A/N: I change my mind. Love Life by He is We fits more for Nightflight, and it's a better song, in my opinion ;)
•0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·
Mistyeyes stared all around her with complete and utter disbelief, blue eyes gleaming with shock and surprise as she spun around in the air, straining for a glimpse of Hiccup. But he disappeared. They all did. The darkness of the clouds hid them from view, wherever they were going, they were getting farther and farther away by now. She opened her mouth to say something, which she liked to think would have been assuring, but Toothless didn't give her time to say anything. The Night Fury shot forward like a lightening bolt, a black streak that buffeted Mistyeyes to the side, spinning like a top through the air, doing three whole spins before she managed to get herself under control again.
"W-Wait!" She squealed, forcing her wings forward with as much strength as she could muster. "Toothless, stop! We have to-" She growled as she realized the dragon wasn't paying any attention at all to what she was saying. Jerking herself forward in one last surge forward, she grabbed hold of his tail with her teeth, yanking backwards as hard as she could and dragging him back, holding him in midair. "Just think for a minute!" She yelled, words muffled and strained from holding him back. "We can't just-"
Toothless whirled around, yanking his tail away from Mistyeyes and spinning around to thrust his face into her's. Eyes blazing, he sized her up for a moment, as if he were too furious to say anything. But he finally got himself under control enough to growl through clenched teeth. "We can't try to save Hiccup? We should just leave him? Mistyeyes, that was-"
"I KNOW WHO IT WAS!" Mistyeyes spat, cutting him off abruptly. Toothless's eyes widened for a heartbeat, shocked by the sudden volume of her voice. The female's eyes burned as she glared at Toothless, but she managed to keep her voice steady when she spoke. "Look, the clouds swallowed them up, there's no way we'd find them! We need to stay here where we're needed! The whole of Berk will be destroyed if we leave! We're the glue holding it together, Toothless! Without us, none of the other dragons will know what to do! It'll be chaos!"
"It's already chaos!" Toothless snapped, eyes boring into her own. He looked over his shoulder, at the dark mass of clouds that Nightflight had swooped into. It was pitch black in there, Toothless couldn't even see a flash of movement from inside. Turning back to look at Mistyeyes for one moment, he turned and shot off towards the mass. Mistyeyes followed after a heartbeat, her waves of anger and sadness slapping into Toothless as she rushed after. She must have sensed that it was hopeless to keep him back, but Toothless was acutely aware of her glancing back over her shoulder as she went, back down at the island. Toothless tried to push away his nagging worries about the village himself. He was much more worried about Hiccup.
The sight of his human had chilled his heart over a million times, Toothless hadn't remembered the last time he had been so frightened. And now, it was an effort to even breathe right, he was so startled. Hiccup had vanished along with Ludi and Nightflight, all heading off in a random direction, to a place where Toothless couldn't even fathom to guess. Shaking his head roughly in attempt of banishing the thought away, Toothless burst through the wall of clouds, stumbling into the center of the black clot clumsily. Whirling around, eyes wide, he opened his mouth widely, raising his voice into a shrill yell. "Hiccup!" He yelled desperately into the darkness. Mistyeyes was scanning the place as well, deciding that she might as well try and help if nothing else. The thought made a thrill of affection blossom in Toothless's chest. At least she wasn't leaving him behind, he figured.
There wasn't a response in the black. Breathing in and out much faster than normal, Toothless rushed forward, leaving Mistyeyes to flounder after him once again. "HICCUP!" Toothless screeched, voice cracking somewhat. Still, it was as silent save for the noises from the village. "Hiccup, please!" Toothless went on, wincing as he did so. "Answer me! Where are you!" Even as he yelled, Toothless knew that even if Hiccup answered, he wouldn't be able to hear him. He would be too far.
"…Toothless?" Mistyeyes whispered, swooping up behind him.
