Chapter Text
When Gerard managed to return to the cove, he didn’t find Muse waiting for him. In fact, it was the mysterious dragon and its rider that he had encountered before. He briefly considered turning around and hightailing it out of there, but then he saw the look in the dragon’s eyes, calm and waiting. He wasn’t able to see the rider’s because of the mask but he had the feeling the rider was the same way. So, slowly, Gerard descended into the cove and slowly approached the duo.
“Who are you?” he asked, “Why are you here?” The rider was silent but shook the staff, causing a rattling sound. The dragon bent down until the rider leapt off, landing on the ground with grace and ease. The rider lifted their hands and took off their mask, revealing them to be a man with short brown hair and blue eyes, angular and tall and certainly older than Gerard by several years, yet still youthful.
“My name is Mike.” he said, “I came here looking for that Night Fury.” Gerard was surprised by this before becoming angry.
“You can’t just take her!” he exclaimed, “She’s my friend!” The man’s lips twitched, as if he was trying to form a smile.
“I could see that.” he said, “We’ve been watching.” He tilted his head, the mask now tucked under his arm, “You’re pretty good at taming dragons, especially one like her.”
“Taming dragons?” Gerard shook his head, “No no no, I’m not a dragon tamer! She and I, we’re just friends.”
“I doubt that.” He sat down on a rock, the one that Gerard usually sat on, “Night Furies are smart dragons, one of the smartest I’ve ever known. She comes back here, back to you for a reason. I want to understand that.”
“You can’t just take her away, though!” Gerard protested, “If she doesn’t wanna go with you, then she won’t. Especially if she’s as smart as you say she is.” This time, Mike gave a smile.
“True, true. But she also has obligations she needs to go back and deal with.” Mike leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, “You’re the son of the Chief, you have a lot to live up to, don’t you?” Gerard stiffened.
“How do you know that?”
“I have my ways. Anyway, that Night Fury, she’s the same, kinda. She has to come home and help lead her pack, whether or not she likes it. It’s her job.” Gerard crossed his arms.
“And how do you think you’re gonna make her go ‘home,’ then?” he asked, “She’s ran away from you at least once, she knows who you are and isn’t gonna fall for any tricks.”
“We know that, which is why we wanna ask if you can convince her.”
“Me?! I can’t do that! I barely avoid getting drowned by her as it is!”
“If there’s anyone she’ll listen to, it’s you. And in turn, I could help you learn how to tame her.”
“I don’t know.” Gerard muttered, “She’s a wild dragon and deserves to be that way.” Mike shook his head.
“Wasn’t always a wild dragon. You’ve seen her scars, she’s had a long past behind her and that includes being friends with vikings, once upon a time.” He stood, “At least consider the offer.” He put on his mask and rattled the staff. The dragon lowered its head to allow Mike to climb on.
“Wait!” The dragon paused, having spread its wings.
“Yeah?” Mike’s voice was muffled behind the mask but he’d heard Gerard.
“What if she catches on? What if she kills me?”
“She won’t kill you. Catch on, probably. Kill you, no.” And with that, they left. Gerard stared after them, then shook his head.
“I can’t do this. I won’t . She left for a reason and I’m not gonna ask, even if I wanna know why.” Gerard left the cove and wondered what lengths Mike and his dragon would go to to make Muse go home.
“Dinner’s ready!” he announced. Bunny yipped as Mikey sat at the dinner table, both tired from a long day of bonding and training but hungry as ever. Gerard handed his brother the bowl of stew he’d made before flipping the cover off a basket for Bunny. The dragon was small but she could certainly eat, that was for sure. She downed the basket of fish long before either brother was done with their food and growled for more, giving them a pitiful look to get what she wanted.
“No.” Mikey said, “You’re not getting us with that look again.” Bunny kept trying until, seeing her efforts were in vain, huffed and flew on Mikey’s shoulders. He had to shoo her away from the food before the brothers could talk.
“So how was your day?” Gerard asked, glancing at Bunny. The tiny dragon was still perched on Mikey’s shoulders, eyeing their food greedily.
“Good.” Mikey gave Bunny a glare and she looked away, giving some sort of noise similar to a whistle, as if conveying her ‘innocence.’ When he looked away, she went back to staring at the food. Gerard took pity on her and threw a small piece of meat for her to eat, which she did, “Don’t do that, you’re teaching her bad things!”
