I'm back again with a new chapter for this story. I don't have much to say, actually, so just sit back, enjoy and don't forget, critsim is appreciated but flames will be ignored.

Ang again, as a reminder (Like I do in every chapter). English is not my native language so if you see mistakes please point them out to me so that I can correct them.

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Chapter 2 - Taken

His chair fell over followed by the fur, which Hiccup just briefly wondered how it got there, as the boy rushed down the stairs and out of the house. The torches were already lit, casting long shadows in the dark night as the attacking dragons flew over them. The chaos around him didn't bother him as his feet carried him along the worn path to the forge, where he knew Gobber would be waiting with a load of broken weapons that needed to be fixed fast.

Vikings bellowed loudly as their war cries filled the air mixed with the echoes of the dragons' roars. Dragons were shot out of the sky left and right and the Vikings went flying from a particularly hard hit. Their axes, swords, hammers and other weapons were already stained with the blood of the flying reptiles. Blood, of which scent filled the air together with the ashes of burning buildings and the sweat of the Vikings.

Most ignored the small boy running passed them as they fought, but those who noticed sent him glares and ordered him to go back inside. Some even found the time to throw in some nasty comment, which were mostly ignored.

Hiccup was so absorbed in reaching the forge without getting roasted that he didn't notice a stray shot of a passing Gronkle hitting the base of the giant torch next to him. Only when the wood lost its stability with loud cracking sounds the boy noticed the burning log falling towards him.

"Hiccup!"

A body crashed into his own, shoving him away from the danger. Hiccup groand as he got back to his feet and looked at his saviour. Astrid Hofferson stood proudly right in front of him with a glare on her face that could put an angry Monstrous Nightmare to shame. The other teens were fighting the fires in the background.

"Errrm.. Thanks", he started awkwardly. That made the blonde shield maiden only angrier, as the darkening scowl on her face obviously stated.

"Watch where you're going", she snarled. "Don't do anything stupid, don't touch anything. You'll only get in the way. And get back inside!"

With that said, Astrid went back to her group to help putting out all those fires.

Hiccup frowned. The blonde shield maiden seemed really pissed off at him this time. He knew that everyone thought of him as a distraction and useless on the battlefield - Astrid was no exception - but it still hurt to hear her say that to him. An explosion somewhere ripped his focus back into the real world and he took off running again. The sound of metal meeting metal could be heard from the shop, telling him that Gobber was already there, as expected. The old blacksmith and his mentor barely noticed when his small apprentice entered the building. The pile of broken weapons was larger than usual, meaning that the raid probably was not going too well.

The auburn haired boy grabbed his apron wordlessly and went right to work, heating up the blades for Gobber to repair. While Hiccup was working, the encounter with Astrid replayed within the back of his head.

Usually, when the other teens tormented him, she simply sat at the back of the group, sharpening her axe or leaving all together. He remembered when they were still friends. She used to shout at the others when they felt the need to tease him. In fact, a few years ago, the whole group and Hiccup were friends. The teasing was lighthearted and never meant seriously.

They would play together in the woods or simply enjoy each others company. Until one day, they started to drift away. It wasn't very notable in the beginning. But when one by one the teens started to ignore him, Hiccup experienced what it meant to be lonely for the first time. Astrid was the last one to go. None of his peers ever told him why they did what they did, but as the years passed and it became more and more obvious that Hiccup wasn't like the others, he too, started to understand why.

Not that he liked it.

In fact, Hiccup hated that he was different. There were some days he wished he was like Snotloud. Not with the attitude, mind you. Simply the built would suffice. Then, at least, he could lift more than a small dagger. People would at least tolerate him.

"'iccup, man the fort", Gobber called out."I need to go out there."

The blacksmith replaced his hammer with a bludgeon and moved to leave. He stopped at the door and looked back at the small teen standing awkwardly in the shop.

"You stay put. Right. There."

And Gobber was joining the fight with a battle cry of his own before Hiccup could give his answer.

