Name: Nero

Gender: Male

Species: Triple Stryke

Personality: Like most of his kind, Nero is extremely quick, and rather cunning, too. Sometimes he can be a bit arrogant. Nero, at first, tries his very best to be terrifying and intimidating, and fights very aggressively, but he isn't merciless and savage. When shown an act of kindness, he will go to extreme lengths to prove his gratitude and respect. Nero also holds severe grudges that are hard to get rid of. He can get irritated easily and is quick to act without thinking, but truly, he is rather kind and very loyal.

Likes: Despite his normally carnivorous nature, Nero actually enjoys the sweet taste of fruit like strawberries and oranges. He also likes to eat- a lot. Nero enjoys showing off his skills and impressing others, and loves a good challenge.

Dislikes: He hates crowded spaces and being forced to do things. He greatly dislikes the idea of being controlled. Nero is also very annoyed by anyone who acts like they're better than everyone else. Other than that, Nero is rather surprisingly scared of rats and rodents. He is also very sensitive sounds, and has excellent hearing, but sharp, sudden, and loud noises scare him.


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The vibrant skinned, yellow and black reptilian zoomed through the light blue sky which was dotted with broad cirrus clouds. It quickly slowed to a halt and turned around, flying in midair, as it's small purple eyes darted around the village, looking for an opportunity to dive in and cause some havoc. He was flying right above a giant sea stack, which was connected to the main island by a long, shaky, thin rope bridge.


One minute too late. Chaos had already wrapped itself tight around the village as Gronkles ripped up signs and hovered in their buzzing wings, Zippeblacks taunting Vikings as they sparked deadly gas on families and houses of every kind, Nadders snatching sheep and Monstrous Nightmares lighting themselves into flames as they knocked Vikings off the tops of tall watchtowers, sending the wood crumbling into violent fires. Tatiana ran through the chaos accompanied by Astrid and a few others, her hands full carrying a bucket of soapy water.


The dragon, never seen before by the Vikings of Berk, dived downwards, letting out a fierce roar as it raced past the edge of the island, stopping to a halt to grab onto the land and pull himself up into it. He stood on his hind legs, untwining his three, scorpion-like tails, causing a clicking noise, and striking the land in front of it, very narrowly missing a warrior with his back turned.


"Look out!" Someone yelled.


Tatiana's attention turned to a shout rising above the crowd. Someone had been narrowly missed by this new dragon's stinger. His fellow Vikings pulled him away before running at the beast crying for war, wielding their axes ready to bore down on the beast's head -and that was when she stopped watching. Don't look at the dragon; don't look. Focus on the fires. Indeed several were springing up like deadly dances, pouring into every spare building and burning wooden huts all around.

The dragon screeched and acted quickly, almost starting to panic, spinning around and knocking them down. He then took to the air, now even more enraged. The sight of the black-yellow dragon boring up into the sky only made Tatiana more distressed. As her heart beat against her rib cage and more fires exploded, she dropped the bucket of water without really thinking. It splashed across the ground and eliminated maybe a spark or two; Astrid and the others passed her running Ike 'proper Vikings,' to douse the flames. But she couldn't.


His narrowing, diamond shaped pupils landed upon her. Nostrils flaring, he'd race forwards in the air, dropping down onto the ground once he was close enough, mere feet away from her. His tails untwined again, clicking as he raised the first tail, which was a magnificent silvery gray, as he stalked closer to her, snarling.


Tatiana's first reaction when she heard snarling behind her was the opposite of what a brave, courageous warrior would do -they would unleash their sword and slice the beast's throat when he laid one claw on them, but she wasn't a warrior. She was a frightened teenager that was known to be very reactive, which in this case probably saved her. Tatiana ran for the nearest weapon and turned it around to point straight at him; it looked like a cannon, a tiny one, but unbeknown to her it was Hiccup's newest, clumsy invention that fired a dragon-trapping rope net upon pressing the trigger.


Nero stopped to stare at it. He hadn't seen anything like this before. A new weapon. That's what it was. He growled, but before he could continue to attacking her, a horrible pain surged through his leg. He looked back to see a viking stabbing him. The Triple Stryke roared and tried to kick him away, drops of blood quickly forming at the large wound and rolling down his yellow and black scales. He couldn't keep on fighting in this condition. Hurriedly, Nero took off, causing a big gust of air as he began to escape off the island, headed behind Tatiana's position, where he expected to soar over the forest and then get back out to sea.


But, this wasn't what happened.


All Tatiana heard was the whoosh of wings. Her mind snapped just like that, and she turned it to aim at the fleeing shape of the dragon. It all happened in one, swift movement, with the shrill sound of the net being forcefully shot through the air with wind rushing against it. While the ropes latched onto Nero's body tangled in his wings, hopes of flying far were gone. She watched as the shape dropped lower in the sky above the woods, feeling more shocked than anything as her knuckles turned white still gripping the handle of the canon. Did she -the puny kid, the excuse of a Viking actually s-shoot down a dragon? How?


