"Soooo?" She asked.
"So what?"
"So how are you settling in? Do you like it here?" Stormfly pried. As though she hadn't asked me that everyday since I got here. She'd appointed herself as my keeper, making sure I got what I needed and telling me who I should avoid. It was better than figuring out everything on my own but good god, I wasn't an idiot. I could take care of myself. It wasn't as though I'd had a nanny for the last ten years. I guess what I was thinking was written on my face because she made a face. She backed off though.
"Fine." She huffed. "But you just remember, I'm getting that microwave for you." I just rolled my eyes. She smacked me for that. We fell into a comfortable silence as we walked between the buildings. I had been here a week and supposedly we were heading to a restaurant to meet up with her friends. Which was on the other side of the Nest. It would good to meet some new people at least. Everyone I tried to talk to myself just gave me strange looks or tried to establish dominance. They were almost as bad as wild dragons. Guess that's what happens when you're the new scent in the group. Hopefully that would go away soon.
Stormfly tugged on my sleeve. "There it is!" She pointed to a building at the end of the street. The place looked sketchy at best, with a ragged onning and a battered sign in the front that read 'Red Dragon Buffet'. They either stole that sign or had an interesting sense of humor. It was the kind of place most people would have avoided but Stormfly swore by it when she dragged me out. I had to hold back the frown. Apparently I was 'easy to read' as she liked to put it. I didn't want her to know that I'd rather go home and eat more instant ramen than go in there. When she started running down the street, I ran after her, keeping up pretty easily despite the fact that I was two years younger and shorter than her.
Fortunately, the inside looked much better than the outside. The owners, who were Nightmares as far as I could tell, had painted the inside bright red and gold. Red paper lanterns hung from the ceiling. Booths lined one side of the room, hibachi grills on the other, and black lacker tables between them. A Nightmare chef was performing at one of the hibachi tables, setting himself on fire while he cooked for the Zippleback kids watching. Stormfly sped right past the Grounkle hostess and zipped to the back of the restaurant where a group of three were already seated. The Zippleback pair was in a headed debate about what to eat when Stormfly interrupted them.
"Why do you two have to do this every time we go out?" She said, sliding into the seat across from them. That left me with either the seat beside one of the Zippleback boys or between Stormfly and the Grounkle girl. I chose the one beside Stormfly.
"Because he has horrible taste, that's why!" The one next to the empty seat answer, jabbing a finger at his double.
"Oh, sure, I'm the one with horrible taste. At least I don't spend an hour picking broccoli out of my teeth after every meal!" He shot back, getting into the other's face.
"I don't eat broccoli at every meal! Don't you pay attention to anything?" They were nose to nose now.
"Not when it has to do with you!" This was getting awkward. Stormfly rolled her eyes at them and turned her attention back to me.
"The Bicker Buddies are Belch and Barf." When she said their names, they both looked up as if the teacher had called on them. "And that," She pointed to the girl on the other side of me, "is Meatlug." The girl gave me a warm smile. "And if Hookfang would ever get here, the group would be complete."
Meatlug looked more than a little annoyed about Hookfang and his timeliness. "That boy is never here on time." I got the feeling that she wasn't the kind of person to get annoyed easily. He must have been really bad.
"What are you talking about?" Belch, I think, took a moment from his argument to join in our conversation. "He's never late."
"He's always right on time and we're all early." Barf continued with a sarcastic smile. I was still uncomfortable. It was weird being in the middle of a group that obviously close. I wasn't really sure what to do. Fortunately, Meatlug helped me out.
"Toothless right?" She asked. I didn't actually say anything, I just nodded at her. She didn't seem to mind my silence. "How are you liking things so far? Is this your first time being a part of a Nest?"
"Um, yeah. It's really different. I like it pretty well so far. It's nice not being on your own." That seemed to satisfy her. Belch had leaned over to listen in, actually breaking contact with his brother while Barf and Stormfly talked about something.
"So what are you? I've never smelled something like you before?" He asked. Meatlug gave him a hard look.
"Belch! That's rude!" She scolded.
