A/N: I was quite surprised to see that 11 people are screaming for Nightflight's blood in my poll. Hm…. *thoughtful face*
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The normal chaos that usually took place on the island of Berk had more than tripled in the past day. Stoick was organizing a group of Vikings and their dragons for a search party to go after Hiccup. Vikings-in-Training were scrambling over one another with excitement, trying to weasel their way into the expatiation. It was like they were as bad as Hiccup, not knowing what would lie at the end of their journey and frankly not giving a care. To say it in nice terms, it set Astrid's teeth on edge.
They were preparing to leave, the dragons lined up on the edge of the cliff, wings ready as they trilled with anxiousness. Astrid had adopted a purple Monstrous Nightmare, the dragon still acting weary around her as it shifted uneasily. Fishlegs and Meatlug were on her left, followed by Snotlout and Hookfang. Tuffnut and Ruffnut had not been allowed to go, much to the teens' dismay. Stoick had told them that he needed people back here to protect the village while he was gone, but it did little to help the fist-fight between the brother and sister after he left. Each one blamed the other for the lack of adventure. Which was typical of course.
Astrid stood on the side of the borrowed dragon, rummaging around as she made sure that it was safe to ride on. The people around her were doing the same, stroking their dragons comfortably as they did so. The sight made Astrid's heart twist as she thought of Stormfly, but then the thought that followed made her pause. This was what Hiccup had felt for the last few weeks. For the most part, she had been trying to make him get back to normal, but now she could see why he was so quiet. Why he avoided the other people's eyes when they were around their dragons. But of course, Stormfly was with Hiccup, Astrid knew where she was. She was safe for the most part. Hiccup did not have any idea where Toothless was, and if the dragon would even want him back if he got there.
She let out a small sigh, turning her head and trying to focus on what she was doing. From where he sat, Snotlout craned his neck to the side, watching her with mild curiosity. Steering Hookfang, the teenager moved over to be on her other side, looking down at her carefully. "Do you have any idea where Hiccup could have gone?" He asked. "I mean- you were the one to see him leave."
Astrid shrugged, suddenly not wanting to talk that much. "I dunno." She mumbled, letting her hands fall to her sides as she took a step back from her dragon, lifting her eyes to meet Snotlout's. "I just know that he went off the way Toothless went." She paused for a moment, looking over at the dragons thoughtfully. "You know, I don't think I can blame him anymore. It must have been terrible enough for Toothless to start abandoning him. But for him to leave would have been like death for him or something. I know that I miss Stormfly, and I know that she's with Hiccup." She broke off, looking back over at Snotlout, who had a more somber face on by now. "Hiccup was the only person in the village without a dragon. Even the toddlers have one."
"I guess." Snotlout said hesitantly. Blinking, he looked down at Hookfang and reached forward, giving her head a small pat. "I know I wouldn't want Hookfang to go off and leave here." His eyes flashed up to the front, and he straightened somewhat. "Stoick just came over, are we leaving now?"
Astrid started, turning to follow the boy's gaze. But the tribe leader was fixing something on Spitelout's dragon. Astrid gave a small huff, "I guess we're leaving soon, then." She said after a moment's pause. She turned back and reached up, grabbing the dragon's back and hoisting herself up with a small thump. Situating herself neatly, she leaned forward and gave the dragon's neck a small pat. "Alright. I know I'm not your usual rider," One of the people that wasn't assigned to go had let her have their dragon for a while. "but I'm sure that we can work together on this for the short time we are together. Right?"
The dragon let out more of a scared whimper than a yes. Astrid deadpanned, straightening as she whipped around to face Snotlout. "This isn't going to work." She said flatly, her eyes narrowing slowly. Snotlout blinked, eyeing the smaller dragon with a crooked smile. Everyone in the village knew of Astrid's low tolerance and patience. And it was pretty obvious that not just any dragon would do.
"Too bad your stuck with him." The smart remark from Snotlout earned him a good punch in the face. Astrid glared Hiccup's cousin as he fell off-balance, toppling from his perch on Hookfang and falling back down to the ground. Hookfang blinked slowly, turning to look down at her rider decisively for a moment or two before just turning back to face the front, not paying any mind to what Snotlout was doing. The teen huffed loudly, getting back on Hookfang with a sour look as he glared at Astrid. The girl opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off as a loud shout sounded to the side.
