Astrid was pissed, cold, wet, tired and did she mention she was pissed?
They had been combing the woods for Hiccup for over two hours, yet found no sign of him. He hadn't been seen since dragon training (in which he had beaten her again), which in itself wasn't unusual. What was unusual, however, was that he had not eaten lunch or dinner and could not be found in the forge or any of his usual haunts. So here they were, coming the woods for him at this ungodly hour. She stopped for a moment, and that's when she heard it.
The distinctive wingbeats of a night fury.
"Get down!" She yelled as it passed directly overhead, then had the most horrific thought. "There's a night fury on the island, and Hiccup is missing. What are the chances of Hiccup surviving a fight with a night fury?
Stoic went as pale as death, but was calm as he announced,
"Then we must avenge him. Follow that dragon!"
They headed in the direction that the dragon had gone, but would have lost it if it had not landed in the cove where they had stopped behind some rocks to wait. Astrid gestured to be quiet, leaning round the rock. But what they heard changed everything.
"We did it Bud, we did it!" Hiccup's voice echoed across the stones as the group shot confused glances at each other. "We got you to fly again!" The dragon humphed, as though contradicting him. "I know, I know, this is my fault to start with. I shot down a night fury, refused to kill it, then made friends with it. But at least I got one friend out of this mess."
Astrid was in shock. The rest of the group seemed to be experiencing the same symptoms. Behind her she heard Hiccup sigh, and the sound of clinking metal.
"I don't know what I'd do without you, Toothless. I really don't." There was a cooing sound that seemed to come from the dragon, followed by, "I won't let them hurt you, Bud. You know I won't. I don't know what to do about what we saw today, though." He blew out a breath, and it sounded like he was sitting down. "Save the dragons from a lifetime of enslavement to that - Red Death - and risk losing you while massacring my tribe, or let us stave while the dragons are forced to feed the Red Death or be eaten themselves." The dragon could be heard shifting, and it harrumphed in - understanding? - as he continued, "I don't know what to do Toothless, I really don't. But I'm glad you're here." Both boy and dragon could be heard shifting, then he said, "I'll sleep here tonight. It's not like anyone back at the village will care enough to look for me anyway."
Not long after, the boy and the dragon were breathing in the deep and even fog of sleep.
Stoic looked at the search party and said hoarsely,
"We need to talk. Let's go."
Astrid opened her mouth as soon as they could no longer hear the snores of the sleeping dragon.
"What the fuck just happened?"
Fishlegs leapt into a scientific explanation,
"It appears that Hiccup was not lying when he said he shot down a night fury, but couldn't actually go through with killing it and, in fact, released it from it's bonds. It also appears that the night fury was injured and could not fly, so he built an artificial tail and a saddle so he could control it. It also appears that the reason he wasn't here this afternoon was because he was flying.
"What did he mean," Stoic asked, "when he said that he at least got one friend out of this mess?"
"Didn't you know?" asked Astrid, confused.
"Know what?" Stoic could be truly terrifying when he wanted to be.
"Hiccup is an idiot who nobody likes, messes up at every turn and has no friends because he can't do anything." Snotlout gloated.
"Looks like he just proved us all wrong. He can do something - ride a fucking night fury. No wonder he's done so well in dragon training."
"What should we do now?"questioned Ruffnut shakily.
"What do you mean what should we do?" said Tuffnut and Snotlout, in equally confused voices. Snotlout continued, "We should kill the night fury - we are Vikings after all - go kill this 'Red Death' and talk some sense into Hiccup."
"Did you hear him?" Astrid nearly screamed. "That dragon is the only thing giving his life meaning." She stared at the blank faces around her. "He's never had anyone who cared before. If he does anything outside of the forge, people would criticise him for it. So he kept to himself, and never told anyone anything about himself. Then he shoots down this dragon, and goes to kill it to save face. But he can't, and this dragon - Toothless, whatever - became that person who cared, who listened. And now you want to take that away from him." Her face set in determination.
"I'm going to meet this Toothless. Do what you will."