HTTYH 2 - An Unexpected Saviour

[Ulrika]

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR
HUMAN

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CHAPTER 2 - An Unexpected Saviour

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DATE & TIME : 25th July, evening.
WEATHER CONDITIONS : Slightly cloudy
CHARACTERS INVOLVED : Ulrika, whoever
PREVIOUS THREADS ? HTTYH Chapters 1 and 2
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Ulrika hoisted herself through the last leg of her climb. She crawled over the edge. Finally she was here. She has climbed up here countless times, but it was still a challenge, and extremely risky. But it was worth it. She allowed herself a brief break to get back her breath and let her fingers, knees and toes rest from scaling the cliffside for more than twenty minutes. She lay on her back for a moment, watching the puffy clouds overhead go pink to one side, a dark shade of purple to the other side. Rolling onto her front, she pushed herself back onto her feet, and walked along the archway, which was slightly narrower than before, but she didn't really notice. She wanted her goal.

Ulrika's favourite place was a rocky arch formation on the Berk coastline, about a half an hour's walk away. It was nearly impossible to reach, but Ulrika found a way, with determination and patience, she found a pathway in the rocks and surrounding rock formations that took her to her goal. Up here, she felt free. She felt like she could just jump off the cliff, and she would soar through the air like a dragon could.

It was also a brilliant place for undisturbed sunsets. With the forest way behind her, she had nothing obstructing her view. Just the sky, the ocean and the setting sun, which was a fiery orange, nearing the horizion by the minute. The winds were slightly strong today, messing her hair slightly, but she didn't care - it just augmented the illusion of flight. Sitting at the edge, she cast her legs freely over the edge, feeling nothing but air under her feet.

She stayed there for a while longer, until the sun had finally sank below the ocean waves. It was now getting dark, and Ulrika knew she had to head back before it was terribly dark, and wouldn't be able to see the handholds that she was familiar with.

With a heaving sigh, she stretched, feeling some of her joints pop. She carefully lifted her legs back onto the solid earth, being careful not to jump around incase she slipped and fell. As much as she loved heights, she was terrified of the thought of one harmless slip could lead to her death.

Looking at the view one last time , she turned on her heels and began to head to where she could start a somewhat safe descent...

There was a jolt in the earth as rocks loosened.

She felt the ground slip away beneath her.

The arch had broken.

Ulrika screamed.

[Ulrika]

It was nearing dusk, so Knott decided it was time for some night hunting. She was designed to be invisible in the dark sky. Just before it started to go dark though, she decided she would have a leisurely flight beforehand, to work up an appetite, and of course to use up some of the excellent breezes to coast along.

As she gained altitude, she observed the ground. When the ground grew as dark as the sky, that was when she was most certain she would be invisible to those below. It was rare for anything to come from above that was a threat, so neither moonlight or aurora bothered her during the night.

Her keen eyes spotted movement scurry nearby on the ground. Something furry was scaling up a cliffside with quite some skill. A mountain goat? No, they don't live on the coast. She looked again, her eyes widening in realisation of the creature.

It was the girl again. Again! Knott seemed to see only this human, and no other, except the one her mate possessed. She wondered where other humans were, before snorting. She'd still prefer not to cross any humans. She dipped her head a little, lowering her height to continue watching the girl out of curiosity. She found it amusing how the girl had to use her arms and legs to get up the rock formation, whereas she had wings that effortlessly took her wherever she needed to go.

Knott watched as the girl sat herself at the furthest-most point of the archway. What was she doing? She wanted to investigate, but fear held her back. She was at a comfortable distance. Perhaps when it grew darker, she might come closer... She continued to circle overhead, forgetting that she wanted to hunt for fish.

The Night Fury quickly got bored as the girl didn't do much, she was about to go now, as twilight was dawning upon her, and the perfect time to hunt drew close. But then the girl moved, she was getting up! It re-piqued her interest once more. She observed her walk across the rocky platform, her stomach cringing a little as some rocks slipped from underneath the arch.

