As the hours ticked by, the gang of dragon riders learnt a few things about their new guest. She would only let one person approach her at a time after making sure they were unarmed. She didn't trust any of them, even Hiccup who everyone thought was the most trustworthy person they knew. And she didn't like the other dragons, and the feeling was mutual. They steered clear of the black cloaked girl and made an effort to growl at her given any opportunity.
After Gothi made it down from her hit to inspect her wounds, the elder became very wary of her presence. She had approached the shady stranger with extreme caution, and had made sure that she could see every move she made, as if Shadow was afraid that the short old woman was going to stab her in the back.
Shadow was very tense and didn't let her guard down completely. At times she just completely ignored their presence, and sat perched on top of a small mountain of barrels stacked in one corner of the arena. Since she had no intention of talking, Hiccup, Astrid and the gang gathered in a group to talk about the nightmarish scream they all heard that night.
"I'm telling you Hiccup, that scream sounded like a dragon in immense pain. like it was getting its wings ripped off. It was horrible" said Fishlegs. Snotlout piped up with a reply. "I know what I heard, I woke up after the screaming started, and I was sure it was a person being ripped to shreds." He said to the group. Tuffnut raised and eyebrow at him. "Wait a minute. If you woke up because of the sound, why did you go back to sleep and not go and wake up Hiccup or someone else?"
Snotlout looked at the ground in embarrassment. "Err, after I jumped out of bed to find someone, I kinda fell down the stairs and knocked myself out." He admitted.
The twins burst out laughing and Astrid covered her mouth with her hand as she sniggered.
"Ok then, that aside, what kind of conclusion can we come up with this information?" asked Hiccup. The others all looked clueless. Then Tuffnut had to go and come up with a stupid explaination.
"Oh, I got it! A person was hiding out in te forest and came across a dragon, they then attacked the dragon, making it scream, and then the dragon turned on them and tore them apart!" he cried in triumph at his conclusion and smiled hugely. Ruffnut smacked him in the head. "Idiot. If that did happen then wouldn't there be someone's dead body lying I the forest covered in cuts and bruises?"
Hiccup snapped his head up at her words. "Wait a minute." He looked over at the strange girl perched on a mountain of barrels. "We found her didn't we? Maybe she knows what happened." He said.
"Terrific idea Hiccup, go over and ask the crazy lady if she came across a dragon that tried to rip her to pieces last night. Brilliant." Snotlout sarcastically replied.
He shrugged. "You never know, she might know something. Uh, Shadow? Hello?... can we ask you something?" he called out.
She snapped her gaze towards him, and she was glad to see that he froze under her cold stare. "What?" she asked aloofly.
"Um, I don't suppose you saw some sort of dragon last night in the forest? Or something that made a sound like it was dying in extreme agony?"
Her eyes widened and she looked away from him. She didn't want to look at him, or anyone of them in fact. They all looked at her curiously.
"You won't find it." She said. "The dragon you all heard. It's gone, won't be back for a few weeks. Its kind have a… weird system." She said in a tone much softer than they were used to.
Fishlegs piped up in interest. "A new kind of dragon? You know if it?" he asked.
Her head dropped and she stared at her feet. "Yea, I know of them. Most people don't know they exist. Those who have heard its name think it's a myth. Only a few have ever seen one, those who have call them the Black Moon dragons." She said softly to them.
"You missed your chance to see it. The only time you can see one is if you can time it right. From the beginning of the moons waxing phase to the end of the moons waning phase. Then after that they disappear, until the start of the next lunar cycle. You just missed it, there was a new moon last night. The cycle has restarted now."
"Where did it go?" asked Fishlegs in awe of this information.
"Gone. Hidden… the only way you can find it, is if you figure out what you need to look for." Said Shadow ominously. She wrapped her cloak around herself and retreated into the depths of her own mind, shutting them out.
The gang of teens started whispering amongst themselves. A new kind of dragon that disappeared through the cycles of the moon, it was a very strange thing indeed. But the question they all wanted answered was, if it supposedly disappeared, then where did it go? And what does it do when it disappears?
It was getting late in the afternoon when they all decided to go to the Great Hall for dinner. They even convinced Shadow to go with them, but she stayed distant from everyone. After they had grabbed their food and sat down, they tried to get some more information out of Shadow about the mysterious Black Moon dragon. All the while, Toothless was sitting next to Hiccup, glaring at her as he munched on his fish.
"So, uh. Shadow. Since you know of this Black Moon dragon, do you know what it looks like?" asked Astrid.
Shadow looked up at her, then cast her gaze to the Night Fury in the room, he glared back.
"Like a Night Fury, but bigger." She said. Fishlegs eyes went wide. "How does it differ from a Night Fury?" he eagerly asked.
"they have bigger bodies, and larger wings that are good for manoeuvrability. They have narrow snouts and large razor sharp fangs. As well as a blade on their tail which they use as a weapon. And unlike the Night Fury, it has horns – not those weird ear flaps. They have a crown of horns on their head, sort of like a Nadder, but only six of them with three on each side, and a short horn on their nose that they can use as a sharpened battering ram." Hiccup was imagining what this huge beast looked like, he wanted to see one and was upset that they had missed their opportunity. He wanted to study this dragon and find out everything about it.
"They have silver scales too, on the membrane of their wings like stars. And their eyes glow like the moon, hence the name. Some people believe that they draw their strength from the moonlight itself."
"Bah! I don't believe this nonsense! All this sounds fake to me." Yelled Snotlout. "A dragon that draws its power from the moon? Can disappear with the cycle of the moon? What a load of rubbish."
Everyone looked at him in shock. How dare he yell at someone and call them a liar. Did he have a death wish?
Shadow glared at him in hatred and bared her teeth. "Well if you are so smart," the twins sniggered. "then answer me this. If the Night Fury is the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself - and assuming that by lightning, the legend means the Skrill - then what other dragon would there have had to be in order to create the Night Fury?"
Her tone was deadly serious. They all looked at her. She was implying that the Black Moon dragon is the ancestor of the Night Fury? They were all shocked, and Fishlegs looked amazed at this theory.
Before anyone could react, Shadow stood up and left.
Hiccup and Astrid were the first ones to break out of the trance, and the two of them decided to go and look for her. She was a guest on Berk and needed a place to stay while she was here, so they had to go and find her. After they left, the others looked towards each other. "Does anyone else think that its weird that we found her the day after the supposed disappearance of that dragon?" asked Ruffnut.
"For once I agree with you sister. It is indeed strange." Said Tuff.
"Are you saying that she has something to do with the Black Moon dragon?" asked Fishlegs.
"I still think she made it up by the way. But its too much of a coincidence isn't it. We looked everywhere and found nothing, not even footprints or burn marks. But what we do find is a strange girl covered in blood in the cove. Strange isn't it?" said Snotlout.
They all agreed. It was too weird. Ruffnut asked the boys "What do we do though? She barely answers questions. How else are we going to find out whats with her and that dragon?"
Fishlegs was the first to reply with an idea. "Why don't we check out the cove again tomorrow for clues? We might have missed something important." The teens nodded in agreement. "What about Hiccup and Astrid?" asked Tuffnut.
"We'll leave them here in the morning and check it out for ourselves. Maybe they can get some more information out of her." Snotlout suggested. So far it seemed like a decent plan.
They would go out the next morning and see what they could find.