Chapter 2

Hi everybody! Thanks to everyone who reviewed. That one wasn't easy, that the least I can say!

Warning 1: While there will be no descriptive sex scenes, our characters are young Viking adults, they already experienced sexuality, relationships, battles and alcohol (just as you're just about to see). Hiccup and Astrid din't wait for their one true love to do that. I respect people who'd rather be chaste, it's their choice and no one should force themselves to have sex just for the sake of it. But you're not a heartless player or a 'slut' if you had dates and sex with more than one person in your life. So don't get shocked if such things are mentioned. (Yeah, I'm aware I should have posted this warning in the first chapter, I forgot, my bad!)

Warning 2: Just like in Rider and the Beast and Dragons' Prince, Toothless isn't the only Night Fury around, there are others. Also, Hiccup did found ways to tame more species. I know it diverges from the canon a little, but it's for the sake of a badass army.

Enjoy! And don't hesitate to tell me when you grammar mistakes!

Five years later:

The night was peaceful for once on Berk, no dragons attack and a beautiful moonless sky which allowed the stars to shine in all their glory. Some teens and young adults had taken this occasion to make themselves a firecamp and drink some mead; among them were Astrid, Fishlegs and the twins. Alina, Astrid's little sister, had wanted to come with them, but there was no way Astrid would take the twelve years-old with her while there was alcohol and horny people. She was watching as the twins were dancing while singing like crazy, making everyone laugh.

"A drink to the stupidity of our chief!" Yelled one boy while pouring some mead.

Some cheers were heard, the louder were definitely Hiccup's former friends.

"Dumbass made us loose ships, but we don't need that idiot to be great!" Tuffnutt yelled, still dancing.

They all approved those words, Berk's stocks were already quite low, but now they lost ships! When she thought about it, Astrid was aware that it wasn't the best time to have fun, Spitelout had done something really stupid recently and maybe it would bring worse consequences in the future than the loss of boats. Yet it could also be the reason why they needed to relax a little while they still could. Anyway, nothing wrong happened for now and maybe their fears would be proven unjustified.

"We're Berk's true pride!" Ruffnutt yelled.

"You're Berk's true drunkards!"

The twins snarled at this and Ruffnutt eventually stumbled only to be caught in time by Astrid. She laughed out loud, alcohol was making her giddy.

"Oh thank you my beauty," she uttered.

She then looked at Astrid expectingly and the other girl rolled her eyes, still smiling.

"You'll have to thank the mead for this."

Ruffnutt smiled triumphally and Astrid approached her lips, the drunk girl was still leaning against her for balance...Astrid stepped away suddenly and Ruff fell on the ground suddenly. Everyone laughed, Ruff included:

"That girl is the hottest but she is cruel," she jokingly claimed, "the gods are teasing us with her!"

Gathering herself, she sat up and uttered in a drunk tone which was supposed to be seductive:

"One day, I'll definitely put you in my bed."

"Nope, I don't like girls, you know that."

"Oh come on!"

Astrid laughed and rolled her eyes once more. Ruffnutt had discovered that she liked boys and girls alike and one day she told Astrid that even if she was certainly not in love with her, she really thought she was hot. The thing was, Astrid had no wish to sleep with another girl, she kissed some one evening when she had been a little drunk, but she didn't wish to go farer because she definitely preffered men. She saw that Ruff was comforting herself perfectly with one of the fishermen who was about their age. She sat at Fishlegs's side while he was finishing his mead.

"We could say that this is a feast for our last quest, it definitely went well!" The boy declared.

She giggled; their task had been to fight dragons on an islet where a ship had crashed to get whatever it contained back. Some gold and some dragons' heads had been their reward, as well as the privilege to boast before Spitelout and Snotlout who weren't as victorious as them during their last expedition. Astrid had given them a 'welcome' of her own.

"Oh yes, those dragons definitely had no idea of what was coming toward them!"

"Our dear insugent did kill a Monstruous Nightmare," Tuff exclaimed while pointing to Astrid.

