Hookfang's Tale (HTTYD)

2 - Life... Loathe it Or Ignore it, You Can't Like it

A/N:
So, I had mentioned that each chapter will contain a little Easter egg pop culture reference. In Ch. 1, when the black dragon was spying on the village, I narrated my rendition of how I imagined a dragon would perceive a Viking wedding. So... the dragons are wedding crashers. "You may now kiss the-- Odin's beard! Nevermind! Kill the dragons!" Well, kissing wasn't really a thing in that culture, I think.

I also included a quote from the Wedding Crashers movie, "A friend in need is a pest."

True to form, this chapter also has some Easter eggs (four, including the title). At least one should be more readily recognizable.

Life... Loathe it Or Ignore it, You Can't Like it

Ugh! What... happened? It's so dark, save for a tiny sliver of light that's painfully stabbing through the cave to land on the stone wall next to me. The stars are no longer swimming around on the ground. In fact, they're gone. It's like all those land-striders surrounding me suddenly transformed into... into...

Where am I, anyway?

I crack my eyelids open a little more. Darkness and stone walls all around. It's actually kinda soothing. Headache aside, I guess that's an improvement, right?

Then again, maybe not. I mean, last night, there were some bits that are kinda fuzzy in my head, but I sorta liked having those little, hairy things around. We were playing this fun game where I would kill them and they would die. Oh the fun we had. Good times.

And then, I would... take them back to...

The queen!

Oh no! She needs me!

I snap my eyes open, bringing all the nothingness around me into sharp focus.

Where is she, though? She's gone! I need her! I cannot hear her! Ever since I cracked my egg, I could always sense her presence in my mind. Now, though, I can't... sense... hear... she's just... Where is she?!

I scrabble about in the darkness, frantically searching for a way out. There's nothing here. Nothing! Just stone walls everywhere. Feeling around with the tips of my wings, it soon becomes horrifyingly clear that there is no way out of this cave.

How did I get here? Why am I here? Wait, that's sunlight peeking through the crack in the wall to burn out my dilated pupils... I was sleeping? How could I allow myself to sleep when there is so much work to be done? The queen is hungry! I have never failed to bring her tribute in any past raid and I don't plan to start now. She's always pleased with the tribute I bring back to her and praises my strength and boldness.

Now, though, she's just... gone! How can this be?

Wait! Now that I've calmed my whirling thoughts, I can sense the passive emotional hum of four, maybe five other dragons nearby. They're close. I'm not alone! Together, we can break out of this tiny cave!

Yes!

There's a mink dragon I don't recognize, but I can recognize a female boulder dragon who disappeared quite some time ago. The leaves have grown and fallen a few times since then, but I would recognize the signature of her hum anywhere.

Once, she gave me some fish for tribute after a particularly terrible raid when I came back to the nest empty-taloned. The queen knew I took nothing from the land-striders, but she still didn't eat me.

The queen is so merciful and gracious!

I can also recognize that pest of a deadly adder who tried to steal my tribute before she was... captured... by the land-striders...