Disclaimer: I do not own How To Train Your Dragon. This is purely fanfiction, and I am gaining no profit from this.
I would like to apologize to another author. This story was originally named Shadow Rider, but I have been informed that the name has already been used. I sincerely apologize, and the name has now been changed.
This story follows the movie up through Hiccup winning the right to kill his first dragon then taking Astrid on a flight and seeing the dragon's nest. It begins once they have returned to the cove following that flight.
00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
"What are you going to do, Hiccup?" Astrid asked. "You can't kill that dragon tomorrow." She leaned back against Toothless as the dragon listened curiously to their conversation.
Hiccup groaned as he paced back and forth. "I have no idea. It's not like anyone's going to listen to me," he told her.
Astrid shrugged. "Make them listen."
She saw him get a faraway look in his eyes. It was an expression she had come to associate with him formulate an idea, often a crazy idea. "I would have the entire village's attention tomorrow. I could train the Nightmare in front of everyone."
"That might actually work." Astrid firmly believed that actions spoke louder than words, so she liked his plan. It didn't stop a small feeling of worry to creep up her spine, though. "So much could go wrong."
Hiccup paused in his pacing, and Astrid watched as he thought it over. "You're right. I'd have enough trouble training a dragon in ordinary circumstances, and this one's going to be surrounded by enraged Vikings. The second one of them- probably my dad- makes a threatening move, it's all over, and their hatred of dragons will be worse than ever." He threw his hands up. "And now we're back to square one."
"So, what are you going to do?" Astrid repeated her earlier question.
He shot her a look. "Why do you all of a sudden care what I'm going to do? Come up with your own plan if you care so much."
Astrid rolled her eyes. "Hiccup, contrary to popular belief, you really are quite intelligent. I may be able to fight, but you know how to plan if you bother to take your time rather than running off recklessly."
Hiccup opened his mouth to reply then paused. "Was that a compliment or an insult?"
She felt Toothless huff in what seemed suspiciously like a laugh from her position leaning against the dragon. "Hiccup, focus," she commanded. "What do we do?"
He began pacing again as she looked on, trying to come up with her own ideas as well. Suddenly, though, he paused. "We can buy ourselves time, at least."
"How. They're going to make one of us kill the dragon tomorrow."
"What if there was no dragon for us to kill?"
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
Astrid stayed close to Hiccup and Toothless as the trio crept into the dragon arena about an hour later. It was full night by that time, and no one would be in the area. Still, they kept to the darkest shadows. Toothless was on full alert, looking all about them, determined to protect his rider and his new friend.
There was no need for the caution, though. Anyone who might have been outside was more focused on dangers from the sky than a few figures moving across the ground. The slipped into the area without issue, and Toothless helped Hiccup open the first of the pens. Spines shot out of the pen as soon as the gate was out of the way, and Astrid barely dodged in time.
Toothless growled at the Nadder who strode forth into the arena. The dragon paused in surprise, looking in confusion between the Night Fury and the two humans it was protecting.
"It's okay," Hiccup told it. "We're just trying to set you free. He slowly walked forward, and Astrid readied herself to act. There was nothing to worry about, however. The dragon moved back and forth a few times in its birdlike way before allowing Hiccup to finally touch it.
Astrid took a moment to really look at the creature standing before her. The first time she had encountered this Nadder in the arena had been during training while she was looking at it as nothing more than an opponent to be defeated. Now, though, she really took in just how beautiful it was.
"Astrid?" Hiccup asked. She realized the he had moved away from the Nadder and was trying to get her attention.
"Sorry, I've always admired Nadder's for the fighting skill, but I've never really taken the time to really see how gorgeous they are. I'm glad-" She was cut off as the dragon bounded forward, straight toward her. Astrid didn't even have time to react before it happily nudged its nose against her then hopped back slightly.
Astrid looked at the dragon in shock as Hiccup laughed. "Apparently Nadders are quite vain," he told her. "Who knew?"
