My first impulse is to run, but I'm trapped in a rock and a hard place, literally. I huff and puff, trying to make use of the air that seems deprived of oxygen. The dragon's nostrils flare, as if trying to catch my scent. But all I can see are the multiple rows of razor teeth. Rotating constantly, creating a rather deafening clicking sound. I wouldn't mind if it weren't so close.
The slightest movement from the dragon knocks off pebbles and dirt from its head. Its spikes on its head flick up and down as if they're portraying the dragon's next movement. Spikes are the only thing that I can make out of the dragon since they're all over the beast's body. It leans closer as I struggle to say something. Its eyes are so close to its head that I'm drawn right to them.
It moans rather than roar. Like it's trying to get my attention. I momentarily try and gaze in its eyes to see what it needs.
"What's wrong?" I whisper. Cautious that even the slightest sound will trigger it.
I don't know anything about this dragon except on what I've read in the book. They attack from below. Their rotating teeth can penetrate through anything. And they can breathe rings of fire. But despite their reputation, they loved to be brushed! If that's the key to getting me out of here, then I'll have to try. But I don't have anything.
I reach out my hand to its snout. Suddenly the dragon roars, or more rather hisses. I flinch back and jump out of the way as it burrows through the dirt wall like parchment. I watch as it glides through the dirt effortlessly. While the Whispering Death can fly in the open air, it morally does better underground with its rows of rotating teeth. That and when underground, it's possible it can even fly faster underground than in the air. When aboveground, they're bodies spiral as a way to push them through the air.
It spirals deeper and I decide to follow. I have to push myself up with numb arms that are still recovering from the initial shock. I have to run to keep up with it. It's much faster underground than I imagined. I have to pull my collar up over my nose and use my hand to cover my eyes so I don't inhale the dry dirt clouds, and so that I don't lose sight of the dragon.
The dragon makes a sharp turn to the left, and I end up skidding. It doesn't seem to know I'm following it, or it does know and it doesn't care. Or it's leading me somewhere. I have to multitask while I stay on the dragon's tail. But I can't even get near that either with its spiraling motion and spikes that could inflict serious damage.
I have to make sure I don't lose sight of it, while avoiding inhaling any dirt, and watching out for any sudden roots or rocks that spring up out of nowhere as the Whispering Death carves its path in the dirt. I get a few scratches but other than that I seem to be doing well.
Suddenly there's a sudden burst of light that currently blinds me. As my eyes adjust, I catch the scent of soil. When my eyes fixate, I find myself in and underground cave. There were several wormholes entering and leaving the cave. Some had light in them, indicating that they lead to the surface. The place was hollowed out, so I figured this must be its home. It crawls across the dirt lined ground. Constantly moaning and hissing. And then I see a small but think line of blood emanating from the dragons stomach.
I slowly approach the dragon as it settles down, coiling up like a snake would. As I move toward it, it gives a deep guttural growl. I hesitate for a minute, and feel inside my vest and thank Thor I have some Dragon Nip with me. I'm not particularly sure if this is what it likes, but better I try this than fish. Seeing how it stays underground, his appetite is still unsure to me.
But he eats the nip just fine, so I leave it at that. I manage to get close enough to touch his snout, but I'm extremely cautious. This is a dragon that haunts the nightmares of several Vikings just from having an encounter with the creature. Just saying its name gives everyone a scare. Apart from Toothless, I think the Whispering Death is the only other dragon that is said to haunt the dreams of Vikings.
It's also a creature used to teach little kids a lesson. For many things really. Every Viking parent would use the legend of the Whispering Death as a way to make their children behave. I remember when I was a child, maybe about five or six years old, my father would use the legend of the Whispering Death to scare me enough to make me behave. My mother would confront and sometimes even yell at my father since I used to scare easily.
The legend goes that the Whispering Death had a sort of sense for children who disobeyed their parents. If I child had disobeyed their parents, the parents would say that the Whispering Death will come and get you and gobble you and rip you to shreds with its rotating teeth.
Obviously, my mother didn't want my father saying this to me anymore. Apart from the fact that I used to scare easily, I would take it too seriously. Anytime I didn't listen to my parents, I would avoid stepping on the ground, afraid the Whispering Death could feel my footsteps and gobble me in one gulp.
Not only that, but I guess mom thought the whole thing was too twisted in general, especially as a way of discipline for children.
And now I'm in this creature's home.
I pet the dragon's snout and it seems to be fine with me being here. As I pet its snout, and soon being scratching it under the chin, I am careful not to incapacitate it like I learned from Toothless. I can see where the blood may be coming from, possibly just a simple cut. As I keep petting the Whispering Death, I motion my other hand to its stomach and it doesn't react until I get closer to the wound.
