Hello, here is the sequel to how to fix a broken world. Just as I promised. I hope you all will enjoy it just like I will enjoy typing it.
Freeing Dragons
My life and Toothless's changed forever when we met Princess Raya and the water dragon Sisu. They helped us find a new home, friends who would always have our back and most importantly something I've always wanted in my life: love. I never thought that Princess Raya and I would realise we had feelings for one another. But the adventure we endeavoured together with our friends to save the land of Kumandra changed everything. But even five years ago, I still had a strange feeling that it was only just the beginning.
(Five Years Ago)
Astrid patrolled the Dragon Killing Arena that night. It was her turn for the night shift.
Two figures peered down with two dragons on the cliffs towering over the prison of the dragons used in training. One long and blue with a horn. One medium-sized and black.
Hiccup peered through his spyglass and saw her. He frowned. His girlfriend noticed his hated expression. "You know her pretty well?"
"I thought I did once. We used to be friends and I once had a crush on her. But then when we were twelve, she ditched me for not being good enough. She even blamed me for 'getting in the way of training when all I was trying to do was help. But I don't care anymore. I have you, Raya,"
Raya smiled. "If any girl even thinks of stealing you from me, then they'll have the taste the fury of this baby," she pulled out her sword. "You two ready?"
"Ready," Sisu and Toothless said together.
"Sisu go," Hiccup commanded.
Sisu disappeared behind the rocks and dived headfirst into the sea.
Down below, Astrid walked around in circles, silent, her ears poking out behind her hair bangs. She suddenly stopped. She couldn't hear anything but the hairs on her skin were tingling. She looked around bearing her axe. All she saw was fog rising above the edges of the cliffs. She rushed over and looked down. She could see no ocean and she couldn't hear anything. The fog slowly elevated and it surrounded her. She pulled out her lantern but it wasn't doing much effort.
Not far behind her, a figure slowly approached her. She was masked, her red cape hid her cloaks and her hair was hidden behind and under her conical hate. She treaded forward very carefully. She then pulled out a small blow dart and puff…. An arrow hit Astrid in the neck and she collapsed.
Raya whistled. Two broad wings barely visible through the fog flapped rapidly and the fog cleared away. "Well done Toothless," she praised. Toothless landed, turned into a human and high-fived Raya.
Hiccup came out and he tied up the legs and arms of his former friend before stuffing a sack over her head. He then carried her and hid her behind some nearby rocks. Once he did, he stared at the unconscious Astrid with disgust. "I can't believe I once liked you. But now I have a new girlfriend who loves me exactly for who I am," he walked back over to the group.
Sisu and Toothless were humans.
"So where are the dragons?" Sisu asked.
"In there," Hiccup pointed to the arena behind those giant gates.
"How awful," she said.
They entered inside and Hiccup pulled the lever. It opened slowly. Sisu and Toothless walked inside slowly whilst Raya stayed with Hiccup seeing that his mind was on other things.
In the mind of his eye, he could see Stoick the Vast scarring him as he defended his dragon. He could hear the disclaiming words of a cruel father disowning his only son. A tear left his eye. He never thought coming back would suddenly cause that memory to re-emerge; he felt instantly scared.
"Hiccup…" Raya's fingers slipped into his. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine,"
Raya knew better. "I'm sorry that coming back here is so hard for you. But I'm here with you always,"
Hiccup turned to her. "I know," he smiled tearfully. "And I love it,"
Raya smiled. She leaned up and kissed him. He kissed back. And then he hugged her tight. She rubbed his back in comfort.
"Hey lovebirds!" Sisu whistled.
"Come on you two! We don't have time for this!" shouted Toothless.
Holding hands, they rushed into the arena and over to the giant gates where they heard growls and snarls. Hiccup felt his heart sink hearing those noises. That dragon didn't deserve to be locked up.
"Push that lever," he pointed to one of the big wooden levers embedded in the rock walls. "Slowly,"
Toothless pushed it slowly and the doors slowly opened. Inside they saw the Monstrous Nightmare, the same one that Hiccup had tried to train in front of every one three years ago. The dragon was bound in chains and muzzles.
"Oh my," Raya breathed. "What an awful way to imprison dragons,"
She accidentally woke the dragon up. The moment it opened its eyes, it growled and tried to charge at them but it was held back by its chains nailed to the walls.
Toothless turned into a dragon again and jumped in front of them roaring.
"Toothless stop!" Hiccup shouted. "He's just protecting himself!"
"I'm still not certain about this. This is the same dragon who nearly killed you,"
"It will be all right Toothless. Trust me," he implored.
Toothless's growl softened but he growled at the dragon. "If you make a move on him, I will end you,"
The Monstrous Nightmare growled in response.
