A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates! Finals…first year….enough said. They start tomorrow, so maybe I wont get this out. Started Tuesday, so I get some credit for that X3
The fanart is done! :D PurpleMistPepper finished it, and it looks amazing! You should all go check it out, it's posted up on my profile : )
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A lot of time could have passed, or a little time could have gone by. It was impossible to tell. All you could know for sure was that when a dragon got in front of you, you had to get it out of the way. You were just aware of the way that your muscles ached and burned with every movement. You were going to fall apart at any time, and yet you knew you had to keep going. If you stopped moving even for a moment, it was all over. You couldn't think about the pain, or the way your throat stung from all the smoke rushing through you. All you could think about was your battle moves, the tactics you had to use to stay alive. If you even skipped a beat of pacing, an enemy could strike from behind you while you weren't paying attention. Or it could lash out at the two dragons you were shielding.
"Get down!" Mistyeyes breathed out rapidly, only pausing to watch Shadowclaw flatten himself to the ground a moment before she pushed forward, soaring over the youngling and smashing into the dragon that was rushing forward. Leafdapple let out a brave roar where she was, swiping her claws forward threateningly at the Night Fury that was lurking forward, eyes narrowed into slits. Mistyeyes caught sight of it in her scramble, sucking in a sharp breath as she threw herself forward, slamming her opponent down to the ground, pinning him there. Whipping her head backwards, she called out shrilly. "Toothless! Get Leafdapple! Now!"
The dragon perked, having just sent another dragon running. The amount of dragons in the clearing was hard enough to keep track of, keeping Shadowclaw and Leafdapple well-protected was a whole other ordeal. Toothless spun around wildly, stumbling over himself as obvious exhaustion shone in his eyes. Mistyeyes leaned down close to her pinned enemy, snarling in its face for a moment giving it a few good blows, letting him go and watching him retreat back into the throng. She turned, alarm lighting her eyes as she saw Toothless still in his place from before. Another Night Fury was latched onto him, he was unable to go back to Leafdapple's aid. The brown Night Fury was scurrying backwards now, wings flapping wildly at her sides as she leapt away from a swipe of the dragon's claws.
Mistyeyes let out a sharp yelp, wildly looking for Shadowclaw in the mess. Where was he!? Leafdapple was fighting on her own, Shadowclaw was suddenly able to disappear from sight, Toothless taking on two Night Furies now, and Mistyeyes had had to swerve around motionless bodies of both humans and dragons more times than she could count. When was this going to end? And how would it end? There was too much! She was just gonna fall to pieces over what she had gotten herself into, there was no way that she could-
A black blur raced past her, heading straight for Leafdapple, fangs and claws stretched as far as they could go. Mistyeyes snapped out of her haze, horror filling every inch of her as a strangled scream wormed its way out of her throat. "STOP!" She screeched, pelting after the dragon as fast as her weighted-down legs could carry her. "DON'T TOUCH HER!" She made a move to try and trip the Night Fury up, but staggered as the dragon jumped clear over the small female, instead aiming for her harasser. Mistyeyes came to a slow stop, lunging over and grabbing Leafdapple tightly before anything else could happen, drawing her closer with a worried look. The brown female's ears slicked back to her head, but she didn't try to shake off the older one. She merely watched with a terrified look at the two brawling Night Furies in front of her, trembling ever so slightly.
Grappling a moment, the rescuer sent the other running, pushing him off with a pained grunt and roaring as it rushed away. It paused a moment, ear flicking a moment before turning back to look at Mistyeyes and Leafdapple. The elder of the two looked uneasy as she looked at the Night Fury staring over at them, wings pushing forward to shield the smaller. She wasn't sure which side who was on, it was just too confusing. But she would rather be over-cautious than not worried enough. Leafdapple obviously felt the same way, even when she was one of the two to gather up the other Furies together. The newcomer paced forward, more slowly now. Obviously, they realized that it wasn't smart to leap forward.
