A/N: Sorry for that…break thing :3
I hope chu all will forgive me~! ^^
•0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙
"What now?" The question was breathed out in a small fog into the winter night, curling in the air to resemble a small cloud before it disappeared completely. Shadowclaw sat on the cliff overlooking the seas of Berk, ears flattened against his head as his large green eyes shone with anxiousness. The question wasn't meant to be heard, the small dragon sitting alone on his perch. But a voice sounded behind him, causing the dragon to start with surprise, spinning around.
"What do you mean?" Toothless asked quietly. Shadowclaw shrank underneath the older dragon's gaze, feeling himself burn with embarrassment as he gave an embarrassed smile to his friend, laughing nervously. Toothless flicked an ear dismissively, taking a few strides forward to come to stop beside Shadowclaw. Sitting down silently, the older dragon raised his head, blinking slowly. "It's going to take a long time for the village to fix this." He remarked sadly.
Shadowclaw craned his neck back to follow his gaze, shuffling his paws on the ground slowly. The Vikings were already at work, assessing the damage of the buildings and breaking off into groups to start their work. Shadowclaw winced softly as he watched the process, looking at the burning, crumbling buildings that still held a few flames on the surface. "I suppose so." He decided finally, his voice soft.
Silence followed, tense and unbearable. Shadowclaw swung back around, hunching his shoulders together tightly as he glanced up into the night sky. The stars were just beginning to show over the rim of fading smoke, it wouldn't be long before they would shine just as bright as ever. That was another thing that Shadowclaw loved about Berk: the stars. He could never see them back at home. The thought made his next words slip out on accident. "You think we were the reason for this?" He blurted, stiffening as soon as he spoke.
But by the way Toothless reacted, Shadowclaw could tell that he hadn't been the only one to consider the fact. But when Toothless refused to speak, Shadowclaw took a deep breath, branching ahead carefully. "I mean- were you that surprised, really?" Glancing over at a stony-faced Toothless, he gave a small sigh. "It is our fault, isn't it? I knew I shouldn't have come here! It probably made them even more angry than before!" His voice had grown into a loud wail by now, the small youngling's eyes wide and scared. "And now Hiccup might-"
"You heard the Elder!" Toothless snapped a little too harshly. Shadowclaw jumped where he sat, shrinking back slightly in a wince as Toothless went on, more gently. "She said that Hiccup would be just fine." Shadowclaw straightened as he realized that Toothless had skipped over the part that Shadowclaw was really asking about.
"But do you think we're the reason they're here?" Shadowclaw pressed, grimacing slightly as he did so. "Why else would they be here? They're after us, right? They're mad that we left! They want us to come back with them! But I don't want to!" He looked up once more at the large sky. "I love seeing the stars! And I love being with all of the Vikings and having the little ones fight over me!" Taking in a shaky breath, he looked up at Toothless. "They're after us, then. Right?"
But to Shadowclaw's surprise, Toothless closed his eyes tightly, turning away from the smaller dragon as he spoke. "No." He murmured, standing up and still refusing to look Shadowclaw in the eye. "They wouldn't come all the way back here just to take back two dragons that refused to stay with them in the first place. They're doing something else. I don't know what yet, but I'm sure it has nothing to do with us."
Shadowclaw opened his mouth, "And what about-"
Toothless turned away before he could even finish. Shadowclaw blinked rapidly as he watched Toothless leave. The Night Fury retraced his steps back to the Elder's house, stopping beside Astrid and settling down gently. Curling his tail tightly over himself, Toothless shifted his gaze to look down at Hiccup, eyes flashing with something in between anger and something else. Casting one last glance backwards at the sky, Shadowclaw did the same, bounding after Toothless and skidding to a stop beside the older dragon.
Curling up closer to him, Shadowclaw tucked his nose under his paw tightly, closing his eyes and falling asleep instantly.
•0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙
The sun was starting to peak over the horizon ever so slowly when Astrid felt a slight twitch in her hand. The movement was small, but it was enough for her to let out a startled squeak, enough for her to jump out of her skin and enough for her to wake Toothless up, the dragon shooting to his feet as his head whipped back and forth. Ludi was shaken from her curled up ball in Astrid's lap, the cat squalling loudly as she was flipped over and thrown onto the ground, skidding forward an inch or two.
"Sorry!" Astrid gasped sharply, lurching forward and trying to grab hold of the small thing. Ludi's fur was bushed out to be twice her size, and she let out a cross spit as Astrid's hands came too close. Turning around, she let out a loud meow as she got to her feet, gathering herself for a moment before she jumped forward and onto Hiccup. The cat leaned over, crouching on the boy's chest as she meowed loudly in his face.
