Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the slightly changed plotline.
Note: Stole some stuff from HTTYD2 and GOTNF :)
The Gronkle buzzed around the arena, which was filled with short, rectangular wooden walls. A crowd surrounded the ring, cheering. Ducked behind one was Astrid, huddled up with an axe that appeared too heavy for her and a shield. Hiccup suddenly hopped behind the same wall, carrying his usual axe, with a helmet on his head. He did a double-take when he saw her, before his eyes narrowed.
He shoved her shield out of his way, pushing his face close to hers, "Stay out of my way. I'm winning this thing."
"Please, by all means..." Astrid mumbled as he rolled to hide behind another wall.
Hiccup glanced up, catching sight of his father watching eagerly. Stoick gave a thumbs up, and Hiccup gave a hesitant smile. Hiccup had decided during his night flight with Toothless that he would win and, instead of fighting the Monstrous Nightmare, he would show people the true nature of the dragons, as well as keep Astrid from getting maimed. Hopefully, by then, he would have enough of his father's respect for the man to actually listen.
Astrid lifted herself up a little, catching sight of her parents in the crowd. They waved at her happily, and she hesitantly waved back, not noticing the Gronkle turn its attention on her.
Hiccup ducked behind another wall, speaking to himself determinedly. "This time. This time for sure." He leaped up from the wall, his axe raised, a battle cry escaping him as he ran toward the Gronkle. He stopped, the war cry dying on his lips when he caught sight of Astrid huddled in on herself, the Gronkle laid out on its side.
Astrid looked toward him, her eyes wide, and she shrugged helplessly when she caught his eye.
"ARGH!" Hiccup shouted in a rage, throwing his helmet to the ground, swinging his axe around in his anger, "SON OF A HALF-TROLL RAT EATING MUNGE BUCKET!"
Astrid glanced around awkwardly. "So, later," She muttered, trying to escape, but Gobber grabbed her by the back of her wrappings.
"Whup, not so fast," He said.
"Um, I'm kind of late for-"
"What?" Hiccup growled, shoving his axe against her neck, "Late for what? Exactly?"
"Heh..." Astrid choked out, giving him a nervous look. She knew not to test his temper, especially when it was about something important to him. She knew what he was feeling; he wanted to use this moment to prove himself to his father, and she took it away from him. But it really was an accident; she didn't notice the Gronkle until it was too late, and she reacted on instinct, scratching the dead spot below its chin.
"Quiet down!" Stoick boomed over the crowd, leading Elder Gothi in front of him, "The Elder has chosen!"
Gobber pushed Astrid and Hiccup side-by-side in a line, standing behind them. He held his artificial hand, a hook today, above Hiccup's head.
Elder Gothi sadly shook her head.
Gobber gave her an odd look, using his true hand to point to Astrid. Elder Gothi smiled, nodding her head, and Astrid squeezed her eyes shut for a brief moment. She opened them, glancing over at Hiccup, catching the dark look he sent her and winced. She knew he wasn't truly angry with her, just frustrated; it really has to sting when your own great-grandmother chooses the village klutz over you.
Hiccup glanced up, catching his father's eyes; Stoick's arms her crossed as he looked down at Hiccup, his eyes disappointed.
Astrid winced when she saw the dark look in Hiccup's eyes fade to one of sadness and resignation, lowering them to the ground, his father's disappointed stare getting to him. Astrid cringed when Gobber wrapped his hook hand around her shoulders, cheering her on, the other recruits surrounding her excitedly.
"Astrid, you've done it! You get to kill the dragon!"
Fishlegs hoisted her onto his shoulders, the twins and Snotlout waving their arms at her for high-fives. Astrid unenthusiastically waved a fist in the air.
"Great... I am so-"
"Leaving," Astrid muttered, carrying her basket of supplies into the cove, glancing around as she tried to find Stormfly, "We're leaving. Let's go, girl. You and I are taking a little vacation. Forever."
