Disclaimer: Dream Works and Cressida Cowell own the How to Train Your Dragon franchise.
This chapter is quite longish, but lots of things happen here. Let's just say I want to have the plot start rolling out quickly.
Please enjoy and tell me what you think.
You know, a few months back, getting my Dad to agree on letting me take up a quest was as laughable as me ever scoring a girlfriend. The journey would have taken days for me to just to head to the destination and my father didn't trust me to not set the house in fire if he left me alone for more than a few hours. I had very little experience with weapons and would get myself killed fighting any serious swordfighter or deadly dragon. Good thing it wasn't a few months back, my girlfriend, Astrid, would agree with me.
See, I might not have changed all that much from a few months ago, but with Toothless, anything was possible. I didn't have be to be strong or tough to survive a fight, not when I had him blasting away at any opposition we faced. Flying was practically cheating as far as traveling was concerned and my dragon was the fastest flier I know. Because of that, me and friends went on whole quests in the amount of time it takes for other Vikings to just sail there.
Speaking of my friends. I turned my head back, taking a brief glance at my companions. Everyone was in the formation behind me, Fishlegs, Astrid, Snotlout, and the twins. Oh and of course their dragons. I mean, we can't really be dragonriders without them, right?
"Are we there yet?" complained Snotlout, his expression bored.
"Yeah! I want to bash my head!" shouted Tuffnut.
"Don't you mean bash some heads?" questioned his sister.
"Well, where's the fun in that?" yelled the Tuffnut. Then, of their own urging, Barf and Belch drew their heads closer, allowing the boy to get a moment to lunge at his sister.
"Hey, ow!" complained Ruffnut, grasping her helmet.
"See, it's fun!" yelled Tuffnut. Ruffnut, in reply, sent a fist at her brother. "Hey Ow!"
"You're right!" she agreed. The two then went on a spree of hitting each other in the cranium, for no other reason than sheer boredom making them angsty.
Astrid and I rolled our eyes. Even when flying, the twins were a never ending source of antics. I guess it was at least an inflight distraction. "Hey, knock it off you, two, before I bash both of your heads in!" my girlfriend replied.
"Aw, fine!"
"You're no fun!" The twins complained and then broke off.
I then turned to Fishlegs, who had a map out and was a little more versed in geography than I was. I mean, I was no slouch, but my oldest friend did all sorts of things for a hoppy. "How much further?"
"Around… fifteen minutes?" he guessed, sounding unsure of himself.
"Fifteen minutes?" I repeated. "That's not too bad." I just hoped it was enough time for the twins to wait before they went at each other again. Sure their antics haven't made them fall off Barf and Belch in a seriously life threatening way yet, but that didn't mean it couldn't happen.
"Fifteen minutes? Can't we hurry up!" complained Snotlout. He had this nervous expression on his face, like there was a sense of urgency that was important to him. I didn't take any leaps of logic to realize he had to go.
"You should have gone to the outhouse before we left like everyone else!" shouted Fishlegs.
"I didn't have to go then!" shouted Snotlout.
"And that's why you don't empty your waterskins before take off!" Astrid reprimanded him.
Against anyone else, he probably would have come up with a stubborn reply, but like me, Snotlout had a soft spot for Astrid. Instead, he just cringed and looked like he wished Astrid didn't stare at him.
I sighed. Of course, if it's not the twins, it's Snotlout. Fifteen minutes suddenly looked like too much time to wait. Well, I guess it was a good thing we weren't sailing our way over, now that would have been unbearable. The ship would have sank before we left port, or worse. Actually on thinking about it, just spending two days trapped on the same ship as both the twins and Snotlout was probably a feat that I think would earn me a spot in Valhalla.
It was an eternity in Hel's domain before before I saw the island with my naked eyes, far too long for my liking. The twins were mere inches from going at each other from sheer boredom again and Snotlout's cringing was getting worse, like he'd break at any moment. I sighed, it was time like these I kind of regret being in charge, but hey, it was better than how things used to be. Besides, I had a plan to keep the party from falling apart. "So, who wants to race me to Skullrock Peaks?"
Snotlout, still cringing, turned to me. "Well, I'd beat you if it weren't for…"
Astrid took the moment to chime in. "Aw, so Snotlout doesn't think he has what it takes to beat poor widdle Hiccup?" She then took a glance at me with a knowing smile. Yeah, I can always count on Astrid.
"Well, duh!" interrupted Tuffnut. "I mean, isn't Toothless like a way better dragon that Hookfang?"
"Heh, yeah, no way old Snotlout stands a chance on a Hookfang!" agreed Ruffnut.
