In Lieu Of A Tail

32. Camicazi & Heather Are Busy

Naturally, Aurora had to watch her brother's date for a little bit, she needed new blackmail material, what could she say? It wasn't really stalking, she wasn't really following him so much as she was watching from a bush, they ARE different, Astra! 

She hadn't meant for him to catch them, but in honesty she thought that it was way funnier than anything she could have concocted. Besides, Cami and Heather were too, um, busy to keep her out of trouble.

She had decided to go for a fly with Astra and Fyredart, given that Astra's wings were finally fully healed, unfortunately Aurora didn't heal nearly as fast, so her arm was still in a sling. They ended up back on Dragon Island and, after greeting Saph and Fire, wandered amongst the other dragons there, obviously this is where things started to go wrong.

There was a new arrival not fifteen minutes after the Fury, Terror and rider landed. Said arrival was a large beige and tangerine tinged dragon. Their two sets of wings were wrapped around their abdomen somewhat loosely, and the creature was bruised and covered in jagged marks that sent a shiver down Aurora's spine, these marks were familiar, both she and Hiccup had older, paled ones of the same variety. She knew tortured souls when she saw them, after all, she was one herself.

She silently thanked Hiccup for always pestering her about having a first aid kit in her saddlebag, just in case, 'Rora, to the point where she actually always carried one – mainly to shut him up – with her wherever she went. She approached the downed dragon cautiously, despite knowing dragons would never try to hurt someone unless provoked, she also knew that fight-or-flight always kicks in when they are seriously injured. The dragon appeared to have crashed, if the destroyed trees and deep gouge in the earth that the winged reptile lay in was any indication. She wasn't particularly worried about the species this dragon was, she knew she had seen one around somewhere before – it didn't matter that she couldn't remember what its name was.

The large creature cracked an eye open when she was maybe five feet away, she stopped in her tracks when they did, raising her hands in an I-come-in-peace gesture, when the dragon made no sound she reached to unclip her sword in a practiced motion, doing the same with her bow, arrows and several daggers – leaving them where they dropped and stepping over. The dragon grunted softly and she took slow, small steps towards it, glancing at Astra and Fyredart as if to say stay put. They remained where they were, still on guard.

Aurora began to speak softly. "Hey there, I'm not gonna hurt you. I want to help."

The dragon's eyes widened, either at the apparently peaceable human or the fact that she appeared to speak dragonese.

Aurora recognised the confused look and continued. "Yes, I speak dragonese, my friend Astra taught me." She arrived at the dragon and knelt, before nodding her head towards Astra in explanation. "Can she come over too? I think she may have some stuff we can use to fix you up."  She put her hand out and looked away, smiling when warm scales touched her palm, and turning gentle eyes back to the magnificent creature before her.

The dragon provided a small nod, too weak for anything else. Astra approached with the same level of care as her sister, bowing her head in greeting to the injured dragon. Little was said as both human and dragon worked swiftly to patch up the dragon as best they could with only four paws and one fully functioning arm between them.

"Can you open your wings so I can see your legs?" Aurora questioned.

She was regarded with a penetrating gaze that seemed to assess her – whether she could be trusted – and pass briefly over Astra, before the dragon bowed their head and unfurled their wings one-by-one, growling slightly in pain, Aurora winced – making a mental note to check the damaged wings next. Within them lay a slender figure wrapped in furs and grasping a strange wooden staff, they had a painted blue mask covering their face and when Aurora removed it she gasped at what she saw.