A.N. This is an updated version of the chapter that I previously updated...some awesome reviewers pointed out some mistakes that I made so I went through and and fixed them for you. So here is a fixed up chapter for you! Enjoy!
"For one so small,
You seem so strong.
"My arms will hold you,
Keep you safe and warm.
This bond between us,
Can't be broken.
I will be here,
Don't you cry."
My heart was pounding so loud in my chest that it almost beat out the roar of the wind rushing through my ears…almost. Toothless is flying, soaring past all the trees. He's moving so fast that they appear as a blur to me. I don't even know how he can see anything while moving this fast, but I place my faith in the dragon, that he would find her, before she reached the village. I shivered as my blood froze and my stomach turned just thinking about it.
Suddenly, my heart was in my throat as Toothless dive-bombed into woods. I press myself closer to his body so I won't be hit with any stray branches. I crack an eye open and my heart lifts as I catch a glimpse of Astrid's golden locks as they reflect the ray of the sun beaming down through the leaves of the trees.
'Good she hasn't reached the village yet, then maybe there's still time to convince her. Wait...I haven't even though of how I'm gonna convince her. I don't even know what to say! "Oh hey Astrid dragons really are our friends so please don't tell that I've been hiding one from the village all this time?" I'm gonna sound like an idiot! Gods what do say, what do I say?'
I didn't have long to think because Toothless closed in on her and, with a frightened shriek, she was swooped up, shrieking into the sky. I felt kind of sorry for her; I had the same fear when Toothless first took off with me. I guess we Vikings' who are use to being grounded for so long...we've never really experienced being so far off the ground. So I guess it doesn't matter how tough a Viking you are, flying is going to be a different, terrifying and yet exhilarating experience.
I direct him to the top of a tall tree, where Toothless drops her on an overhanging branch. My heart leaps into my throat as she almost falls, but her reflexes are still good, no matter how frightened she is, she holds on. Toothless lands on the top and, with a groan of displeasure, the tree lurches forward under Toothless' weight. All the while my heart hammers as I watch her hang there.
"Hiccup! Get me DOWN from here!"
Anger flows from her lips in a sharp and demanding manner, slicing through my panicked thoughts and drew my attention to her, swallowing I look down at her. There has to be someway to convince her that Toothless is good...there just has to be. It's in my brain...somewhere.
"Just give me a chance to explain!"
My voice comes out a little more pleading then I'd want it too, I almost sound like I am begging her to listen to me. At this point I think I am. Begging the Gods she'll agree, begging Toothless to behave, begging her to listen...that's all I can do at this point. Gods I'm so pathetic, I can't demand...I have to beg.
"I am not listening to ANYTHING you have to say."
I flinch at the fire in her tone of voice...of course not. It's such a typical Astrid answer. Still I a guy can wish right?
I watch as she tries to get closer to the base of the tree, the branch she is on gets thicker around the base and this will allow her to pull her self up a little more steadily then toward the end. My mind is racing faster then Toothless on a good day! How do I get outta this! How? Gods what do I do...hell...what do I even say?
That's when it hit me.
"Then I won't speak!" I say quickly enough that she stops and looks at me. "Just let me show you."
She gives me an incredulous look.
"Please Astrid." I add softly, silently pleading with her to listen.
She sighs and looks down, then back up at me, I know she's weighing her options. Probably contemplating if she can climb her way down, it's a long way down. She thins her lips and closes her eyes. Releasing a slow agitated breath she starts hoisting her self up onto the branch, coming up instead of going down.
My heart lifts as she begins drawing closer to us, flipping herself onto the branch she places her hand on the tree for support. Not wanting her to fall, I extend my hand out to help her keep balance. As her hand touches Toothless' saddle harness, he recoils slightly and snarls at her.
He glares at her and she glares right back, before stubbornly blowing stray strands of hair out of her face. Swinging her leg onto another branch, she hoists her body up and slid next to Toothless. Her eyes finally catch my hand, but instead of grabbing it, she bats it away, grabbing a hold of the harness and pulls herself up.
