Disclaimer: *totally owns it* Yeah, right. I don't even own the freaking idea.
~ Eclipse ~
The firmament was dusty as the day faded into twilight, the setting sun trailing its blood onto the waves as if Meridia was banging her bruised, scraped hands against the walls of her prison.
Toothless lifted his head, narrowing his pupils against the sunset as the Berkian ships arrowed through the ice-cold seawater. He hadn't moved in the three hours since he'd awoken from his sleep to find the Vikings fussing over him, trying to understand why he'd suddenly passed out.
He'd brushed them off (there was no way he could explain the situation anyway) and since then, he'd been sitting at the bow of the ship, watching for Diana's island.
He might look alone to the humans on the ship, but in his mind, he felt the constant presence of Hiccup, although the soul-bond was vague.
A mirror may only present one reflection at a time.
Toothless grinned suddenly, which looked… disturbing to outside people.
Well, mother, try to take away my reflection. Try to take away my soulmate, and replace him with yourself. Good luck.
Creepily, he felt some sort of response…
…a mirthful, almost childish laugh.
Toothless' ears flicked up as he sensed a change in his soul-bond…
Door banging open, turning around, people crowding him…
He blinked and was himself again, watching the horizon. But something was different. There, right beneath the setting sun, was a small speck …
Being led towards a small hill, fighting, but his body was much smaller, he had no wings, he was pretty pissed off about that…
Toothless shook his head and leaned towards the island. Shouts were heard as the Berkians noticed, and corrected their course…
Struggling in the grip of that man, the one they called 'boss', he was a wily one, like a Whispering Death, he hated Whispering Deaths…
Astrid was next to him, gripping her axe. "Those cult freaks won't know what hit them…" she muttered, but Toothless was away again as the island drifted closer…
Giving up the struggle, he could sense Toothless and Berk growing close to the island, the Lunarians were crowding around him now, their leader calling for everybody to assemble, he made out the girl they called Tarius…
The island was growing closer, and Toothless could see it was smaller than Berk, almost perfectly circular, with sparse trees covering it…
The leader was standing perfectly still, selecting only the best Lunarians for his force, Hiccup was disappointed that the man chose small and light as well as large and strong people, so he wasn't a total idiot, damn it…
Astrid was warming up her axe-wielding arm, and the Berkian ships docked on the island. Toothless jumped onto the hard-packed earth in a single fluid movement as the sun touched the edge of the sea. He could feel Diana's power growing close, and he strained his eyes to see the smallest sliver of black appearing to slide over the bright red glow. The solar eclipse had begun…
He struggled as the leader dashed a crystal ball to the ground, opening another portal, and stepped through it…
A glowing silver-blue vortex appeared in front of Toothless, and he skidded to a halt. For a moment, nothing happened, and the Vikings around the dragon crouched defensively…
Hiccup felt light as he fell through the seemingly endless chasm, through space until suddenly, he felt solid ground under his feet again and looked up to see…
Hiccup!
Toothless grinned and bolted forward when he saw his soulmate, but stopped suddenly, arching his back and growling warily.
Hiccup wasn't alone. Standing behind him, holding a sword to his brother's throat was 'Mr Boss'. Toothless snarled threateningly, sensing the Vikings behind him take up their battle positions.
Stoick flourished his hammer. "If you harm one hair on my son's head, I swear to Odin I will rip you apart limb from limb!"
Mr Boss laughed coldly, pressing the sword point into Hiccup's neck as more Lunarians flooded out of the portal. The young heir wisely stood as still as possible.
"You'd best not try anything, Vikings. I have your heir, and to get him back, you only need to give me the Lunar Dragon," Mr Boss called.
Toothless growled, but he couldn't get a clear shot. Hiccup looked imploringly into his friend's eyes. "Don't do it, bud," he whispered. Get out of here…
Mr Boss jerked the sword under the teen's chin, and a line of blood appeared on his freckled skin. Stoick took a sharp breath.
