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.*･｡CHAPTER EIGHT.*･｡

——

   Vega felt like she had been running for hours, when it had only been minutes.

She stumbled along the rocky incline, heart in her mouth as she tried to put as much distance between herself and the gradin as she could. The girl still couldn't believe that Hiccup had shot down and befriended a Night Fury, of all living creatures. She couldn't believe that no one had even noticed.

What would his father do if he was to find out? Vega figured Stoick would probably murder Hiccup before the dragon even had a chance to. He was going to be furious when he discovered what his son had been hiding — well, if he found out. There was a possibility that the dragon would eat Vega way before she managed to make it back to Berk, and she wouldn't have been able to tell anyone about his secret 'pet' that was hidden beyond the forest. Vega needed to tell everyone about the fact that the boy wasn't at all the famous dragon slayer that they had thought: he was a cheater, a dragon tamer. It sounded absurd — would they even believe her?

   Vega let out a strangled cry as her foot got caught behind a tree root, sending her lurching forewords and towards the hard, gravely ground. The brunette squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for the impact, ready to haul herself back up and keep on going, but the impact never came. In fact, she hadn't come close to hitting the ground at all. No where near, actually, for when Vega opened her eyes, she was in the air.

   The girl screamed out in panic, looking up to see the same Night Fury with tight grip on her arm. It seemed to smirk at her evilly, green eyes beady and full of mischief.

    "Oh my- for the love of Odin!" Vega screeched louder than any dragon as she soared through the air, kicking her legs and writhing around in fear. She began to panic and hyperventilate, unable to see the ground from where they were, thoroughly convinced that the animal would drop her from the obscene height. "Help!"

   This was it. This was how she was going to die, just like her parents. This was it.

   When the creature dropped her onto a tree branch before settling on the very top, Vega heaved for breath through her panicked state. She latched an arm around the branch, the wood tucked tightly under her shoulder, and squirmed around in a pathetic attempt to save herself from falling.

    "Hiccup-" She seethed at the boy whom sat happily on top of his dragon. He gave her a sheepish laugh to which she grit her teeth. If she survived, she was going to kill him, "Get me down from here!"

    "You have to give me a chance to explain!" Hiccup rushed out, cringing at the thought of what would happen if they let her down and what would happen if they didn't.

   Vega growled, "Seriously? No! I am not listening to anything you have to say!"

   Hiccup had expected that much. Toothless hissed at the girl, causing her to shuffle back the best she could, wailing when the branch bent as she nearly slid right off. He patted the dragon on the head as to calm it, then reached out a hand to Vega with a brave face. He had never seen her so panicked before, so frightened. Though, he couldn't quite blame her. She was being faced with the animals that she had been raised to kill, the murderer of her parents.

   He had been scared too.

    "Then I won't speak." The boy deadpanned. "Just let me show you."

   When she didn't respond, only stared up at him and the dragon wearily, Hiccup sigh. He pushed his hand further foreword, gently, and nodded his head in a way that he hoped to be encouraging. "Please, Vega."

She contemplated her options for a moment. There weren't many: she could have denied his offer and stayed at the top of that tree until he eventually owned up to where he had left her, or Vega could have waited for the Night Fury to maul and kill her savagely when she insisted that she was going to tell his father this deep, dark secret. Or she could accept his hand and step foot on the dragon, and let him show her whatever he seemed to think would change her mind. Then, she could expose him to Berk afterwards.

Vega would let him get her down and then run off to tell them about the way he had cheated and befriended a dragon afterwards. After. Definitely.

With a heavy sigh and a statuesque expression, the young Viking carefully pulled herself up and onto the tree branch, her legs shaking with uncertainty. She shuffled her feet along the rim of the wood, slowly making her way towards the black beast and his rider. Grimacing at the idea of this being a ploy to make her move and thus be eaten, Vega kept her eyes narrowed upon the animal in a way that had perfectly mirrored its own. The girl slapped away Hiccup's outstretched hand and hauled herself onto the saddle, and inches away from Hiccup with her eyes shut tightly. She let out a breath and nodded.

"Now get me down."

"Toothless, down." Hiccup patted the head of his dragon with a satisfied smile, oblivious to the plot forming in its head. "Gently."

Vega suddenly felt faint. He really had given it a name.

