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❛ ғɪʀᴇ & ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ꒱


❝ LOOKS LIKE OUR
LITTLE GUY PICKED HIS
FAVORITE VIKING ALREADY ❞

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"Okay, gang!" Hiccup called to the other riders as they neared their destination. He had Toothless loop around so he could face the other teens as he instructed them: "stay with your teammate and lock down your specific island. This dragon hunter is sneaky."

They had been observing this area for a while and monitored an unusual number of comings and goings from the dragon hunters, which lead them to investigate further. They discovered that what they'd thought was one specific island being targeted was actually a whole group of them, the dragon hunters using the multiple locations to hide their activity. So, in order to cover more ground, they'd had to change their plan and split up into pairs to reclaim the islands.

"He comes in, transfers his cargo, and slips out under the cover of darkness," Fishlegs added. "Very mysterious."

"Very boring." Snotlout yawned obnoxiously. "Can we get to it?"

They did exactly that. Normally, Dany would've paired herself with either Hiccup or Astrid, but that would've left one of them with the twins and she knew they'd been on 'twin patrol' more often than not. Now that she wasn't so hesitant around them, she didn't mind taking their spot this time. So, that left Heather to be paired with Astrid (as Dany had begrudgingly admitted that she could work with Heather as long as it wasn't directly, thus allowing her to stay on the team), Hiccup and Snotlout, and Fishlegs by himself.

Drogon took the lead and they sailed over the dark land mass that had been assigned to them. As they flew, Dany listened closely to her surroundings. There were the usual nighttime sounds, the wind whistling through the trees and the beat of their dragons' wings. And then, not long after: the sound of men's voices.

Her dragon let out a low rumble, stopping mid-flight to hover in the air. She held up a silent hand to the twins, hoping that they would catch notice of what was going on below. They stopped just behind her. She began to suggest, "you know, I'm all for going in dragons blazing, but—"

That's all she was able to get out. They took her words as permission and, with excited whoops and yells, aimed right at the cart that clearly held what they were looking for (as it was the only one that was covered.) She sighed. "—we should take our surroundings into consideration first."

Ruffnut and Tuffnut had already dismounted by the time she joined them and they yanked the cover off the cart with a flourish. "Dragon egg!"

Dany stiffened on top of Drogon's back, her eyes zeroing in the item. There seemed to be some sort of. . . resonance that come from it— a low, steady hum that was almost too quiet to hear, yet impossible to be ignored. It reverberated through her as enchanting as a siren's song, making her feel as if her entire being— her skin, bones and blood— all vibrated with the same tone.

She didn't have long to dwell on this discovery. The dragon hunters immediately noticed them and made their displeasure at their appearance known, wasting no time in shooting a volley of arrows at them. The twins freaked out at the sight of soldiers running at them and abandoned the egg as they fled for cover.

"Help!" Tuffnut cried.

"Dany, do your Breaker of Chains thing!" Ruffnut chimed in, though more to egg her on than because she was truly scared.

"I've gotta do everything myself," Daenerys grumbled.

One dragon hunter had taken it upon himself to abscond with the egg, hoping to keep it away from the dragon riders. The Targaryen nudged Drogon back into the air. He breathed fire on the beach, creating a wall of flame that cut the dragon hunters off from the ocean they were trying to escape to. The man wheeling the cart reared back at the sudden wave of heat that buffeted him, his feet sliding in the loose sand.

With another nudge to Drogon's sides, the large dragon swooped down and collected the egg in his claws with a surprising amount of care for one so big. He flapped his wings and in a few short, powerful bursts, they were rising up, above the men's heads.

The hunters on the boat saw the oblong object Drogon clutched in his talons. Apparently, all dragon hunters shared exactly one brain cell since they, too, tried shooting arrows at Drogon. They didn't do much but annoy him, though in his effort to get away it became clear that he didn't have as good a grasp on the egg as Dany had thought. She gasped as it slipped through his claws and hurtled towards the ocean below.

For once, the twins were actually on top of things and they exclaimed, "we got it!" in unison, having gotten back up in the air moments before.

Barf and Belch shot forward, ready to intercept the egg, only to be distracted by a shout from above. "Back off, twidiots, it's mine!"

Hiccup had seen the wall of flame from the sky and come to help with Snotlout in tow. However, having the Thorstons and Snotlout both try and save the egg was a bad idea. Neither one was going to let the other 'win,' so they collided in the air instead. The egg continued to fall. Dany urged Drogon into a dive but knew that they wouldn't be fast enough to catch it.

Meatlug and Fishlegs had joined them by this point and the Gronckle used her stubby tail to bat the egg back up into the air. Astrid swooped in just in time to have Stormfly redirect it with her wing. Heather intercepted it, gentling its plummet to a gradual roll— except that it didn't slow down quite enough. It teetered on the edge of the cliff.

Just as it toppled out of sight, Daenerys and Drogon levelled out of their dive. It landed in her arms with a soft thump and she let out an oomph at its unexpected weight. The egg's pull was even stronger when she held it close. It seemed to harmonize with the rhythm of her heart until they beat the same.

