A New Discovery
Hiccup had not needed Toothless's enhanced Dragon senses to hear the bellowing roar that had emitted over the distant mountain from where both Rider and Dragon were taking a break near a small stream, enjoying a lunch of fish, caught by Toothless, and a helping of cooked rabbit, curtsey of Hiccup's more recent archery skills. The pair were in the second day of their search for the right Dragon for Stoick the Vast. So far, they had found three Gronckles, five Deadly Nadders, four Monstrous Nightmares, two Hideous Zipplebacks and a flock of Terrible Terrors. Being in grasslands near a mountain range, there were no Thunderdrums or Scauldrons present. None of the Dragons found were either able to match Stoick's character or would have met the Chieftain's approval. Hiccup had been familiar with all of the calls of all of the Dragon's he had had encountered in his Dragon career. There was no way that this Dragon call was that of a Whispering Death. Hiccup and Toothless looked at one another, knowing what the other was thinking instantly, they quickly finished their lunch and flew off towards the direction of the roar.
They had had to fly a good fifteen minutes before reaching where Toothless had judged where the sound originated from. Hiccup was interested already, taking out a piece of parchment and placing a tick on the line that stated 'intimidating roar', beating the Zippleback, Nadder and Gronckle already down by one point. They had landed behind a large boulder, concealing the pair from the object of their desire. Slowly and steadily the pair looked around, and were amazed by what they saw.
What stood before them was unlike anything they had seen before. The Dragon was huge, it was not as tall as a Monstrous Nightmare or Hideous Zippleback, but it was sheer bulk. That sheer bulk was dark green with a red pigment scattered across its scaly skin. A small group of Terrible Terrors were resting peacefully its back. It had large wings, again dark green with red scattered across even the membrane of the wings. It's tail resemble that of a mace, definitely a weapon. But it was the head that was the most interesting characteristic of this new Dragon. Above the head were a series of natural, armoured plates. Large nostrils meant a good sense of smell and sharp eyes radiating intelligence. Two large purple horns extended from the top of the head, whilst a smaller, but thicker pair of horns curved away from the Dragon's blood red nose and its jade green chin. Presently, it was feasting on a catch of wild boars it had caught and roasted, tearing off chucks of meat and bone, and crushing them efficiently with it powerful jaws.
'Power, another box ticked,' thought Hiccup, not for one moment taking his eye off the wonder before him. A loud hiss interrupted his thoughts.
A Monstrous Nightmare had landed on the other side of the clearing and had his eyes set on the other Dragon's kill. Having its muzzle in buried deep in a half eaten boar, the Other Dragon had yet to register the Nightmare's presence.
'This could go bad, bud,' Hiccup said quietly to Toothless, the chances of getting Stoick the Vast a unique birthday gift dwindling by the moments.
Then one of the Terrible Terrors woke up, spotted the Nightmare and an alert squeal, the others waking and following suit. Their calls alerting the Other Dragon, it turned and faced the Nightmare, giving a rumbling growl of gratitude to the smaller Dragons.
'Hey, look bud, the big guy had them on lookout,' gasped Hiccup amazed. A tick for intelligence.
The Nightmare gave another hiss as it crawled forward, the Other Dragon lumbered towards it, giving a rumbling growl of defiance. Hiccup looked on with amazement at the scene before him. The Monstrous Nightmare may have had size on its side, but the Heir of Berk could tell, pound to pound that, the Other was the more powerful predator and it knew it. It happened so quickly. The intruder had charged onto the hunter, only to receive a heavy blow from the tail club. The Other then bolted forward with great speed unrealistic for its size and seized the Nightmare's neck in its jaws, wrestling it to the ground. The trapped intruder attempted to stab at it's captives head, the armour plates preventing this however. It went limp, submitting to defeat. As the Victor let go, the Nightmare attempted to strike again, only to receive a hard head butt between the eyes. It's head swayed for a moment before it collapsed to the ground, knocked out cold. The Dragon took a few deep breaths, gave a quick nod and returned to its kill, ripping off pieces of meat and throwing them into the direction of the Terrible Terrors, who scurried forward and started devouring the generous offerings. It kept giving off rumbling growls as it stood there watching the smaller Dragon's
Hiccup had observed all of that had just transpired with stunned disbelief. He had not only discovered a new species of dragon, he had just seen that new species of Dragon make short work of another Dragon that, as a species altogether, was supposed to be dangerous. It ticked all of the boxes, he was looking for. Strength, size, speed, intelligence, loyalty, aggressiveness and stubbornness. This was the one. He had found his Dad's Dragon, all he needed to do now was train it for Stoick the Vast. His thoughts trailed back to the Dragon and its constant low growls.
'Rumblehorn,' Hiccup thought aloud.
A piece of boar meat landed near them.
Thanks for the wait guys. I'll try to update as soon as possible between each chapter :) .