Hiccup the Chief
~An HTTYD Story~
Disclaimer: I do NOT own, (or even STATE that I own) How to Train your Dragon. DreamWorks Animation SKG, let me borrow your characters here!
"In sky, whether you're flying or falling, there is no air for your mind to breathe in. So the heart takes over your soul."~Hiccup
After the incident with Drago Bludvist, becoming the chief was a big blow rather than a big celebration on Hiccup.
[He was in a hole.]
Especially when he had to lose his father along that path. The path of becoming a Viking chief.
[A big, dark, deep hole.]
He never noticed how much work had to be done. All those paper work, and planning, and diplomacy. How his father had managed all of it was beyond his own comprehension, and he'll never know.
[And he was falling.]
It was hard. Everyone was counting on him. For once again, ever since battling the Red Death, he felt like the fifteen-year old him, who had to live to the expectations of his people. Everyone was all "Hiccup, how do we do this?" and "Chief, what about that?"
[Down, down, down. The great abyss stared at him.]
"How do we start with the house repairs, Hiccup?" Mrs. Ack had asked.
"I'll talk to Trader Johann for extra supplies. Meanwhile, gather some men to start from the upper town going down." he'd reply, before going back to the work at hand. Paper works.
[He was falling fast. Faster than he could catch his own breath.]
"Where do we keep the extra dragons, Chief?" Hork questioned.
"Take them to the forest for now. I'll deal with them later today." Hiccup answered confidently.
Chief: It left a sour taste in his mouth. He doesn't deserve that title. Not now or ever.
[Then, to his relief and puzzlement, he stopped falling.]
Of course, there were grace periods being the chief. Moments he could mourn. Moments he could rest. Moments he could have fun. Moments he could act un-cheifly, (and be 'Hiccup' as Astrid had put it). Moments he could think and reflect about things.
[But those nightmares weren't over. He knew it wasn't over. Because a nightmare doesn't end this well. Especially for him.]
But when those moments ended, he'd always feel so tired by the end of the day. So, so tired.
It was as if every day he felt stepping closer to becoming the chief that Berk wanted-needed- him to be, he was also loosing a part of himself along that path.
[Then he was sinking. Heavily. Slowly. He was sinking and he couldn't get out. He was just stuck there, like quicksand.]
He wasn't ready for this. His father might have thought he was. But he knew he wasn't. Not yet.
He wasn't sure he deserved all this.
He wasn't sure he could be as great and selfless and brave as his father was.
[He needed help. He called out. Screaming. Shouting. Someone had to hear his voice. To hear him.]
But it was too late to fret. He's stuck living up to the greatness of his father. So he had to act strong. He had to be strong. And he had to stay strong.
For the good of his people, the dragons as well. For the good of his tribe.
[He finally gave out one last, desperate call. A name. Before sinking completely, under the sticky, slimy, dark abyss of the unknown.]
He knew there was one he could count on. One who would be there for him, who he could count on. Even during his weakest points in life, or the worst of times.
His buddy.
His best friend.
["Toothless!"]
He woke up with a start.
"Toothless?" He moaned, still half-asleep, half-dazed from his sleep. If you could call it that. He rather felt more tired than not.
The dragon cooed soothingly, nudging his person on the left side. Hiccup could see a dull outline of his dragon, and his eyes. Those deep, glowing green eyes looking at him with concern, worry... and is that fear?
"Don't worry, bud. S'jus-st anothe-ther b-bad dream." the boy shivered as he pats the black creature's soft scaled head.
But Toothless, being the intelligent, knowing friend of a reptile, wasn't entirely convinced. From the looks of it, Hiccup looked like a heaping mess. Despite the cold weather, he was sweating profusely. He could hear with his sensitive dragon ears that the boy's heart was pounding rapidly. He was sniffing and sobbing dry tears in his sleep that night.
Heck, the dragon knew that after having a nightmare, the young man wouldn't be getting any restful sleep again tonight!
The dragon was irritated.
After all those two had been though, the black critter couldn't believe his rider would even dare lying to him. Because he knew he would easily be seen through.
He pushed hard on the boy's chest.
"OWWW!" Hiccup half-whispered his complaint on the dragon, darting glares at the said reptile. He could attack his own dragon, he didn't want to risk waking his mother who was sleeping downstairs.
Toothless pushed even harder. He let the boy fall down the wooden floor with a deafened 'thud'. He ignored the protests and lead him off his bed, blocking any visible path for the boy to excuse himself to go back to sleep.
"What's wrong with you, you overgrown reptile?" the teen dripped with sarcasm.