"Well, that was fun," Hiccup deadpanned as things settled back down. "Hey, I've got an idea, how about we get this back to the Edge, safely."

🏹🏹🏹

They returned home just as the sun was rising. Although everyone was tired from their nighttime escapade, the 'dragon nerds' stayed up to figure out what kind of dragon they'd found. Fishlegs was still avoiding Dany so it was a little more awkward than usual, which led her to standing closer to the creature that provided her with the most comfort (even when it was yet to hatch.) Hiccup had combed through the Book of Dragons for most of the morning. Unfortunately, that only helped him narrow down the options it wasn't rather than actually find an answer.

The more time she spent around the egg, the more an idea began to tickle the back of Dany's mind. After all, there was only one dragon that had called to her so strongly before: a fully grown adult they'd encountered on their earliest adventures in the great beyond.

"It's definitely not a Changewing," Hiccup mused as he flipped through their book's worn pages.

"Thank Thor," Fishlegs muttered.

"And it's not the type of any of our dragons," the brunet noted.

Fishlegs turned to his dragon, his expression softening as he cooed, "oh, can you imagine Meatlug with her very own egg? It would be so cute. Aww."

"You already saw Meatlug with her eggs," Dany reminded him, her voice a bit quieter as she spoke more hesitantly to the Ingerman than usual. "During Snoggletog three years ago, remember? It's how you found out she was girl."

"That's right," Hiccup realized. He didn't know how Fishlegs could've forgotten such an eventful Snoggletog. He closed the book, defeated. "I don't think it's in here, guys."

"It wouldn't be," Daenerys stated, finally deciding to speak up about her hypothesis.

Just as Hiccup was shooting her a curious look, about to inquire further, the flapping of feathered wings drew their attention to the egg. Chicken had fluttered on top of the table and was looking at their find with interest, tilting her head this way and that as she recognized the object (though albeit bigger than she was used to.)

Tuffnut beamed at her proudly. "Well, someone certainly has their own ideas on what it is." Chicken, deciding that size didn't matter, flapped her wings once more and planted herself on top of the egg. Tuffnut gasped at the sight. "Look who's feeling motherly! Aren't you, little chicken? Give me a kiss." He waved his finger in her face. Chicken decided to bite down on it instead. He yanked it away from her with a scowl. "Ow! Easy, pal, I'm on your side."

Hiccup shook his head at Tuffnut's antics and turned back to Dany. "What do you mean?"

"It's a Deathsong," she informed him bluntly, as if this was something he should've figured out right away.

His eyes widened with surprise, both from her response and the certainty in her voice. "What? How do you know?"

"I can feel it," she replied, placing her hand gently on the egg's spotted surface. Once again, the hum seemed to intensify within her as the vibrations echoed up through her palm. At the trio's blank stares, she frowned. "What, you can't sense that?"

Without taking his eyes off her, Tuffnut cupped his hand around his mouth and stage-whispered, "that's the kind of thing crazy people say right before they start torching ports and making wild assumptions." He froze. "Oh, wait. . ." He quickly changed tact to: "you guys distract her while I run."

Dany pinned him with an unimpressed look as she told him dryly, "you know I can hear you right, Tuff? And I know what I'm talking about."

"What do you feel, Dany?" Hiccup asked, brushing off Tuffnut's paranoia in favor of hearing more logical reasoning.

She focused again on the egg. "It's kind of. . . humming. It's a different sort of pull than what I felt with the adult Deathsong—"

"Wait, what?" her best friend demanded, unintentionally cutting her off. "What do you mean you 'felt with the adult Deathsong?'"

The blonde blinked, surprised that he didn't know. She could've sworn she told him, but maybe she had just meant to and forgot? That would be like her. She shifted underneath his suddenly intense gaze. "Um. . . yeah. Do you remember when I was the first one to notice the sound coming from the island?"

Hiccup nodded.

"Well, it was more than just sound. Like when we found out later how the dragons had been drawn in by it, that was kind of the effect it was having on me," she explained. "Though I guess since I'm not actually a dragon, I didn't react the same way. I could just. . . sense it instead. That's kind of what I'm getting from the egg now."

Although her conclusion made sense, his brows still furrowed. "But why are you sensing a song that's only supposed to attract dragons?"

Dany, on the other hand, was not concerned by this at all. She simply shrugged. "My mom always said I have dragon blood in me. I told you that."

"I didn't think you meant it literally," he mumbled.

Despite his current conundrum over the two sides of her personality, Fishlegs couldn't help but be intrigued by more dragon lore. "Wait, are you saying you're part dragon?"

She flushed. "I. . . I don't know. That's just how my mom phrased it ever since I was can remember. I think a part of it is that she was referring to my family's. . . anger issues, but. . . I mean, how would that be possible?" Dany made a face. "I don't even want to think about it."

