Dragon's speaking"
'telepathical speaking'
Thinking
Dragons and Guardians: Riders of Berk
Author's note: Hiccup rides on Toothless's back while Aniu flies using her wings. And Barf and Belch is one dragon. Nava and the other guardians also fly with their wings and Nava and Aniu don't have dragons but they're still part of the Dragon Riders. This note is here just to avoid confusion.
Right now the Dragon Trainer Group consists of: Hiccup, Toothless, Astrid, Stormfly, Snotlout, Hookfang, Fishlegs, Meatlug, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Barf-Belch, Aniu and Nava.
Please read and Review!
Chapter 14: What Flies Beneath
It was a peaceful night on Berk and some yaks and sheep were eating grass, revelling in the peace and quiet while Vikings slept in their beds. But the peace and quiet atmosphere was soon broken when a yak heard rumbling and was pulled underground. Three sheep met the same fate and cracks formed on the ground. Something was tunnelling underground.
"Everybody has a past, even dragons. And sometimes, the past can come back to haunt them."
In the Haddock house, Hiccup was woken up when his Night Fury Toothless growled and paced around the room. "Uh, Toothless. Go back to sleep." He groaned.
"And when it does, you're going to need to be there for them."
The next morning, Stoick, Gobber, Fengo, Namara and some other villagers stood around a large hole in the ground. Toothless walked up to it, snarled, then roared with his wings flared out. "Whoa, hey. Come on. It's just a hole, bud." Hiccup attempted to calm his dragon down. "A very deep one to be exact." Aniu said, bending down on her hands and knees and staring at the bottom when Bucket showed up.
"It's not just a hole, it's like an underground village." He yelled up to them. "Bucket, oh, there you are. I've been looking for you all morning." Mulch said. "Sorry, Mulch. But I think I finally found it. My happy place!" Bucket called up. "Your happy place is a hole in the ground?" Aniu managed to ask before something with bad vision saw Bucket in its tunnel and ejected Bucket out in a cloud of dirt.
"Are you alright, Bucket?" Stoick asked, running over to where Bucket had landed. "I'm not so happy anymore." Bucket whimpered. "What happened?" Fengo asked. "Something pushed me out. Something's down there, something big." Bucket told them nervously. Toothless suddenly growled and jumped into the hole, there were tunnels branching off in every direction.
The ground started shaking and everyone heard a peculiar sound. "What is that sound?" Astrid asked. "I'm not sure." Nava said. "Whatever it is, it's giving me the willies." Gobber said. Just then, in a spray of dirt, a large snake-like dragon shot out of the hole. It had a long, legless, snake-like body. A large, round head with two, pupiless, white eyes. Two small wings. Its mouth was full of razor sharp teeth that spun around the mouth. The dragon was covered head to-tailtip in spikes. The ones on the body could be fired like Deadly Nadder spines.
"Whoa, look at that thing!" Snotlout exclaimed. "Do I have to?" Fishlegs squeaked. "Dragons, everyone!" Astrid ordered. The riders except for Hiccup ran to their dragons and mounted. The snake-like dragon hissed and stared at each dragon and rider pair. "I don't like the way it's eyeballing me." Snotlout whimpered. "I don't like it either." Hookfang said. "Don't worry. It's not just you." Fishlegs said. "Thanks. Big relief." Snotlout said sarcastically.
"We should find out what its intentions are and if they're bad, then we should chase it out of here." Nava said, turning into his dragon form with his wings flared out. The snake- like dragon burrowed underground and vanished. "What was that?" Astrid asked slowly. "Whatever it was, I want one." Tuffnut said happily. "If I had to take a guess, I'd say that was a Whispering Death." Fishlegs said.
"Whoa, great name. So much better than Hideous Zippleback." Tuffnut said, covering Belch's ear slits but Barf heard him and threw Tuffnut a look. "Whispering Deaths are said to have a very long memory and I saw Whispering Deaths a few times before back at Guardian Island." Nava said. "Where did it go? What's it going to do to us? Why aren't you slapping me to snap me out of this?" Bucket asked, voice getting louder with each question. "Because I'm scared too, Bucket." Mulch replied.