It was surprisingly helpful of things, since I could tell it caused Snotlout's face to contort into a thinking expression, the kind of thing that normally happens when former idiots like me did something smart. And while I didn't know if Toothless actually understood Norse enough to get all that, I did whisper in his ear not to let it let it all go to his head.
"I can so beat him!" insisted Snotlout. He wasn't cringing anymore, because now there was something a little more important to him than needing a new pair of pants.
"So, care to put your money where your mouth is?" Astrid chimed in. Oh, the perks of having a girlfriend.
Snotlout steamed over and readjusted himself in his seat. I knew what was about to happen next and I didn't let hi m do it… not without letting myself have a head start. "Then see you at the finish line!" I shouted. I quickly tapped on the pedal and hit the acceleration to its fullest.
Toothless and I rocketed forth, bursting ahead of the group in a surge.
Snotlout went in after me, tailing me despite my speed. "Get back here! I've got to win!" Hookfang might have been a big lumbering Monstrous Nightmare but that didn't mean he was a slouch.
As soon as Snotlout went in, the twins joined in, coming after the Nightmare. "Hey, don't forget us!"
"Yeah, we want to win, too!" shouted the twins. I couldn't tell who was speaking for who was speaking what, their voices almost sounding the same at my speed.
Just then, a blue shape darted right past us all, giving me pause before I saw who it was. Astrid and Stormfly flew forward, their sudden burst of speed surprising us all. "Hey, if anyone's going to win, it's me!" she shouted at us, heading straight toward the island.
'Uh, sure!" Snotlout said, sounding like there was internal war between his own sense of pride and his desire to appeal to girls. Man, did his pride stand no chance.
I turned to Toothless. My dragon gave me a look, wordless wanting to know my command and I thought for a moment that maybe I should let Astrid win. And then I remember that Astrid was not the kind of person who wanted to have victory handed to her on a silver platter. I shifted myself back into the right gear, sending Toothless and be forth in a swoop."In your dreams!" I shouted, as I flew past her.
And because Astrid wasn't the kind of person who didn't like victory handed to her a silver platter, she was also the kind of person who liked to compete. She flew beside me, laughing. "That's the only place you could win!"
Then we both gave each other smiles like they were plastered over our faces, slowing down enough just for a little bit of chitchat. The little ruse we started worked like a charm, stopping the twins and Snotlout from getting out of control before we could land. Sure, the rest of the others were just barely able to keep up with us, but we were getting so close to the island and they were too focused on racing to do too much damage to each other. This was definitely one fun way to end a boring several hour trip.
And then I heard Fishleg shout, barely audible to my ears."Uh, guys!" I turned back at him, trailing just behind the other racers. His dragon was the slowest of course, but hey, he liked Meatlug and that's what mattered.
"You're doing great!" I shouted back. I know being on the slowest dragon made him a little… insecure sometimes and ever since the whole Gronckle Iron incident, I'd been making it a point to remind him that it was fine being slower and less agile than everyone else. Meatlug was his dragon and he shouldn't regret that.
"Yeah, Meatlug's doing better than average this time around!"
"It's not that!" Fishleg shouted, his tone sounding annoyed. He then pointed off to our far right. "That!"
Astrid and I turn our heads towards the direction and what we saw scared us. It's been ages since we say so many dragons coming right at us, but there it was. A huge, and I mean, huge flock of flying reptiles flew right in our general direction and we all knew what was coming ahead. The only times dragons there were only two occasions ever when get together like that and it wasn't mating season.
"That would be their dragon problems…" I said, deadpan. I was about to wish that a group of them didn't notice us, but an entire flank of them broke off and shifted course.
"They're going to intercept us!" shouted Fishlegs, his tone practically drenched in fear.
"Heh! Well, I'm not afraid! Bring it you overgrown winged reptiles, bring it!" Shouted Snotlout.
Astrid turned to look at me. Boy, now I wish I wasn't in charge. "What now?"
I shook my head. "We're getting to that village, fly low and-!" I was about to say, "hope not to get blasted out of the sky", but I think the fact Toothless had to evade several long range blasts of flame kind of spoke that for me.
Then, the dragons lunged in at us, overwhelming that side and probably would have engulfed us entirely if momentum wasn't on our side right now. Dozens of the creatures, some of which were of kinds I had never seen before, went in after us, chasing us down when they couldn't stop our advance.
Automatically, me and my friend took evasive actions, diving into the tree line to provide ourselves cover and to make up for our severe numerical , we might have been dragon trainers, but that didn't mean we couldn't defend ourselves from them when we need it. We still had the tactical training that Vikings used to kill them after all.
