Chapter 13: Night Fury Family Time

Night Fury Island

July 11

Toothless was in a deep slumber when he felt something soft and small tickle his nose. Opening his eyes half-way, he was surprised to see a variety of bright colors. Opening his eyes fully, he saw that the colors belonged to the wings of a small but beautiful butterfly.

Normally Toothless would admire a butterfly's beauty from not too far away but right now he was slightly annoyed that this thing of beauty had woken him up from a nice, restful late afternoon nap. Still lying down, he swatted at the butterfly just as it had fluttered off his nose and he watched it fly off into the forest. Snorting in satisfaction, Toothless laid his head back and tried to go back to sleep. But it was no use.

Because the spring and summer days were so warm, the Night Fury family had spent a lot of their sleep times out in the meadows or clearings in the forest instead of in their den. Once the chills of the autumn and winter days returned, they would go back to sleeping in the warmth of the den.

Sometimes Toothless didn't mind sleeping outside because there was plenty of room and he was able to enjoy the warm air and cool breezes and he didn't have a rocky roof blocking out the view of the sky he loved. But there were times where he did mind because sometimes the smaller animals on the island would disturb them, even by mistake. And now thanks to the butterfly, he was now fully awake. So, still lying on the ground, he lifted his head and looked over at his mother who he had slept close next to.

Sapphire was resting her chin on her forelegs and she inhaled and exhaled deeply as she continued her nap. Toothless rubbed the side of his body against his mother's, taking in the warmth of her skin. Then he looked over at the rest of his family who were napping not far from him.

Instead of lying on the ground with the rest of the family, Dusk and Noserubber hung from a sturdy branch of a large tree overlooking them. With their tails hanging tightly around the branch and their wings folded up around their bodies, his father and sister resembled bats.

A little ways from him and Sapphire, his siblings were all piled up on top of each other. Biter and Soft Paws and were both on top of Big One. Even though the baby Furies were still very small (they were now the size of fully-grown domestic cats) and still relied on their parents for food and protection, they had gotten to the stage where they craved independence. And part of that independence was not sleeping next to your parents.

Unlike the rest of his siblings, Toothless still liked sleeping right beside his mother because it always made him feel safe and comforted. And even Noserubber couldn't stop herself from staying as close to their father as dragonly possible. But even he was starting to wonder what it was like to be on his own.

A small rumble from his stomach reminded him of his hunger and Toothless knew that when you were on your own, you had to catch your own food. Luckily, they lived on an island surrounded by water. And in that water were all kinds of fish just waiting for him. Right now, he was in the mood for a ripe red-and-green salmon or maybe even a tasty codfish or a juicy trout.

It was almost too much for Toothless to resist. Smacking his lips and getting to his feet, he spread his wings and took off. He was just a few feet up in the air when he stopped and looked down at this still-sleeping family.

Ever since the day he and his siblings hatched, he and his family had done everything together – flying, playing, fishing and resting. Now here he was going off to try to catch his dinner on his own and he was going to do it without his family's help. He thought about the first time he had to learn to catch a fish on his own even though Sapphire had accompanied him to show him and keep an eye on him. And even as he got better and better at fishing, she still went along with him so she could watch him nearby.

The thought suddenly scared him. The thought of doing everything without his family; to be…all alone.

Toothless shook his head trying not to think about the thought. After all, he was just going off into the ocean to catch himself a fish and then he would quickly return to them. Maybe he could catch enough fish for the whole family to share. So he flapped his wings and he hovered just a little higher.

Once he was above the clearing, he got a good view. The golden sun was still hanging in the sky but it was on its way towards the horizon where it would stay until it came back up again. The sky was a dark blue/light golden color by now and the sunlight reflected against the treetops. Toothless could just look at this sight forever.

Gurgle

But first things first, he had to keep his strength up. And off he went towards the sea.

Before long, he was hovering over a small rock sitting the ocean water not too far from the island's beach. The water was a deep navy blue in the late afternoon. And even though, he had incredible night vision, Toothless was glad he'd still be able to see the fish in the afternoon light.

Toothless landed on the rock with his ears perked up, his eyes wide open and his nose constantly sniffing the air. He also emitted the high-pitched noise and purple waves in front of him. Then the waves hit something and traveled back to him.

Narrowing his eyes, he tried to make out what he had detected. At first all he could see was just dark and shimmering water. Then he noticed something a few feet away. It looked dark and long.

What could that be?

Maybe it was a kind of long fish that he had never seen before. And it looked long and big enough for the whole family to enjoy.

Curious and hungry, Toothless dove nose-first into the water and started to waggle towards the odd looking creature.

