Chapter 26: Gaasyendietha
It's the name of a dragon in Seneca mythology that dwells in the deep areas of rivers and lakes of Canada, especially Lake Ontario. Bit of a mouthful name, isn't it?
Despite the shock at meeting a Servine that could speak Dragonese, the stranded Scauldron managed to keep her temper and anxiety at a reasonable level. Especially now that she had her snout buried in his yellow V-shaped structure like it was the most enticing thing in the world.
"Let's start over," the Grass-type Pokémon prince said. "I'm Snivels, and these are my friends. What's your name?"
For a moment, the Scauldron wondered if the multilingual Servine was actually serious.
Then the moment passed, and she answered, "I am called Gaasyendietha."
From the safe distance at which he stood, Hiccup watched the exchange, mildly irked that he couldn't understand a thing they were saying. He'd have to ask Snivels to give him a lesson on Dragonese later.
"Nice to meet you, Gaasyendietha," Snivels said. "Don't worry, we'll have you out of there soon. We've encountered your species before. We even have a Scauldron for a friend. His name is Geyser."
"Really?" Gaasyendietha tilted her head slightly. "What's he like?"
Obligingly, Snivels verbally listed, "Well, he's friendly. Young; about your age..." His eyes lit up with a stroke of genius, and he smugly added, "And handsome."
"Handsome?" Gaasyendietha repeated, a little too eagerly. She hastened to correct herself. "I mean...he sure sounds nice."
Confused beyond belief, Hiccup stammered out a question, "O-Okay, uh, what is she saying?"
Snivels turned his head to look at his trainer. "We're talking about Geyser," he explained. "Before that, I was making some small talk; trying to calm her down a bit."
"Yeah, uh, okay, never mind that," Hiccup was quick to get the situation back on track before the Servine could completely derail it. "Can you please ask her to let us move the boulders off her wing?"
Before either of them could get into it, though, Blaze tapped him on the shoulder and insisted, "Hiccup, we've gotta hurry. Her scales are drying out as we speak."
Looking more closely at the Scauldron revealed that she definitely didn't look as healthy as before. Her green scales were paling and losing their color. The sight made Hiccup start to worry. They would have to start working on the boulder removal very quickly if they wanted to have a hope of saving her.
Snivels noticed, too. Clearing his throat, the Servine stepped forth and began, "Alright, everyone, this is Gaasyendietha."
"Okay," Hiccup replied, "That's...quite a mouthful."
Amber was more polite. "It's very nice to meet you, Gessy...Gussy..." She scratched the back of her neck awkwardly. "Um...maybe we should just call her Scauldy."
Gaasyendietha snorted, but otherwise didn't object.
Snivels turned back to the Scauldron. "So, Scauldy, if you don't mind me calling you that, how's about you take a little break from struggling under the rocks and let us get them off your wing? I'm not gonna lie, it might hurt a little, but you'll be free and back in the ocean before you know it! That's a promise."
The newly-nicknamed "Scauldy" tilted her head a bit. It definitely looked to Snivels that she was contemplating letting other creatures get near her, but whether or not she actually agreed with the terms was a mystery. Still, she continued to butt her nose into his personal space in the same curious way she had been doing for a while, so Snivels took that as a positive sign that they could get started.
"So, Scauldy, what brings you here to Camouflage Island?" Snivs said, trying to distract her with small talk. "The high tide, some food, or maybe you were trying to escape from something? Something big and dangerous?"
There was a pregnant pause, and then Snivels twitched his tail ever so slightly toward the Scauldron's trapped wing.
Hiccup noticed, and understood. Snivs had given them an opening.
"Come on, guys," he motioned to Blaze and Amber. "Now's our chance."
All of them nodded and followed their leader up the beach, newly confident now that they knew Scauldy could be reasoned with. When they got within shooting distance, though, Scauldy lifted her head up and dropped her mouth open in a snarl.
Snivels quickly saw what was going on and raised his arms to get her attention back on him. "I know, I know, Scauldy!" he exclaimed. "I know you're hurt and scared, but we're trying to help you. Trust me."
That, amazingly, did the trick. Scauldy settled again and she dipped her head back down to the Servine's level, apparently soothed by his assurances. The Go-Getters continued onwards, encouraged by Snivs's success.
At least, most of them were. "Shouldn't one of us stay behind to scout for Changewings?" Amber asked. "We are on Camouflage Island, after all."
Hiccup replied, "Changewings or not, we need to help this dragon. And it's going to take all of us - especially the dragons - to get those boulders off."
Lacking a good argument for that, Amber sighed and followed him.
With all of the Go-Getters and their dragon mounts now moving up the beach toward Scauldy and Snivels, no-one heard the suspicious sounds of shifting sand coming from somewhere behind them. Snivels, though, caught the scent of a new creature nearby just moments before he heard a low growl. Realizing they were in trouble, he spun on his heel to shout a warning to his friends.
"Guys, look out behind you!" the Servine screeched.
Immediately, everyone reacted to his words and whipped around, their muscles tensed and their bodies on the defensive. Somehow, no-one was surprised when they saw the Changewing looming over them, its jaws open wide in preparation to shoot its corrosive acid.