Turning her head over, Astrid caught sight of a smallish girl racing forward, puffing loudly by the time she skidded to a stop in the throng of the dragon party. Astrid watched, mildly interested as the girl straightened to look over at Stoick. "Can I come too?" She managed, wincing as she held her side tightly. Stoick seemed lost for a moment, looking down at her as if he couldn't place her name.
It wasn't as if Astrid was friends with the girl. She was just a girl in the Viking Training program, she probably didn't even know Astrid's name. But she spoke up anyway, making it so that she could be heard throughout the group. "Hi, Jen." She called in something of a dead-tone. This seemed to bring back some of Stoick's memories, and he looked at the girl thoughtfully.
"I promise I wont cause trouble! You wont even know I'm there!" The girl begged, having recovered from her run. "I'll stay back and out of the way the whole time, I promise!" She put out her lower lip in a small pout. "I just wanna do something other than learn that my dragon can't go to the bathroom in the kitchen. I know that already."
The adults surveying the sight shifted and murmured uncomfortably to one another, troubled eyes trained on the smaller girl. She seemed unaware of the eyes though, a large smile pasted on her face as she looked hopefully at Stoick. The leader still seemed a bit lost, staring blankly at the smaller one for a moment. Astrid could finally see something of a resemblance between Hiccup and his father for the first and briefest moment of time. Stoick had the same blank look on his face that Hiccup got whenever he didn't know what to do. But Stoick recovered quickly, shaking himself somewhat as he looked decisively down at the girl. Silence stretched on for a moment or two before he spoke. "Do you have a dragon to ride?" He asked bluntly.
Jen blinked, cheeks flushing as she looked bashfully down at the ground. "I have a Terrible Terror." She offered weakly. The adults around her smiled somewhat down at her. Stoick on the other hand did not look pleased. He opened his mouth to speak, and Astrid looked at Jen sympathetically.
"She can ride on my dragon with me." Astrid offered, giving a small smile down to Jen as the girl twisted around to look at her. "I don't mind. I didn't have a dragon either until somebody offered one to me." She gestured down to the shy Monstrous Nightmare, who started under the eyes of so many people. She rolled her eyes in turn, but gave a small smile as Stoick gave a small nod.
"I suppose." He grunted, as graceful about it as he ever would get. Jen jumped with excitement, ducking her head as she gave a small bow to the chieftain. Smiling widely, she turned and raced back to Astrid, pausing for a small moment before she hoisted herself up next to Astrid. The two had to shuffle their position for a few minutes until they made enough room for each other and still be comfortable. Looking somewhat frazzled, the Monstrous Nightmare let out a small whine. Astrid decided that was what she was going to name it as of now for her. Frazzle.
"Thanks, Astrid." The blonde turned and looked at Jen as she spoke. The girl smiled toothily at the Viking, and Astrid returned the smile cheerfully. It wasn't much of a problem, and she didn't even know that Jen knew her name. It took Astrid a while to remember Jen's. But she supposed that with the whole battle against the Red Death, many many Vikings-In-Training would know all of their names. Even Fisheleg's. The thought made Astrid hold her head a little higher.
"It's fine." She said easily. "It wasn't anything big, really."
Snotlout rolled his eyes, turning Hookfang and starting back to where he had first been beside Fishlegs. "Careful." He warned, trotting away. Jen straightened, blinking with puzzlement as he went along. "You don't want her head to blow up and explode, do you?" Astrid looked at Snotlout sourly as he threw her a teasing look.
"I do not have a swelled head." Astrid snapped defensively, glaring at the boy.
"Really?" Snotlout asked, cocking an eyebrow at her. "'Oh, it's nothing really.'" He mimicked her higher voice as he looked up at the sky, folding his hands together. "'No biggie.' You sound like a prep."
"I am not a prep!" Astrid shouted hotly, pink in the cheeks as Snotlout rounded behind Fishlegs and his dragon. She folded her hands tightly over her chest, slouching as she glared over to the side. Jen seemed slightly out of place, sitting awkwardly back on Frazzle as she looked from one side to the other. Stoick had gotten up and was making his way to his own dragon.
"So…is he your boyfriend?" Jen asked after a moment.
"EW NO." Astrid shouted, making herself loud enough so that Snotlout could hear her.
"Don't hate me cause you ain't me!" Snotlout's shout reached Astrid's ears.
