The Last Night Fury (A HTTYD Future AU)

The Look On Her Face Part 1

A week had past on the Isle of Berk, with the morning and evening continuing to rotate, like it always did. It may seem like everyday is the same old, and while that may be the case, the introduction of dragons so long ago allowed for some excitement every once in a while within the Village due to their unpredictability. 

However, the Vikings themselves can bring some excitement among the people as well, and the return of their General, Astrid Hofferson, certainly brought that excitement. 

Astrid had left Berk about two weeks ago to attend a gathering/meeting from one of Berk's allied islands. Hiccup was supposed to attend, but the gathering collided with other important things he needed to do. Fortunately, Astrid was more than happy to attend herself. It did meant she missed out on the crazy developments that went on Berk. But she didn't know that.

She arrived on Berk early in the morning, riding on her Deadly Nadder, Stormfly. The moment she landed, she was already surrounded with some Vikings, welcoming her back home. Once the initial greetings were made, she began to make her way to her house, standing right next to the Great Hall. While on her way, she was continued to be greeted by other Vikings. 

She reached the house, expecting the wonderful welcome from her family. But she didn't. The house was empty. 

"Huh. I guess they woke up earlier than usual. Or I just came a bit later than anticipated." she said to herself. She was about to walk out of the house, but noticed that Stormfly was not behind her anymore.

"Now where did she go?" she said. She went out, looked about, and managed to find her, standing at the edge of the training ground. 

"Maybe they could be there?" Astrid thought. She quickly made her way to the training ground, meeting up with Stormfly.

"You know it's not nice to just walk off." she said to Stormfly. But she didn't answer. She was looking down to the training ground, not moving a muscle.

"Hey, you're OK, girl?" she asked. She still didn't answer. Not even a small yelp. 

Curious and confused, Astrid walked next to her dragon, looked down at the training ground and froze. 

Her eyes were wide with amazement, for inside the training ground, Hilda was lying on the ground, sleeping and to the far right of her, Starlight was rummaging in the fish basket.

"It can't be." Astrid whispered, staring at the Night Fury. She rubbed her eyes so many times, but the Night Fury was still here, eating one fish at a time.

"No, it can't be. They're gone." she said, a bit louder this time. That caused Starlight to stop in the midst of her eating and looked up, making eye contact with Astrid for the first time. 

Both Viking and dragon stared at each other, amazed and curious at each other. For Starlight, she had never met Astrid before, so she didn't know what to make of her. For Astrid, she had witnessed the extinction of the Night Fury species, so to see one right in front of her eyes seemed like a dream. 

Starlight continued to look at Astrid as she began to walk slowly up to Hilda, who was still sleeping on the ground. She went up to her side and nudged her softly.

"Not now, Starlight. I'm not ready yet." Hilda moaned, shifting her position and continued to sleep. Starlight looked up at Astrid, who was still where she was standing, not moving a muscle. She then nudged Hilda again, this time a bit harder.

"Starlight, can you stop please?" Hilda moaned, shifting again. Then, Starlight, showing frustration, roared in Hilda's face, causing her to leap up from the ground. 

"What's wrong with you?!" she gasped, catching her breath since the roar scared her. She then took some deep breaths, not wanting to get mad at her.

"OK. Starlight, I thought we agreed that I would rest for a bit, and then I would wake up in my own time and then, we would go. In case you didn't get it then, I hope you get it now." Hilda explained to Starlight. But she noticed that she wasn't looking at her.

"Are you alright?" she asked confusingly. When Starlight didn't answer, Hilda looked where she was looking and a big smile came upon her face.

"Hi, Astrid!" she exclaimed, waving her hand at her. Astrid shook her head, removing herself from the daze she was in.

"Oh, uh.... hi, Hilda." Astrid waved, still looking pretty dazed.

"When did you come back?" Hilda asked.

"Oh, not too long ago, actually." she answered. 

"Oh. Well, welcome back!" she exclaimed. 

"Umm...Thank you." Astrid's mind was still all over the place, especially since Hilda didn't seem to acknowledge the Night Fury standing next to her.

"Is it... real? No, it can't be. Can it?" she thought. She shook off the thought again, now focusing on Hilda.

"Umm...Hilda? Do you... know where Hiccup or Martha might be?" she asked.

Hilda thought about it before answering. "I think they might be at the dentistry."

"Right, the... dentistry. Of course."

"Yeah. I'm actually going to find him soon to ask him something." Hilda mentioned.

"OK. Well,... then. I'll... see you there." Astrid then tapped on Stormfly's head, causing her to come out of her daze herself. "Come on, Stormfly. Let's go." she said.

"Ok, then. Bye, Astrid." Hilda waved. Astrid waved back, took one last look at Starlight before leaving with Stormfly.

Once she left, Hilda suddenly burst out in laughter, falling onto her side. Starlight looked at her with confusion.

"Oh my Thor! Did you see the look on her face?!" she laughed, getting up and trying to catch her breath. "She looked so confused! Like she wasn't sure whether it was real or not!" She continued to laugh, before finally managing to calm down. 

"Martha always said it was so rewarding to make her confuse and she was right!" she exclaimed, having a big grin on her. She faced Starlight, noticing she too looked confused. 

At first, Hilda wasn't sure why, but then she knew. "Oh, yeah. You don't know who she was." she mentioned. Starlight gave a small yelp.

"Right. Sorry, I got caught up in the moment. That was Astrid Hofferson. She's the General of Berk. She's also Martha's mum and Hiccup's wife. She's a very nice person. Just don't get on her bad side." she explained. Starlight gave a growl with her understanding. Hilda smiled at her before remembering why she was awake in the first place.

"OK, look. I'll let you off with this one. But next time, try not to wake me up aggressively. Got it?" Starlight nodded before making her way back to her fish basket. Hilda stretched her arms before lying back down again, closing her eyes and falling asleep again. 

"Well, that was a start to the day." she thought.