The Dragonless Viking of Berk

[Crystal]

Dustin picking up a second stone and tossed it a couple of inches in the air. Then he caught it and flung it out over the little lake. It skipped once before plunking into the water and sinking under the surface. He sighed dramatically and looked around for another, hopefully a flatter one. He grinned when he found one, but this stone only hopped twice before it vanished. "Well, skipping stones is certainly not one of my many talents," the young Viking muttered. Although, 'many' talents might be an exaggeration. More like 'two or three' talents.

He turned away from the water and walked to where he'd leaned his sword and staff against a boulder. He slung the sheath strap over his shoulder so the sword sat across his face and picked up the staff with a sigh. It probably wouldn't be much longer until they realized he was missing from the village, and this place was probably the first location they'd look. He should leave before they came searching. He have to go back to the village eventually, since he couldn't walk off the island, but he could sure do his best to stay missing as long as possible. More time alone, and more time before he had to sit through another scolding. Honestly, he was eighteen now. And as he loved to point out, he was just like their almighty chief was when he was his age. No one talks about Hiccup when he was younger, though. All they see is Hiccup the Horrendous, the fabled dragonmaster and rider of a Nightfury. Maybe if Dustin got himself a Nightfury he could change his fate. Too bad his elders wouldn't let him anywhere near a dragon. It wasn't his fault that Shardwing had crashed. He'd been fifteen! He'd proven since that he could ride a dragon just fine. Of course, flying away from the island wasn't the best way to endear yourself to your parents, or your chief and cousin. So, Dustin was eternally stranded on the Isle of Berk, constantly finding new ways to elude those that would lock him up in the village.

He walked to the crevice between the rocks and climbed his way up the hill, leaving the hidden cove behind. He stopped for a few seconds, ears straining for any sounds that indicated approaching dragons or Vikings. Silence. He jogged away from the cove, his staff in his hand, darting around trees and jumping over fallen logs. It could be said that his nimbleness sure-footedness was one of his talent, but it was unlikely that anyone would give him a compliment in the first place.

[Dusty the Small]

Hiccup sighed heavily and parted some brush so he could walk through. Between running a village that was in the middle of rebuilding and especially keeping a eye on Dusty, he didn't have a lot of energy to devote to things like searching for his trouble-making cousin. Why didn't Snotlout or any of his family keep an eye on him? Well, come to think of it, Snotlout could hardly take care of himself.

Let alone a delinquent younger brother like Dustin.

He glanced at Toothless, who was keeping close to him. The dragon crooned sympathetically at his look. With another sigh and a shake of his head, he took a deep breath and called again. "Dustin! We need you back home!" Toothless made a low grumbling sound. It wasn't loud enough for anyone but Hiccup to hear, so it was more to express his frustration. It seemed to Hiccup that Toothless didn't much care for Dustin, and Hiccup couldn't blame him, but Dustin was family. He kind of reminded Hiccup of himself, only the opposite. When he was younger, he was willing to do anything to fit in, even kill a dragon. He was terrible at killing dragons.

Then there was Dustin, who wanted so badly to have a dragon of his own, but he was just so bad at it. Not his fault, it just wasn't his thing. He sighed again, thinking back. Of course he felt sorry for his younger cousin. He supposed he'd have to be nice when he found him. If he found him.

Dusty's Speech	Dusty's Thoughts
Slicediver's Speech	Slicediver's Thoughts
Halvor's Speech	Halvor's Thoughts
Hiccup's Speech	Hiccup's Thoughts
Toothless' Speech	Toothless' Thoughts

[Crystal]

Dustin froze when he heard Hiccup's voice carry through the forest. The chief was still fairly far away, but he knew Toothless would be with him, and Oden curse that dragon's hearing. If he made too much sound, the night fury would hear him for sure. He felt a shred of wistfulness that quickly turned to bitterness. Thinking of Hiccup and his famous dragon only made him wish for his own companion that much more, but no one seemed intent on giving Dustin a fourth chance. Perhaps he should just make peace with being dragonless forever.

"And friendless," he muttered to himself. The words slipped out before he could stop them. Quickly realizing his mistake, he bit his tongue and strained his ears to see if he'd given himself away. Stupid dragon, he thought. If only he could find a dragon he could bond with, like Hiccup had with Toothless; then he could fly far away from here and no one would ever tell him what to do again.

