Good morning, gang, or good night, or good afternoon, I don't know. I have a question, because, as you know, I made that story M-rated because I decided to make it a little more, eghm, spicy *cough cough* The lake *cough cough, however, such chapters will almost 100 percent of the time be outside the story, won't lead anything into any plot, while the rest of chapters are very much alike to their original - Our curse of course - so, should I change the story rating to the T and warn, whenever a chapter is going to be M-rated or leave it be?
When did his life get a such turnaround, when did all of that time pass, and when exactly, what was the reason, the point where all of that began? That's were the questions Toothless was asking himself at this stage, although he knew the very answer to each of them, and each of them had the same one - Hiccup - he still questioned himself about it.
Leaning over one of the bushes, actually using it as his hiding space Toothless observed and analyzed not only the area before himself but also, around him. At the front, placed was some kind of half-forest, half-stone Dragon nest in which gathered already somewhere around a dozen of these creatures, while behind him he could hear, and glimpse slightly, his supposed allies, having some kind of best time of life, somehow.
The first of his mentioned focuses was the main one, and already, the man was able to gather some of the information, but not enough of it to be done with everything and go back home. What he knew, was the species of these, which were very typical and common, what he noticed was rather strange, aggressive behavior of the pack against each other, and what he realized was the fact that he couldn't be back home as fast as he wished, so far.
As for his second focus, he just wanted to kill everybody off at that point - Fishlegs, as well as Meatlug who had her paw embraced by a bandage, were grinning experiencing nest from so close, Snotlout was struggling with Hookfang about something in the dragon's mouth, Twins came up with some kind of new game, about beating records from what he caught, and only Heather was helpful in that case, although badly because her constant questions annoyed him already.
The only thing, at this time, that prevented him from going mad, was Hiccup's last words, which she said to him before he left, that sounded in his ears from the very moment of leaving the clubhouse. Be back soon, her whisper, which seemed in his head as an exclaim rather than mutter, was for him like a snapping point, like a boost of determination, in order to come back home. To come back to her.
"Toothless, do you know anything at all?" Heather asked, as the man, just then, was registering her words next to his ear. "I know you do, so say something finally!"
"They have very limited space," he muttered, keeping his gaze at the front, receiving Heather's whole attention. "It's the first time that I see so many dragons gathered in such a small opening," he acknowledged, narrowing his eyes as well as hardening his expression. "They must have been outcasting themselves."
"Outcasting?" she repeated, staring at him questioningly, while he only sighed. "Why would they outcast their own?"
"Maybe, because 's survival of the fittest," Snotlout answered, crooning, before Toothless could do that, leaning himself on the irritated man's shoulder. "There is little of places, so only the strongest ones can get one, and while Nadders appears to be one of the finest species, there are others, far more superior than them, that's why they had to leave," he explained, while Heather nodded at him, understanding, and Toothless stayed blank, he bent even closer to him, smirking proudly. "I am right, am I not? Ya can't disagree with me, and ya know and hate that, don't ya?"
Not even turning his head toward him, Toothless placed his whole hand over the other's face, gaining from him muffled exclaims, before he continued. "Here's no surprise that Nadders were ruled out. The whole area is enveloped by large trees, making it impossible for any kind of flying fights and triggering it to be just a close combat arena," he pointed out, and just then let go of Snotlout's head, who glowered at him, panting in the meantime. "Not even mentioning the lack of any room to develop some speed - it's obvious Nadders had no chance."
"Good point," Heather murmured, the same as Toothless gaping at the two, hissing dragons, that just appeared in the center, and suddenly questioned, "Since the main problem is the space, why couldn't they just expand the territory of their flock?"
"They can't just expand the territory, Heather," Fishlegs joined the conversation, snorting while turning to the woman. "They have the particular habitat, changin' it could've led to disorder, hunger, maybe death."
"They would have done that already, Heather, but since they didn't, then something must block them in that," Toothless answered, and gazing, with the side of his eye, how Fishlegs glared at him, added, "Dragons aren't worms, and just because they'll move five steps to the right, doesn't mean they'll change their fucking, entire ecosystem," he remarked, and once the blond man opened his mouth to speak, continued, "Each of these species: Nighmares, Changewings, Rumblehorns, they all are the forest residents. There should be no problem for them to move, for example, to the East part of the island, on the contrary, it would solve their every concern."
