Here it is the newest chapter of my story which is getting closer to completion. Up next will be The Legend of the Boneknapper.
I don't own How to Train Your Dragon, only Hicca (female Hiccup) and Asher (male Astrid).
"..." Human p.o.v.
"..." Dragon p.o.v.
'...' Human thought.
'...' Dragon thought.
Please enjoy and be sure to review.
Chapter 11: Seeing Things a New Way
The next day almost everyone in the village had gathered to watch the final lesson before one of the teens was chosen to kill their first dragon. Gobber had released the Gronckle from her cage and after ten minutes it was down to Asher and Hicca, who was wearing her new helmet. The Gronckle flew around the ring as if looking from something. Hicca was hiding behind one of the barriers holding a one handed axe and a shield when Asher pops in beside her. When he turns and sees her he pushes her shield down and snarls at her.
"Stay out of my way. I'm winning this thing." Asher says with venom in his voice.
"Oh place by all means." Hicca insists as she stands up and looks to see her father in the crowd of Vikings watching.
Asher follows the Gronckle as he ducks and dives between barriers.
"This time! This time, for sure!" Asher says and then jumps over the barrier and charges at the Gronckle releasing a battle cry but stops when he sees the Gronckle was already passed out in front of Hicca. "NO! NO! SON OF A HALF-TROLL, RAT-EATING, MUNGE BUCKET…!" He curses swing his axe around in frustration while the crowd cheers.
"Wait! Wait!" Stoick calls out getting the crowd to quite down.
"So later." Hicca says as she attempt to walk out of the arena but Gobber stops her.
"Oh, oh, not so fast." Gobber says picking Hicca up by her hood and moving her beside him.
"I'm kind of late for uh…" Hicca begins but Asher walks up to her in anger.
"What?! Late for what, exactly?!" Asher asks putting his axe to her throat.
"Okay quite down. The elder has decided." Stoick says before the attention was turned to Gothi.
Gobber stands between the two finalist and holds his hook over Asher head but Gothi shakes hers, signaling no. He then point his hand at Hicca and Gothi nods yes causing her to cringe in disappointment.
"Oh you've done it! You've done it, Hicca! You get to kill the dragon!" Gobber cheers as the other teen minus Asher come up to her congratulating her as Fishlegs picks her up and place her on her shoulders carrying her out of the arena with the others following.
"That's my girl!" Stoick shouts in the crowd.
"Yeah I can't wait. I am so…" Hicca begins.
Later that day Hicca gathered her stuff and went to the cove already wearing her flight gear.
"…Leaving. We're leaving. Let's pack up. Looks like you and me are taking a little vacation, forever." Hicca says place the basket on the ground. Suddenly she hears scrapping and looks up to see Asher sitting on top of the boulder in front of her sharpening his axe with a rock. "Asher! What are you doing here?" She asks nervously hoping Toothless would stay hidden.
"I wanna know what's going on?" Asher says hopping off the boulder and walks towards Hicca causing her to back up. "No one just gets as good as you do. Especially you. Start talking! Are you training with someone? It better not involve this!" He says grabbing her by her flight gear suit.
"I know this looks really bad but you see this is a…" Hicca starts but Asher hears something as he walks past her and pulls her, shoving her to the ground. "Ah you're right. You're right. I'm through with the lies. I've been making outfits. So you got me, it's time everyone knew. Drag me back, go ahead. Here we go-OW!" She yells as Asher bends her hand backwards causing her to fall to the ground. "Why would you do that?" She asks attempting to get up but Asher kicks her.
"That's for the lies." Asher says and then drops the butt of his axe on her stomach, hard. "And that's…for everything else." He says but then hears a roar and knows it's a dragon's.
"Oh no." Hicca says in worry.
Asher looks forward and see Toothless laying in the shade but then sits up and sees him with Hicca.
"Get down!" Asher yells tackling Hicca to the ground.
"Hey!" Toothless yells enraged at what he just saw and charges at the boy for hurting Hicca.
"Run! Run!" Asher yells to Hicca as he gets up and readies himself to take Toothless out but Hicca tackles Asher to the ground and pushes his axe out of his hands and immediately gets back up to calm Toothless down.
