Part 2 ready here. The big encounter - hope you guys like it!
All rights to Httyd belong to Cressida Cowell and DreamWorks. All OCs and original story belong to NightShade248.
A week had passed since the successful raid and the big 'Ruoy vs. Draak' fight, and Hiccup had spent most of that time working with the new dragons to get them comfortable and trained to aid in the village's defense in time for the raid. The Nadders, Nightmares, Gronkles, and Zipplebacks, since they were the more abundant and common dragons, were instructed in offensive guard tactics and defense of the food and animals, and the Changewing, with its invisibility techniques, was assigned to guard the food as well, in addition to serving as a sentry for the island. Alta's friend Woh, who was a bit nervous around the dragon at first, seemed to be getting more and more comfortable with it, thanks to the time she spent sneaking close by while Hiccup was training her, and now the Changewing seemed to like following her around most of the day afterwards.
The Whispering Death, on the other hand, was put to good use creating a network of tunnels underneath the islands to serve as escape routes for the women and children. The measure was set up in case the Great Hall became unsafe and they could leave without anyone's notice, whether the island was attacked by dragons, pirates, or enemy tribes. Everyone was impressed greatly by both Hiccup's strategic genius and his taming the dragons in record time, never mind the praises he was still getting for his successful battle from last week. It was nice to know that when someone did good around here, no one made sure they forgot about it anytime soon – Hiccup supposed that was a strong reason egos were as big as they were back home.
However, Hiccup was more interested in his other project at the moment; from that night to now in the present, he had only been thinking one thing: protect the dragons. To that end, once he was done with training each day, he would rush to the back of the forge and work on some secret project that no one knew the contents of. As far as anyone, even Alta, saw, Hiccup would just lock himself in the forge for hours on end, all night actually, and came out just an hour before sunrise to get a tiny bit of sleep, and after several nights of it, people were starting to get a little worried.
The general consensus on the matter was that Ruoy had said something out of bounds the other night, and frankly that was pretty easy to believe, but Ruoy refused to apologize for his rash words even when he was all but shoved up to the door, which quickly led to a great loss of respect for the young man. Now when people looked at him, all they saw was a spoiled brat who was fed up with no longer being everybody's favorite Viking prodigy, and Ruoy was all but fed up with it, especially considering this put his position as future Chief of Draak in jeopardy.
Alta, on the other hand, was simply too worried about Hiccup, who had holed himself up in the forge working on whatever it was he was working on. The only time she had ever seen him during those past few days was when he was in the arena, and bringing Alvis along was the only way Hiccup would even pay attention to her at that time. But by the time the afternoon came along and he went back to the forge, she and Alvis would be left out without a word. He had let Toothless in for the past three days but it was only Toothless who got that sort of V.I.P. access from Hiccup, but even knowing how close the two of them were, that still didn't give any answers to the questions bouncing around in anyone's heads. For a couple of days, she had just stood there right outside the door, hoping that he would just put everything down for a moment and tell her if he was upset and what was really bothering him. She had even started to get frustrated a bit and figured she might as well just drag him out against his will, despite how badly he might have smelled from numerous nights' worth of sweat, metal, and charcoal, and just demanded answers. Every time she did, though, she just bit her lip and swallowed it down.
She just cradled Alvis in her arms and continued to stare at the door, expecting him to come at any moment, though she might have known better. If he was bothered, it might have been serious, so chastising really wasn't a good idea as opposed to just talking to him. So she figured, whenever he decided to come out, she would be ready.
"Hiccup, please come out…" she whispered.
Behind the door, Hiccup was hard at work preparing for what may very well be the most important and foolhardy thing he's ever do in his life, which may very well be at risk. He had been crafting a new weapon for himself, a specialized metal bow and a new type of arrows. The arrowheads were formed from the spikes of Deadly Nadders which he had harvested and cleansed of the poison that usually coated them in favor of possessing a not very deadly but still fatal weapon. Of course the tips had been dulled down to make sure targets would not be in danger of the point; what really made these arrows dangerous was the added effect they would have. The arrows were covered in a special type of gel composed of gunpowder and other natural chemicals he had been developing from minerals he had found in the forests and underground with the help of the Whispering Death, and mixing them with wood pulp.
Smeared around the tips of the arrows, when used in conjunction with Toothless's plasma blasts, they could create a serious explosion. Archery was Hiccup's best skill in terms of fighting on his own, although it wasn't really that impressive to anyone on Berk, who ignored the fact that in accordance with their wishes, Hiccup was wielding a weapon of some kind. Quick and fast were Hiccup's thing, as he figured all the brute force in the world didn't mean a thing if an attack couldn't hit, but hey, Vikings, they just figured a big brain would lead to a headache.
Apart from crafting his new weapon, Hiccup had spent the other half of his forge time fixing up Toothless' gear and making a new tailfin for him. This one had an improved design; as opposed to the first hurriedly-crafted one, this one was made of a new lighter leather colored black to blend in with the rest of his body. No one would suspect it was a fake, but honestly, with the fact that this tailfin was as thin as paper, no one would be able to notice on account of Toothless would be going too fast to spot.
Hiccup had also been reworking Toothless's saddle and the foot pedal, making them lightweight but still able to react at a moment's notice – what he was planning to do required as such. He had called Toothless in for measurements, to make sure everything had stacked up, but as far as Toothless knew, it was all for the sake of doing more flying. He had no idea what Hiccup's true intentions were, and frankly, so long as he COULD go flying with Hiccup, he didn't care. All that mattered to Toothless was soaring through the clouds, reveling in the beautiful sight of the sky with his precious Hiccup.