Toothless turned slowly, feeling like his chest had a huge, gaping hole in the front of it. His green eyes were filled with disbelief as he looked at her, and a million different things he could say rushed through his mind. If you didn't stop me, we would have made it. It's your fault that Hiccup's gone. This is all your fault. Why did you come here? Do you not care about Hiccup? Why didn't I stop him from running away? Am I really that stupid? Is this all my fault?
…Is this all my fault?
"It'll be fine." Mistyeyes promised, blue eyes burning into his. "He's Hiccup, he'll find a way out, I'm sure of it." Again, angered thoughts rushed into his head. You don't know Hiccup like I do, so stop pretending that you do. I've been with him longer. It's your fault that I haven't been with Hiccup much now. And why is that? Is it my fault? "And as soon as the island is safe, we can look for him, I promise." Mistyeyes said, eyeing the clouds around them. "It'll be clearer by then, no smoke or anything to get in our way. We can find him."
"How do you know?" Toothless said lowly, eyes wide and round. The anger had rushed out of him, leaving him almost tired as he looked at Mistyeyes desperately. The gray dragon opened her mouth to say something, but Toothless spoke up again, cutting her off before she could even say anything. "I can't believe that I let this happen! Hiccup is my best friend, and it's all my fault that he's gone! I should have been there for him, I should have been there to protect him! I owe him my life…and now I just…I just-" He broke off, looking behind him sorrowfully, as if expecting to suddenly catch sight of his friend. But there was still nothing.
"It's not your fault, Toothless." Mistyeyes promised, narrowing her eyes as she spoke. "I once made a very terrible mistake, with the way that I ordered you to attack Hiccup last time we saw each other in the tunnels where the Night Furies lived. I didn't understand what life could be like back then, and I can never repay Hiccup enough for the way that he opened my eyes to the way things really are. I'll help you find him, Toothless, I will. And this time, I'll make sure that Nightflight stays dead."
Toothless blinked, rousing out of his self-blame just enough to catch what she said. Starting, he turned to look at her oddly. "What do you mean?" He asked, looking at her like he had never seen her before in his life. The female's ears slicked down to her head, blue eyes suddenly weighted down with grief as she stared at him intently. "Mistyeyes, what?" He demanded, a little more hardness entering his voice by now.
She ducked her head, closing her eyes. "It was before everything happened, right after you left." She confessed, voice careful, like she was treading on pins and needles. Toothless blinked, straightening somewhat as he looked at her a little closer. "I was the first to find Nightflight, she was barely alive." She closed her eyes, as if she didn't want to meet Toothless's gaze. "I healed her, along with many of the other dragons. It took a long time, but we were so sure that we could help her pull through. And we did." She opened her eyes once more, sadness and guilt riddled through her gaze as she looked desperately at her friend. "Please, Toothless, I never knew what would happen in cause of my efforts. I feel so terrible. This is all my fault." Her voice broke at the last part, the dragon closing her mouth with a resigned look on her face, as if bracing herself for Toothless's fury.
For a moment, Toothless had no idea what to do, staring at Mistyeyes like she was a foreign object. A million things he could say rushed through his mind, but none seemed to be the right to say. Before he even knew what he was doing, he leaned forward, pressing his head flush against Mistyeyes's own. The dragon's wings faltered in their strides, shock rippling through her as her eyes widened. It might have only lasted a heartbeat, or more like four years, but Toothless eventually pulled back, determination settling in his green orbs. "It doesn't matter."
"…B-But…" Mistyeyes floundered for words, still stunned at her easy let-off. She hadn't pictured it would go this way. Even now, with Hiccup getting farther and farther away from them, Toothless hadn't started yelling at her for her fatal mistake. "You aren't mad…?" She managed, searching Toothless with a sense of urgency. "I mean, I made a mistake that caused all of this, if I had just left her there…but I couldn't, I mean-"
"Are you going to stand by me from now on?" Toothless asked, voice dropping into a serious tone. His eyes were raw with grief, and sharp with impatience. But there was also a burning in the back of them, a question that was going unasked, hidden in the depths of his words. Mistyeyes knew the importance of the question, a small smile threatening on the edges of her mouth. Dipping her head close to her chest, she nodded once.
