Hiccup couldn't believe his eyes. A real life Stormcutter? Here on Berk?! And the weirdest thing was, he could swear on his life he'd seen the dragon before. He couldn't remember when or where, but it seemed the Stormcutter remembered too. When he'd watched from a distance, the dragon seemed generally uninterested, probably just wanting to be on its way home soon. However, when he took a closer look, curiosity overpowering him, it looked up quizzically, draping its four large wings on the ground. Hiccup had then, noticing the sign of trust, reached out to place a hand on the constantly-twisting head to show he meant no harm. It was truly wonderful to behold; Hiccup felt like this had been an experience years in the making, though he couldn't place his finger on why this dragon was so important.
Instantly he met with Fishlegs, to recount the meeting and explain what he learned about the Stormcutter species. Insisting on returning to the scene, Fishlegs was disappointed to find the majestic creature had since flown off. Hiccup, though equally disheartened, finished mentioning any details he could, before setting off to inform his father of the strange tale.
"Dad, you would not have believed it! It was like looking at a giant, scaly owl!" Hiccup grimaced a bit as his father raised an eyebrow. "Eh- okay, that description doesn't really do it justice. But! But, you should have seen those eyes! They were all big and yellow, and I swear I've seen him before." Something inside Stoick seemed to click. His smile, earlier on quite genuine, faltered and found itself fighting to stay on his face.
"And what type of dragon did you say it was, Hiccup?"
"A Stormcutter! Which is really strange, I've never heard of one coming this close to Berk before!"
"Oh, it's not that unusual..." Stoick's voice grew dark as he internally battled on whether to tell Hiccup about what he knew or not. Unfortunately for him, his mind was made up as Hiccup saw the falter of his expression.
"Dad...? Is there something wrong?" Stoick's gaze fell instantly to Hiccup's chin, where a thin white scar was visible amongst the freckles.
"Son...that dragon- that was the one who took your mother." Hiccup's eyes shot open and his face paled at the forced words. He became instantly aware of the dagger sitting on the table, taunting him with its presence. Stoick's words of concern jumbled around in the boy's head, until virtually unrecognizable. Hiccup walked straight past the man, slowly grabbing the blade from its placement on the wooden surface.
"Hiccup. I know you're upset, I am too. But you can't just-" Stoick's reasoning was met only with a whoosh and uneven footsteps as Hiccup darted out the door.
Hiccup wasn't positive what he was planning on doing as he ran into the forest. All he knew was that he had a dagger, a broken heart, and that he'd have to hope Toothless and the others would understand. Meanwhile, much slower than the scrawny boy, Stoick instantly boarded Thornado. He rounded up the five other experienced riders and led them to the plaza for a quick summary of events.
"I need you lot to help me corner Hiccup before he can find that Stormcutter again."
"What, Hiccup found a Stormcutter and he didn't show us?" The twins and Snotlout let out outraged cries, missing the urgent tone in the chief's voice. Fishlegs, having already heard of the creature, was utterly confused.
"What's so bad about it? Hiccup was obsessed over that thing! And I can't blame him, either; four wings, instead of just two, as well as-"
The chief silenced them all with a wave of his hand. "Hush! We're going to run out of time. If we don't stop those two from meeting again, Hiccup's going to do something he'll regret for the rest of his life."
"Stoick, what's he planning on doing?" Astrid finally spoke up, needing the crucial details to drive her towards finding the boy.
"Do any of you remember Toothless' grudge against that Whispering Death? Let's just say this makes that seem like child's play..." On hearing his name, the Night Fury rounded the corner. Stoick caught him out of the corner of his eye and sighed, relieved the slightest bit. "Good. He's on his own two feet," he paused to flinch at his word choice. "That means we can catch him, so long as we keep him from Toothless." Toothless growled a bit at the implication, but the chief took no time to explain, already having lost time.
Ruffnut seemed unconvinced by Stoick's desperation. "Hiccup wouldn't hurt a fly. It's what makes him so boring!"
"Well, when you unknowingly make friends with the dragon that took your mother, you'd get a little upset, too..." Astrid gasped and, finally, jumped onto Stormfly to begin her patrol. She knew from experience how infuriating it could be to come face to face with a dragon that had messed with your family; peaceful relations or not, it was a hard thing to accept.
Together they flew off, speeding in small groups; they hoped that they got to Hiccup before he did something very hypocritical of a peacekeeper.
Hiccup ran surprisingly quickly for a boy with a missing foot, even if he was pretty small compared to most Vikings. It wasn't long before he came upon the spot he had first spotted the dragon, head thumping and dagger shining in the light. He felt a little scared, to be honest; he'd never felt this passionate about killing a dragon, even when he saw it as the only way to be accepted by the others. It was disturbing how quickly he'd seen red after being told about his unknown history with the dragon, so blinded by rage that he hadn't even considered taking Toothless.
He considered it for the better through, he thought as he followed a path towards a well-known water source. This was his fight, and he wouldn't want it any other way, even with the advantages a dragon companion would provide. Hiccup jumped a log, using agility he wasn't aware he had, and continued following any hidden paths he could find that would still lead to the proper destination. Suddenly he felt himself picked up. Looking at his shoulders to find a pair of blue Nadder legs, he snorted at the irony. Oh, how the tables have turned...
"Astrid, put me down..." He forced his best innocent voice, hiding his blade in hopes that she didn't know all the details. She clearly knew a lot about the situation, but hey; it never hurts to hope.
