Chapter 5
At some point during the night a violent storm blew over the island. The following morning it was very foggy and chilly. Chris woke up and found Serenity missing. He immediately jumped out of bed and put on his coat. He ran outside to find his parents waking up as well.
"Mom, Dad, Serenity's gone," he said. Aurora stared strait ahead and her face went blank.
"I can see where she is," she said. "Follow me." Chris mounted Re and they followed Aurora down to the arena. It was still foggy and hard to see.
Soon they landed at the arena. They looked around to see the obstacles all set up for sparring. Near the back Tenor and Windwalker were curled up together fast asleep. Serenity was laying across Tenor's shoulders, also asleep.
"Oh my!" Aurora said, spying all the bandages on Tenor. "What have these guys been up to?" Chris dismounted and approached them. He spotted his swords near Serenity's feet. He picked one of them up and pulled it out of its scabbard. The edge of it was razor sharp.
"She sharpened my swords," he said, putting the sword away.
"I guess she took Windwalker's comment personally," Re said. Chris knelt down and gently shook Serenity. When he touched her shoulder, he found it soaking wet as was the rest of her.
"Hey, wake up," he said. Serenity opened her eyes and sat up.
"Good morning," she said.
"What are you doing out here?" Chris asked.
"Doing something useful," Serenity said. She stretched and Chris helped her to her feet.
"You're freezing, have you been out here all night?" he asked.
"Pretty much," Serenity said. Chris took his coat off and put it around her shoulders. Aurora lowered her head and nudged Tenor. He opened his eyes and groaned in pain.
"What on Earth happened?" Aurora asked.
"Little problem with a Sand Wraith," Tenor said. "It attacked Windwalker, and I came and fought it off. It got me good but Serenity patched me up." They all looked at Serenity.
"Where's your jacket?" Aurora asked. Serenity smiled and went over to where she had put her jacket next to Windwalker. She picked it up and walked back to the others. She then unwrapped the jacked and showed everyone the egg. Everyone looked surprised.
"Wow, it looks just like Tenor's did," Re said.
"It's actually quite lucky Serenity showed up when she did," Tenor said. "I don't know if I would have lasted the night." He then turned and roused Windwalker. She stirred and sat up. She began sniffing around.
"Where's my egg?" she asked.
"It's right here," Serenity said, holding it up. Windwalker sighed.
"Lets get you guys back up to the apple tree," Aurora said. "You'll be more comfortable."
"Good idea," Windwalker said getting to her feet. They turned and headed out of the arena. Serenity carried the egg the whole way.
When they got back to the apple tree, Windwalker laid down in the Dragonnip. Serenity handed her the egg and she put it under her wing. Tenor laid down next to her, without putting pressure on his bad leg. Serenity and Chris sat in their chairs and Re and Aurora also laid down on the Dragonnip. Tenor and Windwalker brought everyone up on what happened the night before. Even though Tenor said the Sand Wraith got away, everyone but Serenity knew that the Sand Wraith didn't get away.
When the story was over the dragons settled down. Windwalker curled around her egg, covering it with her wing. Tenor laid down with his bad leg facing up. It was starting to bother him.
"So have you thought of any names for your hatchling?" Aurora asked.
"Well, you said it was going to be a female, and it was going to look like Tenor," Windwalker said. "I want to name her after something either fast or poisonous. Something like Roadrunner or Viper."
"What about Scorpion?" said Tenor. "Or Peregrine."
"Peregrine sounds pretty," said Windwalker.
"It's a type of falcon," Tenor said. "A very fast flyer."
"I know what it is," Windwalker said. "I saw one catch a sparrow once, it was quite impressive."
"How about Black Mamba," Re suggested. "It's a type of snake that's quite poisonous."
"I personally like the sound of Peregrine," Windwalker said. "It's got a nice feminine ring to it. But I won't make up my mind until it hatches." She settled down and laid her head on her paws. At that moment the riders came up the hill, Fishlegs was among them.
"Whoa what happened to him?" asked Tuffnut pointing at the bandages on Tenor.
"I had a fight last night with a Sand Wraith," Tenor said.
"A Sand Wraith!?" Hiccup and Fishlegs said in unison.
"Looks like you lost," said Astrid. Tenor was starting to look annoyed.
"Yeah, I was having an off day," he said. He tried making himself comfortable.
"And what of the egg?" asked Fishlegs. Windwalker slowly lifted her wing. They moved a bit closer to get a better look. They saw the black, round egg resting next to Windwalker's side.
"Wow, beautiful egg," said Astrid. Windwalker purred. Fishlegs tried to get a closer look, but Tenor was on his feet in a flash and blocked the way snarling.
