Happy Friday. We might be looking at a situation like last week's, here, just so you know. Which makes your reviews especially important. Basically, if you don't tell me what you think, I can't make the changes that will make you happy. So, you know. That's up to you.
Reviewers!
Little Did You Know (I'd add more chapters, and just plain not give you what you want mwahaha.)
Sousuke Tenki (His hardened shell is cracking, but it's still going to take time for him to completely open up, I'll say that much.)
Colinou (Ash can't ever seem to catch a break, can she?)
Vvarden (No, he was asleep for most of it, fortunately.)
Mar'i the Nightstar (Thank you :) )
canadasam101 (It's cute, I suppose... ;) just have to wait and see if anything happens as a result.)
Harkonnen28 (You're welcome. I wanted to put their ages up, but the problem is that three years go by, so depending on where some people are in the story, it might be confusing. I'll try to figure out a way to get that information to you guys.)
Ciara11 (You're welcome, and check my profile.)
ShiNe (Yay! Welcome aboard, explorer!)
Sag1ttar1us (Yes, I am spoiling myself. BUT I don't think updating frequently is hurting anybody. I'm sure I'll slow down as summer approaches, because I'll have a job and stuff to do. In the mean time, though, please don't judge me too harshly for my drive to share what I have with you. I'm just a lonely fan fiction writer.)
Spartan10007 (Why thank you. I look forward to sharing them!)
QuiteARandomFan (You know, I have no idea how many chapters this monstrosity is going to have. Hopefully you don't mind sticking around until the end, though :) I rather enjoy your reviews. James IS in fact going to be reappearing, though "soon" is a relative term. I have some stuff written for the final chapter of Silver, I just haven't gotten around to finishing it. For which I'm sorry, I know I promised it to you a long time ago, but hopefully what's coming up in this story is enough to make up for it.)
Cinder soared over the forest, looking for any sign of movement. He'd startled a few deer and wild pigs, but had yet to see any sign of his sister, Shade, or Soren.
Please let them be together.
He roared, and waited. No response. Valka, Hiccup, and Aeri had stayed up all night with the dragons. Valka mostly because she was trying to keep Aeri from getting too worried, Hiccup because he refused to sleep while Toothless's youngest hatchling was missing. They were all combing the island by foot, now, none of them having found anything by air. It was a few hours before dawn, so there was enough light to see what they were doing. Cinder didn't have the patience for walking, so he organized the various teams who would be on the ground and flew by himself around the entire perimeter of Berk, calling out on the off chance that someone below might hear him.
He roared again, heart sinking. He was beyond worried for Soren, concerned for his sister, and unsure of how to feel about Shade. He held no hard feelings against Toothless's oldest son; he had been young and reckless and had made a poor decision. What mattered was that he had come back, was sorry, and that he had the wisdom to not expect anything to be the same as it was. The reason he was unsure about how to feel about Shade's being gone was that he was not a small dragon. If he had run into trouble, and couldn't get back to the village, that was bad news for the rest of them.
In the distance, a faint roar caught his attention, and his ears perked up. Roaring again, he took off in the direction of the sound, hoping that it was Ash, with Soren.
He skimmed low over the tree tops, eyes peering through the countless branches and thick foliage. A gap in the trees ahead caught his attention, and he raced towards it with a roar, which was immediately echoed from below. Cinder dropped between the trees, dodging branches and coming to land a bit roughly in a smallish clearing, where he gazed with horror at the sight before him.
Shade was sitting upright, his wing bent at an awkward angle, next to Soren, who immediately cried, "Cinder!" But it was his sister, laying with her eyes closed, that caused his heart to drop.
"Ash!" He ran forward, forcing himself not to flinch at the sight and smell of her blood saturating the dirt. She was breathing. "What happened?" he asked hoarsely, gently nudging her head with his nose.
"She was trying to fight off a Typhoomerang," Shade said, sounding a bit irritated. Cinder looked up at him in shock.
"She what?"
"I guess Soren here attracted the attention of a particularly bad-natured one, and she happened to find him just in time to get herself beat up." Yes, Shade was definitely scowling, which piqued Cinder's interest despite his overwhelming worry for his sister. "Anyways, I can't fly and neither can she. Can you take Soren back and get some dragons to carry her back to the village?"
Before Cinder could nod yes, Ash groaned. "Shade?"
Cinder glanced curiously at Shade who was looking anywhere but at him. What had happened last night?
"Cinder's here, Ash."
"What?" Her eyes flickered open, first peering in Shade's direction, before turning to Cinder.
"Hey, sis. Looks like you got yourself into some trouble, here."
