Waking up next to her was different than before, and it was a feeling I did not soon want to lose. Her warmth next to me was perfect. Though, we had a busy schedule for the day, finding those Trappers being high on the priority list. Any extra time spent in bed with her could result in them getting further out of reach, so as much as I wanted to stay, I couldn't. Taking a moment though, I pull her closer, pressing her back to my chest and lightly kiss her shoulder as I feel her start to rouse with a light laugh.
"Good morning." She whispers and I smile, feeling her hand squeeze against mine.
"Good morning." I answer softly between light kisses and she rotates so she is facing me. Her smile unmistakable as dawn is nearly here and the dark sky above has been replaced with a dark blue hue. Leaning in, I place a soft kiss on her lips and watch her eyes shut. I'd never expected that I could make her this happy, but I'm glad I do.
"We've got a busy day." I whisper and she nods.
"Got some dragons to save." She adds and I smile. "Let's go." She finishes and together we climb out of bed and get dressed in our riding gear.
"Go wake the other Riders and meet me in the Great Hall, I'll get Eret." I say and she nods, planting a light kiss on my lips before hopping on the back of Stormfly and taking off. Looking over to Toothless who is fully harnessed up, he shakes his head and grumbles. "Alright boy, one quick lap then to Erets'" I say, and he hops over to me with a toothless grin.
Jumping up and clicking in, Toothless finally has the chance to spread his wings. Even Astrid's Deadly Nadder couldn't hope to keep up with Toothless when he wanted to go fast. We're just good sports most times. Going for a quick free-fall in the cliff near the house, he tightens his wings. His wings cutting through the wind making that customary Night Fury Shriek as he opens and darts up at sea level.
Barreling upwards, we take high in the sky and dive bomb to the other side of the island. Just as Alvin said, his ships were already on the Horizon headed back towards Outcast Island. It didn't take Toothless and I more than a couple minutes to round to the other side of the Island and find Eret's house. He had taken a little bit of time, and there were still a few people who didn't trust him, but he was, for the most part, acclimated into our town.
Landing softly, I knock on his door and wait a few minutes until the tattooed sailor opens it.
"Good morning, Chief!" He says with his usual accent and runs back inside, coming back with a piece of paper. "Got this last night, seems we may have a target to hit today after all." He adds, knowing why I was here and I nod.
"Excellent! Head to the Great Hall, Astrid is already rousing the other Riders." I say and he gives me a narrow glance and a smile.
"She's up early, did you wake her first?" He questions rhetorically as I shrug and laugh. "Good on ya, Chief. I'll be there in minutes!" He says and closes his door, I can see Skullcrusher shifting slightly in the stable attached to his house. Even my dad's dragon had taken to him.
Taking Toothless, we round the town and I can see Stormfly below flying from the twins to Snotlout's house. Fishlegs was already on Meatlug and slowly making his way over to the Hall.
"Fishlegs!" I should as he lands at the Hall and I land behind.
"Hiccup! So, do we have any news of the dragon trappers?" He asks and I nod.
"Eret has some intelligence he's gathering and bringing here." I say as we start making our way in. To my surprise, my mother is already in the Town Hall. "Mom, you're up early?"
"Oh, I don't sleep much anymore, Hiccup. Besides, I heard the sound of Toothless taking flight and figured you'd all end up here anyways. Hope you don't mind me listening in?" She says and I shake my head.
"Absolutely, I'll need you here to hold down the fort while we're gone though." I say and she nods as I hear the commotion of the others start to filter in.
"It's not even dawn yet!" I hear Snotlout exclaim as the twins laugh behind him.
"Yeah, who put you in charge" Tuffnut snorted and I could see Astrid's silhouette behind them.
"Uh, that would be me. I did." I answer, holding up my hand.
"Great. Chief Hiccup strikes again. You know she kicked me out of bed; like, literally? Foot, to Face." Snotlout groans, prompting everyone to laugh.
"And why did I do that again, Snotlout?" Astrid challenges, putting her hands on her hips and looking at the Viking. He holds up his hand then drops it as he slouches his shoulders.
"Eh, nevermind." He groans and continues walking.
"What about us?" Ruffnut began. "She almost threw water on me!"
"She did throw water on me!" Tuffnut answers and Ruff laughs.
"Haha, yeah, that was actually worth it." Ruffnut finishes with a grin as Tuff tackles her and Astrid makes her way to me.
"Next time, you're waking them up." She whispers, bumping her hip to mine and I just smile and nod.
"Okay, okay! Can we, focus?" I ask as the loud sound of Skullcrusher is heard landing with Eret walking in with several pieces of parchment. "And there it is. What're we looking at Eret?"
"My contacts point to increased activity south west, near Hysteria. Dangerous waters to try to tread in with equally dangerous inhabitants." Eret warns and I nod.
"We haven't had much contact with the Hysterics in years. Are they hiring the trappers?" I ask as Eret arrives at the table and lays out his dossier, shaking his head.
"No, they've been keeping to themselves. Trappers are operating independently in their waters, I doubt they even know about it. But the channel is wrought with Scauldron's and Seashockers, as well as the deadly Doomfangs. The waters are always turbulent due to those two dragons always battling for survival and the Doomfang taking what it wants." Eret says and I nod, glancing to Fishlegs who has a soft look on his face. I remember when we found the Seashocker in our cove on the Edge and it was being hunted by Scauldrons. We'd never encountered the Doomfang and I wasn't honestly looking forward to it.
"Do we know what they're after?" I ask.
