(A/N) krisisk369- You have no idea
Longer chapter this time, going to aim for around 1500 words from now on
Have fun reading J
Chapter 2
Slowly, the village began to dissipate from the water's edge, leaving only Gobber and the Chief staring off into the sunset. Most made their way to the Mead Hall, not knowing what else to do. People were chatting nervously to one another, wondering what their future was going to be like now with the heir gone. If the Chief passed on, the most logical place for the Chieftainship to fall wold be Spitelout. That wouldn't be too bad, but that also meant Snotlout would be Chief one day. Nobody knew if that was a better option than Hiccup, but at least he looked like a Viking.
The anxious chatter would have continued on had not someone shouted out, "We got all this food 'ere set out ta eat! The old nuisance is gone along with his dragon ridin ways! I Think I speak with tha lot of us when I say let's raise a tankard a shout good riddance!" A few uneasy "Aye's" answered the call and soon mead was being poured out to all, and slowly, the party quickly gained traction as people drank more and more mead. Spitlout could even be seen toasting the Lout family's good luck now that the heir to Berk was out of the way.
"Did you see the way Hiccup was riding that dragon?" Tuffnutt asked his class as they all sat at one of the table's in the hall, taking in the festivities going on around them. "It was so cool. I want one."
"Ya, it be so awesome to blow stuff up with one!" his twin Ruffnutt agreed.
"Guys, do you hear what your saying?" Snotlout exclaimed, "Did you see how mad the Chief was? From the sounds of it, Hiccup isn't welcome back. But there is some good news." Snotlout turned to Astrid with a smug grin on his face. "The word's out, I'm going to be Chief someday. Wouldn't you just love to get all this plus be the wife of the Chief some day Astrid?" he suggested as he flexed his muscles. Which only earned him a punch to the face. "Ow" he weakly gasped while lying on his back.
"Your never, going to get this." Astrid spoke while gesturing to herself. "And you'll never even be half the Chief Hiccup would be."
Shocked, everyone turned their attention to Astrid.
"Your defending the twig?" Snotlout asked as he sat back down while rubbing his nose.
"Ya, you never gave him the time of day before." Tuffnutt supplied. "Although I suppose he wouldn't need to ask considering he could just look at the daymarks [1]."
"He could however ask for the time if we had a more accurate time measurement system." Ruffnutt added.
"Your right dear sister! Ok, imagine this… A circle, with a Triangle on top of it! We hold it up to the sun and we tell time by the position of the shadow that the triangle makes!"
"Or…" Ruffnutt continued, "Two levers, moving around a circle at a set pace. One to track long periods of time, and one to track shorter periods of time! Then all we'd need to do is put numbers on the circle and you'd tell the time according to where the levers were!"
"Brilliant!" Tuffnutt shouted, "Let's get Hiccup working on this right- oh." Tuffnutt sighed. "Ya, I guess things are going to be a little boring without him now. No new rogue inventions to cause havoc anymore."
"Ya, bummer." Ruffnutt agreed.
"Ya, ya." Snotlout interrupted, "Hiccup's gone, boo hoo. Good riddance if you ask me. Can we get back to the real question now?" Snotlout asked as he turned to face Astrid, "You honestly think Hiccup could do a better job at being Chief than I could? Have you seen him? He doesn't even look like a Viking!"
Astrid narrowed her eyes, "There's more to being a Chief than looking like a Viking!"
"Ya, like what? What could the people of Berk want more than this as their Chief?"
"Well for one, a Chief has to be smart."
"And brave." Tuffnutt supplied.
"Charismatic." Ruffnutt interjected.
"Loyal." Fishlegs piped up.
"I'm all of those and so much more." Snotlout defended
"Hah! You were the first one yell out in a panic when Gobber let that first Gronkle out." Tuffnutt laughed.
"Ya, and no one has ever accused you of having to much brain power." Ruffnutt continued.
"Not to mention that your Charisma skills are only at 37% of what is needed of a good Chief." Fishlegs offered.
"And the only thing your loyal too is your muscles." Astrid finished.
"Well you don't see Hiccup doing any better."
"Well, he's got smarts, is brave and loyal, all he would really need is to boost his Charisma. A little confidence boost, some lessons from his dad and a reason for the village to follow him would likely fix that." Fishlegs answered.
"I can see where you might get the smart thing from, but where do you get brave and loyal out of him?"
"Well, he did face down a Night Fury and managed to befriend it by himself. You know the creature that's the offspring of lightning and death itself." Astrid offered.
"Plus, he's stayed loyal to the village all these years. The only question is, have his loyalties shifted after recent events?" Fishlegs asked himself in particular.
"Whatever, I'm still going to be Chief. Just you wait, Stoick will announce it. It's my birthright now."
"You might not have a village to chief, Snotlout." This from the burly Fishlegs.
This brought everyone's attention to him and he shrank back a little.
"Go on…" Astrid pressed.
"Well do you remember Hiccup's threat?" he weakly put forth.
