How To Train Your Dragon: A Loss That Shouldn't Be
Chapter 2: The Broken Alpha
Berk never saw them coming. The night had been quiet up until that point, the slightest hint of light from the rising sun just starting to brighten their surroundings. Both Viking and dragon rested easily knowing that their chief and the dragon riders were out making sure that Drago Bludvist never even got close to them. Terrible Terrors slept in great packs to give each other warmth, large Gronckles lazed on their sides in their slumber and the Deadly Nadders and Monstrous Nightmares took care to keep their surroundings intact from their spikes and flames. It seemed like any other night on Berk. But then the sound came. It wasn't immediate and it wasn't loud, but the noticeable vibration of frequency began to slowly pulse its way through the village walls and into the homes of the sleeping inhabitants. It made every dragon respond near instantaneously. Half awake as they were, the creatures big and small began to drift out of the homes, sometimes knocking over objects in their way and making their human counterparts stir from their slumber to see what the fuss was about. Spitelout, the one who had been left in charge on Stoick's orders, rushed outside in pursuit of his own dragon just in time to see a most peculiar sight. Hundreds of dragons circled over the island like a hypnotized swarm, just hovering there and refusing to respond to the cries of their Viking partners far below. Spitelout scowled. This wasn't like the times the dragons left to migrate. This was something different. In a matter of moments, they found out what the cause was as every villager's eyes went wide at what emerged from the depths of the sea.
Glistening with moisture from the waves, a gigantic collection of black spines rose into view over the edge of Berk's cliffs, followed by the roaring head of the largest dragon anyone on Berk had ever seen. Almost comparable to the Red Death, its tusked jaws parted in a fierce roar to reveal rows of spike-like teeth, its face covered in the same sort of spines as the rest of its head. Its eyes were simply narrow lines of black against a furious red, the behemoth's gaze making everyone on the ground feel incredibly small. Their treasured dragons continued to circle around the large one's spines, almost as if they were being drawn towards it. Spitelout and the other villagers were stunned. That rumbling frequency that had rattled everyone was still continuing, the source of it now more than obvious. The entire thing just seemed off putting since the gigantic beast wasn't actually doing anything yet. It was just staring at them, like they were nothing more than insects compared to its majesty. And that was when another sight even more curious came into view. A man was stood on one of the giant's tusks, a hook-like weapon stabbed into the tip to give him some support as he stepped forward. With thick dreadlocks swaying in the morning breeze and an arm that seemed like it was forged from the strongest iron, this mysterious stranger suddenly yelled to them from his rather lofty perch.
"Your Dragon Master is dead!"
The Vikings grew hushed compared to their previous mutterings of confusion. The Dragon Master... did they mean Hiccup? They couldn't mean Hiccup. Hiccup had Toothless and they had never been bested before. Besides, they both had the support of the rest of the dragon riders and the chief himself. How could he be dead? Spitelout didn't like the situation, his brow scowling as the others around him began to whisper signs of panic among themselves.
"Dead? Not Hiccup..."
"He's bluffing, Hiccup could never be taken down by him!"
"It's not possible!"
This man looked like the one who was in control of the biggest creature and all of their own dragons still swarmed above him in the air. If he had managed to learn how to have a literal army of dragons follow his commands to assemble, then that meant it was obvious who he was. Drago Bludvist was here. And if he was, then what he said about Hiccup was...
"No one can protect you now!" the man yelled, jabbing his bullhook down towards the rest of them like they were cowering subjects before a great leader. A fitting metaphor given the control he wielded. As if on cue, the titanic monster of a dragon reared its head back, another ear splitting roar destroying the relative silence of the morning. It lunged forward just as a giant wave of almost liquid ice gushed forth from its throat.
Drago Bludvist laughed in triumph. He had purposely held his armies back, anchored away off shore from the island for this very reason. He wanted to see if he actually needed them against the supposed 'island full of riders'. It turned out that he didn't. His Alpha would be all it would take to make them all bow before him, a sickening sense of glee rising up inside him as giant spirals of icey destruction laid waste to the simple wooden shacks these dragon allying scum lived in. They started to run for cover, just as his Bewilderbeast fired another tower of ice towards the ground and up the mountain-like sides of the Great Hall entrance. They'd all fall, just like their beloved Dragon Master. Without anyone to stop him, Drago stood triumphant on his Alpha's tusk.
"Now...you all belong to me..."
What Drago hadn't anticipated was the fact that he hadn't managed to subdue all of Berk's residents. Now only a few miles away from the shores of their home, the rest of the dragon riders having commandeered the Scuttleclaw hatchlings were nearing Berk in a pack after taking some time to teach the babies some respect for instructions. Valka had done a pretty good job, despite the few accidents that Eret and Gobber had managed to get themselves into on the way here. Hyperactive baby dragons and giant walls of ice didn't seem to mix. But nonetheless, their miniature battalion of Scuttleclaws was in pretty good formation. And at the front of them all was Toothless. The Night Fury tried his best not to soar too far ahead, a grim determination on his features as he forced his mind to stay focused on the task he had to accomplish. Astrid sat across his saddle, being the only one who knew how to properly work his tail thanks to Hiccup's past teaching. He was having to consciously shut out his emotions, keep his grief in check. If he faltered, then this plan of theirs wouldn't work and he wasn't going to let them down. He would mourn later. Right now, he had a job to do. Still, despite that, it didn't feel right. If they were going to be facing down one of the more dangerous enemies they had ever faced, Toothless needed to be mobile. And the fact he couldn't be without his rider only emphasized the point that it wasn't Hiccup who was riding on his back.
