8D
"I'm pretty sure if you stare any harder, he's going to notice." Astrid's voice pulled Hiccup abruptly out of his thoughts. He tore his eyes from watching Tuffnut teach a group of children how to approach a Zippleback to look at his best friend. Astrid gave him a smothered grin, one eyebrow quirked to her hairline.
"You know … I remember when you used to look at me with that face." She muttered softly, soapy hands running a wet cloth over her Nadder's flank. Hiccup's finger wrung out his own rag, spilling dirty water onto the ground. There was a thick fog hovering over the entire island -- the best weather they'd had in a few weeks. Astrid had pestered Hiccup incessantly about taking a rest from his duties as the Village Chief and enjoying the break in rain to give their dragons a good scrub-down. It had taken two instances of stealing Hiccup's prosthetic leg to get him to agree.
Currently, Toothless was sleeping down in the ravine where he and Hiccup had first met, but Hiccup planned on fetching the Night Fury once he and Astrid finished with Birdbeak.
Mulling over Astrid's words, Hiccup scowled.
"What face? I'm not giving anyone ANY face. Do you have a problem with how I look?" He retorted, shaking the cloth and dipping it into their shared bucket of sudsy water. He scrubbed underneath a few of Birdbeaks scales, ignoring when the Nadder trilled in surprise and gave his wings a warning flap. Astrid paused a moment to watch him before she rolled her eyes, using her forearm to wipe away a few beads of sweat from her forehead and washing Birdbeak's hindquarters. The dragon gave out a bird-like coo in delight, shifting to give Astrid a better angle when she started cleaning between his tail-spikes.
Hiccup's gaze trailed from Birdbeak's shoulder and over to the group of kids, watching Tuff gently guide the youngest one to press its hand again the left head of his Zippleback. The kid squealed when tiny tendrils of green smoke curled from its teeth, but Tuffnut quickly fisted his hand to bop the beast on the nose. It looked apologetic for a moment, head twisting to and fro.
"Well, when you're done 'not giving Tuff any faces', I'd appreciate if you actually helped wash my dragon instead of just pretending to."
Hiccup snapped his head back to his best friend, giving her a displeased look. He pursed his lips into a frown for a moment and reached out to give Birdbeak a quick rub at along the back and underside of his jaw.
The Nadder squawked, eyes rolling up into his head before flopping uselessly into the dirt, kicking up soil that was still moist from the previous night's rain.
Astrid didn't respond at first, staring at where her dragon was now lying, dirt sticking to its wet underside, and then back to Hiccup.
"Hiccup...." She snarled, fisting her right hand and looking up at the young chief. The rag that she was now gripping ferociously began to drip water on the ground before Astrid flung it at Hiccup's face.
Hiccup barked out a laugh, ducking to the side to avoid the weak attack. He opened his mouth to apologize when Birdbeak's head shot up, eyes wild. Astrid jumped in surprise when the large dragon leapt to its feet, staring towards the fog-shrouded shoreline.
"Birdbeak? You okay, pal?" Astrid asked softly, reaching out to put a hand on her dragon's neck. The large beast hissed, crouching low as his tail began to shake, spikes making a low rattle. Hiccup squinted at the shoreline, barely seeing faint lights through the gray haze that hid most of the upper island from sight.
Astrid reached out to press her hand against the side of Birdbeak's head, jerking back with a shout when the dragon snapped its jaw at her. "Woah!" Astrid gasped, turning to Hiccup as if the young chief could provide answers.
Hiccup's scowl deepened and he looked back to the training arena just a few hundred feet away. Two Zipplebacks were snapping at each-other, all four heads making loud ululating shrieks as a green mist started to conceal the children and Tuffnut from sight.
Hiccup pressed a hand to Astrid's arm. "I'm gonna go help Tuff out. Start sending the villagers inside. I've got a bad feeling about this." Astrid stared at Hiccup for a moment before nodding. She gently approached Birbeak a second time, waiting until the dragon didn't snap before leaping onto its neck. They were off in an instant, nothing but dirt and a gust of wind in their wake.
Hiccup watched the air for a moment, glancing to the foggy shoreline as faint shouts from the lower levels reached his ears. The kids were getting progressively louder, their chattering of fright being enough for Tuffnut to yell at the entire group to "Pipe down before I string the lot of you to the roof by your toes!'
Hiccup wrenched his gaze from the growing series of lights and began to jog over to the group of kids, nodding in greeting to Tuffnut. The boys instantly started puffing their chests out, each of them trying to impress their young chief. Tuffnut noticed the concerned purse of Hiccup's lips and the frown on his friend's face instantly, jerking a hand at the students.
"All right, all of you, scram!" He barked, waving an arm at them and causing the kids to scatter in fright at their teacher's sudden roar. Hiccup rolled his eyes and Tuff flicked a long lock of golden hair over his shoulder.
Hiccup didn't speak for a moment, eyes following the motion of Tuffnut's Zippleback –Sigrun - as the two heads snapped in irritation at one another - something surprisingly uncommon for the blond viking's dragon.
Hiccup looked back over his shoulder, hearing more dragons all throughout the island making a raucous. The faint orange specks that he'd seen through the fog were bigger now – bobbing balls of light that Hiccup couldn't identify. His nerves began to tense, a faint panic coiling low in his gut and making the Viking turn back quickly to his friend.
"Have you noticed –"
"How the dragons are on edge?" Tuff interrupted, jerking his thumb at Sigrun "Yeah. I think they hear something. Boats maybe?"
Hiccup shook his head. "We didn't send any fleets out." He paused, going over a mental attendance sheet of all the villagers. "The cartographer's not supposed to be back for another few days."
