Introducing My Big Fat Dragon [Spitnose]

[Crystal the Scauldron]

Time and Date:: January 14th
Weather:: Cloudy, no wind, but still bitter cold
Previous Threads?:: n/a

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As usual, the cold had a firm grip on and around Berk. There was a fine layer of powdery snow covering most buildings, along with the ground and trees. Even the harbor showed signs of the cold. Boats littered among the docks had a touch of white here and there, and the docks themselves had footprints leading back to the village. The water underneath the vessels was just as frigid as the air, but the creatures within learned to live with it, just as the vikings had done above.

One of these said creatures, was 'pacing', so to say. She swam to and fro between the wooden posts put there by the humans to hold up the docks, eventually circling back to where she started. While the task might sound simple, it's a bit difficult for a seven ton scauldron.

She was fully aware about the importance of today. When Spit had brought up her family a few days earlier, the scauldron didn't want to disappoint her by shying away from the idea of meeting them. So instead, here she was, trying to calm herself and think of the best way to say hello.

For all Crystal knew, if she scared off Spit's family, the girl would choose them over her. And that was something she wanted to avoid at all costs.

A high pitch chime rang through the water, halting her 'pacing'. Weaving back around to open water, she brought her eyes to skim the surface, trying to hone in on where the noise had come from. Aside from a few terrors, there wasn't much movement, which made it easier for Crystal to find the girl waving her arms around.

The scauldron almost threw herself towards her like she usually did, until she spotted the two figures not far behind her. She dipped back under the water to swim over to them, popping back up next to the dock.

She wanted to stretch her head out towards her friend, but she couldn't find the courage to do so. Instead, she made a rumble-like coo, bobbing up and down with the waves. One thing she did manage to do was accidentally coat Spit in a layer of watered down dragon boogers when she snorted up at her.

"Tadpole." The sea dragon said softly, not daring to be any louder in fear of scaring the older humans off.

[Spitnose]

Sprinting along the bridges down to the docks, Spit eagerly rushed her family along. They had been looking forward to a day of not working, and what did she do? Drag them down to where they worked. She had assured it would be an amazing surprise, totally worth coming down to see. And she promised it would explain why she was constantly vanishing. They didn't quite believe her, but came all the same.

Now Fishbeard, a man with surprisingly little beard, had fallen behind the other three. His thick fur cap hardly twitching in the wind as he made his slow progress. Yawning, he had decided whatever it was she was going to show then likely wasn't going anywhere else it would have done so already. And thus there was no need to rush. Even with the constant nagging of his daughter, he kept his current pace. Despite his trust in his child, he had little faith in the bouncing viking in the lead.

Then there was Moa, who was far more interested in it all. It thrilled her that at least one of her children got into exciting adventures and had secrets to reveal. She listened eagerly to every word her daughter spewed out, nodding and offering responses where she could. She was second in the group, out paced only by Spitnose herself. The fabrics of her lengthy coat billowed out behind her, snapping and dancing behind her.

"Okay! So, uh..." Stopping on he dock near their small fishing vessel, she looked around. "It'll be here... I promise!" She gnawed on her lip slightly, glancing at the water. It was dark below the surface, anything could be down there. Blinking a bit she found herself wondering if the dragon was even here. 'She must be, she wouldn't stand me up.' Confident, she glanced to her parents a bit, offering a sheepish grin. Her next action surprised them considerably however. Fingers to her mouth, followed by a sudden sharp 'prtweeeeeeee'. At the noise, she noticed the water rippling in quite an unusual manner. Her grin grew wide and her arms began to wave. "Here I am!"

The elder Fiskers both gave each other glances of confusion. This was very typical Spit, but what followed next caused them both to freeze. A dragon breached the water surface, seemingly heading straight for them. Instinctively Fishbeard yanked Spit back from the edge, but when she pulled away, he glanced at his wife "You don't think?" She laughed a bit. "Stranger things have happened."

Laughing Spit held her arms up high, only to be splattered in dragon snot. "Eeeew." She laughed, shaking off what she could. But it was quickly behind her, as she dropped down to her knees and reached out for the Scauldron. "You came!" Despite how loyal the dragon had been, every time she showed up Spit was still as thrilled and excited as the very first time. Holding out a hand as far as she could manage, and grinned. "Come on, they wont bite! I promise."

