Dragon Whisperer (HTTYD)

14 - Confrontation

Time seemed to hang still as Camicazi stared in shock. Black scales. Two wings limply folded up at its sides. Two wide, vertical pupils, shrouded in acid green orbs, seemed to stare into her soul. A dragon!

A gods-damned dragon!

Her mind raced. Dragon raids were a novelty this far South and her only involvement was in hiding livestock or handling fire buckets. Fighting this thing would be suicide as her little, lightweight shortsword and dagger would hardly penetrate the scales. It's anyone's guess how fast that thing is. If she could make it out of the cove and into the dense forest, it surely wouldn't be able to weave around and under trees and branches as quickly as the nimble Burglar.

Murdering Hiccup sounded like a fine idea, too. Well, maybe not something quite so drastic. He had always been a troublemaker with his inventions and troll hunting, but he also had a kind and gentle heart. They had always been good friends. To think he would betray her like this... she would find him and extract some answers by whatever means necessary.

After escaping the demon standing here, that is.

In an attempt to throw the beast off-kilter and buy some time to run, she clanged her blades together and gave a fierce battle cry. The dragon's response to her shout, though, fixed her feet where she stood in disbelief. What she saw stunned her and left her completely immobile and speechless with her jaw hanging to the ground. The beast did not rear back in alarm, nor did it charge forward or run away.

It rolled onto its back, writhing on the ground, legs kicking spasmodically as it gasped in shallow pants.

An instant later, Hiccup was crouched over the dragon, pounding on its chest with a fist, shifting his gaze between the beast and the terrified Burglar. After a few loud thumps, it started to hack and breathe normally again, relaxing onto its side, looking up at the girl. She took another step back, willing her seemingly lead-laden feet to stop resisting her attempts to flee, and held her blades close.

There were rumors of dragons with riders spotted around Berk, but this... This was simply beyond belief! Little Hiccup had a pet dragon. A pet...

Hiccup looked up at her with a grin on his face and said, "Easy there, Cami. You scared him."

Camicazi shrieked, "I SCARED HIM?!"

Once again, the Burglar could only stare dumbly at the sight before her as Hiccup rolled around on the ground, laughing hysterically. The dragon seemed to be in a similar fit, making some strange gurgling sound that Camicazi didn't want to acknowledge as a chortle. Her mind screamed, "That's a dragon! Run while you can!", but her feet were non-compliant.

After a moment, the laughing fit passed and both the boy and the dragon rolled over to their feet. Camicazi instinctively raised her blades and took a step back. She cast a furtive glance back towards the entrance to the cove and the forest beyond. By now, she had managed to drag her feet a bit closer and felt a little less helpless.

She slowly shook her head in disbelief while shuffling backward, pulling her feet against the anchor of shock and terror and curiosity holding her there, just mouthing over and over again, "No... way..."

Hiccup draped an arm over the dragon's snout, idly scratching its maw, and said, "That's exactly what Astrid said when she saw him for the first time. You did say you wanted to meet Toothless when the opportunity arose, after all... so..."

The boy gestured dramatically between girl and dragon.

"Camicazi, Toothless. Toothless, Camicazi."

Camicazi took another step back, casting a glance at the entrance to the cove, unable to make heads or tails - draconic or otherwise - of the situation. Hiccup... dragon... dragon not going on a rampage... Viking standing near dragon and not dying.