Toothless snarled He could feel Hiccup protesting through his soul-bond, but ignored him. The Night Fury carefully moved towards the Lunarians, who numbered about twenty, step by slow step. Finally, he was surrounded. Hiccup groaned, irritated.
Stoick let out a breath. "Now, give me back my son."
Mr Boss tilted his head. "… No."
The Vikings tensed, ready for battle, but the chief held out his hand. Not yet. "Why not?"
Mr Boss chuckled. "Viking, it isn't simply enough for the Lunarians to have the Lunar Dragon. We need it to become the Third Link, the final bond between Heaven and Earth, to free Diana from her prison!" He gestured towards the horizon, where the sun was slowly sinking, the moon now covering a quarter of it.
Hiccup shifted. "But it will free Meridia as well."
Mr Boss looked so surprised that he loosened his hold on Hiccup. Toothless felt it through the soul-bond, and mentally urged him to get away.
Hiccup didn't. Instead, he started talking. "I read it. When Diana is freed from her prison, Meridia will be freed as well. The two sisters are entwined, bonded beyond mortal comprehension. Meridia tricked the gods into imprisoning her in her sun, so that she might be released with her sister and-"
Mr Boss laughed. "Nonsense, child. You may think you have found out much about our cult, but in reality, you know nothing!" He gripped Hiccup tight again, and Toothless groaned as the man turned to him. "Now, fire the Third Link already!"
Toothless was partially confused, partially he felt like he was born for this. Mr Boss gestured at the sun, which was now half-obscured by the moon, and he turned to face the sisters.
Diana chuckled in the back of his mind. 'My dear, you were born for this.'
Toothless shook his head. 'Oh, will you shut up for just one second or I might fire the Link wrong, condemning you to a lifetime of imprisonment.'
Diana was silent, which gave Toothless a sense of satisfaction. He lifted his head, opened his mouth and prepared to fire.
For that was the ingenuity of the Third Link. The Night Fury's ability to fire destructive blasts of indigo fire was special already, but when the solar eclipse drew near, lunar markings would appear on the body of the Chosen One.
If I have to free my mother to free Hiccup, fine. There was nothing Toothless wouldn't do for his soulmate.
Toothless felt the white markings all over his hide pulse with silver-blue light and widened his maw to fire…
"STOP!"
He snapped his mouth shut and swung around at the same moment as everybody else did, turning to face a group of people who had appeared seemingly from nowhere, dressed in white cloaks, with golden designs on them… similar to the Lunarians' cloaks, actually…
Mr Boss hissed. "Meridia's followers. I should have known they would interfere."
A tall figure, presumably the Leader, stepped forward. "Now, now," she purred. "We're all friends here."
"Your definition of friends needs work," Mr Boss sniped. "Out of the way, Solarians."
Vikings gasped, and Toothless felt confused. There's a group called the Lunarians, he thought frantically, Lunar meaning the moon and Solar the sun…
…so Lunarians, with black cloaks with silver designs follow Diana and want to free her, he thought as Hiccup, which means that…
"The Solarians follow Meridia!" Hiccup cried triumphantly, surprising everybody except the leader of the Solarians.
The woman nodded, the white hood with golden solar designs hiding her face. "It is our goal to free Meridia from her prison as the sun travels across the sky. Tonight, both prisons are at their weakest."
Mr Boss snarled, sounding like a Toothless when he was disturbed from one of his naps. The Night Fury sympathised – he hated it when… hold on, back to the matter at hand.
The Solarian woman laughed. "Oh, you Lunarians are always so easily provoked. You don't really think that you can beat me?"
Mr Boss grunted at the woman, a smug smile touching his face. "We don't have to," he snickered, gesturing to Toothless. "With the Lunar Dragon, nothing can stop us!"
The woman shook her head, the golden fibres of her cloak glinting. "Please. We heard the whole thing. It seems this Lunar Dragon is most fond of this young Viking heir."
The man grunted. "We captured the heir and convinced the Lunar Dragon to fire the Third Link… when you came along! Now, stand back. The Lunar Dragon is extremely powerful!"