Cautiously, she slowly hoists herself down behind me. I can't see her, but I can tell she is scared. She doesn't want to show it, but being this high up, and sitting on a dragon, her sworn enemy...that would be enough to scare anyone.
"All right...now get me down."
'All right...this is it, time to show her Toothless is good.'
I hear the twinge of fear in her otherwise commanding voice so I know we have to take it easy on her, just to show her Toothless isn't as evil as he looks.
"Toothless...down...gently." I gently patted his head, just to show him what I mean. I start to feel good about this situation, maybe just maybe he'll listen and Astrid will want to listen to me after this...Gods let that happen. I take a deep breath as I tilt my head back to look at her.
"You see there's nothing to be afraid of..."
No sooner had those words left my lips that I was swallowing my heart back into my chest. Instead of gently gliding down to the ground, like he was instructed. he bolts straight up into the sky, going as fast as wings would take him. The rush of the wind and Astrid, screaming her lungs out behind me fill my ears and I can feel anger rise up in being. I don't have to see her to know that fear has consumed her past the point of caring whether or not she looks weak or not. She was plain terrified. If he thinks that I'm okay with this, he's got another thing coming.
"Toothless, what is wrong with you!"
I practically scream into the dragons' ear! This is uncalled for and extremely dangerous! She could fall, and does he care? No! Astrids' hands come out of nowhere and start grabbing at me. She grabs painfully to my face and hair. She is desperate to grab onto something. In her flurry she almost yanks me back and this causes my hands to lose the grip they have on the handles and I almost fall back as well. I know if I hadn't had a good grip on the foot peddles, I would have fallen back...possibly off!
"Bad dragon! Bad dragon!"
My heart is pounding angrily against my ribcage, part anger at the stubborn dragon beneath me and part with fear of Astrid losing her grip and falling. I keep thinking that Astrid is going to fall right off the back of Toothless and plummet screaming toward the Earth. At that point, even if we did save her, it would seal our fates and she'd never trust us! My hands reach forward and grasp the cool metal of the handles. Relief washes over me as I pull myself up right, and now that she has a good grip on me, Astrid comes with me. Her arms wrap in a vice like grip, which is extremely painful, around my chest and her legs pin mine to the saddle.
I force a laugh as I try to calm the terrified girl down. "He's uh...not usually like this..."
My blood turns to ice and freezes everything inside me as I watch his wing dip down and we start tipping with him.
"Oh no."
I roll my eyes before closing them in complete irritation. Irritation chokes out any fear I previously had. This really isn't helping our situation... it's making it worse. Astrid's screams flew up into the air and disappears into the clouds as he falls closer and closer to the water.
"Toothless, what're you doing? We need her to LIKE us!"
He continues to ignore me as he throws both Astrid and I into the water. Gasping, I hardly have time to react as he does it again. A shiver passes through me as the wind bats at my now wet form, then we take to the sky again. Shooting like spear into the air, I could feel Astrids' heart beating rapidly against my back, her breath comes in agonized gasps. She still has a bruise inducing grip on my chest and I know I am going to bruise on my hips from the grip she has on me.
I feel a groan hiss through my teeth as he folds his wings in and throws his body into a twirl, this sends Astrid into another round of screams.
"And now the spinning."
I've given up that he's ever cooperate with what I want and Astrid, I'm sure, has pretty much made up her mind about us.
"Thank you for nothing...you useless reptile."
No really...thanks for nothing! We're sunk...I hope your happy.
"ALL RIGHT! I'm sorry! I'm SORRY! Just...get me off'a this thing!"
My eyes widen and I glance back at her, she's...apologizing...for what? Doesn't matter. Astrid doesn't apologize...for anything! Ever!
This seems to satiate Toothless for he catches the updraft and suddenly stops us short of the surface of the water. A shocked gasp escapes her lips as he does this; instead of shooting into the sky again, he gracefully starts to glide into the sky. Flapping his wings, he gently lifts us into the air.
It's times like this that lead me believe that he does understand what we're saying to him. Well, regardless on if, he can or not, I was just thankful that he is finally cooperating with me. Breathing a sigh of relief, I glance back at Astrid.
