Hey folks, I'm back with another update to this story, hope you enjoy!
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Brothers
Chapter 3: First Flight
Later that same day, the Viking had left, once again leaving just me and scaly in this cove. Night has arrived, with crickets and frogs drowning the sound all around us. The older Night Fury explained how he came to meet the human boy: apparently, he was the one who shot the dragon down from the sky…later threatening him with a knife; however, the human spared him and let him go…then he found us in the cove and the rest is history.
"So…I guess now you two are friends" I say while the dragon stares at the night sky.
"He is different. I'm not sure how to feel about it all…"
I turn to him with questioning eyes, "you think…he could help us?"
"If he keeps giving us food, perhaps." The fury turns to me, standing up before placing a paw on my shoulder, "you still need to learn how to fly, Flint."
I look down to his missing tail fin. I can't help but feel pity for the dragon by this point, "there's really no way it'll grow back?" I asked, pointing to his tail.
"Unfortunately…no."
"Man…" I shake my head in disbelief, "even after shooting you down and de-winging you, you're getting attached to him."
"As long as he doesn't hurt you, I will allow his presence. As long as you learn to fly and leave this place I will live again through your success."
I look away…he's really serious about this…I would say he's being overdramatic, but the situation he's in is really bad. How can I deny or delay his request further? I must do it. Even though I was born a human…lived as a human for twenty-nine years, now I'm going to go through the process of learning how to fly as a 'baby' dragon. I don't know how to feel about it, it's as if I'm learning to live life all over again through a different set of eyes, which technically I am…as much as I hate to admit it. I haven't given up on becoming human again, and I probably never will, but I guess I should accept living like a dragon for the time being for my own survival. I'll have to eat like them, walk like them and now fly like them. I must learn how to fly…for him…for this Night Fury.
The weather is favorable, still partly cloudy and with little wind resistance. My dragon colleague stands across from me, preparing to give the first lesson in dragon flight.
"Now that you got better control of your wings, now I'm going to show you how to lift from ground level." I get ready, spreading my legs a bit, "Start by lowering your body, spreading your wings before jumping in the air. Make sure to keep your wings balanced in weight before takeoff. As you jump, start flapping your wings for lift. This is going to take you a few tries I just know it" that last part he can't help but chuckle impishly as I scoff at him softly.
I do as he says, but as soon as I jump and flap my wings: it is clear that both wings were not balanced right and I crash into the ground with a thud.
The Night Fury across from me watching couldn't help but let out a deep draconic snicker, "Your left wing was slightly…off, Flint."
I grunt in response, "I hate you."
I keep trying, but eventually I grow tired and stop. I pant exhaustingly, frustrated that I've made no progress whatsoever. The dragon makes his way to me, patting me on the back where my spikes are with a squishy paw, "you'll get the hang of it, eventually. Let's rest for now."
And so, more time goes by as we rest by the pond. It's been quiet since we paused on my lesson. I can't help but clutch my tummy with my paws, so…hungry, I think to myself. For such a small dragon I sure have a large appetite, yet I shouldn't be so selfish… 'Greenie' next to me had a fish as well, but his appetite must be TEN-FOLD what mine is! I can tell that despite the single whole fish given to him by the young Viking, it wasn't enough to quell his hunger, and now HE was the one truly suffering instead of me. Whatever strength he could have to be active tomorrow is slowly sapping away. If only that kid came back, is he even coming back? I have to imagine he will; however, after they made contact earlier today, the older Fury moved away, noticeably irritated…reminded that he was bonding with his mortal enemy. So, who knows? Maybe we're both screwed…only time will tell, though I rather not worry about it since it'll just make me hungrier than I am now.
"How 'ya doing over there?" I asked. The cat-like reptile can't help but laugh, "I'm hungry enough to eat all the fish we bring in from the raids."
I raise an eyebrow. I was lying on my back, same as him, but I roll over, now lying on my stomach, "raids?"
For a moment, he too is confused: probably shocked that I don't know about whatever he just said…what a surprise that he's shocked…
"Don't tell me…you don't know about the Queen either?"
He sighs, but soon begins explaining the predicament he was thrown in after getting separated from his nest. Lost and without a flock, he soon found himself doing errands for this 'Queen.' Supposedly, it's a dragon that had amassed an army of followers to tend to her every need, one of which was providing food to her. 'Greenie' explained how the giant used mind control to keep the lesser dragons in check…it kind of made me shiver a bit…
"She's dormant…most of the time she is asleep, almost hibernating. We contain the Queen by feeding her to quell her rage." The Night Fury explained how in order to feed the behemoth in such a short amount of time was to steal food from a nearby source…hence the raids. Fish kept by Vikings seemed easy enough, he said, but it was sheep, out in the open usually, they often grabbed.
