Hey guys! I am so excited. I don't know why but I am and it's 3:30am where I am at. Anyways, enjoy the chapter. As always, forgive me for my mistakes as I don't have a beta reader.
"Alright then, you guys. How are we gonna finish this?", asked Chris. Everyone in that cave, looked at him with dinner plates for eyes. Chris looked around like he had no clue as to what he just said, then let out the chuckle he held in.
"..I'm just kidding. Man, the looks you guys had on your faces, priceless", Chris smirked.
With that, the whole group glared at Chris. As Chris finished his chuckling, he glanced at the group and groaned, "I'm just trying to lighten the mood". Still the group did not falter from their glares. Chris heaved out a sigh as he got up and approached another of his cave shelves and retrieved, what appeared to be, another map, which happened to be a whole lot bigger. He unrolled it and placed it on a large, slanted piece of wood which was held up by a group of stalagmites, near the side of his dwelling.
"We are here", Chris gestured as he pointed to a specific part on the map. "The yellow, is our territory. The red, is the Song's territory. As you can see, our territory is 3x as small compared to them. The Song have no intention of making peace with the surrounding lands in this region. They just pillage and claim all within their sight, as their own. Then they move on to the next region, and repeat. We, happen to be in their path, so they tried to take us down. As you can see, my presence alone proves to you we are not some simple foe. We kick ass! Anyways, they tried relentlessly to ambush us, kill us, torture us, etc., but they don't know who they are dealing with. They just think we are clever abominations...who just happen to know the weak points of the human body, the likelihood of where a human would place a dragon trap, and the fighting style of their enemy".
"Wait, no dragon could possibly know specifics about a human and its tendencies. They had to get the information from somewhere..", Tenro trailed off as he came to a conclusion, "are you telling me…?"
"I taught these dragons everything I know about humans. Thank the gods, the Draconian library had some books on my kind. I also told them what I learned while spying on the Song. And since I was trained early on by none other than you, and father, on how to defend myself and fight, I passed that on to the dragons here as well. I have been told by other dragons that I have saved countless of lives since I got here. Truth be told, it wasn't my teachings that shaped these dragons into what they are today. It was themselves. Apparently, because of me, the dragons in this nest are pretty much 2 steps ahead of the Song soldiers, even when I can't come up with a plan. Apparently, I am the reason dragons can rest peacefully. Apparently, I alone could stop this war, as I am claimed to be a hero of dragons. I do not believe so. Sure, I may have a great mind, or near-perfect combat skills, or whatever you would want to label me as. I simply opened a door. The dragons were the ones who had the choice of walking through it. The point is, I am not invincible. Every man will fall eventually in his lifetime. I'm just trying to do as much good as I can before I meet my demise. And I want to save all the other good people, whether dragon or human, from the damnation of evil. For I do not see a difference between my scaled friends and my scaleless ones. To me, they are one in the same; they are beautiful souls. Unfortunately, my reptilian friends are the ones who received the short end of the stick. They are the ones who are tormented by this world, not us. So when I see a dragon in need, I will certainly help them out the only way I know how: fighting. I am the knight of dragons. I will slay any evil towards dragonkind. And no one will ever take that away from me", Chris responded with valor.
The Draconians were beaming with pride at that statement, especially Re and Aurora. They could never be prouder parents than they were at that very moment.
They were at loss for words. Hiccup, on the other hand, was not. "So now that Serenity is here, healing the dragons, will you mount up offensive attacks against the Song now?"
"No…. I cannot afford to lose anymore lives. I want to come out of this with as little casualties as possible, even if it may seem futile. Like I said earlier, I only really do defensive attacks. I don't want to do anything foolish. I only have so many dragons to spare. Not to mention the staggering number of Song soldiers that practically outnumber us 100 to 1. So you can pretty see why I have to make the most wisest decisions".
"So, how is it that you were able to stand your ground in this war?", questioned Astrid.
"Well, 2 reasons really. The first, is rigorous training. Windwalker and I push the dragons beyond their absolute limits. The second, being strategic battle plans".
"How do you push the dragons past their absolute limits?", wondered Valka.
"Well, Windwalker can explain it better than I can. But seeing as how most of you in this cave cannot speak the language of the Dragons… all I can say is that we help them achieve a sort of 'epiphany of the mind and body', also known as the Titan Wing", explained Chris.
Everyone, for probably the 4th time that day, was shocked at the words that came out of Chris's mouth.
"How do you unlock their Titan Wing? That's a very hard thing for a dragon to do. Heck, I haven't even unlocked my Titan Wing", Re commented.
"First off, tell me what you all know of the Titan Wing", Chris countered.
"Well, the rare Titan Wing allows a dragon to experience a 'power boost'. Said power boost, is characterized by a physical change in the dragon's body", voiced Tenor.
"Exactly. For some, their scale patterns change colors. For others, they grow bigger….For nightfuries, they glow blue".
