Chapter 2
Hiccup remained quiet for the rest of the trip to Dragon Island, and nothing Astrid said could bring a response out of him. It was kind of creepy to say the least, and was making Astrid increasingly annoyed in spite of the fact he had just saved her life, and had stood up to the entire village. But she carefully held back her temper, at least more than normal. Hiccup had just gone through the hardest thing a Viking could face, that being their own parents.
When Hiccup had Toothless sit down on one of the stone columns not far from Dragon Island, he finally spoke, "So you… ready for this?"
"Ready for what exactly," Astrid asked.
"Taking on the Dragon's Nest," Hiccup said as he sat down and began going over what little information that he had been Able to collect on Dragon Island.
"To be honest, no, how about yourself?" Astrid asked.
It looked for a few moments like he was going to lapse back into silence, but after about two minutes he spoke, "To be honest, I rather be here than facing down my father again."
"That was tough for you wasn't it," Astrid said, kneeling down by where Hiccup was sitting.
"Hard… I don't think that word does it justice. Normally when I do something crazy or bad I just get a look of disappointment, not a look of complete and utter betrayal!" Hiccup said, nearly shooting the last part, before he threw down his notes.
"Hiccup…" Astrid reached out and took his hand in hers.
Hiccup seemed to stop as he looked at her, there were tears forming in his eyes. Astrid not sure really what else to do pulled him into arms and gave him a hug. And for the first time she could ever even remember he was actually broke down and cried. Even as a kid Astrid could never remember seeing Hiccup act this was, it was truly a new side of him, she never thought existed.
She could remember all the fights Hiccup had with his father, each and every failure that Hiccup had or had caused. But not once had he broken down, he only ever got frustrated and mad. Then the next day he would come back and be determined to do even better. But then again all of these fall out never caused Hiccup betray his own father.
In was close to days end before Hiccup finally calmed down. Hiccup stood up and directed the dragons to get some food, while he set about setting up a same camp.
"Hiccup are you okay," Astrid asked.
"Yes, I will be better after I got some sleep," Hiccup said.
"Do you… want to talk about it," Astrid asked.
"No," Hiccup said setting up a small tent.
"Hiccup I…" Astrid began, but was cut off by Hiccup, "Astrid I will be just fine. Tonight we will camp here tomorrow we are taking on Dragon Island."
"Okay… so what is the plan then," Astrid asked.
"Right now it is more of a guess than a plan," Hiccup said as he set about putting up a second tent.
"Am I going to like this," Astrid asked.
"Not likely," Hiccup said, "I have noticed we only use about ten to twelve fish a day to feed a dragon. And if it actively battling or working out each day about double that. This means the amount of food they take from us is way too much even if each dragon had a small family."
"So they bring extra food, why?" Astrid asked.
"One of two possible reasons, either there are a lot more dragon than we thought on the island that cannot get food. Or they are bringing the food for some creature that does not want to go out hunting. And we are not taking a very small dragon either, it could easily be more massive than any dragon we have on record," Hiccup said.
"So how big are we talking." Astrid asked.
"Well take this rock," Hiccup said picking up a small stone, "this is say a Gronckle."
"Sure," Astrid nodded.
"This stone pillar the surface of it could be the size of the dragon we are looking at by comparison to the small rock," Hiccup said.
"That… is impossible, if that was true then the dragon would be at least the size of Island of Berk if not bigger," Astrid said.
"I know, but it would explain a lot. For that matter it could also control them, which would explain why they never just leave, like they have with Berk," Hiccup said thoughtfully.
"What are you talking about they are always on Berk," Astrid said confused.
"They raid Berk yes, but if you actually look about the Island the only dragon you will find living on it is Terrible Terrors. The war has driven them away," Hiccup said.
"I might ask why I signed up for this again," Astrid asked herself.
"You freed the dragons and got caught doing it," Hiccup said, as the dragons outside Toothless landed, each carrying some fish.
