A/N: I haven't been getting as much feedback from you guys as I used to. I dunno if that's just because it's a new story or whatever, but I really miss hearing from you all! Hopefully this chapter will get more reviews. More reviews make faster updates! Cannot stress that enough!
Read this before the chapter it's important: This year my marching band is doing a show called: Back to Square One. It's all about going back to the basics and remembering what first got us to where we are today. It teaches that in order to reach the goals that we set for ourselves, we have to go back and relearn, we have to return to the past and take with us all that we know. To move forward, we must go back to the very beginning.
Remember that.
(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)
The day was gloomy and dreary, the clouds overhead obscuring the sun so much that it was nearly nonexistent. Berk was shrouded in tension, per the norm ever since word first spread about Hiccup and Astrid's disappearance. While the island was more than busy with battle-preparations and rebuilding, there was a certain degree of silence around. Filling conversation didn't travel through the adults to help pass the time, the only words spoken were solely to help with work and labor. The only real thing that friends and village mates managed was to throw each other looks of unease or apprehension. Even children had the certain air of silence even when they played, sad and innocent looks of confusion written on their faces when their parents told them to be quiet or to stop whatever they were doing.
Berk had gone from being a strong, formidable island, to one that was tense with both fear and worry. Every night the villagers went back into their homes without question, locking the doors and making sure the windows were firmly closed. The threat of another Raid was thick on everyone's shoulders, and the people didn't need another warning to hide themselves away. Last Raid they had nearly lost everything to the Night Furies, and now there was that possible chance that it would happen all over again. Mothers made sure that they were by their children all the time now, and vice versa.
The only people that dared stray out from the town after hours were those that were assigned to the search parties. The Vikings who had been elected by Stoick went out every single night, ranging farther and farther with each passing day as they tried to find the missing teenagers and their dragons. People would always wait for their return, for the sheer hope that maybe all their worrying and preparations would have no real point. After all, if the missing kids were found and brought back there would be almost no threat of more attacks.
But the party always came back empty-handed, crushing the peoples' last hopes for peace. But then again, it was hard to find hope in the first place with those wishes of coming back with Hiccup and Astrid in tow. So many rumors had spread throughout the village, that nobody really did know for sure what the true story was. Hiccup had left Berk with the Night Furies because he knew something that no other person did, only taking along his closest friend to escape from the unknown danger. Or Astrid had gone away first, and Hiccup had only left Berk to try and hunt her down. Or the Night Furies that had attacked Berk had taken the two teens with them, swooping down and snatching them right up into the air. The stories were few and far between, and there was never really that sure statement that could undoubtedly been the true one.
In the past, Stoick would have come out right away and explained everything to the people on Berk. He would have made sure that nobody was confused on what was going on, or lost on how to possibly fix things together. But all he had offered them was that the Night Fury that had caused all this was somewhere out there still. The small detail was lost on everyone, and it did little to no help. The only real thing it did was cause even more conflict and confusion. Even more so with those who were sent out to look for Hiccup and Astrid. They always came back with grumbles of irritation, scowls of anger and impatience. "We don't even know why we're looking." They would complain. "Just because Hiccup is the chief's son - that's not the reason."
The words themselves were bad enough. But Spitelout was always the loudest of the group, and one day, he pushed it over the edge. Plodding back through the rain-dampened forest and back into the main Square, the Viking had pronounced his next words loudly, unafraid who or what might hear him. "Mark my words." He spat out to the rest of the search party, each man and woman looking up to him with curious eyes. It was unheard of for someone to question the Chief, and it was even worse when you considered the fact that Spitelout was Stoick's own brother.
But nevertheless, the man had a look of extreme anger creased over his face, and he had said the words loud and clear. It was obvious that he had no intention of caring about whether or not anyone heard, it was almost like he wanted people to know what he was about to say. "Something else is going on around here." Spitelout had snapped aloud. "Something is going on around here, and Stoick isn't telling us what." He'd turned, looking around to each of the others that were around him. "He's hiding something, I'm sure of it."
And that pretty much marked when things started to go downhill. The words from Stoick's brother had started to rub off on everyone else, and slowly the village was starting to lose its touch. After all, if they couldn't trust their Chief, how could an island stand? The thoughts were worrisome, and Stormfly gave a sad frown as she tucked tighter into herself. The biting winds went right through her scales, chilling her to the very bone and causing her to give out wild shivers every once and a while. She brought her tattered wings closer to her sides, trying to create friction of some sort to try and keep her warmer. But the holes created drafts, and she soon realized that it was a pointless effort.