It happened so suddenly. So swiftly. Nero had absolutely zero time to react, and the only thing he could do was struggle as his stomach churned and twisted as he fell out of the sky, wind rushing against his body and face. The impact was hard. And painful. More blood seeped out the stab wound from earlier, and as he thrashed around, trying his very best to escape, it didn't help. Soon, he gave up. Maybe this is how he would die, maybe this was it..


Tatiana was brought out of her daze by the hollers of fellow Vikings and the roar of cheering, yet disappointed men. As the dragons flew away towards the horizion carrying nets full of sheep and with less scars than the warriors who tried their hardest, the village gathered in the circle. Tatiana knew immediately what had happened by the sound of Stoick's ranting voice. Hiccup messed things up, just like she did.


Meanwhile, Nero sat there in the net, becoming anxious as the sky, very slowly, yet gradually, darkened. He called out, his shrill cry ringing through the air, but he realized that it wouldn't help. All the others were flying away. He would be stuck here. Only now did he begin to notice his surroundings. He was somewhere within the forest, with trees surrounding him large pond near him. Maybe if he could find a way to get closer, he could have a solid source of water. Maybe, even while restrained like this, he could catch fish, if there were any.


Tatiana ducked her head down as she squeezed through the crowd, somehow her puny-self making her way to the front through the gather of bully, strong and beaten warriors. "Now I've got to clean up your mess. Go back to the house, you've caused enough trouble for today! Gobber, make sure he gets there." As the blacksmith walked out with Hiccup, Tatiana stared after them. Now that was one person in the village that might have it worse than her.


Tatiana noticed the sky getting dark. As people put back their weapons and the crowd started to pick off one by one, she rushed towards her house. It was a nice hut slightly higher-placed than the other houses; surely her parents wouldn't be home. Not so early. They were somewhat important, so they would be with Stoick in the great hall holding a discussion about this raid or maybe cleaning up the easiest damages to fix. Tatiana entered the house and tiptoed quietly to the back-door, facing the entrance to the dark forest.


Before he began to attempt to reach the nearby pond, Nero let out one, last, hopeless shriek to try and locate any other dragon that could possibly be kind enough to their fellow reptile to get free. Waiting for a moment, Nero growled the smallest bit before beginning to try and push himself on the ground with his legs. But, he forgot. Pain flowed throughout him as the wounded leg began to bleed out more. He had to remember not to use it.


Unlucky for Nero, Tatiana had sharp hearing and the echoing screech reached her ears as she gently closed the door of the house. This was lucky for her, though -yet nervewracking, as it seemed to be coming from at least a mile into the forest and sounded very distressed. She found her target. Tatiana swallowed the lump in her throat and touched her pocket, as if to reassure herself the dagger was still there. Then she took off at a run towards the trees.


Though he had increased his bleeding, Nero had managed to get to the water's edge. He hurried to try and stick his muzzle out if the small spaces between the rope consisting of the net, sticking his broad tongue out and beginning to lap some of it up.


Tatiana ran until her lungs were burning, ready to explode and begging for a rest. Anything to stop. By now she had ran almost a mile, and as the skinny teenager pulled her feet to a stop, her knees wobbled. The brown-haired girl sunk against the nearest trees; until Tatiana recollected herself and sucked in enough oxygen, she didn't notice how close she was to Raven Point. To the mysterious dragon she had taken down.


Now rehydrated, the triple stryke was in a rather better mood than an angry rage or terrified fear. He began to shuffle on the ground into a comfortable position, which was very hard due to his wings, before setting his head, which could only be done horizontally, yet still askew, on the ground. He went quiet, but carefully watched the land around him. He was comepletely defenseless like this. His tails were all tangled in the net, and there was no way he could bite through the ropes in the position he was in.


Tatiana slowly regained awareness when her observation took over the dying need for air; breathing less heavy, she shuffled to her feet and started to carefully walk down the rocky slope. Branches popped up here and there, trying to trip the intruding human, but they were crossed in the end and soon enough only a small bump in the ground, along with some rocks separated her and the dragon. Tatiana suddenly couldn't breathe, looking at the black-yellow dragon sprawled out near the lake as his legs and wings and tails remained bound. She did this.. A small gasp escaped, giving her presence away.


Suddenly, his purple eyes hurried to find the source of this light sound. He began to growl, gradually getting louder, as his pupils dilated once more as he tried to move within the net, with no avail. He spat and roared and hissed and snarled. Anything to get her away from him. In this weak state, who knew what she could easily do to subdue and kill him?


Tatiana was slightly less scared of these actions when he was tangled in a net he couldn't bite or sting through, as most humans would probably feel facing up to this grounded beast. She stared first at his wings which seemed bloody and badly torn. Her emerald eyes traveled to Nero's face meeting his gaze. That reptilian stare that made her shiver.. Tatiana's hand shook as she reached for her pocket but she completed the action nonetheless, slowly sliding the dagger into the open and holding it up to the sunlight, glinting.

Nero roared once more, but this time, it wasn't to be fierce. It was in fear. He began thrashing and struggling once more, afraid for his life.

