Wow. Have a little faith guyz! I already said all fifteen chapters to this story are complete and almost all of the are done with editing (bolding, italics and spell-checks).
BTW: Nope. Not gonna name it those. I try to look away from the romance (I suck at writing it, though I love to read it), so I won't name this chapter 'Romantic Flight' or the other 2-3 names you mentioned. And if I was, you jinxed it. XD
By the way, I would have probably been that person who lasts months before uploading. I've been working on this since summer vacation and often erased a lot of it or changed the sub-plots completely. You're lucky you've never seen my Thomarie and Ranma fanfic (you know, the ones I will never finish -.-)
'Nother short chapter cuz "morals".
EXT. WOODS - MOMENTS LATER
ASTRID races through the trees. A large shadow overtakes her.
She is suddenly SNATCHED into the air. Astrid SCREAMS.
ASTRID
Oh great Odin's ghost, this is it!
"I'm not gonna kill you," Hiccup tries to reason.
"You have a Night Fury," Astrid emphasized.
"...Point taken."
Hiccup and Toothless fly Astrid to the top of a towering
pine. It bows and creaks under their weight as Astrid dangles
a hundred feet in the air.
ASTRID (CONT'D)
Hiccup! Get me down from here!
"You son of a half troll-"
"Astrid, please. There's children here," Gobber smirks.
"You are not helping," Hiccup glared at Gobber.
"Does nobody care that I'm dangling from a tree and hanging on for my life?"
"I'm not gonna let you fall..."
"You don't sound convinced," she sneered.
"I am! I am..." kind of. At this point, he might actually care more about Toothless than Astrid...maybe.
HICCUP
You have to give me a chance to
explain.
ASTRID
I'm not listening to ANYTHING you
have to say!
"Come on Hiccup! She's just playing hard to get," Gobber cheers. The room silences and they stare at Gobber. "...You know what I meant..."
"I think that's the problem. What you mean," clarifies Stoick, but Gobber continues to shamelessly grin at him.
HICCUP
Then I won't speak. Just let me
show you.
Hiccup extends a hand.
"Come'n Astrid. Please..." Hiccup silently begged. He didn't doubt he'd leave her there if she neglected the offer, but he didn't want to leave the girl he loved (liked! Liked! It's just a crush!) for dead...
HICCUP (CONT'D)
Please, Astrid.
She eyes him and the dragon, then the ground far, far below.
After a moment, she swats Hiccup's outstretched hand away and
reluctantly climbs over the pedal, lines, and harness. She
settles behind Hiccup, avoiding as much contact as possible.
Ignoring the rudeness, Hiccup sighs with relief. Unknowingly, Astrid does too.
ASTRID
Now get me down.
HICCUP
Toothless? Down. Gently.
Toothless snorts at the request. Hel no.
Hiccup glances at him worriedly. Toothless wouldn't...nope. Yep, yeah, uh...he would, he realized as Toothless' expression passed by the screen.
Toothless leers mischievously. He spreads his wings slowly.
With a WHOP, they fill with the updraft. Toothless releases
the tree, tucks in his legs, and HOVERS in place.
HICCUP (CONT'D)
See? Nothing to be afraid of.
Toothless suddenly LAUNCHES straight upward. Astrid SCREAMS.
The acceleration is tremendous. Every downbeat bucks the
saddle, heaving them into the sky, doubling their speed like
a rocket. Astrid is thrown backward. She SCREAMS and hugs
Hiccup for dear life, squeezing the breath out of him.
Astrid pales, watching her image hanging on for dear life. She was flying! Vikings don't fly!
HICCUP (CONT'D)
Toothless! What is wrong with you?!
Bad dragon!
(mortified; to Astrid)
He's not usually like this. Oh
No...
"'Oh no'! What do you mean 'Oh no'!?"
Toothless ROLLS and PLUMMETS toward the coastline far below.
Astrid SCREAMS.
Toothless rockets over the ocean waves, deliberately dipping
them in the froth.
HICCUP (CONT'D)
Toothless, what are you doing?!
We need her to like us!
Toothless rockets skyward and begins tumbling head over tail.
HICCUP (CONT'D)
And now the spinning. Thank you for
nothing you useless reptile.
Toothless gives an amused chortle. It was fun watching other humans other than his Hiccup freak out. He'd like to see Hiccup do the same as well, but it seemed his human was already too used to flight for it. Too bad...
Astrid clamps her hand over her eyes.
ASTRID
Okay! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Just
get me off of this thing.
'There you go,' Toothless huffs.
Astrid is defeated, her aggressive energy gone. Satisfied,
Toothless relents.
They level off and head up into the clouds. Astrid opens her
eyes again, and looks out over a world she'd never dreamed
of. She reaches out and touches clouds, pierces columns
ablaze in golden hues, and floats over a vast, alien sky-
scape. Her terror is replaced by wonder. She grins, despite
herself.
Toothless rises above a blanket of clouds...
