Dragon Tales

Story 2 - An Overdue Meeting

Part 1 - Unusual Visitors

Authors note: back with another story! This time looking at the four big characters who've barely done anything- the Guardians^^ hope you enjoy it!

Sorry it took a while but the chapters are looooong so I hope it makes up for it- please please please leave a review I was looking back at the old ones and I feel like most if not all of you from back then have abandoned it- can you just let me know you're here? It helps motivate me a lot and I want to know whether it'd be worth having a Q and A and stuff cos I'm not sure there's be enough people to do it...

Anyway I hope you like the chapter and I'll see you tommorow with the next chapter!

Story suggested by: Devilshiela (not heard from you in ages- I've missed your reviews, they always make me smile)

It was getting late on Berk. The sky darkening, and the moon rising. Most the children were going in for the night, while many of the adults left for the great hall for a tankard of mead. The day had been as close to normal as you could get with dragons and Vikings sharing the island- and with the nuisance Sky Dragon back to causing headaches.

The sky wasn't quite black yet, but still no one noticed the silhouettes approaching the island- and no one heard the sound of wingbeats, as four dragons landed at the edge of the village. They were new to Berk, and had only been once before. They had no idea where anything was, but they were hopeful that they'd figure something out.

A bulky, red dragon gave a low growl to his companions. He had long claws (on his forelegs especially) and battle chipped scales- he was so thickset and muscular he looked like he could uproot a full grown tree with no problem. In Dragonese the growl translated to:
"Are you ready?" He asked, electric blue eyes sparkling as he buzzing with excitement.
"I'm not doing this." A tall, dark blue, two legged dragon mumbled. "You know I look ridiculous trying to become human." He complained.

This one had two large, protruding horns on the back of his short, triangular head and stood on two legs. He had he wings folded across his chest in a huff.
"Bunny, come on. We're coming to visit Jack." A long, feathery dragonness persuaded. She was a lot more serpentine than the others, with shimmering, green feathers taking the place of scales. Most of her feathers were highlighted with deep violet, which somewhat resembled her gem like eyes (though these held more of a pink tone). Her pearly, translucent wings beat like a bumblebee's, so that she hovered rather than stood beside her friends. At the back of her head and tip of her tail there were feathery crests, each with a single yellow strip along the middle. They flared up depending on her emotions, and, right now, quivered excitably.

There was a slight glow as loose grains of earth flew up into the air to make a crying, sad face.
"No, I'm not scared- shut up." The dark blue one growled to the smallish, golden dragon who had created it. This dragon was somewhat rotund- like a Gronkle, but with bigger, stronger wings. He had a friendly, good natured aura, and his golden scales seemed to glow slightly in the darkness.

The largest, red dragon knocked his complaining companion forwards with his powerful tail, as he strode forwards.
"Come on, Bunny- we're losing moonlight." He told him, as he forced the reluctant dragon into the open. "Now, then- we just need to blend in." He told them.

By the time they reached the centre of the street, the light of a nearby torch revealed that they had changed almost completely- a humanish group stood in the street, rather than dragons. Humanish because not all of them looked entirely human. One of them looked normal- the red dragon had changed into a thickset man with twinkling, blue eyes, a red coat and long, white beard- but the others hadn't been as successful.

The dragoness had managed to make herself look human- but, she kept a few parts of her dragon self as well. She hovered just above the ground on translucent, shimmering wings, and she was still covered, in all but her face, with the same feathers she'd had as a dragon.

The golden dragon had also done quite well. He looked mostly normal- and the few things that did make him look odd could easily get brushed off as just being rare or unusual. He was tall as a child, with long, gravity defying, tufted hair. His skin was an identical colour to the golden yellow of his clothes, but that could go unnoticed at a glance.

The two legged dragon was right to be reluctant to transform. He looked like a giant rabbit- grey/blue fur decorated with occasional dark markings, and long ears replacing his horns. The only thing that made him seen vaguely human was the fact that he was stood on two legs (which he did anyway as a dragon).

"Right." The large rabbit said, rolling his eyes. "Totally inconspicuous."

Elsewhere in the village, two older boys were making their way home, with a sleek, black dragon following behind them.
"I can't believe you still managed to fly circles around us, and you've only been out of bed two days." Hiccup complained- somewhat annoyed, but still quietly happy to see the Sky Dragon up and back to causing havoc again. Toothless growled irritably as he remembered the defeat.
"That was nothing." He told him. "If I would've been able to control the wind it would've been even better." He smirked. It irked him that he still wasn't strong enough to control the wind, but he'd surprised Hiccup at least. He rarely impressed the Viking nowadays, after so many years together- he had to make the most of the these moments.

Toothless grunted in a 'hmpf' kind of way. "Prancer Wings." The dragon grumbled under his breath. Hiccup, automatically getting the translation from Jack's mind, patted the Night Fury's neck in an attempt to stop him grumbling.