The dragon narrowed its emerald eyes as it sized up the two, one scared stiff, and the other pained and weary. She came to a stop in front of them, hesitating a moment before dipping her head in acknowledgement to the two. "Don't give up." She said, her voice silky and smooth, despite the carnage around them. "That the last thing you need to do. Just keep fighting, it will all be over soon." Her eyes were kind, and they were familiar as well. And as she and Mistyeyes locked gazes, the realization slammed into her like a million bricks.
Nearly staggering over herself, Mistyeyes stumbled forward, blue eyes round. "Y-You're Shadowclaw's mother!" She shouted, wings slapping back to her sides. Leafdapple started, uncovered by now. She seemed a little bit more reassured, but still eyed the other dragon carefully, tensed and ready to bolt if needed. But Mistyeyes knew for a fact there was no danger anymore. The dragon's eyes widened, she opened her mouth to say something, but Mistyeyes leapt to her feet, cutting her off. She spun back around to Toothless, blue eyes wide with anxiousness. But the Night Fury seemed more than okay. Shadowclaw had rushed to his aid this time, buzzing around the two other enemies, swiping down and leaving nasty scratches on them when needed.
Toothless panted heavily, watching as the last Night Fury scowled, wings splaying out at his sides as it soared into the sky. Shadowclaw did a neat little twirl in the air, letting out a triumphant squeak as he did so. Toothless did not smile though, reaching up and clamping the dragon down by the tail, pulling him back down to the grass. "Stay still!" He snapped. "What am I supposed to do if they had grabbed you! I can only protect you so much!" The youngling threw him an angered look, sour, as if say: Gee, you're welcome for saving your life! But he didn't say anything, getting caught off-guard as he looked back over to Mistyeyes and the others.
He rushed forward, eyes gleaming with pride in himself and what he had managed to accomplish. "Did you notice! Huh? Did you, did you, did you!?" Mistyeyes blinked down at the smaller dragon, lost and clueless. He went on after a moment, unable to keep still, it looked like. "There's less Night Furies! Or at least, the bad ones! I've taken into account most of what I've seen!" He turned to Leafdapple, the other child seeming to have realized his point faster than Mistyeyes had. "I've seen a lot more Night Furies HELPING us and the humans instead of attacking! The others are thinning out! We're winning!"
Mistyeyes blinked a moment, eyes crumpling slightly with confusion. But as she raised her head and scanned the area around her, she started. Shadowclaw was right. Now that she wasn't so oblivious to what exactly was going on around her, she could see that more than half of what she had thought to be rival Night Furies weren't. Mistyeyes could see some flashing cautious looks over at her, as if warning her that they couldn't hold back the others long enough. Some were going two on one, teaming up together as they charged forward together. And she caught sight of one Night Fury fighting closer to a human. It obviously didn't want to get too close to the human, but Mistyeyes saw that it kept looking out of the corner of its eye, making sure that it wasn't faltering in his blows against its target.
For a moment, Mistyeyes felt numb. She counted the number of Night Furies with bloodlust and anger in their eyes, coming up with a number nearly unbelievable compared to the sheer amount that had first swarmed the village. "But…" She turned back to Toothless, eyes narrowing slightly as she stared back at him. His ears were permanently glued to his head, and his eyes were sullen and dull as he looked back. But he managed to copy her own expression of puzzlement, a flash going through his eyes as he surveyed the area. "They can't be giving up already, can they?" She asked, voice rising a pitch higher than usual. Shadowclaw and Leafdapple both looked at her like she was an idiot, and maybe she was for asking the question. The 'already' part did not fit there, they had been fighting for what seemed like forever. Even if Mistyeyes closed her eyes, the flickering flames of fire and smoke were etched on the back of her eyelids, and they would stay there long after this whole episode ended. However it ended.
The smoke was too thick to see around, and the newly-formed rain clouds were now hiding the sun. Even if the sun was up by this time. It had to have been, though, they had been at this much too long for only one night. But it seemed as though they were finally getting somewhere, if what Shadowclaw said was true. Her ears perked at the thought, she looked over at Toothless and dared a small little smile over to him. But the Night Fury only held her gaze, not returning her grin and merely staring back at her. Mistyeyes's grin was immediately dashed, and she turned away, looking at the ground silently for a moment before recovering swiftly.
