It was another peaceful day on the island of Dragon's Edge. Everyone was sleeping in their warm beds. Not a peep was heard, not even a terrible terror was disturbed. It was a peaceful morning… until a certain dragon rider woke everyone up.
"Ok, Hiccup. What's the big idea waking us up at this hour?" I growled annoyed as I popped Tuffnut's back. "Oh, my back." He grunted in relief as Tyse stomps to Hiccup and points at his chest menacingly. "You have some nerve waking me up, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Why wake us up and bring us to this stupid cliff?" Tyse says annoyed and ready to murder him. That's right, not only did Hiccup woke us up but he made us climb this cliff for some reason. "Crusher also not happy. Crusher dreaming cute kittens. Hiccup crushed Crusher's dream." Crusher cooed in sadness as Sharlene patted his side in comfort.
"Now what is it you have to show us? It better involve food or destruction. Or the combination of the two." Tuffnut questioned as Hiccup grabs something his bag strapped to Toothless. "I bet you're wondering why I brought you here. And the answer is, to show you my latest invention. Presenting…" Hiccup then pulls out some sort of contraption. "The Dragonfly One." He presented it to us with pride.
We just stared at both the invention and him blankly, except for Tyse who's eye twitches erratically. "Huh? Huh?" Hiccup messes with the wing to show us that we should be impressed by it. Even Toothless wasn't impressed by it and looked at him annoyed. "I told you it was a stupid idea." Toothless growled making Hiccup glare at him. 'This is more than stupid.' Wolf said, but I noticed that he sounded tired and drained. Wonder what's that about?
We continue to stare unamused, just as Tuffnut lifts Chicken up while it clucks softly. "The chicken is not amused." Tuffnut responds as Chicken squawks loudly before dismounting his hand. "What is it?" Snotlout asked. "It's a flight suit." Hiccup moves it around likes it's flying and lifting up in the air before settling it down slightly so we can see his face again. "Don't all applaud at once." Hiccup says as I rolled my eyes. "Hiccup, I don't need to remind you that we already have flying dragons. Why would we ever need a flight suit?" Fishlegs questioned as Sharlene added in her two pieces. "And some of us are actually dragons. We don't need wing suits. What's the point of it?" She growled coldly.
"Well, what if we were to get separated from our dragons mid-flight? We might need to solo fly until we catch up with them again." Hiccup explains and he does have a good point. But that thing doesn't even look like it works. Looks too complicated. "While I admit you do have a point, Hiccup. That… invention of yours doesn't even look like it will fly." Tyse says looking at the invention with disdain. "When this doesn't work, and it clearly will not, can I have Toothless?" Snotlout asked causing Hiccup to groan. "Oh, for Thor's sake." He replies walking to the cliffside. "Over my dead body." Toothless growled as he walks next to Hiccup.
"What are you planning on doing here?" Astrid asked as we all looked at him. "Jumping." Hiccup responds before looking back at us. "Unless someone has a better idea." Astrid facepalms in frustration saying boys as Toothless growls in annoyance. "This is a stupid idea. You're not a dragon Shifter." Toothless grumbled. "Guys, relax!" Hiccup comforted as we look at him. "Feel that updraft? That's why I chose this place. It'll pick up my wings and I'll be floating on a bed of air." The Shifters and I glanced at each other blankly knowing that this won't work. It's not that simple to just fly. You need balance, practice. And clearly Hiccup doesn't care for practice.
Hiccup opens the Dragonfly One but one of the wings doesn't open completely. Hiccup pulls on it grunting and chuckles awkwardly as he tries to open it. "Or crashing on a bed of rock." Snotlout says cheerfully making Hiccup growl after he makes the wing open completely. "Okay, everyone. Dragonfly One, maiden flight." Hiccup then jumped off the cliff and was in the air. "Three, two, one." Me and the Shifters counted and at the end of the countdown, Hiccup starts screaming and falling towards the rocks below.
"Hiccup!" Astrid cries in worry as Toothless quickly follows Hiccup and catches him, safely into the water. "I don't know about you guys, but I was under the impression that a flight suit was supposed to fly." Tuffnut said his twin chuckles. "Yeah, that looks more like a plummet suit. Do it again." Ruffnut chuckled. Tyse smirks at the failed project just as Toothless brings Hiccup back up, all wet.
