I'm back!
Thanks for all reviews!
Don't own anything (except for my socks)!
-Mitti
PS: short explanation about what's happening on Berk because there isn't much except for . . .
- - § - -
Berk had been searching for days.
Dragons had gone out many times in search of them, people scoured the forest for any sign. A couple of people even flew on dragons to nearby islands.
Hiccup and Toothless could not be found.
Astrid was, surprisingly, not that worried. Albeit she did often hide if she was worried or frightened (which wasn't often anyway), yet in all honesty, she wasn't too concerned.
Only a few things didn't fit into place.
Hiccup had a love of finding dragons and learning about them. Astrid knew that, and after him telling her about basically all he knew about this new dragon species, she had a pretty good lead on what he was attempting to do. She might not have known where he was, though.
The other thing Astrid wondered is how Hiccup got out without being spotted. Though Toothless was the color of the night sky, there were always dragons that were on guard during the night posted all around the island, from houses to the rocky beaches, and there were usually a few insomniacs out wandering the cold, no-longer-frosted streets.
The Dragon Academy still met daily, yet every time they practiced something or talked about another it was always half-heartedly. Ruffnut and Tuffnut never listened anymore, not that they did before, but still. Snotlout bragged that he should run the classes, but a quick punch to the jaw (courtesy of Astrid) made him lower his "bragging rate". Fishlegs and Astrid often kept the Academy together, mainly because half of the time the group searched nearby islands.
Every desperate search, every hopeful glance, it was all futile. No one found any trace of the chief's son. Astrid began to wonder if he wouldn't come back.
And, as she lay in bed with her loyal Nadder scuffling outside her house, getting ready for bed, the blonde felt herself slipping away from consciousness. This was ordinary, and it wasn't strange for her to dream, either, as she soon did when she dozed off.
She often didn't remember her dreams, or they never came out vividly. Perhaps fortunately, she would forget the dream which would haunt her sleeping self for several days.
Her dream?
When Hiccup had not returned, so Astrid went searching for him with Stormfly. The two had looked all over, until finally, just finally, they found him and Toothless.
Except they weren't moving, or even breathing, whatsoever.
Maybe it was a blessing that Astrid didn't remember her dreams.
- - § - -
Hiccup awoke from his groggy doze. His eyes were filled with sleep, and they begged to be closed for more resting, as did the rest of his body with a sincerity that almost made him lie down once more. Ignoring the feeling of metal that dug into his chest and sat there heavily, he slowly sat up, trying to organize his black dancing vision. He wasn't surprised by the roughness of his bed or the coolness of the air. He remembered everything that had happened.
It had not been a dream.
That had been a sliver of hope in the back of Hiccup's logical mind, but it was proven wrong, as he knew it would be. He had slept, he had awoken.
He was still on this gods-forsaken island.
Toothless was still gone.
Standing up slowly due to wobbling legs and one foot missing, Hiccup looked around him, head still spinning mildly. The fog above was lighter, indicating that it was daytime. There was no significant way, or in fact no way at all, to tell time, except for the difference of night and day.
"Toothless!" Hiccup called, but only his stomach replied, growling and sending sharp hunger pains up Hiccup's nerves. He flinched, and wondered if he should look for Toothless or food.
Or both?
Decision made with his slowly-clearing mind, Hiccup began limping around to the trees that sprouted up randomly from the long grass, checking for fruit. Unfortunately, his grass-bandage on his left foot began unraveling, causing his leg to thump painfully to the ground every time he took a step with his left leg.
"Oh gods," Hiccup muttered as he sat down to tighten the grass, which flatly refused to tie once more. Who knew that plants would be such a bother when so much else was wrong.
After adding more tall grass stalks to his somewhat-similar-to-gauze bandage, he once again started searching for food, water, and Toothless. Those three things were his top priorities (and honestly the only things he really needed or cared about at the moment) as he searched the island for any black-scaled dragon, or any dragon at all.
"Toothless!" Hiccup's voice came as a rasping noise, hurting his parched throat. Clutching it for a moment, the brown-haired boy began looking for the small oasis he had found the previous day. If he could find it, he could start calling for Toothless again.
He just had to hope that Toothless had somehow wandered back to the island, because it was obvious that the dragon had not been there the day before. Hiccup felt immobilized on the island, mainly because it was true, but it was the same for Toothless. Both could only fly with one another.
And, not for the first time, Hiccup wished he had never torn off Toothless's tail wing, so his dragon might have been able to fly and save them both.
- - § - -
Toothless was exhausted.
He had been racing around the tunnels, or, rather, labyrinth of tunnels, for as long as he could truly remember clearly. He often took breaks from his dashes, sitting on the cool stone floor, panting, teeth always out and eyes like black claw marks. The unnatural glow of the silver gems had made Toothless's vision occasionally dizzy and made his head spin, for reasons the dragon could not comprehend.
