Chapter 8

Toothless, Hiccup, and Maaran quietly sat by the fire that was also near Azora as she slept. Hiccup kept glancing at the elder dragon in pure admiration but mostly it was with wonderment and curiosity on how he knew Azora. Toothless was almost wondering the same but he knew that the elder Aglovale Helmar was her father, so he was mostly focused on Azora's sleeping figure.

"You are curious." Maaran's voice rumbled gently in norse causing Hiccup and Toothless to both stare in shock at him.

"You…can talk?" Hiccup asked wide-eyed.

Toothless shook off his shock and rolled his eyes at his friend's bluntness as Maaran chuckled. "Yes I can young viking."

"But Tooth-" Hiccup started before his friend lightly pushed him.

"Your friend is too young as of yet to learn this unique ability. Very few dragon's learn before passing into Hiryur Haefen which is the Dragon Shelter. I am one of the few who has lived long enough to be granted this ability."

Hiccup nodded in understanding. "Azora…" he said gently. "I am worried if she will be alright."

Maaran sight deeply. "From what Toothless has told me about her injuries, I fear that this will cause future and even further turmoil in my daughter's mind."

Hiccup and Toothless looked at each other then at Azora in pure concern and sadness. "We tried to tend to her wounds as best we could." Toothless said.

"I understand but some wounds can never be truly healed." Maaran gestured to Hiccup's leg and Toothless' tail fin. "In some ways I can sense my daughter's pain and when I got word of an injured Aglovale Helmar from a dear friend, I used all my speed to arrive to where she was last seen. It was then I found Toothless and he brought me to you and my daughter."

Hiccup slightly smiled. "Toothless just knew that she needed something more." He reached up and lightly scratched Toothless' neck.

"She will need all of our help it seems." Toothless lowly murmured.

"I agree." Maaran said nodding.

Hiccup sighed as his hand lowered. "I wish I could understand Toothless and all other dragons."

Maaran looked closely at Hiccup before settling into a more relaxed position on the floor by Azora while still being able to directly look at Hiccup and Toothless with seriousness in his eyes. "I will enable you to understand your friend along with Azora and I but no more. Magic in dragons are very taxing to the body and rest is needed after certain spells. Do you understand Hiccup?"

Hiccup nodded and Maaran closed his eyes before a low blue light shot out of his forehead and flowed over to Hiccup's head enveloping it for a few minutes before dissipating. Hiccup shook his head to clear the underlying dizziness but focused back onto Maaran. "Thank you sir for giving me this gift." Hiccup said.

Maaran nodded his head gently. "You will also have the ability to turn off hearing us if need be during more private conversations or when you are around your fellow vikings to avoid suspicion if you should choose to do so. Just think the words 'Open' and 'Close'."

"I thank you as well, elder." Toothless said as Hiccup looked over at him with amazement but soon shook it off and paid attention once again to Maaran.

"Call me Maaran, both of you." He said with a gentle smile before returning to his serious look. "Before I begin this tale to answer your questions that I know are lingering in your mind, I need you both to swear never to tell another soul, apart from Azora, that you know of her tale. I need you two to understand that this tale will show you how different Azora is and why she is the way she is around humans in general."

Hiccup nodded before turning completely serious, bowing his head, and putting a hand over his heart saying, "I, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, do swear upon forfeit of my life and honor to never reveal the information that flows in this room. If I do, I will deem the necessary punishment by Maaran or Azora in order to regain their honor."

Toothless, after recovering from his slight shock of Hiccup acting so like a chief, followed suit by lowering his head to the ground, eyes lowered to the floor in submission saying, "I, Aadhish A-wut, now known as Toothless, give my word upon forget of my life, flight, and honor to never reveal this story to anyone other than Azora and to do so will be met by the punishment of Maaran or Azora to regain their honor."