'No, I have to focus. Hiccup needs me.'
Toothless kept repeating it in his head as they traveled. It was the only thing keeping him from slipping back into his sorrow. He was going to be a good dragon. He was going to be a brave dragon, for his human. And that meant taking down Bludvist even with his heavy heart.
"So, can someone remind me what kind of suicidal plan we're diving into again? Whoa!" called out Fishlegs, his large frame dipping a little a downwards as his Scuttleclaw seemed to be distracted by the fact there was water below them.
"We use everything we have to distract the Alpha away from the village!" Valka shouted back, almost effortlessly keeping her youngling under control with a single hand. "Astrid says that there's a spare tail for Toothless that can let him fly on his own somewhere in the workshop. Whilst he tries to take out the Bewilderbeast, we evacuate whoever we can. And then...we have to pray."
"Pray?!" Snotlout exclaimed. He knew this was a desperate plan but he hadn't realized it was this desperate. "No-one said anything about praying when we were dreaming all this up! How is one dragon supposed to take out that freaky thing?"
"Stop your complaining and just do as she says!" Gobber retorted, rubbing his head from the unfortunate moment his dragon had smacked into an ice wall. "A Night Fury is the best chance we have. If a Red Death can be beaten, then so can this!"
"I don't really care how it happens as long as I get dibs on the sheep catapult," Tuffnut said simply, stretching his fingers out like he was going to get a good workout from doing so. "Gonna be like Dragon Racing! Except, you know... every sheep is worth, like, a gazillion points. For all the people we'll save. Oh, yeah."
"Hey, I was gonna be the one to fire them!" Ruffnut interjected, steering her Scuttleclaw towards her brother on purpose to bump him. "Get your own catapult!"
"I'll fire you out of it first!"
"I'd like to see you try!"
"ENOUGH!" Stoick shouted, gritting his teeth as his fierce stare forced the squabbling siblings to stop. They quickly understood this was not the time for petty arguments and the pair showed an actual resemblance of maturity by focusing on the task at hand. "Everyone knows what they need to do. So let's get this done," the chief finished. The rest of Vikings nodded their heads, just as the carved sea pillars of Berk began to come into view. Or, at least one of them did. The one on the right had been destroyed, crushed from what they could only presume to be the Bewilderbeast. Stoick scowled, his teeth only gnashing against each other harder the more they flew on.
"We have to hurry."
Astrid hadn't been paying attention to the rest of her companions on their flight. Her entire focus had been on Toothless. The dragon hadn't done much to really acknowledge anything that was going on except the occasional look. He hadn't even seemed to have noticed that they were flying, even when she had made the odd slight tweak of the tail fin. She felt worried. She had never seen Toothless show so little emotion before towards anything. Whether it was a sign of the massive amount of concentration he was showing on taking down Drago or whether his emotional capacity had been drained after today, she didn't know. All she knew was that it wasn't like the dragon at all. Astrid leaned forward, touching her hand to behind one of the Night Fury's ear plates again like she had before on the shore.
"Toothless... you're sure you're OK to do this?"
It wasn't like she expected a response. Maybe she was only asking to calm her own frantic mind. The day had taken a toll on her like everyone else and she wanted to make sure that she wasn't going to be sending anyone else to join her love in Valhalla if they weren't up to it. To her surprise, Toothless actually looked over his wing back at her. His pupils were narrow as they stared into her, the dragon vibrating once before looking back ahead to their destination. That was the most reaction he'd given her throughout their entire flight. She could at least admire the Night Fury's determination to see this through to the end in his former rider's memory. But it didn't make it any easier to see.
"OK... once we get there, we'll find that tail and I'll help the others to distract the Alpha. You can do this," Astrid said to him, gently brushing over his ear. Toothless hummed in response, the ear twitching for a moment as his wings angled themselves to begin to turn in towards the island. As the group passed the protruding rocks, they were greeted with a nearly horrifying sight. The Bewilderbeast was hunched over the cliff edge of the village, its sheer bulk having cracked the entire rock face apart. It roared over the remains of Berk, the Viking home now caught up in gigantic twisting spires of frozen destruction. Astrid froze, her rage bubbling to the surface as she cursed under breath at Drago. It reminded her too much of what Eret's fort had been like when they had first encountered it. Only now, it could be remnants of her own home locked inside the towering ice. And that was before they got to the idea of all the creatures now circling over the new Alpha's head.
"He took all the dragons!" Fishlegs exclaimed, his tone seeing desperate like he was searching for his beloved Meatlug in the mass of wings and talons. All of their dragons were up there, including the ones that had remained on the island whilst they were away. That settled it. This had to end, today.
"Distract the Alpha!" Valka ordered, pushing her Scuttleclaw ahead to where Toothless lead the pack. "Give Astrid and Toothless time." Her voice became gentler as she looked to the side towards the Night Fury. Just like Astrid, she had been worried about the gentle creature ever since they had taken off. She nodded her head with an almost motherly smile, a silent way of promising that they would be alright. Toothless acknowledged her with a gentle bob downwards of his own. Stoick followed his wife's orders and moved the rest of the Scutteclaws towards her.
