AN: Hello my fellow readers. I hope you all enjoy this chapter (no cliffhangers this time, I promise. Also, I'm putting on my profile links to the drawings of the Royal White Fury and of Windwalker, done by the ever gracious SpicedGold. If any of you really like it, leave her a message. I'm sure she would love to hear some feedback.
Anyway, here are the review responses:
doctor of supreme awesomeness: Well, you'll find out soon. But I'm happy to see that there are already readers from this story guessing who is the Alpha
Guest: Use a nick, pleeeease. Besides this, thanks. I hope you enjoy this chapter
LunarCatNinja: I'll still be the one that'll make you hate cliffhangers, don't worry, hehe. Anyway, here is the new chapter. I hope you enjoy it.
Cottonmouth25: I had not even noticed that when I wrote this scene, but now that you mentioned it, this scenes does give this kind of feeling indeed. Well see how everything will turn out, maybe everything will be alright...ish
thearizona: Well, I did answer a part of your review through PMs, but I guess that some people will also want to know the answer to some of the questions you have asked. Firstly, Hiccup calls Toothless brother because, in my headcanon, he sees the dragon as his own brother, not just as a friend. Secondly the four winged dragon is the White Fury. He has four wings, for those that don't remember it. And lastly I hope you'll enjoy this chapter. It has certainly much more quietude than the last one.
AZalmega: Rest assured for I did not forget Heather. She'll appear again soon enough. As to who Windwalker refered as the Alpha, I guess you'll have to wait :P ANd, lastly the Timberjack and the Snaptrapper may not have been the only ones to answer Windwalker's call.
ivanganev1992: You may want to take back one of these thanks. And, a technical error you said; Toothless and Windwalker are not cousins of Lua, but her offspring, as is every other dragon. They are cousins to one another, though.
SpicedGold: Ah, my dear, it would certainly be funny to see you begin a community for Windwalker. Seems like that psychotic, vengeful and merciless characters are quite popular now a days, hehe. And yes, that Royal White Fury will appear again, and will also have an important part on the sequel. Lastly, I'm effectively putting the links to your drawings today, as I publish this chapter
Guy Fawkess: Now I can risk this objective (make someone hate cliffhangers) from my list now. Thank you :P
Cloaked Glydr: Well, I did base it one some myths I've seen, but I also wanted to leave it original. However, you wouldn't be wrong to say that you did see a few similarites, or names that others myths have (Like Flight Commander. I still need to remember from what story I saw this name)
Nick Tanico: Everything from now onwards is different from the movie, mostly because most scenes weren't in the movie. Nothing big happening this chapter, so don't worry if reality wasn't as high as your hopes.
Without further ado:
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Stoick only broke his staring contest with the Fury when he heard panicked cries coming from behind him. He turned his head to look, only to see the dragons the teens rode flying toward him. He ducked, watching as the dragons landed besides the Fury.
The teens marched over. Astrid's frozen state was broken as soon as she heard her Nadder taking off. While she couldn't believe that Hiccup was dead, and was barely holding back her tears, she made her way to the chief, while the other teens followed. Heather was back on Berk, for reasons that only Hiccup knew.
She halted when she was standing by the chief's side. The dragons were apparently making a line between the tribe and the fallen Fury, while the other Fury was clearly leading the defensive line.
Stoick noticed the girl standing beside him and leaned to whisper on her ear. "Do you know what they are doing lass?" he asked the girl. He felt that it would be best if he heard from one of the teens, who had ridden the dragons, why they were suddenly between him and the Night Fury.
She didn't see, or hear, but Stoick was afraid that moment. His tribe was weak, the other was decimated, his son was nowhere to be found and he held no physical or emotional strength to fight off seven different dragons. As a matter of fact, he didn't even care about the dragons, since he only wanted to find his son. It also didn't help that he was unarmed, as his hammer was lying somewhere on the beach.
"I think they still see you as a threat. They think you'll try to kill Toothless," she answered with a trembling voice. Not only she was scared that Hiccup really died, but suddenly facing seven dragons only increased her fear. Fear that Hiccup's death was in vain, not to the fact that it seemed that it was the White Fury that saw Stoick as a threat.
