Wolf-Bound

   Shu looked at Luna with confusion. "Uh, okay.." He moved over to make room for her.

   "Why'd you run yesterday?"

   Whisper hummed lowly in his throat and slightly raised his wings. Ducking behind Shu, he pushed the boy closer to this strange person. Shu braced his feet against the ground and his arm on Whispers face, attempting desperately to push him back. "Umph- Y.. Yester-day?"

     "Yeah, yesterday." She said, hopping down the slopes carefully until she got to the very bottom where Shu and Whisper were. "I saw your night fury over at the arena yesterday. when I approached him, he ran away."
 She sighed and looked downcast as she sat down next to Shu. "I don't want everyone to keep running away from me."

   Shu grunted, wincing as Whisper jabbed him in the small of his back. "Oh- Sorry about that. He's just not.... urr... Social!" Shu hit Whisper in the nose with his elbow and the fury backed off, wriggling his nose in irritation and suprise. Shu collapsed onto the ground in front of Luna, where Whisper had pushed him. "Please, don't take it personally. He really doesn't trust anyone anymore. See," Shu hoisted himself into a sitting position and sighed. "He had a bad experience with something in the wild, and now he will only come near me. He has trouble eating, flying, and his roar's completely gone. He only ever allows me to even approach him. If anything moves suddenly he'll freak; especially if he feels trapped." Not unlike myself actually. In reality, Shu was breaking a sweat just sitting and talking to the girl. He felt trapped himself; he couldn't just run away now could he?

     "Really?" She asked, turning her head to stare into the water's reflection as she brought her knees up to her chest. "You guys are lucky."

   Shu sat in shock for a minute and then giggled. He tried to hold it in but then he was suddenly in tears laughing. He doubled over, trying to catch a breath. "Us? Lucky? For what? We're orphan misfits living in a barn!! One has all sorts of living difficulties and phobias, and the other- is................" His laugh slowly rolled to a dull chuckle. "I'm just an outcast. Never talk to anyone, never bother anyone. Me? I'm just a nuisance! No one even wants me around." He looked down at his dirty trousers. Did I really just say that out loud? What an idiot; now she'll probably just start feeling sorry for me! We can't have that, now can we?

   Whisper hissed at a passing pair of squirrels, which just made the situation that much more difficult. Shu put his head in his hand and scowled. Man, why does this all have to be so difficult?

     Luna stared at the water. It's smooth surface calmed her.

 "You at least have a life." She said darkly. "Being an outcast is better than being treated like a baby your whole life. Ever since that day when I was seven, I haven't been treated like a normal human being. The dragons won't touch me, the kids think I'm lame, my mom acts as if I can't hold up on my own..."

 She flipped her pure white hair over her shoulder and stared at him. "When has there ever been a human with white hair and purple eyes?"

   Shu chuckled. "U-um, you, I think?" He scratched his head. "But, I can see how that would be hard on someone." He looked over at Whisper, and back at Luna, then back at Whisper. Suddenly he had an idea.

   Shu beaconed to his friend. "Whisper, come over here for a minute will ya? Whisper?......"

   Whisper looked over at his friend like he'd gone crazy. Shu got on his knee and held out his hands. "Come on Whisper..... Please?"

   Whisper growled, his voice cracking. He crawled over in his cattish, dragon way. his tail snaked on the ground as his haunches rose and fell above his hindquarters. Finally he reached Shu's side, where he curled his lips, his teath half retracted. Shu reached down and pet Whisper's neck. Unfortunately the dragon had an idea of what was going on, and he didn't like it one bit.

     Luna saw the dragon come closer, and wondered. What's he up to? She asked herself. I guess he just had an idea. But... every dragon in Berk hates me. Why would Whisper be any different? She sighed inwardly before putting on a curious face and watching as the dragon approached.

 "Um, what're you doing?" She asked suddenly.

   Whisper glared at Shu with his green-golden eyes, his pupils turned to slits. Shu sighed. "Come on buddy, don't look at me like that. Don't you at least feel a bit sorry for her?"

   Whisper's face dropped even further- to total unamusement. He gave Shu a look of hatred and turned around, laying on the ground with his back to his friend. Shu put his hands on his hips. "Really Whisper, what is your deal with other humans? No human could possibly have done this to you- just look at the size of that thing! So why are you so determined to keep away from everyone?" He folded his arms over his chest. "Stubborn scaredy cat- afraid of one human girl..."

