[When winter blanketed the above village with snow, we lived down here,] Onyxwing said, his tone telling Hiccup the dragon was not fully in this time anymore. [My son was hatched down here.]
"The one that died?" Astrid asked.
[Aye.] Onyx moved into the cavern. [Come, I'll show you all to the den. I hear bellies making the hungry noises.]
They made their way down smooth paths. The stone huts to either side looked remarkable well preserved. As they walked, Hiccup heard Gyda and Shadowfire keep Skulder from wandering off. Hiccup grinned after the six time. Give Skulder a chance to study and nothing else mattered. Hiccup remembered that his father would always complain about that each time they had to run Skulder out of the Great Hall in order to have a Council meeting.
Still right then was not the time to study the huts. Hiccup's own belly was demanding food. The trek to this point from the training cavern had been long and that combined with the final test made Hiccup feel as if he could consume an entire reindeer whole.
They rounded a hut with Woolly Howl carvings on many of the stones. Onyx made a happy sounding trill and bounded away from the group. Sunburn followed him. Hiccup's jaw dropped at the size of the hut they ran to. It could easily hold the food storage and Gyda's house from back home and probably still have some room to spare. Hiccup glanced at Astrid, finding her staring at the hut with both eyebrows lifted.
[Welcome,] Onyx said.
"That's like the size of the Great Hall," Snotlout exclaimed.
Onyx glanced back at the hut and chuckled. [I suppose so,] he said, looking back towards them.
Hiccup's eyebrow lifted. He shared another look with Astrid, finding she was now frowning. She faced him and mouthed the question he was thinking of as well.
'How did he know?'
[This housed a flock of nine, so it had to be made bigger as the seasons went by,] Sunburn said.
"Nine?" Fishlegs questioned.
[Yes,] Onyx stated. [Myself, Luna, our son, my rider, his mate, their first hatched son, Sunburn, her mate, and their first hatched daughter.]
"So Kaja was married to your rider?" Astrid asked, Onyx. "Yet, Sunburn didn't think he was good enough for her."
Sunburn chuckled. [Kaja is my sister much like you are Stormfly's sister. I had to make sure her mate was worthy of her.]
"So, what's your rider's name?" Snotlout asked, pointing at Onyx.
[He said you all can call him Old Wrinkly,] Onyx stated.
"And where is he?" Ruff asked. "Seems like he believed this was important enough to alter things, which is seriously cool, but he can't be bothered to see our man Hiccup beat his final tests?" Ruff turned to her brother. "I call laziness."
Tuff grunted. "You always pick that. I wanted to pick it this time."
"Ladies first, dear brother."
"What lady?"
"Guys!"
"Shutting up, boss man."
Hiccup saw Onyx staring at Ruff and Tuff as if he could not quite figure them out. Toothless padded over and warbled something in the Old Tongue. Given that Barf and Belch both snorted and nodded their heads, Hiccup knew Toothless' comment was about the twins. He suspected Toothless told Onyx not to mind Ruff and Tuff as no one could really understand them at times.
[Well, head in,] Onyx said. [We can rest and you all can eat.]
"You will tell us the secrets you hold then?" Astrid asked, a slight edge to her voice.
Hiccup hid his grin. His queen was getting annoyed the two dragons kept sidestepping the questions.
[So like a future queen of her nest,] Onyx muttered. [Kaja had a similar attitude as you do. I guess it came natural given how my rider was treated by his flock before he and I became bonded.]
Hiccup blinked. Toothless' tale did say Onyx' rider had been treated badly by his tribe to the point the rider's father had to apologize for his actions after Onyx and his rider saved everyone's life. He had been amazed by the similarities when Toothless first told the tale and was still amazed now.
He felt a tug on his hand and realized no one had moved. In fact, they all stared at him. Astrid cut her eyes to the door of the hut. Hiccup blinked then his eyes widen. They, all, were waiting on him to make the first move. The dragons had always done that since they first bowed to him. Gyda had done that when they were in public and she was not acting as his sensei and mage teacher. Astrid did so more often than not, though Hiccup had finally gotten it across he wanted her to walk beside him at all times. Fish had started to do so as he trained more with the Elders and the Council members. Snotlout and the twins had never really done so, until now.