Her eyes were still squeezed shut; still caught in the grip of fear. She still has a painful iron like grip on my chest and her heart hammers against my back and I can feel her chest rise and fall at a rapid rate. I bite my lip and hope that it's not to late for her to change her mind...hopefully she's not scarred by this.
'Come on Astrid, open your eyes. You have to see this.'
As if she read my mind I feel her head slowly lift off my back and her grip slowly loosens, not completely, but enough so that it isn't painful anymore. I softly smile as her eyes widen at the scene in front her, hair bushes back from her face now by a gentle wind instead of harsh winds that cut her face and threatens to push her off.
I slowly ease up and turn my gaze toward the scene that lays out in front of us. The sunset paints a picture of light hues of different shades of pinks and blues that clash together and fade into the dark blue sky above us. The crystal blue water reflect the setting of the sun perfectly. It causes the water to shimmer like freshly cleaned armor. Man, we may have a charming view of the sunsets on the island, but there is no replacement for almost being this close to it. Even being a boy I had to say that it was a beautiful sight, all the time I've been training to get Toothless airborne again I never once paid this much attention to my surroundings, especially at this time of day.
I'm only aware that we've gone higher when a slight caress against my side lets me know that Astrid has released one of my sides and lifts her hand to touch the clouds. I tilt my head to look back at her and I can't hide the smile that split my face as I watch the curious look in her eyes, her head tilts back, watching her own hand just slide through the clouds as if they weren't there.
The sun shone behind her and it lights her up. Her golden hair shining almost like a halo, giving her the appearance of a radiant Valkyrie. It lit up her face...or maybe it was the smile that now split her radiant features. The thing that caught me was that the smile stretched to her beautiful blue eyes. At this point she releases me completely and throws both hands into the clouds, she looks so free, like with that simple gesture she just threw all her cares into the wind.
I have to admit it looks really good on her, and I can't stop myself from smiling in the glow of hers. It's as if time stood still, flying so high in the clouds, no commotion's going on, no barking orders, and no rush to be anywhere, or do anything. Nor is there the pressure to be anybody, up here, you can just be. You get to feel the wind brush through your hair, caress your face. I can hear nothing but the rush of the wind swirling around us and the occasional flap of Toothless' wing as it pushes us forward into the ever-imposing night sky.
My grin grows as we fly through the clouds; the rush of cool water dampens our face, but is quickly forgotten as we reach our destination above the clouds and into the stars. I can hear her gasp in awe. We've never been this close to the stars ever, and now it's like we can almost reach out and grab one. Her hand shifts from her own leg and onto my side.
My heart stopped for a moment, I didn't expect that. I glance down quickly just to make sure it's her hand and my heart speeds up and I really can't hide the smile that takes over my face. This is almost like a dream come true. Here I am sitting with the girl of my dreams sitting right behind me, and she is voluntarily touching me and not in a violent way either. Things can't get any better.
That is until we reach the end of the clouds and the view changes from white, to glittering water that now shimmers with the moonlight. The fires that spewed out light from the statues that are posted just out side the village. The island looks completely different from up here; it almost looks quaint and peaceful. With the little dots of light that poured out into the night sky from the various windows that scattered the island. This reminds me of cinders that still held some heat from a fire that's previously been put out. It's breathtaking really; it's unlike anything I've ever seen.
Everything stopped as Astrids' arms wrapped around my waist, holding onto me. Not clinging, not grappling...just...holding. To top it all off her chin rests comfortably on my shoulder. My heart is pounding so fast in my chest, this was beyond anything I could've imagined happening tonight! I don't think I can get any happier if she tilted my head toward hers and kisses me. Wouldn't that be something. A can feel a stupid grin on my face as she continues to rest against me, you know out of all the outcomes that went through my mind of where this would go...this wasn't one of them.
Not that I'm complaining...not at all.
This is nice, comforting. I haven't felt this good in forever, always worrying about something, it just seemed to be...us. Nothing else matters; there's just me, Astrid and Toothless. I have to fight the urge to lean back into her.
