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Duskeye Story (With Dialogue)

Summary: Scardian brings his pack of abused dragons to live in Berk, but not all the dragons are happy to live amongst humans. An old Deadly Nadder is one of them, but perhaps he can learn to trust with a little help.

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The old male cannot tell where his leader is taking them. They've been on the wing for the better part of the day, flying over the sea towards the horizon. Long distance flights were normally of no real issue to a Deadly Nadder, but most did not have wounds that shot pain with every wing beat.

The old male Nadder rode in the slip stream of a Monstrous Nightmare, the second-in-command of the pack. The larger dragon's great wings allowed the air to flow favorably for the old Nadder, helping to take the burden off his wings and by extension, the wound upon his side. It is an older wound from an arrow, with the head still lodged deep in his flesh and it always tends to act up with excessive flying. One of his eyes, the other clouded from another old wound, scans about. Up ahead is his leader, a proud, aggressive, and protective Deadly Nadder. The humans call him Scardian.

The humans.

The old Nadder did not like humans, at all. None of his pack did, which is why it confuses him so much why his leader was having them follow these humans. He was not present for what happened between them, as he always made a point to hide away whenever humans came about. His mind is filled with anxiety, wondering if they were being captured again.

He can already imagine the horror in store when they reach their destination.

He was in no position to outfly a Night Fury should he make a break for it.

"Are you doing well back there, elder?"

He looks up as Scardian swoops back to join him in the Monstrous Nightmare's slip stream.

"You may cling upon my back if you must," offers the Monstrous Nightmare, called Firescrapes by the humans.

"I am fine," the old male squawks. "I still have plenty of flight left in these wings."

"I do not doubt that," Scardian trills. "But your wound…"

He knows Scardian is a protective and caring leader, always checking in on his well-being diligently. It is inherent to being a Nadder, having a strong instinct to watch over one's own, kin or not.

"My wound is manageable. I lag behind because I do not trust the humans up front," he growls to them softly, so as not to be overheard. "I do not understand why you are having us leave our island to follow them. Have they threatened you into compliance?"

It distresses him that Scardian did not ask his council for any of this, as the young leader typically did. He just came and woke him up from one of his many naps, saying they had to leave with the whole pack. He hardly had time to speak up about it.

Did Scardian think he would try to stop them? Probably.

Scardian sighs through his nose. "This is odd, I know," he starts. "But trust me, elder."

He stares at the younger dragon with his good eye, the pupil a narrow slit, and Scardian relented a bit more. "The Night Fury insists that the humans at Berk are friendly-"

The old male nearly chokes on the air he is breathing, eyes narrowing.

"Aye, elder, I was in disbelief as well. But I have observed the humans and their dragons. One of them even saved one of our young. If they speak truths, then the pack will be all the safer. Our island is rarely in peace, for we are always finding more and more humans encroaching. Soon, we will be overrun."

"And if they are deceiving us? If they are leading us to a trap, as humans are apt to do?" He pokes firmly. "You put the rest of us in danger of capture?"

"Of course not, elder," Scardian hisses, standing his ground against his elder's scrutiny.

The elder exhales sharply but Scardian continues. "If it is as we fear, and this Berk is a place of torment and deceit, then we must free the trapped dragons." His eyes sparked with that courageous bravado he is so familiar with.

He says nothing, knowing how stubborn the younger dragon can be in his decision. Foolish. Very, very foolish.

"I apologize for not consulting you about this," Scardian grunts. "I was pressed for time."

"Hm." He watches as Scardian flies up ahead, and he suddenly becomes very tired. This whole thing was exhausting, and he could see Firescrapes still looking at him.

"Have you one more fight left in those wings?"

"My days of fighting humans are long past," he rumbles. "But if this is what is required of me…"

"It would be best to save your strength, elder, in case we must fight," the Nightmare insists.

He sighs, and he flaps his wings to hover above the larger dragon. The Monstrous Nightmare stills his wings to glide as the old Nadder flaps into position to land upon his back.

Clinging to the larger dragon with talons and wing claws, he rests his weary body, lifting a wing to lick the aggravated old wound in his side. He can still feel the hard metal embedded within, making it even more uncomfortable.

Settling, he closes his eyes and drifts.

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"Awaken, elder," the voice intrudes upon his dream. "We draw close."

He opens his eyes, lifting his head and blinking. There, on the horizon ahead was the silhouette of an island. He feels his heart starting to race, and the spines on his tail raises slightly. Tension is felt within his pack, and he takes flight to fly ahead by Scardian's side.

