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inquisitivetea) wrote2010-08-14 04:40 pm
inquisitivetea) wrote2010-08-14 04:40 pm
Entry tags:
How to Train Your Dragon Fanfic: Helheim's Gate 2/8
Title: Helheim's Gate
Author: inquisitivetea
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Hiccup, Toothless, Astrid, Fishlegs, and Gobber.
Spoilers: This fic will spoil the end of the movie.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I barely own my computer.
Summary: Something is wrong with Toothless. Hiccup will go to Hel and back to fix it.
Author’s notes: Special thanks to my beta reader, Backroads.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Helheim's Gate
Chapter Two
"She's a girl!" Fishlegs shouts outside. "Hiccup, she's a girl!"
"Wha...?" I mutter, sitting up in bed, "Fishlegs? What?" I'm exhausted, like I've only been half-asleep all night.
Toothless is awake. He stands at my bedside, staring at the door with his head tilted. I get up from the bed and go to the front door, where Fishlegs is waiting.
"She's a girl!" he says again, a huge grin on his face.
"Who's a girl?" I mumble, pulling on a green shirt. "What are you talking about?"
"Come and look!" Fishlegs tugs on my sleeve and pulls me outside. "I was going to try to bring one, but she's being really protective of them. I guess I can understand that. I mean, if I take it out of its incubation, that might lower its stats."
"Fishlegs, seriously, what are you talking about?"
"Look!" he says, stopping and pointing. I step around him and follow the path of his finger to the Gronckle curled up over a nest made of twigs and branches half-buried in the ground.
I take a few steps closer and peer under the dragon's leg.
"Eggs?" I ask.
"Yeah!" Fishlegs replies. "My Gronckle's a girl! I thought she was a boy all this time."
Well, it's not as if we know how to tell these things. Dragons aren't so… er... obvious... as humans.
"That's... new," I say, scratching my head, "So... I guess she mated." I look to Fishlegs. "Do you know who the father is?"
Fishlegs opens his mouth, but no sound comes out. Finally he says, "I... don't."
"You haven't seen any other dragons hanging around her or anything?"
He presses his lips together and shakes his head.
"He's got to be around here somewhere." I feel something nudge my right knee. "Toothless. That Gronckle's going to have babies." I point to the nest.
Toothless eyes the nest for a good minute, then he turns away and leaves.
"What--Toothless?" I walk after him. "Fishlegs, I'll be back."
"Sure."
Toothless stalks past Lung, who's holding an apple in her hand. She takes one look at him and scowls as she holds the apple behind her back.
Toothless just keeps on walking.
Lung looks surprised. "Is something wrong with your dragon? Did you break it?"
"I did not break my dragon," I assure her as I follow Toothless.
"Toothless," I say, "Hey. Hey! Stop."
He stops, but he doesn't turn around.
"What is wrong with you?" I say as I reach his head. I lean forward so that I can peer into one of his large eyes.
He keeps his gaze averted, but I know he's listening. His ears are perked up.
"Are you... jealous?" I ask him.
He snuffles.
"You're not jealous. You're... angry about something?"
He looks at me like I'm an idiot.
"Okay, I'm stupid," I say, "Look, I don't understand you. You have to help me out here."
He lowers himself to the ground and jerks his head back.
"You want to fly? Now? We haven't even had breakfast."
He jerks his head back again.
"Okay." I push myself up onto his back. Toothless extends his wings, but just before he jumps off the ground, someone yells out:
"Hold on there!"
"Hold on, buddy," I say, patting Toothless's neck. Then, "Yes, Gobber?"
"Just where do you think you're going?" Gobber says, approaching fast from the right. "You've got saddles to make and Vikings to train!" I consider asking him how he moves so fast with a pegleg, but he'd probably just tell me "I just do" again.
"Toothless has some... business he needs to handle," I explain. "... I think."
"You think?" Gobber asks, one eyebrow raised.
"I don't know. He needs to fly, so we're going to fly."
"Make sure it doesn't chase off the sheep. We still haven't found four from the last time."
