Finding a headquarter

During the following week, Dovah and Eyepatch went every day in the forest to meet Grey and spent a part of their day with it. Each day they got closer and closer, and now Dovah isn't happy with how things are going.

Most of the time, Dovah spent around an hour with Grey before leaving to do his thing in the village. He likes to study and train in his free time and is old enough to do some work given to him.

His mom has been asking him to help with the leather work, and he has learned much about how to manipulate leather.

Dovah had made various belts, protective gear, and others in leather for the village, but he also made some for himself.

He is very proud to say that everything he is wearing that is made of leather was made by himself, his boots, his belt, and the sheath for his sword.

The problem for Dovah is that the time he uses going in the forest and getting back takes him a lot of time in the day.

He thought about some solutions like traveling faster, which would be very tiring. He also thought of getting transportation, but he couldn't think of anything that would work. There was also the possibility of simply stopping coming to see Grey, but Dovah rejected it as soon as he thought of it.

The solution he chose was to have a place outside the tribe to meet Grey where he could bring his stuff to work, study, train, or do dangerous experiments.

This place must be not far from the village, have a lot of space, and since Jeff often follows him, well hidden from sight.

This place can't be found everywhere, so he will start looking for it today with Grey and Eyepatch.

When he arrived in the forest and found Grey, the first thing he did was explain his plan for the day, and they immediately went looking. It will take them time to look in the forest on foot, and Dovah planned to use all day for this.

During the years Dovah spends in the forest, he has found different places that may work, but he needs to look closer before making a choice. He also wants to know what Dovah and Grey think about those places he considers, and their opinions are important to him.

Considering they can't talk, the best they could do is make an approving or a disapproving sound.

The first location they were looking at was a simple clearance in the forest. It was an ample clearance with only flat land. Many trees stop people from knowing there is a clearance there, but once you find it, there is nowhere to hide.

Eyepatch liked it, but it was more because it is always happy to be with Dovah and Grey.

Grey didn't like it and made sure Dovah knew it by shaking its head.

Grey's message was clear to Dovah, and to be frank, he didn't like this one either.

They quickly left for the next one to try to find something better.

The second location for the day was a cave. A drop of water dripped from a stalactite that fell on a stalagmite. Besides that, there was nothing special, it was also a little small, and there was no other access besides the one they were standing on.

Eyepatch liked it, but it was more because it is always happy to be with Dovah and Grey.

Grey felt it was cramped and didn't like the cave.

Dovah didn't like it at all. It was better hidden than the other one, but the only access made it easy to be trapped inside, and he didn't like that.

They continued to the following location without waiting once they decided to leave.

The third one was a plateau in the middle of the forest. This plateau has a lot of trees and grass growing, and there is even a small lake on it. There was a lot of life on it that made finding food easy. The plateau is hard to reach with a high cliff but easy to find. Yet, Dovah was lucky enough to find a small cave at the top of the plateau.

Eyepatch liked it, but it was more because it is always happy to be with Dovah and Grey.

Grey also liked this one. For Grey, the hard access isn't a problem since it can fly, and there it would be able to stay permanently in a secure location.

The Night Fury is used to spending the night with other dragons to protect itself from Vikings, but this place will allow it to stay alone.

Dovah didn't like that it was easy to find, but it was by far the best location he had in mind for now, and everyone seemed to like it. His only fear was Grey being seen by Vikings, but since the village looks like a small pile of wood from here, he doesn't worry much. Especially knowing that the plateau is so large, you need to be on the plateau to see what is on top of it.

This location seemed perfect for Dovah's future headquarters. Even more, if he hid the secret entrance more than that.

The plateau is vast, so even if they had already decided it would be a good place, Dovah needed to choose where he would install all his things on the plateau.

After looking around, the best place would be close to the lake to access water and fish.

It took them all day to do all that, and now the sun was setting, and Dovah needed to get home soon, but he still needed to talk to Grey a little before going.

"Fiouh! We walked a lot!

Grey, you can do whatever you want, of course, but I will come back here tomorrow to start bringing the tools I need to build everything I need, and with time this place will become our headquarters. I will continue to return to my home for the night and spend time with my parent, but I will come here every day to spend time with you."

Grey responded by making a cute croon in approval, but while talking, Dovah was rubbing its head, so it was hard to say whether Grey understood or was just happy.

"See you tomorrow!"

Dovah left the plateau with Eyepatch, sleeping on his shoulder because it was tired of flying around.

Today was a hard day of walking for Dovah, Eyepatch, and Grey. Dovah doesn't want to ask grey to carry him to fly because he is scared of losing the relationship he is just starting to build with Grey if he were to ask that.

When Dovah arrived at his home, it was already night, and as usual, when he got home, he ate, but this time his mom was waiting for him, and they talked about their day together while eating.

Dovah is happy to share stories about Grey with her, and he knows that his mom will not tell the other Vikings in the tribe about Grey.

Frida got close to dragons while being in contact with Eyepatch for seven years, and now she doesn't consider them her enemies. So it didn't bother her if her son spent time with a dragon. She even feels he is safe with Grey since it saved her son's life long ago.

After the meal, Dovah went to get a well-deserved sleep in his room while Frida was doing the same in her room.

This night he slept with Eyepatch on the bed like he had made a habit of for the past years.

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(If you spot mistakes, tell me, and I will correct them. Thanks)