*1 month later*
We get a view of Rakke Town. It's a warm and sunny day. The snow has disappeared and all seems well. Chief Baker leaves his dome, inhales some nice fresh air and lets out a content sigh with a smile on his face. He grunts softly as he stretches a bit. He starts walking to the station while holding his right shoulder as Hazel & Carla are behind him and both laugh softly at each other as they walk to the station as well. May Wong exits her dome, already focused on something on a clipboard, as she walks toward the station. The workers at ICARIS can be seen walking around Rakke Town, doing their jobs. A dark-skinned bald worker in a red suit hums softly while doing something on his phone while walking past some bushes. Suddenly, a sheep, with its back and a little bit of its sides shaved, bursts outta the bushes, bleating loudly
"Hey! Oh!" the dark-skinned bald worker exclaims, startled and jumps a little.
The sheep gets back up before baaing and running off
The dark-skinned bald worker shrugs it off, going back to his phone, when suddenly an orange-reddish Terrible Terror bursts outta the same bushes, shrieking loudly as it flies after the sheep
"Ah!" the dark-skinned bald worker exclaims, again being startled and making him jump back more.
The orange-reddish Terrible Terror chases after the sheep. Said sheep looks back to see the small dragon, causing it to bleat loudly in fear while the Terrible Terror squawks at the sheep. May hums softly to herself, not knowing a sheep followed by a Terrible Terror is coming in her direction.
"Hm?" she hums, confused, hearing the bleating & squawking.
As she turns to look in the direction of the sound, she sees the sheep, followed by the Terrible Terror heading straight for her
"Ah!" May exclaims loudly, seeing the sheep running straight at her and throwing the clipboard in the air.
The sheep bleats loudly, seeing her, stops running and tries to come to a stop so as not to hit her, but because the sheep was running so fast, its paws skidded along the ground. As May screams, preparing to feel the collision between her and the sheep, Philip Baker leaps in, tackling May Wong outta the way, grunting loudly as he does so. When May Wong gets tackled by Phil, her hat flies straight up in the air. Meanwhile, because the sheep was trying to come to a stop, it accidentally did a front roll before getting back up on its 4 paws and continuing to run away from the Terrible Terror, who's still chasing after said sheep. May Wong coughs softly from the dust and from being tackled like that as her hat lands on the ground
"What a way to start the morning." she remarks, annoyed. "Where is this Dragon Whisperer when you need him?" she asks sarcastically as she and Philip get up from the ground while picking up her hat.
Right as she said this, Ryu & Thunder fly past her at high speed, hitting her hat
"Watch out!" he warns loudly.
This causes May Wong to yelp as she tries to keep a hold of her hat. Then Tom & Switchblade fly past her
"Move outta the way!" he shouts.
Then Jun flies past them from behind Phil, sitting on Wu's saddle
"Dragon on the loose!" she says loudly.
Then D'Angelo flies past May Wong
"Coming through!" he says loudly.
Then Alex flies past them from behind Phil
"Heroic one-liner!" Alex says loudly but unenthusiastically.
Finally, Eugene flies past his mom on Webmaster without saying anything
"Come on!" Ryu urges. "If this little guy escapes Rakke Town, he'll jeopardize the secret." he explains.
Olivia Kullersen is calmly walking to the station when she hears the sheep bleat loudly. She turns to look at the sound and sees the sheep coming straight at her. She yelps in alarm and deftly does a dive roll as the Terrible Terror shrieks at the sheep. Ryu & Thunder then fly past Olivia from behind
"Let's go, team!" D'Angelo calls out to the group. "Flanking maneuver." he tells them.
The group then spreads out to surround the Terrible Terror, who continues to chase the sheep, who's still bleating loudly. The group lands on the ground, letting the sheep pass and surround the Terrible Terror
"Alright. Let's move in." Ryu says to the group.
The Terrible Terror squawks, looking at Thunder before walking in the opposite direction, which is where Alex & Feathers are
"You're all mine, you little devil." Alex tells the small dragon, opening her arms to show it that it won't be able to escape.
Right as the Terrible Terror flies up in the direction of Alex's arms, Thunder swoops in and Ryu grabs the Terrible Terror
"Gotcha!" Ryu says loudly.
Getting snatched up so suddenly causes the small dragon to let out a startled squawk
"Or, you know, you can just grab him." Alex says annoyed, not happy with how Ryu just swooped in and took the capture that was meant to be hers.
Pete, Angela and another female worker cheer loudly. Ryu smiles and waves at them
"Oh, well, would you look at this?" Eugene asks. "Ryu comes flying in with the glory grab." he remarks as Webmaster walks past Thunder.
This comment makes Ryu look confusedly at him
"Glory grab?" Ryu repeats, confused. "What?" he asks. "Not even." he says to him.
"Totally even!" Eugene tells him loudly.
"I hate to agree with Eugene, bro, but he's right." Tom admits. "That was Alex's win and you just took it." he says to him.
"It was kinda weird, Ryu." D'Angelo chimes in.
"See?" Eugene asks Ryu rhetorically. "Even D and your little bro know you're being weird." he states.
"That's not true." Ryu denies. "They're not cheering for me. They're cheering for all of us." he tries to explain.