The girl bowed her head slightly at the mention of her nickname: the 'insurgent'. After Hiccup's disappearance, Astrid hadn't stopped disrespecting, insulting and contesting the chief, oh no! She earned troubles often and was thrown in jail more than once. That's how she got her nickname, and she liked it. Fishlegs and the twins would often join her, but she was clearly the one leading their little group whenever they would disobey or contest the chief.

Once, Spitelout threatened to sentence her to death for her behaviour, but a lot of people, Gothi and Gobber among them, protested violently against this. It was also because of them that she would never stay in jail for too long. Hiccup's disappearance didn't leave people of Berk indifferent, most of them blamed Spitelout for this, some (though they were rarer) even acknowledged they played a part in it by not doing anything. There were other jackass who said the boy was the only one to blame. Yet whatever people said, Hiccup's uncle couldn't be punished since he hadn't killed the young boy himself. But Hooligans who blamed him just refused to see another kid die because of him. Truth to be told, Spitelout was giving her ammunition to humiliate and bring him dow: he was a loosy chief. Sure, he was a good fighter and he handled dragons' attack quite well, but he wasn't as organized, as devoted to his people and as smart as Stoick. She wasn't the only one to stand up to him, but others would still use more respect than her.

She drank some more mead, still careful not to be too drunk since she would have work to do tomorrow. Their little party continued for some times until they went back home. The four friends were the last ones to leave. Astrid raised her drink one more time, with a serious expression:

"A last one...A real toast this time, to Hiccup's memory."

The four other raised their drink with serious faces as well.

"To Hiccup," they all said.

It was their last drink before they left. Though they went on with life and still enjoyed it, they never forgot Hiccup, nor the injustice caused by his uncle. Something actually pretty strange happened after Hiccup's death: the dragon's attack almost seized, occuring only on occasions and in a less violent way. For three years, Berk was almost totally peaceful. It was as if the dragons themselves had decided to let Berk grieve in peace. Yet recently, the attacks started once more, no one could explain those strange peaceful years.

Fishlegs and Astrid were living close to each other, so they walked home together. The twins were still singing from afar. They passed near the harbour and Astrid stopped.

"Wait..."

She started to go down and Fishlegs followed, wondering what she was doing. She went on the docks and sat there, facing the sea. It was a beautiful sight, with the stars and the dark water. Fishlegs went at her side. Yet something was nagging her:

"We have almost no ships left...What an idiot..."

"I know...Going against the Endrisians...What a stupid idea. Let's hope they don't want revenge."

A stupid idea indeed, going to attack Endris, this island populated by a strange and unholy tribe who lived with dragons instead of killing them. It was really the strangest tribe ever, worth of the weirdest tales one could invent. It was only four years ago that they started to grow. Berk hadn't paid much attention to the rumors at first, but soon every Viking tribe had to acknowledge them.

Formed mainly by slaves freed from their masters, poor peasants and poor prostitutes, those people lived now on an island in the West, one which used to be so infested with dragons that no one dared to come on it. They were coming from different places, there were mostly Vikings but also slaves from stranger lands, with different customs, langages and ideas. That should have been enough to be distinguished, but their chief, the one who built the tribe, had taught them to ride dragons and (according to what Astrid heard) the whole village had infrastructure especially made for dragons, and even small children would play with them!

Yet of all the strange elements of this already unbelievable tribe, their young chief was probably the weirdest. He would go by the name of Fury and according to other chiefs who meet him, he would always wear a mask whenever he would meet strangers and he was riding one of the deadliest dragons ever: a Night Fury. Even worse (or more impresseive), he had an entire group of those black dragons which formed an almost invicible troop, and yet of all the island he was the only one who had been able to ride one. Astrid wasn't so sure about that, it seemed unbelievable.

"I heard different things about Fury," Astrid stated, "I believe the ones who says he was disfigured."

"I don't know, I heard a trader say once that he was quite handsome."

"Nah, why would he hide his face if it was the case?" Astrid pointed out. "I don't believe those who says he is Loki himself."

"Neither do I. But some says he actually has dragon scales on his face, that he is a hybrid," Fishlegs murmured while shivering.

There were indeed a lot of tales about Fury, the chief of Endris, but that was to be expected. His face was unknown, and his story too, or more exactly, there were so many tales and rumours that people didn't really know what to believe.

