Battle with Red Death may have ended with victory, but dragon war took 300 years, seven generations of man and woman fighting and dying to protect they loved ones, and greviances will not just diseappear into thin air. For some, revenge is the only rightfull way.
Fire.
Thundering, blue fire hittingtargets in the deepest of the night, all of themtorn apart and set ablaze simultaneously. Shadows descending from theskies towards broken shells of—
A pair of black eyelids lifted, revealing a duo of deep green eyes, just a tone lighter than the freshest grass in the world, their pupils looking like slices of the night.
The dragon tried and failed to stand up, falling to his side and grunting in pain before trying again, this time more cautiously.
Someone walked towards him: Twig's sire, the biggest human he had ever seen. One of the creature's paws pressed on his scruff, and his wobbly legs gave way.
Evidently not deeming this matter settled, the human pointed at the wooden floor and raised some thick rope threateningly. The message was pretty clear and Night Fury relaxed his muscles.
Sending him a suspicious look, the human turned away and went back to his offspring —to Night Fury's best friend.
Without anything better to do, the dark dragon shifted his gaze towards the parts of his human that he could see, the tip of his head and one arm, and he recalled his
hazy dream. There was something deeply unsettling in it, something he couldn't quite grasp. Fire and destruction were not unsettling. He was almost used to it at this point, as much as someone ever could be used to something like that.
He remembered thundering blue fire, so it was what he had destroyed? But there had been far too many projectiles in the air for him to possibly spit. It was a dream though; it didn't need to make sense.
His thoughts drifted away. Just after few moments of being awake he was getting weary again. Yawning wide he lowered his head to his paws and closed his eyes, quickly falling asleep.
Calls reverberatingthrough the darkness, dozens, hundreds of shapesdarker than the night itself. And the world below them set aflame, extinguishedin enormous fires. Enquiring warble to the side, aggravation, stern glare, getting carefully inspected for non-existing injuries…
A bolt of pain snapped him awake.
Short, old human with weirdly wrinkled face was pulling away material covering his injuries, inducing scratches of pain. He hissed, but he let the human do whatever it was doing. This same thing was sometimes done to his human, so he had come to the conclusion that dealing pain wasn't the reason for it, otherwise Twig's sire would certainly intervene.
It was what he should do anyway, he reasoned. He didn't know much about human behavior of all things, even though he had seen them quite often over his life.
Or, rather, the part of it he remembered well. Most of his memories had proven to be hazy at best.
He crooned softly. The old human rubbed his neck after a brief hesitation, coaxing him back into sleep. I am really weak, he thought, aggravated a moment before falling asleep.
Mortification, stern glare, laying obediently on side and letting his daminspect, clear, and treat hilariously small wound. Ears pressed to his neck,receiving scolding for imprudence, going too close, protest, if he was farther,he would fail to take it out and someone could get killed! Growl. He was notto risk his life, no matter wha-
Some human entered. His view was a bit fuzzy for a while after awakening so he wasn't sure which one. Its expression was...scared, yet determined, in a grim way. The dragon's pupils narrowed; the creature was holding something in very carefully, even wary way.
He fixated on it, which made the human more nervous. It stopped, before suddenly un-sheathing its claw and lunging at Twig. Night Fury leaped with speed that surprised even himself and bit the right arm with all the strength he could muster. A scream filled the air, ringing in his ears.
Other humans entered after just a few seconds during which he got stabbed in his chest by the short claw. His attacker rapidly withdrew and run towards the others. Good, he wasn't in his best-
They were grabbing him! They pinned him to the ground and readied their claws before a sharp order stopped them cold. The sire entered the room, looking between him and their attacker darkly. Thinking quickly, Night Fury squirmed and managed to point at the thing the attacker was holding before it dropped to the ground thanks to the distraction Twig's sire provided, and adrenaline rushed through his body.
The sire's gaze drifted to where the dragon pointed, and their attacker, just short of grabbing the thing, froze under his furious glare like startled prey.
He watched in satisfaction as Twig's sire threw the claw from the attacker's paw and exited with it screaming in tow, growling something to humans pinning him right before he left. They followed in the sire's wake, leaving him to pass out the instant the danger was gone.