"I know, I know."
"How long will you be?"
"I have no idea where we're going," I say.
"You're just trusting it?"
"I'm trusting him," I say with confidence. "Anyone else have a problem with that?" I ask louder, looking around. Two men carrying baskets of fish glance at me, but don't respond.
"Seems not," Gobber admits.
"I thought so," I said.
"Hiccup!" Mumbles yells from somewhere. I look back to find her running toward us. "Hiccup, are you going flying?"
"Happy birthday, Mumbles," I call down as she runs to where Gobber's standing. Gobber also wishes her a happy birthday.
"Are you going flying?" Mumbles asks me again.
"Yes I am," I inform her.
"Can I come too?"
"No you can't," Gobber says, patting her back with his hand.
"But I'm eleven," Mumbles says, "I'm super old now."
"Maybe next time, Mumbles," I tell her.
Mumbles pouts. "Please? Pleeeeaaaase?"
Toothless flicks his ear and huffs.
"We've got to go," I say. "I'll see you later, Gobber, Mumbles."
"Come on, little one," Gobber says to Mumbles, "Let's get you back to your house."
"I'm always going back to my house," Mumbles says, "I never get to do anything fun."
"Wait until you're older," Gobber tells her.
"But I'm already old!"
"Okay, Toothless," I whisper, patting his head. "Let's go!"
With that, Toothless launches into the air.
#
Flying will never get old. The wind in my hair, the way everything below looks when I'm up in the sky, being able to touch the clouds. I could fly with Toothless until I'm old, and even then, I'd probably still try to keep flying. Mumbles might not really know what she's missing, but is she ever going to love flying once she can.
"Okay, buddy, where are we going?" I ask Toothless.
We've done a little exploring in the time since I've healed up. We've gone to other islands, seen animals I've never seen before, even eaten fish I didn't know existed. And of course, I've been getting it all down in my notebook. Dad has asked me about adjusting the official maps, but now we've got Vikings learning to fly dragons so they can do that.
Toothless goes past a small island we visited that has a lot of eels in its surrounding waters. Not his favorite place.
Then he weaves between large cliffs and goes what I think is West or North, farther than we've ever been before.
"This isn't going to take all day, is it?" I ask him, "We haven't eaten yet..."
He lets out a roar that I'm pretty sure is telling me to shut up.
Then I see it in the distance. We're headed straight for a medium-sized island. What little sand there is is as black as the rocks that dominate the bleak beach. The jagged shore would not be a great place to land a boat, let alone a dragon. But Toothless goes right toward it.
I can feel it getting colder as we approach.
"Oh, I don't know about this, Toothless," I say. "No plant life? Dark shores? Not very welcoming..."
He keeps flying.
As we get closer, I can see the huge cave open toward us.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. We're not going in there are we?"
Toothless doesn't respond.
"Toothless?!" We go in. "... Great."
It's colder than flying at night. I wish I had my vest. I pull my sleeves over my hands and blow on them, but my breath comes out as a weak fog. As we go deeper inside, the light dims. Toothless navigates the twists and turns and sudden drops like he knows where he's going.
The cave gets wider and taller as we continue. A wind blows in bursts, roaring in my ears at its strongest. Every boulder and stone beneath us seems to have a sharp edge, as if to say soft, living things aren't welcome. I definitely wouldn't want to have to walk down there.
Below us, the ocean water succumbs to the cave's rocky insides and soon it becomes a thin river.
"Let me get this straight," I say, "River, cold cave, flying. Are we about to find a dog the size of my house?"
Toothless slows down a little and I begin to notice the odd shimmer on the walls around us, even with the weak lighting. It's almost as if the rocks are giving off their own sort of light.
"If it weren't so cold, this might be a nice setting for a date."
Toothless dips down and soon we're settled on the river bank. The water whispers past us, its gentle sounds echoing around us. Toothless lowers his head to the water and laps some up. I try to get off, but he jerks and bucks up.
"Okay, okay, I'll stay here," I assure him.
