A/N: As we continue into this story I'd like to draw attention the fact that this story has recently broken the 300 follows mark! YOU GUYS ARE ACTUALLY CRAZY! I can honestly say that fan fiction has always been a simple hobby to burn extra creative energy and I am glad my friend nudged (Threw me headlong.) Into the activity and I really enjoy it, but I mean, 300, is just never a number I thought I'd see associated with my stories, I don't think there bad it's just like…whoa, you know? Okay, I'll stop droning on and let you get the chapter!
A month had passed since Hiccup had set out with Astrid and Snotlout, a month into the war and the three had lost count of the amount of ships they had destroyed, the men they had killed, the people they had saved, in that time Berk had continued to strengthen its defensive and Fishlegs had developed a method of using Terrible Terror's to send messages, allowing for Hiccup and his team to be kept updated on how things were going at home.
But there was always another ship, Dagur's raiding parties seemed endless.
Hiccup peered over the edge of Toothless's flank, Dagur had begun splitting the ships he used to raid early on in the month, forcing the three to split up to effectively cut off Dagur's supply chain, one raid ship floated silently many leagues below him.
"Alright bud, just like always." Hiccup rubbed at the back of Toothless's neck calmly and the dragon snorted as Hiccup drew back, looping them over to dive straight down towards the ship, Hiccup clipped Toothless tail so the dragon could fly on his own as the Night Fury's wings began to whistle, the Berserker's heads snapped up, realizing far too late that the enemy was upon them.
Toothless drew back and darted over the ship as Hiccup rolled off his dragons back towards the front of the ship, he drew his sword as he fell and planted his feet against the lookouts chest as he slashed across the man's neck, sending him hurtling to the deck below.
Hiccup flipped back and landed lightly at the bow of the ship, changing his grip on his weapon he lunged forward, he deflected an axe that went high and cut low, whirling around and driving his sword through another Berserkers chest, as the man toppled forward Hiccup rolled over his back, slashing up to silence the man's scream of pain.
Hiccup heard the sound of crossbow's being loaded and he stepped into a quick spin, launching a set of small daggers into the archers exposed necks as he continued over the deck of the ship in a quick rush, never taking an engagement that would hold him for longer than a few seconds, as he reached the end of the ship he leapt up and landed on the edge, he ripped his daggers free of them downed archers and slid them back into the sheaths on his upper arm, the remaining Berserkers moved towards him slowly as the whistle of a Night Fury reached their ears, Toothless sped just above the water and fired a powerful blast into the centre of the ship, blowing either end of the ship into the air, Hiccup rolled in the air and landed atop his dragons back lightly.
Hiccup rubbed his dragons neck affectionately as the beast warbled at him, the boy took a moment to peer at the suns position "There won't be any more raids today." He voiced more to himself "Let's head back Toothless."
The dragon snorted as it rose into the clouds and continued at a smooth pace.
Hiccup was surprised when he wasn't the first one back to their semi-permanent camp, a small set of islands in the centre of the south archipelago that provided then with a constant supply of fresh water and moderate protection from outside attacks due to the number of islands, if at any point a Berserker ship was to somehow track them to one of the islands they would simply move to another a distance away, the Berserkers would check all the islands but the time it took them to get back to their ships gave the three riders more than enough time to conceal themselves on the next island.
Toothless landed with a light thud and Hiccup dismounted, approaching Snotlout with a quick wave, Snotlout inclined his head in a quick greeting and turned back to the fish he was cooking over a small fire.
"I didn't expect to see you here this early." Hiccup noted as he settled down.
Snotlout shrugged "Hookfang and I ran our entire round, found three raid ships in total and circled for another few hours, when the sun started to go down we came back."
"I'm not sure if the raid numbers are decreasing or if Dagur's got some kind of a plan." Hiccup voiced in concern.
"Knowing Dagur he's planning something," Snotlout snorted removing one of the fish and tossing it to Hiccup who caught it with a thankful nod as he bit into the side "I doubt it's going to continue to be as easy as this."
"That's for sure," Hiccup nodded "We need information and we don't even have a method of getting a hold of it."
