"Take good care of your person for me, would you?"
Your footsteps were muffled in the dew flecked grass, and Mala hadn't heard your approach. Instead she stood beside your dragon, gently scratching him beneath his chin in the same way you always would. Her attention to detail was yet another surprising quality she possessed, which made her obliviousness to your presence all the more entertaining.
"That's a promise?" She chuckled, slipping him a piece of Sagefruit despite her own recommendations for the travel.
The irony seemed to be lost on her.
"You're not trying to sabotage me, are you?"
"Oh! It's you!" Her back went rigid as she turned to face you, cheeks burning bright. "You overheard our chat there?"
"Just some of it." You giggled. "Specifically the part about keeping me safe, then feeding my dragon the thing that makes them super relaxed and not keen on fighting."
"It was only a piece!" She said through a laugh. "But I see your point. Though, I'd trust him to look after you well either way."
"He's been pretty reliable. I mean, that's actually how he and I wound up together."
"Is it?"
You nodded, properly approaching the two and throwing your bag on the Flame Whipper's back. "I was helping out the dragon riders, and was scouting an area with Fishlegs and the twins. Fishlegs found some 'fascinating fauna', the twins got on him about that, and I kept doing my job because like... Who doesn't want to impress the first dragon riders in the entire archipelago, right?"
"Right." Her eyes met yours, and there they stayed as she slipped your dragon another, slightly smaller piece of fruit.
With pursed lips and narrowed eyes, you pressed on.
"....Anyway, it turns out the area we were scouting happened to be home to a very, very territorial Nadder. I don't have a dragon, so I'm stuck dealing with this on foot, and as you know, Nadders are fast. I'm running, I can hear spines hitting trees, and at this point I'm pretty sure I'm dead. Then, there was a roar, and a bunch of rustling behind me. I turned around, and this guy was trying to fend it off."
"And it had never even met you?"
You shrugged. "Not that I know of. We had helped an injured dragon in the area earlier, so maybe he saw we weren't a threat? He definitely learned that when we patched him up afterwards." You lifted his wing and motioned to the a lengthy scar along his side."Either way, I'm pretty sure he saved my life that day."
"Fortunately." The queen said through a grin. "It would have been a shame to have never met you."
By the time you reached the nameless island with Hiccup, you found yourself more undecided on what species of dragon you wanted than you were when you left. The two of you had spent the better part of the flight discussing it, weighing pros and cons of each of the most appealing species, and trying to rule out entire classes based on your preferences. You finally decided that you'd just go with whatever stood out to you when you met it.
And it turned out, after about half an hour on the island, the thing standing out most to you was the towering Typhoomerang you were staring dead in the eye.
"(Y/N), just... Keep calm." Hiccup said from just a few feet away, keeping some space between him and the dragon, but trying to slowly close the distance between you and him. "He doesn't seem aggressive, so don't do anything that might startle him."
"Got it." You replied, keeping your voice low, and your breathing as steady as you could manage.
Of all the dragons you and Hiccup had discussed, of of the ones that came up the least was the Typhoomerang. You figured its massive size would be a hindrance, and didn't touch on the subject since. But in that moment, you began to wonder exactly how bad that would really be. Sure, it might be slightly inconvenient, but that would be a small price to pay for something this incredible.
"You ever train one of these?" You asked in the same hushed tone, not taking your eyes off of the golden eyed beast before you.
"Sort of. We found one as a baby once, and helped take care of it for a bit." By the sound of his voice, you could only assume Hiccup had made it right behind you. But turning to look could prove fatal. "Why? You... You're not seriously thinking about training..." He paused, before finally stating. "Alright. Let me see what I can do about calming him down. Then, you can introduce yourself."
It took about fifteen minutes for Hiccup to put the wild dragon at ease. It wasn't that the Typhoomerang was particularly on edge. In fact, the whole thing could have been over and done with quite a bit quicker if it was a creature of a less intimidating size. But Hiccup decided to take his time, and you didn't complain, figuring that it would be best in the long run for his remaining limbs.
Finally, the dragon lowered its head, nearly level with your own. It was close - two feet away at most, with hot breath blowing on your face.
"Okay, so far so good... Now just... Slowly, slowly, reach out your hand."
You did as he said, cautiously bringing your hand up and displaying your open palm towards the snout of the Typhoomerang.
There was a moment of absolute silence - no movement from the dragon, and certainly not from Hiccup or yourself as you waited to see whether or not your "peace offering" of sorts would be accepted.
Sure enough, the still was broken by the dragon pressing the horn at the tip of its snout against your skin.
The tension from the passed minutes melted away, and a smile formed on your face.
