I know that most of you probably won't see this update until after the holidays, but hey, Merry Whatever-Doesn't-Offend-You to all! Anyway, many special thanks to LEPShot for his invaluable assistance in the ways of editing and brainstorming. Seriously, this guy has kicked my awesome up to epic. You rock bro. So show your appreciation for that awesome dude, and maybe me as well, with a review, and we'll see you in 2013!
Chapter 26
The barren wastes of the far north harbor the most inhospitable conditions in the world. The only things that can live there are either aquatic, or predators adapted for hunting aquatic creatures. The polar bears are one of the top predators, hunting seals and the occasional fish when possible. But there are smarter and altogether more dangerous predators that can even prey on them.
The Astral Wolves are feared throughout the arctic by creatures of all intelligences. Their snow white coats are impossible to pick out amongst the snow drifts. The eyes are the only things that are distinguishable, and by the time you catch sight of them, it is usually too late. They keep to themselves and only interact with other species in the act of predation. This lack of interaction generates an alluring air of mystery for those of higher intelligence. The only species to rival the Wolves as predators of course, are the Shades.
There is nothing known in the arctic that preys on adult Shades. They are the reptile overlords of the Arctic ecosystem. They eat anything and everything that lives, be it bear, fish, or even an occasional small whale. The strange fire that burns within them keeps them warm in all conditions and their insulated bodies can both retain and emit heat depending on the local climate. The Shades are also credited with the highest intelligence in the Arctic. Some argue that the Wolves could rival, or even surpass the Shade in this, but as no one has ever spent time with the Wolves, no one knows for sure.
While a fully developed Shade has no enemies, they are soft and vulnerable in the first few months after they hatch. A hatchling shade could be eaten by any predator, in the event that a nest is discovered. Most of the time though a mother will have a second nest site in mind for emergencies like these. Father Shades play no great role in their offsprings lives. Usually an expecting mother will banish her partner from her company during a birthing season. Thus, if a nest is discovered, the mother must transfer quickly, or she could potentially lose an egg to the massive onrush of scavengers that follows.
Heartbeat of the Arctic
Ryshkaa
XXX
The snow had settled after the blizzard, forming new drifts and eliminating all trace of movement across the snow. The ocean crashed and roared against the base of the Great Ice Shelf that served as a border for what humans of the area considered the 'High North'. In the distance, a single mountain peak rose above the drifts like a looming sentinel of the ice. It stood at the very edge of the shelf, and thus the mountain itself had to be massive, to match the height of the ice, and then surpass it on its journey into the sky.
On the side of a large snow bank, a small dark shape was ripping and tearing at the carcass of a polar bear cub. Its long, lithe body was not much larger than the cub's, but its black color and pair of skinny wings served to ensure that no living thing mistook this creature for a polar bear. The creature was young. Only about a year's worth of growth did it have beneath its scales, and as such it was hungry.
The little Shade had not actually hunted and killed the cub. On the contrary, it had been a lucky stumble that allowed it to find the half buried carcass. The wind had been blowing directly into its face as it tried to fly, and in an attempt to conserve energy it had come in for a landing and a quick nap. By happy accident, it had fallen onto the partially buried form of a dead polar bear. A young Shade never turns its nose up at a free meal, though there wasn't much meat left on the thing, but what the Shade did not know, was that it was this polar bear carcass that would allow her life to change completely.
"Not the best of pickings that."
The fear response was instantaneous. That had been another Shade speaking. It must want her kill, or rather, her dinner. A powerful inhalation was enough to gain the scent, and a single spring was enough to reverse her direction and face the threat in a low crouch to defend the spoils. The sight that greeted her was both unnerving, and ridiculous. The other Shade was a male, distinguishable by his low pitched mindvoice and appallingly musky scent. The only reason she had not detected him before had been the fact that her snout had been buried in long dead bear flesh, but he was also an adolescent, like her. He was not large and imposing, but rather small and scrawny looking. But even that would have been normal had it not been for his stance, or rather, lack of one. The male was not standing aggressively or even upright. He was lying on his back on top of her snow bank, staring down at her with inquisitive eyes! This position was such strange behavior for a Shade, that she was completely distracted from her angry defensive attitude and spoke up.
"What are you doing?"
The response was both nonchalant, and cheerful.
"Nothing. Just watching you eat that bear."
"Um.. Why? And why aren't you afraid of me? No Shade gets this close to me and stays."
"And why wouldn't I stay? You're funny."
"They tell me I smell appalling and.. Wait, funny?! Just how am I funny?!"