[Dusty the Small]

Suddenly Toothless perked his ears and his eyes shifted around. Hiccup glanced at him and stopped walking. He started listening, too, but he didn't hear anything himself. He trusted Toothless to determine whether or not it was Dustin he heard, and whether or not they were in some sort of danger. It wasn't long before Toothless took a step to the side, off the rough path they were following. Hiccup half-smiled and carefully followed the dragon deeper into the woods.

Every few steps, Toothless would stop and listen again, and eventually he seemed to lose track. He stomped his foot in frustration, looked around with narrowed eyes, and started sniffing. He sniffed the ground, he sniffed the air, and Hiccup waited patiently, looking around himself. He thought about flying over and trying to find him, but that would make it too easy for Dustin to hide in the dense trees. No, it was better to search on foot. Finally, Toothless flicked his tail and started walking with purpose again. As before, Hiccup followed. "He had better be close..." he muttered. Toothless grumbled as if in agreement.

Dusty's Speech	Dusty's Thoughts
Slicediver's Speech	Slicediver's Thoughts
Halvor's Speech	Halvor's Thoughts
Hiccup's Speech	Hiccup's Thoughts
Toothless' Speech	Toothless' Thoughts

[Crystal]

Dustin cursed silently when he heard Toothless's footsteps approaching. Say what you want about the Nightfury's stealth and prowess in the sky--dragons were not particularly graceful on land. It's hard to be when you're that big. Now Dustin had two options: run and risk Toothless hearing him, or hide and hope the dragon couldn't sniff him out. Either way he was unlikely to escape. A logical person might have simply surrendered and gone to meet Hiccup, but no one had ever called Dustin Gyllenfalk logical. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Instead, he moved as silently as he could toward a large garlic patch he knew was nearby. He tromped around a bit on the smelly plants, hoping he'd be done before the two caught up to him. Once fairly certain the garlic would mask his scent, he moved off and pushed his way into a large bush next to the garlic patch. The branches prodded at his skin and tugged on his hair, but he shifted his body so he was facing the way Hiccup and Toothless would come from. Hidden in a bush and stinking of garlic. Dustin grinned to himself at the hilarity and--yes--genius of his plan. This would be the greatest day ever if it worked. Outsmarting the tribe's chief and his legendary dragon was not an easy thing to do.

[Midnight[x]Traitor]

Dragon and girl walked side by side through the forest. Their destination was the cove, where plenty of different types of plant grew by the fresh-water lake. Kiira, the daughter of the village healer, and Vermundr, a recently healed desert wraith, neared the edge of the cliff leading down into the cove. She stopped suddenly and reached down to pick a plant. It was a batch of small, white flowers. Their centers were bright yellow, and had a very light fragrance. She turned to let Ver observe it, who sniffed at it. Then he sneezed, making Kiira laugh.

This is called Chamomile. Ver gazed at her, taking in her words. My mom likes to put these in tea with honey. It tastes okay. I like to put a lot of honey in mine. There are many different uses for chamomile, such as soothing an upset stomach or event treating a bug bite. It has small uses, but still very important to us. She glances up at Ver, looking at his bright golden eyes. They reminded her of the center of the chamomile. Everything has a purpose.

Everything has a purpose... Vermundr wondered what his purpose was. Ever since Kiira had saved him, and taught him that not all humans were bad, he had questioned his reason for staying on Berk. At first he thought he was hesitant to leave since he had no idea which way home was. But now, he though, even if he knew where home was....would he leave? Ver gazed at the important little flower. Even that flower had a purpose.

