Knight in Shining Armor [Viper]

[Jokul & Starkad]

Time and Date:: Evening/Dusk, Mid-January
Weather:: Plain, cloudy, little to no wind
Previous Threads?:: None

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"Here, yakky, yakky! I know you're there!" The small hobblegrunt stuck her nose into the snow-covered ground, hoping to catch a whiff of her plaything's scent. Normally, the large furry mammals were too big for her to chase, but this one got spooked by something. The moment she saw it disappear into the brush, she bolted after it.

But that was at least an hour ago. So now here she was, crawling about in the snow to find it in near darkness. "I promise, I won't eat you!" She wasn't lying, either. The hobblegrunt is picky about food, and mutton wasn't on her preferred diet. The worst she'll do it nip at it's ankles to try and make it run faster.

"Yakky!" The hyper dragon hopped from rock to rock, acting as if the snow became molten lava. "Why don't you wanna play?!" She heard the crunch of snow around one of the trees ahead, and slunk down into a sloppy hunting crouch. To anyone who'd seen her, could laugh at how inexperienced it looked. Instead of standing completely still, Starkad's back end kept swaying back and forth, and her tail could easily be heard from any possible prey she might be stalking.

With a powerful push of her back legs, she slid past the tree, "Got you, Yak-!" Anything she might've said was silenced when a feral growl sounded from where she thought her plaything was. While the brown lump of fur was the yak she'd been tracking, it hadn't been the mammal that'd made the sound. Far from it, actually.

Stretching up to its full height, an adult male monstrous nightmare glared down at her. She couldn't move, even if she had wanted to. The fear alone was enough to lock up her muscles, but having the uncensored hostility seemingly emanating from the larger dragon was mind-numbing.

"M-..." She shivered against the cold ground. "MAMA!" Her scales turned a brighter teal than in her whole life. The poor hobblegrunt curled into a ball and wrapped her small arms around her snout, hoping everything was a dream.

[Viper]

The sun had set not long ago on Berk, and with the night came the promise of a hunt, as one night strike caught the scent of a very familiar prey animal; mutton. He edged closer to the scent, lifting his maw up and inhaling. Was it worth it to try and find the beast for an easy meal? Surely other beasts had caught its scent as well, and were already after it. He turned away, but that's when something caught his eye. Or rather, his ear; a loud noise was coming from the distance, and it seemed to be young, and that of a dragon.

Well, this to say the least, peaked his interest; at least enough that he followed the scent of the young beast until he came within sight of her. She was easy enough to spot, with her poorly manuevered hunting tecniques and wobbly motion; she seemed to be in constant motion, which made him snort at such inexperience. Turning away, it wasn't until he caught the scent of something else that he froze; the yak, and this time, it was mixed with a much more threatening scent; a fully grown monstrous nightmare. He could tell just by the scent that the beast was nearby, and had found the yak.

Eyes darted back to where the young hobblegrunt was; and when he saw her his heart lurched into his throat. For there she was, headed straight towards the possessive beast, seemingly unaware, or perhaps just not caring, that the beast was there. "Foolish girl," He hissed, clawing the ground. He looked around; there were no other beasts around, at least none that seemed to care enough to stop her.

For a moment, maybe a millisecond or a what seemed thousand years in his mind, he debated on whether to help her. And, before he knew what he was doing, or had any plans, he was lunging forward, flying towards the beast as he let out a might roar. He landed on the beasts shoulder, attempting to sting him, but he missed. He was thrown off and landed roughly in front of the hobblegrunt. Quickly he gained his footing, hovering over the younger creature with his wings spread over her, a throaty growl coming from his chest, as his tail whipped around, aiming towards the beast. He didn't know what had come over him, but for some reason, he was willing to risk his own life to save this simple hobblegrunt. It might be a mistake, and it might be one he would soon regret.

[Jokul & Starkad]

The last time Starkad was in a situation like this was with Crystal. But this time, there wouldn't be anyone to stop it. This time, she was on her own. When the nightmare's eyes narrowed at her, she shut her own eyes to keep from seeing them. Her frill popped open against her will as a defensive reaction. Starkad whined in her huddled position when she couldn't keep her crest down. All the negative emotions, both hers and the other dragon's, ran through her head.

Then something hit the ground not far from her. Suspecting it was the nightmare getting ready for an attack, she wailed and refused to look up. That is, until another presence made itself known to her. At first, relief filled her, thinking it was her mother that had come to save her, but when she saw the unfamiliar reptile almost on top of her, she whimpered further and tried backing away. "M-mama..."

All the while, the monstrous nightmare broadened his shoulders and hissed dangerously at the pair. The new sound started Starkad enough to have her instinctively run behind the dragon defending her. Wordlessly, she made another whine at her new protector. "It was a-accident!"

