AN: That ought to teach me to give myself a solid deadline and publish it. I'm sorry everyone that this took so much more time than my messages suggested. My first round of finals for this year jumped on my back pretty hard. But now there is nothing but time (hopefully)! Anyway, the usual praise for LEPShot, without whom what you read below would be a mere shadow of itself. Enjoy!
Chapter 35
Runes are only as powerful as their wielder; their application is restricted by the Shade's imagination and creativity. However, even those who do not excel in efficiently applying the tools offered to them can perform great and mighty feats by utilizing multiple Runes at once. When using more than one command at a time, one can accomplish more complex tasks. For example, if one combines such Runes as Repel, Border, and Prey, it is possible to create a boundary which the user's idea of prey cannot cross.
Such groups of Runes must be carefully arranged within a circular design when drawn, or within the mind of the Shade who uses them. In so binding the Runes to a particular task, it becomes possible for the group of Runes to draw energy from different sources. A boundary maintained around Home Cave, for example, could draw on each and every of the Imbued within and thus make the overall cost to maintain the Runes minimal.
What we were able to do in so little time that day was amazing. Such a discovery made use of in so little time was amazing in and of itself. At the time I could not conceive of how Hiccup figured such a thing out on his own...
No, it's happening again. Get ahold of yourself!
Heartbeat of the Arctic
Ryshkaa
XXX
Unknown
Stones that had long felt the slight grindings and rustlings of scale and claw lay silent. Passages and tunnels once buzzing with the comings and goings of large creatures were now abandoned and desolate. Darkness prevailed in the halls of Home Cave, and the only warmth was the muted glow of the Earth's blood flowing far below.
A single flare of light appeared, illuminating a very strange sight within the atrium. Orderly ranks of dragons of all the common varieties found in the southern oceans sat in an arc around a central point, silent, and still; Nadders, Zipplebacks, Gronkles, and Nightmares all sat, listening. Waiting.
At the focal point of the arc, a dark shape sat before the sluggishly burning globule it had divulged from its throat. In the low light, the only visibly identifiable feature of the shape was its silhouette; bulky, muscled limbs held a lithe and powerful torso a foot or so from the cave floor. Narrow wings lifted slightly from a ridged spine. A thin and whiplike tail writhed slowly back and forth, contrasting with the still and steadily breathing body.
For a period of an hour, all was still. The fire at the central shape's paws went out and was not rekindled. Throughout the course of the hour, strange glowing shapes continuously appeared, shifted and disappeared on the floor around the central shape.
When the hour had passed, the central shape threw back its head head in a single flex of its sinuous neck and let out an angry shriek to bounce about the chamber, echoing and amplifying until the pitch was beyond hearing. With it, the shape also released a jet of dark, sickly indigo flames into the air, painting the cave walls with dancing shadow.
The assembled dragons did not react.
The shape promptly turned and leapt upon one of the Gronkles. With great sycle-shaped claws, the shape rent the Gronkle's hide, muscle and sinew from its bones. In great sweeping strokes the creature's life was carved away. The dragon remained impassive. Cold. Staring.
Finally breathing heavily, the shape stilled, and began to snap up pieces of meat from the floor.
The assembled dragons continued to stare directly ahead.
XXX
Hiccup
Suffocating darkness was all around. Hiccup felt the yank of inertia as Toothless accelerated to impossible speed, while the pressure of the void asserted itself against his ears and eyes. Despite having performed the action before, by accident, he was still not prepared for the strange feeling, especially now that it was accompanied by almost three-hundred others jumping in tandem with him.
Hiccup glanced around.Before him in the blackness hung a circle, formed of the same lambent, glowing lines that had defined the Hall of Knowledge. Within the Circle, three Runes were arranged equidistant from each other. For two he was not certain of the meaning, but the third was undeniably Speed. Outside the circle, several other Runes were flickering, but he was entirely unsure of their meaning. When he touched them, he only received vague notions of the sun moving, plants aging, and a Darkness. This final feeling frightened him, so he focussed on what he knew the Runes would do together.
They would cancel the interior of the circle, and themselves after a set amount of time.
From the topmost, bottommost, leftmost, and rightmost edges of the configuration, subtle lines of indigo ran into the darkness behind, above and below Hiccup. And when he turned about, a wondrous sight greeted him; a group of more than two hundred Shades soared through the blackness. Each one was connected to their brethren by the same hairlines of flickering blue. On eaches face burned a single Rune, one that Ryshkaa had known, but had not learned how to implement. The Rune was very difficult to define in human words, but the closest that Hiccup could come, was One-With-Many. These Runes all acted as guides; anchors for the configuration before Hiccup to act upon.
One of the other two Runes within the circle took energy from the other Imbued within the configuration. At the back of the group, Ryshkaa. To the left and right, Skuru and Myza, respectively. The entire group made up an enormous glowing disk that hovered in the void, traveling at speeds any other living creature would be hard-pressed to comprehend. The amazement and wonder before him was almost enough to distract Hiccup from the alarming feeling that he was being drained of blood - the ring of Runes before him rapidly absorbed his Heart's Fire despite also feeding from the three behind him.
He had just enough time to watch the circle of Runes around the ring's outer edge flare brightly before he lost consciousness and fell forward onto Toothless' back.
XXX
Toothless
A blast of air hit Toothless' face and joined the slipstream around him, shoving his ears down and parting his jaw slightly. He found himself in the sky, at an altitude he had never before experienced - simply breathing seemed to wind him slightly.
Before the jump, they'd climbed to an enormous height, leaving clouds beneath and allowing the air to become noticeably cooler. Hiccup would probably have swiftly felt the ill effects of the altitude before his scales had grown, but now the only significant patches of human skin left to him were under his left arm, along the lower right side of his chin, and a large patch across the ribs on his right side. The other patches of human skin were very small and not a significant danger. Skuru had brought his cloak to him before their departure as well.
Now, the boy had fallen asleep from exertion and lay sprawled along his back, the wing mechanism tugging slightly as Hiccup's foot sagged. He'd locked it in gliding position before the jump, but it was still slightly worrisome. Toothless wasn't sure how the leather and iron would fare at these low temperatures. It had been such a relief for Hiccup to replace the automatically adjusting fin with the mechanism that tied his flight to his mate, and even now with his human sleeping peacefully, the physical link between them sent a pleasurable shudder through the length of his body.
The entire group, having been connected mentally for the jump, now fragmented and separated into individuals and Wings, but Ryshkaa's voice still rose above them all.
"We're following Hiccup and Toothless home! Everyone stay on them and Sycle's Wing. Lockwing and gliding will be our best option to reach Berk without incident! We'll discuss chain of command in a short time, but I'd like to give Hiccup time to awaken."
There was a murmur of general assent and agreement. Ryshkaa dove to form with Sycle, Kale and Skuru, with Toothless at the point.
"Are you two alright?" Sycle's rough voice was the most compassionate that Toothless had ever heard it.
"I'll be fine in a few hours. I ate an enormous Khada before we left!" Skuru sounded smug and satisfied with himself, both for the size of fish he'd hunted, and for the role he'd played in the group's escape. With a grunt and an audible 'click', the young shade locked the joints midway along his wings and at the base. The physical relief in the muscles was tangible throughout the Wing as one by one, the Shades all ceased the strain on their muscles and allowed their skeletal structures to take the full weight of their bodies against the lift in their wings.
From an altitude this high, the group could glide all the way to Berk.
"Ryshkaa, may I speak with you?" The formal and awkward wording made Toothless squirm internally, but he couldn't see another way to easily start a conversation.
"Of course, Toothless." The words came with the sound of a smile; aggravating, but Toothless ignored it.
"I'm a little confused about something. Before we left, you and Hiccup spent a long time talking too rapidly for me to keep pace with, and then you announced that you'd both discovered a way to get us all away safely. Did Hiccup just help you figure out how to do what he did, or did Alda teach him things that were beyond what you'd learned?" For a long while, Ryshkaa was silent. Toothless was about to continue, but Ryshkaa spoke up before he could.
