The dragons and their riders flew for a few hours before their destination came into view. Healers island. Hiccup signalled towards a large stretch of beach and gave the command to land. One by one they set down on the beach and dismounted. Shadow, despite being uncomfortable flying on another dragon's back, was reluctant to leave. It had been already too long since she had flown, and that flight had been exhilarating.
Hookfang however, was exceptionally happy to have her off his back. He felt disgusted that he had allowed a creature like her to ride on his back. It was degrading.
Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, the twins, Gothi and Shadow gathered together as they read the list. It was a very big list, but shouldn't take them that long to get everything if they worked together and worked with their dragons. In fact, they thought that they should be done and back home before dinner time.
Hiccup directed everyone to different spots on the island in pursuit of the ingredients in the region. Within minutes, everyone was back in the air and flying off.
A few hours later, everyone was back at the same spot they landed, their saddlebags filled with all the ingredients they collected. Tuffnut was covered in bruises but no one bothered to ask him about it.
Hiccup turned to Gothi and asked if they had everything. In response, she stared scribbling in the sand. Fishlegs watched her closely as he translated.
"She says that the last ingredient isn't on Healers Island. We still need the most important ingredient. She says the last thing we need is- a bloodbane eel."
Fishlegs cringed. The dragons shuddered at the mention of eels. Hiccup sighed and said he would go and get one. He asked the elder where he could find one for the cure.
Gothi met Shadow's eyes, but continued to write in the sand. Fishlegs continued to translate. "She says the place to find a bloodbane eel is on Eel Island. West of here."
Shadow snapped her head up at the mention of the island. Instantly, she thought of the moonstone that Gothi said would be there. This was her chance to get some and see if it worked. She knew she had to go. Gothi's unwavering stare told her that she knew exactly what she was thinking.
But Shadow didn't want the tiny woman dictating what she could and couldn't do. She was the Black Moon dragon for Thor's sake. The ancestor species of the Night Fury. She would be dammed if she let herself be bossed around.
"Hiccup. I want to go with you." She said. Gothi immediately tried to wack her with her staff. Shadow wasn't expecting the swing, but managed to block it at the last second. She pulled the overgrown stick out of the healers grip and growled at her.
"I thought I asked you not to wack me with your little drawing stick." She spat.
Gothi, now without her staff, reverted to sign language to speak to her. It was a bonus that no one else knew what she was saying.
'You cannot go to Eel Island. Something will go wrong and might get found out if you do.'
"I know what I'm doing. I haven't survived this long just by luck you know. You know wha- who I am, and you should know that there isn't much you can do to keep me here."
'If you go, something bad will happen. It always does. If Hiccup somehow finds out what you are and leaves you there, how will you get off the island? It isn't exactly the most habitable of places, and I don't recommend living there until the next new moon. In that form, you will not survive.'
"That's why I want to go over there and get that stuff. It could help me gain more strength. I wouldn't get into that situation. Besides, I've faced some really bad things before and came out alive, I'm sure I can handle whatever is on that island."
Shadow neglected to mention the fact that in those other situations, she came out barely alive. Gothi still wasn't happy.
'Fine, go if you want to. Don't say I didn't warn you. I'm going back to start making that potion. Whatever you choose to do is ultimately up to you. If anything bad happens, it can't be blamed on me.'
"Understood. Hiccup? I don't suppose there is room for one more?" she asked turning to Hiccup.
He was still confused about what they wer saying to each other, but nodded. Everyone got on their respective dragons and flew off. Hiccup and Shadow got onto Toothless's back (With more growls and protests), and flew west to eel island.
Another few hours went by in silence before they landed on eel island. The two of them had spotted a river that wound through the mountains and thought that was the best place to catch an eel. Toothless wasn't happy at the prospect of seeing any eels.
They walked towards the water and found a good spot to sit, and Hiccup got out some rope and a hook for catching a bloodbane eel. He watched as Shadow moved around the river bank and over the rocks, gazing deep into the water. She seemed to be looking for something other than eels, he thought. He called out to her and asked what she was up to as he prepared his fishing gear.
Shadow looked back at him, but didn't answer. The less he knew, the better. Eventually she spotted a dark crevice under the water, and she could see eels swimming in and out. It looked like an underwater cave, just like Gothi described.
Hiccup kept calling her, but she didn't respond. Even now, she could feel the power of the moonstone. It was close, and held untapped potential for her. She felt giddy at the idea of getting her claws on some to see what she could do with it.
Well, no sense in delaying the inevitable.
She thought to herself. Then she started unbuckling her scaled armour and pulled it off. Hiccup's voice went silent and he looked away shyly. She didn't care. As a dragon, she wasn't exactly covered in clothes, so it didn't matter much to her.
