Whispers of Another World

Chapter 20: Together

   "We're getting you some training."

   Alaya glanced at Hiccup, blinking in confusion.  "Um...okay?"  She said nervously.

   "With Astrid."  He continued.

   Alaya groaned.  "Please, no.  I know how to swordfight, I'm good."

   "I was more referring to flight training.  The rest of us are going on Screaming Death patrol."  Hiccup said.

   "Are the twins staying?"  Alaya said in the last attempt at gathering some hope.

   "Sorry, no, you're stuck with me,"  Astrid said from behind Hiccup, riding Stormfly.  

   "Un contraire, you're stuck with her and us!"  Tuffnut grinned.

   "Guys, no."  Hiccup said.  "It's risky enough that Astrid's staying behind, we can't be down you guys, too."

   "But if the Screaming Death attacks Berk and you guys miss it and all you have is Astrid and an untrained Rider, your chances of success in fighting back is...slim, to say the least,"  Ruffnut said.

   Hiccup groaned.

   "Please, for the love of Thor, don't leave me here with them,"  Astrid said.

   Hiccup sighed.  "Okay, new plan:  I'll stay here, Astrid, you take the first patrol with the twins, send Fishlegs with Snotlout."

   The twins frowned but agreed, seeming content with the fact that Astrid was no longer on training duty.

   Alaya followed Hiccup to the arena, mind buzzing anxiously.  "For goodness sakes, Alaya, you need to quiet down."  Moon teased, brushing past her and entering the stone-floored arena confidently.

   "Alright.  We're here."  Hiccup said, waving at the walls around them.  "First we'll be practicing flight maneuvers."

   "Oh, great,"  Alaya murmured.

   "First we'll run you through one of our obstacle courses and see how you do."  Hiccup said.

   "Great,"  Alaya said sarcastically, sliding onto Moon with a sigh.  "You ready, girl?"  She asked.

   Moon grinned.  "Always."

   Hiccup started to explain the course, but Alaya was getting a tad bit bored with that.  "Why don't you go ahead and we'll follow?"  She called.

   "I don't think you can keep up!"  Toothless chortled.

   Moon narrowed her eyes challengingly.  "Bet."

   "Toothless, easy bud."  Hiccup said, resting a hand on the side of his head as he narrowed his eyes back.

   "Alright.  Good luck!"  Toothless howled, dashing away into the trees.

   Moon growled, darting after him as Hiccup screamed in surprise.  Toothless darted underneath a fallen tree as Hiccup flattened himself, but Moon flew over it, ducking underneath the branch that met her.  Toothless took a hard left and tilted up and out of the trees, Moon only a moment behind.  Hiccup glanced back in concern and gave them a surprised look when he saw Moon right on Toothless's tail and Alaya peeking out from between her horns.

   Toothless suddenly shot toward the ground.  He tilted slightly upwards and dashed underneath a fallen tree, then spun in between two trees that had grown into a cross.  Moon threw her wings out, slowly slightly, before turning and tucking herself underneath the crossed trees.  Toothless flew straight up, beating his wings harder and harder until he was just above the clouds.  Then, he stopped, letting gravity pull him down to the ground.  He flared out his wings, resisting gravity until he landed squarely on edge of a flower field.

   Moon followed Toothless, although slower.  When he fell back, she twisted and followed him, landing beside him in the flower field, which was shaped in a sort of spiral.

   "Whew!  Quite a rush, isn't it?"  Hiccup asked.

   Dizzily, Alaya nodded.  "For sure."  She panted.

   For a few weeks, Alaya and Hiccup trained.  Hiccup finally decided she really could be trusted to not die on missions, which Alaya appreciated, and for the most part, they stopped meeting up as often.

   That didn't mean anything for the twins, though.

   "Good shot, Amber!"  Alaya whisper-praised her friend as a house started melting.  The twins chuckled. 

   "This is such a good idea!  Imagine what we could do to Snotlout's house with this!"  Tuffnut giggled.

   "Oh, the possibilities are endless, brother!"  Ruffnut grinned.  

   "Then why are we waiting?"  Alaya asked.  The three grinned at each other mischievously and bolted off.  

   Snotlout...wasn't happy about what they did.  Let's just say they...added a few more windows.

   Yet as Alaya and her friends created chaos in the town, she could only feel more and more disconnected from the riders as they went off on their own journeys, doing random things and saving Berk without giving a second thought to who Alaya was, what she needed, or where she came from.  It was...odd, really, to see the most curious (so it seemed) people in the group (the twins) spend so much time with her yet not question what she's like or where she came from.

   But suddenly, one day, all hell broke loose.

   One day everything was put on the line.

   And one day, against all odds, Alaya had to choose between her friends, her fear...and possibly even her family.