"I heard that Fury was a boy captured to be sold as a slave who escaped his fate and was taken in by dragons who treated him like one of their own," Fishlegs said.

"Why would dragons do that? There is probably magic behind it," Astrid declared.

"I don't know. They say he tamed a Night Fury and took on his own to free people taken unfairly as slaves and found them a place to live."

"Noble of him, I can't deny it. It's still weird."

Though this version should have been considered by all like the true one because it had been given by Fury himself and the rest of the Endrisians, a lot of people were questionning it. After all, not only his face was always masked but it was said that Fury wasn't his real name. Yet no one knew his real identity. That was the reasons why so much rumours were spread: Fury was Loki himself, or his son, or he was disfigured, or he was some monstruous hybrid.

"They defeated both the Outcasts and the Berserkers, I wonder how Spitelout thought this was a good idea..."

"And the Berserkers are actually still alive, the Outcasts however..."

For an unknow reason, the dragon riders had attacked the Outcasts years ago and butchered them, not leaving any alive. Alvin and his people were dreaded, so this had been impressive. Yet recently, in order to gain himself some glory, Spitelout made a rash and dumb decision: he went to attack them. Of course, the Endrisians had defended themselves well, and the Hooligans were lucky that only a few of their warriors died. A lot of their ships were sunk however, and they had to return promptly.

"He is a freaking ass! Do you remember when he threatened to execute me?" Asked she, "I remember everyone standing up for me..."

"Yeah, he sent us on a quest after that, so you could earn his forgiveness!"

They both laughed at this. She had been charged to bring back gold which had been stolen by pirates. She had actually enjoyed it, Fishlegs and the twins had been with her. Adventure, exploration, danger, fights, glory...Only things she loved! She had been sent on other expeditions after this one, and to Spitelout's great displeasure 'the insurgent' earned herself quite a reputation while doing quests supposed to punish her. For Astrid, this was one of the numerous proves of his stupidity, that's why they were laughing today. Fishlegs became serious:

"You know...I'm quite afraid that they'll attack us. I mean, any other Viking tribe would do as such, and a tribe still young has even more to proove."

It was indeed something that had everyone worried, and the Hooligans knew that it could happen. Vikings' tradition demanded revenge for such an offense. Now in some circumstances peace could be negociated, if both tribes were out of ressources for example. Berk was certainly laking ressources recently, but what about the Endrisians? Now given how strange this tribe was, maybe they wouldn't conform to Vikings' ways, but still...A tribe not avenging themselves would appear weak, it wasn't only a matter of tradition.

Astrid was about to say something when suddenly, she heard something that made her tense: loud flaps, like wings. She then saw wat the night had hidden until now: shadows in the night, advancing toward Berk.

"Dragons!"

Fishlegs was taken aback, but he saw it too. They ran back to the village and sent the alarm; soon, the warriors were preparing themselves to fight. Alina went out of the house to find her sister, but Atsrid urged her to go back inside. Most Hooligans went to protect the cattles and sheep, when suddenly the night was enlightened by fire. The boats were attaked by several dragons. Their last boats!

"The ships! Protect the ships!" Yelled Spitelout

Warriors ran to the harbour, but Astrid had a bad feeling. Why were dragons attacking their boats? They wouldn't do that usually! Yet no dragon was attacking the village, they all seemed to be in the harbour.

"Wait, no one is protecting the stocks," she yelled.

As those words were pronounced, several shots of purple flames were shot and reduced Spitelout's house to a ruin. The entire village was illuminated for a second; Astrid was breathless at the sight and then she heard several yells:

"Night Furies!"

Astrid saw immediately there weren't Night Furies only, there were several dragons in the sky, she yelled that the village was about to be attacked and went to a catapult. Vikings all prepared themselves to use the catapults, Astrid and the twins were about to shoot with one when suddenly two Gronkles and two Nadders came to attack them, and for the first time Astrid saw the dragons had armors. Armors on dragons?! Jumping from their backs, four warriors attacked them: Endrisians! Astrid and the twins fought with all their might, the shieldmaiden almost killed one of them, had it been for one of the Gronkle who charged at her in order to stop her. She only survived because she had been swift enough to dodge.