Fishbeard meanwhile stood in wonder, gripping his tattoo. "A scauldron, of course she would..." Bringing his hand up to his head he laughed a bit. "I guess she takes after your dad after all." Moa bumped him in the side and grinned.

"Come over and meet her!" With out turning around, Spit urged her parents closer. «They can't understand you.» She added quickly, sure Crystal wasn't exactly 'chatty' but she figured she should mention something in advance.

[Crystal the Scauldron]

"You came!" The scauldron saw the girl strain to reach her, and before she could think against it, she pushed her head further out of the water to meet her halfway. Immediately, she purred at the contact. "You should know I never go against my word." While Crystal's nervousness ebbed away ever so slowly, she wouldn't go as far to say she'd run up to any human unguarded, but maybe this would be a good start.

"Come on, they wont bite! I promise." Spit's positive attitude never ceased to amaze Crystal. Where does she get it from? Certainly not her male 'friend'. Maybe the other human she'd met more recently?

As her thoughts drifted, she faintly noted that her head did the same. As if Spit was leading a dog, the dragon's nose followed the hand pressed against it. By the time Crystal realized she was right in plain sight, she ducked back down to Spit's height.

The sea dragon made a nervous whine when the two older humans started getting closer. Crystal began thinking of all the things that might go wrong. Would they be mad that I'd been kept a secret for this long? Would they think that I'd hurt Spit? Okay, that second one might hold some truth, but she was conscience of her strength and how careful she had to be around the smaller viking.

She didn't know whether them not knowing her language was a good or bad thing. Good, only because the dragon was frightened to speak to them, but bad because it'd be harder to befriend them.

Crystal shoved her nose under one of Spit's arms, hoping the girl understood how much of a leap this was for her. Meeting two other vikings about Spit's age was one thing, but these two were more than double of that.

[Spitnose]

Spit watched the Scauldron, smiling wide and following her movements. Once she felt the dragon snout pressed into her hand she tried to lure her closer to the dock, and less under the water. «It's okay, be my big brave dragon!» She knew this was hard for her, but they had to do it. «I know you can do it!»

Fishbeard leaned towards his wife and whispered. "Did you teach her that?" She simply shook her head, thrilled that their daughter seemed to know the dragon tongue! They edged closer, slowly at first. This was still a strange dragon to them, no matter how comfortable Spit seemed with it. "Oh she's gorgeous." Moa hadn't noticed until now just how lovely a shade of blue the dragon was.

"Her name is Crystal!" Spit looked away from her hand for a moment, back at the two larger vikings behind her. "Look at the water on her scales! Just like what the traders bring!" She beamed with pride at this, still amazed she didn't end up naming a dragon 'Salmon Lips' or something equally ridiculous. But she was drawn back to the situation as she felt Crystal move, more under her arm now. "Hey, hey -" «It's okay.» She leaned her head in close, almost resting it against the dragons nose now that she was close enough. She wanted to say something, but she really wasn't sure what to say. Her words were just tangling themselves in her head before they could even hope to come out.

But to her surprise, her mother took charge. She knelt down on the dock, so she was much closer in height to Spit. "I can tell a shy dragon from a mile away." She wore a pleasant grin, and even took off her helmet and placed it aside. "You don't need to be nervous around us. Well maybe him, -" "Excuse me?!" "- but certainly not me." Glancing at Spit she laughed a bit. "May I?"

Spit blinked, glancing from her mom to her dragon. Still holding Crystal, for moral support and the such, she moved away a bit. Moa lifted a hand. "I would be honoured to call you part of the family." She held it out, leaving plenty of room for Crystal to make the advance. Fishbeard simply stood behind, looking rather out of place. Or at least until Moa elbowed him in the knee. "Thor Almighty! What was that for?!" He glanced down to see her death glare forcing him to listen. "She came here to meet us, not just me." He looked down at the Scauldron. "I like her, y'don't get a tattoo of something y'don't like." He turned in a way that he showed off his upper arm. It bore the symbol Berk had come to use to classify all tidal class dragons with. 

