The Return
Out at sea nearing fog bank
The armada lurched through the seas until the curtain like fog bank was in front of them. Astrid stood on the bow of the ship with the caged Terrible Terror in her arms. Behind her was her Chief and primary antagonizer right now after learning the truth about dragons.
"Let's hope you aren't as traitorous as my daughter," Stoick demeaned harshly.
"Just head in and watch the dragon carefully," Astrid answered, keeping her eyes focused ahead.
The armada entered into the dense fog bank, where visibility was down to just a few feet in each direction. "Sound off your positions! Stay within earshot!" Stoick commanded, hearing the commanders around him calling out their positions.
Stoick strained to find anything ahead of the ship. Soon massive, jagged sea stacks begin to emerge from the fog ahead of them. Each could easily shred any of the boats if they were not careful. Gobber hobbled behind Stoick and spoke under his breath.
"Listen… Stoick… I was overhearing some of the men just now and, well, some of them are wondering what it is we're up to here." A slight pause occurred when Stoick to turn slightly to his friend. "Not me of course, I know you're always the man with the plan but… some, not me, are wondering if there is, in fact, a plan at all, what it might be?"
"Find the nest and take it."
"Ah. Of course. Send them running, the old Viking fall-back. Nice and simple."
"Shhh." Stoick took notice of the Terrible terror's eyes blinking and then focusing on what was ahead as if it had heard something. "Lass, you will do well to signal me in the direction that this devil moves its head, understood?" he demanded, before rushing to the stern of the boat.
Astrid set the dragon down on the bow and observed its head movements while giving signals with her arms. Stoick followed the motions as sea stacks appear in front of them. Each movement barely sliding past them to prevent any more damage to the weary ships.
Time continued on for the ships, finding the many wrecked ships of the past voyages to find the nest. A buzzing sound could be heard in the sky throughout their trip until Stoick's ship landed on a beach with a monstrous mountain in front of them. "We're here."
Skies near fogbank
Heiđrún held onto the saddle while Guðbrandr glided along with the other Dragon Souls and their dragons. Stormr flew with them as she had to help her jewel and the others with this Queen. "Alright, how's everyone holding up?"
"I...think Meatlug will be fine. How are you Snotlout?"
"I'm perfectly fine aren't I, Hookfang?" The dragon rolled his eyes and toasted his rider's bottom briefly. "See.. we get along great."
"Well, I definitely got the best one out of all of you ain't that right, Belch?"
"What you talking about brother? Barf here is the best see!" Ruffnut then twisted up with Barf to hang upside down near her brother, slapping him hard on the helmet.
Heiđrún and her partner shook their heads in worry at the prospect of heading into the belly of the beast with this ragtag group of Dragon Souls. She silently prayed to the dragon deities in hopes her prayers would be heard even in her current form. Little did she know that Nóttu's vassal was on the way to help her and the Dragon Souls.
Dragon Island
Stoick was busy directing the construction of catapults on the shoreline. Astrid stood at the waterline, watching while pondering what she should do next in this situation. 'If Stormfly and the others were here, maybe we could take on the Queen? But how do we deal with something that big?'
Her thoughts were interrupted when Gobber tapped her on the shoulder. "What's got you lost in your head lass?"
"Simply put… survival at the moment."
Her words made the husky blacksmith rub his beard with a bit of concern, especially after all the talk from the other Vikings on the ship. Gobber then went over to where Stoick was going over plans drawn in the sand for the attack. He rose from the plans with countless Vikings around him bearing weapons and shields.
Stoick grabbed his own shield and his favorite hammer, joining the Vikings near the front. "When we crack this mountain open, all Hell is going to break loose."
"In my undies; good thing I brought extra." Gobber quipped, trying to lighten the hearts of those around him. Stoick stood in front, turning to face the Vikings, "No matter how this ends, this ends today."
A single hand rose up into the air from Stoick with an open palm, then the hand tightened into a fist to signal the catapults. The series of catapults lurched as their heavy boulders were flung at the mountain. Astrid could only watch, helplessly, as the Vikings just made the worst decision of their life. "Thor help us all." She mumbled quietly to herself, moving away from the boats.
The first boulders landed on the side of the mountain, causing cracks to form as they smashed into hundreds of pieces upon impact. One after another assaulted the wall of granite in front of them until a large breech into the mountain was formed.
The sounds of joy could be lightly heard from the Vikings as the mountainside collapsed, then Stoick crept up to the hole. His hammer twirled in his grip as he motioned for the last catapult to fire its payload. This shot was set ablaze before being flung into the new cave just feet above Stoick.
