Fright of Passage
Every ten years during and aurora known as Aurvandil's Fire, a dragon known as the Flightmare appears, it's said that it's capable of freezing any man in fright
During the last Aurvandil's Fire, a Viking known as "The Fearless Finn Hofferson", who was Astrid's uncle, tried to fight against the Flightmare, but he froze and the Flightmare killed him
Now, ten years later, Astrid is ready to bring back the honor to her clan
She was at the academy throwing her axe to any object in sight, while the other teens looked at her
"You want some of this?" Astrid asked slamming her axe against a wooden barrier "That's right, who's next?"
"Uh… Astrid?" Blake asked but Astrid didn't listen "Astrid!" once again Astrid didn't listen "ASTRID!"
This time, Astrid listened but she also threw her axe at Blake, who dodged it just by moving his head
"Nice throw, but next time, try to make sure to know who you're aiming at" Blake said as he removed Astrid's ace from the wall, then he walked towards Astrid to give her axe back "What's wrong with you? I've never seen you like this"
"I'm fine!" Astrid said as she took her axe back
"Astrid, the last time that I said that I was fine when something clearly was wrong with me, I ended in my room with a cold" Blake said "And the time before that, I had an identity crisis in the middle of the forest"
"It's none of your business, Blake" Astrid asked as she walked away
"Seriously, what's wrong with her?" Blake asked looking at the other teens
"She's really wounded about the Flightmare" Hiccup explained
"The Flight-what?" Blake asked even more confused than before
"The Flightmare, every ten years it appears when the sky lights up with the Aurvandil's Fire" Fishlegs said
"But what does that have to do with Astrid?" Blake asked "Is she planning to kill that dragon or something?"
"She's wasting her time" Snotlout said "When the Flightmare comes, the Hoffersons freeze"
"What are you talking about?" Blake asked
"Have you heard about The Fearless Finn Hofferson?" Snotlout asked
"No, I haven't, did something happen to him?" Blake asked "Actually, why did I never hear about him?"
"Well, now he's known as 'Frozen Finn Hofferson' right, Astrid?" Snotlout asked but then Astrid grabbed him and pinned him to the ground pointing her axe at him
"You think it's funny, Snotlout?!" Astrid asked "You think it's a joke that my family's name was ruined by that dragon?!"
"Well, I used to, just a couple of minutes ago" Snotlout said
Then, the twins entered the academy while pushing a cart
"Have you guys heard? The Flightmare is coming" Tuffnut said
"Guys, we're really trying to not talk about it" Hiccup said
"Hate to break it to you, but it's the only thing everyone's talking about" Ruffnut said
"Well, that and Astrid's uncle" Tuffnut said
"Really?" Blake asked "How didn't I notice?"
"Hey, a little sensitivity here" Snotlout said "Can I get up now?"
"Ugh, whatever" Astrid said before getting on Stormfly's back and flew off
"Thanks a lot, guys" Hiccup said sarcastically
"No problem, if you don't need us anymore, we got to get ready for the end of the world" Tuffnut said before he and his sister ran to one cage
Later that evening, Hiccup and Blake went to check on Astrid, who was outside of her house getting ready to go after the Flightmare, until she noticed them
"I don't want to hear it, I've waited my entire life for a chance to clear my family's name and you're not going to stop me" Astrid said
"Who said anything about stopping you?" Hiccup asked making Blake groan and facepalm himself
"Actually, we are here to stop you" Blake said
Then, Astrid tried to walk away, but Hiccup blocked her path
"Look, nobody loves a new and terrifying dragon more than I do, but I need you here to protect Berk" Hiccup said
"We'll all have to fight it off if it gets here" Blake said
"Not if it never gets here" Astrid said before looking at Hiccup "Come on, Hiccup, don't tell me you haven't dream about the Flightmare, going after it, learning about it, training it?"