"No! It's okay. It's okay. He's a friend." Hicca says as Toothless sits down on all four legs. "You just scared him." She says.
"No he didn't! He hurt you so he has to pay!" Toothless corrects her.
"Actually he says because you hurt me, he wants to make you pay but don't worry. As long as you don't hurt me again you're fine." Hicca tells Asher, who looks at her in confusion.
"You can understand HIM?! Who is him?" Asher asks staring at them.
"Uh…Asher, Toothless. Toothless, Asher." Hicca says introducing the boys to each other.
"I don't like you." Toothless says with venom in his voice that only Hicca could hear and snarls at him.
Asher shakes his head in disbelief and runs off to tell the villagers.
"Da da-da. We're dead!" Hicca says but Toothless doesn't care and shuffles away. "Ah excuse me mister, where do you think you're going?" She asks.
Meanwhile Asher exited the cove and was running back to the village. As he approached a large log he climbed on top of it and prepared to jump off when suddenly Toothless swept in and grabbed him by his right arm and lifts him high in the air.
"Ah! Oh great Odin's ghost! Oh this is it! AHHH!" Asher screams.
Toothless flew up to the highest tree and carelessly dropped Asher onto one of the branches. Asher clung to the branch for dear life as Toothless landed on the top of the tree, bending the tip over.
"Hicca! Get me down from here!" Asher yelled over the loud wind as he tried to lift his leg onto the branch and secure his grip, but it slipped right off.
"Asher, please just listen to me for one second…" Hicca pleads with her hands together.
"I am not listening to ANYTHING you have to say!" Asher shouts back at her.
Hicca looked at the angry boy below her as the worried expression on her face was quickly replaced with a glare.
"Fine, I'm done being nice. Good luck getting down from this tree. Come on, Toothless." Hicca says, patting Toothless' head, who gladly nodded in agreement and opened his wings, ready to take off.
"Gladly." Toothless says wanting to get away from the boy.
"Wait, wait!" Asher cries, earning him a few more seconds of Hicca and Toothless' time.
Hicca looked at Asher with sincere eyes as he clung to the branch and dangled over the forest.
"You don't have to listen…just let me show you." Hicca says, holding out her hand.
Asher managed to climb up the branch and hesitantly took it and earned a glare and low growl from Toothless letting the boy know the dragon still remained distrustful to him. Asher expected as much since he didn't fully trust Toothless either. His eyes moved from Toothless' glare to Hicca, the simple look in her eyes giving him the reassurance he needed. He took her hand put his foot on Toothless' body to hoist himself onto the saddle right behind Hicca.
"Ok, now get me down from here." Asher says.
This was the first time he had ever been on top of a dragon. He had been opposing one but never riding one! This situation was completely new to him! He didn't trust Toothless to drop him into the ocean, but he slightly trusted Hicca to keep Toothless from trying.
"Toothless, down…gently." Hicca says adding the gently part while patting his neck.
Toothless opened his wings, causing him and the bent tree to slowly rise as the wind flew under them.
"See? Nothing to worry about." Hicca says calmly.
'Oh I've got a better idea. Sorry about this Hicca.' Toothless thought quietly smirking to himself and leapt into the air without warning.
Hicca was the quickest to react, having grown accustomed to Toothless' spontaneous jumps to get them airborne. She quickly grabbed onto the saddle and pressed her body against Toothless'.
"Toothless! What are you doing?" Hicca shouts.
Right behind Hicca, Asher was screaming his head off struggling to stay on the racing dragon. His arms flailed but he managed to grab onto her shoulders and pulled himself onto her. She laughed nervously as Toothless came to a steady position and gently coasted along.
"See? Nothing to be afraid of-oh no." Hicca says quickly as Toothless suddenly dived towards the ocean, earning a loud shriek from Asher, who had wrapped his arms securely around Hicca's waist as there was nothing else for him to hold on to.
'Let's try this.' Toothless thought as he dove into the water but resurfaced quickly enough to continue flying as he purposely splashed into the water several more times despite Hicca's protesting and Asher's screaming.