As the light illuminated the walls from its flight, hundreds to thousands of dragons could be seen clinging to the walls. Behind Stoick was his small army of Vikings and he knew this was their moment. With a mighty bellow from his lungs, he signaled the charge into the cave.
The dragons began to exit from the mountain as the Vikings swung their weapons at them. Each dragon though never fought back, something that was oblivious to the Vikings as the beasts poured out of the hole.
Astrid though could tell, mainly from her time with Heiđrún, that these dragons were not wanting to fight but instead flee because of what was inside. She looked up to see more dragons leaving from other areas around the Volcano. "Heiđrún, I hope to meet you again soon." Astrid strained out in fear for what was without a doubt going to happen.
Gobber looked around dumbfounded, wondering why the dragons just fled and didn't fight. "Is that it?" The other Vikings look around before starting to cheer wildly.
"We've done it!" shouted Spitelout.
Everyone celebrated, except for two Vikings. Stoick stood in the cave feeling like something was off, but he didn't know what. Then, he heard something as he peered down the cavern. Next, a deep guttural roar came from the depths and continuously grew louder.
The world began to shake, the water grew treacherous as waves caused the ships to rock in the sea. A sensation of heat blew past Stoick, causing the sails to fill and aid in rocking the vessels. Then, the loud roar coming from the depths broke Stoick's expression from partial elation to dread. "This isn't over," he commanded, getting his shield and hammer ready for what was to come. "Form your ranks! Hold together!"
The Vikings nearby formed up again watching their leader as the Chief stared down the cavernous hole. They heard him scream to get clear as the ground and mountain cracked open as a monstrous dragon emerged from the massive hole. Her scale like none the Vikings there could have ever imagined nor wished upon their enemy.
"Beard of Thor… what is that?" Gobber remarked.
"Odin help us," Stoick stated aghast.
Other Vikings near the catapults signaled to launch the next set of boulders. The hunks of rock flew true until they hit against her thick scaled neck. The massive monster shrugged off the hits and stomped on one of the catapults and crew.
"Get to the SHIPS!" screamed someone in terror causing many of the Vikings to turn to the boats to flee. "No, No, NO!" exclaimed the frantic leader before a powerful jet of flame came from the monster's maw to engulf the ships in flame.
Just as he was about to make a remark about how foolish he was, a high-pitched whistle could be heard growing in intensity.
"Night FURY!" shouted Gobber, covering his head in the process. "Get down!"
Stoick couldn't look away as a bluish-purple projectile slammed into the beasts' head. Then the black streak of the devil flew past along with more explosions hitting the creatures head. At least he heard their voices.
"Ruff and Tuff, keep that thing busy and angry! Make her waste her shots," Heiđrún directed from upon her mate. "Fishlegs, give me an analysis from that dragon knowledge inside of you."
"Stormr, go to your dragon soul and get her in the fight as well."
"Look at us we're on dragons! All of us are on dragons!" exclaimed Tuffnut, watching the Vikings staring at them.
"Focus you two and Snotlout, keep her distracted as we get the Vikings to safety."
"Okay. Heavily armored skull and tail for smashing and bashing, steer clear of both of these. Small eyes and large nostrils suggest reliance on hearing and smell."
'This makes perfect sense but that's definitely not similar to the King,' Heiđrún thought while planning their next move.
"Alright, Fishlegs relay to Snot to make noise but don't do it near your own dragons. They will get confused by the sounds. Be careful while distracting her."
"And what can I do Heiđrún?" asked Astrid once she joined the group in the air.
"You and Stormr need to fling as many spikes towards her eyes as possible. If we can blind her, we can get all her focus on us and help the Vikings get away. Now move out."
Fishlegs and Astrid banked away to perform their duties. Heiđrún and Guðbrandr landed in front of her father and Gobber. Both men were slack-jawed in amazement from the scene before them.
"She's every bit as boar-headed and stubborn you ever were. She's definitely your child," Gobber remarked while waving his hand at her. Stoick couldn't help but just nod in agreement.
The Night Wing and human looked at each other for a moment then turned back to the older men. "Did you just gestured to all of me?"
"Hedvig, I'm sorry I'm a fool."
"I could have told him that," the Night Wing snickered, receiving a poke in his side from his mate.
"I know, but we're here to help." As she spoke, Fishlegs and Meatlug crashed into the rocky beach exclaiming that they were okay.
"Unfortunately, I need to get in there and help them," Heiđrún continued calmly, accepting what may happen. Stoick came forward and grabbed her hand causing the two of them to turn and gaze upon him.