Hiccup took a few fish and put them on the two swords he had packed up and began cocking the fish. The rest of the fish was spilt up between the six dragons who ate them swiftly enough. Hiccup began singing softly as he cooked. By the time he was done, the dragons had fallen asleep. Once the fish were cooked Hiccup handed one over.
"So how long have you been working with these dragon," Astrid asked.
"About a week and a half total," Hiccup said.
"And you have them this well trained," Astrid said in slight disbelief.
"I had help from Toothless. With him and myself working together we were able to work with all the dragons in the arena," Hiccup said, before he began eating the fish.
"So what have you trained them to do," Astrid asked between mouthfuls of fish.
"Mostly just basic things; Eat, come, go, fly, land, and fish," Hiccup said, slowly eating.
"That seems more than the basics," Astrid commented after a few moments of thought.
"Well, all those skills are something the dragons do normally. I just had to figure out how to make them do it when I asked," Hiccup said smiling.
"That, actually makes a lot of sense," Astrid said.
"But that is all I could work with them on," Hiccup said, "but this means I cannot really use them in this idea."
"Maybe I could fly one of them," Astrid suggested.
"Wait what?" Hiccup said in surprise.
"Well, while I am not as good as you, if I am on another dragon than that would give us two dragons we could fully control," Astrid said.
"That is not actually a bad idea, expect one problem," Hiccup said.
"What is that?" Astrid asked
"You lack any sort of saddle or way to stay on a dragon," Hiccup pointed out.
"Could I use their horns," Astrid asked.
"Well yes, you could though it could also backfire," Hiccup pointed out.
"How," Astrid asked.
"Say we made a tight turn you could be throw off," Hiccup said.
"I will take the risk," Astrid said with a small smirk.
"Fine," Hiccup said, but smiled, "Well I am off to bed. Get some rest it will be a long day tomorrow I am sure."
Astrid nodded as she tossed what remained of her fish over to the dragons for them to eat later. She then moved into one of the small tents and pulled a one of the blankets that Hiccup had brought over her. It was not the best, but considering her bed was normally wooden boards and a fur blanket it was not too bad. It was only a few minutes before Astrid had fallen asleep.
Hiccup how ever did not fall asleep as fast as he paced about the stone pillar. He knew he was risking a lot in this next move. This was not just risking his life, but now his closest friends and crush. He looked over at Astrid and a small smile came to his face. If this situation had one good point was now he was spending time with Astrid, and better yet she was happy to actually be with them.
He then turned and looked at the dragons. There was so much he still did not know, and now thanks to Toothless so much more he wished to learn. Then there was other species of dragons that he even knew less about. He stopped by his pack and picked out the book of dragons and began slowly going through it.
The next morning Astrid woke with the early sun in her eyes and spotted Hiccup curled up against Toothless, the Book of Dragon open on his chest. Astrid pulled back what turned out to be two blankets one of which must have been Hiccup's. Astrid smiled a little bit carefully rolling up the two blankets before she went over and woke Hiccup up.
"Morning there, having some fun late night studying?" Astrid said with a small smirk.
"Yeah, hoping maybe I find some answers in the Book of Dragons," Hiccup said stretching slowly.
"Anything," Astrid asked.
"Well some interesting possibilities, but none of the dragons recorded in here have anywhere the needed size. So I am guessing family of dragons and big ones," Hiccup said.
"Well let's get going then, are we taking them all with us or just Toothless to see what it is like inside?" Astrid asked, pulling a couple biscuits out of Hiccups pack for their breakfast.
"Just Toothless, we want to get in and observe without having more dragons than need be," Hiccup said.
"Okays," Astrid said with a small smile.
It was only a few moments longer before they were off from the camp site and heading towards the Dragon's Mountain. The mountain was just visible through the fog that seemed to forever surround Dragon Island. Hiccup carefully directed Toothless through the air, before Toothless took control of their flight path.
Flying through the many columns of stone they soon came to a cave entrance. They moved deeper till they reached a huge chamber in which many other dragons were currently resting. Toothless landed on a good size outcrop of rock, while Astrid and Hiccup looked about.