Maaran nodded at the vows and said, "Relax." As the two friends did as told Maaran inhaled deeply before beginning the tale of how he met Azora and the hardships of her 15 years of dragon life. In all but a few hours, Maaran told them of her turning, the fear of storms, the capture, the healing, the betrayal, and her loss of instinct control. He slightly downplayed the healing as he did not want to inform Hiccup nor Toothless of another dragon rider as of yet but he told them completely of her previous life and how abandonment now is an immediate loss of trust and dishonor in Azora's eyes.

He told them of the happy times, the sad times, the frightening times, the embarrassing times, and the final time they said goodbye even if it was only a few days ago. "And so," Maaran said in finality. "We end up here. Where she is once more facing a hardship that even I know not how to face nor able to help her with." He looked at the near horrified listeners and sighed once more. "You two may be her last and only hope to completely heal."

"But how-" Toothless began before he suddenly realized what Maaran was trying to say. "Her fin.." Hiccup looked at Toothless quickly.

"Hiccup," Maaran said gaining his attention. "I know you and the others did what you could for her tail but the smell of slight decay is enough to tell me that it has not worked for her tail fin." He got up and sat while he gestured carefully to the wrappings around her tail fins.

Hiccup winced before looking down. He worked for hours with Toothless by his side trying to stitch her tail fin up to try and repair the deepness of the wound but deep down he knew it would have withered and died. Her right fin was almost completely shredded beyond repair but he still felt that he needed to try for her at the time. "I know sir…" he said looking down in pure disappointment in himself.

Maaran suddenly lit up her tail, incinerating the wrappings, dead fin, and cauterizing the wound so that it would not infect the rest of her tail. "You understand she could never have a human rider so you need to find a solution that will help her fly on her own."

Hiccup nodded and looked at Toothless before saying. "I made Toothless an automatic fin once before. I just need to recreate one for her and hopefully it will work."

Maaran just nodded in understanding.

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When Azora woke up, she immediately lifted her head and looked around her for any signs of her father but sound none except his faint scent. She noticed that she was in the hut still but nobody else was around. She decided to try and get up and, even though it was almost agonizing to do so, she finally was able to stand and walk over to the front door. Using her claws, she pried the door open and noticed the sun was only beginning to rise meaning none of the vikings around were completely up yet. As she took a step, pain coursed through her but she gritted her teeth and mumbled, "Come on Azora…a little pain never stopped you from moving before."

Azora slowly limped from the large hut and into the forest so that she could finally feel a bit of fresh air without feeling so crowded. She didn't wander too far from the village and could still see the roof of the hut but she did go far enough that she felt that she could just relax for just a bit of time. She spotted a tree that she could rest under peacefully and slowly laid her body down, resting her screaming body and relaxed as best she could. As she did so, she took notice of nature around her and watched as flowers started to open, bugs started to crawl and fly, and the sun started to slowly rise causing shadows to appear around her.

She let her thoughts wander to the human and dragon who rescued her and continued to wonder why they even helped her from her near death in the first place. They hardly knew her and yet they still brought her back and wrapped her injuries. She might have even been dreaming of her father before she totally blacked out yesterday just to cope with everything around her and causing her to smell his scent this morning. She sighed before laying her head onto her paws and closing her eyes, and suddenly she was asleep in mere minutes after laying her head down, not knowing the slight panic that had erupted in the large hut as the residents with her father returned and her disappearance noticed soon after she fell asleep.

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Toothless, Hiccup, and Maaran were returning from the forge with the plans to rebuild Azora's tail fin when they noticed the door to the hut opened fully. Maaran immediately rushed in followed by Toothless and Hiccup only to discover that Azora was not there. "Azora?!" Called Hiccup and Toothless as Hiccup put his plans on the table near the wall that was under the traditional viking shield displays.

Toothless ran upstairs but soon returned down saying, "She isn't up there."

Maaran ran outside and got a whiff of her scent. "She went into the forest!"