The Whispering Death surfaced again. "It looks angry. Why don't you do that thing where you touch its nose and feed it dragon nip?" Gobber asked Hiccup and Aniu. "Okay. Fishlegs, what do we know about the Whispering Death?" Hiccup asked. "Boulder Class, razor-sharp teeth, incredibly strong, hunts from underground." Fishlegs said. "Now I really want one!" Tuffnut exclaimed. "So, how do we deal with this thing?" Snotlout asked impatiently.
"Stand back, everyone! Thornado and Sonica have something to say to this beast!" Stoick ordered, flying in on Thornado with Sonica beside them. Both Thunderdrums shot sonic blasts at the Whispering Death who roared at them and it was a quite roar. The dragon seemed to be living up to its species name.
"I don't think it's got its listening ears on." Gobber remarked. "Alright, let's run this thing out of here!" Astrid yelled. Nava, Stormfly, Hookfang, Meatlug and Barf-Belch flew up and hovered behind Thornado and Sonica. Toothless jumped out of the tunnel, snarled and roared at the other dragons. "Back off, guys. This is my fight!" The Night Fury roared. The dragons did as they were told.
"What is Toothless doing?" Snotlout asked. "I think he wants us to back off." Astrid guessed. "He does. He said this is his fight." Nava said. "No problem here." Fishlegs said. Toothless and the Whispering Death glared at each other. "Toothless!" Hiccup and Aniu screamed. Both dragons lunged at each other and started fighting.
Toothless spat plasma blasts at the Whispering Death but the Boulder Class dragon agilely dodged each one. Toothless tried to fly up but kept falling back to the ground. The Whispering Death noticed the Night Fury's prosthetic tailfin and smirked. "Toothless can't fly without me." Hiccup said. "He's a sitting duck." Aniu groaned. "Gobber, man the catapults." Stoick ordered, landing beside Gobber on Thornado. "And when that thing is clear of Toothless, fire!"
"Dad, wait!" Hiccup yelled, running over to Toothless. "Just let me help you, bud." He tried to mount his dragon but Toothless shoved him away and ran off. "Toothless?" Hiccup gasped in shock. "What was that all about?" Astrid asked, running up to her boyfriend. "I have no idea." Hiccup said. The Whispering Death shot spines at Toothless and one of them impaled the Night Fury's left rear leg, causing him to howl in pain.
"Gobber!" Stoick shouted. Gobber catapulted a boulder at the Whispering Death and hit it in the face. A ray of sunlight shone through the clouds. The Whispering Death hissed and tunnelled away. Toothless watched it go as Hiccup and Aniu ran over to him. "Oh no, you're hurt." Hiccup gasped, seeing the spike in his dragon's leg. "Just hold still, Toothless while we get the spike out." Aniu said softly. Hiccup gently pulled the spike out, causing Toothless to hiss in pain. "Sorry, bud." Hiccup apologized. Aniu used a spell to stop the minimal bleeding and a healing spell to heal the wound. "There you go." Aniu said gently as the emerald green glow vanished from her hands.
"Thanks." Toothless said gratefully and ran off. "Toothless, wait!" Hiccup yelled. "Where is he going?" Astrid and Nava asked. "Probably running away to lick his wounds." Snotlout snickered. "It's not funny. Toothless could've been killed. He can't fly without me, remember?" Hiccup said, glaring at his cousin.
"And whose fault is that?" Snotlout sing-songed. "Seriously, did you just go there?" Astrid asked angrily. "Hey, I call it like I see it." Snotlout said. "Um, does anybody want to talk about what in the name of Thor just happened?" Fishlegs asked nervously. "Uh, dragon fight. Just another day on Berk." Tuffnut said. "Uh, not really. It seemed like there was way more to it than that." Fishlegs said. "He's right. The Whispering Death singled Toothless out." Aniu said. "And Toothless wanted that dragon to himself." Nava added.
"Yeah, he certainly did. But why?" Hiccup agreed with his friend. "Uh, are we gonna be tested on this? Because I'm completely confused." Tuffnut asked. "Well, don't look at me." Ruffnut shrugged. Hiccup, Aniu, Astrid and Nava stared at Toothless who was standing guard on a ledge outside the Great Hall.
