Silverwings and Toothless

by white aspen

Silverwings waits for Toothless, a year after they met and fell in love. He is a father of five now. Toothless promised to come visit and reveal to her 'the secret of his flight' which he fears can still tear their love apart. Toothless aims to get her to Berk. But what can he expect of a solitary taiga-dwelling dragoness? Read about Night Fury love and challenges.

7. The assembly

A/N
Thank you, Ellie, gjco, Laryssa Gabriella and schoolgirl, for your quick reviews. It makes me SO happy you enjoy my writing. Dear schoolgirl, thank you for your correction, it is done.

Summary
Silverwings has been able to accept the fact that her lover Nighthawk has a close bond with a human. However, the fact that a human came into her life puts her world upside-down. She gets even more upset when she is told more dragons and people are around of an accompanying search party. Hiccup then extends a formal invitation to Silverwings for her and the yearlings to visit faraway Berk. This is made possible because the yearlings will be carried in baskets.

She agrees to that, mostly to please Nighthawk but also because it allows her to spend more time with him. But it means she again has to adapt to an ever widening perspective on a whole different way of life.
Hiccup tries to lighten the mood and initiates the first flying experience of the yearlings on their father's back. After that he encourages Nighthawk to fly alone for the first time. Nighthawk finds out how exhausted Silverwings is, and watches over her that night.

The next morning, after breakfast, Hiccup picks up the courage to confront Silverwings as he sensed her renewed hostility. Thanks to his tact and subtlety they come to an understanding. Not much later Silverwings discovers the extent of Hiccup's gentle and forgiving nature, when Nighthawk tells her Hiccup's mother was killed by a dragon. This makes her realize that she misjudged him severely and makes her ashamed of herself.
The rest of the morning is spent in preparation for meeting the with the other seven dragons plus seven people, which is a crowd to Silverwings.

In the next chapter they are on their way to Berk. Bear with me, readers.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Chapter 7. The assembly

The arrival of the search party
Nighthawk continued to tell me more about the search party. So he mentioned the human Fishlegs; that he is also one of the heroes that fought the tyrant. That Hiccup and Fishlegs had become friends, as they found out they had a thirst for knowledge in common. Then he told me about Kjell* who had become a friend of both himself and Hiccup. Kjell had taken care of him when he had been imprisoned for a night. Again he said he would tell that story in full later. "The terrible things of the war are in the past for us, dear. To you it is all new. You have to realize that once you meet my friends, you come in touch with our past. There is no way around it. But please keep in mind that we mostly have come to terms with it."

He continued "Silverwings, the dragons realise that you must be angry that they landed on your territory without your permission. They asked me to tell you that... And don't get scared when you see them, love. If you feel intimidated by their size or the way they look, just remember dragons and humans alike used to be afraid of us Night Furies. It is even the other way around: they are a bit nervous about you! You have not been influenced by our ways and you could react in an unpredictable way... I admit that I failed to correct them" he laughed in his deep rumbling way.

We agreed that we would stand in front of a bush, so the children could choose either to watch from under our wings or hide in the bush behind us. Hiccup would walk the first dragon to a place somewhat further where they would all assemble.
So we did. And there they came. The first dragoness to land made me gawk. She was a majestic creature that I had never seen before, and the female human that jumped off her back was much bigger and sturdier than Hiccup. Both made a bow and the dragoness spoke.
"We greet you. My name is Firestorm. I am a Firehide, what the humans call a Monstrous Nightmare."
"I greet you, Lady, my name is Tilara" the female human said.
"Uhm, I greet you, Firestorm and Tilara. My name is Silverwings." And I bowed back.
At that they nodded and followed Hiccup.

"Don't worry about the size of this dragon species." Nighthawk said. "I conquered a male that was even bigger. Though not with the kind of wrestling we did last year, ahem, the only effect of that was that it aroused me to no end. I will yet teach you some tricks. Oh, I shouldn't be thinking about us wrestling, it makes me want to grab you again."
Now he had me laughing and in this lighter mood all the other dragons passed by and briefly introduced themselves. Nevertheless, when the last one walked on to the others, I found myself back practically hidden behind Nighthawk.