He pads forward, his head tilted as he sniffs the air. Then he lets out a short sound, kind of like a bark. It echoes throughout the cave.
"Hello?" I call. That echoes too.
"You are one," a voice says calmly, just behind me.
"What?" I turn, but there's no one there.
"You are one," the voice says again, this time from the ground.
Toothless sits and folds his wings. The woman is standing beside him. She's a little round and she's wearing a gray cloak. Her eyes are milky and gray.
"No," I say, "There are two of us here."
"One may pass," she says. She holds out her hand, the index finger extended.
"Okay, let's start over," I say. "I'm Hiccup, and this is my dragon, Toothless. What's your name?"
"Modgud," she replies.
"Modgud. Okay. Like I said, Modgud, there--" Then it hits me. ModgudGarmHel. "What?" Helheim.
"One may pass."
"No, we got that part," I say, "Your name is... Modgud? Seriously?"
"You are one," she replies.
"Okay, uh..." I shut my eyes as I try to think. Helheim. "You're Modgud. The Modgud?"
"Yes."
"Toothless..." I say as I look up at the cave ceiling. It shimmers. It's beautiful. It can't possibly be normal. "Did you just take me to the realm of the dead?" Helheim. Seriously?!
"One may pass," Modgud says.
"Right. Thanks for that. So... We can't pass? Oh well, too bad." I rub Toothless's neck. "Maybe next time, bud."
Toothless doesn't respond or move.
"We--We're not dead. Really. Toothless," I insist through my teeth, "We're not. Dead. We were almost dead. Once." Right now I really want to see Astrid again. And my dad. And Gobber. And even Mumbles. "How did you even find this place? Why did you even--"
"You are one," Modgud repeats.
"Okay," I press my fist to my mouth as I try to work my mind through this, "how about this: you keep on thinking that," I point to her, "and we'll leave," I pat Toothless's head, "Sound good? Everyone agreed?"
Toothless bows his head down low as Modgud touches him.
"Wait, you can see him?" I ask. "You can see us?"
"Her child," Modgud says.
All of my thoughts halt. "Child?" I start to slide down off of Toothless, but he turns and growls. "Whoa. All right. I'll stay." I shake my head as I think. "Modgud, you know Toothless's mother?"
Modgud looks right at me with those milky eyes. "One may pass."
"Wait a second." The thoughts are racing around my head now. "Is Toothless's mother in... there?" I point into the cave.
"Yes," Modgud says.
Great. My dragon has some serious mother issues.
"What about his father?" I ask, almost regretting it as I hear it come out of my mouth.
Modgud points up.
"Okay..." I say. "Does he have any brothers or sisters?"
"He has a large family," Modgud answers.
"And where are they?"
"They are everywhere you look."
"Helpful."
Modgud smiles at me. "You are one."
"Only one may pass," I finish for her. I flinch as I hear a voice in my head:
Come back to me.
"My child," I breathe. "That's her! From my dream! Toothless, that's your mother!"
Toothless moans.
"You heard her too, didn't you?" I rub his head with my palm. "That's what made you so sad last night. Modgud, can he walk in?"
"Garm," Modgud says.
"The dog," I breathe. "We'd have to fly."
"You are one," Mogud says again.
"If we went together, we could make it over Garm and the gate," I say, "Just like in my dream." I nod. "That's it. That has to be it."
"But only one may pass," Modgud reminds me.
"The crash afterward," I say. "Only one of us will make it?"
Modgud stares at me.
I take a deep breath. "I'll just have to figure something out."
Suddenly a really strong burst of wind comes howling out of the cave. I have to grab the saddle to stay upright.
"Go," Modgud says just as she explodes into a flurry of feathers.
"Toothless," I say, "It's time to go."
Just as Toothless lifts off, a loud bark echoes through the cave.
"This is definitely not good," I call as Toothless picks up speed. "Come on, buddy, we need to go faster than that!"
Toothless tries, I know he does, but for some reason we have trouble gaining speed. It's almost as if the cave gets longer, or time gets slower, or some force is pulling us back in.
