Castiel smiled slightly at the sight of the two dragons hopping around a playing with one another dragon. Aurora chased Toothless about excitedly, though it seemed she was faster because she had to slow herself to keep from catching him too quickly. And when she did catch up to him, he would suddenly change directions and hop another way, starting the chase all over again. There wasn't much room to run about in the small cave so Aurora didn't get a chance to have a full chase with the male and it was restricted so that the two of them didn't accidently ram into the two humans standing off to the side, speaking quietly to one another. Soon, because of the restricted movement, the two of them grew bored of the running and Aurora came over to the mouth of the cave when urged to, watching excitedly as Toothless shot a plasma blast into the sky, lighting it up and exploding into a burst much more powerful than one would see lighting be. She bounced on her front paws happily at the sight then readied herself to give her own blast into the sky. She crouched and then in an instant, snapped her jaws open, sending out a purple colored blast into the sky. This one was more condensed than that of Toothless's. It wasn't meant for pure power like the male's was, but more for precision. It shot straight and fast, a tight flash of light that burst when it pierced into the clouds. Aurora sat up straight again, happy with her plasma blast. The two's attacks had been very different in action, but both were good in their own ways.
Watching the two, Castiel continued to smile slightly, looking over at Hiccup, "Aurora and I would like that. It would be nice. To see if there are any others out there like Aurora and Toothless. But, even if there isn't, at least they're not completely alone any more." She looked back over to the two dragons and saw Aurora playfully running circles around Toothless again and this made her laugh, "She does that a lot when she's excited. She runs circles around people more than she flies. It's really interesting." Aurora ran around a couple more times, only to pause, curiosity coming to her face as she finally noticed Toothless's tail fin. She perked up in her curiosity then more carefully to sniff at the contraption hooked onto the creature's tail and then pawed at it a little. Castiel recalled the story Hiccup had told her. About how he (even though he had never right out said it was him, she knew it was he in Toothless he had spoken about) had shot Toothless down. She figured, looking at the tail fin, that must be what the dragon used to fly, "You're really smart, Hiccup." She looked back to him once more, "To figure out how to get Toothless to fly again. I don't think anyone else could have been able to do that. I certainly wouldn't have been able to."
She moved her gaze over to the dragons then to the mouth of the cave, where the storm continued to rage on, lightening and thunder constantly flashing and booming outside, winds howling and rain pouring down as well. She was fairly sure it wasn't going to quit for at least another few hours. That meant they had a few hours before they could start traveling back to her home village. Suddenly, at the thought of all that free time, the exhaustion from all that had happened that day began to take over and she was rather tired, leaning back against the cave wall, "Maybe I should get some rest before we head out. That way I'm not so tired when we go to rescue all the dragons." Aurora heard Castiel say this and moved from inspecting the other dragon's tailfin, to curling up around her rider, getting comfortable, "Aurora, you don't have to stop playing just because I'm tired. You can play with Toothless some more if you want."
The dragoness though snorted and dismissed what the girl had said, laying down as she curled up around the human, getting comfortable. Castiel smiled slightly and shrugged, "Fine then, I guess we'll both get some rest before we head out." She lay against the dragon and looked over at Hiccup, "If you see the storm stopped, don't hesitate to wake me up. I want to get to those dragons as soon as we can." With that, she layed her head against Aurora and closed her eyes. It took a few moments but finally the small girl curled up against her dragon fell into a much needed sleep.
Hiccup nodded in agreement to Castiel's statement. "I still hope that we'll find more Night...I mean, Furies one day, but right now I'm just happy that Toothless finally has a friend that's just like him. Well, except for a few differences." He couldn't help but chuckle as he watched the two Furies hang out at the mouth of the cave.
Toothless was very impressed with Aurora's nova blast, smiling as he watched it light up the sky, then gave her a pleasing nod. He perked his ear frills when she began to run around him all of a sudden, following her movements as his jaws parted in a gaping and toothless smile once again, his hind quarters wagging excitedly while remaining where he was. He would try to bat at her lightly with his claw whenever she came near his front, making sure not to actually hurt her with his claws, simply tapping her lightly now and then. Hiccup watched them both, seeing just how excited Aurora can get, which reminded him a lot about Toothless. The Nightfury was all over the place when he was excited as well, barely able to contain himself, knocking things over with his large body.
The female had suddenly stopped in their little game, pausing at Toothless's tail and began sniffing at the tail fin. Toothless had stopped as well and turned his head to look at Aurora, a soft and almost purr-like sound coming from him, tilting his head curiously as his ear fins perked. When she began to paw at it he would move it away slightly, teasing her, but never fully pulled it away. Allowing her to inspect the curious thing. It had taken Toothless a while to get used to it after all, which didn't take long at all, sometimes forgetting it was actually there. Both fins were folded at the moment, the fake fin only opening when Hiccup mounted Toothless and would unfold the fake tailfin with his own fake leg, and Toothless's other tailfin always opened up when he was about to fly. He didn't really have much need for it on the ground.
Hiccup was caught off guard at Castiel's sudden compliment, turning his head to look at her in surprise, seeming a little lost on how to respond. He looked away, growing a little embarrassed. No one had ever complimented on his building skills before. "Well I... I was the one who shot him out of the sky, the least I could do was make it where he could fly again." He then smiled and tapped his fake leg. "He got me back though, that's for sure. Yep we're just both cripples who can't function without the other."
He started to realize how tired Castiel was when she leaned back against the cavern wall. He watched as Aurora came over and curled around her rider, making Hiccup smile. He could tell there was already a strong bond there, and the longer the two stayed together, the stronger it was going to become. "Go ahead and rest. I'll be sure to wake you." He assured Castiel.
His playmate now preoccupied, Toothless moved over to his own rider and nudged him, cooing softly. Hiccup scooted away from the wall a bit so that Toothless could curl up around him as well before settling down. He looked at Hiccup expectantly, and so Hiccup lifted his hand and rubbed Toothless's head, which seemed to make him happy for he soon laid it down right beside Hiccup's legs. Hiccup leaned against Toothless and closed his eyes, not exactly sleeping, but resting. Waiting for the storm to light up so that they could head out and rescue the dragons who were imprisoned on Drago's island. Nothing like visiting an old enemy.
The sky was dark but finally clear, the storm long have since passed, leaving it much easier for Hiccup and Castiel to make their way to her father's island. Of course on their way there they had two dragons, Toothless and Aurora, but if their plan was to work then they had to put Aurora on stand by. With her white scales she would be an easy target even in the dark. So as they neared the island they had to take a small detour, veering off the path and headed towards one of the much smaller islands, landing their to drop Aurora off. Hiccup waited patiently on Toothless as Castiel slid off her dragon and spoke to her softly, trying to convince her to stay so that she may go, though Hiccup could tell that the Fury wasn't happy about it at all. Toothless had to walk over and calm the rainbow Fury. Though Hiccup couldn't really speak dragon, he was sure that Toothless was promising the Fury to take special care of Castiel and bring her back safely, and that she had nothing to worry about. Or something like that.
Then at last, they were on their way. With Castiel mounted right behind Hiccup, Toothless took off once more into the sky, leaving Aurora on her little island. "She'll be alright, you'll be with her again right after we rescue the dragons." Hiccup assured Castiel, figuring that she wouldn't be too happy either about leaving her dragon behind. He knew he wouldn't be if he had to leave Toothless.
Toothless soared through the night sky, wings beating silently as he made his way towards Drago's island, alert for any possible dragons that may be patrolling the skies. Drago must not be so worried in having his island invaded by a sky raid, for there were no dragons about in the air, making it an easy path straight for the island. It didn't take long for it to come into sight, and Toothless slowed significantly, gliding gently over the air currents as he looked down below, wings spread out wide on either side of him. His eyes scanned the ground below, spotting some Night Watchers near giant torches, lighting up the area around them. But Toothless was too up high for their light to reach him, and his body was camouflaged with the night, making it near impossible to be seen.
He made his way quietly towards the arena where the dragons were contained, coming to a quick and silent descend, landing without making a single sound before bounding quickly down the steps leading to the arena so that he wouldn't be seen. Still not making a single sound. However there were two guards guarding the doors, and upon seeing Toothless they had raised their weapons in alarm, about to call out in warning. But Toothless had spotted them as well. He narrowed his eyes and bared his fangs, quickly ramming his head hard against one of the guards and sent him flying till his back hit the wall, causing the viking to hit his head and fall to the ground, unconscious. With the second he hand brought up his hind quarters and kicked the guy at the same time, hitting him right in the head as well and knocked him out. Toothless crouched, pupils narrowed as his eyes darted around for any more enemies, but there were none.
Hiccup slid off of Toothless's back, placing a hand on the Nightfury's head. "Good job Bud." He glanced at Castiel. "So this is where the dragons are being kept?"
The ride back toward her home island was one that left Castiel on edge quite a bit. She hated the fact she was heading back in that direction so soon after having run away from there, but att he same time, she knew they couldn't wait any longer to go save those dragons. If they did, even more of their kind would surely be dead by the time they did get a chance to go there later on. So, they had to go there now. Aurora as well seemed just as tense as Castiel was, her rainbow eyes darting about as they flew toward the island. Once they had landed on one of the smaller islands on the outskirts of the mainland, Castiel had slid off of her back and looked up at the dragoness, speaking softly to her, "Okay, just, stay here. I'll be back here as soon as we get those dragons out of there." The dragoness grumbled in complaint, stomping her feet in protest as she looked down at Castiel, "You can't go, Aurora. You'd be too easily spotted. It would just be better for now for you to stay here."
For a moment, she thought that Aurora wasn't going to go along with this plan and follow them anyway. But thankfully Toothless made his way over, grumbling to Aurora in a way Castiel could only assume was their dragon way of talking. After a few passing grumbling and cooing sounds between the two, Aurora seemed more willing to stay there, sitting down in the grass of the island patiently. Castiel smiled at her and hugged the large dragon around the neck once before quickly going over to mount herself behind Hiccup on Toothless, her arms around Hiccup so she could stay on when Toothless took off, "Don't worry Aurora. We'll be back before you know it." She smiled at her in reassurance and gave a nod, hoping the dragoness wouldn't be too upset about the separation. Then, Toothless took off, heading high into the sky, blending in with the darkness in the sky around them.
Looking over at Hiccup now, she frowned slightly and shrugged, "I know. It's just...doesn't feel right being separated from her. We've been a team this far and I know she didn't want to be away from me as much as I didn't want to be away from her." She looked back toward where she had left Aurora and sighed, "But, just as long as it's only for a little while, I guess it will be alright." Soon they were landing on the steps of the arena and with very little effort, Toothless had been able to take them out. Though, they weren't out of the woods yet. If these two were the only ones they had to be worried about, then they would be lucky. Sliding off of Toothless as well, she nodded at Hiccup's question, "Yes, it is." She walked over to the body of the first guard and seeing in his hand the keys to the building, she pried them from his hand and stood up straight.
