Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter 1: "Eyes of Fire"
He remembered many things. Most of those memories weren't pleasant, but he sure as all hell remembered them. They haunted him when he was awake and when he was asleep. It was what drove him every day. If those memories didn't hold him down, he would have flown away a long time ago.
They were the weight which kept him on the earth instead of the sky. Every mistake he ever made played a small part of it, but that was nothing in the grand scheme. Everyone made mistakes, and Hiccup had long since gotten over his own tendencies to trip over himself.
Other people never seemed to get over them, though. No, they were the real weight. It was people that he remembered most. Their stares of disappointment burned his soul more than fire ever seemed to do. Even that wasn't what he remembered the most, though. What he remembered the most was that no one had ever listened to him.
It was a small thing in the grand scheme of things. The smallest things were what hurt the most, though. He hated the fact that he had never been heard No matter what he did, no one ever listened, not even when he did what he was supposed to be. Not a Viking. Not a dragon. Not a conqueror. He was none of those things, so they refused to listen.
That was the weight that kept him from soaring away from the fight, from the conflict. It was a stupid desire to be accepted and heard for who he was that filled his very soul with pain. No person had ever truly listened. His people. His father. His mother. His enemy. His words all fell on deaf ears.
So now, it wasn't really peace that he was after. That ship had long since set sail. No, what he really wanted was someone, anyone, to listen and take the burden of his shoulders.
Fierce green eyes peered down at the clouds that drifted below him. To really have his voice be heard. In end, it might just be a fool's dream.
Piercing blue eyes shot up from her book as the boat lurched. The woman in the cabin flinched from the rocking. She was not a fan of sailing, not after what happened to her parents, but it was necessary for her political meetings. It wasn't like she could just fly to other islands and countries after all. She had been keeping an ear out for any sign of trouble from the sailors, but the only thing she heard was the calls of nearby ships.
Standing, the young woman placed her book down and strode through her cabin. Her blue dress flowed around her delicate and feminine frame with each step. Taking a deep breath, she pulled open her door and stepped out into the sunlight. Angry shouts rained down on her ears as she moved across the deck and through the crowd of sailors.
"What is the meaning of this?!" The captain of the woman's vessel, a rough and bearded man with more than a few years of experience at the sea, sounded completely outraged. This was understandable considering the two ships on either side of their own craft keeping them held in place.
"It's very simple, captain," A tall man wearing scaled armor stood before the captain, "We are here to take you and everyone on board captive."
"Take us captive…You fool! Do you not see the symbol on our flag!?" The captain pointed up the large mast above them, "This is a royal ship of Arendelle! Even joking about such a thing is an act of war with us and all of our allies!"
"That's fine," The armored soldier shrugged, "We know of your power, your soldiers. You don't pose a real threat. At least not without the Snow Queen."
"You know of me," Elsa took confident steps forward to the much larger men. They towered over her, but she had more power in her pinky finger than they did in their whole bodies, "Yet you still attack my ship. You must be stupid."
"Your majesty!" The captain yelled, "We can handle this—"
He was silenced when Elsa rose a single hand.
"Oh ho! You sure do have their balls in a vice!" The armored soldier laughed, "Not that I can blame them if even half the stories are true. I mean, creating living soldiers of snow? That sounds terrifying."
"It is, so I would suggest leaving," Elsa nonchalantly flipped her braided blonde hair behind her back, "If you do, I will forgive this stupidity."
The soldier seemed to ignore her warning, "You know what stories I didn't believe, though? The rumors that your beauty matched your power. I have to say. You. Are. Beautiful," He reached out to touch her cheek, "I bet you're untouched too."
Elsa smacked the hand away. Her own hand was ablaze with a blue light. The soldier hissed and backed away clutching his now frost covered hand.
"I warned you," Snow and ice danced around her arms, "Now, you'll pay the price."
"Wait! Wait!" The head soldier raised his uninjured hand, "I get it! We can't beat you! Your powers and your soldiers will slaughter us."
Elsa nodded, "Good to see you have some common sense."
The soldier laughed, "But that's why we brought your weakness," He clenched his raised hand.
Turning gears and moving metal sounded from both sides of Elsa's ship. The enemy ships opened the hatches at the center of their decks. Soon, the shifting metal sounds were met with roars that made even Elsa's heart skip a beat. Lizard beasts rose from the bowls of the ship and flew into the air. Covered in strange armor, the monsters seemed ready for battle as they flapped their scaly, winged arms and breathed fire into the air.
Elsa's eyes widened in a bit of fear, "Dragons."
"Fire breathing dragons to be more precise," The soldier sounded smug behind his helm, "What better way to deal with the Snow Queen?"