She settled down with a frustrated scowl, sighing shortly as she surveyed the scene in front of her. The humans were milling around busily like they always did these days, and yet that was the only noise. Other than the occasional words exchanged between others, and the sounds of hammers and tools, the place was quiet. It created an eerie effect, and as the clouds massed together tightly, Stormfly could almost see the impending stress and danger. Even if they weren't really for sure that there was any.
"Stormfly!" The Nadder stiffened at her name, twisting her neck back to look towards where the shout had come from. Lumbering towards her on stumpy legs, Meatlug chuffed out yet another greeting before she managed to sit down beside the other dragoness. Stormfly flicked her tail, acknowledging the greeting but not speaking aloud. Inwardly, she gave a small sigh of exasperation. Meatlug was never her favorite dragon on the island. To be frank, the Gronckle was rather dim, and Stormfly sometimes found herself drifting away from their conversations just because they were so bland. She much rather preferred Hookfang's company, and that was saying something.
"What're you up to?" Meatlug drawled lazily, giving a huge yawn after her words. Stormfly sighed at the movement, knowing all too well that the dragon had just had a three hour nap a short while ago. They had needed her earlier when the dragons had taken part in the rebuilding, and the Gronckle had been no help at all while she was dozing away. And now it looked like yet another nap was coming around the corner. Sometimes Stormfly could swear that the dragon had never done a single productive thing in her life after the ordeal with the Red Death. And even then she wasn't exactly a 'hero.'
"Oh, you know." Stormfly sighed politely, deciding that she might as well have someone to talk to rather than sit alone. Even if it was Meatlug, company was company. "Just watching the humans work." Meatlug yawned yet again, Stormfly eyeing the female oddly as she did so. But then she shook herself, going on without pausing too much on the fact. "You know, Meatlug…" Hopefully she could get advice off of her, however silly the idea sounded. "…have you noticed how off the island is nowadays?"
"What do you mean?" Meatlug asked, looking puzzled by the question.
Stormfly shrugged, unable to put enough of her troubling thoughts into her tone. "You know." She repeated instead, voice rising expectantly as she spoke. "With the way that everyone is so tense now. It's not as…happy around here as it used to be. Even the children are quiet. There's hardly any more riding around here than there used to be." The comment surprised her by how true it was, and as she said the words, Stormfly raised her eyes up to the cloudy sky with a trace of sickness.
It was true that the only dragons seen zipping around the sky were unaccompanied, or if they did have humans, they were only out for the purpose of surveying the island. But even if the humans still rode for fun, would it make her feel better? No, of course not. Because she would be unable to get up into the sky with them anyway. She'd be grounded, with or without Astrid there to help her along. She glanced down at her ruined wings as the thought passed her mind, and she gave a weary sigh as they fluttered in the wind.
"I think it's nice." Meatlug said blearily, stretching luxuriously in the damp grass as her tail shivered with the force. Stormfly perked at the statement, eyes wide with disbelief. But the pudgy dragon didn't even bother to notice the look, purring loudly as she settled back down with a happy expression. "Before it was so noisy and loud; there was hardly enough peace and quiet for a good nap. Now there's nothing but quiet. It's so nice to be able to take a nap without being disturbed, right?"
"That's a weird way of thinking about it." Stormfly said, voice riddled with surprise. "Everyone's so sad now."
"Sad? I hardly noticed." Meatlug commented.
Stormfly gave a snort of irritation, turning away with a roll of her eyes. "Probably because you've been too busy sleeping." She grumbled with a hint of contempt. While the dragon's aloofness could be fun on a good day, Stormfly was more than done with her right now. What with all the drama and storms brewing up around them, she would have hoped that Meatlug would start to mature a little bit more to meet the occasion. But it seems as if her wishing was all for naught; Meatlug was just as weird and sleepy as she was every other day.
Hoping to turn the attention over to something that wouldn't be as irritating, Stormfly perked a little bit as she turned around. "So…now that you're awake, are you going to help out?" She prompted, already knowing that the question might be a little too hopeful. Meatlug turned, looking almost baffled at the words as she tilted her head quizzically to the side. Stormfly twitched at the movements, but only pressed her question even farther. "Fishlegs might need your help with something." She stressed, feeling a stab in her heart as she realized that Astrid wasn't here for her anymore. "You could maybe find him out and try to lessen his workload."
"Haven't I helped enough today?"
"You slept the morning away!" Stormfly exclaimed.
Meatlug scoffed, as if the statement was ridiculous. "Well." She sighed invitingly, turning over and laying down on her side snugly. Stormfly pushed herself up to a sitting position, looking down on the other now as she straightened herself. "It's almost nighttime anyway, I'd suppose. No use in starting right now, what could I get done?" She caught Stormfly's look of frustration, stilling in her tired stretches as she peered up almost innocently at the Nadder. "I don't see you working very hard." She commented.