Going over to the large doors she began to try and find the right key, speaking quietly, "It's....truly a horrible place. The dragons inside just aren't doing well and if we don't get them out soon...they may not get to leave at all." Finally finding the right key, she twisted it and pushed the door open, walking in to show them the many cells the dragons were in. It was a sad sight to see, where the dragons had all very much so just gave up, laying there, only moving to shift into more comfortable positions, which wasn't really possible in the small spaces they were in.
She frowned more seeing all this and looked over to Hiccup and Toothless, "Let's hurry up and get them out of here. The sooner the better." And with that, Castiel began to quickly go to each cell, unlocking each one, hoping they could get this done before anyone realized what was going on and tried to stop them.
Hiccup looked around to make sure they weren't being followed before going into the arena with Castiel. Toothless's pupils were narrowed as he looked around as well, fangs bared before following Hiccup and Castiel into the arena. As soon as they were inside, Hiccup froze in horror, staring at the cells with a gaping mouth. Toothless displayed much of the same look, his eyes wide and jaw slightly open, his wings lowered. Hiccup couldn't believe what he was saying. Why? Why would someone be so cruel to these amazing creatures? They looked so miserable, half dead, all barely having the energy to even lift their heads. It broke his heart. Toothless had crawled forward, moving to some of the cells and cooed softly, looking at them all with sadness and sympathy in his eyes. Was this really what Aurora had just escaped from?
"Agreed." Hiccup said, quickly rushing in to try to get the dragons out of their cage. Some weren't budging even though their cell doors were wide open, so he had to start urging some to get up and move them out of their cell. Toothless was doing the same, walking straight into the cells and began nudging some dragons, cooing to them softly and encouraging them to get up and leave their prison. After a second the dragons started to realize that they were free, and with the last strength and hope they had left, they all began to stand and hurriedly leave. Determined to get away. They rushed to the entrance of the arena, spreading their wings and began taking off. Hiccup smiled as he watched them go, staying well enough out of the way for the dragons to leave so that he wouldn't get trampled. Toothless stood by him, smiling his toothless smile as his body wiggled excitedly, growling encouragingly to all the dragons.
Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones witnessing the dragons flying away. One of the night watchers instantly noticed the large amounts of dragons flying into the sky from the arena, their eyes widening in shock before running to the horn and sounded the alarm. It's heavy, loud noise traveled through out the village, alerting the others, and immediately torches began to light up. Of course Hiccup heard the sound too, his smile fading as he looked up at the sky.
"I think that's our cue to go." He said, grabbing onto Toothless's saddle and pulled himself up. "Lets go Toothless!" Toothless snarled and leaped over the dragons still trying to get out, heading over to Castiel. When he reached her he came to a stop, and Hiccup reached his hand out. "Come on, we gotta go!" Once she took his hand he pulled her up on the saddle behind him, and Toothless ran across the arena so that he could gain some momentum and leap into the air.
They didn't get very far. A net suddenly shot out, wrapping tightly around them just as Toothless leapt into the air, letting out a surprised roar before falling to the ground. He immediately began to struggle, roaring in fury while Hiccup struggled as well, wondering what had happened. He glanced towards the entrance, seeing a few guards racing towards them, while two others stood near a large contraption which he figured had flung the net. He heard something else as well, and glanced up towards the sky, seeing more vikings on dragons fly down towards the arena while others went after the dragons that escaped. The dragons blasted at the chains over the arena so that they could fly through and land around Toothless, Hiccup, and Castiel.
Hiccup reached down for his sword, bringing out the flaming blade and slashed at the netting, snapping himself free and continued to swing his sword, breaking Toothless and Castiel free as well. Toothless quickly got up, roaring at the vikings as he kept himself near Castiel and Hiccup protectively, swiping his claws at them to keep them back. The vikings by the contraption containing the nets shot another one out, but Toothless saw it coming this time and blasted his nova blast at it, singing it to ash. The vikings advanced and some of the dragons roared, advancing quickly. Dread filled Hiccup, and he had to act fast, grabbing Castiel's arm and ran for Toothless.
When he reached the Nightfury he grabbed hold of the saddle and began to climb, but a Skrill had managed to grab Hiccup from behind with it's clawed feet, pulling on him. Hiccup let out a surprised shout, letting Castiel go immediately to hold onto Toothless so that he wouldn't be carried off. Toothless roared in fury, trying to turn his head to aim at the Skrill, but the way they were positioned and angled he couldn't get a clear shot at it. There was no way they were all going to get out of this, they were out numbered, and Hiccup knew it. He was thinking on his feet, doing what he could only do, reaching forward and grabbed the lever on Toothless's saddle that fixed his tail fin in place.
"Toothless, go!" He commanded his dragon. "Get out of here!" Toothless stared at his rider in surprise, and Hiccup released him, hanging in midair now by the Skrill. Toothless roared and turned his body to blast at the Skrill, but a Monsterous Nightmare charged in, attacking Toothless. "Toothless!" Hiccup cried out, reaching for him, but of course the Skrill kept him trapped in the air.
Some vikings and dragons were already on Castiel, and more were going after Toothless, but the Nightfury wasn't going down easily. He clawed at the Monsterous Nightmare with fury, kicking it away and rolled onto his feet, swiping his tail at vikings and knocking them back. He looked towards Hiccup, but vikings and dragons had gotten between them, and some dragons hovered in the air. Looking for a clear shot that wouldn't harm the other vikings. Toothless roared sadly over at Hiccup, their eyes meeting.
"Go Toothless!" Hiccup half begged and half commanded. "Help the others! I'll be fine, I promise Bud."
Toothless hesitated, stepping towards Hiccup, but a Gronkle had fired a fire ball right at the ground in front of him. Toothless leapt back and roared fiercely at the beast, before taking one last look at Hiccup and turned, leaping into the sky and flapped his wings. He sent out a nova blast right at the chains, bursting through the opening he had made and flew quickly away, some dragons going after him. But none could match a Nightfury's speed. Hiccup smiled in relief as he saw him go, glad that Toothless at least managed to escape. "Good Bud." He whispered to himself. Now he just had to figure out what he and Castiel had to do.
It took a lot of motivation. The dragons in their cells would hardly budge when she and Hiccup opened their doors. They didn't seem to realize at first that while the doors to their cells were open, they were free to leave. It was really said just how much being trapped in here by her horrid father had affected them. But, soon after she, Hiccup, and Toothless began to pull them to their feet and get them to realize this, they were rushing to leave with what little strength they had left, taking off into the night skies. She actually smiled a little seeing this, standing off to the side and watching them make their escapes. It was only when she heard the horn from outside that she snapped out of it and looked over to see Hiccup ride over on Toothless, saying they had to leave now. She nodded in understanding and quickly took his hand, hopping onto Toothless's back as he moved back and ran forward to take off into the sky as well.
But they didn't get far. Castiel gasped and let out a small scream as they fell to the ground, a large net tangled around the three of them. She hurriedly began to try and pull the net from around her but wasn't successfully able to do so until Hiccup pulled his bright and flaming sort out, cutting them free. She quickly pushed the neck from off of herself and went to stand slightly behind Hiccup, knowing without a weapon she would be useless to this fight and would just get in the way if she did try to help fight these Vikings off with the two of them. Yet, even with her not getting in the way, the Vikings were moving in fast and coming close to capturing them.
In a last attempt to flee this place, Hiccup had grabbed her arm and she hurried after him, gasping and stumbling back when a large Skrill came and grabbed Hiccup right from Toothless's saddle. Her shock gave the Viking's around them enough time to grab for her and as much as she struggled in their grasp, twisting and turning, yelling at them a few times even, they wouldn't budge and wouldn't let her go. All she could do was watch one helplessly as Hiccup was snatched away from Toothless and Toothless having no other choice but to fly off with the other dragons, knowing he would be captured or killed if he stayed here any longer. She watched on as he disappeared into the sky with all the other dragons that had escaped.
After the dragons were gone out of sight, the Skrill who had captured Hiccup released him over to some of the stronger Vikings in time for the large man that had raised her came in through the arena doors, looking more cold and frightening than she had even seen him before. He barely glanced her way, uttering a few simple words to her first, "I will deal with you later." Then, went straight for Hiccup, a look in his eyes that made her fear the worst for her new friend, "So, the great 'Dragon Master' has returned to my clutches. Much too bad I couldn't keep your pet. But, then again, with you gone, it will be much easier to capture him once again and use him for myself. By the time the sun is high in the sky in the morn, you will have seen your last of this world."
"Father, please!" Castiel made an attempt to interject through her very uncomfortable position of being restrained by the other Vikings, "Hiccup has done nothing wrong! All he wants to do is help the dragons! The dragons don't belong here! They need to be free! Not in chains and waiting to die! Or used for fighting!" He father turned to her, gaze fixed on her. She shrunk back and said her last sentence quietly, "They are good, Father. Don't you see that?"
He trudged over to where she was being held, taking her chin in his large hand and forcing her to look at him when she tried to avoid his hard gaze, "You, my daughter, have been fooled and lied to. Those dragons are menaces. The only good those pests have is being weapons for those strong enough to wield them. The sooner I get rid of this trouble maker, the sooner you will realize that." He let her go and waved his hand, "Take her to her room. She'll see what I mean when she watches her little 'friend' here die tomorrow at the claws of those eh was trying to protect."
"No! Please! You can't do this!" Castiel made many attempts to escape their grasp as the men dragged her off, her worried eyes looking from Hiccup to her father. She was really going to kill Hiccup tomorrow? She had to find a way to stop this. Just had to. She was taken away and dragged all the way through the village until they came to their home in the back of the village, where she was tossed roughly into her bedroom, the door being slammed shut and locked. She rushed over to the window, though when sh reached there, saw the Vikings had placed a few of themselves on guard outside fo the house. There was no escaping for her. No way to get to Hiccup. She frowned deeply, feeling in such despair as she sat on her bed, waiting for what would surely be a horrible morning to come.
When Hiccup was released from the Skrill's hold, a surprise shout came from him as he fell, flailing his arms but they did nothing to stop his fall. He hit the ground with a grunt, but before he could even recover or try to get up, more vikings were on him and quickly restrained him. Pulling him up to his feet and took away his sword before twisting his arms behind his back. He struggled against him of course, but he never did inherit any of his father's strength, the vikings barely having to put any effort into restraining him. It was like trying to fight a large stone wall. He may be caught, but at least he knew that Toothless was safe. He just wished that he had been able to keep Castiel safe, but he did have some hope that no harm would come to her since this was her own home, and he hoped that her father wouldn't harm his own daughter.
