While this is optional, I request that you read the bottom of the chapter.
Alternate title: A time for change
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
———————————
(3rd POV: Cinderwing)
At one of the island's coastlines, dragon hunter ships could be seen heading towards shore. Tuffnut, Astrid, Cinderwing, and Stormfly were at a ballista launcher post, with Tuffnut aiming the launcher towards the ships.
"Come on, Astrid. My hammies are starting to cramp," Tuffnut complained, holding back his urge to fire at the ships early.
Stormfly huffed. "So impatient." Her wings ruffled in slight annoyance before she folded them and bent down to allow Astrid to mount her saddle.
"Wait for it," Astrid said, waiting for the hunter ships to get a bit closer. "Now!" she called out.
Tuffnut immediately pulled down the large lever, launching multiple ballista bolts at one of the ships, piercing its hull and punching a hole into its side, with some flaming arrows hitting the sails and setting them ablaze.
Cinderwing watched with great interest, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction at the sight of the burning vessel, his tail wagging with anticipation.
"Yes!" Tuffnut exclaimed with excitement. "Who kicks Dragon Hunter butt? Tuffnut kicks Dragon Hunter butt!" He said while shaking his backside.
"Let's not start kissing our own butts yet," Astrid said, as Stormfly flew up above the ballista launcher and began to circle around it.
Tuffnut gained a slightly confused expression. "I didn't even know that was possible," he said, while looking at his own behind.
Stormfly chirped. "This thing is far from over. Go!" Astrid said.
Tuffnut nodded, jumping off the outpost and sliding down the roof of Astrid's hut before jumping over to a zip line and zipping down to a catapult, nearly falling over the edge in the process before quickly catching himself. "Whoa!"
Tuffnut quickly turned around to grab a flaming torch. "Monstrous Nightmare gel plus open flame equals...." He said aloud, before dipping the torch into a small barrel of Monstrous Nightmare gel, setting it ablaze before quickly pulling the lever and catapulting the barrel towards another ship, causing a small flaming explosion as it hit.
Tuffnut raised his arms. "Fun for all!" He exclaimed, before taking a moment to think it over. "Well, not all... just for me, actually." He quickly added. Just then, Astrid had Stormfly grab Tuffnut by his arms and fly away from Astrid's ballista launcher, with Cinderwing deciding to stay behind for a while.
He walked over to another barrel of Monstrous Nightmare gel, stood on his hind legs, and dipped his right paw into the gel. He lifted his paw out of the barrel, the gel clinging to his paw and slowly dripping from his claws.
"Monstrous Nightmare gel, it secretes from the body of Monstrous Nightmare like Hookfang, allowing them to set themselves on fire," he muttered to himself. "With enough gel, such as the amount in this barrel, igniting it and launching it from a catapult can cause it to explode on impact." He noted, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Cinderwing's maw dimly glowed purple before he lightly blowtorched his paw just enough to ignite the gel. "Hmm, how interesting." He pondered aloud, inspecting his flaming paw. "The gel, even when ignited, protects my paw from the fire, preventing me from getting burned, though still feeling its heat." He noted analytically.
"Not that a small flame could burn me anyway." He added with a snicker. Once the flames diminished, he shook off the remaining gel before flying off.
(Scene break)
(1st POV: Cinderwing)
Whilst cloaked, I flew not too far behind Heather, Windshear, and a group of Dragon Hunters who were traversing the forest on foot.
"Keep your eyes peeled," a hunter called out.
"Nothing here," another one said after searching a large bush.
As I began to glide a little closer to Windshear, I noticed the sound of blades cutting through the air when she flapped her wings.
'It's as if her wings were the sharpest blades in the world, cutting through air like butter.'
I shook my head, watching Heather looking down and pointing to an area filled with thick brush and larger trees. "That looks like as good a place for an ambush as any, eh, Windshear?"
"It does," Windshear softly roared in reply, her eyes shining with mischief. Windshear dove into the trees and began blasting her white fire in random directions, with Heather yelling for the hunters to retreat. "Ambush! Retreat! Back to the beachhead!"
As some of the hunters began to retreat, I dove into the trees and began to uncloak and fire a few small plasma blasts to make the false ambush appear real, causing the hunters to retreat with a greater pace. By the time the hunters were gone, I was hopping giddily out of the brush, with both Windshear and Heather coming out as well, staring at me in surprise.
