Welcome, faithful readers, to my next big project!
This is actually a rewrite of something I've had in my drafts since late 2018. It's a passion project with my two favorite blorbo fandoms. I've seen a lot of crossovers for these two, but they always involve Danny traveling to the archipelago. I wanted to see how the dynamic shifts if I send the riders into Amity instead.
Buckle up. This is going to be a long haul. Act 1 is already at 120,000 words.
Summary: The dragon riders investigate a swirling green vortex.
Viva La on with the Story!
Everyone in the Barbaric Archipelago knew Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third was gifted by the gods.
He wouldn't have survived otherwise.
He was a thin thing, always had been, and probably always would be. Early into the world, and often thought of as a curse at the beginning of his life, he'd never had the bloodlust of his heritage. He was gangly and hadn't been able to properly hold a sword until he was well into his sixteenth year of life.
And yet, not only did he manage to survive childhood, but he was able to bring dragons down from the skies and to the sides of Vikings, defeating a centuries-old dragon tyrant at the mere age of fifteen.
Of course, this was old news in the archipelago at this point. But hearing the name "Dragon Whisperer" brought to mind exactly the opposite type of person that Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third was, so how could he not be one of the gods' favorites?
The boy's fortune was almost as infamous as his father's strength, and so it was undeniable: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, Dragon Whisperer, Heir to the Berkian Throne, Slayer of the Red Death, Peace Bringer to the Barbaric Archipelago, and Brother to the Unholy Offspring of Lightning and Death itself was godsent.
It was at this moment— staring into an iridescent, green, swirling thing that had just appeared out of nowhere, thousands of feet in the air—that Astrid realized what the gods did not bless Hiccup with, however, was common sense.
"I wonder what would happen if I threw something into it?"
"Oh, my gods."
Hiccup turned from his position on Toothless to give an apologetic look towards Astrid. His dragon sniffed at the new presence skeptically.
"Look, I know it's…well," He shrugged, gesturing towards the thing.
"Dangerous? Yeah, we can all see that." Astrid tapped Stormfly on the head, urging her dragon to inch closer to both the Green-Thing and Hiccup, intending to bar him from getting any closer.
Hiccup noticed this with a tsk, "I'm not going to do anything reckless." Though his tone was sincere, it was hardly comforting.
The shield maiden sent him a half-lidded glare. "Somehow, I doubt your sincerity." she chastised, and her spine prickled as she and Stormfly let their backs face the anomaly. Her skin couldn't tell if it was hot or cold, only that it was different from the air around them.
Astrid watched as Hiccup protested, "oh, like you don't hear the twins' own plans right now." he gestured behind him as Toothless reared back in the air slightly.
The shield maiden followed his gesture to find the Thorston twins staring at the Green Thing with nothing short of hunger in their eyes. And that was both parts literal and exaggeration, if their conversation was anything to go off.
"...you think the smell of death will deter me, you are sorely mistaken!" Tuffnut boasted, "in the name of science, sister, I will take a bite."
Ruffnut rolled her eyes from her position on Barf, "You assume I'd try to stop you, that's more room back at the Edge for me. I could turn your room into a spa." She cracked a smile that was malicious.
Astrid shook her head exasperatingly, "Unlike the twins, I plan to marry you someday." She allowed herself a gentle smile (okay, maybe it was more pleading) as Stormfly edged as close to Toothless as she could.
That caused a dramatic gag out of Snotlout, who had been circling with Fishlegs for the last few minutes.
Both Hiccup and Astrid turned to him with a glare, but it didn't last long. Snotlout, often dramatic as he was, laughed at their reaction and moved on.
Hiccup leaned on Toothless to reach out a hand to Astrid, who took it instinctively. He brought her knuckles towards his face to kiss them gently and despite the fact that she knew where this conversation was about to go, a laugh left her nose.
"You can't tell me you aren't curious?" Hiccup asked as he let go of her hand, and his gaze darted over Astrid's shoulder with that familiar look in his eyes that she'd grown to love.
Though, at the moment, she didn't love what he was looking at in that way.
Still, a sigh left her. "I didn't say that," she admitted. She couldn't deny that, beneath the unease, there was a sense of wonder in her chest. As she said that, Astrid turned back to look at the Green Thing.
It was…it was…she couldn't describe it. Alluring, sure, she could hardly look away from it. The green was a shade she'd only seen on dragon scales, and it seemed to shift somewhere between a mist, like fog, and liquid. Or – monstrous nightmare gel. It felt weird making that comparison, and again it wasn't exactly right. At some points Astrid's eyes seemed to find something solid in the Green Thing, too, but she could never narrow in on it fast enough to confirm.
But at the same time, it was still making some innate thing in her stand on end. It made her want to flee. It made her hands itch for her battle axe, but she forced them to remain on Stormfly's saddle.