"Yeah, the only person who can freely move between all the tribes is Johann," Snotlout threw his head back in a laugh "I doubt he'd be useful as a spy."
Hiccup stared at his cousin in surprise "He might not be a spy, but if he's just passing along rumors, we might be able to pick up on something."
"Trusting rumors isn't a good way to go about fighting," Snotlout pointed out "And if Dagur gets wind of the plan he can just have his men spread some false information."
Hiccup ran a hand through his hair "I know, bringing Johann into this isn't even something I want to do, but we are very limited in our options."
Toothless whined and Hiccup glanced at his dragon, the Night Fury was watching the skies expectantly, waiting for Ghost and Astrid to return, a habit the black dragon had gained over the course of their time in the south. The sound drew Hiccup's attention to the horizon, the sun was dipping incredibly low and Astrid had never been this late before.
"Lout, how's your night flying these days?" Hiccup asked as he finished his fish and tossed the stick into the fire.
"Good enough." Snotlout responded as he got to his feet, tossing his own stick into the fire.
"Good, were going out." Hiccup ordered calmly as he pulled his helmet on, Snotlout followed suit and jumped atop Hookfang's back.
The force of the pair launching off the beach snuffed the fire they left behind.
"It's all well and good to go looking for Astrid, but how are we going to find them?" Snotlout called over the rushing wind as they rose above the clouds for cover.
"Toothless and Ghost are mated remember," Hiccup called back and Snotlout glanced at the Night Fury and nodded "Do your thing bud."
Toothless shifted his head slightly and opened his mouth, whilst Hiccup and Snotlout heard nothing, Toothless turned his head in answer to something neither could hear and Hiccup allowed his dragon to guide them much like how they had discovered the Dragon's nest.
Astrid watched through cracks in the clouds, making sure to stay above the large number of Berserker ships she had discovered, it seemed like the raiding parties had decided to stop splitting up and were going to make an attack during the night, two things the Berserkers hadn't done before, fortunately or unfortunately for Astrid, depending on how you looked at it, she had spotted them before she decided to turn in and return to camp.
She also decided to bank the hunch that Hiccup would figure out something was wrong and use Toothless to find them, somehow, okay she was still working on her plan, but seeing where the Berserker's went was step one and that was going perfectly!
Ghost shifted her head slightly and Astrid frowned as the dragon opened its mouth but no sound made it to her ears, Astrid rubbed the Night Fury's neck affectionately, mistaking the action for the dragons tiredness "I'm sorry girl, just a little bit longer."
Ghost snorted in response, minorly irritated she could speak human and try to prevent the girl from doing something reckless, which all of the human teenagers she had met seemed so fond of doing.
Astrid heard a sharp whistle and she glanced up, seeing the familiar shape of Toothless glide down beside her, Snotlout on her opposite flank, she suppressed the urge to sigh in relief and gestured for the other two to look down, Hiccup nodded his head and Snotlout waved in a gesture of 'got it'.
"What do we do?" Snotlout asked, taking care to not shout too loudly.
Hiccup looked at the ever increasing number of ships, now just above ten Berserker ships sailed beneath them silently.
"I say we commandeer a vessel." Hiccup voiced calmly
The other teens stared at him as if he'd grown a second head and he flashed his palms in a motion telling them to let him explain "It looks like they are all joining the main ship in the middle, so if we take it we can set a nice trap for any other ships that are on their way here."
"Okay, but how do you plan to do that?!" Snotlout demanded "We are three people and three dragons!"
"First we skewer as many ships as we can from the backs of our dragon, I know Toothless and I can get three relatively quickly."
"Ghost and I can do three quickly as well." Astrid voiced calmly, petting the dragons neck again.
"I can get two," Snotlout voiced tightly "Hookfang's flame isn't as explosive as yours."
"So, we destroy eight ships and board the remaining four, if we can buy Toothless thirty seconds he can circle around and take the forth ship out, then we just need to deal with the remaining ships men." Hiccup voiced calmly
"Roger that." Astrid settled low into her saddle and glanced at Snotlout, the boy hesitated another moment before nodding.