And what about the enemy names they carried? Monstrous Nightmare... monstrous? I have never seen a more beautiful dragon in my life! The Ilnas I knew, with their colourful scales... Deadly Nadders, really! Also the Hunkin I had seen from afar. They are not beautiful to the eye, but there is something about them that instantly intrigues me. The name Gronckle suits them and does not sound as offensive as the other names. The Hideous Zippleback had me baffled, I hardly knew how to greet him as he has two heads.

The yearlings had coped quite well. They had been hiding under our wings, but we heard them chirp every now and then in a way that sounded not too frightened.

Skip the formal introduction
By now all dragons had filed past us. After a brief introduction, the last one walked on to the field where all others had already assembled. Nighthawk and I walked the short distance too, keeping the yearlings between us. But when I faced the assembly, my wings nearly dropped on the children for fear of the crowd, because all dragons and humans were facing me and looked at me expectantly.

"S-so many of you, so… such a crowd" I stammered unceremoniously. Never before had I seen so many dragons together. Even more bewildering were the humans. They were all so much sturdier than Hiccup.
I knew I should address them properly, but words failed me. I just stood there, frozen to the spot, while the children pressed themselves against me.
Instead, Nighthawk addressed the crowd. "You'll have to be patient for a moment. We have to give the little ones a bit of time". And me too. Thank you, Nighthawk. He purred to the hidden yearlings and said "Don't be afraid, my children, you can come out now. Yes, come on, don't be shy. These are all my friends. They have been my friends for a long, long time. Ah, there you are."
When our children peeked around my forepaws and shyly stepped out in front of us, I heard oh's and ah's from the humans, while the dragons made soft soothing sounds.

Then suddenly Nighthawk exclaimed "Look! My love Silverwings and our children", unable to contain his pride and joy any longer. He raised his wings and spread them out wide over us. That gesture broke the spell and all dragons roared. The humans burst out in shouting and brought their hands together in a terrible sharp noise. At once the children shot back under my wings and I stood trembling on my legs.

"Hush, you idiots!" an Ilnas dragoness cried. "Don't you see how stressed out she is? Quiet down! Sorry Silverwings, this must be overwhelming to you. We have become a bit loud, as the humans we live with are loud."
"WE have become loud? Speak for yourself."
"Oh shut up, you're an oaf."
More 'comments' went back and forth until a Hunkin… Gronckle said "Why don't we skip the formal greeting altogether? Just go about our business, so Silverwings and her yearlings can get comfortable?" His proposal got several nods and grunts of approval. Only the Monstrous Nightmare mumbled a protest "But… but… what about my speech?
"Oh, later" the other Hunkin said, "there will be a suitable moment later. You will get your moment, I fear".
Stunned, I gawked from one dragon to another.

The humans had quieted down, but were still smiling. While chatting with each other, they repeatedly pointed their hands in the direction of my children. I found that gesture rather offensive, so I flicked my wings to give them a warning. Then I realised they didn't know the sign. But Hiccup had picked it up and hurriedly addressed the humans, who lowered their arms immediately.
You have to pull yourself together, they don't mean harm, they just are so… strange and loud.
"Oh, Nighthawk, I behave like an idiot. But I'm glad the formal greeting is over." Now that I was recovering, I felt flattered by his enthusiasm and nuzzled him.

Hiccup walked up to Nighthawk and hugged him. They were both positively beaming. Then he addressed me, saying "Lady, I'm sorr-" But I snorted and nudged him. No more sorry, we're through with that. And you picked up on my sign. Thank you, Hiccup."
I lay down and gathered the little ones under a wing. They snuggled up against me being half in fear and half in wonder. To soothe them, I said "Ha ha, aren't the humans LOUD! And what a LOT of dragons." That made them chuckle and soon they were softly babbling and peeking from under my wing.

