Author's Note: This story has no restrictions. It is pure humor and actually is a lot of fun. :) This story was written to adopt Legato, the Celtic-inspired music fury from NightmareRebuff. As always, you can see him in my (Frostfire Markson) signature on the School of Dragons forum.
"Alright, all of you, out! I'm done with you all blocking out my light with your big snouts in my way!" I huffed annoyedly at the various dragons in the stables around me. Technically it was the infirmary, but we didn't have any dragons in drastic need of slings or splints at the moment. It had seemed like it would be the quietest spot to work- possibly the only current quiet spot in the whole sanctuary. But then, this is me we are talking about. The girl that dragons flock to just to annoy. Right. Lucky me.
After shoving a still-chattering Nadder out I sat down on the hay again. The skylight let golden beams shine through from the mid-day sun, and the minute dust motes danced in the beams. I looked back down at the Nadder horn in my hands. The pale blue-gray object was perfectly smooth and straight, about as long as my forearm. I had waited impatiently for this season's spring molt. When it finally arrived, I had almost missed the chance to search through the various scales, horns, and claws that the dragons shed to find this beauty. "Now, let's try this aga-" I had started talking to myself as I laid my knife against the side, but halted when the light disappeared again. A gaggle of mini dragons was peering at me through the skylight. I gave an exasperated sigh. "I didn't push the big ones out the door to have you little ones sitting in the window!" I called up at them. All I received for my trouble was them tumbling down to form a happy dogpile, er, dragonpile on top of me in the hay. I started shoving them around, but I couldn't stay serious for long. These hatchlings knew just where I was ticklish. "Snufflesnort! Tinscale! Munchball! Stop! Stop it! I mean it!" I was laughing quite hard by this point, and finally managed to roll out of the tangle of limbs and tails to catch my breath on the floor. As I calmed down, and they continued to roll in the hay, I leapt back up.
"Guys!" My annoyance was back in a flash. It was now mixed in somewhere in the pile! I stalked forward, ready to start ripping the pile to shreds when I noticed another shadow from above. I shaded my eyes as I looked straight up through the skylight, but I needn't have even looked. Oakheart, my partner, was poking his head down, the spine clamped firmly in his large, safe Nightmare jaws. I breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, boy. Thanks Oak. I would hate to lose this after all the trouble of finding it in the first place." He just chuffed at me, then withdrew. With a final look at the now-decimated pile of hay, I walked out, looking for somewhere else to work. Somewhere with less hatchlings. I had decided on trying Wellspring's waterfall when Oakheart strode over from the top of the hill that housed the stable. I reached up to rub his neck, and he hummed, crouching down for me to get on.
As we took to the air, I realized what a beautiful day it was- skies clear, air crisp, and all the smells that told of the new start of spring. As I held tight to the spine, I didn't even steer. Oakheart flew his own course, eventually carrying me out of the mountains that were our home and housed our safe haven for dragons of all sorts. I smiled as he pulled up over the pass, setting his nose towards the town at the far South of the Island of Berk. "So, you think town would be better, eh boy? Well, you just might be right." As was his norm, he landed on the seastacks just off the edge of the island, and I slipped off, settling into the crook of his hip as he settled down to nap in the sun. I spent several hours there, leaning back against his side as I carved the delicate curves of this treasure. As the sun passed its zenith, I held it up at arm's length.
"What do you think? It's starting to take form." Oakheart lifted one eyelid, huffed out an unintelligible sound that I took as advice to keep working, and then settled down again. I would have spent at least another few hours there, had my stomach not voiced its complaint. At this, my dragon finally pulled himself out of his drowse, lifting me up by the scruff and depositing me on his back. I shreed at him as he roughly took off, heading back towards town. Didn't he know that I was fine?!
But, I stopped arguing with the lizard once we landed at the market and I had brushed the ash off my collar. The smells were highly enticing, and I quickly darted between stalls, purchasing various small snacks. I finally collapsed against his side, a small mountain of food on my lap. As I dug in, I heard the distinctive sound of a wooden flute, and looked over to a stranger sitting on a crate. Even more odd than the stranger- a man in a bright green and gold skirt- was a small red and gold dragon in front of him, dancing and humming along, weaving complex harmonies as it spun. The movements were entrancing, and the tune was uplifting. I soon forgot my hunger as I was lost in them. After a few tunes, the man tossed some sort of food to the creature, and it started gobbling it up as children came up the pet it. I finished my own meal, walking off toward the forge. After the beating that carving a dragon horn caused, my knife really needed to be sharpened before continuing. As I chatted with my favorite one-armed smith, I twirled the horn in my hands.
"Ain't you finished with tha' thing yet? I would have thought with how fast you could carve whistles that you would be done like tha'." He snapped his remaining fingers. I laughed.
"No, not yet Gobber. I am really taking my time. After all, this one is special. If I'm going to give it to Braggart for his birthday, it's got to be great."
"That brother o' yours doesn't realize how good a' sister 'e's got." Gobber mumbled as the whetstone whined along the knife edge. I just let it slide, tossing the spine between my hands, spinning it as I went. I got into a decent rhythm when suddenly my hands jerked- and the spine was nowhere to be found. I looked around frantically, finally looking up to see a tiny red night fury retreating up to the peak of the forge's roof. Clamped in his jaws was the nadder spine that I was meticulously carving into a flute. My eyes widened in horror.