Kiira suddenly turned when she heard footsteps in the forest. Ver had been so preoccupied that he hadn't heard them, but took a step in the direction of the noise. He scanned the area, then spotted the source. Hiccup and Toothless. Ki finally spotted them too. Curious, she wandered over to them. Need help with anything? Mostly she was just curious as to why the chief was out this far in the forest while the village was still being repaired.

~~~~~~~~
Kiira
Vermundr

[Dusty the Small]

At first, Hiccup was surprised to hear a human voice. Not Dustin's of course, but when he turned to look and saw who it was, he smiled half-heartedly. Scratching an itch on the back of his head, he sighed. "Hi, Kiira. Teaching your dragon, I see." he said, smiling at Vermundr. Toothless crooned at the similar dragon. "It's Dustin, again. I don't know why I thought Snotlout would look after his brother. I always end up looking for him."

As he spoke, Toothless continued to sniff the air. He turned to Vermundr. "Have you smelled or seen any other humans in the forest today? We're looking for a boy. You'd know him if you saw him, I think." he said politely despite his rotten mood. Why didn't Snotlout or even Hookfang keep an eye on Dustin? Surely a dragon that size... ah, it didn't matter. But he had lost the scent and he couldn't even hear him anymore. To indicate this to Hiccup, he stomped his foot in frustration.

"Looks like Toothless lost his trail. He's clever, I'll give him that, hiding from a night fury. Hey, if you're not too busy, would you mind helping us look? The sooner I can get him home, the better." He hated to take away precious time between Kiira and her new dragon, but he really had to get back.

Dusty's Speech	Dusty's Thoughts
Slicediver's Speech	Slicediver's Thoughts
Halvor's Speech	Halvor's Thoughts
Hiccup's Speech	Hiccup's Thoughts
Toothless' Speech	Toothless' Thoughts

[Crystal]

Now that Dustin had gone perfectly still--though the overpowering stench of garlic almost made him rethink his decision--he could hear the quiet voices drifting toward them. He could only make out half the words, but he did hear Hiccup say that Toothless had lost his trail. Got you, night fury, he thought smugly. Now if only they could pass him or go off in another direction. He could return to the village of his own accord, and be present when Hiccup and Kiira finally returned, defeated. Then he could give them an innocent look that said 'what, me? I didn't do anything.' Then again, the garlic scent that now clung to his clothes and body could be a problem. No amount of scrubbing was likely to get rid of the smell. That would take time and a lot of curled lips whenever someone caught a whiff of him. Ah, well. His idea had still worked, and that was what mattered, right?

[Midnight[x]Traitor]

Vermundr made a similar noise to Toothless in response as a greeting. He had grown to respect the Alpha, and was even more impressed when Kiira told him the story of Hiccup and Toothless's first encounters. A dragon that had to rely on a human to fly seemed... well, it seemed sad to him. But he had watched Toothless and Hiccup interact with each other when he wandered the village on his own. He had been surprised when Hiccup so quickly trusted him to wander about on his own. Ver had, after all, attacked the village.

Kiira shook her head. Of course they were looking for Dustin. Who else? That was your first mistake, she laughed. Never trust either of them with a task like that. I wouldn't have cared if he ran away though. His problem if he got into trouble... Of course, she wouldn't say that out loud. Ki let out a sigh, glanced over at Ver who seemed to be preoccupied with Toothless, then turned back to the Chief. She put her hands behind her head and said, Yea, sure why not. I was just out collecting herbs and stuff. Vermundr seems to be into it, too. He sometimes stays back at my house and helps me and Mom with the patients. She tried not to hope that Vermundr would choose to stay on the island. She hadn't asked him to stay, but he hadn't tried to leave either...

The deep purple colored desert wraith snorted a puff of steaming air. No, I have not seen or smelled another human male. Although... He took a whiff of the forest air. Many scents filled the air, but many were still unfamiliar to him. Old and new human (and dragon) smells lingered, but since he had not gotten to know anyone yet, most of them were unfamiliar. The sharp scent of herbs caught his attention. It is an old trick by prey to hide one's scent in the lake, or the strong smelling plants. Perhaps he is hiding there. I will check the lake and call you if I see him. He turned and took off in the direction of the cove. Ki watched him disappear above the trees. Oh... Guess I'm with you two now.

~~~~~~

Kiira
Vermundr

[Dusty the Small]

Hiccup nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you'd think I would have figured that out by now. Well, either way, he is family and I do have to find him." He was grateful to hear that she would help him. Gods knew he needed it. And when she told him about the dragon, he smiled again. "Well that's good. Looks like he's sticking around for a while, huh?" He remembered how Toothless had always taken such interest in whatever he or his father was doing in the house. Which reminded him...

"Now that we're on the subject, how does he get along with Lillydew?" He was almost certain that the nadder didn't have a problem with him. She was a sweet dragon, most nadders were. But he didn't know as much about desert wraiths, and all dragons were individuals at the end of the day.

Toothless nodded, grateful for the help. But he noticed how Kiira watched him fly away and wondered if she was worried that he wouldn't come back. He nudged her playfully and wagged his tail to cheer her up a bit. Hiccup chuckled. "You're good with dragons. I'm sure he'll be back." Toothless still had Vermundr's advice in his head, and he smelled garlic nearby. Strong-smelling plants... He snapped out of his playfulness and turned in that direction. It hurt his nose a little bit, but if there was a chance that Dustin was there, it was worth investigating.