It jerks so suddenly I fall back, startled. It growls, and I get up and inch back to it. It still let's me come close, but the dragon has its wings covering the wound, making it hard if not impossible to check the damage.
"It's okay. It's okay." I whisper to it. And I proceed closer.
I manage to touch the dragon's wing, and after we exchange a glance, I slowly pull the dragon's wing up and reveal the wound.
The cut was more of a gash, but nothing I couldn't handle. Thankfully he wasn't in any danger of bleeding to death through the wound. But it's still fair game for infections. I go to touch it, but the dragon's growl makes me stop. Obviously there was something lodged in there if a gentle touch hurts. I look around for anything I could use to help pull it loose.
The best way I can describe the damage is like a really bad splinter on a Viking. Since I have no other tools, I'll have to use my hands. I shudder, but if I can remove the 'splinter' then I'll for sure gain his trust. The first thing I have to do it clean the wound. I pat his snout and jog over to a tunnel with moist soil.
I peek inside and can feel the water beneath my fingers. Whispering Deaths have to drink too. So I follow the tunnel, ignoring my wet knees and reach the surface. I was now in a small watering hole not too far from the Cove. It was later in the night from when I left Toothless. Most likely one in the morning. No wonder no one came looking for me, either that or they promised Toothless they'd look for me tomorrow. But knowing Toothless, he won't let them sleep until I'm found.
Not having any cloths, I strip off my shirt – ignoring the cold chill - and dip it into the water soaking it through. Nothing has frozen over yet, so this is a relief.
I then gather a couple of grass baskets I quickly and expertly weaved tightly together so it holds the water. I fill them both to the brim and lazily toss my soaked shirt inside and heading back under into the tunnel, being cautious so I don't spill.
The Whispering Death is still coiled together, and when I arrive back with the water his spikes perk up. I walk over and settle them down next to the dragon and wring out my shirt. I put my hand on the dragon's tail which is covering the wound so that I could move it. But when I did, another part of the dragon's snake-like body, bends and moves over the wound.
"Aw, come on bud you're killing me." I say. And the dragon vocals in reply. I decide to and convince the dragon to uncoil. While I know it feels more comfortable, I have to have it uncoil so that I can get a good view of the wound. "Come on, buddy." I coach.
The dragon moans as it begins to shift its body, "I know, I know. Don't worry you'll be okay." I assure.
Finally I have the dragon in a giant perfect circle. Its wound was just below where its wings were posted. I lean in and begin to pat the blood away. I soak and wring out my shirt repeatedly and soon the wound clears. One bucket of water is now slightly red from the blood, but I still use it.
Once I can actually see the wound, I find a small spine had been the culprit. Whether it was from a Deadly Nadder, I'm not sure. But the dragon didn't show any symptoms of being poisoned. Before I get to work on the spine, I offer the other basket of water to the dragon. He takes a good few licks, but leaves the rest.
Suddenly the coldness of the cave begins to set in and my skin is soon crawling with goosebumps. I pull out a few roots and gather them together in a pile. A big enough pile so that I won't have to keep stopping to add more wood. Before I get the chance to get to sticks to start it, the Whispering Death ignites the wood with a ring of fire.
He purrs and rests his head close to me as I sit cross-legged and being to work on the spine. It wasn't as deep as I'd thought. The process required multiple exchanges of pulling out the actual spine and cleaning the blood that would leak through when I would move the spine. While I am extremely grossed out, my focus on helping the dragon overpowers the grossness and gives me the strength to keep pulling and cleaning.
The dragon is very patient, I'll give him that. He lets out an occasional, what I can describe as a baby dragon roar or cry whenever I would pull the spine too harshly.
"It's okay. You're going to be fine." I assure. And I make a major mental note to have my shirt cleaned repeatedly once we get back to the village.
As I'm working on the spine, my mind wanders as to what happened to Toothless after I had fallen through the hole. No doubt he went back to the village screaming and wailing. And I am afraid that everyone will think he's overreacting. But me not being with him should automatically put up a red flag for everyone.
I'm confident that either Astrid or Skullette or even Gobber will know what Toothless is trying to say. So I put aside my worry on getting home later. I could use the Whispering Death, but its spikes don't seem like the most comfortable dragon to ride, and he's in no condition to even burrow anymore.
I keep assuring the dragon he'll be fine, and when I finally have just the tip of the spine to pull out, I feel myself relax, and pull it out with one yank. The dragon yelps and jumps at the motion, but once it feels that the pain has stopped, it purrs with joy. When I manage to calm it down, I wrap the gash, which is still bleeding a little, in some leaves I had found. The bleeding will stop on its own, but this way it'll heal faster and won't bleed more if the dragon does any sudden moves.
