Old Friends
"Now can you call your dragon off? He's kinda freaking me out here" she asked with a worried tone of voice. I signalled Toothless with a small double tap to his shoulder and he instantly sheathed his teeth, stopped the angry growling and stepped back a few paces. Toothless didn't go far, he sat back down behind me and kept eyes on Camicazi the whole time. She finally got back up to her feet, wiping off the grass and dirt off her, and finally stood with her arms crossed before saying "I was told that you had run off, but I didn't expect you had run off with a dragon, a Night Fury especially!"
"Well, uhhh, yeah… Meet Toothless, my pet Night Fury" I said as I gestured towards my dragon behind me. Toothless's tailed whipped up from the side of me and smacked me over the head causing Camicazi to laugh loudly. She calmed down quickly when Toothless went back to staring at her. I continued by saying "He was the dragon I shot down during my last raid on Berk. Long story short, we ended up becoming best friends and I knew my Father could never accept it, so I left"
Camicazi seemed to think for a moment, before asking "Is he friendly? He seems to listen to you very well, and he seemed to come out of nowhere to protect you."
"Well, I would like to say he is friendly, but he is very protective of me. When you attacked me, he reacted on impulse." I turned to Toothless, "You wouldn't actually hurt her now that you know she's a friend, right Toothless?" I asked my dragon and received a grunt in return. Before I could say anything, Toothless walked right past me towards Camicazi. "Hey Bud, what are you doing?" I managed to get out before looking over at Camicazi go completely white as if she had just seen a ghost.
"Hi-Hiccup, Wha-What is he-he doing?" Camicazi scaredly asked. Toothless approached her and she completely froze in spot as he sniffed her from head to toe before finally sitting down a few feet beside her and watching her.
"Just stay calm. He has never met another human this close before that wasn't trying to kill him." Some colour seemed to return to her face as I said this, but she was still frozen in her spot. I walked over to where Camicazi was and grabbed her hand.
"What are you doing?!" she asked worriedly, yanking her hand out of my hand and moving back a step.
"Just trust me on this, would you? For old time sake?" I asked her before approaching her again while holding my hand out.
"I do trust you Hiccup, it's him I don't trust" she said as she jerked her chin towards the Night Fury who hasn't moved since he sat down. Toothless grunted at the remark. After taking a few more deep breaths to calm herself, she finally reached her hand into mine. "If he bites my hand off, I swear to Odin, Hiccup, I will kill you myself." Which I replied with a chuckle.
"I promise you, he won't." We turned back towards the waiting Night Fury, "Now Toothless, I want you to come closer but slowly." Toothless did exactly as he was told. He dropped down to all fours and slowly made his way over to where we were standing. I held up Camicazi's hand towards Toothless and he sniffed it again before closing his eyes putting his snout against her hand.
"Wooow" was all that Camicazi could say as she felt Toothless's snout in her hand. Toothless backed away slowly and opened his eyes once more. He sat down not too far away from where we were standing and continued to watch us. "I can't believe I just touched a Night Fury…" she murmured to herself quietly with wide eyes darting back and forth between her hand and the Night Fury.
"Once I befriended Toothless, I knew that dragons were not what we believed them to be. They raid us for food and only attack us to defend themselves. They bring the food back to their Queen, the one that lives beyond Heliheim's Gate." I walked over to Toothless as I was speaking and starting scratching under his chin, resulting in a slight purr coming from deep within. "I learned very quickly that most dragons are under the control of the Queen and that they are just afraid of us as we are of them."
"But how did you befriend him? You said you shot him down in the last raid that you partook in on Berk." Camicazi asked, suddenly very curious to how Toothless was acting.
"When I shot him down, he landed not too far away on the island, tangled in the bola that had hit him. He was unconscious when I had found him and I was going to kill him, cut out his heart, and take it to my Father. I was going to show him and the rest of the village that I was a Viking." I started to explain as I stopped scratching Toothless's chin and slowly turned toward to the wide eyed female. "When I was ready to attack, he looked up at me defeated and turned his head away as if accepting the fate. When I saw this, I didn't just see a dragon, I saw myself, and I just couldn't do it. I ended up cutting him loose. He tried to fly away but ended up hitting trees on his way out and eventually fell into a cove where he couldn't escape. I found him the next day and the rest is history" I told her as she listened on intently.
