Chapter 7: Braving the Storm
Amidst the swirling, twirling winds and the constant pour of showers, Astrid and Stormfly rode hard with the other riders clustered around her in a diamond formation. The blonde shieldmaiden squinted her eyes in defiance against the dark of the raging storm which whistled and roared in her ears.
"It's like looking through pea soup!" came Tuffnut's call from her far left.
"Cold pea soup!" Ruffnut added with a shiver. "I think my eyelids are starting to freeze shut."
"Keep 'em open, sis! Don't close 'em!" Tuffnut encouraged over the raging of the storm. "Better they freeze open than shut!"
"Oh, and then I go blind?" Ruffnut retorted. "I may be a Nut, but I'm not stupid!"
"Beg to frickin' differ!" came Snotlout's disgruntled shiver. He rubbed his forearms vigorously for warmth, but to little avail, and soon gave up the fight and clutched Hookfang's horns. "Are we even sure that Fishlegs didn't go the other way? 'Cause I'm not seeing any sign of him."
"Then keep looking! I saw Meatlug heading towards Raven Point." Astrid hollered back, glaring in defiance while the raindrops came pelting into her face and slid down her cheeks, and dripped off her chin.
This storm was miserable, there was no doubt about that. Shivers plagued Astrid's body, and her drenched shirt was plastered to her skin. The winds whistled and called out in an eerie, ghostly scream like the cries of fallen Valkyries on the battlefield. Fear soon crept into Astrid's mind as the flashes and peals of thunder surrounded her that perhaps Snotlout was right. Maybe they could not find Fishlegs out here because he was met with the cruel strike of a bolt before them. Maybe Meatlug had gotten so frightened that she dropped Fishlegs into the ocean to drown and never be heard from again.
But she shook her head and pushed away these toxic thoughts. She clutched Stormfly's saddlehorn in defiance. "We're gonna find him," she told Snotlout firmly. "No matter how long it takes."
"Well, not to bring down the room, or y'know, the outside," Tuffnut interjected, blinking in the rain, "but it seems like we're gonna take a pretty long time flying around blind."
"The lad does make a point," Stoick mentioned over the whistling winds. "We can't do a search and rescue when we've barely any light to search by."
"Chill, guys, I got this." Snotlout cleared his throat. "Light it up, Hookfang!"
On cue, Hookfang let out a throaty roar, tucked his wings to his sides, then extended them with a sudden flash of orange emitting brightly as he did. Astrid shielded her eyes, squinting at the sudden light. She gasped as she realized that a mantle of flame was trailing down Hookfang's back. It sizzled a little from the steady fall of rain but for the most part remained bright and strong, shining a bright light through the darkness of the storm like a beacon of hope.
"He can flame up while it's raining?" Astrid cried in surprise and admiration.
"Yup," Snotlout smirked proudly as if he had performed the feat himself. "Pretty cool, right? Okay, alright!" he added defensively when Hookfang snarled testily at his lack of acknowledgement. "You're the cool one, I said it. Needy dragon."
"Snotlout, you and Hookfang take the lead," Stoick ordered.
Hookfang flapped his flame-shrouded wings to take the head. The other riders clustered around Hookfang so that they flew in a diamond formation.
"Are you sure you saw Meatlug head towards Raven Point, Astrid?" Stoick asked.
Astrid nodded, droplets spraying off her bangs. "Positive."
"Makes sense why she'd do that," Ruffnut mentioned. "Y'know, with all the rocks in that area."
"Wait, you're saying-" Astrid began, and Tuffnut nodded and pointed to her.
"Meatlug eats when she's under stress. Pretty interesting, huh?"
"Please," Snotlout scoffed. "What's interesting about that?"
"Not so much the eating," Tuffnut clarified, "but the various coping techniques that humans and dragons have. Take Ruffnut. For her, it's shopping."
"Mm-hm, and for Astrid, it's weapons' practice. Say, Snotlout," Ruffnut drawled, leaning against the horns of her dragon. "What's yours, bedwetting?"
"It'll be killing soon, if you don't shut up," Snotlout snapped through gritted teeth.
Astrid peered down below through foggy darkness. It was a difficult task to see anything, but thanks to the radiating light from the Nightmare's flames, she could barely distinguish the outline of a wooden deck and poles, and running along them, were the creaking structures of masts and canvases swishing in the galewind. They were passing the docks, so just a little further, and they would be coming up on the cliffs of Raven Point. Astrid turned forward on her saddle and fixed her eyes up ahead when above the roar of the wind came the distant but unmistakable cry of "HEEEELP!"
Astrid twisted back to her left, shielding her eyes with one hand as she squinted through the downpour. There, flapping clumsily but frenziedly along through the masts of the ships, was Meatlug, with Fishlegs dangling precariously from her talons by one boot.