"That looked fun." I mused in humor as he blankly stares at me in annoyance. Hiccup was about to say something, only for me to throw a harmless fireball at him. Hiccup panics as the fireball hits but it doesn't harm him and instead dries him. "You're welcome." I said laughing. Everyone else started laughing with me as Hiccup looks absolutely annoyed at us.
After a good set of laughter and Hiccup fixing his invention, he once again tried to impressed us. "Okay, so I made a few tweaks. Now behold some serious flying." Hiccup once agains jumps off the cliff and for a few seconds it worked. "Yeah, baby!" Hiccup laughs in joy before he screams and begins to fall. Once again Toothless saves his life as we watch.
"This time, I absolutely know where I went wrong." Hiccup explained as we look at him unamused, more so with me and the other Shifters. "You see, it's all in the timing. I just judged the updrafts wrong. I assure you, I definitely have it now." Hiccup begins to walk over to the cliff edge but Toothless stops him. "Hiccup, stop this nonsense!" Toothless pleaded. "Wait Toothless. Don't worry, bud. I've got this under control." Hiccup assured as he approaches the cliff edge.
The wind picks up and we noticed it to be strong. "See? There it is. Okay, Now!" Hiccup jumps off and we run to the edge to look down in worry. This has seriously gone too far. "Come on!" We hear Hiccup yells as Astrid makes a worried look and Toothless couldn't watch. I reached into the waters for it to catch him safely but something amazing happened. He flew.
We watch him soar around in surprise and none of us were more surprise but the Shifters. "I cannot believe that hunk of junk actually worked." Snotlout said bewildered as Tyse nods. "I thought this was a dumb indevor but no! He's actually doing it!" Tyse cheered as Crusher and I smiled in awe as Sharlene made a blank face but there was a smirk there.
But of course, things had to end badly. We see Hiccup heading towards a bunch of rocks and he wasn't turning. "He's not turning." I said as panic sets in our hearts. "TOOTHLESS!" We hear Hiccup scream and Toothless instantly ran to his direction to catch him in time. Luckily before Hiccup could hit the rocks, Toothless slams him into the water safely.
We breathed out in relief and instantly went to their location and caught Hiccup getting sprayed by Toothless. "Again." We heard Hiccup say as we landed next to him. "You're not doing that again. You're lucky Toothless caught you in time." I said growling as Astrid glares at Hiccup. "He's right, Hiccup. You're done with this." Astrid orders sternly. "Right. For now." Hiccup admitted but not giving up.
Suddenly we hear screeching. A dragon in distress. "What was that?" Astrid asked. "It sounded like a dragon in distress." Fishlegs guessed. "Oh, guys? Something about that call seems strangely familiar. Not good familiar. Bad familiar." Snotlout says before noticing that we were already leaving and he was alone. "Huh? Uh, guys?" Snotlout asked in confusion not seeing us. "Snotlout, come on." Hiccup calls, making Snotlout groan. "You've got to be kidding me." Snotlout says as he follows us.
"The calls are coming from up ahead. We turned a corner and passed the dragon making the noise. A lone speed stinger. "A Speed Stinger." Hiccup says observing the dragon. "Speed Stinger. Why did it have to be a Speed Stinger?" Snotlout questions looking nervous. "What's a Tah-nin doing here? Where is his pack?" Sharlene asks, as her sharp eyes observes the dragon. "Tah-nin?" I asked confused. "A Pack Sting." Tyse translated as we look at the Speed Stinger. It's smaller than an average Speed Stinger. It's an adolescent. "It looks like a young one. Why would it be out during the day? They're nocturnal dragons." Hiccup questioned in confusion. "Ah. Poor little guy." Snotlout says sarcastically. "Let's head home! It's starting to get dark, and where there's one Speed Stinger, there's usually a whole pack of them!"
The Speed Stinger tries to put weight on its leg, but falls back down screeching in pain. "Hiccup, it's leg is badly injured and Speed Stingers can't fly." Fishlegs says worried. "And Tah-nins are vulnerable if their speed and pack is taken. Predators could easily hunt them. We must heal it back to health." Sharlene growls coldly, knowing the extent of what predators will do. Hiccup follows Sharlene's advice and goes back. "Is he seriously going back?" Snotlout asked. "Snotlout, meet Hiccup. Of course he's going back!" We all fly back to the lone Stinger while Snotlout groans in annoyance.