The fire cracks and burns on until I see the moonlight fade from one of the tunnels. The Whispering Death's tail coils around me and pulls me closer.
"Whoa, whoa." I utter as I feel my back against the neck of the dragon. It purrs gratefully and I can even see a smile through all of those jagged teeth. I hang my shirt on a root sticking out, and after emptying both baskets, I use the baskets as a pillow. The dragon would occasionally nuzzle my cheek and purr. "Hey easy there big boy. I've already got a dragon."
Somehow I manage to doze off in the cold, coiled skin of the Whispering Death, because the next time I wake up, there's daylight streaming in through the tunnels. I sit up and stretch out my arms and yawn. I look to the dragon who's dozed off too. I remove the leaves and the bleeding has totally stopped.
I slowly get up to get my shirt and find it dry but a little stiff from the cold and water. Nonetheless, I pull it on and proceed to finding breakfast. The best I can do since I left my bow at home is set a few snares. I head up top and set a few using some vines I snap off from a willow tree. When I leave them to go and check on the Whispering Death, I come to find him awake. And he's already reignited the fire. I grab the grass baskets – which thankfully aren't too smashed from me sleeping – and gather more water so that I can scrub his teeth.
After checking the snares, I'm pleased already with two squirrels. I hop back down and after skinning the squirrels and gathering the water, I head up for one more trip to gather fish. I manage to break off a tree branch and use that as a spear. I only get about four fish, but I'm hoping it's enough.
Back underground, I cook the squirrel and like every other dragon, the Whispering Death gobbles the fish. After I finish one squirrel, feeling full, I give the other to the dragon. Then once again, I pull off my shirt, and soak it in water, then after getting the Whispering Death to close its gaping mouth, I begin scrubbing back and forth and up and down. Scrubbing off all of the dirt and soil and clay as best I can.
The dragon gets so relaxed he even closes his eyes as I clean his outer teeth. Getting the inner teeth is a little more challenging without a broom or mop, but the Whispering Death opens wide and almost locks its jaws in place as I scrub row after row of its razor sharp rotating teeth. The dragon closes its eyes and purrs as I clean each row of teeth.
As I'm finishing the last row of teeth, there's a sudden noise that catches both out attention. I jerk my head up to one of the holes while the Whispering Death simultaneously lifts its head and its spikes perk up. The sound vocals again, and I stand up and approach the hole.
"Hiccup!"
"Hiccup!"
Hiccup? Who's calling me? But when I hear Gobber's voice, I'm suddenly excited. I'm about to go when the Whispering Death calls from behind me.
"Oh, you. You stay here. I'll be right back." I say. The dragon purrs and I ascend to the surface. I peak my head up from a hole and I find no one.
I fully come out of the hole and suddenly I'm tackled by Toothless. I land on the ground with and Oof! and Toothless is licking my face all over.
"Okay! Okay Bud I missed you too!" I say and I push him off.
"Hiccup!" I hear Astrid call.
"Astrid! Gobber!" I say as I notice him coming up from behind her.
She wraps me in hug, and I look to see Skullette behind her and she hugs me too.
Not too far were Fishlegs and Snotlout.
"We were so worried, Hiccup!" Skullette exclaims.
"Yeah, what happened to you?" Astrid asks.
I look to SNotlout real quick and he mouths to me, How do you do it?
"Hiccup?" Astrid asks.
"Oh well, funny thing is, after I had dropped you off at home, Toothless and I took a walk through the woods, and then we met a new dragon." I say.
"Really? What kind?" Gobber interjects.
"Oh well . . ." I start, but suddenly the ground vibrates just like before and Toothless is by my side, growling, ready.
"What's happening?!" Fishlegs asks scared.
"No, no, no, wait!" I exclaim. "Toothless!" I say trying to get his attention, but he's already hissing in a certain direction.
Suddenly, a part of the ground erupts and the Whispering Death breaks through the ground by spiraling. It roars in fury. Its mouth wide open, showing off its rotating teeth. It must've felt the vibrations of when Toothless tackled me and thought something was wrong.
"A Whispering Death." Gobber says in astonishment and possibly even fear.
Toothless growls and bares his teeth in hatred at the Whispering Death.
"No, no, no! Toothless!" I say, but he's already bolted forward and tackles the Whispering Death to the ground.
The rest of the dragon's body breaks through the surface, flailing and flopping like a fish. Toothless goes to claw at the dragon but its tail coils around his torso and flings him off just missing the trunk of a tree.
