Chapter 19: chapter 19
Once the Nightmare was done comforting me, I was able to convince all the dragons to allow me and the other teens to ride them. It took a few minutes, but in the end, they agreed by giving me friendly nudges. I smiled and gave all of them scratches.
"Thank you. This means a lot to me and I'm sure it will mean a lot to Kala too."
After a couple minutes of me showing the dragons my gratitude, the others finally showed up.
"We're here." Astrid said as she ushered the others into the Kill Ring.
I calmed the Nadder down as it grew skittish when the others entered. Surprisingly the other dragons were calm as could be. Maybe the Nadder was just jumpy around Astrid.
"Um..if you're planning on getting eaten, I'd definitely go with the Gronckle." Fishlegs said as he tried his best to stay away from the dragons. I paid no mind to the comment as I calmed the Nadder.
It started to purr as I helped smooth out its tail spines. I smiled and continued to smooth them out.
"There..you're alright.. They aren't going to hurt you." I soothed and the Nadder nudged my side purring happily. I laughed a bit.
Tuffnut came up to me and got super close. I backed away a bit and the Nadder and Nightmare growled. I raised my hand a little to calm them.
"You were wise to seek help from the world's most deadly weapon. That's me." He said as he gestured to himself.
"I love this plan!" Snotlout stated, there was joy clear in his voice.
'Don't tell me he thinks I'm going to let a dragon eat me..' I thought exasperatedly.
"Uh..I didn't even.." I tried to explain, but Ruffnut got close and personal with me like Tuffnut did.
"You're crazy! I like that..~" She flirted, I backed up into the Nadder feeling very uncomfortable.
"Look I'm not going to let a dragon eat me! Astrid, what did you tell them?" I asked, feeling somewhat left out.
"Just that you wanted us to meet you in the ring and dragons would be involved." She said nonchalantly with her arms crossed.
I groaned and ran a hand down my face. "I told you to tell them that I was going to help you guys tame your own dragons so we could go save mine."
"I know, but if I said that they wouldn't have come here in the first place." She stated as-a-matter-of-factly and I rolled my eyes.
"Wait, wait, wait. Tame?! So that's what you've been doing this whole time?! Taming the dragons?!" Snotlout exclaimed, anger and a hint of fear in his voice.
"No, I've been teaching them tricks. Of course, I've been taming them, Snotlout!" I retorted, and that got him to shut up. "Look, I can't stand being away from Toothless like this. Just the fact that he was forced to show the chief how to get to the Nest angers me to no end. So, are you guys going to help me rescue him or not?"
"Wait. You want to rescue the Night Fury? Are you crazy Hiccup?! Night Furies are super dangerous!" Fishlegs squeaked out.
"They're only dangerous when they need to be. I know Toothless better than anyone. He's not a killer, and I'm proof of that. He's the sweetest dragon in the world. So will you help me or not?"
~~~HTLANF~~~
For the rest of the time we were sailing, I was completely out of it. The noise in my head washed out any other noises going on around me, so all I could do was look towards where the noise was coming from.
I finally came back to my senses as the boats made it to shore. I whined and struggled against my restraints.
'No! I don't want to be here! This nest isn't safe! I want to go back to the cove and spend time with Hiccup!'
"Stay low and ready your weapons. We're here." The chief ordered.
I whined again and shrank down as much as I possibly could.
~~~HTLANF~~~
It took some convincing, but eventually the others agreed to help me rescue Kala. I was able to get the dragons calm enough that way they could tame the dragon I thought suited them best.
For Fishlegs the Gronckle seemed like the best choice. Their personalities went well together and it wasn't too hard to get Fishlegs used to touching it.
The twins were a perfect match with the Zippleback. Both sets were very chaotic and destructive, which helped Ruff and Tuff get comfortable with the dragon.
The Nadder was obviously the dragon that was best for Astrid. She was almost the perfect human version of a Deadly Nadder. She was able to get comfortable with it faster than I expected.
Snotlout and the Nightmare were having a more difficult time than the others were. Snotlout was too afraid to even touch the Nightmare, which was making both me and the Nightmare irritated.
"Come on Snotlout. I already told you that it won't bite you."
"How do I know you're not just saying that to convince me to let a Monstrous Nightmare eat me?!" He screamed as he hid behind Astrid.