The woman didn't step back. Instead, she smiled and gestured to her followers.
Instantly, three people in white-and-golden capes dragged forth something… something on a leash… something alive… something with scales as black as night, covered in red solar markings.
Toothless' jaw dropped. He couldn't help it.
The Night Fury raised her head and glared at the crowd with baleful tangerine eyes.
"Then," the woman announced, "It's a good thing I brought a challenger."
Chaos instantly broke out.
Mr Boss screamed, "Lunarians, attack!" and the twenty black-robed figures descended on the Solarians. The woman waved her hand, and the two sides clashed, the leaders urging their troops on. The Vikings charged recklessly into the fray, losing sight of common sense as soon as they saw a brawl. They weren't fighting for any side in particular, just running around, screaming their heads off and waving their weapons around.
Toothless just stared at the Night Fury. She stared back, not betraying any emotion.
"Hi," Toothless said. Well, you have to start somewhere.
The dragon hissed softly and growled to the woman beside her. The Solarian leader let go of the chains, releasing the Night Fury. The female started towards Toothless, circling him slowly.
"We have to fight," she suddenly spoke, her voice a hoarse whisper that reminded Toothless of dusty, barren landscapes and sandstorms. Just like her eyes reminded him of the setting sun glowing over the Savannah.
"Why?" he asked, curious.
The dragon stared at him disbelievingly. "Because it was foretold. That's what every moment in our lives has been leading up to, to prepare us for the battle of the Moon and Sun."
Toothless stared at her. "Brainwashed, much?"
She hissed and lunged suddenly, flashing open her maw and blasting a glowing plasma blast that would have killed Toothless if his reflexes hadn't saved him. "Woah," he yelped. "Easy on the attacking. Why do you want to fight me so badly?"
"Because it is our destiny!" Brilliant amber eyes flashed and Toothless jumped over a plasma blast that would have scorched the scales off his legs.
"Why do you believe that so badly? I hadn't even heard of the term 'Lunar Dragon' before this week!" Toothless jumped into a tree, escaping pursuit on the ground.
"You might not have, but I have been trained all my life for this moment," the dragon croaked, blasting the tree trunk to bits and making Toothless crash to the ground.
"My solar marks define my destiny for me, and I will seek to fulfil it as I was ordered to. There is no escaping this… It has been foretold for eons." She crouched low to the ground.
"It has been foretold? Is that all you ever say?"
A tackle had Toothless flung to the ground, but used his opponent's move against her, doing a backwards somersault that ended with him on top of her. He leapt off the other dragon and sat down stoically.
The Night Fury leapt up and lunged at him again. Toothless ducked. "We don't have to fight, you know."
"Yes," the dragon huffed, freeing herself from a few twigs, "we do! It is our destiny, Lunar Dragon! One of us is destined to die fighting! And I will make sure it is you!"
Toothless sidestepped another lunge. The dragon was growing aggravated by the fact that Toothless wasn't fighting. "First of all, we make our own destiny. Second, so Meridia is your mother? Third, don't call me Lunar Dragon. It sounds so horribly formal, it makes me feel like a grand-dragon," Toothless joked.
Another plasma blast made it clear that his opponent had no sense of humour. "Okay, okay," Toothless grumbled. "Just trying to keep things light."
"The only thing will light is you, Lunar Dragon… You will light up," the Solar Dragon (oh crap, he was starting to think like a cult member!), uh, the Night Fury hissed.
"So you do have a sense of humour!" Toothless proclaimed smugly. He yelped as claws slashed at the dirt where he'd been standing a moment before. "Even if yours is slightly… different to mine."
The dragon gave a cruel smirk, which made her eyes glow like the sun. "Give up, Child of the Moon," she hissed slowly.
Toothless grumbled. "Why does everybody keep calling me that? I am not a frickin' Child of a crazy-as-Hel, loony-moony Goddess!" He closed his eyes and concentrated on his soul-bond, finding Hiccup. Brother? I think it's time to stop the fight.
