"Who are you really?" he accused.
The blood in Shadow's veins froze at his reproachful words. Her muscles tensed, her claws flexed and jammed into the branch she was sitting on. Her back arched like an animal's when in danger.
Her breathing became ragged as she gazed into his unwavering eyes. Those were the eyes of someone who held another person's fate in their hands. Shadow's suppressed memories resurfaced as she remembered others who had the same eyes.
The King of some southern country. The Roman General. The Hunters of supernatural creatures. They had all looked at her the same way. Those demanding eyes that chilled her to the bone. The accusations that tore at her heart.
Shadow's throat tightened at the memories. She remembered all the other times she had been caught, nearly killed. All those times, she let her guard down, and it nearly cost her life.
Traitor. Tied to a whipping post, a whip lashing against her back.
Murderer. Her head on the chopping block. An axe raised above her head.
Monster. Lashed to a pyre, surrounded by hay bales. Fires ready to consume her.
Times in which she had let her guard down, given away too much, let people too close. It was all coming back to haunt her. Never again. Never again, she promised herself. She had never wanted to see those same eyes again, but she was.
Hiccup. Wonderful, friendly, harmless Hiccup, was staring at her with those eyes. The eyes she had learned to associate with pain, suffering and death.
She couldn't bare to look at him any longer. She couldn't bare to be at his mercy with her life on the line.
Never again would she let her life force be controlled by someone other than her.
She wasn't going to let herself be at anyone's mercy ever again.
Defiantly from her space in the tree, Shadow reared up and snarled. The sound of her roar echoed throughout the area, frightening anyone that heard. She growled, snarled, hissed and roared at Hiccup and the other teens.
She bared her teeth at him, letting him see the tools she used to rip people's throats out.
She would not let him catch her. She would not let him kill her.
Without warning, she turned and lunged for the next tree, and then the next. Leaping through the trees and bushes. Shadow ran as fast as she could into the growing darkness, escaping the clutches of someone who she believed her enemy.
Her ears picked up the sound of Hiccup calling out to her as he and the Night Fury perused. She ran faster, jumped longer, and sprinted further through the trees.
Her blood boiled with adrenaline and rage, and she longed to fly. The great black beast within her longed to break free, to help her escape. But it couldn't just yet.
"Shadow! Wait!" she heard Hiccup call.
The Black Moon dragon struggled to break free and control her mind, like it had so many times before. It wanted to regain control, take her away from this place, help her be free. The natural instincts of the beast filled her mind.
Run. Survive. Eat. Kill… Run. Survive. Eat. Kill…
Suddenly, her body lurched forward, and she was no longer running on two feet, but on all fours. Her claws left deep gorge marks in the dirt. Her breathing became throaty and husky as her base instincts tore through her mind. Every muscle burned with fire.
She heard the sound of flapping wings coming closer and closer. A dragon's call bellowed from behind her. The Night Fury, it was calling to her. She ignored his calls and sped on.
She couldn't outrun him forever. She needed a place to hide. A place she could wait for the great black beast to return. Yes. A cave would suit her. Somewhere dark where she could lurk, and stay away from the other dragons. And Hiccup. He wouldn't be able to find her. He couldn't see in the dark.
She ran on through the darkness until she found a cave entrance. Growling in triumph, she ran towards it and into the dark unknown. The stone tunnel was dark, wet and silent. Only the sounds of Shadow's ragged breathing filled the air.
She ran on through the shadows, twisting and turning through the natural passageways, and jumping over rocks that threatened to bar her way.
Faintly, the sound of beating wings could be heard as she ran. The Night Fury was still following her.
She kept on running, faster and faster on her hands and feet. Her scaled armor jangled at her violent movements, and her tones muscles rippled with the force of her movements.
Suddenly she slipped. Her front right claw landed in a pool of water, making her lose her grip, and her face came crashing down on the cold hard stone. She painfully rolled and tumbled through the cave, her back and arms and legs scraping painfully against the ground. She felt rocks slam into her body and head as she cannoned through the darkness.
All of a sudden, the ground gave out beneath her and she fell. Shadow screamed as gravity took over and she plummeted into the earth. Her head rattled with every collision of the walls. She could feel her bones being bashed inside her body, possibly breaking.
She continued to scream in pain as she descended into the dark depths of the unnatural tunnel.
With a mighty smash, she was brought to a stop against a stalagmite, which broke off at the speed she cannoned into it. She groaned as she felt every muscle in her body wincing with protest. She hadn't felt this much pain all over her body since she was interrogated for information over ten years ago. She remembered her torturer being absolutely brutal and unforgiving. Much like that tunnel.
Shadow's breathing was ragged and her lungs burned and ached with every small movement. She had no choice but to lay there and gather her energy and catch her breath.
Achingly, she sat up and braced her clawed hand against the ground to hold herself up. The sound of something crumbling, and the feeling of something strange under her palm caught her attention. She looked down.
Eggshell.
What in the name Hades?
Why would an eggshell of this size be under Berk? In fact, what kind of dragons hid their eggs underground? Curiously, she looked around at her surroundings. There were more eggshells, all busted open. Their cracked remains littered the floor of the cavern.
Her head snapped back to where she came in. Hiccup was there, and god, he looked pissed.
"Shadow! What in the name of Odin is going on? Why did you run off like that? Why were you acting like some sort of wild dragon?"
Toothless growled in the darkness.
"Shadow, I've played the waiting game with you long enough. I know you are hiding something. You are becoming increasingly dangerous and volatile. What are you hiding!?" he demanded.
For someone so small, he surely had a set of lungs on him.
But Shadow's focus laid elsewhere, mainly, the broken remains of dragon eggs strewn around the cavern. She had seen eggs like these before, but where.
"Shadow! Are you even listening to me!?"
"SILENCE!" she roared. She dropped her voice to a whisper. "We are not alone in here."
He froze at her words, and he finally saw the broken remains at her feet. Curiously, she lifted a section of the eggshell to her nose and inhaled its scent.
Her eyes widened in terror. "Whispering Death eggs…"
dun dun duuuuuun! hehehehehe. things are getting more and more interesting. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I seriously enjoyed writing it. I was struggling for a bit on how Shadow would react to Hiccup demanding to know who she is exactly, and I wanted her to think back to other times in her life where she was in similar situations, and acting according to past experiences. tell me what you think of those three hints at her past, and what you think happened in those situations.
there is going to be a big fight scene coming up next, between Shadow, Hiccup, Toothless and three young Whispering Deaths. this is meant to be similar to the riders of berk episode, except this time, they cannot use sunlight against them... how will all this go down? I dont even know yet. lol.
please favourite, follow and leave a review!