She sat down her basket of supplies next to a large rock, opening the top to check the few contents inside, sighing.
SHINK!
Astrid glanced up at the sound of rock scraping against metal, nearly jumping out of her skin at the sight of Hiccup sitting cross-legged on the rock in front of her, sharpening his axe with a rock.
"Agh! What the- Hiccup..." Astrid stuttered nervously, "What're, what're you doing here?"
Hiccup simply tossed the stone aside, checking his axe before planting the hilt against the rock. "I wanna know what's going on." He hopped off the rock, advancing on Astrid, holding out his axe beside him, tossing it from one hand to the other. "No one just gets as good as you do. Especially you. Start talking."
Astrid backed up a little, twisting around as he followed her every movement, "I, uh-"
"Are you training with someone? It better not involve this." He grabbed the rope tied in circlets to the side of her belt, pulling her a little closer to him.
"I, uh, I know this looks bad, but I-"
Somewhere behind her, she heard Stormfly snort. Hiccup heard it too, using the rope to toss her to the ground with a surprised shout, his eyes narrowed into the distance as he stepped over her. Astrid quickly scrambled to her feet, running in front of him.
She planted her hands on his chest, attempting to stay in front of him, rambling. "Alright, I'm through with the lies, I've been... bungee jumping! Yeah, that's what this rope is for! So there, now you know! Drag me back, take me home, it's time everyone knew-"
Hiccup grabbed one of her hands, twisting it backwards, making her fall to the ground with an, "Ow!" She sat up, holding her hand, "Why would you do that?"
Hiccup kicked at her feet as she tried to sit up more, sending her to the ground on her back with another, "Ow!"
"That's for the lies," He said before letting his axe drop, and the hilt bounced off of her stomach with a final "ow!" before Hiccup caught it in mid-air. "And That's for everything else."
Suddenly, there was a growl, and Hiccup clutched his axe tighter, glancing up. He gasped at the sight of Stormfly's angry eyes, tackling Astrid to the ground, "Get down!"
Stormfly growled again, charging. Hiccup rolled onto his feet, readying his axe as Stormfly got nearer.
"No!" Astrid shouted, tackling Hiccup to the ground before he could swing, the axe skidding across the ground. She scrambled to her feet, stepping between him and Stormfly.
"It's okay," Astrid said quietly, "He's a friend." She turned back to face Hiccup as he stood, Stormfly nudging her back as she growled. "You just scared her."
"I scared her?" Hiccup exclaimed incredulously before narrowing his eyes at her, speaking quietly, "Who is her?"
Astrid smiled nervously, "Hiccup, Stormfly. Stormfly, Hiccup."
Stormfly growled again.
Hiccup just stared at her for a moment in disbelief, and Astrid could've sworn she saw a look of realization dawn on his face before he suddenly twisted around, snatching his axe off the ground before sprinting off.
"Oh, we are so dead," Astrid mumbled, watching him run. She turned to Stormfly, watching as the Nadder snorted and waddled off, and she threw her hands up in exasperation.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Hiccup huffed as he walked through the forest; he had stopped running a long time ago. He knew he had probably freaked Astrid out, just taking off like that, but he needed to think. He hoped the dragon wasn't too upset with him for the axe thing; he wasn't going to cut her, just bat her aside with the flat portion of the axe in hopes that he could daze her for a minute before trying to calm her down, but he supposed that Astrid and the Nadder wouldn't really have a way of knowing that. He was a little irritated he didn't notice anything; he should've figured she had a dragon too.
Astrid had a dragon. Unbelievable.
Though, it's probably no stranger than him calling a Night Fury his best friend.
All those things she did in the ring were learned from her Nadder... Stormfly. Hiccup wondered if any of those tricks would work on Toothless. He had been so determined to get Toothless into the air again that he didn't bother to test anything out with him; he had only played around and practiced flying.
