The Runaway

Chapter 1: The Point of No Return

This was it. The moment that would decide everything between man and dragon. And that's what made this so much harder, to go against everything he's known when the odds of this working out the way he wanted it to was against him. He could feel the pressure on him, and it was with a heavy heart that he made it to the gate of the arena while his father stood in front of everyone in the tribe and proclaimed, "Well, I can finally show my face in public again!"

Hiccup told himself to breathe as he looked up towards the crowds that had gathered around the metal chains that caged in the ring, what kept him and the creature he was supposed to kill to win his father's pride inside. He could barely believe that he was standing here, top of his class at Dragon Training. Except, the show that the whole village had showed up to witness, wasn't going to be what they had expected. Because he couldn't do it.

Just two short weeks ago, he would have gladly accepted to kill the Monstrous Nightmare and to win the glory of being the town hero. Now it sickened him. So much has changed in that period of time that Hiccup couldn't believe it. It felt like a whole lifetime had passed from that day he had shot down a Night fury to prove to everyone that he was like them, but now he knew the truth. The dragons weren't what the Vikings thought them to be.

How ironic was it that when he finally realized he couldn't kill a dragon was when he got into dragon training? Hiccup tried to tell his father his epiphany, emphasis on tried, and a one-sided conversation later he was in training to learn how to kill dragons. Soon, intending to keep himself alive for another day, Hiccup used tricks he learned with Toothless and now he was here. He inhaled to give himself the strength to block out his words, but try as he might, the helmet his father gave him for luck suddenly became heavier.

"Keeps her close. . ." His father had said. Would his mom be disappointed in him for what he was about to do?

Hiccup looked down at it as his father ended his speech. ", , ,and proud. Today my son becomes a viking! He becomes one of us!"

Oh gods, this was going to be much harder than he thought it would.

"Good luck with that dragon." Hiccup probably would've jumped had he not been so nervous.

It was Astrid Hofferson, the girl he's had a crush on since he knew what one was. And the only who knew about his Night fury that he spends his freetime with now. She had come across him in the woods and found him and Toothless, planning to run away after being chosen for the "honor." After he convinced her to go on a flight to see the truth about dragons, they found the ultimate gamechanger: the dragons were being controlled by something; a dragon much too large to be considered just a dragon. Hopefully he could win the vikings favor.

"It's not the dragon I'm worried about," he replied. His eyes followed his father to the large wooden chair that was reserved for the chief. It overlooked the whole arena.

"What are you going to do?"

"Put an end to this." His eyes travelled over the crowd, cheering for blood and entertainment. Much easier said than done. "I have to try," he added. Hiccup tried to string the thoughts spinning a whirlwind in his mind, and then turned to the only person he knew he could trust this with and said, "Astrid, if something goes wrong, just make sure they don't find Toothless."

"I will," she promised him. For a moment she looked at him as if trying to carve this into her memory before everything changed for good. It probably was. Finally she said, "Just promise me it won't go wrong."

Before he could reply, they were interrupted: "It's time, 'Iccup. Knock 'em dead."

Hiccup stepped forward and cast one last look towards Astrid. Her eyes, bright as the sky on a summer day, stared back grimly. He wanted more than anything to promise her that everything would be alright, that they could unite dragons and vikings, but they both knew that the chances of that happening, here and now, was very slim. He turned his gaze forward again as he felt Gobber's hand on his shoulder, almost as heavy as a weight, guiding him towards the open arena. Feet as heavy as boulders, Hiccup found himself walking into the arena, the gate closing behind him like a death sentence, and he put on his mother's helmet.

"That's my boy!"

"Hiccup! You get to kill the dragon!"

"Hiccup, your final exam is tomorrow. You know you're going to have to. . .kill a dragon."

"What are we going to do?"

"I'll figure it out tomorrow."

The voices banged around in his head like a hollow horn, and then Hiccup found himself in the center of the ring. It was silent now, in his thoughts and all around him. He felt suddenly lightheaded, his vision a bit like a rubber band stretched and suddenly released. Hiccup grabbed a dagger and an ornate shield, and swallowed to wet his dry throat.

"I'm ready." Two words, and then everything was set into motion.