The strange male was examining a claw on his left forepaw, holding it up away from his body towards the sky.
"You smell fine to me, and I think it was probably the way you went to defend that chunk of frozen gristle like it was food."
"Shut up! This is my first food in days!"
The male rapidly flipped over onto his feet, using his wings to speed his rotation.
"Well then you're hanging around the wrong places. Come on! I'll take you to get some real food."
He turned and started trudging his way south towards the mountain in the distance.
"Hold on a second! You're one of those wierdo Shades that hang around the mountain aren't you!"
"Well, if by 'wierdo' you mean I live there.. Then yes! I am one of those wierdos."
"So why should I go with you!? I heard that you guys are cannibals!"
The male snorted.
"Who told you that? That carcass you were eating? Come on, we've got real food there!"
And with that, the male leapt into the sky and flapped off in the direction of the mountain. The little adolescent female stood staring after him for a moment, then glanced down at her scavenged meal. Couldn't get much worse than that. With a single sweep of her wings, she was on the male's tail.
XXX
Toothless
About an hour after the departure of Skuru, the ground beneath them white bluffs gave way to blue tinged swirls. Toothless decided that it was best to keep his thoughts concealed from Sycle. He spoke privately to Ryshkaa.
"What's happened to the ground? It looks different now." Ryshkaa gave a silent mental chuckle.
"That's because it's not ground anymore. We're above the frozen sea. It's a normal body of saltwater in the summer months, but this is the onset of winter. It probably only recently froze over completely."
Hiccup was staring downwards at the sheet ice that obscured the water beneath them.
Toothless decided to voice another question.
"If I recall correctly, the Winter months are also a sunless time up here?" The response Ryshkaa gave was completely incredulous.
"How long have you been in the South?"
"I spent forty of my forty-one moons under the influence of the Hive Queen. Forty pointless years of servitude."
"Spirits! You spent your entire adolescence and the rest of your life in that pit!?"
"I did." A thought from Hiccup nudged its way into Toothless' mind, quiet and somber.
I had no idea.
"Hush, Hiccup, I didn't want to sadden you. But you should be glad! You freed me from that! Now we can live our own lives."
Ryshkaa interjected.
"You're doing it again, aren't you?"
"Doing what?"
"Speaking with Hiccup?"
Did you hear that Toothless?! She remembers my name!
The female snorted and shook her head slightly. Toothless spoke quickly.
"I apologize if we've offended you. Neither of us have any experience with Shade society. I didn't even know there was a society. I shall let you hear our speech with each other from now on."
Ryshkaa laughed loudly within her mind.
"Shades did not have any form of society until about fifty years ago, when Alda and The Three came together. There really aren't many rules except for don't kill anyone, and keep physical disputes to a minimum."
Toothless took a moment to marvel at the idea of a society of Shades, then spoke again.
"All the same, you have acted as a friend to us in light of new circumstances. We will extend our friendship in return. We need not hide anything from you, seeing as you already know most of what there is to know about us."
On Toothless' back, Hiccup nodded his head, giving a physical affirmation to the announcement.
"On the contrary, I know almost nothing about you two. I don't know how you came to be... together, or why Hiccup is so intelligent."
"Perhaps you'd like to hear our story? In exchange for a little favor?"
Ryshkaa's voice immediately became wary.
"What kind of favor?"
"Well you see... I'm teaching Hiccup mental control. He's relatively very good considering he only started a week or two ago. But I want him to experience minds beyond his own. Mine has changed significantly, and now closely resembles his. Perhaps you could act as a surrogate mother?"
"You want me... to open my mind to a human child?"
Her voice contained almost no emotion. It sounded more like a dull buzzing than the voice of a sentient being.
"I would stay with him and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, and you could close off anything you don't want seen beforehand."
It was a full five minutes of flying in silence, before Ryshkaa spoke again. In that time, Hiccup's excitement was almost too much for him to contain.
"Very well. Give me a moment."
"Alright then. Hiccup, into your own mindspace please."
Hiccup lay himself out on Toothless' back so that his body would not fall in his mind's absence. Toothless then felt him slip away from conscious thought, much quicker than his first two trips.
He is learning so fast.
Toothless left his eyes open, allowing him a view of the physical world, while his mind's eye opened to observe their mindspace. Hiccup floated there in the blackness. Waiting for him, staring at the two massive spheres that represented both his own mind, and Toothless'.
This is your best run yet. You're a natural.
When Toothless spoke, Hiccup gave a little jerk towards the outer edge, but stopped almost at once.
