On the 10/07/2022, I updated this story, with changes throughout all of its then existing 13 chapters 13. As such, if you read this story and it seems different from what you remember, that could be because it is.
"They want to keep us down! They want us to hide in fear! But we shall not let them have their way!" declared Dart in front of the small audience. Her family had been attacked, and plots against the alpha had started. But if people thought they would just cower and hide, they were wrong.
Dart looked once more at the dragons. "As such, we will race through the main tunnel at high speed barely avoiding colliding with everyone, because we won't be silenced!"
Ruffrunner whined, pawing at his ears. "Stop being so loud. It's annoying."
Dart dismissed the complaint and looked at the light fury among them. "Why are you here?" she asked Laura. She did not dislike the idea of one more dragon joining their races, but was curious in to how it had happened.
"Pouncer asked me if I wanted to race with you," answered Laura before giving a sly smile to the dragon in question. "And I said yes."
Dart looked at the night fury, thinking about how she felt for the dragon. Pity, mostly, because she apparently enjoyed spending time with her brother. But at the same time, she was bringing this upon herself. The nightlight couldn't help but feel that it was a fitting punishment for a dragon that had made the mistake of accepting Pouncer's offer. "If you wish so," she hummed in the end. She looked down. They were on the edge of the hidden world, the whole cavern looming beneath them.
"Racetomomanddadandwinnergetsawish?" asked one of the nightlights, and the four took off a moment later, someone mentioning 'they are not my parents' but fully committing to the competition regardless. Dart had an idea, and couldn't wait for the three dragons to follow her. She wouldn't be escaping. Something bigger. But for that, she needed speed.
They were in a near-vertical dive, where all the fish that the Ruffrunner had enjoyed came to help. Luckily for her, this drop was also filled with (both static and moving) obstacles, obstacles that caused air resistance when one tried to avoid them. The trick was to angle to avoid them with as little flight change as possible. To do this, the correction had to happen as early as possible. Oh, and be as small as possible. There was no point in avoiding the obstacles with too much margin. The length of her paw was more than enough, considering that she kept her paw retracted.
Where were Pouncer and Laura, who had also taken part in the race? Behind them. That was all she needed to know.
Something bumped her underside, and he looked down briefly to see Ruffrunner, belly to belly with her as they dove at high speed. The nightlight growled and attempted to shove him behind her, only to discover that he had done the same, and the two separated.
Ruffrunner was heavier than her. To compensate, she needed to use her experience. She could aim for tighter spots, and react to the coming obstacles just a fraction of a moment before him. Being less caring about maintaining her own existence also helped. But as they dove further, the number of dragons in their way diminished and Ruffrunner gained a sizable advantage. Yet diving would not be the only part of the race.
This time, they actually knew where to look, and she slowly angled into the target tunnel, where the alpha had informed he would be this day. Her wings spread slowly, trying to maintain the swindling speed dives allowed. Yet all too quickly, her momentum ran out, and she needed to beat her wings to maintain speed. Ruffrunner was slower than her horizontally, but his bulk meant he didn't slow down nearly as much, and he didn't need to flap for a longer time. The light of the crystals on the narrowing sides of the tunnel streaked by them.
She had by now started catching up to Ruffrunner, courtesy of pushing her wing muscles to their maximum, but there wasn't much distance left, and her brother had gained considerable margin from the dive. Still, she could do nothing but fight for speed, hoping that it would be enough.
She recognized the contrasting white of a light fury, and soon also saw her father, mere metres away. Toothless was closest, so she would be her target. She just needed to be fast enough…
Ruffrunner flared and let his paws stop the rest of the fall against the rocky ground, before gently tapping his father's side as the last of his speed was cancelled. "Hello."
Yet by that time, Dart had already passed over the dragon and let her tail touch the night fury's back… at maximum speed. The night fury gave a small whine at the burning caused by the friction between his scales and Dart's.
Toothless looked at Ruffrunner, a somewhat displeased look on his face. "A race?"
"A race that I won," confirmed Dart after landing and trotting to the dragons. "Hi dad!" she barked happily.
Dart turned her head to the remaining two members of the competition. Panting, Laura came to a halt and bowed her head to touch the alpha's side with her nose, immediately followed by Pouncer, who lightly nudged the increasingly annoyed night fury.
Laura gave a curious look to the white nightlight. "You are heavier and more experienced than me, so how did I manage to beat you?" Both Ruffrunner and Dart gave a teasing chuckle at the nightlight.
"Really? You got beaten by her?" asked the Ruffrunner incredulously, mockingly laughing at his brother.