But then this happens
"The Dragon Whisperer does it again!" Pete praises Ryu to the other workers, making everyone else praise him.
The workers then turn to Ryu & Thunder and cheer for them. Eugene lets out an annoyed grunt, opening his crossed arms before crossing them again. This causes Ryu to let out a nervous laugh and look away for a moment
"Look, it's... it's been a crazy month since the dragons came up here." he begins, gesturing to Rakke Town. "I finally finished transcribing the info from the dragon book into my Book of Dragons." he reveals. "And I don't just have to deal with Buzzsaw anymore." he continues, gesturing to himself. "Now, I have to deal with our parents, the town, and keep any wandering dragons contained." he explains, gesturing to the town when he said 'the town' and gesturing to terrible terror when he said 'wandering dragons'.
"You mean we have to deal with all that stuff, right?" Alex asks him questioningly.
The excited chatter of the workers can be heard behind Ryu
"Yeah." Ryu answers. "I, we, that's what I meant." he corrects. "Look, I'm just trying to hold it all together." he explains to the group.
The workers then begin to cheer loudly again
"Lightning Cloak!" the workers in red suits say excitedly.
"Well, while you keep "holding it all together," you might as well give your fans what they want." Eugene says to Ryu, air quoting when saying 'holding it all together' and then waving him off to the workers.
Jun walks past her big brother while on her dragon and goes to Ryu. When Jun gets to Ryu & Thunder, the Terrible Terror shrieks at her as Ryu lets out a dejected sigh. Ryu then hands over the small dragon to his girlfriend before soaring into the air with Thunder. He makes Thunder fly through the air a bit as he orders Thunder to do the Lightning Cloak. Thunder lets out a circular lightning blast as it zaps before flying through it and cloaking himself
The workers cheer loudly when seeing it
*That night*
Ryu gets home after a long day. Olivia can be seen in the kitchen while Tom is sitting on 1 of the comfy chairs. Ryu enters the dome and throws his backpack on the empty, comfy chair before lying down on the couch, exhausted and letting out a sigh
"You okay, boyo?" Olivia asks her eldest son, concerned, sitting down on the couch.
Ryu sits up
"Oh, you have no idea how busy I've been." Ryu says to her, sighing exhaustedly. "I had to catch another wandering Snowtail and bring it back to the Ice Realm, then check all of Alex's sensors before restocking the fish and crystal food in the Dragon's Lair." he informs her. I'm totally fried." he admits, laying back down, putting his right arm over his eyes and letting out an exhausted sigh.
"Jeez. Sounds like you've had a big day." Olivia tells her son.
"That was just the morning." Ryu reveals to her, lifting his arm off his eyes before placing it back down.
"Ryu, it's nice that I don't have to carry the burden of the dragon secret anymore, but it seems like now you're taking on too much." Olivia tells her eldest son caringly, putting her left hand on his right knee.
"What choice do I have?" Ryu asks her rhetorically, lifting his arm off his eyes before placing it back down.
"Can't your brother and the other Riders help out?" Olivia enquires.
"Yeah, of course, they can, but I guess since I was the first one to find Thunder and we have a connection to Hiccup, the whole town looks to me to fix all the dragon problems." he points out, taking his right arm off his eyes, sitting up and picking up his Book of Dragons.
"I don't think that's true." Olivia denies.
But then there's a few knocks on the front door. Olivia gets up to open the door. As soon as she opens the door, May Wong walks in
"These dragons are becoming too much of a distraction." she remarks. "Can you do something about that, Ryu?" she demands.
Ryu goes to say something, but then Hazel appears at the front door before he can say anything
"I hope we haven't come at a bad time, but the dragons seem to have trampled through our garden." she tells the people present as Carla appears under her.
"Ryu, can you do something about that?" she requests.
Right as Ryu goes to answer her, Chief Baker appears from an open window, stopping him from saying anything again
"Ryu!" Chief Baker calls out to him, grabbing his attention. "Another windmill's been damaged by dragon perching." he informs him, gesturing to the damaged windmill. "Thought you were gonna take care of that for me, Ryu." he reminds him.
Ryu looks down, holding his Book close to him, as he starts to get really upset. The chatter of the parents begins to overlap, causing Ryu's head to feel like it's about to explode. Seeing how upset her eldest son is, Olivia intervenes
"Alright, alright." she begins. "Everyone out." she tells the parents firmly, pointing at the front door. "Right now, it's time for the Dragon Whisperer to get a little rest." she says to them as she leads May, Hazel & Carla outta the front door before closing it.
Olivia then walks to the couch, where her upset son is sitting and sits down in front of him. She then notices Chief Baker is still standing at the open window, causing her to glare at him. Seeing the glare, Chief Baker glances at Ryu before looking at Olivia and then lets out a nervous laugh, holding up his hands and then he walks off
"Okay. I see what you mean." Olivia admits, understanding Ryu's point. "Dragons in town has changed everything." she states, gesturing to the open window.
"And it was my decision to bring them up. So, it's my responsibility to keep the dragons protected and to lead the team." Ryu insists, getting up, putting his Book in his backpack, putting the backpack on his back and starting to walk away.
"What about all that hot-dogging?" Olivia questions him.
"Yeah, is that leadership?" Tom asks him.