She drew herself up quickly, blue eyes glimmering with a renewed sense of strength that she managed to drag back up. There wasn't a lot of edge to go off of, but she could make do with it. They had gone from unable to rearing and ready, she wasn't about to let this drama stand in her way of protecting Berk. "Right." She said stiffly, refusing to make any sort of eye contact with Toothless as she stared over instead at the new Night Fury sitting across from them. Mistyeyes was slightly caught off-guard at the amount of longing that was in the female's eyes, when she realized with a jolt that her eyes were all for Shadowclaw. The female was looking down at her son as if she wanted to rush forward, her frame tilted slightly, as if she were only able to just stop herself the tiniest bit. Shadowclaw was unaware, eyes narrowed thoughtfully from where he sat behind Toothless, scanning the area quickly, as if he were look-out. And as Mistyeyes looked back and forth, she wondered with a slight twinge of panic and disbelief…if Shadowclaw even recognized his mother.
Shadowclaw was oblivious, turning and looking over across the ocean thoughtfully, daydreaming, it looked like. Leafdapple looked shy suddenly, ears slicking back as she looked around, mumbling under her breath, looking as though she was looking for somebody. Toothless was remote now, fully unfocused as he looked silently at the ground, all fire gone from his eyes. And Shadowclaw's mother was so absorbed in her staring, that she wasn't any help. Mistyeyes looked from one dragon to another, slowly gnashing her teeth together tightly. She dug her claws into the ground, and rocketed to her feet, causing every single one to leap backwards, surprised.
"Alright!" Mistyeyes screeched, glaring at each and every one personally, and making a point to do so. Although she skipped over Shadowclaw's mother, fixing the smaller dragon with an even more dangerous stare than the others, in which he immediately flared up at. But he didn't say anything, clamping his mouth shut tight and glaring sourly at her as she went on. "We're doing absolutely NO good right now! Am I the only person to realize this!?" The others were still silent, so she groaned loudly, going on with a shake of her head. "I don't care what's happened before this! All I care about what's happening AFTER!" Toothless shot her the deadliest look that she'd ever seen him have, and she did her best not to concentrate on it. "We can worry and dream and go to sleep later! And the faster we fight NOW, the sooner we can get this sorted out, the sooner we can relax!"
Nobody said anything, and she took that as an agreement. Whipping around to face Shadowclaw's mother, she jerked her head back to the two younglings. "I'm putting you in charge of them two, alright." She said, obviously not making it a question. "I'm trusting you." She went on, narrowing her eyes. "Take care of them. Don't let any harm come to them." The female paused a moment before sheer anger and determination settled in her purplish orbs. She gave a small nod, and Mistyeyes was satisfied that they would be safe for now. She started as she felt pressure against her leg, and she went stiff as a board, whipping around to expect another Night Fury. But it was only Shadowclaw. The smaller dragon was pressed up against her, eyeing the female in front of them with a look of cautiousness, as if he wasn't sure whether or not he knew her. He'd been on Berk for quite a while after his flight there, and he had been much much smaller when he was with his mother in the tunnels. Somebody would need to talk to him about it. But not Mistyeyes. And not right now.
Instead, she met his eyes and gave him a small smile. He still looked dubious, but as Mistyeyes gave him a small nod, he seemed to relax. "You'll be fine. Toothless and I will be right back for you, okay? We promise." She assured, eyeing the downcast Night Fury as she spoke. Shadowclaw turned to Toothless, looking suddenly much younger. They had been separated before, it should not have to happen again. Toothless locked eyes with Shadowclaw's scared green ones, looking caught off-guard a moment as he tilted his head to the side. And slowly, more feeling came into him as he straightened, narrowing his eyes with a sudden surge of emotion. He gave a small nod, and Mistyeyes breathed out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.