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. SKY - NIGHT
...and levels off under a starry sky. They emerge from a
blanket of clouds under the dancing Northern Lights,
shimmering in ribbons across the vast sky.
Below them, Berk's torches flicker in the inky darkness. The
new perspective is breathtaking.
Astrid tucks her arms into Hiccup's vest, burying her chin
into his shoulder. The moment is not lost on either of them.
Hiccup smiles nervously.
Toothless climbs past Berk's tallest peaks and heads out over
open water, leaving the village lights behind them.
Vikings all around look at the view with a similar expression as Astrid's. This was what they were missing out on? Not only the teenagers (yes, Astrid was finally convinced that she wanted a dragon) wanted one, even adult Vikings wanted dragons.
Stoick found himself getting closer and closer to the edge. Soon, he himself would come to accept dragons. He could tell. He was just holding back for a while...
But meanwhile, he enjoyed the view of his village. Safe.
ASTRID
Alright I admit it. This is pretty
cool. It's... amazing.
(BEAT)
He's amazing.
'You betcha I am,' Toothless agreed, holding his head a bit higher.
"Sure sure," Hiccup shook his head playfully.
Astrid carefully reaches down and pats Toothless' side.
ASTRID (CONT'D)
So what now?
Hiccup groans. It's a problem without an answer.
The real Hiccup groans as well. He couldn't run away now! Astrid was starting to like him and would probably try to stop him. That, or tell the village about dragons. Either way, it didn't look good...
ASTRID (CONT'D)
Hiccup, your final exam is
tomorrow. You know you're going to
have to kill...
(WHISPERED)
... kill a dragon.
HICCUP
Don't remind me.
A strange, unearthly din approaches. Toothless' ear plates
suddenly stand on end. Panicked, he abruptly dives, dipping
into cloud cover.
"Whoa, what?" Hiccup questions.
HICCUP (CONT'D)
Toothless! What's happening? What
is it?
Toothless BARKS at him. 'Quiet!'
Suddenly, out of the dense cloud, a Monstrous Nightmare
Emerges.
They pale. What was happening?
The dragons themselves are uncomfortable. The Red Queen would not be happy if two humans appeared, especially when she could not eat them...
HICCUP (CONT'D)
Get down!
Hiccup and Astrid duck. The Nightmare calls out. A Zippleback
appears to the other side of Toothless, boxing him in.
Murmurs start all around.
ASTRID
What's going on?
HICCUP
I don't know.
(BEAT)
Toothless. You've got to get us out
of here, bud.
Toothless HISSES.
"Toothless?" Hiccup asks. Toothless was not aggressive (rebellious, yes. A pain, pretty much, But aggressive? To him? No...)
Other dragons, previously invisible in the thick clouds,
appear all around them. HUNDREDS of them, all carrying fish
and game in their talons.
HICCUP (CONT'D)
(WHISPERED)
It looks like they're hauling in
their kill.
The Zippleback eyes them ravenously.
Astrid synchronizes with her screen.
ASTRID
What does that make us?
I knew it, thought Stoick. He should have never trusted a dragon with his son. He turned to find Hiccup clutching the Night Fury with worry. Stoick narrowed his eyes. By the end of today, he would kill that dragon.
The dragons BANK and dive in formation, plummeting through
the thickening fog and weaving between towering, craggy sea
stacks.
They emerge at the base of a massive volcanic caldera,
glowing with rivulets of lava. The flock of dragons fall into
rank, funneling through a crack, and zipping through a
winding tunnel.
It gives way to a vast, steamy inner chamber, tiered with
pocky shelves. Dragons of all breeds lay about, nested in
hordes.
The arriving dragons fly in, dropping the fish and game into
a central pit, glowing red and shrouded in mist.
Hiccup is amazed.
All thoughts of violence towards Toothless left Stoick's mind, replaced by other similarly violent thoughts. This was it. It was the nest.
"They found the nest," he said aloud. And now he knew how to get to it. He smiled grimly, determined to find the perfect dragon to lead them there. The Night Fury would do, right?
HICCUP
What my dad wouldn't give to find
This.
There was a small amount Stoick wouldn't give, that was true. Vikings agreed everywhere, nodding warily.
Toothless peels away from the procession, landing on a small
shadowy shelf to keep a low-profile.
Hiccup and Astrid peek around, taking in the busy hive of
sorts. They watch as the food continues to be dropped into
the pit.
HICCUP (CONT'D)
It's satisfying to know that all of
our food has been dumped down a
Hole.
The vikings glare at the screen. Why was their food being thrown down an empty hole? That was just insulting.
ASTRID
They're not eating any of it.
Last to arrive is a dim-witted Gronckle. It hovers over the
pit and regurgitates his paltry contribution - a pathetic
little fish. As it falls into the steamy pit, a terrible ROAR
rings out.
Some gasp, not recognizing the roar of that dragon.
The Gronckle tries to flee, but before it can, a gargantuan
dragon head juts from the steamy pit and SNAPS it out of the
air. Swallowing it back whole.