Elsa's eyes swept the area. This changed things. She would have to focus her attention on the dragons while the soldiers fought, but she wasn't used to using her powers against fire like that. With two of the beasts, she was bound to be beaten unless she unleased her full power. Doing that would kill her soldiers in the backlash, though…
"Yeah, so look who has the upper hand now?" The soldier walked back up to her. He waved his frost covered hand about to bring back some of the feeling to it, "So here's the new deal. You surrender, and we don't kill you all. Personally, I don't care either way, but my boss wants you alive, Snow Queen. He's fascinated by your powers."
"And if I surrender…You'll let my men live?" Elsa questioned.
"Sure," The soldier shrugged, "We're always looking for new recruits anyway."
"Your Majesty, please!" The captain stepped forward, "Your safety is our top priority! Use your full power and don't worry about us! At least then we can die with honor instead of living in shame!"
Elsa shook her head, "I can't do that. I surrender."
"Good!" The head soldier waved his soldiers over. Two men instantly grabbed Elsa and held her hands behind her back. The rest of the soldiers rushed towards Elsa's escorts and quickly held their blades to Arendellen men, "All according to plan! Remember, your Majesty, if you try anything, they die."
"Plan?" Elsa frowned at his words.
"Of course," The soldier got right in front of her face, "After all, we couldn't just attack you at your home turf. But on the sea, you're as vulnerable as any man."
They knew about the political meetings. To know where and when she would be traveling, they would need… "A spy?"
"Maybe. Maybe not," The scaled soldier reached and cupped her cheek, "It doesn't matter to you now. All that matters now is you belong to our boss."
"And who is that?"
"Drago Bludvist. Trust me when I say that he scares me more than you ever could. So I'm making sure you get there alive," The soldier reached and removed his helmet, "But I know he won't care if you're broken a little…"
Elsa recoiled in disgust. Her men protested in outrage. The enemy soldiers all forced them back. None of that mattered to the leader of the enemy soldiers. Despite the noise from the men, another noise caught his attention. It was small at first, but it quickly grew in volume. The head soldier recognized the sound as the very sky around them seemed to be torn in two.
"Night Fury!"
The next thing everyone knew, the dragon of the port side of the ship was covered in an explosion of purple and blue. As the injured dragon crumpled to the deck of its ship, the other was quickly tackled by a black blur. The blur and the dragon immediately began to wrestle, knocking many of the enemy away.
"Not him again!" The head soldier shouted in anger. His rage and shock was shared by the rest of the enemy. That was good for Elsa and the Arendellen soldiers, though. As the enemy began to panic, they began to fight back. Elsa allowed her escorts to handle themselves and focused on the men holding her hands behind her back.
In a blaze of blue, the soldiers were shoved to the side and covered in solid ice from the neck down. Confident that her ice would hold them, the snow woman turned her attention to the leader of the enemy soldiers. In his panic, he had done a full spin looking for something. When Elsa acted, he immediately turned to her with his sword unsheathed.
He had meant what he said when he said that he was intending to bring her in alive. That much was certain when tried to hit her with the dull side of the blade. It would surely crack several of her bones, but she wouldn't bleed out. Desperately, Elsa tried to bring her hands forward to counter the attack. She would be close. There was a good chance she would get hit first.
"AAH!" The man in front of her crumbled to the ground as another black bur landed on top of him and tackled him to the deck of the ship. A quick glance up would reveal that the blur had been sliding down the sails to get an above attack advantage.
Elsa blinked as she took a look at the blur that had saved her. Based on the build, she would assume it was a man. The figure was covered in black armor that appeared to have a similar design to that of her enemies. Almost every part of his body was covered in sleek black armor, but the scales were different. They shined with a surreal beauty in the sunlight but could blend in perfectly with the night sky. Oddly enough, a dragon's head could be seen painted on his shoulder pads.
A thick belt with pouches and compartments hung from his torso. On top of the man's head was a shining silver helmet with spikes lining the top to divide the helm into two parts. The only gaps in the man's armor were two slitted openings for his eyes. In all, he looked rather intimidating; but he had helped her, so Elsa decided to gain at least a little hope that he wouldn't stab her in the back.
Twirling around, she shouted, "Down!"
The Arenellen men instantly obeyed their queen. Much to the confusion of the enemy, they all literally hit the deck. With her men now at floor level, Elsa swept her arms in an arc. Ice and snow followed her commands. The freezing magic swirled around the enemy soldiers, trapping them in an icy cage just like the men that had been holding her moments earlier.
With the men dealt with Elsa turned her attention to the dragons. The one that had been tackled by the blur seemed to be subdued. This revealed what the blur was, though. It was another dragon. This one didn't have wings as its front limbs. The "Night Fury" stood on four powerful, if somewhat short, legs. Long leathery wings stretched out from its back which also seemed to hold a brown saddle of some kind. Strangely enough, the saddle seemed to connect down the dragon's tail and to an artificial tailfin.