Hiccup huffed out angrily. Again he was left to watch the spectacle. How was he supposed to prove himself if nobody ever gave him the chance to actually do so? He looked to the back of the forge. His newest project, the axe launcher, was still where he left it the night before.

Maybe he could use it.

What better time was there to test it out?

Determination filled Hiccup as he promptly grabbed his launcher and rushed out into the battlefield, almost running a few villagers over - not that he actually could - and through the village. He would show them. He would show everyone that he can be useful. That he could be a Viking.

To be his father's son.

The teen readied his launcher as he saw a few dragons ahead of him, trying to get into the food storage. There a few Nadders and a nightmare. If he could just hit one of them, all his problems would be solved. Well, most of them anyway.

Hiccup aimed at the nightmare as he was the one who did most of the damage and fired.

Sadly, he didn't take the force it took to fire the axe into account and wasn't prepared to be thrown back. He quickly sat up and watched the axe fly and miss by mere centimeters.

"No!"

Hiccup swore loudly as he saw that the launcher lost its aim when the weapon was fired because of the same force that threw him to the ground. Thankfully, nobody noticed him fail once again.

Or so he thought.

A growl brought him out of his self-loathing as he remembered where he was and what he had just done. Hiccup slowly turned to face the now angry looking Monstrous Nightmare he almost decapitated.

"Of course, you noticed...," he muttered dejectedly, before taking off in the opposite direction, screaming loudly and evading the snapping jaws of one pissed off dragon. His panicked mind didn't even notice where he was running until he was far into a very deserted looking part of the village.

It seemed to be the Nightmare's plan to herd him into a certain direction. Every time Hiccup wanted to run towards the sounds of fighting Vikings where he was sure to lose it in the brawl, the dragon would spit fire at him or cut him off. He knew the dragon most likely planned to tire him out so he could devour him without any interferences so he tried his best to outwit the dragon at least for a while and prayed that someone would come to his rescue, no matter how embarrassing it was to be chewed out in front of the village once again.

He yelped as he narrowly dodged another stream of hot and deadly fire. His breath came out in short gasps and Hiccup knew he wouldn't last much longer.

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Above the ongoing battle, close enough to see and smell the individual scents of the Vikings, but far enough to be out of sight, a certain Stormcutter circled the village.

Cloudjumper was on a mission and he wasn't going to leave until he got what he came for. It's been a few years since he last saw the Viking nest and he struggled to remember where the house with the little hatchling was. It was the first place he was going to look after all.

He remembered the little thing well, which also included his smell. Of course, it's been a long time and the hatchling smell might as well have faded over the time, so he just tried to sniff out a scent that was similar to his own human. When he found it, the Stormcutter followed it to the biggest human cave only to find the whole construction empty. The hatchling must have gone somewhere safe. Hatchlings were, while a nest was attacked, brought to a safer place by their mothers.

He didn't see any reason of why it would be different with humans.

Not finding what he searched for, Cloudjumper moved to follow the scent when a sharp metal object ebbed itself into the ground right in front of him. He turned and hissed at his assailant. The big Viking stood there, breathing heavily and staring at him with so much hate in his eyes. Another of those shiny things was already in his hand and brandished at him.

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Stoick was in the middle of fighting off a Nadder when he saw it. The devil that stole his wife away so many years ago circled almost lazily above the village. At first, he froze at the sight of it. Memories of that terrible night replaying in his head again and again.

He didn't even notice the Nadder escaping with its catch. All of his attention was directed on that four-winged beast.

Then, anger filled him. How dare that devil show its ugly and scaled hide again.

'Finally,' he thought. This time, Stoick wouldn't let that thing escape. This was his chance to take revenge for his beloved Valka. He could still see the terrified expression on her face as she was carried off. It was like a nightmare. Never letting go. Always coming back.

It was too far away for him to get a clear shot at it so the Chief watched it like a hawk. It seemed to be looking for something. Its head rotated right and left and it dipped down now and then only to pull up again and do everything over again.

