Through The Ups & Downs

Couple; HarrisonXBriana

Rating; Mature

Disclaimer: I do not own HTTYD or any songs I might use! Also, from this point in the story and in future chapters, I do not own the character; Ella(Eira) Solveig. She belongs to my good friend, ShadowSpirit020.

23) She Was Safe

{Normal POV}

[Wednesday, September 30, 2015-Camp Arifjan]

It had been two weeks since Briana went MIA. Every effort was being made by the Americans to locate her. They would not give up the search until there was proof of a change in her status such as being found dead and called KIA or she was being held captive by enemies, and that would make her a POW, in which a whole new process would begin for rescuing if they were able. Harrison despised it all; he could have found her weeks ago if they let him take Toothless in. Thor only knew if Briana was alright now; she could be hurt or dead, and no one would know because they weren't using the dragons who could track from miles away. Harrison hated getting updates because he knew it would be another, 'No luck, son, but we're not giving up.'

Harrison didn't tell anyone at home what was going on; he wasn't allowed as a security measure. Harrison was miserable and depressed, praying to the Gods she was okay and the Americans would find her soon. Currently, it was Wednesday, September 30th, 2015. The end of the tour was upon them, and Harrison refused to leave Kuwait without Briana, so if they didn't find her by the time he left, he'd risk getting discharged from the military to find her himself. Alive or not, he wouldn't leave her in Kuwait when he left. Harrison was flying through the skies and over the base on Toothless, it was something he did every day now because it was the only thing that kept his head clear from flipping out that they hadn't found Briana yet.

"How's he doing today?" asked Aaron coming up behind Trevor, Dexter, and Syrus.

"Same as always, Major Hagebak. Wakes up, showers and gets dressed, eats, doesn't say a damn word," Dexter replied.

"You know how much he cares about Briana, sir. Would it hurt to let us take a fly over the place she disappeared and let the dragons try to find her?" Trevor wondered.

"I tried to talk to Dunbar about it, but we have to remember that we're mainly here for dragon control and it's up to them to find their own. If it were one of you, yes, I'd allow it, but I can't override the base leader when it comes to the American soldiers," Aaron sighed.

"We're just worried about him, Major. If we're not on a mission, he's just sitting with Toothless, laying in bed, or flying in the air as he is now," Dexter informed.

"Give him his time; he knows the Americans are doing their best," Glenn stated coming beside them now as they looked up watching Harrison fly around doing loops and twirls before finally leveling out and Harrison just sat there a moment, staring up at the clear sky while deep in thought. Harrison hated it; he could have found Briana by now if they would just give him two hours with Toothless. Harrison didn't understand this, why wouldn't they take the chance to save their own before something bad happened. It'd been two weeks, and Harrison knew that Briana was a fighter and that she was alive; he could feel it!

'Come on, Bri. Give me something, anything to know you're alright,' Harrison prayed while laying back on Toothless's spine but his legs were still on either side while he was staring at the sky above him. Harrison missed her a lot, and he'd give anything to have her back in his arms again. Toothless jerked hard, and Harrison sat up quickly looking around. "What is it, boy?" Harrison asked. On the ground, the group noticed that Harrison and Toothless just stopped and hovered in place, looking around for something.

"Somethings wrong," Trevor pointed out.

"What do you mean?" Aaron wondered.

"Harrison and Toothless, they just stopped flying and look to be on edge," Trevor said.

"Hm, does seem that way. Haddock! Is anything the matter, lad!?" Glenn called to Harrison. Of course, Harrison didn't answer because he was focusing on Toothless's movements and actions. The bond between the two of them was incredible because Harrison and Toothless understood one another in a way no one else could imagine. When Harrison and Toothless were seen together, it was if Toothless was human because Harrison knew what he was saying. Right now, that seemed to be the case. Toothless noticed something, so Harrison was on guard too.

"Talk to me, bud," Harrison rubbed the side of his dragon's neck. Toothless growled lowly and moved his head to the left, ears twitching to listen closer. Hayden picked up the sound as it neared, whistling, a sound that Toothless made at top speed! Suddenly, Toothless darted after it. As it got close in range, Harrison could see a black dot heading right for them. Before either Toothless or Harrison could react, the blurred object revealed itself as another Night Fury and with purple eyes too! The dragon slammed into Toothless and knocked Harrison off. "TOOTHLESS!"

"HARRISON!" his friends and commanding officers yelled in fear as Harrison was heading straight for the ground.