Shadowclaw turned, exchanging a glance with Leafdapple before the two turned together, bounding over to stand on the side opposite of Mistyeyes and Shadowclaw. "You two do what she tells you." Mistyeyes said in rush, already backtracking into the crowd. "Be good, don't try to be heroes. This will all be over soon, just try and stick together." Shadowclaw narrowed his eyes at this, while Leafdapple widened her's, looking frightened. The two seemed like polar opposites of the other, one more than ready to take care of himself, the other needing somebody to follow. Mistyeyes just hoped that it wouldn't cause any more issues than it already had.
Mistyeyes turned to Toothless. "I gotta make sure you're with me on this." She said, blue eyes clashing with green. "Please…I know I'm not your favorite person. I know that Hiccup is gone right now. And I know everything is crumbling apart. But please tell me that you're with me on this." Toothless stared back at her, and she pressed forward, voice quieting somewhat. "Or tell me that you're with Berk on this one. Tell me you wont leave just like before. You can't shut Berk out." Her blue eyes were large, and she waited for Toothless to respond with held breath.
He blinked slowly for a moment before turning, looking up into the cloudy sky. The rain was still relentless, and thunder ripped across the sky, followed shortly after by a painful-sounding crack of lightening. Mistyeyes winced away from it, but Toothless didn't react. "I'll never let Berk down again." He said, voice somewhat thinner than normal. "No…this time I'm going down with it. I wont leave. Where would I go?"
"We're going to win this, Toothless." Mistyeyes said, voice much stronger than usual. "If we work together, we CAN get through this. Just trust me, alright?" Toothless hesitated a moment, eyeing Mistyeyes almost uncomfortably. Reluctantly, Mistyeyes leaned over, pushing her head against his shoulder for a moment, trying to help him and draw strength from him at the same time. Toothless stiffened for a moment before relaxing slightly, and it was almost a full minute before Mistyeyes pulled back. Her eyes were full of pain, and she shook her head side to side, trying to clear it stubbornly. She told the others to focus, she needed to follow her own advice.
"Alright, Mistyeyes." Toothless said, looking considerably lighter than he had before. "I was serious before, I'm not going to leave Berk as long as I'm alive." He paused a moment before adding, "I just have no idea what I'm going to do when this is all over."
From the corner of her eye, Mistyeyes could see a Night Fury catch sight of her, drawing its teeth back with a feral snarl. She tensed her muscles, claws sliding out of their sheathes. But she did not look away from Toothless. "I know." She said softly. "And I'll help you find out." She promised. Toothless did not have time to reply. The Night Fury leaped forward, just at the same moment Mistyeyes did. The two met in midair, and Mistyeyes braced herself once more to fight all over again.
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The rain was still going strong. It tore through the branches and slammed into the ground, turning it into a sticky, muddy mess. Hiccup's clothes stuck to him uncomfortably, the dampness of the ground going right through him and straight into his bones. He shivered uncontrollably, teeth chattering as he curled his knee up tightly to his stomach as he tried to cling to some kind of warmth. Ludi's fur couldn't fluff out to keep her better insulated, it hung down with the weight of the water. She was shivering as well, eyes wide with fear and desperation as she looked down at Hiccup. The boy closed his eyes tightly, turning away from Ludi as if he were too ashamed to even look at her. She let out a whiny little mew, reaching forward and prodding the curled-up human. But he just tightened away, burying his head into his arms.
Even though the clouds were still a dark gray mass overshadowing over the island, Hiccup knew enough that it was morning. He'd been on Berk for his whole life, which was nearly always either raining or snowing. It was close to noon, maybe a few hours short. Hours were ticking away quicker than he could grab them and bring them back, he felt every single little bit of hope he had slowly melting away like it was water. They couldn't last much longer. It was the plain and simple truth of the matter.
Hiccup was too afraid to keep moving after Nightflight. With the newfound knowledge of the wolves around here, Hiccup had absolutely no intention of putting Ludi at any more risk than he could help. But maybe those were just excuses. He slowly pushed himself up, wincing as pain shot through his limbs, through every inch of him. He looked down at his good leg, wincing as he tried to move it. It wasn't as damaged as last time he had been in the caves searching for Toothless, this was a different kind of injury. He much have twisted his ankle much worse than he ever had before. He was dizzy, he was tired, he felt sick, he was getting close. He was getting close to that same feeling he had watching the ships sail away with Toothless in tow to the Dragon's Island.
