Astrid broke through the high, thin layer clouds with ease as she soared over the mountain tops. With every breath, her lungs filled with biting, yet refreshingly cold air. The sun was directly overhead, and at this altitude, bathed her back with an intense, focused heat. Above the obstructions of the clouds, the trees and the cove, it seemed impossibly large. From this new perspective, it was easier to understand how its life-giving warmth could envelop every part of the archipelago at once.
She could see impossibly far out to sea, where for a moment the clouds had parted to reveal an infinite expanse of deep blue. Below her, a bottomless well stretched out for as far as the eye could see, eventually curving away and down, as if cresting an invisible hill. She had heard stories of what was beyond the horizon. Vast and fertile new lands, filled with strange people and cultures. Small towns and villages, ripe for plunder or conquest. Relics and ruins of an ancient and powerful empire, its legacy and prestige destroyed by the very people it had enslaved. Some said that by sailing for long enough, you would reach the end of the world, and depending on the direction, Helheim or Valhalla. She had never believed those stories, and yet they fascinated her, awaking some deep, unknown desire to travel and explore, and grow her understanding about life and the world.
Her teeth slowly sheathed themselves, a huge grin spreading across her mouth. Now, she could explore the world for herself, test the boundaries and investigate the stories like no Viking in history. She was free. Free from that stifling cove, where she hardly had enough room to stretch her wings. Free from the threat of her village finding and torturing her in revenge for actions that were not her own. Free from the constant pressure and expectation to succeed, to regain her family's honour, to be the best dragon slayer in her generation. Floating on the edge of thermals, miles above the petty squabbles and grudges of the Viking way of life, she felt truly liberated. When she took off, she hadn't just left behind the ground, she left behind all of the pain and misery of the last few weeks.
The sensation of flying was incredible. Sure, she had flapped around before, but she had never really flown before. The sudden rush of excitement and fear that came with her first few attempts and crashes were nothing compared to the majesty as she sat on top of the world, beyond the reach of everyone but the gods themselves. The sound of the air, whistling past her ear flaps. The minor adjustments she instinctively made to deal with gentle gusts of wind and air pressure. The feeling of cool wind caressing her scales, filling up her wings and her tongue flapping wildly as she let it hang out of her mouth. It was glorious, and it was all thanks to him.
She turned her head to look at him, crooning with simple, unbound happiness. His hair was whipped back and forth, along with his loose sleeves and fur coat. His eyes were slit against the rushing air and beating sun, and he was crouched low against the saddle and her back, siphoning as much of her warmth as he could. Despite dragons clearly more suitable to flying than humans, she had the feeling that Hiccup was enjoying it even more than she was, as he let out an unintelligible cry of elation.
The saddle had worked perfectly. It was not too tight, and didn't restrict her movement. She could beat her wings for hours and it would never rub or ache. The leather was slightly padded, and the shape wrapped comfortably around her thick torso. It was like wearing a solid blanket on her back, and she was grateful for it.
It didn't seem to affect her flying performance. It was light enough not to weigh her down and sap her strength, but sturdy enough to withstand the stress of difficult manoeuvres when airborne. The tail assembly was linked to a pedal on the saddle that Hiccup worked with his feet. Whilst she didn't know exactly how it worked, she was confident that she could rely on it to work every single time.
That boy was amazing. He must have taken all the measurements in the cove and then custom built it to an exact specification. It was the greatest gift she had ever received, never had somebody invested so much time and effort into something for her to wear. It was like he knew exactly what each part of her body would operate once in the air, and designed it to be as pleasant as possible for the dragon. The fact that he weighed essentially nothing was just an added bonus. She felt tingling feeling in the pit of her stomach, and it wasn't just from flying.
"Ok bud, let's see how this thing holds up under some speed."
He pushed the pedal forward, gears shifting and pulling the tailfin closed slightly. Her fin matched his, and as expected, they nosed down towards the ground in a steep dive. She flattened her ears and pulled in her legs tight. Her wings folded in slightly, giving her just enough control to decide on the direction they were headed. After all, a dive was just a controlled fall.