The shock and surprise that she had when she saw the chief fall to its knees, in the brink of crying, was immeasurable. He was also slightly shaking his head. "Don't they see? I just want my son," he said with a defeated voice, and for the first time since his wife passed, his voice showed fear, sadness and guilty.
They stared at the ground in silence and only looked up when a faint moan came from the fallen dragon. The White Fury looked behind to see Toothless doing a motion with his head and slowly unwrapping his wings from his body.
"Hiccup…" Stoick said. His intention was to shout his son's name, as he spotted the silhouette of him lying by the dragon, but it came out as a hoarse whisper. He immediately stood, but stopped from running forward as the White Fury snarled. He was about to take his battle hammer from whatever it was and smack the dragon's head with it when a hand landed on his huge arm.
He turned to see Astrid looking at him pleadingly and afraid. "Please don't. Hiccup wouldn't want that…" And only when Stoick's posture relaxed slightly she talked again, "I could go, if you and they allow it," she half-asked, half-suggested.
Stoick's insides were a cauldron of emotions, so, afraid that his voice would sound broken; he only nodded to the girl. She turned to the Fury standing in from of them and asked. "May I?" And, although she received no answer, the dragon didn't do anything when she took a hesitant step ahead.
Soon she began running as fast as possible to reach the fallen dragon. She skidded to a stop when she was directly in front of Hiccup. She froze, though for only a second, seeing the pale boy standing unmoving before her. She immediately kneeled, after coming out of the shock and grabbed Hiccup, to put her head on his chest. Everyone held their breaths as they saw the scene transpiring before them.
After a couple of suffocating seconds, she heard a faint sound.
Thud-thud
Thud-thud
It was faint, but she clearly heard his heart beating. The tears she was holding before now were freely running in her face. "He's alive…" she spoke in a whisper, her mind not fully believing that Hiccup was alive. She turned to look at the crowd and let out a "He's alive!" this time shouting, and the silence was broken as every Stoick and dragon cheered.
She put one of her hands on Toothless' snout while her other arm was around the boy, holding him. "Thank you, Toothless, for bringing him back." The dragon cooed as if he was saying 'you're welcome'. She soon noticed that no one came here, and understood why when her eyes spotted Windwalker. "Toothless, could you tell the White Fury to stand down? No one is going to hurt you," she asked the dragon. Toothless nodded and left out a faint roar.
Stoick's heart was booming as he heard the Hofferson girl say his son was alive. The only thing stopping him and Gobber, who currently was at his side, from going to Hiccup was the dragon before them. While every inch of him screamed to smack the dragon and run to his son, he stood still, remembering Astrid's words.
But, as soon as he saw the dragon's posture leave its defensive state, Stoick broke into a run toward his son. Gobber also did, though he was slower than Stoick due to his peg leg. The rocky terrain also didn't help much the Viking veteran run.
The moment he reached Hiccup Astrid let the chief hug the boy. She saw tears of relief on the chief's face as he tightly hugged his son and barely held back her own. He took his helmet off and put his ear on Hiccup's chest to confirm this was not some kind of sick joke from destiny, or from the Valkyrie beside him. He started laughing when he heard the faint heart beat and looked at Toothless. "Thank you… for saving my son."
Both were slightly startled when Gobber's voice came out from behind them. "Well, yeh know, most of him." Stoick looked at the blacksmith confusedly. The blacksmith pointed his hook toward the boy, and he followed it. A weak gasp escaped Stoick's mouth as his gaze felt on the boy's disfigured and bloodied leg.
Astrid gasped in horror before covering her open mouth with her hands. She didn't even want to imagine how Heather would reaction when they return to Berk and the healer sees this. Stoick, on the other hand, paled severely when his eyes spotted rivers of blood coming out of his son's leg, and it took everything from the man to not lose himself in despair.
