Dragon Friend (sequel to the dragon boy) Chapter 6 - The Rider
frostcup fanfic

Authors note: those boys huh? (Sigh) oh well here's the next one I hope you enjoy it! Please let me know what you think but I'll leave you to it now and see you tommorow with the next one^^

He attempted to hold on to his anger, using it to block the hurt the words had caused him, but it was no use. They cut through his mind again and again.

"I don't need you."

Well, of course he didn't. He was all grown up now- he didn't need him to have his back any more. He was big, grown up, chief Viking man, he didn't need his Sky Dragon anymore... Well, perhaps he didn't need him either! He couldn't care less what he thought! So what if he was pushing him away? He liked the space. In fact- what was to say he wasn't pulling away as well?!

"Your precious, non existant friends."

His head dropped a little lower. He had lost his friends, but he had always been ok with that... because he'd had Hiccup. Now it seemed he didn't even have that. Who was he kidding. He did need him, and he would always be there for that scrawny, little Viking. Even if he didn't want him there- which, it seemed, he didn't.

He continued to wallow in his sadness... until he felt a panicked mental shout reverberate through his mind. His head snapped up. Hiccup.

He whipped round, ears upright, alert for any sound. Wingbeats; dragons, lots of them. A roar- Toothless' roar- and a yell.
"Toothless!" What was happening out there?! His worry building, he cleared the air around him- a nifty trick air masters had- and saw a midnight black dragon falling towards the ocean. His saddle was empty.

No- Hiccup, where was he? The dragons. His head snapped up at the sky. He shut his eyes, and dove through the trust bond, into Hiccup's mind, but only to the edge of it. He saw that he was hanging from the talons of a large dragon, in the midst of a large group of them. A single stormcutter lead them, he had a human on his back, but the figure was masked, and armoured, so there was no way to see their intent. Two words appeared in Hiccup's mind: Drago Bloodfist. His eyes snapped open.

No- he'd been captured! Forget anything he ever said about leaving him to his mercy- he needed to save him! But then a thought from Hiccup made him hesitate. It was a thought of his riderless dragon.

Jack turned to look at the Night Fury again- he was very near to the ground, and very far away, but, somehow, their eyes locked,
"Go! Save him!" They screamed to the white dragon. "Go!" Jack nodded, but before he left, he created a frozen plateau, with a heap of thick snow on top, for Toothless to land on. Satisfied the dragon would be okay, he turned, and tore after the kidnapping dragons- leaving a trail of ice on the water, so that the Night Fury could follow.

He saw which one had Hiccup, instantly. He looked uninjured- relief flooded through him. He almost roared to him, but then realised Drago would be alerted to his presense too. So, instead, he hid himself from the view of the rider, by flying directly beneath a nearby Nightmare. His wings hung out, but the main bulk of him was hidden, so, with a bit of luck, he should be alright.

He reached out across the bond.
'Hiccup...' He whispered.
'Jack!' He sort of whisper shouted back. Relief filling his mind, only to have it darkened by shame. 'I thought you'd leave me.' He said, guiltily.
'No. I'd never do that.' Jack told him, and they both knew it was true.
'I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't-' Hiccup began.
'Mean it?' Jack smirked. 'course you didn't.' He didnt need to hear the explanation- when you're minds are linked, there's some things you just don't need to say... you just know. Funny how so few words could mend what they thought to be a big rift between them.

Their friendship resolved, they could now worry about the current situation.

'What about Toothless?' Hiccup asked.
'He's fine. I gave him a soft landing, and a trail to follow.' Jack silently noted how he'd thought of Toothless, before himself, and smiled inwardly- he was a lot like him that way.
'Now we need to find a way to get you free.' He said, puzzling over a way to release him from the dragon's claws, and get him away safely.

'No- hold on.' Hiccup stopped him. 'If this is Drago...'
'Then we need to get away, as fast as possible.' Jack finished.
'No, then this is my chance to talk to him.' Hiccup corrected. Jack scowled, he knew he was going to say something like that, but there was one thing he didn't understand.
'How do you know it's him?' Jack asked.
'Er, dragon army.' Hiccup said, as though it were obvious. 'How many other dragon riding people are there?' He continued, but as he said it, they both realised there was someone else this masked figure could be.

The rider who destroyed the trapper's base, they both thought.
'But, then, why would they capture me? I'm on their side.' Hiccup thought.
'Yeah, but do they know that?' Jack pointed out.

They reached a towering rocky mountain, but rather than veering to avoid it, the procession of dragons headed straight for it. Confusion filled their minds for a while, before they eventually noticed a spilt in the mountain- big enough for all of the dragons to fit through.
'I never even knew that was there.' Jack marvelled, he'd flown past here loads of times, and never noticed it before.
'Er, what now?' Hiccup asked, Jack knew what he meant- what was he going to do now, he couldn't do anything without the rider seeing him.