The air pressed against them harder, rushing past at an astonishing rate as they turned their hard won altitude into greater and greater speed. Hiccup clung to Astrid's back, making himself seem somehow even smaller. All of her senses focused in on their destination, a huge, rocky arch that jutted out from the cliffs. Even from such a great height, she could clearly make out the sharp, irregular stone pillars that would tear her scales open if she so much as brushed against them.
They were going dangerously fast now, faster than she had ever gone before. The ground was rapidly approaching, and if she spun out of control there would be no second chances for either of them.
For all the praise she had given her new tailfin, now was the point when it needed to work, perfectly. They had travelled a mile in a matter of seconds, and her vision was beginning to blur around the edges. There was a very real possibility that at this speed her wings could dislocate and even rip off, if she put enough stress on them. She was a heavy dragon, after all. Her momentum was downright terrifying.
"Ok, here goes nothing!" Hiccup shouted over the rushing wind.
He eased the pedal back, the tailfin spreading out and angling upwards slightly. Expecting the move, she spread her fin a little bit faster, causing them to buffet from side to side until she slowly stretched out her wings to their fullest. They gently pulled up from the dive, finishing parallel to the ground, but there was essentially no change in their speed.
Dragon and rider shot through the gap, with barely a wing-length to spare. Seagulls jumped to get away, as the deadly Night Fury blew past. They were so low now that spray from the ocean soaked her underside. She eyed a school of fish that she could see circling just below the water line. Her eyes were adept at seeing past the sun's glare and under the water, and her principle diet was fish, so maybe…
"Okay, Up Up Up!"
Hiccup's voice brought her back to reality as they tilted back and climbed almost straight up. They had maintained the speed of the dive, and they laughed and shouted hysterically as they were carried back up into the air with seemingly no effort at all. Their speed was dropping, however, so just before they stopped entirely, Astrid began to beat her wings. Each powerful stroke brought them closer and closer to the clouds. She could feel the blood coursing through her veins as she laboured to gain altitude. Her nostrils flared as her breathing quickened, gasping for enough air to continue the fight against gravity. Her wings and shoulders burned, the flapping getting slower and slower. She could feel and acute pain in her lungs, as they sucked in and out impossibly fast. She was not ready for this, she was still too weak and inexperienced. A completely vertical climb was no easy feat. As usual, she was pushing herself too hard, and eventually, something would give way.
They disappeared into the clouds, barely moving at all. A few seconds later, they reappeared, falling out of the bottom and plunging towards the ground. Astrid's wings had cramped and folded up under the strain, and she lost all control. There was no controlling this descent. She twisted and spun as she fell helplessly through the air. Hiccup's shouts of joy turned to screams of fear when he realised that neither of them were in control. The only thing that was keeping the rider from being torn out of the saddle was the small length of leather rope that he had hooked around his belt.
"Ahh, Astrid? Astrid! ASTRID!"
She was panicking now, desperately trying to stretch out her wings enough to save them both. She grit her teeth and tensed her shoulder muscles as hard as she could. She cried out in agony as the cramp just got worse, her wings twitching and jolting uncontrollably. She was an idiot. She had tried to overwork herself on their first real flight, and now she had killed them both. Her stupid arrogance, to think that she would be able to pull off such a tiring and skilled move as a vertical climb with only a few hours of flight time.
She wailed in frustration at the unfairness of it all, her cries mixing in with Hiccup's. She had only just escaped from the cove, and now she was going to die, smashed off the side of a mountain or straight into the sea. They were plummeting down, quicker and quicker, and there was nothing she could do about it, not even with her own wings. She closed her eyes and stopped trying to control her body. She could feel death approaching. At least it would be quick.
But it was not to be. By letting go of her body, Astrid had once again let allowed her dragon instincts to take over. Her wings slowly, painfully unfurled, stretching out to their full width as the cramp eased off. The pain in her shoulders started to cool off, and when Astrid opened her eyes, shocked to see that she hadn't died, she glanced from side to side and saw her wings fully stretched out. Unfortunately for her, they were angled vertically, not slowing them down at all. They were extremely low now, below the mountain tops. She risked a look downwards. They would hit the treeline in a few seconds. She took a deep breath quickly uttered a prayer to the Gods.
