A/N: Hello everyone, well we are almost done. Just one more chapter after this. It has been fun and I hope you have enjoyed the story. I had some fun with this chapter and I hope you enjoy it. On with the show!
WinterBreath0602: Thanks for the kind words, I'm glad you have enjoyed it. We are still kind of moving in but taking it slow and working on projects at the same time. Good Vibes to you and see you next time.
CB73: Well maybe not literal flames but I'm sure negotiating on a Night Fury is not something they were expecting. Henry comes just in time but then again how else would he do it. He lays out some surprising solutions that stuns everyone but might just work in the long run.
Thanks for the reviews everyone let me know what you think of the story as whole if you haven't left a review. Hate it, love it, have any grammar points I will take it all. Until next time.
"Your Friendly Neighborhood Mexican ;p
(Friday, November 16th, 2018)
His eyelids were heavy, his limbs felt like steel rods, and the bed and blanket encompassed him like a cocoon; yet something didn't feel right. Something pulled on the edge of his mind, something important. A voice echoed in his head, sweet and soft, like melody, but also worried, fearful, and sorrow filled. It struck a chord within him, he knew this voice, it shouldn't sound so soft and timid, it should be firm and confident. When he tried to reach out and comfort the voice, it was gone, and he was alone again.
It felt like hours went by, or perhaps days, time wasn't a luxury he had at the moment. The voice came back, and he tried to reach out once again. The most he could muster was a slight squeeze of his hand when he felt something touch it. A kiss against his knuckles and when the voice departed it sent a shockwave through him.
"I'll make sure they don't take Toothless." It rang out.
Finally, the connection was made, the voice belonged to Audrey. She was worried about something, he couldn't remember what, but it was crucial. Someone was going to take Toothless and he could not allow that to happen. He tried to get up and open his eyes but found his strength draining by the moment. He didn't understand how waking up could be so hard.
He tried harder and harder but couldn't break the hold of the darkness around him. He tried to reach out, call out, move any part of his body but couldn't, as though his bones had been replaced with solid steel rods.
A sound in the distance caught his attention. It sounded like wings beating in the air, but it was too fast and rhythmic to be a Dragon. The sound soon was accompanied by a dull roar, getting closer and a stifling heat filled the room. Henry felt like he was laying atop the burning coals of the forge. He had to get away, had to cool off. The roar grew louder and closer, the heat intensified super heating the air and making it impossible to breathe. Panic set in as he tried to escape the unseen threat, a small light in the distance appeared and he tried to move toward it.
He surprised himself when it felt as if he were crawling, he didn't stop to think and crawled as fast as he could to the light. The heat grew hotter, prickling his skin, the roar was deafening; he thought it would consume him and in a last-ditch effort he reached out for the light…
Henry sprung up from his bed, breaking the cocoon and freeing himself from the stifling heat and thunderous roar. His skin was sticky with sweat and his hair stuck to his brow. His heart was racing as he tried to take deep breaths to calm himself down. Surveying the room, he saw that he was in his hut on set and furrowed his brow. Last thing he remembered was seeing the Dragon Queen's island.
"Audrey?" He called out.
No response, he called for his dad and Sharpshot and again nothing. He tried to remember what happened once they got to the Queen's island, but it hurt his mind every time he tried. With no one coming he took a gamble and hoped that nothing had happened to his friend.
"Toothless?" He called out.
Henry wasn't sure how loud his voice was, he was calling out as loud as he could. A small croon answered him, flooding Henry with a sense of relief. Nothing had happened to Toothless; he called out again and the croon was louder this time, clearly a response. He called out again and the sound of claws scratching at wood filled his ears.
"Toothless!" Henry shouted as loud as he could.
The scratching stopped for a moment and Henry began to worry that something had happened to his friend. He didn't have time to think of what might have happened as a thundering sound shook the hut and knocked some dust loose from the rafters. Henry heard the rafters groan as they tried to hold the weight crashing down on them. Their groans grew louder with each crash landing until finally they gave way and Toothless plummeted into the room amidst the rubble of wood and shingles.
"Hey bud." Henry greeted, glad to see a friendly face.
Toothless shook himself loose from the rubble and bounded over to Henry with the eagerness of a dog who had not seen his owner in days. He was soon covered from the waist up in Dragon saliva as Toothless greeted him excitedly.
