Epilogue - A Leap of Faith
At the moment I sit on the roof of Hiccup's house. I have been sitting here for quite some time already, mustering up the courage to jump down and take a walk through the village all on my own. My aim is to walk all the way to the Docks and see the fish distribution for myself. Not daring to jump yet, I resort to my favourite pastime: musing.
I have been on Berk for some time now, but I still cannot get over the warm welcome I received. To meet Astrid and her children, Stoick welcoming me despite my mistakes, the touching ceremony in the Arena, the preparation of our house, so nicely tucked away in the forest…
I think about the day after the welcoming ceremony, when I had ventured out of the woods to visit the common playground to see if any mother with younglings was there. Although my head was still ringing from the clamorous celebrations, I just couldn't hold my yearlings back. Especially Boulder was over-eager to see if there were any playmates present.
On arrival no one was there, but luckily soon a Zippleback mother came walking up, together with her yearlings. Within moments the children were all over each other.
"Having a headache, dear?" she asked. "You're not the only one who needs to recover from yesterday. What a party! Trust me, Silverwings, you will get accustomed to everything here soon. My name is Wingbeat. We met yesterday, but I guess I'll mention my name again."
"Thank you, Wingbeat" I replied, searching my brain for something more to say in vain. I just watched the children play instead.
"Nice of you to come to the playground to meet other mothers. You know, a male alone cannot help you with adjusting to life here in the village. Toothless may hover over you all he can, but sometimes you just need sane advice from another mother" she stated matter-of-factly. "How has the journey been?"
"Nice of you to ask" I answered, turning my attention to her. "Well, not too bad. Uhm, mostly interesting, very interesting even. In the beginning I had to get accustomed to long distance flight again, but soon enough I got into shape. But then the children started to pine. They sat in their travelling baskets, very smugly -have you seen the baskets? But after a couple of days they started to pine and whine. They could not play or move around enough. So every couple of days we had to have a day of rest. That delayed the journey, but it could not be helped. Did you hear them cheer when we flew over the village on arrival?
"I did! They sure have healthy voices" she giggled. "So how are they now?"
"Fine, just fine. They simply adjust. Just look at them."
The little Furies were having a difficult time with the Zippleback yearlings. The little Zipplebacks distracted them with one head while nipping their tails with the other. Swirling around didn't help much, as then their tail was nipped by the other head.
"You wait until they meet the Gronckle-hatchlings" Wingbeat commented. "They like to head butt. Luckily they are only six moons old."
"We met them already" I chuckled, recalling their antics.
"I still have to get accustomed to the humans, eh people" I continued. "They are so-"
"Loud! They're being loud! But they are a good people. Or, they have become a good people, I should say. You will find there are still tender sentiments among us dragons, although most of us managed to come to terms with the past. We owe Hiccup and Toothless much. But you must have heard that many times by now. As for the people: just wait and see. You will always find a couple of them that you will like."
"You think so? There are so many of them here. Like yesterday in the Arena, I never saw that many people together. The only humans I know are a people that follow around large herds of reindeer, much like the wolves do. They live in small groups, taking with them portable shelters."
"Large herds of reindeer, you say. Hmmm, how interesting. Are they tasty?"
"Very tasty. Sometimes I nicked a reindeer. Always at night, so the humans never saw what predator stole them. However, the common deer over there were just as nice. I really miss their taste, as dragons here are not permitted to hunt them. Here it's fish all the time. But-" I added quickly "I like their taste too. They are far more tasty than the fish from the lakes where I came from. And every kind of fish has a different taste!" I did my best to sound enthusiastic and hide my disappointment about the deer, but to no avail.
"You're not good in covering things up, I see" Wingbeat commented dryly. "So you miss the taste of deer. Well, living here comes at a cost for every dragon species, I'm afraid. But on average we like it here. And some day you must tell us all about the lands you came from, really. We're all tremendously curious. -Oh, and about fish, let me warn you: never, I say NEVER, let anyone lure you into eating an eel! EEL! Yellow-black striped HORRORS. They're disgusting! That is, we never tasted them as we believe they are poisonous. But humans eat them, will you believe that? Your Hiccup even threw an eel in BelchBarf's faces once! Let's say he was not amused."
"My Hiccup? Hi hi hi. Didn't know he was a prankster" I giggled.
"He isn't really, but I will tell you all about him. And also some really embarrassing stories about that mate of yours. What a stiffwings he used to be! He turned around nicely though, you really loosened him up, dear. Quite an achievement! What did you do with him? No, don't tell me, none of my business. Although, I wouldn't mind if you had a tip or two for my next mating period?" she rattled.
At seeing my face she quickly added "-Oh, I embarrass you, sorry, I'm being terrible. I talk too much. That is, if I don't talk this fast, my other head starts talking and she's boring me today.
-I'm boring you again?" -The other head now mixed in the conversation.
-"Don't get started! Sorry Silverwings, I do have better days, when I'm not being rude. I really liked talking to you.
-Me too.
-You didn't talk to her! Silverwings, my other head thinks she is more refined. Maybe she will do the talking next time, that is, if she is fast enough.
-Thank you for finally admitting I am more refined.