But then the whole structure itself collapsed, just as the girl had reached the height of the arch! She fell, and a piercing scream could be heard, which made the female Night Fury's instincts go berzerk. She'd seen the girl get into nasty situations beforehand, but she somehow always got help, one way or another from what she had gathered. Here, there was nothing.

Instantly her wings snapped to her sides, using only her tail and rump flaps to guide her course. She heard the familiar whistle of air stream past her as she gathered speed. Her forelimbs slowly pushed in front of her, ready to grab the child- she was so close.

Knott made a noise as she only just managed grab onto the girls upper arm. She quicky beat her wings before they got any closer to the jagged rocks below. The girl continued yelling, with short gasps for breaths. She must be terrified.

She decided to take her further inland, where it was safe. Knott had often seen her in the forest, so she found a clearing and decided to settle herself down there, not before readjusting her grip so the girl wouldn't completely cripple.

Ulrika still fell, this time not subconsciously not twisting her body or using her arms to break her fall. She sat up painfully, not screaming anymore, but wailing quite loudly. The tears on her cheeks were cooled off quickly by the night air.

Knott landed away from Ulrika. She was cautious about how the girl would react. It was clear that she was upset, but her fear of people was mixing into the blend, making her circle the girl curiously. She needed to be comforted.

Slowly but surely, she edged slowly, keeping her feet read to spring in case Ulrika suddenly lashed out violently, or something similar. The girl mostly ignored her, who had tightened up into a ball, arms around her knees and head ducked.

"It's okay..." Knott said reassuringly, somewhat for herself too. She pushed past the final few feet, now her breath was ruffling the girl's hair. She didn't react straight away. With a few sobs, she raised her head to see the concerned Night Fury. The action made her flinch and retreat a few paces, but the girl wasn't agressive.

Ulrika said something but it was incomprehensible under the sobs and moans. Her head ducked under her arms again. Knott advanced again, sniffing at her hair curiously. What could she do to make her stop making that noise?

Suddenly she heard something in the distance. She was instantly on alert. Something was coming. Her extended scale flaps perked. She listened carefully, it was very faint. It sounded like footsteps. Human footsteps. Her stomach cringed. She looked to the girl, and back to the source of the noise. She decided it'd be better off to go. She'd keep a lookout from the skies, just in case it was a bad human...

[Chad & Nappy & Dagger]

OUTFIT

Chad had left the house early in the morning. Nappy and Dagger had accompanied him as they always had done. They always stayed near him no matter what. Of course Dagger was scared of being picked on by the little kids since their hands could fit around him, but Nappy? Well Chad believed it was because the Boneknapper decided that if the Terrible Terror could follow Chad around well so could he. Besides, Nappy got scratched whenever Chad stopped and the dragon loved a good scratching.

And that was where they were right now. Chad was in the forest with his two dragons. Dagger was curled around Chad's shoulders and Nappy was lying on his side as Chad scratched him. He was laughing at his dragon finding peace in the way that the Boneknapper was just enjoying the love and attention. He had come out here to practice and train. Of course he didn't really need to as he was the trainer, but he still liked to every once in awhile.

His sword lay a few feet away, next to some fruits that were all sliced up. He had been tossing the fruits in the air and then seeing how many times he could slash through them before they went out of his level or hit the ground. It was good fun, and it always left him with a good workout because he had to be fast with the blade. he had to move around knowing exactly where to hit in which he would be able to slice through them the most.

It was approaching twilight now and he knew that other dragons would be coming out, as well as some animals, not wanting to cause anyone harm, and not having any weapons that would be good for hunting, he grabbed his sword and sheathed it. He was about to pick up the fruit, he could probably give them to some animal when he heard a scream ring out through the air that sounded pretty muffled. But when Nappy and Dagger started he knew it was just that. At first he started towards that but after a couple minutes, he heard sobbing closer by. His eyebrows furrowed as he mentioned to Nappy to follow him. Dagger was still wrapped around his shoulders.