"Well, if the people here love the dragons, they're more likely to protect them." Ryu explains. "If that means I have to do a little air show from time to time, it's worth it." he admits.
With that, he walks into his & Tom's room before shutting the door, leaving his mom & his little brother, who are worried about his mental health, in the living room
Ryu turns on the lights in the room, having taken his Book out again, his backpack in his left hand and having the book open while walking to his desk. He puts his backpack on his desk before sitting down
"I don't know how you did it, but I sure wish you left some instructions in this book." he says to Hiccup as if he could hear him while leafing through the book.
We then see an updated group drawing of the OG dragon riders, seeing as Ryu had a vision of each member and was able to draw them correctly from that
He hears some scraping against his window, causing him to look up to see Thunder scraping against the window with the claws of his left front paw. Ryu laughs softly as he gets up and clicks the button that lowers the glass of the window, opening the window
"Hey, bud." he says to him. "Why don't you head back to the lair and get some rest?" he asks him, putting his left hand under Thunder's chin.
Thunder lets out a soft purr at this
"We're done for the day." Ryu tells him.
Right as he sits down and looks down at his Book again, Jun can be seen walking to his dome. Thunder growls at him softly. Ryu then feels his sleepiness take over and falls asleep on his desk with his head resting on the open book. Thunder, seeing this, then goes back to the Lair
Jun then walks to the open window
"Hey, Ryu?" she calls out to him questioningly. "Got a sec?" she asks him.
She looks down and gasps softly to see him being deep asleep on the open book. She smiles softly as she leans into his room to kiss the top of his head. She then clicks on a button before quickly pulling her arm back as the glass of the window rises and closes. With that, she goes home to her own dome
*The next day*
When Ryu woke up, he saw that he was still sitting at his desk. He saw that his Book was open and realizes he must have fallen asleep on it. He also saw that the window he opened was now closed, which made him wonder who closed it. When he turned around, he saw that Tom was gone. He left his room to eat breakfast and saw that his little brother was also neither in the kitchen nor the living room. He also didn't see his mom, so she was probably at the station. After having eaten breakfast, he left his family's dome and went to the Dragon's Lair
*At the Dragon's Lair*
As Ryu jumped into the entrance, he heard the group talking
"Great. I'll do it." he hears Eugene say to the group, stepping up. "I have no problem telling Ryu how I feel right to his face." he tells them, acting tough.
"Oh yeah?" Ryu asks him challengingly from behind him as he jumps down the rocky steps. "Tell me what?" he asks, confused.
Suddenly hearing him causes Eugene to let out a startled whimper as he turns around to look at him
"Oh!" he exclaims, surprised. "Uh, uh, hi." he stammers scaredly.
Ryu then approaches the group
"Uh... Gonzo?" he asks, turning to look at her, as do D'Angelo & Tom.
"Don't look at me. I should still be in bed." Alex tells him, annoyed, as Jun looks at her as well.
The group then turn to look at Ryu again
"What's going on here, Tom?" Ryu asks him, confused.
Tom looks at Jun, who nods at him, and then lets out a defeated sigh
"Alright, Ryu. Here's the deal." Tom begins, turning to look at his big brother as he holds up his hands. "We all feel like--" he tries to say.
"Ryu! Tom! Kids!" Olivia calls out to them, interrupting the discussion they were going to have and causing them to look up at the entrance/exit. "We have a major dragon problem up here!" she alerts them loudly. "Hurry!" she urges them.
They get on their dragons and go to Rakke Town to see dozens of Terrors, Snowtails, Vine Tails & Scuttleclaws coming up from the fissure and causing havoc. The dozens of dragons can be heard squawking, as well as glass breaking and workers being chased by said dragons, causing them to scream in fear
"It's a dragon infestation!" Alex shouts, seeing the dozens of dragons.
The screaming of workers continues
"Oh no!" Ryu says loudly & worriedly, seeing the dozens of dragons fly around wildly.
"They just keep coming up from the fissure!" Olivia reveals to him.
"Ryu!" May yells at him angrily. "We're gonna have to have another conversation regarding these dragons." she tells him firmly.
A yellow Vine Tail snarls softly and hops onto May's hat, causing her to gasp before the dragon hops off her hat and hops away
"Okay, listen." Ryu begins, addressing the group. "I'll head down to the fissure on Thunder and see if I can figure out why they're coming up." he says to the group, pointing at the group while walking forward to the group. "You guys start corralling the dragons." he instructs while getting on Thunder. "You can't let any dragon escape Rakke Town." he informs them.
Right as he said that, a purple Terrible Terror whizzes past his head, causing him to duck slightly
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." Eugene says rapidly. "How come you get to go solve the problem... and be the big hero, and we have to stay here and clean up the mess?" he asks him, frustrated while ducking to dodge a Scuttleclaw that flies by his head, pointing downward when he said 'here' and then crossing his arms, annoyed.
"Eugene's not wrong." D'Angelo agrees, causing Ryu to look at him. "It makes sense for me to come with you." he tells him. "There could be an injured dragon down there causing all this." he explains.
"I should come, too." Jun says to her boyfriend, leaning Wei down in between D'Angelo & Ryu and looking at him. "You have no idea what you're flying into, Ryu." she states.
"Same goes for me." Tom agrees, causing Ryu to look at him. "I'm your brother." he reminds him.
