#stardust(oc)

“Lightfury,” Valkyrie corrected, the white dragon below her gargling at the name Hiccup had called her. Stardust’s head turned to glower up at Hiccup, doing so until a green eye caught hers. “Now if you would be so kind, I need that helmet back.”

“You need to answer my question first,” Hiccup demanded, pulling the helmet closer to his body. He could see Valkyrie look back nervously, eyes flickering over the ships before her head turned back forward, a more set expression on her face. Hiccup tried again, “Why are you out here?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” She rebutted, hands growing restless as she felt her hair smack against her skin. She felt exposed. “You don’t understand Hiccup, I need that mask.”

“Why?” He made his voice gentler as he asked this time around, trying to offer a sense of calm to pull an answer out of Valkyrie. “What is so important about this mask that you can’t go without it?”

“Because Ryker knows who I am, alright?” Valkyrie felt the words slipping from her mouth in a burst of desperate anger. The terror that dawned on Valkyrie’s mind came crashing in waves at the information she just shared with Hiccup. Taking a steadying breath, Valkyrie tried not to let the unsettling silence get to her. She had to think of something, and something quick. “A few years ago I had a run-in with Ryker. Stardust wasn’t with me at the time and I hadn’t yet found the sword you saw me use, so I was basically defenceless. Ryker thinks I’m dead, and with all honestly, I probably should be.”

Now the silence that hung in the air was for a different reason. Hiccup’s face was calculating, the new information being absorbed and stored away somewhere in his brain for later analysing. “But why are you fighting the dragon hunters? Wouldn’t you want to get as far away from Ryker as possible?”

“There is no running from that man Hiccup,” Valkyrie warned, her voice eerie as her eyes shot back down to her helmet. She needed this to sound believable so she could get her helmet back and then promptly disappear. “Ryker has eyes and ears everywhere. So I took on a new face, a face he can’t see.”

“You’re the reason we’ve had destroyed armadas turning up at our island,” Hiccup nearly whispered, the answer dawning on him for something that had been eating at his mind since he and the other dragon riders came upon their first destroyed ship. As he turned to face Valkyrie, the Lightfury below her made a snap of her jaw, drawing Hiccup’s eye once more. “Come with us Valkyrie. Me and the other dragon riders can help you. We want Ryker gone just as much as you do.”

“Oh, we want very different things Hiccup,” Valkyrie’s voice was dark as she spoke, eyes staring hollowly into Hiccup. Valkyrie lifted her left hand and ran it along Stardust’s neck, leading down to her leg, sending a silent message to the dragon. “Now, I’m gonna need that helmet back.”

In a quick arch of her wings, Stardust went hurtling towards Hiccup and the dragon he was flying. Valkyrie had never seen a dragon like it before, the species being of a similar build to Stardust. Valkyrie didn’t plan on finding out what type of dragon that was though as Stardust curved over the top of Hiccup and his dragon, one of her arms outstretched as she snatched the white helmet from his hands. When the scaly thing was back to its rightful owner Stardust flipped back around and shot forward, leaving Hiccup and his dragon behind.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Hiccup yelled, making Valkyrie fasten the helmet on her head quicker. Valkyrie could feel as the muscles in Stardust’s back tense, her wings winding out further as she readied a plasma blast in her jaw. “We got to catch them bud.”

As Hiccup spoke, Stardust released her shot of pink flames. Valkyrie tucked herself in close to Stardust’s back without a second thought. As the warm flames washed over them, Valkyrie felt the sensation of warping run across her skin, the cloaking that covered Stardust extending to her.

“What the?” Valkyrie heard Hiccup ask, a confused mew following his words. Valkyrie chanced a glance back, to see Hiccup and his dragon flying straight forward, the dark dragon looking wildly around. “Find them Toothless.”

Without warning rings of purple shot out straight at Stardust and Valkyrie. Valkyrie tried to warn Stardust as silently as she could, twirling her finger in a circle along her back but Valkyrie wasn’t quick enough as those purple rings wrapped around them. They didn’t hurt but Valkyrie could feel the energy surging over her.

“Good job bud,” Hiccup said at the same time Valkyrie realised her outline was somehow visible. An elated hum left Toothless as he now had a target to chase after. Valkyrie faced forward quickly, keeping herself low down to Stardust.

“Lose the cloaking Star, they can see us so there’s no point trying to stay hidden,” Valkyrie whispered lowly, pressing her right hand down on the side of Stardust’s neck. “Hiccup’s dragon is going to naturally blend in with the night sky while we are going to stand out. Our best bet is to tire them out by both leading them in every direction and vanishing without a trace. Worst case scenario I have to use one of the Zippleback canisters on them.”

