Hey guys! Fourth chapter! Whoo! Sorry for not updating sooner, but I've been on a big trip, so I've had no time.
I promise that the fifth chapter will be out as soon as I can manage it. Until then, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own HTTYD. I only own the plot.
Chapter 4-Dark Ness?
Astrid wasn't sure she heard the rider correctly. His name was Darkness? Apparently she wasn't the only one, as Stoick looked at the rider with a confused expression.
"Your name is Darkness?" He asked. The rider laughed.
"No," He chuckled. "My first name is Dark, and my last name is Ness. Everyone always messes my name up." Stoick shook his head in disbelief, but continued nonetheless with the questions.
"Second question: How old are you?"
"Twenty." Astrid felt her heart plummet, as the rider mentioned that he was twenty years old. If Hiccup was here, he would be twenty. Stoick seemed to be thinking the same thing as his eyes reflected the sadness in his heart.
"Who are your parents?"
"Never knew my dad. My mom raised me, but she died five years ago."
"Where do you live?"
"In a dragon nest." Stoick stopped at that.
"You live with dragons?" Astrid couldn't help but ask. Dark smirked.
"Yes I do, but not the nest you're looking for. I live in a nest where the king dragon is good and fair. The nest you are looking for was controlled by an evil queen who forced them to raid you. If a dragon didn't bring back enough food for the queen, the dragon would be eaten itself as substitute." Everyone's mouth dropped the ground. Stoick glared at Dark.
"How do you know so much about this nest? How do you know that we have been searching for that particular nest? What do you mean by king dragon and queen dragon? Why did you say that the nest was controlled by an evil queen?" Stoick fired the questions at Dark, his voice cold and demanding.
"One, I know so much about the nest because the nest is close to my own, and me and Toothless have explored inside of it a couple of times. Two, I know that you've been searching for the nest because of the dragons in my nest. The few dragons that broke away from her control came to my nest, which is the closest. The way I know that the dragons were being controlled by the queen, is because I speak Dragonese, which one of the languages among dragons. Toothless taught me, and I prefer to speak it instead of Norse. Anyway, the dragons told of a vicious village named Berk which they raid so they can live, and the vikings were searching for their nest. Three, each nest is controlled by either a king dragon or queen dragon. They are usually huge dragons with a controlling nature, or a kind nature. Four, I mean was controlled, because I defeated the evil queen. That's how I lost my leg." Dark finished answering Stoick's latest questions. Stoick narrowed his eyes at the dragon rider.
"If the queen is dead, then why are we still getting raided, but even worse than before?" Dark scowled at the question.
"Most of the dragons didn't go to a nest at all. They decided to live on their own, or with a group. That's why the raids are worse, because they're stealing food to eat, not to give to the queen. When they were controlled by the queen, they only stole enough to not get themselves eaten, but now they are stealing enough to live off of, which could be a lot if they're hunting for their family or group, which most of them probably are." Stoick seemed to take this into consideration, as he mulled over Dark's words.
"I have no more questions for you," Stoick said. Dark grinned and slid onto Toothless's back, but Stoick raised his hand to stop him. "But you will stay here due to the fact we could have more questions for you." Dark glared at him.
"You said that if I answer your questions, that me and Toothless could go free." He pointed out.
"I know, and I don't break my promises, but I'm sure that more questions will arise for you to answer, so we are not done. You will stay in Berk, and your dragon can stay in the Kill Ring."
"Doubly yuck-yuck da wingless. Berk is the equivalent to a greenclaw crapspot (Disgusting humans. Berk is the equivalent to a dragon toilet)." Dark hissed, getting off of Toothless. Stoick narrowed his eyes at the latest evidence of Dragonese, sure that it was offensive.
"Nee-ah. Toothless stays with me no matter where I stay. If he doesn't, then I'm going. (No. Toothless stays with me no matter where I stay. If he doesn't, then I'm going)." Dark declared, rubbing Toothless's head. Stoick glared at the rebellious rider.
"May I remind you that we will kill you and your dragon if you try to leave?" Dark glared back.
"May I remind you that Toothless will be able to kill a good amount of you and cause some serious destruction before you take him down? He never misses." The villagers erupted in shocked whispers. This complete stranger was threatening them? Stoick sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Fine," Stoick agreed. "Your dragon will be allowed to stay with you for the duration of your stay," Dark scoffed at the word "stay". "You can stay in the empty house behind mine. There are two bedrooms, both big enough to fit both you, and seven Night Furies. Despite the fact you are a guest, you will be assigned a chaperone who will be with you almost all the time. They will move into the other room, they will be responsible for showing you around town, and they will be responsible for keeping you here."
