A/N: You know when you're reading a story, then something funny catches you by surprise and you just snort? (Or is it just me?) Anyway, I did that. To my own story. I surprised myself and snorted. You'll probably know the line when you see it. XD
A little bit of soft Dagur in here. Because he loves his sis. 0w0
Response to Random Fan: -dramatically throws hands in the air- Freedom! Astrid's got too much strength with too fast reflexes. XD And poor Snotlout wouldn't be able to sit for a month if Hookfang had taken the fast way out of the net. XD He can! XD Hiccup was mimicking Astrid from the previous chapter. Pretty much everyone needs headache relief now. XD
Toothless took his attention of Hiccup for five seconds, not thinking Hiccup could get into trouble in so little time. Toothless didn't even notice right off that something was wrong, not until Windshear roared in panic.
He shook off the last of his dizziness and saw Windshear's tail whip by. He looked down and saw she'd dropped into a dive. A second later, he saw the reason: two humans falling to the forest far below.
"Hiccup!" Toothless shrieked.
Toothless dove, but he knew he wouldn't be fast enough and roared at Windshear to catch his Rider.
Windshear and the humans were nearly at the treetops when Windshear reached out. Her wings snapped open, pulling her up sharply for a second before she vanished into the forest.
Toothless pulled up from his dive and followed the swaying trees and snap of branches. When the sounds finally stopped, Toothless dove to the ground. He looked around, attention drawn by a yell from high up a tree.
Barely sparing the stranded Dagur a glance, Toothless roared, "Windshear!"
After a tense moment, Windshear roared painfully, "Here."
Toothless ran toward the roar, quickly having to dodge debris from Windshear's crash. He soon found the slim dragon, her scales scratched and dirtied, curled on the ground. She lifted her head, hissing slightly.
Toothless stopped and lowered his head. Windshear blinked at him, then shifted and stood. Toothless' ears pricked forward.
Hiccup and Heather were balled up on the ground, limbs slightly tangled. Both were unconscious. Hiccup had a bit of blood under his nose and Heather's face was scratched.
"Rough landing," Windshear said apologetically.
Toothless nudged his Rider with his muzzle. Hiccup groaned slightly.
Toothless leaned back with a rumble. "Hurt. Go nest?"
Windshear bobbed her head. "Nest."
Windshear swept her tail forward and wrapped the tip around Heather's middle. She lifted her Rider, leaving Hiccup where he laid. She stepped away.
Toothless dipped his head in thanks for saving his Rider.
Windshear cooed and spread her battered wings. She lifted slowly into the air and flew back toward the ships, only pausing briefly to pluck Dagur from the tree.
Toothless watched Windshear fly away, then turned back to Hiccup.
Astrid had a headache and occasional double vision, but Viking stubbornness dragged her to her feet and into the saddle. She reassured Stormfly, then checked on the other Riders.
Fishlegs and Meatlug were guarding a cage holding an Edge Nadder and her hatchlings. Hookfang was free, but too busy dodging arrows and bolas to fight back. The twins were trying to chase a groggy Nadder into the forest, but were largely unsuccessful. Barf and Belch were nowhere to be seen.
"We can't win this, girl," Astrid said in frustration. Even with the unexplained absence of the Berserker siblings, the Hunters were steadily gaining the upper hand.
Stormfly squawked and flung some spikes at Hunters trying to load a cage on their boat. The cage was dropped, jarring the dragon inside and making her roar.
A furious roar answered the caged dragon from behind.
Astrid twisted as two… no, one Edge Nadder raced from the trees. He roared and spewed flames across the battleground.
Vikings and Hunters froze and stared at the black-speckled Nadder. Then, one… or, two identical Edge Nadders rushed out from behind him. Without slowing, they barreled through the Hunters, flinging them every which way and only stopping when they reached a cage. At the edge of the forest, the black-speckled Nadder threw his head back and bellowed.
Unease pricked Astrid as crashing answered his roar. "Stormfly, up!"
Stormfly squawked and shot into the sky as a stampede of Edge Nadders ran from the trees. They all roared and shot magnesium blasts at the Hunters.
Astrid frantically scanned the chaos for the other Riders. Hookfang had already been airborne, so Snotlout was safe. Meatlug rose into the air when the Edge Nadders reached the cage she was guarding.
