Happy Friday, everybody. Life has been busy, and I hope your week was as wonderful and exciting as mine! Enjoy the chappie!
Chapter Eighteen: Call to Arms
The hall became alive with anxious life, the same back when dragon-fighting was in its prime. Squads formed, strategies revived upon tables, the dragons roared and vibrated with a festering energy. Rose mounted Toothless and sat in his saddle, talking to him in hushed voices as Toothless left the hall to wait outside. Astrid and Hiccup looked at each other before they followed the Night Fury out.
The sun was peeking through the stormy clouds above as the riders saddled their dragons. Astrid snatched Hiccup's arm and pulled him to the side quickly. She pushed him against the wall and grabbed his cheek with one of her hands. Hiccup grabbed her wrist and kissed her once. They pressed their foreheads together again and Astrid centred herself.
"Hiccup," she said firmly, "we need to have a plan."
"Like what?"
Astrid licked her lips, her eyes darting back and forth as if she was running thousands of conversations in her mind. Her eyes were pink and they were glassy as she looked up.
"If things get out of hand, if anything happens to either of us, we need to have a plan. We didn't before and I don't want any chances if it happens again."
Hiccup was quiet before nodding stiffly. "What do you suggest?"
"You are the priority," she stated simply. Hiccup looked into her eyes reluctantly. "If anything happens, it can't happen to you."
Hiccup hissed against her mouth. "Astrid –"
"I don't want to argue," she interrupted. "I don't want anything to happen to Snowdrop, and the dragons are counting on you to stay alive. Every breath you take is a breath for them, and you need to keep breathing until they are free."
Hiccup held onto her. "You've already made a sacrifice."
"No," she replied with a slightly satirical snort. "I had a bowl of soup that was a little poisoned. I made no sacrifice."
"What about our child?" he whispered. There was a silence as villagers passed nearby, scuttling off as they noticed they were having a private conversation. Hiccup lowered his voice, tiny and fragile. "You haven't said anything about it."
Astrid stared and shook her head, making noise but no words. Hiccup felt a lump in his throat growing.
"Is it gone?" he asked gently. Astrid frowned.
"I don't know, Hiccup," she said firmly.
"You've always known," he argued.
"Well, I don't," Astrid hissed.
Hiccup didn't move, but she could see the tears welling up above his lower eyelashes. He was trying so hard to remain passive.
"You don't look upset," he muttered, heartbroken. Astrid's heart seized within her chest and the felt the sting of his words.
"I don't have time," Astrid said as she clenched her teeth.
"You always do that," Hiccup spat.
Astrid pursed her lips. "What?"
Hiccup flapped his hands about unnecessarily, angry and biting back tears. "You always pretend that nothing gets to you! As if the possibility of losing our child means nothing!"
Astrid stared at him, mouth open and eyes wide. "I never said that. You think I asked for this?"
"No!" Hiccup countered. "But it would be nice for you to show me an emotion that made sense!"
Astrid shoved him back, her heart aching. "Shut up!" she shrieked. No one was around, but if they were, she didn't care. Hiccup paled and stepped back. "I felt my soul get torn away from my body! Do I know if it's still there? No, I don't! And frankly, I don't want to know. Not right now. Not today! I can't handle any more shit today! Okay?!"
He slapped her hands over her mouth to shut herself up. Her face was wet, her body shook, her blood burned. Hiccup clamped his mouth shut and sucked in a breath. "Astrid, gods, I'm sorry."
Astrid shook her head and raised a hand, shutting him up, almost ashamed of him, almost ready to walk away.
"If anything happens, if they come for us, if they try to take Berk, you have to make sure you come out of it alive. You fly to the cove with Toothless, pretend you're dead, anything to make them turn tail and have no reason to stay."
She said it without room for question. She couldn't get upset yet. She was almost certain about its fate. Her scarred body couldn't keep it, but to think of that… there was too much shit heading their way for her to think about that. To grieve would risk everything.
"And what about me?" Hiccup asked shakily. "What happens to me if something happens to you? You're all I have left."
"You keep going," she said harshly. "You have to promise me that if something happens to me, you have to keep going. You fight, you do whatever it takes."
"I'm not the fighter, you are, you always have been," Hiccup argued. Astrid frowned.
