Chapter Text
Island Hopping
Toothless would be the first to admit that he has done some strange things in his life. Take a free-falling dive into a dense forest from high altitude. Lose a tailfin, then learn to fly again with the aid of his rider. Kill a mind-controlling demonic queen by blowing her up from the inside out. Tip over a yak because he didn’t like the way it looked at him. Things that would make land-striders and dragons alike do a double-take.
This, however, was one of the strangest things he never thought he’d ever do. Pressed against his own black scales was the hand of a strange land-strider. This land-strider could actually hear dragons! No other land-strider could do that. Well, technically, one other could, but she was old and ornery and kept to herself.
The Dragon Whisperer didn’t look special in any way. Brown hair, brown eyes, pale flesh, the usual slabs of dead hide to provide some protection. He was unusually short for a mature land-strider, but his posture, the way he held himself even with the injured leg, portrayed confidence in his own abilities. Each motion had a certain snap to it, like when the dragon riders would try to impress each other, but for him it was natural.
Earlier tonight, Toothless’ rider was threatened. His blood boiled and his vision turned red as rage took over. He knew that if he broke from hiding and attacked, there were far too many enemies to expect to survive, but that did not matter. His precious rider was about to be killed by the leader of these interlopers!
However, even in his seething rage, he saw the Dragon Whisperer, shiny claw exposed, clearly intending to intervene on the rider’s behalf. It all turned out to be a false alarm, but it was enough to give the dragon pause so he could beat down the rage and think clearly. The Dragon Whisperer unwittingly averted the likely death of both dragon and rider. Toothless had to figure out why.
For a while, he had been darting around the invaders, snapping twigs and trying to draw them away from each other. They always moved in pairs, but he was hoping to separate them enough so that he could dash in and pluck his rider to safety without any retaliation. They were too smart to fall for such a ploy, though, so it was back to deciding whether to rush in and die or wait and see what happens. Rushing in wasn’t really an option. Toothless knew that if he was overwhelmed, his rider wouldn’t run; he would stand and fight to the death to protect his dragon. Such was the intensity of their devotion towards each other.
This was why Toothless always left it to his rider to come up with all the brilliant ideas.
Left with only one viable option, Toothless resorted to separating the Dragon Whisperer from all the others. Such a task proved easier than anticipated as this land-strider also wanted this meeting to occur.
Initially, the Dragon Whisperer spewed out a torrent of impressions in a haphazard mess, expressing how grateful he felt to be trusted by a dragon, and how he only wanted to help, and that he wasn’t one of those interloping land-striders out there, and he could help save the dragon’s rider, and he would make fish rain from the sky, and so on.
Toothless twitched the sensor lobes around the base of his head to keep track of his rider and that dangerous land-strider with him. Guided by a lifetime of experience, his lobes settled into the optimum positions to hear the projections of his rider and all the other land-striders in this forest.
Land-striders always assumed these to be ear fins, but each sensor lobe was actually a tightly corded web of nerves encased in scaly hide. Dragons and land-striders always projected some sort of passive hum, and Toothless was especially adept at picking up the faintest whispers from much farther away than most other dragons, and he could perceive distance and direction of the projection’s source. Such a unique trait, paired with his excellent night vision, made him the true master of the darkness.
Even when trying to be sneaky, these interlopers were still quietly grumbling as they thought with their lips, producing glaring points of coordinated thought patterns that stuck out among the general hum. The one that Dragon Whisperer left behind was boiling with apprehension and frustration. It would seem that some omnipotent and all-powerful entity placed an exposed root in front of his foot as it was apparently the only explanation of how he tripped and sprained his wrist. At least, that was the gist of what Toothless could garner.
There were more intruders, farther away, scattered about in pairs, radiating apprehension and excitement. Each wanted to be the one to take down the elusive black dragon. They were cautiously searching around but annoyingly mindful to stay close enough to quickly provide or receive aid should they run into trouble.
Last, but certainly not least, Toothless could sense his rider, whose projections he could recognize in his sleep, along with that crazy leader of the interlopers that hummed with joy, scorn, and far too much enthusiasm for comfort. Despite all that, while the rider felt apprehensive, he felt confident that he wasn’t in mortal danger for now.
Good, nothing has changed. Even though it would be suicide to run right in, Toothless wouldn’t hesitate for an instant if his rider started to feel like he really needed help.
Technically, Toothless wasn’t even supposed to be in this forest. He was supposed to be with all the other dragons on the far side of the island to allow their riders to wander the forest alone and practice their survival skills. Apparently, for land-striders, surviving on their own required more than just finding a high bluff, warming a patch of stone with a stream of fire, and curling up to sleep. The riders were counting on some time alone in the forest to train, but they certainly were not counting on interlopers suddenly showing up to hunt their dragons.