"Ain't isn't a word!" Astrid fumed back.
"…Astrid?" Jen asked hesitantly.
"And even if it was, then you're sentence would STILL be wrong! I hate you because you're annoying, not because I'm not you. If I WERE you, then I would hate you even more because I would never want to be you!" Astrid was out of breath by the time she finished, still red in the face as she glared in Snotlout's direction. Silence followed her words, and Astrid thought that Snotlout had grown quiet. But then loud laughter came from his direction, and the blonde groaned loudly.
"Astrid!" Jen said, louder this time. Astrid started from her mini-fight, turning to look with slight irritation at the girl. She opened her mouth to snap something at the younger girl, but broke off as her eyes widened. The clearing seemed a lot less…empty. She realized with horror that most of the crowd had already taken off.
Spinning around, Astrid pushed Frazzle's neck, grimacing as she did so. "GO!" She shouted, frustration mounting as Frazzle shrank back with a whimper. Astrid gave a loud yell as they slowly got alone on the ridge. "GO YOU STUPID ANIMAL!" She shouted in the dragon's ear. "WHO EVER HEARD OF A SCARED MONSTROUS NIGHTMARE, HUH?"
Jen blinked, shrinking back from her yelling just like that dragon. "…We're being left behind." She murmured, watching the cloud of dragons soaring into the sky. Looking around slowly, she hissed under her breath. "Maybe I still have time to choose another dragon to hitch a ride on." Taking a glance down at Frazzle she whispered. "Or a turtle. Anything that will move."
"This thing will move." Astrid muttered, drawing a hand through her hair as she started to push the dragon harder. "I will MAKE it move. HURRY UP YOU TURTLE, WE'RE BEING LEFT BEHIND! DO YOU REALLY WANT TO BE LEFT BEHIND? THAT'LL MEAN WE'LL BE ALONE. YOU DON'T WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE DO YOU?" As if in response to her question, Frazzle turned and looked over at the village, eyeing the people milling about the clearing happily.
Astrid was silent for a moment, staring ahead blankly without saying anything. The search party seemed to notice her absence, the dragons taking to hovering in the air as they turned back to look at her. Snotlout seemed to have been the one to bring up her lack of being there, giving her a small wave with a loud laugh that Astrid could hear from where she sat. Jen looked embarrassed where she sat, her head ducked as she fixed her gaze on the ground.
Grinding her teeth together, Astrid narrowed her eyes in anger. She refused to be shown this way in front of the entire village. She deserved to be going in with the search party to find Hiccup, and she could feel the way that Hiccup was slowly getting farther and farther away from her. Tightening her grip on the dragon, Astrid felt her other side coming into view. The side that she had when she was in dragon training and when she learned to kill dragons. The side she had before Hiccup showed her the other, less ugly side.
"Listen, Frazzle." She hissed through clenched teeth. The dragon shifted at the angry tone in her voice. "If you do not get off of this ground in the next SECOND, I will personally take you to the other side of the island, take a spear, cut off your foot and then SHOVE IT DOWN YOUR THROAT. SO YOU CAN CHOOSE WHETHER OR NOT YOU WANT TO GET OFF YOUR BUTT RIGHT NOW AND GET INTO THE AIR, OR KEEP DOING WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND WATCH AS I DISSASEMBLE YOU!"
Frazzle let out a strained scream, wriggling as it launched itself into the air clumsily. Astrid had to hold on tightly in order to stay on, and she felt Jen wrap her arms around her waist with a choke-hold. Frazzle was a lot faster than Astrid had thought, and the Nightmare shot past the group of Vikings in the air, shooting past even Stoick as Astrid and Jen made their way to the front.
"Wow!" Jen said excitedly, watching as the other people whipped back around and rocketed forward to try and catch up to them. Hair waving in the wind, she gave out a high-pitched laugh as she leaned over to look at Astrid. "You sure know what to do when it comes to dragons!"
Astrid smirked where she sat. "I guess I must have picked something up from Hiccup!" She yelled back, a laugh bubbling up in her throat. "That or it's just woman's intuition!"
"I didn't know intuition included cutting off thing's legs!" Jen yelled, frowning.
"Well…it does now!"
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A/N: I hope you like a lot! I have to go, a new friend is coming over and I'm really excited!
I hope I get a lot of reviews! Reviews make me more excited to update!