Why stop the inevitable? a voice asks in my head.
Then I feel it. A chill creeps up my back and the breath of something else huffs through my hair.
"Thor Almighty."
Suddenly the world smashes down around me and everything goes dark.
#
"Hiccup!" someone yells into my ear as I feel a sharp pain on my cheek, "Hiccup! Wake up! Wake up, already!" There's more pain on my other cheek.
"Ungh," I groan as I open my eyes, "What? Ow! Okay, you can stop hitting me!"
I barely catch the look of relief on Astrid's face before it turns into fury. "What did you go and do that for?"
"Do what?" I ask as I sit up. I look down at myself. "Why am I wet?"
"You and Toothless dove headfirst into the ocean," Astrid informs me. Her hair is plastered to her face. She's dripping as much water as I am.
I blink as I remember what happened. It definitely wasn't that. "Where are we?"
"Clearly, we are on the beach," Astrid says, gesturing to the rocky shore.
I glance around. "Toothless!" I say. "Where's Toothless?"
"He's down that way," Astrid says calmly, nodding to the right. She's gripping my shoulder hard and keeping me down on the ground. "Are you okay?"
"I don't...I guess," I say. I've still got my peg leg and the rest of me. "Astrid, I have to see if Toothless is okay. Please."
Astrid huffs and wipes her hair out of her eyes. "Fine. Come on." She lets go of my shoulder and holds her hand out to me.
I take it and stand. Once I'm up, I wobble a little and she grabs my arm to balance me out.
"Hey Gobber," I say as he joins us in walking.
"You trusted your dragon right into the ocean," he says.
"It wasn't like that," I say.
"Then what was it like?" Astrid says. There is some serious anger in her voice.
"I'm pretty sure you're not going to believe me."
"First Viking to ride a dragon," Astrid points out. "Try us."
"This is a little different," I say. "Just trust me on this one. Ugh--What is this in my mouth?" It's soft and disgusting and I spit it out into my hand. It's a wet feather, about as long as my finger.
"What is it?" Gobber asks.
"A piece of Modgud," I say.
"What?" both of them say in flat voices as they stop walking and turn to me.
#
Chapter Three
Author: inquisitivetea
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Hiccup, Toothless, Astrid, Fishlegs, and Gobber.
Spoilers: This fic will spoil the end of the movie.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I barely own my computer.
Summary: Something is wrong with Toothless. Hiccup will go to Hel and back to fix it.
Author’s notes: Special thanks to my beta reader, Backroads.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Two
"She's a girl!" Fishlegs shouts outside. "Hiccup, she's a girl!"
"Wha...?" I mutter, sitting up in bed, "Fishlegs? What?" I'm exhausted, like I've only been half-asleep all night.
Toothless is awake. He stands at my bedside, staring at the door with his head tilted. I get up from the bed and go to the front door, where Fishlegs is waiting.
"She's a girl!" he says again, a huge grin on his face.
"Who's a girl?" I mumble, pulling on a green shirt. "What are you talking about?"
"Come and look!" Fishlegs tugs on my sleeve and pulls me outside. "I was going to try to bring one, but she's being really protective of them. I guess I can understand that. I mean, if I take it out of its incubation, that might lower its stats."
"Fishlegs, seriously, what are you talking about?"
"Look!" he says, stopping and pointing. I step around him and follow the path of his finger to the Gronckle curled up over a nest made of twigs and branches half-buried in the ground.
I take a few steps closer and peer under the dragon's leg.
"Eggs?" I ask.
"Yeah!" Fishlegs replies. "My Gronckle's a girl! I thought she was a boy all this time."
Well, it's not as if we know how to tell these things. Dragons aren't so… er... obvious... as humans.
"That's... new," I say, scratching my head, "So... I guess she mated." I look to Fishlegs. "Do you know who the father is?"
Fishlegs opens his mouth, but no sound comes out. Finally he says, "I... don't."
"You haven't seen any other dragons hanging around her or anything?"
He presses his lips together and shakes his head.
