Cloud's Journey: Home

Mourning Revenge

My face sticky from crying, I stared down at the mound of fresh earth at my feet. Bluewing had saved my life and I couldn't repay him. It was too late.

Hiccup rested a hand on my shoulder. "You should get some sleep." He said.

I nodded and walked away, vaguely aware of Serendipity at my side. She curled up near the fire and I collapsed against her. I ached all over and my eyes hurt. I closed them.

I heard Hiccup and Astrid whispering. The others--including Egil--were gone, but Hiccup and Astrid weren't talking about them. I heard them say my name under their breath.

"I'm not deaf." I grumbled, clenching my teeth. It made my eyes heavier than before. I fell into slumber.

My eyes flickered against the pink light shining on them. Squinting, I propped myself up. Dipper cooed, nuzzling my arm. I forced a weak smile before standing up.

Hiccup and Toothless walked up to me. The Night Fury put his head under my hand. I stroked his head half-heartedly.

"How did you sleep?" Hiccup asked, gesturing towards me.

"Good." I murmured, not meeting his gaze.

None the less, I caught his sympathetic smile. "It'll take time, but you'll get over your sadness." He assured.

My heart tightened in my chest and I glared at him. "You wouldn't be able to get over it if Toothless died." I growled.

Hiccup winced. Toothless licked his hand.

Pursing my lips, I glared at the ground.

"What did you tell her?" Astrid asked, walking up with hands on hips.

"He just suggested that Bluewing isn't that important." I snapped.

"What? I never said--!"

"You said I would get over him!" I jabbed a finger at his chest. "Well you're wrong! I'll never forget him!"

"I didn't ask you to forget him." Hiccup scowled.

"Stop it!" Astrid ordered, stepping between us. "Cloud, it's not Hiccup's fault, so you don't have to bite his head off."

I grit my teeth. "I--"

"It's Egil's fault, not Hiccup's, that Bluewing died." Astrid interrupted. "But you can still control your feelings."

I tear threatened to slide down my cheek. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok. I can't imagine if Toothless left me." Hiccup offered a small smile as he laid a hand on Toothless' black head.

"I still don't know what to do, though." I looked at my boots.

"You have time to figure that out." Hiccup said. "The others will find Egil soon, then we'll go back to Berk."

I didn't look up.

"I guess I had better go look myself, give the others a break." Hiccup mused, climbing into the saddle.

"Not the twins though." Astrid reminded.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "They're staying out there, don't worry."

"I'm coming with you." I said.

Hiccup and Astrid looked at me. "What?"

"I want to find Egil." I stated, lifting my chin. "I want to make him pay for what he did to Bluewing."

"Cloud, I... I-I don't think that's such a good idea," Hiccup started.

"You can't change my mind." I told him.

"Maybe not, but I could choose to leave you here."

"You can't do that!" I snapped. "Would you really leave me here alone?"

"No. You'd have Dipper, Astrid and Stormfly."

"Hiccup, please, I just want--"

Something crashed in the bushes. We whirled around. A brown Gronckle stumbled out of the bushes, shaking its head. A man just as big as the bulky dragon got off and ran up to us.

"Hiccup!" Fishlegs gasped.

"Fishlegs!" Hiccup jumped off Toothless and hurried toward Fishlegs with outstretched hands. "Where were you?"

"The twins said you were on guard duty." Astrid added, strolling up.

"That wasn't my fault." Fishlegs cringed. "I came to tell you something, the twins saw me and said 'You're up, pal'. Before I could say anything, they'd fallen asleep."

Hiccup's jaw tensed. "Do you know where Egil is?"

"I last saw him when he cut himself loose and told me to run as fast as I could if I ever wanted to see daylight again."

"So where were YOU?"

"Back on the Whitecap. I came to tell you last night I was worried about Bjorg, but he seems a lot better this morning."

Hiccup closed his eyes and sighed. "That's good. I'll go see him."

Fishlegs nodded. Both of them hopped onto their dragons and took to the sky.

I sighed, putting a hand on Dipper's sea-green cheek.

"Do you want to go looking for him?"

I spun around to face Astrid. "You'd take me?"

"Snotlout needs some sleep, and I can't leave you here alone. Even with a dragon of your own. Besides, I can understand what this might mean to you."

"Really."

"Somewhat." Astrid smirked.

I smirked back. "Mount up, dragon rider."

We swung onto our dragons' backs and threw ourselves into the sky.

"Alright, let's track down that feind." I said.

"When did you become the boss?" Astrid teased.

"Since Egil killed Bluewing."

"Well, boss, lucky for you, Stormfly is a tracker class dragon."

"Perfect! Now it's time to track."

As we flew over the treetops, scanning below for a sign of Egil or one of the dragon riders, I thought about what I was doing. I had sought revenge... was it three weeks ago now? But this time there was a reason. Unlike before, the person I wanted to bring to justice was actually evil. He was even a murderer! And he planned to destroy even more. I was doing the world a favour.

My attention was drawn to Stormfly as she flared her nostrils and sucked in deep whiffs of air.

"What is it, girl?" Astrid asked, leaning closer to her dragon's face.

I searched the trees below. A flash of red and orange appeared underneath the leaves.

"Hey, I think I saw Hookfang." I whispered.

We steered Stormfly and Dipper down to where I had spotted the Monstrous Nightmare. Sure enough, he was there. We flew up behind him.

"Hey Snotlout, have you seen--?"

"Quiet!" Snotlout snapped at Astrid.

"I was asking a simple question." Astrid retorted.

I looked up ahead to see what Snotlout had been looking at. A gasp almost managed to escape my mouth.

Egil!

"Look, there he is!"