"You want some of this? That's right. Who's next?" If someone said they thought they were afraid of Astrid, that fear was nothing compared to this.
"Yep, I-I think you got them." Hiccup scratched the back of his head, letting his eyes marvel the amount of destruction created by the blonde shield-maiden. "All of them."
"Astrid's been killing inanimate objects all day." Fishlegs told the Haddock Brothers, worriedly.
"She's really wound up about the Flightmare." Hiccup said.
"Actually, I would call it paranoia about the Flightmare." Ferno pointed out.
"Ha! Too bad she's wasting her time." Snotlout was walking on egg shells (chicken eggs to avoid confusion, not dragon eggs which are as hard as rocks). "When the Flightmare comes, the Hoffersons freeze. Right, Astrid? I mean, you are a –"An axe stunk into the rock next to him, missing him by millimetres. "Hofferson."
"Astrid, you missed." Ferno said with a disappointed look on his face.
"Okay, okay, let's take a deep breath." Hiccup always the peacekeeper tried to keep the peace. "Just because Aurvandil's fire is coming, doesn't mean the Flightmare is too."
"Sure it does. Every ten years the sky lights up with Aurvandil's fire and when it does, the Flightmare appears. Its spectral glow and banshee-like scream are unmistakable." Fishlegs was not the most logical person on the planet.
"Idiot." Ferno face-palmed.
"You were saying?" Astrid looked accusatively at Hiccup.
"Thank you, Fishlegs. Your extensive knowledge of the Flightmare is timely, if nothing else." Hiccup said, sarcastically.
"I do fancy myself to be Berk's leading authority on the subject. Here's a few more fun facts. Legend has it that the Flightmare is so terrifying, it actually freezes its prey in their tracks."
"You call those fun facts?" Ferno questioned.
"Yeah. Just ask frozen Finn Hofferson. Right Astrid?"
Punch. Thud. Groan. No more words. Snotlout was uselessly lying on the floor with his face under Astrid's boot.
"You think it's funny, Snotlout?! You think it's a joke that my family name was ruined by that dragon?!" The axe was dangerously close to his neck.
"Well, I used to think that a couple of minutes ago but now I can see how it might be upsetting you."
"Astrid, you can't blame him for being insensitive. It's Snotlout after all." Ferno reminded the shield maiden.
"Hey, have you heard? The Flightmare is coming." Tuffnut yelled, unhelpfully.
Yeah, no one wanted Astrid today.
"Guys, we're really trying not to talk about it." Hiccup walked up to the Twins.
"Hate to break it to you, but that's the only thing anyone's talking about." Ruffnut said, oblivious to the tension of the atmosphere.
"Well, that and Astrid's Uncle." Tuffnut added.
"Hey, a little sensitivity here." Snotlout went from being number one insulter To Astrid, to number one defender. "Can I get up now?"
"Ugh, whatever." Astrid lifted her boot and ran off to her dragon.
Hiccup watched her ran and fly off. "So thanks a lot guys."
"No problem." Tuffnut obviously never sensed sarcasm. "If you don't need us anymore, we gotta go get ready for the end of the world. See ya!" The Twins cartwheeled the stuff into one of the pens.
"Only they could turn a safety bunker into a disco." Ferno commented, watching them roll that cart into the doors.
-000-
"I don't want to hear it guys. I've waited my entire life to clear my family's name and you're not going to stop me." Astrid said, stubborn as ever.
"Who said anything about stopping you?" Hiccup said, lamely.
"Bro, it's written on your forehead." Ferno crossed his arms and gave the older boy a deadpanned look. He and Astrid both did.
He sighed. "Ok, Astrid, we have to stop you." She scoffed and continued on walking with Stormfly.
"We? You're the one that dragged me here." Ferno stated.
Hiccup ignored him. "Look, no one loves a new and terrifying dragon more than I do, but I need you guys here to protect Berk. If that thing does show up, it's gonna take all of us to fight it off."
"Not if it never gets here." She made a point.
"What makes you think your good enough to stop a wild dragon that our ancestors couldn't for decades?" Ferno put his hands on his hips. The two typical Vikings had that intense stare down that only Vikings knew. Which, ultimately, made Hiccup feel like a third-wheel.
"I thought you didn't want to get dragged into this argument?" She gritted her teeth and glared daggers at the Fire-bearer. One thing about him though, which was what most people forgot, was that he was immature not cowardly.
"Changed my mind. This is dangerous you're not going anywhere."
A look of realisation strikes Astrid's ocean blue eyes. "Wow, is it weird I can already see your daughter a teenager asking your permission to go out."