We all land a couple of feet away from the injured Speed Stinger. The Speed Stinger screeches in anger at us, seeing us land and growling. "Hey, whoa, no, no. Easy there. Easy, little fella." Hiccup comforted, letting his ability being a mental Shifter able to calm the dragon. The dragon slightly calms down but when Hiccup gets closer, it screeched and shows it's stinging tail threateningly at him. "Hiccup, it looks like it can defend itself just fine. Let's get out of here." Snotlout urged only to be stopped cold by Sharlene's frightening blank stare. "Do that and you will find yourself having the greatest pain I will give you." She said coldly as her covered head keeps staring at him, giving him chills.
"We can't leave him like this." Hiccup says, changing the subject. "We'll bring it up to Dragon's Edge, nurse it back to health, then bring it back here." Snotlout groans in defeat as Sharlene's stare removes from his direction causing a sigh in relief. A few hours later, Hiccup came back from Dragon's Edge with a splint while we kept watch on the injured Speed Stinger so that no predators could hunt it. "Ruff? Tuff? Sharlene? You understand the plan, right?" Hiccup asked the Twins and the Razorwhip Shifter. "Yeah." "Definitely." "Of course." The three replies before the first two stopped and repeated with different statements. "No." "Nope. Nu-uh" The Twins denied as Sharlene glares sharpley at them. "And I thought humans aren't any more stupid." She growled.
Hiccup groans and looks at the Twins. "Alright. You secure the Stinger so I can set the splint with the broken pieces of Dragonfly One. And be careful! We all remember what these guys' sting can do to you. That's why we have Sharlene. So that if the Speed Stinger attacks, she'll be able to use her armor to deflect the tail from hitting anyone else." "You don't have to remind me. I know exactly what they can do." Snotlout growled as the Speed Stinger snarls at him. Snotlout glares at the dragon and continues speaking. "This plan is insane. You know that, right? If I'm saying it's insane, it's actually insane."
The Twins look at each other and realize at the same time. "Actually, it is insane. And for once, it wasn't our plan." Tuffnut says with a grin. "I'm seeing a pattern here!" Ruffnut replied with glee. "First that lunatic flight suit, now this. Could it be?" "Is Hiccup coming over to our side?" "Oh, Loki, please let it be so! We will welcome him with open arms. And teach him the ways of the truly disturbed!" Tuffnut says ominously at the end. Both Hiccup and Sharlene and the rest of us hearing their conversation weren't amused. "Guys, please. Let's just do this." Hiccup says annoyed, making the Twins chuckle.
The four approached the injured Speed Stinger and proceeded to get the splint on him. The Speed Stinger snarled at the four, though he was more hesitant at Sharlene. The Dragon tried to attack Hiccup when he got closer but misses but made the three excluding Sharlene to flinch back. "Come and get me, Stinger. Fresh meat on the grill, right over here." "No! Over here! I'm all yours. Turn me into a pin cusion! I'll give it to you as a target. Ooh. It's my butt!" The Twins urged the Stinger to try to sting them, making him annoyed and roar, trying to hit them again. The Twins ducked and Tuffnut mocks it. "Is that it? That's all you've got?" The Speed Stinger roars in fury at him and tries again.
"Guys, what are you doing? I meant secure the tail!" Hiccup groans as Sharlene motions to the Speed Stinger to stab one of the Twins when she sees her distracted. "Hey! We know what we're doing!" Taking the chance, the Speed Stinger stings Ruffnut's right arm. "Whoa! Whoa, whoa, what's happening to me? I can't…" Ruffnut stops talking and her upper body freezes but her lower body is still capable of moving. "Talk? She can't talk! At least I think that's what she's saying." Tuffnut probs her sister's face as she struggles to speak.
"Hmm. Interesting." Fishlegs mumbles as we see Ruffnut walks back and forth as her upper body is still frozen. "Only part of her is paralyzed. Since it's adolescent, its sting potency must not be at full effect." He theorized as Tyse nodded. "You're right. The poison is not at full effect since it's so young. There's a reason why Tah-nin always travels in packs, so that it's young can be protected and grow until the poison is able to completely freeze their prey. I always wanted to milk a Tah-nin of its poison. Maybe find a way to create a substitute to it in case I don't have a Tah-nin on hand. Something to look into later." Tyse smiled gleefully, staring at the effects of the paralyzing poison on Ruffnut.
