Fire and Ice | HTTYD Fanfiction [Book One]

Chapter Four ~ The Smothering Smokebreaths

Adira

      "Hey, look!" One of the Smokebreaths hollered.

      "Metal shoulder plates!" Another one chirped.

      "Get it!" A third one exclaimed. 

      They all vanished into a puff of smoke and started moving towards me. I let out a small shriek of terror and fled the scene, Fog right behind me.

      "Jump on," he offered "we'll go faster." I nodded and hastily clambered onto his back. Fog flew at top speed, but since he was a Boulder-Class dragon, it was not very fast and the Smothering Smokebreaths were catching up. An idea crossed my mind.

      "Fog, stop!" I exclaimed. He gave a confused look but obliged. "We can't lead them to the rest of the pack," I explained, "so we'll have to let them take me." Fog started to object, but I cut him off. "When they get me I can try to convince them to join the pack. If they don't agree then I'll leave the shoulder plates and flee. Got it?"

      "Wait, what about-" Fog protested but didn't get to finish. The Smokebreaths were already on me, eagerly taking the shoulder plates into their tiny claws and dragging me back to their lair.

      When we reached their large cavern, I stood up, trying to pry the small dragons off of me. They growled and hissed in annoyance.

      "Okay, before you melt these shoulder plates for your nest can I ask you something?" I stated nervously. "And before you ask, yes, I can speak Dragonese. Long story."

      "Speak quickly if you don't want us to roast you," growled the largest of the Smokebreaths, "I am Stone, leader of this nest."

      "I'm Adira," I curtsied a bit, "honored to meet you." You guessed it; I was trying to flatter this Smokebreath.

      Stone puffed out his chest a little, "thank you."

      "So, my friends and I wanted to invite you into our dragon pack."

      His puzzled look cued my long explanation of the pack. After I finished, the Smokebreaths mumbled quietly among themselves for a decent amount of time. Finally, Stone lifted his head to answer.

      "We accept," I let out a small squeal of joy. "But we have a few conditions." I nodded in understanding. "We get to be in charge of blacksmithing. And nothing but blacksmithing except for battle."

      "Anything else?" I asked with a nod.

      "Yes. Although we will not hunt, we still will be provided with a steady supply of food." He ducked his head and murmured, "not because none of us know how to hunt or anything."

      I stifled a laugh and smiled. "Deal. I'll go tell my friends. You can sleep and work in any of the caverns, preferably near the pack, but it's up to you."

      "Thank you for your generosity, Adira. It's not everyone that asks us to be part of things." Stone said as I was exiting the cavern. The look in his eyes told me that he meant it too.

      "No problem," I replied with a grin.

      Fog was waiting right outside the cavern. I was surprised no one had noticed him in there. I gave a quick nod of my head to indicate that the plan worked. Relief flashed in his eyes as we made our way to the rest of the pack.

      When we arrived we explained everything that had happened. When we finished, the other pack members gaped in shock. Melanite was the first to come to his senses.

      "So you're saying you recruited an entire nest of Smothering Smokebreaths into the pack?" He growled in disbelief.

      "Yeah. That's not bad... right?" I asked, suddenly unsure of my decision.

      "No, no, that's great!" Citrine exclaimed with enthusiasm. "Now we have a disguise if we are under attack!"

      "I hadn't considered that. Good thinking," I said to Citrine, deep in thought. "Hey, I was thinking, should I have like an official dragon that I ride on?"

      "I'll do it." Melanite, Citrine, and Canna offered in unison. Uh oh. I knew if I chose either Canna or Citrine, they would surely get in a fight. So that leaves Melanite.

      "No hard feelings anyone, but I can't ride all of you," I started slowly, "so I think I choose..." I paused, glancing at each of the three dragons, "Melanite." I drew out his name to add effect to my difficult decision.

      "But I saved your life!"

      "But I've known you longest!"

      "But I was the first member!"

      "But I didn't kill you!"

      As the protests were thrown about, Melanite and I exchanged a glance. I knew if I didn't stop this, something ugly would happen.

      "I'm really sorry. But I couldn't have chosen either of you." I turned toward Citrine. "Citrine, if I rode on you, making a quick escape would be tricky." I looked at Canna next. "Canna if I chose you, you might get acid on me by mistake."

      After hearing my reasoning on the decision, the two dragons stopped fighting but gave each other deadly stares for a while. I think they both knew the real reason behind my choosing of Melanite.

Citrine

      Gods, that dumb Changewing! Because of her I now lost one of my only friends. Well sure, Adira still likes me, but now she'll be bonding with Melanite.

      If Canna never ambushed me, we wouldn't have met, we wouldn't have fought, and Adira might have chosen me! That acid-spitting dragon doesn't understand what it's like to be alone.

Canna

      Oh Thor, that idiotic Typhoomerang! If he hadn't turned his back on me and killed my friends I wouldn't have ambushed him. Now Adira is going to become best friends with Melanite and forget all about me. That might not true, but she'll most definitely talk to me much less.

      If that arrogant oversized dragon hadn't started an argument, Adira might have chosen me! But he ruined it for both of us. He has no idea to what extent he has caused damage. I hate his guts. I really, really hate him.

A/N: Yeah the last POV's of this chapter were just fillers to make the chapter over 1,000 words like I promised. Whoopsies...