New chapter, new question. What happened to Hiccup after he was electrocuted by the Skrill? Well, you'll have to wait to find out. Mwahaha!
Side note about my health: turns out it was a migraine, which would explain the colours in my eyes, mild head-ache and hands going numb, along with the sickness. Nothing serious and I'm back up and running again now! However, I was quite worried when I suddenly lost the feeling in my hands, so if you're ever worried about something like that, check an internet site you can trust (for me, it was the NHS) because usually, it's nothing serious.
1248: Need no longer, my friend!
Hiccupisnotuseless: Of course the Skrill is back! How on earth would Dagur manage to capture the whole island without it? He would have a lot of trouble now that Cloudjumper is there and all the new dragons!
Guest: Never fear, I am fully recovered now! Hopefully that won't happen again for a looooong time. Ehehe
"You wanna race?" Tuffnut raised his eyebrows cheekily. His sister snorted jovially.
"Sure, but you batter be prepared to lose!" He quirked an eyebrow at this, mocking her by sticking out his tongue. With simple shouts, their dragons took off into the sky, beating hard to gain speed. Immediately, it was clear that Scauldy was carrying too much extra weight. His swollen belly slowed him down as the powerful Typhoomerang took the lead. Torch looked back and snorted as though he was teasing his new friend.
"We need to lose all this water!" Ruffnut called forward. Her dragon seemed to be thinking the same thing, and he stretched out his neck, letting his whole fill of liquid go at once. The stream of steaming water hissed down between the trees, leaving the dragon much lighter. Scauldy's head lifted quickly, jumping forward in the air as his powerful wings came into their own. Very soon, he was closing in on Torch.
Tuffnut tapped his dragon on the shoulder and jerked a thumb back towards their competitors. Torch snorted, putting on a burst of speed of his own, his rider kneeling up between his wings. The two dragons were almost shoulder-to-shoulder as they rounded the enormous mountain that stretched up behind the village of Berk, into which the Great Hall was cut. Steps wound up it's sheer, treacherous, rocky slopes, leading all the way up to a little house perched on top. Tuffnut reached out, almost able to touch the balcony platform from which their village elder predicted the weather. They circled the mountain once before streaking out towards the ocean.
Below, the blackened husk of Berk sat huddled in misery, only a few of the guards lamps and torches lighting the once bustling, busy streets. Ruffnut felt a rock beginning to form in the pit of her stomach, a lump coming to her throat. Below, the twins could hear the frenzied screams of a Night Fury. Something had to be happening to Hiccup. Toothless wouldn't cry like that otherwise. Tuffnut's brow creased in thought.
"I have an idea," He called over, slowing his Typhoomerang down and beginning to circle high above the village. His sister scowled, disapproving.
"Can't we just get away from here and be done with it?" She whined. The sick feeling was creeping back into her gut. Her brother shook his head.
"Just trust me, and follow me." Torch suddenly folded his wings, the leather snapping close to his sides as he turned his shoulder to the ground and plummeted down. Ruffnut resisted the urge to scream after him. The Typhoomerang's body span as he shot head-first towards the village below.
"Well, Scauldy, I guess he's going to get killed if we don't trust him. Hey, maybe he has got an idea for once." Bracing her legs against the Scauldron's wing-joints, she clung on as he, too, went into a dive.
Torch flared his wings meters from the ground, swooping ferociously across the skyline, roaring like thunder. The guards scattered as he came around for another pass, reaching out with his deadly toe-claws and ripping through the buildings below him. Something told him they were prison cells. Perhaps it was the smell, or the bars in the windows. From the depths, a dragon sprang – or rather, fluttered. Meatlug landed sedately in the centre of the street, shaking out a body that looked as though it were made from jagged rocks and smeared with dark, sticky mud. Her tiny wings were a blur on her back, her thick jaws crushing everything in sight, so full of teeth that her mouth couldn't close.
The soldiers were in tatters, rag-tag groups scattering this way and that as another dragon swooped down from above. Scauldy took a deep breath, his chin swelling, but all that came out were simple wisps of steam. Too late, Ruffnut realised, that her dragon had ditched its load of water at the start of the race. Defenceless, Scauldy swept back up into the air, just in time to catch a glimpse of a small figure stomping down the steps form the Hall. Turning the other way, Ruffnut watched her brother and his dragon streak across the sky, taking out yet another building. From it burst forth the flames of a Monstrous Nightmare.
"Get me close to Tuffnut!" She called to the dragon. Scauldy gave a trumpeting call, stopping the Typhoomerang in his tracks and flying in close. "Tuff, that's Dagur at the bottom of the steps! We need to get out of here before he rallies the forces and strikes back."