Disappointed in himself, alone, unable, inadequate, desperate, and just sad. He didn't know what to do, he felt himself slowly slipping back into that way of thinking. Back to that choking sense of depression. Even with Ludi here, it just made him feel worse. As if reading his mind, the cat let out a small yelp, jumping out of her skin and scurrying forward, hiding between Hicucp's back and the trunk of the tree they were leaning against. Hiccup barley moved at the noise, though. It had happened periodically these past few long hours. A chortle of barking would start, or a rush of paw steps fleeting by. Followed by a harsh dragon's roar, signaling Nightflight.
Hiccup had no idea what was happening, but it had gotten slowly more and more spaced out. It didn't happen as much now. Whether that was good or not, he had no idea. But he shuffled aside, looking down at Ludi and reaching down, stroking his hand down on her head. He put as much love and admiration he had for her in the movement, and he nearly knocked her over. But the cat's eyes shone as she looked up, and stumbled, righting herself before she could topple over. Hiccup laughed at her reaction, but the grin faded slowly as he looked down at her.
Before she could even move, Hiccup reached down, picking her up and holding her as tightly to his chest as he could possible manage with his wounds. Ludi squirmed a moment, tail lashing back and forth wildly. But Hiccup buried his face into her wet fur, forcing himself to remember every single little thing about her in this moment. "I love you." He choked out. "You know that, right? You know I love you?" Ludi squeaked, still trying to wriggle her way out of the death-hold. Hiccup pushed his arms forward, holding Ludi up under her arms as he looked at her with a sudden sense of intensity. "I NEVER wanted you." He said suddenly, voice subdued. Ludi went limp at this, feet swinging underneath her as she accepted her destiny of never getting away on her own. "I never wanted you, and the first night I had you, I was already thinking of ways to get you out of my life."
He set her down on the ground, Ludi peering up curiously at him, blinking slowly. She was waiting for the 'but', it looked like. Hiccup gave a small laugh under his breath. "I hope you understand that I'll never forgive myself for that." He mumbled, feeling his eyelids start to weigh down on themselves. Ludi gave a yip, watching Hiccup lay back down on the ground, curling up once more. He was nearly covered in mud, but he didn't seem to give a care anymore. Purring, Ludi bounced forward, wriggling underneath Hiccup's arm and curling up into a tight ball. Hiccup drew her closer, closing his eyes and letting himself go limp as he let out a small sigh that breezed through Ludi's once-fluffy fur.
When he opened his eyes again, it was darker than it had been before. Hiccup looked down at Ludi, who was already awake. The small cat's head was erect, ears swiveling back and forth as she listened. He blew out a heavy breath of air, picking himself up with a small grimace. He looked up at the sky, trying to decide what time it was close to being. It was far from noon, that was for sure. He stretched, trying to get as much stiffness as he could out of him, but most of it came from the wounds. He nudged Ludi as he did so, and immediately reached down to right her, but she hadn't moved. She was staring into the trees, looking a little preoccupied with whatever she was thinking about.
Hiccup hummed a note softly to himself, turning his head idly and looking to the left. Through the last ridge of trees that marked the beginning of the island. Through the line of foliage, Hiccup could make out the waves that were sloshing against the shore, churning violently in the storm going on around them. Hiccup turned, coughing into the elbow of his arm, body heaving as he did so. The rain was just going to get worse. It was now or never. Pushing himself up shakily, Hiccup narrowed his eyes at the sea, fists clenching tightly as he leaned against the tree for support.
"Okay, Ludi." He said, swallowing back the lump in his throat. The cat roused slightly at her name, but did not turn back to look at him. "We're going to leave…right now. We can't stay here anymore. I'm gonna…we're gonna try to swim back to Berk, okay? We can make it, you just have to hang onto me, and I promise we'll make it back." He started towards the beach as he talked, but as he got a few feet away, he stopped, turning back around. Ludi hadn't moved. She hadn't even turned back to look at him.