“She’s fine.” Bunny crawled onto Gerard’s shoulders and gave a purr-like sound as she nuzzled his head, grateful for the treat, “Anyway, you remember when I told you about that dragon tamer I met?”
“Did they come back today?”
“Yeah.” Gerard nodded, “His name was Mike. He came to see Muse but met with me instead.”
“Why does he want Muse?”
“Said she has to go back ‘home’ and deal with some things. Compared it to how I’m the Chief’s son.”
“What are you gonna do?” Mikey wanted to know.
“Nothing. He’s not using me to get to her, even if it’d be nice to be able to tame a dragon.”
“Then what’s he gonna do when he finds out?”
“I dunno, but he’s not getting Muse.” Gerard reached a hand up to scratch Bunny’s chin, making her trill, “I’m not gonna return to the cove for a while, just in case he might come back, so I’ll be staying here with you and Bunny after dragon fighting.”
“I hope Muse doesn’t take this the wrong way.”
“Well, it’s not like I can tell her what’s going on without Mike seeing me.” Gerard sighed, “I think she’ll understand.”
“Let’s hope so...”
The next day, after they learned about Snaptrappers (something like the big brother to Zipplebacks with four heads instead of two and a love of chocolate and the rain), Gerard and Mikey were heading back to their home when the alarm went off again. Immediately they ran to find cover, ducking inside their house just as dragons descended on the village. They watched from the window as the events went on, ducking again when a Zippleback landed on their roof. One head slithered in through the window they’d been peeking out of and looked around, sniffing. It quickly caught their scent and looked down, screeching at the sight of them. Gerard pushed Mikey forward as they got to their feet, getting his brother away from the head as it tried to snap at them. When they got out of range it growled and clicked its mouth, making sparks. They suddenly caught the scent of something rotten coming from upstairs and knew that the other head was now gassing the house. If the smoke got close enough to the sparking head, their house would go up, with them in it!
Suddenly there was a small screech and from the coals in the fireplace leapt Bunny, biting down on the Zippleback’s nose. It squawked and shook its head, trying to dislodge the tiny dragon, who wasn’t able to keep a grip and flew off somewhere outside. Mikey tried to move to go after Bunny but Gerard held him back. He’d just gotten an idea of what to do and it wasn’t going to be pretty.
“Hide under the table and don’t move, no matter what happens.” Gerard ordered. Mikey did so without fuss, leaving the elder to stand alone against the one head. It hissed now that the tiny dragon was gone and tried to snap at him again but couldn’t reach. There was no sign of the gas yet but Gerard knew he didn’t have a lot of time. He grabbed his mother’s old helmet off the mantle and, with horns in front of him, he attacked the Zippleback by stabbing it in the eyes. The helmet was just the right width to get both eyes and the dragon cried out, blood instantly coming up from the strike. It quickly withdrew and there was another screech overhead as the other head felt the pain. The house shook as the dragon took off and Gerard panted, still holding the helmet.
“I did it.” he gasped, then looked down. He winced at the blood on the horns but knew it had to have been done.
“Gee! Are you okay?” Mikey was out from under the table. He nodded.
“Yeah.” He threw the helmet onto the table, “Let’s go find Bunny.” They ventured out into the chaos and looked around, wondering where Bunny had landed and if she was okay. It was the afternoon, so there was no need to worry about Night Furies, which caused Gerard to think about how Mike had said Muse was a Night Fury. So Gerard had been studying one. Was she the one that had been attacking them? It was scary to think about and he needed to have a long talk with Muse when he saw her again.
“Bunny!” Mikey called, keeping his voice low enough so that people wouldn’t be able to understand in the chaos but high enough for Bunny to still hear. The small dragon didn’t come scurrying back immediately and, after getting divebombed by a Nadder twice, Gerard had them go back to the house, “But Bunny-!”
“We can’t go out there right now, it’s too dangerous!” Gerard said, “She’ll be fine for a while as long as she hides.” There was a large screech and they saw the Dragon Hunters dealing with a Monstrous Nightmare, “And steer clear of those two.” Mikey swallowed. The biggest threat to Bunny were Billie and Tré, but hopefully she had the sense to keep away from them. This battle lasted for a while, seeing as the dragons were doing more rampaging than usual before they left, taking a good haul with them.