"Yes," huffed Laura. "He was just behind my tail the entire time." The light fury gave a proud grin, one not too different to that used by the three siblings. In the meantime, Dart sighed and shook her head.
"Pouncer, can you follow me for a second?" asked Dart as she walked away, towards the continuation of the tunnel. She looked at the colourful walls, who happened to be bathed in pink light here. This cavern was particularly lively, with numerous lichen climbing up the stony borders and molluscs dotting the river and its close proximity. Curious, Pouncer followed right behind. He was hit hard on the snout by Dart's tail two seconds later.
"Why did you do that?!" barked Laura as she leapt towards the two with worry.
Dart gave a warm smile while looking at the light fury's shocked eyes. "Oh, you didn't know? Pouncer loves females' tails," she hummed gently while flicking her own. "You should try it."
Laura's pupils thinned as her head slowly, menacingly swivelled towards Pouncer, while Dart gave a satisfied huff. This has truly been a great day so far. Filled by dopamine from her victory, she felt daring enough to invoke her rightful wish. "You can dismember him later. We've got things to do," she stated before facing her father.
"Alpha!" she declared. "These three dragons and I have decided to do something."
Her father gave her a serious look, while the three dragons' seemed mostly filled with worry. They didn't know what she had planned. But they had no choice but to cooperate. Good, she thought. They would serve as more than just wastes of air.
Under the watchful eyes of her father, Light, and those three, she explained the plan. "We will fly away to gather information about the overworld. We will find where the humans come from, and we will find what the boars are up to. After that, we will return, bringing you valuable information."
She looked back, facing the mortified looks of her brothers and Laura. "There are four of us. As such, we are capable of anything, and right now, we are needed." Her heart was beating loudly. She was about to go on an adventure, and she felt great.
Toothless blinked. "No, you won't."
Dart's heart sank, not having expected such a reaction. She growled, asserting herself. "Unfortunately for you, this is not your decision to make. You may be the alpha, but I hold responsibility over matters involving humans."
Toothless blinked, again.
The blue dragon was drinking out of a freshwater puddle. Dart approached Stormfly, her heart heavy and every step feeling painful. She opened her mouth, closed it again, before sighing and resigning. She had no choice.
"I want you to know that I don't have authority regarding humans. It is Toothless who decides what should be done, and you should do what he says, not what I say," she stated monotonically, because that was the only way she could get those painful words out of herself.
Stormfly looked at her curiously, before letting a blue wing cover the nightlight in comfort. "Sure, but I knew that already," hummed the blue dragon.
Those words felt like yet another needle stabbing her chest. "Oh," she said quietly.
Pouncer and Laura looked at the scene from a nearby ledge. "Poor Dart. Having to swallow her pride. It must hurt," hummed Pouncer sadly.
Laura huffed. "Then why did you laugh loudly during her entire confession?" she asked accusingly.
Pouncer took a moment to consider the light fury. "You're angry at me for having admired your tail," he said finally, and Laura mumbled something about a lack of dung. The nightlight looked at her. "To make up, I will let you look at my tail as we fly." He took off.
Laura growled, taking flight to follow the dragon. How could in any way make up for it? There was nothing interesting about that stupid limb. Well, apart from the admittedly quite particular creamy white nuance, which was most evident on the upper part of his tail, but that was all.
Laura also thought about how this colour covered the large muscles that served to swerve the heavy limb, attaching themselves to the lower body and providing high strength while still allowing for good flexibility, which let Pouncer confidently swerve in the air and keep his balance on the ground as she had seen him do. This was further helped by the subwings, unusually large, possibly due to being the offspring of a mighty night fury. They passed under a waterfall, leading to the hind part of Pouncer being bathed in sparkly droplets, which further helped define the marked contours of the nightlight's admittedly impressive musculature… the light fury could see the tail, paws and subwings that were attached to Pouncer's hind, and couldn't help but wonder about any more appendages that maybe existed in the region…
Laura shook herself and put her tongue back in her jaws. "That had to be planned!" she barked angrily, with Pouncer responding with a snicker. The light fury huffed and flew herself just above the immature nightlight, doing her best to appear as unaffected and indifferent as possible. He was not going to think that she was as childish as him.
That would have ruined the element of surprise.