"Dad, liking her is only half of it." Looking back to Crystal her grin become slightly less goofy, and more of a genuine smile. "There's so much more..."

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The forum was eating coding as I posted this so... uh if there's any errors plz let me know.

[Crystal the Scauldron]

Spit's words of encouragement, while appreciated, did little to help the scauldron. They only served as a temporary distraction for her before her eyes darted back to the girl's parents. Crystal's nerves were ironic when you looked at it another way. She was a dragon breed looked upon by vikings as naturally aggressive, but yet here she was, scared to death of what two puny humans thought of her.

"Oh she's gorgeous." The compliment caught her off guard, but nonetheless, she gurgled a 'thank you' as acknowledgment. Spit's touch and short introduction earned a few more happy grumbles from the dragon as well.

The sea dragon stayed speechless when the girl's mother lowered herself down onto the dock and discarded anything that could be threatening. Deciding it best to do the same, Crystal let her jaw pouch balloon out on the wood at Spit's feet. It was all she could think of to appear smaller and she had to forfeit one of her main way of defense to do so. Of course, at this height, her eyes were barely at the older viking's waist.

"You don't need to be nervous around us. Well maybe him, -" "Excuse me?!" "- but certainly not me."

The scauldron had a feeling the innocent bickering was a common occurrence, considering that the woman had laughed afterwards. "May I?" Crystal had no doubt that her reaction was instantaneous. Her pupils narrowed to slits and her breathing sped up as a jolt of fear coursed through her. The moment of truth, I assume... She thought as she watched Spit's mother raise her arm, hanging it limply a few feet from the sea dragon's face.

"I would be honored to call you part of the family." At that, Crystal's eyes flitted between the woman and the girl beside her. After all, it was exactly what the scauldron had hoped for; acceptance.

Before she could make a move however, the man's yell made her freeze. It only took a second for her to realize it wasn't towards her, but even so, the raised voice had started her further.

"I like her, y'don't get a tattoo of something y'don't like." The design on the man's arm peaked her curiosity. Just when Crystal thought she'd understood more of the humans' way of life, they showed her something new. That' a strange marking... Are some humans born with them? I'll have to ask Spit later.

Once said girl turned her eyes to her, she did the same, cooing in return, "Is that you're way of saying you love me, Tadpole?" The tease came out before she could stop it. She didn't keep looking at Spit to gauge her reaction, and instead, returned her attention to her mother's outstretched hand.

"Because I assure you..." The scauldron let out a long breath of submission and pushed her nose forward to let it rest underneath the older viking's fingers. "I return the sentiment whole heartedly." 

[Spitnose]

Spit was more than a little shocked when the scaley jaw pouch lay down beside her. She grinned though, happy that this was working out so well! Her own heart running laps in her chest, she watched as her mother stretched out her arm. Almost hold her breath, she let out a massive sigh of relief. It all seemed to go so well... until her parents got up to their usual antics. Her dad yelped, and she could tell it startled Crystal. And to be fair it had startled her enough to jolt slightly.

She gave Crystal a reassuring pat, but it seemed she didn't need it at all. She grinned big at the Scauldrons coo, and watched as her nose pressed into her mothers hand. Moa seemed as excited about it as Spit did, her eyes lighting up with the same excitement her daughter had shown towards the Scauldron. This moment, it was the ultimate trust between a human and dragon. "I guess you're an honorary Fisker now!" She brought her hand back to her lap resting both hands on her knees. It was all so new and interesting, but she still had to remember to be mature about it and not jump about and cheer.

"I'm not feeding her too. One bottomless bit is enough." Fishbeard added with a thick joking tone, as he crouched down as well. Much less graceful than his wife, he hit the deck with a bit a thump and grumbled. He was baffled by this all, shocked that the younger of the kids would be the first to tame a dragon. And even before her proper training began! "So how long you know her?" He assumed this was a recent thing, as they were only just learning now.
But oh how wrong he was.

