A Dragon Discovery - Chapter 6: Waking Up

 

I was awoken by a hard kick in the back.
"Wake up!' a voice shouted; it sounded like a boy's voice, a few years older than me.
"Wha?-' I attempted to speak, but I started choking, and spluttering.
A young man ran up to me, and gently pushed my head back down onto the pillow.
"Don't try to speak. You've still got quite a lot of seawater in your lungs.'
I looked at him, and my eyes begged one question: what happened?
The man seemed to know that I would ask this if I could.
'My son here-' he glared at the boy who had kicked me. '-and my second-in-command found you in the sea. You had passed out.'
I retched, and managed to cough up enough seawater so that I could speak.

A Dragon Discovery - Chapter 7: A Conversation With The Outcast Chief

 

"I remember that a rock knocked me off my dragon- and onto this ship. And I'm an Outcast anyway now.'
'What did you do?'
'I burned down my village's Great Hall.'
'And it doesn't look like you got away unscathed.' the man touched my burns.
'What's your name?' I asked him.
'Veirey, Chief of the Outcast Tribe.'
'And Odin knows why we let you lead us.' the boy's voice cut in.
'And he's my son, Kul.'
He turned to him.
'Kul, I won't have you treating our guest- or me- like this, understand? Now why don't you make yourself useful and get his dragon.'
Kul stomped off sulkily.
'My- dragon?'
'Yes. We- erm- captured him, remember?'
I nodded.
'Have- have you hurt him?' I asked warily. It seemed like this man wouldn't hurt my dragon: us Hiccups had a gift with them. But I couldn't be sure, because he was an Outcast.
'You're not like the other Outcasts, are you?'
'Do I look like it?'
He certainly didn't- wiry, and tall. But even his thin arms looked quite strong.
'Point taken.'
'Here's the dragon.' Kul mumbled. He passed the handle of the chain the Nadder was attached to to his father.
The dragon immediately ran up to each of us, like an excited puppy. He didn't know who to greet first.
'Well, he's certainly a lively one.' Vierey said, laughing as the Nadder tried to nuzzle his face.
'Have you named him yet?'
'Well, I haven't really had time to, what with getting banished and everything. I only found him two days ago- of what I can remember.'
'I'm quite good at Dragonese. In fact, I can speak it as good as I can Norse. All Hiccups can. So, that means you can. Didn't you know that?'
'Admittedly, no.'
'Well then, I'll teach you. It should be quite easy to learn.'

cometotheberkside

02 Jul 2014, 21:32

Awesome continuation! Sounds exciting right now!

A Dragon Discovery - Chapter 8: How To Speak Dragonese

 

"First of all, I think we should start off by thinking of a name for your dragon- in Dragonese. If you haven't named him yet, that is.'
"I haven't.' I replied.
'Perfect. We could think of all the things Nadders are associated with to get some ideas.'
'So... Spines, sharp, poison, darts, blind spot, deadly...?' I suggested.
'Now we have to learn what those words mean- not in Norse, but in Dragonese.'
'What do 'spines' mean in Dragonese then, Vierey?'
'Qethserigir.'
'Hmmm... That doesn't sound like a very good name.'
'Maybe not...'
'What about 'sharp'?'
'Kinson.'
'That sounds a bit better. Poison?'
'Viidost.'
'No. Darts?'
'Ruzaak.'
I nodded approvingly.
'I still think we could do better. Blind spot?'
'Koraavnu fahmey.'
'That might work, if we shorten it to Koraav. But let's try one more; deadly?'
'Dilos.'
'Nope. I think we should call him Koraav.'
'Good idea.'
Vierey stretched, and yawned.
'Well, it's getting quite late. I think I'll go to bed.'
'Kul, can you take Koraav back to his enclosure?'
"Okay, Father.' said Kul, unexpectedly obedient.
Vierey frowned suspiciously.
'You're not usually like this. Is something up?'
'No, no, of course not, Father...' Kul stammered, taking Koraav by his chain and leading him away.
None the wiser, I followed Vierey to where I was to sleep.
'If only you knew, Father..."

A Dragon Discovery - Chapter 9: Changing Your Destiny

 

As soon as he heard his father and Arick snoring, Kul opened his eyes. His father had tried to say goodnight to him, but didn't when he saw his son was 'asleep'; he didn't want to disturb him.
The boy got out of bed, and held his boots up to his face.
'Hmmm... They'd make too much noise on the stairs. I think I'll go barefoot.' he thought aloud. Kul stood up, and walked out of his room, and downstairs. He opened the door which led to the deck of the ship. He went over to where Koraav was being kept, and opened the door.
Kul walked carefully over to the sleeping Nadder, and gently placed a hand on the snout.
"Hey, it's me. Your old friend Kul...'
Koraav's eyes opened, and he growled.
'Don't growl at me...' Kul forgot to whisper.
'I'm going to train you... To kill my father... Don't look at me like that. Your friends killed some of the other Outcasts willingly enough, so why can't you?! You're a dragon, for Thor's sake! You're a natural killing machine, a weapon of mass destruction!'
"That may be true, human, but I don't want to be a weapon of mass destruction. We dragons are not the mindless beasts you think we are.'
'I don't care if you don't want to be a weapon of mass destruction. You will be. You will do as your new master commands.'
'You know, boy, you remind me so much of my old Master. He said the exact same words to me when he captured me. I was perfectly capable of avoiding that rock that brought me here. But I didn't, because I knew that the people who captured me were good. Unfortunately, that was not the case the first time this happened. And that was how I came to run away, and be here, and yet again meet another human like him .'
'I have learned, that there will always be humans like him in this world. Conquerors, dictators, people who want to see others suffer the way they did. You are lucky, boy. You have not lost anyone you love yet, like he has. I am giving you a choice. Go back to bed, or train me, and lose someone you love, and become like him. I know, that in your heart, you do not want to do this. You do not want to kill your father. And that is the first step in becoming a Chief, and a warrior.'
'Killing my father?'
'No, boy. Following your heart.'

cometotheberkside

03 Jul 2014, 20:07

Well that seemed to have ended on a rather positive note