A smile fell on my lips as Toothless soars closer to the ground, the spray of the waves spit on our faces and dampen our boots, still it doesn't dampen our moods. She holds me closer, and my heart skips a beat. It's almost as if everything I've ever dreamed was coming true...I almost thought I was dreaming...heh...almost.
Everything's happening so fast, but at the same time it feels like time is standing still. I'm not sure how that works...but that's how it feels.
Toothless smoothly rises to the sky again as we clear the village, and just takes to gliding into the night. Nothing but the sound of the waves, the wind and the sound of Toothless flying, it's relaxing really. No wonder dragons like doing this so much.
Astrid leans back and releases a breath. As if she's been holding it for awhile.
"All right, I admit it! This is pretty cool! It's...amazing. He's amazing."
She adds softly and reaches down to pat the side of Toothless' neck. He shifts slightly to acknowledge that she said something. Somewhere along the line, he's become all right with her. I'm almost jealous on how fast he took to her, it took me weeks to get him to be this calm with me.
"So what now...?"
There it is again. The sound of a good evening coming to a screeching halt...and so soon. Reality crashes right into me with those three simple little words. I slump slightly forward, trying to ignore the fact that she's asked a question and hope that she'll forget it too.
"Your final exam is tomorrow!"
No such luck. It's amazing how she can make me feel lighter then a feather one moment, and bring me back down to Earth just as fast. How does she even do that?
"You know you're gonna have to..." she pauses and glances down at Toothless. She pulls me back and whispers the last part. "...kill a dragon."
My heart drops and I suddenly feel ill. I wanted so bad to just forget it all…even just for a couple moments more. I still can't get away from it, not even when I'm away from the island...my situation always seems to worm it's way back into my life. A groan passes through my lips.
"Ugh, don't remind me..." Please...not another word.
Then my breath escapes me as my body changes direction a little to fast for me. I suddenly feel dizzy and out of body for a moment. Shaking my head I realize that Toothless suddenly dove down, without any movement from me. Astrid gasps and clings to me again. I seriously hope he isn't up to his tricks again, but when I looked down at him, I notice that his eyes seem scared...almost frantic.
"Toothless, what's happening?"
My concern grew when he just continued to act jittery and nervous. It takes everything inside me to not shout out as a dragon flies out of no where and almost hit us. Out of instinct and press my self as close to him as I can.
"Get down."
I hiss and she immediately presses her self as close to me as physically possible, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. My heart is racing, and fear clutches at my being. This is definitely not good, and the fact that Toothless is uncomfortable, doesn't help me either.
"Toothless, ya gotta get us outta here bud!"
I try to implore the dragon to change direction and head back toward the island, but he just shakes my hand off as he starts to fly with the group. I don't think I've ever been this scared in my entire life. My heart hammers against my rib cage, and my entire body is shaking, the girl behind me quake for quake. Astrid and I were surrounded by a herd of dragons, two humans against an entire herd...that's not good odds...well...for us.
"What's going on?"
Her quivering voice barley reaches my ears, my mouth runs dry and my heart stops as I look at what each of them hold in their claws. Various objects of meat; sheep, fish, goats...even...some...Vikings. My blood runs cold in my stomach as I begin to imagine some of the folks I know. I shake those thoughts away and focus on the issue in front of me.
"It looks like they're..." I swallow. "Hauling in they're kill..."
"Uh...what does that make us?"
The fear in her voice is unmistakable, it shakes her body and causes her voice to quiver out in a whisper and not the same confidant girl I was talking to earlier. Still as scared as she was she poses a very good question, Toothless wouldn't just throw us to them...would he?
'Of course not! I trust Toothless with my life. He's proven himself to be good...it's just the other dragons...that's what I'm worried about. Why doesn't he just fly away? What's going on? Why not just break away and leave the herd...none of the others will follow...right?'
I did find it very strange that Toothless hadn't broken off yet, he just kept swooping and diving with the rest of them. My eyes scan the area again, and I have to hide my horror at the fact that a Zippleback looks our way, instead of attacking to get to us it just kept flying on. Fear still clings to every fiber of my being like the clothes on my back. I can barely breathe anymore I am too scared to.