Astrid turned back to see that Hiccup had taken out a piece of rope from his satchel and was in the process of tying it to an arrow. She sent him a disapproving glare.
"Look, I'm just gonna fire it through it and see if I can pull it back out unscathed, okay?" he explained rather sheepishly.
"I guess that's better than your arm," Astrid relented after a second. And it was. Hiccup had a habit of sticking limbs where they didn't need to be, so this moment of clarity was a blessing.
Her attention was drawn to Fishlegs, who had interrupted the twins' still-ongoing bickering with a squawk, notebook in hand. "You can't shoot it! What if it dissipates?" He stressed to Hiccup, who turned in his saddle to face the blonde.
"This object—organism? Substance?" The blonde reached out to the portal in a very bold move for his timid nature, fingers twitching as if he wanted to touch it. His nerves got the better of him, however, and he retracted his hand before he could get too close.
"It's fascinating! It's not something you should just be – throwing things into!" He continued, practically buzzing in his saddle. He was jotting down everything he could think of in his journal, writing at a speed that made Astrid surprised that the paper didn't catch on fire.
"Oh, come on. It looks like Loki barfed then decided to let it gain sentience." Snotlout jabbed, poking fun at Fishlegs as the bigger viking sent a glare in his direction.
"Hmm, I didn't know you were an expert on Loki, Snotlout." Hiccup rolled his eyes as he urged Toothless to inch closer to the beacon of what-was-probably imminent death.
Astrid, despite everything in her gut telling her not to follow, did so reluctantly just in case he did try to stick his arm into the thing.
Toothless didn't seem to be much happier about their proximity than she did, but the night fury wasn't one to ditch his rider. (Not that he could, being a couple-thousand feet in the air)
Just as Astrid was about to call it off again, Hiccup and Toothless came to a stop. She sat back in her saddle, hands still in a death grip on her handles, as he notched the arrow into his crossbow.
He turned to her with a pleading look. "You think you could tell me if it comes out the other side?"
"What do you mean 'if'?" Astrid almost laughed, and finally crossed her arms over her chest.
Hiccup didn't answer, instead swallowing as his fingers traced the tip of the arrow. He turned to her with a suddenly-pleading look. "Just humor me?"
With a sigh, Astrid relented. "Hiccup, if you shoot me, I'm breaking up with you." She muttered, even as her hands clutched her betrothal pendant nervously.
He let out a breathy laugh. "Duly noted."
Not that she actually thought he'd aim at her, but they had no idea what to expect when that arrow went in.
Maybe Hiccup's concern about it not coming back out the other side wasn't so far-fetched after all. Loki did work in mysterious ways.
Astrid made sure she and Stormfly were well out of the way of Hiccup's aim before giving the go-ahead.
She heard him lift the crossbow into firing position; she could only see part of his legs from where she'd positioned herself.
The sound of the arrow firing was crystal clear.
But nothing came through the other side.
There was a pregnant pause as Astrid waited. Maybe, she thought, the Green Thing was solid, she tried to rationalize.
"Do you see it?" She heard Hiccup ask, and that promptly snuffed out her theory.
"No," she answered back as Stormfly made her way back to the rest of the group, "Do you?"
She supposed the question was kind of pointless, as by that point she was back by his side.
But what she saw still didn't seem right.
The arrow was in the Green Thing, alright, but the only indication of it was the considerably-shorter rope that was just…hanging there.
So it had gone in, and gotten stuck somewhere, but that still seemed impossible, because the thing was barely thicker than her hand.
Hiccup seemed to have very similar thoughts, though if he had the same sense of unease that Astrid had been forcing down, he didn't show it. At least, not yet.
His brow was furrowed, but in that way that was more stumped than fearful. He tilted his head to the side as he gave a brief tug on the rope, and both he and Astrid reared back slightly when the rope gained some slack, falling back out of the green thing.
"There's no resistance," Hiccup mumbled curiously and pulled a bit harder, causing another large section of the rope to reappear.
Out of, seemingly, nothing but a swirling mass of – of…
Magic. Was the word Astrid wanted to say, but that was impossible. The archipelago was full of superstition, but she'd always prided herself with her reasoning.
No. It wasn't magic, this was just – another Flightmare situation. There was something here that they were missing.
"Oh, Odin, this is way too creepy," Snotlout's mood was suddenly much less masked, "How about we just forget this whole thing and keep heading to Berk? You know what, Hiccup, I'll even tell Stoick about trader – sorry, traitor – Johann if you put that night fury into gear now!"
"I second that notion!" Fishlegs squeaked, though his notes were still clutched in his hands. Albeit with a grip that was close to snapping his charcoal.
Hiccup finally seemed to be coming to his senses, his face was souring as his hands danced anxiously along the rope. "Yeah, yeah, maybe you guys…maybe you guys are right." He mumbled.
