Chapter 5
Hiccup
The cove was full of light. All around him the rays of the sun fell lightly on the ground, warming it. They danced on the water of the lake, and glistened as they touched the scales of his companion's body. He sat with his back against Toothless, soaking up the warmth of both the dragon's body and the sun above. All was peaceful, and he was happy. Toothless was thrumming beneath him, and he knew that his friend was happy. All was peaceful. Then Toothless lifted his head from his paws, and brought it around close to his. He reached up with his hand, and ran it along the soft scales of his friend's eye ridge. Toothless' thrumming intensified, and deepened. And then the dragon brought his head down and nuzzled the skin between his neck and shoulder. The feeling that leapt down his spine was, strange. It jumped and danced and touched each of his limbs on its way down. He shivered. Then Toothless purred, and licked that same exact spot beneath his chin, that spot between his jaw, and his neck. Warmth flooded his body and he let out an involuntary sigh. A different sort of feeling accompanied that touch. He had actually felt the affection in his friend's caress, and he loved it. He found himself wanting more, craving it like air. This was so very strange. He was about to turn to Toothless and ask him what he had meant by that touch, when there was a crash, and a yell in the distance.
Then he sat bolt upright, and found himself not in the cove, and not against Toothless, but at home, in his bed.
More shouts and yells could be heard in the distance. He had not removed his clothes for sleep so he bolted straight for the door. He took the stair three at a time to the ground floor while more crashing and a scream sound from outside. It didn't take him more than three seconds to hit the front door. He tried to push it open, but found it blocked. The door only opened a few inches before some heavy fallen object halted its progress.
Suddenly the entire room felt close. Far too small. He needed the sky. Ignoring the back door, he leaped back up the stairs four at a time, a feat he had never before succeeded in, and reached the second floor in a matter of seconds. Once back in his room he ran for the window and through the skins that covered it aside. Without a second's pause he vaulted though he uncovered portal. Bring his hands up he clung to the eve of his roof while his legs dangled in empty space. With a surge of adrenaline, he hauled himself up onto the roof.
From here the entire village was in plain view. Tongues of flame licked at each structure and tiny figures ran here and there, locked in combat or desperately trying to put the fires out. In the smoky skies, dragons wheeled and dove, bathing the earth beneath them in fire.
Unlike any other raid he'd ever experienced, the dragons didn't seem at all concerned with stealing the sheep or yaks. They were entirely focussed the destruction of the structures and inhabitants. It was the biggest raid that he had ever witnessed.
Then, he felt a shudder pass through the roof beneath his feet. Something large had landed behind him. The large reptile then stepped to his side. He turned and smiled.
XXX
Astrid
It was as if the hells had all broken apart and unleashed every demon in existence down upon Berk. She herself had left the other teenagers to fire control while she joined in the actual battle. Though it didn't help that about half of the village had gone out on that nest hunt. For every dragon she slew, there were at least five more to take it's place. All was chaos. She had stopped thinking about things like where she was and if she had injuries. Those could be dealt with after every single abomination in the sky was dead.
Eventually every weapon she owned had been rendered useless by intense combat. This necessitated figuring out where she was so that she could get to the smithy stall. Upon reaching it she was surprised to find Gobber within. In a battle against these numbers he would usually be out in the field. But then she saw why Gobber was working instead of fighting, he lacked an assistant to take over. Hiccup was nowhere inside the forge.
"Gobber! Where's Hiccup! Why isn't he here?"
"Haven' the foggiest! Haven' seen 'im since yesterday!" Gobber shouted over the clamor. Astrid left her ax and spear with the large man to be mended. By the looks of it they wouldn't be done for a while. Gobber's workflow had piled high without Hiccup to help him, and all of the reserve weapons were gone, presumably in active use. She turned and, picking up a piece of fallen timber from some house, dived back into the fray.
She had no idea how much time passed between when she left the forge, and when she was next brought to terms with her surroundings. She suddenly found herself helping the teenagers with fire control, since her makeshift stake had proved an ineffective weapon. Eventually she realized that she was extinguishing the house right beside Hiccup's. She stared for a brief moment at the chief's house. Where was the little shrimp? He was too dangerous in a raid. The last time he had gotten out he'd completely destroyed the pathways leading down to the docks, as well as a good portion of the docks themselves.
She froze. She'd been gazing at the chief's house, but she had suddenly noticed something on the roof. There standing at the edge was Hiccup. He was gazing all around him, all over the village. He didn't even look concerned. As a matter of fact his face barely registered interest! He looked as though he were enjoying a pleasant ocean view. Then something loomed behind him.
She stared in horror as a large shadow detached itself from the sky that was it's backdrop and stood beside Hiccup. It was a dragon she had never seen before. And as she watched, Hiccup turned to look at it, and smiled!
He smiled!
His face lit up like he'd just been told the best news! He looked elated! Then, as if following some unseen signal, both Hiccup, and the demon beside him turned, and walked out of sight, disappearing with a flash of a black tail. Astrid ran between the houses, and caught a glimpse of something disappearing, into the forest.