"I really wish you could just tell Aniu and I what was going on out there today." Hiccup told his Night Fury who was still on high alert that night in the Haddock house. Footsteps approaching made Toothless growl and get into a defensive position. "Whoa, easy, bud. It's just my dad." Hiccup calmed him down. "How's our wounded warrior?" Stoick asked. "He's still a little on edge." Hiccup said, stroking his dragon's neck. "Don't worry, Toothless. I think we showed that dragon a thing or two about uninvited guests on Berk. I don't think he'll be coming back anytime soon. At least, I hope not." Stoick reassured, patting the Night Fury on the head and walking back downstairs.
"Yeah, me too." Hiccup said, hoping that was the case. Toothless breathed fire on his stone bed, curled up on it and fell asleep, or so Hiccup thought. The teen lay down in his bed, pulled the blanket over himself and fell asleep.
Toothless checked to make sure Hiccup was fast asleep then leapt out of the window and ran into the forest. But before he left, Toothless stopped, turned around and stared at Hiccup's house. I'm doing this to keep you safe, my rider. And you too, Aniu. He thought, throwing a look at Aniu's house. Then he turned tail and ran into the forest. As he ran, Toothless remembered the first time he had encountered the Whispering Death. Before he was captured and enslaved by the Red Death, he was just flying around when the Whispering Death had attacked him. Thinking the Whispering Death wanted to kill him for no reason at all, Toothless fought back. As the Whispering Death kept lashing out at him, roaring unintelligible words, Toothless grew angrier and angrier until he bit the enraged dragon very hardly on the side. The Whispering Death roared in pain and fled.
Early the next morning, Hiccup woke up and noticed the absence of his beloved Night Fury. "Toothless?" He called out and ran outside but the black dragon was nowhere to be seen. "Toothless?" He called out again. Aniu flew down and landed next to him. "What's wrong? I was about to go out for a morning flight when I heard call about. "Toothless went after the Whispering Death alone." Hiccup said gravely. Aniu gasped. "We need to get the others." She said urgently.
Pretty soon, the Dragon Trainers were gathered in the Academy. "Maybe Toothless just went out for a morning flight. Oh, that's right. He can't." Snotlout said. "Really, you're going there again? Now?" Astrid hissed, glaring at the brawny Jorgenson boy furiously. "Toothless must be looking for the Whispering Death. We find it, we find Toothless." Hiccup said. "Why do Toothless and the Whispering Death hate each other so much?" Nava wondered out loud.
"What do we do if we find the Whispering Death first?" Fishlegs asked nervously. "Well, we train him." Hiccup answered. "But first, we need to find out what the Whispering Death's intentions are." Aniu said seriously. "You do know he's got 'death' in his name, right?" Tuffnut asked. "Yeah, we do, Tuffnut." Nava said. "Fishlegs, is there anything about the Whispering Death in the Book of Dragons that can help us?" Hiccup asked.
"It can shoot razor-sharp spines from its body like a Deadly Nadder's tail." Fishlegs read, opening the book and finding the correct page. "And how's that going to help us?" Astrid questioned. "Well, it would help if we stayed away from those." Fishlegs said. "Or we could get near them and use Ruffnut as a human shield." Tuffnut suggested. Ruffnut violently kicked her twin brother in the knee. "Ow! My kneecap! That's new. I like it." Tuffnut yelped.
"This dragon must have a weakness." Hiccup said. "Actually, no. It says right here: 'no known weaknesses." Fishlegs read. "Ha. I really love this thing." Tuffnut said. "Okay, great. Can we go now, please?" Hiccup asked, wanting to find his dragon. "We don't know how much time we have." He mounted Stormfly and pulled Astrid up in front of him. "Don't worry, Hiccup. We'll find him." She assured her boyfriend. Stormfly ran out of the academy and took to the sky, followed by the other dragons, Aniu and Nava.
The Dragon Trainers flew over Berk's wilderness. "There. Down below." Hiccup said, pointing at two Whispering Death holes in the ground. Aniu, Nava and the dragons landed. "Toothless! Toothless!" Hiccup dismounted Stormfly and began calling down one of the holes. The other riders dismounted their dragons and approached the hole. "How do we even know the Whispering Death made these holes?" Snotlout asked.
"So you think it might be the other 2 500 pound, rock-eating dragon we're following?" Astrid asked. "Were you talking about me?"Meatlug asked. "No, Meatlug. They weren't talking about you, I think." Nava said. "I know what you're...don't try to confuse me." Snotlout stammered in response to Astrid's question.