This time, he was not interrupted, or too tired to be awakened by intrusions like before.
"Toni!"
Adolescent Night Fury bounced towards him happily, before stopping andtilting its head curiously when he doesn'teven lookhis way.
"Venit, luna plena est!"
He looked at the skies, groaned, let his head fall back down and respondedwith aggravation.
"Non me habet veni"
This, however, did not stop the dragonet's advance. A warm nuzzle and soothing croon soon followed. He slumped and whimpered.
"Non possum de hoc antrum"
Yet despite thatnews, the voice that soon followed was still happy. "Vos non habere!"
"Qui-iiiihihihi"
His tummy was very, very ticklish, and blue snout was nuzzling itaggressively, eliciting not-so-involuntary squeaks. But he wasn't going tojust let him do it! Kicking and biting, he throwed weight off himself andretaliated.
"Finis! Nunc venamur te! Osthac Imperamu-iiihihi."
This critter managed to sneak beyondhis guard, despite laughing his headoff while doing it!
So enraptured in this game they were, that they failed to notice the return of hisdam.
"Tillayionem?"
They both froze, four pupils narrowed suddenly.
"Amateurs"
Her much, much bigger snout launched its attack, and they both squeaked in wild glee as their toes and tummies got subjected to it.
He woke and squinted at light peeking through the wood of the den they were both recovering in.
Seeing that no one else was present, he took the occasion and prowled towards his human, laying his head close to Twig's with a contented sigh.
After some time he heard heavy footsteps, evidence of Twig's sire. His suspicion soon found itself confirmed, as the very big human entered and strode towards him, not seeming even remotely mad for ignoring his order from before.
Then he pulled out bindings, restraints of thick leather and iron, and the dragon recoiled.
Twig's sire raised one paw appeasingly, but he still kept the hated contraptions in the other, sending intent glare to the dragon who wrinkled his nose. What was this all about? Why did he want to restrain him? Likely this thing with that attacker, but he seemed to realise that he was just defending Twig.
The dragon's low growl never ceased. The human's glare turned stern and he pointed at the bindings, furrowing his brow. Night Fury backed away slightly, but as a hand slowly but surely drifted towards him, he neither bit it nor tried to escape it. This human was very intent on putting it on him, and his demeanor was making it very clear that he would end up in it, willingly or not, and he wasn't in a good enough state to resist.
He doubted they would harm him after putting effort into healing him, though if he were to be restrained for the sake of it, he would snatch up Twig the second he was healed and head away from this place.
He failed to muffle his growl entirely as he clenched his jaws shut and brought his head closer, allowing Twig's sire to put bindings on. He was muzzled, collared, leashed, and shackled, before being led on said leash outside.
There were humans along the way, and his growl loudened. Was he being led as a show!? To prove that he is a harmless obedient animal!? There was no way he was going to play along with it, and damn the consequences!
A chained human was led out of a nearby alley. His growl quieting down and then dying down entirely as he recognized the scent of the attacker. This was some kind of the show, but not one he despised with his entire being.
A tug on his leash had taken him out of his musings and he strode alongside Twig's attacker up the nest, towards door- no, gate carved into the mountain. He was aware of the big den behind it, since humans placed their young and elderly there during dragon raids, but he was still surprised at the size of it after crossing the threshold.
An entire human nest could fit in there and still have some spare space, and they were indeed all entering. Soon he found himself and the attacker chained to pillars in the centre, surrounded by the human flock, apart enough so they could not reach each other or anyone else.
The attacker cried out furiously. He snarled at it, and a loud sound made his ears ring; a human with a brow, thick head-fur and hilariously wide arms and slim waist slammed his long stick, with metal-shod bottom against the ground again. Everyone stilled.
This show seemed to be about justice. Too bad that he couldn't speak the language of those humans, the dragon thought grimly.
Bjørn tightened his lips, staring intensely at the dragon for a while before shrugging off all his anger with a snort. It wasn't the first, and certainly not the last time he needed to rise above his feelings in order to properly do his job as a law speaker.