"No!" Her brother's lip curled, "We can't leave without Hiccup and Toothless. You get the dragon, I'll get our chief!" When he saw his sister's worried look, he smirked at her. "Trust me, it won't take long. We'll get them and be out of here before you know it!" With a final nod, the twins parted again.
Without water, Scauldy was almost powerless from the air. He flew high above the range of the Berserker's crossbows, scouring the ground with his sharp eyes for any sign of the chief's dragon. His rider was doing the same, her brow furrowed deeply. Suddenly, she caught sight of a flash of black scales. She pointed hurriedly
"There!" She cried, holding on as the dragon whipped around to look. He gave a cry of alarm, fluttering wildly to gain altitude. "What's wrong? Scauldy, what are you-" But suddenly, she didn't need to ask. There was a wild screech, followed by the snapping of leather wings. A purple-black blur was shooting towards them, mouth agape as it charged its electrical attack. The Scauldron threw himself aside as the bolt passed them, dodging it by inches. He fell back towards the earth as though he was hit, Ruffnut clinging on around his neck, fighting the urge to scream. It was almost too real. She began to fear the worst. Was he hurt?
Scauldy's wings flashed out, bringing him quickly out of the dive. He thrust them powerfully, coming in to land heavily. Looking back at his rider, the dragon gave a groan, then reared up and threw her off. Ruffnut landed in a heap on the ground, guards and soldiers heading her way.
"Scauldy! What are you doing?" She yelped in shock. He nudged her shoulder, snorting, then turned back to face the oncoming soldiers and Skrill. "Wait... you're protecting me so I can find Toothless! Thanks, Scauldy, I owe you one!" With that, she turned, chose her destination and dashed away down a track that was obviously freshly trampled by many feet. She reasoned that Toothless would be caged away from his rider and the rest of the town to protect them all. Sure enough, as she came closer to the end, the ground became scorched with thousands of marks: plasma blasts. They scorched the earth for meters around them.
She heard a roar as her eyes alighted on a cage, set in the centre of the clearing. The metal of the bars was thicker than her waist in places, but had still suffered heavy damage from the dragon inside thrashing about and blasting everything in sight. And there, inside, she could see the bright green eyes of a Night Fury glaring out at her. Toothless screeched, leaping up at the bars furiously, already charging a blast in his throat. There was a neon blue glow running like a dorsal stripe down his back, from his head to his tail.
"Wait! Toothless, it's me, I'm here to get you out!" Ruffnut stood still, her arms above her head as Toothless' ear flaps sprang up at the back of his head. His mouth closed, rounded head pushing itself between the bars, eyes wide and shining with fear. Who knows what they'd done to him while he was trapped in here. Ruffnut hushed him, reaching out to touch his nose. It almost brought tears to her eyes to think how scared and alone he was here.
"It's alright now," she whispered, reaching into her jacket for her knife. Toothless pulled back as she thrust it into the lock and turned. The door sprang open, and for a moment, Toothless just stood there, bemused, until he jumped forward and galloped away up the pathway, leaving Ruffnut behind him. "Toothless! Stop!" Her shouts were useless, so she simply sprinted after him, hoping she might find her own dragon as well as the alpha.
There was a familiar crash of splintering wood as Torch's talons ripped the roof off yet another building. Tuffnut calculated that this one had to hold his chief. It was closest to the Great Hall, meaning Dagur could keep an eye on him, and so could the other guards. It also looked the most heavily fortified. Sure enough, as he looked down behind him, he saw a wiry man clamber out of the wreckage, looking around himself, bewildered. Torch turned back, heading down to pick him up, but to his surprise, Hiccup shouted out to him to turn around.
"Go back! Get out of here! We'll regroup in the forest!" And with that, their chief took off like a lightning bolt, streaking across town. Torch beat up into the air, fluttering in confusion. Below, Scauldy was taking off in a panic, blood streaming down his sides. He was making for the ocean. A black shape streaked out from the trees behind him, explosions ringing out, bursts of violet flame. Toothless screeched for his rider. Tuffnut looked between them, watching Hiccup waving his arms wildly. Soldiers closed in between them, swords flashing in the weak sunlight. The two turned in opposite directions, desperate to escape.
It didn't look like Hiccup was going to make it. Berserkers were closing in, along with the Skrill, which was shrieking wildly, its tail lashing. A look of determination crossed both Typhoomerang and rider's faces. Torch gave a mocking roar, diving down and bathing the creature in fire, along with the men on the ground. It gave Hiccup just the chance he needed to make a break for the trees, crossbow bolts following him. However, the dragon and rider didn't have time to dwell on their friend's escape, for now the Skrill was enraged, and it was coming straight for them.
DundunDUN! Cliffhanger! I bet you hate me now, but you know how it is. Cliffhangers keep readers reading, and I love ending my chapter on a cliffhanger, which is why I'd never make a good novel writer, because the chapters would be super short. Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to R+R.