trans_9 | Dragon-Whispering [closed to Crucible]

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Dragon-Whispering [closed to Crucible]

Hiccup had seen the dragon when they were fighting the Ohm, but assumed from not having seen it elsewhere that it was simply one of the forms one of the people on the crew could assume. And in the end, if the dragon had intended harm, by now they probably would know, and he trusted Kang and Bight on it being relatively harmless. (Or at least as harmless as those others that could do great harm but chose not to were).

In any case, he did want some answers for himself. How could a dragon just suddenly appear in the city when supposedly, it had been vented at one point? How could it be one of the crew if no one had seen it podpop?

A more important question, though, was whether he'd get the dragon upset by asking questions.

I guess I'll find that one out the hard way.

He had initially thought about bringing Toothless along but decided against it. Some dragons could get territorial and that might only get this one's hackles raised. Not that dragons had hackles.

Now he only had to find the thing. It probably wouldn't be that difficult, though, given how big it was.

"Uh, hello? Your largeness, you here?" he called across the river front.

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Just as Hiccup had been told the dragon in question had made his way up along the river. He would have answers soon, but this was a dragon that he was questioning, and they could be known to be quite...cryptic should they wish to be.

By the time that Hiccup had arrived, Crucible was already within the grown over ruins of Ankor Wat, he had noticed Hiccup's presence even as he had arrived, when he called out the large dragon moved through the ruins to reveal his large form to the young Councilor, announcing his presence as he did so, "I am here,"

"You are Councilor Hiccup, I presume," It was more of a statement than a question as he peered down and across to Hiccup, his bearing was confident and showed no signs of aggression towards the young councilor.

That...was a pretty big dragon. Especially up close.

Nevertheless, Hiccup swallowed the lump in his throat and bowed deeply, arms splayed out and non-threatening, one part gesture of respect, the other part 'look see, I have no weapons.'

"That's me." And how do you know about me? he wanted to ask, but that question could wait.

"Your Lordship, a member of the crew saw you and was...mildly alarmed by your appearance and size. Before anyone does anything rash, I thought it would be best to speak to you and relay your intentions to the crew. They don't trust Bight and Kang because they think they've 'hidden' you. We have no prior relationship, so they'll hopefully understand I have no bias."

At 140ft long, he was pretty big indeed by any standards, he wasn't however the largest of dragons on Krynn however, many of the dragon overlords were near twice even his current size.

He watched on as Hiccup bowed deeply, dipping his head everso slightly in return. Though Hiccup needn't have worried about showing no weapons, even if he had have brought one, it would not have done much good against one as large as Crucible.

Just from watching him he could almost sense the question in Hiccup's expression as he replied, without even using his natural ability to read others minds.

"So I have heard, Councilor Bight has alerted me to the situation, and informed me of your coming. I do not wish to cause conflict amongst the crew where it can be avoided," His tone was earnest enough as he spoke though he paused but a moment as he set himself back on his haunches and curled his tail around his forepaws.

"It is good that you have come, you have questions, of that I have little doubt,"

How did he word this?

"This question might offend, but I promised I'd ask it: do you intend to harm any of the crew? I've seen you fighting side by side with us, so I think I already have an idea of the answer, but I think it would comfort the people who are scared to have your word on it."

He knew the question would be coming as even Hiccup asked it, he showed no sign of offense as it was asked however, "I do not intend to harm any of the crew, at Lirath I fought as you did to protect the crew and those the Ohm would see destroyed," He answered earnestly and truthfully as he watched Hiccup, waiting for the next question to be put forth.

"And I'd hazard a guess you don't intend to burn everything down around our ears, either," said Hiccup, his nervousness lessening. "I figure if you did, you would have already done it."

"Indeed not, I would not wish to destroy a place that I myself inhabit," He commented in return as he noted Hiccup's growing ease, "Though my breath weapon is that of lightning and light rather than fire as some seem to assume," He went on, though with a hint of amusement.

"I guess you have that ability along with taking another form," Hiccup asked with just a touch of daring.

"No one ever saw you podpop--and you'd be hard to miss. The city was flushed of all living things at one point, apparently, so you had to have podpopped rather than been living tucked away somewhere from before we were awake. You also somehow got to the hangar or Obs Deck to leave the ship during the battle at Lirath without being seen. That means you had to have been in another form when you made your way in or out of the city."

Crucible watched Hiccup with interest at his sudden daring question. His expression unreadable for a moment before he inclined his head in acknowledgement.

"Indeed, as many of my kind have the ability to take on other forms, it was in such a form that I was 'podpopped' some time ago. I have my ways of remaining unnoticed should I wish to, especially in the confusion and sheer numbers that met both before and after the battle for Lirath, it was not too difficult,"

So who was he? What form did he take to walk among the crew? It had to be someone from Kang and Bight's world. It couldn't be Bight--the connection was almost too obvious there. Would someone really have that much daring to pretend to be both?

Yes, they could. Bight knew where Crucible was, instantly. Bight's been speaking for him, and supposedly speaking to him.

But there could have been others on board, others from the same world, that kept their head down, and wouldn't that have been the smarter choice? What person with a secret would push themselves up to the forefront of public attention as an elected official?

It couldn't be Bight then. It had to be someone else, someone from Kang and Bight's world that was hiding themselves away.