Luckily, their attention was diverted quickly enough that they didn't have to consider those possibilities. A cracking sound split the air as spiderweb fissures appeared on the shell. They crawled up the sides until the shell burst into a multitude of shards. Tuffnut startled at the explosion and stumbled backwards while Dany had the opposite reaction and eagerly leaned closer. Baby dragons were her favorite type of dragon and it was rare— even for her— to be present when one hatched. She had only seen it happen a handful of times in her life but she knew even if she saw it a hundred times, it would never get old.

Her mouth formed a round 'o' shape of awe as the little dragon emerged, its wings plastered to it sides for the initial few seconds before it stretched them for the first time. It let out a chittering sound as its eyes opened, blinking blearily as it greeted the world.

Fishlegs grimaced. "Yep, it's a Deathsong."

Sure enough, it opened its mouth and let out a long, ceaseless wail. Everyone clapped their hands over their ears at the sudden caterwauling.

"I liked him better when he was inside," Fishlegs whimpered.

Dany was willing to do anything for dragons, even tolerate the assault on her eardrums as she shouted back, "I didn't! He's so cute!"

Hiccup gave her a half-exasperated, half-fond look as he wondered how she had the mental capacity right now to consider the dragon's appearance. If the Deathsong's racket was bothering him, he didn't know how she was bearing it— and ignore it enough to make a comment like that.

The rest of the group joined them in the clubhouse, drawn by the noise the baby was making. Dany went and fetched the new earmuffs Hiccup had made her, which helped a lot. But, as the day wore on, no one could figure out how to get the dragon quiet. They were all exhausted due to their long night, after all, and their problem-solving skills had been worn thin.

As the sun set once more, Snotlout decided he'd had enough. Raising his voice above the cacophony, he shouted: "can someone please shut that thing up?"

"Oh, it probably needs its mother. Poor thing, all by itself," Heather cooed. Dany shot her an irritated look, not liking the fact that they shared a sentiment about her favorite species.

"That's what I was trying to say, because I'm so sincere," Snotlout immediately amended as he attempted to be empathetic. "Of course these fools don't listen, but I listen."

Heather didn't buy it for a second and put her hands on her hips, her lips pressing into a thin line. Over on the far side of the room, Tuffnut had taken a seat on the floor with Chicken in his lap. He'd been staring off into space for some time, only to at last exclaim, "I got it!"

"What? What is it?" Hiccup wanted to know. They could hear the hope in his tone as he thought that Tuffnut had come up with a solution to quiet the baby dragon.

"Garffiljorg," Tuffnut announced proudly.

"What?"

"Its name."

His sister groaned. "Who cares what we call it? Not like its listening to us anyway."

"Chicken cares," he argued. "I mean, it did come out of her."

"Tuffnut, she didn't actually. . ." Hiccup started to correct him, only to recognize the futility of his effort. "Never mind."

They decided to at least move the baby Deathsong to the stables where it would be farther away from them and with other dragons. But, even amongst its own species, it wouldn't quiet down.

Fishlegs sighed. "How are the dragons going to get any sleep with this little guy in here?"

"It's them or us, Fishface," Snotlout huffed. "But, please, feel free to babysit that thing if you want to."

He'd just begun to stomp away when Heather spoke up, suggesting gently, "maybe I should stay with it?"

Dany had kept the earmuffs on for most of the day but had removed one side once her friends had started talking again so she could hear them. She bristled at Heather's idea. "If anyone's staying with it, it's going to be me."

Snotlout abruptly changed his tune at Heather's continued kindness and it only doubled with Daenerys' statement. "That's exactly what I was thinking. We should, all three of us, stay with the little. . . guy—" (He'd clearly been about to use a different, less friendly term for the dragon but thought better of it.) "—tonight." He grinned at them. "We could all stand to get closer, don't you think?"

The Targaryen made a disgusted face but was saved from replying as Hiccup hastily got them back on track. "Look, if we shut these doors, plug our ears, and sleep under our beds, we just might be able to catch a few winks." As though it was listening, the baby dragon let out a particularly loud screech. "Yeah, okay, let's just get out of here before our heads explode."

Dany hesitated, feeling bad at the thought of leaving the baby all alone throughout the night. Chicken hesitated, too, even at Tuffnut's insistence. Instead, she padded over to the dragon and gazed up at it adoringly. She let out a few clucks. Amazingly, it began to settle. The Deathsong dropped onto all fours and moved closer to the chicken, echoing its song back. . . sort of.

Hiccup whirled around at the unexpected silence that descended on them. "Oh, he stopped cry— He stopped crying!"

"That's because Chicken sang to him. Didn't you hear that? Oh, the pipes on that Chicken," Tuffnut bragged.

At first it looked like the newfound quiet was going to be permanent. Chicken shuffled closer to the Deathsong and clucked again, almost a coo. Then. . . the baby spat out a glob of amber that trapped the bird in a wad of goop. It licked its lips and made to launch towards her, only for Tuffnut to shout, "bad dragon!" as he swept his pet out of harm's way.

The group left the stables, defeated, as the baby's calls echoed across the Edge. They didn't think anyone would be getting sleep that night, either.

