Thanks so much for your wonderful reviews! Now, for the answers:
Silvolde: Thank you for reviewing! And yeah, Hiccup and Astrid finally meet after so long! But for the answers of your questions, I won't spoil, but enjoy the reading!
HiyuuJin: hehehe, thanks! And I guess I like writing cliffhangers... Anyway, the wait is over! Enjoy the chap!
Calvin: I won't spoil, so you'll have to read to find out! but thank you for leaving me a review!
CB73: Thank you so much for your great reviews! And nice question there about Astrid, would she want the dragons to end after befriending them? But will she befriend them? And if she does, so what do you think she'll do then?
JChttyd: lol, yeah! they're finally meeting after almost six years! Thanks so much for reviewing, I hope you'll enjoy this chap!
Guest: Yeah, it is! I thought it'd be the perfect name for Astrid's disguise, lol
CHSHiccstrid: I noticed you reviewed twice because you probably hit the wrong button, I've done it before, too... Thanks you for your reviews! I'm glad you liked the concept and the twists in the "romantic flight", though it really wasn't romantic, yet; after all, they're not in love, yet. And yeah, I thought the name Zephyr would be perfect! Why choose a fake name if I could put this little Easter Egg in it, right? I think it'd be way more fun!
Enjoy the chap! :D
Shadow and Silver
Chapter 09
Heather looked back to see if the flock was close behind as soon as Windshear was airborne. Once she was sure of it, she looked at the sketchbook. She had to hold it tightly and up so the moonlight could shine on the pages; holding the pages carefully so they wouldn't flip, making her lose the one he wanted her to see.
It was hard to read due to poor light, and his usually nice calligraphy was rushed, but she managed.
She is lying. She's Astrid from Berk. I don't believe the Nadder thing, it's probably a set up but we can use it in our advantage. I'll explain later. Warn Mala about her and tell everyone to call me Shadow.
Heather's jaw dropped. She had to re-read that twice because she couldn't believe it, or better, she didn't want to believe it. She closed the book and soon they arrived at the Defenders of the Wing. As the people helped the wounded dragons, Heather rushed to tell the events to Mala and show her Hiccup's notes. Needless to say, the Queen didn't like it one bit, but complied, for she trusted the young riders.
A few minutes later, Toothless landed there. Mala was the first to come and introduce herself.
"Nice to meet you, Queen Mala." Astrid bowed, not really knowing what to do. "I'm Zephyr."
"I've heard so. Well, you must be starving and tired. Don't worry, we'll find your dragon companion soon, you can look for her in the morning, but for now, rest." Mala turned to the man at her side. "Throk will escort you to an empty small hut. We can talk more in the morning."
"Yes, Queen."
As soon as Throk guided the girl away, Mala's small smile turned to a serious expression. "Care to explain why you decided to bring a dragon killer onto my island?" She put her hands on her hips.
"I'll get to that, Mala. I have a plan, but I need to tell you later in a more private place. Just don't worry; it'll work. And it'll be good to know how she's going to get out of here, because they surely have a plan so she can deliver the hunters information…"
Valka and Heather – still wearing her armor – approached them and heard part of their conversation. His mother embraced him; glad to see he was fine. She did that all the time with both siblings when they returned home. "Are you really sure the Vikings are working with the hunters?" There was a hint of disappointment under her voice.
"Yeah…" He took his helmet off. "Proof of it was that in this ship there weren't any traps. They really wanted us to leave with her. I thought the lack of traps was weird until I saw Astrid lying about her name…"
"They're getting more allies…" Mala sighed.
"That would explain why they seem so active lately. The Vikings are delivering more dragons to the hunters."
"And what do you expect to do in the meantime? Stick with your helmet all the time you're around her?" Valka glanced at the helmet under his arm. He shrugged.
"Yeah? Maybe?"
"I think that would raise suspicions… She'll be sure you're hiding something." Mala said and Heather nodded.
"You know, you can be without it. How long have you last seen her? Five-six years? You've changed a lot since then." Valka stroked the boy's cheek.
