A/N: Thank you greatly again for the amazing feedback last chapter, it really sets my heart soaring and I love to read everything you guys have to say. I hope you all have not been waiting too long for this. Here is the update, which, erm, is filled with confrontation and...frustration? A little heat, let's call it. So yeah, enjoy the chapter!
P.S.: Anyone else seen the trailer for the third season of Dreamworks Dragons!? Race To The Edge it is now called, and looks great! Cannot wait 'til summer.
A Traitor To The Heart
Wispy Wingless was angry.
It needed no genius to figure that out. Every dragon within a five mile radius could most likely sense the sheer acrimony he was currently radiating.
Toothless warbled tenderly as they flew across the Endless Shifter, dashing through Wet Softs, the last glowing rays of the Large Hot burning on his scales and rejuvenating his body. Yet his rider did not respond, simply laying back on Toothless as they glided, seemingly deep in thought about whatever it was that aggravated him so much.
Toothless had not been too surprised when Wispy Wingless came stomping along, past the Wet, his visage a scrunched up mess of distress as he wordlessly clambered onto the dragon's back, indicating that he needed a good flight as much as his black companion. Lately, everything seemed to weigh on Wispy Wingless' mind with a heaviness that was absurd.
Was the main cause yet again She Wingless? That female was obviously the biggest source of his frustration lately, what with Wispy Wingless' continuous attempts at wooing her. He probably had another disappointing encounter, maybe even gotten the finite rejection that called for him to give up on his pursuit and focus on some other Wingless of the opposite gender. Toothless could smell a few in that funny, new place they stayed at. At least each time Wispy Wingless came to him – the scent lingered on his body, after all, even if there had been no physical contact. Strangely enough, he smelt of Windwaker too today. How weird was that? That oversized reptile was not even around! Yet the pungent odour was unmistakable.
Another warble from Toothless, but still he was met with silence save for the rushing breezes that stroked their bodies. The invisible caress was soothing but also unnerving; if Wispy Wingless did not share his woes with his black companion, then they had to be quite serious, right? So serious that a mere rejection by She Wingless could not possibly be the cause – at least not solemnly. Something else must be pressing on his mind. Maybe it was one of those things Wispy Wingless claimed Toothless to not understand?
That could be it, yet Toothless highly doubted that. He was not the cleverest existent animal this world ever had the honour of bearing for no reason. His intellect was high because it was...well because he was intelligent.
So anyway. Toothless grunted a little, eyes darting downwards and watching Soggy Scales dart between the glistening sheets of the Vast Sparkle. His belly growled in approval; he was hungry. There was a chance Wispy Wingless was hungry, too, and merely needed a good fill of the stomach to cheer himself up. Food always did the magical trick.
The obsidian reptile bulked his back a little, attempting to alert the silent rider and indicate his ingenious plan, yet Wispy Wingless did not rouse nor mutter from his position. That highly annoyed Toothless, who flapped his wings a little harder and took a sudden dip-dive – not a big one, for that he would need the motionless Wingless on top of him to manoeuvre the funny contraption at his left. Even so, it caused a small jolt which ultimately worked beneficially for Toothless; Wispy Wingless sat up straight as if struck by Bright Fire, mumbling a "W-What!?" before he righted himself.
"Toothless..." His voice did not contain the usual, playful tone that indicated secret amusement, but sounded genuinely irked.
Which, in return, irked Toothless. Wonderful; that overly enigmatic She Wingless had seriously ruined his rider's mood to such an extent that now he had to deal with it. Screw all his theories; she must be the solemn reason for his distress. Who else could? He was about to chunter some more, to present Wispy Wingless with his discomfort; at everything – this whole 'keeping secret and hiding' thing, waiting day in day out for his rider to make a new decision, to call for them to go home, anything.
