The first connection between a dragon and a human had been a beautiful event. What had been two mortal enemies had over the course of memorable and incredible encounters spared each other and earned each others' trust and respect. This had culminated in an unforgettable moment when the dragon and the human had closed their eyes and one's hand had touched the other's snout, which would then be the start of a beautiful friendship.
Now, times were a bit different. "Alright Laura. All you have to do is land on a viking ship, have as many humans as possible climb onto your neck and fly away with them, all the while trying to entertain them," explained Dart calmly. The light fury didn't share Dart's calm. "Uhh… What do humans look like?" she asked awkwardly.
The nightlight's blue eyes cast her an incredulous look. "Exactly what do you know about humans?"
The white dragon hummed thoughtfully. There were those stories… and… well… did she really not know anything else? After thinking about it, the white dragon looked down in guilt. "The horror stories that Gin and Tonic's father told and… that's it," she said, recalling those nights huddled among all of those heads when the hideous zippleback had made their blood curl. It was fun, listening to stories with friends, and she remembered those moments fondly, but it also meant that her idea of humans was not one of safety.
Blue eyes scanned the light fury thoughtfully. But after a few moments, Dart purred comfortingly for the other dragon. "Do you want to know how many times I had met humans the first time I had to take care of them?"
Laura looked up at her with curiosity and the two pairs of blue eyes crossed each other. "Twice," admitted Dart with a smile. "And you will not be alone either. One of this cavern's biggest human experts will always be by your side." A wide grin made its way onto the nightlight's face as her tail went to point at herself.
And it seemed to work. Finally, the light fury's breathing slowed down and she became something similar to relaxed. "Thanks, that's reassuring," she said. "How many times have you met them now?"
"Three. About to be four," said Dart, quickly and efficiently removing any sense of calm that the light fury might have acquired. "And about what humans look like…" Dart hummed thoughtfully. "Think of a fish. The size is between a saumon and a tuna, though it varies a lot," she started.
The light fury tilted her head. "Okay…"
"Now, that fish lives on land, stands upright and has no tail, and also two of its fins are heavily modified so that they are well suited to grabbing objects, almost like tails," continued the nightlight. "And instead of scales they have this strange thing called fur. It's like small strings that come out of their skin. They have a few of them on their whole body, but especially many on their heads."
Laura felt a bit thrown back by this. "Ugh, so every time they lick each other they get small bits of fur on their tongues? And also, on the head, the part that is licked the most? Isn't that disgusting?"
Dart was sent into confusion. Yes, it was true. How on earth did humans complete all of these basic tasks? Or was the fur edible so that it actually felt good to get those pieces of fur on one's tongue? "Humans are weird," was the only explanation that the nightlight could give. She just couldn't understand how they worked.
Finally satisfied, the light fury took a big breath and let it out. She had been convinced. "Alright. Let's show the tailless furry saumons what this world looks like."
The tailless furry saumons were a bit offended, but mostly trembling in anticipation. Because even though they had been waiting by the side of the hidden world without even the hint of a dragon for almost half an hour, four shapes were now shooting out of the entrance, the sunlight reflecting on blue and green eyes alike.
As for the reason for the delay, it was the need for Dart to convince her brothers to help. Or rather… brother. Pouncer had started by requesting that 'since you are a female, I want suggestions for some ideas that I want to try on L-' but this was immediately terminated once the nightlight caught sight of Laura, upon which Dart's idiotic brother stated that he would 'of course' help out of 'goodness of his own heart.' Dart's opinion of the light fury had been considerably boosted by this, while her opinion of Pouncer had somehow managed to sink yet another notch.
But the hard part had been Ruffrunner, who had dared asking for another month of free fish even though his promised month wasn't even over yet! After heavy negotiations that would have put vikings chiefs to shame, the two panting dragons had agreed that Dart would fish for Ruffrunner up and until one month after the last human visit, regardless of any previous help or fish. Of course, assuming that 'I manage to resist cutting your miserable throat first, you pathetic excuse for a life form'.
And with that problem dealt with, the four dragons now flew towards the viking ship with varied expressions. Dart was furiously glaring at Ruffrunner, who gave back a wide grin. But soon enough, she realised that despite everything, Ruffrunner was not uselessly laying on a rock and instead helping her. The blue-eyed dragon then faced forwards with a satisfied huff, thus making her brother immediately regretting his decision. In the meantime, Pouncer was admiring some glittering scales in front of him, while their owner was staring at the viking ship in front of her with rising terror.