She groaned again, and shifted, trying to get to her feet, but before Cinder could stop her, Shade was at her side, one paw on her shoulder, gently pushing her back down. "Don't even think about it." She grumbled but didn't attempt to move again.
"Is Soren alright?" she asked, but Cinder got the feeling she wasn't asking him.
He was right. "Yeah, he's fine," Shade said. "You gave him a scare last night." And me.
With a funny feeling in his chest, Cinder turned to Soren. "Ready to go back to the village and see your parents? Maybe get some breakfast?" The small dragon looked down at his stomach before looking back up at Cinder and nodding enthusiastically.
"Let's go, then. I'll be back as soon as I can," Cinder addressed Shade, who nodded once, his expression unreadable. Once Soren was holding tightly into his shoulders, he leapt skyward, flying as fast as he could without dislodging his small passenger.
As they flew, he asked the younger Night Fury as many questions as he could answer. From what he could gather, after going into the forest with the other hatchlings, Soren had wandered off in pursuit of some small animal or other, getting lost in the process and running off in the wrong direction to get back. It blew his mind that Soren had managed to get all the way across Berk, but Cinder supposed he'd had enough time. After all, Soren was a Night Fury, a dragon known for its speed.
"How did you find that Typhoomerang?" Cinder asked.
"It found me," the small dragon said from his shoulder, before describing how Ash had come down and told him to hide while she talked to the big dragon. Then they fought, and just when it seemed like the Typhoomerang would kill them both, Shade had blasted in and tackled it, fighting it off. But it "did the Typhoom fire thing", which Cinder took to mean the flaming spiral that Typhoomerangs often performed.
"...and Shade fell down and he and Ash were asleep so I stayed in the log until he woke up and found me. Then he licked Ash until she was better..."
Shade what? "He licked her?"
"Her cut. He licked it so she could feel better."
Cinder was dumbfounded. From what she had told him two weeks ago, Ash wasn't even on speaking terms with Shade, let alone close enough to allow that kind of contact. Wasn't Shade the one who had decided they shouldn't- or couldn't- be friends any more? Their relationship was complicated, Cinder supposed. Then again, hadn't it always been? He realized that he didn't know the half of what was going on in his sister's life, and decided to make a point to spend more time with her beyond the time they spent keeping up with what Toothless wanted him to do.
In the mean time, she was badly injured, and Shade had kept her alive. For that, he had Cinder's eternal gratitude.
Back in the forest, Shade lounged on the ground, careful not to move his wing. Ash lay on her side, eyes closed, her chest rising and falling occasionally in shallow, shuddering breaths. His gaze never wavered as he watched her uneasy sleep, but he refused to let his thoughts wander to the past.
But oh, how they wanted to wander. Shade felt bad about shutting Ash down when she had approached him after he'd first returned, but he knew it would be for the best if their friendship was a thing of the past. Then she'd nearly gotten herself killed and he found himself as close to her as ever, wondering. Wondering why, if he truly was so detached from the rest of the world, he cared so much about the life of someone he had sworn to forget.
He was so lost in his own mind that he didn't even notice that her eyes were open.
Ash was sort of concerned by the pained look on Shade's face. His gaze was fixed on her but she had a feeling that he wasn't seeing her.
"You alright?" she asked softly, and his head jerked back, all emotions vanishing from his face.
"Yes."
"Okay." Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to be pulled back into darkness, leaving Shade awake and more confused than ever.
You're in trouble, the voice in his head informed him, and ruthlessly he smothered the insinuation. He was not in trouble. He was very, very determined to stay as far away from trouble as possible. The only problem was, trouble had a tendency to follow him anyways.
It wasn't long before Cinder returned with Cloudjumper, Valka, and Aeri, though it felt like an eternity for Shade as he waited in the dappled morning sunlight. The Stormcutter made short work of the treetops, roughly snapping them off and tossing them away so that he could land in the small space.
"Shade!" his human cried out, leaping off of Cloudjumper and running to him. Slowly he got to his feet to meet her, sniffing her as she lightly ran her fingers over the crooked part of his wing.
"Oh, Shade," she said sadly, turning to look at him. "Does it hurt?"
"Not too bad," he shrugged, and she seemed to take reassurance in his rumbling.
"I guess they're going to carry Ash back, right? I hope she's going to be okay." They both turned to watch as Valka spread a large net out next to the female dragon's unconscious form, and Shade walked over to where her head rested on the ground.
"Ash." His voice was quiet. "Ash."
Ash. Ash. "Ash."
Her eyes flickered open to meet Shade's unreadable blue gaze. "We need to get you onto that net." She glanced over to see Valka crouching nearby next to Cinder, who looked strangely curious as he walked over.
