How To Train Your Dragon 4: Near Horizon

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The place where they decided to install the last monitor was near the heart of the nest. It was an island with a gigantic crystal mountain in the middle of it, which looked over a large part of the nest's center.

"Please tell me why I agreed to this idea? We are near the center and it's full of sleeping dragons." Alice said on the radio quietly. "Relax. If you don't do anything to cause such a racket, we'll get out of this alive." Henry replied. Afterwards they made their way to a secluded spot near the other end of the island while keeping silent. As carefully as they could, Alice lowered the monitor in place while Henry took care to drill the nails one slow turn at a time.
Suddenly, when they were about to place the last nail, the drill bit from the gun suddenly snapped off and clattered loudly on the stone floor near the sleeping dragons, making the two mecha pilots cringe from the sound. Both canned their lights off as one dragon, a Deadly Nadder, lifted its head up and sheepishly opened its eyes to figure out what caused the noise. Henry and Alice held their breaths and stood as quiet as possible from where they stood, hoping the dragon didn't notice them.

. . . . . . . . .

Thankfully the Nadder closed its eyes and went back to sleep. Henry and Alice exhaled in relief, then returned to finish the job.
"Well, guess that's that. Let's head back." Alice said as she got her mecha hand free from the tools. Amari then came close to Henry's mecha and meowed as she slowly scratched one of his feet. Then she turned around and headed towards the other end of the coral forest. "(~Follow me~)" he heard Amari say through the mindlink. "I...think she wants us to follow her." Henry said. "Are you sure? I don't think we have that much time left before we leave." Alice asked from the radio. "We have at least one hour. And I'm sure it'll be quick." Henry said as he piloted his mecha to follow Amari. Alice reluctantly followed behind them while keeping an eye out for dragons that may have been watching.

A couple of moments later Amari arrived at what seemed to be a coral nest. Upon closer inspection from afar, Henry realized why Amari had to return to her home.

She was a mother. And she needed the fish for her hatchlings. It was a wonder since he felt her worry though the mindlink.

Amari bent down and nuzzled one of her three young hatchlings to wake it up. When it did, it let out a chirp of excitement that woke the other two up. They tried to pounce on their mother's head as she licked them with excitement and love. As they settled down Amari opened her mouth and regurgitated a couple of fish for her children, which they happily ate up.
"I have to admit they are cute when they're little." Alice commented as they both observed the family reunion from a distance. Henry chuckled as he smiled...but his smile didn't last that long.
This was it, it seemed. Amari was home, at last, after a long time. Yet, Henry felt a pain in his chest that he couldn't bear. One thing was for sure: he was going to miss her a lot. The time they spent together, the soft fur and feathers, her purr and meows, and...her compassion through the mindlink. But he knew that leaving her in her rightful home and returning to the mainland was for the good of both of them. And yet he felt.............

"Hey. Are you feeling alright?" Alice's voice interrupted his thoughts. Henry shook his head to snap out from zoning out, then said "Yeah. I'm fine. I think I zoned out for a moment". Amari let her hatchlings go to sleep again before flying down to where the two mechas were standing. She perched herself on the shoulder of Henry's mecha before saying "(~Follow me. There's some friends I want you to know before your departure.~)" and flying off in another direction. "Wait..." Henry called out to Amari, and she hovered in the air with her head tilted sideways in question. "I...I don't think you need the saddle anymore." Henry said as he reached out for the saddle after Amari landed. The furred fury looked back and stepped away from the hand with a sad croon. "(~No. I'd...like to keep this as a memory item. Can I?~)" Amari said. "(Erm...sure. Why not?)" Henry replied through the mindlink. "(~Thank you. Now follow me.~)" she said.

The two mechas followed the furred fury to the new location she was leading them to now, continuing their silent footsteps to not draw any attention.

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Dr. Elias headed towards the more complex side of the nest with Akio behind him, arriving to what appeared to be more bioluminescent-covered lakes and pools.

Before approaching, Elias equipped himself with a mask and some gloves for extra protection. With those set, he ventured further down the river trail as he held out a radiometer in front to scan for any harmful substances before he commenced sample extraction.

"[~What exactly are you doing with these...tools?~]" Akio asked Elias as he followed close behind. "I'm searching for something specific. When I did the blood tests on you two, I found something strange: remaining segments of a contaminant that had made both of you a bit ill in the past before coming to the mainland and healing. That made me wonder...how did this contaminant get here? What exact contaminant is this? And, is it possibly linked with the behavior of the dragons?" Elias said as he continued forward.
"[~Actually...I want to bring you where those questions may be answered.~]" Akio said as he walked besides Elias. He stopped in his tracks, turned to face Akio and said "Show me".

When both arrived at the place Akio led, he felt the realization in Elias grow.
The place was one of the many central pools where every dragon picked up their food to eat. The problem was...

Nearly all of them were polluted.

Akio remembered ages ago that all pools were pure and healthy for everyone. Now, it was filled with black water and metal pieces from every battle that started between dragons and humans. It became so black that fish and other food sources started to die out. Only a few places remained where clean food was still available, but that's what caused disputes and fights over them and forced them to go out on raids.

Before Akio lost himself in these thoughts, he was interrupted by the thoughts of Elias. His realization turned to dread and sorrow as he saw every inch of the environment they were in. "[~I know what you're thinking; It's our fault for attacking your kind seven years ago and-~]" Akio said on the mindlink to try and calm down Elias, but he cut him off.

"No. Now I understand. It's our kind's fault. We never seem to learn that our actions affect others, wether they are conscious of it or not. All because of the greed and selfishness in our hearts. And it has reached here." Elias explained as he dipped a gloved hand pulled it out one of the many plastic bottles that were floating, being soaked with black grease.

However, upon closer inspection, Elias observed that something was off.
"Wait a minute....This isn't natural processed oil...It's crude oil." Elias said. "[~What are you saying?~]" Akio crooned in question. "Regular oil like the ones used in aircrafts and mechas is usually mixed with a red hue, but this one is pure black in color. This means its recently-extracted oil. And there's no way that this place is a natural source of it. Where exactly did this come-?" Elias was explaining when he spotted pieces of metal debris floating near. He went to pick it out of the murky water and clean it for better inspection. When Elias examined it with a flashlight, Akio felt his realization rise even more. But that went from surprised to angry in a matter of moments when the human read something that was on the debris and noticed the odd shape it had been cut out. Before Elias stood up and carried the piece to return where the other humans were in a hurry, Akio heard him hiss angrily:

"Son of a %#!$&."