They arrived to find a Scauldron laying upon a rather long stretch of beach. Its right wing had several boulders piled upon it. Hiccup winced. Even from this distance, Hiccup knew the wing was broke. This would hinder things.
Roughly twelve Changewings stood in positions around the Scauldron, looking every inch the posted guards Hiccup's dad sometimes used during festivals around Berk. Four Changewings removed the boulders from the Scauldron' wing. Four others oversaw everything. Two of those four gave the impression they were guarding the two in between them.
All the dragons on the beach and the cliff overlooking the beach, turned as Hiccup and those with him landed. Hiccup did not dismount. None of the other humans dismounted either. Toothless and Sharpshot had informed all of them not to get down until welcomed by the rulers of the nest.
The four who oversaw everything walked closer. The Changewings that had acted as the group's honor guard bowed to the bright red-orange and the darker orange Changewings in the middle of the four. The honor guard then walked away, joining the other posted guards watching in silence.
[Greetings, Mother, Father,] the male Changewing said, tipping his head towards the same red-orange and darker orange Changewings. [The alpha I spoke of has agreed to aid the Scaulding-spitter. The two other Scaulding-spitters are the pod leaders of a local pod and believe our guest is their missing son. The others with us are the alpha's honor guard and the warriors he ordered to free myself and two other dragons from those honorless humans. Well, except for the young Spike-thrower. Sister asked he accompany us.]
The red-orange Changewing looked around. Yellow eyes lingered upon Hiccup, the pod leader, and then upon the young Nadder. They returned to Hiccup.
[Greetings and welcome,] the Changewing said, her tone as musical as her son's. [My son speaks highly of you,] she added staring at Hiccup intently. [Most unusual for a dragon to do so of a human.]
"Greetings, queen of this nest," Hiccup said, tipping his head as Sharpshot advised him to do on the flight over. He looked to the darker orange Changewing and tipped his head again. "Greetings, um, I guess, king of the nest. Thank you for your gracious welcome."
The queen blinked. Her mate chuffed and his eyes dilated. The two honor guards looked at each other then at Hiccup and tilted their heads.
[A human with manners,] the king said softly, shaking his head.
Hiccup glanced over his left shoulder as he heard something rustle. His brow furrowed. The young Nadder looked agitated. Hiccup caught Stormfly's eye and tipped his head toward the young Nadder. Stormfly gently flicked her tail, tapping the other Nadder on the wing. He looked at her. She shook her head. He lowered his gaze to the sands. Hiccup turned back. He noted both the king and queen were watching.
The queen blinked and her gaze shifted to the pod leader. [Greetings, pod leader. Is this your son?]
[Greetings, queen of this nest. Yes, he is our son. Your son said he saved a youngling of your nest?]
[Yes, my youngest daughter in fact.] She looked over her shoulder then back to the pod leader. [I fear his wing is broke.]
Hiccup did dismount at that. He looked to the pod leader first. The injured Scauldron was his son after all.
"May I approach your son, sir?" Hiccup asked.
The pod leader looked to the queen. Hiccup blinked and began to worry as the Changewings around him began to chirp.
[You ask his permission?] the queen asked.
Hiccup faced her. "One of the dragons back home explained one had to ask the eldest in a flock before approaching a certain member of that flock. I'm guessing a pod is the same as a flock and he is the pod leader. So I guessed that made him the eldest of the pod."
The queen tilted her head. [You would not seek my permission?]
Hiccup tipped his head. "As soon as he gave his answer I would have asked your permission to walk anywhere. I will not go where you have not welcomed me, queen of this nest."
The queen blinked. [Most odd,] she muttered. [By all means, approach and see what can be done with my guest.]
"Sharpshot, please remain with Toothless," Hiccup said, curling his head right.
[Brother?] Toothless and Sharpshot questioned at the same time.
"I'll be okay," Hiccup said. "She gave me permission to approach but did not give either of you that. Please stay here."
Sharpshot slowly crawled down Hiccup's arm and sat down upon Toothless' saddle. Hiccup scratched both of his brothers then scooted around the far right honor guard. The Changewing did not stop him but he felt the gaze of all the Changewings as he walked over to the Scauldron.
"I'm going to look at your wing," he told the Scauldron, stopping in front of him. "Is that okay?"
The Scauldron scoffed. His upper lip curled back. [Why should I let a human touch me?]
The tone conveyed the dragon's disgust. That earned him a snarl from Toothless and Sharpshot. Stormfly chirped, sharply. Hiccup heard the sound of a wing being extended and looked over. Hookfang had a wing over the young Nadder, who glared at the Scauldron. Hiccup cleared his throat. The young Nadder looked at him. Hiccup lifted an eyebrow. The Nadder lowered his gaze and the spikes on his tail flattened.
[Son,] the pod leader said, [watch your tone and your words. This is the land alpha we are allied with. You will respect him.]
[Why should I? Humans don't respect us.]
[Not true!] the young Nadder screeched. [Alpha respects us. Alpha saved us!]
Hiccup hurried over, stopping in front of the Nadder. He did not want anyone in his nest to offend the leaders of this nest. He was certain the Nadder attacking the Scauldron that saved their child would qualify.
The Nadder turned his head right then left. Hiccup lifted his hand and turned his gaze. Murmurs built among those watching that did not know what Hiccup was doing. Hiccup did not have to wait long, feeling warm scales press into his palm and warm air pass over his hand as the Nadder took several deep breaths. Hiccup turned back. He lifted his other hand, placing it upon the Nadder's lower jaw. The Nadder purred as Hiccup scratched his nose with one hand and jaw with the other.
"Thank you," Hiccup whispered. "Thank you for defending me but I'm not offended by the Scauldron's words. Pain makes dragons and humans do and say things they don't mean. And even if he does mean his words, I'm still not offended. I don't expect everyone to like me." Hiccup gave a self-deprecating laugh. "I'm still getting used to the ones that do like me."
The Nadder blinked. He trilled something that sounded comforting. Hiccup smiled.
"Can you do me a favor?" Hiccup asked, keeping is voice low. "Can you stand with Stormfly? I would feel better if you were watching over Astrid."
[I will guard your queen with my life, my alpha.]
The Nadder moved to stand on Stormfly's right as there were no dragon from Berk there. Hiccup stepped to Stormfly's left. Astrid stared down at him, eyes narrowed. Hiccup placed a hand upon her shin then pointed two of his fingers from his other hand towards his own eyes before cutting his gaze towards the young Nadder. Astrid frowned but nodded her head. Hiccup took a moment to run his thumb along her shin. He then scratched Stormfly's wing joint before moving away.
"May I look at your wing?" he asked the Scauldron when he reached the young dragon again.
The Scauldron stared down at him then huffed an agitated breath. [Do as you will, human. I have no choice in the matter.]
"Everyone has a choice," Hiccup said.
[Actually,] the queen said from behind Hiccup, [in this, he does not.]
SnowBriar: Hn, that may or may not happen in this story. Eh, she got what she really wanted though. A chance to go beyond the break water and explore and now everyone can do it. My goal is to have both original novels published. That's a lot of fandoms running around. And Redwall is awesome. I love those books. Aye, there'll be more OCs both human and dragon, don't worry. Gyda returns soon. She's still in new grandmother mode with the hatchlings, as well as aiding some of the young dragons learn the Common Tongue. And Torch will make an appearance but like with everything else, it'll be different than the shows. Poor Gyda and her family are seriously confused by the changes :p
Kirika: Hehe, yep, very interesting. And there are way too many ideas for this version of HTTYD running around my mind to fit them all into one or two, even three stories.