Stormfly waved her paw angrily, a rough sign of dismissal. "I've been away all day, you haven't seen me." She retorted, twisting around and nodding towards the forest that edged the other side of the village square. "I've been a part of the search party that's out looking for the missing people. I covered the whole island while you were off sleeping." She flicked the tip of her tail, craning her neck around to look back at her useless wings with a hint of anger. It wouldn't take so long for her to search the island if she could fly. But she was just left walking around with the other Vikings, having to listen to their complaining and anger every step of the way. It took a lot out of her physically and mentally, so any chance for her to rest, she would surely take it.
"Find anything?" Meatlug prompted.
Stormfly sighed wearily, closing her eyes and deflating visibly. "No." She huffed.
"Well then, you didn't get anything done." The Gronckle stated, oblivious to the flare in the Nadder as she smiled in return. Stormfly fumed, watching as Meatlug only settled down comfortably in the tall meadow. Overhead, thunder rumbled in the distance, and Stormfly wondered if she should start to head home. The storm would break any second now, and she was probably running out of time for the dash back to Astrid's house. But she couldn't stand to leave without giving out the harsh words that were burning in the back of her throat.
"At least I'm helping." She snapped, getting to her feet in a rush as she shot a glare down at the other.
"Hey, no need to be rude." Her friend yawned in reply, looking up at her sleepily. "I'm just-"
"Just being lazy." Stormfly growled, claws unsheathing to dig down into the ground. In the back of her mind, a voice told her to calm down. She was getting so worked up over a simple fact that she already knew: Meatlug was lazy. It wasn't like she hadn't known that already. She never got upset over it before, so why start now? She and her were friends, after all. But right now all she could manage was to get intensely frustrated. "I thought dragons were supposed to help their humans." She sighed, knowing all too well that the fact she was so upset was because Astrid wasn't here for Stormfly to be with.
Meatlug only gave another careless yawn. "I thought dragons were supposed to be friendly now." She retorted.
Stormfly scoffed, giving out a snap of anger as she turned around. Tightening her wings closer to her in anger, the Nadder stomped away quickly, fed up with her friend and not willing to associate with her anymore. Maybe she could go back into the woods to check once again for Astrid without any other Vikings this time. That way there would be no interruptions or anything like that. She could just be alone like she wanted; that way she would have the peace and quiet she needed to cool herself down.
But right before she was about to disappear into the foliage the bridged the village, shouting brought her back. She turned towards the raised voices, eyes wide with curiosity as she did so. Off to the side, a pair of Vikings were set working on one of the houses. She recognized Hofferson and Spitelout from their search parties they went on together, and a sick feeling wormed its way into Stormfly's stomach as she remembered how terribly the two got along. And they were showing that now, it looked like.
Hofferson was glaring sharply at Spitelout, undisguised anger and hatred in his eyes as he glowered the man's way. "Stop trying to tell me how to build." He snapped, turning around stiffly as he picked up yet another board. "Just because you think you're the greatest person on this island doesn't really make it true." The tone was condescending, obviously meant to start a fight rather than stomp it down. Stormfly winced as Spitelout only flared at the comment, getting angrier just like she predicted.
"At least I know how to build a simple house." He growled.
Hofferson blew out his cheeks, turning and slamming the planks of wood down on the ground as hard as he could. "You know what!?" He yelled, Spitelout stepping backwards with surprise at the sudden roar of anger. But Hofferson's eyes were narrow slits of anger, and he didn't even bother to try and pick up the mess he'd created. "If you don't like the way I build, then you can build it by yourself! I'm going out to search again, because I actually care about the people that are missing!"
With that, he stomped away, not giving the man a moment to try and reply with a comeback. He left behind the mess of tools and wood, trudging back the way he had come as he made for the woods. He brushed right past Stormfly, not even noticing his daughter's dragon as the Nadder had to stumble to the side. Turning, the dragoness watched the man go, eyes round as she looked from man to man in a hint of confusion. The fight was so simple and yet complex at the same time. What started out as a fight over whether or not the board of wood went there or there, slowly mutated into the big issue that everyone was trying to avoid.
They shouldn't have fought. It was such a simple fix that could have been talked out. Was the island at such a horrid state that fights as simple as this would tear it apart? She blinked, looking back over at Meatlug with a small flash of sadness. The Gronckle was still laying down on the ground, no doubt trying to go back to sleep before the Nadder could come back and disturb it again. She shouldn't have fought with her. The thought was a heavy one, and it caused pangs of guilt to claw at her heart. She should go back and apologize.
She picked up her foot, leaning forward as she readied herself to go back.
