I'm Leaving Forever (a HTTYD Runaway Fanfic ~ Book 1)

14 - Insight Into The War

(Imagine this dragon, but yellow and brown)

This island didnt look like the best place to land on, but the dragon didnt have a choice. The many hours of flying across a barren, watery desert had exhausted him immensely and with the only option apart from falling into the ocean was to land at the first island that came into view and avoid anything there that walked. With that, the dragon allowed its wings to go slack, which resulted in him almost crashing down onto the grass. Not that it really bothered him though. He just lay there motionless, letting the chilly winter breeze cool down his thin body and the long grass brush against his dirty yellow and brown scales.

The dragon thought about the many days he had spent scouring the landscape of every island to find a decent home. A place where he could mark his territory and never have to leave. However, the odds were never on his side. How could he claim some territory of his own when he couldn't even find a place to properly rest? Most of the islands the dragon had been forced to stop at were occupied by Viking villages who didnt take too kindly to dragons, or by other dragons who already had their own territory. And there was no use in even trying to take over and invade either. The nourishment the dragon had could only sustain his survival, so he didn't have much energy to fight and any light from the sun weakened him immensely. It burned his scales and quickened the his rate of fatigue. This was a dragon used to darkness and cold temperatures. Both of which could be found in a deep cave underground or an ice cave and its main source of food then had been hunting down anything that could come across in its path. Dragons, humans, fish or small animals. It had a pretty healthy lifestyle.

However, after he had essentially been brainwashed by that Queen, the dragon hadn't been able to feed himself properly. The constant pressure to bring enough food back had never given him a chance to hunt for himself and that had already weakened him. Now that he had been released from that control, life that gotten somewhat better for him, but due to past events, scavenging was now something the dragon had to turn to whenever he couldnt find anything for himself. It wasnt something he like to do, but there was no choice. 

As of now, the dragon was gaining its strength. Slowly, but eventually, it could finally stand on its four feet and tuck its wings against its body, moving its amber eyes over the terrain. It was far from a level plain with a small hills and mounds everywhere. In the distance, clusters of trees indicated the beginning of the forest and that where the dragon headed. Even if there may not be much food, there would be shade and the temperature would most likely be cooler. In order to conserve his strength, the dragon walked slowly up and down the mounds, digging his claws into the earth whenever he felt like he was slipping. Even though it was cloudy, the sun still peaked through every now and then and it did hinder the dragon slightly, however, after what felt like hours, the dragon was finally covered by the canopy of the trees.

It seemed like a decent place to rest. Any growls and roars from other dragons seemed distant. The forest floor was good enough to lie down on, and the leaves blocked out most of the sunlight. For extra security, the dragon crawled in under some interweaving tree roots and curled up there, his head poking out with his tail wrapped around its body and his spines pressed flat against his back. He didnt fall asleep though. Although the growls and roars were very distant, they were frequent and unsettled the dragon. It was almost like those roars were filled with pain and fear. It was that kept the dragon from fully relaxed and it remained highly alert, despite its state. 

Worryingly, the roars and growls became louder and alongside that, footsteps beat down onto the ground rapidly, indicating that whatever was causing it was running. The dragon crouched down further into the shadows. First, he would try and hide away from whatever was going on. If he couldn't, then he would try and fight his way to escape. The dragon held his head low, preparing himself for anything when all of a sudden, flashes of purple and red ran past his hiding place. It was a confusing sight, but when the dragon saw more and more of these occurrences, he finally poked his head out to see what was happening.