The forgotten riders of Berk CH1. Strange happenings.
Hiccup & Toothless were out on a routine patrol of the island. Nothing major had happened in the last few days, but you can never be too careful. As the pair returned to Hiccup's house, Toothless curled up outside instead of going in with Hiccup. "What's wrong buddy, you never want to sleep outside?" Hiccup questioned worried for his friend. Toothless smiled at the boy telling him he was ok.
As Toothless watched the door close the dragon began to think about everything they had been through. The first time they met. When Hiccup brought the fish for the grounded dragon. The first time Toothless had been able to fly in a long time and finally the defeat of the giant dragon that ruled their island giving them their long awaited freedom from the beasts tyrannical rule. All thanks to the boy that the dragon treasured more than anything else.
As Toothless remained focused on the boy who helped rid the world of its biggest threat. The dragon felt a power that had long laid dormant and elusive burst from its prison at the back of the dragon's mind. Clawing at the door to get Hiccup s attention. The dragon soon got its wish as the boy stepped outside, the same worried look plastered on his face. "What's up Toothless? Did you hurt yourself?" Hiccup asked placing a hand on the dragon s nose. The second Hiccup's hand made contact with his friend he felt an electrifying icy tingle surge up his arm. Quickly pulling his left hand away Hiccup examined it for any injuries. Nothing seemed different until he turned his hand over.
On the back of his left hand was an electric blue pattern of what appeared to be lightning strikes that spider webbed up to his wrist. Pulling the sleeve of his shirt up, Hiccup found that it went to his elbow and continued along his upper arm. Lifting up the collar of his tunic Hiccup found that his new "tattoo" ended at his shoulder. "Okay this is definitely going to need to be hidden." Hiccup stammered as he went back inside to retrieve a pair of gloves. "Whatever you did to me is going to have to wait. We have to get to Gobbers shop. He's probably waiting for us." Hiccup said, not expecting an answer from his best friend.
Toothless nodded, a strange feeling settling on her mind. It was almost like the world had become a much larger place, a place so vast that it threatened to drown her until she focused on the boy walking in front of her. This is so strange.' She thought following her rider and friend toward the forge. 'One moment I feel as though i'm floating away from my own body and the next i'm zoned in on my rider and I feel as though we couldn't be closer.' Her thoughts were not her own, though she didn't know it at the time someone else could hear every word and they were in for a big surprise.
'This is so strange.' A distinctly female voice came from nowhere yet sounded as if it were everywhere causing Hiccup to stop and look around. "Who's there?" Hiccup asked looking all around him. He had never heard that voice before and it surprised him. The town was busy but no one was paying any attention to him as he walked along with Toothless beside him. 'One moment I feel as though i'm floating away from my own body and the next i'm zoned in on my rider and I feel as though we couldn't be closer.' Hiccup froze, his mind completely caught off guard at the statement. 'That was weird.' Hiccup shook his head, he was hearing things that was all. This however made Toothless stop and give Hiccup an odd look. 'Can you hear me?' Toothless thought focusing more on the brown haired boy.
Hiccup turned to see that Toothless had stopped a few feet behind him. 'Can you hear me?' The same female voice asked as Toothless narrowed one eye. Hiccup looked around, still seeing no one he turned his eyes to Toothless. 'Toothless, was that you?' Hiccup hesitantly spoke without saying a word.
Toothless was so excited that the now confirmed female dragon pounced on the boy in front of her. This got the villagers attention as they all turned to see what was going on. Even the dragons who usually minded their own business turned to see what was happening. Toothless couldn't help but nuzzle into Hiccups chest happily. She was so excited that she finally had the ability to talk to her best friend instead of only being able to talk to her dragon friends. This new ability, however it came to be theirs, had just made her a very happy dragon.
Hiccup managed to push Toothless off of him after several minutes of ticklish purring from the dragon. "I don't know what's gotten into you but I need to get to work." Hiccup stated with a few laughs as Toothless rubbed against his side and purred happily. Because of the crowd he had to act normal but he was highly nervous now that he could actually speak with Toothless.
Toothless however, had other ideas. 'By the way Hiccup, Why did you call me Toothless?' She asked with a curious expression on her draconic face. Hiccup smiled as he met her eyes. 'Think about it, if you still can't understand why I named you Toothless by the time I finish working at the forge i'll explain.' Hiccup stated as he tried to hide a slight blush. 'I also want to say sorry for all those times I called you a boy.' Hiccup and Toothless remained silent the rest of the way to the forge, or at least as silent as their strange new connection would allow Toothless to be as she thought.
