fight till the end, h. haddock

10, star...?

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The watch tower was lit with a big fire pit, Gobber and the recruits surrounding it. They all had turkey legs or fish on a stick for their dinner, although most of the time, everyone was talking instead of eating.

"...And with one twist, he took my hand, and swallowed it whole. And I saw the look on his face: I was delicious," Gobber said, waving his turkey leg around in the air. "He must have passed the word, because it wasn't a month before another one of them took my leg."

Drifa stared at the fire, her eyes burning from the heat, yet she didn't move. Her mind was traveling to earlier that day, when she had gotten so close to a Night Fury. It felt so surreal to think that she was less than a few inches away from a dragon and it didn't kill her.

She thought of the Fury's aqua blue eyes and the dots lining its chest. She thought of the holes in its wings and wondered if there was anything she could do to help. Drifa wanted to help, despite what everyone would tell her.

The blonde's eyes narrowed on the fire, as if it was the one causing a problem. There was no problem, though. Drifa was just running through every possibility to help the Night Fury fly again.

What if she came up with some kind of ointment to allow the wings to grow back naturally? Yeah, if only Drifa was skilled in that department.

The Night Fury seemed to like stars. What if she created small bandages to cover the holes, but made star designs so she could still blend in? That could work...but she would need some help coming up with measurements.

Drifa felt something nudge her side, making her look up from the fire and over to the auburn haired boy who looked at her worriedly.

She gave him a small smile of reassurance and turned back to the group, forcing herself to finally pay attention.

"Isn't it weird to think that your hand was inside a dragon?" Fishlegs asked, his dinner-two chicken legs-waving around. "Like if your mind was still in control of it, you could have killed the dragon from the inside by...crushing his heart, or something."

"I swear, I'm so angry right now! I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight. With my face!" Snotlout exclaimed, pounding his fist in his hand.

Gobber shook his head, wiping his mouth. "Un-unh. It's the wings and the tails you really want. If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon."

Hiccup and Drifa glanced at each other, their eyes wide. The girl almost dropped her fish, which wouldn't have been that big of a deal since she had lost her appetite for it earlier, when she had to eat some of it for the Night Fury.

The realization as to why the Furies were still in the cove had hit them.

"Alright. I'm off to bed. You should be, too. Tomorrow we get to the big boys. Slowly but surely making our way up to the Monstrous Nightmare. But who'll win the honor of killing it?" Gobber sighed, standing up.

Drifa tapped Hiccup's shoulder, nodding her head towards the stairs, signaling her desire to leave. He was quick to stand up and grab her hand, leading her down the stairs and away from the crowd of people.

They had work to do.

"It's gonna be me. It's my destiny. See?" Tuffnut smirked, leaning back and showing off something on his body.

Fishlegs gasped. "Your mom let you get a tattoo?"

Astrid looked up from her seat, her brows furrowing at the absence of two of the teens. She rose and looked around, not seeing them anywhere.