a/n Hullo! I watched HTTYD 2 some days ago, and since then the HTTYD page of fanfictions has practically become my home-away-from-home. You people are absolute geniuses! ;)
Anyway, I thought I'd try my own hand at it, so voilà!
PS: I have never read the books and I can't remember everything from the TV series, so if I make some ridiculous mistake, then please don't slap me with a smoked eel.
Chapter 1:
Astrid could tell that Toothless missed Hiccup.
They weren't obvious signs, he wasn't trying to hurt her feelings after all; but she could see them in subtle ways. A grain less enthusiasm, a tug of reluctance to fly farther out to fill the maps…
Astrid respected that. She knew how close Hiccup and Toothless were, and replacing the partner… well, seeing how she herself was with Stormfly, she knew it wasn't the same.
She pats Toothless. "We better get back. You seem sort of tired." She says gently.
Toothless bobs his head in understanding, and makes a smooth U-turn.
Like most rides, Astrid expected a boring, uneventful ride home. She was disappointed.
Just as the sun was dropping below the horizon, Toothless suddenly rumbles with agitation and makes a sharp lift, flying above the clouds.
"Toothless?" Astrid asks, mystified. "What's wrong?"
The Nightfury does not answer. He begins throwing his head side to side, eyes closed, as though trying to shake off a headache.
Astrid's eyes gasps. This is what happened when the Bewilderbeast was taking control of Toothless the first time! She thought.
"Three of these guys in one year?" Astrid mutters, "You've got to be kidding me." She bonks Toothless on the forehead. "Toothless, down. We have to get you to Hiccup."
The dragon shakes his head.
"Toothless… down."
"Sorry," A voice states apologetically, "But I can't allow that."
Astrid swivels around, making a grab for her knife. But the stranger was faster.
"Grab her."
Before she knew it, thick, scaly claws had grabbed her hands, pulled them behind her, and had her wrists in an iron-like vise. The creature, a dragon presumably, pulls her off of Toothless' saddle and she cries out as pain explodes in her twisted shoulders.
"Silence." the same voice commands.
Astrid looks up quickly, trying to ignore the black dots now floating in her eyes. A strange woman with gold hair braided with glimmering beads stands before her on a pure white Deadly Nadder, a brown, woolen cloak wrapped around her shoulders. Her face holds empty emotion as she holds out a crooked shepherd's staff…
Drowsiness begins to tug at Astrid's mind, and although the pain in her body would not fade, darkness began to close in around her.
At the last moment, the clouds open up beneath her, and she catches sight of Berk, just below.
Summoning the last piece of energy in her dying consciousness, she opens her mouth, and screams.
"HICCU-U-U-UP!"
The chief of Berk almost lost his right hand.
Thank the gods, Hiccup thought with a sigh as he retracted his burnt hand from the bucket of ice cold water. Otherwise I might've become a limb reversal of Gobber.
As he wrapped the injury with some bandages, he sees Eret coming by with Skullcrusher at his side. In another time, Hiccup would probably have whipped out his flaming sword Inferno if he saw Eret. However, the former dragon trapper had turned over a new leaf. Sure, he still wore his woolen clothes and a knife behind his back, but now, he was one of the best disciplinarians at the Dragon Academy. Well… a quote in quote, 'disciplinarian.'
"Morning, chief!" he greets, leaning against the doorway.
"Hey, Eret." Hiccup says absentmindedly, wondering whether or not Astrid's voice had been his imagination or something.
Eret gives him a look. "You alright? Sound a bit distracted."
"Hm?" Hiccup looks at him. "Oh, yeah, I guess I'm just… worried about Toothless."
"Just worried. Uh-huh." Eret says, unconvinced. His eyes wander to Hiccup's riding outfit that was currently hanging on the wall. "Well, it seems you don't plan on riding any time soon."
Hiccup glances at it. It was true he wouldn't be able to take the last lap around the island tonight with Toothless. In fact, he hadn't ridden with Toothless for fun in a while. It always made him feel weird, leaving Toothless everyday with Astrid, and going about the day with a regular wool shirt and leather pants. His upper body felt a bit empty without the armor. "Just a few flaws I wanted to fix up." He lied.
"Mm." Eret says. He straightens up and pats Skullcrusher's head as he turns around to leave. "Ah, well. I just wanted to tell you that I heard Astrid calling for you. She sounded kind of mad."
Hiccup stiffens. "Uh… yeah, about that. Eret, would you do me a favor and check on her for me?"
Eret turns his head and raises an eyebrow. "Why don't you? She's your girlfriend. And she's the one calling for you."
Hiccup gestures to the partially heated slab of metal on the anvil. "I would, but Gobber's out right now, and if I don't finish this project for one of the villagers, then… well…"
Eret sighs. "Fine, I'll find her and bring her here."
"Thanks, Eret." Hiccup smiles.
The former dragon trapper nods, and once in a clearing, jumps onto his dragon. "Come on, Skullcrusher. Better go find Astrid."
Skullcrusher moans.
"Yeah, yeah," Eret assures. "We'll stop by the beach for fish later."
As the two fly into the slowly darkening sky, Hiccup watches, and is hit with a sense of longing and wistfulness.
When Hiccup first became chief, he had promised to maintain at least the lap around the island at sunset with Toothless every night. But it was a weak wish. How long has it been since he and Toothless have gone out and explored the lands beyond the map together? Or how long has it been since they just went out for fish? The only times they ever rode together these days were when Hiccup needed Toothless—or any dragon, honestly—for chiefing.