"Let's send some Berserkers scurrying back to Dagur!" He voiced loudly as the three dropped out of the sky, Hiccup rolled right and Snotlout left as Astrid dove straight down.
Deciding to move from the rear ships to the front, Hiccup swept around, the Black Night fury perfectly invisible against the water as they sped along the surface, Hiccup could see the guards straining their eyes into the dark to attempt to see, Hiccup gave Toothless a quick pat on the neck and the dragon opened its maw, the familiar hiss of its fire building in his throat before Toothless rolled and released three, blasts of fire into the sides of the rear ships, the boats exploded, sending splinters of wood into the air as Hiccup dismounted Toothless's shadow and slid along the deck of the ship in the centre, men shouted and alarms began blaring as Hiccup heard the sound three more ships being obliterated and spotted Astrid dropping down on the deck of another ship a small distance from him.
Snotlout's method was a little different from his teammates, Hookfang hovered above the water quietly before letting ou a growl and spinning around like a top, Snotlout held on tightly as the dragon ignited himself and slammed straight through the side of two ships, literally boring a hole through the side of the two vessels before Hookfang leveled out and Snotlout dropped from his dragons back and landed on the deck of a ship with a heavy thud.
"Hiccup, Hiccup, Hiccup," Hiccup froze at the familiar voice "You really never do disappoint do you?"
Hiccup rolled his shoulders calmly and drew his sword "I'm not going to let you go again," His eyes narrowed as he growled "Dagur!"
Dagur drew his own sword and rushed forward, a few of his men flanking his sides, Hiccup darted forward and dropped low driving his foot into Dagur's chin and sending the Berserker chieftain airborne, Hiccup spun in the air as Dagur's men moved to run him through with spears, the blades grazing passed Hiccups armor and driving into the allies, Hiccup slammed his feet into the chests of the wounded men and sent them toppling over the sides of the ship as Dagur spun around a landed a small distance from him.
"Is this the best you can offer me Dagur?" Hiccup demanded pointing his sword at him.
Dagur's response was to throw his head back and laugh loudly.
Astrid sidestepped a sword strike and drove her axe into the man's chest harshly before launching into the air and wrenching the weapon free and kicking off his chest at the same time, the blonde frowned and looked around, she knew from years of experience that there should have been way more men aboard this ship, she moved to one of the trap doors leading below the deck of the ship, she pried it open from a distance with her axe, being careful of any traps that might have been set up, when nothing immediately jumped out at her she peered over the lip of the trap door.
Barrels lined the hold beneath her, she frowned and dropped into the hold, removing one of the lids and lifting the substance inside, the black rock-like substance in the barrels reeked of sulphur and charcoal and he eyes widened when she heard a loud cackling laugh.
She leapt from the hold and her head snapped to the sky as a single arrow flew from the deck of the only remaining ship that the teens hadn't boarded, the crossbow bolt was lit on fire and Astrid launched towards the edge of the boat as the projectile fell through the trap door she had opened moments ago.
There was a moment's pause as the powder sizzled before the boat erupted in a loud explosion, sending chunks of wood scattering into the air.
Snotlout glanced at the explosion for a moment, recognizing the fire as not that of any of the dragons the three rode he rolled forward and drove his sword into the remaining Berserker on the ship, the vessel he was on had a large opening in the centre, a iron grate placed of the top of it, he could see the barrels from where he was standing and he wasted no time checking the contents, he launched himself off the edge of the boat breaking the surface of the water as the boat exploded behind him, he stayed beneath the water and swam towards the wreckage of one of the boats they had destroyed before, with the ship turn in half he could look inside the holds with relative ease, only a handful of barrels actually remained in the holds, the rest having already sunk or began sinking towards the bottom of the ocean.
He broke the surface of the water to breath before diving down again, the water was dark, but thanks to the fires of the ships above him he could make out a few shapes, including one he recognized a ways off, he swam towards it as quickly as he could.
