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Gotham was cold, dreary, wet, and overall generally unappealing and miserable. There were few people who genuinely loved their island home. Tim's older brother, Dick, was one of few. Tim didn't particularly mind it too much to be fair. It was all he, along with almost every other viking in their village, had ever known. The only viking who knew what it was like outside the archipelago was the village chief.
Bruce the Dark. The chieftain of Gotham. Tim was… well he wasn't really the chief's son, but he lived with him and his heir, who was Dick. Their chief kept them safe and led them with wisdom. They all followed his lead.
However, there was one tiny little detail that made living on the island of Gotham a tad bit difficult.
It really wasn't much. Honestly you barely even noticed.
Tim ducked as a burning house fell down and sent debris flying towards him.
“Get down!”
He hit the dirt floor as a blast shook the earth.
You see, Gotham, like many other viking settlements in their little archipelago, had a bit of a pest problem. While most places had maybe mice, or rats, birds that left farmers’ fields barren, even wolves that stole from a shepherd's flock, unfortunately they had something a little trickier to eliminate.
Tim dodged as a giant dragon flew over his head. In its claws it carried one of their sheep. He swore and ran up to the house to get one of his new, untested inventions. The chief didn't really mind his tinkering, not like the other vikings did. Most didn't understand it. Tim knew better though, his inventions were the key to solving their dragon problem. As he ran up the hill to the chief's house, he looked back at the village. Dragon's fire raged and a swarm of the beasts dug into their stocks. Fish was gulped down by maws filled with teeth and long cage-like claws snatched their livestock from their fold. Even the little dragons snuck around and could be seen dragging away small things like bread.
He turned back to the hut and slipped inside and ran up the stairs to his loft.
Tim dug through piles of papers and various contraptions looking for the item in mind.
“Oh come on! Where is it?” He muttered impatiently.
He could hear the rest of the vikings yelling orders. He needed to be out there. Dick was probably leading the rest of their generation through putting out fires and capturing the tiny dragons. Maybe they were even going after some of the bigger ones. Tim needed to be out there. He needed-
The house shook and fire exploded from every crack, crevice, and hole. Tim stumbled and fell as the wall was torn down. His papers caught on fire and he scrambled to put them out. The house trembled as a dragon with an owlish look crept inside. Tim turned just in time to find the intruder looking at him curiously.
He froze.
Why hadn't it moved to kill him.
Eat him.
Tear him limb from limb.
Why?
The dragon blinked and it's head twisted in a way he had only seen in owls. He tried not to move. Maybe it hadn't seen him? Yet the dragon crawled forward and stretched a curious claw out to him. His eyes darted towards his sword leaning against the wall and his fingers twitched to go grab it. Yet he didn't. The claw gently poked at him and the beast's head tilted back to it's natural position. It made a crooning noise in the back of it's throat and Tim felt his brain melt like if he'd been struck by lightning.
“You- you didn't kill me…” he said in disbelief.
The dragon blinked.
Tim looked at it with wide eyes, “You're… this isn't as simple as it seems is it?”
The winged lizard, being a creature of the non-talking variety, didn't grace Tim with a response. Instead it stuck it's short snout towards him and curiously sniffed him. His heart was pounding and he felt faint but he let it. The invention was long forgotten. He itched to touch it. Suddenly he needed to understand it, learn more. However before he could move a muscle. The chief himself busted down a burning door and climbed a flight of stairs just to find Tim at the mercy of a dragon. A dragon who looked one step away from eating Tim.
Tim froze and looked to Bruce in terror, though not for the reason Bruce assumed.
“Bruce- wait!”
The chief cloaked in black furs rushed the dragon, sword raised and poised to kill. The dragon was faster though, despite being nearly the size of their humble home. Not before snatching Tim and taking him along with it. Tim clasped firmly within strong claws. Bruce's desperate yell caught and lost on the wind in Tim's ears.
Tim watched in horror as his home burned, as he was flown away from it with each wingbeat. Surely this dragon had deemed him worthy of being eaten. Tim was reduced to awaiting his fate.
Except…
They'd been flying for hours and hours. Through the night, through the day, through the fog that bordered their homeland. Into lands that Tim had only heard about in stories. Strange dragons began appearing next to Tim's. Sharp eyes watched him and warbles and chattering chirps sounded as the flock of mismatched beasts communicated. Tim's dragon simply ignored it. They flew for so long that Tim was sure that he had been pronounced dead. Maybe even had funeral rites.
Then a cold front of air hit them and Tim's dragon and the flock dove down. Down, down, down until clouds gave way to chilly seas. Colder than Tim had ever experienced even in his home archipelago. The group was heading straight for the biggest iceberg he had ever seen. Even in Gotham's worst winters they had never seen an iceberg like this. It was less like an iceberg and more like a mountain of ice. It was like it was deliberate. And the dragons were heading straight for it. Tim figured he was about to become a shared meal. As if knowing Tim was thinking about it, his dragon captor looked down at him and crooned. The dragon banked hard and dove once more, till Tim could see an entrance to the ice mountain.
They flew into the mountain and the cave tunnel narrowed considerably until it gave way to a chamber of sorts. Various dragons toddled around, some disappearing down a different tunnel. Tim's dragon landed and he was tossed to the cold stone floor with a grunt.
“Guess this is it huh?” Tim asked the flock.
His dragon tilted it's head and began to leave. In a twisted way, it made Tim sad to not have the dragon he'd been around the longest be around. Even if it was to eat him. Now he felt truly alone. The rest of the pack swarmed him, boxing him in. They all grumbled and chittered. Tim felt back on himself and tried to scoot away.
“Go- go away! I'm really bone-y! No meat! Leave me be! I taste terrible!” He defended.