"Dragons!" Aaron called quickly.

"Wait, look!" Chelsea pointed to the sky as the Night Fury who knocked Harrison off Toothless dove in and grabbed him by the arm, then tried to fly off with him. Toothless cut the Night Fury off and again, Harrison was heading for the ground. Toothless shot past the other dragon and snatched Harrison up, then placed him down carefully. Suddenly, the two dragons were locked in a stand off with one another on the ground.

"What is going on?" came Colonel Dunbar's voice.

"I have no idea. That purple-eyed Night Fury knocked Harrison off Toothless, and now this is happening," Aaron stated. "Haddock, a little insight?"

"I don't know, sir. All I got right is that Toothless and this female Night Fury are about to fight. I assume it's because she knocked me off him and he doesn't like when others hurt me or take me away," Harrison said.

"So wait, that's a girl Night Fury?" Syrus asked.

"Yeah. Slimmer body, purple eyes. It's gotta be," Harrison nodded.

"We don't need a dragon fight in camp, Private Haddock. Can you stop them?" Thomas inquired.

"I can give it a shot," Harrison shrugged as he faced the two Night Furies that were growling and snarling at one another. "Toothless! Hey, come on, bud. Don't do this. There are too many people around," he called to his friend. Toothless crooned, glancing at him then the female dragon and huffed. "Yes, I know she made me fall off of you. But look, I'm alright. No harm done, I'm sure she was going too fast," Harrison reasoned with his draconic friend.

Toothless stared at the female dragon before him and then when she tried to step towards his rider, Toothless snarled at her again, slamming his paw down and the female whined. "Harrison, I don't understand this. It wasn't in any training we went through." Glenn reminded.

"It wouldn't have been. Night Furies are a rare species, and originally, Toothless was the only one seen in a hundred years. Now, there were two right in front of them about to fight with one another. "Toothless, step back," Harrison ordered. Toothless growled but did as he was told. Harrison moved closer, and the female growled at him, Toothless tried to get in to protect him, but Harrison put a hand up to stop his friend.

"Hey there, girl. It's alright; I'm not going to hurt you. I'm a friend," Harrison eased into it, and the dragon stayed relaxed. "I've never seen another Night Fury before. This here is Toothless, he's my friend," Harrison tried to introduce. "I'm Harrison. It's okay, you can trust me," he put his hand closer to her. At him saying his name to her, the dragon's purple eyes widened and her demeanor changed a bit. The Night Fury moved close to Harrison and nudged him to get on her back. "Woah, Woah. Okay, easy there. What's wrong?"

"Harrison, what's going on?" Thomas asked.

"I can't be sure, but I think she wants me to follow her," Harrison said. After that, the female dragon got her head under his hand and rubbed her head there. "Is that it? You want me to follow you in that direction?" he asked when he saw the female Night Fury motioning towards one of the nearby districts that were about a twenty-minute flight away from the base. Harrison felt the female nudge him again, whining. "Toothless, ask if if she wants me to follow her there," Toothless came over and faced the female, warbling a bit, the dragon replied, and Toothless nodded to him. Making a last minute decision, Harrison jumped on Toothless's back and secured himself in place.

"Where do you think you're going?" Aaron asked.

"This Night Fury came here looking for help and wants me to follow her, so I'm going to," Harrison replied.

"Take your team with-" Glenn began, but the female dragon growled at them to stay back.

"It has to be me. Maybe it's because she knows I'm bonded to Toothless and would understand. I don't know, but it's gotta be serious if she came rushing in during daylight to get me. I'll stay in contact, give me an hour to check it out, and I'll report back and let you know what's going on," Harrison said, his eyes giving a pleading look as if to tell Glenn and Aaron 'please let me do this.'

"I don't know if him going a long is a good id-" Thomas started.

"I want a check in every fifteen minutes, Haddock. I want you back in one hour. Understand? ONE HOUR or I'm sending the team after you," Aaron stated.

Harrison nodded as he whispered to the female Night Fury, "Go, girl. Lead me in," the dragon nodded and shot into the sky then Toothless did the same after Aaron handed me his radio.

[Small Town Twenty Minutes Away]

The female Night Fury led them past where Briana had last been seen. He couldn't explain it; he felt like this dragon had been looking for him. Briana was the only person he taught how to bond and did it with Toothless, another Night Fury. For this female one to arrive and want him to follow, he prayed it was Briana trying to get his attention that she was okay. The sign he had asked for. Harrison just checked in with saying they were still flying but nothing yet. Finally, the female dove down and Toothless followed after.