This entire ordeal was insane, but Stoick called him to his duty, and he knew very well how important it was: an impartial arbiter, speaking only of evidence and laws, judging justly, without even the slightest sign of taking someone's side, especially now.
Because if he was to favour someone now, it would split Berk in half.
The law speaker cleared his throat and spoke in the silence that followed slamming his staff to the ground.
"We have gathered here to resolve what had happened last night in the longhouse of clan Haddock."
"Hilda Ingerman and Toothless both had been found fighting in the room where both Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III and Toothless were recovering in from the battle at the dragon nest. After a woman;s scream was heard by several persons on the street, said persons entered the house, to immediately find Toothless biting down on Hilda Ingerman's arm and Hilda Ingerman stabbing Toothless in the chest with a dagger. After the fight was broken up by Chief Stoick Haddock the Vast, Toothless… pointed at the container that Hilda Ingerman was trying to pick up. All relevant evidence is here."
He pointed at evidence with his staff. Hilda seethed, but she knew better than to interrupt the law speaker. The dragon, on the other hand, perked up at the sight of items laying right next to him, a pair of ears rising and pupils widening a little.
The crowd, however, froze, and murmurs rose around them at the mention of the dragon pointing at it. He slammed his staff again, silencing everyone. As he did that, he pondered the surprising intelligence of this dragon, which exceeded their expectations for the beasts..
"Inside the container was found a Deadly Nadder's spine poison, in enough of an amount to kill any human on Midgard. Hilda Ingerman, what is reason that you brought it there?"
Silence followed, he could see in Hilda expression that she was thinking hard, but there was no excuse.
Instead, there was an exclamation.
"This boy made a covenant with a Night Fury! How could you just stand by and let us descend into this madness!? Did you forget what they had done to us?To everyone!?"
Hilda was interrupted by noise of staff slamming against the ground, but Bjørn could already see ripples of agreement spreading through the crowd.
It wasn't his business, as a law speaker at least. He got very good at snuffing out his personal issues throughout all his years in this profession.
"I will have order!"
He slammed his staff against the ground yet again. He hadn't needed to do it so often in years, but he had a gut feeling that it was going to be much more common now.
Complete silence followed.
"Hilda Ingerman, do you admit to attempted murder towards Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the III?"
"Yes! And I would do it all over again without second thought!"
"So in accordance to laws of our ancestors and with gods as my witness, I sentence you to death by beheading for your dishonourable, subversive and traitorous attempt at a chief's son's life!"
Murmurs in the crowd raised; death sentences weren't common, but it was attempted murder on the heir of Stoick the Vast, a legendary warrior and likely the very reason why they village still even existed. And even more importantly than that, Hiccup had saved most of them from certain death, gaining life debt of everyone who had attacked dragon nest.
Which meant that the crowd dispersed in short order despite all the grudges, grievances and righteous anger floating around.
The law speaker found his daughter in the crowd and nodded to her. She came to him, slipping between bulky warriors.
"As tradition says, evidence is to remain in the great hall for everyone to see until the sentence is executed. So stand guard, Astrid. I will be taking care of any issue brought to me so I will be unable to pay full attention."
"Yes, father."
Astrid agreed dutifully, before moving towards Toothless. Bjørn Hofferson was already turning to the table he always sat at when waiting for cases to be brought to him when he caught a glimpse of Astrid reaching to the dragon's restraints.
"What are you doing?"
She blinked several times, as if not understanding what he asked, or rather, why he asked.
"I'm letting him go, so he can return to Hiccup's side."
Bjørn furrowed his brows.
"It is evidence, so it stays in great hall. Weren't you listening?"
The evidence in question rolled its eyes, eliciting a twitch from Bjørn from the unnervingly human-like gesture.
"Wasn't he a suspect himself?"
The man glared bewildered at his daughter, and she proceeded to explain.
"Hiccup always treated him like a person, so do I."
Hands trembling, Bjørn forced his law speaker side to surface in order to remain calm.
"And what is evidence for this? Does it spoke? Write? signs of truly comprehending language?"
Astrid rubbed her chin in thought, analysing memories, then her irises narrowed when she responded.
"It seemed so, but there was nothing truly conclusive. Maybe Hiccup had confirmed it, since he was far longer around him than anyone else."
