Hey everyone! Sorry this is so incredibly late, I've just kind of needed a break from fanfic for a while. Ya know, to keep me from getting sick of writing. I hope you all enjoy!
(Astrid's 3rd person POV)
Astrid took a few deep breaths. Her sapphire eyes widened as her chest heaved. Her axe hung loosely from her hand and her golden bangs fell over her eye. The ringing in her ears faded and the roaring applause finally hit her ears, she could almost feel her heartbeat. She'd done it. She's kill the Monstrous Nightmare. She'd become a true Viking.
"ASTRID! ASTRID! ASTRID!" The crowd chanted. Astrid looked down at her blood smeared axe, completely ignoring the searing burn on her arm and bloody scrape on her knee. She looked over that the slain beast. Blood slowly poured out of the dragon's stomach where she had delivered the final blow. In death, it looked so peaceful, its orange and red scales glistened, its long head a few feet from her. People started to jump down and lift her onto their shoulders, but her smile still did not appear on her face. Something happened during that fight, and no one saw it but her...
(Five minutes earlier)
"AHHHHHH!" Astrid let out a war cry as she ran at the Nightmare with her axe, the crowd cheered excitedly as she smashed the flat side of her axe onto the Nightmare's head. It roared and snapped at her angrily, it had run out of fire, but it still had sharp claws and teeth. Astrid ducked out of the way and slashed the beast's side, it roared even louder before finding a tiny bit of fire left and spitting it at Astrid's which burned her arm, she yelped in pain before swinging at the dragon again, guaranteeing death. She stared at the Nightmare angrily, until she noticed something as it bled out. Its eyes slowly started to close, she saw the fear, the anger, the pain and the sorrow. These dragons weren't just mindless killing machines. They were so much more...
The entire village cheered drunkenly as they danced around the Great Hall, people constantly swarmed Astrid, who smiled politely at each excited congratulations. But she mostly just stared solemnly into her drink. She should've been ecstatic, she was now considered to be one of them, a true Viking, but she couldn't stop thinking about that poor dragon.
"Stoick should have been back with her by now." A voice muttered, catching Astrid's attention, the Berk council sat at the table behind her. She very discretely pushed her seat a few inches closer so she could hear them.
"You don't think we already know that! Berk needs its chief and lose that dragon loving scum." An old man hissed, prompting Gobber bite his lip angrily, "Its probably a good thing that he went off and got himself killed, at least now we've got rid of his mother, not that she should be alive anyways-"
"Heh, and Mildew, you actually cared about someone other than yourself when?" Gobber hissed with venom, making Mildew glare daggers at him.
"Calm down, both of you." A man said calmly, "Sweetie, I know you're listening in."
"Sorry dad." Astrid muttered sheepishly as the table turned to face her.
"Gunnar, keep your daughter from eavesdropping!" Mildew snarled, making Astrid ball her fist in anger
"Be quiet Mildew."" He said sternly, "I was going to ask her to join us anyways."
"R-Really? Why?" She asked in confusion.
"Because we're going to go after the Chief and Valka, and I want you to come with us." He answered as Astrid's face lit up.
"Really?!" She asked excitedly as Gunnar smiled and nodded.
"Yes, and I even somehow cleared it with your mother. We leave first thing tomorrow morning!" Gunnar declared as most of the table cheered and clashed their mugs together, all except for Mildew.
"Are you really putting a little girl on an important mission?" He scoffed as Gunnar cracked his knuckled and stood up.
"Yes, I am." He hissed, making Mildew shrink down nervously; Astrid laughed.
"I better get my bags ready." She chirped before running out of the Hall, but then she slowed, "But for the love of Thor please tell me I don't have to hurt any dragons." She muttered.
Astrid and Gunnar made their way down towards the docks, the cool morning air lifting Astrid's spirits as they boarded the ship. It was a large sailboat, meant for long fishing trips, but it would do good for this too.
"Now we really get to use your dragon killing potential! This ship won't defend itself." Gunnar mused as Astrid giggled nervously.
"Y-Yeah, I couldn't be anymore excited." She answered before sighing and walking away to help load the ship with supplies. Soon they were off into the open ocean. It takes about a week to leave the archipelago by ship, so this was going to be kind of a long trip.
"When he left, chief left a note saying he was going to follow Valka. He said that we are going outside the archipelago. Now I've heard that there was a bigger abundance of dragons in the south, so I say our best bet is to head that way first." Gunnar explained.
