CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

A noise caught Drayko's attention, a twig snapping a couple feet within the edge of the forest. Curious, Drayko took one last check up on Folki before standing and slowly sneaking toward the noise in question. When he was at the very edge of the woods he listened for another sound.

And there it was, a slight breath sounding from behind a nearby tree. He leaped, pinning a body to the ground. He reared his head, opening his mouth to strike, when he heard a familiar voice.

"…Drayko…?" the person said.

He looked down at the trapped person; it was a girl, with long brownish blond hair pulled back into a long braid. Her garments reflected that of a place he hadn't been in a long time.

His body relaxed instantaneously as he looked down at the face of a long lost home.

"…Tofa…" he said with a long sigh, "what're you doing in this part of the country?" he asked, getting off of her.

She sat up, eyes a little too wide, "I'm here looking for help." She grabbed his shoulders, "Drayko, you've got to come help, the village has been attacked by this dark traveler who came around a couple months after you left and-"

"Berk doesn't want my help; no one there even missed me enough to go looking for me…" Drayko mused as all the horrid memories he'd been repressing came back to light. He had begun to stand when a fist caught him in the face, throwing him to the ground.

Drayko looked up at the girl to find her eyes tearing up.

"You….selfish…" she took a deep breath and tried to talk again, "…when you left, Hiccup sent everyone out on a frantic search. Yes, most of the villagers were a little nervous about it, but the point is we looked for weeks, and when hiccup finally had to let the search go, me and Fishnut and Leif still looked for you. To this day I was still hoping to run into you." she looked down at the ground for a second, then stared into the half-dragons golden eyes with such intensity that it made him have to concentrate to keep eye contact.

"Berk's not the same without you Drayko; Leif never leaves his house anymore. I think he blames himself for not being a better brother to you; Fishnut has become so cynical that no one can be around him anymore. Hiccup and Astrid pretend to be fine but when you look into their eyes…it feels dead, like they aren't there, not really." She explained.

Drayko slowly lifted his hand up to touch the side of her face. "…and you?" he asked, voice barely a whisper. She pushed his hand away and hugged her arms around herself, no longer looking him in the eye.

"Please…just come back…the traveller," she began as she looked up at him again; "he's killed and eaten five people already." Drayko's ears perked up, his interest catching, "he's like you, but more violent, more animal-like. He doesn't have morals or feelings." Tofa grabbed Drayko's shoulders, squeezing as if by the very force of her hands would make him come back with her. "Two of the people he's killed were children."

Drayko's eyes widened. Children? A memory flashed of dragon training, those two little children that weren't even old enough to lift a small axe. Dead? Eaten by some sort of half dragon beast like him.

"if this man is so much like me, why in Valhalla would they want me back there?" Drayko demanded turning back to the place where Folki laid on the ground, his laboured breath coming in short pants.

Drayko looked back to Tofa, "and I'm needed here, wanted here, belong here." he turned again, leaning forward and commanding his body too change back into the white night fury form. He heard Tofa gasp. "Drayko…you're…"

"I'm a dragon," he said in his growling voice, "I know, I learned how to transform while I was away." He began to walk back to his post beside Folki, "you should just go home Tofa, I'm sure a village of Vikings can handle some drag-"

Her small arms wrapped around his scaled neck, pressing her face into the side of his throat. "…please…please come back…" her voice cracked as tears flowed down her pale cheeks.

He looked down at her in silence for a long time, debating whether or not he should go back with her.

"Tofa…I-"

"Pendragon…?" Folki's pained voice broke through the silence, causing Tofa to take a defensive stance, pulling out a knife the length of her forearm. "Who's this…?" he continued, looking down at Drayko.

The half dragon stared between his two separate lives, realizing that he really couldn't just leave berk to bite the proverbial dust. He sighed and explained what he could as fast as he could.

When Drayko was finished explaining, Folki stayed silent with thinking for a few minutes.

"…take me with you." The black haired boy stated with a firm tone.

"Why would you want to go to a village with a monster on the loose?" Tofa asked.

"There's nothing for me here, I want to be an explorer, and I can't do that in this town. Pendragon…er…Drayko, you know what I'm talking about right? You can't explore a place you've lived all your life, I want to see new places, find new species, like you."

Drayko looked at Tofa, who looked back. They shared a moment of understanding, understanding that Folki was injured and a bit eccentric, and wondering what kind of help he'd be. Drayko finally shrugged and let out a growling sigh, as the boy jumped and hugged the white monstrous dragon.

"Yes! Let's go!" Folki announced as he hopped along on his good leg.

Drayko flipped the boy onto his scaled back, turning to Tofa and nodding toward her. "Get on; if we fly there it'll be faster. You might need to give me some directions, I didn't know we were anywhere near the village." He said in his growling voice.

Tofa quickly hopped onto her friends back, "we're not." She patted Drayko's side to let him know that all was secure and Folki wouldn't fall off. Drayko spread his wings wide, he had a second to wonder what Folki's father would think of his running away, but he could just make Folki write back to him when they got to Berk. He lifted off, Tofa made a small surprised sound; I guess she'd never ridden a night fury before. Due to their smaller size they were quite a bit faster than other dragon's.

So there it was, Drayko was flying back to a land he'd tried to forget forever, only to save it from the peril he'd been forsaken for. How ironic.

YAY UPDATE ^(o3o)^ *gets pelted with heavy, painful things* (TT3TT) noes~

IM SO SORRY GUYS. at least this chapter isnt SHIT SHORT. but yeah, I really needed to update ^A^; so uh...

i was having a lot of trouble trying to string together problem c and problem d~ BUT NOW I HAVE AND UPDATES SHOULD BE NORMALISH...that and ive had a cold for a while, so forgive me if the updates are slow because i REALLY need to reread my chapters because sometimes what i think is a great chapter, is actually horrible and mucks up the whole story XD

YAY MODERN MEDICIEN. i totally spelled that wrong..

SO IDEAS. THIS STORY IS ALMOST FINISHED. SO IDEAS FOR SHORT STORIES YOU'D LIKE TO SEE INVOLVING THESE CHARACTERS, DEAD OR ALIVE. THEY WILL BE NONCANON (meaning you can pair Drayko with whoever, you can make gareth the good guy and Drayko the bully, i can do a little explaining on Mu Ging's lifetime etc.) these stories shall take the place of updates on this story so far i have;

(mine) a draykoxgareth story because im horrible and getting my characters drunk is fun~

(also mine as well as a few other peoples) a DraykoxLeif story because LEIF IS AMAZING IN BED- i mean...*cough* it would make a good story...

(some peoples) Leif asks if he can ride his brother in dragon form

(someother ideas) a suicide fic (im not sure which character) and drayko deals with more of his kind, and possibly a hilarious fatherhood thing because BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA *evil laugh*