There was no other living creature down in the tunnels. When stopping and freezing so he could listen accurately, Toothless heard the sound of waves crashing against rocks, and sometimes merely slapping shores. He went toward the quieter ones, which could possibly signify an island like the one the duo had crashed on.
He was taking a short break, breathing heavily and looking around. The walls, floor, and ceiling looked no different from any other place where he had stopped, except for a different arrangement of the crystalline gems. Or whatever they were.
Pricking his ears, Toothless began zoning in one what lay ahead in the tunnel. At first, he heard the usual sound of waves coming from ahead. They sounded happy, and Toothless almost growled in envy at their freedom. He was about to, until he heard another sound.
A choppy wave hitting a jagged rock.
It was directly above him, too, making him cringe at the worry of the rock collapsing the tunnel system. However, the tunnel did not seem affected by the wave, and even when another came, the walls stood in stoic silence.
Toothless had guessed he was underneath the ocean, and this confirmed his thoughts. But to get out . . .
Frustration clawing at his mind, Toothless growled, teeth bared at just the glowing up ahead. It seemed as if this tunnel would never end, and it was starting to very much bother Toothless.
But he had to go on.
Zipping down the tunnel, Toothless yowled out the Night Fury call, as if trying to tell Hiccup, anyone, anything, that he was going to get out, no matter what it took.
- - § - -
The figure watched in mild interest as the boy wrapped long stalks of grass around his lower left leg. After spectating him for a while beforehand, that specific figure had realized that the boy had no left foot. He seemed annoyed with the fact that his foot was missing.
The figure's left hand tightened its grip on a sharp mirror shard, easily puncturing the hand in the index finger and drawing a bead of blood. Frowning, the figure swiped the bleeding hand onto the ground, but looked up again as the boy shouted in a hoarse voice.
"Toothless!"
He had been calling this earlier, the figure recalled. Was this the dragon he had fallen from? But who in their right minds would name a dragon?
Maybe the boy got hit in the head, the figure wondered with a slight pang of sympathy, but it was pushed away in furiousness.
Don't feel sorry for him! He's the one trespassing! And he was the one riding the dragon! Why is he on my island, anyway? If he's hunting the dragon, then I'll . . .
The boy sighed, shattering the figure's thoughts. As he turned away from the figure's hiding spot and began inspecting the horizon, the formerly-shadowed person came slowly out, holding the mirror shard up and ready to strike, as if stalking prey.
This specific figure seemed about fourteen, with dark red hair. And, being furious, the figure's piercing blue eyes were narrowed, possibly in concentration.
Whatever the reason, the person looked ready to strike.
- - § - -
Hiccup sighed as he looked out into the foggy abyss that was known as the rest of the ocean. Gods, where is Toothless, he asked as he glanced down at his feet (er, foot) and saw that there was a small, bluish flower sprouting up in between his legs.
At least there's something colorful here, Hiccup thought, bending down to look closely at the flower. The five-petaled plant gave a bright "smile" up to him, and the brown-haired boy smiled in reassurance.
It quickly disappeared when he heard the grass rustle behind him.
Heart skipping a beat, Hiccup turned around quickly, saying, "Toothless?" in the hopes that it would be his dragon.
It, however, was quite the opposite.
A bedraggled girl abruptly lunged at him, a blade in her hands. She wore a very dirty and not-so-neat tannish dress. Her hair was in a very uncoordinated pixie cut, looking very messy. Her blue eyes blazed with fury. Shouting in surprise and terror, Hiccup threw up his hands as the girl bowled him over, making his head thump painfully into the ground. The girl grabbed his arm with her hand.
"What are you doing here?" the voice sounded old, creaky, and hoarse, as if it had not been used in years. "Why are you here?"
The girl on top of Hiccup shook him in the attempt for him to talk, but he just flinched and squinted up to look at the girl. She was holding a blade right to his face.
"I-I didn't –"
"What are you after?" the girl said, her voice becoming so high with hysteria that it sounded like a whisper, as if the girl had gotten laryngitis and had lost her voice.
"I didn't purposefully come here!" Hiccup defended himself. "I crashed."
The girl scoffed, but she carefully relaxed her tight grip around his arm, her hand sparking with readiness. "Are you after the dragon the rescued yours?"
Hiccup gasped. "You've seen Toothless?!" he asked, struggling to sit up. The girl roughly pushed him down, and despite looking scrawnier than he, she was stronger. "Where is he?"
The girl laughed a coarse, humorless laugh. "Oh, I don't know," she said. "The dragon on this island grabbed him, since I couldn't, so I grabbed you . . ." the girl's eyes widened and she cringed at herself.
"What?" Hiccup asked. "What are you talking about?"
The girl frowned, but slowly stood up, releasing Hiccup. "Stay there," she warned threateningly, before quickly running to the beach.
Hiccup sat up and crossed his legs. This is the weirdest day. Ever. Strangely, it was mildly similar to how he had met Toothless, except their meeting had involved Toothless eating a fish, regurgitating the fish, and making Hiccup take a bite. Hiccup cringed; it had tasted terrible.
