The Gray Area (1/2) - A Viggo Love Story (HTTYD/RTTE)

8. Familiar Face

Sessa felt his eyes peering into her, but in a way that was almost pleasant. To her surprise, she felt her chest heat up and her heart pound stronger. All at once, emotions exploded inside of her. Things she hadn't felt since she'd lost her village twelve years ago. Looking down at the hand that encased hers, she realized what was happening. Somehow, Viggo was opening a part of Sessa that had been closed for so long. Somehow, he was making her want to not be alone in this world.

However, of all the feelings that overwhelmed her, fear took them over. There were reasons she blocked herself from having emotion. Because with happiness came sorrow, with trust came betrayal, and with love came hatred. But even when Viggo let her hand go, these feelings remained, and she was afraid they would be impossible to block out yet again.

• • •

"Steady, Lilith," Viggo spoke in a low voice as he flew the skrill through the night. Sessa had decided to bring him with her on a mission this night. After being with her for a couple of weeks, he was getting the hang of her style and stealth. Although she wasn't allowing him to perform the actual rescue with her, he was at least allowed to come for back up if needed.

Lilith circled above the main dragon hunters' base with Nightshade. "I won't be long," Sessa told Viggo, then the dervish took her down. The woman then began to sneak in undetected. He wasn't entirely sure how she did it; Sessa never talked to anyone but him, so how did she know where to find a soul in need of saving? He passed it off as excellent instincts as he watched her disappear into the camp.

The cold wild of the night caused Viggo's mask to flick gently against his cheek. Sessa had insisted on him wearing one, just like her. Along with it, he wore a shoulder cloak and hood. This way, no one would see his scar or recognize him.

All he could do was watch the island spin slowly below him, anticipating Sessa's safe return. Yet, just as she'd promised, she arrived back in the sky in no time. Atop of Nightshade once again, Sessa sat with a younger man behind her.

"Wo-ho-ho! Your dragon is so cool," the man exclaimed, letting his hand brush against the devilish dervish's neck, "oh my Thor, she's bigger that a titan wing monstrous nightmare! Where did you find her?"

Sessa tried her hardest to ignore her irritation and ordered, "be quiet."

"Hey thanks for saving me, by the way," he went on, ignoring Sessa's requested, "I mean, I would've gotten myself out eventually, but..." He trailed off when he saw a skrill flying their way. He frowned and mumbled nervously, "uh.." But when he saw a person on top of her, his jaw dropped, "what?!"

Viggo had quite a similar reaction upon seeing the man Sessa had saved, for it was a face he knew all too well. Snotlout. He lowered his head a bit to keep his eyes covered by the hood. "Who are you guys?" He asked in admiration, "and how did you train such awesome dragons? Oh, Hiccup is gonna be so jealous that I got to see this and not him."

"Snotlout Jorgensen, will you shut up?" Sessa spoke a little more demandingly.

Snotlout suddenly began to feel weary of his situation. Two complete strangers had him. Sure, they'd saved him from Krogan and Johan, but that didn't mean they were good people. "How do you know my name?" He spoke inquisitively.

"You're famous, are you not?" Sessa spoke in an uncaring voice.

However, she had no idea what a mistake she'd just made. Snotlout thought for a moment before smiling proudly, "yeah, yeah I am. In fact..." He then went on to tell greatly embellished stories of his heroism in attempts of impressing Sessa.

As they flew on, Viggo glanced over now and again. Although Sessa was completely uninterested in what Snotlout was saying, Viggo couldn't help but feel annoyed. The younger man had moved from trying to impress her, to trying to flirt.

"Hey, you should come to our outpost sometime. I mean, I basically run the place, but I'm sure I could make time to give you a tour," Snotlout spoke smoothly. Lidding his eyes, he placed a hand on Sessa's shoulder and peered around into her masked face in attempts of seeing her gorgeous eyes once again.

Viggo was quite pleased to see Sessa ram her elbow back into Snotlout's ribs, "do not touch me."

Snotlout tried to cover up his pain, scooting back on Nightshade's neck to avoid accidentally touching Sessa again. And, to Viggo's surprise, Lilith growled at the younger man. She swooped closer for a moment to eye him warningly. Viggo quickly steered her away, however, whispering to the dragon, "it's alright, he's no threat to us."

Staring curiously at the masked man atop the skrill, Snotlout opened his mouth once again, "who's your friend? He's even quieter than you." Neither Viggo nor Sessa responded. "What a talkative bunch," he then scoffed with sarcasm. Finally, he seemed to shut up. He didn't even bother asking where he was being taken, for he knew that his strange companions wouldn't tell him. Until he recognized the surrounding sea stacks and realized, he was being taken back to Dragon's Edge.