I kept my team moving forward; there was no way any of us would survive if we stayed to fight. "Keep together!" I shouted, Toothless's uncanny speed allowing him to dodge blows and blasts with equal ease. My dragon then returned fire, blasting a tree down to clip several dragons when it fell."Snotlout, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, shore up our flanks, Astrid knock down any that get too close! Fishlegs, know anything that can help?"
Fishleg's expression shifted, his eyes rapidly checking through his map. "The village is up ahead!" he replied. Meatlug ducked him just in time to avoid getting forced off his mount. To make up for that, Snotlout and the twins, gleefully tackled into the swooping dragon, sending it flying into a tree in revenge.
I cringed, thinking on the situation. Snotlout and the twins were having the time of their lives, right now, ordering their dragons to force their way through the advancing enemies, but who knew how long it'd take before a single misstep sent them to the ground. Astrid, too, was in peak fighting condition, swinging her axe and having Stormfly launch volleys to cover our rear, but Astrid was just one person. I might think she's perfect, but she's not invincible.
I patted Toothless on the head and then made a choice. I just hoped that the village didn't end up shooting us down instead. "Alright, we've got to join with the Skullrocks and make our stand with the-"
Suddenly, I felt a massive force slam into my, sending me nearly flying off saddle. Good thing I installed those reinforced straps on my flight suit or else I would have been a goner. I turned and looked at the dragon that rammed into me and it felt like the bottom fell out of my stomach. It was huge and fast, yet it was agile enough to evade the trees with equal measure. Because of the speed were going and the trees in the way, I was barely able to tell what it looked like other than the pinkish shade of its scales and… was tas someone riding on top of it?"What is that!?" I cried.
"Don't know," shouted Fishlegs. "But it's coming in again."
The strange dragon and the figure that stop atop the great beast darted through trees with ease and went in for a tackle.
"I got it!" cried Snotlout, urging his dragon to intercept the other… But it was all for naught. Snotlout was thrown back like a ragdoll, sent flying off seat and into the dirt below. Hookfang was about as fortunate, having his body slammed into a tree so hard it broke. The dragon screaeched in agony and fell to the ground beside his master.
"Snotlout!" Astrid cried, urging her dragon to chase after our fallen friend. Snotlout might be a pain, but even Astrid and I didn't dislike him that bad to leave him for dead.
Unfortunately, the twins were also getting knocked around. Sure, they might have been gluttons for punishment, but even then they had their limits. They weren't too far away from Astrid when they went down.
"That dragon's taking us apart!" cried Fishlegs. "And the others are still gaining on us!"
I knew he was right and it was at that point, I made a desperate move. "Stay with Astrid and keep low!" I told my oldest friend. "She'll need you to patch everyone up!" I then patted Toothless on the head and urged him to go out and attack the dragon that had been harassing our friends.
"Come back, Hiccup!" I heard Astrid cry, her voice sounding further and further away. About the only thing I saw left of her were the sheer number of dragons that swarmed over them all. I would like to say, I turned and headed back to her, but I knew the only way to let my friends get out of this alive was to take out the biggest threat in the area.
Toothless and I tackled into the strange dragon and diverted it off course, letting it smash in a tree. Unfortunately, it still kept going and in return went to smash us into splinters.
We were more agile and ducked out of the way, letting it run itself into another tall pine tree. "You're not getting rid of us that easy!" I taunted at the dragon and its rider. I didn't know who they were, but I did not appreciate whoever this person was.
The dragon then went to tackle us again, slamming its body down but Toothless and I dropped our altitude again and- Wait, why was that dragon turning upside down and was its rider-
Everything suddenly went dark as I felt something slam slam into my face, something wooden. Then, I felt something hit me in the left leg, the side where Toothless's- Oh no. I blinked the stars out my eyes just in time for me to hear Toothless's whine and screeach in frightened shrieks. We were going down and there was nothing I can do to stop it. The dragon had shattered the control apparatus!
I experienced a whole world of pain. I don't recall every bone breaking tumble or every spine shattering landing, but I know ended up flat on the ground, winded and exhausted. I tried to get up, to stand and put up a fight, but my body wasn't exactly the toughest thing around Berk. I struggled to blink open my eyes and when I finally could, I found my attacker looming right over me with his utterly massive dragon.
He dropped low onto one knee and I think he was examining me for something, but I coughed out the dirt I ended up eating in my crash, sending him away. He turned to his dragon, shaking this… rod thing, that I didn't remember the name of. I know it was some sort of instrument or something, but the name eluded me, probably because of my head being sore.