The lead Nadder narrows his eyes as they approach, already scrutinizing what they are about to fly into. The older Nadder did the same, his tail now fully bristled.

"Be ready," Scardian calls back to his pack. "Keep the young ones at the center. Should it come to it, defend them without mercy."

But it seemed unnecessary, for as they arrive, they were greeted with a sight they have never seen before: dragons and humans, together.

Free.

There were no chains in sight, no cages, or weapons, no shackles. Dragons were flying and walking to and fro as casually as one would expect in an established pack. Human structures even seem to cater to the dragons, with perches and nests. And… was that a Gronkle getting crushed by some spinning device?! No, no, the Gronkle is leaning into it with a look of pleasure.

It was. . . unnatural.

The elder Nadder keeps his tail bristled, not liking this. But before he can speak out, Scardian chuckles. "By the spikes of my tail… They were speaking truths."

The human on the Night Fury looks back at them with a smile. "Welcome to your new home."

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I cannot decide if I want to write my Deadly Nadder story with or without dialogue from the dragons. Like, obviously, the dragons communicate with each other, but how should I go about that communication? Should I have the dragons talk to each other in their own language like in the books, or have them behave like animals, where they communicate with sounds and body language?

I am personally fond of the latter, like in Raptor Red (one of my favorite books), but my friend says it's harder for readers if the characters are not talking.

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Got a name for Skyler's human rider! Get ready, it's a doozy! His name is....

*drumroll*

Mr. Dingleberry McDungus the 12th, head of the small home repair vikings!

Special thanks to my friend (a big fan of HTTYD that has offered help for my story) for helping with and approving the name! And yes, we are both very immature.

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Duskeye the Deadly Nadder

I've finally started paying proper attention to How to Train Your Dragon, and I quickly made a Deadly Nadder character.

His name is Duskeye, due to his one damaged eye that has been discolored. He is one of the many dragons distrustful of humans due to abuse. He managed to escape dragon hunters, scarred both physically and mentally. He joined a cross-species pack of equally scarred dragons that escaped abuse, led by another Nadder named Scardian. Through Scardian's interaction with Hiccup in Race to the Edge, Duskeye has found his way to Berk.

However, he remains away from the main village, still distrustful. He nests in the cove Toothless was once trapped in, and loneliness brings him to observe Berk but his fear never lets him get too close. That is, until he spots a pastel-toned Nadder female with her rider, the humans call her Skyler. His eyes became hearts on sight. Perhaps this is the push he needs to finally try to integrate into Berk!

I wanna write a story about him and his journey finding love and through it, trust.

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Did The General Start the War? (Centaurworld)

Like, on first impressions, it seems the Nowhere King started the war on both worlds of his own accord, for no reason other than to spread suffering in a world that was so cruel to him, but what if it was actually the General that started this war?

It's stated multiple times by Woman that the soldiers are hunting Elk when she freed him. That hunt to capture him again is the beginning of what will become the war. Elk initially created the minotaurs not as soldiers, but to be his family. The General, however, is still on the hunt for him, prompting Elk to make those minotaurs his soldiers.

In the last battle, the General demands the King is taken alive, no doubt to imprison him again. The hunt for the Nowhere King was still happening.

Why would the General be in the void before the doors were closed if he were not hunting the Nowhere King himself? The Nowhere King spends a lot of time residing in the void with his minotaur family, living between worlds because he belongs to neither, and the General went into the void after him, to capture him.

The General talks about taking the defensive when his armies are overwhelmed, implying that he's the aggressor in these battles, at least at first.

The Nowhere King now continues the war, destroying anything and everything not just to cause suffering but also destroy potential allies to the General and to capture more prisoners to make into Minotaurs for his own army to defend against the General.

The last battle is even prompted when the Nowhere King sees that his castle has been infiltrated and damage was done. So he retaliates by bringing the fight to the General's allies in Centaurworld.

tldr; At the beginning, Elk probably would have been content (or as close to content as he can be), just living with the Minotaurs in his void of a home. But persistent hunts from the General to capture him again provokes him to go to war, capture innocent people to make more soldiers, mutate as a result of having to use the key more and more to make those soldiers, and now we're here, both worlds in shambles because the General could not leave Elk alone.

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The Nowhere King and Woman (Spoilers)

I love the relationship between the Nowhere King and Woman, especially when they reunite for the first time in the void!

