Dart's mood was soaring as she returned into the cavern. Now this was an adventure, she thought. Her heart was bumping and she could barely focus on her flight path as she made her way towards one of the tunnels in search for food. Luckily, her distraction also made it easier to ignore the dragons angered by the near misses. Her mind was buzzing.
Humans, the dominant species of the outside world (if you didn't count sheep, who could roam among viking settlements as they pleased,) had arrived, and one of them had even ridden on her! Thinking about it, it was the first time a human had touched her. And maybe the best part of all? She had been allowed to go outside, without facing punishment! And then she realised something.
What was stopping her from going out there again?
The obvious answer was the many, fast light furies and nadders who had been instructed to actively chase her down if she were to attempt an escape. However… With a flick of her tail, she turned around.
"Dart, what exactly are you doing?" asked Stormfly suspiciously as the nightlight entered the open air of the entrance. Dart proceeded to completely stop any sign of trying to leave, and instead landed on the ledge that the blue dragon was preening herself on.
"I have to talk to mom, and I believe that she is still up there?" she asked as innocently as she could, her wing pointing towards the exit. The nadder didn't seem impressed.
"After all these times, you're gonna have to come up with something better if you want to fool anyone," chirped Stormfly, before going back to taking care of her scales.
"I wonder what the humans will do?" tried Dart.
"Still not impressed," replied the nadder, indicating the need for something new. But Dart was seriously running out of excuses.
"I feel the need for my mother's affect?" was her desperate attempt.
The nadder snorted and nearly poked her own hide with her horn. The look that Storfmfly gave to the nightlight was anything but trusting. "Heartwarming. But you have claimed to not need anyone for the past fifteen years," stated the blue dragon with a playful grin.
"I am fifteen years old!" she declared defensively. The blue dragon's only response was 'exactly.'
Alright. Nothing of what she had said so far had diminished the nadder's suspicion. Time to take out the big guns. "Your scales are really pretty, by the way," she complimented.
The marvelled look that Dart received lasted for a good half a minute, during which she braced herself. With Stormfly, these methods were almost a guaranteed success. However, they weren't exactly light.
"Thank you. But there is something you need to know about beauty…" Dart took a large breath as she readied herself for the upcoming rant.
Of course, deadly nadders were the prettiest dragons of them all, clarified Stormfly. But one was not to think that beauty came freely. No, it was the duty of every honourable member of the species to keep themselves in peak shape. This meant scale cleansing, claw sharpening and other procedures that could last up to several hours a day, but were mandatory for anyone with common sense. Sadly, many (horrifying brutes) forsook their cleaning routines out of sheer laziness, which was an absolute disgrace. But in a strange, twisted way, it was positive. This allowed the true, rightful individuals to stick out, such as herself and… (happy sigh) Scarnose. Oh, could there be a more handsome male? Those radiant tail spikes in blue and white, that remarkable horn with the battle scar of an axe he had received at the time of the raids. Oh, if only he would actually notice her! And he would. Soon. Because this was the way the world worked. The nightlight had to understand that who fate really rewarded was the hard working. This meant that females who really tried to make themselves appealing, such as the nightling and herself, would in the end find the one who they were looking for. As such, Dart was not to give up. The fledgling's long-thought dreams of a beautiful mate would sooner or later turn into reality.
Dart had never been attracted by anyone since the day she had hatched. "Wow. This was eye-opening. By the way, have you seen mom?" she said.
The blue dragon let out a breath that she had held ever since she had started the lesson. "She was up there with Toothless, looking at the viking ship," replied Stormfly.
"Thank you. See you later!" barked Dart as she flew out of the cavern.
And for once, a dragon heading out of the cavern was not suspicious, not when there legitimately was something to see up there. No one noticed her when she reached the open air. And with the viking ship slowly sailing away in the east, this left little to no dragon eyes on the opposite side. With quiet and unremarkable beats, she set on flight just skimming the waves. No camouflage was used, as it would not last long enough and draw her attention that she could not afford.
And besides, she didn't need it. The vikings that she now loved were taking up all attention. She had thought that she had needed her brothers for a distraction, but it turned out that there were much better people. Thinking about it, that was not news.
And within minutes, the rocks that signalled the entrance of the hidden world were below the horizon. She grinned and let out a happy, if quiet bark. Ideally, she had wanted to fly east, reach the viking ship and find out more about humans. However, the viking ship was currently under the eyes of a great number of dragons. No big deal. She headed west looking for adventure.