   Whisper picked his head up and put it in Shu's face. Opening his nostrils, he let out a jet of smoke that blasted Shu's face and hair with ashes. The boy blinked when it was over, then sat down in a fit of coughing. Whisper hurmphed and put his head back down on his paws, readjusting his body so that his scaly back once again faced the two children. He then snapped out his wing and stretched it so that it was right in front of Luna's chest.

     Luna sighed expectantly when Whisper turned his back to them. She knew this would happen, but nonetheless, she put on her happy mask as to not make the place gloomy. She opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly she had a wing shoved in front of her. She stared at it before staring at Whisper in shock, but then she smiled and rubbed her hand over the soft membrane. Luna rubbed her cheek against the scales and sighed happily.

 "Dragon scales are so soft..." She said in a dreamy voice. "I wish I had a dragon besides Big Boy."

   Whisper snorted and flicked his tail, determined not to give any recognition of Luna's presence at all.

   Shu's coughing subsided, and he shook his hair free of the ash. Smiling at Whisper, he nodded. "Ya, a dragon's wing scales are soft on the top. On the inside though, they can be pretty tough. The ones on their backs are sleek and hard as steel though!" He frowned at Whisper's scar. "At least, the ones underneath."

   He turned to Luna inquizitively. "Hey, why aren't you in training with the others? Feral practice is today and everyone's at the arena. Certainly you have to do that as well, right? Everyone is trained to defend themselves, no matter what others think of you."

  Luna let go of Whisper's wing and kicked a rock into the water.

   "I don't like training." She replied softly. "I hate fighting dragons-even if it's a feral. They're not my enemies-I just want to be friends. I'd rather jump off a cliff than fight a dragon."

 Then her voice got so soft that she was almost inaudible. "Just like that one dragon in the arena. Macha isn't feral, she just... doesn't understand us. she doesn't see us eye to eye......"

   Shu held up his hands in surrender. "Okay okay. There's nothing I can do about it." He folded his legs. "But you're right, I don't agree with it either. But try to understand- Ferals only stay in there for a little while, if they've gotten to close to the village. Most of the training is actually done with trained dragons and dull weapons. Only a few exercises are done with actual ferals, just to make sure they stay away from the village. Some even get used to humans and join our dragons. I'm sure that dragon will be released."

   Shu leaned forward onto his knees. "Anyways training isn't for going out and attacking dragons! It's only for self-defense. Where would you be if you had been attacked by that fury in the wild? It doesn't matter whether the dragon is an innocent fury or not. If there's a misunderstanding you've got to be able to defend yourself. It's not for learning to kill."

     "But what's necessary might not be necessary at all~" She replied, sticking her tongue out and giggling. "I don't like following regulations anyways. That's just how I roll."

 She stopped and thought about the feral for a few minutes. Well, I guess they'd let her go eventually. She thought to herself. But... I can't help but think that if she doesn't get better soon, they might not let her leave in fear that she might attack the village again!

 "Macha..." She sighed, clising her eyes and burying her face into her knees.

   Shu held his hand out anxiously, wondering if he should help. I didn't mean to make her cry...Why is it so hard to be with people? He put his hand down and curled up into his own little ball.

   Whisper looked up at his friend and snapped his jaws together with a clicking sound. He looked at the boy with big, understanding eyes. Shu pulled a grin and ran his hand along the fury's head, causing the dragon to purr. Soon they were airborn yet again, flying high over the trees. Shu lay his chest against Whisper's neck. "Maybe I'll skip training today.."

   Whisper snorted in agreement. Roaring with delight, he flew to the flying area, which was empty just for them.

   That night Jet was walking amoung the houses, kicking the stick from a weapon across the dirt in front of him. He kicked the object again in anger, his hands in his pockets. What's so special about that Shu kid anyways? He scowled, teeth knocking against each other. I mean seriously; why does he get to skip training? We all have to go or Snotlout will have our heads for dragon brushes! Shu is the worst one of us all at fighting, and he misses training all the time! He kicked the stick and sent it flying towards a window. "WHAT MAKE'S HIM SO SPECIAL HUUUUH?!!!!"

   Shatter....

