Wolf-Bound

     Luna rubbed her head some more before she heard Shu bump his head as well. She flinched and kind of just sat there until he sat back down. She crawled over to him to see if he was okay.

 "Are you alright?!" She asked, but her question was answered when his hand revealed dark liquid that ran down his head. She gasped and immediately took the end of her dress-shirt thing and ripped off a good piece of cloth. She removed his hand and tied it around the wound, hopefully fixing it for the moment.

 "We need to get you back to the village," She said, standing up and reaching out to him with open hands. "I'm sure Astrid can help you. C'mon,"

   Shu backed up, alarmed. "NO, REALLY!! It- It's Fine! I'm fine." He sat back against the wall of the cave, afraid to go back. He couldn't go back yet

   Shu put his hand over the makeshift bandage that Luna had ripped from her dress. He hoped she didn't see him blushing in the dim light of the cave. He stuttered, and cleared his throat with a cough. "Um, Luna?" He looked back up at her, standing above him in the darkness. He started uneasily. "Do you- Um.. Are you, afraid of dragons? Even just a tiny bit?.."

     Wait. What did he just ask? Luna asked herself. Afraid? Of dragons? But... why would anyone ask such a question?

 "No." She finally answered, dropping her hands since she knew he wouldn't accept her help. "I'm not afraid of dragons. Even though they push me away, insult me, and try to lay harm to me, I'm not afraid. They're the ones afraid...And Macha is too."

   Shu looked at her sympathetically. "Well, I was thinking it could be that even if you don't know it, you could be thinking back on your experience whenever you see a dragon." He spread his hands out in explaination. "You got attacked by a dragon as a kid, so if the next time you saw a dragon that you didn't know, you hesitated, which may have caused the dragon to feel uneasy about you. Over time your fear went away, but the dragons had already started to be afraid of you as well. Since those dragons were scared of you, their unease scared the other dragons when they were around you. So it's not anything personal, but you just shouldn't impose yourself on them. Take it slowly."

   Shu rested his hands on the floor again, leaving a red stain on the rock. "Besides, that would explain why Toothless isn't affected. Everyone's been around him since birth, so why should he be afraid of someone who he's known for years?"

     Luna looked inquisitively and contemplated his end result. That makes sense, actually. She said to herself, grabbing his arm and pulling him to a higher-roofed part of the cave so they could get out easier.

 "Well..." She stated, thinking she never really hesitated to pet a dragon or get on one. "I guess that makes sense. I'll try that next time~"

   Shu knew that Luna wasn't really taking him seriously. He didn't mind; he was used to not being listened to, or at least when he told anyone anything, they never acted upon it. Anyways, Shu was now being led to the middle of the cave, where the ceiling was higher and they could stand.

   Shu took a step deeper into the cave when a funny feeling came over him. A soft curtain of darkness draped itself across his vision, enveloping what little light he could see it darkness. Purple dots clouded his vision, floating in front of his eyes. His head filled with air, making him dizzy on his feet.

   Struggling to stay on his feet, Shu stumbled to a column, where he leaned against the rocky pillar. Putting his hand to his throbbing head, he felt warm, wet liquid brush his fingertips. He knelt on the floor, waiting for the feeling to pass.

     Luna was just about to walk out of the cave when she felt the air around her move about in a fashion of sitting. She looked down at Shu and raised an eyebrow. God, boys. They were all so stubborn. She finally grabbed his arm, not letting go this time, and yanked him out of the cave.

 "You WILL follow me to Astrid's place!" She commanded, rushing out of the cave. "Boys and their stubborness! Uhg! Don't even think they need help!"

 She walked over to Whisper-who was probably spazzing out again-and shoved Shu at him. "Take him up to the village! He needs medical attention. I can climb so you don't have to be around me. Got that?!" She growled fiercely.

   Shu felt Luna's hand grab his arm. He didn't argue, but rather willingly let himself be lead away, swept into the rythem of her white hair, and the gaze of those enchanting purple eyes. Quieted under her touch, Shu allowed her to lead him out into the blinding sun.

   Whisper lay outside the cave, watching the sun take its daily course across the vast waters of the ocean. Waves lapped soothingly at the shore, caressing the sand as a mother would a sleeping child.

   Whisper hummed softly to himself; this was his favorite time of day at his favorite place in the world. The salt breeze swept across his back, stroking his scales against the sand borne on the wind. He purred, stretching his paws in front of him, burrowing his claws into the sand.

