Toothless Found

The night sky over Berk was its usual deep inky indigo colour, dotted with faint stars which didn't glow as brightly as usual in the early summer night. The sea was jet black, cold and harsh under the skies, unwelcoming and foreboding. Off the main island, where statues dedicated to great chiefs of generations passed were carved out of the rocky outcrops, the icy sea boiled furiously and a dark cloud began to block out the orange and pink sun-kissed sky just above the horizon.

From the foaming sea, something growled angrily from the depths, crashing into one of the statues and sending it crumbling into the fathoming depths. In the darkness, it wasn't yet possible to see what had caused the collapse of the statue but as the sea began foaming near the shores of Berk, a deep, entrancing hum echoes through the houses in the village. In the middle of the night, nearly every being in the village was slumbering peacefully, dragons and Vikings alike and none were to know what was about to descend upon the island which had been enjoying five years of peace.

In the Elder's Hut, high on its platform above the rest of the village, Gothi was sleeping deeply completely covered in her miniature flock of Terrible Terrors. A hypnotising hum resounded through the house and the tiny dragons shot upright, their pupils turning into slits against their yellow eyes – caught in the trance, the Terrors shot out of the door, waking Gothi up in the process. The mute old woman moaned as she rubbed her eyes awake, staggering over to her door to check what had caused the disturbance. What she saw as she stepped outside caused the quietest gasps of horror to escape her lips.

Back in the main village, Horak, the Viking who had ordered the saddle from Gobber's shop nearly a week ago, was pampering his Gronkle by the fire, treating him to a belly rub. While Gronkles didn't like having the spot under their chin being rubbed, contrary to most other species of dragon the Riders of Berk had discovered, they loved having their underbelly tickled and they would often act like dogs when they were able to receive this treatment, tongue hanging out and all.

"There's a good boy!" Horak chuckled light-heartedly as his dragon growled happily. Suddenly, without a warning of any kind, the dragon froze and jolted upright, his pupils turning into slits. His sudden movement sent Horak stumbling backwards as he began flying towards the door, knocking over a chair in the process. "Hey! What's up with you?!" Horak exclaimed. "Mind the furniture!" he added before his dragon finally found his way to the door. "Where're you goin'?!" Horak called worriedly, running to the doorway but freezing in terror at the sight that greeted him.

Throughout the village, dragons were flying away from their roosts seemingly in a trance as the villagers followed them in nervous confusion outside. The sight they beheld was one so terrifying they didn't even realise that they had stopped breathing.

Standing on the top of the cliff was a giant of a dragon, the size of which the Vikings of Berk hadn't seen since the Battle of Helheim's Gate. Except this one seemed to somehow be even more ominous than the Red Death, with a mane of spines flaring out behind its head and two tusks the size of three longboats protruding from either side of its mouth. Behind it, a swarm of dragons, made of species Berk knew of and ones it had never seen before, hovered like a dark storm cloud, blocking the stars. But the terror that was emitted from this gargantuan beast was only worsened by what the Vikings saw flying just in front of it.

Berk had only ever seen one Night Fury with a prosthetic left tail. But the person riding him wasn't Astrid, but a mountainous man with wild matted black hair and a metal left arm, holding a bull-staff in his right hand.

Stoick had never spoken much of the man who had killed an entire gathering of chiefs twenty years ago but he'd told his closest friends enough for some people to guess who this person was.

Drago Bludvist.

"Your chief is dead!" Drago bellowed to the gathering crowd of Vikings below. Gasps of horror and Stoick's name echoed through the crowd, unable to believe what they were hearing. Stoick the Vast...was dead? Drago sneered down at the now defenceless village as he raised his bull-staff. His Bewilderbeast followed his movements, waiting for the signal to strike. "No one can protect you now," Drago hissed.

To prove its master's point, the Bewilderbeast let out a deafening roar and set off a blast of ice, beginning its destruction of the village.

/\

It was dawn by the time the Riders of Berk, with Valka and Eret in tow, on their baby Scuttleclaws finally made it through the fog that had gathered over the ocean. Racing against time, they kept their eyes squinting on the horizon before collectively gasping at the sight of their home. Berk was covered in patches of spiky ice, most of the homes blown apart and destroyed by the explosions of frozen material. The Bewilderbeast was almost roosting at the top of the cliff by the village, surrounded by dragons, those that had belonged to Drago's army, Valka's nest...