"Wow, so even when the dragon was right in front of you, you couldn't kill it. You always were a pipsqueak." Camicazi teased as she took a few steps towards us to get a closer look Toothless. "You know, anybody else, any REAL viking would have killed the Night Fury." This prompted a angry growl from Toothless. "Easy there dragon, I am only teasing Hiccup" she said suddenly, placing her hands in front of her and backing up a step. "He really is protective of you" she said as she turned towards me.
"Yeah, he really is…" I happened to say before I heard yelling in the distance.
"Camicazi! Where did you run off to? CAMI!" yelled an unknown voice from the otherside of the houses.
"Oh crap, that's my Mother, I gotta run. When can I see you next? I have more questions." Camicazi said looking around sudden as if expecting someone to appear out of nowhere.
"The base of the south-eastern peak, there is a path hidden behind some overgrown bush. I will come back tomorrow at dusk. Don't look for us, we will find you." I managed to say before giving Toothless a push into the dark forest. We had to get away before anybody else saw us and tried to attack us.
"CAMI!" came the voice again, even louder this time.
"Tomorrow it is, I will be there." Camicazi said towards me as we disappeared into the forest. She turned towards the houses again and responded to the yelling voice. "I'M COMING MA!" With one final look towards us, she dashed off towards the front of the house and disappeared into the shadows. We watched her go before disappearing further into the forest ourselves, back to where we stashed the weapons and clothes.
Once we reached where we had stashed all our taken goods, we settled down for a few seconds before I started packing the items into Toothless' saddle. With all of the clothes stashed into the saddle, and some of the weapons tied on it, with the rest either in my hands or on my back, we launched back up into the air and towards the hidden valley.
Toothless took a little longer to get back into the valley, with all the extra weight weighing him down, there was not much else he could do but to take it slowly. Once we finally reached our cave, Toothless looked like he was ready to collapse. I took everything out of his saddle and threw it against the wall for the time being. Once everything was removed, he stretched his limbs and gave himself a shake a few times before walking into the cave.
I looked at the moon for a few seconds thinking about Berk and everything that I had told Camicazi that night. It was strange to run into someone from the past and to completely open up like I had did that night. Camicazi was once my best friend, until she stopped visiting Berk. I knew it wasn't her fault but we both grew into an age where we had to start training to be Heirs of our villages. We saw each other in passing over the last few years but only had enough time to exchange a hug, or later on, a handshake before continuing whatever task we were assigned too.
I was taken out of my little bubble when I suddenly heard Toothless growl angrily. I rushed into the cave to see what he was growling at and found the Terrible Terror sleeping on Toothless's rock. In the time we were gone, the Terror must have woken up and crawled over to the Night Furys spot before falling back asleep. I patted Toothless on his shoulder before walking over towards the Terror and picking him up.
"Hey Little Guy, why are you still here?" I asked the little dragon as he awoke in my hands. He just gave me a few licks to my hands before jumping out of my hands, flapping his wings a few times, and landing on my shoulder. "I guess that means you are sticking around a little while longer." The terror gave me a small nudge on the side of my head as if confirming what I said was true. "Alright, if you are sticking around, I have to give you a name. How about…." I thought to myself for a moment before he shot off my shoulder and onto my desk. "Sharpshot." He blinked at me a few times, and gave a tiny puff of smoke before settling down on my desk and falling back asleep.
Toothless and I watched the dragon for a few moments, before finally, Toothless grunted and walked over to his place in the cave. He heated up his area before settling down and closing his eyes. I walked over to where my bed was and sat down on the edge of it. I took off my boots and flung my feet onto the bed and turned my back towards the cave. I fell asleep almost instantly, not realizing how tired I actually was. The night was full of dreams, mostly of Berk again but at a simpler time. This time, we were children again and Camicazi must have been visiting as we were playing together. While Camicazi and I were hunting for trolls, the other kids tried to make fun of us before being shut down by Camicazi. That night, I was reminded of all the good times that I had had with Camicazi before we grew up.