"Hiccup, I hope you know what you're doing!"
Her wings twisted down, and took all of the strain of a several ton dragon traveling at near terminal velocity, all at once. Her wings were nearly ripped from their sockets as they skimmed along the tops of the trees, screaming for all they were worth. The pain was excruciating, but she held on, slowing down just enough to pull away from the mountain and straight towards a labyrinth of rocks and stone pillars at a terrifying speed. There was no avoiding it, they would have to fly straight through the middle.
In the narrow spaces and tight turns of the rocks, the tailfin was essential. There could be no sudden or quick turns without it. There was only one person in the world who could operate her tailfin, and he was sat on top of her. As they entered the maze of boulders and cliffs, she trusted Hiccup to know where to take her. She let him be in charge. He chose the pedal positions and she matched every one, throwing her weight into every turn. She hardly had time to think. All she could do was focus on her tailfin and follow the steering. They swerved left and right, rolling and diving to avoid the razor sharp rocks. They were unstoppable, not a scratch on her hide as she surged through, totally focused on her flying. Her mind was racing. In that single moment, the only things that existed were her, the rider, and the obstacles in front of them.
The entire ordeal must have only lasted a few seconds, but in that time she pulled off difficult manoeuvres of her life. The tightest turns, the quickest rolls, the sharpest dives. As they burst out of the fog bank and back into the open air, they couldn't help but cheer, out of relief, excitement, happiness, she couldn't tell. They were both shaking ever so slightly as adrenaline still pumped through their veins. She could hardly believe it, she had survived? Less than a minute ago, they were both facing certain death, and here they were, laughing it off. It was exhilarating, like nothing she had ever felt before. She roared in celebration, feeling something built up deep within her chest. Hiccup was shouting at the top of his voice.
"YEAH, this is amazing! Wait what… Oh no"
With absolutely no idea what she was doing, Astrid launched a bright blue fire-bolt. It shot out in front of them and exploded with an intense flash, before dissipating into a ball of smoke that they flew right into. Hiccup hacked and choked as a bucketful of smoke was forced into his lungs. She could feel the vibrations as the couching racked his fragile body.
She felt intensely guilty. She'd had no intention to shoot fire, and it had happened before she had even realised. This was the first time she had ever done so outside of her dreams. She wondered if she might have ruined a perfect moment, just a little bit. Hiccup was recovering from his ordeal, and was beginning to laugh again at the ridiculousness of the situation.
"Well… I didn't know you could do that!"
"Neither did I"
"I guess we still have a lot to learn, but still. WE'RE ALIVE!"
It was late in the day by the time they decided to head back to the cove. Streaks of red and gold coloured the sky, shooting up from the horizon as the sun sank lower and lower in the western sky. Gently gliding above the cliffs, Astrid couldn't help but stare. Her dragon eyes were more sensitive to colour than those she was born with, and this sunset was like nothing she had ever seen. She could focus in on clouds, miles away from her, hanging lazily in the air. Light and dark fought for control as the warm pink glow on the underside was matched by creeping shadows on the top. They seemed beyond reproach, suspended halfway between the vibrancy of day and the peaceful calm of night. It was almost romantic.
Maybe she had become more sentimental since she had become a dragon, but gazing up at what could well have been the last light of the summer, she felt… serenity. She had come to terms with her new being. What she was before, and what she had become now were worlds away from each other. She couldn't question why, or how, no answers would ever come. She had tried numerous times to reach out to the Gods whilst she was trapped in the cove. The silence spoke for itself. Whatever her purpose was, whatever the reason for her transformation, she would have to work it out for herself.
Well, maybe not all by herself. She turned and looked at the boy riding on top of her. He too was looking out to sea, absorbing as much of the view as he could before the day forever disappeared over the horizon. A light wind blew his hair around his face, obscuring her view. She didn't care. If there was one thing that she had learned during her ordeal, it was that looks meant nothing. Before, Hiccup had been the weakest, skinniest, most useless Viking she had ever met. But now, to her, he was the most thoughtful, considerate and downright kind person she had ever met. He hadn't changed all that much, she had just learned to pay attention and listen to what he was actually saying.
