Chapitre 48: Of Mates and Vengeful Ones (Part 4)
"Kala!!"
Hiccup and I turned our attention to the dragon that screeched for me. I immediately lit up when I saw who it was.
"Stormfly!!" I cheered as I ran towards her, transforming as I did.
Her and I danced about one another in greeting as Hiccup caught up to me and chuckled at our antics.
"It's so good to see you again! How are things?" Stormfly asked.
I smiled as my tail swayed back and forth happily. "They're going good. Been through some stressful situations, but that's to be expected. What about you?"
"Same as always. Miss you and the others, but I heard what happened and we all know how Astrid is. I'm sorry I wasn't able to come and visit." She apologized, bowing a bit like all Deadly Nadders do when apologizing.
"It's okay. No need to apologize Storm." I reassured her.
She nodded in understanding and smiled. Hiccup took the chance to scratch the side of her maw.
"Hey Stormfly. Long time no see." He greeted, acting as if he hadn't understood a single word of our conversation.
Stormfly purred at the attention, but stopped and sniffed both of us. Hiccup and I stiffened up, nervousness filling our bodies. After a minute went by, Stormfly's eyes widened.
"You two mated!" She screeched happily. "Oh this is wonderful! How long have you been mates?"
We sighed in relief once we realized she was ecstatic about it.
"About a day or so now." I said, a small blush forming under my scales.
"Only you, Hookfang, Meatlug, and Barf and Belch know though. So try to keep it down, yeah?" Hiccup asked with a low voice.
Stormfly's eyes widened a bit and she nodded. "Right. What made you two decide to mate now of all times? If Astrid finds out this will give her more fuel to turn the Vikings against you guys."
Both Hiccup and I blushed a bit at her question.
"W-well..w-we had been talking about it quite a bit and just were tired of waiting.." I stuttered out, hiding my face a bit with a paw in embarrassment.
Stormfly giggled a bit and smiled. "Well I'm happy for you two. You guys deserve to be happy."
We smiled at her with appreciation shining in our green orbs.
" Thank you. " We said in unison.
"Of course. You're my friends. I would hate to see either of you sad. You two make each other whole. Without the other you're not yourself."
"And yet Astrid is wanting to separate us." Hiccup growled out, but he collected himself as I nuzzled his side.
Stormfly sighed and nodded. "Unfortunately. How are you two going to handle being here with the bounties she and the Dragon Hunters have out there for you?"
"We're keeping our guards up for the time being. Just gonna be here for today and leave in the morning. No point in staying any longer than we have to." I explained, just a bit let down that I couldn't spend more time with Stormfly, but it is what it is.
"Stormfly, where'd you go?!" We heard Astrid call.
Stormfly squawked in annoyance. "Oh for the love of Akatosh. I must go now. It was good to see the two of you again."
"You, too Storm." I smiled.
She nuzzled me in a sisterly way and did the same to Hiccup, then she flew off to go to Astrid.
~~~HTLANF~~~
Later on that night, the celebration was in full swing. There were Viking children that were marching in parade with pennants. There were decorations throughout the entire village and the plaza itself was decked out for the occasion.
Gobber was acting as an announcer for the festivities and was shouting over the crowd to be heard by everyone. He had painted his face blue and black for the events.
"Let's hear it for the wee ones!" He shouted and the crowd cheered and cooed over the children. "We Berkians have come a long way in 400 years. For a long time, we were at war with the dragons, hunting them, killing them."
Hiccup and Kala flinched from where they were waiting with the other riders, which got some sympathetic looks from the others.
There was a Terrible Terror that was in the crowd that had climbed onto a Viking's shoulder, scaring him a bit, but once the Terror rubs against him like a cat he is calmed and is fine with the Terror being upon his shoulder.
"But that all changed one day when some of our youngest Berkians had the guts to step up and take a stand. Ladies and Vikings, the time has come to look towards the future of Berk. I give you Hiccup and the Dragon Riders!" Gobber finished as he gestured towards the darkened sky.
With their cue, Hiccup, Kala and the others took to the sky, their mounts aglow with dragon fire. Kala and the other dragons swiftly flew above all the Vikings as the crowd cheered at the spectacle. Some of the children were watching them fly past in awe.
Each rider had their own design painted upon their faces for the performance. Each color of paint matched the rider in some way or represented something important to the rider.
Hiccup looked back at the others, determination in his eyes. "Alright guys. Let's give 'em a show to remember."
The others nod in agreement and split up, most of them going off to get ready for their part in the performance.
Kala and Windshear stay together and fly towards one another, Kala a bit nervous about the stunt considering they forgot to put her automatic tailfin on. Hiccup noticed and scratched her head in reassurance. Once they were close enough, Hiccup and Heather stood upright on their saddles as Kala and Windshear skim within inches of each other, then they leaped before they can collide, clinking their arm braces together in salute as they pass through the air, before landing on their respective dragons' saddles again.