But then she hung her head, shaking it back and forth wearily. She turned instead, hunching her shoulders and letting her tattered wings drag uselessly across the ground. Plodding on, she headed into the woods, wishing for the cover and silence that they would surely bring her. "Oh, Astrid." She sighed sorrowfully. "I miss you so much; it's a mess without you here. Please come back."
(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)
As soon as the sun peeked over the horizon, everyone was up and awake. News had traveled fast throughout the group, and the morning came with hushed whispers and wide eyes. Nightflight was going to try and do a spell again. Nervousness fought against curiosity, the dragons unsure whether or not this would be a good idea. But nevertheless, there was an air of expectation as they milled around with one another. The early rays of morning managed to offer a little bit of warmth in the cold, yet it didn't stop shivers from shaking the Night Furies head to toe.
As soon as Hiccup woke up, he was on his feet searching. He weaved and spun through the crowd of Night Furies, managing to give out a few calls of greeting or friendly waves. It seemed like forever ago that he was frightened of these dragons; he couldn't imagine a better group than the one that was surrounding him right now. The attack so long ago in the Cave was a thing of the past, and it was long forgotten from his mind. One shouldn't linger on the past.
When Hiccup's eyes finally landed on Nightflight, he knew without a doubt that the news had reached her already. The dragoness was clearly startled, eyes wide with angry disbelief. And when she heard the Hiccup's uneven gait coming closer, her rage only seemed to swell. She shot to her feet at once, wings shooting out with a flash as the Viking's steps started to slow with surprise. She was talking before he even got close, and yet her voice was loud enough that he had no trouble in hearing her.
"What are you thinking?" She howled, clouded green eyes like twin flames as she glared at him. Her jaw was locked backwards, her head held high as she loomed over the smaller human. "Don't go making promises for me!" She shouted. "How dare you tell Astrid that I would help her! Hiccup, I don't even remember how to do the spell in the first place! It barely worked with you, too! I just wanted to make you hear me, and yet now you can hear every single kind of dragon! If that went wrong the first time, I don't want to know what might happen this time around!"
"Nothing will go wrong, though!" Hiccup assured her without a heartbeat's pause.
"And you're sure about that, are you?" She asked scathingly.
"What's this I hear?" Hiccup and Nightflight turned at the same time, blinking rapidly in sync as they saw Mistyeyes and Toothless bounding over to join them. The gray dragon looked worried, though clearly not as much as Nightflight was. Concern creased over the female's face, and Toothless just looked a little lost at her side. When they came to a halt, Mistyeyes looked from Nightflight to Hiccup, gaze searching. "Nightflight, you're going to try and get Astrid to understand dragons?" She asked invitingly, clearly asking for her side of the story.
"Of course not." Nightflight hissed, answering the unspoken question as she rounded back on Hiccup. "Hiccup is just going around making empty promises that he can't keep. There's no way I'm going to do anything like that. Way too much could go wrong." She twitched angrily, scowling darkly his way. "You might be willing to chance it, but I'm certainly not."
"There's no chancing!" Hiccup objected. "I know you'll be able to do it!"
"Well that makes one of us." She snarled.
"Wait, wait." Mistyeyes commanded, stepping in between the pair as she realized that it was started to get heated. Taking in a slow breath, the pale dragoness turned to look inquisitively at the boy. "Hiccup, why did you do this?" She asked patiently, voice weighed carefully as to not stir up even more trouble. "I'm sure Nightflight is just a little miffed right now. Maybe if you explain your thinking, she'll be able to relate a little bit more." Nightflight puffed up defiantly at this, but bit back her retort wisely.
Hiccup sighed slowly, shoulders loosening sadly as he looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry." He mumbled, Nightflight stilling at the new tone of voice. "It's just- Astrid is so sad. She feels like she's worthless because she can't understand what's going on. She feels like a burden because she has to have everything explained to her. I tried to tell her that she was just as important as any of us, but she doesn't listen when I tell her." He hesitated, looking over at Nightflight with an apologetic look. "I know that it's sudden…and I understand why you don't want to do anything like this." Nightflight's ears flattened. "But she's really sad. And I hate seeing her that way. You have to help her. You have to try, at least."
Nightflight grew silent at this, ducking her head low as she hunched her shoulders.
Mistyeyes's ear flicked as she backtracked back to Toothless's side, figuring that the worst of their hostility was over by now. "Well, Nightflight?" She prompted when the dragoness was silent for some time. The black female stirred at her name, raising her head ever so slightly. But she didn't say anything, refusing to speak up now as she turned. Hiccup sighed through his nose, crossing his arms over his chest heavily. "What are you going to do?" Mistyeyes raised her eyes, looking up at the sky with a twinge of nervousness. "We've got to get going soon; if you're going to do this, we have to do it before we leave. And soon."
