Chapter 30

Ignatius flailed as the strange Dragonborn lady seemingly dragged him along with wind,  trying to get out of the gust's grip. The woman, who he assumed was Hiccup's mother, landed near a strange door in a pillar-thingy, raising her hands and slowly letting Ignatius fall to the ground. 

"Come along now," she said, not giving him much of a choice as she dragged him through the doorway. 

"Uh, could you not-" she let go of her grip on him, making him fall to the floor with an oomph. 

"Oh, sorry, dear," she said, picking him up again and placing him on his feet. 

Why was she so strong? She literally tossed Ignatius around like he was nothing. Then again, he didn't really weigh much at the moment. 

The woman picked up two rocks that sat off the the side, striking them against each other. Her eyes began to glow blue again, making Ignatius brace to be tossed into the air by wind again. But instead, she sent a gust into the spark the rocks created, making a fire billow into the air, and she sent it spiraling up the pillar, lighting all the torches. 

Ignatius's jaw dropped, amazed by her power. "How did you-?" 

The woman laughed, "Oh, just a Dragonborn trick. I have had fifteen years of practice." 

Ignatius's brows raised. 

"Yes, I'm older than you'd think," she said with amusement. "Now come. You must be bathed. You look like you haven't been washed in years." 

She grabbed his arm again, ignoring his slight frown at her comment, and dragged him to a doorway that lay slightly hidden on the far side of the first floor. With her still startlingly strong arms, she swung the door open, dragging Ignatius down into a dark spiraling staircase. They seemed to descend deeper and deeper into the ground, but Ignatius could feel the temperature begin to rise the farther down they went. 

They stepped out into a large cavern, a large hot spring bubbling in the center of it, and glowing algae climbing the stalactites that hung from the ceiling. 

'Whoa,' Ignatius thought. 

"Now, over in that cabinet is everything you need," the woman said, gesturing to the wooden cabinet that stood to the right of the doorway. "There's soap on the top shelf, and a couple clean robes and towels you are free to use and take." 

"Okay," Ignatius said after a moment, still slightly confused by the very kind but weirdly strong woman that he still didn't know the name of. 

"Oh, and be a dear and just leave your clothes down here," she said before she started climbing the steps. "Feel free to come back upstairs in a robe. I do apologize, but those clothes have seen far better days. I'll go get started on making you a new set right away." 

She flew up the stairs before Ignatius could respond. 

Ignatius turned away, relaxing as he looked around the space. There didn't seem to be anything that could threaten him, so he turned to the cabinet. Opening it, he found the soap and robes and towels Hiccup's mother had mentioned. He hesitantly reached for the soap. 

'As long as the soap isn't laced with poison ivy, I think I'll be fine.' 

* * * 

Ignatius climbed back up the stairs carefully, not quite trusting the robe to stay. He didn't think he'd ever used a robe. In the Sweeper Nest, the only other intelligent creatures were the Sweepers, and they didn't give a flying fuck about him being naked. Not that they liked him that much anyways. And he didn't remember the days when he lived with humans that well. But at least the robe had holes for his wings and tail. 

When Ignatius reached the top of the stairs, slightly out of breath, he looked up to see where the buff woman was. He couldn't see her, so he began to climb up the stairs in search of her. The place was very interesting, with a decoration style that Ignatius wasn't sure he'd seen before. He hadn't seen any human things in a while (besides the ship where he was shackled and nailed to the wall, but that probably didn't count), but he was fairly sure that he was pretty far away from where he was born. 

He climbed up to the second floor, where Ignatius found her standing before a mannequin, with a beautiful looking garment on it that she could not have possibly made in such a short time span, so was definitely not for him. 

"What is that?" Ignatius asked anyways. 

"Oh good, you're all done," the woman exclaimed, turning around and ushering him into the room. "Those are your new clothes!" 

Ignatius blinked. "What?" 

She hummed in confirmation, "Do you like it?" 

Ignatius stepped toward the clothes, his fingers brushing over the soft fabric delicately. It was obvious that she found inspiration from his old clothes, if that was even possibly with the state of disrepair that they were in. After becoming Dragonborn, Ignatius had stolen a toga from one of the rich boys that always looked down on the poor folk, which clearly shone through in the beautiful clothing that the wonderful Dragonborn lady had made for him. 

Like togas, the entire thing was nearly all white, with a long, knee length tunic made of what looked like a fabric made of wool and linen, with a white leather belt with a silver clasp. The tunic had silver embroidering that flowed down the long bell sleeves, almost looking like silver flames that wrapped around the lengths of them before they vanished into the cuffs of the sleeves. Beneath the belt of the tunic, more silver stitching was etched into the fabric, zig zagging around the tunic all the way to the hem. 

