Night Fury's Wrath

Chapter 6: All the Right Moves

A couple of nights passed rather slowly, the entirety of which was spent searching for supplies that Astrid needed. One of the big ones was leather for the saddle, which I begrudgingly used my strength to lift collapsed debris so Astrid could scavenge leather from the abandoned homes. I still wasn't happy about the saddle, but it wouldn't be fair of me to make her suffer possible injuries.

Still, that didn't change my opinion on saddles.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Aurora kept her promises, not once straying from my side and always attempting to be respectful to me. And I say 'attempting' because there were a few times she ignored what I told her, but she always caught herself before I could say anything and immediately apologized. I was willing to let those slide; she was doing her best to change her behavior, and that was all I wanted. She did wander away sometimes, but only after she asked for my permission, and I only gave it when what she wanted to explore was very close by.

All the while, Astrid was carefully kept unaware of my real identity, and I ensured that Aurora understood what needed to be kept a secret. For all Astrid knew, I was a wild, untrusting, and very protective of my offspring 'Night Fury' named Moon-Watcher, who was the son of 'Hiccup,' and hated saddles. The only lie was who my father was. The rest of it was true; I was wild, untrusting, and protective, my name, Auroon, apparently meant 'Moon-Watcher,' and I hated saddles.

The reason I started the lie was that I worried about Astrid holding a grudge against me. I had needed answers from her, so it was easier to be an unknown dragon. Now, though, I assumed she didn't hold a grudge, but I still had an instinctive feeling that I shouldn't reveal who I was yet, and my instincts have never lied before, so I kept it a secret. What Astrid didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

That also meant I could let loose with my real personality without Astrid shrugging off my demands because I was 'just Hiccup.' There were many reasons I dropped that name and embraced my second name, 'Auroon,' and that was only one reason.

"Moon-Watcher?" I glanced at Astrid and grunted wordlessly. "I'm curious; why is that your name?" Well, at least I didn't need to lie about that.

"I liked staring up at the moon as a hatchling," I answered neutrally, noticing Aurora was listening as well. "I was a bit obsessed with it, I think." I lifted my head to look up at the half-lit moon in the clear sky. "Even as an adult, I still feel better flying under the moon than the sun."

Astrid hummed to herself for a moment, trudging through the deep snow slowly. "You guys surprise me every time I talk to any of you," she commented. "Like your name. Vikings have names to scare off gnomes and trolls, most of the time, but your name came from what you liked to do as a kid." She shrugged. "For a big, fire-breathing reptile, your name sounds pretty innocent."

I stared at her for a minute, a bit surprised, then huffed. "Do we have enough leather yet?"

She stopped and held up a strip of leather to my side, making me shudder as I resisted the urge to flinch away. I must really not like Scaleless anymore if just touching me caused that kind of reaction. "I think we almost have enough," she muttered. "A bit more should do." She pulled away and began trudging toward a nearby building. I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding, following after her.

I really wasn't going to like this.

"Come on! I need to measure you!"

"Not with that metal-claw!" I hissed, pressing up against the wooden wall. Any harder and I might break through it.

She looked at the small dagger in her left hand. "It's to cut the leather to fit you," she explained. "I don't have all the right tools, so this is what I need to use."