Tatiana screwed up her eyes and squeezed them shut, her vision becoming blurry and thick with hot, contained tears. She was feeling several different emotions; but most weren't her own. They all seemed to be radiating off of the injured dragon curled in ropes, at her mercy, laying near her feet. She raised the dagger dramatically, her muscles tightening ready to plunge it deep into Nero's heart... but then she locked eyes with the dragon, and they relaxed. No, grew weak.


The dagger clattered on the ground.


Nero's breath was heavy. He stopped moving. His eyes quickly looked her up and down, and then he saw the blade, on the grassy ground. He, slightly shocked, looked away and tried to analyze the situation in his head. What was happening? Why didn't she just kill him?


A few stray tears started to fall, then it was a muggy cloud of sadness overtaking Tatiana's vision. She caught herself picking up the dagger and stalking forward to the first rope on the net, but she didn't stop herself. She didn't think, what they all would say, no, what her parents would say if they caught her freeing a dragon at her mercy... she didn't want to think about that. Right now Tatiana was just focusing on the task at hand, the ropes slumping to the ground as she sliced and sawed through them one by one.


The normally wily and fierce dragon laid there calmly, until every single one of the ropes lay, cut, on the forest floor. He felt relieved to move his head again. Slowly, Nero rose to his feet, stretching out his broad wings, and pulling his tangled tails out of the ropes. He stood above her, looking down at the young girl that had released him. His eyes weren't angry, weren't scared, but they were relaxed. Almost understanding. He'd let out a chuff, much similar to that of a tiger's.

Tatiana wiped away her tears in order to get a better look at the proud, humble dragon. His gaze and his chuff reminded her strangely like a beast, as if he was thanking her for not carving out his heart and bringing it to boast about back in the village. But questioning these things made her life more complicated than it needed to be, and so Tatiana nodded back at Nero. "You're welcome." She'd say, not like the dragon would understand her.

Nero had never met a human like this before. Previously, he thought they were all ruthless and warriors, but this one was so different. Even the other juveniles of her age seemed to have a different nature. In a show of gratitude, he'd bend his neck down, dipping his head and closing his eyes. He would do whatever it took. He owed her for sparing, and potentially saving his life,

Tatiana didn't know what to make of the gesture. She heard Gobber faintly say something in one of his classes that the back of a dragon's neck was extremely vulnerable with almost no armor, so supposedly exposing his neck was a great sign of trust. Gratitude, maybe..? Her first instinct was to outstretch a hand to Nero's snout but her gut told her that was a bad idea, and so Tatiana just stood there stupidly.


Nero trusted her, and he would now prove she could depend on him, eventually. The sun was just about gone beneath the horizon, and dark blue had taken it over. Surely her parents would be returning soon. She had to leave now. Slowly stepping backwards, she turned around. She wouldn't forget this experience. Tatiana slowly opened her eyes as she started to take paces back, first a stuttering step or two then she whirled around and took off running. It was getting late, and if her parents found she had gone into the woods, she would be screwed. Nevertheless as she darted home, all her thoughts were back in that clearing with the mysterious dragon Berk had never seen before, or known anything about.


Nero was going to repay her, for helping him. Nero firmly decided, with the idea planted in his head, that he refused to leave this island until he did so. He needed to be with her in case something happened, like another dragon raid or attack. Then, he could protect her and potentially save her life to repay her.


Raising his head in the air to catch her scent, he began slowly trailing after her, limping through the dense woods.


Tatiana noticed the sound of cracking twigs behind her a couple of times as if something half-large was following her, but when she stopped to listen, the noise faded. A scowl crossed her face and she kept running, casting glanced back until suddenly Tatiana was forced to slide to a stop. There it was, Berk's village covered in snow, and silent.


The triple stryke peered at the village, where he had just recently fought earlier. From this view, he could slightly see a small blood stain on the pure white snow in the dark. He quietly waited to see where Tatiana would go. He was slightly curious of where she resided in this place..

And so, the girl left the tree line and started towards the nearest Viking hut, and entered it. He didn't see her again that night.

Tatiana's eyes snapped open with a slow moan, sliding her eyes from side to side trying to see where she was. The room was spinning, but as it slowly tilted itself upright again and stopped turning as fast, she was able to get somewhat of a feeling of where she was. All she remembered from the previous night was dropping the dagger, briefly cutting the net and hearing snapping in the woods. Everything else became a blur, the ghost of the Stryke's eyes hovering behind her eyelids. Tatiana sat herself upright to find that she had passed out in her desk-chair like almost every other normal night, and gathered enough strength to stand. The entire house seemed to be silent this early in the morning.


The Stryke had woken hours before sunrise. He had fallen asleep deeper within the forest, making sure no one could spot him. He had begun surveying the village once he had awoken, and currently, no one had left their huts yet, for what he had seen. Slowly, he began to trot on the trail her scent lead. Stopping right behind the house, he looked aside it to take a look at the village. It looked pretty, almost, in the snow this morning.

He returned to what he was currently doing. Making sure is house had to be hers, he reached out and very slightly scratched at the door with his forearms.


