I'm putting this up here because people are more likely to read it.
Thank you for the advice and suggestions on how I could/can improve my writing, it's really appreciated.
It's also the reason I added more 1st POV into this chapter.
I do hope that you'll enjoy it.
Also at the bottom of the chapter will be art of Cinderwing made by:
Shadow930
They're on my discord server and did ask for and have my permission
Please note that those on Fanfiction.net will be unable to see it unless they go to Wattpad WebNovel or my discord server.
A whole world to explore:
Departure
"Speech"
'Thought'
——————————
(3rd POV)
(14 hours later)
Cinderwing woke up to the sound of echoing footsteps coming from the cavern entrance. He stood up from the lagoon and stretched, water dripping down his body as he fully exited the water.
'I know it's most likely them, but...' He sighed with contentment, before moving into a battle-ready stance, charging his plasma.
"I can't believe that he knows how to paint. It's exactly like how Toothless knows how to draw."
"It's incredible. It just goes to show how intelligent Night Furies are."
"But who taught him?"
Muffled voices echoed through the tunnel. They were familiar enough to Cinderwing, so instead of dissipating his plasma blast, he released it as a large echolocative roar.
Waves of plasma swept across the tunnel walls; his small ear nubs twitched whilst his two large ones moved up and swiveled, picking up the specific pitches of sound that bounced back, forming a bluish-purple image of the riders and their dragons, as well as the rest of the cavern that made up his home.
"Ow! My ears!"
Cinderwing chuffed as he clapped his lips before sitting on his haunches. As they entered the cavern, most of them looked in awe at the lagoon, with the twins almost immediately running into the water, before getting out just as quickly. "Ow, hot, hot, hot, hot!/Oh! It burns! I am hurt, I am very much hurt!" They both exclaimed, with Snotlout laughing at their misery.
"Ha, ha, ha!" Snotlout pointed at them. "You idiots. The water's obviously boiling, just look at all the bubbling." He said, as if he hadn't noticed it himself.
Fishlegs was intrigued. "Interesting. It must be boiling because of the dormant volcano. Lagoons like this are a rare find, Hiccup." He said, glancing at Hiccup. "Dragons are probably the ones that can swim in these and feel comfortable." Hiccup added, holding his chin.
"A great place for hiding the Dragon Eye, especially with those rocks covering it, it would prevent the hunters from using ropes to grab it."
Hiccup walked up to Cinderwing, about to place his hand on his nose. "Can you bring us the Dragon Eye, bud?" Cinderwing's eyes shined with mischief as he retracted his teeth and "bit" Hiccup's hand. Though, no damage was actually done.
Fishlegs screamed like a girl before fainting, with Meatlug doing the same. Snotlout screamed as well, but instead hid himself behind Hookfang who growled. Screaming, Tuffnut and Ruffnut ended up running into each other, knocking themselves unconscious, while Barf and Belch twisted their necks around each other.
Toothless, Astrid, and Stormfly were left frozen in shock and disbelief, and Hiccup stood there wide-eyed and frightened, before sighing as he realized that Cinderwing had sheathed his teeth.
Hiccup pulled his slobbered hand from Cinderwing's mouth. "Ehh. Did you really have to do that?" Cinderwing responded with warbled laughter. Everyone who was not unconscious calmed down, though Toothless and Stormfly were still a bit antsy.
"What was that about?" Toothless asked with slightly slitted eyes, his wings ruffling. Cinderwing shrugged playfully. "About two days ago, the twins were yelling in excitement at how close 'Loki day' was, so I decided to get a prank in before I leave." Stormfly huffed before both she and Toothless tilted their heads.
"Why are...." Stormfly shook her head. "When are you leaving, and where are you going?" She asked, though her voice held a hint of disappointment.
Cinderwing looked thoughtful for a few moments. "I don't know. Just... go explore, I guess." He answered, fidgeting with a small pebble he had just grabbed. "I shouldn't be gone long, a few days at most. So, don't be too sad about it." He added, the latter being more pointed towards Stormfly.
