"Lua~!" Hiccup opened the door and called out to her with a cheerful voice. "I have a surprise for you!"
Lua, who had been relaxing in the sun with Toothless, got up and approached. She was very curious to know what Hiccup had made for her.
"Ta-da!" Hiccup showed her a brand-new saddle.
Lua roared excitedly and circled around Hiccup. Toothless smiled when he saw how happy Lua was.
"Finally! My new saddle!" Lua jumped on top of Hiccup.
"And well deserved," Toothless growled, nodding in agreement.
"Ah! No!" Hiccup put his arms in front of his face, trying to protect himself from her licking. "Lua! That takes forever to come off!"
Lua climbed off him and started laughing in the most draconic way possible.
"You learned that perfectly from me," Toothless puffed out his chest.
"Put it on already, Hiccup! I want to test it and see if this new saddle is really good," Lua stepped closer and lowered her head.
Hiccup made a disgusted face as he wiped the saliva off his face, even shuddering a little. He rubbed the saliva onto his clothes before starting to adjust the new saddle at the base of Lua's neck.
"I made some improvements compared to the old one. It's softer underneath now, I added thicker leather for the chest piece, some extra supports, and a few more holders for bags. Comfortable and very useful." Hiccup stepped back after finishing fastening the saddle. "Look at that, it turned out great. What do you think, girl?"
Lua began showing off her new saddle, clearly very happy.
"It looks great on you," Toothless complimented.
While the two dragons played, someone approached Hiccup: the same boy Lua had met in the forest on the day the Changewings invaded Berk, searching for their stolen eggs.
"Uh," Cobalt stepped closer, a bit awkward. "Excuse me, Hiccup."
"Yes? Who are you?" Hiccup looked at him.
"My name is Cobalt Larson, and I wanted to know how... how I can sign up for the Dragon Academy," Cobalt looked away, clearly nervous.
"Oh!" Hiccup looked surprised for a moment. "Yes, yes. We don't usually get that many people signing up for the Academy, but of course, you can join."
"Great!" Cobalt broke into a wide smile.
"We just need to find a dragon for you. Is there any species you feel particularly attached to?" Hiccup asked.
"Ah, about that..." Cobalt rubbed the back of his neck. "I kind of already have a dragon. And I think it would be better if only you and your two dragons came with me. You know, Mirage is a bit shy."
"Sure, what kind of dragon is Mirage?" Hiccup asked, raising an eyebrow.
Cobalt smiled a little awkwardly. Lua and Toothless raised an eyebrow as well, finding it strange that he didn't want to say right away what species Mirage was.
o0o0o
Cobalt ended up leading them into the forest after all. And when they saw what kind of shy dragon Mirage was, Toothless immediately began to growl and stepped in front of Hiccup and Lua protectively.
Mirage is a Changewing!
"Wait! No!" Cobalt stepped in front of them. "Mirage is no longer our enemy!"
"Your dragon is a Changewing?!" Hiccup's eyes widened.
Mirage stayed behind Cobalt and became very protective when Toothless growled. Mirage wrapped his tail around Cobalt.
"Wait! I know you. Aren't you the same Changewing who tried to kill Cobalt?!" Lua was shocked by this.
"Ah yes..." Mirage looked away. "But... the past is the past, right? Hahaha." Mirage laughed awkwardly. "I ended up bonding with this viking somehow... Something about him." Mirage looked at Cobalt. "It seemed to reflect me... and now he's mine! No one is going to steal this viking from me!"
Lua approached Mirage without fear, smiling.
"Lua! Be careful! We can't trust him like that!" Toothless grew agitated.
"Oh, it's fine," Lua gave Toothless a look, which calmed him a bit, though he remained wary. "Your name is Mirage, right?"
"Actually... the viking started calling me that not long ago, and I really liked it. Before that, I didn't have a name at all." Mirage looked at Cobalt with grateful eyes. "I'm glad to know you're more willing to forget the scars of the past."
"Ah, I think it's that old saying: yesterday's enemy is today's friend... or something like that." If Lua could, she would have put a hand on her chin while trying to remember the saying.