Toothless immediately sprang into action, yowling with rage as he shot a plasma blast at the wild dragon. The Changewing backed away from the Night Fury's flames with a roar of pain, but the battle was far from over - not only was its next action to flare out its wings and thrash its tail, readying itself for a fight, but its pupils were starting to swirl in hypnotic circles.
"Don't look at its eyes!" Snivels shouted, covering his own eyes with his leafy tail.
The dragons and Pokémon quickly followed his example, but Hiccup wasn't as lucky. He'd barely lifted his hand when the Changewing's hypnosis made him freeze in place with a mystified look on his face.
After a few tense moments, a stream of water blasted the Changewing in the face, and it reared back with a roar.
That broke the spell. Hiccup snapped out of his daze, shaking his head to get rid of any lingering dizziness. "W-What happened?"
"Changewing hypnosis," Snivels replied, peeking a little to see the current situation. He noticed a Shiny Seadra swimming along the shore and called out in Pokéspeak, "Thanks, Queendra."
The Changewing shook itself dry, angry that its battle strategy had fallen apart.
Now fully aware of his surroundings, the young trainer whipped out his draconium shield and encouraged his friends to join the fray. "Get ready, everyone! Let's get this Changewing on the run!"
In mere moments, the beach was a frenzy of action. While Snivels hung back with Verne at the ready - wanting to protect the vulnerable Scauldy as best he could - the other Go-Getters charged forward, hoping to push the Changewing back to where it had come from.
The Changewing targeted Toothless, the closest dragon to its current position, and lunged forward with its mouth wide open. The Night Fury, who was already letting clouds of flammable gas billow in his throat, belted out a spine-tingling roar in response to the Changewing's challenge. Effortlessly, Toothless used his wings to jump away from his foe's acid attack, then quickly jumped forward again and seized its tail. The Changewing roared and thrashed, but Toothless wouldn't let go, gripping its tail with his teeth - then, with a snarl, the Night Fury flung the dragon into the side of the cliff further up the beach. It twitched a couple of times, and then got up with a hiss.
The temperature climbed by several degrees as Blaze and Amber readied their Flamethrower attacks. The chameleon-like dragon didn't dare get any closer, scurrying away from the intense heat that barred it like a solid wall from advancing farther.
Even though the Go-Getters were doing a good job keeping the Changewing at bay, that didn't mean it was about to give up. Despite their impressive defenses, it still managed to slip past and face Snivels, Verne, and Scauldy directly. The color-changing dragon puffed up and let out its hissing roar, to which Scauldy replied with her own shrieking roar. Even though she was stuck on its belly and unable to get its wing free, she was defiant. Snivels, too, showed no fear, even though he was a defenseless Servine compared to the hypnotic Changewing and its mouth that could shoot acid in your face.
The Grass-type Pokémon prince was ready to fight to defend Scauldy without a doubt. However, Scauldy had other ideas, and swung her head to roughly knock him aside. With him tumbling onto his backside and out of her way, the Scauldron could unleash her attack without worry.
She roared again, the sound accompanied by a stream of boiling water from out of her throat.
The scalding blast smacked into the Changewing with enough force to topple it, leaving it howling in pain.
"Sorry," Snivels called out over the din, in Dragonese no less. "We just have to get the Scauldron out of the rocks, and then we'll be out of your hair. Metaphorically speaking, of course. Dragons don't have hair." After a moment, he added, "Well, as far as I know, anyway."
"I don't care what you're doing here," the Changewing hissed. "Get out of my territory!"
"Wait," Snivels said, "What do you mean by that? You don't have a pack? You're out here all by yourself?"
"My pack betrayed me," she snarled. "I get blown away in a storm, and when I come back I find that they thought I was dead and have already replaced me with a new leader. As if that wasn't bad enough, my mate is dead and our egg is gone. So, yes, I'm out here all by myself!"
Her story was startlingly similar to something Snivels had heard before. "Blown away in a storm," he repeated lowly. "Mate dead, egg missing..." Then it clicked. "Are you...Phantom?"
"You've heard of me?" she said by way of answer.
Suddenly, above the beach, Hiccup raised his head and looked up to the unmistakable sound of wings flapping. There on the horizon were the three missing Trainers of Destiny, flying to their aid. He felt his hopes rise, knowing that the Changewing stood no chance with them now.
Noticing them, Phantom scurried away into the forest from whence she'd come, her own survival now gaining precedence over killing the intruders to her territory.
The Go-Getters collectively landed in the sand, their dragons all calmed down. But even though the battle was over, Scauldy still remained agitated. She flapped her one good wing up and down, arced her head and swung it from side to side, and growled loudly as if daring the Changewing to come back. Next to her, Snivels jumped up and down to get her attention back on him.
"Calm down, Scauldy, it's okay!" he crooned, trying to soothe her. "It's okay! Everything's fine, just calm down..."
Finally, Scauldy stopped thrashing and dipped her head back down to his level, which he commenced stroking gently. She leaned her head into his touch, eyes closing in contentment.
Astrid, Heather, and Brandyn vaulted off their dragons and landed on the beach to officially join up with the rest of the gang. Hiccup and Astrid shared a hug while Heather and Brandyn went over to the others.
"Guys!" Snivels exclaimed suddenly, sounding mildly panicked. "I know who that Changewing was! She's Glory's mother, Phantom! She's alive!"