   Muffled footsteps broke the silence of the village, quieted by the soft dirt of the path. Jet stopped suddenly. Ducking behind the shadows of the house, Jet leaned up against the shadows of the wall. As he listened, he could hear people's voices coming up the path. Two shadows came into sight under the lights of the torches.

   Hiccup sighed. "I just don't know what to do about it Astrid. I'm sure he wouldn't have wanted his son to grow up this way."

   Astrid scoffed. "It's not your fault Hiccup- there's nothing you can do about it. This is the way things are, and the only one who can change their opinion is him. I think he's doing rather well as a stable boy."

   Jet saw the backs of the clan leaders beginning to disappear behind the next house and hurried quietly to the back of the alley. Popping out at the next path, he kneeled next to a rickety shed in the shadows. ".... needs friends and attention. Shu is a growing boy just like any other. He cant be isolated like this all his life...."

   Jet perked up. They're talking about Shu! I wonder what's so important? He grinned slyly. I've just gotta hear this. Standing up slowly, he waited until the couple had gone by and began tailing them off the side of the path. Eventually they approached a solid wooden bench.

   Astrid frowned. "It seems like he's been doing fine. All of the dragons seem to like him- even that skiddish night fury we rescued. When we brought it home he was right there with us, nursing it back to health. He just doesn't seem to want human company right now. He had a lot of friends when he was younger."

   Hiccup sat down with his wife on the wooden bench. As Hiccup sighed, Jet leapt silently from the shadows and rolled behind the bench in a single cattish motion. Crouching on the grass, he placed his back against the wood and listened more to their conversation.

   Hiccup fidgeted. "That's just it Astrid he had friends when he was younger, but he was still at the edge of the group watching the others play. Now he isolates himself from the other kids like he's a stranger. That night when he left the house, he seemed different; secluded." Jet scowled. But of course; the chief's little pet. He took him in and treated him like a son; no wonder he gets better treatment than us; I should've known. Hiccup looked at his wife in defeat. "I think he knows, Astrid."

   His wife scowled at him. "Well of course he knows by now! He's not an idiot now is he? He was bound to find out eventually, and that's just the way things are." She scoffed. "Actually Shu's probably known for a long time now; you've just been afraid to see it, and now it's too late to tell him about it. You're just lucky that the other children don't know about this." She stood up and put her hands on her hips, looking down irritably at her husband. "There's nothing you can do at this point Hiccup so leave it be! His father chose this life for the boy when he turned on the village! If he really wanted a better life for his son, then Shuensha wouldn't have run off in the first place. You can thank him for that in the mornin'!! Good night!" With that, she promptly turned and stormed back to their house.

   Hiccup sighed and rubbed his hands on his head. While the wood creaked from the weight against his back, Jet sat astonished from what he had just heard. Shu, the runt? That squirt is the Son of the village traitor?! He smiled. Well now, that tidbit may just come in handy sometime now wouldn't it.......

     Luna had come home after Shu had gone away, but she didn't intend to play anymore. Her focus was more on Macha now. She didn't know how, but somehow she knew that strange feral's name. Now, she lie on her bed, sleeping until midnight decided to roar in her ears. Opening her eyes drowsily, she let a huge yawn escape from her mouth before she hopped out of bed and put on some real clothes. She ventured to her brother's room and knocked on the door.

 "Hey, Kiba!" She whispered. "Get up, you lazy bum!"

   Kiba groaned and rolled over in his bed. The knocking came again and he sat up sleepily, rubbing his eye. "Huhhh........" Getting up, he walked over to the door and opened it slightly. When his eyes adjusted to the candlelight, he saw his sister standing in his doorway.

   Kiba stiffled a yawn. "Oh- Luna. Whaddoyou want? It's the middle of the night......."

     "I wanna go see Macha." She said with another yawn. "And you said you wouldn't let me go without you. So, come on, onii-chan! Wake up and let's go~!"

 She wanted to see that night fury. Luna wanted to be friends with the dragon that she had met just a few days ago. But.... something seemed not quite right with that dragon. She didn't know it, but Macha had a familiar air to her. Like a long lost friend. Could she possibly...? She thought to herself. But it would be impossible to find the exact same night fury in the same place... would it?

   Kiba was instantly awake. "The night fury?..." She wants to go this late? Ah darnit. If I don't go she's bound to leave anyways. Kiba grumbled. "Fine, let me get my shoes on..............." He marched sleepily back into his room to find his hiking boots.