Legend of the Riders

3

     Hiccup watched as Alia and Dawn took to the sky from the cliff tops above the village. He let loose a sigh, remembering how long it had taken him to get used to his duties as chief. He began walking towards the Great Hall, it was there that he had the village people line up to tell him their daily problems.
    "I saw that look," he heard Astrid say. "You're worried about her."
    He turned to his wife who was walking beside him, "I have no Idea what you're talking about," he told her, then looked over his shoulder as he watched his niece disappear into the clouds. "Of course I am, you know her. She's not gonna let anyone help her-"
    "She has Grayson, you know that," she told him, and he smiled.
    "I-I know," He said, and picked up a bowl that had rolled out onto the street from one of the houses. He tucked it under his arm as he continued to walk. "They've been together for three years, Astrid. I would've expected a little more...you know-"
    She raised an eyebrow, "a connection?" she asked and put her hand on his shoulder. She took the bowl and threw it back at the house it had come from. "You and I were close for a majority of our teenage years, we didn't get married until what...we were twenty-one."
    "Dad wanted us to get married before that," Hiccup chuckled, "that man really wanted grandchildren."
    "You know what I mean."
    "Yeah, I guess you're right," he told her, "but you still helped me with running the village. You were always there to support me, no matter what."
    "And Grayson will always be there for her," Astrid told him. "She just runs things differently, one day she'll realize what she has. You'll see."
    Hiccup sighed once more, "okay, we'll see. I just hope she gets a grasp on everything, she's gonna need it-"
    Suddenly, a burst of black scales came from behind, almost knocking Hiccup off his feet. He turned around and laughed as his dragon began panting and rolling his tongue all over the place. Toothless had snuck up on Hiccup and Astrid.
    "What's got you so excited?" Hiccup said, putting his hands on his knees, and placing his face just in front of the dragon's.
    The Night Fury jumped around, and bounded around them. He rolled onto his back, exposing his belly. Hiccup jumped back and began rubbing his friends stomach, and Toothless's leg went crazy like a dog's.
    "Oh, that's the spot, bud!" Hiccup said playfully, "that's the spot now isn't it?"
    "Arrharg," the dragon agreed and sat upright. Him and Dawn were almost polar opposites. While he was more like an overgrown puppy dog who was just full of energy, she was mature. She was calm and didn't do anything that could embarass her while everyone was around. Every now and then Hiccup would see her true self show up, but it was only ever when she was with Alia.
    Her siblings took after her father, and acted in many the same ways he did. You'd see them wrestling around in the village, and causing more mayhem than there already was. They were definately closer with eachother rather than any of the other dragons, including their sister. They never spent any time together.
    Once Toothless and Hiccup were done messing around the Night Fury bounded away to find something else to do. Hiccup continued on his way down the street once again conversing with his wife.
    "So, what do you think the problems will be today?" he asked her. Astrid let out a small laugh, and bent down to greet one of the children of Berk. Hiccup remembered back when Zephyr and Nuffink used to be that small. His daughter used to love getting rides on his legs. He'd hold her hands, and her feet would be atop his and he'd dance around with her. He missed them being smaller, he felt more like a father.
    Even Nuffink had begun to get out of spending time with his father, and spending more time exploring the island. He'd fly around the island with his Starwing (one of Eclipse and Starfire's offspring), Dusk.
    Then there was Helena, the sweetheart of the family. She was the youngest of his three children, and she was only eight. She loved everything that Zephyr used to and gave Hiccup and Astrid so much joy. What made them even more happy though, was to see all three of their kids getting along together. Every now and then they'd catch Zephyr playing games with her younger sister, embracing what little she had left of her youth.
    In thinking about his kids, Hiccup had completely missed Astrid's response to his question. She was smiling at him, not caring, and repeated herself.
    "I have a feeling that Silent Sven has some ramblings about his sheep," she told her husband. "Bucket and Mulch probably have been having problems with their ships, maybe Gothi needs some help gathering medicinal herbs. There are those two couples that can't stop fighting, um-ah, I forgot their names," she snapped her fingers, trying to think.
