Hiccup & Toothless' Fate

Chapter 2 - Freedom and Grief

Toothless' reply was swimming over to the edge of the lake and dumping me off his back so he could shake off most of the water. Luckily I moved out of the way just in time before water went flying everywhere.

Grinning at my dragon's antics, I took off my flying gear and sheepskin vest, laying them out in the sun to dry. I wrung out my tunic and emptied most of the water out of my boots before walking around barefoot collecting sticks for the fire. Placing them in a pile, I turned to my basket of belongings. Right at the very bottom in a wooden box, wrapped in cloth, was some yak meat I had stolen from the pantry at home before I left.

Home.

No. It wasn't home anymore. It was Berk, nothing else. Home was wherever Toothless was. And right now, he was with me on this island, lighting the fire and nuzzling my hands for the meat that was in my hands.

Smiling, I drew my extra dagger (my other one had been lost in the Cove's lake) and cut him the choice part of the meat. His teeth appeared and guzzled it down immediately, looking at me for more.

I shrugged. "Sorry bud, don't have anymore. We need to hunt for our next meal." Toothless looked at me then started making weird noises. I'd seen it before. "And-no-don't-give-me-any-of-yours-I-have-my-own!" I cried, predicting what Toothless was going to do before he did it.

Toothless looked at me with a wounded expression, gulping all the food down. I gestured to my small piece of meat on a stick, roasting over the fire. "See?" I said.

Toothless just rolled his eyes and walked away, probably to catch more food. Soon it was dark and my meat had finished cooking and I pulled it off the stick, wincing as the hot meat burnt my fingers. Toothless came back precisely at that moment, his face content and his stomach full. Eating my dinner quickly, I pulled on my now-dry vest and boots and grabbed a blanket from my basket. Lying down next to the fire, I pulled my blanket over myself, shivering. It wasn't as cold as Berk, but once the sun went down, it was near freezing.

Toothless must of seen me shiver, because next thing I knew, he was lying down, curled around me protectively, a wing over me like another blanket.

"Thanks bud." I murmured, just before he and I fell into a deep sleep, exhausted from our flight and the storm.

xXx

(Astrid's POV)

I stared ahead, into the darkness of my room.

We had the funeral for Hiccup today, the day after he died. Since there was no body, we couldn't do the traditional Viking funeral, so we burnt some of his belongings - some drawings (I was embarrassed to see that he had done some amazingly detailed sketches of me - don't tell anyone I kept one), a shirt, his special whet stone from when he worked in the forge with Gobber and others - in a small skiff. The funeral was brief, with Stoick saying a few words - pitifully few, mind you - then inviting anyone to stand up and say anything. When no-one volunteered apart from Gobber (who said that Hiccup was his best apprentice), I had to say something. Walking up and joining Stoick on the platform, I told everyone what a good dragon fighter he was at training. Doing that, I surprised the gang (Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Snotlout), most of the village and myself. Nearly everyone had seen me get angry at Hiccup when he was chosen to kill the Monstrous Nightmare so nearly everyone thought I hated him.

Which was nearly true.

Ever since I was ten years old and Hiccup repaired my axe for me, I had realised what a good person he was - trustworthy, intelligent, selfless and a hard worker were among words to describe him. It was only ever since he started beating me in Dragon Training in the recent month that I started to like him less and less. My parents were strict, always telling me how to behave and what my ancestors would of done, and they expected me to win Dragon Training. When Hiccup came along and started to turn out better then I was, I feared my parents judgment and worked harder. He still beat me and I still could not deny that I liked Hiccup as a friend.

I angrily brushed a tear from my eye.

No, I hated Hiccup. I mean, who wanted to be friends with the worst viking Berk had ever seen?

After the funeral, Gobber came up to me.

"Since he's gone," he said, "you get to kill the Nightmare."

I guess I was supposed to feel joy at that, but all I felt was the guilt that Hiccup died and I couldn't save him. Killing the Nightmare was Hiccup's job, not mine. But trying not to seem weak, I nodded, not trusting myself to speak, wondering when I would get the chance to avenge Hiccup and kill one of the dragons.

I shouldn't of worried. During the funeral, all the dragons we were training with escaped, leaving the cages empty, the metal doors melted off the hinges and the ground scorched.

I sighed into the night. I blamed myself for Hiccup's death, and I had sworn to kill that Night Fury that took him away from Berk and me.

I knew it was a Night Fury that killed Hiccup because Gobber, the gang, Stoick and I scavenged around the cove, finding Night Fury scales everywhere. It obviously had been there for a while. How we didn't notice it there before beats me. Also, why didn't the Night Fury kill me as well and not just Hiccup? Maybe it was satisfied with just one.

My last thought before I dropped off into an uneasy sleep was I failed you Hiccup.

A/N Wow! 1690 words in this chapter! Nope, scratch that, 1700 words! Ah, forget it, I could be going on forever. Just wondering if anyone likes this book and if there was anything I could improve on? I'm always looking for feedback (good or bad) and would really like it if you told me what you thought. 

So thanks and all that for reading my book. I really appreciate it. 

Catch ya later!

- astroskypilot out -