"He's got to be around here somewhere." I feel something nudge my right knee. "Toothless. That Gronckle's going to have babies." I point to the nest.
Toothless eyes the nest for a good minute, then he turns away and leaves.
"What--Toothless?" I walk after him. "Fishlegs, I'll be back."
"Sure."
Toothless stalks past Lung, who's holding an apple in her hand. She takes one look at him and scowls as she holds the apple behind her back.
Toothless just keeps on walking.
Lung looks surprised. "Is something wrong with your dragon? Did you break it?"
"I did not break my dragon," I assure her as I follow Toothless.
"Toothless," I say, "Hey. Hey! Stop."
He stops, but he doesn't turn around.
"What is wrong with you?" I say as I reach his head. I lean forward so that I can peer into one of his large eyes.
He keeps his gaze averted, but I know he's listening. His ears are perked up.
"Are you... jealous?" I ask him.
He snuffles.
"You're not jealous. You're... angry about something?"
He looks at me like I'm an idiot.
"Okay, I'm stupid," I say, "Look, I don't understand you. You have to help me out here."
He lowers himself to the ground and jerks his head back.
"You want to fly? Now? We haven't even had breakfast."
He jerks his head back again.
"Okay." I push myself up onto his back. Toothless extends his wings, but just before he jumps off the ground, someone yells out:
"Hold on there!"
"Hold on, buddy," I say, patting Toothless's neck. Then, "Yes, Gobber?"
"Just where do you think you're going?" Gobber says, approaching fast from the right. "You've got saddles to make and Vikings to train!" I consider asking him how he moves so fast with a pegleg, but he'd probably just tell me "I just do" again.
"Toothless has some... business he needs to handle," I explain. "... I think."
"You think?" Gobber asks, one eyebrow raised.
"I don't know. He needs to fly, so we're going to fly."
"Make sure it doesn't chase off the sheep. We still haven't found four from the last time."
"I know, I know."
"How long will you be?"
"I have no idea where we're going," I say.
"You're just trusting it?"
"I'm trusting him," I say with confidence. "Anyone else have a problem with that?" I ask louder, looking around. Two men carrying baskets of fish glance at me, but don't respond.
"Seems not," Gobber admits.
"I thought so," I said.
"Hiccup!" Mumbles yells from somewhere. I look back to find her running toward us. "Hiccup, are you going flying?"
"Happy birthday, Mumbles," I call down as she runs to where Gobber's standing. Gobber also wishes her a happy birthday.
"Are you going flying?" Mumbles asks me again.
"Yes I am," I inform her.
"Can I come too?"
"No you can't," Gobber says, patting her back with his hand.
"But I'm eleven," Mumbles says, "I'm super old now."
"Maybe next time, Mumbles," I tell her.
Mumbles pouts. "Please? Pleeeeaaaase?"
Toothless flicks his ear and huffs.
"We've got to go," I say. "I'll see you later, Gobber, Mumbles."
"Come on, little one," Gobber says to Mumbles, "Let's get you back to your house."
"I'm always going back to my house," Mumbles says, "I never get to do anything fun."
"Wait until you're older," Gobber tells her.
"But I'm already old!"
"Okay, Toothless," I whisper, patting his head. "Let's go!"
With that, Toothless launches into the air.
Flying will never get old. The wind in my hair, the way everything below looks when I'm up in the sky, being able to touch the clouds. I could fly with Toothless until I'm old, and even then, I'd probably still try to keep flying. Mumbles might not really know what she's missing, but is she ever going to love flying once she can.
"Okay, buddy, where are we going?" I ask Toothless.
We've done a little exploring in the time since I've healed up. We've gone to other islands, seen animals I've never seen before, even eaten fish I didn't know existed. And of course, I've been getting it all down in my notebook. Dad has asked me about adjusting the official maps, but now we've got Vikings learning to fly dragons so they can do that.
Toothless goes past a small island we visited that has a lot of eels in its surrounding waters. Not his favorite place.
Then he weaves between large cliffs and goes what I think is West or North, farther than we've ever been before.
