OechsnerC, Atomic R4y, FlashFrost645237, INFERN0BOLT: Thanks for the reviews!
Guest: Thanks for the review! I plan on finishing this one as time allows. I already have an idea for my next one and can't wait to start it!
Dragon Raid
"Yeah… She's pretty amazing."
"Well, there he goes again. Shouldn't have even brought up Astrid." Thuggory just smiled and shook his head back and forth as I stared off into the distance. "Have you thought of what you are going to do after we defeat the Red Death?"
I looked between Thuggory, Camicazi, and Dogsbreath. Seeing that the question was on all their minds. I let out a sigh and looked into the flames in front of us. "I have a little bit. The truth is, I'm not sure yet." I closed my eyes and let myself fall backwards towards Toothless, landing on his side. "I didn't think Astrid would play such a huge part in my life when I came back, but I don't think my Dad would accept me back if he knew it was me. I'm torn between revealing myself to him, or just leaving and hoping Astrid follows, but I can't pull her away from the tribe. The dragons also come into play too, now that the warriors are bonded to some."
The only sound was the crackling of the firepit as the other warriors stayed silent. I felt Toothless move slightly under me and knew right away he was hearing something that I couldn't. He pushed himself up, bringing me to my feet and putting me on full alert as I looked around.
"Hiccup!" Astrid's voice was carried over the wind before two shapes appeared in the sky. The closer that they got, the more I noticed that two dragons were flying desperating towards the cove. "Hiccup!" Astrid landed with Heather not too far behind. They both unmounted as Astrid ran over towards me. She almost knocked me over with the force that she was desperating running with. "Hiccup… There's an issue…"
"Slow down Astrid." I steadied her as she took a few breaths. "What seems to be the issue?"
"Dragon Raid." I looked up horrified towards Heather as she spoke.
"No. No, no, no, no. It hasn't been long enough."
"Hiccup, there is a flock of dragons flying towards Berk. We have to do something!" Astrid's voice seemed to snap me out of it. I instantly focused and started thinking on the best plan of action.
"Alright. Astrid, You and me will fly towards Berk and warn Stoick and as many people as possible. We need to make sure they are not using the catapults to shoot down dragons." Astrid nodded, calming down and focusing on me. "Cami and Thug, you two need to try and break up the raid before it gets here. Try to scare off as many dragons before they get to Berk. Watch out for catapults from behind, even with Astrid warning them, some will not listen." Both nodded towards me before running towards their dragons, suiting up, mounting and taking off towards the direction of the raiding dragons. "Heather and Dogsbreath, I need you two to try and mitigate the casualties on either side. Make sure vikings aren't killing dragons and vice versa." Both of them nodded towards me before doing the same as the previous two, heading towards the front line of Berk.
Toothless was ready to go behind me, knowing that there was a raid incoming. "You ready Bud?" The dragon huffed, confirming that he was before I jumped in his saddle. Astrid quickly followed suit with Stormfly. Within a matter of seconds we were off and heading towards Berk, more importantly, the Haddock household.
It wasn't long before we landed at the Haddock household. I stayed mounted on Toothless as Astrid unmounted and ran inside to find Stoick. There was some commonition, and some banging before Stoick emerged from the house and noticed me. Astrid wasn't far behind, pushing past Stoick and heading towards her dragon.
"Astrid says you don't want us firing or attacking dragons, is that correct?" I could hear the anger in his voice, even with him trying to contain it. I was so used to him that I could notice the little change of his emotion even before he did.
"That's correct. My riders will be helping mitigate the raid and I don't want them hurt." My gaze turned towards the horizon on where the raid would definitely be coming. "Some of my riders are trying to scare off some of the raid as it is, the others will be making sure that vikings and dragons are not killing each other."
"These dragons are raiding us! I need to protect my people!" I looked towards my Father, noticing that he was turning red with anger, almost matching his beard. Being this close, I could see the grey hairs in his beard and his hair now. I wonder if I caused those?
"The best way to protect your people is to not allow them to attack the dragons at all. Once the dragons get what they came for, they will leave without hurting anybody."
"I just can't let those beasts take our food! What do you expect us to do when winter comes? WE WILL NOT SURVIVE!" Stoick's anger got the best of him, and I felt like I was 15 years old again, getting yelled at by him for destroying the village once again.
