Chapter 5 – The Kill Ring
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Tracks: The Kill Ring/Ready The Ships
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Night Fury is sleeping.
Unfortunately, he is also having a nightmare.
You may wonder if it's even possible for dragons to dream. Well, he isn't lying, and he's certainly not making it up, so Night Fury is telling the truth.
In his nightmare, Hiccup is falling. Falling endlessly, into a black abyss. And the dragon can't reach him, as much as he tries. The feeling of powerlessness invades him suddenly, and he realizes just how fond of the boy he really is.
He is awakened by Hiccup's scream.
Everything about his nightmare forgotten, the dragon tries to reach the top of the walls of the blasted cove. Scratching desperately, his only thoughts revolve around his human's safety.
He falls, and suddenly remembers how he tried everything to get out when his own life depended on it.
No.
He will not fail Hiccup. He can't.
With renewed determination, his claws manage to make a support point so he can hoist himself up. His ability to do so surprises him – in more than one way, saving Hiccup became more important than his own life.
Eerie.
Toothless never imagined he'd be able to get out on his own, least of all because of –
Wait a minute.
Toothless?
Racing through the trees of Raven Point, the dragon huffs. It's impossible to escape it now; he is Toothless. If he is to be honest with himself, he's been becoming Toothless ever since Hiccup gave him fish.
Strangely, the thought urges him to go faster, instead of spooking him. A month ago, coming to a human's aid seemed a ridiculous idea. Honestly, he's not even sure the boy is worth all this trouble.
Ha ha. Yeah right. He wouldn't come running like a worried mother upon hearing her baby's cries if he wasn't.
Toothless, oddly enough, found his first friend in a human child. He's also pretty sure Hiccup found his first friend in a dragon.
Arriving on the center of the surprisingly empty island, he glances around and catches the scent of a Monstrous Nightmare.
Just great. Hiccup couldn't get into trouble with a Terrible Terror, no siree. It had to be a dragon over three times a Night Fury's size.
This friendship will be the death of Toothless, he can just feel it.
Okay. First things first. Arena: located. Hiccup: still in danger.
Time to put on a show.
Screeching loudly enough to make the crowd cringe, the black dragon manages to fly high enough to blast at the chains that are keeping him from entering. His vision is slightly damaged by the smoke he created, but that doesn't stop him from finding the gods-forsaken creature that dared to mess with Hiccup.
Climbing onto the Nightmare's back, Toothless sets the human free, and can only hope that he is safe and sound by now.
The bigger dragon puts up a decent fight, but also seems to sense Toothless is keen on protecting the boy. So moments later he backs away fearfully. As castaway as the Night Fury may be, he is still equally as feared by the other species. In fact, the red dragon stepping back is a pretty predictable outcome, in his opinion.
What he doesn't anticipate is how every Viking in the island (and those are real-life Vikings, mind you – not at all like Hiccup in any way) seems to jump into the ring, intent on –
What are they intent on?
When in doubt, threaten. This is Toothless' motto, and it worked pretty well to this day. So he growls, still crouching protectively in front of Hiccup. One of the warriors is especially big, and the dragon successfully tackles the man, about to blast at him (to make an example for the others), when Hiccup's voice yells at him not to do it.
Repeatedly.
So he hesitates. That's his first mistake. He swallows down his fire, it making his throat itch a little, and glances back at the eyes of his only friend.
That's his second mistake. He lets his guard down for enough time to be captured by the burly men. And he can strike back at them, he can set himself free, but he doesn't out of…
What? Respect for Hiccup's decision? Faith that it is the right one? By the time he starts questioning his motives, there is no chance to escape. They have him under strong arms and severe surveillance.
He heard Hiccup shouting for him not to be hurt (a request that is surprisingly attended by the apparent Viking leader), but as soon as the doors close and leave him in total darkness, the memory does little to soothe him.
Apparently, his greatest mistake was trusting in a human.
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Sunlight.
It blinds the dragon a little when the doors to his prison are burst open. He's not sure of how long it's been – it could've been a couple of hours, or an entire day, really – since he was left to his thoughts.
He puts up a bigger fight now, his anger fueling him. But the men are many and the dragon is once more overpowered.
He is angry, but not because he was captured for the first time in his life, or because he doesn't know what the Vikings will do to him.
No. He is angry because, as much as he tried while locked, he can't hate Hiccup. The Night Fury had no one for the longest time, and opening up to the scrawny boy still was his best decision, cheesy as it sounds.
Honestly though, does he enjoy suffering? Because if he does, he sure is on the right track. Considering a human his friend? Playtime is over. Things just got dangerous. He should be thinking about an escape route, not about Hiccup.
Stubbornly though, he calls himself Toothless in his mind.
And Toothless, whether he wants it or not, is still Hiccup's best friend.
With that exasperating thought, the dragon is tied to a wooden surface that is suddenly suspended. As soon as he sees he's about to be put in a ship, he starts struggling. He only becomes more nervous once the man he was about to attack earlier shouts, "We head for Helheim's Gate."
No. No, no, no, no, no.
His worst fear is becoming true.
He will pay the Green Death a visit.
"Lead us home," says the same red-haired man. "Devil."
Pfft, is that it? That's all he's got? Toothless here will probably be killed, along with every man on these ships, by their 'bee queen', as Astrid so wonderfully put it. The least he can get is a decent insult.
Awh great. His Hiccup is showing.
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A/N: hey, sorry for the wait… Truth is, updates will come a little slower since school's back, but I'll try my best to finish this ASAP, since it has only two chapters and an epilogue to go! The epilogue is based on the short Gift of The Night Fury, so if you haven't seen it, I suggest you do… It's about 20-minutes long, and it's available on YouTube (:
And I didn't want to end this chapter on a tense note, because I'll probably take like a week to update again, so… Yeah. I tried to make it lighter…?
Thanks for all the follows and favorites, and a shout-out to LesserWraith for taking a look at the chapter before giving the 'ok' sign!