A/N: Hi everyone! To those who don't know, I have currently started a AO3 account. This and another fic, RePLAY, have already been posted there. This was originally meant for just AO3, but I started thinking that maybe some people would like to see it on here, too. The account will be filled with HiJack and Toothcup both. Possibly more pairings in time. Only three fics from here will make it on AO3 and some new ones will be just for that, just for here, or just for tumblr. I have updated my profile on here with the links to both tumblr and AO3. Alright. Now that that is taken care of, this is a fantasy AU that I've been thinking about a lot and I've been planning for a while and just now got around to really writing it all out. I do not own the characters or the franchises. Enjoy.
The only time the castle got any louder than a peep was during celebrations, holidays, and banquets. And even then, if one were to sit in a room not too far away from where the festivities took place, you could still hear a pin drop. When walking through the halls and up the staircases, you could hear the occasional whisper or mutter of a guard as your footsteps echoed against the walls. Noise was a very foreign concept. So, as he walked the streets of the large, city like village, he couldn't help but try to listen to everything he could.
Children laughed as they ran down the cobblestone alleyways, everyone's footsteps different from each others. People talked as loud as they wanted to and told jokes of every kind. Old men told tales outside of taverns and inns where younger men cheered and chanted, singing tunes as they held their mugs high in the air. Fairies flew across the sky, both small and large, some with packages and some not. The wonderful sounds of magic danced in the air next to him and he turned to watch as a group of children cheered on a witch who continued to make toys for them with a smile on her face. He stopped in his tracks, smiling as she danced her fingers around each other, a purple sort of mist surrounding them with glistening chimes. A small wooden toy horse appeared not long after and the mist evaporated as the girls and boys cheered happily.
The village was much more than he had expected. He had counted on people being either so angry they spat at each other or everyone being so sickly and depressing that the world seemed gray. But this was far from gray. His best, most trusted friend walked beside him and seemed just as joyful and as happy as the children they watched. His scaly black ears twitched and his grin became so wide, he could feel hair fall into his mouth. Even as they walked away, the two turned to watch as the witch created more gifts for her young guests.
"Do you still think this is such a bad idea?" The young prince asked, looking up at his friend to see him with just as wide eyed as he was.
He quickly shook his head and looked down at him. "No. Wonderful idea." His accent was present but not as thick as it had been years ago. Even if he did switch between his native tongue and the language almost everyone spoke. "Very wonderful idea, Hiccup."
Hiccup smiled happily and continued on his way with him, his bag in hand. If his father knew what he was doing and where he was going, he wouldn't be allowed to roam the gardens even anymore. Or at least, for a while.
For as long as he could remember, his father had been afraid of the village that surrounded his stone home. At first, Hiccup thought it was hate; every time he talked about them, his people, he never had something nice to say. The list of reasons to never go past the castle gates was long and continued getting longer every month. His father told him about cannibalism among the common people, thieves, kidnappers, murders, wizards and witches that experimented on unsuspecting passers by. But the more he walked to his destination, the metals shop, the more he saw they were all lies. For his people, at most. He wasn't an idiot, he knew that there was evil in the world and that chances of finding it was good, but it didn't stop him from believing in the good of the world. And at that moment, all he could think about was the good.
The villagers, as well as the entire kingdom knew very well the basics of what happened beyond the castle walls. The king married, had a son, lost his wife, changed through court wizards; the simple things. The details of everything; the name of the son, where the wife had gone to and what had happened to her, the look of all of them was all unknown. And though Hiccup knew this, he still half expected people to stop, gasp, or bow. When they didn't, he felt slightly confused and mostly relieved, smiling as he continued on with his own business.
Walking into the metals shop was about as sudden an arrow hitting your leg. Though he was used to silence, it struck him hard when he walked into the store to only hear ticking from the gods only know where. With his plans sweaty in his hand, he began walking around, searching for the last few pieces he needed for a few of his inventions. He smiled as he pawed through the scraps of molded metal, showing his friend the plans, and discussing how big it must be in the quietest whisper he could muster as not to disturb whoever else was in the store. Once he was finished and his bag was full, he stopped and stared at the counter where a clerk stood, answering questions a newly arrived costumer had asked.
"I walk up and talk to him and then I give him the money, right?" Hiccup whispered, still keeping his eyes trained on the two.
His friend nodded. "Tell him you want things in bag. Nice not mean." He whispered back with a smile.
"Right." The brunet nodded and looked up at him as the costumer walked out. "Thanks, Toothless."
