Every Berkian viking in hiding notices us as we approach.
"Look, it's Hiccup!" a voice rings out.
Everyone cheers, while Drago looks completely dumbfounded by our reappearance. I urge my Scuttleclaw to take the lead and fly in front of the Alpha. He squeals and flaps madly, getting the attention of Drago. The tyrant points his bull-hook from Nightstar to me, ordering her to chase me. I direct the baby dragon towards the ground.
I leap off the Scuttleclaw once he nears the land. He flies off with a cheerful squeal. I look to the sky to see my dragon flying towards me. With a quick side glance, I can see the others distracting the Alpha with sheep and slingshots.
Nightstar lands in front of me, growling, her pupils still in slits. The Alpha has his attention turned to the sheep being launched into the air, and I can see Hiccup near Toothless. I concentrate on Nightstar.
"Come back to me," I whisper. "This isn't you. You know me. You'd never hurt me."
I hold out my hands in front of her and she snarls, smoke emitting from her nostrils. Her throat begins to glow, but I stand my ground.
"Nightstar...come on, girl." I grab my necklace, holding it in front of me. "You know what this is too. It's the necklace that represents our bond. It has your colours, blue and black." I step forwards. I can see that my dragon is struggling, shuddering, the glow in her throat fading and her pupils expanding a little. "Nightstar..."
I touch her nose, the pads of my fingertips brushing the warm scales. She shrieks, her pupils returning to normal size. She blinks, looking confused before grinning her goofy grin and licking me. I throw my arms around her neck, hugging her.
"Alright, girl. You ready to help Hiccup?" I ask. She nods.
I climb on and we take off as she emits her telltale shriek. Drago notices and his face twists, his mouth curled in an angry sneer.
"NO!" he cries into the air. "I LOST THEM BOTH?! HOW?!"
I see Hiccup flying around on a blindfolded Toothless. The Alpha struggles to get him back under his control. While his gaze is away from Nightstar and I, we zip towards him, firing a blast at his face. The Alpha roars as his attention returns to me. Toothless regains control easily.
Beneath me, Nightstar starts to shudder again, and I turn her away while I still have her in my control. I zoom towards the ground, landing safely with the rest of my friends.
Hiccup and Toothless peel around the other side of the mountain, heading back toward Drago and Bewilderbeast, passing us from where we stand on the ground.
"Take them down!" I whoop.
The Vikings near us roar in support as they race past.
"Go get 'em," Valka says, her voice full of pride.
"Take control of it!" Drago commands.
The Bewilderbeast's hiss becomes a furious roar, but to no avail. Hiccup clamps his hands over Toothless' ear plates, muffling the Alpha's commands.
"STOP THEM!" Drago screams.
The Bewilderbeast takes a deep breath and fires an ice blast at the pair. Toothless suddenly pulls up, arcing over Drago's head. Drago laughs, victorious, then pauses in shock. As Toothless climbs through the sky, the blindfold over his eyes falls free. Hiccup is nowhere to be seen. Me and everyone around me gasps.
Drago spins around, wide-eyed, to see Hiccup zooming towards him, his wing-suit deployed and his Dragon Blade trailing Zippleback gas. Drago swipes with his bull-hook, but misses him. Hiccup clicks the lighter and ignites the gas, blasting Drago off his Bewilderbeast with a terrifying scream.
He plummets, breaking his fall against the massive dragon's spines and landing hard on the ground, his bull-hook bouncing just out of reach. The Bewilderbeast whips its tail, trying to swat down Hiccup. Hiccup shouts something, but we can't hear it over the roaring.
Toothless pops open his dorsal blades, arcs skyward, and rejoins Hiccup just before colliding with the Alpha's tail. Together again, they speed along the length of the thrashing tail and shoot past the tip, narrowly making it.
They curve through the sky and land a few paces from Drago, kicking up a trail of dust. Battered and weary, Drago reaches for his bull-hook. Hiccup extends and fires up his Dragon Blade, hurling it like a javelin and sticking it in the ground between Drago and his weapon, singeing his outstretched hand.
"Agh!" Drago yelps.
"Hold him there, Toothless!" Hiccup commands. Toothless snarls a warning, ready to blast, and my fellow Night Fury rider looks back at their enemy. "It's all over now."
