Chapter Eighteen: Separate Ways, World's Apart
On Outcast Island, Astrid was still being plagued by dreams of Hiccup. She could hear his voice, feel his touch, and see him in the fullest detail. It was hard for her to wake up from these wonderful dreams, but when she did, she was pained by the memory that she was a widow, and the memory blackened her heart further with the want of vengeance over her husband's demise; but once she pulled Anora in closer to her, she felt more relaxed, but the blackness will never leave until her axe tastes Dagur's blood.
"Astrid, come on, we better get moving." Valka told her. She took Anora in her arms and brought her downstairs while Astrid got ready for the day. She looked in the mirror to find her hair a wild mess. The thunderstorms were coming and going like crazy on the island, and Whoshadow didn't miss one to build up her lightning supply; and since Astrid was training with Whoshadow, she was prone to getting her hair to stand up on end. It was the only drawback to training with Whoshadow, but working with the vengeful Skrill was a real treat, and Claudette seemed to be getting along nicely with Stormfly.
She came down to find Gobber preparing breakfast this time. Gobber was only a fair cook, but at least it gave him something to work with other than metal at the smithy.
"It smells good, Gobber." Astrid stated.
"Thanks, this recipe has been passed down for generations in my family. It's my grandma's eel and cabbage stew; it always gave us that boost of strength we needed to power through a battle." He replied.
"Eel stew? Damn it, we do not have chocolate!" Astrid exclaimed.
"Hiccup told me about your chocolate coated eels. No offense, but they were the most disturbing thing I've ever heard of." Gobber replied. He dished out the stew for the other Vikings as Astrid told him: "Hey, I was pregnant, I had cravings!"
"Just eat your stew." Gobber told her.
The stew wasn't exactly fit for breakfast, but it did a fine job in filling the Vikings' stomachs and satisfying them; and after her breakfast, Astrid went out to feed Stormfly some chicken and take her out for a flight around the island for a few times. Just because Astrid was training with Whoshadow, didn't mean that she wasn't spending time with Stormfly. Their bond with each other is strong, and it would take a lot for them to sever it.
Toothless eventually joined them for their flight, but in a way, Astrid wished he didn't. Seeing Toothless fly next to her reminded her of all those times Hiccup flown with her; but when she pushed her lingering grief aside, she noticed that Toothless seemed to be enjoying himself.
A moment later, Claudette and Whoshadow flew past them; they were doing the same thing that Astrid and Stormfly were doing. While Claudette was training with Stormfly, she still paid attention to Whoshadow.
Eventually, for fun, Stormfly and Whoshadow engaged a play-fighting game, which gave Astrid and Claudette a wild ride. At least Whoshadow had enough control over herself to keep her lightning contained. Mainly, the game involved a lot of chasing, some locked claws, and a few play scratches; and when the riders decided that the game was over, they jumped out of their saddles for the dragons to catch them. Whoshadow caught Astrid, and Stormfly did the same for Claudette.
Hiccup woke up that morning by hearing the Thunder Queen's groans as she stretched out after waking up herself. Hiccup would've start moving about as well, but the Thunder Queen didn't have any Night Furies of his coloration in her nest, and he knew it, and he didn't want her to see him as an intruder. She already killed him once… or close enough to it.
"Well, I'm off to start the drilling sessions, you stay and rest some more, Darling." The Thunder Queen told him. Hiccup wasn't planning on leaving the cave much, only to eat and to harness more lightning if the weather permitted.
When the Thunder Queen left, Hiccup flew in the opposite direction to hunt for some fish, as he couldn't really show himself in the village without fear of getting attacked by the Thunder Queen's dragons.
Hiccup found a fair sized school of fish and dove in to catch some. He surfaced with about seven in his maw and returned to the cave to savor his breakfast. Once he was inside the cave, he set the fish on the floor and as he looked down at his catch, he noticed that he caught an eel. He wasn't surprised that he caught it, but he was surprised that he backed away from it in fright. What was that all about? Sure, he may not care for eating eels, but he was never scared of them to the point he would back away from them. In fact, he even liked a few eel dishes. So why did he back away from the eel?
I won't fret about it right now; I'll just eat around it. Hiccup thought to himself. He picked the eel out of the pile with his claws and enjoyed his breakfast without interruption from pesky Terrible Terrors.