...and Berk's.

"No...!" Astrid gasped. Behind her, Hiccup's fists clenched in fury.

"He took all the dragons!" Fishlegs exclaimed. Her eyes narrowing furiously, Astrid glanced over her shoulder at the others. She'd spent probably the last five minutes formulating a proper plan and it was now time to put it into action.

"Distract the Alpha!" she instructed, still fuming and her hair streaming behind her like a waterfall of sunshine. "Try to keep his attention off of Toothless," she added.

"Uh...how?" Tuffnut frowned. Astrid shot a glare at him.

"I DON'T KNOW! YOU THINK OF SOMETHING FOR ONCE!" she snapped, her voice going up an octave in anger.

"Have you forgotten who you're riding with?" Eret piped up smugly. All eyes fell on him as he brazenly aimed his Scuttleclaw towards Drago's Bewilderbeast. "There isn't a dragon alive I can't wrangle," he claimed proudly before his baby Scuttleclaw made a nosedive for the sea below. "AH! EXCEPT FOR THIS OOOOOONE!" he shrieked.

"Amateur," Snotlout snickered. Astrid couldn't help but smirk as they raced towards the Bewilderbeast. Just before they reached the shores of Berk, Astrid glanced at Hiccup and Valka.

"Valka, stick with the others," she ordered. "Hiccup – with me!"

The two Haddocks called out in confirmation of their orders and the group split just as they came into the eyesight of the Berkians. A Viking that was hiding behind one of the explosions of ice which had torn through a home spotted the group and shouted in delight.

"Look! It's Astrid!"

"And the others!" someone else added. So Astrid and her team were still alive. They were here to help. There were a couple of new people by the looks of it but as long as they were with Astrid, the villagers weren't complaining. The more help the better at this point. Drago spun around and nearly fell off Toothless' back when he saw the team.

"What?!" he spluttered. With an irritated huff, the Bewilderbeast began to focus on Astrid as she flew ever closer to Toothless when a sheep suddenly flashed into its sight. Blinking in confusion, the Bewilderbeast glanced down at the ground just in time to see Eret catching the sheep and tossing it to Valka, who in turn tossed it to Snotlout as he reloaded the launcher used for the Dragon Races. Tuffnut cocked the mechanism whilst Ruffnut manned the trigger.

"Keep 'em coming!" she called as Snotlout tossed the black sheep to Tuffnut. The Bewilderbeast was growing tired of this distraction and growled.

"Black sheep, baby!" Snotlout announced. The Bewilderbeast started to inhale, ready to blast the launcher and the Riders manning it to smithereens when a horn sounded, breaking its concentration. Seemingly frowning, the Bewilderbeast turned around to see where the noise was coming from only to find the horn unmanned. He returned his focus to the sheep launcher only to have the black sheep land on his face, bouncing down his facial spines and becoming lodged just above his mouth.

"Woo! Ten points!" Snotlout cheered but the moment of fun was ruined as the Bewilderbeast shook the black sheep loose and once again prepared to fire. "Uh-oh..."

The horn sounded again just as the Bewilderbeast was about to fire. Turning around again, the horn seemed to once again be unmanned – that was because Fishlegs was hiding just behind the platform. The young man giggled slightly but the Bewilderbeast still heard and roared angrily. Keeping its focus on the horn until Fishlegs showed his face, the Bewilderbeast finally let loose the ice blast, covering the horn in icy spikes. Luckily, Fishlegs jumped out of the way just in time.

"I'm okay!" he yelled. This time, thankfully, there was no "Less okay" following that statement. Good thing too – no one particularly wanted any more casualties around here.

By this time, Astrid had flown her baby Scuttleclaw so that she directly opposite Drago and a still-entranced Toothless. Taking multiple deep breaths, Astrid kept her attention on her best friend – she couldn't afford to let Drago distract her even for a minute if this was going to have any chance of working. Even Astrid knew that her chances were slim at best. She could very well be joining her late chief and foster-father in the afterlife for all she knew...but she had to try. This was the only chance she had of saving Berk...and saving Toothless.