“Our parents are gonna kill us...” groaned Josh when the vikings met up after the attack to assess the damage.
“But we’re alive, aren’t we?” said Tyler.
“Listen up!” Billie got their attention, “We’re gonna suspend classes for a few days until we can make repairs. Patrick, take Andy, Bob, and Zakk with you to the wood storage. You four are in charge of making sure we have enough for repairs and sending people out to get more. Understood?”
“Yes sir!” The four saluted him.
“Both Ryans, you’re in charge of making the repairs.” Tré added, “Take anyone you need, ‘cause I’m sure the whole village is broken somewhere or another.” The two boys gave him a salute and then they were mostly disbanded. However, Gerard was called over to talk with the Hunters. He sent Mikey home before he approached the two men, noticing a peculiar glint in their eyes, something he hadn’t seen before but would come to know quite well after spending time around them.
“You both safe?” was the first thing Billie asked, “Neither of you were hurt?”
“No sir.”
“Good. There might be a new dragon about, so keep on your toes.” Gerard’s heart almost stopped.
“N-new dragon?”
“Yeah, tiny little thing, ‘bout the size of a Terror.” Tré mimed a shape in front of him as if to express the dragon’s size, “Some of the other vikings thought they saw it. Give us a call if you spot it.” And with that, they started doing their clean up of the place. Some of the older vikings were with them, helping clear out the dragon corpses and scavenging anything they could use, especially the teeth, horns, and pelts. It was a dirty job but someone had to do it and besides, the Dragon Hunters basically gave the village about half of its armor from the dragons themselves. Gerard watched them for a moment then turned and rushed back to the house. They had to find Bunny and fast .
“Mikes!” Gerard put his head in the window, “We need to go find her, now! Don’t ask, just c’mon!” Mikey ran out and followed him as they went to the forest, hoping Bunny had had the good sense to seek shelter there instead. Upon reaching the cove and seeing no one around, the brothers grew terribly worried.
“Bunny!” Mikey cupped hands around his mouth to make the sound echo, “Bunny!” Nothing. They turned back and headed to the village, once again hoping the baby dragon was okay. Mikey murmured to Gerard, “She’s still a baby and anybody will turn her in to the Hunters!”
“She’s okay, Mikey. Nothing heard about her yet, so she’s still okay.” Gerard assured, even though he didn’t feel the same. Upon reaching the village they searched around the house first, looking for clues but found nothing, and so they expanded their search. When asked what they were doing, they said they were observing the damage, trying to help, and so they weren’t questioned too much. It was when they arrived at the docks that they heard the small, weak cry.
“Bunny!”
“Wait!” They ran down the docks, following the cries until they came across Bunny. She was huddled under a small space under one of the platforms, barely hanging on as it was. One wing was secured in the wood while the other hung uselessly by her side. Seeing them made her give a cheerful chirp and try to fly, only to land in the water. Being only a baby she had no idea how to swim and floundered a bit before Gerard pulled her out, holding her in his lap as they sat on the docks. They knew no one had come around to this part of the village yet and so tried to do a preliminary check on her. When the older brother touched her hanging wing, Bunny yelped and snapped at his hand, growling.
“She’s hurt...” Mikey said sadly, “I think her wing’s broken.”
“Let’s take her home and see if we can’t fix her up.” Viking medicine was not used on any kind of flying animal before, so they would have to make things up as they went to help their tiny dragon friend. Carefully she was stuffed into Mikey’s vest and they ran back to the house, avoiding anyone they could. When they were home, Gerard had Mikey take Bunny upstairs while he scoured about for supplies, trying to remember what was done for a broken bone. When he found everything he thought he might need, he went upstairs and found Mikey sitting on his bed, Bunny in his lap. The dragon was making distressed noises and it tore at their hearts.
“I need you to put her on your desk and hand me a pillow.” said Gerard. Mikey did so and watched what his brother came up with. First Gerard ripped open the pillow and took out the feathers inside, putting them around Bunny’s wing. She tried to bite one before Gerard made her sit still. He then took some strips of cloth, binding her wing to her body once he’d aligned it, creating a soft barrier between the two with the feathers. It was so she wouldn’t drag it or accidentally try to use it. She whined a little about the wing pushing against her tummy but stopped trying to mess with it when Mikey gave her a stern look and gently maneuvered her head away. Gerard sat back and gave a long sigh, saying, “That’s the best I can do from what we do to fix our broken bones. I don’t know if she really has one, but this should help, at least a little.”