When Nightflight didn't offer any kind of statement, Toothless took a step forward. "I think it's a good idea." He said, eyes flashing over to Hiccup's as he spoke. "After all, it could only benefit us in the long run. Look at what we have at stake for when we get back to Berk. You think it would be easier to convince them all if we have two people that can talk to dragons? One is already good, but…there's safety in numbers."
"But none of you are thinking of the potential it could have." Nightflight hissed in frustration. "I bet you wouldn't be so keen on doing it if it were Hiccup." The words were aimed at Toothless, as she spoke, the male drew back as if slapped. As if catching the movement, Nightflight's tail flicked irritably. "This could either be very good, or very bad." She stated. "There's no in between. And if something does go bad, I don't want to be the dragon responsible for it. I've caused enough heartache, and I don't trust myself now not to cause any more. I want to put these abilities as far behind me as I can." She turned over to Hiccup. "I was only practicing on Ludi just in case. From now on, I don't want to do anything like that unless it's of the utmost importance."
"But it is." Hiccup stressed. "You'll be doing Astrid a huge favor."
Nightflight shook her head. "But if it doesn't work?" She shouted. "What if the other dragons see it fail? Or see something go wrong?" Toothless and Mistyeyes stiffened at the picture. "They'll think they aren't safe anymore, or it'll drag up their old feelings about me. We work be able to work together as well as do now. We'll go right back to the beginning. Are you really willing to chance that?"
Hiccup was silent for a moment. But then he brightened, smiling widely. "We can go to the other end of the island!" He declared. "That way, no one but us will see it! So if it doesn't work like what happened with Ludi, it'll just be this group that knows it! We won't judge you if it doesn't work, and then everything will be fine. And if it does work, we'll all be around to say we told you so."
Nightflight hesitated, still looking a little unsure. "…You think I should?" She asked, turning in the direction of Mistyeyes and Toothless.
Toothless answered at once. "It would be a big breakthrough." He said. "I think it'd be a good idea. And besides, there's no harm in trying." Hiccup seemed to win at this statement. Toothless would be one of the first to know what Nightflight's powers are capable of. Though the selfish, egotistical dragon that she used to be was long gone, the memory of what she had done before would always be fresh in the male's mind. If he thought that Nightflight should go ahead and try, he must really believe that the female had changed, or that she would most definitely be able to pull it off.
Mistyeyes seemed a bit more thoughtful though. She stared long and hard at Nightflight, memories and inner feelings swimming through her clear eyes like minnows. It took her much longer to reply, and Hiccup caught sight of Nightflight growing anxious at the silence. But finally she spoke, lowering her head in a small nod. "I think you should." She said, voice somewhat quiet. "But we're not the ones that are in question here. We'll be behind you with whatever you choose." She flashed a sharp look Hiccup's way, the words holding a small hint of warning in them.
Hiccup relented with a small, tense nod.
"And…if anything goes wrong…?"
"It won't." He assured for the millionth time.
"But if it does." She repeated firmly. "You won't be angry with me?"
"Of course not." Hiccup said fiercely. "What could ever make me mad at you?"
(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)
Mistyeyes, Toothless, Shadowclaw, Leafdapple, Nightflight, Hiccup, Astrid, and Ludi. That was the motley crew that ventured deeper into the island. Hiccup had left the other Night Furies with the promise that he would be back soon. He made it seem as though he was just giving them more time to rest, though he was more than sure that the group knew what he was not telling them. But they hadn't objected to his words, staying in the front clearing and watching with wide eyes as he took his friends and vanished into the foliage.
Now and then, the Viking would glance back over his shoulder, hyper alert for any stalkers or curious younglings. But the place was silent as they plodded on, and he allowed himself to relax as they got closer to the other shoreline. At his side, Astrid walked. Ludi was perched awkwardly on her shoulder, the cat not letting up her perch even though she was getting way too big for the feat. But Astrid seemed well for the company. With one hand, she stroked the cat nervously, and with the other, she clung tightly to Hiccup's own.
Her knuckles were bleached white from the force she had, and every so often, her hand would give a small shake of anxiousness. Hiccup glanced over at her now, knowing that they were nearly upon their destination. "You don't have to do this, you know." He said in a small whisper. Astrid turned to him, unable to hide the fright that was playing on the edges of her features. Hiccup's expression creased with pain, and he said once more: "You're a valuable member of this team, Astrid. You don't have to do this to prove that."
But she nodded. "Yeah. I do. Besides…it'll be fine."
Are you saying that to me, or yourself? Hiccup asked silently.