"I'm a bit surprised to see you here. How me or Windshear didn't notice you is beyond me," Heather said, nervously rubbing her right arm.
I warbled softly, tilting my head cutely.
"How did you follow us without us noticing anyway?" Windshear asked, tilting her head with curiosity.
I smiled. "I can basically go invisible, like a Change-wing in a way," I answered. "So, how are you?"
"I'm actually doing quite good, thank you very much," she answered with a soft smile.
I began to shift awkwardly. "Uh, I have a question?" Windshear nodded for him to ask.
"Is... is me plucking your tail spines an intimate thing for Razorwhips?"
Windshear looked confused for a moment before realization crossed her face. "You've been plucking my tail spines? Is that what I've been feeling lately?"
I nodded. "Yeah. They're really shiny. And sharp, so I do use them for some stuff," I rumbled softly.
Windshear began to chuckle. "No. It's not something intimate." She shook her head, while I gained a sheepish expression. "If you really needed my spines, you could've just asked, they regrow." She said, moving her tail in front of her, slightly flaring her spines.
I gently plucked two of her spines, her tail barely flinching at the action. "I'm sorry, I'm just not used to asking for things like this. Stormfly doesn't even know that I've been collecting her discarded tail spines after a few of her target practice sessions," I admitted, twirling the tail spines between my claws while being careful not to cut myself.
She nodded in agreement as Heather mounted her saddle. "Understandable. I went through something similar with Heather; even though she saved me, I wouldn't really try to ask her for anything for a while."
"It also took longer for her to understand what I had wanted due to the language barrier," she added.
I nodded as well as she got ready for flight. "Sorry, Cinder, but Windshear and I have to get going before Ryker gets suspicious," Heather told me as they flew back towards the hunter ship.
I sighed. I stopped twirling the sharp, blade-like spines and carefully placed them in my mouth between my teeth before flying away toward my den.
(Scene break)
(3rd POV: Cinderwing)
After spending most of the day in his den, Cinderwing flew towards Astrid's hut. 'Tuffnut won't have the Dragon Eye this time due to it being hidden in a more secure location than the original timeline. A small difference, but a difference nonetheless.'
As he neared Astrid's hut, Cinderwing paused and hovered in the air for a few moments before heading towards Snotlout's hut instead.
Landing at the door, he carefully lifted it open and entered the hut. After searching Snotlout's abode, a mischievous smirk crossed his lips, and he walked over to a collection of barrels filled with Monstrous Nightmare gel.
"Even for him, this is a little stupid." He chuckled, grabbing one of the more full barrels, making sure that it was properly sealed. He began slowly sliding it across the floor until he was outside, before pulling down the door and flying off, the large barrel tightly clutched within his clawed grip.
'I can either use this for something explosive... or I can use this for something that might terrify the hunters.' Cinderwing's musing was interrupted by a loud explosion. He turned to the direction it came from, only to see a large cloud of smoke with Astrid and Stormfly flying away from it.
He sniffed the air. "Zippleback gas? I guess Dagur had an... explosive problem." He cringed slightly. "No, no. That was bad. Never say that out loud again."
Cinderwing landed in the forest near the hunter camp. Thanks to his incredible night vision, he could see them clearly from afar, almost as if it was day, whilst he was nearly invisible in the shadows.
He removed the barrel's lid, began to scoop out the gel with his paws, and rub it over his body before deciding to instead douse himself with the gel by lifting the barrel over his head, causing it to slowly pour all over his body.
Cinderwing kept his eyes closed to keep the gel from getting in his eyes; he felt as the gel flowed in between his scales before finally tossing the barrel away.
He stood on his hind legs to allow the gel to slowly slide down his tail. 'I hope I don't accidentally blow myself up.' He thought, looking over his body; the amount of gel that covered him was far more than what a Monstrous Nightmare would usually have at once.
Cinderwing began to walk towards the camp, with a trail of gel dripping behind him in clumps. As he got closer, he began to crawl, listening in on a conversation between Dagur and Ryker.
"I swear, I will wear that Night Fury's head as a hat. And use the other for boots," Ryker growled.
