I haven't been posting a lot lately... I am sorry. More midterms are coming, so that's why. I have also been lacking inspiration to be honest. Don't worry, I won't give up on The Adventures, it just may take some time. After schoolwork has calmed down a little I will try to update more often!

Enjoy!

The Adventurous Adventures of Hiccup and Wrenlou

Crystal Light, Part II

"So where's the Queen?"

"I told you, she could be literally anywhere. There are many caves. Many places she could hide. And Crystal Cove has never been mapped or anything, so there is no telling just how big it really is."

Hiccup didn't answer as he stared up at the ceiling again. He wondered what part of the island was above them, and if the cove stretched all the way back towards the city.

"Wren? Is there an entrance to the Cove in the city somewhere?"

Wrenlou shook his head. "No. Not that anyone knows of at least, and I highly doubt dragons build secret passages. They would be way to big to be secret. Do you want something to eat?"

"Yeah sure," Hiccup said, but then he frowned, "won't the fish attract dragons?"

"That's why I didn't bring any fish," Wrenlou said while digging around in Snowflake's saddlebag, "I have bread... oh, do you want an apple?"

Hiccup nodded and caught the round fruit easily. He rubbed it over his sleeve until it shone, then he turned it around in his hands, hesitating just a moment before he sank his teeth into it. He followed Wrenlou again while eating the apple slowly. He stopped a moment when Toothless fell behind, watching the dragon almost sadly.

"Hiccup? Something wrong?"

Hiccup shook his head and started walking again. "I just wonder what he's thinking. Sometimes I wish I could talk to him, to know how he thinks of our relationship as it is."

"Hmm... I know what you mean," Wrenlou said, glancing at Snowflake, "I wonder how she feels about being white. I guess we'll never really know."

Hiccup nodded and followed Wrenlou as they left the man cave, entering a tunnel that was so dark that they couldn't see a thing. The dragons lit their glow again, walking in front of the riders and they carefully walked through the narrow tunnel.

"Where are we going?" Hiccup asked and his voice echoed through the tunnel.

"I have no idea," Wrenlou said, "it's too dark to see, even with the Night Furies. We'll see. I think there's another tunnel up ahead, maybe a cave. I see some light..."

Hiccup squinted in the dark, trying to see the light Wrenlou saw, and indeed, there was a very faint blue light ahead, so faint it was nearly invisible. Carefully, they walked towards the light and came into a smaller cave. The light came from a few crystals imbedded in the walls, lighting just a small part of the cave.

"Well, this appears to be a dead end," Wrenlou said, "we best go back to the main cave, the try to find our way out again, Im sure it's dark already. And Dale will have our heads if he finds out about this..."

Hiccup nodded, and the boys turned around towards the dark tunnel, but froze when a low growl came from behind them. Very slowly, they turned around again and they froze when they saw two large, luminous blue eyes. It was a dragon, that was all they could see in the very faint light, and it growled deeply. As it rose to it's feet, they backed away staring at the dragon.

There were blue spots all along the dragons spine, running from her head to the tip of her tail. When she spread her wings, they could see the faint blue glow from the tips of her wings as well.

"Is that the..." Hiccup started.

"The Queen..." Wrenlou whispered, "it's not possible..."

As the dragon rose to her full height, the crystals in the walls started glowing brighter, until they illuminated the small cave like tiny suns. The dragon in front of them was large, almost five times the size of a normal Night Fury, and she looked down on them with glowing blue eyes. Snowflake and Toothless had seized their playful banter and were now pressed on the ground, their wings tucked to their sides.

"Okay..." Wrenlou said, "make no sudden moves. We invaded her cave, apparently, and we could be in a lot of... Hiccup! What are you doing!"

Hiccup had taken a step forward, drawing the attention of the Queen to him and she brought her massive head down towards him. He froze, staring up at the dragon and while he looked, the glow in her eyes faded, until they were a crystal clear blue.

"Hiccup..."

The dragon growled again, a deep rumbling sound that resonated through the cave and turned to Wrenlou. The boy took a step back, his hands raised defensively. When Snowflake saw this, she growled and jumped in front of him, protecting him from the Queen. The large dragon crooned, sniffing the smaller one curiously. Then she turned to Toothless, sniffing him as well, growling when she saw his tail.

After turning back to Wrenlou and Hiccup, she took a few steps back before laying down again. She eyed the intruders with her clear blue eyes that portrayed nothing but curiosity. Suddenly, a voice called out through the small cave, thundering yet warm and loving.