A snap of her wings, and she dove towards his tailfin with open jaws and retracted teeth. The nightlight yelped as her gums closed in on his fin, but a violent manoeuvre by Pouncer made it slip out of her mouth. She took a moment to curse herself for not having used teeth. With a happy bark, she jumped to the chase-
Pouncer dove into a water puddle a second later, and she dove behind him, but was blinded by the bubbles caused by the first splash. While flailing around in search for the dragon, she shrieked upon feeling a tongue on her tail fins and turned her body with vigour to strike back at the male, air bubbles surrounding the two as they swirled towards each other.
Minutes later, the two dragons heaved themselves out of the water, drenched and laughing and arguing about who had won. Laura splayed her belly onto the surprisingly warm rock, rejoicing in her muscles relaxing. She looked at Pouncer as he approached her, then purred at the nighlight's tongue, the warmth soothing and welcome on her neck and back, not wanting the treatment to stop.
However, the light fury also heard Pouncer's small whines, possibly due to her position tragically hiding her underside. Laura gave a small roll of her eyes. "You want me to get on my back and spread my legs?"
Pouncer looked at her with marvelled eyes. "How did you know?" he asked with a voice that was impossibly innocent, staring at her with hatchling-like pupils, where the female couldn't help but give a laugh. She firmly reached with a paw to halt him. "No."
The nightlight gave a pained, frustrated bark as he rose away from her, reminding her of a hatchling that was told he would have to wait two minutes before getting fish. The light fury looked at him, angrily staring at the exit of the tunnel, body still dripping and mind apparently fuming. Laura rose to look at him and smiled. He was so cute.
The light fury pressed against his side for a few moments until she could feel him relaxing enough to listen to her. "I like you. I don't know if I can trust you, and you don't know if you can trust me. No mating will happen before that," she stated. She could see that changing in the future, but right now, it just wasn't true.
The nightlight looked at her sceptically. "And Gin and Tonic will mock you."
Laura yelped, not even having thought of it but the thought scaring her to her bones. If the green dragon's prediction turned true… the hideous zippleback would have become insufferable. Erm, even more insufferable. "That too," she barked shily.
Pouncer groaned and splayed himself on his belly, much as she had done moments earlier. "Females," he rumbled with the roll of his eyes. The female playfully slapped him with her tail, appreciating Dart's method.
"Males," she chuckled back at the nightlight's protests.
Laura then climbed on Pouncer and curled herself up. She could see how the male was enjoying it, his protests having now been replaced by soft humming, and liked it too. His body was even warmer and more comfortable than the rock.
"Humans!"
By now, it had practically become routine. The sun rose and the prolonged shape of the vessel was spotted on the horizon, roughly three weeks after it had last visited. The quartet of dragons flew to meet its crew, while the alpha and his advisors gathered to prevent the situation turning sour.
A moderate wind rocked the ship, now anchored a short distance from the waterfalls. The crew couldn't help but awe as the familiar dragons appeared at high speed. In sequence, Dart, Pouncer, Laura and Ruffrunner shot plasma in front of them, passed through it, and camouflaged. This brought a gasp of surprise as the beasts arrived just in front of the deck, appearing out of thin air and setting down their paws just in time for the next dragon to do the same.
"Was that really necessary?" complained Ruffrunner, and was met by the three other dragons nodding in perfect synchronisation. Big Eret came forward, turned his head to the side and raised a hand, and Dart pushed her snout in it, both closing their eyes. Dart then also gave it a lick.
"It smelled awful, so I helped you clean it," she hummed to the disgusted viking. And then they were off.
"It's a stupid idea," said Hookfang. "The fact that we are needed here to prevent conflicts shows it."
"It's working," answered Toothless before humming gently, pleased by the sight in front of him. His kids were doing a surprisingly good job at dealing with humans. There were slightly more humans this time, and the flight was taking all of them through the hidden world, to the awe of the passengers. A number of dragons tried to approach them, most of them not earning Dart's trust and being driven away. He had to give it to her daughter, she could be persuasive.
The flight settled in a valley overlooked by giant mushrooms, and Hookfang, Toothless and his mate landed on an overlooking ledge. "Can you imagine Dart with her own hatchlings?" asked Light. Dart was already protective with kids whom she didn't know.
"I fear for the rest of the world then," hummed the night fury.
Despite that, some dragons were lucky enough for Dart to allow them through, most often resulting in their and the childrens' stupor. The night fury examined these, but could not find a common pattern. Some, as he would have expected, were old residents of Berk, who had known humans. But there were also fledglings, dragons who had known nothing but the hidden world for their entire lives. Toothless noted how none of them seems aggressive, though this could have been because of Dart promptly expelling anyone who even seemed to think about causing mayhem.
