Dragon Tales

Story 2 - An Overdue Meeting

Part 3 - The Battle of Sky and Night

Authors note: so here we are^^ we finally find out what happened to the Guardians in the time between setting off for the northern lights and heading to the battle of the Alpha- hope you enjoy it^^ reviews mean a lot right now- Im beginning to feel a little like next to noones reading this right now to those few who have been reviewing though thank you so much, it makes the effort worth it^^ anyway I'll see you tommorow with the final bit of this story- hope you enjoy this one^^

North leaned back, slowly, as he entered the world of the past.
"Where shall I start?" He wondered to himself. Sandy made some kind of rippling, gold curtain above his heard. "Ah, yes." North agreed. "The northern lights."

Hiccup found himself drawn in already. He was interested in how the Sky Dragons survived, sure- but this was also about how they came together, how they went to war, and how they fought. He really wanted to know how it compared to the Viking way- would there be a war council? Preparations? Did they use any kind of armour or weapons? How did the battle start? Did they use any special formations? Did they group together according to element? How did they use the elements in the fight? Shh, he told himself, you're going miss what he says, so shut up and listen, he'll get round to it.

"We saw them moving in the sky, and knew we were being summoned.. Jack didn't know what they were. He was confused, at first- and when he found out what it did mean, well... he did not like it. He doesn't take kindly to forced responsibilities." He told him. He already knew most of this part of the tale, but he didn't know Jack had been so against it. It didn't surprise him. He didn't like doing as he was told. If he gets told he 'has' to something, he fights with all his power against it. He was fine with anything, if he had the option to say no. He rarely did, but having the freedom to refuse made all the difference.

"We tried to convince him, but he just wouldn't go. Said he didn't want to go to some boring gathering... But I think he also didn't want the responsibilities of an official Sky Dragon. He prioritises freedom even more than the rest of us- in all its forms. He would not go, no matter how we talked to him, so... we had to go by ourselves... I think it scared him a little when we said we'd go without him. After living alone for so long- even though he'd been with us for a good few months- he feared that we'd abandon him. He didn't want us to leave- he wanted us to stay with him. He never said that, but we could tell it's what he was trying to tell us: I'm not going- you shouldn't either. But we had to go- it's our duty to answer the call of the northern lights... When we set off, he almost followed- almost changed his mind... but he stayed... I don't know whether to be grateful, or not, for that." He muttered.

Hiccup frowned. Why would he be grateful? They left him behind- and it ended up being for five years. It put Jack through all kinds of hell, and he might be grateful that happened?! Why? What was the alternative?

"We worried for him, but we promised to return as soon as we could... But, by the time we did, he was gone. We just assumed he'd gone to find some new friends, or travel alone again..." North paused, looking up at him, then- the question of 'what actually happened?' shining in his eyes. But, Hiccup met the silent question with a glare.

So they got back and he wasn't there, so they just assumed he'd gone forever, and left it at that?!
"And you didn't think to at least try looking for him?!" He said, hoping he was wrong, because if they hadn't, that was just cruel. But how could they have done- if they'd searched for him, they would have found him in five years! Or, at least, some other Sky Dragon- couldn't they have a arranged a search party?! How could they just forget him like that?! He found himself starting to get furious on Jack's behalf.

"...We did."

North's subdued reply stopped him in his tracks... What? But, then how did he find no one after five years?
"But the sky is a lot bigger than you think. We asked others to keep an eye out for him, but he's a very hard dragon to find. He only flies at the height of air masters, and in the cold of ice masters. For a Sky Dragon to chance across him, they'd have to be a master of both ice, and air, like him... and there aren't many of them. We looked too, but again, there are only five of us- and we could only fly for so long in the freezing climates he favours. We always kept our senses open for any sign of him, though. But five years passed, and we never found any." He explained, staring forlornly at the ground.

Hiccup's anger melted away. They had searched for him- all through the five years. They hadn't forgotten. He couldn't stay mad at them, not when the remorse in their eyes. They thought if they'd looked harder, they might've found him. They have spared him the pain of loneliness. But there was no use dwelling on it now. It was in the past... and besides, if they had found him, he might've never met the Sky Dragon.

"So... what happened after you left Jack, then?... When you followed the northern lights." He prompted. North cast his thoughts back again to continue the story.
"Well, we all gathered on northernmost point." Northernmost point of what? He wondered. Who cares, it sounds awesome. He thought- actually, that didn't really sound much like him. He was beginning to wonder if he was the only one listening to this story. "A few hundred of us." He began. Sandy showed a six and a seven above his head, as he debated between the two. Around seven hundred Sky Dragons in the same place?! He tried to envision it... It was an awe inspiring, incredible sight... and that was just how he was imagining it! He wondered what it would've been like to be there!

He carried on listening intently. This was where it was getting really fascinating.
"We were told, by a badly injured dragon, that the- erm, Nightmare Dragons, you called them?" He checked. He nodded in response. "Were gathering, with the intention to wipe us all out. The dragon could barely make it through his tale. He told us he was a lucky survivor of a viscious attack, from a scouting group of the dark dragons, and had glimpsed the main force of the army behind him as he flew away... Only as an air master had he escaped, but his friends had not been so lucky... Then, shortly after finishing, despite out best healer's efforts... He too, died."

Hiccup couldn't have spoken now if he wanted to. He was speechless. Just like that an entire species had been plunged into potential war, and extinction... and all because the Nightmare Dragons got jealous of the Sky Dragon's power- and saught to strike them down, so that they would be the most powerful of the dragons.