At the back, Toothless and some other dragons warily observed the situation. The night fury felt somewhat more relaxed than the previous time the humans had arrived, but couldn't help feeling worried at the level of professionalism that his offspring displayed.
Laura had agreed to help Dart, and was quickly regretting her decision. It was true, she had been looking for some action. But if that was the case, she had gravely overestimated her own courage. The tales of Gin and Tonic's father echoed in her mind. 'Humans, always looking for destruction… The times we risked our lives because of them are more than we can count.' That dragon had always been weak in numbers, barely managing to count the heads of his offspring, but she still shivered at the thought.
Within moments, the four dragons were close enough for Laura to distinguish the humans on the God Enrager's deck. And something was wrong. "That was not how I thought they would look!" she called out in fear. These beings looked nothing like fish!
Dart cast her a worried look. "Upright, lacks tail, heavily modified fins to grab objects… what did you expect?"
Laura's heart was pounding by this point. With wide eyes, she looked down on the vessel. Long and narrow, and with a large pile of inviting goods at its aft. At the front, there was an empty spot that had been prepared for them to land.
But in the middle of the ship, there was what seemed like a huge number of humans. There had to be at least a dozen of them! "Just..." she was finding it hard to put down any of that terror into words. "I need some…"
Before she could continue, the three nightlights made a graceful landing on the deck, and Dart greeted the newcomers. "…time"
Dart stepped forwards to face the biggest human on the ship, a viking that unbeknownst to the light fury was named Eret, son Eret. "Do you trust us to bring you to the hidden world?" asked the nightlight.
There was no hesitation. The viking closed his eyes and stretched his hand in Dart's direction, though not touching her. Dart closed her own and pushed her hand inside his palm.
Laura looked at these events with awe, her fear nearly forgotten for a moment. This viking had shown something outside everything she had ever been told in the stories. Trust.
And among all of that sense of trust, Laura managed a peak of determination strong and long enough to set her claws firmly on the deck, just behind the three dragons.
The two beings in the middle of the ship opened their eyes. "Well then," said Dart. She gave a lightning quick lick to the viking's hair, causing big Eret to let out a curse and herself to let out a comment on how these furs humans had on their head really did not taste well.
Dart nuzzled the viking warmly. "Nice to have you back." The nightlights were soon being warmly embraced by the young crew, smiling, purring and saying things like 'aw, it's so fun to see you!' 'you've grown so much!' and 'no, that's just a different human. (sigh) I can't believe I'm related to you.'
The light fury did not share the enthusiasm because of the fact that these humans were now very much not still now. She couldn't do anything but stare as the small vikings let their devilish limbs sneak towards the three dragons in what she could only interpret as preparing to strike, and flattening their targets' hides for their malicious plans.
A pair of radiant brown eyes from one of the children landed onto her own, and Laura froze. The majestic light fury's heart thumped loudly as the threat approached. With the threat's height almost reaching her shoulder, and its weight likely matching one of her paws, she felt completely at its mercy. 'They captured us and forced us to fight their little ones,' remembered the dragon from the hideous zippleback's stories. Was this what was going on? "Stay away from me, hideous, foul-smelling creature!" she spat out before having the time to think of anything else to say.
Out of all people, it was Pouncer that said something against this. "That's not very nice," he noted.
Laura tried to say something smart about how manners were not the priority in tense situations, but the creature reached a hand towards her, and a prolonged sound best translated to 'Aaahhh!' left her mouth instead.
Laura was shaking. The dragon's body felt heavy and she didn't know what to do. All she managed was keeping her eyes strictly locked onto the vikings, and dreading every step they made to approach her. But before long, she felt a familiar warmth on her side.
"Hey," murmured Pouncer who was now leaning against Laura, his right flank on her left. He nudged the dragon with his snout. "Despair does not look good on you."
The light fury was still nervous. But with these words, she turned to face the nightlight. Frightened dark blue eyes met compassionate toxic green, and for just a moment, she managed to focus on something else than the many, scary humans.