Tuffnut opened his mouth to respond whenever Sigrun's two heads released deafening whoops that forced both Vikings to clap their hands over their ears. They turned to face the Zippleback, watching as the dragon started flapping its wings in alarm, heads raised to the foggy sky and bellowing loudly. The sound was soon echoed by many of the other dragons throughout the island, shrieks and roars that drowned out all other noise.
"What are they doing!?" Hiccup called out over the cacophony, palms smashed against his ears. Tuffnut shook his head.
"Its some kind of alert! They only do this when there's danger nearby!"
Hiccup opened his eyes from where he'd clenched them shut in pain due to the sheer volume of noise, watching as Sigrun's two heads continued to bleat at the heavens, large body scrabbling back and forth in the small training area.
"What do –" Hiccup cut himself off when a high whistling noise pierced through the chaos. Tuffnut's face grew into a look of horror and Hiccup whirled around just as a giant flaming ball of rubble shot past, blasting into one of the nearby homes and decimating it.
In an instant, Hiccup was bolting downhill as fast as he could with his prosthetic leg. The closer he got to the village, the more his dread and horror grew. It was his childhood all over again – homes aflame as villagers ran helter skelter in an attempt to form some line of defense against the attackers. Hiccup continued running, looking skyward for attacking dragons and finding none. His eyes fell to the shoreline as another ball of fire shot from somewhere along the foggy waters, smashing into the side of a water-pillar and collapsing it.
A rush of wind came from behind him and Hiccup threw his gaze to the right to see Tuffnut flying up on Sigrun, reaching for the young chief.
Hiccup's hand flew out, grasping onto his friend's outstretched arm and allowing himself to be wrenched up onto the Zippleback's neck. Wrapping an arm loosely around Tuffnut's abdomen, Hiccup leaned forward so the blond Viking could hear him.
"The attack is coming from the shore! Toothless is at the ravine just beyond Raven's Point!" Hiccup pressed his chest firmly against Tuff's back as he spoke, wind whipping violently around them.
Tuffnut nodded, bringing up his dragonhorn necklace and blasting two quick notes. Instantly, a Timberjack that had been avoiding catapult fire twisted its head to face the two Vikings. It squawked, swiftly flying over to hover beneath Sigrun's head that held the two men. Tuff motioned to the Timberjack.
"Tyra will take you past Raven's Point!" Tuffnut called out over the roar of battle and wind. Hiccup patted Tuff's shoulder, swinging his leg over Sigrun's neck to jump off.
Before either men could react, the hook of Hiccup's prosthetic caught one of the saddle ropes, swinging Hiccup underneath of Sigrun's belly. Hiccup's breath escaped him as he dangled for a moment, arms flailing to try and find something to hold onto. He didn't have a chance to even reach for the Timberjack below them when his prosthetic slipped from the ropes, sending Hiccup spiraling through the air.
Hiccup's eyes clenched shut as wind whipped all around him. He could hear Tuffnut screaming his name from up above, along with a shriek from both Sigrun and the Timberjack. Hiccup forced his eyes open, squinting through the stinging air to see a dark blur pierce through the fog. He reached an arm out, fingers barely grasping to the hind leg of the Timberjack that Tuffnut had summoned and using all of his meager upper body strength to pull himself on the beast's back.
The Timberjack squawked, flapping its wings to gain altitude and bring them back up through the fog. Hiccup maneuvered himself on the dragon's back, careful to avoid touching the razor sharp scales of its wings. Once Tuff and Sigrun were back in sight, Hiccup threw a hand towards where he could hear the chaos of the village.
"Go get Snotlout and your sister – take out those catapults! I'm going to find Toothless!" He yelled over the roar of wind and battle. Tuffnut nodded, turning to guide Sigrun to the village when he looked back over his shoulder.
"Be careful!" He warned, soon disappearing beneath the fog.
Hiccup pressed a hand to the side of the Timberjack's neck. Some dragons understood their language well enough, while others were better at grasping hand signals and other forms of direction. Not sure which method would work best with the unfamiliar dragon, Hiccup gently dug the heel of his shoe into the animal's side.
"Head for Raven's Point, make it fast!" He shifted his foot, getting ready to try and use the directional signal again when the Timberjack let out a roar and shot off for the ravine.
No matter how fast any dragon flew, it was still a good few minutes to reach Raven's point. The Timberjack was one of the faster dragon breeds, but it was taking long enough that Hiccup became immersed in his thoughts.
His worry for the safety of their village was the main thought in his mind – knowing that the death of his father and many of the older Vikings was still fresh in everyone's hearts. It had been less than two years ago when Stoick and crew had gone to find more food for the winter, only for the entire ship to catch wind of a deadly sickness that left no survivors. It had been painstaking to quarantine the remaining men to their deaths upon their return, and Hiccup's mind never let him live it down.
The edge of Raven's point was drawing near. Hiccup tensed, eyes already trying to make out Toothless through the fog and trees. They breached the cliffs leading into the ravine and Hiccup had opened his mouth to call for Toothless when the sound of cannon fire reached his ears.
Hiccup grabbed the Timberjack's neck, trying to get the large beast to move out of the way when they were hit with a large, weighted net. The young Viking chief shouted in surprise as the Timberjack's wings were forced around his body, the both of them plummeting to the ground. Hiccup inhaled sharply , pain tearing through his body as the dragon's sharp scales ripped open every part of Hiccup's skin that they touched.
Breath coming out in shallow gasps, Hiccup tried to get to his knife to cut the net. His hands slipped on everything, gashed open and slick with blood. He caught a glimpse of the approaching ground between the Timberjack's wing and neck, dread growing at the sight of a restrained Toothless surrounded by men Hiccup had never seen before.
Hiccup's fingers grasped onto the handle of the knife in his belt just as they slammed into the unforgiving ground. Pain flared for a moment and then there was nothing but overwhelming darkness.
8D