Hiccup tightened the baskets attached to my back again. The twins were completely upright, secured to my back with caged holes for their faces. We weren't exactly going for subtlety here, so I didn't have to worry about the the babies crying. Not to mention the case was completely dragon proof, and only Hiccup and I knew how to open it. Once he finished securing Alith and Kerrigan, he turned me to face him and took my hands.
"Are you sure about this?" I shook my head.
"Of course not. But we're out of options at this point." I glanced back at where Grimmel had taken the dragons. "You realize the ten of us are taking on an entire armada, right?"
"We're out of options." I smirked as he threw my words back at me. No matter what, we had to rescue these dragons and let them get back to where they belonged.
"So, jump off the cliff in these?" Ruffnut spread her arms to show off the wing suits Hiccup had made all of us. In my years of knowing him, I'd always protested this thing. I never saw myself wearing one, especially not with our children on my back. "That's the best you've got?"
"No, you guys are the best I've got." Ruff's expression immediately shifted, her angry demeanor falling away.
"Aw... I'm with him, who else?" She pumped her fist in the air. Her brother whipped his head around, glaring at her.
"Ruffnut, that was my line."
Hiccup wasn't wasting any more time on this. Immediately, he snapped down the visor on his helmet and rushed toward the edge of the cliff, leading the charge. I let my mind go as I rushed toward the cliff, not letting my own fear keep me from following him into battle. I tried my best to keep my eyes open as I shot my arms wide, extending the wings Hiccup had fashioned. The ships got closer the further we floated downward, and soon, we were withing earshot.
"Hang on, Toothless!" Hiccup shouted, trying to get his dragon's attention. Grimmel whipped around from his position, eyes widening as he spotted the troops heading his way. He swooped down to knock Grimmel over, then grabbed onto a rope to make his way to Toothless while the rest of us focused on freeing the other dragons. While most of us landed on the deck relatively gracefully, Snotlout somehow managed to get stuck above us. I rolled my eyes when I spotted him, focusing on the mission in front of us instead.
"Perfect timing." I yanked my sword from its sheath, staring down a group of Dragon Hunters heading for us. "Game faces," Hiccup order, warning us we had to be ready to attack.
"Yeah, what are you waiting for?" We all glanced up at Snotlout. "Get in there."
Hiccup sighed in disappointment, but he didn't really have time to dwell on anything. The Dragon Hunters approached us, but the moment they realized we could fight back, some of them tried to flee. Hiccup and I nodded at each other, and I followed one of the hunters to keep him from getting away. He swung his knives at me, attempting to slice at the vulnerable spot of my face left open by my helmet. I did my best to push back, but the hunter had me pinned as close as I could be against a pole. Just as I considered jumping down, Hiccup rushed up behind the hunter and cut a rope with his Inferno.
"Heads up!" I ducked down just as a dragon came swooping down and snatched up the hunter.
"Thanks." Only a second later, another hunter ran up behind an unaware Hiccup. "Look out!" I chucked my sword at the hunter, striking him right in the head and knocking him unconscious. He lifted his visor as I made my way over to him, snatching a cartridge of Zippleback Gas from his sword.
"Thanks." I opened the top of the cartridge and tossed it down onto the deck, causing the contents to begin to spill out. Hiccup smirked at me as he caught on, then without hesitation, tossed his sword down onto the wood, causing a massive explosion to erupt that sent flames jumping across the planks.
"How do we keep getting into situations like this?" Hiccup chuckled and shook his head, then peered around my side, clearly trying to get a glance at the twins. "Are they doing okay so far?"
"They look completely content, strangely enough."
Satisfied, I whistled, calling for Shriek, who picked Hiccup up as she flew by. Hiccup steered her toward Grimmel, and with that taken care of, I slid down a rope and helped my friends with the other Dragon Hunters. Astrid and I focused on fighting off the hunters themselves, while the others were more concerned with freeing the dragons trapped in cages. I fought my way up to where one of the hunters was steering the ship, completely unaware that Astrid and I were sneaking up behind him. Once I got close enough, I cleared my throat to get him to turn around, then struck him across the face and knocked him onto the ground. I kicked his body once to make sure he was unconscious, while Astrid violently turned the wheel and stuck her axe between the notches, causing the ship to start turning onto its side.