"Hey there." You whispered, carefully bringing you hand from the horn, down onto the Typhoomerang's actual face. It pressed against your hand lightly, earning a chuckle from Hiccup.
"I have to say... I didn't see that one coming."
"Neither did I, honestly." You admitted, turning to face the viking who had helped you make this new friend. "But thank you."
"Really, (Y/N)?" Snotlout called back over his shoulder once he realized exactly where you were having him take you. "This dragon?"
"Yep." You replied in a matter-of-fact manner. There wasn't a single doubt in your mind that you were making the right choice.
When Hiccup suggested you get a dragon before the trip to Dragon's Edge, you were weighing two possibilities.
The first of which was a Monstrous Nightmare. You and Hookfang had hit it off well, and he seemed to listen to you better than he did Snotlout. Besides, a Nightmare was the first dragon you'd ever flown, and there was a certain sort of comfort there. It wasn't like getting a different dragon and being thrust back into the unknown.
The second option was a Timberjack. Not just any Timberjack, but the one you had met the same day you flew on Hookfang and saved Snotlout from plummeting to his untimely death. You hadn't flown on it. You hadn't even formally introduced yourself to it. But it seemed to understand you, from the silent respect of boundaries the two of you had set up with each other, all the way to it dropped the loud mouthed viking boy on command.
And the more you thought about it, the more you realized that the latter option seemed a fair bit like it was meant to be.
Which lead to Snotlout reluctantly flying you back to that lush mountainside. Sure, you didn't really tell him that this is where you two were headed. You didn't want him to panic, because if there's one thing you knew the dragon hated, it was his panicked shrieks. But you enjoyed his company whether you wanted to admit it or not, and felt more comfortable around him than the other vikings at this point. So if anyone was going to take you to try and befriend a giant beast that could easily kill the two of you, you'd want it to be him.
Or Hiccup, who could mitigate the damages, but Hiccup was busy so you were making due.
The Timberjack was seated on a rocky outcropping, watching your arrival with an inquisitive gaze. He seemed to recognize you, as he didn't attack the moment he saw you and Snotlout land, and somehow didn't even see the need to lash out against the dark haired boy that had angered him last time. Perhaps, you mused, it had something to do with the other viking being quiet.
You slid yourself off of Hookfang's back, being sure to grab the small basket of fish you'd brought with you. You approached the dragon, stopping a few yards away to dump the basket's contents out on the forest floor. Once you'd given him your offering, you took several steps back, and waited. It was the most you could do.
Fortunately, you didn't have to wait long.
With one swift motion, the dragon was in front of you, scarfing down the meal. Once finished, it approached you, sniffing the air, inching nearer with every breath.
"That's all I've got for you." You said, putting your hands up in a surrendering motion.
It looked over at Snotlout, who was still seated on Hookfang, a safe distance away. The Jorgenson followed suit, uttering a quick, "Don't look at me, she's the one bribing you."
"... Thanks, Snotlout."
You rolled your eyes, but still couldn't help but giggle.
The dragon looked back at you, and tilted its head.
Hesitantly, you lowered one of your open hands, and reached it out towards the dragon like you'd seen Hiccup do a couple times before. You braced yourself for the worst - teeth digging into your arm, your hand being completely engulfed in flames... But instead you got a snout softly bumping your hand.
You weren't sure why you even doubted that you and this dragon would get along.
"Are you sure you're going to be fine flying that thing to Dragon's Edge?" Snotlout asked, glancing over at you while you climbed onto the dragon's back. "It doesn't look comfortable."
"It should be fine. Once Gobber helps make a saddle that can deal with these spines." You replied, shifting your weight slightly as you tried your hardest to find a suitable position.
"Yeah, well... Hookfang and I always have room for another passenger, if you need us."
When Tuffnut got Hiccup and Fishlegs talking about the most dangerous dragons out there, you should have known right off the bat that things were going to go downhill. Tuffnut never just asked questions. There was almost always some ulterior motive, and that was no exception.
What really confused you was the fact that either of them answered. Their suspicion was present for a few seconds, before being swiftly brushed aside in favor of discussing their personal viewpoints on the matter. They named a lot of different dragons, each with their own distinct reasoning behind them. Some were simply difficult to train due to their nature. Others were downright deadly to try and approach unless you were in very specific circumstances.
The one that Tuffnut seemed to latch onto the most was one that you'd never even heard of before. The Threadtail.
"Woah, woah, wait. Did you say... Poisonous skin?" It was clear from the tone in the blond haired boy's voice that his interest had been piqued in a less-than-safe and scholarly way.