Now that Astrid could look better at Hiccup, she noticed lots of things she hadn't earlier. His armor was all but charred or disfigured. His face was bruised and full of cuts that, while not seriously bleeding, were big enough to give him a battle hardened appearance. He was paler than Stoick, and considering the amount of blood pouring out his leg this was not a good thing. His other leg seemed to be fine, bur Astrid couldn't know if the blood in it was from his bleeding leg, or if this leg was also bleeding.
"Get the healer right now, and set up an emergency tent," Stoick said while carefully handing Hiccup to Gobber, "Lass, help Gobber with him, please," he said to Astrid before turning himself to face the Vikings. "Divide in three groups. One will gather and tender the wounded, the others will salvage anything so we can build a boat to return home, and the last group will…" He faltered before gulping. 'Being chief was never as hard as it was in this moment…' he thought before speaking up. "Gather the dead and salvage anything that group two won't use for a boat. We'll make their rite of passage here and today. Now move!"
Right after the Vikings began dividing themselves to perform the tasks Stoick gave them the vast man stumbled backwards and felt his head spin. "Oh Gods, what do I do? What do I do? I can't lose Hiccup, not now…" he said while on the brink of hyperventilating. A hand suddenly landed on his shoulders, making him snap out of his thoughts in surprise and turn to see who beside him.
He found his trusty friend, Gobber, offering him a sympathetic smile and a concerned look. "Listen Stoick, yeh need to pull it together. The healer is tending him right now and the men are working on their limit to build us a boat so we can go to Berk. But they still need their leader to guide them…"
He stopped talking to look at Cami, who was still on her knees, "And Cami needs someone now… someone that understands the pain of losing someone close to the dragons, and bearing the burden of a chief. Go help her Stoick," he whispered before excusing himself to help the others build tents from the boats' sails.
Stoick gulped and inhaled deeply a couple of times. He knew Gobber was right, but it didn't mean that being a chief and a shoulder to cry on on this moment was an easy thing. With uneven steps Stoick walked slowly toward the last Bog alive, all while trying to keep his breathing even when his eyes spotted the bodies of his dead tribesmen.
He kneeled in front of her and placed a hand on her shoulder. His heart thumped in pain when she looked at him with an unfocused gaze, her breathing hitched and uneven and her hands shaking badly. "Don't blame yourself for what happened. None of us could have foreseen the outcome of this battle Cami," he said, knowing well enough how it was a common thing for a newly enthroned chief to blame the death of its fellow tribesmen on himself.
"B-but…" she said with a weak voice which Stoick barely could hear her, "Hiccup w-warned me. A-and I didn't listen. I-I could have a-avoided all this," she said while weakly gesturing. "He w-wouldn't be nearly dead if I-I had listened to him," she added through a whisper while blinking away tears that had amounted themselves in her eyes.
Stoick did something he had not done in a long time, not even with his son: he hugged her. Cami let the tears flow away from her eyes when she felt the vast man's beefy arms enveloping her in a warm, safe hug. Stoick, meanwhile, found himself remembering a night ten years before, in which he comforted a crying Hiccup who had had a nightmare about the night they lost Valka.
No one dared to go bother the chiefs. Instead, they decided to turn to Gobber for advice and instructions for the time being. The blacksmith, thinking that the two of them needed some time alone, decided to help the Vikings in building the boat and the tents. The first tent built was given to the healer tend Hiccup, and only Astrid was allowed inside, only to help her patch Hiccup.
The teens, on the other hand, were being tended by war veterans, since most of them had bruises in their heads that could become a concussion if not treated correctly. The dragons, meanwhile, were grouped around Toothless, except for a white one that was pacing around, looking impatient and livid.
Astrid was quickly kicked out of the tent as soon as her help was no longer need. In the blink of an eye she was swarmed by the teens, which were asking her about Hiccup's condition. Much to her surprise even Snotlout seemed worried about his cousin's state. "Calm down, calm down, I can't speak if you won't let me," she said while gesturing with her hands for them to shut up. "If you don't shut up I'll feed Windwalker with you," she growled impatiently.
