Drageria
Ch. 35: How to Train BefriendYour Dragon
One day in Drageria, Izuku, Momo, Uraraka, Kirishima, and Shinso were summoned into Tachibana's office. Standing before the winged god, he told them something so shocking that it caused their collective minds and the single brain cell shared between them to shut down effectively and do a hard reset. After their minds had come back online, especially after they stood before Tachibana for an uncomfortable amount of time, making him worry, Izuku was the first to speak.
"I'm sorry, where are we going?", he asked the man again, forgetting his proper etiquette.
Seeing as they heard but didn't fully understand, Tachibana repeated in brief summary, "You'll be taking a month-long excursion to the many Islands of Drageria."
"I didn't know Drageria was an archipelago?", Uraraka stated.
"Not many do. It's where we get our resources. If we didn't, the mainland would go to hell!" Tachibana told the group with all the theatrics he could muster while also telekinetically moving a map of Drageria showing the main island and all the smaller ones surrounding it.
"Is this because of the whole pizza thing that got us that strange reputation?", Shinso inquired.
This sent a shiver down all the teen spines, and they looked between one another before looking back at the god, where he laughed and waved his hand dismissively, assuring them, "No, no, no, nothing like that. This isn't a punishment. This is something that every member of the royal guard has to do a few times a year. A small population of the island lives on these smaller ones to bring the resources the main island needs. To show I don't leave them alone, I send the guard to well…guard." but the teens still didn't look convinced, and Tachibana sighed in irritation as he told them, "Look, all you have to do is island hop for the next month and watch over the people. Then you come back. Simple as that."
"That doesn't sound too bad.", Momo put forth.
"How many Islands are there?", Kirishima asked him.
"Well, my kids created the first six and then made combinations of two between themselves. So there are about….36 in total," Tachibaba informed them, doing fast math in his head.
Instead of seeing a loom of wonder on the teens' faces, the god saw shock and some discomfort as they all reacted in varying yet extreme ways!
"36! But there are only 30 days in a month! Are you saying we'll stay a day on each one or a half day!?", Momo exclaimed, trying to wrap her head around it.
But Tachibana quickly put their minds at ease and assured them while standing from his chair, "No, no, no. You'll be staying on only a few. By year's end, you'll have been to each one." Finally, getting the kids to calm down, he stood firm and shooed them off with his hands while telling them, "Now, off with all of you. You better hurry, or you'll miss the boat."
Stone Island
Through an unspecified amount of time, the five tens had all their bags packed and were loaded onto a small fishing vessel with about a dozen other soldiers, all ranging in age. The boat ride was smooth, peaceful, quiet, and relatively quick, as it only took about an hour before they hit the shore. Once they were loaded off, a group of other soldiers were loaded onto the same boat, no doubt the ones they were hanging out with, and rode back off. But before the teens could do anything, they were informed by a very passionate and forceful man to stay behind some designated barriers, which were just huge walls of pure iron.
"What exactly is going on here?", Izuku asks the somewhat rude man.
"Quite, child! And put these on," the man barked at him while handing over a pair of earplugs.
Seeing no reason to argue and the fact that everyone else was doing the same thing, Izuku shoved them into his ears so deep and firmly that the one sound he could hear was blood rushing through his head. Luckily, the boy didn't have to wonder what they were doing for long when he suddenly got his answer through the ground. Without warning, a huge earthquake hit the floor and nearly knocked the boy off his feet! After grabbing hold of someone, he steadied himself when he noticed the earthquake had stopped. Then it happened again, stopped, and happened again.
This wasn't an earthquake; some were hitting the earth so hard it shook! But what? After a bit, the shaking finally stopped, and someone nearby tapped Izuku and motioned for him to take his earplugs out. Taking them out, Izuku heard the sound of several dozens of voices from people all exploding around him. What he hadn't noticed was that they weren't the only ones taking shelter; there were also dozens of people behind several other barriers near the sea border. All of whom looked like mines and stone masons: dirty, dusty, well-worn, and heavily built.
When Izuku looked behind the barrier, he saw that most of the island was nothing but stone mountains of varying sizes. Did they get bigger? And what in the world was that weird earthquake? Just before the boy could question everything going on, Shinso beat him to it.
"What in the fresh hell was that?", he asked a person with severe confusion and concern on his face.
"Hmm? Oh, that? That was Prince Ninhogg. This island is made almost entirely out of stone, a non-renewable resource, so when the island starts to get a little…flat, he comes and raises it up a bit.", the worker explains.
"So the island's main export is the stone you mine?", Uraraka questions.
"Not just that. We also dig up precious gems, ore, and gold—lots and lots of gold. We also make bricks, but the main refinery of these materials usually goes to Fire Island," the man tells her.