On the seventh day since this back and forth process began, Hiccup had completed his work, but had done so with a heavy heart. Once again he had been keeping secrets from Toothless, from everyone actually, but his best friend at the moment was all he could think about. For all the time they had been on Draak, Hiccup had been warring within himself whether or not to tell Toothless and how to tell about the fact that he had been chosen out of all his peers to kill a dragon in front of the whole of Berk. Every possible approach seemed to end in disaster, though: things never seem to work as he'd planned them, and he was a little worried that such would be the case this time as well. In the end, Hiccup decided to keep the Dragon Training thing a secret for a bit longer and wait until things had really taken off with dragon-human relationships on Draak. As for his current endeavors, though, Toothless was required for them to work, and so Hiccup figured he had to tell the truth this time; there was no getting around it.
Hiccup had finally decided to get a good, full night's sleep before telling Toothless first thing tomorrow morning, which came sooner than he figured, against his wishes to have some more time to properly map out his words. With the first rays of sunlight appearing on the ocean, Hiccup had called Toothless over to just outside the village plaza after his breakfast. Hiccup figured with all the cod Toothless ate, he'd have a little more time to mentally prepare himself for what would happen. Today was to be a turning point in the world's history, as dramatic as it seemed in Hiccup's head, so this was all to necessary.
"Okay, Toothless." He rehearsed to himself in hushed tones while quietly pacing back and forth for the sake of the people still sleeping. Looking around, he saw that he was alone, which was a very good thing; if anyone saw him, they would no doubt demand answers for his behavior or try to talk him out of it once they figured it out. "What I'm going to tell you is really important, and so I need you to pay close attention. I-I know it's dangerous and pretty much a million times more stupid than anything I've ever done in the past, but well… What I mean is someone's gotta do this and it might as well be us since we have the best chance… and, uh… well, I guess I'm saying… we've got a good thing here, right? But if we wanna keep it going, then you have to… we have to…
A deep chirp came from behind him, followed by a soft puff of warm air that felt strong but gentle. Hiccup turned around and would normally feel happy by what he saw, but today, he felt nervous.
"Oh-ho, Toothless." Hiccup chuckled awkwardly as he did. Toothless cocked his head at his boy's strange behavior. 'All right, what's wrong?' He seemed to ask.
"Oh, I'm doing great, bud, just great." He said enthusiastically with a voice as hearty as it could be in a whisper before taking a large inhale of the open sea air through his nostrils. "Ah, that morning air smells good; yeah, really doing wonders. I don't think I've felt this good in years." If there was one thing anyone noticed about Hiccup, it was that he was a terrible liar under pressure. The disbelieving, narrowed eyes on Toothless's face emphasized this.
"What? I'm fine, really bud." Hiccup said with a shrug. "Come on, what do you say we go flying? With that new gear of yours I bet we can make 60 miles in three seconds flat." It was an exaggeration on Hiccup's part, although with a Night Fury's speed, he couldn't really know if it was impossible or not. Still, Toothless knew about what was going on in the forge, and he had to wonder how that bow and arrow set fit into a daily flight. Tired of waiting for an answer, Toothless decided to coax it out with a good tail slap to the head. Hiccup gave a small yelp of pain and surprise at the sudden impact.
"What was that for, you oversized salamander?" Hiccup asked angrily, but Toothless's face and the growl that escaped his jaws said it all. 'You're hiding something – what?'
Hiccup's eyes widened before shutting as he emitted a tired sigh – he should have known Toothless would figure it out. He would be the first to admit that subtlety and a smooth voice were not his strong suits, and his best friend would be able to pick up on what was bothering him instantly. He felt like scolding himself for his behavior – he had promised to tell the truth and now here he was coming up with lies again. A smile crossed his face though, still grateful that Toothless could read him so well and provide the reassurance he needed at that moment.
"Toothless, do you trust me?" He forced himself to ask. He felt disgusted in part to have to ask such an insulting question.
And Toothless seemed just as insulted, his green eyes widened in disbelief. 'How can you ask me that?' He growled. 'Hiccup, you're my rider, I'd trust you with my life!'
"Then… I need to ask a really big favor from you…"
"Hiccup?"
A voice called out from out of nowhere, startling both boy and dragon; they look to the source to find Alta standing only a foot away from them. Toothless was especially surprised that the small girl had followed her all the way here without him ever noticing her. Hiccup however, groaned on the inside; he had hoped this could be a one-on-one session with Toothless: as they say, two's company but three's a crowd.
"Alta. W-I, h-how long have you been standing there?" He asked stuttering.
"A week." She replied somewhat bitterly. Hiccup raised an eyebrow, confused at her answer.
"Uh, a week? Don't ya think you get a little tired by now?"
"No, I mean for a whole week I've just been standing around with a door in my face while you've been right behind doing Thor knows what in that forge!" She shouted, although somewhat miraculously no one could hear her it seemed as no one was busting through doors yelling to keep it down. Vikings were pretty heavy sleepers, apparently, though Hiccup wasn't about to take any chances; he keep holding his hands out and shushing her with a finger to his mouth but she just went on.
"Everyone's worried sick about you! Ever since that raid, you've been totally reclusive and you won't talk to anyone about it! Look, if this is about what Ruoy said, I'm sorry, I mean really sorry since I kinda doubted everything you did too. But don't think for one second that no one recognizes what you've done for us, me especially. I always dreamed of something like this happening but I never though it actually would. The least I can do since you're the one who made it all possible is to be there to talk to you if something's wrong, and if Ruoy's involved, I know something's wrong! So, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, WHAT IS WRONG!?"