"Alright, sis. Roll onto your stomach." The two male Night Furies stood on either side of her, getting her wings over their backs so that they could help her to her feet. All together they slowly made their way onto the net, where Ash's legs gave out and she collapsed.
Cinder and Shade backed off, letting Valka and Aeri gather the edges of the net and knot them so that Cloudjumper could grip it more easily.
"How are you getting back, bud?" Aeri asked Shade, and he looked at the ground, patting it with a paw. "You're gonna walk back?" He nodded. "Do you want me to go with you?" Shaking his head, he gestured with his good wing towards Valka, who was climbing back onto Cloudjumper's shoulders. "You sure? Alright," she said with a yawn. "I'll see you back at the village, okay?"
Shade watched with complete detachment as Cloudjumper gathered the edges of the net up in his claws and spread his wings, somehow managing to remain graceful as he took off with Aeri and Valka on his back.
After a few moments, when he could no longer see them, he turned in the direction they had gone and prepared to follow, until someone cleared their throat.
Cinder. "Do you mind if I walk back with you?"
Surprised, Shade shook his head, and together they set off.
"So," Cinder said after a time. "How are you doing?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I mean, you were gone for years, and now you're back. I would feel pretty strange, if it were me."
"The adjustment seems to be harder for others."
Cinder pondered this. "Alright. I guess you probably don't want to talk about Berk. Would you mind telling me about where you were for three years?"
"Where to start?"
"Why not the beginning?"
Shade thought about it for a moment. "Alright. We headed east..."
By the time they made it back to the village, the sun was nearly below the horizon. "And the day after we left Heimme on the ships, Aeri and I flew here. It took us ten days of flying with very little rest to get back to Berk, but we made it."
Cinder did his best to absorb everything Shade had told him, but it was a lot to take in. He and Aeri had done so much, bringing peace to a place of war, not to mention defeating a Queen.
"Wow."
Shade looked sheepish. "We were pretty surprised not to be kicked off the island as soon as we arrived, to be honest."
"Why would we kick you off the island?"
"Well, it was foolish of us to leave, and asking a lot for the villagers to make room for a hundred more people in a short amount of time within minutes of our return."
Cinder had to laugh. "Worse things have happened. For what it's worth, I'm glad you're back, Shade."
Shade quickly swallowed his surprise. "Thanks," he said gruffly. If only his father felt the same way.
As he and Cinder walked back into the village, people and dragons stopped what they were doing to watch them pass by. Shade was made acutely uncomfortable by the attention, unsure as to why everyone was looking at them. He didn't have long to wonder, though, because his mother and sisters ran up them, radiating concern.
"Oh, Shade!" Lightning cried out, pressing her head and neck against his in the dragon equivalent of a human hug. "A Typhoomerang?"
"You're insane," Storm informed him, though she was smiling. Soturi and Skali began to chatter about how scary it must have been, and how brave he was, but Shade only had eyes for his father, who was slowly making his way towards him with Soren on his shoulders.
Toothless paused, uncertain. His mate and daughters saw him, and backed away, waiting to see what he would do. Cinder didn't move from where he stood nearby, his expression carefully blank, and Toothless briefly wondered what his second-in-command and his son had been talking about all day. He felt Soren hop from his neck and watched his youngest hatchling scurry to Lightning.
Finally, with a small sigh and no small amount of remorse, Toothless stepped forward, noting Shade's features tighten. He was probably preparing himself to be yelled at, for which Toothless felt acutely guilty.
"I… I've been really, really stupid, Shade." His son's eyes widened in surprise, but he didn't say anything, so Toothless continued. "I owe you an apology. A big one. I was so angry when you left, but I think that was just my way of disguising the hurt. And the guilt. Because I know I'm probably a big part of the reason you left in the first place, and I didn't make it easy when you came back. So, I'm sorry I've been so stubborn. I'm sorry I've been so irrational. My anger was completely uncalled for. You didn't have to go out there, but you did, and you saved Soren and Ash without thinking for a moment of your own safety. I was wrong, so wrong, and I hope… I hope someday you'll find it within yourself to forgive me, even though I know I've done nothing to deserve it."
The Alpha realized that a crowd of dragons had gathered during his short speech, and resisted the urge to shoo them away. His son deserved a public apology for the way he had been treated.
Shade, for his part, was doing his best to process his father's words. The Alpha had swallowed his pride, and his eyes shone with true remorse as he waited to hear his reply. Glancing towards his mother, he saw that she had a small encouraging smile on her face, and his sisters' and Soren's ears were all perked up with anticipation. Storm had told him that their father had apologized to them for shouting, promising to make it up to them. Shade gathered that this was part of it.
