Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter One: Lance the Nuisance

Song: All Is Found, Evan Rachel Wood

There is nothing like a dragon raid. Lance thought, adrenaline pumping through his veins as he managed to close the door behind him just as a Monstrous Nightmare breathed fire at him. He kept the door closed, leaning against it and barely contained a smile. Outside he could hear the familiar noise of battle cries and dragon roars.

This is your night! He told himself as he ripped the door open and ran out into the fray of vikings and dragons. The smell of burning wood caused him to cough but it did not deter him from continuing on, he had a destination in mind and nothing short of a dragon blocking his way was going to stop him. He dodged the swing of an axe, ignoring the scream for him to go back inside that was cut off by a Gronckle tackling the viking.

A Deadly Nadder flew by, two sheep on its claws and a viking clutching its tail as it tried to fight the dragon without falling to his death. Lance glanced away quickly. He had a place to be. Everyone had a role during a dragon raid and he was to be at the forge and out of the way. No matter how much he argued against it, his skills with the bow and arrow were not useful during a night raid and he had no skills with a sword or axe.

But one day that would change.

He made the familiar track to the forge, knowing that he was already late but Hunk would forgive him for it because it was better to arrive late than to never arrive at all (it meant he survived another night). He headed towards a group of Vikings, already knowing the complaints he would hear. And right on time, just like every night raid, Sablan the Haggard shouted “What are you doing here?”

“Get inside!”

“What are you doing out?”

Lance was tempted to respond. Sure, he was not skilled in the forge as Hunk or Sammuel Holt, but on nights like these every hand was helpful. When they were too busy fixing weapons, it was Lance who handed them out as Vikings dropped by, looking for more swords, axes or throwing daggers. Plus, they couldn’t carry every broken weapon that came in.

He was just about to cross a path when a big hand grabbed him by the collar, lifting him up with ease just as a Deadly Nadder shot spikes at the place he had been standing. “Lance!” Berk’s Strategy Advisor and Right Hand of the Chief, Ruben the Shrewd, turned Lance to face him, still holding his collar. “What are you doing out? Get inside!”

Ruben set him down gently, silently commanding him to go and turn around. Lance walked a few steps before stopping to stare in awe as Ruben quickly tied one rope to the end of something and threw it in the air.

They say that when he was five, he managed to bring down a dragon with nothing but a wooden plank and a rope. Do I believe it?

He pulled his end of the rope causing the makeshift net to wrap around the dragon it captured, dragging it to the ground.

Yes, I do.

Driven, Lance ran faster, dodging angry weapons swinging Vikings and dragon fire and claws. Every night it was a wonder what would kill him first. His foot caught on a rock and he fell, he cursed, already standing up when a muscular arm wrapped around his middle and dragged him to the ground. Again.

He would have cursed out the person if not for the perfectly timed explosion a few meters away from him. Lance did not open his eyes until the flame died down, already mentally preparing himself for the sight of the one who saved him. Most Berkians were broad and all muscle, but there were a select few, himself included, who were not, meaning the selection of people who saved him from a burning death shrunk significantly. Lance knew who he wanted to be the person, but for similar reasons he hoped it was not him.

Unfortunately or fortunately, Lance immediately recognized him. He didn’t need to see the other’s full profile, Lance would never mistake that jawline or mess of black hair anywhere. He could picture purple eyes looking at him rather than the fire, rough hands gently helping him up and softly asking “Are you ok?”

Instead, he got a glare. “Lance, look where you are going! Head to the forge. Hunk is waiting for you!”

“I would if you would get off me!” He said, pointedly looking at Keith Kogane’s body that was still atop his own.

Keith took his hands off him, gracefully leaping to his feet and held his hand out for Lance to take. Lance, in a very Viking way, stubbornly ignored it and got up himself, enjoying the very brief look of annoyance that always crossed Keith’s face whenever Lance showed off the height difference between them. Before either of them could say more, another sheep was taken and Keith was gone and Lance was left by himself again, staring at Keith’s retreating back. Shaking himself from the stupor, Lance continued running, finally making it to his destination.

“Lance! I was getting worried! You’ve never taken this long!” Hunk, his best friend, greeted him, fussing over him briefly before shoving an apron at him.

Hunk was all muscle, both for being a Viking and working at the forge from a young age. Samuel Holt, Berk’s main blacksmith, had spotted Hunk’s talent and took him in as his apprentice. Everyone knew that once Sam retired or died, Hunk would take up his role. Lance was jealous, because Hunk already knew what his role in the village would be. He no longer needed to prove himself, but Lance… Well, Lance was good with a bow and arrow and could hunt decently well, but his choice of weapon was not the most well liked. It was a coward’s weapon according to them, but during day raids, nobody could argue that his skill was useful. He was not considered a coward and a nuisance then.

But day raids were rare.

Not that he had been given many opportunities to kill a dragon. At most, his arrows would deter them from taking their cattle, and when there were no raids, Lance would kill a boar or two when extra food was needed. Useful, but in their village what counted was how many dragons you killed or how useful you would become in the future in helping to kill dragons, not gather food. Hunk was the next blacksmith, super useful. Lance? He could kill a boar with one well aimed shot. Not as useful when they have cattles and other much better hunters.

“Hurry up Lance! I need you to keep the fire burning. Sam had to join the fight so it is only the two of us here!”

Lance moved to do just that. Hunk continued to trade broken weapons with new ones for the lined up vikings. Eventually, he switched places with Hunk, letting the other begin with fixing the weapons as Lance distributed more, took the broken ones and noted down the people who no longer had weapons. Vikings who quickly reassured him that they were lost during the fight and not because of stupidity, because as soft hearted Hunk and Sam Holt were, everyone knew not to cross them when it came to weapons.

Another building exploded.

With it came the ones chosen to put it out, and Lance could not help but pay more attention to their work than the weapons being handed to him. Adult and able vikings did the fighting, and everyone else set out fires or got people to safety, particularly children who managed to sneak out from the Great Hall where some shieldmaidens kept guard. Generally, Lance did not pay much attention to the groups designated to put out the fires, but tonight he did.

Katie -- Pidge to her friends -- Holt, ran first. She was not the tallest of Vikings, actually, she was the shortest of the group, but she was also the youngest. Of them all, she seemed the least threatening, physically, but Lance knew Pidge could pack a mean kick to the shin. But what she lacked in muscle, she had in intelligence. If you ever needed to know something about dragons, she was the one to ask. It is said that one of her ancestors was the author of the Book of Dragons. She, along with Hunk, and Keith, despite his earlier demeanor, were the only ones Lance could consider friends.

Ryan Kinkade followed, carrying a bigger bucket. He was tall, tall enough to look most adult vikings in the eyes. He was threatening and had muscle and strength to back it up, but he was soft hearted and when not helping the village during the raids, he was often spotted helping tend to the cattle or hanging out with his friends. He and Lance had no relationship to speak of, they did not run in the same circles and kept away from each other, but the few times they spoke, it was amicable. Which was more than Lance could say for the other three.

Lance groaned, Think of the devil and they appear. Ina Leifsdottir and Nadia Rizavi were not related in any form or way, but since they were born you would never spot one without the other. If Pidge and her brother, Matt, were not causing trouble around the village, it was them. Both girls were intelligent and used it to cause mischief when they thought the peace lasted for too long. Both of them ignore Lance on a good day, on a bad one he would be the victim of their pranks, which in turn would cause Pidge to retaliate and somehow the blame would fall on Lance. Every single time.

Then there was James Griffin. He was his cousin, and the ringleader of his group of friends: Ryan, Ina and Nadia. He was a tall boy with brown hair, mean fists and an attitude to match. His father always bragged to anyone who would listen that James was everything a Viking should ever be, it was particularly emphasized whenever the Chief, Shiro, and or Keith were around. It took everything in Lance to keep from laughing when a constipated look appeared on his father’s or siblings’ face; a particular one that said ‘I disagree, but I’m not going to say it.’ The fact that his family agreed that James was mean and annoying, brought joy to Lance’s day every single time. While he never told them that James was also a bully and he was his favorite victim alongside Keith.

Once, long ago, Lance would have considered himself as Keith’s rival. “Lance and Keith, neck-and-neck,” he would brag to anyone who would listen, and maybe it had been true once, when they were ten and Keith was still new to the village. But if you asked anyone who it was now, they would respond James Griffin. Everyone knew that if Keith had not impressed Shiro when he did, James would be the Viking under his wing and that was something that both James and his father took great offence to. Which was why Keith also dealt with the other’s insults and mocking. Never to the extent of Lance of course, James Griffin was smart enough to not mock the one person who had the Chief’s and his son’s, Shiro, protection and favor.

Lance sighed, disappointed but not surprised that Keith was nowhere to be seen. It was rare for him to be part of the fire groups nowadays with how often the Chief paired him up with his son. The two of them had always been inseparable, but more so over the past few years as Shiro slowly came into his role as heir of the tribe and Keith his, suspected, future General, should he decide to remain, but Lance doubted.

Now, he was everything a Viking needed to be, Lance said in the privacy of his mind, though he doubted anyone would disagree.

Brave, intelligent, and skilled, Keith was the most popular boy of their age despite his closed off personality and quick to ignite anger. He was not born in Berk, but he was the son of the late Kaden Kogane, the Chief’s best friend, who left to be with his wife and her tribe, though remained in contact as much as he could. Keith had shipwrecked on Berk when he was ten, cold, wet, hungry, and with a father who was killed by a dragon on their way to the island. Keith was quick to prove himself with his unmatched skills with both swords and daggers despite his young age. Shiro took him under his wing and Lance remembered being immensely jealous of him. Now, Lance could proudly say they were best friends and that he was unquestionably, undeniably, unbelievably in love with Keith Kogane.

“Where do you think you are going?” Hunk’s voice broke through his musings, taking the weapons from him while dragging him back inside. Lance had, unknowingly, been leaning out of the window as he watched the other kids run out to put out another fire.

“Oh, come on!” He groaned, “Hunk, my main man, I need to make my mark!”

“Lance, you already made your mark! Everywhere!”

“Hey no, we both know that Pidge is the one who does them and I get the blame for them!” He argued back, pleased when Hunk conceded but still gave him a pointed look. Which, fair, sometimes he would help Pidge and her brother, but that was only fifteen percent of the time! Maybe, twenty-five. “Please, just let me out for two minutes. I’ll kill a dragon and my life will instantly get better! People will like me! James may actually leave me alone! Quiznack, Keith may see me as a possibility and not just a friend.”

At that, Hunk gave him a particular look he only used when he thought Lance was being thick-headed, which was not applicable at this moment if Lance said so himself. “Lance, you can’t swing a sword properly, much less an axe. You cannot even throw one of these.”

His best friend lifted a bola from his working table. Another Viking leaned in, grabbed it and threw it to the nearest dragon. Hunk and Lance watched as it hit the target, sending the dragon crashing to the ground where other Vikings quickly swarmed it.

“Ok, fine, I can’t do that.” Lance conceded. “But if you and Pidge just made something that could do it for me--”

“Lance.”

“Right, sorry.” He went back to the weapons, sharpening them this time while Hunk fixed them. The familiar motions made it easy for his mind to drift.

One day, he thought, one day I’ll be out there.

Killing a dragon was everything on Berk. Their rituals and rites were built around it, and if they did not involve directly killing one, it certainly involved either their blood, bones, scales, horns, and/or teeth. It was something that commanded respect and if done memorably, it brought admiration. And Lance, who was kept inside during night raids and seen as a necessary nuisance during the day ones, it was the thing he wanted most.

Lance could see it: Berkians cheering his name, Keith fighting his way through the crowd to see him, and his family all smiling proudly at him as he presented the heart of the dragon he killed to the Chief. The heart of which dragon, he did not know. Sometimes it was a Gronckle's, others a Deadly Nadder. Something must have shown in his face because Hunk sighed, putting down the hammer and pulled Lance to the side where a white sheet covered… something. Not letting him dwell too much, Hunk took the sheet off and Lance’s eyes widened wondering if what he was seeing was what he hoped it was.

“Pidge and I call it the Pitching Bola,” Hunk explained as Lance moved closer. “We were thinking of giving it for your birthday, but… I guess she won’t be too mad if it gets rid of your kicked-puppy look.”

Before Lance could say anything more, something sharp whistled through the air, sending goosebumps up his spine. Vikings all around them yelled at each other to get down, out of instinct both he and Hunk followed the command despite the roof over them.

A large explosion followed. The ground shook as the dragon hit its mark. It always did.

A Night Fury! Excitement coursed through Lance at the very idea of the beast.

The dragon caused confusion, for one they were meant to be extinct or close to it, so even if every Viking considered the whistle to come from a Night Fury, there was no way to prove it. The dragon never showed itself, never stole food, and had proven over a thousand times that it never missed. It was the ultimate test of strength and bravery. No one had ever seen the dragon before, never mind kill it.

Lance was determined to be the first.

“Quiznack.” Hunk muttered, watching as Vikings ran towards the area of the explosion, probably to help anyone who was caught in it or fight off any dragons that decided to use the chaos to their advantage. “Ok, Lance, I know you won’t stay put. But stay put. Also, the instructions on how to use it are right there.”

Times like this made Lance remember why Hunk was his best friend. Quickly, he ran out of the forge, falling into the repeated rhythm of avoiding Vikings and dragons with the added challenge of keeping the Pitching Bola upright. Which in theory should be easy, but the invention was heavier than it looked.

Some people spotted him as he ran past them.

“Lance! Where are you going?”

“Come back here!”

Lance ran faster, for once happy for his lankier figure compared to the broad one of most everyone in the village. It made it easier to outrun them when necessary. “Yeah, yeah!” He shouted back, not bothering to look back, “I’ll be right back.”

He headed straight towards one of the quieter clearings. Contrary to popular belief, dragons were pretty predictable. Before any of them were allowed to really participate in raids, they realized that dragons mostly kept to similar spots. The areas that were easier to steal food from, such as the coast where they kept their fish, and the surrounding farms where they kept everything else: sheep, chicken and yak. And wherever the dragons were, vikings followed quickly after. Meaning that Lance, Hunk, Pidge and Keith would often find themselves in the quieter clearings when they wanted to get away from the village chaos. Or if James was being particularly bothersome. The small hill surrounding the village was one of such quiet spots. A perfect place to shoot down a dragon.