"Where's Ruff and Tuff?" Astrid asked when Meatlug hovered by Stormfly.
Fishlegs looked down, then pointed. "There!"
Astrid spotted the ragged-winged Edge Nadder. He was still swaying sleepily, but held both twins in the air by the back of their armor.
"That Nadder Hiccup freed must have gone to get the others," Fishlegs said in clear amazement. "They're rescuing their flock!"
"Or Hiccup brought them," Astrid said with a chuckle.
"I wouldn't put it past him," Fishlegs agreed.
"Guys," Snotlout interrupted, Hookfang having joined them. "We have a problem."
Astrid turned to see where he was pointing. This time, she didn't try to hide her groan upon seeing Windshear approaching.
"Snotlout, get the twins. I think Barf and Belch were caught," Astrid said. "We have to get out of here before anyone else is trapped."
"Wait," Fishlegs said, squinting. "Look, Astrid!"
"I am looking! What-" Astrid stopped and blinked. "What happened?"
Windshear flew slowly toward them, pained grunts becoming audible. She held a writhing, yelling Dagur in a hind paw. In her forepaws, Heather was limp and silent.
"Get to the ships, men!" Dagur bellowed once they were in earshot.
Any Hunter not struggling against an Edge Nadder looked up in shock. Even with the addition of the rest of the flock, Riders and Edge Nadders were losing. If the Hunters kept fighting for a bit longer, they'd be at least leaving with something!
"Now!" Dagur yelled in a volume Astrid usually associated with dragons.
Hunters threw down weapons and ran for the ships. Luckily for them, the Edge Nadders were too busy guarding their still-caged flock members to pursue.
Fishlegs chuckled and urged Meatlug forward. He called to the retreating Hunters, "If I were you, I'd use that ship."
A few Hunters paused, eyebrows raising when Fishlegs pointed to a ship docked slightly from the others. They glanced at the other, intact ships, then back to the Rider. A few Hunters reached one of the ships Fishlegs had suggested leaving. They started to board, then abruptly backed away.
Astrid leaned forward and squinted. Surely her eyes were still playing tricks on her, or was there green gas drifting up from the ships?
The next second, Barf and Belch rose from the furthest ship. Green gas still trailed from Barf's gaping jaws. Astrid could have sworn that Belch was smirking as he lowered his head. The resulting explosion shook the beach, knocking Hunters and even Edge Nadders to the sand.
The Hunters took their cue and bolted to the ship Fishlegs had suggested. Windshear dropped Dagur on the safe boat so the Berserker could yell at his Hunters to move faster, then coiled her tail around the figurehead to start pulling.
In record time, the Hunters boarded their ship without a captive dragon between the lot of them. The overburdened ship was shoved from shore and paddled away as quickly as the Hunters could manage.
"Fishlegs, you and Snotlout make sure they stay away this time," Astrid said, unwilling to take anymore chances.
"On it, Astrid," Fishlegs said.
Astrid nodded. "Come on, Stormfly. Those Nadders will need help with the cages."
Stormfly squawked and dropped to the sand. Several Nadders growled at Astrid, but Stormfly roared until the Edge Nadders calmed down.
"Thanks, girl," Astrid said, sliding to the ground. She went to where the twins were still being held. "Do you have the keys?"
Ruffnut nodded and dropped the keys. Astrid waited, but the twins weren't lowered.
"You coming?" Astrid finally asked.
"Well, we would," Ruffnut said, "But he won't put us down."
"I think we've been adopted," Tuffnut added.
Astrid felt her eyebrows raise. Not knowing what to say -how many Riders was this flock going to adopt?- Astrid just turned away and started unlocking cages.
In a short time, Astrid had the dragons freed and Barf and Belch reclaimed their Riders from the Edge Nadder.
Astrid didn't expect Fishlegs and Snotlout to return for a bit, so she focused on making sure the Edge Nadders were unharmed. Luckily, aside from shallow cuts from the Dragon Root arrows, only a couple dragons had deeper cuts that Astrid was sure would heal just fine.