"Ludi." Astrid snapped softly, reaching over and poking the cat hard in the side. Ludi made a face, but refused to budge as she dug her claws down to ensure it. Gnashing her teeth together, Astrid started to poke faster, growling as she did so. "Ludi!" She yelled, louder this time. "Get off!" The cat meowed back, as if mocking her. Shadowclaw raised his head slowly, blinking blearily as he saw the scene, slightly confused on whether he should try and do something to break it up.
It was when Toothless let out a sharp yelp did Astrid finally see what was happening besides Ludi being…Ludi. Hiccup was slowly waking up. Taking in a sharp breath, Astrid literally shoved Ludi off onto the ground for the second time, the kitten sprawling on the grass with a muffled mewl. Not even glancing over at the cat (an action she would feel guilty for later), Astrid leaned over Hiccup anxiously, eyes wide as she waited for him to say something, for him to open his eyes fully.
When Astrid did see the familiar flash of green, it was accompanied with Hiccup going as stiff as board. Panicking, Astrid quickly remembered what the Elder had told her, grabbing Hiccup's hand and squeezing it tightly for comfort. "It's okay!" She said in a rush. "It's fine! You went up on Toothless during the raid that ended a few hours ago! You fell off of Toothless, but the Elder fixed you up." Watching as the boy grimaced slightly, she went on in a somewhat lower voice. "You gave me a real scare." She said bluntly. "I thought you were dying or something! But it's fine now, you're fine and everything is fine."
Hiccup let out a mutter under his breath, moving slowly as he tucked his arms underneath himself, pushing up from the ground in what looked like a painful routine. Astrid blinked with concern, looking down with a furrowed brow as she spoke up. "What hurts? Do you want me to go get the Elder for you? She told me to call her if anything happened. I can do it right now, it's no problem."
Hiccup shook his head, clearing his throat as he shook himself awake. Taking in a short breath, the teen tilted his head up to look up at the sky, and then he started, as if missing something. Craning his neck to look behind himself, he let out a relieved sigh as he saw Toothless. The Night Fury cooed loudly as his human's eyes made contact with his own, the dragon rushing forward and thrusting his muzzle into Hiccup's chest gently. "Hey, bud." He murmured affectionately, smiling softly as he did so.
Ludi started meowing loudly once more, bouncing from one foot to the other as to make sure she wasn't left out. Hiccup started as he looked down at her, and Astrid could only imagine what the cat must have been saying. "I fall twenty feet and you don't even pay any attention to me afterwards!" The thought made Astrid smile, watching as Shadowclaw finally got up and lifted a paw, shoving Ludi to the ground with one small swipe. Spinning around, Ludi retaliated, pouncing on the dragon and starting a play fight that would soon grow out of control in time.
Shoving the thought away stubbornly, Astrid inched forward, biting her lower lip as she did so. Hiccup seemed to notice her discomfort, turning away from Toothless and looking at her with his head tilted to the side slightly. Toothless lied back down on the ground, curling himself around Hiccup protectively as he helped to prop the teen up. Putting a grateful hand on the Night Fury's shoulder, Hiccup stared at Astrid expectantly, waiting for the blonde to say what was on her mind.
Astrid knew she didn't have a long time. People would soon realize Hiccup was awake, and then the Elder would want to check on him. She would have to bring it up now, although it was probably better she wait to do so until Hiccup got better fully. Shaking herself to clear her mind, Astrid looked at Hiccup directly. "So…I wanted to ask." She said finally, voice subdued. Hiccup had to listen carefully in order to hear her over the fighting noises that Shadowclaw and Ludi were making. "Up there in the sky. When you fell, you looked like you were looking at something. You looked like…you were afraid." Hiccup's mouth set into a thin line as she spoke. Hands wringing in front of her, Astrid pressed. "What was it?"
"…I don't remember." Hiccup said after a moment's pause.
"Yes, you do." Astrid snapped, eyes narrowing as she crossed her arms over her chest. "It had to be something to get you so worked up. It couldn't have been just the fall. You told me that one of the first times you went out on Toothless you fell like that, and you were fine then. Did you see something up there? The things that were causing all of the fire to come onto Berk? They weren't normal dragons, were they?"
Hiccup refused to say anything, his eyes clouding somewhat.
She supposed that meant she had to be the one to say it first.
"The Night Furies?" She guessed, watching as Hiccup immediately glanced back over at Toothless, an uneasy look on his face. "That's it, isn't it? It couldn't have been a normal raid, those were never as powerful. Things like Gronckles and Nadders wouldn't have caused anything like this." She pointed back at the village's houses, which were just now beginning to look somewhat normal. "Is that what made you so scared?"
