Stargleam, A Lightfury's Journey: Chapter 1
#1 of Stargleam, A Lightfury's Journey
This is the first chapter of an adult Lightfury x Nightfury story that I am writing. It tells the story of Stargleam, a young Lightfury who is driven by instinct to search for a mate. She is far from home and struggles to survive in the distant north. The story takes place in the same world as the How To Train Your Dragon movies, but all locations and characters will be original creations. I will be taking the occasional liberty with the established cannon, but it will have nothing to do with the plot of the books or the films.
This is my first attempt at writing anything substantial and as such it will likely have unforeseen issues. I will be publishing the chapters as I finish them, on no particular schedule, and continuity errors might emerge. I've kept the scope of the story rather small to mitigate any issues, but I am all to aware that inexperienced writers make mistakes. That said, I think a large portion of the views will only be for specific scenes so it probably doesn't matter all that much.
This story is intended for an adult audience and will feature scenes of a graphic sexual nature. If you are underage, do not read this story. I do not own or am in any way affiliated with How to Train Your Dragon or any of its related properties, settings, and characters. This is a work of personal fan-fiction unintended for official publication or/and financial reimbursement.
Chapter 1 - Survival
A cold wind buffeted Stargleam as she glided above the choppy sea and she wondered again if she'd made a fatal mistake. The pangs of hunger from her empty stomach had faded over the past day and been replaced with a deep weariness. Her body ached, especially the muscles in her shoulders and wings, and she struggled to focus as her body demanded she find rest.
A week past, the young Lightfury had been taken by a sudden feeling of restlessness. Her normal hunting grounds along a southern coastline had served her well for years, but the receding winter had brought with it a call to the northern sky. Stargleam considered herself a pragmatic dragon and vague memories of boats hurling fire and metal nets had always served to ward off any feelings of curiosity for the wider world. Despite her misgivings, Stargleam soon found herself flying north.
Stargleam realized that she was losing focus again and she shook her head in irritation. She flapped her wings a few times to gain some altitude and the pain from her protesting limbs brought a sharp clarity to her senses, at least temporarily. She had departed a small collection of islands the day before, confident that she would find rest before nightfall as she had done every day since leaving her territory. Hours passed and as the sun neared the horizon, she had made the decision to press onwards, certain that she would find some place to land. Now as the morning sunlight filtered through the overcast sky, Stargleam cursed this stubbornness that was so unlike her usual self.
A sudden gust of wind turned Stargleam from her course and she glanced at the faint glow of the sun through the clouds to correct her direction. If she was going to be suddenly stubborn, then she would use that stubbornness. Something was calling her north and she would be damned if she wouldn't answer that call. With a deep intake of breath, Stargleam narrowed her eyes against the wind and fought for altitude.
***
It was many hours later when the exhausted Lightfury skipped off the surface of a small forested lake. Conscious thought had come and gone throughout the long flight, but a distant shoreline and the scent of fresh water had given her strength enough to press further than she ever thought possible. It was during her quick decent that Stargleam came to herself enough to try and avoid landing in the lake, but her exhausted wings refused to spread and catch her weight. A sudden panic gripped Stargleam and she managed to fold her wings flat against her back mere moments before impact.
Lights flashed before Stargleam's eyes and pain exploded through her frame again and again as the water's surface seemed to solidify beneath her. She held her wings close to her back, terrified of breaking any of the thin bones that spanned their lengths, and she soon found herself rolling to a stop on a sandy shore. She gasped weakly for breath and her entire body shook and shivered uncontrollably. As her vision faded to black, Stargleam was surprised to find herself feeling a deep sense of pleasure. She had survived.
***
Light flickered off the water and played over Starlight's lidded and crusty eyes. She slowly cracked them open and her head immediately began to pound with the beating of her heart. Every inch of her body hurt, but Stargleam struggled through the pain and slowly dragged herself towards the water's edge. She dipped her head into the water and began to desperately gulp it down. Her empty stomach tightened around the liquid and she was assaulted anew by deep internal pains. Her parched throat warred with her gut, but her stomach won out and she soon found herself coughing up water and acid.