Hiccup tried his best to look confident as the lock to the dragons cage was drawn up and the Monstrous Nightmare was released. For a couple moments after it was unlocked, everyone was silent in anticipation, and then the dragon burst out alight with flames. Doing his best not to shake, Hiccup raised his shield instinctively to protect himself, hoping the dragon didn't think he meant harm. The dragon hadn't realized it had company yet however, and instead scaled the walls, shooting columns of flames into the crowds outside the ring, and then hanging upside down from the metal chains. Then he stopped and looked down at Hiccup, demonstrating his level of flexibility by coming back down the concrete floor.

Stepping back carefully, Hiccup looked deep into the eyes of the Monstrous Nightmare. I don't mean any harm, he tried to convey with his eyes as the dragon advanced on him. He ignored the crowd trying to egg him on, to kill this dragon that is enslaved to something bigger than all of them.

He couldn't convince them by some heroic speech; Astrid didn't even try to listen to him until she had absolutely no alternative.

"Just let me show you. . ." It was what he had to do now.

Before he could over-think this, or he could even begin to convince himself not to, Hiccup extended his arms and let the knife and shield fall to the ground. The dragon stopped, perplexed by his actions. It wasn't enough.

Heart in his throat, Hiccup lifted his helmet off his head, glanced up at his father, and looked into the eyes of the so-called beast and somehow said, "I'm not one of them." Somehow he sounded stronger than he felt. He threw the helmet to ground and everyone gasped. Looking from the helmet to Hiccup, the dragons guard lowered a little.

Stoick leaned forward looking slightly out of his depth. "Stop the fight."

Hiccup spent his whole life shouting at his father to listen to him, crying inside for his pride, but now he realized there was more at stake than his father's pride. And that helped him stand a little bit taller though he felt even more weighed down. "No," he shot back, keeping his voice level so as to not startle the dragon. He may not of gotten his father's strength or his confidence (though now Hiccup considered it was all just like his tricks in the ring, a charade and his father was just as terrified as the people) but he did get his father's stubbornness. "I need you all to see this. Dragon's aren't what we think they are. We don't have to kill them."

"I said STOP THE FIGHT!"

After those words things went wrong all at once. A loud bang echoed through the arena, and Hiccup saw the dragon's pupils dilated. The calm between them evaporated and the Monstrous Nightmare lashed out at him, nearly biting off his hand. Hiccup cried out, looking briefly at his hand and realizing that he did in fact still have a hand, and ran as quickly as possible as he instinctively screamed.

"Hiccup!"

Little busy at the moment, Astrid, Hiccup thought as he heard Astrid call after him. He turned around and dashed towards the shields and weapons, trying to grab something to protect himself, but the dragon crushed and splintered the wood.

"Ah!" he screamed and ditched the shield.

As he continued running and then he heard a whack behind him. Slightly confused, Hiccup twisted back and saw the dragon was chasing Astrid. He pivoted on his ankle and started towards the hammer that fell on the ground behind him. Hiccup threw it as hard as he could towards the Monstrous Nightmare. On ordinary dragon raids or any other day, he wouldn't have been so lucky but maybe the desperation of the whole situation perfected his aim as he chucked it at the dragon's head. He felt apologetic and gave a mental apology before running for his life again.

He and Astrid met up at the middle of the arena and ran next to each other. "So much for a plan," she said dryly to him. "Any more bright ideas?"

"You won't punch me if I say 'I've got nothing' will you?"

"No promises, dragon boy."

"Thanks," Hiccup shot back sarcastically. "Glad you have my back."

"Sarcastic as always."

Flames shot at them and they ducked. "Divide and conquer?" Hiccup asked.

"Now we have something to agree on."

Hiccup broke away from Astrid and when he was a good distance away from them he started shouting at him. "Over here!"

The Monstrous Nightmare stopped chasing Astrid and charged Hiccup. He forced himself to hold his ground until the last possible second and dived into a tumble (surprisingly successful) to get out of the way as flames came towards him, singeing his hair.

Just as Hiccup started to get up from his kneeling position after the tumble, he heard, "Over here!"

He was shocked to see his father standing there at the open gate. Hiccup got to his feet as Astrid ran towards her chief to safety. He almost reached them but Hiccup felt heat start towards his back and staggered as he turned and fire hit the wall. He turned and ran, trying to escape but he tripped over splintered wood and the next thing he knew he was trapped under a Monstrous Nightmare's claw. The dragon growled at him and Hiccup felt his heart trying to escape his chest.

