Shock and Awe
My imagination on what the episode of the upcoming Race to the Edge episode.
Early morning at Dragon's Edge, Fishlegs and Meatlug are in their rock garden, soaking up the sun and enjoying some relaxing time together.
Ruffnut and Tuffnut are running around their Bore-Pit, chasing the Chicken, laughing so loud, that Fishlegs and Meatlug can hear.
"Um, do you guys mind, trying to relax over here." Said Fishlegs in protest to their loud noise.
The twins ignored Fishlegs and continued like he wasn't even there.
Up at the club house, Hiccup is going over a large map with Astrid, who is standing next to him.
"So, we've explored these three islands thoroughly, and have these five left to check out." Said Hiccup with great enthusiasm.
"Those ones aren't as close as the others, so should we go as a group, or just us two like normal?" asked Astrid.
Hiccup thought about it for a moment.
"I mean, if we get into trouble, we'll have back up." Astrid added.
"It's a good point. But maybe if we visit the closest one, we should be okay." Suggested Hiccup.
Astrid nodded in agreement. "Now which one looks like the closest?"
They turned and looked at the map. They examined it for a moment and then pointed at the same island.
"That one." They both said, bumping each other's hand. They looked at their hands briefly touching, then slowly looked up into each other's eyes. Astrid, slightly pink in the face, smiled at Hiccup, and he returned that smile, then cleared his throat.
"Yeah, that one sounds like a good idea." Hiccup said as he walked over to Toothless, who was laying close by next to Stormfly.
Astrid folded up the map and walked over to join him. Toothless gave a low hum as Astrid scratched under his chin, before putting the map in Hiccup's satchel. "There you go."
Hiccup smiled and watched Astrid walk over to Stormfly. Then the door burst open.
"Where are you two going?" Asked Snotlout.
"We're going to scout a nearby island." Hiccup replied.
"I should come along, you know, to protect you Astrid." Snotlout said while grinning at Astrid, who rolled her eyes in protest.
"I don't need your protection Snotlout, nor do I want it." She said very firmly.
"Shhhhh shhhh it's okay Astrid, you don't need to hide how thrilled you are that I'm coming." Snotlout added with his usualy obnoxious demeanour.
Hiccup climbed on Toothless while silently laughing to himself. 'Poor Astrid' he thought to himself. 'Can't Snotlout get the picture?'
"Just ignore him, Astrid." Hiccup added.
"I always do." She proclaimed.
Fishlegs and the twins walked into the club house.
"What's going on in here?" Asked a curious Fishlegs.
"Well, Astrid and I are about to go and check out another island, and Snotlout is trying to charm Astrid, as usual." Hiccup informed them.
"Oh Snotlout, come on. Give it a rest." Fishlegs affirmed.
"Yeah, I mean, it's pretty obvious Astrid is in love with Hiccup." Tuffnut stated.
"What?" said a shocked Hiccup, as a blushing Astrid looked just as shocked.
'Of all Vikings to have noticed, Tuffnut?' thought Astrid.
"And it's totally obvious that Hiccup is in love with Astrid too." Ruffnut added.
"What?" said a shocked Astrid as Hiccup went stiff.
'Ruffnut noticed?' thought Hiccup.
"Yeah, it seems the only ones who haven't noticed are you three." Fishlegs said, pointing to gobsmacked Snotlout, a blushing Astrid and a stiff Hiccup.
Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other for what seemed like forever, until Astrid looked at the other Vikings.
"Whatever, we're going to check out an island." Astrid said as she motioned Stormfly to take off into the air.
"Yeah. If we're not back in a few hours, come after us." Added Hiccup as Toothless followed Stormfly and Astrid.
Snotlout motioned for Hookfang to come over, but the Monstrous Nightmare just growled as his owner and continued sun baking outside the club house.
"Hookfang!" said an annoyed Snotlout.
"It's never going to happen between you and Astrid, Snotlout. Move on and find someone else." Fishlegs said.
Snotlout looked up to sky and watched Hiccup and Astrid disappear into the clouds. He looked back down at the ground with a disappointed look, then after a moment, looked back up with a big smirk.
As Toothless and Stormfly flew side by side high up in the sky, Hiccup and Astrid were looking away from each other, both deep in thought.
Hiccups eyes moved to Astrid's direction, but then he looked back after a moment. Astrid also looked over at Hiccup, but then away again.
Hiccup finally broke the silence.
"So, uh. What the twins said. Crazy huh?"
"Uh, yeah. Crazy." Astrid added. They looked at each other intently, with hope on their faces.
"Is it though?" Astrid added.
Hiccup was taken aback by her question. He looked at Toothless, who looked directly back and made a reassuring hum towards his best friend. Hiccup patted Toothless, thank him for the encouragement.
"No." He finally said.
Astrid looked hopeful as she smiled at Hiccup. "So?"
"So, uh, well- "
Before Hiccup could say anything else, nets came flying out of nowhere at the dragon riders.
"Astrid look out!" Yelled Hiccup in a panic, as Toothless swerved out of the way, avoiding a net.
Stormfly was able to divert one net, but another came from behind her and caught Astrid, knocking her off of her dragon.
As Astrid plummeted for the ocean, Hiccup and Toothless swooped after her, catching her before she hit the water. Hiccup looked to see where the nets are coming from and saw Dagur's ships. He was responsible.
"What a lovely surprise to find you and your girlfriend, brother." Dagur yelled, followed by his crazy laugh.