If any flew by.

Lance skimmed through the instructions, hoping and praying that he was assembling the Pitching Bola properly. He crouched down to aim, absentmindedly listening to the distant sound of fighting from Berk, but kept his eyes peeled on the empty sky. This clearing was a particular favorite of his, it was so open that he often practiced with his bow and arrows, his friends would throw random items of varying sizes up in the sky for him to shoot. He had never done it in the dark. He hoped his aim was just as true.

“Come on,” he whispered, body itching to move. “Give me something to shoot at. Please.”

A shadow moved through the sky, barely noticeable against the inky darkness. Lance wouldn’t have seen it if it didn’t hide the star he had been eyeing. He pulled the Pitching Bola into position, aimed and… shoot! The Pitching Bola bounced back at the sudden tension, hitting him right on the stomach hard enough for him to fall over. But not before he watched as the bola missed his intended target and instead hit something else, making it plummet it down with a screech.

Still hit a dragon though! Lance grinned, getting up slowly careful of the bruise that was already forming. Once he was standing he threw his hands in the air and rejoiced. “Yes! I hit it! Did anybody see that?”

He turned around, hoping that maybe one of the vikings followed after him. It was none of them, but someone was there, looking at him with wide eyes and something unreadable in his face. Keith. Before Lance could say anything, maybe for them to go find the dragon together, Keith’s face shifted into something resembling alarm.

Lance turned around only to see a Monstrous Nightmare crawling up the cliff, its head dangerously close to him. He groaned, “Apart from you.” He heard Keith choke from behind him, but Lance’s gaze stayed on the dragon approaching him, it seemed amused but he did not give himself time to analyze that. Lance turned swiftly and ran away, grabbing Keith’s arm on the way.

The dragon followed after them much too swiftly for something of its size. Keith cursed behind him, heaving up the shield to block the fiery breath before taking the lead. As the village approached them, Lance let out a scream, managing to just dodge another fiery death. Keith dragged them to a thick wooden pole and any other time Lance would have paid more attention to Keith’s body pressed against his own, but the fire surrounding them on both sides took priority.

Oh gods, Lance forced his eyes shut, I’m too young to die!

He opened his eyes when he felt Keith move away with a firm “Stay put.” Lance leaned towards one side cautiously, watching as Keith fought the beast with nothing but a shield and a sword. And yes, Keith was good, but even the most experienced vikings rarely went toe-to-toe with a Monstrous Nightmare without back-up and lived. But before Lance could do something stupid, like jump into the fight and pray that he didn’t become a dragon snack, the Chief and Shiro jumped in, forcing the dragon's head to the ground before it could bite Keith’s head clean off.

I am so dead. I almost got Keith killed!

The dragon flew away after throwing off the other two, and Lance wished it would turn back just so it would take him with it. Being a dragon snack would be better than what he knew was to come. Keith, Shiro and the Chief turned to him all looking unaffected by the fire and the dragon they just beat the life out of. Ironically enough, with the sweat dripping all over him and his breathing, it was Lance that looked like the one that just came from a dragon fight.

The crowd around them parted just as the torch pole he and Keith had hidden behind finally caved in and rolled away, leaving a path of destruction that Pidge would be proud of. The Chief moved to allow his Right Hand to come forward.

A scowl and crossed arms was all it took.

“Sorry, Dad.”

***

Lance really should be used to the village trailing after him and his dad whenever he was going to be scolded. Really, it was a show for everyone else, Lance should really get paid for bringing the entertainment after night raids. He flinched as dragons roared in the background, all carrying panicking sheep. The slight amusement turned into glares.

He knew that those dragons got away because of him. Hopefully, they managed to save enough food for the upcoming winter. He grimaced as another dragon flew overhead, this time with a yak on its claws.

Ok, maybe I can fix this.

“I hit a dragon!” Lance rushed to say, already regretting the words before he even finished the sentence. A big hand grabbed the collar of his shirt, dragging him along. Lance kept on talking despite his own growing dread and his dad’s silence. “I swear I did this time! I was trying to hit a Night Fury, but missed and I hit something else instead. But I know it was a dragon. I landed somewhere off Arus Point. If we get a search party before--”

“Stop!” Ruben demanded, making it some more of a shout and everyone was silent. The Chief stepped forward with Shiro and Keith in tow. Suddenly, Lance felt hopeful because if anyone could convince the Chief and Lance’s dad it would be Keith. “Lance, just stop. We have bigger problems than your ‘runaway’ dragon. Winter is coming and the Chief has a village to feed, and I have to help re-adjust our rations.”

Lance met Keith’s eyes and there was something in them that maybe Lance would have taken time to figure out if the circumstances were different. But he needed this, because Lance actually shot down a dragon and between the two of them, Keith would be believed. So Lance ignored whatever Keith was trying to silently communicate and the words were out before he could stop them, “Keith saw me hit it!”

That caused Ruben to pause. So did everyone around them. The Chief and Ruben turned to Keith who had stiffened as soon as the words left Lance’s lips, and Shiro squeezed Keith’s shoulder. An act that Lance recognized as Shiro’s way to give the younger reassurance when he could not say it outloud.

“Keith, is it true?” The Chief asked, eyes darting towards Lance with disbelief and he tried not to be too offended by that. “Did Lance hit a dragon?”

“Um,” Keith cleared his throat and turned to face the Chief, avoiding Lance’s pleading look. “No sir. At least, I do not think so. It was dark and I was too focused on the Nightmare.”

Lance’s heart plummeted. Keith lied. Lance had seen Keith’s face, he knew that the other boy saw him hit whatever dragon he hit. And yet, Keith lied.

Does… does he think I’m a nuisance too? The very idea burned his eyes and he blinked quickly. He would not cry in front of the village, he had been embarrassed enough. Embarrassed by his own father and now by someone he thought had faith in him.

“Get back to the house.” Ruben sighed, glancing at someone behind Lance briefly before turning to the Chief, Shiro and Keith. “Hunk, make sure he gets there. I have his mess to clean up now.” Lance never once took his eyes from Keith, hoping that the betrayal was shown clear in his face. Keith looked away, ushered away by Shiro who never once moved the hand on Keith’s shoulder.

Lance watched them go, not even protesting when Hunk and Pidge, who decided to tag along, began to push him in the direction of his house. He had always been good at managing his dad’s anger, but disappointment was something else entirely. None of his siblings ever dealt with it, being proper vikings, but Lance? Lance seemed to bring it out the most. He never once looked up, aware of what would be written on the faces of everyone around the three.

Lance knew everyone rejoiced the day Keith proved himself to be the next probable Right Hand. After all, Lance would have been the next choice and no one wanted that.

But that is who they are getting, a voice mocked him. Keith is leaving. They get you now.

“What a performance!” Nadia’s mocking voice was accompanied by Ina’s snickering.

James, of course, joined in. “I’ve never seen anyone mess up that badly!” Everyone knew that was not true. Matt and Pidge, and Nadia and Ina constantly made messes from their own activities, but they never got as punished as Lance. After all, they weren’t the youngest son of the village’s Right Hand. Ryan gave him a small smile, but nothing more.

“Don’t listen to them Lance,” Hunk finally said once they were out of earshot. “I’m sure you hit that dragon.” Lance gave him a smile, but the thing about being best friends since they were babies, Lance knew when Hunk was lying.

“Yeah! And we can build the Pitching Bola again, and better now!” Pidge crackled, eyes wide and slightly manic. Probably already coming up with ideas of what to change and improve. That did make Lance feel better, but not by much.

The Chief and his family, and Keith, lived above the village, on the topside of a hill overlooking the town. Keith mentioned that it had a great view of the ocean and sunset, but nothing that could rival the sunsets from his home island, at least of the little he could remember. With the exception of the Mead Hall that was built into the large mountain, the Chief’s hom was the longest standing building on Berk, going on five years without being burned down.

Lance’s house was not that far away considering his dad’s position on Berk’s court. It was not as grand as the Chief’s, but it was home. It was big enough to house Ruben and all his children, at least the ones who did not move away with their spouses somewhere else in the village. Though, soon enough Lance and Ruben would be left.

It was only when his house could be seen that Lance spoke up. “I really did hit a dragon and Keith really did see me do it too. I don’t know why he lied.”

Don’t you? The mocking voice laughed. Lance told it to shut up.

“I’m sure you did Lance,” Pidge finally said after the silence stretched a little too long.

They finally reached the front door.

“I just want to be one of you guys.”

“Lance--”

Lance shut the door behind him, cutting Hunk off. He rested against the door for a moment, collecting his thoughts and willing himself to not cry. Maybe it was time to accept his fate in the village, move into a shack on the tallest mountain. Or… , he grinned, an idea forming quickly and he darted towards the back door, none of his siblings were home to stop him, too busy helping out their dad and the rest of the village probably.

After all, his dad said to get home, not stay there.

***

Arus Point was a thick, dense forest with towering trees, always cloaked with fog. It was not navigated enough to justify making a path, instead, if any viking wanted to not get lost, there were small pathways of dead grass made from their constant use. The forest was not unfamiliar to Lance, even before Keith’s sudden arrival, he, Hunk, and Pidge (sometimes Matt and Shiro would have joined them, before their responsibilities increased. Before Keith) would explore the area until one of their parents found them.

When Keith shipwrecked on Berk, he began to join them too, dragged by Shiro mainly, until he began to come to his own accord. But as the years went by, and as their roles in the village became more established, Lance went to the forest by himself most days. And then Keith found out and it became a thing between the two of them.

Around that same time Lance began to fall, and fall hard for Keith.

But even with Keith, Lane never once strayed from the typical paths.

Until now.

“Oh the gods hate me!” He groaned, barely managing to stop himself from tripping because of a loose root. “Some people lose their knife or favorite mug. But no! I manage to lose an entire fucking dragon!” He smacks a hanging tree branch, only to get smacked back. “Oh fuck off.”

“What did the tree do to you?”

Lance froze, turning around to see Keith leaning against a tree, his amused expression quickly shifting to worry. Before Lance could do anything, the other approached him and gently cupped his face, gaze right where the branch hit. Lance’s breath hitched, all retorts completely left his mind at the proximity and he hoped his face was not as red as it felt.

“It’s not bleeding at least,” Keith murmured. “Seems you won one over the tree.”

“Uhu,” Lance hummed, not being able to say more than that. Keith’s eyes widened, seeming to finally realize their proximity and his face became red, quickly taking many steps back.

“Right.” He coughed, gaze darting around before landing on the tree behind Lance. His widened eyes caused the stupor that Lance found himself in to break and he whipped around, catching on to what Keith was probably thinking.

The branch was connected to a broken tree. The top part was hanging over, pointing towards the ground and revealing the caved in ground below it. Very few things could cause something like that and hope began to bloom inside of Lance, but suddenly he realized that Keith had followed him. Keith who had lied about seeing Lance shoot down a dragon.

“Was this your plan? Lie in front of the village so you could find the dragon and kill it for yourself?!”

Keith startled, tearing his gaze away from the broken tree. “What? No!” Something, probably a squirrel, scrambled up the side of the tree. Probably scared away by the sudden loud noise.

“ You do not need it! I do!” Lance yelled, using his height to crow Keith against the tree behind him. “ You already have all the glory you could ever need! I don’t! I need this Keith! Did you want to leave with one last hoorah?!” There was a hiss above them, Lance paid it no mind. The wind always acted weird around these areas.

“That is not why at all!”

“Then why Keith?! Why did you lie?!”

“Because you can’t kill a dragon Lance!”

Silence.

Keith’s eyes widened as Lance stepped back, hurt. No. Hurt could not describe the feeling. Out of everyone, never, never once had Lance ever thought that Keith did not have faith in his abilities. Keith was always willing to train with him, even trying and failing to teach Lance how to sword fight or throw an axe. Out of everyone, Keith was the first to ever reassure Lance that the village was wrong. That Lance’s own family was wrong. That the Chief and Shiro were wrong.

Keith always said that Lance was never useless. Nor a nuisance.

“Because you can’t kill a dragon, Lance!”

Was it all a lie? Lance backed away more, mouth agape unable to form his thoughts into audible words. Keith moved forward, hand stretched out but he stopped, straightening himself and stared at him. Before he could say anything though, another voice broke the tense silence.

“Keith? Where are you?”

Shiro.

Right, Keith was leaving today. Lance had completely forgotten about that with everything else. Keith’s stay in Berk was never permanent, but the eight years almost made it seem like he changed his mind. Clearly he had not, apparently Berk -- Lance -- was not good enough to stay. Maybe it was for the best, apparently the one person Lance thought always had faith in him had been lying the entire time.

“Go.”

“Lance,” Keith tried but Lance stared him down and whatever was reflected on his face caused Keith to back down. Instead, Keith began to leave, but before the trees and fog took him from view, he turned to meet Lance’s eyes. There was something unreadable in his eyes, something similar to what was there when he lied to the Chief and the rest of the village. The wind rustled the leaves above Keith once more.

“Our parents’ war is about to become ours,” Keith’s face was expressionless, something Lance had never seen and never wanted to see again. “When we meet again, I hope you are with us.”

What? Before Lance could say anything, Keith disappeared from the trees and from Berk, and the rustle of leaves seemed to follow the other. For a mere second Lance swore he saw something small land on Keith. But that thought was swept away by the lingering anger. Who needs that asshole? Can’t kill a dragon, I’ll show him!

Ignoring the sting of betrayal, and the hollow feeling in his stomach, Lance turned to the new path and followed it. It ended at a secluded grove and there, tied up by a bola rope, laid a dragon. A deep blue deadly nadder. He had done it! He, Lance the Nuisance, had done what no one, not even Keith, thought he could do!

He brought down a dragon! Alone!

Alone.

The awe left him quickly as the dawning realization that he was alone with a dragon, he grasped his sole dagger tightly and pointed it threateningly at the beast. He let out a hysterical laugh as he compared how tiny and useless his dagger looked compared to the blue beast. Cautiously, he approached the dragon, freezing at the slight movement only continuing when he was sure it would not move again.

Once he was close enough, the full realization of what he had done once more made its presence known. “I did it!” He yelled, “I did it! I brought down this mighty beast! Take that everyone! I did it!” In his moment of glory, Lance did what he always imagined himself doing, and stepped forward, placing a foot onto the dragon.

