𖣯 ✹ 🌷(úlfheðnar) ꏍ ！┈─❟
╰───►chapter fourteen; yrsa 
❝ yrsa goes for a spin! ❞

    YRSA was screaming her throat raw. 

    They shot up to the sky full vertical, wings flapping aggressively against the wind that pushed Yrsa backwards away from the safety of the saddle. The forest was soon nothing but a blur behind them, and the ocean surrounded the horizon's end. Yrsa had no time to admire the clouds that were tinted pink as she tried to find something━anything━to hold onto━

     Her legs and arms managed to wrap around Hiccup's waist and chest, clinging on like an animal as she buried her face into his back. She heard him shout━ "TOOTHLESS! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! BAD DRAGON!"

    They came to a stop up above the clouds, and Hiccup laughed nervously at the girl hiding her head amongst his hair and tunic. "Ahaha ... uh ... look, I really don't know what's happening━" Toothless tilted sideways and Hiccup's smile fell, "━oh, no..."

     "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

     Dropping down to the water, Yrsa closed her mouth just in time. Dunking under, her clothes and hair got instantly drenched to her skin. They went under, and up again, under and up, and under, and up, and under━

     "Toothless!" Hiccup flicked his wet hair out of his eyes. "What are you doing?! We need her to like us!"

     Woosh! They were back up to the sky, and Yrsa was back to crying. They tilted again, and she heard Hiccup grumble, "And now, the spinning━" she continued to scream as they started to spin and spin and spin around, faster and faster until everything was a blur and she was feeling sick and she wanted to get off━

     Hiccup was able to stay rather nonchalant throughout this whole ordeal. He even managed a sarcastic comment, "Thank you for nothing," he told Toothless, "you useless reptile."

     Yrsa sobbed into his fur vest, shaking her head━or maybe her entire body was trembling. This was it! She told herself. This is what I get━this is what my jealousy and anger gets me━I'm going to die falling off a dragon I helped save━

     They descended lower and lower back to the ocean, the wind making her hair fall out of its tight braids. "I'm sorry!" she cried, holding onto Hiccup tighter. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Was she apologising to Hiccup? To Toothless? To her father? To the gods? She didn't know. She was just sorry━for everything. All of her mistakes, all of her prideful and jealous actions. She was sorry. "I'm so sorry! You were right━you were right! I was jealous! I'm sorry! For it all! Now━please━just get me off!"

     Toothless's wings extended back out.

     They stopped falling.

     Yrsa didn't look. She was too scared to. She felt them drift up, slowing to a glide, but didn't dare look up from the satefy of Hiccup's tunic. She stayed clinging on, scared that when she'd open her eyes, she'd be dead. 

     It would make sense, wouldn't it? After everything. 

     But there was a tickle of wind against her cheeks, and her curiosity grew too much.

     Yrsa Olofsdotter opened her eyes, and she gasped. 

     In the setting sun below, the light reflected off the water cascaded the clouds in a delicate pink and orange. Yrsa was surrounded by them, fluffed like freshly cleansed wool, and looking even softer. 

     Her breath hitched in the back of her throat. Her grip around Hiccup's waist fell away, and she settled her hands on his shoulders, unable to stop herself from gaping in awe. 

    Toothless soared them through the sea of the sunset, gentle━not at all like he had been before. It was like Yrsa had learnt her lesson, and this was the reward; a tender touch of, it's okay, I know you're sorry, just don't hurt him again in the form of the wind that tickled her cheeks and drifted her hair back. 

     They were in an entirely different world. Valhalla on Earth; a realm of pink and dusted orange━Yrsa couldn't believe her eyes. She wondered whether these clouds were the blankets and pillows of the gods; undeniably soft━so soft, they could travel through them, parting on either side like tender waves. 

     She wondered what it felt like ... whether the beautiful clouds were as soft to the touch as they looked. Yrsa hesitated, glancing up at the colour sifting overhead. Her tears had dried, and she sniffled. Reaching a hand up to the heavens, she parted her fingers and let it fly through the clouds as they glided.