"Fire island? Of course there's a fire island.", Momo gripes at the thought of an island perpetually aflame.
"What about grouchy pants over there? I like a manly dude who can take charge, but he seems…rude.", Kirishima asked while motioning with his thumb to the older man barking orders to several people.
The man chuckles and tells them, "That's just Maverick. He's old and grouchy, granted, but he means well, and if it weren't for him, this whole operation would fall apart."
"OI! No slacking, slacker! Back to work! We need three more tons of stone by the afternoon.", Maverick yells at the man.
"Yes sir!", he calls back while picking up his pickaxe and heading off.
As the five teens converged with one another, they all whispered their complaints and gripes. Shinso starts off by saying with a huff, "What a blowhard."
"That dude is on the verge of toxic manliness.", Kirishima grumbled.
"At least we don't have to deal with him," Izuku said, trying to avert their irritation.
"Agreed.", Momo concurred while Uraraka just glared at the man's head.
"So, any idea of what to do now?", Kirishima inquired.
All the teens shook their heads and looked around for something or someone to give them some advice. They soon found an older shoulder in a uniform coated in a thin layer of rock dust, so they decided he was as good as any.
"Excuse me, sir. Could you help some newbies out on their first day?" Izuku asked the older soldier.
"Sure, do you know any?", he asked with a smirk, making Izuku glare at him. The man laughed before saying, "I'm just pulling your leg, kids. Come with me."
With no hesitation, the teens followed. On their walk, they noticed how much was happening around them. People were running all around. Large carts with ore, stone, and precious gems were wheeled around. Tents with people mixing ingredients before shoving them in a furnace to make bricks. Chips, chisels, and files were at full working speed to refine anything and everything. Boxes and barrels are being filled to the brim before being shipped off to the docks. It was a true industrial sight.
Eventually, they were taken to what was thought to be the housing area. It was surrounded by a huge metal wall, with huge square homes made of metal dotting the inside of the only flat area on the whole island. They were taken to the back of this area, where the man motioned to what was supposed to be their accommodations.
"So here's where you'll be sleeping. It's gender-separate. And to the left is where you'll wash up," the soldier explained while pointing to the largest building before them and a small building next to it.
"Why is every house here built like a box and made of such thick metals?", Kirishima asked while knocking on the wall of the soldiers' building and getting no echo from how solid it was.
"When Prince Nidhogg creates more mountains for us to mine, he pounds into the earth and forces it up, causing huge amounts of stone to shoot up everywhere. If they weren't like this, we'd have to rebuild our living arrangements all the time," the man explained to them with an awkward chuckle, making them realize he spoke from experience.
"So what exactly do we do here?", Uraraka inquired, looking around and remembering what she saw before, knowing there wasn't much to do.
"It's basically what you would do on the mainland. Stand around, be on the lookout, help when needed, break up altercations," the man answers.
"Sounds pretty easy.", Izuku says with hope.
"Sounds pretty boring.", Shinso put forth.
"Yeah, well, I don't think that'll be a problem for much longer." The soldier said, looking out toward the mainland. He added, "I wasn't on the mainland when it was attacked, but I saw it. It reminds me of how important my job is and how much I need to keep on top." He said this with a whimsical and distant tone.
Hearing this, the teens realized the gravity of the attack on Drageria. Sure, it was bad for them, but it would've been worse for the people on the smaller islands. With the support and transportation of the mainland, the smaller islands would stay intact. Watching your provider suddenly come under fire, and you're helpless to do anything, the teens couldn't even imagine. It now made sense why Tachibana sent soldiers to these smaller and significantly safer islands. It was always to show they were cared about and not forgotten.
The teens looked out in the direction the man was, imagining the mainland as they saw it, and realized why they were soldiers. Not only the duty but also the comfort it brought. Their job was and always is important, and now more than ever. And so they all said, in agreement, "Yeah."
Luckily, this unusual moment of self-reflection was interrupted by the older soldier, who told the teens, "Oh! I almost forgot. Let me show you the way to get around this island."
A bit confused by the sudden offer but ultimately wanting to know as much as they could, the teens agreed, put their things into the bunker, and followed the man. The trip was short, as the island was no bigger than Kauai, but hard due to the uneven ground. Eventually, they made their way to a section of the island that was much like the living quarters: a large, tall, thick iron wall of massive proportions that covered an unknown amount of land.
