Again, the number of readers every chapter for my story has been gradually declining; please review and tell me what is driving you away so I can fix it!
(Excluding Chapter 6, which somehow has more views than Chapter 5.)
Chapter 8:
The constant sound of purring echoed throughout the night sky, adding to the sounds that nature had to offer. Toothless was contently wallowing in a dream that was him with his rider, Hiccup, though most of it was actually a certain Night Fury shamelessly gorging an obscene amount of Icelandic Cod. Toothless's mouth watered as he dreamt, happily visualizing himself indulging in his favourite food.
The night seemed to go by uneventfully, until an odd feeling poked at the Night Fury's side where Hiccup slept, provoking the sleeping dragon to wake. The green eyes groggily lurched open, his mind still in the deep haze of sleep.
As usual, his front limb was slung over the boy in a manner that allowed Toothless to have better protective grip over the boy if anything should happen, as he was more protective of the boy since the accident. Hiccup, while under his limb, felt rather warm. This was an odd sensation to the Night Fury because dragons had a constantly burning fire in their bodies that acted as a warming device which kept them alive even through the coldest winters. Because of this useful trait, dragons have a higher internal temperature and shouldn't feel a hot difference in heat between him and mammals, since the mammals' internal temperatures were lower, so why is Hiccup so unusually warm…?
The concerned Night Fury pulled his wing off the sleeping boy and his mind was daunted with fears at the sight that beheld him. Hiccup's slightly tanned face was now pale, and his cheeks were flushed with distinct red blotches. Normally, as Toothless had noticed, humans tend to dispel an amount of salty smelling liquid out of their skins in proportion to the temperature of their bodies, but Hiccup was extremely warm to the touch while his skin was bone dry! Toothless quickly brought his front limb off Hiccup's chest and stood up, a sense of urgency running through his mind to reawaken his rider.
The Night Fury brought his muzzle down to the boy, repeatedly nudging his rider. Each nudge got more forceful from the last in the sincere hope that one, just one, nudge will finally arouse the boy from his slumber. A growl of worry escaped the Night Fury's throat, seeing no response from the boy.
The Night Fury took a pace back, dreadfully staring at his rider's ill-stricken face. Fears ran rampant through the dragon's mind; was his rider sick? Is it his injuries…? Humans in general were frail enough already; they didn't have much fur apart from a few places, and they didn't have a flame to keep them warm, they don't even have claws! Now an unknown sickness has swept over his rider, making it that much worse for him to survive?
Toothless leaned forward, sniffing parts of Hiccup where the dragon knew he had injuries to, attempting to figure out what was causing his ailment. First the leg; no odd smell there… the chest held the same results. It couldn't be the injuries, then what? A disease maybe…? A sudden gust of wind from the sea reminded the Night Fury that it his human was even frailer in this condition.
With the motive to keep his rider warm, the Night Fury trudged over to Hiccup and laid adjacent, allowing the best sharing of body heat. Doubts wandered the dragon's mind while he laid down; if Hiccup is overheating without sweating, wouldn't warming him up worsen it? Or will leaving him in the autumn winter kill him? Toothless got back up off the ground, unsure what would be the best thing to do.
He pondered for a second before a conclusion was settled, the Night Fury decided that it was best to keep him over warm, than let him die of hypothermia. Again, Toothless draped his wings over the boy and brought him close to his side, hoping for the best that his rider would awaken soon. He crooned in anxiousness, unknowing what would become of his human companion.
****LINEBREAK***
"I am calling off the search."
With that one, blatant statement, the Mead Hall fell into a state of stillness. Astrid was appalled; their chief had abandoned his son, and only after two days of searching! What was he thinking?
"I've thought about this for a while, weighing my options carefully. And I have come ta' a decision that it would be best… best for Berk if we halt all search an' prepare for winter." Stoic said with a considerable amount of sullenness.
The chief did make sense; Berk was definitely not ready for the upcoming winter, and the short timeframe they had to gather, store, and prepare supplies was further shortened by the mass search party that had been conducted. Even if a small fraction of the village would be out searching for Hiccup from now, to the beginning of winter, it would most likely worsen the degree of famine amongst the people during the winter and finally, allow more casualties at the feet of nature.
"The boy is guarded by his Night Fury, and I am confident, that te' black beast will do it with the utmost diligence, as shown during the battle of the Green Death."
A few murmurs of agreements arose amongst the crowd, acknowledging how especially protective this certain Night Fury was to its rider.
"By the first sign of winter's end, the search will resume. But for now, I believe that this is the correct route for Berk and-"
"Now wait a minute!" Astrid bellowed while pushing through the enormous Vikings to get to the center fire pit. "We can't just leave him out there! What if he's injured? Or sick? Fishlegs, tell them!" Astrid said, turning to Fishlegs. The boy's eyes darted around the walls in surprise that the limelight had suddenly flashed to him.