I awoke the next day to find Sharpshot gone. Toothless was right where I left him, the only difference was that he rolled over and was now laying on his back, all four paws in the air. Taking in every little detail that I could, I decided that I would draw it later on to remember the precious moment.
The rest of the day seemed to go by like a flash. When Toothless finally woke up, we flew over to the lake in the center and I let Toothless catch some breakfast before heading back to the cave. Right after reaching the cave, I decided to go through what exactly I had stolen last night. The clothes were definitely oversized but they would do for the time being. If anything, I could stitch them up a little bit to make them fit better and when I finally grew into them, I could take out the stitching.
When it came to the forge items, I had gathered quite a bit of items. I had picked up a sword that was balanced almost perfectly but could use a sharpening, probably why it was in the forge in the first place. There was an odd tribe crest on the handle that I didn't recognize but otherwise, the sword was well crafted. I put the sword aside so that I could sharpen it later and maybe start practicing with it.
The next item that I had grabbed from the forge was the hatchet. The hatchet seemed to be in good shape and the blade was still a little sharp but I needed to determine how long I had before I needed to sharpen it. I took the hatchet over to where I had stacked the firewood and decided to give it a few trial runs to see how far gone it actually was. I picked up one of the bigger logs and placed it standing up. Holding the hatchet in my left hand, I gave it a swing towards the log and split it right down the middle. I determined that the hatchet could be used for a good while before needing to sharpen it. I picked up the hatchet, as well as the kindling and placed them back over near the wood pile.
The next few items were all general items. A smaller and bigger sized hammer were some of the tools that I had taken. The bigger hammer of the two was used to straighten metal back into a respectable shape, while the smaller one was for detailing work, like using it with a chisel to make an engraving or for use with leather work. I had also gathered a chisel to help carving and engraving weapons as well as leather work. These would all come in handy when I finally created a forge to use for myself.
The last few items that I had gathered from the forge was mostly material, including a few clumps of metal which could be used to make weapons or other useful tools, some leather just in case I needed to patch up Toothless' tail or saddle, and some thread and needle to work with both leather and regular clothes.
Once everything was gone through and organized, I decided to walk out of the cave to see where Toothless had gone. I didn't have to travel far as he was lying directly in the sun right beside the entrance to our cave. I went over to him and gave him a scratch for a bit before I thought of what to do.
I eventually decided that I would need a forge for myself and that the sooner I had one, the better I would be as than I would have something to work with. I got up from where I was scratching the purring Night Fury and started to walk away, receiving a growl in return.
"Oh come on, you lazy overgrown lizard." turning back towards him. "I've actually got stuff to do unlike you who gets to bask in the sunlight." I started to turn back around and start walking but not before I got whipped in the back of the head by the dragon's tail, knocking me off my feet. "Whoa! OW! Why would you do that?" which resulted in a sound that sounded similar to laughing coming from the Night Fury. "Ha ha, very funny," getting back up and brushing myself off, "Would you like to come help or are you just going to lie there?" I received my answer when he turned over and closed his eyes again. I stood there a second longer before shaking my head and turning around.
I walked to a cave not to far away from where I was staying, opposite direction of where the natural hot springs cave was. This cave was similar to the one that I bathed in before, but completely different entirely. It was about half the size of the other cave but still had a hole in the center of the ceiling providing enough light that I didn't need a lightsource to see as it was still midday. Directly in the center of the cavern was a huge boulder. If I didn't know any better, I would say that someone placed the boulder there. I walked around the cavern a bit trying to decide what would be the best way to go about making this little room into my own personal forge.
Once I figured out the best plan to take in creating my own forge, I walked back to the cave where I was staying and picked up the items that I thought I would need, including the big and small hammer and the chisel. I also picked up a lump of scrap metal and walked back to the cave and went to work.