"Okay, yes, thank you, thank you. Enough, bud enough. I'm okay, I'm okay, come on let's go find the oth…" Henry started as he tried to get out of bed only to face plant on the floor.
The Night Fury's mood changed as he gently lowered himself off the bed and walked slowly around to see his friend. Henry was staring at his left leg, or what was left of it, the scene jarring memories loose as the battle played out in his mind. Henry looked to Toothless who warbled in concern. Henry looked up and saw the sad yet gentle gaze of the Night Fury. The gaze held a comfort and when the Dragon brought his tail around and laid it next to Henry's leg; showing him that they were the same. It brought a great sense of comfort to Henry that he couldn't explain.
"Just had to make it even huh." Henry joked as he reached out to Toothless.
The Dragon let out a deep throaty chuckle as he lowered his head to assist the boy. Henry hopped on one foot and leapt onto the Dragon's back.
"Alright bud take me to Audrey. I imagine she is worried and probably pissed at me." Henry said with a nervous chuckle.
Toothless warbled in response and leapt through the hole he made and bounded down to the streets. The Dragon raced through the markets and weaved in between throngs of people going about. They all tried to call out his name but Toothless didn't stop. Henry looked up the road and was able to tell that Toothless was taking him to the Great Hall.
He wasn't sure why, but he wouldn't question it. As he neared the steps, he saw Finnick sitting at the bottom. The large boy heard the rumble of Dragon paws on the ground and looked up to see Henry riding on Toothless.
"You're awake!" The boy cried out.
"Yeah I'm awake. Listen we will talk later; I'm trying to find Audrey and my dad. Have you seen them?" Henry asked.
"They are inside with Max and Helga, speaking to the executives and trying to keep the movie from being shut down, the Dragons taken away, and all of us from being blacklisted." Finnick spilled in a nervous ramble.
Henry's eyes went wide as he looked up and the massive doors and groaned in frustration.
"No rest for the weary I suppose. Thanks Finnick." Henry stated as he nudged Toothless who bounded up the stairs and pushed the doors open with his front paws.
He observed the tables set up and the group of people in suits were clearly the executives. One of them was stood up and it appeared as if they had made a verdict. He hoped it was in time to change their mind.
"Before you deliver your verdict, I have something to say." Henry said calmly.
The whole room paused as they took in the sight of a boy on the back of a Night Fury. Max, Steven, and Audrey were shocked beyond belief. Helga had a smile and nodded her head, as if she knew the boy would turn up. The woman standing was clearly unamused with being interrupted and cleared her throat to get the room back in focus.
"Who might you be? We are in the middle of something here." She said hotly.
"My name is Henry." The boy answered evenly.
The woman's attitude flipped on a dime and she grew a sickeningly sweet smile.
"Well then by all means come in Henry, come in. We have something important to discuss with you." She invited; her tone was sweet but with a hidden meaning behind it.
Henry cautiously nudged Toothless forward and had the dragon lead him to the table where his people were sitting.
"Now then Henry tell us what happened." The woman said calmly.
Henry eyed them carefully, he didn't trust them, not with what Finnick had told him. Carefully he began to recount the events that led up to their current situation. Accidently shooting down Toothless, befriending him, gaining a new role from Helga, the Dragons and Helga acting strange, showing Audrey, discovering the Dragon Queen, and the battle.
"Apparently the battle was pretty costly for me." Henry said as he motioned to his left leg.
The executives all gasped in horror to see that he was missing a good bit of his left leg. A few of them turned away in disgust while others groaned.
"Great another expense this project has cost us." One of the men groaned out.
"Nice to see you care that I'm alright and protected your set, your staff, and the Dragons." Henry bit back.
"Yes, speaking of that, we would like to offer you a job. Lead Dragon Tamer of DragonWorks, you certainly have a gift if you are able to control the Night Fury." The woman offered him, clearly thinking he would take it.
"I don't control him, and I didn't tame him. I showed him trust and understanding, he gave it back and we became friends." Henry said sternly.
"Sure, whatever you want to call it." The woman said dismissively.
Henry furrowed his brow at her tone, clearly she thought they had all the power here. He felt a nudge in his side and saw Audrey looking at him, she leaned up and whispered into his ear.