I was about get up and make my escape but then suddenly, the masked figure's dragon was suddenly knocked to the ground and struggling to get up as a much smaller dragon tried to wrestle with it. Toothless might have been terrific in the air, but he still had plenty of moves to use on the ground. The large dragon might have had size as an advanatge, but my dragon had the initiative.
"Get 'em, bud!" I managed to choke out. The figure that loomed over me went in to intervene but the fighting was just too ferocious.
Toothless tore bite after bite into the dragon's backside, causing it to try to tumble away to try to shake the Night Fury off. Unfortunately, that tumbling had its costs. One misstep in their chaotic frenzy and I saw the two dragons disappear down right off a cliff.
The masked figure and I both gasped, but unlike him, I was too injured to pursue my dragon. He went off to after the two fighting dragons, leaving me alone.
I croaked in agony once he was gone. I hoped Toothless was alright, but I knew I couldn't just stay here. I needed to survive to go look for Toothless. I did a quick damage report, checking to see what was broken. So far, I think the worst of what I had was a broken rib. There was also my leg, but I immediately saw means to repair.
I dragged my body over to a fallen tree branch, figuring I could use it to repair or replace my shattered limb.
Unfortunately, I wasn't going to get that option. Suddenly, a Monstrous Nightmare, one that was definitely not Hookfang, dropped right out of the sky, shattering the broken tree branches into a pile of twigs. It roared and I suddenly felt like my chances for survival were now left entirely to the whim of the gods.
I tried to drag my body away from the dragon as fast as I could, but the dragon behind me would have caught me even in my best of days. It was about to lunge at me and do… whatever it wanted to do to me.
And it never got the chance. I heard the dragon scream in frustration and turning my back, I found that the Nightmare had suddenly been ensnared in several nets. I stared in amazement for a few moments until the dragon suddenly started to chew through his bindings. It tried to break through, blasting flame in every direction, all of it useless against an iron net, but not so much against flesh.
I scurried away, but the dragon's frenzied and desperate attacks all came close to leaving me a burnt crisp. And one such gout of flame looked like it was just about to. Then a stranger, a boy around Snotlout's dimensions, but more hygienic looking, grabbed onto my wrists and dragged me out of the line of fire. "I got him!" He shouted.
Looking him in the eyes, I wanted to ask questions, wonder about who this boy was or who he was talking to, but I still felt too dizzy to come up with anything resembling coherent thought. "Who-"
"You're safe now!" he said, putting me behind a tree and looking at the dragon. "The others will take care of it!"
"The others?" I groaned, turning my attention to the still ensnared dragon. it head was finally starting to poke out of the net and there was no telling how long it would be before it would be free.
My question was soon answered when maybe half a dozen men came bursting out of trees, all armed with nooses on poles. They quickly ensnared the dragon by the neck and it renewed it desperate attempts to get free. Several of the men were knocked back by the dragon's ferocity, but most stood firm.
I didn't see anyway how any of the men were going to stop the dragon's rampage. I knew it was eventually going to get free unless it was knocked out or something and who knew what it would do once it was. I knew from experience that anger did not exactly make a dragon easier to train.
And then another man, wearing a black cloak, approached the dragon, his stance practically unwavering against the frenzied beast.
The dragon saw him and immediately blasted him with the strongest gout of flame he could. I was about to expect the man screaming in agony after being set on fire, but… he just walked through the blaze, the fire uselessly bouncing of his cloak.
The dragon tried again, but the man slowly approach, as if he's done this a thousand times. Nothing fazed him, not the dragon, not its flaming breath, not its frightened wailing and whimpering when the man was suddenly right in front of its face. The Nightmare… could no longer see any reason to fight back and I could tell it had given up entirely against an enemy that had it so thuroughly beating. It bowed its head in man obliged it by stamping its boot to the dragon's nose.
I just stared at the scene. Just what manner of man was this, that he could do that to a dragon. A part of me was impressed, wanting to know how this man did such a thing, another part wanted to cry out in revulsion.
The man turned and approached me and the strange boy, leaving the dragon still stuck in its bindings, frightened and afraid. "You did well Eret," the man, his tone was even, a bit hard, but it was still something.
The boy, Eret, burst out into a bit of a big grin, like he knew he deserved that bit of acknowledgement. "Thank you, sir Drago!"
The man, apparently Drago, then turned to look at me. Now that he was so close, I could tell his cloak was made of dragon scales, all black. "And who might you?"
And yup. I figure Eret is probably around Hiccup and co.'s age group, so in this fic, if he worked for Drago early enough, he'd still probably be a teenager, though perhaps older than the others.
And Drago saves Hiccup's life, doing something that many of you who seen the second movie might find familiar… and disturbing.
Hope I caught anyone's attention with this stunt.