"Here we are." Mistyeyes said from up ahead, coming to a stop. From here, the island fell away steeply in a cliff, the ocean roaring against the side of it way down below. Toothless leaned over the side, looking down with narrowed eyes at the water, as if trying to decide from the waves what type of weather it would be today. Leafdapple and Shadowclaw sat off to the side, close together as they watched the scene with a small hint of anxiousness.
"You guys are sure about this?" Shadowclaw asked, eyes flickering back and forth as he eyed the group.
Leafdapple prodded him in the side. "It'll be fine." She assured him. "Nightflight knows what she's doing." The little one turned, eyes gleaming as they rested on the adult. In a lower voice, obviously meant for only Shadowclaw, she whispers: "I've never really seen for sure what Nightflight does when she does this. Is it interesting? It sounds pretty amazing." Her eyes were wide, a smile on her face now. It was apparent that she was undoubtedly excited to see this.
But Shadowclaw was less enthused. He gave a small shrug. "It's pretty cool, I guess." He mumbled, voice laced with worry.
"If we're going to do this, we should do it soon." Mistyeyes said, taking a set beside the two younger ones. Toothless straightened, veering away to take his place beside her. Together they created a line, all eyes on the trio standing in front of them now. "The others will be waiting for us, and we can't make them wait any longer." She glanced up at the sky. "We're already late."
Nightflight hissed shortly. "You can't rush this." She snapped.
Mistyeyes opened her mouth to reply, but snapped it shut, thinking better of it.
Astrid steeled herself, giving a small nod as she looked at the dragons around her. "Yeah." She said firmly, glancing back at Hiccup. "I can't understand anything they're saying right now."
"You aren't missing much." Hiccup sighed.
"Still. I want to know what I don't right now. And this is the only way to be sure that I'll do that." Astrid turned, picking Ludi up off her shoulder and placing her gently down to the ground. "You go over and be with the others." She said kindly, leaning down and nudging the tabby over to the dragons. "You'll be safe over there." Spitting crossly at losing her spot, Ludi hopped over, weaving affectionately around Hiccup's legs before breaking off and trotting over to sit beside Shadowclaw. The male smiled widely at the cat who he'd played with when he was littler, drawing her over and making sure that she was out of everyone's way.
"Okay, Nightflight." Hiccup said. "We're ready."
The Night Fury jerked at her name, turning with a small wince. Her claws were unsheathed a little nervously, but she gave a nod nonetheless. Pacing forward, she went closer until she was a few yards away from the two of them. "Alright." She sighed, voice tinged with regret already. Her ears flicked now, and she blinked rapidly, as if preparing herself for some kind of staring contest. "…Now?" She asked.
Hiccup made a move to let go of Astrid's hand, but the blonde only tightened her grip. Turning with a rather surprised look, Hiccup opened his mouth to say something. But Astrid spoke first, blue eyes locking with his own as the forest met with the ocean. "Stay." She said tightly, making it an order rather than a plead. She squeezed his hand tightly, biting her lower lip. "Don't look at her, but just…I want you to stay."
His eyes softened. "It'll be okay." He comforted.
She shook her head. "Just stay. Please." She said again.
"Okay." Hiccup said simply. Then, knowing that she would still be unsettled, he leaned down quickly and gave her a small kiss. It wasn't anything long, it was chaste and simple. But he knew that it would help keep her grounded. And when he was finished, she did look a little bit settled, and he gave her a warm smile. "I love you."
"I know." She scoffed, giving him her own smile.
"'Kay, Nightflight." Hiccup said, turning away and averting his eyes from the dragoness as he reapplied his hold on Astrid's hand. "We're ready."
Mistyeyes sighed mentally, tensing herself up as Nightflight closed her eyes tightly. "This is it." She sighed, glancing over at Toothless with a small twinge of nervousness. Toothless turned to look back at her, looking confused by the sudden worry that was overcoming the female's face. Mistyeyes's ears flattened, and she shuffled her paws a little wearily. Leafdapple perked, looking over at her as she shifted. "You think we did the right thing?" She huffed lowly.
Toothless blinked oddly. "You were the one who said she should do it." He reminded her.
"I know, but…" She flicked an ear, not finishing her sentence.
Toothless stared at her a moment more before turning back to the scene in front of them. Hiccup's eyes were set firmly on the ground, the boy not saying anything as he held firmly to Astrid's hand. The blonde took in a deep breath, raising her head slowly so that she could lock eyes with Nightflight. The dragon's eyes were narrowed with effort and concentration, her wings trembling at her sides.
Toothless was overcome with surprise at the sudden amount of concentration that Nightflight had adopted. Her cheeks were a little bit puffed out at the sides, her claws digging into the ground and scoring into the earth as she leaned forward at a slant. Her muscles shivered and twitched, and Toothless realized that the female was working herself harder than she needed to. He remembered what it had been like before, though it was rather vaguely.