"And how do we get it to sting her lower half?" Tuffnut questioned before getting an idea. Tuffnut kneels down and whistles causing the Shifters to deadpan at him. "Here, Speedy. Come on. It's the whole lower half of Ruffnut. Come on. Don't you want it?" The Speed Stinger tries to get up, but when it placed it's foot on the ground, putting weight on it, it collapses.
Tuffnut takes the opportunity and pounces the dragon, pinning the dragon. "Ha-ha! Yeah!" Tuffnut cried in cheer before noticing the raised tail pointing at him, tip dripping with paralyzing poison. "Someone help Tuff!" Hiccup yelled as Astrid ran to help. Once Astrid got closer, the Stinger tried to paralyze her but she dodged and pinned the tail. "I got the stinger!" Astrid yelled as Fishlegs pinned the Stinger's head. "I got the head!" Fishlegs says as the Speed Stinger tries fighting it.
Hiccup was about to run in to put the splint when Tyse noticed something. "Astrid behind you!" Tyse cried as Astrid looks behind her to see a second tail! The tail was about to sting her when Tyse disappeared from her spot and pinned it down. "What was that!?" Snotlout yelled shock. "Since when do they grow two tails!" "They don't." Sharlene speaks as her sharp eyes stare at the pinned dragon. "It's a Shifter Tah-nin." "Another one?" Hiccup says surprised as the Speed Stinger speaks. "Get off me!" The dragon said in a surprising young male voice. "Quickly put the splint on before he realizes that he is stronger than the rest of you." Sharlene says, turning to Hiccup who nods.
Hiccup rushes to the Shifter Speed Stinger and splints his injured leg. "There!" Astrid, Tuffnut, Fishlegs and Tyse get off of the Speed Stinger. The Shifter jumps off and runs at Hiccup only to slow down when he realizes that Hiccup doesn't want to hurt him. "Hey, okay. Okay, we're here to help you." Hiccup says as he slowly puts his hand up, slowly approaching the Shifter. "Oh. He's gonna do the hand thing. Please tell me he's gonna do the hand thing!" Fishlegs says in excitement as we watch.
The Speed Stinger Shifter sniffs Hiccup's hand, sensing for anything wrong before leaning his snout into it. "Okay everyone, I think we're good. Now let's load him up and get back to Dragon's Edge." Hiccup says as the Speed Stinger looks at me and the other Shifters uncomfortable. "It's alright. We're one of you, a fellow Shifter." I said with a gummy smile as Tyse makes a wide grin, Crusher smiles happily and waves his giant arm while Sharlene just stares at the Shifter coldly but she did sort of wave.
"You know the pack is gonna do everything in its power to find it, don't you?" Astrid questioned. "Yep. And that's why we have to get him back on his feet and back to this island as quickly as we can." Hiccup says as we loaded up the Speed Stinger tied with ropes to keep it from attacking. Tyse suggested using it's paralyzing venom but the majority outvoted her causing her pout.
As we left we didn't noticed the glares of multiple Speed Stingers watching us before a figure approached between them. It was the Alpha of the pack and the biggest of the Speed Stingers. The Speed Stinger Alpha turned to his kin and grunted telling the others to prepare. They're bringing him back.
It was a couple of days since we rescued the young Shifter and now we were watching Fishlegs and Sharlene open the cage revealing a small green haired boy the age of ten with dragon feet, claws and covered in green scales. He slowly get out before laughing, running around the area as we watch the young Shifter. "Wow. Nice work." Hiccup commented as Nightshift nodded in agreement. Who knew how he was so calm. "Uh-huh. All thanks to the carefully designed rehabilitation program based on trust and understanding." Fishlegs says leaning on Meatlug as Sharlene stares at him waiting for him to speak more. Fishlegs nervously chuckles at her stare before Meatlug runs away to play with the young Shifter, leaving his arm dangling.
"Fishlegs, what's with your arm?" Astrid asked, pointing at Fishlegs dangling arm. "You were paralyzed, weren't you?" Nightshift said more of a statement than a question. Fishlegs rub the back of his neck. "Yeah, let's just say that the Stinger and I may or may not have had a few differences of opinion these last few days." Fishelgs said as Tuffnut began to play with his paralyzed arm, lifting it before letting go and watching it dangle. "Look at that! It's like a dead fish!" Tuffnut chuckled as I appeared behind Fishlegs and took his arm making him scream. "There are so many things we can use the paralyzing venom for. Fishlegs? Can I use you for my experiments?" I asked excitedly, causing him to pale in fear.