The soldier went to a nearby set of bells and ran them in a certain order. Within a minute, the huge metal gates opened, and the teens carefully walked in behind the man, showing them the way. Within the walls was a large, flat land made of small boulders dotted around. The teens were confused by what they were supposed to see, but the man took out a leaf whistle and blew a strange but soothing melody into it. Suddenly, several of the boulders lying about began to move and showed themselves as very strange creatures. In moments, the weird creatures began to circle the group, attracted by the melody of the whistle. The animals were large, ash gray in color, and looked like a cross between a horse, an ox, and an armadillo. Yet had a very peaceful demeanor.
"What are those?", a bit freaked out by the animals, Momo hid behind her friends and asked in concern.
"These are dodongos. One of a very small handful of creatures native to this island. They're strong, though, docile, and cheap as hell.", the soldier explained.
"Cheap? How so?", Izuku asked him
"They exclusively eat rocks," the man answered as the teens watched one of the creatures open its wide mouth of blunt teeth and bite a chunk out of a nearby boulder. It helps to have one when trying to navigate the unsteady terrain," he added as the dodongo dispersed from the group, getting nothing from them and watching as they easily maneuvered over the man-scattered boulders like they were in Covenant Hills.
A Few Days Later
The five teens had settled very well into their roles at Stone Island, which was no different from the mainland. They got up, exercised, ate, trained, and then went around the whole island on Dodongo back until evening when it was time to retire. Occasionally, they'd stand at one spot or stand guard at a mine or break up a scuffle, but that was it. It was true what everyone would say: This was easy and boring. At least they got to explore a new area.
One day, as the teens were exploring the island and making their rounds to make sure everything was peaceful, they decided to take a small detour to the island's center. Apparently, that's where Nidhogg went to create more stones from the earth to be mined up. Going up many large and uneven mountains, the group finally found themselves at the top, where they looked down upon an enormous crater that burrowed deep within the earth but gingerly sloped down. If it wasn't for this hole, the island may be much larger.
Before they could get any closer or do anything else, the foreman Maverick shouted at them, "Hey you stupid kids! You trying to kill yourselves!?", looking over to the sound of the voice, they saw the foremen alongside several other workers on a flattened platform where he shouted, "If you wanna look over the edge then get over here and see for yourself!"
The teens then stirred their dodongos to the platform, and the strange creatures, just like climbing up the mountain, made their way across the narrow and uneven pointed tops with slow ease. After they landed safely, the teens looked over the edge to admire the width and depth of the hole! None of them had ever seen the Grand Canyon, so they assumed this was what it looked like.
"HEY!", Maverik yelled at them, nearly causing the teens to jump over the edge.
Luckily, Uraraka caught Kirishima before he fell, and the others threw themself onto the platform. When they calmed down from the shock, Momo expressed her fury to the man. "What on earth is wrong with you?! You see us looking over the edge, and you sneak up to yell at us?! Do you need to be fined to know how dumb of an idea that is?"
But the man blew her off while shouting back, "Ah, you won't do that shit! And what the hell are you kids doing here!? Shouldn't you be down on the ground and searching the area like good little soldier ants?! Get the hell back down and do your jobs! You think this is a tourist spot?!"
Izuku glared at him and then listed off, "Intimidating a soldier, unnecessary aggravation, unsafe working attitude, attempted assault on multiple soldiers. Momo, are you getting all this?"
"Every word," Momo told him while jotting everything down on a pad and pen she had made.
"Why you little-!", Maverick began to say as he foamed from the mouth and turned beet red.
"Yeah, yeah, keep it coming. You're only adding more fuel to the fire." Shinso goated him, making the man even angrier.
As this was going down, Uraraka was back at the railing, looking over the side at the massive hole. She had seen something before but couldn't quite see it, but now she was almost sure it was! So she asked, "Hey guys, do you see that?"
"See what?", Kirishima asked while looking over the edge with her.
"That big pile of rocks. Is it…moving?", Uraraka explained while pointing to a precariously placed mound of boulders at the center of the crater that, from the redhead's view, weren't moving.
Kirishima squinted his eyes and told her, "I think you might just be suffering from altitude sickness." Just when he pulled up his head to look at her, she was gone. "Uraraka?" he asked while looking around, feeling a foreboding feeling in the pit of his stomach. He looked over the edge and saw the girl floating down towards the center of the hole! From there, he shouted, "Uraraka!"
Hearing the redheads yell, the other teens stopped what they were doing and looked over to see the girl already halfway down the crater. Maverick did much the same and yelled, "What is she doing?! She can go down there!"
"I have no idea what she's doing, but let's find out.", Izuku told him as he began to climb over the railing to follow after her.
Only for Maverick to pull him off as he exclaimed, "Oh no, you don't! Don't you realize why this pit has no way down?! It is because this is where Prince Nidhogg makes more stones for us to gather. It would be a waste of resources to make a new way up and down time after time."