"I don't see anything that would account for the large amount of food," Astrid said quietly as to not disturb any of the nearby dragons.
"Agreed, while there is enough dragons to account for the amount of food they take from us. It would be a great deal easier for them to get food from hunting rather than risking attacks on us," Hiccup said.
Astrid nodded looking about, but soon they both hear a rumbling coming from the center of the large cavern. All the dragon's including Toothless moved back into their nests more, as if trying to hide from the sound. Out of the orange mist came a large dragon, easily larger than any dragon Hiccup had seen before, probably any Viking had seen for that matter.
"What is that," Astrid said, unable to hold back her shock.
"I don't know but I think it is time to leave, let's go bud, now!" Hiccup yelled as the large dragon lunged towards them.
What calm had been in the dragon nests was gone as all dragons began to flee the area. It was total chaos as Hiccup and Toothless dodged and wove through the large mass of dragons. But the large dragon did not care about what got in its way as it gave chase. Smaller dragons were tossed aside without a care, even if they were injured.
"Oh my, we are so dead," Astrid yelled as they dodged around a stone column.
"I am not about to argue with that," Hiccup said,
"I will do anything for you if you get us out of here safely," Astrid said as they dodge around a large falling rock as the tunnel started to cave in.
"I will hold you to that if we live," Hiccup said as they shot out of the cave.
Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief as they flew clear of the stones that where flying out as the dragon that was chasing them, burst through them. But he knew this battle was far from over as he and Toothless took off into the large bank of fog and clouds hiding from the dragon. As the dragon came into full view for the first time Hiccup and Astrid realized it was much smaller than they had thought, though it was still massive. It could easily stand in the middle of town and have its tail and head reach past either side of the town.
"So any ideas," Astrid asked.
"We are going to use its own mass to our advantage, if we can get it to fly that is," Hiccup said, as he noticed some rather torn wings on its back.
"Wait we are actually going to attack it?" Astrid asked.
"No choice now, besides if we leave and it decides to follow us, do you think this will end well for Berk," Hiccup asked.
"I… okay fine," Astrid said, before jumping off Toothless's back.
"Astrid?" Hiccup looked at her as she gave him a weak smile.
"With me on it will slow Toothless and you down, or make it hard for you to turn if you are worried about losing me," Astrid said, "I will wait here for your return, just don't die."
"Okay," Hiccup said before taking off, but not without one glance at Astrid.
The battle began quickly, and it barely took a few seconds before Hiccup and Toothless's efforts where reward as the Dragon spread its wings and took after them. It was then the real battle began. The dragon was much faster than either Hiccup or Toothless had thought, and was easily able to keep up with them, even smashing through the stone columns that got in its way as if they were not even there.
Before they reached the location Astrid was waiting for them at Hiccup directed Toothless up into the clouds. The massive dragon followed them shooting out powerful blasts of fire, which could easily consume Hiccup and Toothless if they had not dodged out of the way. But to their slight relief they were soon able to hide in the cloud, but this relief was short lived as they began their new attack.
They rained down shot after shot on the massive dragon. The dragon got increasingly angry, as it could not track Hiccup and Toothless down. Finally it unleashed a wall of none stop fire from its mouth, spinning about as it did so till the air was filled with the flames it had produced. Hiccup noticed the flames just barely catch the Toothless artificial tail. Hiccup noticed this let Toothless know it was time to end this.
They dove pass the massive dragon, enticing it to follow them down into a steep dive. Hiccup worked hard trying to keep them straight as the tail slowly became less effective with each passing second. But then Hiccup hear the sound he was waiting for as the dragon began to draw in air for its next attack.
"Now," Hiccup yelled, as Toothless flipped about and fired a shot righting into the massive dragons mouth.
This ignited the gas that the dragon used as fuel, the dragon did not have time to reach as the broke through the clouds and it saw the ground closing in quickly. Hiccup directed Toothless up and away from the massive dragon as it impacted into the ground a moment or two later. The dragon began expanding rapidly, before it finally exploded in a huge ball of fire.