A mischievous smirk crossed his lips. "Who knows. I might just find another Night Fury." He teased. Toothless perked up at this, before sighing in defeat, scratching at the ground. "Hiccup and I have looked all over the archipelago and have never found any others."
"We're not in the archipelago, Toothless. The world is so much bigger than you think." Cinderwing said softly in an awkward attempt to give comfort. "Okay, I'll go get the Dragon Eye now."
(POV swap: Hiccup Haddock)
This place was amazing, even though we, as humans, couldn't really swim in the boiling water of the lagoon. From where I stood, I could see quite a few different types of ores. I could spot clusters of copper ore, some silver and iron, even small crystals of Belzium, which is a rare commodity in the archipelago. I could also spot a smaller black crystal that looked pretty similar to Belzium, something to take a look at later.
I saw Toothless and Stormfly walking toward Cinder. He seems to trust those two more than any of us. I've even seen him teach Toothless how to fly without his prosthetic—though he is much slower without it. I've even helped out a couple of times when Toothless had to chase Cinder around the Edge.
Cinder's very intelligent for a dragon; he's definitely smarter than Toothless. Though, it might just be normal for Night Furies, with how little we know about them. So, not really that strange.
[Splash]
I turned to see Cinder diving into the water and heading towards where he'd put the Dragon Eye. I turned back after hearing groans, signaling that Fishlegs had woken up along with the twins.
"[Gasp]. Hiccup! Are you okay?" Fishlegs asked with worry, quickly coming up to grab my left arm—which I had already wiped off all the drool—to check for injuries. "Hey. I'm fine, Fishlegs, see." I said, pulling my arm away before waving it around.
I then heard quiet laughter coming from the twins. "You know what this means, sister 'o mine?" Tuffnut began, rubbing his hands together mischievously. "While I most certainly do, brother 'o mine." Ruffnut replied with equal enthusiasm.
"This is an important moment in Loki'ing history. And it's not even Loki day yet!" Tuffnut exclaimed dramatically. "A moment for the books." Ruffnut added. I sighed with exasperation the moment I figured out what they were doing.
I moved back as they got in my face. "For on this day!" Ruffnut began. "Hiccup Haddock III, have been..." Tuffnut added, both of them pausing for dramatics. "Loki'ed!/Loki'ed!" I groaned, rubbing my temples in annoyance.
"By a dragon at that." I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore their antics.
I turned back toward the lagoon after hearing the sound of dripping water to see Cinder holding the Dragon Eye in his jaws. But, instead of giving it to either me or Astrid, he just walked past us and into the tunnel we came through.
"Hey. Where are you going?" I asked, hopeful that he would at least give me some sort of answer. He glanced at me, tilting his head toward the tunnel, gesturing for us to follow him.
With a sigh, I turned to the others. "Alright, gang. Let's follow him." I moved, and began to follow behind Cinder. Snotlout groaned. "Why are we following him? Why can't we just take the Dragon Eye, and leave?" He asked.
Before I could say anything, Fishlegs beat me to it. "It might be a show of trust." He noted. "He might just be using the Dragon Eye to get us to follow him so that he could show us something."
Snotlout rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. Let the basically still wild Night Fury—who, by the way, obviously doesn't really trust us—lead us into a possible trap so that he gets the island to himself." He said, assuming the worst.
We all stopped and stared at him, even Cinder was looking at him strangely.
...
Tuffnut placed a hand on Snotlout's shoulder. "Snotlout, my snotty friend." He began, placing his hand on his own chest. Snotlout looked slightly bewildered. "Anyone in the Loki'ing profession knows that you don't put your full trust in a fellow Loki'er."
Cinder snorted, obviously amused, before continuing towards the main cavern.
(Scene break)
(3rd POV:Cinderwing)
Once they entered the main cavern, Cinderwing trotted toward the wall where he kept his tally-marked slabs, before gently dropping the Dragon Eye on the floor.
Stormfly walked up next to him, tilting her head to the left to see him more clearly with her right eye. "Whatcha doin'?" She chirped with curiosity. Cinderwing glanced up at her for a moment, before turning back to continue with what he was doing.