I've been imagining that cloud visual you gave me. You were right. I can think about other things so long as I imagine the cloud that is me... here, up near the top. Now I can sorta move by myself, if a little jerkily.
Hiccup demonstrated by performing a shaky sumersault.
Wonderful! Now...
But Toothless' words were cut off by a louder, echoing female voice.
"Alright, I'm ready."
Ok Hiccup, this is a little tricky. You can see our mind's rotating before us, yes?
Um...yeah?
Good. Now, can you feel them?
I don't underst...
Shhhh, alright Hiccup now, you can't learn this by explanation. You just have to do it. You need to focus on that sphere that is you. It is large. It is round. It is smooth. Feel it!
What followed in Hiccup's thoughts was almost inexplicable. Hiccup had the idea of a sphere in the forefront of his mind. Round, smooth, large. But as he turned those adjectives over and over again in his mind, they started to define the sphere in a new way. He could feel in his thoughts, the roundness, and the smoothness of the sphere, rather than seeing an image, he felt it.
I... I think I did it. I feel it.
Now, can you feel the other sphere. My mind?
And there it was. A second notion of roundness and smoothness, right alongside the first. Hiccup's thoughts, had become physical.
I feel it. It's like I'm actually holding two spheres. Except I'm not using my hands. I can't even describe it.
Like I said, explaining it would have been useless.
"This is amazing. I couldn't remember what it was like to feel thoughts for the first time."
This third voice was the voice of Ryshkaa and it startled Hiccup so badly that he lost control and began zipping away towards the edge. After a moment, he caught himself and slowed to a stop. When he turned and looked back he saw Ryshkaa floating right alongside Toothless.
I thought that we were coming to you, not the other way around.
Both dragons chuckled.
Ryshkaa got bored after waiting so long. She asked permission to come and observe, which I granted her.
"You couldn't very well turn me away, considering."
My thoughts exactly.
"Well don't let me distract you continue!"
Alright then. Hiccup, you still feel the spheres?
Yes, I can still feel them.
Good. Now all you need do is reach outward. The closest thing to our minds right now is Ryshkaa's.
For just one moment, Hiccup hung there in silence, completely unable to figure out how to flex the new muscle he had discovered. Then, it just seemed to explode away from him. He was aware of a third sphere floating beyond his vision, as well as two others in the far distance.
Whoa there!
The two distant spheres disappeared.
Let's not go bothering someone grumpy like Sycle. Or that other one, what was his name?
"Kale."
Yes, him. I'm just going to keep you separate from those two, shall I? Just focus on the third sphere. That's Ryshkaa. That's where you're trying to go.
Should I just imagiaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Hiccup experienced the most intense pain he had ever felt in that one moment. For just a second, he was being pulled in two different directions at the same time with the force of a rampaging Nightmare. His skull felt as if it had just been struck by Gobber's hammer. His vision of Toothless and Ryshkaa flickered, then went dark. He was no longer able to see his mind orbiting Toothless', all he could see was blackness.
Then, the pain lessened. And he was able to think again. He tried to see, tried to form coherent enough thoughts to call for Toothless, but nothing sounded. His thoughts were a jumbled mess. Then he felt it; The sphere that had been the object of his focus was directly in front of him. He felt it, but he could not see it. The only thing he saw was darkness. Then warm scales brushed against his hand. He felt the side of Toothless' jaw sliding past his cheek, and his thoughts quieted and became still.
Strange, isn't it? You can feel it, but it looks like it's not there.
Y.. Yeah. W.. What's up with that?
You just experienced two defense tactics that a Shade can employ against you. The first was what we call a Flare. An intense burst of negative feeling, it makes some feel pain, others nausea, still others vertigo. It can incapacitate your mind if you let it overwhelm you. That's why I asked Ryshkaa to demonstrate.
You lousy reptile. I'll make you pay for that... Somehow.
I'm just being a good teacher. Now, the second tactic is called Masking. She has shielded her mind behind a barrier. Her feelings of secrecy are literally rendering her mind invisible. Now, you don't have nearly enough control or experience to try and infiltrate Ryshkaa's mind. So she's going to drop the defense in about... now.
Slowly, an enormous, shimmering sphere faded into sight directly in front of Hiccup. A tiny point of white light shone from the exact center.
In we go?
Toothless chuckled.
In we go.
XXX
Astrid
"What the hells am I doing here what the HELLS am I doing here?" Astrid was muttering to herself as she stepped lightly through the shadows of the forest.
You, Astrid, are following this little dragon who is kind enough to guide you away from all of the nasty beasties that have taken up residence in the forest.
"Shut up Hiccup!"