No sooner had the message been sent than Hiccup dropped from a tree branch directly above Mr and Miss Boss, wielding his tiny dagger. "Stop!" he shouted, and the battlefield went silent as the two leaders yelped in surprise.
Hiccup stood tall and confident. "Why are you fighting against each other? What do you have from it?"
The Lunarian waved his arm. "Who are you to interfere with our politics? We were born to oppose each other!
Toothless groaned and the female Fury shot him a perplexed look. Again with the crap about destiny!
Hiccup sighed. "The world wants peace."
"We don't care about the world," the Solarian woman reprimanded him. "We've got gods to worry about."
"Yes, boy." The Lunarian boss glared down at Hiccup and Toothless could see Stoick gripping his hammer tighter on the battlefield. He tensed, waiting for an opportunity to strike, but the boss seemed to only want to jeer. "The Lunar Dragon belongs to us. Leave him be and go back to your island."
Hiccup sighed. "You really think that lowly of me? Toothless is my friend. My brother. My soulmate. Can't see we are mirror-bound?"
Mr Boss stopped and looked at Toothless, then back at Hiccup, just as the Solarian leader did the same.
"Oh, my," the woman said, stepping back, and her voice broke the stillness. "The boy's right. The mirror-bond is in their eyes!"
The Night Fury next to Toothless stirred. "The mirror-bond? You bonded souls with a human?"
Toothless nodded proudly.
She recoiled, ember eyes flashing. "That bond is special! It is meant only for you and your mother! It is the most intimate thing a Celestial Dragon(*) possesses!"
Toothless sighed. "Look.
"I have chosen to share my soul with my brother because he is the person I trust the most, not some crazy goddess who I didn't even believe in before she possessed me and tried to make me kill my best friend! Hiccup was the one who shot me down, but he made me fly again.
"You may trust your mother, but every time I spoke to… No, every time my mind was assaulted by Diana, it felt wrong. And as I bond with Hiccup, it feels right.
"We trust each other. We are everything to one another. Don't let your mother take away the most important person in your life just because 'it's your destiny'. Don't let yourself be brainwashed."
Ignoring the stunned look he was given, Toothless turned to Hiccup, who spread his hands out to the two hysterical Celestial leaders. "It is true. I hear Toothless' thoughts, and he knows mine. We defied the bond between Toothless and Diana. So defy logic now and work together!"
Hiccup clearly had good intentions. The Celestial Leaders? Not so much. They looked at each other, then shook hands. "For freedom?" he asked, and she nodded. "For freedom."
Hiccup beamed. "Okay, then… wait, what?" he asked as the leaders brushed past him and headed towards the dragons. "Wait… uh." He stopped suddenly when he realised the two adults were heading towards the Night Furies.
The Berkian warriors trooped up to him and Astrid sidled towards Hiccup as he gulped. "Why do I have a feeling I just did something terribly wrong? What are you doing?" he called.
The woman smirked at him. "Working together! Just as you suggested. Help us," she called and together, the Lunarians and Solarians swarmed the dragons, herding them towards the shore, where the thinnest crescent of sunlight peeked from behind the pure black disk of the moon as the two spheres touched the horizon.
"No!" Hiccup yelled, but he was held back from launching himself at the Celestial followers by Astrid.
"Hiccup," she said gently. "It's suicide. There are too many."
He sobbed. "But they'll hurt Toothless!" Brother!
Toothless moaned and growled, enraged, as the group herded him towards the shore. Must… protect… Hiccup…
Suddenly, the dragon went rigid and Hiccup jolted perfectly straight. Toothless shivered, and Hiccup's limbs started jolting as a presence in their brains went to work separating them.
Now, son, Diana cooed. This is meant to be.
Toothless fought her. He fought against the supernatural being that called itself his mother with mental tooth and claw, struggling against her brain. Diana just chuckled.
Astrid stared as Hiccup convulsed. What is going on? Suddenly, her friend – boyfriend? – stood ramrod-straight, his pupils small in the huge expanse of his green irises.