🏹🏹🏹

To their surprise, they did— and it was all thanks to Daenerys.

As she often did, Dany had a hard time falling asleep. Her efforts weren't helped by the racket the baby was making even with the aid of her earmuffs. Plus, she kept thinking about the tiny dragon all alone in its unfamiliar surroundings. If she were in its place, she'd be pretty scared, too, no matter how nice the Vikings were.

So, she soon gave up sleeping in her own bed and went back to the stables with her earmuffs firmly in place. At first, she merely sat on the floor with the Deathsong, keeping a respectful distance from it. It didn't take long for the baby to get interested and begin to creep closer to her. She could see his nostrils flaring as he took in her scent.

Tentatively, the Deathsong inched forward, his scales glinting faintly in the lantern light. Dany didn't move, didn't even breathe too loudly, not wanting to break the fragile trust forming between them. When he finally pressed his nose against her knee, she gently lowered her hand, palm open, letting him decide. What she wasn't prepared for was the way he suddenly curled up on her lap like he had been waiting for her all along. His frantic whines ceased almost instantly, replaced by a low, resonant hum that reverberated through her bones.

Dany's eyes widened. She could feel it. The thrumming deep in her chest returned as though some hidden melody inside her was answering his. Her blood— her very being— seemed to sing back to him. The baby sighed, eyes drooping shut, content as if he had finally found his missing kin.

Her throat tightened, an ache of wonder and recognition sweeping through her. Slowly, she brushed her hand down his warm, scaled back. "You can hear it too, can't you?" she whispered, hardly believing it herself.

Before long, the baby was sound asleep and Dany, lulled by the steady rhythm of his breathing and the strange harmony still humming faintly in her chest, closed her eyes and drifted off beside him.

🏹🏹🏹

When the morning sunlight streamed into Hiccup's hut, he blinked awake groggily. A thought struck him almost at once: quiet.

He sat bolt upright. The Edge was. . . silent. No shrill cries, no loud complaints echoing across the camp. He hadn't realized just how exhausted he was until peace had finally found the Edge. Heart racing with both relief and alarm, he leapt from his bed and hurried to the stables. If the dragon wasn't crying, something had to be wrong.

But what he found made him freeze.

Dany lay on the stable floor, her silvery-blonde hair spilling across the wooden planks, her arms curled protectively around the tiny Deathsong. The baby's head rested against her chest, his legs splayed out as he slept on his stomach.

A swell of warmth tightened in his chest and Hiccup let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen something so. . . pure. And as much as his practical mind told him he should be analyzing what this meant for dragon behavior, for training, for the Edge itself— his heart was louder. For a long moment, he simply stood there, watching them in awe. He itched to take out his sketchbook so he could add this scene to it and made a mental note to do so as soon as possible.

He lingered for another heartbeat, torn between not wanting to disturb the fragile moment and knowing he couldn't just leave her on the stable floor. With a quiet breath, he went over and crouched down beside her, careful not to startle either of them. As he reached out to touch her shoulder, the baby Deathsong stirred. His golden eyes cracked open, blinking blearily at Hiccup. For a split second, the brunet braced himself for the inevitable shriek, ready for the silence to be broken for good.

But it never came.

Instead, the little dragon yawned, his sharp teeth flashing briefly before he nestled deeper into Dany's arms. As long as he was wrapped against her warmth, he seemed perfectly content. Daenerys shifted, her brow furrowing as her lashes fluttered open. Groggy and soft, her violet eyes met his, unguarded in a way that made his chest clench. The quiet vulnerability of her expression stole his breath, knowing he was one of the few people who got to see her like that.

"Morning," he greeted her quickly, trying to mask the sudden rush of feeling with an easy grin. "Looks like our little guy here has picked his favorite Viking already."

Her lips curved faintly, her mind still blurred by sleep. "It's morning?" she whispered, pushing herself up slightly. She blinked around the stable, then back down at the baby dragon. "I actually. . . slept?"

"All of us did," Hiccup told her, a little too fondly. He cleared his throat and shifted his weight to disguise it. "All thanks to you."

She didn't look entirely convinced, though that didn't stop her face from turning a light pink.

"Anyway," he continued, "I thought I should wake you before the rest of the gang did. Besides, we've got a chicken to rescue. I could, uh, use your help getting that sorted."

Dany snorted softly, shifting the little dragon in her arms. "Chicken duty. Of course. I'm on it."

🏹🏹🏹

Tuffnut joined them in the clubhouse not long after, sobbing over his amber-encased pet. His tears stopped briefly as his eyes narrowed on the dragon that Dany was holding. He hugged Chicken tighter to him, shielding the bird's body with his own as he glared at the little dragon. "Why did you bring that in here? He traumatized Chicken! Garf is dead to me."

Daenerys cradled the Deathsong closer and scowled at the younger twin. "He was only acting on instinct! You can't blame him for that!"

"Yes, I can actually," Tuffnut countered. "Chicken was the one who brought him into this world! How could he turn against his own mother? Now she'll be frozen forever—" He broke off into renewed wails.

