Heather Together Chapter 5
"Where is everybody?"
Snotlout's question was a good one. They had arrived at the menacing-looking island that was home to the dragons, and there was no sign of Vikings anywhere.
"Could the dragons have sunk all the ships before they got to land?" Fishlegs wondered.
"They couldn't have," Astrid answered him; it was the first time she'd spoken since they'd taken off. "When a ship sinks, it always leaves some loose stuff floating on the surface. We sent out twenty-five ships. If they'd all been sunk, we'd definitely see shields, or oars, or..."
"Or floating bodies," Tuffnut finished.
"You had to say it," Astrid snarled.
"Had to say what?" Tuff wondered.
"Maybe they went to the other side of the island," Fishlegs suggested.
Hiccup nodded. The Nadder banked gracefully to the left and curved around the volcanic mountain; the other three dragons followed them.
In a few minutes, they saw that they'd guessed right. They also saw that they were none too soon, as they watched their worst nightmare stomping around the battlefield, crushing ships with its jaws and chasing their relatives, who were in full retreat. It was about to lunge and devour two unusually brave (or unfortunate) Vikings who had separated themselves from the main group.
"Legs! They need dragon fire, now!" Hiccup shouted.
"How do I do that?" Fishlegs asked.
"You don't do it, the dragon does!" Snotlout shouted back.
"Okay, sure! Dragon, can you, uhh, shoot some fire at that big thing?"
Somehow, the Gronckle got the message. It opened its huge mouth, and a second later, a white-hot fireball shot out. The explosion looked like a glowing white crown on the huge beast's head. It roared in pain and forgot about the Vikings it had been about to eat.
The four dragons shot past the monster and circled around it, while Tuffnut called to the Vikings on the ground so they'd know he and his friends were riding dragons, as though they might not have noticed. They had a quick council of war in the sky; then the Nadder turned away to find Toothless while the other three dragons tried to keep the giant dragon distracted.
"There!" Hiccup pointed. Among the many burning war vessels was one with a long black shape struggling on deck. He guided the Nadder over the ship's deck, handed the harness to Heather, and jumped. "Go help the others!" he shouted, and turned to rescue his friend.
Help the others? she asked herself. Hiccup, if you and Toothless are our best hope, then I should be helping you.
He easily removed the leather strap that held Toothless' mouth closed, but the wooden yoke with its twin chains was another story. He was getting nowhere with it, and the monster dragon was getting dangerously close to them. What could she do? Could the dragon do anything? She tried to remember what Deadly Nadders were like. Dragon Studies had never been her favorite subject as a child... Think, Heather! Hiccup is counting on you! Nadders... Nadders... Nadders have the hottest fire!
"Hiccup! Step back!" she shouted. Then she reached forward so the dragon could see her hand as she pointed. "Dragon, can you see those chains? Can you blow some fire, right there? Do you understand what I want?"
It understood. It dove, and a shaft of sparkling white light flashed out of its mouth, tracing a U-shape around Toothless' head. One of the chains was melted in two instantly, and the other was softened enough by the heat that it snapped when Toothless pulled at it. Unfortunately, that shaft of fire also ignited the deck at Hiccup's feet. He jumped back without realizing how close he was to the ship's gunwales, tripped, and fell over the side into the ice-cold sea.
"Hiccup!" she screamed. There was nothing she could do from up here! She watched and waited helplessly for him to surface. Then she saw another splash nearby. A few seconds later, Hiccup's father burst to the surface and dragged his son to shore. Toothless leaped off the burning ship and joined them there, still wearing the wooden collar, snarling angrily at Stoick. Hiccup figured out the latch and opened the collar; Toothless shook it off and gestured for Hiccup to climb onto him.
For a few seconds, father and son talked. She had no idea what they said, but for them to take a time-out in the middle of a battle for the tribe's survival, it must have been important. Then Hiccup and Toothless leaped into the sky and joined the battle.
She looked to see how that battle was going. Fishlegs and the Gronckle were down, and it looked like they had barely avoided being stepped on. Snotlout was running around on the giant dragon's head, trying to avoid being thrown off, while Astrid was trying to reach the Monstrous Nightmare's horns from her "back seat" so she could control the thing. The Zippleback was circling the giant at a distance. I guess "the others" needed help too, she thought.
"He's up!" Heather shouted. "Ruffnut, Tuffnut, get Snotlout out of there!" They obeyed readily, albeit with some pushing and shoving, and they managed to get their dragon into position just as Snotlout jumped to what otherwise would have been his death. The Zippleback fled the battle zone. Astrid and the Nightmare followed; she was barely able to guide it by nudging the horns with her fingertips. Heather flew behind them to cover their retreat.
Behind her, she heard a rushing sound, then a roaring blast that sounded like a thunder strike at close range. All three dragons were in a line, and the titan had breathed fire in the hope of roasting them all with one shot. They all dodged it, but Heather's Nadder was closest to the monster and had the least time to dodge. It threw itself frantically through the air, barely escaping the pillar of flame... and tossing its rider off its back. She flew through the air and plunged downward hopelessly.
This is how the gods judge me for the life I've lived, was all she had time to think as she fell – and then her fall ended with a jerk. She found herself hanging upside-down under Toothless as he clutched one of her boots with his paw. She heard Hiccup's voice, full of concern – "Did you get her?" The dragon looked under himself and smiled at her. She managed a pale grin and a wave.