As he heard the sobbing increase his quickened his pace to a full out run. Arriving at the clearing, he quickly took in the scene. Ulrika was laying in the fetal position with nothing and no one around. His face covered with worry as he neared her. He squatted down next to her and put his hand on her shoulder as he spoke. "Are you okay? Ulrika. What happened?"[/b] He said worry evident in his voice. Nappy came and lay down next to her. The Boneknapper wanting to make the small girl feel better.

Dagger on the other hand wanted nothing to do with the crying and wailing girl. His eyes turned into slits as he spread his wings and flew out of the clearing. Sitting on a tree a couple feet into the forest he watched the surrounding area and the night sky. Wondering if anyone else would come. Nappy finally lying down on the opposite side of where Chad was kneeling looked at the small girl and gave a whimpered sort of growl, wondering what had happened to her.

Chad tried to turn her towards him to make sure that she wasn't hurt. From what he could see of her she looked fine. Something must have scared her awfully bad for her to be crying. In all the time that he had been her instructor, he had not once seen her shed a single tear. But to wail and cry? This was not her. Concern coated his face as he looked at her and waited for her to speak, trying to think of some way to comfort her.

[Grima, Stahl & Flint]

Grima had been working all day, doing his chores around the house. He’d done everything he’d been asked off to good standard, though they way they were treating him you’d think he’d skipped work entirely. It also hadn’t helped that Bryn had been getting in his way and bugging him all the time. He had been close to snapping so much that day.

He left the house and stopped as the door closed, taking slow and steady breaths before walking again. He was free for the night now, and he quickly walked in the direction of the cave Stahl and Flint would be waiting for him in. It didn’t take him too long to get to the cave, but it was an empty one he arrived at. His spirits dropped even more. Stahl had obviously gotten bored of waiting for him and they’d gone hunting without him.

He sighed and left the cave. He didn’t feel like waiting for them in there. He just wondered for a bit through the forest really. He didn’t expect to bump into them, just felt like wondering. It was getting dark when he heard the scream. He knew that voice and immediately twigged what it was. Ulrika was in trouble.

Instinctively he ran in the direction of the scream, knowing her she was in over her head and needed rescuing. He got there and saw Ulrika there on the floor, wrapped up in a ball. Chad was by her, as was his bonenapper. Grima only partly took those facts in though. He was fixed on the girl. She was...crying...crying! Ulrika was crying!

He had rarely ever seen her cry since they stopped being friends, and whenever he did it caused the same reaction. It froze him to the spot, completely and utterly speechless. He had no clue what to do, what to say.

"Wha..." he got out at last, "What happened?"

[Ulrika]

It had all happened so fast. Ulrika was still processing what just occurred, completely freaked out. She had fell... but it was that Night Fury again. The dragon had saved her? Finally coming to terms with what happened, she looked up with bleary eyes. The dragon had been just there, trying to comfort her.

But the first thing she saw was a huge Boneknapper laying down not far away. She froze slightly, before relaxing as she recognised the beast, and noticed that Chad had his hand on her shoulder. The huge dragon was trying to appear friendly, but she didn't really want that right now. She shifted to turn the other way from Nappy.

She was sure it was the Night Fury that had saved her... Where was it? She ignored Chad's question, still sniffing and sobbing, instead trying to squint into the darkness of the forest. Was it hiding? It didn't occur to her that the Night Fury was instead high in the sky, invisible to all of them.

Ulrika didn't really want to talk right now, not yet. She simply wanted to confirm what had happened - that it was very real and actually took place.

"I..." She started of a sudden, almost suprising herself as well. "I f-fell from a c-cliff." She wiped her eyes slightly as they grew foggy with tears, still quite upset over the ordeal. She didn't realise her statement sounded silly, being in a forest where any places to fall from weren't dangerously high at all.

Then she heard Grima's voice behind her. Her insides turned to ice. Oh no, not Grima! She didn't want him to see her like this! She froze for a moment, trying her best to completely stop crying now. She didn't turn to acknowledge Grima's presence. He would surely take the opportunity to make fun of her like this. Ulrika decided she'd finally finish telling the story, for Chad at least.

