Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the slightly changed plotline.
Note: Because there are so many different scenes in this chapter, some words are going to be bold in order to show the scene change. I've read through it, and it's actually easier for me to keep up with the scene changes this way, and I wish I thought of doing this for the first chapter...
Disclaimer: Inspiration for this chapter came from the fanfiction called 'The Choice', as well as some ideas given to me through PM by Midoriko-sama.
The behemoth of a dragon released another roar, walking forward, the sheer size of it causing the ground to shake and rumble. The Vikings ran as fast as they could, trying to avoid getting stomped on.
"CATAPULTS!" Stoick roared, and many Vikings ran back toward the catapults, firing boulder after boulder. They simply bounced off the beasts thick hide, and it seemed to get angrier.
It snapped its jaws, crushing the catapults in a single bite, and the launchers had to scatter to avoid debris.
"Get to the ships!" Someone yelled. "No! NO!" Stoick cried, but most of the Vikings were already running toward the armada. The dragon lowered its head, a river of fire shooting from its mouth, torching the entire fleet, cutting off any means of escape.
Those who had been on board screamed, plummeting into the sea, and the dark blue Nadder let out a whimper, jerking against its confines as the fire began to surround it.
Stoick, Gobber following close behind, walked speedily toward his awaiting men, spitting to himself, "I was a fool."
He reached Thora and Cnut, giving them orders, "Lead the men to the far side of the island!" They simultaneously gave a single nod before running off to do their job.
"Gobber," Stoick said, "Go with the men."
"I think I'll stay here," Gobber shrugged, "Just in case you're thinking of doing something crazy."
Stoick stopped in his tracks, turning to face Gobber, "I can buy them a few minutes if I give that thing something to hunt."
Gobber grabbed Stoick's hand, grinning, "Then I can double that time."
Stoick smiled, and then the two were running toward the chaos.
"Here!" Stoick shouted, running to the beast's right side.
"No, here!" Gobber yelled, running to its left. The dragon turned to Gobber, then to Stoick.
"Oi!" Gobber shouted, throwing a rock at its head, "I'm over here!"
The dragon turned to Gobber, but Stoick threw a spear at its head, causing it to jerk its attention to him. "No, eat me!"
"No!" Gobber yelled, and the confused creature turned to face him, "Eat me!"
The dragon, annoyed, shook its head and then roared, opening its mouth to stream fire at both of them, the hiss of gas resounding quite loudly.
And then something smacked against its head, and it jerked, turning its attention to where the blast came from.
"Toothless, now!" Hiccup shouted, and Toothless narrowed his eyes and opened up his mouth. A purple-blue blast flew from the Night Fury's mouth, and the Red Death roared in pain when it exploded against the back of its head before jerking its head to face its attackers.
"Ruff, Tuff, watch your backs!" Hiccup shouted as they all dodged the Red Death's mouth, arching in the air around the beast, "Move, Fishlegs!"
Below, the fleeing Vikings had frozen, gazing up to gawk at them, and Tuffnut couldn't resist the cheers that left his mouth. "Look at us! We're on dragons! We're on dragons, all of us!"
Below, Gobber stepped into place beside Stoick, watching as the riders twisted around to head back toward the giant. "Every bit the stubborn, boar-headed Viking you ever were."
Stoick could only nod.
Above, the riders began to circle around just out of reach of the Red Death's jaws - yeah, they had gotten sick of saying 'giant dragon that eats other dragons', and, with its huge, man sized teeth and large red spines, Red Death sounded pretty good. "Fishlegs, break it down!" Hiccup ordered. The others had no problem in following his orders, as he was the one to turn to for battle strategies. Astrid may have been their teacher, but Hiccup was their leader, and he immediately took over after she gave them a crash course on training dragons; after all, he was their future Chief, might as well start following his lead now.
"Okay, heavily armored skull and tail made for bashing and crushing! Steer clear of both!" Fishlegs answered, "Small eyes, large nostrils! Relies heavily on hearing and smell!"
"Okay, 'Lout, 'Legs, hang in its blind, make some noise, keep it confused! Ruff, Tuff, find out if it has a shot limit!" Hiccup smirked at the twins, "Make it mad!"
"That's my specialty!" Ruffnut grinned, but Tuffnut guffawed at her.
"Since when?" He said, "Everyone knows I'm more irritating! See?" He flipped his poor dragon's head over to hang upside down, making stupid faces and irritating noises, while his dragon head released a growl.
"Just do what I told you!" Hiccup barked, "Astrid and I will be back as soon as we can!" He and Astrid steered Stormfly and Toothless away toward the burning ships, while the others flocked to their respective spots.
"Don't worry, we got it covered!" Snotlout grinned, and he and Tuffnut let out a few cheers as they flew to their destinations, dodging its tail as it swung past them, and Snotlout and Fishlegs began banging on their shields with their hammers.