At this question, Spit froze. "Uh well... that's a funny story... actually..." She looked at Crystal. «What do I tell him?» Even though she knew he wouldn't understand she still tried to keep her voice at a hushed level.

[Crystal the Scauldron]

"I guess you're an honorary Fisker now!" Crystal lifted her head just enough to bob it happily at the woman, whom the scauldron already considered a larger, older version of Spit.

She had yet to trust the other viking though. So far, she hadn't heard him say enough to see what his personality was like, so for right now, he was still an unknown. That is, until he made a humorous comment. They aren't so different than Tadpole, are they? 

Despite the instinctive recoil she had at the noise and fast movement, Crystal kept herself within arm's reach of Spit in case she sensed danger. Under the water, she twitched her wings in irritation at her defensive reaction. As new as she was to this, she'd have thought she'd be able to do better at controlling herself.

Fisheard's question didn't ring any alarms off in the reptile's head at first. It was when Spit's unsure voice hit her ears did she remember that she'd been kept a secret from the two in front of her since before the migration. This time, it was Crystal's turn to reassure her friend.

"The truth." The scauldron curved her neck around the girl to look her in the eyes. "I'm sure they won't hold it against you." With a small snort, licked the girl's cheek but this ended up with much more than just her cheek getting covered in her gooey saliva. "In fact, if it had gone your way," She chuckled and playfully nibbled at Spit's hair. "I think I would've met them a lot sooner."

Turning back to her two new friends, Crystal weaved around the dock to get closer. Ever so hesitantly, she leaned down to get their scent. She was sure she'd be meeting them again in the future, and she wanted to be sure she recognized them.

[Spitnose]

Spit gnawed her lip as her eyes darted about for a moment. She listened to Crystal's suggestion, calming down quite a bit. With a deep inhale, she slowly exhaled her worry away. Crystal was right, they would have done this sooner but the timing just hadn't been right for it. Closing her eyes for a brief moment. "So uh." Tugging at the scales of her skirt, she glanced at the side. "I'vebeenvisitingherinsecretforalmostthreemonthsnow." She inhaled after that, gasping slightly. "Excuse? What?" Fishbeard blinked, trying to process what she had just said. "Wait, is that why you've been taking the boat out so much?!"

Lowering her gaze, Spit nodded slowly. "But it was worth it... right? This is totally important." She turned her head to the side, eyes half-lidded. "To me it is..." She muttered faintly. "Of course it is. Maybe just next time, tell us okay?" Moa lay a hand on her daughters shoulder comfortingly. Spit looked up, and smiled. She didn't have to say thanks the returning gleam to her eyes was enough that they knew.

Fishbeard meanwhile was staring as the dragon began to very obviously sniff them. He wasn't sure how he felt about that, and for some reason beyond him move his hands to cover his groin. Just in case.

"So... you aren't mad?" She added in cautiously. "Mad? Why would we be!" Moa clapped her hands together and grinned. "This is a wonderful thing!" Not noticing, or really caring about the sniffing, she was bursting with joy. "I'm so proud of you two." "The size of her nostrils is a wee bit unsettling though." Fishbeard added in, still staring at the dragon nose.

[Crystal the Scauldron]

Most of Crystal's fear dissipated when there was no anger in their responses. A bit of disappointment? Yes, but nothing she'd be deterred by. Emerging where the fear had been, was curiosity. It'd be the first time in a long time she'd been this close to adult humans, especially on a personal level.

As her small friend was comforted by her mother, Crystal edged closer to her father, whom she could tell was starting to get nervous. After his comment, she purposefully blew a puff of air into his face. "Would you rather I have none?" She knew full well he wouldn't understand her, but she knew at least Spit would hear it. Craning her head far enough to be able to brush up against the man, she kept a good eye on the other two vikings beside her.

From what she could tell, he almost smelt like the girl, excluding age and gender. It made the scauldron wonder what else the two had in common as well.

The scauldron's eyes flickered over to the younger viking. "Tadpole... Do you think I'll be able to stand on this?" She glanced down at the dock for a second and then back up. Wading in shallow water had been taking it's toll on her endurance, never mind the countless laps she'd done beforehand.

"I'd rather not go around destroying things as a first impression."