A new nest for my children and having some fun
Not much later a Gronckle and a human approached us. I forgot half of the names, but remembered this human was Fishlegs, Hiccup's friend. Hiccup addressed them and said "Hello Fishlegs, Thump, have you come to speak to the Lady?"
I eyed up at the huge form of Fishlegs. Hiccup was nothing compared to this human. Yet the look in his eyes… he seemed as gentle as Hiccup, even less cunning in a way. I would have stood up, if not for the little ones. But I craned my neck and huffed a greeting at Fishlegs which made his big, round face start to beam. He lowered himself on his knees and hesitantly held out his hand to me. Be friendly. But somehow I had no difficulty to be friendly to this human, so I nuzzled the hand and gave it a little lick. Fishlegs was flustered. Then he looked down to where little, curious eyes were blinking.

"Your name is Thump" I said to the Gronckle. He looked short and stubby, but very strong and well-armed with fangs. "I greet you again."
"Hello Silverwings. Listen here, I have a proposal. We Gronckles build nests, it's our speciality. If you want, I can build you a safe nest for your yearlings. I have seen suitable stones nearby. In case you do not like it, don't worry, I can always use it for myself."
"Are you sure that isn't the whole point, Thump?" Nighthawk laughed, at which the Gronckle snorted indignantly.
"Watch it, Blackspeck or I'll drop a stone on your head… again. He's a nuisance, Silverwings, he has been until his mating period last year. Since then he has been an even bigger nuisance."
"Hi hi hi, yes, make a nest, please!" I giggled. I'm having fun! I'm actually having fun with a dragon of another species!

Amazed, I watched how Thump quickly lay out somewhat more than a half-circle of stones and built a wall a paw high, adding flat stones on the grass in between. Fishlegs covered these with a layer of moss.
"Y'see, Silverwings, this way they lie well above ground and stay dry if it rains. You can make the nest safe by closing the circle with your body and putting your wing over it to shield your yearlings, see? And when you move away, they can easily hop in and out."
"It is amazingly clever, and you did it so quickly!" I replied delighted.
"Thanks. I've done a lot of nest-making recently, as my mate and I have hatchlings. They are now… six moon cycles old."
"Oh, but then… then we have to leave at once! You cannot be away from them!" I cried out confused.
"Silverwings, it is different over where we live. I miss my little ones much, but they are well taken care of. My mate is helped by other dragons. You look at things differently, because you always had to do everything on your own. But you'll see, once you are in the village your yearlings will have little friends to play with. Lucky for them, by the way, that mine are still hatchlings, because we like to head butt and our little ones like to practice that. If they'd be any bigger, they would knock yours a headache. I would like to head butt with you, as that's our formal greeting, but…" looking at Nighthawk "…I've learned it's painful on your snout, huh huh huh."

Thump had been wise in providing us with a nest. The yearlings at once felt safe and I relaxed because they did. When they lay down they didn't see much and when they stood up with their paws on the wall, they could watch everything from their safe spot. And at any time they could snuggle up against my body. I even could take my wing away.
Now I had time to look around. A couple of dragons had left to hunt and the rest lazed around. The humans busied themselves with something or sat down together talking.
Nighthawk took the opportunity to rehearse the names with me. "So there is Firestorm the Monstrous Nightmare with her rider Tilara… Um, one thing, we say 'her rider' not 'the human that rides her' as that's too bothersome. We all know the humans don't own us and we don't own the humans that ride us. But it remains a sensitive issue, every now and then we say it out in full. Well, then we have Seabreeze, the Hideous Zippleback with his rider Baldar. Thump and Fishlegs you have already met. The other Gronckle is Smasher with his rider Finnar. Then three Deadly Nadders, the two females are Aura, who spoke to you, with her rider Haldis and Sunrise with Aina and the male is Wavedancer with my friend Kjell."
I rehearsed the names until I knew them.

Yet I had a pressing question: "Nighthawk, the humans, they will not jump on my back, will they? I will not have that, I would…"
"No, they won't" he laughed "they value their life too much for that. No, if there is bonding, it often grows gradually. But if you bond with a human, you will know."
"I never will, Nighthawk."
"I guess not, dear, and it is not necessary. There are plenty of dragons that have no bond."