And the best part of it all? She wouldn't get punished. In the mess left by the vikings, it would take at least until the end of the day until someone realised she was missing. As long as she remembered to be back until then…
It was now evening, and Ruffrunner started to have an idea of what his sister had done. But that didn't really bother him much. Dart gone meant a third of his problems were gone. This left him with only Pouncer, who was the second third of his problems. The third third of his problems was right in front of him.
"It is my fish! I found it!" yelled a petty light fury that looked barely older than a hatchling, holding onto the back half of a tuna fish with no desire to let go. Curious looks were casted at them by the other dragons fishing at the stream, one of the many that the hidden world offered.
Ruffrunner couldn't wrap his mind around what exactly was wrong with the individual in front of him, but if half a tuna fish was at stake, he would do his best. "It's not 'finding' if I'm already holding it in my claws! Give it to me and go find something who hasn't been claimed," said the nightlight. The white dragon in front of him had decided that it was acceptable to rip half of someone's fish to oneselves if your own fishing didn't bring up anything, and wouldn't listen to the nightlight who tried to explain that it wasn't okay.
"No!" roared the annoying individual in his ridiculously high-pitched voice that just made him sound hysterical. "It's always the same way! You big guys always get the best fish and only leave scraps for me! It's unfair!" he screamed.
Ruffrunner's attempt to point out that they were on the same stretch of the river, and had as such access to the exact same prey was unsuccessful as the small light fury's constant whines meant that the white dragon couldn't hear the nightlight's claims.
"Give the fish back to me," asked the nightlight calmly.
"No!" barked the white dragon defyingly.
"Now," continued the black dragon somewhat less calmly. "No!" was the lightning fast response dealt by light fury.
"I am the alpha's son. You do not want to oppose me," he clarified, anger filling up his voice.
"NO!" yelled the white dragon, seemingly not realising that he was facing someone twice as old, three times as heavy and with a thousand times more power in the hidden world's hierarchy. And he would have a taste of that.
"Alright. Have the fish. Enjoy your last few hours of security," he conceded while turning around and starting walking away. The white dragon purred at the victory, but quickly realised something was wrong.
"What do you mean?" asked the light fury.
Ruffrunner promptly turned around, showing off his smile. "Oh, right. I am the alpha's son. And I can tell him to do anything I want, including punishing you. Didn't you know?"
"What will I have to do?" asked the fledgling, immediately on guard. "Will you force me to give you fish?"
Ruffrunner made his way back to the light fury until he was almost on top of the much smaller dragon. "Ha. That would be way too easy. You'll get sent somewhere where you can't steal from anyone. Outdoors, where there is noone to steal from," he rumbled.
The white dragon's response was surprisingly rational. "Don't. I can't fish on my own yet," said the light fury quietly. But Ruffrunner kept being quiet, and panic filled the fledgling. "I won't survive out there!" he exclaimed desperately.
The fledgling's distress sounded like music in Ruffrunner's ears. "You should have thought about this before trying to steal from the alpha's son," he said, not giving any hint of forgiveness.
"Here's the fish! You have it!" whined the light fury as he stepped off the prey and offered it to the nightlight. "Please! I don't want to be alone!"
"Hmph. Half a tuna. Fine. If you don't want to be alone, I'll make sure your family is sent out there with you," rumbled Ruffrunner. His unimpressed gaze met the light fury's desperate eyes.
"No! You can't do that! They didn't do anything wrong!" pledged the white dragon, who was now shaking in fear.
Ruffrunner was really enjoying himself. This fledgling would know not to repeat his mistake. But there was one more thing he wanted to do. The claws of his right front paw slipped out of their sheath. Very slowly, and very deliberately, he moved his paw right in front of the light fury's frozen face, until his claws were almost touching his snout. "I will take the fish, and leave you alone. But remember, I am the alpha's son. Challenge me again and you know what will happen."
After that, Ruffrunner took the tuna and flew off, quite pleased with himself. That day, he had taught the young light and the many observing dragons a very important lesson. Do not annoy people who are stronger than you.
A deadly nadder laid on the rocks at the cavern's entrance and took in the last few rays of sunlight before it set. Being tasked to stop Dart from escaping was somewhat boring, but not that unpleasant. The dragon raised his head to look into the entrance of the hidden world, and noted calmly that no black dragon was ascending through it. He turned his head forwards again and squinted at a point in the distance.