  Suddenly, Whisper heard muffled footsteps behind him. Perking his ears, he turned his head to see Luna walking rapidly towards him, dragging a silent Shu behind her. The scent of blood sent Whisper reeling. Standing up, he opened his eyes wide, his nostrils flaring with the scent. His tail lashed through the earth, sending waves of sand across the beach. But he stood there as Luna approached, worrying about Shu. The girl shoved Shu at him.

   "Take him up to the village! He needs medical attention. I can climb so you don't have to be around me. Got that?!"

   Whisper crouched as Shu fell across his back with a groan. His rider slumped back down to the sand, his arms lying across the dragon's back. His skin was slowly paling. Looking up at Luna, Whisper looked at her with wide, intelligent eyes. Unafraid, he stood in front of the girl with the snow white hair, his deep golden eyes staring into hers.

Lol, I don't think Whisper could keep Shu from falling off, do u? ^^;;

XDDDDDD

     "What?" She snapped, heading over to the wall to climb it. She had her hands wrapped in a worn-out piece of cloth for climbing as she reached up to grip the first rock. She tried to ignore the gaze of Whisper upon her as she began to climb, but then she had to look behind her at the dragon. Jeez, he was staring her right in the eye! She sighed and jumped down from the ledge, walking over to the other two. She looked down at Shu and rubbed her temples. She was hoping he'd have at least enough strength to hold on, but she guessed wrong. Taking Shu under her shoulder, Luna heaved him up onto the dragon herself, making sure he only slumped over onto Whisper's neck. She looked at him again.

 "What do you expect me to do?" She asked. "Fly?"

   Whisper squinted his eyes happily and hurred. Ruffling his wings, he snorted. Humans were so wierd. You could never tell what they wanted and what was wrong with them until they yelled at you. That's why Whisper liked Shu; Shu never yelled. Whisper had never heard his friend yell, and that's why he was so surprised when he heard Shu's voice screaming over the trees that morning. Whisper was fine with that, the boy had finally grown a backbone.

   Not that Whisper had one in any way shape or form, but he was content with that all the same. Without fear one would simply pick fights with every opponent that came along, which would get you killed in the long run. Whisper had learned that the hard way. Stamping his feet on the sand, Whisper turned in a circle and crouched down, lying on the heated ground. He twitched his tail and glanced up at Luna, ears flapping expectantly.

The logic behind this is basically that since Luna is worried for Shu and annoyed at everyone atm, she's to bent up to be worried about dragons and Whisper senses this. But more to the point, Shu isn't feeling uneasy about Luna, so Whisper is okay if his friend seems fine with it! XD Whisper would be fine with people, but since he's been around Shu so long, who's afraid of other people, Whisper became scared of humans too. Otherwise he'd be a big softie. But he's still terrified of other dragons.

Note: If Luna's too worried about Whisper's reaction to her to climb on in the next post, Whisper is just going to grab her ;; WHOO HOO, PIGGYBACK!!!

     Luna stood there with her hands on her hips for a while before she finally realized what Whisper was getting at.

 "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh no, no no no!" She said, backing up and beginning to run for the cliff. "I'm NOT-"

 PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT DO IT DO IT DO IT >DD

   Whisper looked up at the girl, who was still just standing there like an idiot. Whisper snorted. Standing up suddenly, he raced towards the girl and ran between her legs. Of course, Whisper couldn't fit between the girl's legs, but that was okay because he hadn't intended to in the first place. As it was, Whisper stuck his head through the girls legs at a rapid pace, lifted his head, and sent her tumbling across his back. Raising his wings, he jumped and brought his leathery wings down hard. Suddenly they were in the air, climbing at a rapid pace. Whisper felt the wind rushing across his scales, and he stuck his toungue out, joyfully rolling in the crisp air.

      Luna screamed when the night fury was suddenly under her. She backfliped onto his back and immediately grabbed something for her to hold onto. Frankly, Shu wasn't a good choice since he was practically out cold. She continued to fall with him in her hands until she grasped a spike on Whisper's back. Luna swung there for a few minutes before she managed to haul herself and Shu upon the dragon's back. She hyperventalated a little bit, but calmed down and clung to Shu and Whisper's neck. That was soooooo unexpected.

   Shu clung tight to Whisper's neck, head pounding as his dragon rushed at Luna, altough he really couldn't understand the situation at all at the time. His head jounced with every stride, causing an exploding pain in his head. Something toppled over him and suddenly they were up in the air, climbing higher with every throbbing wingstroke.