He remained still long enough that Toothless crooned curiously, and a sigh left Hiccup as he reached one hand down to pet his dragon on the head.
"I'm alright, Bud." Astrid just barely heard Hiccup mutter, and then he began pulling the rope back out.
Three more feet of the rope reappeared before it stopped, and Hiccup let out a confused hum.
"What?" Astrid asked, and she couldn't help the way her gaze flitted anxiously towards the Green Thing.
Hiccup tugged again, and this time, the rope didn't budge. "That's weird…" He muttered before pulling at it again.
He turned to the other dragon riders with a look that was, maybe, a bit too intrigued for his own wellbeing. "It's stuck…"
"What do you mean it's stuck?" Snotlout repeated incredulously, belly low on Hookfang to hug him close.
"I mean it's…" Hiccup tugged at the rope again and like before, nothing more reappeared, "It's stuck."
Astrid swallowed nervously, "It must have caught on something. Let's just leave it. We have more arrows at home – don't! Touch it!" she scolded the twins, who were now frozen with their arms outstretched towards the green thing.
"Caught on something?" Fishlegs muttered to himself as Ruff and Tuff slunk away with child-like pouts, "What's there to be caught on?"
It was a horribly true statement, and it was one that Astrid didn't want to be dwelling on.
She turned back to Hiccup, who'd managed to fly a bit closer to the portal with his dragon's aid. He was now standing with his feet still in the stirrups of his saddle, yanking with considerably more force than before.
"C'mon, stupid little –"
And then the rope yanked back, and Hiccup's shriek was drowned out by Astrid's own as he went tumbling headfirst into the Green Thing.
She scrambled for her axe as the dragon riders surged towards their leader in panic. What they could see of Hiccup was part of his torso and legs, which were flailing wildly. Toothless roared in surprise and reared back, though from the way Hiccup's prosthetic was locked into his saddle, he had difficulty.
"Heads up!" She cried to the night fury as Astrid leapt onto his back.
Toothless jolted, sinking a few inches at the new weight, but he seemed to be much more concerned by the fact that half of Hiccup was gone.
Astrid barely gave herself time to find her balance before she was wrapping her arms around Hiccup and pulling.
Please be alive, Thor, please don't be dead, she pleaded to herself as she grunted with the effort.
And again the gods seemed to pour their favors onto Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, because miraculously, with a gasp like he was emerging from the ocean, he returned to the world of the living without any missing body parts.
Scrambling forwards, Astrid maneuvered herself so that she was pressing her hand against his chest. She only breathed out a sigh of relief when she felt the pitter-patter of his heart beat.
"Are you okay?" She exclaimed as her other hand hovered over his back.
Hiccup was wide-eyed, staring quite-hauntedly at the Green Thing as he caught his breath. One of his hands left the rope that he was still, apparently, holding, to latch onto Astrid's hand. He squeezed it and his grip didn't lessen for a long while.
"Holy Odin," He cracked eventually, and Astrid was acutely aware that he hadn't blinked. The hand that was hovering over his back fell to grip onto the rope that was still partially submerged in the Green Thing.
"Hiccup?" She called again, forcing herself to lower her voice.
He seemed to realize that he hadn't answered her, he shook his head as if to clear it. "I'm – I'm fine." He finally said, "I'm okay."
A breath she didn't know she'd been holding left Astrid, and suddenly there were tears that she was blinking away. She nodded silently and pulled him close. He let go of the rope to return the hug, and she couldn't ignore the way he was trembling slightly.
"What– what just happened?" She heard Fishlegs inquire, and Astrid pulled back to study Hiccup again.
He seemed fine, but she wanted to make sure. "I'd like to know the same thing." She shuddered as Hiccup tried to recompose himself.
His fingers were dancing shakily along Toothless' scales in the way he did when he was shaken, relishing in the comforting texture. The night fury crooned worriedly, head swiveling to try and look at his rider.
"I–I don't know, it was all…" Hiccup trailed off to pinch the bridge of his nose, "Something pulled…"
"Something pulled?" Snotlout exclaimed, "what do you mean something pulled?"
Hiccup remained silent for quite a few moments, obviously lost in thought, and Astrid managed to catch Snotlout's gaze. She shrugged helplessly as he gestured wildly.
And then there was another shriek, from Fishlegs this time, and Astrid turned to find that Hiccup had stuck his hand back into the Green Thing.
"What are you doing?!" She cried, rearing back, and Hiccup held up his hand comfortingly towards her.
It didn't help her nerves, mind you, but it did stun her enough to leave her gaping for words.
When he pulled his hand back out, it remained just as unharmed as the rest of his body. Hiccup stared at it in wonder. Or fear. Hopefully fear, because Astrid's spine still felt like ice was trickling down it. Or boiling water. She still couldn't tell.
