Astrid Hofferson x Male Reader

Chapter 8

Sky

(Valka and Cloudjumper cruise over a cloudy sky. Below, fog covers the open sea like a blanket. A break in the fog reveals a lone ship below. Valka steers Cloudjumper toward it. As they descend toward it, the thinning fog reveals a vast armada at sea. Valka takes it in, concerned. Her gaze moves up to see a strange floating airship hovering menacingly.

Suddenly, a Deathgripper explodes of the fog, tackling Cloudjumper, mid-air! Valka is knocked from her standing position. She hooks herstaff to Cloudjumper's crown of spikes and swings to a rough landing on his flank. A second Deathgripper attacks from the other side, its exposed tusks gashing Cloudjumper's side and barely missing Valka. It raises its scorpion-like tail, exposing the glistening barb)

Valka: Watch out!

(It strikes! Valka parries, knocking the barb shy of its target. One of the Deathgrippers clamps down onto Cloudjumper's wing with its serrated pincers. Cloudjumper grabs it in its massive talons and rips it free, tearing a gash in his own wing)

Valka: Go, Cloudjumper!

(Cloudjumper flaps off in retreat. The Deathgrippers cackle and give chase, but suddenly halt as a distant, piercing whistle sounds out. They obediently retreat as Cloudjumper flees. Grimmel watches as Cloudjumper and Valka recede into the fog)

-----Time Skip-----

(As a band of yellow glows on the horizon, Toothless and Raiden thunder through the sky, searching high and low. They spot a shadow, dimly cast against passing clouds, and doubles back, only torealize that it's their own. Raiden blasts a fire ball, frustrated, and flaps along listlessly, tired and discouraged. At length, They bank and turn around, defeated. Toothless' head hung low, they glide through a blanket of cloud.

Thier ear plates twitch at the sound of a distant explosions. They twist their heads around and light up, hopeful. They look around, twitching their plates, desperate for any sign of the Light Fury and the Night Fury. Detecting something, they turns to their side. The Light Fury and the Night Fury materialize, head to tail, out of thin air, the Light Fury's mirror-like scales cooling in the wind.

Toothless and Raiden exclaim, ecstatic and Toothless starts showing off his new tail. The females peel off, coyly. Raiden and Toothless give chase, determined not to lose them again. The females look at them before blasting balls of fire and flying through it, as if to say, "Watch! We'll teach you". Toothless and Raiden chase them into the fiery funnel, close on their tail. When they emerge from it, the females are gone, once again disappeared. 

Toothless and Raiden look every which way, then they spot the females far above, heaving her wings into a storm cloud. Raiden and Toothless jack knife skyward and pour on the speed, catching up in the flashingthunderhead. As lightning crackles all around, Toothless tries toreplicate the Light Fury's cloaking ability. He blasts afireball and flies through it. He looks at himself as heemerges and he sees that he was invisible for a moment. Raiden tries to do the same but when he emerges nothing has changed. The Night Fury shows Raiden again, firinganother blast and diving through it, disappearing with grace.She reappears moments later by his side, chortling: "Tryharder. You can do it." Toothless purrs at Raiden and nudges him a little.

Brow furrowed in determination, Raiden inhales deeply andblasts a larger fireball. He dives through it, but once againemerges unchanged. Raiden is embarrassed, he so clearlywants to impress her. He 'blushes' glowing blue and roars infrustration. Suddenly, his rage draws the surrounding electricity of thethunderhead. Lightning bolts strike him from every direction,producing a blinding flash. As it dissipates, he's gone. The Night Fury, heLight Fury and Toothless look around, concerned. They call out.