The long creature seemed to get bigger and longer as Toothless swam closer. And now the small Night Fury was able to see that it wasn't a fish at all. It looked kind of like a snake.

A snake that dwelled in the sea? Now that was a discovery.

But it couldn't possibly be a snake….could it?

Still not sensing any danger, Toothless continued to swim towards this snake-like creature.

Once he was close enough, but not too close, Toothless could make out the stripes that aligned this new creature's body. It was then that the creature seemed to notice him. It turned to him with small, black eyes.

It was then that Toothless could see the nastiness in this creature's eyes. Then it opened its mouth and hissed revealing its small, sharp teeth.

Letting out a startled shriek, Toothless dodged just as the creature lunged at him.

The little Night Fury swam as fast as he could but the creature was gaining on him.

Toothless managed to reach the rock he had just stood on a minute a go and raced up to the top of it, ready to take flight.

Hearing the creature hiss behind him, its foul-smelling scent trailing into his nostrils, he spread out his wings and took flight.

Now he was safe.

Hiss!

The long, new creature leaped out from the water and snapped at him still trying to catch him.

Toothless shrieked and flapped higher, desperate to get away from this monster.

The snake-like monster leaped out of the water again and…

BLAM!

A violet plasma blast struck it in the body sending it back into the water.

Toothless was surprised to see his mother flapping over the sea water a few feet away from him. The plasma blast had come from her.

"Come on!" Sapphire called, tilting her head towards the beach.

Toothless nodded and followed his mom. As he did, he looked back towards the spot the creature had fallen. Even from up above he could see the strange animal sinking towards the dark, depths of the ocean. It looked dead but he wasn't willing to find out for sure.

Sapphire landed on the beach and Toothless landed right beside her.

"Are you all right?" Sapphire asked worriedly.

"I think so," Toothless replied.

Sapphire's worried expression was replaced by a stern one. "You shouldn't have wandered off on your own like that. What if I wasn't around and that eel had gotten to you?"

Toothless hung his head ashamedly. "I know that now, Mom. And I'm sorry. I won't wander away again."

Sapphire's face softened at his apology. "Well, at least you're safe from the eel."

"Eel?" Toothless asked.

"Yes, a creature we dragons wouldn't dream of going near," Sapphire explained.

"Or even eating," came a familiar grunt.

Toothless turned around to see his father and siblings approach them.

"Had your first experience with an eel, haven't you, Toothless?" Dusk continued.

Toothless nodded. "Yes, and you've actually eaten them, Dad?"

"Well, I didn't exactly eat one but I actually did taste it and it was terrible. I must've drank half the pond to get the taste out of my mouth after that." Dusk shook his head uncomfortably, trying to erase the memory from his mind.

Eel. Toothless would remember that name. And the experience. He vowed to himself he would never go near any more eels for as long as he lived.

"If eels taste as bad as they sound, then I don't ever wanna eat one either," Biter chirped.

"Me neither," Soft Paws and Noserubber roared in unison.

"Whatever an eel is, it could've killed you, little brother," Big One chided Toothless. "You shouldn't have wandered away like that."

Toothless hung his head again but he shot an admirable look at Big One. Even though she was at the stage of craving independence, she still took her responsibility of looking after her siblings seriously. She was the first one to hatch after all.

"I learned my lesson, Big One, Mom, Dad, and everyone else," Toothless assured her family. "I won't attempt to fish on my own again. Not after that."

Dusk's eyes lit up. "Fishing? So that's why you wandered off."

Toothless nodded again. "I was hoping to catch enough fish for all of you."

"That would've been impressive," Dusk replied. "But the only way there can be enough fish for everyone is if we all going fishing together."

"Yeah, let's go fishing! I'm hungry!" Biter roared, bucking his hind legs.

"Yeah, Dad, let's go fishing!" Noserubber squealed.

"All right, all of you calm down," Sapphire warbled, swinging her head to look at all of her young ones. "We'll all go fishing."

So the seven Night Furies lined up together along the shoreline.

"Ready? And, now!" Dusk roared.

And with that, the whole Fury family took off into nose-first into the sky right before taking a big dive into the seawater, scattering an enormous school of sardines in all directions.

The sardines were a welcoming sight to the Night Furies especially for Toothless after his eel experience. He and his family swirled around with open mouths, wide enough for them to swallow a few sardines whole. Even Biter who was snapping his jaws at any mouthful of fish he could catch was enjoying himself.

The Night Furies swirled and feasted underwater until their bellies were pleasantly full. As they emerged out of the water and hovered over it, Dusk gestured to a flock of seagulls that were now standing on shore.

