A.N. Sorry it took so long, i have no excuse, but i hope you enjoy the story regardless. Also special shout outs to Sgt Sniper Man101 who commented last time.
Aliyah and Rush whipped around at the sound of Stoic's voice ready to fight. They may have been friends with Hiccup but they knew Vikings like Stoic would probably attack first, attack some more and attack just a bit more, and then very rarely consider talking if they felt like it. The duo however was surprised to find no one there. When they listened closer they realized Stoic may actually be a good distance away, but even so they couldn't allow themselves the luxury of relaxing. They still had an unconscious rider and a mythical dragon with them. Wasting no time the duo tried to move the dragon and ride before Stoic or any other Vikings got wind of this. Gobber was already aware of the presence of the Boneknapper but thankfully people thought he was just obsessed with legend. The duo tried to grab some branches and shrubs to cover up the dragon but quickly stop when they heard big heavy footsteps approaching. Thinking quickly Rush whispered something into Aliyah's ear and then left to delay Stoic. When Rush left Aliyah immediately began rummaging through the bags near the saddle. She stopped when she found what she was looking for and allowed a small smile to creep across her face.
Rush was trying his best to move as quietly as possible through the forest. He was listening very closely to the footsteps as to not Rush too quickly and give himself away to Stoic. When he thought he was close enough, Rush hid himself in bush just as Stoic stepped past him. When the Viking chief's back was completely turned to him Rush slowly made his way up the trees never once taking his eyes of Stoic. When he was high enough the cloaked boy formed a fire ball in his hand and threw it towards a bush in the opposite direction of Aliyah. The bush ignited with a loud bang. Stoic, out of pure instinct ducked when he heard the blast.
When he saw the fire, Stoic was immediately on high alert. A sudden fire usually means a dragon and if a dragon was still on the island then he needed to stop it before his people was hurt. The Viking chief had already caught the terrible terror that had snuck its way into his son's room and the chief was about to execute the little monster when heard branches rustling and never being one to be too careful Stoic went to investigate in case it was another terror. Stoic found he was right it was another dragon, but by the size of the fire it wasn't a Terrible Terror, it was something else. Something bigger, maybe it was a Nadder or Zippleback or Odin forbid a Monsterous Nightmare. Whatever it was Stoic need to follow it and kill it before it could do any damage. The Viking chief broke of a branch from a nearby tree and held it in one arm while he readied himself with his axe in the other.
Rush looked down at Stoic glad he had got his attention. He saw what Stoic was doing and knew all too well what would come next. Readying another fire ball he tossed right behind Stoic and immediately leapt to the tree behind him. Stoic rolled out of the fireball's way and threw the tree branch like a spear towards where he saw the fireball originate unaware the Rush was already on another branch preparing to launch another one. The cloaked boy threw another and while Stoic didn't have another branch to throw, the Viking chief still had an axe. Rush and Stoic continued this little dance they had back and forth, as Rush lead Stoic further and further away from Rush's group. Rush stopped moving and threw several fireballs in succession creating a ring of fire around Stoic keeping him in place. Satisfied that Stoic was contained Rush leapt through a few more trees until he was sure Stoic didn't see him. He was sure Stoic would come this way but wasn't going to risk any more fireballs least he attract even more unwanted attention. The hooded boy took his claws and made scratches in a nearby tree. He then ran towards the village leaving more and more claw marks in the trees, hoping that when Stoic got out, because Rush knew he would, the Viking would follow his trail back to village where Rush would lose him. Needless to say it worked out; Stoic came out of the forest a few minutes later looking for the dragon but found none and no trail to follow. Satisfied with this Rush made his way back to Aliyah.
Rush arrived where he had left Aliyah only to find the place completely empty, with no one in sight. Any normal person would have assumed that there was nothing here but Rush knew better. He held out his arm and walked forward feeling for something. He finally stopped when he felt he touched something solid in front them even though there was nothing there. Rush then stooped down and grabbed what one could describe as a large invisible blanket and lifted it to find Aliyah underneath it with the dragon and the rider. Both rider and dragon had woken up and were now conversing with Aliyah, ignoring Rush as if he wasn't even there. Rush made a slight coughing noise earning their attention.
"I take it you took care of Stoic." Aliyah said.