"Look at this. He must've lost a tooth." Hiccup murmured, picking up a fang off the ground. "Is it sharp? If it is, I want it. I like sharp." Tuffnut asked eagerly. "Yeah, sharp is good." Ruffnut agreed. "Think about this. Hundreds of those spinning together, ripping through dirt and earth, discarding rocks like it's not even there." Fishlegs said.
Just then, the dragons began to get antsy. "Stormfly, what's wrong?" Astrid asked her Deadly Nadder in concern. "What's wrong with you?" Tuffnut questioned his half of the Hideous Zippleback. "Barf, settle down." Ruffnut told her half of the Hideous Zippleback. "Stop, listen!" Aniu exclaimed. She and Nava were hearing rumbling sounds coming from the earth beneath their feet. Trusting their guardian friend's instincts, Hiccup and Astrid began listening.
"Listen for what?" Tuffnut asked loudly. "I don't hear anything. What are we listening for?" Ruffnut asked loudly. "Be quiet." Astrid hissed at the twins. "How are we supposed to hear anything over her yelling?" Tuffnut asked. "Shut up and be quiet." Nava hissed at them. The rumbling sound had grown louder. "The whisper." Fishlegs whispered. "Looks like we beat Toothless." Snotlout whispered.
"Yeah, we win." Astrid muttered. Then, the Whispering Death burst out of the ground. "I'm not feeling like a winner." Fishlegs whimpered. The Boulder Class baddie stared at Fishlegs then glanced at the other dragons, who all snarled at it. The Whispering Death dove into the ground again. "I hate it when he does that. Can you at least tell my why he does that?" Snotlout growled.
The Whispering Death approached them again. "Maybe to hunt. Maybe because it's cooler. Maybe to look for water. (The Whispering Death got even closer) Maybe because he can't stand the pressure of everybody always expecting him to have the answers all the damn time!" Fishlegs screamed the last sentence, cracking under the pressure.
"He's losing it." Tuffnut sang to his sister. "I know. It's awesome." Ruffnut agreed. The Whispering Death surfaced just behind Fishlegs, causing the Ingerman boy to scream and run to Meatlug. "Someone hold it still. I want to touch it." Tuffnut exclaimed, eagerly approaching the Boulder Class dragon but Ruffnut held him back, knowing what could happen if her brother attempted to touch the snake-like dragon.
"Do you actually have a plan or are you just trying to get yourself killed?" Astrid asked when Hiccup stepped toward the Whispering Death. "If I can train it, then it'll leave Toothless alone." Hiccup theorised. "Right. So, you are trying to get yourself killed." Snotlout said. The Whispering Death nearly ran Hiccup over (causing the others to gasp) but stopped just in time. The dragon stared at the young human boy just in front of him with a hand outstretched. Aniu slowly and carefully walked forward until she was standing beside Hiccup. "What's your name?" She asked the snake-like dragon softly. "Razor." The Whispering Death told her, deciding to give the guardian that little piece of information.
Razor realized the human boy and the guardian girl had the Night Fury's scent on them and slithered away. "Okay." Hiccup breathed out when the Whispering Death created another tunnel and vanished into it. "Um, I know what you're thinking and the answer is no." Astrid said, trying to dissuade her boyfriend from what he was about to do.
But Hiccup did it anyway and jumped into the tunnel, landing on his feet. "You know what they say, best friends stick together." Aniu said and jumped into the tunnel as well. "Why do they always do that?" Astrid asked. "Oh, man. I am so glad I'm not down there with them right now." Fishlegs said. Snotlout decided to have a little fun and...pushed Fishlegs into the hole. "Oops." Snotlout said innocently when Astrid and Nava glared at him.
"Ah, thanks, Fishlegs. I kinda figured you'd be the last one to volunteer." Hiccup said. "Are you okay, Fishlegs?" Aniu asked, helping the Ingerman boy to his feet. "Yeah, I didn't want you to have to face that dragon all alone." Fishlegs said. A distant growl was heard and the three tensed up. "This thing's been busy." Hiccup muttered, seeing the multitude of tunnels branching off in every direction. "No kidding." Aniu muttered.