"I'm a little concerned about that, Toothless. The entire thing was Hiccup's idea. He showed me that ring configuration, and he asked me to present the idea to the group. I'd never seen some of those Runes before. And I've certainly not learned about using a circle, which is not a Rune in and of itself, to affect the actions of other Runes. Skuru never learned that sort of thing either. And Myza asked a lot of questions, so... she couldn't have. I think Alda chose to impart knowledge to Hiccup that he didn't to anyone else."
"And he didn't explain?"
"I asked him! All he would say was, 'Trust me, and trust Alda'. Perhaps he just learned far more quickly than any of the rest of us."
"I'll ask him about it when he wakes up. He was so concerned for everyone else while we were preparing that I didn't want to pressure him about details. But I've also been meaning to ask you... did we give Alda a proper send off? You know, by Old standards?" The curiosity in Toothless' voice helped to lighten the question.
"During the Silver Age, when a Shade expired of old age, they would step out onto the edge of the Ice Shelf. At the moment of death, the containment that keeps our Fire within us fails, and it all escapes at once. It was tradition to inscribe Runes into the scales of such a Shade to allow them to burn. As their own Fire consumes them, the Shade steps forward into oblivion and their loved ones stand in vigil and remembrance. We were only able to consign Alda to Fire. Since he had no Fire left himself, Hiccup gave his own to immolate his teacher. I joined him when I realized what he was doing."
The sight had been strange and beautiful. Hiccup had lifted his hand, and an elegant tongue of indigo flame had arced out, taking hold of Alda's body. Flames from the mouths of Skuru and Ryshkaa joined it, and soon the entire pillar was alight. The Flame had washed outwards across the entire chamber in a wave before vanishing, leaving nothing of Alda, and the Runes on the invisible walls glowed more brightly than they ever had before, scourged of the blood that had obscured them.
"I think it was a memorial worthy of the old days." Ryshkaa glanced toward him, and Toothless could see gratitude in her eyes. When she spoke, a strained smile was evident, but he didn't really mind it.
"I can see the pain in your eyes when you look at me. I know you think you'll never bring yourself to love me as an equal, but I hope that we can be friends, Toothless. I never expected to have friends beyond Skuru. Then I met Alda and became a part of Sycle's Wing. Even so, I still thought having friends beyond that original family was not possible. I think we could be friends, Toothless."
The young dragon felt the corners of his mouth pull slightly, trying to mimic a human's.
"I think I'll be able to forgive you, Ryshkaa. Grasping the past is not healthy. When we left Berk, and Hiccup cast off the shackles of the Vikings, there was such a change in him. He was so happy! Allowing old wounds to fester leads to Ito's end, cold and alone. From this moment forward, I shall strive to act as Hiccup does." The weight of these thoughts had not truly hit him until he'd spoken them. He could despise Ryshkaa for her actions in the past for hundreds of years, but it would do no good. She'd grown beyond herself, and he himself had grown beyond what he'd once been. It was foolish to waste the opportunity of a friend, for a past that could no longer touch either of them.
A warm glow was just beginning to suffuse his body, when on his back, he felt Hiccup stir.
XXX
Astrid
Astrid shivered slightly, feeling the Fury behind her shift to bring his folded wing down on her lap. The cloak that Gobber had brought in his pack, along with the heat from the dragon, chased her discomfort away, and left her feeling sorry for the Viking across from her. Gobber was shivering, but not violently. His large fur cloak and heavy winter clothing kept him warm enough to stay the onset of pneumonia and frost bite, but he wasn't in any way happy.
In the past few hours of hiking, Astrid had started from her first suspicions of Hiccup and spoken all the way up to her current circumstances, recoloring the story here and there by leaving out any mention of 'Hiccup's' voice in her head. Now, with the partial moon burning silver amongst the enormity of the stars and frost forming around them, Gobber shivered and she breathed calmly, her Terror resting comfortably against her neck.
"Seriously, he won't bite. Just get over here and warm up. I don't want you to lose your other hand and we can't light a fire!"
"I- I'll b-b-be damned if I g-get any c-c-closer to that thing!"
Astrid bit her lip hard, nearly drawing blood. Gobber was stubborn, but she'd always thought him adaptive. He'd survived the losses of two limbs, and even profited by them with his prosthetic attachments, but his deep-rooted animosity to dragons was overriding his common sense. "You'll be damned if your arms and legs fall off and you freeze solid for your stubbornness!" Gobber remained silent, though as Astrid watched, his shivering became more and more apparent. His cloak was beginning to jerk as the body beneath it spasmed.
"Gobber, please. If you freeze - and you are freezing - Berk won't have what chance it has, slim as it is. Stoick relies on you to keep everything working properly, and the people all trust you. If you allow your petty aversions to rule you unto death, it's them you're failing, and them you're letting down."
Gobber refused to look at her.
"I dont want to resort to threats, but if you don't cooperate, I'll have the big guy jump on you, and we'll force you to warm up. Got it?"
For a moment, there was silence but for the rustling of the shuddering Viking's cloak. Then, slowly, Gobber uncurled from his fetal position, taking a shuffling step forward.
The Fury's wing lifted. Astrid stood and felt the icy breeze wash over her chest, and with a gasp, she stepped to Gobber's side and helped him over to the dragon, who was resting against a tree. As he sank down against the warmth, the large Viking let out a sigh of relief, and as the wing and tail came down to shelter them, Astrid breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
XXX
Unknown
Among great walls of stone, gloom and shadow danced between scaled feet, over curved horns, in and out of the assemblage of winged reptiles standing as still as the grey parapets enclosing them. A muted, pulsing glow from between two particularly large columns failed to cast any shadow, though the looming head over the light was distinguishable to all the opened, unseeing eyes facing it.
All present could hear the words passed from the head to the other speaker, though the only reaction was a ball of rolling flame gathered within the jaws of the hunched, encircled figure.
"...the entire cave? Every last one of them?"
"Gone. Fire, scale and sound speak of no living creature within this mountain."
"...Find them. They fled somewhere... north, perhaps. They did not simply vanish. FIND THEM!"
There hadn't been tremors this far north in millennium, but every last dragon felt the rumble below their paws at those final words. With the rumbling came the extinguishing of the glow, though darkness had no time to savor its reclamation of the cave as the dancing orb of flame exploded onto the floor, illuminating ranks of bloodied and broken dragons, victims of a fiery rage.
The encircled figure turned about and bolted past the silent reptiles, disappearing faster than any living creature could blink. After a moment, the dragons rose in unison with a great shuffling of scales, turning and following as the fire exhausted itself on the floor behind them.
XXX
Hiccup
The world returned with a jolt. There was steady, thundering pain in Hiccup's head, and it reminded him vividly of that first day he'd heard Toothless speak. Without moving or lifting an eyelid, Hiccup took stock of himself and his surroundings.
He was lying flat on his back, with the wind whipping his hair about. Judging from the cool feel against his scales, it was many degrees below freezing, and the tightness in his lungs confirmed the great altitude. Briefly, he took in a flash of the view from Toothless' eyes. He tried to make it quick and light, that his mate might not notice, but was met with terrible failure.
"You're not very stealthy when it comes to your mind, are you?" The lighthearted nature of his partner's words did not disguise the tone of concern.
"It's only been a few months, give me a break. In a year I'll be just as light and feathery as you. Did we end up in the right place?"
"I think so. I don't recognise these waters, especially from a height that dwarfs mountains, but Ryshkaa knows where she's going. She was a deep territory scout for at least five years. But before we do any talking to her, you're going to explain."
"Explain what?"
With a jerk, Hiccup felt his inner eye forced open. He floated among a mixture of milky mist and writhing, sinuous tendrils of darkness. In the next instant he felt a hard surface materialize at his back and the great heavy form of Toothless was above him, pressing down on his bare chest with a paw that sent tingling warmth radiating warmth throughout his body.