"Of course." She said softly, barely hearing herself. "That's what I've wanted to do ever since I first saw you at Berk."
"Then you'll help me find Hiccup. You'll understand that I can't just leave him there." Toothless said. When Mistyeyes didn't say anything, blue eyes wide with disbelief. Her mouth remained open for a moment, she looked as if she wanted to continue yelling at Toothless, so the Night Fury interrupted. "I'm not going to give up on Hiccup, I don't care if the whole village burns down in the process. I HAVE to protect Hiccup. I don't care what else happens."
Her mouth closed gently, and after a beat of silence, determination set in her eyes as well. "Okay." She said, nodding once more. "You go out and look for Hiccup, I'll go back and protect the village while you're gone." When Toothless tried to object, she pressed on. "There are a million Night Furies down there, they're already outnumbered down there. They need at least one Night Fury down there, if I can try and even our chances, I will. You go ahead."
Toothless knew that just having one Night Fury against many others wouldn't exactly even the chances, but he didn't say anything. The fact that Mistyeyes understood the way that he needed to go was enough for him, he wouldn't say anything to wound her pride in herself, she would be fine. And he was running out of time if he wanted to catch up to Nightflight before anything else could happen. "Good luck, Mistyeyes." He said, already turning the way he needed to go. His wings were twitching, rearing to be off. The female only held his gaze, a kind of emotion that Toothless had only seen in Hiccup's expression whenever he used to look at him. It was love.
But before Toothless could ask, Mistyeyes turned and vanished.
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts away, Toothless whipped back around, green eyes narrowed into slits. "I'm coming Hiccup." He growled under his breath, claws sliding out from habit. Concentrating on the task at hand, pushing away the thought of the burning village down below, he fixed in his mind that Mistyeyes would have everything under control. Now all he could focus on was Hiccup. He had to catch up, no matter what it took. But he had no idea where Nightflight was heading, not to mention how fast she could go weighted down like she was. Toothless would just have to guess.\
So, blending into the night, Toothless shot off in the opposite direction, racing after Nightflight as fast as he could.
•0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·
"Are we almost there?"
"Shouldn't you know that?"
"Shouldn't you?"
"Don't copy me, this WAS your idea, you know!"
"Sorry, I just figured you might actually know where you're going."
"I DO. Lay off."
"We've been flying for hours!" Shadowclaw complained, shooting Leafdapple an angered look. "You said it wasn't that far from here!" Shocked as he might be to admit it, he didn't remember the way to his old home. He didn't even remember what it looked like. If he closed his eyes, he could almost see thick cave walls, but that was it. That was all he could muster up to remember about it. But with the way he lived in Berk, he kind of didn't want to know where he used to live. He only came back for an effort like this, for something that could turn the tables on Nightflight and possibly save Berk. If this plan worked, it would be a sure-fire way in saving his friends back home.
"Do you have patience, or what?" Leafdapple asked, rolling her eyes as she did so. "You're getting annoying."
"Let's just say that this is really important to me." Shadowclaw said, eyes narrowing.
Leafdapple glanced over at him, blinking as she did so. "You're not with us, are you?" She asked suddenly, catching Shadowclaw off guard. The bigger dragons started, wings faltering for a moment before he recovered himself. The female looked forward once more, ignoring his spasm. She went on, not bothering to wait for his reply. "I can see that you weren't. Everybody else was clambering, trying to be on the Raid. But when I asked you if you were going, you seemed way too upset by the notion of it." She looked back over at him, this time inviting him to say something.
"…No." He said finally, not meeting her eyes as he spoke. "I'm not with them, and I'm not with you. I'm with Berk, that's the village that you all are attacking. My friends are on there, I came here to try and find out what was going on, I knew that Nightflight would let me come back, but nobody else. After all, I'm just a stupid youngling, I wasn't thinking when I went to Berk, isn't that right?" He asked, bitterness in his voice. Leafdapple was quiet, not interrupting him as she studied his face. "Everybody thinks that just because I'm young, I can't do anything. I can't be important. I came back here to show them different. Age is a number, I can be as smart as I want, right?"