The cloud of dust settles, revealing the Bewilderbeast rising behind Hiccup, ready to shoot him instead. My eyes widen, Hiccup not yet noticing the giant dragon.
Drago grins, his dark eyes flickering to the Alpha. "Or is it?"
Hiccup spins around, alarmed, as a rush of water thunders up the Bewilderbeast's throat. It blasts just as Toothless leaps into the way, shielding Hiccup beneath him. The freezing explosion envelops them both in a cloud of spray and freezing steam.
"Hiccup!" a scream rises from my throat, no control behind it whatsoever.
Valka lands her baby dragon and rushes to the icy cavern that her son and his dragon got encased in, hammering away at it with her fists. She chokes, shutting her eyes tightly as she presses her forehead against the cold surface.
"No! No..." she whispers.
When I look back at my friends' faces, we all share the same forlorn expression. First Stoick, now Hiccup. It can't be over already, can it?
Drago smirks and turns away. He has no use for us now.
Nightstar roars in agony as she stares at the ice, nudging me towards it in a desperate attempt to get me to do something. It's like she thinks I can somehow find Toothless and get him back for her.
I look towards the ice, only a step or two away from Valka. As I stare at it, I swear that I can see a glow forming from deep within. Valka pulls away, shock in her face, and I dash forwards instinctively, snatching her away just as a blast thunders from inside and shatters the frozen spectacle to bits. Toothless emerges from the debris, revealing Hiccup curled safely under his wings.
The Night Fury is steaming, his black skin glowing blue with rage, his split dorsal blades searing with blue heat, a glow emanating from his flared nostrils. He turns back to Hiccup to check if he's unharmed, then turns his full attention back to the Bewilderbeast. He leaps out of the crater and lands upon an ice spire, roaring ferociously.
Nightstar lets out a shriek of triumph and flaps her wings once, nearly smacking me over the head with the great canvases of black.
The Bewilderbeast bellows back at the new attacker. Toothless unleashes a barrage of plasma into its face, not letting up for anything.
"He's challenging the Alpha!" Hiccup exclaims as Valka moves closer to him, causing me to trail after in a sort of daze.
"To protect you," she whispers.
The Bewilderbeast roars in outrage at the attack. Toothless fires back, time and again, fully in control of the situation. The Alpha thrashes his tusks through the ice, trying to smash the Night Fury, but he deftly springs from spire to spire, continuing his unrelenting attack.
Nightstar leaps forwards, roaring to the crowd of dragons still under the Alpha's command. Toothless flashes a toothy grin at her before they both tilt their heads to the sky and let out their distinctive shrieks.
The horde of entranced dragons, both Berk's and Valka's, break free from the control to witness the retaliation. Toothless and Nightstar land protectively by Hiccup, Valka, and I, commanding the dragons to shift sides. They follow suit without hesitation.
Seeing this, Drago panics and rushes towards the Bewilderbeast.
"No, no, no, no! Fight back! Fight!" he commands, completely unhinged. "FIGHT!" He clambers up the Bewilderbeast's tusk, losing his mind slowly. "What's the matter with you?!"
The Vikings all around us swell in to show their unified support. Drago fumes as Hiccup and Toothless fly up together onto an ice spire. I mount Nightstar, who gallops forwards to stand behind Toothless as a show of their teamwork. I don't feel worthy to sit with them, but my dragon seems to think I am.
"Now do you get it? This is what it is to earn a dragon's loyalty," Hiccup calls. "Let this end now."
"Never!" Drago screams. "Come on!"
He hammers the Bewilderbeast, spurring it into a charge. Toothless calls over his shoulder, commanding the dragons to ready themselves. He turns his noble head and blasts the Bewilderbeast mid-charge. Nightstar fires immediately after, followed by another, and another, and another.
I look around, amazed to see the flock of dragons opening fire on Drago and his Bewilderbeast. They've started a rebellion. Drago is forced to hide from the fiery barrage in the tall spines of the giant's crown.
"FIGHT! BLAST THEM!" he wails.
His prosthetic arm is shot clean off by one of the armoured dragons. The Bewilderbeast rears back, distressed. Toothless lets loose a powerful shot. The Bewilderbeast's head is knocked backwards by a blue-flame fireball. There's a massive cracking noise, and as the smoke clears, one of his massive tusks drops to the ground; snapped clean off. Drago glares at Toothless. The Night Fury only roars commandingly, calling an end to the fight.
