Chapter 4
The pouring rain continues on into the night. We all stay in the cave and rest. I still have no idea what we're doing here, but I'm glad I came.
Cloudshocker has been asleep for hours, barely moving. This poor dragon probably was captured, and tortured to do whatever these people wanted. The important question is, who are these people?
Before I know it, dawn approaches. Birds sing and the cave slowly becomes lighter. The others are still sleeping. Cloudshocker wakes, and I decide I want to spend some time with him, and to see if I can ride him. I write a note, informing Hiccup and Astrid what I'm doing.
Cloudshocker and I emerge from the cave, taking in our surroundings. We have yet to see a Dramillion, but I tell him to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. We walk into the tall pine trees, looking for a good place for cover if needed. We come to a clearing, and to the left of that is a large pond.
"Are you hungry, Cloudshocker?" I question. "I can catch you some fish if you want."
He looks at me, and then runs over to the pond. I laugh and quickly follow.
"Okay bud, I have a fishing net in my pack."
Before I can take my net out, Cloudshocker is shooting bolts of electricity into the water. Fish float up to the surface. I use my net to bring them back to the shore.
Laughing, I nudge him. "Well, I guess I don't need to worry about catching us fish."
I pull out the net, dumping the fish onto the ground. I pick one up, and reach my hand out to him. He takes it without hesitation. I honestly cannot believe how trusting this dragon is. After all that he has been through, plus being naturally territorial, he is extremely friendly to those who gain his trust.
After we finish off the fish, I ask him if he wants to take a practice flight. He hangs his tongue out over his teeth, and excitedly runs circles around me. I reach my hand out, giggling at his playfulness. He eagerly pushes his head into my hand, ready to take off into the air.
"Okay listen," I tell him. "I've never ridden my own dragon before. Be patient with me, Cloudshocker."
He turns to the side, allowing an easy way for me to climb onto his back. I reach up to his crown of spikes, using that to pull me up. I sit on the back of his neck, using his long, green spikes as a way to control his movements. I pat the top of his head, telling him that I'm ready. Slowly, he opens up his large set of wings. Adrenaline courses through my body, and my heart is racing.
We take off, quickly gaining height into the air. The ground shrinks below us. We fly into the clouds, electricity surrounding us as if it were a shield. The wind blasts into my face. I shout excitedly, as we make a large looped back flip, and dive towards the sea. Cloudshocker's roars thundered into the air.
"Oh my Gods Cloudshocker," I yell. "This is amazing! Thank you for this!"
Right before we hit the water, he straightens his wings out and glides against it. I reach down over him and put my hand into the splashing water. He flaps back into the air, heading back to the island.
Jokingly, I yawn, acting bored. "Is that the fastest you can go? I've ridden on Toothless and boy does he fly."
He hears this and immediately begins to fly harder and faster up into the sky. We glide above the clouds, going as fast as we can. He tucks his wings inward, getting ready to dive back down to the island. We both gleefully scream as the wind hits us hard in the face. Then he starts diving in a spiral, spinning faster and faster. Now, I'm screaming in fear as he laughs at me.
"Woah woah woah," I squealed, as we reach the ground. He opens his wings and abruptly slows, making our landing nice and easy. He looks up at me and I pat his head. The entire island is spinning, even though he and I are no longer flying. I try to easily get down, but instead I fall into the sand. Cloudshocker is there, poking me with his nose. He snorts air onto my face and laughs his guttural laugh.
"I deserved that," I laugh, still dizzy. I stand, stumbling around. He lets me lean onto his head for support, and guides me so I don't fall.
"We should probably get back to the group," I tell him. We walk together like that for a while, until I no longer see three trees at a time. We look for the cave we slept in, and find Hiccup, Astrid, Toothless, and Stormfly waiting for us at the mouth of it.
"Sorry I left like that guys," I stammered. "Cloudshocker and I wanted to go for a test flight..."
"We saw," Hiccup addressed. "And you guys were amazing! Nothing beats the feeling of flying with your dragon for the first time." He puts his head against Toothless' and closes his eyes, scratching under his chin, while Toothless hums.
Hiccup smiles at me, and so does Astrid.
"I told you, Akita," Astrid says. "You have found a dragon to call your own."
"Crazy, we just got to the island and you have a new companion?!" Hiccup exclaims.
I shrug, smiling, and acknowledging how quickly Cloudshocker and I bonded.
"Okay gang", Hiccup says. "Let's get to business."
"What are we doing here anyway?" I ask, following Hiccup and Toothless deeper into the trees.
Hiccup stops and takes out a large map. "We're checking up on the Dramillions. I want to make sure nobody is trying to harm these dragons."
Nodding, we all continue to let Hiccup lead the way. The springtime sun smiles down on us, making us sweat with effort. The tall pines cover the landscape and dot the land with large pine cones. Toothless kicks one towards Cloudshocker, in an attempt to play. He looks at Toothless, then at the pine cone. He pats it back towards the playful Night Fury. He gurgles in excitement, and ensues a game of pat-the-pine-cone. As my shy dragon breaks out of his shell, the two elusive dragons run off with the pine cone to further the distance between them.
Rarely any clouds were to be seen in the sky. Large ponds of water shimmer in the sparkling light. As we venture further into the island, we come across a vast body of water, with a waterfall flowing into it from above. We stop to appreciate its beauty. Hiccup takes out his map again and marks the waterfall on it.
"This will be a great swimming hole in the summer," exclaimed Hiccup.
Just as we were about to continue on, a blaring sound comes from the east treeline. We freeze, Hiccup motioning for us to be quiet. The dragons sense something too, because Toothless begins to viciously growl.