   As the dragon slowly released its grip on the tree, leaning them back as a steady rate, Vega released a breath. Maybe she would get out of this alive. Hiccup seemed to notice and smiled, even though she couldn't see it. "See? Nothing to be afraid of-"

   And then they were off, at a speed that Vega couldn't have even dreamt of going. She screamed wildly as she nearly fell off the back of the Night Fury, clutching onto the saddle with so much strength that she thought it would rip between her finger. Her starry, brown eyes snapped open and she let out another violent cry, her cheeks rippling in the wind.

    "Toothless!" Hiccup reprimanded as they flew up into the air, choking on a fly that hit him in the back of the throat. He groaned when the animal ignored him and tried again, not wanting Vega to get them both murdered by his father. "What is wrong with you? Bad dragon!"

   Arms outstretched and flapping around, Vega eventually managed to catch hold of Hiccup's harness, pulling herself towards it in a blind panic. She wrapped her arm around him, gripping on for dear life, barely noticing the way he flinched in her arms. Vega gasped three times, looking down at the village below them and whimpering when she only saw the clouds. She was right — this was how she was going to die. Exactly how she was going to die. Vega was the one supposed to be killing the dragons, not the other way round. These moments would be her last. Was she already dead?

    "He's not usually like this-" Hiccup assured the girl as Toothless threw his body to the side, plummeting them down and down. She screamed again and he sighed, "Oh, no."

   They trio dipped under water and Vega choked on a wave as they came back up, barely skimming the surface of the ocean as they flew. She spat out the salty taste and let out another cry, one of many more that would occur.

   As the dragon proceeded to push them under water a couple more times, Hiccup could only try and coax him out of it. He wasn't very keen on the idea of having to explain how and why Vega had been scared to death, literally, by the end of the journey when he was dragging her body back to Berk. He shuddered, "Toothless, what are you doing?"

   They then flew upwards again, "We need her to like us!"

   Vega's stomach churned when they began to rotate in circle, Toothless' body spinning as they got higher and higher. "I'm going to die- I'm dead!"

    "And now the spinning."

   Then there was spinning whilst diving downwards, back to the cold waters they had just left behind.

    "Thank you for nothing-" the boy commented bluntly, unfazed by the actions of the dragon and the screams from Vega. Toothless was a nuisance, and Hiccup could only imagine what threats Vega would spurt when they landed on ground — hopefully — alive. "-you useless reptile."

    "Okay!" Vega yelled out, her voice battling the air that swooped around them in a hectic breeze. She pushed her face into Hiccup's shoulder and awaited the feeling of the sea to engulf her, leading her to her eventual death. This hadn't been how she had imagined to go, but no one ever got what they wanted, did they? Maybe this was how it was supposed to be? "I am sorry! I'm sorry- okay?"

   She wasn't sure exactly who she was apologised to, the beast that threatened her life or the boy she clung to in hopes of survival. Vega hadn't meant to insult the animal or run off to tell his father about their little friendship, it had been instinct. Hiccup had cheated and committed the one felony that Vikings would never forgive. It was an opportunity to get him back for taking her title, for taking all of her dreams away in a simple challenge. She had wanted to kill that dragon tomorrow morning, she was meant to - not Hiccup. It was Vega's destiny, it always had been, it was a chance to make her parents proud.

   Now, what would they think? Their daughter had lost the penultimate challenge and was apologising to a dragon.

    "Just, please-" The brunette begged for mercy, unable to bare the thought of how disappointed her mother and father would be if they could see her this way, "-please get me off of this thing before I end up with my parents!"

   And just like that, with a final cry from Vega, Toothless spread his wings and they shot back up, flying at a steady pace along the coast and through the sky. Vega slowly cracked open her eyes, the sun refracting against the starry constellations within them, and her breathing slowed down to a serene state.

   It was beautiful.

   Shivers ran along her spine as the wind gently stroked her hair, arms extended out to touch the clouds that swirled amongst them. The pastels of pink and purple tickled her cheeks, the skin glowing in a effervescent shimmer of warmth and admiration and calm. Hiccup looked back over his shoulder to steal a glance at the girl, mind hazy as he took in her smile and shine. He'd never thought he'd see the day where Vega Storm would be riding a dragon, and loving every single second of it. For a second, he thought that he was in heaven.

