Chapter Ten

"You okay?" I couldn't help but worry over Hiccup's reaction to the way his own father had treated him. We flew on in silence, well, as silent as it could get with four other riders. Snotlout was exclaiming over how fast his dragon was, and trying to decide what to name him. Astrid was concentrating on what lay ahead of her, while Fishlegs marveled over the fact that he was actually riding on the back of a Grunkle. As for the twins, well, that was another story in itself.

"I'll be happy once we free Toothless," he replied. Even Snowfire could sense his uneasiness. She flew in the same path that Toothless had taken during our first flight together. Already a thin mist had begun to spread around us.

"I've never seen a White Terror up close," Fishlegs admitted once he got close enough. "Is it true she can breathe ice as well?" Snowfire let out a huff of smoke that caused his Grunkle to squeal in surprise.

"Yeah."

"So what, are you two like a couple now?" I almost wished I had a camera at that moment when Tuffnut asked the question. My face twisted from a look of pure shock to a fit of laughter seconds later. Even Snowfire looked a bit put off by my reaction.

"Of course not," Hiccup quickly replied. I didn't miss the look flashing in Astrid's eyes either. She looked taken aback by the question, and I noticed a small spark of jealousy as well. "We're just friends," he said reassuringly.

I nodded in agreement, still unable to speak. It wasn't just the fact that Stoick was the Chief of Berk. But the fact that we were worlds apart made a huge difference as well. I'm the kind of girl who's terrified of heights. Yet here I was sitting on the back of a talking dragon. And I was the kind of girl who liked to get herself into trouble. Hiccup definitely wasn't that type of guy, as much as I didn't know.

Thankfully they didn't say anything else after that. The island was approaching fast. I could already see the creature we'd seen earlier stumbling out of the volcano. Smoke and falling debris surrounded the mountain like a thick cloud. Finally Snowfire threw a blast of fire at the dragon, causing it to turn and face us.

"Ruffnut, Tuffnut, watch your backs!" Hiccup shouted. "Move Fishlegs!" The twins aimed their Zippleback further away from the dragon, flying at a speed that almost matched the Deadly Natter. Fishlegs managed to speed up the Grunkle after realizing he was falling behind.

"Check us out!" Tuffnut shouted. Stoick and Gobber were watching us in amazement. "We're on dragons!"

"For the record, this was all her idea," Snotlout shouted while pointing at me. I only rolled my eyes in annoyances while Snowfire let out a roar, causing his dragon to fly in a circle. "Hey!"

'Foolish hatchlings!' Snowfire shouted. 'Taking on a creature like that is asking for death!' It looked like Stoick and Gobber were ready to drop dead when they realized Snowfire was actually speaking to them.

"Every bit of boar-headed stubborn Viking you ever were!" Gobber shouted.

"Fishlegs, break it down," Hiccup ordered.

"Okay, heavily armored skull, and tail head made for bashing and crushing. Watch out for both," Fishlegs explained. I watched with wide eyes as the creature destroyed one of the boats with a stomp of it's foot. "Small eyes, large nostrils, relies on hearing and smell."

"Snotlout, Fishlegs, see if it has a blind spot. Make some noises and keep it confused," Hiccup told them. "Ruffnut, Tuffnut, find out how many shots it has. Make it mad."

"That's my specialty!" Ruffnut exclaimed with a grin.

"Since when? Everyone knows I'm more irritating! See?" Tuffnut said after turning the Zippleback's head upside down. I couldn't help but smirk at that. Some things never change.

"Astrid, see if it has a weak spot," Hiccup added to Astrid. She nodded before taking off towards the dragon. "I'll be back as soon as I can," he told them.

With that being said, we flew off to find out where Toothless was. Snowfire was already pinpointing his location before Hiccup spotted him. We landed not far away from what was left of a burning ship. Snowfire shook her head irritably as Hiccup got off and rushed in to rescue Toothless.