"You certainly are hard to get rid of," Drago spat. "I'll give you that." Astrid blocked out his words and held out a cautionary but gentle hand towards Toothless.

"Toothless? It's me, pal – it's me...it's Astrid," she whispered gently, although with a nervous waver to her voice. Toothless' pupils remained slits, staring at her without seeing or recognising her. "I'm right here...come back to me, please..."

"Hah!" Drago snorted. "He's not yours anymore, idiot girl! He belongs to the Alpha!" he claimed confidently, gesturing to the Bewilderbeast behind him who had finally turned his attention back to Toothless and Astrid. Drago sat smugly back in the saddle – Astrid felt her blood boil seeing him sitting there...in a place that was rightfully hers. He had no right to fill that saddle...to work the mechanisms she'd spent years perfecting. "But, please...oh, Great Dragon Master..." Drago continued mockingly, opening his arms in invitation. "Do try to take him back." His already beady eyes narrowed threateningly. This would be a treat – finally, the Night Fury under his command killing the Viking it once considered to be a friend. "He will not miss a second time."

Astrid gritted her teeth and held strong, refusing to budge as she stretched her hand out. She maintained eye contact with Toothless and edged ever closer on her Scuttleclaw.

"It wasn't your fault, pal..." she murmured. "They...made you do it...I don't blame you for what happened, Toothless...I know you'd never..."

Toothless suddenly stirred and Astrid felt her heart leap. She was getting to him! She was reaching him! Drago's amusement, on the other hand, faded as Toothless' pupils rapidly dilated and narrowed in quick succession as he battled the Bewilderbeast for control.

"You'd never hurt Stoick...or any of us..." Astrid continued gently as her hand came into contact with Toothless' nose. There was no backing out of this now – Astrid knew she had to either succeed in this or be blasted to ashes by the building fireball in Toothless' throat. She was so close that Toothless could have been a Terrible Terror for all she knew and he would still get a fatal shot. But she knew he wouldn't...he couldn't...for the same reason she'd been unable to kill him all those years ago.

"You'd never hurt me," she whispered, tears of desperation starting to sting her eyes. Drago watched in stunned amazement as Toothless continued to battle the control of the Bewilderbeast.

"How are you doing that?" he asked, almost in a whisper of wonder. Astrid continued to block him out and by now tears were flowing freely down her cheeks and she'd gotten close enough to Toothless to hear the hiss of gas at the back of his throat as well as to place her cheek against his muzzle, so that his angry hisses and pleading, choking, sobbing growls filled her ears. It was more than enough to break her heart.

"I'm not leaving you, Toothless!" she promised, placing a hand on either side of Toothless' head as she maintained her balance on the Scuttleclaw. Her voice had raised in volume and was wracked with sobs as they rose in her throat. "I'm not letting you go!" The Bewilderbeast could sense its control being countered and growled loudly, trying to force Toothless into firing. But the Night Fury was battling with more strength than he had ever mustered before. He might not be able to see Astrid completely clearly through a murky red haze covering his vision...but her voice...her cries...her pleas...were echoing in his ears. They were disjointed but he knew that voice...he knew those cries. He'd spent five years growing accustomed to them as if they belonged to one of his own.

He couldn't...wouldn't...fire...

"Please!" Astrid nearly sobbed pleadingly, holding eye contact with her dragon. Hear that, Drago? Her dragon. And she was going to get him back. "You're my best friend, pal..." She calmed herself down enough to lower her voice to a gentler level but tears still stung her eyes as she held the stare, unblinking. Below, the Bewilderbeast let out a ferocious and forceful commanding roar. Astrid held firm as Toothless squinted his eyes shut and flattened his ears against his head.

Come on, pal...come on...

"My best friend..." Astrid whispered as Toothless pupils began jittering. She backed off slightly to give him some room when her heart leapt out of her mouth in delight as the Night Fury's pupils dilated completely and he started cooing sympathetically. "Atta boy! That's it!" Astrid cried joyfully, the largest smile to ever grace Berk breaking across her face as the wind blew strands of now-loose hair over her cheeks. "I'm here!"

Toothless had finally broken free of the trance that the Bewilderbeast had held over him. He focused on his human's familiar face, cooing in relief, delight and apology as his trademark gummy smile greeted her. Astrid felt the tears but screw all raw Viking-ness! Let her have this moment. Drago, in the meantime, had gone from astounded to absolutely furious in alarm.