"YOU WILL LISTEN STOICK!" My sudden outburst seemed to take him by surprise because his shoulders seemed to fall as I yelled. "IF YOU DON'T, YOU WON'T HAVE A VILLAGE TO FEED BY THE TIME WINTER COMES!" I noticed out of the corner of my eye, that even Astrid took a step back towards her dragon, scared of my anger. She might have seen Stoick's anger in the past, but never saw when I was angry. I took a deep breath, calming myself down before speaking again. "If the dragons take what they need tonight, it will give us more time to attack the Red Death. If we put up a fight tonight, and they go back empty handed, they will just come back sooner."
"What do you expect us to do? We can't just idly sit by and watch our village get destroyed!"
"You are not to engage unless you are protecting yourself. Astrid, the riders, and I will make sure that the village is not destroyed and the people not hurt, but we can only do that if we don't have to watch for catapults or nets flying towards us." I could see Stoick's grip on his warhammer tighten until his knuckles were white before he sheathed the warhammer in his belt. Knowing Stoick, it was hard for him to agree with me, but like he said in the past, his people always came first.
"I will get as many people into the Great Hall as possible. You better keep your end of the deal or else there will be repercussions." I knew the threat was real and I also knew he would follow through if anything happened. Tonight was going to be a long night. I nodded before he ran off in the direction of the village.
I looked towards the sky again, looking for the incoming dragons. Astrid was mounted and was beside me doing the same. The calm before the storm was always the scariest. I could hear Stoick and Gobber going around the village trying to get people into the Great Hall, but that was all I could hear. Toothless' ears were flopping back and forth as he listened to the noises from beyond. I noticed the watchtowers were empty, as well as the towers with catapults on them. So far, Stoick kept his end of the deal.
"As soon as the dragons arrive, we need to make sure they are only taking food and not burning down the village." Astrid stayed silent beside me. "We were lucky that Heather and you saw them early. We might have enough time to keep the damage and deaths to a minimum." Astrid was still silent beside me, which caused me to look towards her. She was looking towards the sky with a worried look on her face. "Is something wrong Astrid? Can you help us or do you want to help your people?" Astrid finally looked towards me, catching my gaze.
"I… I... " She tried to get something out before she took another breath and calmed herself before trying again. "I've never seen you that angry." I motioned for Toothless to walk closer to Stormfly as I reached out and grabbed Astrid's hand.
"I'm sorry if I scared you, Astrid. I don't like using my anger if I don't have to, but I had to get my Father to listen somehow."
"It's just… You sounded so much like your Father there, and back at the cove. How you handled giving orders, and planned out everything so quickly." Staring at her, I knew that she was speaking the truth. Chiefing and leading was in my blood, it's what made me a Haddock.
I let out a sigh as I closed my eyes, not letting Astrid's hand go. "It's just not me, Astrid. The speeches, the planning, running the village, it's not me. The riders are different, I'm not their chief or their leader."
"You sure sounded like their leader back there. The way they all looked towards you when we first told you about the raid. The way you planned everything so quickly. The way they reacted when you gave them their tasks. You might say that being a Chief or being a leader isn't you," Astrid pulled on my hand slightly, pulling me closer as she lowered her voice, "But that is who you are. The Lost Heir to Berk. You just needed to find yourself before we found you."
I pulled my hand out of hers and shook my head, disagreeing with her. A sad look overcame her face as I did so. "I…" before I could even get out what I wanted to say, the sky above Berk lit up in bright yellow, orange, and red, as dragons rained down fire on Berk. "Times up. It's our turn."
Astrid and I took to the skys, catching up with the other riders who were already trying to stop the dragons from burning down the entire village. Just like we practiced, we all forced the dragons towards the food storehouses to stop them from burning down the village. The stranglers seem to still light up some buildings as a distraction but were quickly put out by one of the riders. Some vikings were spotted running towards the Great Hall, being chased by a dragon or two. Keeping up with their end of the deal by not engaging, I kept up with my end of the deal by stopping those dragons and instead distracting them enough where they left the vikings alone.
