Lightning And Death Itself Ending #2a
A/N What will Hiccup do – stay in the nest or return to Berk? I couldn't decide which of two endings was best for this story. So I'm posting both of them. This is the first half of ending #2.
o
The three Night Furies had gathered on their ledge in the nest. "Hiccup, that injured leg is really making me nervous," Astrid said. "You need to do something about it, and I don't mean tomorrow."
"Believe me, I know," he replied through gritted teeth. "Toothless, how do dragons handle an injury like this?"
"If you still had your Power, you could heal yourself," Toothless answered. "That's not a criticism, just a statement of fact. If there's no Power to use, we usually get a Gronckle to take it off; they have strong jaws and they can do it quickly, with the least amount of pain. Then a Night Fury clamps down on it with teeth retracted until the bleeding stops, and then you rest until it heals."
"Would you do the clamping-down part for me?"
"You know I'd do anything for you, Hiccup."
"Then let's get this over with." He took a deep breath. "Go find me a Gronckle."
Toothless sensed something in his friend. It was the same fear-turning-to-determination that he'd felt when they flew through those rocks on their very first flight together. That seemed like so long ago. Nearly everything in their worlds had changed since then, and it was all because a thin, misunderstood boy had overcome his fear. Now he was doing it again. What would come from this decision?
There was a surplus of volunteers; everyone loved New-night-fury and wanted to see him healthy. They picked Gronckle-light-tan-bites-trees, for obvious reasons. But as New-night-fury lay on his side, surrounded by friends, bracing himself for the amputation, they were interrupted. A blue Nadder came in fast and landed hard on their ledge, squawking, "Don't do it! Please don't do it!"
Astrid tried to handle her. "We have to do it. He could die if we don't."
"He isn't going to die," the Nadder said. "New-night-fury, do you recognize me?"
He looked up at her, and his eyes went wide. "Yes, I think I do! Your name is...?"
"Nadder-blue-flies-in-the-storm. You set me free from that burning ship."
"Oh, was that you?" New-night-fury was surprised. "I knew you from somewhere else. The training ring in the place with the rocks. When I was a human, I tried to fight you there. I didn't do a very good job, fortunately."
The Nadder chuckled. "I thought I recognized the way you talk! You must be the one who tickled me instead of hitting me. That was the only kindness I ever got in that awful place. That's all the more reason I want to do this." To the other dragons, she said, "Please don't bite his leg off. I want to heal him."
A few of them gasped. Toothless exclaimed, "Are you sure, sister? You might need that Power some day for yourself."
"You're a fine one to talk, Night-fury," she shot back. "I've heard about how New-night-fury used his own Power to heal your tail so you could fly again. Everyone has been telling me how wonderful he's been to us dragons, even though he's been here such a short time. I owe him my life, maybe more than once. He deserves this. Please, let me do this for him."
They all drew aside as New-night-fury struggled to his feet. Nadder-blue-flies-in-the-storm took a deep breath, then breathed out a line of Nadder-fire. She traced a circle in the air with it; the circle filled itself in, became a disc, and began to pulsate with color. The Nadder focused on it, held it steady, waited until it had reached full power, then nodded. New-night-fury closed his eyes and stepped into it.
They heard the crack of thunder, saw the Vortex flash and vanish, watched as New-night-fury collapsed onto his left side and went limp on the ledge. They waited. Finally, he stirred and opened his eyes. "Ohhh, man... I'm glad I don't have to go through that whenever I get a headache." He stood up on four perfect legs. The nest was filled with cheers.
"Sister, thank you," he said. "You healed my leg, and you also helped me make a very important decision."
"I'm guessing you mean where you're going to live," Night-fury suggested.
New-night-fury nodded. "Ever since I saw my dad again, part of me wants to go home to be with him. But I don't know how that would work. I'd be a dragon in a village full of humans; I'd be a freak or a pet, not a part of the community. Part of me loves it here with all of you, doing what Night Furies are supposed to do. But I hate to break Dad's heart again. I just didn't know what I should do.
"But now I know. Nadder-blue-flies-in-the-storm just did something for me that no human ever did, or ever would do. She gave up something very important to her, just for me. I'd never get that kind of love from the humans I know. You're my people, and this is my place. I'm staying!" Again the nest erupted in cheers. He flew around the nest, collecting wing-taps and good wishes from all the dragons.
When he returned, Small-night-fury motioned that she wanted to talk to him in private. They had to wait until all of New-night-fury's well-wishers had flown back to their own caves and ledges, though. "What about me, Hiccup? My family really wants to see me again."