Hiccup wasn't sure what mortified him more, the fact that she thought he was upset about something as childish as being bullied, or that she announced his problem and his full name to the now-waking village. Public humiliation was nothing new to him, especially if it involved bullying, but the last thing he need was everyone learning about it at once only to laugh at and scoff him off at once. It happened all the time when he was on Berk, and it seemed to be something of a cycle: Snotlout or the twins bullied him, he'd talk to his dad about it who always seemed to be in a public meeting of some kind at the moment, and Stoick would brush him off for him to get even more cold shoulders from the people. The adults were hardly mature about it, making weepy little faces to mock him and laughing at their own stupid impressions: a baby in grown-up clothes, they'd call him. It wasn't right, but Hiccup had at that point been forced to hide any personal problems he might have had in his later years, knowing for a fact tears didn't garner sympathy.
Toothless, on the other hand, was all but shocked: he didn't think it since Hiccup looked fine all the times he'd called him in, but had his boy been hurt or was upset in some way? In his self-appointed role as Hiccup's guardian, Toothless knew part of his job was to comfort Hiccup when he needed it, an assignment Toothless always made sure to complete without hesitation. He could see it written all over Hiccup's face whenever he came to the cove, behind the joyful gleam in his vibrant forest green eyes how in pain he was, how lonely he had been; he had never forgotten what Hiccup said about being fed-up with his life back on that despicable little rock with all those 'people' who apparently didn't care who they hurt.
If he could, he'd go back there and become death itself, sending all those monsters in human skin to their deserved graves. He knew Hiccup had been keeping some kind of secret ever since the day they'd arrived on Draak, but kept his distance in the hope that his little human brother, who seemed to finally be coming out of his shell in helping dragons make a life here, would come up to him himself: the question is, why didn't he want to talk?
Toothless slowly nudged Hiccup on the arm and let out a worried whimper before pulling away a smidge, ready for any kind of emotional dam to break. 'Is something hurting you? Hiccup, you can always talk to me about it, you know that. I do trust you, but do you trust me?' Hiccup subconsciously pet Toothless while keeping his eyes on Alta. "Alta, no, come on. That's not what this is about."
"Then what is it? What are you hiding?" She asked.
"I-It's just… okay, yeah, I guess it is something that Ruoy said after the raid, but-"
"I KNEW IT!" She shrieked. "When I get my hands on that piece of dragon dung…" She clenched her hands around an invisible victim, more than likely the neck of an imaginary Ruoy. Toothless was snarling with a small amount of gas leaking from his sharp jaws, muttering some dragon curse of some kind. It was obvious they were both thinking of suitable punishments for Ruoy, the contents of which were far too graphic to even mention.
"No-h-h-hold on a second! It's not that!" Hiccup tried to placate them both. "I mean, yeah, he was being typical Ruoy, but it was just… something he said got me thinking. Yeah, we stopped the raid, but that's not like it never happened, even if Draak got off scot-free."
Both girl and dragon stared at him as he continued, confusion etched on both of their faces. "Though we've brought dragons in to live with us, that doesn't mean other dragons will call it quits on the fighting too. Vikings, trappers, hunters, they won't stop, either, not until the streets are lined with dragon carcasses and we're drinking blood out of our mugs, which sounds gross, but it's a distinct possibility. And I-I'm sick of it, I'm sick of people fighting and dying for stupid things like honor and glory – those don't mean a thing if you're dead. So I'm going to put an end to it."
After a long pause, Alta asked rather cautiously. "And how exactly are you going to do that?" Hiccup only stared at her resolutely, and the answer he gave was the last thing either her or Toothless ever expected.
"I'm going to find the dragon's nest."
Toothless's eyes just bulged and his jaw dropped to the ground in shock and fear – THAT'S what this was all about, Hiccup wanted to find the nest? No, absolutely not, Toothless decided, he had no idea what was there, waiting for someone foolish enough to approach. Going there would spell certain doom for Hiccup, if she had anything to say about it.
Alta's face was just as incredulous, but unlike Toothless, she had managed to muster up enough nerve to reply back. "The nest? The same nest that Vikings have been looking for since sailing to these islands centuries ago and are still looking for now. What makes you think you've got any better of a chance than my dad, your dad, or the other chiefs?"
Hiccup gestured a hand to the still in-shock dragon next to him. "Cause I've got him." That seemed to wake the dragon up as he turned his head to look at his well-meaning but stupid boy.
"Toothless? What does he have to do with it?" Alta asked.
"Think about it, it's a dragon nest, so wouldn't it make sense that only dragons could find it. My dad said the nest is somewhere near Helheim's Gate but that place is covered with a thick bog that no one can sail through. The dragons can navigate through it; if Toothless can take me there and I can find out what's going on, why they raid us…"
"What do you mean, 'why they raid us?' Everyone knows they want our food." Alta raised an eyebrow perplexed.
"Yeah, but if food was all they wanted, they could just get it out of the ocean. When they say 'there's plenty of fish in the sea,' they aren't just talking about dating! Why steal from us when there's a more abundant and safer source of food… e-everywhere else?" He waved his arms around to emphasize his point. Not that it wasn't strong already, there were millions of fish in the ocean, why only steal the ones that Vikings caught? It wasn't like they were lazy or anything, evidenced by how they were willing to fight, and their strong features made them excellent hunters by nature.