   Looking back on it Shu would have said that flying felt much less painful than running on dragonback, but at the time it was all the same to him. His head rocked back and forth with every movement, so much so that he felt he might be sick. It didn't help that something was strangling him from behind. When Whisper finally leveled out over the forest, Shu was granted a brief respite. Rubbing his aching head, he threw an anguished glance at his surroundings. Underneath them were masses upon masses of trees, and above them was the sky, painted pink and orange by the setting sun. The sun shone in his eyes from the side, so he was forced to turn hurriedly away, to avoid hurting his eyes as well as his head. As he looked back, Shu noticed a figure behind him. Turning even farthur around, Shu's eyes narrowed confusedly, his tongue drunkedly slurring his words. "L-Lunaa...." Just then, Whisper caught sight of the village, and began to plummet out of the sky.

     Luna was holding on pretty tight to Shu and not letting go. Damn, girl with a death grip! When she finally opened her eyes to gaze at Shu, they were plummeting down to the ground of full speed! Again, being afraid of suddenly skyrocketing to earth, she screamed in complete and utter terror. 

   Whisper smiled as his rider screamed into the wind. Closing his ears against the rushing air, he snapped his wings open and flapped madly, dirt and grass billowing from the earth beneath them. When he was close enough to the ground Whisper folded his wings and landed, right in the middle of town. Shu groaned on his back and Whisper hurred, shaking his head proudly. His human was going to be fine, and he had made an excellant landing without his help. He had done it all the while carrying two humans on his back as well.

   Perfect.

     When they had finally landed, the girl with a death grip had her hands almost glued to Shu's waist. It took a bit to pry her off, but when she finally discharged herself from the dragon she fell upon the ground with a THUD.

 "OH SWEET GRASS, HOW I MISSED YOU SO." She stated, rubbing her face into the grass and making grass angels in it. Then she looked back up at Whisper panickingly.

"DON"T do that again! Please!" She begged. "I hate surprises like that. ;;"

 Then she got up and shook the grass off of her dress before she caugh Shu as he started slipping off the night fury's backside.

   At Whisper's sudden entry, it seemed as if half- or all of the village came out to see what was happening. Shu of course was barely concious, and Luna was going to have to force her way through the crowd. Whisper on the other hand, was extremely uncomfortable to say the least.

   Whisper felt the bodies of numerous humans pressing in on him, telling him "Good boy" and praising him. He didn't hear them. All Whisper heard was the pounding of his beating heart, its pulse rising increasingly frantic as hands reached out towards him, and shadowy faces grinned down upon him. Shivering, Whisper unfolded his wings and shot off through the crowd, running between legs and knocking people off their feet. Finally he had gained speed and he took off, just over the heads of the few stragglers coming to see the commotion. Turning to his left, he flew off towards the forest.

   Jet sat against the side of his house when a shadow passed over him, heading towards the mountains. Looking up, Jet saw a night fury and knew immedeatly which it was. Snorting, he put his arm across his knee. "Good riddance..."

     Luna made a great effort just to lift the boy unto her back, but suddenly there was a swarm of people that buzzed like bees around her. She felt hot and undesputably annoyed. Go away! She growled in her head. She wanted to say it, but she didn't have the courage to look them in the eye and say it. The white haired girl shoved through the crowd that had recoiled from the night fury's wild run and sprinted across the village to Hiccup's house, where Astrid normally resided. She knocked furiously on the door, hoping she wouldn't get any splinters for a change. She didn't have enough time to look at her hand before Astrid opened the door.

 "Hey Astrid," Luna said in a hurried motion as she rudely pushed past the older viking and laid Shu on an empty seat. "Sorry for intruding like this, but Shu needs your aid. He uh... Bumped his head. Like... hard."

 Astrid just stared at her guests for a moment before shrugging and closing the door. She walked over to the cabinet and got out some medical supplies, then sat down next to Shu.

 "Where did this occur, Luna?" She questioned. "I know how you like to explore, but this just isn't the kind of thing Shu does. Or at least, I don't think he did..."

 "Um, nowhere special." She lied. "Just in the forest, heh."

   Jet sneered as he stepped out of Luna's path. Shu's head lolled in her arms, his eyes squinted in a pained moan. The cloth around his head was dyed red in a spot, and the boy's skin was pale as the clouds in his head. Jet didn't know why this pleased him, or why he felt accomplished that Shu had been incapacitated. He supposed it was because of the injuries he and his friends had sustained during their training sessions.