"You're smart, so take a guess. I'll give you a hint: it has to do with the Dragon Eye."
Stormfly began humming thoughtfully. 'It has to do with the Dragon Eye, but I'm assuming it also has to do with the rock he's messing with,' she thought mentally.
Her eyes shined, and just as Cinderwing was about to separate the slabs, she gave her answer.
"Lenses. You have one or more Dragon Eye lenses." She affirmed as if it were factual... which it was, obviously.
Cinderwing smirked and separated the slabs, revealing the two lenses in his possession. "Ding, ding, ding. You win." He said with enthusiasm, pulling the lenses out of their slots and not paying much attention to the Dragon Riders—who gasped at the sight—before he turned to face her and stood on his hind legs.
Stormfly stood a bit straighter, barely having to move her body upward to meet his gaze. "And what is my prize?" She said in a suave, yet playful tone, mirroring his usual manner with her.
He gave her a sultry smile in return. "What do you want it to be?" They stared at each other in silence. Meanwhile, the riders were a bit more focused on their conversation about how "Cinder" had had two Dragon Eye lenses this whole time.
A few more moments of silence passed. Toothless was getting a bit tense just by watching. Meatlug was nervous about the implications, and Hookfang was surprisingly quiet, patiently awaiting the outcome. While Barf and Belch were whispering to each other with surprising seriousness, something which went against their usual nature.
"Are they about to mate?/I don't know?"
"If so, we should probably leave now, right?/Most likely."
Suddenly, Cinderwing and Stormfly began laughing, the former's being uncontrollable as he got back down on all fours, and the latter's being more controlled and melodic. Their actions caused the other dragons—mainly Toothless and Hookfang—to deadpan, and the humans to watch with amused curiosity and slight confusion.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. Oh, the looks on your faces, they were... what's that fancy human word? Hmm, oh, immaculate, yes that's right." Cinderwing said with a joyous tone, causing Barf and Belch to gasp. "Did you two,/Loki us?" They spoke, finishing the other's sentence.
Stormfly bristled with amusement. "I guess we did, didn't we?" She asked semi-rhetorically. Hookfang huffed in annoyance. "What happened to you getting so flustered whenever he teases you like this? Because right now, you just completely matched his energy." He said bewildered.
Stormfly smirked sassily at him, but chose to stay silent.
By this point, Cinderwing had already allowed Hiccup to take the lenses from his claws, inspecting them in the light of the lanterns that they had brought.
"This is incredible. I can't believe that there have been two Dragon Eye lenses so close to us." Fishlegs commented with his usual enthusiasm. "You were right, Fishlegs. This was a show that Cinder is beginning to trust us more; the lenses are more than proof of that." Hiccup noted, storing said lenses in his side pouch.
Astrid crossed her arms, a curious expression creeping onto her face. "He hid them in between those two stone slabs; he had to have made it himself. We've seen that he's more than smart enough." She said thoughtfully, looking at Hiccup. "Do you think it's possible that he was raised by humans, but also got taken away from them by hunters?"
That last sentence caught Cinderwing's attention, glancing at them. "That's... actually not a bad theory. Might as well go with it." He mumbled, tilting his head while purposely cooing, gaining the riders' attention.
"Were you? Raised by humans, I mean." Toothless asked, walking beside Cinderwing—who had allowed Hiccup to place his hand on his nose. "Are we right, Cinder?" Hiccup asked, to whom Cinderwing answered with a warble before he quickly pulled away. He glanced at Toothless to answer his question. "Uh, something like that. But, not exactly."
Stormfly tilted her head curiously. "What'd you mean?" Cinderwing pondered for a moment to find the correct words. "I was raised by humans, yes. But I was also raised by dragons, though not at the same time; it was a few years apart."
Cinderwing gained a genuinely sorrowful expression. "I am... no longer able to see either of them. They are no longer among the living." Stormfly began to gently nudge the side of his head. "I'm sorry for your loss." She said softly in an attempt at comfort. "It's fine. It was a long time ago, I have moved on from it." He said thankfully.