"Toothless what are you doing? We need him to like us, more importantly you!" Hicca says but Toothless wouldn't respond and he rose into the air and began spinning. "And now the spinning…thank you for nothing, you useless reptile." She adds.
"Ok! Ok, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Asher shouts.
Toothless looked back at the screaming boy.
"I'm sorry; just get me off of this thing!" Asher pleads.
"That's what I wanted to hear." Toothless says as he stopped spinning and opened his wings without warning.
Asher felt the wind move past him calmer than it did before and slowly opened his eyes. He couldn't help but feel so tranquil as they steadily coasted through the sky. The sun was setting, dying the sky a beautiful orange and pink. He relaxed his grip and marveled at the wonder before him. Here he was, sitting atop of Dragon that gently coasted through the sky. Toothless flew up to the clouds, a height that Asher could only ever dream of reaching. Asher hesitated at first, but then stuck one arm out and ran his hand through the clouds. He put both arms above his head and closed his eyes, taking in a deep and satisfying breath. Hicca peeked back at him and saw that he was enjoying the flight and silently smiled to herself. Within minutes, the sun disappeared over the horizon and the sky turned dark but was almost instantly lit by the stars and the full moon. It was so much brighter than Asher had ever seen it, but then again he had never been so close to it before. Suddenly the night sky was lit up with an Aurora making Asher look in awe. They then flew over Berk as Asher wrapped his arms around Hicca's waist and snuggled close to her, causing her to blush and quietly return to steering Toothless even though he had already taking care of it.
"Well, I'll admit it, this is pretty amazing." Asher says. "He's amazing." He adds with an affectionate pat.
"Thank you." Toothless says but all Asher heard was a purr.
"Toothless just thanked you for the complement, Asher." Hicca says to the boy.
"Wait you can understand him?" Asher asks receiving a nod from Hicca. "How?" He asks another question.
"My scar. I'll tell you another time." Hicca says.
"Okay but what now? Hicca your final exam is tomorrow. You know you're gonna have to kill a dragon." Asher says whispering the last part into her ear so Toothless wouldn't hear.
"Please don't remain me." Hicca says sadly cringing at the thought.
Suddenly Toothless starts hearing a strange but familiar noise and knew what it was.
'Oh no. I wasn't paying attention. We're flying too close to 'it'.' Toothless thought and he suddenly flew down into rocky pillars in the ocean. The fog was heavy and they could barely see where they were going.
"Toothless! What's wrong?" Hicca asks with a cry.
Toothless gave her no answer and continued to lead them down an unknown path. As Toothless flew, Hicca and Asher could hear flapping wings and low growls in the distance getting louder. Toothless veered off course towards rock pillars covered in a blanket of thick fog.
"Toothless, what are you doing?" Hicca asks as she pulled back on his saddle to lead him back to their cove, but Toothless shook her off and kept flying through the fog.
Hicca and Asher had no idea where they were or where Toothless was taking them. The two kids flinched when they heard a growl from the distance getting closer to them. Asher arms tightened around Hicca's waist out of fear while she gripped Toothless saddle like her life depended on it. Suddenly a Monstrous Nightmare flew up next to them, carrying what looked like a large dead animal. If it were any other dragon, Hicca would not be so worried, but they were in an unidentified place and Nightmares were one species she had been intent on avoiding.
"Get down!" Hicca cries as she and Asher pressed their bodies close to Toothless'.
More dragons surrounded them, all carrying a dead animal and all flying in the same direction as Toothless.
"What's going on?" Asher asks looking at all the dragons.
"I don't know. Toothless, you've gotta get us out of here, sweetie." Hicca whispers, but her words were ignored.
"It looks like they're hauling in their kill." Hicca says.
"Then what does that make us?" Asher asks nervous.
A Zippleback sees the two humans on the Night Fury's back and is curious. Toothless and the other dragons suddenly dove, making sudden turns left and right, leaving Hicca and Asher with no clue as to where they were or would be going. They were so focused on hanging on to Toothless and keeping watch for any sudden movements from the dragons that they were disoriented by the time they reached an island with a colossal mountain. The flock of dragons flew into a crack and came to a large cavern in the center.
"What my dad wouldn't give to find this." Hicca says.
