Staraster-A How To Train Your Dragon Fanfiction

Chapter 20~Foe Of Lightning

~Melina's POV~
Dagur leaned over me and snickered, his face the only thing I could see. "Thanks for leading Hiccup and Toothless right to us!" he jeered, his smile curling up his face. I tightened my hands into fists and thrust myself at him, only to be yanked back by the chains. "He'll never join you," I snapped angrily, leaning forward so I was face to face with the devil, ignoring how the cold chains tightened on my throat and arms. So cold...
"But you will," he said with certainty, inches from my face. I stared him down firmly, swallowing my fear like tough mutton. Without warning he opened his fist and flicked open a pocketknife, holding it to my throat. "Trust me, you will."
Trust me, you will.
I jerked awake, gasping for air. Karma was leaning over me fearfully, her wings a glowing cave around us. "I'm okay, girl, it's just another nightmare." The fourth. I had been sleeping on and off the past day, and I was starving and freezing. I breathed in and out.
"It's just a dream, Melina," I scolded myself, watching my breaths dense into cold mist. Karma leaned into me, perhaps sorry she had no fire to warm me. I would've asked Spark for some, but I didn't think she was well. She had barely moved since we had been stranded.
I worried for Hiccup and Toothless, and thought about Arrow and Kyrra, every waking moment of my existence. I reached out my arm to stroke Karma's cold wing, shivering. Suddenly I heard the flapping of wingbeats. Karma unwound herself from around me, instinctively putting herself between me and the arrival.
I pushed her wing down, straining my neck to see what it was, hope escalating through my veins. "Hiccup?!" I yelped, running to him in shock. I threw my arms around him, feeling like I was going to cry. "Hey there," he said softly as Toothless bounced over to Karma, their past forgotten.
"You...how...oh gods, your face!" I cried, pushing myself away from him so I could look at his face. He had a dark purple bruise over his right eye, and he was scratched and bleeding, a light trail inching down the side of his face.
"Never mind me, what happened?" he asked wearily, looking past my shoulder at Toothless sniffing Karma's wing anxiously and Spark wilting in the background. "Oh..that," I muttered, momentarily forgetting the fact that they had escaped from the Berserkers.
"About before, I um, I, I-"
"It's okay, Melina, but tell me, what's wrong with your dragon?"
I winced, taking a last look at his face and then running back to our dragons. Hiccup knelt, cringing, beside Karma's hurt wing, running his hand over it softly. "It looks like...a lightning charring," he murmured, scratching my Flightmare's chin. "You got struck by lightning?!"
"Sort of."
"Tell me, Melina!"
"I...let a frozen Skrill out."
...
We both stood there in an embarrassed pause as he processed this. He wiped the blood off of his face slowly as I watched him guiltily. "Skrillvo," he muttered, rising to his feet fluidly.
"What?"
"You let out Skrillvo?! Oh no, this is not good, not good..."
Toothless pushed his face into Hiccup's hand anxiously, humming in his throat. The Chief mounted him hurriedly. "Wait! Where are you going?" I exclaimed, rising. "We have to track him down," he said firmly, blood dripping off of his jaw. "Come with me now, we'll come back for these dragons later."
I was brimming with questions but I pulled myself onto Toothless behind Hiccup. "I'll be back, girl, I promise," I told her, my voice quivering. I wrapped my arms around Hiccup's stomach, feeling weird. He was Astrid's, and I was Arrow's, this was just awkward.
Toothless leaped skyward, taking off effortlessly. His dark wings spanned out alongside us as we sped vertically into the clouds. I squeezed Hiccup, shrieking as we accelerated. At least Toothless was fine. I noticed how much he was like Staraster, only faster.
We slowed down once we were above the clouds, the mist swirling in our faces. I shivered, tucking my head under my arms. "I'm taking you back to Berk-they're in a Capture the Flag game right now; I'm going back out to find Skrillvo."