Fortunately, those dragons knew to keep their distance. Even Toothless, with his black scales and mastery over the night, was taking large risks around those land-striders. They could be dangerous to even the most seasoned dragons, and these seemed to be well-organized. The best thing the other dragons could do would be to try to appraise their riders of the danger, but most attempts at communication with land-striders ranged from frustrating to hilarious, so Toothless wasn’t holding his breath.
Toothless opened his eyes and looked at the Dragon Whisperer. He had stopped paying attention to all the pleading for trust and cooperation to save the world or something like that in favor of checking in on his rider, but it took only an instant to review his memories of what just happened. Unlike land-striders, dragons lacked the astonishing ability to forget things. However, even though land-striders couldn’t instantly recall every impression since birth, they compensated with imagination and creating new thoughts, which was why Toothless was hopeful that this one may be of some use.
Reviewing what the Dragon Whisperer was saying, it was an intriguing tale. Island of violent land-striders, caged dragons, Dragon Whisperer could talk to them, could see that dragons were not simple-minded beasts, wanted to free them but had no opportunity to do so. He was certain there were dragon riders on this island and wanted to meet them and see what could be done to handle a looming threat that would surely spread. Oh, and it all happened to revolve around that crazy interloper out there in the forest with tunnel vision on the elusive black dragon.
Toothless narrowed his eyes at the land-strider standing in front of him. {Do you realize just how insane you are?}
It was Toothless’s first actual projected thought above the primal hum of emotions, serving more as a communication test than anything else.
The land-strider grinned impishly. {Am I insane to trust you to do what is right, dragon, or for all the other reasons?}
Even though he was expecting a reply, Toothless couldn’t suppress his surprised yelp at hearing it come across so crisp and clear from a land-strider. No groping around in a muddy river to try to figure out what he was trying to communicate.
Toothless snorted. {All of it. You impaled your own leg with your shiny claw!}
{You didn’t trust me! What other choice did I have? I’m just glad you didn’t fly off because your land-strider friends need to know what I have to tell them.}
Toothless huffed in irritation. First thing first. {If you help me deliver my rider to safety, I will allow you to speak with him.}
The Dragon Whisperer co*cked his head in thought. {Direct intervention is suicide, but we can distract them all, allowing your rider to escape to safety. You can fly off to create a distraction that will send the invaders fleeing to their ships, which would allow you to take me to the land-strider nest on this island. They will naturally want to apprehend me, and I am content with that.}
Fair enough. There was just one slight technicality. {I cannot fly, not on my own.}
The Dragon Whisperer gave him a flat stare. Toothless returned it with an annoyed glare. He flicked his tail around to reveal his missing tailfin and the bright red prosthetic replacement, projecting images of his rider sitting on his back, using his foot in some sort of mechanism to control the prosthetic tailfin. The tailfin could be locked open, but the rider's right foot needed to control it. Otherwise, it would limply flop around in the wind.
The Dragon Whisperer started to connect things in his mind, confusion giving way to excitement. {You’re asking me to ride you?}
Toothless curled his lips up to bare his teeth. {Try anything funny and I’ll toss you into the sea. Now, get on my back and lure all those interlopers.}
{Not yet. I have a plan that will benefit both of us. Just give me a moment.}
Toothless groaned, flicked his sensor lobes to check that his rider was still safe and confident, then gave an annoyed glare at the Dragon Whisperer, who was hobbling around to gather some things. His passive hum and the look on his face reminded the dragon of his own rider, who would seemingly relish driving his dragon insane by enacting all sorts of crazy plans that seemed doomed to fail but usually managed to work out well despite the odds.
However, whether this plan was necessary or beneficial, Toothless couldn’t ignore the niggling feeling that he would absolutely hate it.
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He was right! By the egg that hatched him, he was absolutely right! Toothless did not like this plan one little bit, but what other choice was there? Leave the Dragon Whisperer, who sincerely – Toothless would have sensed a lie instantly – wanted to help? Directly confront all the intruders and die?
He had to admit he could see the logic in the land-strider’s plan. The very insane sort of logic.
A dissatisfied grunt sent out a puff of vapor from his nostrils that slowly dissipated in the still, cold air. This plan was absolutely crazy! It was bold and risky. It reminded the dragon of his rider. Since he couldn't think of anything else to do but go along with it, he threw his head up and let out a loud, sharp roar.
Grabbing his shiny claws, the Dragon Whisperer banged them together to make some noise. Land-striders usually made loud noises with their mouths, but no sound ever escaped his lips except that of breathing. Strange. Maybe that explained his name?
