Hello again! I'm back from Massachusetts and the story is back from the depths of my computer. I hope you enjoy this chapter, as it is one I worked rather hard on (yes, I said hard on...perverts. Or does that just make me one? ... Shut up! This story was rated T for a reason!).
So, anyway, read, enjoy, whatever you feel like. I'm polishing the rest of the story, as well as it's epilogue. Oops, did I let that slip? ;)
They were getting in way over their heads, Astrid knew that. But it was hard to focus on the task ahead as she sat behind Hiccup, her arms around his waist. She felt safe and secure with him, something she never expected from the likes of Hiccup Haddock. They were astride a tamed Nadder and were speeding towards the dragons' infamous nest.
"We almost there?" Tuffnut called impatiently. He and his twin sister Ruffnut followed behind, each riding on either of the Zippleback's two heads.
"We should get there in about three hours," Fishlegs said matter-of-factly from his Gronckle.
"Shut up, dumbass, Hiccup said it'd only take us like twenty minutes!" Snotlout shouted from astride the Nightmare.
Astrid giggled. Although their class was a strange lot, she couldn't help but think that they also had a variety of useful strengths, from Fishlegs' ability to memorize (mostly) crucial facts to Snotlout's eager determination.
"Feeling okay, Astrid?" Hiccup turned his head towards her.
"What? Oh!" She hadn't noticed that as they entered the thick mist that she had tightened her grip around his waist. "Yeah, sorry."
He smiled nervously at her and faced forward again. She had noticed Snotlout glaring at Hiccup's apparent way with women.
She felt her heart begin to race as the cliffs' outline loomed ahead. "Almost there!" Hiccup yelled from the head of the group. May Thor help us...
"Oh no," Hiccup breathed. Astrid followed his gaze and saw three ships from the Viking fleet up in flames, and another starting to catch on.
That wasn't half as frightening as the monstrous beast that attacked the fleeing Vikings now. The gigantic dragon ahead towered high over the ships and catapults positioned on the beach and seemed to be furious. Two of the catapults were crushed into piles of splinters.
The group of teens announced their presence with loud, triumphant cries of "Hey!" and "We're riding dragons!" The army, which had been fleeing to the other side of the island, instantly craned their necks skyward and saw the group waving and soaring.
Once they flew past the army and were out of reach of what had to be the Mother dragon, Hiccup ordered for them to hover in midair for their briefing.
"Alright, Fishlegs, give us the rundown on that thing!" He commanded. Astrid couldn't help but admire the way he could take control of such a heated situation.
"Heavily armored skull and tail, used for bashing and crushing," He said rapidly. They saw the effect of that as it turned suddenly and bashed through another two ships. "Small eyes, large nostrils make it rely on hearing and smell!"
"That'll have to do!" Hiccup cut him off. "Snotlout, 'Legs, hang out in it's blind spot, make a lot of noise, keep it confused! Ruff, Tuff, find out if it has shot limits! Make it mad!"
"That's my specialty!" Ruff proclaimed, punching the air.
"No way!" Tuff yelled. "Everyone knows I'm more irritating! See!" He began making strange faces and ornery gestures.
Hiccup sighed audibly. "Look, just do what I tell you! I'll be back as soon as I can!" Hiccup steered the Nadder off in the direction of the ships, where the Vikings had chained Toothless, and Astrid gave an encouraging salute.
Once they made it they hovered above the ships, searching for the Night Fury. "There!" Astrid pointed to one of the ships on fire, in the midst of which was Toothless, struggling against the chains.
The Nadder banked and soared down low enough for Hiccup to slip off and jump down safely.
"Go, help the others!" He yelled over the roar of the fires. "I'll be back in a minute!"
Astrid nodded. It was painful for her to leave him in the midst of the suffocating flames, but she knew nothing would keep him from his best friend, and flew off.
She soared quickly towards the Mother Dragon and ordered the Nadder to open fire. It shot the Mother and got it's attention. "Good, good!" She said to the Nadder, though she doubted it would understand. She could see Snotlout and Fishlegs thwaking away on their shields to the annoyance of the Mother and, unfortunately, their mounts.
Fishleg's Gronckle was the first to lose control. It was thrown off by the sharp, piercing sound of metal-on-metal and dove towards the ground. The Nadder continued to bombard the Mother with fire, not necessarily enough to seriously hurt it but enough to get it riled up. Snotlout was the second to lose control as the Nightmare bucked him off onto the Mother's snout. He took his opportunity and charged at one side of it's face to blind it with his hammer.
"Yeah, now that's a Viking!" Astrid called out encouragingly. Snotlout took his eyes off the Mother to smile at her.
Dammit, where's Hiccup? We can't do this forever! But she wasn't exactly irritated; she trusted him enough not to do that.
"Ruffnut, Tuffnut! Get him off of there, we need him elsewhere!" She called to the twins as the Mother tried to shake Snotlout off. Tuffnut nodded, Ruffnut saluted and they were off.
Astrid saw a slim black figure dart up into the sky. "He's up!" She shouted triumphantly as Toothless took off near the inferno of fiery ships.
Astrid continued to attract the Mother's attention, sending fiery bolts at it's side and head. It began to come after her and the Nadder turned to fly away.
But they weren't getting anywhere. "Oh, what's wrong?" She turned and saw the Mother inhaling, pulling them inches and inches nearer to a fiery death.
"No! Come, on, come on!" She kept looking back frantically, seeing that the Nadder's efforts were becoming fruitless. Her heart pounded painfully loudly in her ears. No no no no no no! Oh -
A high pitched wail had her whipping her head around just in time to see a dark figure speeding towards them. A blindingly bright blur shot from it into the side of the Mother's cavernous mouth and the explosion that ensued sent Astrid flying off the Nadder and downward toward the rocky coast.
She prayed and prayed that she wouldn't feel the pain of being killed by falling on the jagged rocks. Downward she tumbled -
Suddenly, she wasn't falling. She was speeding through the air, upside down, but very much alive. Something was gripping her left leg, and once she looked up to investigate she saw the underside of a Night Fury.
"Didja get her?" She heard a familiar voice ask from astride the dragon. Astrid looked towards the front of it and saw Toothless' familiar face look back to check. She smiled widely at her luck and waved happily at him. She could almost swear that Toothless smiled at her just before he lifted his head once more.
Toothless flipped her in midair so that he held her by the shoulders, then dropped her safely on a large rock.
"Go!" She cheered. Once she saw that they were off to do battle with the Mother, she turned and ran to join the Viking army.
Voila! Reviews, please?
Oh, by the way, I'm working on a story dedicated to my creative outbursts that just so happen to turn into a series of one-shots. Be on the look out for that/those if you'd like more not-in-the-movie goodness that I know you love so much. :D