"Okay, but exactly what is it you expect to find there? What makes you think there's some big secret as to why they raid us at the nest at all?" Alta just seemed to be getting more and more confused. For all she knew, there were just a bunch of dragons and a huge pile of stolen food and animals. Nothing more.
"There HAS to be something! Dragons are amazing, kind, and loyal creatures: I can't believe they'd attack us just because they want free food!" Hiccup shouted, startling Alta so much she stepped back a bit. Toothless already had the answer he was looking for, though, and he didn't want Hiccup to find it for himself. At that moment, he jumped right in front of Hiccup and let loose a roar flooded with fear. At that point, people must have been deaf not to hear what was going on.
Hiccup was so startled he actually fell over to the ground. "Ah! Toothless, what is wrong with you!?"
'What's wrong with ME? You're insane to want to go there!' Toothless barked out frantically, though Hiccup could see that though Toothless was scolding him about something, he looked more scared than angry. 'You go there and SHE'LL eat you alive! I am not about to let you throw away your life – I am not about to lose my best friend to that monster just for some stupid stunt of heroism!'
"Toothless, just calm down bud!" Hiccup ordered, but it was no use. Toothless was hysterical with the terror of losing the person that meant the world to him, flapping his wings and bouncing around like that fear was a set of chains binding him to the ground when he wanted to take off and fly. Why couldn't he understand that he was just trying to protect him, that the farther they were away from that place, the better? Besides, Toothless didn't want her anywhere near himself, either, still remembering the grip she had had on him. "Will you stop freaking out? I need you to do this!"
'I will not stop 'freaking out' until you drop this whole thing! Hiccup, please, I'm begging you, don't do this! Let's just stay here forever and forget about it all, just live here where no one can keep us apart! Please, PLEASE, I can't lose you to her!'
"TOOTHLESS!"
There was that voice of Hiccup's again, the voice of pure power that seemed to stop time and silence nature – a voice like that seemed out of place in the body of such a small, young boy. Nevertheless, the panic stopped instantly, even if the fear still remained in its entirety, Toothless's eyes two wide pools of fear and sadness. It was the first time the Night Fury, the mighty beast feared by human and dragon alike, wanted to cry, but Hiccup only held his head and placed his forehead on his.
"Toothless, do you trust me?" He asked in a whisper.
'Of course I do, but I just… I-I can't… I want you with me, safe and happy.' The whole statement came out as a single, sorrowful whimper.
"I want you with me too, bud," Hiccup answered back, unaware in that moment that he and Toothless had suddenly reached a higher level in their connection. He was completely oblivious to the fact that he was now hearing his dragon's thoughts in his head and in his heart, reverberating through him as some soundless echo with the voice little more than a feeling. "And this is the only way we can make it happen. I don't want to keep wondering if today might be the last day I ever see you. I swore to protect the dragons, and I want to protect you too… you have to let me."
'But I'M the one who's supposed to be protecting YOU! And how is throwing your life away supposed to keep me safe?'
"Toothless, I'm not about to throw my life away; whatever's waiting for me there, I'll face it. But I need you at my side, bud, protecting me like you always do. Will you stand with me, now, bud?" Hiccup had asked many questions like this to his father, or at the very least he wanted to. He needed to know if his father ever loved him, but each time he was met with silence, completely ignored. And Hiccup just accepted it, however sadly each time. This time was different, however; with a hard stare, Hiccup would not walk away without an answer, more specifically the one he needed to hear. And Toothless knew it.
'… Yes. I will. I will stand with you whatever path you walk, brother. I will protect you always…' Toothless answered with a small growl.
For mere moments the two stood just looking into each other's eyes, finding nothing but hardened determination in the form of emerald green blazes that converged into a flame that burned the world. The two now stood as one, ready to face destiny's challenge issued to them. Hiccup then turned to see Alta, who had merely watched the whole undertaking in silence. For a moment, Hiccup could not think of anything to say, save for the familiar words he had told her on that day in the Kill Ring.
"Alta, this is something I have to do. Something only Toothless and I can do."
Alta could only nod in response, every last word of complaint or argument lost to her at the look in his eyes. Seeing this different Hiccup time and time again always sparked something in her, something that was far more than the mere defiance of the norm that she had. This was a defiance of reality, and the resolve to change it. It put butterflies in her stomach, and made her sweat slightly, leaving her confused at her conflicting feelings.
Hiccup nodded in turn and went to pick up his bow and bag of arrows that he slung onto his back. With them and a customized smaller shield equipped to his right arm, he boarded Toothless, placing his foot onto the pedal to engage the tailfin, and with that Toothless lifted off into the sky. They turned back for a moment and hovered in the air as Hiccup looked to her.
"Take care of Alvis for me. I'll be back," was all he said before they shot off in the direction of Helheim's Gate. It was only a few seconds before they were completely out of sight.
For a whole ten minutes she just stood there, watching the very spot where they had vanished in the sky. By now, everyone had come out of their houses, ready to start the day, but grew confused and worried when they just saw her standing there like a statue, unmoving. Her father, Woh, and another boy with brown hair with dirty blond highlights dressed in a simple tunic and a scarf and hood attached came up to her, Hairke shook her slightly to snap her out of her daze.
"Dad, Woh, Nogard." She was surprised to see her two friends out of their houses for once. It seemed that plenty of people were showing changes.
"Alta, sweetheart, what is it?" Hairke asked, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. She only looked down to the ground like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
"You were causing… quite a ruckus, you know," said the boy Nogard rather timidly. "I heard people were about ready to throw pots and pans out the window." Alta only chuckled – so they DID hear all that.