I looked around to watch the armada burn for a moment, while some of the ships crashed into each other, before dealing with the last of the hunters. All of the dragons had been freed, and we all cheered as we watched them fly overhead, making their way back to New Berk. We all called for our dragons and did the same, abandoning ship just before it sank. The closer we got to our home island, I noticed a few figures in the distance, tumbling toward the rocky grounds far below them. My heart stopped when I realized they were Hiccup and Grimmel, without dragons anywhere in sight to save them. Grimmel ripped at Hiccup's wings, throwing them down and leaving him without any way to get himself up, then slid down and held onto Hiccup by his leg. Thinking quickly, Hiccup released his metal leg, sealing Grimmel's fate and sending him splattering against the rocks. I stood up slightly and prepared to make Shriek go as fast as she could in a desperate attempt to save him, when the Light Fury suddenly swooped in and grabbed him, taking him back toward New Berk. I let out a large exhale, leaning back slightly.
The moment Shriek touched down on New Berk, I jumped from her back and stumbled a bit before finding my own solid ground. Hiccup managed to get himself up enough to hop over to Toothless, who laid unconscious on the grass. He got back down again and brought himself down to eye level with the Night Fury as his groggy eyes opened, purring lightly.
"Hey, good morning, bud." Hiccup gently scratched Toothless' nose. "Here you go." He slung his way around so that Toothless could rest his chin on his lap. "Boy, you're full of surprises."
Timidly, the Light Fury approached, looking at Hiccup with wide, blue eyes. Hiccup reached out and pet the top of her head, moving so he could be out of their way.
"He's all yours." I rushed to Hiccup and slung his arm around my shoulders, moving my other arm around his waist. He looked down at me for a second, then the two of us focused back on the two Furies, who began to nuzzle each other affectionately. "Oh! Hold on." I watched as Hiccup tried his best to balance while undoing the binds on the baskets for Alith and Kerrigan. He cradled the former in his free arm, while I took the latter. We smiled down at our daughters, before Hiccup turned to me.
Not now, but very soon... He seemed to understand, nodding slightly before bringing my head closer to his and resting his forehead against mine.
Toothless purred as he looked to Hiccup curiously, moving his gaze between the horizon and the two of us. I reached out and took Alith from Hiccup's arms, allowing him to hop over to his best friend and say goodbye. I swallowed down the biting feeling in the back of my throat as I thought of the lovable dragon leaving for good.
"You're right, bud," Hiccup muttered. "It's time. I was so busy fighting for a world that I wanted, I didn't think about what you needed. You've looked after us for long enough. Time to look after yourselves."
My heart dropped for a second, but I knew what I had to do. With slight hesitance, I turned around and made my way over to Shriek, reaching around and releasing her saddle. At the end of the day, these dragons were wild animals, and although we kept them around for a while, they needed to be let go. Shriek had helped me when I needed her, and come in when everyone else had what I didn't, but she needed to go now and be with the rest of her kind. She looked up at me with wide, yellow eyes, as though asking me if I was sure. I sniffled as a couple tears threatened to spill out, then shifted my girls into one arm and embraced Shriek with the other.
"Oh, Shriek... my good girl."
Everyone else followed our lead, removing the saddles from their dragons and bidding them tearful goodbyes. I even caught Eret getting emotional, proving how quickly he and Skullcrusher had bonded. Hiccup looked to all of us, then pet his dragon one last time.
"Go on, bud. Lead them to the Hidden World. You'll be safe there. Safer than you could ever be with me. It's okay. I love you, too, and I want you to be free. Our world doesn't deserve you. Yet."
Toothless glanced at the Light Fury, before suddenly jumping forward and hugging Hiccup. I smiled, reminded of all the human habits Toothless had picked up on, like smiles and hugs. Whatever Hiccup had done for Odin to send Toothless his way... I was grateful for it.
"Go, Toothless. Go."
Toothless roared to the dragons, sending them a signal to follow. The all called out back, indicating they were ready, and the Light Fury and Toothless took off, leading all the other dragons to the place where they could be safe.
I held onto Hiccup again, and we lingered on the cliff side for as long as we could see the dragons on the horizon.