Journey's Start
I do not own HTTYD.
Sorry about the long delay between chapters.
Did everyone see the HTTYD 3 trailer? I did, and I can't wait it looks awesome! Toothless stole the show in the trailer interacting with the Lightfury…which by the way…
"So what are we going to do?" Fishlegs asked.
"Well, I'm not a member of your tribe, so I don't need to listen to what Stoick says," Torin said. "But, Nightstorm and I can't do this on our own, we tried once, it didn't work."
"If we split up and leave a few riders behind to help defend Berk and The Edge, we might be able to do this," Torin added.
"Who are you thinking about leaving behind?" Hiccup asked.
Torin thought for a moment before saying. "Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the Twins could stay behind while the rest of us travel to Vinland. The ship only has so much room anyway, most of that we'll need for supplies."
"I'll think about it," Hiccup said knowing Fishlegs would be disappointed in being left behind.
He could see Torin's reasoning, it could take them weeks to sail to their destination but he wasn't blind, he knew Torin had to be picking Astrid and Heather, two of their best warriors, for a reason.
"We should mention this new plan to my dad," Hiccup said.
Torin didn't like needing Stoick's permission, he was so used to being on his own, and not having to ask permission for anything. Well unless you counted when he fought for a Viking named Ivar.
Torin thought back to that and smiled a little.
"What are you smiling about?" Heather asked him.
"Nothing, it's not important," Torin said climbing back onto Nightstorm.
"Where are you two going?" Hiccup asked as Heather climbed onto Windsher's saddle.
"We're just going for a short flight, don't worry," Torin explained. "We'll be back by dark, probably."
With that, Nightstorm took to the skies, Torin's mind flashed back his search for the Dragon eye lens, he shook his head vigorously to rid himself of the horrors.
"Are you okay?" Heather asked flying next to him on Windsher.
"I'm fine," Torin lied.
Having to fight his way through an army of Dragur wasn't something he could easily forget.
"You're not fine," Heather said. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I'm fine," Torin said again.
"Are you going to keep lying to me, or are you going to tell me the truth," Heather said.
"Fine, we'll land on that island," Torin said pointing down.
The two riders landed on the island, Torin got off Nightstorm and tossed Heather his dragon eye lens.
"Do you recognize that?" He asked.
"Of course, it's the dragon eye lens you found," Heather said when she caught it.
"Do you know where I found it," Torin asked. "Or how?"
"Vaguely," Heather replied. "You found it way up north, didn't you?"
"In a land where the sun never sets, the snow and ice never melt," Torin said. "In a place where even gods fear to tread…"
"You told me this before," Heather interrupted.
"In a crypt," Torin finished. "Guarded by the undead, Dragur,"
"Do you really expect me to believe that? Dragur are just a myth," Heather said.
"A myth didn't try to kill me," Torin responded showing her the scar on his side from an arrow.
"Do you have any idea what it's like to fight something that is literally already dead?" Torin asked Heather. "I could swing my sword at those abominations all I wanted, but it did little good unless I severed their heads."
"I had one of them charge at me with my own sword still lodged in its ribcage!"
"That sounds horrifying," Heather said.
"It was, I still can't sleep because of it," Torin said, and Nightstorm muzzled his elbow.
"The moment I made it out of that crypt, I collapsed into Nightstorm's wings,"
Heather watched him take off and disappear into the night on Nightstorm. She looked at the Dragon eye lens she still had in her hands.
"Could Torin really be telling the truth?" She wondered but suspected there might be a little more to the story then he was telling her.
Torin flew back to Berk and flew over the island. In the dead of night, Nightstorm was almost invisible to anyone on the ground. He passed over the cove where Hiccup had first found an injured Toothless years ago.
They circled the small island a few more times until they landed at the Dragon Academy, Torin got off Nightstorm, drawing his sword and started attacking one of the training dummies.
Nightstorm watched him nervously. His rider had always been a bit reckless, but it had gotten worse since they had visited that crypt. Torin was hardly sleeping either, Nightstorm had been awoken several times the past few nights by his rider crying out in terror.
Come morning, Torin was still assaulting the training dummies when Astrid walked in. She was surprised to see him, normally she was the first one up.
"You're up early," Astrid said.
"I never slept," Torin responded still attacking the dummy, slicing its arm off.
Torin paused and turned around to face Astrid, still holding his sword.
For the first time, Astrid noticed something about Torin's sword, it was made out of Gronkle iron.
"That sword is made out of Gronkle iron," She observed.
"Yeah," Torin said.
"Where did you get it?" Astrid asked.
"I made it," Torin said sheathing the weapon. "I have an Ax too."
Torin pulled a small one-handed ax off Nightstorm's saddle and tossed it from hand to hand.
"Its kinda small isn't it?" Astrid smirked.
Without warning, Torin threw the ax at the training dummy, embedding it into the wood, and knocking it over. Torin smirked at Astrid before walking over to the dummy and pulling the ax out of the wood.
"That's a nice trick, but it leaves you without a weapon," Astrid said back folding her arms across her chest.
"That is what the sword is for," Torin said.
"It's still reckless to throw your weapon away like that," Astrid said. "It leaves you vulnerable."
"I'll take my chances," Torin said putting the ax back on Nightstorm's saddle. "If anything, I can always fall back on Nightstorm," Torin added patting the nightfury on the head.
"You can't always rely on your Dragon," Astrid pointed out.
"Maybe not, but it's still good to know he's always nearby," Torin said.
Astrid looked at the Nightfury and looked at him. She could tell the dragon was now completely blind in one eye. The scar across his face was faded, but it was still somewhat visible.
"You really never found any Nightfuries in your travels, did you?" She asked Torin.
"No," Torin said after a moment, shaking his head. "I'm sorry."
"But that's why we're going on this journey," Torin added. "To find them."
"By the way, you ever heard of something called a Lightfury?" Torin asked.
"A what?" Hiccup asked walking into the Academy.
"Nothing, nevermind," Torin said seeing Hiccup. "So, what did your Dad say?"
"He gave us the go ahead," Hiccup said. "We can leave as soon as we're ready."
"Great!" Torin said eager to get going.
Torin left the Academy with Nightstorm, Hiccup moved to follow him, but Astrid stopped him by grabbing him by the arm.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" She asked.
"Sure, what's up?" Hiccup asked.
"I don't trust him," Astrid said talking about Torin. "He's hiding something. He just casually mentioned something called a Lightfury."
"Astrid…" Hiccup said.
"I'm telling you, something's off," Astrid said. "He just happens to have a Dragon Eye lense that points to Nightfuries? How did he know where to look for it?"
"Astrid, you're paranoid," Hiccup said.
"He's wearing Dragon scale armor for Thor's sake!" Astrid exclaimed.
"That doesn't mean anything, besides he already explained why he has the armor," Hiccup said.
"Fine," Astrid huffed.
If she was going to figure out what was going on, she was going to have to do it herself. She'd wait until Torin and Nightstorm both went to sleep for the night before she made her move.
Uh oh, looks like Astrid still suspects Torin is up to something. What will she find?