The first explosion drew Hiccup's attention, his eyes widened as the boat shattered, he moved to jump off the boat and Dagur intercepted him Hiccup got his shield up in time but the Berserker chief pressed against him heavily, preventing him from moving for the moment "That's right, you already know which one of you landed on that ship right?"
Hiccup's vision clouded as Dagur slammed a punch into the side of his head and he staggered away, his arms slackened and his shoulders moved with every breath he took.
Astrid had been on that boat.
His mind repeated the same thing over and over again, like a haunting mantra.
"You fell so perfectly into my trap I thought for a moment you might have already known!" Dagur cackled loudly
Hiccup's eyes shifted to the man in front of him, barely registering Dagur was actually standing in front of him.
"But from that reaction," Dagur's laughter actually grew louder "You clearly had no idea, I'd say you'd be able to honor her with a grand funeral, but I doubt there's much left of her to honor!" Dagur roared loudly.
Hiccup's grip tightened on the hilt of his sword.
"The best part is you're the leader!" Dagur continued "You fell for the trap, you made the plan, you killed her yourself!"
"Be quiet." Hiccup's voice was masked with a malice Dagur had never heard before, the Berserker's laughter died in his throat as Hiccup lifted his head enough to glare at Dagur.
The scar on Hiccup's mask was clearly visible, teary eyes glared at Dagur with a hatred the Berserker chief had never seen before, Dagur paled slightly and took an unconscious fearful step back.
Dagur's frustration at his own fear won over and he stepped forward "You've always been soft Hiccup! It was your weakness that killed her!"
Hiccup didn't even register the second explosion "Weakness?" He asked dangerously.
Dagur licked at his lips and took a breath before he answered "Your idiotic kindness! You wouldn't kill a dragon! You dragged Berk into a war they had no hope of winning! Your weakness killed your friends!"
"Then," Hiccup shifted his stance calmly "If I were to abandon that kindness you wouldn't even have a chance?"
Dagur took another step back as Hiccup focused his glare on the chief, Hiccup drew his sword around and hovered it at his eye level, the fires of the other ships danced on his eyes as they unfocused "I'm going to kill you Dagur." The levelness of the tone was the most frightening thing about it as Hiccup launched forward, the wood beneath his feet groaned and cracked.
Dagur barely managed to get his sword up in time to block the strike as Hiccup drove his fist into Dagur's nose, the thing cracked with a loud snap and Dagur stumbled back, clutching at his nose with a groan of pain.
He didn't have time to dwell on it as Hiccup stepped forward, completely abandoning his usual stance that left him at least somewhat guarded, he slashed down, Dagur blocked the strike and drew his dagger, slicing across Hiccup's arm as the armored boy rotated quickly and slammed his foot into Dagur's chest.
Dagur heard the sound of his own ribs cracking as he was slammed against the cabin he usually slept in, the wood behind him broke and cracked inwards, blood flew from Dagur's mouth as Hiccup walked towards him slowly and deliberately, Dagur grit his teeth as he tried to rip himself free from the wall of wood.
It soon became apparent that Dagur didn't have the strength to do so as Hiccup glared down at him "Get away from me!" Dagur roared fearfully.
"Your weakness is your overwhelming stupidity." Hiccup responded flatly, Dagur's attention was pulled above Hiccup's head and Hiccup turned to glance at the object calmly, he spotted Hookfang spiraling towards the back of the ship and his eyes widened as the dragon slammed into the back of the ship, sending Hiccup hurtling into the air as the ship was turned into a massive seesaw.
Toothless swept over the ship and grabbed Hiccup by the collar, the next thing Hiccup became aware of was the sand of their campsite beneath him, he pushed himself to his feet slowly.
"Good to see your awake." Snotlout greeted jovially.
Hiccup's eyes narrowed dangerously and he grabbed his cousin by the neck and lifted him into the air "What the hell do you think you were doing?!"
"I was-" Snotlout attempted to croak out.
"You SAVED Dagur?! The entire war would have been over had I have killed him!" Hiccup roared
"Hiccup-" Snotlout attempted to interject.
