Rocky is swimming in the ocean, wearing just his pants, showing off a bit of muscle. While Stinger zips up and down the beach. Mulic rumbles as he sleeps, with Stinger jumping over him a few times. Leafwisp lays beside Mulic, watching the Speed Stringer running along the beach.
Down the beach Snips and Spine are chittering down the beach, talking with Bach and Blech, the Squaldron brothers. While the last two, Raincutter and Neither are off on a small patrol.
Rocky dives under the water and looks around, he spots a few other underwater dragons circling the island. A few give him a small roar as they pass, but most just ignore his presence.
Rocky then swims back up to the surface and takes a deep breath. Then he swims up to the store and shakes the water off himself. But Stinger speeds up and comes to a sliding stop, kicking up a bunch of sand onto the human.
Stinger chortles as the human, covered in sand, glares at him. Rocky sighs as he shakes his head, and takes a quick dip back into the water. Then when he comes back up, he climbs onto a few nearby rocks in the sand.
Rocky sighs in contempt as he leans back on the warm rock, letting the sun dry him. He smiles as his one eye looks up to the sky, as he rubs the scale eyepatch.
'Feels weird not having to wake up at 5 am almost everyday for class.' Rocky looks towards the sun in thought. 'Heh, I bet I would be in physics right now... stupid math.'
Rocky closes his eye as Stringer runs around his rock a few times, before plopping down in the sand next to the rock.
'Gotta say, I think I like dragons more then people. They're at least honest with their feelings, and hardly ever lie. And besides, nearly every human I've meet has been trying to kill me. Other then Heather.'
Rocky opens his eye as he then sits up and looks out to the ocean.
'It's only been a couple weeks since she left, but I kinda miss her.' Rocky looks down at his right side, seeing the fresh jagged scar. 'Still owe her for saving my life. ...Now that I think about it, that Operation Jörmungandr could be related to that large Purple Dragon... It has to be...'
Rocky lets out a groan as he runs his hands down his face. Stinger lets out a chirp as he looks up to him.
"Why can't anything be simple around here..." Rocky leans to the side, using a hand to prop himself. He then looks down at Stinger. "You dragons have it easy, you don't have to worry about too much, do you?"
Stinger lets out a chortle in response. Rocky shakes his head as he chuckles, and holds out a hand to pat Stingers head.
"Funny, Heather said your kind was impossible to train." Rocky runs Stingers head, as the dragon seems to smile. "But I've had no trouble with you. Maybe I'm just lucky and dragons like me more then most. I did manage to not die to Stromchaser. A Skrill, said to be one of the strongest dragons."
Stinger lets out a chortle as suddenly his head snaps to the side as a roar sounds off. Rocky looks over to see Mulic growling at Leafwisp, who's laying upside down on his back. Leafwisp just seems to laugh as the Monstrous Nightmare glares at him.
"Those two have a strange friendship." Rocky looks back out to the ocean, he continues to smile, before it slightly faulters.
Rocky's smile slowly disappears as he lays back down on the rock. His teal eye stares up to the sky, looking over the clouds. He takes a deep breath in, and lets it out through his nose. Stinger lets out a questioning roar as he rests in his head on the rock.
Rocky glances down and pats his head. "I'm okay boy, just wishing... Wishing I had more people to talk to." He then rests his hands on his chest. "I was never exactly a people person, I really only talked to my friends, and my classmates. But that was really it, I never needed to go out of my way to talk to people. But..."
Rocky's lips purse as he glances at all the other dragons.
"I guess I actually miss talking to people, which is weird. Never thought I'd miss people."
Stinger lets out a rumble as he shifts side to side. Rocky chuckles as he pats his head again.
"If only I could understand you all, there'd be so many stories I could listen to. Maybe I could write a book about it all." Rocky chuckles as he shakes his head. "Imagine a historian finding a book about stories from dragons. It'd be like the Canterbury Tales."
Rocky sits up on his rock as he smiles. Stinger chirps as he hops up and sits behind him, resting his head on the human's shoulder.
"All kinds of dragons can live for hundreds of years, just imagine the stories they have. I would love to hear them, especially from Dragon Drips." Rocky gives Stinger a side glance. "I heard she's one of the oldest Dragons in the Archipelago, she must have plenty."
Stinger chirps as he wiggles a little. Rocky chuckles as he pats the dragons snout, before standing up and stretching.
"You know, Stinger, I used to not like dragons. But living amongst them for a month, has changed my mind."