"Really Tyse?" Hiccup asked facepalming. "What? It could help with many things!" I pouted, letting go of Fishlegs's arm and walking away a few feet. "Okay, Meatlug, let's get back to work. And we'll bring this, just in case." Fishlegs tries to pull a shield off a weapon rack with his paralyzed arm for some reason. The shield he was trying to pull, drops and rolls away from him making us watch as it rolls away before hitting a wall. Fishlegs sighs in exasperation and grabs another shield with his good arm. Good job using your head this time!
We watch Fishlegs walks over to the young Shifter, where a small mini obstacle course is set up. "Come on, little fella, you can do it!" Fishlegs encouraged. The boy looks at it nervously before Meatlug encourages him. "It's okay, young Shifter. You can do it." She growled as the shifter makes a hesitant nod and begins jumping across the obstacle course.
"He's doing well." Nightshift says as Sharlene nods. "Yes, but he is still young and more active to listen to his instincts so anything could set him off. That is why it is risky on what we are doing and once he is healed we must instantly reunite him with his pack." Sharlene says logically with her cold stare.
"Huh. Ornery and stubborn, but it-" Each of the shifters including myself stare at her with annoyance. "Sorry. 'he' seems like he's actually accepting Fishlegs, Meatlug and Sharlene." Astrid corrected herself, making the Shifters nod in satisfaction. "Well, makes sense, they are pack dragons. They can only function as a group. But if they accept you into that group then you have their allegiance." As Hiccup explains this he begins to have an idea.
Astrid picks up on Hiccup's expression. "Wait. You're not actually thinking of trying to train him? Are you?" Astrid questioned as Sharlene cold face stares at Hiccup for an answer. I also had a ticked off face. Hiccup needs to leave enough alone. The more we have this dragon, his pack will come for the young one. "What? No! No. I-I could never." Hiccup stuttered, weakly denying but we could see his facade.
"Well, well, well, lookie here." Snotlout's annoying voice was heard as we turned to him leaning on Hookfang. "Our little friend can stand on his own two claws again. Only a matter of time before it's trying to sting all of us into oblivion." The young boy didn't like that and shrieked at Snotlout. "My vote is to take it back to where we found it. I'll get the cage." Snotlout begins to walk forward toward the cage and the young shifter causes him to roar at Snotlout. Snotlout screams before he hisses.
I disappear from my spot and appear in front of Snotlout's vision a few inches with a wide smile causing him to pale fearfully. "Hiss at the child again. I dare you." I said sweetly as my pupils turned into reptilian slits. "Snotlout, he's staying here, okay? At least for the time being." Hiccup says, both telling Snotlout the decision was final and trying to save him from me turning him into a corpse.
Snotlout backs off as I smirked menacingly at him, but he was still brave enough to speak. "Having a Speed Stinger around is way too dangerous, especially for me." The young Shifter became agitated enough to try to sting Snotlout but he dodged and got into a boxing stance. "Not even on your best day, pal."
The Shifter becomes agitated more and prepares for another sting. "Good news! The Stinger venom wore…" The Speed Stinger Shifter tried to sting Snotlout but he dodged and instead stung Ruffnut causing half her body to freeze except her higher half. "Ugh! Off." Ruffnut grunted as she falls to the ground. "Okay, everyone. No sudden moves." Hiccup says to keep everyone calm. "Snotlout, if you continue to agitate the Tah-Nin I will personally turn your insides into your outsides." I growled with a bloodthirsty grin.
"Who's got jokes? Frozen from the waist down. Come on." Ruffnut says in response to Hiccup's comment as she tries to climb a chest to sit down. "Hey, settle down, big fella. I'm your friend, remember?" Hiccup says as the young Tah-Nin growled at him raising his wristed stingers in threatening him. "Put them down, Tah-Nin." Sharlene ordered with a cold growl. "Don't scare him. It could cause his instincts to react." I told her, causing her cold eyes to turn to me. "He must be controlled before he harms the humans." She said, making me growl at her. "He is not a beast to be controlled but our fellow kind." "Not if he can't control his temper."