"Alta, where's… where's Hiccup?" Woh asked.
"With that the smile faded and a tear fell down her face. For a moment she was afraid to say it, but there could be no denying the truth now. These people, much less her father, wouldn't accept any half-hearted response. She took a deep breath and just let the words out.
"He's gone…"
Hiccup and Toothless had been flying for an hour or so, nothing but the open sea surrounding them. By now they were somewhere in between Draak and Helheim's Gate, where the nest was lying in wait. Hiccup didn't show it, but the fatigue from several nights of work on his meager arsenal was starting to wear down on him, and he could barely keep his eyes open. Every so often, his grip on the saddle loosened a bit, and he wobbled slightly, before snapping back to reality. As if Toothless wasn't worried enough, here Hiccup was about to fight some unseen enemy and he looked like he would keel over at any second.
Toothless growled: if Hiccup was going to risk his life on some fool's errand, he should at least be fully awake for it. He swooped down to the ocean, just inches above the ice cold seawater, and quick as an arrow, he swiped his tail over it, narrowly missing his face as he splashed the water in his face. Hiccup spat and sputtered, now wide awake as a result. He shook his head free of any remaining water and glared at his draconic steed.
"Toothless, what are you-" But a lecturing stare back from the dragon's turned head and a slight smirk on his face told him everything. Hiccup's glare melted away and a small smile formed on his lips.
Hiccup gave Toothless a hard pet on the head, managing to get a small wince from the Night Fury. "Thanks, but you know I'm gonna get you back for that, bud." The smirk on Toothless's face just remained, if not grew larger. 'I'd like to see you try, fishbone,' His still rather warm look jokingly said.
The boy's smile soon faded. "Toothless, I'm not crazy, am I?" Toothless gave a disbelieving look at Hiccup's sudden question. "Okay, yeah, I am, but… am I crazy to think that there's something there at the nest? I want to believe more than anything that dragons don't attack us without a reason. They call you mindless beasts, but I know that's not true. There must be some giant, evil… thing… forcing you to do this; I know it."
Toothless frowned – Hiccup didn't know how right he was, and he had yet to see the answer for himself. A small coo reassured Hiccup in some way, and he pet Toothless head again, this time more gently.
"Thanks bud. I don't know where I'd be without you." Hiccup smiled sadly. Such comforts from his friends only made him guiltier about the fact that he still kept the thing with the Monstrous Nightmare a secret. That was it then, Hiccup thought, no more secrets – as soon as this was over, he would force himself to tell Toothless what would happen. If Toothless got angry, so be it, he deserved as much for hiding it for so long. At the very least though, he wanted Toothless to know his feelings on the matter; a faint hope, but maybe it would lessen Toothless's possible anger.
Toothless saw that Hiccup was debating something within himself – his boy seemed to be doing that a lot lately. And frankly, he was getting tired of it; he thought wanting to find the nest was the end of it, but how could he forget the hesitance he showed when they first met Alta? Whatever kind of secrets Hiccup was hiding, Toothless figured it was about time to get them out, though he knew with Hiccup, it was best, preferred by both, to get them out as gently as possible.
'Hiccup-"
But suddenly a strange sound reached his ears, a low hypnotic hum that seemed alien in nature; it reached out into his head and started to take hold of every one of his senses. Toothless's ear plates lifted up in response and his pupils thinned to slits in response to the sound. He turned his head left and right, forced to hone on the din's call pulling on him more and more.
"Toothless, bud, what's happening?" Hiccup asked, suddenly worried.
But the Night Fury's only answer came in the form of an abrupt dive into a thick cover of fog that appeared out of nowhere. Hiccup looked all around and saw nothing but the thick clouds all around him, the morning sunrise completely blocked from view. In the back of his mind, Hiccup felt the strange familiarity of the setting, the recounted tales for surviving sailors of the thick fog where seafaring vessels encountered their dooms. A sudden feeling of apprehension bubbled up from the pit of his chest: Hiccup knew the danger started now.
A familiar roar came to Hiccup's left, and he looked to see a Monstrous Nightmare appear from the rolling clouds. Hiccup ducked down as low as he could until his chest was directly against Toothless's hide; thankfully, the dragon didn't seem to notice him as it just continued on its path, heading in the same direction they were. Hiccup groaned internally at the sight of the Nightmare; in his ever-increasing panic, here was the last dragon he wanted to see flying right next to him. For a second he wondered if in his current state he might just blurt out the truth for everyone to hear and give away his position atop Toothless. Whether it would have happened or not, Hiccup was suddenly silenced as another dragon, a Zippleback, appeared on the right and the two wild dragons boxed the duo in.
Hiccup only became more alarmed as at that moment, several other tens of wild dragons came out of nowhere, simply appearing like spirits or phantoms, out of the clouds. The air was now filled with the sounds of chirps, growls, trills, and barks as the numerous winged reptiles continued forward. It was not long before tens became hundreds, and soon enough Hiccup could not even look in any direction without seeing five or eight dragons in that spot. Were he the small child forced to cower in fear inside the walls of his old home on Berk, Hiccup would have been terrified to tears at the sight of so many potential killers all around him, but through some miracle he had managed to keep it together.
It was then when he looked back to that first Nightmare to the left of him that he finally saw the large yak clutched in its talons, long dead and punctured by its captor/killer's long talons. He looked around and saw that all the dragons were carrying various kinds of fish and wild game such as boars, sheep, or yaks in their mouths or claws. He guessed that they might have possibly been raiders from other, more far off islands, taking so long to return home due to injuries sustained from battles against the Vikings or the distance from those islands to the nest.