"This isn't going to take all day, is it?" I ask him, "We haven't eaten yet..."
He lets out a roar that I'm pretty sure is telling me to shut up.
Then I see it in the distance. We're headed straight for a medium-sized island. What little sand there is is as black as the rocks that dominate the bleak beach. The jagged shore would not be a great place to land a boat, let alone a dragon. But Toothless goes right toward it.
I can feel it getting colder as we approach.
"Oh, I don't know about this, Toothless," I say. "No plant life? Dark shores? Not very welcoming..."
He keeps flying.
As we get closer, I can see the huge cave open toward us.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. We're not going in there are we?"
Toothless doesn't respond.
"Toothless?!" We go in. "... Great."
It's colder than flying at night. I wish I had my vest. I pull my sleeves over my hands and blow on them, but my breath comes out as a weak fog. As we go deeper inside, the light dims. Toothless navigates the twists and turns and sudden drops like he knows where he's going.
The cave gets wider and taller as we continue. A wind blows in bursts, roaring in my ears at its strongest. Every boulder and stone beneath us seems to have a sharp edge, as if to say soft, living things aren't welcome. I definitely wouldn't want to have to walk down there.
Below us, the ocean water succumbs to the cave's rocky insides and soon it becomes a thin river.
"Let me get this straight," I say, "River, cold cave, flying. Are we about to find a dog the size of my house?"
Toothless slows down a little and I begin to notice the odd shimmer on the walls around us, even with the weak lighting. It's almost as if the rocks are giving off their own sort of light.
"If it weren't so cold, this might be a nice setting for a date."
Toothless dips down and soon we're settled on the river bank. The water whispers past us, its gentle sounds echoing around us. Toothless lowers his head to the water and laps some up. I try to get off, but he jerks and bucks up.
"Okay, okay, I'll stay here," I assure him.
He pads forward, his head tilted as he sniffs the air. Then he lets out a short sound, kind of like a bark. It echoes throughout the cave.
"Hello?" I call. That echoes too.
"You are one," a voice says calmly, just behind me.
"What?" I turn, but there's no one there.
"You are one," the voice says again, this time from the ground.
Toothless sits and folds his wings. The woman is standing beside him. She's a little round and she's wearing a gray cloak. Her eyes are milky and gray.
"No," I say, "There are two of us here."
"One may pass," she says. She holds out her hand, the index finger extended.
"Okay, let's start over," I say. "I'm Hiccup, and this is my dragon, Toothless. What's your name?"
"Modgud," she replies.
"Modgud. Okay. Like I said, Modgud, there--" Then it hits me. ModgudGarmHel. "What?" Helheim.
"One may pass."
"No, we got that part," I say, "Your name is... Modgud? Seriously?"
"You are one," she replies.
"Okay, uh..." I shut my eyes as I try to think. Helheim. "You're Modgud. The Modgud?"
"Yes."
"Toothless..." I say as I look up at the cave ceiling. It shimmers. It's beautiful. It can't possibly be normal. "Did you just take me to the realm of the dead?" Helheim. Seriously?!
"One may pass," Modgud says.
"Right. Thanks for that. So... We can't pass? Oh well, too bad." I rub Toothless's neck. "Maybe next time, bud."
Toothless doesn't respond or move.
"We--We're not dead. Really. Toothless," I insist through my teeth, "We're not. Dead. We were almost dead. Once." Right now I really want to see Astrid again. And my dad. And Gobber. And even Mumbles. "How did you even find this place? Why did you even--"
"You are one," Modgud repeats.
"Okay," I press my fist to my mouth as I try to work my mind through this, "how about this: you keep on thinking that," I point to her, "and we'll leave," I pat Toothless's head, "Sound good? Everyone agreed?"
Toothless bows his head down low as Modgud touches him.
"Wait, you can see him?" I ask. "You can see us?"
"Her child," Modgud says.
All of my thoughts halt. "Child?" I start to slide down off of Toothless, but he turns and growls. "Whoa. All right. I'll stay." I shake my head as I think. "Modgud, you know Toothless's mother?"
