Sorry for the long wait for a short chapter. To make it up to you, we check back in on Elsa in this chapter.
The dragons landed back at Dragon's Edge. Sunset was nearing, and after dismounting, the riders went to a nearby building. Indi followed, unsure of what he else was to do.
He entered the building, where the other riders seemed to be gathering around an elevated fireplace that had a stone rim. A smoke hood was suspended over top, and a chimney was connected to guide the smoke above the structure.
"Indi," Hiccup said. "Welcome to the Dragon's Edge clubhouse."
Indi smiled and nodded.
Toothless walked over to the newcomer and started to sniff him. Indi sensed curiosity emanating from the dragon, and felt no sense of menace at all. The large emerald eyes possessed huge oval pupils. Indi smiled and let his eyes flash to their Indominus form for just a moment, then smiled slightly. The black dragon pulled his head back in shock for a moment, before proceeding to lay down on the wooden floor. The boy sat next to him, and the dragon continued to smell him curiously.
Indi smiled, before looking back to the riders, who were looking at him in shock.
"What?"
"Toothless accepted you," Hiccup said. "And he's doesn't normally do that." He pointed to the Night Fury, who continued to smell Indi.
"Hm," Fishlegs said, observing the interactions of Indi and the dragon. "Toothless seems to have accepted Indi as one of his own. He's treating him like another dragon."
"He has never done this before," Hiccup said. "Normally, you need to gain his trust first."
"Perhaps I have, somehow," Indi said, looking at the Night Fury thoughtfully.
That night, Indi was sleeping peacefully. Toothless had outright refused to go with his rider to sleep, instead choosing to stay with his new friend. Indi didn't mind; he was used to sleeping with a being that was much larger than himself.
He was shaken awake by the familiar sound of a loud roar. He and Toothless both jumped to their feet, and looked to the direction that the roar came from. A few seconds later, Hookfang and Snotlout were flying across the sky, away from the roar. Hookfang was ablaze, flames trailing from every inch of his body. Indi heard Snotlout shouting from the back of his dragon "Screaming Death! Screaming Death!"
Indi and Toothless looked at each other in sync, before running to Hiccup's hut; a purple, red and brown structure with various metal additions and what appeared to be a forge. Hiccup had run out of his hut, and, upon seeing Toothless, leapt in to the saddle.
The rest of the riders landed at Hiccup's hut.
"Snotlout, what's going on?" Astrid said.
"Hookfang and I were on patrol, when we landed to look at… something. Suddenly, a baby Screaming Death came out of the forest."
"A baby Screaming Death?" Hiccup asked confused. "Fishlegs, please explain."
The large male opened a leather-bound book, and flipped several pages. "Snotlout, are you sure it was a Screaming Death? The Book of Dragons says: 'Born once very hundred years or so.'"
"I'm sure," Snotlout replied. "Unless there happens to be another white dragon with blood-red eyes and spikes on its back."
A loud roar shook the platform that they were situated on.
"That's no Screaming Death," Hiccup muttered. Footsteps began to shake the structure as whatever-it-was started to make its way up to Hiccup's hut.
Indi looked behind him and saw Stormfly snap her tail spines erect. Toothless and the other dragons growled.
Soon, a large, white creature with horns above its red eyes strode along up the walkway. Its large arms sported curved talons, and its conical teeth were set in its jaws semi-haphazardly.
Seeing Indi, the creature lowered its head, opened its mouth, and roared, but kept an even pace.
"Hiccup," Indi said, never removing his gaze from the approaching creature. "Call the dragons off."
"Hel, no," Snotlout shot out.
Without waiting for an answer, Indi turned and walked towards the white beast. She roared once more, and shoved her face into Indi's. Indi felt the blast of air come from her nostrils.
"Do not be like that," Indi chittered. "I can go places without you constantly breathing down my neck."
Lapsus snarled in extreme disapproval. Indi was aware of her distaste for his "escapades", as humans called them. Lacrima, Noctem, and Venator walked up behind Lapsus. Indi greeted them happily, turned on his heel, and walked back to the gathered riders, his pack following him.
"Everyone, I'd like to you to meet my pack." He pointed at the respective animals. "These three are Lacrima, Noctem, and Venator. And this big girl is Lapsus." The three raptors looked at the new faces, curiously cocking their heads to the side. Toothless started to walk forward in welcome, which triggered the four members of Indi's pack to snap their head to look at the black dragon. Lapsus growled, taking a threatening step forward.
Toothless growled, barring his teeth. This did not fit well with Lapsus, who released a short but loud roar and protectively placed one set of talons around Indi.