"Hello," said Dart cheerlessly as she flew past him and dove back into the hidden world. The deadly nadder could do nothing but give a perplexed stare.
Reluctantly, Dart made her way into her home cavern, just as her parents wanted her to do. It wasn't late, and nobody would ever suspect her to be gone, if only something hadn't happened, something that she just couldn't shake off…
The nightlight gave an angry bark, and resigned to what was about to happen. "Dad, could you please teach me about the wild animals out there? I wonder which are hostile and which aren't."
"Why are you wondering?" asked Toothless suspiciously after seeing her enter the cavern.
The nightlight displayed a large, still bleeding gash on her left side and rolled her eyes. "Curiosity."
The next morning, Toothless nudged his son awake, much to the individual's dismay. "So, would you mind reminding me of what you did yesterday?"
It was way too early. It was too early to think, thought Ruffrunner. After realising the contradiction, he gave up getting back to sleep and opened an eye, thus noticing his father looking at him with a sly smile.
"I did something that made you angry..." rumbled the nightlight as his head slowly turned on.
"And what might that be?" purred the night fury back. The black nightlight recognized the tone. That calm, friendly tone which promised that you had an easy escape from punishment if you admitted your mistakes. And growls and snarls if you didn't.
The nightlight then became aware of his position. The two green eyes of his father were very close to him, illuminated by the bioluminescent coral. The night fury's body was between him and the exit, not giving him any escape. Dart was here too, shuffling nervously as she knew that she would be next. Pouncer and his mother weren't here, probably out for breakfast.
Not wanting to be scolded while laying on his side, he rose up and faced the night fury. Now, what had he done to upset his father? Oh. Right. Toothless had even said he would talk with him later, which had now arrived. "I gave orders to you," said the nightlight matter-of-factly.
"And why shouldn't you have done that?" asked Toothless calmly. It took the nightlight a little more time to find the answer.
"Because I'm not the alpha and I can't give orders," admitted Ruffrunner, his gaze dropping to the ground.
"Should you do something like that again?" purred Toothless, who seemed thoroughly pleased with how this lesson was going. And when his son replied with 'No,' he had officially no more anger towards the nightlight. As such, he felt guilty when he saw how the nightlight looked down, and decided to cheer him up. "But don't worry. Ordering people to do a good thing wasn't the end of the world. At least you didn't try to exploit your power," said the night fury comfortingly.
Ruffrunner's mind jumped back to yesterday's other event, convolving a very annoying light fury. "What do you mean?"
"You would make a pretty good alpha, you know?" purred Toothless. "You care even about the weak ones, the ones who cannot defend themselves and need your help."
"Which would be?" asked Ruffurnner akwardly, his stomach locking up in guilt.
"The humans, who were dependent on our mercy," answered his father as if it was obvious. "You used your power for other's well-being, like a true alpha should."
"What about dragons that are so empty in the head that they make you lose faith in the universe? Should you care about them too?" stuttered Ruffrunner, who wasn't feeling nearly as great as when he had been asleep. Not to say that he didn't feel this every morning, but this was worse.
"Oh, Pinch, was it really necessary for you to exist? But the answer is yes. You do. In fact, you care more about them, and try to teach them how to become better," chuckled the night fury as he thought about that monstrous nightmare. "And what you never, ever do is use your power for your own benefit, not caring about others. But you haven't done it, and that's all that matters," concluded Toothless as he looked at his youngest son, who was giving a genuine smile.
A fake genuine smile. Because this was great. No feeling of guilt at all. No fear of being found out at all. He didn't regret threatening the fledgling at all. Ruffrunner's life was great!
That was sarcasm.
"Now, Dart," said the night fury as he turned towards her. The nightlight in question was breathing rapidly. She had accepted that this talk would happen, but actually doing it was a whole different story. When she had arrived the day before, her relatively serious wound had delayed her punishment, as her family had been busy making sure she was okay. Today, things were different. And not in a good way.
"Really interesting about being alpha, you know? Can you please continue? I would love to find out more!" barked Dart nervously, desperate to find a way to leave the situation. Lucky Ruffrunner, she thought. He had been too asleep to be scared. The same was not true for her.
