38AN: Thank you everyone who favorited, followed and review, you guys made my day. This is the last chapter before the time skip, so let me know what you guys think of the story so far or if there's anything I can improve.
Thanks again XD.
Flight
It was better than she remembered and colder…actually a hell of a lot colder, but she didn't care, all she cared about right now was the thrill that came with flight. She hadn't realised how much of a difference flying by herself would make; with Hiccup sitting before her there had been an unspoken sense of security, even with Toothless' unsubtle initial attempts to throw her to her death (which had included but had not been limited to: barrel rolls, free falling, heart stopping dives and a series of lovely spins which left her questioning where the sky ended and the earth began) Hiccup had not allowed her to fall. The death grip she had on the saddle and then Hiccup may have had a lot to do with that, but still she hadn't fallen. With only a rope slung round the Nadder's chest to hold onto all thoughts of safety had fled, should she slip there was no one there to catch her and still she didn't care.
The cool night air whipped through her hair as the Nadder swept forward into a dive, levelling out gently inches above the cresting waves of the open sea below them. Looking over her shoulder she could see Toothless and Hiccup gliding languidly above, not even having to try to keep up, from this angle it was easy to see that Toothless was watching her. She couldn't help but notice the decidedly bored look that he was giving her; as though all she and the Nadder were doing by being there was forcing him to go slow whereas by now; had he and Hiccup been alone they would most likely be pulling off some sort of death defying trick that laughed in the face of the very idea of Hiccup falling to his death.
She couldn't have that.
"Hey girl" she got the Nadder's attention by lightly patting her neck "ready for some fun?"
That was all the encouragement the Nadder needed.
With three powerful wing beats the Nadder vaulted back into the open sky kicking up a spray of freezing sea water behind her. Fifty feet then one hundred, the sea shrank beneath them as they rose into the air, she looked back once more to see both Hiccup and Toothless giving them a questioning look; the challenging smirk that spread across her face was all the warning she gave them.
"GO!" at her shout the Nadder folded her wings and plummeted head first towards the sea, Astrid pressed herself down against the Nadder's back gripping tightly with her knees as she held onto the rope for dear life. All of a sudden the Nadder unfurled her wings, catching the air and soaring back into the starlit sky, from the corner of her eye Astrid caught a brief glimpse of a black blur shooting past her inches from the Nadder's left wing.
Toothless was faster than the Nadder, there was no arguing that; It had taken the Night Fury mere seconds to catch up with them, but what about his agility?
Quickly as Hiccup and Toothless recovered from where they'd overshot her position, Astrid searched the skyline before her. "There!" she pointed so the Nadder would see; to an almost maze like structure of sea stacks, with overhanging ledges and towering jagged spires that jutted out from the ocean not five hundred yards away. With an enthused trill the Nadder drove forwards, delivering increasingly powerful strokes with her wings in an effort to beat Toothless to the structure; when they got close the dragon folded her wings once more as she seamlessly darted between a pair of monolithic stone towers, her long talons clipping against the side of the cliff to her right as she extended her right wing pulling off a near ninety degree turn. Once again Astrid caught the flash of black scales as Toothless swept past her, she could hear his indignant yelp echoing off the surrounding cliffs but he and Hiccup were soon swept away out of sight as the Nadder smoothly navigated the narrow pathways and looming pillars that made up the stone labyrinth of sea stacks.
Minutes passed by in seconds as Astrid leaned forward pressing herself against the Nadder's back; leaning into each turn as it came, anticipating the next one as she felt the rush that came with feeling weightless. They were almost clear of the stony spires, almost back into open air with nothing beneath them but the white caped waves of the open ocean that seemed to stretch before her to the very edge of the world. She looked back, sitting up and relaxing her grip on the rope, she was hoping to see a rather disgruntled Night Fury and his rider coming up behind her but they were still nowhere in sight. Turning forward once more Astrid let out a cry of exhilaration, revelling in the small victory she and the Nadder had won over the Night Fury; said Nadder gave a high pitch trill as they neared the final sea stack, slowing just as she came level with the last rocky outcrop. Confused Astrid leaned forward; letting go of the rope with one hand, resting it against the Nadder's neck in order to lean further forward, "What's up girl? Come on we're almost there." She had to shout to hear her own voice over the howling wind that rushed through her ears but she was sure that the Nadder heard her when she gave a sharp shake of her head.
