Chapter 8
All the dragons woke up when they too heard the cracking. They turned to the egg at once. Re went to get the other riders, so they could watch the egg as promised. Everyone else gathered around Windwalker and Tenor, Serenity held Edelweiss. The egg was rolling around. There were minor cracks in the shell. They all could hear the hatchling scratching at the eggshell. Re soon returned with the other riders and dragons. Windwalker brought the egg out in the open grass for all to see. It sat in a patch of moonlight. It cracked louder, small chips began breaking off.
"Why doesn't it just burst out?" asked Snotlout.
"Not all dragon hatchlings hatch at the same speed," said Re. "Tenor took this long to hatched out." They turned back to the egg. Tenor slowly got to his feet, the sedative had worn off enough to allow this. He joined his comrades. More chunks of egg fell off. They could see parts of the baby dragon. The moonlight gleamed off its scales. Suddenly a back leg burst out of the egg, followed by another. Then a tail popped out, with a pair of tiny tail fins on the end. More limbs popped out; two front legs and two wings. All that was left was her head and her body. The baby struggled with all it's might.
"Can't you help?" asked Astrid.
"Nope," said Tenor. "This every dragon's first challenge, getting out of the egg alone." They fell silent again. Finally the hatchling managed to poke its head out. Before anyone could make out any features, the hatchling pulled everything back into the shell. With a loud crack, the egg burst open releasing the baby dragon. It rolled onto its front and sat up, looking around. It was jet black, with red glowing eyes. The first thing it saw, was Windwalker who was closest.
"Hello," she cooed. She nuzzled her new hatchling and licked its face.
"It's a girl," Windwalker said, and Re translated.
"Wow, she looks just like Tenor," said Fishlegs. And so she did. The little dragon was half Night Fury. And when she opened her mouth they saw small black teeth. She was quite small, slightly smaller then a Tiny Terror. Tenor lit the fire pit, filling the area with fire light. Now they could see the hatchling more clearly. On her forehead was hour glass symbol that was the same red color as her eyes. It was quite large, taking up half her forehead.
"That's a strange birthmark," said Valka.
"I've seen that mark before," Serenity said, the sound of recognition in her voice. "I'll be right back." She went into the house, Edelweiss secure in the baby sling.
"What are you going to name her?" asked Hiccup.
"I want to call her after an animal that's either fast or poisonous," Tenor said, and they realized he was translating for Windwalker.
"How about Nightingale," said Astrid.
"It's pretty," said Tenor. He looked at Windwalker.
"Yeah, that is quite pretty," she said. "But not intimidating enough." At that moment Serenity came back out with a book in her hands. She went over to the picnic table and set the book down. The others gathered around the table, Windwalker put her new hatchling on top of the table so she could see. Serenity flipped through the book, which was a book on spiders. She stopped on an illustration of a certain spider. It was a small spider; it was glossy black, it had long creepy legs, and a round rear. It looked very scary. It was dangling upside down on its web. Serenity pointed to the spider's abdomen, where there was the same red hour glass shape.
"Well what do you know," said Windwalker.
"That is the creepiest spider I've ever seen," said Hiccup.
"What kind is that?" asked Snotlout.
"That is the Black Widow spider," said Tenor. "They live in hot dry climates. They get their name because a female will find herself a male, and when she gets what she wants from him she'll kill him and eat him."
"Whoa," said the Twins in unison.
"Sounds like a very barbaric spider," said Eret.
"Yes," said Serenity. "And they're very poisonous. There is no antidote to their poison, as far as I know. Just be glad one doesn't live here."
"Oh, I think one does now," said Windwalker, looking at her hatchling. "That's what we'll call you, Black Widow."
"What did she just say?" asked Snotlout.
"The baby dragon's name is Black Widow," said Serenity. The little dragon's tiny ears poked up at this. She let out a loud, puppy bark. She got to her feet, and crawled onto her mother's back.
"She certainly climbs like a spider," said Astrid. Black Widow gave a tiny croon. She looked at everyone in turn. Suddenly Edelweiss woke up and started crying. Serenity closed the book and attended to her own baby. She took her out of the sling and sat her up, leaning her against her chest. Almost instantly Edelweiss locked eyes with Black Widow. The two of them stared at each other, unblinkingly. The little dragon jumped off her perch and walked right up to her. When she was close enough, Black Widow began sniffing Edelweiss. Then the baby placed a small hand on the dragon's snout. Black Widow purred and leaned her head into Edelweiss's soft hand.
"What's going on?" asked Snotlout.
"Black Widow has just found her rider," said Aurora. "This is fate."
"And you're comfortable with having your baby be so close to such an evil looking dragon?" Eret asked Chris.
"Oi!" Tenor protested. Eret held his hands up in apology.
"They won't be left unsupervised," Serenity said. "At least until they're more mature." Black Widow suddenly began licking her rider's face. Edelweiss squealed with laughter.
"We'll let you get to bed now," said Astrid. "When are you guys heading home?"
"Ah, we'll give it a week," said Aurora.
The riders and dragons left the hospital and headed for their houses. The Draconian dragons laid down on the Dragonnip. Tenor and Windwalker curled up together, Windwalker tucked her wing over Black Widow. They all fell asleep in minuets. The full moon shone down on them all.
The next day the Draconians slept in after being up most of the night watching the egg hatch. The only ones who did wake up were Apollo and Avalon. They both emerged from under Aurora's wing. They stretched their limbs and wings. They had slept through Black Widow's hatching. They munched golden apples. Then they waited for the others to wake up.