"You know, Astrid… uh, training dragons isn't the only thing I think about. Right, Blake?" Hiccup asked
"Uh… do you want me to tell the truth or do you still want us to be friends?" Blake asked
Hiccup was going to say something, but before he could, they all saw Fishlegs running towards them
"There you are, Hiccup. I did the research you asked for" Fishlegs said
"Not now, Fishlegs" Hiccup said
"But I have the path of the Fightmare right here" Fishlegs said showing Hiccup a scroll
"Please tell me than this is some kind of bad joke" Blake pleaded
"It's not, for generations it's gone through the northern swamp on the way to the village, same route every time, if I could only figure out why, we might be able to stop it" Fishlegs said
"Fishlegs, Astrid doesn't want to talk about the Flightmare" Hiccup said
"Of course, she does" Fishlegs said
"Sure, I do" Astrid said
"See? So, as I was saying, if you want to get close to it, you're going to have to be stealthy, virtually invisible in the dark" Fishlegs said
"Kind of like a Night Fury?" Astrid asked looking slightly at Toothless
"Exactly like a Night Fury" Fishlegs said
"So, when do we leave?" Astrid said getting on Toothless' back
"Hold it right there" Blake said "I'm going too"
"Blake, are you sure about this?" Hiccup asked
"I am, someone has to make sure than you don't get yourself killed trying to train the Flightmare, and someone has to make sure than Astrid doesn't get herself killed trying to kill the Flightmare" Blake said
That night, Aurvandil's Fire arrived making all of the Vikings panic and look for shelter
"Aurvandil's Fire is here! Get to your homes and stay inside!" Gobber yelled before noticing that Snotlout and Hookfang were walking like nothing bas was happening "Snotlout, did you not hear what I said? Get that dragon to his cage and you into yours"
"No way, if the Flightmare obliterates us all, then the last face I want to see besides mine of course, is his" Snotlout refused looking at Hookfang who didn't look too happy
Then two Vikings passed near by as they walked towards the academy
"Hurry up, before the emergency bunker is full" a Viking said
"Are you sure we can get in?" the second Viking said "I heard it's very exclusive"
"Don't worry, I know people" the first Viking said
"Hey, what was that al about?" Snotlout asked
"I'm surprised you didn't know" Gobber said "Ruffnut and Tuffnut built an emergency bunker in the academy"
"Emergency bunker, hmm?" Snotlout said before looking at Hookfang once again "What do you say? We check it out?"
"I wouldn't waste your time, it's been booked up for months" Gobber said
"Ha, we'll see about that" Snotlout said
Meanwhile at the academy, the twins were setting up their bunker
"Okay, lots of people are going to want to get into our awesome emergency bunker when the Flightmare attacks" Tuffnut said "So, we need to have a secret signal to know who's in and who's out"
Suddenly, Ruffnut punched her brother in the arm "How's that?" she asked
"Not bad, but I feel like there should be a few more steps on it" Tuffnut said before Ruffnut punched him on the face
"What about that?" Ruffnut asked
"I like it" Tuffnut said now rubbing his jaw "You sure it's not too complicate?"