Hiccup shook his head at Tuffnut's dramatics and moved towards the other teen with his hands out. "Tuffnut, we can free Chicken. Just let me. . ."

He had to tug the bird out of Tuffnut's grasp but eventually he relented. Hiccup set Chicken down on the table that surrounded the firepit. He got a small knife that sat close by and went to work, gently prizing the blade into the hard shell. Meanwhile, Dany stood nearby and rocked the Deathsong in her arms. The baby dragon remained quiet except for the occasional chirp or puff of breath. She gazed down at the dragon affectionately, awed by how tiny and cute he was.

After a while of Tuffnut's cries being the only thing that filled the silence, Hiccup finally had enough. "Tuffnut, could you please help me out?"

"And do what?" he sobbed.

"Calm your chicken!" Hiccup exclaimed. He'd been trying to be patient but Chicken was not a fan of having a sharp object so close to her feathers, no matter how carefully he used it. "It's not doing any of us any good to have the entire Edge freaking out."

He tried to do as Hiccup asked, sucking his whimpers in with deep breaths before he crouched in front of his pet. He placed a calming hand on her small body as he reassured her, "I'm here, Chicken." Her frantic head movements slowed a bit as though she were listening to him. "Don't worry. Everything is gonna turn out. . ." He faltered and abruptly resumed bawling. "I can't lie to a chicken!"

Dany sighed and came closer, nudging Tuffnut out of the way. He glared at the Deathsong. "Keep that thing away from Chicken! Hasn't she been hurt enough?" His voice pitched higher into a whine towards the end of his question.

The Targaryen let out another breath and made to set the baby dragon down a safe distance from the bird. But, as soon as he realized that Dany wouldn't be holding him anymore, the Deathsong began to wail again, even louder than Tuffnut. Both Hiccup and Tuffnut clamped their hands over their ears. "Pick him up! Pick him up!"

Daenerys gently scooped the baby dragon up again and he immediately went silent. She huffed at his neediness. Where it had once been adorable, it was now starting to get in the way of things. In her second attempt, she tried to put him on her shoulder. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to be able to understand what he needed to do to get his legs to work for that position. He kept splatting on his stomach, his front legs resting against her collarbone while his back legs fell against her shoulder blades.

She held the baby dragon out in front of her, her hands holding him just under his armpits. The Deathsong blinked at her innocently as if he didn't know what an obstacle he was. "You're a lot of work. Why can't you let me help out for two seconds?"

The baby squawked back at her and seemed to smile, enjoying the fact that he was the center of attention. She sighed once more and shifted the dragon to her hip. That still didn't solve the problem of Garf being near Chicken, which Tuffnut steadfastly refused to allow as he stood between her and his pet. She finally abandoned her efforts and gave Hiccup an apologetic look. "Sorry, Hiccup. I guess I can't help like you wanted me to since I'm on twenty-four-seven babysitting duty."

But Hiccup didn't seem to be all that put out. In fact, a thoughtful gleam had entered his eyes. Dany knew he'd seen a problem and the gears were already turning in his brain to find a solution for it. Before she could ask him what he was thinking of, Snotlout cut in, "you know, that'd go so much easier if you had some Monstrous Nightmare gel. Plus, you could get yourself some rotisserie chicken while you're at it. That sounds good."

None of them had heard him approach, but they turned to see him leaning casually against the clubhouse's entrance. Hookfang had trailed behind him and he gestured to his dragon as he spoke. He barely got to finish what he was saying before Tuffnut flung himself at Snotlout, knocking him down instantly. They exchanged a few blows before Tuffnut got to his feet with Snotlout in a headlock.

"You apologize to her right now!" the younger Thorston growled. "You hear me?"

"No!"

"Nobody's rotissering Chicken," he snapped, tightening his hold on the Jorgenson's neck. "Nobody! So, you keep that Monstrous Nightmare gel away from her!"

However, Snotlout's words sparked yet another idea for Hiccup. He stood and went over to Hookfang as he admitted, "actually, Tuff, Snotlout may be onto something."

Lost in his distress, Tuffnut didn't see where Hiccup was going with this and lamented, "oh, sure, what's next, roasted Toothless?"

"Just stay with me here," the brunet implored. He gently scraped the blade of his knife along Hookfang's skin to gather some of his gel. "Remember when we were at Melody Island?"

Then, he went over to Barf and Belch, the former using his spark to light the gel on fire. Tuffnut shuddered as Hiccup passed him with the flaming blade. "Don't do it, Hiccup! You'll singe her little feathers. And that's all she has in the whole wide world. Except me, of course. Feathers and me."

"I'm just doing enough to get it started," he explained calmly. "I won't do deep enough to get remotely close to Chicken. See?"

He pulled the blade away and showed off the softened amber, though Tuffnut didn't seem convinced. "Now, Toothless?"