The raid continued on for most of the night. Astrid, the riders, and I mitigated as much damage as we could, forcing the dragons towards the storehouses instead. By the end of the night, the only damage that was visible was that two out of three storehouses were completely destroyed and emptied. The third one was damaged with some food missing, but it still stood. I looked over all the houses and noticed that the damage was minimal, one of the best raids that Berk has seen since I knew what a raid was, with only a few houses scorched here and there. There were no casualties on either side, except for a few startled vikings and some unconscious dragons.
As I hovered in the morning sky, watching the dragons retreat back to the nest with their catch, the other riders pulled up beside me, watching the same sight.
"SHADOW!" I cringed when I heard the voice yelling my name, already knowing who it was. I brought up my hand to my face and closed my eyes, not wanting to deal with him right now. I looked towards my other riders and just nodded before they flew off towards the cove, most likely to get some shut eye in. Astrid still hovered beside me, waiting for my move. "I KNOW YOU HEARD ME!" I could see how tired she was, to go from just starting to fly to defending her village on dragonback all in one night. Even though she couldn't see me through my mask, I smiled at her and she returned it. "SHADOW!"
"Here we go…" I whispered to myself which Astrid chuckled at, before I descended towards the ground to meet the Chief. Astrid was not far behind, landing beside me. Neither of us unmounted from our dragons as we met Stoick. "Yes Chief?"
"Two storehouses are burnt to the ground, and the third one is severely damaged. We don't have enough food to last the week!" Actually, I saw how much food was left, they had enough to last for at least two weeks before people started going hungry. I couldn't say that, but I knew he was exaggerating.
"What about your people? What about their homes?" I asked in response. Stoick went silent for a moment, looking over his village and at the homes. I knew everyone was accounted for, I could tell when his anger dropped. I also knew that most homes were still livable, and the ones that weren't would be fixed before nightfall.
"Every viking was accounted for. Most have a place to go home to." Stoick said quietly. I nodded at him.
"You kept up your end of the deal, so I kept up my end of it. As for the food, I'm working on it as we speak." I saw the surprise flash behind his eyes before he looked away. Even though he didn't know who I was, it didn't mean that Berk wasn't my people too, even if they didn't accept me. "As for the unconscious dragons, put them in the Killring for me. Make sure not to hurt them and make sure they are fed. Astrid can help you with that, as well as the other warriors." He nodded once again, still looking over his village and his people.
"And if that's all Chief?" I saw him nod but he still didn't turn to look at me. "If you need me, Astrid will know where to find me." I nodded towards Astrid as she finally unmounted from Stormfly.
Toothless and I took off with Stormfly following not far behind. I knew that Astrid watched us fly away, as well as the vikings who were filing out of the Great Hall or were inspecting their homes for damage. It was definitely a long night, and was going to be an even longer day as I knew I wouldn't have any time for shut eye.
After trying to sleep for the last few hours and having no luck, I sat by the firepit and tried to form a better plan to take down the Red Death, while cooking some food for the other riders. If the queen is sending a raid to Berk this soon, it means that the next one won't be far behind. I know that we have to act as soon as possible, but the warriors still had so much to learn and no time to learn it.
Slowly, each rider awoke and made their way to the firepit, each taking some food and eating quietly. I could see how tired each rider was, just by the way they were moving and how slowly they were eating. Luckily their dragons could sleep anywhere and were still asleep as we all ate.
"So what's the plan Hiccup?" Heather was always on top of her game, even though she had minimal sleep, she wanted to get right back to work. The other riders looked towards me, wondering the same thing. Just like Astrid said last night, the other riders looked towards me as if I was their Chief or their leader.
"Based on how big the raid was last night, the Red Death is getting hungrier, which means that another raid is not far behind." I saw all the riders nod in acknowledgment, but I could see that it scared them. They might be here on Berk helping me defeat the Red Death, but it didn't mean they didn't worry about their own family, friends, and people. "Which means that the schedule has to be moved up dramatically."
"What does that mean for us?" Thuggory was the one to ask. I looked towards him and to each and every one of the riders in front of me.
"It means that we need to attack the Red Death as soon as possible, before the raids become uncontrollable." Letting out a sigh, I looked towards the sky now that the sun was rising higher. I looked down towards my riders again as I spoke. "I am going to say this once more, if any of you are worried or scared about any of this, you have every reason to back out now. I will not ask you to come along if you choose to do so."