'Those children speak the truth,' she suddenly pointed out.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I demanded, my voice barely a whisper. The last thing I wanted was for anyone to hear me, other than Snowfire.

'You and that hatchling are oddly close,' she hummed in amusement. To which I just rolled my eyes again. For the last time, we were not a couple!

"Come on, we need to go and help the others," I suddenly reminded her. I could tell Snowfire was ready to say more, but thankfully she kept silent. We flew higher to keep an eye on the dragon as it started focusing on the other riders.

Snowfire shot another blast of fire at the dragon, causing it to turn it's head towards us. The creature let out a roar of fury until Snotlout started banging on the shield he'd taken with him. Once it was distracted Snowfire fired a shot of ice. Fishlegs and Snotlout were working together to keep the dragon distracted.

Unfortunately the noise was becoming too much for them. I narrowed my eyes when I realized that the noise caused a distraction for them as well. Snotlout suddenly landed on the dragon when the Monstrous Nightmare threw him off. I tried not to laugh when he started throwing his hammer down on the dragon's eye.

"Yeah, you're the viking!" Astrid shouted, making Snotlout grin triumphantly.

The dragon chose that time to threw up it's head, shaking off Snotlout in the process. Luckily Snotlout held on to the scale for dear life, refusing to let go.

I looked down just in time to see the dragon smash one of the boats with it's foot. My eyes widened in horror when I realized that Hiccup was on that boat with Toothless. The trap holding Toothless down started to sink while Hiccup was trying to free it. He jumped into the water without hesitation after Toothless disappeared seconds later.

"No!" Snowfire lunged towards the ocean but was stopped by the swinging tail of the larger dragon. She clamped her jaws shut around the dragon's tail, causing it to roar in pain and fury at the sudden pain. "Doesn't that hurt?" I winced at the sound of bone crunching under her teeth. Or at least I was hoping that was bone.

'No more than this will!' Snowfire suddenly fired a blast of ice at the dragon's tail before letting go. She spat blood from her mouth as she flew higher in the air to avoid getting hit by the club-like tail.

"How many more shots do you have?" I asked warily. According to Hiccup all dragons had a limit as to how much fire they breathed.

'More than enough to take this Red Death down,' she replied. Huh, well now I knew the name of that dragon. Red Death did seem like a fitting name.

Thankfully Hiccup had gotten Toothless free just in time. We were all getting worn out. This Red Death was putting up a damn good fight. Then again I'd never had a fight like this before. I could imagine what my mom would say if she saw me now. I'd be more than just grounded for life.

"He's up!" Astrid shouted. She flew closer to us as Ruffnut and Tuffnut joined us. "Get Snotlout out of there!"

"I'm on it," I replied. I flew Snowfire to where Snotlout was hanging on for dear life. "Keep it distracted," I added to the twins. They nodded in agreement before taking off to keep the Red Death distracted. Luckily their arguing seemed to keep everyone distracted.

Snotlout jumped off the horn of the Red Death and was caught by Snowfire's talons. That was when the Red Death opened it's mouth and started sucking in air. I watched on in amazement as it tried sucking in Astrid and her Deadly Natter.

The familiar screech of Toothless sounded seconds later. Snowfire dropped Snotlout on the beach nearby just as Toothless fired a plasma blast at the Red Death. Astrid fell off of the Deadly Natter, letting out a cry of surprise. Toothless caught her just in time before landing nearby to drop her.

"Go!" she whispered.

"Any chance that thing can fly?" I suddenly asked. This fight had gone on long enough. There had to be a way that Red Death could be taken down, without the risk of losing any lives.

'It has wings,' Snowfire replied.

Hiccup must have been thinking the same thing. Toothless fired a shot of plasma at one of the Red Death's wings. Snowfire took off and fired a shot of ice at the other wing. We caught up with them in a matter of seconds as the Red Death started taking flight.

"That thing doesn't seem to have any end," I muttered.

"We need to end this before it gets worse," Hiccup reminded me.

