With a flick of his tail, Toothless banked into the tunnel, his wings cutting the waterfall in the process. Usually, meeting with advisors to decide what to do was rather boring. However, one of them had the marvelous idea of having such meetings by a river, which gave pleasant and tasty fish to brighten up the boring talk. This was the first time they had this kind of meeting, and the night fury was eager to test this new innovation that dragons had managed to invent.
How he missed Hiccup sometimes.
Down below, Stormfly was talking animatedly to Pinch, while Rej, who happened to be in the middle of the two, politely listened while eating a tuna. Hookfang was curled up in a corner looking moody, with Light there beside him either consoling or mocking him.
"Report?", asked Toothless a moment before his claws touched the ground. Before anyone could answer though, he snapped up a nearby saumon. This had indeed been a good idea.
Hookfang was the first to start. "As it turns out, females are evil and sadistic, as if they weren't a pain enough already." The night fury, a salmon's tail hanging from his jaws, tilted his head in confusion before giving a dumbfounded look to his mate. That didn't sound like Hookfang.
"An absolutely indecent female decided not to spread her legs after he gave her a suggestive smile.", answered the light fury with a mocking tone. The mystery solved, Toothless nodded, swallowing the fish. That sounded like him. And of Snotlout, back on Berk.
The monstrous nightmare paced angrily. "It's unfair! I am the alpha's advisor, but apparently even that isn't enough to gain some respect!", he growled, both at the sky and at the other dragons present.
The night fury rolled his eyes. "Respect is not equal to 'wants to mate with you'.", he explained calmly before going to his mate and draping a wing over her. "Isn't it right honey?"
"Mmm.", purred Light gently as she nuzzled him back. "I don't remember feeling respect for you."
"Stop! Ugh. You two are disgusting.", barked Hookfang before the two started behaving in a way that was not acceptable when they were to make decisions necessary to maintain the hidden world.
The two dragons cast awkward glances at the dragons that had been spectating them. The tangle of black and white scales parted as the night fury tried to recompose himself. "Uhh… Next?"
Stormfly, having seen her chance, stepped forwards and beamed up. "Well, let me tell you…"
The night fury growled, interrupting her. "Just so you know, I am not interested in just how wonderful that male is or how I can make my scales assume a new and incredible shade of blue.", he said while looking down at his hide with unease. "If you were going to talk about that, we can skip it." The deadly nadder went quiet, and had never looked so offended in her life.
The night fury sighed and turned to his next advisor. "Rej, what is going on in the cavern? What are people thinking about?"
The monstrous nightmare lifted her snout from the fish. "The main topic seems to be this new way of polishing scales. It has spread like the waterfalls and now everyone is talking and praising the two nadders that invented it.", explained Rej matter-of-factly. Toothless could feel the proud eyes of the deadly nadder anticipatingly looking at him.
He groaned in defeat and set about doing things that were actually important. This meeting had not felt particularly productive to this point. "What about the humans?", he asked finally before getting yet another salmon. Why hadn't they come up with this earlier?
"Well, it seems like many dragons have started to think that humans aren't all that dangerous.", said Rej. "some even want to approach them…"
"But…?", asked the night fury expectantly. The monstrous nightmare shuffled her feet nervously, so Toothless took the fish out of his mouth and under his paws to hum encouragingly. "Some dragons are still against you bringing humans here. And even though they are getting fewer and fewer, they are also getting more and more desperate.", said Rej in the end. "They don't like you, and many of them are ready to… act."
"Like the one who had captured and was about to harm Ruffrunner.", said the night fury in an angry growl. "Have we got any news about him?"
None of the other dragons commented. "We have spread his description, but nothing came up. He must be hiding very well.", hummed Stormfly in the end.
A low growl then came from Pinch. "I am just mad. You even held someone that looked like him, but no, apparently it was the wrong dragon and you just had to let him go.", murmured the red dragon.
…until she looked up and saw the other dragons intensely observing her. There was a wet splat as a fish was dropped from someone's jaws.
