A/N: Introducing: the hunters!
Response to Random Fan: Nope. But Hiccup and Stormfly are thrilled! XD Oh, he's gonna sure try, but please don't run away! Stormfly's going to make sure nothing bad happens to him! Don't worry, there will be no dying in this story. XD
Heather closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She ran her hands down Windshear's smooth scales and exhaled slowly.
Heather loved her brother, but sometimes she just needed a break from him. She was pretty sure he'd only gotten crazier since joining up with Viggo and Ryker, and the brothers had her on edge all the time. Luckily, this trip was without either brother, or else Heather might have ditched the entire crew for good.
Sighing, Heather opened her eyes. She'd never leave Dagur, no matter how crazy things got. She hadn't known about her brother until a few months ago, but there was a strong sibling bond between them already.
Motion from the left distracted Heather. She turned and squinted at what appeared to be a wild flock of dragons.
"Let's try to get closer," Heather urged Windshear.
Windshear, as curious about the wild dragons as her Rider, eagerly complied. Heather pressed herself against Windshear's neck, so the sight of her wouldn't spook the wild dragons.
As they got closer, Heather realized that the flock were Edge Nadders. There were at least twenty of them of all sizes. Seeing smaller shapes gliding from between the backs of the older dragons, Heather pulled Windshear into a hover. If there were hatchlings, the Nadders would be especially territorial.
While Heather studied the flock, she saw one of the Nadders had different colored scales. It was less bright than the others, with dull blue scales.
"Is that Stormfly?" Heather murmured.
Sure, it could be any other Deadly Nadder who had joined the flock of Edge Nadders, but Heather was still thinking of Stormfly. The fact that they were less than a day's flight from the Edge made Heather wonder as well.
"We can work with that," Heather told Windshear. "Chasing after some dragons and Riders will get Dagur back into a good mood."
Windshear gave an uncertain growl.
"Don't worry about it," Heather said positively. "If that's Astrid and Stormfly out there, they'll see us coming and get the flock to safety."
Windshear rumbled and wheeled back toward Dagur's ship.
Hiccup now knew why he was a Wind-Rider. As it turned out, his wings weren't for flying, but for gliding. Alongside the hatchlings getting the hang of flying, Hiccup glided along the backs of the older Spike-Flingers
While Hiccup and the hatchlings played, some of the older Spike-Flingers fished. They passed the fish around for all the dragons, and the flock ate while hovering.
Hiccup took a break from his gliding to sit on Stormfly's back to eat. He happily took a big bite of the fish, then abruptly gagged when he tried to swallow. His body twitched inward, but he forced himself to swallow before he choked the fish out.
"Hiccup okay?" Stormfly asked, turning her head.
"Yes… fish choked Hiccup." Hiccup stared at the fish in confusion.
Stormfly chirped uncertainly.
Hiccup twitched his forelegs in a shrug and raised the fish. A warning roar distracted him before he could take another bite, though.
A gleaming Click-Wing was coming up to the flock from the direction of the island. Strongwing flew to the front of the group and roared a challenge while the rest of the flock bunched protectively together.
The Click-Wing paused to hover a short distance away. She seemed friendly enough, Hiccup thought, watching her. Then something rose on her back.
"Human!" roared a black-speckled Spike-Flinger named Darktalon.
"Hunters!" Stormfly roared at the same time.
Darktalon raced aggressively forward, flanked by the twin Spike-Flingers Clawwing and Wingclaw. Strongwing roared loudly and flared his impressive wings, while the Spike-Flingers carrying hatchlings turned to flee to safety. They halted quickly, roaring in distress.
More humans were gathered on a floating… den? Hiccup couldn't find a name for it, but they were getting close!
"Scatter!" Strongwing roared when he saw the new threat.
Swiftwing and Nightrise paused only long enough for their hatchlings to scramble to Raggedwing's back, then they dove at the odd den. They veered off as long, silver vines flew from the den. Swiftwing was quick enough, but Nightrise was entangled in the vines and swiftly dragged down.
Swiftwing dove after her and grabbed her friend. She pumped her wings, keeping them both airborne.
Then, sticks came flying from odd-shaped objects held by the humans. They struck Swiftwing and a couple other Spike-Flingers who were diving. The sticks shouldn't have hurt them that much, but within seconds of being hit, the Spike-Flingers' wings sagged and they dropped from the sky.
"Stormfly! Help!" Hiccup cried. Stormfly had hung back while the flock scattered, and both her and Hiccup wanted to join in fighting.
Stormfly hesitated, then growled. "Low, Hiccup. Hold."
Understanding, Hiccup laid against Stormfly's neck. He curled legs under her wing joins, using her rough skin for firm pawholds. Once he was secure, Stormfly tucked in her wings and dove.
Stormfly blasted the den with fire, but all that happened was that the surface turned black. She swerved to avoid more of the sticks, then threw some spikes in return. The humans threw themselves to the ground, some even leaping clear off the den and into the water!
Hiccup churred happily at the chaos Stormfly had caused. Then his eyes fell on the limp Spike-Flingers on the den's floor.
"Flock members… dead?" Hiccup squawked.
"No. Sleep," Stormfly reassured him. "Flock free friends."
Stormfly abruptly jerked back as one of the vines shot past her snout. There was a whistling sound, then Stormfly twitched.
"Stormfly?" Hiccup asked. Stormfly's wingbeats faltered. "Stormfly!"
Stormfly squawked and made a visible effort to flap harder, but they were still falling! Stormfly crashed into the den's floor, making Hiccup smack his muzzle on her neck.
Clamping his jaws against a yelp, Hiccup raised his head. The humans that Stormfly had called Hunters were looking at the sky, no longer attacking as the remainders of the flock flew out of reach. They spoke to each other, though Hiccup couldn't understand what they said.
The Hunters parted for a single human, giving him the same response as the flock gave Strongwing. The leader wasn't any bigger than the other humans, and had orange fur on his head and face. His brown and gray scales seemed kind of mismatched. He had a marking on his face that looked like a scar, but it was blue.
Hiccup narrowed his eyes and drew his lips back in a snarl as the leader yelled triumphantly to the Hunters. Then, the leader turned and strutted toward where Stormfly and the other sleeping Spike-Flingers laid.
Hiccup couldn't take it any longer. He leaped on top of Stormfly's head and roared a challenge.
The leader jumped and paused, then bared his teeth in an amused way. He said something, gesturing broadly.
Hiccup still couldn't understand him, and he didn't care. He pounced, tackling the leader.
The leader made startled sounds and flailed around Hiccup's scratching claws before being able to react. He hit Hiccup with a forepaw, winding him, then the leader kicked Hiccup away.
Hiccup tumbled and rolled to a stop beside Stormfly's jaw. He shook his head, then flipped onto his paws with a defiant snarl.
The leader of the humans paused, an odd expression on his muzzle. He said something questioningly, to which Hiccup growled.
Hiccup tensed to leap again, then something stung his foreleg. He jumped and yelped. Looking down, he saw a very small stick poking between his scales. He angrily brushed it off, then faced the human leader.
Before Hiccup could move again, his vision tilted. His paws skittered to correct when his body angled to the side, but got tangled in each other. Hiccup collapsed on his side, an odd weariness filling him. He blinked heavily, just the effort of keeping his eyes open becoming too much. He gave one last snarl, then sank into darkness.
A/N: I love the interactions between Hiccup and Dagur, so how would Dagur respond to dragon boy Hiccup?