The reptilian told me how hundreds of dragons, all different types and sizes went in to steal the food from the humans, but unlike them, this Night Fury had the distinction of making bombing runs to disable human fortifications.
At first, I couldn't help but find the idea utterly ridiculous…he isn't a fighter jet…how can he have such an ability? I study his, and by extension my body, thoroughly: maybe the slim and smooth appearance of his species, combined with his fins that reminded me of the back wings of an airplane, seem to support what he's saying. I guess when one looks at it…a Night Fury is shaped like a plane, so they probably fly very similarly to one.
Maybe that explains why when he told me Night Furies are the most feared of all the dragons why that would make perfect sense! These guys are LITERALLY raining hell from the sky, they are perfect killing machines, able to blend in with the night sky unseen. Add their supposed incredible speed, which I've yet to see, and the fire breath they make…and you've got yourself a village wiped off the map in one night! All this…just to prevent a colossal dragon from wreaking havoc on the world. I realized…the dragons weren't doing it because they were hungry…they do raids to save the world. Do the Vikings know…I doubt it? I think the better question is: does the kid know?
Speaking of him, a few minutes later he arrives, calling to us.
He has with him a basket full of food. I don't even need to see it to know what's inside. My nose tingles at the scent and somehow…I know it's fish.
"I hope you two are hungry" he kicks the basket after putting it down, revealing a generous number of fish for us to eat. We both can't help but have our mouths open in disbelief…all this food…it's more than enough…this kid is our life support now!
Despite the large amount of scaly creatures inside the basket, the taller fury standing beside me points his head at the load, but I shake my head, "no, your turn."
He thinks about it as I momentarily notice the strange device the teen is holding behind him, but my attention is soon drawn elsewhere.
"It's obvious, we will share."
"After you" I retort.
"I insist" he claps back as I grunt loudly.
And so, we start eating the pile, making sure to leave a good portion behind for each other. The older dragon knew he had to eat, for it's been a while and he's larger than me.
The teen Viking across from us smiles, "there you go, Toothless."
The Night Fury stops, the tail of a fish still hanging out of his closed mouth, turning to the human. He catches sight of me covering my mouth, trying not to laugh. Toothless…oh man…what a name! I can't help but rub it in his face, "Toothless. I can see it now, Vikings running away from hearing such a frightening name being said!"
"It's about as frightening as the name Flint, Flint" the reptile rolls his eyes to me, resuming his feast.
Once he's had a mouthful, the teen dragon finishes, looking over to me again, "you can have the rest, this is enough for me."
The Viking looks to the other dragon, "you're done…already!? You sure you don't want more-" before the boy can finish his sentence the other fury snarls at him making the human jump, "ah okay, stepping away now…" it seemed like he said that to draw the creature's attention to the food as a distraction?
"Go ahead Flint, the rest is yours" 'Toothless' nods.
"Okay…" I mutter in response, moving toward the remaining fish as the other beast moves away. As I start eating again, the human starts listing off the kind of fish, circling around us without our knowledge. Before the visitor can make it to the tail belonging to the teen Night Fury, however, the latter spots a black and yellow striped creature. Right away he moves me in a split second from the dead creature before I can bite into it.
The human panics just a bit, jumping in to grab what turns out to be an eel, throwing it away afterwards, "sorry, didn't know you hated them…I…hate them too…"
"What was that for!? I was going to eat that!" I protested, swiping my paw at the teen fury in response.
"Never, never eat eels!"
"Why not, they ain't going to shock me now that they're dead!"
"They will make you sick" he explains.
"How exactly…"
"Just don't!"
As we bicker, the Viking moved in, slowly inching closer to his target again. Despite some bad attempts we don't notice him behind us.
"You must have been dropped on your head when you hatched!" The Night Fury barks at me as I cringe, pulling back, "you are SO LOST without me…you have a lot to learn before you can even get out of here!"
"You know what…you're right, I can't walk much like a dragon, spit fire like a dragon…hell…I can't even fly like a dragon! Maybe…just mayyyybeee I'm not MEANT to be a dragon!" I clapped back ferociously.
He let out a deep growl in response, "Kid, the way you're carrying yourself, you are an embarrassment to our kind. By the time I'm done with you, I'll make you into a REAL Night Fury!"
Anger filled me, I'm getting really fed up with him, "STOP. CALLING. ME. A. KID!"
Before the other dragon can reassess his approach to our argument, probably regretting what he just said to me, he feels something against the end of his tail. He remains silent, wiggling his black tail around, trying to find the source of this new sensation.