He remembered how easily it had been to focus in on her. The dragoness had been cool, calm and collected as she cooed out whatever she had wanted him to do. She had been sure of herself, looking no different than she always did once she looked into his gaze. She hadn't been pushing herself, looking ready to explode. She had been sleek, unmoving and almost casual whenever she had gotten him to forget Hiccup. So why was she suddenly so fixed on making it harder than it needed to be?
Nightflight winced, growling underneath her breath for a moment. But then she shook herself, leaning forward even farther as she tried again. Toothless shifted uneasily; Nightflight had such a forward presence that it looked like a breeze might send her sprawling over herself. "Hey, Nightflight?" He called out, the female tensing at the sound of his voice. The three dragons seated beside him looked at him with disbelief as he spoke out, but he paid no heed. "Why are you trying so hard?" He asked, puzzled.
"Let me do this!" She snapped through clenched teeth, voice sounding pinched and pained.
"But-"
"Toothless, be quiet!" Hiccup snapped, looking up from the ground and sending him a warning glare.
The male sat back, looking irritated and worried by now. "You see it too, right?" He hissed out of the corner of his mouth, glancing over at Mistyeyes, who offered him a slow nod of reply. Her blue eyes were thoughtful as she took in both Nightflight and Astrid, and she took a small step forward, as if to intervene. But then she cut herself off, shaking her head as she sat back. Toothless's ears flattened, the dragon closing his eyes and sending up a prayer to Thor that it didn't matter that Nightflight didn't look the same as she had before. Why would it, anyway?
Astrid's body was rigid, her blue eyes wide as she was transfixed on the black dragon in front of her. Leafdapple's smile faded little by little, her excitement being replaced by an eerie feeling of fear at the odd sight. Hiccup was obviously growing impatiently frightened as the process seemed to stretch on for forever. Surely it took a shorter time than this for him?
Spluttering and gasping by now, Nightflight was trembling head to toe, putting all of herself into the moment as she tried to perform the spell. Her teeth were clenched, making a strained barrier that held back the rest of her noises of effort. Seconds that felt like hours slowly crawled into minutes that felt like days. And as five minutes passed, Toothless started to feel the small, dreary feeling of disappointment.
It wasn't working.
"Nightflight?" He prompted, breaking into the process for the second time. "It's getting late…" The sun was nearly all the way over the horizon now. They should have left a long time ago.
Nightflight let out a flustered groan, pushing herself forward one last time as she attempted the spell one last time. But the burst only caused a small shiver to run up Astrid's spine. Still glaring angrily into Astrid's eyes, Nightflight let out another rumble of held-in fury. But both Toothless and Mistyeyes knew that the anger was not directed at Astrid; Nightflight was just angry at herself. "Ugh." She roared. "Just forget it." She snapped.
Astrid tensed.
Hiccup tightened his hold on her hand, but still kept his eyes firmly on the ground. "Nightflight, no!" He shouted at once. "We're so close! Don't give up now!"
"It's pointless!" She flashed back furiously.
"Keep going!" Hiccup yelled, voice sharper.
Toothless stiffened at once as Astrid seemed to respond now, shooting up to his feet with a panicked burst of emotion. No. "Hiccup, stop." He said at once, eyes wide as he looked from Nightflight to Astrid. "We need to stop, something isn't right!"
"It's fine!"
"I said forget it!" Nightflight yowled, voice an ear-splitting roar.
At once, Astrid screamed sharply, knees buckling forward as she staggered. With her free hand, she gripped her head tightly, closing her eyes as if she had a mighty headache. Toothless froze, eyes wide with horror as he stared down at the blonde. Mistyeyes, Leafdapple, and Shadowclaw shot up at this, leaping to their feet as if an enemy had just advanced. Hiccup gasped sharply, breaking contact with the grass as he looked over at Astrid with terror. Grabbing her hand tighter, he pulled up, catching the girl and making sure she didn't fall.
Nightflight staggered backwards, blinking rapidly. "What-"
Astrid was shaking, blue eyes round and distant as she stared unseeingly at the ground. "Astrid!" Hiccup yelled urgently, lowering her down gently and watching as the girl collapsed against the wet grass. He leaned down beside her, on all fours as he shook her shoulder urgently. "Astrid!" He screamed, voice turning hysterical now as he tried to get her to react. But the girl was comatose at the moment, not even flicking an eyelid at his urgings. "Astrid! Stop!" Hiccup shouted angrily. "I told you it would be fine! It still is! So get up!"
