The evening sun peaks over the horizon as Neither flies high above the clouds. He gently flaps his near silent wings, and he slightly shakes himself. Rocky sits on his back while he has half of his large map, unrolled.
Rocky stares at the map as he runs his finger along a path. He then taps a small island on the map.
"We should be near Cutter Island." Rocky calls out, as he rolls his map back up, before putting it in his satchel.
"Are you sure?" Niether glances back at him. "How do you even know how to read a map?"
Rocky stares at Niether for a moment. "...Uh... guessing?"
Niether rolls his eyes as he looks down, but notices an island through the clouds. He lets out a low rumble and dips downwards. They break through the clouds as Rocky gets a view of the island.
"HA!" Rocky throws his arms up. "I was right."
"What ever..."
The two dive down, before gently landing on the beach. Rocky slides off his dragons back as he stretches, before rubbing his butt.
"Ugh, I can't wait to get a real saddle." Rocky complains as he continues rubbing for a moment.
"Quite complaining, you're not the one being the work horse." Niether shakes himself, before folding his wings in.
"But I am the one who can hold small items." Rocky holds up his hands as he opens and closes them.
Niether brings up a paw, and pushes Rocky to the side. He then rumbles as he walks away. Rocky raises an eyebrow as the watches Niether walk off.
"What a strange... uh... dragon?" Rocky scratches his head. "Am I calling myself strange at this point?"
Rocky just shrugs as he jogs after Niether. He quickly catches up and the two walk side by side. They look around the forest as Rocky rolls his shoulders. Niether rumbles as he looks around and sniffs around, he then moves his ear nubs around.
"Something wrong?" Rocky questions as he glances at the large dragon.
"It's quiet." Niether points out.
"Yeah, I rather like the quiet." Rocky smiles as he looks up at the sky through the canopy. "Given how loud Wyre Isle can be."
"That's not what I meant. There's nothing, other then us. No birds, animals or dragons."
Rocky stops as does the dragon. The human looks around as he listens, finding nothing.
"You're right..." Rocky mutters as he continues walking. "Something's not right."
Niether follows after his human. Rocky then finds something in the path ahead and he jogs up to it. He kneels down and puts his hand on deep cart tracks.
"Cart tracks." Rocky mutters as Niether sniffs the tracks.
"Human and dragon." Niether growls as his eyes go slit.
"Dragon hunters." Rocky stands up as his eyes follow the tracks, leading to the other side of the island.
The two glance at each other before nodding. They run along the tracks, Rocky keeping a hand on his sword. Niether's running is fairly quiet, just as loud as Rocky's running.
They run across the island, finding more deep cart tracks, before they arrive at the beach, where a large Dragon Hunter ship is anchored. They watch as Hunter drag knocked out dragons onto the ship, before bringing them under the deck.
Rocky and Niether peer over the hill they're laying on. They spot dozens of Hunters around the beach, looking around as they keep their hands on weapons. Several archers move about the beach, with dragon root arrows.
Then several more archers stand on the deck, keeping an eye out on the horizon. Rocky hums as he sees crates all over the beach and then smirks. Niether glances at him him and frowns.
"No."
"Yes." Rocky smiles at Niether.
"No!" Niether growls at Rocky. "That's too dangerous."
"It's not like we can just storm down there!" Rocky points out as he motions to the ship. "But if I can sneak onto that ship, and free the dragons, we won't be so outnumbered."
"But you going along is dangerous!"
"But your massive!" Rocky motions to the dragon, before poking him in the stomach. "You've also put on some weight, they'll easily see you!"
Niether stares at Rocky for a moment, before hitting Rocky on the head with his tail. Rocky bites his lip as he holds his head in pain, and glares at the dragon.
Rocky then kicks the dragon in the shin, and it growls at him. The two glare at it each, before Rocky flips up his eyepatch.
"If anything goes wrong, go in blasting." Rocky runs off to the side.
Niether shakes his head as he sighs. "Crazy human."
Rocky runs onto the beach and dives behind a crate as several Hunters pass by. He uses Niether vision to keep an eye on them as they pass, then as they move away, Rocky dives behind another set of crates.
But as his back hits the crate, a sword fall off it and clatters against a stone. A Hunter hums as he looks over, and sees the sword rocking on the ground. The Hunter grips his axe tightly as he walks over.
He raises it up and quickly peers over it, only to find nothing. He lets out a questioning hum as he looks past the crates with a suspicious look. To the a crate strolls by, as Rocky clings under it.
The cart moves up the ramp as it rattles a few times. A Gronckle grumbles on top of the cart, as it drools as its eyes flutter open, before staying closed. The cart drops onto the deck as it rolls off the ramp. Which Rocky nearly loses his grip, but he manages to hold on.