The dragons froze for a moment, as if listening to him. Then they opened their jaws and lit a fire. Like some sort of living hearth.
Great. They were gonna cook him first!
The group parted and Tim was surprised to see his dragon return. It looked… smug? It also had a weird limp to it, it's wing was lumpy. Strange. Then as the circle of dragons reformed, his strange beast lifted a wing. Tim gasped as a creature on four legs crawled out. It looked like maybe it could be human but it's face was covered with scales and horns and the way it moved was unnatural.
Tim scooted as far back as he could go, back hitting stone.
“S-stay away!” Tim yelled at the inhuman creature.
It tilted it's head and Tim froze. It stalked forward and suddenly Tim realized just how big it was. If it had been human it would've been nearly as big as his chief. Tim shied away from the thing as it reached a clawed hand out to touch him.
Then, Tim's eyes latched onto the way the claws fell back. Fabric held them to a wrist. Attached to the wrist were fingers. Flesh and blood fingers. Human hands. This thing was human! He froze as fingers gently touched his jaw. He fought the instinct to jerk away. Tim's eyes scanned the maybe-human and noted the way the scales were fastened into armor. How the scaled face and horns were really a mask. The hand pulled back like it had been burned before the thing fully retreated and then, much to Tim's shock, it paced.
Tim watched as the thing paced before it stopped and turned to him slowly. Suddenly Tim felt fear return in full force.
Slowly, so slow that Tim wondered if he was about to be devoured by some entity from Hel itself, the thing placed it's hands on it's mask. Then with slow, deliberate movements, it raised it's mask and revealed a man's face. Tim stared.
Black hair, a white streak through one of the locks of hair on his forehead. Eyes the color of the sea glass that washed on the shores of Gotham. A scar, right on his chin. One that had been obtained from a nasty fight with his older brother. All details that Tim had known about but never seen for himself.
Tim exhaled heavily as he took in what he was seeing.
“You… you're dead.” He said softly.
The human man glared at him, “What are you doing here? Are you a hunter?”
Tim gaped, “What? No! That dragon stole me from our home and dropped me here!”
The man narrowed his eyes, “What do you mean ‘our’ home?”
“Gotham. You're the chieftain's dead son, aren't you? You're Jason…” Tim said it was a secret being shared.
Jason snarled, “I am not his son.”
Tim raised an eyebrow, “But you don't deny the rest.”
The living ghost seethed, “He abandoned me! He left me to die and never once came looking for me! He is not my father!”
Tim scoffed, “Bruce grieved for months past the traditional grieving period. We held a funeral. You were carried off by a dragon in the night! What were we to think?”
“You people didn't care! You abandoned me!” Jason yelled.
He felt anger rise in himself, “You cannot possibly blame us for thinking you were dead! No one had ever survived being taken before! There was no proof! Besides, obviously you're doing just fine and could have returned!”
Jason glared, “I have no home to return to! These dragons, Cloudjumper here, they saved me. I would have died without them.”
Tim huffed in disbelief, “You'd rather stay here with dragons?”
“They're not what vikings think they are.” Jason defended bitterly.
Tim sighed, “I know. I know that now.”
Tension melted and Jason sighed, “Come with me.”
Tim followed the ghost through thin passageways. Stone gave way to thick ice and he watched in awe as it revealed a paradise inside the ice stronghold. Dragons of every color and shape and size swarmed the lush inner world and Jason guided Tim to the edge of it all. Tim gasped as the ice base shifted and rose. Massive eyes the size of his old house watched him and he stood frozen in fear as a dragon the size of an island came face to face with him.
“That's the wilderbeast.” Jason explained, “He's the king. He built this fortress. He protects the dragons. The alpha of them all.”
Tim stumbled back as the wilderbeast huffed icy breath at him. His hair was covered in frost. He shook it out and watched in awe as it sank back to the bottom of the cavern.
“He's huge.” Tim said in disbelief.
Jason gave a deep chuckle, “Yeah. He is.”
Tim looked at the other man, “You've really been here this whole time?”
He nodded, “Yeah. Protecting them.”
“From hunters?” Tim guessed.
A nod, “They're getting bolder.”
Tim hummed, “What will you do?”
“Whatever I have to.” Jason finished easily.
Tim was surprised by the conviction. He didn't really get it. Sure maybe dragons weren't completely evil, but he didn't understand it.
Jason seemed to sense his internal struggle.
“Come on. It's dinner time.”
Tim followed Jason as they weaved through crevices and caves. All the way till they were back in the biting cold wind of the cold arctic land they had found themselves in. Then Tim watched in disbelief as the dragon that had stolen Tim knelt for Jason to mount like a horse.
Jason held a hand to him, “Come on.”
Tim laughed, “You're nuts.”
The older rolled his eyes, “Don't be a coward. Cloudjumper doesn't bite.”
“Yeah but he does seem to like kidnapping vikings…” Tim muttered as he carefully used Jason's hand to pull himself up onto the back of the dragon.
Once he was settled, Cloudjumper lurched upwards into the sky. Tim yelped at the motion and his arms desperately clung to Jason's form in front of him. He flushed as Jason laughed.
“Relax, you'll like it.” Jason said from in front.
Tim really tried to take Jason's advice. He couldn't bring himself to let go of the other, but he did force his eyes open instead of squeezing them shut. He was greeted with crisp blue skies, wispy clouds brushing his face, and the sight of Jason looking back at him with a carefree smile. He flushed.
“It's amazing right?” Jason asked confidently.
Tim nodded, “It's freeing.”
Jason hummed in agreement, “I don't know why Cloudjumper brought you to me. But clearly you're like me. More than back on Gotham.”
Tim said nothing, though he didn't deny the connection he felt.