High above the ocean of Dragon Isles, Niether, Spine, Snips, Leafwisp and Mulic fly in a group. Rocky sits on Niether's back as he stares out to the deep blue ocean. Spotting the Scauldron brothers swiming down below, before diving under water.
'It's been a week since the Skrill incident, a long freaking week. Me and Niether have been doing none stops training, with the help of the other dragons. Which is rather weird I must say.'
Snips and Spine let out a roar as they flip around each other, before leveling out.
'Spine and Snips have been rather helpful in what I called "Arrow Training", which they fire their spines at me while I do my best to dodge.' Rocky rubs his right arm, which has a bandage around it. 'Well, there have been some accidents. With both Niether and I...'
Niether lets out a rumble as he scratches his left arm, a large bandage around it. Rocky lets out a dry chuckle as he then glances towards Leafwisp. The Changewing goes invisible, before reappearing above the two dragon siblings, annoying Spine.
Leafwisp chuckles, but then roars as several spines fly at him. He quickly dives to the side and goes insivible.
'Leafwisp has been our assistance in target training and stealth. Given how hard it is to hit one, he's been rather helpful in honing in our aim. Then we also try our best to get around him while he seeks us out. I tell you, he's really hard to hide from.'
Rocky glances over to Mulic, who lets out a rumble as he shakes himself. But then Leafwisp appears beside him, and the Monstrous Nightmare lets out an annoyed rumble.
'Mulic has been our training against other dragons. He says we won't only be fighting Hunters, cause most dragons are still weary of humans. Which I guess he isn't wrong, given he's one of the most battle harden dragon on the isles.'
Rocky then glances down at Niether, and pats him on the neck. Niether lets out a happy rumble.
'We've had a tight schedule. In the morning we scavenge for food and herbs. In the afternoon we train with the dragons, then at the evening we use the wood we get from Hunter ships we take out to rebuild our makeshift targets, improve our cave. That at night, we spend a little time with Grandma Drips, learning about all kinds of dragons around the Archipelago.'
Rocky lays back on his dragons.
'Now with the threat of the Hunters, we've set up a bit of security around the Dragon isles. We got the five Terrible Terror brothers acting as our warning system around each of the islands. Then the Scauldron brothers acting as a deterrent. Then the defenders of Mutton and Poultry isles, have been training some of the dragons that live on their islands. Then we got us, the Main Force, we patrol all around the isles, even far out.'
Rocky sits back up as he stretches and rills his arms.
'We've taken out several Dragon Hunter ships that have grown close, but they don't go within miles of the Dragon Isles, maybe Sigewulf took my warning to heart.'
Niether lets out a rumble as he glances back at Rocky.
"So, what's today's training?"
Rocky smiles. "Today, we're doing a few things, one is drop training. Then the other is for me to learn how to ride the rest of you."
"Drop Training?" Niether questions with a rumble.
"Ugh, I don't like the thought of having to carry a Viking." Mulic complains.
"Oh come on, Mulic." Snips flies backwards and soars next to him. "We all have to work as a team, so that means we also have to help Rocky."
Mulic lets out an annoyed rumble, and he then looks up and sees Leafwisp flying upside down, above him. Mulic looks at him in confusion.
"I for one, am excited to be apart of this group. Even carrying a human seems interesting." Leafwips flips through the air and flies next to Mulic.
Spine rolls his eyes as he groans.
"Alright!" Rocky claps his hands. "Time to begin drop training."
"Alright, what do we do?"
"You know the plan."
Rocky slides off the side of Niether and tumbles down in the air. Niether doesn't seem to notice as he flaps his wings calmly. All the dragons stare in shock.
"Uh, dudes..." Leafwisp calls out.
"What?" Niether looks over to him.
"He jumped."
Niether blinks then yells. "HE JUMPED!"
Niether looks down and sees Rocky soaring downwards as he laughs. Niether lets out a panics roar as he tucks his wings in and dives down. Rocky laughs as he spins in the air, but slowly stops as he notices the ocean coming up fast.