Suddenly, we are surrounded by Dramillion dragons. Their demeanor tells me that they are territorial, and being protective of their home. They circle us, roaring and bellowing. I notice the largest one, a blue male with large spikes on its head, seems to be telling the others what to do.
"I thought they would remember us," Astrid pointed out.
"So did I," Hiccup states. He looks at Cloudshocker and I. The Skrill is standing protectively, hissing at our counterparts.
"I think I know why they're being so aggressive," he says. "They have never seen Akita and Cloudshocker before. They're unfamiliar to them."
I look at the angry dragons around us, and decide what I must do. I pat Cloudshocker and tell him to stand guard. Steadily, I walk over to what must be their alpha male. Toothless yowls, his appearance changing. His back, mouth, and tail glow bright blue. The dragons question this, but still guard their land.
Slowly, I put my hand out. He snarls in my face, hot saliva covering my cheeks.
"It's okay," I say softly. "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. Cloudshocker and I are not your enemies."
This seems to calm him down a bit. He stops making noises, and looks directly at me. His pupils widened, indicating he is more docile now. I look away, still holding my hand out. Sure enough, I feel the smooth scales of a dragon pushed into my hand. I look at him and smile, stroking his pointed nose.
Hiccup and Astrid walk up beside me, reaching out to touch him. He allows them to and we collectively breathe a sigh of relief. My dragon slowly walks to him, ready to defend himself at a moment's notice. But instead, the Dramillion inquisitively sniffs him, and decides he means no harm.
"Well, looks like these dragons are safe," Hiccup happily sighs.
The late afternoon sun brings a warm, orange glow to us. It's too late to make the long flight home back to Berk.
The rest of the Dramillions curiously size us up. Hiccup concludes it's time to start making our way back to the cave. One last time, we pat the alpha and say goodbye. They quickly run, all in opposite directions.
"Hey, who wants to go on a sunset flight?" I ask.
Hiccup and Astrid smile at each other, and walk to mount Toothless and Stormfly. I turn to my dragon, who happily lowers himself so I can get onto him. He hisses in delight.
"You're a good boy," I tell him, scratching his neck. He purrs.
Hiccup takes off into flight first, then Astrid.
"Let's do this bud."
As the sun starts to set, Cloudshocker and I leap into the air. His wings flapping, we quickly catch up to the others. My adrenaline pumps, not even feeling the cool air whispering around us. Our dragons' calls echo into the air. I feel his electricity grow. He roars fiercely, and climbs into the clouds. Laughing, we weave in and out of the puffs of water vapor. I stretch my arms out as we go, touching the clouds.
The feeling of flying is like none other.
The clouds are tinged orange, pink, and red. Glowing, they loop into such patterns you would never be able to see from the ground. Cloudshocker follows them, tucking his wings and spreading them out again to go along with the silly shapes the gods created.
Suddenly, he begins to dive. I yell in excitement as we speed down to the sea. The wind whips around us, creating a loud whistling noise. He and I fall together, smiling and enjoying one another. Just as we are about to splash into the cold water, he flattens out his wings. The pressure creates mist from the ocean, spraying up and us. He leaps back into the air, spotting the other dragons.
As stars begin to peak out, I sink deep into my thoughts. I let Cloudshocker do as he pleases, only using his crown of spikes to hold on. He begins to twirl, obviously noticing I wasn't paying much attention. It snaps me back to reality.
Amused, my scaley friend begins to do back flips, increasing his speed with each one. Jokingly, I scream telling him to quit it.
I realize that he has really broken out of his shell. He is curious, friendly, and extremely playful. I lay flat onto his back and stroke his scales. He calms, flying smoothly. The moon greets us, white light reflecting off the ocean. I look up at the stars.
"What do you think is up there, Cloudshocker?" I point up into the sky.
He looks up into the sky, growling in response.
"I wish I knew what you were saying bud. I'm sure you have some things to say."
He nods. I know he can understand most of what humans are saying. He shoots a bolt of lightning into the sky, creating a blue light show. The stars gleam and shimmer down.
"I want to explore everywhere with you."
I sit up and put my hand on his head. He leans into it and purrs. His wings flap, as we make our way back towards our cave on the island.
"Cloudshocker, together we are unstoppable. We make a pretty good team, don't we?"
His reddish eyes look back at me. They tell me he is thankful, and very happy. Although he has many scars, mental and physical, he is a kind soul. I feel like he and I were meant to meet.
I look to him and sternly tell him, "I will always protect you, no matter what. I will never betray or hurt you like so many other humans have."
He gratefully yelps and flies down to the shore. We land in the sand, and I step down from his back. I kneel down in front of his face and put my hands on both sides of it. Looking into his eyes, I know there is someone looking back to me.
"Thank you, Cloudshocker." I close my eyes, smiling, and lean my head down to his. His slimy tongue reaches for my face, and he pounces on me. He gently puts his claws on my arms, as if he were holding me down. He licks and licks me, clearly showing his gratitude towards me.
"Ahhh! Get off of me!"
He gives me one more juicy lick, and pulls me up. I shake off all of the sand, but it doesn't really work. His saliva is making the sand stick to my clothes and skin.
"Well thanks a lot," I giggle.
He laughs too. We begin to walk back towards the cave, ready to get a good night's sleep. Hiccup, Toothless, Astrid, and Stormfly are already there, waiting for us at the opening.
Astrid offers Cloudshocker some fish, and he eagerly accepts them. Together, we walk into our place for the night. Toothless lights a fire for us all, and we all settle in. My dragon lays down, and yawns. Sleepily he opens his wing for me to sleep against his belly. I smile at him.
"Goodnight everyone," I yawn.
Cloudshocker's heartbeat and warmth draw me towards sleep. He pulls me closer to him.
This is what it's like to have family.