“Why nothing stiff? Don’t we usually put planks around broken bones to keep them steady?”
“Take a look at her wing.” Gerard took Bunny’s unhurt wing and spread it out, “Her wing is like a hand, not a leg or an arm. I could’ve tried to bind it with planks but it would’ve been awkward and may have hurt her. This is better for her as long as she doesn’t mess with it.” He flicked the dragon on the nose when she tried to bite the cloth again. She yelped and growled but stopped, thankfully. Mikey took her into his arms, careful of her hurt wing.
“When do you think she’ll be better?”
“I don’t know. We’ve never done anything like this before, so it’s mostly touch-and-go.”
“Then let’s hope for the best.” he murmured. Gerard made a noise of agreement.
A few days after the attack, once most of the repairs were made, the children were allowed to go back to class. No one wanted to go back to classes but did so, knowing they’d get in trouble if they didn’t. Brendon could attest to that. The Dragon Hunters were dead serious about them learning how to fight dragons.
“Okay, today we’ll be learning about what happens when you have a downed dragon.” said Mark, the teacher for today, “Who knows the saying that goes along with that?”
“A downed dragon is a dead dragon.” said Bob.
“Right on. When a dragon can’t fly, they can’t run. That’s why we use bolas and nets to ground the dragons if we can. Their flight is the second-most dangerous thing besides their breath or anything else they can do.” Mark explained, “But because we’ve always killed dragons after we ground them, we’re not sure how it affects them. They fly everywhere, so having to be grounded for a long time must do something to them, right?”
I wonder if he’s right. Having a tendency to doodle, Gerard glanced down at his small drawing of a Night Fury, What will happen to Bunny? He glanced over at his brother. Mikey had stiffened up a little and Gerard knew he was thinking the same thing. When Mikey looked to him, worried, Gerard mouthed, ‘She’ll be okay.’ Mikey gave a slow nod but didn’t look like he believed his brother. Gerard sighed to himself at the look and they stuck through the lesson, trying not to fall asleep. After it was over, Gerard had Mikey go home and keep Bunny company as he gathered his things and went to the Dragon Hunter’s hut.
“Why?” Mikey had asked.
“There’s something I need to ask them.” And that was all he could tell Mikey. As he walked through the village to the hut, he glanced around nervously. Because of what they did, the Dragon Hunters’ hut was away from the village, at the edge of a cliff over the sea. Gerard could only wonder why they didn’t have a hut on more solid ground as he went up the steps, holding his nose and trying to ignore the blood on the stone steps. He knocked on the door, glancing at the dragon-horn door handle. They truly did use everything they could scavenge from a dragon, didn’t they? He jumped when the door suddenly opened and found himself facing Billie.
“Hey, Gerard!” The man smiled, “What are you doing here? Is your brother with you?”
“Not today.” Gerard adjusted his bag, “Look, I wanted to ask you guys a few things.”
“Right. Come on it.” The boy would rather not but knew he had no choice and so went inside. It was a fairly large hut but was covered head-to-toe in dragon-related things. On the walls were mounted skulls of dragons, even some Gerard had never seen before, including one that made him stop in his tracks.
“What’s that one?” Gerard pointed to it. Billie followed his hand and frowned.
“Not really sure, actually. We call it a Deathly Galeslash.” The skull looked similar to a Nadder’s but different, wider and thicker, “It looked like a Nadder but had four wings and not as many spikes, along with a finned tail. It’s the closest we’ve gotten to the dragon that killed Mike.”
“And what did that dragon look like?”
“Take a look for yourself.” Billie pointed to the wall, at a large piece of paper with a drawing. Gerard studied it for a moment before swallowing, uneasy. It was the same dragon that had been with Mike.
“And what was he like? Mike, I mean.” Billie stared at him for a moment, but then the boy realized he really wasn’t. He was staring off, as if remembering.