With a sudden jerk the Nadder stopped; her wings beating rapidly either side of Astrid as she hovered in the shadow of the maze. Astrid had to fight not to fall, her hands scrambled for the rope, clinging to it desperately as she tried to regain her balance. Finally managing to sit up straight Astrid struggled to get the Nadder's attention "hey what's wrong? Come on girl." She gently patted the Nadder's neck trying to get the dragon to look at her; it was only as she ran her fingers along the smooth scales that she noticed the dragon was trembling.
"Hey it's alright shh, it's ok." She continued to run her hand comfortingly along the Nadder's scales in an attempt to calm her but the Nadder didn't even register her touch. Nervous high pitched chirrups emanated from the dragon at an ever increasing frequency, she had started to manoeuvre back into the darkened corridors of the looming rocky pillars, the spikes on her tail were raised and ready to fire.
Something was definitely wrong; so very, very wrong.
It was only now; as she looked around nervously trying to see what had worked her dragon (yes, her dragon) into such a state, that she noticed the unbroken wall of mist steadily encroaching on them from below; had they continued forward they would have flown straight into it. Her eyes widened in shock; even with the powerful down draft created by the Nadder's wings the fog swiftly rose, filling every crevice and blocking everything below from sight. The once loud roar of crashing waves and ravaging winds had been muted to an eerie almost silence which unnerved Astrid to a far greater degree than the sudden lack of visibility. In this suddenly changed environment she felt lost and vulnerable in a way that sent a cold shiver of fear racing down her spine; she was suffocating, she needed out, she needed clear skies and the freedom of the open air, she needed not to feel trapped.
"Up, I need you to fly up!" the statement escaped her as a chocked whisper, barely audible above the rhythmic beat of the dragon's wings; but the Nadder didn't need to be told twice. In an instant they were rising, slowly at first, as if the fog below them that was beginning to curl around the dragons drawn talons was weighing them down; but they gained speed with each wing beat, the Nadder dragging herself out of the claustrophobic depths of the maze that had become a prison.
They were so close to the top; the narrow paths finally gave way to open air and Astrid was once more able to see the clear night sky, but still the mist followed spilling from the rocky crevices like an unstoppable wave. Dread filled Astrid, the Nadder had taken to once more hovering just above the reach of the unnatural fog, her head tilting this way and that as though she was trying to listen for something. Even free of the cloying mist the unnerving silence still surrounded them, the low series of clicks that her Nadder had begun to emit from deep within her throat brought little comfort to Astrid.
"Hiccup!" she called out her friends name to the ever darkening sky desperate to see the flash of black scales that had followed them into the labyrinth of stone, but there was no sign of them, they were alone.
As the last echo of her cry died in the darkened skies light from below caught Astrid's eye and she found herself staring at a patch of swirling fog beneath her that seemed to glow. The light was wane at first, small and barely distinguishable from the mass of fog around it; but the light soon grew in intensity and size, a deep red colour penetrated the coiling mist holding both the Nadder's and Astrid's gaze. It was only as a low rumble began to permeate the air that Astrid realised what the light was; what the ever growing pool of sinister red light meant.
"Move!" her warning came just as the blast of fire breached the sea of mist, the Nadder barely managed to manoeuvre out of the way as the pillar of flame tore into the sky searing the air around it. Waves of heat washed over Astrid as the Nadder flew clear of the column of fire, even though she shielded her face from the blaze Astrid was still blinded by the sudden eruption of the intense flames. She felt the Nadder begin to flee, her wings folding in against her sides once more as she plunged through the air doing everything she could to escape the area with her rider as quickly as she could.
What had once been an eerie silence that clung to the air was shattered as growls chorused into the cold night sky; dragon after dragon emerged from the mist that now surrounded them on all sides, the sound of hardened scales and claws scraping against rock reached the rider and Nadder as the horde of concealed dragons leapt from their stone perches to give chase.
Squinting as her watering eyes adjusted once more to the darkened night skies, Astrid tried to focus on the blurred shadows of the dragons that flew just below the cover of mist beneath her and the Nadder. Another shot of fire rushed towards them; unlike the first blast this one was smaller and resembled a meteorite more than a column of fire, dodging it she looked back just in time to see a club like tail; that could only have belonged to a Gronckle slip back beneath the layers of fog.