"Look here, shrimp. You may be a talented smith, and the only member of an entirely new hybrid species, but on the matter of the Heart's Fire, you were as much a novice as I was a few weeks ago. Now, Ryshkaa tells me that you're concocting designs that can move hundreds of dragons over enormous distances in the blink of an eye, and you don't share a single detail of it with the dragon you claimed with your own teeth. I may be overreacting just slightly, but this has me a little worried!"
Hiccup could not stop a smile from spreading across his face - Toothless' concern, while pushy, was touching all the same.
"Well... I didn't want to bother anyone with... That is, it's a little funny where that idea... uhh... There's a... well actually I'm not really sure... er..."
Quite suddenly, with a soft rushing, the surface at his back dissolved and Hiccup found himself enveloped by Toothless' great black wings.
"I'm sorry, Hiccup. I didn't mean to overwhelm you. Just tell me what happened."
"That's just it! I'm not exactly sure of what happened!" There was another, much louder rushing sound, as the mist and shadow all around began to move away and rotate about the two.
"Show me."
III
Like the tails of many of the four-dozen Shades still within the Hall, Hiccup paced back and forth, back and forth. His mate rested behind him, head atop paws and tail lightly curling around his human's ankle whenever it was within reach.
In his mind, the hybrid tried to turn everything that had happened in the past hour into a workable, survivable plan. It was a task he had been failing at since Galic's haunting announcement: "Half will travel to Berk. Half will flee north."
Moving over two-hundred Shades across a thousand miles of ice before a swarm of hostile dragons that outnumbered them eight to one found them or returned to the Nest and attacked Berk... He simply couldn't see how to make it happen.
"I just..." The spoken words jarred Toothless' eyes open, the fins on his tail wrapping more securely around Hiccup's leg. The boy faltered in his step, tumbling onto the stone with a quiet yelp and yanking his foot free in the process.
Borrowing from the vast array of alien expressions he had learned from his human, Toothless felt his bottom lip curl inwards, his gums pressing down on the scale as he tucked his tail snugly against his legs.
"Sorry."
Though his eyes spoke of weariness, Hiccup laughed genuinely, smiling towards his partner. "It's fine. I was thinking about laying down, anyway." On cue, a yawn pulled his lips apart, bearing elongated canines and sharpened molars.
Toothless shifted, unfurling a wing and rolling slightly to his left. A smaller grin than the last lit Hiccup's features as he righted himself, shuffling over to his mate's side and plopping back down, lowering his weight with his left hand as he did so. A nasally whine of pain as his bicep burned did not go unnoticed by the Shade, but Hiccup was quick to dismiss any discomfort.
"You're not fine, Hiccup; you're exhausted and sore."
"Oh, am I? I hadn't noticed." The boy chuckled, letting his head fall against heated black scales. A pulse of hot air hit his upper arm as Toothless inspected it, distracting him from the warm sensation of relaxation. "Seriously, it's nothing that won't heal. I got grazed by a fireball, that's it."
"You are aware that your scales were your saving grace?"
His legs involuntarily tensed as phantom claws ripped at their flesh, the light scars aching for just a moment. "Trust me, I'm fully aware of that, Toothless." He let go of his breath all at once, sinking farther into the dragon's side as a tail curled around his waist. His eyes were dragged closed even as his mind yelled at him to get back to thinking, but fatigue easily shut responsibilities out. "It's been a long day, bud."
Giving a single lick to the darkened scales of his mate's arm, Toothless wrapped himself completely around his human. "And we've yet longer ones ahead. The swarm will be here within a quarter of a day."
Hiccup nodded, his cheek rubbing pleasantly against the thick hide. Unpleasant thoughts of failure and death swam through the permeating, buzzing haze in his mind.
"What do we do, Toothless? How do we get to Berk?"
Toothless' tail pulled Hiccup ever closer to his body in response. Rustling scales from their neighbors filled the gap of silence between the intimate pair.
The boy sighed again, feeling all the weight of his collapsing world on his chest. The home he had made, friends and family he'd come to know... already, crucial pieces of his life had been wrenched from him.
Why aren't you here, Alda?
Pain lit his third eye, the same color as the burning sun as memories of his mentor flashed by his closed eyes.
I need you right now... We all do.
Retreating into his mindspace, Hiccup slowly drifted, circling with his thoughts around the glowing light. He stared downwards, where the glare was brightest, and watched as it grew in magnitude. His physical body felt an itch on the top of his head, repudiated as scale overtaking hair, but the brighter the light grew, the more agitated the itch became.
Brows furrowed, Hiccup dove downwards as the intensity of the itch grew to an alarming level. He willed his arm to scratch it, but his claws simply brushed over it, as if the infuriating sensation was below skin and scale.
Deep enough in his own mind to brush against his baser instincts in his descent, Hiccup finally caught sight of the source of the odd glow. It was a Rune of very large structure and one that Hiccup had never seen before. Circling just above the pulse of his heart, the Rune was filled with a multitude of curves and an equal amount of sharp angles, the lines so convoluted that it almost appeared solid. A thicket of branching, weaving connections obscured most of the mindspace behind the Rune, and though it was far taller and much wider than his body, there was no repeating pattern to be found.
Nearing the point of digging a claw into his skull to get relief, Hiccup stretched out a hand and gently placed the pad of his index finger against the design.
The task ahead is daunting. Even more worrisome is the short time with which we have to act.
Hiccup's head had whipped around, darting in every direction when the voice first spoke. Now, as the Rune pulsed in time with his rising heartbeat, the hybrid grasped one of the many lines of the shape. "...Alda?"
Whispers began in his ears, crescendoing rapidly as strings of various Runes flitted in and out of Alda's. Glyphs and markings swirled around his head as Home Cave's society, the memories of the Silver Age, a lullaby from a long-deceased mother all sang and screamed within his mind. It was too much.
"Stop." The command was accompanied by Hiccup's arms being thrown out to his sides, pushing thoughts and emotions that had gathered back up to their rightful places. The stream was cut instantly, all traces of life but for the voice having vanished at Hiccup's command.
You learn control quickly. Good. You will need it.
"...For what? Where are you?"
I am before you. Your task to move Home Cave to Berk with alarming haste is possible without casualty, but you will need help from the-
"You're 'before me'? Alda, I don't unders... You're... you're not Alda, are you?"
No, I am not Alda.
Those words sent a sliver of ice into Hiccup's heart as the brief hope he had held was quashed mercilessly by the even reason and logic of the words that followed.
I am a representation of Alda. I possess all the knowledge he had at the time of my creation, that is all. What voice and independence I have, I take from your mind, which drives me and is now my home. Now, you will need help from the other Imbued if you are to succeed. Bring these Runes to Ryshkaa, Inscribe them in a Circle and inscribe this Rune on every Shade, as I once showed you. Unite Home Cave as one, and you will make the journey safely.
~There was a sharp hiss, and Hiccup found himself standing in the sky far above the Great Ice Shelf. Below, a multitude of Shades milled about in a loose group. One dragon in particular stood out, meandering between each individual Shade and pausing to inscribe a Rune in the slight divot between the eyes and below the line of dorsal crests. Hiccup was able to watch this particular Shade inscribe the same Rune on every single dragon present, with each recipient giving their full attention and standing patiently to receive the mark.
When every Shade had the same Rune pulsing on their faces, they turned and ran as one from the edge of the Shelf, spreading their wings and catching the thermal from a warm summer sea below and rising into the sky. Hiccup kept his eye on the Imbued Shade that had stayed at the head of the group after finishing his inscriptions. As Hiccup focussed on him, he found his viewpoint rapidly closing in on the lead Shade, bringing out the subtle details of his wings and scales: A scar adorned his left wing, wrapping around to the underside from the near-center; the overlapping,triangular segments of his hide dulled light that hit it, giving his armor a matte sheen.
The boy's eyes trailed up the dragon's head, and quickly from his skull to a point just in front of his snout. Before the lead Shade floated a ghostly translucent set of Runes, the very same that Hiccup had just been given by 'Alda'.
Now that he was closer, Hiccup could see even more than only the design. Lines of light, hair-thin and barely visible in the sun, ran from the circled configuration, to each and every Rune inscribed on the Shades behind, forming a web of interlocking threads that glimmered and pulsated on the very edge of sight.