Toothless rounded on Nightflight at once, eyes blazing now with an unnamed danger as he advanced on her. Nightflight shrunk back, trembling with fear now as she shrunk. "What did you say?" He demanded at once, Mistyeyes's eyes narrowing with confusion. He seemed to take this to heart for some reason. When Nightflight didn't answer right away, he pressed on more fiercely. "What exactly did you say to her?" He demanded.
"Toothless, calm down-" Mistyeyes tried, but Toothless ignored her rudely.
"I-I- I don't-"
"You told her to 'forget it?'" Toothless screeched.
"Of course not!" Nightflight yelped. "I said that to Hiccup!"
"But you were looking at her!" He raged.
"Then I didn't mean to!" Nightflight wailed. "I wasn't even supposed to be doing anything then! I wasn't even trying to-"
"Stop yelling at her!" Mistyeyes roared, planting herself in between the pair with a sharp look at Toothless. "How dare you suggest that this was done on purpose! Astrid is Nightflight's friend! She would never try to do anything to hurt her!"
"Astrid?" The trio turned at once, Hiccup's voice having changed drastically. It was filled with confusion, and a little hope too. And as they turned back to look, they saw that Astrid had stopped shaking, going limp now as she relaxed against the blades of grass. Her blue eyes were still distant, but bit by bit intelligence started to flood back into them. Mistyeyes smiled with relief, Leafdapple and Shadowclaw both drooping with loose sighs. But Toothless's eyes were still in firm slits, claws gouging the earth as he remained stiff with anger.
"What's your problem?" Mistyeyes hissed at him.
Toothless's expression only grew darker. "Just wait." He hissed.
Astrid focused on them first, blinking rapidly at the sight of the Night Furies that were staring down at her. Quickly, the girl pushed herself up, shooting up and backwards as she tried to scurry away like a wounded cat. The others made a move to go after her, but Toothless raised his tail to bar their way, expression grim as he held them back. But Hiccup refused to let her near the edge of the cliff, reaching over and grabbing her up tightly as he pulled her away from the drop. The blonde let out a sharp scream at the sudden touch, and once Hiccup let her go, she zipped up to her feet, edging away from him with a cautious look.
"…Astrid?" Hiccup prompted, looking hurt by her reaction. Putting his hands down on the ground, he got up as well, edging closer to her. He went much more slowly now, as if he realized that something was different about her now. Astrid's eyes narrowed at the advance, and her left hand curled into a tight ball. Hiccup didn't notice it though, reaching over and grabbing her other hand as a comforting gesture. "What's-"
The fist went back, locking into a ninety degree angle before shooting forward. As soon as Hiccup touched her, the blow was thrown his way, and Toothless watched unmoving as the boy went sprawling back onto his back. Surprise shot its way from the others behind him, but before anyone could move, Astrid shot down to join the teenager. Other hand flying out, she locked a firm hold on the boy's neck, ensuring him unable to move as she pinned him down. Using her other hand as a threat, she held another fist over his face, blue eyes blazing with anger and confusion at the same time.
"Who are you?" She spat, Hiccup going absolutely motionless at the statement.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
The truth of the matter was there, they were just unable to face it.
All except for Toothless.
"Who are you?" Astrid repeated, gripping his neck a little tighter now. "You'd better start talking right now! Where am I?" When Hiccup didn't even budge, she locked her elbow back even farther, expression growing dangerous. "You have ten seconds before I shoot another one! Why am I here?"
Toothless turned around, looking back at Nightflight with a deadly look of confirmation. The Night Fury looked scared at this turn of events, guilt and horror playing in her gaze. "She doesn't remember anything." He stated numbly. "It happened again."
"No." Mistyeyes whispered, voice hollow.
"I- I- I didn't mean- I thought I told you- If you had just listened to me-" Nightflight stumbled with her words.
"You were right all along, Nightflight." Shadowclaw said simply. "Something did go wrong."
(~**~) (~**~) (~**~) (~**~)
A/N: Sorry if there are typos and stuff. I'm going on a vacation in literally a few minutes and I just managed to get this out to you. I'll update again when I get home if I get a lot of reviews for this! School starts in exactly a week, so I'll have to get a few last-minute summer updates in before then. ((sad sigh)).
And guys, I have FOUR stories going on right now. So that means I'm flipping BUSY. And that's why I say that the more reviews I get, the more I update. Because it's a lot of stories to handle, and I only wanna concern myself with the ones that I get the most feedback for. So if you see me updating another story and not this one, that doesn't mean I've FORGOTTEN about this story. It just means that the story in question got more reviews last chapter than this one did.
So if you really want an update, all you have to do is review~
Thank you and goodnight ;)
((Once again sorry for any typos.))