He was sick and tired of waiting for something he did not know anything about. There were no Black Scales on this bizarre island, so why stay? All species here had already been discovered, too, and Toothless was certain there were no-
"She tricked me, you know." Came a soft whisper from above, causing the winged reptile to twist his head slowly so that he could observe Wispy Wingless better, "I fell for it. It was quite clever, to be honest. But now I have to kill a dragon in front of everyone or I'll be shunned and my whole plan will be thwarted." A miserable sigh followed, as well as the fisting of his paws, "I don't even know if I can blame her. I mocked them, after all, and begged for it. I guess mom was right."
Another sympathizing warble with which Toothless tried to comfort him, eyes large and glowing and full of understanding. Despite the black reptile not exactly understanding what his rider mumbled, he did, from the tone of voice, have a good guess.
"I don't know what to do, bud...how to get out of this one. Not without either losing my honour or my pride. I will definitely lose something tomorrow; self-respect if I go for the worst."
Toothless took this opportunity to swerve a little to the right, the Large Hot now a fiery inferno at the back that begged for them to approach, if they so much as dared. He hoped the change in light would help Wispy Wingless relax; to enjoy the sensation of flying at such a beautiful time.
"Who do I choose, Toothless? My people? Or the dragons?" Even though Toothless could not tell for sure from his position, he felt how Wispy Wingless' oculars filled with mist, how his body began to shake with either boiling rage or clenching sorrow, "I wanted to unite them...We could just fly away you know. Be gone...but no. I'd be a coward. I can't do that, I'd never be able to go back, and then all would be for nothing..."
The outlines of their current habitat came into view, a blur of colours forming stable contours and clear angles. The obsidian being wailed – both for his rider and because they were nearing the end of their trip.
"I need a miracle to save me now."
The hammer thrummed violently against the soft metal, sparks escaping in every direction as the rhythm of work echoed throughout the smithy that afternoon.
Hiccup was gathering all the frustration and inner turmoil he contained, just to let it out with each and every smack of the hammer. That he was denting the once intact sword and breaking the edge was not a fact worth worrying about. He seemingly did not care if he destroyed the weapon, as long as the entirety of his animosity left him so that he could concentrate on more serious matters.
Such as how to kill a dragon, without killing it. Such as how to trick the people, without lying to them. Such as how to not lose everything he had so desperately worked for.
His teeth ground together so menacingly that he feared they would shatter any minute, giving him further problems to contemplate about.
How could he have fallen for her trick?
Why had he not seen it coming, like how he did with most things in life? Why did his stupid, apparently oh-so-brilliant mind betray him at such a vital moment?
Astrid was clever, no doubt, near to matching with the young Night Fury rider, so it was only to be expected that she managed to deduce one quite evident fact; Hiccup avoided, under all costs, hurting a dragon. In all of his interferences with the standardised dragon-training, he had displayed a way of pacifying dragons, of 'knocking them out' without needing much physical contact. He cleverly used their weaknesses to trick the beasts, allowing for neither force to be harmed.
The blonde warrior had clearly taken note of that and had realised, upon closer observation, that he did not avoid it out of comfort or respect, as catching and locking up dragons for training was not a common Viking's favourite passage of time, but out of reluctance. Reluctance in hurting them.
Which meant she must have figured out that he was sympathizing with the winged reptiles, that he maybe even shared a bond with one, or more, and thus counted as a traitor. And now, to fully exploit him in front of the whole of Berk, so that everyone saw his failure and would eternally shun him, she had lured him into his current situation. She had used Snotlout's competitive nature and over-swelling pride to challenge Hiccup, knowing that the boisterous Jorgenson would easily convince Hiccup to participate in a 'battle' and then called one of the highest authorities on Berk to observe said battle, and judge. The procedure was nothing new; it was the classic way for their tribe to figure out who had the guts to become a true Viking; so she had come up with nothing original, just combined with perception.
Astrid knew he would not kill that dragon.