And then he heard a sound that made him feel relieved and all the more worried. The sound of a Night furies blast. Toothless must've heard his cry and somehow got out of the cove.

The black dragon hung in the air for a moment and then released a bright purple blast that broke the chains and flew in the arena, cloaked in the smoke from the aftermath of his plasma blast. Hiccup struggled to get free, blinded and desperate. And then he was. As the smoke cleared, he saw a whirl of black and red as Toothless and the Monstrous Nightmare wrestled with each other. Hiccup looked up at the vikings staring down at his obsidian dragon in a mix of fascination and horror.

When Hiccup looked back at his level, Toothless and the other dragon had stopped fighting but Toothless still growled and stood in a protective stance as the Nightmare tried to reach him. The dragon gave up on getting Hiccup while he was under the protection of the only known Night fury and flew away.

But that was the least of their problems. Vikings poured into the ring, gathering around Toothless like vultures. Hiccup stood and ran towards Toothless. "Go on, bud, get out of here!" he yelled at his dragon, trying to shove him as more and more of the tribe came into the arena. "Toothless, now!"

He couldn't lose him; he couldn't lose his best friend. If the tribe and his own father disowned him, so be it, but he couldn't lose Toothless. He didn't know if he could bear it.

A battle cry came louder than everything that was going on around him, and what Hiccup saw made his blood turn to ice. Stoick was charging Toothless, and his dragon looked ready to do the same. He couldn't let two of the only people he loved unconditionally kill each other.

Hiccup ran so he stood between them. One hand faced his father, the other his best friend. "STOP!" he shouted with everything he had. All the years of desperation and disappointments with every attempt he's given for everyone, the joy of his time with Toothless. Every single emotion poured into that single word and everyone stopped what they were doing. Even his father listened, coming to a stop with a look on his face that told Hiccup he was surprised.

"We can't keep fighting the dragons! They aren't what we thought they are. They are kind, intelligent creatures who have the same goal as us: To Survive. But if we keep this up, it will be the end of all of us, dragons and vikings alike!" His words echoed in the silence, and the vikings murmured to each other. Should they listen to him? Is there a chance that they were wrong?

"They've killed hundreds of us!" His father shouted back. It seemed he got his confidence back, but he didn't know what Hiccup did. If they keep going in blind, with no idea what they're up against, there won't be a future for Berk. "They steal our food. They always go for the kill so that is why we can't hesitate!"

"And we've killed thousands of them! If they killed without hesitation, we'd all be dead right now." Hiccup replied. He looked his father in the eye. "There are things about them we don't know about, things we don't understand."

"You are just a child, Hiccup." His father replied. "You know nothing of war, but you control that beast."

"Yeah," a viking chimed in, though Hiccup didn't know who it was. "You could have that Night fury kill us all on command!"

Hiccup lowered his hand, the one that had been reaching out towards his father without him realizing it. "I understand it clearly now." He couldn't convince them by words or his plan of showing them about dragons as that plan had imploded. As he looked around the crowd, the vikings staring at him in disgust, the children in awe and shock, the teens with either one, Astrid looking troubled between what she knew and her honor, Gobber (who had hobbled next to Stoick while they spoke) unreadable, and his father who looked at him with betrayal, shame, and something else that Hiccup couldn't quite read. Toothless was snarling at anyone who dared get closer to them.

He had to leave. Until he could find a way to convince them or if he ever could, he'd have to leave Berk behind. Hiccup sought out Astrid's eyes and he could tell she knew exactly what he was thinking. She nodded, ever so slightly, and Hiccup was sure those were tears glistening in her eyes.

Without saying another word, he walked back towards his Night fury and mounted Toothless.

One last time, sitting tall on Toothless's back, Hiccup met his mentor's eyes, the man that taught him everything he needed to know for Toothless's tail. "You were right," he said to him, "I can't be something I'm not."

Hiccup turned his foot, and then he and Toothless took off into the sky, disappearing around the mountain. Everyone stared after them, in awe and murmuring to each other.

Hello, fellow fangirls and fanboys :) This isn't the first fanfiction that I've ever written (well, in a way, it is, just a different and better draft), but it is the first on this website. My other few are on , but I'll be moving them over here where I will rewrite and edit them. Thanks for giving this fic a chance and I hope you'll be back soon for the next chapter!

- Mara