Toothless looked attentively. He did not consider Pinch one of his advisors, and in truth, she was only here because they hadn't managed to chase her away yet. However, this time, the monstrous nightmare seemed to know something important. "What did you just say about holding someone that looked like him?", he growled.
The monstrous nightmare looked stupefied at the dragons around her in search of an explanation. "You captured a monstrous nightmare that was young, male, orange and had a scar on his back since he matched the description. But he was innocent, so you released him three days later after apologizing and assuring that you would not bother him in the future. Oh, and after complimenting his looks.", she said in the end.
"We very much did not!", barked Toothless. "Who told you all of this?"
The monstrous nightmare rolled her eyes. "The dragon in question, duh.", she stated. "It makes sense that you would capture him, he looked every bit like Ruffrunner had described…"
She looked down in guilt at the piercing gaze thrown at her by the night fury. After a few moments of heavy silence, Toothless shook his head. "Only that we did not capture him. He lied to you."
"I knew that. He was not even that good looking!", exclaimed Pinch, but was quickly turned quiet by the other's gaze.
A heavy silence fell over the group. They had tried to capture this dragon. They had tried to make the hidden world a hostile and punishing place for him, forcing him away from people he could harm. And they had failed.
"But you have an advantage!", barked Hookfangv suddenly, letting the cavern's eyes fall on him. "Up until now, we have searched remote places, where there are no dragons to identify him. And he thinks that you will keep doing that, but now you know that he is wandering in the open carelessly.", he rambled, rapid breaths sounding between the sentences. "And if you search among crowds, you have a high chance of finding him off guard!" For the last part, Hookfang's snout pointed at Toothless, subtly displaying a row of dangerous teeth. "He thinks that he is safe, but he is not."
Toothless was taken back, and let out a breath he realized he had been holding. "That was smart, Hookfang. I am impressed."
The red dragon looked away awkwardly. "Stop sounding surprised.", he growled in the end. But by now, the night fury had other matters to attend to.
"Nobody is to say anything. I want to keep this information secret, so that we can catch him with his wings folded.", declared the night fury.
He turned to the monstrous nightmare "Hookfang, you are a young male monstrous nightmare, just like the captor." Therefore, the red dragon was his best bet to find the target. "Think like him. Where would you like to go?"
"Young males like females.", explained Hookfang. "And stop laughing!"
Toothless did his best to stop laughing, but sometimes… Hookfang hadn't even hesitated before leading them to a cavern rich with young females of his species.
"Why are they here?", asked Light. "And why are they only females?" For 'that pack', she had an easy answer. That cavern offered great fishing, and the dragons were too unbearable for others to go there. But these dragons seemed nice, and the cavern was only average for fish. The monstrous nightmares were laughing, talking and generally enjoying themselves, to the point of seeming pleasant to be with. She sighed. The same could not be said for those light furies.
"It is nice to be around only females sometimes, so this is where we go to relax.", explained Pinch calmly. At least, to Toothless, it sounded like Pinch. The night fury took a moment to appreciate just how similar the two sisters were. Thin, broad shoulders, all the way down to the spikes on the tail that were large even for monstrous nightmares… one of them was often unsure and nervous, while the other was overly confident, but without this, he would have serious problems distinguishing them. Pinch then noted the judging stare of her sister and laughed lightly. "Where I go to relax.", she corrected herself.
Light pointed at the dragons in front of her with curiosity. "But why would a male like the captor come here if these females are not looking for mates?"
"Really good looking males are still allowed, because they make you feel the…" Pinch gave a knowing nod to the group and received a row of shaking heads. The monstrous nightmare huffed. "And not so good looking males are also allowed, since it is entertaining clawing them out of the cavern."
"Therefore, males sometimes take their chances and enter this place.", finished Hookfang.
"I don't know if I should be thankful or worried for you knowing this.", said Toothless, sounding almost shocked. Somehow, despite twenty years as their alpha, dragons still managed to find ways to surprise him. "But is he here?"