"I know… But I recognized her, she can too."
"It's different, you ever really forgot her and kept sketching her face for years." Heather pointed out. "And you said so yourself barely no one noticed you in Berk."
"Besides, didn't you say you've heard once at the markets that the Hooligans had lost their heir?" Hiccup nodded as Mala's question. "So, for her, you were supposed to be dead. Try to stay away from her if she makes the link of who you are; we'll back it up saying you were raised here. She'll think it's a misunderstanding."
"Okay, fine. I still don't think it's a good idea, though… Anyway, just remember everyone not to call me Hiccup. That would be a dead giveaway."
"Agreed. I'll talk to everyone while I check on the dragons. You will explain everything as soon as you rest, young man." Mala said before she left, Valka followed her, also worried about the dragons.
Heather turned to leave as well, but Hiccup followed her. "So, sis… How was the ride? How are the dragons?"
"Most are fine, the wounded are being treated and all of them are being fed…" She grabbed an elbow as she continued to walk away.
"Hum… Are you okay?"
"Yes…" She sighed, her eyes aiming at the dark sea.
"You don't seem to be. Were you hurt?"
"No."
"Then what's going on? You're usually so excited after a raid you can barely sleep."
She sighed again, this time, she raised her eyes to him. "I was so stupid, Hiccup… I was falling for everything she said… I was so happy to find someone else like us. I thought maybe we could actually change their minds. Maybe Vikings could see how good dragons are… But I guess mom was right. People can't change. Some of us are just born different…" She finished looking at her boots and anything else but him.
"Heather, don't say that."
"It's true! And I was about to put the whole island in danger because of that… At least when we met you, we had at least a few days to get to know you and Toothless's behavior proved you two had a bond, so it was less likely that we'd be wrong about you, but with her… I was so blinded because I wanted so much to find more people like us that I just believed in her…"
He let his helmet fall to the sand and grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to face him. "Look, if it makes you feel better, I'd have probably believed her too, if I didn't know her. And I'd definitely be blinded by those blue eyes…" He let the last part escape, making his sister raise an eyebrow.
"So you like her blue eyes, don't you?"
"What? I don't know what you're talking about…" He looked up innocently, blushing, but glad to see the smile back on Heather's lips. "Come on, sis, we need to rest."
Astrid paced around the room. The hut they let her in was small, but cozy, however, what made her anxious was that Throk guy still at the door. He remained there and she wasn't sure why. Was he guarding her? Was he keeping an eye on her? Did they believe her story or not? If not, she was sure she'd be dead by now.
Her nervousness kept her awake for a long time. There was only one window to the right, but she could tell Throk would be able to hear her if she ran away. Astrid tried to calm herself, maybe they believed her, but were just being cautious. That made sense, she'd be cautious, too. She just had to keep her façade. On this island, she was not Astrid Hofferson, the dragon killer; she was Zephyr, the dragon rider.
Eventually taken by exhaustion, she let herself lie in bed and drift off to sleep. She woke up hours later to the sound of dragon roars outside. She jumped up, automatically reaching for her favorite axe under the pillow, only to remember she didn't have any weapons.
The roars continued, so she curiously walked outside, finding Throk still on guard duty, he had probably spent the whole time there.
"What's going on?"
"Why don't you see for yourself what those horrible monsters have done." He gestured to a few big huts some meters away.
"What have the dragons done?"
"I meant the hunters."
"Oh… Yeah, of course…" She mumbled as she neared the hut where the roars came. Bumping noises were heard until a Rumblehorn stampeded from the hut, opening a hole on the wooden wall as he ran outside right in her direction.
Astrid yelped as she was pulled away, but what stopped the Rumblehorn was a crazy guy that jumped in front of the dragon. His hands were stretched forward and one was holding something like grass. The dragon was surprised at the man and sniffed what in reality was dragon nip.
She looked behind her; Throk was the one who had tried to take her from the dragon's path. Another hand touched her shoulder.
"Are you okay?" Heather asked.