"If this gets bad, we will all be fighters. But I will not let them get you. You are my husband, half of my family, my life, and I will die trying to preserve that, as much as you've pissed me off."
She tore away from him suddenly and left him against the wall, done with the conversation, making it final. Hiccup went to follow her, panicking, watching the back of her head leave him. She made it back to the front steps of the hall where Rose and Toothless remained, when Rose looked over Toothless' head and pursed her lips.
"You have a visitor, Hiccup," she said, pointing. They turned and both suppressed a groan as an all-too-familiar face sneered back at them crankily. The unruly hair, the huge frame clad in heavy armour, the wild brown eyes, the greatsword; Cauli from the Eastern Islands marched up to the couple with an amused look on her harsh face.
"Ah. I see things didn't crumble after the honeymoon."
Cauli grinned and extended a hand to Astrid, who took her wrist and gave a shake. Astrid didn't smile at the expression. Hiccup noticed. No one would have known about the fight they'd had seconds before. He was almost envious. Cauli put her hands on her hips, looking to Rose on the dragon. She squinted.
"Gods, you look a lot different than last time," she quipped. "More… gross." Rose shrugged.
"Just a haircut," Rose lied.
"Suits you. Gross suits you."
Rose nodded gracefully as Cauli sucked in a breath and addressed the couple formally, crankiness and all. Hiccup was grateful she had not snapped either of them in half, which struck him as odd. Cauli saw the confusion in his face and her smile disappeared.
"If you're wondering about my dad, he's dead," she said bluntly. Hiccup's heart jumped and Astrid straightened her back. "I'm the leader now."
"What happened?" Hiccup asked quickly. He remembered Cauli's father, young and strong and as headstrong as she.
Cauli raised an eyebrow. "…Oh, that's not good. You really should know the answer to that question."
Hiccup and Astrid looked between them and Rose perked up. Toothless croaked and Hiccup felt the bond.
She's bleeding. I can smell it. Under her armour.
"Toothless," Hiccup said immediately, a dreadful feeling bubbling in his chest. "Go get Stoick and Juniper." The Night Fury nodded and slinked back into the Great Hall.
Astrid looked to the docks, where more and more ships were landing. There were far more than she expected, dozens and dozens of ships entering the docks with hundreds of people stumbling into Berk. Astrid seized Hiccup's hand as Cauli shook her head sadly.
"What happened?" Hiccup asked again, with more demand in his voice. Stoick and Juniper exited the haul and jogged over to them, noticing the influx of people at the shore. Rose was behind, listening from a distance with Toothless looking very agitated.
"It started with us," Cauli said quickly, nodding at Stoick. "One moment, my father was drinking his mead, the next he was dead. Poisoned."
Stoick and Juniper balked. Astrid cursed loudly, but Cauli didn't falter, her eyes grimacing slightly from a tinge of pain. "Just as I took leadership, the northern islands and southern lands called for aid for the same reasons. Both leaders, dead. Same poison."
"Oh shit," Astrid choked. Cauli nodded.
"How would Berk not know about this?!" Stoick asked, the alarm too great to hide.
"I don't know," Cauli spat. "We sent six distress calls. I almost thought it was you who was poisoning everyone. I made way back to my island to find more resources, trying to figure out why our leaders were dropping like rotted flies, sending a warning to you, when we were attacked."
Hiccup's knees went weak and Astrid bit one of her knuckles.
"Outcasts and Berserkers," Cauli breathed. She grabbed her shoulder. Hiccup noticed the pauldron was split.
"They attacked throughout the night, killing and capturing, dragon fire lighting up the night sky like Thor's rage was pathetic in comparison. Our fields were razed, our livestock and villagers stolen in great nets hoisted by Monstrous Nightmares, explosions obliterating hundreds of my kinsmen on shore and on land. And then they left. I gathered those left, whatever squadrons survived and those that returned from the north and south, and gathered as many people as I could. We weren't sure where we should go until a scout found us, asking about a spoon or something."
Hiccup's back was shaking and Astrid had a hand pressed to her mouth, her body trembling as nausea swept over her. Stoick's mouth was dry, his eyes tired, Cauli's voice echoing in his head as the sobs and groans of the survivors travelled upwind to his ears.