Before I knew it, it was getting hard to see and I could tell that the sun was finally reaching the horizon. The prep work for the forge seemed to go by quickly as I seemed to have accomplished more than I actually thought possible. The boulder in the center of the room was chiselled down into a makeshift anvil. On the wall furthest from the entrance, I had started to create a furnace where I could melt down and heat up metal that needed to be reshaped. Of course, I needed a boulder to actually make the forge and I had to bribe Toothless with extra fish to get him to bring me one.
I had almost finished the furnace before everything was cloaked into darkness, signaling that the sun had finally set. I decided that I was finished for the day and walked out of the cave. I was greeted by Toothless, who decided right then and there to pounce on me and start licking me.
"Toothless! You know that doesn't wash out! Now I will need a bath before we go and see Cami." I annoyingly said, finally pushing the dragon away and getting up. "Yuck, you really need to stop doing that," which received a laughing sound from the dragon again. I wiped my face and flicked it towards the Night Fury, which shocked him enough that he instantly stopped laughing and resulted in him licking his paw and cleaning his face.
I walked back to our cave with Toothless on my heels. I picked up some of the smaller oversized clothes that I had taken and headed towards the wash cave. It didn't take me long stripping and jumping into the hot spring, giving myself a quick wash before jumping back out. Judging by where the moon was in the sky, I knew that I was beyond late to meet Camicazi, so I just ended up throwing my clothes on right after getting out and walked over to where Toothless was watching me. I saddled up and we took off towards where I told Camicazi to meet us.
It didn't take Toothless long to find Camicazi. She had found the path that I had been talking about last night and had set up camp in a clearing just off the main path. I could see from above that she was alone, sitting on a log on one side of the campfire with some kind of food roasting over the fire. Directly to the right of her was a tent, signaling that she was planning on either staying very late or staying the night. Toothless and I circled once more before descending on the camp, coming up from the opposite side of the fire. I made sure to land Toothless in Camicazi's eyesight, as I knew that if she didn't know it was us, we could very well be attacked by her again.
"Took ya long enough. I was beginning to think you weren't going to come." I heard Camicazi say as I walked closer to the campfire with Toothless on my heels.
"Sorry, got a little caught up in a project that I am working on. I had to take a quick bath because of a certain overgrown lizard." I said gesturing to Toothless behind me before I took a seat on the log that was opposite of Camicazi. I had just sat down when I got a tail upside the head and fell backwards off the log, which was followed by laughter by Toothless as well as Camicazi once she realized what happened.
"Can't even control your own dragon, can you Pipsqueak?" Camicazi said before breaking into another fit of laughter.
"Ha ha, very funny," I happened to get out before getting up. "The dragon has a mind of his own, that's twice he has done that. I guess he doesn't like the nickname." I explained as I sat back down on the log, rubbing the back of my head. Toothless took that as a sign to lay down directly behind me.
"Wow, the Night Fury really lives up to his name, he has all but disappeared behind you." Camicazi said. At the mention of Night Fury, Toothless' eyes shot open and stared directly at Camicazi. "And he definitely knows how to scare people." visibly shuddering. "How did you do it?" she asked suddenly.
"You are going to have to be more specific. How did I do what?" I asked back in return.
"How did you end up training a Night Fury? Nobody has ever seen one up close before."
"Well, you see… I kind of shot him out of the sky…" I said thinking back to the last raid that I experienced.
"No way, you, THE Hiccup, shot a Night Fury out of the sky?" she asked with a disbelieving tone.
"Well, not me exactly… I invented something to throw a bola for me." I explained myself.
"That makes more sense. You can barely lift a sword, let alone throw a bola."
"Thank you for pointing that out…" I sighed and slumped my shoulders.
"Oh Pipsqueak, you know I am just teasing you." she said, trying to lighten the mood a bit. She turned what she was cooking over a few times, trying to judge how much it was actually cooked. "Want some chicken? I brought enough for both of us." Camicazi offered.
I reached over and grabbed some of the chicken she was offering. "Thanks, I've been living off a strict diet of fish thanks to Toothless. It's the only thing he will eat, and I can't hunt for myself."