Ok, seriously. Don't speak to me out loud. That's a great way to let everything in the forest know you're here.
"Sorry, but I don't spend time thinking to myself."
You probably should then. The Terror is taking you to the Cove. You'll be safe there.
"Wonderful! Just Wonderful! And how exactly does the figment of my imagination know that?"
You yourself know that the Cove is in this direction, and your subconscious mind had figured that the scent of a mating dragon hanging over the place will probably drive away all the other dragons.
"Eww! Eeeww! That is NOT the mental picture that I needed just now!"
Oh shut up. It's not like its anything... Well I suppose by normal standards it's pretty weird, but for me it's just all in a day's..
"Shut up. Right. Now."
Laughter echoed around inside Astrid's head. She had been trudging through the forest for the better part of two hours now, following the bobbing, weaving, serpentine route that her dragon guide had decided to take. She figured that the voice in her head was probably right, considering she'd seen neither hide nor scale of another dragon since stepping into the forest, but that did not mean she had to like it.
She had just started to wonder if they were out in the middle of nowhere, when she slipped past a bush, and was faced with the edge of the enormous depression where Hiccup had spent all his time with the Night Fury.
Ok, I'm thinking fish from the pond is your best bet. Make sure you get two, one for each of you. You should be ok for a fire, all the dragons are gonna keep watch on the village and wait for the Vikings to break cover.
"Why are they just sitting around and waiting to eat us?"
Come now Astrid, I only know what you know. And I know that this is some kind of genocidal strike. They're trying to exterminate you like the vermin you are.
"Only what I know my boot."
Astrid began the descent into the cove. It took much longer to find the path in the dark, but she eventually stumbled and tripped her way down onto the spongy moss bed that served as a floor. The Terror immediately ran off towards one of the trees on the rim, Thor knew what for. Astrid, on the other hand, made a straight path towards the pond. She jumped up onto a rock that lay at the water's edge and peered downwards. The moon was obscured by a wisp of cloud, and so in that lucky moment, she was able to see down into the water, unhindered by reflection. She could see multiple large fish moving amongst the plant life at the bottom. She assessed how best to retrieve them with her current equipment. She only had a few blades, no spears or line.
But these were big, slow bottom feeders she was hunting. If she were quick enough, they'd be easy to pick off. Astrid stepped back from the water's edge, loosening the belts that held her weapons strapped to her body. Once she had each blade set to the side in a carefully arranged display, she took note of the temperature. It was rather cool out. Winter was oncoming and the water would be uncomfortably cold. This needed to be quick. Astrid began discarding clothing.
Good gods above Astrid. If your mother knew what you were doing in the company of a boy!
"I'm sure she'd be horrified at the thought of my showing my body off to a figment of my imagination. Now shut up. I'm hungry."
Arranging her clothes neatly next to her weapons, Astrid picked up one small dagger and took a runner's stance. With three powerful strides she was pushing off of the rock, flipping once in midair and diving into the water.
When Astrid emerged from the pond dragging two large fish, with neat stab wounds in their backs, from behind she was greeted by the sight of a small little fire crackling merrily next to her clothes with a few logs of pine wood piled next to it. The Terrible Terror sat next to the blaze, gazing proudly up at her. That look brought a small smile to Astrid's lips. It looked so pleased with itself.
Well Astrid, it seems we're more alike than I had thought.
"Now what are you babbling about?"
Well come now, you're not the only one who's stood naked and smiling in front of a dragon.
"I swear to the gods if I could see you I would punch you. In the kidney. Until you bled."
No need to get violent. I'm just exposing the ugly underside of your thoughts.
"Well shut up. I'm going to go get more wood, then I'm going to dry off, and then I'm going to eat this damn fish. So please be silent."
Well, I think I'll just wait until the next funny thing comes along. Then I'll speak up.
Grinding her teeth, and suppressing the shivers that were starting to affect her rapidly chilling body, Astrid jogged to the pines at the Cove's rim and started collecting larger sticks and branches. The Terror followed her, trotting along in her wake and occasionally making the odd cooing or snarling sound that Astrid had no hope of interpreting. After gathering a sizeable haul of wood, plus a stake to skewer her fish with, she made her way back to the little fire, which had almost blown itself out.
Astrid dumped her load of sticks and added the smallest of them, along with the ones the Terror had left to one side, then she blew on the pile her surprise the Terror followed her example and blew on the pile of smoldering embers and sticks as well. In the dragon's case however, a small stream of burning liquid splashed onto the sticks, relighting them instantly.