Among all of that, the night fury couldn't help but purr. A group of young humans were learning to not fear them. Among all the chaos and turmoil that his realm had suffered, this was the one thing that promised good.
"Alpha!" An intense flutter of wings approached them, and the night fury rose to face Rej, who seemed more serious and nervous than he had ever seen before. "A second ship, with a ballista on its deck."
Toothless only took a fraction of a second to curse the universe. He took flight.
The vessel was small, narrow, and had a square sail that was almost inappropriately large for it. The ballista, a twenty year old weapon that nonetheless was working and lethal, was wider than the hull, the sides of the bow sticking out over the sea. Ulf had chosen the boat for a single requirement, speed. Still, it had taken the three of them all of their effort and two heavy pairs of oars to barely keep up with the God Enrager, using the horizon to hide so that the top of that ship's mast was barely visible from the top of theirs. Ulf thought about how that ship really did not have the right to go that impossibly fast with all those people and cargo. Then again, considering its destination, that ship did not have the right to go at all.
The viking was physically exhausted, they all were, but that was the last of their issues. "Dear Thor," mumbled the second viking, his voice hard to hear the roar of the waterfalls. The vessel they had been chasing was there, anchored down, and using a spyglass, they had seen that its deck was completely motionless, save for its swaying with the waves. Ulf looked at him, perfectly knowing what the ex-dragon trapper was thinking about.
"Your son might still be alive," he said hastily, and narrowly dodged the punch heading for his face.
"They took him! All of 'em!" shouted the second viking. "Curse you!"
"Stop," hissed Ulf while grabbing the second viking by the collar and hoisting him up, desperately hoping to put some sense in the viking before it was too late. "Be rational. He might be alive. We might become dead. Look," he said while pointing at the rocks just ahead of the roaring waterfalls, where a beast with the unmistakable gigantic wings of a dragon was seen.
The third viking, previously somehow asleep on the wooden floor despite the roar of the waterfalls, jumped on his feet and took his place on the ship's aft, controlling the large sail. "I steer, yer deal with 'e beasts."
Their vessel swerved, heading straight towards the waterfalls, and the beasts upon it. At the same time the second viking jumped on the ballista and tensed its bow, delivering the work needed to ready the weapon within seconds. He aimed at the target, waiting for it to become in range. They took positions, Ulf raising himself as high on the deck as he could to observe the situation better, holding himself on the mast. He took the spyglass they had brought, and aimed it towards the wings, to see the beast more clearly.
A rather small, fully black dragon with enormous, green eyes, sharply looking directly at him. Ulf had not been a dragon hunter for long. Their disappearance had put an end to what would have been an intense, fulfilling career. But while it was the first time for him to see such a beast, he had heard enough tales to determine it as a night fury. They would have one shot to finish it before it finished them.
The viking's heart froze as a large monstrous nightmare also rose to look at the rocks, seemingly from the sea itself, though considering the sound of water falling, Ulf began forming an idea of what the structure could look like. A blue deadly nadder with coloured spikes also rose on the rocks. With the ship cutting the waves, they were almost in range to shoot the black dragon. Three dragons against one ballista that needed about five seconds to reload. Ulf looked down and saw the second viking, eyes furious and hand pericolously holding the trigger to fire the spear…
Within a split decision, he jumped down to the ballistas side, and threw the projectile in the weapon off, the spear splashing in the water one moment later. "We cannot fire and live."
Ulf's eyes widened in horror as saw that the night fury had just leapt towards them.
The vikings desperately scrambled for bows and spears while Toothless pumped his wings, having seen the opportunity and in a split second decided not to waste it. He passed above the ship before the first spear was thrown, his right hind claw reaching down and violently cutting the ballista's rope, his flight path and the whole ship shaking from the impact. But within two more seconds, he was away, the vikings shocked and practically harmless. The night fury breathed out, swerving his flight path to land back on the rocks. He took a moment to breathe before recomposing himself. He had solved one problem, but he had known his advisors for long enough to know what they were about to ask.
"That is not enough. You have camouflage. You're the best suited to kill them," said Stormfly quietly, clearly saddened by the idea. Or worried about his reaction. The night fury was still, eyes fast on the vessel. "Alpha?"
Toothless growled and shook his head. Twenty years of calm. Four ships visiting peacefully. And now, the hostile humans had returned, and threatened to throw away all dragonkind had hoped to achieve. "We will let them sail home," he said at the end.
The night fury turned back towards the ship, warily observing the weapon, and the vessel as a whole. The viking looked at him with a spyglass, and he looked right back at him. He had disarmed them, but that was not only it. The man had thrown away the weapon's projectile, opting to not attempt killing. The night fury hoped he wouldn't change his mind.
