Chapter 6: Battling the Green Death
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Tracks: Battling the Green Death/Counter Attack
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Toothless isn't sure what scares him the most. The notion of arriving at the island and meeting that thing, or getting there to meet nothing. He can't know for sure whether the Dragon Leader has the power to anticipate an attack of this proportion.
Maybe he has.
Listening in for more sounds of his kin, he turns his head to the left. The black dragon can't help but feel like some sort of traitor; even if his life is on the line, even if the other dragons find him strange for being the only Night Fury - he still is taking armed Vikings to his nest. He sort of fears for the same ones who were unkind towards him.
Being with Hiccup really turned him soft.
Speaking of the boy, Toothless really started questioning his decision a couple of minutes ago. Is Hiccup worthy of his forgiveness? He did just stare at him while he was arrested.
Ah, who is he kidding? There was nothing the boy could do, that much the dragon can tell. But the burly man who is giving orders is definitely the leader of this tribe. That's something that's been bothering Toothless for a while - why would Hiccup, who mentioned being nothing short of the town's pariah, be heard by the chief?
Now, the Night Fury is a very intelligent being, so it shouldn't be hard for him to figure it out.
After ten minutes of thinking, he still hasn't.
His best guess is that Hiccup's father (the only member of the human's family that the dragon knows of) has some sort of relationship with the leader, but the only man to approach the chief in a familiar manner is a large blonde one, who looks no more like Hiccup than the redhead.
Actually, come to think of it, maybe 'Stoick' (how the blonde man calls the chief) is Hiccup's relative in some way. They have the same green eyes, after all.
Arriving on the island, all thoughts about his friend's genetic inheritance flee his mind. He shrinks a little in his place, trying to make himself less noticeable. He watches helplessly as the Vikings ready themselves for a battle that cannot be won. Toothless can't help but feel a pang of sadness at the realization that Hiccup's father may be on one of those ships, along with other children's parents.
And he can't get away from his prison, even with no Viking around, to try and scare them back into the ships.
Slowly, he stops struggling, and lets his head point down. And he keeps it there until he hears what he swears to be the roar to end all roars. Now desperate, Toothless shakes the chains that hold him hostage, once more to no avail. He can't do much, not with his head stuck the way it is. He might break his neck with all the twisting, even.
Stoick sees his fear. And yet, he moves forward. The Green Death isn't expecting them - that much is clear - but the Night Fury watches helplessly as every other dragon in the nest flies away. He realizes that even if he was free, he wouldn't be able to fly along with them.
He needs Hiccup.
The Dragon Leader (the memory of Astrid's name to it is painfully inappropriate) sets fire to the ships so that the Vikings can't escape the island.
The bastard wants a massacre.
Toothless thinks it's a smart move, to burn the ships - only he remembers suddenly that he is on one of them!
He tunes out whatever else is happening at the shore to try once more to set himself free. The chains that hold his body together are really starting to give in, but his main problem is still his neck. It is involved with strong wood and an iron lock - only incredible strength could possibly break it open. Toothless isn't weak, but his paws aren't exactly available to work on it.
He needs - Hiccup!
Said boy rides with Astrid on a blue Deadly Nadder, speeding towards the ship in flames.
Wait, what is he doing? This thing is on fire!
Hiccup jumps into it with surprising grace - for how long had Toothless been overlooking his qualities? - and puts his arms around his neck.
"Go help the others," the boy shouts to Astrid, who responds with a tight nod. Ever the soldier. And Hiccup... How could no one see his leadership before?
"Okay, hold on, hold on," he says with his wide green eyes conveying nothing but worry. The dragon looks back just as fondly. He realizes he trusts his human blindly - not even while he was locked did he have the will to hate him. They're so past that point by now - it is like they have no one else in the world but each other.
The boy tries to break the lock, but his lack of physical strength never becomes more apparent. The teen struggles, wishing there was some way to put his brain to use to turn this around. Toothless feels guilty for wishing, just for a moment, that Hiccup is more like 'the others.'
And then things start to really go wrong.
The Green Death's gigantic paw smashes the deck, and down comes the mast. It destroys part of what remains from the deck, and Toothless is sucked down into the water as a consequence.
Great. Arrested by Vikings because of his loyalty to a human boy, then drowned. That is not the way the dragon hoped to die. He's not sure what's worse; this death, or falling from the skies with no control of his tail, like he would have if Hiccup's instincts hadn't kicked in.
Okay, focus on not breathing in the water. If he does, he'll drown. But only a miracle to get him out of there before he does...
Startled, the Night Fury notices Hiccup diving deeper into the water, in his direction. The boy is seriously risking his own life in order to try and set Toothless free, even when both of them know the odds are not in their favor.