Whatever the case, he likely wouldn't get the dragon to fess up.

From the outside, Crucible could likely almost see those gears clicking away, but finally they stopped.

"I'll respect your privacy," said Hiccup firmly. "If you want to keep your identities apart, I sincerely doubt I could make you tell me what your other identity is anyway."

His eyebrows furrowed.

"But this crew has dealt with a lot of people who have pretended to be one thing and have been another entirely, nearly to our downfall. Just be forewarned of the possible backlash there."

This part was trickier and some of his fear was visible as he said it, but he did an admirable job of hiding it, and part of why he hid it was out of respect. Who, even if they were a dragon, wanted to know that they were feared?

"Also, I--I have to be honest with the crew and tell them what you've told me, so they at least know you have two forms. I'm charged with serving them as best as I can--and that means being as honest as I can be. It's not that I don't trust you, but I refuse to hide things from them that could be important later."

If Hiccup truly knew Bight's history, he would know just how and why he had done as he had. After all for over fourty years he had ruled the city of Sanction, turned it from a place lawlessness and slavery into a city of peace and prosperity. Very few people during that time had known of the dragon's true identity. Though if there was anyone who had the confidence and conviction, not to mention the audacity to put themselves into such a position it was Hogan Bight.

He watched Hiccup thoughtfully as those gears turned within the councilor's mind, staying his own mind from the temptation to literally watch the others thoughts. That was something to be saved for situations where it was required, this was not one of them.

"I appreciate your discretion in the matter, my reasons are my own," He replied with with the slightest dip of his head in acknowledgement, "Do not think though that I would put this crew in danger, for the sake of the identity of whatever form I should take, should it come to that, the protection of the crew will come first," Of that he was clear, he would not let anyone come to harm if he could at all help it.

Hiccup was a brave one that was certain, to be able to continue in the face of something as large and powerful as he. It was partly for reasons similar that he had kept his identity a secret, to be able to work with the crew without the intimidation that often came with working with a known dragon.

"I have no illusion of that, councilor, it is an admirable trait for those who can afford it. They will know that I have at least two forms, yes, do note however that my ability to change shape as does not extend to merely humanoids but to animals and other creatures as well," Which was quite true after all, he did happen to take the form of a small orange cat from time to time, though his shape shifting capabilities were far from set to the two forms they were those which he preferred to take on.

"Nevertheless I am sure that you have other questions,"

Hiccup looked thoughtful for a moment, and then his curiosity overwhelmed him and he asked, "How fast can you fly?"

He was a dragon. Naturally, he was curious.

Crucible watched him with the patience of one whose life had seen the ages of a world come and go. Once his question was asked though his expression lifted a rumble of amusement echoing through his chest, "Faster than a bird could ever hope to,"

His wings unfurled and spread half way open so that Hiccup could see them in their proper aspect, though he may also notice the many scars that covered his wing membranes, ones that though had healed for many years made long flights regrettably uncomfortable.

"What do you eat? Are you getting enough food?"

He quickly amended, "Nnnot that I think you'll eat anyone if you're hungry, but I just know it's hard for Toothless to get enough food in any other place than the Sensoriums. And even though the slop is disguised as fish, it doesn't always seem to agree with him as well as real fish."

Even though Crucible could likely certainly take care of himself, falling back into the role of caring for dragons was natural to him.

Besides, what with people reacting to the dragon with fear and caution and all, Hiccup wondered if anyone was willing to help take care of him when he'd apparently been trying to help them.

"My kind can eat many things, including inorganic fare if required. As I have been for the time at hand, as appetizing as the slop I have heard tell of," While not entirely true, he had on occasion, hardly appetizing however compared to a proper meal.

He snorted with a hint of amusement at Hiccup's amendment, "Illusions only go so far with such things, I have visited these..sensoriums a number of times myself," He replied with a dip of his head as he folded in his wings once more.

Crucible watched Hiccup with some measure of interest at the ease he seemed to have in slipping into such a role. The dragon could well take care of himself, and it would be rare to find a dragon that would at least admit otherwise, "'Toothless' you say? From the way you speak of him I assume he is a dragon of some manner or other?"

Hiccup nodded.

"A Night Fury. He's my best friend," he said earnestly, a grin coming to his face almost automatically.

Not his pet. His best friend.

Crucible's eyeridges rose slightly at that, that was not a small thing to say of any dragon.

"I am not familiar with his particular kind, though it is good to hear of your friendship with him," He replied easily with an equivalent to a draconic smile on his snout.

If he'd called him but a pet, then that may have been another matter.

"Back in my village, dragons were just as feared as...well, as you apparently are to some of the people here. We were at constant war with them--we'd killed thousands of them over the years," Hiccup said quietly. "And they'd killed plenty of us."

The smile, which had disappeared at that somber declaration, came back.

"Then I met Toothless, and that--that pretty much changed everything."

Humans? Killing thousands of dragons? Now there was a somber thought. Crucible dipped his head at Hiccup's tale, he knew well from what he had learned as to the differences between worlds.

"Your friendship with Toothless brought about the end of that war?" He asked with a slight rise of an eye ridge, things were usually far from that simple, though he had little doubt there was more to the tale then that.

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Dragon-Whispering [closed to Crucible]

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