That was the moment Diana took over Toothless, becoming his mirror instead of Hiccup. But because Toothless had struggled, the barest thread of thought still ensnared Hiccup, and Diana could control both of them.
Toothless stood straight. Part of his brain protested as he turned to the sea, and Hiccup turned to face the Vikings. His pupils contracted into thin, reptilian slits.
With Hiccup, Astrid glanced between the two brothers and made the connection.
Now, fire! Diana commanded Toothless, and Hiccup did the only thing he could do instead of fire – he drew his dagger and advanced on the Vikings.
Toothless' body glowed silver and indigo once again as the other dragon's body coalesced with ember hues and they opened their maws in unison.
With the Vikings, Hiccup got ready to strike, but Astrid stepped in front of him, and, doing the first thing she could – she needed to subdue Hiccup – kissed him.
Hiccup was all set to stab somebody, but something about Astrid's lips meeting his seemed to immobilise him. He stood there, rigid, as his lips met hers.
The Vikings stared.
Toothless and the Solar Dragon fired their links, Toothless' plasma blast silver and the other Night Fury's gold.
And Diana's power over them waned and they became themselves again.
Astrid stepped away from Hiccup just as he regained consciousness. "I… what?"
He looked around. "What happened?"
"Toothless and you were… mirroring each other," Astrid said, her voice a little rough.
Hiccup glanced at her, touching his lips. "Diana must have controlled us through her soul-bond… What happened?"
Astrid cleared her throat. "Nothing much."
"Actually…" Fishlegs spoke, but Astrid punched him so hard, poor 'legs fell to the floor, unconscious.
"I said, nothing much."
Hiccup raised an eyebrow as Ruffnut cackled. "Okay." Girls.
An explosion lit up the sky and Hiccup turned, watching with dread as the two links spread like webbed cracks across the shadowy moon, silver and gold, and exploded in a million glittering shards. Cold fear seeped into his stomach. "She's free."
They're free, Toothless corrected him. Crap.
Toothless grumbled as the water on both sides of the island rippled. And then suddenly, the sisters appeared. They looked like regular humans… except they were fifteen feet tall.
Diana looked about fifteen years old, with skin so pale it glowed, dark, twinkling eyes and straight, black hair that was braided along her back with silver ribbons. Her simple sleeveless dress was dark black, but shimmered indigo and here and there, you might catch an occasional silver twinkle. Across her shoulder hung an ivory bow and quiver.
Meridia looked about twenty, and her skin was tanned olive, with brown freckles on her nose. Her hair was short, wavy and red and bounced across her shoulders, topped with a gold circlet, and her eyes shone amber. Her short, bouncy dress was yellow-auburn. In one hand, she held a bronze scythe.
Diana laughed, dipping one hand into the water. "Oh, to be free again!" She splashed it over her head, giggling childishly as it pattered onto her arms. "After all this time…!"
She froze when she spotted Meridia. "You."
Meridia smiled gently, and the area became warm as a summer's day. "I come to talk, sister."
Diana balled her hands to fists. "Talk! When have you even come except to take away from me?" she yelled angrily. "The only thing you ever do is mess everything up!"
Meridia clutched her scythe. "Do not accuse me wrongly. I am trying to make things right…"
"Make things right, she says," Diana scoffed. "And I suppose you're going to do that by locking me up in my own moon again for the next ten thousand years!"
Meridia sighed, and suddenly she looked weary and tired. "I do not want to argue. Let this rivalry end now, sister, please."
Diana growled. "It is too late! You were always the favoured one, the nice one, the one everybody liked! Now is the time for the true power of the moon to arise!" She turned to Toothless. "Son, attack her!"
Toothless' eyes widened. Seriously? She's just expecting me to murder her sister for her? He looked around, then yawned. "No."
Diana looked furious. "Do it!" He could feel her through the soul-bond, but he could not break a second time. He turned a couple of circles, and lay down on the ground, closing his eyes for a nap. Somewhere above him, the female Night Fury hissed lightly, "You have a sincere death wish."
Diana screamed and Toothless opened his eyes just a bit. "Kill her, I said!"