At his rider's direction, Toothless used a single claw to slice through the amber shell. It shattered with a single touch, freeing Chicken's wings and lower body. Apparently, having a dragon that close to her— even one she knew— was too much for her little chicken heart and she fainted, flopping right off the table. Tuffnut scooped her up from the ground with an exuberant cry of, "Chicken is free! Chicken is free!"

Heather and Astrid joined them. Upon hearing the odd silence, they'd first gone to the stables to see if Garf was there. When it became clear that he wasn't, they went to the clubhouse to find out what was going on. Their eyes fell on the baby dragon in Dany's arms, perfectly content.

"So that's why we were able to sleep last night," Astrid remarked, more amused than anything else.

"Yeah," Dany confirmed. "He's cute, but he's getting to be a bit of a hassle. I can't put him down or else he starts screeching again."

"We need to remove Garffiljorg from this island, immediately!" Tuffnut demanded, still peeved about how the Deathsong treated his pet even though Chicken was no worse for wear.

"We can't do that!" Daenerys protested. "I mean, I know he has his difficulties, but I don't want to abandon him! He's just a baby!"

Hiccup went to stand next to the blonde and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Dany. We're not going to just drop him in the middle of nowhere, if we get rid of him at all." Then he addressed the younger Thorston: "Tuff, don't you think you're overreacting?"

"Nonsense!" he snapped, throwing his precious Chicken up in the air due to his aggravation. Hiccup swiftly moved to catch her before she hit the ground, setting her by his feet more gently.

"It's a good thing Dany can keep him calm, but she's going to need to be able to use her hands eventually," Astrid pointed out. "She can't be responsible for being his sole babysitter. Besides, what happens when he gets bigger and she can't hold him?"

"She's right, Hiccup," Fishlegs put in. "I mean, he just went after Chicken. How long before he goes after us?"

"He's gots to go." Snotlout pointed aggressively towards the baby Deathsong. "Back to Melody Island with you."

He began to charge at Dany. She turned her body away from him to protect the baby dragon and actually snarled at him, the fire in her violet eyes blazing to life. "You touch this dragon and I end you."

Snotlout froze in his tracks, his eyes widening as he remembered her earlier threat all too well. I'll feed you to your own dragon and watch while you burn. He knew she meant it. He took a few steps backward, putting a safe distance between them.

Hiccup darted between the pair so he could deescalate things further. He held his hands out to prevent Snotlout from coming closer as he reminded the other teen, "Snotlout, did you forget how the Deathsong tried to eat all of us and our dragons?"

Now thoroughly discouraged, the Jorgenson grumbled, "well, I had until you brought it up. Thank you for that."

"Oh, no, no, it's too dangerous to go back," Astrid protested.

"And we don't even know if a baby dragon can bond with a dragon that's not its parent," Fishlegs pointed out.

Daenerys glanced down at the baby, her Snotlout-caused irritation melting away. "We don't know how to raise a Deathsong, though. If we're not keeping him, I'd rather at least try to get him to bond with one of his own kind."

"You guys, he's too young to know right from wrong," Heather spoke up. "He hasn't been trained like our dragons." Her voice softened as she thought about her own past. "I know what it's like to be all alone in the world. We can't just shun him."

Her words caught Hiccup's attention. "Heather's right. We have trained everything from a Night Fury to a Terrible Terror. We can certainly train him not to eat us. I mean, Dany's already got him under control. We just need to make sure that stays with him as he grows."

That seemed to convince most of the riders, the exception being Tuffnut (while ridiculous, understandable) and Snotlout (who was just being obstinate.) Daenerys reminded them of one more important point. "While I'm all for making sure he doesn't eat us, I'm pretty much incapacitated unless we find another way to keep him quiet."

🏹🏹🏹

Hiccup decided that now was a good time to fill Dany in on the idea he'd had earlier. He shepherded her and Garf (who Dany only thought of as 'the baby' or 'the Deathsong' because of her refusal to name dragons that weren't hers) to the forge. He didn't tell her what he was doing right away, instead busying himself with locating leather, needle and thread, and small pieces of metal.

She settled into the corner, Garf chirping sleepily in her lap, while Hiccup rolled up his sleeves and began sketching ideas on parchment. She was quiet as he worked, her violet eyes avidly fixed on him as she admired the way his hands moved with confident, practiced precision, pulling thread through leather, shaping metal clasps, murmuring about schematics under his breath. She didn't interrupt, though curiosity burned within her.

After several hours of tinkering in the forge, Hiccup finally beckoned Daenerys over with that familiar spark of excitement in his eyes. "Alright," he declared, dusting soot off his hands and reaching for the bundle he had set on the table, "I've got something that might make your life a little easier."

He lifted what looked like a small leather backpack, held together with thick stitching and reinforced straps. Metal clasps looped through the bottom of the straps, tails of leather hanging from them. The sight of it puzzled Dany for only a moment until Hiccup gently gestured toward the baby Deathsong, curled up and blinking owlishly at them.

"You want me to. . . put him in that?" she inquired.