Astrid gave a frightened yelp as Toothless dove with the other dragons, sending us plummeting into a fog, it is so thick I can't see anything around me, I lost sight of the other dragons, I only know of their whereabouts mostly because of the growls and occasional roars they give.
I start whispering a prayer to Odin...or whoever can hear me. All I want is for this to be over...well for us to get out of here anyway. Why isn't Toothless leaving, he can! So why isn't he? His frantic looks around clue me in that he doesn't want to be here either, that's when something catches my eye. One of the scales on the side of his face would croon and vibrate every time we made a turn. It's like he is being controlled.
'What in the...'
Then as the fog suddenly dissipates, my heart stops, my mouth dries and I quit breathing all together. There, right in front of us was the most intimidating mountain I've ever seen. Darkness is all that surrounds the island, as it gets closer to the top though, an eerie shade of red spews out the top and lit up the sky as if it was on fire. As if the very gates of hell were spewing from the top. This is definitely a place I do not want to be.
I swallow hard as Toothless dives into a crevice in the mountain; I am hit in the face with a blast of hot air, as if the dragons fire is heating the air around us. It almost hurt as it clawed at my skin and made my eyes water. I can't help but let out a gasp as we keep going in deeper into the cave. No wonder there is only dragons here, they can withstand the heat here, I feel like I am being cooked alive...not a pleasant feeling.
There is an opening and we fly right into it, another cry escapes my lips as the heat blasts my face again, I bury my face against Toothless' neck, Astrid is doing the same thing to my back, trying to keep our skin from feeling like it's melting off. I barely register that Toothless has landed, thankfully it is in a shaded area, it has a wall of rock that separates us from the boiling air, it allows me to lift my head up and see where we were.
No wonder it's so hot, this isn't just a mountain...it's a dormant volcano...at least I hope it is...in any case it's obvious what this is. It's...the island. I can't believe that it's really been this close...all this time...it's almost right next door. I look around and I see that dragons are laying out in random crevices and ledges that rest yards above the red smoke that spewed out from what seems like a bottomless pit...could it be that this was the entrance to hell it's self?
I then turn my attention to the dragons that are just now now joining the rest of them. They're bringing in food, but instead of landing and eating it...they are dropping it...into the hole...really?
"Well...it's nice to know that all of our food's being dumped down a hole!"
"They're not eating any of it."
It is strange behavior for dragons to carry their body weight in food and not eat it...so then...what were they doing...?
'It doesn't make any sense at all, I thought that the dragons attacked us to eat...so then why...?'
My eyes drift to a late comer, a Gronkle that came bumbling in. Its tiny wings barely hold him up, he drops a couple of times and makes what sounds like light groaning. It hovers just above the hole and scratches at his ear...I am vaguely reminded of the Gronkle in the cell back in the ring. After it does this, it belches up the smallest fish I've ever seen and proceeds to scratch it's ear.
Then, a deep rumbling comes from below the surface of the smoke, a rumbling that chilled me in the heated air. A rumbling that quiets every dragon in cavern. A rumble that shakes me to the core. The Gronkle freezes for a moment before it starts trying to fly away.
It doesn't get far when the head of a dragon pops out of the smoke and eats it in one chomp. My blood freezes and my mouth hangs open, it is huge...and that is just the head. All the other dragons cower away trying to look as small as they can...against that thing...they do look small.
My mind is racing, I can't believe it. Then something else that gets me shaking and has Astrids' hand clinging to my arm, it starts sniffing the air. The huge nostrils suck in air that I feel like it's taking the breath right out of my lungs. I am paralyzed in fear, then when it's eyes turn our way I know it can smell us.
'Gods it know we're here!'
All I want at this point is to get Toothless and Astrid out of here as soon as possible!
"All right Toothless, ya gotta get us outta here bud!"
He was frozen in place, fear I've never seen in his eyes. This pushes my resolve further. My upper body lunges forward and I get right close to his ear.
"NOW!"