Stormfly, who had overflown the tunnel while the rest of the group had been talking, landed at that moment to answer his question. "No. I only saw two males, and neither was orange.", she stated. "By the way, do you know why they seemed to be violently chased away by the females?"
"It was because they didn't make them feel the….", he gave a suggestive smile, mimicking Pinch. As the deadly nadder seemed very confused, while a certain light fury seemed very murderous, Toothless opted to not pursue it. "Don't worry about it. And for now, let us search somewhere else."
"Young males like danger.", explained Hookfang after reaching the next place. "For instance, right here, they try to fly as fast as possible as close to rocks as possible… why are you drooling?"
The night fury quickly recomposed himself, but oh, that sounded nice. A specific name repeated itself in his mind. "Hiccup…", he called out quietly, thinking of the young male that had very nearly buried the both of them under a deep layer of rock. Granted, the night fury liked it, but still.
The night fury shook his head. He missed Hiccup, but that would have to wait. "Split up and roar if you find him.", he ordered before spreading his wings and taking off, set on exploring this interesting place.
This rock formation was really something. About a minute's dive from the hidden world's entrance, deep into an otherwise unassuming tunnel, the ground suddenly arched downwards into another near-vertical dive, with the river following suit. All around this, coral and luminescent crystals dotted the landscape, illuminating the many walls and surfaces with the exception of certain crevasses that started from the tunnel. Lastly, stone ledges jutted out in the cavern's path, almost made to be fun obstacles for dragons to fly around. It was a great spot for flying. The temptation to push his wings and dive in was strong.
But he had other matters to attend to. He spotted the myriad of dragons racing through the system, somehow also racing upwards. He could see beasts of all kinds enjoying themselves, sweeping above, around, or sometimes through the stone ledges, as some of them had holes in them. "Huh. It seems almost dragon shaped.", he rumbled after looking at one such hole. In particular, it seemed like the silhouette of a gronkle, though strangely, the left wing was missing from it, metaphorically like an unfinished drawing.
A slightly too adventurous gronckle who had miscalculated his wingbeats passed through the hole with his wings outstretched, finishing the drawing, metaphorically speaking. A loud crack and a pained roar echoed in the cavern, not metaphorically speaking.
Toothless yelped and dove after the dragon, angling between him a stone ledge that the target was about to crash into (again). He banked his flight, aiming for above the gronkle. As for his target, at least he was not spinning, Sadly, the dragon's wing was swaying limply on his side, stabilising the dragon but not slowing him down in any particular way. Toothless grabbed the dragon from above with his claws and worked his wings to their limit, but they were still too fast. Far too fast.
His load felt suddenly a lot lighter, and he looked downwards to see the buzzing wings of another gronckle pushing the two upwards from below. They hit the ground a moment later, though at a sufficiently survivable speed. The gronkle on the bottom hit the ground and stopped. The second gronkle hit the first gronkle and stopped. The night fury hit the second gronkle and discovered that a gronkle's hide was much harder than his own, littering his underside in bruises.
"Are you okay?!", roared both Toothless and the bottom gronckle simultaneously, making the middle gronkle almost jump in fear. However, this dragon was quickly forgotten as the bottom gronkle's voice was surprisingly familiar. "Meatlug?", asked the night fury happily, almost bouncing on the dragon he was sitting on.
The bottom gronkle's eyes widened. "Toothless?"
In the meantime, the middle gronckle was tentatively stretching out his left wing, feeling for any fracture. And luckily, though it was in a lot of pain, it could move as usual. He then remembered that he had been asked a question, and politely went to answer. "Yes, I would say that I am…"
With a shove by the night fury, he was rolled away from Meatlug and fell the distance to the rocky floor to land once more on a wing, though this time on the right one. "…fine…", he finished, his voice being a lot more pained than at the start of the sentence.
With the dragon between them out of the way, the night fury could close the distance and land on Meatlug, from which the two long-time friends could embrace and bump heads affectionately. It hadn't been that long since the last time they had seen each other, but it always felt like ages. In the end, Toothless was relieved that Meatlug had not been hurt while crashing into the rock, while Meatlug made sure that the many bruises on the night fury's underside were covered in a sufficiently thick layer of saliva. To the point where Toothless wondered if it wouldn't have been easier going into her mouth directly.