After catching her breath, Stargleam forced herself to drink slowly from the water. She pulled herself partially into the water, her mouth settling into the sand while her nostrils remained just above the surface. She ignored the sand that she swallowed with the water and she closed her eyes as the light of the sun rose above the treeline and began to warm her body.
Stargleam wasn't sure how long she lay there. She passed in and out of consciousness, waking occasionally when her body demanded more water. Eventually the sun moved again below the trees and Stargleam pulled herself shivering from the water. She spent a few minutes forcing herself to her feet and she took a few shaky steps before the muscles in her shoulders seized up painfully. She let out a small cry of pain before clenching her jaw shut. Her teeth emerged from her gum line and she unintentionally drew blood from her own mouth. She forced her mouth open and gasped for breath until the quivering in her shoulders and wings began to subside.
Stargleam spent the few remaining daylight hours slowly stretching her body. As she worked through the pain of her cramping muscles, Stargleam was amazed with the condition that she was in. Aside from a sharp pain in her right side when she tried to raise her wings above her head, everything seemed to be bruised yet unbroken. As darkness fell, Stargleam limped over to the lake and drank her fill before she retreated up the shore and fell into another exhausted slumber.
***
When Stargleam woke the next morning, she became immediately and painfully aware of how hungry she was. It had been a few days since her last meal, some fish she had caught out of the ocean before her ill-fated journey across the empty sea. She struggled to her feet and limped back towards the shore of the small lake.
The Lightfury examined her surroundings carefully for the first time and took in the tall pine trees that bordered the lake. Aside from a small cliff looming over the southern end of the water, the lake was completely surrounded by dense forest. She knew that the ocean must be nearby to the west, but she couldn't make out any of its familiar sounds or smells. The lake itself seemed quite deep near the cliffside along the southern end and Stargleam could make out the occasional silver glint of fish along the shore. Her stomach let out another protesting groan and Stargleam growled in frustration as she realized she wasn't in the state to glide over the lake and dive to catch the unsuspecting fish.
Stargleam walked out into the cool water. Wary of attempting to swim while her right side was still so painful, she took care to stay near shore. She slowly moved down the western shore until she reached a muddy patch where she remembered seeing a few fish before her approach. She lowered her head into the water, keeping her nostrils above the surface, and stilled her body's movements. After many patient minutes, several small fish returned to the muddy bank and began moving slowly through the muck. Stargleam moved with snake-like speed when a fish came near and she gulped it down before clenching her eyes shut in pain as her right side and shoulders protested the movement. After the pain has somewhat subsided, Stargleam moved slightly further down the shore and repeated the process.
Many hours passed before Stargleam finished fishing. The small fish did very little to sate her hunger and it seemed to the Lightfury that they only served to stoke the ache in her gut. Despite her body's protests, Stargleam took her time and patiently went about eating her fill. She decided that after her reckless behavior over the past week, an exercise in self-control was in order. She emerged from the water and stretched out on the warm sand before closing her eyes and letting out satisfied rumble in her chest.
***
Several days passed and Stargleam continued to recover. She spent each morning wading through the lake and eating her fill before returning to the shore and slowly stretching her still sore wings. The pain in her right side was a constant companion and her feeble attempts to extend and flap her wings only exacerbated the issue. She spent her nights curled up beneath the cover of the trees and, as the fish in the lake became more scarce, she took to stalking small game in the woods. Her inability to fly made hunting difficult and at times she felt like a clumsy hatching.
The constant food did much to speed Stargleam's healing and relieve the aching feeling in her gut that wouldn't seem to depart. She longed for the larger game, but she knew that her injured side would sabotage too much exertion. As the days stretched on, Stargleam began to feel more and more frustrated with her situation. She held firm to her decision to avoid reckless behavior and reminded herself daily that she needed to remain practical. Despite this, a sense of unease began to build. At first Stargleam thought that it was due to a combination of her injury and her internal restlessness, but it soon dawned on her that her instincts were trying to warn her of something. It wasn't until several weeks into her recovery that Stargleam realized that in her time at the lake, she hadn't seen or heard any sign of larger prey or any of the predators that would hunt them.