Speak of which, Hiccup could soon see the large man enter the arena, looking as delightful as ever. Though he didn't inherit his strength, Hiccup seemed to have inherited his father's pride, for he stood straight and kept his expression strong. His mouth in a firm line and eyes glaring at the man who murdered his father. He didn't dare show any fear, keeping strong in the presence of this monster. No offence to Castiel. He was relieved though when he passed Castiel with only a few words, only to grow pale in the face when he spoke of Hiccup's death. What? The very thought that he might die in the morning was unreal to him, his heart feeling as if it skipped several beats. However, he did not let himself falter, keeping himself straight and looked at Drago dead in the eye.
"You will never have Toothless." He said boldly. "No matter what happens to me, there will always be others to rise up against you, even after I'm gone."
Whatever else Drago might have said, it was interrupted by his daughter. Hiccup watched Drago wander over to her, then grew paler at the mention of possibly dying by dragons. Still didn't let his fear show, and he was dragged away from the arena. He tried to catch a last glimpse of Castiel, but she was lost in the crowd. Soon he was thrown in a cell, the door closing and locking on him. The instant he hit the floor he quickly got to his feet and ran to the door, gripping the bars. But it was already locked. He glared after them, shaking the bars and tried to pry them open, but of course he didn't succeed in even budging them.
The fear of what tomorrow might bring slowly began to well up inside him, losing his gusto for a moment and backed away from the bars, only to press his back against the wall and slid to the floor. What were they supposed to do now? He brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs, burying his face in his arms, hoping for a miracle.
Meanwhile, Toothless had flown far from the island, heading towards the smaller island where they had left Aurora. When it came in sight he began to descend, calling for his friend in urgent notes, landing quickly. When she came in sight he ran over to her, speaking in their dragon language to explain to her what had happened, and that they had to get help. If she tried to go back to the island to save her rider, Toothless would stop her, trying his best to explain that they would be outnumbered and only accomplish in getting captured again. They had to go back to his rider's home, to his mother, and get her and others to come back with them to try to save Hiccup and Castiel.
Only when it seemed like Aurora would comply and agree with him, Toothless once again took to the sky, heading to Berk as fast as he could. Flapping his wings powerfully and his claws grabbing the air to make him faster. They had to hurry. Who knew what kind of trouble their riders were in? He wanted nothing more than to go back and rescue them himself, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to take them all. Their best chance was to get the mother of dragons(or so what he liked to call her) and bring more help with them.
Aurora was waiting as patient as she could be in such a situation as this, sitting on one of the rocks, rainbow eyes carefully searching the night sky for any signs of Toothless, Hiccup, and her own rider. And she had very high hopes for seeing them again when she saw all of the dragons, close to a hundred of them, take to the skies, flying toward their freedoms. If they were free, then surely they had succeeded and were on their ways back to her, right? Well, as she searched and searched the skies, and the other dragons disappeared from view as they hurriedly got as far away from the island as they possibly could, the three she was looking for was no where to be seen. She battled with herself over whether or not she should go against her better judgement and travel there to check on them. To make sure they were alright.
But, just as she was about to give into those feelings, she barely saw a shift in the sky, and she knew it just had to be Toothless. Sure enough, the Night Fury landed in front of her and , much to her fear, without either of the riders. When she heard that the two of them had been captured by the humans on the island, her immediate thought was to rush there and free them. And she tried to. Tried going around the male, despite his garbled protests, her own high pitched sounds of worry emitting from her, her feet stomping on the ground, depending he move out of her way. But he didn't and for good reason. They were outnumbered. Unable to rescue them alone. She knew that, but wanted nothing more than to try anyway.
Still, he had been able, after a few more of her attempts to get passed him, to calm her down and get her to agree that they go back to his rider's home island, to get the mother of his rider. Toothless called her the 'mother of dragons'. She wasn't sure what exactly that meant, but if this woman would help their riders, she was willing to do anything. She hurriedly took off into the sky with Toothless, the two flying full speed back toward Berk. She could only hope that they would make it in time back to the island before any harm would befall either of the humans there.
Flying at full speed, the two quickest dragons make it in record time to this icy island that was apparently their home. Now, while Aurora was fond of Castiel, and had began to warm up to this Hiccup human (thanks mostly to Castiel and Toothless) she still wasn't very fond and for sure wasn't trusting of the average human. This was why, when Toothless landed, rushing over to the place that the woman was sure to by at, Aurora herself landed high in a tree, the snow there camouflaging her for now, waiting quietly for when Toothless would take off again so that they could go and rescue the humans together.
Valka was very worried. Her son had never returned from his expedition, having gone off with Toothless to try to discover more islands and possibly dragons that inhabited them, something she knew he loved to do. It was why she promised to watch over the village so that he may go off and do this, while she took care of everything and he wouldn't have to worry about anything, happy to help her son and let him spend time with Toothless. However a storm had hit, having reached Berk as well, and still her son never showed up. She had feared for him the whole while the storm was brewing, looking at the sky for any signs of him, but she couldn't go out in search of him herself. Cloudjumper could never fly in such weather, and so she was forced to take shelter with the other vikings and dragons, waiting anxiously for it to be over. All the while praying that Hiccup and Toothless were alright.
Well the storm had long since lifted, but still there was no sign of her son or his dragon, and she began to grow more and more worried with every passing second. The people of Berk and their dragons were busy cleaning up the island from the storm, the powerful winds having knocked many things over and everything was soaked. She stayed to help, but her eyes always drifted up to the night sky, hoping to see the faded black shape of Toothless with her son on his back. Cloudjumper did much the same, and would try to reassure his rider that the two were okay, and that they'll show up any moment. But despite this, she still worried very much of her son, fearing that something may have happened to him.
She was helping the other vikings repair one of the houses that had it's roof cave in from the storm. Luckily no one had gotten hurt. Cloudjumper helped some other dragons slowly lower down wooden beams for a new roof, when suddenly Cloudjumper turned his head, hearing an all too familiar set of wings start to approach them. He released an excited growl to his rider, and Valka immediately turned her head to see Toothless come into view. But Hiccup wasn't with him. Fear rose within her and she ran towards the Nightfury as he landed, Toothless's legs immediately carrying him over to where Valka was as soon as they touched the ground.
"Toothless, where is my son?" She asked him once they reached each other. Toothless was a jumble of worried growls and chirps, but Valka seemed to understand, her face revealing more and more the worry and fear she held within her as Toothless told his story.
At this point, the other vikings had gathered, having noticed that their Chief's dragon had returned, but without the Chief himself. They couldn't understand what Toothless was saying, but the dragon clearly sounded distressed, and by the look the mother of the Chief gave, they could tell it was nothing good. Cloudjumper had flown in as well, landing a ways before walking over, having been listening in. At last Toothless had finished, looking at Valka very much like a child would to a mother, worried sick for his rider. He needed help, and she was the only one who could provide it. Valka ran a hand over Toothless's head, summoning up all her courage and remained strong.
"Do not worry, we will get him back." She confirmed, before turning to all the people. "My son, your Chief, has been captured by Drago!" She said, raising her voice and carrying it out so that all may hear. Instantly there were gasps and shouts of protests, vikings raising their fists in the air.
"We must rescue him!" One called out.
"How dare that dastardly villain!" Another called out. "He must pay!"
"We must go and retrieve Hiccup at once!"
"Yes, and we shall!" Valka called. "I need warriors to gather with their dragons, and we must set out to Drago's island immediately! Some of you must stay, in case Drago decides to attack our island. Now, everyone prepare to leave and defend the island!"
There were cheers in the crowd, and instantly they all began to move, going to their dragons and mounted up. Those that stayed, however, began bringing out catapults and other weapons, in case an invasion would come to their island. Valka placed her helmet on and ran to Cloudjumper, raising her staff to grip onto his wing, so that when he lifted it she was carried up into the sky with it. She swung her legs and released Cloudjumper's wing, landing on his back. Toothless leaped into the sky, roaring loudly for dragons to gather, flying around Berk as he waited for everyone to be ready. Once enough dragons have gathered, he gave them commands on what to do once they were there, then flew to where Valka and Cloudjumper were now in the sky.
Valka was looking to the vikings and their dragons. "Remember, we are there to rescue Hiccup! Once he is safe, we leave. Hiccup is our number one priority. Now lets go!"
Once again they cheered and the dragons roared, then Toothless took off towards Drago's island, and Cloudjumper followed suit. Of course Toothless called to his 'friend', looking where she had camouflaged herself with the snow from a tree, slowing down a bit as he waited for her. Valka grew confused, wondering what he was looking at and who he was calling to, turning her head towards where Toothless was looking. The others continued on, for Cloudjumper and Toothless would have no trouble getting ahead of the group.
Aurora wasn't one for trusting other humans so easily, even if her new friend Toothless seemed so fond of them. Call it her being on the air of caution after being locked up for so long under the order of that horrible human that was her rider's father. So, when Toothless dove down, she herself, her white scales blending with the white air of the snowy Berk, had stayed up in the tree she had landed in until all the Vikings began to ride off on their dragons and Toothless looked her way, calling for her. The woman he had gone to looked her way in confusion as well. Wanting to hurry and get to her rider, as well as Toothless's rider, Aurora was quick to jump from her tree and take off into the sky to fly along beside Toothless, her rainbow eyes glancing very cautiously, yet curious at the same time, toward this woman that rode on the very large dragon.
It seemed her presence had drawn a lot of attention from these Vikings, which Aurora wasn't exactly too comfortable with, yet didn't do anything rash. The attention she was getting wasn't a bad attention after all. In fact, they seemed....excited to see her. Still, she moved a little higher in the sky with Toothless and this other large dragon and flew ahead of the pack with them. At least then she didn't have to look at all the people staring at her and they would be the first to land once on Drago's island. She knew all these people would focus on Toothless's rider (after all, these were his people) and no one would pay any mind to rescuing Castiel (aside from Toothless and Hiccup perhaps), and so she was making it her main priority to get the girl first and rescue her, then help Toothless's rider as well once she had done that.
This was going to be a hard task. Drago was a horrid man. She had learned that from her years of being locked up by him, watching him torture and slay her kind many times. That man was vicious and surely would not give up the two humans without a bloody battle to be fought for them. She was not looking forward to that, especially knowing those she would be fighting were her fellow dragons that had been forced into fighting for him, just as she had been. She of course knew that no matter how strong she and the others were they couldn't save all those captured dragons, but perhaps in rescuing Hiccup and Castiel, they would inadvertently free some of those dragons as well. It was wishful thinking but perhaps it could come into reality.
With a face showing her clear determination for saving her rider, she continued to speed forward ahead of the slower dragons. The sooner she got to Castiel, the better.
Drago already knew what he was going to do with this troublesome dragon rider that had continued to mess up his plan since the day he had come across him. This boy would die the way his foolish father had: at the claws of the creatures he seemed to care about so much. Many of his dragons were starved anyhow, so surely one of them could make a meal out of the scrawny dragon rider. He would enjoy watching that boy get torn into pieces and he was going to make sure his rebellious daughter watched that scene as well. She would soon see what happens to those who cross him and surely she wouldn't try anything so ridiculous against what this village stood for again. This was going to put her in her place and later on in life he would thank him for not letting her fall down the path of the weak like those in that Berk had taken.