"Hiccup," Indi said, looking up at Lapsus, who never removed her gaze from Toothless. "Could you call Toothless off?"
Hiccup nodded. "Toothless, no." The black dragon looked at his rider, and backed down from the impending fight.
Once Toothless had stopped threatening their alpha, Lapsus and her raptor comrades noticeably calmed.
Fishlegs tentatively stepped forward. "What kind of dragons are they?"
"These three look like Speed Stingers," Astrid commented, pointing at the smaller creatures.
Lapsus' head swiveled to look at the riders. Indi freed himself from her claws, and motioned for his pack to settle down. The animals complied, sitting upon the wooden walkway like giant birds. Satisfied, Indi rejoined the group of riders.
"I guess they are dragons, in a sense. Lacrima, Noctem, and Venator are all Velociraptors," Indi said proudly. "And Lapsus here is an Indominus rex."
"Can you tell us anything about them?" Fishlegs asked, taking out a stick of charcoal.
Indi smiled, pleased that the initial meeting went this well. "What would you want to know?"
"How much can you tell us?" Hiccup asked.
As the other riders went back to their huts to sleep, Indi, Hiccup, and Fishlegs spent several hours writing two new entries into the Book of Dragons, one for Velociraptors, and one for Indominus.
Soon, the sun rose, bathing the entire island and surrounding water in glorious light.
After the group had finished their morning meal, Hiccup came to Indi with an offer. "Indi, care to go on a flight with us?"
Indi looked at Toothless, and nodded. "Sure."
Queen Elsa sat in her office, reading over the report.
"The rebuilding of the shops are coming along according to schedule," the officer said. Her brown hair held back in a simple ponytail. Her uniform was plain-looking compared to the official armor of other Arendellian soldiers. However, this soldier's chest was decorated by a skeletal silhouette of a dinosaur.
The queen nodded. "Anything else I should be notified of, Miss Tyrannus?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," Brynn said. "There have been some… incidents… with the dinosaurs."
"Incidents? Of what sort?"
"No fatalities or injuries. Some of the smaller ones get into people's homes and businesses, and the larger ones seem of have trouble navigating the streets without causing some small scale destruction. This has elicited some complaints from the townspeople. They feel that the dinosaurs are extremely dangerous, a fact in which they are absolutely correct."
"Thank you for the information, Miss Tyrannus. I will hold a council meeting later today to discuss this issue."
Brynn nodded, bowed, and then turned on her heel before striding out of the door.
As Indi settled down for the night, Lapsus curled around him protectively. Lacrima, Noctem, and Venator nestled on the ground next to the large animal and their alpha. Hiccup walked up to the group but stopped when Lapsus growled a warning. The one-legged Viking heeded the warning and stopped his approach.
"Indi," he said. "We need to talk."
"Sure," Indi replied, rising from his spot next to Lapsus. "About what?"
"Walk with me," Hiccup said, motioning with his head up to the clubhouse. Indi strode up to the other male, and the pair walked off to the meeting area of the outpost.
"What's on your mind?" Indi asked after a few moments of silence.
"I have some concerns," Hiccup began, as they stepped onto a wooden pathway. "I would normally be open and accepting, but I need to know some things about you."
"Alright, lay 'em on me."
Hiccup cleared his throat. "Firstly, who are you? Where did you come from?"
"I was sent by the ruling monarch of the country of Arendelle. I am to locate potential allies and stop a madman from advancing his vendetta against Arendelle and myself personally. I can't tell you much more than that at the moment, but I can tell you that he wants dragons for his plan."
Hiccup was thoughtful as they entered the clubhouse, where the rest of the riders were waiting. "Do you think that this man is involved with the dragon hunters?"
"I have considered that," Indi replied, turning to look at the moon. "But there is no evidence to support that right now."
"When are you supposed to go back?"
"To where, Arendelle?" At Hiccup's nod, Indi paused before replying. "I haven't actually been given a deadline for when I should return to Arendelle. Though if I stay for too long Elsa will probably get worried."
"Who's Elsa?" Snotlout asked.
"The queen of Arendelle. She sent me to locate you guys."
"Why did she send just you?" Astrid asked. "Wouldn't it make more sense to send several people and several ships?"
"It would, yes," Indi confirmed. "But she had other things that would require her troops. That and I volunteered to go on this mission with only my pack. I had a feeling that it would be very dangerous."
"That takes guts," Tuffnut said, showing Indi some real respect.
"Hey," Astrid shot back. "I knew he had guts when he landed in front of Ryker with a spear, challenging him. That takes guts."
The blue form of Stormfly came up from behind Indi, and nuzzled the newcomer affectionately. Indi smiled; he had a feeling he would like it here.
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