The beast moved, shoving him away, and Lance just managed to keep himself from falling to the ground. His heart was beating so hard and fast, he was half convinced it would jump out from his chest. Still, he forced himself to approach the dragon again, dagger raised, and trailed his gaze from the belly to the tied wings. Unexpectedly, he made eye contact with the dragon.

It had yellow eyes.

It felt oddly uncomfortable and nausea began to bubble in his stomach. For a moment he swore the dragon seemed to be asking for mercy, but, but beasts cannot ask for mercy. They could not ask for something they did not know how to give.

“I will kill you,” he announced. It sounded hollow to his own ears. “I will kill you. I’m a viking! I am a viking! ” He shouted the last part, hoping it sounded as brave and true as he wanted it to.

It sounded like he was trying to convince himself. Or the dragon. Or both. But why would he? He was a viking and vikings kill dragons, therefore, he would kill the dragon. No matter what everyone thought. No matter what Keith thought. Yet, the nausea in his stomach did not cease, it worsened and when he met the dragon’s eye again, something seemed to pass through it because it closed its eye, slumping its head as if defeated.

As if it had accepted death.

As if it had the capacity to understand what was happening.

He was a viking.

Lance closed his own eyes, dagger raised and his future calling to him.

Chapter Text

Chapter Two: Lance the New

Song: Mirrors, Justin Timberlake

By the time Lance left the forest, the ship that held Keith was long gone and the last thing that transpired between them was a fight. A fight that seemed to reveal Keith’s true feelings about Lance. He clutched the dagger tighter, still feeling the resistance between the sharp blade and its target. It was a feeling Lance would not forget any time soon.

He put the dagger away, grimacing at the sight of blood on his clothes. It would be a pain to wash out, and hopefully the house would be empty by then. He didn’t want to explain where the blood came from. Not that he would have been believed anyway, but he would rather not lie if he didn’t have to. The walk up the hill seemed longer than earlier that morning, maybe it was because he never slept or the… everything finally caught up to him.

Lance didn’t know. He also didn’t care. He just wanted to rest.

Slowly, he pushed open the door, cringing when it creaked. He thought that Marco fixed that already, but maybe he didn’t have the time. “Lance?”

Fuck. He turned to the fireplace where Luis was sitting on the chair closest to it. “Hi Luis. I didn’t know you were visiting today. Uh, how are Nadia and Sylvio?”

Luis raised an eyebrow, but let it go. “They are good. Helping Helen around the house today.”

“Awesome, amazing. I’m just going to…” Lance did his best to get away, but Luis was faster and stronger, taking hold of his collar and pulling him back.

“Not so fast. Lance is back!”

And as he feared, the call brought everyone. The once quiet house became lively as his remaining two siblings stumbled over themselves to get to the main room in the house. Lance huffed, annoyed that they were smart enough to have Luis greet him and not either of them. He was the only brother that still towered over Lance and as the oldest knew all the tricks Lance was taught by Marco and Veronica.

Before he knew it, the room, which was already small, became smaller with the addition of Marco, Veronica and their dad. Lance knew what was coming, it was always the same thing. They would try to convince him that he didn’t need to kill a dragon to fit in. He could be something else, maybe a farmer or work at the blacksmith as Hunk’s assistant. Which was easy for them all to say, apart from Veronica, everyone in the family had gotten the honour to kill a dragon in the Battle Ring in front of the entire village. The only reason Veronica didn’t get the honour was because Shiro had been in her class, but Lance knew the final decision was close. Shiro had just finished the final test first. Still, Veronica may not have been able to kill the dragon, but she did come in second in her class and killed a dragon two raids later. It had been a Deadly Nadder and she wore the spine of it proudly in a necklace, and the rest she had used to make hairpins.

And Lance? He knew his dad and his siblings were considering not allowing him to even participate in Dragon Battle Training. He wouldn’t have even gotten the chance.

Do you even want it anymore? A voice that sounded suspiciously like Keith whispered in his mind. Lance told it to shut up.

“I know what you guys are going to say,” Lance began, already accepting his fate. “And I--”

“Lance, you will be starting training tomorrow morning with everyone else. There was a spot left after all.” Ruben interrupted before Lance could finish his very sound reasoning. Lance gaped, not even noticing when Luis finally let him down from his iron hold. Dragon training? Battle training? He did not understand.

“But, what about just assisting Hunk? Where I would not be ‘in the way and causing a mess’.” He could not help but recite, tone dull and it brought him satisfaction when his family seemed to flinch.

“We apologize for that,” Veronica muttered. “Look, you had good points. There is no way you can kill a dragon if you are not trained for it. So tomorrow, you are joining the rest on their first day of training.”

And before Lance could say anything else, Marco shoved an axe on his hands and their dad pushed him upstairs, telling him to rest up. There was silence for a moment before: “Tomorrow morning, Veronica, Marco and I are going to join one last expedition before the ice sets in.”

“What about Luis?” Lance did not turn around. Expeditions before winter were always the most dangerous, and every year less people came back. “Is he staying?”

“I’m going to help gather as much food as possible. Most hunters are leaving… the Chief needs everyone who can lend a hand while they are away.”

“Who else is going?” What he really wanted to ask was if Hunk and Pidge were also saying goodbye.

“Matt Holt is joining in place of his father.” Marco in an uncharacteristically low voice, placed a hand on Lance’s upper back. “We will be back. Maybe.”

“Right,” Lance stumbled upstairs and closed the door behind him. Not once did they ask about the blood in his clothes. Did they notice? Did they even care? Lance wasn’t sure anymore. He dropped the axe on the floor, and dragged himself to bed. He took out his dagger, inspecting it.

It was as clean as it had been when he went out with the intention of killing the dragon. He could still feel the phantom pressure of its claws against his shoulder. The ringing left behind after its deafening roar. How it flew away before dropping down. Lance remembered how neither blade or claw got stained by blood. The only bloodshed was caused by the bola.

Lance future had been calling at that moment, and he was not sure if he answered the call or not.

He was no Viking.

And now he would train to kill the very beast he just let go not so long ago.

Keith had been right after all.

***

The next morning the house was quiet. Veronica, Lance and their dad were the usual residents with Marco and Luis living with their own families. But that morning Lance woke up alone, it seemed that the expedition left earlier than usual, and Luis probably went back to his house instead of staying the night. All for the better, less chances of him hearing Lance’s struggles to sleep.

How could he explain that every time he closed his eyes, he could only picture the Deadly Nadder being found by his dad and making a show of killing it in front of the village. Or if they were not that, it was nightmares of his family not coming back.

He shook his head, forcibly tugging his shirt down. He didn’t know what to bring for training, he had spent too much time trying to convince his family to let him participate that he never once thought what he would do once it became a reality. Should he bring his bow and arrow? Or would the axe Marco shoved at him be better? Would shields be provided? What about healing herbs once someone (him) got burned?

In the end, he decided to bring the axe. Proportion wise, he would not look ridiculous holding… it was a matter of holding it properly. Unlike Keith, Lance never felt comfortable with an axe or sword. The sword thing was getting better, but he remembered hearing Keith muttered about a different type. Lance was not sure what he was talking about, but he never questioned it. Just like Keith never questioned when Lance went on his own rants about arrow tips and bow styles.

The village always had an odd sense of tranquillity after raids. People were busy doing their usual chores: fishing, cleaning, child rearing, and the spare hands helped in repairs for the buildings that needed it. The village needed to stay going even with the Chief and his Right Hand gone. Lance only caught glimpses of it all on his way to the Dragon Arena, thankfully, everyone was too busy doing their own thing to notice him.

Yesterday, the very thought of participating in training would have elated him to no end, but now, after the dragon he let go, Lance could not help but feel like an intruder with every step he took. Privately, he hoped that the ground would open up and swallow him whole or that maybe Keith would reappear out of nowhere and take Lance with him.

The closer he got to the Arena, the more he noticed that 1.) he was not the first and 2.) he was not the only nervous one. James’ gang was there and so were Pidge and Hunk, all showing visible signs of discomfort, though some did hide it better than others. Nadia and Ina were playfully sniping at each, nothing out of the ordinary, but Lance noticed the shake in their voices. Ryan stood near them, probably to stop them from fighting each other if it came down to it, but he himself kept tapping his fingers against his left leg. Hunk and Pidge stood near each other, Hunk muttering under his breaths while Pidge listened to it, adjusting a pair of glasses every now and then, Lance recognized them as Matt’s. He must have given them to her before leaving. Out of everyone, James Griffin looked the least nervous and of course he did, he was not known for being Keith’s rival for nothing. He leaned against a stone wall, sharpening his axe with an eye on his friends.

“Good morning everyone.” Lance’s eyes widened as he whipped around. Shiro. Shiro stayed behind, of course he did, he was acting Chief until his dad came back, but never once did Lance think he would be their instructor. “Welcome to Dragon Training!”

Shiro opened the gates, and Lance carefully stayed out of the way of everyone as they made their way through. “No turning back,” James said, axe over his shoulder as he led them through and that irked Lance to no end.

The Arena was a wide circular space built into the mountain ground. The walls were made of rock, and the roof was metal chains interconnected to make a net with holes too small for any dragon to crawl through. On the furthest back there were huge doors with cages behind them to hold the dragons they managed to capture. Lance was not sure exactly what the doors were made out of, it looked like wood, but considering no dragon had ever escaped, he doubted it was something flammable.

Lance’s new classmates looked around, taking everything in and that was when Ina caught sight of Lance. “Oh great,” she sneered. “Who let him in?”

Hunk and Pidge immediately went towards Lance, ignoring the growing mocking from the others. One glance from Shiro silenced any more complaints, but Lance took notice of how he didn’t say anything in his defence. Lance ignored the feeling that brought him.

“The recruit who does best will win the honour of killing their first dragon in front of the entire village!”

James scoffed, “Lance already killed a dragon. Does that disqualify him… or?” Ina and Nadia snickered behind him. Hunk and Pidge glared at James and Lance appreciated the effort, but he could not help but remember that not even his best friends believed him.

Shiro cleared his throat. “Look around you, everyone here is going to be your peer from now on.” Shiro began, bringing out a wooden box filled with shields with ease. Lance was jealous, he knew just how heavy those boxes are. “You are no longer children the moment you step foot here. Here, you are training to be warriors and to act like it. No bullying. No mocking. One day, you will have each other’s back in battle and that is the difference between life and death.”

Suddenly, the metal prosthetic on Shiro’s left arm seemed to shine brighter against the sun. The mood became more serious, everyone remembered how and why Shiro lost that arm.

Keith had already been taken under the Chief’s and Shiro’s wing, but he had yet to join them in battle during raids. It had been a particularly bad night, and there were one dragon too many for everyone to keep track of and the Zippleback had managed to slip past the crowd. It was during a time Lance was still considered useful to an extent, and he was there helping out take out the fires of a burning house or piles of logs. Those exact details he could not remember, but what he did remember was watching the dragon fly down towards them, mouth open and ready when Shiro jumped in the way.

He punched one head, but the other used that moment of distraction to bite down on his left arm. It was then and there that everything changed for Lance and showed Keith’s true potential, showing exactly what Lance lacked. Before anyone could react, Keith had thrown the bucket at the dragon’s right head, and he used that distraction to break the hold the left head had on Shiro’s arm. Had Lance and everyone else not been there, no one would have believed the story of how Keith, with nothing but the dagger of his home tribe, single handedly drove away the dragon.

That night, not even James or his father could find something to say against Keith.

That night, Keith began to join the raids as a warrior, and Lance, well, he was shoved to the forge.

A month later, a boat that Keith easily recognized as one from his home tribe made it to the shores of Berk. Keith’s mother had heard of what transpired, and as a thanks for protecting her only son, she had personally made Shiro a prosthetic for his arm. The materials were nothing their tribe had ever seen before, but Keith had. The metal was rare, something that could withstand anything, including dragon fire and would not need that much maintenance. How Shiro could move it around as if where his own limb was because of magic and alchemy, something not much seen on Berk, except from their own Healer who was also their Oracle, Colleen Holt.

Shiro’s speech made it clear what would happen should even one of them hesitate in battle. Had it not been for Keith, Shiro may have lost more than an arm. Lance and everyone else straightened up, all thoughts of mocking forgotten.

Shiro nodded, pleased with the reaction and walked to the front, facing them all as he continued. “Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will encounter during raids. The Hideous Zippleback! The Terrible Terror! The Changewing! The Thunderdrum! The Monstrous Nightmare!” He stopped near the final door, hand going towards the lever of the cage and Lance had a bad feeling. “And, finally, the Gronckle!”

The door opened, releasing the Gronckle.

Everyone scrambled as the rock-like dragon flew straight at them. Lance, thankful for being more leg than torso, was able to keep the most distance between himself and the dragon, grabbing the nearest shield, forgoing the axe for something he could actually use. If he could manage to not be the first one to be hurt, he would consider that a win. He would have words with his siblings for this, they never mentioned this was how they learned. Or was this just Shiro?

“Today is about survival,” Shiro announced, expertly keeping out of the dragon’s vision. “If you get blasted… you’re dead! What is the first thing you’re going to need?”

“A doctor?!” Lance could not help but yell out, Pidge snorted from beside him. When did she get there, Lance would never know.

“Plus five speeds?” Hunk said frantically, just managing to get behind conveniently placed barrels.

“A shield!” James growled.

“Shield!” Shiro repeated, and everyone, minus Lance and James, scrambled to get one. Point to himself, at least he got one before Shiro confirmed it. “Your most important equipment is a shield. If you ever have to choose between a sword and a shield, you always go for the shield!”

Lance eyed the dragon as it flew around chasing Ryan. Hunk and Pidge had managed to snagged shields for themselves and were using the dragon's distraction to join Lance in his hiding spot. Nadia and Ina were fighting over a shield, catching the dragon’s attention as it changed trajectory and blasted in their direction.

“Nadia, Ina, you’re out! All dragons have a limited number of shots. How many does Gronckle have?”

Really? A pop quiz, now? Lance could not help but gape in disbelief at Shiro. No wonder Keith always came back complaining after training with Shiro. “Six!” Hunk shouted, grinning down at Pidge who seemed annoyed he managed to beat her.

