Ready the Ships
Two days earlier
A man runs up the rocky shores, tripping on the loose rocks. He slips inside a cave and nearly runs into the jagged walls. He breathes heavily as he reaches the inner workings of the cavern. He bursts through the huge metal doors that lead to the throne room. He doubles over panting; the only sound in the large space. A smooth, icy voice cuts through the silence.
"What news do you bring?" The female voice demands.
"There is another." He pants.
"Another what?" Her smooth tone unfaltering.
The man continues to breathe heavily, but quickly regains his breath before speaking once again. "Another Night Fury, master."
"What!?" She screams losing all composure. Her voice turns cold as ice as she hisses, "Ready the ships!" She orders angrily. The rest of her men stand around looking nervous and panicked. "Now!"
Her men are visibly shaken and leap to attention, running out of the cavern shouting orders at others inside the vast networks of caves. The woman's long hair is in three knee-length dreadlock, interlaced with steel beads that sway with every angry step. Her dark brown, almost grey, skin tensing with her every move. Agitated, her fists clench revealing her toned figure; muscles tensing. How on earth is there another Night Fury! She growls in frustration, however the sound was more dragon-like than anything a human could make.
She wrenches her spear off of its hook in the rock wall and storms outside, shouting at the already working men and women. "Ready the ships! We're going now!" She grabs the nearest man by his collar and lifts him off the ground, she hisses through her teeth, "Prepare the dragons for my return."
With that she drops the smaller man and he runs off, terrified of her taller figure, and does as she wishes. She would have that Night Fury if it was the last thing her men would do.
Present
Dreamshade is still uneasy but allows herself to be consumed in the moment. She had won the dragon race after all. Though she couldn't help the feelings that came over her. Everyone, even Toothless, believed her cheerful façade.
When the feast was over, Hiccup was drunk and Toothless had to carry his ecstatic rider home. Cloudjumper and Dreamshade walk with Valka, back to the house, however Astrid and Stormfly have stayed behind to clean up after the feast with the rest of the gang.. Valka heaves open the wooden door and everyone steps inside; falling asleep as soon as they reach their rooms.
Soon the village settles into a night-time silence. However, tonight there was something off about the darkness. The moon, though full tonight, seemed to give off no light as a shadowed figure darts across the pebbled streets up to the Haddock residence. She slips into the unlocked door, using the forgetfulness of the tired Vikings to her advantage. The silence left unbroken by her stealth as she approaches the closed rooms. Silently she opens the first door. Empty. Untouched, she curses under her breath. The second is occupied by a sleeping male, the wounded Night Fury by his side. In the last room rests another Viking, this one female, with another dragon; a Stormcutter. She wonders as to where the last Night Fury might be hiding, but when she turns around she finds two luminous, green eyes staring down at her. Gotcha. She thinks, smiling viciously.
"Að lokum, þú ert minn." The woman's icy voice hisses.
Visibly shaken, the Night Fury stutters, 'Hvernig ... hvernig var þér ...?'
"You will make a frábært addition to my… armata." Her smooth voice cutting further into Dreamshade's unease. Her hand reaches out to feel the scales on the back of the dragon's neck, but before her hand could reach the dragon, a low growl emits from Dreamshade's throat, her teeth bared. This does not deter the woman as a malicious smirk forms on her face.
Toothless's ears perk up as he hears something outside the door, he quietly stands up and sneaks over to get a better look. He nudges it open with his paw to find a strange woman standing next to Dreamshade.
The two notice this slight movement and both turn to look; however the women takes advantage of the distraction to leap on to Dreamshade's back, tackling her, forcing her to the ground. Out of instinct, Dreamshade throws the figure off of her back and slaps her with her tail. Toothless roars, trying to wake everyone in the house.
Valka leaps to her feet and bursts through the door. "Hiccup!"
Toothless roars again, but Hiccup does not stir, too far gone notice the loud noises outside his door. The woman sneaks up behind Valka and swiftly delivers a strike to the back of her neck, the Viking falling to the ground; unconscious. Toothless rears up, his wings splay in a defensive manner.
'Back down!' The woman hisses, though her words are not human. They were Draconic.
Surprisingly, and out of Toothless's control, he lowers his front paws to the ground, and folds his wings back to his sides.