It took her an uncomfortably long time to realize that one of the Riders was still unaccounted for. Actually, she didn't even notice until Fishlegs and Snotlout returned, and Snotlout asked about the resident dragon-boy.
"Oh, Thor," Astrid said. She scanned the beach, which was nearly empty as the Edge Nadders headed to their roost. "He's not here! I didn't see him during a lot of the fight, so I didn't think about him or Toothless!"
"It's alright," Fishlegs said calmly. "When was the last time you saw them?"
"Right there," Astrid said, pointing to Stormfly's crash site. "He and Toothless vanished when…" Her eyes widened. "Right before Windshear left the fight."
Astrid remembered Windshear and the Berserkers' rough condition. She hadn't given it much thought at the time, but…
"We have to find Hiccup now!" Astrid said, leaping onto Stormfly's back. "Stormfly, find Hiccup!"
Stormfly squawked. She sniffed the air, then broke into a run. The other Riders mounted their dragons and followed.
Stormfly sniffed and back-tracked her way through the forest, eventually coming upon a crash site. Astrid spotted a few of Windshear's scales on the ground, then Stormfly was off and running again.
"Are we headed toward the Edge?" Fishlegs asked a few minutes later.
Astrid nodded, having realized the same thing a short time before. "After whatever happened between Toothless and Windshear, Toothless must have brought Hiccup back to the Edge."
"Hey, guys, we have a follower!" Tuffnut suddenly piped up.
Astrid looked back to see the ragged-winged Edge Nadder following the group. She shook her head and faced forward.
"Go back!" Ruffnut yelled at the Nadder.
"We aren't your babies!" Tuffnut added.
Astrid ignored them and leaned over Stormfly's neck. "Come on, girl, faster!"
Stormfly squawked and took to the sky.
Toothless was, indeed, headed for the Edge. He didn't know how the battle was going at the ships, so it seemed safer to bring Hiccup to the Edge.
Toothless kept to the ground, out of view. He ran with Hiccup on his back, tail across his Rider to steady him.
Halfway to the Edge, Hiccup stirred and groaned.
"Still," Toothless roared. "Safe soon."
"Toothless?"
Toothless rumbled and stumbled in surprise. Hiccup grunted at the jolt, then sighed.
"You okay, bud?"
Toothless crooned without slowing. Hiccup's hand rubbed Toothless' side before he fell still and his breathing evened out again.
Heather opened her eyes to the sky. She blinked a couple times, slowly taking in the familiar click of Windshear's wings and and the warm body she was leaning against.
Heather shifted, causing the arms coiled around her middle to loosen. She sat up, groaning and rubbing her face when a headache made itself present.
"You awake now?" Dagur asked, leaning into her eye line.
"Uh… yeah." Heather struggled to remember what had happened. "Where are we?"
"Heading back to base," Dagur said, his frustrated voice telling Heather that they had captured no dragons. "Viggo's gonna love this!"
Heather shook her head, then looked around. Windshear was flying slowly along an overcrowded ship.
"What did those Riders do this time?" Heather had to ask.
"Their Zippleback blew up the rest of the fleet!"
Heather winced. "Oh, wow."
"At this rate, it'll take days longer to get back," Dagur said, mostly pouting since there wasn't any Riders to take his anger out on.
"Do we have to go straight back?" Heather asked.
Dagur raised an eyebrow at her. Heather forged on.
"Why do we have to come and go on Viggo's schedule? We obviously need more ships and dragons, anyway. Since when do we follow Viggo's orders?"
"You're right!" Dagur said, cheering up immensely. "He's not in charge of me, I'm in charge of me!"
Heather smiled to herself as Dagur yelled at the Hunters to change course. Sure, Viggo would be mad when they arrived off schedule, but she and Dagur wasn't about to let that deter them.
They were, after all, Berserkers. And Berserkers listened to no one.
Hiccup hurt. A lot. He was pretty sure his metal leg ached to some degree. He poked at his memories, trying to remember what could have caused his pain.
Eventually, Hiccup remembered the Edge Nadder roost. He'd kind of pushed his luck with that one. He had a vague memory of Toothless running through the forest and wondered if his dragon had found him. He rather hoped Toothless hadn't alerted Astrid of his… escapade.
Hiccup dragged his weary senses to the present. He was in his bed, it felt like. He heard people moving around.