"I called dibs already on the hat thing a long time ago, so back it down, big boy!" Dagur exclaimed with deep frustration. "Besides, that wasn't a Night Fury. It was just Zippleback gas." He added, before his eyes widened with realization. "Wait a minute. No Night Fury." He murmured.
"So?" Ryker questioned.
"So? There was no Night Fury." Dagur emphasized, waving his hands. "Which begs the question, where was Hiccup and his little plasma-blasting buddies?" He pondered aloud, walking around Ryker.
"For that matter, where was the Gronckle and the big orange one with the dim-witted kid?" He finished.
"Of course! They split up!" Ryker snarled.
[WHISTLE! EXPLOSION!]
Suddenly, a plasma blast tore through the trees and detonated as it hit the ground, launching a group of hunters and scattering them across the beach.
[ROAR!]
"Night Fury," Ryker growled, turning toward the now fallen, scorched trees.
"It can't be Toothless; he can't fly without Hiccup, and we know that he's not here," Dagur noted as Ryker unsheathed his swords.
Cinderwing's flaming form menacingly walked out of the forest, a small trail of fire following behind him as he walked toward them. His eyes were slits and a predatory smile formed on his lips.
"Oh, you can't be serious?" Dagur mumbled, as the scattered hunters scrambled to get their weapons, pointing dragon root arrows at the flaming Night Fury.
Cinderwing shot a small, unstable plasma blast at the hunters with bows and arrows that exploded mid-air, knocking them down and unconscious, leaving him alone with Ryker and Dagur.
Whilst this was happening, Heather and the rest of the Dragon Hunters were on their ship. Heather was wondering whether or not Ruffnut would be able to catch up with and find Hiccup and the others to warn them of the raid.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an explosion. She quickly grabbed her axe and ran to the top deck as fast as she could.
Just as Heather reached the top deck, a plasma blast tore through the sail, knocking it down and setting it ablaze. She ran to the side of the ship to see Cinderwing—who was still on fire—holding one of Ryker's swords in his jaws, while Dagur was knocked unconscious with small burns and Ryker with some of his armor either broken off or burned.
Heather quickly took command. "You four, go put out the fire. The rest of you, fire the nets and chains! I don't think I have to tell you what Viggo would do to you if you killed one of the last known living Night Furies." The Hunters shuddered slightly, before doing as they were told.
Ryker's eyes narrowed with anger whilst Cinderwing's became thinner slits. Both tightened their grip on their swords before Ryker charged.
'Yes! Fight me!' Cinderwing tilted his head, allowing his stolen sword to clash with Ryker's blade. Ryker struggled to hold his ground as Cinderwing pushed him back.
Cinderwing's ears twitched; he jumped back, dodging the nets and chains that were shot at him. He grunted as he was caught by a net before cutting through it with Ryker's sword. He then dropped the sword and blasted the chain/net launchers, destroying them.
Cinderwing was grinning, before straight up laughing. Ryker snarled. "I'm going to make you into a new pair of Night Fury skin boots." Cinderwing huffed at the threat, before looking over his body; the flames across his body were burning out. 'The gel is drying out.' He glanced back at Ryker, his eyes shining. "Yes. They are brothers after all."
Cinderwing rushed toward Ryker—who brought up his sword in defense—and shot the sword out of his hand. The Dragon Hunter grunted in pain as the plasma slightly scorched his fingers.
Most of the flames that covered him diminished as Cinderwing pounced onto Ryker, holding him down with his right paw.
"I could kill you right now, but I won't. You're already destined to die, so there's really no point. That, and I don't feel like having to deal with Viggo this early." Cinderwing said, slowly putting more weight on his right paw as Ryker struggled.
"You know, I've been thinking. I haven't really changed much since I've been here; the timeline has mostly gone as it should. Not that you would know." He sighed. "I suppose that I... fear changing too much will bring me on some sort of cliché, anticlimactic adventure, and no one likes those."
Cinderwing's left paw was still covered in enough fire, just hot enough for what he was going to do. "You didn't live long enough to see your brother get scarred, but it doesn't mean you should miss out on the experience." He pushed his paw against the right side of Ryker's face, more so his eye than anything else.
