Yes. Sorry about this; I meant to update this yesterday, but my computer got taken away. How fun, right? REVIEWERS!
faisyah865: Ah. I see. I will make your funeral nice. Are there any songs you'd like to request?
NarnianGuardian: YAY! You're welcome!
Phoenixofmyth: Bagels have always been evil. Have you noticed how they seem to have infected everyone? You turn a corner... BAM! SOMEONE'S EATING A BAGEL! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! Whoops, too late.
Book girl fan: You said it. Well, technically, you didn't say it anywhere in your review, but you know what I mean.
So, yeah. OH MY GOSH! LOOK BEHIND YOU! Haha, there wasn't anything there! Fooled you. Probably. Don't judge me. I know my rights.
Sorry, I'm off track. Because that would be crazy if I was on train tracks right now. Am I right?
I am so sorry you had to see that. I'm the master of the terrible puns.
CHAPTER!
Chapter Ten
When morning came, Hiccup and Toothless had trekked farther through the dangerous island. They had to make sure they checked every corner; There might be an Outcast lurking behind one. They were lucky for most of the morning. The only complication they came across was a couple of rogue terrible terrors nesting in one of the crags. Every once in a while, they heard shouts and directly avoided them. Toothless seemed anxious; He kept swishing his tail back and forth nervously and growling at anything that looked like it was moving.
"It's okay, Bud," Hiccup would comfort him whenever something arose. Toothless just snorted.
They continued walking throughout the earliest part of the day. At first, the sky was streaked with pinks, purples, and oranges, signaling the start of a new day, a new chance. Pretty soon, those faded into a cross between light blue and murky gray. It could never be bright in this terrible place.
By the time they reached the sandy shores marking the end of Outcast island, the sun was at its highest point in the sky. Hiccup's stomach was rumbling and, by the sound of it, Toothless's was, too.
Suddenly, Toothless stood straight up, his ears perked. He gave Hiccup a look of disbelief before bounding off along the beach.
"Toothless," Hiccup called, running after his favorite reptile. "Where are you going?"
The dragon stopped a little farther along the shore and Hiccup soon understood why. No sooner had he reached Toothless's side than he looked up. There were rows and rows of ships docked all along the sand, red flags waving off them bearing the symbol of a coiled black dragon. The people of Berk had arrived on the island.
Toothless let out a gigantic roar of triumph.
~Page Break~
Things were getting tense. Well, more tense than usual, anyway. At every sound, Snotlout would jump and Gobber would start wildly swinging his club around, resulting in whacks to the head for all three travelers. This would then cause Astrid to snap at them and they would continue in stony silence. Fishlegs was just walking at a constant pace, his head dipped and hands in his pockets, occasionally muttering something about pickles. Adrenaline was making them paranoid, and that could cause disastrous consequences.
"Are we there yet?" Snotlout grumbled.
"No," Astrid replied, crossing her arms. Snotlout sighed in exasperation. Fishlegs couldn't really blame him. The small group of four had been walking for forever. Astrid kept saying that she knew where they were going, but her face when she turned away said otherwise. If you looked really closely, you could see the fear and desperation just before it was hidden. A few times, they thought that they heard Hiccup, but it always just turned out to be another falling rock or the whistle of the wind. That's why they nearly missed it when it finally happened.
"Did you hear that?" Astrid had stopped so suddenly that Fishlegs bumped into her.
"It's just the wind," Snotlout said.
"No! That's not the wind! It sounded like..." She cut of as an ear-splitting roar sounded from high above the rocky peaks.
"Toothless!" they all exclaimed at the same moment, racing as fast as their legs could carry them toward the echoing noises. Fishlegs grinned. Things were finally starting to go their way.
If only he knew how very wrong he was.
~Page Break~
Stoick was not happy. His crew, the twins, and he had been searching Outcast Island all night and day with absolutely no luck. He was tired, sweaty, and dehydrated. More importantly, he hadn't found Hiccup or Alvin. To make things worse, the twins wouldn't stop talking unless they were fighting, and Stoick wasn't sure which he preferred. They were all bored out of their minds, so when they heard the dragon's roar, they were on their feet and running in an instant.
Though sound carried easily on the island, it was extremely hard to pinpoint. There were fifty different directions that were mentioned in the search for the sound. He'd nearly given up all hope when he heard the sound of heavy footsteps making their way towards the Vikings. By the sound of it, there were many of them and they were coming fast.
