This Is The Last Time (HTTYD)

Chapter Thirteen

 Chapter Thirteen

"Into the great beyond." Everyone was mumbling under their breaths as they continued flying high in the clouds. Their flight was moving into its sixth hour and the sun was practically a thin stip of orange string along the horizon.

"We should be making camp soon." Niki called out to the others, leaning over Shockwave's back to scout the ground. "This should do."

The Dragon Riders didn't even have the energy to argue, or evaluate the location themselves. They simply landed their dragons in the forest and dismounted to stretch and lay down. "These trees are enormous." Fishlegs admired their enormous size from laying on his back. "They must be the size of a hut!"

"We're about three hours from the capitol." Niki said, laying out her bedroll and groaning loudly as she gave her body a full stretch. "Here in Leirven, you can track your location by the size of the trees. The trees in Leirven's capitol are so large, the entire city is built on them. Right here though, you'll only find a few houses that are built into the trees. Most of the elves that live this far out of the capitol are farmers, and need to be close to the ground."

"Will we be able to see the capitol?" Hiccup asked, but was greatly disappointed when his sister shook her head.

"That will cause too much commotion. It's even too dangerous to be camping here, but trust me, running this way all night is no fun task."

"You've done that before?'' The Twins' energy seemed to shoot up immediately, and they quickly moved their bedrolls right next to hers, to hear the story in full glory.

Niki gave a half smile, and turned her head towards the road they had been following. "Yeah. My father often traveled to the different Elven Tribes so I was able to come along. One of my friends' father was head of the Guard of Ling. He trained us ruthlessly, so whenever we traveled, he challenged us to run the whole way. We always made it to Daventia with no trouble, but the others were too far. We were very close though. Kaeyltyn, that was her name, and I would wake up hours before the crack of dawn and start running, only stopping to wait for the crowd to catch up, so we could get some food and quench our thirst."

"That hardly sounds safe." Heather questioned. "How old were you?"

She shrugged, digging in her saddlebag to tear off a piece of bread. "Thirteen? Don't worry. You know what my father would tell people who questioned it? 'There's a difference between an assassin running free through the woods, than an unguarded royal.'"

Snotlout was gnawing through a tough steak when he paused. "I don't get it."

Mala chuckled, shaking her head. "It means that Nikolai and her friends were trained as assassins since they were born. Every Rogue Moon child is."

"At thirteen we can take down a fully grown Careless Breath." Nikolai proudly added.

"Even if they were to come into any trouble, they could handle themselves. On the other hand, the rest of the elven children are practically like ours. Minimal training, which eventually ends up useless in a dangerous situation." Mala completed, then asked Astrid and Heather to build a fire.

"Are you saying our kid can't fight?" Dagur mocked.

"Against Nikolai, no." she laughed, then kissed his cheek.

"Well, if Niki isn't going to tell us a story, why doesn't someone else?" Ruffnut asked the group. No one at first was keen to volunteer, but Snotlout raised his hand after a few moments. "Oh, um, not you Snotlout."

"Hey!" he yelled. "I want you two to tell us how you got with these guys without us knowing."

"Oh." Tuffnut faked flattery on his face. "Well thank you for volunteering us. I accept your nomination. Ruffnut, where shall we begin?"