The crowd goes wild as Hiccup secures himself to Kala once more, the two of them making their way away from the main part of the performance for the next time they show up.
Hiccup scratched his mate's head as they flew through the village. "We did good love."
She purred happily and nodded. "Yeah."
Back with the others, Hookfang's body went aflame as he and Snotlout swooped toward the ground.
"Comin' in hot!" Snotlout shouted confidently.
Hookfang then released fire onto a heap of logs as they passed them, igniting an impressive bonfire. The crowd continued to cheer, enjoying the performance very much.
"This is fun!" One of the Vikings in the crowd cheered.
The twins then started their part of the performance, steering Barf and Belch straight up, Barf releasing gas from his maw the entire time to create a picture as they flew about in the air.
"You're making the nose too big!" Ruffnut complained.
"Everybody loves a strong, authoritative nose." Tuffnut retorted.
Barf and Belch fell backwards toward the gas cloud once the drawing was finished, Ruffnut and Tuffnut holding on as they fell.
"Whoop, whoop, whoop!" Ruffnut cheered.
"Light it up, Belch!" Tuffnut ordered, and Belch did just that.
The gas exploded into a type of firework shaped like a Viking head. Fishlegs took the opportunity to steer Meatlug towards the flames of the drawing for their part.
"Suck it in, Meatlug." He instructed as they flew through the flames that made up one of the eyes of the Viking head, emerging on the other side unscathed minus the fire that was adorning Fishlegs' helmet. He punched the air wildly in celebration. "Whoo! Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Fishlegs!"
The crowd cheered on the riders the entire time, nothing but enjoyment flowing out of their throats as they did. Hiccup and Kala swooped past a lot of the crowd as they made their way to their spot, scanning the crowd just in case there were any bounty hunters that they could spot. Each time a Viking made eye contact with them they would smile.
Hiccup noticed a small group of Vikings further from the crowd that seemed like they were enjoying the celebration, but were also overwhelmed by it all.
"You think they're bounty hunters, milady?" He quietly asked.
"I don't think so. Silent Sven is with them. They must be family members of his." Kala crooned just as quietly.
When Kala pointed out that Silent Sven was with them, Hiccup took notice of said Viking and shook his head to clear it. "No you're right. Guess the pressure of the bounties is getting to me. Let's just focus on the performance for now."
The two of them prepared for their part once they got to their spot. Hiccup took a deep breath as they waited.
"You sure you wanna pull this move off? We've never tried it before." Hiccup asked, nervous about what they were about to do.
"Yes I'm sure. It'll be okay. Not to mention it will be really cool." Kala said with a small laugh.
Hiccup smiled and nodded. "Very true." The two of them saw the spark that was their cue from Hookfang and Windshear. "Alright let's do this."
Kala sped off from their spot, her wings making the signature whistling sound that belongs to the Night Furies as they went. She then released plasma blasts that decorated the sky with explosions that fell through the air in small pieces. Hiccup then unhooked himself from the saddle and backflipped off her back.
Kala then flipped as she transformed into her human form and Hiccup took her hand and spun the two of them about in the air. The crowd was in utter awe at the sight, but got a bit nervous as the two of them got closer and closer to the ground, but at last minute Kala transformed again and they were up in the air once more. Not a single thing on their bodies was harmed from the stunt.
The crowd lost it as Hiccup and Kala met up with the other riders to land behind Gobber.
"Give it up for the Dragon Riders!" Gobber cheered and the crowd applauded and cheered as well.
Hiccup, Kala and the others all bowed and then left to get some food and rest.
~~~HTLANF~~~
As Hiccup and I were chatting with the others about the celebration and complementing one another on the performance, there was a presence that dampened our moods.
We all stopped talking as the dampening presence made herself known by approaching our table in the Great Hall.
"That was some performance you all pulled off tonight." Astrid said with her arms crossed, a smirk on her lips.
"What do you want, Hofferson?" Snotlout asked irritably.
"Oh nothing. Just wanted to tell you guys that I enjoyed the performance. Although it would've been better if the demon didn't save itself in the plummet." She laughed out loud.
Hiccup growled as he pulled me closer, which I gladly let him do and I clung onto him to keep calm.
"That's so messed up dude." Tuffnut said disappointedly as he shook his head.
"Yeah man. Not cool. Hiccup and Kala's performance was awesome. Don't go around saying differently." Ruffnut added as she glared at Astrid.
Heather stood and blocked Astrid's view of Hiccup and I. "I think you've done enough damage for one night, Hofferson."
Astrid huffed and crossed her arms. "Fine. I'll take my leave." She looked over Heather's shoulder to lock eyes with me. "Just sleep with one eye open tonight." She threatened, then took her leave.
~~~HTLANF~~~
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone