HICCUPS POV.
Hiccup could barely hold in his laughter at the sight of Astrid trying to stay on Toothless. Astrid was clutching with both hands to Hiccups armored forearm as Toothless blasted over the surface of the water at close to lightning speed.
Hiccup could feel her body trembling even through his armor but he wasn't quite sure if it was from the cold rush of air or the fear of flying well over one-hundred and fifty miles per hour. Hiccup looked over Astrids shoulder and let a small laugh slip out from between his lips at the sight of one of the best warriors from Berk with her eye's sealed shut in fear.
It was a sight that Hiccup almost couldn't believe. For all the years he had known Astrid, through all the raids, all the weeks of dragon training. He had never once seen her afraid. But now here she was quivering in fear from the simple act of flight. And then he got an idea, that would either end in disaster or it would succeed.
Hiccup took his free hand that had been swaying idly beside him and wrapped the fingers under the saddle pulling back on it. Toothless stopped flying and began to hover over the the still ocean water. "Hold on tight Astrid." He said softly into her ear and he pulled up on the saddle.
Toothless began to climb quickly higher and higher into the air and Hiccup could feel Astrid's hands tighten around his forearm. The right side of Hiccups mouth curled into a smile at the thought of Astrid being able to take comfort and feel secure around someone who she once and still probably despised.
Maybe she could help prove his theory, that even the toughest and most ruthless Vikings could change. Change from there current dragon killing ways, to a different, more caring and understanding way of life. He shook his head and the thought disappeared. He tried not to dream about things that most likely wouldn't, that couldn't happen.
The pressure on his forearm from Astrids grip brought him back to the moment. He looked down to the water far below him and gave Toothless a pat on the side of his neck. "This is far enough bud." The dragon replied with a short roar as he began to fly straight across the brightening sky.
He only had a few more moments until the sun had fully risen and the moment was gone. Hiccup loosened his hold on Astrids waist and in panic she gripped even tighter to his forearm. He laughed at the sight and spoke to the frightened Viking teen.
"I'm not going to throw you off." At him even saying it she tightened her grip again. 'Can her grip get any tighter?' He wondered to himself as he wiggled his forearm trying to loosen her iron grip. "Open your eye's." Astrid merely squeezed her eyes shut tighter at him even suggesting that she open them.
"Astrid please." He tried to make his voice sound as inviting as possible. He felt Astrids muscles slightly relax as she opened her eyes slightly loosening her grip on his arm. "Just keep your eye's on the sky." He warned but it was too late as her first instinct was to check how high they were.
Astrid jerked away from the side she peered down from and buried herself in his chest. Hiccup was taken back at the feeling of Astrid clinging to his armored chest. Part of him didn't want to move her, because the feeling of her in that close of proximity to his chest made him feel happy.
Even her fingers had wrapped themselves under his chest plate. In the entire time span of fifteen years that he known Astrid not once had he seen this level of fear and panic in her. "Astrid." He said to her slowly peeling her fingers from the underside of his chest plate.
He turned Astrid back around and slowly lifted her chin to the sky that was littered with white fluffy clouds just barely out of reach. "Open you eyes." He instructed keeping his hand against her chin to keep her gaze on the sky.
Astrid took a deep breath and slowly began to open her right eye just a crack. A crack so small that not even the tiniest of Odin's creatures could manage to squeeze through it. Hiccup could see it on her face, the moment it happened. The moment her face went from pinched with fear to laced with amazement.
Her eyes opened wide and the muscles on her face relaxed and her mouth slightly hung open. Her skin that had been reddened from fear was now back to its normal color. Her iron grip that had been strangling his forearm had now ceased.
Even after Hiccup had removed his hands from her chin she still kept her head up and eyes on the fluffy white clouds which bottoms where pink from the light of the rising sun. Astrid curiously began to reach up at one of the clouds but it was barely out of her reach.
Hiccup shifted his left foot and Toothless's tail shifted into another gear closing the distance between Astrids outstretched hand and the cloud. Her hand reached into the cloud creating a beautiful explosion of small wispy clouds. She looked back towards the masked man that sat behind her and looked him in the eyes.
It was at that moment of eye contact, at that moment of perfect serenity in the clouds outside the archipelago that Hiccup had the feeling in his chest. The feeling he used to have in his chest everyday when he used to look at Astrid. The feeling of...attraction.
"This is..." She began, looking away from Hiccup's forest green eyes and back to the clouds. "Amazing." She said so quietly that he could barely make out what she said. "Look at your hands." Hiccup said with a smile on his face as he noticed what they were doing.
Astrid looked down at her hands which were both placed on top of Toothless's neck like it wasn't a problem. She pulled her hands off the dragons scaly skin but Hiccup caught her hands in his. He intertwined his fingers between hers and slowly replaced them in Toothless's neck.
He made sure that both of her palms were flat against the skin so she could finally see that she wasn't riding a vicious monster. But a kind and living creature. Hiccup slowly removed his hands from hers and she began to slowly trace the outline of one of Toothless's scales.
Astrid brought one of her hands down to the side of Toothless's neck and began to rub him in a soft circular motion. The Night Fury shook his head and let out a soft and rumbling purr at the feeling. Hiccup looked at Astrid and he could almost see the happiness radiating off her.
"See, once you get to know them. There not vicious-." But Astrid cut him off and finished his sentence in her own way. "Ship." Hiccup looked at Astrid in confusion. 'She thinks Toothless is a vicious ship?' He asked himself still confused at her response.
"There's a ship." The muscles in Hiccups back tightened. He remembered the last time he saw a ship this close to Hellhimens Gate. There were multiple openings in Hellhimens Gate that lead in and out of the Archipelago but these waters weren't near one. And that one fact made a shiver run up his spine.
He followed Astrids gaze down to the water and his worst fear was realized. The ship had three masts that were strung up with white sails with red tribal crests on them. Red fists... a dragon hunter ship. Hiccup wrapped his arm around Astrid's waist and he adjusted his foot which retracted Toothless's prosthetic tail making the dragon perform an elegant and speedy dive down to the waters surface.
"Toothless the sea stack." Hiccup said in an urgent voice pointing to a sea stack that was near the hunter ship. Toothless quietly landed on top of the sea stack that loomed high above the ships highest mast. Hiccup dismounted and pulled his spyglass from one of Toothless's saddle bags.
He quickly crawled up to the edge of the sea stack and looked through his spy glass at the hunter ship below. The hunters had come prepared for a fight. The ships deck was loaded with half a dozen catapults, a ballista on the back and dozens of barrels filled to the brim with what he could only guess were dragon root arrows.
There were only two hunters outside the archipelago that came that prepared for a fight. And one of them never traveled without a convoy of other ships. "Who is that?" Astrid asked laying beside him trying to get a good look at the ship. "It's Ryker." He said handing Astrid his spy-glass.
"He's one of the best dragon hunters in and out of the Archipelago." He explained. "He certainly did come prepared for a little bit of dragon hunting." Astrid said as she examined the deck of the ship. "Well Ryker thinks that there isn't a problem that he can't solve with enough fire power."
He said crawling away from the edge and then back to Toothless who was lying on his stomach ready at any moment to spring into action. "What are you going to do?" Astrid asked Hiccup as she saw him pull a hand full of small clay capsules from another of Toothless's saddle bags.
"I'm going to free the dragons that he has on that ship." Astrid interjected. "Look I know your the Night Rider and you do ride a Night Fury but even together you two are no match for that ship down there." She explained. "Your right, we're no match for that ship and it's crew." Hiccup began turning to Astrid to look her in the eyes. "Not without you to help us."