As me and Sharlene continue to argue, Ruffnut got up thanks to Crusher helping her by lifting her up and placing her on a chest. "Thanks, big guy." Ruffnut grunts as she puts her legs into a comfortable position. "Hah! Ruffnut, one. Dead leg, zero" Suddenly it shoots out, kicking Tuffnut in the butt and surprising Crusher. "Ow!" "Not so dead after all." Tuffnut turns to his sister in anger. "Hey. What'd you do that for?" He accused her causing her to look at him angrily. "Oh! Like I have any control…" The shifter begins to growl getting Hiccup's and Nightshift's attention. "Guys. You need to calm yourselves and quiet down. He's getting agitated." Nightshift's says with a harsh whisper to the twins but they ignored him. "That makes two of us. You better control that butt before it gets kicked."
Suddenly the Tah-nin roars and raises his stingers and ran towards the twins. "Take cover!" Nightshift yelled. Tuffnut runs away while Ruffnut tries to run only to realize that she was stuck. Thankfully the Tah-nin ignored her and went after Tuffnut. The Tah-nin went to stab Tuffnut only for his stinger to be caught by one of Sharlene's blades and knocks him backwards. The Tah-nin yelped and quickly got back up and went after Astrid. Astrid takes a shield from the rack and protected herself from the stinger. She exhales in relief as Fishlegs begin panicking. "Please, remain calm. Everything is going to be okay." Toothless and Nightshift dodged the Tah-nin's swipes before he went after Fishlegs and Meatlug. "Remain calm!" He yells just as the Tah-nin stings Barf and Belch, Barf's side goes limp as Belch look at his brother in concern. "Barf!" Ruffnut yells in concern as zero my gaze unto the Tah-nin who went straight at me.
"That does it!" I screeched and the Tah-nin who rethinked his strategy and fearfully tries to get away but I was too close to let him. "Okay. We need to do something before Tyse decides to do something worse. Stormfly, Sharlene, spine shot!" Nightshift commanded as the deadly nadder and Razorwhip Shifter fire's their tails and spines create a path toward the cage which it went in and Toothless fires at the door and trapping the Shifter inside. The Tah-nin screeches in anger but I made a demonic screech at him causing the hatchling to whimper in fear.
I stepped back and looked around with a frown. I looked at Nightshift who was glaring at Sharlene who had a cold expression. "I believed the words that the humans call it, 'I told you so." She said as Nightshift narrowed his eyes and walked away. I frowned when I thought I saw a purple glow in his eyes before shaking my head. It was probably nothing.
It was a few hours until sunset and the rest of us were finishing up cleaning the destruction the speed stinger caused. "Could be worse." Wolf said to me as I rolled my eyes, but I noticed he looked tired. What is that about? "Mhm. Exactly as I thought this would end up." I groaned as Snotlout begins speaking. "That thing is going to paralyze everyone on the island before this is over. And then there's going to be no one to take that stupid dragon back to where we found it." Hiccup tiredly looks at it with a frown. "Alright. I'm too tired to argue with you. We'll talk about this in the morning." Hiccup and the rest of us walk away but I stayed back when my ears flicked toward Ruffnut speaking to Snotlout about something but before I was able to fully listen in, I flinch in pain and hold my chest when I felt a huge stinging sensation. Tyse walks over to me with concern. "Nightshift?" "I'm fine." I growled causing Tyse to look at me with more concern. I breathed in deeply. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me." "It's fine." She says with a smile. "I just wanted to make sure you're good." She walks away from me as I look down in thought. What caused it?
We were preparing for the Tah-nin's cast to come off. "Good news, little guy. Sharlene says that your sprint comes off today! Nurse Meatlug, if you would do the honors, please?" Meatlug smiles happily and blasts a small blast of lava unto the splint and it comes off. The hatchling takes a few hesitant steps and was surprised to feel no pain and looks back at us in shock. "Yeah you see? No more pain." Fishlegs says with a smile as the hatchling smiles. "No paiN!" He speaks in rough english and ran around us in excitement. "Whoa! Wow! You sure had a lot of energy stored up, didn't you."
I watched as the hatchling runs in excitement before it goes to a deep pond. Fishlegs looks at him in horror. "Oh dear! Meatlug, Sharlene, quick, stop him! Speed Stingers can't swim!" Fishlegs mounts Fishlegs and the two quickly fly to the stinger to stop him but I didn't move but calmly walk forward. Why am I not terrified for the hatchling? One: He's not just a dragon. He's a Shifter. Second: Because Tah-nin's have a feature that most dragons don't have. The Tah-nin jumps on the pond and runs like it wasn't affected. Fishlegs looks at the hatchling in surprise as I walked to them. "Whoa! How did you do that?"