"What do you say we have a little fun with those birds?" Dusk warbled suggestively, looking at his family.

"Yeah!" the young Night Furies chirped.

Even Sapphire had a playful look in her eyes.

"All right, watch this," Dusk crooned.

Dusk flapped his way to the shore and landed in front of the seagulls and…

"ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRR!"

The startled white birds flapped away in all directions.

Sapphire and the young ones arrived and began roaring playfully at the frightened birds. Biter even snapped at a few not to eat them but to practice on his biting.

Toothless landed on a small pile of small rocks and stood up on his hind legs, swatting at the scattering birds with his paws and roaring playfully. He must have leaned a little too far because before he knew it, the rocks underneath him lost their balance and they toppled onto the ground, brining Toothless down along with them.

Toothless lifted his head and shook it. He wasn't hurt although he did feel a heavy weight on his tail. Looking behind him, he saw that one of the rocks had landed on top of the left fin of his tail. Toothless tried to pull his tail out from underneath the rock but despite its small size, the rock was still pretty heavy.

Dusk arrived at his side and used his snout to push the rock off his son's tail. Toothless lifted his tail and flapped his fins. They looked and felt all right.

"You're lucky that rock didn't tear off your fins," Dusk told him. "We need our tail fins to fly just as much as we need our wings."

Toothless nodded. He would make sure to be careful so that nothing would happen to his tail or his wings. He didn't know what he'd do if he couldn't fly ever again.

"I think we've had enough excitement on the beach," Sapphire suggested. "Why don't we bring that excitement somewhere else?"

"How about the meadow?" Noserubber suggested. "I want to smell the flowers again."

If there was one thing that Noserubber loved as much as flying in the sky it was racing through the flowers.

"All right, let's go to the meadow," Sapphire said, spreading her wings.

The rest of the Night Fury family also spread their wings and took off from the beach. Together, they flew over the trees and the pond until they reached the meadow heavy with green grass and colorful wildflowers.

Once they landed, Noserubber sniffed at the flowers and Big One swatted at them with her paws. Biter and Soft Paws ran off to chase the rabbits and field mice in the meadow.

Although Toothless loved the flowers and chasing the smaller animals, he couldn't care less for them right now. All he wanted right now was to be beside his mother. He started to approach her then suddenly…she jumped a few feet away from him.

Surprised, Toothless walked over to Sapphire but before he could even touch or nuzzle her, she jumped away from him again.

Now, Toothless was no longer walking to his mom but running to her. Then Sapphire also broke into a run. Toothless chased after his running mother, determined to catch her. Even his siblings joined in the chase. The mother and child Night Furies roared playfully as they ran across the tall, green grass and colorful, sweet flowers.

Then as though remembering she could fly, Sapphire took off into the air. Then the five young ones also took off into the air after her.

"You're forgetting we can fly too, Mom!" Big One called.

"Then let's see you catch me now," Sapphire called back.

"Don't worry, young ones, I'll catch your mother for you," Dusk called, catching up to them.

Dusk flapped up right in front of Sapphire and licked her face.

Sapphire laughed her dragon laugh. "All right. You caught me."

"We've all caught you," Toothless warbled, rubbing the side of his face against her body.

The four other young ones rubbed their faces against their mother then went over to their father to rub their faces against them. Respectively, the mother and father nuzzled their five youngsters back.

Something colorful shone down against their black scales and the Fury family looked up to see a series of pink and purple lights shimmering across the darkening stars. Even a few stars had popped up here and there and the moon was coming into view.

The seven Night Furies purred in awe as they flapped in the sky with the colorful lights, stars and moon around them. They stayed up in the sky a little longer before heading back down to the meadow where they sat amongst the flowers and kept their heads up to watch the colorful show above them.

Around them, fireflies glowed and the five Night Furies swatted playfully at them trying to catch them (Biter also snapped playfully at them). They swatted and played until sleepiness started to take over their bodies.

Big One was the first to lie down and Noserubber climbed up on top of her and began to lick her sister's head and ears. Noserubber just loved grooming her sister especially before naptime. Biter and Soft Paws laid down beside their sisters and it wasn't long before Toothless joined in. A moment later, Sapphire and Dusk laid down in between them. Sapphire curled her tail around her little ones protectively while Dusk curled his tail around Sapphire.

As his parents and siblings drifted off to sleep, Toothless stayed awake a little while longer so he could look up at the fireflies, the pink and purple lights, the moon and the stars. Then he looked around at his family, happy to be among them.

Rubbing his face against Sapphire's body one last time, he allowed sleep to take over his body completely.