"They are trying to get you to tame the Dragons to use in other movies. We tried to show them footage from what we already had, plus the battle and explain that the Dragons are good, but I don't think it is working. I think they are going to shut us down and blacklist us, and sell the Dragons, you are our last chance. Please do something." Audrey explained.
Henry nodded in understanding, he figured that he would be a deciding factor once he learned what was going on. He just hoped his power of persuasion was as good as he thought it was.
"You know I don't think shutting us down will do you any good." Henry started.
The executives faces fell into scowls hearing and seeing that their words had no affect on Henry.
"This project has cost us far too much money, we need to recuperate what we can and move on." The woman said.
"So, you would stop us when we are so close to end and have filmed something that no other company in the world has. An actual Dragon battle, if your people can't market that than you need a better marketing division." Henry quipped.
"Even so with the added production, delays, injuries to the cast, and not to mention all of your salaries, we are severely over budget unless someone on the cast wants a pay cut." One of the men said snidely.
Henry looked down at Audrey who was shocked. So that was what they wanted, money. He should have seen that one coming; he had dealt with enough producers and executives who only saw dollar signs. Though it did give him an idea and an opportunity to keep a promise to a friend.
"Okay deal, I will take the pay cut on a couple of conditions." Henry said with a smile.
"I don't think you are in any position to bargain boy." One of the men sneered.
"That is where you are wrong. See you need me to show you How to Train Your Dragons, if you had someone who could do it you would have found them already. Toothless here won't go back with you, not to mention how bad it would look on your end when word gets out that we stopped a Dragon Queen; which saved the Dragons and the set only for the public to find out that you blacklisted us." Henry said smugly.
The scowls on the executives faces deepened as they hadn't thought that part through. They all leaned in and conferred with one another before turning back to Henry.
"Tell us what you want, and we will see about coming to an agreement." One of the women spoke.
"Like I said I will take the pay cut, so that should give you a good chunk of money back. I'll even train the Dragons for you, as long as I get the final decision on what happens to them; and you have to let Audrey's uncle, Finn Hofferson, have a part in the production of the next movie we do for you." Henry listed off.
He heard Audrey gasp in shock at the mention of her uncle. She had thought he forgot about that conversation on the plane, but it was clear he hadn't. Henry's terms were steep, but the rewards could be even greater. The executives huddled together and began discussing back and forth between them. With his attention firmly on the people in front of him, Henry never saw the fist that collided with his shoulder.
"Owww!" Henry hissed between his teeth as looked down to see Audrey pulling her fist back.
"Why?" He asked rubbing his shoulder.
"For scaring me." She said plainly.
"Sure, hit the one-legged man while he is down." Henry muttered.
"Oh, shut up you." Audrey mumbled back as she stood up and kissed him full on the lips.
Henry's world stopped for those precious few seconds and when he came to again Audrey was sitting down in her chair with a slight blush in cheeks.
"That was for… everything else." She said softly.
He didn't get a chance to respond as the woman from before stood up and addressed them.
"Your terms are quite steep Henry. Why should we give a boy so much say over this?" She questioned.
"Because with the amount of money you make off of this and boost it will give your reputation; you will never have to worry ever again." Henry said with finality.
"And if we don't?" The woman countered.
"I'll work for free until the money is recuperated." Henry offered.
The woman looked to her associates who all nodded in agreement, she looked back to Henry and nodded.
"Alright Henry, deal. One more thing though, if this fails you will work for free until the money is made back and after that, you will be blacklisted and never work in Hollywood again. Clear?" She warned with deadly seriousness.
"Crystal." Henry replied instantly.
The woman nodded and turned to walk out of the Great Hall, followed closely by the others. Max let out a shaky sigh as they left, while Audrey and Steven looked at Henry in shock.
"Why would you do that?!" Audrey shouted.
"Don't worry Audrey I have plan." Henry said with a smile.
"It better be a good one because I think they are expecting you to fail." Steven advised his son.
"Good thing I usually subvert expectations." Henry said cheekily as the last executive walked out the door.
"Now let's get going we have a lot of work to do." Henry turned to them, smile on his face and his plan already in motion.
A/N: Henry is laying it all on the line and betting on himself. He says he has a plan to put the movie on the map and even keep his promise to Audrey. We will find out what that plan is in the next and final chapter. See you then, and please leave a review as you can see I read them all.
(Published 08/06/2020)