"NIETHER!!!!" Rocky yells as he flails his arms.
The Briskwind lets out a load roar as he spins as he dives down towards him. Rocky screams at the top of his lungs, as the dragons high up in the air watch calmly.
"He's a very strange human." Leafwisp points out.
"But at least he makes things interesting." Snips calls out.
Mulic shakes his head. "I am very much regretting to agreeing to this."
Spine glances down. "If he dies, we might be screwed."
"Welp, let's home the Briskwind saves him..."
Niether cuts through the air like a knife as he narrows his eye at the human. Rocky continues to panic as he flips through the air. Niether lunges forward and grabs Rocky with his paws, before shooting out his wings, and they pull up just before hitting the water.
Niether zips across the surface as he throws Rocky onto his back.
"What were you thinking!" Niether yells at him, before whipping him in the side of the head with his tail.
Rocky rubs his head. "Drop Training, testing your guys response if I were to suddenly fall. I must give you a B-, late on the response, but great on the last minute timing."
Niether growls at him as he looks back. "I'm gonna kill you."
Niether takes off back towards the group. Rocky laughs as he pats the dragon on the neck.
"Love you too."
Niether zips back up to the rest of the patrol group.
"So, what was that Rocky?" Spine flies right up to them.
"Just testing your guys response to if I were to fall off one of you."
"...You're crazy."
Rocky laughs. "Never said I wasn't!"
Spine shakes his head. "So what do we do-" Spine stops as he watches Rocky slide off Niether's back again. "Oh, for the mother of dragons!"
Niether looks down and notices Rocky falling and he sighs. "I'm not getting him."
Spine lets out an annoy roar, before dropping from the sky after Rocky.
A few hours later, Rocky sits on the beach, soaking wet as he holds a fish over the fire. Beside him, an angry Mulic stares at him, as said dragon is also soaking wet.
"So..."
Mulic breaths a small flame onto Rocky's fish, burning it to a crisp. Rocky just nods as he looks away.
"Point taken."
Mulic grumbles as he stomps away, before lighting himself on fire. Niether walks over with an annoyed rumbled. He plops down next to the human, munching on a whale bone.
"So..." Rocky starts as he tosses the crisped fist the the side, and Snips runs in and eats it out of the air. "Training was mostly successful."
A spine lands beside Rocky, nearly avoiding his arm he looks back and sees Spine glaring at him.
"You pissed off the Patrol Group." Niether mutters as he chews on the bone.
"I'm no mad!" Snips holds up to them. "I found that quiet fun!"
"Of course you did." Niether rumbles as he bites the bone in half.
Snips hops away as her brother walks into the forest. "I always have fun with my friends."
Niether and Rocky watches them leave. Then they glance at each other, before looking out to the setting sun. Then they sigh, as Rocky takes some berries out of his satchel and starts to munch on them.
Several hours later, Rocky and Niether are sitting at the Basalt formation, in front of Grandma Drips. She's telling them about a dragon.
"The Bewilderbeast is a massive dragon, much larger then any mountain. They are the Alpha of the dragon species, they can easily control any dragon, only the most Willful can break free."
Niether tilts his head. "So they can just take over the mind of any dragon?"
"Well-" Suddenly several baby Gronckles fly around Grandma Drips, one of them puking lava on her, before they all fly off.
Grandma Drips shakes the lava puke off herself, and it goes flying towards Rocky. Rocky leans to the side as he watches it past. The lava lands on the ground and bubbles, making Rocky deadpan.
He then turns back to Grandpa Drip, as Niether pulls his closer with a wing.
"-other then the babies. They're too scattered brained to be controlled."
"So, does the Bewilderbeast use its Alpha powers to make the dragons fight for it, since it isn't strong?" Niether tilts his head.
Grandma Drips shakes her head. "It has a powerful ice blast, that could cover this island in just a second."