"Yes. Sure. Sorry, it took me by surprise…"
"It's okay." She said turning her attention to the man in front of the Rumblehorn.
Astrid couldn't imagine what the hell he had in his head, but he was brave enough, for she knew the dragon could kill him easily, by either burning him or running him over. The Berkian girl also couldn't help but wonder who was that very handsome guy. Or at least he seemed handsome, but she could only see his profile for now when he turned to talk to someone.
"Haven't you given him some Sage Fruit?"
"We gave him plenty, but he just won't calm down." The person dressed in black answered.
The crazy man shushed the dragon gently. Astrid's jaw dropped. He was Heather's brother! He had a very distinct voice, but if that weren't enough, the Night Fury growling behind him would give it away.
Someone else came closer to him. "It's because he's in too much pain… We tried to help him all night, but it's not working. We'll have to take it off…"
"I was afraid it'd come to that when I saw his leg…" Hiccup mumbled, but Astrid and Heather could hear. "The trap was buried deep in his flesh and be probably fought a lot trying to get out of it…"
The Rumblehorn roared again and tried to advance but the Night Fury growled and threatened to shot at him, but Hiccup raised a hand to make him stop. "Toothless, that's not helping." The black dragon complied immediately, but was still ready to attack at any minute.
Astrid couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. How could that scrawny – yet very good-looking – guy stop a dragon with the move of his hand? And it was the offspring of lightening and death itself!
"Of all the dragons, it just had to be a Rumblehorn…" He said.
Astrid had a question forming as she glanced at Heather. "What's going on?"
"The dragon's paw." She answered. It was only then that Astrid saw the damaged bloody right front leg of the blue and purple. "The problem is that Rumblehorns are very strong, it's a specially difficult procedure in dragons like that. Even more so when he's so scared and in pain. I really don't know how he hasn't passed out already."
Hiccup gently caressed the dragon and the Rumblehorn wined. Astrid didn't want to admit it, but she felt sorry for the creature. He lost his strength for a moment and Hiccup persuaded him to lay down using the dragon nip.
"You know, my brother is one of the best dragon trainers on the island. He's been good at soothing dragons since he was a little kid." Heather lied in an attempt to distance the image of her brother from the Hiccup Astrid knew.
"Okay, we're gonna have to do this now, I don't know how much longer he's gonna hold. We're gonna need something to close his mouth, we can't risk him to breathe fire." Hiccup started giving orders, asking people to bring more sage fruit, needles and water and two guys needed to bring the saw. And then he told Cloudjumper to hold him down. "Toothless, hold his leg. Make sure not to use your teeth." The dragon retracted his teeth and bit the leg in place as firmly and as softly as he could.
"So that's why he's the leader of the dragon healers?" Astrid asked Heather.
"What? No. He's no leader. Mala asked him to be once, but he didn't want to. He's just good to deal with the dragons and he knows what each one does best, so he's usually the one to step up when things get complicated…" Heather bit her lower lip. "I think we better leave. This is not something nice to see and I really don't want to witness that again…"
Astrid understood what she meant the moment the girl glanced at her brother and Astrid noticed the metal leg. How did she not see that before was beyond her, but maybe it was too dark and they hurried too much, she didn't have time to really look at them before.
Heather started walking to the opposite side and Astrid followed her.
"So, Zephyr, what would you do in the morning? We still have some time before lunch."
"I train every morning."
"Really? So do I. Maybe we can do it together." It was the perfect opportunity to see how well she performed in battle, just in case they'd need to fight. "Weapon of choice?"
Astrid smiled. "Axe."
"Great. That's my favorite too. Follow me, I have the perfect spot." Then she turned to the silver dragon. "Windshear, stay with them, they might need some help." She complied and went to help Cloudjumper hold the Rumblehorn down.
Astrid followed Heather to a place in the woods where the girl kept targets and well-sharped axes for training.
So, Hiccup knew it all along! Who guessed it right?
Do you think Astrid is gonna recognize him?
Please don't leave without writing a comment! I'd love to read it! :D