These dragons were hauling in their kill, so what did that make him? He pat Toothless's head and rubbed it to get his attention as quick as possible. "Toothless, you gotta get us out of here, bud." But Toothless only shook his head, batting Hiccup's hand away and continued on, his ear flaps still alternating to hone in on the source of the strange sound.
It was only a few moments more that the dragons' wing beats became synchronized with each other, their flaps all occurring at the exact same time and their speeds all equaled out. The dragons all banked and dived in formation, Hiccup holding tightly onto Toothless's saddle, back to near sea level, all effortlessly weaving through the sea stacks that to Hiccup appeared right at the last second. Toothless swung to the left and right, narrowly dodging the natural pillars and swooping through the rock hoops along with the others.
Finally they had reached the base of a large island with a massive volcanic caldera; even in the daytime it glowed with small rivulets of lava placed all over the sides of the towering fortress. Hiccup could only imagine at the sight of this place how ominous it would look in the dead of night. The numerous dragons all fell into rank, almost a straight line as they funneled into a large crack in the mountain into a dark winding tunnel. Stalactites hung from the high ceiling above and similar protrusions came out at all sides of them, yet the dragons zipped through as if no such obstructions were there. The dragons all split their lines past pillars in the tunnel that reached the ground and dipped and rose over the stacks, until they finally reached their destination. And what Hiccup saw at the end of it shocked him to the core.
Past the tunnel's opening was a vast, smoky inner chamber lined on all sides with pocketed, shelf-like cliffs where numerous more dragons laid in hordes watching the new arrivals. There was every breed of dragon in that place: Hiccup could see Nadders, Terrors, Gronkles, Zipplebacks, Nightmares, Whispering Deaths, Changewings, Snaptrappers, Scauldrons, Thunderdrums, and even rarer breeds such as Fireworms, Flightmares, Timberjacks, as well as a Skrill here and there. The only thing he could think of in response to all the dragons here was that they had finally reached their destination. Here they were, at the dragon's nest.
"What my dad wouldn't give to find this…" Hiccup whispered.
He watched as all the dragons dumped their collective catches down into the large red pit below them, the earnings vanishing into the thick smoke that layered the bottom of the cave. The fear that once existed in Hiccup's chest was now replaced with confusion: why were they dumping everything down a hole? Why not eat it since they had worked so hard to get it? Was it possible they were storing food for harsher weather as the Vikings did? If so, then Hiccup had to hand it to them, these so-called 'mindless beasts' were much smarter than anyone gave them credit.
By now Toothless had regained his senses and, realizing where they were, quickly pulled away from the succession of dragons to land on a cliff shelf completely coated in shadows. He peeked out his head from behind the rock wall, hoping to keep himself, and more importantly Hiccup, as out-of sight as possible. He looked up a tiny bit and saw that Hiccup had done the same though; together they watched the proceedings of the nest continue on before all the dragons perched themselves on the cliffs having given their offerings.
Hiccup couldn't for the life of him figure it out why the dragons were simply storing the food instead of eating it right away. With the ravenous appetites he had seen in most dragons it would be more logical for them to just dive in the pile. As he figured before, if they need more food, they should have just gone fishing in the sea for more. It's not like there wasn't enough for everyone.
His answer came as soon as the last arrival buzzed in: a rather slow-witted looking Gronkle, who just stumbled in the air flying rather slowly over the pit. It opened its large rumbling mouth like a machine and out it regurgitated a single, solitary fish, the slick saliva keeping it sliding down until it like all the other food vanished down into the red smoke. The Gronkle rumbled and scratched behind its ear with its hind leg in contentment, until a low-sounding terrible roar came from underneath. The Gronkle could sense something wrong, even with its limited intelligence, but as it tried to flee, an enormous set of jaws jumped up from the pit and snapped shut around the poor beast, swallowing it whole.
Hiccup jumped back with an audible gasp behind the cliff again, with Toothless not even reacting to the sight. The other dragons, however, were not as hardened, and began to cower into the rock pockets, shuffling their claws and scrunched up and huddled close to each other in pure terror. She was angered at the petty contribution, and her hunger had not been appeased.
The behemoth sniffed the air around them, a faint, repugnant scent in the air, and turned to the cliff where her greatest warrior, the Night Fury, stood cloaked by the darkness. Hiccup grasped the cliff like a lifeline with clutching fingers while hyperventilating, his skin caked with sweat and his eyes bulging with fear. What WAS that thing, that huge monster? Was it even a dragon? It swallowed another dragon with a single bite; Hiccup for a moment imagined if this gargantuan creature appeared in Berk or Draak. No doubt it could crush the entire village and everyone in it with a single stomp. He had failed to notice the giant creature drawing closer and closer, still attempting to identify the stench that now filled her palace of stone and fire. Her six eyes widened and turned into slits with savage delight – it was the scent of a human. Her Night Fury had brought her a human to devour – it had been so long since she had experienced the taste, she always reveled in the aroma and the flavor of human meat and blood.
Toothless was not going to give up his friend so easily; he jumped out of the way and took flight as the queen snapped her jaws, not caring if she had devoured him along with his 'offering.' The sudden movement snapped Hiccup's attention back to the present as he grasped the saddle with all his might. She roared back to him with enough force to shake the chamber walls, apparently asking for the meaning of his defiance. Toothless roared in response his declaration of defiance and independence, only for the queen to roar in anger, with so much force that a few stalactites actually came down around them. How dare she betray him! And for what, a human worm? The Night Fury would pay for his foolishness with his life – she would enjoy devouring him.