"No. No. And no." Ryu says, first looking at his little brother, then at Jun and then at D'Angelo, rejecting their offers of help.
He then notices a yellowish Terrible Terror flying in his direction, so he ducks down. The Terrible Terror flies over him as it squawks softly
"Everyone else needs to be up here catching dragons." he tells the group. "If even one flies away, the secret will be blown." he explains. "It's too important." he asserts.
Pete then runs in between D'Angelo & Jun while screaming because he's being chased by the yellowish Terrible Terror
"Let's do this, Riders." Jun says to the riders motivationally.
"Time to catch some dragons." Tom declares excitedly.
With that, the Riders fly off to catch the dragons, while Ryu & Thunder head to the fissure.
Thunder dives down into the fissure when they get there
"You're free to speak up if you see anything, bud." Ryu says to his dragon.
Thunder growls in confirmation. Some gentle winds blow past the duo. Ryu looks down to the bottom of the fissure. Suddenly, a green Terrible Terror shrieks loudly as it flies straight up and past Thunder's face, causing him to come to a halt midair, making him start flying in place
"Ah!" Ryu exclaims in surprise when the small dragon suddenly flew up in front of him & Thunder.
The duo looks up at the Terrible Terror, who's continuing to fly upward and toward Rakke Town. Ryu then looks down in the direction the small dragon came from and sees an opening in the wall of the fissure
"There!" he says loudly, pointing to the opening.
Thunder flies down to the entrance of the cave. Ryu looks at it intriguingly
"I don't remember this cave, do you?" he says, voicing his thoughts and asks, looking at Thunder. "Might be where the dragons are coming from." he theorizes. "Come on, let's check it out." he tells him.
Thunder flies into the cave as it gets dark
"Huh, this cave is right under the station." Ryu remarks. "How did we miss it?" he asks, confused.
Thunder growls softly in response. Suddenly, a different yellowish Terrible Terror flies past them as it shrieks loudly, startling Ryu & Thunder
"Ah!" Ryu exclaims in surprise. "Looks like we're on the right track." he states. "Come on!" he urges.
Thunder finally exits the cave and enters what seems to be a different area of the Nature Realm
"Whoa." Ryu says in amazement.
Thunder then begins to fly around a big tree
"Look at this place." he says, amazed. "It's a whole new area of the Nature Realm." he states excitedly.
Thunder then lands as Ryu jumps off. The duo looks around the area and walks around a bit. Thunder purrs curiously when he sees 4 orange luminous flowers. He then takes a closer look at the flowers, letting out a curious growl when he sees a turquoise slug of some kind
Thunder then lifts up his head and roars at Ryu
"No time to play around, bud." Ryu says to him. "I have to figure out why dragons are floating up into town." he tells him.
Thunder snarls annoyingly at him
"Oh, come on! Not you, too!" Ryu calls out to him loudly, not being able to deal with Thunder being annoyed at him as well.
Thunder lets out a grumpy growl with a grumpy expression to match
"I thought at least you would understand." Ryu snaps at him, crossing his arms.
Thunder roars at him in frustration before walking away. Hearing this causes Ryu to feel guilty
"I-I didn't mean to snap at you." Ryu apologizes. "It's just, nobody understands the pressure I'm under. How hard it is doing all this by myself. Parents, the Riders, the whole town. Seems like everyone wants a piece of me." he says, voicing his feelings, walking to Thunder and holding his head tenderly.
Suddenly, the tree next to them gets hit with 3 familiar spines with a green & red coloration
"Ah!" Ryu exclaims, startled, gasping softly as he turns around to face the dragon who shot those spines.
He sees a raging Deadly Nadder bursts outta the trees as it roars loudly at the duo before charging at them. It looks like its main color, with some green on the underside of its wings. It has a reddish spike crown & reddish tail spines. It fires its magnesium blast at the duo, but they move outta the way in time as it hits the same tree it shot its spines at
Ryu gasps & pants while running away from the raging Deadly Nadder that's chasing him & Thunder. It continues to roar loudly at them. It jumps in the air and flicks its tail, shooting 3 spines in Ryu's direction. Ryu ducks in the nick of time, avoiding the spines as it impales the trunk of the tree on his right. But he still gasped fearfully when he felt the spines whiz above his head
"Huh?" he asks, shocked as he & Thunder look back at the Deadly Nadder.