Cinderwing breathed out a sigh before turning to grab the Dragon Eye and handed it to Hiccup, who placed it in his pouch.
"Thank you for giving us your trust." He was about to place his hand on Cinderwing's nose for the second time, before the Night Fury pulled away with a small growl. "Okay, okay, I understand. No more of that." Hiccup said, quickly pulling his hand back down to his side.
Cinderwing's eyes slowly narrowed into rounded slits as he noticed Snotlout touching his collection of stolen Dragon Hunter weapons, mainly Ryker's sword. Hiccup almost immediately took notice and grabbed Snotlout's shoulder. "Whoa, okay, time to go." He said to a now confused Snotlout as Cinderwing began to audibly snarl.
"Wha, hey. What gives?" Snotlout complained as Hiccup led him out of the cavern. Hookfang huffed at his rider's ignorance before following. "Idiot."
"Let's not touch Cinder's stuff. Especially when we just gained his trust." Hiccup said.
"Yeah, Snotty. Don't you know not to touch a man's, or in this case; dragon's spoils of war?" Tuffnut quipped, with everyone following them to leave.
Before following the others, Stormfly glanced back at Cinderwing. "You know, you could've just asked me if you needed my tail spines instead of the ones I leave behind. ...They grow back." Cinderwing gained an anxious expression, before it changed to understanding after taking a deep breath.
"Yes, uhm, of course. I'll... ask you the next time I need some." He said whilst turning away. "See you later, Night-chaser." Her lips curled up into a soft smile before she left to catch up with the others. He was surprised by the new nickname she gave him, though didn't know if it would really stick. It did feel like some sort of reference, though. That surprise quickly faded as he turned to his disorganized collection of weapons.
[Sigh]
Cinderwing walked over to his collection of weapons to reorganize them, grumbling in annoyance as he did so. "Stupid fucking Snotlout, touching my things. This is why I share."
With a small growl of irritation, he'd finally reorganized his collection, before he let out another sigh. "Of all the things to get from my human self, it just had to be autism." He says with a small amount of annoyance.
"Or maybe my dragon self already had it, even before our... fusion or reincarnation. I guess it would be transmigration or conjoined souls because I didn't start as a youngling or hatchling, but whatever." He corrected himself.
His eyes shined with realization as he remembered something that would be useful for Stormfly. "I should definitely tell her how she should be able to do it, if I'm correct on how it was done."
"Maybe I should throw some Belzium crystal fragments at him so that they'll magnetize to his helmet. They'll be a bitch to remove." Cinderwing snorted as he went back to the lagoon cavern to retrieve the crystals.
(Scene break)
(Hours later: training dome)
The Dragon Riders and their dragons were in the training pit. Stormfly and Hookfang were equipped with prototype Gronckle Iron chest plates that covered most of their stomachs.
Sadly, Hookfang's chest plate was too brittle and began to break after he twisted his body too fast. Stormfly's, however, wasn't flexible enough and made her movements too stiff, leaving her unable to shoot her tail spines in the air as she normally would.
Stormfly growled with irritation, trying to keep herself as still as she could as Astrid removed the armor piece by piece. "Fucking finally." She groaned in relief as Astrid was finally able to get the failed armor off her body. Hookfang, who had a much easier time getting his armor off—which had basically shattered into pieces as it was removed—was surprised by her profanity.
"You're using the same strange words that Cinder uses when he's angry or frustrated." Hookfang pointed out, before he smirked and playfully said, "He's becoming a bad influence on you."
Stormfly began chortling. "Like you would be any better?" She rebutted, then began preening the reachable areas of her body that itched due to the armor. She instinctively shook her body once she was finished. "He said that humans usually use those words to express their anger, irritation, or even fear, relief, and enjoyment." She added.
"I'd assume that he was talking about the humans who raised him, since our riders usually just yell out; 'Great Odin's beard,' or, 'Thor help us'." Stormfly nodded at Hookfang's response. "That's the more obvious answer, since he had told me about it before we found out he'd been raised mostly by humans."
Toothless walked up next to Stormfly. "It makes sense with how he usually acts." He added.