"The Nightmare won't hurt you Snotlout. Have any of the other dragons hurt you?" I asked, trying to coax him into touching the Nightmare.
"Well..n-no..but it's a Nightmare! It could char me in an instant if it wanted to!"
I sighed and walked over to him then grabbed ahold of his arm and dragged him over to the dragon.
"Wha–hey! Hiccup!!"
I didn't respond as I calmed the Nightmare and rested Snotlout's hand on its snout. He tried to pull back, but I kept his hand in place. After a couple seconds passed by, Snotlout relaxed and slowly stroked the Nightmare's snout.
"Huh. This isn't..so bad."
I smiled and backed away to grab the rope I put aside.
"W-where are you going?" Snotlout asked as he looked at me backing away.
"You guys need something to use to hold on." I explained as I held up some of the rope.
~~~HTLANF~~~
As the Vikings were setting up to attack the Nest, Stoick pulled aside his council to go over a plan of attack. He grabbed a stick that was nearby and drew out the plan.
"When we crack the mountain open, all hell will break loose."
"In me undies. Good thing I brought extras." Gobber joked, trying to lighten the mood a bit.
"No matter how this ends, it ends today." Stoick continued, ignoring Gobber's comment.
The council nodded and Stoick went to the mountain and gave the signal. The catapults were released and the boulders broke through the side of the mountain. Stoick gave another signal and a burning ball of straw was sent through the hole that was made, showing hundreds of dragons crowded together in the cavern.
It was still for a few seconds, then Stoick charged at the dragons with a battle cry and the other Vikings joined in. The dragons got spooked and flew away. Not a single one attacked the Vikings as they fled.
The Vikings stopped in confusion and watched the dragons flee. Kala whimpered and struggled against her restraints to try and flee with the other dragons as well.
"Is that it?" Gobber asked, very skeptical about the whole situation.
"We've done it!" Spitelout cheered and everyone besides Stoick and Gobber joined in.
Amidst the cheering, there was an odd rumbling sound that slowly gained volume that was coming from the cavern. Stoick's eyes slowly widened as he realized that there was another dragon.
'By the All-Father…Hiccup was right!' He thought.
"This isn't over. Form your ranks! Hold together!" Stoick ordered and the cheering immediately stopped as they all readied themselves.
As they were preparing to fight, a gigantic dragon broke out of the mountain and sent giant pieces of rock flying every which way.
"Get clear!" Stoick shouted and everyone scattered.
Kala became even more frantic than she initially was and thrashed her body in any way she possibly could in attempts to escape.
"Beard of Thor..what is that?!" Gobber asked as he got clear of some debris.
"Odin, help us. Catapults!" Stoick bellowed.
The catapults pelted rocks at the dragon, but everything just bounced right off its hide. The dragon became irritated and trampled the catapults that were closest to it. Some Vikings were running away in fear, while others were still trying to attack.
"Get to the ships!" A random Viking yelled out and most of them started to make their way to the ships.
The queen of the Nest noticed this, and Stoick noticed as well. His eyes widened and he looked towards the boats.
"No! NO!"
The queen glared at the boats and set fire to all of them. Kala screeched out of fear as the boat she was trapped on was set aflame.
"Heh. Smart that one." Gobber stated when he saw all the boats alight with bright red flames.
"I was a fool." Stoick said as he watched the queen destroying everything. He looked towards Spitelout with his mind set. "Lead the men to the other side of the island."
Spitelout nodded. "Right." He looked at everyone else and gestured for them to follow as he started towards the other end of the island. "Everybody to the far side of the island!"
As everyone was following Spitelout, Stoick stayed behind and Gobber walked over to him. He noticed and gave him a quick glance before looking back at the queen.
"Gobber, go with the men." Stoick ordered.
"I think I'll stay, just in case you're thinking of doing something crazy." Gobber answered with determination clear in his tone, knowing full well that his chief and best friend was planning to sacrifice himself for the safety of the tribe.
"I can buy them a few minutes if I give that thing something to hunt." Stoick explained, not tearing his gaze away from the dragon.
"Then I can double that time." Gobber said as he gripped Stoick's hand with his good hand.
Stoick looked at his best friend and they both nodded in agreement. Both of them started running in opposite directions waving their arms about to try and get the attention of the queen.
