RotBTFD FanFiction: The Moon's Light Ch. 19

~Merida’s POV~

                During our time in Tooth’s Palace, no one was able to figure out the identity of the culprit behind the mayhem; we weren’t even able to find any clues, beside the mysterious sand. Eventually, North informed the team and me to head back home. There was no point to waste any more time on scavenger hunt that was going to end nowhere. But, even though most of us hesitated to comply, we had no other choice, so that’s where we all went.

                Currently, I’m sitting behind Hiccup while he maneuvers Toothless through the sky. My arms wrapped around his waist like they always were. But, every time I ride with him, I couldn’t help myself from blushing as red as a tomato. Fortunately, he never notices. But, it’s times like these where I enjoy being this close to him; it’s not every day where I get to be this close with him. After all, I am the only person, besides some of my teammates, who rides with him since Toothless tolerates me. I have a feeling Toothless might know something.

                I sigh then rest my head on Hiccup’s back.

                “Hey, you okay back there?” he asks, not taking his eyes off the sky.

                “Yea,” I reply.

                He shifts around in his spot, but no because of me, but mostly for the fact that his butt goes numb due to the long rides with Toothless. “Man, things have been so stressful lately.”

                “Tell me about it.”

                “I mean, we’re both so busy that we barely have any free time for ourselves, especially now with the whole Luna-Elsa situation.”

                “I agree.”

                “Plus, between Astrid and I, things haven’t been going so well.”

                I lift my head then place my chin over his shoulder, trying to look at him in the eye. “What’s going on?”

                He sighs, “I don’t know. Things have just been different lately. We’ve both become so distant from each other.”

                “Oh, I see.”

                I hate seeing Hiccup in pain like this; he’s such a great guy and he doesn’t deserve any heart break. Unfortunately, on the inside, I couldn’t help myself from being happy. If things don’t work out, then there might be a chance for us. I know it’s silly of me, but a girl can dream. But, to be honest, I never really like Astrid with Hiccup not because I like him, but I’ve never seem some chemistry between them. Don’t get me wrong, Astrid is a cool girl; she’s a totally chill girl to hang out with. But, she never treated Hiccup right; that is, until right after he decides to change, then she becomes more interested in him. Even though Astrid and I are friends and we play on the same soccer team, I never liked the fact that she never treated Hiccup fairly; she never treated my best friend fairly.

                Well now, only time will tell if our fates will change.

                “I don’t know what I should do. Merida, I really need your help.” He turns his head and looks me in the eye. “Should I try to fix things?”

                “U-Uh, I’m not sure, Hiccup. I mean, maybe this is a sign or something. You know what they say, everything happens for a reason.”

                “Maybe, you’re right.”

                I smile. “Well, you know, I am a pro at telling someone’s fate.”

                He chuckles. “I’m aware. But, I want to try to patch things up. I really like her.”

                “But,” I mumble.

                Unfortunately, he heard me. “But, what?”

                “Do… Do you think she feels the same way back?”

                “What are you talking about?” he asks

                “You remember when before we were even in the Big Four you use to be so scrawny.”

                He sighs, “Yes, I remember those good old days.”

                “You were such a wee lamb.” I giggle. “Anyways, you remember those times when Astrid treated you like you didn’t exist.”

                “Yup.”

                “Then, all of a sudden, when you became this muscle of a man.” I punch his arm to prove my point. “Astrid began taking a liking to you.”

                “… That’s true.”

                “Look, I’m not trying to be a bully or anything, but do you think that she likes you for you or for what you look like?”

                “You have a good point.”

                “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

                “Nah, Merida, you didn’t. I see your point though.”

                “Really?”

                “Yea. Maybe, the relationship wasn’t meant to be. I just hope Astrid will understand. I wouldn’t want to hurt her; I guess you can say I’m a gentleman like that.”

                I chuckle. “You’re such a nice guy.”

                “I know.”

                With that, it grew quiet between us. I lay my head on his back, yet again, and enjoy the blissful silence. Nothing but utter silence, beside the rushing winds and Toothless’s wings flapping in the air, was the only thing that was heard between us.

                Until, Hiccup broke the peaceful silence. “You know, Merida.”

                I glance up at him.

                “Thanks for helping me out. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

                I sheepishly smile. “Aww, you’re too kind.”

                “I’m serious. You’ve always been there for me, even after all these years.”

                “Every single miserable year,” I joke.

                He laughs then glances back at me. “I’m so happy to have someone like you in my life.”

                Before I was going to start blushing like mad, I look down at the ground below us. While looking down at the forest, I notice dark figures in between the trees. Who could be this far from town?

                “What was that?”

                “What was what?”

                There’s something in the forest. Quick go down, I need to take a look.”

                “Alright, hold on.”

                He maneuvers Toothless so that the dragon could turn around and land smoothly on the dirt floor.

~Luna’s POV~

                “I told you it would be fun,” I say, taking pride in my handy work. For once in my life, I was finally right, and I could savor the momentous occasion.

                “I have to admit. Fishing with a Nightfury is… interesting,” she states. She pierces a stick into one of the many fishes then hovers the dead fish on top of the fire, that May was so kind to make.

                “Yea, it was a pretty crazy experience. We totally have to do it again.” I giggle then take a bite out of my cooked fish. I glance over towards May, who was too busy devouring her mountain-full of fish to even acknowledge us.