Looking back at Toothless, Shade sighed, before smiling crookedly. His father really was as great as everyone made him out to be, sometimes it just took him a while to see it. "Of course I forgive you, Dad."
The crowd erupted into cheers, and Toothless couldn't help the grin of relief that came to his face. Stepping forward, he murmured to Shade, "This is only the beginning. I know I still have a long way to go."
Shade just laughed. "That's okay. We both do."
And then they were swarmed by ecstatic dragons, who were desperate to hear from Shade what had taken place in the forest, and by extension were hopeful to hear the story of the last three years as well. Toothless watched his son stammer out answers, impressed by Shade's humility. Most dragons would be bragging about fighting off a Typhoomerang and saving the lives of a beautiful female and young hatchling, but Shade simply said, "I was lucky. We were all lucky."
Finally Toothless intervened, flapping his wings and shooing the throng off. "Okay, okay! You can all harass him later, but for now Shade has an injured wing to take care of. Go on!" Grumbling good-naturedly, the other dragons did as they were told, leaving Cinder and the other Night Furies to approach.
"Come on, let's take you to Gobber. He and Valka are just watching over Ash in the shelter…" Cinder paused. "Is something wrong?"
Shade wasn't sure how to answer. On the one paw, he was desperate to see Ash for himself and make sure she was alright, but on the other… things had changed irrevocably between them, and he wasn't sure he was ready to face her.
"She's unconscious, if that helps," Cinder offered, to funny looks from Shade's family.
"No, it's fine, let's just… go." Shade didn't want to have to explain the complicated situation to his curious parents. So off they went to the Chief's house, where Hiccup and Aeri were sitting in the grass outside the shelter next to Cloudjumper.
"Shade!" his rider scrambled to her feet and ran forward to embrace him. "Glad you're back safe, bud." She noticed that he was walking next to his father, and glanced uncertainly between them. "Is everything… okay?"
He smiled at her. "Couldn't be better." As usual, she seemed to pick up on his meaning, and her troubled expression cleared.
"I'm so glad! Let's get you to Gobber."
Lightning told them to go ahead. "I'll take the kids to get dinner, but I'll be back later." So Cinder, Toothless, and Shade followed Hiccup and Aeri into the spacious shelter. The large space was lit by a crackling fire in the center of the room, next to which Ash was laying, motionless. Holly was lounging nearby, fully alert, and Valka and Gobber were standing over her, talking quietly to one another. Well, as quietly as Gobber was capable of.
"Well, look wha' we have here. A regular hero!" Gobber grinned at Shade, who was doing his best not to look at the still form beside the fire. Holly rose to nuzzle Cinder, whispering something to him. Toothless nudged his son, who stepped forward to receive his examination. It was painful, but over quickly.
"Just a fracture," Valka said, "but the connective tissue against his back has been strained. That means no flying, you hear?"
Shade was disappointed, but knew it could be much worse. So he nodded, and the older woman smiled at him. "Alright, let's get a splint on you, then." The humans worked together to gently spread his enormous wing out without hurting him, then constructed a light wood frame around the fracture to hold it in place. While they labored, Gobber was busy making a salve to put on the worst of his burns. After they were finished, Shade yawned widely, signaling to them all that it was time for him to rest.
"You can stay here tonight, if you want," Toothless offered to his son, but Shade shook his head.
"It would be better if I stayed with Aeri at Valka's, I think. Thanks though." His father nodded, though he looked immensely curious. Shade followed Cinder and Holly out into the night, resisting the urge to glance at Ash as he left.
Cinder smiled tiredly at him. "Thanks again for saving my sister. I owe you."
"Anyone would have done what I did," Shade tried to argue, but the older male shook his head.
"No, they wouldn't have. Get some sleep tonight, huh? You've earned it." He turned away, and Holly gave Shade one last smile before following him to their shelter.
"You ready to get some shuteye?" Aeri came up to him, rubbing her eyes. He nodded at her, and together they made their way to Valka's house, where her grandmother and Cloudjumper were waiting.
Despite his best efforts, Shade had trouble sleeping. Thoughts of Ash kept appearing in his mind, and he was torn between the irrational anger he felt at her for putting herself in harm's way and the funny lurching in his chest every time he envisioned her eyes, watching him sadly. Then there was that sigh. She had sighed when he was licking her. What did that mean? Did it mean anything at all? He wanted to go outside and fly until his head was clear, but that wasn't going to be an option for a while now.
Miserably, he rested his head on his paws, breathing deeply, and finally, just before dawn, he fell asleep.
So... I combined two upcoming chapters, in order to shorten the wait for what's coming up ;) I'm sure you can guess what I'm talking about. I might just be seeing you tomorrow, so stay excited, my little monkeys.