Young Dragonblood

Chapter Three

The Dragonblood Chief started laughing; at first a low chuckle, which then grew into slightly hysterical guffaws. You and Toothless stared at him, confusion clear on both your's and the true dragon's face. 
    ‘A Night Fury!’ Hiccup exclaimed through his giggles. ‘Of all dragons, a Night Fury!’
    That night was one of the best, if strangest, nights of your life. You three Furies headed to higher ground, scrambling over fallen branches, rocks and roots. The hill you had spotted from the air seemed as high as the stars now that you were gazing up at it from the ground. Your legs trembled even more at the thought of climbing to the top of it. 
    You tripped over obstacles and your own feet many times, slowly getting more sure of yourself the further you went. Your muscles burned, so unused to this kind of movement were they, and you were out of breath by halfway. The moon was high in the inky sky by the time you reached the summit, its radiance shining down on you like it was lighting your path. It was so bright that the surrounding stars were obliterated from view, leaving a space of deep blue around the disc of silver. 
    Toothless and Hiccup showed, or in Toothless's case, mimed, what you should do and you eagerly leapt into the open air. You only got several feet before you face planted the shale, the stones scraping your scales with a chalk board screech. With your newly found scales scratched and your dignity broken, you returned to the top of the hill, where you found the other two Furies trying and failing to hide their laughter. You gave them a glare but didn't say anything, only trying to fly again and again. Over a dozen times you leapt onto the sky and came crashing down seconds later, gaining bruises to add to your collection of scratches. Who knew trees, rocks and the ground could hurt so much?
    By the time the sun was beginning to lighten the sky you could glide and turn... Sort of. It was going to take a long while for you to be able to fly like the Chief. Hiccup flew beside you a lot of the time, yelling tips at you while you were frantically avoiding crashing into trees. Even though you hardly listened to him in these times, some of the information must have got through to you because slowly, so, so slowly, you got better. 
    As the dawn approached the three of you flopped down by the now long dead campfire you had built when in human form. Your muscles ached and you were so tired, but you couldn't stop grinning at the experience of flight. Never had you felt happier than you had at this point. All your life you had been trying to find out who you were, figure out why you seemed different from the Vikings. Yes, you had been abandoned and found on Berk, where you had been raised for the past seventeen years, and you had thought that had been the reason for the difference. Now you knew why. Your dragon side had always been there, showing through, just a little. 
    Contentedly you gazed at the brightening sky with sleep hazed eyes. There was the silhouette of a Silver Phantom gliding against the backdrop of grey-blue, its slow wingbeats lulling you to sleep. 
    Seemingly only seconds later an arrow thunked into the ground near your head, startling you from the abyss of sleep.