It didn't take long to finish what he had to do to prepare for this. The dragon he picked to do the dastardly deed was the Skrill. This dragon was vicious and almost as dangerous as a Fury itself. Almost being the key word. While Drago would have much preferred his Light Fury to have done the dirty work, that wasn't a possible thanks to his daughter taking that dragon away from him. Oh well, he would find the beast and get it back. Maybe even get the boy's Night Fury as well. If he did, he could breed the two and have a whole army of Fury's in his control in the next few years. Yes, that would be perfect.
He didn't go home that night. It was late into the night as it was and he had to get that Skrill into the center of the village and ready for attack before the sun came up. He had the Skrill brought out, chains around its neck to with strain the beast as it struggled and whipped about, electricity zipping over its skin due to its blind fury. Right now, the dragon was willing to reach out and attack anyone or anything. They had to be careful when taking him there and so, by the time they had it ready, the sun was just peaking over the horizon, giving the sign it was time to finally get rid of that boy once and for all. He grinned to himself and looked to one of the Vikings, "Get the boy and have him restrained. I'm going to get that daughter of mine. She will soon see what happens when one crosses her father."
Castiel didn't sleep at all. She was worried, perhaps even frightened, of what was to come. Her friend was going to be killed by her father and she had no way of stopping it. She didn't think she ever felt so helpless once in her life than she did now. She paced back in forth in her room for a while, then, when she couldn't stay still in her room much longer, she left her room and paced around the house. She may not have been able to leave the house, but she could walk around it at least. And once place she went to, that she had rarely went into before due to knowing her father hated when she did, was his room. Maybe it was the little hope inside of her, but she thought maybe she could find something, anything, that could help her stop her father. But, in searching his room, couldn't seem to find anything that could help.
But she did find something that interested her, even if it wouldn't help her save Hiccup. Hidden away in the far back of his bookshelf, was a small worn book that looked to be hand written in a personal sort of way. Her father was never one for reading or writing (she often thought the bookshelf was to make her father feel as though he were smarter than he actually was), so for him to have a hand written a personal book was something she found very unlikely. And opening it up, she found for sure this was no work of her father's. It was not anywhere close to her father's ha. In fact, this looked to be a journal. She slowly sat down, flipping through the first few pages, not even reading the content, searching for the name of whomever could have written it. And sure enough, at the end of the first entry was marked a date, years ago, just a few before she was born, and the name Kidata. Her mother.
Her eyes widened at this and she quickly flipped to the first page again, though had only read the first few words when she heard the front door to their home fly open and she knew it was her father coming to retrieve her. She was quick to place the small book into her pocket at her side and move from her father's room, closing the door and going to the stairs in time to see her father coming to her retrieve her. She was grabbed by her arm wordlessly and half dragged down the stairs, out the door, toward the center of the village, where her eyes widened in seeing the large Skrill, chained and ready to attack, and Hiccup, restrained by two other Vikings, his hands tied behind his back. When she saw this she went to rush toward him, calling his name, though, of course, her father's restraining grip on her arm prevented her from doing so and held her in place.
"Now you will see, Castiel, what happens to dragon riders who cross me."
"Father please." Castiel pleaded in a last attempt to get through to him before something terrible happened to Hiccup, "Don't do this. Hiccup has done nothing wrong. Let him go."
"I will not! He and his people have brainwashed you with their weak beliefs! Now I will rid us of him and you will see just how weak they truly are." He turned to the other Vikings, "Release the Skrill!"
"No!" Castiel continued to struggle against her father's grasp as the Vikings essentially threw Hiccup on the ground and unhooked the chain from the Skrill, releasing the beast meant to kill him.
Valka was in shock. What she had thought had been snow in a tree, it had suddenly moved and sprouted wings, flying over to where Toothless hovered in waiting. She thought she was seeing things, but as she watched the beast, she realized it looked exactly like Toothless. Only white. Another Nightfury? Although it wasn't so much of a 'night' creature. Toothless greeted the Fury with enthusiasm, and together they soared higher into the air, making their way towards Drago's island. Of course the other vikings were pointing towards the two with amazement, recognizing the other Fury. Though Valka would want nothing more than to greet the new comer and get a closer look, now was not the time. She had to rescue her son, and of course, Castiel. She had been sure the girl left with her own beliefs and wanted nothing to do with Berk, and yet here was Toothless, claiming that she and Hiccup had gone to rescue the dragons on Drago's island.
That was the problem with her son. So valiant and fast acting when it came to dragons, never thinking of the possible dangers for his own life. He was brash and irrational, just like his father. It sent an old aching feeling through her heart, and strengthened her determination to save him. Perhaps that white Fury had been one of the captured dragons? It was possible, and it would make sense, but how did Drago ever manage to achieve such a thing? Perhaps she'll never know that answer.
The dragons lifted higher into the air, following the two Furies to their destination, determined to find and rescue Hiccup. The vikings were well prepared to start a war if need be by invading the island. Drago had their chief, after all, and that was a great crime by their standards. No one was going to threaten the leader of their village and get away with it. Valka was well aware of how cruel Drago could be, so there was no telling what he would do to her son, but she knew that it would end in death. Hiccup was now an arch enemy to Drago, and he always made his enemies suffer for their treason against him. She urged Cloudjumper to go faster, terror striking her heart at what they might find on Drago's island.
Hiccup
Hiccup was pacing in his little cell, his mind wracking up ideas on how to escape, but he had to keep crossing them out and throw them away for there was no possible chance that they would work. They had taken his sword, and all of his other weapons and tools, even the things he used to make a map. He had examined this cell over and over again, memorizing everything, trying to find anything he could use. But there was nothing. He couldn't use anything to unlock the door and cut through the bars, though of course he was sure Drago wanted no chance of him escaping. Well, it was nice to know he wasn't being underestimated for his age at least. He already knew that he was no where near strong enough to pry open the bars as well, that was just silly.
He would glance nervously at the sky every so often, seeing it begin to lighten more and more, his heart sinking further as if reacting to the time itself. This wasn't good. Though he had put up a brave front in front of Drago, he was honestly terrified of dying, and how it was going to happen. The way Drago made it sound, he was going to die by the claws of a dragon, and that was a brutal way to die. It wasn't just an instant kill, dragons were highly dangerous and vicious when they became killing machines, definitely not his first choice on how to go out. But he also had some hope. Maybe he could calm the dragon and have it help him. Although something in the back of his mind nagged him that Drago wouldn't have pinned him up against a dragon and forget that Hiccup was the Dragon Master, so there has to be some sort of catch. Drago did command dragon himself after all, so his command might out ride Hiccup's reasoning of befriending a dragon.
His mind was so wracked up with thoughts and ideas, that he didn't realize it was morning till he heard a click at his door, turning his head in time to see it open. Of course there were two large vikings standing in his way, and the realization dawned on him. "So-" His chance of polite conversation-though really a stalling-was thwarted as the first viking grabbed his arm rather roughly, dragging him out of the cell while the other viking grabbed his other arm. "Owe! Okay, so I see you're not a talking person, more of a hands on type of fellow-ah!" The other had smacked him hard in the back, forcing him to walk faster, though he was sure they had just mis-lodged his spine in several places. "Ok ok I'm going!"
Before they walked out of the dungeon, however, one of the vikings took hold of Hiccup and twisted his arms behind his back, causing him to flinch from the restrain. Once his hands were tired they dragged him out to the center of the village. They didn't have to get very close before Hiccup knew what dragon they were using: A Skrill. His blood ran cold and his face went pale, already seeing edges of the wings from behind the houses, and could feel the electricity in the air. This wasn't going to be good. He tried to stop and back away, but the two vikings were right behind him, forcing him forward and towards the vicious beast. They soon came out to the center, where a crowd had already gathered to watch the show, and the vikings kept Hiccup in place while a chain held back the Skrill.
Suddenly he heard his name, turning his head to see Castiel, running towards him only to be restrained by her father. "Castiel!" He moved towards her, but the vikings held him in place, unable to move from their grasp.
"Release the Skrill!"
Hiccup's eyes went wide when Drago issued the command, and he was instantly thrown out to the field with the Skrill just as it's chain was unhooked from it. Of course the Skrill's eyes landed right on Hiccup, and with a vicious roar it opened his jaws and released a shock blast right towards him. Hiccup quickly rolled out of the way, the blast leaving a burnt mark right on the spot where Hiccup had been previously, and he struggled to get right on his feet. But it was hard to move with his hands bound. He guessed they didn't want him to have any chance at all of surviving or using his tricks to subdue the dragon. Of course the beast was in pure absolute fury, blinded by it's rage that Hiccup wasn't so sure he would have been able to done anything with it anyway. All he could do was run as the Skrill chased after him, snapping it's jaws towards him as it waited for another opportunity to blast him. It should only have three shots left.
The Skrill had suddenly leaped, however, flapping it's wings and flew right over Hiccup. It grabbed Hiccup with it's claws, lifting him into the air, and Hiccup let out a cry of surprise as he kicked his legs. But then the Skrill threw him, and he went flying, and he hit the ground and went rolling. Luckily the Skrill didn't have him too high up in the air, but the fall still knocked all the air out of him and he was sure he had a few broken ribs, coming to a stop on his back. He tried to gather air back in his lungs, his eyes rolling around in his skull but tried to focus back on reality, the world becoming a blur. The Skrill landed just a small distance from him, peeling back it's lips to bare it's fangs once it realized it's prey was unmovable at the moment. Hiccup could see the slight blur of the Skrill, and he struggled to get out, but pain shot through his body at every moment. His legs sliding uselessly along the ground as he tried pushing himself up with them since his hands were bound.
The Skrill opened it's jaws and began to charge it's beam.
Toothless
Toothless wanted to get to the island as fast as they could. He never wanted to leave Hiccup in the first place, but he had made him leave without him, and even Toothless knew that if he had stayed he would only have succeeded in being captured as well. No matter how many dragons or vikings he took down, he would have eventually been overpowered. Then he wouldn't be able to save Hiccup. So going against every part of his instincts, Toothless fled with the hope of getting help, coming back hopefully in time to save him. He honestly didn't know what was going to happen to Hiccup, but he didn't want to find out, and get there in time to save him.
He was very happy to have gotten the mother of dragons to come and help them, knowing she wouldn't let Hiccup get hurt and immediately come to his aid without hesitation, but not only that she had managed to get a lot more help than what Toothless had originally thought. Of course he gathered more dragons as well, ones without riders, not wanting to take any chances. There were many on the island, and the whole thing would end up futile if they were overpowered, so whatever numbers they could spare he brought. He and Aurora kept getting ahead of all the others, Valka and Cloudjumper the only ones able to keep up just a little, so Toothless had to keep flying back and urge the dragons to fly faster. The sky was already lighting up for dawn. They had spent too much time for his liking away from the island. Who knew what could have happened to Hiccup and Castiel by now?