"Fear not children, I will not harm you."

Hiccup stumbled back, tripping over his own feet and he pressed his hands against his head. He saw Wrenlou do the same, confusion flashing over his face.

"What's that?" Hiccup breathed, "what's happening?"

"I don't know..." Wrenlou whispered.

The Night Fury Queen huffed out some smoke and lowered her head, resting it on her front paws. She was almost on eye level now, looking at the boys in front of her and while they looked back, they could see the wisdom of ages in her sparkling eyes. She blinked, and they heard the voice again, this time softer. It was a very strange voice, yet pleasant at the same time, a deep tone that resonated in their heads, but at the same time it sang in the air around them, filling the small cave with light.

"Fear not. Come. Come closer. Let me look at you. You are the first humans I have seen in a long time."

Wrenlou and Hiccup exchanged a glance, then Wrenlou took a step forward, tentatively reaching out to the dragon in front of them.

"We... can hear you?"

"Yes. I am the only dragon with the ability to communicate with humans. The only one from my race. Come closer little one."

Her last words were directed towards Hiccup, and he took a few tentative steps forward.

"Who... who are you?" he asked, his voice shaking. A rumble escaped the dragon's throat.

"I am Caerulea Ignia, the Blue Fire, the Queen, the Life Force,"she turned to the to dragons and nuzzled them lovingly, "I provide for my children. All my children. Even the ones that are far from home."

As she said this, the crystals flared brighter and suddenly Hiccup understood the heartbeat he had felt in them. He had thought that it was his imagination, but he had really felt crooned softly and curled around her paw purring loudly. She brought her head down to him and gently tucked his wings, before she sniffed his tail again.

"What happened to your tail my love..." they heard her whisper, but it wasn't directed towards them, so they kept quiet. Toothless responded with a series of croons and coos, all the while purring loudly while he rubbed himself against her paw. When the small black dragon fell silent, the Queen turned to Hiccup again.

"He says you shot him down... then spared his life and helped him fly again. Normally, I would be very mad at people who hurt my children, but you saved his life. After attempting to take it?"

"I... we..." Hiccup started, then he took a deep breath, "where I come from, we are at war with the dragons. People in my village take pride in killing dragons. I shot him down because I wanted to fit in, to be one of them. But I couldn't kill him..."

Toothless wailed and bounded over to his rider, rubbing his head over the boy's chest while he curled his tail around his legs. Hiccup laughed softly and scratched Toothless behind his ears. The dragon purred, the plopped on the ground with a contend sigh.

"You have a kind and loving heart, young one, that is why you couldn't kill him. You're a peace keeper, not a killer. And you were meant to be together, from the moment both of you were born."

"M... meant to be? How do you mean?" Hiccup asked. He was slowly beginning to get used to the voice in his head, no longer startled when he heard it.

The Queen, Caerulea Ignia, blew warm air through his hair, before pulling away and turning her attention to Wrenlou and Snowflake. "You must have noticed your eyes match your dragon's," she mused, and Hiccup nodded, "some riders were born to be dragon riders. Did you ever tell him how you came to get her?" she asked Wrenlou, and the boy shook his head.

"Not the whole story."

"Would you mind?"

"I guess not..." Wrenlou sighed and he turned to Hiccup, "I told you how the Choosing works, right?" Hiccup nodded. "Well, when I was there, when I got Snow... I... I was never supposed to get her. I was too young at the time, I wasn't even in the line for the eggs, I was with my parents in the crowd, I... I don't really know what happened, but her egg was the last to hatch, and she completely disregarded the people in front of her and turned to me instead."

"Do you know why?" Caerulea asked and her voice was soft and melodious.

Wrenlou shook his head. "No," he whispered.

"Because you two were meant to be together from the day you were born. Same for you, Hiccup, same for your dragon. You see, while all riders have a connection with their riders, for some that bound can go deeper. They are the ones destined to be together. Only a few have succeeded in reaching that deep level of the bound, to a point where dragon and rider can communicate with each other. Aaron was the first to achieve this bound, Shirlena was the second."

"So the eyes..." Wrenlou started, "there is a deeper meaning to that?"

"Yes. Humans don't know of this meaning, but dragons do. It's instinctively. That is why Toothless left to find you Hiccup. Instinctively he knew he was missing something, he just didn't know what. He knew he would be restless until he found it."

"But the deeper connection..." Wrenlou said, "Aaron achieved that. How? What does it mean exactly?"