Hiccup felt more at ease when he saw that Lua reacted well to Mirage and wasn't aggressive. Cobalt silently thanked the gods that this hadn't turned into a fight between the three dragons. Toothless wasn't as pleased and remained very suspicious.
"And how exactly did you manage to earn the trust of a Changewing?" Hiccup asked, still impressed.
"I don't know. I think Mirage chose me for some reason," Cobalt scratched under Mirage's chin, making him purr. "And I wanted to join the Academy, especially now that I have such a unique dragon." Suddenly, Mirage spat a bit of acid onto the ground.
"Sorry..." Mirage looked away, a little embarrassed.
"I'm really glad you decided to join the Academy! Just imagine how many things we're going to discover about Changewings! This is amazing! And I'm sure Fishlegs is going to faint when he sees this!"
"I just hope it's the good kind of fainting," Cobalt chuckled softly.
Lua smiled, and Mirage watched the humans as they talked and discussed how to introduce Mirage and Cobalt as the newest members to the rest of the riders.
Toothless didn't like it one bit that both Hiccup and Lua were more focused on the new members.
o0o0o
The introduction of Cobalt and Mirage was... chaotic, to say the least.
Fishlegs fainted from excitement when he finally managed to get close to a Changewing without fearing the dragon would spit acid in his face.
Astrid was just as stunned as Hiccup had been the first time he saw Mirage.
The twins kept bombarding Cobalt with ideas on how to use Mirage's acid for pranks and "elaborate" plans.
Snotlout tried not to show that he was impressed, and failed. He kept asking over and over how Cobalt had managed to tame Mirage.
Cobalt actually got along well with everyone except Snotlout. He would NEVER forget that it was Snotlout who had made his mother trade Gustav and put the Changewing eggs in danger.
Hiccup had to calm things down before they spiraled out of control. The worst reaction came from Stoick and Gobber, who understandably tried to chase Mirage away when they first saw him. But after everything was explained, they calmed down, though they demanded that Mirage be kept under close watch. The people of Berk would remain suspicious for a long time after the last Changewing attack, even if it had been justified by Snotlout's idiotic actions.
Now, moving away from the vikings' reactions, let's look at the dragons' reactions, starting with Lua:
She liked Mirage quite a lot, and the two of them got along very well from the very beginning. They both seemed to share the same sense of humor, even though Mirage sometimes didn't understand what she was saying.
Toothless wasn't nearly as pleased. He was still wary because of the Changewing attack, even knowing it had been over an egg, which to dragons is the most precious thing of all, even if some dragon species don't fully share the same view.
Meatlug remained calm and liked Mirage's presence, recognizing that he is a very loyal dragon and protective of his flock. Mirage even explained that he had asked to leave his original flock in order to join this one.
Barf and Belch didn't really mind much; they were actually eager to see more of Mirage's acid in action.
Hookfang was quite arrogant, challenging Mirage to a friendly duel to see who was stronger. Mirage accepted, but Lua stopped the two of them before they could duel and cause trouble.
Stormfly liked Mirage's personality and respects him as an equal, since she could tell that Mirage would protect anyone in the flock.
Now, what did Mirage think of the other vikings?
He only disliked Snotlout, obviously. He was the one who kidnapped the eggs and used them as a bargaining tool. As for the twins, Mirage didn't like being surrounded by the two of them while they kept throwing out ideas about what to do using him.
He immediately respected Fishlegs, since he returned the egg as soon as he realized his mistake the first time and later returned the last of the eggs that Mirage's former flock had been searching for.
As for the rest? He liked everyone, including the other dragons, even Toothless, despite the fact that Toothless doesn't like him.
And now? What are the Dragon Riders, along with their two new members, doing? Training. What kind of training? Dragon-calling training.
Hiccup started by calling for Toothless, which sounded almost like a kind of howl.
"For this you brought us all the way out here? To shout into the wind? I bet the newbie must find all this boring," Snotlout said.
"Actually, I found today's lesson pretty interesting," Cobalt said, sitting on top of a rock.
