A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews! I loved each and every one of them~ ^^
Anyway, it took a while for me to yell my sister off of the computer, but I did it! I pulled through bravely so that I could come on and write out another chapter for you all! You all love me, right? You'd better. And I also went back and changed chapter eight so that the island was kind of closer to Berk (the island that the Night Furies are on) because I watched Gift of the Night Fury again, and I was sort of puzzled.
Because on the same day Hiccup left (being carried away by Meatlug) he got to an island that looked very hot and…not winter. SO, I figured that since the Night Fury island had snow on it still, I went back and fixed that. You know what that means? HICCUP ARRIVES! YOU ARE ALL SO EXCITED.
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"I wonder if dropping you from this height would be enough to kill you." Hiccup said flatly, eyes dull as his pupils flitted back and forth. Ludi mewed loudly in reply, hoping from one side of Stormfly's head to the other, tail lashing with excitement as she did so. Her amber eyes sparkled with humor, and to Hiccup's surprise, Stormfly didn't seem at all bugged by having the cat jumping up and down on her. She seemed content actually as she flew forward almost lazily.
The sun was slowly setting down into the horizon behind Hiccup, and he could feel the heat of the day slowly ebbing to a cold chill. He tightened his vest around him almost unconsciously, eyeing the expanse of frozen ice underneath him. "I can't believe we aren't there yet." He mumbled. Ludi started, jerking around and looking back over at the human as he tapped one finger against his head thoughtfully. "Maybe we should just stop right now. It wouldn't do any harm to stop early." He looked over his shoulder decisively at the setting sun. "But we still have some light to keep on going."
Straightening, Ludi lifted her head and looked forward, sitting upright neatly and wrapping her tail over her paws tightly. Her amber eyes narrowed slightly, and she let out a small mew as she shuffled her paws anxiously. In the fading light, she had to blink quite a few times before her eyes adjusted to the gloom. On the rise of the ice, Ludi's ears perked as she could barley make out a small dot of land.
It was the only island that Ludi could see near them, and her eyes gleamed as she turned back excitedly to face Hiccup. Even if it wasn't the island Hiccup was looking for, it had to be better than sleeping on the ice. Last night had been too cold for Ludi to stand it, and she had patience for…most…some things. Some things. She had patience for some things. Pausing for a moment, she lost her train of thought, leaving her staring at Hiccup with a blank look on her face.
Hiccup blinked rapidly, "What?" He asked, clearly confused by her sudden stillness.
Shaking herself, Ludi let out a loud meow, pointing her tail behind her rapidly. Leaning over to the side, Hiccup tilted his head, squinting as he tried to see what had caught her attention. "I don't see anything." He said, looking back down at her. But she only glared at him, pointing harder as she turned around and looked over at the island that was now getting closer and closer to them.
She wished for once that Hiccup could understand her. Usually she was grateful for that fact, considering she could say anything she wanted to him and he would never be the wiser. It was fun most of the time, but right now she realized why humans talked to each other so much. Humans were so thick-headed that they couldn't figure out what you meant without being told directly. The thought made her puff up slightly.
Stormfly seemed to have caught on at least, giving a trill as she pushed herself forward, increasing their speed as Hiccup let out a gasp of surprise. Holding on tighter to the dragon, Ludi nodded once as Hiccup finally saw what was going on. Slowly, a small smile worked its way onto his face. Ludi purred warmly, getting to her feet one last time as she made her way back, jumping onto Hiccup's lap and settling down with a drowsy blink.
Hiccup stroked the small thing's fur down softly, giving her a smile as he did so. "Every time I get annoyed with you, you seemed to know just how to make me happy again. Don't you?" Ludi responded by pushing her paws into his stomach, trying to find a better position to lay on. "You know I'm just going to get up in five seconds?" Hiccup asked, raising an eyebrow at her. Ludi didn't even bother to do anything to show that she heard.
Hiccup turned his attention back up, watching with slight nervousness as the island got closer and closer. He didn't even know whether or not this was the right island. It was the only island that he had seen so far, everything else had been ice. He had to admit, it would have been smart for dragons to set their home here. It was separated from everything else, and it took a journey to get here.
Still, he made a mental note in the back of his mind to not get too excited. But then again, that would be easy. He wasn't exactly excited on finding Toothless. He was yearning to see his friend again, but he would still not like him. Hiccup hadn't actually made a plan on what to do when he met Toothless again. Besides getting eaten. But he supposed that plan would be trash anyway.
Ludi didn't seem bothered by it. It didn't exactly matter whether or not she knew what was going on, Hiccup still envied that of her. Ludi had the kind of personality that Hiccup wished to have. The cat was brave, uncaring, and doesn't ever hesitate to leap into something with all four paws. Hiccup would rather stay at home. Which brought him to the question of why he ever started out here in the first place.
He really shouldn't think, it made him sound stupid.