"It's fine. I don't mind. I'm a-"
"No no no! Don't tell me! Lemme guess." He interrupted. I shrugged and leaned back in my chair. He leaned farther forward, squinting his green eyes as he studied me. "You're a..." He gave the air a sniff. "Strike class?" I nodded. He was right. The Zippleback fell silent. This was the tricky part. Not many knew what a Night Fury smelled like, much less looked like as a human. He was leaning so far forward I though he was about to fall into the table. "Frightmare?" I shook my head. Not even close.
"Of course not stupid." That was Barf. "Have you ever seen a Frightmare that wears all black? Besides, the smell isn't right."
"A Skrill then." Belch tried again. And again I shook my head. I saw Stormfly smirking out of the corner of my eye. Meatlug and the twins were thoroughly confused. The two Zipplebacks turned to each other and whispered between themselves. And while Meatlug wasn't playing, I could tell she was trying to figure it out as well. Eventually, Barf leaned across the table and tried to get Stormyfly to tell him but she wouldn't budge. At last, Belch gave up. "Alright." He sighed. "What are you?"
"Night Fury."
The three went quiet and stared at me for a moment or two. I noticed a Nadder a few tables away give me a glance as well. Barf and Belch traded looks with each other and then with Meatlug.
"But I-"
"I see you all are incredibly early." Hookfang broke in, sliding into the empty chair. Meatlug gave him a flat look but didn't say anything. Hookfang just leaned across the table with his arm stretched out to give me a fist bump. I returned the gesture. "So kid, how are things going for you? Getting everything straightened out?" He asked, leaning back in his seat. I just nodded. "Good. If anyone gives you crap, you send 'em my way." I glared at him for that. If anyone tried to 'give me crap' I would deal with it myself. I didn't need anyone trying to fight my fights. I was more than capable of taking care of myself. The Nightmare ignored me, Belch taking up his attention instead.
"Pfft. Like you're some kind of hot shot." He snorted. Barf was bobbing his head behind him.
"Hey. I lead raids." He shot back. "I'm going places, unlike you two pyromaniacs."
"You led one." Barf this time. The three fell into a rather loud argument. Stormfly noticed my aggrivation at least and gave me a pat on the shoulder.
"He says that to every newbie. Don't take it the wrong way. It's just his way of making friends." She glanced up at the squabbling dragons. "Tries to at least." I just grunted and started looking over the menu. The restaurant had a sushi section. A pretty decent one too. "If someone does bother you, go ahead and send them to Hookfang. You can watch him get his ass handed to him!" She sounded so chipper about it I couldn't help but smile. The Nightmare looked up at the sound of his name but before he could say anything, our waiter, a Grounkle, came to get our orders. Hookfang started off with a General Tso's chicken, making sure it was as hot as they offered. The twins tried to order at the same time, which didn't work very well seeing as they both wanted different things. The waiter watched them yell different dish names at each other before turning to Stormfly. Apparently they weren't having teriyaki shrimp or broccoli beef. They were having shrimp stirfry. I got the feeling that that happened a lot.
While they bickered, Meatlug leaned over to me. "Have you ever been to a Nest restaurant before?" She asked. I shook my head. "Well, just be warned, the serving sizes are a lot bigger here." I got a serious big sister vibe coming off her. I just nodded and ordered an Alaskan roll. Meatlug finished off with a pile of rocks and the waiter ran off to do his job. With him gone, the twins went back to bickering with each other, or rather, continued to bicker with each other since they never stopped in the first place. Hookfang and Stormfly talked across the table, and Meatlug seemed content to ask me questions. It was strange to sit around and just talk with other dragons. It was normal to them, but years in the wild left me nervous and jumpy. I kept expecting for a fight to break out or someone to grow claws and try to drive me out or something. It was just, bizarre. And Meatlug was weirdly sincere about everything she said. It was a little creepy. But, seeing as the last time I met a Grounkle we were fighting over a bit of territory, maybe that was just me. But as the night wore on, I started relaxing, having fun, making jokes. Especially when the food came out. Stormfly's chow mien was tall enough to eat a dog and Meatlug's rocks nearly flipped the table. Barf and Stormfly both had to hold down that end of the table while they tried to eat. It was actually a really nice night.