"Woah/Woah." Niether and Rocky mutter in awe.
"So, have you met one before?" Rocky holds a hand up.
"Of course young one, but that was a very long time ago. I was not but a hatchling back then. But-" Grandma Drips lets out a yawn. "But I think that's all for tonight, youngins' I'm real tired."
Grandma Drips lays down as she yawns again. Rocky climbs up Niether's back.
"See you tomorrow Grandma Drips/See you tomorrow Grandma Drips!" Niether takes off to the sky, zipping towards the mountain.
Grandma Drips lets out a roar as they fly off. The two soar across the night air as the moon shines down onto them. Rocky looks down and spots Snips running around a clearing squawking, as her brother tries to sleep. Spine then shoots up and lets out an angry roar, before chasing after his sister.
Then he scans the forest, and spots Mulic sleeping on a large burning bonfire. He rolls onto his back and sticks his tongue out.
Then Rocky looks the other way, and spots Leafwisp laying on the top of a tree canopy. The Changewing notices then and waves a hand.
Rocky laughs and waves back. Then the two land back at their cave, which now as a wooden canopy, with a wooden chair under it. There's a large wooden bench next to the chair.
Rocky slides off Niether as the two walk up to the small pond, with a table next to it. Rocky grabs a leather canteen and takes a sip from it, while Niether drinks from the pond.
Rocky then sets down the canteen and grabs a few nuts from a wooden bowl, and pops them into his mouth. Then he grabs a handful and tosses them to the side, which Niether lunges and eats them out of the air.
Niether grinds the nuts in his mouth as his tail taps against the ground. They then walk into the cave, which now has a few tables, and several more shelves.
There's a barrel full of Hunter weapons, and crate full of shields. Rocky walks up to a large table in the middle of the cave, as Niether walks over to the campfire, and lights it with a blast.
Rocky looks over the large hand drawn map on the table. There's several other papers on the side of the map. One detailing all the dragons on in the Dragon Isles.
Rocky hums as he picks up his charcoal pencil, and continues to draw on the map. Making it a bit more detailed, along with drawing a new island a little ways from Wyre island.
Rocky hums as he sets his pencil down, and glances over the map. Niether lets out a yawn as he circles on his stone slab, breathing his plasma onto it; before laying down.
The dragon looks over to Rocky as he stares at the map.
"You're thinking too hard." Niether's tail twitches.
"Just thinking about the Hunters." Rocky admits, and Niether rolls his eyes.
"Calm down, we got this."
"I know, but..." Rocky taps his chin as he thinks. "They seem to have a near endless supply of ships, even the ones we damage seem to come back fully repaired."
"So you're wondering where they're getting the wood?"
Rocky nods as he looks over the map. "I know most of it could be imported to his main Fleet, where ever it is, but with how much were hitting them, they'd have to run out. So where could they get some wood quickly?"
"So you have a few theories?" Niether rumbles as he closes his eye.
"From what we've been told by Snips and Spine, there are several islands full of massive trees, but they haven't been to them in a while."
"The only problem is, is that they're out of our patrol range."
"But we need to check them, just in case. So I think after tomorrow, we should put a hold on training for a few days, and check out the islands."
"Just the two of us?"
"We're technically a battle pair, right?"
Niether smirks as he rolls onto his side. "You are crazy."
Rocky glances over to his dragon. "I'm a Viking, it's an occupational hazard."
Niether lets out a huff, and opens his eye. "Alright, go to bed now, you're too loud."
Rocky shakes his head as he adds a few more details to the map, before setting his pencil down. He then walks over to his bed, rubbing the bandage on his right arm.
He then sits on the edge of the bed and looks out to the blue and purple campfire. He then looks over to Niether, who snores a little as he rolls onto his back.
Rocky then lays down on the wooden framed bed, filled with straw. He then adjusts his pillow, before staring up to the ceiling. He lets out a small yawn, before closing his eye.