"I have everyone that's left," Cauli finished. "North, south, and east. We had nowhere else to go."
"We didn't get any distress calls," Stoick said hoarsely, eyes wide and lips loose. "Nothing. Nothing from either direction."
"One may get misplaced," Astrid sneered. "But six… no way, there is no way we wouldn't have gotten those messages."
"Those scouts never came back, either," Cauli added. "So I think our little Outcast problem from those good ol' days is much, much worse."
Astrid looked over to Rose, who was pale and still and absolutely terrified.
"They have us surrounded," Stoick growled. "Astrid, you go to Spitelout, tell him about this. No one flies except for Hiccup and Rose. I want the Great Hall secured and reinforced with any spare metal we have. We need more dragons, and not tomorrow, but right now. Blow the horn."
"I will tend to the villagers with the matrons, notify Gothi," Juniper stated. "And find the new leaders."
"Make sure you tend to her. Her shoulder is bleeding and she would rather hide that," Hiccup told Juniper. Cauli almost protested before giving in and rolling her eyes.
Astrid grabbed Hiccup and kissed him firmly. She hugged him. "I still love you," she huffed in his ear.
"Yeah, I know," was the reply.
They dispersed, running to their tasks with a new need of desperation. Hiccup climbed onto Toothless in front of Rose and clipped himself in, pulling Rose's hands around him. He watched Astrid sprint to the war horn, abandoned for years, take a great breath, and blow it into the horn with as much strength she could muster. The blast of the awful and looming sound echoed throughout the village. Hundreds began running, fighters to the forge and their weapons, the dragons racing to their riders. No matter how many years it had been, everyone knew the sound well.
Toothless ran off the edge of the cliffs, unfurling his wings, roaring against the sun and the restless ocean, pulling up into the sky with Rose clutching at Hiccup, the exhilaration of the wind on her face new and wild. Bonded to a dragon, yes. Free to ride one, never. "Rose, how do we find those dragons?"
"Working on it," Rose replied breathlessly. "Fly over the ocean first."
Hiccup flew on hovering over the clouds to remain hidden.
Rose closed her eyes with her cheek against Hiccup's back. She let her mind go, her body relaxing and the world around her silent. She searched for a connection. It felt like a sword entering a sheathe, a snug and firm feeling that was alive with colour and emotion. Having another mind in hers, embracing it and welcoming it, thinking happy thoughts, asking for help, thinking of the horrific images of the dragons she had cared for and healed and whispered calming notions to them as they struggled to sleep, begging for help, crying out –
Hiccup felt Rose tense, and she grunted. A connection hit her between her eyes, her scars contracting. Hiccup was about to ask if she was okay before the ocean below them rumbled and burst.
A pair of huge jade coloured wings reached up into the sky, making Hiccup stare in wonderment. Wet scales glinted from the sunlight ahead as a body tore from the clutches of the salty water, an ear-shattering scream rumbling below them. A long neck attached to a huge body full of water flew below them. Rose could only stare at the beauty of it. She smiled against Hiccup as the Scauldron connected with her and pledged her allegiance to Berk, thinking thoughts of her mate.
"Keep it up!" Hiccup yelled breathlessly. The Scauldron followed close behind, joining in the calls for help. Rose searched again, concentrating so hard her ears rang. Thunderdrums emerged in a small pack as they flew over the neutral islands. Rose growled as more and more dragons connected with her. Some refused, some too scared, but many immediately joined them. Changewings with their gigantic wings and changing colour followed as Typhoomerangs blasted into the sky above them with Timberjacks soaring below them.
There are so many…
Hiccup nodded in amazement as more and more dragons, some thought to be untrainable, joined the swarm flying for Berk's aid. Dozens of Terrors joined next, and Toothless roared as the others chortled.
"Are they going to get along?" Hiccup asked worriedly.
"They have no choice," Rose murmured tiredly. "They are amazing creatures, they'll put aside their differences for a time."
Hiccup twisted his mouth against the wind and turned around, banking wide so the new collection of dragons followed, roaring and howling. Toothless panted nervously. Hiccup rested a hand on his head.