-
We trudged through the cold in silence. The raid hadn't gone well. We lost three Zipplebacks, two Nightmares, and more Grounkles and Nadders than any of us wanted to think about. It was practically a massacre. Stormfly came back with a gash on her leg, Meatlug had bolts in her shoulder, and Barf and Belch both had bullets lodged in their backs. And they both wore the biggest, stupid grins on their stupid faces. I wanted to punch them off. The two were in front of us, chattering like excited school girls with Stormfly and I following. It was the middle of the next day and we were heading back from the comic store. Meatlug had been with us too but she got caught up reading She-Hulk so we went on without her. Hookfang was still trying to sort out everything that had happened. We didn't know when he'd be able to get away. I'd been glaring at them the entire way, which they ignored, surprise surprise. Stormfly nudged me in the arm.
"Would you calm down? It's over. Let it go."
"Dragons died." I growled.
"Yeah. Some always do. It just the way things go. You know that."
"Well maybe more would have come home if not for those two idiots." Barf and Belch came to a complete stop. Calling them stupid was the number one way to get them mad. And I knew that.
"Excuse me?" They said at the same time, looking over their shoulder at me. It was nice to know that they could pay attention when they wanted to. Now if they would only do it when they were supposed to. I didn't answer them, just glared. I wasn't backing down from this and I made that very clear. They turned to face me, returning the aggression. "Who are you calling idiots?" Stormfly took a step away.
"The two that ruined the entire fucking raid in one fell swoop." The two rushed me, banging me against the wall of the alley we were in.
"We aren't stupid." Belch hissed.
"And we didn't ruin the raid. We saved dragons, moron." Barf spat the word at me.
"From something you started in the first place! Dragons died because of your stupid fuck up!" They might have had me pinned but if anything, that made me even more dangerous.
"We did what we were told, you shit."
"And you managed to fuck that up too!" I was getting in their face now, forcing them back a step or two. "I mean, is this a fucking game to you? Dragons we knew died. Does that matter to you or do you just go on those raids to get your shits and giggles blowing up stuff?"
"Who the hell do you think you are? Asking shit like that"
"Those were our friends, our nest-mates. We've known them a lot longer than you've even been here."
"They were our family, something you'll never know, you're practically extinct after all! You don't get to talk to us about-"
They never got to finish the sentence, my fist was too busy ramming into Barf's face. Before Belch could get a hit on me, I kicked him in the ribs. I felt Barf's elbow slam down between my neck and shoulder. The skinny bastards were slow but they were at least a foot taller than me and packed one hell of a punch. I barely hesitated a second before turning on him, managing to punch him twice in the gut and once in his face before Belch tackled me from behind. We went down roaring, grabbing each other and rolling on the ground. Belch ended up on top and managed to break my nose. But more often than not, I dodged his blows and his fist met with hard asphalt. I reached up and clawed at his face and hair, grabbing a handful of the shaggy red stuff and forcing his head to meet mine. That stopped him long enough for me to roll him off, only to have Barf take his place. He was a much better shot than his brother and got two hits on my jaw. My blood was pumping and I was ready to tear off both their heads. I roared in his face and grabbed his shoulders to roll. Instead, he was ripped off me by a third party. I scrambled to my feet, wired and ready to keep going. It was Meatlug who stood between us, giving each of us hard, disappointed looks.
"Stop it! All of you!" She growled. "I'll be damned if I let my friends kill each other! Now put your claws away!" When Meatlug started using fowl language, that meant she was serious. I looked between her and the Zippleback. Barf and Belch were holding hands. If they wanted to, they could change right here and now and take me out if they wanted. Instead, they just glared at me, their eyes yellow and green scales starting to creep down their faces. I became aware of my own scales sprouting. I'm sure that my own eyes were green and dilated like theirs. I let out a growl and they met it with hisses of their own, Belch only a moment behind his brother. "I. Said. Stop it!" Meatlug roared. Stormfly was off to the side, watching and bobbing like a bird. Belch and Barf slowly relaxed out of their stances, their scales disappearing into normal human skin. I followed their lead. When the three of us were relaxed and looking human, Meatlug relaxed as well. She stayed between us though. She let a sigh out her nose and smoothed her bangs. "Good. Now Barf, Belch, I think you should go home. Stormfly, Toothless, and I will go back to my house." Her house was in the exact opposite direction. I could tell that the twins hated taking orders from her, but they didn't argue. They gave me one last glare before heading down the alley way. Once they cleared the tight area, they changed into their full dragon form and took off. They weren't headed home but they were going somewhere else. That's all that really mattered right now.