"Glory's mother?" Hiccup repeated. "That could be a problem..."
Astrid folded her arms and gave them all a disapproving look. "What have I told you guys about playing with wild Changewings?" she said severely.
"Just for the record, you only intended that speech for Frida," Blaze pointed out.
Hiccup raised his hands to placate Astrid before she could make any more scathing remarks. He hoped her bad mood wasn't because he'd stuck her with Frida on patrol today...he winced, making a mental note to apologize to her later.
"Come on, Astrid," he said, "we're just trying to keep Phantom away from Scauldy."
He gestured to the Scauldron still lying on the beach with Snivels close by. All Astrid did in response was raise one eyebrow.
"...Scauldy," she deadpanned.
She was so unimpressed that Hiccup actually blushed in embarrassment for being the one to say it. "Hey, it wasn't my idea," he explained. "And besides, it's a lot easier to say than 'Gossywindeathia'."
"Gaasyendietha," Snivels corrected.
Ever the sane one, Brandyn stepped forward and warned, "Look, Phantom's probably going to come back soon, so..."
When he trailed off to cast a wary glance at the edge of the forest, Hiccup once again took it upon himself to take charge. Their lives were more in danger with every minute they stayed on this island, so they needed to move things along as quickly as possible if they still wanted to save the Scauldron.
"So let's move these boulders," he finished Brandyn's thought, giving the older boy a thumbs-up. Gesturing for Toothless to come over, Hiccup leapt into the saddle and signaled for the other three trainers and their dragons to follow him. Before they took off, though, he turned toward his Pokémon partner's direction and called out, "Snivels, you need to keep Scauldy calm and focused on you, not us."
"And how do you expect me to do that?" the Servine called back.
But the four trainers got their dragons into the air and started circling above Scauldy, leaving his question unanswered.
"Try doing one of your impressions," suggested Adhesive.
Snivels shrugged and replied, "Alright."
To the amusement of all the Go-Getters (except for one in particular), the Servine stood up straighter, coiled his tail around his left leg, and said in a nasally voice, "Hello, there, mister or miss wild dragon. You don't have to be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you; I'm your friend. My leg fell off. All of these creatures are my friends."
Hiccup's face reddened when he heard the gales of laughter coming from his fellow Go-Getters. "I don't sound like that!" he protested, although his words fell on deaf ears. "And P.S. my leg didn't 'fall off'!"
"It's a work in progress!" Snivels shouted up to him.
"They do say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," Brandyn chuckled.
Hiccup felt the shaking of Toothless' shoulders that indicated the Night Fury was chuckling alongside the rest of their friends. Hiccup looked down at his dragon companion with exasperation, unable to believe that even Toothless was willing to contribute to his moment of embarrassment.
"Really, bud?" he asked. "That's kinda low, don't you think?"
Toothless just snorted, and Hiccup rolled his eyes.
Snivels's impression of his trainer didn't seem to work on Scauldy for long, since she was now tilting her head upwards to peer suspiciously at the circling Night Fury, Deadly Nadder, Razorwhip, and Grapple Grounder.
"Try something else!" Hiccup called down to Snivels, desperate for some success.
"Okay!" Snivels yelled. Then, to himself, he uttered under his breath in a panicky tone, "Gotta think quick, Snivels, uh...oh!" A light bulb went off in his head, and he started whistling a tune. Maybe it was a long shot, but it could work.
"I'll fly and sail on wailing winds
With never a fear of falling
And gladly ride the winds of life
If you will marry me."
He'd altered the lyrics, but Hiccup could still tell what song it was. He'd overheard his father mumbling it from time to time in the evenings, most often on the anniversary of the day Valka disappeared. Gobber had sung it as well, but much less often.
"No scorching sun nor freezing cold
Can stop us on our journey."
It was slow. Whenever Gobber sang it, the song was fast and fierce, so you could imagine a hall full of Vikings belting it out at top volume. But Snivels preferred it at a steady pace, because he believed the words held more meaning that way.
"If you would promise me your heart..."
He trailed off. The song was supposed to be a duet, and this was usually the part where the other person joined in. He had just opened his mouth to continue the song solo, when...
"...And love me for eternity."
Amber started singing the words she'd learned from him.
"My dearest one, my darling dear
Your brave, true words astound me
But I've no need for heroic deeds
When I feel your arms around me."
After getting over his initial shock, Snivels jumped back in.
"No price upon silver or gold
No need for fancy poetry
So long as I have your hand to hold."
Amber finished, "So long as you are near me."
They sang the next verse together, in perfect sync.
"To love, to kiss, to sweetly hold
For the dancing and the dreaming
Through all life's trials and triumphs
I'll keep your love inside me."
As Snivels and Amber sang, keeping Scauldy focused completely on them, Hiccup and the other three trainers urged their dragons downwards. Toothless arrived first, grabbing one of the rocks in his talons and lifting it off the Scauldron's wing. His action was copied in quick succession by Windshear, Buck, and Stormfly in that respective order.
While they went about their work unnoticed, Snivels and Amber continued the song. Scauldy moved her snout closer to them, and they instinctively reached out to pet her and, as they did so, lowered their voices to soothe her further.
"I'll fly and sail on wailing winds
With never a fear of falling
And gladly ride the winds of life
If you will marry me."