"Quick question: Why are we down here again?" Fishlegs asked. "This is where it spends all of its time. There's got to be something down here that can help us." Hiccup told him. Aniu saw the Whispering Death speed down a tunnel. "There it goes. Let's follow it." She whispered. Hiccup and Aniu moved forward but Fishlegs didn't move. "Oh, were you talking to me?" He asked when they gave him questioning looks.
"Fishlegs, new dragon. You love this stuff." Hiccup said. "I hate that about me." Fishlegs grumbled, following his two friends. "I hope we don't get lost." Aniu said. "That just makes me feel so much better." Fishlegs said sarcastically. The three teens walked through the tunnels, noticing all the tree roots sticking out of the ceiling. Then, they noticed a pair of eyes in the shadows of a tunnel. Hiccup, Aniu and Fishlegs tensed up and the owner of the eyes hopped out of the tunnel. "It's just a sheep. Whoa, that gave me a fright." Aniu said as the sheep ran away.
The three teens went on their way again and Razor the Whispering Death slithered in front of them. Hiccup, Aniu and Fishlegs hid in a tunnel and waited for Razor to slither past. "Aniu, did the Whispering Death say what his name was?" Hiccup asked in a low voice. "He said his name was Razor and that was all he told me." Aniu whispered. "Hiccup, Aniu! Did you see?" Fishlegs asked, accidently raising his voice. Razor spun around and hissed, but couldn't find them.
Hiccup and Aniu both placed a hand over Fishlegs's mouth. "Can it wait?" They whispered. The Whispering Death slithered past them. "Let's just hope it keeps going." Aniu whispered. Razor suddenly stopped and Fishlegs saw a circular scar on the Whispering Death's hide. Razor left, allowing Hiccup, Aniu and Fishlegs to talk. "Did you see that?" Fishlegs whisper-asked. "Was that a bite mark?" Hiccup whisper-asked. "Not just any bite mark. That's a Night Fury bite mark." Aniu whispered.
"I think I know why these two are looking for each other." Fishlegs said. "They have a history." Hiccup realized. "A grudge and a bad one." Aniu said. "If that's true then how long do dragons carry a grudge?" Hiccup asked. Fishlegs thought it out and said "To the death." Hiccup's eyes widened in horror. "There were two dragons who had a grudge on each other back on Guardian Island. One of them stole the other's fish and the other one grew angry and stole his fish. They started fighting and Wingston, the leader of the guardian village, broke the fight up and made them apologize to each other. The dragons were still mad at each other but they got over it after a few weeks. So, I don't think all grudges between dragons are to the death but I dare say that this grudge between Toothless and Razor the Whispering Death is to the death." Aniu recounted.
"Let's get out of here before he comes back." Hiccup said. "That is really good idea." Fishlegs agreed. "Well then, let's go." Aniu said. The three teens ran down a tunnel only to come face to face with the Whispering Death. "Run!" Aniu yelled and she, Hiccup and Fishlegs ran for their lives.
The other dragon trainers were still waiting for their comrades. "They've been down there forever. Hiccup! Aniu! Fishlegs!" Astrid yelled down the hole. "Yeah, we're right here." Hiccup yelled, running into view with Aniu and Fishlegs. "Did you see the Whispering Death? Was it cool?" Tuffnut asked eagerly. "Did you touch it?" Ruffnut asked eagerly. "I want to touch it." Tuffnut snapped, elbowing his sister.
"Can we talk about this later? We really need to get out of this hole." Fishlegs said. A low rumble accompanied by a small whisper sounded from underground, catching everyone's attention. "Yeah, you do." Nava agreed. A louder rumble and a cloud of dirt signalled that the Whispering Death was getting nearer, very quickly. "Fishlegs, you go first." Hiccup and Aniu said. "No argument here." Fishlegs said and allowed Hiccup and Aniu to lift him up. Astrid and Nava pulled Fishlegs out of the hole. Aniu turned into her owl form and flew upwards.
"Hiccup, hurry!" Astrid yelled, reaching down into the hole to grab her boyfriend's outstretched hand. Hiccup tried to grab Astrid's hand but couldn't. "I can't reach." He grunted. The Whispering Death was very close when Hiccup finally managed to grab Astrid's hand but his hand slid out of hers.