'What? How are you-?' Toothless manages before being cut off by the woman.
'Now leave.' She orders.
It was as if Toothless's body was not his own, moving without being told to. He quietly slips back inside Hiccup's room and lays down, despite his mind telling him otherwise.
She turns back to Dreamshade. "Koma," she commands before leaving the house. Dreamshade does as told; struggling the whole way as Toothless watches from the house, unable to do anything.
The woman reaches the rocky shore of Berk where her boat is docked. There was no way the Night Fury would be able to fit inside its close quarters. So instead, she forces Dreamshade to burn the ship and pushes the remains into the foamy water. Then the woman looks the dragon in the eye to command it to fly her to the fleet of ships hiding just beyond the farthest sea stacks.
Dreamshade shifts uncomfortably beneath the woman's form. Her wings spread as she leaps unwillingly into the air, the white and blue paint flaking off her smooth scales. She flies until the ships are in sight before lowering the two of them to the flagship's deck. Men and women appear with the harness and ropes to tie Dreamshade down.
The woman steps aside to allow her soldiers go to work securing the Night Fury; her future.
"Set sail to Helheim's Dyr!" She hisses through her teeth.
Astrid returns to the house to find the door opened, she gasps as she steps inside; Valka lays unconscious on the ground. She runs up the stairs to find that her door had been opened, though nothing inside was touched. She races to Hiccup's room, fearing for his absence, but her emotions turn to relief as she sees him sound asleep in his bed. Toothless's head shoots up and stares, a panicked expression in his eyes. The dragon croons and nudges Astrid's hand. Astrid walks up to Hiccup and slaps him across the face, "Ow! Why would you do that?" He moans, rubbing his sore cheek.
"Hiccup, do you know why your mother's passed out on the floor downstairs!?" Astrid asks urgently.
The Viking's eyes shoot open, locking on Astrid's blue, crystalline ones.
"Wha- wait. What?" Hiccup stutters.
"Yeah, Valka's downstairs, lying on the floor. There's bruising on the back of her neck!"
Hiccup shoots out of bed, nearly tripping, and runs down the stairs; taking them two at a time, his prosthetic clicking on the wood beneath him. He kneels by his mother, taking her in his arms. "Mom?"
His mother mumbles an incoherent response. Her green eyes slowly open and meet Hiccup's as she cups a hand to his face. "I'm alright, son." She says softly.
"What happened?" Hiccup asks, helping her to her feet. She only shakes her head and asks for some water. Astrid runs off to get some as Hiccup waits for an explanation.
"I'm not really sure. I heard one of the dragons roar, so I stepped outside my door to see a hooded figure. She snuck up behind me and knocked me out. After that, I woke up in your arms." Valka replies.
Suddenly Astrid tenses, "Guys, where's Dreamshade?"
The huge armada sails into port on the coast of a rocky, mountainous island. The flagship docks and the woman leaps off the deck, not waiting for the ship to be tied down, her spear in hand. Fog swirls in slow circles along the beach, as a man approaches her.
In a low voice he murmurs, "They are ready, master."
"Good," Her icy voice is smooth. "We have another to add to our… collection."
"Did you return successfully?" He asks.
"Bring it to the cages." She orders, ignoring his question. She storms to the throne room gathering her elite to her side. As they reach the cages she hears the angry voices of struggling Vikings. Upon her absence the dragon had taken to defying her army; her orders. As she entered the men stopped arguing. The circular room becoming silent. Even her new Night Fury froze; its eyes dilating to slits as thin as twigs. As the woman steps closer the dragon inches further away till it couldn't move back anymore. It rears up on its hind legs; wings splayed defensively, a shriek forming in its throat. Then the woman orders, "Put it out."
A man pulls out a long tube and shoves a dart into it. He blows it towards the frightened Night Fury, causing it to roar before its eyes roll up into its head and collapses onto the ground with a soft thud. "Dragon sedative." The woman walks up to the unconscious dragon, gesturing to the open cage as she orders, "Put it in there."
They haul the dragon into the cage and slam the heavy iron door shut; clicking the lock into place.
A low voice speaks up. "Master, what do we do now?"