"Astrid, I can't give you orders. What's right for me might not be right for you, and I know how it feels to miss your family. I have a feeling that, if you go back, you'll find you're not really a part of the village anymore. It's not just that you look different; we've changed on the inside as well as the outside. If you're asking my opinion, I think you ought to visit your family now and then, but you should live with the ones who understand you the best now." He paused. "I really want you to stay, too."
"It's not just my family," she said. "It's Ruff. We were always friends, and she's the only one who's really accepted me the way I am now. She risked a lot to try and save my life the other day. I miss her."
Hiccup nodded. "I'd say you should visit her all you want. Heck, let her climb on your back and go flying with her, like Toothless and I used to do. I bet she'd love that."
Astrid's eyes lit up. "Oh, would she ever love that! I can see it now! And her brother would be so envious!" She laughed at the thought, then became serious again. "So what happens now?"
The sound of fighting distracted them. "Oh, not again!" sputtered Night-Fury from the next ledge.
"When you told us we'd have to solve disputes in the nest, you didn't tell me it would be this often!" New-night-fury complained.
"It never used to be like this," Night-fury answered. "I see them – they're up in the cone. Same plan as before, except we're coming up from beneath them."
"Same plan, here we go," Small-night-fury agreed. The three of them took flight in a wedge formation, with Toothless in front. He waited until he was very close to the pair of fighting dragons, then launched a partial-strength firebolt that caught both of them under their chins. It wasn't enough to do damage to dragons, but it startled them and hurled them apart by a few feet. Hiccup and Astrid charged in and each head-butted one of the combatants, forcibly separating them. The Nadder tried to hit back at Astrid, but she kicked him in the belly and tail-whipped his face, which seemed to knock the fight out of him.
Toothless flew back and angrily hovered between them. "Break it up, you two! You're dragons, not a couple of human savages, remember? Now, what was this fight about?"
The Nadder and the Gronckle both looked blank. "I... I don't know," the Nadder stammered. "I was just flying in as he was flying out, and something about the way he looked at me made me mad, so I attacked him."
"I just glanced at him," the Gronckle replied. "I didn't mean anything by it. I was thinking about fish, not fighting."
"Well... try to stay out of each other's way for a few hours, okay?" Night-fury snapped. The two dragons nodded and went their separate ways.
"That's the second senseless fight today," Small-night-fury commented as they returned to their ledge. "Two yesterday, one the day before... Whatever is causing it, it's getting worse."
"I've never seen or heard of anything like this." Night-fury shook his head. "We used to have such a peaceful nest! What's happening to us?"
"I have an idea, but it's a longshot," New-night-fury began. "Toothless, what's the longest time a nest of dragons has ever been completely at peace?"
"I've never heard of a nest being at peace," his friend answered. "What we've got here is something totally new."
"That's what I thought," Hiccup continued. "I wonder if dragons have been at war with the rest of the world for so long that we've bred an instinct for violence into ourselves? Only the ones who are good at fighting survive, so they pass on that fighting instinct to their children, and now we're a race of fighters. It's like we have to fight somebody; if we know we don't have any external enemies, then we start turning on ourselves."
"That makes sense," Astrid nodded, "but if it's true, it puts us in a really bad position. What are we going to do? Start another war with people? Find a brand-new enemy to fight? Or just tear each other to pieces, two at a time?"
Hiccup shook his head. "Whatever it is, it doesn't seem to be affecting the three of us... right?" The other two nodded. "So it's up to us to come up with something. Sooner would be better than later." They all agreed, but no one had any ideas.
"While we're thinking," Astrid suggested, "would anybody mind if I flew down to Berk to visit Ruff?"
"Not a problem," Toothless said, "but don't be gone too long. If more of these fights start, we'll need you here to help break them up."
"Now that I'm back to normal, I can help more," Hiccup added, "but I definitely feel better when you're around."
"I'll be back in an hour or two," she nodded, and took off.
Her flight back to Berk was uneventful. She found Ruffnut in her back yard, bringing in the dry laundry, and grumbling about being stuck with the girl chores. Astrid landed lightly, which startled the girl for a moment.
"Oh! Hi, Astrid. I'm not used to dragons dropping in on me like that. I never had a friend who could fly before."
WANT TO FLY WITH ME?
Ruff's mouth fell open, and hung open for a count of five.
At last she spoke. "I have to finish this laundry first." She set a Viking record for bringing in the rest of the clothes, then turned and stopped. "Uhhh... what do I do?"
Astrid cocked her foreleg into a step and glanced back at it. Ruff cautiously stepped onto her leg and pulled herself onto the broad black back.
HANG ON
"Okay, I'm hanging," Ruff said, a bit nervously. She didn't have much to hang onto, so Astrid took off by running and flapping, instead of springing into the air like she preferred. Ruffnut nearly fell off a couple of times; Astrid had to twist herself in mid-air to keep her friend safely on her back.