Them, Snotlout and Hookfang arrived and started to walk towards them
"Hey, mister. Where do you think you're going?" Tuffnut asked
"Uh… inside the emergency bunker?" Snotlout said
"Are you on the list?" Tuffnut asked
"Pfft, list" Snotlout mocked as Ruffnut pulled out a list
"Let's see here" she said "Snothat… Snotman… Snotnose… nope, not on the list"
"Sorry, unless you're friends with Snotman" Tuffnut said
"What do you mean by 'sorry'?" Snotlout asked
"This is a very exclusive bunker, my friend. We can't just let anyone in" Tuffnut said before realizing that Gustav was walking towards them "Hey, Gustav"
"Gustav?!" Snotlout asked as Ruffnut opened the cage allowing Gustav to walk in
"Bunker time" he said
"You're either in or you're out, pal, but you can't stand here" Ruffnut said
"Listen, you seem like a nice kid, I'll tell you what I'll do for you. If you want to get into our bunker, maybe you can find us one of these" Tuffnut said giving Snotlout a piece of paper
"You've got to be kidding me" Snotlout groaned annoyed but he decided to accept "Fine, Come on, Hookfang"
Hookfang instead of going with his rider, he walked into the bunker confusing Snotlout
"He's on the list" Ruffnut explained
"Ugh, last time I hold his face" Snotlout groaned as he walked away
Meanwhile, Hiccup, Astrid and Blake were looking for the Flightmare
"So… we're going to observe the Flightmare, see what we can learn about it and if we have the chance, re-direct it away from the village, right?" Blake asked
"That's the plan. Right, Astrid?" Hiccup asked
"Sure" Astrid said
"Say the words: I understand, Hiccup" Hiccup said
"Fine, I understand, Hiccup" Astrid said
"Good enough" Blake sighed not fully convinced just before they started to fly above a swamp
"There's the northern swamp" Hiccup said before a loud scream was heard
"That was the Flightmare, wasn't it?" Blake asked
"I can't wait to see that thing!" Astrid said
"Uh… you won't have to wait long" Hiccup said as they started to flew down "Remember, observe only"
Suddenly, a medium-sized dragon that had a blue glow on its body came out of the trees, that dragon was the Flightmare
Its glow was so bright that even blinded Toothless and Thunder forcing them to fly down. Luckily, they were able to regain control over their flight
"Okay, I did not see that coming!" Blake said before Astrid jumped off Toothless
"Astrid, what are you doing?!" Hiccup asked
"What do you think I'm doing?!" Astrid asked as she landed "Defending Berk and my family honor!"
"Are you kidding me?!" Blake asked
Astrid held her axe and ran towards the Flightmare without fear "Leave Berk now and never come back! Here I am, ungodly beast! Fearless Astrid Hofferson! Come and get me if you dare!" she yelled
The Flightmare flew towards Astrid and when she was close enough, it fired some mist around her paralyzing her
"Astrid!" Hiccup yelled
The Flightmare flew towards Astrid again as Hiccup and Blake did the same. When they landed, they landed they tackled Astrid to the ground just in time to avoid the Flightmare who flew a few inches above them, but then it started to fly back
"Okay, gotta go, gotta go" Hiccup said as he and Blake tried to put Astrid on Toothless' back
As soon as they got the chance, they flew into the clouds disappearing from the Flightmare's sight
Once the Flightmare was gone, they came out of the clouds "I think we lost it" Hiccup said before landing
"Hey, Astrid?" Blake asked waving his hand in front of Astrid's eyes, but there was no reaction from her
"Astrid!" Hiccup said shaking her
"Wha- what happened?" Astrid asked
"The Flightmare, it sprayed you with some kind of mist" Hiccup explained
"That paralyzed you" Blake continued
"It froze me" Astrid said
"Well, I guess the good news is the effects are only temporary, just long enough for it to strike" Hiccup said
"I knew my uncle wasn't afraid of that dragon, he was paralyzed by it" Astrid said
"So, what now?" Blake asked
"Let me guess, we're falling back to the village" Astrid said
"No, we're following the Flightmare" Hiccup said
"Wait, what?! Are you serious?" Blake asked
"I am, we are the only thing between that dragon and Berk" Hiccup said as he got on Toothless' back
"Yes!" Astrid cheered as Toothless flew away
"Ugh, sometimes I feel like I'm in the middle of a bad joke that I can't even understand" Blake complained as he got on Thunder's back in order to follow Hiccup and Astrid
After a few moments of flying, they went over a hill where they stopped