                Then, Elsa clears her throat, gaining my attention. “You know we’re going to have to go back. Pitch clearly advised us not to go out into the open. We could be easily spotted. I don’t want any of us to be in potential danger.”

                “Don’t worry. Once we finish our lunch, we’ll head right back.”

                She nods but that didn’t clear the look of worry she still had.

                “Besides, what’s the worse that could happen?”

                Just as I was about to take another bite of my lunch, a large shadow passes through us, shading the space we were occupying. Elsa and I look up into the sky and gasp at the sight.

                “We have to go before they see us. The last thing we need is the Guardians of Fall to realize we’re here.”

                We shuffle to our feet, dropping everything in our hands. I rush over to Medusa and flail my arms into the air to gain her attention.

                After a couple of exhausting seconds, the dragon finally looks up at me, ticked off at the fact that I interrupted her meal.

                “May, we have to go. A couple of Guardians spotted us.”

                Her body tense before she finally jumps to her feet.

                “Quick, we have to hurry,” Elsa shouts.

                “Okay, let’s go.”

                With that, the three of us race deeper into the forest, trying to hide ourselves and getting away from them as fast as we could. Elsa manages to hide herself behind a couple of trees; May was able to squeeze herself into a large group of shrubs; and I transform myself into a shadow, hiding myself under the shadow of a tree. The only best option we had at the moment was to quickly find a hiding place. There was no time to run away. The forest was just to open and we could be easily spotted.

                As soon as we hid, Toothless, gracefully lands on the snowy ground. Both Hiccup and Merida hop off of the male dragon and start scanning the area.

                “Are you sure you saw something?” Hiccup asks.

                “I’m positive. I think I saw nightmare.”

                “If you did, Merida, then it would be best if we head back home and report it to North.”

                “Please Hiccup, you know I’m not the one to run and hide like a wee lamb.”

                He rolls his eyes.

                “Fine. Toothless!”

                The dragon turns his head back towards his rider, giving him his undivided attention.

                “See if you can spot a scent.”

                The Nigthfury nods. Then, he leans his head down to the ground and begins inhaling the air, trying to spot a scent to track. Merida scans the area and quickly spots the picnic we left behind.

                “Looks like we interrupted their lunch.”

                She grab a fish from off the ground and lifts if into the air. Unfortunately, she carried one of the fishes in May’s pile, the one she regurgitated. “Yuck! This one has slime all over it.” She quickly drops the slimy fish.

                I snort, doing my best to stay as quiet as possible, but I was always the type of person who couldn’t resist a good laugh.

                “Let me see,” Hiccup shouts. He jogs over to Merida’s side then picks up the from the floor. He runs his fingers through the fishes scales, to Merida’s disgust, then examines the slime. “It’s saliva, dragon’s saliva to be exact.”

                “You sure?”

                “Positive. Toothless loves to leave me little presents around the yard.”

                “So, there’s another dragon around here.”

                My eyes widen.

                “Seems so. Toothless, see if you can tract anything with this.” Hiccup gestures the fish towards his dragon. Once Toothless brushes his nose against the fishing, inhaling its scent, he takes a large bite off of the dead creature. But, he was able to get a scent. Medusa’s scent. I couldn’t let her or Elsa get caught. I have to do something, and fast. With that, I sprint over to Elsa’s side then manifest myself back into my normal form.

                “Elsa, you and May have to get out of here,” I whisper to her.

                “What about you?”

                “I’ll distract them.”

                Her eyes widen. “But, you’ll get caught. I’m not going to let you do that.”

                “It doesn’t matter. I rather have you two get out safely than have us doomed. I’ll be able to fight them off. Plus,” I point my hand towards my face then use my powers to create a black half-face mask. Fortunately, with the help of my fringe and the mask, my identity could be kept a secret. “They won’t have a clue who I am.”

                “But-“

                “Trust me.”

                After a short second, she nods, agreeing with my plan.

                “Now, you two get out here.”

                After glimpsing back at the group, realizing they were distracted, she springs towards Medusa, without getting caught red-handed. After finding the dragon in her hiding spot, Elsa motions Medusa to follow. She glances back at me, not taking a single step, and I usher the Nightfury to follow my best friend.

    “Go on ahead; I’ll catch up with you soon,” I whisper, to which she complies. Then, she runs behind Elsa as they make their getaway. I stare back at the group just as Toothless, followed by Merida and Hiccup, coming closer to my direction.

                I sigh, “Well, here goes nothing.”

                Just as the trio were a mere few yards away from me, I clench my fist and create a large amount of black sand, using a gush of wind to swirl the sand and create a large barrier around them. The trio bundles close together as the small cyclone traps them in the center. I could hear the sound of Hiccup wielding his Dragon Blade and Merida arming herself with her bow and arrow. But, before I could have the chance to make the black sand disappear, a flash of purple sparked behind the wall of sand. Toothless used his plasma blast to destroy my creation.

                “Stop playing around Pitch and just show yourself,” Hiccup yells.

                I smirk, though no one could see behind the mask. Here goes to a good first impression.

                “You really think the only person who can control black sand is the boogeyman himself,” I shout. With that, I walk out from my hiding spot, revealing my presence to the trio. At least, I created the element of surprise. “Well, you’re wrong.”

    Surely, they didn’t expect me, but that didn’t mean they let their guard down.

                “Who are you?”

                “Hmm, there’s no need for introductions. Let’s just say… I’m your worst nightmare.”