The Nadder gave a shrill cry as her path ahead was suddenly cut off; a Monstrous Nightmare clad in an armour of flames ripped itself free from where it had been clinging to a towering obelisk of sea beaten stone, to unleash a flood of flames upon the fleeing Nadder as it lunged. Its maw agape as though it sought to wrench Astrid from the Nadder's back and swallow her whole. She knew this was her end; with the Monstrous Nightmare charging from the front and with the rest of the dragon host circling both beneath and now above her, there was very little hope of escape.
She braced herself and hoped for a quick end; she only prayed that when the dragons were done with her they would allow the Nadder to go free.
Time slowed to all but a crawl as the fire closed in on her; it was as though the Gods were giving her a chance to memorize every detail of her death. The heavy burn of sulphur in her nose, the choking smoke filling her lungs; stealing away her last breath as the torrent of flames grew ever closer, burning her skin even before it touched her.
She didn't hear the tell-tale whistle, she didn't see the black silhouette slipping seamlessly through the fog easily cutting a path straight towards her. Nor did she see that horde of dragons scatter as they sought to escape.
All Astrid could see was the wall of bright orange flames that had promised her death suddenly being overcome by a wave of blue fire so fierce it easily extinguished the blaze and went on to hit the raging Nightmare in the chest. She watched as the dragon that would have claimed her life fell from the air, down into the folds of fog and quickly out of sight.
"Astrid!"
The sudden call of her name caused Astrid to look up so quickly she would swear she heard her neck crack.
Hiccup and Toothless hovered just above her; Hiccup looking down at her with green eyes filled only with concern, meanwhile Toothless kept his eyes trained on the dragon swarm that for the moment had wisely chosen to retreat.
"Astrid!"
She blinked dazedly only now realising that her shock had paralysed her.
"Hicc-"
"We need to go!" now that he was sure he had her attention his voice was gentler, but still commanding "Now!" Afraid that her voice would crack if she answered all she could do was nod numbly; with that Toothless took off.
The Nadder didn't hesitate to follow.
Once more she flew upwards but this time her escape went unchallenged. Ahead of her Hiccup and Toothless carved a clear path for the Nadder to follow; she could see Hiccup constantly checking over his shoulder to make sure she hadn't fallen behind.
A rush of clean air filled her lungs as they breached the final layer of fog and with it came a wave of relief so strong it nearly stole her breath.
She looked back, just to reassure herself that they weren't being followed and that's when she saw it. Where once had stood an imposing mountain which served as the Red Death's lair now laid what could only be described as a crater; steep cliffs that had loomed far above Astrid's head, even on the back of a dragon were replaced with a crumbled ruin. Fog seeped from every crack and fissure that lined the rocky surface and at its center rested a pit that radiated the same malevolent light that had dominated the nest. From above, Astrid could only compare what she was seeing to a maelstrom; cloud and fog mixed together as they were drawn toward the center of the pit, a pit which she could now see was sealed. Layer upon layer of rubble had melted and fused together over the gaping maw of the abyss leaving only a small opening directly at its center, steam and smoke poured from the entrance making it impossible to see what might have been lurking beneath the layers of shifting half molten rock, but she could still hear the eerie high pitched yet at the same time low toned call that raised the hair on the back of her neck.
Turning forward Astrid focused on Hiccup's back as her Nadder continued to follow Toothless in their swift retreat, the thought of looking back did not cross her mind again.
"What! In Odin's name was that?!" Astrid was breathless as she dismounted the Nadder, her throat was dry and she could hear her own heart hammering in her ears but she forced her voice to be strong; even as her legs gave out underneath her as she landed on the ground. In the next second surprisingly strong hands were grasping her shoulders, steadying her.
"Astrid, are you okay?" Almost pitifully she tried to shrug off his hold but when his grip only tightened she gave up, unintentionally she found herself leaning forward; resting her forehead against his shoulder and she tried to get her breathing back under control.
She felt Hiccup stiffen at her action, as if he was unsure of how he was supposed to react, but just before the situation could become awkward she felt his arms slowly curl around her and his chin lightly rest atop her head. Taking deep breathes she managed to calm herself; she would never admit it out loud, but the warm scent of burnt pine and the steady thump of a strong heartbeat that came from her closeness to Hiccup helped.