"I'm not the only one who's seeing thing, right?" Blake asked surprised
In front of them there was a glowing stream
Back at the academy, Snotlout knocked the door of the cage that the twins used as their bunker
"Hey, what's the password?" Tuffnut asked when he opened the door
"I'm going to break your face" Snotlout said with his hands behind his back
"Close enough" Tuffnut said
"I got what you asked for" Snotlout said showing a chicken painted in different colors
"It's real! I totally thought I dreamed it!" Tuffnut said
"So, let me in" Snotlout said as Ruffnut walked out of the cage
"Oh, did we say one rainbow-colored chicken? We meant two rainbow-colored chickens, sorry" she said
"That's why I brought a spare" Snotlout said pulling out another painted chicken "Now let me in, the Flightmare will be here any minute"
Snotlout looked inside the cage and saw some Vikings enjoying themselves in there, even Hookfang was among them
"Okay, you're half way there" Tuffnut said pushing Snotlout away
"What?! Halfway?!" he asked
"We have a few more things for you to get before we can let you in, buddy" Ruffnut said giving Snotlout a list "Sorry"
Angrily, Snotlout dropped the chickens, grabbed the list and read it "You have to be kidding me" he said
"Look closely to my face" Tuffnut said
"But don't look too closely at his face 'cause you might go blind" Ruffnut said making her brother elbowed her
"Does it look like I'm kidding?" Tuffnut asked
Then, he seemed to smell something "Oh, that wouldn't be yak butter parfait I smell, would it?" he asked dreamily
"As a matter of fact, it is" Tuffnut said as he and Ruffnut walked back into the cage laving an angry Snotlout outside
Meanwhile with Fishlegs, he was looking at a map while Meatlug was eating some rocks for dinner
"Why does the Flightmare always take the same route into Berk" Fishlegs asked to himself "It always follows the stream of the northern swamp into the village, but why does it follow the water? What is it about the stream?"
Then, Meatlug started to eat a bit loudly annoying Fishlegs "How can you eat at a time like this?" he asked
Meatlug only looked at Fishegs before continuing to eat her rocks, but this seemed to give Fishlegs an idea
"Wait, that's it" he said "Meatlug, you're a genius!"
Back at the forest, Hiccup, Astrid and Blake were following the glowing stream
"What is that thing?" Blake asked
"Glowing algae" Hiccup said "That's what the Flightmare is following"
Seconds later, they landed near by the stream and Hiccup analyzed it
"The glow must be some kind of reaction to Aurvandil's Fire" Hiccup said "That's why it always takes the same path to the village"
"Hmm, not getting it" Astrid said
"Me neither" Blake said
"Have you ever tried to get between Snotlout and a bowl of mutton?" Hiccup asked
"Yeah, that's something that you only do once" Astrid said
"Tell me about it" Blake said
Suddenly, they heard the Flightmare's roar, so Hiccup shoved his friends behind a tree, they looked over and saw how the Flightmare was eating some of the algae making it glow brighter
"I get it, the Flightmare think we want its food" Astrid said
Then, the Flightmare noticed them, so it started to glow and fly towards them
"And speaking of threats" Astrid said
"Quick, we need to get Toothless and Thunder up in the air so we can hide" Hiccup said
"Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen" Astrid said pointing
Hiccup turned around and saw that Toothless was happily eating the algae while Thunder looked a bit confused
"Aw, Toothless" Hiccup said, then Toothless started to glow in a bright purple scaring him
The Flightmare roared, so the teens got on the dragons' backs and few away
"It's right behind us!" Hiccup said looking back
"What do we do?!" Astrid asked
"Let's hide in the clouds!" Blake suggested
As fast as they could, Toothless and Thunder flew into the clouds, the Flightmare tried to look for them and thanks to Toothless' glow, it was able to find them
"You think we lost it?" Astrid asked before the Flightmare appeared in front of them
"Nope" Hiccup said
The dragons tried to fly away, but the Flightmare blocked their path and started to glow blinding them and making them fall to the ground
When they were down, the Flightmare charged at them as it fired its mist
"Toothless, roll!" Hiccup ordered
"Thunder, look out!" Blake warned
Toothless rolled and Thunder ran out of the way of the mist, then they shot a plasma blast and a lightning blast respectively, the Flightmare dodged them but it flew away
