The Last Night Fury (A HTTYD Future AU)

Lightening And Death Itself

Linda could feel the wind rushing through her face and hair as she raced across the sky on her dragon, Dash. Despite it being early in the morning, which is something she despised, she didn't mind the chilling breeze rushing through her - if only for today.

After circling around Berk, she made her way inside the training ground at almost lightening speed before landing firmly onto the ground. Martha and Alric were there, with Martha watching the whole flight.

"Not bad. Not bad at all." Martha said, clapping her hands. 

Linda got of off Dash, giving a smirk at Martha. "Well, I appreciate that. But it was more Dash than me." she said, scratching under his jaw, which caused him to give a small growl. "Think you can beat that?" she later asked. 

"Oh, you bet. Come on, Sapphire." Martha called out to her dragon, who was resting, but quickly got up and ran up to her. She then climbed onto her dragon.

"Watch and learn." she smirked before taking off, speeding high up to the sky. Once she saw her take off, Linda grab a fish from a basket at the corner and threw it at Dash, who quickly caught it with his mouth and ate it. She then sat on the side of the training ground, next to Alric, who was fiddling with his belt buckle that held his metal shoulder pad. 

"You gonna go after her?" Linda asked

"Nah. Rather wait until Sterling finished with my saddle." Alric explained. 

Linda looked at him with confusion, which Alric noticed. "I realised that my old saddle didn't allow me to hit high speeds that I wanted to beat Martha. So I asked Sterling to modify it so that it's comfortable for me while also firm enough for those kinds of speeds."

Linda sighed. "Wow, you really want to beat Martha. It's like it's your life goals." she said, pushing his arm lightly. 

"Well, it ain't my life goal, but..."

"Right!" Both were interrupted by the sound of Sterling's booming voice as he came through the training ground's gate.

"Let's get this over and done with." He looked around the grounds, looking quite confused. "Hey, Linda?" 

"Yep?"

"Where's Hilda?" Suddenly, she felt her stomach sank as she remembered why Sterling was here and what Hilda said in her note.

"Still sleeping. Why?" she said, clearly lying but no one noticed it. She was known to be a pretty good liar.

"Didn't she want to pick a dragon today?" Sterling asked, with even more confusion.

"She did, but she stayed up all night thinking about what dragon to get, so she might wake up closer to the afternoon."

"Alright. Well, I have to feed the dragons anywhere. Oh, and Alric? The saddle is almost done. Come tomorrow to get it." Alric simply nodded, shocked after hearing about what Hilda was going to do. Linda noticed this, but ignored him, as she was starting to worry about Hilda.

"It's almost the afternoon. What's taking you so long?"

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The forest was still silent, still holding its breath, the same way Hilda was. She didn't know how long she stood there, frozen - minutes, hours, even days. Time stopped for a moment as she was indeed, looking at the dragon known as the Night Fury.

"It...it can't be." she whispered, not wanting to alert it as it was laying on the ground still. Finally, Hilda began to move and walked slowly, step by step, towards its head but still keeping a good distance from it. She then kneeled down at its level to get a closer look. She could see all the familiar features of a Night Fury - a smooth head with no horns in sight, but instead ear-like appendages. Small snort. Large jaw.

Hilda stared at it in awe. It was as if she was looking at a old friend - a friend she thought she could never see again. She could hear it making small breathes, still laying on the ground, not making any attempts to break free from its binds. She then got up, walked around to its side and kneeled down again. She took out a small dagger that she had in her belt and started to cut the ropes. It took a bit, but managed to cut the ones on its legs. She then went to do the same on its wings. 

The Night Fury didn't move. It didn't even make a nudge.

Hilda looked confusingly at it, wondering what was going on. Minutes went by, nothing. Not sure what to do, she left, walking through the bushes again. 

"That couldn't be real." she immediately said to herself, her voice loudly than what it was. "It must have been in my head. I mean... it's a Night Fury! There is no way that was..." 

Suddenly, she heard a growl. The growl got louder and louder. Hilda slowly turned her head, then her whole body. She didn't see anything. She slowly walked back, still facing the bushes. She stepped on a branch. 

A large, black dragon pounced out of the bushes, grabbing Hilda and bringing her down to the ground. She let out a big scream as she fell onto the ground, with the dragon's claw grabbing hold of her. She was now staring into the yellow-green eyes of the Night Fury - its black pupils narrow, its breath now sharp and almost dangerous. She also noticed a large scar on its left eye, going straight through the eyelid. 

The Night Fury bowed its head closed to Hilda's, causing Hilda to breath heavier and faster, fearing for her life. However, despite the fear in her taking over as she stared down at this creature, she can't help but feel a sense of wonder, looking at a dragon she and the rest of Berk believed to have been extinct.

The Night Fury's head moved closer to her before making a sudden stop. Its ears moved up, causing it to lift its head up. It made a growl, looked back down at Hilda, who was looking at like a statue, stretched its large wings and flew straight through the forest and disappearing into the distance. 

Hilda was breathing so heavily, she almost felt like fainting. Her hands were shaking vigorously as she placed it on a rock next to her and getting up onto her knees. She looked at the distance, at the direction the Night Fury took off. Then, a smile slowly emerged onto her face. Hands still shaking, she grabbed hold of her Night Fury necklace she was wearing and held it tightly.

"They're not all dead." she said. "They're not all dead!" she shouted, loud and proud. She quickly got up and started to run, but immediately fell, forgetting her body was still traumatised from that experience. After a moment, she got up again, body still shaking but able to coordinate with her as she ran in the same direction of the Night Fury.

It was a crazy idea and she may be putting herself in even more trouble, but there was no way she was going to let that dragon get away. 

She had to find it - the last Night Fury in the whole archipelago.