"Of course, I made some pants for when the weather gets to cold," the woman said, making Ignatius turn around and see her holding up a pair of simple white pants that matched the tunic. 

"How did you do all this?" Ignatius asked, disbelieving.

"Oh," the woman laughed, "I have my ways." She set the pants down on the work desk. "Now, try them on. I'll be back in a moment." 

She walked out of the room, heading up the stair case. Ignatius turned to the tunic again, and carefully began to take it off the mannequin. Thankfully, there were undergarments beneath the tunic, and he quickly began to change. The beautiful white fabric hung slightly loose on his body, obviously intended for him to grow out into once he started building muscle again. 

'Buff Lady is really perceptive,' Ignatius thought to himself. 

After everything was on, Ignatius surveyed himself. The clothes were surprisingly comfy, and he liked how much shape the belt and the bell sleeves added to his currently malnourished figure. Not to mention how beautiful the silver embroidery was. He seriously could not figure out how Hiccup's mother  was able to do it in such short of time. Maybe it was a mom thing or something.

The woman walked back into the room, carrying a small box. "All done?" 

"All done," Ignatius confirmed. 

"Good." She opened the box, and pulled out a pair of simple leather boots with tufts of some kind of white fur poking out of the throat of the shoe. "I didn't have time to make you a brand new pair of shoes, and I had these ones lying around." 

She handed the shoes to Ignatius who took them gratefully. 

"Thank you," he said earnestly. "You really didn't have to do all this." 

"Oh, nonsense," she said, waving him off. "Now, tell me, what's your birth name?" 

"Ignatius," he responded. 

"What a unique name," she commented. "And my birth name is Valka." 

"Okay," Ignatius nodded. Good to know. Buff Lady = Valka. 

"Now, come along," she said, walking towards the doorway. "I have more things to give you and questions that require answers." 

"Okay," Ignatius said again, quickly slipping the shoes on, the fur lining comfy and warm . 

As they walked up the steps, she began asking him questions. 

"How long were you captured by the Dragon Hunters?" 

"Not sure. Maybe a couple weeks."

"And how many people saw you? Were you in your half dragon, dragon, or human form?" 

"I think the crew members had shifts to bring me water. Maybe ten or twelve of them. And I was in my half dragon form the whole time." 

She nodded, her eyes now sharp and calculating. "And were you rescued before Viggo could get a glimpse at you?" 

"Who's Viggo?" Ignatius asked. 

"The leader of the Dragon Hunters," she responded. "And considering you don't know him, I will assume that he never saw you. Which is a very, very good thing. If Viggo saw you, there is no doubt that he would immediately assume that there were more of us, and begin looking for us. But now that you've escaped, Viggo will only be hunting for you as a confirmation to our existence." 

Ignatius nodded. He would have to be a lot more careful about where he shifted into his half dragon form. And probably more careful of where he was flying. From what Toothless and Hiccup had told him, there weren't very many Sun Sweepers around here. Probably none, actually. Especially if Toothless and Hiccup were the only Moon Sweepers. 

"I'll be careful," Ignatius told Valka. 

"Good," she said, nodding. 

They reached the top of the stairs, which opened out into a small bedroom. Immediately, the mirror on the wall caught Ignatius's eye, and he moved to stand in front of it. The boy looking back at him looked deathly. Dark circles hung beneath his eyes, the white clothes hung off of his skinny figure more than he thought they did, and his poor wings looked like they hadn't been used in years. 

"Don't stare too long," Valka advised, her soft voice making him flinch out of his thoughts. 

"Okay," Ignatius said, turning his back to the mirror. 

Valka walked towards the wardrobe, opening one of the drawers and pulling out a hair brush. 

"Here," she said, handing the brush to Ignatius. 

He took it gratefully, turning to the mirror again and beginning to meticulously untangle his hair. Thankfully, he had been able to wash all of the dirt and grime out of it when he bathed, but the strands were still severely tangled. His hair was something that he was once very proud of, its bright white color falling all the way down to his lower back. He hadn't been able to show it off in a while, having lived only with dragons for the past five years of his life. But now that he was around other living things that had hair again, maybe that would change. 

Valka sat on the bed and watched him slowly work his way up his hair, waiting kindly for him to finish. After a while, his hair finally began to untangle. The strands shone brightly, almost looking silver as their soft waves flowed down his body. A contented sight left his throat when he was done, happily brushing his fingers through his hair. 

"Thank you," Ignatius said to Valka, moving to hand the brush back to her. 

"Keep it," Valka said, pushing the brush back towards him. "I have plenty others." 

Ignatius smiled thankfully, slipping the brush into one of his silver belt loops. The expression felt strange on his face, but he was truly grateful. He still wasn't entirely sure if he trusted these Dragonborn not to turn on him, but they seemed nice enough for now.