"Alright, Stormfly." Hiccup whispered tensely, wincing slightly. "Let's land." The Nadder didn't hesitate as she leaned forward, folding her wings tighter to her body as she swooped down to the island. The ground got closer and closer to them, and the cold wind of night clawed at Hiccup's clothes as he shivered. Ludi still was oblivious to the world, her eyes closed as she curled up comfortably against Hiccup, her purr being able to be heard even over the wind.
Stormfly hit the ground neatly, with barley a thump to show for it. Hiccup stayed still for a few moments, eyeing the space around him. There were a few trees that dotted the landscape around him, a small forest framing the outer part of the island. Through the tree line, Hiccup's jaw went slack as he spotted what was in the center. He must have not been paying attention to the size of the island when he was flying, for there was a large, hilly mountain stationed in the center.
It looked too steep to climb up though. Hiccup's head tilted to the side, and he shuffled over to slide off of Stormfly, landing awkwardly as he wavered slightly. Collecting himself, Hiccup stood silent, staring curiously at the mountain without making a noise. Ludi pushed herself up with a snort, turning and leaping up to rest on Hiccup's shoulder in her usual perch. She watched the mountain with wide eyes, seeming to sparkle as she wriggled happily. It was all an adventure to her.
Turning around, Hiccup started to make quick work in untying the bags from Stormfly, placing them on the ground with care as he did so. Stormfly let out a tired huff, lying down on the grass gratefully as she stretched her wings out with a yawn. Smiling and murmuring out praise, Hiccup rubbed her head for a moment or two, the bags of supplies strewn out around them. Ludi looked slightly put-out, and she let out an irritated mew as she looked crossly down at the ground.
"I think I'm going to go scout the place out." Hiccup said after a while. Stormfly and Ludi both perked up at his words. "I wont be long, I just want to make sure that we're alone right now. It looked pretty empty from the air, but I like to believe in double-checking." Pushing himself off of the ground, Hiccup looked over down at Ludi, who still remained on his shoulder. "You can get down, I wont be long." He offered.
But Ludi stubbornly hung on, hunching over as she did so. "Well, then, I'll be back Stormfly!" Hiccup called. But the Nadder wasn't paying attention. Her head was raised and she was stared intently across the ice, not even blinking as she did so. Hesitating for a moment, Hiccup turned back and made his way through the line of trees.
The mountain started a ways off from where Hiccup stood, the only thing separating the two was a large flat moor. His feet barely made a noise on the springy grass, and Hiccup found himself walking silently for what seemed like the first time ever. Usually it was broken by the metal sound on his prosthetic, but there wasn't even a crunch.
Ludi looked with narrowed eyes down at the ground, almost like she were suspicious of it. Gathering herself, she sprang down from Hiccup's shoulder, lancing on all four paws on the ground. Tail lashing from side to side, she stood tensely, ears flickering back and forth. Hiccup opened his mouth to say something to her, but didn't get a chance to. Ludi bolted to the right, feet pounding on the ground as she disappeared in an instant.
Hiccup was left standing alone, and he felt himself stiffen. He could feel something trained on him, the paranoid feeling you get when you are being watched. Turning around slowly, Hiccup expected to see somebody behind him, but blinked as he saw nothing seemed to be there. Unnerved, the teen gripped his other arm tightly, rubbing it slowly as his eyes darted back and forth. "…Ludi?" He whispered, looking around quickly. "Ludi, where did you go? Come back."
The cat made no appearance. Hiccup shifted uncomfortably, seriously debating whether or not to go back and stay by Stormfly. It probably would have been smarter to have her come with him as a sense of protection. He didn't know what was on this island, he should have been smarter than this. A rustle in the bushes made him spin around once more, heart pounding. But nothing was there yet again. A flash of movement made him shrink back. He turned, ready to run back to Stormfly, when Ludi came crashing forward behind him. She let out a mew that was slightly muffled, Hiccup jumping nearly out of his skin as she did so. Whirling around, Hiccup opened his mouth to say something sharp to her, but immediately stopped, straightening as he looked at Ludi with puzzlement.
In the cat's mouth hung a dead rabbit that was nearly as big as her. Her amber eyes gleamed with pride as she dropped it at Hiccup's feet, purring loudly as she looked up expectantly. Blinking rapidly, Hiccup stared down uncomprehendingly at the dead scrap. "…Good job?" He offered weakly.
Ludi opened her mouth to meow something, but Hiccup stiffened as he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Leaning down, he grabbed Ludi swiftly, clamping her mouth shut as she tried to meow. Rushing to the side, Hiccup pressed his side against an oak tree, craning forward and looking out to the side with wide eyes.