"Astrid, go and get set up in your cabin." He told Astrid, who scoffed.
"A cabin? More like a closet." She muttered as Gobber noticed them and laughed.
"At least you aren't laying on a wooden deck. Hehe, as if my back couldn't get any worse." He mused as Astrid raised an eyebrow.
"Gobber, do you want my cabin?-"
"Well, since you mentioned it, yes." He laughed before walking away, making Astrid and Gunnar both laugh before the anchor was pulled, and they were off.
Astrid stared at the churning waves in boredom. It had been a full week since they'd left Berk and the trip had been nothing short of boring. They had been attacked by a few Gronkles after sailing too close to their territory, but that was the only real thing that had happened.
"Boring, huh?" Gunnar mused as he leaned on the boat next to his daughter.
"Yeah, no kidding." She muttered as Gunnar laughed.
"You'll be fine. According to my map, that island way out there has Vikings on it, we can ask them if they've seen the chief." He explained as he pointed to a small dot on the horizon.
"Okaaaay, but what if they're hostile? Or don't speak Norse? Or both? There are so many things wrong with that plan." Astrid pointed out as Gunnar shoved her playfully.
"C'mon, have some faith in your old man." He said with a grin as Astrid allowed a small smile to form on her face as well, "That's my girl."
"Your plan still sucks." She concluded with a grin before walking away, making Gunnar shoot her a playful grin. He looked past his daughter curiously as another boat, floated atop the gentle waves. The insignia on the mast was a red fist. He stared at it for a little longer before pushing past the other crewmen and to the other side to get a better look.
"Dad?" Astrid questioned as she followed.
"Something seems off about that ship." He muttered as Astrid raised an eyebrow.
"What are you talking about? It's just a harmless boat." She rationalized, but Gunnar wasn't having it.
"No, there's something, not right, about that boat." He whispered before, like a firecracker, something was launched over via catapult. A few crew members jumps back in surprise, it was a dead boar. Just the corpse of a boar.
"Hah! You're going to have to try harder than that if you want to attack us!" Spitelout taunted, but Gunnar quickly shut him up. They listened and wait for about ten seconds, until a latch could be heard springing open and dozens of dragon emerged from the ship and headed right for their ship.
"DRAGONS!" Gunnar screamed as he pushed Astrid down protectively and pulled out his sword.
"Oh gods." Astrid muttered as she scrambled back off and shakily grabbed her axe. It wasn't ideal, but she loved her people more than those dragons and would fight to protect them. The ship quickly sailed away, but not so much that it was completely out of sight, strange. Astrid's thoughts were jarred when she found herself diving out of the way of a few Nadder spines. She quickly regained her composure before looking up at the sky and noticed two more dragons coming through the clouds.
"No." She whispered frantically as she ran behind a barrel and ducked for cover, making sure she could keep her eyes on the dragons. One was a Timberjack, and one was a dragon she'd never seen before. It had pitch black scales and acid green eyes. But that wasn't even the weirdest part, they had RIDERS on their backs! She rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things, but it was true. Two riders sat perched on the dragons' backs.
"Dad! Look!" Astrid screamed as she shot from her hiding place and sprinted through the chaos up to her father, who was shooting some arrows at the attackers.
"Not now Astrid!" He snarled angrily, he always got really 'in the zone' while fighting. Astrid stomped her foot on the ground in annoyance as she watched the riders get closer. But then, they shot at the attackers. Just a few warning shots to get them to run off. One dragon did end up swooping down to grab the boar before racing off.
"Are you all okay?!" One of the riders shouted, he was riding atop the mysterious dragon.
"That's a Night Fury." Gobber whispered to Gunnar, who's grey eyes widened in shock.
"YOU KILLED HICCUP!" He exclaimed as the riders looked at each other before preparing to speed off, but then a net came flying by and the same ship from before mysteriously slipped into view. Realization dawned on Astrid. This wasn't just some random violent attack, it was trap for those two dragon riders.
"Cami go!" Hiccup screamed as he and Toothless plummeted from the sky, the freezing water was an icy jolt.
"HICCUP!" Cami yelled after him as she prepared to go after him, but then they just barely avoided two nets, making Windslicer roar and fly out of range.
"I'LL GO GET MALA! DON'T WORRY!" She called out as Toothless screeched and the net closed in on the two. They were hoisted up and Hiccup glared daggers at Ryker, who was smirking at them.