Toothless backed down and Hiccup slowly pulled up his retracted sword. The dragon growled. He dropped. The growled soothed. He gently approached him, unafraid. "You remember me?" He reached out his hand, holding it in front of his snout behind its muzzle. The dragon saw the bravery in his eyes, the gentleness in his eyes and poise. It stopped growling and leaned its face forward. Its snout sniffed Hiccup's fingers. It saw no threat. Only kindness.
"There. You see we're not a threat. We're here to set you free," Hiccup promised. He stroked its snout and it cooed.
Raya smiled at him. So did Sisu and Toothless.
Hiccup turned over to Raya and held out his hand. She took it and he gently placed her hand on his snout. She saw compassion in the dragon's eyes when she stroked its warm scales. It wasn't a monster. "You're a handsome fellow,"
Toothless narrowed his eyes. 'I thought I was handsome'. Sisu saw his manner and sniggered.
"Now we're gonna bust those chains off you,". Keeping his hand over his snout, Hiccup bent down, picked up his sword, and activated it. It lit on fire. "Keep him calm," he told his girlfriend.
Raya kept her hand on the snout whilst he went over to the chains and melted them with his sword. He then pulled them off the dragon's wings and legs; now he had to do the muzzle. He carefully melted the straps around the dragon's head and then he and Raya lifted it off its face. "There. Now you can go free,"
'Thank you The dragon cooed. It dug its hands into their hands and they stroked it. "Now for the others,"
They exited the big cage.
"I'll take the Deadly Nadder. Raya, you take the Gronkle. Sisu, you do the Zippleback. Toothless, you and Hookfang keep a lookout,"
"Are you sure you'll be all right?" he asked.
"I'll be a fine bud," Hiccup promised.
"Uh, question, who's Hookfang?" Sisu asked.
"This guy," Hiccup gestured to the Monstrous Nightmare. "Might as well give him a name since he's our new friend,"
Hookfang nuzzled his back in appreciation.
Toothless in his dragon form and Hookfang flapped out of the Arena and stood on the lookout.
Hiccup walked over to the pen containing the blue beautiful Deadly Nadder. He opened it and approached the growling dragon carefully. He moved over to its blind spot and when he wasn't visible to it, he scratched it under the chin and it affectionately cooed. He then soothed her tail spikes and it calmed down.
Raya came to the Gronkle. It growled even with a muzzle, but she pulled out some special grass. She rubbed it against its skin and it calmed down, feeling surprisingly happy with the touch of those blades.
Sisu was face to face with the two-headed dragon. She pulled out some fish that Hiccup had given her and she tossed it to them. It caught and munched on them. She then reached out her hands nervously and they nuzzled her hand. She rather liked it but she suddenly screamed when they started licking her with their tongues.
From outside, Hiccup and Raya laughed seeing her in this state. They came outside.
"So what are we going to name them?" Raya asked.
"I think I'll name this girl Stormfly," Hiccup scratched her chin and she nuzzled his back.
"How about Meatlug for you?" Raya offered the Gronkle. It growled happily and nudged her back begging for a hug which she awkwardly gave.
Sisu tried to think of a name but it was hard to breathe because she could smell the Zipplebacks' breaths. "Aww, you two smell like you've just barfed over belched. How about Barf and Belch?"
"You really wanna name them that?" Raya asked.
"You're right. Let's think of something else," Sisu went into thinking mode but the Zippleback heads nudged her back, yapping ecstatically. "I guess that means they like them,"
"Well, you trained them, so it's your choice," Hiccup said.
He led them out of their prison and to the cliffs where Toothless and Hookfang awaited them. Toothless nuzzled Hiccup glad to see he was safe. He addressed their new friends. "Now guys…we're going to take you all someplace where no Viking will ever find you again,"
His announcement made them yap for joy.
"And it won't just be you guys," Raya spoke up. "We're gonna try and rescue every dragon that's ever been imprisoned," The dragons chirped, sharing heart-struck glances. These humans who had freed them were now true friends.
"We must leave now while we still can," Hiccup said.
"What do we do about Astrid?" Sisu asked.
"I say we take her and lock her up so she gets a taste of their medicine," Toothless voted.
"What? No! That would be a bad idea," Raya opposed.
"Raya's right. They'll know someone took her and that wouldn't make us any different from her," Sisu said.
"I've got a better idea," Hiccup smirked.
The group flew across the sky. Raya was behind Hiccup, arms around his waist. Toothless enjoyed giving them both a joyful ride. Sisu flew beside them sharing a happy glance with Toothless. Their new dragon friends flew behind them, experiencing true freedom for the first time.