"Yep," Hiccup replied with a grin. "Think of it like. . . a portable dragon bed. That way, you won't have to carry him around in your arms all day. You'll have your hands free."

Intrigued, Dany scooped the baby up and slid him into the bag. For a moment it seemed to work. Garf wiggled, curled into the space, and chirped happily. But then Dany's eyes narrowed and she looked back at Hiccup with that blunt honesty of hers. "Hiccup, his tail and feet are crushed at the bottom. You've squished him."

Hiccup winced. "Right. I. . . may have overlooked that."

Without hesitation, he pulled out his knife and cut three neat holes at the bottom of the pack, adjusting the stitching so they wouldn't tear further. Dany wiggled the Deathsong's feet and tail through the slots so they hung loose below the bottom of the bag. "There."

The brunet helped her get the backpack on, its weight awkward to handle with a dragon inside. It hung loose on her shoulders so he bent down and used the metal clasps to tighten the straps, lengthening the leather tails as the loops around her arms became smaller. Once Hiccup pulled away, Dany shifted her shoulders to test her balance. The weight was distributed evenly, making her feel neither top heavy nor lopsided.

"This is. . . perfect," she admitted, flexing her fingers as though she couldn't quite believe she had her hands again.

Hiccup, however, had gone oddly quiet. He was staring at her and though he tried to look away before she noticed, the sight of her with the little dragon strapped snugly against her back, violet eyes bright with happiness, was almost too much. He cleared his throat, forcing his voice steady. "Yeah, uh. . . you look— well, it suits you."

She tilted her head at him with a bemused smile, wondering why he got so flustered all of a sudden. But, her expression soon sobered. In the hours Hiccup had worked, she'd mulled over thoughts about what they should do with the Deathsong, all of them leading to only one possible conclusion. Now, she shared her realization aloud: "this doesn't change the truth. It doesn't matter how well we train him; we're not equipped to handle a fully grown Deathsong. I mean, even if he doesn't go after our dragons, do you want a pile of bones somewhere on the Edge? Because his eating habits will be the same no matter how we tame him. That's why he should be with his own kind. That is where he belongs."

Hiccup frowned. Though he completely understood her reasoning, going back to Melody Island was not something he looked forward to. "You know how dangerous that island is. Going back there is too risky."

"I'm going, Hiccup," she insisted, her voice firm and steely. She lifted her chin stubbornly. "Drogon will guard me. I don't need anyone else."

Hiccup's heart lurched at the thought. "Absolutely not," he shot back, sharper than he intended. "That's even worse. I'm not letting you walk straight into that kind of danger, not without me." His gaze softened as he saw the fire in her eyes, knowing she meant every word. "If you're set on this, then we'll do it together. But not yet."

She arched a brow. "Not yet?"

He nodded, determination settling into his voice. "Because I have one more invention to make before we set foot on that island. Something that might just give us a chance if things go sideways."

🏹🏹🏹

Somehow, Astrid found out about their endeavor and as soon as she heard, she insisted on coming along. That lead to Heather joining them. Then, because Heather was going, Snotlout decided that he would go to, to prove his 'selflessness' (which he made a big deal about.) Fishlegs didn't want to be left behind with the twins, so he begrudgingly agreed to come and, finally, Hiccup coerced Ruffnut and Tuffnut to fly with them as well. Dany hadn't wanted everyone to come, but there was no going back now.

Although they were still met with the usual protests, this time they were prepared. While Hiccup worked on his new weapon to counteract the Deathsong's amber, he'd had Dany make moss earplugs for their dragons. They were kind of like the ones he'd made her but with a different material since they needed to make a lot in a short amount of time and moss was more plentiful than wool. Daenerys made sure to bring her own earmuffs, too, to keep herself from being affected by the Deathsong's call.

"Alright, gang, the Deathsong strike is very precise," Hiccup warned them. "Streamlined. So, we need to spread out. That way, it can only go after one of us at a time."

They decided to search the cave system first but came up empty-handed. Hiccup emerged from the shadows, announcing, "it's not in there. That's good news for Garff."

"And bad news for us," Snotlout grumbled.

Dany wasn't about to give up that easily. "We're going to find him. Even if that means he finds us."

"I don't like the sound of that," Snotlout muttered. She ignored him.

The group returned to the air and, while most of them listened for its call, Dany, with her ears covered, kept her eyes peeled for a sign of the familiar bright yellow coloring. The only downside was that she couldn't hear what anyone else was saying, either. She just had Drogon copy what the other dragons were doing. So, when Toothless swooped lower, Drogon followed his lead. She held on tighter to his spike at the abrupt shift.

They flew through spires of rocks that were wreathed in mist. Dry, white bones encased in amber littered the ground. Daenerys was distinctly reminded of the island's eeriness— something she had forgotten until this moment. She shivered and was glad that she had such a large, independent dragon who wasn't affected by mind control.

As they got closer to the source of the noise (or, at least, that's what she assumed), the baby Deathsong began to squirm from its place on her back. She could feel his shifting movement and the slight lash of his tail against her spine.

"Hiccup!"