"Now?" The woman asks, as if pondering her answer. "Now, we take down the Wounded Night Fury, and his rider. Then we conquer Berk; more than my father ever could."
"Dreamshade!" Hiccup yells, though his head is pounding and he feels nauseous. Astrid and Valka repeat the name, scouring the island for the Night Fury. Astrid had made Hiccup attach Toothless's special prosthetic fin to his tail so he could fly on his own. Though Toothless greatly resented the thing, he agreed to wear it, only because of Dreamshade. So every once and a while a shadow would pass over the three Vikings.
The sun peaks up above the horizon, the gang had been up all night; by then Hiccup's head is pounding and the world swirls in his eyes. His hands meet his face as he rubs at his eyes and he shakes his head. Toothless lands in front of them his eyes downcast; he didn't find any trace of her.
Astrid notices Hiccup's distress and says gently, "Go home, Babe."
Hiccup protests, "Astrid-"
"No, you're going home Hiccup." Astrid interrupts. "Toothless? You make sure he gets there."
Toothless croons and lifts Hiccup up onto his back. The two women watch as Toothless leaps into the air and flies off to the Haddock house.
As the two females keep up the search, the town begins to stir; all those that didn't get drunk at least. They hear Astrid and Valka shouting outside and want to know what is going on. Astrid notices that people are peeking out their windows, staring at them. She calls, beckons to them for help. All those who are able join the search but to no avail. Dreamshade was no longer on the island.
Dreamshade had been pacing around her cage for what seemed like hours, until the cloaked figure returns, a devilish grin plastered on her face. She opens the lock on the dragon's cage and swings the door open. The room goes silent, even the other dragons are hushed as the woman enters the Night Fury's cage. Dreamshade tenses, her body low to the ground in a defensive posture, as the woman's icy voice grinds into the silence.
"You will help me defeat the Wounded Night Fury, and avenge my father's death." She growls. Dreamshade does not meet the harsh glare that the woman gives. She roughly steps on the Night Fury's head, forcing her to the ground, and draws a knife from a small scabbard made of worn leather. Its handle has a grip made of dragon's skin, and there are small decorative engravings on the blade.
The woman leans over so the Night Fury's neck is within reach. Dreamshade begins to feel pin-pricks of pain on the right side of her neck. Only when the woman begins to press into the Night Fury's skin does the dragon realize what the trapper is doing. At first the woman only scratches the surface of the dragon's hide, tracing, preparing to make the final cut. The dragon tries to wrench itself free but the woman's trappers leap onto it, forcing it to be still as the trapper makes jagged incisions into the side of the Night Fury's body. Dreamshade groans in pain even after the woman had finished. She steps off the dragon's head and stares down menacingly at her handiwork: a symbol that resembles a dragon's head with a sword through its snout. Dreamshade closes her eyes and moans softly in sadness and hurt. Seeing the Night Fury's despair, the woman finally orders harshly, "Þú tilheyra mér."
'Aldrei.' Dreamshade hisses, in a small act of defiance. The woman only laughs and steps out of the cage, locking it behind her. Dreamshade feels trickles of blood flowing out of the side of her neck and suddenly feels nauseous. She lays down and exhales longingly. She needed to find a way out, to be free of this madwoman. For now she could do nothing but sit and wait for her wounds to heal.
The woman strides towards the throne room and throws open the doors. She steps up onto the raised dais that holds her throne and two other smaller chairs at each of her sides. The four elite stand before her and simultaneously give her a curt bow. One of their low voices asks, "Do you have the Fury under control?"
"For now? Yes, I do." The woman says slowly.
"Good, we know how your father died," another voice says, though this one more feminine.
"We also know who killed your father." A third, male voice adds.
"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, and the Wounded Night Fury." The last of the elite finishes. Then she asks, "What is your plan?
"In time, Mýr." The woman replies. "Kris, Sölvi, Akira. Ready the armies, and load the dragons onto the ships. It's time we paid a visit to Berk."
They answer in unison. "Yes, Shiva."
Translations of The Day!
Að lokum, þú ert minn. - Finally, you are mine.
Hvernig ... hvernig var þér ...? - How... how are you...(doing that)?
frábært – great
Koma. - Come.
Þú tilheyra mér. - You belong to me.
Aldrei. - Never.