Rocky lets out a sigh and the cart moves under the deck. Rocky looks around as he sees several cages filled with chained up dragons, several Nadders, Rain Cutters, Hobblegrunts and a few Gronckles.
Suddenly the cart stops as the Hunters let out a grunt. One of then cracks his back, as the other walks over to a cage. Rocky silently drops down and rolls to the side, before diving behind a barrel.
Rocky watches as the Hunters load the Gronckle into a cage, before closing it. The Hunters then complain as they walk away, taking the cart with them. Rocky smirks, but then it falls as he notices in Niether's vision that the Hunters are starting to pack up.
"Crap, crap, crap!" Rocky shoots out behind the cages and forces the first cage open, which contains a Deadly Nadder.
The Nadder Growls as it as it tries to shoots spines from its tail, the its tail is chained to the floor. Rocky holds his hand up as he grabs his sword.
"Hey, hey, I'm gonna get you out of here, okay?" Rocky calls out quietly. "And if I let you out, you're gonna help me get the rest of these dragons out, right?"
The Nadder lets out a huff as it lowers its chained tail. Rocky sighs as he runs over and cuts the ropes, and pries the chains off. The Nadder shakes his self and flaps its wings a few times.
Then it charges out of the cage room, and headbutts another cage door, breaking it open. The Nadder shakes its head as it stumbles slightly, before running into the room, and helping a Monsterous Nightmare.
Rocky smiles and runs out of the room, but in Niether's vision, he sees the Hunters on the beach look to the boat. Before they all drop their stuff and run up the ramps.
"Well, this isn't good!"
Rocky quickly continues releasing the trapped dragons, managing to get a few more; before the door to the room bursts open. Several Hunters enter the room, but get thrown out from several spines of from a Nadder.
Rocky then sees Niether stand up as fire a Power Blast at the ramp, blowing it up and sending several Hunters flying. The ship shakes from the blast.
Rocky continues releasing dragons as the other free dragons also help. The Monstrous Nightmare stays near the entrance as he breaths fire through the door, lighting a big of the boat on fire.
Rocky then runs over to the last cage and comes to a stop. He peers inside and stares in shock.
"Woah...."
Rocky mutters as he peers inside, seeing a Stormcutter. It's scales Dominated by shades of pink with darker accents on the back and tail, and lighter tones on the belly. They also have red and yellow highlights on the face and tail fins, with white on their head spikes, and vibrant pink eyes.
The Stormcutter growls as Rocky opens the cage. He notices that the large dragon has cuts and gashes around its body. It continues to growl at him as he enters the cage.
Rocky sets his sword to the side, and crouches down as he holds a hand out. He slowly approaches as he keeps low, nearly crawling on the ground.
The Stormcutter stops growling as it notices Rocky's odd movements. The human slowly approaches with his hand out.
"Look, I'm not gonna hurt you, okay." Rocky says in a quiet tone as he turns his hand over, showing his palm to the dragon. "I'm not with the Hunters, I'm at war with them."
The Stormcutter blinks a few times, before shifting its body, giving Rocky a better chance at the chains. Rocky nods as he steps forward.
Outside, Niether stands at the top of the hill as Dragon Root arrows fly about him. He lets out a loud roar, before firing a Power Beam down at the beach, taking out half a dozen Hunters. behind them, half the ship is burning.
Suddenly the deck of the ship explodes upwards, as the massive Stormcutter flies out as it lets out a loud roar. A dozen of dragons fly out behind the Stormcutter as it breathes fire down at the rest of the Hunters.
Rocky laughs as he holds his sword up in the air, spinning it a few times before pointing down at the ship. The Stromcutter then breathes fire down on the rest of the ship.
Rocky then points his sword towards the Niehter. The Stormcutter chirps as they fly towards Niether, and lands beside him. Rocky hops off the Stormcutter's back, and he sheathes his sword. Niether notices that the Stormcutter is a little bigger then him.
Rocky smiles as he pats the Stormcutter's neck, before scratching under its chin. "Thank you."
Rocky walks over to Niether with a smug smile. Niether rolls his eyes as he looks away.
"Don't say it-"
"I told you I'd be fine!" Rocky laughs as he puts his hands on his hips, and flips his eyepatch down.
Suddenly they hear a chortle and they look back to see the Stormcutter tilting its head.
"Uh, you can go home now." Niether calls out.
The Stormcutter shakes its head. "My home was destroyed." A deep female voice comes from the dragon. "I have no where to go?"
"So, what are you going to do?" Niether sits on his hunches.
The Stormcutter steps forward as she stays low and walks up to Rocky as she stays low. She lets out a soft purr as she lays down in front of the human.