"What are you doing here?", asked the night fury curiously. Meatlug had always been the kind of dragon to be sweet and helpful, and this cavern where the main attraction was narrowly avoiding stone pillars just did not seem like a place he would find her in.
The gronkle gave a soft smile. "There are tons of dragons that like to risk their lives here. So when I am not with my mate I try to help them survive the crash into the rock, or at least make them heal from whatever injuries they got."
Toothless didn't know if it was the words, the kind yellow eyes or how the dragon had saved him just seconds ago. As the alpha, he was far too used to dealing with troublemakers. But people who were kind, helpful… In that moment, his heart melted. "Thank you.", he purred, trying to cover the dragon in warmth with his wing. She was a good two or three times bigger than him, but he still tried. "You are treating a whole cavern as if they were your hatchlings.", he purred.
The gronkle looked down for a second, then gave a low chuckle. "Basically… How are yours?", she asked, suddenly radiant.
The night fury thought about it and suddenly felt very unsure. Looking for mates, following one's dream, relaxing… It sounded good, but he had his doubts. "Oh, they are fine!", he answered after an almost uncomfortable long time.
The gronkle looked at him suspiciously. "And the monstrous nightmare that captured Ruffrunner?" Oh, right. He was supposed to work on that.
Actually, this was a great opportunity to help his search. After all, he knew he could trust Meatlug. The night fury stepped off the gronkle and neared his mouth to her ear, making sure noone could hear what he was about to say.
"He is in the open, and tells people he simply looks like the captor. He says that we have already seen him, and released him. But he is lying.", he growled quietly. "Don't let anyone know this, since I want him to keep feeling safe. Now, have you seen him?"
Meatlug looked at him, those yellow eyes no longer playful and instead determined. "No. But I promise that if I do, you will be the first to know." For a short moment, the night fury closed his eyes and purred, a wordless sign of appreciation.
The sound of wing flaps brought him back to his duty. "Did you find anything?", he asked as the other advisors landed. However, he received nothing more than shaking heads.
"By the way…", hummed Light with a smirk. "Why were you in a pile with Meatlug on the bottom, a male gronkle in the middle and you on top?", she asked teasingly.
The night fury groaned. Of course she had seen him at that moment. And would likely think of a million ways in which it had happened. "You are going to mock me for the rest of my life, aren't you?"
The light fury nodded happily. "And make sure that future generations continue to do so, yes."
A light slap on her head with his tail later, Toothless spread his wings. "Let us search somewhere else."
"Young males like friends.", said Hookfang.
"That sounds good.", said Toothless.
"With friends, they feel stronger and more social which means that they can chase more females and brave bigger dangers.", explained Hookfang.
"That sounds less good.", mumbled Toothless.
Nevertheless, the sight in front of him was impressive. A huge ravine which was so filled with dragons that it was hard to see the floor, the ceiling almost too far away to be seen, all bathed in green and blue crystals. The night fury rarely went this far down, leaving these dragons mostly for themselves, but perhaps it was a mistake. A sizable portion of the entire cavern had to be here. The night fury turned towards his mate. "Isn't this where Laura lives?", he asked curiously.
"The poor victim of our troublemaker? Yes, I think so.", she answered before giving him a piercing look. "And I still think that we need to teach those three that. You know how it is at their age.", she complained.
Toothless whined nervously. "But…"
The two were interrupted by Stormfly, who had only ever been in this cavern to carry food, and as such, had never truly seen it before. The deadly nadder seemed shocked. "This ravine is huge and wonderful and full of life and huge.", she marveled. "Even if he is here, how are we supposed to find him?" And it was a valid question. They were a mere six, and even if they were to spread out, that would still take time. Luckily, the night fury had a trick up his sleeve-uh, hide.