They raced to the island, Toothless's heart thumping excitedly in his chest, while his stomach felt like it dropped several notches. All he knew was that they had to get there, and get there now. He wanted to be there for Hiccup already, but they could only go so fast. At last, though, the island finally came into view. Toothless sped up even more at the sight, wanting to get there quickly, hoping to see his rider was alright. But what he saw told him otherwise. He saw his rider alright, but he was down on the ground, his hands bound behind his back and was having trouble getting up. But what really infuriated Toothless, was the Skrill. The dragon had it's jaws aimed right at Hiccup, and Toothless could see electricity charging in it's jaws.
Oh hell no. With a mighty and furious roar, his pupils slitting thing, Toothless dove like a lightning strike. Charging up his own nova blast, and already the vikings down below could hear the faint charge in the air, all looking around around for the mysterious sound.
"Nightfury!" Someone called, just as Toothless reared up and shot his nova blast right at the Skrill's head, canceling it's own charge and it fell to the ground.
"Toothless!" Hiccup called out, relief flooding his face at the sight of the Nightfury. He had recognized that sound, knowing it anywhere.
The skrill was in a complete dazed, the blast having confused it, but it was quickly scrambling up. Roaring as it looked for it's new enemy. It didn't have to look long, for Toothless was on it again, tackling it out of nowhere and clung on with his claws, snarling and attacking it viciously. How dare it try to hurt Hiccup! He bit and clawed at the Skrill, not daring to let go, while the Skrill roared in both pain and anger as it tried prying Toothless off. Hiccup managed to get on his feet at this point, glancing up at the sky to see his mother on Cloudjumper and a lot of other Berk riders. His eyes widened in amazement as they all came down upon the vikings and their own dragons, attacking the crowd that had gathered around. Drago's vikings were in a confused frenzy, all quickly scrambling for their own dragons. Some had recovered from the surprise attack, however, beginning to fight off the Berk riders to defend themselves.
Castiel once again felt so helpless, restrained by her father and forced to watch on. She was forced to watch the horrible event, wincing and gasping when the Skrill lifted him up and then dropped him rather hard on the ground. She knew that had to have at least knocked the air out of him and it did because he layed there, unable to get up for a moment. And when he did try to, his hands tied behind his back kept him from doing so. The Skill looked down at the helpless boy and began charging its shot. The sight of this made Castiel struggle more, trying to get to him and possibly help him, but she just wasn't strong enough to get away from her father's grasp. Hiccup was going to die and there was nothing she would do about it.
But there was someone who could.
When the sound of a high pitched charge came to her ears, she was for an instant confused at what that possibly could be. She had never heard that sound before having not spent time with Aurora or Toothless in a fighting situation such as this where they needed to attack. But then, when someone shouted 'nightfury' she instantly knew what, or rather who, was making that sound. Hopes of Hiccup possibly being saved was restored in her and she was ready to help in any way she could. If she could just get away from her father. Though, with the Night Fury attacking his currently most powerful dragon, her father didn't seem too focused on restraining her, having bigger problems on his hands. She was easily able to quickly slip from his slackened grasp, and in a moment of clear thinking, looked to where, just a few feet away from where her father stood, the man had layed out all of Hiccup's things, probably to destroy after his death.
If her father had tried to stop her rush over and grab the items, he was too slow. Being smaller than the others had the advantage of speed, something she held in great measures. She skirted around the Vikings preparing themselves for the fight and rushing to their own dragons, making it straight for where Hiccup stood and at the same time, there was another sharp whistle sound of a Fury's charge and in, much to her relief, was Aurora, shooting a bright purple blast in the face of the Skrill before landing next to Castiel and Hiccup, guarding the two from any Viking's that dared to approach them. While in this momentary safety, Castiel was quick to, with Hiccup's knife, managed to cut the ropes free from his wrists and hand his sword and such over to him, smiling and giving a nod before hopping on the back of Aurora and then, glancing up to see Toothless still in battle with the Skrill. The sooner they got in the air, the better and with Toothless still fighting off the Skrill there was no way Hiccup was going to be able to get on Toothless's back. If Hiccup was with she and Aurora though, maybe Toothless would find it easier to fly off and they would have a better chance of escaping. Looking down at Hiccup, she grinned and held out her hand to him, "I think it's your turn to ride with me."
Toothless was showing no mercy to the Skrill, all of his fangs unsheathed from his gums as he roared and snarled, clawing at the Skrill in a frenzy. It wasn't till he heard that high pitched sound fill the air that he had suddenly released his hold on the Skrill, pushing off of it with his back legs and did a back flip in the air, landing on the ground just as Aurora's blast slammed right into the Skrill. Knocking it off it's feet once again. Toothless lifted up his head and gave the Skrill a look that seemed to say, "Serves you right", before looking over to see Aurora fly to where Hiccup and Castiel were. He saw that his rider was unbound and safe with the other Fury, so he focused back on the Skrill, who was already getting up.
And was madder than ever. Electricity shot from all around it as it roared in furry, glaring to where Aurora and the others were, opening it's jaws to shoot out another blast at them. But with a roar, Toothless leaped at it once again, biting down around it's neck as his claws clung to it's chest and back, using his back legs to claw at the Skrill's belly. The Skrill shrieked and tried to shake Toothless off, then spread it's wings and jumped off the ground, flapping it's wings hard so that they both went into the air. But still Toothless did not let go, weighing the other dragon down, but the Skrill continued to try to shake Toothless off. Then it charged it's body with electricity, electrocuting Toothless, who yelped and released the Skrill instantly.
Toothless began to fall, but he quickly righted himself and began to hover, shaking his head and flexing his jaw. The Skrill got a good hit, but Toothless was also of the Strike class, using electric blasts himself, so the lightning had little affect. The Skrill had shot another electric blast right at Toothless, but he flew right over it and opened his jaws, releasing his own blast, hitting the Skrill right in the chest. But he wasn't done. He shot out another, then another, then another. One hit the same area again, knocking the Skrill back and it's flight faltered for a moment, before another blast hit it's wing and roared in pain, before the last nova blast hit it's head.
Then it was down and out, falling from the sky and hit the ground with a loud thud, laying on it's back with wings outstretched. Toothless huffed and nodded his head down at it, as if to say, "That takes care of that", before he perked his ear frills and looked around. Now to find Hiccup. At this point, however, vikings were battling with each other on their dragons. Berk against Drago's lackies. So Toothless couldn't spot Hiccup or Aurora, but that didn't stop him. He flew through the crowd in search of them.
Hiccup
Hiccup, at the moment, was useless to do anything. His hands were still bound and it still hurt a bit to move. He was sure he had broken or at least sprained something from that fall, but he was lucky to not have crippled himself at least. Or...cripple himself further so to say. But he was saved as Castiel suddenly came to view, and as if the two were truly linked, here came Aurora to save the day. Helping Toothless knock the Skrill down with her own blast, then came down and landed near Hiccup and Castiel. With the Lightfury protecting them, Hiccup felt his hands go free as soon as Castiel cut the bindings, and handed him all of his belongings. What luck! He had been worried that Drago had already destroyed them, but the man seemed to have been too focused on getting rid of Hiccup himself before destroying anything else of his.
"Thanks." He said to Castiel as he equipped himself quickly with all his belongings. When he tried to look for Toothless, he spotted him and the Skrill in the air, but then they were lost by the mass amount of dragons and vikings that now covered the sky. He began to grow worried, but knew that Toothless could take care of himself, and they'll find each other again eventually.
He glanced up when he heard Castiel speak to him, and saw her reach out her hand to him, smiling. He glanced at her hand before looking back at her, then returned her smile and reached up, taking hold of it. "Well I can't always be the one giving kitty rides." He remarked before pulling himself up and hopped on behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist so that he could hang on. From the back he took the chance to examine the situation they were in, his eyes scanning the sky to see the vikings from Berk fighting with the Dragonians, dragons facing each other and helping their viking partners. Hiccup felt terrible for the dragons partnered with Drago's vikings, who merely forced them to fight and commanded them what to do, for they didn't have a choice. There was nothing to be done unless they were free.
Hiccup didn't plan on just being a bystander though, even if he wasn't on his own dragon. He drew out his sword, and while Castiel flew Aurora, he stood up carefully behind her. Sword drawn and legs slightly crouched with his other arm leveled out. Keeping his balance. As some Dragonians neared them, Hiccup swung his sword up and cut the saddle strap of one dragon, and the viking riding on it began to slide off. Confused and startled, the viking was struggling to stay on, grabbing his dragon to try to stay on. But without the saddle, the viking slipped right off and fell to the ground, the dragon continuing it's flight till it realized that it was without it's rider. Once that realization hit, it was quick to take off, leaving the battle it never wanted to be a part of in the first place.
Hiccup smiled as he watched the dragon go, then glanced down to see a group of Dragonians surrounding a Berk citizen. Narrowing his eyes he sheathed his sword, uttering to Castiel that he would return, before lowering his arms to his legs to clip the hooks of his hidden wings to his arms. Then he jumped off, lifting his arms as he did so and unfolded his gliding wings, heading right towards the group surrounding the Berk rider. He dodged and flew around the chaos of other dragons and vikings, lifting his torso and lowering his legs whenever he wanted to go up, catching air currents that were creating from other dragons, giving him an edge and to be able to fly further. Once he reached the nearest Dragonian he quickly unhooked the wings and let them recoil back into place, but didn't bother with the fin on his back since he had to do that one manually, instead quickly unsheathing his sword and cut the straps of the saddle that was on the dragon.
The viking immediately began to slide off, not knowing what had happened, and released a surprised cry of alarm as he went tumbling down towards the ground. The dragon was confused as well, but realizing it's rider was gone, it bailed on the others. Before it flew completely away, Hiccup leaped off of it and landed on the next dragon, but this time the vikings were aware of his presence. This viking drew out his hammer and took a swing at Hiccup, but he ducked and released the Hideous Zippleback gas in his sword towards the viking, then sparked it so that flames burst all on the dragon's back, of course not affecting the dragon at all. The viking, however, was set on fire and began to panic. Trying to put himself out and ended up falling right off the dragon in his panicked state, falling to the ground below.
"That's what you get for being so hairy and not shaving." Hiccup called after him, before he cut the saddle on the dragon so that it could be free, and was about to go to the last dragon but then stopped. The dragon's saddle was empty, and Hiccup grew confused, till he was suddenly pushed from behind.
"Whaaa!" He cried out, reaching out quickly and grabbed hold of the dragon's leg, hanging on tightly. He looked up to see the last viking standing on the dragon's back, grinning down at him.