Tatiana, for the moment was just focused on steadying herself. The memories of last night mixed in her head as if she was having a hangover, but of course Berk knew no such thing as 21st century teenage-problems. She gripped her head with one hand and used the other to limp across the room, feeling exsperatedly. Too bad she lived on the second story..the following minutes were spent carefully inching godhead each step, stumbling as her nose fell so far it almost touched the floor -but Tatiana was alive and downstairs when she heard a light scratching.

Her hand turned the in but froze at the last moment, peeking through the crack at Nero. Her breath hitched in her throat, partly with fear and the other panic. "What are you doing here? If my parents see you, they'll kill you!" Fear bubbled in her chest. Had he come to avenge her shot and slice her throat in her own house? Or was this an oblivious dragon's attempt to be her friend?

Nero stepped backwards. Although dragons were supposed to be fearless, cunning, and monstrous beasts, he had completely forgotten what he was going to do when she came, that was, if, she even came, which he didn't expect. He'd step back and look around, thoughts racing through his head. He looked down, trying to think of something to do. What an idiot he was..

Tatiana flinched as she heard shifting from upstairs, followed by a groan and the sound of footsteps. "For the love of thor, follow me!" She hissed as quietly as possible, holding her side and nearly falling over because of how hurriedly she rushed back to the stairs. From the heaviness of the steps, it was her father which was even worse than her mother seeing the dragon. He was one of the best dragon-killers on Berk up there with Stoick, and Tatiana had no doubt he was carrying an axe he would whip it out the moment he saw Nero. Frantically beckoning the dragon to follow, she ducked behind the nearest table close to the stairs. Maybe when Dad came into the kitchen and turned his back, she could lead the him up the stairs and into her room before he turned back around and saw them.

The Triple Stryke, which had always seemed smaller than what he should of been, with others towering some few feet above men, while he was only a centimeter or four taller than Tatiana. He'd hurry after her, crawling right beneath the table, where he just fit. His vibrant yellow scales slowly turned into a peculiar wooden texture as he laid still, while his black scales remained as they were, while his small purple eyes were locked on her.

( I have a little headcanon that Triple Strykes have minor camoflauging capabilities, kinda like Changewings, but at a much lower scale, heh.. )


Tatiana crouched down further, gritting her teeth to hold in a yelp of pain as her leg twisted the wrong way. The look she sent Nero was one of alarm but also slight jealousy. He simply laid down under it, whilst she had to kneel as far down as she could go and ignore the fact that her head was banging on the top of the dining table when she poked it down next to the dragon. Just a second after Tatiana stopped moving and fell silent, her muscular father made his way into the room. A tired look was on his face and seemed to be humming a traditional song, several weapons jingling on his belt as he tramped across the room with his peg-leg. "Be ready to run.." Tatiana whispered into what she believed was Nero's reptillian ear, her muscles bunched ready to dart when he turned.

He readied himself, slowly getting back onto his feet, readying himself, the thought of his leg reminding him. He would have to skitter this time, and try not to make heavy steps. He'd have to be even morelight on his feet, which he normally wasn't. He would have to try right now, though. The space he had right now would decrease the quality of his little sprint, too.


Tatiana gave the smallest nod, returning his gaze anxiously. Her father still hadn't turned like they needed and seemed to be looking around the room, muttering to himself something that she couldn't quite hear. Come on..come on.. Finally the clacking of the peg-leg was heard in the direction of the food-storage, and Tatiana threw her puny weight against Nero to give him something of a pushed start. Heaving herself to her feet, she dashed for the stairs and fumbled over the first few steps, silently struggling.

Nero slunk out from beneath the table, his feet and claws tapping only once in unison on the wooden floor, trying his very best not to get in her way, which he did successfully, and lunging up the stairs, making it in only two 'steps'.

Tatiana limped after him. Whilst the dragon made it in two places balancing in his four-feet, she nearly tipped over and ended up making a rather noisy departure from the kitchen. Her foot banged into decr plant on the stairs and she swore she heard her father coming up after them. As the heavy steps thundered upward calling her name, Tatiana shoved Nero through the nearest door which happened to be her bedroom. She closed the door and locked it after them, all but collapsing on the bed as her eyes weakly moved to glare at him. "That was t-too close..why did you think it would end up in any way a good idea to follow me? Now think..how are we going to get you out of here before my parents come looking for me?"

Nero looked down for a moment, and then started to think. If only he could speak human tongue.. why did he come here in the first place, again? He forgot.

He'd let out a draconic equivalent of a sigh. He had been more of a burden than anything this morning. Perhaps he should of stayed within the woods and waited. But, he didn't. He had wanted to see her again. She seemed so... nice. She was pleasant. Her scent, how she looked, and, she released him, too. Nero huffed and shook his head. He would repay her and then leave. That's what would happen.