-Hold your gas, I didn't! You're boring me out of my scales! You just lack the spark."
Looking in bewilderment from one head to the other I stuttered "B-bye".
"Bye, dear" the fastest head said.
"Indeed" the other head said "next time let me do the talking. Children, come with your BORING mother. Little Furies, grab my tails, I'll drag you over to the next house."
"Hi hi hi, can we, mammy?" -and off they were, shrieking and cheering while being dragged along.
Nice, strange…
Oh, I forgot to ask Wingbeat even one question! That's not good. I need to get more social fast, and loosen up. But I am happy to be here, together with my 'stiffwings', hi hi hi.
Now, come on! Get your lazy scales off that roof and start walking! The only thing the humans will do is lift their hands in a greeting, shout "Hi" or just nod. Nothing to be nervous about. Just focus on getting to the Docks.
I was about to jump down when something else popped up in my head, something so sweet: just this morning Pinecone told me she had made a legend. A legend! Where does she get these things from? She keeps surprising me. But she told me her legend and I was much moved as it was a sound story for one so little. I hope I can make her tell it again tonight, to all of us. And if maybe she is too shy for that, or forgets some words, I will help my sweetling.
The legend of us
-by Pinecone
First there is mammy and us
and then there is father and Hiccup
and then they are hurt
and then they are heroes
and then we all go to father's island
and here are lots of dragon friends
and lots of human friends
and we all lived happ'ly ever after.
Oh, my little sweetie.
Now, live the legend and jump, Silverwings!
I jumped.
The end.
oOoOoOoOoOo
Thank you for sharing this adventure with me!
Lots of thanks to a couple of talented people that helped me bring this story to life. First of all a big thank-you to 'Tagesh' who did a great job in editing. I value his input greatly and we had super fun in the process. He followed up 'Spidermaster' who managed to edit the first two chapters before he became absorbed in his own story. Thanks Spidermaster!
Also a big thank-you to 'Laryssadesenhista'. She created a beautiful illustration of Toothless and Silverwings as a couple, which she gave to me as a present (browse 'whiteaspen deviantart' and look for the first picture under 'Favourites'). Thank you Laryssa, I am so pleased and grateful.
I also thank 'Revanhun' very much. He wrote a lovely oneshot as a present for me: 'Silverwings - Myriads of Memories' which can be found on my page. Many of you have wished to read more about Toothless and his family. So there it is. Enjoy!
'Silverwings and Toothless' belongs to sort of a 'Silverwings-trilogy' which started with 'Toothless and the dragoness' (rated T), the story in which Toothless and Silverwings meet and fall in love. More or less simultaneously I wrote 'Silverwings and Toothless -the prequel' (lame title, sorry) because Silverwings really got under my skin. How on earth had this dragoness been able to accept a cripple as a mate? It's against nature, especially that of the fierce and proud dragon-kind. So I figured that earlier in life she met a lover who taught her that there is more to life than meets the eye. Out of scribbles emerged the character of Thundercloud who arrives at her calls in her first mating period. He introduces her to mating and shares with her much of his wisdom. (Rated M for mature content)
Next is a private note to other animal lovers
Somehow, while writing this story, I became more aware of the animals that we share the planet with. Of course it had everything to do with Hiccup having a special bond with a big, dangerous dragon. I started to care more and, long story short, became an animal advocate, mostly on behalf of elephants.
Silverwings' fears have become reality, of course. Humans have become the dominant species on the planet and many animals are under severe pressure or even under threat of going extinct.
About helping elephants, please read my don'ts and a big DO:
No circuses with animals
Please avoid circuses with elephants and other animals. Even if staff cares, they cannot begin to meet the animals' needs.
No ivory
Please do not buy anything made of ivory. Elephants are poached and shot for their tusks. It is feared that if the current rate of poaching continues, in some 20 years' time there will be no elephants left in the wild. It is even worse for rhinos, who are shot for their horn.
No elephant rides
Please do not take a ride on an elephant's back. Their spine is not built for that, and they suffer from it.
No support of street-begging elephants
If you visit Asia, or live there, do not give anything to 'street begging' elephants. Elephants should not be in cities, the noise and fast-food is detrimental to their (mental) health.
No elephant paintings
Do not pay for elephants making paintings, or doing other tricks. They are often brutally and painfully trained to do so.
Avoid paying for baby-elephants to do tricks.
Cute baby elephants are the latest fashion. These infants are mostly snatched from the wild at the cost of a whole heard, and are trained to do tricks by horrific crush-training. If you wish to see what this crush-training (phajaan) is about, look up for instance "Baby Elephant Smuggling Exposed" on Youtube, or "Elephant training abuse (AAA video) in English" which requires a strong stomach.
Also avoid shows with orcas
Please avoid facilities that show orcas, belugas, dolphins, walruses and other marine mammals. Even if the facility is high quality, they cannot avoid disrupting families, and restocking is a problem (inbreeding, high mortality).
Don't litter
Please do not litter or throw plastic in the water. Sea mammals, fish and seabirds eat it and subsequently starve to death as it accumulates in their stomachs.
DO support animal welfare at some point in your life please.
Thank you.