章節 20: Chapter 20: Calm before the storm
Stoick stared at the island in front of him with determination. It had taken him longer than he had expected to gather his men and get back here.
"We will be there soon. Stay prepared." Stoick commanded his men.
The Vikings present on the dock quickly rushed to get equipped and got into their positions. Gobber walked over to his friend and stood beside him.
"Ya sure this is a good idea?" Gobber asked.
"Maybe. Maybe not. But I am willing to take the risk. This time we are prepared and I won't underestimate him. I just hope he hasn't done anything to Astrid and her friends." Stoick said.
Astrid's parents hadn't liked it when they learnt that Stoick had left their daughter behind. They had come with him to get their daughter back home. Same with the parents of the Thorston twins and Fishlegs. Spitlout was actually rather proud that his son had gone on a dangerous mission like that. Stoick sighed and went back to guiding his men.
(With Hiccup)
"Wait, you can't be serious!" Astrid yelled out at Hiccup.
Hiccup, Astrid and the rest of the gang were gathered in the living room of Hiccup's mansion. They were discussing the current situation and what they should do.
"We can try to reason with him. Try to show him the truth. There must be some other way." Astrid offered.
"Astrid, I am not left with any other option." Hiccup argued "Stoick is clearly coming here to get you guys. And from what I have learnt from the Dragons he is coming with a whole armada." Hiccup sighed "I am sorry guys, but you all have to go now."
Astrid and the others looked sad but they knew Hiccup was right. They didn't try to argue anymore. The gang went to their respective rooms and gathered their things. They bid good bye to their friend as they were ready to leave. Hiccup put on his armour and summoned Toothless. Just before he could mount Toothless, Astrid grabbed his arm from behind. Hiccup turned around to look at her and stared directly into her ocean blue eyes. There were so many emotions in those eyes that Hiccup couldn't even form any words to describe them. Astrid leaned forward and kissed him on his lips and quickly pulled away. It was brief but it was enough for both of them.
"I-I am not ready to say goodbye yet Hiccup." Astrid confessed and looked down. She looked like she would break into tears.
"Hey, hey." Hiccup called out as he put his hand under her chin and lifted her face up, making her look into his forest green eyes as he continued "It's not a goodbye yet Astrid. It's more like, see you later."
Hiccup offered her a gentle smile as he wiped away a single tear that rolled down from Astrid's left eye. Astrid smiled back and fixed herself.
"It better be Haddock. Or else I will find you, again."
Astrid told him and went over to her friends.
Hiccup watched her leave as he felt a pang in his chest. He didn't want her to go. But he knew they had to. At Least for now. With a sigh Hiccup got on top of Toothless and put on his helmet.
(Sometime later. At the seashore)
The ships had reached the shore and were anchored at their place. Stoick followed by Gobber and a dozen more of his men jumped off the ship and walked towards the centre of the island. They didn't have to walk too far as just after taking a few steps, they heard a very familiar screech. They looked up and saw the unholy offspring of lightning and death himself flying towards them.
Some of the Vikings excluding Stoick, ducked down in fear. Stoick on the other hand stood tall. The Nightfury in front of them, maintaining a good distance between the Vikings and himself. The Night rider could be seen on the back of the Dragon. He was wearing the very same armour he wore the day Stoick first met him. Night rider dismounted his Dragon and took a few steps forward.
"Hello there." Night rider greeted them.
"Night rider." Stoick coldly said.
"What do I owe this visit to?" Night rider asked.
"I believe you have some of my people captivated on your island. I demand you return them at once or face our wrath." Stoick proclaimed. His fellow Vikings cheered in agreement behind him.
"I don't intend to keep them here either, Stoick. You can take them away from here." Night rider told him.
As if on cue, Astrid and her friends came out of the forest and walked over to Stoick. There they greeted each other and Stoick inquired about their stay with the Night rider. Once satisfied with the answers, Stoick and the rest of his group proceeded to leave followed by Astrid and the gang. As they walked away, Astrid looked back at her lover once and saw him standing still and looking at her direction.
Hiccup hadn't even moved an inch as he watched Astrid leave. He felt a lump forming in his throat as the girl he loved went further and further away from him. Hiccup wanted to run after her. To stop her and hold her in his arms and never let go of her. But he restrained himself as he knew that it was better for her if she wasn't with him for the time being.
The Vikings had went back in their ship and it seemed like they were pulling up the anchors and preparing to sail away.
