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.*･｡CHAPTER TEN.*･｡

——

"You knew about this?"

Vega cringed at the way Astrid paced back and forth, stomping her feet which each step and waving her axe around like a maniac.

Stoick had thrown Hiccup into their home as soon as Toothless had been taken away and tied up, not caring about his fifteen year old son who was near tears. Vega had removed herself from the situation rather quickly, knowing fully well that it was going to get messy, but been dragged away by Astrid before she could have gotten far. The group of teenagers had followed and pounced on her with a million questions, the blonde being the angriest by far.

   Vega may not have had parents around anymore to show their disappointment, but Astrid did a pretty good job at it.

    "I can't believe Hiccup has a pet Night Fury." Ruffnut mumbled to herself before sighing dreamily, her eyes going big and goggly. "That's hot."

   The brunette scowled at the comment, narrowing her eyes venomously. She wasn't sure why she had reacted in such a way, nor why she could feel her cheeks heating up the way that they were, or the thumping of her heart in her chest. It rattled against her ribs and threatening to burst out of its confinement altogether, and Vega ached for it to stay where it was. She didn't know why Ruffnut's stupid comment had spurred such a reaction inside of her, but she tried to brush it off nonetheless. Vega didn't know, and would have much rather that nobody else did, either.

    "He had a pet dragon all this time-" Astrid raged to herself as she stomped and tugged at her hair with her free hand, "-he had been cheating all this time, and you knew about it?"

   "Astrid-" Vega sighed, but was quickly cut off.

    "I can't believe you, Vega! You had the chance to tell someone, to trade him in for being a liar, and you didn't? Even when you wanted this more than anything?" The blonde pulled at her hair and finally faced her friend, eyes bulging out of her head. "I know how much you wanted this!"

She knew that the blonde had a point there. Vega had wanted it. Gods- part of her still did. Only a week ago, she would have done anything to have found out how Hiccup had gotten so good and to tell everyone that he was a fraud, had it meant that she would have been back in the lead. It was selfish and awful, and it made the girl feel ill when she thought about it now, but that was exactly what she had wanted; what she had yearned for.

Astrid knew how much it had meant to Vega. She always had known. From the day her parents had died, Astrid knew what it meant to Vega to be in that arena, to have won the chance to kill a dragon in front of the whole of Berk and travel to the nest her father had spoken of for hers. It was in her blood, ingrained deep inside of her. The blonde knew how much Vega had wanted to prove to herself — and to everyone else in their quaint village — that she could be what she thought her parents would have wanted.

Though, the truth was, her parents would have wanted her to be happy and safe. Even if that didn't mean turning out exactly as they did, following in their footsteps or avenging their deaths. Vega had convinced herself that she had to be the best because they were. Every day since they had died, she had trained endlessly, just to get to where she was now. Determination was her middle name. Dragon Training had been in her sights for years and now that she had finally been so close to winning, she had let Hiccup's secret slide and not told anyone. He had cheated and befriended a dragon, and Vega hadn't told a soul.

The day after her parents had passed, Vega had confided in Astrid. She had told her the plan. Astrid knew every single part of it. They may not have been able to stand one another at the best of times, but she was the closest friend that Vega had. So, from that moment on, Astrid had made sure that the girl never lost sight of that plan; the goal.

They were friends. That's what friend did, right?

Astrid knew how much Vega had wanted this, so she simply couldn't understand why she had let the boy go on with it. Why hadn't she tried to stop him?

"Yeah, Vega. You totally wanted to win this thing and you were totally going to-" Tuffnut commented with a shrug of his shoulders. He wrinkled his nose and peered around at the others who nodded, "-so why didn't you?"

Snotlout added, "You could've killed a Night Fury! That's so Vega!"

The brunette looked down at her hands as she twiddled her thumbs, his comment not being all too ridiculous for once. Truthfully, she didn't know why. She could have killed a Night Fury, Snotlout was right, but she hadn't. Vega hadn't done anything.

"I guess-" Vega hesitated, looking back to the group of teenagers to find them looking right back at her. They no longer looked mad but curious. They wanted to know, just because they did. Maybe they cared, Vega wasn't too sure, but at that moment it felt like it. "-I guess it just didn't feel right."

Silence. She continued, "What if Hiccup's got a point? What if everything we know about them is wrong?"

Astrid blazed red.

