Heather Together Chapter 4
Heather found the teens sitting in a circle on one of the catapult platforms, talking about the strange things that had happened today, and wondering what they should do with themselves while the village was nearly deserted. She doubted she'd have much trouble pushing their buttons, and for the most part, she was right.
"Listen up," she exclaimed. "Your tribe is headed into terrible danger, and they don't know it. Hiccup has some kind of a plan to help them, but he can't do it alone."
"Why should we do anything to help that Viking reject?" Snotlout demanded.
"I'm going," she said with a flirty smile. He smiled back. One down. I figured he'd be easy.
"What's he going to do?" Fishlegs asked.
"I don't know, but I think it has something to do with dragons. You could learn things about dragons that nobody else knows."
"Oooh! I'm in!" he exclaimed. Two down.
"You said, 'terrible danger'?" Ruffnut wondered.
"Very dangerous and scary," she replied. "It's probably something no other Viking has ever dared to try before."
"We're in!" the twins chorused. Three and four down. One to go, and of course, she'd be the hard one.
Astrid glared at her. "I am not lifting one finger to help that cheating gurrybutt do anything!"
"The rest of your friends are going, Astrid. Don't you owe it to the group?"
"I would, if the group was doing something smart, but this isn't it!" Astrid snapped back. "Hiccup got what he deserved. If I help him, I might be an accessory to whatever his crimes are!" Darn. Try another angle.
"If you help save your tribe, there could be lots of honor and glory for you."
Astrid looked suspicious. "You're really trying to push my buttons, aren't you? It won't work." She's right, it didn't work. Try something else.
"Astrid, which part of 'save your tribe' don't you understand? They have no idea what they're up against! With help, Hiccup could tip the scales in your people's favor; without help, he's just... Hiccup."
Astrid was still suspicious. "They have no idea what they're up against? But you do? How does that work?"
"Fine. I'll tell you everything." Heather sat down next to them and hugged her knees. "Did anyone think it was strange that a Night Fury came to Hiccup's rescue this morning?" They all nodded "yes" to that.
"That dragon is Hiccup's friend. He's trained it and he's gone flying with it. He –"
"Prove that!" Astrid snapped.
"You might have noticed that it was wearing a saddle? He's taken me for a ride on it." Now they were all listening.
"That ride wound up taking us into the dragons' nest. There's a dragon in there, the mother of all dragons, bigger than this catapult and the rocks it's built on. It demands to be fed. The other dragons have to bring it food, or else it eats them instead. I saw it and heard it; I'm not making this up.
"If your tribe finds the nest and turns that dragon loose without realizing it, there aren't enough Vikings in the entire Northland to fight it. Your people are sailing straight toward their own extinction, and they don't know it."
"So what are we supposed to do?" Snotlout wondered.
"I don't know what Hiccup has in mind, but at least he has a plan," she answered. "We can find him in the training ring if we hurry." She rose and turned to leave. "Astrid, you owe it to your people to try and do something." She left without looking back. She heard enough footsteps behind her to know that most of the teens were following her.
At last, she heard Astrid sigh in aggravation and join the group.
As they entered the ring, they saw Hiccup in front of one of the dragon doors. He was apparently steeling himself to open it. Why?
Fishlegs spoke first. "If you're planning on getting eaten, I'd definitely go with the Gronckle." Suddenly the others were all over him, praising him and themselves and his plan that they knew nothing about. Heather stood with arms folded and let them make fools of themselves, but when Ruffnut got flirty on him, that was the last straw. She stepped right up to Hiccup, forcing him to back away, which allowed her to step in front of Ruffnut.
"So... what is this plan of yours?" she asked. He smiled at the sudden realization that he'd just become the leader of the group.
"Okay," he began. "There's this dragon –"
"I've told them about that giant dragon in the nest," Heather said.
"It's too big for Vikings to fight," he nodded. "Only other dragons can take it on. So we're going to ride these dragons up there and try to save our tribe."
"Wait... didn't the tribe kick you out?" Ruff demanded.
"They're still my people, and I don't want to see them die," he replied.
"I don't want to see me die, either," Fishlegs whimpered. "Don't dragons kill people?"
