Riders Tale of Titans

II

Dark didn't come for what seemed like days. There was a slight chill, but there were no clouds to be seen for miles. I wondered what it would be like to touch the stars, to fly up towards them, and see what they truly were. I wanted to see what was above the clouds on a stormy night, would it look the same as a clear night, or would there be something else.

"I know that look," I heard Hiccup say, and he came and sat next to me. He wrapped a blanket around me, "It's not good for a warrior to be cold going into battle."

I smiled, "thank you."

"Yeah," he whispered, then grew serious, "your not mad at me, are you?"

"No, of course not...why," I asked.

He thought for a second, "there are many reasons to be mad at me," he said simply, "I kept the fact that your father was alive from your entire family for the past, what, sixteen years."

"How can I be mad," I told him, "at someone for keeping someone away from me that I don't know?"

He chuckled, "I guess there is that."

I waited for a couple minutes, then looked at him. "What was it like?" I asked him.

"What?"

"Being a dragon rider," I said, "having a friend that would agree with you about everything. A friend that would stick with you till the end of time."

He smiled, and looked at the ocean. We'd moved away from the waterfall so everyone could sleep, now it was just a distant whisper. Then he looked at the sky, a tear fell from his eye.

"It was hard," he whispered, "the responsibility, the loss. I was about your age when I discovered the truth about dragons. In fact, it took so much to get the rest of our people to follow that path. I almost died," he lifted up his peg leg. Making me giggle a bit, "but with all that pain, that sacrifice...came joy. Out came faith, hope, but best of all. There came peace.

"Peace that there was no more fighting," he continued, "no more bloodshed. It was like the world made sense. Then all at once, like an avalanche, it came crashing down. Once people started hurting those that meant dearest to me, I didn't know what to do. My father died because of my stupid decision to follow someone, that he had warned me about.

"No one could've prepared me for that," he sighed, then looked at me, "after Toothless left the first time with the Light Fury, I realized he wasn't mine anymore. And after he was almost killed, I had to let him go. I sent him to a place no one could find him, and the world made sense again..."

"But even that's not safe anymore," I whispered.

"Aye," he agreed, "and now I'm back to square one. Toothless is everything you said, and more. I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to him."

"What do you know about my father?" I said softly as he looked at the ocean. "What was he like?"

"James," he stroked his beard. "He was a great man, a man of his word. He was willing to do whatever was needed to be done, to ensure the safety of his kin. Even if it meant faking his death. He saved my life the night he left, I never got to thank him. Astrid wears a necklace, keeps it hidden most of the time, but every now and then she'll show it. It was a gift from your father.

"It means, family. Do you know what family is?" He asked me, and I nodded. Of course I did.

"Family is a group of blood-" I tried, but he interrupted me.

He took a deep breath, "family isn't just the people who share blood with you," he explained, "it's the people around you. The people you trust, and fight beside. If you don't like the person your with make some changes, adapt, so that you can cooperate. Family comes in many shapes, many forms, and sizes. The bond between a dragon, and human. Your family is the people, or things your willing to stick your neck out to save.

"Your father did all that for Astrid and I," he whispered, "he saved her life and mine. James wan't blood, but we called him our brother in everything but that. He was our kin, and we were his. We loved each other like a family would love a new dog. Love is a great thing you know...but with love, comes pain. With love comes sacrifice, but in the end it's all worth it. There is no better gift...than love. My father told me that, and I bet James would do the same."

This time it was me who stared out over the ocean, dumbfounded at the chieftain's words. I looked up at the stars, and again wondered what it would be like to touch them. I laid in my cot below decks that night, and the whole time Hiccup's words reverberated through my head, over and over again.

Love is a great thing you know...but with love, comes pain. With love comes sacrifice, but in the end it's all worth it. There is no better gift...than love.

...

Starfire's scales glistened in the moonlight as she flew. Her excitement almost outpacing her speed. She'd thought he'd died on that ship, and had been burned afterward. When her old homeland came into view she nearly did a backflip, but knew better and contained herself. She was no longer in the Hidden World, Eclipse had their hatchlings somewhere in the Barbarian Archipelago. Hidden away in a cave or something.

She landed with a thud in front of her old Rider's house. The lights were all off, but she could hear the faint sound of someone's heartbeat. She opened the door with her snout, and squeezed her narrow body through the doorway. She walked down the hallway into what she remembered to be James's room.

There was a figure underneath the covers of the bed. She could see its chest rise and fall as it breathed. The humans broad body was facing opposite of her, so she snuck up behind him. He may have faked his death, but he was once still her Rider. She grabbed the covers in her teeth and gave a little yank.

The blanket slowly came off the man, and fell to the floor. He immediately began to shiver so Starfire warmed up her body for him. He rolled around, and was facing her. He reached up, reaching for the warmth. He touched her snout and immediately cringed. His eyes fluttered open, and the two of them made eye contact.

She blew smoke into his face and that's what set him off.

"Starfire!" he yelled, "why are you here? I'm supposed to be dead, did Hiccup tell you?"

He only did it because he had to, she told him.

"Why?"

"Because the Barbarian Archipelago is no longer safe for dragons," she explained, "we were in hiding, safe hiding, and a human found us. He killed a titanwing."

"What is a titanwing?"

"A dragon at its peak maturity," she said, "extremely rare, and there are only so few."

"So he wants me to come back and help him?" James asked.

Star nodded, "it's been sixteen years, James."

"Yeah, but-"

"You have a daughter!" she told him. "A fifteen year old girl named Alia-"

"How do you know she's mine?" James asked. "And why would you put that on me? What is this, blackmail?"

"Yes, and no," Star said, "I know she's your daughter, I can sense your power within her."

"What," he asked. "James, you have to come back," Star whispered, "Alia needs you to show her what she is...who she is."