Starting over Ch 02 – Monstrous Nightmare
I was going to wait a week before posting the next chapter, but I never expected the idea to be so well received so I got to write right away, your reviews really inspired me. Hope you enjoy!
Recap: Hooligans and the Berserkers are at war, in a final fight between Hiccup and Dagur, the unexpected happens. Our young Viking is favored by the gods and ends far in the past.
Hiccup next opened his eyes to the feeling of his finger triggering "The Mangler", the invention that brought down a Night Fury.
It felt like waking up from a long dream. At first Hiccup couldn't make sense of his surroundings, his body moved on its own, as if controlled by someone else.
Through dazed green eyes Hiccup watched his lanky arms move a familiar machine, trying to pin point something out in the sky.
-That looks awfully like a Night Fury-
Eyes widened in horror, he got his body back under control but it was too late, it had been triggered. In slow motion he saw the bola sling shoot out but in desperation he threw himself at the Mangler, managing to move it at the last-minute with his body, praying and hoping that it would be enough to put the projectile out of course.
Unfortunately, it hit.
"Wha…" He followed the falling black mass with his eyes until it disappear near Raven's point.
"I just shoot a dragon out of the sky" He mumbled and let himself fall on his backside still staring at the dark sky in incomprehension "Again"
"Toothless is going to kill me!" Hiccup rubbed is face harshly and passed a hand through his hair "What the hell was I thinking!"
That made him pause. After getting to know the dragons, he wouldn't just attack them without reason, that wasn't like him. Hiccup stood and really looked around. He didn't even know how he got there. Dread started to pool in his stomach and he quickly walked to the Mangler, this time taking in the details.
"It can't be" he stammered and reached out to touch it "I made this"
Hiccup took in the small hill he stood upon and the nearby sounds of fighting with downing understanding "This is the one I used to shoot down Toothless from the sky..."
Before he could even start to process that information a roar interrupted his thought process. With wide eyes Hiccup turned slowly, this felt familiar and not in a good way.
"Hi?" The Monstrous Nightmare roared and set itself on fire, Hiccup took a shaky step back.
"Hookfang?" He asked with disbelief. As an answer he got another fiery roar, and a mouthful of fire. Hiccup cursed and sidestepped, used to longer limbs, he lost his balance and fell painfully to the ground.
"Wait!" He said raising his arms to show he was unarmed, thanking his luck when the dragon really did stop for a second. But Hiccup quickly realized it was to throw him another blast of fire.
Hiccup rolled to the side and didn't waste time to stand up. He took a deep breath and calmed himself before looking at the dragon in the eyes, trying to project calm. At the change of attitude from the boy, the dragon paused.
"Is okay" Hiccup said softly, the dragon indeed relaxed a bit, the fire going out but it was looking directly at Hiccup's pocket. The teen followed the stare and patted the side of his vest. He immediately realized what the problem was.
"No knife" He whispered throwing said weapon away. He reached out to the dragon with a steady hand, stopping shy of touching it, he let the Nightmare close the remaining distance, which it did after what seemed like an eternity to Hiccup.
"That wasn't so bad" he whispered and rubbed the snout of the dragon, getting content purrs from it "You remind me of another dragon" Snotlout's but both, human and dragon, were dead "Hope you don't mind if I call you Hookfang"
His answer was another purr, Hiccup chuckled.
"Now to figure out what's going on" Hiccup had an idea already, but he needed confirmation "I will see you around Hookfang"
With a final pat Hiccup reached down to pick up the knife, no way he was going to get in there without any defense.
"It is Berk" Hiccup managed to stammer out. And it was the whole thing, not the destroyed one from after the war with Dagur, as if hearing his thoughts a Hideous Zippleback made another house burst in flames.
"Well, most of it" Hiccup said to himself, muffling a laugh.
So into his memories of darker times, Hiccup didn't notice when someone approached and threw him to ground.
"Hmph" Hiccup's air left his lungs and he managed to move whoever it was that fell on him.
"Hiccup?!"
"Gobber?!"
"What're you doing out?!" The blacksmith yelled, using his good hand to put Hiccup on his feet by a hold on the back of his vest "Never mind…go back inside!"
Gobber threatened with his axe, part of Hiccup knew that the older man wouldn't hurt him, but his last memory of the man was of his death, so without his permission his body flinched back. He didn't notice the worried glance that Gobber shot him because Hookfang appeared around the corner. And she was mad.
"You got to be kidding me" he mumbled, groaning when Gobber threw him to the side. In response Hookfang gave a fiery roar and threw herself at Gobber with a vengeance.
"Get out of here Hiccup!"
Hiccup hit his forehead with the palm of his head and let out an exasperated sigh. Instead of arguing he ran down the hill. Hookfang seeing him go just threw Gobber to the side with one of her wings and followed the teen, the pair gathering the attention of Stoik the Vast.
The man sighed and did one last knot before turning to the rest of the Vikings "Do not let them escape!"
Hiccup on the other hand hid himself behind a post, but it was no use, Hookfang found him and immediately rubbed her head against the teen making sure he was alright. She got a startled laugh from the teen for her troubles "I'm okay, no worries" He whispered and then made shooing motions "No go before they find you"
The dragon took a step back but her eyes focused then on the incoming form of a big man. Stoik tackled the dragon away from his son before jumping back. Hookfang breathed her fire, trying to get Stoik but the man took Hiccup and dodged, the flames hit the post instead.