"That's quite close enough," he hissed. Fishlegs backed up quickly. When he was a good distance away, Tenor relaxed a bit.
"Sorry about him Tenor," said Hiccup. "He tends to overreact around new dragons."
"Yes, so I've heard," Tenor said.
"I just want to document it in the Book of Dragons," Fishlegs said. "But to do that I would need to make measurements and such." Now Windwalker got to her feet growling.
"I wouldn't hurt it," Fishlegs said.
"Not intentionally no," Tenor snarled. "But how do I know you won't accidentally lose it or kick it into the ocean?"
"When will it hatch?" asked Hiccup.
"In a few months," Tenor said. "Hopefully I'll be cleared up by then." He laid back down as his it was causing his leg too much pain to stand any longer. Windwalker joined him.
"We'll let you rest," said Hiccup. "I hope to see you in the arena later."
"Oh, we'll be there," Re said.
The riders left to start their daily activities. Tenor kept trying to make himself comfortable, but he was in a lot of pain. Serenity gave him painkillers and rested his broken leg on a short log to help it heal better. Tenor soon fell asleep as the pain subsided.
As the weeks went by Tenor's injuries healed one by one. His broken leg kept him from moving around too much. He spent most of his days watching the egg, while Windwalker was in the sparing arena. She only did one match then went back to her egg. Serenity stayed under the tree, keeping all three of them company and looking after Edelweiss. The apple tree was usually quiet during the middle of the day. Whenever Re, Aurora, and Chris helped out around the village, they also kept Fishlegs from sneaking up to the tree and bothering Tenor and Windwalker. Whenever there was little to do around the village the dragons went fishing. They were all waiting for the egg to hatch.
A month went by with nothing. Tenor eventually fully recovered and was soon walking and flying again. Serenity gave him physical therapy to help him recuperate. Soon he too was helping around the village. He and Windwalker took turns looking after the egg. Whenever it was Tenor's turn to help around the village Fishlegs kept pestering him with questions, carrying pencil and paper. Tenor tried his best to ignore him, but it was very difficult and it made him angry.
One day, Tenor was with his comrades in the village, Fishlegs came up to him right on cue. Tenor growled, flashing his black teeth.
"Hey Tenor I wonder if I might weigh that egg," he asked. "I can do it quick while you guys are taking it easy." Tenor whirled around with a loud roar and pinned Fishlegs against the wall of the nearest house.
"I grow tired of telling you to back off and leave us a lone," the dragon hissed. "You better not touch our egg, or I will kill you. And if I were you, I wouldn't bring it up again." He released Fishlegs and walked off. Meatlug flew after him and landed in front of him.
"You wouldn't really kill him Prime Minister?" she asked, worried.
"Of course not, that would violate the treaty we stamped with Stoic," Tenor said. "But it seems like the only way I get him to listen is a threat on his life." He spread his wings and took off.
He landed at the apple tree later with his comrades. They all noticed that he had been grumpy all day. He folded his wings and laid down next to Windwalker. Avalon and Apollo were high up in the tree munching apples. Windwalker was watching them absentmindedly.
"Where did you get their names from?" she asked.
"Apollo is the Greek god of music," Serenity said. "And music plays a big part in our Draconian culture."
"Avalon is the name of the final resting place of Arthur Pendragon," Re said.
"Who's he?" asked Windwalker.
"He's the original owner of my table," Serenity said. "He was known as King Arthur, he was a very noble king."
"So you get names from mythology and fairy tails?" Windwalker said.
"Sure," said Re. "You can get lots of good names from mythology." Windwalker considered.
"I like the sound of Pendragon," she said. She leaned on Tenor's shoulder. "Well the name will come to me eventually I'm sure. Who's the Greek goddess of the night?"
"That would be Nyx," Serenity said.
"You seem to know quite a lot," Windwalker said.
"I've traveled all over the world," Serenity said. "I've seen both Greece and Rome. I usually stayed away from populated areas of course."
"You've traveled, why?" Chris asked.
"It gave me some distraction," Serenity said. "Not to mention it gave me a lot of knowledge." Chris griped her hand. He didn't have to ask why she needed distractions.
"What poisonous animals have you seen?" Windwalker asked.
"The most poisonous animal I've seen," Serenity said. "Is the Box Jellyfish. Their venom kills you slowly and painfully."
"Hmm, I like the name Nyx," Windwalker said. "Nice and short. But I'll keep brainstorming."
"Maybe you can give her a name that relates to one of you," Chris suggested. "Like Soprano."
"Oooh, that's a fun word to say," Windwalker said. "I'll keep it in the back of my mind." Then she yawned felling exhausted. She looked down at Tenor who was already sleeping. She licked his cheek, then rested her head on the top of his neck. The rest of the family went to sleep shortly afterwords.