"Just wait and see, Snotlout," Fishlegs said.
"Dragon calling," Snotlout rolled his eyes and sat down on a large rock.
Cobalt paid close attention. As the newcomer, he knew he would have to work hard to earn his place among the Dragon Riders.
Suddenly, Snotlout grabbed something shiny to distract the twins and amuse himself, but after Hiccup scolded him, Snotlout put it away.
Hiccup let out another howl, trying to call Toothless.
"This isn't going to lead to anything," Snotlout rolled his eyes.
Suddenly, Toothless answered with his own roar and came over to them.
"Were you saying something?" Fishlegs raised an eyebrow.
"And now the Skrill!" Hiccup took a deep breath as he shouted more sharply, failing a few times.
Lua's roar is higher-pitched than Toothless's, sounding almost like electric crackles or sometimes a thunderous hiss. Lua responded more quickly and arrived just like Toothless.
"Well... I swear Hiccup said something about having fish eyes," Lua said as she approached.
"Really? To me it sounded like he was saying he has a grass head," Toothless started laughing, and Lua laughed along with him.
Just like humans have different languages and dialects, dragons have something similar as well.
Every dragon speaks Dragonese, the language of dragons, but there are certain variations of roars and sounds that only the species itself can truly understand. One of these is the calling roar. It's something different and unique to each dragon. Of course, anyone can hear it, but only the species being called can understand it.
Each of the riders called their dragons, some with more ease than others. Cobalt called Mirage after three failed roars; it was only on the fourth that he succeeded.
"Did Cobalt just yell that he likes kissing frogs?" Mirage's eyes widened in surprise.
"Haha! They're training dragon calls. Better than nothing," Lua said.
Toothless watched from the corner of his eye the interaction between the Skrill and the Changewing.
o0o0o
Later that same day, Toothless, Lua, and Hiccup were on a nearby hill, watching the village as everyone prepared for the Day of Bork, a festival held to honor Bork, a brave viking who dedicated his life to studying dragons and creating the Book of Dragons.
Hiccup looked a little sad while Lua and Toothless played, calm and relaxed. Astrid arrived riding Stormfly, and soon the three dragons began playing together.
"Hiccup?" Astrid asked worriedly as she approached.
"It's just that... Toothless and Lua don't have other Night Furies or Skrills. They're the only ones of their species in Berk. Stormfly has other Deadly Nadders, Hookfang has an entire flock, and even Mirage has an island full of other Changewings." Hiccup looked at his two dragons. "But them... it's just the two of them."
"They have you. And if you want my opinion, it doesn't look like Toothless or Lua mind at all. They seem pretty happy," Astrid said, looking at the two of them.
"Yeah, you understood what I meant," Hiccup said, looking at the two of them.
"Hiccup, Toothless and Lua will be fine. Stormfly!" Astrid called her dragon so she could mount again. "Oh! I almost forgot, your father and Gobber are looking for you. They want to see you in the Great Hall. They looked serious." With that, Astrid flew off with Stormfly.
"See you later!" Stormfly roared to Toothless and Lua.
"See you!" the two dragons replied with a roar.
"Ah! Great! Happy Bork Week to me," Hiccup rolled his eyes.
o0o0o
Stoick and Gobber gave Hiccup everything Bork had left behind in records and books, even his diary. Hiccup was almost pulling an all-nighter reading through the documents and ended up finding those forged pieces of information about Night Furies that Mildew had planted.
Lua was restless, not liking this at all, already knowing that Hiccup would be disappointed when he discovered the truth.
"Why are you so restless?" Toothless asked, yawning.
"Uh..." Lua thought of an excuse. "Aren't you curious to know if there are others of your species out there?" She decided to change the subject.
"Hmm, no. I already have you and Hiccup. That's what matters to me," Toothless replied. "I don't see why finding another Night Fury is important. Do you care about finding another Skrill?"
Lua fell silent for a moment, thinking about the question.
"I don't know... maybe...?" Lua shrugged. "It's not important."