Thunder then helps Ryu up by pushing his snout under him and pushing him forward. The Deadly Nadder then lands where the duo just was and deftly swings its tail, shooting 3 spines. Ryu looks back at the medium-sized dragon, seeing the 3 spines heading straight for him and lowers his head to dodge them as he yells fearfully, not wanting to get hit by the spines. Thunder then turns around to face the Deadly Nadder and shoots it with a lightning stream. When hit by the lightning stream, the medium-sized dragon snarls in pain and hits the ground, closing his eyes. Ryu pants as he hides behind a boulder with Thunder
The Deadly Nadder gets back up as it growls & snarls softly. The medium-sized dragon smells the young teen and his dragon behind the boulder as he stalks up to it. The Deadly Nadder is mere inches away from the young teen and sniffs the air. It's about to turn its head to look at him, but it gets distracted by hearing the squawks of 2 Terrible Terrors. This causes it to growl and turn its head toward the 2 small dragons. The 2 Terrible Terrors chirp softly at each other. The Deadly Nadder roars at the two small dragons, grabbing their attention and causing them to turn their heads to look at the medium-sized dragon. The 2 Terrible Terrors squawk in surprise when they see the rage-filled Deadly Nadder. They fly away in opposite directions as the medium-sized dragon jumps on the rock where they just were. The Deadly Nadder fires a magnesium blast at the yellowish Terrible Terror, leading it to the entrance of the cave, which leads to the fissure. As the yellowish small dragon flies into the cave, the rage-filled dragon roars at the small dragon 1 final time
Ryu & Thunder peek at the Deadly Nadder from behind the rock
"Looks like we found the reason the dragons are heading topside." Ryu states, realizing the cause of the dragon infestation at Rakke Town. "And I guess we now know what Realm my brother's dragon came from." he adds. "But why is it so aggressive?" he wonders. "Deadly Nadders are usually very calm." he remarks.
Thunder growls apprehensively
"I bet it's Buzzsaw." Ryu guesses. "He and his goons probably tried to trap him." he says to Thunder.
The Deadly Nadder sniffs the ground, having lost the scent of the young teen & his dragon and tries to pick it up again
"Now, he's freaked out and doesn't trust humans." Ryu realizes. "Guess there's only one thing for me to do." he tells his dragon as he picks up a box of frozen chicken nuggets outta his backpack. "Gonna have to bond with him." he declares as he puts his backpack back on.
Thunder bites down on the back of his rider's hoodie, causing Ryu to turn around and look at him
"It's the only way, bud." Ryu tells him. "I have to prove to him that humans aren't all bad." he explains, glancing at the Deadly Nadder. "Then hopefully, he'll chill out and stop menacing everything that walks past." he says hopefully. "Don't worry. I got this." he reassures, placing his left hand under Thunder's chin.
Ryu then walks to the Deadly Nadder
"Hey, big dragon." he calls out to the medium-sized dragon calmly.
The Deadly Nadder squawks surprisingly softly at him
"Listen, we got off on the wrong foot." he admits, looking up at the medium-sized dragon.
The Deadly Nadder glares down at the young teen and growls angrily at him
"You, uh, you hungry?" Ryu asks the medium-sized dragon while kneeling and putting down the box of frozen chicken nuggets. "Come on. I'll even eat one with you." he urges.
He turns his head to smile confidently at Thunder while getting back up and crossing his arms. The Deadly Nadder lowers his head as it continues to glare fiercely at the young teen, snarling and blowing out air from his nose on the back of Ryu's head, causing his hair to move. This grabs Ryu's attention as he looks back at the medium-sized dragon. The Deadly Nadder then roars loudly at Ryu. Thunder then hits the medium-sized dragon's open mouth with a lightning stream, causing its mouth to close. He then swoops in, picking Ryu up and they hide behind the boulder again
The Deadly Nadder growls angrily at being hit in the mouth with a lightning stream. The duo can hear the medium-sized dragon roaring loudly as an orange-reddish Terrible Terror flies past them. Thunder purrs in anticipation
"Oh, come on! We don't have time for this!" Ryu yells, exasperated, at no one in particular. "Think. Think." he says to himself.
Ryu goes through his mind to recall on how to train & bond with a Deadly Nadder
"Okay, to train a Deadly Nadder, you must very carefully approach said dragon from its tail. Then, you must gently smooth its spikes down. In addition, one can also train a Nadder by sneaking up on its blind spot, then scratching its chin affectionately." he recites. "So, everything I need to bond with this dragon is right here." he states, gesturing to himself.
Thunder growls worriedly at Ryu and begins to follow him. Ryu feels Thunder following him and turns to him
"No, bud!" he says to him loudly. "If you come, he may take it as a sign of aggression." he explains. "I gotta do this alone." he tells him.
Thunder lets out a sad purr, not wanting his friend & rider to get hurt or worse. Ryu then walks to the Deadly Nadder, who's snarling & squawking softly. It sniffs the air, recognizing the smell of the young teen. It turns its head around and roars loudly at Ryu while spreading its wings, causing Ryu to put his arms in front of his face for a moment before dropping them
"Oh boy." he says to himself.
He inhales and then exhales to calm his nerves. He opens his arms and smiles at the medium-sized dragon. The Deadly Nadder sniffs softly before roaring and running at the young teen. Ryu stands his ground as the Deadly Nadder comes straight at him. Thunder growls, seeing this and prepares a lightning stream
"Please let this work." Ryu hopes.
When the medium-sized dragon is inches away from him, he starts to move around to get in its blind spot. Not seeing the young teen anymore, the Deadly Nadder snaps its jaws shut and tries to look for him. Ryu follows the head to stay in the blind spot and then reaches out his head to scratch the chin of the medium-sized dragon affectionately. Feeling its chin being scratched affectionately causes the Deadly Nadder to growl softly in pleasure. Hearing this, Ryu comes outta the blind spot of the medium-sized dragon. It begins to sniff him, confused about his feelings toward the young teen
"Okay. Yeah. That's it. That's right." Ryu says to Deadly Nadder soothingly. "I'm Ryu." he introduces himself to the medium-sized dragon, gesturing to himself. "I'm not like those dragon hunters." he tells it.