Once more, the boy risks his life to save the dragon's.
Hiccup is almost losing conscience from the lack of air - his eyelids are fluttering close and the dragon is starting to freak out - when a hand whose owner Toothless can't recognize grabs the boy and brings him up.
No!
Really, not even the Night Fury knows why the thought echoed on his mind - he wants Hiccup to be saved, doesn't he?
Well... he does. Only that dying alongside his best friend seemed an honorable enough death. One he could live with.
Ha... 'Live with'...
Toothless feels his heart rate slowing, and closes his eyes to wait for the end. Shouldn't take long now.
Feeling movements on the water, his eyes snap open to meet... Stoick? Is that the one who just saved Hiccup? They must be related in some degree, that would explain a lot...
The Viking leader stares at him for a second, and the look on his face seems to say, "Do not make me regret this."
And then (with his bare hands!) Stoick breaks the wood around the dragon's neck.
Okay.
Toothless finally breaks free and drags the chief to the surface with him.
Nice. He encounters Hiccup safe and sound.
The dragon takes a deep breath in order to get oxygen back in his system. Shaking off the droplets of water, he warbles with a jerk of his head in the monster's direction. Hopefully he's being clear enough.
"You got it, bud," Hiccup nods with a serious look. Toothless is a little irked by it; the boy is too young to bear such a forlorn expression, in his opinion.
"Hiccup," Stoick calls, as the young man climbs the dragon.
"I'm sorry..." the Chief looks at the boy apologetically for a moment. "For... F-for everything."
"Yeah, me too," Hiccup answers with an embarrassed shrug.
"You don't have to go up there," the vast man points out.
The boy smiles slightly, as if sharing an inside joke with the man. "We're Vikings," he says. "It's an occupational hazard."
"I'm proud," replies the man seriously, "to call you my son."
Whoa! What does he mean, son? Stoick? Hiccup's father? What has the world come to?
Toothless doesn't know anything anymore.
"Thanks, dad."
Apparently that is exactly what he needs to say in order to get Stoick to let them go. He does so and with an impressive grace (alright, perhaps he's showing off a bit), Toothless is off.
"He's up!" Astrid calls to the others with a smile. Hmm. Questionable behavior. If the dragon has the time to do so later, he'll study the blonde specimen. The girl's attitude towards Hiccup is interesting, to say the least.
Happy thoughts vanish, and the Night Fury narrows his pupils into slits. It is time for battle.
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If Toothless thought that being drowned was a bad way to die, he had another thought coming. As his tailfin catches fire, he feels Hiccup's panic.
"Hang with me bud, we're okay - just a little bit longer..."
He nods unwillingly. The dragon is scared, but the boy is nothing short of terrified - the Night Fury can feel it through his body language. Hiccup's thighs grab his sides desperately and Toothless feels the need to swallow down his own apprehension in order to soothe the human.
Surprisingly though, Hiccup's determination is stronger. Well, the animal muses. If they are going down, might as well save every dragon and person on the island.
Might as well do so together.
They dive, and the Green Death is right behind them. "Hold, Toothless," Hiccup asks. It's difficult to; his tail is already gone and the dragon can hardly manage the free fall.
"Now!" The teen shouts. The black dragon understands immediately, due to some miracle. He turns around and blasts a single but powerful shot of his blue fire into the monster's mouth. It works wonders, surprisingly, but he and his rider have bigger problems; such as getting the heck out of there.
The fire consumes the Green Death, but on its way down, the gigantic creature manages to swing its tail at them.
"No... No!" Hiccup screams and presses Toothless' tail device, but there is nothing to be switched anymore. The Night Fury braces for impact, trying desperately to turn right to avoid the crash.
It doesn't work.
In fact, the only thing Toothless accomplishes is making the enemy hit his left side instead of his front.
The black dragon's sharp ears make out a sound he hopes to never hear again. The sickening crush of bones and tearing of flesh, result of the impact, makes Hiccup pass out from the pain just before he is thrown out of his saddle.
Toothless remembers his nightmare as soon as he dives after the human, and into the fire.
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Author's Note: so the bad news is that I thought I uploaded this days ago, but the website disagreed with me :p But, the good news is that it's up now (hitting on 2000 words so yay!), and the last chapter is almost finished, so it should be up in a short time (well, shorter than the break between this and the chapter before). I don't want to leave this story quite yet, so I'm brainstorming for the Epilogue, but that will take a bit longer. But the story can stand on its own without it, I guarantee. Thank you all for the reviews, follows and favorites – you guys are amazing! Thanks for reading, and a shout out to LesserWraith, for bearing with me :D