He wondered how good Astrid was at flying with Stormfly.
He tried to hop over a log, but he suddenly felt a weight on his shoulders, and he let out a startled shout when he was lifted into the air, his shoulders clutched in Stormfly's grasp.
"Oh, Great Odin's ghost!" He shouted, scratching at Stormfly's claws, seeing the ground was miles under his feet. He kept shouting as they climbed into the air; he was much more comfortable on his dragon's saddle and not in some strange dragon's claws, thank you very much. They didn't stop until they reached the tallest tree they could find, and Stormfly suddenly dropped Hiccup, who let out a startled shout. He grabbed onto a branch instinctively, and Stormfly settled herself on the top of the tree comfortably.
"Astrid!" Hiccup shouted, scraping the sole of his foot against the branch as he tried to climb up, but his foot slipped, making him swing dangerously, "Get me down from here!"
"Not until you give me a chance to explain." Astrid said pleadingly, holding out her hands.
He narrowed his eyes at her in annoyance, his face flattening out a little. "You don't need to explain anything. I get it."
Astrid faltered, her eyes widening in confusion. "Um... what...?"
Hiccup sighed irritably. "What exactly do you think you need to explain?"
"Um... the fact that I'm... fraternizing with the enemy...?"
"Yeah, well, you're not the only one."
Astrid blinked. "I'm not?"
Hiccup released another irritated sigh. "Just get me down from here and I'll show you, alright?"
"Um... Okay..."
Hiccup stared at her for a moment before grunting and pulling himself up. He blew air out of his face and held up a hand toward the rope around Stormfly. He shot a look at her when she growled before grabbing the rope to pull himself up to where she sat. He took one look at Astrid's outstretched hand before knocking it away and hopping onto the dragon behind her.
Astrid looked over her shoulder, and Hiccup gave her a look.
"Okay. Now get me down."
Astrid turned her attention to Stormfly, tightening her grasp on the rope tied around the dragon for support. "Okay, Stormfly, follow Hiccup's, um... directions, I guess. But, go slow. Remember, this is my first time flying."
Hiccup blinked. "This is the first time you've flown her?"
Astrid glanced back at him, her brows furrowed in confusion. "Um... yes, why?"
Hiccup let a smirk grace his lips. "Well... you should probably hang on."
Astrid blinked again, and Hiccup kept his smirk on his face as he gave Stormfly a little pat. She squawked at him, her nostrils flaring, and Hiccup assumed she smelled Toothless on him. "What do you say, Stormfly? How's about we make Astrid's first flight spectacular?"
Stormfly squawked again, and Hiccup saw her yellow eyes glint mischievously, making his smirk widen. He glanced at Astrid, watching her dart her eyes between them in confusion, both her brows raised in surprise at his behavior.
Oh, this was going to be fun.
Astrid didn't know what that glint in Hiccup's eyes was, but she knew she didn't like it. She glanced down at Stormfly, pursing her lips when she saw the same glint in the Nadder's eyes.
And then Stormfly took off.
Astrid screamed as they violently climbed into the sky; she didn't even know the Nadder could go this fast and rough. Hiccup was bumping backward behind her, screaming and laughing in elation, and Astrid was afraid he was going to fall off if Stormfly didn't slow down.
"Stormfly, what're you doing!?"
Stormfly slowly righted herself, hovering in the sky, and Hiccup quickly scrambled up, wrapping his arms around Astrid's waist, clutching on tightly, and Astrid knew he was grinning, hearing a few puffs of laughter escape him. She leaned forward a little, clutching the rope around Stormfly for dear life, hearing Hiccup snicker behind her.
Hiccup began whooping and cheering, while Astrid screamed in fear when Stormfly speedily descended, twisting, rolling, and spinning. She even splashed into the water for a brief moment.
"Stormflyyyyyy!"