With them gone, I relaxed the rest of the way and shoved my hands back in my pockets. Stormfly walked over to join us. None of us said anything. Meatlug gave me a hard look and stormed down the alley in the opposite direction. As if it was my fault. Stormfly gave me a glance over before following after the Grounkle. I headed down the alley but at the first street we came to, I turned and left them. They let me. I went home alone.
-
"Toothless! Let me go!" He howled. I could feel him struggling in my claws but I didn't do what he asked. I wasn't going to loose another. "Toothless! You have to let me go! Don't make me leave her! Don't you dare!" It was pitiful. I glanced over to Stormfly who was flying next to me. It was dangerous staying here, just hovering over the Viking town. Everyone else had passed us. We were alone. The Nadder looked between me and the human shape in my front claws before nodding. I hated it. But she was right. I glanced behind us. I could see Barf fighting against the Vikings for all she was worth. It wasn't working though. I could see the huge metal cage they were forcing her towards to. At least that meant they weren't going to kill her. At least not right away.
I flew down to an empty street and set him down. Belch ripped away from me before I could even let him go all the way. With him gone, I shot into the sky and Stormfly and I flew to a safer distance. Then we turned to watch. Belch forced his way through the Vikings. I don't think the Boss himself could have kept him away from his double. He was crying. Both of them were. I couldn't see it but I knew it. Barf and Belch managed to hug before the Vikings forced both of them towards the cage, gloating over how well it had worked, using half a Zippleback as bait. They dragged them into the cage and chained it shut with them inside it. One of them raised a gun and we looked away. We couldn't stop from hearing it though. Hearing the gunshots.
-
I opened my eyes. It was a nightmare. It was just a nightmare. Only instead of waking up to the real world, I woke up to a new one.
I didn't move. I didn't know where I was but I wasn't alone. There was someone else here. I could hear the scratching of their pencil as they wrote something. A sniff told me that it was a Viking. Which raised the question, why wasn't I dead? It took me a minute but then I remembered. It was that boy. He was going to kill me. But then he didn't. Where ever he took me, it was old and musty. There was enough dust that I nearly sneezed. I was lying on a few boxes fashioned into a bed. If he had bothered to haul me to this place and make up a place for me to sleep, then he wasn't going to kill me. I couldn't figure out why, but I wasn't complaining. Whatever the reason, I could find out later. For now, I needed to get him in my sights. Right now, my back was facing him and that was something I couldn't afford. Just because he didn't kill be then, doesn't mean he wasn't going to kill me now. I shifted about half a centimeter before freeze with pain. My leg was in bad shape. I don't know what happened to it but it wasn't good. The boy stopped writing but I was a bit preoccupied with my leg that felt like it was trying to kill me. I grid my teeth and roll over, my ribs screaming at me now too. Once I was on my back, I did by best to sit up. Fortunately, there was a wall behind me so I leaned against that. He stood a several feet away, watching me. The Viking was a toothpick of a boy and looked about my age. He also looked like he was ready to wet himself. Good. He should be afraid of me. If he tried anything, I was going to rip him in two, even with the busted leg.
"You're awake." He pointed out nervously. I glared at him. He fidgeted. "Um. I would have tried to help with your leg but I didn't really know what to do." He turned his gaze to the floor, rubbing the back of his neck. I didn't speak. I just stared him down. After a moment of awkward silence, he glanced back up at me. "If you needed anything, I could-" My growl cut him off. The boy took a few steps towards me. I didn't trust him. Especially not the way I was now. I knew he had a weapon on him. I wasn't going to let him anywhere near me. He took a few staggering steps back and I stopped growling. I didn't stop glaring however. I let my scales crawl their way to the surface, black dots on tan skin. I know what my eyes look like, what I look like. I was not human. I was a dangerous creature, a monster to them, and I wanted him to remember that.