The shifter smiles and shows his feet which had webbing between his toes. "Webbing. Of course. You can't fly, so you needed a way to island hop. You adapted, evolved." Evolved. Yes. The second reason is that Tah-nin's evolved to adapt to travel. "Oh-ho!" That's incredible! I have to tell Hiccup about this right away!" Fishlegs quickly flies toward Hiccup's house leaving me with the Tah-nin. I looked at the Tah-nin who chirped curiously at me. I blinked blankly before my gaze goes toward the sea, in the direction where we found the hatchling. "They will be here soon." My spirit, Shard, spoke in my mind. "Let them come then." I said coldly as my wrist blade snapped out.
It was now sunset and Fishlegs came to us and revealed some shocking news about the Shifter speed Stinger. "This is enormous, Fishlegs." Hiccup says happily. Finally, actual proof of dragon evolution. It's historic." "I know, right!" Fishlegs says in excitement. "This is honestly… shocking to say the least." I said with a blink. Hiccup then starts to brainstorm about his flying invention. Ugh. "And the Stinger webbing actually inspired me to make a few changes on a little something I've been working on. Astrid groans in annoyance. "If you say Dragonfly Two, I'm locking you up." "Best thing I heard. I'll get the chains." Tyse speaks excitedly but I pulled her back, making her pout. "While I agree this is amazing, but now we have a problem." I said causing everyone to look at me. "Why? What is it?" Fishlegs asks confused. "If the Shifter Stinger has webbing that allows him to travel from island to island, what if his pack has the same?" Tyse widened her eyes in realization as Hiccup, Astrid and Fishlegs paled. "We need to return the Stinger now." Hiccup says quickly as we run to the barracks.
Once we got there, we see the Shifter gone. "Oh, no. He's gone." Fishlegs says in worry. "How could he have gotten out of this cage?" Astrid says in confusion. Hiccup and I narrowed our eyes as Tyse sniffs toward the cage and scowls. "He couldn't. At least not on his own." Hiccup said as I growled in anger. "And we think we have a pretty good idea who helped." I growled. "It was Ruffnut and Snotlout. I'm going to enjoy ripping them apart." Tyse grinned as the dragon riders get on our dragons while me and the other shifters shifted into our dragon forms and followed them.
Apparently the Shifter Stinger was able to escape and half-paralyzed Hookfang causing the four to crash. We landed and Hiccup and I approached Ruffnut and Snotlout while the others hold back, keeping Tyse from killing the two. "Hey, Hiccup and Mattie. I got stung again. Just the right side this time. I tried to walk it off but I just keep going around in a circle." Ruffnut slurred as she begins walking but because half her body was paralyzed she just walked around in a circle. We stared at her unamused before looked at Snotlout.
"Dragon-napping, Snotlout? I mean, this is a new low, even for you." Hiccup says as I glared. "I was trying to save us!" Snotlout argues as Tyse escaped the others and pounced on Snotlout making him scream as she produced her dagger at his throat. "I'M GOING TO RIP OUT YOUR INTESTINES, SNOTLOUT!" Tyse yelled before we heard a screech in the far distance. The young shifter perks up and looks around. "Uh. You guys heard that, right?" Astrid asks in waryness. "It was an echo. Please tell me that was an echo." Fishlegs begged before the screeching was heard again. Tyse gets off of Snotlout and looks around with narrow eyes. "How is that even possible? Speed Stingers can't fly!" Snotlout yelled in confusion. "Crusher learned from others that Tah-nins have webbings that let them walk on water." Crusher says as he scratches his head. "What!? How!?" Snotlout yelled in fear before he was smacked by Tyse. "Keep it down! We can't let them know we're here!" Tyse whisper yelled at him with her eye twitching in anger. "If we keep quiet, we might not give our location." Hiccup said before the Shifter Stinger begins screeching into the air which was followed by another screech.