Bjørn nodded.
"So you can try to confirm it while guarding evidence."
The man strode to the table, and she looked back at Toothless, who was tracking her father with narrowed, thoughtful eyes, no, wait, it seemed like that, she needed actual evidence, not feelings.
The dragon turned his eyes to her and strained his jaws against the muzzle, dogs usually were unable to exactly point on what they don't like, nor any other animal she knew of, it was something at least, but she needed more.
Toothless growled and rolled his eyes, Astrid moved to get the restraints off of him, but she stopped just short of it. She received a confused facial expression in turn: head tilted, one ear raised, the other moved very slightly to the side, and pupils half-narrowed.
It was feeling somehow human, despite vast anatomical differences, but she throwed it off, she needed evidence, not feelings.
"Nod if you understand me."
Toothless only squinted at her.
"Shake your head from left to right."
Ears slumped against neck, eyes were glowering in aggravation. Astrid sighed. It was something, but it wasn't conclusive, she removed the muzzle, and Toothless gestured to the remaining restraints.
"I know I know."
The dragon stilled right after those words, but was it because he understood, or because her voice reassured him?
Not conclusive, what could be conclusive?
Inhuman screech teared her brutally from her thoughts, and she spun, spotting a spear flying straight towards them. A rapid burst of blue fire deflected the spear, turning half of it to ash in the process and turning iron head into molten slug, and a singular men turned back and ran. He didn't make it far: someone grabbed him and a small brawl began just as Toothless ceased readying next shot and let it die down.
Astrid started towards the commotion but her father was already heading there, so she stayed and kneeled to reach the shackles on the dragon's legs.t But she never took her view off the new traitor, who was now dragged towards them.
"Erik Jorgenson, you have attempted destruction of evidence about Hilda Ingerman's sentence. Such actions already have established consequences: banishment. Do you have anything in your defence?"
"It is already happening! We let demons between us and their despicable subversion is tearing us apart! We need to get rid of them before it is too late!"
"There is no evidence of any dragon ever possessing intelligence above particularly smart animal, as such, it should be treated as any other property, and as property, it is evidence, and as it is evidence, and you tried to destroy
it, I sentence you to banishment."
Erik was dragged out screaming, and Astrid seized the opportunity to speak before her father went away again.
"Dad, with nearly every interaction it seems that Toothless is not animal, however, when talked to, he gives no sign of understanding the meaning of words."
Law speaker sighed in relief.
"So it is just a particularly smart animal."
"Not necessarily, perhaps he just doesn't know our language. I mean, it's only been two weeks since he was shot down-"
"No sound leaving the lips of those beasts even approach words of any such, it is only chattel of Hiccup."
He looked down at her frowning hard, and Astrid was surprised by the insistence and anger her father put into those words. She stood there, wide eyed, as he stormed out.
She gathered herself after a while, and reached for the collar Toothless was angrily scratching at, removing the thing.
Of course the dragon instantly stood up, but she gestured to the ground with stern glare. He sat, albeit begrudgingly, and Astrid squinted in thought. Nothing had been conclusive, and she wasn't questioning her father at all in... forever.
However, despite overwhelming evidence of the night fury being just animal, pet, livestock, it didn't feel right at all to her. And following her feelings had got her to the bottom of all this in the first place, so she trusted them.
"Hey Astrid, you are having a staring contest? Can we join?" Tuffnut winked at her, and got shoved to the side by Ruffnut.
"No, I am trying to figure out how to get conclusive evidence of Toothless, or all dragons anyway, being people and not animals."
Ruffnut scratched her head and shrugged, uninterested, in turn, something sparked in Tuffnut's eyes.
Toothless looked down at pieces incredulously, as Tuffnut raised one of them and moved it one tile forward, then took other and moved it all the tiles up to the end of the board, before getting yet another piece and moving it slant, and then one of two unique ones, moving it in all ways the ones before it, then the second one and moving it one tile in each direction.
Now the night fury paid intent attention, and Tuffnut coaxed Astrid onto the chair opposite him.
"What do you bet?"
Astrid crossed her arms and huffed.
"I am not gambling."
