entrancelogs | ☾ nightfury at the gates (open)

Entry tags:

☾ nightfury at the gates (open)

Who: Toothless and you.
Where: Outside the mansion, pretty much anywhere.
When: 6/23
Rating: This is a kid's movie! (G. I'll update if it changes!)
Summary: Toothless arrives back at the mansion without any memory of it. ...'Arrives' is probably oversimplifying it. 'Crashes' is more accurate.

The Story:

It's funny, but Toothless doesn't remember hedges in Berk. He doesn't even know what a hedge is, in fact, but the shape in front of him strikes him as Viking-made. Plants don't actually grow like that, do they? Is he on some weird new island where the plants are different?

All he remembers is flying — and then not flying.

Speaking of which, with a quiet cry of alarm, the Nightfury lurches to his feet. Hiccup! Was he thrown clear? Where is he? The area around him is large, and he can also smell — is that a beach, maybe beyond the treeline? For a moment, he stands unnaturally still, trying to pinpoint the sound of his best friend's voice. But all he hears are unfamiliar voices, and the rustling of wind through trees. It only makes the thrill of horror in his chest greater, and Toothless immediately sets off at a run.

Or he tries to, at least.

His thoughts being as distracted as they are, his mad dash is foiled by the fish pond being in the way. The Nightfury plunges, unintentionally, underneath the surface, and comes up with wide green eyes, scrambling for the shore amidst the frantic movements of fish beneath him. Such is the gravity of the situation that the fish don't even factor into his mind, just yet. He comes back up on land and this time sets off at a much more successful run, soaking wet and wings tucked tight to his body for greater speed.

Every once in a while, he lets out a loud, long, distressed sounding call — sort of the dragon version of Hey! Where are you? With the speed of his movements, hopefully no one will find themselves in his way.

[ooc: Both prose and action spam are fine by me.]

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Something that smells a lot like food hits the ground a few feet in front of him. Toothless' eyes widen and he sniffs, curiously, in the thing's direction. He knows a squirrel when he sees one, although the vikings usually don't bother with them. Certainly not to feed the Nightfury, as his affinity for fish is known all over Berk.

But the walking (in this case) stomach would never turn down food that wasn't a smoked eel.

He takes a few slow steps forward, making a note of Katniss' own movement, and then takes the squirrel in one giant bite, his enormous teeth visible for that very quick second. The food is a distraction, easily, although the noises that come out of him aren't exactly ferocious. He gives a pleased, content rumble as he swallows the squirrel down. It might even be the dragon version of om nom nom.

Her eyes widen at the site of the enormous teeth and, for a second, all she can picture are similar teeth on different lizards ripping into the flesh of people she once trusted. Maybe even liked a little. Where the teeth of the lizard mutts that big, that sharp?

Finnick.

She takes a few steps back and then another few when he makes those sounds. Though they don't sound threatening but they still set her hair on edge. She quickly throws the other squirrel at him. She'd rather ask the closet for food tonight than take a chance of being eaten herself.

Toothless is taken aback when the one squirrel disappears down his throat and then another one appears, almost as if his rumble had asked for it. He blinks up at Katniss for a moment, like a cat trying to assess the situation, before he lowers his head and devours this one, too.

Om nom nom.

This viking can't be all that bad if she'll feed him. Actually, he likes her already. The secret to a Nightfury's heart is through his stomach. Or it is with this one, at any rate.

He makes quick work of the second squirrel, not having moved otherwise, and then looks back up at Katniss with excitement, as if to say, More?

Its movements are catlike in manner. But they're not movements she's used to seeing. Hisses, arched backs, angry swipes of a paw: those are the movements she associates with Buttercup and with cats in general. Looks of assessment and excitement are the sort of looks he reserves specifically for Buttercup. For people who don't want to drown him as a kitten.

So it's hard for her to interpret what Toothless means. She doesn't know what the excitement in his eyes mean. Doesn't know that she's certainly succeeded in appeasing the mutt, perhaps more so than she meant. Instead she just frowns and stares back at him.

She doesn't have any more squirrels. Should she pull out an arrow? Or be smart and run?

There aren't any more squirrels, it seems. The Nightfury can't help but be a little disappointed. Crashing out of the sky and onto a strange island makes a dragon hungry. But he'd much rather eat fish, and he'd seen those earlier. So after a moment, when she doesn't move, he realizes that she's back into fight-or-flight.

It's risky to show weakness to a jumpy viking, but Toothless really doesn't want to be on the bad side of a person who's fed him. He'd like more, in the future, after all. Like any animal offered a treat.

And so, very slowly, the dragon rolls onto his back and snuffles into the grass, looking at Katniss with attentive green eyes. Showing one's stomach is a sign of submission, for a dragon. He's sure it's similar for vikings, as well. He only hopes it makes it through the language barrier they have.

She's still contemplating pulling her bow when the creature rolls on to its back and exposes his stomach. That's a behavior that she actually recognizes. How many times had Buttercup just done that whenever Prim returned home from school?

But she's never once observed any animal acting so submissive when encountering her. She's just not an animal person. Not in the slightest.

"What are you doing?" The crease between her brows deepens. "Stupid animal."

Toothless looks up at the viking with wide eyes. She doesn't seem to be quite as alarmed anymore, at least. He's tempted to think it's working before her second comment comes along, and his ears go back. Stupid. Hmph!

He snorts, rolling back to his feet again but not quite getting on them. His eyes narrow again, though he doesn't make any other movements as looks at Katniss, wounded, and lets out a low, objecting, whine. She almost reminds him of Astrid, back when Astrid had wanted to attack him.