"NO!" he bellowed, striking Toothless with his bull-staff in a vain attempt to get him back under his control. In response, the Night Fury roared back in defiance and grabbed the bull-staff in his jaws but before he could pull, Astrid held up a gentle hand.

"Hold it, pal," she instructed, firmly but gently. Toothless waited patiently as Astrid's bright eyes, filled with lightning and thunder reminiscent of the storms they reminded people off, came into direct contact with Drago's. Her relieved smile had twisted into a defiant scowl.

"By the way, I bring a message from the Haddocks, Bloody Fist," she snarled. Drago's face twisted into a frown and without waiting for a response, Astrid continued...as soon as she'd glanced upwards to double check things. "On your left."

Drago barely had time to look over his left shoulder before a boot came into square contact with his face. As his balance was disrupted, Toothless yanked down on the bull-staff, causing the monster of a man to plummet towards the Bewilderbeast's back just as Hiccup shot past on his Scuttleclaw.

"THAT'S FOR MY FATHER!" the young man roared at Drago. Astrid crowed triumphantly and punched the air as Toothless tried to hover as much as he possibly could now that he was without a rider.

"Yeah! Alright!" Astrid yelled happily before Hiccup cast a glance over his shoulder.

"HONEY!" he shouted, half sarcastically. "Your dragon!" On cue, Toothless let out a screech as he began falling from the skies. Astrid didn't hesitate as she leapt from her Scuttleclaw and began freefalling after him, stretching her hand out towards the saddle. Meanwhile, Drago had landed heavily on the Bewilderbeast's tusk and had to shake himself to recover as Astrid and Toothless got closer and closer to the ocean below. Making herself as streamlined as possible, Astrid kept one arm stretched out, hoping she'd make it in time. Toothless growled at her again and she didn't need to understand Dragonese to understand what he was saying.

Get a move on! Still falling here!

"Hang on! Almost there, Toothless!" Astrid called, catching up as Toothless spread his wings slightly to slow his own fall. "Almost there...!"

She made it. Grabbing the saddle, Astrid pulled herself into her riding stance and locked her prosthetic leg into its proper position. Perfectly in sync, the tail fin snapped open, allowing Toothless and his rider to skyrocket away from the ocean by mere feet and past Drago as he hobbled to the top of the Bewilderbeast's head.

"No!" he roared, smacking his bull-staff against the Bewilderbeast's tusk in anger. "Do something!" Astrid glanced over her shoulder to look at her enemy, her face setting into a determined glare as her hair streamed out behind her like the tail of a comet. Hiccup tried catching up on his Scuttleclaw but the baby dragon wasn't exactly going anywhere fast compared with the twenty-year-old Night Fury.

"We've got to get those two apart," Astrid decided, flying Toothless past a flag pole and grabbing a scrap of the red material. The Bewilderbeast sent a blast in their direction but just about missed as they vanished around the side of a mountain. By the time, Hiccup had found a shortcut to intercept his fiancée and her dragon and had caught up...just.

"What now?" he called. Astrid cast an apologetic but firm look at her betrothed.

"We'll take this from here," she replied. "Stay out of trouble." Hiccup looked a bit dejected.

"But I want to help!" he protested. "You're not doing this alone! Not again!" Astrid sent a pouting glare in his direction.

"Out of the two of us, which of us is a) flying a baby dragon with little to no control of itself and b) lacking in general firepower?" she pointed out. Hiccup glared dryly back at her. "Besides, I'm not alone," Astrid added with a smirk, indicating Toothless.

"Cheesy as all heck," Hiccup smirked back. "But I guess that's who I'm engaged to."

"I thought you liked cheese," Astrid snickered. "Look, I'll be fine! I'll be back as soon as I can!" she promised, banking Toothless away from Hiccup before he had the chance to give a reply. Regardless, Hiccup refused to land and stayed hovering in the skies a safe distance away from the Bewilderbeast's blast range. In the meantime, Astrid winced as Toothless began twitching due to the hypnotic calls of Drago's Bewilderbeast.