"No, no, no. You listen well Snotlout because I am sick and tired of you, he killed Astrid! Get in my way again and I will remove you of the burden of the weight of your gods damned head!" Hiccup threw his cousin across the beach.
Toothless nudged at Hiccup's hand and the boy rounded on the dragon in confusion and surprise, Toothless gestured with his head towards the fire, Hiccup's eyes trailed in the direction slowly, lying on a small sleeping mat, still covered in the armor he had made for her, she appeared to be sleeping peacefully, he could see her chest moving up and down from the distance he was at, he walked over slowly, his shadow fell across her face and she shifted uncomfortably when he moved and the sun hit her face again.
Relief washed over him like a wave and his legs gave out as he fell beside her, palms clenching handfuls of sand, he pulled of his helmet as a half cry half laugh broke through his throat, a tear drop fell against her cheeks and her eyes opened slowly.
"Astrid," He breathed out shakily, wiping the tear with his thumb "I'm….really glad your okay."
The blonde frowned at him and Hiccup felt his heart beat hard against his chest when she finally responded.
"I'm sorry….but…who are you?"
A/N: DUN DUN DUN! I do hope this chapter managed to keep you at the edge of your seats regardless of the fact that it is a little predictable, well at least until the end if It didn't well, I hope it at least entertained you! Also, I am aware of the hatred for my cliffhangers and I currently have no plans on delaying the next chapter for life stuff, but I do need to let this ending stew for a little otherwise it's just not really a cliffhanger, so the update will come soon, hehe.
Replies!
:
Well, can you at least tell me where you found the rock? I could really use one! I do actually know about 'Burning' I haven't actually started it yet, but it is on the long list of fictions I need to get into, so hearing good things about it is always nice.
Do not be concerned, I have a whole plan regarding Stormfly and Astrid, this was just the beginning of a much large sub-plot that I will be writing out as the story progresses, the dialogue between Ghost and Toothless while it was fore-shadowy, in this story I don't plan on splitting them apart or anything like that, to be honest I only realized how that sequence played out after I had written in, I am quite proud of it, but I realize how it could easily send that message so I am considering altering it a bit.
Astrid's mother shipping them is inspired by my own mother, who has been shipping me with a childhood friend….for….fricken….ever, granted she has never used the term 'shipping' but just ugh.
Huzah for the sort of not really break then? Wish my teachers would go on strike for awhile, let me breath for a week without four new assignments to do, that'd be great.
UnbreakableWarrior:
Well buckle your seatbelt bucko cause a whole lot of Hiccstrid is coming, not in this chapter, or the next one prolly, but it's coming.
OechsnerC:
Neither, but I actually plan on fully revealing all of the reasoning's later so I don't want to spoil it just yet.
EagleDragon15:
Yeah, I probably wouldn't have made the joke at all but my brain was just like 'You gotta' and who am I to argue that logic? I am really glad you enjoy my portrayal of Hiccup, his character in this fiction has been one of my favorite things about writing it so I'm glad it's been being so well received.
Angel-the-hedge:
Thank you very much, I'm glad you're enjoying them!
Carl Solo:
As always I'm glad you're enjoying the story, as of right now I have a few ideas for my next stories but nothing entirely concrete as of yet, so I am just focusing on the stories I have up right now and working on them, but who knows what I'll do after I finish this fiction, I am quite fond of the Viking Era myself so we will see what happens.
Hypernova 5.0:
Well, I mean, I'm pretty sure sufficient ass was kicked for both sides in this chapter :P
midnightsky0612:
Traumatize all the Berserkers!
CerebralCortex31:
I don't think your sadness for Stormfly is genuine, I'm watching you o.o heh :P.
Khizar:
Overwatch for life man.
As I mentioned before I am looking at that sequence, it was meant to be a sort of nice little bonding moment for Ghost and Toothless and then it sort of got all fore-shadowy and that wasn't really my intention, so I don't know if I should leave it or not.
Also, Weird is definitely the best possible thing to be, have you seen normal people!? Ugh, amateurs :P
Shadowspirit020: Well more Hiccstrid is coming, I was happy with the scene in the last chapter though am glad you are still enjoying this story!