She recognizes that sort of reaction, too. But this one, at least, is far more like something she's accustomed to. It's a look she sees from Buttercup every time she calls him a stupid cat. Right before he hisses at her, anyway.

"I don't have any more squirrels."

Just to make the point clear. So he doesn't think that he's getting any more food from her. Or think of attacking instead.

Making a noise that almost sounds like a groan, the Nightfury's ears come a little more forward. But otherwise, he doesn't move. She's not lying; he doesn't smell anything else on her person. Nothing he recognizes as food, at least.

He lays his head back on the ground and wriggles on his back a little toward her, almost as if he's rolling in the grass. It's certainly not a very threatening form of movement.

It's far from threatening. And it's slowly becoming clear to Katniss that this creature isn't like the lizard mutts that had chased her and her team in the sewers of the Capitol. She's not sure what it is but... But she's starting to doubt that it'll actually hurt her.

These are chances that she shouldn't take. Stepping a little bit closer and reaching out tentatively with one hand. She's not Prim. She doesn't know what she's doing when it comes to animals.

But in the end, maybe Haymitch has a point about allies. And this creature could be ferocious enough (she hopes) to keep others away from her.

Toothless' eyes widen, just a little, as she takes those steps closer to him. Perhaps all of his hard work is about to pay off. But the Nightfury knows that he could still frighten this viking away, and, for some reason, he really doesn't want to. She seems isolated, alone, in a way he recognizes from his first encounter with Hiccup.

He holds as still as he possibly can, letting her set the pace for how much and how long she'd like to touch him. His skin is warm and leathery from all of the sun he's been soaking up, though he's never cold by any means — unless he's just dipped in the ocean.

Her touch is tentative and awkward at first. She places a light hand on the top of the creature's head. He's warmer than she expected. Not that Katniss has a lot of experience with lizards to begin with. There's a quality about his skin that reminds her of her father's leather jacket. It relaxes her a little. Enough that she opens her eyes and offers a slight smile to Toothless.

There's a part of her that still remains wary that this is nothing more than an attempt to lull her into a false sense of security. But she carefully pets him, anyway. "Can you hunt?"

Slowly, and softly, Toothless rumbles an affirmative, tail flopping behind him once like a giant dog. He can hunt fairly well on his own, though he has to chase down prey in the forest. Fish are usually too fast for him, unless he's starving enough to completely focus. With Hiccup on his back, the Nightfury has no trouble getting any sort of prey he'd like.

Hiccup...

He hopes his viking friend isn't too far.

She startles when his tail flops. But when she realizes a second later that it's some sort of gesture of... happiness, maybe? she places her hand back on his forehead. So he can hunt. But he doesn't seem to mind being fed, either.

"You ate my catch today," she says slowly, still watching him warily. "I hunt every morning."

It's a sensible schedule, much like the vikings of Berk. Perhaps this one is smarter than the others, for all her skittishness, even if she isn't wearing proper armor. Then again, almost no one here is.

Even with the supposed dangers of this island.

Toothless closes his eyes at the feeling of her hand on him, rumbling. He'll remember her schedule. Maybe he'll come out and join her, sometime.

Her leather jacket is protection enough. It's always served her well while hunting. Armor, in her opinion, would just be cumbersome when attempting to silently slip through the woods unnoticed. But at the very least, she refuses to go anywhere without her bow. Even around the mansion, or to the beach.

When he rumbles, a slight smile starts to form on her face. It's... kind of nice. Oddly nice, knowing that this strange beast might actually be her ally.

"Just make sure I know you're there. Or I might shoot you."

Toothless definitely likes her face more when it isn't quite so stark and suspicious. Even a slight upturn of her lips makes him rumble again. His rumble turns higher, like a trill, as his ears perk up and his eyes widen. Making sure a hunting viking knows he's there is an almost comforting thing — it's something he's familiar with.

He'll have to see her in action, now.

She thinks that she's starting to understand the creature's rumbling. Or, at the very least, she wants to think that this means he's happy. There's something in his eyes that puts her in ease. She's never seen that sort of look on an animal before. At least, not directed towards her. Buttercup hated her, Lady had been indifferent.

Maybe she can almost understand what Prim saw in animals.

She scratches its head behind one ear and looks at him curiously. "You're not a muttation, are you?"

No. Muttations would never be this tame.

Puzzlement slides onto the Nightfury's features. He wants to close his eyes and enjoy the scratching, but what in the world had she just asked him? Why didn't vikings come with dragon translators?

Whatever it is, he's never been accused of being one before. Not unless 'muttation' means annoying, hungry, grumpy, or all of the above.

He shakes his head. Whatever it is, he's not it.

He seems to understand her. And that surprises Katniss for a moment. Sure, she's seen Buttercup respond to Prim time and time again. But never actually answering a direct question with a gesture that she could understand. She's not so certain now, not so certain that this thing in front of her isn't a muttation.

Most animals aren't this smart.

But again, she reminds herself, that muttations aren't this tame. Or friendly. The lizard mutts certainly weren't.

"What are you?"

Toothless, at this point, can't quite fathom a place where there aren't dragons or vikings, and so her puzzlement... well, it puzzles him. How to explain? He has no voice to, and he can't exactly drag Hiccup over and make him explain. He has to find him, first.

So instead, he sits up and then raises his wings outward. As slowly as he can, to hopefully not frighten her, but to get the point across.

Dragon, see? Didn't she know what a dragon was?

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☾ nightfury at the gates (open)

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