"You know, Lua... I've been wondering about something," Toothless changed the subject and looked at her. "You said you grew up with your parents, but when we first met, you didn't know how to fly and you acted differently..."
Lua froze. She had already told him that she wasn't a dragon, but a human, yet Toothless had never taken it seriously, and since then she had never brought it up again, preferring to leave things that way.
"U-Um... it's complicated! But... I... I had an accident when I fell! And I lost... lost some of my memories and abilities," Lua made up the first lie that came to mind. (I guess this lie will have to do! He didn't believe me the first time, and I don't think he would believe me again... )
Toothless didn't question her any further. Seeing how uncomfortable and nervous she was about the subject, he even felt a little bad for having pushed her.
"I'm sorry if I asked something too intrusive," Toothless lowered his ears.
"It's okay..." Lua sighed.
Hiccup, meanwhile, was excited after finishing Bork's notes, since there was a chance of finding the Night Island, an island exclusive to Night Furies, if he could locate the last place Bork had lived.
o0o0o
The next morning, Hiccup gathered all the Dragon Riders, and they set off toward Bork's final dwelling.
"Let me see if I understand this. To find the island, we have to find Bork's cave?" Snotlout questioned, not very excited about going on this mission.
"The last place he lived," Fishlegs added.
"Who would live in a cave?!" Astrid couldn't understand how anyone could manage to live in a cave.
"I'm with Astrid on this! How does someone survive in cave conditions?!" Cobalt raised an eyebrow.
"Who wouldn't live in one?!" Tuffnut exclaimed.
"There must be something there about Night Island and how to find it!" Hiccup said.
Lua approached Mirage, noticing that he now had a saddle.
"The saddle looks good on you!" Lua said, looking at him.
"Really? I thought it wouldn't match my scales!" Mirage smiled.
Cobalt was holding what looked like vines (I'm not really sure what they'd be called) that Changewings have behind their horns, using them like reins.
They finally reached the mountain where the cave was located; now they just had to find it somehow.
Suddenly, Snotlout let out what he thought was a Changewing dragon call, which made Mirage stare at him.
"What kind of call was that?!" Mirage looked somewhat offended.
"What did he say?" Lua asked.
"You don't even want to know," Mirage huffed.
Snotlout and Fishlegs started arguing about what a Changewing call was supposed to sound like, but Cobalt didn't like that at all and said both of them were completely wrong, since he was the rider of a Changewing. Mirage let out his own call to emphasize the point.
And unfortunately, Snotlout challenged Fishlegs to make a Thunderdrum call... which worked, far too well. A Thunderdrum appeared and immediately began attacking the group, forcing everyone to split up to avoid the dragon's assault. At the same time, Snotlout's call managed to attract a female Changewing, who seemed very pleased.
The group ended up separating. Hiccup and Toothless headed toward the cave, while Astrid, Stormfly, Fishlegs, Meatlug, the Twins, and Barf and Belch distracted and drove the Thunderdrum away.
Cobalt, Mirage, and Lua were left responsible for rescuing Snotlout.
"Alright... Mirage! Let's try talking to that Changewing," Cobalt said, guiding Mirage to approach carefully.
"Help! I don't want to be a dragon's toy!" Snotlout shouted as the Changewing tossed him up and down.
"This is going to be difficult," Mirage sighed. "The females of my species are very possessive."
"Difficult, not impossible!" Lua tried to stay positive.
Mirage moved closer and tried to talk to the Changewing, but she wouldn't hear any of it, even trying to spit acid at him. Mirage dodged it.
"I don't think the peaceful way is going to work," Cobalt frowned, trying to come up with a plan. "Mirage, spit acid! But... be careful not to hit Snotlout."
"I don't feel good about this!" Snotlout said, worried and afraid of getting hit by acid.
Mirage advanced and spat his acid at the Changewing, who roared in pain before dropping Snotlout and turning invisible. Snotlout screamed as he began to fall off the cliff. Lua managed to catch him just in time, feeling Snotlout gripping her horns tightly as he trembled slightly.
"Yes! We did it, Mirage!" Cobalt cheered happily, but the Changewing reappeared and lunged at them. "Oh no!"