Tuffnut smiled as charmingly as he could. It made her only suspicious, but he didn't care.
"Ah, but gambling is based on luck, or trickery, in this game however, solely your capabilities decide victory or defeat, I explained rules a while ago, do you still remember? I am not going to play without a prize to win; that would be just be a waste."
Astrid looked down at pieces, and after few seconds of thought nodded, just as he predicted.
"One silver coin."
Tuffnut shook his head in disgust.
"Do you really price me so low?"
"No, I know that it isn't the first time you play it, so I am not gambling much before I hone my skill."
Wide smile adorned the twin's face and he rubbed his hands together.
"So let's begin."
Astrid was pretty good, however, she easily lost view of overall situation when engaged in heavy fight in one region, and he used it to pin down her chief, she pouted for a blink of an eye before regaining her composure, throwed money on the table, and backed away to the evidence she was tasked with guarding, freeing Ruffnut from the job.
His face fell. His sister being away was key to even being able to play it at all. An enquiring warble interrupted him and he face-palmed.
"Right, I forgot to explain it. This piece is my…"
The dragon's ears perked up in interest, waiting for his response, Tuffnut however waited just long enough to irritate Toothless before making sure that he will forget this little move on his side with one word.
"Hiccup."
Dragon jumped and looked around, Tuffnut evaded tail coming towards his head and rolled his eyes.
"No, not actually Hiccup, imagine this piece as Hiccup, something you can't lose no matter what, so this is my Hiccup, and this is your Hiccup. If you Hiccup's fate is sealed, you lose. If my Hiccup's fate is sealed, then you win."
There was a glint of understanding in the dragon's eye, and he rubbed his hands, preparing to gain great fame by being first human to outplay a night fury.
And, of course just at this exact moment, Ruffnut interrupted.
"Leave this boring stuff!"
"Nooo! Leave me alone!"
She didn't listen and dragged him out of the chair and towards the table with other Thorstons, making Tuffnut gasp in horror.
A black - or was it very dark blue? - dragon head grabbed Ruffnut by collar of her shirt and deposited her few meters away to her very vocal chagrin before looking at him eagerly.
"Okay, just for this one time I will play without a potential prize."
He sat on his chair and dragon kicked away a second one before sitting on floor on its place, buzzing with excitement, Toothless stretched his paw towards the board before pausing and bringing his head down. Tuffnut was dumbstruck.
"NO! Get your mouth out, do you know how many people touch it!? I will move the pieces; just show me where to."
After a while of gesturing he managed to make the dragon get it, and the game started!
Giggling as madman he definitely was, Tuffnut employed his best strategies, the ones used to compete with players on and above his level in half-finals, it was excessive, Toothless was new in this, but he wanted his victory to be complete and total.
Toothless's pupils were narrowing and narrowing. The dragon was surely panicking, trapped, helpless to change his fate, capable only of hurting his hunters but not to win with them, frantically trying to protect his chief at all cost!
Wait. Why did he have a very toothy smile?
Tuffnut analysed the board and gasped, his eyes bloating more and more as he checked and re-checked it. Finally he sniffed and ran towards Astrid.
"What?"
"Leash him here! And chain, and put blindfold on him!"
"Calm down, what had happened."
Astrid readied her hatchet.
"H-he o-ou-tpla-a-a-ayeeed MEEE!"
Tuffnut burst into tears, and Astrid perked up.
"He understood it all? He can play it?"
Crying continued, and she rolled her eyes.
"Fine, I will check myself, sit here and beat anyone nearer than three steps from the evidence table to unconsciousness."
He nodded, sniffling.
"I- can do -that."
Toothless was puffing his chest out and was very fond of himself, she pointed at board and he gave her a toothless smile.
...Wait. What?!
She reached to him, gingerly checking his gums, poking her head inside his mouth, but all she could see were little white nubs at bottom of each place full teeth should be.
Who, why, how?!
With a resounding clink that seemed loud as thunder to her, Astrid jumped back with a loud yelp of surprise as pearl-white teeth appeared seemingly out of nowhere around her neck.
"You- you."