Meridia chuckled, but it sounded hollow. "Your son doesn't listen to you, eh? Oh well. I guess you'll just have to kill me yourself, then."
Diana stared at her, her black dress roiling around her. "What?"
Meridia stared into her sister's eyes. "Kill me. I've had enough of this rivalry. I do not want to live like this any longer."
Diana clenched her fists. "I… I can't do that."
Meridia tilted her head, fiery locks twirling. "Why not?"
Diana huffed, paced in a full circle and threw her hands up. "Why not? Why not! Ugh…" She paced around, yelling, "You are so frustrating!"
Meridia grinned meekly. "I'm your older sister."
Hiccup spoke. "Well, it sounds like you don't want to kill each other."
Meridia stared at the Viking, then nodded, while Diana glared. "Really? Of course we want to kill each other! We are the sun and the moon! She was always the better one! It has been foretold!"
The other dragon groaned. Toothless glanced at her. "Did you just groan?"
"No."
Toothless shrugged and tuned Hiccup in. "Then why don't you kill her now?"
Diana made a few wild gestures with her hands. "Well… ugh… ah… It's just not that easy!"
Hiccup wasn't convinced. "You know what I think? I think you don't want to kill Meridia. I think you don't want to kill your sister. I think what you want is to be recognised, and I think what your sister wants is to apologise. I think you two need to talk."
All the fight seemed to leave Diana.
Meridia asked quietly, "Can we talk, sister?"
Diana looked like she was steeling herself.
"Very well – this once, sister. Let's talk."
(*) 'Celestial Dragon' in this case refers to both Lunar and Solar Dragons grouped together into a whole species of their own. Only the species the Vikings specify as 'Night Furies' may become one such 'Lunar' or 'Solar' Dragon.
One Bright Light:
The bond between Toothless and Hiccup is basically a mirror (they are each other's mirror) and Diana tried to replace Hiccup with herself (hey, it worked… kinda).
Right! Well, I guess this was kinda deus-ex-machina. But hey! I live at the end of the world, so none of you can kill me!
*dodges virtual rotten tomatoes/pies/eggs* Bleh.
If you read back through the story, you'll discover Mr Boss made a reference to "Meridia's followers" in one chapter, and that the poem is easily explained as a sibling spat.
I should know (I have three siblings) that fights can get rough. But we still love each other. Meridia and Diana do too, but Diana was the younger sibling and felt like her parents were favouring Meridia. (Everybody, even in the old days, liked the day more than the night. In the night, they couldn't see, and they were scared of the unknown.) So Diana got bitter, believed that Meridia was opposing her, and thus the whole story with her going crazy, which is why the gods locked her up, and why Meridia felt guilty and wanted to talk.
Mr and Mrs Boss may or may not know each other from before (I seriously don't know what to make of those two, I'll leave that to the next writer) and the Night Fury they have is called Flickerflight.
Character Traits – doesn't trust easily (especially humans), very like Cloudjumper from the second movie in her traits (more the disapproving figure), but curious
As for Mrs Boss, she knows how to frustrate people and has a way with smirking and making offhand comments that especially infuriates Mr Boss. She fights with a golden scythe. *grins maniacally*
Good luck to the next Writer!
Dawnbreaker note: YO! The curse on chapter #15 has finally been broken! You may ask, what curse? well, the author who was supposed to originally write this chapter gave no response to my PMs what-so-ever so I moved the chapter to the next author who ended up quitting as well and then I moved the chapter AGAIN and that author quit AGAIN and when I finally had One Bright Light to write this for me (THANK YOU!), I MYSELF became so lazy that I left it to my document manager for about TWO WHOLE WEEKS! SHEESH! Now that's a curse!
But enough of that, here's the chap, I hope you enjoyed and are still reading this :D
Also, give me feedback on whether I should really start another one of these. I have it somewhat planned out and I've already done some base work for it but nothing much. If it's gonna be written, it'll be more of a drama based thingy but with the Berkians, it can't really be just that, can it ^^?