I Am Dragonblood: Secret Uncovered {Book Three} (HTTYD Fanfic)

Chapter Four - The Full Moon

When everyone was rested they began to explore the cavern. It was indeed huge, easily bigger than the chasm they had flown into. Waterfalls poured down into lakes, lights glinted everywhere and fish leapt out of the water. This place was truly beautiful.
    The gang made a base camp near a freshwater lake, setting up small tents and using a flatish boulder as a table. Soon after they started to make maps - well, all but the twins did. They were having a great time leaping out from behind pillars and scaring the life out of their fellow Vikings. Hiccup, Astrid and co. yelled at them many a time, but, of coarse, it made no difference. As they explored this giant place, w hich took some time to fly all the way round, they discovered caves hidden behind waterfall, a spring emerging from a mound covered in glowing plants and a strange, dark alcove where light couldn't penetrate and where the fireworms roosted in great numbers. But the most intriguing discovery was a glowing tunnel with luminous crystals that was guarded by dragons. They'd flown through there quite a few times in the hopes that there would be no guards, but always there was at least one dragon blocking their path.
    'This is killing me!' Hiccup exclaimed one time after another failed attempt. 'Why won't they let us past? What are they hiding in there?'
    'Maybe they'll only let dragons past. It'd make sense, if they've had a bad experience with humans,' Fishlegs said, wobbling atop his gronckle.
    'So we send our dragons in there,' Tuffnut said.
    'And they can tell us what's in there,' Ruffnut finished for him.
    The twins high fived.
    Astrid rolled her eyes. 'You do know dragons can't speak.'
    The Chief glanced at Fishlegs, who gave him a look that said: tell them.
    'Technically, dragons can speak,' he said. In human form he could neither understand nor speak Dragontongue, the highest and lowest pitched notes that dragons made to communicate were beyond human hearing and vocabulary. In this form, his unforked tongue was incapable of producing two very different sounds at once.
    'Yeah,' Snotlout said. 'Now we just need someone who can understand all the growls and squawks.'
    'Wouldn't it be good if we could speak dragon language,' Fishlegs piped up, looking at Hiccup pointedly and still wobbling atop Meatlug. 'Everything would be so much easier.'
    'Then we could find out what Hookfang thinks of Snotlout,' Astrid smirked at said Viking.
    'And you'd see that I'm the greatest Viking that ever lived.' Hookfang smacked his rider with a horn, a smug smile curving his scaly lips. 'Hey! What was that for? You know it's the truth.'
    Hiccup's thoughts drifted away from the conversation. They moved on to things that were never far from his mind. The Light Fury, the ships, the deranged dragons with their strange headgear, Berk, the tunnel, this whole place they were in, and a new one. His inner dragon had become stronger and he didn't know why, maybe it was this place, or the stress of not Shifting for days, or maybe just the stress of everything in general. He was worried, for if it got any stronger he may not be able to stop himself Shifting.
    Hiccup was pulled from his meandering thoughts by Astrid calling his name. The others were heading back to camp to have dinner, which probably consisted of their rations because they hadn't been fishing yet.
    It must have been an hour later - or maybe it was two, hard to tell when the light didn't really change - when they'd finally managed to tear their way through dried fish and meat, that Hiccup began to feel uneasy. He couldn't ignore his inner dragon anymore, it was like an incessant buzzing, except he didn't hear it but felt it. He told the gang he was going down to the lake for a while, alone, and gave Toothless a pat before heading off. As he passed Astrid, however, she frowned at him as if he'd suddenly gained four eyes. He frowned back and carried on down the sandy slope, going to the left of a rock pillar that divided the beach in two. He sat by the water's edge for a little while, staring off into the distance but seeing nothing. Then he bent over the spring water lake and cupped the icy, clean liquid in his hands. It tasted wonderful, he had no idea why it did, but it was the best water he'd ever come across. As the ripples faded he stared down at his reflection, the strange light playing on his brown hair, pale skin, green eyes...
    ...that had slitted pupils.
    He leapt up in panic. That's why Astrid had frowned at him, his eyes had changed without him noticing. He tried to make them go back to normal, but they wouldn't, no matter how hard he tried. He looked down at his hands and to his dismay he saw a faint outline of scales there, running up his arms and getting more and more visible with each passing second.
    'Why, why, why?' He muttered to himself. Then it all clicked into place. When they'd left it had been around a week until full moon. The inability to tell the time down here. His dragon becoming stronger. It all fitted in. It was full moon.
    Why had he not put it together sooner? He stared between his hands and his reflection for several minutes, wondering what on earth he was going to do. Going back to camp was out of the question. Staying here to Shift was risky. It seemed like the only coarse of action was to make a run for it.
    'Hiccup?' Astrid's voice carried down the makeshift path. She was coming.
    Oh Thor. To his left there was sand and water, where he'd surely be seen. To his right was plants and then the continuation of the beach. He sprang to his right, crashing through the plants and sprinting around the pillar, slipping on the soft sand.
    And ran straight into Astrid.
    She'd been coming round the other side of pillar, if he's gone the other way he could've escaped. But it was too late now.
    Astrid caught him by his shoulders and held him at arms length so she could look at him. Seeing his pupils slits and scales covering his skin she let go, wide eyed.
    'I - I,' Hiccup stuttered, not knowing what to say and panting from the effort of keeping his dragon contained.
    'Hiccup?...' Astrid whispered. Then more strongly. 'Explain. Now.'
    'I...' Hiccup shut his eyes as a quiver racked his tense muscles. 'I... Can't. Not... Right now.'
    Concern flickered in the blonde Viking's eyes and she gave a half step towards him. 'Hiccup, wha -?'
    The Dragonblood Chief held up a trembling hand, warning her not to come any closer. 'But... I can show you.' He looked up and met her gaze, reptilian green eyes meeting her blue human ones. And finally he let his dragon out, Shifting so quickly that one moment there was a boy, and the next there was a dragon. His jet black scales glowed a faint green, matching his eyes, and his wings unfurled until they were like a tent above him. It felt so good to be in his true form.
    Astrid was staring at him with her mouth agape. 'Your a... Night Fury.'
    Hiccup offered a Toothlesslike grin. He lowered his wings and slowly approached Astrid, who didn't seem to know what to do.
From further up the slope Hiccup heard footsteps coming this way. His ears shot up, then went flat against his head. He looked at Astrid once more, pleading silently for her not to tell, and slipped away back round the pillar. Luckily this time he didn't collide with anyone. He crouched behind some glowing ferns and listened to his friends, his breathing hard.
    'Where's Hiccup?' Fishlegs asked.
    'I don't know,' Astrid replied, her voice admiringly steady.
Hiccup sighed in relief, turning away and staring out over the water. A flash of white caught his attention, and he followed it with his eyes until he saw blue and red eyes gazing out at him. He slowly stepped towards the Light Fury, who shrank back a little. But then when he was within two yards of her, - at least he thought it was a her - she sprang into the air and glided away gracefully, turning her head to watch him. Then she called out one word.
    'Come.'

1424 words