And before Hiccup's eyes, the clouds and landscape surrounding the flying group began to move past faster, and faster until they blurred into streaks of color, and finally darkened into blackness. A blackness that Hiccup remembered well from his first meeting with Ryshkaa.~
With a jolt, Hiccup opened his physical eyes, and leapt to his feet.
"Ryshkaa!"
III
"And you know what happened from there." Hiccup had still not opened his eyes, but his view from Toothless' eyes beheld the same wispy clouds and distant rolling ocean as when he'd begun the memory.
"I don't know if I truly understand, but Alda left a large amount of knowledge in your mind, as a Rune?"
"That's about the most accurate description I can come up with."
Toothless released a snort that was not audible over the rushing wind, but vibrated the entire length of his spine.
"These are strange forces, Hiccup. It was frightening enough knowing that Alda could crush the Three - or any of us - with his power, but now he's left a piece of himself within you?"
"It's more than a piece Toothless. He's there. All of him. Everything except that which made him an individual. He's not alive. He's left a hollow shell behind to guide and teach, just like he did in life."
For a long moment, the howling wind and creaking of Toothless' wing joints were the only sounds.
"When are you going to tell Ryshkaa?"
Hiccup drew a deep breath, intending to calm himself, but when he released it the sound was that of a wheezing gasp.
"I've no idea. Not any time soon, that's for sure. She's keeping all of the Shades on the same line of thought. She's a natural leader. Perhaps once we reach Berk."
"In that case you don't have long. Unless I'm very much mistaken, we're passing over the island that we departed from after meeting Ryshkaa. Berk can't be more than another hour or two."
Hiccup's eyes opened wide.
XXX
Yulla
Yulla shivered. Her scales were not yet fully hardened into the cold resistant armor that she needed to survive outside of a nest. This place was like a nest, but there was no mother. No warmth. No secure feeling that any birthplace should have. This was a cold and icy hole, which she inhabited alone.
As her breathing calmed, Yulla tried to remember where her home had gone. Where was the warmth? Security? Mother?
Mother!
Air flowing past her face. Where had so much wind come from? Panicked spasming of her spine. What was she doing in the air? Soft ice, enveloping her. Cushioning her fall. Piercing her thin hide like a talon.
She'd fallen! They had fled with the others from Home, flying out and away across the frigid sky, when the horrible white pressure had pushed against her mind, and she'd slipped.
Rapidly, the tiny Shade turned and twisted, struggling to orient herself back the way she'd descended into the snow. Searching and probing with her paws, she managed to find the place where the snow was looser, where it had shifted and allowed her body past.
With a great squeaking gasp, she burst from the snow bank that had held her captive.
Immediately, pressure buffeted her tiny conscious. A freezing white pressure sent wave after wave of force crashing against the little Shade's thoughts, flattening and scattering them like a powerful wind. The tiny dragon teetered on the verge of unconsciousness as she quaked with the unbearable cold.
The pressure vanished, leaving the world still, quiet and dark.
Yulla opened her eyes to watch a light flurry of dusty ice dance past on the wind. From within the snow, a massive white paw stepped forward. As the wind passed, an enormous form with glowing yellow eyes seemed to melt out of the flat white sky behind it.
"Wh- Who are you?"
The yellow eyes blinked.
"Hush, Yulla. Listen carefully. You must survive. You must return to your mother and melt away her grief. Her howl of anguish when she felt you slip pierced me from many miles away. You must return to her, and to do that, you must come to me."
The deep, soft voice was soothing and warm after the shock of snow and the blinding white pressure that had caused her to fall. Yulla took a few tentative steps forward. The enormous grey creature matched her steps. When they met, a wet nose bumped softly against her forehead.
"I am not the enemy. But the enemy fast approaches. When they fly overhead there must be absolutely no sign of you. They do not bother with my kind. So stay quiet. In fact, sleeping would be best. You're exhausted."
The grey wolf paced a few circles about the little Shade before settling down, curling into a tight ball and laying his tail over his nose, surrounding Yulla in a wall of warm, musky fur. At first Yulla felt panic rise as the walls closed around her, but after a moment, the wolf's heat began to seep past her hide. She ceased all movement and relaxed entirely as a soft humming filled her mind.
XXX
Ice Fang
With a flick of his tail, the wolf sent a flurry of snow whipping about them in circles, stirring the surrounding flakes. The snow slowly shaped itself into a bowl and traces of the little dragon's scent were buried. When he settled down around Yulla, she panicked and began to squirm for a moment, but almost immediately surrendered to the warmth of the fur walls around her. Poor little creature could not even defend her mind from him, much less the monstrosity chasing her.
As the youngling relaxed in her warm, furry nest, Ice Fang looked to the southern horizon. A large dark mass was evident, swelling and contracting against the overcast sky. The rest of the pack was far off outside of the path of the intruders. They wanted nothing to do with this conflict. But Ice Fang had been unable to ignore that scream. The anguished cry of a mother losing her child. It had been so similar to his own mate's call when their pup had not lasted through his first night alive, so painful that it had driven his body into action and summoned the power of the ice into his paws to guide him.
As he watched, the discoloration on the horizon expanded and became a cloud of darting, diving shapes. At the head of the mass, a single dark mass flew with impossible speed. As it passed overhead, the pressure that had steadily increased at the outer edges of Ice Fang's mind peaked and he groaned quietly. After the shape had passed, a thunderous sound pulsed in the air and a ripple passed along the snow, jolting the wolf as it impacted.
As the rest of the swarm passed over, Ice Fang remained perfectly still, but internally he relaxed. The others would not deviate from their course if the leader passed them by. When the last of them were gone, he'd set out to find his pack, and later, the Shades.
XXX
Tutore
A quarter mile away, a doe ripped tufts a grass from the freezing earth. There were four squirrels within earshot, and a rabbit thumped about in its den several feet below the surface. Tutore took note of all this before opening his eyes, as he had noted the passing patrols of dragons during the night.
Light and color swirled together to create the physical world, whitewashed by thin crusts of frost covering the grass and bracken. His neck rotated twice in either direction, popping several times as his wings unfurled to allow his torso breath. Unfortunately, this also allowed the two humans sleeping against him the chance to taste the raw cold of the morning air. The female did not seem to appreciate the opportunity.
Steel scratched leather as her knife was pulled free, and the girl whipped around on the spot in search of a non-existent enemy. Calm down. I'd not have been so gentle if there was danger. Of course she didn't hear him.
As Astrid steadied her breath, her eyes came to rest on Tutore's snout. Did you expect me to gently shake you awake and kiss you on the forehead? Whatever remark she had to make was swallowed as he met her eyes, his features communicating his thoughts almost perfectly.
"Yeah, alright." She sheathed her blade and turned to the fat, snoring human, pausing as the Night Fury sighed loudly. "Thanks."
Tutore gave a nonverbal rumble, pushing Gobber off his hip and standing to his full height in one motion. His shoulders rolled, tail flexed, hind legs stretched, and back arched while the crippled oaf sputtered and scrambled in the dirt.
Completely ignoring the male, Tutore turned again to Astrid and stamped a paw to get her attention. When he had it, he drew a small X in the dirt, circling and patting it down. His gesture was met with furrowed brows and a small shake of the head, but that was anticipated. He backed off from the marking slightly, tapping the X and bobbing his head down to stare pointedly at the mark.
"You want me to stand on it?" She asked with a sideways look, no doubt wondering what the purpose of this was. Insistent, the dragon repeated the motions with annoyance on his muzzle. That was enough to earn a tentative step forward and a long pause thereafter.
Tutore's patience was wearing thin. His ear swiveled and faced northeast, tracking the deer's movements and planning his path to it. What exactly might I do to you? Eat you? Drop a log on your head?
The girl's eye twitched as if she sensed the condescending tone, and a moment later she strode the rest of the distance, coming to a rest over the X.
