The early morning sun shines into Rocky and Niether's cave. The sound of thumping and slicing echoes in the cave. Niether grumbles and rumbles as he rolls onto his side, still asleep.
But in the corner of the cave, Rocky swings his sword at a large bone. He lets out a few grunts as he slams his sword into the bone, cutting into it deeply. He then jumps back, before lunging forward as he thrusts his sword into the bone, piercing into it.
Niether rumbles as his eye opens up, as he spots Rocky practicing in the corner of the room. He watches as the human flails around with the sword. Niether shifts and stands up, before shaking himself.
Niether smacks his lips a few times, before stretching forward like a cat and yawning. He then licks the back of his paw, and rubs the side of his head.
Rocky notices Niether acting a bit like a cat. "What are you doing?"
Niether stops mid rub, and slowly lowers his paw. "I have no idea."
Rocky sheathes his sword as he walks over to Niether. "Well, since you're awake, let's go get breakfast."
Niether lowers himself to the ground, and Rocky climbs onto his back. The dragon walks out of the cave, before taking off to the sky. Then a few minutes later, Niether is hovering above the ocean, looking down at it.
Rocky grips onto his scales tightly as he looks out to the morning sun. Niether suddenly dips down and shoves his head into the water, before lifting his head up as several fish stick out of his mouth.
Niether chews and swallows the fish in his mouth, before he looks back down at the water for more fish. But then he tilts his head as he spots a pair of dark spots under the water.
Niether flies up a little as suddenly a blue and red Scauldron's poke their heads out of the water. They let out a couple roars.
"Brother, it looks like a Night Fury." The Blue Scauldron looks to the red.
"Kinda like the one with the human rider?" The Red Scauldron looks to his brother.
"We've only met one Night Fury, Brother."
"Oh, I forgot about that, Brother."
Neither tilts his head. "Uh... hello?"
Rocky looks down and spots the dragons. "Those must be Scauldrons. "Kinda cool looking."
"Ahh, look, the dragon has a human on its back." The Blue one points out.
"Oh, a human... can we eat him?" The Red one questions.
"Ew, they taste bad remember?"
"Awww, right..."
"No ones eating him." Niether calls out.
"Of course, Purple one, we won't eat him." The Blue looks up at him. "Ah, sorry for not introducing ourselves, I'm Bach."
The Red one sprays some water. "And I'm Blech."
"Oh, Snips mentioned you guys yesterday." Rocky points out after Niether translates.
Bach and Blech look at each other in confusion.
"He can understand me." Niether informs.
"Ah, of course." Bach nods in understanding.
"There are always weird humans." Blech nods in understanding.
Niether and Rocky glance at each other, before looking down at the Scauldrons.
"That was easy."
"It rather was."
Bach speaks up. "When you've been around the world like we have, not much exactly surprises you any more."
"We meet a group of humans who road dragons as well, interesting bunch I must say." Blech states. "So, whatca two up to?"
"Just getting breakfast, which is Fish once again." Rocky sighs.
Bach motions towards one of the islands in the distance. "The island on the left has some boars on it, and the one on the right has some chickens."
Both Rocky and Niether perk up. "That sounds awesome./That sounds awesome."
Bach and Blech nod.
"Well, we must be on our way." Bach nods to the two.
"We must say hello to Grandma Drip." Blech nods to the two.
"Well, I hope you two have a good day." Rocky calls out as the two Scauldrons dive under the water.
"For dragons that can spray Boiling water, they're pretty chill."
"Yeah... can you catch me some fish now?" Rocky asks and Niether rolls his eye. "Hey, I still haven't eaten!"
Several hours later Niether and Rocky lands on the edge of one of the new islands.
"So Bach said there's boars on here." Rocky slides off Niether as he looks at the forest ahead. "If we can get their hide, I can make a makeshift saddle for you. Then maybe a canteen for water, and some pouches for other stuff."
"Do you remember how to tan hide and stuff?" Niether questions as he and Rocky walk into the forests.
"I mean, kinda, you should know what I know." Rocky points out.
"Just trying to make our conversations more interesting."
The two walk through the forest as they hears chirping and roars of dragons around.
"You know, with all the dragons around, how would boars still be a-" A boar suddenly charges out of from a bush, and slams into the side of Rocky; throwing him to the ground.
Rocky lands face first on the ground as Niether laughs at him. Rocky groans as he looks over to Niether as he pushes himself up.
