People reviewed some more! I'm glad people seem to be enjoying the parallels I'm drawing. I plan on doing a few full-circles as well. Play I-Spy in this chapter, 'cause there's one there! :p
Meanwhile on Outcast Island...
The group of vikings had gathered in the lave field as planned... well, most of them. "Where is Astrid?" Stoick wondered, voicing everyone's silent concern. They'd been waiting for a full ten minutes now with no sight of the girl... Not a good thing when in such dangerous waters.
"Well 's not just Astrid that's missing, Stoick." Gobber pointed out, "We 'aven't seen a single outcast since we got here. Don't you find that a bit strange?"
"There are less wild dragons than last time, too." Snotlout observed, shocking everyone. Snotlout was not generally the observant type. "What? Why are you all so surprised? I notice things!"
Spotting an approaching Nadder, Stoick heaved a sigh of relief. It was Stormfly. "Ah, there ye are, Astrid. We were startin' to think-" He silenced himself when the dragon met his gaze, her eyes wide with fear. Finally, she turned to the side so that her empty saddle was visible. "Astrid! Where is she, Stormfly?" The dragoness hung her head in defeat, indicating that she had no idea where Astrid could possibly be.
"No fair! Why do Hiccup and Astrid get all the fun? I want to get kidnapped!" Tuffnut whined, looking to his sister who nodded in agreement.
"Um, hello, nobody would come looking for you." Snotlout pointed out, folding his arms over his chest and rolling his eyes. This was a mistake, because he was nearly thrown off Hookfang, who raised her head suddenly and looked to the sky. "Hookfang, why do you hate me so- Hookfang?" He- as well as the rest of the Vikings- now noticed that Hookfang was not the only dragon acting strangely. In fact, all of them were looking to the sky, and, moments later, they were airborne. Luckily, Spitelout, who had been sitting behind Snotlout, had the foresight to grab his son before the boy toppled off of the dragon altogether. After righting himself in his saddle and grabbing hold of Hookfang, Snotlout wondered, "Umm, where are we going?"
Gobber rolled his eyes, " 'aven't ya learned anythin' from your dragon trainin' classes, Snotlout? Obviously the dragons know somethin' we don', so we jus' 'ave to trust 'em."
"That's right." Stoick, who had, until Gobber said this, been trying to figure out a way to get back to Outcast Island, calmed himself and looked forward, "Tha's what Hiccup would want us to do." For once, not even the twins argued with this, or pointed out that Hiccup wasn't around. After all, if not for Hiccup's trust in Dragons knowing what they were doing, none of them would be on the backs of dragons right now. They'd still be fighting for their lives to defend Berk, and Hiccup? Well, he'd likely be an Outcast himself. And so, the vikings followed their dragons to- well, wherever they were being taken.
Let's check in with our Dynamic Duo...
After much struggling, Hiccup managed to find a way to keep himself on Toothless' back. He felt so weak he had trouble hanging on, and found himself shouting for Toothless to slow down more often than he would have liked, but eventually, they made it out into the light of day once more. They were standing in a clearing, the sun shining brightly directly above their heads. In any other situation, Hiccup would have taken this time to admire his surroundings. The land was not much unlike Berk, but the way the sun shone and glistened off the shores was something rather new to him. But there was no time for that now. The beatings of wings and paws on the earth drew his attention to the center of said clearing, where there was an apparent struggle. A light gray Night Fury was wrapped up in a net, surrounded by... Outcasts?
"Alvin," Hiccup breathed, shaking slightly. This was about the worst thing that could possibly happen to him at this point in time.
"Mother!" Toothless whimpered, racing forward without a thought, accidentally throwing Hiccup off his back in the process.
Hiccup winced as he hit the ground hard, watching Toothless run toward what was apparently his mother. "Toothless-" It was too late. Another net dropped from the sky. Hiccup raised his eyes to see a Nadder with an Outcast perched upon its back chirping proudly as she admired her handiwork. "Toothless!" Forcing himself to his shaky feet, the boy did his best to make a run for his dragon, but found himself being lifted into the air instead. Glancing up, he saw that he was in the paws of a huge Night Fury, whom he could only assume was Flamewing. "Flamewing, please, I know you don't trust me, but Toothless-"
"You and Pixie are one in the same! Keep out of my way!" The dragon growled, preparing to drop Hiccup up high in a tree when suddenly the boy noticed something. A Monstrous Nightmare. For once in his life, he found himself praying to the Gods that Snotlout had come to save him, but then he saw something else. The bola launcher he'd used to catch Toothless in his claws, and, on the back of the dragon, Mildew, and behind him, two Outcasts holding down an infuriated Astrid. The poor Nightmare was floundering under all the extra weight, and nearly crashed into the ground when he finally managed to land.
"Astrid!" He yelped as he fell onto the tree. Clinging to it, he looked back to Flamewing helplessly, "Flamewing, please! That's your mate down there, isn't it?" The dragon hesitated. "That girl they're holding captive on the Monstrous Nightmare is my mate. I know you don't trust me, and I know you don't like me, but we have to work together!"