As for Pouncer, he had seen the despair in the other dragon, and after a few seconds of thought he immediately understood the reason. He had said that she did not look good. "I-I meant, of course you look good anyway but just- not as..." he sputtered out in desperation. Stupid! With this sloppiness, some females might even decide that he wasn't a great charmer! He took a fast, determined breath and faced the female once more. "You look very good, as always."
The light fury managed to let out a weak chuckle. "I am being ridiculous, am I not?"
The nightlight gave a simple shake of his head. "I can assure you that you are-" Pouncer was interrupted by a yelp as the light fury jumped away as one of the children threw an incredibly frightening object at her. More precisely, a fish.
She sighed in relief at having survived the danger and turned back towards the nightlight. "Aren't you going to finish your sentence?"
Pouncer seemed quite entertained as he picked up the mackerel from the deck behind him and savoured its fresh taste. "Maybe later," he rumbled, straining to keep himself from laughing at her face.
One of the children, unbeknownst to the two dragons of being little Eret, made his way to the pair and towards the light fury. He reached a hand towards her snout, but was gently nudged away by Pouncer's tail. The nightlight proceeded to gently lick the little kid's face to make up for his disappointment in not reaching the light fury. "Sorry. She doesn't want you to touch her now." He purred in sympathy. "I know how it feels."
Meanwhile, the light fury had observed the encounter and gave a sigh. "I want to help you take care of them," she said before turning to the nightlight with a worried look. "Do you promise that if this human tries to harm me, you will rip its guts out, make it slowly and painfully bleed to death, char its body into coal and dispose of it by throwing it at high speed against a cliff?"
Pouncer's worried green eyes crossed the hopeful eyes of the innocent ten-year old boy. "Okay…" he answered, really hoping that it wouldn't be necessary. "Something along those lines."
Laura breathed out. "Alright then. I am ready."
The deck was in a frenzy. Fish were flying while being thrown into the dragons' jaws. Dragons were flying while trying to catch said fish. Lastly, humans were flying, propelled upwards by the excitement/mass of creatures below them. The God Enrager's owner would not have approved but was luckily not onboard.
Little Eret closed his eyes and stretched his hand towards the black and white spotted dragon, as he had done many times now (once). He felt the warm scales, smiled and opened his eyes, only to let look in awe as he saw that it was in fact the light fury who had previously not wanted him that had touched him, with encouragement from the multicoloured beast.
"Really? I get to ride you?" said the boy in a high-pitched squeak. The light fury purred back and offered her neck.
His eyes glimmered. "Thank you. Aw, this is going to be so fun, you look so cute!" he said maybe too loudly, causing a yelp from the light fury and an amused rumble by the nightlight next to her. Upon seeing the other dragon, the child felt the need to explain. "No offence, you are a hot piece too, but there's just something about that that is very catchy, don't you think?"
The nightlight purred kindly and rumbled something in his language. The language barrier stopped the poor child from being forever traumatised, but earned the dragon an angry roar by a certain blue eyed nightlight. And a more than disturbed gaze by the light fury in question.
But with that hurdle cleared, he stepped over and wrapped his legs around the light fury. Or at least as far as he reached. "One more dragon, come ride it!" he shouted, and soon enough two more children were behind him on Laura's back. At the same time, four had climbed on the adjacent dragon, all anticipating the upcoming flight.
But now, little Eret's mount was once more hesitant. "Huh? What are you waiting for?" asked the child as he gently let his hand groom across the white scales. The light fury looked at him with a nervous whine before turning once more towards the nightlight, dark blue eyes pleading for help.
The other dragon responded by giving a very quick lick to the light fury's snout and taking off.
Little Eret interpreted the light fury's roar and subsequent takeoff as joy. The true intentions, promising to bite the nightlight's nose off and starting to chase him, were not understood.
As for big Eret, he and his wife were trying to find a way to fly along the children on the two dragons left on the deck. And trying to make sense of the conversation going on in front of them.
The black and white dragon with blue eyes pointed at seemingly three of them with its wing (which they had to duck to avoid being struck by), barked something while looking at them and growled something to the other dragon. The other dragon roared something, displayed his tail by tensing it straight and pointed at one of them and to the other dragon two times in total.
"I don't understand any of it," admitted Helga as the green eyed dragon barked three times and hit the ground with his paws.
