The Last Night Fury (A HTTYD Future AU)

The Big Test

A month had past and every Viking was fast asleep, for it was the night on the Isle of Berk. All except Hilda. She was lying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling and as wide awake as an nocturnal animal. This was because the next day would be the day she had been preparing for. Tomorrow was her Dragon Rider Trial. 

And she couldn't sleep. While she was excited, she was also nervous. What if she failed? What if she doesn't become a Dragon Rider? She tried not to think about it, but that made it worst. She turned to her side, seeing Linda sleeping with her back facing her.

"Hey, Linda?" she whispered, but she didn't hear an answer. She called her again a bit louder this time. She then heard her groaning.

"Hey, are you awake?" she asked. 

"No, of course not." Linda answered sarcastically. Hilda sighed with annoyance before facing the ceiling again, trying to fall asleep but to no prevail.

"Can't sleep?" Linda asked tiredly. 

Hilda sighed. "Yep."

"Scared about tomorrow?"

"I'm not scared. It's... I don't want to fail, that's all."

"Well, I know you. You're a determined person. You trained very hard for this. I know you will pass and you will become a Dragon Rider." Linda encouraged. Hilda faced her with surprise, seeing her looking at her with wearier eyes. It wasn't normal for Linda to give actual kind words. 

"Were you being genuine or was that just tired talk?" Hilda asked.

"Probably a bit of both." Linda admitted. 

Hilda chuckled. "Well, I'll take it. Thanks."

"No problem, sis." she said before turning back around and falling straight back to sleep. Hilda slowly, once again, closed her eyes, telling herself, 'You will become a Dragon Rider. You will.'

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The sun was, once again, high up in the sky. There were light clouds in the sky, not blocking the light. The wind was strong, blowing through the leaves, trees, grass and Hilda's hair and clothes. 

She was standing on top of a rock pillar, looking down at the ocean, which was filled with other pillars and arches. She was looking around, turning to her right to see a crowd of Berkians, standing near a cliff and watching.

She was taking deep breaths as she continued to look about. Then, she heard a roar. A Night Fury roar. She turned to see the black dragon flying through the sky like a silhouette. Then, a loud horn erupted across the sky and ocean, causing the dragon to change direction and fly towards Hilda.

Hilda took more deep breaths as she began to prepare her position. 

"Firm but light." she whispered to herself. Starlight came closer and closer and at the moment she was right next to Hilda, Hilda managed to jump onto Starlight's back, hooking onto the saddle and flying up to the sky once again. 

She could hear the cheers coming from the Vikings, which made her smile.

"OK. So far, so good, girl." she said to Starlight. She gave a small growl in response. They then divebombed down, stopping just close to the water and making their way towards the pillars. They began to weave in between them, cutting through the gaps and completing the task with ease. Once again, they heard the cheers as they moved on to the next task. 

On top of five pillars, there were crates filled with water. They flew towards one of them while keeping a good distance from it.

"Alright, Starlight! Fire!" Hilda exclaimed and with that, Starlight fired a plasma blast at the crate. That caused the crate to break, allowing the water contained to fall back into the ocean. They then went along and did the same to the other four crates. Once completed, they landed on the pillar. 

The cheers were much louder and now they were chanting Hilda and Starlight's name. 

Hilda smiled and giggled, but then it disappeared as she started to feel a sense of fear. She took deep breaths as she eyed towards one arch, stretching as wide as the great blue whale. 

"OK, girl. One more trick. Let's show what we got." she said. Starlight roared as loud as she could, echoing the area and they flew off the pillar, flying towards the arch. 

As they got closer, Hilda could feel her hands shaking and her heart beating. Her and Starlight were about to perform the trick they had been practising for so long. But she became so nervous, she forgot to unhook herself from the saddle. Instead, she began to stand on Starlight's back, readying herself to jump. 

When they were close enough, Starlight swooped down a bit before flying back up, giving Hilda a boost. But because she was still secured to the saddle, the force of it caused Hilda to fall back down hard, as well as shattering the hooks of the harness. She lost her balance, almost falling off Starlight but barely managing to grab hold of the side of her.

Starlight panicked and flew away from the arch, finding a way to land immediately.

"No, Starlight! Don't stop!" Hilda exclaimed, noticing her frantically looking. Starlight looked at her with worry.

"It's OK. We got this. I trust you." 

Starlight was still looking at her with fear, afraid that she would let go. But hearing her saying she trusted her surprised her and made her realised she did too, which was something she'd never thought about, from her days as a wild dragon - to trust a Viking.

So, with that newfound realisation, she turned around, flying back towards the arch. 

Hilda, still hanging on her side, managed to climb back on top of her back, despite some struggle. She grabbed hold of the saddle tightly since the harness was now broken. She then stood on the saddle, steadying herself as they approached the arch.

"Trust your dragon. Always trust your dragon." she whispered. She felt Starlight swooping down, and the moment she swooped up, she jumped as high as she could, bringing her knees to her chest. She forward rolled onto the platform before getting up and running across. She jumped once she reached the end, seeing Starlight flying under her. Suddenly, everything went slow motion for Hilda as she fell down towards her dragon. She closed her eyes, bracing herself. And just like that, she landed on Starlight. 

At the moment of impact, she immediately opened her eyes, laughing and cheering.

"We did it! We did it!" Hilda cheered, hugging Starlight by her neck. Starlight roared in celebration as they flew back to the crowd of Vikings, whose cheers were as loud as the loudest dragon roar. 

Hilda and Starlight flew over them before finally landing back onto the ground. As Hilda got off, she saw the Berkians walking and running up to them, but became surprised to see Linda sprinting up to her before colliding and giving her a big hug.

"Whoa! Easy there!" Hilda laughed. 

"You were amazing! I knew you could do it!" Linda exclaimed before letting her go. 

"That's my sister!" she proclaimed, causing the Vikings to cheer. Hilda laughed before seeing Alric and Martha coming over to her, hugging her as well. 

"Don't you ever do something stupid like that again." Alric said as he let go off her .

Hilda chuckled. "No promise." she said. The Vikings surrounded her, congratulating her. Hilda had the biggest smile on her face, breathing such sigh of relief, as well as catching her breath. She then went up to Starlight and gave a massive hug.

"I knew I could trust you." she said to her. Starlight gave a small growl, as if to say 'Me too.' 

Their Dragon Rider Trials was now completed. Now they had to wait to find out if they had become Dragon Riders.