"Hah, I could snap that twig with my pinky finger!" Snotlout answered.
"Maybe so but did you see the look in his eye? It looked like he was ready to kill." Fishlegs retorted, "And though he isn't very strong he does ride a Night Fury and though I haven't seen it very much in action, I think it's safe to say that the Night Fury has at least a speed of 20 and a jaw strength of 6. And like I said, his loyalties may have shifted. Astrid, you once told him to figure out which side he's on. I think he's chosen his side. That may just be what brings Berk to it's knees."
The group stared at him.
"Just saying." He said. "And we all know Hiccup is smart. If he can control the dragons than it's not unreasonable to think that the attacks could get more devastating."
"Impossible." Astrid put forth "We all know Hiccup, though he may be gone from Berk, he has never been malicious. He's been patient and kind. And Toothless is-"
"Toothless?" Snotlout asked.
"Uhhh…"
"Wait, wasn't that what Hiccup called the dragon?" Tuffnutt probed.
"Hold on, now not only are you defending Hiccup, but his dragon as well?" Snotlout accused.
"No… yes… maybe? Ok, look. I caught Hiccup and Toothless getting ready to go on a flight yesterday. They took me with them and I got to see another side to them. I saw in Hiccup something that could change this village for the better. Imagine a Berk where there was no war with the dragons… just peace and Vikings and dragons working side by side."
"Wait, so you actually rode a dragon!" Ruffnutt exclaimed.
"What was it like!" Tuffnutt excitedly put forth.
"It was amazing. You felt weightless and free. Berk looked like a child's play thing and all responsibility seemed to disappear."
"As cool as that sounds, have you considered Hiccup's position?" Fishlegs tried to steer the conversation back on track.
"Ya, he's out having awesome adventures on the back of a Night Fury of all things while were stuck here fighting dragons." Tuffnutt put forth. "Hiccup always gets the more exiting things in life. He gets to work in the forge and use it to blow up the village. He get's an amazing scar courtesy of a Nightmare, he gets to ride a Night Fury around the world. We have to rely on stampeding sheep through town to cause chaos."
"No, I mean look at the way we've treated him the last few years. He's been shunned and alone. Every time he tried to help it only caused trouble, which made people mad at him. We've all picked on him and shoved him around. And then there's yesterday… Hiccup was hurt, bleeding and possibly in shock. The village was trying to kill his best and probably only friend. On top of that his father, the chief, not only publicly shammed him, but outright disowned him. Did you see the rage in his eyes after he started laughing, I think he might have snapped."
"Hiccup is stronger than that, isn't he?" Astrid asked nervously? He may be a little angry right now. He might not ever come back to Berk even. But the boy she had seen the night before. He was still there, was he not?
"I don't know, all I know is that Hiccup is visibly mad at the village, possibly insane and probably in control of the worlds most destructive force. We have to consider the possibility that he may be a legitimate threat now."
The group stared at Fishlegs in silence.
Snotlout shuddered, "Maybe we shouldn't think about him for a while."
Fishlegs was in his element in a debate and he was now addressing the group with confidence. "If Hiccup is still out there and survived his injuries, we may have to think about it. If he attacks us, how are we going to stop him?"
o~0~O~0~o
Even with his tail locked up because of the comatose rider on his back, Toothless flew out over the sea. He was as anxious to get away as Hiccup was. He had sensed the resentment the boy had for the Vikings as they left, blowing up the Chief's house was a suitable punishment he supposed… for now. The two of them would be back. He was sure of it. The Vikings would pay for what they did to his rider. What type of people would lock a hatchling up like that with a Monstrous Nightmare of all things?
Toothless flew for about a half hour, making sure Hiccup was still stable on the saddle all the way, before finally spotting a small island down below. It had a few trees and grass, but was small enough that it wouldn't be home to anything but birds. It was perfect for now. He just needed to get on the ground long enough to care for his rider.
Toothless tried waking the boy to no avail. Even a light smack with his ear plate didn't wake him up which worried him some. So, he settled with what control he did have. Very carefully and slowly he maneuvered himself over the island with the half of his tail that was still functional. When he was in position he just folded his wings and fell.
The sensation of falling would have been exhilarating for the dragon, had not keeping Hiccup on his back been a priority. As the wind flew over the two, Hiccup was forced back, the pain erupting in his torn chest snapped the boy back into groggy reality.
Hiccup's panic spurred him on as he instinctively tried to pull the two of them up, but he found he didn't have the energy to do so. So instead, he did his best to control their decent to the island below. His wound, which continued to leak blood, screamed in pain during the whole flight down.
Hiccup grimaced through the pain as they made a rough landing. Instantly, Toothless worked to get Hiccup off his back, pinned him to the ground and ripped his shirt off. Then, he began to lick his rider's wounds profusely. The blood tasted bitter and Toothless wished that he could stop, but he continued on, even as Hiccup wailed in pain and begged for the dragon to stop. He didn't however. Toothless knew that if he did stop, his rider would die. So, he ignored his him and continued to cover the wound in dragon saliva. After a couple minutes of licking, the blood had mixed with the slobber to create a thick coat of pinkish goo that worked to numb the pain, stop the bleeding and encourage the healing process.