She hoped this newcomer was truly on her side, because if it turned out he wasn't, she wouldn't be able to stop him.

[Viper]

As the beast roared and threw him off, he landed and instinctively protected the younger hobblegrunt. Somewhere deep down his primal instincts had taken over, and as he heard her whimper for her mother he lowered his spined frill against his head, "Far from it, kid." He huffed between growls, yet seeing she was backing away his spines raised a bit, before the nightmare took advantage and flamed up, breathing fire. Almost without thinking, Viper spread his wings over the hobblegrunt, shielding her from the flames. Most fortunately, dragon skin was fire resistant, so it was more of a stinging pain then permanent damage. All the same, it hurt, and it hurt bad. He let out a cry of pain as the flames singed his scales, and he looked up, snarling at the beast.

"Doesn't-" He breathed fire at the beast, however it was just lost to his already flame lit body, "-m-matter..." His fire had weakened him, he could feel his legs beginning to shake. The nightmare sensed the weakness, and Viper knew what he had to do. As the nightmare lunged forward, Viper lept onto him, plunging his stinger straight into him; to ensure he got enough venom to bring him down, he bit into the beasts neck to add more venom to his veins. The beast started to stumble, before starting to froth at the mouth, twisting his head around and snarling in confusion.

Viper didn't release, and it wasn't until the beast flamed up again that he was thrown back from the sting of it. The nightmare saw him, stumbling towards him. The fight wasn't over yet; although the venom was killing the beast, it would take a while before it finally could kill a dragon this large. One might think it was all over, but no... the battle had just begun.

[Jokul & Starkad]

The whole situation was terrifying and confusing the poor, adolescent hobblegrunt more with each passing second. She didn't trust; couldn't, trust anything she saw. The only one who's ever stood up for her was her mother, and Jokul did on rare occasions, but this was different. She'd never even met this new guardian of hers, nor did she even know what kind of dragon he was.

When the glow of fire entered her field of vision, she squeaked, unable to do much else. And yet, only a fraction of the heat had reached her. Looking up, she saw the silhouette of her protector's wing. It was clear from his strained face that it had hurt, and yet, he continued to keep her safe.

When the two pounced forward to meet in a clash of claws and teeth, Starkad was left in the open. Skittering away from the fighting, she jumped behind the nearest rock, hoping it would provide enough area to keep her hidden. It's too bad her frill kept refusing to stay down, otherwise she would've been hidden.

The snarls and growls continued on no matter how much she tried to block it out. "Mama." She pitifully whined under her breath, only wishing for her mother to magically appear.

[Viper]

Viper was defending her with his life, and why he still didn't know; he just knew that he had to get this nightmare away from both of them, no matter what the cost. It was as the nightmare threw flames at him that he started to become injured, before firing his own flames at the beast, to no avail. Yet upon stinging him, Viper gained the upper-hand before being thrown back. The beast was dying now, and weakening by the second.

Yet it was at that moment that Viper realized the young hobblegrunt had disappeared. Spines perking, he looked around, before catching a glimpse of her behind a large boulder. Breathing a sigh of relief, he failed to notice the nightmare approach, until the nightmares jaws clenched around his leg.

Screaming in pain, Viper sunk his stinger into the beast, not releasing until the beast fell limp and his jaws loosened. He was dead. Slowly, Viper rose to an unsteady stance, stumbling towards the hobblegrunt before collapsing near her, his sides heaving. Looking to her, he managed to utter, "Y-You okay, k-kid?" As his eyes looked to hers, before he closed them, trying to block out the pain that was gripping him.

[Jokul & Starkad]

"Mama." She wheezed out, desperate for someone to take her away and make her feel better. "J-Jokul."

Starkad whimpered at black dragon's scream. Bad noises. Despite her attempts at covering her head, her frill twitched and expanded as the fighting went on. Rage. Fear. Bad feelings. They hurt! I don't want them!

There was a single dull thump on the other side of her makeshift shelter, and then, there was silence. No growling, no hissing, and no movement at all. She couldn't help but look once the sounds had stopped. What happened? The hobblegrunt stuck her snout around the corner of the boulder just in time to see her savior hit the ground, sending a flurry of snow into the air around him.

"Y-you okay, k-kid?" The younger dragon hesitantly slunk closer to the downed one. After all, for all she knew, he could still be out to hurt her. Instead of trying to resist her instinct she let her webbed crest fan out to its limit. Everything she felt was no longer negative, except maybe the lingering anger at his enemy.

When a small branch broke not so far away, Starkad whipped her head over to where she saw the nightmare last, afraid it was what had made the sound. And what she saw was the unmoving corpse, with red-tinted snow around it's neck, and open, empty eyes.

