Chapter 4:
Now the moment of truth!
The Weredragon roared at the top of its lungs and shot another blast of fire. Nothing could stop its rampage. At least no weapon could. None of the sharpest swords or axes, or the strongest maces could even pierce its skin. It seemed unstoppable. The peace-loving creature was gone, replaced by a monstrous beast. It blasted fire all across the village, its rage growing by the minute. Until something caught its eye.
A Deadly Nadder was flying toward it. But it wasn't the dragon that had caught the beast's attention. It was its rider.
Astrid knew that she was the only one who could stop the Weredragon, but she didn't exactly know how she'd do it. She knew that she couldn't fight it, that would only make it even more angry and raged. She had two options. Either talk to it and hope to calm it down, or to wait until the clouds covered the full moon, causing the Weredragon to Transform into its human form. She'd have to give both of them a shot. She pointed into the plaza. "Stormfly, take me down there." Stormfly squawked, and did as she was told. As soon as the Nadder landed, Astrid dismounted her and ran in the direction of the destructive Weredragon.
The Weredragon stopped, he heard footsteps rapidly approaching him. He turned to see Astrid running to him. He scowled. Astrid stopped, a few feet away from him. Now what should she do?
The Weredragon glared at her, his eyes burning with rage. Astrid took a deep breath. Now was the time to prove her theory correct.
The Weredragon, who had reared up on his hind legs, dropped to all fours and began to approach Astrid. He no longer viewed her as a friend. Now she was an enemy.
But Astrid didn't give up easily. She reached her hand out, in hopes of taming the beast. The Weredragon scowled at her, baring his sharp teeth and growling. But Astrid continued to approach him, her hand outstretched. The Weredragon suddenly felt a strange feeling inside him. As he watched the Valkyrie come closer, he realized that she had faith in him. She wasn't an enemy. She wanted to be his friend.
The Weredragon shut his eyes, trying to somehow dispose of the horrible destructive feelings inside him. When he opened his eyes, they were calm. He moved his head forward so that Astrid's hand rested on his nose.
At that moment, an enormous cloud began to cover up the moon. The Weredragon looked up and realized what was going on. Pulling away from Astrid, he shrank into the shadows as he began to Transform. After a few minutes, the dragon's growls turned into human moans as it changed into its human form. That was convincing enough for Astrid to go and see what was going on. It was at that moment that the Transformation was complete, and the Weredragon was human once again. It was no surprise for Astrid when she saw who the Weredragon was in human form.
It was Hiccup.
Embarrassed, Hiccup looked up at Astrid. His clothes had somehow Transformed with him, though they were very dirty and torn. Sighing, Hiccup began to stand up, and Astrid noticed that he didn't have the prosthetic. But he didn't need it.
His left leg wasn't missing anymore. The Transformation into the Weredragon had healed him.
It was a bit awkward for Hiccup to walk without the prosthetic, since he had gotten used to using it, but that didn't stop him from making his way over to Astrid. Their eyes met, and Hiccup sighed. "I'm so sorry, Astrid. I made a huge mistake, I didn't mean to..." He was cut off by Astrid hugging him tightly. "I'm sorry too, Hiccup. I shouldn't have yelled at you. If I had known that this would happen, I wouldn't have dumped you." Feeling calm and happy, Hiccup hugged her back. Astrid suddenly pulled out of the embrace. "So, do you mind explaining all of this to me?" she asked. Hiccup sighed. Astrid definitely deserved the truth.
"On the night of my first Transformation, I was...scared. I didn't know what to think of this dragon. I mean, I've heard legends of werebeasts, and how they cause destruction and chaos, but this was different. I had control over my body. But I didn't have control over my instincts. So, I decided to satisfy my hunger and thirst. I realized later on, that I could control myself because of my emotions, which is why I went on rampaging tonight. I became upset, and that upset the monster. But there were some benefits. Every time I changed back, my leg was healed. I knew that people would notice and question it, so I did what I thought was best. I cut it off. That's why I had to bandage it. I honestly never wanted to become this creature. I was afraid of what I might not have control over, which is why I considered dumping you. I thought that if you weren't near me, you wouldn't get hurt by the Weredragon. But I was wrong. I turned into a monster."