Mirage turned invisible, but it didn't help much, since the saddle and Cobalt himself gave away where Mirage was.
"Whoa! Looks like we're going to have to work on the camouflage!" Cobalt said, ducking to avoid another blast of acid.
Lua arrived right after, still carrying Snotlout on her back. Electricity ran through her body as Lua nearly hit the Changewing with an electrical blast. Seeing how many enemies she was facing, the Changewing decided to flee immediately.
"Snotlout!" Hookfang roared, calling for his rider.
"Hookfang!" Snotlout was relieved and happy to see his dragon again.
Hookfang grabbed Snotlout by the collar of his clothes and tossed him back into the saddle.
Hiccup and Toothless emerged from the cave just before it collapsed due to the Thunderdrum's roar (which the rest of the team had managed to drive away).
"Toothless! How did you manage to get out of that cave-in?" Lua asked as she approached him.
"I used sound! I didn't even know I could do that, honestly, but I decided to try, and by the Dragon God, it worked!" Toothless said, smiling and puffing out his chest proudly. "I can show you in Berk!"
"Of course, I'd love that!"
o0o0o
Back in Berk, already at night, Hiccup was transferring the information he had managed to write down onto a larger sheet.
"It says here that there's a reason why there are only Night Furies on the island... It seems you're not very friendly toward other dragons, especially Skrills," Hiccup said.
"Really?" Toothless looked surprised by that.
"I wouldn't believe that, but... I think the part about Skrills might be true. A lot of dragons don't like us. I call it prejudice!" Lua huffed.
"That's because they've never met a Skrill like you," Toothless nudged Lua under the chin with his head.
Lua purred at the display of affection. Hiccup watched the interaction between Toothless and Lua and grew quite thoughtful. Toothless is a Night Fury who had always been around a Skrill, Lua, and Hiccup had never recorded Toothless being aggressive toward her (or other dragons). Still, Hiccup dismissed the thought, assuming it was because Toothless was a tamed Night Fury and behaved differently from wild Night Furies.
Hiccup then made the foolish decision to go alone with Toothless, thinking that would make it safer to get close to the other Night Furies.
"You're not leaving me behind!" Lua jumped in front of Toothless and growled.
"Lua! You can't come with us, it's dangerous," Hiccup said seriously, frowning. "Come on, Toothless."
Toothless looked away before flying off. Lua stared after him and huffed.
"Great... now how am I supposed to stop them from getting captured by the Outcasts?" Lua decided to follow them in secret.
Of course, Skrills are very noisy, so she would keep a safe distance and track them by scent, even though tracking wasn't anywhere near her strong suit.
o0o0o
Lua finally managed to reach the supposed Night Island after doing her best to stay unnoticed by Hiccup and Toothless.
From a distance, she saw that Hiccup was already waiting far away from Toothless, while the dragon moved closer to the spot where the fake Night Fury was.
From above, she could see the Outcasts hidden behind rocks with capture nets and bolas, ready to throw them at Toothless. She would not allow what happened in the series to happen again here. If she was in this world, then it had to be to make changes. And she was going to do exactly that.
Lua dove toward the ground, sparks crackling across her body as she prepared her electric shot.
"Toothless, duck!" she shouted as she fired her lightning.
Toothless's sharp reflexes kicked in, and he dodged the bolas that were thrown at him. At the same time, Lua struck the spot where two Outcasts were hiding. Her lightning bolt exploded on contact with the ground, forcing the two Outcasts to jump aside to avoid it.
Hiccup's eyes widened, both in fear and shock. He called out to the two dragons while running closer, but another Outcast burst from his hiding place and grabbed him by the arm.
"Hiccup!" both dragons roared and growled as they faced the surrounding Outcasts.
"Go to Hiccup! I'll handle the Outcasts!" Lua said, grabbing one of them with her claws and throwing him away.
Toothless nodded and rushed to his rider, firing a plasma blast that hit the Outcast who was holding Hiccup.
Lua fired another bolt of lightning toward the Outcasts who were slowly beginning to surround her, trying to trap her with nets.