Ryker screamed in pain as the fire burned his face; his struggles were in vain as the Night Fury's grip was absolute. "I would do something similar to Dagur." Cinderwing grunted as Ryker struggled, hitting his arms with as much strength as he could muster. "Stay down. But he actually has a redemption arc... And he's Heather's brother, so I'm gonna be a little softer on him as an apology for dislocating her arm."
When he finally released his grip on Ryker's face, Cinderwing could see just how burnt it was. The right side of Ryker's face around his eye was red and blistered. 'Second-degree burns at most. Very likely to scar, maybe even blindness.' Cinderwing mused.
And Ryker's eye was red and bloodshot, and looked like it was about to swell. Ryker stared at Cinderwing, exhausted from his earlier struggles. "Come on. Finish it, kill me." He growled.
A toothy grin formed on Cinderwing's lips; he brought his claws to Ryker's face above his right eyebrow. "Just in case the burns heal, I'll leave you something to remember me by." He used his sharp claws to scratch across Ryker's face, over his bloodshot eye, and drawing blood. Ryker bit his lip to keep himself from screaming.
After he was done, Cinderwing clenched his paw and—in terms of his own strength—lightly punched Ryker in the face, knocking him out.
With an exaggerated sigh, Cinderwing walked toward one of Ryker's swords, more specifically, the one he had originally stolen. He grabbed the handle in his claws and began to shake the sand off before putting it in his mouth.
He turned to the ship, seeing the Dragon Hunters rush to help their leader, with most aiming their dragon root arrows at him.
Cinderwing narrowed his eyes and fully faced them, before slowly standing up on his hind legs and spreading his arms and wings, purposely leaving his stomach open for an attack as if saying; Shoot me, I dare you. See what happens. Causing the hunters to hesitate.
'Heather's still on the ship.' He hummed thoughtfully, before smiling mischievously. His body began to visibly crackle with lightning, and any remaining monstrous nightmare gel reignited in spots around his body.
From the Dragon Hunters' perspective, it looked like the lightning formed a circular shield around the Night Fury. Not to mention, it sounded like hundreds... no, thousands of birds chirping at once.
His dorsal fins began glowing blue in pairs of four, each one crackling with lightning, stopping once it reached his head. Cinderwing took the sword out of his mouth, before he unleashed his plasma beam, not aimed at the hunters in front of him, but instead at the second hunter ship, puncturing its hull and slicing through the mast.
Cinderwing didn't care whether or not any Dragon Hunters had died in the process. He placed the sword then launched into the air, entering his cloaked state.
From the main ship, Heather watched in slight horror as Cinderwing brutally scarred Ryker. 'I know he more than deserves it, but still.' She thought. She was suddenly snatched from where she stood, dropping her axe in the process. Heather looked up to see the now uncloaked Cinderwing smiling down at her mischievously.
She sighed in relief. "Do you think that you could at least let me up? I'd rather not be carried like this."
Cinderwing seemed to think for a few moments, before he warbled in response. Cinderwing twisted his body, angling it enough for Heather to easily climb onto his back.
"Thank you, Cinder. I guess I can use my sudden 'capture' to tell Astrid some information about Viggo." Heather said while scratching his head.
Cinderwing rolled his eyes, slightly uncomfortable with having someone on his back. "Yeah, just don't get used to me hauling your ass on my back the next time I snatch you from the ground." He said, turning toward the clubhouse.
"Oh. I also want those boar or lamb chops I've heard the others talk about. Gotta figure out how to get you to make some."
(Scene break)
(3rd POV: Author)
Tuffnut was looking through a spyglass, watching as a group of Dragon Hunters began to retreat back to their ships after seeing a specific pattern of flaming arrows in the sky.
"They're leaving! Ha-ha, I told you my ideas would work, oh yeah!" Tuffnut exclaimed excitedly, handing Astrid the spyglass so she could see.
"Yeah, but for how long? And remember, they still have Ruffnut. Not to mention whatever Cinder did might be the reason they're retreating in the first place; his plasma beams aren't exactly quiet, you know." Astrid countered.
Tuffnut slightly calmed down at Astrid's reminder of the current situation. "You're right. But if I know my sister, and trust me I do..." He began.
"I know you do, Tuff," Astrid said, crossing her arms with a raised brow and small smile.