(With the Vikings)
Astrid's parents were overjoyed when they saw their daughter for the first time in months. Ingrid and Harold Hofferson held their daughter in their arms as they cried tears of joy and happiness. They were finally reunited with their daughter and they couldn't ask for more. The parents of the other gang members were more or less in the same state. Fishlegs was being embraced by his parents. Tuffnut and Ruffnut were having their parents scold them, but in a good way. As for Snotlout, he was currently standing beside his father with an awkward smile plastered on his face as Spitlout was telling his buddies how Snotlout went on a mission to spy on the Night rider.
"Ohh, Astrid. My dear child. I can't express how happy I am to see you." Ingrid said as she let go of her daughter.
"Yeah Astrid. For a moment we thought, we might never be able to see you again." Harold said.
This earned him an elbow to the side from his wife, who glared at him for bringing up such thoughts. Harold sheepishly smiled as he rubbed the sore spot and decided not to provoke his wife any further.
"Astrid, please tell me that monster didn't do anything to you." Ingrid said out of concern.
"Mom, I am fine. Night rider didn't try anything with me. For a vigilante he is surprisingly well mannered." Astrid told her parents.
They sighed in relief after hearing those words.
"Good. Because if he did, I would chop him into little pieces with my axe. No matter what the consequences." Harold said, patting the battle axe that was strapped on his hip.
"I don't think….. that would be… necessary." Astrid said.
"Um, Astrid." Someone called her from behind.
She turned around to find it was Stoick who called her.
"May I have a moment with her?" Stoick asked her parents.
"Sure, chief." With that Astrid's parents went left the place.
"Astrid, I am very happy that you and your friends have come back safe. But I hope you haven't forgotten that you were sent there for a specific purpose." Stoick told her.
"Ye-Yes chief, I did manage to get a good look around the island." Astrid said.
"Good. What did you manage to learn about the defences of that island?" Stoick demanded from her.
"Chief, I don't think a war with him would be necessary. Maybe we can try to make peace with him?" Astrid suggested.
"Peace isn't an option with that Dragon loving scum! He has befriended our life long enemy, the Dragons! There's no way we can or will make peace with him." Stoick roared.
Astrid cowered under the booming voice of her chief.
"So Now tell me what do you know about that Odin forsaken place!" Stoick demanded from her.
Astrid tried to resist, but it didn't work out and she ended up telling him what she knew about the defences. She immediately felt crushed with guilt after that. Stoick had turned away from her after learning all that.
"Thank you Astrid." Stoick said and then took a few steps forward.
"Prepare the ships!" Stoick exclaimed and soon after that the Vikings started hurrying around the ships. Astrid watched in horror as they brought out some huge machines which could be easily distinguished as Dragon hunting weapons.
"Stoick, what are you doing!?" Astrid exclaimed.
"We are going to claim this land and this time the Night rider won't be able to stop us." Stoick told her.
Astrid tried to stop him. Tried to tell him the truth about Dragons and who Night rider really is. Even her friends joined her. But Stoick wasn't having any of it. He instead accused them of being manipulated by the Night rider and had them locked up in the cells present in the ship so that they wouldn't get in his way. Once that was done Stoick looked back at the island.
"You will pay for whatever you have done to them, Night rider." Stoick thought as he glared at the island.
(With Hiccup)
Hiccup watched as the ships slowly sailed further away. There was something going on in those ships, but he couldn't make out what it was from this distance. With a sigh, Hiccup got back on top of Toothless and they proceeded to fly away from there. Toothless was flying rather slow as he crooned out of concern.
"I will be fine, bud." Hiccup told his Draconic friend and looked back at the horizon.
But suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his back, right between his spine and left shoulder. Hiccup let out a yelp as he slipped down from Toothless. Toothless took a not of this and dove after his friend and wrapped him in his wings, into his safety before they both crashed on the ground. When they got up, Hiccup noticed a broken piece of arrow on the ground and pulled out the other piece from his back. He looked back at the Viking ships and to his horror, he saw the ships now coming back towards the island. Hiccup frantically searched the hidden pockets in his armour and produced what looked like a small Spyglass.
He used it to check the ships and gasped in horror at what he saw. He saw giant machineries on the dock of the ships. One glance at them and he could easily recognised them as the Dragon hunting weapons used by Dragon hunters. He put down the spy glass and only one word came out from Hiccup's mouth as he realised the situation.
"No…"
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