"Toothless!" I scream.
Suddenly the Whispering Death lunges forward and Astrid dodges out of the way as the dragon encloses me like a snake. At first I'm afraid that it's strangle me, but actually it gives off a deep growl and I look to find the others huddled behind Gobber. The Whispering Death was protecting me. It thought Toothless and the others were a threat.
"Oh, no, no, no. it'd okay. These are my friends." I assure.
The dragon hesitates for a minute, then out of nowhere, Toothless tackles the dragon from behind. Thankfully the dragon held itself up so it wouldn't crush me. Toothless scratches and tries to bite, and I try to tell him to stop, but even I can't hear myself over the dragon's roars.
"No Toothless stop. Please wait!" I call.
Toothless's tail whips around and smacks me in the neck and chest. I'm flung back and feel my spine slam into a tree trunk. I fall, struggling, gasping for breath.
"Hiccup!" Astrid screams.
Soon I see Snotlout and Goober ramming head on into the fight. By now the Whispering Death has Toothless coiled in its snake body. Toothless's wings flail and flap. He bites at the dragon, but its grip won't loosen. Fishlegs comes to my aid and helps me to my feet. The world is fuzzy, but he helps to lead me away from the fight.
"No wait, I need to stay." I tell him, but my voice sounds so slurred.
"Hiccup you can't help them like this." He says.
"But I can't just let them tear each other apart."
I turn back and find Gobber and Astrid holding Toothless back while Snotlout and the twins try to rope the Whispering Death. He turns to me and sees Fishlegs leading me away. He roars in fury and quickly tosses the twins like a pebble and spirals over to me. Fishlegs flees over to Gobber and the dragon coils around me once again. He gives off this deep hatred growl. Toothless shoves aside Astrid and Gobber, zips right past Skullette and goes for the Whispering Death.
"No! No! Stop!" I manage to break free from the Whispering Death and stand in front of Toothless. "Toothless stop!" I order. I turn to the Whispering Death. "This is my friend." The dragon turns its head slightly, as if questioning. Toothless growls and grimaces at the Whispering Death. "I-It's okay, bud."
"Hiccup, what are you doing?" Astrid asks.
I ignore her as I act as the barrier between Toothless and the Whispering Death. Both dragons growls and hiss at each other. Toothless's eyes are slits and the Whispering Death opens its mouth showing off its teeth trying to intimidate him.
"It's okay." I say. I turn to the Whispering Death. "He's a friend." The Whispering Death grimaces. Toothless bares his teeth. "Easy bud. He's hurt. You just scared him." Toothless's ears flatten back and he growls. Apparently that's no excuse. I take my hand and put it on the Whispering Death's snout. He relaxes a little, and from behind me I can hear Toothless lessen the sound of his growl.
The Whispering Death lowers his head as I stroke his scales. Toothless, cautiously approaches the dragon, but I guess he lets go a little as we both notice blood leaking from the previous wound I'd patched. Once both dragons relax, the tension seems to deflate. The Whispering Death coils up and sets his head on the ground. Toothless comes closer and even licks some of the cuts he created in the midst of the fight.
The dragon winces, but doesn't pull away. Gobber comes up behind me as I continue to stroke the Whispering Death's forehead. "You really are an amazing boy Hiccup." He tells me.
I look and see a smile on his face. And the genuine tone in his voice seems so honest and true. I smile and with the help of Snotlout, Fishlegs and Tuffnut, we carry the Whispering Death by its head back to the village. It can still move its body on its own, but we have to carry the slack sometimes.
As we're outside the border of the village, my head begins to throb. I immediately drop my portion of the dragon unceremoniously, and place my hand on the trunk of a tree, cradling my forehead.
"Hiccup?" Skullette calls to me. Slowly approaching me. "Everything okay?" she asks.
"Does it look like he's okay?" Astrid snaps.
"Stop." I whisper to her.
"What's wrong?" Fishlegs asks.
"Suddenly I'm not feeling too good." I say. I hear Toothless and the Whispering Death perk their heads up.
"It's probably from that hit you took when you smacked into the tree." Fishlegs confirms.
"Maybe." I agree.
"Girls, take Hiccup home. We'll take the Whispering Death to the Academy and get Goathy to treat him." Gobber says.
Toothless vocals to me, "Sure bud, you can come too."
Then Astrid and Skullette each take an arm, and they be my crutches until we reach the village. Thankfully I was able to keep up with them in my condition, but as we're bounding the steps to my house, my strength fades and they both clutch me as I was about to collapse. All I remember is us ascending the steps to my bedroom, then I blacked out.