"I don't think anyone would understand any of it," said big Eret at the sight in front of him. They were clearly disagreeing over something. And it had likely to do with which of them would carry who. But apart from that, he didn't have the bleakest idea of what was going on.
"Hello?" he reached forwards to pet one of the nightlights and grab its attention. "It's just, we would be happy either way, but we would like to get there quickly."
"Adults that let dragons fly away with children are often deemed irresponsible," explained Helga hastily.
The nightlights looked thoughtfully at them, and the ex-dragon-trapper took a moment to analyse the situation. Okay, this was not optimal. But at least he didn't have to be carried by Stormfly. He really didn't want to be dangling in someone's claws again.
And soon enough, the argument somehow ended. Ruffrunner had taken three children on his back and taken off, leaving the other nightlight hanging. And so, in a rush to give back, Dart let two more vikings onto her back and spread her wings. Wanting to be in the air quickly, she didn't bother to let the third climb her, instead opting to just grab said viking in her claws while taking off.
"Are you okay honey?" shouted Helga from above Dart.
Big Eret frowned and crossed his arms, watching the ocean streaking below his feet. "No comment."
Toothless winced at the sight of Dart pulling up from the dive with the poor viking shouting desperately below her. Luckily, the profanities that the nightlight roared at Ruffrunner overshadowed most of the yells.
He walked away from the edge of the ledge and back to his mate."You are not going to say how I am naive and this will never work?"
The white dragon purred and wrapped her tail around the night fury's. "Nope. You know humans better than me," she hummed. The light fury gave her mate a significant look. "Do you believe we have a chance at peace?"
The night fury hummed thoughtfully. "These ones are not angry at us…" He thought about the future. "And more will follow, young people growing up and telling others how dragons exist and don't need to be hunted. I would just like for other dragons to understand it, and stop viewing humans as the killers that they no longer are."
Light hummed happily as a black wing was draped over her. "That might very well happen," she purred. After all, why not? For starters, she didn't find these creatures all that frightening now. "And if we're really lucky, those three little troublemakers might learn a thing or two in the process…"
Toothless chuckled. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves…"
The four dragons and thirteen humans spiralled lower and lower into the cavern, looking for a good spot to land. Ruffrunner, in particular, couldn't wait to set down the annoying creatures that had managed to render his back into an hotspot for itching that he just wanted to claw off. Of course, his complaints made his sister furious as he wasn't the one to have to carry two adults. This resulted in a roaring match that only ended as the two noted how Pouncer and Laura had already landed somewhere. In a momentary truce, the two siblings followed and set down, with Dart making sure not too put too much weight on big Eret as her paws reached the ground. "Stormfly has taught you?" asked the viking bitterly as he struggled to escape yet another pair of paws holding him down.
The crew of the God Enrager had been brought next to one of the waterfalls, just beside the enormous entrance of the hidden world. This particular waterfall covered the entrance of a large tunnel system, though it was now abandoned. This meant that the place offered a rare kind of calm, while still giving a wonderful view of the cavern and could even offer a nice shower for those who wanted it.
Lastly it could offer, of course, dragons.
"I think I know what this is going on," said a little boy as he stepped off the Ruffrunner's back. He pointed at the dragon he had just ridden and at Dart. "These two are females and therefore are slow and can't decide on anything. While the white dragons just flew here, swiftly and efficiently." In the ten year old's young mind, the pieces started to form a clear image of the world.
However, a little girl who had just arrived on Dart disagreed. "You are the living proof that boys are useless! And I bet my hair that these lazywings are boys," she said while pointing at the two dragons, who now seemed rather offended.
But for the little boy, there was enough evidence. The two dragons that they had arrived on were mostly black, while the other two, who had arrived before them were mostly white. And it also seemed to make sense with their behaviours. "All white dragons are males while all black dragons are females! That's why these are so whiny while the others are all nice and cool!" he stated confidently.
This statement, in turn, triggered Helga, who had been observing their conversation. "Little man, what did we teach you? You have to test your hypothesis before assuming that it is true." Had all of her lessons on discovery been wasted?
The boy's confidence disappeared for just a moment as he turned towards her with an actually viable question. "How can I test if a dragon is a girl or a boy?"
The woman thought about it and turned pale."Absolutely do not test it," she exclaimed.