"Get that dumb beast!" Rocky yells at Niether.
Niether huffs smoke out of his nose, and chases after the boar on foot. Rocky pushes himself up, but stops as he notices something in the ground in front of him.
An arrow sticks out of the ground in front of him. Rocky's brows furrow as he crawls forward and pulls the arrow out of the ground. He looks it over and sees the arrow tip coated in a green substance.
Rocky looks over the arrow tip and rubs the substance on his finger. He then twists it between his fingers, before smelling it.
"Tangy..." Rocky mutters, and he hears a loud roar off into the distance and looks towards it.
Rocky then takes off his eyepatch and does a "Come here" motion.
He hears Niether roar in the distance, then after a few moments Niether lands beside him, dropping a dead boar. Rocky lowers his eyepatch and turns to Niether.
"What is it?" Niether questions as he lowers himself.
Rocky shows the arrow to the dragon. Niether leans forward and sniffs it over, before backing up as he sniffs the tip. He growls in anger and shakes his head, before rubbing his nose in the ground.
Rocky lowers the arrow as he looks at his dragon in confusion. "What is it?"
Niehter shakes his head as he lets out a huff. "Whatever that substance is, makes me kinda angry when I smell it."
Rocky looks down at the arrow, before snapping it in half and tosses it to the ground. He walks over to Niether and rubs his chin.
"Well, that arrow had to come from somewhere." Rocky points out and they hear some roaring in the distance, before followed by the yells of humans.
Rocky and Niether glance at each other, before Neither quickly leans down and Rocky climbs up his back. They take to the sky high above the island and look around, before spotting a group of ships on the other end of the island.
"Humans!" Rocky smiles in excitement. "Wow, it'll be nice to actually talk to someone! Let go, Niether!"
"Hold up!" Niether calls out as he flaps his massive wings nearly silently. "Look at the emblem on those sails."
Rocky leans forward as he narrows his teal eye. He sees a red dragon with a arrow in its head, and a sword through its tail. Then they see a bunch of humans wheeling dragons on carts up the ramp of a beached ship.
"Dragon Hunters." Rocky mutters with a frown.
"Snips mentioned them, and now we're meeting them. They're way to close to Weyr island, let's drive them away."
Rocky smirks and chuckles, and pats Niether on the back. "Let's see what you can do boy."
Niether lets out a throaty rumble as he takes up high into the sky. Over at the beach, a Dragon Hunter stands at the bottom of the ramp.
"Hurry up, we got till sundown to make it back to the fleet!" The Hunter Leader yells.
A pair of hunters wheel up a Deadly Nadder, that's trapped down to the cart, up the ramp. It lets out an angry roar as it tries to lift up its tail. A pair of hunters at the top of the ship, aim their bows at the Nadder.
The Dragon Hunter Leader looks out to the beach, seeing several Gronckles, a Timberjack, a couple Hobblegrunts, and a Raincutter. He smiles and nods to himself.
Suddenly a low pitched loud rumbling fills the air, similar to a Semi-truck Jake Braking. All the Hunter stop what their doing and look around in panic.
"Up there!" A Hunter shouts as he points up.
Everyone looks up to the air as they see Niehter and Rocky dive bombing towards them. Niether opens his mouth as a purple and blue glow appears.
"Take cover!" A Hunter shouts.
Niether fires a Power Shot at the ship, it streaks across the air like a lighting bolt and slams into the ship. The ship nearly gets blow in half as the Plasma bolt slams into it. Lighting zips around the ship, and burns the ropes holding the Deadly Nadder.
The Deadly Nadder squawks as it stands up, and roars at the Hunters. The Hunter's with bows aim them at the Nadder, but he quickly fires his spines at them, destroying the bows in their hands. More Hunters run towards the Nadder.
"Power Beam!" Rocky shouts as Neither hovers above the beach.
Niether opens his mouth and fires a long purple and blue beam across the beach, sending the Hunters to the ground. Suddenly several arrows fly past the two, as Neither zips to the side.
He then fires another Power Shot at a group of hunters firing at the two. But an arrow comes from behind and hits Niether in the back leg. The dragon lets out a loud roar as he turns to the side and fires another Power Shot at them.
He then shakes his head and roars as he grows slightly dizzy. Rocky pats his neck.
"You good?"
"Just... Ugh, what's ever in that arrow is making me feel weird." Niether flaps his wings and dives to the ground, barreling through a few Hunters.