Rocky puts his hands on his hips, looking at his friends. Then out to the island, seeing dozens of other dragons flying and moving about the forest. He then stretches as Stinger hops off the rock and runs to the side.
Then a moment later, Stinger returns with Rocky's folded clothes in his jaw. Rocky smiles as he kneels down and rubs the dragons jaw, before taking the clothes.
"Thanks buddy."
Stinger chirps as he stars running back down the beach. Rocky starts getting dressed and a few minutes later, he's adjusting his pauldrons and bracers, befoer tugging on the straps of his armor.
Then after checking himself over, he walks off to the side; where his sword and satchel are sitting. He attaches the sword to his left hip. Then hands the satchel over his shoulder.
He rolls his shoulder a few times, and then a roar echoes. Rocky walks up to the edge of the beach as Niether and Raincutter fly in and land in front of him.
Rocky steps forward as Raincutter lowers her head. He rubs her chin and she purrs. Niether steps forward, as Rocky looks at him.
"Anything interesting?"
"Just a lone Hunter ship heading to the edge of the Dragon Isle territory." Niether informs with a low rumble.
Rocky stops rubbing Raincutter, and turns to his dragon as he crosses his arms. "A single ship, any dragons on it?"
"Not that we smelled."
Rocky hums in thought, and Niether lowers himself to the ground. Rocky climbs on as he glances at Raincutter.
"Me and Niether are gonna catch up to the ship, can you and the others do another patrol around the territory?"
Raincutter nods as she backs away from the two. Niether then takes off into the sky and quickly disappears into the distance. Raincutter looks to the side and gives a roar, as the other dragons turn to her.
A little while later, Niether and Rocky fly above the spotty clouds, seeing a lone ship far ahead. But it's heading towards a large storm. Rocky leans down onto the saddle, as he pats Niether's take.
"Take us low."
Niether rumbles as he moves below the clouds as they follow the lone ship.
"Where is it going, and why towards a storm?" Niether rumbles in question.
"Just keep your distance." Rocky mutters.
The two enter the storm as rain starts to pelt them. Thunder roars as several flashes of lighting go off above them. They follow the ship towards a small chain of islands.
Rocky shivers as he hugs the saddle. "How far is it going? We've been following for a while."
"Well, it's going behind that island."
"Alright, keep following it."
Niether soars across the dark sky and over the islands. But as they reach the other side, they come across a dozen Hunter ships lying in wait.
"FIRE!" Julvig yells as he points his sword up at the two.
"Evade!" Rocky yells in panic.
Niether roars as he spins in the air, using his wings to block several arrows. Then he flips backwards as several rocks fly past them. Niether then fires down a few Power Shots, hitting a few catapults on the ships.
"Let's get our of here!" Rocky yells as he ducks under some arrows.
Niether roars as he goes to turn around, but several arrows shoot into his back. He lets out a yelp as he zooms off to the side.
Julvig smiles as he watches Niether fly off. "After them, that dragon won't get far."
Niether rumbles as his vision blurs. he tries to shake it away, but the darkness keeps closing in.
"Niether, come on pal." Rocky pats Niether on the neck. "Stay awake for me."
"I uh..." Niether eye grows heavy. "I'm... going out..."
Niether heads droops as his eyes falls shut. But as that happens he stops flapping his wings, and gravity takes hold as his wings droop. Rocky yells in panic as he holds onto Niether's saddle tightly.
Niether nose dive downs towards an island, as Rocky yells. They then slam into the ground, sending Rocky flying as Niether goes sliding. Rocky slams and bounces across the ground, before coming to a stop at the edge of a hole.
Rocky grunts in pain as he starts to push himself up, but suddenly the edge of the ground gives way. He yells as he falls into the hole, and into a large tunnel. He face plants in the dirt and goes still for a moment.
Rocky then lifts his head with a grunt, he slowly gets up as small drips of blood fall onto the dirt below. He lifts up his hand to his nose, before pulling away. He finds a little bit of red on his hand.
He grunts and stands up, as he wipes his nose. He gets to his feet as he sways a little, and rubs his head as a headache forms. He looks around in confusion, seeing the large carved circular tunnels.
He hears some soft roars from Niether echo above him. Rocky quickly looks up, as he flips his eyepatch up. But as his vision splits, Niether's vision is all blurry, making it impossible to see.
Rocky grits his teeth as he flips his leaf eyepatch back down. He then cups his hands and yells.