"It was that N-Night Fury again," She just about managed to say, brushing her face again. She had told of her ventures from five days ago to her colleagues and teachers before - with Grima somewhat being a witness, he had brushed off the encounter as a hallucination from the cold and tiredness. "It... saved me."

Forcing herself to calm down was working wonders, though she still looked like she had been crying badly, and her voice was broken. "I wish a cooler dragon saved me though. Night Furies are ugly." She muttered, more in character than before.

Despite this, she was honestly grateful that the dragon had saved her, regardless of appearance. She wouldn't be alive if Knott hadn't come to the rescue.

[Chad & Nappy & Dagger]

Chad looked at her until she finally looked up at him. A small smile came to his lips as a way of reassuring her to tell him. he wouldn't judge her. He was the teacher, he was supposed to be understanding and caring to all of his pupils. He waited until she wanted to speak not wanting to pressure her into it. He saw her turn to Nappy but then turn her back to him.

Chad nodded to Nappy, giving him the sign that he should move away. So Nappy did. He went and sat on the edge of the clearing. Once he was lying down, Dagger flew from the tree to land between the horns of the Boneknapper.

Chad continued to watch Ulrika, looking around when she did trying to see what she was looking for. But like he saw the first time he arrived there, there was nothing besides him, Ulrika, Nappy, and Dagger. But then a couple seconds later Grima appeared. He stood there speechless just staring at Ulrika. Chad narrowed his eyes, wanting the boy to not judge her and/or mock her about this.

Ulrika seemed to not notice him and after a couple seconds started to speak with a shaky voice. A cliff? There were no cliffs around here. He looked at her puzzlement covering his face. "Ulrika. You are in the forest. There are no cliffs around here." He said trying to get her to talk more. But then, Grima started to talk and Ulrika froze. Chad sat back watching her trying to stop crying and turn to him as if blocking Grima out. He gave a small smile to urge her to continue talking.

So, the Night Fury again. Chad's eyes lifted top Grima wondering if maybe the kid wasn't entirely sure that Ulrika had seen one. "Are you sure it was a Night Fury?" There wasn't any indication right now that she should be hallucinating. But maybe she had dreamed she had fallen from a cliff and a Night Fury had saved her.

He couldn't help but give a small laugh as he heard her last comment. There was the Ulrika he came to now as one of the students. He had seen Asther's Night Fury, and of course Mitch had one too. But he thought they actually looked sort of cool He would never trade Nappy or Dagger in for one of course. But they were unique. Different.

[Grima, Stahl & Flint]

Grima could tell his entrance had made Ulrika not want to talk and he could hear her attempts to not cry in front of him. Neither of them were acknowledging him, which slightly annoyed Grima but the scene still puzzled him. Why is Ulrika crying. all he’d heard of the conversation was Chad saying there were no cliffs around.

He sighed when she did finally talk again. She’d been talking about the ‘Night Fury’ that she’d met in that cave and had destroyed her bow. He didn’t buy a word of it, purely because she could never meet a dragon without causing it to want to kill her, so the idea of her surviving a dragon she’d never be able to escape ludicrous.

But she was keeping it up. But what did mean by it saving her. Chad looked at Grima, who shook his head and shrugged his shoulders in an ‘I don’t think I believe it’ manner. He laughed at the comment she’d made about the ‘Night Fury’. Only Ulrika would insult a dragon like that, regardless of whatever it was.

He didn’t believe what she was saying; well he didn’t consciously believe it. His instincts wanted him to believe it. She was only in this state when she was scared, and she was only scared when she knew she had no way of not getting badly hurt. No dragon could cause her to have that kind of fear, in fact the only thing she’d ever be that visible afraid of would be a far fall (he had saved her from one once).

Maybe that was why Chad had made the comment about the cliffs, she’s said she’d fallen off one and the night fu... Grima stopped himself there, he was trying to believe what she was saying. He was going to see what happened rather than be an arse. For now.

[Ulrika]

Ulrika frowned as Chad stated the obvious. Her surroundings didn't help at all convey her truths. She shot Grima a dirty look as he sighed at her story.