Hiccup and Astrid recoil, terrified.
And everyone else recoils with them.
"What the Hel was that!?" Snotlout would have jumped out of his seat if he could.
"That thing was big!"
ASTRID (CONT'D)
What is that?
The monstrous beast SNIFFS the air, seemingly aware of them.
It nears the ledge where Toothless is hiding... and ROARS.
Several dragons take flight in fear.
"Okay. I know I've said this before but...we're dead," Hiccup does what he would usually do when in a terrifying situation. He tries to hide the fear and makes a remark.
HICCUP
Alright buddy, we gotta get out of
here. Now!
Toothless takes flight, barely evading the monster's snapping
jaws.
The behemoth dragon lunges for them, snatching a Zippleback
out of the air instead.
Toothless disappears into the winged exodus as thousands of
dragons flee the caldera in fear.
The dragons all groan in terror, and a few in mourning.
"If that Zippleback hadn't been there," Astrid started.
"We'd be dead," Hiccup finished with a grim realization. He could have died. And the scariest part would have been that nobody would've known.
EXT. HIDDEN COVE - NIGHT - LATER
Toothless glides into the cove and touches down on the
moonlit beach.
ASTRID
(her mind reeling, talking
Hiccup's ear off)
No, no, it totally makes sense.
It's like a giant beehive. They're
the workers... and that's their
queen. It controls them.
She leaps off of Toothless and runs toward the village.
ASTRID (CONT'D)
Let's find your dad.
"What, no! Are you crazy?" Hiccup starts in his seat.
"What's wrong with that idea?" Stoick asks, offended that his son wouldn't tell him about the nest, something he knew he'd been looking for for way too long.
"You know very well what would happen. You'll-" he cuts himself off, realizing he was yelling. "You'll kill Toothless."
"That's what you care about? Your dragon? Not the three-hundred years vikings have spent looking for that nest?" Stoick almost yelled in a gruff voice (but considering his usual voice, it sounded like a yell in Hiccup's ears).
Hiccup looked at him. He looked like he would back down for a second (after all, this was his father!) but determination touched his eyes at the last second. He looked up unflinching to stare his father in the eye.
"Yes."
The movie un-paused, and Hiccup turned away from his shocked father and ignored the stunned stares he was receiving. Toothless was smiling (that's a smile, right?) to himself.
HICCUP
No, no! Not yet. They'll... kill
Toothless.
(BEAT)
(MORE)
HICCUP (CONT'D)
Astrid, we have to think this
through carefully.
Astrid eyes him, incredulous.
ASTRID
Hiccup, we just discovered the
dragons' nest...the thing we've
been after since Vikings first
sailed here. And you want to keep
it a secret? To protect your pet
dragon? Are you serious?
Hiccup stands firm, resolute.
HICCUP
Yes.
Astrid's taken aback.
"Deja Vu," Clara says. Nobody other than Zero knows what it means, but given the recent events, they could guess.
"All vikings think alike, I guess," Hiccup thought aloud.
"Not all of them," Clara smiled at him.
Am I a viking, though, Hiccup began to wonder.
ASTRID
Okay.
(BEAT)
Then what do we do?
HICCUP
Just give me until tomorrow. I'll
figure something out.
"You better," Astrid said. "I don't usually submit to anyone's pleas."
"I'm honored," He smirked.
ASTRID
Okay.
Astrid PUNCHES Hiccup in the arm.
The twins and Snotlout snort. Even Fishlegs allows himself a smile. It's always violence with Astrid.
ASTRID (CONT'D)
That's for kidnapping me.
Hiccup looks to Toothless for support. Toothless SNORTS,
Dismissive.
"Seriously? Now you decide it's okay if I get abused?"
Toothless snorts dismissively. It was very different when they shared a mutual attraction.
Astrid grabs him. He braces for another hit. She KISSES
Hiccup on the cheek.
Hiccup gapes and Toothless croons smugly. Astrid herself is blushing. Seriously, thank Odin she was in the front row where nobody could see her!
ASTRID (CONT'D)
That's for, everything else.
In the awkward wake of the moment, Astrid hurries off...
leaving Hiccup RUBBING his cheek, stunned.
Toothless hobbles up, eyeing him.
HICCUP
What are you looking at?
And they laugh. Well, Astrid is still blushing furiously and Hiccup is still gaping (with a smile sneaking its way to his lips) but otherwise, there's laughs and catcalls resounding around the room.
This chapter ended with a nice moment. That moment, as I recall, is the calm before the storm. Some winds and harsh breezes (Convincing Astrid and finding the Red Death) the the silence that make you think ,'It should go fine right?' (the smooch) and then the storm (coming up probably not tomorrow).
Don't expect upload tomorrow. I've got to go to a football game and play because marching band is awesome like that. Sry.
Name of this chapter: stuck between "Astrid" and "Calm Before the Storm".
I'll probably use the latter. Meh.
See ya, I guess.