The fire blast was not something Hiccup had planned on, nor had he planned on the now destroyed tail. Without it they could not turn or move about either. Hiccup in a last ditch effect had Toothless spin and spread his wings. It worked barely as the force of the blast filled Toothless's wings and sent them flying away from the blast and towards the water.
But, without a tail fin, Hiccup and Toothless were thrown into a stone pillar unable to avoid it. Hiccup felt a sharp spear of pain lance through him as he impacted into the rocks, with Toothless slamming against him, before his world went dark.
When he finally awoke, he saw Astrid worried face in front of him. But it soon turned into a smile as she helped him sit up, he coughed up a little bit of water that had been in his lungs. It took Hiccup a few minutes before the coughing fit passed. Astrid rubbed his back, easing the pain he felt from the hard cough.
As it finally passed Hiccup gave Astrid a weak smile and asked, "So did I do it?"
"Yep, that dragon is dead, and you and Toothless are both alive. Though you're a little worse for the wear," Astrid said pointing to Hiccup's right arm which was in a sling.
"How did I miss that," Hiccup asked.
"Not sure, I was just able to guess where you were when the fireball blew a lot of the clouds away," Astrid said, as Toothless came over and began rubbing his head against Hiccups chest.
Hiccup groaned in pain causing Toothless to back up in worry that he had hurt Hiccup. Astrid put a hand on Toothless's shoulder and smiled reassuringly, causing Toothless to calm some.
"I guess my arm is not the only thing that was hurt," Hiccup said.
"Best I can guess a few ribs, and your arm is all that was damaged," Astrid said.
"It figures. Toothless's tail was partly destroyed in the fight, and when we moved to get out of the way of the final blast when the dragon crashed into ground, we used the shockwave to get clear as the tail had finally given out. Problem is we crashed into a stone pillar, with me taking most of the impact," Hiccup said, breathing lightly.
"I guess you're lucky to be alive then," Astrid said before giving him a kiss on the cheek much to Hiccups shook.
"What is that for?" Hiccup asked, his surprise rather clear.
"For defeating the greatest threat we as Vikings ever faced, and for not getting me killed, or dying yourself," Astrid said with a small smirk, "I would punch you to for worrying me to so much but well…"
"I am already in enough pain as it is," Hiccup said, guessing where she was going.
"Pretty much," Astrid said with a small smile.
"Well at least your short adventure with me has not left you with any major problems," Hiccup joked.
"Very funny, but what now?" Astrid asked.
"We have to get back to Berk and let my dad know what has happened. After which we have to see about what is left of the giant dragon, and see if it was truly the reason for the dragon raids," Hiccup said shifting about.
"Good idea, but I cannot fly Toothless back even if he had his tail, and I cannot swim all the way out to the stone pillar where the others are," Astrid said.
"No worries I can call the other dragons," Hiccup said before carefully took a deep breath.
He let out a rather piercing whistle that rang out across the Island. Astrid covered her ears, while Toothless flinched. It continued for nearly four seconds before Hiccup stopped and let out a grunt of pain, putting a his hand to his chest. Astrid was by his side in a second, making sure he had not done something stupid again.
"I never knew you could do that," Astrid said, once she was sure that Hiccup was okay.
"Yeah, it is not something I do often as well I could be heard across the entire Island of Berk if I wanted," Hiccup said with a weak chuckle.
"So I take it you trained the Dragon's to come to that call?" Astrid asked.
"Yep," Hiccup said, scanning the skies for the dragons.
It was not long before the group of dragons had landed, and was waiting for their next set of instructions. Astrid carefully walked over, following Hiccups instructions to the letter, she had already been ran over by the group once, and she was not wanting a repeat performance. Soon she was able to get on the Deadly Nadder named Stormfly, it was rather a joy to be honest for her to get this far.
"I think I could get used to this," Astrid said, before realizing Hiccup could not get on Stormfly at all.
"Yes, but just wait till you get some real flying down, and can see Berk and the world in its true glory," Hiccup said, with a smile as he reached out and rubbed Toothless's head.