Tatiana saw the look on the dragon's face and her own expression plummeted from a teasing smile to something of a thin-lipped frown. "I'm serious. I would love for you to stay and all, but you need to go! Where am I going to keep you anyway if you stay here for the day?" Suddenly she she the image of Nero sleeping in her bed beside her under the covers, curled up with his tails surrounding him. Tatiana scrunched her face up. She didn't like the idea of sleeping with sharp claws, razor teeth and posinous stingers all in one creature -just, no. Sighing, she limped over to Nero and started to look around the room, speaking sifter this time. "I guess you can stay..don't know what you're waiting for, though."


He'd look up, and just playfully stick out his odd colored, purplish blue tongue a little bit at her, and before drawing back into his mouth he'd sit down on the wooden floor, pausing to take in everything in the room and subtly map it within his head. His tails were neatly braided together in one thicker tail of black, yellow, and silver, wrapped around his feet as he sat. His wings were folded, and his eyes were wide as he observed this new place. Curiousity bubbled within him. So was this what the inside of their houses looked like?

Memories raging fires and the tremendous heat slowly came back to him. He remembered seeing this almost daily.. time after time, giving them almost no time to rebuild everything before it was burned again. All of a sudden, Nero felt guilty. They weren't all bad. They had lives of their own, much different than a dragon's, but they had homes, and knew people, and had relationships..


Tatiana, meanwhile was focused on her wounds. She didn't know how she had gotten it, but a nasty purple-bruise covered almost the entire left side of her abodemen and crept some ways over to her stomach. Her chest was also pretty sore, her lungs burning and her throat throbbing with each heavy breath. "How did I get this beat up?" She wondered aloud, mostly to herself. Tatiana forced herself down to two knees, settling laying on her stomach next to the dragon facing the door. Pain shot up as her bruises made contact with wood, but she tried her best to be comfortable and reached out one hand to run it lightly over Nero's scales; ready to stop if he showed any discomfort.


Nero seemed to enjoy this. It took his mind off of his previous thoughts and felt nice too, and almost a little ticklish, in a way. His slightly triangular head traced the lines of wood in the walls. Each of them had unique shapes and patterns. He had never taken time to ever notice any of the small details in life. Usually, he just rushed in and started fighting or whatever else. He realized now he didn't really have to fight. He used to think it was the only way for a dragon to live, by pillaging and raiding Viking villages, but this wasn't entirely true. There were many other ways to catch prey out in distant isles, which were untamed, and overgrown.

Nero had probably never been in such close contact with a human, not even in battle. Then, he'd almost always use his tails to fight, and didn't like getting close to anybody. He liked focusing on one person; he got overwhelmed by large crowds, for he knew, strength comes in numbers. He realized Tatiana probably hadn't been so close, either. He realized how simply out of place this was. But, he didn't mind. He seemed to enjoy being around her.


Tatiana was cheering inside at how suprisingly well Nero was taking this. She could see the thoughtfulness and consideration in the dragon's eyes, and she couldn't help but follow his gaze to find herself just as interested in the wooden walls. They rose up to form a dome ceiling, each pattern cut from different trees and different limbs; you could see that just by how they stuck together, and the different internal circles in each one that you could see clearly when they were just trunks in the forest instead of a house. "Now where are you going to sleep? Oh, gods, if my parents knew I had you up here.."

Nero definetly wasn't no Monstrous Nightmare, but he was a bit sizable. He fit nicely into the room, and had space, and didn't really mind anything.

Lost in his own thoughts momentarily, again, he snapped back to reality. Though no light seemed to flow into the room, he sensed that the sun was fully rising now. The two ear-like appendages at the back of his head slightly twitched as minuscule sounds came to him. He could hear the village fully waking up now.


Tatiana smiled. Both eyes and all her senses were focused on the dragon, not minding the chatter from through her window or the sound of her mother rousing a couple rooms down the hallway, nor her father stomping in the kitchen making himself food. When she was around Nero, all her thoughts were focused on this charming young dragon. She was just grateful he hadn't killed her when she released him, but following her like an attached dog was a different story all together. Tatiana rolled over closer to the wall, taking her hand off his scales. "You're probably hearing the villagers. My friends would be in the arena by now."


Nero tilted his head. Arena? He felt like he knew what that was, but truly, he didn't. His mind started making up random things that an arena could possibly be. Oh? And her friends? He wondered just who they were. He remembered seeing other juveniles alongside her the previous day. He couldn't percieve their personalities just by that sight, though. All of a sudden, he wanted to know everything about everyone. Tatiana had such a personality. He wanted to find out what all the other humans were like, what they hated, what they enjoyed. He found it fascinating. It was like a whole other world, full of possibilities and people.


Tatiana drew in a deep breath, taking his tilted head as a sign to go on. "Not that they're really any kind of good friends.. Mostly I'm just around them a lot, you could say. First there's Astrid, the blond you would have seen if you looked. She's fierce and can be kind to me, but mostly.. ignores me. Everyone thinks that she's the best young, female Viking Berk has ever seen. I don't hate her, she really is a good person, but..."

She sighed from deep in her chest, her eyes traveling over Nero until they met his gaze. All of a sudden Tatiana'a breath hitched in her throat, amazed by just how beautiful and colorful and powerful the dragon looked. He wasn't anything huge or terrifying, but he had bite and just the vibrant light in Nero's eyes alone was enough to take her breath away.