He wasn't sure, at first. He thought for a while, then decided.
'I'll get captured as a second rider.' Hiccup was shocked.
'But, you said that was-'
'a terrible idea?' Jack finished. 'Well, maybe, but it's your plan.' He didn't finish the rest of what he was going to say, he trusted that his plan would work, because he trusted him- and also, he could say "I told you so" if things went wrong. Hiccup nodded, before realising Jack couldn't see him. the hidden dragon chuckled silently, at that.

The collection of dragons flew through a some kind of tunnel, which led into the mountain. A large cavern opened up in the mountain, and it was in here the dragon dropped Hiccup. He looked up, and suddenly found himself surrounded by dragons of every size, and shape. It was a pretty impressive, and intimidating, sight.

Anyone else would panic, but Hiccup stayed calm- they wouldn't attack unless he gave them a reason to.

A second figure dropped down from another dragon that flew by, landing, crouched, nearby- Jack, in his more familiar shape of a boy.
"Okay, so where..." He began out loud."...whoa." He finished, as he took in the cavern. "Erm, where's the rider person?" He asked. It was then Hiccup realised, he didn't know. He looked around- no sign of of the person anywhere. It looked like they were watching to see what they'd do next.

They backed up against each other. One bold dragon starting to barge straight up to them but a strong glare from Jack made it back off. They circled back to back.
"Your call." Jack said, Hiccup was surprised. Normally, he'd be doing something to protect him by now, or at least coming up with a plan- then he realised, he was letting him have the opportunity to tackle this without him. Hiccup thought- okay, so, surrounded by a load of dragons, with only one of my own, what can I do?

Suddenly, he was regretting saying he could solve his problems without him.
"Are they saying anything?" He muttered quietly so the rider couldn't hear, remembering Jack could speak with his fellow dragons. He went silent for a few seconds.
"Some of them are curious, others are waiting." He reported.
"For what?" Hiccup asked.
"For their leader to pass judgement on us." He replied.
"Right, that'll be the rider, then." Hiccup decided.
"Do you want me to ask them anything?" Jack asked, Hiccup could feel how weird it was for him to be asking for orders- he never did as he was told normally, but that's a life or death situation for you. Hiccup thought about it.
"No. If the rider's still here, and they hear you speaking dragon, I don't think they'll take it well." He decided.
"Oh, they're here, alright- I can smell them." If any other teenager would have asked that they'd have been shipped of for madness, but Jack still had some of his dragony senses, even as a human.

"So what's the plan?" Jack queried.
"Um..." Hiccup thought.

He heard a distant roaring, that suddenly grew, and a smaller, more familiar, dragon was dropped into the cavern, by two larger ones.

"Toothless!" Hiccup ran straight to him, while Jack kept an eye on the dragons. "Are you okay, bud?" He fussed. Toothless just rubbed his head against him, glad he was okay, before a figure stepped out from the ring of dragons, and he suddenly crouched- alert and ready to protect his friends, should the need arise. Jack fought the urge step in front of Hiccup protectively, as Toothless was doing, he knew he could do this.

"Err, are you him?" Hiccup began. "Drago Bloodfist?" He asked, the rider said nothing, but swung a large, wooden staff, and slammed it into the ground. A silent rattling filled the air (Hiccup only heard it through Jack's ears) and the dragons surrounding opened their jaws, filling them with fire. The three friends moved closer together, but no attack was made. It seemed the person just wanted some light, but all the fire made Jack uncomfortable.

The rider made their way towards Hiccup, since he was at the front of the group, but the way they did so was weird. They crawled forwards in a dragon like way- like they thought they were one. Jack watched, confused by this behaviour, but also on edge as they got closer, and closer, to Hiccup.

Toothless pulled forwards to defend his friend, but the rider lifted a hand, and performed some kind of hand signal. The Night Fury rolled over, docile as a Gronkle with dragon nip.

Jack tensed- who was this person who knew dragon secrets? He glared at them, rather dragon like himself, and lowered into a crouch as she got closer to his friend, with complete disregard to personal space. Only a silent message from Hiccup, telling him to stay put, stopped him from taking action.
Then, suddenly, the person stopped and gasped.
"Hiccup?" They muttered, backing off, slowly, in disbelief.

Jack relaxed a little, but at the same time he felt confused- did Hiccup know this person? But Hiccup looked, and felt, just as confused as he did.

The rider took off their helmet, to reveal a woman's face- not Drago then. It looked like this was their mystery dragon rider.

"Could it be? ...After all these years..." She said, staring at him like he were a ghost she hardly dared believe was actually standing in front of her.
"Should I know you?" Hiccup asked, because Jack could tell he couldn't remember ever seeing her face before. But the way she looked at him... he obviously meant a lot to her, somehow.

"No..." She said, looking slightly ashamed, and disappointed with that fact. "You were only a babe." She continued. Someone from when he was a baby- a family friend, perhaps? Jack thought, he could see Hiccup staring at her, unsure of what to make of this strange dragon woman, who claimed to know him. Actually, watching both of them...

Jack's eyes flicked back and forth between them, and began to pick out similarities between them. Tiny, almost invisible, things only a dragon would notice-.

Then, as the possibility occurred to him- that Hiccup could be related to the rider- she spoke again.

The words that followed, would change Hiccup's life.

"But a mother never forgets."