As the wind whipped his chestnut locks back against his head, Hiccup wondered silently to himself how he got himself into these things.
"Betcha can't beat me going around Mildew's place!" Astrid said with a mischievous grin that told him she was planning a cheap shot.
"You're on!" He said remembering how he got into them, and knowing full well that she knew that path a lot better than he did, deciding to rely on Toothless's speed rather than his knowledge of the area.
As the real race began, Hiccup shot forward to take an early lead over his golden-haired competition and her admittedly beautiful blue Nadder. Feeling that speed was his only advantage, he decided to milk it for all it's worth, not noticing that Astrid was no longer behind him.
"Around Mildew's place..." Astrid whispered to Stormfly, "...no one said what path to take to get there!"
She shot through the air as she flew high over Berk, and going off the usual path, and flying directly over the peak instead of around the mountain.
Toothless sped down the path with the speed that only a Night Fury could unleash, dodging around trees and whipping around corners. Hiccup used a long straightaway to glance behind himself, and seeing no one, he let up a bit on Toothless, not to let her catch up, but to save some energy for the long straightaway to the point.
Astrid arrived a few moments before Hiccup got there, and began to make her lap around the house. Dipping Stormfly's right wing close to the ground she swooped around the rotting hovel. As she came around and started toward Raven Point. She smirked as she passed a dumbfounded Hiccup streaking toward the hut at top speed.
"How did you do that!" She heard him call as the two dragons passed each other, like two shooting stars almost colliding. She would tell him later... when he was in a good mood.
As Hiccup and Toothless rounded the shack, Astrid took a moment to look back over her shoulder. She saw him grit his teeth and set his jaw in pure determination, and she saw him set Toothless's tail to its highest speed setting. She could almost feel his determination from where she was... but not quite. She turned around and laid as close as she could to Stormfly's neck in an attempt to get as much speed as she could... if she could only hold on for a minute longer...
Toothless zipped through the sky as Hiccup attempted to regain the lead. Everything that wasn't strapped down was flapping furiously as he attempted to make up the ground that he had some how lost. Gaining ground every second, he knew that it was only a matter of time before he passed her... Would he be able to before she got there?
As the wind tangled her golden locks behind her, Astrid took another peek back over her armored shoulder. Hiccup was gaining on her fast, it would only be a few seconds before he overtook her.
Suddenly a huge explosion shook the dragons, and caused both Astrid and Hiccup to look down at the sheep pens below them. They weren't surprized to see the explosion was caused by Ruffnut and Tuffnut, however they were surprized to see the strange dragon the explosion was directed at. It had brown, almost hair-like, scales on its head, and light, skin colored scales on the rest of its body, it
flew with a pair of white, bird-like wings, that grew out of it's back, and its front legs were connected in a shape that looked almost like a hunting bow.
"What is that thing?!" Astrid yelled to Hiccup over the noise of the battle below, as they both turned to help the twins.
"I have no idea! I've never seen anything like it!" Hiccup replied, their race instantly forgotten.
"Hey guys!" Tuffnut said, "This thing is boring!"
"Yeah! No fire or explosions!" Ruffnut said, finishing her brother's sentence.
"Guys! We need to get it away from the sheep before it eats our entire flock!" Hiccup said as he watched it swallow two sheep whole. "Astrid! Go around to the right of it. Twins! To the left. I'll come through between you and force it out away from the pen!"
As Astrid and the twins moved quickly into position, the strange dragon stopped its feeding frenzy to attempt an escape, but as it turned to leave, it stared into the face, I mean faces, of a Hideous Zippleback. Turning around, it stared into the angry face of a Nadder.
As Toothless flew in, blocking the dragon's path, he fired a plasma ball to try to scare the creature to retreat into the forest, but that thing had other ideas.
Instead of fleeing like Hiccup expected, it decided to return fire, except it wasn't fire. The beast lifted its front legs to its face, opened it's mouth, and spewed out the most revolting shade of gray you have ever seen.
As the repugnant projectile flew toward him, Hiccup made up his mind. Nothing that shade of gray should come within two yards of him, and that moving his lazy backside would be the only way of avoiding a collision with the ball of goo.
Toothless dodged gracefully out of the way of the gross gray dart, but only a moment later had to dodge back to avoid another one, as a third one flew in at him Hiccup had to break off his maneuver to avoid getting shot.
The beast turned to the closer target, the Zippleback, but as soon as the dragon turned toward them, Tuffnut and Ruffnut both panicked and rammed both of the heads of their dragon together.
As the unconscious Zippleback fluttered toward the ground, Astrid moved in quickly to defend the twins untill they could get away. She got between the dragon and the twins and fired her spikes, enraging the dragon. As the dragon flew closer Astrid pulled out her axe and threw it, hitting the beast in the corner of the left eye.
It returned fire, spewing up a gray glob directed at Astrid. Since she was so close, Astrid tried to dodge out of its path, but it was too late. The sickening shot hit her square in the chest, splattering all over the ground below her.
"Astrid!" Hiccup felt himself yell as he saw her start to tumble off the back of her dragon, but then he sighed in relief as she regained her balance.
"Let's get this thing out of here." Hiccup said to Toothless as they rushed in closer.
"Fire! Now!" he heard Astrid yell as he dove in toward the dragon. He fired repeatedly, scoring hits on its legs, midsection, and right wing.
The creature fluttered its way down to the ground limping off into the forest, but not before giving Hiccup a menacing glare that needed no explanation. This thing would be back.
"Well, whatever that thing was, it's gone now." Hiccup said quietly. "You alright Astri..." Suddenly noticing that she wasn't with him. Then he looked down and saw Stormfly, sitting there in the pasture, alone.
Then he saw her, running like a scared rabbit toward a hole in the mountain, leaving a trail of the gray goo behind her. When she glanced over her shoulder, Hiccup could see a terrified look in her eyes, a look he had never seen there before.
Flying down and landing in front of the cave Hiccup commanded, "Stay out here bud, it would be best if I handled this alone." and took a torch out the saddle bags. "Would you mind?"
As Hiccup clambered down into the dark hole, he began to wonder what had scared her so much, so much that she ran. He had never seen her run from anything, at least not because she was scared of it. She had run away from lots of fights that weren't necessary, and also from fights she couldn't win, but the creature was gone, it wasn't a threat now.
"Stay away from me!" he heard her say, a sharp tone of panic in her voice. "I'll kill you!"
"Astrid, it's me." Hiccup said, he could just barely make out her figure in the dark.
"I don't care who you are! If you come any closer I'll kill you!" She almost sobbed as Hiccup came close enough to see her in the torchlight.
She was cowering in the very back corner of the cave in her goo soaked clothes, clutching the short sword she had bought earlier that day with both of her white-knuckled hands. She was staring at him, her eyes glazed over with fear, and she was shivering uncontrollably.
"Astrid, give me the sword. I want to help you..." He said as he made eye-contact with her.
As he looked into her eyes, he saw the fog of fear begin to lift. She dropped the sword and stumbled into his shoulder, crying.
"How..wha..what happened? Why..why do I feel so scared?" She sobbed into his shoulder.
"I don't know... Maybe that goo had something to do with it, but for now let's get you home." Hiccup said, trying to comfort her.
"Hiccup... Thanks." She said regaining her composure.
He smiled at her and said. "I would never leave a friend behind."