Chapter Two

A/N: Aaaaaand here's chapter 2! Enjoy! And yeah, much shorter chapter than the last one. I told you not to get used to it! XDD About 1,200 words per chapter is my norm for fanfics.

"Hiccup!" Astrid shouts over the roar of wind in her ears. When he doesn't seem to hear her, she growls and leans forward into her saddle, urging Stormfly to speed up. "Hiccup!" She calls again. This time, he notices her.

He only glances at her before looking back at the Monstrous Nightmare they are trying to drive away from their home. There's a deadly focused look on his face. "What is is, Astrid?" He asks her.

"You've got to slow down. Toothless's tail won't be able to hold out much longer. Have you noticed how twisted it is?" She demands, jabbing a finger at the tail fin which is nearly sideways at this point. However, neither the Rider nor the dragon even really seem to notice.

"Yeah, I know." He says, glancing back at it again. "But it'll be fine. We're only taking this thing far enough so it doesn't turn around and go back to Berk."

"Hiccup..." She mumbles, not sure of what else to say. He seems to sure of himself. Maybe he's right, after all, he doesn't seem to be having a hard time steering or anything.

He offers her a confident smile. "It'll be fine, Astrid." With that, he and Toothless speed up, leaving her in the dust as they continue to push the dragon along with plasma blasts.

The other Riders and their dragons are struggling to keep up as well. Ever since the Monstrous Nightmare attacked Astrid and nearly got her killed, it's been hard keeping up with the action. Especially since Hiccup is back up and pushing the wild dragon so fast.

"Hey, Hiccup!" Snotlout barks. "You mind backing off? I wanted to show that ugly lizard who the real top dog is around here!" The loud boy pats Hookfang on the head, earning him an annoyed growl from his dragon.

"Yeah, you're forgetting, not all of us have a Night Fury. We can't move that fast!" Fishlegs points out. "No offense, girl. You're still the best dragon in my book." He says, affectionately scratching Meatlug's ear.

"That's fine." Hiccup calls back to them as Toothless fires another plasma blast. "Toothless and I can handle the rest. Why don't you guys head back to the village and make sure everyone's okay?"

"Not a chance!" Tuffnt yells.

"Yeah, we want to keep this guy as our pet!" Ruffnut adds. "Did you see how much damage that thing caused?!"

"Sooo awesome." The twins knock their helmets together and laugh, stupidly.

It's while Hiccup is distracted by all this chatter, that Toothless roars and bucks back. He just barely dodges the Nightmare's tail as it snaps backward, nearly hitting them. Hiccup grunts at the sudden jolt. "Thanks, bud." He gasps. "Now, let's finish this! Plasma blast! Keep it flying that way!"

Toothless obliges and fires a bolt of energy at the other dragon, forcing it toward Dragon Island. By now, everyone is flying over open waters off the coast of Berk's shore. They're getting close, just a little more and the Monstrous Nightmare will be in a safer place where it can't hurt anybody.

"Woaahh! Look what I can do!" Tuff says as he turns his Zippleback's head upside down, eaning a laugh from his sister.

"Heeyy! I wanna try that too!" Ruff chuckles, following suit.

"Guys! Focus! Hiccup is doing all the work right now!" Astrid growls.

"Yeah he is!" Tuff confirms. "But it looks like he's doing a pretty good job...hey Ruffnut, you wanna go back and tip some Yaks?"

"Yeah!" She cheers.

"Nobody's going anywhere until this dragon is back on its island!" Astrid barks, directing it mainly toward the twins. "Come on, guys! Toothless's tail is in danger of breaking soon. Hiccup needs our help to wrap this up as quickly as possible!" She admits.

"What if it does break?" Fishlegs gasps. "They would fall into the water! They could even drown! They could, they could-"

"It won't break if we hurry. Let's go." She interrupts. "Snotlout, you and Hookfang go around the side and try to get the dragon to turn in the right direction."

"Got it, babe!" He says, winking at her. "Snotlout's all over this!"

She rolls her eyes. "Ruffnut, Tuffnut, you two fly above it in case it tries to escape that way." They both nod, dragging Barf and Belch a bit higher into the air.

"What should we do?" Fishlegs asks her.

"You stay back here and help Hiccup drive it toward the island. I'm heading below in case something goes wrong Hiccup needs me."

With that, everyone splits up. Astrid and Stormfly push themselves to get underneath the Monstrous Nightmare, earning them a confused look from Hiccup.

"What are you doing?" He calls.

"Backing you up!"

"Well you'd better watch your backs. This thing is-" His eyes widen and he cries out, "Astrid, behind you!"

She turns just in time to see the Nightmare's tail as it smacks Stormfly across the back, disrupting the pattern of her flight. In an instant, they're both plummeting toward the ocean.

"Astrid!" Hiccup shouts as he prepares to follow them.

"We're fine!" She barks, yanking up on the saddle. Stormfly struggles for a moment but manages to stay airborn. "Just keep on that thing!"

"Right." He and Toothless stop racing after the dragon, deeming they've taken it far enough. He motions for everyone else to stay put as well. "Just keep firing at it. It's close to the island now."

Everyone does as they're instructed and, within a few minutes, the wild dragon is gone from sight. Ruff and Tuff smack their helmets together while Fishlegs doubles over and hugs Meatlug, showering her in compliments. Snotlout rolls his eyes and grumbles about how he could have taken care of it himself.

"Astrid, you okay?" Hiccup asks as he and Toothless lower down to her altitude.

She nods. "We're okay. Now, let's get home before something else happens."

"Good idea. Let's-"

"Heey! Let go!" Ruff yells as she tries to wrench away from Tuff. The horns on their helmets are locked together somehow, they can't get free.

"No, you let go!"

"No you!"

"No YOU!"

"Guys-" Hiccup sighs.

"Barf!"

"Belch!"

"Uh, g-guys!" Hiccup says a little louder. "Don't do that please-" But it's too late. On their Riders' commands, the two headed Zippleback spews gas into the air. The green vapor oozes right in Toothless's direction, surrounding him. "GUYS!" With a single spark from Belch, the vapor explodes into flame.

Hiccup screams as Toothless nose-bombs toward the ocean, narrowly avoiding being cooked right on the spot. "Good job, buddy!" He says, breathlessly before slamming on the foot pedal to slow them down. However, as soon as his prosthetic leg pushes on the controls, he feels an odd resistance that was never there before. Hiccup's stomach leaps into his throat when he feels the grinding of the connecting rod as it pops out of joint. Spinning around, he finds the tail fin completely closed. No matter how hard he pushes, it won't open.

"Hiccup...?" Astrid watches as they plummet toward the water, unsure of why he would wait so long to open the tail. A spike of fear jabs through her when she realizes what's happening. "Stormfly, down!"

But before she can reach them, Hiccup and Toothless slam into the ocean, their bodies being swallowed by the icy waters.