“Correct! There are five remaining, one for each of you!” Lance thought that Shiro sounded a bit too delighted over that fact. He began to wonder if Shiro was the best option to be their instructor, future Chief or not.

The Gronckle fired at Ryan, knocking the shield right out of his hands. He ran, joining the girls outside the arena to watch the remainder of the lesson. How much Lance wished he was up there with them.

“Ryan out! Four shots left!”

Hunk and Pidge took the opportunity and joined James on defensive positions. Lance remained behind. He would rather not get burned thank you very much. Shiro glanced pointedly at him, but Lance ignored it.

“We all know that Lance is only here because Keith left.” James yelled out, flipping away to dodge an attack from the dragon. Annoyingly, he landed gracefully near Lance.

“Oh shut up James!” Pidge growled just as the Gronckle sent a blast towards her and then Hunk.

“Pidge, Hunk, you are out!”

The Gronckle turned to the final two. James ran away, and, seeing weakness, the dragon sent out a blast of magma hitting the shield out of Lance’s arm. “One left! Lance!” He ran, panicked and was fully aware of the dragon after him.

Lance backed himself into a wall, with nowhere to go and braced himself for death. If this was how he was going to go out, at least he would end up in Valhalla. The Gronckle opened its mouth, letting Lance feel the heat and it smelled like fish. This was it. This is how I die.

Shiro’s prosthetic arm came into view, grabbing the dragon by its jaws and forcing it to misfire just in the nick of time. Lance watched as he wrestled the beast back into its cage, using his fire proof arm to its full advantage.

“And six,” he growled, locking the cage behind him. Lance tried to stand straighter, but his legs trembled and instead he fell to the ground. What a way to start the first day. “Remember,” Shiro said, “a dragon will always -- always -- go for the kill.”

***

Shiro’s words echoed in Lance’s mind. He could not tell you what happened after, everything was a blur from the class dismissal to the trek through the village. At some point he may have agreed to plans with Hunk and Pidge, he was not sure. Lance only came out of the odd haze once the buildings gave way to the forest and thick fog. He found himself in the small clearing where he freed the Deadly Nadder. The only proof of what transpired were the cut ropes of the bola. He pulled it close, playing with weight as he let his thoughts wonder.

A dragon will always go for the kill.

“So… why didn’t you?” He whispered, afraid that saying it any louder would break the strange stillness around him.

Lance stood up, walking to the direction he remembered the dragon flew off to. Hope built up in his chest as he noticed the path of destruction; broken branches, flattened grass shaped by a draconic footprint all led him to a small opening in a large rock wall. Cautiously, he climbed through it as gasped at the sight.

It was a secluded cove with a large rock formation hiding it from sight. The sun seemed to only want to shine on this area, Arus Point being known for never getting sunlight even in the brightest of seasons. The cove’s grass was a beautiful bright green, there were trees surrounding the cove’s roots growing downwards over the walls. And at the centre, as if it were the main piece of a masterpiece, was a large lake filled with fish.

But there was no dragon insight. Lance sighed, turning away only to look down and spot blue dots. Hurriedly, he picked them up, surprised by the soft but scaly texture of it. A dragon scale. He didn’t know dragons could shed. Or was it just a Deadly Nadder thing?

A shadow moved over the opening, growling and Lance scrambled backwards. It moved again and Lance followed it as quickly as he could without falling into the cove. He watched the Deadly Nadder, wings flared up, though awkwardly, as it landed on the furthest side of the cove. The growl sounded distress. A sound Lance never thought he would hear come from such a deadly beast.

Lance could not take his eyes off the dragon as it opened its wings once more, flapping them once, twice, thrice before jumping into the air. It didn’t last long, crashing right into the cove’s wall and landed right beneath him. It tried to jump instead, and realizing how useless the action was, the dragon threw its spikes against a tree. Despite it all, Lance could not help but notice that something about its movement was off.

“Why not just fly away?”

The dragon seemed to finally give up, shooting its flame towards the ground before curling up much like the cats around his village. It was then that Lance saw it. The right wing was folded awkwardly towards its body, as if hurt.

Something moved in the water, catching the attention of the dragon and it moved toward it, waiting, oddly reminiscent of both a cat and a bird of prey. The dragon stayed still before striking its head into the water. Hunting, Lance assumed.

He must have done something, because suddenly the gaze of the dragon was on him and not on its prey underneath the water. Lance could not explain it, maybe it was how the yellow eyes seemed to reflect his own. Or it could’ve been the way the dragon seemed to tense at the sight of him, but Lance knew at that moment that he would do anything to keep anyone from harming this dragon.

Later that night, when everyone gathered at the Mead Hall and Shiro left them alone with the dragon manual, Lance remained quiet. Only Hunk and Pidge stayed behind, their heads bent together as they re-read the book for the nth time, outloud for Lance to hear. He kept his head down when they mentioned the Deadly Nadder, ashamed and guilty for hurting the dragon and determined to fix his mistake.

***

Never once had Lance thought he would be happy not fitting in, but after witnessing the Deadly Nadder, something seemed to lighten in his chest. He did what no Viking would have done, he let a dragon go and because of it, he learned more about the dragon than what he had ever been taught before. The dragon did not kill him on sight, not even when Lance initially freed it. It simply roared and tried to fly away.

Tried, Lance reminded himself. The dragon cannot fly away.

He crouched, hiding behind one of the many walls just as the dragon knocked one of them down with its roar. Today’s lesson was on how to avoid a Thunderdrum and its deafening roars. As the name suggested, the dragon’s roar resembled thunder and if you were close enough to it, the powerful sound could decapitate a human easily. From afar? It would leave a ringing in your ear similar to what Lance had been experiencing since the lesson started.

If he had a choice, he would have liked to be as far away as possible from this dragon. Preferably at home secured on his bed.

“Yesterday was about survival! Today is about avoidance!” Shiro shouted from outside the Arena. Lance did not appreciate the jovial tone. Shiro was safe above while Lance and the rest were scrambling around like blind chickens. “Thunderdrums’ greatest weapon is their roar. Learn to avoid it.”

Fantastic! So easy!

Hunk let out a scream as he just avoided being squished by a falling wall. “I’m really beginning to question your teaching methods!” Honestly, Lance was too. “I’m surprised Keith left the island alive!”

Shiro ignored everyone’s understandable panic and continued with his teaching. “Every dragon has a blind spot. Find it, use it and strike!”

Lance hid away as the Thunderdrum flew past, tail whipping behind it as it searched for its next target. The walls that once made a maze and a good barrier between them and the thundering roar, were mostly laying around in the ground. He could spot James and Ryan hiding behind one of the remaining walls.

“Lance!” Pidge shouted. “Get down!” Lance darted towards them just as the Thunderdrum flew above where he had originally been standing. Wasn’t that just fantastic? “Here’s the plan, the Thunderdrums eyes can look everywhere, except its back. Its hearing is awful but that isn’t useful here. We need someone to distract it, while the rest of us approach it from behind.”

The thought brought a sickening feeling to Lance’s stomach, but before he could do anything (what? He did not know) the dragon sent another blast of its roar and knocked down the last remaining walls. Everyone scrambled out of the way and Lance got knocked over by James.

He hit the ground harshly, palms and back stinging from the hard landing against stone. He had no idea what was happening. James' axe was stuck on Lance’s shield and the dragon seemed to be getting closer, the panic in James' eyes grew and the struggle to get loose grew even more frantic. Lance tried to help, but instead that only enraged the other more and James pressed Lance down with a shove, yanked the axe, taking the shield with it.

James swung the axe and shield, hitting the attacking Thunderdrum right on its muzzle. The wood splinter and Lance had managed to move away so as to not get hid by the flying remains. The dragon flew away, shoved into its cage by Shiro who was quick to praise James. He ignored the praise that he would have usually preened at, stalking towards Lance with a glare stuck on his face.

“Our parents’ way is about to become ours! Either work hard for it or leave! You have done nothing but hide! Figure out which side you are on.”

Lance ignored him, quickly getting up and running from the Arena. Hunk and Pidge yelling at James was the last thing he heard as he escaped. He knew he had been hiding. He didn’t want to hurt the dragon, not after what he had seen at the cove.

“Our parents’ war is about to become ours!” The words were too close to Keith’s own parting ones. “Figure out which side you’re on.” Lance did not even consider what he was about to do, grabbing the shield and fish from one of the many baskets. He ran towards the forest, the memory of how to get to the cove engraved in his head.

In minutes, Lance found himself in the cove. He cowered behind the shield, slowly walking towards the opening, he threw the fish. It landed some distance away with a soft slump!

He sighed when nothing happened. He moved forward, but the shield got stuck and would not budge. Of course. With no other choice, Lance crawled underneath and tiptoed towards the fish, scooping it up from its gill. He could not spot the dragon anywhere.

Lance ventured further.

It was then that he felt heavy eyes on his back.

Slowly, Lance turned to the eye, unsurprised to see the Deadly Nadder posturing with tail up and spikes at the ready on top of the rock. Its head was shifted to the right, its bright yellow eyes focused on the fish in his hand. It moved closer, hopping from the rock down to the ground. As the Nadder got closer, Lance could see a change in its demeanour, its tail dropped down, relaxing the spines and the pupil focused on his dilated from its slit.

The Nadder tilted its head, sniffing the air before squawking and twitching in excitement. It moved forward as if ready to take the offering Lance extended towards it. However, the dragon froze, the excited squawks turning into something akin to a growl almost as if a chicken tried to imitate a wolf. The tail raised up again, and its head twitched down to Lance’s middle.

Slowly, Lance looks down to the small dagger hanging from his belt. The Nadder straightened, alert and at the ready. It reminded Lance of a bird of prey with how still the dragon suddenly became. He hesitated, the demand was clear despite the silent and still body, but throwing away the dagger would be accepting that his life was at the claws and maws of the dragon.

But, it hadn’t killed him before.

Slowly, Lance unhooked the dagger and threw it into the lake.

Immediately, the Nadder’s demeanour shifted as it crouched in a manner similar to a chickens sitting atop her clutch of eggs. The tail wrapped itself around the dragon, the eye focused on him was round again, and an odd trilling sound came from the dragon as it looked towards the fish before darting its eye onto Lance.

Out of everything, Lance did not expect the dragon demanding to be fed.

Despite the confusion of how quickly the dragon’s emotion shifted, Lance held out the fish for it to take. The Nadder extended its head slowly and he noticed that its scales resembled the colour of sapphire. He approached it slowly before it snatched the fish out of Lance’s hand once he was close enough. He laughed breathlessly, everything that just happened catching up to him. The dragon slowly unwrapped itself, standing up and walking closer, sniffing at his clothes.

“Uh, no, no, no,” he said frantically, suddenly picturing himself in place of the fish that it just ate. “I don’t have any more.”

He stumbled backwards, eager to get away before it decided that Lance would make a good next meal. But his coordination was not with him that day, or he left it behind at the Arena, because he fell onto his rear and began to crab-walk away only to hit a rock. The Nadder loomed over him. He had nowhere else to go.

The Nadder twitched, head moving from side-to-side, switching the eye it used to look at him. Suddenly, it started gagging, head moved to face forward, and body twitching into itself before opening its maw and threw up a saliva cover piece of fish.

Right onto his lap.

Dragon could regurgitate? Lance looked up, the Nadder was once more sitting down, tail wrapped around itself and with one big eye focused on him. The eye darted down to the fish and then back up at him, Lance paled, catching on to the meaningful stare. Oh no. No, no, no.

Lance refused to eat raw, dragon-saliva covered fish.

The dragon squawked.

Fighting down the urge to vomit, Lance took the fish, ignoring how much his hands shook. He shot the dragon one last look, maybe hoping that it would take it back, but the Nadder watched intently. Lance looked at the fish, wondering why he was doing this. He glanced at the dragon, realizing he wanted to do more than just ensure the Nadder’s safety. Lance wanted to gain its loyalty.

Her loyalty.

Decided, Lance closed his eyes and bit into the fish, cringing at the taste of it. Maybe the dragon would be satisfied with this and he could spit it out later. The Nader mimicked swallowing, eye strained on him. Maybe not. Lance swallowed, gagging as it went down his throat. The Nadder squawked, and Lance was sure it sounded amused.

Excited, he leaned forward, hand outstretched but the dragon did the same odd-squawk-growl as before and darted away. Lance followed, amazed at the speed and grace of the dragon. He had never been able to see a Deadly Nadder so up close, not since the one that used to inhabit the Arena was killed by a particularly excited trainee. The Changewing had taken its place two years later, though no one is sure why the pack never came back for it.

The Nadder flapped its wings, the right one still moved awkwardly, reminding Lance of what he had done. She circled the ground, her flame warming up the ground beneath her before wrapping herself up like before. Her rest only lasted for a moment before something caught her attention, with a perked head she watched as birds flew from its nest. Only once it was out of sight did she see Lance sitting right in front of her. Lance did his signature finger guns and crooked smile.

Whether she liked it or not, Lance was determined to befriend the dragon.

The dragon squawked, somehow making the noise sound disgruntled, and with a lot more drama than expected, she stood up and walked the opposite direction. Lance peeked over his shoulder, snorting at how she held her head up as if she were the regent of some far off kingdom.

Drama Queen.

Instead of following, Lance stayed put, letting his thoughts wander and time fly through. It was getting dark out, shadows growing thicker but Lance doubted Luis was out looking for him. His brother had not been by the house since the night Lance was told he would be joining Dragon Training.

In a span of one afternoon, he had learned more about Deadly Nadders and their habits than anyone on Berk knew. At least on the non-lethal aspect. Yet, everything he just observed had only brought more questions. Sure the Book of Dragons described Nadders as one of the few intelligent dragons because of their hunting methods, but guiding Lance on how to eat was not that. Not entirely, clearly the Nadders had more intelligence than what Vikings gave them credit for.

Lance sighed, he didn’t want to leave just yet. The later he returned to the village, the less likely he would run into someone. Bored, he laid on the ground, closed his eyes and  hummed a tune he remembered his family sing to him before he got too old. Before he became the nuisance of the village. It was one of the only things he had of his mother after she disappeared, eaten by a dragon while protecting him according to everyone. He was just a baby. Apparently, it was the only lullaby that would get him to sleep.