As part of this crazy plan, Toothless held up his foreleg and bit down just hard enough to let out a little dribble of blood. He then dabbed his paw on the Dragon Whisperer’s injured leg to smear a bloody paw-print on a rock protruding from the ground. The Dragon Whisper did likewise with the dragon’s blood. Since even a land-strider could easily distinguish between their blood and a dragon’s, this should easily suggest that they injured each other in a fight.
After all, it wouldn’t be a convincing mauling without some gore.
{Fire!}
Toothless acknowledged the Dragon Whisperer’s instruction and looked up at the tree line. He shot out a bright bolt of purple fire that hit a tree, exploding with a concussive force, charring the wood and splintering the branches, sending down a shower of burning wood chips. One small chip, glowing dimly red and leaving a faint trail of smoke, bounced harmlessly off of the dragon's head. There were some glowing embers on the wood near where the blast hit, but no flames – one advantage of his highly-volatile fire that burned almost instantly. Setting the whole forest ablaze would definitely get him in trouble.
A quick flick of his sensor lobes revealed that the plan was working; all the land-striders were on the move! His rider managed to slip away while they flocked toward the noise. However, instead of being sensible and fleeing to safety, he ran towards the commotion, keeping hidden at least.
Toothless groaned. It looked like he would have to go along with the next part of Dragon Whisperer's plan.
By now, Dragon Whisperer had flung his shiny claw into the trunk of a tree. He grabbed what appeared to be a severed goat’s horn that was clinging to his torso, pressed it to his lips, and blew hard. A loud, high-pitched bellow echoed through the forest and across the valley. Shouts could be heard in the distance.
Of all the things to dwell on at this very moment, Toothless felt that the name "Dragon Whisperer" wasn’t quite right. Assigning a name to a creature was a foreign concept to a dragon, but it was impossible to avoid picking up habits of land-striders after having lived with them.
Toothless grunted as he finally settled on a fitting name.
Badger.
Unyielding, loud, and wily. Yes, Badger would be an appropriate name for such a creature.
Badger blew three more quick blasts on the horn and threw it down, hastily grabbed a slender, longer shiny claw, and ran towards his winged accomplice as fast as his injured leg would allow with a grin spread across his face.
{Toothless, cry out in pain as if I just stabbed you with my shiny claw.}
The dragon complied, faking his best attempt at a pained yelp.
Badger grinned at him. {Are you ready to finish off your hapless victim?}
Toothless rolled his eyes. Off to the side, he noticed movement from someone blundering through the edge of the forest, giving two short blasts of his horn as he ran. Badger started to run away from Toothless, who leaped forward to tackle him, sending him collapsing face-first into the ground. His shiny claw was thrown out of reach and slid a short distance away.
By now, other land-striders were running in behind the first who spied them a moment earlier. Toothless turned and shot a small fireball, taking careful aim to not actually hit anyone as any dead or injured intruders would only delay their hasty retreat. The fireball hit the base of the tree just behind the nearest invader, throwing him forward from the impact and temporarily blinding anyone who didn’t have the sense to cover his eyes.
Toothless turned his back on the new interlopers and snarled and snapped at Badger, who grabbed onto the wide saddle strap and held on tight.
{Just don't step on me,} Badger pleaded. Excitement washed out his entire emotional palette.
In a hop and a leap, Toothless was over the cliff, wings extended.
{Are you still there, Badger?}
The underslung rider looked up in confusion. {Badger?}
{Yes!} Toothless snorted in amusem*nt. {I think it's a fitting name for you.}
{How cruel you are. First, you force me to stab myself, then you maul me just for fun, and now you name me after a rodent! What’s next, are you going to take me to your evil lair and eat me?}
Toothless projected an image of himself disgustedly spitting out a rodent that was clamped in his jaws. {I would not eat you. Creatures that eat meat taste terrible. Just handle my tailfin before we both crash!}
Toothless could feel Badger shift around below, reaching for the mechanism that controlled the fin. It was rolling Toothless left against his will, and they started to lose altitude. Toothless extended his left wing a little farther, retracted his right, and rotated his left aileron fin down in an attempt to stabilize the flight. It helped some, but not enough.
{Up! Up! Up! Move the tailfin up!} Toothless roared out in frustration.
Badger flicked the tailfin down to the dragon’s dismay, causing him to roll sideways. He swung underneath Toothless with one hand holding on, frantically clawing with his other hand for grip. The sea was rapidly approaching.
{No! That's not up! The other way!}
Toothless breathed a sigh of relief as he felt the tailfin snap upward, correcting his flight momentarily.
