Okay, I wasn't usually distressed. I was usually a calm and nice person but, at that moment I was biting my thumbnail like crazy and grabbing my hair up to the point it hurt.
Hiccup was about to show the whole of Berk that they didn't have to kill the dragons, and that really got on my nerves, okay? He was going to break with a tradition that had existed for years, and it was definitely not going to be an easy task. Specially because Vikings were the definition of stubborn.
Anything could go wrong: the Monstrous Nightmare could see him as a threat because of the Viking helmet his father gave him. For all it knew, the people who attacked him were always wearing those things. Hiccup could crash with one of the walls surrounding the arena and may get hurt or faint, like the first time he saw Toothless (Don't judge me, I had all my faith placed on him, but I had to point out all the possibilities too) What else, what else?
...Oh, there was Hiccup! And I could see Astrid behind the gates. I was really trying not to be jealous, and I believed I was doing a good job; Hiccup deserved his happiness, and if Astrid made him happy, then that was okay with me.
He had talked with me before Astrid, anyway. It went a little bit like this:
"A-any last minute advice?" Hiccup asked nervously, clutching the helmet tightly.
"Don't get killed" he was about to say something, something sarcastic for sure, but I hugged him with all my strength before he could, and he hugged me back "Be careful"
Even though I knew he was going to be safe, I still needed to say that. I needed to remind him that there were people who cared about him and whose lives would not be the same if something happened to him, me amongst all of them.
"I know I don't need to remind you, but if something goes wrong, just make sure they don't find Toothless" he said after we broke apart.
"Didn't you hear what I just said?" he looked at me confused "Nothing will go wrong, Hic. You won't let that happen"
"Thank you, 'Lex"
I truly hoped he didn't let that happen. He was the only hope for the dragons, because while I did have a good relationship with them, I would never be able to convince people not to hurt them. He had the way with words, I could only provide moral support.
Anyway, let's focus back on Hiccup:
He had just dropped the knife and shield, I could hear the crowd's complaints, and I was telling them, in my mind of course, to shut up. Hiccup knew what he was doing.
The dragon snarled while Hiccup stuck his hands out to calm him down.
"Hey, it's okay. It's okay" he was scurrying backwards instinctively. He wasn't afraid, he was just trying to show the Monstrous Nightmare that he wasn't going to hurt him.
Then, he took off his helmet, gave his dad a quick glance, and threw it to one side while the crowd gasped in disbelief. A smiled crawled up my lips.
"Stop the fight" ordered Stoick sternly, but Hiccup spoke up.
"No!" he said, and I got closer to the gates as adrenaline ran through my body "I need you all to see this" he stuck his hand out while the dragon looked at it, his face a mixture of anger and doubt "They are not what we think they are. We don't have to kill them" I smiled. He looked so confident in his field: dragons. When he was with dragons, no one could tell him he was weak, or that he wasn't a Viking; that was what made Hiccup....Well, Hiccup.
Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw that the entire crowd had turned to look at Stoick, waiting for his reaction expectantly.
"I said, STOP THE FIGHT!" he hit the gates with his hammer, and I cursed.
That was exactly what you didn't have to do.
The dragon, who was inches away from Hiccup's welcoming hand, turned violent. He closed his jaw fiercely and started to chase him, while my friend ran for his life.
Thanks, Stoick.
He then shot a blast of fire at him, and Hiccup screamed.
"HICCUP!" I yelled, and began making my way down the gallery, pushing people aside in a not-so- gentle form "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" I heard gasps of complaint from the women while they moved reluctantly, whispering things like:
"What a rude girl!"
"Who raised her like that?" and things of the sort, but I didn't really care what they thought.
Some more men were in my way as I turned my head towards Hiccup, who was sprinting around the arena while the dragon roared dangerously at him.
"UGH! GET OUT OF THE WAY! I'M COMING THROUGH!"
Screw manners.
I started to push everyone that stepped on my path out of the way while they stared at me offended, but it didn't affect me at all; all I cared about was reaching my best friend.
I ran to the gate just in time to see Astrid using an axe to raise the gates enough for her to come through, and I followed close behind.
Hiccup was still miraculously dodging the blasts of fire being shot at him, but I didn't know how much more he could hold on. Astrid threw an object to the dragon that hit him in the face, making her its new target.
And then, Stoick came to the 'rescue'.
"THIS WAY!" he yelled, opening the gate. Astrid went through it, and I was about to do the same thing, but the dragon shot a blast of fire at me. I yelled instinctively and hid myself behind the weapons stand, while the fire grazed my head.
"LEXA!" Hiccup yelled. Geez, he never stopped worrying about me! He should be worried on escaping himself!
I peeked behind me and saw the dragon with his back turned towards me, probably looking for me. That was my chance to escape. I got out of my hiding spot crawling and went over to Hiccup.
"Are you hurt?" he questioned, scanning me up and down worriedly for any signs of injuries.
"I'm fine, we just need to..." I was interrupted by a snarl.
Oh no.
A blast of plasma hit the gates, creating a cloud of smoke. Seconds later, the Monstrous Nightmare emerged from it with Toothless fighting him. Swinging at each other, Toothless managed to throw the dragon off him. The Night Fury roared, stepping in front of the other dragon every time he tried to reach to Hiccup. Then, he jumped in front of him and growled which made him leave.
Hiccup went over to Toothless quickly.
"Alright, Toothless, go" he put his hand on his snout while trying to push him away "Get out of here"
But he wouldn't leave, of course. Hiccup was his owner, his best friend, and he wouldn't leave until he made sure he was safe. That was how loyal a dragon was.
War cries were heard from every corner of the arena, while every single Viking in the crowd jumped over the wire and into the ring to try to kill Toothless.
I HATED them so much!
"Go, go" Hiccup pushed him even more, but Toothless still wouldn't move. Amongst everything, I managed to spot Stoick grabbing an axe from the wall and running towards the Night Fury.
"Stoick, no!" I heard Astrid yell. I ran over to Hiccup and stood in front of him with my arms stretched out, making sure he wouldn't move; he would try to do something stupid, I knew him too well.
"No, dad! Dad, he won't hurt you!" he tried to go further, but I didn't let him. His father wasn't listening to him, he was only focused on the dragon. Toothless, upon seeing he was in danger, started to hit every Viking that came towards him in order to defend himself. He was scared. Hiccup said something I couldn't manage to listen because of the noise. Everything was a mess.
When I was sure he wouldn't do anything, I stepped out of the way and he didn't move.
Toothless then jumped on top of Stoick, making him fall to the floor. I looked at the scene horrified, clutching Hiccup's arm tightly.
"He is going to kill him, do something!" I yelled frantically.
Yes, I know; 'But Lexa, he is the person whose hobby is to kill dragons! Didn't you hate everything related to that?'
My answer: yes, I do. But he was my best friend's father. He had already lost his mother, he couldn't lose his father, too. I knew what losing both your parents was like and I wouldn't wish it on anybody, not even on Snotlout and that was saying something.
"Toothless, stop!" shouted Hiccup. He roared violently, ready to attack Stoick, and I gasped covering my mouth "No! NO!"
All of a sudden, he stopped. He looked at his master while moaning sadly and Hiccup sighed in relief, but someone yelled:
"Get him!"
And guess what the Vikings did? Exactly.
"He just stopped attacking you because he told him to!" I motioned desperately "Why can't you see that?!" I thought out loud, but no one heard me. They were all worried on getting the 'Glory' for killing a Night Fury, probably the last of his kind. It disgusted me.
They grabbed his head and push it against the floor rudely. Then, they tied him up with ropes.
"Oh, no, no, no; please, d-don't hurt him!" Hiccup started to walk towards them to stop them, but I grabbed hold of him; there was nothing he could do with the Vikings in that state "Please, don't hurt him" Toothless growled and I looked at him sadly, while a few tears escaped my eyes.
I know he wasn't even my dragon, but I felt the same way towards Thunderlight than towards all dragons. That was mainly because Thunderlight was the only one that was there for me when my parents died, besides Hiccup, of course, but he came later into my life.
Dragons were amazing and loyal creatures who meant no harm, they were just too protective of what was theirs and that included their masters. They did whatever their masters told them to, because that was how loyal they were, and, even when their lives were at line, they didn't disobey them.
Toothless was the perfect example: he could get rid of those ropes in the blink of an eye, but he didn't because Hiccup told him not to do anything violent.
"Put it with the others" Stoick ordered, while staring down at the Night Fury
When I found Hiccup standing at the edge of the cliff looking at the horizon sadly, the only thing I could do was hug him; he hugged me back, but so as not to leave me hanging. I could tell my hug didn't cheer him up, and I wasn't expecting it to, either. I just wanted him to know that he wasn't alone.
I spotted Astrid walking towards us, looking at Hiccup sadly.
"It's a mess" she said, holding her hands together "You must feel horrible. You've lost everything: your father, your tribe, your best friend" I gave her a glare, did she really have to remind him of that? That was the worst thing you could say to a person in Hiccup's position.
"Thank you for summing that up" he replied, giving her a quick glance before looking back ahead "Why couldn't I have killed that dragon when I found him the woods? It would have been better for everyone" I looked at him sadly. That wasn't true, but I didn't have any arguments to defend my statement.
"Yep" said Astrid, she wasn't helping "The rest of us would have done it" she really wasn't helping "Except, perhaps, you" she added, looking at me and I nodded silently. I wouldn't kill a dragon "So why didn't you?" she asked, turning towards the Viking which made me look at him curiously. He hadn't told me why he hadn't killed him, and I really wanted to know.
Hiccup stayed silent, looked down, and sighed softly.
"Why didn't you?" she asked again.
"I don't know" he said in defeat, and turned around "I couldn't"
"That's not an answer" I said, shaking my head. When I wanted to know something, I didn't give up so easily.
"Why is this so important to you all of a sudden?" he demanded, staring at us out of the corner of his eye.
"Because I wanna remember what you say right now" said Astrid, and I nodded in agreement.
"Oh, for the love of-" he turned to look at us with irritation "I-I was a coward. I was weak. I wouldn't kill a dragon"
"You said 'wouldn't' that time" continued Astrid. She wasn't satisfied with his answer, and neither was I.
"Whatever! I wouldn't!" he said, motioning to the horizon in front of us in frustration "Three hundred years, and I'm the first Viking who wouldn't kill a dragon"
Technically, I was the first one. But things were not going to improve if I said it, nor would it change anything for that matter, so I just stayed silent and looked at him sweetly. That was about him, not about me.
Hiccup turned around and I couldn't see his face anymore, but I could tell he was kind of angry at himself because his head was lowered down.
"First to ride one, though" said Astrid, I had to agree with that. Hiccup's head lifted suddenly "So...?" he looked at the side, but didn't turn towards us.
"I wouldn't kill him, because he looked as frightened as I was" now he turned towards us, but still wouldn't make eye contact "I looked at him" he paused a little bit "And I saw myself" he said lifting his head up to finally stare at us. Astrid's expression changed to an understanding one, and she looked at the ocean in the distance.
"I bet he's really frightened now" she looked at him "What are you gonna do about it?"
"Eh, probably something stupid" he lifted his shoulders a little bit, and I smiled.
"You've already done that" I pointed out.
"Then something crazy" he corrected. Astrid and I nodded.
"That's more like it" he looked at me.
"'Lex, I need you to bring Thunderlight to the arena. I've got a plan" I nodded, while Astrid looked at us confused.
"Uh, who's Thunderlight?" I chuckled slightly.
"Someone you'll like very much"
When I reached the cove, Thunderlight was looking everywhere frantically. I bet he was searching for Toothless. They had become really close friends. We would always find them swinging at each other playfully when we arrived to the cove; it warmed my heart.
"Hey, bud!" I rubbed his snout softly "Are you up for a ride? We are gonna bring Toothless back" he purred happily and jumped everywhere joyfully. I laughed and hopped on his saddle, and we took off in the direction of the arena.
We flew for several minutes until the arena was at sight. I could see the teens standing there and all the dragons out of their cages...Wait, dragons out of their cages?! What was going on here?!
"C'mon, buddy, seems you'll meet some new friends" he shot a blast of wind due to the excitement, making me laugh.
Indeed, when we arrived, the dragons were out of their cages, and the teens weren't running around and screaming frantically, so that was something.
I landed on the floor as Thunderlight blasted another ball of wind, making the teens scurry backwards.
"Is everything ready?" I asked, and Hiccup smiled in response while all the teens stared at me, making me really, really uncomfortable "Why are you staring at me so much? None of you actually imagined this? I thought you were more intelligent than that" they looked at me offended, and I laughed "C'mon, I gave you hints! My usual 'walks' at night? Fishlegs saw me. didn't you ever find it strange that the lights of my house were on at eleven in the night? And what about the mess my hair was everyday at four in the afternoon? All tousled and uneven?" no one answered, and Hiccup laughed silently "I'm disappointed in you"
To my surprise, Snotlout looked more amazed than ever.
"Is that yours?" he asked in disbelief, and I nodded proudly.
"Mhmm" his eyes opened wide, much to my enjoyment.
"And you trained it?" was it really so hard to believe? "All by yourself?" Thunderlight gently blew wind towards him, which startled him.
"Does that answer your question?" he stood there, staring at Thunderlight with awe for several more seconds, and then looked at me as if I was royalty.
"Alexa, from now on, you've got all of my respect" I smiled proudly.
"It was about time, I thought I had earned it when I punched you in the face the other day"
Everyone laughed, and my face brightened up all of a sudden. I never had anyone to laugh with me before (Besides Hiccup), and now I had six people, and it felt good.
"You hid it well, 'Lex" said Astrid, rubbing Thunderlight's back for three seconds, and making me wince when I heard Hiccup's nickname for me in her mouth. She seemed to notice because she smirked "Oh, sorry" she apologized jokingly "Is Hiccup the only one that can call you 'Lex?'" I blushed and looked away. The teens, minus Hiccup, laughed.
"C'mon, guys! Leave her alone!" I looked at him gratefully.
"So, what shall I call you then?" she asked.
"Lexi's fine" I said. That was what my parents used to call me.
"Okay, then, Lexi it is" she said and I smiled.
I had to thank Thunderlight for that, thanks to him the teens became like my friends. Like, I said.
"And just for the record, I'm actually the first Viking who wouldn't kill a dragon" I said looking at Hiccup. He smiled nervously, while the others chuckled lightly.