The Deadly Nadder snarls softly as it eyes the young teen
"I'm not gonna hurt you." he promises.
The medium-sized dragon growls confusedly at him
"Everything's fine. Everything's fine." Ryu says rapidly. "Let's just be friends." he offers.
The Deadly Nadder sniffs the young teen softly as it suddenly lets out a curious growl and his pupils dilate. Hearing & seeing this causes Ryu to let out a soft laugh
"That's it. You can do it." he encourages the medium-sized dragon as he walks slowly closer to it. "Everything's okay. Let's just calm down." he tells the Deadly Nadder soothingly as he reaches out his left hand.
The medium-sized dragon sniffs softly
"We're all good." he says reassuringly to the dragon.
The Deadly Nadder begins to breathe gently before letting out a sigh and closing its eyes. Right as Ryu goes to put his hand on the nose of the medium-sized dragon, a distant roar can be heard. This causes the Deadly Nadder to open its eyes, his pupils turning to slits and looking in the direction of the roar. Suddenly another Deadly Nadder shows up, bursting out from the trees. This one is mainly red, with a yellow spike crown & yellow tail spines. It spreads its wings and roars loudly at Ryu & the purple Deadly Nadder. Then it runs at them. The red Deadly Nadder is followed by another Deadly Nadder. This one is mainly a light pinkish color with a seafoam spike crown and seafoam tail spines.
Because the other 2 Deadly Nadders showed up, it made the first one aggressive again. The purple Deadly Nadder screeches loudly and spreads its wings, causing Ryu to fall backward. The light pinkish Deadly goes to stand at the purple one's left side, while the red Deadly Nadder goes to stand at the purple one's right side
The purple Deadly Nadder charges up a magnesium blast while roaring loudly. It fires its magnesium blast, but Thunder swoops in and rescues Ryu before the blast can hit Ryu, which causes it to hit the ground. The purple Deadly Nadder runs to the spot where the duo was earlier; it looks at them before swinging its tail and shooting some spines. Thunder quickly front rolled to try to dodge the tail spines being shot at him & Ryu. Ryu grunts softly as Thunder loses his grip on him. Ryu quickly gets up and turns to Thunder
"Thunder?" Ryu calls out to him questioningly, shoving him slightly. "Get us outta here!" he shouts.
Thunder looks back at the 3 Deadly Nadders as Ryu leaps onto his saddle. Thunder tries to run as fast as he can while the 3 medium-sized dragons are chasing the duo from the air
"Why are they trying to kill us?" Ryu asks, not knowing why the 3 Deadly Nadders are chasing him & Thunder. "We didn't do anything!" he declares loudly.
The purple Deadly Nadder fires a magnesium blast at the duo, but Thunder dodges it. Then the light pinkish Deadly Nadder fires a magnesium blast at the duo, but Thunder dodges it again. He stops running, turns around and looks up at the 3 medium-sized dragons. He roars at them and fires a lightning stream at them. This causes the 3 Deadly Nadders to start flying in place as they squawk in surprise. When they turn back to look at the duo, they seem to have disappeared. They squawk loudly as they're trying to find them. They can be seen hiding behind a large boulder as the duo looks up at the Deadly Nadders, who are flying away from them. The pair then look at each other
*Sometime later*
Ryu & Thunder have taken shelter under a rock formation
"I don't see them." Ryu states, panting a little, looking up in the sky, not seeing them. "Maybe we can make a run for it and then try to blast the cave closed on our way out." he suggests, then looks at Thunder.
Thunder lets out a weak growl as he lays down
"Thunder?" Ryu calls out to him worriedly. "You okay? Where does it hurt?" he asks him caringly, taking off his backpack and holding Thunder's chin.
Thunder growls softly in response, lifting up his left wing to show that a tail spine is lodged into his left shoulder. Seeing this causes Ryu to gasp in shock
"You're hit." he notes, looking at it.
He gasps, startled, when he hears the distant roar of a Deadly Nadder and sees 1 of the Deadly Nadders fly by
"Come on. We gotta move." Ryu urges Thunder. "They're looking for us." he tells him, looking up at the sky.
Thunder lets out another weak growl, causing Ryu to look at him
"You can't fly?" he asks him, kneeling down.
Another distant roar of a Deadly Nadder can be heard, causing Ryu to look up at it
"What have I gotten us into?" he asks himself rhetorically. "What do I do?" he asks Thunder, being at his wits' end.
Thunder growls softly, pushing his snout against Ryu. He then looks between him and the tail spin before growling at him
"You... You want me to pull it out?" Ryu asks him, gesturing to himself.
Thunder snarls softly in response. Ryu sighs at this before looking at it. But as soon as he puts both of his hands on it and puts pressure on it to try to pull it out, Thunder begins to roar in immense pain, making Ryu let go of the spine
"Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!" he apologizes rapidly.
The duo hears the distant roaring of the Deadly Nadders. They see the red one and the light pinkish one. Thunder growls softly, still in pain
"I wish D'Angelo was here." Ryu says to him.