"I think I speak for everyone here," Everyone turned towards Dogsbreath as he started speaking, "We are not going anywhere. While we all might be worried about our family and friends at home, we cannot leave a family member to endure this mission alone. Just like Thug said before, we are in this together. If any of us ever called for help, you would be the first one to show up, which is why nobody is leaving. You're our leader, chosen by everyone here, and for good reason too."
"He's right, you know." Everyone looked towards Camicazi as she spoke, surprised that she was actually speaking seriously instead of joking for once. "You are our leader, but you are also our Brother. We are here because we want to be."
"You guys really are something…" I lightly laughed as I looked between the other riders, trying to avoid tearing up at their heartfelt speeches.
"So I ask again, what's the plan?"
"Alright!" I threw my hands up in the air in an attempt to straighten my thoughts, "Alright." I brought my hands back down, bringing my thoughts back to earth as I did so. The other riders laughed at my outburst, which caused me to laugh as well.
"Alright, so the plan." I coughed into my hand, getting serious once again. "Stoick said that two food storehouses were burnt completely to the ground, and the third one is barely standing with minimal food left in it. All vikings were accounted for and most buildings stood with minimal damage." The riders celebrated quietly to themselves, and I allowed them before I continued.
"I will need two riders to find a way to replenish some of the food supplies as soon as possible." I looked towards Thuggory and Camicazi. They seemed to get the message. "See if you can either get a ship sent over from each tribe or see if you can get some food from the Northern Markets. Just be careful with the markets, there are still dragon hunters in the northern waters that haven't been dealt with yet." Thug and Cami both nodded towards me.
"The rest of us need to train these warriors as fast as possible. I need them in the air with above average flying skills before those ships show up. This afternoon will be the hardest turning point, because we need to actually get them in the air today."
"And the Red Death?" Heather asked.
I huffed in response. "I talked a bit with Astrid about it before the raid yesterday. The plan isn't set in stone yet, but Astrid said that Stoick will not allow the warriors to come with us if he and his ships aren't there." I huffed again in annoyance, knowing that Astrid was right. "Knowing my Father, he will want to come along, so I need to use that to our advantage."
Pulling out my journal, I flipped to the small scale map that I had drawn when I first started my map. This one included Berk and Helheim's Gate but not much else. "By ship, Helheim's Gate is a few days away, which means that I could send Stoick with some catapults a few days before we leave." The riders knew it would only take a matter of hours to get to the Nest, maybe a few extra since we would have new riders with us. "Worse case scenario is that we meet them closer to the nest."
"What use are catapults if this dragon is the size of the mountain? It would be like flicking a pebble at a Rumblehorn. It wouldn't hurt the dragon, it would only piss it off." I looked up towards Thuggory and smiled. "Oh Thor…"
"Pissing it off is what I want to do, but no, the catapults are not for that. As I've told you guys before, the Nest has many dragons inside of it's mountain. Considering that these dragons are under the control of the queen, she could possibly send these dragons after us without ever leaving her mountain."
"So not only would the catapults piss off the queen, it could very possibly release control of the dragons and scare them off at the same time." Dogsbreath answered.
"Correct. We all know what happens when we piss off a viking or another animal, right?" I looked between the riders and received nods from them. "Most cannot control their anger and don't think straight. I am banking on if we piss off the queen, she will emerge from her mountain to face us."
"And if that doesn't work?" I looked towards Camicazi and smiled once again. "I like that evil smile Hiccup." Camicazi smiled in return.
"We drop the mountain on her."
Heather, Dogsbreath and I were waiting in the killring. I found Astrid not long before coming here, telling her to gather the warriors up and to meet us here. Their dragons were already waiting in the ring, with their saddles ready to go in front of them.
As the warriors started to pile in, they were followed by one bulky viking as well. Stoick didn't stand in line with the other warriors, coming to stand directly in front of me.
"Shadow, we need to attack the nest. We cannot allow those beasts to get away with attacking us."
"And what would you propose that would do? Scare them off? Teach them a lesson? Show them you are the bigger person and aren't to be messed with? The ol' viking way?" Stoick huffed in front of me, and I could feel his breath on me as he stood so close..
"Don't mock me boy. I have a village to protect and feed."