His heart began to beat faster than he thought possible. At home, in the castle, the only time he talked to others is when he was spoken to first. So if there was someone he didn't want to talk to around, he could simply walk away and grab the attention of someone else. But this wasn't the case. Sadly, he had to be the first one to talk and it made his hands sweat more to where, the ink that his plans were written in started to bleed a blackish blue all over the palm of his left hand.
Hiccup took a deep breath and walked up to the counter. Toothless placed a hand on his back to sturdy him almost as he dumped the contents of his bag onto the counter's surface. For a moment, he stuttered as the clerk looked everything over and began adding up the cost of it all. Greetings were slaughtered by his tongue, names turned meaningless in microseconds; it was a murder of words and he could see just how horrible he was doing by the look in the clerk's eyes.
"Somethin' the matter, boy?" He asked, writing down the amount on a greasy slip of paper which he handed to Toothless.
The prince shook his head. "Hi, I-I would like to buy these!" He finally stammered and gestured to everything he had laid out.
"I had figured..." The clerk nodded. "Your buddy has your receipt."
He quickly turned and looked over at the small piece of paper, narrowing his eyes. That couldn't be the right amount. "Umm...sir, these parts should cost much more than what you wrote. Shouldn't they?"
The man scuffed slightly, placing each gear, rod, and scrap piece of metal into the young customer's bag. "Damn rich kids..." He muttered to himself. "No, I have given you the right amount."
Hiccup looked back and forth from the paper to the clerk then back before placing his money on the counter. "It is all there, sir. And a tip for your wonderful service." With that, he shot him a smile and walked out, his bag bouncing off his hip with a clank each step.
"Service not great." Toothless muttered mostly to himself.
"I know." Hiccup muttered back.
For a moment, he thought about starting his way back up to the castle. His father had a meeting with a visiting King that day and it was perfect cover for him to escape his home and roam about the village he had always watched from his bedroom window. The meeting would go on for hours; first starting with simple things like a tour, then negotiating and chatting about lands, trades, and other such formal matters, and ending with the two in the kitchen, chugging mead away with the chef, Gobber, while singing tunes about lovely ladies in far away kingdoms. He had seen it so many times before, if it had not happened, he would fear something had gone wrong in the meeting. So, after a moment of staring up at the sky then down at the ground, figuring out the time by the shadows, he decided to stay out and about a while longer.
The two toured almost every part of the village; the graveyard, the college for both magic use and academic, and lastly, the inn. It was a warm and mostly made of wood. The fireplace crackled and the people talked from whispers to cheers and shouts. The tavern which was held on the first floor of the inn, was lively and just as joyful as it was outside. Bards played in the corner far from where they sat, but it didn't stop it's beauty from reaching their table. As a waitress placed their lunch and mugs of water in front of them, Hiccup smiled happily and looked out the window they had sat next to. It was a true wonder why his father kept so much of this amazing world from him. Everything was amazing in its own way; from the cobblestone streets to the magic dancing in the air to even some of the grumpy clerks and costumers that were at each booth or store. Even if his father was scared of the rest of the world, he could have at least let his son have this much. Hiccup took a sip from his mug and looked back over at where most of the people were, on the other side of the tavern dancing as they listened to the bards sing and play. These were the people he would soon look after and help, the people he would protect. It was so surreal. He sipped his water once more and began eating his sandwich, chuckling when he saw Toothless shoving food into his mouth like a crazed animal.
Time seemed to run by smoothly inside the inn. By the time they were done and everything was paid for, Hiccup looked and saw that at least two hours had passed when it only really felt like half an hour. As they both stood and gathered their bags, getting ready to start the walk back home and possibly right into a good scolding, a woman walked in with the strangest look on her face.
She glanced about as if she were at home searching for something. Her eyes didn't stay on one thing for long but they always returned to that spot just to check once more that it really truly wasn't there. A waitress walked up to her after a while, asking what was wrong and if she was alright.
"I'm looking for my daughter and her friends." She said, starting to worry when there was no sign of them. "They play hide and seek around the whole town. I thought they would have come in here."
"Did you try the docks?" One man asked.
Hiccup stopped with his hand on his bag, watching as they called out places the group of children might have gone to. When she nodded her head and told them she went to each one, worry began to grow, showing on his face. He looked up at Toothless for some kind of comfort only to get the same look reflected back at him.
The room slowly became silent and the only thing that could be heard was the crackling of the fireplace. Everyone stared off into space or tapped their chins as they thought of more places children liked to play in. Slowly, they all looked at each other with a look of dread and turned back to the woman.
"Did you check near the forest entrance?" An elderly man asked.
The woman, who had looked confused when everyone looked so alarmed, began to widen her eyes. "N-no...no I didn't. Oh Gods, you don't think they went in, do you?"