"The Doomfang, specifically. According to this report by an old mate of mine, Vern. I tried pulling him out when I joined you lot but he insisted on staying in and giving me information. He's loyal." Eret affirms and I nod.
"Alright, mount up gang. We leave in fifteen." I say and hear a collective 'Yeah!' with everyone filtering out to ready their dragons and riding suits. I feel the clasp of Astrid's hand tug mine to the side of one of large standing pillars and smile as I feel her lips press to mine. "You okay?" I whisper as our lips part and she nods.
"Just wanted too." She answers with a smile, releasing my hand and I smile.
"Good enough for me, come on, let's go. We've got some dragons to save." I say, lightly pecking her on the lips and she nods.
"Right."
The wind cuts across my face as we soar high in the clouds, heading southeast as we target the waters around Hysteria looking for trappers there. We'd had so little contact with the Hysteric Tribe that I'd almost forgotten they even existed. The Hysterics were worse than the outcasts and Berserkers put together. Being insane, barbaric and exceptionally creative made them horrific enemies. We usually just kept our distance and sailed far out of their waters to avoid earning their attention.
Hiccup had given us the brief before takeoff about dangerous dragons that patrolled the northern sides of the Island that we don't want to tangle with. Some dragons are better left alone, and most Tidal Dragons were so unaccustomed to human contact and territorial that the idea of befriending them was a passing one. There was also the fact we really didn't want to attract any undue attention from the Hysterics. Their waters were turbulent and with the high cliffs, they only really left their island for hunting when the channel froze over during the winter. The fact these trappers were operating in those waters raised some questions and fears.
Who were they working for now that all the known major players had been dealt with? Viggo and Ryker were gone, Johann and Krogan were gone. To be fair, we never actually found out what happened to Krogan but if he worked for Drago, Drago wasn't very forgiving. Drago was gone and we never saw hide nor hair of Krogan so it only stood to reason he was gone as well. The question now was who we were fighting. Drago's trade didn't die with him, much like the Hunters didn't die with Viggo. Either someone else was pulling the strings or moved in to take over. Time would tell who, and hopefully this raid would give us some usable intel.
We had been flying for the better part of an hour before we saw Hysteria Island on the horizon, and just north was a pair of ships. We already had our targets. Hiccup gave the signal and we all landed off on one of the tall standing rock formations a ways northeast of them.
"Two ships." Hiccup says, pulling out his spyglass.
"So, easy. Let's just go in, roast them and free the dragons. Why are you trying to make this complicated, Hiccup? We've done this hundreds of times at the Edge." Snotloud complains and Hiccup sighs.
"Yes, we have. And whenever we rush in, we are usually taken by surprise with something. Like then they had those dragon-proofed ship. I'd rather we know what we were facing before charging in blind, that sound good?" Hiccup challenges and Snotlout sighs but nods. "Fishlegs?"
"Okay. Doomfang. Tidal Sea Class Dragon. Black Scales. Freezing Blue Fire. Attack, Fear and Flight at 9. Speed at 8 but still dangerously fast, especially in the water." Fishlegs says, reading one of the cards in his pouch. I'm never not amazed by those.
"Okay, so basically my worst nightmare. Like Ruffnut." Tuff said in a exasperated sigh before feeling the impact of Ruff's fist.
"Yup. My worst nightmare." Ruffnut said sarcastically
"Okay, guys." Hiccup sighs. "We do not want to tangle with the Doomfang. Let's just free any captured dragons, damage the boats to force them out of there and get out. If the Doomfang attacks, we'll fall back here." Hiccup says. "Questions so far?" He asks and no one answers. Complaining or arguing aside, it made me smile seeing how even people like Snotlout had grown to accept his leadership. He must've noticed me looking at him as our eyes lock briefly and he smiles.
"Okay. Twins and Snotlout. You're our distraction." Hiccup begins.
"Please say Wall of Fire. Please say Wall of Fire" The twins say together as Hiccup nods.
"Wall of Fire. Light them up, stop their movements. Snotlout, take out their sails and deck emplacements after the twins move in."
"Oh, yeah. We got this, eh Hookfang!" Snotlout says with a grin and smashes his fist to his palm.
"Fishlegs. You, Astrid, and I will be on deck freeing the dragons. You and Astrid take the ship on the right, I'll take the one on the left. If either of us finish before the other, help each other." Hiccup adds and we nod. I felt a pang in my chest. It was a challenge going in to battle without him by my side before but now, I felt a new level of anxiety.
We'd given in to each other, we were each other's future in a way that was unknown to most. It was different now, my mind wandered, and I suddenly felt like Valka. What if something happened; if Hiccup was taken by surprise? If he… gods forbid… dies? No. We'd survived too much strife together; we'd beaten the odds countless times and this time the odds were ever in our favor. No. We would be fine, and tonight I would go to sleep happy in the knowledge that we saved some dragons, and I was in his arms.
Toothless and Hiccup walked closer to Stormfly and I felt his hand grab mine from the saddle. "We'll be okay." He says softly with a tight squeeze and smile, making me smile as his soft green eyes gazed into mine.
"I know." I answer, we'd grown more in tune with each other. It's like he could sense my apprehension and knew just how to put my mind at ease.
"Alright, Riders. Let's go!" Hiccup calls out and everyone nods.
Barf, Belch and the Twins taking off first with Snotlout and Hookfang close in tow. Diving down to sea level, they approach the ships as Hiccup, Fishlegs and I ready to launch. This would be our first raid since losing Stoick, and his first as Chief. It had to go well. It just had too.