"I understand that Chief, and I am trying to help you do that." I was getting annoyed with how he was treating me. Even though he didn't know who I was, it felt very unfair to be treated the way he was treating me. Stoick huffed in front of me, before trying to say something before I cut him off again. "I have a plan to take down the Red Death, and I'll need your help with it too." Stoick seemed to release some of his anger. "How many ships can you spare to attack the nest?"
"We have about two or three warships ready to go."
"Can they carry catapults?" Stoick raised his hand to his chin, scratching his beard as if in thought.
"They could possibly carry one each, but we would have to reduce how many vikings we could take."
"Not good enough." I pulled out my journal and flipped a few pages. "How fast can you build some ships and some catapults?"
"We can build one ship and one catapult a day if the whole village helps. It's getting the supplies that take the longest." I flipped a few more pages before I found what I was looking for.
"Aha! Found them!"
"Found what?" Stoick tried to see what I had found as I ripped the pages out of the journal carefully, and handed them over to him.
"In your hands is a design for a warship that is more agile in the water and can carry more vikings, including catapults. The other design is a special catapult that will throw more weight further and faster, while also being more lightweight. Those are the only copies I have of those, and nobody else in the Archipelago will know about them." Stoick looked at the designs but I knew he wasn't exactly sure what he was looking at. Gobber would know instantly what I improved on, so I had to give him a push towards Gobber. "If you don't believe me, ask your blacksmith. He seems like a very knowledgeable man on those types of things."
"Why are you giving me these?"
"Because even if I asked you not to come to the Nest, would you listen? Would you let the other warriors follow me if you weren't allowed to come?"
"No." Stoick answered instantly.
"And that is the exact reason why I am giving you those. If you want the Red Death gone, we need all the help we can get. As for the supplies for the warships and catapults? My Riders and I will help gather them right after I get these warriors in the air. It will be part of their training session."
"Hmm." With that Stoick turned around and walked out of the ring, heading to find Gobber if I didn't know him any better.
"A thank you would be nice…" I half whispered to myself.
"Alright class! I know you are all tired after last night's raid, but the raid just showed that we need to hurry up with the training. After yesterday's class, Emerald and I went and made saddles for each and every rider and dragon. You will notice that Stormfly, Astrid's nadder, is sporting a saddle now.
"Today, you all will need to know how to put a saddle on your dragon, and once that is done, you will learn how to mount your dragons and fly." I paced back and forth before stopping in front of the saddles. "As I call your names, please come up and grab your saddle. Afterwards, attempt to put your saddle on your dragon and if you need help, please ask one of us."
Heather, Dogsbreath, and Astrid were all close by, discussing amongst themselves. I asked Heather and Dogsbreath to catch Astrid up to speed on what the plan was, and I kept noticing her looking towards me as I paced. Most of the warriors had little difficulty with getting their saddles on their dragons. I was impressed by Minden and her razorwhip, Brynjar. Even though that dragon was recused from a dragon fighting ring, he seemed to have connected and warmed up instantly to the warrior. There was only one person having issues with their saddle.
"Snotlout." The smaller viking turned around with the saddle in his hands. It already seemed like he had been charred a few times by Hookfang. "Having any issues?"
"No. None at all. I'm just making sure it won't hurt Hookfang." Snotlout was lying, scared of hurting his ego. He always viewed himself as the perfect viking, but training a dragon went against everything he was about, but that didn't stop him from trying to be the best. I really hoped he would learn one day as I watched him run towards Hookfang with the saddle in his hands once more before being swatted with his tail and his backside light on fire.
Suppressing a laugh, I watched as Snotlout threw the saddle into the air as he went over to the closest water trough, jumping in instantly. I walked over to where the saddle landed and picked it up, looking towards Snotlout. Everyone in the ring was looking at him as I held the saddle.
"Snotlout. Come here please." The viking tried to climb out of the trough and ended up falling out of it more than climbing out of it. I heard the snickers behind me but ignored them. Snotlout came over to where I was standing and tried to snatch the saddle out of my hands. I pulled it back, so he instead crossed his arms over his chest and huffed his annoyance. Ignoring his annoyance, I threw my arm around him and dragged him along with me, keeping my voice down so nobody else could hear me.
"Listen here big guy, I only want to see you succeed as much as you think you can." Snotlout grumbled under his breath, which I ignored once again. I needed to get these warriors in the air and I had no time for arguments. "The trick to getting the saddle on Hookfang is to leave your big ego at the entrance. Your dragon can sense that you think you are better than him, when in reality you are more of an equal to him than anything."