"…Ludi?" Hiccup asked, starting back over. "Don't you wanna go back to Berk?"
She still didn't turn.
Hiccup stopped a ways away from her, tilting his head to the side as his forehead creased with confusion. "…Ludi…?" He asked, voice rasping in his throat as he let out another hacking cough. The island was lit up suddenly, lightening flashing through the sky and shedding light through the darkness that had swamped it before. It was such a drastic change, that Hiccup winced, screwing his eyes shut tightly. A loud snap of thunder shook the world right after the flash of light, and Ludi was up as soon as it happened.
The cat shot to her paws, taking off without a backwards glance. Hiccup staggered with surprise, eyes widening as he reached out after her. "LUDI!" He screamed, voice cracking. Stumbling for a moment, Hiccup rushed after her, forced his exhausted state as fast as it could go. Rushing after her, Hiccup ignored the branches that slapped him as he went by, ignoring the intensified pain in his shoulder as he scraped it past trees and boulders. Ludi was a small little streak in the mass of ferns and undergrowth, if he even blinked he would lose sight of her. "LUDI, SLOW DOWN! COME BACK!" He shouted, not caring if he attracted any kind of animal at all. The only animal he was afraid of was the one running from him. He was afraid he would lose her.
Please, Thor, haven't enough things happened to me like this?
Ludi suddenly veered a sharp right, leaping forward with paws stuck straight out behind her. Her wet tail vanished around the corner, and Hiccup's heart leapt into his throat. But suddenly, he heard something else, and he came to an abrupt halt, tripping himself up and slamming into the muddy ground with a huff. Rubbing his head wearily, Hiccup shuffled, pushing himself slowly so that he could peer around the corner. And what he saw shouldn't have surprised him. It didn't, really. Instead of fear coming over him, he sighed, face calm and passive. He should have known better.
Nightflight was pacing back and forth in a long line, head raised to the sky and sniffing every so often. Her blind eyes roved the landscape thoughtfully, as if she could see every little detail. Her tail lashed back and forth, and she snorted every so often, as if a warning. Hiccup's forehead wrinkled at the odd behavior, but got cut off as he saw that she was getting way too close to him. She seemed to not be aware of him…again. He didn't know whether he should try and fix that somehow. But she was nearly two inches away from him, and it looked as though Hiccup was wrong, and she really did know he was there already. His heart hammered, and he flattened himself down to the ground as best he could.
But at the last moment, Nightflight swung around, walking back the way she had come. She was pacing still. Hiccup looked down at the muddy ground, seeming lost. He had no idea what he was supposed to do now. He had to find Ludi, but Nightflight was in his way. He blew out a huff of air, bangs fluttering upwards as he did so. With the amount of frustration that was inside of him, he felt like if he stared at wood long enough, it would spontaneously combust.
But suddenly, Ludi's head came into view. Only her head. The cat stuck her head out of the bush that was closest to Hiccup, eyes shining in the darkness of the island. They were like moons, that and the faint outline of her form was the only thing that Hiccup could really see. His heart lifted at once, and he made a move to get her before she could run away again, when the cat jumped. She didn't jump anywhere, just up. But it set the bush rustling back and forth wildly, Hiccup's eyes widening at once, heart freezing over. Ludi flicked her ears, turning calmly over to peer through the branches at Nightflight.
The dragon immediately stiffened, whirling around and roaring as loud as she could at the bush., as if warning it. Hiccup made a move towards Nightflight. He had to protect Ludi! But the cat immediately glowered over at him. He'd never seen her so angry before. The glare locked him into place. He couldn't move under her stare. Raising her paw again, Ludi stared at him a moment. The boy shook his head quickly, eyes starting to sting as he saw Nightflight get closer and closer to the bush, investigating it. But Ludi smacked her paw down on the ground again, setting the bush swaying back and forth once more.
"Ludi, get out of there!" Hiccup hissed, voice grating against his throat painfully. But it was too late. Ludi shut her eyes tightly, bracing herself, it looked like. Nightflight rushed forward, roaring loudly as she extended her claws for the bush. Hiccup shot up to his feet, head spinning from the quick movement. "STOP!" He screamed, trying to vain to get Ludi out before anything could happen to her. But the cat turned, leaping out of the bush on her own accord. But the wrong way. She was going towards Nightflight. The cat was suicidal!