"I'm sorry Astrid…I should have warned you, I-I didn't think" his words were whispered but even then he still tripped over his own words. Astrid didn't know whether she wanted to laugh or punch him, so she just remained quiet.
After a moment she slowly (reluctantly) drew back, she kept her eyes focused on the ground; trying to buy time to will away the heat pooling in her cheeks that was starting to feel suspiciously like a blush (it was wind burn, not a blush…definitely not a blush). Feeling her pull back this time Hiccup quickly let her go, stumbling back and nervously running his hand through his hair as he looked at the sky, the ground, the sea cliffs, Toothless; anything but Astrid. A small anxious "S-sorry" was all he managed to stutter out before he fell silent.
Calm and with only the quiet sound of the sea breeze and the distant waves below to interrupt her Astrid asked her question again; "…what was that?"
Weariness swept across Hiccup's features, his normally bright eyes dimming slightly as he contemplated how to answer her question, "that's what's left of the Dragon's nest."
Astrid was silent; the only reaction was the slight widening of her eyes that betrayed her shock. One small dragon and a boy had done that; reduced a towering megalith to that…a smoking crater of steam and molten rock. It was still an impressive and harrowing sight; surrounded by the unsettling fog that seeped from the bowels of the crumbling structure, it was what Astrid imagined the gates of Hel would look like; but no longer was the mountain the fortress it had once been, now; it was a prison. However the Red Death had proven she still had strength; the pack of Dragons she still had enthralled was proof of that.
"I didn't want you to have to see that." Hiccup said as he shook his head in despair.
"Why?" Astrid's question would have almost sounded indignant if her voice wasn't so rough.
"Why? You're seriously asking that after nearly being swallowed whole by a Monstrous Nightmare?" he sounded incredulous.
"No that's not- I mean had I known…ugh why didn't you tell me?" At the disbelieving look he shot her she started to back track. "I mean yes you told me she was still alive and that she was calling some of the dragons back to her but you also said you dropped a mountain on top of it!" she was about to set off into a full tirade but then she suddenly stopped herself as she realised what Hiccup was trying to do. "Don't try to distract me to avoid the question! Why didn't you want me to see the nest?"
He turned away from her and when he spoke it was a whisper that was carried away on a soft breeze before she had a chance to catch what he had said.
She started to walk towards him, taking cautious steps but she stopped when she was close enough to hear the quiet mumble that escaped him.
"Because I failed."
He stared at the ground and gripped his hands into fists so tightly that even in the dark Astrid could see his knuckles turn white; even so when he spoke his voice was still controlled and quiet. "I've failed Astrid… I disgraced my fathers' name and now I can never show my face in the village again, not without the first Viking I meet probably wanting to slay me because they think I'm possessed or, or some kind of demon child sired by Loki." Astrid flinched at that comment but luckily Hiccup had not been looking at her when he spoke. "I barely managed to imprison that monster of a dragon and yet still she's managing to control so many of the other dragon's, forcing them to attack anything that comes close to her lair; she's probably going to send them to raid the village again." With each word spoken Hiccup only seemed to grow more and more frustrated, his nervous habit of using wide arm movements to express himself had grown more pronounced; to the point where Toothless: who had been standing behind his rider had to duck in order to avoid being hit. "I thought if I was able to show the village, to prove to them that dragon's weren't the mindless beasts we were raised to hate, that I-I'd be able to stop the endless cycle of killing; but I can't and in the end I've ended up changing nothing!" He sighed at his last comment and shook his head as he laughed mirthlessly. "Actually I might have made it worse." As the last self-deprecating words left his riders' mouth, Toothless brought his head to brush against the boys' still tightly clenched fist. At the contact Hiccup seemed to relax slightly, allowing his feature's to ease into a halfway decent smile as he thanked his friend with a light scratch along his scales, but the guilt and self-doubt still rested heavily on his young shoulder.
Seeing the two interact; seeing the bond that had formed between them, Astrid could not bring herself to believe a single word Hiccup had just spoken, but simply arguing and shouting at him was never going to get through to him. He was far too stubborn for that.
