MDM's Version of How to Train Your Dragon
A/N: Hello again, fellow Dragon Riders! I hope you guys had a great and fun Halloween! I know I had lots of fun in my Ladybug costume! Mask, yo-yo, the whole shebang.
I would like to send my thanks to everyone who voted on my poll. It was a unanimous vote, so I will start prepping for my Christmas special to you all, my version of "Gift of the Night Fury".
Okay, now that all of that is taken care of, let's get ready for Chapter 24. And action!
Chapter 24
Aftermath
There was smoke and ash everywhere. Stoick coughed a couple of times before calling for the Misfit Trio. "Hiccup! Ragnar! Juno!"
"Dad!" A voice cried out.
"Chief!" Another shouted.
Stoick turned around and saw Fossil and Coccinelle landing onto the sand, and then Ragnar and Juno running up to him. Stoick rushed over to them and held both of them tightly in his arms in a huge hug. When he released them, he saw that they had ashes and little pieces of pumice in their hair, their faces were streaked with soot, and that they had been crying. He could see the wet, sticky little trails their tears left on their cheeks.
"Where's Hiccup?" Stoick asked them.
Juno and Ragnar just coughed harshly because of the lingering ash in the air, and also of their attempt to not start crying again. Stoick had a bad feeling settle in the pit of his stomach when he came to the conclusion that something had happened. He kept them close to him as he continued calling for his son.
"Hiccup! Hiccup! Son!" They then saw a black lump nearby that they recognized as Toothless. "Hiccup."
Stoick, Ragnar, and Juno all ran up to the unconscious Toothless. They only saw an empty, ruined saddle. Further down, the rods holding the tailfin were jutting out in all directions. But there was no sign of Hiccup.
Stoick fell to his knees. "Oh, son." He whispered. "I did this."
Juno and Ragnar fell to their knees as well. Ragnar banged his fist down on the sand with anguish. Juno held him back up, only to start sobbing into his chest. He held her close to him, while silently shedding tears of his own.
The Vikings and dragons gathered around a few meters away. Astrid pushed her way to the front and froze when she saw the mourning people in front of the unconscious Night Fury. She felt tears spring into her eyes, but wouldn't dare let them fall.
It can't be over. She thought. I wanted to be real friends with him and get to know him better. It can't be over.
Toothless slowly stirred and opened his eyes. Without letting go of each other, Ragnar and Juno slowly stroked his scales.
Stoick looked at Toothless and for a second, saw the familiarity of the Night Fury's green eyes to Hiccup's own. "Oh, son." He quietly choked. "I'm so sorry."
Toothless softly purred at him, and opened up his wings. There, wrapped in between his paws, was an unconscious and familiar boy.
"Hiccup!" Stoick cried. He ran over and held him in his lap. He took off his helmet and listened for a heartbeat.
"Oh, he's alive!" He sobbed. "You brought him back alive!"
Everyone began cheering and/or shedding tears of joy. Even the dragons gave purrs of relief. Astrid gave an ecstatic gasp as her tears ran down her cheeks. The twins and Fishlegs cheered, and Snotlout wiped off a tear in relief.
Juno was so happy, that she threw her arms around Ragnar and gave him a chaste kiss. Ragnar stiffened in surprise, but quickly melted as he returned the kiss. After a few seconds, they broke away, too happy that their best friend was alive to even blush.
Stoick placed a gentle hand on Toothless' head. "Thank you for saving my son."
Gobber then came up to them. "Well, you know, most of him."
Stoick, Ragnar, and Juno were confused until they saw what he meant. The two teenagers felt sick to their stomachs at the sight of it.
"Ragnar, get your bandages." Gobber ordered. Ragnar immediately dug into his satchel and wrapped his foster brother's left leg.
"We need to get him back to Gothi." He said.
"But what about Toothless?" Juno asked, gesturing to the weak Night Fury.
Ragnar gave her some ointment in a little ceramic jar. "Start tending to him. I'll take Hiccup back to Berk."
Juno nodded, and she turned to Astrid, who had come up to them. "Start getting ready for a lot of round trips to Berk." She said.
"On it." Astrid replied.
"Each dragon can carry three people max, riders included." Ragnar instructed to her. Astrid nodded, and ran off to give the others their instructions.
"What about you?" Juno asked Ragnar as she rubbed ointment on Toothless' shoulder.
"Since I'm heading back anyways, I can take Dad and Gobber and two others since Fossil is the biggest dragon among us right now." He said. "Once you get done treating Toothless by the time we get back, you can help us with the trips."
"Sounds like a plan." Juno said. "Be careful, though."
"I will." Ragnar assured her.
Gobber lifted up Hiccup and placed him in Ragnar's lap once he got saddled up on Fossil. Then he, Stoick, and two other Vikings climbed aboard.
Juno watched as the others flew off with their passengers. The boats could take forever to rebuild at the Nest. Once they got everyone back to Berk, they then can take what was left of the armada and pull them back home.
Coccinelle nudged her gently. Juno smiled at her dragon and softly ran her fingers over her head, then went back to treating Toothless.