"Of-of course it was a Night Fury," Ulrika cut in, not realising Chad was aiming the question more towards Grima. "It was black and had short fat legs and fat eyes."

Both of the men laughed at her calling the Night Fury ugly. She folded her arms and gave her signature pouting-look, that generally translated that she did not approve. Ulrika finally got to her feet.

"Why are you finding it funny!" She whined unhappily, she was still distraught from the experience, but she was trying to hide it now to try not damage her reputation further. If it got out that she'd been crying... Well, Ulrika didn't want to be taken for a wussy. She stepped away from both of them slightly.

Ulrika glanced at Grima, frowning. As much as she didn't like to remember it, he had already seen her in this kind of state before, in fact, he had been the rescuer. Because of that fact, she knew that Grima would understand somewhat how she was feeling. And right now she didn't want to be antagonised.

"I could've died and you guys are just laughing..." Ulrika turned away. She wasn't quite sure what to think right now, still flustered, now a feeling a little bit hurt from their jab at her comments.

[Chad & Nappy & Dagger]

Chad smirked at her description of the Night Fury. It did sound like one. His eyes shot from Grima to Ulrika. "What I mean to say was, are you sure you didn't dream it was a Night Fury?" He paused not wanting the little girl to feel bad but needing to understand the situation better. "What I mean to say was, are you sure you didn't get hurt, like hit your head? And then dream all that up? Then when you woke up here you assumed it was all real and it scared you?"

He wasn't trying to make fun of the young girl, but it just didn't make sense. There was no way a Night Fury would've left Ulrika alone after going through the trouble saving her in the first place. He glanced up to the sky, to see if he could see any trace of it, but whatever was there, was long gone. Or it could've been the darkness. The darkness, duh! The teacher would've slapped himself in the head had the kids not been there.

They wouldn't be able to see the Night Fury at all. It would've blended in with the night sky. So, Ulrika could be telling the truth then. When she finally started to stand, Chad got out of his squatted position next to her as well. "Ulrika. I'm not laughing at you. You’re just making fun of a dragon and that's very like you. So, I'm glad you’re no longer down in the dumps." Like his dragons that were lying not far from him, he disliked kids crying. He had enough of that daily with his little sister.

He groaned slightly at what she said next. Of course they weren't laughing at her because she almost died! They were laughing at her comments on the dragon. He looked to Grima shaking his head, not getting how the young ViT could deal with a girl like Ulrika. But he had to give him props. He was pretty good to the girl. He looked over to his dragon and gave a small whistle. Dagger flew from the branch to wrap his small body around Chad's shoulder. He rubbed the Terrible Terrors head as the little grey and orange dragon glared at the girl who had been wailing not moments ago.

Nappy, on the other hand, stayed behind Chad, eyeing the girl warily. The Boneknapper didn't trust the little girl since she had basically given him the cold shoulder. It was the first time that had happened to him before and he didn't understand why. "Ulrika we want to help you. But you have to understand. What your saying doesn't really make sense." He looked to her not wanting to get her upset again.

[Grima, Stahl & Flint]

There were so many things that Grima’s gut instincts wanted him to say, insults that would normally fly off the tongue. But that evening they caught in his mouth. Ulrika crying had really thrown him, so he didn’t make any jokes or jibes.

He just watched as she got more whiny and pouty. She moved slightly away from the guys then looked at Grima. He could see on her face the message, ‘please don’t be an arsehole; I don’t need it right now.’ And he wasn’t going to today, though only for today.

He heard Chad’s theory, wasn’t sure whether he liked the theory or not. The only thing that made Ulrika’s claims credible in his head was her description of Night furies. She wouldn’t imagine the awesome dragon she’s always wanted to have to looks totally pants in her eyes. If she imagined a night fury it would be the most awe inspiring thing she would ever see (whether it was that awe inspiring to Grima or anyone else wouldn’t matter of course).

