A Siren's Song - A Hiccup Love Story (HTTYD/RTTE)

10

Fishlegs then spoke, "guys, she's not doing any of this out of selfishness, you have to know that."

"Uh, didn't she just say she was do this for herself?" Ruff asked in confusion.

"No, Ruffnut," Fishlegs clarified, "she said she's doing it to protect her species. And there's no doubt that the reason she's been pushing herself so much lately, is to protect all of us, too. That's her duty."

Hiccup glanced at Fishlegs before turning back to watch Aldru leaving. Although he'd never thought of it that way before, it made perfect sense; Aldru was a protector.

• • •

By the next evening, everything was beginning to catch up to Aldru. She collapsed lazily on the club house floor, her wings fanning out around her. Hiccup sighed and shook his head as he walked over to her. He knelt on the ground and asked, "ready for a break yet?"

Although she didn't want to, Aldru knew she'd have to stop and rest. She groaned in defeat and stood herself back up. By the time she was up, her scales had faded into skin and she was a human again. Hiccup helped walk her to the stables for some rest. Of course, she could've had a hut if she wanted one, but Aldru still insisted on staying with the dragons.

Once they finally arrived, Hiccup helped her to lay down on her yak skin bed. "I know you don't wanna hear this, but," he began, "I don't think you should keep this up. If Viggo does come looking for you here, you'll have no energy to get away at this rate."

Aldru frowned and grumbled, "..I know."

"I understand what you're doing, and why you're doing it," Hiccup assured, "but you have to let us take care of you, too." At this, she smiled. Hiccup returned the smile. "Now get some rest."

Once Hiccup was gone, Aldru did indeed rest. But before she fell asleep, numerous 'what if's played through her mind. What if she changed how she protected the island? What if she found a more proactive way to keep her dragons and people safe? What if instead of waiting for Viggo to find her, she found him?

• • •

"Alright, and everyone remembers the plan?" Hiccup asked one more time.

"Ugh, yes, you told us ten times," Snotlout yelled.

The Vikings had gathered on the landing platform with they're dragons, all ready for battle. Today, they would sink more hunter ships and free more dragons.

"No one told me the plan," Aldru's voice came out of nowhere.

Hiccup and the others turned to see their friend rushing their way. "That's because you're not coming," Hiccup stated, confused by her words.

Aldru crossed her arms and smirked, "who said I'm not coming?"

Tuffnut then shouted happily, "yes! More dragons equals more explosions!"

"You do know Aldru can't breath fire, right?" Fishlegs reminded. Tuff's face immediately fell.

Then Astrid piped in. "Are you sure?" She asked Aldru, "these missions can get pretty dirty."

Aldru nodded firmly and went on to explain, "that's why I'm coming. I'll stay out of sight, but if something goes wrong I'll be able to help."

Although everyone was shocked, they were glad that Aldru was coming. She changed into dragon form and everyone began to lift off. And after a long flight, Viggo's hunters were in view.

Hiccup looked through his spyglass and frowned, "is that..?"

"What is it, Hiccup?" Astrid worried.

The Viking put his spyglass away and looked back at the other riders, "Viggo's down there."

"Yes!" Snotlout shouted, "finally another shot at this guy."

But Hiccup wasn't so excited. He knew that if Viggo was there, there was much a slighter chance of succeeding. Aldru noticed his stress and landed for a moment on Toothless's back. She nuzzled his shoulder to show that she understood, then began a short song for courage.

Once she'd finished, Hiccup shouted back to the riders, "let's go."

With that, Aldru attatched herself the the back of Barf and Belch. She folded her wings back and hoped she wouldn't be seen. Then, the battle began.

As Ruff and Tuff caused one explosion after another, Aldru kept her eyes peeled. If anything went wrong, she'd have to be ready to take initiative. However, the riders seemed to have everything under control for the time being.

Aldru was still shocked by the amount of violence in these hunters. She'd never experienced anything like this before. Nor was she quite ready for what was about to happen.

Before she knew what was happening, a net wrapped around Barf and Belch, squeezing her closer to their back. Then, water covered her vision as they fell into the ocean. Almost as quickly as they fell, Aldru felt the air in her scales again. She was dropped onto a wooden floor, underneither one very large Barf and Belch.

Voices she couldn't recognize came from all around. Still trying to keep undercover, she squirmed toward the middle of the dragon's stomach and latched onto their belly scales. Within a few minutes, they were below deck in a cage, along with a few other dragons.

Aldru listened as two men walked down into the ship. "But they left, they're giving up," one voice said. It belonged to a stocky man, clearly just a follower. But the way he acted in the presence of the shorter, thinner male proved he was scared. And Aldru knew that meant that this smaller man was in charge, but was it Viggo?

"We have one of their dragons," the smaller man said, "they'll be back."

• • •

Hiccup and the other riders had landed on a small, closeby island to regroup. "I can't believe I let them get her," Hiccup kicked the ground in frustration.

"It'll be okay," Astrid comforted, "she's smart; she'll be alright until we figure out how to get her back."

"I know, it's just..." Hiccup went on, "I shouldn't have let her come."

"Aldru?" Fishlegs questioned, "you really think you could've told her no?"

"The Fish Man's right," Snotlout admitted, "Aldru wanted to come."

Hiccup looked back at the ships in the distance, then to his friends. "Alright," he spoke, "we're gonna need a plan."

• • •

Once the two men were gone, Aldru began to sing a soothing song to the dragons as quietly as possible. But a chilling voice stopped her. "I thought something felt a bit off down here," it was the same short man, this time alone.

Aldru immediately shut her jaw. "I know you're down here," the man spoke, and he closed the only door of exit, "I'd recognize that singing voice anywhere."

Footsteps echoed through the ship as the man walked slowly. "Come out now, and I promise I won't hurt you," he went on, "I just want to talk to you. Then, I'll let you, and your dragons, go free."

At these words, Aldru finally came out from under the protective zippleback. The man smirked as her long, thin body slipped through the cage bars with ease.

"Hiding with the dragon riders' zippleback," the man observed with a crooked grin, "I don't think that's a coincidence at all."