Waiting on Berk was one of the most boring things without a dragon. luckily for Hiccup, he had Toothless, as well as his friends...mostly Astrid at the moment. The two had decided to go for a fly, to get Hiccup's mind off of the discovery of his father potentially heading into Scauldron and Sharkworm territory, as well as facing Alvin. Stormfly and Toothless seemed to be enjoying the opportunity to stretch their wings as well. Astrid smiled at Hiccup, getting Stormfly to tilt slightly, so she swooped low under Hiccup and Toothless, coming up on his other side. She and her dragon moved in a unified graceful manner, which definitely helped to calm Hiccup's nerves. He laughed warmly, but still couldn't shake the nagging feeling in the back of his mind that something was really wrong.
"Don't worry so much" Astrid speaks up, as if sensing his feelings, "vikings have handled themselves long before we bonded with dragons, and your father has dealt with problems way worse than Alvin before."
Hiccup nodded, "I know, I know, I just can't help it. He's my dad, can you honestly say if it was someone you cared about, you wouldn't be worried?"
Astrid had Stormfly move a bit closer, to where the two dragon's wing tips were only inches apart.
"I care about your dad, he is the head of Berk after all, but I do see what our getting at, and it's natural" she says, "you just got to believe that everything will be alright, and he will come home safe."
It was easier said then done, and in matters like this, Hiccup had become rather impatient, and the more active type. Anyone who knew him from before the whole story with becoming friends with Toothless, or any of their adventures after, would have said in many ways, he was a whole new person. Hiccup had been always so eager to get out there and kill a dragon, to become someone, and make his father proud, to show he wasn't a failure or just in the way. Now he was in a way a defender of Berk, and in charge of a huge part of its future. His father and him had just begun to start to try to understand each other, and grow closer, and now there was a potential that would all end in a matter of days. He trusted his father, and knew the older viking could handle himself, but at the same time, he was also a bit to stubborn and headstrong. He often thought he could take on anything and everything that came his way with force, instead of thinking it through, not that he would really listen to Hiccup if he was there anyways, but he would at least have some backup.
Toothless gave a sudden growl, looking down towards the water. Hiccup looked down as well, and realized they had flown a ways from Berk while he was thinking and talking to Astrid.
"Did you see that?" she said, staring with Stormfly down into the waters.
Hiccup looked closer, to see a black triangle like object rise up out of the water, heading in the same direction. A larger black mass was under it in the water. Hiccup tensed a bit, holding on tighter to Toothless.
"Sharkworm" he says.
"Out here?" Astrid says, looking over at him.
"It must be migrating back towards its' usual waters" Fishleg's words about the northern waters flowed back into his head.
"Dont some of them travel in packs?" Astrid asks, "then why is this one alone?"
"Good question, but I don't think we want to get close enough to find out" Hiccup answered.
"To late" Astrid pointed, her voice rising slightly in nerves.
Looking over, Hiccup noticed the fin of the dragon had changed directions. It was now heading in their direction, and the black mass under it was beginning to rise up under the water.
"Oh boy" Hiccup said, Toothless answering with a roar.
The dragon was massive in its body. It was long, though it did have smaller legs, similar to a Gronkle, with sharp claws. It's wings were folded tight against its' body, before quickly spreading and catapulting the dragon into the air. It's tail was more like a fish's, long, but with a forked fin like appendage at the back. The head of it was flat and wide, like a hammerhead shark, and as it opened its' mouth, those teeth were definitely not something Hiccup wanted to stick around for. Trouble was, although the dragon was massive, it was faster than they thought, shooting at them quickly. Toothless rolled to the side, as Astrid and Stormfly pulled to the other, in time to let the Sharkworm fly past them.
"Man, if that is what only one can do, I am starting to be glad its' not in a group" Astrid called.
She turned Stormfly to face the dragon, as it made a wide turn, and began heading back in their direction. Hiccup needed to think fast, they had studied a bit about Sharkworms, what was it again? The riders pull away once more, as the Sharkworm flies past. It lets out a roar of frustration at them pulling away from it. The sound sent goosebumps flowing over Hiccup's skin. He looks back at it, watching it make another turn to come around again.
"Any time now Hiccup" Astrid calls, Stormfly giving a squawk, and the spikes on her tail extend with the sound of a sword being drawn.
Hiccup recalled what Fishlegs had said when the had been studying them, "the Sharkworm relies more on its speed, and it's strength... it always needs to return to water, only able to stay out of it for ten minutes." He looks up, "that's it!"
"What's it?" Astrid asks.
"The Sharkworm has to stay near water, its' body dries out to fast, and it needs to be able to stay wet" he says.
"Which means, if we heat things up and dry it out-"
"Then it will have to return to the water to replenish before attacking again" he smiles.
Astrid nods, turning Stormfly, so they moved around to the side of the fast flying Sharkworm.
"Ready girl? Aim for as close as you can get" she says.
Stormfly opens her mouth, shooting off a stream of fire out towards the Sharkworm. It roared, trying to stop itself, as the heat flowed over its' massive body. Hiccup patted the side of Toothless' head and nodded, the dragon giving a slight roar, and moving around to the other side of it. He shot off a bolt of his own fire, hitting the Sharkworm in the side, causing it to drop a few feet closer to the water. It's breath had become heavy, as it's skin was drying out from the heat of the two fire attacks. It's wings slightly beginning to have trouble supporting it, it turned its' head up and roared angrily at the two of them. Hiccup was a bit surprised at how its' body had managed to take the hit from Toothless, and still be so active. He remembered Fishlegs saying they were very aggressive and territorial, so maybe the two of them had stumbled to close to its' home. He looked over at Astrid.
"We should get out of here while we can, head home for now" Hiccup called.
She nodded, and Stormfly turned back in the direction of Berk. Hiccup patted Toothless once more.
"Lets go home buddy" he says, and with a roar, Toothless followed suit.
He glance back to see the Sharkworm hovering over the water watching them fly away. It gave a roar, and rose into the air, before pulling its' wings in tight to its' body, and diving into the water. Hiccup let out a breath, if this was the kind of thing his father had to face, along with Scauldrons on top of it, he was definitely going to have to do some major work to get his mind off of it, or he would do something crazy. Then again, most of the time, he ususally did something crazy anyways. This brought a small smile to his face, as adrenaline from the battle moments ago raced through his system. Astrid seemed to be feeling it to, she laughed slightly, having Stormfly dip again, and come up on his other side.
"Woooh...that will definitely wake you up for the day" she smiled.
Hiccup nodded, "though I could do without the almost being eaten part."
She laughed, "Imagine if the others had been there, I can just imagine how Snotlout would have freaked out."
Hiccup laughed to, imagining it for himself. Snotlout was always trying to seem bigger and stronger, but in man situations, he often fell flat on his face. Hiccup was glad that it had been Astrid with him, in a crisis, he could always count on her, and she was easier to talk to and joke with then the others. He looked over at her, the wind blowing over her and her dragon, making her hair blow back and lightly sway in the breeze. Her eyes on Stormfly, as she patted the blue dragon's head, before looking over at him. She brushed her hair back behind one ear, and gave him a smile as well. He felt a slight burn come to his cheeks, and a familiar feeling lightly bubble up in his chest and stomach, like his heart was going to burst. Clearing his throat, he smirked a bit.
"So, think your fast enough to beat us back to Berk?" he challenged.
She gave him a look and a mischievous smile, "just try to keep up."