Hiccup realized he wasn't going to get out of the hole in time and yelled for everyone to back away then Hiccup was sent flying into the air while screaming. "Hiccup!" Astrid and Aniu screamed in terror. "Wow, I bet he can see our houses from up there." Tuffnut remarked before Aniu hit him over the head with her wing. "Stormfly!" Astrid yelled when she saw the danger Hiccup was in as the Whispering Death prepared to grab Hiccup. The female, sky blue Deadly Nadder flew up and grabbed Hiccup seconds before Razor could eat him.
"Thanks, Astrid." Hiccup said when Stormfly put him down safely on the ground. Razor roared and glared at them. "I don't think it liked you in its tunnel." Tuffnut said to Hiccup. "Yeah, I got that." The brown haired teen said. "Can we get out of here, please?" Snotlout asked desperately. "No. I know I can train this thing." Hiccup said. "Anybody got some dragon nip?" Aniu asked. The other teens stuffed a whole bunch of dragon nip into her and Hiccup's hands.
"Okay." Aniu mumbled and walked forward with Hiccup to offer Razor the Whispering Death their dragon nip. "Don't be afraid. We're friends." She murmured, holding her dragon nip up. Razor growled at Aniu, obviously remembering her. "Here. You'll love this. All dragons love dragon nip." Hiccup said quietly. But instead of accepting the dragon nip, Razor sneezed, sending the dragon nip flying toward Stormfly, Hookfang, Meatlug and Barf-Belch. The dragons were intoxicated and fell into a dragon nip induced slumber.
"Apparently, not all dragons like dragon nip. We better write that down." Nava muttered. "Oh, great. Now we're defenceless." Snotlout snapped. The Whispering Death snarled at the conscious members of the group. "Any ideas? I'm throwing them wide open to the group." Hiccup said. "I got an idea. Run!" Snotlout shrieked. Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut ran to their dragons with Hiccup, Aniu and Nava following them.
Razor hissed and chased the group but Toothless tackled him. "Toothless!" Astrid, Aniu and Nava cried out in relief. Toothless hung on tightly to Razor's spiky back as the Whispering Death bucked and tried to throw him off. "Stay away from my friends, you monster!" Toothless roared, throwing Razor into a bunch of trees. The other dragons woke up and roared at Razor, ready to attack him.
The Whispering Death realized he was outnumbered and tunnelled into the ground. Hiccup and Aniu ran over to Toothless who growled at them before realizing they were his rider and guardian friend. "Hey, bud. It's us. We know you and that other dragon have a grudge on each other but if you could just tell us what happened between you and him then we'll find a way to end this." Hiccup said. "Please, Toothless. Just let us help you." Aniu pleaded. "I'm sorry, but I can't." Toothless said and ran away.
"Toothless, come back!" Hiccup and Aniu yelled, chasing after the Night Fury but Toothless spun around and shot a plasma blast at the ground in front of them, stopping Hiccup and Aniu in their tracks. Their betrayed expressions made Toothless feel guilty but he ran away again. "Awkward." Tuffnut sang. Hiccup and Aniu glared at him.
The riders and guardians took to the skies to look for Toothless again. "So Toothless has an arch-enemy. Kind of like you and me." Snotlout said to Hiccup from Hookfang's neck. "Snotlout, you are not my arch-enemy." Hiccup said, riding behind Astrid on Stormfly's back. "Well, you and Aniu are my arch-enemies." Snotlout said, giving Hiccup the 'I'm-watching-you' look. Aniu and Nava rolled their eyes at Snotlout.
"He's just trying to protect you." Astrid told Hiccup, referring to Toothless. "That's not what it is. Toothless doesn't want you around because this is between him and the other dragon. He's a fighter like me, not whatever you are." Snotlout continued. "I never thought I'd say this Snotlout but I think you are right." Hiccup said.
"Wait, what? You guys heard that, right?" Snotlout asked in shock. "What I think Hiccup means is that Toothless is a fighter." Aniu said. "It's not a fair fight. If Toothless is going to win, he has to fly. And he can't fly without me." Hiccup said. "So, what are you saying?" Astrid asked. "I'm saying we need to find him and soon." Hiccup said. Aniu looked down at the ground and saw a familiar shape. "I see Toothless. He's down there, running through the trees!" she yelled, pointing.