"Well-uh, if t-the whole villi-iage went out to s-search…" Fishlegs stuttered, trembling under the focus of every man in the room. "There would b-be a s-significantl-ly lower ch-chance that the required preparations would b-be done for the winter. Even if the s-search was extended for a day longer, t-that would be-." Fishlegs fearfully glanced at Astrid's eyes, fierce with anger and the thought of 'murder' looking dangerously present. The boy dropped his eyes to the ground. Astrid reverted her attention off Fishlegs and glared at the assembly of Vikings, determined to change their minds.
"Just because we're not 'ready' for winter, you're going to abandon Hiccup? The same guy who saved all your lives? Are you kidding me?" The young Viking girl screamed with a volume that seemed to reach Valhalla itself. With a final fist pomp she bellowed with her most motivating voice, "Now who's with me in finding Hiccup?"
The Mead Hall sat in an awkward silence, no one opting to raise their hands. Astrid's eyes widened in consternation at the selfish, double-crossing crowd that held the undeserving titles of 'Vikings.'
"I don't believe this! He risked his life for you, and now you're not even going to attempt to risk your life to find him?"
A few guilty scratches on the neck was the only response the people gave. Seconds passed by in silence, before Astrid broke out in a second outburst. "You know what? I am going to find Hiccup, and I don't need any of you to help! Cowards!"
She stomped off into the direction of the exit, her path continuously created by the shifting of Vikings. She didn't look any of them in the eye as she stomped by, her furious demeanour did all the talking that was needed.
"Astrid, wait!" Snotlout yelled, sprinting to the door. He screeched to a stop, blocking the exit with his extended arms. "Think about it! If you go out there, you might freeze to death, or worse! and, plus, if Hiccup isn't here, maybe we could out together…?"
She pondered for a second about the first statement, but immediately dismissed it after Snotlout's second piece of ignorant utterance. Astrid snorted in rebuttal, not even bothering to respond the idiocy that was said. She nonchalantly pushed Snotlout aside like a piece of furniture before exiting the Mead Hall with the burning determination of finding Hiccup.
Down the road at Astrid's house, Spiky laid on the grass, resting from the whole day of flying. A few snorts of fire blew out of his nose each time he 'snored', an attribute that forced him to sleep outside in fear of causing a house fire. Astrid strode towards the dragon, debating with herself if this was too much of a hardship on her dragon. After all, most of their movements were the sole efforts of Spiky.
She gently placed her hand on Spiky's blue-yellow snout, feeling the warmth of his snores. "Hey Spiky." Astrid said in a soothing voice, not wanting to rudely yank him out of his dreams. The dragon lazily shifted its head, and opened its eyes to stare at his rider, wondering what was happening.
"We're going to find Hiccup, you up for it Spiky? It would be really exhausting and I really don't want to force you into-" Astrid's explanation was cut off by a nudge from her Nadder, almost appearing to understand that a favour was being asked, and showing that he wasn't going to ditch his rider, even through the hardships it may have. A smile appeared on Astrid's face upon seeing this, happy to have such a loyal friend.
She saddled up Spiky with haste, not wanting to deal with anyone who might try to change her audacious decision. Seconds before the last buckle was secured, a voice from her house roared at her, leaving her cringing at the realization of who it was.
"Astrid! You come back into the house right now!" Astrid's mother roared with intensity that seemed to run in the family.
Astrid turned around, facing the full front of her mother's enraged expression. "Mom, everyone in Berk is going to wake up the next morning, and forget that there is a boy out there who is possibly injured, sick, or even dead." She said, gesturing to the buildings around to illustrate her point. "And I don't care if you allow me or not, but I will find him." The young Viking hopped onto her Nadder, leaving her mother in a fit of rage, unable to speak at the defiance of her only daughter.
"Let's go Spiky!" She yelled. Spiky swiftly leapt off the ground, simultaneously flapping her wings to utilise the power of lift.
"Astrid, you come back here right now!"
The young Viking ignored her mother, pretending that she was too far away to hear her.
"That way Spiky, to the West." Astrid commanded, hoping that by luck, Hiccup and Toothless flown in this direction;
"When I find him, I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind…" Astrid muttered under her breath. Apparently hearing this, Spiky turned his head towards Astrid with a slight tilt in curiosity.
Astrid looked up, noticing her dragon's inquisitiveness. "It's nothing Spiky, just idiocy."
Another plot twist, ooooo, actually there were parts that foreshadowed with hints which some of you may have caught on. But for the multitude of you that haven't, well, there's are blatant paragraph(s) there just for you. When I wrote the part about Stoic abandoning his son, it was with the notion that his whole villiage would be in danger of a famine if they went out searching for Hiccup. The rationalizing behind that was "not risking a multitude of lives, for one, even if it was his son's" and not because Stoic was selfish.
REVIEW PL0X! It helps me write the next chapter quicker, and with better quality. I know for a fact, there are 21 of you have alerted for my story. (Yes I MEAN YOU!) And I would like to see what are your thoughts on the speed, the detail, and other points about how I've written this story.