He puts both of his hands on the spine again and puts pressure on it to try to pull it out. Unfortunately, Thunder roars in pain again, making Ryu let go of the spine as he gasps in surprise
"I don't think I could do it, bud." Ryu tells his dragon. "I can't do any of this anymore. It's just too much for 1 person." he admits, breaking down. "Maybe Hiccup could do it, but I am not a Viking." he continues as he turns away from Thunder. "I'm not a chief." he says to him. "I'm just Ryu." he concludes despondently and looks down in defeat.
Thunder growls softly at him and walks to him. He then nudges his head against Ryu's left arm while purring softly. This makes Ryu smile, turn around and hug him. They then hear the 3 Deadly Nadders snarl loudly, causing Ryu to stop hugging Thunder as the duo looks in the direction of the sound. Thunder softly bites down on Ryu's left arm, lifting it up and causing Ryu to look at him. Thunder then raises his left front leg and gestures his head to the spine. Ryu understands what Thunder wants him to do. He sighs softly and closes his eyes momentarily to calm his nerves
"Okay." Ryu says to Thunder.
He puts both of his hands on the spine as he sighs again
"O-okay. Okay." Ryu says to himself. "On three." he tells Thunder. "One, two..." he counts down.
Right when he's about to say 3, a shadow suddenly looms over Ryu, causing Ryu to look back to see the purple Deadly Nadder, who roars right in his face. This startles Ryu, causing him to get launched backward as Thunder roars loudly. Ryu grunts when his back hits a rock and he hears something clatter. He sees that his sword is inches away from him. He then sees that the tail spine is in his hand, showing he managed to pull it out while getting launched backward. Ryu looks at the medium-sized dragon, while Thunder looks at his rider before looking at the Deadly Nadder. The medium-sized purple dragon roars while spreading his wings. Thunder steps forward as he glares & growls at the Deadly Nadder, ready to protect his rider. Thunder shoots a lightning stream at the medium-sized dragon, launching it backward a few feet
The other 2 Deadly Nadders then arrive and growl at the Night Light. Thunder glares & snarls at the 3 medium-sized dragons. They growl back at him, not scared of him at all. Thunder rushes at the purple Deadly Nadder and shoots a lightning stream at it. The light pinkish Deadly Nadder roars at Thunder for shooting a lightning stream at 1 of his friends. The red Deadly Nadder fires a magnesium stream at Thunder, hitting him in the right side. Thunder roars out in pain as he rolls sideways to the left before getting back up. He then fires 2 lightning blasts at the red Deadly Nadder in retaliation. The 2 lightning blasts hit the medium-sized red dragon in the chest, launching it backwards.
Thunder fires another lightning blast at it for good measure, but this gives the light pink Deadly Nadder the opportunity to hit Thunder with a magnesium stream in the head, pushing him backward
"Thunder!" Ryu calls out to him worriedly.
Thunder roars as he fires a lightning blast at the light pinkish Deadly Nadder and it hits its target, launching the dragon backward. He then dodges 3 tail spines of the purple Deadly Nadder by jumping to the left. He fires a lightning stream at the medium-sized dragon
"Watch behind you!" Ryu shouts out to him, warning him.
The red Deadly Nadder snarls as it fires a magnesium blast. Luckily, Thunder was able to dodge it in time. Thunder growls ferociously at the 3 Deadly Nadders. The purple one fires a magnesium blast at the left side of Thunder, launching him to the right
"Oh no!" Ryu exclaims worriedly, seeing what's happening.
The trio of Deadly Nadders surround Thunder and are closing in on him while growling ferociously
"Thunder!" Ryu yells out to him.
Ryu grabs his sword and runs to Thunder. Right when the red Deadly Nadder raises its tail and flicks it, shooting out some tail spines, Ryu comes to Thunder's aid and uses his sword to block the tail spines. Metal clanging can be heard when the tail spines hit the sword. Ryu grunts softly when blocking the tail spines. Ryu then rushes at the purple Deadly Nadder. Ryu slides under him right as the medium-sized dragon snaps his jaws at him & growls at him. Ryu gets back as the Deadly Nadder turns around quickly. Ryu gasps as he slides under the medium-sized dragon again. Ryu gets back up as he dives to the right, avoiding the purple Deadly Nadder's jaws, which snapped at him again. The medium-sized dragon now rushes at the young teen and Ryu is able to hold his sword horizontally and hold it against the overbite of the purple Deadly Nadder. Ryu struggles with pushing the head back. He then kicks the chin of the medium-sized dragon, knocking said dragon backward. Ryu then gets back up and rushes at the purple Deadly Nadder
While Ryu battles that dragon, Thunder battles the other 2. Ryu yells fearfully as he ducks down, dodging a magnesium stream just in time. Ryu then gets back up and swings his sword at the purple Deadly Nadder to keep it at bay. The medium-sized dragon then hits the young teen with a swing of its tail, launching him backward against a rock. Because of the great amount of force that knocked him backward and made him hit the rock against his back, it caused Ryu to grunt in pain and let go of the sword
Ryu pants softly from having battled the purple Deadly Nadder. He sees the medium-sized dragon approach, causing Ryu to crawl backward, trying to get away. Ryu looks away as the purple Deadly Nadder roars loudly in his face
Seeing his rider & friend in danger, lightning begins to fizzle around Thunder before roaring loudly and spreading his wings. Right when the purple Deadly Nadder is gonna bite down on Ryu, it turns its head to look at Thunder. Ryu looks at Thunder as well. Lightning continues to fizzle around Thunder. He then lets out a loud roar, unleashing a powerful EMP as it makes a loud boom sound. With this, Thunder displays the power of his lightning powers. Both the red Deadly Nadder and the light pink one bow their heads in submission to Thunder. Lightning continues to fizzle around Thunder. He roars loudly as he fires a lightning stream at the feet of the purple Deadly Nadder, causing it to snarl softly. He then growls fiercely at the other 2 Deadly Nadders. They whimper as they huddle together. The purple Deadly Nadder lets out a meek squawk as he joins the other 2. Thunder then lands on a pinnacle and growls fiercely at the trio of Deadly Nadders
Thunder roars loudly & authoritatively at them, making them bow their heads and let out a submissive squawk. Thunder sits up straight before snarling and looking to his left. Understanding the message, the 3 Deadly Nadders fly away in that direction
Ryu was truly in awe of what he saw Thunder do. Ryu gets up as he walks toward him, panting softly.