Also, it seemed that people were already discrediting the hypothesis, in particular the girl from earlier. "Yeah. Because 'Toothless' is one hundred percent a girl name. Also, 'she' is the alpha, so if your stupid theory is correct, then girls are a thousand times better than you will ever be. Which they already are," she stated angrily. "Idiot."
However, the boy had a counter. "It is obvious that the female Toothless is controlled by the white dragon over there and that she just acts as the face of them," he said matter-of-factly. Sure, the alpha might be a female night fury, but just like a chief, it was the ones behind who truly decided.
The night fury, who was looking at them from a nearby ledge, cast a worried glance at his mate.
The girl and the boy were stuck in a tense staring match that seemed very close to escalating to violence. "Fine, believe that," shouted the girl as she put her hands up in defeat. "You will never amount to anything where people care about what you think anyways."
"White dragons are males and black dragons are females. As much as you think you are smart, there is no denying the facts!" responded the other in an hysteric high-pitched voice. Why did no one just admire his genius?! He had just found a fool-proof way to know if dragons were girls or boys and people just ignored him!
A green dragon, a blue dragon and a yellow dragon landed onto the tunnel's entrance and warily but curiously approached the children.
The girl chuckled. "I think I might have found a flaw in your theory."
Eager to forget the frustration caused by Ruffrunner, Dart bounded to the newcomers and firmly planted her claws on the ground, blocking them from the humans behind her. She eyed the nadders. They were young, possibly siblings, and did not seem aggressive, mostly curious. She growled suspiciously. "What do you want?"
The green nadder answered. "Can we meet them? It's… not everyday that happens," it chirped hopefully, snout pointing at the humans.
Dart thought about it. She had a group of children that wanted to learn about dragons, and here were three dragons that wanted to learn about them. It seemed like a perfect match. Then there was the problem of whether she could trust them, but she had a simple solution to that. "If you attempt to harm them, I will slit your throat," said Dart before giving a serious look to the three dragons. "Have I made myself clear?"
Albeit a bit shaken, the nadders nodded, and were allowed to meet the vikings. The dragons were younger than twenty and had lived in the hidden world all of their lives, knowing practically nothing about the creatures that dominated the overworld. But seeing a small child reach a smaller hand towards them and close their eyes gave them a very clear first impression. The green nadder, under the astonished eyes of the other dragons, closed its own and let its snout touch the skin, as had happened numerous times that day. For these new dragons humans were, albeit strange, furry and bad tasting, creatures to be loved.
"These humans are not dangerous," explained Dart with a soft smile. "I am."
The warm sunlight gradually made itself more absent from the secluded cavern under the ground, leaving the soft glow of crystals. A child showed a piece of yak to the blue nadder, to the beast's awe. The blue nadder splayed the colourful spikes on its tail, leading to the child's astonishment.
Both of them turned their heads at Pouncer and Laura racing overhead, and at the screams of their passengers. It seemed that at least for now, the light fury had managed to repress her fear. Looking at each other, the child and the blue nadder seemed to agree on what they wanted to do. Another pair took to the sky.
It seemed like mere minutes when the humans were taking their last flight, the God Enrager's deck crowding when all dragons and their riders landed on it in the red light of sunset.
"Who is this and why is it so interested in my wing?" asked the green deadly nadder, who's rider had been keenly observing his wing membrane during the trip back up to the ship.
"Helga, I think" answered Dart. "And I have no idea why."
The nightlight turned at big Eret as he dismantled her back. She liked the viking, and couldn't help but feel saddened at him leaving. She nuzzled him gently. Big Eret kindly scratched her ear nubs, simply thankful that he had not been subjected to a dragon's tongue. "Come back soon," she purred.
There was only one last matter. As the deadly nadders took off, the viking offered the boat's cargo, and Dart nodded reluctantly at the prospect of the tiring task.
Ruffrunner spoke up loudly, addressing the deadly nadders. "Thanks for the help. Taking care of the humans and carrying all that food to the lower levels is much easier now that you're here."
When she was flying back, a bundle of meat in her paws and several dragons following her "Huh," huffed Dart as the colourful dragons returned. For the first time in a long time, she appreciated her brother's presence. The deadly nadders did not.
lead, her father joined her flight beside her. "What do you say?" asked the nightlight proudly.
"You did good," answered Toothless. The night fury seemed genuinely appreciative, and hopeful. "We have a shot at peace."