Stardust let out a disapproving grumble as she shook her head, effectively shaking the cloaking off of them while also telling Valkyrie her plan wasn’t as thought out as she hoped it to be. “I’m giving you the reigns here Star. Do whatever you need to lose them.”

The words didn’t need to be said twice as Stardust instantly tucked her wings to her body, falling from the sky as they dived towards the ocean. A startled whump came from behind them as Stardust showed no sign of stopping. At the sound of beating wings behind them, Valkyrie knew that they were being followed just like she had hoped. Before they could hit the water, Stardust’s wings shot out, slowing them down for half a second before they were thrown upwards, shooting back towards the sky like an arrow as they attempted to leave Hiccup and Toothless behind them.

Another shot of plasma was launched forward, Stardust diving through it as Valkyrie clung onto her back. As they flew into invisibility, Valkyrie could hear the same echo of the purple rings being shot upwards. This time Stardust was prepared to avoid them as she took a sharp left, flicking out of the firing range of Toothless’s location blast. Stardust began to steer upwards now that the rings had passed her. Their peace didn’t last long though as multiple rings were shot in circles, dancing across the sky as Toothless continued to shoot them at every angle manageable.

“Why can’t that dragon just let us get away?” Valkyrie questioned to no one, in particular, a grunt following her words as her hands grew an outline. A similar response was drawn out of Stardust as she became visible once again with a grumble, her teeth snapping together a few times like she was mimicking talking. “You know what? Let’s just drop a Zippleback canister on them now. Stardust fall.”

A gargle of joy fell from Stardust’s throat as she stopped moving her wings, the two appendages going limp as the dragon started to fall backwards. As the two of them whipped through the wind, Valkyrie struggled to pull one of the canisters from the saddlebag. She probably should have thought everything through a little longer.

It didn’t take long to pull one of the canisters out of the bag, just in time as well as she heard the questions rising from both Hiccup and his dragon. Unlocking the canister, Valkyrie throws it over to Hiccup, the boy naturally catching it. It was only then that he realised what the green gas coming from the small box.

A little too late as well as Stardust’s mouth lit, a small blaze of fire shooting out as they continued to fall. As the explosion emitted above them, Stardust flipped over in the air and shot forward, repeating the process that would turn her invisible. “Sindri isn’t getting that back any time soon.”

Valkyrie was hoping that Hiccup would get the hint this time around. Would leave her alone. But when her hands became outlined in front of her and rings of purple spiralled away, it became clear that she wouldn’t be getting away from the dragon rider that easily.

Hiccup’s hair stood up and was only slightly singed. Valkyrie was good at running away, disappearing–literally–without a trance. But he knew dragons. He had been herding them to and from the Edge for months at this point. With a bit of luck, he’d be able to steer her toward the Edge and hopefully–if Odin’s looking out for him–the other riders will take notice and help him.

Valkyrie was already outlined again in front of him. She didn’t shake the cloak that took over her this time around, making it slightly harder to follow them since the outlining still faded after a while but Toothless made sure to keep them visible.

After the Zippleback attack–in which Hiccup still had the canister held in his hand–he and Toothless were a bit more careful with how they approached the duo in white, not knowing what they might throw at him next. “Come on bud, they’re already taking themselves towards the Edge, let’s just make sure they don’t get off track.”

Toothless’s wings spread as he glided off to the left, silently encouraging Valkyrie and Stardust to fly right, their presence acting as a deter. And it worked as the Lightfury that Valkyrie was riding zipped away, trying to force Toothless (Hiccup) away from her. Every time they got too close the dragon’s nose scrunched up, her head swirling backwards to narrow her eyes at the rider sitting on Toothless’s back before shooting in the opposite direction of where Hiccup and Toothless were.

A few times Valkyrie went off track anyway. Taking sharp turns and dives as they tried to throw Hiccup off their trail, making Toothless have to work extra hard to catch them and turn them away from where they were headed.

When the Edge came into view, Hiccup’s shoulders sagged, relief flooding through him as it meant all of this would be over soon. Toothless let out a mighty roar as they flew closer to the island, the huts and stable becoming clear. He was able to gain the attention of a few dragons as they neared.