It couldn't be possible. It wasn't possible. A Night Fury. It was an unfamiliar one, but it was accompanied by another. Hiccup took in a sharp breath as he caught sight of the creatures, heart pounding unevenly against his ribs as he watched them. They seemed to be angry, their tails lashing back and forth as they growled to one another. They were rounding the corner of the mountain, and Hiccup let out a quiet huff of frustration as they started to get out of his sight.
Biting his lip tightly, Hiccup dashed forward silently, Ludi being jostled around with his hands still over her mouth as he did so. The Viking skidded to a stop as he saw the Night Furies again, narrowing his eyes as he watched them. They had stopped where they stood, the first one of them turning and vanishing into the mountain. Hiccup blinked with surprise as he saw a small opening, a cave. Looking at the too-steep-to-climb mountain, Hiccup realized that there must be something inside rather than out. "Their nest." He whispered.
As soon as he did that, the second Night Fury's head shot up, the dragon whirling around to look back at him with dilated pupils. Hiccup gasped, flattening himself to the tree as he shut his eyes closed tightly. Ludi blinked, finally having grasped the theme that she was being muffled for a reason. She shrank back against Hiccup, tail fluffing out to make it look twice its normal size.
Seconds seemed like hours, but when Hiccup finally worked up the nerve to check if the dragon was gone, the hill was empty once more. Breathing out slowly, he realized that he had been shaking. Since when had he grown to fear unknown dragons? Usually he tried to befriend them at once, the thought making his heart sink down to his stomach.
He pushed himself away from the tree, letting go of Ludi's mouth as he did so. The cat threw him a look, scrambling up to sit on his shoulder once more. Almost on instinct, the cat leaned down and started to lick her rumpled fur, smoothing her nerves from before. Hiccup was about to turn, when he paused, looking over at the small cave opening thoughtfully.
Was that were Toothless was? The thought made Hiccup cringe inwardly, wincing slightly as he thought of the dark caverns that resided in caves. Darkness was not something on Hiccup's favorite things list, it was somewhere on the I'd-rather-not list, which -he had to admit- was much longer than the first. But he had come out here with his mind made up to find Toothless. If he had to stumble around in the dark for hours, so be it.
He glanced up at the sky, and realized that the sun had set a long time ago. Hiccup didn't even notice the darkness already around him. "Might as well wait for light." He grumbled, Ludi giving a chirp of agreement. The Viking turned without hesitation, walking back the way he had come quicker than usual. On the way back, Ludi sprang down from his shoulder once more to take her killed rabbit back in her jaws, walking beside Hiccup with both nose and tail raised in pride.
Hiccup fingered the edge of his tunic worriedly, looking on ahead with anxiousness. Something didn't feel right, and as much as he tried to put a finger on it, Hiccup couldn't realize what that thing was. It was only when they got back to where they had left all of their supplies and things, when Hiccup finally named what was wrong.
Stormfly was gone.
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Asher and Flightwing crashed into the cave, eyes wide with fear and anger. Their sudden entrance made Toothless jerk his head up, eyes widening as he threw a startled glance over at Nightflight. The female had been playing a game of tag with Shadowclaw, but her smile quickly faded as she looked at the two dragons grimly.
She turned, giving Shadowclaw a warm smile. "You go back to bed, little one." She purred. "It's getting dark out, and you mustn't worry your mother. We can play tomorrow, alright?" Not even giving the child a chance to object, Nightflight turned and paced forward briskly, coming to a stop beside Toothless.
Toothless pushed himself up to a sitting position, ears flicking back and forth as he looked at the two expectantly. Nightflight waited until Shadowclaw reluctantly slunk back to the nursery before she spoke. "What is it?" Her tone was grave, and Toothless shifted uneasily where he sat.
Asher spoke up for Flightwing. "There's a human here." He said. All around the cave, gasps of shock and cries of outrage went through the crowd, almost deafening as Toothless's ears shrank back to his head. Asher lifted his tail for silence, but it was a while before they finally quieted down. "It is a small one, but there might be others coming after him. He has found where our nest lies."
"We have to kill it!" Flash yelled from the side of the cave.
"Are you sure there are others?" Amberfoot shouted uncertainly.
"What about the children? Are they safe?" Cheese wailed.
"SILENCE." Flightwing thundered. Immediately the crowd became quiet. "We are not sure what it wants, or whether or not it is even staying here. It had another dragon, maybe it is just passing through. We do want to give away anything more than we already have, so we will wait. We will wait to see what it is planning to do. Until then, everyone is to stay in the cave! We have enough food to last us some time. It might be small, but others may be waiting to ambush. It might be a trick."
Toothless shuffled his feet on the ground as the crowd slowly began to break off, getting together and speaking in hushed voices. Nightflight's eyes were filled with fear as she looked out to where the cave sloped down to the entrance, her hackles raised as she stared. Toothless's ears flattened to his head, and he felt glares and icy stares trained on him.
Not knowing what else to do, he turned and walked off into one of the separate tunnels to spread the news.