The teens quickly shut up while paling. They all glanced at Windwalker, who still was pacing around, and most of them paled at the sight of a livid White Fury. "W-what the healer said?" Fishlegs inquired after some color returned to his face. The others, this time, only nodded and looked at Astrid with expectant gazes instead of blurting out questions to her.
"She… She didn't say anything. We managed to stop the bleeding but…" Astrid said before dropping her gaze to the ground while rubbing her arm, "He needs to return to Berk. She doesn't have enough medicine to properly treat him here," she added without looking at the teens.
"Couldn't we fly back to Berk?" Fishlegs wondered, "I mean, we know how to ride the dragons, and flying will be much quicker than sailing. Not to mention that we have also to wait until they managed to repair a boat into sailing conditions," he explained.
"I don't think that's a good idea," a voice behind him said, making the husky teen yelp in surprise. "They just managed to stop the bleeding, and the healer can't stitch his wounds. They would open the moment you take off with the dragons," Stoick explained. Astrid notice that Cami, who was beside him and had his arm wrapped around her shoulder, was unusually quiet, but didn't point it out.
"I'll go help the others," he said before he turned to face Cami, "You're in charge of them and Hiccup, take care of them while I try to get us home," he told her before patting her shoulder. Cami barely opened her mouth when the vast man left them to bark orders, and thank Gobber for overseeing the boat's repair.
He found out, with deep despair and sorrow, that there were a total of 37 bodies, and 60 deaths that left no bodies to be buried. "See that they have a proper funeral pyre built up. We'll send them to Valhalla at sunset," he told Astrid's mother, who had overseen the body count.
"So…" Cami said without her usual enthusiasm. To Astrid the former burglar looked more like a walking corpse, devoid of life and filled with sorrow, rather than the energetic and mischievous Bog she had met back in Berk. It scared her how the Bog's eyes were haunted, and she felt incredibly sorry for Camicazi. The Bog was, after all, of the same age she was.
"Let's tend the dragons," Astrid suggested, breaking the awkward silence, "If we're to fulfill Hiccup's vision we need our dragons healed, especially Toothless. He must have taken quite the beating with their crash," she suggested. The other teens nodded and parted ways to gather medical supplies. Cami, on the other hand, offered her a grateful smile. "Think of nothing," Astrid said gently, "Why don't you go see if the healer lets you make Hiccup company? I'll take of everything," the blonde suggested.
She was surprised when Cami pulled her into a hug, in a fashion similar to how she did with Hiccup after her first flight with him. "Thank you Astrid," the blonde chief, who could have easily been mistaken as Astrid's sister, whispered on the blonde's ear. The Valkyrie simply smile and returned the hug before Cami let go of her. "I'll let you know if anything changes with his situation," Cami said before entering the tent.
Astrid, meanwhile, headed toward the dragons. Fishlegs was tendering her Nadder, as it seemed that her wound, caused by the White Fury back in the Arena, opened when she crashed. "Thank you Fish, I can take over it. Why don't you go look for your Gronckle?" she asked after approaching him and the Nadder. The husky boy handed her the wet cloth and quickly went to tend his dragon who, apparently, had only a few gashes since its rock-like skin protected it from the impact of the crash.
She was tendering her Nadder gently, who in return seemed very thankful for the attention she was receiving, when a voice barraged itself inside her mind. 'I specifically let you approach him so you could tell us his condition. It's been half an hour and no one said anything. I demand that you tell me how Hiccup is!' the White Fury said. Astrid turned to face him and felt a ting of fear when her face was inches away from his. Her Nadder whimpered slightly, wanting to protect her rider from the Child of Sun's hatred but also afraid of him, as she still bore the wounds from their first meeting.
Before she could even speak Windwalker spoke again. 'You listen, and you listen to me well. If you or anyone else dare stand between me and this hatchling I swear by Lua I'll shred your limbs one by one in the most gruesome and excruciating way I know, no matter how close or how important you or anyone might be to him or this tribe. Did I make myself clear?'