Stoick was never known for having patience and started to consider to just fire at it with one of the remaining catapults when the creature finally descended. He followed the path up to his house, grabbing an axe one of the warriors most likely lost in the heat of the battle on the way. The dragon's behavior confused Stoick just as much as it had thirteen years ago. It just sniffed around his house and did nothing to destroy the building. He quickly shoved the feeling away and as soon as he came into range, he threw the axe he collected.

It missed, but it did its job. The dragon's attention was drawn to him. Recognition flickered in the slitted pupils that were surrounded by a sickening yellow and Stoick knew it remembered him.

The Stormcutter hissed and growled at him but Stoick wasn't intimidated.

"You remember me, don't you? You made a mistake by coming back here, devil! You will pay for what you have done!"

With his vision and mind clouded by rage, the Chief let out a mighty cry and charged at the creature with his hammer raised above his head. The Stormcutter dodged and was about to take off again. Stoick ripped out the axe ebbed into the side of his house and threw it in the dragon's path, resulting in it losing its momentum and forcing it to land once again.

The Stormcutter turned back towards him and shot a stream of hot fire, which Stoick dodged. The fire, though, hit his hut and within seconds the flames threatened to swallow the whole building.

The attack, while doing nothing to him, gave the dragon enough time to jump into the air and fly out of range with just a few mighty wing beats. Stoick shouted in frustration and gave chase, determined to not let it get away a second time.

As the flames ate away at his hut behind him, the Chief thanked the gods that his son wasn't in there anymore. He had seen him running in the general direction of the forge not long ago. Hopefully he would stay there this time and not cause any trouble. He continued the pursue when realization hit him like a hammer.

His son.

The devil was just sniffing around the house and had not attacked anything or anyone.

The devil was just sniffing around the house where his son had been not too long ago.

Fear started to grow within him. The same fear that filled him when he saw his wife standing directly in front of it with a sword hanging limply in her hands, most likely drawing its attention away from their little babe who had been lying defenselessly in his crib. Had the beast come back to finish the job? Was it after Hiccup?

His parental instincts took over as he momentarily forgot about his revenge, and raced over to the forge, hoping to find his little boy there.

"Gobber, have you seen-," an empty room greeted him and Hiccup's apron lay discarded on his workbench by the wall. Stoick looked around frantically and tried to find that small mop of auburn hair between the many fighting Vikings.

He was about to run into the fray to find the boy, when a horrifyingly familiar scream pierced the air and the father's panic skyrocketed as, when he turned his head, he saw the Stormcutter descending at the edge of the village, where the scream originated from.

"Hiccup," he gasped and took off to rescue his son. He wouldn't let that devil take what he had left of his family.

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'This is it,' Hiccup thought as he gazed up at the dragon in fear.

This was his end.

His father always believed he would meet his end through a dragon. Hiccup just never thought his end would come so quickly. The Monstrous Nightmare finally managed to corner the boy. Hiccup was covered in sweat and his legs burned from running too much. It felt like his breath was stolen from him as he panted heavily and tried to suck in as much air as possible.

The dragon looked smug about the pathetic little human shivering in fear on the ground in front of him and Hiccup knew that it was savoring this moment.

'Why, oh why didn't I stay at the forge and listened to Gobber?,' the teen thought desperately.

All of this could have been avoided, but nooooo, he just had to screw things up again.

Hiccup couldn't retreat any further as his back was already pressed against the wall behind him. He yelped when the dragon snapped at his feet. It was playing with him!

The dragon repeated the action a few times, snapping at the frightened boy or spitting a tiny flame at him. It seemed to amuse the reptile and actually gave Hiccup a hope that maybe someone heard his screams. Maybe, if he could occupy the dragon long enough, he could be rescued. Or the beast would grow bored and simply leave him alone.

That hope dissolved rather quickly, though.

The Nightmare seemed to be bored already and reared his head back, the flammable gas building in the back of its throat. Hiccup knew what would come next. But all he could do was to throw his arms protectively over his head and close his eyes tightly as he prayed to every god he knew. But he kind of accepted his early death and only regretted not being able to say goodbye to Gobber. Not that it helped making his situation less terrifying.