Nero saw that slightly saddened look in her glistening, emerald green eyes, and paused for a moment. All of a sudden, he leaned out and gently licked her arm with his purplish blue tongue in some sort of show of affection. Maybe only people on this island were like this? He travelled far and wide, and it had been his first time visiting. He had never met anybody else like her. She shot him down, and found him, but she had ended up releasing him.. he never expected that.

Tatiana scrunched up her face as she pressed her back into the wall, staring at Nero with disgust. Not at him but at the fact that her arm now had dragon slobber all over it. She put on a teasing pout, trying to hide her pain getting up. It took longer than it should have, flinching every time her stomach brushed the wood or had to support itself. In the end however, Tatiana was able to stand and limped over to her desk to retrieve her sketchbook. Drawing was her only hobby that passed the time; her inspiration, her life and all her hidden feelings rested on these pages.


Nero's eyes slowly followed her. Once she stopped moving, he lightly stepped over to the desk with his claws tapping the wooden floor, and peered over at it. What was this object? It seemed to be bound in leather, and sandwiched between two pieces of said leather was something beige-ish yellow. His mind wandered on what it really was.


Even though they had spent such a small amount of time together, Tatiana had quickly learned to read Nero. The way his nose twitched curiously as he leaned his head in close to the pages was cute and all, but it also meant that he wanted answers. Answers about the world he has been dragged into the moment Tatiana sawed through that first rope, and she was willing to provide answers to all his questions.

"This is a notebook. There's a lot of definitions on these pages; it was gifted to me by my grandfather before he..died.. On my tenth birthday." Tatiana sighed and flipped to the first page, which had a picture of a few different dragons drawn on it. Old drawings, scribbled and messed up and overall from her earlier years when she could hardly draw, but decided to try anyway.


The Triple Stryke looked closely at each page, tracing the lines written onto them in his mind, figuring just what each little doodle and scribble, line or drawing was supposed to be, and what kinds of dragons they were. He could slightly see how the detail increased, even by just a bit, by each drawing he observed on the paper. Slowly, he reached out one of his arms and moved over the page, being considerably careful since he didn't know how fragile it could be.


"You are a curious little dragon, aren't you?" Tatiana smiled wryly, already knowing the answer to her own question. She remained on the page for a little longer to let him explore it with his paw, seemingly tracing the lines she had scratched in years ago; the longer and more they flipped, the more recent the scratching a were until finally they stopped at her latest drawing. Tatiana smoothed out the wrinkles in the paper and slid the book closer to the edge of the desk, so that the lighting could properly illuminate the picture. "It's a drawing of you. Whatever ~you~ are," she murmured.

"After I released you last night and you followed me, I went in the bedroom..I do that a lot, and just started drawing." She chuckled. "Of course, this is just a rough draft. I planned on finishing it today until all this happened."


Looking closely at it, Nero drew his head back and quickly nodded. He seemed to approve of it. He spotted something on the desk. It was a long, thin, wooden cylinder with a black tip at the end. After flipping to a blank page, Nero picked it up in his jaws by what he assumed was where a human would hold it, and began to pull the sketchbook towards him, then set his head above the paper, horizontally. He began to carefully 'scratch' lines into the paper, pausing to turn his head and look at it every few seconds. When he finished, he dropped the object and looked back at Tatiana, wiggling his tail a bit, seemingly excited to see her reaction.

( little nero tried to draw himself



He was extremely proud of himself.


Tatiana didn't exactly want to crush this dragon's dreams of being a professional artist. Tatiana stretched out a hand and gently grabbed the tip of the pencil, moving to the other blank side of the page, more steady until it actually looked somewhat like a Triple Styrke body-outline. She pursed her lips in concentration then smiled. "It looks nice. Not like a dragon is built to draw, but yours looks nice," she said.

The young Triple Stryke showed off the draconic equivalent of a happy grin, practically beaming at his artwork. He had to admit, hers was better, but still, his was amazing, too. It was way up there alongside hers. Totally, he told himself.

Tatiana gently closed her book and shuffled to the other side of the room, her head slowly sinking into the pillow rest in fagainst the headboard. A sharp horn from outside brought her out of her trance; she realized that her parents had already left the house towards their meeting -that they didn't even stop to see if she was awake, just left. Like they didn't have a child huddled in her room, far from the outside world. The thought left a foul taste in her mouth and her heart throbbed with betrayal; she knew they didn't care if she lived or died. But that wasn't to be focused on right now. "You're such a good artist," Tatiana said sarcastically to Nero, a teasing smile on her face. The horn blared again and her head shot up shortly after she laid down on the bed. "Oh! That would be the lunch-bell to go to the Great Hall..Oh, Thor. I have to go to lunch, and you're..you're staying here. Alright?"

It took a moment or two for Nero to successfully analyze her words and realize what she meant. Slowly, he nodded. Stay in the hut. He'd say to himself within his mind. His ears still rung with the sound of the bell seconds and minutes after it ended, but, eventually, it stopped.