Down below on the ground, Toothless found a Whispering Death hole. "I'm here. Now let's finish this once and for all!" He roared. Razor heard and hissed, ready to settle the score. "There he is. Get me down there." Hiccup said to Astrid. Toothless heard his guardian and dragon friends land and the familiar squeaking of Hiccup's prosthetic foot as his rider approached him.
Toothless stared at Hiccup and let his rider put a hand on his head. "Hey, bud. You had me and Aniu so worried there for a while. You haven't been yourself lately. Good to see you are still you." Hiccup told his dragon. Aniu was about to say something to Toothless when Razor burst out of the ground near them. Toothless snarled at the Whispering Death. "You could just walk away from this, bud." Hiccup tried in vain to persuade Toothless.
"Let's just go home." Hiccup tried to mount Toothless only to be knocked away as the Night Fury charged at the Whispering Death. "You were so close!" Aniu exclaimed, helping Hiccup up. "I thought you had him." Nava said. Toothless tried to fly up and fire plasma blasts at Razor but the Whispering Death knocked him aside with his tail.
"He needs our help." Hiccup said, climbing onto Stormfly's back behind Astrid. The dragons, Aniu and Nava ran forward to help but Toothless roared at them to back off. "Come on, girl." Astrid said when Stormfly refused to move. "Hookfang won't budge." Snotlout grunted, tugging on his Monstrous Nightmare's horns. "I think ours is broken." Tuffnut said, referring to Barf-Belch. "They know this isn't their fight, guys." Fishlegs said.
Razor forced Toothless onto the edge of a cliff and burrowed through the earth. Toothless was now trapped and the Whispering Death continuously spat fire at him, it was only a matter of time before Toothless was knocked off the cliff edge and sent plummeting to his death. "He's going to knock Toothless into the canyon!" Hiccup yelled at his friends.
"Toothless, you have to choose: Hiccup or the Whispering Death!" Aniu yelled. At the moment Hiccup and Toothless glanced at each other, Hiccup got an idea. He stood on the very edge of the cliff he and his friends were on and….fell off.
"HICCUP!" Astrid, Aniu, Nava, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut screamed. "Hiccup!" Toothless roared and as Razor shot out another blast of fire, jumped after his rider. Hiccup saw his Night Fury falling after him and smiled. Toothless caught his rider and Hiccup mounted him. Once Hiccup put his prosthetic foot into the stirrup, Toothless shot up into the sky.
Astrid, Aniu, Nava and the other Dragon Trainers let out relieved exclamations and cheers. "You save me, I save you. That's the way it is and always will be." Hiccup told Toothless who growled in agreement as Aniu turned into their dragon form and joined them. They dodged some spines from the Whispering Death and a ray of sunlight shone through the clouds.
Razor hissed and tunnelled into the ground. "The sunlight. That's his weakness." Fishlegs realized. "Whispering Deaths hate sunlight." Nava realized. "Okay, you two. Let's keep him above ground." Hiccup said to Aniu and Toothless. "Now that's a plan." Aniu exclaimed. She and Toothless dove down and shot plasma blasts down the Whispering Death holes. The flames surged through the tunnels and exploded through the holes.
"This. Is. Amazing." Ruffnut breathed out, admiring the spectacle. "We have got to find you an arch-nemesis." Tuffnut told Barf-Belch. "No thanks." The green and red Hideous Zippleback said. Razor was thrown out of his tunnels and landed on the ground. Before he could get up again, Toothless pinned him down.
"There's something I want to know: why did you constantly attack me?" Toothless asked. Razor took a deep breath. "I'll tell you why: because I thought you were the one responsible for destroying my eggs." The Whispering Death said. "I would never do such a thing! It had to be some other dragon who looked like me." Toothless gasped in shock. "Killing another dragons eggs is one of the worst crimes in the dragon world. It is punishable by death unless it was proven to be an accident." Stormfly said.
"The Deadly Nadder is right. I will tell you what happened." Razor said.
(Flashback starts)
Razor and his mate had been out fishing and were on their way back to their den when they saw a Night Fury walking around their cave entrance. "Hey! What are you doing?" Razor yelled. Startled, the Night Fury scampered away. They began to get a bad feeling but dismissed it as nothing. The two Whispering Deaths dropped the fish on the cave floor and Razor went to get some more fish while his mate checked on their eggs.