Hiccup shakes his head, and returns to the furnace. He would have to figure it out another day.
But of course, that's exactly what he had thought to himself yesterday.
There was fire everywhere. The inky night sky was now stained with huge, roaring flames. Black smoke poured into the air, making it hard to differentiate smoke from cloud.
Toothless shakes his head. The back of his head throbbed and his vision was fuzzy.
A pure black dragon creeps toward him. But he feels at peace. Excited, actually. It was his mother. She towers over him, and says, 'Open up now.'
He grins, and gets a mouthful of regurgitated fish. It tasted good. 'Thank you, mama."
Painful sensations of burning that a dragon shouldn't be able to feel crawls on his skin.
"Mama! Papa!" he wails, running between the burning buildings. "Where are you?!"
He screams as a door suddenly bursts to bits, flames white hot, licking the ground at his feet.
No… No… The Nightmare lumbers towards him. Toothless attempts to dodge the clawing from Nightmare, but ends up with the stinging of messy cuts on the side of his neck.
"Alright, remember what I've taught you, my boy." His father says, lifting his long, majestic wings. He always looked so heroic when he did that, especially on the edge of the cliff as he was now. The Nightfury youngster absolutely adored him. "Ready?"
The little Nightfury nods eagerly, rearing up with a determined expression.
"Alright then… Go!"
The child jumps, and quickly flaps his wings. He shoots upward, then with a quick flip of the tail wing, curves to the left. He laughs with joy, and flaps once more. Wind is whistling past his face, the sky so blue above him. He just felt so… so…
Agony washes over Toothless' mind. His vision goes red, as though another force were trying to punch his sanity right through his skull. Toothless weakly tries to kick off the larger dragon and crawl away, but to no avail. With a guttural laugh, the Nightmare mercilessly tears a claw across the Nightfury's backside.
Trapped. He was trapped. The trembling boy had fallen on his bum in fear, his weapon long lost to the monstrous creature of heat. He shuffles backwards, his mind too paralyzed to do anything more.
Chuckles emit from the glaring beast. A vague figure begins to walk through the flames.
"Papa…?" he breathes. Trembling, he stands. "Papa! Papa, I'm here!"
Suddenly, a hand clamps around his mouth, and throws him out of range. A shadow stands over him, separating him from the wall of danger. For a single moment, he believed it was his father, coming to his rescue, and grins wildly. "Papa! Papa, you're—"
"Run, boy!" a raspy voice commands. The boy's heart grows tight as he looks up. It wasn't his father. It was his beloved mentor, Professor Carver . The frail, ill-stricken man's chest was bobbing up and down just to keep upright, yet he stood between a demon and its victim. "Go!" he insists.
No. He didn't want to remember. He didn't want to remember this.
Free. He had felt so free. But in the end unfortunately, the tiny Nightfury ended up crash-landing. His father had a good-natured laugh about it. "Looks like we'll need to work on your landing, yes?"
He nods vigorously, and a sharp pain hits the bruise on the ear. His mother growls warningly. "Don't move so much, son. You'll hurt yourself more."
The child mutters a complaint, but lies down. Mother nods her approval, and then leaves the cave. "I'll be back with lunch."
"No hidden eel guts in the fish this time!" Father calls after her.
"I know, no eel guts!" Mother giggles as she flew away to the ocean.
Father chuckles, and then puts an arm around his son's shoulder. "A-a-a-ah… you did wonderful flying today, son. You should have seen yourself! Fancy spins, high speed, and excellent turns! You did it all, my boy. And at such a young age, as well!"
The youngster blushes. "Father, don't. You're just saying that."
Father looked a bit offended. "I'm not! You're a prodigy flier, son. I felt it from the day you hatched, and I've seen the proof today." He stares lovingly at his son. "I'm going to teach you everything I know, my boy."
Don't bring this back.
"Take the book, boy!" Carver cries, throwing the worn, leather-bound book at his apprentice's feet. "Go! Escape! There is a boat in the moor!"
The boy did not hesitate. Snatching up the old journal and stuffing it in his coat pocket, he turns around, and makes it down 15 feet before he stopped, and turned around. Tears dripped down his face, mixing with the ash on his cheeks. "Sir… Carver, I can't… I can't leave you."
The teacher looks back sympathetically.
Stop. Please…
"And after my days are done, you shall inherit my gift…" Father says softly, nuzzling his son's nose, "You will be the greatest Protector that dragons have ever seen."
"As if, father…" the son scoffs, "I will never be able to become someone greater than you."
Father smiled at him. "Yes, you will. And I absolutely know…"
"…that you will make me proud." Carver whispers. "Now run! RUN!"
"Stop," Toothless whimpers, covering his head with his trembling paws. "Stop. I don't want to remember."
The girl, face cloaked in the shadows of night gestures to the Nightmare, who backs away. She then kneels before him, her eyes stone cold. Her lips curl into a smile, but it was unlike any smile he had ever seen on a human. It was beastly, vengeful. And so filled with hate, lava could've spilled out.
"That's too bad." The human female drawls, "Because I want you to remember."
She holds out her palm again, glowing that horrendous scarlet...
"Toothless!"
Everything goes black.
a/n I hope you enjoyed! REVIEWS ARE APPRECIATED!