Stormfly ignored her, climbing the sky rapidly before she suddenly let herself fall backward. "And now the spinning," Hiccup smirked, and Astrid screamed again when Stormfly began a spinning decent; she couldn't even tell where the sky was anymore.
"Okay! Okay! Stormfly, I get it! Please stop!" Astrid shouted fearfully, squeezing her eyes shut, bracing herself for the impact of the waves, and Hiccup frowned, while Stormfly let out an apologetic warble when they noticed a single tear slip off her face and into the air.
Astrid let out a shout when a sudden jolt brought her upright. She kept her body pressed close to Stormfly's and her eyes closed, tightly grasping the ropes, and she could still feel Hiccup's hand on her waist. She could feel that they had stopped spinning, and that they were now gliding peacefully, but she was determined to keep her eyes closed until they landed.
Her curiosity peaked, however, when she didn't hear Hiccup give a single direction, and she slowly opened her eyes, gasping at the sight that greeted her.
They were high in the air, and she couldn't see anything below her but the white clouds. She wanted to panic, but then she looked at her surroundings, glancing at Hiccup's satisfied grin for a brief moment before she returned her attention to the sky. They were flying gently among the fluffy clouds, and they seemed to sparkle in the light of the setting sun. The clouds and the sky were colored in thousands of hues, from pinks to oranges to reds to yellows, and even a few purples.
Astrid slowly sat up, not even noticing her own movements as she was dazzled by the scene before her. It was like she entered a new world... the world the dragons lived in. They soared high into the sky, the wind blowing across her hair, her heart beat calming as she enjoyed the new feelings surrounding her.
Her head skimmed some clouds, and she looked up at the dancing fluff. She unlatched one hand from Stormfly's ropes, quickly bringing her other hand behind her to tightly grasp Hiccup's arm as she sat up as far as she could, reaching up. Her arm passed through the cloud, and she pulled it back, staring at it with furrowed brows when she felt moisture.
"It's water," She said in wonder, reaching her hand up again, hearing Hiccup chuckle a little behind her. She let out a laugh of sheer delight, reaching both hands up into the clouds, and she felt Hiccup move his grip on her up a little, as well as tighten it so she wouldn't fall off. He glanced up at her, giving a small smile, and she smiled back before turning her attention back to the sky.
Stormfly began to arc, and Astrid scrambled, throwing her hands back to grab Hiccup's wrists, and she quickly looked down at Stormfly's wings, watching them beat, trying to hide her blush from him when she saw him grin a little. She felt Stormfly suddenly turn, and she could no longer tell which way was up or down, the clouds everywhere, and she began to giggle at the silliness and elation of the whole thing, and she could hear Hiccup beginning to chuckle along with her.
They flew around for another half hour before Hiccup began giving them directions. He led them deep into the woods, and Stormfly gently landed when they came upon a large ravine.
Hiccup immediately hopped off of Stormfly, sprinting toward the ravine, disappearing down the hill. Astrid hopped down as well, and she made a move to follow, but stopped short when she heard a draconian purr resound through the air.
Her eyes widened in awe when Hiccup and a medium sized black dragon with a saddle and large eyes came bounding up the hill. Stormfly let out a cheerful squawk next to her, and the black dragon crooned happily, letting its tongue loll out as it and Stormfly quickly ran towards each other.
Hiccup watched the dragons interact with a small grin, Astrid with awe. The two dragons hopped around each other, bobbing their heads dramatically, letting out warbles and croons and chirps and squawks.
"Hiccup," Astrid breathed, looking at him with wide eyes, "That's a Night Fury."
"Yeah," Hiccup's grin expanded, "Yeah, that's Toothless."
"Toothless...?"
She jumped back with a surprised shout when Toothless suddenly jumped in front of her, shoving his face right into hers. He stared at her with wide, docile eyes, his tongue still hanging out, purring happily.