"On me," he growled quietly to the soldiers of Berk. Unfortunately, it's a bit difficult to keep quiet when you have an army of over a hundred men. He crouched behind a tall peak, readying his club. The footsteps grew nearer. When they were so close that their breathing could be heard, he leapt out with a great battle cry.
"Aaaugh!"
"Noooo!" Stoick looked down incredulously, staring at the chubby bookworm in front of him.
"Fishlegs! I could have killed you!" he bellowed.
"Sorry! Sorry!" Fishlegs cried, shielding his face with his arms. The leader of the tribe looked up to see a delightful sight: Astrid, Gobber, his best friend, Snotlout, the other missing boy, and all the childrens' dragons. That was everyone accounted for. Except Hiccup.
"Finally!" Gobber exclaimed. "We've been looking for ages!"
"So have we," Stoick said. "Everyone alive?" He looked specifically at Snotlout. They all nodded.
"Alright, then. Well done, all of you. If your dragons hadn't roared so loud, we never would have found you..." he trailed off at the confused expressions of the group.
"Our dragons didn't roar, but we thing we might know who's did," Gobber said, a grin forming on his face. Stoick raised his eyebrow.
"And who would that b..." he stopped himself short. Just like that, he knew exactly who Gobber had been referring to.
"Toothless?" Everyone's mood instantly brightened.
"Intruders! Intruders on the island!" Everyone turned as a throng of Outcasts came barreling down a steep slope, heading straight for the mob of Vikings.
Everyone's mood instantly darkened.
~Page Break~
"Toothless," Hiccup whispered, suddenly very cautious. "We need to be quiet! Alvin's looking for us." His dragon gave him an apologetic look. He glanced around just to be sure that no one was watching them from the shadows. Crouching low, Hiccup and Toothless make their way back to the rocks, where they weren't out in the open. It seemed that luck was in their favor that day, for as soon as they had hidden themselves, a very large Monstrous Nightmare stepped out into the open. Now, Hiccup was sure that he'd have been able to tame the dragon on his own, but it might get agitated if it saw a Night Fury on its territory. Nightmares tended to be the most easy to rile up. Toothless began to growl, but his rider silenced him with a look.
They watched as the Nightmare paced, sniffing the boats aggressively. It narrowed its eyes, taking in the sight in front of it. It hesitated for a moment.
Then, it set fire to the ships.
"No," Hiccup gasped. He mentally slapped himself as the dragon's head swiveled to face their hiding spot.
After a quick glance at one another, Hiccup and Toothless both had a silent agreement. Together, they fled the sight, leaving the Nightmare sniffing around for signs of life.
Unfortunately for them, they came across an even worse sight. They hadn't wandered around for more than teen minutes before they stumbled upon an apparent face off. In the center of a great, rocky clearing, Outcasts stood in one line, shoulder to shoulder, facing the equally-as-impressive looking Vikings from the Island of Berk.
Something was about to go down, and Hiccup was sure that it wouldn't end well for either side.
~Page Break~
Gobber scowled at the husky Outcast in front of him. They'd walked right into a confrontation with the last people they wanted to see right now. Well, that was true for most of them. Stoick didn't seem to mind the interruption. He was standing face to face with the Outcast leader himself.
"Where's my son, Alvin," he said, just short of a yell.
"Don't know what you're talkin' about," Alvin said with a nasty grin.
"Don't lie to me," Stoick thundered. "I saw your ship sailing away from our beaches!" His anger seemed to only make Alvin more gleeful.
"Okay, maybe I have him," he said, his dark eyes glinting maliciously in the sunlight. "That still doesn't give you the authority to land on my shores and storm my home."
"You took my son!" Stoick yelled so loudly that Gobber's ears almost popped. He saw many others, Vikings and Outcasts alike, putting their hands over their ears as if they could shut some of the anger out.
"What are you going to do about it?" Alvin said. Even he looked a little uncomfortable by the rage of Stoick the Vast.
The chief stood his ground for a few seconds. Then, without warning, he drew back his fist and punched Alvin straight in the jaw.
Stuff, stuff stuff stuff. Stuff stuff, stuff stuff stuff.
Good luck with life.
-Shadow