     Yrsa couldn't help the small giggle that escaped her lips, feeling cool air brush along her skin like gentle kisses. Butterflies joined the flight in her stomach and chest, making her feel as if she had grown wings of her own. Her heart lept, and she leaned back, letting her other hand join the other in running through the colour. 

     She closed her eyes, just letting herself breathe the air in. 

     A weight lifted off Yrsa's shoulders and she smiled, laughing. That constant yak of a posture she held; the snobby tilt of her nose, the glare down the corner of her eyes. It was gone entirely, and she felt at peace because of it. It was just her and Hiccup and Toothless; no one else. No one else to frown at her, or look her down because of her father. No need to push to be the best, to show them that they were wrong because her father had been right. Yrsa didn't need to show herself better anymore, because her father's kind nature to dragons had been right all along. And he was with her in the clouds, smiling down at her from the heavens because she finally understood, after all this time. 

     She didn't see Hiccup glance back, and smile at the look on her face. His heart fluttered. Leaning forward, he guided them up, and they burst through the top of the clouds into the growing night above. Yrsa opened her eyes, and gasped yet again. She returned her grip around Hiccup, settling for his waist. She felt free; she felt light; she felt fluttery. Colours exploded in the sky; waves of green, blue and purple encased them in a heavenly glow. 

     Yrsa leaned forward gently and settled her head against Hiccup's back, watching the stars; counting them. Her arms slipped further around his waist and she continued to smile, seeing shapes in the clouds. Warriors fighting battles, islands no Viking could reach, wings of dragons that soared in frozen drift, glinting in the night. 

     "Yrsa..." Hiccup murmured, catching her attention.

     She looked up as the clouds parted away, and there stood Berk. Lit up by fires within homes and the torches of the mighty stone warriors that stood guard━Yrsa's home. In the day, sure, it didn't look like much. Its hills had been explored, its glaciers blocked away, its fields inhabited, its seastacks looked at every day ... but at night? Odin, had Yrsa never seen something more gorgeous. Even the clouds couldn't compare to this; the warm, fuzzy feeling in her stomach to see her home like this. The one she grew up in. To see her house nooked in next to the small farm. To see her mother's fire ...

     It was something more than gorgeous. 

    Yrsa saw Toothless glance back up at her, and he gave her that gummy smile; and she knew all had been forgiven. 

     She settled her chin on Hiccup's shoulder━not even thinking about it, it just felt right. It felt natural to sit here and enjoy the view below with him. Her eyes fluttered, calm and soft, and just for Hiccup to experience.

      "I'm sorry," she whispered again, just for him.

      "I know," he replied, smiling softly. "I'm sorry, too."

      They took a left back out towards the ocean. Yrsa sat back, "All right," she murmured, chuckling still in her amazement, "I have to admit it. This is pretty cool. It's beautiful..." she reached a palm down to Toothless's flank, giving him a small scratch. "I'm sorry I scared you, bud. Thank you, for this. You are amazing."

     He gave her a purr as a reply. 

     But while it was amazing and beautiful, the moment had to be cut short as all the troubling thoughts returned to Yrsa's mind. She pursed her lips, hands resting back on Hiccup's waist━she hated to say her next words, but she needed to. "So, what now?"

    She heard him sigh, his shoulders slumping and Yrsa frowned. She knew it was such a bummer of a question after such a lovely flight, but she was worried. Neither one could ignore tomorrow, especially how much it stood out to them when they rode the back of a dragon, knowing full well Hiccup had to kill another tomorrow. She had origianlly come to the Cove to apologise and help with a plan, and now that she's done one of those, she was determined to do the other.

    "Hiccup," she said, a little sharper than she had intended to. "Your final exam is tomorrow. You know you'll have to kill━" she stopped mid-sentence, glancing down at Toothless before leaning in close to Hiccup's ear to whisper, "━kill a dragon."

     "Don't remind me..." murmured Hiccup and she arched a brow.

     "And what, ignore it? Hiccup, if your father━"

     "I know."

