A/N: I've been a little nervous about posting this chapter. But you know what, whatever here it comes. Please give me feedback. And sorry for being a scaredy cat about posting this one. Seriously I must have edited it about a billion times.
"Wait." Snotlout said suddenly. It was during yet another of their meetings to get Hiccup back to normal. Everyone was there, minus Heather and Windshear. Akey was leaning into Hiccup, who was lying against Toothless. At Snotlout's sudden exclamation, everyone turned. Fishlegs looked up from the book he had been reading, and Stoick looked over at him from where he had been talking with Astrid. Gobber had just walked in.
"Hasn't it been a moon?" The teen stated. "Hiccup should be mad by now, right?"
Everyone stared at Hiccup, who seemed very much in his right mind, and was gently hugging Akey next to him. Akey perked up at this.
"You're r-right." He mumbled. "You should have gone mad by now, which signals you only have one moon left, but you're not mad." Astrid felt the first burst of hope she'd felt for a long while. The mood in the clubhouse became happier.
"Wait, so I'm actually right?" Snotlout asked. "I mean, yeah, of course I'm right." He smiled proudly, crossing his arms.
Hiccup looked somewhat cheered, and even Toothless was much happier. Akey tried to stay reserved, but this new hope put a spring even in his step.
Fishlegs had finally found information on Akey. It was a dusty, very well worn, incredibly old book written by some obscure dragon hunter. It showed a picture of a humanoid figure, followed by a dragon-humanoid figure, and an arrow showing flow between the two. The full moon was etched above the dragon figure.
The worn runes ran down the page, giving information.
Were-dragon:
A horrible, unnatural beast I found on my travels. Takes the form of an innocent human at first glance. But as soon as the full moon rises, it transforms into a horrible, bloodthirsty beast with no known weaknesses. I have tangled with this beast more times than I have counted. They are dangerous, and should be avoided at all costs. I mean it. Run for your life. This creature holds a huge, terrifying curse within, a curse that can be passed to it's victim. It has the horrible instinct to destroy its victims in the most horrible way possible. Some sort of venom, I think.
When it gets in any human, it changes 'em. First, the victim gets all sympathetic to the beast. Wants ta protect it at all costs. Then it's victim turns dragon. Horrifying, I know. Then, at some point, the victim dies this horrible sort of way. I never seen it. I just know it's painful. As far as I know, there's no way to stop this. So, RUN.
After that, there were some graphic descriptions of the Were-dragons. Fishlegs put the book aside.
"There. That's all there is. It's not much, but it's something." He stated, rubbing a hand over his blonde hair.
"It matches Akey pretty well. I guess Akey has a species." Hiccup mumbled, a claw to his chin in thought. Akey was staring down at the paper that was all the research they could find on his species. A sadness was in his eyes.
"So this is all I am." He whispered. "And all I will ever be."
Hiccup reached out and grabbed the book. "There's no other notes? Nothing more?"
Fishlegs shook his head. "That's it. I combed through every single book we have here, every single book brought from Berk, Bork's notes, my notes, Dragon eye notes. This is it."
"Maybe not." Hiccup murmured, a smile growing on his face. He turned the paper around and showed it to Fishlegs, pointing to the page. "Look at the corner."
Fishlegs looked down at the corner. There was a lumpy circle surrounded by other lumpy circles. "Yeah, I saw that."
"Islands." Hiccup said. Fishleg's eyes widened.
"Not any we've seen before." The large teen stated.
"They look familiar to me." Hiccup said. "I think this is near the southern islands."
Fishlegs suddenly looked excited. "Maybe this is where he found the Were-dragons!"
"Are you g-guys actually t-trying to f-find more of me?" Akey asked. "That seems like a b-bad idea."
"Maybe if we can talk to them, they have a cure!" Hiccup said excitedly.
"Or they could be incredibly hostile." Astrid said. The boys turned to see her standing in the doorway. "Or they don't have a cure. And even if they don't attack the moment they see us, and there actually are a few there, Hiccup, we don't know if you'll die before we get there. You're not going."
"Yes I am, I'm the one you're trying to cure! Besides, I feel fine." Hiccup pointed out.