Then he pointed some things out. "You see the round things over there? Those are the baskets. In it, the humans carry stuff they need, mostly dried food and a blanket, you know, the wrap they sleep in. But they carry very little else as there must be room for the children. Tilara and Aina are basket makers. If any changes are necessary, they can do that or even make new baskets.
"I cannot get over it how much they all care" I marvelled. "A Gronckle father is even away from his hatchlings."
"Yes, they do. But they also want to protect Hiccup. He needs protection, you must have noticed that. And it's a bit of an adventure too, you know. Most of them have not travelled much and wouldn't miss the opportunity to see something of the world."

Fireweed learns how to greet the human way, and more things about the past
The humans every now and then looked over at us and then made distinct movements with a hand, especially while looking at my children.
"They wave their hand" Nighthawk explained "that's a way of greeting from a distance." He looked at Fireweed who bobbed her head up and down curiously. "Do you like that, daughter?"
"Yes, like to greet."
"Then why don't you wave back? Put up your paw like this." Before long they all stood on their hind legs, one forepaw on top of the wall, the other one raised in a greeting. But only Fireweed managed to make something like a "wave" motion and she relished in doing it again and again. Oh, it must mean so much to her proud little heart. The humans were delighted and a lot of "waving" went to and fro. But the other children soon returned to flapping their wings.
"I fear they all want to hold our children, dear" Nighthawk whispered in my ear "if they weren't so afraid of you they would come over now. I guess their hands are aching to pick them up. I can see Kjell wants to."
"Not yet" I whispered back "but I will not hold the little ones back. If they like, they may be held."

"Will you tell me about Kjell, now?" I asked him. "You mentioned he helped you?"
"Yes, next to Hiccup he is my best friend. That's why he is here. He wouldn't miss this for the world. He and Hiccup became friends too."
Nighthawk waited until the little ones were napping again, then softly spoke into my ear. First he repeated that the terrible things of the war had become a thing of the past. "So don't get too shocked, dear. But I will tell you about the war. Sooner or later you will hear about it and I'd rather have you hear the stories from me."
He continued and told me how he had been imprisoned. He had to explain 'imprisoned' because I didn't understand what it meant. So I learned about the arena on Berk where the humans had made sport out of killing dragons. Where the human younglings were taught how to kill. That he had been the next dragon to die, until the decision of Hiccup's father had thrown him in another direction. I softly cried at imagining so many imprisoned dragons being slaughtered and at imagining Nighthawk awaiting his doom, helplessly bound in chains. He let me cry and just nuzzled my head.

"But how did they get you, since you are so strong?"
"I was young then. I am so much stronger now. And the humans were far more cunning than I had imagined… But let me tell you about Kjell now. Just like Hiccup, he secretly did something else than tribal custom demanded from him. He entered my prison the next morning and gave me water when I was so thirsty. He was gentle to me, as gentle as one can be to an enemy. When he washed my face clean of grime, I would have licked his hands in gratitude, if not the muzzle had prevented it. Kjell later helped Hiccup's father out after the fight, when Hiccup's spirit wandered far from his injured body. Hiccup's father, Stoick is his name, had made peace with me because of his son. But he had lost his wife because of us and had warred on us for so long that he didn't know how to get along on a daily basis. Kjell was young and eager though, he made things work, together with Astrid. Just like Hiccup did, once he woke up again. Look around you, Silverwings. A miracle has happened. You focus on that."
"Yes, a miracle has happened, and you too made it happen, thought I still have to hear the full story of that. But this is why you and Hiccup are heroes. And others too, like Fishlegs. Yet your story is horrible, I have to get over that."
Noticing that after his story I looked at the humans with suspicion, Nighthawk told me "Silverwings, none of the humans here have killed dragons, we took care of that. They are mostly of the age of Hiccup, so they were too young at the time. Finnar is the only one old enough, but he has never killed a dragon. -Well, what do you say, shall we invite Kjell and Wavedancer to come over?"
"Yes, please do."

More introductions, and Heather makes her debut
Kjell sat in front of us in not time. He cautiously brought his hands near my snout so I could sniff. I did, but after a sniff I looked him in the eye with gratitude and then licked his hands. I had no difficulty licking the hands that had been friendly to my love in his darkest hour. Kjell looked back at me in stunned disbelief. Then I lifted my wing somewhat, so he could see my slumbering sweetlings. Have a look, Kjell. If anyone may touch them, it is you. But not yet. Kjell looked in rapture and heaved a big sigh. "They are beautiful, Lady" he said. Then he gave Nighthawk a push and said "You're a sire now, Toothless. And with such a beautiful lady! Who could have thought that. Congratulations, bud."
He PUSHED Nighthawk! Aw, I hope the humans will not push me, they would regret that. Although, I really must learn to put up with certain things.

