A/N: This is the first multi-chapter story I have ever finished. Let me tell you, it has been a looooong time coming! It has taken me about 3-4 years to be satisfied with it so this is a big step. The story is technically completed but I am still making small revisions to future chapters so I will only post one or two chapters at a time, probably once every week. The story takes place during the year and a half gap between RTTE and HTTYD 2 and includes an OC. I know a lot of people don't like OC stories, but please give this one a chance. I have done my best to stay true to the HTTYD characters' personalities and minimize the amount of time spent in the OC's POV...for now. I won't say much more beyond that because I don't want to spoil the surprises along the way. I hope y'all enjoy reading this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it.
Disclaimer: I do not own the HTTYD characters mentioned in this story! I only own my OCs, the plot, and my choice of words. Enjoy!
Chapter 1:
Run Aground
"WELL, bud, what do you say?" Hiccup Haddock whispered against his dragon's ear. "One last lap around the island before we go and wake Fishlegs for his shift?"
The Night Fury let out a sleepy warble, his black ears twitching. Toothless' huge jaw opened in a wide yawn and he shook his head. Hiccup caught it as well and yawned so wide his ears popped. He stretched his tired arms above his head and snickered. "Hey, now, don't start that, bud. That kind of stuff can get contagious."
With that, he clicked his metal foot in the stirrup and Toothless' prosthetic tail popped open. Toothless lifted off the sea stack into the midnight sky and Hiccup peered below, searching for any signs of enemies on their shores.
It had been six months since Hiccup and his Riders had returned to Berk at the conclusion of the war with Johann, Krogan, and the Dragon Hunters. Hiccup's father had fully recovered from his coma and had gone back to being the same old Chief Stoick the Vast, yelling at everyone to pull their weight on patrols. This time, the task had fallen to Hiccup and Fishlegs - who were patrolling the southwestern shore - and Snotlout and Gustav - who were scouting the northeast.
The night had been quiet save for the occasional restless Terrible Terror. He and Fishlegs had agreed to take the patrol in shifts. While Fishlegs slept for four hours, Hiccup flew over the island, circling the harbor and the caverns.
Suddenly, as his eyes roved the southern beach, he spotted a strange form crumpled in the sand. It was large and dark, lying still in a heap. A dragon? Alarmed, Hiccup gasped and reined in Toothless. The Night Fury hovered over the area, glancing up at Hiccup with a curious look in his green eyes. "Come on, bud. Let's check this out."
Toothless dove for the ground about two yards away from the figure, bouncing to a halt. Hiccup slid off of Toothless slowly, his eyes never leaving the huddled form in the sand. He slowly approached the figure, ever aware of the possibility of a trap.
It was definitely a dragon - albeit a dragon that Hiccup had never seen before. The dragon's hide was a deep purple, with speckles of midnight blue dotting its nose, paws, spine, and tail. It had a long, slender body that was almost snake-like, and its whip-like tail had a sharp barb at the very end. Four horns were crowning its narrow head - two long ones in front and two short ones behind those - and a row of spikes trailed down its back from the base of the head to the end of its tail. Its teeth were at least two inches long and sharper than any dragon's teeth he'd ever seen - and he'd seen a lot of dragon's teeth.
Though he had never seen this particular dragon species before, Hiccup knew enough about dragon anatomy to deduce that this was a female. As Hiccup drew closer, he noticed something else wrapped within the dragon's thin wings. A slender form lay sprawled across the dragon's forelegs. Long tendrils of dark brown hair, bursting forth from a loose braid, tangled and matted with sand and seawater, spilled across a grimy, dirt-streaked face. Beneath the curtain of thick, stringy bangs was pale skin with freckles dotting the arms and dancing across the nose and cheeks.
The girl was about Hiccup's age. Her dark, purple tunic was torn at the right shoulder, and a rusty orange cloth had been wrapped around her upper arm, apparently creating a makeshift bandage. Dried blood stained the material, suggesting a wound. Ash grey fur was draped across her shoulders and her waist, drenched and crusty with seawater. Underneath the fur, she wore a brown leather belt with a silver buckle and a tan leather skirt, which was ripped at the hem. Faded blue leggings, riddled with tears and holes, covered her legs, and she wore a soft, gray leather boot on her right foot. Her left foot was bare.
She wasn't moving.
"Uh…" Hiccup said hesitantly. "H-Hello?"
No response.
Hiccup inched closer, one eye trained on the sleeping dragon and the other on the girl. He knelt beside her, gently touching her back. "Are…are you okay?"
Not a twitch.
Not even a flicker of the eyelashes.
