Clover could hardly sleep that night. As the morning grew closer, she stared at the ceiling, one of her arms resting on her stomach. Was one fish going to be enough to let her get close to that dragon? Turning her head towards the bed Wilder slept in, she frowned lightly. She hated lying to him, but he couldn't keep a secret to save his life.
Pulling the fur blanket off, she sat up. Quietly, she got to her feet and searched for her dagger and sketchbook. Throwing the book's strap over her shoulder and sticking the dagger in its spot on her belt, she tiptoed towards the door, praying not to wake up her brother.
"...clover? Where are you going...?"
She stopped dead in her tracks when she heard his quiet voice. She couldn't tell him where she was going. Thinking for a moment, Clover turned her head towards him and smiled faintly. "I got an idea for a project, and... and it'll probably take me a while to finish it..." She said quietly, hoping he would believe even a word she said. "I just know it'll be really something-!" she clapped her hands together gently.
Wilder frowned lightly, "Wasn't that what you said about the bola launcher thing that the Berkian kid showed you? What's so special about this?" He questioned as he sat up, holding his blanket close to him.
Clover's eyes dropped to the floor for a moment as she thought about her words carefully. "I guess it's something I'll make on my own? Not with his help?" She said with a slight shrug. "I'll be back before today's training starts- I promise." She said softly as she headed downstairs towards the door. She didn't want to have to answer more questions she didn't have the answer to.
Once she was outside, she ran towards the forge to grab the shield she had been working on, just in case she needed it. Nobody on Haive really knew what a light fury was capable of, except maybe the rider she met the day prior. The sun began to rise by the time she had gotten to the forge. Once she had the shield, she made her way towards the storehouse to grab a fish.
Sneaking around the village wasn't too hard with most of the village out to sea in search of the nest. Those who stayed mostly had young children or had other important things that needed to be done around the village that couldn't have been missed. Not that Clover minded at all, she always loved the quietness of when they searched.
Pushing the door to the storehouse open, she squinted in the still-dark room trying to find where the baskets of fish would be. Spotting them, she grinned faintly as she opened one up and grabbed the biggest one she could find before running out the door and towards the forest, making sure the fish was between her and the shield.
It was a long walk towards the small cove the light fury was trapped in. Clover used the end of her sleeve to hold the fish by its tail so she wouldn't have to touch it with her skin. She hated how the fish felt in her hand.
"I can't believe I'm doing this..." She mumbled to herself as she got closer to the cove. Putting the shield down and resting the fish on top of it, she ran towards the cliffs that dropped down into the cove to try and see if the light fury was still there. Not seeing the dragon, her eyes narrowed a bit. It has to be there. Or it would've escaped long before I found it yesterday! Creeping closer to the edge to try and get a view under the ledge. She couldn't see anything.
Walking back to the shield, Clover picked it and the fish up and looked for a way to get into the cove, being careful not to fall off any edges. Finding a way in, she hid behind the shield the best she could as she ducked between the massive rocks. When the shield got stuck, she gave it as big of a tug as she could. It didn't budge. "Great..." She mumbled quietly to herself, not wanting to alert the dragon if it was still there. Now she was hoping it was long gone.
Tossing the fish over the shield and into the cove, she waited for a second for something to happen. Determining the dragon was either gone or not paying enough attention, she got down to the ground and crawled under the shield. Looking around, she noticed a pretty large rock formation under the ledge she was standing on not too long ago. Maybe the dragon was behind there? There was a small pond in the center of the cove, and some pine trees near the higher cliffs, but not enough to really hide behind. She pushed herself off the ground and decided to try and tug on the shield from the other side for a second before giving up on it.
Heart racing, she slowly picked the fish off the ground by its gills, praying that if the dragon was there she wouldn't lose her hand. Slowly, Clover made her way deeper into the cove, her hands shaking the further she went. "Where are you...?" She wondered.
The dragoness heard everything she had said. The noise Clover made woke her up. She climbed onto the rocks under the ledge and watched as the small viking entered the cove, her pupils as thin as a blade. When the girl got far enough, the light fury let out a quiet growl as she jumped down.
Clover's eyes were now locked onto the light fury's, the fish now against her chest as her trembling hand hesitantly reached for the dagger. That earned her a hiss from the dragon in front of her. Slowly, she grabbed onto the small blade and dropped it to her feet. She prayed that would've been enough to please the beast. Her eyes widened slightly when the dragon gestured toward the pond. She didn't want to give up one of the first daggers she'd ever successfully made, but if her only other option was death by light fury? Looking at the dagger on the ground, she struggled for a second to get the dagger on her foot before she gently tossed it into the water.
The light fury's expression changed in a matter of seconds when the dagger plopped into the pond, her eyes settling on the fish in Clover's hand. It had been days since she had been able to actually eat something. Slowly, she took a step toward the viking who quickly held out the fish the moment she moved.
As the light fury grew closer, the dragon's maw opened just enough for Clover to see the dragon's lack of teeth, her brows furrowed in thought, "huh... I could've sworn you had-" She jumped back, her arms tight against her chest as teeth appeared in the dragon's mouth and the fish was snatched from her hand. "...teeth." Every part of her was shaking now as the dragon ate the fish in what felt like a fraction of a second. At least I still have all my fingers.
Licking her chops, the light fury tilted her head as she watched the human. As the light fury moved closer to her, Clover gulped and quickly backed up, tripping on her own feet. "I-I don't have anymore..." She said quickly. The dragon started making the strangest noise she had heard in forever, leaning its head toward her lap as a half-eaten fish slid out of its mouth.
Clover's eyes widened with a mixture of horror and disgust as she stared at the slimy fish in her lap. She looked up at the light fury, her eyes pleading to the dragon to not make her do whatever it wanted her to do with it. The light fury looked between the fish and Clover's mouth, licking its mouth. Shuddering at even the thought of what the fish would taste like half eaten and covered in dragon saliva, Clover closed her eyes, bringing the fish to her mouth and taking the smallest bite she could. She smiled faintly, looking up at the dragon.
The light fury tilted her head for a second before swallowing. Clover looked up towards the heavens praying that all of this was worth it. She closed her eyes tightly as she tried to swallow, holding her hand near her mouth in case she threw it up. It was the worst thing she had ever tasted, and the texture wasn't much better. Shuddering a little, she looked towards the light fury, giving the dragon a weak smile.
She tensed slightly when the dragon's eyes narrowed for a second. As it did a fairly goofy-looking smile, Clover slowly put the fish to her side and reached her hand towards the dragon. The light fury growled lightly before running towards the other side of the cove.
Blinking a little, Clover watched as the dragon ran off trying to figure out what was going through its head. "Okay... that happened." She mumbled quietly. Pushing herself off the ground, she looked towards where the light fury ran off, "I'll bring more fish next time! A-And I'll try and be back later tonight!" She called out, walking towards the water to see if she could possibly retrieve the dagger. Not seeing it immediately, she shrugged it off and looked towards the sky, soon realizing that she was about to be late for training.
Looking down at her tunic, she frowned lightly, hoping the wet spot from the light fury saliva would dry quickly. Clover glanced back at the light fury for a second as she headed for the trapped shield. "I can do this..." She mumbled to herself as she ducked under the shield to start her hike back to the village.