Toothless made a cocky grin, and she narrowed her eyes at him before heading off, his behavior enough of a confirmation to enact her next step. She turned around, searching for big teenager, and indeed, he was sitting morosely several tables away.
"Fishlegs? I need your help."
Teenager froze and glanced her way sheepishly.
"W-what f-for?"
Astrid rolled her eyes and pointed at Toothless sitting few dozens of feets off, still unbearably proud of his victory by the game board, looking expectedly at everyone passing near.
"Tuffnut managed to teach Toothless to play Maces and Talons."
"W-wh-WHAT?!"
-Easy fish, it is evidence that he indeed is a person, but he doesn't know more than a few Norse words, I want you to teach him more.
"He can speak?!"
Astrid rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth at eager squeaks, she appreciated dedication, but-
-Couldn't you just calm down? No, he can't speak, or if he can, he doesn't. He just is capable of comprehending language.
Fishlegs crossed his arms and pouted for a second, muttering something about it being not 'just' thing but 'big thing' before getting up and bouncing towards Night Fury with maniacal glee.
-I will teach him Astrid, I will. Don't worry about that.
She nodded and headed yet again back to the evidence, looking around for her father but not spotting him. Well, it seemed she needed to wait until he returned, be it today or tomorrow; she is meant to guard the evidence after all, and she wasn't about to leave her duty just to give news that could wait.
It was hunger that woke the dragon to the welcoming, beautiful night, and she laid for a while longer listening to the lulling sound of the ocean before getting up and heading to green patch she could spot towards the end of the flooded valley.
It was a lovely fores, filled with smells she barely could remember, enough to recognize but not to name, and crossed by streams of water. But as much as she would like to enjoy this longer, her stomach was very insistent, so she focused on finding some prey.
Prowling slowly with her full attention on her senses, she reached a long legged, furry animal with disproportionately big horns. One mighty leap and powerful bite to the neck turned it into tasty dinner.
Its meat was heavier, fatter than that of fish, but she wolfed it all down anyways. It hurt that way though, and she quickly regretted stuffing herself so much that her belly had become rounded.
Whining, she searched for some good spot to rest, and she finally curled up in small depression below particularly big tree. At least now she knew that eating like that was a bad idea.
It took a big chunk of the night, but her belly eventually calmed down so she could stand without groaning, and she strode throughout the forest, killing time by sniffing everything she could get her nose onto until she could fly without pain.
Once in the air, she wondered where to go. Her decision to go straight south, as far away from the hungry one as possible, came fast. Night was already ending, however, and she crossed only a small distance before dawn broke.
Light forced her to squint, but she forged onwards, she needed to distance herself from…from that thing. Discomfort was a small price for this, and she paid it willingly.
Day was...weird. It was so bright that it stung her eyes, but she could see much farther than at night and spot a lot of landscape ahead without trouble, including mountain range far below ahead of her she that she would have been completely unable to see at night.
The dragoness decided that she will fly up to the mountains before resting, and steadied herself for a prolonged flight.
Mountains were not getting nearer fast enough for her liking, they were higher than she suspected it seemed, so the flight dragged out to be a much longer escapade than she had thought.. She had been flying for a big chunk of the day now, maybe even most of it since the sun was descending below the horizon…
She rapidly opened her eyes, heart beating in her chest as if it wanted to break her ribs, she was a bit farther than she remembered she should be now, she shook her head and calmed down before
Dragoness shook her head yet again, realizing she had been dozing mid-flight.
Deciding that this was definitely time to land, she angled herself downward and headed onto a big bald hill. The night fury stumbled upon landing, nearly falling over. She shook herself from head to tail and laid down. For a while she thought that something wasn't't right, that she should do...something.
Then she finally dozed off and descended into deep slumber.
Yeah, there is stuff happening on Berk, building up to certain thing I am practically giddy about, and my little OC just got insomnia; yay!
About posting timeframe; this one came out relatively close to previous part, but I plan on posting chapters per two weeks, so to have comfortable timeframe with both my writing and for reviews of my very helplfull Beta readers; SkylerZhu and YPM_33_KI. It seems that I am... bad at grammar, without they help, you all would likely just quite up to this point because of me butchering english XD.