"...It's that she's already found a way to escape." He finished, placing his hands on his hips dramatically, showing the faith he had in his sister. Tuffnut's shoulders slumped slightly.
"Probably. Most likely by annoying them to death... or, with her awful-smelling hair." He added with his usual quirkiness, causing Astrid to let out a small huff of laughter.
They froze at the sound of heavy footsteps, with Astrid immediately turning towards the sound, her axe drawn while Tuffnut grabbed his Gronckle Iron mace—which he had dubbed Macey—and held it at the ready.
Suddenly, an ivory-green scimitar-like sword clattered on the floor from around the corner. Astrid slightly lowered her axe, eyes narrowing. "That's—."
Cinderwing jumped from around the corner with an exaggerated roar, causing both of them to flinch back, with Tuffnut falling on his ass.
Astrid lowered her guard, sighing in relief. "You're a lot like the twins when it comes to pranks, you know."
Cinderwing warbled in laughter, before he fully walked out from around the corner, revealing Heather being held by his surprisingly prehensile tail.
"Hey."
Astrid's eyes widened slightly. "Heather? What are—, how'd you sneak away from Ryker and your brother?"
"Well, I didn't exactly sneak away. Cinder basically just kidnapped me." She answered just as said dragon released her from his tail's grip.
After releasing her, Cinderwing began to roll onto his back and wriggle around on the ground exaggeratedly. Heather looked slightly confused. "Is he usually like this?" She said, gesturing at the dragon.
Cinderwing got up and began to scratch his back against the wood wall of the clubhouse. "Not really," Astrid replied. "We know that he hates having anyone ride him."
Heather looked slightly surprised. "Really? He let me ride him on the way here." She slightly tilted her head.
Astrid raised a brow. "He's barely let Hiccup on his back for that long, and that was only because Cinder caught him after Hiccup's Dragon Fly 2 suddenly broke when he was testing improvements he'd made."
Heather giggled. "Really?"
"Yeah." Astrid nodded. "Anyway, let's head inside, you should tell us anything new you found out about Viggo before another wave of Dragon Hunters comes." She said, before going inside.
Heather nervously glanced at Cinderwing, who was having a poking match with Tuffnut. "We have a little more time than you'd think." She said, following Astrid.
(Scene break)
(3rd POV: Cinderwing)
Whilst Astrid and Heather went inside the clubhouse, Cinderwing and Tuffnut were still messing around, poking each other. "Poke. Poke. Poke," Tuffnut said aloud. Cinderwing rolled his eyes, half-heartedly paying attention to their little game, mostly focusing his attention on particular snippets of the conversation happening between the girls.
"Astrid, while Ryker hunts dragons, Viggo focuses more on selling them. Dead or alive."
'Boring. I already know this. Ignore.' Cinderwing thought mentally. "Maybe I should go exploring after this is over. I might even find some dragons from that Rescue Riders show. I have no doubt they'll look less... childlike, with their heads that are too large for their bodies." He muttered, before he stopped playing with the male Thorston twin.
"Especially the small red one."
He moved to grab his newly acquired sword when his ear nubs began twitching. "Cinder isn't that bad."
"He isn't as docile as a dragon like Toothless, Astrid. [Sigh]. I've seen him tear a hunter's arm off. He's dislocated my shoulder, and..."
"What? What happened, Heather?"
"Cinder... he fought Ryker. It's why he has his sword. ...Wouldn't really let him pick up any dragon root arrows."
"[Exhales]. When he first attacked, he was on fire, just like Hookfang."
"He covered himself with Monstrous Nightmare gel?"
"Yeah. He also used it to burn Ryker's face, possibly blinding his eye. Not that he didn't deserve it." Cinderwing snorted at that.
He grabbed his new sword and placed it in his jaws. Sadly, it was too small to hold with his tail. Cinderwing began to fly away toward his den.
(Scene break)
It was midnight, and the Dragon Hunters were about to begin their assault. Ryker, who now had bandages across the right side of his upper face, especially his right eye, commanded his hunters to climb up the cliffside.
"Don't stop until you kill every last one!" He shouted. "Especially the Night Fury." He angrily snarled.
Just as the hunters were scaling the cliff wall, Tuffnut let himself be known, holding his pet chicken in his arms.