Toothless then perches himself in a small area over a large red pit emanating a red light and strong heat. Toothless made sure to keep Hicca and Asher out of sight as dragons flooded in, dropping all their kill into the pit before taking a spot on the wall or on a pillar with their beloved eggs.
"Well, it's nice to know that all our food is being dropped down a big hole." Hicca says.
"They're not eating any of it." Asher whispers.
A tired Gronckle flew in, burping and scratching himself. He dropped a small fish from his mouth into the pit and continued scratching leisurely. All of sudden, a loud roar echoed through the entire mountain, each and every Dragon cowering with each other and inching away from the pit as much as possible. The roar was so deep and loud that it shook the very earth. The source of it suddenly shot forth from the pit as a enormous Dragon lifted its head and opened its jaws, shutting them around the poor Gronckle before sinking back below the thick fog.
"What is that?" Asher whispers in terror.
The dragon's head resurfaced, its nostrils moving as it sniffed the air as if something was here that shouldn't have been.
"Toothless, you've got to get us out of here, now!" Hicca cries as the giant dragon's head snapped at them, biting at the rock they hid behind.
Toothless leapt into the air before the dragon's jaws reached them, causing the entire nest to fly in a frenzy, racing out of the crack while avoiding the giant's snapping jaws. Unfortunately, one Hideous Zippleback wasn't so lucky as the giant's jaw snapped shut on its tails. All the dragons raced from the island as Toothless carried Hicca and Asher back to the secret cove.
"No, no, it totally makes sense! It's like a giant bee hive, their the workers and that's their queen. It controls them. Let's find your dad." Asher says dismounting Toothless.
"No, no, no, not yet. They'll kill Toothless. Asher we have to think this through carefully." Hicca replies.
"Hicca." Asher says, walking over to her. "We just discovered the Dragon's Nest, the very thing we've been after since Vikings first sailed here! And you want to keep that a secret to protect your pet Dragon? Are you serious?" He asks in a loud voice.
Hicca starred at Toothless, her back facing Asher as she thought about Toothless and the nest and what might happen if both of them had been discovered. She turned to Asher with a determined face.
"Yes." Hicca says. "Asher that dragon was a Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus. Otherwise known as the Red Death." She says shocking Asher.
"A Red Death? Hicca those things are extinct." Asher says to her.
"It didn't look very extinct to me. Look when I touch a dragon with my right hand I can hear their voice but until I touch them I can read their emotions and I read the emotion of every single dragon in that nest. They're terrified and we know why." Hicca says.
Asher blinked in confusion, shocked by what she told him. He closed his eyes and nodded, accepting her answer. She was willing to keep a great secret, a secret that could mean their victory in a long war, if it meant protecting the one she loved, even if it was a dragon.
"Asher, I can't possibly expect you to understand, but Toothless has saved my life more times than I can count. I owe him. I have to protect him from the people that I know will hurt him, no matter what." Hicca says.
"Ok, then what do we do?" Asher asks, but Hicca didn't answer.
"Just give me until tomorrow. I'll figure something out." Hicca replies.
"Okay." Asher says and then suddenly gave a light punch on her arm. "That's for kidnapping me." He scoffs.
"Oww." Hicca says rubbing her arm.
Asher didn't punch her hard; she just wasn't expecting it. She looked behind her at Toothless, half expecting him to pounce on Asher like he had so many times before when Asher was perceived as a threat. When he heard Hicca's cry heard stared cautiously at the boy daring him to do it again.
'Go ahead boy. Do it again and see what happens.' Toothless thought staying still.
Asher slowly moved towards her and moved in to kiss her on the cheek.
"That's for…everything else." Asher finishes, turning away to leave.
Asher looked back for a second before going into a sprint back to the village. Toothless walked up to Hicca's side and gave a light purr while looking at her with big eyes.
"What are you looking at?" Hicca asks.
"You like him." Toothless says in a teasing voice as he cocked his eye before looking towards Asher and back at her.
"Oh shut up!" Hicca says as Toothless purred again in a mocking tone and walked towards his favorite spot to sleep.
Author's Note: Hoped you all liked this chapter. Please be sure to review and the next chapter will be out soon.