   Perhaps it was wrong of Vega to have been sure that she had never felt this tranquility before, that nothing could compare to the feeling she felt deep inside. Was it possible for a heart to sparkle?

   She felt guilty for loving this feeling. Deep within, the girl knew that it was wrong. They were Vikings. She had spent her life being taught and trained into killing dragons on sight — no hesitation, just murder. Kill them before they kill us, she could hear her father say. It was a whisper, but it was there.

   But for once in four years since her parents death, she pushed that voice away.

   The sunset soon turned to night, the moons glow reflecting upon the water and leaving shimmering hues of purple and green all around them. Vega hadn't ever known that the earth was so beautiful, so perfect. Berk looked nicer than it ever had done as they flew above it, the torches and flames guiding them on their way.

    "All right, I never thought I'd say this-" Vega sighed, for once the sound being disbelief rather than hostility. "-but this is pretty cool." she corrected herself, "I- it's amazing."

   Again, a correction. "He's kind of amazing."

   Hiccup seemed content with the words until she smacked his shoulder, wincing under the pressure. Vega was one of the strongest people he had ever met, and he was now learning the true amount of strength she had. That had hurt.

    "Don't you dare tell anyone I said that." She sent him a mean glare, and he nodded. She pursed her lips.

    "What now? What are you going to do?" The girl queried, pulling him back by his arm so that he could face her ever so slightly. "Hiccup, your final exam is tomorrow. You know you'll have to kill-"

   She hesitated, leaning into his ear and whispering the words, though she was positive that the dragon could still hear them. "-kill a dragon."

    "Don't remind me." He spoke pathetically.

   Toothless' ears quirked, flittering round in synchronicity with his eyes. The dragon then swooped to the left and shot them through the air much faster than before, causing Vega to let out a yell of surprise. The two Vikings had no idea what was happening as he took them in his own direction, a mild sense of worry forming in her mind.

    "Toothless, what's happening?" Hiccup asked with a sense of urgency as they flew theory the fog, "What is it?"

   When noticing the various dragons surrounding them, however, that urgency increased. He didn't even spare a glance at Vega, hoping that such a smart girl would be able to follow his lead without him checking. "Get down!"

   Vega pulled herself closer to the boy, desperately wishing that if she held him tight enough she would just disappear. She peered at the dragon's around them wearily, noticing the many more appearing from behind the mist as they continued on. Toothless kept himself in the middle of the group and none of the animals seemed to notice them, but that didn't meant that Vega's guard hadn't gone back up again, to the way it was before their little trip. Her instincts were kicking in and whilst she was scared, she was also angry. She was ready to fight if she had to.

    "What's going on?" She whispered to Hiccup, hoping for an answer but not getting the one she'd wished for.

   He frowned, "I don't know."

    "Toothless," Hiccup leant a hand on his friend's head, hoping to get them off of the same course as the rest of the dragon. Toothless shook his head but growled in what Vega hoped was agreement, "You gotta get us out of here, bud."

   Upon a closer look, Hiccup allowed his eyes to trail down the the dragons' talons, or more so what they had in them. "It looks like they're hauling in their kill."

   Vega looked towards one of the sheep in a Gronckles clutches and shivered.

    "So what does that make us?"

   The girl held on even tighter as they dove down, swooping in and out of caverns, in between stoke pillars and blockades. They eventually found themselves faced with a volcano, having only a minute to question it before they shot through and opening, causing both of the teens to let out a cry.

   Toothless soon landed and settled himself in a gap in the rock, hiding the two humans on his back as they watched the scene in front of them.

   Hiccup let out a low whistle, "What my dad wouldn't give to find this." He then rose a brow as the dragon's flew over a layer of fog, dropping the finding from their claws and letting them fall into an abyss. "It's satisfying to know that all of our food has been dumped down a hole."

    "They're not eating any of it," Vega noted more to herself than anybody else, gasping when a much larger dragon's head burst out of them abyss and took a baby Gronckle into its mouth without hesitation.

    "Hiccup?" The brunette's breath hitched in her throat as she watched with wide eyes, unable to look away from the scene no matter how disturbing it had been. "What is that?"

   No response. The giant dragon sniffed.

    "All right, bud-" Hiccup leant foreword, "-we got to get out of here! Now!"