"HERE!" Stoick shouted to try and get the dragon to follow him.
"Oh, no, HERE!" Gobber said to confuse her.
Their strategy was working somewhat. The queen kept looking between them and trying to hit them with fire or her paw.
"Come on! Bite me!" Gobber teased.
"No, me!" Stoick tried.
~~~HTLANF~~~
After a quick flying lesson, I was able to lead the others to the Nest while on the Deadly Nadder with Astrid. We got there just in time to see the queen getting confused by the chief and Gobber.
I took a quick second to analyze the situation and come up with a plan. There was so much fire and debris flying through the air that I had to make sure no one got injured. With my mind set I looked at the twins and Fishlegs.
"Ruff, Tuff, watch your backs! Move, Fishlegs!" I ordered. The three of them nodded and got out of the way as a stream of fire flew through the air where the Gronckle and Zippleback were seconds ago.
"LOOK AT US! WE'RE ON A DRAGON! WE'RE ON DRAGONS! ALL OF US!" Tuffnut shouted as he and Ruffnut flew over Gobber and Stoick.
I looked around and noticed how low to the ground we were. That wasn't that good of an idea with how large the queen was.
"Up, let's move it!" I shouted as I steered the Nadder to get higher in the air.
The others did the same with their dragons and grouped close together.
"Every bit the boar-headed, stubborn Viking you ever were!" I heard Gobber say to Stoick as we flew overhead. I ignored it as I looked the queen over.
"Fishlegs, break it down!"
He nodded and looked over the queen. "Okay! Heavily armored skull and tail made for bashing and crushing! Steer clear of both! Small eyes, large nostrils! Relies on hearing and smell!" He listed off loud enough for the whole group to hear.
"Alright! Lout, Legs, hang in its blind spot! Make some noise, keep it confused! Ruff, Tuff, find out if it has a shot limit! Make it mad!" I instructed.
"That's my specialty!" Ruffnut said excitedly.
"Since when?! Everyone knows I'm more irritating! See?" Tuffnut said as he flipped himself and the head of the Zippleback he was steering upside-down, the Zippleback head did not look too pleased.
"Just do what I told you!" I shouted a bit irritated. "I'll be back as soon as I can!" I finished as I steered the Nadder towards the boats.
"Don't worry, we got it covered!" I heard Snotlout say before Astrid and I got too far away.
'I have a feeling you don't..' I thought as we got closer to the boats.
When we got closer, I could feel the heat coming from the fire. I looked frantically for Kala and I physically relaxed a bit when I spotted her. She was still in dragon form trying to break out of the restraints.
"There!" I shouted eagerly as Astrid and I swapped places and I jumped down and landed on the boat Kala was trapped on. I looked up at Astrid as I stood. "Go help the others!" I yelled loud enough for her to hear.
Astrid nodded and steered the Nadder away from the boats and back towards the battle. Once she left, I rushed over to Kala and started to try and help her get out.
"Okay, hold on. Hold on." I said, trying to calm both of us down as we struggled to get her free.
Kala whimpered and nudged me. I looked at her and rested my forehead against hers.
"I'll get you out of this. I promise. Just try and stay calm until then, alright? Can you do that for me?" I asked and I got a small nod and purring as my answer.
I smiled a bit and went back to trying to free her. As I was struggling I tuned out everything else that was happening around us. My only focus was getting my girlfriend free of her shackles that way we could help out with the battle. I was so focused on freeing her that I didn't notice a mast topple down and break the boat we were on until both of us were underwater and Kala was sinking to the bottom of the ocean.
I swam down after her once I got enough air and went back to trying to free her. Kala whined trying to get me to go back to the surface, but I shook my head and kept trying to get the shackles off her. We were underwater for so long that it was getting hard for me to keep the air in my lungs. I tried to pry open the shackle around Kala's neck for a bit longer, but the pain became so unbearable that I started to blackout.
~~~HTLANF~~~
I whined and struggled as I watched Hiccup blackout, but stopped when I saw Stoick dive down and grab Hiccup. He swam back to the surface, then came back down once Hiccup was on shore and breathing again. Stoick swam down to me and released me from my shackles, so in return I shot both of us back to shore.
When we got to shore, I ran to Hiccup and nuzzled him purring happily.
