This Is The Last Time (HTTYD)

Chapter Ten

Anxiety was the only thing anyone could feel besides the cold that numbed their skin and set pins to rest against their bundles of fur.

The vast emptiness the ice created in the land did little to provide even an illusion of the memory of warmth. They stood silent and still, slightly petrified from the prospect of standing beside corpses, two decades of age. Even the Twins found no fascination, and remained as petrified as the others.

The Elemental Queens were sitting in the middle of the throne room, their knees pressing into the frozen ground. Niki, Heather, and Astrid were sitting with backs as straight as boards, their hands resting neatly on their upper thighs, and breathing slow controlled breaths. At some points when their breathing was synchronized, the clouds of air coming from their mouths would meet in the center and form a large cloud, which rose and expanded into the air.

There was something mesmerizing about watching the girls work, especially those who had the years of training and experience. Niki's nearly two decades of training showed, as her small yet notable movements were performed with so much serenity, most of the others couldn't keep their eyes off of her.

"Serafina, your hands." Mala gently reminded Astrid, who immediately took in a quick breath and released her hands, which were balled into tight fists. She took several more breaths to fall back into the rhythm.

Mala circled around the four women once more, but stopped short and glared at Ruffnut, who was meddling with the ends of her braid. "Becca." she tried to softly say, despite her frustrations. "Ruffnut!" she snapped when calling 'Becca' several times was not enough. "Please, focus."

"Sorry." she said, with a small unnoticeable eye roll before closing her eyes again. "I don't know how to do this though!"

"Calm yourself, then try to feel the power flow within you." Mala tried to explain.

"Ruff, just remember the times you were flying with Wingnutt." Niki suggested instead, which Ruffnut seemed to listen to more than Mala.

"Oh Wingnutt." Tuffnut sighed. "I miss that little guy."

"Who in the name of Thor is Wingnutt?" Snotlout snapped in a whisper.

"He's this cute little razorwhip dragon that lives with the Wingmaidens. It's kinda a long story, but Ruffnut and I raise it now."

"When was this?" Fishlegs asked, but halfway through speaking, several others harshly shushed him. "Sorry."

"Oh Wingnutt and I go-"

"HEY!"

"Sorry sis." Tuffnut corrected. "Wingnutt and us go way, way, way, back."

"Like how far back?" Fishlegs pushed for further details.

"Well, it was after we met Niki, and trained Barf and Belch." Tuffnut scratched his chin. "What would you say Hiccup? Five, six years?"

Hiccup's eyes widened and he turned his body slightly so that his face was out of Snotlout and Fishlegs' view. However if Snotlout was good at anything, it was being too suspicious of something to let it go.

"Hiccup!" He snapped, then quickly brought the volume of his voice down as another wave of shushing crashed on him. "What is going on?"

Hiccup nervously laughed, and tousled his autumn hair. "Oh-hey girls-um-how's the magic going?"

"No Hiccup!" Snotlout grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. "You've been avoiding this far too long. There is something going on here that you're not telling us!" Hiccup opened his mouth in objection, but Snotlout waved his pointer finger in his face to stop him. "Don't deny it! Fishlegs and I are a part of the team now, and as fully fledged members, we deserve to know what's going on."