"I'm guessing that very soon I'm gonna wish I could run in a straight line." Ruffnut slurred as Snotlout begins accusing the Shifter Stinger. "You! I knew you'd rat us out." Suddenly we heard a loud screech and was surrounded by the Shifter's Stinger pack. The alpha Speed Stinger reveals itself of being in it's dragon form it was now humanoid with Speed Stinger characteristics. The alpha looks at us and then to the young shifter and growls in anger. "Hi dare wah take dii kul, jul!" The shifter screeched as the shifters looked at each other worried. "W-What did he say?" Fishlegs whimpered in fear. "We didn't just take a young shifter from his pack. We took him from his father." Tyse explained as the pack growled at us.
Sharlene stepped forward as the alpha turns his attention to her. "Why dreh hi work naal jul wah gahrot dii kul, gruth zeymah?" The alpha growled as Sharlene growled back. "Drem wah faal Monah Rah, Noctis, tah kinbok. Mu lost found hin kul ahraan ahrk took rok wah heal ok ahraan ahrk daal rok hofkiin. Mu drey ni mean wah rahgot hi." The shifter leader growled softly and looked at his son. "Los daar vahzah?" He asked as the young shifter shifted to human form and nodded. "Geh Bormah. Faal jul ahrk fin dovah do their tah healed dii leg. Zu'u lost Ahraan, nunon nust lost fron ahrk treated zu'u pruzah." The pack leader looks down in thought before looking up to us. "Jul and kin. I was folaas. I thought hi took my kul for evil means but hi have proven your ov. You have my kogaan." The alpha then bows to us as we bowed back, accepting his apology.
"Amazing. I mean I know we saw our friends talk but to actually see it between other dragons." Fishlegs whispers in delight as Hiccup smile. "That's why shifters are the most amazing. They communicate with each other instead of relying on their instincts. The alpha saw us had his son and thought we were a threat but he saw that we helped him and we proved we were his friend." Snotlout was about to snap in anger that the speed stingers were still dangerous, but two deadly glares from the female shifters shut him up and made him look away, grumbling.
We followed the pack stingers to the beach and watched them run off back to their home. The last one on the beach was the alpha and his son. The alpha looks at me and bows respectfully. "Kogaan, dii Thur. Fod fin tiid meyz, dii tah fent naal hi ahrk hin fahdon." I nod and bowed back to him. "Kogaan. Zu'u fen gladly accept hin alliance. Kos pruzah ahrk safe Wundun." The alpha nods and screeches to his son who screeches back and looks toward us and bows before the two finally leave to join their pack and return home.
"For that little time, he was part of our pack. And we were part of his. We should be lucky to have that honor. Even Snotlout somehow." Tyse says with a happy grin. "I was a little worried that we had to fight. Thank you, Sharlene." I said as Sharlene looks away. "I saw an opportunity to not shed violence and took it. It is nothing." "Still, thank you, Sharlene." Hiccup says as Sharlene nods. Then we started hearing Snotlout boasting and bragging. "Scared? Ha! That Stinger was more scared of me than I was of him." Tuffnut then narrowed his eyes as if seeing something and puts a hand over his eyes to look. "Hey, look! Isn't that them swimming towards us?" Tuffnut asked as Ruffnut joins in. "Maybe they're coming back to you, Snotlout." Snotlout looks at the ocean in fear and terror. "What? No!" He runs away scared as everyone laughed. "They weren't swimming this way." Tuffnut chuckled. "Look at him run. Stupid." Ruffnut spoke as she drooled since she was still half paralyzed. We looked to the ocean and watch the speed stingers leave to their home.
We returned back to the edge and I got back to my home. I went to my bed and layed on it. At the end of the day, we returned the speed stinger with his family and pack and we gain a new ally. I wonder what would of happen if Sharlene or any of us weren't there. Would the pack attacked? Would Hiccup and others able to fight them off? Who's to say. I turned to the candle and blew it out before going to sleep.
I looked around in confusion, seeing darkness around me. "What is this?" I asked in confusion before I heard a breath behind me. I looked behind me and the last thing I see was red eyes and jaws before I jolt awake with a yell. I could still hear the mad laugh in my head and the words before I woke up. "YoU aRe MiNe."
Yeah, Ok so I'm way far from my updates. I'm not dead, thank goodness but things have been really different. I'm losing my touch on things in writing. I don't have the same drive to write anymore. I'm trying to write everyday but its hard. I'm doing my best but this story won't be completed in years if I continue at this rate. I'm trying and I hope you continue to support me to keep on writing. NightshifttheDragonShifter out!