By noon, another thunderstorm rolled in, and Hiccup took flight to harness the lightning. He also practiced some evasion maneuvers for the up-and-coming battle to drive the Berserkers out of his homeland; but the wind beneath his wings felt great, and the sheer joy of flying sent him soaring in every direction! He didn't have a care in the world, he was a dragon, and to feel the strike of lightning on him now was exhilarating! He felt energized, free, and proud!
As the thunderstorm rolled in on Outcast Island on that afternoon, Astrid and Claudette had the dragons land so they could retreat into the Great hall. Stormfly joined them, but Whoshadow went straight back into the sky to take in the lightning. She planned on taking in as much as possible, and then discharge it all on Dagur!
"I'm starting to worry about that Skrill." Claudette stated once they've entered the great hall.
"Hey, as long as she's not on an active rampage that could kill us all, then she's alright." Astrid replied.
The tables were set up and had platters of various meats, bowls of fresh spinach from the traders, and lots of bread in baskets. As the girls sat down, Tuffnut told them: "Helga got up before sunrise to make all of the bread. She says that if you don't have any, she'd mace ya."
"Knowing how well Helga bakes her bread, we'll be pigging out on that stuff more than the meat." Astrid replied, taking a toll out of the basket.
As they started eating, Claudette asked Astrid: "So, if you get into confrontation with Dagur, and Whoshadow is unable to kill him, what do you plan on doing to him?"
"I would hack off his limbs before he knew what hit him, and then feed his heart to Toothless, and have Whoshadow heat off his face. Even then, I still think that is too merciful for what he did to me." She replied.
"Remind me to stay on your good side. I fear to know what you had in mind to do to me after I cut off your foot." Claudette stated.
"Ah, I don't remember wanting to kill you. I think I would've done an eye-for-an-eye sort of deal." Astrid replied. Claudette gave Astrid a slight glare and sipped her mug of rum.
During this lunchtime, Alvin and Stoick were establishing a plan of attack to reclaim Berk. Toothless watched them and occasionally nodded his head approvingly at the plan. Gothi predicted that the cloud cover that they'd been having as of lately would linger for several days. They would use it to their advantage, and Dagur would never see them coming.
With his flight over, and night drawing in, Hiccup chanced a walk though the forest, where he found Goosefoot and five other Berserkers in a clearing on the opposite side of the island from the village. The former Chief was standing right next to a Skrill, scratching the beast's chin, but that wasn't the only thing that amazed Hiccup, they were actively training these dragons right underneath Dagur's nose! Hiccup knew that the Berserkers didn't want to have anything to do with this war, but he didn't think that they would go as far as to risking execution and form a round robin against Dagur.
"Alright, men and women, we've been training for a few nights now; plus the hours we've AWOL during the daytime. It is time to show what we've done!" Goosefoot told them. The round robin mounted the dragons with their makeshift saddles, and took flight with Goosefoot acting as their leader.
Hiccup eventually took off after them in order to observe their techniques better, and he was amazed to see how beautifully they flew in formation, practiced their aerial attacks, and performed defense maneuvers. He had to admit that he was proud for them to have figured out how to train their dragons without his active assistance.
"Great job, all of you, you would have done the Dragon Chief proud!" Goosefoot called out to them. Little did they know, was that the Dragon Chief had been watching them since a little bit before they took flight. Hiccup was so happy for them, he found that he was actually eager for battle.
"Hooligans, and Outcasts, I have an announcement to make!" Stoick boomed. He got the attention from every dragon and soldier that would be fighting in the next battle, and he continued with: "I wish to announce that within two days, we will be ready to take arms and return to Berk, where the Hooligans will reclaim not only their rightful home, but the vengeance over the loss of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. In two days, we will make Dagur pay for his crimes, and we will celebrate our victory by dancing on his grave!"
The Vikings cheered.
"So why two days? Because part of our plan requires our battleships, and when do we set sail? We set sail tonight!" Stoick shouted triumphantly, and rightfully so. The Vikings roared with cheers and they readied the ships.
Just before sundown, Stoick sent a Terrible Terror back to Berk with a message for Goosefoot.
Just before Goosefoot retired for the night, he found a Terrible Terror with a message from him. It simply read:
Former Berserker Chief Goosefoot,
We will arrive within two days. Be prepared.
Stoick the Vast.
So for the next couple days, Goosefoot would start more intensive training for his dragon riders; and as for Hiccup, he would be watching them, and he waited eagerly for his family to return.
Ok, I've had enough of this rising action BS! I want to write you an EPIC CLIMAX, and I'm going to start it up soon! So brace yourselves for the SHEER AWESOMENESS of the EPIC CLIMAX I have planed for you!