"So that's why you were trying to steal from the butcher shop last night." She finally clicked two and two together. "How long have you been on the island?"
"Just under two weeks, I think." I said honestly, trying to recall exactly how many days I had actually been gone.
"That's probably why we only received word about your disappearance yesterday morning. It takes about two weeks for a trader ship to reach here from Berk." She explained. "Stoick has requested all his allied tribes to search for you."
"Really? Is that all he said?" I asked as the curiosity got the better of me.
"Well, it mostly said that you had disappeared without a trace and that they searched the whole island for you. They mentioned something about a dragon attack and being carried away but other than that, not much else was said." Camicazi explained.
"I see…"
"Hiccup, why did you leave Berk?" Camicazi asked suddenly.
After thinking for a moment, I responded with "I left because I wouldn't kill a dragon. When I met Toothless, I learned some tricks that helped me climb and passed everyone in Dragon Training, and as a result I was rewarded with the chance to kill the Monstrous Nightmare. But after learning that dragons are not just some mindless killing animals, I couldn't do it, so I decided to runaway. I released all the dragons that were locked up in the Kill Ring, and flew as far as I could away from Berk."
"Wow." Camicazi said as she sat back. "You even passed Astrid?" she asked with a wild smirk.
"Yes, even Astrid. She threatened me with her axe when I was chosen, giving me a death glare later on. I was afraid that if I didn't leave, she would have found me, chop me into small pieces and fed me to the boars." I sadly explained, thinking back to when the axe was directly under my neck.
"I wish I could have seen the look on her face" Camicazi chuckled to herself. Completely ignoring everything else that was said, she continued. "Remember when we used to go troll hunting together when we were younger? Astrid used to get so jealous that I would take you away from her." Camicazi just smirked to herself as she recalled the memories.
"Really? Astrid jealous? Over me?" I asked in a doubtful tone.
"Oh yeah, she used to get so jealous. She tried to tell me to stay away from you one time and I told her to make me. We both got into a fight and were torn apart by our mothers before any serious damage was done." Camicazi explained once more, giggling afterwards. "I would have won too if they didn't interfere."
"I can't believe you Camicazi. How come I never saw or heard of any of this?" I asked
"Probably because it happened behind your back most of the time. We used to argue over who would play with you when I came into town. I always argued that I wasn't there for long so that I should get you all to myself. Astrid always argued that you were hers and hers alone and that she wasn't willing to share" Camicazi explained.
"Huh, if only that were true. Astrid would never say something like that about me. I am Hiccup the Useless, I screw everything up, I destroy more of the village and hurt more people than the dragons ever did. Nobody wants someone Useless like me…" I slumped my shoulders again, thinking back to everything that lead up to when I left.
"Now Hiccup, you can't say that about yourself. You shot down, trained and now ride a Night Fury, a dragon that nobody has even seen up close before. You flew across the Archipelago by yourself and is now trying to survive alone with his only friend being a dragon. You aren't Useless Hiccup, you are just different." she said in a calming and soothing tone.
"Wow Cami, I never thought you had that in you." I said to her as I wiped a tear away.
"If you EVER tell anybody that I said anything like that, I will rip your legs off and make you walk around the island." Camicazi said in a threatening tone.
"And the real Camicazi is back…" I smirked to myself. "Thank you Cami, I really needed that."
We sat in silence for a while, basking in the friendship that we once had. Camicazi continued on eating the chicken that she had cooked while I finally took a bite of the piece that I had been holding. I finally got a chance to actually look at Camicazi again. She wasn't the same girl as I remember from when we were kids fooling around. She was about the same height as Astrid and similar figure but while they seemed so much alike, there was also so much different between the two. While Astrid had long golden blonde hair in a braid, Camicazi had short dirty blonde hair without a braid. While Astrid's eyes were as blue as the ocean or the sky, Camicazi's were still greenish blue, and over the past few years the green has come out more than the blue. Astrid was always seen carrying her axe around, either in her hands or slung across her back, while Camicazi preferred the sword and had one sheathed on her left hip. Camicazi wore a lot of jewelry compared to Astrid, most likely acquired from her trips around the Archipelago with Big-Boobied Bertha. While Astrid always wore her armor whenever she was outside, Camicazi wasn't afraid of wearing a short dress. You could also tell from Camicazi why her Mother's name was Big-Boobied Bertha.
