A Siren's Song - A Hiccup Love Story (HTTYD/RTTE)

13

Aldru hesitated, not sure how to speak for a moment. She then wondered aloud, "how did my mother get this?"

But this question would not be answered for a long time. "Do you think..it's a song wing lense?" Hiccup asked hopefully.

Aldru smiled brightly as she exclaimed, "it's got to be!" She then held it close to her chest and took a deep breath. "I came here for answers, and I just got all of them."

Hiccup looked at her and smiled a soft grin. In the light of the torch, she looked as beautiful as ever. The red light danced in her eyes and played on her skin. Holding the lense to her heart, Aldru looked as if she'd made peace with the world. "Aldru, this is amazing," he expressed.

With the lense in one hand, Aldru picked up the letter in her other. She rolled it up and tucked them both into her side pouch. After a moment of silence, Hiccup took her by the hand. Her fingers were dry and cold, but still soft. And when she met his eyes with her own, he had to force himself to stay cool. He smiled and suggested, "come on, let's go tell the others."

With an excited grin, Aldru bolted toward the cave entrance, dragging Hiccup along behind her. She was surprised, however, when she exited and ran straight into Snotlout. He fell to the ground and began rolling down a steep hill. Aldru, too, began to fall.

Hand still tangled in Aldru's, Hiccup soon found himself rolling as well. When the hill finally ended, Aldru sat up and laughed.

"Why do you always knock me over?!" Snotlout shouted, pulling sticks from his hair and clothes.

Hiccup couldn't hold back a laugh of his own. He sat up to see that they were on a sandy beach, the ocean only a few yards away. Fishlegs then came rushing through, his notebook open in hand. "Find everything you were looking for?" He asked Aldru.

The girl stood and brushed the sand from her body, "and everything I wasn't." She opened her pouch and held up the new dragon eye lense.

"Oh my Thor!" Fishlegs gasped, "is that what I think it is?!"

Aldru's smile said it all. "Uh, where's Hookfang? And the other dragons?" Snotlout asked, pointing out that the dragons here gone.

"They're alright, I'm sure," Aldru assured.

"Yes, but we should find them," Hiccup responded, "it's time to head back to the Edge."

"Awe, already?" Fishlegs complained, "can't we at least stay the night?"

Aldru stepped in to answer, "I'm afraid not. This island is sacred ground; it's for raising newborn song wings only. It's not a vacation spot."

Hiccup gave her a sideways grin and nodded. "Let's go find our dragons."

• • •

After saddling up and flying for what seemed like hours, the dragons were showing signs of exhaustion and the moon was high. Hiccup decided it'd be best to make camp on a nearby island for the night. It was a small grassy spot, just big enough for the dragons and Vikings to sleep on.

"Is it just me, or is it taking way longer to leave than it did to get there?" Snotlout questioned as the four sat around a small campfire for warmth.

Aldru furrowed her eyebrows and agreed, "I was actually thinking the same thing."

"I'm sure it's just that we're all tired," Hiccup countered. He looked over to Fishlegs, who'd already fallen asleep all curled up with Meatlug. "We should get some rest now," he suggested.

So with that, everyone else began to get ready to sleep. But before Hiccup could fall asleep, he heard Aldru sing a short song. This time, though, she was in human form. It was just a hum, no words. Hiccup sat up and asked quietly, "does that work?"

Aldru spoke back with a playful smile and prompted, "you tell me." Then she continued the tune. Within seconds, Hiccup found his consciousness fading. And by the time the song ended, he was fast asleep.

• • •

Hiccup fiddled with the dragon eye in the club house, everyone else gathered around excitedly. He placed the song wing lense into it and took a deep breath. He turned to Aldru with a grin and asked, "ready?"

"More than ready," Aldru replied eagerly.

Setting the dragon eye up, Hiccup motioned for Toothless to light it. A dim purple light shone through the lens and projected onto the wall. But all smiles faded when the projection was only that, a plain purple light. There were no maps, no words, and no answers.

"Maybe you put it in backwards," Tuffnut suggested.

Hiccup shook his head. "No..it needs a different dragon's fire."

One by one, they tried the lense with every one of their dragons. Nothing. "This doesn't make any sense," Aldru spoke desperately, "it can't be blank."

"It's not blank," Hiccup assured, "we just need the right light." He frowned as he thought about it.

Then Fishlegs spoke. "Guys, I think it might need a song wing's light," he said hesitantly.

"But Aldru doesn't have fire," Ruff responded.

"Maybe it isn't fire, then," Astrid suggested, "maybe Aldru has some other kind of light, something we haven't discovered yet."

But Aldru wasn't as hopeful. She could only stare at the blank purple projection. She had been so sure that this was the answer, but it was useless. And although she didn't admit it, she knew there was no way that she could light the dragon eye.

• • •

It had been a month since Viggo seemingly disappeared, and Hiccup was only becoming more anxious. And on this morning, he seemed to have disappeared as well. Aldru, being the only other one awake at the time, decided to go look for him. But when he was nowhere on the island, she began to worry.

Aldru quickly left Dragon's Edge, leaving a note on the stable doors. Once she was off to find him, she wasn't really sure how she would; he could've been anywhere. So she trusted her dragon instinct and began to search.