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Chapter Nine

The soft crackling of fire and the room's occupants' soft breaths peacefully rung in the air creating a feeling of tranquility in the chief's house's den. Kagome's eyes wearily looked at the flames that were slowly dying in the fireplace. She had awoken a little while ago and was a bit unnerved at this overwhelming calm that came with the family like presence surrounding her. Family? That was an odd way to put it... Kagome rose her head and stared at the human male laying haphazardly on his chair. He smelled worst for wear, to the point where even she could smell him. His brown locks were greasy and unkempt, but his breath was even and rhythmic. Kagome could tell form the pleasant underlying smell of herbs and the dragon riders complexion that he was going to be fine. Relief flowed through her with that knowledge. Kagome's sight shifted to the form resting against the rider's chair. It was the human's partner and mate, Astrid. The female Night Fury's eyes fell to the ring on Astrid's finger. She didn't know how she understood some human traditions anymore then how she understood how some human words and dragon language can be similar and understood. It could be with the use of some sort of magic but even then, she would not know how that worked. A blossom of bittersweet hope bloomed in her chest as she stared at that simple wedding band. Kagome didn't know why, but a whirl of emotions such as excitement and happiness came through her when she thought of the word, "mate". Maybe, she had a partner to go home too? She tried to picture what type of dragons she could be courted by. Natters were much too vain and Gronckles too unappealing. Zipplebacks, well, that would be terrifying!

Kagome frowned. According to what Toothless said, there might not be another Night Fury out there. It's not like she's seen a million of them flying around either, but…

They can't be the only ones left, right…?

A flash of silver hair and golden eyes zipped through her mind. But, before she could really think about it the image was gone and she couldn't even remember it happening. Kagome stared at the ring for a few moments more before turning her focus elsewhere. She knew that something was wrong. Her gut told her so, but for some reason she didn't have the will to care. With Kagome's excellent vision, the dragoness could see a few of the old, salty streaks left behind from the tears the girl shed. She wondered why humans cried when they get upset. There was another presence in the home, she quickly identified it as the elder woman. The mother of Hiccup must have been sleeping somewhere in other chamber of this weird structure. Kagome reveled in the peace for a couple moments before puzzling over her actions.

Why had she felt such a strong urge to protect that boy, Hiccup?

At that single question her mind went haywire, she began thinking of what could have happened and the aftermath. Her heart felt like it was being squeezed and the urge to protect rose up once more. Her eyes widened as a she had to fight the growl that bubbled in her throat. She really hoped that she wasn't starting to unknowingly accept these humans as something akin to flock members. Kagome analyzed the possibility of that and sighed in defeat. How was she supposed to know what it was like? She has never actually been in a flock before.

Flock…

That word didn't feel right to her… It was the proper term for this, but a flock's closeness to one another usually was not to this extent. A flock cared for each other to a certain extent. No one in the flock would get this raddled up unless it was for their own children. Children…? That's another human term. Kagome was pulled from her thought process at the sound of a long sigh from beside her. Tearing her eyes from the young, human pair, Kagome looked to her side to find Toothless lying beside her. Well, laying isn't really the word she would use to describe it perfectly. Kagome looked back through her memories with Toothless' rider's and his mate for the word. 'Oh yeah, I think Astrid called it, 'spooning'.' Thought Kagome. Kagome frown for a moment at her instinctive use of the girl's name. She didn't have much time to think on it, because her focus quickly shifted onto the waking dragon beside her. Kagome pushed her thoughts to the back of her mind and watched Toothless raise from his slumber.

It took a couple moments for Toothless to gain sense of the world, but when he did he realized he was being stared down by the she-dragon who he has been fussing over for days. Her gorgeous blue eyes stared down at him and she had her head in this cute little confused tilt. Not breaking eye contact with her, he slowly rose his head and as every second past, Toothless felt he was discovering something he hadn't noticed before. Like how smaller she was compared to him. How her scales seemed to have a tad of blue in them. How she seems to automatically go into a subtle submissive position the more and more he raises his head. He could see the missing defiance in her form went straight into her eyes. What a lovely look it was for her. The sickness mounted in him as he gazed at her. He's stomach grew in knots and his tail shifted involuntary, knocking over the near side table. The noise wasn't the thing that broke the spell though. They only looked at the disturbance he had caused for a moment or so when Hiccup's mate nearly tackled his Kagome to the ground. Kagome involuntary shifted toward him and was obviously startled by the sudden attack. Toothless wrapped his wing around Kagome in a protective display and glared at Astrid, who took no notice to the danger she was in and continued to cling to Kagome's neck. Toothless tried hiss, but that was halted mid-breath when he was quickly and quietly bonked over the head with something made of metal. The male Night Fury recoiled in pain as his teeth went down on the sides of his tongue. The dragon turned to see who attacked him only to spot no one behind him.