Yeah but how are we supposed to— My thoughts were cut off when the dragon suddenly fired an explosion of flames at us. Snowfire managed to block the heat by regulating the air around. By now the Red Death was high in the sky along with the both of us. I could barely make out Toothless in the cloud of smoke while we flew in the opposite direction.

'That creature is confused now,' Snowfire suddenly pointed out. 'Confusion will lead to—'

"Frustration, got it," I cut her off. The Red Death tried turning around but was stopped by more plasma blasts from Toothless. Finally it stopped in it's tracks and tried overtaking Toothless. "Now!" Snowfire fired a shot of flames at the Red Death, not missing a heartbeat as she swerved to the right. Unfortunately she also happened to be in the path of the dragon's tail as it swung in our direction. I held back a cry of shock as the tail smashed into her, causing Snowfire to careen towards the ground in a spiral. "Snowfire, wake up!" I held on to her for dear life as we came dangerously close to the ground.

It took me a few seconds to realize what had happened. Snowfire had lost consciousness. And we were crashing to the ground. Of all the things to happen, this had to be the most terrifying. I hated heights enough to begin with, and now this was happening.

'Hold on.' Before I knew what was happening, a pair of wings suddenly blocked my vision. Seconds later and we were rolling along the beach, causing pebbles to scatter along the way. I couldn't help but open up my eyes after having them closed for what felt like hours.

"Snowfire?" My voice sounded shaken as I pressed a hand against her neck, careful not to hurt her.

'Forgive me for startling you, little one,' she crooned softly. I let out a sigh of relief when I realized she was alright.

"I thought you were…. I thought we…." I choked back on the words, realizing that I couldn't speak properly.

'We are safe,' she reassured me.

"What about the others?" Snowfire gently lifted a wing to reveal the damage caused by the battle.

Along the shoreline I could see the remains of broken ships. The dragons had also landed nearby once the battle was over. In a split second I realized that it really was all over. The Red Death was gone almost as quickly as the battle started.

Carefully I stepped away from Snowfire to join the other Vikings gathered in a semi-circle. My eyes widened when I saw Toothless laying on the beach. He opened one eye and looked at me with what I thought was worry.

"Hiccup!" Stoick shoved aside the others after realizing it was all over. I hadn't noticed until now that Toothless' tail was ripped off during the fight. That would all have to be fixed along with several other things. With as much caution as I could muster I knelt down and gently rubbed Toothless' muzzle. "Oh son," Stoick murmured as the dragon crooned. "I did this," he added with a shake of his head.

I didn't even notice that my hands were covered in blood. That had probably happened during our little moment when we almost crashed. My legs were still shaky from what had happened.

"I'm so sorry." Toothless looked up to see that Stoick actually cared. His face was buried in his hands, and I didn't miss the fact that he was actually crying. Even I couldn't fight back the fit of tears that threatened to overwhelm me.

Finally Toothless lifted a wing to reveal a small boy that had been protected during their fall. My heart nearly skipped a beat when I realized that Toothless had done exactly what Snowfire did for me. He could have died in that crash. But instead he risked his life to keep Hiccup safe.

"He's alive!" Stoick exclaimed after making sure that Hiccup was still breathing. He smiled and placed his hand gently on Toothless' head. "Thank you, for saving my son," he added in a whisper.

"Well, most of him," Gobber pointed out. My face twisted in a grimace when I realized what he was talking about. Well, it looked like Hiccup would share something in common with Toothless.

AN: An early chapter update! And for those who are wondering, yes I will be continuing this story once I'm finished with the movie plot. I may or may not create a plot of my own once it's finished. Still debating on that :P

silverwolvesarecool - Yep, she's finally here. But I never said that it's a Hicstrid story now did I? ;) And I did neglect to explain that, didn't I? Well, Snowfire kind of looks like Toothless. Only she's twice his size and has white scales that mix in with silvery gray. She also has icy blue eyes :) Hope that helps!

69759 - 10k isn't too bad. I don't think I'd be able to write that much, let alone read that much XD