She could feel her mouth hanging open. It was impossible. Insane! Hiccup had stood there, with an uncaring face as his fellow Vikings had fallen in battle. Then the enemy had appeared right beside him, and he didn't even have the decency to look frightened, or even wary! He had smiled and gone with it away, into darkness.
He was a traitor.
For the rest of the morning she was relentless. Every dragon that crossed her path either met its end, or was sent screeching into the night worse off for having met her. Slowly, as the horizon brightened with coming of the sun, she found her path blocked by fewer and fewer dragons. The fires that many were putting out, did not relight and the smoldering remains of buildings began to rest quietly. By the sun's rising, there were no living dragons left.
The results of the night's devastation were terrifying to behold. Bodies of dragons lay everywhere, as did the corpses of villagers. Astrid joined a group that was helping to carry the bodies back to their families. The Elder would certainly be busy with burial rites.
The other teens were all busy taking stock of what was left afterward. The food supplies had been relatively untouched by the chaos, making the dragons' goal in attacking entirely unclear. Gobber along with Spitelout took charge of the various groups, splitting labor as evenly as possible. The Village of Berk was well used to rebuilding itself.
As Astrid labored the sun climbed higher in the sky, until a few hours before midday, when her group was assigned a break for water and rest. While others sat down and nursed their aches and wounds, Astrid stayed standing, pacing back and forth.
What had she seen last night? It had seemed as though Hiccup stood above the village, cold and indifferent to their fate, and a dragon, entirely black had whisked him away. Hiccup had looked at that dragon with recognition. There was no surprise in his face that she could see. Then again, it had been very dark and smoky. What she'd seen could have been a mirage caused by the stress of the moment and her own troubled thoughts.
There was only one way to know for sure. She turned toward the Chief's house, which she now realized was the only single building in the village that had been entirely untouched by flames and battle. Slipping behind a pile of timber to ensure that her group could not see her, she slipped off toward the house, and hopefully, some answers.
XXX
Toothless
He'd awakened with a start from his resting place within the forest. The screeches of other dragons and the glow of fire were evident from the direction of the village. Pieces of earth and mulch rose in a shower behind him as he bounded toward Berk at full speed, dodging trees and occasionally flapping his wings when he had the room, giving a few of his bounds extra distance.
He identified his Hiccup's dwelling by scent easily positioned as it was at the village's very edge. Above him dragons of all kinds dived and swooped all over the skies, setting dwellings afire wherever they perceived a threat.
Toothless shook his head. He now saw how very unnecessary it was. He could care less what the queen thought. He wished he could tell Hiccup about her, but that conversation was just too complex for looks and nudges. He was just trying to figure out the best way to enter the dwelling when something small came flying out of an opening on the second floor. It grabbed hold of the roof's eave and leaped onto the roof.
As it stood stationary the figure was silhouetted against the orange tinted smoke behind it. That settled things; it was his Hiccup standing up there on the roof looking down over the carnage. With one powerful jump he was standing on the roof as well. And with a few strides he was at his rider's side. For a moment they both stood there, observing the chaos, before Hiccup turned and smiled at him. That smile erased all thoughts of worry and consideration for the current situation.
They both turned at the same time to walk to the back of the roof. His boy climbed onto his back and he leapt. With one bound he was at the tree line, and with another they had left the village behind, racing through the shadows. Soon the sight of the fires was just a memory reflected in an orange glow radiating from the smoke above the village.
That day was one of the happiest he could remember. And he could tell that his Hiccup was happy as well, which only made his joy sweeter. They napped in the cove until the sun rose and then flew with the wind, moving in perfect harmony, as they twisted, spun, dived, and climbed through the air. They were masters of the sky and they basked in the glow of the sun and the cool caress of the breeze. They fished when hungry and finally stopped to once again watch the time pass by in the clouds above.
He lifted his head from where it had rested on his paws to gaze at his boy. He was entirely devoted to a human. It was clear as the day above. He knew that for reasons beyond his reckoning, he had chosen this small human boy, as his life partner, his mate. The thought made a thrum resonate through his body. He nuzzled his Hiccup's skin, right between the shoulder and neck, where he knew was most sensitive. He felt a shiver pass through Hiccup's body and the human looked up at him with surprise in his face. And he was not able to deduce what the boy was thinking. He seemed a bit confused, but he reached up with his hand to brush lightly along the smooth scales of his eye ridge. A feeling of utter contentment swept through him, and licked that same spot beneath his rider's chin. Hiccup's eyes widened and the corner of his mouth began to twitch upwards.
Then the moment was broken by the snap of a twig, and the sudden appearance of that annoying female Viking. She leaped from behind a stone yelling;
"Hiccup! Move!" Then she threw her ax with all the force she could muster straight towards the dragon's neck. Hiccup gave a strangled cry and leapt to his feet.
There was a squelching crunch.
A grunt.
And a thud.