Spoilers below because I gush about these two:

So those who don't know, and don't care about spoilers, the Nowhere King was once an elk-centaur (an elktaur) who wanted to be human. He fell in love with Woman and that spurred him to take the plunge to split himself, as he has self-hatred issues brought on by the racism he faced from humans. Unfortunately, his elk-half was sapient and felt the pain when his human-half, The General, married Woman, the love of their life. Elk was made to suffer, left with nothing, belonging nowhere, and was tortured by his human half. The General kept Elk locked in a windowless cell, too small to even stand for 10 agonizing years, until Woman found Elk and set him free. Sadly, poor Elk was corrupted by the cruelty he faced, driven utterly insane, and in an attempt to create his own family, he began mutating humans and animals into minotaurs. Doing so exposed him to intense radiation that mutated him into the monster that is The Nowhere King.

Now, in constant pain from radiation sickness and filled with hatred, he brings death and cruelty wherever he goes, bringing war against the General in a never-ending cycle. "More suffering, it's all that's left for us..."

I love how, even though she fears what he's become and knows he must die, the Woman still feels such pity and love for the Nowhere King, even refusing to kill him when he offers himself to be murdered. She knows the Elk she rescued is in there and has seen what he's gone through to become what he is now. She still loves him even as the Nowhere King. And it breaks her heart that she has to kill him.

The General, however, she treats with anger and resentment ever since freeing Elk, knowing he is the cause of the Nowhere King's pain. In the void before the doors are closed and she confronts them both, she looks at the Nowhere King with sadness, whilst the General, she sneers at. He's the true monster in her eyes.

And the Nowhere King, he still obviously loves her, even when consumed with hatred and anger and sadism. His voice when he says "She's... she's here...", GAH!! Such excellent voice acting with that line!! Them reciting the wedding vows to each other, even as she's walking to murder him. He knows she's there to kill him and offers his neck to her, saying he'll forgive her, a reference to the "If you hurt me, I'll forgive you" line of the vows. And when she couldn't do it, the way he just stares at her, you can't tell what he's thinking. Probably seeing in that moment that, yes, she still loves him. Who knows what he would have done with the Woman if Horse and Rider didn't interrupt. Could she have been able to reach him in that moment? Reach the Elk still within him?

He wants to die, his very existence is suffering and coughing his insides out, and he wants her to be the one to kill him. Her.

Even in her Last Lullaby to Elktaur, the first half seems to be for the Nowhere King whilst the second seems directed at the General.

I love it! Such a good villain and such a meaningful relationship showing that she understands the complexities of the Nowhere King's character. He must die, but she understands and loves him.

I just wanted to gush!!

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The Nowhere King

I am late to the party, but I just watched Centaurworld for the first time yesterday and.... It surprised me in how much I liked it.

I learned about it when I saw this clip of the villain character, the Nowhere King, whom even without any context, intrigued me enough to watch the show.

I love the Nowhere King character. I am a person who loves villain characters and I adored this one. The design is great, his voice acting is perfect, and his story... I won't spoil anything, but I will say that I didn't expect to be feeling so many feels for this damn show because of him. Adding him to my list of unhealthy obsessions......

It's just sad that the show seems to not have gotten much attention, so material on this character seems to be limited. Maybe I can add to it, and maybe introduce some of you guys to him!

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Zires the Deep Dragon Wyrmling

Made a Deep Dragon character named Zires! I think this is a very underrated dragon with a cool design. I love the aesthetic of fungi, coupled with the pale eyes. Reminds me of Parasect. I also saw the concept art where they have the antler-like tendrils growing from their head. I love that and I kept it for my baby.

Little Zires was hatched to a couple of Deep Dragons allied to a community of Drow against Mind Flayers. Whilst his parents were in disguise amidst the Drow on important business, Zires wanders off from the nest to explore. His sense of curiosity is intense and he must learn everything and anything! He eventually finds himself on the surface world, leaving the Underdark for the very first time.

Most of my adventures is him getting himself lost and trying to find his way back home whilst struggling to adapt to the bright world. In one adventure, an old Blue Dragon finds him and, intrigued by the idea of expanding his influence into the Underdark, the blue basically adopts him and it's the cutest thing as the Blue Dragon's parental instincts slowly but surely takes hold of his ancient heart!