"Dragon's killed your-"

"I know. I know that they killed my parents." Vega's sharp voice sliced through the blonde's, sending her into silence. It was unusual to hear so much emotion in her tone, "I also know that my parents killed dragons, too."

It was then that the teenagers became sheepish, knowing that all of their parents had killed dragon's. Thousands of them. Berk had been slaughtering the animals for centuries as a form of protection, but what if the dragon's were in the same boat? What if it was kill or be killed? They had to protect themselves too after all, just like all of the humans did. Perhaps it was a cycle of murder and good intentions, having to kill vikings in a matter of self-defence, or maybe even fear of the queen killing them for not bringing back enough from their raids. They had seen what had happened to that Gronckle.

The queen. She'd forgotten about that part.

"All of our parents have killed dragon's for centuries, does that make us any better?" She now spoke more to herself than to anyone else. "My parents always told me to kill those animals to save myself, but what if I don't need to save myself anymore? What if they aren't the real threat?"

Astrid frowned, "Then what is?"

Though, the brunette didn't answer have time to answer. Instead, Vega pulled herself up from the rock she perched her on and sped off in the direction of the docks. She had heard that Toothless was being placed onto a boat and that the Vikings were going with him, setting out at sunset for a disclosed reason. But Vega wasn't stupid. She knew what it had meant.

That meant that Hiccup had come to the same realisation that she had.

And that Stoick had done, too.

"Vega? Where are you going?" Astrid called out after the girl, each member of the group rushing after her. "We were just talking! What is the threat? Hey-"

"Shut up and run faster, Astrid!" Vega shouted back in a rush. She turned her head to see the lines of Berkians filing onto boats and quickened her step, eyes peeled and in search of one boy she never thought she'd be looking out for in a million years. "We have to find Hiccup!"

    "What?"

   She ignored the chorus of confusion and distain and simply scoffed, getting closer and closer to the docks with each step. She needed to find Hiccup, to find the boy that had wound them up in this huge mess in the first place, the one that had somehow angered her in every sense possible and brought her to a plethora of realisations at the very same time. Vega had realised a lot, lately.

   If Stoick had found out that Toothless could lead them to the Queen, to the nest that the village of Berk had been  endlessly searching for for centuries, that meant that he was going to charge right in there, axes and swords waving and blazing. Berk had been trying to find the dragon's nest for longer than anyone had truly known, and now that they had it in the palm of their hands, they weren't going to hesitate and strike. They were going to destroy it whilst they felt they had the upper hand.

   But they had no idea what they would be up against, what would be waiting for them. Vega and Hiccup, however, did.

   They may not have been true vikings, they didn't have the skill and experience that the rest of Berk had. They may not have been able to kill a dragon, but they had seen their master — they had ridden a Night Fury right into the nest.

   And for once, that gave them the advantage.

• • •

By the time they had made it to the docks, the ship had already sailed. Metaphorically and literally.

"You must feel horrible."

Vega noticed Hiccup's shoulder slouch even further as he stood at the end of the wooden steps, watching out after the boat that sailed into the distance. The sun was setting in the sky and the orange hue swallowed the boat, with it the Berkians, his father, and his dragon.

It hadn't taken a genius to figure out where the son of the chief had been. She had seen him as soon as the group had reached the water, cursing and groaning when they realised the ship was home and they had run for nothing. His skinny and short frame had been a shadow under the light, hair flowing in the breeze. For a moment, she had wondered whether he was going to scream out for them to come back, or make some dramatic scene that he seemed to be quite partial to, but he hadn't. Hiccup had stood there gormlessly, a figure in the wind, and allowed his father to ignore everything he had to say, again. He had let them go.

For some reason, this has angered her. It had confused her, unsettled her, frustrated her all at once. Hiccup had practically forced her onto a Night Fury, refused to kill a dragon in front of the whole of Berk, but hadn't tried to stop his father from making the biggest mistake of his life? Even if he had tried, couldn't he have tried once more?

She hadn't known Hiccup for long, but that had most certainly was not a very Hiccup thing to do. She knew that much.

   The boy wasn't sure when Vega had joined him up at the top of the structure. Vega always seemed to pop up out of nowhere lately, scaring him in the process and sending his heart lurching out of his chest. He never expected to see her whenever she showed up, and when he did expect to see her, she never seemed to be there. Over the last few weeks, he had seen the brunette more than he had in their whole fifteen years. She had nearly caught him out several times, close to discovering his secret, until she eventually had. She hadn't told his father immediately, she had let him show her what it was like to ride a dragon.