"Don't patronize me!"
"Oh-kay." Hiccup pushed Ferno backwards and got in between the two hot-tempered Vikings.
"Come on, guys. Don't tell me you haven't been dreaming about the Flightmare, going after it, learning about it, training it?" Astrid just knew how to tempt Hiccup's sore spot.
"Well, you know, Astrid, uh, training dragons isn't the only thing I think about."
Silence. For the next couple of seconds.
"Are you seriously telling me that with a straight face?" Astrid was a master of disguising her feelings, maybe from Hiccup, but definitely not for Ferno.
With a smirk tugging on his lips, Ferno asked, "Should I leave you two alone?"
"No!" They yelled in unison.
"There you are Hiccup! I did the research you asked for." Fishlegs came running waving a scroll in the air.
"Not now Fishlegs." Hiccup said, lowering his hands and making his eyes shift to and fro Astrid so that the great big nerd would understand that now was not the greatest time.
Apparently he didn't. "But I have the path of the Flightmare right here on this map." Ferno slapped his hand on his forehead. "For generations, it's gone through the Northern swamp on the way to the village, same route every time. If I could only figure out why, we might be able to stop it."
"If I could only figure out how to turn the switch of common sense on Fishlegs, maybe we would all be happy?" Ferno commented, his a bruise already forming on his forehead, from being hit too many times.
"Fishlegs, Astrid doesn't want to talk about the Flightmare." Hiccup said.
"Of course she does."
"Sure I do."
"See? So, as I was saying, if you want to get close to it, you're going to have to be stealthy, virtually invisible in the dark." Fishlegs just had to give her the idea.
"Kind of like a Night Fury?" She asked.
"Exactly like a Night Fury." Fishlegs… big brain, small eye sight.
"So, when do we leave?" Astrid asked, already on the Night Fury.
"I guess this I'm stuck with the nerd researching Flightmares, aren't I?" Ferno sounded and looked miserable. Who would be though?
"Good luck… and plus, I know how much you really like books, so stop dissing Fishlegs." Hiccup patted his brother's shoulder. The Fire-bearer just scowled.
-000-
"Hey, any idea what Snotlout and the Twins are doing?" Asked Ferno, sitting on the window edge of Fishleg's bedroom.
"Well, by my calculations probably punching, threatening or pranking each other." Fishlegs said, overlooking a sheet. Ferno rolled his eyes. "Why does the Flightmare always take the same route into Berk? It always follows the stream from the Northern Swamp into the village." Fishlegs planted a finger on the map.
"It needs water. It's a living thing. I'm telling you this like a professional hunter."
"But why? If it needs water, it can just drink it and take a different route." Fishlegs started to pace and ramble on. "Why does it follow the water? What is it about that stream?" Meatlug chomped on something in the corner, what if was the Fire-bearer really didn't want to know. "How can you eat at a time like this?"
"Forget the dragon. What do we both know happens to water during Aurvandil's fire?"
"Glowing Algae!? Ferno you're a genius!" Fishlegs threw up his arms in the air.
"I knew that." Ferno said, kinda sounding bored.
"Wait a minute… How did you know that? And how did you know that I know what happens to water during a climate change?" Fishlegs put his arms on his hips and demanded an explanation.
"Um… uh… is this really necessary?"
"Yes."
"Oh great… uh… remember when we were 7, and your books started to disappear mysteriously? And everyone either blamed it on dragons or didn't care."
"Yeah…"
"Well, that was me… I sort of sneaked into your room when you and the guys were out somewhere and helped myself…"
"Are you-? Seriously! Those were my most prized possessions! My life's legacy!" Ferno had never seen Fishlegs this mad before.
"Oh for Odin's sake, we were 7, and there just books!"
"You are going to bring back every single book that you stole."
"Or what?"
"I'll tell the whole village that Ferno the Fire-bearer, their great warrior, is actually a secret bookworm."
"I hate you… fine."
-000-
"Ok. How are we going to stop the Flightmare before it reaches the village?"
"Fishlegs? Ferno?"
"How are they gonna help?"
"By bringing reinforcements." Fishlegs yelled out from behind the Night Fury. Hiccup and Astrid turned around to find a few familiar faces: Fishlegs, Meatlug, Ferno, Shriek and Stormfly.
"And a good pounding once we've landed. How dare you think that we can't do anything?" Ferno protested.
"Good to see you girl. And Ferno, that's not what I meant— You know what? Shut up." Astrid groaned, after she was on her beloved Deadly Nadder.
"Whatever."