Valkyrie’s head shot back at the roar, brows pinching together at how unnecessary it was. But when there was a screech in return, Valkyrie realised what the dragon had been doing. The flaming body of a Monstrous Nightmare soared up from one of the huts on the island, gaining Valkyrie’s attention while a Deadly Nadder sailed through the air, spikes at the ready. The crackling of a Hideous Zippleback scratched through the air while the buzz of Gronckle wings followed.

Valkyrie had flown herself straight into an ambush.

“I’m going to kill that Nightfury rider,” Valkyrie seethed, getting a confused rumble from Stardust below her. “Well, he called you a Dayfury when he first saw you, meaning he thought you were the same species as his dragon. So the first thing that would have come to his mind would have been the opposite of yours.”

“But now we got bigger fish to fry than what Hiccup wants to call you.” If Valkyrie didn’t know that Stardust couldn’t hiss, she would have thought the noise that erupted from her was exactly that. It came at the exact moment Valkyrie had said Hiccup’s name. Stardust wasn’t a big dragon or people animal, especially when certain people on certain dragons chased after her.

Valkyrie’s eyes scanned over the island, trying to think of a way to lose the dragon riders. She was on their home turf so no matter what she did they would have the upper hand. They knew the landscape of the island better, the dragons that inhabited it and how their dragons react and can work together.

“We got to lose them Star,” Valkyrie said as the Deadly Nadder and its rider flew underneath them, popping up on their right as the Monstrous Nightmare tried to close in on their left. Toothless was still behind them while the Gronckle lugged after them from underneath. The Hideous Zippleback maneuvered itself around the sky, not sticking to a single path which Valkyrie was guessing they did on purpose. “Hit the Gronckle. It’ll be easier to get path them.”

Stardust didn’t waste a second before shooting a blast of pink flames down at the Gronckle before plummeting towards them. The blast that Stardust had shot wasn’t deadly but enough to wound or stun any dragon. Shouts of concern could be heard all around Valkyrie, the boy who was sitting on the Gronckle letting out a high-pitched yell as they both went down. Valkyrie tried not to worry about the pair, knowing that if she allowed herself to get concerned with the dragon she wouldn’t be able to pull herself away.

Stardust made sure not to fly too close to the ground, a few meters in between the long grass and her stomach as she wove in between the trees, blocking out certain dragons from following her as their movements weren’t as smooth as the Lightfury. Toothless was able to follow them because of course Hiccup and his Nightfury couldn’t let Valkyrie have anything today. The Deadly Nadder was also pretty close to catching them, a bit behind Toothless as they fought to keep up.

Valkyrie’s hands began to fiddle through Stardust’s saddlebag, another one of Sindri’s Zippleback canisters coming out. As Valkyrie unclasped the box, she didn’t throw it like she did last time. Instead, she held it out to the side, letting a trail of gas run behind her.

“Watch out for the Zippleback gas!” Valkyrie heard Hiccup yell, Toothless letting out a squawk as he tried to fly above the gas and avoid it. The Deadly Nadder tried to get out of the way of it as well but couldn’t get far enough as an actual Hideous Zippleback flew out and into range.

“Zippleback gas?” A female voice questioned from one of her heads of the Hideous Zippleback. “Hiccup, why didn’t you tell us Fury’s could spew Zippleback gas?”

“They can’t,” Hiccup tried to warn, much to the dismay of those sitting on the Hideous Zippleback.

“Who cares?” A male voice now spoke from the Hideous Zippleback. “Belch, let’s light this place.”

“No,” Another feminine voice yelled, but a little too late as the sparks began to light from one of the Hideous Zippleback’s mouths. As the cloud of gas began to light, Valkyrie let go of the canister, Stardust taking a sharp turn and flying through the trees and away from the explosion lighting.

Stardust began to shoot up to the sky again, throat warming as plasma began to build in it. They were going to disappear again. But before anything could be shot forward, a yell rang out through the air as the flaming body of a Monstrous Nightmare came hurtling towards Valkyrie. “Snotlout, Snotlout, oi, oi, oi.”

Valkyrie’s head shot towards the Viking yelling. The short man’s eyes were already on her, a devilish grin on his face as his dragon bound after them. Valkyrie shook her head as she turned back to face forward, tapping Stardust on the neck. The fire that she had previously been warming was shot forward, Stardust diving through it.

As the sensation washed over Valkyrie, they were barely cloaked for a second before Valkyrie felt something slam into her and dig into her back. Valkyrie was ripped from Stardust’s back, the Lightfury whirling around to see what happened when her eyes landed on Toothless, his front claws dug into the scales of Valkyrie’s armour. A class of distress left Stardust as she watched Valkyrie dangle.