He had somehow snuck around Hiccup and gotten on the dragon without his notice. Well that was just perfect. He tried to get a better grip, sheathing his sword so that he could hold on with both hands, but the viking had other ideas. He lifted his foot, and it was clear he planned on kicking Hiccup off the dragon, ending the mighty Dragon Master's life. But before the viking could even lower his foot, the dragon they were on roared and swung it's tail, knocking it right into the viking and sent him flying off, the viking screaming as he fell. The dragon shook it's head and lowered it's tail to Hiccup's legs, giving him the extra boost to lift him up onto it's back. Hiccup climbed on, still a bit shaken from the near fall, but smiled at the dragon and scratched it's neck.
"Thank you." He said, and the dragon shook it's head happily at the scratch and chirped. Hiccup patted it's shoulder. "Can you take me to my friend?" He asked, pointing towards where Castiel was. The dragon chirped once more and flew right over, while the other dragon flew to freedom.
When they neared Aurora and Castiel, Hiccup jumped off and landed right behind Castiel, waving at the dragon before it chirped once more and took off. Hiccup seated himself behind Aurora, looking around for any signs of Toothless, but couldn't find him. It was at that moment, his mother and Cloudjumper flew right up to the three, Cloudjumper hovering at a small distance so that his wings wouldn't get in Aurora's way. Valka stood right on his back, looking down to Hiccup and Castiel.
"I'm glad to see you two are safe." She spoke through the mask. "We must go now, quickly."
"No Mom, not yet." Hiccup said. He must have sounded crazy, but they just couldn't leave. "We need to rescue the rest of the dragons first! This could be our only shot."
"Hiccup, now is not the time!" His mother said. "It's too dangerous! You two are safe now, we must go while we can."
"Mother, we can't leave them like this." Hiccup pleaded. "Drago will use them, there's a mass number down there. His army will be far bigger than we can ever imagine. If we leave now, not only are we making the dragons suffer, but we're also giving Drago the upper edge he needs to make his army and take out Berk." He looked his mother through the sockets of her mask were her eyes rested behind them, the determination clear on his face. "Please."
Valka was silent for a moment. She knew that look. She had seen it on herself many times before. At last, she gave a firm nod. "Alright Son, but make it quick."
Hiccup nodded. "You got it. Buy us as much time as you can." He placed a hand on Castiel's shoulder, leaning in so that she could hear him without him needing to shout. "Take us back to the arena."
Valka would watch them go, before leading Cloudjumper the opposite way, keeping her eyes out for Drago. He was the one she would need to focus on the most and make sure to keep him away from her son and Castiel. She really hoped she made the right choice, letting Hiccup go instead of leaving while they could, but then again they would only be leading the battle to their own island. And if Drago really did have as many dragons Hiccup said he did, then Berk wouldn't stand a chance.
Castiel smiled and the moment Hiccup was settled onto Aurora's back, the dragoness took off into the air, zooming up and around dragons and Vikings alike. As they flew about, it wasn't long before Castiel felt Hiccup shift and Castiel looked over her shoulder at him to see him crouched there, his sword out and flaming. She looked at him in a confused manner, "Hiccup, what are you—" Then she saw him cut the straps of a nearby dragon's saddle, smiling more as she watched the Nadder fly off. So that's what he had been trying to do. She looked to him once again and was once again struck with confusion when he said he would be right back. Where did he think he could go? They were a good hundred feet up in the air.
Yet, much to her horror, that didn't seem to matter to Hiccup as he dived right off of Aurora's back, "Hiccup!" She shouted in alarm and Aurora too seemed to have the same reaction, diving momentarily after him until the two saw his armor sprout what could only be described as make shift wings. She relaxed and shook her head, "He's going to give me a heart attack soon, I can already tell." Suddenly, as she looked down, watching Hiccup, there was another weight on Aurora's back and Castiel turned her head to see one of Drago's Viking's had landed on Aurora's back, grinning at her in a way that said he was so sure he had them beat. But, Aurora had other plans, suddenly jerking into flight and going as fast she could, zooming around the crowd, faster than even Toothless was known for going (I figure females are faster and males stronger XD), leaving the Viking man trying to grip for something and Aurora flipped him in the air, then, grabbed him by his holster around his waist, jerked him forward with her claws so that the belt on the holster snapped and dropped the man to the ground.
Aurora snorted angrily in his direction and flew up again, Castiel reaching around to take the holster from her claws, finding nothing but a small dagger there. Well, that was better than nothing. She searched the crowd, trying to find sight of Hiccup and make sure he was okay. He was and he was doing well to rescue a few of the dragons that were flying about with Vikings on their backs. He was brave to do that, and really skilled. There was no way she would have the ability to do all he was doing. She wasn't strong enough. Wasn't brave enough. Wasn't good enough.
Or was she?
She paused, looking down at the dagger in her hand and thought over it for a split second. Hiccup had said everyone had a purpose. Maybe there was something she could do here. Maybe she could help rescue the dragons. Shakily, she tried to imitate the way Hiccup had crouched on the back of Aurora and after a few tries had managed to do just that, her eyes searching as she spoke to her dragon, "Alright Aurora, let's see if we can free some of your friends."
Again Castiel's speed was something she had much in her favor. The first time a dragon was close enough to her, she leaped from Aurora and gripped hold of the dragon. The Viking on the dragon was caught by surprise and by the tie he had reached for his weapon, Castiel was too quick to cut the strap of the saddle with her blade, causing the man to all off. She smiled to herself at her accomplishment, then, much more clumsily than Hiccup had been able to, hopped on the next dragon, doing the same while Aurora herself took to headbutting riders off of the back of their dragons. Soon, Castiel hopped back onto Aurora, searching for Hiccup in time to see him heading back over to her, getting on Aurora's back once again.
Not too later after that, his mother, one the back of her large dragon, said they had to leave, but Hiccup had other things in mind. Hiccup wanted to go and rescue all the dragons that her father still had control of. She blinked in surprise. There were so many dragons still left down there. Could they really rescue them all? But Hiccup was right. They had to try. Otherwise those dragons would sooner or later surely die and he would use the dragons against Berk. If he used all those dragons against Berk, then Berk would have no chance. They had to release those dragons or risk a huge attack that could get a lot of people hurt.
She looked back at Hiccup and nodded, "Alright. Let's go free the others." With that Aurora had turned and made a quick beeline straight for the arena. Everyone was so busy with the fight and her father busy ordering his forces about, that no one seemed to notice them slip inside. Good. The moment Aurora touched the ground, Castiel was on the move, grabbing the keys once again and going from cell to cell as fast as she could and opening them up while Hiccup would go and urge the dragons that were too out of it at first to escape. There were many dragons and many cells, but they moved quickly and by the time they were halfway done with opening the cells, the dragons needed no more urging. They had started to see the others escaping and now all stood impatiently at the cell doors, waiting for realease and the moment Castiel would unlock the cells, they would bound off, taking to the skies.
Castiel had thought someone would come. Surely someone would ty to stop them. But, they must have been too busy with the fight because not a person came. She was filled with relief and excitement to see the last dragon fly off and she turned to Hiccup, "We did it! They're all out!" She hopped onto Aurora and waited for him to do the same, "Now, let's get out of here for good." With that, they flew off, back into the fray.
Hiccup hung on tightly as Aurora made her way towards the arena, grateful that his mother allowed him to do this, needing to free these dragons. He would never be able to sleep at night, knowing that these creatures were locked up and abused, slowly dying in their own little cells. As Aurora flew through the sky, Hiccup heard a familiar roar, glancing up to see a familiar black shape fly towards them. It was Toothless. Hiccup smiled, relieved to see that his Bud was alright. Toothless flew over them, looking down at Hiccup and growled softly, shaking his head. Wondering what it was that the three of them were doing, and was honestly a little jealous that Hiccup was riding on the back of Aurora instead of him.
"Toothless, I need you to gather all the dragons and keep everyone away from the arena." Hiccup told his dragon. "Buy us time so that we can rescue all the others!"
Toothless blinked and released a rebellious chirp, shaking his head and giving a Hiccup a look that seemed to say, "Are you crazy?" He didn't like the idea, at least not the part about being separated from his rider even further, unable to protect him. He was done being apart from Hiccup, he had almost been killed by a Skrill when Toothless wasn't with him, so there was no way he was about to leave him again! He was clearly displeased, and Hiccup knew that, but he had to convince him to buy him and Aurora time so that they could rescue the other dragons.
"Please Toothless, just a little longer, then we're out of here." He promised him. "Ten minutes, and if we're not in the air by then, you can personally carry me away. You've seen those dragons Bud, they can't live like that. Aurora was one of them once."
Toothless seemed to consider, thinking it over. He was still reluctant, but eventually he snorted and nodded, veering away from Aurora and Castiel. He roared, and instantly the dragons stopped what they were doing and gathered towards him, Toothless stopping to hover in the air. He began talking to them in their dragon language, then commanded them to go, and all chaos was let loose. The dragons dove, attacking the vikings with more ferocity than before, freeing the dragons they were riding as well. Toothless even managed to command the captive dragons to attack once they were free, happy to listen to their rescuer, turning on the vikings that had commanded them. With all the chaos going on with the dragons, no one was able to keep track of the arena and guard those dragons, unaware of what was going on behind their backs.
As soon as they landed in the arena, Hiccup ran to the cells and rushed inside once they were opened, practically pushing the dragons out of their cells. It only took a bit of urging, but they were rising and rushing out, and soon the others were getting the message. They were free. They were waiting at the cell doors now, roaring eagerly, anxious to finally get out. As soon as the cell doors were open, they were out, flying quickly to the air and taking off. All Hiccup had to do was stand back and let them go, smiling as he watched them fly to their freedom. Once the dragons were free, he rushed over to Castiel who had mounted back on Aurora, taking her hand and pulled himself up behind her. Then they were in the air, flying with the freed dragons, and Hiccup lifted his hand to his mouth to whistle for Toothless.
Toothless perked his ear frills, turning his head towards the sound, and immediately came to his call. He flew quickly through the mass of dragons, heading towards the white shape of Aurora, letting out a roar to signal Hiccup he was coming. Hiccup smiled, seeing the fast approaching black shape, so stood on top of Aurora's back. He waited...waited... Then he jumped right off of Aurora just as Toothless flew right under her, landing on his saddle and settled down on it, clipping his leg into the stirrup and held on. He smiled and placed a hand on Toothless's neck in silent thanks, his dragon returning his smile as he looked at him with his adorable eyes, then Toothless veered to the side to make a sharp turn. Coming back towards Aurora and Castiel to fly right beside her. Hiccup smiled over at Castiel, before looking back down at Toothless.
"Alright Bud, lets go home." He said. Toothless nodded, then roared once again, calling the dragons off.
The dragons pulled back, carrying their riders to join Toothless and Aurora, fleeing quickly. Valka was among them, Cloudjumper rising to meet Hiccup and Castiel. She nodded her head towards them, before flying higher up since Cloudjumper was much larger, keeping his wings from messing up any of the other dragons' flight. They were heading home now, back to Berk, flying away from Drago's island as fast as they could. Hiccup glanced at Castiel, the victory of the moment lost for a moment, growing a little worried. Castiel had just gone against her father and her entire island. He was sure she no longer had a home now. What she had done was the bravest thing he had ever seen, and he admired her for it. He just hoped she'll be ok.