They finished by gently grasping each other's free hand. The Scauldron closed her eyes, and his throat vibrated with a low, content gurgle.
"That was beautiful," said Blaze, sitting in the sand next to Kickin' Hawk.
The Hawlucha nodded his approval, sliding over half a step so he could reach around her shoulders lovingly.
Finally, with one last burst of strength, Stormfly lifted the last boulder into the air. Together, the dragons swung their legs forward and flung the offensive rocks away, sending them crashing into the sand further up the beach. The four dragons landed, turned toward each other, and lightly bumped heads as a sign of congratulations.
"We did it!" exclaimed Hiccup. He glanced over at Snivels, who gave him a thumbs-up and a grin, and he grinned back.
The bigwings felt relieved. They no longer had to worry. They'd found a solution to freeing the Scauldron instead of just leaving her to die, as he and the others had originally thought was the only plausible solution. He could rest easy, knowing that they'd just saved a...
...Wait.
Scauldy gave her freed wing an experimental flap, after which she immediately unleashed a pained roar that sent Snivels flying backward. The Scauldron's head drooped and she flopped back down onto her belly. Her head hit the sand and her eyes closed.
"Snivels!" Amber cried, frantic. "Are you alright?"
Hiccup's eyes widened, unable to look away from the wing that was spread out over the beach. There was something about the way it was angled...and coupled with how Scauldy seemed to be despairing about something...
"Oh no," Heather breathed.
"I see it, too" Hiccup murmured. "Her wing's broken. Scauldy can't swim, or fly." He felt his heart sink - once again, the hope he'd felt was false, and Scauldy hadn't been saved after all.
Amber, who was helping Snivels to his feet, turned around and shot Hiccup a desperate look. "So wait - we did all of this for nothing?" she asked, heartbroken.
Snivels placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, then walked over to examine the broken limb. He studied it for a few seconds, appeared to come to a conclusion, and stood back up to face the other teens.
"It looks like a simple break," he informed them. "We can fix it."
Upon hearing his words, everyone visibly relaxed.
"You heard him," Hiccup raised his voice to address the group. "Let's all work together to get this Scauldron's wing back to normal."
Scauldy suddenly shifted, trying to move her wing. The attempt made her arch her neck and shriek at the sky in pain, the broken wing flopping back down to the ground.
"Any time now!" yelled Snivels. He hugged Scauldy's neck to keep her calm, a gesture which did settle her down a little bit.
"We're going to need wood," stated Hiccup. "The biggest pieces we can find!"
"There's a tree!" Ninjark shouted, quite suddenly. "In the forest!"
That earned him a series of stares from everyone.
"No way," Astrid said. "A tree in the forest?"
"Being sarcastic is not helping!" Snivels snapped at her.
"I mean, a fallen tree," Ninjark said. "We can use it."
On the Greninja's recommendation, he, Heather, Brandyn, Ra, and Camazotz would look around for large, sturdy pieces of wood. Hiccup added that a splint would be useless if they didn't have anything to tie the pieces together with.
"We can use the rope from my shield," he said, holding said item up. "But we'll need more."
"I can go search around in the swamp for vines," Amber volunteered.
"Blaze and I will go with you," Kickin' Hawk declared. The Blaziken fist-pumped excitedly at the idea of going on the same mission as her mate.
Nodding at that, Hiccup turned towards the Servine. "And Snivs -"
"I know!" he declared. "Keep Scauldy calm and distracted!"
When Scauldy tilted her head to gaze questioningly at Queendra, the Shiny Seadra spat a stream of water at her, wetting her head.
"Good idea," Snivels praised. "Keep her hydrated!" He turned back to the Scauldron and started singing in Norse, "Chop chop chop! Chop away at my heart -"
"NO!" Astrid shrieked, almost as loud as a Nadder. "Please. Anything but that!"
"Hey, what am I supposed to do?" Adhesive exclaimed.
Somewhat sarcastically, the bigwings replied, "Why not scout out the area for Changewings?"
The Poipole stared blankly at him. "Is that supposed to be a trick question? Because I like to think of myself as an equally valuable member to this team."
Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "Just..." he sighed. "Just look for Changewings, okay?"
And with that, the Go-Getters split up to do their assignments. Heather and Brandyn boarded their dragons and flew off, presumably to another part of the island, with Ninjark accompanying his trainer in Windshear's saddle while Ra and Camazotz followed Buck the Grapple Grounder using their own ability to fly. Blaze and Kickin' Hawk went into the forest with Amber, and Adhesive slouched behind them. Hiccup and Astrid stayed behind with Snivels, taking the draconium shield and emptying out the ropes.
"Let's hope this works," he spoke quietly to his friends. "I'd hate for all of this to have still been for nothing..."
Toothless padded up to his rider and gave him an affectionate nudge, his own silent reassurance to Hiccup that it'd be alright.
"GLORY!"
Frida's scream echoed across the open air, accompanied by the sound of Pincher's wingbeats.
Realizing how fruitless her efforts were, the girl slumped in the saddle. "She could be anywhere," she said, "And she's a Changewing, so she can camouflage herself flawlessly. We'll never find her like this." She gripped the saddle tightly. "Maybe we should go tell the Go-Getters? But they told us to stay home. I can't disobey their orders again! What are we going to do?"
