a spot I can climb to get out but I start to panic. I decide to try and fly out. I spread my wings, and I start flapping them to lift myself off the ground. I almost land against the edge of the cliff to get get out here, but my claws can't seem to grasp the surface! I repeatedly try to hold on, but I can't anymore, so I move away. I fall across the pond, crashing on the other side as I curse loudly in anger. I almost had it! I try again, I run toward a log to jump off it to give me some extra height. I start flapping my wings in the air, and it seems like this time will be it! I'm pretty stable right now, and I'm almost to the edge, come on! But, of course...I start losing control and I fall just short of the rock…I keep trying despite the signs that it's all for nothing. Soon, however, I shake my head in despair.
Great...I'm no longer trapped in ropes but now I'm trapped like I'm in a cage or a zoo! This is just...perfect...now what am I going to do!?
I let out a plasma bomb at the ground in frustration...dang it!
I decide to try one more time, but as always it ends in failure. This time, though, I end up right next to the shore of the pond. I slightly open my eyes as pain envelops me from my attempts, and that's when I notice the fish. They're closer now at least...maybe I should try again…
Nope, they got away again! Should I even be surprised anymore? If I can't even catch fish here...I'm as good as dead! This place is going to be my tomb...what am I going to do? It doesn't help that I'm all alone here, not a single person or thing to keep me company…
That's when I hear something fall from the cliffs above. I lift my head from the ground to investigate: it's a human! Wait...it's him...it's the boy! He's been watching me, but...I scared him off...so why is he here? That's when I spot the book in his hand and examine his inquisitive demeanor. He's been...studying me?
I growl at him at first, but I soon turn my head side ways in a similar curious manner:
What a strange boy...he does have a lot of guts though...I'll give him that…
...
More time passes by and night has arrived. The human viking had left the cove, figuring it would be best to return home before all of the forest's predators started showing up. I, meanwhile, had nothing else to do but watch the sky move ever so slightly with each passing hour.
Then...I see the dancing lights in the sky...the Aurora Borealis adding light all around me. But...that's when I realize it seems to be coming down to the ground!? What!? I look around as the phenomenon move all around me...and then I hear a voice calling me…
"Hey there, SheepBrain."
I look behind me to see a sight that sends my heart racing and I let out a gasp of surprise. It's another dragon, a silver-colored one. It's metallic scales shine off the lights that are all around the large cove. I stare into her eyes...it's the same ones as I remember all those months ago…
It's...it's Friea?
My mouth is left open in shock and she comes over to close it with a ghostly paw, "F-Friea...you're here?"
"Only for a little while."
She looks down to see my tail: and notices the fin missing from it. She probably knows already what happened, seeing as she's a ghost and what not, but then she asks, "what happened there?"
"Some stupid kid shot me down..." I growl, not at her, but at the fact it happened to me, "I crash landed in this forest...and I can't get out of this stupid place now! Friea...I...I'm scared-"
I can't finish, for I slump toward the floor in tears while covering my face with my paws. I shiver in sadness. Suddenly, I feel something envelop me: I look up to see her next to me...Friea had wrapped her wings around me.
"Some things happen for a reason, ya know" she says as I look up to meet her eyes and retort miserably, "yes, this is my punishment for not saving you..."
"No...no" she retorts back with a soft reassuring voice, "see this as an opportunity for yourself. Maybe that human hatchling...maybe he's here to help you."
"Help me!? After what he's done to me? He probably knows I'm like this and will come back with some of his viking buddies to finish me off" I shake my head to her.
"If that was the case, he would have done that already. He's not like the others, and you KNOW that. If you ARE human...or rather...used to be...I would use that to your advantage. Try to get on the same level as that boy, and maybe they will help you. Trust yourself...give it a chance as I should have."
I look up her again as her eyes show regret to me before she sighs, "I didn't even get a chance to say how sorry I was for leaving you alone on that island the night I was captured...I should be the one getting punished, not you...Night Fury."
Out of nowhere I turn around and hug her, and I am kind of surprised I am able to: seeing as she's a spirit, "I've missed you Friea...I've been so alone..." I mutter softly as I cry into her shoulder.
"I know, but you're not alone...not anymore. Please, trust him…trust yourself."
I no longer feel her presence. I open my eyes...and find she's no longer there. I wipe tears out of my eyes before looking up at the sky. Maybe Friea's right...I'll just have to see if that kid ever comes back here...all I can do is wait in the meantime…
I ignite the grass under me before sitting on top of it to keep myself warm, and I lay my head to rest on the ground for the night.
...
Phew! This chapter took a while, but I hope it was worth it! It's awesome that people are enjoying the story so far, thanks everyone! Please consider leaving a review!