   Since Shu wasn't ever around for training with everyone else, he wouldn't get hurt like the other kids, now would he? Jet had seen, and occasionaly been, one of many kids often get hit with his own sheild, thrown against the wall of the arena, or singed by dragon fire. This time though, it was Shu who was being sent to Astrid's house, and not with a nadder spike embedded in his thigh. Jet supposed that this incident almost prehaps served as some kind of revenge.

   "And just what do you think is so funny?"

   Jet opened his eyes and looked around. Behind him, Kiba stood with his legs apart, his goos arm placed disapprovingly on the bone of his hip. His fingers flexed spazmodically as Kiba practiced moving his hand, a tingling feeling spreading through his limb. Jet snorted in irritation. "Just think it serves him right is all."

   Kiba stepped up next to Jet, watching his sister run across the path to Hiccup's house. Frowning, he contemplated the circumstances. "Hey Jet, why do you hate Shu so much? What has he ever done to you? I mean, I know you have a grudge against him, and I know he acts strange, and doesn't seem to want to be near anybody. But, why do you feel the need to pick on him all the time?" Kiba looked over at his friend, who's face was drawn in agitation.

   "Jet?"

   Jet glowered at Kiba, his hands drawn into fists. "He's an ignorant brat who thinks he's better than the rest of us because he's the cheif's special little pet! I hate people like that. He's excused from training, he gets special flying lessons from Hiccup, and he's the only one who gets to ride that night fury in the stables; the only training one we've got. He thinks he's so great but he only has those priviledges because he's wormed his way into the adults' good graces. His only backbone is the older, superior support behind him, and if the grownups stop backing him, I bet he wouldn't last an hour in any of our shoes. He's just a spoiled brat."

    Kiba recoiled, blinking in shock at his friend's unexpected response. "You- Do you really think so? All this time? You've never told me..." Kiba's eyebrows furrowed. "You never tell me anything anymore for that matter. Ever since we turned 10, you've started slipping away from me, not trusting to tell me your problems anymore. You've become so secluded, Jet! To me, it's almost like you're a different person.."

   Jet looked away at the crowd departing from the furies landing. Placing his hands in his pockets, he fingered his knife. "I am a different person. You're right, you don't know me."

   Kiba crossed his arms. "And that's just it. If I don't know you, then how could you possibly know anything about Shu? He never talks to us, and even when he did, he didn't really allow any of us into his life. Maybe there's a good reason the adults look out for him. I find it hard to believe that he's really that bad.."

   Jet whipped around, his knife by his side. "THEN WHAT WOULD YOU THINK ABOUT HIM IF I TOLD YOU HE WAS THE SON OF A TRAITOR, HUH?!!" His thumb and forefinger pressed on the well-worn blade, bending it ever so slightly to the side.

   Kiba's heart skipped a beat, leaping into his throat. Bile rose in his mouth as Kiba imagined Shu's father killing his dad. He'd always tried to appear unfazed for his sister, unchanging. He'd known how it would have affected her if both he and his mother broke down at his father's passing. After his father's death, he took care of most of the house chores for a time until everything got straightened out. He didn't let his sister know; he let her assume that their mother had been doing them. But every time Kiba was alone in the house he would cry for hours, wanting his father back, and cursing the man who had taken his dad from him. Honestly, he had mixed feelings about the possibility of a son. He knew it shouldn't bother him, and that Shu was his own person, but he knew he couldn't truthfuly bring himself to believe that. Deep down, he really loathed Shu if he were Shuensha's son. And what if he took after his father? That would explain his odd seclusion... (AND SUDDENLY A CREEPY FRUIT LOOPS COMERCIAL APPEARS O.o)

   Jet couldn't stand Kiba's extended silence. Pushing harder on his blade, his finger slipped and it slit the skin across his index finger. "Well?? He's the Son of the man who KILLED YOUR FATHER!!! AREN'T YOU FURIOUS?!!!"

   Kiba snarled. "So what if I am? That's not the point! My point is that judging people without getting to know them first is morally wrong. If we don't know the truth then what can we do about it? How do I know you're not lying? Do I have any way of knowing you won't stoop that low anymore? I don't know what to believe anymore."

   Jet snapped. "FINE. I can see that you don't trust me anymore. You won't ever trust anything I may tell you." He turned around, scowling darkly. "Believe what you want. But I don't trust him. I hate him! You know, it almost makes me glad that the feral is getting released, ya know? We may get lucky! Five days at sunrise...." He glanced back over his shoulder at Kiba. "Just enough time for it to go and eat him." With that Jet trudged down the path, pausing just long enough to kick a rock through a neighboring window, before continuing on down the street.