Fishlegs sighed, holding the broken pieces of Hookfang's armor. "I'm sorry, Hiccup, but this just isn't going to work right now. We either make the armor too brittle—though that might be because of a slight error we made in the mixture—or we don't make it flexible enough and it ends up being too stiff for our dragons' natural movements as well as not being able to handle high speeds."
Hiccup walked over to Fishlegs and put a hand on his shoulder. "Fishlegs, it's fine. I didn't fully expect it to work out completely; this is something that'll take time." He said, boosting Fishlegs' mood. "And besides, it works just fine whenever we make upgrades or replacements for our weapons and defenses. Our dragons just need the armor to be flexible enough for them to easily move around, but sturdy enough to hold up against the hunters' attacks."
Ruffnut, who was holding a piece of Stormfly's armor, quickly threw it behind her, hitting Snotlout in the head.
"Ow!"
She stifled a giggle before giving them one of her many random ideas. "What if you just add another type of rock to it or whatever?" The two dragon enthusiasts turned to her, giving her their attention. "You know, to help it hold together more."
Hiccup and Fishlegs began to ponder the surprisingly good idea from Ruffnut. "Hmm, that's actually not a bad idea." Fishlegs acknowledged. "But whatever we do add, we can't add too much; maybe small fragments, otherwise it won't be Gronckle Iron."
"What about Belzium?" Hiccup suddenly suggested, perking Fishlegs' interest. "That's a good idea, and could work." He replied with his usual enthusiasm. "But Belzium is pretty rare in the archipelago and we've yet to encounter any this far out of it." He said, slightly dejected.
"Actually, I saw some in Cinder's den, near the lagoon to be exact. The problem is..." Hiccup noted.
"...Whether he would actually let us take some or not." Fishlegs finished his sentence. "Why don't you just get Astrid and Stormfly to get it? He trusts them the most." Ruffnut interrupted, causing them to stare at her dumbfounded.
"What? I pay attention to details... sometimes."
Stormfly tilted her head, curiously observing the interaction.
Unnoticed by anyone, Cinderwing had silently crept up behind Snotlout, then suddenly dumped Belzium fragments onto his head, which almost immediately magnetized to his helmet, nearly covering it completely in the purple crystal ore.
Snotlout, frightened by the sudden ringing sound of the crystal fragments hitting his helmet, yelped in response as he immediately threw it off his head and onto the ground, which had also grabbed everyone's attention.
Cinderwing warbled in laughter. Snotlout groaned in annoyance, before grabbing his helmet and trying to pry the Belzium from it. "Why, won't, this, come, off!" He grunted. "What in...?" The helmet was shaking in his hands as the Belzium's magnetic nature caused it to yank itself from his grip toward a pile of weapons.
Hiccup walked up and grabbed the helmet, along with the daggers and swords that now stuck to it. "Well, how convenient." He murmured before turning. "I guess we have some of the Belzium we need for a few pieces." He said to Fishlegs.
Cinderwing trotted next to Stormfly, who slightly tilted her head down to look at him with her right eye. "So, Birdie, what do they need Belzium for?" He asked, using the nickname he'd given her. Huffing in response, she led him over to her discarded chest plate on the ground.
"They were talking about using some for a new mixture of the Gronckle Iron in the hopes that it will be more flexible while keeping its durability." Stormfly said, giving him a summary of what Hiccup and Fishlegs had talked about, while also showing her surprising intelligence and understanding of their human riders.
Cinderwing hummed thoughtfully. "They can keep it if they want, but there's not that much." He pondered on it for a few moments before saying, "There is a place that I know of that has a whole cave full of the stuff. The only problem is that I don't exactly know where it is."
"I guess I could go look for it once I leave, but there's no guarantee."
Stormfly stared at him, her eyes holding dissatisfaction at the reminder of his departure. "When do you leave?" Her voice held a hint of disappointment.
"Tonight." He answered, which only dampened her mood. "Which is why I would like to try and teach you how to do something cool." Stormfly perked up at this, her mood slowly improving. "What is it?"
