Raeya, the Draconians, and the dragons and riders of Berk all took to the skies in hopes of finding Windwalker's crown. Raeya was tense, trying to figure out a way to keep the others away from the cove.
No one spoke a word until Tuffnut thought of something.
"How are we suppose to find it if we don't know what it looks like?", he asked.
Astrid was about to snap back at him until she choked on her words. He was right. They didn't even know what the crown looked like. They all looked at Windwalker and Chris for an explanation.
"It's a black crown with a hurricane symbol in the center of it", Windwalker said with Chris translating.
"Okay, so how are we suppose to find one small crown on this big of an island? You are basically asking us to find a needle in a haystack", Snotlout complained.
"While it may seem like that, it is quite simple in reality. Since Windwalker has been wearing it a lot, it has her scent on it. So the dragons just have to let their noises guide them to the crown. But for you humans, with your underdeveloped sense of smell, it would definitely be like looking for a needle in a haystack", Re explained.
Raeya scowled a bit. At this rate, the crown will be found and her whole plan will fall apart.
"Wouldn't it be better if we all split up? That way we would cover more ground faster and save a lot of time", Astrid suggested.
"Good idea. Let's do that", Re said.
Raeya's eyes lit up. The blonde human bought her time.
All the dragons split up and scoured the island, searching for the black crown. Raeya pretended to look somewhere else, away from the cove at first. When all the dragons were a good distance away, she zoomed toward the cove.
She landed and immediately went to the spot between the rock and the roots and dig up her prize; It was still intact. She looked around one last time before she picked it up in her jaws and ran to the big pond in the center of the cove. She then glided across the body of water, dropping it once she was in the middle of it.
It splashed in the water with a 'ker-plunk' and snakes down towards the bottom. When Raeya landed on the other side, she gazed back and smiled when the water didn't looked disturbed, as if nothing agitated it. She thought for a moment as she reworked her plan.
But then a snap of a branch put her on high alert. She jerked her head around and froze as a female human stared back at her, not moving at all.
Two things surprised her: first how this human was able to even find this place and secondly how different this human was from the others. She had long black hair in some type of pattern going down her back. She had a short white dress on lined with a gold coloring of sorts, as well as brownish footwear; All she knew was that she wasn't wearing the attire that the other humans wore. Not only that, but she was darker in color than the others. She wasn't pale like the other humans. She was about the same coloring as those two humans from Draconia, but a different shade.
The human moved to grab something on her side but stopped when she locked eyes with her. Raeya felt like she should defend herself from this human, but she had this gut feeling that she shouldn't harm her. Sure this human was a stranger to her, but she had this feeling that this human wouldn't hurt her. She should've been snarling or growling at this human, yet something about the human fascinated her.
Kassandra woke up to the bright sun filtering through the gaps of the bush. She groggily rubbed her eyes and tried to figure out how she ended up in the bush.
She groaned when she remembered she was chased by a dragon. It was still a shock to her. She still couldn't believe that they were in fact real. She had only believed they to be myths in the stories she was told as a child.
"How? Why?", she asked herself.
What made her confused was that the dragon she encountered last night didn't quite fit the description of the folklore she grew up with.
The dragons she had heard of were guardians of the relics of the gods such as Ladon or the Colchian Dragon, or were devilish creatures like the Hydra or Pytho. In fact, the only dragons who seemed to have done no harm or good were the Solar Dragons or the Ismenian Dragon, who had some connection to the gods themselves.
Kassandra was beyond confused. Was she being punished by the Gods for fleeing home? Was she near one of the great dragons' dwelling? Did she just encounter the Hydra just now? If she did, it didn't seem as deadly as she initially thought it would be.
"...that is until it blew fire at me", Kassandra mumbled.
If she learned anything from the stories she was told as a child, she really hoped she wouldn't encounter another dragon again.
She was broken out of her train of thought when he stomach grumbled, louder than it had yesterday. She realized that she still had not eaten when she had arrived. Thinking back to the slain boars, she got out from under the bush and walked back up the hill.
She honestly didn't know where she was going, but she was determined to find those boars again. She was starving! As she traversed the woods, she made sure to steer clear of the dragon's cave, as well as any other cave for that matter.
She wandered and wandered and still no sight of the boars. She could've sworn she left them near that group of trees with the broken branch. Little did she know that dragons would never pass up a free meal.
With her food missing, she decided to go searching for more food. She kept walking and climbing until she found the most beautiful thing.
Her eyes widened when she saw an oasis of sort in the middle of this forest. She took in the sights of the cove, fascinated by the beauty of it all. From the plush greens, to the sparking waterfall pooling into the vast pond below. Looking at the water prompted another survival instinct. Besides food, she needed water.
With that in mind, she excitedly looked around for a way down. Once she did, she climbed down the rocky side and sprinted towards the edge of the pond. She dropped to her knees and scooped up a big handful of water before drinking out of it greedily.
She drank until her belly was full. With that part of her satisfied, she decided to do something she hadn't done since she left her village: shower.
She undressed and bathed in the waterfall. Seeing how she didn't have a bin of hot water and a rag, she decided to use the current of the waterfall to wash away from filth. After she deemed herself clean, she stepped out and dried herself off with nearby miss before stepping back into her clothes. However, since her hair was still wet, she decided to sunbathe until it was dry again.