"What exactly-"
Tutore whipped through the trees, his paws making but the lightest impression in the ground as his wings beat, propelling him forward as he half-ran, half-flew towards his breakfast. He slammed into the mammal seconds after spotting it, snapping the bones in its neck as he slid to a halt and dragged its limp body behind him.
Blood pooled around his teeth and down his gullet, igniting the emptiness in his stomach. A quick pulse of blue light also sparked inside his maw, and the smell of blood disappeared entirely. It would not due to draw the horde atop them.
Off in the distance came a shout of "What the-?!"
A gurgling laugh sent bubbles through the warm blood, and soon after chunks of meat followed the mirth. The Shade ate quickly, knowing the humans would need his senses, but he would have done so regardless. Years of remaining unseen and unheard had taught him the meaning of haste. When he finished, naught remained but a small pool of blood and a parallel set of marks where his claws had dug in to halt him.
"So what the hell was that all about?"
The deer's hind leg rolled off his tongue and onto the dirt. Tutore let out a loud belch, pushing the bloody limb towards the female with his nose. I was hungry, and you are, too.
She sighed, walking up to the leg and drawing her blade. "Thanks. Do you mind?"
Tutore obliged, bathing the leg in flames for a few seconds. As he stepped away and let Astrid start to tear chunks away, the dragon eyed the big human perched on the log. The chilly look he gave the Shade matched the mild frost on the ground. He doesn't seem to like me. Shame.
The male looked away after a moment, staring venomously at a tree instead. Astrid didn't notice, too focused on the meal in front of her.
Once she had separated what meat she could and gave Gobber his share, the three faced each other in a ragged triangle. The male separated himself by a noticeable distance, glancing up at the dragon every few bites as if he were afraid of an attack.
Oblivious to the silent distrust, Astrid talked as she ate, thinking out loud. "We're accomplishing nothing by staying out here. Eventually we'll need to return to the village... I just don't know what to do about the horde. I don't suppose you can make them all glow blue and vanish?"
Do you think we would be here if I could, child? Even Alda would struggle to destroy a group that size by himself.
She took his stony silence for what it was and harrumphed, turning to Gobber. "Where did you say Fishlegs was when you left him?"
He rounded suddenly, his whiskers twitching as his lip curled. "I didn' leave 'em! We got separated!"
Her hands rose next to her head, palms open and flat in a gesture of submissiveness. "Relax, Gobber, you know what I meant."
He grunted angrily, turning to his last scraps of meat and ripping them apart. "I dunno where 'e went. We were runnin' towards the forest when Hoark went down. I pulled the lad along and kept runnin', jus' tryin' to get some distance before they noticed us, but I couldn' tell ya where I lost him." He let out a shaky breath, dropping the deer's ankle and letting his head fall. "Gods above, I did lose him. I was jus'..." Astrid reached out for him, grasping his shoulder. "If I hadn't been so bloody scared I'd 'uh had the sense ta' keep 'im close..."
"Fishlegs isn't a child. He knows how to survive in the wild..."
"Agains' the likes o' that?!" He pointed his missing limb towards Tutore. "Fishlegs hasn' killed so much as a Terror! Wha's he ta do when a beast like this comes down on 'im?"
I am no beast, human. Tutore snarled quietly. I saved your craven hide. I had nothing to do with your village burning.
Unheard and unnoticed, the Shade's words did nothing to quench the angry fire building in Gobber. The snarl, however, brought the male to his feet. Fist and jaw clenched, the human looked to be on the verge of trying to vent his frustration on the nearest dragon. That would not end well for you. Shall I show you why?
As if sensing Tutore's intentions, Astrid looked toward him, placing herself between the males. She might have said something, had the dragon not vanished on the spot. Tutore brought the large Rune on his back to life, bending light around his hide and rendering him invisible, save for a faint shimmer that could be blamed on heat had there been any in the air. He jumped over both their heads, bringing a second rune to life and cushioning his landing on a thin curtain of air, rendering his movements completely silent.
A few feet behind Gobber, the Shade watched as he whipped around frantically, brandishing the maul attached to his stump as though he believed it would be of any use to him. Tutore crouched low and snarled, allowing the stone bludgeon to scream over his head. The dragon allowed himself a small amount of joy in the look of terror on the great oaf's face as he backstepped from the nothingness in front of him.
A screech rang out from above, and Gobber glimpsed a Night Fury as it plunged towards him. He rolled to the side and lifted his head just in time to see the dragon waver and vanish inches above the ground.
Tutore imagined a look of utter shock on the human's face as he pressed his weight onto the male's back, sending him face-first into the dirt for the second time. Should I ever want to kill you, you won't be able to stop me. Try to remember that the next time you wish to harm me.
"Enough!" Astrid was at the Shade's side, pushing on his neck and staring at him coldly. "We get it, let him up!"
Tutore compiled with a snort. Gobber stood immediately, backpedaling away from his assailant and looking ready for another attack. The males locked eyes, and from the frantic movements of the human's, both knew who was in charge in this little group.
"Next time you want to make someone soil their breeches, try to make sure it's somebody who's not trying to help us!"
This oaf has thus far eaten our food and complained loudly about my presence. If anything, he's a liability.
The girl's eyes narrowed under the dragon's cool stare. "He's my friend. Our friend. Settle your differences and let's go." With no more words and a click of her tongue, she turned and started off, catching her Terror on her shoulder as she walked.
Left with no one but each other, both males turned to the other. Gobber's lip curled briefly before he followed Astrid, hurriedly catching up to her and throwing a glance over his shoulder every few steps.
Idiot. Turning to the ground, Tutore quickly excavated a small hole. The deer's carcass fit inside perfectly, and when it was packed and sealed within the earth, the dragon leaped into the forest canopy and followed the humans.
An hour's walk from where they awoke passed in silence, broken only by a single pair of wings from an overhead patrol and the creaking of tree branches as they struggled with the Shade's weight. Were he forced to guess, Tutore would say that their path would take them up the slope of the enormous peak that dominated the island and around the base. They would be able to look down on Berk and assess the situation. If they did intended to retake Berk, they would need to know their opposition. The girl has a keen eye for strategy. As long as her wits are about her, she should fear no harm.
As their trek began to slope upwards and out of the trees, they came upon a mound of fallen boulders. The cloying smell of death was so strong that Tutore was sure even the humans could notice. Astrid hopped nimbly from stone to stone, holding a hand to her nose as she glanced down at a dragon's protruding limb every so often, and gave Gobber no choice but to follow by ignoring his protests.
"High ground is the last place we should be. There's plenty 'a caves lower down near the treeline."
Had you been listening earlier, you'd know we need to start being proactive. Every second we spend hiding in a cave is time your people spend deteriorating.
The dragon ascended the hill with two flaps of his wings, leaving Gobber to curse and reluctantly follow. While they waited for the one-handed viking to join them, Astrid jumped onto a rock and looked towards the village. "We'll have to get much closer for any sort of good look. Can you watch our backs?"
Do I ever neglect to?
She rolled her eyes, pulling Gobber up the last few feet. "Thanks."
Gobber reached out and placed his hand on Astrid's shoulder. "Will ya' stop talkin' to it? It can't talk back, you know." The Terror hissed, nipping at his fingers and quavering when the digits were hastily withdrawn. Tutore grumbled, laughing alongside his tiny cousin. "Bloody beasts." Gobber skulked past Astrid, taking point. Doubtless he preferred to look upon dragons he was allowed to kill.
After another half hour of steady upward trekking, scrambling, and cursing, Berk came into view along with a ghastly blow to Astrid's optimism. Hundreds of dragons adorned the burned foundations of houses, and more filled the sky circling lazily above the scene of ashen destruction. These are not acceptable conditions for a rescue attempt.
Astrid grunted, scanning the ruins with restless eyes. "The southern docks aren't too busy, but we'd need to go by water to get over there and there aren't any ships left... even if there were we'd have the ocean to our backs. Same problem with sneaking around from the west. We'd never get over the ridges and rocks, and they've been sleeping in the trees around here since they arrived, it's a miracle there aren't any around." She glanced to the east, sizing up the giant peak that cast its shadow on the village. "Dammit! What in hell can we do?" She kicked a rock down the cliff in frustration, and a rumbling snarl answered.