"Just hang on Niether, I'll find a way back up!"
Rocky wipes his bleeding nose once again. He glances around in confusion. He steps forward and his foot lands on something. He looks down to see a massive white scale.
His eyebrow furrows as he bends down and picks up one of the scales. "What is this?"
Rocky holds the scale up to the sunlight above him. He flips it over a few times, before giving it a light knock.
"Is this... a scale?" Rocky questions.
Suddenly a loud roar echoes in the cave, making Rocky drop the scale in panic. He looks around, and sees a small hole nearly and dives into it. He roughly lands as a massive white dragon suddenly flies past.
Rocky blinks a few times, before wiping his nose again. He slowly peaks out of the cave and looks down the tunnel where the dragon went. Finding nothing, he slowly moves out of the cave, and stands in the middle.
He clears his throat, and a moment later books it down the other way. He nearly trips over a few rocks, but he manages to keep running. Then turns down another path and coming to a tunnel that takes a steep upward turn.
Rocky skids to a stop as he wipes his nose away. He looks up the tunnel, seeing sunlight above him.
"Yeah, I could totally climb this."
Rocky puts a foot on the slope, before he starts crawling up the slope. But after a few feet, he slides down with a grunt. He then tries again, but ends up sliding back down. He lets out a huff and tries one last time with a running start, but slides back down a moment later.
He takes a step back as he crosses his arms. "Well, I guess I can't climb... Might as well head the other w-"
Rocky turns around and comes face to face with a massive white dragon. Making him turn pale in horror.
In front of him is a massive white dragon with red eyes. It also has three rows of teeth, but they are aligned differently than those of the Whispering Death, set in a chin reminiscent of a Red Death. They have rows of frilly spines that line the edges of its unsegmented underbelly.
Despite the Screaming Death's size, its wings are only the size of a Scauldrongs. Behind it is an excessively long tail with spines all over it. Rocky blinks at the teeth, which are even larger then him.
The dragon glares down at him as it gives a low rumble. Rocky tries to back away, but he hits the slope. He then holds his hands up with a panicked smile.
"Uh, nice dragon?"
The Screaming Death opens its mouth wide as it roars right into his face. Rocky holds his hands over his ears as the area around him shakes. He then dives to the ground as it bites the ground where he was standing.
Rocky scrambles away as the Screaming Death turns around, it whips its tail towards him. Rocky ducks as several large spines fly above him. It screams in anger, before chasing after him.
Rocky runs back down the tunnel as the Screaming Death chases after him. He yells in panic and dives into a side tunnel, as it bites at the air. Rocky scrambles through the small tunnel as the area around him starts to shake.
Rocky slips out of the small tunnel into a larger tunnel. He lets out a breath, but suddenly the area starts to shake more and he looks back at the small tunnel.
Suddenly it bursts open as the Screaming Death screeches loudly, making Rocky cover his ears. The Screaming Death then tries to bite him again, but he lunges to the side just in time, avoiding death by a hair.
Rocky then runs off to the side as the Screaming Death turns towards him, and roars. Rocky turns through a few tunnels, managing to avoid more spines launched at him.
Rocky dives into another small tunnel as the Screaming Death flies. He lets out a sigh and starts to follow the tunnel, and finds that it slowly turns upwards.
He quickly moves up it as the tunnel starts to shake behind him, as the Screaming Death tunnels. Rocky then pops out of the ground in the middle of the island and he shakes some dirt off his head.
He quickly pulls himself out as the ground starts to shake. Rocky panics as he runs away as the Screaming Death shoots out of the ground. It spins around looking for the human, and spots him running towards the beach.
It screams and shoots off towards him, and it whips a few spines from its tail. The spines slice through the air and nearly hit Rocky, but he does tumble to the ground.
Rocky face plants the ground again and he groans in annoyance. He then feels a massive presence above him. He rolls onto his back and sees the Screaming Death right above it.
It then lets out a loud scream right in his face, causing him to cover his ears. It then stops as he opens its mouth wide to eat him, but it stops as a loud roar of a Whispering Death rings out.
The Screaming Death stops, and looks back behind him. He lets out a roar and speeds off towards the other side of the island.
Rocky lets out a grunt as he sits up. "What was that about."
Rocky stands up as he puts a hand over his beating heart, and lets out a long sigh. He then takes off running after the Screaming Death. He catches up to the massive dragon on the side of the island, it lets out a loud roar to the dozen Hunter ships in the distance.