"Hello… Anybody in there? Hiccup?" Camicazi was shaking her hand in front of my face trying to get my attention.
I quickly shook myself out of my trace and looked up to her. "Sorry, I was just thinking about… home." I had to answer her honestly because I never was a good liar.
"Oh… I see." Camicazi slowly said as she walked back over to her log and sat down again. "Do you miss it?"
"Do I miss Berk?" I asked and answered her. "I would sometimes have nightmares about it when I first left but recently I have been better."
"So what do you plan to do now? Live out here by yourself with your dragon?" Camicazi asked curiously.
"For the time being, yes. There is nowhere that I can go. Half of the Archipelago, including my Father, would kill Toothless the first time they laid their eyes on him. Once I learn how to fight and protect myself, I have to go back and kill the Queen."
"Have you thought about trying to show people the way dragons really are outside of the Queen's control? Toothless there seems harmless enough, surely some people are tired of all the war and death that comes with it." Camicazi posed the question towards myself.
"No." I instantly replied, "People are too dangerous. I need people that I can trust if I am to show dragons what they really are, but I don't know anybody anymore." I said honestly. I really didn't know anybody that I could trust. Camicazi was a childhood friend so I think I could trust her, and I could probably trust Astrid and maybe Fishlegs but they were back on Berk. No, there was nobody that I could trust.
"What about the Chief Heirs? Remember Thuggory, Dogsbreath, Heather, and Norbert? We used to play all the time while we were children at the Chieftain meetings. Could you trust them?" Camicazi suggested.
"Norbert is called the 'Nutjob' for a reason, I wouldn't trust him with a loaf of bread, let alone a dragon. Heather has been missing for years, the last time I seen her was the year before Daguar took over the Berserkers. Dogsbreath would always pick on me at the meetings and has been a dragon killer since the age of ten. Thuggory could be trusted but I haven't seen him since the last Chieftain meeting over five years ago." I explained to Camicazi. "Anyways, there is no way for me to get in touch with anybody, it's not like I can walk into their villages with Toothless and expect them to listen."
"What if you don't have to?" Camicazi posed the question.
"I don't understand what you mean… How can I show them what dragons really are if I can't do it myself?" I asked in confusion.
"What if I could get them all to a private meeting place and you can show them there?" she said, making a suggestion.
"That… That might work." I said, deep in thought. "Yeah, Thuggory and Dogsbreath might be our only options but it's better than none. Now the question is, how do I get them both together?" I asked again, deep in thought on how exactly this could work.
"And this is Sharpshot. A Terrible Terror that I released from Berk's Kill Ring and he followed me here somehow."
After Camicazi and I figured out a plan on how to get the two heirs to a private meeting place, we needed a way to keep in touch with each other while we both worked on the plan. Terrible Terrors have great intelligence as observed during raids. The plan was to teach the little dragon to carry messages from one to the other.
"Once we train this little guy to deliver messages for us, we can keep in touch anywhere in the Archipelago." I said with confidence.
"But how will he know where to go? Especially if I am sailing from island to island?" Camicazi asked, completely curious and not a bit afraid of the small dragon.
"While Terrors are apart of the Stoker Class, they are also good tracking dragons. I believe they can track their friend or foe anywhere in the world. That is most likely how he happened to find me even though I was halfway across the Archipelago." I explained. Honestly, I didn't know how the small dragon had found me but I wasn't about to let Camicazi know that.
"Well, lets see if it's true. Tell him to come to me." she said, now looking a little unsure.
"Sharpshot, go to Camicazi!" I said excitedly.
The dragon, that was sitting on my shoulder, looked up when he heard his name, looked around a little bit, noticed me pointing towards Camicazi, gave a little huff of smoke through his nose, and put his head back down closing his eyes in the process.
"Well, that worked amazingly…" Camicazi said unimpressed.
