Astrid felt the burst of hurt that flooded her body at unimaginable force, tugging all around her as her world turned a blurred gray. Her breathing started to slow as Stormfly's anger seemed to vanish while the spear sunk deeper, eyes clouding over as her legs gave out, toppling her back over with a ground pounding thump. Astrid let out a shaky breath when the scales on her dragon's back punctured her skin, drawing scratches from her shoulders to thighs.
Her breathing quickened as her pulse sped up, hearing Hiccup's screams as he desperately tried to go towards her, only to be surrounded himself.
The Vikings cheered, raising their fists high in accomplishment, some moving into sink more weapons into the Nadder. Stormfly whimpered helplessly, desperately forcing herself to stay awake for the time being.
"No!" Astrid unconsciously shrieked out, ignoring her screaming muscles. She scrambled to her feet, wavering slightly as her head pounded against her skull. Tears came streaming down her pale face, splashing on her sky blue shirt. "D-Don't come any-y closer!" Her words were becoming stuttered, causing many of the women to flinch and shield their eyes from the horrific scene.
Astrid sniffled, gripping the axe from earlier in her dominate hand, twirling it through her fingers with ease. Hot tears blocked her vision, but she could still recognize shapes bounding across. A group crossed towards the wounded dragon, and she swung it forward, causing them to bound back and grumble.
Stormfly gasped pathetically for air behind, and Astrid twisted back, tracing soft fingers over the Nadder's cheek.
"Hey, girl," She whispered, and Stromfly weakly stared up, her eyes flickering from clear to blurry. Astrid's heart broke at the picture, but she was so focused on her companion she missed the crowd behind her becoming an eerie quiet.
"Go get the dragon!" Stoick angrily said to the warriors, their eyes were to intently trained on the uncanny moment revealing itself as time passed. Astrid stocked Stormfly along the side, scratching her lightly on her pressure point, releasing the dragon from the binds of reality and most of her striking pain.
"All you gotta do Stormfly, is stay awake." Astrid paused, wiping a small tear, which formed a trail down her left cheek. The dragon saw the gesture and stuck her tongue out, licking the woman's face. Astrid chuckled, then her mouth was set open-mouthed when she heard the giggles of small viking children erupt close to her. "Yes," She focused back on Stormfly. "Stay awake...stay awake g-girl..." She shuddered, grasping the Nadder's head and pressing it against her chest.
Tears dropped from her face once more, and she cried out, her body shaking as she furiously tried to wipe her sadness away. You can't cry, a voice in her head spoke softly, wafting a sense of anxiety throughout her brain. You'll give them superiority.
But...Stormfly. She looked helplessly at her dragon, who was still following the earlier order, snapping her eyes open every time they slowly closed.
A tap on her shoulder grabbed her attention like a frayed rope, and she freaked and swung the axe forward again, but it fell from her grip as she pushed it along, spinning madly in the opposite direction.
She clasped her hands to her face, tears still dripping down, eyes becoming a scratched red as he heart pounded against her chest. The tap came again, and she feebly snuck a peek up, feeling a sense of surprise when Gothi placed her cane back down, her mouth set to a cross between and smile and frown.
She can help... The hushed voice said once more, and Astrid's mind whirled, confusing her on end. But will she care enough to help someone who rides their enemy?
"Please," She managed to stammer out, staring pitifully up to the village elder. The woman raised her eyebrow, unnerved to see what was the village's most powerful teen now reduced to a mess of a crumbled heart. Her heart broke at the picture, and she slowly took another step forward, to the amazement of the village, and the disappointment of the Chief.
"Help her." Astrid ultimately mumbled, grasping Gothi's hand in her own, and the woman stiffened when she lightly slammed it down on Stormfly's own horn. Multifarious intakes of breath resounded through the small area, and the chaos of the untamed dragons had died, leaving them pacing behind the Vikings in an attempt to grab their attention, with no prevail.
Gothi felt the area around her disappear as her hand trembled under the spell of the dragon's skin. It was warm, not unlike a cat's fur when you stroke it for days on end. Stormfly rumbled in agony, her body pulsing, racing throughout every part. Gothi could feel something tear inside her as she saw what she believed the two riders had seen all along.