• • •

    "Woah- it totally makes sense!" Vega blurted out as the trio landed, hopping off of the Night Fury as though it hadn't been any issue getting on. "It's like a giant beehive, right? They're the workers and that's their queen. You know? That things tells them what to do, is controls them."

   Before Hiccup had even dismounted himself from Toothless, Vega broke into a sprint, "Let's find your dad!"

    "No!" The boy stretched out a hand to stop her, sliding off of toothless and following quickly behind. He grabbed her wrist in his palm and pulled her to a halt, the action not feeling as foreign as he would have expected. She quirked a brow at him, wanting a good explanation as to why they couldn't tell his father about the thing their tribe had been searching for, for years.  "No- no, not yet. They'll kill Toothless-"

    "-we have to think this through carefully." He finished, running a hand through his hair and letting out a deep breath. Vega stared at him as though he was the dragon queen, not understanding.

    "Hiccup, we just discovered the dragons' nest," she spoke slowly to ensure that he heard her right, "The thing we've been after since Vikings first sailed here, that thing that my parents told me stories about since the day I was born, and you want to keep it a secret? To protect your pet dragon? For the love of Odin-" Vega frowned, "-are you serious, right now?"

   Hiccup slowly span around on his heel, no longer walking away from her but instead staring her right in the eye, green orbs shining with determination.

   She had never seen him look like that.

   He nodded once, "Yes."

It was then that her confused stare softened, her furrowed brows dropping to their normal position above her brown eyes, nose no longer scrunched. Her lips parted ever so slightly as she watched him. She didn't say anything, she just watched. It was something unusual, seeing Hiccup act so brave, so fearless. To her, he had always been a pathetic and scared boy, not even close to making the cut for Viking material. Over the years, Vega had pitied him, grown irritated with him, saved him, despised him, and now she was admiring him. She never thought the day would come.

It was something unusual, seeing Hiccup act so brave and so fearless. But it was beautiful, nonetheless.

Breathing a huff of defeat, Vega let her starry eyes stare up at him, wide and sparkling. She never let anyone get close enough to see their constellations, but there she was. Letting Hiccup see her for who she truly was.

The boy blushed as he fell into their own abyss, a warmer and safer one than the dragon's nest. Hiccup had never imagined himself being in such a position, with the ability to see every inch of every star within the deep orbs, able to trace ever constellation he had ever heard of. There was something inside of her eyes that confused him; was it fear? Longing? He couldn't tell.

After the silence blossomed, Vega nodded her head slowly. She couldn't believe that she was about to say it, but then again, she hadn't been able to believe much about that day. Hiccup had beat her in the penultimate challenge, he had kidnapped her with his dragon, the dragon had tried to kill her, and then they had found the dragons nest. It was everything that would have usually made her scream in anger and frustration; everything that she never imagined would happen.

   That day had been a day of change. Vega felt it deep in her soul as she sighed, she was changing. "Okay."

Hiccup hadn't expected that.

"Then, what do we do, exactly?" The use of we had scared herself as much as it had scared him. She wondered what she had gotten herself into, and whether she would make her way out of it alive. What her patents would think.

"Just give me until tomorrow," the boy assured with a nod, biting down on his lip as he debated all of his options as once. There weren't many. "I'll figure something out."

"Okay." Vega repeated plainly. She pursed her lips together and looked around the cove awkwardly, a strange feeling knitting itself within her gut. The girl instinctively sent a string hit to his shoulder, her knuckles colliding with his arm and sending him stumbling back, some. He sent her a look to insinuate she was crazy, to which Vega sent him a glare. He cowered.

"That was for kidnapping me." She explained, blunt as ever, stating down the dragon too. "Cause, you know, I was kidnapped."

Hiccup glanced over his shoulder at Toothless and raised a hand, hoping for some backup, though the dragon simply swallowed a fish from the lake and shook his head with a snarl. He rolled his eyes at the creature and turned back, just quick enough to catch the kiss planted upon his cheek.

"That was for-" Vega hesitated, eyes wide upon realising what she had done. "-everything else."

Before the boy could question her actions, Vega scrambled away from sight, up the rocks and out of the cove altogether. Truth be told, she had no idea why she had kissed him. She had simply followed her instincts.

And those instincts were leading her to him.

——