However, it returned a few seconds later "Hey!" Astrid said throwing a branch at the Flightmare hitting it on the head
The Flightmare charged at Astrid, but she rolled out of the way, then it turned around and tried to attack a second time as Hiccup and Blake got on their dragons in order to help Astrid
"Astrid!" Hiccup yelled
Astrid jumped and landed on Toothless just in time to avoid the Flightmare's mist, Toothless and Thunder flew away trying to find a place to hide
"Guys, look!" Astrid said pointing at a cave, where the dragons hid, luckily the Flightmare didn't see them, so it flew away
When it was completely gone, they exited the cave, just before Toothless' scales returned to normal
"At least the glow wore off" Hiccup said
"We should reach the Flightmare before it arrives to Berk" Blake said before the dragons started to fly
"Okay, how do we stop the Flightmare before it reaches the village?" Astrid asked
"Fishlegs" Hiccup said looking behind
"How's he going to help?" Astrid asked confused
"By bringing you some reinforcements" a voice said
Astrid and Blake looked behind them and saw that Fishlegs and Meatlug were flying towards them along with Stormfly
"Stormfly!" Astrid said happily before jumping from Toothless and landing on her back "Good to see you, girl"
"Fishlegs, the academy's supposed to be on lockdown" Hiccup said
"I know, but I was following the stream because I think I figured out a way to stop the Flightmare from reaching the village" Fishlegs said pointing at something
Hiccup looked where Fishlegs was pointing and saw a meander that leaded to the sea
"We cut a new channel for the river" Hiccup said
"And divert the flow of glowing algae to the sea" Fishlegs finished
"Toothless, Stormfly, Meatlug, Thunder, it's time to do an emergency landscaping" Hiccup said
Back at the academy, the twins were checking all of the stuff that Snotlout brought them
"Yak head, check. Yak body, check. Sheep dip, check. Bread for the sheep dip, gotta have that, check. Lingonberry smoothie, shaken, not stirred, check" Tuffnut said "Hold on, nobody move"
"I don't see it" Ruffnut said
"Me neither" Tuffnut said
"What? See what?" Snotlout asked
"A sturgeon dressed like Stoick" the twins said
Then, Snotlout pulled out a sturgeon dressed just like Stoick, it even had a small helmet on its head
"That's everything, now let me in" Snotlout said
"Yeah, we would love to, Snotlout. We really would" Tuffnut said but he didn't sound sincere "But you forgot the most important thing on the list"
"Singing terrible terror" the twins said
"What?! Give me that!" Snotlout said taking the list out of Ruffnut's hands and realized that there was one more item "You just wrote this in"
"No, we did not" Tuffnut said
"Yes, you did! It's in a different colored ink!" Snotlout said as Ruffnut took the list back
"I don't know what you're talking about" she said
"Arguing with bunker management can result in permanent banishment, and that's a lot of big words" Tuffnut said
"Singing Terrible Terror, I'll give you your Singing Terrible Terror" Snotlout said angrily as he walked away
Meanwhile at the forest, the teens were still following the Flightmare
"A living Flightmare" Fishlegs gasped "It's… it's… it's… it's…"
"It's mine!" Astrid said before Stormfly started to fly faster blocking the Flightmare's path giving the others the chance to fly towards the river
"Okay, bud. Time for us to do what we came here for" Hiccup said
Then, Toothless and Thunder started to attack the ground trying to create a new path of the river, while Fishlegs and Meatlug tried to block its original path
However, the Flightmare realized what they were doing so it flew towards Fishlegs and Meatlug, Hiccup didn't notice this, but Blake did
"Fishlegs! Look out!" he warned as Thunder flew towards them and shot a lightning blast, but this seemed to anger the Flightmare more, so it fired its mist paralyzing them
"Hiccup, the Flightmare got Fishlegs and Blake!" Astrid yelled
The Flightmare was going to attack them, but Stormfly blocked its path and shot a stream of fire as Toothless grabbed Fishlegs and Blake and flew off
When they were away, Toothless dropped Fishlegs and Blake on their respective dragon just before they recovered from the paralysis
"W-what just happened to us?" Fishlegs asked
"The Flightmare sprayed us with its mist and paralyzed us" Blake explained "Though the effects are only temporary, it's something that I don't want to repeat"