With that it's like he is awakened from a trance and he jolts right out of our previous spot, where the jaws clamp down on, and into the air. In a flurry, all the other dragons surround us, all trying to do the same thing. Get out of there. Fear pushes my adrenaline to the max and I kick the foot pedal as fast as I can to swerve us out of there, not wanting to look back. For a brief moment I feel it's hot breath at our backs and then the sound of teeth latching onto something, the sickening crunch resounds in my ears. I squeeze eyes shut, as I know it's taken another dragon down it throat. Then the rumbling sound made it's way back down the mountain as we fly farther away.
The fear and need to get away slowly dissipates into the wind as we got further away. My heart slows and my breath slowly returns to normal. I close my eyes and lean my head back, letting the wind caress through my hair and on my face, trying to reach that point of calmness and peace that I'd had earlier.
"What in Thor's great hammer was that?"
"I...I don't know. It's unlike anything I've ever seen..."
"I don't think that is even a dragon! That is...something else!"
"But what is it? Why is it there? And how is it controlling the dragons?"
Her blue eyes narrow in thought, she rests her head on my shoulder, trying to make sense of what we just saw. It is unreal, I just never would have imagined that the dragons are intimidated by something much bigger...it's almost like a chain.
"I think...I think that that...thing might be their leader."
My eyes widen at this revelation, my head turns to look at the blonde behind me. "What?"
"Well, I mean think about it...they all flew in synchronization. They all dropped a certain amount of food, and when they didn't bring enough they lose their usefulness to the rest of them and since they are no longer useful...they...are..."
She fell into a somber silence. I've never seen an ounce of sadness in her eyes over the death of a dragon, but now she seems really upset by this.
"Astrid..."
She looks up at me and takes on a serious look, washing away any sadness off her face, as if it wasn't even there. I turn my head so I am facing forward, my eyes scan the dragon beneath me. He seems to have calmed down now, I take my hand out and stroke his head, right behind his ears. He lets out a soft crooning noise and nudges his head into my hand reassuringly.
The crooning reminds me of the vibrations and crooning noise that Toothless emitted earlier while we were flying through the fog. My eyes widen.
"I think you might be right Astrid."
"What?"
"That thing is their leader...it was contacting them somehow."
"What are you talking about?"
"When we were flying with the other dragons, they were all making crooning noises...including Toothless, then the scales on the side of his head started vibrating as if...it were listening for something...or hearing something."
"Kind of like low hum?"
"Something like that...I think it was contacting them somehow and pulling them in."
She opened her mouth and gasped. "Of course! It's like a giant bee hive!"
"What?"
"No no, it totally makes sense! They're the workers and that's their queen! It controls them!"
She leaps off Toothless and onto the ground...I hadn't even noticed we'd landed. I am staring down at Toothless, stewing in thought about this new information.
'Workers? Queen...now it does make sense! The dragons were attacking us for offerings to that creature so that they won't be eatin' themselves...it wasn't because they wanted to! No wonder all the dragons seemed so passive toward me...they didn't have any reason to!'
"Come on! Let's go find your dad!"
In an instant, I was pulled out of my thoughts and back into the cold water of what was in front of me. As quickly as I can move I throw myself off Toothless and run after Astrid, it's almost as if I flew myself.
"No NO! Astrid we can't!"
I grab her arm and propel myself out in front of her.
"No, they'll kill Toothless! We have to think about this…carefully."
I look down and start wandering how in world I am to go about this...I mean it is crucial information to tell the Vikings...to tell my father, but then I'd have to tell them everything...about Toothless...about the island...about the creature...and I'm not sure I'm ready for all that.
"Hiccup, we just found the Dragon's Nest…the thing we've after since Vikings fist sailed here! And you want to keep it a secret…wha…to protect your pet dragon? Are you SERIOUS?"
Thinning my lips, I turn to face her, that is the one thing that I WAS sure about. Toothless doesn't deserve the kind of punishment that the others will surely inflict on him. I'm not about to let that happen. So was I gonna keep the biggest secret just to protect him?
"Yes."