The female was a hundred percent assured that he would falter; he also knew she would demand of him to explain himself. The 'why' question would most likely be thrown at him that afternoon, in the ring, when his exam commenced. Yet what he would answer, he did not know. Right now, he knew nothing; he had never felt so helpless before. Not even when Toothless had charred off his leg – on the contrary, that incidence had paradoxically given him hope and reaffirmation that he simply had to bond with that dragon.
If only this predicament were not so different.
Metal met metal once more, clanking loudly as Hiccup furrowed his brows in eternal concentration; he needed a plan, he needed a plan, he needed a-
"Hey there, Toothpick."
Oh no.
Not now.
For all the enlightenment he usually felt when she honoured him with her presence, it was nearly all gone now. He was mad at her, no doubt, and he wanted her to feel it, but at the same time he did not. For a small part feared that he would forever lose her if he did. The tiny fragment that clung to the chance he would simply not give up.
"What do you want, Astrid?" He spoke sombrely, continuing with his work and not sparing her a single glance.
"What a way to greet a client." She teased, sauntering over with a victorious expression plastered onto her face.
"I take it you want your axe sharpened?" He inquired, still not interrupting his current doing.
"Nah, my axe is fine."
"What is it you want then?" The harshness with which those words left his tongue, like acid being spat by a Changewing, even had Astrid take a measured step back in surprise.
Suddenly, Hiccup was fourteen again and standing in front of Toothless. He looked into those shimmering peripherals and saw all the fear. He could detect the feelings of his dragon all of a sudden; the way he must have felt; cornered, injured, without escape. All he could do was fire back and pray that that would create an opening large enough to allow him survival.
Toothless' interpretation back then had been a misunderstanding, of course. Hiccup highly doubted this one was, too.
His emerald eyes met the azure orbs of Astrid, clashing violently like waves against cliffs. He saw her hesitancy, the slight crease of her left eyebrow which quickly disappeared, and the tiny parting of her lips, ready to fire some painful words back at him, but halting out of irritation.
"Just came to make sure you have prepared well for this afternoon." She took a daring step closer, "After all, you'll have to kill this one."
His fears suddenly came crashing down onto him as if he were drowning in the ocean. She knew. She knew. But he could not be entirely sure though, yet.
"What are you implying?" He retorted with a stony face still focusing on her.
"Well" and she picked up the broken handle of an axe, scrutinizing it leisurely in her grasp, "you haven't killed any so far, just...subdued them. Gives one the feeling you don't know how to kill." She grinned wickedly, out of the blue, keeping his stare, "Maybe someone is wanting to act all heroic but is, in the light of truth, just a coward. You know how to play a few little games which will help you stop the dragon from chasing your scrawny body, but in the end it does not kill the beast."
"What does it matter if you kill or subdue a dragon, as long as you beat it? If it loses against you?"
"Something that's not dead can still bite you. Can still return."
"A dragon knows respect. If you prove yourself to be the more powerful entity, it will leave and not return. They know the boundaries of territory."
"You speak as if you are a dragon."
"Unlike you, I don't just kill without reason." Did that sting? He hoped it did, he hoped she would hiss as if burnt, but he also begged it did not.
How could a person possibly elicit two completely contradicting emotions and desires within another so easily?
Astrid fully decreased the space still existent between herself and the dragon-rider, the axe handle being smacked down onto the table thunderously. With her indigo orbs, she bore into his skull as if they were finely sharpened daggers, "If we don't destroy them, then they will destroy us."
"No dragon destroys without reason." Hiccup scoffed, maximizing the distance between their face before all heat accumulated in his, "They take what they need to survive; you just so happen to have built your home in one of their natural habitats. Your own fault."
"The Night Fury does." Her words echoed fluidly, causing Hiccup's heart to skip a beat out of an entirely different reason.
"What?"
"You heard me. The Night Fury. He comes, destroys, and leaves. Without food. Without anything."