"But what was that all about?" Jack wondered, putting on his best (terrible) Astrid voice.
"'Good job you didn't catch it, Snotlout. You'd be starting a dragon rebellion.'" He finished.
"Apparently, when he got eel pox, he kept giving speeches to the dragons about reclaiming their respect, or something. He kept speaking into a terrible terror and throwing it away- then yelling as it bit his nose." He explained. Jack laughed.
"Aw, couldn't he have spoken into Hookfang?" He joked. "That sounds like the much more dumber thing to do."
"He is smart." Hiccup defended, halfheartedly, earning a raised eyebrow from the Sky Dragon. "In his own way." He added. Jack shook his head.
"Yeah, right- if he's smart, the twins are geniuses." He smirked.
"You know when they got eel pox they actually did start talking quite smartly." Jack didn't buy it- he thought he was joking.
"Seriously, they used really big words- and did experiments." He showed Jack the memory for proof: the two of them declaring 'For science!' as they bashed heads (apparently to compare the force received on either side).
"You should've left them be." Jack said, just stopping another laugh as he struggled to believe it.

"It was all stupid, though." Hiccup said. "They kept going on about freezing yak's milk." He told him, like it was the most ridiculous idea he'd ever heard. Jack frowned, slightly.
"What's so crazy about that?" He asked. Hiccup stared at hm in disbelief.
"Don't tell me you've actually done it?" He said. "Don't answer that." He told him, realising who he was talking to. "Is there anything you don't freeze?" He asked, incredulously.
"You?" He suggested, grinning evilly as he shoved an ice cold finger into his neck.

"Ah- ah! Oh.. jeesh! Don't do that!.. Ah." He winced, rubbing his neck to get rid of the ice crystals the Sky Dragon left behind. Toothless laughed heartily, as Jack chuckled (he really did try to look remorseful- but that face was just too hilarious).

His laughter was abruptly cut off as Toothless thwacked him with a wing sending him crashing into Hiccup- which wasn't quite what the Viking had in mind when he'd sent the dragon a beseeching look.
"Toothless!" He protested, his metal foot scrambling to recover some grip, but not finding it quick enough. He fell onto Jack- almost sending the both of them collapsing onto the floor. "Stop dragging me down with him!" It seemed Hiccup always ended up sharing the punishment whenever the Night Fury tried to wreck revenge on the Sky Dragon. Toothless didn't respond, but he was pretty sure he could see his sides rumbling in a discreet laugh.
"You're getting heavier, you know that." Jack moaned as Hiccup finally relinquished him as a leaning post. Hiccup decided to ignore the comment (he did not want a repeat of when he started a shoving contest with the Sky Dragon- it had not ended well).

Jack soon carried on walking, as though nothing had hapnened.
"You should try some ice cream, though- it's pretty good." He told him, resuming the conversation from earlier.
"Ice cream?" Hiccup repeated, going back to rubbing his neck.
"Well, I considered 'frost cream', but I thought made me sound full of myself." He explained.
"You are full of yourself." Hiccup pointed out- somewhat sourly, as he tried vainly to warm his neck again.
"Only when-." He was about to reply, when he stopped. He tilted his head like he'd heard something.

Hiccup stopped just ahead of him, looking back in confusion. A slow smirk spread across his the Sky Dragon's face.
"No way." He grinned.

Hiccup was about to ask what was going on, when he became a blur and the next thing he knew there was an empty space beside him. A white shape disappeared overhead as it flew off, low, over the houses. What the-? He thought to himself.
'Jack?' He asked, sending a questioning thought through their minds- mildly scolding him for just flying off like that.
'Shh.' He got in reply. Hiccup narrowed his eyes at that. Now he was being all mysterious- and not to mention rude.

He looked at Toothless, who was still staring off after the Sky Dragon with innocent confusion written on his face. The midnight black dragon looked at him, eyes asking the same question Hiccup was wondering: what was that all about? Hiccup sighed, following his internal tracking to find the runaway dragon- Toothless at his heels.

What had that Sky Dragon found now?

The unusual group of humanish arrivals at Berk didn't know what to do. A muscled boy in his teens was standing on a wooden porch in front of them. He was frowning, at them, arms folded in a way that wasn't encouraging- and he'd stopped them with the question: are you real?

'Were they real'- what kind of question was that?
"Err yeah we're-." Bunny began, irritated, as the kid started speaking again.
"What are you?" He asked. This time Bunny didn't hold back his scowl, and even growled a little. He didn't want to have to bother with this kid, or this conversation- and now he was interrupting him, when he was trying to answer his stupid question?! It put him in a foul mood, when he wasn't in the best spirits to begin with.

North seemed more than happy to talk to the kid, but was perplexed by the strange questions. Tooth just didn't seem to care- she had her eyes on something else. She hovered past Bunny's shoulder, to peer intently at the young Viking.
"Aww- look at his little teeth! They could do with a little clean, but look! They're all there!" She cooed. The kid was now looking at her like she was from the moon- and seemed ready to to turn away from these strange creatures and go home.
"We're here to see Jack." North told him- realising that he could help them out. "Could you take us to him?" He asked. The boy's eyes narrowed in shrewd suspicion, though he had no idea why.

Sandy just now spotted a slim, pale figure lounging in the shadows of the roof in above them, shaking with silent laughter.

