Chapter 3
Hiccup couldn't see anything. Everything was red. His brain seemed in complete control of his body. It screamed at him ATTACK! You are in danger! Fight! He saw a small figure and charged. He pinned it down and prepared to kill it, then he saw the creatures eyes and remembered. NOOOO he screamed in his head and closed his mouth, backing away from Astrid. He heard Toothless somewhere behind him "Hiccup…" he turned and saw his best friend laying on the ground. "Toothless! Are you OK?" He asked and he rushed over. "Yea, remind me not to get in your way next time. And also to NOT bring Astrid." he said. Astrid he thought, remembering she was here. He turned back to her and saw her surprise when she looked at him. Then she surprised him. She slowly started approaching him. He took a step back, worried he would attack her again, but then he took a breath, and approached. He almost laughed as she put her hand out and turned her head. He slowly closed the gap, and gently rested his head against her hand.
She winched at first, as if waiting for him to attack her. The second her hand touched him, the pain disappeared. "Thanks Toothless. I was in a lot of pain, I couldn't even see straight. It's gone now." Hiccup said. Astrid looked at him again. "Where did you come from?" she asked. "How am i gonna tell them who i am?" Hiccup asked Toothless. "I still have that spare leg in my pack. Maybe that could help?" He said. "That's brilliant!" Hiccup exclaimed. He trotted over to Toothless and nosed open the pack on his side. He nosed around till he found the leg, then pulled it out and carried it over to a very confused Astrid. "What do you have? Why do you have -" she stopped suddenly. "Fishlegs! You can come down. I found Hiccup" She yelled behind her. Hiccup hadn't even noticed their arrival.
Fishlegs landed as far from Hiccup as he could and watched him carefully. "What do you mean you found Hiccup? And how do i know it won't attack me like it attacked you?" he said, fear in his voice for the last bit. "Because, it's not an 'it', He's Hiccup" she said, handing Fishlegs Hiccup's leg. "Then why did he attack you at first?" Fishlegs questioned. Astrid looked at Hiccup. "I don't know… Hiccup?" He hesitated, thinking of how to demonstrate. His spines poked up and he began pawing his head again.
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When Hiccup started pawing his head again, Astrid quickly took a few steps back, thinking he was in pain again. Then he looked up at them, as if hoping they understood. "So, you attacked me because you had a headache?" she said hesitantly. He nodded slowly, but also rolled his eyes, as if she only got part of it. Then he looked up at the top of the ravine and growled. Astrid and Fishlegs turned to see a Dragon Hunter soldier quickly pull his head back.
Hiccup jumped over their heads and landed on the other side of them, still growling. He turned and nodded towards Astrid then pointedly looking at Toothless, warbling lightly. "You want me to ride on Toothless?" Astrid asked. He nodded quickly then jumped at the wall of the cove, flapping his wings once. He reached the top and tackled someone. "Toothless?" Astrid heard a voice come from the top of the cove. She quickly got on Toothless and tried to remember how to takeoff. "I think its 3rd position" Fishlegs said as he got on Meatlug and flew after Hiccup. She tried it and Toothless shot into the air.
When she got to the top of the wall, she saw Hiccup letting Snotlout up. "Umm, Why are there TWO Toothless's?" he said when he saw her on Toothless. Then he seemed to realize this was another Night fury and quickly backed away. "Oh Thor, Oh Thor, Please don't kill me!" he said as he backed into a tree. "Look Snotlout, we don't have time. Did you see where the Dragon Hunter went?" "Dragon Hunter? Does nobody else see the SECOND Night Fury!" he said, gesturing wildly at Hiccup.
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If He hadn't seen the dragon hunter he would have picked on Snotlout more, but right now he had to hurry. "Toothless, Stormfly, come with me. Meatlug, stay here so Fishlegs can explain to Snotlout," Hiccup said. The dragons nodded and they split up. "Whoa, Toothless!" Astrid shouted as they took off into the trees, with Stormfly following in the air. "You're gonna have to teach me to fly soon" Hiccup said to Toothless as he bolted through the trees.
He heard the Hunter before he saw him. They were running slightly ahead and to the left of them. Hiccup Jumped over a fallen tree and tackled them. He glared into their eyes and growled. It's actually kinda fun to be tough for once he thought. Toothless followed and Astrid jumped off. "Why are you here! What do you want!" She said, holding an axe at his throat. "I'll never talk!" He said. "Well you just did." she said sarcastically. Stormfly swooped down and landed next to them. "Well, now we have no reason to keep you alive" she said halfheartedly. "Stormfly, Drop!" she said to her dragon. Stormfly grabbed the hunter in her talons and flew into the air with Astrid on her back. "OK," She said and Stormfly dropped them. "OK! OK! I'LL TALK!" He screamed as he fell. "Works every time, Stormfly Fetch!" Astrid said happily as she caught the rider and set him back in the clearing.