She stripped down until she was wearing just her leggings and an undershirt, then she walked over, closest as she could to the underwater cave entrance.
She waited for a moment, and dived into the water.
The water was cold, bitterly so, but Shadow ignored it as she swam towards her goal. She wanted to get in and out before anything bad happened. Her lungs started to burn with pressure as all the oxygen was being used up. Her clawed hands grasped rock and she pulled herself along.
After what seemed like forever, her head broke the surface of the water and she gasped. If only she was a dragon, she thought. Their lungs were so much bigger.
But the unearthly glowing of the cave distracted her too much. Glittering the darkened cave like a thousand stars, moonstone lined the floor, walls and ceiling in strange shapes. The stone sparkled like crystal in the darkness. It was a truly beautiful sight. She could feel the untapped power flowing through this place, being absorbed into her skin. It was exhilarating. Even in the day time, the moonstone fueled her connection to the moon, and she felt instantly stronger.
She hopped out of the water and walked over to the unearthly glowing stone. She felt in awe of it. Hesitantly, she touched her clawed hand to one of the larger rocks. It was deathly cold against her skin. But the raw power of moonlight, trapped inside the stone, fueled her and filled her body with such strength. She could feel the dragon within her purring in bliss.
Her claws felt sharper, her teeth felt longer, the scales on her back tougher. The moonstone was a power pack of energy. Grinning like a dragon, she filed the bag she had with her with as much moonstone as she could carry. She took rocks of all different sizes, some as large as her fist, others as small as beads, until the bag was full. This amount of moonstone could fuel her for months, maybe even years.
Happily, she went back over to the pool of water that she came in through and prepared to swim back. With a massive gulp of air, she dived under with her prize and swam out through the darkness.
She could see the sunlight glistening through the water, inviting her to come up. She swam towards the surface, but all of a sudden, bloodbane eels swarmed around her, biting her flesh and wrapping their slimy bodies around her neck. Shadow thrashed in the water against the eels, fighting to get free.
Her lungs started to burn with the lack of oxygen. The dragon within her started to break free and tear apart the eels with her claws. Shadow continued to swim to the surface, her head breaking out over the water and gasping in relief. The eels kept on fighting, the disgusting slimy sea spawns. They bit her with their needle like teeth. Shadow roared and bit down on one that went for her shoulder. The flesh of the eel tasted like bile, but she couldn't stop herself in her dragon frenzy from swallowing the eel.
Instantly, she felt sick and horrible. All of a sudden, there was a splash and something grabbed her around the waist. Shadow was yanked out of the water and thrown onto the riverbank, where she started coughing up water and feeling dizzy.
"Shadow! Are you ok? What happened?" cried Hiccup. She looked up at his piercing green eyes and tried to speak, but nothing came out. His face started to move around and morph into something hideous. Her vision was going funny and she couldn't see straight.
She lurched away from him as her stomach started heaving. But despite all her efforts and energy, she couldn't cough up the section of eel she swallowed. She groaned in obvious discomfort.
"Shadow, what's wrong? Talk to me. I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong." He cried.
She groaned again. "I-… ugh… ate… a- ugh… an… eel…" she croaked.
Hiccup stared at her. "How on in Thor's name could you have swallowed an eel?" he said, not really expecting an answer.
Shadow tried to stand up, but could only do so by supporting her weight on a tree, and she wobbled on unsteady legs. She was faintly aware of him approaching, but was still struggling to remain upright.
She couldn't believe what was happening to her: dragons, as a rule, never even toughed eels. She just ate one!
And it definitely wasn't agreeing with her either.
Her nose felt horrible, like it was hotter than the rest of her face and itchy. And her throat felt like it was on fire. All of a sudden, she could feel a cough and a sneeze coming on and she turned her head away from the blob that resembled Hiccup. She sneezed into her hands, and a painful puff of smoke burst out of her nose.
Oh no. oh shit.
Humans may have been able to eat eels, but dragons cant. And when dragons get sick… Shadow didn't even know if her human form could take that that much.
Toothless warbled at her as he stood in front of her face. He smelt eel and didn't like what it was doing to her. Suddenly, she coughed and a burst of flame came out of her mouth.
"What the hell?!" screamed Hiccup.
Unknown to him, he didn't know it was Shadow who caused the explosion, but thought it was Toothless. He watched in shock as Shadow ran off into the forest like a mad woman. He called out to her and tried to follow, but for someone who could barely stand twenty seconds ago, damn she was fast.
Hiccup's prosthetic leg tripped on a tree root and went down. His face hit the dirt with a loud smack. Groaning, he stood back up bracing himself on Toothless.
"Come on bud, we have to find her. There could be heaps of wild dragons here what she could run into. We have to get to her before any of them do."