"You're right. It's a mess, the whole tribe hates you and your father hasn't shown his face since that day in the arena." Her words were spoken softly and yet she saw Hiccup flinch as though she had struck him.
"Thank you for summing that up." His usual sarcastic edge was so weighed down that it sounded forced.
She could see she was hurting him but she had to continue; she needed to push him.
"I mean in 300 year's not a single Viking has had a second thought about killing a dragon. Your own Father is a legend in our village and all you ever used to talk about was making your own mark by slaying a dragon, but when you finally manage to catch one you don't have the guts to finish it…You would have been the first Viking in History to slay a Night Fury and yet you chose to throw that once in a life time chance away!" By this point Toothless was looking at her with unveiled hostility and annoyance but Hiccup was still avoiding her gaze. "The rest of us would have done it, no questions asked…without any hesitation...so why didn't you?"
He didn't answer, didn't even look at her so she asked again "why didn't you?"
"…I don't know…I-I couldn't." He was mumbling again but this time it held none of his nervous shyness, it just sounded defeated.
"That's not an answer."
"Why is this so important to you all of a sudden?!" He was finally looking at her again; anger and annoyance clearly shining in his eyes, but all too soon he turned his back on her again.
She had to keep going.
Leaning forward she tried to capture his gaze. "Because I want to remember what you say; right now."
"Oh For the love of-!"
He had finally snapped.
"I was a coward! I was weak! I WOULDN'T KILL A DRAGON!"
Seeing her opening she pounced. "You said wouldn't that time."
"Oh you- whatever!" sighing he tried to reign in some of his anger. "I wouldn't! 300 years and I'm the first Viking who wouldn't kill a dragon." He turned away, for all the world looking as though he was too ashamed to face her.
"First to ride one though."
"So…?"
He kept his eyes on Toothless but Astrid saw the look of contemplation that was etched into his features as he idly ran his fingers along his friends' scaly jaw.
"I wouldn't kill him because he looked as frightened as I was…"
At this Toothless gave an indignant huff and took a swipe at Hiccup which he surprisingly managed to dodge but almost predictably he ended up tripping over Toothless' tail as he stepped back. As Hiccup rubbed the sore spot on his back Toothless gave the dragon equivalent of a laugh; Hiccup got the message.
"Okay maybe not as scared…"
"…but I looked at him and I saw myself."
Seemingly mollified Toothless gave an approving warble and nodded before settling once more down beside his rider. Hiccup kneeled down and rested his hand upon the dark scales on the back of the Night Fury's neck; seemingly taking comfort from the contact.
"It's just…I need to think this through." With those words he looked out towards the horizon, his eyes focused on the general direction of the dragon's nest.
Wanting to give him some space Astrid walked back over to the recovering Nadder; the dragon had collapsed where she had landed, her wings spread out wide, her tail curled tightly around her and her eyes closed. She looked as though she were asleep but as Astrid approached she noticed one eye lazily creep open and the wing closest to her slowly retract exposing the Nadder's soft underbelly. Taking this as an invitation Astrid sat and rested against the warm scales of the Nadder's chest; relaxing as she felt the slow rhythmic breathing of her dragon on her back.
Comfortable she took a moment to see where they had landed. They had alighted on one of the many small grassy islands that lay just off the shores of Berks Mainland; soft grass spread out beneath her feet, only ending when the land suddenly gave way to sea. In the summer (short as it was this close to Freezing to Death) farmers would sail their flocks out to some of the larger isles in order to let their sheep graze on the sweet grass that covered them; though the practice had its rewards it was one of the biggest gambles any Viking could take. High up and with little vegetation besides the grass that grew there the islands were exposed, making easy pickings for hungry dragons. On more than one occasion entire flocks were seen to be carried off in broad daylight. Astrid couldn't suppress the chuckle that came when she remembered the time last year Gobber ended up having an unscheduled bath when he tried and failed to save a prized ewe from the grasp of a determined Zippleback. He had lost his grip a mile out to sea and ended up having to be saved by one of the fishing boats; unceremoniously being hauled in on one of the fisherman's nets and nearly being thrown back in when the fisherman thought he had caught some type of sea troll.
"What's funny?" Hiccup's question pulled Astrid from her musing's, apparently her snigger had been loud enough to cut through the silence that had formed between them. Hiccup looked up from where he had begun fiddling with a stray strap on Toothless' saddle and gave her an inquiring smirk that only looked half forced.