"Yeah! It's fascinating, actually." Fishlegs lunged at the opportunity to discuss the dragon more in depth, oblivious to how terrible of an idea that was. "When it senses danger, it secretes a poison through its skin. But what's really weird is, it's allergic to its own poison. You think it would have adapted to-"
You missed the ending of that statement, courtesy of Tuffnut grabbing onto your arm, and racing out of the room.
"Look, a lot of your bad ideas are pretty fun... But I'm having some second thoughts about this one." You said, sitting beside Tuffnut in a secluded thicket, a couple yards away from a wild Threadtail.
"It has poisonous skin, (Y/N)." Tuff reiterated for what had to be the twelfth time since you'd set out from Dragon's Edge. "Tell me that's not awesome."
"I mean, yeah, it's awesome." You admitted. "But... Okay, fine. Let's just do this. But you're gonna be the one to touch it and see what happens."
"Yeah, obviously. You think I'm gonna let you have all the fun here?"
"The only fun I'm looking forward to is trying to explain this whole thing to Gothi."
"Rude." Tuff pouted. "You're being very-..."
"Very... what exactly?"
His eyes flicked over to his left, and yours followed, out towards the clearing where the Threadtail was. And there, looming beside the bushes, was the dragon. It peered its head down, and you could feel its hot breath against the side of your face. You turned your gaze back to Tuffnut, who seemed even pastier than usual.
"Hey, yeah, so we should probably uh... Run!" He scrambled to his feet, stumbling as he darted off with little direction.
But it was too close for you to follow suit. You didn't want to make it abundantly clear to this creature that you were a toy. Something fun to play with and chase. And if you tried to make a sudden run for it, there was a good chance it could just reach out and grab you before you even made it to your feet.
So you did the best thing you could think of: sit there looking dead ahead, still as a corpse, and hope it would get bored and leave.
It didn't.
It sniffed the air around you, as if it was trying to figure out if you really were dead, or just very good at playing it. When that didn't seem to satiate its curiosity, you felt its nose press against your temple and... It nudged you.
And again, when that didn't work. Then one final time in your side, causing you to tip over.
You caught yourself, and turned to face the dragon. "Hey... You..." You began, raising a timid hand as a peace offering, like the other dragon riders had. It didn't take any time for it to lean forward and bump your palm with its snout as it had your face just moments before.
"You're kind of sweet for a giant, poison oozing murder-beast, you know that?"
"I thought you were following me!" Tuffnut seemed abnormally insulted at your offhand comment about him leaving you for dead. "I said 'run'!"
"That's easy to say when you're not the one being sniffed." You were really just giving him a hard time. He did, after all, come running back to find you when he figured out you were missing. Besides, in his position you probably would have ran too. "Besides, if you didn't run away screaming, I wouldn't have made a new friend."
You couldn't do anything without the Changewing following you.
From your brief time aboard another Dragon Hunter ship, to your arrival back at the base, you had been followed incessantly by the dragon. Even when you were simply standing around, minding your own business, it would be resting its head on your shoulder or looking for one chance or another to snuggle up next to you. It was cute, you had to admit, but when it came down to it, this wasn't your dragon. He was going to have to go back into the hands of the hunters who initially captured him. He was still their property. You and Dagur just "borrowed" him to make a quick escape.
And Dagur? Dagur was irate. He was the one who rode the dragon. The one who thought to take it in the first place. But somewhere along the lines it latched onto you. The only logical explanation you could come up with was that it had something to do with you being less... Abrasive. That, and you may or may not have felt bad for it and slipped it a little extra dinner.
"So, (Y/N)..." Dagur began, sitting himself beside the fire that you and the Changewing were trying to warm yourselves with. In the glow, you could see the frown plastered on his face. "What's your secret?"
"My what?"
"Your secret. Dragons don't just... latch on to people like that."
You shrugged. "Honestly, I've been trying to figure that out myself. But if I don't get it to leave me alone soon, I feel like Viggo's going to kill me."
"Nah, you don't have to worry about Viggo. Now, Ryker. He's the one you should look out for."
"Wow, yeah that's... Really reassuring. Thanks, Dagur." Your lips pulled themselves into a tight frown as you returned your gaze to the crackling flames.
"Don't mention it."
There was a pause - a long, drawn out moment of silence that you desperately wanted to end. But there wasn't anything that could be said. You couldn't tell him that you really wanted to keep the dragon. You couldn't tell him that, if it wasn't for him, you'd have already taken the Changewing and run off - it wasn't like you were exactly bound to the dragon hunting business. So you chose to keep your mouth shut as you listed off topic after topic you could bring up, just to scratch them off the list of possibilities and move on to another.
"Y'know, they might let you keep it."