Rocky jumps off his back and drop kicks another Hunter, before landing with a roll. "Cover me, Niether!" He calls out as he unsheathes his sword.
Niether shakes his head and blinks a few times, as he grows tired. He then roars and lunges at a Hunter that tries to smash his head with a hammer. Niether slams the Hunter to the ground, and roars loudly in his face.
Rocky runs towards a nearby Gronckle that's tied down. He yelps as he few arrows flies over his head, but he manages to reach the Gronckle that growls at him.
"Hey, hey, it's fine." Rocky cuts away at the ropes. "I'm gonna get you outta here, okay." He cuts a few parts of the rope, as the Gronckle starts to shift itself free.
A Hunter runs up at Rocky from behind, but the Gronckle breaks free, and smahses the Hunter to the ground. The Hunter groans in pain as he tries to get back up, but the Gronckles tail smashes him in the face.
Then the dragon turns to Rocky, who holds a hand out to it. "Hey, look, I need your help okay."
The Gronckle lets out a rumble as it nods, and flies off towards Niether, who's tail whips a couple Hunters. Rocky runs off to the side and starts freeing the other dragons, and they fly off to assist Niether.
Rocky runs up to the Timberjack and marvels at its size. "Wow, you are a big one." The dragon lets out a rumble, as Rocky starts cutting away at its ropes.
But he doesn't notice a Hunter sneaking up at him. The Timberjack lets out a roar, which makes Rocky look up at it, and its eye dart to the side. Rocky looks back just in time to move back as the Hunter slams an axe where he was standing.
Rocky then brings up his sword and blocks another swing from the axe. He then grunts and pushes the axe away and kicks the Hunter in the chest, making him stumble back.
Rocky then swings his sword to the side and cuts another section of the rope. The Timberjack rips itself free and stands tall, before roaring loudly. It then shoots forward and grabs onto the Hunter and tosses him to the side.
Rocky laughs as he watches the Hunter's all start retreating, and jumping into the water. They all swim towards the other ships anchored a little ways out.
Rocky runs over to Niether, who stands up on his hind legs, as he throws his wings out, and roars as loud as he can. Rocky covers his ears as he runs up to the dragon, as it falls back onto all fours.
Rocky walks up to his head and pats it. "You got any left."
Neither shakes his head as he smacks his lips. "Ran out, and now my mouth tastes terrible."
Rocky climbs up Niether's back. "Well, let's we can at least assists these dragons at fully driving these jerks away."
Nither nods as he huffs some smoke out his nose. The dragon then takes off to the sky, as he shakes his head, the drossiness finally leaving his body. They then shoot out towards the boats, as the dragons follow them.
Dragon Hunters all start yelling as they grab their bows, and aim them at Niether and Rocky. They then fire their arrows at the two.
"Roll!" Rocky yells as he lays down on Neither and hugs him tightly.
Niether brings his wings together and covers himself and Rocky, as they start to spin towards the boats. All the arrows bounce off Niether's wings, as the dragon flies past them. The Hunter run to the other side of the ship and ready more arrows, but stop as they hear a set of roars behind them.
The Hunters all turn around and see the group of dragons they had captured, glaring at them. They all try to fire on the dragons, but they all breath fire onto the ship.
The Hunters all panic and jump off as their ship quickly is completely set ablaze. Large pillars of smoke start to fill the air as the dragons all fire onto the ships, as Rocky and Niether distract the archers.
"Net!" Rocky yells and Niether takes a hard turn and avoids it. "Woah!"
Niether takes several sharp turns as he avoids several more nets. Rocky manages to keep a grip on his dragon as he takes several more harsh turns. Rocky's face turns green from getting thrown around.
But after a few moments, the nets and arrows stop. Niether flips in the air and turns back to the island as he hovers in the air. They watch as most of the ship burn and start sinking.
Rocky shakes his head as he looks back, watching a single ship sail away from the island. Neither turns and the two watch the ship sail away.
"Yeah, that's right!" Rocky yells loudly. "You run away, fear the great Rocky and Niether! For these islands are ours, jerks!"
Niether lets out a loud roar, as the other dragons let out a roar in response. Rocky then looks back to the island and looks at the destroyed beach ship. He then hums in response.
Niehter looks up to him, then turns to look at the beached ship. "I like your thinking."
"Later, for now let's find Grandma Drip." Rocky pats Niether on the next.