Tatiana was suprised the dragon was actually obeying her, but she knew she had to get going before he changed his mind. And before she was late to the hall. Holding her bruised stomach with one hand, she slid back to the floor and opened her bag. Several things were hurriedly thrown in, along with the notebook, then zipped again and slung over her shoulders as she crossed to the door in a few quick paces. "I'll be back. Stay. Here." Tatiana said seriously, her footsteps fading again. Then the door clicked shut and the Triple Stryke was alone.


Nero looked around, within the quiet room. He wondered just what he would do without her. He stood up back on his legs, and then, slowly padded to the door. Now, he didn't think about escaping the house, what was in his mind was different than that. Without having to reach up or down or anything, he'd make an attempt at opening the door with his forearms. A click sounded off, and very slowly, he pushed the door open, listening to it creak. He was very cautious about everything he did. He didn't want to break anything, or leave evidence of himself. And so, turning around to where he face down the inside of her room, he walked back down the stairs, backwards. He only wanted to see the main floor of the house. It wasn't the best view from beneath a table, like earlier, so this was his chance to explore.

Nero trotted to the back door where he entered, and then looked around more, wrapping his braided tails around his leg to be sure they didn't go everywhere. There were even more details in here. So many little aspects he admired, now.

Although his curiousity pulled him to look out the front door and see if there was anything going on, he didn't do it. He knew better. He was young, but he obeyed well and respected orders.

Slowly, he turned back around, and headed up the stairs.

Tatiana felt a pit full of dread within her stomach as she rested her hand on the knob. It had been hours and her parents were luckily still not back, which meant she could sneak up the stairs with her bag without suspicion. But the scariest part was holding her breath as she slowly opened the door, praying that at least a few wooden beams still remained of her bedroom. After all, dragons were destructive, and she couldn't be sure that Nero had completely obeyed her. Even staying in the house might be too much to expect from him. Taking a deep breath, Tatiana opened the door and quickly shut it behind her, her gaze darting to see any possible damages. "What did you do?"

Nero wasn't visible within Tatiana's room, but a sound was present.

It was more of a rumble, with long pauses between each, followed by a bit of a snort or something. A long, scorpion-like tail extended from beneath the space of Tatiana's bed.. his forearms hung out from beneath, too. Nero literally fit right beneath the space of her bed, and had fallen asleep in the quiet, cold, dark area. If anything, the most damage he had cause was drooling on the floor as he slept.

Tatiana's jaw was ready to drop almost to the floor. Instead of fear, amazement hit her. At first she was afraid that somehow he had gotten out when she didn't immediately see him, but then the thrumming became familiar. And she figured out what it was. Tatiana dropped her bag into her desk chair. Ignoring the pain, the brown-haired girl got down on her stomach and reached down, feeling the yellow-black lump of scales. There was a puddle of drool, but she would clean that up. Could be worse. Tatiana smiled sort of drowsily and got up again, getting things like rags to clean up the puddle.


While asleep, his long, and, while not muscly, armored and thin tail swayed across the floor slowly, curling and uncurling a little bit with each swaying motion. One could wonder if a dragon dreamed. The answer, well, for Nero, at least, was yes. And what he dreamed about? That remained a total mystery.


When Tatiana was done cleaning, she sank into the nearest object which happened to be her bed. Boredom was the biggest problem she faced, now that her room was clear of messes again. Usually boredom wouldn't be a problem as she would go into the forest and go on hikes, and by the time dusk was coming, she wouldn't want to come home. But Tatiana couldn't just run off into the woods and leave Nero alone in fear of her parents coming in and discovering him, yet waking him when he was so peaceful was also not an option.


There was one single downside to happening to fall asleep under the bed; dust. He had been sneezing in his sleep (sleep-sneezing?) every past 10 minutes or so,

All of a sudden, Nero winced the smallest bit and shuffled beneath the bed, laying horizontally, before curling his head to where it rest beside his chest, and then began to raise it.

Nero drew in a big breath before letting out a bigger sneeze- grumbling a bit, his small eyes slowly opened, and he began rubbing the site of his now itchy snout, just a bit. He was still about half asleep when he crawled out from beneath the bed and began to stretch his thin, flexible, agile Triple Stryke Body.


"Itch?" Tatiana questioned, peering down into the darkness underneath her bed with a teasing grin as her eyes followed him as he inched out from beneath. She took the opportunity to lean down, using one outstretched hand to scratch Nero's snout for him. She was still amazed by how smooth and detailed, vibrant the scales were up close. He wasnt the flashiest of dragons, but he still had spunk and spirit to his little self. However, Tatiana didn't really know the average Triple Stryke wasn't little at all.


Nero closed his eyes for a brief moment why enjoying being scratched, before yawning a bit and then dipping his head in a thank you of sorts. Tatiana's head was suddenly filled with ideas, all of them involving escaping the house. "Look, my parents aren't here. You want to go into the forest?" She already knew what Nero's answer would most likely be -he seemed curious about human-things, but surely a dragon was always most comfortable in what she presumed would be a natural habitat. Therefore she started getting ready, putting on boots, tying her hair back and then getting her bag.