As soon as they were out of the arena, Hiccup was whistling for Toothless and the Night Fury made his way through the crowd of furious dragon to fly under Aurora. Once he was in position, Hiccup had jumped off of Aurora's back, landing swiftly onto the saddle of his dragon and clicking his metal leg into place. She knew they both had to be relieved to be able to fly together once again, just as she was relieved to be back with Aurora after spending that long night away from her. It was great being back in the air and heading to where both of them would be safe. Toothless made the call for the dragons to head away from the village and all followed, Aurora following along right beside him, speeding off away from the village full of angry Vikings.
Turning slightly on the back of Aurora, she looked back, a heavy feeling in her chest. It hadn't been much of a home. Everyone aside from her father had hated her and couldn't have cared less if she would have died or not. But, it was still her home. It was where she grew up. Where her mother had taken her about and showed her so much. Where she learned to shoot her first bow. Where she had spent almost every day of her life. And now it was impossible for her to ever go back. Now her father had most likely disowned her. Her home was no longer her home and her family no longer her family. Her jaw tense, she looked away from the village fading in the distance and looked forward again. Aurora seemed to sense the change in her rider's mood and tilted her head back to look at her, cooing softly in question and worry. In response, Castiel merely stroked her head, doing her best to smile, "I'll be fine." For once, her brave face that normally would fool no one (it sure didn't fool Hiccup just days before) was one that was true. It wasn't her trying to seem tougher than she was. It wasn't her trying to fool anyone. It was instead her working through and trying to overcome the turmoil inside herself and she was succeeding at it.
Looking over, she saw Hiccup looking back at her, a worried look on his face. Castiel took a moment and just shrugged, doing her best to give a smile as she had with the worried dragoness she was riding on, "I tried." She sighed and glanced back a moment in the direction of the village, though it was out of sight now, "I knew he wouldn't listen. It's my own fault for having false hope he might. It's just who he is." She looked back to him, "I'm sorry though. That he almost...well....you know." Almost killed him. She couldn't help but take a little responsibility for that since it was her father that had almost done so, "I wish I could have been more help when he did that."
Another thought came to her mind as she sat there and while it didn't trouble her extremely, it was still in the back of her mind. What was she going to do now? Obviously she wasn't going back to her village. Was she just going to do what she had been doing before running into Hiccup? Continuing to go around and explore with Aurora wouldn't be so bad she supposed. In fact, she enjoyed traveling with the Light Fury. But, if her father or any of the others caught up to them in the explorations, it would be bad news for both of them. Aurora would either be captured or killed and she herself...well she wasn't sure what would happen to her but whatever it was it wouldn't be good. Or, would she go to Berk, with them? There was safety in numbers after all. She and Aurora would be safe and Aurora would have friends to be with. But, at the same time, Castiel didn't know how that would work out. After all, she wasn't one of them. She wasn't from their village and would be an outcast just like she was in her home village, and that was only if they let her stay, which was questionable.
Again, Castiel did her best to smile and leaned over to pat Aurora's side, continuing what was she saying before, "But, it worked out in the end, thanks to Toothless and Aurora. They really are remarkable dragons."
Hiccup smiled himself and shrugged. "Ah well... Believe it or not it wasn't my closest call." He said, looking back up at her. "I've been through worse, and Toothless here has a habit of getting me out of those kind of situations. Right Bud?" He patted the Nightfury's neck, who purred and looked up at his rider, blinking once. "Besides, it wasn't your fault. You did all you could, trying to stop your father. Believe me, I know how it is, when your father won't listen to you." He added, his gaze drifting away and had a lost, sad look to them. Toothless looked up at him sadly, cooing softly to him. Hiccup smiled and patted Toothless's head.
"We can only do our best." Hiccup continued, looking back at Castiel. "I didn't think Drago would change his mind anyway. But we did good, the dragons are saved and we're all safe." He tilted his head at her. "You are welcome at Berk... But you don't have to worry about where to go right now." It was almost as if he read her mind. "Lets just think of today. We accomplished something big, so lets go home and celebrate." He turned back to look at the rest of the vikings. "Right everyone? Lets celebrate!"
The vikings cheered, the news obviously lightening up their mood and exciting them. Toothless let out his own excited roars, and the other dragons joined in, eager for a celebration as well. Hiccup knew that Drago would need a lot of time to gather his bearings and get his vikings and dragons in order, having lost many dragons today, so wouldn't come after Berk right away. They had some time to wind down and celebrate before a possible attack Drago might cause, and everyone was in a pretty gloomy mood, and they could use some fun. Heck, they deserved it after what he and Castiel been through. He hoped it would cheer Castiel up as well and get stuff off her mind.
"Stay at Berk just for a bit." He told Castiel, smiling at her. "Just to get your bearings and gather your thoughts, but don't worry about deciding what to do any time soon. You don't have to stay at Berk, but you don't need to leave any time soon either."
He was trying to offer a place to stay without pressuring her about it, wanting it to be her own choice and be comfortable with it. He knew that she had no where else to go, but he didn't want her taking off on her own, even if she had Aurora. It was still rather lonely... Though what did he know? His mother was only in the presence of dragons, and she had enjoyed the company and had a good life, so even if Castiel took off she might be happier that way. But he was hoping she'd stay....
Castiel laughed slightly when he said he had been in closer calls, "Wow, closer than almost getting fried by a Skrill? You must have a pretty eventful life if that was one of the lesser dangers you've been in." She looked back down at Aurora for a moment just to scratch behind her ears before she looked back at Hiccup, nodding when he said he hadn't thought Drago would change his mind. She hadn't thought he would either. It had been just a little hope inside of her that had brought her to think maybe she could. Now she saw though that her father would never change. She just had to accept that. She brought her thoughts away from her own father and looked to Hiccup when he spoke of his own father, noting the sad and withdrawn look at them at the mention of him. She hadn't thought of it before, but she had only seen Hiccup's mother. From the look in Hiccup's gaze for a moment, she was sure she knew now that his father was likely no longer with them. She could relate in some ways to that, having lost her own mother just a couple of years ago herself.
She looked up at the clouds for a moment, her mind barely drifting off to thoughts of her mother, when Hiccup spoke again, saying she was welcome on Berk. She blinked in surprise, looking over at him. It wasn't something she was used to, someone telling her she was welcome somewhere. She was so used to 'you're not supposed to be here' or 'no one wants you here, go away' that to hear someone say she was welcome anywhere...well, it was nice. It was a good feeling and it made her actually want to stay in Berk. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, staying for just a night or two until she could gather her thoughts and figure out what she was going to do next. It was better than leaving off rashly and something bad happen because she hadn't been prepared to be on her own out there.
So, at his request, she nodded, smiling once again when he announced to the Vikings they were going to celebrate their Victory in saving the dragons and such, to which the Vikings cheered, obviously ready for whatever this celebration would be like. These people were so different from the people where she was from. Her people were always so hard and cold, never smiling and celebrating about anything. These people were so open and warm. It was a bit overwhelming but in a good way. Even if she wasn't technically apart of this tribe, it was just as nice to sit back and watch their merriness. It was the second best thing to do compared to actually being that way herself.
She smiled and continued to ride along with them and as they grew closer ad closer to the small village of Berk she could tell. The air grew colder and colder, much in contrast to the warm island she was from. She would have to find some way of getting warmer clothes if she was staying there for a few days. Aurora on the other hand seemed to be enjoying the crisp and cool air, purring softly as they flew. And soon within just a few hours, the isle came into few, the Vikings quickly flying down to land there in the Village, those left behind quickly going to meet them and ask about what happened.
She shouldn't be this nervous. She had no idea why she was. After all, she was one of them now. She was a dragon rider. But at the same time, she was still the daughter of Drago and that would surely make some of them hate her right away. It would take a while before she gained their trust, if she ever did. Taking a deep breath, she had Aurora swoop down, landing with the others and sliding off of Aurora's back, stroking the dragoness's head as she glanced nervously about all the people, unsure about the situation she was now in.
It was good to finally be home. Hiccup and Toothless had been gone since they first set out exploring islands and mapping them, before they found Castiel and Aurora and went out to rescue the dragons on Drago's island, only to be captured and kept over night. Hiccup had only been gone pretty much for just one day, but he felt like he had been gone for weeks, so was very happy to be back. Toothless was as well, for when the island began drawing close he began moving his head and and down, releasing happy dragon gurgles while smiling his toothless smile. He began to fly faster towards the island, but Hiccup made no objections, just as eager to get there as his dragon. He smiled and gently patted Toothless's neck, soon reaching the island and the Nightfury landed, only to begin rolling around in the grass the moment Hiccup climbed off.
Hiccup shook his head as he watched Toothless roll around, then glanced up to see four familiar shapes in the sky flying towards him: Hookfang the Monstrous Nightmare with Snotlout, Meatlug the Gronkle with Fishlegs, Barf and Belch the Zippleback with Tuffnut and Ruffnut, and finally Stormfly the Deadly Nadder with Astrid. All of them came flying in the moment they saw the group return, and Hiccup stood there as he waited for them to land, knowing that they would want to know what had happened back on the island. Toothless had took notice too, rolling onto his belly with his ear frills perked, looking up at the dragons. As they got closer and closer, Toothless grew excited and jumped onto his feet, smiling wide as he ran around Hiccup. Stopping now and then to watch the dragons approach with his backside wiggling with excitement, before he would start running circles around Hiccup again, nearly knocking him over. Hiccup laughed lightly, doing his best to stay on his feet while Toothless displayed his joy and excitement, apparently all earlier worries now completely gone from the Night Fury.
Stormfly had landed first, Astrid sliding off of the Nadder's back to storm over to Hiccup, looking ticked. Hiccup's smile faded. Uh oh. He began taking steps back, raising his arms as if to defend himself. "Hello Astrid." He began to greet her nervously. "I know you probably want some explanations-Ow!"
Astrid had punched him hard in the arm, glaring at him with those deadly eyes of her's. "You can never stay out of trouble, can you?" She snapped. "When you left, it was just, 'Oh I'm off to go find more islands and make maps.'" She mocked, imitating his voice. "But the next thing we hear is that you get captured by Drago. Drago! Of all people to get mixed with, you had to go and mess with Drago. What were you thinking Hiccup?!"
Hiccup was rubbing the sore on his arm. "It's good to see you too, Astrid." He continued to joke with her, but that only earned him another punch in the arm. "Owe! Alright, I'm sorry! You see there was this girl-"
"A girl you say?" Snotlout intruded upon the conversation, a sly grin on his face, or at least what he believed it to be 'sly'. "I must meet this damsel in distress."