Hesitantly, Astrid rested a hand on his head, and he warbled, nuzzling into the touch with closed eyes, smiling happily. Astrid laughed a little before it suddenly cut short in surprise.
Toothless... was toothless.
"Night Furies really don't have teeth?" Astrid asked as she scratched Toothless behind one of his ear plates, and he arched into the tongue, purring lazily.
Hiccup smirked. "Toothless." The dragon turned his attention to him, and Hiccup made a small gesture with his hand. Toothless backed up a little, opening his mouth, and Astrid started a little when teeth suddenly jutted out from his gums. She watched in fascination when they retracted, and she had to resist the urge to ask him to do it again.
"I suppose it could be an ironic name..." Hiccup muttered as Toothless turned his attention back to Stormfly, the two chasing each other in circles in what appeared to be a game of tag.
"How'd you find him?" Astrid asked.
"He was sleeping in the forest. He woke up, pinned me down, screamed in my face, and ran off."
"He screamed in your face?" Astrid furrowed her brows.
"Yup," Hiccup said flippantly, "My ears were ringing for the rest of the week."
Astrid snorted a little before looking at the dragons, watching them play, her face slackening a little in awe once more. "So... all this time you had a dragon, too."
"Mmm."
Astrid furrowed her brows when she finally noticed Toothless' tail fins. One was off; it looked more like brown leather than black scales.
"What's wrong with his tail fin?"
"I don't really know," Hiccup furrowed his brows as well, "I think he got into a fight. When I first found him, his left tail fin was tattered up, like something took a bite out of it. I had to sneak some sleep medicine into his food so I could get rid of it. Then, I made him a new tail fin."
"You made... a prosthetic tail fin?"
Geez, she knew he was a great inventor, but that's a little too much. He noticed her tone, giving her a self-satisfied smirk, and she rolled her eyes a little, though the gesture was playful.
The two stood in a comfortable silence, watching Toothless and Stormfly bat at each other playfully, and Astrid shook her head in disbelief. "A Night Fury..."
Hiccup smirked, "Yeah. See, I got the cool one."
Astrid let her head fall back with a small laugh, rolling her eyes again, and Hiccup joined her in laughter. Soon, they were unable to control their laughs, unable to handle the absurdity of the entire situation. Toothless and Stormfly stopped short, glancing at their respective riders, squawking and warbling in confusion as they watched the two lose their breaths.
Toothless stepped forward a little as the laughter began to calm, crouching, and, when they were reduced to quiet chuckling, he pounced, hopping over Hiccup. The boy let out a laugh as he fell onto his back, one of Toothless' claw pushing gently on his chest, and Astrid backed up a little with a grin so she didn't get caught in the crossfire.
"Oh, no, he's pinned!" Hiccup grinned, speaking in a mock voice, as if he were narrating a fight. "Oh, and it's ugly!" He held up his hands in defense while trying to push away Toothless' lightly batting claw, and Stormfly and Astrid shared a look as they watched the two. "Dragons and Vikings, mortal enemies for eternity! Locked in combat till the bitter-Ohhhhh!" Hiccup let his voice trail off dramatically when Toothless let himself drop flat on his stomach, his head falling onto Hiccup's chest.
Toothless suddenly flicked his tongue out, catching the underside of Hiccup's chin, and the boy glanced down at him just in time for the giant tongue to catch him from chest to head. "Arghhh!" He let out a frustrated shout, trying to defend himself against the pink menace and failing miserably. Toothless let him kick his feet up, using the momentum to roll away before he hopped to his feet.
Astrid watched in amusement as he flicked away piles of spit, looking down at his soaked clothes in annoyance. "Really?" He yelled, flicking away the drool, and Toothless let out what was obviously a laugh.
Hiccup suddenly flicked his hands forward, smirking when the drool caught Toothless right on the eye, and the dragon snorted, giving him 'the look'. Hiccup simply shrugged, "Hey, if you can't handle it, don't dish it out."