It was then that everything made sense to Hiccup, all the clues coming together in his mind like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle as he looked at the massive creature. What he was witnessing was a monarchy of sorts, almost like a massive beehive; the dragons in the cliffs were the workers and the massive one preparing to eat them… was the Queen. This monster had been FORCING the dragons to raid from Viking villages and other human settlements, been made to kill people and poison humanity's view of them, all to feed her insatiable hunger. If she wasn't satisfied, she would simply devour those who failed her; Hiccup had thought the dragons had it bad before, but nothing like this, either being slayed by Vikings or eaten alive by this demonic tyrant. It was a question of who got killed now and who got killed latter.
What was once fear became uncontrollable fury in Hiccup as he clenched his fists so hard his nails began to draw blood from the palm of his hand. He clenched his teeth in anger and stared daggers at the creature beneath him, a symbol of evil that truly did exist in the world. Such an abuse of power was unforgivable: because of her, good dragons and people had lost their lives, sacrificed themselves needlessly just so she could get a free meal. With every fiber in his body, he let loose a scream of pure hate at her. "UNGODLY DEVIL! YOUR REIGN ENDS HERE, AND THIS WAR WILL END WITH IT!" Toothless conveyed the same message in a roar ten times as terrifying and deafening as the one he had done to Hiccup on the first day they met. This foul creature would meet its end at their hands, here and now.
The dragons took this as their cue to leave, debating what they feared more, the human and Night Fury pair or the enraged queen they had just challenged. They ascended in spiral formation to the hole at the top of the chamber that spelled their only means of escape and freedom. The Queen, enraged at the arrogance of these two insects before it and at the cowardice of her subjects, lunged at the boy and Night Fury, only for them to swoop down below to the bottom of the pit.
Toothless flew down deeper and deeper, avoiding the rock bridges and pillars that came out of nowhere through the thick smog as he did so, swerving left, right, and straightening out before descending more. The queen would not let them escape, she would bear down on them with her full might, and she let loose her hypnotic trills again to the massive exodus of dragons above. The dragons fell under her spell all at once and charged down as a combined volley of scales and claws at their new target.
Some had split apart from the ranks and banked Toothless and Hiccup on both sides, but Toothless let loose a plasma blast at several of them, knocking them down to the rocks all around. Another came from right behind him, but Toothless let loose one more plasma blast at the rock above them, creating a rock shower that flattened several of their pursuers. The Nadders began to fire a huge rain of quills down at them, but Hiccup took action immediately, readying his bow and shooting three arrows towards oncoming fire blasts from the Nightmares and Fireworms, detonating the gel coating the arrow and creating explosions that neutralized the quills and shook the rock pillars, causing more rocks to fall down on the now disoriented dragons. Hiccup mentally applauded himself for such unerring accuracy in his shots while on the back of such a fast-moving dragon.
They had eventually reached the lowest level of the pit in no time at all, swooping over a small landmass to come across a large lake of magma, with lava pouring down through multiple openings in the rock formations and the large body of the Queen, rising out from the lava. The heat was sweltering to Hiccup, feeling as if his skin was going to melt off, but he kept his cool in the face of all the dragons still following them. Toothless barrel-rolled out of the way as several dragons charged down at him and shot their fire blasts at him, while narrowly dodging the debris that came crashing down with a huge splash into the magma as the Queen swing her large claw into the wall. Toothless banked up to avoid a particularly large piece and the slashes of lava that managed to hit the other dragons, who came out relatively unharmed due to their heat-resistant scales.
Toothless dived down below, dodging the massive rock clusters and the lava pouring out in thick amounts above from them as he did so with slight swerves, when more dragons appeared in front of them. Hiccup fired more of his arrows at them one by one, which thanks to the large amount of heat emitted by the lava, set them off instantly, exploding against the dragons' hides and knocking them back into the lava. They tilted sideways and flew around past more magma falls while dodging more blasts, zooming past two dragons who were shot down by more of Hiccup's arrows.
"Sorry!" Hiccup quickly apologized to the dragons who were flailing about in the lava just as he did in the water when he was first learning to swim and his dad tossed him in. They were being controlled, Hiccup reasoned, so they weren't responsible for their actions.
By now they had leveled out just above them magma, and reacted quickly by swerving and barrel rolling when numerous sports of magma erupted from beneath them. The pressure caused by the movements of the Queen twirling around trying to follow them was causing some kind of pressure build-up, and the power the sports were emitting was massive. It took all Hiccup had to keep control as Toothless spun and twirled past each of the sports, not even letting a single drop of the molten rock touch him or Hiccup. The Queen's sinister gaze above watched their movements and let out an alternate sound to before, issuing out a new command.
At that point the serpentine Whispering Deaths and the Tidal-class Scauldrons and Thunderdrums dove into the lava; Hiccup just watched wondering why she would send her own subjects into the lava. Again, a quick answer came as the dragons emerged from the magma and from all directions and unleashed blasts of fire rings, sonic screams, and burning water streams, which Toothless dodged all of by turning sharply into the air and looping around before coming back down to see the dragons dive into the magma again. They continued to come out one by one, launching more sneak attacks as they did so, but Toothless just flapped and jerked around in the air, even making loops of smaller size as he did before. Toothless fired another volley of plasma blasts, targeting weak spots on a few Whispering Deaths and Thunderdrums, and all of which hit their mark, knocking out the dragons and sending them plummeting into the water.