But her torso rose and fell slowly, and he heard the slight whistle as she exhaled.
"Well, she's breathing," Hiccup said to Toothless. He took a quick survey of their surroundings. There was a large trench in the sand as if the dragon had slid for several feet before settling in its place. "Looks like they must have crash landed here."
Toothless crooned in agreement.
Hiccup's eyes swept across the bandage around her arm. She was wounded somehow, and although he wasn't sure just how bad the injury was, he knew she needed treatment.
"We need to get her to Gothi," Hiccup decided, reaching for the girl's arm. He hesitated, as a low rumble vibrated through the mysterious dragon's throat.
Toothless snarled.
"Easy, bud," Hiccup warned, holding up his hand for caution. "We don't want a fight."
Toothless grumbled but kept his teeth bared at the now writhing dragon.
The dragon's dark blue eyes opened, instantly training themselves on Hiccup. The eyes quickly narrowed into thin slits, and a threatening growl rose in the dragon's throat.
Hiccup stood and took a step backward, hands raised in surrender. "Whoa, there, big girl. Easy. No one's gonna hurt ya."
The dragon shuffled to her feet, and the girl resting over her forelegs slid limply to the sand. The dragon's head whipped downward at the movement and she crooned softly, giving the girl a gentle nudge with her snout.
Still no response.
Hiccup's heart sank. The dragon's mournful purring, as she nuzzled the girl, nearly broke his heart. Clearly, the girl and dragon shared a close bond. He thought of Toothless a few years ago when he had saved him from the fiery implosion of the Red Death. For two days after, Hiccup had been comatose and, according to his father, Toothless had scarcely left his side.* The desire to help the dragon and the injured girl swelled in his chest.
Hiccup took a hesitant step forward, holding out his hands in a gesture of peace. The dragon's head snapped up and she snarled at him, muscles bunching behind her shoulders.
Toothless snarled back, mouth beginning to glow purple.
Hiccup stepped between Toothless and the other dragon, spreading his arms wide. "No, bud! She's just defending her friend. You'd do the same for me."
Toothless huffed, but respected Hiccup's wishes and backed down. Hiccup racked his brain, as he searched for some way to gain the dragon's trust. Somehow, they had to get the girl back to the village so Gothi could treat her injury. Surely, this dragon understood that her human needed help! But she obviously did not trust strange humans, which left Hiccup with a not-so-small dilemma.
If only he had some dragon nip…
The dragon crouched possessively over her human friend. Her mouth was open now, traces of pinkish-purple gas building in the back of her throat. A shrill, oddly familiar, whine sounded in Hiccup's ears.
"Oh no!" Hiccup gasped as he realized that the dragon was going to fire. Without taking his eyes off of the dragon, he screamed, "Toothless!"
Toothless dove on top of Hiccup just as the angry dragon released its fire. With Toothless' thick wings curled around him, Hiccup couldn't see the blast, but he could feel the impact as the Night Fury took on the full brunt of the attack. He had the sudden feeling of tumbling over and over until he was no longer sure which way was up. Toothless groaned as he flopped to a stop, snapping his wings open and pouncing toward the hostile dragon once more.
On the ground, Hiccup shook his head to clear away the dizziness and gasped. Toothless was firing plasma blasts at the enemy dragon, but she just returned fire, her shots colliding with Toothless' in mid-air. She fired again and Hiccup threw his arms over his head, shielding his face from flying sand, as Toothless managed to dodge her attacks.
Hiccup raised just enough to peek through his arms. He gaped as he realized that her shots were almost exactly like Toothless' plasma blasts: concussive, streamlined, and deadly. Already, there were a handful of holes scoring the beach - some of them as deep as Hiccup's knees!
They needed backup.
"Toothless!" Hiccup shouted, scrambling to his feet and pointing at the sky. "Distress call!"
Toothless diverted his attention from the fight just long enough to fire a plasma blast into the night sky. Hiccup could only hope that Fishlegs, Snotlout, and Gustav would see it.
Meanwhile, the strange dragon reared back and snarled, apparently out of shots. She had not moved from her spot, crouched in front of her human. Toothless charged up another plasma blast, but the dragon still refused to budge.
"Toothless, hold!" Hiccup yelled, racing to stop his dragon. Even if Toothless had dialed the attack down to stun, it could still kill a human. "She's out of shots! And we can't risk hitting the girl!"
Toothless belligerently obeyed. Hiccup watched as the strange dragon curled protectively around the girl again. Her defensive instinct was staggering, though Hiccup really shouldn't have been surprised. Dragons did have an instinct to protect, after all.