Toothless snorted again, shaking his head in annoyance before he began licking his arm and running it over his eyes in a manner eerily similar to a cat.
Astrid smiled a little, but her face fell when Stormfly began nuzzling her. So, she and Hiccup both had a secret, and she wasn't sure what they were going to do about it. They can't tell anybody, or they may kill Toothless and Stormfly, and she was afraid for tomorrow, when she would have to kill the Monstrous Nightmare in front of the whole village.
"Hiccup..." She whispered, and he turned his attention to her, still flicking off some excess spit, "What're we gonna do...?"
Hiccup stared at her for a moment, and Astrid wanted to look away from his intense eyes, but managed to keep his stare. Their gazes stayed locked for a long moment before Hiccup suddenly let a grin emerge onto his face.
"You wanna go flying?"
Astrid laughed in elation as Stormfly sped across the ocean, the light from the setting sun making the water sparkle brightly. She looked to the left, and Hiccup grinned at her from his seat on Toothless.
Astrid's eyes widened when she caught sight of a small school of Thunderdrums swimming through the ocean ahead of her, using their wings to bounce through the waters. She grinned as she watched Hiccup quickly press down on Toothless' pedal. The prosthetic flared downward, and Toothless quickly flipped around, zooming right under the wing of a Thunderdrum as it bounced out of the waters for a brief moment.
Stormfly squawked, quickly flapping her wings to catch up with Toothless as the black dragon began climbing toward the clouds. Hiccup looked back at her, grinning, and he shouted down at her, "What's wrong, Astrid? Can't keep up?"
Astrid grinned back, patting Stormfly, who squawked and immediately picked up her speed, soaring right next to Toothless. Toothless let out a happy bark at Stormfly, who returned the noise before the Night Fury zoomed ahead, twisting backwards in the air as he speedily dived downward before spreading his wings to catch himself, roaring as he began soaring upward, twirling speedily, and Astrid wondered how Hiccup wasn't getting dizzy.
Toothless suddenly dropped backward, letting himself fall before he spread his wings, catching himself just as he reached Stormfly's side, and Astrid gave Hiccup a smile when she saw him grinning in elation.
"This is amaaaziiing!" He shouted, and Astrid grinned elatedly in agreement as Toothless and Stormfly simultaneously pressed upward, climbing higher through the clouds.
Astrid was having the time of her life. Now she knew why Hiccup wanted to fly so badly; it was amazing. To be able to see everything, to be able to touch the clouds, to be able to soar side by side with the dragons. It made it easy to forget all her worries and just enjoy her time with her dragon and Hiccup.
Astrid's face slackened in amazement when they emerged from the clouds, catching sight of a small flock of Timberjacks hovering above them, the orange glow of the setting sun making their scales shine.
Hiccup gave her a grin at her amazement, and she returned it with an elated laugh. He glanced down at Toothless, patting him a little to get his attention. "Okay, bud, you wanna give Astrid a heart attack?"
Toothless let out a quiet warble of laughter, and Hiccup unhooked his harness from the saddle. He hopped up, his feet landing on the saddle, and Astrid glanced over with widened eyes when she saw him.
"Hiccup, what're you-"
She was cut off by his elated shout when he suddenly jumped up, using the air to fall backward in an almost-flip. He and Toothless immediately laid their arms (and wings) flat against their sides, diving from the sky.
"Hiccup!" Astrid shouted, and Stormfly squawked, diving after them. She and Stormfly kept pace beside Toothless, who crooned at her happily. Hiccup looked up at them, and Toothless let out another croon before tapping Hiccup with his claw, causing the boy to slowly spin around in the air, and Astrid's worries were forgotten as she began laughing along with him.
Toothless suddenly spun around, letting his back face Hiccup, who easily grabbed the saddle and hooked his harness into place before pressing down on the stirrup pedal, flaring the tail fin out.