Eventually, the little sun he could see from his closed eyelids disappeared and Lance wondered if he accidently fell asleep. Opening them, his humming ceased only to freeze. The Nadder was above him, looking at him with a tilted head. The two kept eye contact before the dragon squawked, again and again, each one a different tone than the other.

It almost sounded like… like a song.

Lance scrambled to sit up, eyes wide as she flapped her wings and hopped from side to side, singing in squawks that slowly turned into an odd draconic trilling. It… it sounded almost like the lullaby he had been humming. Excited, Lance joined in and that seemed what the Nadder had been waiting for because she began to skip circles around him.

Lance laughed. Who knew that Deadly Nadders were just scaly parrots?

Suddenly, he felt a warm puff of air heating his neck and he froze. He quickly turned to look up at the Deadly Nadder, who had stopped her singing and prancing. Instead, she was looking down at him, meeting their eyes.

Time seemed to slow down as they just looked at each other. Lance’s resolve hardened, remembering his silent promise to earn the dragon’s trust. He stretched out his hand, glancing away hoping that she would accept. Moments pass and he feared that the Nadder left, but then a warm, scaly snout pressed against his palm. His knees became weak at the feeling, but he managed to stay upright. Excitement coursed through him, overjoyed in ways he had never been before.

Lance turned back, amazed that not only the Nadder pressed her snout against his palm, but was facing forward, both of her eyes unable to see him because of it. Suddenly, Lance no longer felt like Lance the Nuisance of Berk, but a boy.

And Sapphire was his friend.

The delicate peace shattered as Sapphire huffed and shook her head, tilting it once more to glance at him before prancing away further to the cove. The departure left Lance breathless, but excited. He ignored the voice saying that he proved Keith right. Whatever just happened, Lance knew he was willing to fight the entire island for.

***

By the time Lance returned to the village, it was dark out but he felt as if the sun was still out. Everything was so bright and beautiful. Nothing could ruin his night. He had befriended a Deadly Nadder! The first Viking to ever befriend a dragon! Him! Lance the Nuisance!

“Lance!” Shiro called out, waving his prosthetic arm above his head. Lance froze, debating what to do but another call of his name forced his choice. “There you are. We’re gathering on the watchtower. Class bonding.” He wrapped an arm around Lance, tugging towards the structure. “It’s no use going into battle if you don’t know who you are fighting with.”

Finally, they arrived. As always, James and Ryan seemed to be egging on whatever play fight Nadia and Ina decided to begin. Lance knew the two girls were brilliant, but then there were the times that he questioned it. Fighting near a pit of fire was one of them. He moved towards Pidge and Hunk, who immediately passed him a plate with a perfectly cooked chicken.

Seriously, if Hunk hadn’t been chosen to be the next blacksmith, he would have had an amazing future as the village’s main chef for the big feasts. He joined in light conversation between his friends, ignoring whatever was going on with the other friend group. Still, he wondered if Sapphire was cold or if her fire would be enough to keep her warm.

Did dragons even feel cold?

“I don’t think I need to repeat the story of how I lost my arm,” Shiro laughed. “But I can tell you the story of how Keith saved me from the dragon that killed his father.” Everyone quieted down, including Lance, Hunk and Pidge, who arguably knew Keith the best after Shiro. The entire village knew the gists of it.

Keith and his dad got shipwrecked on a nearby island, close to both Berk and Dragon Island. Keith left the wreck with some injuries, but it was his father who was more fatally wounded. With the very little knowledge he had, Keith did his best to heal him but he knew he needed a healer. Keith managed to assemble the remains of their boat into a ship that got him to Berk, but unknown to both of them, the island had another resident. A Dramillion. By the time Keith got help from Berk, the dragon had killed his father. Keith had been ten.

The rest is history.

As far as anyone knew, the dragon never got close enough to attack them once they landed on the island.

“When we arrived at the cave Kaden was in, the Dramillion was still there. It's maw was still bloody. Dad and I did everything to keep Keith from seeing what was left of his father.” Lance glanced over at James, no matter what he threw at either Keith or Lance, at least he had the decency to never bring up Keith’s late father. Even now, he remained quiet, aware that no one, no matter how much you may dislike them, deserved to see that. “The Dramillion attacked and one thing you must always know about this dragon is that it can mimic the blasts of other dragons it had encountered. This one mimicked a Night Fury.”

Lance dropped what remind of his chicken on his plate. Despite Night Furies not being seen in centuries, despite the fact that Berk believed that one of the dragons that participated during the night raids was one, everyone knew the rumour of what a Night Fury’s blast would look like.

A purple glow. A plasma shot. One shot and you are dead.

“Keith jumped in between me and the dragon with nothing but his dagger in hand. Whatever he did, the dragon left, taking Kaden’s body with it. As far as we know it never returned to the island.” Shiro finished, letting the story set in. Lance placed his plate down. He had wondered if maybe Keith’s parting words had another meaning, that maybe Keith would not hate him should they ever meet again.

But now, Lance was sure that the next time they meet, should they meet again, Keith would only see Lance as a traitor and an enemy.

Shiro clapped his hands, making everyone jump. “The reason I’m telling you this story is not because Keith jumped in, but because he aimed for the dragon’s wings. It is the wings and tails you want to go for. If it can’t fly, it can’t get away.”

Suddenly, Lance’s thought turned from Keith and into Sapphire stuck in the cove.

“A downed dragon is a dead dragon.”

The mournful cry Sapphire screamed out when she fell from the sky echoed in his ears. Lance thought back to everything he had seen; her struggle to fly, the discomfort, her weak attempts at fishing for food. The way she always looked at her wing sorrowfully. Suddenly, the chicken didn’t seem appetising anymore.

“I’m off to bed. You should be too. Tomorrow we get to the big boys. Slowly but surely making our way up to the Monstrous Nightmare. But who’ll win the honour of killing it?”

Lance left quickly unaware of the eyes watching him.

***

Somehow, with the turning and plaguing nightmares of Sapphire slowly dying, Lance was able to sleep. Somewhat. It was not restful by any means, but he did sleep. The daylight peeking through the crack of how windows forced him to wake up. He had come to a decision last night and he was determined to fix it. He made quick work of going to the harbour, snatching the nearest fish basket and ran to the forge taking some loose rope and wooden planks.

Lance had a mistake to fix.

He was cautious on his way to the cove. Even if it was rare that other Vikings awoke with the sun, he didn’t want to take the chance. Not to mention there were rumours of a wild Terrible Terror pack living in these woods, something about them appearing after the Chief left for the expedition. Shiro had claimed that those were just stories to scare the younger kids, but that did not stop some Vikings from going hunting.

Lance hoped that either Shiro was right and it was just stories, or that the Vikings would never find them.

Eventually, he got to the cove and found Sapphire hovering over the lake, head bobbing the same rhythm the fish swam in. He had never seen something so adorable, nevermind the dragon could easily kill him if she ever wanted to.

“Hey, Sapphire,” Lance cooed, grinning as he stepped closer. Immediately, the Deadly Nadder pranced closer, running circles around Lance as he walked further into the cove. It reminded him of how chickens would circle their caregiver when it was feeding time.

“I brought breakfast. I hope you are hungry.” He set the basket down, tipping it over with her foot. The fish spilled over and the basket began to roll over, it hadn’t even stopped moving and Sapphire was already eating out of it. “Oh you were hungry,” he laughed. Carefully tiptoeing to the side where her right wing was still damaged. Lance kept an eye on Sapphire’s eye, but it was focused on the fish not him. “We’ve got some salmon, some nice Icelandic cod, and a whole smoked eel.”

Sapphire jerked back with a violent screech, squawk-growling at the eel. Quickly, Lance grabbed it, hating the feeling of it in his hands. “No, no, no, no. It’s ok,” he reassured her. “It’s gone, beautiful. Gone.” He threw the eel into the lake and wiped off the slime on his hands.

Now that eel was gone, Sapphire was back to feasting on the fish, ignoring Lance’s movements. Slowly, he got what he needed ready, knowing that he probably only had a few moments to do what he wanted. Surely, making a splint for a dragon wouldn’t be too hard? Lance looked at the damage, and was pleased that it didn’t seem more serious. Some of the scales were gone to reveal pinkish soft skin, but the membrane of the wing itself didn’t seem damaged.

Without a second thought, Lance began to work, hoping that he would be quick enough or that Sapphire was too distracted eating to do anything. It was only once he was done that he noticed the stillness of her body and the heavy feeling of being watched. Smiling, he turned to her, stretching out his hands as if he were presenting a piece of woodwork. Sapphire sniffed at the makeshift splint, and tried to flap her tied wing but before Lance could stop her she was already squawking and running circles around him.

“Whoa. Is something wrong?”

Before he knew it, screaming and laughing, Lance was pushed onto the lake and Sapphire followed with an excited squawk. The left wing flapped up and down, while the other remained still but that did not deter Sapphire who dipped underwater.

“You can swim? What -- AH!”

His words were cut off by a scream that turned into laughter as he realised that Sapphire had swam underneath him and Lance was now sitting atop her back as she continued to swim excitedly around. He had already suspected that the Nadder was smarter than what Vikings gave her credit for, but this was definite proof. Sapphire understood what Lance had done.

The knowledge of that warmed his chest.

He would make sure that Sapphire could fly again. No matter what.

***

Teamwork. The lesson was teamwork. Too bad Lance could only see himself working with Hunk and Pidge, maybe Shiro. Keith once. Luckily, he had managed to pair up with Hunk and Pidge before the Arena was filled with green mist. He held his bucket of water closer, usually his height would be an advantage but right now he could see nothing but the green clouds.

“A wet dragon head can’t light its fire,” Shiro yelled out, gone from sight. Lance had his own reservation, remembering how Sapphire still used her fire after her swim in the lake. Unless it was different for every dragon, he had a feeling the bucket was going to do nothing. “The Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky,” Shiro continued on. “One head breathes gas; the other head lights it. Your job is to figure out which is which.”

If I ever see Keith again, I’m giving him props for surviving this long. Lance grumbled privately. Seriously, how did Keith come out alive after his training sessions with Shiro? It had to be the Chief.

Hunk pressed against him, muttering every fact he knew about the dragon. “Razor-sharp, serrated teeth that inject venom for pre-digestion. Prefers ambush attack, by crushing its victims --”

“Hunk, shut up!” Pidge hissed. “It can hear you!”

Right on cue came screaming, Lance was pleased to note that one sounded like James. Take that asshole. Pidge must have thought the same thing because she crackled only to quiet as something moved beside them. Both Hunk and Pidge threw their bucket at the first head that appeared, the dragon did not look impressed and spewed out more gas. Beside Lance the other head appeared and before he could do anything, a tail whipped from underneath him causing him to fall.

Time for plan B then, he was thankful he decided to wear his vest. It allowed him to hide his secret weapon of the day. The eel. Lance rubbed his knuckles against it, hoping the smell would be enough to deter the dragon. With more confidence than he actually had, he threw his hands in front of the dragon, standing up as it backed away.

“Back. I said back!” The dragon -- dragons?-- stumbled over his own feet as he tried to escape the eel scent. “Don’t make me tell you again.” Finally, the dragon was back in his cage and Lance threw in the eel, promising that he would be back to take it out.

He shut the door, locking it and found everyone staring at him with slack jaws. Any other day he would have preened at the sight, excited that they finally realised his potential, but right now he wanted nothing more than to return home so he could catch up on sleep.

And he did just that.

***

Lance should have known his luck was uncharacteristically good. Something was bound to go wrong, he thought it would be the healing of Sapphire’s wing, but that came out nicely. No, what went wrong was so much worse than anything Lance could imagine. He had returned to the cove, another basket of fish in hand and an entire day ahead of him. Shiro had given them the day off, telling them to rest up.

Sapphire, like always, ran up to him barely patient enough to wait for him to tip the basket before feasting on the fish. Lance, as it became tradition, checked up on her wing and was pleased to see that she would no longer need the splint. Without hesitation he took it off just as Sapphire finished her breakfast. She froze and flapped her wings, she trilled at the lack of discomfort and began to run around, wings flared open.

Before Lance knew it, Sapphire was up in the air and for the first time since he met her was able to fly over the cove’s rocky walls. The sight brought warmth to his chest, but as her form became smaller and smaller, cold swept it away. It never occurred to him that Sapphire would leave once her wing was healed. It made sense though. She wasn’t tamed. She was a wild dragon. And Lance was nothing but a human boy. He turned around, dejected and heartbroken, ready to return to the village and the coldness of his house.

“I guess this is goodbye then. Uh? Whoa!” Lance scrambled back, just in time to not be crushed by Sapphire who began to circle him once more. “What? But I thought-- uh?” She nudged him causing him to fall backwards against her body. “What?”

Sapphire was crouched down, her head nudging him towards her back. She wants me to… Lance hesitated, unsure, but another nudge from her pushed him forward. With new energy, he climbed her back and got as comfortable as possible. He was on the back of a dragon. Well, he had been before, when she pushed him onto the lake that one time, but Lance didn’t think it would happen again. Unsure of what to do, he took hold of her neck and before he knew what was happening, Sapphire took off.

“Oh no. No, no, no,” Lance watched wide-eyed as the ground became smaller and smaller. But, he wasn’t scared, not quite. He… he was flying. He was the first Viking to fly!

He wasn’t sure how long he and Sapphire were in the sky for, but by the time she landed back on the cove the sky was pink, and the shadows were growing thicker. Lance barely managed to get down from Sapphire without falling face-first, though she did help to keep him steady.

“Lance?”

Oh no. No, no, no!

Slowly, Lance turned only to come face to face with his best friend. Hunk was pale, slack jawed and wide-eyed and for a brief moment Lance feared he would have to choose between his best friend and Sapphire. He didn’t want to know who he would choose.

(Deep down he knew who it would be. The thought terrified him.)

“Lance, did you just-- you just--”

“Hunk--”

“You flew! Lance you flew on a dragon and did not die!” Hunk screamed, excitedly and Lance felt relief flood through him. It was Hunk, of course he would be excited. “That is amazing! And that explains everything! Pidge and I were worried that something was wrong, but we figured that it was because Keith left. But this makes sense! The Zippleback!”

Hunk ran up to Lance, but Lance was still stiff from seeing his best friend and the sudden movement jerked him back. Sapphire retaliated by flaring her tail spines, a low squawk-growl emitting from her throat, and her eyes became slits. Hunk froze, maybe registering that he should not approach the person with a dragon behind them.