"Good evening, Mr. Ryker." He began, his chicken letting out a few soft clucks. "We've been expecting you." He added, petting the chicken like a supervillain would their cat.
"You can start with this one." Ryker pointed at the Thorston. He smirked evilly. "But save the chicken. I like chicken."
The chicken clucked with worry, looking up at Tuffnut. "Not to worry, my little fricassee. You won't be on anyone's menu tonight." He suddenly began to loudly chant gibberish at the sky, cupping his free hand to his face, before quickly moving it to his hip.
Almost immediately after, a large flock of Night Terrors flew out from farther behind the hunters, using their bodies to form the shape of a giant Night Fury.
Most of the more unknowledgeable Dragon Hunters scattered back toward their ships in fear, with the one closest to Ryker dropping his bow and arrow.
"Hold your ground!" Ryker ordered, grabbing the bow and arrow, taking aim at the flock of Night Terrors before shooting the arrow and nicking the alpha white Night Terror: Smidvarg.
After getting nicked by the dragon root arrow, Smidvarg immediately began to fall, crash-landing somewhere in the forest. Seconds later, the flock of Night Terrors scrambled, unable to keep the shape of a Night Fury without their leader, but instead flying close together.
Ryker chuckled, turning to Tuffnut. "You don't think I've seen what Night Terrors can do? You people never learn."
"I could say the same for you, Ryker," Astrid called out, causing him to turn around to see her on Stormfly. "Stormfly, now!" Stormfly lightly blasted the flock of Night Terrors, causing them to begin attacking the Dragon Hunters.
The Night Terrors were scratching at the hunters, taking their weapons and chasing them around. "Get up!" Ryker growled with annoyance.
Whilst this was happening, Cinderwing was hanging upside down, from one of the supports in the stables, similarly to a bat. He was carefully watching over Heather, who was locked inside one of the dragon pens.
'I really should try to learn some Norse writing when I can. Though Hiccup and Fishlegs will definitely have me be some sort of translator.' Cinderwing thought. He caught a sight of movement in the corner of his eyes.
Dagur, who not-so-quietly snuck into the stables, casually walked up to his sister's holding cell, his usual deranged grin plastered on his face, as well as holding Heather's axe.
"Heather! My precious little sister, I've come to rescue you." He said over-enthusiastically, spreading his arms out wide.
Heather responded by blankly staring at him, before sighing and placing her hands on her hips. "Just hurry and open the door." She said. Dagur nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I got it." He replied, using her axe to break the lock and chains on the door.
"And give me my axe." She snarked, roughly grabbing the axe from his grip, before walking away.
"Jeez, don't need to be so rude." He commented before following close behind.
Once they were gone, Cinderwing uncurled his wings and dropped down to the floor. He stretched his body like a cat, before casually walking over to the far end of the building and grabbing a bucket of Monstrous Nightmare gel.
Cinderwing held the bucket's handle in his mouth before walking out of the stables and flying towards the battle.
As the sun rose, rays of sunlight slowly poured over him and the island. 'Sun's rising already? Hiccup and the others will be here soon.' He thought. As he neared the battlefield, he moved the bucket to his claws and twisted his body until he was gliding upside down.
With the bucket also being upside down, the gel began to pour over his body, but unlike before, it only covered his chest and stomach with only small drops reaching his back before quickly drying out due to his flight speed.
"Not as much as before, but it will do." With that done, his body crackled with lightning, igniting the Monstrous Nightmare gel before he twisted his body upright, just as he reached the battle.
Cinderwing immediately began to enter a nose dive, before quickly pulling up and ramming into an unfortunate Dragon Hunter, knocking him into the sea before landing.
He turned and began running towards a nearby group of hunters, blasting the ground in front of them and knocking them down before grabbing one by his leg with his jaws, and swinging him into the other hunters as they stood up.
Cinderwing instinctively tail whipped the hunter behind him, hitting his head and hearing a small crack. He froze for a moment before turning to the dead hunter. "Hmm. I have to be a little more careful about killing around the riders." He muttered, glancing at Astrid, who was just tackled off Stormfly by Dagur.
"Thankfully, they're too busy to notice right now." He added, grabbing the corpse and swinging it into the ocean, watching as it slowly sank.
