The Other-worldly Protector

Chapter 42: This is Berk

Throughout their journey, Stormfly and Whiplash flew side by side, and their riders had been talking almost non-stop. The edge between the two had long been forgotten and, now that Kiara had gained Astrid's trust, they had opened up to each other. It was clear that they had nothing in common, and they weren't close friends either, but somehow they valued each other's company. Their conversation had started with Astrid asking why Tuff of all people had convinced her, but Kiara managed to dodge the subject and then their discussion went all over the place: from dragons to the other teammates to favourite flight patterns to whether yak fur or feathers was better for stuffing pillows. (Things got pretty random from there.)

Then the fog rolled in. It's swirling white fingers wrapped around everything, pressing an eerie silence onto everyone's ears. Kiara glanced to her right, just in time to see Astrid disappear amid the whiteness along with everyone else. Heck, the mist was blanketed so thick, Kiara couldn't see Whiplash's head without leaning forward. She involuntarily stiffened in response to the lack of sight and sound. Her dragon let out a comforting purr.

"Don't worry." Whiplash sensed her unease and turned her head towards her rider. Her bright blue gaze easily penetrated the descended cloud. "I don't need sight to see." she reminded her. Kiara nodded, relaxing somewhat, and Whiplash turned back around, her ears flicking to pick up all the dragons' wing beats. "She's on your left by the way," Whiplash said, smirking.

Kiara looked left.

"Boo!" Astrid shouted.

"Aah!" Kiara jerked away, her nerves like springs in her body. "Bloody hell." Whiplash gurgled with laughter.

"Even after I warned you..."

Barely visible, Stromfly was flying upsidedown and Astrid was hanging off her back, her face a foot from Kiara's. She laughed as Stormfly righted herself. "I didn't think I'd get you that easily," she said, her voice still on the border of hysterics.

"You got lucky."

"I sure did. Your face: priceless!"

Kiara snickered along as Astrid's form bobbed in and out of the mist.

"Zippleback at 6 o'clock."

Before Kiara could even turn around, two pairs of hands reached through the curtain of mist and latched onto her arms. "Ruff! Tuff!" Kiara whisper-yelled. "If you're not giving me a double arm massage, let go of me please!"

"Hey Astrid," Ruff said, ignoring Kiara. "We're gonna borrow your friend for a moment."

And just like that, the twins plucked her off Whiplash's back and flew straight up. The purple dragon shrieked in surprise but calmed herself when Tuffnut yelled, "We'll bring her right back, we promise!"

"Aah!" Kiara gasped as her arm slipped from Ruffnut's grip. She hurriedly wrapped her legs around one of the zippleback's necks, desperately clinging on. "Why am I being kidnapped? Do you plan to sell my organs or something?!"

"The usual question would be 'are you crazy?'" Ruff said.

"To which we would reply 'yes, we're nuts!'" Tuff's voice came from right above her. He still held her arm as she clung to the Zippleback neck below him like a terrified sloth.

"I'd like to think that even the two of you have some sort of reasoning behind your actions," Kiara said. "So WHY is a better question. Also, could you move your foot from my face Tuff?"

"Or I could move your face from my foot." He pulled her up so that she was sitting in front of him. Kiara lurched forwards and grabbed the horns; her knuckles paled as her grip tightened. The two-headed dragon bobbed up and down as it moved and riding on him felt terribly unstable, but Tuff's steadying hands on her shoulders made it just about bearable.