Grima sneered slightly at Chad’s comment, disbelieving that he would think Ulrika’s comments meant she was better. She was more of her own mind, but not better. Chad looked at Grima, who realized he wanted help. Grima didn’t want to help her, not because he didn’t feel he shouldn’t but because he knew nowadays he couldn’t, not really.

So he helped in the only way he knew he could. He turned around and started walking away.

(Btw, Grima and Ulrika are well known by everyone to have a very bad relationship, more than half the times they're together involve a fight within it.)

[Ulrika]

Ulrika didn't asnwer any of Chad's questions. She had said what happened to her, but he wasn't buying any of it. "'Course it makes sense..." She grumbled under her breath. He made a comment about her no longer being sad - it was merely a facade, she didn't want to be humiliated enough as it was.

Chad whistled, which made Ulrika finally turn around. It turned out that he was just calling Dagger, Chad's Terrible Terror which had now settled itself on his shoulder. She shot the dragon a look, remembering those times when she 'played' with him with Grima.

Speaking of whom, Ulrika's rival had walked off. She huffed, turning away again and readjusting her folded arms. There was no way he could have helped anyway... Not anymore. She was glad Grima had gone, but she was sure he'd probably continue to make remarks about this moment later on, when she wasn't overly emotional. Ulrika hoped Chad wouldn't bring him back.

A cool night breeze wafted through the forest, giving Ulrika goosebumps. Her right arm came up to rub her other arm in reaction. As she did so, she felt something odd. With a slight gasp she looked to her arm, twisting it to try and see what she felt. It felt like grazes where her tattoo was. If the Night Fury had damaged her body art, she would be one mad Ulrika.

Unfortunately it was too dark to see if the damage was too great. She groaned at that fact. Perhaps it was time to go home. There would be torchlight in the village.

"I'm going home." Ulrika finally said it was getting late, anyway. "I don't need help." She added defiantly. She then began to walk away, somewhat randomly. Since she hadshe wasn't quite aware of her current location, being dropped in the forest by the Night Fury, she planned to find her bearings as she went along. She most definitely didn't want to get lost and almost catch pnemonia or something for a second time within a week.

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Left it open, so you can either let Ulrika get lost and find her way home or actually point her in the right direction home... or whatever. XD

[Chad & Nappy & Dagger]

Chad’s jaw just about dropped when Grima turned away. He knew that they got into fights a lot, but he figured it was all just an act. I mean when he was their age he would fight with the girls he liked. Wasn’t that still how it went along? He shook his head but said nothing to the boy. After all, right now class wasn’t in session. It wasn’t like he was really in charge of him anyways. Especially when he wasn’t harming anyone or anything. His mind flashed back to the day he had caught both Ulrika and Grima ‘playing’ with him. Poor guy already had enough trouble as it was.

He turned back to Ulrika just in time to see her shoot Dagger a look then turn away again. He kept silent wondering how he could make things better. He didn’t like not seeing his pupil’s act the way they were supposed to act. It made him feel disappointed in himself. Chad heard her speak and for a second he was hopeful that maybe something had changed in her demeanor. But alas, it hasn’t. He nodded his head and started to turn in the direction of the village. But he stopped when Nappy didn’t turn with him.

He turned back around and saw that Ulrika wasn’t headed in the right direction. Where she was headed would take her back to densest parts of the forest. He gave a small sigh. This probably wouldn’t help the situation, but he didn’t want getting sick or even worse if she stayed up past night. ”Ulrika.” He winced slightly hoping she wouldn’t get mad, even though he was only helping out once again. ”Town is this way.” He said pointing and nodding in the direction that he had been heading towards a few seconds ago.

He waited to see what she would do before nodding and speaking. ”See you in class in a couple days.” He had given them a day off and he hoped they would take it. Who knew what he had planned for them. And with that he started walking off once again in the direction he had started off in. This time Nappy did follow behind him. The only sounds made from the trio were the crunch of Chad’s boots on the ground, Nappy’s feet stepping on the ground, and his bones rattling slightly when he stepped.

((OOC: Haha I know that and so does Chad. ^.^ And hope that is good! We should do the Dagger/Ulrika/Grima thread xD it would be hilarious lol))