The next day arrives and Rocky brings up a shield as he blocks several spines, His eyes go cross as a spine stops right between his nose. he then hears a squawk as he rolls to the side to avoid more spines.
Then he tosses the shield high up into the air, and another pair of spines hit it, before a blast of magnesium hits it. The shield blows up, sending splitters everywhere.
Rocky then yells as he swings his sword to the side, parrying several spines. Then he leans back as a blast of fire from flies above him.
Above him, Niether spins with his wings tucked in, as several spines bounce off them. Then he throws his wings out as he quickly stops as a blast of acid flies past him.
Then he fires several blasts down below him, hitting several wooden targets. Then he dives up into the air, before spinning and dive bombing down and firing a couple more shots, hitting a large wooden target, that blows up.
Rocky then flaps his wings as he lands on the ground, next to Rocky and uses his wings to block a few spines. Niether then lifts up his wing as Rocky pats him on the side.
"Alright, that's good!" Rocky shouts out.
Spine, Snips, Mulic and Leafwisp come out from the trees. They walk up to the two.
"That was pretty good." Mulic speaks up. "Great training today."
"Yeah, you two are unstoppable!" Snips cheers as she hops side to side.
"So, tomorrows training is working on precision, right?" Spines questions.
"Actually." Rocky sheathes his sword. "Me, and Niether are going on a mission?"
Leafwisp slithers up to them. "Mission?"
Niether nods as he sits on his hunches. "Me and Rocky are gonna check on a few islands, outside out patrol range."
"That's rather dangerous." Mulic points out. "Are you at least taking one of us with you?"
"It's just a recon mission, so it'll be me and Niether." Rocky informs and all four dragons go to speak. "And if its just the two of us, it'll be easier to hide from Hunter ships if we happen to run into them."
"I dunno..." Spine mutters as he shakes himself.
Rocky walks up to Spine and pats his chin, he growls but doesn't move. "We'll be fine, we just need to get some info. We believe Sigewulf is getting wood from an island to help repair his ships. With how much we're hitting him, he can't have enough on hand to keep up."
"You really should take one of us with you." Leafwisp speaks up as he shifts. "I've got a bad feeling."
Neither lets out a rumble. "If we're not back in three moons, come looking for us."
Rocky climbs onto Niether's back. "Trust us, we'll be fine.... Hopefully."
"We'll be fine, we may be dumb, but at least we're smart dumb."
"That makes no sense."
Niether flaps his wings as he takes to the sky. "Made more sense in my head."
Niether flies off towards the cave. Spine turns to the others.
"Should we tell Grandma Drips?"
"I say let them go, if they get themselves killed, it'll be another lesson." Mulic then heads off, stomping through the forest.
"Seesh... why is he always so grumpy?" Leafwisp complains as he goes invisible.
"At least he's not as bad Grovel." Snips points out.
"Sometimes I prefer the angry Whispering Death." Spine says as he takes off to the sky, with Snips following her.
Niether and Rocky land at their cave, as the human heads inside. Niether drinks from the pond. Inside the cave, Rocky starts grabbing some provisions, and starts heading out, but then stops.
Rocky then runs back to his big table and grabs his map rolling it up, and stuffing it in his satchel. He then runs outside and jumps onto Niether's back.
Which causes the dragon to choke as he was mid drink. Niether growls at him, and Rocky nervously chuckles. He then pats his neck and Niether takes up to the sky.
They take off a high speeds, with Rocky leaning forward on the makeshift saddle.
Somewhere unknown a pair of Hunters are carting away a knocked out Nadder on a cart. They pass by several trees as they chart away. But within the darkness of the trees a silver-metallic colored dragon with reflective scales. And bright green eyes pokes her head out of a bush.
The dragon growls quietly at the Hunters, but she stops as a hand is placed on her neck. She looks back at a hooded figure beside her.
"It's alright girl." A feminine voice comes from the figure. "Let's follow them, okay."
The silver dragons lets out a low rumble.
6-25-2026