"Nothing!" the word was automatic, escaping her before she even registered it as a thought; so it was only when she heard herself speak it that she realized what a pointless response it was.
At their continued stares she relented. "I was just remembering how Gobber got taken for a ride last year."
"Huh?" Ever his intelligent response when he didn't understand something.
"The time he tried to save that ewe from the Zippleback." She explained.
Understanding flitted across his features and he let out a laugh probably remembering the sight of Gobber clinging to the sheep for dear life as he cursed the Zippleback to the deepest circles of Hel.
"Ha-Oh God's please don't remind me of that," he gave a shudder "after his impromptu swim when the time came for his yearly bath he refused, said that his dip in the ocean covered it for that year."
Astrid found herself laughing again "I remember that now; didn't it take the Chief, Spitelout, Phlegma and a few others working together to wrestle him into the trough to actually get him to take it?"
He laughed with her unable to stop "yep, it's not a day my uncle likes to recall; he nearly ended up in the village well when Gobber tried to throw him off."
"Heh like Father like son" Astrid said under her breath as she tried to get her laughter under control.
After a few minutes they both managed to get themselves back under control and Astrid was glad to see some of the darkness that had been clinging to Hiccup lessen but it soon returned.
"I really can't go back, can I?" The question was rhetorical and there was nothing Astrid could say to counter it.
They fell into silence once more, simply staring out to sea and listening to the waves below.
Some time later they could see the first rays of sunlight begin to creep over the horizon; turning the once black star studded sky a shade of dark blue.
"I should get going, I can't run the risk of someone spotting me and Toothless and you need to get back to the village before anyone notices you're gone." Hiccup said as he rose from his seated position beside Toothless.
"Where will you go?" Astrid asked as she made to stand as well her eyes still on the brightening horizon.
"East I think…I saw a lot of the dragons flying off in that direction; I want to see where they're heading, you know make sure they're not gonna turn back and get enthralled again." He gave a small shrug as if to say that he was still working out the details.
"Hey…maybe you could…" abruptly he cut his words off, but he didn't need to finish his question; she knew what he had wanted to ask.
Looking back Astrid could just make out the darkened outline of Raven's Point and far behind it the soft glow of firelight given off by the torches of Berk.
She remembered everything that had happened toda-yesterday now; how it had just been one annoying event after the other, another mess for her to clean up, another chore for her to do or another lecture for her to listen to…
But then she remembered her parents: the Hofferson family name had already been dragged through the mud, it held a shadow of its former standing within the village, all because of her uncle's cowardice…were she to leave; to turn her back on her family now there would be no hope of redemption and wasn't that what she had been working towards; ever since that day ten years ago…the day her uncle: the Fearless Fin Hofferson, was frozen by fear.
She had to go back.
She wanted to go with them…but she couldn't.
"…"
Seeing her answer before she even gave it Hiccup mounted Toothless and secured the final strap.
"So I guess this is goodbye" she forced herself to look him dead in the eye as she spoke the words. This was going to be the last time she saw him; she would not have his last memory of her being a withdrawn girl unwilling to meet his gaze, that was not who Astrid Hofferson was.
"For now at least."
It took a moment for her to process what he had just said. "You're coming back?"
With a nonchalant shrug he answered "why not, I need to keep an eye on the Red Death and the coves still safe, it's where I assume your Nadder will be staying." At her staggered look he elaborated "what I can't take her with me and there's no way she's leaving you now." As if to affirm this statement the Nadder came up behind Astrid and gently nudged her back.
Feeling surprisingly light Astrid mounted the Nadder "I'll race you back to the cove" she was about to race off when Hiccup called out to her.
"Wait! You still haven't told me what you decided to name your dragon!"
She paused but only for a moment.
"Stormfly."
Hiccup nodded and then smirked as he had Toothless launch forward racing towards the cove.
"YOU CHEAT!" with that shout Astrid urged Stormfly to take flight, they tore after the Night Fury hoping to close some of the distance that the Dragon and his rider had gained with their ill begotten few seconds head start. By the end of the race they had closed the gap just enough to hear both Hiccup and Toothless laughing and she couldn't help but join them.