Dusty's Speech	Dusty's Thoughts
Slicediver's Speech	Slicediver's Thoughts
Halvor's Speech	Halvor's Thoughts
Hiccup's Speech	Hiccup's Thoughts
Toothless' Speech	Toothless' Thoughts

[Crystal]

Dustin heard the footsteps resume. It only took him maybe ten seconds to figure out that the steps were drawing nearer. There was no way they could have found him... right? Perhaps they had chosen a random direction and just happened to be heading toward him. He'd have to wait it out and see. It was then that Dustin realized a major problem in his plan. If he did have to flee, he'd leave quite a trail that even a human could follow. He'd chosen hide over run, and now he had to hope it was the right one, since the latter was out of option. Curse Thor if this doesn't work, he thought. He was also getting rather cramped inside the bush, and the stench of garlic was making his head hurt. If they were going to find him, they could very well hurry it up.

[Midnight[x]Traitor]

Ki shrugged. They seem to get along pretty well. Of course, Lillydew doesn't get all of the attention in the house anymore. She's gets a bit jealous when Holly ignores her for Vermundr. She giggled, remembering when Lillydew sat on Holly and demanded a head scratch when she was re-examining Vermundr.

She grinned and scratched Toothless's head in appreciation as the dragon comforted her. Thanks. It really meant a lot that Hiccup thought she was good with the dragons. Ki worried if that was why she hadn't bonded since so late, but she still had hope. Alright, now lets go find that troublesome cousin of yours! Or not... She joked, but began to follow Toothless as he seemed to be following a certain trail. As they got closer to the garlic patch, Ki wrinkled her nose at the smell. Surely he can't be seriously considering hiding in there? She whispered to Hiccup. If he was hiding in there, it was sure damn clever. She wondered if Vermundr guessed he was in a different location and went to go check. Or perhaps he went to go make sure there wasn't an escape route for Dustin? She shook her head and told herself to focus on the task at hand.

Wait is that...? She thought she made out a figure in the bushes. She sneered, then crouched down and stalked towards the bush. She edged closer... and closer... Then leaped into the bush to tackled whoever was in it, trying to pin them to the ground.

[Dusty the Small]

Hiccup chuckled. "Yeah, that's a nadder for you. I'll have to observe Vermundr one of these days. I'd like to get a good look at a desert wraith." But Toothless was on to something and they both decided to see what he had. As they started following the dark-scaled dragon, he smiled at Kiira's little joke. As irritating as Dustin was, Hiccup secretly felt a little sorry for him. After all, he just wanted to fit in. He of all people knew what it felt like to be a misfit.

Could he be hiding in the garlic patch? Oh, Hiccup wouldn't put it past him. The kid was pretty crazy, and smart, too, unlike his brother. He'd be smelly for a long while, but that's a small price to pay to hide from a dragon. Besides, people tended to avoid him anyway, so what did it matter?

Toothless shook his head, hating the smell of garlic. In small doses he didn't mind the stuff, but this was ridiculous. He growled low when he noticed Kiira edging closer, hoping to encourage her. It seemed to work because she tackled whoever was hiding in there. Neither Hiccup nor Toothless had any doubt about who it was.

Dusty's Speech	Dusty's Thoughts
Slicediver's Speech	Slicediver's Thoughts
Halvor's Speech	Halvor's Thoughts
Hiccup's Speech	Hiccup's Thoughts
Toothless' Speech	Toothless' Thoughts

[Crystal]

Dustin held his breath--and not from the garlic--as Kiira approached. He knew in that instant that he'd been found out, but before he could decide what to do about it the girl tackled him. He let out a surprised shout that quickly turned to one of outrage. He smacked at his attacker, trying to shove her off, yelling about Thor's revenge and trolls eating her limbs. Seriously, why did she have to tackle him? Granted, now she would probably reek of garlic along with him. Even as he struggled against her, a smile pulled at his lips. Oh yes, perhaps this plan would have a good outcome after all. If anyone asked her why she smelled, she'd have to tell them she was rolling around in a garlic patch with Dustin Gyllenfalk. That would turn some heads.

[Midnight[x]Traitor]

The boy struggled against her, and eventually realizing that he was stronger than Kiira and would push her off, she got off him. Plus, she was...well... on top of him. She stood up and dusted some of the dirt off her legs. Having fun frolicking in the garlic patch, were we? She knew when she went home that Holly would yell at her for smelling. She may even be banned from the dinner table tonight. She should try and find some good herbs by then to try and win her mom over.

Ki walked over to Toothless and leaned against his shoulder, letting the Chief take over. She was just there to help him find Dustin. She could leave to go find where Vermundr went, but she kinda wanted to see what events were going to unfold. She was also curious to know what Dustin was doing out there in the first place. She leaned over and scratched Toothless behind his nubs. She had always admired the Night Fury and all that he had been through.