"Alright, alright, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!", Hiccup heard a cry leaving the husky throat against her shoulder. Maybe right on the first free fall, she could feel Artichoke's large body being nearly thrown weightless on the air. He had screamed the whole time, being forced to hold onto her torso, thighs tangled between her and the dragon who, just a few seconds ago, seemed determined to kill them both. Arms gripping his body against her back, by the complete awareness he'd fall to heath if he ever loosened it. Hiccup knew and trusted Toothless with her life, the Night Fury was just upset and playful, now, to explain this to someone else, well that was, actually, an impossible task to verbalize.
Nothing she had said before seemed to calm down the dragon she held so dear, no plea, no reprehension, nothing that came out of her mouth seemed to come to the dragon's ears, but that apology was the last word said before Toothless' wings open whole, effortlessly soaring them high.
As they remained on the slow flight, Artichoke's grip loosened around her body, making her realize she wasn't even breathing right from it. As they flew on a cloud-built city, gold and pink tones coloring the skies, she noticed one of his hands had cautiously let go, touching the fluffiness-made cloud above their heads. She did this before, cool water droplets would pass between his fingers as they had with hers, few days ago. He seemed to enjoy it as much as she had, or, at least, just enough to let the other hand go. Turning over her shoulder, she saw child-like wonder in his eyes as he kept touching the clouds around them.
The first movement Toothless had made, after letting her wings soar them between the skies, was to take a loop, crossing even higher clouds. The darkness of the night could be seen automatically after their humid passage, as if a beautiful portal to the night. They were so high she could see the rest of the world still slowly turning into nighttime. Amazed with the beauty, she forgot all about the cold, about the killing, about leaving…
"Alright", she blushed, feeling his chin nest gently above her head. "I admit it. This is amazing". And it was. "She is amazing". And she is. Another brave hand reached down this time, not to play with any clouds, but to pet the incredible creature's warm scales.
Berk was seen field of vision, just a few, small candle and torch lights, being seen like distant fireflies, and the few Vikings who stayed gathering to the Mead Hall. Wait, no, not few… A lot of them. Looking at their docks, she saw… Ships. Three, not four. Warrior sailors walking down to the pier.
Artichoke was still looking up, unaware of their people's return and she guided Toothless to turn around, back to the cove before he noticed. It would be much harder to leave now than it would have been this evening. But what was she thinking…? To live with dragons, being too weak to even be a Viking. She knew there were other people, other lifestyles beyond the Archipelago, going South. Yeah, she heard legends and stories from the elders and the rare merchants, but how further south? How further till the upcoming snow wouldn't be a life-or-death treat with its cold promising to swallow anyone unprotected?
"So what now?", Artichoke let out a sigh, probably aware of her head bubbling up with thoughts of her destinated doom. "The final exam is coming close, you know, to see who will kill-" he cut himself, getting closer to whisper in her ear, afraid of how far the dragon's understanding went. "Who will have to kill a dragon first".
"Don't remind me".
"Is that why you wanted to leave?".
It is one reason, yes.
"Can you blame me?".
No answer was heard.
Before they got close enough to their cove, Toothless' sudden alarm didn't pass unnoticed by her rider. She took an instinctive dive, forcing Hiccup to work on the pedals to avoid their fall. Artichoke held on tight, scared, but not as much as before. "Toothless, what's happening?". Expecting a glare or a snarl, Hiccup was completely ignored, as her dragon still seemed to… Look for something. "What is it, girl?". Rather than silence, glares, or snarling, Toothless was buzzing, shaking a little, a sound unlike her affectionate purrs.
Toothless took them to a deep, growing fog that blinded both humans, making Hiccup wonder if dragons had a better sight for that kind of situation. A Monstrous Nightmare
was seen from their right, flying near, looking to the front. "Get down", Hiccup hissed, as if both teens could blend in with her dragon's back. A large, fat, dead cow was clenched, still bleeding on the dragon's inferior claws. The dragon was buzzing, too.
The sound soon increased considerably, and, as the fog dissipated, they saw they had more, much more company. Nadders, Gronckles, Zipplebacks, Terrors… Were just the most common ones. All held something on their claws. Animals. Preys. Food. Their food, even. Sheep, fish, cattle, pigs, horses. There were no horses in Berk, they must have come from another island, a considerable distance.
"What's going on?", Artichoke's question was rushed, and Hiccup would be lying if she said she wasn't just as confused and scared.
"I don't know", she leaned in more, trying to whisper to Toothless' ears as a large rock emerged on the horizon. An island. Where were they? "You gotta get us out of here, girl", the dragon just shook its head, as if Hiccup's voice was just an annoying bug, and they kept flying ahead, as countless dragons surrounded them.
Think. Think. Think. Okay, they're all heading to an island, what's up there? Is it… A dragon island? The ones told in legends to scare children and amaze sailors? But it was never seen before, right? More and more dragons appeared, they all held on to some kind of meat.
"It looks almost like they're hauling in their kill", well most of these animals had clearly been violently killed.
"What does that make us, then?", old habits were hard to die, even with a few weeks long friendship to the most feared dragon, she gulped in fear at hearing to Artichoke's logic.
Toothless and the other dragons around them prepared to dive in a hole into the rock-made island. No, not a hole, a volcano. Streaks of orange and red lights cut the fog. An active volcano? She knew dragons were fireproof – on the outside – but lava?
Upcoming heat cut her thoughts as she realized she still could burn. Artichoke and she could still burn to death. That if Toothless or any of these dragons didn't decide they'd be better as a meal.
Countless. There were countless dragons around them. Variable ones, too. Rows and rows filled with dragons, each one with an offering. They were inside a massive chamber, she noticed. "What my dad wouldn't give to find this?" the legends were true and the Berkians were right. The dragons did gather in an unknown, hidden island. That's it. The nest her father and many others left Berk each year to look for. And it seemed so close to home, considering the times they'd spend months outside.
Artichoke tightened onto her left arm, bringing her attention to what was happening in this direction. Lining up, dragons were dropping their food into a seemingly endless pit below them. They didn't eat any of it, just dropped. Toothless hid their bodies behind a large column of rocks, suspended from the chamber's ceiling. "It's pretty satisfying to know all of our food is being dumped down a hole". Humor was always her preferred coping mechanism against the growing realization and anxiety that grew around them.
"They're not eating any of it". Artichoke noticed the same thing.
A lazy Gronckle flew above the pit, not holding any cow, sheep, or any other visible meat. Opening his mouth, it dropped out a half-ate fish, similar to the one Toothless had offered Hiccup after being fed. As lazy as it came, the Gronckle was ready to leave, right before a terrifying, earth-shaking growl was heard from below. The dragons and the rocks were trembling, as a massive, enormous dragonhead emerged from the dark pit, swallowing the lazy Gronckle with a single bite.
The Gronckle, who was clearly a big, fat adult. Wasn't even enough to fill that monster's mouth. No, that thing was easily bigger than their regular ships, Hiccup thought. The giant dragon's nostrils widened itselves. "What is that?", a sharp whisper was heard behind her before she urgently begged Toothless to get them out, which, thankfully, she did. Flying faster than Hiccup had ever seen her, the Night Fury got them out, safe, back to the Berk island.