"Toothless! You're okay!" He said happily as he hugged me tightly.
Both of us were soaked, but neither of us cared. All that mattered was being able to embrace each other again.
After both of us were calm and knew each other were okay, I nudged Hiccup towards my saddle with a determined look on my face. Hiccup nodded and hopped on.
"You got it, bud." He said as he secured himself to the saddle and scratched my head.
Stoick walked up to us and looked at Hiccup with a sad expression on his face.
"Hiccup. I'm sorry...for–for everything." He apologized.
I looked up at Hiccup and saw that he became very upset.
"Look Stoick. I only came here to rescue Toothless. Not to gain you back as my father. The way you treated me for fifteen years cannot be forgiven by just one measly apology." Hiccup stated and he scratched my head again for comfort. I purred to calm his nerves.
"You..you don't have to go up there." Stoick tried and Hiccup glared at him.
"I'm not going to go against the queen for you. I'm doing it for Toothless. All of this is for him. Not you or anyone else in the tribe. Just Toothless. So, you can keep your apologies to yourself chief. I don't need them." Hiccup spat and he changed the position of my tailfin and I took off to meet up with the other dragons I spotted that were fighting the queen.
"He's up! Get Snotlout out of there!" I heard Astrid yell as Hiccup and I got closer to the others.
"I'm on it!" The twins said simultaneously as they steered the Zippleback they were on towards the queen to help the boy I assumed was Snotlout get off her.
"I'm on it first! I'm ahead of you!" I heard one of them say.
"Hey! Let me drive!" The other spat back.
They fought a bit as they flew over the queen and Snotlout jumped and was caught in between the Zippleback's necks in the space they connect to the rest of their body.
"I can't believe that worked!" The male twin said excitedly, as if they planned that to begin with.
'Those twins are very odd.' I thought as we flew over Stoick and a man I assumed was Gobber from what Hiccup had told me.
When we were flying closer to the queen, she started to suck in air and Astrid and the Nadder she was riding got caught in the pull. The Nadder struggled to fly away, but I saw the Nightmare fly over very disoriented and knock the girls out of the air vortex the queen created. Even though it worked and all three of them were fine, Astrid fell off the Nadder and screamed.
Without thinking, Hiccup and I dived after her. My wings made my trademark whistling sound as we dived after her and I caught her in my forepaws before she made contact with the ground.
"Night Fury! Get down!" I heard Gobber yell as Hiccup adjusted my tailfin so I could fly straight.
"Did you get her?" Hiccup asked once we were in a safe area. I looked down at Astrid and she smiled at me. I smiled back slightly to be polite and I looked at Hiccup and nodded. He smiled and scratched my head. "Good job bud."
I purred happily then set Astrid down right-side-up on the ground as gently as I could. As soon as she was set down, Hiccup and I shot back up to figure out how to deal with the queen.
We circled around her as the others distracted her and assessed the situation.
'You better notice that she has wings Hiccup.' I thought as we flew around her.
"That thing has wings!" Hiccup said as he noticed them. I crooned in agreement, happy to know he noticed. "Okay, let's see if she can use them!"
I knew exactly what he meant by that, so with all the determination I could muster I released a plasma blast at the queen and quickly flew away from her. Hiccup looked behind us as we fled.
"Do you think that did it?" He asked and I looked behind us as well.
The queen was very irritated and she slowly unfurled her wings and lifted off the ground.
Both of us became rigged and looked forward.
"Well, she can fly." Hiccup stated with fear in his voice. "Let's try to slow her down."
I nodded and flew towards the sea stacks that surrounded the Nest. Hiccup and I dodged all of them with ease, but the queen just plowed right through them as she chased us. Both of us looked back at her then at each other, both having the same idea.
"Okay, Toothless, time to disappear!" Hiccup yelled and I shot straight up into the dark clouds above us.
The queen followed and we circled around her, using my black scales and the dark clouds as a way to stay hidden from her. As we circled around her, she flew around in circles sending fire in random directions. With the coverage of the clouds, I was able to release plasma blasts and puncture holes in the queen's wings.
We kept at that for a few more minutes, but as time went on it became difficult to dodge the fire the queen released.
"Watch out!" Hiccup shouted as he steered me away from a stream of fire, but my tail wasn't able to move quick enough and my prosthetic caught fire. Hiccup noticed and groaned. "Okay, time's up! Let's see if this works!"
