Chapter 10: Fight
They were barely even aware of what was going on until after-the-fact, and then they stepped back in shock. As Hiccup and Astrid pulled away from each other, realization had hit them hard… They had mated.
"Did we just…?" Astrid cut short, and Hiccup nodded; although his scales didn't turn colors, he was blushing something fierce. Astrid paced out of agitation and then asked in a panic: "Hiccup, what if I lay eggs?"
Hiccup's eyes went wide, what would their parents think if they did have hatchlings? Would they have to stay dragons until the hatchlings grew up even if the curse was broken? Would they be accepted on Berk if and when they became human again?
"SAY SOMETHING!" Astrid roared.
"A-Astrid, if that does happen, then we'll work our way through it. I'll be their parent as much as you would be." Hiccup told her. His words did calm her down, and he nuzzled her neck with his snout.
"Hiccup, I need to ask you something." Astrid spoke.
"Ask me anything."
"Do you still look at me the same way you did when I was human?" Astrid asked.
Hiccup was taken aback but he was quick to tell her: "Of course I do. You make for a beautiful and strong Skrill, just like you did as a Viking… Astrid, I'd do just about anything for you to make sure that you're happy."
"Hiccup… I… ARRGH! Are we to continue to fall victim to these dragon instincts? Oh gods above, I don't want to lose my humanity, and I'll get tired of being a dragon!" Astrid told him, growing upset.
"No, Astrid, please don't say things like that! You need to appreciate dragons in order to help break the curse! Please, what can I do to make you feel better?"
"I-I don't know." She replied, and she rested herself on the ground. Hiccup rested himself at her side, but he wasn't cuddled up to her.
In the late night hours, Loki made his return and as Hiccup woke up again and raised his head as the god spoke: "I've just gotten back from returning the Night Fury to his dragon form; and someone is going to have to learn how to ride the dragons in your arena, and so I've planted my sacred flowers along the walls of the arena. Whosoever enters the arena will regain their human form, but being the first Viking to ever refuse to kill a dragon, only you can show them how to train those dragons."
Ω £ Ω
So that morning, the teens were gathered and they found a human Hiccup in the arena, the Clan of the Cursed Axe saw this and they were mortified! How was it that he could be human when he was one of them?
Then they watched as Hiccup led them through taming and bonding with the dragons. He showed them how to approach them calmly, and he assigned dragons to each of his friends. Snotlout to the Monstrous Nightmare, later named Hookfang; Fishlegs became quick friends with a Gronkle, now named Meatlug; and finally the twins named their Zippleback Barf and Belch. The Terrible Terror was set free, and the Deadly Nadder was tamed but would have no rider as of right now; although the Nadder served as a good dragon for Hiccup to demonstrate with, but for some reason, Toothless got jealous of Hiccup giving the Deadly Nadder his attention, and Toothless invited himself into the arena. So Hiccup demonstrated with both dragons on how to train the dragons. After being able to speak with actual dragons for a while, Hiccup learned from Toothless a few harmless weaknesses from the dragons that were harmless. From calming them with an herb called 'Dragon Nip', scratching a certain spot would knock them out in a sleep for a while, and that some dragons were playfully attracted to light.
He spent the day having the teens practice riding their dragons and did the best he could while being stuck in the arena.
At some point Fishlegs approached Hiccup and asked him why only he was human.
"There're flowers growing alongside the walls of this ring, so long as I stand within them, I can stay human, but as soon as I cross their barrier, I'll be a Night Fury again. If the other cursed ones came into this ring, they'd become human too." Hiccup explained and he cast a glance to the Clan of the Cursed Axe.
Hiccup continued to drill the new riders, when Stoick arrived to see what was going on. Of course he was surprised to see that only Hiccup was human again, but once again, Hiccup explained the magical flowers to him.
So, at the end of the day, after all the teens had left, Hiccup left the ring, returning to his Night Fury form, and the Clan of the Cursed Axe took to the air and practiced drills of their own devising, with Toothless only advising them if he saw room for improvement. Then he would team up with Hiccup to practice team drills.
Ω £ Ω
Just before the dawn the next day, the Vikings prepared to set sail for the nest of the Red Death. Most ships had one dragon, and those that didn't had a catapult. The ships were off and as they reached Helheim's gate, the path to the nest, something began calling out to the dragons, even dragons-turned-human followed the call and they had to be held back so they wouldn't take flight.
They made it to the shores of Dragon Island. The dragons had gotten agitated enough that they had to be restrained, but once Stoick set foot on the rocky shore everything fell quiet.
The catapults were set up, and they set their assault on the mountain, while the riders mounted their dragons. Then Stoick signaled his warriors and they fire the catapults, rocks bashed into the mountain until they broke through. Stoick approached the new opening, and a catapult launched a fireball into the opening. Stoick saw that the walls were completely covered with dragons! He shouted, raising his hammer, but all dragons took flight, fleeing!