"That was amazing!" Ryu exclaims, amazed, looking up at his dragon. "There were 3 of them and you just went, like, full alpha on them!" he says, amazed.
Thunder just purrs & growl in response
"You did what I couldn't do." Ryu tells him despondently, looking down.
Thunder purrs & snorts as he walks off the pinnacle and toward his rider & friend. He grumbles softly and nudges his head into him. This causes Ryu to look at him
"How's your shoulder?" he asks him caringly, putting his hand against it as Thunder looks down at it while raising his left front leg. "Can you make it home?" he asks him while the duo looks at each other. "We gotta go help the other Riders." he informs him.
Thunder purrs softly in response. Ryu then puts his sword in its sheath and gets on Thunder's saddle. The duo then hears the Deadly Nadders growling, causing them to look at the trio of dragons. They can be heard whimpering as they look around their nest, where little pieces of Dragonsite are lying on the ground.
"Whoa." Ryu says, astonished.
The 3 Deadly Nadders grumble in sadness at their destroyed nest
"All their Dragonsite's gone." Ryu notes. "It looks like someone ransacked their nest." he states. "This must be why they went wild." he realizes.
He sighs angrily
"Probably Buzzsaw." he guesses, blaming him for it.
With that, Ryu & Thunder fly outta the Nature Realm to the fissure and then up to Rakke Town
*At Rakke Town*
Thunder lands on the roof of a dome as Ryu gets off. The duo watches as the workers of ICARIS praise and cheer for the other members of the group. This makes Ryu smile before it gets replaced by a guilty expression
*Later that night in the Dragon's Lair*
D'Angelo is tending to Thunder while Ryu is watching, while the other members are sitting on the steps of a rock formation, watching them
"He's all good." D'Angelo tells Ryu, giving him a thumbs up, walking past him from behind and to the other members of the group.
"So, I'm not a very good leader." Ryu begins. "A leader doesn't try to do everything. They understand the strength of the group." he says to the group, gesturing to them. "I've been trying to live up to this Dragon Whisperer legacy, chasing a ghost from the past." he admits. "It fractured the team and it almost cost me and Thunder everything." he reveals, hugging Thunder's head. "We needed you guys today and you weren't there because of me." he confesses, gesturing to himself.
He then let out a deep sigh
"I'm sorry for how I've been acting." he apologizes. "I hope you can forgive me." he says to the group.
The other members of the group look at each other ponderingly, as if having a silent conversation with each other
"It's okay, man." D'Angelo tells him as he jumps down from the rocky steps, followed by Ryu & Alex. "We get it." he tells him.
Ryu & D'Angelo give each other a firm handshake before D'Angelo walks away
"Hey, we're brothers." Tom reminds him. "We'll always be there for each other." he reassures him.
Ryu & Tom give each other a fist bump with their right fist, respectively, and then Tom follows after D'Angelo
"Meh." Alex replies. "I'm sure it's really hard..." she begins her jest. "...whispering to dragons." she finishes her jest in a whisper to make her point and follows after Tom.
Ryu looks at her as she walks away
"Wait." Eugene says suddenly. "We're forgiving him?" he asks, shocked, apparently not having the same thought as the others. "How many free passes does this group hand out!?" he yells questioningly before walking away annoyed.
"You know, Ryu, I'm sure it took the Great Chief Hiccup some time to figure all this out, too." Jun hypothesizes, putting her right hand on his left shoulder to make Ryu look at her as she holds up his Book of Dragons. "And who do you think these other Vikings are?" she questions him, opening the page to the OG Dragon Riders group drawing.
Ryu takes his Book and looks at the drawing intently
"Maybe the team that helped him?" she suggests correctly, pushing the book down a bit.
Ryu looks up from the book to look Jun in the eyes. He lets out a soft, happy laugh
"You're pretty smart, Jun Wong." he compliments her, nudging her. "You know that?" he asks her.
"Don't tell the others," Jun begins as she leans in to Ryu. "but between us, I'm the brains of this outfit." she whispers to him.
Jun then takes Ryu's left hand with her right hand as they walk to the group
Well that's it for this episode/chapter.
Hope you all enjoyed it.
Have a good day/afternoon/evening/night