Tutore shoved his way to the edge, glancing down on a small patrol that gazed right back up at them. Two Gronkles hovered over a lone Nightmare, who snarled and gnashed his teeth at him. Stay down. If they come up here we'll not be leaving quietly.
A molten rock was launched at his muzzle from the rightmost Gronckle. Tutore sent it screaming back down at its owner with a bat from his paw, but his ears were spared the sounds of bones snapping as the pest had already moved out of its path.
Time to go. Turning towards the humans, Tutore made to make his way back down the slope when he eyed a lone Terror perched on a treetop. The Shade knew better than to believe that the tiny serpent was alone, but it blocked the way down with little more than an unflinching stare. Up. They're pushing us upward and away, and with them flanking us we've little other choice.
Astrid had seen the Terror as well, and her knife silently entered her hand. "Gobber, keep your mouth shut and follow me. We need to move." She glanced down at the Nightmare once more before walking backwards along the ridge, pulling the male along with her. None of the dragons made to follow, but Tutore watched two of the Gronkles skirt along the bottom of the hill, following Astrid's movements. Two shots from the Shade came within inches of clipping their wings, stopping their progress for a short time.
The girl turned and started jogging, keeping her eyes towards the village and the sky above it. Tutore and Gobber followed closely as the dragon kept their pursuers at bay with an occasional volley of fire. He made certain none of his shots landed to keep the dragons unprovoked as they made the shallow climb.
"If we circle the mountain we'll eventually get back into the forest. I'd really rather not come anywhere near the ocean, but we can't do much about that."
Wrong. Bounding to a halt in front of the female, Tutore leaned towards her as he crouched, extending his wings. Quickly. You as well, oaf.
Astrid and her Terror climbed onto his neck without hesitation, but her outstretched hand went ignored by Gobber. "Gobber, don't argue, don't think, just get on."
"You're outta your mind, Astrid! Get the hell down befo-"
"DON'T ARGUE. DO YOU WANT TO DIE?"
"I'M NOT GETTIN' ON A BLOODY DRAGON!"
Then I'll drag you along. Before his jaws could capture the human's coat and lift him off the ground, the Terror watching from the treetops wailed loudly. Astrid watched it fall alongside the rock that had struck it, then whipped around to face the voice shouting down from the mountain.
"Astrid! Gobber! Let's go!" Fishlegs was barreling towards them, followed by Ruff, and Tuff stood a ways above them with a pile of fist-sized stones at his feet. "Tuffnut will cover us, but we've got to hurry!"
More idiots to draw the swarm to us. Perfect.
"Tuff!" Astrid shouted, waving frantically. "Stop attacking them! You'll bring more!"
The Nightmare screamed past the ridge, fully aflame and screeching at the top of its lungs. Tutore heard dozens from the village answer it cries and knew they would shortly be surrounded. Us or them, Astrid. I cannot carry them all and we cannot fight.
"Just get us in the air and try to keep them off the others!"
We'll be slaughtered in the process, but nothing exciting has happened since I arrived on this wretched rock! Into the fire with me, human!
Tutore flexed, tensing the muscles along his spine and bending his knees before launching himself skyward, gaining fifty feet for two flaps of his wings. Shades were not adept at hovering for long periods of time, and Tutore felt the strain on his neck almost immediately with the unaccustomed weight of the girl clinging behind his ears, but he began to beat his wings, maintaining a steady height and surveying the situation below. The Gronkles were cresting the ledge that had previously separated them from the humans, while a large group of Terrors surged from the treeline up toward them.
"Behind us!" Tutore could hear the wind whistling over thousands upon thousands of scales as an enormous portion of the cloud of dragons swarming above the ruins began to converge on them.
One thing I find absolutely infuriating about your culture is that you're all INSANE! Tutore fired five shots in quick succession. The first three hit the Nightmare and Gronkles squarely at the base of their skulls. The Nightmare let out a sharp shriek as the explosion snapped its neck, falling limp. The Gronkles, being far thicker of limb and bulkier in just about every other aspect, turned to buzz angrily toward the Shade. The remaining two shots exploded on the ground before the Terror swarm, digging out large craters and throwing dirt in all directions. The swarm faltered, milling aimlessly in confusion.
"RUN, YOU MORONS!"
Releasing the tension in his upper back, Tutore dipped forward and dove, banking sharply to lead the enormous cloud behind them away and toward the sea. The Shade's ears were on a swivel, tracking the group behind as well as the location of adversaries in the trees below. They could not hope to take flight in time to catch them, but as his claws skimmed the treetops fiery projectiles rose from the forest floor. A few came disturbingly close; one burned a small section of hair on Astrid's head. Tutore grunted in irritation and gave two more flaps, pushing himself almost fast enough to start whistling. Hold on tight!
Despite her deafness, the girl's grip tightened as she leaned low, wrapping both arms and legs around his neck. The treetops vanished and they soared above the ocean, with the soft glow of the first stars of twilight reflected back upon them as they began to twinkle overhead.
Without warning, Tutore opened the slits along his throat. When the holes gaped wide, he opened his mouth, allowing air to rush downward through the slits and back along his throat, feeding oxygen to his furnace. As the heat in his belly increased, he let the slits begin to shrink closed, releasing the ascending, piercing wail that was a staple of his kind. When the sound and heat in his stomach approached their zenith, Tutore ratcheted his wings upward, climbing so fast he flipped sharply to face the oncoming swarm.
His final action was to flood his tongue with the Heart's Fire, igniting the Rune permanently cut into his muscle.
An enormous explosion violently lit the night, bathing the ashen scene of Berk with bloody light. Dragon corpses rained from the sky as the concussive blast tore the front of the swarm to shreds. Behind him, Tutore heard the girl breathe a relieved sigh, as though the danger had ended. But he could still hear the throng.
Tutore broke into a sweeping turn away from the smokey cloud that was left above Berk, obscuring sight of the dragons that were ducking and diving, milling about in a confused throng.
Don't get comfortable. I distracted them so the fools' troupe could get away. Now we need to cut and run.
As Tutore prepared to light the Runes of stealth upon his back with what Fire he had left, a faint sound caught his ear. It was barely audible, and at first he took it to be a trick of the wind, some distant sound distorted to sound familiar, but as it grew in volume, Tutore could not deny what he heard.
Hundreds of faint whistles rang through the sky from impossibly high above.
Astrid gasped.
XXX
Toothless
"I don't care how familiar Hiccup is with the landscape or the inhabitants; one of the Wing leaders will act as the head of this group. And we certainly require a head. Without unity, we'll have a fragmented mental state without solid direction or goals." As the Shade finished speaking a great many voices lifted in agreement, some quiet, but all firm. Toothless sighed. Skuru had been the one to suggest that Hiccup act as the primary head of the group, and while it wasn't a big surprise that everyone present was not prepared to put that sort of trust into his mate, it was a little disheartening. It was simply evidence that there was still a ways to go before Hiccup was accepted fully and completely.
"Very well, who then will we choose? It should be someone with no bias against the human, if we're to rely on his intelligence of this place."
Sycle spoke up now. "Well said Tymiieh. I would like to nominate Gallic, whom has acted as Home Cave's voice. He is level-headed and will make decisions for the benefit of all present." There were no feelings of opposition. Gallic was a trusted and old member of Home Cave, one of the first to be born into the Three's haven.
Silently, Gallic's Wing dove downward and formed the point, allowing Sycle's Wing to lift up and to the side to take their place. The maneuvers were far slower and longer than any Toothless had performed previously, this being his first flight in a state of Lockwing.
Doesn't it seem strange that I learned about a new way in which to fly from you?
Hiccup snorted. I don't think so. We both had to figure out a way for you to fly with only one tail fin.