She saw a magnificent beast, with wings that could take her soaring into the open sky, to show her a universe which no one below could dare to even dream. A dragon that wasn't mindless, but had a brain with overloading thoughts and actions, and the power to make their ideas realities.
A dragon that was dying, by the hands of the ones she thought were doing right.
She flew back, open-mouthed as she stared at Astrid. The woman saw, and her now calm orbs flickered with hope, and she silently nodded, gesturing her arms toward the injured Nadder.
"Will you?" She asked once more, stroking Stormfly to stop her from moving and injuring herself more. The dragon complied, resting her head back down, staring out with eyes as brown as the freshest dirt for the finest crops to be grown on.
By then the Vikings had awoken from their trance, almost guiltily stroking forward with boas and nets. Hiccup fussed back as they came closer, but was reduced to consciousness as one woman punched her fist down on his temple, knocking him out almost immediately. Toothless saw his best friends fall into the arms of the enemy and roared, curling around him. His mouth started to fill with a familiar gas, but dissipated as a hammer fell on his head, with just enough force to put him in the same position as his rider.
Astrid was still in too much pain to fight back, and was clouded by her thoughts as the placed the net carefully over Stormfly, dodging the spear lodged along her neck, the stick stopping the blood from flowing out and onto the ground.
Stoick glowered down at the scene he had just witnessed, snapping his mind back into place as he stalked forward to both riders and their dragon's; one unconscious and unable to retort, the other completely helpless, overcome by grief.
"Take the girl and her beast to the cells again, and don't let them escape with outside help." He glowered at the nearby guards, who shrunk under his gaze. He unmistakably turned back to Hiccup and Toothless, then glowered with untold hate to Amethyst, clearly upset over her betrayal.
"Bring me the man, his hellish beast, and the girl." He strictly said, and waved his hand, dispersing the crowd in a second. The dragon's had flown away as well, leaving the site before any more attacks could be made.
Grayson was terrified.
Not that he'd admit that to any of his friends; it was exactly like his father had always told him. 'Fear is a Viking's greatest weakness'. Well, that and if he was found to be scared he would discrete the family name. All his life he was told to be brave, never falter in any situation.
But when on his first raid he's almost burned by a Zippleback entirely, ran into the same girl who had stopped the Gronckle in the arena with only her hand, and witnessed dragon riders who had trained dragons? Well, he didn't believe anyone could have walked out of that without being shaken.
As he followed back through the broken village, he jumped every time a charred wood piece fell, crushing into splinters. Destiny punched him in the shoulder, smirking lightly at his cowardly acts.
"Come on, Graysy!" She squealed, and Grayson flinched as he heard her signature nickname for him. "This is the first time we were out there!" She gestured to the open village. "We had fun, and knew what it was like to be a Viking! You know," She let her arms drop back to her side, the edges of her hair drooping around the side of her face visible to Grayson. "As much as a person how puts out fires can get."
"Do you think your parents had to go through this?" Grayson questioned, shuffling his hands into he pockets of his low jacket. Destiny stopped in mid-stride, placing a tiny hand on her chin, humming softly. "I guess Dad would," She soon answered. "But not Mom. She's too tough for this."
"Yeah, I'm the opposite." Grayson mused. "Dad would totally be able to pass this without even trying, but since Mom wasn't here at that time, I don't really know."
"Hey guys wait up!" Another boy's voice called out a ways behind them, and Destiny groaned, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. "Why..." She muttered, and Grayson glared directly at her, quickly then changing his expression to one more cheerful.
"Hey Hywel!" He yelled back, and smiled when the slightly chubby boy tumbled across the way, sighing with relief when he saw his friends. He checked the area for signs of danger, then when he decided everything was clear he slowly stalked over.
The wood had finally stopped its fall from nearby houses, and the three kids started to move again, Destiny leaning farther away from the group, mainly Hywel, with each minute. "How did you guys do during your," Hywel gulped, seat beading on his forehead as he again stalled the lump in his throat. "first Dragon Raid?"