"Thank Thor, I need my legs, they're in my name after all" Fishlegs said
They quickly landed and continued the make the new path for the river while Astrid and Stormfly were fighting against the Flightmare, but when Stormfly tried to shot some spikes, she accidentally knocked Astrid off her back
The Flightmare started to chase after her, but she was able to run towards the other teens
"Look out!" she said before getting on Toothless' back
The dragons quickly flew off into the air and Stormfly joined them a few seconds later
"Okay, guys. We need to keep cutting the channel" Hiccup said looking down "But the Flightmare is guarding it"
"I think I have a way to distract it" Astrid said as she jumped off Toothless and landed on Stormfly "The algae, let's give the Flightmare a taste of its own medicine"
"Astrid, lead the way!" Hiccup said
"Time for a midnight snack" Astrid said as Stormfly eat some algae
"Chow down, guys" Hiccup said
When the dragons finished eating, Toothless started to glow in purple once again, Stormfly started to glow yellow, Meatlug started to glow green and Thunder started to glow in a more intense purple than Toothless
"I always knew that was her color" Fishlegs said "We're going to knit you a matching blanket when we get home"
"Huh, why I'm not even surprised to find out than that's your color, Thunder?" Blake asked
"Okay, let's see who the real coward is" Astrid said
The Flightmare tried to attack them, but all of the dragons used their glow in order to blind it, the Flightmare tried to fly away but the dragons blocked its path making it crash on the ground
"Toothless, let's finish off that channel" Hiccup said
Toothless flew towards the end of the channel and shop a plasma blast finishing the new path for the river, making it end in the ocean along with the algae
When the Flightmare saw it, it started to follow the algae to the ocean getting away from Berk
"We did it!" Astrid cheered
"Now, let's get home before anyone notices we're gone" Hiccup said before they all started to fly back to the village
Meanwhile at the village, Gobber was outside of the forge sleeping next to a catapult, then Stoick walked up and saw some glowing things on the sky
"Gobber!" Stoick yelled but Gobber was still asleep "Oh, yak butter melts in my-"
"Wake up!" Stoick yelled
Gobber did wake up but he accidentally fired the catapult "Sorry, Stoick" he apologized "I had this dream you and me were-"
"Not another word" Stoick interrupted "Sound the alarm, the Flightmare is coming"
Stoick ran into the plaza while Gobber grabbed a horn and blew it making all of the Vikings ran into their houses
Then, Stoick realized that it wasn't just one glowing figure, there were four of them
"Thor's hammer, there's more than one!" he said
"Wait, those aren't Flightmares" Gobber said. Moments later the teens landed in front of them "Hiccup, slap me in the face. Your dragons are glowing, I must still be sleeping"
"You're wide awake and they are glowing, it's a long story" Hiccup said as he walked towards them "The good news is, we drove the Flightmare away"
"You did?" Stoick asked in shock before placing a hand on Hiccup's shoulder "Well done, Hiccup. Well done, Everyone! You can come out of your homes! The Flightmare is gone for good!"
Slowly, everyone started to get out of their homes and gathered around the plaza
"Excuse me, I have an announcement to make" Hiccup said "We learned a lot about the Flightmare tonight, and I'll explain it all to you. But the most important thing we learned was that Fearless Finn Hofferson was indeed fearless… just like all Hoffersons"
"Sounds like you made your uncle proud, lass" Gobber said looking at Astrid
"Now maybe we can just enjoy Aurvandil's Fire" Stoick said before the twins arrived
"I want a glowing dragon" Tuffnut said
"Yeah, me too" Ruffnut said
"Put that on Snotlout's list" Tuffnut said
Meanwhile at the academy, Snotlout entered at the cage that the twins were using as bunker
"Hello? Hello? I have your Singing Terrible Terror" Snotlout said pulling out the Singing Terrible Terror that somehow he was able to get, but then he realized that no one was there
"Would you please shut up?!" Snotlout said glaring at the Terror "I just wanted that yak butter parfait"
A/n: Hi, I'm back with another chapter, I'm sorry for the delay, it's just that I've been occupied these days, hopefully I'll have more free time to write in a near future
See you in the next chapter