"Buddy!" Hiccup immediately hugged Toothless, relieved that he was safe.
Toothless shoved Hiccup so he could climb into the saddle and be more secure. Toothless then struck an Outcast who had come up behind them with a powerful tail swipe.
Another lightning explosion echoed in the background.
"Good thing Lua followed us!" Hiccup focused his attention on Lua.
"No, no," Alvin's voice made Hiccup stiffen. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
"Alvin!" Hiccup gritted his teeth. "Was this all your plan?!"
"You'd better be careful with your next moves, dragon trainer," Alvin said as he walked to the side.
Hiccup and Toothless's eyes widened when they saw Lua captured again. She had run out of lightning and needed time to recharge. If she were in a storm, she would have unlimited lightning shots. The Outcasts used wooden staffs with iron chains to pin her to the ground: one around her neck, another around her leg, one around her tail, and another wrapped around her torso.
They pulled hard enough to keep her down, while two Outcasts pointed spears at her.
"It's dragon trainer! And what do you want, Alvin?!" Hiccup demanded.
Toothless began to growl when he saw Lua in that situation.
"Captured again... they say the second time's the charm, but it doesn't feel like it," Lua muttered, looking at the spears pointed at her.
"I want a dragon trainer!" Alvin exclaimed, placing his hands on his hips.
"I'm not going to train your dragons, Alvin!" Hiccup said.
"Then this Skrill will remain in my possession!" Alvin said, pointing his axe at Lua.
Toothless roared, threatening Alvin, and Hiccup had to calm him down before the situation got even worse.
"Oh, boy, I'm sure I'll get my dragons trained sooner or later, if you want to see this Skrill alive," Alvin threatened.
"Toothless! Go back to Berk!" Lua roared, and an Outcast struck her neck with a spear, making her grunt in pain.
"Lua! No! I have to save you!" Toothless growled.
"But you can't do it alone! Take Hiccup and gather the others! Then come back and save me! It'll be better that way!" Lua roared back.
Toothless frowned and huffed angrily, not at Lua, but at the Outcasts. Still, Lua was right. It would be better and safer to gather the other riders and dragons to rescue her.
Toothless spread his wings and beat them, lifting himself into the air.
"Hey! Toothless, what are you doing?!" Hiccup was shocked by his friend's actions.
"Hmm, looks like you're running away, dragon trainer?! But I'll warn you! You have only one night and one day if you want this Skrill to stay alive," Alvin called out as he watched them leave.
Lua looked at Alvin, frightened. She had never been in a situation like this before. Being captured by Dagur and the Berserkers had been completely different. She had been in Berk and knew how things would turn out. But now...
Now she had no idea what was going to happen, or what Alvin planned to do with her. All Lua could do was hope that Toothless, Hiccup, and the others would come up with a good plan to rescue her.
"Bring the chains and the muzzle! We're heading back to the Outcasts' Island with this Skrill! Keep him alive until tomorrow!" Alvin ordered as he began walking toward the ship.
(Seriously! Did he even get my gender wrong?!) Lua grumbled internally.
Some of the Outcasts were a little hesitant to handle Lua. After all, Skrills appear in many legends, and very few vikings have ever come out alive after facing one. But with a threat from Alvin, they quickly restrained her and dragged her onto the ship.
(Mildew!) Lua growled when she saw him.
With the muzzle on, she couldn't roar, only growl at them.
"And the boy and his Night Fury? Why is only this thing here?" Mildew pointed his staff at Lua.
"Apparently your plan to plant false information in Bork's diary didn't work out so well. The Skrill must be very loyal to have followed the boy," Alvin said, looking at her. "And soon, we'll have dragons with that kind of loyalty."
Mildew muttered something about the situation being far from ideal. Mildew's sheep let out a bleat while staring at Lua with an air of superiority, but quickly hid behind Mildew after one of her growls.
(I think I'm going to start eating sheep after this!)
All Lua could do was hope that Toothless and Hiccup would manage to come up with a good rescue plan for her.
Her time was being counted down, quite literally.