"Here goes nothing..." Astrid mumbled under her breath, her and Toothless now breaking off from the rest of the group to sneak around the back of Berk unnoticed. She hoped this would work.
On solid ground, the Vikings of Berk had managed to seek cover behind a few of the buildings that had miraculously survived the Bewilderbeast's onslaught. Without dragons or any decent weapons to defend themselves, hiding was the best thing they could manage to do without being trapped along with their houses in the ice. It would take a miracle for them to get out of this one without being under Drago's rule. Or alive. Thankfully for them, it seemed that their prayer for salvation had been answered when they suddenly spotted small shapes slowly bobbing towards them through the air. There was only three or four of them, but they clearly had wings and they clearly had people riding them. The recognizable outline of their chief quickly informed them who it was.
"Look! It's the riders!" one of them called out, the small group around him bursting into cheers quickly. The former confidence Berk had when protected by their dragons began to show itself once more as the jeers began to spread. Drago, having previously been too caught up in his gloating of victory, heard his foes from below.
"What...?" he growled, locking eyes with the ones that belonged to the chief of this destroyed village. So Stoick the Vast had managed to make his way back, just in time to see the rest of his island buried beneath a mountain of ice. It seemed fitting for them all to have gathered here, the prospect of destroying them all at once with the Alpha after inflicting such heavy emotional damage almost making Drago smile. His Bewilderbeast growled at the tiny dragons flurried around his face, his controlling frequencies seeming to have no effect on them despite how hard he pushed it at them. Well, no matter. He'd just knock them out of the sky with...
"Baa!"
A sudden flurry of wool came flying up in between the Alpha's eyes. The beast crossed them inwards, looking utterly puzzled as the terrified little mammal flew down out of sight just as quickly. What on earth was that? The Bewilderbeast angled his body to look down at the ground and saw something that only made matter more confusing. A group of the other riders, two of which were operating a catapult, were quickly loading and then firing the little sheep up towards him. It seemed like they had broken away from the group on approach to set this little diversion up. As they prepared to launch another, the Alpha roared in annoyance at their rubbish attempts to foil him and was about to blast them with his ice when something equally puzzling grabbed his attention. A horrendous sounding horn noise burst into his right ear, the titan pausing in his breath preparation. He saw nothing but a weirdly fish shaped horn mounted on the rock, presumably unmanned. Probably some pathetic attempt at a warning system for intruders. He grunted in anger at this attempt at distraction, just as Drago seemed to echo the sentiment. He whirled his spear above his head and stabbed it into the Bewilderbeast's tusk as a sign of control.
"You're certainly hard to get rid of, I'll say that!" Drago cried to the little rebellion, turning his attention back towards the Alpha. "Ignore it! Take them out!" he cried, causing his dragon to rear back to freeze them all solid. Just as another sheep flew in front of his vision. He snarled What was with the blasted sheep? And another horn blast wasn't helping either, the sound making his claws grip into the ground from how much it was irritating him. Ruff, Tuff and the others all snickered to themselves, almost pleasantly surprised it was working. At the same time, Valka, Gobber and Stoick were all rushing the islanders under the small alcoves of ice the Alpha had left behind, some choosing to flee behind the Great Hall's near impenetrable stone walls to keep them safe from the battle that was sure to follow soon. They knew that this trick of distraction would only work for so long before the Alpha became too angry for it to work on.
"Come on, Astrid..." Valka mumbled under her breath, ushering another villagers past her. Time was a luxury they were soon running out of.
"It has to be here somewhere..." Astrid mumbled, frantically searching through the piles of paper and scrap metal. It was a miracle that the workshop was still here and that most of its equipment hadn't been lost from the sheer force of the ice earlier. If she knew Hiccup like she thought he did, she knew he wouldn't have simply tossed away the independent tail, even despite Toothless' destruction of the old one. He was too proud of his work. Toothless watched her intently, though his ear plates were perked up in case the Alpha decided to refocus his efforts of destruction on them next. Even now, he still hadn't shown any sign of proper emotion, almost like he was becoming an avatar of what a Night Fury had been thought to be. A beast who only knew how to survive and kill. Toothless never wanted to be that. But he didn't have a choice at the moment as he stood ready to defend Astrid in case things got messy.
"Come on, come on... gotcha!" she suddenly exclaimed, pulling out the mechanism from beneath a pile of plans and spare parts. She glanced over it, pulling it apart and then back again to make sure it still worked. A feeling of both warmth and sadness pulsed in her chest. Hiccup was always proud of his inventions. It was something she always loved about him, his deep enthusiasm for all things mechanical. And now they'd only just end up collecting dust. Astrid shook her head, brushing aside the unpleasant nature of the situation. No, this would be perfect. She hurried over to Toothless' side, quickly unhooking all of the metal and wired connections of his harness in order to fasten on the tail. Toothless simply followed her hands' movements, stepping out of the rings around his legs when gestured to and not kicking up a fuss. A horrible sense of familiarity crept into his gut when Astrid managed to lock the mechanism around his other working fin. The familiar feeling of how in this moment, he didn't need Hiccup to fly. He began to remember how had used that ability to fly off and get something special for his Hiccup all those years ago and inadvertently caused his human to worry. But he had made him overjoyed by the end. He always adored seeing Hiccup smile like that. By the end of that affair, Toothless thought it best he cause the destruction of the tail for one reason alone. If he wasn't going to be able to fly with his Hiccup, then he wasn't going to fly at all. But then... the events of today had caused him to break that promise for reasons he knew were important. It didn't help him feel any less guilty deep down past his steely facade.
