Lightning and death (open)

[no_eels]

Who: Toothless, and you
When: Day 147
Where: The corridors. Or realistically, anywhere.
What: A Nightfury has arrived in the Science Center!


He goes to sleep next to Hiccup's bed, but that's not where he awakens.

The bed is empty, for one thing, and an unnatural shade of white that reminds him of sheep wool cleaned by rain. So does the rest of the room, for that matter. He stares at it for only a moment before scouring the room for scents. Toothless finds none, aside from his, and starts to paw at the tiny little door. Everything about this room bothers him. It's not right. And why are the ceilings so tiny?

It takes some doing to get past the door. Mostly, to open it, as the door seems to be wider than other doors he encounters. His folded wingspan fits easily enough. This he finds out shortly after escaping, rushing out into the space beyond and taking a sharp look up and down the corridor.

All of this sheep-white is going to make him hungry, soon. But the Nightfury's usual appetite is cut by confusion. Where's Hiccup? Where's anyone? How did they move him while he was unaware? Why does the little black box tucked into his saddle sometimes chirp at him?

Green eyes wide, Toothless begins to move cautiously through the Science Center. Maybe there are answers elsewhere. Maybe Hiccup is wandering. Luckily, the corridors are wide enough that his twenty-foot length can navigate them a fair amount of ease. The leather saddle on his back, connected to a leather artificial fin on his tail, is the only immediate indication that Toothless is no wholly wild dragon.

Comments

[notapawn]

With little to nothing else to be done around here since she can't even hunt without any weapons to do so, Katniss finds herself mostly just wandering the halls each day. On this particular day, in half-searching for a window to maybe climb out of, she brings herself to a pause when she hears movement around the corner. Movement that doesn't sound human. Too heavy, too many footsteps. Tensing, preparing to spring and run away if she has to, Katniss slips her hand into her pants pocket, and closes her grip tightly around a scalpel she stole out of one of the labs she's run into in her time here. It's not much of a weapon, but it's something, it can do enough damage to give her a window to escape, or...a bit more, if she has to. Not that she wants to have to.

The idea of whatever this is being a muttation is already running through her head as she releases a slow breath that holds a slight quiver on the end and takes careful, quiet steps toward the corner. This is it, what she's been expecting since she was brought here, this is the thing that's going to run through the building and kill them all, isn't it? It's just another game.

A pause. Eyes intent on where the wall ends, mere inches from her, she draws in another breath, draws up some courage. Then, finally, she peeks her head around to get a look at...whatever it is. It's big, as she predicted, and not like anything she's ever seen. Some sort of reptilian creature. Her chest tightens, and for a few seconds...all she can do is stare. It doesn't exactly look like an animal on a rampage, looking to kill whatever it sees, but she doesn't trust appearances. Her stare becomes more wary, still shocked, but scrutinizing as she keeps herself prepared to run, or do whatever she has to if this thing turns out to be dangerous.

[no_eels]

Katniss is quiet enough that Toothless doesn't really notice her at first. He's on alert, but he's used to threats that make themselves known quickly. Vikings aren't exactly subtle, where he's from, and dragons are big enough that he'd hear them coming. He bends his head, sniffs at the traces of a scent. Viking. Recent. Leather boots.

But not Hiccup's scent.

He makes a quiet, disappointed trill in the back of his throat. A despondent noise, not really befitting how most would view a dragon. Any lower and longer and it might be close to a whimper.

Then he turns his head, looks up, and spots the head peering at him around the corner.

Toothless' green eyes widen in surprise. And there's also something else there, in the expressiveness of his face. Embarrassment. Obviously, a Night Fury like him should be brave in the face of all of this strangeness. He can figure it out. And instead, he's made that noise.

So, like any dragon worth his salt, he immediately clears his expression and just peers curiously back at Katniss. He meant to make that noise. It was for... dramatic effect. Obviously. Just a noise he makes all the time. Right.

[notapawn]

It's weird, but the creature, whatever it is exactly, seems almost...sad. Disappointed. Or something. That's not an emotion she's seen any sort of animal present before, not like this. It makes her curious, more than she probably should be, though it doesn't lower her guard.

She registers the surprise on the creature's face. It must not have heard her. It...did seem distracted by something. It causes a hint of her own surprise to cross her face, and while she's careful not to move, she takes the almost awkward pause between them to glance over the thing's face. Get a good look at it. Search it, even. It's just a second before he rearranges his expression that she notices the...something else that was there. She can't put a finger on what sort of expression it was, exactly, she didn't get long enough to look at it, but the very fact that his face is expressing anything is pretty amazing to her.

Silence continues to hang in the air, and Katniss continues to simply stare back at the... Hm. He looks like a giant lizard with wings, really. But it's staring at her, and she's staring back, and if she's not mistaken...it looks curious. At least that's a bit more common for an animal. She's still wary, but her own curiosity is getting the better of her; she should be running away, just to be safe. The fact that the lizard with wings hasn't lunged at her, however, has kept her in place, and the longer she looks it over, the more she notices. First the wings, of course, but then...what it's wearing. It doesn't look like something it could put on itself, it looks manmade, even looks like some sort of...saddle, maybe? It's not domesticated, is it?

"What are you?" She asks finally, not that she expects an answer. It's more wondering aloud than anything else, and she stays firmly in place, mostly hidden behind the wall, hand still gripping her makeshift weapon as she watches him carefully.

[no_eels]

What is he?

Toothless looks at Katniss for a long moment, noting how she seems to be poised — but more poised to flee than anything else, which is mildly comforting. At least the Viking is also nervous. Though he'd prefer it if she weren't nervous about him. He prefers not to hurt Vikings, and had only done so in the past at the command of the Green Death. May it not rest in peace.

There's no easy way to answer her, of course, and so Toothless half-raises his wings before folding them at his side again. He doesn't want to breathe fire, as that might alarm her, but he's not sure how else to indicate dragon.