Caerulea laughed again, a warm sound that rang through the room and vibrated in their chests. "There is no 'recipe' as you could call it. It is how you trust your dragon, how you treat her, how you love her that can strengthen the bound until you reach a level of understanding that is beyond the language barrier. I said I am the only dragon capable of speaking with humans. That is because right now, no one has reached that deep connection. Do not seek it, do not force it, it is a matter of time and patience, it will not be controlled. You can spend your whole life trying to find it, and never succeed, while if you don't look for it, it will come to you."

Hiccup exchanged a glance with Wrenlou, then he looked at Toothless. The black dragon cocked his head and warbled softly. Hiccup sighed.

"I wish I could understand you bud, really."

"Know that he can understand you., and that he loves you Hiccup."

Hiccup smiled, rubbing Toothless nose. "Maybe one day I will understand you."

"Maybe one day," Caerulea said, then she stood up, "come my children, it is time for you to go. I will show you the way out."

Caerulea stretched her wings, then folded them at her side. She led them back to the main cave, Hiccup and Wrenlou now riding their dragons. In the main cave, the crystal shone brighter when the Queen walked passed and the dragons all bowed their heads when she walked past their nests. Even the very young ones seized playing. She spread her wings, flapping them a few time, then flew up, towards a large wide tunnel and landed at the ledge, turning to the riders and their dragons.

"Remember what I told you," she said and they nodded, "and you are always welcome here. Go now, be safe my children. Know that I watch over you."

"Wait!" Wrenlou practically yelled, "how do you choose the eggs for the Choosing?"

Caerulea laughed again. "I don't choose them, they choose themselves. They know if they have a rider or not from the very first day. Now, go. you will be late..."

"Thank you!" Hiccup yelled as she flew away. She just roared, flaring the crystals once more, and they turned their dragons around.

"Wow..." Hiccup breathed as they stepped out of the cave, "did that just really happen? Did we really see the Queen? Did we really... speak with her?"

Wrenlou nodded as he tightened Snowflake's saddle straps. "It did. I had no idea that she would be telepathic. It's just... amazing," he looked at the sky and frowned, "and we have to get back as fast as lighting, we've been away almost the entire night. Dale will be worried... and angry... incredibly angry..."

"Can't we sneak in?" Hiccup asked fumbling with the hem of his tunic.

"You might be able to, I'm not," Wrenlou pointed out, "and besides, avoiding it will only make it worse. They will have checked our beds by now. Either way... we are in trouble I think."

"Great," Hiccup muttered, "just what I needed. I just got here, not really a good impression of my character."

"Don't worry," Wrenlou said slinging himself in Snowflake's saddle, "I'll take full responsibility."

"But it was my idea!" Hiccup shouted the moment the dragons spread their wings, "I pushed you into taking me there. It's my fault."

"No Hiccup, it's mine. I could have said no, I could have refused. I should have refused to take you there. I didn't. I agreed with it. And Dale made me responsible for you. If you would have gotten hurt..."

"But I didn't," Hiccup said softly, "we're both fine."

"Doesn't matter. It was foolish, a stupid thing to do. But I'm glad we did it. I wouldn't have missed that for the world."

"It's not fair that you should be punished if it was my idea," Hiccup mumbled, staring at Toothless' neck, "can't we just not tell him where we went?"

"If he doesn't know already. But Hiccup, I don't lie. I can't. I'm a terrible liar."

"Me too..." Hiccup said.

He felt a knot form in his stomach. He was really scared about what Dale would say, if he would be send away now, for endangering Toothless, Wrenlou and Snowflake with his stupid idea. But even know he couldn't shake the Queen's words. A deeper bound... he patted Toothless' head and the dragon looked at him.

"Maybe we'll be able to understand each other, don't you think? Wouldn't that be something..."

"We're here..." Wrenlou whispered and the dragons shot down towards the ground, landing silently, making no noise.

Their riders slid from their backs, standing in the small plaza between the wooden houses. They were about to go to their beds and get some sleep, when a voice thundered from behind, stopping them dead in their tracks.

"And where in the name of the Gods do you think you come from at this hour!?"

0-0-0-0-0-0

So the communicating with the Queen thing is something I really struggled with, write it/don't write it... stuff like that. After careful deliberation and the help of my trusted friend, I have decided to write it anyway, because it adds another dimension to the story. As you might have guessed, I'm adding a paranormal aspect to it. It may come back in later stories, it may not.

Also thanks to my trusted friend for coming up with the Queen's name, Caerulea Ignia, Blue Fire.