At the same time, he could feel his advisors. Looking at him, baffled by his decision, scared for their future. "Letting them live will make them return in force!" barked Hookfang suddenly, and spread his wings to strike-
"I will shred your wings if you attack," shrieked the night fury, stopping the monstrous nightmare in his tracks. His claws extended, proving the point.
"Why?" asked the red dragon, eyes wide in shock.
"Let them go, and ten will return. Kill them, and we will have one hundred on our hands," stated Toothless simply. "I will not start a war."
None of his advisors seemed to agree. Dragons were straightforward beings, and didn't hide their resentment for him. But that was not going to change his mind. He looked at the ship. Curse it. Curse humans. He gave a long, angry roar at it.
Eyes were attentive and muscles were tense. Apparently, the night fury had a clear idea of what was too close for comfort and an even clearer idea of whether the vikings were attempting to repair their weapon. Incredibly loud, piercing shrieks dissuaded them from attempting either, so the ship found itself sailing perpendicular to the waterfalls, just outside the distance that the dragon tolerated. The second viking looked at it in spite. "You killed my kid, and now you won't let me kill ya." He had been a dragon hunter, and now he found himself at the mercy of the demon.
"He could still be alive," stated Ulf simply. "You're not going to get your revenge if we die." The second viking could do nothing but reluctantly nod, struggling to contain his urge to punch the man. He hated Ulf for having removed the spear. Firing was a death sentence, but he might have been able to take one of the beasts with them. Not now.
The following hour seemed to last a week. The narrow shape cut through the waves as it circumnavigated the entrance, its fore angled slightly away from the centre to contrast the waterfalls' currents. The vikings kept their eyes open, hoping for a way to get closer, a natural barrier, some movement on the deck of the ship that had carried a dozen children. They received none of it. With a final roar by the night fury, the crew turned the rudder away from the falls, lacking the means to do anything else.
It took another three hours until the last sign of that place, the top of the mast of the God Enrager, disappeared below the horizon. The second viking then broke down in tears.
The crimson light of sunset basked the longship as its crew returned to its deck on the back of the pettiest quartet in the hidden world. Well, most of the crew did. One unlucky man was not on the back of said dragons.
"He clearly doesn't like it," stated Laura while pointing at Ruffrunner carrying big Eret in his claws. Dart agreed quietly, because judging by the viking's expression, it was true. But she had also used a similar method, so she reluctantly avoided calling Ruffrunner a disgrace. Life was challenging sometimes.
A number of children stepped off her back, and Dart took a moment to nuzzle a particular small girl. "You're my favourite. You smell the best," hummed Dart. The girl looked at the nightlight blankly, her clothes drenched in saltwater. Dart faced her brothers. "Should we throw them into the water before dealing with them? They don't stink as much then," she asked. The girl falling in the water had been accidental, but it seemed like a good thing to do on a larger scale.
A set of paws cheerlessly planted themselves on the deck with a thump, and Dart's eyes widened as she looked at the newcomer. She greeted Toothless as the night fury walked on the deck, but got no response. Her father walked to big Eret, got his attention with a huff and offered what seemed like a long pointy stick. The viking seemed to freeze, holding the object as if it was about to bite it, and Toothless grim expression did the rest. Something bad. "What happened?" asked the nightlight hastily.
The night fury spared a moment to look at her. "A ship of dragon hunters arrived here with a weapon, then left. They dropped this spear in the water, it was pushed against the rocks by the current."
Dart's knowledge of humans was limited, but her father had told him about hunters, and about fighting them. "The spear is used… to catch dragons?" she asked warily.
"Kill," stated Toothless sadly, and the nightlight looked at big Eret, understanding why the ex-dragon-trapper had recognized it. Toothless had given him the spear, hoping that the viking would help them.
Her father couldn't help growling quietly, and Dart went forwards to embrace him. Hostile humans. She had never seen one in her life, but her father had, and it was apparently worrying him to death, because of reasons that she did not understand. The nightlight tried coming up with something to put his hope back up. In the end, there was only one thing she could think of. "You should've let me handle it," huffed Dart.
Slowly, the night fury turned his head towards her before giving the weakest chuckle in the history of dragonkind.
The update of many chapters was done because I wasn't satisfied with the story before. In my opinion, the update has made it better. If you disagree… unfortunate. Too bad I like it.
But I do have to apologise for the time it took. I had stated that I estimated this update to happen "before 2022." Safe to say, this estimation was incorrect.