"We've gotta block him out, Toothless," she grimaced, holding the red material just above Toothless' eyes. The two dragons couldn't make eye contact – that seemed to be the strongest way of the Bewilderbeast gaining control over other dragons. "Do you trust me?" In reply, Toothless cooed nervously but in confirmation nonetheless, allowing Astrid to blindfold him. To keep him calm, Astrid placed a gentle hand on his forehead, to let him know that she was still there...she would be his eyes.

It was time to put their flying skills to the ultimate test.

"We can do this," she reassured. "You and me...as one."

With that audio cue, she splayed Toothless' prosthetic tail – in perfect synchronisation, Toothless moved his remaining natural tail fin to match. Happy and satisfied that the trust still existed between them, Astrid directed her friend back towards the Bewilderbeast. Time to finish this.

"That's it! Now, let's try this one more time!" she cried as they peeled around the other side of the mountain, passing the crowd of cheering Vikings on the ground. As they swooped past, Astrid just about heard Valka's screams above the rest.

"THAT'S MY FUTURE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW!" the woman shrieked proudly. Astrid felt her heart soar at the shouts of encouragement as she hurtled towards the Bewilderbeast. In the skies, Hiccup watched in glowing pride as his fiancée headed towards the titanic beast. His eyes, already shining with the proud glow as they always did, gleamed in a triumphant confidence. If anyone could pull off whatever crazy stunt Astrid was planning now...it was her.

"Take 'em down, Babe," he encouraged softly but confidently. In the meantime, Drago was becoming increasingly infuriated at Astrid's flying with Toothless.

"Take control of it!" he ordered. In response, the Bewilderbeast's hypnotic hiss became a deafening roar in a desperate attempt to get Toothless back under its control. Toothless winced but Astrid clamped her hands over his ears to muffle the commands of the Alpha dragon.

"Shut it out, Toothless! You've got this!" she reassured. Toothless growled back in thanks as Drago pretty much finally lost whatever cool he had left.

"STOP THEM!" he bellowed. The Bewilderbeast sent a blast of ice straight towards Astrid and Toothless...which was exactly what Astrid had wanted it to do.

"NOW!" she shrieked, pulling Toothless upwards. The Night Fury responded simultaneously and arced straight over Drago's head. The man laughed victoriously, thinking he'd knocked Astrid off into the ice and away from attacking him but his laughter was cut short in shock as his gaze followed Toothless as he flew upwards away from the Bewilderbeast. As the dragon climbed through the sky, inverted, mind you, the blindfold Astrid had been using fell free away from his eyes...

Revealing an empty saddle as Toothless chortled playfully.

In confused chock, Drago whirled around, his beady eyes wide, just in time to see Astrid zooming towards him, wing-suit deployed and Inferno letting out a trail of Zippleback gas.

"Surprise!" Astrid jeered, mimicking Tuffnut's tone from the battle at the Ice Cave. Drago took a swipe at her with his bull-staff but with only a right arm and Astrid flying by his left side, he missed and instead was left coughing on the gas for a moment. Smirking, Astrid's thumb slammed down on the lighter to ignite the gas. The green cloud exploded into a plume of flames, blasting Drago off the Bewilderbeast with a terrified scream. Drago's fall was partially broken as he slammed against the Bewilderbeast's spines before he landed hard on the ground below, his bull-staff landing just out of reach.

"How'd you like that, Bloody Fist?" Astrid snickered. The Bewilderbeast, infuriated by the barrage of attacks it was receiving, swatted its tail in Astrid's direction. Astrid's head turned to look in front of her and instantly flashbacks shot across her vision.

The club-like tail of the Red Death heading her way as it exploded into flames beneath her...her losing control of Toothless' tail as the prosthetic fin burned away...the inevitable collision which would send her tumbling into the inferno below...

The rock formation emerging unexpectedly out of the clouds...her being unable to manoeuvre away in time...Toothless firing a plasma blast to prevent her from smashing her head against it...

The tower of snow and rock which had appeared when she'd lost concentration for a mere second...her covering her face as she nearly collided with it...

Dear gods, not this time, please...

"Not again..." Astrid groaned as the tail grew closer and closer. She shot a look at Toothless desperately – they only had one chance at this thing. "TOOTHLESS! IT'S NOW OR NEVER!" she shrieked.