She let out a squeal, eyes narrowed as she skidded to a stop. For all her might, she could have been twice Nightflight's size. Her eyes flashed dangerously, and Hiccup could have sworn something close to a smirk crossed her face. Hiccup covered his eyes tightly, eyes starting to blur as he felt his knees start to give out. He tried to remember everything he could about Ludi in that small little millisecond. The way her nose wrinkled when something she didn't like happened, the way she seemed to know everything better than anybody, the way she curled up close to him at night, the way that she used to look at him with confusion every time that Hiccup looked at his pictures of Toothless sadly. The way she caused Hiccup to know the way to help Toothless. She knew everything…she knew…
Hiccup stiffened, dropping his arms like they were weights as he looked over at the runt. Ludi had drawn herself up, ears flattened against her head bravely as Nightflight charged, letting out a sharp, loud, chirp. She seemed to know what happened next better than Hiccup did. Nightflight stopped. She skidded against the snow, ramming to a halt just steps away from Ludi. The cat and the dragon clashed gazes, and the only way that Hiccup remotely knew that Ludi was afraid was from small twitches of her tail every now and then. The dragon bared her teeth, but stayed where she was.
She didn't even raise a claw on the cat.
And slowly, Hiccup realized what Ludi was trying to do.
She was trying to make a point.
It all clicked together. The way that Nightflight's roar sounded right after the barking…the way that she had stopped right before she came into contact with Ludi. The way she roared at the bush first instead of just charging. Hiccup's expression changed, he came out of his hiding spot, raising his hand and pointing over to Nightflight almost accusingly. A strange smile came over his face, almost like a smirk, just like Ludi. It all made sense. "You." He said, Nightflight immediately turning to face him at the sound of his voice. She growled under her breath, but did not move. Did not strike. She didn't insult him, or call him a twig yet. That was when Hiccup knew for absolute certain that Ludi had been right. "You were protecting us." He said, amusement lingering on the edge of his tone. Nightflight stiffened, but did not object. Hiccup let out a nervous laugh, shoulders loosening as he let his hand drop once more. "You were protecting us and making sure that the wolves wouldn't come after us!" He said in a rush.
Nightflight's ear twitched. "Of course not." She sniffed, turning away pointedly. "I have no idea what you're talking about." But she still did not insult him. Hiccup's eyes went down to Ludi, and the cat stared back, wrapping her tail neatly around her paws. She looked quite smug. Hiccup's eyes grew soft, and he felt his chest almost expand from the feeling that blossomed inside. He silently mouthed down to her, "Thank you." The cat purred, going over and brushing against his ankles lightly. She eyed Nightflight as she did so, almost saying: "I'm letting you off right now. Make one move, and you'll wake up into next Tuesday."
Hiccup smiled down at her, but started, catching Nightflight. The dragon was looking towards the two, a small frown pulling at the edges of her mouth. She looked sad. So sad that Hiccup was almost caught off-guard. He looked at the ground a moment, staring at Ludi carefully before he spoke, not looking up. "You're getting really good at that." He said finally. Nightflight blinked, looking at him oddly. He went on, shrugging his good shoulder, wincing at the movement. "Making faces. Most dragons on Berk can do that, but Toothless was the one to teach them." He rubbed the back of his head. "I guess he taught you pretty well." He added awkwardly.
"Who taught you to be so annoying?" Nightflight asked scathingly. "You got real good at that." Hiccup closed his eyes, smiling as he let out a sigh. There she was. But he knew that the longer he was here, the shorter his leash got. He was pushed it. He turned, ready to leave, but Nightflight spoke up, much much softer this time. "How did you do it?" She asked softly. Hiccup blinked, turning back to her, tightening his hold on Ludi. Nightflight turned to look behind her, stretching her wings out until they were full span. Her right wing was nearly prodding Hiccup in the chest, and yet he did not move, merely waiting. "How did you help Toothless fly without a tail?" She murmured.