By now, the gel that covered his chest had dried out and unable to reignite. Not worried about no longer being able to use the gel's flammable properties, Cinderwing was about to charge another group of hunters when the sound of a plasma blast caught his attention.
——
Once they were gone, Cinderwing uncurled his wings and dropped down to the floor. He stretched his body like a cat, before casually walking over to the far end of the building and grabbing a bucket of Monstrous Nightmare gel.
Cinderwing held the bucket's handle in his mouth before walking out of the stables and flying towards the battle.
As the sun rose, rays of sunlight slowly poured over him and the island. 'Sun's rising already? Hiccup and the others will be here soon.' He thought. As he neared the battlefield, he moved the bucket to his claws and twisted his body until he was gliding upside down.
With the bucket also being upside down, the gel began to pour over his body, but unlike before, it only covered his chest and stomach with only small drops reaching his back before quickly drying out due to his flight speed.
"Not as much as before, but it will do." With that done, his body crackled with lightning, igniting the Monstrous Nightmare gel before he twisted his body upright, just as he reached the battle.
Cinderwing immediately began to enter a nosedive, before quickly pulling up and ramming into an unfortunate Dragon Hunter, knocking him into the sea before landing.
He turned and began running towards a nearby group of hunters, blasting the ground in front of them and knocking them down before grabbing one by his leg with his jaws, and swinging him into the other hunters as they stood up.
Cinderwing instinctively tail-whipped the hunter behind him, hitting his head and hearing a small crack. He froze for a moment before turning to the dead hunter. "Hmm. I have to be a little more careful about killing around the riders." He muttered, glancing at Astrid, who was just tackled off Stormfly by Dagur.
"Thankfully, they're too busy to notice right now." He added, grabbing the corpse and swinging it into the ocean, watching as it slowly sank.
By now, the gel that covered his chest had dried out and was unable to reignite. Not worried about no longer being able to use the gel's flammable properties, Cinderwing was about to charge another group of hunters when the sound of a plasma blast caught his attention.
He turned to see Ryker on the ground not far from Tuffnut, who had just stood up with a hand on his forehead. "What?" He murmured, slightly confused.
[Roar!]
A moment later, the sound of Toothless' roar was heard. Turning to the eastern sunrise, Cinderwing could see that Hiccup and the others had returned with a small pack of wild dragons which consisted of two Deadly Nadders, a Monstrous Nightmare, and a Gronckle.
Cinderwing snorted. "Oh, yes. Spoil my fun, why don't you." He took to the skies and began blasting low-powered plasma blasts at the retreating Dragon Hunters, who were also getting attacked by the wild dragons along with the Dragon Riders.
By now the boats had retreated, leaving only Heather, Dagur, and Ryker, who had just gotten up from unconsciousness. "Ryker!" Hiccup yelled furiously, yet a little shocked at his bandaged face.
Ryker raised his right hand. "We will meet again, Hiccup Haddock!" He yelled back, before Windshear grabbed his outstretched hand and flew away with a roar.
Cinderwing stomped his paw on the sandy ground and let out a loud, guttural roar that sounded slightly different than his usual one. Unnoticeably even to himself, his dorsal spines faintly glowed orange, before quickly fading away.
"GET OFF MY FUCKING ISLAND, BITCHES!"
Toothless landed beside him, while Hiccup got off to check on Astrid. Toothless looked at Cinderwing with a raised brow. "Your island? Really?" He said with sass. Cinderwing snorted in response, glancing back at him. "Yeah. I've not only been here longer than you, but I've basically fought every dragon on this island that can give me a challenge."
Toothless huffed. "How bold of you."
A few moments passed before Toothless spoke again. "Anyway. Why didn't you just drive away the Dragon Hunters? With the training we've been doing, I know for a fact that you'd be able to with your plasma beams." He questioned.
Cinderwing paused for a few moments before speaking. "I prefer physical combat over ranged. Something about it just feels so... invigorating. Even so, I have more than enough other abilities to use other than my beams; if I was really forced to go all out by a small fleet of Dragon Hunter ships, then we would've lost far before you got back."
Toothless nodded, contemplating his next words. "So... are you finally gonna tell me about that hidden dragon world thing you mentioned?"