    Suddenly, Toothless shot down. Yrsa let out a short scream of alarm, latching back onto Hiccup as they neared the water. Fog sweeped in around them and Yrsa had a breath of a feeling something wasn't right. She hudled in closer to the chief's son in front of her, hiding back amongst his tunic. "Toothless," Hiccup tried to pull him back up, but the dragon snarled and fought off, "What's happening?"

    He snarled yet again at the fog on either side of them, wings flapping in sudden distressed. Yrsa peered out from Hiccup's tunic to see shadows appear in the bank. "Whoa!" Hiccup muttered. "What is it?"

    Out of the fog, came the growl of a Monstrous Nightmare━a bright, flaming red one. He hadn't noticed them yet, and Yrsa didn't want to. At Hiccup's sharp, "Get down━!" she didn't need to be told twice. Pressing her chest against his back, the two Vikings made themselves as small as they possibly could to the saddle, hoping to stay in the dragon's blind spot. Yrsa trembled, but she managed to gain enough courage to keep her eyes on the Nightmare and the livestock it held in its claws.

     They veered to the left only to balk at the squawk of a Deadly Nadder on their otherside, carrying a small shark. Roars and growls of dragons grew; until they were surrounded by them━hundreds of dragons at the very least, all heading the same way. Yrsa could see Zipplebacks, Nadders, Gronckles, Monstrous Nightmares, Devilish Dervishes━and other Berkian species that weren't around for the usual raids: Sandwraiths, a Windstriker here and there, even a Raincutter hefted his way through, holding an entire yak in his talons. 

    They were heading somewhere━what destination it was? Yrsa didn't think she wanted to know. 

    "What's going on?" she asked Hiccup anyway, her voice barely louder than a terrified whisper. 

     "I don't know," he replied in the same tone, eyeing a Zippleback soar past them. "Toothless," he turned to his friend, "you got to get us out of here, bud━" Toothless growled, smacking the hand he held out away. 

     Yrsa clung on tighter until she could feel his ribs poke out underneath the wool of his tunic. Hiccup narrowed his eyes at the dragons around them, "It looks like they're hauling in their kill."

     "I really don't want to know what that makes us ..."

     With a jolt to her abdomen, Toothless and the other dragons all dived down━Hiccup and Yrsa let out startled yells. Pulling back up amongst the water, shrouded in fog and hint of ash stinging at their noses, Toothless soared through sea stacks that protruded and crumbled out from the ocean. The air was growing warmer, stifling at her breath and drying her wet clothes; it was becoming suffocating, almost, like she was a broth boiling on an open fire. 

    Then, Yrsa started to see wooden heads of dragons in the sea stacks. Old wooden shields and oars struck out, causing some dragons to duck under. Her heart rose up to her throat. A lost Hooligan ship was wrecked against jagged rocks. 

     "It's Helheim's Gate," whispered Yrsa, her voice cracking with fear. 

    They dove under a large stack and twisted into view was an island with no sand on its shore━just dark, rough black pebbles, and the mountain that stood in its centre ... it looked as if they were being flown straight to Niflheim: an island for the damned, shrouded in mist for the sickly, sinful and punished. Lava cracked through the surfaces of the volcano, lighting up the foggy evening with glows of pure, molten heat. Out of the top, circled breaths of ash and smoke ...

     And the dragons were heading right towards it. 

    Hiccup briefly met her gaze, and she saw the same fear she held━and in feeling the tension of Toothless's legs by her feet, she realised they were all scared, and they were in this together.

    She just hoped that what scared Toothless so much wasn't what they were diving through the volcano caverns to meet, but she knew she was hoping for too much. Yrsa coughed, feeling the heat of the rock around them sear at her arms and cheeks, ash clouded her lungs and sweat dripped from her skin ... they were getting closer and closer to the core of the mountain.

     And out of the cavern they flew. Shooting up and over the mass of lava that boiled beneath them, Toothless's gaze searched its molten waters that the dragons dumped all their catches into before quickly spinning away to hide amongst the many rocks and caves.

     Yrsa wanted to hide with them, but all she had was Hiccup's tunic━and she clung on with her life. But even she had to watch over his shoulder at the sight they witnessed. Hiccup breathed, his voice hoarse from the heat, "What my dad wouldn't give to find this..."

