The 'Dragon Defender'

A Clean Getaway

"How is he today, Gothi?" I ask the woman as she comes out to meet us upon our arrival to her hut. Gothi gives Adriana and I a smile and nod to assure us that Asher has done well. "Great. Thank you," I nod back. "I truly am grateful for your help."

Gothi responds to this by showing me Asher's scales again. I suppose I'll have to erase her memories, too, though I'm not pleased about this. Not only does it complicate things further, but I did quite like Gothi. Still, if it keeps everyone safe, I suppose it has to be done.

"I'm going to look into those," I inform her, if only to try and get her off my back. "I grew curious after the last time. Asher told me he found them right before he was attacked. I'll check out the area when I next have the chance, see what else I can find. Thank you for bringing them to my attention."

Gothi slowly narrows her eyes at me, the gears in her head working on overdrive as she attempts to decide how she'd like to respond. I watch her for a minute, but when she makes no other movements, I nod and leave her be, Adriana following me.

Asher is inside her hut, just finishing some bread, though he smiles and gets up when he sees us. "Hey! You both okay?"

"We're great," Adriana smiles back to him, pecking his cheek. "Looks like we can finally head home."

"Perfect," Asher sighs in relief. "I can't wait. I just wanna get back."

"Same here," I agree, knowing I don't have much time to get the Changewings over to Berk before the book is discovered. "It's good to see you back to normal."

"I'm all good to go," Asher shoots me a thumbs up. "Are we ready to make a move?"

"Absolutely," I agree. "I'll bring you both back home and then I can come back for a few things."

Adriana looks curious at this, but Asher nods, the corner of his lips twitching ever so slightly as he resists a smirk in Gothi's presence. He knows why I'm coming back. "Sure thing. Let's go, then."

~•~

The group said their goodbyes to us when we announced our departure. I'd only gone to let Hiccup know and to thank him for his hospitality, but he was with all the others and so it kind of became a whole thing, which is annoying. Still, got to keep up appearances, I suppose.

"Do you guys need a ride?" Hiccup offers us. "Since you don't have any dragons with you and all."

"The Changewings have been staying in the forest for the past few days," I wave the suggestion off. "We'll be fine."

"Are you guys heading to the Dragon Sanctuary?" Fishlegs asks curiously. "That's not the plan," I shake my head. "I'm going to drop them home first. Then I suppose I'll see about myself."

"Well if you need an extra hand, you know where to find us," Hiccup smiles. I simply nod back, not getting into it.

"Well, we should be on our way."

"Have a safe trip, all of you."

"Thank you."

With that, Asher, Adriana and I head out towards the forest. "Careful what you say," I warn them both quietly. "This is usually the part where someone follows me."

Asher sighs irritably at this, but nods. I hear him grumble something about humans under his breath. Adriana also seems quite dissatisfied, shaking her head with a frown. I won't lie, I love having these two sharing my feelings on all this. Knowing I wasn't overreacting.

"So what do we do now?" Adriana asks. "Is there a plan?"

"We get the Changewings and get you two back home," I answer, then lower my voice. "More or less."

"Are they actually here?" Adriana asks quietly. "The Changewings, I mean."

"Probably deeper into the forest," I lie calmly, shaking my head slightly. She nods in response. "Oh, okay.... um, I'm sure they'll come out when they see you."

"Mm."

We continue our trek into the wilderness in mostly silence. I try and use this as a chance to keep an eye and ear out for anybody following us. It's happened too many times now, so safe to say it isn't a baseless concern. From the way Asher and Adriana keep glancing around, I get the impression they're similarly cautious.

Eventually, when I believe we're far enough away from the village to prevent any reasonable justification from anybody who may be supposedly 'just wandering through the forest' or whatever else they argue on the spur of the moment, I pause, causing the others to stop at my sides. "What is it?" Asher asks me.

I glance at him, but don't answer immediately, instead turning to look around the area carefully. "Just come out," I sigh, wondering if I'll actually catch anybody with that trick again. It worked once, didn't it?

Nobody appears.

"Don't make me do this the hard way. Neither of us want that."

Asher is startled when a bush rustles, then Adriana laughs at him when only a Terrible Terror emerges.

"I think we're good," I say to them both, unable to resist smiling beneath my mask. "And on the off chance we did miss someone... well, I don't think it matters at this stage."

"Really? Why not?" Adriana is surprised by this. "What are you planning?"

"We'll explain on the way," I assure her. She looks curious, but nods. "Okay. Asher, are you good? Or would it be easier if I gave you a lift?"

"Haven't exactly been able to try it out yet..." Asher frowns, a hand going to his chest. "Um... mind giving me a ride? I don't want to push my luck."

"Of course," Adriana agrees, morphing into her dragon form. "Indigo, can you make sure he doesn't fall off?"

"She won't need to, I can hang on," Asher brushes it off as he climbs onto Adriana's back. "Oh, I'm sure," I chuckle in amusement, settling behind him. "I'm serious, Ash," Adriana warns. "I didn't think it'd be so hard either."

"We're dragons!"

"Not dragon riders."

"Suit yourself," I hum. "Shall we, Addie?"

Take a wild guess who almost gets sent flying the moment we take off.