The Night Fury swooped toward the ground, tossed her right-side-up, and set her down without losing too much airspeed. She was too shaken from her fall to stay on her feet, and she tumbled to the ground, skinning her hands and knees on the rocks. It hurt, but she still was able to look as Hiccup and his dragon gained height. "Go!" she whispered.
She couldn't see most of the battle that followed. Other people told her later about how Hiccup and Toothless tried to lure the giant into a head-on collision with thick rock formations, only to see the monster shoulder the rocks aside like stacks of children's blocks. They told her how boy and dragon flew upward to the safety of the clouds, dodging fire and dragon jaws on the way up. They told her how Toothless had shot hole after hole in the huge dragon's wings, and then lured it into a death dive into the ground.
But she saw the giant come down, and she saw it hit and explode. Her excitement at seeing Hiccup win was marred by her fear when she couldn't see him afterward. Where had he gone? What had become of him?
The clouds of ash and smoke cleared slowly. She could hear Stoick calling his son's name, without an answer. The whole army of Vikings was moving toward his voice, so she joined them. She heard the chief say Hiccup's name once more; with an effort, she pushed through the crowd to see him.
All she saw was Stoick fall to his knees in front of a battered black dragon whose saddle was torn and... empty.
"No," she gasped. "Oh, no..." She fell to her own knees, injured though they were, and hid her face in her hands as she wept hopelessly. If the other Vikings were bothered by her emotional display, she didn't care. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered now. Now she'd lost everything.
Stoick called his son's name again. She couldn't see what was happening. She heard the clatter of a helmet hitting the rocks, and after a few seconds, "He's alive! You've brought him back alive!" Did she dare look? She had to! She peered through her fingers, and saw Hiccup clutched in Stoick's arms. How he got there, she didn't know. She still cried, but now they were tears of pure relief.
She stumbled to her feet and ran to him, ignoring her hurt knees. He was deathly pale, battered all over, and barely breathing. She looked him over from head to – not to toe. Her eyes got as far as that horribly maimed leg, and quickly returned to his face. He was still unconscious. That must have been a mercy to him.
Stoick had to lead his tribe. He had to supervise the emergency repairs to such of his ships as were repairable. He had to keep his people organized and busy. He couldn't do all this and also stay with his son. All of Berk's people had work that they had to do, even the teens who weren't officially part of Berk's warrior band yet. Heather, as a visitor, was the only one who had no work assignment. She stayed with Hiccup, cradling his head in her lap, stroking his cheeks with her fingertips, and urging him to wake up.
The other teens (excepting Astrid) dropped by now and then to check on him. "What's the deal with you two?" Snotlout demanded. "You hardly even know him! What did he ever do for you, that you're so stuck on him?"
"He trusted me," she answered simply. He didn't get it. To her, it said everything.
The next day, Gobber approached her with four strong Vikings. "Lassie, I'm thinkin' ye might want to let someone else tend the boy for a while."
"I'd like to stay," she replied quietly.
"I dinna think ye understand," he answered. He held out a saw that he'd been hiding behind his back. "There's somethin' we have to do to that leg, and I dinna think ye wanna be here when we do it."
She went wide-eyed; for a moment, she felt like she couldn't breathe. She looked down at his pale, still face. "If he wakes up, he might thrash and hurt his head. I'd like to stay."
"As ye wish," Gobber shrugged. "Ye better hold onto 'im tight." The other Vikings pinned down his arms and legs. She closed her eyes tightly. If she'd had another pair of hands, she would have plugged her ears, but she needed her hands to hold his head still in her lap. It turned out that she needed every ounce of strength she had. His screams would haunt her for a long time after that.
They were less than halfway done when a much louder sound drowned out everything. She looked up in time to see Toothless charging at them with a roar, determined to protect Hiccup from these men who were inflicting such pain on him! There was murder in his eyes.
She eased Hiccup's head to the ground and leaped up, putting herself between the boy and the dragon. "Toothless, no!" she screamed. "They're trying to help him!" He tried to veer around her; she moved to block him. He skidded to a halt with his head less than a foot away from her, snarling viciously. The other Vikings were on the verge of breaking and running.
"Toothless, you have to understand!" she begged. "He's hurt, and they're trying to make him better, but the cure is also going to hurt him! If they don't do it, it will be much worse! Please, don't attack! Let them do it! Don't hurt them!" He glared at her, puzzled, still growling, but he didn't charge any further. Color slowly returned to the other four Vikings' faces. She kept reassuring him and holding him off until the smith had finished the job.
When the ghastly work was done, and Gobber was applying bandages to the wound, he said quietly, "Thank ye, lassie. Very much. Ye did good work." Hiccup was silent and motionless. "He's out again. That might be a good thing. Perhaps he won't remember this part o' the adventure."
When enough ships were repaired to send the first group home to Berk, it was a given that Hiccup would be on the first ship. Heather begged to be allowed to accompany him. Stoick wasn't sure what to make of this girl from another village who had attached herself to his son. He could not deny her devotion, though, and he'd heard about her courage. She rode home with Hiccup's head in her lap, and Toothless wrapped around the two of them. When night fell, she leaned back against the side of the ship and caught some restless sleep.
Gobber came by with a torch to check on Hiccup's wound in the darkness. He could hear Heather saying something in her sleep, but all he could understand was, "He trusted me. He trusted me."