I Love You to the Edge and Back (A How to Train your Dragon Fanfiction)

Chapter Seventeen: To Chief or not to Chief Pt.1

"C'mon, please trust me. I'm nice. You trust me. Toothless trusts Hiccup," Astrid said. Her Night Fury just growled. They had been trying for hours to train it, to no avail.

"What am I doing wrong?" An exasperated Astrid asked her husband, who was watching from above

"Nothing."

"There has to be something," Astrid complained. She watched Hiccup come down, stop by the door. "Aren't you coming in?"

"Nope. You are going to ride her, so you have to train her," Hiccup replied.

"But, she hates me!" Astrid cried.

"No, your doing it wrong," Hiccup said.

"But you said that I was doing nothing wrong," Astrid argued.

"You weren't, and yet, you were. You cannot talk to her constantly. You have to let her figure you out. And, you cannot have your axe. That's one way they learn to distrust."

"Figure me out?" Astrid asked. 

"Yes, you. They need to learn what you are like," Hiccup replied. He slowly opened the gate, and stepped in. "First of all, drop the axe."

"But I am like an axe," Astrid replied.

"Do you want to train the dragon?" He asked.

"Fine." And with that, Astrid dropped her axe.

"Now kick it away." The sound of metal on concrete filled the circular arena. "Feed it."

"How do I do that?" Astrid asked.

"Just get one of those barrels, and tip it over in front of her."

Sounds easy enough, Astrid thought. She moved one of the barrels in front of the dragon, and tipped it over.

"Toothless, no," Hiccup said, getting on his dragon. Toothless looked longingly at the barrel of food, before warbling his disdain. He then went back to sitting at attention, waiting for the female to make one wrong move.

After the female was done eating, Hiccup instructed Astrid to; "Get close to it, allowing it to smell you. Then, pick up the axe and throw it at a target."

"I thought you said no weapons," Astrid replied.

"Just do what I say," Hiccup replied. He moved to better gauge the dragon's reaction to the axe.

The Night Fury looked at the axe, before sniffing it. Astrid then threw it, hitting the center of the target. Her dragon then shot plasma at the same target, the axe completely dissolving.

"Now, approach her. Use caution, and no sudden moves. And, finally, name her."

"Name her?"

"Yes, call her something. Nothing extravagant, just name her," her husband replied.

"Can't you help? You helped name Stormfly," she complained.

"That's why your naming her," Hiccup replied.

Lightstorm? No. Starfire? No. Morefire? Nah, probably not. How about......

"Who are you?" Hiccup asked a cloaked figure. Astrid was so lost in her thoughts she didnt realize the figure approach.

"I've come to bring a simple message. Take it or leave it, your choice."

"What is it?" Hiccup asked. The lady sounded rather familiar.

"Greta will come, day or night.
Be prepared to take flight.
If you don't, I warn you
Valkyries will welcome few."

With that, the mysterious lady summoned the fog, and went with them. Hiccup tried getting on Toothless, but a blast from the Smouldering Smokebreaths changed his mind. Hiccup gave Toothless the signal, and Toothless roared the Alpha roar. The dragons turned around, and landed next to him.

"Who are you?" Hiccup asked. Astrid picked an axe up from the ground, and stood next to Hiccup. The Night Furies flanked the Riders, wings spread and ready to attack.

"I warn you, do not near,
for the time, calls for fear.
If you attack,
you better run back."

With that, the masked figure ran as fast as she could. Hiccup sprinted after her, clearly faster. Within a matter of seconds, he caught her, grabbing her hand.

"You can't catch me!" The voice echoed through his brain.

"I bet I can!" A young boy yelled back.

"No you can't," the girl argued, a fit of giggles erupting from her chest. It was the kind of laugh Hiccup enjoyed.

"I'm gonna miss you Merida," the younger Hiccup said.

"Merida?" Hiccup asked. He pulled the hood from her face.

"You caught me. I always knew you could," she said weakly. Despite her attempts, Hiccup wasn't buying it.

"What, are you doing here?" He asked. His voice was like nothing Astrid ever heard.

"I'm here to warn you. Greta is coming in three days time."

"Tell that to the Grand Council," Hiccup replied, grabbing her arm.

"Ahh!" She screamed.

"What?" He asked, venom dripping from his voice.

"My arm. Greta. I tried escaping. She, she," Merida cried. Hiccup rolled up her sleeve, a little to harshly.

"She burned it. Just like Greta's father would have done to me," Hiccup said. His eyes filled with remorse, but still burned with fire.

"Astrid, can you help her mount Toothless? I'll follow on the female. We'll meet at the Great Hall, where the other Riders will be waiting" Hiccup instructed, tying a paper to a T.T's leg. Astrid nodded, and gently yet forcefully led Merida to Toothless.

"One wrong move, and this dragon won't be so nice. Nor will I," Astrid whispered to Merida. Astrid got on Toothless first, and then put Merida behind her backwards.

"How does he do that?" Astrid asked, looking up at Hiccup on the back of her dragon. He was flying her. With a flick of her foot, Toothless was in the air as well, ahead of the female.

"Just land inside the Great Hall. We front want trouble won't the villagers," Hiccup said. He dove in first, followed by Toothless. Astrid closed the hatch as she dove down. Thankfully, all of the Council Leaders were there. Well, most of them.

"Where's Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked.

"We couldn't find him," Tuff replied. He was casually digging dirt from under his fingernails.

"With, or without Fishlegs, this needs to be discussed," Astrid said. She hopped off Toothless, and helped Merida off.

"What is she doing heres," and "why is that traitor backs?" filled the expanse of the room.

"Toothless," Hiccup said. With a single blast, the room quieted. "Merida defected to us, saying that Greta is building an army to attack. Now, I know she is a traitor, so she'll face official trial once this all blows over. But, the question remains. Do we trust her?"