He saw her as more than a dragon, even before he knew it was her. Despite everything he had been raised to believe, all the hatred that had been hammered into every child in Berk, including her, he still looked into her eyes, and saw something more than a trophy. Hell, the dragons had killed his mother, and yet he wasn't driven by revenge. Hiccup must have been the only Viking in history not to bear a grudge. It was astonishing. He was astonishing.
It was clear now. She was in love with him. It might have crept up on her ever since he started to visit the cove, or it might have jumped on her in the last few days. Whatever the case, she was now hopelessly attached to the awkward little son of the chief. He loved her back, he always had, and that much was obvious. For everything that he had done for her, it was immensely satisfying to finally give something back, even if that something was just the love of a lonely, confused dragon-girl who until recently was having serious issues with her appearance. She had been a Viking, and she had been a dragon, but at the same time, she was neither. She could never go back to the way she was, and she could never become totally feral. She was unique, a bizarre mix of enemies that didn't fit in anywhere. Anywhere apart from with Hiccup, that was. She could be whatever she chose to be, and that gave her great comfort. She felt, perhaps for the first time in her life, that she was in control of her own destiny.
"It really is something, isn't it?" Astrid purred as he stroked the back of her head. "I never would have thought that we would one be able to do this, any of this." He gestured around at nothing in particular. "I mean look at us, I still can't believe that we're actually flying". She crooned in agreement, and twisted her head round further so that he could scratch under her chin. "I know, I know. I love you too, now let's get back to the cove, I'm not ready to fly at night just yet."
She snorted, and started to flap towards land. He always seemed to know exactly what she was thinking. It was probably for the best, after all, communication was always the key to a functioning relationship…
Suddenly, her ears perked up, and started to scan around her. She could hear a faint whistling noise, slowly getting louder. She looked around, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise. It was coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. She began to feel uncomfortable, and dropped in altitude to the level of the cliffs. The noise was getting louder now. It was deeply unsettling, evoking memories of chaos and destruction, burning houses and dead relatives. It was rising in pitch and volume, like an arrow shaft that flew over one's head, even her rider's human ears could hear it now.
"Hey, Astrid, how are you making that noise?" He shouted over the now unbearable scream that had them both covering their ears.
A flash of light, and the rock face next to them exploded. Hiccup was almost ripped out of his seat as the shockwave threw them into a spiral. He frantically worked the pedals, and Astrid flapped hard to level out. A shadow flew by overhead at an impossible speed.
"What in Odin's name, WAS THAT?"
She scoured the darkening sky above them, searching for whatever had just attacked them. She saw movement in the corner of her eye, and just caught a glimpse of black and scale, disappearing into the clouds. It was a fraction of a second, but those wings, that explosion, that piercing scream… She knew exactly what they were up against.
"Oh gods, no…"
She beat her wings, powering up through the clouds after their opponent. The sun was all but gone now, and the tops of the clouds shone silver in the light of a pale full moon. Her night vision was superb, but she still had trouble picking out the midnight-black hide against the coming night. It dived again, from an even greater height. The whistling could be heard once again, as a pinprick of blue hurtled towards them at a steep angle, at a seemingly impossible speed.
Hiccup followed her lead as she turned tightly into the attack, too sharply and too quickly for their assailant to adjust his aim or follow them altogether. It was somehow even more terrifying to hear it scream by just over their heads, and disappear into the clouds once again. There was a dull boom as a blue flash lit up the inside of one of the clouds.
"Was that… Was that another Night Fury?"
He had finally realised. It was another child of lightning and death itself, and by the looks of things, it was very, very angry. There was a faint rush of air behind them, one that only her ears could detect. She twisted her head from side to side, trying to get a good view of the dragon behind her. There, high above and behind her, it was bearing down on them, twice as fast as they were.
She froze when she met the demon's eyes. She could never forget those eyes, burning with anger and determination, and, in hindsight, perhaps a hint of sadness as it clamped down on her shoulder and twisted her body into that of a Night Fury. It was the same male that had turned her on that dreaded night; the same male that had corrupted her mind and turned her against her own, the same male that wanted to take her back to its nest and mate with her. She could feel the fear she had felt that night, the utter hopelessness as it pinned her down with his its incredible weight and sunk its teeth into her flesh. But back then, she had just been a girl.