Tuffnut and Ruffnut grinned as they flew by its head.
"Troll!" He shouted.
"Butt elf!" Ruffnut added.
"Bride of Grendel!"
Ruffnut let out a few cackles at that last one, and the Bride of Grendel roared before shooting a blast of fire at them, and Ruffnut let out an elated shout as they speedily dodged.
Fishlegs slowly stopped batting at his shield, his eyes widening when the eye of the beast he was next to snapped to him, and two more beside it opened up.
"Um," He stuttered, "This thing doesn't have a blind spot!"
In the air, Stormfly followed Toothless as Hiccup had the Night Fury circle over the burning ships, he and Astrid keeping an eye out for the Nadder. Hearing a distressed squawk turned their attention to one of the middle ships, and Astrid took notice of the dark blue figure through the flames.
"There!" She shouted, and she and Hiccup immediately ducked toward it. Toothless and Stormfly dodged the flames before landing on the ship, and the dark blue Nadder squawked at the sight of them, Stormfly giving an answering sound.
They immediately dismounted their respective dragons, and Astrid quickly ran toward the Nadder, removing its muzzle. It shrieked, and Astrid held up a placating hand, smoothing down its head spikes.
"Okay, hold on, hold on," She murmured, trying to keep it calm as Hiccup worked on pulling away the chains, though they weren't budging in the slightest.
Above, Fishlegs and Snotlout continued to beat their shields, and they smiled triumphantly when the beast let out a small roar, his six eyes blinking rapidly as it shook its head a little.
"It's working!" Snotlout cheered.
"Yeah, it's working!" Fishlegs added.
Neither of them noticed how their respective dragons began shaking in confusion as well, and the Nightmare Snotlout was on lost its direction, smacking right into the head of the Red Death, throwing Snotlout off of it. Snotlout flew over the beast's head, sliding toward the end before coming to a stop; he lost his shield and hammer, and he flailed his arms in an attempt to keep his balance.
"I've lost power on the Gronkle!" Fishlegs shouted when he realized his confused dragon was beginning to twist into a fall. He threw Snotlout his hammer, who instinctively caught it. "Snotlout! Do something!"
Fishlegs dropped his shield, covering his eyes and screaming as he and the Gronkle began falling.
He opened his eyes when they hit the ground, holding up his arms triumphantly. "I'm okay!"
And then the Gronkle slid upward, its body flipping over and crushing Fishlegs into the ground. He held up a hand as best as he could, his voice feeble, "Less okay."
"I can't miss!" Snotlout grinned, bashing his hammer into one of the beast's eyes, which blinked rapidly, "Yeah, what's wrong, buddy? Got something in your eye?"
The beast let out a roar, stepping forward, and Fishlegs let out a scream, trying to crawl out from under the Gronkle before its foot came down. He covered his head and, luckily, the beast's foot missed him.
The twins rounded their Zippleback, catching sight of Snotlout's work.
"Yeah!" Ruffnut cheered, "You're the Viking!"
"You're damn right I'm the Viking!" Snotlout cheered back before letting out a surprised shout when the beast threw its head back, causing him to fall. Luckily, he was able to grab a hold of one of the beast's many spines, catching himself from falling.
"Whoa!" He shouted, seeing how high above the ground he was.
Below, the fire on the ship was getting more and more wild, and Toothless and Stormfly let out a few panicked sounds, trying to use their wings to shield their riders with their fire proof hide.
The boat suddenly rocked, a heavy thump resounding behind them, and they turned to the source, finding Stoick standing up straight behind them, a look of determination plastered on his face. He briskly walked toward them, gently shoving Astrid and Hiccup aside. The Nadder growled at him, but he ignored it, grabbing the large wooden collar around its neck and, after a brief struggle, snapping it open.
The Nadder began shaking off, letting out a few squawks. Astrid immediately reached out to it again, patting its scales and murmuring quiet words to it, Stormfly squawking behind her in an attempt to convince the dark blue dragon to help them face their shared enemy.
Hiccup and Astrid glanced up at Stoick, who gave them a single nod. They nodded back before mounting their respective dragons, and Stormfly jerked her head at the darker Nadder letting out a chirp in what was obviously an order to follow.
Before they could take off, however, a hand suddenly grabbed a hold of Hiccup's wrist, and he glanced over at his father, hearing the bellow of the beast somewhere in the distance.
"Hiccup, I'm," Stoick stumbled over his words a little, but his tone was very sincere, "I'm sorry. For, for everything."
"Yeah, me too," Hiccup let a small smile grace his lips.
"You don't have to go up there." Stoick's voice sounded a bit pleading.
Hiccup smirked this time. "We're Vikings. It's an occupational hazard."
Astrid smiled along with Stoick, who squeezed Hiccup's hand. "I'm proud to call you my son."