“The greatest guy ever.” The man’s voice was quiet, mourning, “He was taller than the two of us but really smart, or as smart as a viking could be, y’know? He actually… he saved us from that dragon.” Billie grit his teeth, “That’s why we want to find it, to get revenge on it, for Mike’s sake. He sacrificed himself for us and we’re not gonna let that lie.” Gerard slowly nodded.
“Alright. And where’s Tré?” The boy didn’t know why he’d asked and had the feeling he’d regret it.
“Downstairs.” Gerard glanced around, but there were no stairs going down, only up.
“Where?” Billie smiled.
“Down here.” He reached down and lifted up a trapdoor. Gerard had to cover his nose from the blast of terrible stench that wafed from it. That must be where they took what they needed from the dragons and the young viking was surprised that there had been no smell sooner, “Wanna see him?”
“Not today, but thanks.” Gerard edged away from the trapdoor. Billie shrugged and let it drop back down, allowing the boy to breathe again, “Thanks again for answering my questions.”
“Anytime. Gets lonely out here, y’know?” That caused Gerard to pause. For all their fanatical hunting, they were just normal people with everything else except dragons.
“What does Mikey do when he comes?”
“Just talk. He’s the only guy that comes out here anymore, y’know? Hasn’t been back in weeks, though.” Gerard slowly nodded.
“Maybe we’ll visit sometime.”
“That’d be awesome.” Billie let Gerard out the door, “Now be safe, ya hear?”
“Got it.” Gerard watched the door close behind him before making his way down the steps and running back home. He had to go home the long way, avoiding any fans, but at least he’d gotten some more information on Mike, but it wasn’t making much sense.
Mike was probably the same Mike that had once been Billie and Tré’s friend, but the dragon he was riding was the one that had stolen him away. If it had attacked them, as Billie had implied, why was he not dead? How were Mike and the dragon friends? It didn’t make sense, but he had to find out somehow. It still didn’t help with avoiding leading Muse to Mike, but it gave Gerard more information about him. The more he knew, the more he could use against Mike. Shaking the thoughts out of his head, Gerard opened the door to his home and found Mikey feeding Bunny some fish, helping her a little as he held her in his arms.
“How is she?”
“I don’t know.” Mikey murmured, face sad, “She was moaning a little when I came home, staring out the window.”
“Poor girl.” Gerard took a fish from the basket and hand fed it to Bunny. The dragon yipped happily and gobbled it down in seconds. Licking her lips, she chirped for another, “You may be in bad shape but that doesn’t mean you’re gonna be doted on.” Bunny huffed.
“So, what did you ask?”
“I think their friend Mike is the same Mike as the dragon rider, back in the cove.” Mikey gasped.
“How?!”
“I don’t know and I don’t think I can ask him without giving up Muse. We need to find somewhere else to meet with her without letting Mike know, somehow, a place that’s big enough for Muse to fit.” Mikey slowly nodded.
“Do you think he was right, though? That Muse needed to go ‘home?’” Gerard was quiet for a moment, reaching out a hand to stroke Bunny.
“I don’t know that either. If I ask her, I get the feeling she won’t take it well.”
“But what if Mike was right? What if she’s really needed? What if she ran away from home?”
“She couldn’t have, not unless she was driven away. You’ve seen her scars. But… Mike said she’d had experience with vikings before, that she was once their friend. So maybe the scars came from them, but that doesn’t explain why she might’ve left her pack behind.” Gerard put his head in his hands, “I don’t want her to leave, though. Besides you and some of the other guys, she’s my only friend. She even understands the art I make, no one else does.” He lifted his head, “But if she needs to go home… If she does, I don’t know if I could do it, if I could bring her to Mike or even convince her to go home.” Mikey nodded.
“It’ll be okay, Gee.” He took one of his brother’s hands, holding Bunny with the other. The dragon cooed and rubbed her head against Gerard’s hand, “We’ll figure something out.”
“Thanks, Mikes.” Gerard tried to smile but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Mikey frowned but didn’t say anything. His brother was torn over this and they had no idea what to do, how to help, barely any idea what to do about Muse. What could they do about this except wait and try to come up with a plan? Mikey just hoped they wouldn’t take too long because he had the feeling that the longer it went on, the less patience Mike would give them and if he was friends with a dragon, then they had little chance if he decided to attack them.
What could they do?