Hiccup swallowed but began walking up the steps to a door big enough to grant entry to dragons bigger than Shadowfire. For a heartbeat, Hiccup wondered if the Submaripper would fit. He doubted the Red Death would and he knew for certain the Bewilderbeast would not get even a tusk in the door.
They all entered and found time had harmed the furniture left in the hut. Onyx crooned and sounded as if he had lost something precious. Hiccup wanted to scratch the dragon in comfort but Onyx shook himself and moved to a stone slab, similar to the one Toothless slept on back home. Toothless had one in his sleeping den here, but they had had to shift it out as it was not big enough for all who shared that space.
[Skulder, do you have all pieces of that tablet?] Onyx asked though he did not turn his gaze from the slab.
"Oh, my. Shadowfire, it is Shadowfire right?"
[Yes.]
"Shadowfire graciously offered to carry all of them in his saddle."
[Please set all on this slab.]
Skulder, with Fish and Snotlout helping him, set all three pieces down until they formed one whole picture. Hiccup stared down at it and gasped.
"It tells your story," he said looking up at Onyx. "At least the part of your story where your rider comes to live in the nest with you and you all learn to live together. I'm guess the part with the treasure were things you could not take when you left?"
[Partially,] Onyx said. [Some where left just for you.]
"Will you now tell me why?"
Onyx opened his mouth only to close it after a heartbeat. His sensing lobes lifted as did Toothless and Moondust's. Onyx sighed.
[No, old friend. This part they can see before they hunt down the way and open that door. You were right they need more than what we had given them before. Hiccup needs more.]
Onyx looked over at Gyda. [Look at the edges of the tablets. What do you see?]
Gyda, a frown on her face, knelt. Hiccup watched as the mage's back went stiff and her head jerked up to stare at Onyx. Onyx slowly nodded his head then tossed it back towards Hiccup and the others. Gyda slowly stood and turned.
"It had runes carved as a border. With all tablets set side by side the full text could be seen and read."
Skulder moved as if wanting to see for himself. Gyda placed a hand up, palm facing the man.
"It's the written form of magic. You would not understand."
"You do though?" he asked, eyes wide and shining as if he was child on Snoogletogg morning getting the new dagger he had bugged his father for constantly.
Gyda closed her eyes. "It's the full poem," she whispered.
Hiccup's eyes widen. He heard Astrid and Fish give surprised sounding noises. He heard Snot and the twins make confused sounding grunts.
"Tell us," Hiccup said softly.
Gyda kept her eyes closed and recited what she had read.
"One out of time heralds truth
Provides images showing proof
Of third hiccuped birth
Living stressed with no worth
The queen shall be dethroned
By he disowned
Love dwells in a soul true
Gives the skies to black tainted blue
Brings peace anew
Forgiveness frees the enthrall
The Alpha protects them all"
Kirika: Yep, a village. If you played School of Dragons, a village shows up in the questline that you follow while playing on this island. I borrowed it and the island for this story and tweaked it.
SnowBriar: You're rocking on, ain't ya? Don't you dare feel discouraged about writing. You just keep writing. You will write different than I. It does not make you better. It does not make you worse. It just makes you different. You keep writing. Gyda comes from the future. Given a complete answer to that will be a spoiler. I am glad you like what I've wrote and I'm humbled it has helped you. And I read all of your review. I read all of every review I get.
Literally Nobody: Always asks questions. You won't learn anything if you don't my friend. Hehe, it was always going to be a village they went through before they got to the door shown in the tablets. It was how things played out in the game I borrowed Skulder and the island from. That village was smaller and there weren't Night Furies, so… Skulder actually does that lever pulling thing in a later quest in the game and your character, Skulder and Phelgma all fall into a dragon nest. I yelled pretty much what Shadowfire did at the screen when that happened. We'll learn a little about the village but we'll learn something else that I think everyone wants to know. Have a good day/night as well.