Hiccup's face slackened in surprise, though his words were elated. "Thanks... Dad."
Hiccup squeezed his father's hand back for a brief moment before grabbing a hold of Toothless' saddle. Astrid gave the dark blue Nadder an order before they took to the air, and the Nadder followed, snatching up Stoick into its claws. It dropped him off on the grey beach before following Hiccup and Astrid toward the Red Death.
Above, a sudden blast of fire shot past the twins, smacking right into the Red Death's wing. Astrid came forward, flying on Stormfly, her eyes fixed on the Red Death, the dark blue Deadly Nadder following up behind her.
The dark blue Nadder shot fire at the Red Death's wing again, and the beast bellowed out a roar, snapping at the air furiously, trying to catch the two with its teeth.
"Get Snotlout out of there!" Astrid ordered before steering Stormfly around to shoot at the Red Death again in an attempt to distract it from their Zippleback, but Hiccup beat her to the punch. Toothless appeared from what seemed like nowhere, letting out an exploding ball of fire at the monster's side before he disappeared somewhere behind the beast.
"I'm on it!" The twins shouted at once, causing them to enter into another argument.
"I'm on it first! I'm ahead of you!" Tuffnut shoved Ruff, and she immediately shoved him back, their fighting causing the two Zippleback head to bash into each other, though the dragon managed to stay on course just fine.
"We're on the same dragon, idiot!"
"Let me drive!"
The Zippleback flew past the Red Death's head, and Snotlout took a running leap, landing right where the Zippleback's necks met.
"Whoa!" Tuff smiled, "I can't believe that worked!"
"Get Snotlout back on the Nightmare!" Hiccup ordered as he and Toothless appeared from around the beast's head, and the twins immediately directed their Zippleback into a dive, letting Snotlout hop to the ground next to his awaiting Nightmare.
"Where's Fishlegs?" Hiccup shouted.
"Here!" Fishlegs' voice was a bit muffled, coming from somewhere down at the Red Death's feet, barely heard over all the roaring and yelling, "We're okay!"
"Get back on the Gronkle!" Hiccup ordered, "We need to lead this thing further away from the people!" He directed Toothless upward, and they all immediately followed.
Astrid led her two Nadders into a dive, and the dragons simultaneously released a blast of fire right into the Red Death's face. The beast released a thundering roar, and everyone immediately scattered when it opened its mouth, and they all watched wide eyed at the stream of fire that poured out.
It was different than the fire they were used to, and they all watched in amazement as it poured out like a river.
"Ruff, Tuff, go for it!" Hiccup ordered, "Now!"
Ruffnut patted her head, which immediately released a douse of gas over the left wing.
"Light," Tuffnut ordered, and his head released a spark, the resulting explosion nearly throwing them off of their dragon, covering everything in smoke for a brief moment.
"Whoa!" Ruffnut laughed as they burst out of the smoke, "We almost died!"
"I know," Tuffnut grinned, "You wanna do it again?"
"Ruff, Tuff, get clear! Astrid, now!"
The two Nadders released another blast, and the dark blue Nadder released a volley of spikes into the monster's wings before everyone sped out of the smoke and into the cleaner air, circling the air above the beast's head as they had before. The beast stomped after them with frustrated bellows, leaving the armada of Vikings below further and further behind.
Fishlegs suddenly came flying up on his Gronkle, and the Nightmare followed close behind, "Alright, we're up!"
"Okay!" Hiccup answered before barking out another order, "Get ready!"
Toothless let out another plasma blast, catching the Red Death right in the face, and the beast let out another roar and a stream of fire, which everyone easily dodged.
Several of the monster's eyes were swollen shut, but its wings seemed undamaged; however, the dark blue Nadder's spikes were deeply embedded into its left wing.
"Go!" Hiccup shouted, and Snotlout direct his Nightmare to fire; the beast jerked around to focus on its attacker, but Toothless was quick enough to distract it with a plasma blast to the face, giving Snotlout enough time to get away.
"Hiccup, we're nearing our shot limits!" Fishlegs shouted, "And it's not weakening! What'd we do now?"
"Alright, I'm gonna see if it can still use its wings!" Hiccup shouted, "The rest of you need to block its way back to the people. I'm taking this battle to the air!"
"What?" Astrid shrieked, "Hiccup, you can't do this alone!"
"I have to, Astrid!"
"We don't have time for fighting, you idiots!" Ruffnut screamed, "Duck!"
Astrid and Hiccup directed their respective dragons to dodge another blast of fire from the giant, and immediately went back to arguing, and everyone could've sworn they saw the Night Fury roll his eyes.
"Toothless is the fasted dragon here!" Hiccup shouted, frustrated, "It's our only chance!"
"Hiccup-"
"Can't you two do this later?" Fishlegs yelled as they all dodged a swing from the beast's tail, "We're kind of in the middle of a death defying battle here!"
