The Other-worldly Protector

Chapter 24: Nightfury?!

"To the waterhole. No more distractions," Kiara told Whiplash as they walked away.

"I'm not so sure about that."

"Really?"

"Certainly. Three... two... one."

"WAIT!" The one-legged Viking came running up behind them. He knew that this girl was a potential ally against the hunters. He also knew he needed to trust her in order to gain her trust. You get what you give. So he had to trust her with his identity and hope that she's not a secret agent planted by the hunters through blackmail. How else will he learn more about her?

"Okay, okay," he began, "Don't know how, but you got me: my name's not Heimdall, though I sometimes wish it was. I'm Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third (great name I know), heir to the throne of Berk, leader of the dragon riders, dragon trainer, dragon master, former blacksmith, bla bla bla."

Kiara blinked twice, a little overwhelmed by the info onslaught. "Wait. You're a prince?!"

"What? No. When did I—? When did I say prince?"

"You're the heir to a throne! You're a prince."

"Wha..? No, I'm not." He dismissed it like it was the most ridiculous suggestion ever. Toothless snickered from behind him. "There's no royal family on Berk."

"Then what are you?" Kiara asked.

"The son of the chief."

"So a prince."

Hiccup groaned and swiped a hand down his face. "You're not Viking, are you?"

"Definitely not. I'm Kiara."

"Just Kiara?"

Kiara sighed; she had long forgotten her surname. "Yup. Just Kiara."

Hiccup waited, clearly expecting more.

"And she's Whiplash."

"That's it? What about my awesomeness?"

"What awesomeness?" Kiara teased.

"Awesomeness?" Hiccup asked, confused.

"Nothing, I was talking to Whiplash."

"Okay..."

Kiara noticed he looked disappointed, but she couldn't reveal much about herself—she'd just sound crazy. She quickly changed the topic to what's actually important. "So will you help me expel the hunters from this island?"

"Of course, but I must ask you: how long have you been, ya know, against the hunters?"

"Busted..." Whiplash sang in her head.

"Let's see," Kiara faked a thinking face. "Two, four, six..." She trailed off and her shoulders sagged. "A little less than an hour ago."

"What? You just met them?"

"Met? Er.. it was a sort of one-sided meeting."

Hiccup folded his arms and gave her a hard stare. Toothless sighed and settled down, anticipating that another argument was coming.

"Fine. They don't know I exist," Kiara admitted. "But that doesn't matter. Whiplash and I have taken on countless wild dragons."

"That's if you can't count up to four."

"Blowing up two ships isn't a problem, right Whippie?" Whiplash nodded after being nudged.

Hiccup raised a brow and wore an unimpressed know-it-all look which aggravated Kiara. "Alright! What is it? Spit it out!"

"You're about to make the same mistake I did," he said calmly.

Kiara rested a hand on her hip. "Enlighten me."

"Don't underestimate the dragon hunters." He embossed every word with an array of hand gestures. "Fighting them is NOTHING like fighting a rogue dragon. They are smarter, more experienced, more organised, they have weapons—"

"We know! We get it! You don't think we can do it." Kiara stepped forward and looked up and directly into his eyes (yes, she had to look up, he's almost a head taller than her). "But I know we can. I've been riding with Whiplash, the fastest dragon I've ever seen, for more than three months and—"

"I've been riding Toothless for more than three years and I still wouldn't take on more than one ship alone. And guess what: Toothless is a nightfury!"

"Nightfury?!" Kiara gasped, "No way..." She stared at Toothless in amazement as Whiplash's jaw dropped behind her. Toothless sat up and flopped his ears about with a grin, enjoying the attention. "We thought nightfuries were extinct..." Never before had Kiara received this many revelations in such a small amount of time.

"Toothless is probably the last one," Hiccup said, "But my point is, if I'm not willing to go against the hunters even with a nightfury on my side, it means they're the real deal. You can't just rush into a situation like that; there'll be consequences! We need reinforcements and you need a proper saddle if were gonna have a chance against them. We have an island outpost where the rest of the riders are."

"And how long will it take to bring them here?"

Hiccup scratched the back of his neck. "Er, an hour and a half."

"So we'll be giving the hunters an hour and a half to capture and hurt and cage the dragons of this island— the dragons who've become like a family to me. They'll be suffering while we gather reinforcements for our own ease! And what if the ships leave by then? We'll never get them back. I'm sorry, Hiccup, but I don't see the logic in that."

Hiccup was touched by her sincerity and for a moment just watched her prepare to mount Whiplash. "I understand, Kiara," he said softly, making her pause. "You care for your dragons, I do too. But you need to understand that, with the whole gang assembled, we will, without a doubt, free all the dragons they capture. But if you go right now, there's a chance of failure."

Kiara rested her head on Whiplash's shoulder and sighed. Whiplash made a questioning grumble.

"You're right," Kiara finally said, "about everything." Hiccup raised his eyebrows, surprised. Kiara looked up and met his gaze, a rebellious fire burning in her eyes. "Except one thing: you're not the boss of me."

She mounted Whiplash and took off in an instant. Hiccup stared after the purple dragon, his mouth open.

"Three months without human interaction and I've still got it!" Kiara cheered as they flew away.

"You bet, sass monster."

-

"Can you believe her, bud?!" Hiccup said, astonished. "She's going to get herself killed."

Toothless smacked his lips and stretched. He calmly glanced up at the sky and saw the purple shape of Whiplash quickly recede. They looked fine to him. He shrugged and began to saunter away.

"Hey, hey, hey. Where do you think you're going, lazybones?"

-

"So, we're back to plan A," Kiara declared.

"Don't be so sure," Whiplash replied as a black shadow swooped up behind them.

"Oh please don't tell me..."

"Nightfury at 6 o'clock."

"Great," Kiara groaned.

"Kiara!" Hiccup's voice was carried to her by the wind.

"Whiplash, slow down."

"What? For the nightfury? No way!"

"Whiplash, please..."

The dragon grumbled before slowing down and letting Toothless fly up beside her. She let loose a low growl.

"We'll do it your way," Hiccup said, "two dragons, two ships. As long as we figure out a plan first."

Whiplash turned towards the boys. Both dragons hovered facing each other. Kiara nodded at Hiccup.

"Deal."