-Yup, this definitely already happened- Hiccup thought.
Numbly he watched his father (who was somehow alive again) bring down the Monstrous Nightmare. Hiccup was too shaken by everything he discovered to do much of anything, and he watched despairingly as Hookfang was taken away, before he could even take a step in her direction the pole finished burning and broke, throwing the disk with flames down the hill. Hiccup was too busy not panicking to pay attention to the gathering of the village around him and the pained grunts that came from bellow. He had just enough mind to notice it had the side effect of freeing most of the dragons. That at least was a good thing.
A painful grip dragged him back from the burning bridge, panicking Hiccup quickly dislodged the offending hand, hitting Stoik in the arm in the process. From the gasps from all around he knew his father wasn't the only one surprised.
Feeling self-conscientious Hiccup fixed his clothes and walked in direction of his home "I can walk on my own" He mumbled.
"Stop! Just stop" Hiccup slowed to a stop and watched his father warily "Hiccup, I don't have time for this"
Hiccup's eyes widened, he knew exactly what his father was going to say after that.
"Every time you step outside, disaster happens. Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter approaches and I have a whole village to feed!"
-Exactly that-
Feeling nostalgic the teen tried to say the exact thing he said the first time around "Just between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding, don't you think?"
"This isn't a joke, Hiccup!" Hiccup flinched back, finally downing on him that this wasn't some kind of dream or delusion and he should take it seriously "Why can't you follow the simplest orders?"
"I refuse to. I'm my own man" He whispered. Stoik paused and raised an eyebrow, his son looked unusually desponded.
"He can't even speak up, the coward" Snotlout whispered to the gang. His father hearing the comment and finding truth in it got angry and glared down at his only son "Speak clearly!"
"Why should I?!" Hiccup snapped "Is not like you care to listen to what I say!"
People started murmuring between each other, Gobber watched his apprentice with worry in his eyes.
"I could tell you that I…that I brought down a Night Fury and you wouldn't give a damn! Probably tag me as mad and send me on my way to be a 'proper' Viking!"
"You will not speak to me like that" Stoik hissed. Hiccup scoffed and walked past his father "Whatever"
The spectators watched Hiccup go, not saying anything when the teens Hiccups age made fun of the teen. Stoik deflated and turned to his people "What are you waiting for?!" he said and gave Hiccup a last look over his shoulder "We have a mess to clean up!"
"Gobber" Stoik called on a lower tone of voice "Make sure he goes home"
"Stoik I think you were a bit too hard on the lad" Gobber said hesitantly, at Stoik dismissing gesture he sighed and followed after the teen. Surprisingly enough Hiccup was walking to his house without any prompting.
"Hiccup!" Gobber called out, hurrying a bit to catch up with the teen who stopped at the call "You alright?"
"Never better" Hiccup said sarcastically, unconsciously hugging himself, feeling awfully lonely all of a sudden.
"You know lad, you need to stop trying to be something you are not"
"Yeah, like being strong" Hiccup commented, mind back on his last memory of Toothless, of his uselessness when his friend needed him the most.
"That's not what I meant!" Gobber blustered "It's not so much what you look like on the outside, it's what's inside of you that he can't stand!"
Hiccup stared at the flustering Gobber and burst out laughing.
"Well lad, you know what I mean" Gobber finally said, scratching his nose "See you around, and don't cause more trouble!"
"Yeah yeah" Hiccup said and watched Gobber hobble back down to help with the repairs. The teen sighed and wished he could fly with Toothless and observe the start of a new day from the sky.
Hiccup opened the door and closed it softly behind him, he leaned on it and watched their house, and it was exactly as he remembered.
"Somehow I ended up in the past" Hiccup gulped and sat down on the floor "Okay Hiccup, don't freak out" He mumbled between deep breaths "After all this is totally normal"
Finally reaching his snapping point, Hiccup took out his knife and in a flash it was buried on the opposite wall. The only sound in the house was that of his heavy breathing. He hit the back of his head on the door "Who I am kidding, this is insane, I wish Toothless was here…"
A pause
"Toothless!" He yelled and sprinted to the back door on his way recovering his knife. He had a dragon to set free.
"There is something wrong with Hiccup" Gobber said when Stoik looked for him after the meeting, he was calmly sipping his drink.
"Yes, everything" Stoik growled out, sitting heavily down next to his best friend "He destroyed the village, again!"
"That's not what I meant, and I'm sure you noticed it too"
Stoik sighed and nodded. There was something completely un-Hiccup about his son "Not much I can do about it, finding the nest has priority"
Gobber grumbled and gulped the last of his drink "I better pack my undies then,"
"No, I need you to train some new recruits" Stoik easily ignored Gobber's incredulous look.
"What about Hiccup?" Gobber asked rubbing his forehead with his good hand.
Stoik paused before coming to a decision and standing up "Train him too, we will make a proper Viking out of him"
Some answers. I'm still not sure about including romance but it could change as the stories go along. About Toothless's memories, we shall see.
The chapter is kinda short but I wanted to post it soon. Thanks for the support!