"How did you get the wound?" growled the night fury, interrupting her.
Dart sighed. "I don't know what it's called. It was dark grey, hairy. It had two teeth sticking out from its nose, like a deathgripper. Four legs, bulky. I was taken by surprise as it charged into my side," she admitted while looking down at the ground.
"A boar," explained the night fury sadly. "They aren't carnivores, but they can turn aggressive when threatened."
"How can you make sure they don't feel threatened?" asked the curious nightlight. However, for some strange reason, the night fury was not in the mood to explain how Dart was to deal with an animal she wasn't supposed to ever meet.
"Is this the part where you tell me this is exactly why I shouldn't go out there and how this place is our natural habitat?" whined Dart, not managing to hide her despair.
"Let's say it would've hit your wing instead of your flank. What would have happened then?" asked Toothless.
Dart groaned. Her father could be persuasive. "I would have been unable to fly."
"And would we have been able to find you?" asked her father.
"Maybe, maybe not," answered Dart, not one to lie. She didn't like that this talk was happening, but she was honest, and that would not change because of her dislike of it. "I didn't tell you where I would go."
"Which means that this could have ended badly," stated Toothless angrily, though deep down, she could hear his sadness. The night fury looked at her sternly. "Don't go out there again. You are grounded until that wound is fully healed. It should take one or two weeks."
"But!" barked the nightlight in indignation. Toothless gave one last look at her.
As what she was about to say would make or destroy the following one or two weeks, Dart took a long time to think about what she was about to say. "I want to go out there again. Right then and there, with unknown animals and that feeling of danger… I felt so alive," she said honestly, looking in her father's eyes. "I know the risk and I am willing to take it," she stated before taking a deep breath and once more facing the night fury. "Are you really going to punish me for following my heart?"
"And how well did that go?" asked Ruffrunner.
"I hate you," answered Dart.
In that second, a white dragon landed at their cavern's entrance, with a difficult task in front of her. The dragon in question was Laura, and she was looking for a dragon who might just live here.
The first one to notice the young female light fury was Toothless. He was surprised, as two of the residents of this cave usually repelled such visitors.
"Alpha", said the white dragon while bowing her head. "I would like to talk to your son."
Toothless was amazed. One of his sons had managed to attract someone! He had a question though. "Which one?"
The light fury sighed. "If only it was that simple…"
Toothless sighed as well. He didn't know why this female didn't know which of his sons to talk with. But he understood that said son had been an idiot. "Well, Ruffrunner is here. And Pouncer should be back from fishing soon." hummed the night fury thoughtfully. "Do you think you can recognize who it was by talking with them?"
"I do. Thank you, alpha," replied the young dragon as she bowed her head.
"You're welcome. And you can call me Toothless," he replied as he started heading towards the exit. After talking to Ruffrunner and Dart, he was already running late. "Alpha duties await. But just tell me if you need more help… " Toothless realised he didn't know her name.
"Laura. My name is Laura," she answered.
"Good luck, Laura," he said as he took off, just as Pouncer landed back into the cavern.
The light fury then found herself alone with the three nightlight's eyes on her. Well, this was awkward, she thought. She didn't know anyone, while these three had lived with each other since hatching. Then she remembered her goal. There were two males here. Now, which one of them had the least respect for females?
"Would you like some fish, Laura?" asked the white nightlight.
"You're Pouncer, I assume?" she asked.
"I am Pouncer," confirmed the white nightlight before regurgitating a semi digested pile of meat, bones and scales. Very appetising indeed. "And this is makrill."
The pile looked very inviting, but this male had shown a lot of respect. This one was a true gentleman. Which sadly meant he was not the male she was looking for.
"Thanks. But I've already eaten," she said with a smile as she made her way towards the other suspect. She doubted that the other male would be equally galant. But before she could reach Ruffrunner, the female nightlight beside him took her attention. "A quick tip. Don't have anything to do with these two. I'm talking from experience," she spat out.
"Don't mind Dart. She's especially grumpy when she gets grounded," explained Ruffrunner before Laura could react.
"You want me to put one of those on you?" roared who was apparently named Dart while pointing to a large gash on her left side.
The male nightlight replied with "Ohh, I'm so scared." He then added, "You wouldn't be able to scratch me."