When the dragon riders backed away to jump back on their beasts, they thought they won...until they realized the catapult had been destroyed by the dragons while the humans were fighting. Soon, the same had been done with every single catapult. Hooligans were used to dragons attacking, but here it was different, usually, the beast would just come and try to burn and steal thing. Here, not only the dragons had efficient armors, but they were led by men who carefully planned a strategy. They were starting to realize the difference. Endrisans were taking their revenge...

After the catapults, the dragons and their riders attacked the watch towers, Astrid threw herself into the fight, she maimed a Monstruous Nightmare, and almost got killed in return when she got violently hit by a shield. She was thrown on the ground hard and only had time to roll away before the handle of an axe could hit her head. She sent her axe at the man and when he blocked she sent her elbow at his throat. He was smothered, his eyes widened in shock. Astrid was about to take advantage and finish him, when the man disappeared. She lifted her head to see him being raised in the air by a dragon.

Two other shot of purple flame hit the tower hard and screams echoed. Hooligans were fighting dragons and riders brvaely, but it wouldn't save the towers as Night Furies form above were destroying those with precise shots. Astrid was still fighting yet, axe against sword this time, when she heard:

"THIEVES! THIEVES ARE RAIDING THE STOCKS!"

Oh no! She kicked her adversary in the stomach and ran toward the stock. It had all been a distraction! How didn't they see that sooner?! Approaching the stocks, she got her answer: only vague shadows could be seen. As some Hooligans approached, ready to attack, a red form suddenly appeared before their eyes to spit acid before them: changewings! The thieves were dressed in black, and on the changewings, they would have hardly been seen by anyone!

She got closer to the thieves when suddenly, the ground under her feet was lifted violently. The world around her spinned as she was projected in the air like a raggdoll. Seconds seemed endless before she crashed against the ground. Pain spread through her body, and she lifted her head only to feel her blood froze. A gigantic mouth with hundreds of fangs were before her, with cruel eyes and a spiky round body: a whispering death! She never fought any of those! She jumped back on her feet, grabbed her axe. Some blood was running on her temple, her head was aching, but she wouldn't let that stop her.

The beast whipped its tail at her and she dodged before sending her axe at it. A deep cut appeared on the beasts tail. A wave of spikes were thrown at her and she drew her shield just in time. The dragon's head crashed against her shield, throwing her on the ground once more. She threw her axe at its eyes when it plunged toward her, and though she missed those, she sliced it's face badly. The beast shrieked and returned in the ground. Before Astrid could wonder where it was, she felt heavy claws gripping her shoulders and she was once more thown to the ground hard but by a Nadder this time. She threw her axe at the beast but the armor protect the beast, and her axe fell on the ground, defeated. She had cuts on her face, and some blood was getting into her eyes, blinding her.

While she stood up as quickly as she could and picked up her axe. Whipping the blood off of her eyes, she saw that this wasn't the only one. There were at least five others fighting. Anyone trying to get to the thieves were getting either attacked by the whispering deaths or by Nadders, and whoever had the chance to get past them would get attacked by the changewing who would throw acid at them. Archers gathered to try to kill the thieves at distance, and she got out of their way. They were preparing themselves to shoot when a deafening sound invaded their ear, and they were all thrown to the ground. Astrid who was close by thought she was going mad even with her hands against her ears. She saw a big Thunderdrum, making a big effort, she took her hands off her ears, whipped the blood away from her eyes and seizing an axe abandoned on the ground, she threw it at the beast. She felt victorious as it planted itself in its wing. The painful sound stopped and the beast flew away clumsily.

Though the archers were saved, they soon realized it wasn't even worth trying anymore; the thieves were gone and the livestocks had been pillaged. The same thing happened as well with the sheep and cattles. This time, only the Changewings melting into the night would plunge from the sky and take those. The Vikings were just unable to approach them. Not only the Whispering Deaths would defend them, but also the Nadders, some Monstruous Nightmares, Night Furies, and the Endrisians warriors. Dragons and men alike had very effective armors.

In the middle of the night, a figure distinguished itself. Attacking Spitelout with ferocity, a warrior using a fiery sword was seen. The chief thought for a moment that he was fighting some devil: he was masked and had a flaming sword. People could lit up swords with oil, but it usually wouldn't last long. This one however wouldn't stop burning. Yes, for a moment, Spitelout thought this was truly a devil sent by the gods to punish him for his faults.

Eventually, something incredible happened: though they were far from loosing the battle, the Endrisians retreated, getting on their dragons' backs and flying away. The most foolish aming Hooligans thought this meant victory, but it was soon proved wrong. Sure, the Endrisians left, but it was to enjoy everything they stole during their raid. Astrid was exhausted, she had fought bravely, but she still got hurt multiple times. Blood had stopped running in her eyes, thank Thor. Her mother went to her and helped her to regain balance as she was starting to stumble.

"Help other people, we have to gather the wounded in the Great Hall, I'm checking on Alina."

Her mom left while Astrid was trying to make sense of her words. The Great Hall, the wounded...She saw Ruff on the ground, holding her abdomen. She checked up on her and saw no blood, she probably received a strong blow however. She picked her up and helped to walk, where were Tuff and Fishlegs?!

"Fishlegs! Tuff!"

Other warriors were picking up wounded people. She walked on shaky legs, fighting to keep balance with Ruff leaning on her. She was scared, what if her other friends were dead? And what was wrong with Ruff? She asked her but the girl wouldn't answer. Sure there was no blood, but it didn't mean she was okay. She yelled with even more force:

"FISHLEGS! TUFF!"

No answer, and she was starting to despair. She saw Gobber carrying a young woman who was obviously wounded.

"They're...near the stocks..." Gobber uttered when he was at her level.

Se went there as quickly as she could, it seemed like an eternity before she saw Fishlegs lying on the ground, and Tuff shaking him.

"Tuff..."

"He won't wake up...Astrid..."

"Take your sister...I'm taking care of him."

Tuff did as he was told and she kneeled to Fishlegs. The boy was only unconscious, he didn't seem to have big damages either, though he had bruises and cuts. She heard Ruffnutt moan, and the girl told them with some difficulty that she had been punched in the abdomen twice by some big warrior and that one of her ribs was really hurting. Astrid hoped it wasn't broken, yet she was relieved that her friends were all alive. Her mom was alive too...Alina...Did their mom found Alina? Most homes seemed fine, she hoped it was the same for hers because her sister had been in it. Fishlegs regained consciousness and she helped him to walk to the Great Hall while Tuffnutt was helping his sister.

The sun was rising on a sad day. The population of Berk had no almost food, no ressources, no gold, or ships anymore and they had way less weapons as well. Their catapults and watch towers were also gone. That's what the teens heard while they were walking. All the Hooligans had to eat was the food they kept home and it wouldn't last for very long. Strangely enough however, there were mostly wounds but only a handful of people died during the battle and most homes were pretty fine and only had fixable damages. Only Spitelout's house had been entirely destroyed. It was as if the Endrisians did their best to win without many victims. Fishlegs had his own explanation for that, while Astrid was helping him to walk toward the Great Hall, he whinned:

"They're gonna make us rot here...Without food or anything to leave...We'll go mad and attack each other..."

"Fishlegs stop it! We'll...We'll find something..."

Never in her life she seemed so unsure of what she was saying. She couldn't help but feel fear, what if Fishlegs was right? She could imagine Hooligans being hungry, starting to look at their weakest neighbours and thinking that meat was meat after all...This would be indeed a very cruel punishment, but people riding dragons were surely ready to do that! She tried to push away such thoughts and compose herself. No! They would find something, they had to!

The Endrisians's ships were seen on the sea, far enough from the island. They weren't trying to reach the harbours, they were receiving the booty and probably taking care of the wounded ones. Without any ships or catapults, there were no ways to attack them, and any moves would mean another dragon attack like this one anyway.

They reached the Great Hall, the majority of the village was here, helping wounded ones or trying to assess their situation. Astrid saw her little sister trying to help people with her mom and she was reassured, those she loved the most were alive! Spitelout was giving orders and she felt a blinding anger, one which gave her back strenght along with the relief she previously felt. He was the one responsible! This time that murderer truly brought Berk to its ruin! She saw Snotlout nearby.