"Then why they didn't?" Heather inquired, to which Toothless reacted by shrugging. "There must have been some reason."
"Maybe, ye're just overreactin', and in reality, Nadders were thrown away, because no one liked them," Tuffnut stated, hanging himself on Toothless's shoulder, and the man only tightened the muscles on his back as his reaction to that. "Not everythin' must be related to yer science."
"Or maybe, Nadders left, because they couldn't just handle that smell anymore," Ruffnut implied, same as her brother hanging herself onto the black-haired man, gagging at the mentioned odor of fish around, and then when she had the reach to do so, without any permission, she gripped Toothless biceps, which tensed at the touch of her fingers. "Oh my," she crooned.
"I hate you two," Toothless growled, bent forward under the weight of the quoted twins, and when they didn't react to his words at all, he started tossing his arms around, making the two jump off him in shock, and after glowering at them, furiously, just then he cooled off and summed up, "Whatever what is that reason, we must find out it, so to get rid of these Nadders, already."
"Then, what are we doin'?" Snotlout inquired, sitting on the ground while leaning himself backward on the arms supported on the grass behind him. "We won't just be fuckin' sittin' here, and waitin' until somethin' happens, right?"
"It might be our only way, now," Fishlegs noticed, resisting his side against Meatlug's, and sighing. "Well, unless ya have some kind of other plan."
"Maybe we do," Heather mumbled, as the smile plastered to her face. "If we waited for the night, we could-,"
As the word night came out of Heather's mouth, it became some kind of snapping point for Toothless, because abruptly, he stood up, emerging from behind their hideout, then rushed forward, in the meantime changing himself, and just when he was completely at nest's view roared, gaining every closeby dragon's attention.
At the same time, as he did so, the rest of the young adults dived to the ground, hoping to be unnoticed by the eyes of the flying creatures, which were locked on the Night Fury just a few steps in front of them. While the others froze, having their faces, literally, in the ground, Heather, on her fours, as quietly as possible, moved to the front of the bush, so as to from between the leaves observe the situation at the nest.
There, with his wings spread, Toothless ricocheted with his eyes around, at every Dragon which did the same at him and then loosened his body, letting it lean closer toward the ground, as a form of showing his good intentions. Subsequently, it wasn't a moment, until the first Dragon of the flock approached him - probably the biggest of them, because of which, the Night Fury instantly assumed it was an alpha.
The dragon was a male Rumblehorn, with dark red scales, as well as a few additional sapphire ones, some scars encircling his body, and his jaw lifted, he was staring intensively into the Night Fury as if he wanted to drill through him inside his head. Glimpsing so, Toothless only inclined even lower, as if bowing before him, gaping at the stone ground underneath, until hearing a short snarl over himself, he, cautiously, glanced up at the cause of it.
The alpha's gaze was still on him, while his eyes narrowed, before, at some point, he glanced to the side, where directing his sight at one, peculiar, Changewing, he evoked her with the gesture of his head. While the mentioned, without any objection, listened to him and, slowly, drew near, the Rumblehorn moved back, actually, making space for the second Dragon, who within a moment, took his place before Toothless.
Immediately realizing what was about to happen, the Night Fury gnashed his teeth, growling from between them at the green-scaled female, and while she did the same, he tensed his body, preparing for the combat. Hence, the two of them walked in the circle, awaiting the other's first move, and ultimately, remembering that he was the one, who wanted to earn something, in that case, the spot in the pack, he pounced at her, suddenly.
The fight was rather aggressive, maybe even bloody, however, who would have been surprised by that, because, after all, both of them had a reason to show the best of of them. While the female fought for her spot, for safety, maybe even home, Toothless fought for the truth, for the way to get rid of Nadders, for a comeback to his home, and these motives kept both of them going.
Everyone, who had a chance to observe the quarrel, could've told, without any other speculations, that the Night Fury was winning, from the same start, from the same moment of his first attack. Even so, though his breed was not very different from the Nadder, even more, he didn't possess any kind of spikes or claws as they did, useful in close contact, it seemed that he still was superior to such a Changing like she was.
Her main problems, which weren't very shocking, were the lack of any space, to make herself invisible, to shoot her acid at him, and also, already aching, very thin skin, which such a Night Fury as he was, didn't have any difficulty to go through. Despite all of that, she didn't give up, and made as much effort as she could, biting him, scratching, even throwing herself at him, but nevertheless, it was Toothless, who came out victorious from that battle in the end.