"Not going to happen, Hiccup. Just calm down for a second and-" she was cut off as she saw a metallic object heading straight towards her head. Reflexively catching it, she examined the metal hoping it would be his dagger, and that it was his way of giving up. Unfortunately, upon further inspection, it turned out to be his prosthetic. She groaned, dropping down onto a high, secluded cliff far from the forest.
"Hiccup! You need to snap out of it! I know what you're going through-"
"No, Astrid, you really don't! It knew what it did, I could tell it remembered!" His voice cracked with pain, and Astrid broke eye contact with the boy, finding a sudden interest in the metal piece she was holding in her hand. "And not only that, but I touched it!" He turned a bit green at the prospect, as if he had seen Gobber in nothing but his skivvies. "I tried to train it! I trusted it!"
Astrid was spared from having to respond when she heard the call of a Monsteous Nightmare approaching from behind her. Spotting Snotlout on his back, she turned towards the rider. "Where were you?! I told you to stay right behind me!"
"I saw this really cool looking dragon hanging from a tree over in the cove just over across the way! It had this sort of squashed face and- oh this is the best part! It had four wings! I'm thinking of taming it and keeping it." Astrid glared menacingly at the boy, and the flame in Hiccup sparked once again.
"What?! No, no, no! Stay out the cove! Ugh, as if this wasn't already personal enough..."
Astrid barely had time to react; within a moment, the prosthetic had been stolen from her hands and Hiccup was darting down the cliff and towards the cove where he and Toothless met. The two riders looked down at him before hopping aboard their respective dragons and taking off. Astrid made sure, of course, to smack Snotlout on the head for giving away the position of the Stormcutter before racing off after Hiccup.
He had already made it to the middle of the forest before he was bombarded by two more riders and their pet dragons.
"GAGH! Fishlegs, get Meatlug off of me!" Hiccup made no effort to conceal his anger this time, in attempts to crack the sensitive boy's spirits. It almost worked too; the large Viking was whimpering in fear until, at the last moment, the twins appeared from behind. The blonde released a sigh of relief, though still concerned that his only backup would be the bickering Thorstons.
"Woah, what's wrong with Hiccup?" Tuffnut bluntly asked, looking beyond confused at the struggling boy under the humongous Gronckle. "He's not usually this interesting." Ruffnut nodded in agreement, as Fishlegs face palmed.
"Why don't I ever get the helpful partners?" Fishlegs questioned no one in particular; in his distraction, he unwillingly loosened Meatlug's hold on the chief's son, and the boy freed himself.
Running off away from the two, Hiccup was quickly disappointed to find his path blocked by Snotlout and Astrid.
"Great, the gang's all here!" He mumbled sarcastically, grimacing. The four dragons that had been in hot pursuit of him closed in, further diminishing his chance of escape. He cursed the gods under his breath, wondering why it was his luck just kept getting worse and worse.
"Hiccup, this needs to stop. It just isn't you!" Astrid pleaded, for perhaps the first time in her life. She struggled to convince him, her words of comfort met only with snarls. As soon as this whole thing blew over, she'd have to talk to him about how much time he spent with the dragons...
"Hiccup! I would've hoped I'd have raised you better than to snarl at your friends when they're trying to help!" Completely unannounced, Stoick flew in from above, reprimanding his son.
Hiccup's eyes flashed with a range of emotions, though none were stronger than the evident sadness he felt. "That's just it! You didn't raise me! In case you've forgotten, I was mostly on my own for the first fifteen or so years of my life."
Even the twins hushed at the accusation. It made so much sense now...
"I know I was a terrible father, and I'm sorry. But leave this dragon out of it! I learned long ago that finding and killing this dragon wouldn't bring closure, and it's time you did too." Hiccup sighed, not quite defeated. Astrid waved at the others to follow her away quietly, allowing the father and son to continue in private.
"At least for you, you got to know her! I just have some fuzzy memory and a name to go by." Hiccup slumped to the ground and once again removed his prosthetic in an attempts to look at anything other than his disheartened father.
With no more to say, they both remained silent until a rustling of bushes brought their attention back from the darkness of their minds. Out from the leaves appeared Toothless, who immediately provided a concerned nuzzle for his friend. Seeing an opportunity, Stoick used the dragon as an example.
"What about Toothless, then? We've no idea where his family is, and yet he spared the boy who made it even harder to find them again, if they're even alive that is."
Hiccup looked up at the Night Fury, and then the chief. He sighed, and then smiled a bit. "I could've done without the minor guilt trip, but I think I get the picture." He handed his dad the dagger and clambered onto Toothless, having just recently replaced the metallic foot to where it belonged. "Let's go, bud."
As a group, the dragon riders traveled the short distance to the village in silence. Once outside the Haddock residence, she took Hiccup by the shoulder. She punched his arm threateningly. "That's for the whole foot thing, and for scaring me..." She then placed a peck on his cheek, comfortingly. "...and that's for everything else."
Eliciting a smile from the boy, she turned to walk away; however it was not without one final warning. "Seriously though, ever throw that foot at me again and I will weld it onto your leg."
A/N: idk what this was, but I needed a break from the WTS for a second (new chapter should be here soon, unless I change a few things). I always wondered what would happen if Hiccup or Stoick had seen Cloudjumper come to Berk for a visit or something, and this was the best I could do. Might do a modern AU after my WTS (and Watching the Movie-which I haven't started yet) are done, so I needed to practice with different writing styles other than just dialogue/commentary. Read and review! Thanks!