When Stoick said that Dark would be assigned a chaperone, said man growled and muttered a couple phrases that sounded very unflattering under his breath, but said nothing else.
"Who will this chaperone be?" Spitelout asked.
"The chaperone must be familiar with the island, and willing to risk danger on a daily basis. They must also be willing to take responsibility if he runs away, and about the same age as Dark." Stoick said, his eyes scanning the crowd for potential volunteers.
Snotlout raised his hand, pushing his way to the front of the crowd.
"I volunteer!" He cried. Astrid felt a burning sensation in her heart, knowing that if Snotlout becomes Dark's chaperone, then something bad will happen.
Before she knew it, she was raising her hand high in the air. The crowd gasped at her.
"I volunteer." She said, looking directly at Dark. He smiled unusually at her that made her chest tighten with an emotion she couldn't place. She knew that she was going to regret this in the long run. Stoick looked around for any more volunteers, and when he saw none, shrugged.
"Dark, it's your choice who becomes your chaperone." Dark's smile wiped off his face once Stoick finished. He looked at Snotlout, and his eyes gained an angry gleam to them, but when he looked at Astrid, the gleam disappeared, and the smile returned.
He lifted his hand, his index finger pointing to the person he chose.
"Her," He said, smiling at Astrid. "I chose her."
Astrid finished packing her last bag, and grabbed the other two. She still couldn't believe that Dark had chosen her to be his chaperone. She was almost sure he would've chosen Snotlout for one obvious reason: Dark was a boy, and Snotlout was a boy. Astrid was a GIRL!
Other than that, Astrid couldn't think of another reason that he had chosen her over Snotlout. As Astrid walked down the stairs, she thought of the weeks to come, how she would get along with Dark, and more importantly, how she would get along with Toothless.
The dragon seemed to be friendly with Dark, but how would he be with Astrid? She opened the door to see Dark sitting on top of Toothless, waiting for her.
"Could you carry this?" Astrid asked, tossing a bag at him.
"You don't really give me much of a choice do you?" He chuckled. She shrugged in response. Dark simply smirked, situated the bag on his lap, and motioned for Astrid to lead the way. She started to walk to her new home, with Toothless trotting beside her. Dark refused to walk to the house. Instead, he rode around on Toothless.
As Astrid neared the house, she felt her chest tighten with the same feeling she had when Dark had smiled strangely at her. This was her new life. Keeping track of the dragon rider, taking responsibility if he messed up, and accompanying him almost twenty four-seven, not to mention living with him.
They finally got to the house, and Astrid opened the door. It was a very nice house, with a well furnished kitchen and sitting area on the first floor with stairs leading to the second floor. Dark whistled appreciatively at the sight of the first floor. "
Nice place." Astrid had to agree with him on that subject. This house was better built than most in the village, but she knew why. This house was the house Stoick built when Hiccup disappeared. He built this house for Hiccup if he ever returned, but he never did, so Stoick just left it to gather dust.
Astrid started to walk up the stairs, with Dark and Toothless behind her, Dark now walking on his own leg and metal thing, with Toothless behind him. When they got to the second floor, there were two doors in a hallway. Astrid opened one, while Dark opened the other. Through the door, was a huge room with a big bed, an elegant chest, multiple shelving units, and gorgeous windows.
"Wow." Astrid whispered, setting her stuff down on the bed.
"Wow is right." Dark's voice sounded behind Astrid. She jumped and pulled her axe off her back, wielding it against an amused Dark.
"If you're gonna do that the entire time we're going to be living in this house, then you aren't making it out of Berk alive." Astrid warned. Dark laughed heartily, as if her threat meant nothing.
"I'll consider myself warned." Astrid glared at him. She was already regretting her decision. She looked past Dark to see Toothless jumping around an identical room, his big green eyes and tongue lolling out of his mouth making him look like a common house cat.
Astrid had to stifle a laugh at the sight. Dark saw her put her hand over her mouth to stop the laugh that came anyway, and looked behind him. He laughed when he saw his fierce, protective dragon acting like a soft, gentle, pet.
"Hey bud! Whatcha doing?" Toothless turned at the sound of Dark's voice, and glared at him for interrupting his joyous frolic. Astrid burst out laughing at the sudden change in mood, with Dark following. Toothless huffed indignantly at the laughs, and turned around so his back was to them, swiping his tail across the floor.
Dark shook his head fondly before going to his own room. Astrid looked at the closed door across the hall with a weird feeling in her chest.
Maybe Dark wasn't so bad.
"And this is the blacksmith's." Astrid said, gesturing to the open air workplace. Dark's face sagged when she showed him the blacksmith's place. His eyes gleamed with sadness when he saw Gobber working on a couple of weapons.