"I would like to follow the human, he seems very... helpful."
Rocky glances at Niether as he quickly translates. Rocky raises an eyebrow as he stretches his hand forward, and puts it against the female dragons nose.
"Well, I do already have a dragon, but I guess you could come to our home." Rocky smiles at the dragon. "We have lots of other dragon friends there, I bet you could get along with them."
"So the human can understand dragon language?" The Stormcutter tilts her head.
"Only me, though." Niether informs as he walks over. "We have a weird bond, but we make it work."
Rocky glances at Niether, before back to the second dragon. "Right now we're on a mission, so if you can follow us till we head back?" The Stormcutter nods, and Rocky laughs. "Great, now, lets get to the sky, then we can do introductions."
Rocky climbs onto Niether's back and the two dragons take off to the sky. They quickly fly away from the dragon as the sun is nearly fully set.
Rocky glances over to the female Stormcutter. "I'm Rocky, and this is Niether."
"My name is Raincutter."
"Nice to meet you/Nice to meet you." The two say.
Rocky looks back to the sun as it fully disappears around the horizon. The moon shines down onto them.
Rocky lets out a hum. "We should be able to reach the next island in an hour, then we can rest for the night."
Raincutter lets out a rumble as Rocky looks to her. The dragon looks tired and weak as she flies beside them. He looks a little worried and looks back ahead.
"Just hold on, it won't be too long!"
Niether picks up the pace as Raincutter follows suit.
Not too long later, the three are on the ground in a large clearing. A purple and blue campfire burns brightly. Niether lays beside the fire as he watches Rocky put some paste he mixed up, on some of Raincutter's wounds.
Raincutter lays on the ground with her wings spread out, as gently rubs the paste on her wounds. Then after a few moments, he slides off her back and she tucks her four wings in.
"There." Rocky walks to her neck and starts scratching it. "Just try not to move till morning."
"Thank you, Human named Rocky." Raincutter chirps as she shifts.
"I'm assuming you said thank you, so you're welcome."
Rocky walks over to the fire and grabs a cooking fish. Raincutter lets out a yawn as she snuzzles against the ground.
"What mission are you two doing?" Raincutter questions the two.
"Our Isles is currently at war with the Dragon Hunters of the area. The same ones that took you." Niether informs as he lets out a yawn.
"Yeah." Rocky takes a bite into his cooked fish. "Their leader Sigewulf is hunting all our friends. And he's trying to kill us. Right now we're just destroying his stuff, but he keeps coming back at full force with those ships."
"And we're trying to find an island that they're using for resupply."
Rocky pulls his map out and looks it over. "Well, we've searched two of the islands. One of them had Hunters, this one is just plain empty. You know what they say, third time is the charm."
Raincutter rumbles as she shifts again. "I will assist you two in your mission. In return I just ask to be allowed to stay at you home."
Rocky and Niether look at each other and nod. They turn back Raincutter and smile.
"Thank you Raincutter." Rocky continues eating his fish.
"No thank you, Rocky, you save me and many other dragons from terrible fates." Raincutter rests her head on the ground.
Niether closes his eyes as he curls into a ball, and covers his face with his tail. Rocky finishes eating his fish, before taking his satchels off as he lays down. He then uses his satchel as a pillow as he curls up in front of the fire.
Raincutter looks at the human and dragon. Before closing her eyes and letting out a soft breath.
The next morning arrives as Rocky looks over Raincutter, as he runs a hand over her hide. He smiles as he notices her cuts and gashes are healing up nicely. Most of the smaller ones are already healed.
"Well, it'll probably a couple more days, until your fully healed." Rocky gives Raincutter a scratch on her chin, and she lets out a purr.
Niether suddenly lands nearby and drops a mouthful of fish. Rocky walks over as Niether eats a couple fish. The human grabs a couple fish as he walks over to the Stormcutter. He holds then out to her and she gently takes them out of his hand, and eats them.
Rocky steps back as he smiles as he steps back. Raincutter licks her lips, before she suddenly starts hacking, which makes Rocky a little worry. Until she regurgitates the head of a fish, and it lands right at Rocky's feet.
Rocky cringes, before giving a forced smile up at Raincutter. "Th-Thanks, but uh... not exactly my style."
Raincutter tilts her head nearly all the way as she chirps. Niether then steps in and slurps up the fish head, which makes Rocky gag.
"What, I'm not letting food go to waste."
Rocky rolls his eyes as he steps to Niether. Which the dragon lays down and lets Rocky climb onto his back.
"Alright, lets check this next island!" Rocky unrolls part of his map and looks it over. "If I can read maps, which I can't, we should only be a few hours away. So let's head out."