"Sure." Leafdapple said, voice way too casual, it seemed. "After all, I don't think you're a stupid youngling."
"You don't?"
"Nah. I don't judge people like that." She sniffed, eyes narrowing somewhat at a large mass of island looming up ahead. "And I know what you're talking about, with the way that you aren't with Nightflight. I guess you could say that I'm not either. My parents brought me here with them, so I didn't have much of a choice in what I would do. You have to admit that Nightflight is right, with the way that the humans stormed our cave and killed many dragons. It's barbaric." Her eyes darkened. "They killed one of my friends. I didn't see them do it, and I barely knew it, really. My mother tried to hide it from me, but I found out sooner rather than later."
"…I'm sorry." Shadowclaw managed, blinking.
"Yeah, I am too." Leafdapple said, voice much more curt than it was before. "But I don't think we should go and kill the humans, it doesn't add up. Nightflight talks about the way humans are terrible and monsters. But…if we kill them…we're no better than them. Right?" She prompted, turning and looking at Shadowclaw with a questioning look. The dragon tilted his head in response, suddenly realizing what was different about Leafdapple compared to the others.
"Have you ever talked one-on-one with Nightflight?" He asked suddenly, surprising Leafdapple.
"Well, not really." The female said, turning and studying the island that was getting closer and closer. "I like to blend in with the crowd, and it's not like you can walk right up to Nightflight and start a conversation. She's just not somebody that likes to talk, I guess you could say. The most I've heard her talk is when she's talking to everyone as a group, and I really don't pay attention usually. You know, her speeches get a little repetitive." A hint of amusement crept into her voice as she added the last part, but Shadowclaw barely noticed it.
That explained why Leafdapple wasn't a walking zombie like everybody else. It explained why she actually thought sense, instead of just following Nightflight blindly. Shadowclaw had learned long ago about Toothless and the way that Nightflight controlled the way he thought, which explained why everybody on the island just followed Nightflight around like they had no mind of their own. This might be the only other dragon with thought on the island besides himself, Shadowclaw realized. And suddenly, he found himself feeling a large rush of gratitude to Leafdapple.
"Here is where we land. Then we'll be in the center of the island, close to the cave where everybody else lives." Leafdapple instructed, already swooping down to the ground. Shadowclaw followed her, guessing that she didn't really want to talk anymore. Landing neatly on the overgrown grass of the island, Shadowclaw turned, memories rushing back to him as he looked up at the large mountain-like structure that lay right in front of them. Leafdapple turned, heading for a small crevice in the rock that Shadowclaw remembered opened up into a wide tunnel, the entrance.
Taking off without glancing back at him, Leafdapple squeezed herself through the small space, disappearing in less than a moment. Shadowclaw followed, but hesitated in front of the crack, eyeing it wearily. If grown dragons could fit through it, why couldn't he? "You coming?" Leafdapple shouted back at him, voice echoing against the walls of the cave. Shaking himself, Shadowclaw pushed his way forward, cursing himself for being such a scaredy-dragon. Pushing his way forward, Shadowclaw crammed himself into the cave, shuffling through until the space widened enough for him to walk normally.
Waiting until his eyes grew used to the dark, he looked over at Leafdapple, whose eyes gleamed like a deer's in the darkness. "Where to now?" He said, flinching as his voice boomed through the large network of caverns. Leafdapple winced as well, they both seemed to have forgotten what it had been like in the cave, Shadowclaw a little bit more than Leafdapple. "Do you know where everybody is?" He whispered, lowering his voice to a small whisper, which echoed softly through the space. Leafdapple looked over her shoulder, turning and starting up the small walkway, a hill, it felt like. Stumbling after her, Shadowclaw quickened his pace until he was shoulder-to-shoulder with her.
After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Shadowclaw spoke up, eyes flashing over to look at her from the corner of his eyes. "You know, that's not what you should think about humans. That they're always attacking dragons." He said. "I bet Nightflight doesn't tell you that Berk lives in harmony with dragons. No attacks, no nothing. And the boy that she's after? He's one of my best friends, all of the dragons love him."