"...we should get out of here," he eventually muttered, and Stormfly squawked in agreement.
Astrid nodded, and pulled out a knife to salvage what parts of the rope that they could.
She pulled the rope taunt, lining the blade to it.
Then the rope was yanked again, and it was all Astrid could do to suck in a breath before she fell into the Green Thing.
And then she was falling.
Or at least, that's what she thought was going to happen. They were thousands of feet in the air, how couldn't she start falling?
But there was no lurch in her gut, no whisk of air in her ears, no fluttering of clothes.
There was nothing.
Astrid's eyes flew open to find…green.
Obviously, green, it was in the Green Thing's name, but there was something more.
Trees. Gnarly, black, twisted trees with purple leaves.
And they were upside down.
She gasped involuntarily, and then gasped again once she realized what she did.
But air whisked into her lungs, and despite the fact that she'd resumed holding her breath in fear of what had just entered them…she didn't die.
In fact…her hair felt like it was…floating?
The trees, she then noticed, were attached to a decrepit ground that was also upside down, and it was then that Astrid began to suspect that maybe she was the one with the wrong orientation.
She flailed, sticking her arms out at her side and kicking until the trees righted themselves, and then gave in to her body's wailing for air.
The shriek that came with her breath was embarrassing, and echoing for some reason, and Astrid stared in awe at her feet.
She was floating. Honest to gods, floating.
It felt like an eternity as she took in that fact, gaze boring holes into the definite space where her feet should be, but weren't. She tried to bend over to make sure she wasn't hallucinating (even though she couldn't feel anything under her feet to suggest otherwise), but instead her entire body tilted forward, and she found herself doing a rather inelegant summersault to right herself again.
Her hands stuck themselves out to her sides like she was balancing on a fencepost. Alright. She was not going to do that again.
She tilted her head from side to side, trying to make sense of what she saw.
She was on an island of sorts, with flora that should not be the color that it was and a green sky above.
And a swirling…portal to her left.
Because that's what it had to be. This wasn't anything like she'd ever seen in the archipelago.
Astrid gasped at the reminder and tried to run back to it, but was quick to remember her problem, as she ended up achieving nothing but running in place.
She stopped just as she felt herself tilting forwards again and turned to look at the portal in fear as her brain tried to catch up to her predicament. This utterly impossible predicament.
The air didn't help calm her panic. It felt – heavy, like breathing in water vapor, but worse, and though it was technically doing its job, some part of her body was telling her that she was drowning. Like something other was entering her system. The pins and needles feeling she'd gotten from simply being near the portal before was now manifesting in goosebumps all along her body.
Her hair was standing on end. Or maybe that was just because her braid was floating somewhere near her cheek.
She startled as the portal flared, rearing back as trendles of the green substance reached out like misty talons, and then no sooner than a second later something else emerged from its grasp.
Not something, someone.
"Hiccup!" she cried, both parts relieved and exasperated, because of course he would come in after her.
He blinked rapidly as he and Toothless faltered in the air for a second. His gaze fell to her a second later, and relief washed over his face like a soothing rain.
Astrid's chest felt much the same.
"Astrid!" Hiccup exclaimed, relief evident on his tongue as Toothless came to a halt that was…rather clumsy for his nature.
Hiccup noticed this, and his gaze fell to his dragon with a look of concern. Or at least, he tried, but he seemed to get distracted by the space between Astrid's feet and the ground beneath her.
"You're –" He choked as he reached out, setting a steadying hand onto her shoulder. Whatever he wanted to say was lost as his eyebrows shot to his hairline.
Grabbing onto his forearm sent relief through Astrid and she allowed herself a shaky breath. Her grip was probably too tight, but her spine was crawling too much for her to care. "I know," She cracked, "Better than plummeting to my death, I suppose."
She almost asked what he was doing here, but the answer seemed redundant.
Toothless jerked suddenly, nearly dislodging Astrid's grip from Hiccup, and she yelped as she was dragged as if through water by the force.
An uneasy croon left the night fury as he took in the otherworldly forest around them, teeth unsheathed and lips curled into a snarl.
She looked to Hiccup as he pressed a hand against his dragon's head. "I know, Bud," he soothed, even though his eyes had that same uncertain look as he swiveled.
Astrid swallowed, kicking until her lower half was under her again. "Let's just go?" She said, but her uncertainty made it sound like a question.
It seemed like Hiccup almost found it impossible to drag his gaze from the forest back to her. He swallowed visibly before nodding, reaching out to grab her other arm to pull her onto Toothless. "Yeah, yeah, let's go."
She was still floating above the saddle as she wrapped her hands around Hiccup's waist, and Astrid tried to pull down until she made contact with Toothless' back, but it seemed futile. She kept floating back up.
The adrenaline coursing through her seemed to be the only thing that was keeping her from fully registering that. Floating. She was floating.