"Let's try again but this time, hold out your arm like this," I said to her and lifted up the arm the terror was sleeping on. She mimicked exactly like I showed her, standing still and looking at me once again. "Sharpshot, find Camicazi!" I said again.
This time around, the dragon lifted up his head and looked at Camicazi. Once Sharpshot noticed her arm out, he got up and flew over and landed on her arm.
"Now be very still. Sharpshot doesn't trust you yet and needs to smell you first. Don't be afraid because dragons can pick up on that. Let him come to you." I slowly walked Camicazi through the training of her first dragon.
"Like this, Hiccup?" Camicazi said a little nervously.
"Yes, exactly like that. Perfect. Now hold still while he sniffs you."
The Terror did exactly what I said he would do. He slowly walked up her arm and started to sniff her face, her hair, and some of her clothes. He continued to sniff her face but didn't do much else.
"Hiccup? Why does he keep smelling my face?" Camicazi asked a little more nervously now. Having a fire breathing dragon a few inches from her face was making her completely nervous. I could see her physically tense up whenever the dragon got a little too close.
"Just relax. Sharpshot is just making sure he can trust you. There is no need to worry," and as if the Gods heard me and decided to spite me, the dragon reached forward and bit down on Camicazi's nose for a quick second, before retreating and flying back over to my shoulder.
"OWWWWWWWWWW!" she yelped and covered her nose. Through muffled hands, she managed to get out "Why that little bugger, if I get my hands on that dragon, I swear…"
I couldn't help but chuckle at what the little dragon did. "Maybe he just thinks you have a nose like Tuffnut, he used to do that to him all the time in Dragon Training." I said to her as I tried to keep myself from bursting out in laughter.
It took a lot more training throughout the night to get Sharpshot to deliver messages, but once we started bribing the dragon with fish, he was more than eager to deliver the messages. The sky was getting brighter, and I could tell that the sun was approaching the horizon once more. We had trained almost throughout the night to get the Terror to deliver messages, and once he was willing to deliver them, we tried them at distance. Eventually, we determined that Sharpshot would deliver messages as long as he was rewarded with fish once the message was delivered.
The plan was set in motion, with the goal of showing the other heirs how dragons really were and trying to convince them to stop killing them. Camicazi and I determined that we would wait until the ice broke again to try and have the private meeting. While Nepenthe never got ice around it's shores, the Barbaric Archipelago had ice already setting in in the far North.
In the meantime, I would stay secluded on Nepenthe. The plan was to start training to prepare for whatever that might come. When I finished the forge, I went to work right away. The first task at hand was to create a better tail for Toothless. The prosthetic tail fin was working just fine, but I knew I could make a few adjustments to make it lighter, more durable, and blend in with Toothless' other tail fin. Once that task was completely, I begin creating flying armor for myself. I found out the hard way when flying, if we decided to push Toothless' top speed, I would get windburned and my clothes would get completely destroyed. The first time it happened, I was in pain for days before it receded.
It took me a few months to get Toothless' tail fin the way I wanted it. I remade the complete tail fin, lighten it up a bit, reinforced it, and used Toothless' shed scales to make it blend it with his other tail fin. The flight armor was built similarly to the tail fin. While the main suit was made out of armor, I had shoulder guards, vambraces, knee pads, boots, and mask lined with shed Night Fury scales as well for extra protection.
It wasn't long before I received a Terror Mail from Camicazi.
H,
A location had been agreed upon. Thuggory and Dogsbreath will show up with a minimal trusted crew. We all agreed on three weeks from now, when the moon is closest to being full again. The location will be on a small island called the Island of Frigga. I told them it would just be the three of us, so they have no idea that you will be coming. I think you should stay hidden until we are alone.
There has also been rumours of a dragon rider flying around the Barbaric Archipelago on a dragon with reflective scales, spikes on its wings, and a horn on it snout. It has been heard of shooting spikes like a deadly nadder. The rider is described as wearing armor similar to the dragon but always wearing a mask and hood. Nobody has seen the riders face.
Be careful H and see you soon.
- Cami