"I know someone.", hummed Toothless back at Stormfly. "In fact you know them too." He leapt into the air and angled towards the ravine, quickly making his way towards one of its many caverns, spotting the unmistakable green shape with ease. The rest of the group followed closely on his tail.
"Toothless!", barked the hideous zippleback as he greeted him fondly, finding and stroking the night fury's scales before he had even landed. The black dragon purred back and returned the favor.
"Barf and Belch? So this is where you have been!", barked Storfmly happily as she went to embrace the old friend. "What have you been doing here?"
At this point, a myriad of dragons exited the cavern and stared curiously at the group, all hideous zipplebacks, huddled closely together as people who had known each other for many, many years. It wasn't hard to understand what was going on.
"Stormfly, I want you to meet my family.", said Barf and Belch solemnly. "This is Bonnie and Clyde, my wonderful mate and a master of stealth, and our lovely offspring Eggs and Bacon, who is a pleasure to be around in the morning, Tom and Jerry, who's two heads are very much in conflict with each other, Pratt and Whitney, who's very strong and good at flying and lastly Gin and Cognac, who is a bit… strange in the head but nevertheless very kind and sweet.
"Next time, I will introduce us.", mumbled Bonnie and Clyde.
The male hideous zippleback turned towards Toothless. "And be sure, I have raised them with stories of all your incredible feats back at Berk. They love you.", the night fury smiled awkwardly, finally understanding the awestruck glances he had been receiving. "Anyways, what are you doing here?"
Within minutes, a total of twenty-four more eyes were added to the search, making a task that would previously have taken the entire day suddenly a lot more manageable. "Don't worry. You can trust them.", reassured Barf and Belch. "We will keep an eye-eyes out for him, and not tell anyone that he is loose.", he stated confidently. The night fury hummed happily. In a few hours, the 'secret' who was meant to only six dragons had spread to another seven, but he felt calm. These were dragons he could trust. Old friends for whom he had risked his life, and who had risked their life for him, who he knew well. Well, Barf and Belch's family not as much, but the hideous zippleback trusted them, and he trusted the hideous zippleback. He turned to look at the green dragon.
"You seem happy. What's on your mind?", he asked curiously.
A happy sigh was heard. "Aren't families wonderful?", asked the hideous zippleback rhetorically. "Can you imagine how it will be when each of my hatchlings finds a mate and has four little hatchlings of their own?"
Toothless really tried to imagine it. Four more mates, with four hatchlings each, each carrying four eyes… He gulped in worry, his head feeling dizzy. "I don't think I can."
The alpha wasn't sure if the captor truly was here. But now, he was confident. As long as their target kept himself in the open, they would find him. And if not here, in another place. If not today, tomorrow. There was nothing to do but to keep searching.
Some days started off good. In those days, a beautiful dawn would often go unnoticed, as for the young dragon, sleeping in was a good way to start the day. However, Ruffrunner was painfully awake today. The reason for this was a certain white nighlight, who had had such a 'cute and wonderful experience' with a female but lacked the common sense to not brag about it to each and every member of the known world. Ruffrunner, laying on his belly onto the cave's floor as he had done since being unpleasantly awakened, happened to be his brother's target. It was late morning, and the dragon was in pain.
"It's just… I look at her, I see the faint lines outlining the muscles of the wings, hind legs and tail, all covered by a tantalizing clear white hide, not unlike my own, a myriad of reflective scales wrapping around keeping all of that wonderful body… What was my point again?" Ruffrunner gave an exasperated groan. The only positive point was that his brother was not drooling.
Pouncer lit up as he remembered the answer to his own question. "Oh, right! My point is, the most important of all is personality." The black nightlight raised an eyebrow. Admittedly, he had not expected that.
But in the meantime, Pouncer's patience started to run out due to Ruffrunner's inactivity. "Fine. I get it.", he said suddenly. "You think that hearing about everything that happens in my life is boring." Ruffrunner lit up. Yes! Pouncer had understood! Would he finally be left alone?
An evil grin rose onto Pouncer's face. "So how about we stop talking about me and I tell you ways that you can use to get females instead?"