     Toothless took a sharp right, disappearing away from the crowd of dragons and to the cavernous sides, where he hid himself and the humans on his back away from the heat and ruckus. Yrsa could hear his breathing shallow and his heart pound. Something wasn't right.

    Hiccup continued to watch the dragons drop the food and fly to their own little nooks and crevices, letting out a short and sarcastic, "Well, it's satisfying to know all our food has been dumped down a hole."

    Yrsa watched a Nadder drop a baby whale into the midst. "They're not eating any of it," she frowned, her voice nothing but a breath by Hiccup's ear. "They go through all that trouble to steal it, and eat none of it, why?" the thought seemed so ludicrous, it was scary.

     A lonesome gurgle drew their attention up and away from the lava depths. Yrsa felt her heart flutter with nerves as a small Gronckle buzzed its short wings to the centre of the lava pit. He had no stock in his claws, but opened up his mouth and regurgitated a small herring that disappeared down the smoke. Happy, the dragon scratched his ear━only to freeze at the low, vibrating growl from beneath.

    Yrsa found herself unable to speak as the Gronckle's eyes widened. He scurried to fly away, kicking his legs and flapping his wings━

    Out of the lava and smoke leapt forth the largest dragon Yrsa has ever seen. It was huge━colossal, even, with a jaw that stretched wide and swallowed the Gronckle whole. Its teeth chomped down together, sharp and bigger than Yrsa's whole body. (And that was only its head and neck). 

     The dragons around them moaned with fear and cowered behind they shelter they found, quivering in the duck. Toothless shuffled back even further, eyeing the monstrous dragon with trembling ears and tail. 

     Finally, Yrsa found her voice, "What is that?"

     Hiccup swallowed hard. He leaned down close to Toothless, "All right, bud, we got to get out of here ..." he caught glimse of the dragon resurfacing, and its six eyes locked on the group of them. "Now!"

    Yrsa heard the sound of the dragon's teeth biting behind them, but she dared not look back. Toothless raced out of the volcano amongst the flock of dragons━a tornado of screeches and cries. Yrsa felt her stomach falter. Every dragon was scared of this creature ... a creature━who, she realised━would eat them like it did that Gronckle if it hadn't recieved the food it craved.

     It was a game of survival; kill or be eaten, kill or be killed. She used to think a dragon's first insinct was to kill, and Toothless showed her something different to that. But now, she was sure. A dragon's first instinct was not to kill, it was not to eat the flesh off Vikings for pure enjoyment. It was to defend themselves and to survive; to defend each other. 

     And they were all trapped under the tyranny of this humongous dragon. All terrified, all on the edge of their lives, scraping by to live another day. Whether they'd die by Viking hands or by the jaws of this monstrous creature. They had no choice. 

     And Yrsa was furious for them. 

𖣯 ✹ 🌷(úlfheðnar) ꏍ ！┈─❟

     "NO, no━wait━think about it━it totally makes sense!" Yrsa said to Hiccup as they returned to the Cove in the cover of nightfall. She leapt off Toothless's back, her limbs buzzing with the need to go and tell what they had just found━The Dragon's Nest! So much could be fixed now. The war between dragons and the Vikings. could be over, no one would ever have to fight again (dragon or Viking). "It's like a giant beehive. They're the workers and that's━" she poined back the way they came, a little flustered as her mind moved, "━their queen. It controls them."

     She started off at a run towards the entrance of the Cove, "We have to tell your dad, he'll know what to do━" but Hiccup stopped her.

     "No! No!" he rushed in front of her, holding her back. Yrsa frowned at him. "No, not yet. They'll━they'll kill Toothless, no," Hiccup shook his head, glancing over at his dragon who watched them curiously. "Yrsa, we have to think this through carefully."

     "All right," she agreed. She didn't want Toothless to get hurt either. "But, Hiccup, you do realise what we've just found, right? The Dragons' Nest. This could be our answer to everything; our chance at peace." He didn't say anything, or even look at her, and annoyed her. "Look━I don't want for them to hurt Toothless, believe me, I don't. But this isn't something we keep to ourselves Hiccup. This is━this could risk everyone's lives. This could end an entire war, and you want to keep that a secret? Are you serious?!"