Now, she was a dragon.
She folded her wings, dropping below the male Night Fury, before quickly spreading them again, killing almost all of her speed. He shot over her head, missing his target once again. On an impulse, she opened her mouth and clenched her chest. She could feel an intense heat building up deep within her. The first time it had been an accident, but now she knew exactly what she was doing. She kept track of the male, who had pulled into a hard left turn to come back at her. A faint whistling could be heard as more and more flames gathered in the back of her throat. She had no idea how fire breathing worked, but she knew that her species had the deadliest, most powerful blast of all the dragons.
The heat was unbearable now, but she was committed. The whistling grew louder and louder as the fire grew within her. She pointed her head in the direction of the Night Fury and fired. The fireball streaked across the night sky, fiercely bright against the starry night sky. It burst just in front of his face, completely throwing him off balance, and sending him plummeting through the cloud layer. She dived after him. She would make him pay for what he had done to her.
The male Night Fury was circling down low, and came to rest on a thin sea stack that jutted out from a cliff on the edge of Berk, a narrow stretch of coarse grass and loose rocks connected it with the mainland. She recognised it as the place where she and seven generations of Viking teens before her had camped out to get away from the troubles of their stifling village life to camp, hang out, romance or just look up at the stars. To her people, it was known as Raven's Point.
The wind was beginning to pick up now. As the night had fallen, a storm had slowly blown in from out at sea. Above the clouds, it had been serene and peaceful, but below, the first, fat drops of rain were falling. It was totally dark now. The moon and the stars had been covered up long ago, and the sun was a distant memory. The only pinpricks of light came from Berk, visible from the point, but these too started to dwindle as the citizens bolted their doors and windows against the coming weather.
The sea hammered against the rocks as Astrid dove down after him. The he was standing, alert and ready, watching as she descended to his level. She could feel the stone pillar beneath her shudder as she landed heavily, directly opposite the male. Raven's Point had always been weak, ready to collapse at the slightest provocation. She wasn't sure that it could take the weight of two large dragons and withstand the assault of the wind, rain and waves.
The spray from the tallest waves coated them with a fine salty mist, which was quickly washed off by an ever increasing volume of rain. The noise was incredible; the wind tugging at the trees, the sea hammering against the rocks, the ominous echo of thunder, booming out to sea. They would not have long on this rock, the worst was yet to come.
"What are you doing, I am trying to help you!" The male hissed, more annoyed than angry. He seemed unphased by Thor's growing wrath.
"Help me? You cannot help anyone or anything you MONSTER!" For the first time, Astrid had a way to focus all of her rage and anger that had been accumulated throughout the past weeks. She would be damned if she let him get away without just vengeance.
"I am sorry, you are right to feel wronged. I should never have left you that night. I thought… I thought you had perished like the last of our kind."
"What?"
"I looked for you, truly I did. For almost a moon I searched far and wide. If I had known that these beasts had captured you, I would have come sooner."
"What are you talking about, you attacked me!" Astrid didn't know what to expect, but it certainly wasn't this. She was unprepared for the Night Fury's apologetic nature and sadness.
"You? No, I attacked the slave master, that… Viking on your back." He spat the words out with utter contempt. By the looks of things, he was ready to attack the small boy sat awkwardly on the dragon's back, trying not to be noticed.
"Uh, Astrid. I think we should leave before he-"
"SILENCE CREATURE" the dragon roared, cutting Hiccup off. "You shall enslave her no longer! She is free to come with me back to the nest, and I will bring the Mother your head as a gift."
"Nobody, talks to MY Hiccup that way." Her voice was dripping with venom and hate. "You took me, and took away EVERYTHING that I had. My home, my family, my mind…" Her voice cracked "My Humanity."
"My love, what are you saying…?"
"I am Astrid of Berk, daughter of Vara and Angarr Hofferson. My loyalty lies with them and with Hiccup, so don't you EVER call me 'love'."