Pincher squawked sadly.
I praise initiative, which you showed when you recognized the trouble and went to act upon it.
Frida sat up as straight as humanly possible. "I have to show initiative," she said determinedly. "I can't just go crawling back home with my tail between my legs. Glory could be in trouble, and we need to let the others know!" She nudged Pincher with her heels. "We need to get to Camouflage Island, and fast!"
The adolescent Nadder squawked obediently and turned, following his nose to where the older Go-Getters were working.
About half an hour later, the Go-Getters had gathered plenty of wood and vines to use to make Scauldy's splint, something that they were collectively delighted to have accomplished.
"Good job, everyone!" Hiccup praised the group. He quickly busied himself with pushing the large chunks of wood closer to Scauldy's wing so he could start lashing them together. He strained his muscles to their limit as he pushed, his arms actually shaking slightly with the effort. Even so, all he accomplished was to move the wood a few inches - at least until Toothless started helping him. The Night Fury shoved it forward with his head, rolling it the rest of the way until it was bumping right up against Scauldy.
"Thanks, bud," praised Hiccup. "Good job!"
But the good mood was short-lived, as Brandyn came up to him with a concerned look on his face. He had many vines in his arms, but for some reason, he didn't seem too happy about it.
"Hiccup, I'm not entirely sure that this is going to work," he said with concern. "We might not have enough vines and rope."
"I know," Hiccup admitted. "I'm worried, too. But it'll have to be enough, or else Scauldy isn't going anywhere."
Brandyn nodded. "I know it's not like me to worry so much," he said, "But we're in pretty dangerous territory right now, and I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to Heather, or Sonata, or any of my friends. How do you deal with this kind of pressure every day?"
"I don't," Hiccup confessed. "I mean, it's not easy being the leader. I'm always afraid that if I mess up, something really bad could happen to me or my friends, something that I wouldn't be able to fix. But I remind myself that we're a team, and that we all have each other's backs. It makes me feel better knowing my family is always there for me when things get rough."
"I'm sure a lot of us wish we had a family like that growing up," Brandyn said. "Me included. But at least we're all here now, working together and trying to fix this broken world, one small piece at a time."
The two boys got to work tying vines and ropes around the large chunks of wood on Scauldy's injured wing, in tandem no less.
Adhesive was patrolling alone over Camouflage Island. While the Poipole flew, his eyes scanned the forest below for any signs of Changewings.
"Maybe this would be less lonely if I had a trainer," Adhesive was saying to himself - loudly enough to be heard over the wind, but quietly enough so that the Changewings wouldn't overhear.
"Yeah," he said, nodding. "Normally I'm pretty happy with my duties as a Go-Getter, but my friends are always with me. This is my first time going solo. Trainers and Pokémon work together all the time, especially on Team Go-Getters!"
To his own surprise, Adhesive started smiling. "You know, Ad, you could also invite Sticky to join sometimes. Gotta spend quality time with the girlfriend, even if you're living in different universes."
He mulled that over in his head for a second. "In addition," he added, "You won't have to talk to yourself like a weirdo so much."
A few minutes later, the Poipole was now flying well into the forest. After spending a short while searching for Changewings on the forest floor, Adhesive raised his head and looked to the sky.
"Can't be too sure," he muttered.
...Huh?
Adhesive turned himself over to take a look at the clouds that were floating above. It didn't take long for him to notice that something was wrong.
"Uh, that doesn't look like a cloud," he squeaked.
Sure enough, instead of a puffball of fluffy white condensed water floating aimlessly in the air there was what appeared to be a discolored patch moving across the sky. And when he looked closer, he saw the red scales and the vine-like tendrils flowing in the wind behind it.
"A Changewing!" realized Adhesive.
That was all it took to send him blazing back toward the beach at a speed no Poipole should have been able to accomplish.
"Oh, the dragonets are coming,
They're coming to save the day.
They're coming to fight,
For they know what's right,
The dragonets, hooray!"
Snivels's voice, which for the entirety of his first song choice had been soft and harmonious, was becoming more strained and raspy the more he tried to keep Scauldy distracted from what his friends were doing.
"That's just as entertaining as the first eighty-nine times you sang that," Ra deadpanned.
"Can you sing something else?" Camazotz asked in a more polite tone.
Snivels looked at them over the Scauldron's shoulder. "You'd rather listen to one of those putrid Viking songs?" he asked rhetorically.
"Well," Ra said, "What happened to 'Not Gonna Raichu a Love Song', or 'Krookodile Rock'?"
Hiccup tried to focus on his work - extracting rope from his draconium shield and using them to tie the trees together into a makeshift splint - instead of on the fact his partner's voice was a couple of lyrics short of giving out completely.
...At least Scauldy seemed to be enjoying it, Hiccup noticed. He redoubled his efforts to concentrate on what he was doing.
"I think it's gonna work!" he exclaimed with delight when he finished his knot.
Brandyn, who was busy working on the other side of the splint, looked up and nodded excitedly to his friends. "Just need to tie this last knot and Scauldy's good to go!"
Hiccup was about to reply when a loud roar and the beating of wings came from the near distance. Turning his head toward the forest, Hiccup's eyes widened when he saw a yellow Nadder heading straight towards the beach at an alarming speed. He knew it was Pincher, even before the adolescent dragon got close enough for him to discern the small figure sitting on top.