I looked up at Wavedancer who cocked his head to have a good look at me. After we had a good sniff of each other he said "We have all been worried, Silverwings, that you would not be able to accept Hiccup and the flying harness. And now look, you have even decided to visit Berk! Ah, you haven't seen Nighthawk dance around every night he came back, huh huh huh. He behaves like an idiot and he doesn't even care. He must love you a lot for that to happen! He always was a bit reserved, you know. But I must admit you're a pleasure to look at."
"Well, thank you for the compliment. Though I cannot see why. I'm only of a bland black compared to the beautiful colouring of your kind."
"Ahem, thank you. But I know a fine female when I see one, even of another species. But you should hurry up to speak to the other females here, they are most anxious to get to know you."

By now the children had woken up. Before long they were 'waving' again. I noticed how Heather's eager little body reached out so far that she almost fell over the wall.
It gave me an idea and I stood up, moving away from the opening of the nest. Maybe it's time for you to bring your special gift into the world, my little one.
"Nighthawk" I whispered "see Heather? What if we let her do what she wants. Will you watch over her? I'll stay here with the rest."
"Heather, do you like to go over there and say hello?"
"Can I, mammy? Oh yes, yes!"
"Just this once. Off you go, sweetling."

Heather hopped out of the nest and lightly padded over to where most of the dragons and humans sat together. Once there she looked up at the expectant faces, flapped her little wings and said "PEEP" loud and clear. The dragons chuckled and Sunrise, the Nadder dragoness, lowered her head to nuzzle her. The humans took care to keep quiet. When Heather saw the big head coming her way she cringed, stepping back. But then suddenly something happened that surprised us all: in a flash her brothers were at her side; they kept her body in between theirs and spread their wings over her. Boulder hissed at the lowered head while Tumble merely looked up scared.
They even surprised Nighthawk who in one jump was near them. "Oh, there, there, my sons, how brave you are, well done! But see? Sunrise is only going to say hello."
Sunrise had lifted her head again and now cocked it to get a clear look at the little Furies below "You little males are very brave. As brave as your father is! And just as protective. And your sister is brave too." They liked that, and relaxed. She continued "Will you three not give me a nose? I would like that very much." All three stepped back somewhat when the big head was lowered again, but Nighthawk whispered to them and then all three pressed their noses against the huge chin in front of them. "Thank you, young ones. What are your names?"
"Heather... greet you". "Oh, how properly spoken!" Sunrise said. My sons also greeted her. "My name is Sunrise" she replied "and the name of my human friend is Aina. Shall we walk back to your mother?"

Once with me she said: "Dear Silverwings, here are your brave little ones. And there are your other children, I see. Hello sweeties. Silverwings, I hope you feel comfortable with us soon. We will hunt for you and protect you so you can relax. I personally find you a very brave dragoness, to decide to come with us to our island. And you touched my heart already last year because of the happiness of our Toothless. That is what I had to say to you." And she started to turn around.

About names
"Sunrise", I quickly said "can I ask you something? And thank you for your words."
"Yes, of course."
"Do the-humans-that-ride-you know your names? I ask, because soon we will walk around and greet everyone, including the humans. I would like them to use our proper names. It would somehow bother me if they gave us different names. Our names are easy to point out, you know, Pinecone and such. They may also know my name, as it is only a youngling name."
"Sure you can point out your names to the humans. Some dragons do. But the humans give us names as well. The name Sunrise was given to me by Aina, and I like it a lot. The humans tend to give us worthy names. In fact, Toothless is the only dragon with a silly name. But he refuses to give it up and we have all grown past the silliness of it. You surely know his real name?"
"Yes, but if he hasn't told you, I may not. But I have grown accustomed to both of his names."
"Another thing, Silverwings, do you know what the meaning is of the name Hiccup gave you: 'Lady'?"
"No, though N - Toothless likes the sound of it."
"It means: a female that is held in high esteem. What about that!"
I didn't know what to say to that. But then I chuckled "it surely means that he was mighty afraid of me. He was, you know."
'Um, we all were, a bit, to be honest."
"Yes, Toothless told me, and also why. But I know nothing about being dominant over other species of dragons, as dragonesses here in the taiga all have their own territory. In fact, I would appreciate it if you help me behave in the way you are accustomed to."
"Oh, we'll do that, no problem. But can I ask you why you still carry your youngling name? And why you are called Silverwings, when you are completely black?"

