Your first thought when you clicked this fic was probably along the lines of 'Oh no she didn't…'
Oh, yes I did. }
The rating is for violence and gore with possible swearing, read at your own risk.
I also warn: I've only see the movies for both, I haven't managed to read the books yet. Though the Predator books are ordered via eBay and on their way! =D
I would also like to make note that Toothless was the only dragon named in the movie(unless I missed it), but I wanted the others to have names so I named them.
The lovely and extremely talented Aka Pine was kind enough to read this over before I posted it and this is where I'm thanking her profoundly for correcting my mistakes! Thank you again darling!
Words - 2,662
How to Train Your Dragon and Predators belong to their respective owners, I just suck the poor things in fanfiction for the amusement of myself and those reading.
Chapter I – All is Quiet in Berk
The war between the dragons and the humans had been over for four years and the two races existed peacefully alongside one another. With the aid of each other both humans and dragons prospered. Life was good, especially for Hiccup who finally found a place he fit in life in the sky on Toothless's back.
The boy and dragon were inseparable, both spending the day in the sky flying both for the joy of it and to help with supplying fish for both humans and dragons to eat. It was as much fun as it was a competition between Hiccup and the rest of the dragon riders his age.
Nights were spent flying alone with Astrid alongside on her Deadly Nadder.
In short, life in Berk was good.
"C'mon bud!" Hiccup called to Toothless over the wind as he and Astrid raced through the sky. It was a nightly occurrence, they would spend the evening meal talking before leaving the Mead Hall to spend time with their respective dragons. Then one or the other would end up in the sky and the other would follow. Some nights the two would simply fly together, enjoying each other's company and the joy of flight.
"Ha!" Astrid called, "You're not winning tonight!" She told him with a grin as she urged her dragon on faster. The Nadder complied by increasing her wing beats in an attempt to catch the Night Fury's slight lead.
Toothless made an amused sound as Hiccup threw a grin over his shoulder to Astrid. He and Toothless could fly rings around Astrid and her Nadder she called Twitch for her odd twitching bob of her head she frequently did. Twitch also had a certain wiggle or twitch for every emotion and thought she had that Astrid was particularly good at reading.
"What do you think bud?" Hiccup asked Toothless as he bent his head close to his partner's ear, "Should we let them win this one?"
In answer Toothless stalled his wings slightly, allowing Astrid and Twitch to draw alongside them. Astrid flashed a triumphant grin at the pair as she and Twitch began to pull ahead. Toothless snorted in amusement before putting on a burst of speed to leave the other pair behind.
Hiccup laughed as Toothless pulled ahead while Twitch squawked in protest as Toothless's wake in the air caused her to falter slightly from the gust. Astrid gave a startled cry at the sudden movement, but there was no fear in the sound. She was securely strapped to Twitch with both the saddle the dragon wore and the harness she wore attached to the saddle.
"I'll get you for that Hiccup!" Astrid called out over the wind to the boys, though there was laughter in her tone. She might punch Hiccup later, but she'd kiss him after.
A grin flashed across Hiccup's face as he and Toothless rapidly climbed into the sky towards the clouds. Astrid would have to find them before she could extract her 'revenge' against the Fury rider, "You'll have to find me first!"
With that Toothless veered to the right and into the nearest cloud with the closest sound a dragon could make to a 'woop.' It was a sound he'd learned from Hiccup that he'd associated with joy and playfulness that he now used himself.
"Not fair!" Astrid called out in return.
A game like this could go on all night. Against the night sky Toothless and Hiccup were hard to spot; against the night sky with clouds made it nearly impossible. Neither Astrid nor Hiccup were really concerned with time though, there was a storm on the horizon that would limit flight time in the following days and both wanted to get as much time in the air as possible.
Night Fury and rider blended with the clouds until they were invisible, a ghost in the darkness of the clouds and sky. Astrid and Twitch remained on the fringes of the cloud, circling around in hopes of catching the boys on their exit from the cloud.
A whoosh just above them had Twitch squawking in surprise and drew a squeal from Astrid as Hiccup and Toothless shot just over their heads. The wind from their passing caused the girls to falter in the air slightly, but it wasn't anything they couldn't quickly recover from.
