The Girl with the Changewing Cloak (RTTE Fanfic)

Thirteen

Diving, we reached the entrance of the arena at great speed. Juping off, I looked up to find...

What?

Freya and Gustav were hugging, with Fanghook roaring on the side. Noticing me, Freya shook her head slightly, her brown eyes filled with concern. Gustav didn't seem to notice me flying in and Fanghook was distressed, running in short circles on the side.

Silently, I stepped forwards.

Freya's gaze snapped to mine and she shook her head more urgetly. Frowning, I stopped. From the corner of my eye I saw Toothless backing away, his eyes narrower than normal.

What the hell was going on?

Slowly, Freya mouthed something.

Explain later.

Nodding, I followed Toothless out, placing a hand on his snout. The moment I did, his pupils dialated, returning to the friendly ones I knew. We had just walked out of the arena when I bumped into Astrid.

"Hiccup, we need to talk." I looked up, completely forgetting what just happened.

"About?"

"Our plan to get the Dragon Eye from Ryker," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. I guess it kinda was.

"Right. Ideas?"

"We have no information on their strength," she walked beside me, matching my stride, "So we have to maintain the element of surprise, or find out more information." Raising an eyebrow, I questioned what she was implying.

"A stealth mission?"

"Yup. And we know exactly who to send in. It'll be a good trust test."

Sighing, I nodded.

Astrid put a hand on her hip. "But we should practise for the inevitable battle."

I grinned. "You're on!"

*

I swept low with Inferno, turning the flames on. Astrid leapt back. She lunged with her axe which I blocked with my sword, jumping up and pressing forwards. Leaning away from the heat, Astrid kicked at my leg. I rolled to the side, pulling out her leg as she ran towards me. We both leapt up, standing defensively once more.

She feined a swipe which I blocked, before knocking me down with her handle. Grinning, she walked towards me. I held my breath, hoping my new invention would work. I slid off the end of the capsule, a smirk sliding onto my face. She frowned, sniffing, her eyes widening. With a slash of Inferno, I lit the hideous zippleback gas and we both jumped back.

"Guess we should call it a draw?" I teased, closing the gas section. Her lips thinned as she lunged at me. I blocked, left, up, right - no down! She took out my legs, not waiting to put her axe to my throat.

"Not in the slightest." She held out a hand to help my up. Smiling, I took it.

"Call it a day?"

"Sure. But when did you get the zippleback upgrade?" she asked as we walked to her hut.

"Got the idea from Viggo actually. Quite simple, but very functional," I explained, looking up at the stars.

I watched as a shining dragon flew overhead, its elongated body diving slightly. Astrid was looking at me. Keeping Astrid distracated, I kept my gaze from as she Heather jumped down behind us. She crept forwards, approaching Astrid,

"Boo!"

"AH!" Astrid screeched, spinning and pulling a dagger from her boot. When her gaze landed on Heather's she relaxed, giving her a friendly punch.

"Got ya," Heather teased. I grinned, but dropped to a poker face when Astrid glanced at me. I am definitely innocent. One hundred percent. Yep. She shook her head.

"To what do we owe the pleasure," Astrid asked Heather, stroking Windshear. Toothless and Stormfly ran up, nuzzling her affectionately.

"No good news, I'm afraid. It's Beserker Island. When I left before the dragon race, Dagur had everyhing under conroll. When I returned, I found that we were attacked by some sort of Dragon Hunter ship - it snuck by completely unnoticed by our patrols! We wanted to warn you that these ships have incredible stealth."

"Not that I'm complaining, but why didn't you send a terror-mail?" I asked. She sighed.

"We're going to start up a Beserker Defense Group - a little like the A Team here on Berk. We wanted to offer that to anyone here, but we'd have to assess them first," she explained, and I nodded.

"You can start tomorrow. I'll see you later girls, I'm going to get some sleep." Astrid waved as I hopped onto Toothless. I'm sure the would like a girl night. Besides, it was late and I was tired.

When we reached our hut, I slipped off. We crept in, just in case Dad was asleep, before we settled ourselves in for the night. As I was dropping off, I rememberd what happened in the arena.

How did those two know each other?

*

Waking in the morning I was starving. Not just for food, but for answers. Heather's arrival in the evening had distracted me, but now I was really curious. I walked quickly towards the arena, hoping Freya hadn't left yet.

Confused at my eagerness, Toothless followed, nuzzling my side ocassionally. I petted him, getting on and flying towards the arena. Bright morning light reflected off of Toothless' scales. Smiling, I relaxed, enjoying the gentle breeze. That was until we reached the arena, cutting the flight short.

Grumbling slightly, Toothless landed. He sniffed upwards, growling at Freya's scent. I'd forgotten that they really didn't get along.

"Come on, bud, we need answers," I said quietly. We walked into the arena, our eyes scanning the space. There was a small fur on one side of the wall, with Freya leaning up against it. Her calculating eyes landed on mine as she sighed.

"Questions, I assume?"

I nodded asToothless pushed past me in the entrance. She stiffened.

"Don't worry, he won't hurt you," I stated. She didn't relax whatsoever.

"Both times I came this close to it, it attacked me."

I groaned, running a hand through my hair. "With reason."

She scowled, but nodded.

"So... why were you supporting Gustav?" I asked.

"It's not my story to tell, but I have to."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Fanghook is dying."

***

No! Poor Fanghook!

Should Freya have told Hiccup?

How well do Freya and Gustav know each other?

Thank you all of you who read my story, it's really touching that you take time in your busy lives to read this. Thank you!

I'm not sure what's going on with Wattpad, but my replies to some of the comments aren't saving. Even if I can't reply, I do read them all and every single one makes me smile.