It was the next day and it was already the evening, a fire being lit in the middle of the small clearing you had your 'camp' in as Paradox gnawed on a few dragon bones along with a couple fish, mainly Groupers.
You had planned to discuss what the both of you would do next, since the two of you were going to harvest from Berk, which seemed to want to make some sort of alliance from what you heard the other day.
They knew about the Dreadfall tradition, and they knew of you and Paradox.
The whole island knew you and him were coming there to harvest, so you assumed they'd set something up.
"Since they're allied with dragons now, you're probably not gonna get any dragons to eat as an offering." You said, on your knees with a map laid out in front of you.
Paradox roared in response, his tusks unsheathed as he scuffled closer to you, putting a Wing over your back and he looked at the fire and then back at the map.
He had used his acid to light the fire, so it should be burning for a good while.
"It'll probably have offerings like fish, apples, pumpkins and maybe even some mutton if we're lucky, you like mutton, don't you?" You asked, looking over and raising a brow.
The Deathgripper nodded as he sat down, Foreleg pincers snapping a little against each other as his back plating rattled slightly when he moved.
"But, they know about us, and from what I had seen, they want some sort of closure on who we are exactly, so it's gonna have to be an extremely quiet and down-low harvest." You said, nodding to him.
Going back to Berk and revealing yourself was enticing, as it's been a while since you've had human-to-human conversing, other than the time you had went to the Northern Market and they usually keep those conversations rather brief.
It had been quite a while.
"Dreadfall is in... what? Four days?" You said, beginning to count on your fingers the days until Dreadfall.
Paradox watched with interest, saliva dropping from his tongue a little as he waited for your response, a few fish being near his legs.
You were right, it was four days.
"Four days." You said, confirming it before you marked down that on a couple tali marks.
The leaves around you were rustling a little bit in the cold wind, some blowing away while others were blown into the clearing.
A true sign that it was autumn, and that Dreadfall was nearing.
You stared at the map, running a finger along it as Paradox stared at it too, before looking back to you and sheathing his tusks, simply so he didn't hit you in the head with them when he moved his head.
His tail swayed idly, his Stinger being uncovered.
"It might be an ambush attack, which would be pretty... bad, with the dragons I had seen there so far, along with how comfortable they were with following human order." You stated, scratching Paradox's chin a little.
The dragons you had seen so far was a Hotburple, Rumblehorn, Zippleback, Gronckle, Stormcutter, Night Fury, Deadly Nadder, Monstrous Nightmare and Light Fury Which was enough for you and Paradox in one night.
There was also Vikings, and with Berkian history on hunting dragons along with their knowledge of them from Bork The Bold, they probably had things on Deathgripper's that they could use to their advantage.
The bone outlining on Paradox's scales shimmered a little bit in the light along with the natural glow around the orange scale fades on Paradox, making it a little easier to see.
The fire crackled, giving some sort of background noise as you thought about what to do in this situation, and it was eating you alive.
"We could just... go back to Berk and ask for some sort of shelter? To make us seem like we aren't a threat and so that we don't get ambushed on Dreadfall?" You suggested, your pointer finger outstretched as you looked at Paradox.
Last time you had been to Berk, you were on Old Berk with Stoick The Vast as the chief, so what's the worst that could happen?
Paradox seemed to want to hear the other option, shifting and twitching every few seconds as his wings flapped a little bit.
Paradox never seemed to be the type to sit still and wait.
"Or we could try harvesting for Dreadfall there, but... with the dragons being there and with us being ratted out by Terrible Terrors and Night Terrors, it might not be the best idea to play it out like we usually do." You said, putting your hands together.
Paradox nudged you with his head, before his pupils dilated a little, moving his tail to put a hole straight through Berk.
"You wanna head to Berk and ask for some sort of shelter?" You asked, tilting your head.
It wasn't a bad idea, and after hearing them tell their dragons to hold their fire, even against a Deathgripper seemed like they'd do it again.
Paradox's small attack didn't do much damage, right?
"Well then." You said, getting up after rolling the map up. "Tomorrow we pack up and head to Berk, yeah?".
Paradox nodded, laying back down to continue chewing on dragon bones, specifically one that would belong to a wing.
You looked around the camp, knowing you didn't have much things to pack up, and everything was already stored away rather well, so it was fine.
Leaving the island you had lived on for the past decade, give or take a few years, seemed extremely foreign to you, but it'd be turning a new page for you too.
It's not like you'd stop harvesting from different islands, you'd just relocate to a new one.
"Then it's settled." You sighed, sending a smile at the Strike Class dragon. "Tomorrow we're packing up and setting off for Berk."
Paradox roared in response, his tail still swaying and moving a little.
"Make sure to be back by evening if you end up taking a morning hunt, since we'll be in the air for a while." You told the dragon.