A/N: This is my first non-RWBY fic, so… be nice Jand as always, R, W, and R.
The Grimborn Brothers' defeat at Dragons Edge was one of the Riders' greatest victories. With the aid of the Defenders of the Wing, the heroes managed to divert most of the Volcanic leakage away from their base, and eventually the magma cooled to black rivets in the mountainside.
With the fall of the Dragon Hunters, the alliance with the Dagur's Beserkers, and most of the antagonistic dragons relocated or trained, the Viking teens had enough time for another vacation. After the Grimora-type dragons, they decided to relax on an island closer to the Edge, close to an endless supply of salt.
They'd visited this island before, but after surveying the landscape for new dragons and not finding any, they'd left for other islands.
Astrid had to admit, she felt a tremendous weight lift from her shoulders. Not only were their enemies defeated, but she no longer had to keep her and Hiccup's relationship secret anymore, and thus could show affection whenever she wanted.
She sat on the shore, watching Fishlegs and Snotlout having a sand-sculpture contest. The twins, however, had taken it upon themselves to throw stones at the sculptures, leading the competing pair to believe the other had done it. The argument only escalated, culminating in Snotlout jumping feet first into Fishlegs' sculpture, destroying it. Fishlegs, in turn, stomped on his adversary's creation with a fiery fury.
Hiccup, who'd been content to watch the fight unfold, reluctantly rose from Astrid's side to prevent further escalation.
"Guys, cut it out. Ruff, Tuff, stop throwing stones. Snotlout, don't be an idiot, and Fishlegs, you're better than that." Hiccup called out authoritatively. The twins rose from their hiding spot, dropping their stones and chuckling lightly. Fishlegs looked down with a sad look, while Snotlout haughtily crossed his arms and huffed, "Fine."
Astrid loved Hiccup. She loved how he'd grown from a weak little stick of a boy to a tall, lean leader. He may have looked thin, but she knew Hiccup had some hidden strength. She'd seen him lay Snotlout out with a single punch, even knocking teeth out.
It was an unspoken rule: Follow Hiccup's orders, or else you get stuck with the most menial task imaginable. He wasn't mean, or overbearing, and knew his team's limitations. He was almost a mirror of his father, at least in leadership skills.
Behind her, she heard a ruckus. Their dragons, who'd gone scavenging for fish, had returned. Toothless bounded to Hiccup's side, dropping a fish at his feet.
"Thanks bud. I guess I am a little hungry," Hiccup said, rubbing his dragon's head, "But you know we can't eat raw fish…" He said, shrugging.
Toothless looked from his friend to the fish, then spat a small plasma blast, roasting the fish instantly before pushing the charred husk toward his owner.
"Well… better, but it might be too much. Don't worry, bud. Thanks for trying." He said, patting his best friend's head again.
"Ruff, Tuff, get a fire going. Snotlout, help them get wood, would you?" He asked, and the three teens slunk away, mumbling about hating work.
They hadn't reached the treeline before a distant roar could be heard. They didn't think much of it, till an answering roar was heard.
Much, much closer.
"Fishlegs. Can you identify it?" Hiccup called out, but Fishlegs simply shook his head in wonder.
Her boyfriends eyes lit up.
"Maybe a new dragon? Toothless, come'ere bud!" He called out, and his dragon obediently obeyed, bounding over and letting Hiccup climb on.
"You three get that fire going. Astrid, come with me." Hiccup ordered, somewhat more excited than usual.
Astrid nodded, quickly mounting Stormfly, and followed her boyfriend to the sky.
She followed Toothless as closely as possible, not letting the black dragon take her boyfriend out of sight. After a few minutes, Toothless banked a hard left, almost throwing Hiccup from the saddle.
"There! Astrid!" She heard him call, and followed his now pointing finger to a large clearing.
The clearing looked natural. The dragon inside? Not so much.
Its body structure mirrored that of a Deadly Nadder, only very shiny black. Each visible scale seemed to shine a different color. Its tail was small and stubby, only a bit longer than a Gronckle's. The head looked very similar to a Monstrous Nightmare, but more blocky and angular. Its eyes were small, but bright. The entire eye shown almost like torches, and were completely red, save a single black slit down the center.
The whole dragon put Astrid on edge. Her warrior's sense screamed 'Fight or Flight', so was relieved, if only slightly, when Hiccup ordered her to stay airborne, "Incase our new friend flies away."
She watched Hiccup land, hop off Toothless, and slowly approach the odd new dragon.
The dragon didn't seem to care for the small one legged Viking inching closer by the second, instead fixed its eye on her and Stormfly, watching eerily. Only when Hiccup accidentally stepped on a crackly tree branch did it look down, now snarling at the intruder.
Hiccup stopped, his hand outstretched. He knew to stop when a Dragon looked at him that way. The dragon's snarl got lower and lower, until barely audible, before opening its mouth wide, and lunge at him. Toothless' quick reflexes kicked in, firing a warning shot of plasma at the attacker. The dragons head didn't stop, continuing its advance until smacking Toothless hard enough to launch the dragon into the trees.
The head had moved… but the body didn't.
"What the-. " She heard Hiccup gasp. The neck had elongated, past that which she had though possible. The dragon now had a neck rivaling that of a certain two headed dragon she knew.
In short amount of time it took for Astrid to realize this, the Dragon's head turned, once again glaring at her boyfriend.
Her instincts kicked in quickly. Hiccup was defenseless, if even for a second, and the dragon was faster than that.
"Stormfly!" she shouted, and her dragon obediently dove toward the clearing.
Her vision blurred in the speed, but heard a high pitched screech, Stormfly roar, and the worst of all, Hiccup screaming.
Her vision went black.