"Guys, what are you going? The Academy is meant to be on lockdown."
"We know. But chubby here wanted to save the day." Ferno spat. Everyone knew that when he was cranky, it meant he didn't get enough sleep.
"We were following the stream because we think we figured out a way to stop the Flightmare from reaching town." Fishlegs pointed to something Hiccup could not believe he missed: a sea.
"We cut a new channel for the river…"
"And divert the flow of glowing algae out to the sea." Fishlegs finished for him.
"You just have to prove to be a know it all."
"Remember our agreement Ferno!" Fishlegs yelled out.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
"What agreement?" Astrid grew curious.
"None of your business!" Ferno snapped at her.
"Ok, guys! Time to do a little emergency landscaping!"
-000-
"A live Flightmare. It's, it's, it's, it's…" Fishlegs was literally lost for words.
"It's mine." Astrid said, darkly.
"Ok, bud, time to do what we came here for." Hiccup told his dragon as if it could actually speak.
The Night Fury, Gronkle and Boneknapper all dive bombed towards the ground, shooting, blasting, firing at the earth, cutting a tunnel for the algae to leak through.
Though that didn't go well for Fishlegs, who the Flightmare, temporarily distracted from Astrid, turned its attention to him.
"Guys, the Nightmare got Fishlegs." Astrid yelled.
"What do you mean by 'got him'?" Ferno pretended to not know the worst that could have happened.
"The mist temporarily paralyses its prey." Astrid explained as they fought the Flightmare.
"Wait a second. That would mean that your uncle—"
"Wrongly accused. I knew that." She hissed at him.
"I was going say 'not a coward', but if you want it that way." The Fire-bearer smiled at his friend.
"Ok, guys." Hiccup said, when he finally revived Fishlegs. "We need to keep cutting that channel but the Flightmare is guarding it."
"I think I have a way to distract it." Astrid spoke up. "The algae. Let's give the Flightmare a taste of its own medicine."
"Astrid, lead the way." Hiccup beckoned her.
The dragons flew towards the river of vibrant blue, opening their jaws upon impact and grazing across the river to collect the stuff. Each dragon turned a different colour. Stormfly a yellow that if you toned down a bit, would match with Astrid's hair. Toothless a vibrant navy blue, which suited him. Meatlug turned a bright grass green, that Fishlegs claimed was her colour and to a more sickening revelation, wanted to knit a matching blanket. Shriek transformed into a vivid fiery red shade. Yellow, blue, green and red, quite the combination.
"Buddy, now we match." Ferno remarked.
"Ok, it's time to see who the real coward is." Astrid said.
They spooked the Flightmare by flying near each other, making it a thousand times brighter and the Flightmare almost blind.
"Toothless, let's finish that channel." They delivered the final blow and the algae blew out like a waterfall from the Berk mainland, with the Flightmare on it like a trail.
"We did it!"
"Now, let's get home before anyone notices we're gone."
"Right behind you."
-000-
"Wait, Stoic those aren't Flightmares!" They heard Gobber's yells.
"Dad, do we look like a dragons that paralyse people and scare the village every 10 years?" Ferno asked, scoffing, getting off his saddle.
"Hiccup, slap me in the face. Your dragons are glowing." Gobber said, starring that the dragons. "I must still be dreaming."
"Gobber, you're wide awake. And they are glowing. Long story. The good news is, we drove the Flightmare away."
Stoic looked genuinely surprised. "You did? Well done, Hiccup. Well done. Everyone! You can come out of your homes! The Flightmare is gone for good."
The villagers crawled out of their homes like insects from their holes and began chattering.
Hiccup fought over them for dominance. "Excuse me everyone, I have an announcement to make. We learnt about the Flightmare tonight. And I'll explain it all to you. But the most important thing we learned is that Fearless Finn Hofferson was indeed fearless… just like all the Hoffersons." He turned around, blushing ferociously, to face Astrid, to see her blushing like mad too.
"Congratulations."
"We knew it wasn't true."
"Maybe you should award him somehow." Ferno popped out of nowhere and whispered in Astrid's ear.
"I really hate you." She hissed at him. "I'll do it later, in private."
Numerous people walked up to her and her family congratulating them on their good fortune. Ferno watched as Astrid's eyes played thankful but looked at those people with anger and some hate. 'Sorry for not believing you' and 'Congratulations' didn't make up for ten years of near poverty and shame.
Nevertheless, now they didn't need to live in constant fear of beautiful, bright lights in the sky.
-000-
There. Done. Please. Review. I'm. Dying. Of. Fatigue. And. Aching. Fingers.