"I made the other half." Hiccup said, knowing obviously that that wasn't the answer she was looking for. He paused a moment before going on, leaning over and placing Ludi back on the ground. "I knew that I had to help him. Just like he came to know that he needed me just as much as I needed him. Maybe it took a while. It took a lot of tries." He shrugged for the second time. Nightflight still did not look satisfied at all. She ducked her head, closing her eyes as she shrunk her wings back to her sides. And it was only then did Hiccup start pacing forward.
"I was alone." He said finally, rousing her attention once more. "Everybody hated me. My own father did, actually. No joke." He stopped a few inches from her, clasping his hands behind his back. She hadn't reacted to her shrinking of space, but he wasn't about to push the envelope. "No friends…no acquaintances, even. …You could count the guy I worked with, but he would never be as close to me as I would have wanted somebody to be. And I thought that was my fate, my only road. To be alone and sad and miserable. I'd almost come to terms with it." Ludi shuffled her paws where she sat, looking downcast. "And then…Toothless came into my life." Hiccup said, voice cracking somewhat. "He showed me that there's so much MORE to life. And to me. He showed me everything that I…was blind to. And because of that, I'm a whole different person now."
Nightflight turned, looking at him through her blurry eyes. Hiccup took one step closer. "And now I know who I am…what my purpose is. And it's not just to be ignored…to be tossed aside. There's so much more to me. And there's so much more to YOU. And if you just let me…I can show you what you're missing. I can be the one to shed light on the subject." Biting his lower lip, Hiccup reached over slowly, holding out his hand for her, palm facing her. Immediately, she stiffened, backtracking slightly with alarm in her eyes.
"It's okay." Hiccup whispered, eyes shining as he took yet another small step forward. "It's okay."
Nightflight straightened, looking at him for a long moment, looking pained.
"Nothing will ever hurt you again." Hiccup said slowly, arm at full extent by now. "I promise."
Nightflight jerked forward slightly, as if some part of her was being held backwards. Ludi braced herself, eyes narrowing with both suspense and warning. She was on full-alert, eyes trained on both Hiccup and Nightflight at the same time. She looked unsure on what was going to happen, frazzled. But Hiccup knew what he was doing a hundred percent. There was no going back now. Nightflight was getting closer and closer, uncertain eyes trained on Hiccup intently, as if worried he might stab her as soon as she made contact.
Hiccup ducked his head, lowering down so that he was kneeling on the ground. His hand was still up, he looked up at Nightflight, looking through his wet bangs. "Please let me show you." He said clearly. Nightflight swallowed a lump in her throat, closing her eyes tightly. Painful memories seemed to fill up her sightless eyes, thoughts moving like fish through her orbs. And yet she leaned forward, pressing her snout against Hiccup's hand softly, and gently. Ludi loosened at this, eyes glimmering in the darkness. Hiccup breathed out at once, loosening as he looked up, giving Nightflight a large smile.
Nightflight drew backwards after a moment, looking fazed. As if she didn't know what she had just done. The two stared at one another for a moment, silence reigning through the perimeter of the island. The only thing that existed was them, it seemed.
And overhead, it stopped raining.
(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)
A/N: I've heard it said….that people come into our lives for a reason.
Bringing something we must learn and we are lead to those
Who help us most to grow, if we let them. And we help them in return.
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true…
But I know I'm who I am today…because…I knew you…
For Good- Wicked.
I hope you liked : )
I was going to make this longer, but decided against it at the last moment. It would have been too long, and I felt like this the was the best ending I could come up with. So…it's Thursday! XDD Two days…this is the product. Sorry if the beginning is confusing, I was confused writing it. TOO MANY DARN DRAGONS!
Please review! Finals sucked and the last day of it is tomorrow! And I have this whole new drama both on the internet and real life. So I need some kick-butt reviews to get me in the spirit of things! Christmas is coming! What do you all want! :D
I AM CONVERTING SOMEBODY! My boyfriend of a few months now…a few months ago, I realized that he had never seen HTTYD before.
That is a problem. O-o