Alone.
"That's Gobber," She said, pointing at said viking. "He's our blacksmith."
"Does he not have an apprentice?" Dark asked, his voice low and full of longing. Astrid looked at him strangely. If he lived with dragons, then how did he know that the blacksmith's get apprentices?
"No. He used to, but the apprentice...died."
"How?"
"Freak accident," Astrid said. That was technically true. Hiccup running away was a freak accident.
"Anyway, how did you know the blacksmith gets an apprentice if you live with dragons?" Dark smirked sadly.
"I said that I live with dragons now, but not when I was younger. I stayed in a village until I was about fifteen, before my mom sent me away during an attack. She said that if I left, that I could save myself. It was during that attack, that my mom was killed. I already had Toothless, so I just left, and found the dragon nest that I live in now. I befriended the dragons, and they treat me as one of their one."
"It sounds like you have a good life." Astrid pointed out. Dark nodded, his eyes locked on Gobber.
"I did." Astrid didn't probe anymore after that.
"That's Stoick's house. He's our chieftain." She said, pointing at one of the grandest houses in the village.
"The only other place you haven't seen, is the Kill Ring." Astrid said, walking in the direction of said training facility. Dark scowled at the mention, Kill Ring. When they got there, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins were teaming up on a Hideous Zippleback.
Dark gasped, and rushed into the Kill Ring, running with superhuman speed. He grabbed a hammer lying on the sidelines, and started to run at the Zippleback. Or at least that's what Astrid saw at first, before Dark threw the hammer at Snotlout's spear, breaking it in half. "Hey!" Snotlout cried out angrily. Dark then picked up the hammer and thew it at Fishlegs, knocking him on the ground. Astrid watched in shock as Dark ran at the twins, holding his arms out in a "T" position, hitting them both on the abdomen. The twins fell backwards, their weapons skittering across the arena.
Dark grabbed a metal tube that was attached to his right leg, and clicked a button, producing a blade covered in fire. He walked to the Zippleback, and swung the sword in a mesmerizing pattern.
The dragon roared at Dark, and he retracted the blade. He opened a hatch on the tube, knocking out a canister. He then grabbed one of the canisters strapped to his leg, loading the tube with whatever was in the canister.
Dark then turned the tube upside down and pressed a button, spraying Zippleback gas in a circular pattern, and lit it, creating a ring of fire around him. The Zippleback calmed down, and looked at Dark with curiosity in his eyes.
Dark approached the Zippleback with an outstretched hand. The dragon did nothing as Dark touched the right head, stroking the scales. Dark then put his other hand on the other head, doing the same thing as he did with the right head. Everyone stared in shock, as the Zippleback purred.
"Hey," Ruffnut called out. "We were gonna kill that." Dark turned to the vikings with fury in his eyes.
"Why were you going to kill him?" He asked, his voice full of rage.
"So we can train for the dragon raids, duh." Snotlout said, rolling his eyes.
"So you're training by killing some of the most peaceful creatures on the earth?" Dark asked, his eyes narrowing.
"Peaceful?!" Fishlegs yelled, his left eye twitching.
"These 'peaceful creatures' killed hundreds of us!" Tuffnut pointed out.
"AND WE'VE KILLED THOUSANDS OF THEM!" Dark cried out, his face contorting in rage.
"We've?" Astrid asked, her eyes narrowing at the dragon rider.
"We've," Dark confirmed, his eyes darting back and forth as if he almost let something slip. "Humans." Dark led the Zippleback to the entrance before stopping.
The Zippleback started to make clicking and hissing noises, and Dark responded with the same. He looked at the twins, and smirked slightly.
"Ruff, Tuff!" He called out. "Want a dragon?" The twins' eyes widened so that they were huge, round platters.
"Seriously?" Tuffnut asked. Dark nodded.
"They want you to ride them." He confirmed, gesturing to the Zippleback.
"Really?" Ruffnut said, looking suspiciously at the Zippleback. The dragon roared confirmation. The twins looked at each other, before shaking their head.
"We don't want to be labeled as a traitor like you." Tuffnut said, glaring at Dark. Said rider shrugged.
"Okay." He led the Zippleback out of the entrance, and the dragon took off into the air. Astrid looked at Dark strangely.
This man, who had come from nowhere, had offered to train a dragon for some complete strangers.
On top of that, he risked his life, and the life of his dragon, to save a dragon. Astrid smiled as Dark looked at her.
Life was about to get interesting.
What do you think? Things are about to get interesting in Berk! Reviews, Follows, and Favorties are always welcome.
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BookLover86, Out! ;)