Upon landing in the village, Harrison looked around. Why would the female bring him here? It was one of the poorer towns, one he'd been on patrol in once or twice back when the tour first began. Either way, he still had about thirty minutes before he had to go back. The Night Fury crooned for me to keep following, so they did so. After ten minutes, Harrison had to radio in where he was and got asked why. Harrison said that the Night Fury was leading him through on foot to something so he was gonna check it out and if things got bad, he would abort and return with his findings.

Reaching the forty-five-minute mark on his time limit, Harrison sighed. "Hey, are we almost there?" he asked the dragon who nodded her head excitedly. Finally, they stopped an old house on the edge of town as Night Fury motioned for Harrison to go inside. "Guard Toothless," he ordered, and Toothless got ready. Grabbing his sidearm off his hip, Harrison pulled it back to lock a bullet ready for firing in the chamber while moving to the door. "Hello? Anyone in here?" Harrison asked.

No answer. Harrison grabbed his flashlight and put it on his wrist of the hand holding his gun; much like a police officer scoping out a suspicious building, something he learned from his father. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm a soldier, led here by a dragon. Is anyone in there, anyone hurt?" Harrison tried.

"Ha-Har...ris...on?" asked a frightened voice. Harrison's eyes widened.

"Bri?" Harrison said right away as he checked the second room in the house to see a huddled up in the corner. Platinum blonde hair and violet eyes. It was Briana! "Briana?!" he asked against kneeling before her quickly.

"I-It is you...Oh, God, you came for me! Oh, Harrison. I've been so afraid. I-I got sepa...rated from the others...and captured for a few hours before getting...away a-and-" Briana began.

"Ssh, ssh, it's okay! It's alright; I'm here now. You can tell me later. I'm so thankful you're alive. You've...been missing for two weeks. I've been...a mess without around," Harrison helped her up slowly, he saw her wince.

"I-I broke...my ankle trying to run away and have been hiding out here the last four days. I-I'm so glad that...Nightstar found you and led you here. I feared dying due to lack of medical care and food," Briana said. Harrison lifted Briana into his arms carefully as she held on to him.

"Nightstar? The female Night Fury?" Harrison asked, and Briana forced a nod as Harrison helped her out and the female Night Fury jumped around happily. "You bonded to her, didn't you? Then sent her to find me?" he inquired.

"Y-Yeah. Said to...find the boy named Harrison with a Night Fury he calls Toothless and lead them to me," Briana tried to laugh a little, but held her side.

"We have a lot of time to talk about it. Save your strength. I've got you now, babe," he added. It didn't matter, once they were safe inside Arifjan and she was taken care of they could talk more. Harrison got on Toothless's back with Briana still in his arms. "To the base, Toothless!" he called.

"Nightstar, follow," Briana told her Night Fury. After that, both dragons took to the sky after Harrison radioed in that he would need medical right away and they would be back within twenty minutes. Harrison made the call quick and stupidly forgot to mention that he found Briana. Wouldn't this be a surprise for them?

[Camp Arifjan-Zone Two]

"I see him!" Glenn called out. The entire Wind Rider Platoon was out of the barracks to see Harrison return with Toothless and the female Night Fury as well. Skye, Andy, Steven, Darryl, and Jason had come out too. Not long after them was Thomas Dunbar, curious on why Harrison called in needing medical. However, when Harrison landed, they someone in his lap. Harrison got off Toothless and held Briana in his arms. "Uh, who ya got there, laddie?"

"Private First Class Briana Grayson, Lieutenant," Harrison stated in a cold voice.

"I specifically said you were not to seek her-" Thomas began.

"Hey! I didn't defy your orders, Colonel Dunbar. Now, I will be more than happy to explain how all this happened after Miss. Grayson is taken to medical to be looked over and her injuries taken care of," Harrison informed.

"I believe, Thomas, that my soldier has a point. Miss. Grayson was missing for two weeks and needs a complete check over, and I think a job well done is in order. Good work, Private Haddock," Aaron said with a nod.

"Thank you, sir," Harrison replied as he placed Briana down on the medical cot to be carried. "I'll come see you as soon as all this is cleared up on my side, Milady. I love you, and everything is going to be okay," he said gently to her. Briana smiled a little and nodded to him as Harrison kissed her deeply for a moment then stepped back as Briana was carried to the Medical Center within the camp walls. Harrison cared about nothing else; Briana was back, and she was safe.