Niether takes off to the sky at high speeds, which Raincutter manages to keep up. They fly high above the clouds, letting the morning sun warm them up.
Rocky holds up his arms as he laughs. "Oh, I love the morning air, and the warmth of the sun."
The two hear a chirp and they look up to see Raincutter flying upside down, right above the two. She lets out a chirp as she spins her head around to look at them.
She then flips around and moves down, and flies beside them. Rocky stands up as he suddenly grows an idea.
"Rocky, no." Niether calls out.
"Rocky, yes."
Rocky smiles as he walks across Neither's large and muscular wings. Then he walks across one of Raincutter's four wings, before hopping onto her back. She lets out a questioning chirp as Rocky laughs as he kicks his legs.
"This is so much fun!"
Raincutter glances at Niether. "Is he always this weird?"
Niether lets out an annoyed rumble. "Unfortunately."
Rocky lays back on Raincutter's back. "Who knew the skies was so... free! I guess being couped up on Wyre island for a couple weeks got me excited for more exploring."
Rocky then sits up as stares out to the sun as it casts its warm glow on the clouds, making them glow. He takes a deep breath in, before standing up. He then climbs across Raincutter's wings, and over Niether's before sitting on his back.
"What ever was the purpose of that?" Niether glances back at Rocky.
Rocky shrugs as he crosses his arms. "Nothing really, just testing your guys trust in me."
Niether glares at Rocky, who nervously chuckles. Niether looks back forward as the dragons speed off above the clouds.
A few hours pass and the two dragons and human are flying above an island. They hover high above it as several large Dragon Hunter ships sail away from the island, carrying dozens of massive logs.
But around the island there are several large camps, most of them are logging camps, but a large one is holding dozens of chained dragons in cages.
Raincutter and Niether growl in anger, but Rocky hums in though.
"You have a plan?" Niether questions.
"Yes, but probably a dumb one."
"Oh, can't wait to hear this."
Rocky takes off his satchel, and wraps it around Nither's neck. "I'm gonna go down there, and free all those dragons, by myself; while you two watch from the air. Then hopefully they'll help us in assisting taking down this logging operation."
"You're right, its a very dumb one." Niether grumbles.
Raincutter then speaks up. "It may be a risky one, but it is the safest option. Those Hunters are very dangerous, and it us just two of us against an army of them."
"I guess you're right, I just don't like having to hide up here."
Rocky pats Niether on the neck. "If something goes wrong, swoop down and help me. But for now, it'll be safer for you two to be in the air." Rocky points to a thick section of untouched woods. "Set me down there."
Niether lets out a rumble, before nodding. "I'll be right back, Raincutter."
Raincutter nods as she hovers in the air, her unfolding all four wings. Niether then curls his wings together and dips down towards the island. Rocky leans against the saddle as they dive at highspeeds, before leveling out right above the ocean.
They fly low before dipping upwards and landing in the forest. Rocky quickly hops off, before flipping up his eyepatch. His and Niether's vision them splits, causing them to grow partially nauseous. He then rubs Niether on the face.
"Alright, I'm gonna head to Hunter camp on the northside." Rocky starts walking away, keeping a hand on his sword. "Keep an eye out for me."
"It'll be hard with this dense tree cover." Niether flaps his wings and takes to the air. "Stay safe, but we're ready to assist on your signal."
Rocky waves as he runs into the forest. Niether huffs as he takes up to the sky. Flying back to Raincutter's side, as the two hover in the clouds, staring down at the island.
Down on the island, Rocky sneaks through the forest. He stops at a tree as he looks around, keeping a hand on the handle of his sword. He listens for any sounds.
He hears chopping in the distance, but closer is dozens of dragon roars. Rocky huffs as he speeds off, staying low. He then hears some grunts and groans, and he dives behind a bush.
He then peers over the bush, but his brows furrow. He spots a pair of Hunters on the ground, laying injured with small cuts. Rocky looks around, before slowly moving out of the bush.
He walks up to the Hunters, cautiously. He kneels down to them as he keeps a hand on his sword. He looks them over, noticing they have several gashes across their arms.
He then perks up as he hears metal shifting. Then he quickly takes out his sword and parries something flying at him. Which slams into the tree beside him. He glances and sees a sleep metal spine.
Suddenly a hooded figure lunges from the trees and swings a double bladed folded axe. Rocky manages lean back as the axe barely misses his neck.
He jumps back as he readies his sword, and glares at the figure. Their green eyes glare at him with hatred, they readies their axe. Rocky readies his sword and points it at the figure.
The two keep their weapons pointed at each other, as they both remain still.
6-26-2026
3700 words