"I'm sorry… for everything. For not listening to you, to believing you about this beast. You don't have to go back up there."
"We need to go or more death will come and children, like myself, will never survive."
"You're very much like a Viking." Stoick declared proudly, releasing his daughter's hand.
"Thank you... Father. I'll be back, get the others to safety."
"Did I hear you right?"
"You did, now don't ruin the moment," Heiđrún whispered, affixing her gaze to the Queen in front of them. Snotlout on her skull whacking at her eyes and causing her pain.
Guðbrandr lowered his body before leaping into the air and flying high into the air. He gained altitude quickly, spurred on by his mates' acceptance of her father, her real father. 'Skuggi, I hope you are proud of your daughter because she's unbelievable right now.'
"She's back in the air!" Astrid exclaimed, turning to see the twins fighting each other. "Will you two quit it and get Snotlout out of there!"
In the middle of punching each other, they paused to take notice of Snotlout hanging from the front of the Queen.
They eye each other and shout, "I'm on it." "I'm on it." They continued to fight as Barf and Belch flew towards Snotlout while also snickering to themselves. They somehow managed to guide their Zippleback to Snotlout who jumped to safety.
The Queen caught sight of one of the Dragon Souls and their dragon and began inhaling to prepare the incineration of them. Astrid and Stormfly struggled to get away as the flow of air drew them closer to the massive jaws.
The shrieking sound of a Night Fury's dive could be heard and the Vikings took cover. A green and purple bolt connected into the side of the Queen's head, throwing it to the side and stopping her action. Astrid flew free her seat on top of Stormfly.
Astrid screamed in terror as she fell but a black streak flew by and picked her from the sky. She looked up and saw green markings on this Night Fury's side and legs. 'Who's this?' she pondered, turning her head to the side to see Hedvig and her dragon.
"We're just as shocked as you are, we'll explain later, I promise," Heiđrún explained, watching Astrid put on the beach. Astrid watched as the two black dragons flew into the air, softly calling out, "Go."
In the sky, Guðbrandr finally got to get a good look at his lost sister. He couldn't believe that she was larger than Heiđrún when she was a Night Wing, but how did she get this power and strength.
"We'll talk about this later. First, Heiđrún needs to get on my back and brother you need to get that Queen flying," Tunglið recommended, flying closer to her brother.
"Trust me Heiđrún, I'll make things right for all of us but you need to get on my back," the female black dragon spoke to reassure her, not knowing that the girl could understand her as a dragon.
Heiđrún and Guðbrandr were shocked to hear Norse coming from the other Night Wing. They were about to ask her how she could do that but was cut off by the roar of the Queen. Heiđrún leaped off her mate and watched as he flew back down to Queen.
"Alright, Tunglið, what do you mean by 'make things right'?" Heiđrún inquired, feeling gravity take more of a hold on her as Tunglið pitched upward. She flew into the clouds out of sight from the Queen as she prepared for the magic to flow through her for Heiđrún to return to being a Night Wing.
The Night Wing didn't say a word as she rolled over and let Heiđrún fall through the air back towards the ground. The girl screamed for a moment and then felt a calming presence in her mind telling her to be ready and face the ground.
Heiđrún didn't know why, but she followed the instructions and felt warmth over her. She looked back to see Tunglið bathing her in green flame and she knew what she meant earlier.
Down below, Guðbrandr assaulted the Queen with a powerful blast, causing her to stretch out her wings. He cursed himself for now remembering what he used his Dragon Flame on: The Queen's Wings. He remembered how those wings looked, they were small, weak and broken from what he recalled. That was when he first saw them a week after being taken by her. Then once she found out his Dragon Flame was intact, she made him fix and improve her wings.
He continued his way through the sea stacks, wondering when his sister and mate would return and give him a plan. His answer was given to him mentally and it kind of scared him. 'Come up to the clouds, get some height and disappear in the dark clouds from the fire.'
Guðbrandr shook his head and grumbled. "By Nóttu, I hope this is what I need to do." He flapped his wings quickly to get the altitude needed, looking up into the dark clouds as the Queen followed him. He couldn't believe her ability to follow him due to her size and in fact, he noticed her closing the distance.
His wings ached as he finally entered the dark clouds and pulled away from her massive jaws. He took a moment to evaluate the situation, but then he felt a tail fin slide up his back causing him shivers. It was a sensual and loving motion and there was only one that would do that to him. The Night Wing hovered in front of him to reveal his Heiđrún flying with him again.