The dragon lets out a roar and flies for the island. The other dragons all land back on the beach and roar up to Niether as he passes over head.
"You're welcome!" Rocky yells down to the dragons as he waves.
Niether shoots of to Wyre island at high speeds. They zip across the water and reach the island in the matter of minutes. They speed over the island and reach the Gronckle resting area.
"Grandma Drip/Grandma Drip!" The two call out as they fly down to the resting Titan Wing Gronckle.
She opens up her eyes and lets out a yawn, and turns to them as they land in front of her.
"What's wrong young ones?"
"We encountered group of Dragon Hunters on one of the other isles."
Grandma Drip tilts her head. "A single ship or a group?"
"A group." Rocky informs. "But we drove them off and they didn't capture a single dragon.
Grandma Drip hums in thought. "They're growing boulder... This is not good, I will call for a meeting tonight. I thank you both for your help in saving the youngins."
Niether and Rocky nod, and Grandma Drip clears her throat. Before letting out a long and loud roar, which catches all the nearby dragon's attention. Then roars start to echo around the island, and Grandma Drip turns to the two.
"I hope you two will be at tonight's meeting, right after the last light."
"You can count on it Grandma Drip." Rocky calls out after Niether translates for him. Then he looks down at his dragon and pats him. "Hey, let's go get some of the stuff the Hunter's left behind."
Niether flaps his wings and takes into the air. "The wood will be very useful, let's just hope they also left some metal behind."
Niether and Rocky take off, heading back towards the other isle.
Somewhere many miles away, a large fleet is docked outside a small island. But in the middle of the fleet, a massive ship, three the size of the other ships. It towers over them, as its three sails are rolled up. It features a very gritty, industrial design using thick wood and metal.
The deck is equipped with massive, revolving crossbows that fire heavy nets. At the front of the ship is a large catapult, and at the very back are two large ballista's. Barrels filled with spears and arrows line the deck of the massive ship.
Dozens of Hunters walk around the ship, but one of them is pushing another towards the Captain's quarters.
"Hey, watch it." The Leader from the Dragon Capture party that Rocky foiled, growls at the guy who pushed him. But the guy that pushed him pats the sword in his hand. "Ok, okay..."
They reach the captain's quarters, and Leader opens up the door, only to be pushed inside. The door behind him slams shut and the leader glares at the door, before turning inside.
The room is filled with paintings of dragons, and old Viking weapons. On the far back wall is a large Monstrous Nightmare skull. But in the middle of the room is a large table with maps and papers displayed on it. But in the middle of the map is a Maces and Talons board.
But stand on the other side is a tall Viking wearing leather armor, with dragon scale shoulder pads. He's got short brown hair, and his back is turned to the Leader, as he looks over a dragons tooth.
"Uh, Sigewulf, sir..." The Leader clears his throat.
"I see that I'm missing five ships from my Fleet, Julvig..." Sigewulf turns around, his brown eyes baring into Julvig.
There's a large scar that runs down Sigewulf's chin and down his throat. he then sets the tooth on the table as he leans onto it.
"What happened to my ships, Julvig."
"We we're attacked sir, uh- uh, by a Dragon Rider!" Julvig shifts nervously.
"Dragon Rider?" Sigewulf looks intrigued. "Tell me more."
"He flew a dragon I've never seen before, it looked like a Night Fury, but bigger and purple."
Sigewulf looks down at the table in thought, before his eyes widen. "A Briskwind Boltren..." He grows a large smirk. "Oh, Julvig, my friend, you get to live today."
Julvig lets out a sigh of relief. Sigewulf grabs the dragon piece from the Maces and Talons board, and sets it on the map, on a small group of islands near the edge. Then he picks up the Viking Chief piece and sets it on a small island a great distance away.
Sigewulf smiles as he looks down at the map. "Send word to my brother, tell him we need more supplies. Tell him... we found a great prize." Julvig nods and exits the room.
He chuckles sadistically as turns around and looks at a painting below the dragon skull. A painting of a Briskwind Boltren.
"Seems like now there's a reason to stay in this desolate place." Sigewulf walks towards the painting as he grabs a knife from his belt, and stabs it into the head of the painted dragon. "I'm coming for you, Briskwind. You and your rider."
The flames from the torches in the room shine down onto the map, making the two pieces cast shadows. As the two pieces seem to stare at each other. The burning torch behind the dragon piece flickers, as the one behind the Viking pieces seems to glow brighter.
6-23-2026
3500 words