The Twaning Ice

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I woke up with a nudge in my throat, making me slowly open my eyes.

I saw Toothless smiling down at me, causing me to crack a smile too.

"Good, you're awake. Hiccup will explore. Do you want to join us or sunbathe?" he asked gently, and I smirked at him, lifting my head and letting out a jawn. "join you, of course. I can sunbathe later," I said, and Toothless smiled before shuffling over to his rider, who patted his head before mounting -- Astrid and Stormfly were already ready.

I stood up to stretch a bit before turning to the Night Wing and brown-furred boy "so where are we going?" I asked, looking straight into Hiccup's eyes. he was the only human who understood me. Even after all these years, no one could understand me, which made me a bit annoyed, but it matters that I could understand them.

"just to fly to that smoke," he pointed at a plume of smoke rising on the horizon, which made my ear-horns pin back. "we need to make sure there's no one there. Let's go," he said and gave Toothless the singla to take to the sky as others did the same.

We passed many sea stacks dotted with autumn trees of oranges and yellow. Then it suddenly snapped over to charred timbers. It looked hideous. I shuddered and glided closer to Toothless, who gave me a look of worry.

"Are you alright?" he said, and I nodded but kept my gaze on the rising smoke. The closer we came, the more the smell of a fire started to fill my senses. Someone's three, I thought, alive. Let us hope they are friendly.

We soon saw, in a sheltered harbor, an explosion of ice stands as an eerie marker of what used to be a trapper's fort. It sent a chill up my spine, and my long tail flicked behind me.

I feel Toothelss glance at me but ignores it for now. I need to make sure that no one sees me yet, so I rise higher in the air despite the chirps of Stormlfy and call out Toothless. "shh, she has to bud," Hiccup assures the NIgbht Wing, whose calls die down as I am high enough above them without anyone spotting me from the sky.

Also, high enough, so I don't get shot at. Not that anything could penetrate my hide.

We fly well. I pass over. They fly through the suspended remains of the buildings, splintered, and frozen in mid-destruction. I hear Hiccup mutter wondering what happened here.

It gnaws at me, and it's not a good feeling, so I soon let myself fall into place again. If anyone shall be hit first, it is me, not my friends.

It's at once harrowing and puzzling. Toothless spots an enormous dragon footprint in the muddy shoreline, leaving him uneasy. I hear his growl and follow his line of vision, letting out one of my own and flaring my ear horns, trying to catch any sound but only hearing the creak of wood --- wait! voices!

Eyes wide, I throw myself in front of Toothless, splaying my wings out to block the crossbow that fires at me, tangling my wings and causing
me to spin uncontrolled. "SMAUG!" I hear Hiccup, Toothless and Astrid and Stormfly call for me, but all I can let out is a sscrech rattling the earth as I hi tit tangled in the net. Trappers rush out of hiding, piling onto me as I try to snap at them.

But just as those years ago, they're too many and too quick, which makes fire bubble in my throat.

"argh, stay still, filthy humans!" I raor as I snap my jaws over one of their heads, making it yelp and duck. My anger flares, but then a large, raven-haired trapper lunges over a spew of fire that I let out and lands upon my head, twisting it and taking me down, making pain shoot in my jaw.

His musk hits me, and I flare my nares, baring my long sharp teeth and screaming bloody murder.

But the trapper tiets my mouth shut as I twitch and try to get loose. Then I hear Toothless' telltale banshee scream ring out. I hear him mutter: "Is that what I think it is?" I let out a strangled cry, willing for Toothless and my best friend to leave. If they come down, they'll be captured as well, but as usual, that baldheaded Night Wing doesn't listen, and I see him landing with Stormfly in tow.

Hiccup yells out, brandishing his sword, and Astrid takes her ax.

"STOP!" the trapper raises a brow and says quickly. "Back again?" he steps off me, making his men take his place, but they're not as strong and stumble when I struggle.

My anger sparks again as I hear him talk about Toothless the NightWing's eyes on me solely but flicking to the trapper to give him a heated glare. "Soil my britches... that is a NightFury. Though they were all gone for good," he says, smirking. Hearing my hiss, he turns back to look at me, meeting my golden stare seeing probably the fire burning in them.

He gives me a crooked smirk and turns back to face Hiccup, pointing at Toothless "Looks like our luck's had a turn for the better, lads! Don't think Drago has one of those in his dragon army. nor her," he points at me.

His men sound out in the agreement. Hiccup eyes Astrid, confused. I'm too confused. "Dragon army?" Astrid asks, her blue eyes on the big strong man.

"Look, we don't want any trouble." Hiccup says, and the trapper leader scoffs, "Ha! You should've thought of that before you stole all of our dragons and blasted our fort to bits!" my eyes blow wide. How dare he?! he doesn't know us, and he blames us for his misfortune! What a man!

"What are you talking about?" Hiccup asks before he and Astrid take in the icy destruction, putting it together. His sword burns down, his face hurts, and he is surprised. "You think we did this?" he asked. The trapper shrugs. "Dragon trapping is hard enough work as it is without do-gooder Dragonriders sneaking in to rescue them."

This makes me hiss in confusion and anger as a trapper tries to touch me clearly to show that he is the boss, but oh, I don't think so. Somehow as the trapper talks, I'm frozen, kept in place by my security.

Because since their leader isn't keeping me down, not that I wouldn't be able to shake him off, the men are weak, and I am strong enough to shake them off and kill them.

But somehow, and I don't know why I don't. Instead, my eyes are trained on the back of the raven-haired man, golden eyes scrutinizing and calculating, trying to find him out.

His voice continued, "You mean, other than your thieving friend from last night? You tell me." he approached Hiccup, but Toothless doesn't let him get far. I can see thought that he inches to come to me and free me, but by the gaze I give him, he understands my will and obliges.

"You may have an ice-spitting dragon on your side, but we still have a quota to fill. How do you suppose we explain this mess to DragoBludvist?" the trapper leader says. Another frown. "Drago what-fist? Does anything you say make sense?"

"He's expecting a new shipment of dragons for his army by tomorrow."

Confused sounds from me. I was scared too and, well, not scared but curious, you know what, scratch it. I don't know what to feel right now.

"And Drago doesn't take well to excuses." the leader trapper parts his tunic, revealing a large branding-iron scar on his torso in the shape of a dragon skull, split by a sword. No, I can't see his chest, but I see through Toothless. Yes, our bond is so strong.

"This is what he gave me last time I showed up empty-handed. He promised to be far less understanding in the future." the trapper growl, and I see that Hiccup is starting to be restless, as well as his friends. They want to get out of here, and so do i.

So when I see the man reach for his knife, which he had strapped to his back, I snarl loudly, alerting my presence once more before I shoot up, ripping the brown tangled vines like ice, and lunge at the leader taking him down and pins him to the ground. A snarl in his face is all that I do before spreading and taking off Toothless and the others right behind me as we fly towards bekr, hearing the trapper man yell behind us.

"YOU WILL NEVER HOLD ON TO THOSE DRAGONS, YOU HEAR ME?! DRAGO IS COMING FOR THEM ALL!"

I shudder and growl, falling tact with Toothless, hwo brushes his wing with mine, asking silently one question: are you alright? I give him a nod, and we fly on in silence.

Let us hope we never meet those lads again.

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