The Great Beyond

Chapter 14: Team Astrid (Reign)

"No, we understand," I interjected, sighing. "I'm just not sure how useful a skill that is."

"That's not all. You wanna see him get my slippers?" Tuffnut treated that like it would somehow make this situation redeemable.

"These dragons are not our pets, Tuffnut," Astrid argued. "They're an integral part of our security system." Despite Astrid's blunt logic, Tuff completely tuned her out and kept going on the tricks he'd taught the Night Terror.

"He can solve math problems by stomping his foot, as long as the answer is three." Thankfully, Hiccup decided to intervene at that moment, shutting down any more of this nonsense.

"She has a point, Tuffnut." Hiccup directed his attention toward the small chicken in front of Tuffnut, happily preening herself and fluffing her feathers every now and then. At first, I'd been opposed to the idea of letting Tuffnut keep the chicken around, but she'd proved to be pretty quiet and relatively out of the way, and the dragons had learned not to try and eat her, so it wasn't that big of an issue anymore. "And you have a pet already."

Tuff followed his gaze, but just ended up shrugging at the sight of his beloved companion, completely unimpressed.

"Eh," he scoffed.

That wasn't good enough for me. There were factors Tuff was too selfish to consider, factors far more dangerous than merely missing an incoming fleet of predatory dragons.

"Dagur could park a whole fleet right offshore and we wouldn't even know they were there because the Night Terrors aren't on their perches," I snapped, fear driving the images in my mind. We couldn't take risk when it came to my brother; though he could be a bumbling idiot at times, he had a way of forming alliances and persuading people to join him. That was the terrifying part.

"Lighten up, Reign." I glared at Snotlout as he approached me. "Dagur doesn't even know where Dragon's Edge is."

"Not yet," Astrid cut in, her frustration beginning to boil over. "But if you guys don't take this seriously, he will soon enough."

"I say bring it on!" Snotlout challenged. "Let him bring that weak sauce in here. Hookfang and I will pummel his deranged butt."

As I shook my head, the screech of a dragon drew my attention away from the lunacy I'd been smashed between. A green blur was frantically zig-zagging right for us, threatening to make impact if we didn't react in time. I threw my hands over my head and managed to hit the deck before I would've gotten hit, as did many of my friends, but Fishlegs, unfortunately, didn't seem to get the memo in time, causing the little Terrible Terror to smack him right in the face. Frightened by the sudden hit, he collapsed to the ground, struggling and flailing in an attempt to pick himself back up. Once he finally managed to pry the dragon off his face, he reached down and pulled the little note off. The longer he read, the more his pleasant expression dropped, causing my stomach to twist.

"What is it?" Hiccup asked warily. Fishlegs hesitated to answer, refusing to lift his eyes from the parchment when he finally did.

"It's Berk," he whispered. "And it's not good."

I stiffened, already imbibed with an inkling of what happened; I didn't want it to be the case, but at this rate, it was all too possible. Hiccup's lips were stretched into a thin, hard line, his thoughts evidently resembling mine. Words seemed to be caught in his throat, so I had to be the one to speak up. Gently, as to not upset him, I made my way over to his side and set an arm around his waist before I looked to the rest of the group.