I watched him standing there, his scared fidgeting. It took him a moment but he finally seemed to understand my message. With a fleeting glance, he left the room. I listened as he left. The Viking took one flight of stairs, two flights, three. I was three flights off the ground. I couldn't help but wonder why. Wouldn't one be enough? Unless he wanted to trap me here. He knew I had a bad leg. I wouldn't be able to get far like this, especially if I had three flights of stairs to contend with. He might be a stick of a boy but he certainly wasn't stupid. I had to give him that.
I waited close to an hour before letting myself relax. He hadn't come back and I hadn't heard anything that indicate that he was near here. The boxes were close to an open window, letting me hear anything that might be down on the street. I carefully got to my feet, nearly falling as I tried to stand. The pain was horrible but I forced my way through it. Using the wall as a crutch, I limped over to the window. There was nothing but short buildings and empty streets around me. It looked a bit different but I recognized the area as the warehouse district in the town. I'd never been on a raid here, the area was abandoned long before I joined the Nest, but I'd flown through it on more than one occasion. The room he'd put me in was littered with boxes here and there, with a big gaping hole in the floor above me, right through the roof. I suspected the work of a Grounkle. They had a fun habit of dropping themselves out of the sky to get at food. It was terrifying to be on the receiving end, I knew that from personal experience. I could see the tracks in the dirt where he had pushed the boxes around and dragged me to them. It was embarrassing. The sun was setting outside. That meant I only had a few hours until I would be able to change again. Then maybe I could get out of here.
In the meantime, I shuffled back to the bed and did the best to treat my injuries. I had a partially torn ligament in my knee that hurt like hell, my ankle was broken in two different places, and, as far as I could tell, three of my ribs were bruised. There wasn't much I could do about the ribs so I did my best to fix up my leg. All that time helping the medical crew really came in handy. I didn't bother with a splint for my ankle since hopefully, I'd soon be on my way back to the Nest where I could get treated by one of our doctors. Instead, I just wrapped both it and my knee tight with strips of fabric that had been on top of the boxes. Since I had nothing soft to use, I ripped a few pieces of wood off of nearby boxes to prop it up on. Ice would have been great but that wasn't a luxury I had. I planned to stay awake until it was time, try to puzzle out just why that Viking would keep me around, but instead I ended up asleep. Whoops. When I woke up again, the moon was out and I only had two hours until my time was up. I had to hurry.
Trying to shift back into a dragon with a broken bone was the stupidest thing I had ever done. I was left howling on the floor, in pain, for what seemed like forever before I managed to focus long enough to undo what I had done. Which wasn't even much. But the second the bones had begun to change, everything went wrong. It felt like I was continuously being shot, one bullet for every heartbeat. And even once I did go back, I was still stuck on the floor, just trying to recover from it. My head was spinning and the world was getting dark, very dark. I focused on a jutting wooden board above me, willing myself to stay conscious. If I couldn't shift, I was stuck. I was trapped in this godforsaken place with no way to get out. I was as good as dead. Whether a Viking killed me, that boy or someone else, or starvation or dehydration, I was as good as dead. I wish he'd had the guts to do it. Then I wouldn't be in this position in the first place. But right now, I didn't need to think about that. I need to get back on that 'bed' and make sure things hadn't gotten worse. Getting back up was worse than getting off and took me a few tries. I couldn't put weight on my left leg at all. I was so fucked. I did get up there though, and immediately felt for anything new. As fas as I could tell, I had managed to avoid any new manage, though I sure as hell didn't help what was already there. Two of the pieces of wood I used to prop up my foot became pieces of a splint. Without them, the stack of wood was only two boards high, pitiful for what I needed it for. But it would have to work. I wasn't getting up again. Not now. I needed to sleep. Something that was avoiding me. Or rather, was warded off. The pain was horrible, a steady pulse every second or two. I was considering biting my leg off but that wouldn't help. By the time sleep finally came, I was too exhausted to think straight. I was out like a light and screw whatever tomorrow held. One step at a time, Toothless. One step at a time.