On Love's Wings ~ A Snotlout Jorgenson Fanfiction

Chapter 4 ~ The New Recruit

Once more, I found myself running blindly through unfamiliar territory, up yet another hill, until Tuffnut came to a sudden stop directly in front of me. My body slammed into his, causing me to let out a groan of pain. His hand was suddenly covering my mouth, long fingers pressing into my cheeks, making my eyes widen in shock as I tried to pull it away. "Shh...it is time for your next test my young apprentice..." He whispered dramatically. I rolled my eyes, relaxing while I waited for him to let go. Tuff and his theatrics... "Look directly in front of you, child, what do you see?" I shook my head slightly, confused as to what he was talking about. "Mhm hmm mhmm hmmh?" I tried to say that I didn't see anything but the sky and the trees, and some rocks in front of us, but instead my words came out rather muffled. "What was that?" Tuff asked. I pulled his hand off my mouth, sighing. "I said, I don't see anything." Tuff smirked, placing his palms on either side of my face and pointing me straight toward some large boulders. "Look again..." He whispered. I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to see what in Odin's name he was talking about. Then it happened. A slow movement on the stones, just barely visible from within the shadows of the trees cloaking them in darkness. There was a faint hissing sound as a glint of gray scales were exposed against the rock face, then blended in once more. "A Changewing..." I whispered, understanding now as to why Tuff had shushed me. "My challenge for you, my eager apprentice, is to sneak up on the Changewing before she sees you, and climb onto her back without her noticing. The hardest part, you've got to do it before me. Think you can do that?" He asked. I smirked at him. "Of course, Thorston!" I accepted his challenge. "Very well! Let us begin!" Tuff announced.

At that moment, he dropped to his hands and knees, squinting his eyes to examine the position of the dragon. Quickly following suit, I got on all fours as well, doing the same. I could vaguely see the long vine-like antennae cascading down the stone on the right, telling me that the dragon was facing away from us. Her sides heaved deeply, showing that she was sleeping soundly under the soft leaves above her head. I swallowed thickly, carefully moving forward, one palm laying flat on the cool hard earth, one knee following close behind. Edging to my right, I put some distance between Tuff and I, noticing that he was quickly gaining on me. I hastened my movements, crawling at a slightly faster pace than he was. That quickly changed when the dragon raised her head and turned it in our direction. We both froze, holding our breath. But the Changewing made no other shift in position.

Releasing the breath caught in my throat, my hands and knees began moving once more, getting me closer to the trees where she was hidden. I stopped and glanced around, seeing my friend was practically laying on his stomach, pulling himself up to the dragon, now at her tail. My heartbeat accelerated, and I quickly looked for a way to beat him in our stealth race. Granted, I was closer to her head than Tuff, but I had to be careful not to disturb her further. Biting my lip, I stood up quietly and reached up, grasping the branch of a tree beside me, lifting myself up onto it. Thankfully, the wood was stable enough to hold my weight and I pulled myself up to the next one over my head. This one was thick and heavy, but flexible and long, allowing it to stretch over the body of the Changewing. I lowered my body again, wrapping my arms and legs around the branch, trying not to shuffle the leaves too much. Taking another shaky breath, I noticed Tuff making his way around the dragon, stepping up onto the boulders. Alarmed by his close proximity, I moved to the end of the branch, causing it to droop down. I was right over the dragon's neck now. Gently, I slid my legs off the side and used my upper body strength to hang there for a second. Gritting my teeth, I listened for the sound of a waking dragon, but the Changewing still didn't move. Reassured, I allowed my arms to relax a little more, which in turn lowered my body until I felt the soft scraping of my boots on the stone on either side of the long scaled neck underneath me.

Closing my eyes, my palms opened and I dropped down, straddling the area behind her head. Feeling no sign of aggression, I allowed myself to sit on the dragon's neck, opening my eyes to look around. Tuff was standing behind me with his pale blue irises full of awe. "A...ma...zing." He whispered. I cocked my head, turning my attention to the dragon I was sitting across. Soft yellow eyes were glued on me, but the dragon didn't hiss or growl. Instead, she lifted her neck and pushed her nose into my chest. My own expression turned to one of shock, but I quickly rubbed her nose scales and scratched under her chin. She made a purring sound, pulling away and lowering her head once more. Breathing deeply, I grasped the hand that Tuff was holding out to me, getting up off of her neck. The Changewing cocked her head, but made no move to attack as I bid her goodbye and left with the blond viking boy. We watched as she shuffled her wings and turned back around, going back to sleep.