Arcing skyward and flapping his wings for all he was worth, Toothless opening his dorsal fins in order to make the jack-knife turn he knew they were going to need. He met Astrid just as she was about to collide with the Bewilderbeast's tail and without hesitation, she slipped herself back into the saddle and slotted her left leg into place.

"Let's go, pal!" Astrid cried, her jaws grinding together in concentration as she and her best friend began speeding upwards along the tail. "We've got this! Hold on!"

This time, thanks to the dorsal fins allowing to increased aerodynamics, Toothless was able to shot past the tip of the tail, narrowly avoiding a last minute collision. Astrid punched the air in triumph and Toothless roared in celebration.

"YES!" she crowed. "We did it!"

"You got him!" a cheer came from nearby – as she began heading back down towards terra firma, Astrid made brief eye contact with a beaming Hiccup as he punched the air from atop his Scuttleclaw.

"See?" she smirked innocently. "I told you we had this." Hiccup just laughed breathlessly and shook his head with a smile stretched across his face. Now, now, he never said he didn't have faith in Astrid. He just had an innate knack for worrying about her. Back with Astrid, she landed Toothless on the ground a few paces away from Drago, kicking up a trail of dust as they did so. Okay, maybe not their smoothest landing but that was the least of Astrid's worries. Drago had regained consciousness and was reaching, warily, for his bull-staff.

Growling in defiance, Astrid felt her blood boiling as she once again laid eyes on the man responsible for tearing her world apart...ripping her family into a barely-repairable state...taking her best friend away from her. For an instant, Astrid saw red as her Berserker mode momentarily activated. Knowing she needed to calm herself down quickly before it got too out of control, Astrid grabbed Inferno and extended the blade, setting it alight as she did so. With a furious cry, she hurled the sword like a spear or javelin and it stuck in the ground between Drago and his bull-staff, singing his outstretched hand.

"Ah!" Drago yelped painfully. Astrid still felt her blood boiling and if she let herself lose control, she could have easily thrown herself into a full out wrestling match in an attempt to tear Drago's remaining limbs apart. Taking deep breaths and clenching and unclenching her fists, Astrid forced herself to calm down enough that she didn't break anything, although she could feel her nails digging into her palms.

"Hold him there, Toothless," she ordered. Toothless growled in keen confirmation and kept his angry glare fixed on the barbarian in front of him as Astrid sorted her flight-suit out. Astrid's stormy eyes were still flashing with thunder and lightning to rival that of Thor's and with the sun behind her, she could have easily been a Valkyrie or Shield Maiden of Asgard to anyone who didn't know otherwise. "It's all over now," she said with a tone of finality. However, behind her, the dust cleared, showing the furious face of the Bewilderbeast...ready to strike.

"Or is it?" Drago smirked knowingly. Astrid frowned and turned around as she felt a rush of wind go past her. Seeing the Bewilderbeast towering over her, Astrid's anger vanished to be replaced by sheer terror as she heard the rush of water building up in the giant's throat.

"Oh, no...!" she gasped, momentarily frozen in fear. Drago finally got to his feet and sneered at Astrid.

"You'd be surprised how far tales travel across the waves," he snickered. "Even that of a fearless man frozen in terror at the sight of a phantom." Astrid shot a horrified glance at Drago, her eyes wide in fear. He knew? "He'll be so happy the last of his line could join him."

Astrid finally got her legs to obey her and she tried running away from the inevitable. Instead, she stumbled over her own feet and tumbled to the ground as the Bewilderbeast sent a torrent of ice cold shards in her direction. Desperately, Astrid shielded her face, not seeing Toothless jump in front of her to shield her as the icy explosion engulfed them both.

Spot the deleted line!

Can't believe we're nearly at the end of this project... And, yes – I needed to have Hiccup give Drago a piece of his own mind. It's all very well this being mainly Astrid's story but Drago did just have Hiccup's father killed so...yeah. Hiccup deserved a piece of the action. Also, Valka screaming "That's my future daughter-in-law" was something I had to include.

By the way, the ROTBTD poll is now closed! Looks like One Step at a Time will come before A Wolf and his Dragon in the upload schedule - thanks to those who voted and I hope you look forward to the story.

I'll see you guys on Friday for the penultimate update of How a Hofferson Trains her Dragon 2! Until then, happy reading and writing and I'll see you guys around.