She had a feeling she wasn't going to be getting any easy sleep that night.
"Did you see this when you fell through?" She cracked, grip tightening around his waist as Toothless started to – or tried to, rather – inch forwards. Whatever this air was…it acted more like water.
Hiccup was silent for a few seconds, and Astrid was sure he'd realized the same thing. When he did answer, there was a quietness to his voice. "I…caught a glimpse. I don't think I really – registered."
There was a silence as Astrid realized she didn't really have an answer to that.
"Did you find the arrow?" he asked.
Oh, right. She'd forgotten about that.
As if she could make up for it, Astrid sat up straighter and began looking around. The rope must have fallen the rest of the way through the portal, because it was no longer in sight.
"No," she muttered even if it felt somewhat useless to do so. She found her gaze drifting towards a gap in the trees, maybe she would find the arrow there, caught in the underbrush.
Or in the grip of whatever had pulled her through.
Not that she had the overwhelming urge to venture out and retrieve it if she saw it.
Hiccup seemed to feel much the same way, because he didn't say anything as Toothless finally picked up enough momentum to bank to the right and turn back to the portal.
And then they found the arrow. Or, rather, it found them.
It was hovering in front of the portal, with the rope coiled around it like a snake poised to strike.
Astrid heard Hiccup gasp, before it went driving straight for them.
Look, the arrow really wasn't that important to Hiccup. Really, he had at least a dozen more, he'd been prepared to cut his losses where they were and make a replacement.
But then Astrid had been pulled through the portal, and all bets were off.
"If we're not back in five minutes, we need help!" he'd said to his dragon riders before plummeting in after her.
Now, dodging this arrow that seemingly had a mind of its own, Hiccup wished he'd said two minutes.
"Left!" Astrid yelped, and whether she meant that the arrow was going left or that he should dodge left, Hiccup didn't know. Still, the weapon whisked by their heads with a whistle as Toothless roared.
"Hold on!" Hiccup exclaimed as he switched the tail mechanism, and they turned sharply as the rope spun around.
Perhaps later, he could try and rationalize why his arrow had suddenly decided to gain sentience (and a grudge), but at the moment it was lining up with their flight.
Nerves shot down Hiccup's spine as it narrowly missed them again.
Okay. Maybe he'd just bury this entire thing into a deep part of his mind and try to forget.
"The – portal!" Astrid yelped as Toothless gained some air.
They soared into the sickly green sky as he felt Astrid bend down to fumble into his satchel, Hiccup managed to catch her pulling out Inferno out of the corner of his eye.
With one hand latched on the saddle, the shield maiden spun so that her back was facing Hiccup and held the sword out defensively. "We need to get back through the portal!"
"That may be a bit difficult!" Hiccup yelped as Toothless lurched to the side, and he reached a hand back to make sure that Astrid stayed on the saddle.
Not that they'd have to worry about her falling, apparently. Hiccup could feel himself separating from Toothless' saddle as well.
The arrow whisked by them again, and a clang sounded as Astrid swung and made contact with it.
There was the sound of metal screeching against metal for a split second, and Hiccup felt a dull thud of something lodging itself in something near his leg. He tried to switch their gears, but something jammed. A preemptive curse left him as he prepared to plummet, only to be met with the reminder that they wouldn't.
At least, he had that split-second thought before the rope tightened and yanked them down towards the island with enough force that it might as well have been gravity.
Toothless shrieked as he rolled topside, and the three of them went tumbling onto the gray grass a second later. And only now did they stay down.
Hiccup took anything positive he'd been thinking about this world back, he resolved as he watched the arrow remove itself from Toothless' tail gears and spin back up into the air.
Scrambling to his feet, Hiccup cried out his dragon's name as the night fury rolled back onto his stomach. Astrid was at both of their sides in an instant, slashing Inferno with a cry towards the wayward projectile.
The arrow dodged – and that was absolutely insane, wasn't it? An arrow being able to dodge? And yet here they were – and then made a jab at Astrid this time, who parried the blow, sending it careening off somewhere back towards the portal. The rope nearly whipped Hiccup in the face at the force, and he was not going to stick around in an opening like this for it to get a second chance.
"Get to the trees!" He cried, and neither of his companions argued with that notion, turning heel and pelting towards the black-and-purple forest.
The shadows were thick, thick enough that Hiccup had to squint. Pressing his back into a tree, he let shadow envelop him and, hopefully, hide him from the arrow.
He tried not to think about the fact that it didn't have eyes to be hindered by the darkness.
Toothless and Astrid settled next to him, and the latter extinguished Inferno's flame with a flick of her wrist.
For a long while, all Hiccup could hear was breathing.
"Do you think it's gone?" he heard Astrid hiss from somewhere to his right, and he dared to turn his head to look at her.