A couple of hours later, the riders returned to take the next group. By now, Toothless was sleeping, so Juno and Coccinelle can help with the rounds. Trip after trip, they got Vikings safely back to Berk. On their last trip, Toothless was awake, and he hopped onboard Fossil.
When they got back to Berk for the twelfth time, Ragnar and Juno looked around for Stoick while the other riders and their dragons recharge. They soon found him coming out of his house.
"How is he?" Ragnar asked.
Stoick didn't answer. His face looked pale, like he had seen a ghost.
"Is he…" Juno fearfully questioned.
"He's fine." Stoick finally spoke. "But with the damage he got on his leg, they had to do an amputation."
Amputation. The word rang through Juno and Ragnar's brains.
They didn't speak another word as they left with the other Riders to bring back the ships. They were silent for the whole trip and back, except to tell the others what happened before going back to their depressing silence.
It had been two days. Ragnar, Juno, and Toothless had not left Hiccup's side for hours. Hiccup's face was deathly pale, but color was slowly returning to his cheeks. His hair was damp with sweat and a wet cloth clung to his forehead. Fossil was getting a little restless outside. Coccinelle had been the other day, so Juno took her on a short flight around the island.
Finally, Ragnar gave in to Fossil's insistent growling. "Okay, pal, okay. One short flight." Fossil happily purred.
Juno fingered the cloth on Hiccup's forehead. It was getting warm again. She took it off and wetted it again in a nearby ice water bucket. But by now, the ice block had melted.
"While you are doing that, can you get some more ice, please?" She asked as Ragnar was heading out the door.
"Sure thing." He said, as he closed the door behind him where Fossil was waiting. Beside the Haddock house, a large stable had been built for the Boneknapper and Coccinelle.
Juno placed the cool damp cloth back on Hiccup's forehead. Then there was the sound of the door creaking open again.
"Back already, Rag?" Juno teased, and turned back around to see. She froze when she realized that it wasn't Ragnar. It was Astrid.
"Oh." She said, surprised. "Hey."
"Hey." Astrid greeted awkwardly, closing the door behind her and started rubbing her arm.
"You here to see Hiccup?" Juno asked.
"That, and… I wanted to talk to you." She replied.
"Okay." Juno said hesitantly, and gestured to the stool next to her.
Astrid complied and sat down. "What about?"
Astrid took a deep breath. "I… I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."
"For what?" Juno inquired.
"For what happened back when we were ten." Astrid answered.
"Oh." Cosette realized.
"I was jealous because… you were closer to them than to me." Astrid explained.
"Well, they are my best friends." Juno pointed out.
"But, they weren't what we would consider 'Viking-like'." Astrid said, emphasizing "Viking-like" with quotations.
Juno giggled softly. "Remember, I'm not really a 'Viking', either." She joked.
Astrid chuckled. "Yeah, but you were the only girl my age that was intent on making her family proud. Ruffnut doesn't really count."
"But my parents were not around, and Hiccup and Ragnar are like my family since Stoick is my godfather. What makes us proud of each other is that we do the right thing." Juno explained.
"Yeah. I wish I could've learned that sooner." Astrid said regretfully. "I was so focused on restoring my family honor, I forgot about other people's feelings."
"Your family honor?" Juno asked, confused. Then, she figured it out. "Is it because of what happened with Aurvendale's Fire and the Flightmare?"
Astrid nodded. "I was just so willing to be the best Viking, that I didn't realize I was becoming a horrible person and friend."
She then looked at Hiccup's pale face. "Now, all I want is a second chance."
Juno set her hand on Astrid's shoulder. "You already got it." She said. "I'm willing to start over, if you are… Astrid."
Astrid blinked. That was the first time in five years that Juno called her by her first name. She smiled.
"Definitely, Juno." It felt weirdly wonderful to address the Henderson girl like that again. The two girls then hugged each other tight. But the sound of the door opening again drew them apart.
Ragnar was standing in the entryway with a small block of ice in his hands and his jaw open. "Uh, I have to be in the wrong house." He said. "Because you two are being friendly with one another and there's not a bloodbath in here."
The girls giggled at Ragnar's reaction. Juno then turned to him.
"We decided that it's time to put the past behind us." She said.
Ragnar sighed with relief. "Finally." He replied, and then went over to Hiccup's bedside and gently placed the ice block in the bucket.
Astrid saw Juno turning a light shade of pink as she watched Ragnar pet a sleeping Toothless, who was still staying by his rider's side. Juno caught her looking at her mischievously, and her blush turned from pink to red.
She elbowed her side with a quiet hiss of, "Not a word."
Astrid just snickered at Ragnar's confused face when he saw Juno's scarlet cheeks. Those two are meant for each other. She thought as she remembered that little kiss they shared a couple of days ago.
A/N: Yep, I made Ragnar and Juno kiss. I mean, it was bound to happen sometime soon, right? Their relationship will grow slowly, and they will be a bit awkward about it. Like how Hiccup and Astrid were in the beginning, but both relationships will be official eventually.
And Astrid and Juno finally made up. No more bad blood.
Now, that this story has two more chapters to go, I'll have another poll on my profile, concerning a VERY important question, and I would like to know your opinions. So, don't forget to leave a review and check it out. The deadline will be after the New Year, on January 2nd.
Got to fly! ;)