Hiccup and Toothless ran after Maaran as he bounded off but they nearly tripped over him as he came to a complete stop. He turned to look at them before whispering, "She has found a spot to sleep."

Toothless went closer and saw Azora under an old pine tree, surrounded by wild flowers and a butterfly was resting on her left ear flap. In his eyes, she was the most peaceful and beautiful creature that he had ever set his eyes on. "Wow…" He whispered.

"You said it bud," Hiccup said next to him as he sat down. "I guess we will just have to wait for her to wake up."

Toothless nodded as Maaran and he sat down in the grass as well. "Usually I would wake her and order her back to the hut but she needs a bit of air now and then." Maaran said quietly. "Dragons do need the sun and wind every so often even when severely hurt."

"Well at least she didn't go too terribly far from the village in case something did go wrong." Hiccup said.

"True."

As the hour passed, Hiccup had the time to draw Azora more detailed than before and both Maaran and Toothless were playing their own quiet game of minds. Hiccup didn't really care to ask what the game was but it seemed interesting to Toothless so he let them be as he observed Azora. When he looked up to draw more details, he noticed her stirring and nudged Maaran and Toothless to get their attention. Maaran immediately went over to where she was and sat down as her eyes opened.

Azora's eyes grew in size as she saw Maaran. "Papa!" She said trying to get up but stilled when Maaran put a paw on her shoulder.

"Rest." He ordered. "You need it."

Azora lowered her body again and lowered her eyes in submission at his order. "Yes papa."

"You also have two very worried visitors."

Azora's head shot up and she looked around before landing eyes on Toothless and Hiccup. "Oh…" she said embarrassed. "Sorry if I worried you."

Toothless nodded and Hiccup said, "No problem Azora."

Azora narrowed her eyes and then looked over to Maaran. "You gave him the ability didn't you?"

Maaran nodded. "I did."

"Why?"

"You will need him and Toothless in the upcoming months."

Azora's eyes narrowed further as a glare took hold. "No I won't"

"Do not argue with me." Maaran said strictly. "Have you not felt it?"

"Felt what?" Azora huffed. "Other than pure pain throughout my body, I can not pinpoint just any one pain papa."

"You know of which I speak."

Azora's eyes saddened and she looked away avoiding the concerned looks given to her. "So what." she mumbled. "I deserved it…"

Maaran's voice turned angry. "You did nothing to deserve this Azora!"

Azora cringed at her fathers tone. "Azora," Toothless' voice came quietly and she looked over to both him and Hiccup. "No innocent dragon deserves this."

"Tell that to the gods I seem to love pissing off." She growled as Maaran nearly choked at her swear.

Hiccup then decided to talk. "Azora, Toothless knows better than most of your pain. I even know a little bit of your pain myself, but please allow us to help you. Even if it's just temporary help, I can't watch a friend, be it a person or dragon, suffer."

Azora growled at Hiccup and he looked slightly alarmed at her next words. "I felt the pain of humans, the pain of their torture and betrayal, the pain of wanting to die…how can you, a human boy, possibly know of my pain however small." Azora started to get angry and everyone, even Maaran, gave her a wide berth as she started to painfully rise from her position. "How can anyone know about my fear and pain?! Papa doesn't even truly know how I feel and I will never allow him or any other know what I feel!" She walked slowly over to Hiccup ignoring Toothless' concerned looks and wary eyes for her and for Hiccup. As soon as she got in front of Hiccup she lowly growled. "How can I trust you or Toothless never to ever hurt me in any way possible like other humans have?"

Hiccup gulped as her blazing ice cold blue eyes bored into his forest green ones. He took a deep breath before saying, "Because we made a promise to your father that if we tried to, you or Maaran have the honor of sacrificing our lives to redeem what hurt has been caused by either me or Toothless."

Immediately Azora backed off in total shock and sat down as pain erupted from her leg and side. "Why?"

"Because Azora," stated Toothless as he slowly came over to Hiccups side. "We never want to hurt you or see you hurt ever again."