"After them!" Astrid called out, grinning while pointing over Twitch's shoulder to the shadow moving rapidly away. Twitch flapped her wings twice to regain her bearing before tucking them in to her sides and diving after the Night Fury with a thrill of elation of the chase.
Hiccup grinned over his shoulder as he made out the shadowy form of Astrid and Twitch following after them. The other riders their age didn't join them on their nightly flights primarily because it was a sort of date for Hiccup and Astrid, but also because none of the others could see in the dark half as well as the couple along with their dragons.
Acting as one, Hiccup adjusted his artificial leg to move Toothless's replacement tail fin just as the dragon tilted his head back to climb. The pair rapidly began to climb with Astrid and Twitch quickly altering their course to follow, gaining a bit of air on the boys by doing so.
"Slow down a bit," Hiccup told Toothless as he bent his head next to the dragon's ear, "Let them almost catch up…" He trailed off with a grin, and Toothless rumbled under him with a mixture of amusement and agreement. The chase was half the fun after all…
Toothless slowed his wing beats ever so slightly to allow the girls to gain on them just a bit. Twitch uttered a triumphant thrill as she gained on the Night Fury, but just as she was within nipping distance of his tail Toothless ducked a wing in to his body and swerved sharply to the side.
Twitch flapped her wings rapidly and swerved to follow the boys just in time to see them vanish into another cloud. She uttered a disappointed, yet amused sound as Astrid uttered a half hearted war cry as she grinned. The hunt was on again!
"C'mon Twitch," Astrid bent down along her dragon's neck to urge her on, "Let's try circling around again." It worked once anyway, who's to say it wouldn't work again?
The Nadder trilled her agreement as she increased the beat of her wings to try to circle around to head the boys off. Toothless and Hiccup were one step ahead of the girls' plan as they executed a tight loop and changed directions, exiting the cloud on the same side they entered. Hiccup adjusted the tailfin and the two began to rapidly climb.
After gaining enough height, they began to circle, looking for Astrid and Twitch from their superior altitude. For the two of them cloudy nights were the ultimate game of hide and seek. The wind had picked up though as the storm got closer, which made navigating the skies just a bit more challenging. The winds were far from being dangerous yet, but neither Hiccup nor Astrid would risk staying out so long that they might endanger their dragon partners.
Visibility worked both ways though, neither Toothless or Hiccup could make out the forms of Astrid and Twitch. They continued to search for several minutes, then began to slowly descend from their higher vantage point in hopes of having better luck. It didn't matter if they spotted the girls or if the girls spotted them, it was all in the name of fun. Truth be told, Hiccup half hoped Astrid would spot them first since it would help with her wounded pride and might just get him out of getting punched in the arm.
"See anything bud?" Hiccup asked the dragon as he leaned over Toothless's neck so that his face was near the dragon's ears. Toothless made a murmuring sound and snorted with a slight shake of his head to indicate he did not. He had picked up several human conveyances from Hiccup over the past several months.
Several more minutes passed and Hiccup was beginning to get just a bit worried when something whizzed over the boys' heads and the air wake caused the two of them to falter. Toothless grunted with surprise as he flapped his wings rapidly to level himself back out.
"Ha!" Astrid called out as Twitch curved back around to fly beside the Night Fury, "Payback!" She called to him with a grin that Hiccup returned. It was only fair since Toothless had done the same thing to Twitch earlier.
Hiccup opened his mouth to reply when a sudden gust of wind almost knocked Toothless into Twitch. The Night Fury grunted then rapidly pumped his wings to right himself as Twitch squawked in protest, both from Toothless's near bump into her and the gust of wind. Astrid gave a startled yelp at Twitch's sudden movement, but righted herself readily enough.
The two dragons and riders only then noticed they had lost enough altitude to fall beneath the clouds. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem, but with the storm coming in the winds and the sea were unpredictable mistresses.
"C'mon!" Hiccup called out to Astrid over the sudden increase in the wind, "We need to get above the clouds!" He finished, adjusting the tailfin and pulling up on the front of the saddle to get Toothless to climb. He wasn't sure if Astrid had actually heard him over the wind, but Twitch was following anyway.