Toothless felt the dim pang of guilt that spasmed in Hiccup's chest. I suppose you're right. And for the record... He drew his mate down into their mindspace and pinned him against a solid surface. I'm very glad that you brought me down that night. His muzzle brushed against Hiccup's cheek. He felt warmth around his neck as his human embraced him, pressing himself tightly to the black scales that his own skin now mirrored. Toothless purred as the circular scar on his collarbone was traced, drawing his tongue down Hiccup's shoulder and back. There were two strange bulges, where it seemed that twin round pieces of muscle were pushing away from the space between shoulder and spine.
"Would you two mind? It's one thing for us not to intrude, but you're practically broadcasting at the moment. Poor Sycle is getting nauseous." Skuru's impudent and chuckling voice interrupted their quiet moment.
"My stomach is in no way affected, you softscaled hatchling! Leave them in peace!"
Toothless felt Hiccup raise himself from his lying position and turn towards Skuru, who flew below and slightly behind them.
"Careful Skuru, or I might just have to come ride you for a while!" Toothless dipped his head below to look behind him and watched Skuru's eyes widen.
"Don't you dare! I've never carried a human before!"
Hiccup laughed aloud, startling many of those around. Before he could reply, however, Gallic's voice spoke.
"May I speak with those Imbued and any others that would like to listen?" Immediately the mental pressure of many minds pushed against Toothless' own as Hiccup, Ryshkaa, Skuru, and Myza responded, and many others began to listen. "Thank you. Are you all recovering well from your exertion? It certainly was quite the feat."
"Well enough Gallic, but I'm guessing your question implies some new labor in store for us, should we tell you how rested we are."
The drake chuckled."You see right through me Myza, but the labour I have in mind shall only require one of you, and I daresay it shall not be either you or Skuru. I would like someone to jump ahead to Berk - we are very close now - and assess the condition of both the island and its inhabitants. I'd like to know how many of the Nest are in the area and what it will take to land our group safely."
"You include Skuru in the pool unjustly, Gallic. He's never set wing near Berk. I took over what was supposed to be his first scouting mission when he broke his wing. I'm the only one present that can bring you the information your desire." Ryshkaa's words were concise and dry, but she did not sound daunted at the task of scouting.
"And has your reserve of energy recovered sufficiently to get you there and back in a timely manner?"
"Certainly I can get there, but if I leave now I'll need some time to get back, assuming you plan to hold here until I return."
"That was indeed my plan. Perhaps we could..."
"Hold still Ryshkaa!"
Toothless knew what Hiccup planned as he made the decision. It was so rash and dangerous that he made to grab him, but he couldn't react fast enough to immobilize his mate before the action was done. Hiccup rose and turned, bounding two steps down Toothless' back before leaping and suspending himself tens of thousands of feet above the ocean for a full five, heart stopping seconds. He landed on Ryshkaa's back and latched on, eliciting a panicked squawk from the female.
For a moment, Toothless was furious, but as he considered he realized that even if Hiccup had fallen, he'd have had plenty of time to unlock his wings, dive and retrieve him. Still, that did not make what he'd done any less dangerous.
"Sorry Bud! I'll be right back!" Hiccup turned and deftly maneuvered himself so that he was sitting on Ryshkaa's back in the same place he occupied on Toothless, placed his finger against scale and began to sketch a Rune. It was simple, only requiring three lines, and when it was complete, Hiccup placed his palm flat against it. There was a flare of blue light and a feeling of heat.
"Hiccup, when did you learn this?" Ryshkaa's words were very quiet and serious.
"Um... not long ago."
"When we make land on Berk, we're going to sit down and have a serious conversation." With an audible click, Ryshkaa's wings became flexible. She beat them, gaining speed and drawing upwards and ahead of Toothless. Hiccup wasted no time in jumping off, falling for a few brief seconds before landing securely on Toothless' back.
With a deft claw, Ryshkaa sketched out a Rune on her chest. For a brief moment her form seemed to stretch and elongate until she was twice her own length, before a blur of motion and a concussive noise obscured her from sight.
What did you do? Toothless asked as Gallic tilted his wings to bring the entire group into a circular, holding turn.
I gave her some of my Fire.
And you learned that from the Alda that's living in your head?
Yes. I'd guess that she only recently began to learn about such things before his death. She knows something is going on, so I suppose we'll just have to explain when we get to Berk. Hiccup sprawled out again, stretching as much of his body out as he possibly could, allowing himself to fall swiftly back to the writhing tendrils and swirling gold of their mindspace.
It sure would be nice to be able to just relax and float without a care in the world, as you are. His voice was light and teasing.
Then shut up and come float. With a great exertion, Hiccup reached outward and took hold of his mate, pulling his conscious thought away, downward and inward.
XXX
Hiccup
Someone's been practicing new tricks. Toothless was chuckling as his phantom wings embraced his mate.
Hiccup allowed a smirk to flit across his face. Hardly. I'm just flailing about in ignorance and occasionally succeeding.
Perhaps flailing isn't too poor of a way to learn. I must admit, lockwing is wonderful. We could glide up here forever without a care in the world. No predators, no distractions, no worry.
The human hybrid sighed, wiggling slightly to bring as much of his projection's scale into contact with Toothless.
So why don't we? The thought wasn't entirely Hiccup's, nor was it entirely Toothless'. The words resounded from deep down, far below where the two floated.
"We could soar directly over Berk and just keep going. No need to stop. No need to deal with any of the troubles below. We could just..." The words wound their way through Hiccup's thoughts, sinuous and flexible. So many things were possible. He and Toothless held the entire rest of their lives within easy rein. They could do as they pleased.
Couldn't they?
Abruptly, Hiccup became aware of the three other minds orbiting close beside theirs: Sycle, Kale, Skuru. Together they formed a unit that could best any challengers, overcome trials that separately would be impossible. If he and Toothless were to sail on into the horizon, what would become of them? The group had certainly been fine before their arrival, but now? How deeply were he and his mate rooted to this collective?
And now Hiccup's thoughts began to branch, as they often did. His form became lighter and he was aware of a change in motion. Rather than resist, Toothless simply grumbled quietly as Hiccup lifted and began to fall slowly toward the edge of their mind.
"Where exactly do you think you're going?" Toothless pushed off and lazily followed, adding in a twirl for fun.
"I've no idea. I've decided to stop thinking. Or at least stop trying to think about things."
It was easy. When they passed through the opening, a vast galaxy unfolded before them. The minds of every Shade present were glittering and pulsing brilliantly through the speckled blackness. There were less, certainly, than when the vote had taken place in Home Cave, but unlike then, not a single one of these minds was shielded. No sphere was dark or muted, and thoughts flickered and flowed through the void freely.
As they drifted, tendrils dodged between, above, below, all around. It reminded Hiccup of a star shower, but here, all of the stars flowed in any direction at whatever speed was appropriate. The vast array of color was enough to blind normal sight, but of course their eyes were not open.
"Did you have any idea it could look like this?" Hiccup's voice was near a whisper, but when he spoke, a hazy stream of pulsing color flowed from his mouth, adding a new tendril to the celestial dance.
"I spent a great deal of time in a similar place, but perverted and twisted." A tiny cloud of reddish hue floated away from Toothless' face. Without thinking Hiccup reached out and passed his hand through the color.
For a moment his vision blackened, and all he could see were flashes of brief, violent red and a dim pulsing of minds around.
With a shudder, Hiccup jerked his hand away, moving it instead to rest against his mate's face.
"She won't have you again. Never."
Toothless' croon was resonant, carried along by the midnight blue aura pouring from his form. Hiccup reveled in the feelings that seeped into his mind through the contact, before pushing off and accelerating upward through the nebula.
As he rose with Toothless close behind him, he began to pass through other streams of thought. They were many and extremely varied. Sometimes he caught a few out of context words of a conversation, while other times images and memories flashed before his eye. One achromatic stream was nothing but the sound of wind gusting, lonely over the vast expanse of ice that was the roof of the world. That stream made him pause.
He delved deeper into the thought, watching the familiar landscape of snow build itself before his eyes. Above, emerald light exploded across the night, illuminating the silver landscape like an image caught in a location echo and tinged with a green that instantly called the forest of Berk to Hiccup's mind.