   The girl had let him see the constellation within her eyes, she had helped him in the arena when he thought that he was going to die whilst trying to prove a point she hadn't been sure she believed in, and she was with him right now.

   These were all things that Hiccup had never expected of Vega Storm.

    "You've lost everything," she continued, staring out into the distance as she made her way to stand next to him, an inch between them. Vega puckered her lips and let out a breath, throwing out her arms in an expressive way that only he could truly master. "Your father, your tribe. Your best friend. It's all gone. Must suck."

    "Thank you for summing that up." Hiccup sighed. She was right, though, he had lost everything. He sighed again, heavier this time. "Why couldn't I have killed that dragon when I found him in the woods?"

   He muttered lowly, brows furrowed and nose scrunched up tightly, "Would have been better for everyone."

   Vega nodded. He had taken the words right out of her mouth. It sounded awful of her to say, but she wasn't very good at motivational speeches in general, and this was all that she had up her sleeve, last minute. Plus, she had found that Hiccup seemed to work much better when he felt under pressure, or when he got himself worked up about something — he was a passionate boy, after all. Maybe it wasn't time for a motivational, soppy speech. Those were his thing. Maybe, they needed to do it the Vega way.

Maybe this time he needed to get angry. That was how she fuelled her own passions, after all. It was very Vega.

    "Yep." She agreed. Her words were blunt but true, in classic Vega style. "I'm pretty sure that the rest of us would've done it. No thinking, just killing. Thor- I know that we would've. So why didn't you?"

"I don't know." He shook his head, "I couldn't."

The girl scoffed and rolled her eyes when his head shot to look at her, gaze narrowed. Vega swung slowly on the balls of her feet and crossed her arms, "That's hardly an answer."

"Why is this so important to you all of a sudden?" Hiccup scowled, and for a moment Vega was taken aback by his tone. She had never heard him speak anything but awkwardly, if not a little frightened when around her, but he had just bit back. Vega was shocked.

   Then, she smirked.

    "Because I want to know why." She reiterated her original point as though he were a fool for not getting it the first time, "Why couldn't you kill him that night? I would have. So, why?"

   When the boy grit his teeth, Vega finally turned to meet his mild glare. It was something she hadn't thought she'd see. He was getting angry, frustrated as she triggered all of the thoughts in his mind. But it was exactly what she had wanted — she wasn't one for motivational speeches, but she was excellent at getting people angry. "I want to remember whatever excuse you come up with right now."

    "For the love of-" Hiccup cursed, "I was a coward, okay? I was weak. Is that what you want to hear? That I wouldn't kill a dragon?"

   She rose a brow, "You said wouldn't that time."

    "Whatever! I wouldn't!"

Groaning in distress, Hiccup backed away from the girl and threw his arms in the air. He let out a heavy breath as she watched closely, that one eyebrow still risen. For the first time, it bugged him.

"Three hundred years and I'm the first Viking who wouldn't kill a dragon." He spoke the words bitterly.

"First one to ride one, though." Vega sent him a pointed look, "So?"

"I wouldn't kill him. I wouldn't kill him because he looked as frightened as I was, we were both scared. I looked at him-" he eyes lit up with an ounce of realisation and Vega's lip twitched, "-and I saw myself."

"I bet he's pretty frightened, right now." She continued to hint, even though the son of the chief had realised it all. He knew what she had been trying to do — she was being Vega, doing what Vega did best, and that was being blunt and honest. Hiccup had grown angry and that had made him motivated, all because of the brutality of her words. Vega never softened the blow and he had needed that.

A small part of him sparkled; he needed her.

Not knowing what was going on in his head at that moment, Vega cocked a hip and crossed her arm as she inspected his feeble frame. "So what exactly are you going to do about it?"

"Probably something stupid." A warmth hit his cheeks.

"Nice idea, cute." Vega responded vaguely, "But you've already done that. Didn't work, did it?"

Hiccup smiled, "Then something crazy."

For what felt like the first time in forever, she smiled. It was then that Vega couldn't help but smile. She smiled back at him, admiring the way that the boys skin shone in the heat of sunlight. It glowed with warmth and determination, the sunset illuminated him in an amber hue the same way that it had always reflected within her starry eyes. It was passion. Passion that they both had, yet never expected.

In those couple of seconds, under the amber and gold, Vega and Hiccup connected. She nodded in approval and turned on her heel.

"That's more like it."

——