Cinderwing began walking away, gesturing for her to follow. "Come on. I'll tell you about it at my training ground." He said, his pace slowly increasing into a trot.
She tilted her head, before quickly following behind to match his pace.
(Scene break)
The trees were becoming slightly blurred as Cinderwing ran through the forest, followed close behind by Stormfly as they were approaching their destination.
"Why are we running there when we can fly?" Stormfly asked, yelling slightly so that Cinderwing could hear her. "It's good exercise." He quipped back, just as he jumped over small boulders and weaved between a few trees. "You guys don't normally travel on the ground unless you have to, so think of this as training." He added, laughing slightly.
"Are you calling me slow?" Stormfly questioned, folding her wings closer to her body before speeding up and instead running along a clearer path with fewer obstacles.
Shortly after, they slowed down once they reached the clearing that Cinderwing had claimed as his training ground. The once boulder-filled clearing was now lacking just about all of its medium to large-sized boulders, with only a few dozen smaller ones remaining, not to mention the scorched ground that had just begun to grow grass.
Stormfly observed the area, noticing the changes since she'd last been there. "The grass is greener than the last time I was here, and there's fewer boulders." She commented.
Cinderwing led her toward the middle of the clearing, collecting a few small stones on the way, which had caught Stormfly's curiosity as she walked behind him.
"What were you gonna teach me, anyway?" She asked, turning to glance at the ocean, which was not too far from where they were... well, at least for dragons.
"I am going to try to teach you how to shoot a blue magnesium blast." He answered, immediately gaining Stormfly's attention as she turned to him. "What?" Surprise laced her tone. "Is that even possible?" She muttered to herself before she shrugged her wings. "Of course it is." Cinderwing assured.
"I've actually seen it twice." Cinderwing admitted, reminiscing not only about what his human memory knew, but also about what his dragon memories knew.
"Really?" She questioned.
He nodded. "Yup. Though each time it was different. The first one was when a Nadder consumed an antidote for poison, which had changed their fire giving it a more bluish tone." He answered, pausing to make sure that he had remembered correctly.
"And the second time was when a more experienced, battle-hardened Deadly Nadder was fighting a Titanwing Timberjack that had invaded his territory, and used a magnesium blast that was a mixture of blue, white, and orange. And much hotter."
Stormfly was astonished; the idea of being able to utilize a more powerful magnesium blast was exciting to her. Her tail was slightly wagging before her mind halted in thought. 'Wait. There has to be a downside, I mean, Cinder's plasma beam needs to be charged with lightning, otherwise he can't use it.'
After her moments of silence, she voiced her thoughts. "Is there a downside? Like how you have to charge your plasma beam using the lightning you store within your body?"
Cinderwing nodded. "Yeah. After using the more powerful blast in shorter bursts, the Nadder was unable to use his fire. He basically ran out of juice, trading longer ranged, bigger bursts and more shots, for fewer, shorter range, smaller bursts, but a more powerful magnesium blast."
Stormfly thought about the explanation for a few moments. "So, basically... combining his magnesium reserves into shorter, but more powerful bursts." Cinderwing blinked at her more simplified version of his explanation.
"...Yeah, that's... that's exactly it." He replied, slightly dumbstruck. "I was going to use these rocks to help with the explanation but." He quickly discarded the rocks he'd collected earlier. "Whatever."
Stormfly chuckled, before they got stuck staring into each other's eyes, both of them getting lost in the moment.
"Ahem. Well, I suppose we should begin." Cinderwing said blushing nervously, looking anywhere but at Stormfly. "Yes, yes, of course." She replied, doing the same, though her blush was more pronounced.
(Scene break)
(Stormfly POV)
The first few times I had tried to fire out blue magnesium had ended in me coughing up smoke, sometimes a bit too violently. Though Cinder had helped by bringing and refilling buckets of water for me to drink.
(flashback)
Even after the first hour—as Cinder called it, I hadn't even begun to produce the smallest sparks of blue magnesium. Though I got frustrated with each failed attempt, I wasn't truly upset. This isn't something that could be achieved in a few hours, let alone a day.