"No." Cinderwing replied flatly, before trotting away. "Oh, come on. Why not?" Toothless asked, chasing after him.
"Because I don't feel like it."
Toothless bounced on his feet. "Come on, tell me."
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"I'll ask Stormfly to ask you about it; you'll definitely tell her." Cinderwing froze, before turning to him.
"If you so much as whisper anything about it to her, or anyone else, I'll triple your training difficulty." Toothless' ears drooped down. "Please don't, they're already exhausting enough. I promise not to tell her or anyone else." Cinderwing rumbled with satisfaction, before flying off.
(Scene break)
Cinderwing was inside the dragon stables—as was Fishlegs—watching with a visibly annoyed expression as the wild dragon pack chased the small Night Terrors around, bumping into and breaking things in the process.
Fishlegs was attempting to calm them, when Cinderwing had had enough. "SHUT, UP!" He roared. They stopped chasing the Night Terrors, but their leader; a Deadly Nadder who had the most scars over his face, walked up to him and snarled. "Or what?"
Cinderwing growled with extra ferocity. "Unlike the others, I am not as soft. I am not afraid to tear your head from your shoulders, so be thankful that I'm not in the mood to do so." He threatened, with small amounts of lightning crackling over his body.
Seeing this, and hoping to prevent a fight, Fishlegs left the stables to converse with Hiccup.
Even though he did not turn his head, Cinderwing's eyes were focused on the young Viking, waiting for him to leave before visibly calming down. The Nadder tilted his head in confusion, before Cinderwing sat on his haunches, casually staring him down.
"You have two choices." He began, his voice eerily calm. "You can either, calm the fuck down and behave yourselves until the humans figure out what to do." The Nadder narrowed his eyes, but listened. "Or, you can fight me, lose... and possibly lose an eye in the process. Oh, and I can make it look like an accident."
The Nadder's tail spines flared, and just before a fight could break out Hiccup walked through the door and quickly got in between them. "Okay, calm down, guys. There's no need to fight." He said calmly, putting a hand on the Nadder's nose. "We're gonna take you and your pack back to your island." The Nadder rumbled in response before following him out of the stables.
Cinderwing stayed on his haunches, unmoving. "I'm not going, so don't bother waiting for me." He called out, knowing that Toothless could hear him.
He waited a few minutes for them to leave, before he left as well. Cinderwing took to the air, but before heading back to his den, he instead flew towards the ocean to hunt for fish.
(Scene break)
Once Cinderwing had arrived at his home, instead of going to lay on his stone slab, he headed for the lagoon.
(The Boiling Lagoon)
Cinderwing was relaxing in his lagoon, content to wait here for the Dragon Riders' inevitable return, something that could take them a whole day, depending on how long they stayed with the feral dragon pack.
After checking on the Dragon Eye, he swam to shore and lay down, with the bottom half of his body remaining in the water. His eyes slowly closed as he fell asleep.
(End)
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I'm finally finished. The chapter, from the point of when I got the comment, was made longer and included some slice of life as suggested.
I will try to incorporate more from now on and make changes to the timeline. Unlike my usual, I will be working on the next chapter for this story because of an idea, I have not only do to the suggested comment, but also do to a random thought that occurred after remembering someone's favorite dragon from a discord server I am in not to mention a short how to train your Dragon comic video that had something that I will try to incorporate, which will most definitely change the timeline of the story.
I will also attempt to write some sort of script/draft for future chapters for all of my stories, though this is probably something that won't matter as to me as much due to how all the chapters I write end differently to how I originally thought of.
WebNovel comment/suggestion
(I might have understood this differently than what it actually means)
Oh Autism, ok here a tip for that, get a notepad or a word doc, and just write from say chapter 1-10 cinder training, chapter 11-30 dragon riders arrive cinder observes, and all you would need to do now is within those chapters you list some where include what you want within those chapters, 15 chapters could be day to day life and 5 of them is cinder observing the dragon riders and how cinder would avoid them to stay hidden while learning more, trading could be 1 chapter of training 3 day to day, 1 training, 2 day to day, 2 training, then slowly transition into next part.
On the notes you could even add important events that may need to happen and slowly build up to it. That is my own experience dealing with my autism and ADHD.