Hiccup smirks, the look almost dangerous. "The Alpha protects them all by taking care of his own."
Toothless lets loose one more terrifying bellow. Overwhelmed and overpowered, the Bewilderbeast yields to the new Alpha and heeds Toothless' command, retreating into the sea in an explosive splash.
The Berkians erupt into cheers of victory all around us. As the smoke clears, we can see nothing but bubbles on the waves to mark their disappearance. No sign of the Bewilderbeast or Drago can be found.
Toothless hops down from the spire, cooling off as the Vikings celebrate all around him. All of the dragons, even Drago's, land around Toothless. Nightstar bows first, standing right in front of her fellow Night Fury. I, still seated on her back, bow my head in respect as well. Valka's dragon bows immediately after, starting a wave of bows for acknowledging their new Alpha.
Toothless looks around, surprised, and then lets out a majestic roar. The assembled dragons join in, roaring in tribute. Toothless turns to Hiccup as he approaches, a smile on the man's kind face.
"You never cease to amaze me, bud. Thank you." He cups his wide snout in his hands.
Toothless gurgles and licks Hiccup's face. He laughs, trying to get away.
"Toothless! You know that doesn't wash out," he exclaims.
The crowd laughs. All around us, the dragons reunite with their Vikings.
I climb off my dragon, hugging her neck. She snuffles my hair lovingly, making me laugh. I glance at Toothless before giving her a little shove, winking.
Nightstar growls playfully and tackles the male Night Fury. The two roll over before she pins him down and licks his face. There is no hesitation before he licks her in return, and I laugh once again.
Even as I look around at everything, I feel more alone than ever.
General POV
"Stormfly!" Astrid cries, hugging her Deadly Nadder tightly.
Gobber opens his arms skywards as his Hotburple flies towards him. "Oh, give me a cuddle, Grumpy!"
Grump lands on top of the ragtag Viking, flattening him. He wheezes and pats the dragon's large sides.
Relieved to the point of tears, Snotlout and Fishlegs race towards the expectant Ruffnut. Both wear large smiles as she smirks, waiting for their praise.
"Who's my little princess?" Fishlegs coos.
They run right past her to embrace their dragons.
"I missed you so much!" Snotlout exclaims as he hugs his Monstrous Nightmare. "Don't you ever leave again, Hookfang!"
Ruffnut grumbles, dejected. Barf dips his head in to console her.
"Oh Barf!" She hugs his long neck. Belch looms in for some affection, but she pushes him away into Tuffnut, who glowers back at her. "Not you."
Hiccup watches the happy reunions. Skullcrusher, Stoick's Rumblehorn, approaches him, not having an owner to reunite with. Hiccup pets him as Eret wanders to his side.
"That was some pretty fine dragon wrangling back there. You'd make a good trapper," he comments.
Before the Haddock can respond, Skullcrusher nuzzles Eret affectionately. The once-trapper chuckles and gently strokes his large head, looking almost awed.
"Y'know, Skullcrusher's gonna need somebody to look after him now," Hiccup says.
"Me?" Eret asks, placing a hand on his own chest. Hiccup nods, causing the trapper to look at Skullcrusher, pausing to consider it. "I'd be honoured."
Valka walks up to her son, bursting with pride. "Your father...he'd be every bit as proud as I am," she says, resting her hand on his shoulder.
"Thank you," Hiccup responds. "I'm really glad you're here, Mom."
"And here I'll stay."
Toothless arrives, purring at Valka's touch. Hiccup pets his dragon, looking up. He searches for one person, one Viking, but she's nowhere to be seen. A frown flickers across his face as he looks outside of the large grouping of Nordic dragon riders.
Thora stands on a little knoll, the grass brushing her ankles and blowing her auburn hair out behind her gently, the sun reflecting in the strands and making them look like fire. There's a faraway look in her deep brown eyes, Nightstar settled beside her as she looks out over the ocean.
No Viking rushes to her side like the families around her. She's alone, even now.
Hiccup doesn't like it. Her words echo in his head, reminding him that she could very well be leaving by tonight. Valka notices her son's gaze and nudges him.
"Go get her." She grins.
"Mom-"
She gives him a solid look. "Give her a reason to stay."
Thinking over her words, he nods and strides towards her. Toothless follows in his footsteps, the dark dragon seeming to want the female pair to stay just as much as his trainer.