Hiccup and Astrid laughed as Stormfly and Toothless flared out their wings, beating them in one powerful motion before they climbed upward, disappearing into the clouds.
Hiccup and Toothless, and Astrid and Stormfly burst from the clouds, using the moon as a source of light. They had been flying for hours now, using their time to be free of all their problems. They were now gliding peacefully instead of trying out a bunch of tricks (though, that was Hiccup's turf, not Astrid's; she was still new to flying, after all).
Astrid smiled in delight, never having seen the moon so close before. Thousands of light twinkled in the night sky, and the clouds around them were sparkling in shades of green and blue and purple. Astrid gasped when she saw hundreds of hues of light glide past them; she's heard stories of the Aurvindale's Fire, but she's never seen it before, and she never imagined it would be this beautiful.
Hiccup smiled at her from his place beside her on Toothless, and they all looked ahead at the sight of familiar rock formations surrounding a small island. Astrid gazed at Berk, seeing it from a dragon's point of view. It was so different than what she was used to; she never knew how beautiful Berk looked at night, seeing the glows of fires around the village homes through some of the open windows.
Astrid glanced over at Hiccup as Toothless and Stormfly began turning, heading back toward Raven Point to get to the cove. The cool night air washed over her peacefully, and Astrid finally found her words.
"This... is amazing," She smiled, "The is the best secret I've ever had."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
Hiccup's warm eyes caught hers, and Astrid felt her insides roll up... in a good way, that is. He gave a lopsided half-smile, half-smirk thing, and Astrid smiled back at him, their eyes not breaking contact.
This was so romantic. And peaceful.
But, Stormfly and Toothless suddenly jerked, and Astrid let out a startled shout, tightening her grip on the ropes when she was nearly thrown off, the two dragons diving into a cloud of fog. Astrid glanced over at Toothless, finding him behaving oddly as well, his ear plates standing erect, flying just as erratically as Stormfly.
"Toothless," Hiccup murmured, "What's wrong?"
Hiccup and Astrid let out a small shout when a Snafflefang suddenly plunged through the clouds, missing them by mere inches.
"Get down!" Hiccup hissed, lying as flat as he could over Toothless' back, and Astrid copied his movements over Stormfly. The Snafflefang nearly collided with a Grapple Grounder as it emerged from the clouds. They growled at each other in annoyance before continuing their flight, and Astrid finally noticed that they were each holding a sheep in their claws. More and more dragons began to appear from the mist, from Hobblegrunts to Hotburples to Raincutters, Zipplebacks, Gronkles, Nightmares, and Nadders, each carrying something in their claws and, eventually, Astrid and Hiccup were surrounded.
"What's going on?" Astrid whispered as they glanced around.
"It looks like they're hauling in their kill," Hiccup answered.
Suddenly, all of the dragons, including Toothless and Stormfly, dove deeper into the clouds, flying around different rock formations hidden by the mist. They suddenly came across a large volcano, and all the dragons entered through a large hole. Astrid and Hiccup let out a sharp cry when Toothless and Stormfly entered, diving down into a spot that was illuminated orange by the lava.
Hiccup looked around, "What my dad wouldn't give to find this..."
All the dragons dropped their kills into the mist covered hole beneath them as they flew by before picking a spot to settle into. Stormfly and Toothless flew around, finding a spot in the back to hide. Astrid and Hiccup peeked around the corner, trying to catch a glimpse.
"It's satisfying to know all our food has been dumped down a hole," Hiccup muttered, his eyes narrowed in annoyance.
"They're not eating any of it..." Astrid muttered in confusion, and they glanced over at the sight of a tired looking Gronkle buzzing over the hole. It spit out a pathetic looking fish before attempting to buzz off, but a rumbling noise made it freeze.
And, suddenly, the biggest, ugliest, most evil thing Hiccup or Astrid has ever seen erupted from the mist, closing its jaws around the unfortunate Gronkle.