As Hiccup entered the shop Gobber immediately noticed that he looked distracted. "What's got your attention today Hiccup?" Gobber asked as he hammered a bent sword back into shape. "Nothing really, I just saw something really strange while we were out on patrol." Hiccup didn't like to lie. But Gobber would never believe the real story. So for now he would try to keep the smith happy with a made up point of interest. "Oh really, what did you find?" Hiccup grunted as he pushed down the bellows. "I found a cool stone out by the coast."Hiccup dug through his pockets until he found the stone he was referring to. "Here it is. See I told you it was cool. I've never seen anything that looked like that." Hiccup stated handing the stone to Gobber.
Gobber examined the stone that Hiccup handed him. "I've seen this before, it s a sapphire. A decent sized one too. If you wanted to I could make a ring that would hold a small piece of it for Astrid." The blacksmith teased, Hiccup blushed a bright red but lucky for him it was hidden by the glow of the forge. "No thanks Gobber, I have an idea for it already. But thanks for giving me another idea for it." Hiccup replied pocketing the stone.
Hours into Gobber and Hiccup's work, fixing tools and weapons that had been damaged, Astrid walked into the small work space looking for Hiccup. Toothless raised her head from the ground as she heard the familiar clank of the female warriors shoulder armor. As Astrid approached the forge she set some tools down on the counter. "I need these fixed as soon as possible please." She stated with a small smile at Gobber and a stroke of the head to Toothless.
Walking into the back room she found Hiccup there drawing out plans. For what, she couldn't be certain as Hiccup had shut the book upon her entrance. "Hello Astrid, h-how have you been?" Hiccup fumbled his words. "I've been ok. How about you? How's the leg?" Astrid questioned hesitantly. "Oh, I've gotten used to it so it doesn't bother me as much anymore, except on ice." Hiccup said attempting to lighten the mood. "I just wanted to see how you were doing and remind you that we have a meeting at the arena later." Astrid stated kissing Hiccup on the cheek before turning to leave. "I'll be there." He stated before she got too far away.
As the sun reached the mid-day point Gobber turned to Hiccup. "Alright lad, that's all we have today including Astrid's tools. Go ahead and get out of here." He told the boy, handing the tools to him to return. "Oh, by the way Hiccup, try and be careful today." Gobber stated, a cautious expression on his face as he doused the fire. "Something doesn't feel right, I can't put my finger on it. Just be careful alright." Gobber requested walking toward the great hall.
Hiccup rubbed his left arm as he walked away, how was he going to explain that something bad may have already happened and he had the mark to prove it. He didn't even know for sure if it was a bad thing. This mark, whatever it may be, allowed him to talk to his best friend. He couldn't and wouldn't see it as an entirely bad thing.
Arriving at the arena just as the others were coming in for a landing Hiccup smiled. "Hey guys, so anything new to discuss?" He questioned curious if the other riders had been marked by their dragons. He hoped not, it would be too much for the island to handle if something as mysterious as this was discovered, especially since Hiccup had no answers as to what it might be and what strange abilities the mark or marks may give.
Fishlegs hesitantly stepped forward. "Uhm, the dragons have been acting strangely all day. Nothing harmful, but they seem to be looking for someone or something." Fishlegs stated hating being the center of attention, no matter how small the crowd. "They approach one person sniff a bit and then walk away. It wouldn't be so strange if the wild dragons that wanted nothing to do with us weren't the ones that started all this. Our dragons don't seem to be affected for some reason though." Fishlegs huffed frustratedly. He enjoyed learning new things about dragons but this was one thing he couldn't find an answer to.
Hiccup cast a quick, almost unnoticed glance at his arm. Could they be looking for him after what Toothless had done to him? Could this mark have some meaning to them? What would happen when they found him, if it was him they were looking for? These questions and more ran through his head and he absent mindedly rubbed his neck, a nervous habit that Astrid had taken notice of.
