Polynya

The goblin shakes his head. “I’m not going to say the string of curse words running through my disproportionately large brain at the moment. Let’s wrap this up, kiddos. My homie’s airship is leaving soon.”

“How do I bond with him?” Ryuk asks.

Hiccup snorts. “Fick me, Marbles, you make it too easy.”

Still cradling the baby dragon, Zaena turns it to Ryuk. “It’s simple. Just reach your finger out to him. You’ll know if he decides to bond with you or not pretty quickly.”

“And he can’t just bond with you?”

“I’m not the guild’s leader.”

Ryuk lifts his hand to the dragon’s muzzle. The creature’s eyes narrow for a moment as he suspiciously sniffs at Ryuk’s finger. He opens his mouth, and exhales a soft cloud of blue icicles.

New skill learned!

Skill: Bonding Trust

Level One: Bonding trust creates an everlasting connection between you and another creature. Higher levels allow for direct communication between you and other animals as you instantly understand their languages and demeanors.

Requirements:There are no requirements for bonding trust. This skill is tied directly to your D-NAS, digital neuronal autoconstruct system, and based on your interaction with others up until the point at which you met the creature.

“Wonderful!” Jim claps his hands together. “You’ve bonded with it!”

Ryuk turns to see FeeTwix come in closer, his eyes black as ever as his viewers take the moment in.

A bell rings in the other room, signaling that food is ready.

“Fick yeah! Later, haters.” The goblin exits leaving the three of them with the hostelier.

“What am I supposed to do with him?” Ryuk asks as he cradles the dragon.

“Well, he’ll need a name,” Jim says. “Everyone needs a name.”

“Yangukuchipatchi,” Ryuk says almost instinctively. “Yangu for short.”

“What’s it mean?” FeeTwix asks.

“It’s the name of a famous Tamagotchi.” Ryuk pets the dragon on the head. It smiles, closes its eyes, and relaxes.

“Tamagotchi?” FeeTwix’s eyes flash. “That’s a clever name!”

“Yangu, huh? I like it,” Zaena say. “Once he can fly, he’ll come to you when you call him. Until then, we’ll have to look after him. Jim, do you have a backpack of sorts?”

“No worries, babe, I have one.” A custom Voodoo Tactical Level III assault backpack with a water reservoir and the phrase #FeeTwixRox embroidered across the front in big white letters appears in the Swede’s hands. He opens it and Zaena carefully sets the dragon inside. She zips up a portion of the backpack, allowing Yangu to peek its head out the other side.

The Thulean assassin coos some more as she helps him put the backpack on. Yangu naturally rests his neck on Ryuk’s shoulder.

“You ready?” Zaena asks him.

“Sure.” Ryuk nods as a soft smile forms on his face. “Let’s grab the goblin and get to Polynya.”

Chapter 6: Chalupa vs. Churro

The four Mitherfickers quickly make their way to the south side of Aramis and its sprawling port, which is situated between a string of tributaries, the water from which flows over the continental shelf.

The ships docked in the Aramis port range in size from small fishing vessels to cruise ships, the rotating oars of which keep the ships floating in the air. A container ship with the name Maersk Alabama is currently floating into the port, the crew busy pulling up the ropes that will hold it down. Regardless of how far down the Endless Sea is, the smell of ocean is heavy in the air, the squawk of seagulls cantankerous.

Yangu makes a barking noise, briefly interrupting the seagulls above. “Shhh,” Ryuk tells the dragon as he reaches back to pet its head. The dragon’s skin is ice cold, the scales on his head smooth to the touch.

Zaena and Hiccup walk ahead of Ryuk, arguing in Thulean. The odd couple to end all odd couples, Zaena is twice Hiccup’s height, slender, and moves with the grace of a runway model. Hiccup is vertically challenged, robust, and slightly bowlegged, his walk more of a waddle.

FeeTwix, between Ryuk and the other two, busies himself by speaking to a few of his most loyal fans.

He really does care for them, Ryuk thinks, which reminds him of the reason the Swede came to Tritania in the first place – to find out what happened to Tomas, one of his earliest fans. We’ll figure this out, Ryuk thinks, and he wants to verbalize this to the Swede but, as they have before, silence and shyness get the best of him.

“Stop her!”

A female elf shoulders through the Mitherfickers, tossing Hiccup into a stand outside of a souvenir shop.

“Fick!”