He could just barely see her blonde braid in the dark. He didn't answer verbally – instead he held a finger to his lips and closed his eyes.
There wasn't even wind on this island, now that he was listening. In fact, there…was almost no sound at all. It was only when Hiccup's own heartbeat began to grow louder than everything else around them that he allowed himself to whisper, "I think so. What do you think, Bud?"
Toothless growled warily, and Hiccup knew that sound well enough to know it meant "I don't trust it".
"Yeah, me neither." He whispered before holding out his hand. He found the night fury under his touch after a few seconds and located his saddle, finding with dismay that Loki's Arrow (because it certainly seemed to be possessed by Loki) had managed to bend some of the mechanisms.
He hoped that they weren't grounded.
Cursing under his breath, Hiccup pulled out the crossbow that started this whole mess. He prayed that none of the other arrows in his quiver had the same grudge that their new adversary did.
"What was that?" Astrid asked and Hiccup turned when he heard her near them. He could just barely make out her form when he shook his head.
"I don't know." He swallowed, notching an arrow, "But we should get out of this place before we find out."
"And what is 'this place'?" Astrid questioned, and Hiccup found himself wanting the same answer.
They stepped out of the treeline warily, crouched low to the ground with their gazes plastered to the sky.
Hiccup knew that it was green, how could he not, but it was the clouds that swirled like Typhoomerang's fire, or riptides on the beach, that made his mind perform similar loops. If Loki's Arrow was up there somewhere, he'd have a nearly impossible time finding it.
Astrid's question played in his mind once again.
He turned to give her a cautious look when they were met with that same not-to-be-trusted silence. She shrugged back to him, and Hiccup felt himself lowering his crossbow ever so slightly.
"...It can't be that easy, can it?" Astrid voiced his thoughts.
"Honestly, I'm still wondering if this entire thing is a hallucination." Hiccup cracked, hoping beyond hope that it was that easy.
Even if it wasn't, he wasn't going to give this freaky world a chance to change his mind.
He did a quick spin to satiate his nerves. He felt invisible eyes on them, and he hated it. "Quick," He faltered so that Toothless could catch up, "Let's –"
He was cut off as the portal flared again, trendles surging like claws to reveal the rest of the dragon riders, followed by Stormfly.
A sigh that was either relief or exasperation left Hiccup, and he wasn't quite sure which one it was. He didn't need to ask what they were doing – it was obvious what they were doing. Five minutes wasn't a long time.
Snotlout let out an exclamation as gravity lost its hold on him, nearly sending him over Hookfang's head in the process. "Woah! What in Odin's name is this place?"
Hiccup heard Astrid sigh beside him, and he turned to raise an amused eyebrow at her, even if his heart wasn't in it.
Fishlegs saw them first, relief flying off his tongue, "There they are!" he pointed towards Hiccup, Astrid, and Toothless, "Hurry, befo –!"
A bone-shuddering screech ripped through the air, effectively cutting the blonde off and sending a wrack of goosebumps up Hiccup's spine. Horror grew in his chest at the sight of Loki's Arrow appearing from where it'd curled behind the other side of the portal. Its tip was trailing the dragon riders as they faltered in the new atmosphere.
"Get out of the way!" Hiccup shrieked, leveling his crossbow with the wayward projectile.
…And then his aim drifted to the thing that materialized behind it, and if Hiccup's stomach was in his throat at that moment, now it had plummeted straight through the ground.
"I take it back, what is that?!" Snotlout shrieked in a very Snotlout-way, and Hookfang roared and tried to pick up speed.
Not a dragon, was Hiccup's first thought, and that only made the hair on the back of his neck stand up more. It was absolutely not a dragon. It was too – too – well, it looked like a snake, but it was as tall as a pine tree, had a face and chest that looked almost-human, and four arms.
That was not how he pictured Loki to look. He wasn't really sure if he believed that this entire thing was Loki's doing in the first place, but now he was sure it wasn't.
The Thing-That-Wasn't-A-Snake screeched again as a giant, red claw streaked through the air. Like an obedient Terrible Terror (and those were still particularly hard to come by), Loki's Arrow shot off in the direction it had swiped at.
Which was straight at the other dragon riders.
They scattered, thankfully, albeit with much less grace than they usually had. An ear-piercing shriek was hardly a good strategy for a sneak attack.
"Well," Astrid breathed, "At least the arrow wasn't acting on its own, so I guess we aren't crazy."
"I'm not sure that is any better," Hiccup gulped as the Thing-That-Wasn't-A-Snake landed with enough force to send all three of them stumbling for balance.
"Quick, we need to distract it!" He cracked, acutely aware that Barf and Belch, Meatlug, and Hookfang were struggling to maintain speed in the weightless air.
Astrid's gaze flickered to Hiccup's observation just in time to see Fishlegs and his dragon tumble head-over-heels as they tried to turn. Her brow furrowed anxiously, and Hiccup spared precious seconds to grab her hand.