Hiccup had never understood the appeal of power. He knew it could corrupt but to him it was a burden, albeit a nessecary one. As far as he was concerned (and Jack as well), power was just the responsibility for others lives and happiness. But apparently others saw it as having control over people's lives, to do as you wished (which was just wrong to him).

He carried on listening. How did the Sky Dragons response to the tale of that one, deceased dragon?
"We debated, at first, the validity of the claim. Was it possible? Why would they attack? And finally, we decided to take action. If we remained as we were and I speeded again, we would be hunted down, one by one. So we had to join together, as they had, and prevent them taking any more innocent lives by meeting them in battle. The attack was an act of war, and we could not turn a blind eye to the deaths of our own kind. So we took up the call for war."

The Sky Dragons going to war... He'd seen them in action at the battle of the Alpha, and he got the feeling they'd been holding back then- what would they be like in a full blown battle?
"We needed no preparations, as you humans do." North continued. "All we needed was our claws, our teeth and our will to fight. We set out to meet the.. Nightmare Dragons, immediately... and it wasn't long before we saw them. We were greatly outnumbered, though in terms of skill and power we had the edge. It would be a hard battle- that we knew... and it was... But even if there must have been several thousand of them, we weren't about to go down without a fight..."

"I remember the moments before our forces collided. I was at the front. It was not the first time me, or Sandy and the others, had seen battle, and the most experienced took the front lines." Hiccup considered that- from a tactical point of view, they might have been better reserving their best warriors until the battle reached it's peak, but he knew why they'd done it. It gave the inexperienced the best chance of survival.
"I had seen the most battles, and so flew just ahead of the others... and before we met the enemy... I looked back, meeting the eyes of each of them... We nodded solemnly, knowing we might not see the end of this battle, and we might never see each other properly again. I looked ahead again, and silently, we strengthened out bond to it's strongest, promising to come to each other's aid if called."

"Being at the frontlines, meant I was one of the first to engage."

Hiccup could see the moment. The noble, vibrant Sky Dragons, talons outstretched, seconds from reaching their black foe... And then colliding. "The battle was furious. It was possibly the hardest I'd ever fought in."

"Tooth fought like a whirlwind, slashing at the enemy so fast, she was gone before they even realised what had happened. She wasn't strong enough to take them down in a single attack, and had to do several rounds to finish them off, but she could take on at least ten at once."

"Bunny made it look like it was reverse raining on them. Throwing up dozens of rocks the size of arrowheads, but never once hitting a friend- and Sandy." North grinned, like he was introducing their secret weapon. "Is quite the fierce fighter." He told him. "He uses long streams of joined sand, like flexible claws, to lash out at the enemy before they can even touch him." Sandy gave him an example. Surely enough, long, thin, almost snake like vines of sand spread out from his hands... They reminded him of whips, he thought. In fact, they probably were- but he doubted the dragons would call them that.

Sandy looked back at North, miming fast swipes and slashes, as he turned the whips into 'claws' on the end of each finger.
"Yes, I fought well too didn't I." North agreed. Hiccup almost rolled his eyes. Apparently North wasn't one for modesty- false or otherwise. It didn't take muh to imagine him as a fighter. His power and strength probably let him overcome any enemy, and his claws- next to Tooth's short talons, they looked like sabres.

"But our greatest strength came in working together." He said, proudly. "Tooth was our eye in the sky- alerting us to stealthy attacks, and sending us to where we were needed most. She weakened the oncoming soldiers with quick slashes. Bunny gave us cover from the ground and distracted them whilst Sandy and I flew in to do the rest. That was our plan, but, in the chaos of battle, it rarely worked out. We just fought. Throughout the battle we launched occasional coordinated attacks- but we always watched each other's backs, and dived in to help when one of us was in trouble." Hiccup remembered Jack telling him once that North was a good storyteller. He was definitely right about that- he really felt like he was there.

"But, by the end of it, we were exhausted... and we were lucky to have survived." Things suddenly took on a somber mood.

This was the darker bit... The aftermath.

"...The battle cost us a lot of good warriors. Some of them, we knew. The black dragon's fought down to their last soldier, and, because of that, less than half of those who went in, to fight on our side, came back out alive... Six hundred fought... just over one hundred survived." He finished grimly.

Hiccup felt like he'd been hit by those figures. Not even a fifth of their numbers remained at the end of that battle... That was...just, just... He didn't know the word. Just horrible... And to think that Jack might've gone to that battle... He would've almost definitely died, if he'd gone- or at least been seriously injured.

Jack might've died, if he'd done as he was told- he knew he wouldn't have met him if he'd followed the northern lights like he was supposed to, but died?! It shook him. So much death... Five hundred in an army of six hundred... All dead.

He was brought of his numb mind, as North continued.
"That is why I am grateful Jack was not there. I know he's strong, and I'm sure he would've been a great help in the battle... but he might not have come out of it alive. Even the hardest, most experienced warriors fell that day- either to one single mistake, or through an ill, twist of fate. We were lucky to survive..."

"But we did... And, eventually, we were reunited with that snow loving prankster again." He finished, smiling.

He guessed he was right... even despite that harsh battle, one way or another, things had ended up how they are now... And he couldn't imagine it any other way.

Then, North took a deep breath, pushing the gloomy past away, and bring back some of his old jolliness. He looked at him with a real smile this time.
"Which is why I wonder about you saying he was attacked by a Nightmare dragon, if we won that battle..." He prompted, curiously.

Oh great- now it was his turn.