Astrid was shaking now, the rush of emotions almost overwhelming her. The storm was almost on top of them now, and every word had to be shouted or roared to be heard over the wind. Lightning struck just a few miles out at sea, and the thunder followed barely a second behind. The sea stack groaned under the stress, the thin pillar crumbling under the weight. The male's eyes slit, full of murder. His voice was deep and sinister, his tone threatening.
"Oh, I see. You are yet to find your way. Getting captured by the humans has made you think that you are one. They have given you memories of a life you were not supposed to have. You can NEVER go back, understand me? Your place is with me, the greatest of all kin, to rule over the nest.
"You can't force me to do anything! Change me back to my true self and be done with it."
"DO NOT challenge that which you do not understand. This is your true self." He suddenly calmed, laughing loudly like he had just remembered an old joke, or perhaps he was just mocking her. He continued, smirking menacingly.
"It matters not what you think. Soon, before the first snow of winter falls, the entire nest will sally forth, and crush your pitiful village and all your Viking friends. I will bring before the mother personally, and she will show you the way."
He took a few paces forward, and Astrid tensed up, on instinct pressing herself low to the ground to protect her underbelly. Lightning struck the sea stack next to them with a deafening roar, and it crumbled from the bottom up, sinking below the black waves in a thousand tiny pieces. She could feel the vibrations as massive waves hammered into the rocky pillar below them. Raven's Point was on the brink of collapse.
The male walked right up to her, calm and collected. He leaned down by her ears, close enough to feel his hot breath, to catch his warm, powerful scent despite the furious wind. He spoke softly in her ear, but there was no mistaking the threat in his voice. She could hear every word as clear as day, even over the screaming gale.
"Make no mistake. When the time comes, I will find you. I will force feed you your Hiccup whilst he still breathes, and I will drag you back to the nest. You will have my hatchlings, and if you object… Well, I heard that its fairly painless process when the Mother takes your mind away from you. It will certainly be a challenge for me, it's been a while since I've started from scratch with an empty husk…
Astrid was shaking now, her eyes pressed firmly shut, from instinct or fear, she couldn't tell. The male pressed his snout into the nape of her neck, breathing deeply. His presence, his warmth, his smell. It awoke part of her brain that she didn't know she had, a part that wanted him. There was a deep, primal urging within her, an urge to submit to his strength, to lift her tail and let him climb on top of her. There was no mistaking it now, she was absolutely terrified. He pulled away, leaving her a pitiful, subdued wreck.
"I will remember your scent for when I return. It is quite an unusual mixture; fear, anger, lust. You would have been perfect, do you know that? I could have loved you, if only you had seen the light."
With that, he took off into the night, disappearing into the darkness as a bolt of lightning exploded in front of her. She screamed, flapping wildly as the stone pillar beneath her feet was ripped apart by the elements. Hiccup worked the pedals as hard as he could, struggling to give the panicking and temporarily blinded dragon a direction to fly in. The wind did most of the work for them, carrying up over the cliffs and into Berk.
Hiccup lit a small lamp, hanging it from a hook on the ceiling. Normally, his drawing room was barely big enough for him, but he had moved most of the boxes of equipment up to his room, allowing the dragon to squeeze in and curl up into a ball. He was not worried about waking his father. The storm was loud enough on its own, but his father's thunderous snoring was causing the house to vibrate. There was no chance that they would be heard, and Stoick never went into Hiccup's drawing room anyway.
"Astrid. Astrid are you okay?"
The Night Fury hid her face with her wings, sobbing quietly under her personal, natural blanket. Hiccup gently pulled back the leathery covers, revealing her distressed, scaly face.
"Hey, its okay, I'm here. I won't leave you, remember? You're safe now."
Hiccup lay a large, blank piece of paper on the floor in front of her, along with a pot of ink. He took her large head in his hands and stared deep into her eyes. He took a deep breath and pressed his forehead against hers, feeling the warm, smooth scales against his damp hair. She calmed down immediately, the crying almost stopped entirely. Whatever that dragon had said or done, it wasn't good. He had seen the way it had pressed up against her, and spoken softly in her ear. He had a feeling that it was a male Night Fury, and that could only mean one thing.
"Astrid, tell me everything."