'I shouldn't have to do this... I should have you here with me to help.'
Astrid stepped up, double checking her handiwork for a moment before hurrying to the dragon's front.
"OK, it should be ready," she whispered, just as the pair of them heard another cry of a sheep and a horn blast. And then the sickening sound of ice solidifying in a gigantic line. They were running out of time to get this done. Astrid steeled herself, holding onto Toothless' lower jaw even as those narrow pupils continued to stare right into her.
"We need to be quick. You can do this, Toothless. I know you can. We'll be right there with you, OK? Just try to get the two of them apart while we move everyone. That could break their control on the others." Astrid nodded her head to make sure the dragon understood. Toothless exhaled harder than usual as a gesture to show he did. The Viking's encouraging face faltered somewhat at getting such weak feedback. But she wasn't going to push the Night Fury to do more than he was able. She quickly turned, gesturing Toothless to take off into the sky as she hurried out of the back entrance to the workshop and out of sight.
Toothless took a few steps forward, at least feeling a little lighter compared to normal thanks to the removal of the saddle. Though the gentle mechanical clicking of the tail on its own made him mentally cringe. He knew why he had to do this alone. No one else on Berk would be so in sync with the dragon enough to make the tight turns and alter his normal tail. He had no choice in the matter. But that didn't stop the feeling of unease churning away in his stomach. This entire thing just felt wrong. Everything about today had been wrong. And now, faced with the prospect of having to do this alone, Toothless felt something rise within himself that he didn't usually feel. He felt afraid. He felt afraid of the intimidation of the Alpha, the fact that its size alone had made him freeze up on the shores of the Sanctuary even before that controlling frequency. He felt afraid that he was going to be caught under its snare again, lose control of his body and be nothing more than a mindless slave to that madman. He felt afraid of the crushing guilt he would feel if he was the one who finalized Berk's destruction at the hands of Drago and his Alpha. Most of all, he was petrified of something more than anything else.
He felt afraid that he was going to kill someone.
'No, I... I can't. I can't do this on my own. I'll just hurt someone else, I can't do it...!'
"Toothless...?"
The Night Fury's blood ran cold. The workshop was completely empty, having been long since abandoned when Drago and the Alpha appeared. But even so, he had heard someone speak his name. He was sure of it. And that voice sounded chillingly familiar to him. As far away as it sounded, it was softly spoken and warm, inviting as if it was something to drift towards and feel safe with. This wasn't like the 'voice' of the Bewilderbeast. That just filled you with menace and forced you to comply with such horrendous acts that you would never think of yourself. No, these were words. Caring, beautiful words that broke through the emotionless wall Toothless had erected around himself.
"Hey...it's me, bud! It's me... it's me, I'm right here, bud."
He knew who it was. He dare not question it. He didn't want to know how it was possible. But he would never forget that voice. He couldn't. The Night Fury crooned, his voice wavering as the rest of the world didn't seem to even matter at this point. He even threatened to break his vow of no tears at just hearing him again. His head darted around, desperately trying to make sense of where it was coming from. He saw no such answer.
"It wasn't your fault, bud. They...made you do it."
Toothless whimpered, the words making his heart ache once more. His Hiccup would've said something like that. He would've done anything to make sure that the dragon didn't blame himself or feel guilty over anything. But that only seemed to make it worse as he frantically began to search about the workshop. It was selfish of him to do, he knew that. He knew the others were counting on him. But if he was here...
'H-Hiccup! My Hiccup... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for what I did! Please, where are you...?'
"You'd never hurt him. You'd never hurt me. You're my best friend, bud."
Toothless whimpered, his vow broken as a tear spilled to the ground. He huffed in frustration at not being able to properly talk back to the voice. He could only think what he wanted to say, to beg for forgiveness, a feat made only more aggravating when he wasn't able to see his Viking. If he wasn't here, then where was this voice coming from? How was the dragon able to hear him? Or... was he just fooling himself? Was his mind tricking him into thinking what he wanted to hear and feel in his heart? Once again, the fear of letting everyone down began to crawl into his head like bugs, a fact the voice seemed to pick up on.
"Gotta block 'em out, Toothless. We can do this. You and me. As one."
As one? Hiccup was really here somehow...? The dragon hesitated, looking out past the tool racks and groups of abandoned carts outside. The Bewilderbeast, looking incredibly angry, was starting to bear down on the group of riders like it was about to crush them under his foot. A surge of worry coursed through Toothless' body at the sight, his wings extending outwards like he was ready to take off. He had to do something.
"Go, I'll be right behind you, bud! Go!"
The voice spurred Toothless on, the Night Fury's anger finally coming through to the surface at long last as he growled in menace at his opponent.
No. No one else would die today. No one else would become a slave to that lunatic.