"We're gonna be okay," he said to his dragon. He only felt worry beneath him as a response. They flew until they saw Berk in the distance, and Rose asked Hiccup to land just outside of the village. He landed on a high rock with a small meadow below, where the other dragons landed, full of tension and angst and energy. Rose leapt off and Hiccup followed, his shoulders tightening at the sight.
"We have a few dozen," Hiccup noted. "Now what?"
Rose turned and licked her lips in thought. "I need to talk to them first."
"What?"
Rose huffed. "Trust, Hiccup. It's one of those things you highlight in that book of yours."
He nodded stiffly, remembering the frayed parchment of the dragon book in the Great Hall. Nowhere in the pages, however, were scriptures about bonds, dragon connection, or trust outside of a riding relationship. Everything he thought he knew seemed like Dragonling material compared to the extent of this moment. Rose softened and grabbed his hand, pulling him down from the rock and towards the pack of dragons, which divided themselves into a ring to remain on equal ground.
"The bond I have given you has had time to settle into your spirit," she murmured, "which will open up new bonds. They won't ever be as strong as Toothless, but it will serve."
She pulled him towards the circle. "Slowly," she whispered, entering the circle with the Timberjack glaring at them, the edges of his massive wings glinting against the sky. Hiccup's back began to sweat as all the new and aggressive stares terrorized his body with judgement and fear. They came to the middle, now surrounded by these new dragons, and Rose squeezed Hiccup's hand. The sight was extraordinary; dozens of dragons, hundreds of colours, a spectrum of sizes and emotions.
"They all have a reason for being here," Rose mused. "They all want to fight."
Hiccup remained staring, looking from dragon to dragon as they stared at him with piercing eyes.
Saaaviour.
He whirled around, a new voice entering his mind, the bond hitting the tiny scar on his neck like a fist. His eyes watered and he wavered as the Scauldron looked at him, bonding with him. The huge oceanic creature slithered forward on stumpy legs, her belly full of water ready to be boiled and spat out on him at any moment. Rose held Hiccup still, small hands around his elbows, as she loomed over him, the rest of the dragons watching. Toothless bared his teeth and crouched, his tail flicking.
The Scauldron reared and Hiccup gasped as her claws came out, her wings blocking the sun and her roar piercing the clouds. He thought she was going to attack, but then he saw it. The scars marking her belly, her neck, glistening in the dim sunlight.
Suddenly, a flash slammed into Hiccup's mind, and he was no longer in Berk. He was in the ocean, holding his breath, looking up at the surface that was glowing orange with fire and hatred. The bottoms of boats passed overhead and shouts and explosions rumbled, muffled by the water. Another Scauldron huddled against the rocks, growling. The boats were circling above them, and out of nowhere, a heavy and ferocious cage split the surface, shooting down over the other Scauldron, encasing it, trapping it with hooks that pierced his wings, his neck. He screamed, he screamed as the cage lifted him up by his flesh, trying to struggle free. No, not my mate, not my mate! No, you're hurting him! Get him out of the cage, get him out of this demon! She swam onto the cage, but it was lined with barbs and spikes strong enough to stab her through her scales. Stop struggling, stop struggling! You're hurting yourself, no, no, please, stop!
Hiccup slumped into Rose's hands, his knees hitting the ground.
"Whoa, easy!" Rose said as she eased him to the ground. She saw it too, the perspective, the Scauldron's vivid reason for joining them. The dragon looked at them proudly, eyes intense. Hiccup looked up as emotions boiled in his gut.
"What…" Hiccup choked. "What do they have?" he wheezed through gritted teeth. "The explosions… that cage… the hooks… Rose, what in Thor's name is coming?"
Rose pursed her lips and shook her head gently. "I don't know. I only healed them. I never had a chance to fight for them."
Fiiight, the Scauldron hissed in his mind, mournful and determined. Hiccup was dizzy, panicked. Toothless slinked through the dragons and huddled against his rider, comforting him.
Hiccup looked at the Night Fury and imagined his torn away from his grasp. The thought of losing him made his heart race, and Hiccup sneered.
"We will fight," Hiccup growled. Toothless bared his teeth and the other dragons shrieked in unison, making the ground shake. Over the crest of the mountain, Astrid looked towards the sound. She scooped Snowdrop into her arms and carried her to the hall, her grip threatening to crush her sister into her own ribcage.