Astrid and Hiccup let out a small noise, their eyes widening, and Stormfly, along with all the other dragons, let out a whimper, huddling as far away from the creature as they could, while Toothless narrowed his eyes, a quiet rumble escaping him.
"What is that?" Astrid whispered.
"Toothless, we need to go," Hiccup whispered urgently when the mountainous dragon paused, its enormous nostrils flaring before its eyes suddenly snapped to them.
"Stormfly, Toothless, you need to get us out of here! Now!" Hiccup shouted, and Toothless and Stormfly jerked, snapping out of their trance. Toothless let Stormfly take to the air first, giving the slower dragon a better chance at escape. He took to the air just as the monster's jaws snapped toward them.
Toothless and Stormfly followed the dragons swarming away from the cave, and the behemoth snapped again, catching an unfortunate Zippleback as it flew behind Hiccup and Toothless.
Astrid breathed a sigh of relief as they all safely escaped the cave, beginning to head back toward the cove, her head reeling at what she just saw. Hiccup glanced over at her, meeting her eyes. "You okay?"
She nodded silently, rattled at the sight of that monstrous dragon.
"It makes sense," Hiccup said as Stormfly and Toothless landed in the cove, "It's like a gigantic beehive. They're the workers and that's their queen. It controls them."
He glanced at Toothless, catching the dragon's eyes, and he patted his head a little. "That's what happened to your tail fin, isn't it, bud? You found the strength to escape her control, and she snapped at you when you tried to leave."
Toothless let out a sad warble of confirmation, his ear plates lowering a little, and he lowered his gaze to the ground in resignation, and Hiccup and Astrid sent him sad, sympathetic, comforting looks.
Hiccup understood now; why the forest had been so wrecked when he first looked for Toothless. When he escaped, the queen snapped at him, taking part of his left tail fin with her, and, more than likely, he crashed around, using what was left of his tail fin to reach Berk before his strength gave out on him and he crashed into the woods. He upturned the place trying to take off before deciding to take a rest when Hiccup found him.
And when Hiccup cut away the rest of the tail fin, Toothless couldn't get into the air at all.
It made Hiccup feel incredibly guilty.
"So, what'd we do?" Astrid asked as she and Hiccup hopped off of their respective dragons, "We can't tell anybody. They'll... kill Stormfly and Toothless."
"I know. We need to think this through..." Hiccup murmured, his brows furrowed in deep thought.
"I'm gonna have to fight that Nightmare tomorrow, Hiccup, we don't really have a lot of time," Astrid said, her voice quivering, and Hiccup glanced up at her.
"Then what do you want us to do?"
"I... I don't know. Look, just... I'll think of something, okay?"
"Okay," Hiccup whispered.
Hiccup suddenly pulled back his arm, punching Astrid hard on the arm, right below the shoulder, and Astrid gasp in both pain and surprise, instinctively clutching the now aching spot. "That was for trying to kidnap me," He muttered irritantly.
She rubbed her arm, giving him an irritated look, about to say something. Before she could however, he placed a hand on her shoulder as well as he could over her armor pad, pulling closer, ghosting his lips over her cheek for a brief moment before pulling away. She gave him a surprise look, and he simply stared back at her blankly.
"That was for... everything else." He quickly turned to Toothless, mounting the dragon before pressing down on the stirrup pedal and taking to the air, most likely heading back toward the ravine.
Astrid watched him go, her face feeling hot, rubbing her tingling cheek; she knew her face was a glowing pink. She heard a snort, making her jump, and she glanced over at Stormfly, who cocked her head.
"What?" Astrid exclaimed.
Aw, Hiccup, you're so cute :)
I'm happy I finally got this chapter written. It's one of the reasons I've been posting so many chapters today; I was excited to get it down :)
Okay, so I hope you enjoyed my Hiccstrid chapter and, as I said before, I did steal some stuff from GOTNF and HTTYD2, so :)