"It's too bad that your precious dragon queen won't be ruining the occasion, because your father would never let that happen." He sneered, "Is the chief on that boat or not?!" He snarled before Hiccup's eyes widened.
"H-How did you know I'm his son?" He asked nervously as Toothless continued to struggle beneath him.
"Let's just say I research my facts." Viggo answered as he walked up to them.
"Mala told us about you, you're Viggo! You make me sick!" Hiccup snarled as Toothless grunted in approval.
"Haha, you words mean nothing to me boy." Viggo countered before looking over at the ship if stunned Vikings.
"Which one of you is his father?!" He questioned as everyone gasped in shock as Viggo spun the net so Hiccup would face them.
"Stoick's not on this boat! He's been off the island for more than a week!" Gobber snapped as Viggo raised his eyebrow.
"Is that so? Oh, well in case you do run into him. Tell him that in order to go and get his son. He'll need to bring two hundred gold pieces to this location." Viggo explained as the dragon hunters moved their ship closer and boarded the Berkian one, he handed Gunnar a map, who snatched it from his hands and read it.
"Is there a specific time we need to get it to you by?" He questioned angrily.
"Of course not. He'll just be in our custody for longer." Viggo explained as Ryker shot a dragon root arrow at Toothless and bound Hiccup's hands.
"Don't fall for it!" Hiccup warned as Ryker shoved a rag in his mouth and secured it with a strip of of cloth that he tied around the youth's head.
"That'll shut you up." He sneered as Hiccup glared at them angrily before looking back at the Berkian ship and shakily his head violently, making Gobber stare at him sadly. Ryker lead him away into the lower deck and a few other Hunters tied up Toothless, who was struggling against the ropes feebly.
Cami sprinted through the dark dungeon tunnels, Throk trailed behind her quickly and nervously. She had run into Throk while looking for Mala and quickly informed him on the situation. He had told her that she was asking Stoick and Valka a few questions, which of course prompted them to run in on them.
"Why would you surpress Hiccup's intellect? He could have done great things for your tribe." Mala questioned angrily as a Stoick glared daggers at her, although he knew he couldn't attack, there were three other guards ready to pounce at any small move to hurt their Queen.
"Mala! MALA!" Cami screamed as she raced to the cell. Throk quickly helped her unlock it and they raced inside.
"What is it Camicazi?" She asked as Stoick and Valka watched in interest. Cami pulled down her hood, making Stoick gasp and Valka look at him in confusion.
"It's Hiccup! The-The Dragon Hunters l-lured us into a trap! Somehow they knew a Berkain ship was going to be sailing through, so they sent some dragons on them and then they shot a net and got them!" She frantically burst, making Mala stare at her in concerned interest.
"Hiccup's been captured?!" Valka exclaimed, fear shook her body as Stoick put a steady hand on his wife's shoulder, calming her down a bit.
"Cami, do you have any other pieces of information that might be useful?" He asked coolly, but the worry on his face was still very evident.
"N-No. But I think the Berkains might be heading in this direction. Mala, if you or your men see a ship with a circular dragon on the mast, don't act hostile." She ordered.
"Those are my people headed towards here, let me out of prison to show that they shouldn't act hostile as well. They don't take kindly to having their chief in chains." Stoick said as Mala sighed.
"You have a point there Chief Haddock. I will let you free, on the one condition that you do not leave the island under any circumstance." She explained as Stoick nodded and Mala stepped out of the way of the door, allowing Stoick to walk out, Valka following after him. But she was stopped by Mala's long sword.
"I said he was free to go. You have to stay here, until you have proven to me that you are of importance to this situation." She explained as Valka's jaw dropped.
"I'm Hiccup's mother! Of course I am of importance to this!" She snarled as Mala's moss green eyes darkened and the grip on his long sword visibly tightened. Valka sighed and took a defeated step back.
"Val?" Stoick asked in shock as she smiled at him sadly.
"Don't worry, I'll get out of here eventually." She said before Stoick sighed and nodded, then walked away accompanied by everyone else. The door slammed shut and locked with a loud *click!*. Leaving her alone with nothing but a clouded mind.
Oh my gods! I swear I am SO SORRY! I didn't think I would be gone this long! I just kept putting it off and putting it off until I looked at the last time I updated any of my fanfics. Again guys, I'm so sorry for making you all wait so long, I feel like Dreamworks after delaying httyd 3 to 2019 XD