The other dragon that was struck by the Night Fury's breath had recovered. It stood looming once more. Anger filled its eyes as smoke poured through sharp teeth. Elsa readied herself to freeze the dragon where it stood. She never got the chance, though. The stranger jumped up from his spot over the unconscious leader to the deck of the other ship.
He pulled out a metal canister from his belt. The metal canister quickly extended into a blade. Then, much to the shock of Elsa, the blade suddenly burst into flames. The dragon reeled back in shock as well. Its eyes followed the blade almost it was in a trance as the stranger swung around his blade. With the anger gone from the dragon's eyes, the man trustingly held out his free hand to the beast. Elsa was surprised that anyone would trust such a dangerous looking beast like that. What shocked her even more though was when the dragon submissively nudged the man's hand with its snout.
Elsa would have sworn that the dragon was purring in content at being in the man's care.
Based on the whispers behind her, Elsa could tell that her men felt similar surprise. They were shocked by the turn of events. For people whose queen could freeze an entire island with ease, this was quite the accomplishment.
"It's okay, friend," The man's soft words drifted over to Elsa, "I won't let Drago hurt you again."
He wouldn't let someone hurt the dragon? That was a beast rumored to be created in the flames of hell. It could level entire villages with ease. The animal was as dangerous as it could get. Most people would prefer to kill it before ever considering that it was a creature just wanting to be accepted.
White teeth slid out Elsa's mouth to bite down on her soft lips in empathy.
"Hey, bud!" The stranger looked over his shoulder past Elsa and the soldiers to the Night Fury, "How's the other one."
"Wrah!"
"Okay! I'll calm her down in a second!"
Elsa decided that this was the second strangest day of her life. Right after her coronation day.
The strange man then looked to Elsa, "Um…I don't want a fight. I was just…tracking these guys…I'll get out of your hair in a minute…"
"Wait a minute!" The captain stepped forward once again, "I demand a proper explanation! What's going on?! And why the hell does that beast look like it wants its belly scratched!"
It was true. The dragon now lie on its back. It looked up with pleading eyes up to the stranger.
The man instantly gave in and began rubbing the dragon's belly, "That's because you're starved for attention. Aren't you?"
The dragon let out a groan of happiness.
The man looked back over to them, "Look, I just wanted some info out of the unconscious guy right there. You know, the one with an imprint of my boot on his face. I think he looks better like that."
"Info?" The captain looked outraged. He raised his blade and pointed it at the downed man, "He deserves death for daring to threaten our queen like that."
"Grah!" The Night Fury sounded upset as he continued to hold the other dragon down.
"Just let me deal with them first, Toothless!" The stranger jumped back to Elsa's ship.
'Toothless? What a strange name for a dragon,' Elsa thought.
"Come on, I just need like fifteen minutes," The stranger tried to reason, "This guy knows more about Drago's next move than any one but Alvin."
"That isn't much of an explanation—"
Elsa silenced the man with a raised hand.
"The man was sent here for me," Elsa noted, "He mentioned that this Drago wanted me for some reason. Probably for my power."
The stranger looked around at the ice covered men, "I see...Figures that he'd want the Snow Queen. Didn't think you really existed, though. Rumors were a little strange for my tastes."
"Says the man that turned a dragon into a lost puppy," Elsa countered.
Said dragon began whining for the stranger to come back to him.
The stranger shrugged, "Fair enough. I doubt Drago told him more than that…but there's always a chance he knows something else."
"He knows something that interests me," Elsa nodded, "I want to know how he knew where and when I'd be."
"A spy," The stranger noted.
"Indeed."
The stranger sighed, "Well, I recommend fortifying yourself at your castle. If Drago is after you and has some kind of spy, that means he's determined to get you. And that guy doesn't give up."
"I refuse to hide from someone like a coward," Elsa noted, "Who exactly is this Drago and what makes him so terrifying?"
A loud cough caught their attention, "He's the toughest man you'll ever meet," The leader of the enemy soldiers groaned as he awakened from unconsciousness and sat up so he was leaning against the railing of the ship, "His dragon army is unstoppable. No one can stand up to him. Just ask the Drifter."
"Guess I didn't hit him as hard as I thought," The stranger…Drifter mumbled.
"Go ahead and torture me. Go ahead and kill me," The soldier let out a laugh, "Drago would do one hundred times worse to me for failing him! When he realizes this didn't work, you'll be flooded with an army of dragons! Try and hide in your castle, he'll just burn it down. Cause guess what, you're a threat, Snow Queen, and Drago won't stop until you're under his thumb."
