Draymore opened his eyes, glancing at Hiccup's bed. He was hoping to at least see Hiccup calmly resting under the covers. Those nightmares had been taunting his sister for a long time; for almost four weeks Draymore had to put up with listening to Hiccup whimpering, unable to do anything to help her.
However, when Draymore looked at Hiccup's bed, he only saw a fur blanket hanging over the edge of the bed. Hiccup was nowhere to be seen.
Draymore quickly scanned the room, not finding any signs that Hiccup was there.
"Hiccup?"
There was no response.
Draymore climbed out the ceiling window and scanned the sky. "Jack! I need your help!"
A cold breeze announced the Guardian's arrival as the white-haired boy landed in front of the young Lighren. "What's going on? Is it Hiccup?"
"I can't find her. She's gone."
Jack looked to the forest, "Shit. What is going on?"
Draymore changed form and stared at nothing, letting the silence overwhelm him. It wasn't long before Jack watched as the dragon's ear turned in the direction of a noise that he couldn't hear himself.
Toothless glided to the woods and followed the noise, Jack following in quick pursuit.
As Jack flew after Toothless through the somewhat dense canopy of trees and brush, the noise slowly grew loud enough for him to hear it.
Eventually, Jack and Toothless stopped at the edge of the cove. Jack was confused until he saw a girl sitting on a rock by the water. The girl had brown hair, and two black wings were resting on the stone.
Hiccup.
Jack attempted to fly into the cove and carry Hiccup away before Toothless stopped him. Jack could see his worst fears unfolding before him as Pitch Black rested both hands on Hiccup's shoulders.
Hiccup looked scared but she didn't fight back. Pitch didn't do anything to Hiccup besides make gestures that neither Jack or Toothless could understand. There was one point when Pitch lead Hiccup off the boulder and held her close. I looked as if Pitch was trying to surround Hiccup with his black sand, but then it looked like he was hugging her. He wasn't forcefully hugging her; he was genuinely hugging her, like a father would.
Jack felt as though his jaw had dropped to the floor when Hiccup smiled at Pitch. They were talking amongst each other like they were great friends.
Eventually their conversation ended, and Hiccup walked out of the cove, leaving Putch to vaporize into the air.
000
"Now," said Pitch, "when you get to the glacier, I need you to find them and save them from an attack. I'll have the Berserkers go after them to stage it."
Hiccup nodded in understanding.
"I hope you can gain the dragon's trust quickly after you meet him," said Pitch.
Hiccup sighed, "I'm still not sure about this. What if the others find out?"
"They won't. I promise. I'll make sure of it. You just need to worry about getting there."
Hiccup stared at Pitch with an unsure expression. When Pitch smiled sweetly, Hiccup smiled back.
Pitch inhaled deeply, "I know this is hard to hear but you'll have to wait a few days first; at least until the others have noticed their absence."
Hiccup nodded again. "I understand."
Pitch looked around them as if suddenly startled. He looked to Hiccup one last time and nodded to the exit, "You should go. The sun will rise soon."
Hiccup nodded and began her journey back. She turned back one last time, "And Pitch?"
Pitch looked to her.
Hiccup smiled, "Thank you... for everything. I really owe you."
Pitch made a bow, "Anything for the heir to the throne of Berk."
Hiccup followed the barely-visible trail through the forest. She was sure that someone was nearby when she heard the bushes rustling.
She turned to look behind her, finding nothing but the trail. When she turned back to continue, she jumped at the sudden figure in front of her.
Thinking the figure was an Outcast, Hiccup drew her claws and growled before she realized that the figure was too small to be an Outcast. Hiccup hid her claws in her fingers and sighed as she recognized the man.
"Damn it, Dray. Don't sneak up on people like that. You'll scare them."
"Oh, I'll scare them," exclaimed Draymore in a sarcastic tone, "I'll scare you-what? Like you keep scaring me at night for the past four weeks?"
Hiccup sighed, "I can't control what dreams I have!"
"But you can control wether or not you leave the house and run into the woods at night. The worst part is you go out to meet up with this random guy!"
"Who also happens to be Pitch Black out of all people!" added Jack.
"Well of course you know him!" Hiccup said, gesturing to the Guardian, "He told me that you were his friend."
Jack swallowed back laughter, "That is a lie! He is not my friend!"
"Then who is he?"
"He is someone you need to ditch! You can't trust him!"
"I find that hard to believe. Since you know I've been seeing him then surely you'd know why I'm saying this!"
"He's using you Hiccup! If you don't stop seeing him you might find yourself locked away in some cave!"
"Well it's better than what you guys have been doing! He's the one helping me! What have you two done besides pressure me?"
"You never gave us the chance to help you!" Draymore yelled. "All you do is change the subject and avoid those nightmares all together!!"
"I don't need your help now! I'm fine!"
"No you're not! It's like you're going insane!!"
"SHUT UP!" Hiccup screamed. Her hair and eyes turned dark with her arms growing dark. Jack and Draymore jumped back at the sight of Hiccup's nightmarish face and froze.
Hiccup flinched, waiting a few moments before inhaling deeply, "I'm sorry... I know I should've told you but... I just... I don't know what else to do."
Draymore gently wiped a tear off Hiccup's face, "It's okay. I shouldn't have pushed you-I just... I'm just tired of watching you cry while you sleep. I can't stand not being able to help. I want to help you, Hiccup, but if you don't want to tell me that's fine... But sooner or later you're gonna need to tell someone."
Hiccup nodded. "Later... Please? Just later."
Draymore sighed, then nodded. "Okay. For now, let's just go home."
All three of them remained silent the rest of the walk back. None said anything; nor did they make any gestures to one another.