During the first thirty-minute break—of which Cinderwing had pushed for me to take, he had begun to join me, trying to achieve something similar. Something about how; "Adding to my arsenal of abilities isn't a bad idea."
I laughed a little when he failed the first few times at fusing his plasma reserves in one blast, though this time it was me who brought him water.
Every hour or so, we would switch between training, and taking breaks to rest and help the other.
(3rd hour)
After we both took a break to eat, and so many failed attempts, Cinder decided to try to incorporate his lightning into his; "plasma burst", as he called it.
This attempt was a bit more successful than the last few.
As he charged his plasma burst, I noticed that his dorsal spines glowed a faint orangish-red, before fading away as he coughed up electrified smoke from the failed attempt.
"That...[cough], was more successful than before." Cinderwing's voice had become coarse after coughing quite heavily. I quickly went to grab a bucket of water for him to drink, holding the handle in my teeth, though I spilled some water in the process.
"Are you alright?" I asked worriedly after he'd finished drinking.
He took heavy breaths before nodding. "Yeah. I'm fine. It stung a little, though." He answered with the added comment.
I nuzzled his head. "That's good. As long as you're not hurt." I said, having long since come to terms with my growing affection for him.
I noticed a small blush appearing on his cheeks. "Yeah, uhh. I'm gonna take my break. You, er, just try a few more times, then we'll stop for the day." My lips slowly curled upward into a soft smile as he walked away, before lying down on a flat stone slab.
Before doing my last round of training, I went to refill the bucket.
(5th hour)
I was far more tired this time, and my breaths were heavier than before. After catching my breath, I drank the last of the water before walking to where Cinder was resting peacefully, slightly stumbling over a few small stones on my way.
I laid down next to him, curling my body and resting my head on my tail as I yawned, closing my eyes.
(End flashback)
I sighed as Cinderwing and I sat next to each other, watching the setting sun, its last rays of light reflecting off the ocean as the moon slowly rose.
It had been almost forty minutes since I woke up from my nap. Cinderwing had woken up thirty minutes before me and had left to get fish for the both of us. Long since having his fill by the time I woke up.
Astrid had actually come by earlier looking for me. She'd seen the smoke coming from my mouth after a failed attempt, mumbling something about how Cinder was teaching me something like he did with Toothless.
She left after a while. I knew she would definitely tell Hiccup about it, but it's not like this was meant to be secretive.
I glanced over at Cinderwing, the moonlight slightly reflecting off his orange markings, making it seem as if they were dimly glowing in the dark.
"So... you're gonna leave soon."
He glanced back at me. "Yeah." Silence pervaded the clearing, with the only exception being the sounds of crickets and the occasional rustle of leaves due to small critters.
"I... uhm, eh... never mind." Cinderwing stuttered out.
"I... hope you have a good time on your adventure." I said, boldly nuzzling the back of his neck, which I found out a while back was a sensitive spot for him, due to his immediate purring.
I felt him slightly lean into my nuzzling, an instinctive response of accepting affection. Just like when Astrid and/or Hiccup scratch under my chin. It's a very pleasant feeling.
Cinder was far more relaxed when I pulled away. "Thanks for that. It helped." He said, in his usual casual tone.
I smiled softly at him. "You're welcome." I replied with an equally soft tone.
"Well. It's just about time for me to leave." He said, standing on his hind legs, something which I now assumed was a habit gained from his human parents. "I'll see you when I get back, yes." He added, obviously, to which I huffed. "Of course you will."
He got closer to me, and suddenly wrapped his forearms around my neck into a hug, making sure to not be in my blind spot. This action was unexpected, though very comforting.
The hug lasted a while longer before he pulled away and got back on all fours. "That... was nice." I commented. He nodded silently in agreement.
"Well, good night, Stormfly." Cinderwing said. "You too." I replied.
He spread his wings, getting ready to fly. "I'm probably gonna steal... I mean, borrow, one of Hiccup's larger bags/pouches before I go, that way I can bring some stuff with me." I nodded. "I'll be sure to let Toothless know if you don't see him."
I watched him launch into the night sky, headed towards Hiccup's hut. After a few minutes, I also left, flying towards Astrid's hut.