Dagur's tone seemed... Calm. Sincere. Nothing like you were expecting.
"What makes you say that?" You tried your hardest to sound curious, but detached. An odd thing to try and emulate, and you weren't sure how convincing you were.
"Because, they can only fight the dragon riders from the ground. But with this?" He chuckled, gesturing to the beast laying beside you. "Ohoh, can you imagine!?"
It was a fair point, but it raised a question. "I mean, that makes sense. But don't you think if they wanted a dragon rider on out side they'd have already gotten one? There's enough dragons around here. Someone could train something."
"That takes time. Trust me, I've dealt with Hiccup and the rest of them long enough..." Even just the mention of the Haddock boy was enough to turn Dagur's smile back into the scowl you'd grown familiar with. "But this Changewing... It already trusts us. Or, you, I guess."
"Think I should ask them?"
"If you need any help uh... Persuading them. Let me know."
You had been on Berk for several days, and the stress of the Drago situation was only just beginning to dissipate and be replaced by some low level dread about if or when he'd resurface. But for the most part, people seemed to be readjusting. Hiccup was slowly settling into the role of Chief, however reluctantly, with Astrid by his side. Meanwhile Eret had been given Stoick's old dragon, and the two were still going through an awkward bonding stage.
And you? You'd somehow become the adoptive mother of the Scuttleclaw you'd flown on.
Sure, that might have something to do with the fact that it was irresistibly cute, with a playful demeanor you could only compare to that of a puppy, and you were doting on it night and day. But you weren't going to take full responsibility for the situation. If anything, you could be blaming the dragon for this. It had no right to be that adorable. This whole situation was rigged in its favor and you weren't going to stand for that.
Who were you kidding? You absolutely were standing for it. You had no choice in the matter.
But you hadn't really considered it "Your Dragon". Not in the way the others had their dragons. It wasn't until Eret approached you one afternoon while you were feeding it that you realized you might as well just consider the Scuttleclaw your own.
"Still?" Was the only word out of the former Trapper's mouth when he saw you tossing a raw fish to the baby dragon. You glanced over at him, noting the unmistakable grin working its way onto his face.
"I didn't choose this." You sounded defensive, but the smile on your face made it pretty clear you were at least half-joking.
"Right. So this is a hostage situation now, is it?" He crossed his arms, watching on in amusement as you tossed another fish and the Scuttleclaw went rushing towards it.
"It is. I'm being held against my will." You replied with feigned terror. "Please, send help."
"Is that so? Well, let's see what the accused has to say." He turned his attention over to the dragon, who looked up at him and, without prompting, uttered an inquisitive coo. "Sorry, doesn't seem guilty to me."
You gave a pout, and turned to the Scuttleclaw. "See if you get anymore extra fish from me."
Eret laughed.
It was the first genuine laugh you'd heard from the man since you met him, and you couldn't help but grin.
"You are going to keep it though, right?" He asked, his tone making you wonder if he was worried you might not.
"Yeah." You sighed. "I wasn't sure at first but... I think we're stuck with each other."
He chuckled a bit. "I'd say the two of you are a perfect match."
"Why's that?"
"You've both been nothing but a pain since I've met you."
You gasped in exaggerated offense. "You don't mean that."
"Don't I?"
You wondered for a second, but the smile that hadn't left his face answered the question for you.
"So, I believe you still have a story to share with me?"
Viggo's question was not unprompted. While the two of you were flying back to the Dragon Hunter's base, you had agreed to tell him a bit more about the dragon you'd picked up once you were on solid land, and able to talk more easily without the sound of wind roaring in your ears. And as you two strolled through the base side by side, on the way to Ryker to share the news of a successful retrieval, it only made sense to finally discuss it with him.
"I believe so." You replied, looking up at the man. "Where do you want me to begin?"
"Perhaps with where he was found. From my understanding, Woolly Howls aren't native to Berk."
"They aren't." You weren't the least bit surprised that he knew that off the top of his head. What's a businessman if he doesn't know his product? Though, it still felt a fair bit gross to refer to dragons as just... Property. "He was found a little ways up north, and his injuries were too extensive to treat on the spot, so they brought him back to the village."
"As opposed to their other base... What is it that they call it, again?"
"Dragon's Edge. It was a longer trip back to the there, and while transporting dragons on your ships isn't a problem, Berk's ships? Totally different story."
"I could only imagine." He chuckled, finally turning his gaze down towards you. "And these injuries he sustained... They didn't seem to have any effect on his flying, from what I could tell. Do you think there might be any long-term complications?"
