The Last Night Fury (A HTTYD Future AU)

I'll Be There For You

Despite the sky being as dark as the deepest, darkest caves, with only the stars being its only source of light, that didn't stop the Vikings of Berk from their celebration. They were the kind of people who loved to have any excuse to have a party, and the discovery of the last Night Fury was certainly that kind of excuse.

The streets were covered wall to wall with decorations of all kind. The centre of Berk was filled with happy Vikings, cheering and dancing all about. The Great Hall was lined with tables, topped with finest food they could make. Little kids were running about and giggling, having fun with the provided entertainment. And to top it all off, the Dragon Riders gave their own spectacle, performing daring stunts that the Vikings wooed and awed and clapped and cheered.

Hilda was, once again, on the ground with the others, watching as her friends were performing. She watched, smiling at their amazing tricks. Normally, she would be smiling on the outside, but inside she would upset, devastated, almost jealous that she wouldn't be able to be up in the air with them. But now she has a dragon of her own, she knew that one day, she would join them and one day, she would be a Dragon Rider like them.

Her train of thought was interrupted by a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and saw her dad, Dustin behind her, holding and eating a leg of chicken.

"Great party, aye?" he exclaimed, almost talking with his mouth full. 

Hilda chuckled. "Yeah, it's pretty cool, dad." Dustin wrapped his arms around her, both of them watching the Dragon Riders, cheering at their performance, especially at Linda and Dash. 

"Look at that. Both my daughters, having dragons of their own." he said ecstatically . 

"I bet you're over the moon for me, especially." Hilda laughed. She then heard her dad sigh, which took her by surprise. "Are you OK?" she asked. 

Dustin turned to face her. "I just want to say... I'm sorry if you ever felt like I was pushing you. I never wanted you to feel that way, but at the same time, I didn't want you to not have a dragon. I wanted you to be like your sister and..." He was then stopped midway when Hilda gave him a hug. 

"It's OK, dad. While, in a way, you were pushing me, I knew why. I get it. And I'm not mad at you for it." she smiled. Dustin smiled back, giving a hug back. 

"I'm glad to hear that." he replied. He then released his hug from Hilda, then Hilda did the same. "And besides, the wait was worth it. You got yourself a Night Fury of all dragons!" he exclaimed. 

Hilda laughed. "Yeah, that's definitely true." Dustin was about to speak again when he heard other Vikings calling out his name. 

"Sorry, Hilda. I'll be right back." Hilda nodded in response and he quickly disappeared into the crowd. Once he went, a thought came into Hilda's mind. She turned all around, realising that the Night Fury was not with her. 

"Where did she go now?" she whispered. She went away from the centre of Berk, walking towards the cliffsides. She didn't know how long ago the Night Fury left since she was too mesmerised with her friends' performances, so she'd hoped the dragon didn't go far. 

Luckily, after about 3 minutes, she found the Night Fury, sitting at the edge of a cliffside, looking up to the sky. 

She slowly walked towards her, but then, like it was some sort of a curse, she stepped on a twig. The Night Fury quickly turned her head, growling, but immediately stopped when she saw it was Hilda. Her pupils grew wider and she gave a calm yelp at her. 

Hilda smiled. "Sorry. Didn't mean to disturb you. Mind if I..." She pointed at a space next to the Night Fury. The dragon looked at the space and gladly moved a bit to make the space bigger. Hilda made her way to that space, sitting down with her legs handing over the edge. 

She breathed in the cold but somewhat fresh air, looking straight at the ocean, wondering how far it went, if there even was a point where it stopped. She then looked at her dragon, noticing that she wasn't looking at the ocean, but instead continued to look at the sky. 

She chuckled. "You really like the sky, huh?" The Night Fury growled in response. "Don't worry. Once we learn how to fly properly, you can get close to the sky again."

The Night Fury didn't take her eyes off the sky. Hilda then got curious and looked at the sky herself. While it was pitch black, it was covered with so many stars that it was impossible to even start counting them. 

"Wow." she whispered, her breath taking by the sheer wonder of the site. "You must really like the stars."

Then, a thought came into her mind. In fact, many thoughts did, one by one.

"Star... maybe Star? No. OK. Stars are usually bright, so.... Starbright? No, that doesn't sound right. Stars... they're bright and... they light up... the sky. Lightening? No, too obvious. Lightening star... Light... star... Star...light. Starlight."

"That's it!" Hilda exclaimed, startling the Night Fury since she was quiet for a while. 

"I got it!" She quickly brought her legs up from the edge, sitting on them and facing the dragon. "I got a name for you!" The Night Fury looked curiously at her, somewhat excited to hear. 

"OK. How about... Starlight?" she happily declared. 

The Night Fury looked confused. "Well, because you like the stars and stars normally light up the sky, so... Starlight." Hilda explained. 

The Night Fury stayed silent, like she was thinking about the name. Then, she growled happily, colliding her head towards Hilda.

Hilda laughed. "You like it, huh?" The Night Fury stepped back, seemingly nodding her head.

"Great. Your name shall now be Starlight." she smiled. Then, her mind was drawn back to the scar of Starlight's left eye. She slowly reached out her hand towards it. Starlight saw this and began to step back, but then she slowly walked towards Hilda again, allowing her to finally touch the scar. Hilda ran her finger over the scar, going over her closed eye. 

"It happened a long time ago, huh?" she asked. Starlight growled in response. "I wonder how. It might have been when you were young, maybe." She then removed her hand from the scar and then placed both her hands on the sides of Starlight's head. 

"I can only imagine how alone you must have felt when you were young. Being the only Night Fury in the whole world. But you're not alone anymore. I'll be right here for you, Starlight. I'll protect you. That's my promise to you."

And with that, Hilda slowly placed her head on Starlight's head, to which she accepted. For Hilda, it felt unreal. All of it did - finding a Night Fury, befriending her, flying high in the clouds. Everything to her was a dream come true. 

After what felt like an eternity, she removed her head from Starlight's, before getting up and beginning to head back to the celebration. 

"Are you coming?" she asked Starlight. Starlight looked unsure as she looked towards the celebration.

"Oh, don't worry. We're normally a rowdy bunch. You'll get use to it." she ensured her. Starlight still looked unsure.

Then, Hilda came up with an idea. "I heard there was fish for dragons there." she mentioned. Starlight's ears propped up before she quickly got up and ran towards the village.

Hilda laughed. "Thought that might work." she said to herself, smiling as she ran to catch up with Starlight. 

"Wait for me, Starlight!" she called out. It felt good for Hilda that she finally came up with a name for the Night Fury. Starlight, her own dragon. It still felt unreal, but one she will happily accept.