Below his vantage, Hiccup saw the memory's owner. A group of three youthful Shades romped through the snow, carelessly scattering the drifts and bellowing their delight to the night sky above.
"Our kind may fight and feud to establish dominance and boundaries and all manner of other separations, but in the face of true heavenly wonder, they can do naught but rejoice."
Hearing Toothless' soft statement, Hiccup felt a sudden tug behind his temple, pulling him backward to a memory of his own.
Hiccup stood on the roof of his home, staring down at the flames that ravaged his village. Yells and shouts formed a background of white noise while the smell of burning wood and flesh tainted the air. But above, above flew countless graceful forms weaving, turning, spinning, never hitting one another, all part of a great dance that only they could perform.
His hand found Toothless' side, for of course his partner was present in the memory.
"Even when forced to fight and raid and kill they retain their harmony. No one individual is ever slighted out of petty motive or dislike. Their skill remains the distinguisher." Hiccup could hear the wistful note in his own voice.
"And your place on Berk?"
"Was defined entirely by my ability to become the same. Not cooperative, but a copy. It seems just too perfect now that you came to take me away." Toothless gave a pleasurable croon.
"Anything to get you away from her."
And now Hiccup's attention was drawn to a part of the memory that was not his own. He looked down to the ground, where embers and rising smoke made the ground nearly impossible to make out, but there was a shape that Hiccup could not mistake. As he stared, a Gronkle lava ball struck a nearby house, illuminating the figure.
In front of his house, Astrid Hofferson stood. She held a bucket filled with water and stared with a disbelief that transformed her face entirely. Hiccup could barely recognize her.
"I didn't pay too much attention at the time, but I did notice her watching us. I probably should have mentioned it, but we left soon after and it was irrelevant."
"She looks as though her world's been shattered." And quite suddenly, a strange urge filled Hiccup.
He wanted to see Astrid.
He wanted to see if her thinking was altered in any way by his last words. He wanted to see if she'd survived. Every memory of his youth contained his crushing on the beautiful, terrifying girl that had dominated his life and governed his actions for so long. He wanted to know how she'd changed.
The shock hit so hard that Hiccup's physical eyes sprung open to find that he was sitting upright on Toothless' back.
"If so much as a daydream about that female passes my mind, I will pin you to a tree and lick your scales off."
The dry monotone of Toothless' threat and the suddenly ridiculous situation was enough to pull a laugh from deep in Hiccup's gut, and for a good long minute he spasmed and gasped, releasing his mirth to the sky. Toothless, Skuru, and Kale followed suit, rumbling and gurgling up a storm. And to Hiccup's shock, he heard the dragon laughter expand and grow behind him, as the Shades all around began to laugh as well. For a moment he turned and stared, then he spoke with resolve to Toothless.
"Even if she hasn't changed, I'm going to try again. I want to share this. I want Berk to know what could be."
"Well, first step is to hear out Ryshkaa." Skuru's chirpy voice interrupted Hiccup's strange euphoric mood. He was about to ask if Skuru knew something he didn't, when he caught the sound. At first it was only a distant rumble, a vague vibration, like thunder that's too far away to see as lightning but is frighteningly powerful nonetheless. Slowly, the rumble built in volume and intensity, until Hiccup could feel his very ribs vibrating within his chest. At the sounds peak, there was an explosion of air and a vague black figure flew overhead so fast it was no more than a blurred line. "She was always one for showing off skill rather than subtlety. She knows it drives me crazy."
Hiccup was about to ask exactly what Skuru meant by that, but with a buffet of wind, Ryshkaa's form fell past Toothless on the right before finally slowing to rejoin the formation.
"There is a problem."
XXX
Astrid
For a brief moment, it appeared that the stars were falling.
A great number of lights, normally so slow to move, rapidly plummeted toward Berk. The sound seemed to herald the coming of Ragnarok itself, growing exponentially from a vibration just beyond hearing to a shriek that dug into Astrid's ear like a white-hot spear.
Accentuating the utter strangeness of the sight of celestial rain was an itch. Astrid's scalp abruptly began to prickle and twinge. At first it was ignorable, and she continued to stare at the sight that would have frozen all of Berk in place, had they been able to witness it. Gradually the itch intensified, then all at once became a compulsion. Astrid's fingers dug into her skin, seeking to claw out whatever was causing this horrible feeling.
The lights began to pass them, whipping downward with trails of rushing air following behind. In the dim moonlight, Astrid's guess was confirmed; all around them, Night Furies dove headlong for the ground, mouths open, fire raging in their throats. In the dim moonlight, their scales seemed to glow dully.
Pain struck quickly afterwards. Consuming the itch, a burning feeling ignited beneath her clawing fingers, causing her to cry out involuntarily. It felt as though someone held a torch to the inside of her forehead, building an aching pressure that worsened along with her pain.
As more and more dragons screamed past, Astrid's grip fell around the neck of the one that kept her aloft. She pressed her head against the relatively cool scales, unsure of how much longer she could withstand the agony before blacking out.
Something snapped; there was a ringing noise in her mind as everything - the pain, the itch, the screaming - vanished from her perception, and weightlessness took hold of her. In her world consisting of nothing but her blank thoughts, a voice sounded from all directions at once.
"It's alright. Stay calm. Hold on, little one."
The masculine voice brought the black form of a dragon into existence, and Astrid realised she had her arms wrapped around its neck. Her legs dangled loosely off its shoulders, but she pressed them against the drake's scales as he plummeted straight downward.
In her state of shock, the girl was slow to recognize anything not directly affecting her. All she knew in this moment in time was that she was falling head-first towards the ground on the back of a Night Fury. As the dragon below her started to scream, its cry growing from a shriek to a piercing wail, she became aware of other dragons mirroring his actions. Against the rush of wind blowing her hair back and threatening to balloon her cheeks, she raised to her head to find dozens, hundreds of teal lights shrieking and plummeting towards the earth.
She locked her grip around her dragon, closed her eyes, and placed her life in the hands of the gods.
Stoick
XXX
"No dragons in sight?"
"Not a sign of the beasts, Chief. Though I can hardly see anything at all, to be honest with ya. The moon's not full."
Stoick bid the woman who was staring through the crack in between the enormous doors away to help with the scurrying scuffle behind them.
"Pull those benches over! Give these doors some extra bracing!" Stoick was finding it easier to speak through the rasp in his throat, though now it seemed like it wouldn't matter much.
The whispers ran rampant throughout the hall. The sounds were obvious. Everyone present could distinguish the sound of a Night Fury charging its shot, but no person alive had ever heard the sound so very loud and sustained for such a long period of time. Eventually the noise reached a point that was beyond the endurance of the cavern's inhabitants, and panic began to bloom in the darkened hall.
"They're blowin' down the door!"
"That's it! We're doomed! Doooomed!"
"Get out o' the way! I need moi blankee!"
Stoick could not keep the frown from his face. Was it really destined to end like this? A lifetime of accomplishment and survival, summed up with an explosion while he cowered in a reeking hole? No heir would step up to claim the Chieftainship... hells, there wouldn't even be a village to be chief of. All of Berk was concentrated into this small, disgusting, disease-ridden cavern, and they'd be snuffed out with no more thought than a dragon would give to Vikings. Though it did seem that these dragons gave enough thought to actively seek the annihilation of Berk.
At least Hiccup had gotten away. A little smile quirked at Stoick's lip. Perhaps his son was still out there, away from the village. It was only a vague memory now, that night when he'd watched his son disappear into the sky. The blasted little fool had been so very contrary to what it meant to be a Viking that he'd leapt straight off the island, on the back of his sworn enemy no less. Stoic's eyes widened.
Hiccup had flown away on a dragon; a dragon the same color as the night that lent its name to the shout of those who feared it.
The shriek in his ears was now almost intolerable. Stoick's lips moved, but the sound that came forth was barely more than a whisper.
"Night Fury."
Outside, explosions blossomed and thundered, illuminating the silhouette of the door in a strange, bright cyan.
The door remained entirely, terrifyingly, still.
