Howling Echoes - A How to Train Your Dragon Story, The Echoes, Book 1

Chapter 88: The Equations

   I woke up to find Toothless flying off.  "Thank you so much Hiccup!"

   Hiccup whistled and walked off, but I intercepted him.  "So...what was that?"  I yawned, still tired.  "That Light Fury wo -"  Hiccup started.  "Crystal,"  I said, then gestured to him.  "Keep going."  "Crystal won't let me within a mile of her, and neither of us will be getting any sleep until he brings her back, and to do that he needs to fly without me."  

   I opened my mouth, then sighed.  "She thinks we're monsters, Hiccup,"  I said with an apologetic look.  "She...she isn't changing her mind anytime soon...most likely, anyway."

   Hiccup was about to respond when Valka and Cloudjumper came crashing through, and I jumped in surprise.  "Mom, Mom!  Is everything ok?"  Hiccup asked desperately.  "I don't know how but somehow Grimmel is tracking us."  Valka panted.

   "Ugh, I'm done with this guy.  If we want to be free of running, for the time being, anyway, we need to take Grimmel out of the equation."  I snapped.  "That we do, Kiara.  And I know just how we're going to do it.  "Gather the Riders - leave any dragons that don't have a Rider here.  We need to be stealthy."

   "I'll stay as myself, at least for now,"  I said, mounting Frostflake.  Hiccup nodded.  "Ok, good idea.  Let's move!"

   We approached a building.  "Be careful."  Frostflake had whispered to me before taking off.  We slowly snuck around the area, searching for Grimmel and anything that might help us.  

   To my dismay, moments later, chains fell around us.  "Ah!  Hiccup!"  Fishlegs cried.  I barreled forward and just barely escaped being trapped.  Being on the other side of the area that was caged in that Hiccup and Grimmel were, I was pretty sure I had gotten away with it unnoticed.  

   I carefully climbed up the chains and reached the top of them.  I narrowed my eyes and saw Frostflake and the others in the distance.

   Then I smelled burning.  "Frostflake!"  I yelled.  A few moments later Valka's staff called Cloudjumper.  The dragons helped us out, but when we started to fly away, I noticed something.  "Hey, Tuffnut?"  I called.  "What?"  He called back.  "Where's Ruffnut?"  I asked.  "Wait, we left Ruffnut behind!?"  Fishlegs panicked, whirling around to see Grimmel grabbing Ruffnut.

   "Oh no, you don't!"  I hissed, Frostflake already darting toward him with the other Riders right behind us.  The Deathgrippers stopped most of us, but Stormfly managed to zoom by and snatch up Ruffnut.

   When we came back to New Berk, I saw Toothless at the start of the village.  "Toothless!"  Hiccup gasped, a grin splitting across his face.  I saw Dagur pacing nervously, and Toothless wasn't looking at him.  "What?  What happened?"

   "I tried to follow T so that when you guys came back he'd be here, but he was in the Hidden World and I got caught by a dragon.  He had to save me and now he's mad."  Dagur grumbled.  "I'm sorry, brother, but it doesn't look likes the dragons there will accept humans."

   "Toothless?"  I heard a familiar voice and turned.  "Look!"  I cried, pointing.  "There's the Light Fury!"  Toothless' face lit up.  "Crystal!"  He roared.  "Come here, meet my friends!"  She growled.  "Please?"  She sighed and started to fly forward, but a dart pierced her neck.  "No!  Crystal!"  Toothless roared, flying forward.  "Toothless, no!"  The Night Fury was quickly shot down as well, and we bolted to the edge of the cliff.

   Already Grimmel had them tied up in this contraption thing and took off into the air.  "Unfourtanitly this is where our game must come to an end."  Grimmel cackled.  "Oh, don't feel too badly.  You tried your best.  But you are NOTHING without your dragon."  He whistled and tilted his head.

   Thinking quickly, I bolted toward him while he was distracted by the roars of the dragons from New Berk.  I leaped into the air and turned into a dragon, then quickly blasted fire at him.  He only saw it when it was too late.

   The flame lit up, and Crystal was looking at me in shock.  "Wait, you're -" 

  "Can we talk about this later!?"  I roared, ripping apart the contraption.  Toothless and Crystal both soared out, freed and roaring.  I glanced back, and Hiccup seemed crushed by Grimmel's words.  However, Astrid was comforting him.

   Next thing I knew, I felt something on my back, and something being injected into my neck.  I roared in fury before the world sort of blurred, and my world went black.

   "Kiara?  Kiara, are you ok?  Kiara?"  Frostflake nudged me, and I felt that strange thing being pulled out.  "What - what happened?"  I gasped.  "Grimmel,"  Frostflake growled.  I turned into a person.  "Kiara?  Are you ok?"  Astrid asked, and I realized the Riders - including Dagur and Viggo - were standing around me.  "Yeah, I'm - I'm fine I...I think."

   "Toothless?  Are you ok?"  Crystal crooned.  "Yeah, I'm fine."  He mumbled, rubbing against her.  Hiccup took a deep breath and approached Toothless.  "I know, bud."  He murmured.  "I know.  I'll miss you, too."

   I glanced at the others.  "What did I...what did I miss?"  "I was so busy fighting for I world that I...WANTED...that I didn't think about what you needed."  Hiccup said.  He reached out a hand to Toothless, and he pressed his head against it.  "Go, Toothless.  Go."

   My eyes widened and I glanced at Frostflake, figuring it out.  They...were leaving.

   For good.

   "Frostflake..."  I murmured, uncoupling the saddle made of Frostflake's shed scales.  "The best girl,"  I murmured, rubbing her under her chin.  "I'll miss you, you big beast,"  Viggo said, rubbing the side of Chroma's neck.  "Amber...Amythest...thank you both."  I murmured, pressing my head against both of theirs.  "Ruby...I'll see you with Whiplash in Vahalla."  I scratched underneath her chin.  "Goodbye, Chroma,"  I said, giving her a hug.  At this point, she was mostly Viggo's dragon, but I had still raised her.  

   Tears flooded my eyes as the dragons flew away.  I sniffled, watching Frostflake fly away.  Was what Whiplash had died for nothing?  'No,'  I assured myself.  'because then they wouldn't even have survived long enough to leave.'

   I watched the flood of colors as Toothless flew after the Light Fury.  "Goodbye, Frostflake,"  I murmured, echoing the last words I had spoked to Whiplash.  "Goodbye."

   (DON'T LEAVE YET!  There's more (yes, seriously, there's more.)

   (1:  There's going to be a sequel called 'Fading Echoes' shot from the POV of Kiara and Dagur's children (yes, the way that Kiara talks to Dagur is her affectionate lovey side...so, in other words, she doesn't have one).)

   (2:  In honor of every one of my OCs here, I'm gonna do a chapter for each of them copy-pasting some of my (and yours if you'll tell me them) favorite moments.)

   (I'll also do one for canon characters if anybody wants me to.)

   (So, don't go away quite yet!)