"But I am better than him! I'm a Viking and he's just a dragon!" I heard Hookfang huff in anger, not far from where we were standing.
"That's where you are wrong." I released Snotlout and turned towards the dragon. "Want me to show you?" I asked Snotlout, not waiting for an answer, "Hookfang!" The dragon approached us cautiously as he watched Snotlout behind me, knowing how the viking was. I held out my hand and the dragon instantly pushed his nose against the palm of my hand. I walked around to the dragon's neck and clipped on the saddle as I have done so many times before with Toothless. "See? Not that bad. The trick is knowing that you are both equals." I unclipped the saddle from Hookfang and walked back to Snotlout, handing it to him. "Your turn."
Snotlout grumbled under his breath again before walking towards the dragon, attempting the same thing that I had just shown him. When Hookfang sniffed his hand and turned his head around, Snotlout was pissed and threw the saddle to the ground. "See? I have no idea what I am doing wrong!" Snotlout turned towards the entrance and stormed out.
A few warriors, including Astrid, made a move to go after Snotlout. "Let him go." They all looked towards me in confusion and concern. "He needs to calm down before he returns. Trust me, he'll be back." I bent down and picked up the saddle, walking over towards Hookfang again. "Hey Hookfang, do you mind?" The dragon brought his neck down and let me attach the saddle again, before I scratched under his chin. "Don't worry about him Hookfang, he'll be back once he cools down." The dragon just purred and looked at me with hurt in his eyes. "I know, trust me, I know. It's not your fault."
I walked back over to where the Riders and Astrid were standing, turning towards the warriors. "Alright class, it's time to attempt to fly. I need all of you to mount your dragons and try to get into the air. Remember to take it slow. Each dragon flies differently and you will need to learn how your dragon flies before we attempt anything more." I could see the looks pass on all their faces. Fishlegs was nervous as he always was. Ruff and Tuff were excited to be one more step closer to being able to destroy things with their dragon. Minden's expression looked neutral on the outside but I could see in her eyes that she was excited to finally learn how to fly.
"Emerald, you are with Fishlegs. Jade with Minden. Astrid, you are with me and the twins."
Once all the riders were assigned with their warriors, we began training them on how to mount their dragons and get them in the air. Minden was the first one in the air, already flying above average. Heather was beside her in the air on Windshear as they talked about flying, Heather offering tips and tricks.
Even though Fishlegs was nervous, I could tell he was determined to get into the air. Dogsbreath helped him every step of the way, and he was eventually up in the air before long, with Dogsbreath beside him on Seaslug offering him tips and tricks. I've never seen Dogsbreath talk so much as he geeked out with Fishlegs.
Astrid and I went back and forth with the twins, trying to get them to listen and up in the air. The problem was that the twins were two halves of a single brain. Barf and Belch were no different, seemingly taking after their riders. Between the four of them, I swear there were only two brains if they were lucky. It was more of a struggle to get them into the air, but we eventually did, right before Snotlout wandered back into the ring. He stopped near the entrance and I walked over towards him.
"Listen, Shadow. I don't want to be left out and... I miss Hookfang." I nodded, waiting and listening for him to continue. "And I thought about what you said, and you are right. I thought I was better than these dragons just because I was a viking." Snotlout looked at the ground as he continued, grabbing one hand and squeezing it to try and help him get the words out. I happened to catch Astrid looking towards us as I listened to Snotlout, and she could read my eyes from across the ring, and nodded in my direction. "Can… Can you show me how to be a rider?"
"Are you willing to learn how to be a rider my way, and not forcing your way like a viking?" Snotlout looked up, and I could see that he was on the edge of a breakdown again. I always heard rumours of Spitlout pushing Snotlout to do his best, and if he couldn't do his best, to do it with force.
"Yes. Anything you say." I knew by then he had left his ego at the entrance and that he was actually willing to learn.
"Very well. Hookfang!" The dragon flew over to where we stood, instantly standing behind me instead of Snotlout. "Do you mind?" The dragon dropped his neck beside us and I unbuckled the saddle from his neck, and handed it towards Snotlout. "Do you remember what I showed you?" Snotlout took the saddle and nodded, looking up at Hookfang instead of me. "Show me."