"We were Trying a new kind of arrow that should turn the one hit into a dragon. Once hit, they are controlled and we use pain to get them to attack their allies." He said quickly. "It controls them completely, and if they break free of the control, It causes them to experience so much pain, they die, Unless they submit again." he finished. "We Heard that one of our men hit your leader with one of the arrows, so i was sent to check." He said, glancing around Astrid. "Apparently we didn't" Hiccup backed away after hearing the soldiers explanation. As they were talking his headache came creeping back. "Toothless, You might want to keep everyone away from me." Hiccup said, wincing. "Even you bud." Then he turned and ran into the forest again.
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Astrid saw Hiccup back away from them, then turn and run into the forest after hearing the news. Great. She thought. "Stormfly, go drop him into the ocean near some ships, Toothless let's go after 'Him'" she said, eyeing the soldier as she said it.
After Stormfly was gone, she looked at Toothless. "Come on! We need to find Hiccup. I don't believe he will hurt us." She said as she swung into the saddle. Together they flew over the forest looking for Hiccup in the trees. "There!" she said quietly, seeing him running to the new 'Cove'. They silently followed him in the air and landed softly behind him when we fell into the cove.
He was laying on the ground, eyes closed. It almost looked like he was sleeping, But Astrid knew he was thinking. Before she could get closer, He wailed and clawed the ground, Rubbing his head against the ground, like he had a headache again. He put his paws over his head and couldn't get rid of the pain.
Astrid slowly walked to his side and placed her hand on his neck, trying to help. The second she made contact he froze, tensing, like he was gonna attack. Then he relaxed and got up. He turned to her and she started to back up. His eyes were slits again. He slowly walked up to her, staring her down. He growled softly and then it grew louder. "Hey, Hiccup. Come on. What are you doing?" she said, trying to talk to him. He had her cornered. She had her back pressed against the stone wall of the cove and her walked straight up to her. His eyes were cold and empty, like he had no emotions. Suddenly there was a snarl and Toothless tackled him from the side.
The two fought fiercely, but Toothless was holding back. He didn't want to hurt Hiccup. They broke apart and started circling each other. Then Hiccup shot right in front of Toothless, blinding him for a second. He Jumped over Toothless then ran at Astrid. She closed her eyes and waited to be attacked. She wouldn't hit Hiccup. But Nothing came. She opened her eyes, and almost screamed. He was right in front of her. But his eyes seemed conflicted, like he was fighting a battle in his head. He shook his head and closed his eyes. Then he took a breath and rested his head against her stomach.
She looked down, shocked. He raised his head and looked her in the eyes. He was scared. She stepped forward and threw her arms around his neck, mostly relieved that he didn't kill her. He tensed for a second, surprised by her action, then he relaxed. She stepped back and looked him in the eye again. "Look, you aren't being controlled. You can fight it. Apparently that arrow needs more work." she said, smiling at him. Him nodded and turned to Toothless, who was rubbing his eyes.
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"Didn't I say to keep people away from me? Look what almost happened!" Hiccup said to his friend. "Well, I wouldn't let you kill Astrid. So there!" He said back. Hiccup sighed and nudged him. "Well, now I think it's time I learned how to fly." Hiccup said. "Well, how are we gonna get you back to base?" Astrid said to Hiccup as she came up to the two dragons. Hiccup spread his wings in response."Well its not that hard. Use your legs and tail to push off, keep your tail fins even for gliding or normal flying, and close one slightly to turn, all the way to flip." Toothless told him. "OK…" Hiccup said. He pushed as far from the ground as he could and flapped his wings, like he had seen Toothless do hundreds of times.
Then he fell to the ground. Toothless laughed as Hiccup got back to his feet. He glared at the dragon, which caused Toothless to laugh even harder. Astrid was also trying to muffle her laughter. Hiccup glared at her to. Then he swept his tail under her legs and tripped her. He started laughing at her, and she sat up and punched the first thing she could reach, his tail.
After a few more hours of flying lessons, Hiccups finally got it and they flew back to Dragon's Edge. The rest of the group was waiting outside Hiccups hut. Fishlegs was still nervous because he had seen Hiccup attack Astrid. The twins were very excited though and the second they landed they ran up to Hiccup. "How cool is it to fly on your own? Can you shoot fire? Are you gonna get a rider?" They asked at the same time. Hiccup winced at the sudden loud voices. "Guys, I think Hiccups been through enough today." Astrid said and, with the help of Snotlout, dragged them away.