"You're not-"
"Yes I am."
"No-"
He ended up going. Hiccup modified Toothless' saddle for his large paws to fit in the stirrups, and he managed to sit on the Night Fury and work the tail somewhat clumsily while keeping his own tail tucked in and wings folded. It was hilarious and awkward to watch a Night Fury figure riding another Night Fury. Akey rode with Fishlegs. They took a few days of flying on and off to get there, but eventually, the islands were in sight.
Akey was understandably nervous. As was everyone else. They had no idea what to expect. Hiccup guided Toothless in close and took a fly over of the island, looking around among the trees and rocks. There seemed to be no movement in the thick foliage. But Toothless certainly smelled something.
'Smell danger, bud?'
'Oh yes. Something's there. I don't like it.' The Night Fury growled.
Hiccup landed Toothless on the tip of the island, and Fishlegs landed, notes in his pocket and Akey moving nervously behind. Hiccup waved the others to wait from a distance and swoop in if they saw trouble. Then the four headed into the center of the thick forest on the island, trekking ever inward. Toothless remained on edge, pressing close to Hiccup. Akey stayed close to Hiccup as well, for a different reason. Toothless jumped. Everyone froze. There was a pair of golden-green eyes staring at them from the undergrowth. And another. And another. More and more eyes appeared, about eight, with silhouettes behind them.
'Nighfur.' One hissed.
'Nighfur? But no such thing ex-exist.' Another answered.
'Hush! Others may hear. Nighfur or no, we must act. There others here.' An older voice replied. Fishlegs whimpered softly.
"Are they... Were-dragons?" He whispered.
One of the voices spoke again. 'There is a young with them! We most act now!'
Hiccup shook his head to clear it. He had to speak.
'Hello? I am Hic. This is Fangless. We are friends. We come wanting help.'
There was a hushed silence.
'I-Is he one of us?'
'No. He is blood-changed. I recognize the effect. It is not full-moon.'
'But he speaks our tongue!'
'What about the young?'
'What about the Nighfur? It is among them! There must be a reason! Nighfur have not been seen for many many moon-cycles!'
Hiccup was confused. He bent over and whispered in Akey's ear.
"Can you talk to them?" Akey took a deep breath.
'Excuse me, but I come here looking for help for my friend. He's changed into... this. Please, I need to get him back into a human.'
One of the shadows finally moved forward. It was a thin and lean figure with the same features as Akey, but the creature looked more aged, perhaps in his thirties. He had long black hair in a long braid that hung off of one shoulder. He was clothed in furs. He stared from Akey to Toothless to Hiccup, then glanced at Fishlegs and twitched slightly.
'You can understand us, hmm, other? Well, listen to me, please. I am Tar. These are my tribe. My family. Welcome to our home, ones blessed by the great Nighfur. You are welcome here.' He spoke, and bowed respectfully to Toothless.
Fishlegs stared from behind the others, in wonderment of the scene unfolding before him. As the only one who didn't understand dragonese, he was clueless, but he was taking the chance to gather information about the creatures on front of him.
Tar continued speaking. 'Little young, what are you called, and who is the wingless other with you?' He was staring at Akey, and Hiccup began to put pieces together. Other meant someone who wasn't a part of their tribe. Wingless meant human, perhaps. Young seemed to make sense for younger Were-dragons. Nighfur? Hiccup suspected that since they seemed to refer to Toothless, that Nighfur was their word for Night Fury. It was pretty close, anyway. And since these creatures seemed to look a lot like Night Furies, and that he had turned partway into one, it made some sense. Did these creatures have some understanding of Night Furies?
'Uh... I'm Akey.' Akey said in response to Tar. 'This is Fishlegs. He's harmless and curious. Don't worry about him.'
'Akey...?' One of the other Were-dragons murmured. 'What sort of name is that?'
Fishlegs moved closer to Hiccup.
"Hey, what are they talking about?" He asked him.
"Mostly introductions. There's some interesting language here. And they really like Toothless."
"Makes sense." Fishlegs said. "Are they going to help us?" Hiccup shrugged in reply. Toothless had been listening to the whole conversation, and he had gone from nervous to slowly more comfortable with these Were-dragons. They seemed to like him. He jolted when he felt a small hand brush him. He turned suddenly to see a small Were-dragon gently brushing the scales on his side. The little one looked completely entranced.