Starkad might know that you can get hurt and scarred in life, but she had never seen something alive one minute, and dead the next. To her, the monstrous nightmare was merely sleeping. Which is why her reaction was to use the black dragon beside her as another shield.

While she wasn't touching him physically, her frill could easily pick up every single change in his aura. Most of it was numbed though, as if something was distracting the signals from getting to her.

Snorting in confusion, she edged closer to his head. "S-safe now?"

[Viper]

Viper fought hard, before at last the nightmare collapsed and died. Stumbling over to her, he could only look up at her as she looked down at him with her perked frill. When a branch broke and she whipped around to look at the corpse, he grunted, whipping his tail underneath his belly in shame. It wasn't that he enjoyed killing, but it had been essential in order to save her life. On his stinger was still the fresh blood from the nightmare, the blood on his maw and fangs from where he had bitten the nightmare with his venom.

As he looked to her, he heaved in a breath of air, "Y-Yes... Y-You're safe n-now...." He attempted to get up, but found he was too weak to do so. He tried once more before he let his head collapse in the snow. "D-Don't leave..." He suddenly said in a voice that was half whimper, half whisper. He looked up to her, pupils dilating as he looked to her, "S-Stay...." He whispered, wishing for some reason for her to just simply stay with him for a while. For a moment, his eyes lingered over her; a young, simple hobblegrunt with not a care in the world. It wasn't until that moment that he heard the yells of vikings, having heard the commotion, as they started to realize that a dragon had been killed. Viper closed his eyes tightly. "D-Don't l-leave me...."

[Jokul & Starkad]

"Y-Yes... Y-You're safe n-now..."

She contemplated that for a few moments, continuously glancing over at the dead monstrous nightmare to keep his statement true. "...Thank you." The hobblegrunt didn't look up at him as she muttered under her breath. Even after having her life saved, her 5-year old mentality stayed intact.

When her savior flinched and collapsed into the snow, she scuttled over to see where he was hurt. Her nose quickly led her to his leg, which appeared to have some muscles torn from the fight. "D-Don't leave..."

Hearing his broken, pain-filled voice urged Starkad to try and soothe him, but she didn't know how to. Using her species unique ability wouldn't do, because she can't control it yet, and she didn't have Jokul with her, so patching up the wound was out of the question too. Her train of thought was cut off when he continued begging for her to stay.

Starkad shifted anxiously from foot to foot, unsure of what to do. Twiddling her front claws together, she let out a confused croon. Shade would never approve of her daughter staying with a dragon she'd only just met, and yet, the young hobblegrunt didn't exactly want to leave him alone either.

She barely took half a step back before his fear spiked through her; the sound of humans following not long after. Starkad chuffed and turned to where the voices were coming from. A long, high-pitch whine came from her throat as she made up her mind.

Brushing her doubt away, she plopped down onto all fours and stood protectively by the older dragon's head. "M-my turn..." She wanted to look as strong as her protector had, but she knew she wouldn't be able to match his confidence. Plus, if the vikings found them, she wouldn't be fighting them, she'd end up resorting to acting innocent and begging them to help him.

"No more hurt." The hobblegrunt wiped an arm across the side of her frill and shook her head free of distractions, entirely focusing on where all the humans were.

[Viper]

Viper could feel himself weakening, and as he collapsed near her he could see her hovering over him, trying to decide what to do. At her soft croons he reached his head up, spines perking. Weakly, he moved to nuzzle against her maw. After a moment she plopped down next to him, and he gladly shifted closer to her, finding her presence comforting. Meanwhile the sounds of vikings became louder, more clear. Viper let out a weak growl, mixed with a whimper at the end. As the young hobblegrunt promised him no more hurt, he looked up at her.

He was about to say something when a orange glow surrounded them; the humans had found them. They took one look at the dead nightmare and started devising plans to capture the beast. One pointed to Starkard, mentioning that she was one of their dragons. Among themselves they seem to have decided that the dragon known as Viper must be the killer. They advanced towards him, axes and bow and arrows drawn. "Move, dragon." One Berkian commanded to Starkard. Viper looked to her, before glaring at the humans, "D-Do as they say..." He whispered softly, looking back to her. "I... I don't want you to get hurt...."

[Jokul & Starkad]

As the vikings got closer, Starkad realized that her new friend's anxiety was growing ever so steadily. Adding his fear to her own, only made her more nervous. She, personally, didn't have any need to worry about humans, but if her protector was scared, so was she.

Starkad's eyes darted back and forth between the fire and weapons the humans held. Their faces alone told her they were angry, but she didn't run. Instead, she settled for clawing at the snow beneath her, trying to act braver than she really was.