"Stormfly!" Said Astrid from underneath Toothless, who was holding the net Astrid was in by his feet.
Hiccup looked in Stormfly's direction to see she was also caught in a net, falling to the ocean.
"No!" yelled a terrified Astrid.
Hiccup halted Toothless, knowing there was no way he could help Stormfly. He sat on Toothless, trying to think what he should do. He turned to Dagur and yelled.
"What do you want Dagur?"
"It's very simple brother. A trade. A Dragon, for another dragon. But not just any dragon. Give me your night fury, and I'll give your girlfriends Nadder back." Dagur said, knowing that it would be hard for Hiccup to choose.
Hiccup was lost with what to do. He couldn't give Toothless over to Dagur, but he couldn't hurt Astrid by leaving Stormfly in Dagur's hands.
"Let's discuss this like real Vikings Dagur. Over on that island." Hiccup called out.
Reluctantly, Dagur agreed. "In one hour, brother."
"Agreed" Said Hiccup and he motioned Toothless over to the island.
Toothless gently put Astrid down on the ground and then landed himself. Hiccup jumped off Toothless and went straight for Astrid.
"Are you okay?" He said reaching into the net and placing his hands on Astrid's shoulders.
Astrid grabbed Hiccup's arms, "Yeah, I'm fine. But Stormfly. Hiccup, what are we going to do? You can't give Toothless over to Dagur. He'll kill him."
"I know. I'm not going to. But don't worry, we'll get Stormfly back. Let's get you out of here first." Hiccup said getting a knife from his satchel.
He cut Astrid free from the net and then walked over to edge of the cliff and saw Dagur and his ships approaching. He got out his spy glass and searched for Stormfly. She was tied down to the back of the ship and looked very sad.
Hiccup gave the spy glass to Astrid so she could see that Stormfly was okay.
Astrid gave Hiccup his spy glass, and looking worried, she rested her head on his shoulder.
Hiccup rested his head on hers, "We'll get her back Astrid. I promise." He held her hand and gave it a light squeeze to reassure her. Astrid looked up into Hiccup's eyes and then asked, "So what's the plan?"
Hiccup turned and looked at the Horizon and with a determined look, he turned to Toothless.
Dagur walked up the beach as he herd Toothless make a loud call. He took out a sword and got his men to come a-shore.
Hiccup then emerged from behind a large boulder.
"Dagur. Why do you want Toothless?"
Dagur looked at Hiccup and made an evil grin.
"So that I can have a Night Fury and I will use him to destroy Berk and anyone who stands in my way." Dagur exclaimed.
"In your way to what exactly?" Hiccup asked with concern.
"To rule the Archipeligo." He yelled with a cunning that would fear any viking. Dagur's men cheered at his proclamation.
While Hiccup was keeping Dagur's attention on himself, and that of his men, Toothless, ridden by Astrid, had stealthily flown up into the clouds and then behind Dagur's ship. They silently flew down onto the ship and began to free Stormfly from the bondage that held her to the ship. Once Stormfly is freed, she takes off into the sky, followed by Toothless and Astrid.
Astrid instructured Stormfly to fly over the ship and behind Hiccup to back him up if he needed it. While she did this, Toothless fired on Dagur's ships, making it hard for him to follow them once they made their escape.
Dagur, became enraged and along with his men, charged at Hiccup. Stormfly jumped infront and growled at Dagur as warning, but he continued forward.
Toothless fired a plasma blast in front of Dagur, and he stopped. Hiccup jumped onto Stormfly, who then took off into the sky after Astrid. Toothless provided cover fire with multiple plasma blasts to aid Hiccup and Stormfly in their escape.
Dagur watched them fly away with anger and hatred in his eyes.
Back on Dragons Edge. The other riders were mounting their dragons to go after Hiccup and Astrid, when they saw Toothless and Stormfly heading for the clubhouse.
The dragons landed and Hiccup and Astrid dismounted Toothless and Stormfly.
"Uh, why are you too on each other's dragons?" asked a confused Tuffnut.
"We ran into Dagur. Long story short, he captured Stormfly but we rescued her." Hiccup informed them.
"No, you saved Stormfly." Corrected Astrid, as she walked over to Hiccup.
"We saved her together, Astrid." Hiccup stated as he reached for her hand and gave it a light squeeze.
"You faced Dagur and his men alone. You risked your life to save my dragon Hiccup." Astrid said kindly as she placed her hand on his heart.
Snotlout looked on with annoyance and then approached Astrid.
"You know if I was there Astrid, I'd have made sure that Stormfly wouldn't have been captured." Snotlout said obnoxiously.
Astrid turned and looked at Snotlout. "You're right about that Snotlout."
"I am?" Said Snotlout in shock.
"Yeah, you would have been captured instead and then we'd have to risk both our lives to save you." Astrid added.
Snotlout's face dropped, and he didn't know how to respond.
Astrid turned back to Hiccup. She looked into his eyes and smiled. "Thank you for getting me back my dragon."
Hiccup smiled back.
"Your welcome." And he embraced her, holding her tighly.
After a few moments, they broke apart and realised they were still with the group, who were all watching them with amused smiles on their faces. Except for Snotlout, who looked far from pleased.
Astrid decided to seize the moment. She leant into Hiccup and kissed him on the lips. Surprised, Hiccup stood still for a moment, then he slipped his hands into hers and he held them tightly.
Snotlout's mouth dropped and so did the other dragon rider's.
But for Hiccup and Astrid, they were completely alone, only with each other's company.