Kagome was left sitting there stunned and confused as Toothless released her. It wasn't normal for Astrid to invade her space. 'Her aura...' A small voice supplied her. Kagome looked around confused. 'Read her aura, little light.' Lesson of spirituality from a blurred-out face, slowly filled a few empty spaces in her memories. 'Of course,' thought Kagome in awe. 'How could I have forgotten how to read auras?' Focusing on the sobbing girl, Kagome wrapped her own larger aura around the girls and soothed her. The human was obviously really distraught, because she kept speaking to Kagome in broken sentences and words. Just as Astrid was beginning to calm down, another memory appeared, but this time it was one of Astrid's. Kagome was watched as each day she had been unconscienced played out. It would start with Astrid waking up in an empty bed and going to find Hiccup. The boy was always near Kagome's unconscienced form. Either taking care of her, force feeding her or cleaning her up. Toothless was there too. Her was always buy her side just sitting there watching with this look in his eyes. During one of the days, Astrid apparently found Hiccup holding her head in his lap, crying.

"This is all my fault, Astrid... If I would have just reacted faster... I bet my father would have been able to fight that thing..."

No, little human. It wasn't your fault. Please don't cry over me.

"I don't know why she even did that. Kagome really hasn't taken a liking to me."

... Is that really what he thought...?

Astrid looked at him. "Hiccup, you know that not true." She chastised. "Kagome really doesn't like anyone as much as Rin and Shippo, but she's taking a liking to me and you somewhat."

...

"...Astrid, do you think Kagome would still stay here if she could leave?"

Then, Kagome was sucked out of the memory and pushed back into the real world, Astrid's cries had calmed, but she was still clinging to Kagome. Hiccup stood up and pondered about attempting to do the same. He really wanted to hug and pet the dragoness. Over the short time they have had her, Hiccup had grown to care for Kagome just as deeply as Astrid did. Although he could not handle or feed her like Astrid can, Kagome seemed to have some sort of odd respect for him. She usually followed his demands of when it's time to return for to the cage and never made a move to attack him. However, she didn't take a liking to him like she has to Astrid, because whenever see was let loose, she would just disappear. Hiccup watched as the dragon slowly and cautiously began to tilt her head and gently nuzzle Astrid's cheek. He guessed Kagome was checking is Astrid was hurt and figured out she wasn't, just emotional. Then something unexpected happened. The dragoness turned to him and opened one wing toward him. Confused, he looked at the wing that was stretching toward him and looked back to Kagome. She motioned him to take the wing.

Hiccup gently took the leathery tip of her wing between his fingers and allowed the she-dragon to bring him closer. The whole house was present at this moment, even his mom had somehow snuck her way down. All present were staring wide-eyed. Astrid covered her mouth. From her position on the floor, she got the best seat for witnessing this spectacle. As soon as Hiccup got close enough, he noticed Kagome's gaze was on his hand. He stood there torn and bewildered. He didn't want to frighten or break Kagome's trust by trying to pet her and he was also lost on how she knew about his signature trust exercise. "Come on, Hiccup." encouraged Astrid.

Hiccup stared into the female Night Fury's eyes, slowly lifted his hand up and looked away. The was a good minute of nothing, but air blowing against his palm. Then… Finally, ... Finally, he felt it. The cold, scaly skin of her nose pressed up against his palm. She let out something that sounded like a low purr and softly nuzzled further into his fingers. Toothless had made similar noises before. When he was younger and either scared or anxious, his best friend would often make that sound to calm him down. Bewildered and filled with joy, Hiccup turned around and ran his hand down the dragon's soft scales; before he could contain himself, the other joined in. Before the whole room knew it, he had Kagome making pleased growls and grunts from his talented scratches. Then, like every good moment in life, it had to be ruined by a door opening. Kagome's head snapped toward the sound and a deep, menacing growl erupted from her throat. Two silhouettes stood in the rays of the rising sun.

"So, the stupid lizard is up?"

The elder next to the smart-mouthed boy smacked the child in the back the head. He yelped in pain, grabbed the back of his head the glared at the old man.

"Now, we all know you have problems controlling your mouth, but don't go picking a fight so early in the morning, Naraku."