NOVEL NEXT Chapter 23: chapter 2
After doing some more tricks, Kala and I decided to just glide on a nice wind current for a while. I scratched her head with a smile as the adrenaline rush died down.
"Wanna do that again milady?" I asked as I scratched right behind her left earplate.
Kala purred happily and looked at me, but as soon as she did a ton of dragons came our way. We had to dodge the ones that were super close to hitting us as the flock passed.
"Whoa! Aaaaahhh!"
It was hard to keep up with how fast we had to dodge. Kala had to move faster as the flock got larger in size. It got so bad that one of the dragons flying overhead knocked my helmet off my head.
"My helmet!" I screamed as I tried to grab hold of it.
Kala noticed and dived after it, but it was falling faster than she could dive.
"Kala wait! No, no, no, no! Kala stop!" I yelled as I tried to keep hold of the saddle.
She came to a stop and looked at me whining. I smiled at her sadly and scratched her head.
"We'll get it later, okay? I don't wanna lose it either. Especially since it's one of the only things I have from my mother."
Kala nodded and crooned worriedly as she watched the flock. I looked at the dragons then back at her.
"Do you know where they're going?" I asked.
Kala nodded and nudged her head back to Berk as a way to say she would explain when we got home. I nodded and adjusted her tailfin then we took off back to the island.
~~~HTLANF~~~
As we flew back to Berk, I thought over things.
'That was the migrating flock. Is it mating season already? How come no one reminded me? Oh gods! How will I explain this to Hiccup?! I can't stay! If I do then who knows what'll happen! I don't think either of us are ready to be parents! Akatosh help me!'
I snapped out of it when we got closer to the island. Dragons were still leaving to catch up to the flock.
"What's the matter? Where are you going?" A Viking asked their dragon as it tried to take off.
Stormfly took off as Hiccup and I flew towards the plaza to land.
"Nonono! Don't leave, Stormfly, don't go! Please?" Astrid pleaded as she flew off.
She passed us as she left, but I roared to get her attention.
"Stormfly! How come no one reminded me about mating season?"
She stopped and looked at me. "We thought you knew! How are you going to explain all of this to your intended? He needs to know before your heat kicks in Kala."
"I know! I'm going to figure something out. I don't think my heat kicks in this early, so I've got time. Maybe. Good luck finding a mate."
"Thanks! See you after the season ends!" She smiled then left.
Once Stormfly was gone, I landed in the plaza and Hiccup hopped off and whispered in my ear.
"Were you asking her what was going on?"
I nodded and nudged him towards the hut, but before we could head there Astrid ran up to us.
"Hiccup! What's going on? Where are they going?" She asked frantically.
Before he could answer, many others ran over to us as well.
"Why did they leave?"
"What's happening?"
"Will they ever come back?"
"Stop! Wait!" Hiccup shouted as he shrank into me from the discomfort.
Stoick broke through the crowd and stood in front of us.
"Calm down! Give him a chance to speak!" He bellowed, then faced us. "Hiccup, where are all our dragons going?"
"I don't know, chief. I'm in the dark just as much as all of you." Hiccup said.
Stoick nodded. "Alright. Everyone to the Great Hall!"
~~~HTLANF~~~
Once everyone was in the Great Hall, I hid in the back with Kala to keep from being bombarded with questions. Plus, I just don't feel welcome next to Stoick. Not like I'd want to be up there anyways. I stopped considering myself a Viking the day I won the semi-finals for Dragon Training earlier this year.
"Where'd they go?! Snoggletog is ruined!" I heard a Viking from the crowd exclaim dramatically.
"It's not ruined! We're Vikings!" Stoick shouted.
'Not all of us are Vikings.' I thought bitterly.
Kala noticed my anger and nuzzled me. I smiled slightly and nuzzled back.
"We've been perfectly happy celebrating without dragons for generations! And there's no reason we can't do it again! Now we don't know where they've gone off to. But we have to have faith that they'll be back again soon. Am I right?" Stoick reasoned.
Not many Vikings believed that. No one said anything to back up the chief. I looked at Gobber, knowing he would be the only one to.
"You're right, we are Vikings! We are tough!" Gobber shouted, but as he did all of the decorations on his helmet and prosthetic jingled. "Most of the time…" He added when he noticed the decorations. "Let's sing some Snoggletog songs!"
I shook my head with a smile plastered on my lips. You could always count on Gobber to lighten up the mood. With everyone starting to sing along with Gobber's off pitch singing, Kala and I took the opportunity to leave the Great Hall.
It seemed that the other teens had the same idea as they caught up to us when we were heading down the steps.
"That was depressing…" Ruffnut said downcast.
"I know! I was looking forward to spending the holiday with Stormfly." Astrid complained with her arms crossed.
As we all walked through the village, Fishlegs whistled a happy little tune like nothing was wrong. I didn't pay any mind to it though as I was trying to figure out what Kala seemed so nervous about. She looked skittish too.
'What did Stormfly tell her that made her this nervous? I mean, yeah, she was nervous the entire flight back, but now it seems worse..'
I broke out of my thoughts when I heard Tuffnut start to speak as he looked at Fishlegs.
"What are you so happy about? Don't you miss Meatlug?" He asked as he crossed his arms with a skeptical look.
Fishlegs jumped a bit as he noticed all of us looking at him.
"Me? Oh! Yeah!" He said, then started to fake sob. "I miss him so much! Well, goodnight!"
And with that he rushed off to his hut. I raised a brow in confusion as he ran off.
'Was he fake crying? Why? Didn't Meatlug fly off with all the others? Oh well. Better not think too much into it.'
"I've got an idea!" Astrid exclaimed as she stopped all of us.
I saw that Kala got antsy, so I signaled her to keep going with a soft smile. She nodded and rushed to the hut.
"Let's come up with a bunch of new holiday traditions! You know, to bury the sadness!" Astrid explained excitedly. She couldn't seem to stand still.
Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut groaned at the suggestion. I stayed silent and crossed my arms with a bored look.
"Oh, come on. Wouldn't that be better than sulking the entire time? You agree with me, don't you Hiccup?" Astrid asked as she leaned towards me smiling.
I backed away from her with a disgusted look.
"You good cuz? You've been quiet since the meeting." Snotlout asked, a hint of worry in his tone.
"I'm fine..I'm just worried about Toothless is all.." I said as I looked towards my hut with a worried look.
I noticed that Kala was pacing back and forth in front of the hut.
"At least you have Toothless. He can't go anywhere without you." Tuffnut said with crossed arms.
"Must be nice." Ruffnut added dejectedly.
After that we went our separate ways. But as I was heading home, I caught a glimpse of Astrid glaring at me slightly. I rolled my eyes and ignored her. My only focus was figuring out what was weighing down on my girlfriend.
~~~HTLANF~~~