"Stormfly's gonna be fine," he comforted with a nod that he hoped looked sincere. He couldn't see the Deadly Nadder right now, but she wasn't known as the (second) fastest flier in their group for nothing.
As if to back up his statement, Stormfly squawked from somewhere behind Hiccup, and whatever Astrid saw seemed to steel her gut. She returned Hiccup's nod with that suddenly-determined look about her that he'd always loved.
With a motion for Toothless to follow, they charged.
The Not-Snake was much, much larger up close than it was from a distance, and it caused Hiccup's stride to falter as they flanked it. He could only be thankful that it didn't have legs, because he wasn't so sure if he would be able to keep up with the force that each step would cause. He had experience with that, and a missing leg to prove it.
He dove for a boulder as Astrid continued forwards, Inferno still clutched in her hands. Hiccup's gaze lingered on her nervously before his attention was brought back to the sky at the sound of a Barf-and-Belch explosion.
The Not-Snake had swiped its clawed hand again, and it seemed the twins had just barely missed Loki's Arrow. Hiccup muttered something under his breath as Toothless came to a stop next to him.
Aiming his crossbow at one of the monster's four shoulders seemed to be the best bet to get it off his friends' tails. Hiccup leveled his aim and fired.
Not for the first time, he had to thank whatever god was watching over him that day that the arrow stayed true, because at that exact moment the Not-Snake had lunged forwards, and would have surely had the twins had it not been sent stumbling.
Astrid had caught up to it in the meantime and having snuck up behind the creature, lifted Inferno over her head. With a cry, she let the sword fall with a dull crack as it cut through scale and flesh.
The shield maiden reared back as the Not-Snake let out a pained roar and thrashed, nearly knocking her off her feet in the process. She flicked the sizzling, green blood off her blade as she sized up the Not-Snake with a murderous glare in her eyes.
For a split second, Hiccup let himself fawn over her.
And then the Not-Snake turned with a murderous gaze to Astrid, and she stared back in a moment that seemed to slow down time.
"Oh, sh– ah, Toothless?" Hiccup cried as the Not-Snake began slithering in Astrid's direction. It raised its clawed hand once again, and Loki's Arrow stopped its pursuit of the Twins and slashed in her direction.
The shield maiden jumped to the side, but the arrow managed to clip her boot, pinning both it and itself into the grass with a deciding thunk.
"Toothless!" Hiccup cried, and the night fury roared angrily, a plasma blast was hurled towards the Not-Snake, hitting it square in the jaw.
The echoing screech it let out was enough to freeze Hiccup's heart over for a split second, and he forgot the second arrow he'd been reaching for as the beast teetered dangerously and almost fell on top of Astrid.
She shrieked and lunged to the side, her hands gripped onto Loki's Arrow and she pulled almost immediately, but she seemed to lose her balance like the thing had thrown her off.
The rope wrapped around her like a boa constrictor, leaving the shield maiden to do nothing but struggle.
She was stuck.
The Not-Snake had regained its balance.
Hiccup had to get to Astrid. She was too close.
Swallowing thickly, Hiccup sprinted, signaling to Toothless to stay put. "Give him everything you got, Bud!" He yelped.
He hated putting his dragon in harm's way, but at least Toothless was able to move.
The Night Fury obliged with a mighty roar, wings spread widely and teeth bared as the sound of another charging plasma blast whined through the air.
Hiccup rolled as the first shot fired, narrowly avoiding one of the Not-Snake's lower arms, and looked up in time to see the second one off.
And his gaze stayed long enough to watch them pass through its chest, sailing into the distance before dissipating into purple wisps of plasma.
The monster stared down at its torso with its inexplicable, wavering, slightly-glowing hole, in a way that could have been annoyed if that was something Hiccup thought it was capable of feeling.
And then the skin twisted, trendles reaching out in a similar way that the portal had, and melded back together.
"Holy Thor," Hiccup heard himself choke out before he stumbled back to his feet, and something cold gripped his chest at the sight of the seemingly unphased blast area.
How could they fight something that could– that could do that?! His mind screamed at him, and yet he kept running to Astrid.
Toothless seemed rather off-put by the display as well, because the night fury was now backing up, belly low to the ground as he hissed and raised his hackles. Astrid, too, was staring, mouth agape, as Loki's Arrow kept digging itself and her boot into the earth.
Hiccup slid on his knees as he came up to Astrid. He could hear Snotlout yell out somewhere in the distance, and it seemed to gain them a few seconds of leeway as his hands grabbed onto the rope that entrapped her.
It jolted under his grip, the end of the rope slashed angrily and cracked like a whip against Hiccup's forearm. He flinched but somehow managed to grab ahold of the tail end before it reared back for another strike.