Astrid silently nodded, wondering where were the other teens to help her. The dragon kept staring at her, and because of it she remembered his question. "We don't know how he is. We stopped the bleeding, but he needs to return to Berk to get proper treatment for his leg. He had a concussion, so he'll be out for awhile," she told him, and visibly relaxed when the dragon huffed before walking away.
"Remind me to never be alone with him again…" she told the Nadder…
007
Cami entered shyly inside the temporary healer's tent. Said woman was now mixing a couple of herbs she had brought, while Hiccup was on a makeshift bed, made out of spare fur she had managed to gather. The woman, now in her late 40s, looked up scolding to see who invaded her tent, but softened when she saw the former Bog chief.
She got up and, before leaving the tent, she patted Cami's shoulder. "I'm sorry for your losses," she whispered before leaving them alone. As an old resident of Berk she had seen Cami and Hiccup together, years before, when they had been mere children playing together.
So the healer knew how friendly they were with one another, and she knew how pained Cami was. Not only the Bog lost her tribe, but was on the verge of losing what possibly was her only friend. She didn't want to stay, because she felt like she would be invading a private moment.
And she had been right…
Right after the healer left the tent Cami kneeled before Hiccup to stroke his hair. She stroked it with such gentleness and softness that one would have thought Hiccup was as frail as glass. And considering how the boy was between life and death they would have been right. Tears formed on Cami's eyes as she remembered doing the same when Hiccup had nightmares about his mother, years ago. "Please don't die on me… I have so many things to apologize for..." she whispered before weeping on his chest.
A few Vikings heard sobs coming from the healer's tent, but no one dared to enter. Since Stoick wasn't crestfallen they guessed that Cami was crying for another reason. All of those who passed by the tent bowed their heads in respect, and thanked the Gods that the boy, inside there, saved them from this same fate.
007
Night arrived quickly, and since there wasn't enough sail cloth left to build tents for everyone Stoick ordered to use the wood to build bonfires so no one died of cold while sleeping. Currently all of the Vikings stood facing the sea, where a lone ship, build of scavenged material and piled with bodies stood. The teens were in a respectful distance, while Cami and Stoick were in front of the tribe. "We gather here in this night to bid our farewells. Today history was made, but not without a price," Stoick said, beginning his speech.
"After 300 years we did what we've been trying to: take the Nest. But it wasn't without a cost. Many fell to the Queen's wrath today. Friends, families, parents, lovers..."
"A tribe…" Cami said; her voice barely loud enough for everyone to hear her.
"They died in battle, and while the bodies of some were consumed by the flames, but their souls weren't. May the Valkyries lead their souls through the gates of Valhalla, and welcome them like the true warriors they were. May they look upon us as we shall feast in honor of their memory," he recited.
He and Cami drew their arrows, and waited as Gobber, along with two other Vikings, pushed the boat away from the beach. When it was at a safe distance both chiefs shot their flamed arrows, hitting the middle of the boat. A squad made by Stoick, since they didn't have bows and arrows for everyone, did the same, and soon the horizon was illuminated by the fire of a burning boat.
Everyone watched it burn while silently bidding their farewells. A couple of Vikings ended up crying for the emotional turmoil was too much for them to handle. Stoick placed a hand on Cami's shoulder, drawing her close to him. She didn't complain, and leaned on him while grateful for his support.
No one slept well that night…
007
Astrid was frustrated. She had tried to remove Toothless' saddle from him the day before but failed. And when the other weren't busy, which meant that they could help her remove it, she decided to try again. And yet they haven't made any progress in the past half hour they have been trying to remove the saddle. "It's no use," she said breathless, "We'll need Gobber's tools to remove it. I'm sorry Toothless," she added while stroking the Night Fury's neck.
The dragon crooned, as if saying he understood the situation but was grateful nonetheless. Astrid smiled, and in that moment she couldn't help but compare Toothless' gentleness with Windwalker bitterness. She felt like they were dragon versions of Hiccup and Snotlout. One was short tempered whereas the other was patient. One was proud whereas the other was humble…
She was startled out of her thoughts when Cami called her. "Astrid!" she called before halting. She took a moment to regain her breath before she could speak again. "The boat is ready to leave. Stoick wants you and the teens on it, since you're the only ones that know how to handle the dragons."