"Guys! I found them!" Astrid cried and dived down.
Stormfly shot down vertically like a lightning bolt, zooming closer and closer to the water until Astrid pulled up at the last second and they found themselves right behind Meatlug. She thought that Meatlug, once seeing a familiar face, would have calmed down, but instead, she did the exact opposite. With an anxious grunt, the Gronckle zoomed off at a shocking speed.
"Astrid!" Fishlegs screamed as Meatlug flew off.
"Hang on!"
Stormfly darted after them, weaving through the masts that swayed dangerously close to the Nadder's wings. The wind picked up, blowing harder and swirling faster, rocking the boats back and forth and back and forth, round and round and round. Stormfly beat her wings harder, doing her best to fight the storm, but she still struggled like a boat trying to steer in the middle of a tumultuous sea.
Ducking her head down, Astrid clutched tightly to the saddlehorn. "We've almost got 'em, girl. Just keep-"
CRA-AACK! One of the masts split and before she could react, it collided with Stormfly's right wing and sent both rider and dragon spiralling downwards. Astrid held tight to the saddle, but the pull of relentless gravity yanked against her and they fell down, down, down.
They crashed into the deck of a ship, and Astrid was flung off Stormfly's back and sent into uncontrollable cartwheels, only to be stopped as the back of her head collided with a bang against the edge of the boat.
Her hand went to the back of her throbbing head as she blinked a few times. She must have blacked out for a few seconds, for she soon saw Meatlug and Fishlegs landing near her. Fishlegs rushed forward and knelt by Astrid's side.
"Astrid, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I-I'm okay," Astrid managed after a few moments, then gingerly got to her feet. "Are you?"
Fishlegs shrugged his shoulders. "I'll be fine. Where's everyone else? Did you come by yourself?"
Astrid's eyes turned left and right, searching for the other riders. But they were nowhere to be found. Inwardly she kicked herself for being so impulsive. She should have known better than to tear off from the party in a storm like this. There was no way that Meatlug or Stormfly could send a distress flare, either.
Astrid's focus then came back with a snap. "Stormfly, where is she?" she panicked, turning around to find her Nadder crumpled up on the deck, weak and whining.
She shot over to her dragon and dropped down beside her to examine her for injuries. To her horror she found Stormfly's right wing joint bent upward at a grotesque and unnatural angle.
"Ohh," Astrid winced, drawing her hand back. "That falling mast dislocated it."
Stormfly squawked weakly, and Astrid tenderly stroked her Nadder's horn. She was about to whisper a reassurement, to tell her dragon that everything would be alright, that they would get out of here okay, that the other Riders would find them when without a moment's warning, the winds swept across the harbor and the tether tied to the mast snapped. They tore across the water, and the boat tossed them this way and that like a toy in the hands of a wild child. The wind whistled and screamed. The ocean vomited and spat onto the deck. Astrid dug her fingers into the side of the boat, fighting its jerking and convulsing, while Fishlegs hugged the mast and gave the most ear-piercing shrieks.
When the jerking slowed, Astrid lifted her drenched head and squinted towards the dock to find nothing but the crashing waves.
"Oh, Thor! Oh, Thor! Where's the harbor? Where's the harbor?" Giving a shriek, Fishlegs ducked down when the blue light and the thundering crash of lightning zapped dangerously near the mainsail.
Meatlug, who was already skittish from the storm, quickly squeaked and flopped limply onto her side upon sighting the strike, her tongue lolling out as if dead. Erratically, Fishlegs shot over and jostled his Gronckle in a desperate attempt to wake her but she remained as lifeless as a boneless fish.
"No, no, come on, girl!" he whimpered. "Please, don't do this to me, you're gonna be okay! Wake up, we have to get back!"
Astrid's breath hitched, and panic arose in her chest. What were they going to do? They were drifting out to sea with both dragons out of commission, and with the turbulent tossing of the waves, they would soon sink. She failed to see how their situation could get any worse.
Then, as if on cue, an enormous SPLAAAASH! erupted up from the side of the boat, and when Astrid looked up she found something towering tall, tall above her and Fishlegs like doom itself. Its leering, glowering yellow eyes stared down at them with a fiery, passionate hatred, its jaded scales glowed palely in the flashes of the far lightning strikes.
It was a massive Scauldron.
"Oh, no," breathed Astrid.
Man, things just keep getting worse! On a side note, I always loved the Scauldron. Something about it being a sea monster kind of reminds me of leviathans in Greek and Norse myths.
Well, the next chapter is on the way! (Also, feel free to vote on my poll of which story I should write next. All the stories I gave are currently in progress, so I'd love to hear what you'd like next!) Until next time, stay tuned!