What came soon was a bellowing roar and a gust of wind! The ground shook as the Red Death burst through the mountain!
"Odin, help us." Stoick gasped, he knew that the Red Death was massive, but nothing really prepared him for the sight before him!
The dragons took flight. The riders working to distract and aggravate the Red Death, while the Clan of the Cursed Axe was to do the damage. Astrid had enough lightning to use, Hiccup and Toothless hid in the dark clouds, Bladeshine was also in the sky, and the others flew in to assist the riders.
Bladeshine really took a shine here. While the riders were busy distracting the Red Death, Bladeshine was able to actually inflict some true damage. She managed to weaken its armor by cutting through softer spots of the Red Death's hide, but once the riders and the Clan of the Cursed Axe had angered the Red Death, the massive dragon spewed this massive stream of fire and practically reduced Berk's ships to a pile of wrecks and splinters!
Soon, Toothless and Hiccup swooped down and shot their plasma blasts, collapsing the massive Red Dead. The Riders and Clan scattered as the Red Death extended her wings, first she tried to swallow Hookfang and Snotlout and Slagathor through a massive inhale, but a passing shot from Hiccup broke the Red Death's breath, freeing them.
The Red Death stroked her wings and rose into the air, abandoning the Riders and Clan to follow the Night Furies and a Skrill. Hiccup and Toothless dodged attacks and fire as they led the Red Death into the clouds, where Astrid's sparks of lighting where the only signs of activity to be seen. The echoing sounds of dragons screeching through the air made it next to impossible for the Red Death to find a target.
Astrid struck with her lighting, it sparked painfully over the wounds Bladshine made in the Red Death's hide, but it didn't deal much in the way of damage, but it did sap some of the Red Death's stamina. In the meantime, Hiccup and Toothless shot holes in its wings, and one perfectly aimed strike from Astrid had blinded the beast! Enraged, the Red Death spewed out a massive stream of flames and soon pursued after the Night Furies as they maneuvered into a dive. With the Red Death on their tails, it would be a narrow escape, but they heard the Red Death inhale to prepare another flame jet. They turned to face the Red Death and shot their blasts into its great maw, setting it alight! The Night Furies maneuvered into a dive, the Red Death following after their scent.
With the ground quickly approaching, Toothless and Hiccup split off just a moment before the Red Death made its impact and exploded!
The shockwave hit Hiccup hard and he lost control, and so Astrid and Toothless dove after him. Astrid caught him first, her teeth digging into his left rear leg. She slowed his fall, but she wasn't strong enough to carry him for long, and they suffered a rough landing and had knocked them out.
Toothless landed at Hiccup and Astrid and called out to the Vikings. It was a rough sight, Hiccup's leg was pretty well mangled, and Astrid looked a bit beaten up herself given the way she was laying. They were rough, but they were alive!
Ω £ Ω
Hiccup woke up to find himself in his house, he checked himself over, and noted that the fight didn't break the curse. He wasn't too surprised, killing a big and bad dragon isn't exactly the best way to show appreciation for them.
The sound of dragons trilling perked up his ears; he looked up and found that Astrid and Toothless were in the house, as was Bones.
"Hey, you're awake!" Toothless exclaimed, he and Astrid approached him and gave him a nuzzling around his head.
"Okay, you can get off me." Hiccup told them, getting to his feet, but then a sharp pain shot through one of his legs, he looked over and saw that the leg Astrid bit had been amputated, if he were human, it would've been cut a little below the knee.
"Hiccup, I'm so sorry… I was just trying to save you." Astrid spoke.
"Well, thank you, Astrid, really. I know that you slowed the fall, and things could've been much worse for me."
"I must admit that thou hast slain the fiercest dragon the people of Berk had seen! Thou shalt be revered as a great hero, and just wait until you see outside!"
Hiccup limped his way to the door and opened it to reveal a most magnificent sight! Dragons lingering peacefully among the Vikings!
"Aye, we've convinced some dragons to come and share Berk with us! The people shall need time to adapt, but we've made a big step towards breaking this curse!" Bones replied.
"Yeah, in the meantime, what do you want to do next?" Hiccup asked.
"Hast thou got a taste for adventure overseas?" Bones suggested.
"Sounds like a plan, Bones." Hiccup replied.
"Toothless, why are you sniffing me!?" Astrid exclaimed.
"You smell a bit strange." Toothless replied.
"Then I'll take a bath!" She told him, and she took to the skies to find a spot of freshwater. Toothless sat back and thought to himself: 'I don't think that a bath's going to take care of that smell… Should I tell them, or will they be able to pick it up themselves?'
Ω £ Ω
So what do you want to see next?
Please review!