    "The Gertrudes and the Hadbars?" Hiccup asked, and Astrid's eyes lit up.
    "Yes!"
Once they arrived at the Great Hall, Hiccup and Astrid were suprised to find that there was no one there. They looked around the village and were even more in shock to find that the streets were suddenly empty. The dragon's had disappeared, everything was gone.
    "Where is everybody?" Astrid asked him, and Hiccup narrowed his eyes.
    "Its either we just got really, really lucky," Hiccup told her, "or something's wrong."
    Astrid looked around, "somethings probably wrong."
    Hiccup nodded, and whistled for Toothless. They waited in front of the Great Hall for a couple of moments until finally he landed in front of them. Hiccup climbed onto his back, and helped Astrid on as well. "We gotta find out where everyone wen-"
    Toothless cut Hiccup off when he jumped into the air, and began flapping his wings towards the beaches below the island. This is where, to Hiccup's relief, all the adults had grouped up. They we're huddled around something, and when Hiccup made it out his heart filled with dread.
    "Is that a-" Astrid asked, and Hiccup looked back at her before telling Toothless to continue to the beach. The Night Fury let loose a roar, and the people parted around the limp figure, giving Toothless enough space to land. Hiccup slid off the dragon, and rushed over to the person laying in the sand atop a small wooded raft that was strapped together with vines.
    "Look who finally decided to show up," Gobber began.
    "Not now Gobber!" Hiccup shouted, as he put his head to the man's chest. The guy had a strange beard that looked like grass. His worn clothing was made of leather, and his skin gave off a greenish glint when it met the sunlight. Thankfully the man was breathing. "Okay, he's alive."
    "He doesn't look good though," Astrid said, and bent down next to Hiccup. She touched the man's bare arm, and felt a shiver rush through her body. "He's ice cold though!"
    Hiccup grabbed the man by his shoulder, and lifted him onto Toothless's back. "We have to get him to the village so he can see some medical attention!" Hiccup said, "we'll take him to Hope and-"
    "Lets hope that old bag is still alive," Spitlout said. Astrid mounted Stormfly who had followed all the people to the beach.  Hiccup strapped the man in the saddle, and climbed back on himself.
    "Take us to Gothi's hut bud," Hiccup whispered and once again lifted off into the sky. They were at the hut in a matter of minutes, to Hiccup's surprise Gothi was the first one to exit the house. The woman had to be over a hundred years old. She began scribbling in her sandbox and Hiccup had no intention in reading anything as he pulled the man off the saddle.
    "Hope we got a situation!" Hiccup yelled, as he carried the man to one of the tables.
    "What is it this time?' Hope asked as she exited the hut, wiping her hands off with a small towel. Once she saw the man she dropped the rag and ran to them. "When did you find him?"
    "A couple minutes ago," Hiccup told her, and watched as Gothi ran into her hut to gather some supplies. Hope closed her eyes and ran her hand over the entirety of the man's body. She stopped suddenly, and opened her eyes.
    "This guy is the most powerful being I have ever seen," she told Hiccup, "more powerful than any of us."
    Gothi exited her house with a bunch of herbs and began mixing some kind of concoction. She began throwing everything in the pot that was at the center of the porch. Hope began to help Gothi as Hiccup began to examine the man's face. Suddenly the man took in a gulp of air and began to breath heavily. His eyes opened, and he stared at Hiccup.
    "Where am I?" he demanded, Hiccup was suprised how deep the man's voice was.
    "This is Berk," Hiccup told him, "are you hurt in any way."
    The man shook his head, "No, I don't think so."
    "What is you're name?" Hope asked, stirring whatever Gothi had thrown into the goblet with a giant ladel.
    The man looked at the three of them, "I am Holt, one of the Old Ones," he told them, and Hope's eyes widened. They were all familiar with that term, Dragnier had told Alia something about them just before he died. The man sat up, "Where is Alia Stevenson?"