The dragon suddenly looked upward with a hostile snarl. Hiccup jerked around and saw two dragons with Riders rushing toward them. A Monstrous Nightmare and a Gronckle. Snotlout and Fishlegs. The cavalry had arrived.
"Comin' in hot!" Snotlout yelled. His dragon, Hookfang, shot out a stream of fire toward the strange dragon.
"Snotlout, wait!" Hiccup shouted to no avail. The fire hit the dragon dead-center. She shuddered and gave a painful screech, but stayed put, obviously determined to defend her human.
The other two Riders landed in unison, gawking at the mysterious dragon on the beach.
"What in the name of Thor is that thing?" Snotlout asked, his blue eyes wide.
"Hmm…looks like a Boulder Class dragon to me," Fishlegs mused, squinting closely at the new dragon.
"Have you ever seen anything like it, Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked.
Fishlegs shook his head. "I can tell it's a Boulder Class dragon. But I've never seen this particular species before. Wonder where she came from?"
"Well, if we could get her to trust us, so we could talk to her friend, maybe we could find out," Hiccup commented.
"Friend?" Snotlout asked, raising an eyebrow.
Hiccup tipped his head at the coiled dragon. She was now crooning softly and nudging the girl again.
Fishlegs gasped. "Oh, Thor! She's hurt! We have to help her!"
"That's what I've been trying to do," Hiccup replied. "Unfortunately, her dragon won't let me anywhere near her. She seems to be leery of other humans."
"So how can we gain her trust?" Fishlegs asked.
"Sounds like a 'Hiccup' question to me," Snotlout said matter-of-factly, glancing slyly at Hiccup. "Well?"
Hiccup gritted his teeth. "If I knew the answer to that question, Snotlout, we wouldn't be having this discussion right now."
Suddenly, a dart flew through the air, burying itself in the dragon's shoulder. The dragon shrieked briefly before abruptly stiffening in place.
Hiccup whirled around to see a fuschia Monstrous Nightmare with a small Rider soaring toward them. The boy was nearly the spitting image of Snotlout, but much smaller and scrawnier. He had joined the Berk Dragon Academy as a part of Astrid's A-Team nearly a year ago.
"Gustav!" Hiccup scolded. "What are you doing?"
"Saving your butts, that's what," Gustav replied, sliding off his dragon, Fanghook's, back and strutting toward Hiccup like an overconfident rooster. "You can thank me later."
"But you…how…?" Hiccup gestured toward the small tube Gustav held in his hand. "What did you hit her with?"
"Oh, this?" Gustav said with a shrug, calmly waltzing up and plucking the dart from the dragon's hide. "It's a Speed Stinger dart."
"Uh, I'm sorry. A what?" Hiccup said, mystified.
"Where did you get Speed Stinger venom for darts?" Fishlegs asked.
"And more importantly, why did you get Speed Stinger venom for darts?" Hiccup added planting his hands on his hips. "It's not exactly a nice way to deal with a rogue dragon."
"Hey, I think it's a lot nicer than Dragon Root arrows," Gustav said, throwing up his hands. "You were struggling to control her and all of you could have gotten hurt. I was trying to help. I mean, it's not like she's permanently paralyzed. The venom will wear off eventually, right?"
"Yes, but -" Hiccup broke off with a groan, dropping his face into his hands. "Never mind. We'll talk about this later, Gustav. In the meantime, let's get them back to the village. Snotlout, you and Gustav take the dragon to the stables and keep an eye on her. She won't be very happy when that venom wears off. Fishlegs, wake the rest of the Riders. We need everyone on high alert. I'm taking the girl to Gothi. Let's all meet there." He glanced at Gustav. "Except for you, Gustav. You can guard the dragon. Snotlout, you meet us at Gothi's."
Surprisingly, no one argued, and Hookfang and Fanghook lifted the dragon off the ground and carried her toward Berk's dragon stables. Fishlegs flew off to wake the others.
Hiccup bent next to the girl and lifted her arm around his neck. He hauled her up, using his shoulder as leverage. Her limp fingers brushed his cheek, and he flinched. She was ice cold. He hoped it wasn't too late as he carefully lifted her onto Toothless' back and mounted the saddle himself. "Come on, bud. Let's go…gently."
Toothless tossed his head upward as he lifted off the ground. Hiccup kept a secure grip on the girl to prevent her from falling off, as his dragon's wings beat in rhythm with the ominous howling of the wind.
A/N: I know this chapter starts off slow-ish. I promise it gets better later. It's hard to lay the foundation for the rest of the story without some necessary exposition. Thanks for hanging in there. Let's see what happens next! :P
-Josie West