"I still carry my youngling name, as my mother died before she could give my brothers and me our adult names. When I was a youngling, my wings were not a mottled grey, but one shade of grey. Light grey. So that's why."
"Oh, I am sorry to hear that your mother died so early in your life. And I take it that there were no other dragons around to raise you?"
"Thank you. No, I has been hard without her, but we managed, my brothers and I."
"Oh, that must have been hard on you, younglings and all. With us, back in the war, also younglings lost their parents, but then others were around to raise them."
"I'm sure you will tell me a lot, about Berk, and your past. And I will tell you more about my life here. But all in good time, please."
Sunrise chuckled. "And you tell us, dear, when it's enough. Or we'll talk your ears off."
I chuckled too.
"Can I nuzzle goodbye?" she asked. "That's what friends do."
"Y-yes, do" I stammered surprised.
Sunrise nuzzled me and I looked after her when she walked back to Aina.
Friends….

"Ha ha, you smile, dear. That's nice."
"Oh, Nighthawk, there you are. I want to do something, and quick." And I told him that I wanted Hiccup to learn the names of our children, so he could tell the other humans. So, not much later Nighthawk, Hiccup, the children and I walked a distance away from the camp. Hopefully we could get Hiccup to understand. To find a pinecone was easy, they lay strewn around and Toothless gathered one in his mouth. When we reached a patch of heather Nighthawk started. He nudged Hiccup and gave him a certain hard stare.
"You want to tell me something."
A nod from Nighthawk.
Then I saw how he used the human way of pointing. First he pointed to Pinecone and then to the pinecone in front of her. Then he pointed to Heather and to the heather behind her. Then he gave Hiccup again a hard stare.
"Um… pinecone, heather. But what does that have to do with the yearlings? It has something to do with the yearlings?"
A nod.
Hiccup looked puzzled. "Do they need this? As food? To play with?
A shake. Nighthawk gave it a thought.
Then he sat down next to Pinecone, opened his mouth, showed his teeth and then retracted them. Then he pointed again at the children and the pinecone and heather.
"Your retractable fangs, your children, a pinecone and heather."
Nighthawk nodded and stared.
As Hiccup did not understand, he nudged him, gaped his empty gums at him, made his teeth shoot up, retracted them again and nudged him again.
"Yes, your retractable teeth, that's why I called you Toothless."
Now Nighthawk nodded enthusiastically and pointed again at Pinecone and the pinecone in front of her. He sat down again next to her, showed his empty gums and pointed again.
"Toothless… your daughter, a pinecone…
After a sharp nod of Nighthawk, Hiccup continued "Toothless… your daughter, a pinecone, your other daughter, heather… Your other daughter HEATHER… oh, but… Toothless, you want me to call her Heather?
Now Nighthawk jumped up and gave him a wild lick.
Hiccup turned to me and asked amazed "Lady, you want me to know the names of your children?"
I nodded a clear yes.
Now he tickled Heather "Your name is Heather!" "And you are called Pinecone!" making them giggle. Pinecone took the pinecone in her mouth, and strutted around waving it.
"Oh, but that is wonderful! And what is your name?" he asked Boulder.
Before long he knew them all. Tumble had to tumble quite a bit, but finally Hiccup had his name too.
"Oh, Lady…" he began, but I nudged him and shook my head.
"No?"
I sat down, spread my wings and flapped them while giving Hiccup a hard stare also.
"Wings… you want me to know your name too?
A nod.
"Just Wings?"
A shake. But we could not make him understand the 'silver' part. But sooner or later Hiccup would find out, and now he knew that I preferred my own name.
Then he looked at Nighthawk. "Will you tell me your name too, bud? I know you didn't want to before, but maybe now…?"
Nighthawk hesitated, nodded, then shook his head.
"Ha ha, no pressure, bud. But what if I promise to keep calling you Toothless, can I know your name then?"
A nod.