After fully waking up, Nero turned his head and his 'ears' perked up, just like a little puppy would of when asked to go in a walk. Although, Nero was a bit bigger, heh. He'd trot up to her, standing at his full height where he reached just a bit taller than head level with her.


You're so much like a dog, it's more than laughable." Tatiana snorted, although her face became more serious as she glanced toward the wooden-door. It had been locked and they had been up here since early morning, disturbed only by that lunch break at the hall. She already liked this dragon more than any of her fake friends -no doubt if it wasn't required to show up when the horn blared, she would still be in this bedroom. Tatiana adjusted the bag-strap over her shoulder and tiptoed quietly, holding the door open for Nero to go first. "You have to be quiet, I'm not joking. It's just a short walk downstairs to the back door -okay?"


Nero nodded once more, the memory of wandering down there floating within his thoughts. His braided tail stuck close to his body, and he became curious of the forest. Yes, he had been there the previous night, but he never got to know just what it seemed like within the dark. Shaking his head and paying attention to the current situation again, he waited for her to do something so he could follow.


"Such a funny little dragon." Tatiana shook her head and shut the door behind them, take care to walk swiftly yet quietly. Her bruises certainly didn't help; she had to grit her teeth, suck it up and hold in a yelp of pain every time she rested her foot one stair-step after the other, but in the end they still got downstairs. Everything was quiet; nothing changed in this house all day long. "Around here." Tatiana grunted, limping to the back-door and holding it open after she went through.


Turning around and stepping down the stairs backwards, he took a moment to take a deep breath of the scents flowing in from the outside. He hurried over and set his feet into the snow, listening to the sound of it crunching beneath him. Nero hadn't seen snow in awhile now. The other islands he had been to either weren't visited in winter, or were too hot all the time. His eyes shifted towards the forest, where he had been just the previous night.


Tatiana heard the door click behind her. Her eyes slightly watered and a lump formed in her throat as she saw the forest; it gave her blurry memories, not just of last night but her entire life. When she first found out she didn't like the other children, she ran into the the woods -she was so young back then, but remembered it as if it were yesterday. Tatiana wondered if Berk's forest meant something special to her dragon companion in his own way...Maybe. A blissful smile crossed her face and remained as she tramped through the snow to the tree line, stepping carefully down the slope until a canopy loomed over them and the village was just a speck behind them.


Nero trotted after her, tumbling in the snow a bit, wincing a tiny bit as his wounded keg slipped on the ground.He paused to stare at a squirrel staring back at him from a tree, before slowly walking past it. For some reason, Nero never trusted squirrels. For as long as he could remember, he avoided them, but forgot why. He caught up to her after a moment, enjoying the sun against his scales. The snow beneath them seemed to sparkle and glimmer as the sunlight shone upon it.


Tatiana meanwhile was soaking in the bright sun as much as her memories. She crunched through the snow with her high-boots, durable and made for combat. Not like she would ever exert that purpose; to be honest, it was very clear to even strangers that Tatiana had never swung an axe in her life. And she hadn't. She twisted strands of her auburn hair around her fingers as they passed rows of trunks, oaks turning into birch, then pine and finally dark, taiga-like trees overhead.


Nero thought all of these different trees were pretty. He hadn't seen most of them before, and usually just saw old brown trees, and never white ones with stripes. There was a lot he didn't know. Little details he used to flat out ignore, but now admired and seeked out. Slowly, his thoughts came to other things. What if her 'friends' somehow saw him? Not like he would go up and jump in their faces right now, no, but he pondered in his head how they'd react.


As Tatiana walked, many different thoughts buzzed in her head and evenutally she just had to say them aloud. It seemed like she talked to herself constantly, but now she actually had someone to share them with strolling in the forests of Berk. "I never finished about my friends, did I? There's Snotlout, and Fishlegs. Snotlout is quite cocky and let's just say he's the main one that makes fun of me; Fishlegs is okay. Nice guy." She saw a log ahead and struggled over it, scratching her hands some, but of course Tatiana didn't acknowledge that as she kept walking.


Nero let out what would be a draconic snicker. Fishlegs? Snotlout? Seemed like only the females of these Vikings had decent names on this island. He perched on top of the log after staring at the path they were taking, before hopping off and catching back up.


Tatiana looked over at Nero. Upon hearing his snicker, she didn't glare or even sigh exsperatedly -instead her own face split into a grin, and she shook her head lightly as she started to trek up the angled slopes. The forest was more rocky the farther they went in, it seemed. "Yeah, I know. Stupid names. There's Ruffnut and Tuffnut, two twins. Nobody seems to know which is the brother and which is the sister. And..oh yeah, Hiccup. You would get a kick out of him..the others tease him just like me, he's the blacksmith's apprentice. The one person actually decent to me, and kind of shy himself." Tatiana had something of a bigger, more heartfelt smile spreading across her cheeks as she described Hiccup, as if she wanted to say more.

Tatiana sort of felt like Hiccup was her only true friend. Besides Nero, that is. He listened to her.