Modgud looks right at me with those milky eyes. "One may pass."
"Wait a second." The thoughts are racing around my head now. "Is Toothless's mother in... there?" I point into the cave.
"Yes," Modgud says.
Great. My dragon has some serious mother issues.
"What about his father?" I ask, almost regretting it as I hear it come out of my mouth.
Modgud points up.
"Okay..." I say. "Does he have any brothers or sisters?"
"He has a large family," Modgud answers.
"And where are they?"
"They are everywhere you look."
"Helpful."
Modgud smiles at me. "You are one."
"Only one may pass," I finish for her. I flinch as I hear a voice in my head:
Come back to me.
"My child," I breathe. "That's her! From my dream! Toothless, that's your mother!"
Toothless moans.
"You heard her too, didn't you?" I rub his head with my palm. "That's what made you so sad last night. Modgud, can he walk in?"
"Garm," Modgud says.
"The dog," I breathe. "We'd have to fly."
"You are one," Mogud says again.
"If we went together, we could make it over Garm and the gate," I say, "Just like in my dream." I nod. "That's it. That has to be it."
"But only one may pass," Modgud reminds me.
"The crash afterward," I say. "Only one of us will make it?"
Modgud stares at me.
I take a deep breath. "I'll just have to figure something out."
Suddenly a really strong burst of wind comes howling out of the cave. I have to grab the saddle to stay upright.
"Go," Modgud says just as she explodes into a flurry of feathers.
"Toothless," I say, "It's time to go."
Just as Toothless lifts off, a loud bark echoes through the cave.
"This is definitely not good," I call as Toothless picks up speed. "Come on, buddy, we need to go faster than that!"
Toothless tries, I know he does, but for some reason we have trouble gaining speed. It's almost as if the cave gets longer, or time gets slower, or some force is pulling us back in.
Why stop the inevitable? a voice asks in my head.
Then I feel it. A chill creeps up my back and the breath of something else huffs through my hair.
"Thor Almighty."
Suddenly the world smashes down around me and everything goes dark.
"Hiccup!" someone yells into my ear as I feel a sharp pain on my cheek, "Hiccup! Wake up! Wake up, already!" There's more pain on my other cheek.
"Ungh," I groan as I open my eyes, "What? Ow! Okay, you can stop hitting me!"
I barely catch the look of relief on Astrid's face before it turns into fury. "What did you go and do that for?"
"Do what?" I ask as I sit up. I look down at myself. "Why am I wet?"
"You and Toothless dove headfirst into the ocean," Astrid informs me. Her hair is plastered to her face. She's dripping as much water as I am.
I blink as I remember what happened. It definitely wasn't that. "Where are we?"
"Clearly, we are on the beach," Astrid says, gesturing to the rocky shore.
I glance around. "Toothless!" I say. "Where's Toothless?"
"He's down that way," Astrid says calmly, nodding to the right. She's gripping my shoulder hard and keeping me down on the ground. "Are you okay?"
"I don't...I guess," I say. I've still got my peg leg and the rest of me. "Astrid, I have to see if Toothless is okay. Please."
Astrid huffs and wipes her hair out of her eyes. "Fine. Come on." She lets go of my shoulder and holds her hand out to me.
I take it and stand. Once I'm up, I wobble a little and she grabs my arm to balance me out.
"Hey Gobber," I say as he joins us in walking.
"You trusted your dragon right into the ocean," he says.
"It wasn't like that," I say.
"Then what was it like?" Astrid says. There is some serious anger in her voice.
"I'm pretty sure you're not going to believe me."
"First Viking to ride a dragon," Astrid points out. "Try us."
"This is a little different," I say. "Just trust me on this one. Ugh--What is this in my mouth?" It's soft and disgusting and I spit it out into my hand. It's a wet feather, about as long as my finger.
"What is it?" Gobber asks.
"A piece of Modgud," I say.
"What?" both of them say in flat voices as they stop walking and turn to me.
Chapter Three