Trying to shoot forward to grab Valkyrie back, Toothless deterred her as he turned, keeping his body between Stardust and Valkyrie. That however left Hiccup exposed to Stardust. Slicing her claws into the back of Hiccup’s leather suit, Stardust tried to pull Hiccup from Toothless’s saddle. Hiccup’s foot however got caught. Valkyrie looked up to see why his feet hadn’t fallen from the buckles onto to see a metal foot in its place.

Hiccup’s other foot came undone, jostling him from Toothless’s back and pushing him forward and off until he hung twisted and connected to the saddle, hanging backwards as his head slotted next to Valkyrie’s. The boy let out a nervous laugh as he stared at Valkyrie from upside down, trying not to show too much struggle as Toothless began to fall from the sky as well as having Valkyrie’s deadpan stare on him. “Uh, how’s the view?”

“Really?” Valkyrie asked as she tried to cross her arms, struggling lightly at the tight grip Toothless had on her. As Toothless’s body whirled around, throwing Hiccup and Valkyrie around with him, Valkyrie began to grow worried as Stardust couldn’t get close enough to pull her from Toothless’s grip. “Are you going to do anything about our current situation?”

“I’m working on it,” Hiccup said, slightly more unsure of himself as he pushed himself up, gripping the side of the saddle as he cranked his body up. Slotting himself on Toothless’s back properly, Hiccup could see that they would get too close to the ground for comfort and that Valkyrie was in the crushing zone. Shoving himself nearly off of Toothless’s saddle, Hiccup yelled, “Take my hand Valkyrie.”

“You’re crazy,” Valkyrie said as her head shot down to see how fast they were falling before one of Toothless’s claws left her shoulder, giving her space to swing up and stretch a hand towards Hiccup. As their hands met, a shock ran through Valkyrie’s bones as she was pulled up and pushed behind Hiccup.

“I know. Now, hold on,” Hiccup warned as Toothless’s wings spread, trying to slow down as they crashed down. Valkyrie’s arms instinctively tightened as she dug herself closer to Hiccup’s back. The clanking of Hiccup changing his foot’s position rang before Toothless glided forward, tail nearly smashing into the ground as Hiccup tried to redirect them up.

A sigh escaped Hiccup’s lips as they became suspended in the air again. When Valkyrie didn’t make the instant decision to throw herself from Hiccup’s back, even with Stardust hovering nearby, he leaned forward so he could talk to Toothless. “Take us to the stables, bud.”

Toothless’s gargled response came quickly before he was carefully making his way towards the Edge’s stable. Toothless made sure to keep an eye on Stardust as they flew, the Lightfury hovering as she waited for Valkyrie to signal something to her. Hiccup had half a thought that Stardust might try and pull Valkyrie or Hiccup from Toothless’s back but after the fall they had just suffered he was hoping she wouldn’t try anything. That the Stardust probably didn’t want to hurt Valkyrie.

As Toothless touched down on the stables landing strip, Valkyrie was jumping from Hiccup’s back. She hesitated for a few seconds, eyes darting between the edge of the platform and where Hiccup stood and Stardust flew. But as the other dragon riders landed around her, Stardust fell from the sky and curled herself around Valkyrie’s front, nose scrunched as a snarl started to rise from her throat.

Hiccup was the one who stepped forward, a hand raised as he tried to calm both Valkyrie and Stardust. “We need to talk, Valkyrie. Just hear us out and we’ll let you go.”

“What makes you so certain you can keep me here?” Valkyrie asked, settling a calming hand on Stardust which the dragon ignored, her teeth still bared at the other dragons and riders. Valkyrie’s eyes kept rocketing between those in front of her, trying to stay as aware as possible of who was surrounding her.

“We were able to get you here,” Hiccup brought all of Valkyrie’s attention back to him as he spoke. He still had a hand raised, taking slow steps towards Valkyrie and Stardust every few seconds, making Stardust’s hackles raise. “What makes you think we won’t be able to keep you here?”

“I’ve seen this island on maps before. I know where we are and where the nearest islands are,” Her voice was even as she spoke. Valkyrie took a step forward until she was at Stardust’s side, one of her hands falling into place on Stardust’s saddle. “We could disappear and get there quicker than any of you.”

“Maybe,” Hiccup tried to agree, his head tilting to the side slightly, earning himself a sharper glare from Stardust than he did Valkyrie. Valkyrie’s own eyes hardened, daring Hiccup to say something more. “Look, we have a common enemy. Let us convince you to work with us.”