"Uh, I didn't really say she was in distress..." Inquired Hiccup. "We actually just got back-"
"I can't believe we missed all the action!" Again, Hiccup was interrupted, but this time by Tuffnut. "You should have let us gone with you! I would have taken Drago's face and, just, bashed it in. With my fist." He said with a grin, lifting a hand as he curled his fingers into a fist.
Toothless was oblivious to all this, being more interested in his dragon friends, and all of them were greeting each other by moving their heads up and down. Hiccup, meanwhile, was trying to tell his story, but Ruffnut had made some comment to her twin about his face being more ugly(or was it something about his fist?) and the two had began to argue. Snotlout continued making remarks about the 'damsel', and Astrid was rolling her eyes at him till he finally said something that made her punch him in the face, causing him to fall to the ground. Fishlegs was trying to discuss to Hiccup about...something. Hiccup couldn't quite understand with all the chaos going around him, trying to speak up but his voice kept getting drowned out. Sometimes things never change.
Toothless wanted to introduce his friends to his new friend, Aurora. He had ran around the group of riders and bounded over excitedly to Aurora, stopping before her to greet her by moving his head up and down, then turned his head to face his friends. The dragons had followed him, ignoring their riders as well, happy to greet the new comers. They stopped at a small distance so that they wouldn't crowd Aurora and her rider, while Toothless cooed and growled softly between the dragons, as if introducing them to Aurora. The dragons sniffed at Castiel curiously as well, which Toothless seemed happy about, no longer acting like he did before when he first met her.
"Hey, who's that?" Tuffnut suddenly asked while in mid wrestle with his sister, looking over to their dragons and Aurora and Castiel.
"No way! Th-there's a N-N-N-N-" Fishlegs began to say, too shocked to spit out the word, his finger pointing towards Aurora.
"Nightfury." Hiccup finished for him, smiling at them all. "Although I'm thinking of giving her a new name, because of her color. She's a Lightfury, offspring of color and light." He added, since Nightfuries were considered to be the offspring of lightning and death. "Come on, let me introduce you to her rider as well. Castiel."
Astrid was too dumbfounded to say anything, so she simply followed Hiccup as he lead them all over to Castiel, flinching slightly from the walk. His ribs still hurt, but he didn't let anyone notice. When he finally reached Castiel, he smiled reassuringly at her. "Castiel, let me introduce you to my friends." He turned his body slightly, gesturing to each one as he named them. "This is Astrid, her dragon is the Deadly Nadder, whose name is Stormfly. This is Snotlout, owner of the Monstrous Nightmare named Hookfang. Fishlegs, his dragon Meatlug the Gronkle. Then there's Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and I'm pretty sure you can guess which dragon is there's, which is Barf and Belch."
Snotlout immediately stepped forward. "The pleasure is all mine." He said, smiling 'charmingly' at her as he took her hand in his. "You know I think you and your dragon match each other perfectly. You're just so full of many...colors." He said, thinking he was rather brilliant for the phrase, when it honestly made no sense whatsoever. Everyone else, however, took a clear step back, for all were aware of the Lightfury standing so close to her rider.
It wasn't much longer after they landed there on the island that a few people landed on their own dragons, going over to Hiccup. She could assume, form the way they crowded around him, that these people must have been some sort of friends of his. He attempted to talk to them, but they seemed to go off in their own directions of talking. Yet, Hiccup seemed to not mind. He almost seemed used to all that was going on. Was it always this chaotic with all the people here? She couldn't help the small smile that came to her face at the sight of all them. While at the same time it was a little crazy, there was a fondness and closeness between all of them that she enjoyed seeing. Though, soon her attention was drawn from the people and to the dragons that were approaching she and Aurora, sniffing at her in a curious way. Aurora was quick to greet Toothless and the other dragons happily as well, glad to meet these new friends. Castiel on the other hand was tense at first, a habit of her old thoughts, though, quickly calmed and reached a hand out to them, letting them sniff her some more before she went to stroke them and pet them.
"Hey, who's that?"
Hearing someone say this, she looked up from the dragons, blue eyes wide to see all of the teens staring at her and her dragon before walking over to them, Hiccup introducing her to the people and their dragons. For a moment she wasn't quite sure what to say and when she finally did have it in her head to at least say hello, she didn't get a chance to before one of his friend approached her, taking her hand. This made her flinch back slightly, unused to someone being so forward for her. Seeing her rider's discomfort, as well as not enjoying an unknown human so close to herself, Aurora was quick to react, lashing her tail out and smacking it against Snotlout, knocking him back away from her rider. Snorting in his direction she huffed and wrapped herself around her rider once more, Castiel, sighing at this. So much for first impressions.
Looking to them, she paused, stroking Aurora on the head to calm the tense dragon as well, she finally spoke, an unsure look on her face, "Um......hi?"
She was once again about to say something else when another dragon came flying in, landing a little ways away, it's rider sliding off and walking over, the face very familiar to Castiel. Eret strutted over, grinning at the others, "Well there you all are. Looks like the chief got back safe and sound. I told you all not to worry--" He stopped midsentance though at the sight of Castiel standing there, obviously just as confused to see her there as she was to see him here, "Castiel?"
Castiel looked at him in an unsure fashion, "Eret. What are you doing here?"
"I should say the same about you." He said gesturing to her and then to her dragon, "Never thought you of all people would be here among riders. I always thought you were scared to death of them."
"Well....I-I was." She said, glancing over at Hiccup and it seemed that glance was enough for Eret to understand how this happened.
"Ah, I see. The great dragon master was able to convince you. I guess that doesn't surprise me. After all, he was able to convince me." He crossed his arms.
"I was wondering where you went. My father would never tell me what happened to you. I guess this is where you've been?"
"That's right. I've been learning quite a bit about dragons. You'd be surprised all the lies were were told about their kind growing up." He moved to stand beside Astrid, "So, are you staying here in Berk?"
"For now. I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do just yet, but Aurora and I will probably just stay here until I do figure that out."
There was a slight pause in the speaking and when that happened, Ruffnut spoke up, "Sooo, you two know each other?"
"Of course they know each other, idiot!" Tuffnut chimed in, starting another wrestling match between the two of them.
Which the twins dealt with one another Fishlegs spoke, "How do you two know each other?"
At that question, things got a little awkward, Castiel rubbing the back of her neck nervously while Eret was resistant to speak. After a moment of silence though, Castiel spoke, her voice hesitant, "Well, you see...in our village, Eret's father was considered one of the greatest warriors, and since my father chief, our parents had arranged not too long after I was born....that....well....Eret and I would be married." She continued quickly, holding her hands up, "Not that either of us wanted that. Eret and I both agreed when we were younger that this wasn't something we wanted and we had to find a way to get out of it."
"Which, with me leaving the village, that was our way out of it." Eret said with a nod, "With both of us not being a part of that village anymore, the arrangement is broken." Not that the news of that was a worry to either of them. Castiel herself had thought of Eret as an annoying older brother figure, rather than a fiance anyway. She had no feelings for him and he had no feelings for her. That was so far one of the only good things to come out of all of this.
No one was surprise except for Snotlout himself when he was suddenly smacked by Aurora's tail and sent flying, yelling as he went till he hit the ground with a thud, all eyes following him. Astrid shook her head and rolled her eyes before looking back at Castiel, seeming to size her up. She wondered how a girl like her ended up with a Nightfury, or Lightfury as Hiccup had called it, when the girl seemed very intimidated by the dragons around them. Astrid wasn't very impressed, but she was just upset that she didn't go to help Hiccup and this girl did, when she didn't really seem capable of rescuing. Even though she and Hiccup weren't together anymore(due to reasons she didn't wish to discuss) they were still very good friends. Well then again, she was the one who was kidnapped as well, so there was nothing they could do about that. She lightened up a bit, about to step in and greet her, when a familiar dragon suddenly came into sight.
She watched as her boyfriend came strolling over after getting off his dragon once it landed, but the most shocking thing happened: He recognized Castiel. Hiccup seemed shocked as well, watching the two who had suddenly become very awkward around each other. Toothless seemed to sense this, tilting his head at them both, not really understanding. Then, the confession of there being a rearranged marriage, Astrid tensed. Eyeing Castiel. They were supposed to be married? Well it had been withdrawn now, but Astrid still wasn't very happy, a deep frown on her face.
"You had an arranged marriage?" Hiccup asked, just as surprised. "I've never heard of that before..." Or at least not with Berk. You married who you loved, not with someone you didn't even know simply because they were better suited for you. He had no doubt though that the 'arranged marriage' was now upheld due to the fact Eret was no longer with Drago, and now Castiel had betrayed her father.
Astrid moved closer to Eret. "Well, welcome to the island." She said, though not as enthusiastically as she had planned. "I hope you feel at home here while you're staying."
"You guys should tell us all about your victory on the island!" Snotlout spoke up, having recovered from the Lightfury's attack and stood by his dragon, dusting off grass off of him.
Hiccup smiled. "We'll be happy to tell you, we're actually going to have a celebration. We'll tell you tonight."
His friends cheered, Snotlout nudging Fishleg's arm and Ruffnut and Tuffnut pushing each other as they all went off to go help set up the celebration. Astrid said her goodbye to Hiccup and Castiel before leaving with Eret to help out, and the dragons followed. Hiccup looked at Castiel and smiled. "Come on, I'll show you around before the celebration."
And he did. He showed her the dragons stables and where they're fed, and showed her the Arena where they used to hold dragon fights but was now used for training. He showed her all around Berk, Toothless coming along and show Aurora things as well. Then they began to help out with the celebration, going to the mess hall and set up decorations and making food. Once the sun set the celebration had begun. The Mess Hall was abrupt with noise and merriment, some vikings arm wrestling each other and banging mugs of ale together, the mass room filled with booming laughter ad the like. At the moment, Astrid and everyone crowded around Hiccup and Castiel to hear about their story on Drago's island. Hiccup would tell some parts of it and let Castiel fill in other parts that she might know more than he did.
Toothless was all over the place, enjoying the party very much and hung out with the other dragons, but mainly lingered around Aurora. Playing with her and shared some fish. After the story, Snotlout and all of them commented and said thing like what they would have done if they had been there. Hiccup stood back and smiled as he listened to his friends, a hand holding his side that he had landed on when he was dropped by the Skrill. It was still bothering him, and he was feeling sore. His mother wasn't there at the moment, keeping watch on the island in case Drago decided to come right after them and attack the island.
Drago already knew what he was going to do with this troublesome dragon rider that had continued to mess up his plan since the day he had come across him. This boy would die the way his foolish father had: at the claws of the creatures he seemed to care about so much. Many of his dragons were starved anyhow, so surely one of them could make a meal out of the scrawny dragon rider. He would enjoy watching that boy get torn into pieces and he was going to make sure his rebellious daughter watched that scene as well. She would soon see what happens to those who cross him and surely she wouldn't try anything so ridiculous against what this village stood for again. This was going to put her in her place and later on in life he would thank him for not letting her fall down the path of the weak like those in that Berk had taken.