'Ki! Stop touching him! Get over here!' A voice hissed from the shadows. The boy turned to go, but not without looking longingly at Toothless for a moment.
Hiccup stared around at the figures, who were curious yet guarded about their guests. After the short conversation, they found themselves being guided through the thick forest by the Were-dragons. Tar seemed to be some sort of leader of high respect, or an elder or chief, because the others looked to him for answers. There weren't many smaller ones, but perhaps that made sense.
Hiccup gasped as they moved through a thick bush and found themselves in a huge clearing, guarded by a canopy of thick trees, and sunlight barely peered through the leaves. What he could see was a simple village, where most of the Were-dragons were making themselves busy. A large pile of rabbits, squirrels, and fish lay by a tree stump on one side of the clearing, and there were large huts made of branches and vines intertwined with natural logs and trunks of trees. A bunch of larger, well built Were-dragons were standing together, and one was calling out names. Hiccup couldn't quite catch everything, but he did catch a few names and words as they moved to the far end of the clearing.
'Tik, Pike, Kreta, you three will be patrol on the north. Char, Sket, Meri, the south. Tia, lead a patrol to gather moss.'
Hiccup smiled at the organization. These people knew what they were doing. He looked in a different direction to see some younger Were-dragons play fighting together, one using a stick much like a knife. He heard their loud chatter.
'I'm a wingless! I'm going to kill you!' One crowed, leaping on another.
'Get off! I'm the great fighter Stey! You'll never get in our home, you coward!'
'Will too! And you're not Stey!'
'Am too!'
"Are not!'
Hiccup chuckled. He looked back at Fishlegs, who was scribbling notes in a blur. Behind him, Toothless looked around him, curious at all the movement around him. Many of the Were-dragons were watching him, awe in their eyes. A few moved closer to get a look. A bunch of the large Were-dragons left on the patrols they seemed to have been assigned. All of the Were-dragons, Hiccup noticed were wearing furs of some kind. All of them had those golden-green eyes.
'We are here.' Tar addressed them. 'We shall see what our leader will say about you. Stay.'
Hiccup watched as he disappeared into a huge crack in a huge rock at the far end of the clearing. Fishlegs sat on the grass, and everyone else did as well. Toothless stared at the people staring at him, watching his every movement. More and more of them crowded in, all of them from every corner of the clearing, except for the ones doing jobs. An elderly looking female Were-dragon moved first, reaching out a hand to touch Toothless. The Night Fury immediately backed away slightly. He wasn't used to this.
'Nighfur.' The woman said. 'I only heard the legends of them...' A smile grew on her face, and the others behind her shifted.
'Nigh-what?' A young piped up, staring curiously at the dragon.
'Nighfur. The most powerful Winged in the night sky.' The woman murmured. 'The one who glows purple and blue.' She glanced at Toothless' tail, and up his back. Her eyes narrowed. 'Why is he wearing wingless leather? Why is his tail-fin red?'
Hiccup tensed, but let Toothless handle it.
'It's my saddle. He made it for me.' Toothless said proudly, gesturing to Hiccup. 'I was injured, and he let me fly again. If it weren't for him, I would have died grounded.' Toothless left out the part of who grounded him, and glanced meaningfully into Hiccup's eyes. 'He is my brother. And anyone who hurts him answers to me.'
The woman turned to Hiccup, a curious look in her eyes.
'You helped the great Nighfur, yes?'
'Uh, yup. That was me.' Hiccup said, nodding.
Akey was being surrounded by others his own age. They poked at him, more curious about him than Toothless.
'Why are you wearing funny furs?' One asked, looking at the bight green torn tunic Akey wore instead of their natural forest colors. 'You won't blend well for hunting that way. How do you eat?'
'Well, I just grabbed what I had too.' Akey answered, looking uncomfortable.
Tar reappeared and shooed away the curious crowd.
'Please, leave our guests now. Kemat wishes to speak to them.' He motioned for Akey and Hiccup to follow him into the cave. 'Come.'