The Terror gave a gleeful little yelp and walked around the fire a few times. Astrid stood and skewered her fish, planting the steak so that the dead creature was suspended above the flames. The Terror ran over to its fish and dragged it over to the fire, before tearing into it with gusto. Astrid smiled slightly.
"That's gross."
Look who's talking.
"Hiccup, I'm starting to tolerate the dragon. Don't ruin it."
The disembodied voice made no response.
By the time the Terror had finished devouring every last morsel of edible fish that being the entire fish, Astrid's was just about ready to eat. She only now realized that she had not eaten since that morning, and thus made short work of the meal. By this time the warmth of the fire and the breeze in combination had dried her skin completely. She stood and re donned her clothing. She left her weapons arranged next to her on the ground, before curling up next to the fire and closing her eyes. Then she opened them again.
"You're sure the dragons aren't going to come anywhere near here?"
Positive.
She closed her eyes again, but for the second time, opened them again. The tiny dragon that had become her companion was snuggled up to her abdomen, facing the fire. It gave a little coo of content before dropping into what seemed to be instantaneous sleep. Astrid smiled slightly, before closing her eyes and following suit.
XXX
Hiccup
The small pinprick of light in the side of Ryshkaa's mind grew slowly into a blinding glare, then Hiccup was surrounded in white. Eventually, the white faded, and grey took its place. An enormous space filled with vague, swirling grew shapes came into focus. The first thing Hiccup noted, beyond the odd look of the place, was its temperature. Whereas his mind had been warm and sunny and welcoming, this place was cold. Cold, grey, and featureless.
"Yes, I know it's not very welcoming, but what can I say? My life hasn't been the happiest. Not like your little 'ball of sunshine' thing you have going on."
I'm.. I'm sorry.
"Don't bother. I'm just fine. I've a home, a good friend, that could be a good friend plus two now, who knows. You two are nice enough."
Toothless' voice interjected, though Hiccup could not see him anywhere.
"Someone who's had such a life as yours doesn't trust easily. Why do you trust us?"
Ryshkaa responded in a somewhat saddened voice.
"Oh I don't trust you entirely. But while I was over in your mind I had a nip around. Hiccup has no defenses once I got under your guard, Toothless. I examined some of his life. He and I have very much in common. I trust in shared experiences."
Toothless' voice snarled at this and displeasure shocked Hiccup's nervous system.
Calm down buddy! It's okay! I don't really mind!
"And there's the other thing of course. When you wrong someone, they usually care. Your human is very strange indeed, Toothless."
Ryshkaa's voice was wistful now. It seemed that within her own mind she let all kinds of emotions show through that were blocked on the outside. She was quite the interesting person.
When Toothless spoke again, his words were no more than an angry snarl.
"We should go. I see your mountain up ahead in the distance. Hiccup, do you mind if I take care of this part?"
Hiccup could hear the tension in his mate's voice. If Toothless were allowed to stew over this, he might just blow up in Ryshkaa's face. That would be very bad if they were about to meet a mountain full of Shades. As Ryshkaa's mind faded from his mind's eye, Hiccup concentrated his thoughts.
Toothless!
A low grunt. Hiccup opened his eyes and flipped over so that he was straddling Toothless' neck. He grabbed one of the ears and tugged sharply.
Ow!
Listen here you big lug, you are going to let this go. Ryshkaa meant no harm, and I don't care in the slightest. We're about to meet a very large number of our kind and I hope to make a good first impression! You are going to be on your best behavior or I swear the next time we're alone I'll incapacitate you and not let you get up until you calm down. Understand?!
You are extremely cute when you're threatening me. Did you know that?
Hiccup gave the ear another tweak.
OW! Yes! Ok! Dammit!
Hiccup crossed his arms and muttered.
"Good."
At this, Sycle's ears perked.
"Did your human just speak? I thought he'd be mute travelling around with you. Where did he learn to speak?"
Toothless thought fast.
"Well he just likes to make random noises now and then. You know, make sure he still um.. exists."
Internally Toothless slapped himself.
"Yes... well, no need to worry any longer. Look!"
Hiccup had been staring at the mountain dead ahead in an effort to appear deaf. What he saw was amazingly beautiful. In the moonlight, a mountain peak shone, wreathed and enveloped in an enormous ice sheet, that was easily taller than Berk's mountain by a few hundred feet. The mountain peak stretching above it must be something like twice the height of Berk. The peak was silhouetted against the starry night sky, and the entire sheen sparkled with moonlight refracted by the ice.
Kale let out a dragon chuckle at Toothless' intake of breath. Sycle spoke again.
"Welcome to Home Cave stranger."