"So, are you staying here," Astrid asked.
"Yes, I will stay here with the others till you get back with my father," Hiccup said, "Use Stormfly to lead them to this Island, as only a dragon can find this Island."
"Will you be safe till I get back," Astrid asked.
"I have a Monstrous Nightmare, a Gronckle, Hideous Zippleback, and a Night Fury to guard me, plus a little Terrible Terror as a pet," Hiccup said with a small smirk, his sarcasm rather clear.
"Good point, I will be back as soon as I can," Astrid before carefully directing Stormfly into the air and back to Berk.
It was close to the days end before Hiccup saw any sign of any humans. He had kept himself entrained best he could be walking and studying the dragons that began returning to the Dragon nest inside the mountain. And when he did see someone, it was to his great surprise his father and Astrid landing on the beach in one of the Berk ships. Gobber and several others got out of the boat and moved about making to secure the area quickly. Hiccup notice other ships coming out of the fog as his dad and Astrid hurried over to him.
"Son it is good to see you're alive," Stoick said with a smile, kneeling down by Hiccup.
"Yes, though not in the best of shape," Hiccup said, as his dad and Astrid helped him stand up.
"Yes, Astrid told most of Berk everything she saw," Stoick said, with a chuckle, "I must say you made me, and would have made your mother proud to call you our son."
"Thanks dad," Hiccup said, feeling the pain, he had caused from before fading.
"So, let's see about what remains of this dragon," Stoick said.
"It crashed down over there," Hiccup pointed to the area which was still covered with ash.
"Yeah I kind of guessed as much," Stoick said.
The group slowly made their way over to the remains of the massive dragon, or what little there actually seemed to be. As they reached the center where the dragon had actually crashed into the ground they found that actually nothing remained of the beast, not even a scale.
"This is weird," Hiccup said, carefully kneeling down to look for anything that might be left of the massive dragon.
"How so, it become a giant fire ball, why should anything even be left," Astrid asked.
"Dragon scales are strong enough to stand against flames, even if it came from another dragon of the same kind. So at the very least we should see scales, or claws, not just ash, which I am not sure this is ash," Hiccup said.
"What are you saying," Stoick asked.
"I am saying this dragon when it exploded, vanished completely," Hiccup said standing back up again.
"So that thing might still be alive," Astrid asked worriedly.
"I doubt that, but still this is not what you call normal," Hiccup said, looking about before his eyes caught a twinkle of light, "what is that?"
"What is what?" Astrid asked before Hiccup pointed to what he was seeing.
Astrid and Stoick quickly made their way over to where he was pointing and found three weird and unusual items. One was a small crystal or pearl sphere, which glowed with a soft light that slowly changed color. And to the side of it on either side was two rings made out of what looked to be pure gold. Astrid picked them up, and found not a mark on either of them, which was confusing as the gold should have more than crushed flat by the dragon landing in this area.
"What are these," Astrid asked, looking at Stoick.
"No clue, but maybe Gothi or Gobber might know," Stoick said.
Astrid nodded before putting them into a pouch she had with her. They searched some more but found nothing, and to the surprise of many of the Vikings none of the dragons attacked them. Actually the only reason they knew the dragons where even there was they would fly by them on their way back to the mountain.
Finally after a while, and not finding anything else the group loaded back up onto the ships. The set off from the Island, the dragons that Hiccup riding in the other ships, while Toothless stayed with Hiccup. Stoick could not help but grin with a center joy as he looked at Toothless, for the first time since he could remember they were about to be truly at peace. This was something he was looking forward to during this coming winter. It was a sentiment everyone was sharing as Berk finally came into view.
And by the end of the third month since Hiccup had left the Island to stop the war and had returned, not one dragon attack had happened. It was at this point Stoick declared the Dragon War officially over. This was met with great joy around the village in spite of the fact the war had been over for three months already.
To Hiccup, Astrid, and Toothless this was like music to their ears as they sat about the house as snow began to fall. Little did they know their adventures with new dragons were far from over, and their problems with dragons where only just beginning.