Hiccup and Toothless' eyes grew wide at that statement. "You hear that bud, you unlocked your titan wing!", exclaimed Hiccup. Toothless purr-growled his content and poked Hiccup playfully.
Chris turned his attention towards the duo. "Hmm?"
"Well you see, when I thought I was about to meet my end-as I got shot with a blast of ice from a Bewilderbeast-Toothless shielded me and chose to sacrifice himself for me. I guess seeing me in danger, somehow unlocked his titan wing, and he defeated the Bewilderbeast. Thus, making him the alpha in our region", Hiccup explained. Toothless, on the other hand, held his head up with pride.
Chris tilted his head in surprise, "A Bewilderbeast? Wow. I must say Toothless, you certainly gained more respect from me".
Toothless flashed his classic toothless smile at Chris. "Thank you", Toothless grinned.
"And you barely unlocked it too. Just imagine how powerful you could be once you unlock its full potential!", Chris said in wonder.
Everyone for the 5th time, was aghast at the information Chris just relayed (well, implied).
"Full potential?", Astrid wondered aloud.
"Yes. When a dragon first unlocks his Titan Wing, the physical change surfaces, but doesn't take its final form. You can't run if you haven't learned to walk, as they say.. Once you start using the Titan Wing more often, it becomes stronger, lasts longer, and the physical change reflects that. For example, when Windwalker unlocked her Titan Wing, her back spines, and the middle of her head glowed blue. Now, her whole body-except the edges of her body-glows blue".
"Well anyways, back to the question. How DO you unlock their Titan Wing?", pressed Re.
"Windwalker and I put the trainees into a controlled situation where they must face an 'ultimatum' of sorts", answered Chris.
Re was suspicious of this,"How do you do that?"
Chris, sensing the trouble in his dad's voice, responded hastily. "Don't worry dad. The dragons are in no real danger. I can assure you that. I wouldn't carry it out if it was otherwise".
Re was reluctant to accept his son's response."Well…. fine. If you don't mind, I would like to see one of your dragons unlock their Titan Wing".
"That can most certainly be arranged. It's actually a tradition here", Chris smiled.
"How so?", piped up Aurora.
"It's a rite of passage. It's a test for, but not limited to the adolescents, to prove to the nest that they are not adolescents anymore and want to be considered adults here".
"Interesting. I definitely want to see that", voiced Hiccup.
Then, at that very moment, Serenity and Windwalker returned.
"Ah, how are the dragons? Are they alright?", Chris asked nervously.
"They will all live to see another day", Serenity huffed out tiredly.
Chris suddenly pulled Serenity into a tight embrace. Serenity was shocked at the contact, but returned it happily.
"You don't know how much it means to me, for you to be back in my life. And now, you immediately heal all the wounded. You are so compassionate. I...It's just…. I missed you dearly Serenity", Chris said softly as he pulled out of the hug, arms still wrapped around her.
"The same can be said for you. Except you don't heal dragons", chuckled Serenity. She would've normally pulled away by now, but she couldn't. Arms still around Chris, she got lost in his eyes. They met gazes and stayed completely still for about 6 seconds, looking into each other's souls. Serenity could see hurt, bravery, warmth, determination, and…. something else. She couldn't describe the feeling; the warm, fuzzy feeling she felt when being near Chris. Being within 2 feet of him didn't help in the slightest.
Chris, on the other hand, saw innocence, warmth, joy, worry, and…. something else. He couldn't describe it either. He always viewed Serenity as his best human friend. But now, whenever they were in the same room, he felt something different towards her. He didn't have the words to describe it, but he didn't know what to make of it. He decided he would cross that bridge when he got there. He tried to pull his gaze away, but was locked staring into her beautiful emerald eyes.
All was silent, until Aurora decided it was the perfect time to cough, ending the awkwardness. At that, both Draconian humans snapped out of their daze, and quickly faced the group, adorning identical shades of red on their faces.
"An-anyways… I actually attacked a Song base, that was chock-full of Huo Yao. Let's just say, the fire was splendid", recovered Chris.
"Oh I get it. You are drying them out by destroying the remaining supplies of Huo Yao", Eret started.
"...then, when they go to make more of it, they won't have all of the ingredients, leaving them totally defenseless", Fishlegs continued.
"...and finally end this war!", cried Hiccup.
Chris just stood and smiled. "Wow you guys think fast".
Serenity, though, was completely confused. "What is happening?", she asked puzzled.
"We'll explain on the way", declared Chris as he mounted on Windwalker.
"And where exactly are we going?", demanded Astrid.
Chris faced Astrid and gave her a slight smirk. "Why, we are going to train of course. I can't have my new allies being weak and confused, now can I?"
"We aren't weak! We are strong, brave warriors!", retorted Astrid.
"Then follow me, and prove. me. wrong", retaliated Chris and flew out of his cave, with the others struggling to catch up with him.