Having his face, as well as some parts of his body, covered by fresh gashes, the Night Fury stood proudly, panting, over the Changewing's body, barely with some injuries, who fell to the ground, from the simple exhaustion. Afterward, he roared, announcing his triumph, while his observators responded to him with the same, before, after gaining strength to do so, the female, cautiously, raised, hissed at the Toothless the last time, and flew away, slowly.
As she did, the male stared at her distancing figure, feeling the bundle of guilt, that was created inside him, but he ignored it, persuading himself that he needed to know the truth, and after discovering it, she could come back home. Then, he gazed at the alpha Rumblehorn, just like earlier having his head up, and Toothless bowed at him, after which, within one gesture, within one nod, the black dragon was accepted into a flock - the rest went downhill from there.
It was an hour already, a very, concerningly long hour, since Toothless disappeared from everybody's sight, after winning the fight with the green-scaled dragonness. Saying that the wait, for Heather at least, was exhausting would be a misreading - left alone, with Fishlegs as the only intelligence around, the woman was ready to abandon the rest, find the quoted man, and strangle him for the hell he left her with.
Of course, she didn't do that, understanding that whatever he was doing at the moment, was planned by the man, and following that plan, which he could have, at least, mentioned, he may take them away from all these problems. If Heather was being honest, at the very beginning she wasn't much upset about them, the very opposite, these were for her some kind of new adventure, a fresh start, with new people, but in the end, everything went wrong, and just because of one, mere concern.
Toothless, for fucking sake, must have been right, like he always is, Heather cursed, when the reminder of their earlier conversation recalled itself in her head. She was thinking way too much about Astrid. Despite the fact of being in the grand, new space, despite the fact of living to the experience she always wanted to have, to the exploring she always wished to do, instead of enjoying it as much as the rest did, apparently, her mind was centered on the events on the islands, miles away.
The truth was she couldn't deny it anymore - she was worried, sick worried, about Hiccup too, but mainly the blond-haired woman, with the dark, oval blue eyes she was thinking about way too much. The idea that her friend, with whom she may have flirted more than it is appropriate to, her best friend on the Edge, was left on her own with injured Hiccup, just the idea of it made her feel things she didn't want to feel - anger, rage, and mostly, guilt.
Eventually, finally returning to reality, Heather stopped making circles on the grass, and now, stood still at the center of the spot they agreed was their meeting one. Looking around she could've glimpsed twins, the same as their Dragon, laying face first on the ground, probably sleeping, Snotlout sitting by the tree, leaning his back against it, daring his entire life by resisting his legs against unaware Hookfang's snout, and Fishlegs, who, after catching the glance with her, moved toward her from his previous spot next to resting Meatlug.
Just being in front of her, the man crossed his arms over his chest, and after exhaling, asked. "Will we do somethin' finally? I think there is no use in us stayin' like that, don't ya think?" he added when the only thing she did after his first sentence was blink at him.
"Yes, yes, you're right," she coughed out, nodding her head shortly, clenching her jaw, thoughtfully. "G-Give me a moment, please. I'll think of something."
"Although, do ya really need to, Heather?" Snotlout snorted, receiving both's attention, and annoyed glances. "Look, I know the situation is not exactly the best," he continued and halted, once his dragon moved, even so slightly, but enough to stop his heart rate, as well as to force him to take off his legs, "but, all of us, we know that man, and we know that whatever he put his mind into, he'll succeed in it," he whispered, and just when the nightmare heaved a sigh, he let himself do the same. "Relax, take it easy, let him do a dirty work for us. I guarantee he'll appear here just in a second, probably in the worst moment possible."
"Honestly, Snotlout, I would have never believed you had such a high opinion about me, if I hadn't heard it with my own ears."
Just behind his back, somewhere from the distance, everyone could hear Toothless's voice, and afterward, sighing in defeat, Snotlout murmured, "Called it," hitting the back of his head into a wood, hardening his expression.
Rolling his eyes, ultimately, Toothless appeared in their sight range, stepping out from some high bushes, knitting his brows as he noticed rather strange stares of everyone at himself. It was only Snotlout whose eyes merely glanced at him, while the rest were far from reacting typically at his entrance - Tuffnut was grinning, nodding his head maniacally, Ruffnut's jaw was, at the moment, on the ground literally, Fishlegs covered his mouth, widening his eyes and Heather hissed, gritting her teeth, compassionately.