The Nadder hissed at him and shot a spike at his feet. Toothless seemed amused. Astrid laughed as Hiccup yelped. "Good dragon," she cooed to her new friend, reaching out a hand to pat the blue dragon. "Don't let Hiccup be mean to you."
The other dragons were released with much less drama. Even the Monstrous Nightmare was fairly complacent once it saw that the other dragons liked the two strange humans in the arena. Hiccup and Toothless led the free dragons out of the ring, and on a flight path that would hopefully let them escape Berk without being detected. He would sneak back into the village later. It would be easy for him to come back alone, so Astrid had agreed to stay behind.
Astrid watched the shadows fly off into the night once she had closed the Arena up behind them. Hiccup and Toothless couldn't even be seen in the sky, and the others were nothing more than vague shadows to her eyes.
They had made the right decision. The residents of Berk never would have allowed the dragons to live, and they definitely would have gotten themselves killed had they heard about the nest. Nothing was going to stop Stoick from hunting down every last dragon, no matter how dangerous. Astrid went to bed that night wondering what the next day would bring.
000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
"Where is it?" Stoick's angry voice boomed throughout the arena the next morning. Astrid was watching from the gate with Gobber as Hiccup stood in the center of the ring. The gate to the Nightmare's pen had been opened, but nothing came out.
In true Hiccup fashion, the thin boy headed over to the pen without heed of anyone's warning. "It's not here!" he exclaimed in what Astrid knew to be fake surprise.
"Gobber?" Stoick called down.
"It was here yesterday. Honest, Chief," Gobber answered, scratching his head.
"It's true," Astrid added. "We had training yesterday, and it was making a racket in its pen. It was definitely there."
They had opened up the gate at that point, and Stoick had entered the ring along with Astrid and Gobber. "This was to be your day of glory, Son," Stoick mourned.
"Gee, Dad, that's just too bad," Hiccup tried. "We'll just have to declare my training complete and all move on with our lives." Astrid almost laughed at how bad that attempt was.
"How could you say such a thing, Hiccup?" Stoick asked incredulously. "I will not rest until we get you a dragon to kill. Let's have the Nadder, then."
Gobber went over to open the door. "Come on, Dad," Hiccup tried again. "It really isn't that important. I've proven I can stand against a dragon. Let's just give up."
"Hiccup, this is your right!" Stoick argued. "I won't have you shaming this family by not being able to do this." Astrid winced. That wasn't going to end well.
"This one's gone too!" Gobber exclaimed.
"What?" Stoick asked, distracted.
Hiccup used the ensuing chaos as it was revealed that all the dragons were gone to escape the arena. Astrid followed him out, unnoticed by anyone. "Hiccup," she called after him.
He slowed slightly to let her catch up. "I'm really glad we got the dragons out of here when we did," he stated. "There is no possible way that could have gone well."
"What now?" Astrid asked a moment later. She noticed that they were heading back to Hiccup's house.
"I can't stay, obviously," Hiccup muttered.
Astrid jerked him to a stop. "But-"
He shook his head. "Think about it, Astrid. If any of them find Toothless, it won't end well. That's been made more than clear to me today. I can't keep him around here for much longer."
"Don't leave, Hiccup," she asked. The thought of never seeing him again was, shockingly, quite painful. She, of course, couldn't consider going with him. Her family was on Berk. Hiccup didn't have a life to abandon, but she did.
"Honestly, Astrid, other than Gobber, and recently you, no one is going to care whether I'm here or not. My father's going to miss the son he thought he had, not me, and the others are only going to miss picking on me. Let me go. Maybe I can do some good elsewhere. I can still visit you once in a while."
Astrid pulled him into a tight hug. "Be safe. Free as many dragons as you can. Find your place." She pulled back to look at him. "Believe me, Hiccup, if you don't contact me at least once a month, I will hunt you down."
His eyes widened. "I very much believe that."
"Go. Before everyone comes back." On an impulse, she darted forward and kissed his cheek.
"What was that for?" He sounded shocked.
Astrid shrugged. "You'll have to come back and ask me again."