"Comin' in hot!" the small figure in question yelled out, catching the attention of everyone on the beach.
"Oh, this can't be good," muttered Hiccup.
He motioned for everyone to get out of the way and give Pincher space to land. Once the area was unoccupied, the adolescent Nadder rocketed toward the newly-cleared spot and flared out his wings at the last second. He landed hard enough to send a curtain of obscuring sand up into the air, which Hiccup and the others had to guard their faces to protect themselves from - but thankfully, the landing wasn't hard enough to injure Pincher or his rider.
Speaking of whom, the first thing Frida did once the sand settled was to run up to Hiccup, grab his arms, and cry out, "GLORY FLEW AWAY!"
Well, that hadn't been very high on Hiccup's list of what he had expected to hear.
"...What?" he asked, dumbfounded.
"We went back home just like you told us to," Frida explained, a bit faster and more frantic than Hiccup would have liked. "And Glory the Changewing took off flying, and I don't know where she went, and I know you told us to stay home, but she could be in trouble and I REALLY NEED YOUR HELP TO FIND HER!"
"Glory flew off somewhere, and you came here?" asked a perplexed Heather.
"Gwowy," crooned the Siren dragonet tucked away in her jacket.
As if the thought had summoned her, the Changewing dragonet materialized on the beach before their eyes.
"Glory!" Snivels scolded. "What are you doing here?! I told you to stay home!"
"I'm bored of staying home!" she whined. "I'm grown-up enough to go on missions with you!"
Keeping one hand on Scauldy to keep her calm, Snivels turned to address the Changewing. "It's not that you're not grown-up enough," he said, "I'm trying to keep you safe. It's dangerous out here, especially with the Dynamax storms becoming a more frequent occurrence. We set these rules for a reason, you have to understand that."
Glory relaxed a little as the emotion in his words sank in.
They heard Adhesive's scream as he flew in for a much slower and more elegant entrance than what Pincher and Frida had pulled off minutes ago. The Poipole flew up to Hiccup, far less panicked than Frida, but he was an expression that did not bode well.
It didn't take very long for Adhesive to catch his breath and confirm Hiccup's fears. "There's a Changewing coming this way," he informed them. "It'll be here in less than two minutes."
"Is it Phantom?" he asked immediately.
"I'm not sure," Adhesive told him.
"Brandyn!" Hiccup yelled out.
Even though he didn't give any spoken instructions, the sheer urgency with which he shouted the name made the situation crystal clear to the Aetherson boy. Breathing in and out slowly to calm himself, he resumed his work with the vines, trying to finish the knot as quickly as possible without messing it up. A delighted smile lit up his face when he lifted his hands and the knot stayed tied.
Barely a second had passed when the knot came undone with a loud *SNAP* that made everyone jump about a foot in the air.
"Oh no, it broke!" Camazotz shrieked.
Responding to the fear in her voice, Scauldy's head swung her way. A soft gurgle emitted from the Scauldron's throat. It seemed that Scauldy was aware, and frightened, of the dire situation they were now in.
"What are you waiting for?!" Ra practically roared. "Retie it, quickly!"
Uselessly, Brandyn tugged at the two loose ends and cried, "It won't reach any more! We need more vines!"
The dragons were all growing antsy, stamping their feet and getting into defensive positions while growling warily. Frida, who was with Pincher, saw how her Nadder was moving to protect her and fearfully glanced towards the woods. She faintly heard distant growls and hisses coming from beyond the trees, and instantly put two and two together.
"It's coming! It's coming!" the ten-year-old yelped, scrambling aboard Pincher's saddle. "We need to get out of here!"
Too late.
The Changewing burst out of the undergrowth with a hissing roar.
Snivels recognized her. "Phantom!"
Glory spun around to face the larger Changewing, spitting a glob of acid from her mouth. Phantom swooped out of the way and retaliated with her own acid spit.
"STOP!" Snivels shouted over the din.
Either they couldn't hear him, or they were too distracted by their fight.
One stray acid blob headed in Frida's direction.
Adhesive screamed, "Look out!" and, before anyone could blink, threw himself between the girl and the acid. It splashed onto his front.
"Adhesive!" Frida shrieked.
"I'm okay," he said, wiping the goop off. "I'm a Poison-type. Toxins, venoms, and acids have no effect on me."
Frida's eyes shone with relief and gratitude. "You saved my life."
Glory reared back, readying another acid spit, when Snivels dashed forward, throwing himself between her and Phantom.
"Glory, no! That's your mother!"
The Changewing dragonet swallowed her acid and lowered herself into the sand, eyes wide with shock. "Mother?" she repeated.
Snivels turned to face Phantom as the older Changewing landed on the beach in front of them. "Phantom," he said, making sure that he was speaking in Norse so everyone on the beach could understand him. "This dragonet hatched from the egg you lost. I found it near Chameleon's dead body, and I took it home with me, where it hatched. My friends and I brought her back here, but the pack said you were gone. I thought Glory was an orphan. I've been taking care of her myself, but, if I had known you were alive, I would have brought her straight to you, I swear." He turned to the dragonet and gently commanded, "Go to your mother, Glory."