     "Yes."

     His simple answer caught her off guard. Turning to face her, Hiccup set his jaw, his green eyes flickering with a stubborness Yrsa has seen before ... but not like this. She faltered, shoulders slumping. In all the time she's known Hiccup━ever since they were little, and she bumped into him out in the woods exploring with her father━she knew he was stubborn; of course she did. It was perhaps the only thing he inherited from his father, Stoick the Vast. He didn't inherit the brawns, or the Viking attitude, but he inherited the stubborness .. but right now, as Yrsa stared at him in shock, there was something else. 

     Courage? Bravery? Maybe. He stood up to her for his dragon━no matter the consequence. That took some guts, to go against everything a Viking of Berk stood for (what his father stood for, and worked towars), almost to the point it was foolish. Ever since they were in the forest, and Toothless lied below them, ready to die, and he━like her━chose no; chose to save his life. That was surely different to the lanky boy she's seen in the forge, never able to hold a conversation with Astrid, desperate to get out and join the fight. A boy who sort out to prove himself to everyone and anyone━especially his father, and Yrsa had gone soft for him, fallen for him because of that, because she knew what it was like. 

     There it was. That's what was different tonight, here in this cove; bathed under the moonlight and stars that reflected off the pond by their feet. Yrsa didn't see a boy that needed protecting, who needed a hand with his shield, or an urge to get down by the barricades. She didn't see a boy she sympathised━sometimes even pitied━, or liked. She saw a boy on the verge of becoming a warrior. A boy on the verge of becoming a young man; the son of the greatest leader Berk has yet to offer. He didn't need to be pitied, or protected. He was Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, 'The Useless' and he was far from that. Yrsa saw that tonight. She saw that she had been wrong about him this whole time, and amongst the sudden gilt of how she treated him, despite all of her feelings ... there was a new flutter to her a stomach. 

     Ah, yes, of course, Yrsa has felt these flutters to her chest and stomach. A gush of wow, he's cute trying to hold up my axe, or he deserves better than what he's gotten, or I love how he blushes when he gets flustered. 

     But not this flutter.

     This was a flutter of realisation. 

     A flutter that has been there the whole time, just like this side of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III has been. Yrsa has just never seen him properly to witness it.

     But right here, right now, she was. She saw Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III as if for the very first time.

    And he was brave, and he was strong, and scrawny, and a stubborn kucklehead, and so very handsome. And she believed in him, truly, unconditionally, from that day forth.

    So, she took a deep breath, and nodded. "Okay."

    His eyes widened, shocked she'd change her mind that quickly. They locked gazes again and she felt her ears heat up. Hiccup pursed his lips and looked to his feet. Yrsa hugged her stomach. "Then what do we do?" she then asked and Hiccup sighed.

     "Just ... give me until tomorrow," he said. "I'll figure something out."

     "Okay..."

     Yrsa shuffled awkwardly on her feet, playing with her arm wraps. She peered sideways at Hiccup who was fixing his riding suit, scowling in thought. There was that flutter in her chest again, the real one, the one so similar and yet so different than every one she's felt before. And she didn't know what to do━except punch him right in the arm.

    He yelped, clutching the spot she hit him with a look of, what the━? "That's for kidnapping me," said Yrsa, glaring. "You stupid idiot."

     He shook his head at her. Behind them, Toothless stopped drinking his water to coo, curious at their interaction. Hiccup glanced back behind him, shrugging a, what is with her?

     Yrsa tucked her bangs behind her ear, and before she could talk herself out of it, she quickly yanked Hiccup closer by the scruff of his tunic and planed a swift kiss on his cheek. Stepping back, she mumbled, blushing deeply, "That's ... that's for everything else."

     He watched her, absolutely gobsmacked, as she ran off into the night. 

𖣯 ✹ 🌷(úlfheðnar) ꏍ ！┈─❟

     a/n: *whispers* it's hAPPPENING. Hiccrsa, Hiccsa, Yrscup, something ... WE'RE GETTTING CLOSER!!!!