"I find that a little hard to believe." Leafdapple said, more confused than angry.
Shadowclaw shook his head, finding that his vision was starting to clear. He could see the walls of the cave, the drops of water leaking from the roof falling to the ground. The moist, slick floor was familiar to him, as was the slimy wall of the cavern that brushed against him. "Tell you what." He said, staring all around him and taking it all in. "When we get everybody to come with us and fight against Nightflight, I can show you everything in that island. You'll love it."
Leafdapple stopped still, blinking rapidly. Shadowclaw turned around, sitting on the slick ground and tilting his head to the side. "That's what you're trying to do?" She demanded, sounding mystified. "You're trying to get some…Rebel Alliance?" At Shadowclaw's 'duh' stare, she let out a bluster, shuffling her paws on the ground. "And you didn't think that information would be important to me at all? I thought you just wanted to stay here!"
"No!" Shadowclaw yelled back, looking stunned and a little bit amused at the same time. But the stunned outweighed the amusement of it. "I thought you…" He trailed off, blinking a moment before he shook his head roughly, revising what he meant to say. "No, all I'm saying is that wouldn't it be a lot better for everybody if we just got rid of Nightflight? I'm going to rally together as many Night Furies as I can and lead them back to Berk to help the island! Don't you see? If we-"
"We're younglings! We're not supposed to do things like this!" She fumbled, spinning around in a tight, agitated circle.
"That doesn't mean we can't make a difference!" Shadowclaw snapped. "You said yourself you thought I was smart! And you have to admit, this plan IS smart! If we find the problem and strike it in the center, the whole thing will go away! The Night Furies would leave Berk alone if Nightflight got defeated, they might even stay at Berk like all the other dragons! Wouldn't that be great!" He searched her eyes, and knew that she privately knew that he was right. "The sooner we do this, the better! Don't you understand?"
Leafdapple hesitated a moment, before she dipped her head slightly in a nod. She opened her mouth to say something, when a voice spoke from behind Shadowclaw, making the youngling leap into the air with surprise, spinning around with claws extended. A large Night Fury stood behind the smaller one, looming over him like a tower. His eyes were slightly narrowed, and from behind him, more and more Night Furies melted out of the shadows. "You speak much sense for one so young." The large dragon rumbled, Shadowclaw straightening somewhat as he blinked with surprise.
Looking from one dragon to another, the large Night Fury bowed his head to the youngling, almost like he respected him. "My name is Talon. I heard what you've said just now…we all have. And if you'll go on, I'm sure all of us would like to listen. What you say is true, the way that Nightflight needs to be stopped. This group of dragons were the only ones to see sense. To see through her web of lies. And we would do anything to bring our family back together."
Leafdapple paced forward to stand beside Shadowclaw, turning and giving him a bemused look. Staring at her for a moment, Shadowclaw gave her a small smile, which she grew even more confused about. He kept forgetting that dragons off of Berk didn't know what a smile was. Clearing his throat, Shadowclaw pushed himself up to his feet, eyeing the crowd looking at him with a sense of fright. But he closed his eyes, clearing his muddled thoughts before he opened them once more, puffing out his chest in hopes of looking more sophisticated. "I came all the way from Berk, the island that Nightflight is attacking at this very moment." He started, still hung over on the idea that people were actually listening to him. "We need help, and I think that you'll find that it would be in both of our advantages…"
•0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·˙ •0·
A/N: Hope you like it!
I'm having a Star Wars marathon tomorrow! SO Excited! Who can catch my Star Wars reference in this chapter first? Hm? O-o
I was on my Band Trip for the last few days, it was tons of fun, but it was also why I haven't updated. I did it the first day I could, which is today! :D
No Hiccup, sorry bout that…. T^T
Does anybody else notice that the ending of MLP season one is almost EXACTLY the same to the ending of the fourth Star Wars movie? Search up MLP Star Wars and you'll see. It's almost scary o-o