When she heard the word 'dragons' her thoughts instantly went to someone else. "What about Toothless? He needs to go to Berk too. We can't take the saddle off from him without Gobber's tools," Astrid pointed out; wincing as she thought of how painfully constricting the saddle must be to Toothless in this moment.
"Well… I didn't know that…" Cami mumbled thoughtfully, "Why don't you go with me talk to him? That way you'll be able to explain the situation to him," she suggested. Since it was Hiccup's dragon she had little doubt that the vast man wouldn't comply about Astrid's suggestion.
007
"...Are you sure brother, I mean, leaving you all here by yourselves, even though I'll return, I feel it isn't right. I'm their chief, I'm supposed to be by my people, with my people, every moment..." Astrid heard as she and Cami approached the figure of Stoick the Vast.
"Don't yeh worry; the worst is over, I can take care of everything. Yeh need return to Berk so yeh can take care of that sons of yehrs and bring ships to get us out of this cursed rock," Spitelout said while placing a hand on Stoick's shoulder, "Don't worry, everyone understands yehr position"-he glanced at Cami and Astrid-"go take care of yehr son. He's earned it," he added before excusing himself.
"Ah… Sir," Astrid called, "We kind of have a little issue…" she said a bit shyly when the hulking figure of Stoick the Vast looked at her. At this moment she couldn't understand how Hiccup didn't cower before him, even when he destroyed half the village.
"Yes Astrid? You can say it..." he said with a gentle tone.
"We have a little issue with Toothless… He…" She had to pause to lick her lips, which felt incredibly dry at this moment. "He sustained heavy damage from their crash, and we can't take the saddle out of him without Gobber's smiting tools. I… we wanted to know if we can bring him to Berk too…" she asked while avoiding the chief's gaze.
Stoick hummed in thought while stroking his beard. "The dragon can't fly since his tail is ruined…" he commented, recalling how the left tailfin of the Night Fury was a metal and leather one instead of a black one. He had a hunch that something happened the night Hiccup shot him down, but he would have to await until his son awakes so he can know what happen. "Your arguments are valid. Bring him in, I have the feeling he'll want to be with Hiccup," he mumbled quietly before excusing himself to get his son from the healer's tent.
Astrid and Cami, meanwhile, went to Toothless to help him board the ship. Understandably he was none too happy about boarding a ship once again when he had been a captive on one for a couple of days. The two blondes, however, didn't expect one tiny issue to arise… 'Where are you taking him?'
"He's coming to Berk with us so we can remove the saddle from him," Astrid answered without looking at the white dragon. Coaxing Toothless to board the ship was being hard enough while she was focused. She didn't need a second Fury to deal with, especially one with anger issues.
'Over. My. Cold. Dead. Body.' the White Fury snarled in a blood-chilling voice that made Astrid's legs tremble. All the other teens, which were prepping themselves to board the boat, stopped what they were doing to look at the Valkyrie and the Deceptive Fury. 'If you so much as think I'll let him in the hands of you barbarians you're deeply wrong, and you'd better start changing your mind about it.'
"But…" Astrid tried to protest and failed.
'Your kind is not trustable,' he said with a low voice before intentionally pushing her away from Toothless. 'Come on cousin, we need to check on your hatchling. You must be anxious to see him,' hhe white dragon said while offering his shoulder for Toothless to lean one. Said Night Fury looked at Astrid with apologetically eyes before leaning on his cousin to walk to the ship.
007
Needless to say Stoick wasn't even a bit happy that not one, but two Furies would be travelling for a couple of days on a boat made of wood and barely floating that he would also be in. "Astrid…" he said while pinching the bridge of his nose, "Can you explain to me why you told me you'd bring one Fury, and there are two in the deck of my ship?" he asked, eerily calm considering the messy situation. Astrid figured the chief was scarier when he was speaking quiet than when he was shouting.