Stepping toward Hiccup, Astrid placed a hand on his shoulder. The boy looked as though someone had sentenced him to death as she spoke. "Hiccup, is everything alright?" She questioned worriedly. Astrid had started noticing certain things about Hiccup. His expression when he was happy, his nervous habits, and his expression when he was worried. What she was seeing told her that Hiccup was nervous and worried but she didn't know why. Pulling him away from the others, Astrid made him look her in the eyes. "You can tell me anything Hiccup, what's got you worried?" She asked keeping an eye on the others to make sure they didn't try to eaves drop.
Unknown to Astrid, Hiccup was a bit distracted. All day his thoughts had not been his own and neither had Toothless's. Hiccup's panicked thoughts had snapped the dragons attention to him. She had tried to calm him down and was still talking to him when she saw Astrid pull him away from the others and try to talk to him, her expression one of concern. "Hiccup, I will not let anyone or anything harm you. Answer your friend, she is worried about you." Toothless stated calmly, cooing gently as she curled her tail protectively around her friend, hoping it would put his mind at ease.
Toothless's actions only served to reinforce Astrid's concern, her blue eyes switching between looking at Hiccup and Toothless. "Hiccup, whatever it is you have to tell us so we can help you." Astrid stated staring him in the eyes. Whatever it was she was sure that at least she could help him, the others had a bad habit of making things worse than they had to be.
Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Hiccup slowly removed his glove and rolled up his sleeve revealing the mark that Toothless put on him. He knew Astrid would have questions but he had no answers to give her, so before she could speak he told her all that he could. "I know you have questions about this Astrid but I can't give you any answers. All I know is that this mark somehow came from Toothless." He stated watching as she gently brushed his arm with her finger tips.
Astrid couldn't believe what she was seeing. On Hiccup's left arm was a tangled web of what appeared to be lightning strikes. "Does your arm hurt?" Astrid asked as she pulled her hand away from him. The last thing she wanted was to cause him anymore pain than he might already be in. "Do you think this is what the wild dragons were looking for?" She asked curiously still waiting for an answer to her previous question.
"I think so, and it worries me. If I am who the dragons are looking for, what happens when they find me?" He asked knowing that Astrid wouldn't have an answer either. His fears only grew as Stormfly started sniffing around, slowly making her way toward Hiccup and Astrid.
As the Nadder approached Hiccup, Toothless growled in warning. "Be gentle, he fears the other dragons are looking for him because of the mark I gave him." She informed, Stormfly was the second dragon he had befriended of the teens dragons and Toothless knew that Stormfly and the others would never do anything to hurt any of their riders. She knew most of the dragons would not harm Hiccup simply because he helped Toothless to free them from the queen, but there were some still that couldn't let go of the hate they held for the ones that killed their friends and family. Because of this, she watched every dragon that came close like a hawk. Her rider may have only hurt her, but he made up for it by helping her fly again. The thought that one of these dragons might wish harm on him made her very protective of the boy she called her friend.
Stormfly slowly approached Hiccup exaggerating every move to ensure there were no misunderstandings between her and Hiccup, she also didn't want to get on Toothless' bad side. Examining the boys arm the Nadder seemed to take in every detail of the mark. After thoughrouly examining the mark she sniffed his arm, her eyes widening as she took in the scent of a long forgotten magic. 'This is what we felt earlier today?' Stormfly questioned Toothless mentally. 'How did you manage this, what did you do to awaken such a magic?' She questioned wondering if it would be possible to do the same for her rider, after all it wasn't just Hiccup that fought the red death.
Stormfly remembered the fight all too well. Blasting the queen with her magnesium flame to distract and hopefully harm the massive creature that controlled them through fear and sheer will power. She remembered almost being sucked into the monsters mouth with the girl she now calls friend, how close they came to death before the boy and his Night Fury companion blasted the beast with a plasma blast. She remembered almost losing the girl because of the shockwave from the fireball and in that moment the floodgates opened, drowning her mind in a power that she had never felt before.
With a squawk of surprise Stormfly turned to her rider, a glow in her eyes that the girl had never seen before causing Astrid to worry. "Stormfly are you alright?" She asked raising her right hand to the dragons face. Though once it made contact she wished it hadn't. Pain was the first thing she felt, pain so immense that it forced her into unconsciousness as a slow blackness covered her vision.
End
A/N: First off I want to apologize to those of you whom I had given an earlier time frame for this chapter. Things got REALLY bad at home and I lost interest in everything for a while. I can't say that the next chapter will be out any time soon because I have to literally start from scratch. I hope you all will stick around and have a great day or night, whatever it might be where you are. :)