“Whoa, whoa girl. It’s ok, beautiful, he won't harm me.” Lance muttered, resting his hand against her body, scratching it to calm her down. It did the trick because she cooed and brought down her tail, though her eye remained focused on Hunk.

“You tamed it.”

“Her,” Lance corrected immediately. “No, I just… I just became her friend.”

Hunk watched him and with a resolve Lance did not expect he said, “I’m making you a saddle.”

“What?”

“Lance, I have never seen you so happy and free as that moment you took to the skies. What kind of best friend would I be if I didn't help you keep that?”

***

Apparently, having Hunk in the know made things easier for Lance whenever he wanted to sneak away. However, Lance was firm that Pidge could not know, not because he didn’t trust her, but because after Keith, Pidge and Matt were the closest to Shiro. Lance remembered how frantic Pidge had been when her mother, Colleen, said that the only way to save Shiro was to amputate his arm. He didn’t want to force Pidge to choose a side.

During the week, Hunk worked on a saddle, excited at the prospect of making something never done before, while Lance continued to learn more about dragons than Dragon Training could ever hope to teach him. For one, there was a thing like dragon nip.

During one of the times he would fly with Sapphire while they awaited the saddle, they landed on an open field that Lance had never seen before. He wondered if it would have even been possible to get to it without the help of Sapphire. He laid on the long grass, watching as Sapphire not only laid beside him, but seemed to snuggle to the grass, twisting to get her scales covered.

Lance had taken some grass and used it the next day during training. The Changewing immediately stopped camouflaging at the sight of it. Getting the dragon back inside the cage was simple after that.

Dragons, Lance also found, liked shiny things.

And he would never find fault in that, he also liked sparkles and Sapphire always knew the best light to make her scales shine. His dragon was such a diva and Lance loved her for it. But, he didn’t expect for the light reflecting against the shield to have caught Sapphire’s attention the way it did. She had stilled, eyeing the light like a predator would its prey before pouncing. Lance spent the rest of the afternoon playing with Sapphire by moving the shield around.

When Lance used that trick on the Terrible Terror, it was like watching a slightly bigger and fire-breathing cat chasing a mouse.

And this is what causes Vikings to run in fear.

His greatest discovery was the one spot on a dragon’s neck that caused them to tumble over in bliss. Sure, it forced Lance to get close and personal with the dragons in the Arena, but thankfully it was more subtle than an eel, grass or light reflected off a shield. Sadly, with the more tricks Lance used the more attention he got.

The village thought he was actually defeating the dragons. Hunk was the only one who knew the truth and did his best to help Lance get away, and despite not knowing the truth, Pidge herself was suspicious that more was at play. But she did not question when Lance wanted to get away.

Suddenly, he was no longer Lance the Nuisance, the problem of Ruben the Shrewd. Now he was Lance the New, the youngest son of Ruben the Shrewd, warrior in the making.

Now, he was worth their praise and attention.

He hated it. It felt so shallow. Never once, except for Hunk and Pidge, and maybe Keith, but Lance had his doubts now, did the village ever care about him.

What made it worse, is that the rest of his classmates now thought he was worth their friendship. James now wanted to get to know his cousin, claiming that he always knew Lance would be great. That Lance only hung out with Keith to learn all his tricks. Or that Ina and Nadia now wanted his help at setting up pranks or how Ryan now paid more attention to him.

Luis began to invite him over more often, or spent time at the house, trying to make conversation about hunting. It made Lance’s skin crawl and he had to fight the urge to growl like Sapphire used to. His own family finally saw him worthy of paying attention to.

He was Lance the New. He mattered now.

But none of that mattered now, because Hunk had finished the final details on the saddle and Lance was determined to finally fly for long periods on Sapphire without hurting his back. “Ready, beautiful?” He grinned, adjusting the saddle while Hunk watched from behind. Sapphire still did not feel comfortable letting Hunk touch her, and Hunk shared the feeling. Lance hoped to be able to change that. If he could get his best friend to be more comfortable near a dragon, maybe Lance could change the minds of the entire village.

“Be careful Lance, and come back before sunset!” Hunk reminded, ever since Lance began flying with Sapphire, Hunk was adamant that he was not to stay past sunset. Especially since the expedition crews were bound to return any day now. It would not be good if he was spotted atop a dragon.

Lance climbed atop Sapphire, the movement now familiar and turned to face Hunk. “I got this buddy! We will be back soon!” With one large flap of her wings, Sapphire was up in the air. Her wing had healed wonderfully, and this would be the first time they were going to test if they could fly for longer.

Lance trusted Sapphire to know that, despite everything he learned about dragons, when it came to their wings and healing habits, he was still in the unknown. Suddenly, she dipped and he could only hold on, hoping that the braces on the saddle and his hold would be enough to keep him attached to the dragon. Lance gasped as they neared the water only for Sapphire to open her wings just in time to stop them from crashing into the waves.

It was amazing. Lance never wanted to get back down again. He finally understood the freedom flying brought, had he been granted wings when he was born he never would have let his feet touch the ground again.

Later, when they returned to the cove with Hunk waiting for them, Lance and Sapphire huddled close. Hunk sat nearby to still be included, but far enough for both his own and Sapphire’s comfort. They ate fish, even after being joined by a horde of Terrible Terrors, apparently, the rumors were true after all, and Lance was glad he made the choice to let Sapphire go free. The little guilt that had still been in his stomach vanished and was replaced by determination.

Lance would never allow someone to hurt Sapphire. He would allow his body to break and burn if it meant keeping her safe and free.

Even if that someone was his own family.

***

The day before the final trial was the return of the expedition party. Any other time, Lance would have joined in on greeting the survivors, but he didn’t want to spend more time among the villagers who would give him shallow praises. Instead, the moment he heard the horn blow he was out of his house and straight to Arus Point.

Or that would have been his plan, until Pidge spotted him and the look on her face caused him to freeze. There was a reason he always dreaded the expeditions, especially during winter. Nothing assured them that the ones who left would be coming back, Lance was fortunate that his family always came back, but the same could not be said for others.

And Pidge’s face said it all.

Matt had not returned.

“Oh Pidgeon,” before he could do anything else, Pidge ran at him, burying her head against his chest. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He glared at anyone who spotted, despite the general annoyance the village had become towards him, they seemed to get the hint and moved on quickly.

The day of the return was also a day of mourning after all, Pidge and her family won’t be the only ones putting one less plate at the table tonight. Lance decided that Sapphire could wait, he would see her later that night or the day after, but Pidge needed him right now and what kind of friend would he be if he wasn’t there for her?

“The boat he was one got destroyed,” Pidge muttered, barely audible with how she had her face pressed against him. “They didn’t see any survivors. He can’t… he promised us. Promised me. ”

“Oh no,” Lance looked up, seeing Hunk’s crestfallen face as he looked at their friend. Lance and Hunk shared a look and without saying anything they guided Pidge back to her house.

Later that night, when Lance suggested for his family to join the Holts for dinner, he was actually listened to. That cold, dark night, the McLains, Holts and the Garrets joined together to mourn the short life of Matthew Holt. Even Shiro and his father made an appearance, bringing their own condolences and sharing stories of Matthew and the mischief he and Shiro had gotten up to when they were young.

Lance did not visit Sapphire. He had never been super close to Matt, but the loss was still felt deep in his bones.

***

The time of mourning ended just as quickly as it began, and the preparations for the final trial continued on without delay. It had been pushed back by a day, but that did not deter the rest of the village to start making bets on whether Lance or James would come on top.

To his annoyance, many betted that he would win over his cousin. Ever competitive, James, while much kinder than before, began to ignore Lance again in favor of training. Not that one day would be enough nor would it matter, because Lance had every intention of letting James win. His cousin could get the honor of killing the dragon and Lance could fade away into the shadows again.

Or maybe fly away with Sapphire. As much as he would not want to leave Pidge or Hunk behind, Lance could not picture himself growing up in a village where he would need to kill a dragon one day. Not anymore.

He had told as much to Hunk the night before the trail, or at least, Lance told him about his plan of losing. Not… not the possibility of leaving. Not yet.

“But if you throw… the dragon might get hurt,” Hunk whispered, eyeying Sapphire’s sleeping form. He sat closer compared to some weeks ago, and Sapphire seemed more at ease whenever Hunk neared, it made Lance happy to see that.

“I… I didn’t think of that.”

Hunk shrugged and took another bite off his fish. The silence stretched until it was time for them to return to the village. Sapphire did the now familiar trill-croon that Lance associated as her way of saying goodbye. It always sounded somewhat mournful as if Lance would leave and not return one day, and it always made him wonder what exactly dragons thought of vikings… and why Sapphire was all alone.

Not all dragons moved in groups, but Deadly Nadders were known for it. And yet, Sapphire remained alone.

***

The morning of the final trial before The Decision, Lance could not keep still. His siblings and father kept trying to assure him, giving him advice of where to aim depending on the dragon, or how best to hold his axe to throw or swing. It was awful and Lance couldn’t help but miss the time his family ignored him, because at least he knew why he was ignored. Now, it just brought him pain to know that he was being seen and thought of for something that was not him.

He wanted nothing more than to run to the forest, right into the cove where Sapphire was waiting and take to the skies. But he couldn’t, so he didn’t. He forced himself to walk to the arena, his family long since parted from him after some more unsolicited advice. The only other person at the entrance was James Griffin, and for once, since Lance's sudden rise to fame, his cousin ignored him, only giving a nod in greeting and nothing more.

The anticipation in the air almost seemed to choke him, and he adjusted his hold on the axe and the shield his sister shoved at him.

The doors opened, the sound of metal grinding against stone could barely be heard over the cheering of the village. Lance glanced up, the sun rays blinding him slightly, but he could still make out the figures of his friends and family, all waving excitedly at him, Hunk included though Lance was sure it was to keep up appearances over actual excitement of the event.

“May the best win,” James gave him a tight lip smile, but stretched out his hand anyway. Lance hesitated for a moment but accepted the gesture for what it was.

I don’t want to win. He thought, but didn’t say anything, instead tightened his grip, causing his cousin to grin.

“Today our Oracle will decide who wins the honor of getting to kill the Monstrous Nightmare! Our candidates this year trained hard, but only two can battle for this honor! And only one can win! James Griffin or Lance McLain!”

The cheers grew louder as each person tried to out scream the other, the chant of their names becoming a blend of excitement for the people watching. Lance hated it. He wanted to be at the Cove with Sapphire or maybe up in the sky with the wind on his hair.

Shiro grinned, hands raised waiting for the cheers to die down. Only once his voice can be heard again does he continue speaking. Lance swayed side-to-side in impatience. Some months ago he would have loved to be in the position he was currently in, but months ago he had also never had Sapphire by his side. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that James too grew impatient, but neither said anything. This semi-final trial was a test of their skills, a battle of who was faster, tougher, smarter, but it was also a show, an entertainment for the village during the rare times that there was no Dragon Raid.

“These two have trained hard, and today they will show everything they have learned and prove to us that they are ready to join us in battle! Today one of them will defeat the Gronckle!”

Lance could barely breathe in relief, he had half expected Shiro to send the Changewing, but the doors to Gronckle's cage opened. The dragon flew out, straight towards James Griffin who managed to dodge in time and Lance didn’t wait a second to hide behind the strategically placed wooden barriers. He took a deep breath, and tightened his hold on the axe, from somewhere he could hear James jumping over the wooden barriers and from another the flapping of dragon wings.

I don’t want to win. But... the dragon might get hurt. 

Lance could only think of Hunk’s words. Of Sapphire’s delighted trills. He moved, ignoring James’ screams, and went straight for the Gronckle, axe raised high and dropping it just in time to scratch the spot on the next before the dragon could bite his head off. The Gronckle fell to the ground, wings flapping briefly as she nuzzled closer to Lance’s hand, an incentive for more scratches.

The dragon was down, and cheering was deafening. He looked up to see his family cheering the loudest, and Hunk and Pidge beside them. Hunk had a pained look in his eyes, and Pidge… Pidged looked as if another piece clicked on a puzzle. Lance looked away quickly.

He had won, he was the pride of his family and the village.

He was Lance the New, and for once he felt like Lance the Nuisance fit better.

Chapter Text

Chapter Three: Lance the Tamer

Song: Going Home, The Score

“Sapphire, you and I are going to take a long vacation!” Lance greeted cheerful, knocking over the basket of fish he brought her.

“Who is Sapphire?”

Lance shrieked, whipping around to see Pidge sitting atop a rock, sharpening her dagger. It had been a gift from Matt, it had been his first attempt at making one. The dagger was small and slightly chipped, useless, but Pidge always had it close. Now more than ever.

“Sapphire? Did I say Sapphire?”

“You really thought I wasn’t going to notice your random disappearances?” Pidge raised an eyebrow, tucking her dagger away before jumping down from the rock. Despite their height difference, Lance had never been more afraid of his friend. “Or that Hunk’s distractions would last forever? Lance, what is going on?”

“Uh… well…”

There was a squawk, one Lance had come to love, but at the moment he hated it. Pidge glanced behind him and gasped and pushed him to the side. Despite her much smaller frame, she was strong and Lance was caught by surprise and he fell, groaning more from shock than pain, not that Sapphire would know the difference.

She growled, tail raised and Pidge yelled to run, already taking out her dagger again. Of fuck it! Lance scrambled up, pulling Pidge away and stood between them, hands raised.

“Hey! Hey! It’s ok! She didn’t mean to hurt me, beautiful,” Lance whispered and Sapphire squawked-roared, a sound he has come to associate with disbelief, but she lowered her tail anyway. He turned to Pidge who was watching them with wide eyes. “You scared her.”

“ I scared her?” She said in disbelief. “Who is her?”

“Sapphire, this is Pidge. Pidge this is… Sapphire.”

“Oh my gods,” she whispered, slowly stepping away.

“Pidge--”

“This is not happening,” and she ran straight to the forest, just managing to dodge Hunk who had run in without breath.

“Um…”

“Pidge found out.”

“I see that--what are you doing?!”

Lance adjusted himself on the saddle properly. “Convince her.”