Once Uraraka had made it to the bottom, she carefully made her way to the pile of stones and looked within it. Just when she was about to rest a hand to look deep inside, the boulders shook. She jumped back but steeled her nerves and looked within, seeing a single large and heavily drooping eye! Without a moment to spare, she began to touch each boulder and float them into the air. With each boulder that rose into the air, a shape could be seen from within the pile.
Back above, the group was still watching the girl do whatever when Kirishima said aloud, "Wait, look, something is under the boulders!"
Everyone tried to get a closer look but couldn't see anything except for Momo, who made some binoculars and asked, "Is that Nidhogg?!"
"What's he still doing here?", Shinso asked.
"Was he trapped? I thought he ate stones?", Kirishima questions.
Izuku looked around and saw that despite there being plenty of stones for the dodongo to eat, not one of them was trying even to pebble. So he picked one up and looked it over while offering, "Maybe he can't eat these. That would explain why he couldn't get them off."
"It's bedrock. Bedrock is the one thing that the dodongo's and Nidhogg can't eat.", Maverick told them.
Just then, Izuku remembered something and exclaimed, "Oh shit! Uraraka!", he shouted over the side loud enough to draw her attention. Seeing this, he yelled as fast and hard as he could, "Get out of there, fast! Nidhogg is-!"
Only for Nidhogg to suddenly return from whatever stupor he was in as his eyes burst open and smashed out of the cage of stone and roared!
"aggressive.", Izuku eked out.
As Nidhogg stood off against the young girl, baring his teeth, Uraraka slowly backed away. But before any of her friends could go down to save her, Maverick was already in motion as he jumped over the side and slid down the sloping wall, using a pickaxe to slow his descent. Once he reached the bottom, he rushed in front of the girl, defending her with nothing but his pickaxe.
"Stay behind me, kid!", he shouted as Nidhogg roared. "Easy, Nidhogg, easy! I know you tense, but-.", Maverick began to say as he tried to ward the dragon off, only for the beast to swipe him away with one blow from his stumpy limb, causing him to be flung and knocked unconscious on a rock.
Nidhogg turned his attention back to Uraraka and slowly brought his face to herself, continuing to bare his teeth as everyone could only watch with bated breaths! Momo was already creating an anti-tank rifle while Shinso was covering his eyes, and Izuku was about to jump down with Kirishma. Only for the girl's expression to change from worry to fearless as she stood firm before the dragon, Nidhogg took this as a challenge and roared into her face.
Then, in one motion, Uraraka slapped the dragon's face hard enough for him to move his face in the other direction and yelled, "No! Bad dragon, bad! I save you from being trapped any further, and this is how you act! Bad bad bad!", everyone stood still in horrified shock, especially Izuku who looked white as a sheet. Nidhogg was so overtaken with shock that he did not do anything for a few seconds. Only for him to get his nerve back and try to raise her again, earning him another slap as Uraraka yelled, "I said no!", Nidhogg stood there, unsure of what to do at this moment, until the girl pointed to one side of the pit and commanded, "Now go sit in the corner and think about what you did."
Nidhogg looked like he was going to act against her, but the fiery look in her eyes swayed him to reconsider. So he curled in on himself like a cat and waddled over to the corner to have a timeout.
"Holy-!", Izuku was about to curse.
"Wow!", Kirishima finished off for him.
After a few minutes, Uraraka floated herself and the unconscious body of Maverick back up the hole, where she gently deposited herself and him onto the ground. Here, four friends surrounded her and bombarded her with questions and compliments.
"Uraraka, that was incredible! Even though I couldn't get Nidhogg to act like that with me, how'd you do it?", Izuku asked her in shock and amazement.
"I used to have a dog; it's kind of the same, actually," Uraraka told him.
Just then, several of the stone workers came and collected Maverick into a stretcher where Kirishima asked, "Is Maverick going to be okay?"
The worker told him, "We just need to get him to a medical tent. This isn't the first time he's been slammed against something."
Just before he was taken away, Uraraka came up and told him, "Hey Maverick, if you can still hear me. Even though you're a hard ass, thanks for trying to protect me."
Hey everyone, I'm back; sorry for the extended leave again. If you haven't noticed, I went through all my stories and put ALL the chapters in the spell checker. So yeah...that was tons of fun. I also got a cover image for this and my other stories! A big thanks to baran5 for the cover art...whenever you get it done. If you are looking for a commission, send her a message on Discord at baran59354. Check out their Instagram or Discord to purchase your own amazing works of art. Now, before I get into more fights and story beats, I'm going to develop the kids and the dragons a bit. Like I did in this one, each chapter may have one or two parts, depending on the length. Until then, thanks for reading, and have a Plus Ultra day!
Discord-baran59354