Oh, how the Night Fury wished to be able to could talk. But, slamming his tail and pointing towards the saddle hanging on the wall across the bed worked wonders to convey his message. Not to mention more amusing.
"You want t to go flying?" The boy yawned complainingly.
The dragon nodded.
"At this hour?" the boy implied his resistance.
The dragon squint his green eyes at the said boy. He then slammed his tail in the weakening wood floor, making loud, distracting thuds echo around the house.
"Okay! Okay! Just keep it down, bud." Hiccup partly chuckled, and groaned like an eight year old. Putting on a green tunic, his prosthetic leg, and a few pieces of his armour (though, he doubt he'd need them anyway).
Toothless smiled victoriously.
Flying will help his rider. Flying always helped his rider.
He was free.
The sky always made him feel free.
It opens up to him, engulfing both him and his dragon, as if the heavens are accepting their existence as creatures of the beautiful paradise of the air. It leads them to places he dares not to question the origins. It challenges him to take on the wind currents and drafts willingly.
And when he falls: oh what a feeling. He falls without fear, or doubt, or pain. Unlike his past dreams, he falls with thrill, and happiness. He would fall not thinking about the ache in his heart or the responsibilities in his mind. As much as he was concerned, he wasn't thinking at all.
In sky, whether you're flying or falling, there is no air for your mind to breathe in. So the heart takes over your soul. His dragon feels the same as well.
It was night time, probably half past midnight, yet the young chief was awake in the sky.
"WOOOOHOOOO!" Hiccup howled freely, "YYEAHH BABY!" Toothless bellows in agreement, firing a shot of fire on top of them. The dragon knew once they were both so high, there was no going down for them.
Not until the morning comes to break their celebration.
(Not yet. Toothless would've spoken to himself.)
Tonight, they owned the skies.
The moon shone brightly. The calming peace from the said moon had joined them in their nightly adventure, and it made riding through the clouds more relaxing. The adrenaline rush was coming to a stop, so the duo concurred to land and rest on the nearest isle, which was the rocky islet just before Itchy Armpits.
Hiccup breathed deeply.
You see, this was one of his moments. Those that tempted him and he knew he was letting those temptations get to him. He could hear it asking as loudly as the questions had left his mouth a few months ago:
"So, what do you say, bud; just keep going?"
He wanted to. And he knew Toothless would, too. The black reptile would always follow him, whatever his choice was. And right now, he wanted to keep going. To fly until the edge of the world, never look back, and never regret. It was so easy. He'd click his dragon's prosthetic open, fly towards the black horizon, not knowing where they're headed to or if they'd find whatever they were looking for.
Had his father once felt the same way? To just leave his people behind and vanish out of thin air?
But he couldn't. Or maybe, he wouldn't.
Because he had a duty to his people, and dragons.
He smiled sadly to himself, chuckling a bit before looking back. Maybe someday. Someday.
So instead, he asked Toothless in the same manner, with the same happy tone in his voice, same sparkling look in his eyes, and on the same spot right on the edge of the cliff:
"What do you say, bud; should we be heading back?"
The reptile must have noticed the aura, or maybe because he had said it in an almost-exactly the same way last time. He cooed lowly (just like he had before) in reply.
His eyes spoke for him./I follow where you go./
Flying was fun. In flying, he was free.
Sunlight had reached Berk when Hiccup and Toothless arrived back, bursting its golden fingers from the mountain tops and slowly creeping into the windows of the Viking homes. It indicated a new day, the dawning of the Berkians to a new way of living.
Everybody had started with their usual personal works. Cooking breakfast, bargaining trade supplies, waking their pet dragons. The duo landed right in the middle of the town plaza, wet and panting, with a childish grin and a more-than-satisfied look in their faces.
Greeted by a warm, welcoming hug from Astrid, a couple of teases from the twins, Ruff and Tuff, a snide comment or two with his mentor Gobber, and a supportive cheer from his fellow villagers (for some apparently unknown reason for the young leader.).
Maybe becoming a chief wouldn't be so bad after all.
A/N: That turned out refreshing for me. It's good to be back writing again!
Okay. I'm sorry for my dear readers from other fandoms. Especially the one in RotG. Because I haven't written in a long while. College is heck, and I'm shifting to another course (computer programming is just not for me), so I had to do well in my subjects. Well, most of them.
So, any response to this stand-alone story will decide if I would make it into a collection of one shots (via requests from readers), or just a one shot. Well, anyway, please rate and review. Constructively criticize me! Have a cookie! The fate of this story is in your hands, darlings.
Questions? Suggestions? Violent reactions? PM me. Let's grab a cup of coffee, have some tea or something.