Beyond the Sunset | HTTYD (Discontinued)

Chapter Six

"The Hidden World?" Cody lit up like a Christmas tree. "You actually think it exists? I mean, as far as I know, only two people have ever been to the Hidden World, and very few people think of it as an actual--"

"Could you two nerds explain to us what the big deal is about a Hidden something-or-other?" Blythe scowled at me.

"The Hidden World is the legendary home of the dragons," I explained patiently. 

"Dragons don't exist."

"Actually, they did, and most likely still do."

"Dragons as in living flamethrowers?" Mav asked deviously.

I chose not to answer that and instead steered the ship in a more westward direction. We couldn't have been far from New Berk.

The sun was just beginning to set as a green island came into view. It didn't take us long to find a beach at which to dock and set up camp.

"When do we leave for the Hidden World?" Cody asked eagerly.

"Tomorrow morning," I said absentmindedly as I poured over the old journals. 

Most everyone fell asleep in their tents before the last of the stars had risen. Instead of turning in like the rest, I packed up a few of my things and silently crept back to the boat. I unfurled the sails and snuck out of the beach.

"I thought you said we weren't leaving until tomorrow," Deav's voice said from atop the mast, making me jump.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. 

"Following you." He jumped down from the top of the mast. "Why are you going to the Hidden World alone?"

"I'm not anymore, apparently," I said sourly. "To the best of my knowledge, the dragons in the Hidden World prefer a lack of humans in their habitat. If everyone had come, there's a good chance we all would have died a firey, possibly icy, death."

"What makes you think it will be any different when you go?"

"I don't know if it will be," I said. "Which is why the people back at Berk are under orders to send a search party west if we don't return in a week."

"You've been planning."

"And now you're stuck in the middle of my plan, effectively ruining it."

"So what's our plan now?" Deav asked, cracking his knuckles. 

"Get to the Hidden World. Go from there."

"That's your entire plan?"

"Yep. But if you hadn't come, there would have been a plan, a backup plan, and about a dozen plans to fall back on if any of them went wrong."

A dense fog began creeping around the sails as the sun rose into the sky. It added an element of mystery and forbiddance to the strangely calm ocean. 

"What was that?" Deav asked at a shrill cry that seemed to physically cut through both the silence and the fog.

I shushed him and had him sheath his sword. The heart-stopping sound gave me more hope than I'd ever felt before. 

A shadow in the sky appeared and disappeared too fast to tell what it was, but I already knew. 

"What was that?" Deav asked again. 

"Shut up and get down if you don't want to die a fiery death," I whispered, still watching the sky. 

I don't know if he listened to me or not because, at that moment, a shimmering, half-invisible thing shook the boat, making me lose my footing. It stood above me and opened its mouth, a high-pitched noise warning of my soon-to-be death.

I stood up and dodged the fire that had been aimed at my head. As the thing stepped forward, a trap was triggered, releasing a muzzle and preventing it from firing again.

Now that it could no longer use its fire, I stretched my hand out towards its nose. I'd learned a few tricks from the records and journals that were really helping me now.

At first, it seemed that it would fly away as quickly as it came, but something sparked in its eyes, and it hesitated. Some ancient, generations-old flame of recognition had been reignited and now burned behind those killer eyes; an instinct telling it to stay. 

The dragon pressed her nose against my palm, her hot breath warming my cold hand. Instead of the ready-to-kill creature that had been standing before me a few seconds ago preparing to end my life, I now saw a chance at trust and friendship, the same trust and friendship humans and dragons had had hundreds of years ago.

In a bit of a gamble, I unclipped the muzzle, letting it fall to the deck with a loud thump. I was knocked off my feet when the dragon crashed into me. I fumbled for a handhold as it took off into the sky, leaving the boat behind in mere seconds. 

I slipped off the shiny scaled of the dragon and plummetted towards the ocean.

My feet had just brushed the surface of the salt sea as the dragon caught me between her talons. We half landed, half tumbled onto the deck of the boat where Deav had turned a deathly pale as he watched the events unfold. 

"What is that?" he asked, not taking his wide eyes off the partly invisible dragon beside me. 

"It's a dragon," I said. "I'm not sure which species specifically, but she looks like some sort of distant relative of the Night Fury."

I opened one of the bags I had brought and removed what looked like an unorganized mass of leather and metal. I let the dragon sniff it, and when she didn't rip it to shreds, I laid it on her back and fastened a few straps. Surprisingly, the measurements I'd taken from Hiccup's journal hadn't been too far off. Very little must have changed over the centuries. 

"What-- what are you doing?"Deav stuttered. 

"What does it look like?" I stepped into the stirrups and patted the dragon's side. 

"You're going to fly that thing?"

"I assure you, it's extremely safe, as long as nothing goes wrong," I said. "Come on."

"What?"

"Let's go." I held out my hand. 

"I'm not getting on that thing," he said. 

The dragon growled. 

"Now, now, Riona, he doesn't mean that," I said soothingly. 

"'Riona?' You named it?"

"She is just as intelligent as you or me," I said, "she just can't speak our language yet."

Deav tentatively stepped towards Riona and tensed up as she sniffed him.

"Why'd you name her Riona?" he asked conversationally, although his voice was shaking. 

"It's from a word for Queen," I said. "I heard it somewhere."

Riona nosed Deav's arm in approval.

"Coming?" I asked. 

"You bet." He jumped into the saddle behind me just before Riona leaped off the deck and into the sky.