Loki's Arrow really was trying to throw them off, he noticed out of the corner of his eye. It was wriggling in a very similar manner to a snake as it bit down on its prey, Hiccup grunted as he pried part of the rope off Astrid, giving her enough room to get a better grip on the arrow.
"Come on, you stupid, little –" Hiccup sputtered through gritted teeth as he managed to pour some more strength into his grip.
The arrow thrashed wildly, and it took Hiccup a moment to realize that Astrid had given up on dislodging it and was looking to break it in half.
"Get out of here!" she hissed, and a grunt left her as the arrow bent dangerously.
"You know better than to ask me to do that," Hiccup said back, a noise that would have been triumphant, had he not been so desperate, left him as the rope loosened some more.
He turned to give the shield maiden a snarky look, but her gaze was plastered to the sky behind him.
Dread settled in Hiccup's gut as he turned to find both of them enveloped in the shadow of the Not-Snake. Its red eyes were narrowed in rage.
It raised its claw.
Loki's Arrow, beginning to crack in Astrid's grip, ripped back into the air.
The monster swung, and Hiccup couldn't do anything but lunge for Astrid and wait for the blow.
And then there was green.
Not like the green of the strange swirling sky, or green of the portal, but pure, unadulterated, toxic, blinding green that not even his eyelids could block.
The sound of something exploding made its way to Hiccup's ears, and opening his eyes felt like the hardest task Hiccup ever had to complete. They were in…a bubble. Or something that looked like a bubble, because some part of Hiccup – the oddly calm part of him that was rising right then – was telling him that it was a shield of some sort, if the sight of the Not-Snake keeling and falling to the ground was a hint. Both Astrid and Hiccup gasped as the ground shuddered beneath them.
As he tried blinking the white spots out of his vision, Hiccup couldn't help but notice the black-and-white something – or rather, someone – that was now standing between them and the Not-Snake.
He heard Astrid whisper an expletive under her breath, and he could do nothing but agree with a pitiful nod.
In a gloved hand, still posed in a way that made it obvious he'd caught it out of thin air, was Loki's Arrow, thrashing with the same force that had sent Astrid reeling, and yet not even budging the thing who held it.
Impossibly toxic eyes turned to them, and a smile that revealed fangs was flashed their way. Something was spoken with an echoing, staticky tone that made Hiccup's brain repulse, and even though it didn't sound Nordic, Hiccup could have understood the question from a mile away.
"Are you okay?"
Lost for words, Hiccup's breath caught in his chest. He, somehow, managed to nod.
The boy – it was a boy, right? – returned the nod in earnest before turning back to the Not-Snake, which had managed to right itself in the time it took for them to make this newcomer's acquaintance.
Hiccup swallowed, and he felt Astrid's grip on his upper arm tighten as the Not-Snake turned to face them.
Except, it was – cowering? That couldn't be right, this – this thing that looked like a kid between them didn't even look like it would meet Snotlout's height. And yet, the Not-Snake's almost-human face was pulled together in a way that Hiccup's instincts were hardwired to recognize as fear.
The white-haired kid spoke again, voice just as strange to the ears as before. It's gloved hand squeezed, and Loki's Arrow snapped like a twig, falling unceremoniously to the ground. The ropes around Astrid loosened and fell in a heap.
Well if it was that easy, Hiccup almost snarked, but the Kid before them turned, planting one foot behind him in a fighting stance.
His hands lit up in that same terrifying green as the shield around them, aimed, and fired.
And this time, the blast didn't go through the Not-Snake. It hit true, directly in its chest, and the screech that followed, Hiccup could have mistaken for a dying breath.
The Not-Snake stumbled back again, all four hands flailing to its now-blistering chest, and fell for a second time.
Only, on its way down, part of its body clipped through the portal, and their gateway home blinked out of existence.
And so the adventure begins! Seriously, this fic is a passion project. There's so many parallels between the dragon riders and the trio, it's been so fun to write them interacting these past few months. I can't wait for yall to read them!
Even though I personally don't believe that the ending to THW is logical, this fic is going to be compliant with it.
Furthermore, this takes place two years after Danny gets his powers, in the fall of his Junior year. I'm also going to be very ambiguous about the time period - I'm what you would consider a Zillenial, so I remember the 2000's, but I do not remember what it was like to be, you know, a person in the 2000's. As such, I'm more comfortable writing in a 2010's setting, but I know that's not accurate to the Danny Phantom lore, so...yall get whatever this hodgepodge of 2000's and 2010's technology is.
In case you're new here, I choose one tiktok to quote at the end of every update. They oftentimes have nothing to do with the story.
"Every time someone tells me that a movie made them cry, I'm like "I'll see that for myself-" *sobbing* why do I do that?" - user
Welcome to the Journy, my lovelies! Until next time :)
~Local Dragon Haunt