Dragon Friend - Chapter 7 - Dragon Sanctuary

Authors note: can I just say how amazing all you guys are? I can't believe how much feedback Im getting! Seriously thanks so much I hope I continue I make you laugh smile and cry with the rest of it^^ next chapter tommorow as always see you then! ^^

Jack followed through the tunnel behind Hiccup, listening to the endless stream of questions that came from ahead.
"You're my mother?! Where are you going? You're just gonna say that and run off? I have questions!" Hiccup rambled.

'You don't say.' Jack thought, luckily, Hiccup didn't hear it. Jack had distanced himself from Hiccup's mind, to escape the wild chaos and confusion there. The questions would only be settled by answers, and Jack didn't have any, so he'd have to ask on, until his mother decided to talk- which didn't seem to be happening any time soon.

Jack looked back, and shared a look of exasperation with the following black scaled dragon- all the questions were making their ears ache. But, other than the occasion "This way..." or "Come. Come..." Hiccup's mother didn't say anything. Whatever she was leading them had better be good, because Hiccup was fit to burst with all his unanswered questions.
"What happened? Where have been all this time? Did you even think about me? Why didn't you come back- uh." He grunted, as he tried, and failed, to pull himself up a large slope, the older woman had scaled with ease.

Jack slipped past him, and leapt up as skilfully as Hiccup's mother had. Hiccup himself still struggled at the bottom- leaping for the top, and missing every time. Jack looked at the black dragon trapped behind Hiccup.
"You push, I'll pull?" He asked.

Toothless used his broad head to lift Hiccup, awkwardly, up the slope, whilst Jack grabbed his arms, and pulled him over the top. Hiccup rolled forwards, then came up again- completely unfazed- and went after his mother again, without so much as a second glance to his helpers, who were staring annoyed at his retreating back.

Toothless grumbled quietly, as Jack muttered.
"Your welcome." Rolling his eyes, before he followed, Toothless hot at his heels.

They spied sunlight up ahead, as they neared the tunnel's end.
"What have you been doing all this..." Hiccup's voice trailed off, as an incredible sight met his eyes. Jack pushed him aside gently, to see what was so impressive, and found himself also staring.
'Wow.' He thought.

A huge, open space met his eyes. It must have been hidden, or else disguised so few would take notice of it, because he never even knew it was there- but there it was. It must have been a valley of some sort, because at either side of the space were towering ice structures- like the one they saw had destroyed the trappers base. But this ice looked less dangerous, more homely, and was covered in holes, and ledges, on which many dragons perched on, or hid in.

That was the other thing truly amazing about the place- the dragons.
Jack had never seen so many- and that was saying something. Hundreds of them appeared to be nesting in the ice, flying around the area, coming to inspect the new arrivals. Dragons everywhere, doing every manor of activity possible, of all size and shape. If they stopped to name the species, they'd still be there when it was dark- but they were all joined together. One united group.

Even as they watched, a group of at least two hundred of them took off, and circled a kind of natural pillar in the ground. All of them ranging with colour, size, age and species, without regard to either.

It was quite a sight to behold.

Hiccup's voice brought him back to their current situation.
"This is where you've been, all this time." He marvelled. Jack turned to see she had climbed up onto her Stormcutter, who was hanging, almost bat like, from a rocky wall- one of few not covered in ice. To see her sons reaction, no doubt, to her life's work. She nodded, watching him with a kind of excited curiosity- eagerly awaiting his verdict.
Hiccup then turned to have another look at the huge valley, it wasn't any less impresssive the second time.

As he looked, Jack saw her tap the side of her dragon, gently. He held out a wing for her to hook her staff onto, so she could get down, but at the same time, he held out another wing underneath her, in case she fell. He obviously cared for his companion a lot, Jack thought.

He subtly grabbed Hiccup's attention with a mental nudge, alerting him that she was now approaching them. Hiccup turned to meet her, wonder still etched across his eyes.
"Do you like it?" She asked, excited to see what he thought of it. She edged across to him, almost reluctantly, but again, she was rather dragon like in her movements. Just how long had she been out here, Jack wondered.
"I don't have the words." Hiccup answered, truthfully- there wasn't any that seemed to sum up the sheer scale, and incredibleness, of the whole thing- she seemed happy with that.

"Amazing, incredible, unbelievable?" Jack suggested out loud, only then did Hiccup actually register that he was there.
"Oh, right. Mom, this is Jack. Jack, this is... my mom." Hiccup introduced, Jack could feel how excited he was to be able to say those two words, but at the same time, how strange it was- like he was still struggling to believe his mother was actually there in front of him.

