Chapter Text
Hello, my name Octavius
Great name, yes, I know, but names are the point of this story. The point of this story is more-
KRRSH
-perilous, of sorts. Weaving through the people, either fighting or fleeing, was something that is…pretty common in all honesty, I've gotten pretty good at it! Of course, we’re Vikings, warriors and conquerors….and notoriously stubborn, that can be said for a lot of us, considering where we live, smack dab in the middle of a dragon hotspot, one said to be a resting place for them. This place, is Meiusorian.
But thats no matter right now, I slink through to the other side of the makeshift battleground “there you are! Glad you haven't been carried off by one of them!” That's Atillia, I've been his apprentice since I was…well, born, I guess. I dodge his attempt to either ruffle my hair or topple me over. “Yeah yeah” I say, “guess the dragons are just too intimidated by me!” Atillia snorts “yeah, keep telling yourself that” the dismissive jest makes me roll my eyes, screams make us look over, dozens of dragons and all different types, from a simple Gronckle to a Monstrous Nightmare. Any of those could get me noticed if I could just get my hands on one. Atillia turns to me “oh no, I know that look, listen, you gotta stay here, out of the way” I groan, “come on! I'm never going to show my worth if I can't go out there and try!”
“You have tried, time and time again, and each time, I have to be the one to get you out of that situation! Not again!” As I'm trying to retaliate, people scream louder, not the normal battle cry, but genuine fear, it's not the Gronckle bumping into buildings, or the deadly nadder ripping the roof off a house, not the Zippleback terrorizing the animals from both sides, it's a-
“NIGHT FURY!”
Night Fury, we don't know if that's it's actual name but we've given it the name, it stalks the clouds and it's one of the most annoying dragons we've had to deal with yet, it never stay still and disappear before we can ever get a hit in, at least to the others, it's said to be one of the most powerful dragons, and omen of death. So far, we only know that one exists, and it’s stalking our town, lucky us. It throws a blast of some type of fire, knocking the watch tower to the ground, this thing never misses, we don't know why, we don't know how, but it doesn't. Atilla grabs an armful of spears and the such and drops them into my arms, I drop some of them, not expecting the load of weaponry, and turns “keep ship….stay….sit…just don't move”
He's out of the shop before I can argue, what I can see of the fight isn't much, but I do see one person
Jedediah
He's the most beautiful boy I've ever seen, a braver warrior than anyone I've ever seen, he yells out to the others, who either laugh or begrudgingly obey, but they do their tasks nevertheless, I wish I could fight, impress him in some way, impress anyone in some way, and I determined to make that happen! Despite the person who is requesting i sharpen his knives, I place the spears on the table, and grab something I've been working on, the others fighting gives me a way to get the the edge of the town without much of a second glance, which I suppose would still be true even if the dragons weren't reigning havoc, but I would've been questioned, and I have no time for that.
I drag my machine to a cliff, aiming for the night fury. It doesn't fly with any other dragons, which doesn't make sense, dragons are said to be a pack species, resting and fighting and hunting all within the same types, but this one, it hunts alone, and never in the same place twice, I can see the vague outline of the beast, it's only been here a few times, some question if its truly real at all, or just an old folk tale, another dragon playing a trick. I aim, my first shot was a misfire, only annoying it, I think. I see it, then I don't, almost like it's mocking me “come on, give me something to shoot at, just a chance” in a quick flash, I see it again, and let it fire.
The rope wraps around it, I see it fall through the air, crashing into the ground below “I hit it” I whisper, shocked “I hit it!” I declare, actually proud of myself, finally, a way to prove I'm not just some screw up! I gotta get back to the town and tell them!
KRRSH
i come face to face with a Monstrous Nightmare, “I guess you're as proud as I am?” I try and guess, but looking at the state of my machine, and the ripped net around it's leg, maybe not. I run as it starts to roar, forget the invention, forget praise, forget the dragon even, just survive. if I run enough I can exhaust it of the fuel he uses for it's fire, then it'll have to turn back, at least for a second, to do damage, unless it eats me whole, and that's definitely a possibility. I cross into town, it's burning, like any other day, but people are trying to stop it, shooing the rest of the dragons off, I get to the main ground, hiding behind a pole of wood, not the best place to hide from fire, yes, but it's thick enough to keep me from getting third degree burns.
I hear people shouting at the beast, and the form of the dragon flying off, but it doesn't feel me with any hope. The wooden beam splinters and falls, burning into someone's house. I stand face to face with another monsterous nightmare....
“Octavius”
my father, “hi…dad” he sighs heavily, his second in command placing a hand on his shoulder, “Octavius, you were told to stay inside” he says, I feel a stone of panic form in my stomach “yes, I was…” I say “but! But i-i caught one! I actually got one! And it's the night fury you're always complaining about! It's just out by the fjord, if you can send people there to get it….we….can…” his stern, angry look makes my eyes look to the ground, he sighs again “we can't keep doing this, look at the state of this place!” His arms sweep over the town, like I had something to do with it “and now you're rambling about a dragon that you caught? Again?”
“O-okay, but it isn't like those other times! I caught it! I swear I did! I saw it hit the ground!” he just groaned “just stop!” He roars, it renders me silent, the sound of crackling fire can be heard in the distance “everyone start cleaning and rebuilding, Atilla!” Atilla runs up beside him, looking at me “make sure he gets home with his head on his shoulders” Attila glares at me, shame burns itself into my cheeks, I can hear the rest snicker at me. I frown as I pass by them “wow, I've never seen someone mess up that badly!” One of the twins, Kahmunrah, states “really! Like, that helped!” Lancelot adds on “thanks, I was trying” it gives me a little hope to know Jedediah is at least uninterested in the heckling. I let myself get dragged out of view, but I yank my arm back as we near the house “your father is right, you know” I sigh “I just don't know what I'm doing wrong” he just sighs “see it's just all…..that” I deadpan “you just gestured to all of me” he nods “well I'm sorry that I'm not the strongest Viking Meiusorian has to offer, I'm sure that's what he said when I was born!” I put on the best impression of my father that I can muster “excuse me! Miss! I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring! I'm supposed to have a tall, brave soldier of a child! This here, this is a talking fishbone!”
“It's not so much what you look like, but the actions you do, that he hates!” I sigh “thanks, for summing that up” he looks at me, more earnestly “I'm just saying, don't try and be something you're not” disappointment lodges in my throat “I just want to be like all of you” he calls my name as I close the door, but I wait until I hear his footsteps depart….