Just then, Razor heard his mate scream. "Our eggs! Our eggs!" Quickly, he turned around and slithered over to his mate. He saw their three precious eggs crushed and broken. "NOOOOO!" He roared in anguish. "I'LL KILL THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS!" Then he remembered the Night Fury flying away from them only minutes ago. There was only one known Night Fury in the surrounding parts of the Archipelago. With fury and grief pumping through his veins, the Whispering Death swore revenge on the Night Fury.
(Flashback ends)
"What did the Night Fury who crushed your eggs look like?" Toothless asked. "Well, he had black scales and, oh, I remember now, red eyes." Razor told him. Toothless racked his brain, trying to remember something. "What's wrong, Toothless?" Aniu asked. "He seems familiar but I just can't remember him." Toothless growled in frustration.
"You told me that you couldn't remember anything from your life before you were enslaved by the Red Death." Aniu said. Behind her, Nava was translating what the dragons were saying to the riders. "Well, that is one of the few things I can remember. I have no idea why I was flying around those islands, maybe I was looking for something. And the Red Death took most of my memories of my early life to make me a better slave and decrease the chances of me trying to escape." Toothless said then got off the Whispering Death.
"I believe we owe each other an apology. I am so sorry." Razor said. "I am sorry, too. I apologize for giving you that scar." Toothless said. Then the Whispering Death and Night Fury bowed deeply to each other, a sign of forgiveness and apology amongst dragons. When Razor and Toothless stopped bowing, Razor said farewell and slithered down a tunnel. "Aw, man. Toothless could've finished him off." Snotlout whined. "Snotlout, didn't you listen to me and Aniu when we said what the reason for the Whispering Death attacking Toothless was?" Nava asked, annoyed.
"Well, I guess that not all dragon grudges are to the death, depending on the reason." Hiccup said. "I guess I'll have to write that down in the Book of Dragons." Fishlegs said, flying away on Meatlug. "Hey, what do you say we go home?" Hiccup asked. "Let's go home." Toothless said happily and flew into the sky, followed by the others.
"When our past rears its ugly head, it usually doesn't have six rows of sharp teeth and a bad attitude."
Later on that day, Aniu (in her dragon form) Hiccup and Toothless flew around the island, searching for another Whispering Death hole to plug up with a boulder.
"But if it does, you're gonna need a great friend or two who has your back. Aniu and I will always have Toothless's back, as a matter of fact, all three of us will always have each other's backs. And when you're trying to find out the truth about something, sometimes you will be surprised at what you find out because it could be something you are completely not expecting."
On an island a far distance from Berk, a female Night Fury with black scales and chocolate brown eyes stood staring up at the stars. She was joined by a slightly smaller female Night Fury with black scales and sky blue eyes. "Are you okay, Raven?" The second Night Fury asked quietly. "I don't know, Plasma. I miss Toothless so much." Raven said, thinking of the male Night Fury she had a crush on and had grown up with. "I miss my brother too. But we have to have faith and hope that he'll come back to us one day." Plasma said before leaving. Raven watched her go and saw a shooting star streak across the sky. She closed her eyes and silently wished that Toothless would come back to them one day.
The summer heat is making my mind slow and lazy, preventing me from writing my very best so updates may take longer than usual.
I was going to publish this chapter before Christmas but a new surprise expansion pack came onto School of dragons and I wanted to do all the quests, so I did. It's called Battle for the Edge and you can go to Dragon's Edge and some other new islands. The expansion pack is inspired by the next thirteen episodes of Dragons: Race to the Edge and a new dragon which will appear in the upcoming episodes called the ARMORWING. You must deal with Dragon Hunters attacking Dragon's Edge and all the other lands surrounding it and you'll meet a new character named Harald Forkbeard. A bonus feature is that when you finish the quests, you'll get your hut on Dragon's Edge and have the ability to decorate it.
The Night Fury with red eyes who crushed Razor's eggs, Raven and Plasma will appear in a future story set after Dragons and Defenders of Berk.
I hope everyone had a good Christmas and Happy New Year.
Updated: 28.12.2015