Don't leave me

Chapter 23: Razor Claw

Hiccup's POV

I woke up with a yawn as I rolled over to my side to find both Astrid and Toothless asleep, much to my surprise. I stretched my arms before placing a soft kiss on Astrid's cheek and rolling out of bed to get dressed and go downstairs.

As I was busy calmly eating my breakfast, Astrid made her way down the stairs, looking as gorgeous as ever.

"Another day off?" She asked as she grabbed a bowl of porridge.

I nodded as I finished my breakfast. "Yup, and I thought we could use this day as an exploration day"

"Sounds good" Astrid mumbled as she sat down at the table. "We're going with the rest of the gang, right?"

"Yup, and we're supposed to meet up at the Academy in ten minutes, so you better hurry!"

***

"Are we there yet?" Snotlout groaned as he struggled to keep his eyes open where he sat on Hookfang, who looked just as tired as his rider.

"For the love of Thor, Snotlout, you've asked that question 50 times the last 3 hours, no, we are NOT there yet!" I snapped at Snotlout, which woke everyone around us up.

"Uh, Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What now?"

Fishlegs pointed down, and as my eyes reached where he was pointing, all my anger turned to slight embarrassment. "Oh, I suppose we're here then"

We all landed on a cliff on the island, taking our surroundings in before I packed up my map and spread it on the ground. My friends gathered around me and the map as our dragons laid down to rest after the long flight.

"Alright, gang, any name suggestions?" I asked the people around me.

"Perhaps we should see if there are any dragons here first and then name the island?" Fishlegs suggested. Agreeing mumbles emerged from the rest of the gang.

"Then that's what we'll do" I smiled as I sketched on the island before packing the map back down.

The rest of that afternoon was spent exploring the island. We searched under every rock, in every bush and by every stream of water, but there was no sign of any dragons anywhere.

"Nothing" I let out a deep sigh as Astrid came up beside me and rubbed my back.

A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "Maybe next time, babe"

We met back up where the dragons were napping and were about to leave when a loud roar pierced through our ears.

"That wasn't any of you, was it?" I asked my fellow dragon riders, who all shook their heads in response.

Suddenly, Toothless eyes shot open as he jumped protectively in front of me, growling loudly as he encouraged the other dragons to do the same.

"Hey, what's happening?" Tuffnut asked as he tried to push past Barf and Belch, but to no avail.

That's when we saw it. It rose up from the canyon beneath. Scales the color of night, talons as long as an average sized child, eyes yellow as the sun and the wingspan of a timberjack.

The dragon let out a mighty roar, allowing us a look at its razor sharp talons as they sliced through the side of the mountain. And as the dragon neared us, steam pouring out of its mouth, at least 16 like it emerged from the canyon.

Needless to say, we got out of there as fast as we possibly could seeing as they had no intention of listening to their Alpha.

"So, what should we call it?" Ruffnut asked when we were a safe distance away from the new dragons.

"You're seriously thinking about that right now, not even five minutes after those dragons almost tore us to pieces?" Astrid hissed, somehow becoming even scarier than the new dragons.

"I think we should call them Razor Claws" Tuffnut pointed out.

"You know what, Tuff, that's not a bad name" I admitted, earning an ice cold glare from Astrid.

"Then Razor Claw it is!" Fishlegs exclaimed as he pulled up a notebook and wrote down the new name.

When we arrived back home on Berk, the sky had already turned dark. Most of the villagers were probably busy eating dinner or putting their children to sleep. As we flew over the village, we all said our goodbyes before splitting up and going our separate ways.

I lost track of Astrid as I set my sights on the Meade Hall, where I knew I had some work waiting for me before I could go home and relax.

The Meade Hall was mostly empty when I entered, as expected, most of the villagers were at home. My gaze immediately traveled up to the Chief's table where a stack of papers waited for me. I let out a groan as I exchanged a look with Toothless.

"It seems we're going to be here for quite some time, bud" I sighed as I patted the night fury on its head.

We were indeed there for quite some time, and just as I was about to fall asleep on a freshly signed parchment, a loud scream pierced through my ears.

"Stormfly!"

My blood ran cold as both Toothless and I shot up from our seats, running at top speed towards the doors of the Meade Hall. But as we threw open the doors of the Meade Hall and shot outside, I caught a glimpse of something laying face down in the middle of the town square.

"Please don't let it be her, please don't let it be her" I prayed silently as I climbed on top of Toothless and he jumped effortlessly down to the bottom of the stone steps. I ran over to the unmoving figure in the middle of town square as a familiar 'screech!' pierced through my ears.

Beside the figure landed the one dragon I did not want to see beside an unmoving figure in the middle of town square, Astrid's Deadly Nadder, Stormfly.

As I fell down on my knees beside the figure, my heart sank and my throat closed in on itself. In front of me laid the one person I prayed I would never have to see unmoving on the ground, the love of my life, Astrid Hofferson.