The Last Night Fury (A HTTYD Future AU)

Like A Dream

The sun was setting over the horizon, creating a warm atmosphere of yellow and orange. The hustle and bustle of Berk was slowly dying down, but a few Vikings could still be seen wandering about. But while the pathways of Berk were quiet, the Great Hall was a completely different story. It was filled with Vikings, drinking and laughing and having conversations with each other. It was their way of celebrating the aftermath of Dragon Racing. 

Hilda was sitting at a table, close to a wall, along with her friends, chatting and laughing. Her mind was still racing from the fact that she had just participated in her first Dragon Racing and while she didn't win, with Martha winning the race once again, she came very close. She and Martha drew with six sheep each, but Martha took the lead with the black sheep. But she didn't care. 

The adrenaline of the race was enough for her. The thrill of finding the sheep, dodging her opponents and landing the sheep in the basket was such a amazing feeling. For a long time, she'd just stood on the ground, watching the thrills unfold below. Now, she had experienced it first hand. 

"I have to say, though. That jumping trick was pretty impressive." Martha commented to Hilda. 

"Why, thank you, Martha. But clearly that wasn't enough to beat you." Hilda mentioned. 

"Another win to my collection." Martha smirked at her victory. 

"Yeah, at this rate, you might as well do all of the races without us." Alric sulked, clearly upset that, once again, he wasn't able to beat Martha. 

Hilda giggled and gave Alric a light punch on his arm. "Oh, stop being such a sore loser, won't you?"

"Now you know what we have to deal with." Linda commented, causing the sisters to laugh. 

Alric couldn't help but smile at them. "Well, lucky for me, I don't quit that easily." He then got up from his seat. "I will not rest until I have beating the Chief's daughter at Dragon Racing." he declared, pointing at Martha as he said this. 

"Ah, so beating Martha is your life goal?" Linda asked, raising an eyebrow at him. 

Alric thought about it. "Yeah, you could say that." he admitted. The rest laughed at this declaration, even Alric as he sat down again. 

"I mean, I need something to keep me motivated while training." he explained.

"You know, you make a good point." Hilda admitted. 

"See, Hilda understands me."

"Hey, it's not the fact that we don't. It's the fact that you're so dedicated." Martha mentioned. 

"Well, we'll see who will be laughing when I beat you." Alric said, staring down at Martha, but she didn't look intimidated. 

"I think Dragon Racing has just gotten a lot more serious." Linda said to Hilda. Hilda shrugged her shoulders while chuckling before they all continued to talk about other things. 

The conversation throughout the Great Hall were slowly started to die down, with many Vikings beginning to leave as the night reached the Isle of Berk. Hilda and the rest were still at the Great Hall, still talking to each other. 

As they were, her eyes and mind were suddenly drawn towards a wall of paintings behind them. The paintings depicted the Vikings that became Dragon Riders. She saw Linda's, Alric's, Martha's and right at the end, her own. It still felt unreal to her. The fact that she was now a honorary  Dragon Rider felt unreal, especially after seven years of not having a dragon of her own. But it was real and she had a big grin on her face from that fact.

Suddenly, she felt a nudge on her back. She turned around and her smile grew bigger at the site of Starlight. 

"Hey, girl!" she exclaimed. She then gave her a hug while scratching her head. Soon after, Rageous, Dash and Sapphire came over to their respective riders. 

"Looks like a bunch of dragons already miss us." Linda commented while scratching Dash's chin. 

"Well, they're our friends after all." Alric mentioned. 

"No, they're more than that." Hilda declared, smiling at Starlight who smiled back. 

"Hey, I know it's getting a bit late, but you guys want to do one small race?" Martha asked.

"If it gives me a chance to beat you, why not?" Alric smirked before getting up. "Come on, Rageous. Let's actually win against her." Rageous growled in response before they both headed out of the Great Hall. 

"Wow, he really is desperate." Martha chuckled. "Well, let's make him more desperate." she said to Sapphire before they too headed out. 

"Well, this will be interesting." Linda commented before her and Dash followed them. Starlight was about to follow as well, but then she realised Hilda was not moving. She walked up to her, giving her a nudge. 

Hilda shook her head as if she was in a daze and faced Starlight. 

"Sorry, Starlight. I was just... thinking." she said. Starlight gave a smile before gesturing her to follow her. Hilda smiled as she got up to follow. She then stopped and turned to look at their Dragon Rider painting once again. She smiled at it before heading outside. 

She met up with Linda, who was still on the ground with her dragon. 

"Hey, where are the rest?" she asked her sister. 

"No idea. One thing is for sure - things are about to get a lot more competitive." she mentioned. 

Hilda chuckled. "That's Alric for you." Just as she said that, they both saw Alric and Martha emerging from the clouds on their dragons, dipping and diving through them before disappearing again. 

"Well, best not to miss out on the fun." Linda proclaimed before jumping onto Dash and launching up to the sky to join them. 

Hilda turned to face Starlight. "Want to see if we can beat them?" Starlight roared proudly, which made Hilda laugh. She then jumped on her back, hooking her harness to the saddle before flying up to the clouds, catching up to her friends. 

They are now flying in and out of the clouds, with the cold wind breezing through their hair as they laughed and flew in the night sky. Hilda had the biggest smile on her face. The opportunity to finally fly with her friends was something she could only dream of. 

As she flew, her eyes caught the horizon, stretching endless to the unknown. She smiled. For the first time in a long time, she was sure about her future - to explore beyond Berk and beyond the horizon. And with her best friend by her side, she would accomplish that one day. And she couldn't wait.

With that newfound determination, her mind went back to her current situation, increasing Starlight's speed and flying side by side with her friends, as the sky turned dark blue, the moon raised and the stars appeared on the Isle of Berk. 

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Thank you to everyone who read this story. I didn't imagine for it to be this successful and I couldn't be happier. I want to give a special thanks to @flightmare_kid for (at the time of me writing this) being the only one to voted on most of the chapters. It means a lot to me and I hope you have enjoyed the story :)

To everyone else, once again thank you! :)