Evensong
Back in the camp the hunters had arrived with prey. So first we ate. To my amazement the humans took slabs of meat and singed them over fires.
"It's one of the weird things about humans" Nighthawk explained. The spoil perfect food by singing it or boiling it in water. They call that 'cooking'. They 'cook' nearly all of their food, even the bread you saw Hiccup eat is something heated. We mock them with this and they mock us, saying "We heat our food before eating it and you dragons heat it afterwards!" As if we digest our food by burning it! You know, that sort of nonsense goes back and forth. They have become familiar with our… let's say abrasive sense of humour and often notice when we make fun of them. But they also know ways to make us look ridiculous, which is hard to bear. And they know that!"

When we had finished eating it was well into the evening. Sensing the time, Nighthawk said "If we want to do some further greeting we should hurry a bit, it's nearly Evensong."
"What is-"
"You'll see. Come on children, go sit on our backs. Let's say hello to Seabreeze and Baldar. They ran up our tails and we walked over to the Zippleback. Baldar was not with him at the moment.
"Seabreeze, do Silverwings a favour and keep your heads together, please."
"Hello Silverwings, hello little ones. Beats me why he asks me this. I always keep my heads together, even when they're apart."
"Um, which head do I speak to, if I may ask?" I said.
"Oh, what a polite way of asking you have. You can talk back to the head that talks to you, this one. Have you never seen one of our kind before?"
"No, you're the first. But I have seen the Ilnas and the Hunkin… um, Nadders and Gronckles before. Shall I tell you the names of our children?"
"Please do. They are brave little things I heard."
I told him, and each little one mentioned flapped its wings.
"Bit of a warning here" Seabreeze said "Firestorm plans to hold her speech after Evensong, so be prepared."

Nighthawk brought us back to the nest and told the yearlings to hop in.
"Listen, you all, we're having Evensong any moment now".
I saw the humans putting their things away and settle themselves next to the fires. Then a most curious sound started to rise up. I looked around, it was the dragons that made it. They softly cooed, purred and hummed. The sound was not so much loud as intense. The air vibrated with it and the effect of it was soothing. I looked at the children in the nest. They lay down and became droopy-eyed. I also lay down and rested my head against the side of Nighthawk who joined the sound with a low rumble. What an attractive rumble you make, dear. Appealing, so… male… so… reminds me of something… something… mmmm…"

The crowing of ravens in the trees woke me up. Nosy birds, always poking around. Took them long to check this camp out. Yesterday evening I must have fallen asleep during Evensong. What is that, why do they 'sing'? Oh, Firestorm… she must have been so disappointed. Drowsily I looked around. Nighthawk had closed the nest and his wing stretched out over our children. I quietly lifted the wing somewhat. Immediately Nighthawk's eyes shot open. "Sorry dear, it's me having a peek." With a huff he lay his head down again. The children were fine.
Firestorm, Aura and Sunrise were up. They nodded to me and took wing, oh of course, to go out hunting. Finnar was also awake, watching over the camp, wrapped in a blanket. He nodded to me too. It was still early morning, the sun had just started to climb the sky. Everyone else was still asleep. Nighthawk had fallen asleep again and snored softly. A sheen of dew covered everything except us dragons and shimmered in the morning light. So nice to be out in the open, in the freshness of the moist air under the pale blue sky.
And I drifted off again.

oOoOoOoOoOo

* about Kjell: in my story 'After the crash, the tale of Toothless', Toothless is kept in prison for one night before he was hoisted on a ship to direct the Vikings to the dragon's nest. A boy of Hiccup's age, Kjell, visited Toothless, brought him water, and was kind to him. He also did not want to learn to kill dragons and considered leaving Berk. Needless to say Toothless became fast friends with him and Hiccup also.

So, next time they will be on their way to Berk. Promised.

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