"Fine." Destiny growled, latching her arm on Grayson's trying to pull him away from the weirdo. The boy tugged straight back, pushing her away as he turned back to Hywel. "Though, you don't see that many dragon's when you're always focused on filling buckets with water."
Hywel's mouth opened to an o shape, and his eyebrows furrowed with thought. "Do you I think I'd have a chance to get in?"
Destiny snorted, spinning on her heels. "Come on," She mocked. "You'd never even last a day with the dragons! I mean," She stuck her finger out, bopping the boy on the nose, who slapped it away with a frown. "You're terrified of them."
It was Grayson's turn to scoff now. "Says the girl who couldn't even fight off a Terrible Terror when it took your only apple" Destiny's face turned a bright red.
"S-Shut Up!"
Hywel couldn't resist to burst out laughing, clutching his stomach. The girl turned even a darker shade, and raised her fist in a challenge. Both boys quickly stopped; they knew when Destiny got angry it was nothing to be trifled with.
Grayson felt the warm waft through his body again, all the alarm that had taken refuge in his mind leaving until nothing was left but a sense of calm. He didn't need to worry about this now; not around his friends.
"Calm down, Des." He flinched at the use of the nickname she requested for everyone to call her, but the girl took no notice, brightening in a flash. "We're just having fun, you're a great fighter." The girl seemed to be on Cloud Nine, a bounce in her step as they walked onward.
"Oh!" Both kids turned to Hywel. "I forgot, I actually had something to tell ya, Destiny." Said girl let out a small whine again, burying her face onto Grayson's vest. "The moment's ruinnneeeddd..." She stretched out the word exponentially, her high pitch ringing in the air.
Grayson ruffled the young girl's hair, shivering when Destiny sighed happily and moved closer in. But he didn't dare say he was uncomfortable.
"Destiny!" Hywel screamed, frustrated, and the girl pulled out, glaring with hate. "Whaatt?" She exclaimed back.
"I was going to tell you that Mom wants us back at home right after the raid." Destiny sighed again and proper herself forward, jogging along. "Oh dear brother," She sarcastically yelled out. "Whatever would I do without you?"
Hywel had a perfect comeback. "You'd be grounded for life!" He hurringly sped up to catch her, both soon walking into a small house by the Chieftain's Hill.
Grayson felt his heart pound along it's empty cage, and he shuffled his feet along, aiming for his home, which stood tall and proud, the statue of a speared Terror saluting on the rooftop. He paid no notice and flung the door inward, moaning as as wave of somnolence crashed down upon him, almost drowning him entirely.
He mumbled words completely intelligible, but seemed to understand them himself, dragging his body up the creaking staircase, and into the first room on the right. He grinned tiredly when he saw his hand-made bed, and flopped down, sighing in content.
The image of the girl he'd ran into during the raid stuck itself to his swimming brain, the way she seemed to be in immense torment, clutching her pained side. He thought of how he had not even uttered a single word or thought before holding out his hand, picking the girl up and wrapping a soft arm around her waist.
He then thought of the more strange occurrences, when the girl had left almost immediately, and he had seen her not long after, climbing over the other Vikings and running to the dragon riders; and the problem was, well, he didn't have a problem with what they were doing.
"Training Dragons?" He spoke into the rock pillow, scratching his side. What was so wrong with it? They were just people...right?
"I need to see her." He spoke so fast his mind couldn't process what he had concluded on till the minute later. His eyes widened exponentially, and he resisted the urge to cry out. Maybe he did need to see that girl, figure out why she kept the secret and stayed here, when the weight of death was staked upon her shoulders.
But he was a Jorgenson; the odds never went in his favor.
In case you did not notice and just clicked the story without checking, I have changed the time Hiccup and Astrid were gone from Berk to 12 years, since I realized it made more sense to do this, and it wouldn't have before, leaving me to fight mobes of confused readers, which I did not want to do. Don't worry, everything will still run smoothly, and the story will not be discontinued.
Always With Ya~Starlight420