Then they leveled off, about three-quarters of a mile up. Ruff glanced down. "Oh, wow. Oh... wow!" For the next fifteen minutes, all she could say was variations on that theme. It wasn't a very exciting dialog, but then, Astrid couldn't say anything in return anyway. She wondered if Hiccup had been rendered speechless the first time he'd ridden Toothless. She flew easily, letting her friend enjoy the view as the sun began to set.
That view was certainly spectacular. Good old Berk! Astrid had looked down on the village as her home, as a place to attack, and as a place to possibly come home to. Now she looked down on it as a place she would visit, but she could never call it 'home' again. It was a bit sad, but Hiccup was right – she'd never find a place there.
Suddenly she felt Ruff tense up. "Astrid, look to the south! What's that?" She turned away from Berk in the direction her friend was pointing. Dotting the sea in the distance were dozens and dozens of longships, the largest fleet she'd ever seen.
"We're not expecting any visitors or traders," Ruff said nervously. "I think Stoick needs to know about this." Astrid nodded and banked away toward Berk, descending steadily but quickly.
They found Stoick near the forge, and Ruffnut described what she'd seen. The chief turned to the dragon.
"Is that what you saw?" Astrid nodded vigorously.
"It could only be the Berserkers," Stoick decided. "Either Oswald the Agreeable isn't so agreeable any more, or he's been replaced by someone else." He cupped his hands to his mouth and bellowed to the entire town. "Sound the alarm! Man the catapults! Everyone, prepare to defend the village!"
"We can't stand up against an army that big!" Gobber exclaimed.
"We aren't going to surrender," the chief growled back. "We'll probably be in Valhalla before the sun rises, but we'll take a few of them with us!" They rushed to prepare the town for its final defense. Astrid was ignored in the confusion.
Every able-bodied citizen took up weapons and shield. They ringed the cliffs; no invader would be able to just walk into town. Parts of the ramps were taken up, so the Berserkers couldn't dock in the harbor and run up to the main level. Everyone was silent. They couldn't see the approaching ships in the darkness, but they had to be getting close. The men and women in the catapults strained their eyes to find a target. They all knew they were completely outnumbered, and everyone in town was destined for either the Berserker slave markets or the grave.
The four teens were grouped together as a reserve, with orders to run to the sound of the fighting. They were as silent as the adults at first, but that couldn't last.
"Our first battle!" Tuffnut boasted.
"Probably our last," Fishlegs nodded fearfully.
"I can't wait until they get here!" Snotlout said. "The first Berserker I see, is a dead Berserker!"
"It's the second one that worries me," Ruffnut added. "I wish Astrid was here."
"Yeah, her and that axe... she'd take down a few of them," her brother nodded.
"I was thinking of Astrid the dragon," Ruff answered. "Can you imagine if we had a Night Fury on our side? That would be –"
"Look!" Fishlegs interrupted, and pointed out to sea. "Did you see that?" They looked. Roughly half a mile away – it was hard to tell distances over water at night – something had just burst into flames.
As they watched, a series of white sparks flashed, and more fires broke out on the sea. Shafts of blinding white light ignited additional conflagrations, punctuated by a few squirts of flowing fire and one or two intense explosions.
"What... is... going... on?" Tuff asked. He didn't like things he didn't understand. That didn't leave much.
Snotlout scratched his head and stared. "It almost looks like when the dragons used to –"
"It is the dragons!" Fishlegs exclaimed. "It has to be! They're fighting for us!"
"We do have a Night Fury on our side!" shouted Ruff excitedly. "She flew home and got help! Go, Astrid! Girl power, woo-hoo!"
All around them, the nervous silence broke into a low buzz as the other Vikings realized what was happening. They might live to see the sun rise after all. But could they admit that they were thankful to dragons? The sheer number of fires springing up on the water was sobering.
"Those white streaks have to be from Deadly Nadders," Fishlegs decided. "The little sparks are from Gronckles, and –"
"Yeah, yeah, we get it," Snotlout interrupted. "We don't care about that! All we care about is that they're burning up the whole Berserker fleet."
"I'd sure hate to be a Berserker right now," Fishlegs said quietly.
"Better them than us!" Snotlout exclaimed, and the others had to agree.
After a few minutes, the sparks and streaks died out, leaving only dozens of bonfires floating on the sea. Eventually, those fires also died out, one by one, leaving Berk in the darkness of the new moon. Everyone stayed in their positions, just in case some invaders made it to their shores.
The night was long, dark, and silent. But somehow, somewhere in the darkness, fear gave way to hope.