She supposed he responded to her verbally but didn't hear what he said. He seemed to realize this at the same time and turned around in his saddle to give her a thumbs-up. Then, a glob of amber promptly shot him out of the sky. He and Toothless crashed to the ground, immobilized.

"Hiccup!" Though she couldn't hear her own voice, she could feel that her call was more panicked this time.

The adult Deathsong fired wads of amber at the surrounding riders, knocking each one out of the air too effectively for them to avoid it. Dany was the only one left that hadn't been trapped. She didn't know if it was because the Deathsong viewed Drogon as too big of a threat to take down or it had to take a break after shooting so many bursts at once. Either way, it lost interest in them and descended to take in the prey it had caught. Its eyes gleamed, narrowing as it began creeping toward the fallen riders. Daenerys' heart lurched— Hiccup, Astrid, all of them were vulnerable, glued to the earth in hardening amber.

Then the ground trembled again and Drogon landed heavily between them and the Deathsong, spreading his wings wide. He loosed a furious roar that reverberated wavered on the air, a primal challenge daring the Deathsong to mess with his pack. The Deathsong hesitated, tail flicking, gearing up to launch into a more powerful version of his song.

But before Drogon could attack, Dany leaned forward and pressed a hand between his shoulder blades. "No," she told him firmly, voice muffled to her own ears. "Not yet. We need him. He's the only one who can take care of the little one."

Drogon's rumbling growl eased slightly, but his eyes remained fixed on the other dragon, muscles coiled to strike. Daenerys slid from his back, landing lightly on the ground. She tugged at the straps on her shoulders and set the pack down carefully, her hands steady though her pulse raced. With gentle fingers she lifted Garf into the open and placed him on the grass in front of her. The baby Deathsong blinked up at her. He shuffled closer to her ankle, unwilling to wander.

The adult Deathsong tilted its head, curious about this newcomer who looked so much like him. It padded closer until its shadow loomed over them. It spat a thick glob of amber onto the ground before Garf, expectant, watching him.

"Go on," Dany whispered, kneeling beside Garf. She slipped the earmuffs from her head, figuring she should probably hear what was going on. Thankfully, the adult Deathsong was distracted by the baby so it wasn't singing at the moment.

Garf only stiffened, his head tilting at the sound, but he didn't move. He blinked up at Daenerys as if waiting for more instruction. She cupped his chin gently, turning his face back toward the adult. "No, not me. Him. Listen to him."

The song rose again, filling her chest with its echo, but Garf remained silent. Dany's heart clenched— what if he couldn't do it? She hadn't taught him how.

"Sing," she urged him. "Sing back. You can."

When the baby still didn't respond, the Deathsong's patience snapped. With a shriek it launched another wad of amber— not at Garf, but at her. The glob struck her chest with crushing force, hurling her backward into Drogon's foreleg. Sticky, hardening resin pinned her there like a trapped insect. She gasped, struggling instinctively even though she knew it was fruitless.

Drogon roared, spreading his wings again as fire rose in his throat. He wanted nothing more than to tear the Deathsong apart for attacking his mother. But when Dany wiggled, he could feel her shift against his scales. He froze, choking back the fury that consumed him. While she wouldn't be injured by getting caught in crossfire (in fact, that might actually help free her; it occurred to him that he could melt the amber himself, but he was not the most flexible dragon), grappling with another dragon was a different story. He dared not risk her.

Garf, however, let out a keening wail, his tiny chest expanding with rage. His golden eyes locked on the towering adult, and instinct— something ancient, something tied not to training but to blood— ignited within him. For, unbeknownst to Dany, the song that stirred in Garf's throat had been learned without even trying, taught intrinsically to him through dragon blood flowed through her. The call of dragons was one voice, many tongues: the Deathsong's luring hymn, the Night Fury's battle cry, even Drogon's rumbling bellows— all threads of the same ancient melody. One she had always carried it inside her. It was how she'd been able to calm the baby without even trying and now, that song spilled out of Garf in answer to the adult's call.

Both dragons froze.

The adult Deathsong's calmed, curiosity overtaking its ire. Slowly, it stepped back, head tilting as the baby repeated the itself once more.

Pleased with the baby's change of heart, the adult unfurled its wings and took off, accepting the little one as his own. Garf hesitated, glancing towards Dany. She saw the emotions in his eyes: the fear of leaving her, the desperate need for reassurance.

"Go. You'll be safe with him," she promised the baby dragon.

With that, Garf gave one last lingering look before spreading his small wings and fluttering awkwardly into the air, still not quite used to flying. The adult Death song caught the rhythm of his song again, the baby echoing it, and together they rose into the sky.

Using his new flame-sword, Hiccup freed them in short order and they hastily left the island, not wanting the Deathsongs to get any ideas about eating them. As Hiccup enthused about his latest invention, Dany glanced over her shoulder, back the way they'd come. She hoped Garf would be happy with his new friend; after all, she, too, knew what it was like to be alone in the world, only to finally find the one, right person she could call home.