He and Sapphire shot up in the air. It didn’t take long to see Pidge running through the forest and just as she jumped over a log, Sapphire swooped down and snatched her up. Pidge began yelling, particularly curses that would make their fishermen blush. Lance looked around until he spotted a particularly tall tree and steered Sapphire towards it, letting her drop Pidge on one of the branches.

“Lance!” She yelled, scrambling for a better hold, “Get me down!”

“I will!” He assured, extending his hand. “Just… let me explain. Please.” Pidge glared up at him, adjusting her hold again to not fall to her death. Finally, she nodded and took hold of his hand. He helped her settle behind him. “Ok beautiful. Let us down, gently.”

Sapphire crooned and slowly raised her wings before shooting up. It was rougher than what he wanted, but not too bad, still Pidge took hold of his waist to not fall off. Sapphire evened out and began flying over the ocean and even from the height, Lance could see some thunderdrums swimming underneath the waves.

“This is amazing!” Pidge gasped, her hold tightening as Sapphire flapped her wings harder until they were above the clouds. “More than amazing! Lance!”

“I know! I know!”

Below them, Sapphire squawked and dived back down, nothing like the usual tricks she and Lance would do together. Every day he was outstanded by just how smart Sapphire was because she seemed to understand that Pidge was not ready for anything like that. Once they were back below the clouds, Sapphire moved towards Berk. Despite the many times he had gone flying, he usually did it around Berk at night. He had never seen Berk like this at night, the village was amazing. He could see the statues that signified the entrance of Berk through water, and if he squinted he could see the Chief’s house, but his own as well.

“Let’s go back girl.” Lanced patted her side, but suddenly she shook his touch off and instead of flying towards the cove, she turned completely and began flying away from Berk. “Sapphire?”

“Lance, look.”

He followed Pidge’s finger and watched in fascination and fear as a zippleback appeared from the mist, followed by a monstrous nightmare and another nadder. Until they were surrounded by dragons in every direction they looked. Without much choice, Lance allowed Sapphire to take him and Pidge to wherever they were going.

It was an isolated island, rock instead of sand and a giant cavern which Sapphire and every dragon flew through, moving in the darkness with the occasional turn, Lance was only able to see again when they arrived at their destination. Dragons were everywhere, and the dragons that had food in their grasp went to the center and dropped the food.

“They don’t eat it,” Pidge whispered.

Sapphire moved away from the dragons and instead landed behind a rock formation, only peeking her head out. She was doing her best to hide them. Lance didn’t understand why. A gronckle flew by, no visible food in their mouth, until their jaw opened and Lance watched as a pathetically small fish was dropped into the red abyss, something growled from within it and Sapphire shook her head.

From the abyss, a giant head snapped out, jaws open and swallowed the gronckle whole and just as she was sinking back down, Lance met her eyes.

“Sapphire! Go!”

She didn’t need to be told twice, flying away just as the dragon snapped her jaws at the rock formation they had been hiding behind. The dragons around them began flying away in a panic and Sapphire continued to dodge the giant dragon’s attempt to eat them. Lance and Pidge glanced back just in time to see a zippleback be eaten.

The fly back to the Cove was silent, and when they landed, Hunk was still there waiting for them. At the sight of them, he ran over. By the time he stopped, Lance had finished helping Pidge down and getting down himself.

“We just saw the nest!” Pidge yelled, shaking Hunk who was just blinking. “The nest Hunk! The dragons aren’t getting food for themselves! They’re-- they’re getting for their Queen! It is like a bee colony!”

Lance frowned, not liking where this was going. Pidge turned to him, “We have to tell the Chief!”

“No!” He and Hunk yelled out.

“If you tell them, they’ll find out about Sapphire!”

Pidge stopped, “You don’t want to tell them that we found what we have searched for centuries to protect your pet dragon?!”

“Yes.”

“Ok,” Pidge nodded. “We won’t tell them. But tomorrow you have the Final Test Lance, what are you going to do?”

Lance cringed, he wasn’t sure. He had planned on running away, but he couldn’t now, not with both Pidge and Hunk looking at him. He hesitated and something moved from the distance, he froze and watched the spot, it moved again and this time his friends heard the rustle of leaves too.

“What was that?” Lance glanced around, there was no wind so the rustle wasn’t made by a breeze. Pidge and Hunk looked around, but nothing seemed out of place. He turned towards Sapphire who was eyeing the spot, stiff and silent, he tense, waiting to see what she would do. If it truly was something else, another viking, she would know.

Deadly Nadders are hunters after all.

Sapphire squawked and shook her head before turning away. Lance relaxed and so did his friends. A small animal then. It makes sense.

“Hey Lance,” he turned to Pidge. “Whatever you do… know that we have your back. Just. Don’t do anything stupid.”

Before he could say anything, she ran off. Hunk just shrugged before going after her. Lance shook his head, but a pleasant smile graced his face. He was glad that Pidge didn’t hate him, especially after Matt… he was just happy he still had Hunk and Pidge as his best friends. He wasn’t sure what he would have done had they abandoned him or hated him.

Their acceptance dulled the pain from Keith’s words just enough that he could ignore them.

Behind him the leaves rustled again, but he ignored it. Sapphire hadn’t done anything, so whatever made that noise was not a threat. Not that much could be a threat to a dragon .

***

The morning of the Final Test came sooner than Lance wanted. He groaned, reluctantly getting out of bed and began getting ready, from below he heard muffled noises, but ignored it. It was probably dad getting breakfast ready and maybe one more speech about how proud he was of Lance and all he accomplished. Lance hated every second of those speeches no matter who it came from whether his dad or one of his siblings, they felt hollow, because they weren’t really proud of him, but proud of what Lance let them think he was achieving.

He took a deep breath, preparing himself for a speech he didn’t deserve, and went downstairs and the noise he heard from his room became louder and apparent that it was more than one person. He hesitated before rounding the corner and was greeted by not just his dad, but all his siblings.

“What is going on?”

“Lance!”

They all yelled out and Veronica pulled him over, forcing him to sit down. “We are celebrating you! You made it to the Final Test and we couldn’t be prouder!” She gestured to the table, it was filled with food from fish to beef and even some eggs.

Suddenly, Lance wasn’t so hungry anymore.

“Oh… um… thank you,” he mumbled, taking a small piece of beef and chewing on it. He wasn’t sure what to do. It was one thing to pretend to be grateful for the hollowed speeches, it was another to be presented with an entire meal for something he didn’t even want to do.

He saw his family share a look, before Marco nudged their dad. He seemed to come out of whatever stupor he had, and walked forward, pushing a small viking helmet towards Lance.

“I know you don’t have many memories of your mom,” he began and Lance stopped chewing, eyeing the helmet that looked slightly too big for him. “And that is my fault for not telling you more stories. It's too painful, but I want to change that.”

“Mom made us each a helmet when we were born,” Luis murmured but the sudden stillness of the house made it very easy for him to be heard. “She… she never got around to finishing yours…”

“So we asked Hunk and Sam to finish it yesterday,” Marco continued.

Lance dropped the beef on his plate, he glanced up at his family before down at the helmet. For something so small and innocent… it was everything now, even if the reason he was given it now was based on lies. With shaking hands, he grabbed it as if it were made out of glass rather than metal and brought it close to him. It wouldn’t fit perfectly, and Lance wondered if Hunk made sure of that on purpose, so that Lance wouldn’t feel forced to wear something as a reward for his lies. Maybe he could keep it on his bedside.

That is, if he still had one after today.

“I…thank you.”

His family smiled down at him before taking a seat. The rest of breakfast was a surprisingly quiet affair, but it wasn’t uncomfortable, and with the helmet beside him, Lance could almost pretend that it was his entire family eating with him.

By the time they all finished eating, the horn sounded. A warning to start heading to the Battle Arena. Lance stood up and so did his dad and siblings. Marco and Luis punched his arm, wishing him luck and that they couldn’t wait for him to join them in the next Dragon Raid, before heading out the door. Veronica pulled him into a hug.

“Mom would be so proud of you Lance,” her voice was shaky and despite the reassurance, Lance, for a brief moment, was sure that she had hesitated before saying it. Still, he tightened his hold at the words. Before she left, she placed the helmet on his head.

Finally, it was only him and his dad. Lance wasn’t sure on what to do and it seemed neither did his dad, because they stood, staring at each other from a few awkward seconds before Lance cleared his throat.

“I uh… I should get going,”

“Yes, right! I’ll walk you over, just like I did your siblings."

Lance forced a smile and stepped aside so his dad could open the door. The trek down to the Arena was probably among the most awkward things that have ever happened. It wasn’t that he didn’t love his dad, he did, but they could never really talk about anything. Lance had always been just too different from his siblings. He wondered sometimes if he was more similar to their mom, he had heard the villagers whisper the similarities when he was younger, but it didn’t really matter.

His mom was dead and all he had of her now was a helmet.

They were close now, Lance could hear the cheers and laughter of the village. He glanced over just as his dad turned to face him and pulled him into a bone-breaking hug. Lance froze for a moment, before returning the hug.

Dad tightens his hold for a moment longer before letting him go. “I am proud of you,” and he walked away, climbing up the stairs to join the rest of their family and the village on the viewing stand. Lance wondered if his dad would still be proud, if any of them would still be proud, if they knew exactly what he was thinking of doing.

If he survived long enough that is.

Lance took a deep breath, adjusting the helmet one last time and made his way down to the entrance of the Battle Arena. Months ago he had been in this same position, as a student and the worst of them all, and months before that he would have done anything to be in his current position. Now, he would do anything to be in the Cove with Sapphire, far away from the village who never truly accepted him.

At the entrance, stood Shiro, as tradition not only as the instructor, but the previous winner. Untraditionally, Hunk and Pidge were also there

“Lance,” something in Shiro's voice made him stop and look over. Even over the growing cheers, Shiro managed to be heard. “Keith would be proud of you, I hope you know that. So whatever you do there, be careful.”

No, he would not be. Keith would actually deserve to be here, he would actually kill the dragon! I am a fraud! Lance wanted to yell, to finally say the last words Keith said to him so many months ago. I cannot kill a dragon! Keith was right… Instead, he forced a smile and stepped inside the ring, the cheers blocked the sound of metal hitting stone as the gate closed behind him.

This was it.

He gulped, barely hearing the Chief’s proclamation about honor and another addition to the ranks on the fight against the dragons. He was too focused on choosing a weapon that would cause the least damage if he needed to use it. He would have preferred his bow and arrow, but as part of the Final Test he was not allowed to bring any of his usual weapons. He had to choose from the arsenal offered, and he was the only one in the village who used arrows, meaning that was never going to be an option in the selection.

Lance took the small throwing knife. He had practiced them before with Keith, and despite the pain the thought of the other boy brought, Lance was glad Keith insisted on expanding Lance’s weapon expertise. He turned to face the Chief, who nodded before gesturing for the doors to open.

The second the wooden beam was off, the doors slammed open. Flames sprouted everywhere as the Monstrous Nightmare scattered out, climbing up the walls and onto the ceiling, shooting flame at the chains and the vikings near barely dodging getting burned. Months ago, Lance would have thought the dragon was just trying to kill the vikings, but now, he was almost certain that the Monstrous Nightmare was testing how much heat the chains could take before melting.

The dragon growled, hitting one of the chains with his horn before twisting his head around. The movement reminded Lance of a snake almost and he had gotten so lost in the comparison that he almost missed the dragon crawling down. He had been spotted. Smoke spewed out of his nostrils and mouth, his golden eyes were slit and Lance raised his dagger out of habit, hearing Keith’s instructions in his head. The action caused the dragon to raise its head, a hiss emitting out of the opening mouth, but no flame.

For a brief moment, he thought of a world where he killed a dragon. Of dealting the final blow on Sapphire before he even knew what she would bring to him. For a moment, he wondered what would happen if he killed the Monstrous Nightmare. For a moment, he saw another world and he hated it.

Lance dropped the dagger, and the dragon froze, a curious croon replacing the threatening hiss. Around him, the cheers and encouragement turned into confused murmurs. He took hold of his helmet, eyeing how the dragon’s head slowly bent down towards the floor and his slitted eyes became rounded once more.

“I’m not one of them,” he yelled. Not just for him and the dragon, but for everyone. For his family. For Sapphire. For Keith wherever he was. “I’m not a viking.”

Gasps echoed around them, but his focus was on the dragon who had moved closer, head fully lowered and no sound except for the curious croon. It was deeper than a Terrible Terror’s, but it also had the undertones of crackling fire from a blacksmith. Lance stretched out his hand, ignoring the Chief’s yell to stop the fight, hoping that they were seeing what he learned months ago. That dragons and humans didn’t need to fight. They could co-exist.

He could feel the heat on the palm of his hand, when a loud clang rang out. Whatever trance Lance and the dragon had shared, vanished at the noise. It was loud and sudden enough to shock the dragon into attacking, and despite cheating his entire way through the Academy, Lance had picked up quick reflexes during a fight. That was the only reason he managed to dodge the sharp teeth of the dragon’s snapping mouth as he launched at him. Lance yelled, scrambling away from the attacking dragon.

“Lance! Over here!” He looked over to Shiro, Hunk and Pidge. They had managed to pry the doors open again and he began to run over to them, barely escaping the flame shot at him.

But before he could make it to the gate, the Monstrous Nightmare hits him with his tail, slamming Lance against the wall. Hunk and Pidge yell, and Lance just about caught sight of them ducking underneath the open gate and towards him. Shiro is yelling something, going after them, but all three of them are too far away and the dragon is closer and faster.

Lance felt the heat from the dragon as he opened his jaw, he couldn’t help but think that dragons may need toothpicks. The heat got stronger and the breath smelled like fish, and he couldn’t believe that this would be the last thing he would know. That his family would have to see another one of them be killed by a dragon, but maybe this way, he would finally meet his mom.

He may not reach Valhalla, but maybe they would let him hug her even if just for a moment.

But the heat suddenly left and instead there was yelling and someone took hold of his arm.

“What?”

“Lance!”

It was Hunk.

“What just happened?”

“Sapphire just saved you!”

That was Pidge, and Lance looked down in confusion before the words were processed. Did she say… He looked up and in front of him, shielding him from the Monstrous Nightmare was Sapphire in all her glory. Oh no. No no no.

