Toothless roared through the night sky, his body barely visible underneath the stars, as he flew above the forests that grew inland. Hiccup was the only thing Astrid could see really, trying to spot a night fury at night was next to impossible. She led Stormfly down closer to their level of flying. The rest of the gang had joined the two in the skies not too long ago. They were all asking the same question.
"So, what exactly are we searching for?" Astrid asked him. She thought he was looking for something, or rather someone, due to his continuous observations on the ground below.
"I'm looking for trolls." To his reply, the rest of the guys just sighed and started to complain. Astrid remained quiet.
""Trolls; really?!" said Snotlout. "That's what you dragged me out here to do is look for a something that doesn't even exist?!"
"They do exist! Gobber even saw one!" Hiccup defended himself.
"Yeah, Hiccup, but that's Gobber, and he's…well…" Fishlegs tried to finish, but couldn't find a word to state it politely. Tuffnut on the other hand,
"…Crazy, insane, out of his mind?"
"Those are all the same!" his twin sister, Ruffnut.
"They are?!"
"You guys said the same thing back with the bonenapper." Hiccup retorted.
"Hey, you didn't believe him either!" Snotlout argued with him.
"Yeah, but I at least helped him out; and besides, I believe him this time. I believe trolls exist and I'm going to find one and prove to you all that we were right."
"Astrid can you believe this guy, ha, aren't you glad you like me more." Snotlout tried to woo her. In return she pretended to gag.
"Look, I believe Hiccup." This caught everyone's attention, even Hiccups'.
"Well, he's been right about a lot of things. What would people say when they find out that we found an unknown, mostly unknown, species? I mean think about it, Hiccup and Gobber are the only ones to believe they exist, what would people say if they found out they were right, and we trusted them and helped?"
"She's got a point there." Fishlegs stated.
"I'd be famous! Girls would LOVE me! Not that they don't love me already." Snotlout retorted, kissing his muscles. Astrid actually gagged this time and Ruffnut made a disgusted face.
"So are you in?" Hiccup asked one last time.
"Yes!" they all replied in unison. Hiccup smiled at Astrid and silently thanked her. She smiled back.
oOo
They all landed near the cove in a clearing, dismounting their dragons and following Hiccup. Toothless tried to follow, but Hiccup stopped him and told him to stay put. Toothless cooed, and listened.
"Uh, why are we leaving our dragons, the one thing that'll protect us?" Fishlegs started to worry.
"We won't find any if we have giant lizards following us and making noise." Hiccup replied.
"Okay then, well what about weapons, shouldn't we need them? I heard a troll can tear you limb from limb with little to no effort." Fishlegs began to worry more.
"I've got a weapon." Ruffnut said grabbing one of Tuffnut's horns on his helmet and pulling him over. He screamed in response, "I even got food if it's hungry." She said pointing to her brother.
"I don't need a hammer! I can just use my bare fists! Or better yet, my FACE!" Snotlout bragged.
"That'll definitely kill it." Astrid retorted.
"If we have weapons, it might see us as a threat and harm us. We just want to find them not battle." Hiccup stated calmly, beginning his journey in the pitch black forests.
"Great idea Hiccup." Astrid complemented with a smile and followed her close friend; the rest following too.
"I was thinking the same thing, but didn't say anything because, you know, I thought it was common sense." Snotlout lied.
oOo
"URG, we've been hiking for 2 hours!" Snotlout complained.
"You know, you can rest." Astrid said gaining a satisfied sigh from Snotlout as he sat down on a rock. "That doesn't mean we'll stop for ya." Snotlout started to freak as the torch light Astrid was holding started to walk away from him, leaving him in the dark. He shot up and rushed over to the group, bumping into Tuffnut. Hiccup stopped walking and sighed.
"We're never gonna find any if we can't even see ten feet in front of us." Hiccup said.
"Then why did we come at night?" Ruffnut asked him.
"Because that's when they come out. Or at least that's what Gobber said." While they were discussing their predicament, Tuffnut started to sniff the air.
"Ew, what's that smell, is it you?" he asked turning towards his sister and backing away. The others stopped and smelled around too.
"[Gagging] Ew, Fishlegs?!" Snotlout accused.
"It isn't me!"