"And why is that?" The dragon hissed, glaring at the boy. Apparently he wasn't too against the idea, for he was still listening and had yet to simply fly off. "Why should I-" He was cut off when a bola came whizzing out of nowhere and knocked him to the ground.
Hiccup winced as the great dragon fell, and Alvin proudly rested his boot against the Night Fury's paw. "Perfect," He cooed, glaring down at the beast, who was positively fuming. He glanced over his shoulder, and Hiccup, following his gaze, spotted Astrid in handcuffs, being dragged along by an Outcast, and the bola launcher by another. Mildew led them to Alvin. "Well, if it isn't 'lil 'eather." He chuckled, "You're just full of surprises, ain't you, Mildew?"
"Anything to please you," Mildew brown nosed, flashing a toothy grin.
Hiccup sighed, frustrated. He had to do something, and fast. His eyes darted around the scene before him. Toothless was too far away, he'd be caught before he stood a chance of getting to him, and Astrid, too well guarded. Toothless' mother was even further away, but it seemed like the other Night Furies were doing a fairly decent job of keeping the Outcasts from getting too close. Fortunately for him, Alvin decided to test out his new toy. "Le's see how many Night Furies we can get with 'Iccup's bola launcher." He grinned and launched a bola, that, sure enough, hit its target. Hiccup winced as he heard an anguished cry as a Night Fury went down.
Gulping, he looked to Flamewing, who had been watching Hiccup the whole time. "You have to trust me," He whispered, holding both of his hands up, "I'm on your side." The great dragon said nothing, but lowered his head in defeat. Taking this as a yes, Hiccup did his best to climb down the tree as discreetly as he could, but with legs that felt like fish guts, he didn't get very far before ungracefully falling to the ground, attracting the attention of, well, everyone.
Toothless, seeing what Hiccup was trying to do, attempted to draw attention to himself, roaring and blasting plasma in Alvin's general direction. He wasn't really able to get a clear shot with the rope restricting his movements, but it was enough, and he managed to his the bola launcher, setting it aflame. All eyes turned to the Night Fury and away from Hiccup. All but Astrid's. The girl had to stop herself from calling out his name when he came crawling out from the underbrush, but he wasn't even looking at her. His eyes were locked on the Night Fury before him. It was positively huge compared to Toothless, but more importantly, it was a NIGHT FURY. They must have come across the real Isle of Night! So this is where Hiccup has been.
Hiccup withdrew a small silver dagger from his coat and the dragon eyed it suspiciously, "I know, I know, I'm not going to hurt you." He assured the dragon, "You have to trust me. We have to work together, just this once, Flamewing." With this said, he began to cut the bola off of the dragon. Once free, the beast leapt to his feet, bringing attention back to him once more. How could they miss a dragon of his size making such a big movement? Hiccup grimaced as Alvin spotted him.
"Ah, 'Iccup! How nice of you to join us!" The Outcast began to come forward, and much to Hiccup's surprise, Flamewing came to his defense, snarling at the Outcast.
Behind the dragon's outstretched wings, Hiccup made his way to the bola launcher and glared down at it. "Just one more time, please..." He whispered. Astrid, who found it safe to approach Hiccup now, held her arms out. He cut her free and said, "I need you to take care of things here. I'm going to go after that dragon."
"But ho-" She followed his gaze to the flaming bola launcher, "Hiccup-" She warned, but he was having none of it. He was already in position, his vest lighting aflame. Astrid sighed and forced the machine to shoot him into the air. It was quite magnificent, a 90-pound boy flying through the air, sparks showering off of him. Almost like a comet. A very suicidal comet that drew everyone's attention. This gave Astrid just enough time to retreat behind the large dragon's wings, "He's going after your friend," She said softly, earning a glare from the great beast. She took a step back, holding both arms up in a calming fashion, "It's okay, I'm on your side. Those Outcasts kidnapped me and took my dragon away." Flamewing eyed her warily, not ready to trust this human girl... But Hiccup, who had just saved him, had claimed her to be his mate, so he would keep her safe, for now.
Now to the aimlessly flying Vikings...
Finally, the group of Vikings and dragons came to land on an island, where a rather exhausted-looking Monstrous Nightmare seemed to have crash landed. "Where on Odin's Green Earth are we?" Stoick wondered aloud, though he wasn't allowed much time to think before the dragons seemed to catch wind of something and carried their riders into a clearing where chaos was ensuing. There, in the center of the field, was a Night Fury, whom everyone assumed to be Toothless, caught up in a weighted net, but then they noticed another, much darker Night Fury beside it, and the Outcasts that were attempting to come near them, only to be blasted away by plasma blasts from the sky. "Outcasts?! Just what on Earth is going on here?" He turned to watch Stormfly dart off to the side, where another, excessively large, Night Fury stood, and beside him, Astrid.