"And that's because your heart was broken," Astrid finished. Hiccup sighed, and nodded. "So, what now?" Astrid asked. Hiccup looked at her. "We have to find a way to fix this. There has to be some way we can break the curse and make me normal." "Does it have anything to do with the Infector?" Astrid asked. Hiccup's eyes widened. "It could," he said, "But there's only one way to find out." With that, he took off running for his house.
Astrid smiled. "There's the Hiccup I know," she said. She then ran after him.
It took a while, grabbing the other teens, explaining the situation, and going through all of Bork's notes, but they finally found some information about the Infector.
"I think I found something about that dragon you guys mentioned," Fishlegs said as he read through a page so Bork's notes. "Well, what does it say?" Astrid asked. The cloud wouldn't stay in front of the moon forever, but hopefully it would stay long enough for them to solve the Weredragon problem.
Fishlegs began to read. "'Theoretically, the Infector is a vicious dragon that waits inside its cave to sink its fangs into unsuspecting victims.'" "You mean it bites people?" Snotlout asked. Fishlegs nodded. "Yep, and when it does, it releases a special venom that goes into the victim's bloodstream. Every night of a full moon, the victim Transforms into a Weredragon." "That would explain how it started," Astrid said, "Does it say how to kill the Infector?" Fishlegs looked at the notes for a few seconds before shaking his head. "Nope."
Snotlout scoffed. "Do you really buy all of that?" "I do," Astrid said, "I saw Hiccup Transform." "Wouldn't it be cool if we could Transform?" Tuffnut suddenly asked. Ruffnut nodded. "Yeah, maybe we could change into something like a Monstrous Nightmare, or maybe a Whispering Death!" "What about a Screaming Death?!" Tuffnut asked. "Guys, focus," Astrid said, "We're trying to find a way to stop the Infector." "Well, It says that no Viking weapons can pierce the Infector's skin," Fishlegs said, "And it also says that it never leaves the cave." "We could actually be on to something," Hiccup said, "If it doesn't leave the cave, then there has to be some weakness it has." "Hiccup's right," Astrid said, "There has to be something that can stop it." "Yeah, but what?" Snotlout asked, rudely. Hiccup shrugged. "Well, there's only one way to find out."
That's how they ended up flying to the cave where the Infector lived. Hiccup was riding on Stormfly with Astrid, in case he Transformed again. "Do you really think it was a good idea to bring all of our weapons?" Fishlegs asked. "What else can we do?" Hiccup asked, "We have to try everything we've got if we want to stop the Infector." "Better hurry," Tuffnut said, "'Cause the chief said that he's gonna kill the Weredragon because of what it did to the village."
Everyone stared at him with looks of shock, or in Hiccup's case, fear. "And you didn't tell us earlier because...?" Astrid asked, annoyed and angry. "Um, duh, I was talking about Transforming into a Screaming Death," Tuffnut said. "How is that more important than telling us what Stoick was planning on doing to the Weredragon?!" Astrid asked, incredibly angry and annoyed. Tuffnut shrugged. "It wasn't," he said, "But the Transforming thing was cool to talk about."
Astrid sighed in frustration and turned away. "I'm guessing this would be a bad time to talk about what happened earlier today," Hiccup said, sarcastically. Astrid sighed. "Right now, our biggest concern is to kill the Infector, break the curse, and get you back to normal before you Transform. Or worse, before your own father tries to kill you." Hiccup nodded. "Good point."
They were silent for a minute before Hiccup asked, "Do you really care about me that much?" Astrid sighed. "I don't really want to talk about it right now," she said. Hiccup shrugged. "Okay then."
It wasn't long before the Infector's Cave was in sight.
It was all or nothing.
Any of you surprised? Or had you all figured it out before this chapter? The battle with the Infector is next. Review, follow, or favorite.