Astrid's eyes flickered. She groaned in pain. She sat up slowly. Her eyes opened. She gasped. She was inside her room. "OH my gosh! How did I get here?" She threw the blanket off her bed and rushed down the stairs grabbing her axe. She sprinted out of her axe and into the town square. A crowd had gathered. Stoick the Vast stood in the centre. "Guys! I know you're all frustrated!" he spoke up but he couldn't quell the angry questions thrown at him.
"How will our children learn how to train?!"
"How can we capture some new ones?!"
"Who was supposed to watch them last night?!"
"Ahh, Astrid Hofferson!"
Astrid turned to see Spitelout Jorgenson pointing a bony finger at her. "The girl who failed her job!"
All eyes were turned to her, narrowed and full of anger.
"Where were you?!" a mother shouted.
"Guys, please…I was knocked out!" Astrid tried to speak up.
"Astrid!" a pair of voices screamed.
She turned her head to see two parents rushing to her, hers. "Mum! Dad!"
"There you are honey!" her mother hugged her.
"Where were you?" her father demanded. "We went to the Arena and we couldn't find her!"
"That's because she snuck off to bed when she was supposed to keep an eye on the dragons!" Spitelout snorted.
"You take that back!" Mr Hofferson spat back.
Astrid turned desperately to Stoick. "Chief, I swear to you I was guarding the Arena. But then this fog rose in and I felt something prick my neck. I was knocked out,"
The Vikings wouldn't listen but Stoick was intrigued. He knew Astrid was no liar.
"You seriously going to believe her Stoick?" Spitelout questioned. "Come on guys! Let him listen to the lies of that girl!"
The Berkians roared in agreement and stomped off. Stoick approached Astrid and her parents with Gobber.
"Let me look at the back of your neck," he said.
Astrid turned around and pulled her hair to the side. Stoick saw a needlepoint mark at the back of her neck. "You were knocked out. I will make the others believe you,"
"Still…I did fail my duty chief. And I'm so sorry," Astrid apologised, feeling like a total failure.
"You're not a failure Astrid," Stoick comforted. "And that is why I wish to tell you this,"
Astrid was sparked. "What chief?"
Before Stoick could even speak up, Gobber blurted out, "He wants you to be the future chieftess of Berk!"
Astrid's mouth dropped.
After a few days of travel, Hiccup and Raya came to a large island where they made camp with Toothless and Sisu. He pulled out a map of the Archipelago. There were three large red marks. Outcast Island. Berserker Island and Dragon Hunter Island.
"This is where all the other dragons are imprisoned. If we're going to rescue them, we're going to need a full-proof plan," he announced.
"We'll do it together," said Raya determinedly.
Hiccup stood up to face the four they rescued. "Guys, if you continue north you'll find yourselves in Kumandra and there will be humans and dragons like Sisu awaiting. Go now and be free and we'll see you in a few weeks,"
But they didn't leave.
"Go. You can get there," Still nothing. Hiccup turned around to them. "Why won't they take off?"
"They want to help us," said Sisu.
Hiccup turned back to them. "Guys, we can't let you come with us. It's too dangerous,"
Hookfang approached him and nuzzled his hands. So did Stormfly.
'You need our help' Hookfang said.
'For releasing her we are forever in your debt' vowed Stormfly.
Hiccup felt his heart jump. 'Did I just understand them?'
"You sure did," said Toothless.
His human was breathless. "How…"
"Because you're connected to magic," explained a wise Sisu. "When you used the Dragon Gem, some of its energy reverted into you. The same energy that brought you back to life when you turned to stone,"
Hiccup didn't know what to say.
"You're worthy of it," praised Raya proudly earning a smile. She looked at the dragons. "You all sure you want to join us?"
She expected nods but she heard Meatlug growl softly: 'You have our allegiance'.
Her heart jumped. "I understood you,"
"You're connected to magic too," breathed Hiccup, coming to stand in front of her.
"Why? I didn't use the Dragon Gem,"
"No. But your faith and love for Hiccup made you equally worthy of it," Sisu explained.
Hiccup and Raya's hands slipped together. They glanced into the eyes of all their dragon eyes and exchanged facial promises of loyalty. It was time to get to work.
And so, we rescued every dragon in the Archipelago. From the treacherous Outcasts to the vain Dragon Hunters. We then gathered every dragon we could find on every island and we led them to Kumandra where they could live in peace and harmony forever. To our delight, Kumandra's dragon became very welcoming to every dragon we delivered to freedom. And so did the people. Homes were set up everywhere for them. People started to train them thanks to what they let me teach them. Going back to Berk was so hard for me. But being there with Raya and our best dragon friends by our side made me feel braver. I don't know where I would be without them, nor they without me. And I know in my heart that whatever will come our way, whatever challenges we may face, we will do it together.
I hope you all have enjoyed this first chapter. I look forward to reading your reviews. See you all soon when the adventure begins.
