Blue Sky Falling

Act 2

Chapter 21

Even thought the air was cool and fresh, the clouds were very few and far between. The patches of bright sun shine made it easy for the small yellowish green dragon to spot a good sized school of fish. He had travelled a long distance to find them and even though he knew he would have to fly all the way back home to eat his catch, he still chose to dive on the biggest, heaviest fish he could find.

Good fortune must have been smiling on the small dragon that day because as he struggled to lift his prey back into the air, he spotted an odd looking island moving through the water. He may have never seen anything like this before, but it did not look dangerous. And so he decided to take the opportunity to land and devour his catch before flying back home.

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"Hmmm" Jack Sumner thought as he stared through his binoculars.

He pondered the small island on the horizon for a few minutes before making his way down to the galley. He spread out the Atlantic chart and considered the course he had followed.

"Hmmm."

Taking into account the wind conditions they had encountered, along with the average speed of the One and All, the ship should be within an area some six hundred kilometres north of the Acores. If he was looking at the Island of Corvo, then he was so off course, his navigational skills could be said to be non-existent.

"It can't be Corvo Island... but if not... then what?" he said to himself.

As he continued to ponder the possibilities, Jose Garcia called down from the helm.

"Umm... Captain, I think you'd better come look at this."

"What now" Jack sighed.

Climbing the steps up to the rear deck, Jack Sumner looked up to see his helmsman staring forward with a very nervous look on his face. Following the man's gaze, Jack soon set eyes on the problem. Three other deck hands had also ceased work and were all backing away as they watched the odd sight. Sitting on the One and All's forward hatch was a yellowish green winged lizard, casually devouring a large fish.

It only took the ship's captain a few seconds to put two and two together and the answer that came out was somehow both strange yet totally expected.

"DEGROOT; GET UP HERE... NOW" Jack called down below deck.

The man Captain Sumner sought was not far away, it wasn't a very big ship. But he was down in the hidden sub-hull, chatting with Blue about his favourite subject.

"Oh dear... judging by the tone in our captains voice, I suspect I may in a bit of trouble" DeGroot noted.

"A bit? That's not like you" Blue smiled "You're usually in a lot of trouble."

"I fear you may be right m'boy."

The two men climbed out of the sub-hull and made their way topside.

"I don't know what Max has done, but please go easy on him Captain" Blue asked as he led the way up.

"Even though I strongly expect DeGroot of some foul play, what I need now is his supposed expertise. What is that... thing?" Jack pointed.

DeGroot was pleased to hear he had not yet been discovered, and heaved a sigh of relief as he turned to see what Captain Sumner was referring too. As the creature came into focus, DeGroot's eyes grew wide, his skin turned white, and he fell into a dead faint.

"Oh hell!" Jack exclaimed as he tried to catch the falling man.

Blue too was shocked to see the creature, but fortunately for all on board he knew exactly what it was.

"Captain... that... is a dragon...a Terrible Terror to be exact."

"Oh my Lord... I just don't believe it; you mean to tell me... that those things are real?" Jack gasped "I thought DeGroot was just a crazy old man."

"Should I get my rifle Captain" Jose asked.

"Yes" came the reply.

"NO!" Blue countered "Go get the leftover roast chicken out of the ice chest."

Jose just stood still for a few seconds to see what Captain Sumner would say next, but he was soon given a nod of approval.

"Roast chicken?" Jack questioned Blue.

"Supposed to be a favourite of Nadders but you never know; I may work on Terrors too."

"What do these... Terrors normally eat?" Jack couldn't believe he was asking these questions so seriously.

"Fish... but he's already got one of those" Blue replied.

Jack ordered the others on deck to keep their distance, and for the rest to stay below. A few had tried to come up on deck to see what all the fuss was about, but Jack did not want to spook the beast. It may have been small, but as far as he knew, Dragons could breathe fire and Jack did not want to burn the wooden One and All down to the waterline.

Up on the forward hatch, the small dragon contentedly continued with his meal while ignoring the odd looking creatures on the moving island. He had never seen anything like them before but if they tried to give him any trouble, they'd get exactly what the gulls got on the first island. As he finished up the last of the fish, he heard a soft voice behind him. His head spun around quickly to see one of the strange creatures approaching him, walking on its back legs.

In its front paws it held a thin white circle with what appeared to be something edible. Being one of the only creatures on the planet who could cook its own food, the dragon recognised the aroma coming from the plate as that of a roasted bird. The boy sat down nearby and began to eat his food but after he had taken one bite, he held out a piece and offered it to the dragon. Even though he knew it could be some kind of trap, the tall creature looked like it could be easily overpowered with a quick fireball; also the roast bird smelled delicious.

