Snap-Pine was in the middle of a bath when Delvin found him. His golden scales glistened in the sunlight and his sharp scales clicked and clacked against each other as he swam joyfully, likely giving any nearby fish the frights of their lives
Thankfully Raven point was filled with numerous pockets of land, which often provided homes to the nearby dragons, these pockets had ponds and shrubbery in them and were generally nearby to a water source if they didn't so it was the perfect place to raise and tame a dragon
And they had the best one there was, Delvin had specifically searched for these pockets when he was raising Snap-pine and after finding one of the few that had both running water and large amounts of space he had renovated it into the second home of sorts
Thanks to the assistance of Snap-pine acquiring and transporting objects and materials was extremely easy, Delvin had even at one point had him carve wood using his razor-sharp claws to create wooden training dummies that he had later used as a training facility for both himself and Snap-pine. And to top it all off he had created an entire false cover over the pocket, using trees knocked down in training as a roof and from there creating a false shrubbery over them that had a large openable hatch that allowed Snap-pine to fly in and out
He basically had a secret base
And once he fully stepped inside the base Snap-pine immediately caught his scent rushing over with enough excitement that a normal Viking would think they were being attacked
Careful to avoid being sliced, Delvin rubbed a hand on the beak of Snap-pine "I'm back" he told him, causing the large dragon to growl in excitement. "Now what have you been up to while I've been gone?"
Letting out a little eagle-like roar Snap-pine turned slowly and walked over to the lake he had just emerged from before picking up a few dead fish, impaled by his scales and giving a proud head bobble
"Breakfast huh?" Delvin asked, feeling his stomach growl in excitement at the idea, walking over to the table at the edge of the base he picked up a large plate and held it below the beak of Snap-pine who dropped them on with a look that said he was hungry "i never should have raised you on cooked meat, your so damn picky"
Walking over to the firepit (yes he has everything in this base) he stuck the fish on a skewer and lit the fire, gently seasoning as he went
"No, i can not make them cook faster!" Delvin snapped, getting tired of the way Snap-pine was looking at him, his beady eyes practically screaming the word "food" over and over again. "Why don't you use those practice targets i made for you yesterday" he admonished him, sounding like he was talking to a child, which in all fairness he kind of was, despite that seregios grow at an extreme rate
Giving a snuffle Snap-pine trudged over to the target range, the targets in the likeness of either Vikings or dragons before snarling and puffing up his scale only to send them flying into the vital points of the targets no matter the range. Always hitting either the head, throat, or heart
After a few more minutes and many more dead targets, the fish was cooked and Delvin called over Snap-pine to eat. From there they laid on their backs munching on fish as they stared up at the canopy
After a while Delvin eventually got up, taking his halberd and making his way to the training yard, Snap-pine walking only a few steps behind. Upon reaching the area Delvin took a place on one side and Snap-pine on the other before he started brandishing his weapon
"Let the spar begin"
The second those words left his mouth he instantly had to swing his halberd, sending away a collection of scales that were in a direct collision course with his, although the scales were not the larger ones that came from a seregios's neck and legs these came from under the wing and were equally sharp if not more deadly due to their small size, although they didn't pierce as far into the skin
Letting out an eagle on steroids screech Snap-pine flew up a few meters before immediately divebombing forwards with a clawed foot extended. Using the but of his halberd as a point of gravity Delvin pushed himself forward and under the claw, catching himself before he fell to the ground, easily avoiding the 4000-ton spiked dragon as it slammed into the ground
Taking advantage of his position Delvin spun round, hitting Snap-pines underbelly with the but f his spear, right on a nerve grouping that caused the dragon to immediately drop as it lost feeling in its legs
Walking up to the giant pinecones head Delvin gave Snap-pines large neck a gentle tap with the axe head of his halberd, indicating his win
"That's 26 to me and 14 to you i believe" he announced smugly, causing the dragon to give him what could be considered a dirty look "what? I've known all your weaknesses since you were a hatchling, beating me isn't that easy"
He was going to keep talking but he was stopped by the sound of a distant roar, a very familiar roar, as in the same roar he heard last night
"Sounds like someone found the Nightfury" he muttered to himself as he tapped another nerve on Snap-pine, freeing the muscles that had tensed and caused him to fall before giving him a pat on the head "looks like i gotta go bud, stay out of sight and try not to kill too many things that enter your territory," he told him before walking towards the ladder he had used to enter the pocket and climbed out
Eventual after following the following roars that he heard Delvin soon came across what he assumed to be the crash site unless a meteor happened to land while he wasn't watching
And what did he find when he got there?
A passed-out hiccup and what he assumed to be the remains of the net he caught the Nightfury with, the ropes cut
"By thor, you cause so many problems hiccup" Delvin muttered as he picked up the scrawny boy and put him on his shoulder
"Who the hell frees a Nightfury?