Head held down low, Glory did as she was told, because she didn't know any better. She slinked across the sand, trying to appear as small and non-threatening as possible.
Phantom leaned her head in to examine the dragonet. "You have my eyes," she observed. "Hypnosis eyes. You really are my daughter." She lifted her head to look at Snivels. "Thank you for taking care of her for me." Then, to her daughter, she ordered, "Let's go, Glory. We need to leave before my old pack finds us here. We can start a new one somewhere else."
"But," the little Changewing squeaked, "What about my friends?"
Phantom eyed the group. "These creatures?" she asked, which sounded like an angry snarl to those who didn't understand Dragonese.
"Can't we stay with them?" Glory asked. "They can be your new pack. And I really don't wanna leave them. They're family."
"Family," Phantom echoed. "I understand. If it makes you happy."
Glory perked up at that.
Something roared from within the trees.
"More Changewings!" Snivels shouted.
"And Dragalge, no doubt," Blaze added.
Glory flung herself behind her mother like the scared dragonet she was. Phantom flared out her wings in preparation for the arrival of her former packmates. The four trainers, Frida, and most of the Pokémon hopped onto their dragons, prepared to flee the island at a moment's notice. The only ones who stayed on the ground were Snivels, who was reluctant to leave Scauldy's side, and Amber, who stood there looking conflicted.
"Guys," Hiccup said gravely, "We have to go."
If he was expecting the Servine to heed his warning and flee the island with the others for their own safety, then he was about to be surprised. Snivels turned around and revealed a pair of eyes welling with tears.
"No!" he responded, shaking his head furiously. "We can't leave her! Not here! There has to be something we can do!"
Amber wrapped her arms around her mate's shoulders and asked desperately, "Can't we just lift Scauldy?"
Hiccup had to say that he wasn't too surprised at how quickly they had become attached to the helpless dragon. If they were willing to stay behind and put themselves in mortal danger to protect Scauldy, then Hiccup thought that perhaps he had underestimated the strength of their morality.
Putting those thoughts aside for now, he explained to them gently, "Even if we could, it won't do any good. With a broken wing, she can't swim."
Snivels stared numbly at the half-attached splint for a solid three seconds and closed his eyes tightly to hold the tears back from falling.
Suddenly, a single Changewing burst out from the trees and landed talons-first on the sand in front of them, its eyes glowing yellow as it hissed challengingly at them. Snivels and Amber backed up a step, readying their attacks - only to stop when Scauldy got off of her belly and onto her feet with a bit of effort. Possessing a clear height advantage over the flat read dragon, Scauldy raised her head and roared defiantly, to which the Changewing replied by opening its giant mouth and roaring back.
Phantom leapt between them, whacking the Changewing with one wing, readying her acid spit. The wild Changeweing whimpered like a puppy at the sight of their old leader and turned tail back towards the forest.
"That was just the first of many!" Astrid shouted. "Guys, hurry up!"
This time, instead of a look full of sadness and despair, Snivels's eyes were ablaze with a determined glare, showing that he hadn't been kidding when he protested the first time and definitely wasn't kidding now.
"I said no!" he shouted. "I am NOT leaving her here to die!"
Snivels knew there wasn't time for them to get more rope or another vine to finish tying the splint. There had to be something else they could use, anything!
Glancing around in desperation, he noticed the two female trainers looking at him. His eyes lit up with a stroke of unadulterated genius.
He rushed over to Stormfly and pulled himself up onto the saddle, grabbing the end of Astrid's braid and pulling on it.
"Ow!" the blonde protested. "What are you doing?!"
"Hold still, Ast!" Snivels told her. He held the end of her braid in one hand, his free arm glowing white. In one swift movement, he Cut through the base of the braid cleanly, leaving the intricately plaited collection of hair dangling in hand.
Feeling the back of her head, Astrid whirled around to stare wide-eyed at the Servine. "What did you do?!"
"Relax," he said, "It'll grow back." He turned to Heather with an expectant look on his face.
Shrugging nonchalantly, the raven-haired girl handed him the tip of her braid and turned around, so he had a clear view of the back of her head. One Cut later, her own braid was completely separated from her person.
Not wasting any time, Snivels jumped back down into the sand, rushed over to the beached Scauldron, and got to work.
Somewhere close by, a Changewing roared, and the sounds of dragon feet reached the beach. The Mystery Class dragons and their Dragalge companions burst through the trees en masse, crawling swiftly onto the sand and flaring out their wings as they confronted the intruders.
Except there weren't any intruders present.
Confused, the Changewings and Dragalge looked around, suspicious growls curling from out of the color-changing dragons' maws.
There had been someone here. They knew it. They heard the commotion, and the scents were here.
Where had their enemies gone?
The orange glow of the setting sun looked incredible as it played over the clear ocean surface on the Go-Getters' way back to Berk. Their scouting mission finished and the day growing old, it was high time that they got home safely and took a well-earned rest. But only one question remained...
Had they succeeded in bringing Scauldy back to the open sea?
Hiccup leaned over Toothless' side so he could see the water below as they cruised overhead. Just below the surface was a purplish-blue seahorse-like Pokémon accompanied by a distinctive dragon-like shape, its magnificent wings spread to their fullest breadth and its greenish-blue scales sparkling in the sun. On one wing, the splint held perfectly as Scauldy swam...and on one end, the splint bore blonde and black tresses of hair instead of vines.