Snotlout walked past me towards Hookfang and held out his hand. The viking stood still, watching the dragon as it came close and sniffed his hand once again. Hookfang looked towards me, as if asking me for permission. I nodded towards the dragon and he put his nose into Snotlout's hand. The excitement that followed was amazing, Snotlout didn't try to hide anything as he started petting his dragon under his chin and all I could do was smile.
"Very good Snotlout, get that saddle on him and get in the air." Snotlout looked towards me and smiled, nodded and started getting the saddle on him. Before long, he was attempting to fly Hookfang with my guidance. The process went smoothly and soon after, he was flying in the air with the other warriors.
I looked towards the sky and found the sun approaching the horizon, meaning that we only had a few hours of daylight left. I need to get these riders to the sea stacks to practice their fast maneuvers. "Astrid!" I saw Astrid look towards me and fly over to where I was. "I need to get everyone over to the beginners sea stack course, can you guide them? Emerald, Jade, and I will be watching from the sides and rear." Astrid nodded and flew close to the entrance to the ring. "Riders! I need everyone to follow Astrid!" Once everyone had landed eyes on Astrid, she shot out of the ring with the riders not far behind.
I watched all the riders attempt the beginner course until the sun started nearing the horizon. Astrid, Heather, and Dogsbreath were all giving tips as much as they could, and I would occasionally swoop down and offer some help where needed.
I was pleasantly surprised at how well the riders were advancing. Minden seemed to already blow through the course without issues and Heather was challenging her and she would complete each challenge after a few tries. Fishlegs was slow going through the course, but was determined on completing it every single time. Not once did I see him crash into a sea stack. He was also challenged by Dogsbreath and would ace it after a few tries.
The twins were some of the hardest I ever trained. They just couldn't seem to grasp the concept that they were both flying one dragon with two heads. I was constantly fishing them out of the water, making sure they were okay, before setting them up in the course again. After a while, something seemed to just click, and the twins and the dragon seemed to start working together almost flawlessly. There were a few times where the twins couldn't decide on which way to go and ended up hitting a sea stack straight on, but other than that they seemed to be doing fairly well.
Watching Snotlout, I could tell that he didn't want any help. One by one, Heather, Dogsbreath and Astrid went and tried to help Snotlout, but each one reported that he said he didn't want any help. I watched him closely try and do the course and ended up hitting the same sea stack everytime. I could tell that both rider and dragon were determined to complete the course, so right after crashing, they were up in the air flying through the course again. I watched him crash once more and decided to stop him as he flew towards the entrance again.
"Snotlout." Flying in front of him, forced him to stop and hover in front of us. Hookfang was easily twice the size of Toothless, but knew to respect the night fury after he had been released by us. Snotlout crossed his arms as he looked in my direction.
"I don't want any help Shadow." I could hear the annoyance laced in his voice, but I was unsure if he was annoyed that I stopped him or because he kept failing the course.
"I wasn't going to help. I wanted you to come and have a talk with me." Snotlout must have been surprised, because he let his crossed arms slightly drop before he nodded and followed me back to the top of a sea stack. We both landed and unmounted our dragons, looking out over the edge and watching the other riders succeed in what they were doing. "What's on your mind Snotlout?"
Snotlout was silent. We both watched the other riders as I occasionally looked towards the horizon. "I'm not sure I know exactly what you mean."
"I watched two of my riders and Astrid attempt to help you, but it seemed like you brushed them off without a second thought." I finally looked towards him as he watched the other riders. "I just want to know what's going on in your head right now."
"Nothing is going on in my head. I just don't want any help."
"And why is that?" Snotlout finally looked towards me, and I could see the annoyed look on his face as I persisted.
"Why does it matter to you? You're a nobody around here." Even though he didn't know who I was, his words still seem to grab a hold of my heart. I looked towards the riders again, mostly following Astrid as she helped out with the twins again.
"You're right. I am a nobody. I always have been and there's a chance that I always will be." Even from a distance, I could see Astrid glance in my direction every few seconds, which made me smile. "But that doesn't mean I can't change that myself." I looked towards Snotlout to catch him looking at me, confusion written all over his face. "For years, I tried to fit in where I didn't belong. I tried to figure out who I was and what I was meant to do. Even to this day, I still don't know exactly who that person is."