The auburn-haired man raised his hammer anew, not standing the clogging silence that filled the workshop and began to choke him. His mind was reeling, and he feared that he would say something idiotic in the presence of Astrid.
"I heard he was long gone."
"But he's surely still alive." She stepped around the workbench, her eyes swerving towards the window where a fading sun illuminated the sky in colours made of blood and gold, "Somewhere out there is that beast. It kills without reason, just for fun. No one has ever seen one; at least not without dying. One must still be there, and it has my name written on it."
The last part came out as more of a whisper, unintended for other ears, yet she had still worded it loudly enough for Hiccup to catch all of it.
"You...are hunting the Night Fury?" Hiccup frowned, his heart hammering a feeble rhythm of its own as realisation dawned on him, "You are...after the most lethal dragon known to humanity."
The blonde jerked curtly, before she righted herself and placed on an act of decorum, "Of course. Every dragon-slayer dreams of finding the unfindable. The most infamous of all winged reptiles. The unholy offspring of Lightning and Death itself."
"To what? Make a name for yourself? To...be glorified or something?" A different kind of anger was seeping through his tone of voice; one that was interlaced with worry and shock, "Do you think the people of Berk will love you all of a sudden because you do that?" His hands were being flung around wildly as he gesticulated with them.
Astrid herself was now astonished by his abhorred response, "What're you so mad about? Don't you want to catch a Night Fury and play your...weird..tricks on him?!" She imitated his hand-movements, her voice rising in volume.
"No. The Night Fury is dangerous. And he left, so why bother with him?"
"He still deserves to be punished!"
"I think this is less about punishment and more about you wanting to impress everyone."
"This is about the honour of Berk. Something you obviously do not understand, but I do, and I will will hunt that Night Fury down!"
"You will never find him. He's gone!" He was about to shout, to roar at her face, everything suddenly getting louder and hotter and just so terribly unbearable within that tiny, cramped, boiling workshop. She was too close, he was too agitated, everything was just wrong.
"How do you know for sure? He might still be out there, terrorizing some other village."
"That's Yakshit!" His eyes were squeezed together tightly in frustration. He did not like where this conversation had headed – he did not like Astrid's goals.
"And why do you think so?" Should she screech at him? Could she even screech? She was being loud herself, now, but would that be sufficient to demonstrate just how incredibly pissed she was at him right now? Why was he trying to convince her of giving up on the onyx monster? Was he really such a coward, or was it something else entirely? What was he hiding, apart from his cowardice; that he could not kill a dragon because he would wet himself beforehand?
"Because I have the-!"
The call of a horn resounded, vibrating off the walls. All of a sudden, just before the sky gave in to the darker hues of blue and navy, screams and calls echoed all over Berk. A roar followed.
Both Hiccup and Astrid turned towards the exit of the smithy, eyes wide and hearts palpitating with a maddening pace.
"Dragon attack!"
A/N: Please do not kill me because of the cliffhanger *hides*
What had Hiccup been about to say to Astrid then? Anyone wanna guess? And how will this dragon raid go? Will someone be seriously injured, something epic happen, something unforeseen, terrible, memorable!? It definitely changes things and puts in a slight twist, ey? You are welcome to tell me what you think will happen next in a review! I shall gladly read every one! I also wanna spread some (late) Easter merriment in form of dragon eggs and babies! *squawk squawk*
Toothless Dictionary:
Tall Green – Trees
Vast Sparkle – Ocean
Wispy Wingless – Hiccup
She Wingless – Astrid
Mother Wingless – Valka
Black Scales – Night Fury
Big Soft – Yak
Little Soft – Sheep
Wingless – Human
Sharp Shiny – Dagger
Twisted Tails – Bolas
Wet – Pond
Endless Shifter – Sky
Large Hot – Sun
Soggy Scale – Fish
Large Cold – Moon
Sparks - Stars
Wet Soft – Cloud
Bright Fire – Lightning