"What's so wrong about the forest?" Hiccup asked, gaining the attention of everyone around. "Is it wolves? Bears? Is that what you are afraid of?"
"You're new around here, aren't ya, boy?" The barkeep asked, leaning on his arms as he stared at him.
The prince nodded. He had been born in this kingdom, this city of a village, and had been raised here. But in all truth, he was new to everything beyond the castle walls. "Yes, sir, I am."
"Then you don't know what horrors there are in those trees." He pointed out the window slightly, hardly moving. "There is a beast far more gruesome than any bear or wolf. A beast of magic that has lived there before our mothers and our mothers' mother and so on."
The waitress nodded with a frown. "His hair is as white as the snow he creates and his eyes as beady as a rat's. With one look, he could kill you. My father saw him while gathering mint at the border of the forest last year. He died before the snow fell."
"A cousin of mine was bringing corn from her farm to the town over." Said a flute player, his frown sagging his face. "She passed through that forest. Her cart was found just outside the forest entrance with most of the corn missing."
Others joined in with their own stories of the beast in the forest but they all ended the same. "The forest brings your death. That beast will rip your heart out. You will be lost forever."
Many stories were told to him during the years. How the village was full of savages to how the rest of the world would kill him for just being him. But never did he even think that other people believed such lies.
Hiccup frowned and sighed, looking up at Toothless who shook his head. The two had been together practically since birth and the tallest of the two knew that look more than he knew the back of his own hand. It was the look of wanting. He wanted to help this soon to be childless mother. And as he shook his head no, the brunet turned to the woman, telling her that he'd go look near the forest. A groan escaped his throat as they left the inn with everyone else in awe.
He rolled his eyes. "Hiccup, bad idea."
"We'll be fine, Toothless. The guards and my father told us stories that were clearly made up about the village. Maybe the villagers are wrong about this story as well."
As they got closer to the forest, the number of people and other creatures thinned. Houses started to spread apart from each other until there were none left. The street they followed slowly turned into a path, made of nothing but beaten dirt. It continued through the forest entrance where a small group of children stood. A little girl, the woman's daughter, stood in front while her friends took to the side, urging her to walk in.
The brunt didn't hear what they were saying, but he could at least hear their voices and see the girl shake her head as her friends tried to usher her in. His foot steps quickened till he was standing right behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder as her friends called her a chicken, a wuss, scaredy cat.
"But I don't want to go in!" She cried, getting closer to Hiccup.
"Such a baby!" Her friends laughed.
Toothless glared at the small group of children and felt his hand twitch as he held back from throwing one of them into the forest. Seeing the twitch, his friend patted his arm and handed him the girl before turning to them with a firm look. "Go back to your families. You are lucky they did not see you torture this poor girl to tears or they would have done the same to you."
Their smiles dropped and their eyes shifted toward the forest. A small wind blew, rustling the bushes that stood off the path and causing the children to whimper, running away. Some screamed slightly and some just panted, looking back to see if the monster in the woods would follow them at all.
Hiccup chuckled slightly, shaking his head. There was no beast in this forest. It was all more thank likely their imagination. He turned to Toothless with a grin, feeling more accomplished than he had been in so long and began his walk back into the village before hearing the bushes rustle once more.
Looking back, he saw what looked to be cotton stuck in the branches of a bush. He walked closer toward it, only stopping when he came close to the first tree at the entrance. The wind blew again, brushing away leafs and twigs, showing more of the pure white cotton that was deeply stuck. But the wind did not stop and slowly, a thin figure stood from the bush, staring at him with bright blue eyes. The figure was a teen, perhaps a bit older than Hiccup was and every bit as pale as his white hair. He frowned at the sight of the two, shaking his head as he stepped out of the bush and tried to shoo them. The brunet just stepped closer, going a bit past the tree he hid next to.
Toothless grabbed his friend's shoulder as he watched. While he was interested in mischief and pranks, Hiccup was interested in the creating and the unknown. He loved to figure out how things ticked while the taller of them loved to slap a good pie into one's face. Now, though, there were no pranks, no smiles or laughs to be had. And frankly, he wished his best friend would do the uncharacteristic thing and walk back home before they found out if the rumors from the villagers were true.
"Who are you?" The young prince asked, ignoring the tugging of his sleeve. "Are you this beast they all speak of."
Snow began to fall softly around the other teen, his face twisting with regret and worry. The wind blew harder and even though it was hard to hear his own thoughts, he heard the 'beast' speak a single word. A warning.
"Leave."
A/N: Fantasy, yo. -ADAM
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