"Not if we treat them right," Hiccup answered. "I've learned a few things about dragons that nobody else ever knew. I'm about to show you how to make friends with a dragon so you can ride it."
"Heather, you were right!" Fishlegs exclaimed. "I'm all ears, Hiccup!"
"She was right about the dangerous part, too," Tuff grinned at his sister.
They watched, awe-struck, as Hiccup opened the doors to the Gronckle's cage, and pacified it with just his open hands and kind words. He did the same with the Deadly Nadder and the Hideous Zippleback, and finally with the Monstrous Nightmare that he'd tried to fight just a few hours ago.
"Now we have to choose riders," he said. "There are four dragons and seven of us, so we'll have to double up. Ruff, Tuff, you should ride the Zippleback together; you'll be naturals at it. Heather, you'll ride the Nadder; Legs, you're on the Gronckle; Lout, you definitely get the Nightmare. I'll double up with Heather until I get my own dragon back. Astrid, that leaves you riding with either Fishlegs or Snotlout."
Astrid glared at both of her possible rides. It looked like she was torn; the Nightmare was the more impressive dragon, but its rider was the one she'd least rather ride with (except Hiccup, of course). She finally settled onto the Nightmare's neck, and rested her hands on Snotlout's shoulders as lightly as she could. When he reached back to rest his hand on hers, she pulled back and gave his hand a good slap.
"Okay, let's ride, team! Heather and I know the way, so follow us. Stay together, don't try anything crazy on the way, and when the action starts, remember – the whole tribe's fate might depend on us. Let's go!"
With that, the world's first air force took off on its first mission, without the slightest idea how to control their "aircraft" or strike at their target.
Heather was hanging onto Hiccup for dear life. He'd jury-rigged a rope harness around the Nadder, but only one person could hang onto it, and he was riding in front, so he held the rope. The wind from their forward motion had blown her braid straight back; it made her slightly uncomfortable to not feel its comforting weight on her shoulder. "What are we going to do when we get there?" she asked him.
"We'll have to see what's happening when we arrive," he answered. "My first priority is to get Toothless free so I can get into the air with him. He and I are used to flying together; we can do more than the ones who aren't used to dragon flight."
"What about the rest of us?" she wondered.
"We'll make something up," he said. He sounded a lot more confident than she would have felt in his shoes.
They flew in silence. She glanced back now and then at the others. Fishlegs looked serious, even grim. The twins, on the other hand, were obviously having the time of their lives, and they didn't care who else knew it. Snotlout was somewhere between those two extremes, and Astrid still looked resentful about the whole thing.
"Hiccup," she asked quietly, "why did you put me on this dragon instead of Astrid? You've known her a lot longer than you've known me. I don't even live in Berk."
"I put you here because I have confidence in you," he answered. "I know you're smart, you're brave, and you think quickly. I just don't know where she's at anymore. I'd never question her courage, but I'm not sure she'll take orders from me. We're going into battle against horrible odds; I want the people closest to me to be people I can completely count on."
"Are you trying to make me cry again?" she asked. "After everything I tried to do to you, how can you say you can count on me like that? Don't you realize this might just be another level of lies I'm telling, so I can manipulate you somehow?"
"You saw that mega-dragon," he said. "You know what we're up against. If you weren't being honest with me, then you'd have tried any excuse to stay out of this battle. I think you've changed. Or maybe you've just gone back to who you really were in the first place. Either way, I'm a lot more comfortable with you at my back than I would have been with Astrid." He hung his head when he said that.
"You still like her a lot," Heather observed.
"I do," he nodded miserably, "but it doesn't seem to do me any good. When I fail, she ignores me; when I succeed, she resents me for it. Maybe if I die in battle today, that will impress her."
"Hiccup, don't talk like that!" she exclaimed, clutching him even tighter. He tensed up for a moment, and she realized how close she was to him. She almost relaxed her embrace, but didn't. Instead, she repeated, "Please don't talk that way."
"Yeah, are you trying to tell me someone would miss Hiccup the Useless, Hiccup the Rejected, if I was gone?" he said, with an edge in his voice.
"Yes," she whispered. "Someone would miss you very much."
They flew on toward their first battle. It would probably be their last battle as well. She made no attempt to let go of him, and he made no attempt to pull away.
