The Great Beyond

Chapter 27: Enemy of my Enemy (Hiccup)

             Purple and pink hues still outlined the sky when I grabbed Toothless and the two of us snuck off to the dragon stables, trying not to alert anyone on the Edge that we were leaving. I'd already been scolded enough this week by Reign and Astrid, who refused to relent on their tirade to keep me grounded for the time being. If either of them caught me, they'd have my head, for sure.

I tried my best to work quickly against my protesting dragon, linking together the pieces of Gronkle Iron in a way that hopefully wouldn't pinch his scales too much. Toothless still grumbled and shook his legs, giving it his best shot at trying to get the armor off. He finally managed to loosen one of the rings, and several of the smaller pieces went flying, just narrowly missing my head.

"Oh, come on, bud, work with me here, please?" I sighed, growing more exasperated by the second. However, Toothless snarled at me, showing that he wasn't about to go down easy with this fight.

Despite his fighting, I wasn't about to give up on getting this armor on my dragon. He was more vulnerable without it, and I feared that if we got hit with one of those dragon root arrows, we'd be caught with no one knowing where we were to come rescue us. Deciding to take a different approach, I scooped up the discarded armor and started to lead Toothless outside, occasionally having to shush him or one of the other dragons. Shriek wouldn't stop staring at me with her yellow eyes, making me feel like I was under intense scrutiny.

"We're almost out of here, so Toothless, just—"

The moment I opened the doors to the stable, my heart jolted and stopped, freezing me in place. There stood Reign, hands planted firmly against her hips with her left eyebrow raised high in the air. Her lips had cemented themselves into a thin line, glaring at me with an alarming amount of fire in her eyes. I thought I'd managed to get up and slip out without tipping anyone off, but there was pretty substantial evidence in front of me that I'm not as slick as I'd initially thought.

"Reign!" My voice wavered slightly, startled as I returned her gaze. "Hey! Hey. So, what brings you here so early in the morning? You going for a flight on Shriek? Yeah, well, same here. With Toothless, though, of course." She didn't appear to be buying my quick excuses, but I couldn't stop myself from rambling at this point. "Because, Shriek, you know, that would be—"

"I don't believe this." At least she cut me off before things really started to run away. "You're going for a recon flight. Alone. With no support. No cover. We talked about this." My shoulders slumped as I sighed, but I wasn't about to give up here; I wouldn't forgive myself if I didn't do this.

"I know. I just didn't want to wake anybody. It's no big deal. Really." I dismissed. Unfortunately, Reign wasn't one to relent either.

"Yes, it is," she snapped, leering at me. "It's way too risky." Something on my face must have unconsciously shifted, because she backed up suddenly and started to speak in a much more understanding tone. "Hiccup, he's not out there. It's been months since the Viggo..."

Just hearing his name caused my face to crawl hot with shame. My failure that night followed me everywhere, taunting me both in silence and when I was surrounded by work or bustling friends. I couldn't even face Reign when our aggressor's name spilled from her mouth, unwilling to look at the person I felt I'd let down the most. She often tried her best to assure me otherwise, reminding me we'd gotten her sister out of there, but no matter what, it just didn't feel like we'd managed to actually accomplish something.

"...fiasco?" I finished, stepping past her to turn my back to her.

"I was going to say 'episode.'" She kept her words casual and calm, as though this entire event meant absolutely nothing. "You have to stop this. You're gonna wear yourself into the ground looking for this guy who doesn't want to be found."