"What…what!?" I shout at him. Soon enough, however, my eyes focus on the boy, who's right behind him…on his…tail!
"My…t-tail!" The teen dragon whispered, looking up in shock. Suddenly, without warning, he grabs me, much to my surprise and protest, "h-hey, what are you doing!?" The Night Fury spreads his wings, lowering his body shortly afterward.
"Getting out of here."
Unexpectedly, he launches into the air, taking me and, unknown to him, the human boy as well.
"L-let me go; this is crazy!" I shout back but he doesn't budge, he's too focused on flying! He starts climbing into the sky as the boy and I yell in fright, the ground getting smaller every second. I'm being held hostage by the flying creature in his paws! I had tried to break free, but now that we're so high I dig my claws into his arms in panic…especially once he starts losing balance. He starts falling back to the earth, taking us with him, "you IDIOT, now we're going to die!" I exclaimed, terrified.
Meanwhile, the human figures out the whole tail fin part and opens the device he was holding. It is now connected to 'Toothless' and is functioning as a substitute for his lost fin. Once the boy changed the direction of the tail fin, the dragon's course changed and he continued climbing, avoiding contact with the rocky cliff in front of us.
"It's working!" I heard the boy exclaim happily as I look back. My new green eyes widen when I spot him, messing with the artificial tail. He put that on the dragon…him! I look all around, and for a second, I can see a large expanse of forest and tall cliffs, with the sea running into an endless horizon…the first time I see such things in this world.
"We're getting out of here" the fury chirps as I nod, relieved, "about time!"
I start to feel an overwhelming sense of joy being in the air…I can't explain why…it's like I'm on a rollercoaster! In my human life, I seldom flew, never really taking planes or what not...I traveled a lot by train or car honestly.
This situation felt eerily like being in a plane with your ears popping annoyingly or experiencing turbulence…that kind of stuff. I don't know, maybe it's my dragon side, but here I am…having the time of my life! My eyes widened as a big, dumb, happy smile ran down my small muzzle.
For a moment, as we turn around and end up above the cove again, "Toothless" looks down to me and notices my smile. He can't help but feel happy as well. We're finally leaving this blasted cove, who knows what we'll find out there! I can't help but feel so excited for it…could this be my 'child' or 'dragon' side taking over? Who knows, but it feels great I have to just give in.
"I did it!" The boy said loudly, finally catching the attention of the teen Night Fury, who tries to shake him off in response. The result is the kid being flicked off, landing in the pond below.
"Uh…you should not have done that!" I yelled, looking at his new tail fin as he, himself, looks back to examine. Right away he loses control again and we crash into the waters below. Unfortunately, we're back at the cove again and my companion pulls me out of the water while the Viking yells with excitement.
"Well…at least we're still alive" I mutter, shaking water off myself. I've got to admit… that was quite a rush and I loved it! I'm hopping around like a child that's hyper…again, I guess it's that baby dragon side, I pretty much am ten again, on the outside at least. I compose myself soon after, letting my adult side take over again.
"It just needs a few tweaks and I'll get you airborne again, Toothless" the human stated before the opposing dragon paid no attention to him or me, instead focusing on his newly grown tail fin, which is actually a brown leather prosthetic.
The human had been examining us, me in particular and couldn't help but laugh playfully, "you got a lot of energy for your little size. What's your name, little bud?"
I nod my head, telling him my human name, but of course all he hears is a high-pitch warble. Realizing this, I just shrug to him. The teen puts a finger on his chin, "eh, how about I call you…Jumper?"
I recoil at the name in disgust. He seems amazed that I can understand him, "well, I can't call you Toothless as well, ya know."
Soon thinking of another name, he calls out, "Dusty?"
Even worse, I growl at him in annoyance.
"Growler?"
"No!"
"Augh, are dragons really that choosy for names?"
I sit on my hind legs, crossing my arms to him. He paces back and forth as I eye his every move, quite frustrated by this…if only I could talk to him…write to him…give him a sign…anything!
"WildWing?"
I stop. For some reason, that name had a ring to it, at least to me. I nodded to the boy, liking that name a lot more than the others. I don't even know why I didn't take time to think about it, that's just the name we're going for now, I guess.
"Then it's settled, happy you like it, little buddy" he chuckled at the last part, "…my name's Hiccup."
That last part he felt kind of embarrassed to say…I wonder why? I look back toward the other Night Fury, who had walked up to us, looking toward the sole human in the group. By now he realized just how important this kid was to him. The Viking…his sworn enemy…had helped him fly again…and it made him tear up inside a bit, though as a Night Fury he wouldn't show it to anybody, not a human and not even this one. He had to admit, however, that he wasn't going to die in this cove…this kid might help him get back in the clouds again…somehow anyway.
…
Sunset arrived and Hiccup had quitted the cove, figuring he had to return to his village before night fall. The older Fury and I, as we have the past few days, watch the sky change colors until it's only stars in the sky.
"Toothless…that's a better name than Greenie…at least I think so" I chuckle softly, "it suits you."
"Maybe" he responds, thinking about it. For him, he's starting to warm up to the human, seeing him as a valuable asset to the group, especially now today when he realized the kid is trying to help him fly again.
"And you don't mind that he named you like they name their pets?" He asked truthfully, softly as if casually before I turn to him and scoff in response, "if he could understand me, I'd tell him my real name."
"Fair enough."
Silence hits us for a few moments, "he's different, I can't explain, but that Viking…"
"Hiccup."
"Excuse me?" The Night Fury raised a scaly brow as I nod back in retaliation.
"He told me his name is Hiccup, and I guess he is different. The Vikings I've heard of are tall, muscular and are savages…" I say, history class taught me this when I was young, why would it be different here?
"Still…he's a human…to put a huge amount of trust into them is just…it just feels unnatural to me" the dragon mutters softly.
"I try to measure people based on what they've done, Toothless" I begin, "him bringing food to us…making you a tail…that small act of kindness can go a long way. Life has taught me that."
The scaly beast next to me can't resist laughing out loud as I growl, irritated by his action, "you are but a hatchling…you're talking like you've already lived a full life."
Oh man…one day…one day I'll tell him…when I feel he's ready…if he ever will be…
"You're right, however…he doesn't look like the Viking type to me, maybe he's adopted? One thing is for sure, as I've said before: he is different." The teen Fury stated.
"I guess" I shrug.
"You're different too…in a good way…the other dragons I've met…not much can be said about them, most anyway…but you, Flint, you are a one of a kind."
"Oh, I bet…" laughing to myself…if he only knew…
The dragon can't help but stand up, looking down to me with a regretful face, "Flint…about earlier…I didn't mean what I said. I do want to see you improve; I want to see you flying out there as I had today…feel your wings take you above the clouds. I can imagine what your face will look like, pure joy I saw when I carried you. I'm…sorry I called you a kid, I won't call you that again. And…you aren't an embarrassment…I'm sorry for saying that too."
I get up, meeting him. It still amazes me how tall he is compared to me; he stands over me like a mountain next to a chain of hills. I muster up the courage to admit my own fault, "I've treated you pretty badly since we met if I'm being honest…I ought to fix that" I nod, looking down to the ground.
"I guess we're both screw ups" Toothless mutters, sitting on his hind legs. I try to lighten the mood, giving a small smile of encouragement as I meet his gaze again, "that was some nice flying though, chief." I complimented.
"The day will come when I will say the same to you, and that day is coming very soon. I just know it." Toothless smiled back with his usual 'Toothless' smile. He felt as though the next few days will be the most interesting in a long time. He is looking forward to it.
"So…the usual lessons tomorrow?" I asked and he can't help but bring me in and rub his paws on my head as if we were siblings, "you bet, and I expect you to be up and about early in the morning for it!"
"Okay, okay, stop. That's enough" I pull away as he lets go.
"If that human can help, it would be better to teach you if we were BOTH in the air. It will be more practical with that method."
"Alright" I nod. I make a 'fist bump' or at least attempt to…with paws it's very hard, and of course he just looks at me like I got two heads now.
"Just make your paw look like mine and we hit them together at once."
"Why…" He raises a brow in retaliation.
"It's a way to say we both agree on something…and it looks cool."
"C-cool?"
"Like awesome."
"I'm sorry, your vernacular is foreign to me."
After giving a blank stare I just grunt to him, "can you just do it?"
"Okay."
He does and our 'fists' finally make contact, "there you go" I congratulate him semi-sarcastically as he grunts loudly, half-closing an eye in slight annoyance, "Callahan, you sure are a colorful dragon with your phrases and customs."
"It's all relative" I give a smirk to him.
We both go to rest under the cover of a cliff. He warms up the ground beneath me before I curl up, "thanks."
I close my eyes and sigh: I am really starting to like where this is all going. Yea it all started slow and kind of depressing, but I'm actually starting to have some fun around here. Maybe soon I can look for what brought me here? Make no mistake, I haven't lost focus on my mission: to get out of here, but like I said…might as well have fun while I'm at it.
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Alrighty! That's the end of chapter three! I hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter and are enjoying the story so far. Anyways, I hope you all have a wonderful day!
