HTLANF: Hidden World

Chapter 12

That same day, Valka was looking around the temporary village for Hiccup and Kala, starting to grow worried when she could not find the young Night Furies.

'Oh, where have they run off to now?' She thought as she trekked her way through the island.

She then spotted Gobber and made her way over to him. "Gobber, have you seen Hiccup and Kala? I can't seem to find them anywhere."

"Not since last night chieftess. I'm sure they'll pop up soon. No need to be so worried." He said with a wave of a hand as he went to walk away, but he jumped as he was startled by a large group of Hobgobblers. "Gaaah! Where do they keep coming from?!"

Gobber then proceeded to hide behind one of the temporary huts.

"Who?" Valka asked, confused as she watched the blacksmith cower away.

Gobber pointed at the area where the Hobgobblers appeared. "Those bloody Hobgobblers."

Valka looked towards where Gobber pointed, but there wasn't a single dragon in sight.

"I swear, they're popping up faster than rabbits." Gobber said as he came out from behind the hut. "I think they want to eat me. Evidence would suggest that I'm tasty."

Valka rolled her eyes with a smile, but that quickly faded as she saw Nanna and Heather's dragons land with shaken riders in tow. She ran over to the girls and soothed the dragons as the Lykkes dismounted.

"Are either of you hurt? What happened out there?" The chieftess asked as she looked over the two women.

"W-we don't know how, but Grimmel's tracking us." Nanna said as she tried to calm herself.

"Gaaah! This is all because of the Hobgobblers!" Gobber exclaimed as he looked around warily for the dragons.

"He has a hundred ships, maybe more. With enough cages for all our dragons." Heather explained as she rubbed Windshear's head fearfully.

Valka sighed and became lost in thought as she paced back and forth.

"What do you want us to do, chieftess?" Nanna asked.

"If Grimmel is leading them here, we have to take him out of the mix." Valka decided, then she looked at Nanna. "I want you to go find Hiccup and Kala while the rest of us go capture Grimmel. I have a bad feeling they left the island to find the Hidden World all on their own."

Nanna nodded in understanding and mounted Stormfly's back, then they took off not a second later.

~~~HTLANF~~~

Kala dismounted Hiccup's back once he and Luna had landed on a large crystal in an outcropping near the Alpha's throne area.

"What do the two of you think?" Luna asked and the two Night Furies looked at one another with small smiles.

"It's wonderful Luna. This place is even better than we imagined." Kala said in awe as she ran her hand along a crystal next to them.

"I'm glad to hear it." The dragoness crooned, then her eyes widened as something dawned on her. "You two should come meet the Alpha."

Hiccup and Kala looked at her in confusion with tilted heads.

"Why? None of the dragons here have shown any signs of wanting to harm us. Is there some kind of tradition for newcomers or something?" Hiccup asked.

"While the other dragons have not shown any hostility, it is customary for newcomers to be welcomed to the Hidden World by the Alpha. I apologize for not telling you and taking you to speak with her sooner. It slipped my mind until now." Luna said, lowering her head slightly as she apologized.

Kala smiled and mounted Hiccup's back again. "It's alright Luna. Go ahead and take us to meet her."

Luna nodded and took off from the outcropping, Hiccup following right behind her as she led them down to the throne area and landed on the gigantic crystal in the center, where a blue and purple Deadly Nadder stood as she watched over her nest.

Luna bowed to her as Hiccup landed beside her. "Greetings, Alpha Rainstorm. I bring newcomers."

The Nadder looked at Luna and bowed in greeting then tilted her head. "Greetings to you, Lunaris. Who might be these newcomers to our home?"

Kala's eyes widened as she took in the Nadder's appearance, realization sinking in as memory of the fight she had with a wild Deadly Nadder over two years ago came to the forefront of her mind, her grip on the saddle tightening slightly. 'Not good...'

Luna looked at Hiccup and Kala with a small smile. "Alpha Rainstorm, meet the Night Furies Hiccup and Kala. I came across them in my travels in the surface world."

Rainstorm looked at the two Night Furies and her eyes widened. "I remember you. You're that human I fought two winters ago. I had no idea you were a dragon."

Kala smiled nervously as she lowered herself closer to her mate. "Y-yeah..that's me.."

Hiccup looked between his mate and the Alpha with wide eyes as he realized what was going on. "Wait. You fought my mate two years ago not even knowing she was a dragon? Let alone the Alpha? Why would you do that?"

"Watch your place." Rainstorm snapped. "And, no, I did not know she was the Alpha. If I had, then I would not have fought her to begin with."

Before anything else could be said, a Rumblehorn roared in the distance and the four of them looked in that direction. What they saw set fear into the two Night Furies.

Off in the distance, Nanna was running from dragons for her life, sliding down a cliff face to escape the ones chasing her. Kala's grip on the saddle tightened significantly as Hiccup sped off the crystal to get to their friend, dodging as many dragons as they could.

Hiccup then caught Nanna as she jumped and began to bolt for the entrance, Stormfly not too far behind.

"What are you doing here Nanna?!" Kala asked as they fled, not registering that Luna was following them.

"Valka sent me to get you guys! Grimmel's been tracking us!" Nanna explained as she got out of Hiccup's hold and landed on Stormfly's back.

Hiccup and Kala looked at each other worriedly as he and Stormfly flew even faster to escape.

~~~HTLANF~~~