My voice came out steely and clear. Firm and direct. There was no wavering and no nervousness. Her blue eyes widen and her face falls as her mouth stays agape. I turn my eyes away from her. I may not have much control over the situation, but the one thing I do have control over is what happens to Toothless, my best friend.
"Okay..."
Relief washes over me as she calmly accepts my terms...which is another surprise, but I'm not gonna question it.
"Then...what do we do?"
I bite my lip and exhale at the question. I suddenly feel as if the entire world is on my shoulders and if I make one wrong move it's going to crash and go up in flames. I just can't do the wrong thing...I just can't...I have to do the right thing...whatever that is.
"Just give me until tomorrow...I'll figure something out..."
I sigh and look down, contemplating on what I'm going to do, exactly, to bring this out into the open without bringing a whole lot of chaos after. Nothing comes to mind. I realize that I was absentmindedly messing with the buckle on my vest.
Then I feel a sharp pain shoot up my shoulder as it is jolted forward by something slamming hard into it.
"Ah!"
"That was for kidnapping me."
My mouth hangs open as she raises an elegant brow at me. I grab my shoulder, rubbing it gingerly and glance back at Toothless. He lifts his head momentarily to shake it at me before resuming drinking. Shaking my own head I place my hand back on my shoulder to face the girl whom I'm sure is still agitated. Her gaze was down cast for a while like she is nervous. Like she is contemplating something, is that a blush on her cheeks?
In a swift fluid motion, she grabs my collar and kisses my cheek.
My mind goes blank, like everything has been wiped clean. My mouth hangs open, and just as quickly as she'd kissed me, she pulls away. The moon bounces off the flush that now inhabits her cheeks.
"That's for...everything else."
Wow.
She turns and starts running away. She stopsd for a moment to look back at me before running off and disappearing into the darkness. I just stand there in shock, after everything that has just happened...that was the absolute lest expected of all. Astrid. The girl of my dreams just kissed me on the cheek.
Wow.
My shoulders slump into a relaxed position and a sigh escapes my lips. She really does have this way of bringing me into focus...and making me forget what's bothering me. I hear a gurgling sound and I glance over at Toothless, and he gazes back at me.
A flush dons my cheeks and look away from him.
"What're you looking at?"
He croons and looks the direction that Astrid left in. My eyes followed his and just as the darkness swallowed Astrid, it slowly starts seeping in that I have to do something about this situation. Groaning I walk over and slump onto a nearby rock.
"What am I gonna do bud? I don't even know what I'm suppose to do about all this...how am I going to explain all this to my father? Argh, much less know what to do about the final exam tomorrow! How am I gonna get this resolved!" Toothless nudges my hand, trying to pry it out of my hair.
I'm really not in the mood so I try to push him away. He nudges my hand again.
"Toothless...knock it off!" I push his nose away from me with more force, getting a snort in response. This time when he nudged me he pushes me off the rock and onto my back.
"OW! Hey!"
I glare up at the dragon and he looks down at me. "What're you...?" He croons and holds his head out...nudging my hand again...I was struck for a moment before I unfolded my hand and it opens onto his nose...closing his eyes he purrs. It takes me a while...ah...now I get it. He croons softly and pulls his nose away, shaking his head and snorting...just like when first let me touch him.
I looked down and softly laughed. My other hand reaches up and strokes the side of Toothless' face.
"Sometimes I really do think you understand me..." I move my hand over his snout up the middle of his head and behind his ears. He purrs and nudges my face.
"Thanks bud...just one small step at a time...I'll have to show them that the dragons aren't bad...just like I showed you I wasn't bad...just take one small step at a time."
He curls up behind me and wraps his body around me, the warmth of his skin surrounds me. His tail falls in front of us and his wing shelters me from the ray of the moon and any prying eyes that might be watching. If there are any.
"We'll get through this...somehow...together. I just hope they're willing to hear me out."
Toothless croons and lays his head in my lap purring. I lay my head on top of his and close my eyes. Hoping upon all hope and praying that they will be reasonable and will listen.
"Odin what have I gotten my self into?"