Hiccup winced, guessing Astrid did know.
"I think he's waking up," said Fishlegs' voice. "Astrid, sit back-"
"I'm fine now, Fishlegs."
There was some more quiet bickering, then feet shuffled around him. Hiccup, figuring there was no sense in delaying the inevitable, forced his eyes open.
It was a bit of a surprise to find all the other Riders around him. Toothless peered over their heads.
"He's disoriented, give him room," Fishlegs said, waving Snotlout and the twins back.
Hiccup blinked at them, then focused on Astrid when the young woman knelt beside him. He searched for something to say. An involuntary grunt escaped him when he tried to shift his sore arms.
"Hey, it's okay," Astrid said, using a tone of voice she usually reserved for panicking dragons. "You're safe now."
Hiccup blinked at her. "You're not mad?"
Astrid shot to her feet so fast that she stumbled back and fell on her rear. Fishlegs startled, while Toothless gave a throaty laugh.
"A-Astrid!" Hiccup struggled into a sitting position. "Are you alright?"
"Am I alright?" Astrid repeated, not making a move to stand. "Am I alright?!"
Hiccup panicked a little at the increasing anger in her voice. He looked at the others. "What? What happened?"
Fishlegs just waved his hands with an unhelpful, "Well…"
The twins, frowning in seeming disappointment, didn't respond to Hiccup's question.
Snotlout threw his hands into the air. "That's what we needed to do?! You should have let me hit him sooner!" Snotlout started to stalk away, then spun back and pointed his finger at the room in general. "He jumped on my head! I would have returned the favor! No qualms!"
Hiccup looked behind him to make sure there wasn't someone behind him that they were talking about. He stared for a moment at the Edge Nadder watching him through the window.
"Uh…" Hiccup turned to the others.
"Yeah, he won't leave us be," Ruffnut said.
"I think he's adopted Ruff, me, and you," Tuffnut added.
"What?"
"Hiccup," Astrid said, rising to crouch beside him.
"Y-yes?" Hiccup said, nervous all over again at her sudden calm.
"What do you remember last?"
Hiccup winced. "I… I, uh, went to the Edge Nadder roost?"
"You don't remember anything else?"
"Toothless carried me back?" Hiccup tried weakly. "What happened?"
"Oh, Hiccup." Astrid gave him a worrying smile. "That was two days ago."
Hiccup's eyes widened. He took in Fishlegs' uncomfortable nod, the twins' pleased expressions, and Snotlout's scowl. The Edge Nadder grumbled and Toothless growled at him.
Hiccup then looked at himself. His armor was battered, and his palms were scratched and filthy. He had a bad, fishy taste in the back of his mouth.
Hiccup felt a lump in his pocket and pulled it out. He stared at his old stuffed dragon, then lowered it and met Astrid's mischievous eyes.
"What did I do?"
"Where do we start?" Astrid said, putting her hands behind her back. "You thought you were a dragon…"
Hiccup's eyes widened. "No."
Astrid grinned. "Yep. Completely wild dragon, too. You convinced Stormfly to hide you in the forest, then attacked me when I came after you."
"You jumped on my head!" Snotlout repeated.
"The Edge Nadders adopted you," Tuffnut said.
"I think you impressed them with your drawing skills," Ruffnut added.
"We had to treat you like a wild dragon, right down to getting your trust," Fishlegs said.
"Much like you gave Toothless his tailfin back, I gave you your foot back," Astrid said.
Hiccup watched for some sign that they were messing with him. "Y-you're kidding, right? Why would I do all that?"
Astrid shrugged. "And we don't even know what happened when you got caught by Hunters."
Hiccup whipped his gaze to her. "I didn't."
"You did."
"N-no, now I know you're making things up," Hiccup said unconvincingly.
Toothless huffed, catching Hiccup's attention. The Night Fury's long-suffering stare convinced Hiccup.
Hiccup put his face into his hands. "Start at the beginning."
Astrid was only too happy to explain.
A/N: Too, too happy.
Well, thanks for coming along on my random, ramble-induced story about the chaos that follows dragon-boy Hiccup. You all have been amazing and so enthusiastic. Until next time!
Griffin, outQ