"Look, the plan's not working, Astrid!" Hiccup shouted, "I have to do something!"
"Well, at least take me with you!"
"No!"
"Do you two wanna die?" Snotlout shouted, glancing back at the bellowing beast as it snapped at them with its teeth in its frustration.
"If we die, I'm gonna kill them over and over again when we meet in Valhalla!" Ruffnut grunted, sharing an irritant look with her brother before they took matters into their own hands, directing their Zippleback to twist around.
The twins zoomed past Astrid, and Fishlegs and Snotlout followed their lead as the beast opened its mouth once more.
The sound of suction was heard, and Astrid, Stormfly, and her second Nadder were pulled toward the bottomless pit mouth.
"Astrid!" Ruffnut screamed, attempting to turn her dragon head around, but only succeeded in confusing it as its second head stayed pointed forward.
There was a familiar whirring, and a few familiar voices bellowed from below.
"NIGHT FURY!"
"GET DOWN!"
Purple-blue light exploded against the creature's mouth, pushing Stormfly and the dark blue Nadder out of the way, the two dragons rolling haphazardly in the air as they tried to regain their balance, and Astrid was knocked from Stormfly's back, falling, screaming, and flailing as she plummeted towards the ground.
A black shadow suddenly swept past her at the last moment, and Toothless swept her into the air with his claws, holding her by the ankle.
"Did you get her?" Hiccup shouted, and Toothless ducked his head to look down, catching sight of Astrid. She glanced at the ground for a brief moment before looking up at Toothless. She smiled at him, and he released a happy croon, smiling one of his gummy smiles.
Toothless flew up to meet with the others, and Hiccup jerked his hand, pointing to the ground. "Go!" He ordered, and everyone immediately followed him into a dive toward the Vikings below.
Toothless flipped Astrid so that he was holding her by her shoulders before he dropped her, climbing into the air again; the girl ran forward a little to regain her balance before stopping, watching as Toothless landed next to her.
Everyone landed and dismounted their dragons, and they all immediately flocked towards Astrid, standing in an almost line beside her, looking up at Hiccup, who still sat atop Toothless.
"Look," Hiccup said, "We don't have time for arguing. We need to get everyone to safety, and Toothless is the only dragon fast enough to safely bait it."
"But, Hiccup-"
"No, Astrid," He said sternly, "I need to do this."
They stood in a small staring match for a brief moment before Hiccup patted Toothless, and the two took to the air without once looking back, not waiting for Astrid to give a nod of consent.
Something squawked behind them, and they all turned their attention to the two Nadders just as Stormfly nudged Astrid's back. Astrid turned to face her, and the day colored dragon nudged her again, almost looking apologetic, and Astrid gave her a small smile, scratching her chin a little. "It's alright, girl. It wasn't your fault. I'm okay," Astrid said, cupping the Nadder's face with both hands. She squawked before running her tongue over Astrid's face, and the girl winced but laughed a little as she tried to remove the slime.
"Astrid!"
The small girl was suddenly in a bone crushing hug, lifted off the ground, and spun around before she was dropped on her feet again, only to be swept up in another embrace. Astrid looked over her mother's shoulder, seeing the others get bombarded by their parents as well.
"Oh, Astrid!" Her mother shouted, sounding as if she had been crying, and Astrid struggled to breath through her too tight grip.
"Mom... please..." Thora released her a little reluctantly, and Astrid finally took notice of the crowd of Vikings all around them. Their eyes were full of worry, and she could tell that they were all trying to keep their panic on the inside. Cnut placed a meaty hand on Astrid's shoulder, looking as if he was trying to keep himself from hugging her again, "You ever do anything like that again, and you'll be sleeping in the barn for a month."
Astrid gave him a small smile, but her attention was turned to the slightly parting crowd as Stoick and Gobber shoved their way through. "Astrid!" Stoick bellowed, desperately clutching her shoulders, his eyes pleading, "Where's Hiccup?" Astrid shook her head a little, her eyes watery, and she opened her mouth to speak.
Suddenly, a familiar high-pitched whirring was heard from above, and everyone immediately turned their attention back to the sky.
Above, Hiccup, atop Toothless, glanced down at the Red Death as they climbed higher and higher into the sky, watching as it reared its head back. He patted Toothless a little. "Okay, Toothless, let's see if it can still use those wings."
Toothless immediately halted his ascension, twisting in the air, dive-bombing straight toward the Red Death, creating his trademark high-pitched whirring whistle.
He released a plasma blast, catching the beast right on the side of the neck, and it toppled over with a terrible roar and an enormous crash.
Below, the audience of Vikings, with familiar faces taking up the front of the crowd, began to shield themselves as gigantic, scarred wings began to unfold.
And next chapter is the final battle! Although, I'm sure you can easily guess what's going to happen next :)