[Spitnose]

Spit laughed a bit at her dragons comment. «That might freak him out more.» To which Fishbeard simply raised a brow. "I'll never get you." He was a bit shocked as the dragon was right up beside him, but quickly calmed down and grinned. "You smell that? That's the smell of a real day's work!" He adjusted his belt slightly. He wasn't entirely sure where he was going with this.
Moa watched the interaction with interest. Such a big dragon, it was amazing to see her this close.

Blinking a bit, Spit glanced at the dock in question. "Uh... these docks are pretty sturdy right?" "Made to withstand the strongest storms!" "So ... they could hold a Scauldron no problem?" "Ah..." Glance at the dragon he realized what she was getting at. With a decent amount of effort, he got up and looked from side to side. "Don't see why it wouldn't hold." "It might not be wide enough for all of her though." Moa added, glancing to the other side of the dock. If the rest of the dragon matched the head in size, she was almost certain there wasn't enough space for the full thing.

Glancing back at Crystal's resting head, Spit offered a small shrug. "Worth a shot I suppose?" Moa and Spit both stood up and moved to the side to give the Scauldron plenty of room to attempt it.

[Crystal the Scauldron]

Crystal bobbed her head from side to side to survey the wooden supports as Spit asked if they'd hold her. The scauldron was nowhere near being a human builder, but she saw nothing that would cause her problems.

"It might not be wide enough for all of her though."

The dragon made a quiet whine, realizing that Moa was right. Even if she got herself up on top of it, there was no guarantee her tiny legs would be able to keep her body weight from pulling her back in. "Worth a shot I suppose?" Crystal dipped her head with a coo. "I suppose." She agreed.

With a single powerful thrust of her tail, she pushed the upper half of her body up onto the dock, resulting in an awkward scramble of limbs in an effort to get out of the water completely. After the first attempt failed, she splashed back down into the ocean with a disappointed growl.

For her second try, she unfurled her wings, probably giving Spit and her parents an unplanned shower in the process. After she stretched them to their limit, she propelled herself forward once again while simultaneously throwing her wings down.

This time, her forearms wrapped themselves around the opposite end of the dock securely. It didn't take long for her to notice how hard it was to control her bloated belly. Making sure she wouldn't roll, she started emptied her supply of water for defense. Slowly, but surely her balloon of a gut grew smaller. While she trusted the humans enough not to hurt her, she still kept a reserved amount in case of an emergency.

Once she was able to have all four feet on the dock, she flopped about to turn herself towards the three vikings. If she didn't know any better, she'd say she looked like a seal. "Remind me later not to try this again." She huffed and bent down to nip at Spit's hair. "Because I don't think I'll be able to walk across it."

[Spitnose]

To see the Scauldron hoist herself out of the water was a pretty amazing sight, but the wave of her first failure was enough to make them all back up a bit. However when the second attempt came, Moa was caught in awe of the dragons wings and otherwise completely unaware of the droplets raining down. Spit and Fishbeard however both instinctivly put am arm up to try and block their faces. It didn't help much, but they felt better about it.

As Crystal gained a grip of the dock, she laughed a bit as she began to empty. "Oh wow, you look really silly." Her laughing turned to a rapid giggle, and she stopped and watched as she finally settled on the dock. "It was your idea!" She put a hand up and playfully nudged the dragon away as her hair was gently tugged. "I didn't suggest this." She lifted her hands both up to be on the dragons nose, trying to lure her into a hug.

Turning slightly to face her parents again, she glanced more to their feet. "So... you aren't mad?" The entire situation was going a lot better than expected, but she just had to be sure. Make sure they weren't just acting. Although the awe in Moa's face was pretty hard to fake. It was more Fishbeard she was looking for the confirmation from. Were both her parents on the same page?

Hands on his hips, a grin spread across his face. "Mad? Hah! You've got yourself mighty impressive dragon! Who would be mad about that!" Finally snapping from her trance, Moa leaned against her husband and smiled. "We are thrilled dear!" She reached out a hand to pat the snout near her daughter. "Keep her safe, Valhalla knows what trouble she'll get into with you at her side."