You pursed your lips, thinking back to the extent of the damage. "Honestly? I'm not sure. Flying was the main concern. His wings were pretty messed up, but clearly that's not an issue. The only other thing that could be a potential setback is the damage that was done to his leg."
"Which was?"
"We're not entirely sure what caused it. Looked like he was in a fight. There was some damage to his tendons on his back left leg. So walking or running for long periods of time might be an issue for a while. But as long as he stays airborne? Should be smooth sailing."
You noticed the corners of his lips curl into a small smile. "(Y/N), I have to say, you never cease to impress me."
His remark caught you off guard, and your reply came with a heated face and a stammered, "Oh. Well, thanks. That means a lot coming from you." The last part of that statement slipped out before you could even register what you were saying, and you desperately hoped that your flustered expression would go unnoticed. But with a man like Viggo, few things did.
"You flatter me." The tone in his voice gave little away, sounding smooth and confident as ever. Perhaps it was masking yet another chuckle, but you couldn't bring yourself to look back up at him. "I'm afraid this is where we part ways.
You felt something in your chest sink, before the realization hit that you had already arrived outside your tent. The walk usually felt longer than that. Much longer.
"I'll see you in the morning, my dear."
A/N: Seeing as the last part with Viggo involved you retrieving and flying on your dragon, I kind of just used this update to explain a little more about the dragon’s backstory, and also move the plot forward. Hope nobody minds!
"What is that?" You asked, seated on the back of Stormfly as you and Astrid made your way over yet another uninhabited island.
Looking down, you saw a rather unfamiliar dragon. It had four sets of wings, unlike any other you'd come across in your time on Berk, with a strange mottled pattern throughout its body.
"That? That's a Singetail." Astrid replied, looking back over her shoulder.
"Singetail." You repeated, as if it might jog your memory, but you had no such luck. "Anything I should know about them?"
"Yeah, probably. If you're counting the fact that they can shoot fire from their mouth, jaws, gills, tail-"
She was interrupted by the alarmed growls of the dragon on the ground below. Stormfly reared back, readying her spines, earning an alarmed "easy!" from Astrid, and a slightly panicked yelp from yourself before you reached out and grabbed the viking girl's shoulders to steady yourself.
"And they're territorial. Very territorial."
This was the first time since you met her that Astrid sounded genuinely nervous. Which you took to be a pretty bad sign, given that if the one person around there who seemed to be in control of any situation was shying away from the situation then there was the distinct possibility that thing were going to go downhill pretty rapidly.
"How did it even see us?!"
"Their eyes can rotate and... Well, you're probably going to get a close up soon."
"I'm what?"
You understood exactly why Astrid was nervous about encountering this creature.
The once lush grass beside you was scorched beyond salvation, and if Astrid wasn't the one standing in front of the dragon you were positive you'd be next. Granted, you weren't too keen on the idea of her being roasted alive either.
The Singetail had begun to mellow out, after several minutes of fighting and desperately trying to set the two of you ablaze, but you still weren't comfortable with the thought of moving, or doing anything that might startle it. It had shown no hesitation when it came to attacking Stormfly (and therefore, indirectly, her rider and yourself), so what was to stop it from lashing out again?
But the blonde girl stood there with a strange sort of confidence - clearly staged, but with the way she was slowly extending a hand to greet the dragon in some last ditch effort to placate it, you almost caught yourself believing it.
"Astrid." You hissed, struggling to ignore the sensation of your heart pounding against your ribs.
"Shh..." She didn't even turn to face you, keeping her eyes on the ground and an open palm facing the Singetail.
The Singetail was slowly inching closer to her, and you could swear that from where you were standing, her hand was almost shaking. You wanted to do something - anything - to get her out of that situation. But if you tried to intervene, that could cost both of you your lives. So all you could do was sit, and wait.
Even as it pressed its snout to Astrid's palm, you couldn't calm down. The adrenaline was coursing through your veins, and it would take more than a few passing minutes of watching her bond with this wild dragon to reassure yourself that this wasn't going to end in disaster.
"Hey, (Y/N), you wanna come over and say hi?"
"Uh... Sure?"
You didn't. Not really. But curiosity was getting the best of you, and for some reason you didn't want to come off as a coward. So you walked over, pace hesitant as ever, each step slower than the last. But you pressed on, stopping only for a moment when it would begin to growl and continuing whenever it seemed to calm.
"Good. Now, stop there and reach out your hand like I did."
You did as she said, your eyes locked on her own as you tried to subdue the overwhelming urge to turn and face the creature approaching you.
"So far, so good." A small smile was tugging at the corner of her mouth. "See? It's gonna be okay."
"You sure about-"
Before you could even utter the rest of the statement, a scaly nose was pressed against your skin.