"We had a bit of a problem sir. Windwalker"-Stoick's eyes shot wide open at hearing the White Fury's. He probably couldn't believe either that Hiccup named the demonic dragon-"didn't want to leave his cousin-yes Toothless and him are cousins"-Astrid felt sorry for Stoick. He was very pale at this moment-"alone with us in a boat, especially because it was how he was brought to the Nest…"
The vast man sighed, and strode toward the White Fury. The two of them stood glaring at each other, and Astrid suddenly felt the atmosphere grow colder and tenser. It also didn't help that Stoick' face was inches again the White Fury's, and both of them were hatefully glaring to one another. "If you so much as lift a claw to stop my son from returning to Berk I'll personally drag your soul to the depths of Hel," Stoick threatened through a whisper.
Astrid silently commended how the vast man was fearless, no matter what he was facing: Night Fury, White Fury, Red Death, a horde of Nightmares. But right this moment she just wanted that he would back down. 'I tell you the same, worm,' the White Fury spat before boarding the boat. He curled near Toothless, who, in turn, was curled near Hiccup.
"Alright, hop on everyone, we're setting sail soon," Stoick barked as if his scene with the White Fury had never happened. "You too Astrid. Cami, oversee the boarding while I check everything out. I'll be back in a moment. Gobber, get the boat ready, we're leaving soon," he said before heading away to find his brother. But, before he was gone in the midst of the Vikings he turned to face Astrid and said with a serious voice, "And no more dragons in my boat." before vanishing.
At this moment Astrid was sure that Hiccup was insane. There was no possible explanation of how the scrawny boy could stand against his father or the chief over and over again. "Do you think your Nadder will be able to fly to Berk?" Cami inquired as she eyed the distant dragon, its wounds clearly visible.
She had to hold a snort from leaving her mouth. "Yes, she's a tough girl. Let's get the others inside the boat. We need to tell them the dragons can follow us, but not land on the boat," Astrid said. "I have the feeling leaving them here won't be a good idea. Vikings tend to do stupid things when there's no mead to drink," she added with a look of disbelief in her face.
Cami, on the other hand, was almost asking to stay so she could see what disasters Spitelout would have to handle, but then she remembered the knocked out boy on board of the boat, whom she owed her life to. She nodded and followed Astrid while the Valkyrie barked orders to the teens.
Soon every one of them: Fishlegs, the Twins, Astrid, Cami, Snotlout, Stoick and Gobber, along with Astrid's mother-as she was trained as a healer she could replace the Heather's mentor, who would stay on Dragon Island taking care of the Vikings there-were all on board of the boat.
"Set sail Gobber, we're going home," Stoick said to his friend before eyeing the dragons, who looked like more sentinels around his unconscious boys rather than mindless beasts. "Remind me to think twice when you of speak anything about dragons again," he mumbled to Astrid before retiring for the night. Gobber was a veteran sailor, so he knew the ship was in good hands.
She was the only one to rest near the other dragons. The teens, even Cami, rested as far as they could from Hiccup, whether if it was because of the White Fury near the boy or out of respect she didn't know. Three torches were alight around the boat so they could maneuver around without going overboard when the sky darkened.
She glanced at the dark sky, faintly seeing the outline of the dragons, including her Nadder, flying above them. Oddly, seeing this gave her a sense of security and comfort. She rubbed her tired eyes before lowering her head to glance at Hiccup. He seemed peaceful in his sleep, and she was glad for that; she didn't want him to be in pain because of his leg. "You need to awake soon… you need to see what you achieved…" she whispered.
"So…" a voice said, startling her out of her thoughts, "For someone that gave up on him years ago you're very worried about him," Cami pointed, though her voice lacked the aggressiveness of her words. "Don't look surprised. Hiccup and I used to be very close, and I'm very observer. I noticed when you stopped being friends with him. But now…" Cami faltered, and she slouched before sitting beside Astrid. "What changed?"