With a ferocious roar, Toothless leapt out of the workshop and fired a single powerful blast of plasma towards the Bewilderbeast. Just as the mammoth dragon raised its head for another blast of ice, the Night Fury's fire suddenly made contact with the side of its jaw in a gigantic explosion of smoke and burning embers. The Bewilderbeast roared in anger as he turned his attention away from the group of tiny humans at his feet, just in time to see a black shape suddenly speed off from the ground into the sky. Drago, reeling from the smoke blowing into his eyes saw it too and echoed his dragon, roaring in frustration. The Night Fury was here? And able to fly?!
"NO!" he screamed, whirling his bullhook into the air. "Cut him out of the sky!" That dragon was going to be a problem. It was the only thing fast and agile enough to be a problem for the brutal size of the Bewilderbeast. And there was just a slim chance it could succeed. Drago scanned the skies around the island, looking for any trace of black soaring around them now that the Night Fury had disappeared. His dragon did the same, its huge head swinging in large arcs with its tusks to try and make sense of where the gnat of a dragon had gone. On the ground, Stoick, Valka and the others all watched with held breath in much the same way. They were safe for now as long as the Bewilderbeast didn't look down and it seemed that Toothless was doing a good enough job to keep it distracted. They heard the next strike coming before they saw it. With an ear piercing screech from the sheer speed he was travelling, Toothless suddenly shot out from the other side of Berk's mountain-like center and sent another burning sphere of purple towards the Alpha. It made contact in the same way as before, dousing the monster's sight with smoke and even causing it to slightly lose its grip against the cliff it was perched on. A blurred outline of black wings and claws sped past them and out of sight just as easily, the shape twirling over itself in the air as it whipped past the docks below. The Night Fury's attacks were as precise and deadly as the legends said they were, Drago cursing himself for not having taken it for himself back at the Sanctuary. Well, better late than never.
"Take control of it!" he commanded, his hook stabbing into the tusk he was perched on yet again. His Bewilderbeast responded, its eyes darting around the island and honing in its frequency to get that dragon in particular. At the same time, the now hidden Toothless grimaced as that awful feeling began to rush over his thoughts. He shook his head, his wings fluttering a little to keep himself in the air as the Bewilderbeast's 'voice' once again tried to burrow into his brain. It kept gnawing at him, the Night Fury wincing as the horrendous pitch made his ears hurt. He knew he was going to be turning around into view any moment now for the precision strike that would end it. This would hopefully knock Drago away from his dragon and make it lose focus. But that was only if he was able to pull it off. As the dragon saw the frame of his enemy come into view, the frequency grew stronger and made him feel like he was going to fall out of the sky from its intensity. And that's when the voice spoke again.
"Shut it out, Toothless..."
Toothless snorted as he focused back on his goal. He could do this, he could ignore it, he could do this for everyone. Already, as his eyes narrowed to slits and locked onto his target, the madman seeming to be shocked as the Night Fury came into view. As black jaws parted and heat began to surge forward from the depths of the dragon's body, Toothless couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction. Even from this distance, Drago looked worried and he was right to be. The screeching sound of a Night Fury attack once again shattered the relative quiet of the morning and the hunter and his target came closer and closer together by the moment. Toothless was waiting for the right moment to strike. The Bewilderbeast, roaring just as angrily, began to rear back for an attack of his own when it was clear the control wasn't working for whatever reason. The moment the smaller dragon felt the rush of cold from the Alpha's mouth begin to rush over him, he chose to fire.
"Now!"
The voice was right on cue. The plasma blast fired forward like a bullet, just as Toothless pulled up just when the torrent of frozen breath surged towards him. His fire carried on above the blast, unfazed by the freezing temperature beneath it, right into Drago's left prosthetic arm. With a cry of rage, the madman found himself tumbling off the side of his dragon from the impact, hitting the ground not too far below him with a heavy thud of metal and leather. At the same time, the dragons circling overhead paused in their movements, some of them seeming to hesitate carrying on in their holding pattern at the hit caused the Alpha to lose concentration. It was working! The dragon riders cheered among themselves at their plan having come to fruition. Now, they just needed to see whether it had the full intended side effect. Even as the younger members of the group continued their preemptive celebration, both Valka and Stoick didn't seem to share the mood. Toothless may have gotten Drago away from the beast, but the dragons circling above them were still not dissipating like they had hoped they would. And it was then that Valka noticed their single dragon was in danger as she cried out his name in a panic.
"Toothless!" It became quickly apparent that the Night Fury hadn't fully escaped the behemoth's attack. His tail, especially the part he needed to fly, had been captured in the ice and the dragon was struggling hard to keep in the air. His wings beat furiously as he growled at himself for not being quick enough, the unstable part of his tail fin caught in the block of ice starting to tip him over. It was only a few seconds before he began to fall from the air just like Drago had, thrashing both his claws and wings about in a vain attempt to get upright once again. The Alpha took advantage of his opponent's risky attack and subsequent failure. Without taking the time to even prepare, another furious blast of icy breath suddenly enveloped the falling Night Fury in its grip and seemed to entomb him within a spiky frozen prison. The Vikings gasped in shock, the heavy object hitting into the ground like a meteorite from the crater it made. Shards of broken material scattered everywhere along the ground, a horrible reminder of the aftermath of the Sanctuary battle. The island fell quiet. Drago's laughter broke the relative silence as he stumbled back to his feet, now only a few feet away from the remaining riders.