"What?" Toothless asked, gazing down at his clothing, confused. "What are you looking at?"
"My gods, Toothless, don't you ever again change with such gashes!" Heather exclaimed, biting on her knuckles, but still pointing with her pointing finger at his face. "You look just terrible!"
At first, he just lifted an eyebrow at her, but later on, he took his axe out of its holder, rapidly, and examined the reflection of himself in it - at the view even he twisted his face, disgusted. From his eyebrow arch, through his eyelid, to the side of his nose, seeable were three, long, red scratches, which began again at the bottom line of his left cheek, to his neck, even collarbone, as well as rather wide trace of bite on his chin and the bottom of his jaw.
"Don't mind it," he insisted as he drove his fingers across them, and instead of flinching at the sight of fresh blood on them, he wiped off the red liquid against his clothing. "I found the source of the problem. Just follow me."
Subsequently, he was going back the way he came from, and without any further questions, after trading rather puzzled glances with each other, everybody obeyed him, pacing just behind him through the green flora. After just a time of maybe minutes, surprisingly, they were at the spot, basing it on the fact that he gestured to them, with his hand, to be quiet, and stopped by the cliff's edge, leaning over it, inviting the rest, as well as he, to gaze beyond it.
Hence, they were shocked, seeing something around a dozen ships, standing by the assumably fast-built, wooden harbor, by which posed were a couple of tents, bigger and smaller ones. Around the space, of course, could've been spotted people, armed to the teeth with weapons, for melee and range combat, as well as cages, at which view, the view of terrified dragons inside them, Toothless clenched his jaw.
Eventually, as the seconds of pure silence were passing, Toothless broke them, growling, "I want to know who, the fuck, was supposed to check the east and didn't notice it!" and stroked his eyebrows when everybody glared at the twins, who gazed to the side, avoiding attention.
"So, we do somethin' finally, right?" Fishlegs asked, receiving from Heather an annoyed, with his constant and same questions, glower. "I mean, their camp here took dragons' territory, 's rather obvious what's goin' on here."
"I don't know how about you, but I am willing to just blow their existence out of that island," Toothless admitted as his nostrils flared.
"Actually, that's not the worst idea," Heather acknowledged, grinning at the idea that just appeared in her mind. "Let's be honest, after that attack on Dagur, we're more capable of repeating such an attack. This time without killing, of course."
"Alright, I guess that's right," Snotlout agreed from his spot on Hookfang's neck, leaning on his long horn. "What's the plan then?"
"Do we need one?" Heather inquired and called for Windshear in the air by whistling. "Just blast things, it seems to always work."
"Fuck yeah, I just love this plan!" Tuffnut yelled as he, quickly, took his seat on Barf's neck, excited. "Just tell me when to start, I'm freakin' turned on for some action!"
Afterward, everyone gazed at Toothless, as if waiting for his permission, and smirking as well as shaking his head, he decided, "Let's do this," but before he could do anything more, the red-scaled, tiny Terrible Terror impacted into his face.
Growling internally, Toothless, almost instantly, grasped the quoted dragon's neck and lifted him away from his skin, glaring at Terror, ragefully, while he curled in his hold. The man was ready to punish him, for the same fact that he attacked him without a reason, but before he could think of a good manner for it, he glimpsed the piece of paper tied to his leg that caught his whole attention.
As he took the little note from his limb, he let the dragon climb his shoulders, while he, cautiously, read the messenger written out messily on it, ignoring the rest's every question. Throughout the lecture, Toothless's facial emotions seemed to change, from his earlier anger it did to puzzlement, then into concern, and finally, even fear.
"We're going back to the Edge," he muttered, standing up, and glimpsing that nobody followed, even more, they were about to ask more questions, he shouted. "We're fucking going back to the Edge, now!"
Subsequently, he jumped off the cliff, changed himself, as fast as possible, pushed his wings against the wind, and soared forward, not concerned over the fact if they either had listened to him or had remained at their spots, confused. They didn't know what was going on, they were clueless about the truth of what was happening currently with Astrid and Hiccup back in their home, but Toothless knew, and that scared shit out of him.