I pulled away. "Not alone!" I protested. "That dragon has to be dealt with. He's as powerful if not more than Toothless." I stared at Hiccup's metal leg, suddenly realizing the wrath I had unleashed. Toothless' wing beats seemed to echo in the silence. I resolved to ask him about his escape once more important matters had passed. "What's your plan?" I asked him worriedly. Hiccup seemed to think about this for a minute. He turned his bloodied face to meet mine, serious as ever.
"I'm going to tame a Skrill Chiller."
I sat in a pool of awe. It had never been done, of course. Skrill Chillers were the enemy of the lightning dragons, attacking them on sight, and hunting them down. They existed to kill Skrill's. Hiccup was brilliant-and crazy. "Is that possible?" I asked.
"No one thought I could train a Night Fury," he pointed out, turning back around. Toothless growled, agreeing. Same old, same old. I was seriously wishing I had my furred shirt on right now-I mean, I could see Toothless' breaths from here. I saw Berk below and my heart sped up. I was so close to Arrow and Kyrra, so close to home.
Hiccup took it slow, circling downward in a spiral like he was descending a wide staircase. He made an annoyed noise, but I was pretty happy about what he wasn't. I recognized Bonecrusher's multi-colored body and Staraster's beige white gliding above the trees towards the village.
I remembered he had said that they were playing Capture the Flag, and snickered. They were so busted, cheating like that. Toothless shot plasma towards them, and I watched Kyrra (riding Bonecrusher?) startle as it whizzed past her. She glanced up, wide-eyed, like dragon dung.
Toothless tilted us towards her quickly. I wondered where Arrow was. Kyrra yelped when she saw me, standing up on Bonecrusher and leaping over to Staraster. She turned to fly towards us, exposing Arrow hanging from Staraster's feet. I had a nice story to come home to.
"Melina!" she yelled, Staraster grinning and speeding up. Soon we were across from each other, Toothless and the Woolly Howl eyeing each other warily. Kyrra came up alongside Toothless and I jumped off of him, a little nervous, but my sister caught me in her arms.
We embraced.
"I'm so glad you're okay!" she cried, squeezing me tight. "Where's the Flightmare, and Hiccup escaped?! Oh gods, his face, and-"
"It's okay, Kyrra, we're okay." I swung my head over Staraster's side, watching Arrow hang upside down. "Hey there," he said weakly, looking embarrassed about his predicament. "I'll let Melina tell you everything, but I need to go now," Hiccup said, and turned to fly away, as fast as a shooting star, much faster than we had gone.
There were so many things Kyrra and I wanted to say, but we just stared at each other for a minute. Bonecrusher finally arrived next to us, hovering unsurely. "Well, we're screwed," Arrow grumbled. The Reds' signature horn blew loudly in the silence. Kyrra growled under her breath at the red team winning the game but Arrow just snickered. "Can you let me down now?" he asked, annoyed.
•••
I told them everything that had happened. Arrow just couldn't believe he was going to go tame a Skrill Chiller. Kyrra could, however, and we went to talk to Valka and Astrid at the Hall. "I let out a Skrill," I said firmly, my voice shaking a little, "and I left two possibly dying dragons on an iceberg. One of them is my Flightmare."
It occurred to me how long it had been since Karma had had her algae, and I was too busy worrying about her to pay attention to the look Valka and Astrid exchanged. Arrow told them about Hiccup, gesturing wildly. "You're staying," Valka said firmly, pushing on Astrid's shoulder so she had to sit. Before Arrow had even finished Valka was on her dragon. I looked at Astrid, who was sulking, confused.
"Wait!" he cried. "You don't know what you're up against!" She ignored him and flapped off, Cloudjumper's four wings marking an ending X in the sky. Kyrra slumped with a sigh, defeated. Arrow leaned against the doorway of Meade Hall. "Wait, I mean, I'm glad you're staying, but why are you, anyway?" I asked Astrid, crossing my arms. She shifted a little, adjusting her feet. I was really tempted to go get my jacket when the wind cracked through the silence. Astrid looked up at me, smiling just a little in her sly way that worried me.
"I'm pregnant."