"You dare!" The captain strode forward and prepared to stab the downed man, "I have had enough of your words!"
The sword was halted when two different hands grabbed the captain's wrist. Elsa and Drifter met eyes as their fingers brushed. Drifter pulled his hand back like he had been burned, something that Elsa found curious considering her cooler body temperature.
"It…It's not right to kill him like this," Drifter muttered.
"I agree with him," Elsa nodded, "Doing this would make us into monsters. Plus, we can still use him."
Grumbling, the captain agreed. Once released, he turned away and sheathed his sword.
"Same old Drifter. Ha! Dragon Master my ass!" The enemy soldier snorted, "Too afraid to kill or let anyone die. That's the reason Drago spanked you last time. That's why you have those scars—"
He was silenced when Drifter kicked him across the face, "I may be afraid to kill, but I'm not afraid of breaking your jaw, genius."
Elsa gave the stranger a steady gaze.
"This guy isn't going to talk to me. You can have them," The stranger turned to his dragon companion and began walking to help the dragon that had yet to be calmed down, "But please don't kill them. Most of these men are just victims."
Elsa looked around at the different men she had trapped. They all looked terrified. None of them had the evil eyes that their leader had. Some of them were praying to their own gods. Some of them were crying.
Elsa turned to one of the nearby enemy soldiers, "Why do you follow Drago Bludvist?"
The man cowered before the woman who had easily beaten them all, "M-My sister. H-He threatened her. Please, don't kill me. I just wanted her to be safe."
"That's what he does," Drifter noted as he finished calming down the other dragon, "He conquers people and makes them serve him. Most of the time, women don't have to fight…"
"But he'll make an exception for me," Elsa finished the thought.
The stranger's silence only confirmed her thoughts.
Elsa eyed the man as he mounted the dragon known as Toothless, "You know a lot about this Drago."
The stranger paused and let out a sigh, "Yeah, I've been up close with him a few times."
"I have no right to ask you this, but for the good of my people and…" Anna. If Drago attacked, Anna would get hurt, "My family…I find myself in the predicament of having to ask for your help. Please, help me protect my kingdom."
"Look, your Majesty, I'm not good with people. Dragons I can handle, but humans…" Suddenly the stranger sounded tired, "I just…It's always ended badly."
"Yet you argued for the lives of your enemy. Humans," Elsa stated.
The stranger looked away, "Just because I'm not good with them doesn't mean their lives aren't valuable."
Elsa let out a beautiful smile, "I like that answer. Please, Drifter, help me save the lives of the valuable people of Arendelle."
"I…I tried helping people before. They never listened," The stranger noted as he gently patted Toothless's head, "No one ever listened. Not my home. Not my parents. And especially not Drago. If…If you promise to listen, then I'm willing to talk."
"Your Majesty," The captain stepped forward to whisper in her ear, "This might be a mistake. We don't know this man. He could have set this all up to get on your good side. Can you really trust him?"
Elsa remembered how he saved her and her men from the enemy. She recalled how he calmed the angry dragons to the point that they seemed to worship him. The memory of his defending the lives of his enemy burned in her mind.
"No, we can trust him. I know it," Elsa looked to the stranger, "Please, Drifter…Dragon Master, I'm willing to listen."
The Dragon Master stared at her. She couldn't tell what he was thinking as even his green eyes were slightly obscured from her view. For some reason, though, she felt like those words meant the world to the man in front of her.
Slowly, he reached up and removed his helm. A mane of reddish brown flowed down the man's nape. Freckles danced across his face, except on his left cheek where three long scars ran from his jaw to his ear. What really caught Elsa's attention were the man's bright green eyes that seemed to have a hidden fire in them. They held a deep contrast to her element but not in an unappealing way.
"Hiccup," His unmuffled voice danced into Elsa's ears, "My name is Hiccup."
Hey, if you're new to my work, then welcome. If you've read my other work, then I can explain. Since about January, I've been on hiatus to work on my original novel. It's gone well. I just need to get an official editor. Then I can work on publishing. With that done...I had to read anything else other than the same novel I've been working on for three straight months. So, I decided to look back into my archive of stories I thought about doing, and this caught my attention because it's the one unpublished story I started for which I actually outlined the entire story.
The origin of this was that I wanted to try my hand at a straight up romance story. For some reason, Frozen and HTTYD came to mind. Weird, I know. Especially considering the problems I have with Frozen's MASSIVE PLOT HOLES, but it's a very charming movie overall. And I love the HTTYD series. So...Why not just publish this and see where it goes. I do plan for this to be a lot shorter than To Touch The Sky and the Obsession series, both of which I should get back to soon enough.
Big thanks to my Beta jaguarspot who proofread this like...six months ago.
Thank you all for reading and please remember to…
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