Laura was leaning more and more towards the male she had met yesterday being Ruffrunner. At this point, she was ready to make the final test. "Ruffrunner, I know what you did," she said confidently. If she had guessed wrong, it would be rather awkward. But if she was right, she would see an unmistakable reaction.
The effect was immediate. The alpha's youngest son was frozen, and Laura's beliefs were confirmed.
As for Ruffrunner, he believed she was talking about threatening the fledgling yesterday. And Toothless finding that out would be bad. His father had been happy with him. He didn't want to throw it all away.
Laura smiled smugly at his worry and continued. "And I'm going to tell your father, unless…"
A glimmer of hope sparked in the nightlight's eyes. "Unless?"
"Come with me," she ordered while starting to walk towards the exit. "I'm gonna make you a better person."
"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. This means that you, my beloved Eret, son of Eret, are insane."
The tall viking stared incredulously at Helga, who had somehow managed to make it seem like she was the rational one. But she wasn't. "You can't just ask to go back into that cavern and call me insane when I tell you that it's dangerous!" he exclaimed indignantly.
"We survived once, and if you say that it's dangerous it means that you're expecting us not to do it again," she replied lightning quick as a smug smile grew onto her face.
Eret was simultaneously amazed and worried by how she was managing to make a return to the hidden world seem like a reasonable idea. After fifteen years, he knew that he could not win a debate against her. The only solution was changing her mind before she became dead set on it. "Honey…"
"This is the most important discovery of my life. I have to find out more about that place. Will you assist me or not?" she threw out, and the ex dragon trapper understood it was too late.
At this point, Eret got angry. Finding out more about the world was great. But Helga wasn't a young, careless teenager who could just wander the earth as she pleased. She was forty-five, she was his wife, and she was the mother of their child. "And what about your son?! Are you just going to abandon him in the name of science?! You can't force him down into the cavern against his will!" he exclaimed, probably louder than was necessary.
The mother then showed exactly why his argument was wrong. "Tell him, little guy," she asked their son.
"I loved that place daddy! And Toothless was so cute! Can we please go back?!" exclaimed Eret, son of Eret, son of Eret, in his high-pitched ten-year-old-voice.
At this point, Eret, son of Eret, had an epiphany. Convincing his wife and son to not jump into danger was a huge undertaking. But he didn't have to do it.
This wasn't his family's ship and as such, they didn't get to decide where to go. In his wife's quest for knowledge, the three had travelled a lot. But a full scale expedition, with their own ship and equipment, was far too much for the meagre income of their tavern, back home at Berserker island. This had made them jump onto ships as freelancers, offering work and a little bit of gold in exchange for the ship taking a small detour in the name of exploration.
Right now, they were on a small fishing ship together with the captain and two other fishermen. And since their exploration of the hidden world had almost caused their death and consumed all the catch of the trip, their relationship with the captain was… less than ideal.
Smiling, Eret made his way to the captain to propose what his family wanted so much. "Aye, aye captain! Can we please sail back to that cavern?"
The captain, one of the few vikings taller and bigger than Eret himself, stared at him with blank eyes for some time. Then some more. Then he displayed his teeth to Eret. "If you say one more word I will throw you overboard," said the captain. The captain had always been a man of few words.
"Well, that's that," declared Eret as he made his way back towards his family. He then immediately regretted opening his mouth as he could feel the captain's stare on his back.
His wife gave a reluctant nod, looking down in sadness. He immediately tensed. There was something more to it, something she didn't let him know. He wrapped an arm around her. "What's on your mind?" asked the ex-dragon-trapper quietly.
"I'm worried for the dragons," she whispered back, equally quiet. "They were sent somewhere away from humans to protect them." The woman gave a sigh. "But now…"
Eret thought about it. All those years ago, when Berk had fought Grimmel, he had been there. In the end, they had succeeded against even that opponent. Yet for the village, that had not been seen as a victory. One enemy after the other, each ever more sophisticated and lethal than the previous one… all going after Berk's dragons. The Berkians had won a battle, but it was now clear that sooner or later, they would lose. And so, the dragons had been sent away. To the hidden world, to safety. To a place away from humans.
"…But now, they aren't away from humans anymore," concluded Eret, son of Eret. His son looked at him in worry, while his wife nodded in sadness. The dragons had spared them. And that decision could end up leading to the beasts' demise.
However, as the waves splashed against the small vessel, the woman kept thinking. Ideas, desires, solutions. There had to be a way.