For Imperial_Saga

[dragon_trainer]

-1-

[There's a blacksmith shop set up, full of tools arranged haphazardly on heavy wooden tables. An open fire pit in the middle of the shop makes the space within uncomfortably warm.]

"This? Yes, I think I could repair it. Not completely familiar with its construction, but I suppose I could improvise."

-2-

[A boy of around fifteen or sixteen is leaning on a black dragon the size of a horse, though shorter and wider, with large black wings and a face the shape of a shovel blade. The dragon is...watching a ladybug walking across his front paw, perhaps wondering if it might be good to eat.]

"Sure, Toothless and I can give you a ride, though no sharp objects allowed on board. It's just for your safety and your safety only."

-3-

[Where there's smoke, there's fire.]

"Toothless! No! Bad dragon, that is NOT supposed to be on fire!"

Comments

3

[nomen_est_numen]

"Hm?"

Blinkblink.

Shen looks back at the sound, notices the smoke, traces it to its origin, and a sharp, high-pitched squawk escapes him.

Hiiiiis... tail feathers are on fire.

"Not again!" He whips said tail feathers through the air so fast that the fire is essentially left behind. He then rounds on Hiccup and his dragon, panting.

Re: 3

[dragon_trainer]

And Hiccup rounds on Toothless. "You know better than to set fire to...talking...birds..." And he trails off, staring at the furious and apparently articulate fowl.

Toothless appears to pout. Why can't he flame broil the giant chicken? It's the fanciest chicken he's ever seen and certainly the largest, but smells pretty good and Toothless is hungry.

*SPRFL* No, you silly dragon, Shen is not for eating.

[nomen_est_numen]

Most folks would back away slowly or run screaming at the sight of a hungry dragon. Shen, however, as we have established time and again, is not most people. He's not sane enough to be most people.

There's a quiet metallic sound and a knife appears between the feathers of his right wing, held there as though said feathers were fingers. It's a gorgeous knife, shiny and intensely sharp and crafted to blend in with the plumage, with texturing along the shaped blade. It's also pointed at a spot somewhere above the Viking boy's nose. Shen's gaze flicks between boy and dragon. He opens his beak to say something else and thus cement his articulateness, but this is most likely when he's solidly interrupted.

Re: *SPRFL* No, you silly dragon, Shen is not for eating.

[dragon_trainer]

This is not the first time that Hiccup has had a knife pulled on him. He is a Viking, after all. Not that he enjoys it. He just generally knows the rules of this game. This is the first time a bird has ever pulled a knife on him before, though. A talking bird. Hiccup is still a small boy from a small town and the idea of talking animals just about breaks his brain. Perhaps this is why he mostly notices the craftsmanship on the blade before wondering if he's in danger.

"Hey, that's a really nice blade you have there, Mr Chicken. Love the intricate lines, though that cuts down on practicality..." Hiccup may be pondering, in a far corner of his mind, about how he might go about crafting one in his own shop.

Toothless does not see the beauty of sharp things. A weapon is a weapon, and now there is one pointed at /his/ boy. But Hiccup had said the words "No" and "Fire", so he simply steps beside Hiccup and roars as loud as he can right into the face of the strange chicken.

[nomen_est_numen]

Shen is about to reply along the lines that he is a Peacock, not a Chicken, when--

"RRAAAAAAWWWWRRRRRR!"

Shen remains perfectly still, the wind from the roaring blowing his clothing and plumage back in several beats of fluttering and rippling, eyes closed.

The roaring stops.

There is silence, save for the dripping of dragon spittle from nearly every part of the Peacock in question. He hasn't moved an inch, knife still pointed at Hiccup's face. His eyes open, blinking.

"...."

He very deliberately attempts to flick the ropy strands of goo from his other wing.

"As I was going to say," he states with deliberate cadence, "I am a Peacock, not a Chicken, and I am not edible." His gaze moves from Hiccup to the dragon. "By anyone or anything."

Flick.

[dragon_trainer]

"A...pee cock. Heh. Really." This teenaged boy is amused. Of course he is. Does the bird understand what he just called himself?

But now the well-spittled bird still insists on standing there with the knife in hand...wing...something, and Toothless is, while out of range, slightly, growling in frustration that the stupid bird doesn't know when to drop the sharp thing. Hiccup sighs and takes a step backwards. It's going to be one of those days.

"Well, I'm sorry, sir...or ma'm, hard to tell with birds...for what my dragon has done to your tail. However, you'll need to put the knife away now, or my dragon will make you drop it. He doesn't like to see me threatened, and I don't think I can stop him if he decides that it's lunch time."

Hiccup is bluffing, somewhat. He would do his best to prevent his dragon from doing in Shen, as holding out a small knife isn't that big of an offense, and this talking animal thing is very interesting.

[nomen_est_numen]

"You've never heard of peafowl, clearly. Hm. Your loss."

His gaze flicks between Hiccup and the dragon. He could kill the boy in an instant, but the dragon would be a fight and not a fight he's willing to engage in without any kind of artillery backing him up. He puts the knife away and takes an only slightly more relaxed stance.

"Very well, I will accept your apology." He looks down at his spattered self. "This... was the finest silk in the province..." He turns slightly and flicks his tail, sending a great spatter of spittle in the direction of dragon and boy. "...which hopefully can be cleaned. At any rate, I need a bath, now." He shivers his feathers in disgust, but hasn't walked away quite yet.

[dragon_trainer]

Hiccup and Toothless are spattered with drops of spit. Hiccup wrinkles his nose and wipes it off his face, though this hasn't been the first time he's encountered dragon spit. Toothless, for his part, licks his wing clean and then snuffles at Hiccup's bag. Defending his human deserves a treat, right?

Hiccup sighs and rolls his eyes, can't quite believing that he's trying to make up to a talking giant chicken. "I'm afraid I can't offer you any compensation...for your...whatever a silk is. Unless you want a herring...they're pretty tasty." Rummaging around in his bag, he brings out a herring, whole and smoked, and pushes Toothless' interested nose away from it.

[nomen_est_numen]

Shen stares at it. He can likely smell it, if the squinting is anything to go by.

"Ah-eh... nnno.... That's... quite all right."

[dragon_trainer]

"Hmn. Really. Thought birds liked fish." Not going to let such a prized fish go to waste, Hiccup tears off a strip from the side of the fish and gulps it down.

"You're missing out, this is some of the best herring. Especially the little eyeballs." He slurps one out and chews with a blissful expression.

Toothless is drooling and prancing with his front paws as he watches each morsel of smelly fish disappear. Hiccup turns to the dragon and holds up the fish. "You want some, boy? Okay, SIT."

Toothless sits with a thump that makes the ground shake a bit, and is rewarded with a fish head which he crunches down, bones and all.

[nomen_est_numen]

"Not where I'm from and certainly not raw," Shen replies, appearing slightly woozy. He makes a few incoherent sounds as Hiccup slurps up fish eyeballs and by the time he's got the dragon seated on the ground, Shen is staggering away. The nauseated bird leans against a tree, panting.