She hid behind a rock, where she could dry her hair and block the sun out of her eyes at the same time. Feeling calm and relaxed, she decided to take a nap.
After relaxing for a bit, she opened her eyes when she heard a thump. She peered around the rock and gasped silently when she saw a sleek black dragon on the other side of the cove.
It looked like it was digging up something. When it looked up in her direction she dashed behind the rock, fearing it saw her.
She peered out again and saw the dragon fly over the pond and land on the other side, while dropping something in the pond. It then gazed back at the water and at that moment, Kassandra decided she needed to escape. She saw the entrance of the cove and realized it wasn't that far. Only the dragon stood in her way. As long as she didn't disturb the dragon, she would be fine. So she tiptoed her way to the entrance of the cove until she stepped on a lonesome branch.
She froze when the dragon snapped its head at her. She couldn't do anything. She didn't want to do anything. If this dragon was anything like the Hydra she encountered yesterday, she did not want to get on its bad side. But she couldn't remain defenseless!
She moved her hand to her whip but froze when she locked eyes with the dragon. It didn't growl or do anything threatening. It just stared at her with its eyes slightly narrowed. Kassandra couldn't explain it, but this one seemed different. Something told her this dragon wouldn't harm her. It was like she was staring past the dragon as it did to her. Kassandra wanted to defend herself but chose not to. The dragon seemed to notice as well for it did nothing in return. They just stared at each other. The dragon was fascinated at her as she was to it. Kassandra didn't even know animals could have different colored eyes. She didn't know whether to be shocked or awed.
Even though they did not know each other, they sensed no malice in each other, just nervousness.
Raeya was a bit apprehensive, but made no move showing her feelings. In fact, she was more curious about the human than fearful of it. And based on the human's reaction to her, Raeya was certain the human felt the same way. This human did not blindly attack her like the others she encountered, nor did she make a move to touch her.
They were broken out of their trance when the beating of wings was heard.
"Hey Raeya we are gonna-", Chris was cut off when he noticed the girl in front of her. Windwalker would've landed but stopped short when she too saw the human.
Kassandra looked at the man and gasped when she noticed it rode a dragon. Her shock quantified when she noticed the dragon he rode was very similar to the dragon in front of her, only it had honey yellow eyes.
Kassandra started panicking. She was outnumbered and was pretty sure she would lose if she picked a fight with a man who could ride a dragon. He defied every tale she was ever told. No mere mortal could ride a dragon! Only gods could ride dragons! She was scared and could only do one thing: run.
With the dragon in front of her looking at the duo as well, she bolted for the entrance and started making her way up and out of the cove.
Raeya turned her head back around to see the human making a getaway. But it was human, and humans are bad. Well, not the dragon riders at least. Raeya didn't want to stop the , Windwalker and Chris thought otherwise.
The duo zoomed after the intruder and Windwalker snagged her by the foot before flying away towards the village. Kassandra screamed as the ground below her started to fade away.
She looked up and saw that the black dragon had grabbed her foot and was taking her somewhere. The man atop the dragon seemed to be steering the beast. More than likely taking her to her doom. She didn't want to die. Not yet! With adrenaline coursing through her veins and no other options, she unraveled her whip and snapped it toward the man's neck. It wrapped around his neck successfully when she heard it snag and heard him gag. She yelled as she pulled it downwards with all her might. Chris could do nothing as he was ripped from the saddle and fell to the ground.
Windwalker looked back in horror as she heard her rider gasp before being flung off of her back. Her instincts kicked in. She could worry about the intruder later. She could not and would not let her rider fall to his death. Dropping the human, she quickly U-turned and zipped towards Chris. She pumped her wings in vain, trying desperately to save her rider. However, she could do nothing as Chris impacted a tree, and tumbled and snagged every branch on his descent.
She cringed when she heard a particular 'clonk' of Chris slamming his head onto a thick branch. She dived toward the bottom of the tree and barely managed to catch Chris before he hit the ground. She rolled to a stop with Chris protectively in her clutches.
"Chris?! Chris wake up!", Windwalker cried out. She nudged him gently a few times but got no response. The blood gushing out of his head did not stop. She licked him a few times, doing her best to maintain her rider's life. She roared to the heavens, hoping that one of her allies would hear her.
Kassandra screamed as she fell. She looked around, trying to find a way to slow her fall. Soon she spotted what she needed and flung her whip towards it. Her whip wrapped around a branch and tightened when Kassandra no longer fell but swung sideways.
She uncoiled her weapon and rolled to a her feet, successfully avoiding a dangerous fall. Although she wished she could say the same about the man. But that was the last thing on her mind. She needed to go before that thing came back.
She ran as fast as he feet could allow it. Her hopes were crushed when all of a sudden, a swarm of dragons landed all around her. She initially thought she could take them on but she quickly dismissed that idea. Some were round, long, small, or big. They all had different colors but what linked them was that they all looked pissed off. Pissed off at her.
What made it worse was that some of these dragons had riders as well, and they looked equally as pissed off. If she thought Chris defied what she believed in, she had another thing coming.