The girl came back. She was holding a small leather bag in her hands, her eyes having a mild guilty look.
"My rucksack!" Hiccup said, taking it from her. He hadn't even realized he had awoken without it. When he opened it, he saw all of his belongings, but especially rooted out the inky book, and sighed when it was still there.
"It talks about a dragon in there," the girl said, sitting cross-legged next to him. Hiccup tensed, wondering if she would attack him again. Why did she in the first place? he wondered, yet did not ask; if he did, she might attack him again.
"An UnderIce," Hiccup said.
"It reminds me of the dragon here." The girl coughed, her voice still a sounding a little unused. "It's white and has silver eyes."
Hiccup's interest sparked, but first he needed to correct her. "Is the dragon a boy or a girl?" he asked.
The redhead looked at him like he was crazy, but she answered nonetheless. "Girl, I think."
"Then call her a 'she'."
The girl glared at him, but she didn't look ready to attack him again. The fire in her eyes was different, if possible. "Fine. She is that pure white color, like that sticky book says. And she has silver eyes."
Hiccup nodded, absentmindedly tapping his fingers on the cover as the girl fiddled with her blade, which looked like a piece of a mirror.
"Who's Toothless?" the girl asked.
Hiccup paused, but decided it could do no harm to tell her. "Toothless is a Night Fury dragon," he said. "And my best friend."
"You're friends with a dragon?" the girl's voice had no chiding in her voice, only a mild curiosity.
"Yeah," Hiccup said, finding it strange to speak to someone after mainly calling for Toothless for about a day. "Are you friends with the UnderIce here?"
The girl shrugged her bony shoulders. "Not really. We fight a lot."
Hiccup leaned slightly away from her. "Define fighting."
Blue eyes closed for a minute, then opened as she responded, "We just . . . Fight. Mostly over food. It's not that bad," she reassured in her raspy voice. "Normally only a few scratches."
Hiccup glanced at her, then straightened back up. He looked out onto the rest of the island; the grassy part, with tress growing as misfits in the dry turf. A jagged and abrupt mountain leaned to the other side of the island.
"What's your name?" the girl asked, shifting so her legs were straight out in front of her.
"Hiccup," the brown-haired boy responded truthfully. "What's yours."
"I'm -" the redhead stopped. Silence followed the next few seconds, and Hiccup wondered if she was debating on really telling him her true name, or claiming a name at all.
"You don't have to tell me," Hiccup suggested, but she frowned and stared at her mirror shard in her hands.
"No," she decided. "I should tell you." Looking up with fiercely guarded blue eyes, she said, "I'm Blizzard."
- - § - -
"Let's go find Toothless."
Blizzard had seemed more friendly after Hiccup had conversed with her. Her voice seemed to be getting better, as if it was merely the fact that she had not spoken that made her voice cracked and dry. Still, she looked guarded and still didn't say too much.
She gestured for him to follow her, and then she began walking briskly toward the mountain. Hiccup followed.
"This island is called Depth Island," Blizzard said, talking as if she was taking Hiccup on a tour. "At least, that's what I call it. You and Toothless hit the top of that mountain -" she pointed to the big alp's higher region. "- And crashed into Depth Bay." Her pale hand pointed downward, into a bay-like area. "The UnderIce rescued Toothless, I think, and I rescued you."
"Hm," Hiccup said, half fearing that Toothless had not been saved. "Was Toothless awake while falling?" he asked, a sliver of hope growing within him.
"I don't think so," Blizzard responded, and the hope crashed. "He didn't react when you fell off of him."
Hiccup felt sadness claw at his chest. He had found a friend (if he could even classify her as one, that is) but he had lost his best friend. The two, with the redhead in the lead, began walking toward Depth Bay. Blizzard's face had a strange determination on them.
"Where are we going?" Hiccup asked, adjusting the rucksack on his back.
Blizzard pointed toward the bay, which gave him almost nothing. "Are we swimming?" he guessed jokingly.
Blizzard murmured something under her breath, then added in a louder voice, "Yes. I have a feeling where the dragon could have taken Toothless."
Without a word more, Blizzard walked even faster to the bay. She passed a few rocks underfoot, and didn't even glance at them as she stepped over them. Hiccup, who still had an awkward lurching gait, had to practically run to keep up with her, which hurt his legs.
Soon, Hiccup and Blizzard reached the bay. "There's a tunnel underneath," the blue-eyed girl explained, pointing to the center of the bay. "The dragon sometimes goes in those tunnels, and I do too. The entrance is big enough for two full-grown dragons to fit through."
Hiccup smiled hopefully. "Let's hope he's in there," he said, a picture of his best friend flashing through his head.
Don't worry, bud. We'll find you.
Promise.
- - § - -
If the ending is too abrupt, I apologize.
Well, please tell me what you think! Hope that the plot so far isn't too boring (or far too bizarre, either!)
Thanks for support!
-Mitti