"Why are you telling me all this?"
"Because I think you and I are more alike than you think. My only question for you is, who are you trying to impress?"
Snotlout seemed to slump back when I asked him, his shoulders dropping at the same time. He looked away from me and towards the other riders, but I saw his gaze eventually looked towards the village. I knew that he was trying to impress his Father. Spitlout was always hard on Snotlout, saying things like 'If you're not first, you're last.' and other dehumanizing sayings.
"I don't need an answer from you if…"
"It's my Father." Snotlout cut me off before I could finish. "He pushed me to be better than everyone else, no matter what that might cost. It was his idea that I should start bullying Hiccup." That caught my attention, and I looked in his direction to find that he was still looking towards Berk but not really seeing it. I happened to see the tears welling up in his eyes before he shook his head, closed his eyes, and looked towards the ground. "I only ever wanted to make him proud… To this day, I blame myself for Hiccup leaving."
I reached out and grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to look up to me. "What happened in the past, is in the past. Nothing can change that. Accept that it happened and move forward with what could be. Do you think Hiccup would care about what you did if his village burned to the ground?" Snotlout shook his head back and forth, bringing up his hand to wipe away a tear.
"Exactly!" I brought my arm around Snotlout and forced him to look at his fellow vikings. "I'll give you some advice I wish I had learned long ago. Stop trying to impress people if it stops you from being who you really are. Either they accept you for who you are, or they never really cared about you in the first place." I felt him shudder under my arm. I noticed Astrid watching us while also trying to pay attention to the twins. I nodded my head ever so slightly and I saw her smile before she went back to focusing on the twins.
"Now, I believe you and Hookfang can complete this course. Not only just complete it, but do it backwards as well." Snotlout nodded his head once, determined to show that he could do it. I released my arm from his shoulders. "Go! Show me I'm right!"
"Let's go Hookfang!" Snotlout took a running leap off the side of sea stack, just as Hookfang caught him in the air before they shot towards the entrance of the course. I watched as the pair took the course faster than they tried before, with a new determination in both of them. I noticed that every other rider in the air was watching the pair as well. Heather and Dogsbreath on standby in case anything happened but I knew he was going to be fine. It wasn't long before he popped out on the other side, doing a complete u-turn on a lone sea stack and shooting back into the course backwards.
All the other riders were cheering him on as he took the course backwards, missing sea stacks by mere inches. Once he shot out the beginning of the course he celebrated in good fashion, Hookfang lit up because of the excitement and caught his bottom on fire again before they dived into the water. Heather and Dogsbreath flew over to make sure he was fine, with the other riders not far behind.
I watched Astrid smile to herself before she flew towards the sea stack I was on. I sat on the edge of it as I waited for her, Toothless not far behind me. "So how'd you do it?" Astrid asked as she dismounted and sat down beside me. I smiled as I watched all the riders interact with each other, praising Snotlout for finally completing the course, and nailing it backwards as well.
"I have no idea what you are talking about, Milady." I searched for a couple of seconds before I found her hand and we intertwined our fingers together behind us.
"He didn't want help from any of us. How did you help him?" I looked towards Astrid and found that she was curious but was also smiling.
"I technically didn't help him. He didn't want help." Confusion was all over Astrid's face, and I could not help but chuckle at her, in which she lightly punched my shoulder. "I only opened his eyes a little, helped him see things a little clearer." Astrid seemed to understand and smiled.
"Well, you do have a way with words." We both sat in silence as we watched the riders get back to work on perfecting their flying. The sun was just cresting the horizon and I could tell that the riders didn't care and were actually thoroughly enjoying flying.
"Coming to the cove later?"
"Ummm…" I looked towards Astrid, noticing the hesitation in her voice. "I wish I could, but Stoick is already asking too many questions." Realization seemed to dawn on me. I never would have thought that Stoick would be questioning Astrid on her whereabouts when she was tasked with watching my every move. "He's actually asked me for dinner tonight, which means I have to provide" Astrid sheepishly smiled. She looked absolutely beautiful in the sunset, I wish I could just reach out and kiss her.
"Tomorrow then?"
"Tomorrow for sure."
Oh Snotlout. Maybe there is a little good in you after all.