"Why should I tell you?" The kid said, defensively. Tooth and North exchanged confused looks- the village had seemed much more welcoming the first time they came. Bunny groaned at the continued annoying delay- all of them completely ignoring Sandy, who was trying to point up to the roof, but no one was taking any notice.

"Is there a prob-." North started, unaware that, typically, strangers appearing in the middle of the night, asking for someone, sent alarm bells ringing for most humans (friendliness had nothing to do with it- appearances could be deceptive). But he got cut off again.
"You're not like that other one are you?" He demanded, fiercely. "The one that Snotlout let in five years ago?!" He challenged.
"Um." Tooth muttered, before the boy continued.
"Because forget it! I'm not leading you to Jack- and you'll have to go through me to get him!" He yelled defiantly, taking up a defensive stance and unsheathing a long dagger from his belt- a hard battle look appearing on his face, like he was prepared or a fight to the death.

Sandy was waving, frantically trying to get the others attention, but only the figure on the roof waved back.
"Bloody hell- are things always this difficult!" Bunny growled, trying to hold back his growing anger at the situation. Tooth nudged him angrily for his bad language. The kid took his angered to e the wrong way.
"I'm warning you!" He yelled. "Leave Berk now, or-." He started shouting, but Bunny had finally had enough.
"Now look, kid." He told him angrily walking closer. "I travelled a long way to get here- and I am not in the mood for struggles." He said menacingly, which really wasn't helping the situation- especially because he was now right in the kid's face.
"Where is he?" He demanded forcefully glaring at the boy, who glared, defiantly, back.

Laughter split the air. Everyone stopped and looked around confused, looking around for the source of laughter. Well, except for one. Sandy knocked on the nearby wall to get everyone's attention (really unimpressed by them ignoring him). When he had everyone's attention, he pointed irritably up at the roof.

"Always brilliant with kids, aren't you." The taunting voice came from the shadows where Sandy was pointing.

The boy who'd challenged Bunny lowered his dagger in confusion, looking at the figure for guidance.
"Jack, do you know these... things?" He asked, pointing at them carelessly with the dagger. Jack laughed as Bunny had to back out of the way of the blade.
"Relax kiddo- they're not that one from five years ago- they're my friends." He told him. The boy's face lightened somewhat, but he didn't apologise. "You should hurry back." Jack advised. "I saw your mum as I flew over- and you might wanna climb into your bedroom and pretend to be sleep." he told him. The kid just shook his head, smiling teasingly.
"Naa, I'll just tell her you kidnapped me for late night sledding." He grinned before running off.
"The sad thing is it's believable." The figure from the roof muttered, then called out.
"See you at training!" The kid waved back.

"Thugfist." He informed. "Not the smartest kid, but very strong, and fiercely protective of his friends." He smiled, fondly as he watched him run off. Then he looking down to finally address his Sky Dragon friends.

"Hey guys." He smirked, as though he'd just realised they were there.
"You little-. You were there the whole time, weren't you." Bunny fumed.
"Hey, Sandy knew I was there." He pointed out, and North turned to he smallest in their group.
"Why didn't you say something?" He asked innocently. Jack laughed loudly at that: he was Sandy: he didn't 'say' anything! Sandy shook the ground slightly in annoyance, as Jack jumped down, transforming into the white dragon to soften the impact.

Tooth flew straight up to him the second he landed.
"Just checking..." She started, as she prised open his jaws. He sighed (still in dragon form).
"Tooth." He warbled irritably, but let her continue her quirky habit.
"Aww." She said, as though they were adorable babies. "I missed those miniature glaciers." She cooed (she always said his glittering, white fangs reminded her of snow covered mountains).

He transformed back to human, taking a step or two back.
"You done yet?" He smirked. Apparently not, as she was still craning to get a peek at his human choppers.
"I just can't get over that they're perfect both ways." She grinned.

Suddenly, she zipped up a bit, squinting into the darkness as she heard approaching footsteps. Jack turned and grinned- he knew who this was.
"Hiccup!" He greeted grinning, as the Viking and dragon glared at him for ditching them- they weren't smiling. Tooth gasped.
"Is this him?" Tooth asked, grinning excitably.

Suddenly Hiccup looked nervous, as he noticed the four Sky Dragons behind his Bonded- all stretched to get a look at him.
"Oh, you've not met, have you?" Jack realised. "Officially, anyway." He added. "Well- this is North, Bunny, Tooth and Sandy." He said, indicated each as he said their name. 'But you knew that.' He added in the privacy of their minds. Yeah, Hiccup remembered from the memories he'd seen, but he hadn't met them in person- they were somewhat bigger, and a lot more surreal, than he remembered.
"Guys, this is Hiccup." He announced. "Oh- and Alpha No Teeth." He finished, dodging Toothless' tail, as it went to slap him.

Hiccup shifted uneasily at the dragon's gazes, feeling like they expected him to say or do something impressive.
'Why do I get the feeling you've been telling them everything about me?' He asked through the bond, nervously.
'Because I have?' Jack suggested.
'Jack!' He protested.
'Oh relax.' He said, carelessly. 'You'll get on great!'

'Just watch out for Bunny. He's a grump.'