He yanked his arm from Hunk and ran towards Sapphire, because now it wasn’t just two dragons in the arena, but the entire village was jumping in. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shiro dodge the Monstrous Nightmare’s tail and run towards him or maybe towards Sapphire. Lance didn’t care, he couldn’t allow her to get hurt.

He couldn’t.

Sapphire sent a blast to the Monstrous Nightmare, not once stopping until the other dragon crawled away and back into his cell. But the vikings were advancing and Lance was finally by her side.

“You have to go!” He pushed her, even as she tried to get closer to him. “Go! Fly! You can’t be here!”

Behind him, he could hear someone yell, it was familiar and horror washed over him and Sapphire raised her tail, spines at the ready to fire at the attacker. Lance looked back to Veronica running towards them, axe raised, and face furious. Before he could even think of doing otherwise, Lance placed himself in-between them.

“Sapphire no!” She froze, lowering her tail and for a moment there was silence as everyone watched her follow Lance’s command. “Down, Sapphire.”

“Lance--what?”

“Now!” His dad yelled, just as he tackled Sapphire and everyone began throwing nets over her. Lance yelled, but Veronica pulled him back.

“No! Sapphire!”

The last thing he saw was his best friend being dragged away and his dad turning to look at him with something in his eyes Lance had never seen before. At least not directed at him. But, he supposed, in the eyes of the villagers, of his dad, he may as well just become a dragon.

***

“You have brought disgrace to our family name!” His dad roared, not even the doors of the great hall closing behind them could be heard. “Luis! How did you not see the signs! You were with him!”

No he wasn’t, Lance wanted to scoff as Luis stumbled out an excuse. And then Marco began yelling and so did Veronica, even his dad, all pointing fingers as if they were the reason Lance was the way he was. As if they had ever paid attention to him for anything that wasn’t to yell or reprimand him.

“You never cared!” He yelled, silencing his family for once. The words he had been holding back tumbled out without a thought. The years of resentment coated in every word. “Maybe once you did. Before mom. But not anymore! Not since I was sent to the forge without a second glance! Deemed Lance the Nuisance! You didn’t even notice when I came back with blood on my clothes after letting Sapphire go! Blood! If it had been anyone else though, it would have brought panic! But the moment I am no longer useless, oooh, suddenly you care. Suddenly it’s ‘how was your day Lance?’ ‘Let’s go train together Lance!’”

His family looked at him, with something akin to horror and regret, but they quickly shut it away. They have always been good at that, ignoring what made them uncomfortable, or anything that may force them to question everything. Maybe that is why they have always ignored Lance. He just brought bad memories.

“So forgive me,” he laughed, loud and cold and dull, “for caring more about a dragon than the so-called family who sees me as something less than an afterthought!”

“They have killed hundreds of us!” Marco yelled, always the first to snap. Always the first to retaliate when things get uncomfortable.

“And we have killed thousands of them!” Lance yelled back, fury in his eyes and poison in his tongue. “They just want to survive just like us! It is the Queen who makes them do it.”

“Queen?” Veronica turned to him, “You’ve been to the nest?”

Lance didn’t know why he said it, maybe his filter finally ran out from exhaustion. Maybe it was the adrenaline still running through his veins. “Only a dragon can find it-- No. Don’t do it. Dad, Veronica!” He begged, trying to pull one of them back. Any of them back, “Marco, Luis. You will die. The Queen, she is like nothing you have ever faced before!”

But they had always been stronger than him and Marco pulled his arm from Lance’s hold, the force of it causing him to fall backwards and onto the cold, hard stone. In front of him, his dad paused for a moment and without even giving him a glance, said, “You are not my son.”

***

Up alone on the cliff, Lance watched as Sapphire was placed on the Chief’s boat, even from the distance he could see Shiro argue with his father. Over what, Lance was unsure, maybe it was about Shiro not catching on to Lance’s facade, or maybe about how they would banish Lance from the village once they returned.

If they returned, a traitorous voice whispered in the back of his head. You saw the size of the Queen. They are as good as dead, and it will all be your fault.

“Lance?” He blinked, turning towards Hunk and Pidge before looking back down at the harbor. It was empty, how long had he stood there, watching at nothing? “Lance.”

“What?” Even to his ear his voice sounded hollow, “Everything is over. They have Sapphire and they are going to the Nest. All because I didn’t kill a fucking dragon!”

“Why didn’t you?” Hunk whispered, stepping closer to him. “Any of us would have.”

“I don’t know!” Lance yelled, arms raised and turned to his friends. “Because I’m weak? Stupid? Does it matter? I couldn’t kill a dragon.”

“You said ‘couldn’t’ that time,” Pidge said, adjusting her glasses. “And don’t say it doesn’t make a difference. Words always do.”

“Fine I couldn’t!” He hissed, his eyes stinging from the emotions of the day. “I couldn’t kill Sapphire because she looked as frightened as I was. I saw her eyes and I saw myself. I’m the first viking who couldn’t kill a dragon.”

“First to ride one.” Lance whipped around and so did Hunk and Pidge. Shiro stopped not too far from them, but his gaze was fixated on Lance. “I knew you weren’t going to kill the Monstrous Nightmare. Not after seeing you fly with Sapphire.”

“You knew?”

Shiro raised an eyebrow, “Of course I did. I made a promise to protect the Terrible Terror pack, I was just lucky that Sapphire didn’t consider me a threat.”

At the words, Lance thought back to yesterday and the rustle of leaves. He had thought it was an animal, but if it was Shiro… he wondered just how long Shiro had been watching him and why he didn’t say anything.

“Who did you promise?”

“That doesn’t matter, why didn’t you say anything?”

Shiro gave a small smile, glancing at Pidge before turning back to Lance. “It wasn’t my story to tell.” He clapped his hands, “Now. Are we going to get Sapphire back or just stand here?”

Lance grinned and ran. If only dragons could find the nest, then they would all need dragons. Over his shoulder he yelled to gather everyone. If his plan was going to work, he would need all the help he could get.

***

He had already made a stupid plan -- befriending and flying Sapphire, but this one was crazy. He ignored the gasps as he slowly led the Monstrous Nightmare from his cage. He wasn’t sure how Pidge, Hunk and Shiro managed to convince the other trainees to gather in the Arena, but Lance wasn’t going to question it.

For his plan to work, he needed as many people as possible.

“Drop it,” he heard Pidge hiss.

Lance reached behind him blindly, not taking his eyes away from the dragon, until he managed to grasp someone’s hand. He turned slightly to see it was James, and Lance grinned. “It’s ok. He won’t hurt you,” he said softly, while guiding his cousin’s hand atop the dragon’s snout. Satisfied, Lance slowly backed away and once he was sure nothing would happen he ran to the crate and took out ropes.

“What are you doing?”

Lance grinned, showing them the ropes. “You are all going to need something to hold on to.”

“Wait,” Hunk gasped, “we are riding dragons?!”

Lance nodded, given them each a rope before turning to the other doors. He opened them, slowly, and carefully led each dragon out. None moved to attack once they saw that the Monstrous Nightmare was unharmed. Lance frowned, counting the dragons. There were four dragons in total, five once Sapphire gets freed.

“Gronckle is mine!” Hunk grinned, already inching towards the dragon who seemed to be assessing him.

That left Ryan, Ina, Nadie, Shiro and Pidge. But Ina and Nadia were already climbing atop the zippleback before Lance could even think to stop them. Shiro moved, but Lance gestured him to stop because the dragon didn’t seem to mind, if anything he (they?) lowered their heads to make it easier for the girls.

Which left the thunderdrum to either Pidge, Shiro or Ryan. That still meant that three people would have to ride with someone else.

Pidge must have come to the same conclusion, “There is one more dragon.”

“You want to bring out the changewing?!” Ryan yelled, startling everyone. The thunderdrum, batted his wings before darting towards Ryan, stopping just a few inches before him. “Oh. Hi.” Lance blinked, soft-spoken Ryan with the loud thunderdrum. Not what he would have expected, but he also never thought he or anyone in the village would be riding dragons.

“I’m serious Lance.” Pidge insisted, arms crossed. “We saw just how big the Queen was. We are going to need all the firepower we can.”

Lance hesitated, but Pidge had a point. He nodded and turned to Shiro. “I’m going to need help opening the door.”

Shiro gave him a grim nod and went to the final door of the arena. It was much more reinforced than the others, and heavier too with how Shiro was slowly opening it. Fully opened, Lance stepped forward slightly, hoping to see something in the darkness, but there was nothing.

“Probably camouflaged,” Pidge murmured and ran past Lance despite everyone yelling her name. “We are not going to harm you!” There was a low hiss and everyone tensed as a green tail appeared soon followed by a body and finally the head. A head which was inches away from Pidge. “I know you don’t have your pack anymore. But maybe, together, we can help find them.”

Lance had a feeling Pidge was referring to more than just the changewing’s pack.

The changewing’s hiss turned into a soft croon as he nudged Pidge’s head with his own.

Well then. Shiro and I will be the passengers.

***

If Lance was honest, he didn’t have much of a plan after freeing Sapphire and having Shiro help the vikings on the ground dodge the giant dragon. Which was probably why he came up with this ridiculous plan after everyone else was either thrown off their dragons or the dragon landed and refused to fly up again.

The Red Death, a name he decided on despite her scales being mainly blue, chased after them in the sky. Lance wasn’t sure how she managed to fly considering her size and damaged wings, but he couldn’t think of the details other than urging Sapphire to fly faster and to dodge the flames being shot at them.

Still, she was a deadly nadder, not a night fury, making it difficult to blend in among the dark clouds, which was why he and Sapphire mainly stuck behind her, with Sapphire shooting at her whenever possible. But the Red Death seemed to have had enough and breathed fire all around them, circling them in a deadly inferno that Sapphire did her best to dodge.

But they couldn’t dodge forever, and some of the heat got to them, causing them to start falling down and the Red Death dove after them. Lance watched as she opened her massive jaws, and suddenly he remembered an interaction Sapphire and a terrible terror had. Dragons were fireproof on the outside, not the inside.

“Sapphire! Shoot!”

And his ever smart and beautiful dragon understood exactly what he meant, because she shot directly at the Red Death’s open mouth and Lance watched as the dragon burst into flames from the inside out. He cheered and steered Sapphire around the falling dragon, dodging the wings and spines on her back, but her tail came out of nowhere and Sapphire was unable to twist around it fast enough.

For the second time that day, Lance was falling, but this time he didn’t have Sapphire below him, but rather above him, flapping her wings in an attempt to reach him before he reached the floor. He smiled up at her, reaching out because even if she didn’t make it, she tried and that was all he needed and he closed his eyes.

***

Turned out that even though he survived, the gods decided to have one last laugh. His left arm was permanently scarred, he was fortunate to still be able to use it with little to no issues. Surprisingly, Lance didn’t mind it too much, he matched with Sapphire, her wing scarred in a similar way.

Eerily similar, something his family and friends had pointed out.

But that hadn’t been the only change. The dragons, freed from the Red Death’s control, decided to make Berk their home and some vikings even decided to start learning how to ride them. Something everyone deferred to him, because even if the other trainees had ridden dragons into the battle, Lance had been doing it for far longer.

That also meant that Lance barely had time for himself. Which was why, a week after waking up, he and Sapphire decided to fly around Berk and hope nobody would think to search for them for some time.

Everything was perfect. He was no longer Lance the Nuisance or Lance the New, for a while he had no moniker like other members of the village and he was just fine with that. It was not until Pidge went to him, with a grin that he was just too familiar with. It usually ended with him being berated in front of the entire village, but now not so much.

“Did you know that you are being called Lance the Tamer now?”

Lance the Tamer. It felt right in a way the other two didn’t. Because this one came from his own real merit and his talents. And while he would not exactly use the word tame, he understood the meaning behind it. So yes, everything was perfect. His friends rode dragons and so did other villagers. He was no longer the disappointment of the family, and while there were still more issues to work out between them, it was not as bad as before.

And most importantly, he had Sapphire by his side every day.

Yet, something was still off. Something kept on nagging him on the back of his mind and he knew only one person could answer him. The sun was starting to set when Lance finally found Shiro, on the highest point the other could possibly go to without the aid of a dragon. He dismounted Sapphire and approached, never once did Shiro look behind him, but Lance had made sure to have been seen before landing. It would not have been good to startle the heir so close to the edge of the cliff.

Lance sat beside Shiro, letting the silence stretch between them as he gathered his thoughts. Unsure of how to phrase the question, Shiro let him. Giving up, he took a deep breath and said “Shiro, you said Keith would be proud of me. But you knew I was not going to kill that dragon.”

He forced himself to face Shiro, who turned to him with an expression he could not quite place. “Lance, Keith would never kill a dragon.”

Suddenly, with those words, everything began to make sense. Shiro’s assurance before the Final Test, his words after everyone in the village left to fight the Red Death. More importantly, Lance’s final interaction with Keith and

“He… he tried to stop me from killing Sapphire. On the day he left,” Lance breathed, eyes wide and his heart began to beat faster. “He was going to let her go.”

Shiro smiled sadly, “Before he left, he told me what happened. He feared that the next time you two met it would be on the battlefield.” And on opposite sides went unsaid, but it echoed around them. Loud and clear.

But there was something else that was bothering Lance now. That day in the woods, he remembered a rustling of leaves, waved it off as the wind or maybe a squirrel or some other critter. But he had thought the same thing before and it had been Shiro secretly watching him and Sapphire. Now that he thought back on it, the movement sounded louder than the typical critter found in those woods.

“Shiro, did… Did Keith have a dragon?”

Shiro laughed and Lance could not bring himself to feel offended, something about it brought hope. Shiro’s eyes were too bright, too filled with excitement, similar to when one of them figured out something quickly while at the Dragon Fighting Ring (when that had still been a thing).

“Yeah, a red Terrible Terror. The pack in the forest used to be Red’s pack before he bonded with Keith.” He shook his head, grinning widely as if recalling a particularly funny memory before it disappeared. “But Keith is gone now, he went back to his tribe. There is no way to contact him. I wish I could tell him that he has nothing to fear anymore.”

Lance stood up, hand out for Shiro to take. “Well, our next mission is to find him. Show him that Berk has changed for the better. We have dragons now, we can do it.” Shiro grinned and grasped the offered hand tightly and the sun fully set behind them.