Another Whispering Death and two Scauldrons came out forward at once, and Hiccup and Toothless responded by firing their shots at the same time: Hiccup drawing his arrow as Toothless charged his plasma blast, and the two released their shots at the exact same moment. The two attacks came in close to each other until they collided together, the result being a series of explosions that knocked all the dragons away. "All right, bud! That's what I call teamwork!" Hiccup praised with a pat to Toothless's head, which the dragon replied to with a prideful, happy bark. They circled around a large rock sticking out from the magma pool next to the Queen's body when the last of the sneak attackers came out, Toothless firing more plasma blasts at them as they attempted to circle around their prey, sending them hurdling through the rocks nearby and taking them out.
By now, most of the Queen's forces had been expended, and so Hiccup began looking for a weak point on her body to attack, but her hide seemed to be heavily armored, no such spots presented themselves. They flew and tilted past another set of rock formations while the Queen crashed her paw into the wall again sending more debris down, which Toothless cleared out with a couple of plasma blasts to get rid of the larger pieces, while Hiccup eliminated the smaller pieces with the last of his arrows, and just dodging whatever remained.
They ducked under a low-level rock formation while staying slightly above the magma now to avoid any more rock falls before getting through the makeshift path and flying up again. By now Toothless picked up more speed after narrowly avoiding a surprise paw-slam from the Queen that punctured a hole in the cavern wall and alternated altitudes in the small space while dodging more lava falls with split second timing and reflexes.
The poisonous gases of the lava below began to spread and swirl throughout the area while the Queen continued to move around and destroy more of her own chamber, and Hiccup had to cover his mouth with his tunic to keep from inhaling them. He was now drenched with sweat as they passed through two small streams of magma and he was on the edge throughout this whole battle, but he was ready to keep going, forcing himself to if need be.
One final challenger suddenly appeared behind them – a Skrill, the second most dangerous dragon next to the Night Fury itself, and hovered over them shooting blasts of white-hot lightning at them. They narrowly managed to dodge the blasts and the explosions that came as a result of them hitting the walls while moving through a hole in a rock face with more magma flows while the Skrill remained in red-hot pursuit of them. A second blast of lightning from it managed to knock away Hiccup's shield, ripping it from his arm and sending it to its fiery end in the magma; Hiccup watched clutching his now burned arm as the shield caught on fire and sunk into the fiery liquid.
Another slam in the wall, this time from the Queen's tail, gave Hiccup and Toothless the advantage they needed, ascending over a rock bridge before Toothless opened his wings and pulled back so they were now chasing the Skrill. The former predator wanted to get back its original position but found itself unable to as they approached another low level passage. Toothless fired another plasma blast to knock out some more rocks at the ceiling just above the Skrill, but it charged its own wings with lightning and shot through them all before they could reach it, leaving the dodging to Toothless as his own shot backfired on him. Needing to conserve the few shots he figured they still had, Hiccup kept Toothless steady while they rolled, jerked, and swung past each and every boulder.
They had now reached the low passage, and the two flew straight forward despite the trembling earth bursting with heavy falls of lava. The sparks that emitted from the Skrill's wings caused even more boulders to fall with fierce explosions all around, destabilizing the rock and threatening to seal off the passageway. But Toothless sped on, pumping his wings and quickly catching up to the Skrill. A few more plasma blasts at it, and though the first two only slightly nicked it, the third was dead center and sent the Skrill into the lava. The two flew throw the opening at the end and shot upward to face the Queen directly.
They stared at its hideous maw with pure hate and anger in their eyes before Hiccup looked down at all the dragons they had been forced to battle. None of them appeared particularly injured, but they all still seemed hurt and they were shaking their heads, trying to free themselves of the Queen's horrifying whispers in their minds. In rage he looked back up to the Queen.
"What's the matter, can't fight your own battles? Let's settle this, just you and us!" He screamed with venom towards the monster. Toothless called out the same challenge with another roar with no shortage of that similar venom in his own call. 'You're left with NOTHING! Let's see how you stack up against the Night Fury! Try to take my boy, IF YOU CAN!'
By now the Queen was completely outraged, her sight through her six small eyeballs lined with red. She began to shift slightly in her position and rise up in the lava and placed both her forepaws on the ground with a thunderous crash that sent the perch where the two of them stood at the start plummeting shattered into the magma below. She screamed in primal fury at them, accepting the challenge.
"What do you say, bud? Why don't we take this outside?" Hiccup asked angrily, still looking at the Queen. Toothless barked angrily in response, and the two made a race for the open passage that they first came through, the Queen hot on their trail. They made the same movements through all of the obstacles, ducking past the stalagmites and tilting to zoom through the columns.
The Queen didn't need such fancy aerobatic maneuvers, her large body powerful enough to charge through the tunnel and destroy the rock before her without any effort. She crawled through the tunnel as fast as her obese body could manage, never taking her eyes off the insolent pair before her. Toothless turned his head to unleash a plasma blast that hit her right in the face out of pure insult, enraging her further.
At the speed they were going, only a few minutes passed before they reached the opening out and were exposed to the open air. Hiccup and Toothless both gained their bearing and inhaled the fresh air free of the noxious fumes from the melted rock. Sadly the loud crack behind them didn't give them any more time to rest. They turned around to see the cliff face break apart and rocks cascade to the ground in an avalanche as the Queen smashed her way through, squirming like a mouse in a hole to get out as quickly as she could. As the dust cleared, the Red Death stood, with a haunting, bellowing roar she swore to devour her opponents and surely make it as painful as possible.
Hiccup and Toothless stood their ground, ready for the final battle. No matter how this war ended, it ended today.
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