Rising to its feet, the dragon advanced cautiously towards the offered morsel, sniffed at it and then snatched it away. For many animals, food is food and that is the end of it; but for a dragon, tastes and texture can make or break a meal. All the birds the dragon had roasted for himself in the past had been black and crispy on the outside, while being raw on the inside. This bird however had been cooked all the way through and it made for a most tender and satisfying taste. The dragon knew nothing about herbs and spices, but he knew what he liked and he absolutely loved this.

Some of the larger dragons, like the Monstrous Nightmare for example, could be quite rude and would simply use their size and strength to take whatever they wanted. Most though, like Gronckles, Razorwhips and Nadders were social creatures and would respect the right of another dragon to freely consume the food it had obtained. Terrors fell neatly into the second category and so rather than try to take the rest of this tasty treat, the dragon simply sat down in front of Blue in the hope that this kind creature may share a little more of its lunch with him.

"Here you are little guy" Blue said as he offered up some more chicken.

The dragon accepted each piece with joy, relishing the flavour in every bite. When the last of the food had been consumed, Blue held out his hand for the dragon. He knew cats liked to sniff at new people, so he thought perhaps this little creature would too. The dragon did take advantage of the opportunity and then to everyones surprise, it scurried up Blue's arm and sat on his shoulder.

"Whoa you are a friendly little dude" Blue smiled and scratched the dragon under its chin.

The beast half purred and half growled as Blue rose to his feet and took a few steps back to the stern.

"Let's see if we can all make friends with him... but slowly and one at a time" Blue suggested.

"Me first" Haley insisted as she leapt up from the stern steps.

"Okay but easy... let me come to you" Blue insisted.

Haley stood out in front of the others on deck as Blue slowly made his way towards her, talking to the creature at all times.

"Hey little guy... this is Haley... she's my friend... I'm sure you'll like her."

The dragon leaned forward and sniffed the air near the girl; it wasn't sure why but she had the aroma of flowers. Haley put her hand out, bringing it closer to the dragon and to her delight, it gave her hand one sniff before rubbing its cheek against the back of her fingers.

"Oh wow... he's gorgeous" she beamed.

The entire crew spent the next several minutes taking turns to approach the odd creature. For his part, the dragon just continued to sit on Blue's shoulder with a look of curiosity and fascination on its face. Some of the people it encountered seemed very pleased to see him while others looked a little nervous, but all the while the dragon actually seemed to be pleased with all the attention it was getting.

A few minutes later, feeling both calm and curious, the little dragon jumped off Blue's shoulder and began to scamper around the deck, sniffing as it went. Near the stern of the ship it found two things of great interest; an unconscious man and the mouth of a cave. It soon lost interest in the man and decided to explore the cave.

"Hey, where are you going?" Jack protested.

"It's okay Captain" Blue reassured him "I'm sure he just wants to look around."

"Well... okay but you go with him" Jack insisted.

Some of the people the dragon had just met topside were now sitting around the galley table excitedly discussing this new turn of events, and they were both surprised and pleased to see the dragon once again as it scampered around the ship. There were so many new sights, sounds and smells to be discovered and the crew delighted in watching the little creature stick its head in every nook and cranny below deck. The oddest thing about this cave was it appeared to be made entirely of tree; as indeed was the whole moving island.

Back up on deck, Captain Jack Sumner looked once more at the island ahead of him and wondered. In the past, before the One and All crew had come to Sumatra and met Blue's friends, DeGroot had made a big fuss about wanting to find the islands where dragons once lived; but he always said they were up near the Arctic Circle. So if this Terrible Terror had come from the same area, the island before him could not be Corvo, which was in the middle of the North Atlantic, over a thousand kilometres away. Jack considered the heading he had set upon their departure from Canada and looked down at the ships compass. Getting down on his knees, he studied the underside until he found what he was looking for; a small greasy mark made by some kind of adhesive putty.

Jack got back to his feet, grabbed a small bailing bucket from the helm and lowered it into the water by the attached rope. After retrieving it, he dashed the buckets contents into the face of the unconscious man lying before him.

"Get up DeGroot; you got some explaining to do."

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One and a half books, and Blue finally encounters a dragon... and about time ;D

Most of you will noticed this years Snoggletog story is being posted, but I'll still do my best to get this story out regularly too. Shoutouts to Vin and Draco, thanks guys (or gals, I just don't know) and I hope you like this chapter too.