"It's all your father's fault, he is the one responsible for this!"

Snotlout heard but answered nothing. Astrid heard Ruff moan, and while Fishlegs was definitely getting his spirits back, she saw that Ruff wasn't getting better. She let go of Fishlegs and helped Tuff to support her.

"DRAGONS!"

Everyone looked up and saw that the sky was starting to get filled up with dragons. With the hand that wasn't holding Ruffnutt, Astrid grabbed her axe once more: it was starting again! The dragons posted themselves on roofs, surrounding the Great Hall and the Hooligans nearby. All the wounded were gathered in that one single place! They would attack the Great Hall and finish them all!

Then, suddenly, two black forms plunged from the sky and landed on the ground just before Spitelout. A masked rider was mounting one of the black dragons. Fury! Some other dragons without riders also landed on the ground near him, and shrieked at the Hooligans who backed away from them.

People were watching the masked chief with either fear or despise. The two Night Furies were growling threateningly, as if to warn anyone that they shouldn't touch their master. The metal of their armors seemed to shine on their black scales. Astrid could see there were three other smaller Night Furies on a roof. There were also Scauldrons, Thunderdrums, dragons she had never seen before and almost all of them had armors. One in particular was impressive: it was a grey dragon mounted by a girl with black hair, its whole body seemed sharp as if it was made of metal and spikes. Two smaller dragons like this were at their side.

She hadn't noticed earlier, but the chief was a runt and it astonished Astrid. How could such a man tame dangerous beasts like this? Yet there was something about him...Spitelout was standing still and breathless, obviously afraid but also red from anger. The masked man advanced toward him, dressed in an armor of black leather.

"Good morning! I hope you'll excuse my hastiness, I guess you didn't have a really peaceful night," the man exclaimed with sass.

"What do you want, you monster?!"

"What I want?! But I came here to ask you that question! After all, you're the one who came to my island with no warning. It was very rude, by the way, to come unnannouced. You tried to attack us, in a very clumsy way I must say, so I decided to pay you the same curtesy but with more adress."

"You unholy spawn of Loki! We're ready to fight to death..."

Spitelout was interrupted by a laugh.

"Oh, no need to be so dramatic, I don't wish you all to die. After all why should your warriors and people pay for your incapacities, Spitelout?"

He looked around, his mask only revealing his eyes and his mouth. Hooligans were not really expecting those kind of words, the stranger continued:

"I often heard of Hooligans, and I often heard of Stoick the Vast...A great chief, a man of honour. It would be a shame to destroy that island which counted so many great Vikings, only because of an incompetent one."

Spitelout looked offended by this, and Astrid couldn't help but think that she would have been delighted to hear another chief speak to him like that in other circumstances.

"What are you saying?"

"Do you really all think that you owe your life only to your ability to fight? Why do you think that your houses got spared? Think of the way we fought, and think of what we did to other tribes. It's because I asked my warriors to avoid killing you as much as they could. Even the dragons had been led to push you back only."

Those words were insulting, but many Vikings realized it was true: the Endrisians had backed away each time they were done destroying or stealing something. They had rarely tried to kill anyone. Fury went on:

"I didn't came here to kill you, but to demand your loyalty. I offer peace to Berk, for a price of course."

"And if I refuse?"

"Try to think, Spitelout, what will happen? You have almost no weapons, no ressources or food left, absolutely no ships. At my signal my whispering deaths will destroy your wells from under the ground to deprive you of water. If necessary they'll dig the ground of that island until it's shallow and crumble all over. I can change my orders and tell my people and my dragons to massacre you. I can destroy everything to the very earth you're walking on."

As if they wanted to confirm that, some whispering deaths shrieked and their hundreds of teeth rotated in their mouths.

"Alright," Spitelout sighed. "We'll negociate."

Negociations...This meant hope, yet Astrid and Fishlegs looked at each other, thinking exactly the same thing: it would come at a big price.

So here it is! I hope you liked it, I'll update other stories first, but the next chapter is already started.