"Wow, they must have been up for a long time," said Avalon, sitting in Serenity's vacant seat.
"How come they get to sleep in and we don't?" asked Apollo, slightly annoyed. He laid on the Dragonnip. He lit the fire pit with his red flame. At that moment Windwalker shifted in her sleep, and her wing slid off Black Widow. Both young dragonets got to their feet, Avalon jumped to the ground, and they quietly approached. Black Widow was curled up, asleep.
"Oh, that would explain it," said Apollo.
"Wow," said Avalon. "She's so tiny, and she looks just like Tenor." Apollo lowered his head over their new cousin.
"Don't wake her up," Avalon hissed. Apollo ignored her and gently nuzzled Black Widow's head. The little dragon stirred and opened her red eyes. She sat up groggily and yawned. She blinked a few times, then spotted Apollo and Avalon. Her eyes went wide and she tilted her head in curiosity. She chirped in surprised. She jumped to her feet to get a closer look at Apollo and Avalon. When she was standing at her full hight, they saw just how small she was. She was only just a few inches shorter than Apollo and Avalon. But she was quite slim, and had a small frame. She fluttered her tiny wings and shook herself. She sniffed the other two dragonets. No one said a word.
"She's very curious," said Apollo. Black Widow crooned and purred. "And she can't talk."
"She's only a baby Apollo," said Avalon. "She wasn't born with magic like we were." Avalon lowered her head to Black Widow's level.
"Hello little cousin," she said. Black Widow began prancing around, squealing in delight. This naturally woke up the adult dragons. They yawned and sat up. Black Widow turned her attention to theses other dragons, and remembered them from last night. She went up to Re first. She sniffed his talons. Re smiled down at her and lowered his head. He nuzzled Black Widow, and she returned it. Then Black Widow moved to Aurora. She looked down at the little dragon, remembering when Tenor was that small and curious. She hoped Black Widow would have a different childhood than he did, without being driven into the shadows by bullying. Black Widow ran back to her parents and rubbed against her mother's legs like a cat. Windwalker nuzzled her and purred. Then suddenly Black Widow began looking around for something.
"What she looking for?" asked Apollo.
"She's looking for Edelweiss," Aurora said. "They made friends last night." Avalon and Apollo looked at each other.
"How come you didn't wake us up?" asked Apollo.
"You guys take a long time to wake up," Re said. "By the time you would have woken up, Black Widow would have been all the way out."
"Black Widow?" said Avalon curiously. "Is that her name?"
"Yup," said Tenor. "She has the same red hour glass on her forehead as the Black Widow spider has on her abdomen." The two older dragonets looked at Black Widow again and saw that it was true.
"Awesome," said Apollo. Black Widow kept looking around for her future rider, and let out a sad moan when she wasn't to be found. Re and Aurora exchanged a glance.
"I'll be right back," said Aurora. She went into the house to get the three humans. While they waited Black Widow stood next to her dad, and rubbed against his legs. Tenor nuzzled her back. He was happy that there was finally another dragon in the world who looked like him. He silently thanked Lord Draco.
A few minuets later Aurora and the three humans came out of the house. Serenity was holding Edelweiss in her arms. When the child saw Black Widow she reached her little arms out to her. Serenity sat in her chair. Black Widow hurried over. She stood on her hind legs and put her front paws on the chair's armrest. Edelweiss gently put her little hand on Black Widow's snout. The baby dragon licked her rider's face, and Edelweiss laughed.
"I sense a strong bond between those two," said Tenor.
"Practically inseparable," Aurora agreed. Edelweiss hugged Black Widow's head. Apollo and Avalon began climbing up the apple tree. They reached the lowest branches and began munching apples. Black Widow looked up at them, intrigued. She dropped down on all fours again and ran up to the tree. She looked up at the tree, which to her looked colossal. She then began climbing up the trunk, digging her little claws into the golden bark. She reached one of the middle branches with ease. She pulled a large, golden apple off it's leaves. It was much too big for her to swallow whole, it was almost too big to hold in her jaws. She laid down on the wide branch, and began gnawing at the apple. The problem was she didn't know how to pull her teeth out, so she was chewing the apple only with her gums. She was hardly making a dent in it, and she was growing frustrated. She held the apple in her jaws and tried biting it as hard as she could. The apple was too hard and slippery. It slipped out of Black Widow jaws and tumbled along the branch. She tried to snag it with her paws, but her hind legs slipped. She fell off the branch, the apple not far behind.
"Look out!" Tenor and Windwalker cried in unison. They both scrambled to catch Black Widow. The little dragon landed on her mother's back, and the apple bonked Tenor on the head. He grabbed the apple and began munching hit himself. Windwalker gave him a hard look.
"What?" he said with his mouth full. "I'm not one to let good apples go to waste. Serenity put a lot of work into this tree and these apples."
"Not really, I just planted the seed," said Serenity. "Draco did the rest." Tenor finished his apple.
"I'll be right back," he said. He spread his wings and flew off.
He landed at the feeding stations. Normally he would have gone out to sea to get fish, but Black Widow was hungry and he need to get her something to eat fast. There were many other dragons at the feeding stations. They were surprised to see Tenor there.
"Fancy seeing you here Prime Minister," said a yellow and red Gronkle.
"Well, I'm not just feeding myself anymore," Tenor said. "When I do, I go out to sea." He ate as many fish as he could. The other dragons paid him little heed, even though they were all curious about Black Widow. Tenor ate his fill then headed back towards the apple tree.