"He did…" the Valkyrie answered, "He grew more confident. He got better in Dragon Training. I followed him one day and found out about Toothless."-Cami's eyes widened. She had thought Astrid also only found out about Toothless when the dragon appeared in the Arena-"but before I could tell Stoick he… sort of kidnapped me," she said a bit embarrassed, recalling of when she was sounding like a damsel in distress. "He was confident in way I had never seen. He wanted to show me that dragons weren't evil."
"And did you see?" Cami asked.
"I was on the top of a tree, hanging on a branch while a Night Fury was in front of me with his rider equally desperate and angry. I didn't have much of a choice," Astrid retorted, before a shiver went down her spine as she recalled how her life was at the hands of an unstable Hiccup. "I climbed the saddle, but apparently Toothless had other ideas than simply landing me…" she added, while glaring at the Night Fury sleeping near Hiccup.
"…It was also that day that we found the Nest. Toothless ended up flying to there after he stopped flying like a drunken dragon."
"And when that happened? It can't be so long ago…" Cami inquired. She had seen Astrid fuming shortly after she arrived on Berk, so she doubted that the blond knew by them about Toothless.
"You're right. I knew about Toothless not long before you all saw him. In fact, all of this happened the night before the Arena…" Astrid said before faltering. She remember vividly their flight, the scare, the nest and the dragons, but only now that she was reliving the whole day Astrid remember something, something she wish she didn't.
Cami seemed to have noticed Astrid's silence as she spoke: "Astrid, are you okay?"
"I…" Astrid said before inhaling deeply, "I remembered some of the things Hiccup said before I confronted him… He… He was going to leave Berk, for good I think," she said with a shaken voice. It felt so unreal for her that the same boy that spoke these words was lying, knocked out on the same boat that she was…
"What do you mean leave?" Cami asked bewildered, "You're telling me he was going to hop on Toothless and leave to Gods know where?" She added, feeling both angry and afraid. She knew he was not accepted in Berk, but never thought that his outcast status would be as extreme as to make him want to leave the tribe.
"Shush, you'll wake up the others. I don't know how Stoick will deal with it if he finds out!" Astrid said through a harsh whisper before sighing. "And yes, he was going to leave Berk with Toothless. I don't know if he would have done because of the Nightmare confrontation or because he had had enough with being an outcast, or both," she sadly answered.
"And do you think he'll still leave Berk?" Cami asked, visibly afraid of seeing Hiccup leave as soon as he awakes.
"I don't think so…" Astrid answered slowly, since she was not sure of her answer. "I mean, he did stay to face the Nightmare, and did come to save the tribe. So I don't think it is likely that he'll leave after going through all of this…" she reasoned, though her voice lacked the certainty her mind had. After all he wouldn't leave after nearly dying. Astrid knew he was not stupid to do so.
Cami pursued her lips, and Astrid could see fear inside the blonde's eyes. As a matter of fact she had also been afraid of what she had heard, but her desire to take some answers out of him had numbed this worry. "What made him stay..?" Cami asked, breaking the unnerving silence between them.
"Toothless showed us the Nest. That's how he knew only a dragon could find it," Astrid answered, and Cami hummed in realization as she recalled Hiccup telling her what she'd face, "It was inhuman what we saw. Dragons even attacked one another. There was this Skrill that was following us, and all of a sudden a Nightmare bit its throat and brought it down into the ocean. I think this was when Hiccup decided to do something, and therefore decided to not leave after he brought me back."
ANII: So fanfiction is not letting me update the links to the fanart on my profile. Anyone has any ideas on how to solve this? Thanks
ANIII: Small correction, as of October 18th, 2015, in which the line was 'He turned to see Stoick looking at him...' instead of 'He turned to see Astrid looking at him...'. Thanks for pointing that out, Cottonmouth25. Sometimes my MS Word replaces all names for a single one. Happened once with Gobber's name (was quite funny), and Berk (pretty disturbing). I'll be on lookout to see if this happened again. Due to Daylight Saving, next chapter will be up tomorrow instead of today, since I need all the sleep I can have. See you all soon!