"Are you telling him secrets about me?" Hiccup called back.
"No. I hadn't actually thought about that. I might have to. Are you okay with that?" He smiled. Hiccup shook his head and waved his hand dismissively. He turned back to the ever more agitated Nadder. "Okay good. Back to what we were talking about. Did you look around?" He didn't give him time to answer. "Okay so if you did, you probably saw that there are a lot of really big, really mean looking dragons here. You're not even the biggest you. Like let's see wheerree iiissss hhee." The Nightmare looked around. "Oh there he is. Dusty!" He yelled. "Get down here." The giant Nadder in the crowd laughed through his nose. Before quickly joining the two dragons.
Dusty landed with a thud, and made a display of himself. Splaying out his wings and tail. Showing off his unique brown colors. His display got some murs and snaps out of the crowd. The gigantic Nadder towered over both his compatriots.
In the meantime, Hiccup whistled for his scout heads to join him. Twelve dragons soon joined him. They began to discuss the high rank parties taking in new promising talents from the lower rank groups. And if they didn't plan on taking anyone new in they could leave and begin their routes again. The group stuck around a while longer discussing who to move up and making recommendations.
The small group looked over to the other group that had assembled.
"Now that, is a dangerous group of dragons."
"They look like anyone else. I bet I could take them." The Nadder boasted. Both the Nightmare and Dusty gave each other knowing looks.
"That would be suicide young one." Dusty shook his head. "Each of those dragons are as dangerous as the one next to them. There are only a handful of others that are as strong as they are. Listen young one, you may think that your size gives you an advantage. But thinks like that have no meaning here. Without proper training and diet you stand no chance." His voice almost awestruck as he looked over at Hiccup and company.
"Diet? What does that have to do with anything?"
"I've been studying the spikes on your tail. How old are they?"
"A week, maybe two. Why?"
"They are not sharp. You think you can take out our alpha with those. You couldn't even pierce the skin he has over himself."
"What? Yes I could." The Nadder fought.
"I want you to do something. Fly up a little and fire a few spikes at the ground here." Dusty commanded. The Nadder rolled his eyes but did as he was asked. Three spikes rained down and bounced off the stone. "Good." Dusty complimented. "But now watch." He rose into the air and fired spikes into the floor. Each one piercing the stone lodging itself deep into the rock. "Do you see? Without proper training and a diet that helps harden my spikes I could not do that. I am only this strong and this healthy because of our alpha."
Hiccup watched the show out of the corner of his eye.
"What's going on back there?" One of the twelve asked. Hiccup didn't catch who.
"Dusty just put a bunch of holes in the ground. Someone is going to have to try to take those out. Or break them or something. We can't have those sticking out of the floor like that. An accident waiting to happen. Especially around me." Hiccup chuckled.
"I'm sure someone will get on it once everything is sorted out. We just have to wait for those idiots to finish doing whatever it is their doing." The changewing scout leader groaned.
"I wouldn't let Dusty hear you say that." One of the Nightmare scouts teased. "You two might have to go head to head again."
"You two have history? Will it be an issue? And why is this the first time I'm hearing of this?" Hiccup asked.
"It was before your time. We were both young and hot headed." The changewing started.
"Are you sure we're talking about the same dragon?" Hiccup asked. That got a few laughs.
"Believe it or not he wasn't always like this. He was just as wild as the rest of us. Carefree and happy to be alive. It may be surprising to hear but we did have some freedom when The Queen was here. Not a whole lot but some. Enough to give you hope, or at least enough to make you forget that we were trapped here against our will."
"I hope you, all of you don't feel that way now? If do you please tell me so I can fix that." Hiccup asked. The answer was a resounding and almost in unison, 'no'. "So what's your history then?"
"We never used to see eye to eye. And with tensions, and the Queen, and all that. It was just a mess. One day it just became too much for me and I attacked him. We both very much going for each other's throat that day. It's a miracle neither of us ended up permanently damaged. By the end of it we'd both lost, but he could stand and I couldn't, so I guess he won.
He walked away and left me on the ground. As I laid there I wondered if I had made my last mistake. He came back though. Helped me up, moved me somewhere where The Queen couldn't see me. He brought me food, helped me recover."
"Is that what changed him?" Hiccup asked.
"Maybe a little but ultimately no."
"So what did?"
"The same thing that a lot of us. Someone we knew died because of her. In his case it was his mentor. Funnily enough it was an old Changewing. Apparently they were very close and one day The Queen decided that he was too old to be useful, and ate him. After that Dusty was never the same. He didn't really talk to anyone, distanced himself, wasn't eating well, or at all. He just did what was asked of him and laid low."
"Has anyone taken the time to talk to him? Do we know if he's okay? If he needs help?"
" It's hard losing people, yuh know. But he's fine now, yeah. Him and I are pretty close now."
"Pretty close? You two should have mated years ago." One of the others commented. She sighed.
"Yeah well. It's complicated." She shook her head. Hiccup crossed his arms and sighed.
"Complicated how?" He tried to not make it sound like he was mocking her, or putting her on put her head down a little.
"I'm infertile." She whispered. Hiccup didn't understand the gravity of the situation.
"So what?" Hiccup asked casually. She spun around and growled at him.
"What do you mean 'so what'?" Hiccup gulped and held his hands out.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean it like that. It's very unfortunate that you can't have offspring, terrible really. And I'm sorry you can't but a relationship is more than just having children. And it's a bad example but look at me and Toothless. We both want to have a family, but obviously neither of us can carry children. So right now, for us, and you I guess, our options are to adopt, or to find someone willing to carry for us. I know that isn't really a thing in this society but those are really our only options. And it sucks but that's just how it is. And I know I'm being harsh, I'm sorry. But I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around it. You're so confident and smart. I guess I just don't understand the feeling of losing that since I've never had it." Hiccup hugged himself and looked away from everyone. I'm sorry again. If there's any way I can repay you, I'll do whatever. I have to go. We'll do this tomorrow, I'm sorry." He whispered. He began to walk off.