Jack grinned at the dragon rider. "Hi. Nice, erm..whatever this place is." He said, subtly asking what it was.
"This is my dragon sanctuary." She an announced, proudly. "A safe haven for all dragons." She began walking them through it.

Jack saw many older dragons rested in the ice caves- they didn't catch his attention much, but the babies, dotted here and there, sure did.

Constantly busy with their endless games- squabbling with each other, play fighting, attempting to fly, and now added to the list, coming to annoy the new people.
A couple of them mobbed Toothless, who seemed a little overwhelmed, like:
"Attack of the hatchlings! Help!" Valka's Stormcutter came up behind him, and spooked the kids off with a roar, before looking at Toothless smugly- saying:
"That's how you do it... You're welcome."

A bunch of them surrounded Jack, completely avoiding Hiccup and Valka, but then he smelled more interesting than they did. He didn't mind them, they were quite fun actually, and he loved their endless energy- ten generations of hatchlings and he still never got bored of them- still, Hiccup was pulling quite far ahead of him, he should probably scare them off or something, like the Stormcutter had.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the four winged dragon himself, making his towards him to spook his mini mob, but Jack had it under control- he had his own way of dealing with kids. A better way- if he did say so himself.

Bending down through the blur of scales, and excitable eyes, he picked up a rock. It had been lying by some dragon nip, and reeked of the stuff. He tossed it around a bit, to grab their attention, and get them excited. It was working. Their eyes grew bigger- he could tell what they were thinking: playtime. He threw the round rock away, so that it landed on a steady slope. All the baby's eyes turned to it, and they ran after it- tripping over each other, and their own feet, as they raced towards the stone, that now picked up a bit of speed, as it rolled away from them.

Jack looked at the Stormcutter, half mimicking his "that's how you do it" expression. The dragon looked mildly impressed, annoyed and disappointed all at once- annoyed seemed to be the biggest one, apparently he had that effect on people, or so Hiccup said, he just took it as a compliment. He gave a somewhat mocking bow, and grinned at the Stormcutter, who snorted and turned away from him- disapproval clear in the way he did it.

His regal stature told the Sky Dragon he had immediately labelled him as "immature" or a "youngster". Apparently, he had something against that, but Jack decided not to take it as an insult- it was true, anyway. Besides, he worked hard to stay young at heart- he didn't think that was a bad thing- oh well, some dragons, you just can't win with.

He caught up with the Valka and Hiccup. The mother had been filling her son in on what she'd been doing at the academy- and although there probably was a lot to tell, she didn't actually say that much. Then again, he supposed, it had been so long since she had talked, it was a miricle she was talking at all.

Anyway, from what he'd heard, she'd had all manor of dragons pass through, or stay in, the sanctuary, over the years, and he couldnt help but ask.
"Have you seen any Sky Dragons?" He asked, Hiccup immediately picked up on his trail of thought, and the both looked, with disguised hope, at Valka.

"Sky Dragons?" She repeated. "Haven't heard about them in a long time. Dragons that fly so high they touch the sun, and that could bend the elements to their will... I always discounted them as myths. One story I heard, even said they could turn into humans." She recalled. Jack couldn't help but be mildly disappointed, and annoyed, by this- myths? Is that all his friends were going to be remembered as? Mere stories to be told to gullible children, by disbelieving adults?!

Hiccup replied to save him from having to respond. "Dragons that can turn into humans? Imagine that." He said, looking at the dragon who had turned into a human.

Jack couldn't help but grin at the comment.
'Yeah, imagine.' He thought. You know what, perhaps it wasn't a bad thing the Sky Dragons would be remembered as myths. There was something nice about the idea that Vikings, for years to come, would tell their wide eyed children about the incredible human dragons. He decided it was a good way to be remembered. As magical stories.

Besides, Hiccup knew better, he knew better, and the whole of Berk knew better- that was good enough for now. It was irritating, though, that his best friend's mum thought he didn't exist.

Hiccup didn't bother to ask about Night Furys, his mother had already said during her examination of Toothless (which he'd missed during the attack of the youngsters) that she thought he may he the last of his kind.
"So where are we going?" Hiccup asked, as she carried on forwards, leading them further into the heart of the sanctuary. They were approaching the edge of a big drop.
"I want to show you something." She said, grinning excitably at the boys, like she about to disclose a big, impressive secret.

They reached the edge of the drop, just as she announced .
"The great Bewilderbeast."