Ducking his head, Hiccup's bangs fell down to be in front of his eyes, almost as if shielding himself from Astrid. His voice was small when he went on, hands balling into fists at his sides. "It doesn't make sense, Astrid." He murmured softly. Astrid blinked, forehead creasing in confusion. "Why are they back here? Didn't they cause enough back then?"
"You don't know what they're doing…" Astrid said helplessly, wincing. She didn't want to have Hiccup flip out all over again. She had to do her best to keep him calm so that nothing else would happen without the Elder around. She didn't have any idea what to do if he relapsed when she was alone. Glancing around, Astrid tried to remember whether or not she saw the Elder go back into her house or not. But she didn't have any recollection. The old woman must still be going around the village, treating the burns and wounds still. There couldn't have been only a few to treat.
"What else would they be doing!" Hiccup shouted suddenly, causing Astrid to jump for the second time. The teen reached up, eyes wide as he dug his fingernails into his skull. "They can't come back now, though! Everything was just fixed! Shadowclaw just started to like it here, Ludi has gotten over everything and her leg is fixed now, Toothless-" He broke off at his dragon's name, closing his eyes tightly as if shielding himself from all of the memories. Now all he needed was a turtle shell. The thought was meant to be funny, but Astrid shook her head fast, giving him a shaky smile as she reached forward.
"It'll be fine!" She encouraged happily. "We can go tell Stoick! He'll know what to do! You don't have to worry about anything, Hiccup. Everything is going to be fine, I promise you. Nothing bad like that will happen, you hear me? Calm down, okay? You just have to calm down. You're still not yourself right now, you just have to lie down or something." Astrid looked over at Toothless, slightly surprised to see the dragon's ears flattened, his large green eyes saddened as he looked down at his friend.
'You should feel bad. This is all your fault.'
The venomous thought that had wormed its way into her head made Astrid's eyes widen, made her freeze. She had come to terms to it with Hiccup's head, she had realized the second part to the equation after everything had been over and done with. Hiccup had walked her through every single event with care, proving his friend's innocence. And she had assured him over and over that she knew it all already. But the thought had sprang out at her from nowhere. She wasn't even aware that it had been lurking in the back of her mind all this time. And yet there it was.
But was it right?
Her thoughts were broken as a sharp voice sounded behind her. "That will be enough, Miss Hofferson!" Astrid turned at the sound of her name, immediately relaxing as she saw the Elder. "I think you're needed to help rebuild the Black Smith's shop." She said sternly, looking down with one eyebrow raised. "They would appreciate your help, considering you've done nothing at all to contribute all morning."
Ducking her head, the girl uttered a small apology, her ears burning red as she felt herself grow warm. She glanced over at Hiccup as she pushed herself up to her feet, a worried look coming over her face as she saw that Hiccup had buried his face in his knees, hands still stuck in his mussed-up hair. The Elder saw her concerned look, patting Astrid's hand twice before she pushed past her to get to the boy.
"Come on, get up." She said rather gently, a new kind of glint in her eye as she helped Hiccup to his feet. "Let's get you something to eat, I suppose. Not like you would be much help in rebuilding, eh?" The words were in the middle of being humorous and true. Hiccup's arm reached over his chest to grab his other, feeling shaky as he walked forward with small steps. His head was reeling, and he felt like he was filled with air. Like he could push off the ground and just keep on floating at the same speed without even trying.
He must have staggered, the boy feeling the Elder catch him swiftly, pushing him so that he was balanced. "Be careful." She instructed sternly. "You don't have your land legs yet. When we get inside, you need to sit down." But going up the steps would be the first thing the Elder had to worry about. Hiccup felt like he was filled with lead. It took him at least five tries to get up onto the first step, his foot never seeming to get high enough to clear the first few inches.
His mind was somewhere else. It had been left back where Toothless was sitting with Shadowclaw and Ludi, green eyes trained on his human as he staggered away. It was left up in the sky, where he had first seen it. It was left there after he had fallen. It was left back when Toothless had disappeared to the Night Fury island. It had been dragged back to that time as unwillingly as it ever could be.
Hiccup flinched at nothing but a thought. Nothing but a nagging doubt. He flinched away from the prospect of it all starting over again. He flinched at a passing glance of something that was near the impossible. And yet it seemed it was possible. Second step now. The teen raised his eyes up to the sky, the sun poking its milky white light over the island of Berk, a sharp glare that made him blink rapidly in surprise. The sky was empty now, nothing in it to show but a few clouds scudding across the blue landscape. What he had seen was long gone.
He hoped he had seen nothing. That it had been a trick of the light.
But there was no denying the supreme and familiar hate that had shone in those deep green eyes. He didn't know how, and he didn't know why. But it was all about to start over again.