Love Between Riders 2: Nightmares

Prep to Fight

Time passes on. Days turn to weeks, and weeks turn to months. The lives of Berk seem to go back to normal but the gang is always waiting. Hiccup continues to train the younger generation of Dragon Riders. Astrid hasn't quite been herself since the incident. The twin continue their mischief. Snotlout continues being Snotlout.

"Alright guys, gather around," Hiccup beckons to the kids. "Today, I want y'all to gather the training swords and combat each other."

"Hey honey, what's up?" Astrid's voice rings out as Stormfly flies in.

"Oh, ya know. Just letting the young ones go at it to waste their energy," Hiccup leans on a metal sword.

"Oh, oh, we wanna go after it too!" the twins come in through the door.

"Snotlout! Snotlout! Oi! Oi! Oi!" comes an annoying voice in a crash landing.

"Don't forget about us!" a high pitched voice somewhat screams.

Hiccups grins, seeing the gang gathered again after about a month. Fishlegs has thinned up somewhat and put on muscle. Snotlout is still short and stubborn but he's gotten somewhat nicer. The twins are more unified in their fighting movements, their technique deadly against multiple opponents.

"Well, well, well. Look who we have here," Hiccup chuckles.

"I see you ever day so shush," Astrid grins, giving him a hit on the arm.

"We just haven't wanted to bother with all your chiefly duties," the twins grin.

"Bull! You keep exploding pieces of my land!" Snotlout challenges.

"Not to mention half of my books have been burned to ashed in your little fire phase," Fishlegs crosses his arms.

"Eh, what phase?" Ruffnut holds a torch with an ominous grin.

"Yeah, what phase?" Tuffnut juggles some balls that were on fire.

"Aye, laddies. How have ya been?" a hook waves in the air.

"Gobber!" they all dog pile him.

"Yes, yes. It's good to see you all too," he grins. "We need to hold a meeting, just us."

"About what, Gobber?" Fishlegs asks.

"We need to prepare for an attack by the Pitch fellow. Remember the last time?" Gobber crosses his arms.

"Yeah, I remember," Hiccup sighs, thinking about the Shadow King. "Alright everyone gather around," Hiccups says in an authoritative voice.

The gang, along with the young riders, gather around him. Hiccup meets his emerald eyes with all the people in the arena. The kids sling their bows or swords or whatever weapon they were practicing with. Hiccups face is serious, his eyes hard.

"I'm not gonna ask you to risk your lives. You are all way to young to do so. This battle will be dangerous. So leave now if you don't wanna be in this," Hiccup motions to the door.

"We're not little kids, ya know," Starlight steps forward, giving a huff.

"You'll need our bombs," Thorns smirks, crossing his arms behind her.

"I'm sure I can find some sort of weakness with Fishlegs," Hubert adjust his helmet, kicking the ground with his bare feet.

"Yeah, we're not scared of anything!" a younger teen viking named Slasher thrusts his sword in the ground.

"The girl reminds me of you, Astr-" Snotlout gets cut short by Astrid bending his hand backwards, forcing him to the ground.

"Alright, well let's get to the forge and create some defensive weapons," Hiccup claps his hands. "This'll be just like the old days."

They all head back to the village to work. Gobber had already prepared the forge, knowing Hiccup would be wanting to defend the village. Everyone scatters throughout Berk, setting up fire defense mechanisms or gathering ore for the forge. Hiccup goes to hammering at hot metal to create weapons, Astrid threads string for bows, Snotlout carries heavy loads of gear around the place for people, Fishlegs works in the Great Hall with Hubert to see if anything can be found about Pitch or where he came from. Starlight and Thorn make metal casings for their bombs under the supervision of the Twins.

The other villagers help out, assisting the kids when needed or doing their own thing. Specific buildings get reinforced, such as the armory, storage buildings, and anything else deemed important. Days pass, and preparation is almost done. Hiccup, along with Astrid, has led training sessions. Everyone switches out between training and working. Two weeks later, things come to a close.

"I hope we have everything," Starlight stands beside Hiccup.

"We've done everything we could do," Hiccups ruffles her hair.

"Hey, stop that," she smirks.

A weight hooks on Hiccup's back. He chuckles, putting his arms around the legs. He spins around, getting a small squeal.

"I wouldn't have done this if I knew you'd make me dizzy," Astrid says into his back.

"Hiccups and Astrid sitting in a tree. K.I.S.S.I.N.G," Thorn and Hubert spin in a circle with interlocked arms.

"Oh, so you wanna see us kiss?" Astrid puts her lips dangerously close.

"Ew, no!" they cover their eyes.

"Kiss!" Starlight's eyes gleam.

Hiccup closes the gap, grinning in the kiss. The young girl jump and squeal in joy.

"It's HicStrid, right before my very eyes! I wish I could someday meet my perfect match," Starlight happily sighs.

The two chuckle. Hiccups goes off, Astrid on his back. The three gather up, Starlight looking between the two boys. She thumps their foreheads.

"Alright you two, what do you have?"

"I've got a sack full of an assortment of bombs," Thorn mischievously grins.

"Fishlegs and I haven't been able to find anything," Hubert gives a side frown.

"No matter. Let's go around and check everything," Starlight suggests.

"Eh, why not," the boys shrug.

They go around and check everything. The examine the buildings, the contraptions, the weapons, and anything else they stumble upon. The split, patrolling Berk until sunset occurs. Thorn starts to hear noises. Hubert begins to imaging that he sees things. Starlight gets spooked from behind.

They meet in the middle of Berk. Each one looks like they saw a ghost. A loud rumble is heard and the ground shakes. The earth breaks opens, spewing a shroud of darkness.

"Run," Starlight barely manages, heading for the alarm bell.