"Hey, hey, bring it back like a good little dancing dragon." He ignored me, curling up and starting to chew on the side of it like a bone. I winced, still baby-talking to it as I tried to encourage him down. Gobber finally finished, and walked out, wondering what I was looking at on his roof.
"Wha'? I start a fire or something up thar?" I just pointed. "Oi, no. I wish you the luck of Thor, missy. That's the only thing that will get your flute back now. That little klepto has been hanging around for weeks, and I've never seen anything that he gets ever be found again." I let out a groan. "But, all the other horns were sold right after the molting season. And Trader Johann will be the next archipelago over by now!"
"Well, then you better get climbing. Just don't fall." He turned to walk back in.
"Wait, aren't you going to help me?!"
"Hm? Oh, here- don't mess with the wee devil. Just go look for something else. There's my help."
"I'm being serious, Gobber."
"So am I." Then he truly left, and I watched in horror as the mini fury did as well. I chased it as best I could from the ground, but of course not even another dragon can catch a night fury, especially a zippy little one like this. Eventually I came back to the square, spying the performer again. I ran up, scanning the sky before turning to the man. "Where in the world did you get this- this- dragon?" I finished quite lamely, unable to find proper descriptors for the beast that had just ruined the best birthday present I had ever set out to give.
The man let out a laugh. "What, Puirt-a-beul here? Well, you better ask him. He found me. Here, actually. But I sure ain't complainin'. He's the best little performer I could ask for." I looked to where he pointed, surprised and yet not to see the creature sitting on the stoop behind him again, fluteless, of course. Just my luck.
"He took my flute."
"Well, I'm afraid that I can't do anything about that. Like I said, he's not my dragon, and I have no idea where he came from or where he's going. Now, if you'll excuse me." And he lumbered off, his own flute tucked safely under his arm. I turned to glare accusingly at the burgundy dragon.
"Where is it, you dervish?" The dragon didn't say anything, just blinked and came over to rub against my leg, looking for attention. "Oh, no you don't! I need that flute you took!" When it continued to ignore my request while still looking for scratches, I finally gave up and gave it a gentle kick. It gave a yelp and looked at me with a hurt expression. "Hey. It's your own fault. I'll find it with our without you."
I spent the rest of the afternoon asking everyone if they had seen the dragon and where they noticed it the most. It was mostly fruitless, other than learning that it had a plethora of nicknames and that most people were treating it as a sort of "outdoor pet". I sat on a convenient bench, sighing. I looked up only when Stoick came past, grumbling. "Hey, what's wrong chief? Did the Scotch steal something from you too?"
He balked, looking confused. "Um.. no?" His eyebrows quickly beetled again. "The main chimney in the great hall is acting up. I have to go give it a look. It's pushing all the smoke back down into the hall." A spark connected in my mind.
I ran to catch up with the chief's long strides. "Hey! Let me help!" He nodded, and we climbed the hill over the hall. After some very dirty dives into the chimney, we soon realized the problem: a horde of objects shoved down the convenient hidey-hole.
"Oi. I think I know exactly who pulled this prank. And I don't appreciate the twins humor."
"Don't worry Chief. I don't think the twins did it this time."
"Oh?" His quizzical look was resolved by sudden appearance of an ornate and screeching miniature night fury. "Oh. That." The beast huffed, rumbling flats and sharps under its breath while swarming over the pile of debris we had removed from the chimney. It had mostly been useless garbage, with a few mugs, shoes, and various trinkets mixed in, but no flute. I snorted slightly under my breath.
"Typical. None of my stuff to be found." I pulled my dragon whistle out and blew, summoning Oakheart to my side in a minute. The red dragon hissed, but otherwise ignored Oakheart. "Come on boy, let's go home. If we're lucky one of the younger dragons will go through a late molt and I can make him a new whistle with one of those little spines."
I did manage to find a small spine to make a whistle, and Braggart rather liked it, but it just wasn't the same. It was the day after his birthday, though that the biggest surprise came. I was looking for the rest of his honey cake (best breakfast ever, by the way!), but it was nowhere to be found. Just a few crumbs. In disgust I looked over at the napping terrible terror by the hearth, shaking my head before heading out. But that wasn't the end. Other things were gone- my spare dragon whistle, my extra sewing scraps, and even a rather larger chunk of twisted metal that used to be my father's hammer.
It wasn't until nearly a week after my brother's birthday that I caught sight of the culprit- that red mini night fury. "Oi!" I shouted at it, when I spotted it sitting next to our house's chimney. "Get out of here you nuisance!" I waved my arms, but it just seemd to think that I wanted to play, starting to dance and hum on the roof. I turned away, taking a deep breath. "Oh, Odin help us."
I never did find where he put my flute, but I do see him chewing it from time to time. I can only assume that he moved his stash to somewhere in the sanctuary, because he has never left since. Though, he does disappear every once in a while when that skirt-wearing, flute-playing man appears in town...
It took a while for me to warm up to him, but it's kind of hard to hate a dragon that snuggles up against you in the night, curling up in your arms like a teddy bear. And really, he's not so bad now that I know him.. he's actually kind of fun...