After a few more wingbeats, the night fury had a question. "How did Laura do?"
Finally, the food pile had been transferred to Laura's home cavern and was already steadily growing smaller. Pouncer stepped away from it, and made his way to a calm little corner to flex his now tired wings. "And done. It wasn't so hard now, was it?" he called out as he leant down to help his back, savouring the glorious feeling of not having someone pressing down on him.
A warm and humid breath on his nose brought him back to reality, so he opened his eyes to find a finely shaped female with… a pair of angry, dark blue orbs staring straight at him from only a few decimeters away. "What is it?" he said worriedly.
"You licked my nose and took off, leaving me abandoned there with three humans on my back," growled Laura angrily, claws rumbling in their sheats.
Pouncer smirked and rose back to his paws. Admittedly, he had not been very elegant previously. "I did indeed," he said calmly. "And what did you do after that?"
"I promised to bite your nose off and took off to hunt you," said Laura, suddenly unsure of herself. Her plan had been to fulfil the promise, but now she discovered that she didn't really want to.
Pouncer nodded. "To me, it looked like my little trick made you overcome your fear of humans and taking off. You can thank me later." He gave a wide smile as the light fury stared incredulously. "Though you have already given me something… your cute snout had a wonderful taste."
For a short moment, all anger vanished as she took in the compliment, her wide eyes barely reaching the toxic green that were looking at her. "It had? T-thanks..." she stammered, her paw making its way towards the supposedly tasty nose.
She had no idea that her snout tasted good. But somehow, the way Pouncer had said it, just made it so easy to believe… but did all snouts taste good, or was it only her own? Did it make her special? There were so many questions, and… Stop getting distracted Laura! She straightened herself and did her best to appear angry. "So I should just be grateful for you just licking my nose?" she said as firmly as she managed, desperately hoping it would sound convincing.
The nightlight chuckled. "Well… I wouldn't say no..." he was interrupted by the light fury's still determined stare and gulped nervously. "But you are the one who took off, you should be grateful for yourself. Proud of yourself," he explained. He looked up at the wonderful creature in front of him. "Just like I am of you."
There was a long moment of silence, that was only broken once the light fury looked away, an amused smile on her face. "I don't know if I should lick you or bite you," she rumbled, smiling as she gave a shake of her head.
Upon hearing this, the nightlight immediately had an aching urge to know something. He debated not asking, but in the end… the desire was just unmanageable. He gave a suggestive look. "Just by curiosity… which part of me would you lick?"
"I'm sorry! Please stop! It hurts!" yelped the nightlight as the light fury bit him.
Laura was holding a tight hold of Pouncer's muzzle and not letting go, but the nighlight's yelps coming from between her teeth were too much for the light fury. She laughed out happily, liberating the nightlight's face in the process. The male went immediately to paw his own face, and noted with satisfaction that while sore, his nose had not in fact been bitten off. He sighed in relief and smiled at the laughing figure in front of him.
"The top of your head," answered Laura after a while. Those gorgeous dark blue eyes met his as they both recovered their breaths. "I would have licked the top of your head," she repeated.
Pouncer grinned and shook his head. At least his question had been answered… He looked at the small calm corner they were in, and at the pile of food that was already considerably smaller. The sun would set, and they might be forced to go home soon, but as he looked around to the cavern's entrance and the following climb, he really didn't want to.
"Do you have to fly all the way back up there to rest?" asked Laura worriedly as she noted how the nightlight was looking at his path home with disapproval.
Pouncer's wings felt suddenly heavier and he looked at the way home with worry… but he was not one to to seem like a weakling in front of females. There was a chance they would not like to mate with him in that case. The nightlight huffed and puffed out his chest and wings. "For some dragons, 'all the way up there' is long. But for a strong, capable male like me, it doesn't feel like more than a few wingbeats. You see, for me, flying is something that-"
"Pouncer," interrupted Laura, nudging the nightlight's side with her nose.
The nightlight looked at her. "Yes?"
Awkwardly, the light fury paced around until she found the courage to face the nightlight once more as she leaned her head against his neck. "How about you stay here just a little longer?" she finally asked.
Pouncer's heart skipped a beat before he recomposed himself to look like something other than an overly excited hatchling. "I would love to."