"Move, dragon." She backed up away from the viking and stood closer to her protector. "No!" The hobblegrunt grunted and stayed put. Hearing the dragon beside her tell her otherwise, made her unsure of her own decision. "I... I don't want you to get hurt..."

She grumbled, and still stood still. This, however, only got the viking who ordered her to move even more aggravated. He took a few steps closer and reached out to grab her neck and forcefully drag her away, but she hissed at his approaching hand. As her frill fanned out in defense, her scales shifted to orange and red; colors that rarely ever appeared on her. "No!"

As it turned out, the viking knew that Starkad was never aggressive and made another move to grab her. But she had none of it, and even snapped her jaws at him. "No go!" She spun around and stood right in front of her savior's head, nearly touching him while doing so. "I stay!" With one last attempt at getting them to go away, she held out her wings, copying what she'd seen the older dragon do earlier.

[Viper]

The vikings seemed to be so angry at the death of the nightmare that they for a moment forgot the hobblegrunt was on their side. One viking moved to throw a chain around the hobblegrunts neck, attempting to pull her back. The others moved in on Viper, who lifted his venomous tail defensively, swishing it around in a threatening manner. "Watch the tail!" Said one as he swiped it at them. They dodged it, and threw a chain around his tail, "Aha, beast! Not so tough, now, are ye?" Taunted one.

"Get the hobblegrunt. She's gotta learn her lesson this time." Said one as the other took the chains with an evil smirk, "Well, well, menace... Looks like you've dug yourself a deep one this time..." The main took from his belt a whip, holding it back and preparing to lash it at her.

As the whip snapped forward, one furious dragon who had been watching from the ground broke free of the grip, making the humans drop the chains long enough for him to surge forward, grabbing the whip in his teeth and throwing his head downwards. The impact made the human fall face first in the snow. A furious snarl came from the beast, as the humans got up, backing away. "You'll regret this, you monster!" Screamed one human. Yet with one mighty snarl from Viper, with his tail lashing furiously, the humans did the wise thing and fled the area, leaving them alone. However, in the midst of it, they dropped their torches, the flames melting the snow and catching a few spare branches on fire without anyone noticing yet. Meanwhile Viper dropped the whip, his spines perking as he looked to the young hobblegrunt. Wordlessly, he limped over, gently nuzzling against her.

[Jokul & Starkad]

Fight or flight instincts took over in Starkad's head as she was restrained with the metal around her neck. She yanked her head away from the heavy leash, only to have it start constricting and digging into the scales underneath. From not to far behind her, she heard the others yelling, but she was too focused on getting away to notice what was being said.

Hoping to escape, she crouched down and used all her body weight to pull back. Once again, the only thing that did was make it worse. "Well, well, menace... Looks like you've dug yourself a deep one this time..."

Her nostrils flared as the man in front of her grabbed the long tail-like weapon. She'd seen some farmers heard their animals with them, but never had she thought about having one turned onto her. Starkad emitted a pig-like squeal as the viking cracked the whip. The noise alone frightened her to no end. Squirming more desperately to free herself, the young hobblegrunt didn't even notice the black dragon's rescue effort until he'd intercepted the whip.

With her captor distracted, she yanked backwards again. This time, the chain fell from his grip, giving her the opportunity to get away. "You'll regret this, you monster!" It took her a second to notice how feral he appeared. Despite that, she didn't run from him, unlike all the vikings, who left her sight, one by one. She couldn't tear her eyes away from where they'd gone until the black dragon pressed his face to her side.

Something right then broke in her conscience. She'd grown up with the humans, but right now, she was safer with the night strike. Without an ounce of hesitation, the hobblegrunt wound herself around his uninjured leg. The chain around her neck clanged together as she dragged in behind her, not that she noticed.

She whimpered and shut her eyes tight. "Safe."

[Viper]

Viper snarled at the humans, giving his mighty roar as they backed up. His tail lashed angrily, threatening any of them who came near. Wings spread as he threw his head back and shot a warning flame into the air. That was their final warning, and they knew it. When he looked back they were gone, having disappeared into the forest. As he turned to look at the young hobblegrunt, his spines perked before flattening again, this time not out of anger but out of concern as he nuzzled her. Just then the young hobblegrunt wrapped herself around his leg, and he looked down at her, covering her with his wing.

As she whimpered he felt a protective instinct slowly spread through his veins, "Yes... safe..." Yet just then the sparks of the flame caught a nearby bush alight, quickly spreading to other brush. Viper growled at the sight of the flames, and looked to her, "Come. You must come with me now. Be brave; these flames cannot hurt you, your scales repel them. You must run through them, however scared you are. It is the only way you can hope to survive." He looked down at her, "Stay beneath my wings; that way you won't feel any of the pain, and only I will. Ready?"