{Now down a bit, but not too much... more... too much, back up again. Now, try again... there, that's good.}
{I'm flying a dragon! I'm flying a dragon!}
Toothless snorted. {Last I checked, the dragon is flying you.}
He gave a surprised yelp as his tailfin wiggled back and forth erratically. {That's not funny!}
Badger realigned the fin. {Oh, I almost forgot we're faking my death.} Toothless looked down to see his "rider" holding a dead stick above his head. {Toothless, this stick is very dry. Break it in your mouth. It will sound like you're breaking my bones}.
The dragon complied, wrapping his teeth around the stick and biting down hard with a twist of his neck. A loud crack pierced the air and could be heard bouncing from the rock wall that was now a little ways behind them. Toothless took in a deep breath and let out a long, loud roar over his latest "victim". Hopefully, this display would distract the invaders enough that he could grab his rider and get to safety.
Wooden quills from the intruders could be heard whizzing through the air, but hitting a black dragon on a dark night was impossible, especially with the speed and distance he now had on his side.
If he focused his sensor lobes just right, he could find his rider out there in the forest, on the move and alone, which was very encouraging. However, he didn’t run away to safety when he had the chance, but instead followed the invaders in seclusion, more worried about his dragon than himself.
As tempting as it was to turn around and get him immediately, flying straight was hard enough with the underslung rider without adding any more complexity. They were nearing some sea stacks up ahead to land on, and maybe Badger could then get in the saddle to properly work the tailfin.
Toothless looked down at his cargo. {Badger, do you think the plan worked? Will those land-striders think I killed you?}. That was the reason he agreed to this plan. If the enemy's previous dragon whisper was killed by the dragon he was supposed to tame, they would have no reason to stay and every reason to flee.
{I have no doubt. On top of that, they revealed their position to anybody on the island and will be forced to beat a hasty retreat.}
By now, they were out of sight of where they took off from, partway around the island. The interlopers were moving towards their sea vessel, and Toothless’ actual rider was finally moving away from them as he sought out his dragon.
Badger's grip loosened and he started to fall. The dragon felt his panic and quickly wrapped his front legs around him. {I got you!}
Badger projected his relief and gratitude. {Thanks for the save. I’m feeling weak and tired. I think I lost more blood than I realized. Land somewhere quick. I think I can quickly rig your tailfin to fly without me.}
Toothless alighted on the nearest rock, a tall sea stack jutting up from the water. He didn't want to risk losing Badger and spiraling into the sea.
Badger plopped himself down and immediately sat up to remove some sack that was slung under his shoulder. He found a length of vines, which he used somewhere back there to secure the tailfin in the neutral position. It would be enough to fly, though far less gracefully than if his rider was operating the tailfin.
Toothless warbled his appreciation and started to step away, spreading his wings to take off, but he felt a tug on his saddle and stopped to look back at Badger.
{Hold on, Toothless. The intruders will return to their sea vessel to return to their nest. A single fireball, if placed right, could slow them down.}
Toothless grunted. {That would give us more time before we’ll need to deal with them again. It would justify some risk.}
Badger nodded. He projected an image of his target, specifying which part to hit. It was the largest of the three sea vessels, just above the base of a large tree sprouting up from the center of it. Knocking that down would make it a lot less maneuverable.
Toothless blinked and was about to turn away, but Badger leaned forward to keep contact. He had more to say. {Your first shot is free. They will not see it coming. If you go for a second, they could shoot you down. If you need to find me later, you know where I'll be.}
Toothless warbled at the thought of reuniting with his rider. {You have my gratitude, Badger. I won't forget about you. Before I go, take this to keep warm.}
He shifted around, presenting his right flank. Badger opened the saddlebag and pulled out a black, hairy yak hide. He gave Toothless an affectionate pat on his shoulder and then sat down heavily on the ground, entirely depleted.
Satisfied, Toothless leaped off the edge of the sea stack, eager to find his rider. He couldn't stand this game of cat and mouse any longer.
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Skuf watched as the Night Fury kicked off of the edge of his sea stack and flew the short distance to Berk and his rider. Hiccup made it to safety and Dagur was on the retreat, empty-handed. That Loki-damned knife wound was still bleeding, but he might be able to consider this dragon to be a friend and ally, if he didn’t bleed out first.
He grabbed some rope and tied a tourniquet above his wound, using a charcoal pencil as a stick to twist the rope tighter. With his wound dressed as well as he could manage for the moment, he laid himself down and rolled up in the yak hide. It was actually a very good find to keep him from freezing to death – a gift from the dragon at that.
Off in the distance, a loud, high-pitched, whistling shriek sounded out, followed by a very brief, almost surreal silence. Then, an explosion and splintering wood. Off in the distance, the main mast of Dagur’s flagship twisted and buckled with a loud groan, as if the ship was crying out in pain, followed by a loud splash.
A smile spread across Skuf’s face as darkness overtook him.