"Ha! A brave attempt! But no one can resist the strength of the Alpha!"
"No!" Astrid yelled, trying to barge her way forward to get Drago herself. She had to be held back by Gobber when the Bewilderbeast turned its attention back to the tiny humans, especially now that the main threat against it had been dealt with. Was this the end for them all?
The question was quickly answered when a pale blue light suddenly lit up everyone's faces. From within the depths of the sharp angles and jutting out pieces of ice, the light shone through as bright as the sun. Audible cracks in the surface began to form, splinters of frozen matter falling to the ground as it looked like the ice was literally being melted from the inside. The rest of the riders looked amazed by what they saw. Drago looked quite the opposite, his grim smile faltering as his scarred features were accentuated by the blue. In a matter of moments, a burst of energy shattered the gigantic chunk into pieces, wispy smoke obscuring it from few and causing the humans to brace themselves from the shrapnel. A heavy flap of wings beat downwards, sending the grey fog spiraling around before disappearing in a near tornado. And in the center of it all, stood Toothless.
'NO! I won't let you hurt them!'
The Night Fury roared, the volume and power beyond anything the other Vikings had heard before. His body was glowing with his anger, quite literally, as blue light burned beneath his head spikes and his spines like something had set them on fire. Steam from the intense heat rose off the dragon's back as his wings flared outwards. He parted his jaws in another roar, the inferno raging inside him almost shining out of his mouth as he did so. The Bewilderbeast looked noticeably taken aback by his foe's new found power, roaring back at him to try and show he was still in control. Toothless would have none of it. He leapt forward, sprinting up a remaining spire of ice to face the Alpha head on, fanning out his wings and gripping onto the spike to anchor himself as another screeching sound of defiance left his throat.
"W-What's he doing? Why's he all glowing like that?" Fishlegs blurted out, fumbling with his cards to try and find out for himself.
"I think... he's trying to challenge the Alpha!" Valka exclaimed. In all her years among the dragons, she could never have guessed that a Night Fury held such power within themselves. Maybe it was because of the way that they were more suited to speed and precision. But under the right circumstances, it seemed like they could tap into it, use it to wear their opponents down through sheer force. Stoick seemed to agree with her assessment.
"Challenge it... to protect us all." It suited Toothless well. As the humans watched on in awe, Toothless lunged his head forward, spitting out a ball of flame that hit the Bewilderbeast near point blank. The huge dragon's head was thrown to the side from it, even as fire resistant as its scales were. It could scarcely believe how much power was behind that shot, just as another one came speeding towards the opposite side of its face. It was thrown back again. And again. And again. Toothless was relentless. He fired over and over, hitting the Alpha with everything his body could muster. He was surpassing any shot limit, any type of fatigue in order to beat this monster down. His throat felt like it was starting to burn, but he pushed past it, the single thought of protecting his Viking family urging him to keep going. And it seemed to be working. With each successive hit, the dragons above the Bewilderbeast were starting to falter, shake themselves awake as if they had been trapped in some sort of dream like state. They began to turn, slowly at first, but eventually starting to flood to Toothless' side in droves. Drago was gripped by something he rarely felt, the fear of losing. He would not allow a single dragon to destroy his plans so easily, it would be humiliating! He screamed to his own dragon, jabbing on to one of its tusks to get back on it in the hopes it would get the rest of the dragons under control.
"No, no, no, NO!" Drago yelled. "Fight back! FIGHT BACK! What's the matter with you?!" The 'Dragon God' was at a loss. How could this be happening? He could only watch in bafflement as his entire army of dragons, even the ones coated in armor that he had given them on his ships, were flooding away from him and now choosing to hover over the Night Fury. As if on cue, the residents of Berk, having been hiding away in the shadows of their destroyed homes, began to step out into the light of the morning, giving themselves their own makeshift army as they stood defiant against him. Drago's eyes darted around in a panic, gritting his teeth in his frustration that he had been clearly outmatched. From the crowds, he saw the riders take the lead of their pack, with Stoick the Vast almost seeming to smile at how satisfying it was to have beaten him.
"See?!" the chief screamed from the ground. "If there's one thing my son taught us all, it's that this is what it means to earn a dragon's loyalty!" Toothless hissed in agreement, his eyes having fixed on Drago with a stare that almost screamed murder. "You have one last chance, Bludvist!" Stoick continued. "Leave now or we'll make you leave permanently!"
"NEVER!" Drago howled back, refusing to accept defeat. He pushed his bullhook into the air, jabbing it forward as a final ploy to win. His Bewilderbeast didn't even get the chance to react. Seeing the thrusting motion of the weapon, Toothless arched his head up and roared to the rest of the dragons now on his side of the battlefield. Immediately, they all opened their mouths, the beginning of fire starting to burn behind their teeth before it suddenly overflowed. Violently. One by one, the dragons began to launch a gigantic volley of heat towards the Bewilderbeast, each shot causing its huge frame to shake and shudder as it barely had a chance to see what was happening through all the smoke. Toothless joined in with just as much effort, his much more powerful blasts thanks to that internal fire almost hot enough to leave burn marks across the former Alpha's scales. The Night Fury's throat was burning tpp from the exertion, well having passed his usual limit for shots. But he had to be sure. He had to make sure that these scum would never return to hurt his home and his people again.