In an attempt to not throw up, Ruffrunner managed to cut out the noise until Pouncer's ramblings were little more than a disturbance. He took a moment to examine his options. The ideal outcome would of course be to simply fall asleep again. However, with his brother's annoying presence, it was sadly impossible. He considered throwing himself off the cliff. Not bad, but it wouldn't guarantee Pouncer not following. Physically removing his brother, either from this cavern or from the universe altogether sounded better, but also tiring. And it was a method that fitted Dart more than himself. However, speaking about Dart…
"Pouncer?", he asked candidly. He even resisted the temptation to show teeth. The white nightlight looked at him in curiosity. "Are you better at fishing than Dart?"
"Of course he is not.", answered Dart after having materialized between Ruffrunner and his brother.
Pouncer snorted. "Keep believing that." This earned the nightlight a murderous stare by his sister, and the stage was set for Ruffurnner's grand reveal.
"How about you settle this with a race? The first to bring me a tuna fish is the winner?", he said teasingly. The nightlight smirked. Tunas were big and therefore rare. This meant that, if he only managed to convince them… a delightfully long moment to rest with not one but two fish to greet him once he woke up.
"I will not waste my time just to bring you a stupid fish.", barked Dart angrily. But that wasn't a problem. He was prepared for that.
"You have to fish for me for having helped you yesterday.", clarified Ruffrunner. "So you might as well make it a race and prove that you are better than Pouncer."
An angry growl made its way from Dart before she sighed in resignation. "I will bring you the fish. And nothing more."
Pouncer seemed surprised. "Do you really intend to serve him?!"
The blue eyed dragon rolled her eyes. "Yes, I have to bring fish to my lazy and worthless" -she cast a venomous stare at Ruffrunner- "little brother." The nightlight rolled his eyes. With all the fish and without all the running around, he was by far the biggest of the three. But in the end, Dart sighed and resigned, making her way towards the cavern's exit. "But I will not race you. That would be useless."
Ruffruner looked on as his sister prepared to take off, worried that his plan might fail. But there was one last trick he could try. "You know, I am sure that you would be faster than Pouncer if it came to it.", he called out in reassurance. And he did so loudly enough for his brother to hear.
"No she is not!", roared Pouncer as he took to the air to prove otherwise.
As Dart looked out onto the cavern, she pondered on what to do. And after some thinking, the answer was obvious. The nightlight was not going to let this already unpleasant task become a race. Sure, she was competitive, but made herself no illusions about this. In a flight like this against Pouncer, the only real winner would be Ruffrunner. She had nothing to gain by doing it.
Pouncer flew past her.
Dart roared angrily as she leapt after him.
What was the best way to win? Tuna fish were rare, and to maximise her chances, she would need to go somewhere that offered good fishing water. The best place that she knew of was the cavern where 'that pack' lived. Her tailfins caught the air to create downforce, pitching her body upwards. She spotted Pouncer not far above her and flapped harder, ascending at a brutal pace. Her muscles were burning, her breaths were heavy, but among all of this, she smirked. Climbing was simple. One pushed oneself upwards with as much force as possible. And though her brother had considerable strength, his mind was weak. He couldn't even handle a bit of pain. And so, with her wings burning about as hot as her fire, she passed in front of him, pushing him downwards with the wake of the air beneath her wings. She would win this.
Ruffrunner looked on as the two dragons departed, and for a moment felt a sting of regret for not going out there to catch his own fish.
He snorted. As if. It wasn't that he didn't like fishing. But right now, he had achieved greatness. He approached his stone slab and gave it a proper treatment, using up a considerable amount of his fire, before stepping onto it. The warmth. The calm. The silence, over them being gone.
He closed his eyes in pleasure. This stone slab really was comfortable. And the prospect of not one, but two tunas to greet him once his resting was done was very enticing. The dragon found himself practically drooling over it. After all, he was a young male. And it is a well known fact that young males like food.
Right now, I am looking for constructive criticism. If you know something that you think could improve this fanfiction that you would like to tell me, thank you if you write it. Other than that, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and have a nice day.