5 A Change of Heart.
An hour after her humiliation in the arena, Astrid waited in the forest near the rock Hiccup that had passed by the day before. She felt sure that he would return that way to continue with whatever mischief he was up to; this time she would catch him and find out exactly what it was. Soon she heard the sound of foot falls moving in the distance and so she retreated into the shadow of a tall pine tree. A few seconds later, Hiccup rushed by carrying a large woven basket, totally unaware of the fact that he was being so closely observed as he mumbled to himself about the disaster his life had turned into. Astrid kept close and quiet determined not to let him get away, but Hiccup was so preoccupied that she could have been riding a Yak with a bad cough and he never would have noticed.
Astrid knew they had reached their destination when Hiccup climbed down into a shallow sinkhole about thirty feet below the forest floor and his mumbling turned into a loud rant about going away forever. She sat down on a large rock near to where Hiccup had dropped his basket, picked up a smooth stone and began to sharpen her axe in a menacing kind of way.
At the first sound of stone honing steel, Hiccup jumped up so startled that he almost tripped over. Astrid was a little surprised that he did not protest at being followed, but instead began to stutter a pleasant greeting while looking around nervously. Dropping down from the rock, Astrid began to walk menacingly toward him, all the time demanding answers to his odd behaviour but he just continued to stammer. It was obvious to Astrid that every word he spoke was a lie; desperately being made up on the spot to divert her attention from the rustling sound coming from the shadows thirty feet away. Suddenly a dark shape moved into the light filling Astrid with terror; yes it was a dragon, but it was a dragon unlike any she had ever seen before. It looked like a lizard but moved like a cat even down to the twitch in its tail. Astrid moved quickly and with purpose as she threw Hiccup to the ground before rolling back onto her feet ready to defend them both. The beast charged letting out a mighty roar as it ran; she drew back her axe ready to strike, when the unbelievable happened.
Hiccup jumped up between them, but it was not the girl he was protecting, it was the dragon. The beast reared up as Hiccup pushed Astrid down and threw her axe away, then a realisation came to her mind; at the time of the last dragon attack before they had begun training, Hiccup had claimed to have shot down a Night Fury causing everyone to laugh and mock him, but could it be true? Could this black dragon, of a type she had never seen before, that Hiccup referred to as Toothless, be the elusive Night Fury and if so, then why was Hiccup protecting it? For the first time that day Astrid was at a total loss as to what she should say or do, so she just turned and ran. She was still shaking as she climbed out of the sink hole; she kept asking herself 'How?' and 'Why?' as she ran up the hill. The village had to know, and she had to be the one to tell them.
Astrid's heart raced as she ran up the hill away from the forest glade; she reached the crest of a rise and vaulted over a moss covered log but before her feet made contact with the ground again, she felt a sudden firm pressure on her right shoulder as she was lifted into the air. A cry of terror filled the forest; Astrid fully expected the dragon to kill her on the spot, but instead it simply lifted her slowly into the air before depositing her roughly near the top of a Fir tree. The black dragon then settled itself high on the very same tree as Astrid glanced up and saw to her surprise, that Hiccup was riding and controlling the dragon. The tree bent and groaned under the weight of the three as Hiccup attempted to tell Astrid all about his new friend, but she was not in any mood to listen to his explanations. Astrid was having incredible difficulty comprehending all that was unfolding before her; her lifelong friend, who had been training by her side to kill dragons and protect Berk, was now riding one of the most feared of all dragons.
Hiccup eventually conceded to her demands and agreed to take her back down to the forest floor. Pulling herself up onto the branch she had been hanging from, Astrid swatted away the hand of help being offered by her former friend as she climbed up behind him and onto the dragons back. 'I must be crazy' she thought as Hiccup gave his dragon the order to take them down.
Slowly and smoothly, the Night Fury unfurled its long black wings and caught the breeze, slowly lifting the trio's weight from the strained tree; Astrid's heart was beating so hard that she could almost hear it from within her chest. Then without warning, the beast lifted its wings high above her head and with one beat, leapt almost straight up into the air. Astrid found herself screaming once more; there were very few times in her life that could compare with the terror that she was now experiencing.
First came the vertical climb, followed immediately by the power dive. Several times the wild creature would turn completely upside-down while close to the surface of the sea; her head was slammed into the water making Astrid feel like she was drowning. Hiccup shouted orders at the beast in a desperate attempt to calm it down, but the dragon was no longer listening to him. As it took to the heights of the sky once more, it began to spin with such ferocity that Astrid was not sure if she could maintain the hold she had on Hiccups chest, or even keep her lunch where it was now. Still spinning, the dragon turned back to toward the sea and Astrid began to sob; she buried her head into Hiccups back and cried out desperately.
"Okay... I'm sorry... I'm sorry; just get me off of this thing."
