On Love's Wings ~ A Snotlout Jorgenson Fanfiction

Chapter 16 ~ Maybe...Mine?

The evening was approaching quickly by the time that we all arrived home. The sun was going down over the water, only a small orange sliver remaining visible to our eyes. The glowing silver moon hung high in the air though, taking the place of its predecessor. Berk was settling in for the night, most families shut in their huts to begin bedtime preparations. A very few remained, including Heather and Eret, both standing watch at the entrance of the Great Hall. Windshear and Shattermaster fed off of a basket of fish greedily, obviously bored out of their minds. Clearly, no one had attacked the village while we had been gone, giving us all reason to be relieved.

Eret flagged us down, waving in greeting at all of us. The dragons landed roughly, all nine of them exhausted from the days travel and fighting. Stormfly and the Monstrous Nightmare trio carefully laid Nightwing down on the nearby field, where she stayed and refused to move. "How'd it go?" Eret called to Ruffnut. The blonde smiled, leaping off of her dragon and wrapping her arms around him. "You should've seen us babe! We destroyed everything!" She laughed. Eret chuckled. "I'm glad you are okay. I was getting worried." He admitted. The couple continued to hug and laugh together, while Heather approached Hiccup. "I take it everything was a success." Hiccup glanced at me, knowing I was still recovering from the ordeal. "Mostly, but Nightwing is hurt really bad." Heather gasped, her eyes widening as she looked over at me. "What can I do?" She asked. "I'm honestly not sure yet." I sighed, climbing out of Snotlout's arms and dismounting Hookfang. "I could only see a few of the wounds when I first looked at her as we were escaping. What I saw was bad enough. I need to go examine her." I explained. Heather blinked in understanding, following me as I walked over to my dragon. I could hear Hookfang and Snotlout on my heels, Hookfang whimpering as he took in his mate's appearance.

The orange and red dragon stepped lightly around Nightwing, coming to a stop at her head. Nightwing was breathing shallowly, but when she sensed Hookfang's presence, she opened her lavender eyes and raised her neck just enough to lick his cheek. Hookfang lowered his body to the ground, lying next to his mate with his face beside hers. He hissed softly, as if telling her everything would be alright. I had never seen anything like it before, at least not between two dragons. Duskwing, Flameshadow, and Stormfang curled up on the other side of their father, all three of them watching their parents with concern.

Snotlout and Heather stood behind me as I kneeled down beside Nightwing. "You're gonna be okay, girl. I promise. I won't let anything else happen to you." I whispered, feeling more tears begin to stream down my face. I was so scared. I could lose my dragon. For real and forever. It was too much to take in, so instead, I got to work.

Carefully, I pulled her right wing out, stretching it slowly to see where the worst of the wound was. Thankfully, she was lying on her left flank, making things easier on the both of us. As I had seen in the cavern, the skin that folded and expanded to allow for their easy flight and fast acceleration had been shredded, as if someone had taken their sword and sliced long jagged lines down the length of her skin. It could've been razor-netting. On the bright side, they didn't cut all the way through, which meant she would still be able to fly. I placed her wing back in its original position and moved to take a look at her leg. It was fractured. There was no question about that. I could only imagine how that had happened. She had probably tried to escape, and got her leg caught in the cage she had been in when I had found her. I placed my hand on her knee, and Nightwing jolted upward, roaring loudly in agony. My blood boiled, seeing how much suffering my dragon was dealing with. I quickly moved away, taking a look at the gash on her snout to distract her from the throbbing of her leg. This wound was deep too, but certainly not the worst of it all. I grimaced, running my fingers along her scales. She had numerous puncture wounds along her neck and abdomen, which appeared to have come from spearheads and arrows. Noticing just how much blood my dragon had lost was sickening, particularly when the flesh was so exposed and the holes were gaping open, leaking onto the white sail underneath her and staining the fabric crimson.