'This is for all the dragons you stole! This is for all the people you've hurt! THIS is for destroying our home! THIS is for destroying my...!"
Toothless couldn't finish the thought as he kept firing. As the intensity of his fire began to feel like it was singing the inside of his throat from all the exertion, his eyes were screwing up to hold back tears. Every raw emotion, every feeling of guilt and anger and grief and sadness, was combining together to literally fuel the fire. It was doing wonders. The Bewilderbeast reared up, trying to shield itself somehow from the blasts. The repeated determined thoughts of Toothless came to fruition when a particular bolt of plasma suddenly slammed into one of its tusks. It began to crack, fail under the weight of itself before the nearly severed growth broke apart and left a trail of smoke behind it as it crashed to the ground. The Bewilderbeast howled, its eyes giving Toothless an equally murderous stare for somehow managing to do this. Toothless glared back at him, even as tiny trickles of blood started to leak out from the sides of his mouth. He would live. This kind of pain was nothing to what this monster had done. The Night Fury parted his jaws once again and howled a final fierce roar. A noise that served as a final warning for the disgraced Alpha to never come near these shores again. The larger dragon looked pitiful, ignoring the continued pleas of his master to stay. Drago could only roar in anger as the Bewilderbeast turned tail and dived back to towards the ocean, the splash of its weight against the sea foam coating the rocks it stood on in moisture.
Berk erupted into thunderous applause. People hugged one another, slapped hands, raising their arms upwards to welcome their beloved dragons home. The creatures began to descend onto the island, both Berk and Sanctuary resident alike. The people ran forward, embracing their companions with open arms now that the siege was over. Toothless, now having cooled down to his usual black color, panted as he slowly made his way down the spire of ice he had been clambering on. His claws touched solid ground as he noticed Stoick, Valka and Astrid reuniting with their own dragons. Stormfly looked as overjoyed and playful as ever, Skullcrusher stood solid and proud and Cloudjumper landed with nearly cat-like grace as he leaned into his rider's cheek. Toothless dared a slight smile. He felt proud of himself that this had come to pass thanks to him. He hoped that Hiccup was proud of him too. As the three Vikings and their dragons turned their attention back to him, Toothless was surprised to see that every other dragon on the island was now staring at him. They sat still, looking down at his smaller frame. Cloudjumper seemed to lead them all as the four-winged beast took careful steps towards the Night Fury. To everyone's surprise, the Stormcutter lowered his head to the ground, like he was bowing. Every other dragon did the same. Toothless was shocked, looking around plethora of scale colors in amazement. Was he...? Was he the new Alpha? The others trusted him so to give him this honor? Cloudjumper raised his head back upwards again and took another few steps towards Toothless. He seemed to look almost proud of the little dragon, even if he could sense that the Night Fury's nearly endless energy had been exhausted by something terrible. He dare not guess as to what since he has lost nearly all memory of the Sanctuary battle under the Bewilderbeast's control. But nevertheless, the Stormcutter leaned his head in gently, vibrating his fins as a gesture of support. Toothless closed his eyes, nodding his head to show his thanks. Well, at least he could say he wasn't a bother to Cloudjumper anymore.
Suddenly, Toothless' neck seemed convulse as a splatter of blood was suddenly coughed onto the ground. The group winced at seeing the small spray of red. Thin lines of it drooled from the gaps between his teeth, almost unsurprising given how much that fire had consumed the entire inside of the dragon's body. He had overdone it, for sure. He was weary and he was hurting. But he had won. Stoick, Valka and Astrid approached Toothless and gently held his exhausted head up with their hands, even as he panted in exhaustion from what he'd done. They all knelt in front of him, smiling in thanks for being the brave and good dragon they all knew he was. They spoke words to him, some encouraging, some of gratitude. He couldn't make them out too well in his tired state, but he was grateful for every one they said. As the Night Fury looked around the island, seeing the reunions of dragons and humans alike, he couldn't help but feel a slight tinge of fear in his gut once again. Everyone looked so happy. He too had felt relief and strength when he thought he had earned a reunion of his own. When his human's voice had responded to him. He dared a question.
'Hiccup...? Hiccup, can you still hear me? Please, tell me you can hear me...'
Toothless received no such answer to it. He no longer felt the presence of someone being with him through the fight, he didn't feel the warmth that voice had brought to him in his time of need. Now all he was left with was the images of others being able to experience something he wouldn't be able to again. The fear that he had lost his rider again turned back into doubt. Had he imagined it? Could he have made it all up in his head just as a way to cope with the pressure? Had Hiccup really been there or... had he just wanted him to be? Toothless's body slumped downwards, the dragon falling into a weak sitting position. The remaining members of the Haddock family and Astrid gasped in shock trying to support him, the dragon's eyes drooping closed. Astrid and Valka stroked around the Alpha's ear plates, trying to soothe the pain he felt physically and emotionally. Now that he no longer had a goal to focus on, they were nearly certain that Toothless would slip back into his grief. He had every right to do that. But they wanted to be there for him if he did. Stoick, raising up off of one knee, turned around and raised a hand into the air. The rest of the village hushed in their talking, paying attention and hoping for an explanation as to what had happened. It was not going to be a nice one to hear.
