Chereads / Understanding freedom - httyd fanfic / Chapter 3 - 3. The Best Fish and A Terrifying Noodle

Chapter 3 - 3. The Best Fish and A Terrifying Noodle

Seeing Skyshot swoop down, I imagined dipping my snout downwards and flexed the tailfins down. My body pitched down at a gradual angle and picked up speed.

As seconds passed, I was flying faster and faster. Wind stroking my body, filling me with excitement and what can only be compared to an adrenaline rush that left me wanting more.

But allas, I neared the ground, catching up to Skyshot in the process. At the last moment, trying to imitate a landing plane, I pulled my wings up, which caused my body to flip perpendicularily to my direction of flight, halting all of my momentum in a matter of seconds.

I did misjudge my capabilities though, as I had to do some last second flapping with my wings, to actually disperse ALL of my momentum. This was done in a panic and therefore no grace involved, apparently, much to Skyshots amusement as I swear I heard her giggle on the side.

"Laugh all you want, you bullfinch! That was my first flight in ages." I shot at her in friendly banter. This only made her break into an actual cackle, though, I noticed her initial flinch at my comment. "Yes, yes,... of course~." Her tone seeping with amusement and a goofy draconic grin on her face.

We landed near another lake. This one much larger than the last one, but still connected to the same brook, just further down its lane. "However I must say, you have a rather unique way of landing. I think I heard that some Stormcutters do that, but..." She didn't finish and just stood there lost in thoughts.

"So, what was it that you wanted to show me?" Back to her usual self, she beckoned me with her head and approached the lake. "Right here, are the best fish you will ever taste in your life." She shot me a prideful grin and leapt into the lake, drenching me in the process. Not like it did much as everything just slid down my scales and I jumped in right after.

I struggled a bit, with me being a nooby and all when it came to catching fish, but I nonetheless succeeded. Dragging a large salmon out of the lake. 'I'm no fisherman, but isn't this salmon like way to big for a... well, salmon?' And I meant it. This monster was over a meter long and I just caught the first fish that I could. 'Hell, I'm not even eight meters long, and that's mostly due to my very long tail.

On the other hand, while I was struggling with one fish, Skyshot got herself two and was still waiting for me on the shore. *Grumble...* She was about to say something, but our stomachs grumbled at the same time.

After we managed to recover from our laughing fit we went to eat and... "Why does it taste this good?!?!" I said while rolling around, fish in my fangs that instinctively extended when I went to eat.

"Like I said, these are the best there are- My fish!" She started, but cut mid sentence as one of her fishes managed to flip itself back into the water. 'Well, I was more surprised about the taste of the raw fish and not this fish in particular, but I suppose it's not everyday you get such good ones or my reaction would have been milder. Can't really tell her that though.'

In the end, I caught two more while Skyshot went for another five. The other fishes were also larger than what I expected, but nowhere near as large as the first salmon I found, not as good as well. "Eeep!?!" Skyshot, well, shot back a few meters with a yelp almost landing in the lake. "What?" I stared at her with confusion all over my face.

"There's an eel!" She growled and pointed between my legs with her claw. I just looked at it, stabbed it with my claw and slurped it like a noodle. "Now, there are no eels here." I answered her flatly and went back to eating. It wasn't all that tasty, but I can appreciate some impromptu spaghetti. 'A little bit like melted cheese... not sure how to feel about it.'

"You just... did you... how... why you...What?" She was completely lost, looking at me with shock like just broke the fourth wall or something. "A little bit to chewy for my taste, but still edible." I had no idea what was going on in her head, or more like, I have no time to think, THERE IS FISH!

POV: Skyshot

'Zoya, you crazy dragon, how can you just eat an eel like that! She didn't even flinch!' I had no idea what to think of it. 'Thinking back on it..., she had trouble taking off, and the wings...' I mulled over all that happened since I met her. 'Is it even possible for a dragon to forget how to fly? Well, she didn't exactly forget completely... I don't know...'

I went back to my fish, but my thoughts stayed on what just happened. 'I heard that my cousin ones ate an eel to impress others. That was right after he broke free from those humans...' I shook my head and return to eating, doing my best to think about something lighter. 'Maybe I can try eating one to impress my brother...' A small smirk crept up my face at the thought of that. 'His expression would be priceless.'

POV: Zoya

I had no clue what went on in her head, but clearly a lot. After I finished my other fish, I sat down and waited for her to finish, as I observed her constantly changing expressions. It was quite funny honestly.

'I'm getting better at reading dragon expressions. I never had much trouble with Skyshot, but she gives of the energetic extrovert kind of vibe, that makes it easy to read her like an open book.'

A few things I noticed, both on myself and her is that, in general, if we are relaxed our tails sit still or lazily sway around. On the other hand, if we are agitated somehow, it's movements would be more sharp and pronounced. Something else completely is what I described as the energy of emotions. When it's high like joy or anger, the tail goes up, however, when you are sad or focused, then it would drop.

'No idea how practical or truthful this information is, but that's all I got for now and I think I can work with that.' My attention was mostly focused on the tail as it was a part of my body that gave the most trouble when I tried to control it. I could lie about being happy all I want, but unless I really try and concentrate on it, my tail will still tell the truth.

'Well, as much as a wiggling piece of flesh and bone can tell anything.' I smirked at my bad joke as we went back to the smaller lake where we met, as the sun was starting to set and I myself was also quite tired after such an eventful day.