Hiccup started to get an idea and moved toward the bush, following his sense of smell. He bent down to the ground and moved the leaves out of the way. His eyes widened and he quietly called over his friends, who followed his example.
"Oh my Thor, you were right!" Astrid whispered with amazement.
"You know I never doubted him." Snotlout lied again.
"So that's where the smell's coming from." Ruffnut said.
"[Gagging] those guys need to take a bath." Tuffnut retorted waving the air around his nose away.
Three white colored trolls stood gathered around a berry bush, two gathering the berries and the other eating them.
"I thought they only ate meat." Fishlegs questioned.
"It appears they eat fruits too. Come on, let's go back and tell the others."
"We're going to be famous!" Snotlout cheered. They ran back to their dragons, mounted and flew off.
"Hiccup, I can't believe you were right! My belly if full of butterflies from all of this excitement!" Fishlegs stated, bouncing up and down on Meatlug. It was throwing the Gronkle off balance a little.
"You know I was looking forward to seeing someone get their limbs torn off." Tuffnut said sadly.
"I know me too." Ruffnut agreed with her brother.
"Well I for one was excited. And they didn't even attack us." Astrid said looking over at Hiccup.
"Well I knew they wouldn't if we kept hidden from view and came upon them unarmed." Hiccup informed his friends.
"What about Gobber?" Astrid asked.
"Yeah, he didn't have a weapon, right?" Snotlout joined in.
"I don't know, maybe he had his hook with him or…." Hiccup was cut short as Toothless struggled against gravity.
"Toothless, what's wrong?" Hiccup asked the night fury.
"Hiccup, your tail!" Fishlegs warned. Hiccup's eyes widened and he glanced back.
It's freezing over… The two started to scream as they plummeted down to the ground several hundred feet below.
"Hiccup!" Astrid yelled.
Hiccup tried to move his left foot, but the tail wouldn't budge. Toothless started to spin around, trying to gain back control. They eventually crashed into a tree, breaking the tip over as they hurtled down over a pile of wood and leaves. They slid to a stop several feet away. Toothless tried to get up, but the wires traveling from Hiccup's foot rest to his tail was tangled in the branches that collected around them. Hiccup lay in the snow, face first beside Toothless. He lifted his head up and stood up dizzy. Toothless suddenly growled and the next thing Hiccup knew was that he was being picked up and tossed down the hill. He screamed again and landed on his left shoulder, causing it to crack and dislocate. A roar shouted from his previous spot.
A white troll, howled into the night as it through the boy down the hill, running after him. It ignored the night fury's growls and threatening roars. It was only after one thing.
Toothless struggled madly as he watched the beast go after Hiccup. Shaking and pulling away from the tree's branches that kept him in that spot. He let out another roar.
Hiccup clutched his shoulder, and curled up into a ball. The throbbing pain traveled up his arm and spread throughout his chest. He opened his eyes to see the beast making a quick run for him and in a short time too. He screamed and dodged the foot that was meant to squash his face. Upon getting up though, the beast hit Hiccup across the chest, causing the skin to tear badly and bleed out. He fell back down into the snow, unconscious. The beast picked up a boulder and was preparing to mash it down on to the boy, but staggered and dropped the rock. Toothless, who finally got free, shot another bolt at its back. He did this three more times before tackling it to the ground. It roared and ran away, as Toothless covered Hiccup's body with his own. The beast's roars continued as it ventured further into the dark forest.
Toothless breathed deeply, his teeth still showing as he eyed the forests. He dropped his offense and brought his attention to Hiccup's still form. He cooed, budging the boy, but he remained still. His chest was bleeding rather rapidly and his left arm was positioned unnaturally.
"Hiccup!" Astrid yelled from above and landed her Nadder beside Toothless. She jumped off and kneeled down to his body.
"Is he dead?!" Snotlout proclaimed loudly, worry evident in his voice.
"No, help me." Astrid stated and Snotlout jumped off of Hookfang to help lift Hiccup off the ground.
"How is Toothless going to get home?" Fishlegs asked. Astrid sighed and looked around thinking.
"Uh, I'll ride him, Snotlout can you carry Hiccup on Hookfang?" Snotlout replied with a nod. Astrid hopped onto Toothless who cooed at Hiccup. Astrid padded his head,
"Its okay, come on. Stormfly follow." And they flew back to the tribe.