It was a bit of a fight to get above the clouds, but once above them the skies were calm. Even the stars were visible above as the two dragons and their riders burst through the cloud cover and into the much calmer air. Getting back down to the ground would be a bit of an adventure, for now though it would be smooth sailing.
"How long until the storm is too bad to land?" Astrid called out to Hiccup as she directed Twitch to fly closer to Toothless so she didn't have to shout as loud.
"Not too long," Hiccup called back, "We should probably…" He trailed off as movement in the sky above him caught his attention. It was gone as soon as he looked towards the movement, but the mystery was soon solved as another star streaked briefly across the sky.
"Look!" Hiccup cried out excitedly as he pointed in the general direction the two stars had fallen in. Astrid followed his instruction as she turned her head just in time to see two stars streak across the sky at the same time. A smile stretched across her face in awe at the sight, they saw the aurora in the northern sky all the time, but shooting stars were much rarer.
The pair flew in near silence for a while besides the occasional sound of awe or calling out to one another to look at this or that star. They would have likely stayed in the air half the night if Toothless hadn't finally made a sudden downward dip that shook Hiccup out of his fascination of the stars.
"Thanks bud," Hiccup murmured to Toothless who made a wordless, amused sounding murmur in reply. He cupped a hand to his mouth to help his voice carry as he turned to the Deadly Nadder flying beside them, "Astrid!" The sound of her name got the girl's attention as she looked at Hiccup, "We need to land! As close at the storm is the winds will make it harder to land! Follow me and Toothless and rely on Twitch, she'll know what she's doing!"
Astrid nodded in reply and gave Hiccup and thumbs up expression to let him know she understood. With that Hiccup turned back to Toothless and let him direct them, the dragon would know where they were in the skies better than he would. Toothless trilled to Twitch and the Nadder answered with a trill of her own right before Toothless folded his wings and dropped.
The quick descent caused the air to whistle over the Night Fury and his boy to make the screaming whistle Night Furies were known for. The sound was quickly drowned out by the near roar of the wind and crash of the waves against the island as the pair neared the village.
Toothless partly spread his wings to take in some of the wind which quickly buffeted the two boys as they made for Hiccup's House. Twitch called out with a thrill behind them as she rapidly flapped her wings and landed safely outside Astrid's house. Knowing that the girls had landed safely the boys rode the winds for just a few more moments before they too landed.
Sliding from the saddle, Hiccup went for the door as fast as he could and pushed it open before ducking inside. Toothless slipped in just behind him and stood panting slightly from exertion after the wild landing as Hiccup bodily pushed the door closed and shut out the wind.
"Well," Hiccup began as he turned and started unsaddling Toothless, "That was quite a ride, huh bud?" He asked the dragon who grunted in reply and shook himself all over as Hiccup pulled the saddle off and set it on a rack by the door.
"Hiccup?" A deep voice asked as Stoick the Vast poked his head out of his bed room, "Cut it a little close there didn't you son?" He asked, gesturing to the wall to indicate the wind howling around the house outside.
"Eh," Hiccup answered with a shrug, "It wasn't too bad dad. We landed without any trouble," He reassured his father, "We got above the clouds to avoid the wind for a while and got distracted by falling stars. It's not too often you see those in Berk."
Stoick grunted in acknowledgement as he frowned slightly, "A storm's not something to trifle with Hiccup…" Said boy sighed as he made the effort not to roll his eyes, but his father caught the sigh, "I'm serious son, men and dragons alike have enough to fear from a storm without tempting fate."
"I know dad," Hiccup replied as he made for the stairs to go to his room, "G'night dad. Night Toothless," He told the two of them as he climbed the stairs up to his room, working on the buckles for his riding harness as he went.
"Night son," Stoick responded as he retreated into his own room and Toothless thrilled after Hiccup.
The storm would blow through the night and through the next day, keeping men and dragons alike indoors out of the weather. Hiccup quickly forgot about the falling stars as he drew pictures of Toothless and came up with new saddle designs for other dragons to occupy his time.
Little did Hiccup and the rest of Berk know, stars were not the only things to fall that night…
I apologize if some of this reads a bit funny, I'm out of practice writing in third person as I normally use first…
Thanks for reading! =D