"Today... we managed to show the world that Vikings and dragons can be kindred spirits," Stoick announced. "It's been something we've held as our belief for over 5 years. But that belief has not come without sacrifice. It had not come without losing things we have held dear. And today..." Stoick trailed off. He grit his teeth. The fact he was having to say this made all of the feelings back on that shoreline come back to him.
"Today... we lost something very important. To everyone here. To the dragons. And to me..." The crowd didn't need to know what he was talking about. The absence of Toothless' rider spoke volumes. Stoick cleared his throat, putting on a brave face as he continued to talk.
"Hiccup may... Hiccup may no longer be with us. But he would not want us to succumb to that fact. We will take the time to mourn him... and we will remember him. But most importantly of all, we will carry on what he started. We will be an example to how Vikings and dragons can live together." Stoick nodded his head in confirmation of his orders, raising a fist into the air.
"For Hiccup!" The island joined them in solidarity, raising their arms towards the sky with a roar of voices echoing Stoick's words. They would carry on.
For Hiccup.
As the night settled in and first day's work of rebuilding ceased, Toothless lay resting in the Haddock household. He had done so for most of the day under the insistence of both Valka and Gothi. With a multitude of salves and oils to ease the burns to his neck, the dragon was trying to sleep. Naturally, he couldn't. It wasn't to do with the responsibilities of being the new Alpha. It wasn't even to do with the fact that he was in pain. No, this was more to do with the empty bed that rested so near his own. The sight was just plain alien to the Night Fury, like he was staring at a picture that was missing something glaringly obvious. He had chosen to rest here as he normally did in the hopes it would ease his mind. It was having the opposite effect This place just smelled of Hiccup. It smelled of their memories together. The times he had stayed up until the early hours listening to Hiccup fantasise about the lands they were going to find, the times they had worked together on editing the Book Of Dragons with their discoveries, even the odd time they had snuck in some extra food for a midnight snack. The room reminded him of nothing but the best times he had had with his human. So then... why did Toothless still feel so sad?
'Hiccup... I miss you. I miss you more than anything in the world. Why won't you talk to me?'
Toothless still didn't get a response to his thought. The Night Fury whined, resting his head onto his front claws. It was early morning. Maybe he was starting to crack, mentally talking to someone who would never answer him. As his eyes slid shut, the dragon's back heaved as he felt the beginnings of tears start to form behind his eyelids. He knew this would be a recurring thing for a long time to come. Every night, sat in a place of remembrance and with no one else to share it with. The Night Fury spluttered, burying his head into his front claws and he softly wept to himself. He missed Hiccup so much, more than his whole heart could stand. It hurt. More than his throat, more than his aching limbs, more than anything. He... just needed him. The vibrations of the dragon's noises rumbled through the floorboards of the house as he curled his body inwards on itself. Why wouldn't his other half speak to him like before? Had he done something wrong? Had he not been the good dragon Hiccup expected him to be...?
Toothless' thoughts were interrupted when he heard a deep growl catch his attention. He raised his head, his eyes looking wet in the dim glow of the latern nearby. Cloudjumper had nearly silently slipped his way upstairs, the larger of the pair watching him from afar near the floor's edge. Toothless averted his gaze, resting his head back on his claws with a nearly blank expression, the odd huff of air being the only clue that he was trying to stop his tears. Cloudjumper's expression frowned. He knew that his companion was hurting. Losing anyone close to you would do that. He also knew that the young one had so much responsibility thrown onto his shoudlers just for trying to do the right thing. The Stormcutter came closer, sitting by Toothless' side and leaning his head down to inspect the Night Fury over. He smelled sad. In fact, he smelled the same way that his Valka had done many times before over the last 20 years. Every so often, Cloudjumper would catch his rider clearly gripped by some sort of sorrow. Whether it was to do with her guilt of leaving her old life behind or losing some of their nest to Drago's forces, he had hated to see Valka that way. So keeping her tucked under his wing was what he did to help, offering her a bit of a cocoon to hide herself away from the world and rest. He had done that today for a very long time for Valka. He had never see her so upset, even though she had been happy to be finally home. He could only hope she had done most of her grieving today. Cloudjumper remembered that Toothless had tried to do the same thing before back at the Sanctuary, hopping round in his innocent demeanor and simply trying to make friends by hiding under his wing. To tell the truth, Cloudjumper almost felt a little guilty at having rebuffed him before, especially seeing his new Alpha like this. With a gentle movement, the Stormcutter raised up one of the wings on his side and gently draped it over Toothless' body. If it could ease a human's mind, why not a dragon's? The Night Fury's ear plates twitched, raising up in confusion as to why the world had suddenly turned darker. He looked upwards, seeing Cloudjumper staring down at him with a slightly cocked head. The gesture seemed more than appreciated as Toothless shuffled himself a little closer to warmth of his companion's body, resting his head down again with a shaky whine. Cloudjumper kept his head up, almost like he was standing guard over the Alpha. It was the least he felt he could do after today.
As Toothless finally started to drift after who knows how long, the lingering question in the Night Fury's head still rolled around in his thoughts. Had he really heard Hiccup today? Was his human still with him in some way?
And, if so, why is it that no one else appeared to have heard him?