Even still, his rider was in agony and would be for sometime. So, when his rider had no energy to get up after his treatment, Toothless couldn't blame him and instead, placed a comforting wing over his rider and attempted to ease him into sleep.
o~0~O~0~o
Hiccup awoke in confusion and darkness. He tried to sit up, but his chest only cried out in pain. That's when he remembered the fight in the kill ring, the slash from the Nightmare's claw and the hasty retreat from Berk.
He tried to at least reach out to the darkness but even that made him cry out in pain. 'Am I dead?' He wondered silently to himself.
The darkness moved and the sun shone in his face, making him squint in pain against the light. "Nope, definitely still alive." Toothless' worried face quickly blocked out the sun however and eased the dull ache in the back of his head somewhat.
"Hey bud." he coughed.
The dragon only whined and gently nudged him into a sitting position. Hiccup had no idea how long he'd been asleep for, but from the stiffness in his bones and how parched his mouth was, he'd bet that it had been quite a while.
He gently touched his chest with his hand. It was crusted over with what he could only guess was dragon spit that had been applied many times. As disgusting as it was, the three marks on his chest were looking much better than he had a right to expect. The skin was still swollen and red. There would be a deep scar there for the rest of his life. But it didn't look like he'd die from it anytime soon.
Looking around, he grabbed at his torn shirt that had been left in the dirt ever since they landed and slowly crawled over to the ocean. Toothless faithfully followed the boy into the water until his rider was up to his neck. His wound started stinging the second the water came into contact with the raw skin and made him grunt in pain. Toothless whined at his rider's obvious discomforts, but Hiccup continued on, using the rags to dab at his wound. The salt water sure didn't feel nice, but he wasn't yet sure how effective Toothless' spit was, so this was at least getting rid of any infection that might have seeped in.
An explosion of water erupted behind Hiccup, scarring the crap out of him. He turned to see Toothless in the water, innocently holding a small creature in his mouth. Usually Toothless' protective nature was annoying but right now Hiccup was glad for it.
It was a two headed blue dragon with spikes that ran down each back before melding into one tail. The dragon had small wings but no arms or feet. There were two fins that stuck out of each neck and shocks of electricity seemed to travel back and forth between each head.
Hiccup did not know what the dragon was, but he was able to figure out why it was here. Blood. He should have figured, he probably smelt like a wounded animal, easy food for anything that might be in the water. But still, it hadn't attacked Hiccup. The dragon could have fried them both had it wanted to before either he or Toothless had known it was there. It was probably just curious.
As quick as he could he went for the beach. The sooner he was out of the water the better off he would be. Toothless followed with the dragon still wriggling around in his mouth, clearly intent on eating his catch.
"Toothless, don't you dare eat that. I promise we'll go fishing later."
Grumbling Toothless placed the dragon back in the water, the two heads giving Hiccup a curious glance as it was lowered in. With a quick shake of it's tail the strange creature was gone.
Hiccup grabbed the remains of his tunic and tore it into strips. He then went to the water's edge to clean the blood off them the best he could.
He looked down at his reflection as he washed the strips. What he saw confused him. He clearly saw a human starring back at him, he recognized it like the back of his hand, even with the ripples and waves disturbing the image. He knew who it was, but all he could do was laugh at the ideas the boys had. Vikings and dragon's living together. That was impossible. Vikings were not willing to change. They were stuck in their ways. They would have to go in order for there to be peace.
Satisfied the strips were clean, he wrapped them tightly across his chest. Not a perfect patch up job but it would keep him alive.
Sitting down next to a tree, Hiccup watched Toothless light a small fire on a pile of sticks the dragon had dragged over. He had seen the boy do it once before to cook a fish, just before a flock of Terrible Terrors flew in. 'Pesky little things.' Toothless thought to himself.
Reasonably convinced he wasn't going to die and with a fire burning strong Hiccup sat back and thought about what to do next. His best friend settled down beside him and got comfortable. He had dragged over a small tree he had ripped out of the ground and started to chew on it. To the resting boy, his friend looked cute while happily gnawing away. Smiling, Hiccup reached out and started to scratch the dragon under his chin. Toothless started to purr contently and lulled his rider back to sleep.
[1] Vikings didn't actually use clocks as we know them today. They had no use for precise time measurement as we do and relied instead on the sun to tell them a rough time instead. However, just relying on the sun's position in the sky and whether or not it was setting or rising wasn't always helpful either, as they were far enough North that the sun didn't always set. This even happens in race to the edge once, although I can't remember what episode it was. So, instead, they tracked the sun's path through the sky and lined it up with eight landmarks on the horizon, or Daymarks, and tracked a rough estimate of what time it was based on which landmark the sun was hovering over.