He has also appeared in my Council of Wyrmlings campaign, where he emerges on Io's Blood Isles and is promptly captured by the xenophobic Council. Our wyrmlings find him whilst rescuing Zithuzirrurrin the Gray wyrmling (who was also imprisoned for the same reason) and Zires helps them by providing them a safe spot to hide in the Underdark with his parents, whilst the wyrmlings try to decide what to do.

I've also done some RPs with Zires as a newly fledged adult, where his father seemingly betrays him on his fledging day and Zires finds himself in the midst of a plot that goes deeper than he ever anticipated.....

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Zinezmal the Copper Wyrmling

Second drawing on Krita, this time of my Copper Dragon, Zinezmal, as a wyrmling. Don't worry, that's fake blood! Oh, and no jewelry for him! He's too greedy to put it anywhere but his little hoard!

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More Gray Dragon Wyrmling

My first drawing on the Krita art program, special thanks to @ridicbird for suggesting it to me!

Colored the sketch of my Gray Dragon wyrmling, Zithuzirrurrin, with his single quill sticking up and one floppy ear that I'm half-tempted for him to keep once he's grown.

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My new computer does not yet have an art program, so until then, I cannot work on my sketches digitally like I always do. I'm thinking of using colored pencils like I used to a million years ago, we'll see.

Anyway, I had the urge to draw my Gray Dragon wyrmling, Zithuzirrurrin. So here he is, with his one floppy ear and earrings! I also added a single quill-spine-thing that grown Gray Dragons have. It grew in early and represents that one strand of hair that never cooperates!

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Council of Wyrmlings: Sargoth's Jewelry

So, uh... I may have gone a bit overboard with this one...

I know, the others don't have backgrounds, but I honestly couldn't help myself with this one. I like doing water backgrounds, it's a weakness, I'm sorry!

Anyway, here's my black wyrmling, Sargoth, in his jewelry. He is also paid by Nizi to catch fish for the group to eat, which is what he's doing here, even if he's not fond of deep ocean waters. He is a swamp boi. But yosh, there's his webbed feetz! Oh, and black dragons can close their nostrils like seals and that is just adorable to me!

Our team in detail Nizi's Jewelry Rhaegar's Jewelry Raikirin's Jewelry Zithuzirrurrin's Jewelry

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Council of Wyrmlings: Zithuzirrurrin's Jewelry

The next entry in the series, my Gray wyrmling, Zithuzirrurrin, or Zith for short. Although he, being a Gray Dragon, is not recognized by the Council of Wyrms as a part of their society, our wyrmlings still treat him like part of the team. As such, he has the gang's signature color-coded wristbands! Also, he carries a bag-of-holding for the quests that the team goes on! Oh, and since he's still very young, I gave him one floppy ear, because cute.

Our team in detail Nizi's Jewelry Rhaegar's Jewelry Raikirin's Jewelry

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Council of Wyrmlings: Raikirin's Jewelry

Here is my friend's Blue wyrmling character for our Council of Wyrms RP, Raikirin. This one was fun because I decided to connect it to Rhaegar's picture, since these two are always fighting for dominance.

And no, I didn't forget the horn Blue Dragons have. My friend doesn't like the horn, so Raikirin doesn't have one. He probably has a birth defect that results in him not having one.

Our team in detail Nizi's Jewelry Rhaegar's Jewelry

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Council of Wyrmlings: Rhaegar's Jewelry

My friend's Red Dragon wyrmling character, Rhaegar, decked out in his new jewelry. Yes, we all have wristbands corresponding to our respective color, to show unity in our team despite our wyrmlings being anything BUT unified!

The other drawings in the Council of Wyrmlings series:

Our team in detail Nizi's Jewelry Raikirin's Jewelry

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Council of Wyrmlings: Nizi's Jewelry

Drew my Brass Dragon OC, Nizi, as a wyrmling. In the Council of Wyrms module whose settings I RP in with my friends, the dragons wear jewelry to distinguish themselves from the 'rogue' dragons that were banished from the Council. So my friends and I worked out what kind of decor our wyrmlings will wear and I drew them. First up, the annoying but sweet little chatterbox, Nizi!

Other Council of Wyrmlings art:

Our team in detail Rhaegar's Jewelry Raikirin's Jewelry

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Baby Sargoth

My Black Dragon character, Sargoth, as a newly hatched wyrmling. Very round and chubby with baby fat, his horns just little nubs, and his eyes are still developing their green color. Full black eyes are a sign of a black wyrmling less than a year old, after which, their mature eye-color will be fully realized and they become more lithe.

For now though, round clumsy baby with tiny limbs.