I nodded and released a plasma blast at the queen as we came out of the clouds.
"COME ON! IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN DO?!" Hiccup taunted and I decided to throw in my own too.
"COME AND GET ME BITCH!" I screeched.
The queen got super pissed off and started to chase us again. I quickly turned around and started to dive, preparing myself for the final blow. The queen dived after us, her anger very prominent in her attempts to harm us. As we dived, my tailfin burned up more and more from the air speeding past us. The more it burned up, the harder it became to keep balance.
"Stay with me bud. We're good. Just a little bit longer." Hiccup reassured me when he noticed the state of my prosthetic.
I whined a bit and nodded, keeping focused on diving. The queen started to build up gas in her throat to release fire upon Hiccup and I the closer we got to the island. The closer we became, the more nervous I got.
"Hold, Toothless.." Hiccup said as he was looking straight ahead, waiting for the right moment. When the queen was about to release a stream of fire Hiccup took the chance. "NOW!" He shouted, flipping both of us to face her.
I quickly released a plasma blast into the queen's mouth and Hiccup and I tried our best to get higher in the air as the queen's gas went off inside her and set her body aflame. We dodged all the spikes on her back as she fell and made contact with the island, exploding from the impact. After a while of dodging, my tailfin finally burnt up and Hiccup and I began to fall.
"No! NO!" Hiccup yelled when he saw just the wires of my tailfin.
He tried to use the foot pedal, but the flames made everything so hot that it wouldn't function. I screeched in fear as the queen's tail came closer to us and Hiccup looked at it. His eyes widened and he tried to steer us away, but before we could get out of range the tail slammed into the both of us. The impact was so hard that it sent Hiccup off of my back knocked out.
I screeched in fear and dived after him to try and catch him before he fell into the flames below us. I struggled to get close enough, but just seconds before we were engulfed by the flames, I was able to grab hold of his left leg with my maw and pull him into my legs. As we got engulfed by the fire the queen created, I curled myself around Hiccup to keep him safe from the greedy jaws of the inferno that encased us.
~~~HTLANF~~~
After the fire subsided and ash was falling from the sky like snow, Stoick gathered the courage to go search for Hiccup and Kala.
"Hiccup! Hiccup!" He shouted as he searched through the fiery air.
As he was searching, he noticed a dark silhouette in the foggy air and rushed over to it. When he got closer it was clear that the silhouette was Kala knocked out with her wings wrapped around herself, like she was protecting herself or something else entirely.
Stoick fell to his knees next to her when he noticed her saddle was empty and Hiccup was nowhere to be found.
"Oh Hiccup...I did this…" He said as he rested his hand on Kala's head.
Kala opened her eyes and looked at the solemn man in front of her. She could see tears forming in his eyes.
"I'm so...I'm so sorry…" He said as he locked eyes with her.
Kala took that as a sign to trust him and opened her wings and legs to reveal her beloved safe and sound in her embrace.
"Hiccup!" Stoick exclaimed as he took the unconscious boy into his arms.
He checked to see if Hiccup was still breathing and laughed in relief.
"Oh, he's alive! You've brought him back alive!" He said, relief and joy clear in his tone as he looked at Kala with gratitude.
Everyone else started to crowd around the small group when they heard their chief.
"Thank you…" Stoick said as he pet Kala slowly. "for saving my son."
Kala purred softly as she looked at the knocked-out boy in the chief's arms, not paying attention to the affection she was receiving from the man. Her only focus was Hiccup.
'He's alive. Thank Akatosh. I don't know what I would have done if he didn't survive the fall.'
"Well, you know... most of him." Gobber said as he looked Hiccup over.
Everyone was confused by that and looked at where Gobber was focused on. Hiccup's left leg from the knee down was badly injured and a bit charred from the flames. Kala whined when she noticed the teeth marks.
'No! I didn't mean to hurt him! My teeth must still have been unsheathed!'
Tears started to form in her eyes and Stoick noticed.
"It'll be alright, dragon. We'll make sure he survives this. It's not your fault, ya hear?"
Kala nodded and nuzzled Hiccup. The boy relaxed and leaned closer to Kala, but didn't wake.
~~~HTLANF~~~