The Haddock boy smiled as he twisted himself around to stare at the two teenage girls on the farthest right of the formation. Whereas normally their braids would be trailing behind her, they had no braids to speak of any longer. Their hair was short and boyishly rough - the end result of Snivels using Cut to chop it off.
Privately, Hiccup was dreading the possible tongue-lashing he'd be witnessing back home. And the way Astrid glared so intensely at the Servine made it clear that it was bound to happen.
Heather, on the other hand, didn't look as bothered by her new haircut. If anything, she was probably already thinking of ways to experiment with new styles once it started growing out again.
Flying Toothless slightly closer to Stormfly, Hiccup coughed lightly in order to get his wife's attention. "...So...sorry about your hair."
Astrid gave him a look of surprise, as if she wasn't expecting him to have brought that up. "Don't worry about it," she assured him. "I'm not mad at you." She glared past him at Snivels, who was giving her an apologetic look.
"I know," Hiccup said. "But you can't stay mad at him forever."
"You wanna bet?" she growled.
Now, Hiccup wasn't eager to get in the middle of whatever she had planned for the Servine...but if Astrid was going to go after Snivels for his little stunt, then he supposed he'd have to step in.
He urged Toothless back up to the lead position and turned around in the saddle to address the group. "Guys, you all did really good today," he told them.
"Yeah, we did!" Frida enthused from the back, almost jumping out of the saddle with excitement. "I mean, that was awesome!" Pincher gave an equally excited squawk.
"Ha HA!" Sonata declared triumphantly. She rolled herself into her mama's arms and did a little shimmy dance. "Dwagin! Mama sabladay! Yim yim yim!"
Giving her adopted daughter a hug, Heather responded, "That's right, Sonata. Mama did save the day!"
"And Papa helped, too!" Brandyn replied completely earnestly.
Happily, the little family flew their Razorwhip and Grapple Grounder closer together so that they could share an embrace.
Those guys, Hiccup thought fondly.
Turning to face the front again, the bigwings called out to the rest of the group, "You all ready to head home?"
Everyone nodded or gave him a thumbs-up, all relieved to finally be done with the adventure that today had brought.
The next morning, the Go-Getters awoke to the sounds of Scauldy and Geyser romping around the lake where they got their drinking water. Their Seadra companions, Tatsu and Queendra, raced around the lake's circumference to see who was faster.
A few feet away, Glory and Phantom were lying in the grass waiting to catch the sun's warm rays.
"I knew introducing Scauldy to Geyser was a good idea," Snivels said when everyone was up and fully awake. "Maybe they'll have dragonets of their own someday?"
He got his answer in the form of a livid Astrid shoving his face into a bowl of porridge.
"Guys, come on," Hiccup said, "Frida is supposed to be picking her Pokémon partner today. Can we please try to be in a good mood for her sake?"
It took them all of ten minutes to clean up their act (literally and metaphorically) and get to the Great Hall, where the Vikings of Berk always held the pseudo-ceremony of a new trainer picking their first Pokémon (with a few exceptions, including Hiccup himself).
Frida was standing up on the platform with Chief Stoick and his trusty Beartic, Brumous. Before her were three Pokémon that had been hand-picked for her to choose from - Sprigatito, a friendly-looking green kitten, Fuecoco, a red bipedal crocodile whose mouth was wide open with a yawn, and Quaxly, a blue and white duckling that was brushing some dirt off of its wing.
Stoick lowered himself onto his knees and spoke to Frida in an uncharacteristically soft voice. "Think carefully before you choose."
"No need," she said with a smile. "I've already chosen." To the bewilderment of everyone in the hall, she stepped off the platform and ran over to meet the Go-Getters. She extended a hand towards Adhesive.
"What do you say, Ad?" she asked, her nervousness showing in her tone. "Will you be my partner?"
Wide-eyed with shock, the Poipole stared at her in stunned silence. Everyone on the team held their breath as they waited for his answer.
After what seemed like an eternity, a smile slowly stretched across Adhesive's face. He launched himself into Frida's arms, hugging her neck. "You bet I will!"
Trembling with joy, she eagerly returned the hug, squeezing his body with all her strength. "I knew you wouldn't say no!" she cheered. "Not after you saved me from the Changewings!"
"I can't breathe," he wheezed.
She quickly released him. "Sorry!"
The three Pokémon up on the platform looked equal parts shocked and devastated that neither one of them was picked. And the same could be said for all of the Vikings in the hall, for none of them had expected this outcome.
Taking a sip from his mug of mead, Gobber shrugged and said, "Well, there's always next time."
When the Go-Getters exited the hall, Frida asked the four Trainers of Destiny, "Does this make me a full-fledged Go-Getter, now?"
Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other and collectively answered, "We'll see."
"Iccasty!" Sonata squealed.
Astrid rolled her eyes. Maybe it would take some getting used to, but she had to admit, a couple of kids wouldn't be so bad...
I love foreshadowing. :)
Before you ask, yes, Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly are real Pokémon; I did NOT make them up! Generation 9 is a go!
Also, Scauldy and Geyser, swimming in the sea, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! (Don't ask me how they would do that, because I have no idea.)
Happy Pokémon Day!