"Stormfly!" Astrid rushed to her dragon and embraced her, "I thought I'd never see you again!" The dragoness nuzzled her rider and purred softly. Astrid swiftly hoisted herself onto her Stormfly's back and called to Stoick, "Hiccup's here, he went after another dragon. We have to get the Outcasts and their dragons out of here!"
"Their dragons?! Since when do the Outcasts ride dragons?!" Stoick boomed, enraged.
"Ask Mildew," Astrid spat, glaring down at the old man who was still brown nosing Alvin. Apparently, Alving had been too distracted by shouting orders about Toothless to notice the new arrivals. "He's been playing us all along!"
That was when Stoick noticed Toothless. "TOOTHLESS!" He roared, and just like that, their cover was blown. Everyone turned to face Stoick, Gobber, Spitelout and the teens.
"Ah, just in time!" Alvin greeted, entirely too cheerful about this new development, "FIRE!" he commanded, and all at once, dragons of all sorts came forth with mouths open wide, but nothing came out. "Wha- Wha' the 'ell is wrong with 'em?!" Alvin shouted, turning to Mildew for answers.
"Hah! They're all out!" Gobber beamed, "But ours are jus' gettin' started!"
Meanwhile, our little comet that could...
Hiccup had done his best to calculate his trajectory. Because he obviously weighed more than a bola, he should have landed pretty close to the Night Fury. Close enough to use his Night Fury call. After rolling on the ground to put the fire out, he cupped his hands around his mouth and howled softly, trying to avoid calling ALL of the island's Night Furies. A feeble response came, and Hiccup forced his legs to move in that general direction. He felt as though he might collapse, sweating profusely in spite of the fact that he felt like he was slowly freezing to death. All in all, he was a mess, but he refused to let another dragon suffer because of his stupid invention. Finally, he caught sight of the Night Fury. In truth, he might have thought the dragon to be a pool of water if not for the movement... And the fact that he was three dimensional. The dragon's scales were a deep shade of blue that Hiccup couldn't help but admire... Though he didn't have long to do so, because as soon as yellow eyes met green, the dragon panicked and began thrashing about.
"No, no please! I'm not here to hurt you!" Hiccup promised, though the dragon wasn't buying it. "Please! Thrashing around is only going to hurt you more! That's how Toothless... Pixie... lost his tail fin." The dragon froze and eyed the boy warily. "I'm a friend. The people that shot you down are my enemy, too." He withdrew the knife from his singed vest, which started the dragon's fearful squirming once more, "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to cut the net off of you."
"Pixie was a fool to trust a human," The dragon spat, "You're no different from all the rest of them!"
Hiccup shook his head and gestured to the forest around him, "Look around you. There's nobody here to back me up. Either I cut you free while you have a chance to escape, or they will while you're held in a cage. Look at me. Do I really look like I could do any damage to a Night Fury?" The dragon eyed him. It was true. The boy could hardly keep his head up, and he was having trouble keeping the knife in his sweaty palms. "If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already. Please, you have to trust me... We have to trust each other to get these men off your island."
"And what's in it for you?!" The dragon spat angrily.
"Well, for one thing, like I said, they're my enemies, too. If they had an army of Night Furies, I'd be toast." Hiccup admitted with a shrug, edging closer to the dragon, "Promise me you won't run when I free you." There was silence. "Please, promise me. We have to work together, just this once. Let me show you that I'm not like the other humans."
"Drop the dagger... when you've finished, then I'll stay." The dragon said finally, seeing no other options. Hiccup grinned and nodded, cutting through the ropes as fast as he could before throwing the dagger aside and getting to his feet, holding both arms out before himself.
"Alright, I'm unarmed, and you're free, see?" He said soothingly, "You have all the power now. I'm trusting you not to hurt me." The dragon got to his feet and sniffed at the boy warily, trying to understand.
"You're a human... Why would you do something so foolish? I could kill you!" The dragon reared back, opening his mouth threateningly.
Hiccup nodded, "You could." He admitted, "But that's not in your best interest. I know more about the Outcasts than you do. I can help you get rid of them once and for all."
The dragon calmed down a bit, watching Hiccup's every move, "I could kill you without batting an eye, and yet... You're indifferent. You should smell of fear, not hope!"
"I'm not afraid. I trust you to do the right thing, to show me I did the right thing by setting you free. I'm not your enemy." He held his hand out, just as he had with Toothless that day so long ago, "I want to help you."
Not understanding this gesture, the dragon snorted at Hiccup's hand and turned, showing the boy his back, "Don't get used to this, human. Just this once, I'll allow you to... ride me." Hiccup beamed and stepped forward, getting onto the Night Fury's back with difficulty. He was bigger than Hiccup was used to, and he didn't have a saddle like Toothless, which was bad in his current weakened state, but he managed to wrap his arms around the dragon.
"We have to go back to the others. I have a plan to save the alpha female." The dragon nodded curtly and pressed himself to the ground before launching into the air.
Anybody catch the whole "Toothless hit the bola launcher" full circle there? Next chapter should be pretty action-packed... And I just got another idea that might be a tear jerker. We'll see! Anyway, review my lovelies!