(Scene break)
(Cinderwing POV)
As I flew towards Hiccup's hut, my thoughts drifted to Stormfly. In truth, I knew I was falling for her, in both appearance and mind. Her beautiful blue scales, yellow eyes, her intelligence, and for some reason I have a strange infatuation for her tail spines, same with Windshear's; I don't know why.
Though I also have similar feelings for Windshear, though not as strong as my feelings for Stormfly, but they're there.
My affections were a little mixed up though. My mind was nervous about what either of them would say; would either accept me or reject me? Not to mention, my human memories infected how much I liked certain parts of their bodies, like thighs.
My body... well, let's just say that it both wants them—Stormfly more than Windshear—but at the same time it's like it's repulsive at the idea of two different species of dragons being mates. It was very confusing and didn't help at all.
Hybrid dragons were rare, but not hated among other dragons. Some even saw them as; gifts from the giant eggs in the sky. Which is what most of them called the sun and the moon.
My heart... it just wanted to love and end up becoming my mate, whichever one of them it might be. Maybe even both, I've seen it before, surprisingly.
Cringey, I know. But, nothing I could do about it; something like that can't really be explained with words.
After a short flight, I reached the hut, landing on the roof before climbing down in front of the door, opening it and heading inside.
I rummaged through some of Hiccup's storage chests. In the first chest, and one of the smaller ones, held some of his spare legs that he couldn't fit in the pouch on Toothless' saddle; there were about three total.
The second had some of Toothless' spare tail fins and a few with different designs. One of them was yellow with a black Night Fury on it.
In the third, it had personal items such as a plentiful amount of gold coins, a notebook, and. "He really needs a better place to put this." I mumbled, holding the Dragon Eye in my claws, before putting it back shortly after.
I was looking through another chest when I finally found the one I was looking for. "Finally, jeez." I rummaged through the different sizes of pouches for a few minutes, carefully grabbing each one so that I wouldn't tear them with my sharp claws.
Annoyingly, but fortunately, the biggest one was at the bottom; it made sense so that he could fit more spare pouches.
Sadly, it wasn't much bigger than the rest, but it's not like I needed to bring that much to begin with.
I hung the pouch around my neck. I didn't want it to swing around while I flew so I pulled it off my neck and grabbed a spare strap to connect it to the bottom of the pouch. I leaned down and hung it around my neck once more and put my arms through the bottom strap. As I stood up, the bottom strap was just under my armpits.
It was a snug fit, but comfortable enough for me to ignore it. It's more than big enough for what I need, but small enough to where it won't be a problem when flying.
Turning around to leave, I only really noticed the mess I'd made. 'Well, not really my problem.' I thought, closing the door behind me as I left.
I adjusted the position of my pouch on my chest, making sure it was properly secure, before I launched into the moonlit sky.
(Scene break)
(3rd POV)
Inside his den, Cinderwing sifted through his collection of stolen items, carefully placing the more useful ones in his bag.
The items he picked varied from a few gold and silver coins, to a Gronckle Iron shard that was large enough for him to easily hold in his claws, as well as long and sharp enough to be used as a weapon.
After all, no sane person would ever expect a dragon to stab them with an actual knife.
Cinderwing chuckled to himself. "I'm so gonna stab someone." He said, slightly giddy. He shook his head before placing the shard in his pouch.
Just before he turned to leave, he grabbed one of Stormfly's spines and placed it in his pouch. "Is it irrelevant to bring this?" Cinderwing muttered to himself. "No. It has its uses; even after all this time it's still poisonous." He added, before leaving his den.
After trotting out of the cave, he immediately took to the skies and headed in a random direction; north, to be exact.
"Next stop; hopefully Huttsgalor. Or Caldera Cay/Defenders of the Wing, maybe even Wing-maiden island. Doesn't really matter, the first and last options are more so conveniences than anything else."
He flew higher up, just under the clouds before slowly beginning an angled nosedive to pick up speed, flying off into the distance.
(End)
Cinderwing art by: Shadow930
It's beautiful.