She could not notice the change at first because her eyes were shut tight. Her heart was still racing, but the dragon had stopped spinning and had levelled off with its wings spread wide. The Night Fury now rode smoothly on the wind and although the wild ride had lasted less than a minute, it had felt to Astrid like it would never end. With her eyes still closed she began to wonder; during the flight, the dragon did not appear to be listening to Hiccup, but it had become calm as soon as Astrid had apologised. Did this mean that it could understand her, and did it see her as some kind of threat?
'I did charge at it with an axe' she thought 'and I did push Hiccup down, but could a person really say sorry to a dragon... and would it really understand?'
Astrid slowly opened her eyes only to discover that she was not on the ground, she was not back in the tree either, but was instead still flying with her face only a few inches away from the clouds. They rolled past above her much faster than she could run, and yet it felt like she was all barely moving at all. Astrid lifted up her hands and marvelled at the sight of the misty cloud swirling around her fingertips and forming tiny little eddies behind her.
The sun was low in the evening sky and it had turned the clouds into a bright fiery orange. From the Isle of Berk, clouds were mostly a single solid grey mass but from up above, they formed at different heights with swirling pillars and windblown tunnels. Astrid soon realised that she and Hiccup must be the first people in all of human history to ever see the clouds like this, and the dragon that she had earlier attempted to kill was now freely giving her the most amazing gift she had ever received. Astrid looked down into the dragon's big green eye and smiled; Toothless could not talk and she did not know its thoughts, but somehow Astrid seemed to understand that it wanted to show her more.
In one long deliberate movement the dragon flew down and began to pick up speed; arcing its back, it climb up and over backwards in a giant loop that felt so smooth, it seemed as if she was still, and the world was turning around her. Hiccup remained silent as he urged the creature higher until they finally burst through above the clouds where to Astrid surprise, they left the sun setting below them and were now presented with the brightest stars she had ever seen shining in the night sky with nothing above her to obscure the view.
The Northern Lights shone brightly; illuminating the sky in the brightest pinks and greens as the trio flew on, but soon the scene changed again and Astrid could see her home in a new and magical way; the likes of which she could never have imagined before. From her high vantage point, Astrid could see that the island of Berk with its forests and mountains, beaches and cliffs was so much smaller and more vulnerable than she had ever imagined, and the lights that shone from the village were so incredibly beautiful.
Astrid slipped her arms around Hiccup waist and lightly placed her chin on his shoulder; now she knew precisely how he was controlling the dragons in the arena and why. They could be tamed and they could be trained, and Hiccup was not trying to show her up in front of the others as she had supposed. She had misjudged him and treated him unfairly; for he was right and she had to admit it, but what of tomorrow? With Stoick the Vast back on Berk, the time had come for Hiccup to show his skills and kill a dragon in front of the entire village.
There must be a way; they simply must be able to change everyone, just as she had been changed.
Before Astrid had any time to consider what could be done, a chattering noise began to rise up all around her and Toothless became very agitated. The dragon looked around and immediately dove sharply into the thick sea fog below. The menacing noise and Toothless's strange behaviour made Astrid shiver, and her demeanour did not improve when through the fog, she saw the silhouettes of many other dragons. Another raid on the village must have just taken place as each dragon carried its prey held tightly within its powerful talons; some carried cattle or sheep from the village while others had taken wild boar, fish and even sharks.
Astrid had only just begun to think about dragons in a different light, but now some doubts were rising; where was Toothless taking them, and would they be able to turn back before the other dragons turned on them? They flew on and on into the night until at last Astrid's eyes made something out through the mist that she had never seen before; she had heard about these special mountains that glowed red, and from which molten rock flowed, but she had not expected to see one that night. Astrid felt sure that nothing else could surprise her that night until Toothless dived and flew deep inside the volcano; he had taken them to his home to learn the long hidden truth.
On the long flight back to Berk, there was much more time for talk; talk of the monster they had just seen, talk of the discovery about the miserable lives of the long misunderstood dragons, and talk of the link between the two, but the one thing they did not discuss was what should be done about it; for as far as Astrid was concerned, no discussion was needed. The village must be awoken and the Chief must be told; there could be no other course of action, so when Hiccup tried to stop her, Astrid was more than just a little surprised.
"Hiccup, we just discovered the dragons nest." she exclaimed. "The thing we've been after since Vikings first sailed here... and you want to keep it a secret? To protect your pet dragon?" she pointed to Toothless. "Are you serious?"
Hiccup turned to look at her with grim determination on his face. He didn't try to argue, and he didn't try to make his case; he simply said "Yes".
The young girl's eyes widened as she stared into his. Later she would remember. She would look back at that moment in time and she would know; that was the very moment she had fallen in love.
Have you witnessed a dragon related crime? Do you know the location of the Red Death Gangs hideout? Then you should contact Police Lieutenant Gobber at Crime Stoppers c/- the Berk P.D.
All information is treated as confidential and yes; you can remain anonymous. You could be eligible for a reward of up to Y500 (five hundred Yaks) for any information leading to the conviction of any dragon or person known to be harbouring a dragon fugitive (but don't look for the one armed man – that's Gobber)