Rocky pulls out a spy glass from his satchel, and puts it up to his eye. He looks over the Hunter ships, and lands on one. He sees Niether, still loopy, being pushed into a large green cage. Then he sees a Whispering Death get pushed back into a cage.
Rocky lowers his spy glass in worry. "Oh no..."
The Screaming Death roars again as it starts to charge towards the ships. But Rocky runs in front of it yelling.
"Woah woah woah!" Rocky waves his hands, catching the dragons attention as it growls at him. "Hey, you can't just charge in there, you'll get yourself hurt!"
The Screaming Death roars loudly at him, and he just yell back.
"Don't take that tone with me mister!" Rocky yells back, and the dragon actually looks surprised. "Look, I know you're probably worried about that Whispering Death. But I'm not letting you charge in there, and getting yourself hurt!"
The Screaming Death growls loudly at him, and he points up at him.
"Hey now. You may be a big dragon, but I will even worry about you. So we're gonna have to help each other, okay? Because my best friend was also captured! So you're gonna help me rescue him!"
Rocky yells as he points up at the Screaming Death. He stares down at the human, who starts to lightly sweat. The dragon lets out a breath through its nose, which blows through Rocky's hair.
Over on the dragon Hunter Ship, Julvig chuckles as he looks at the two dragons inside the cage.
"Sir, what about the boy?" A Hunter calls out.
"We don't need to worry about him." Julvig glances at with a smirk. "You know what's on that island, the Screaming Death. Not even someone like him could ever tame a dragon like that."
Suddenly a loud scream fills the air, making everyone cover their ears in pain. Niether shakes his head as he starts to get out of his loopy state. The Whispering Death looks up to the sky.
"Fire!" Rocky is heard yelling.
Suddenly fireballs rain down from the sky, taking out all the ships with catapults on them. Julvig lowers his hands from his ears, as he looks up to the sky. He spots Rocky on the head of the Screaming Death high above them.
"You were saying, sir?"
Julvig glares to the side as he takes the sword off his back. He points up to the sky and yells.
"Get them!"
Archers prepare their bows, but another rain of fireball fall from the sky like a machine gun. The ships around the his all blow up, as several fireballs also land in the water around the ship. Plums of water fill the air, blocking everyone's view.
Suddenly dozens of spikes fly down, hitting the Archers, and littering the ships. Julvig looks back at his archers, and turns back only to see Rocky flying down at him.
He tries to bring up his sword, but Rocky just punches him across the face. Julvig stumbles back and trips over an Archer who's laying on the ground in pain.
Rocky lands with a soft thud as he runs over to the cages. The Screaming Death roars loudly again. Rocky reaches Niether as the dragon shakes his head blinking a few times.
"Hey, you good?" Rocky calls out.
"I feel... weird..." Niether rumbles as he shakes his head again.
"Just hold on, okay."
Rocky pulls out his sword, and breaks the lock open on the cage. Niether rumbles as he steps out, as Rocky runs over to the other cage. The Whispering Death just watches him.
"Hey, I'm gonna get you out of here, okay?" Rocky says in a soft tone, but then another Scream fills the area. "Then maybe can you calm him down?"
The Whispering Death rumbles as Rocky uses his sword the break the lock on the cage. The Whispering Death shoots out and flies up into the smoke filled sky.
Rocky runs over to Niether and pats him on the face a few times. "Hey, stay awake okay!"
"Ugh, you're too loud.... and my wings hurt..."
"Let's just get out of here." Rocky jumps onto Niether's back.
The dragon grumbles, before opening up his wings and taking off to the sky. Julvig grunts as he stands back up, watching Rocky and Niether leave.
"...Sigewulf's gonna be angry..."
Niether lets out a whine of pain as he flaps his wings. Rocky rubs his neck as the two manage to get high up in the sky, and find the Screaming and Whispering Death nuzzling each other.
Rocky lets out a awe, and the Whispering Death looks over to him. It gives a roar before flying back towards their island. The Screaming Death looks over, and lets out a huff through its nose, before following the other.
"Uh... What was that?" Niether lets out a questioning sound.
"You know... I have no clue." Rocky crosses his arms. "Let's just get out of here... I'm sore all over."
Niether turns and flies off. "My wings ache so bad, they feel like their gonna fall off."
The two fly off, leaving the burning fleet behind them.
"I'm starting to think we should bring a few more when we do stuff like this."
"YOU THINK!" Niether roars loudly at Rocky.
7-11-2026
3600 words