"Well he's back in the village but I wouldn't be too surprised if he's already organizing a mini search party to come find us. We should probably get out of here. We should probably head to the coast so they don't see the boneknapper when it takes off." Rush stated, "Think Skellington can make it out of the forest while under the changewing cloaks?"
This time the rider responded, "Oh please. Skell could make it out easy even if he was blindfolded."
"Alright, next time I visit your island, you can show me that, but for now let's move." Rush told them as he, Aliyah and the rider left from under the cloaks. The dragon stood up and for the most part it was nearly completely invisble, it just had its head exposed. The trio all looked at the dragon wondering just what exactly they could do to hide. They tried pulling more cloak over it but the cloak was too small to cover the whole dragon. They all stepped back and took a good look at the dragon thinking what they should do when an idea popped into Aliyah's head. She tore a strip of Rush's cloak and tied it around the dragon like a makeshift rope. The boney dragon was initially unsettled by this but Aliyah and the rider quickly calmed it down. When the rope was secured she gave it to the rider to hold while she adjusted the dragon's cloak. When Aliyah was finished the whole dragon was invisible with the exception of the tail, which to an outside observer looked a lot like a snake now that it wasn't attached to anything. The group then proceeded to make their way through the forest as quickly and as quietly as possible.
As they walked, Rush lead the way while the rider followed with his dragon in tow, Aliyah stayed at the back to keep the dragon calm. Rush turned his attention to rider.
"So why are you here?" He asked the rider.
"Well I got bored, and decided to take a vacation and thought about spending it with you guys." The rider responded nonchalantly.
"Really, if you wanted to relax so badly, you should have head to Berserker Island. I hear it's a real riot every day of the week over there." Rush responded dryly.
"I'll keep that in mind next time." The rider responded. "But in all seriousness, I need your help." He continued.
"Nathan, you just agreed to vacation on Berserker Island, I am absolutely positive you need help now." Rush responed, "But all jokes aside, what is it?" Rush asked Nathan.
"Well like I told Aliyah earlier, we have problem. A family of Deathsongs as moved in and while I wouldn't turn away any dragons that come to the island, these guys are starting to eat the locals." Nathan stated. "I can handle a one or two Deathsongs but five, that's too many. And the worst part is that the Smoldering Smokebreathes are the main course. If we don't stop them then the island will be exposed for all to see." Nathan told Rush. Rush thought for a moment before turning back to Nathan.
"How bad was it when you left?" Rush asked.
"I'd say we have five days before there aren't enough Smokebreathes to hide the island, so we need to hurry." Nathan told him as they arrived at the coast.
"You should head back to the island now, and try and gather all the remaining Smoke breathes and keep them safe. You should also get some Thunderdrums to help keep the Deathsong's at bay. I'll leave tomorrow morning to come and help you handle them, but I may need to stop and get some help along the way." Rush told him.
"Any reason, you can't come right now?" Nathan asked.
"Yes, we just did a rescue mission last night where we stormed one of Drago's fortresses and rescued several dozens of dragons." Rush told the rider.
"You did what?!" Nathan said in disbelief. "And you didn't think to invite me on your little escapade. I am hurt, I am so very hurt." Nathan feigned.
"Oh shut up, don't' you have some Deathsongs to deal with." Rush told him as he pointed to the horizon behind him.
"Alright, Alright. I am going. Just make sure you come Alias. A lot of lives are counting on you." Nathan said to them as he boarded the Boneknapper and the dragon took off into the night.
Aliyah who had been quiet the whole time walked next to Rush.
"So I take it, I have to babysit Hiccup this time?" Aliyah asked.
"It's only fair." Rush responded. "I babysat him last time." He said causing Aliyah to glare at him.
"You just told him you two would play hide and seek, and when he hid you forgot seek." She nearly yelled.
"It worked didn't it; he stayed out of trouble for the whole day." Rush said proudly.
"I pity whoever marries you and has kids." She jeered as she began walking back to the Haddock house.
"Self-pity is the worst kind." Rush responded before he took off. It took Aliyah a few minutes to register what he said, but when it did she was racing through the forest with a rage Rush was never going to escape from.
A.N. So that's the end of this chapter. Next one Rush leaves to help Nathan save his island and Aliyah babysits Hiccup. Please fav, follow and review (this one helps the most) and please no flames, only constructive criticism .