A roar pierced through the air around him, followed by the sound of a dull impact. Hiccup peeked from under his arms and gasped in shock as he saw the dragon crouching on the ground a few feet away and a big, four-winged dragon - one which he had never seen before - standing protectively over his small form.

Both hissed and spit at each other, occasionally clawing and biting if the Monstrous Nightmare came too close.

'Did that dragon just save me?!,' he asked himself. Hiccup stared at the reptile in front of him with confusion and somewhat awe. The dragon was intimidating, but it had a certain air around him. Just for a second, Hiccup felt completely at ease. It was like a mother protecting her child. Comforting and warming.

Then, the beast turned its attention to him; the Nightmare having retreated; and all feelings of safety disappeared, leaving only confusion and fear behind.

He trembled slightly and pressed further back into the wood as the dragon came closer. It crooned in what was supposed to be a comforting way but Hiccup's panicked mind couldn't comprehend anything right now. So ducked his head back under his arms and braced himself.

He felt the dragon's warm breath on his neck and yelped as he was nudged softly. Only as the seconds passed and still nothing happened Hiccup dared to peek out again. The reptile was looking at him with dilated pupils. The intimidating and wild look was replaced with something akin to curiosity and Hiccup felt his fear fade. Just a tiny bit.

Why wasn't it doing anything. This creature in front of him was supposed to be a bloodthirsty killer. Gobber always said that a dragon always goes for the kill so why didn't this one?

So many questions ran through the poor boys' mind, confusing him even more. He didn't even notice the heavy footsteps of someone running until a fierce battle cry rang out.

Both, Hiccup's and the dragon's head snapped up as Stoick ran at the beast.

"Hiccup! RUN!," his father bellowed.

With the dragon successfully distracted, and the teen pulled out of his frozen state, he ducked under its wings and ran back towards the forge while his father battled the Stormcutter behind him.

Cloudjumper growled, annoyed and relieved at the same time. Annoyed of the hatchling's sire, who kept interfering and relieved that he found said hatchling before the fireskin could harm him. Like suspected, his rider's offspring had grown since he last saw him. His scent changed which made it harder to find him.

The hairy human swung at him again. Cloudjumper dodged and lashed out at him.

"Just stay still you devil!," Stoick raged and moved to attack again. He was unprepared, however, when the Stormcutter lashed out with his tail, sending the Chief through the already weakened wall of a nearby building, stunning him in the process. The fire licked at his skin, leaving burns that would scar for sure.

Stoick scrambled out of the burning house just in time to see the Stormcutter taking flight again, following Hiccup.

"Oh no you don't," he growled and gave chase.

Hiccup, meanwhile, was running like Fenrir himself was after him. Everything was just confusing right now. What was going on today? Nothing made sense anymore. First, he was chased by an angry Monstrous Nightmare, then saved by a four-winged dragon and then his father came, staring at the dragon with a rage unlike anything he had ever seen on his face and even now he could hear the wing beats of the strange dragon closing in on him.

He still had a chance, though. He could still make it to the forge before the dragon reached him. But his lungs still felt ready to explode and his legs burned from the chase he endured earlier. The villagers were, as usual, too caught up in their own fights to notice him and Hiccup could see the first beasts leaving. The raid would soon be over. He just had to hold on and dodge until then.

The wing beats were getting louder.

His father's calls were desperate.

The forge was just ahead.

A weight came crashing down on him, tripping him.

Claws wrapped around his arms and he felt his feet leave the ground. Hiccup screamed as the dragon carried him higher and higher.

"NO! HICCUP!"

The teen locked frightened eyes with his father's equally terrified ones.

"DAD!"

"Hiccup..."

The dragon did not heed the calls of the Chief, nor did he acknowlege the now sobbing boy dangling in his grasp as he took the last remaining family of Stoick the Vast away from his home. The man stood at the edge of the village, watching helplessly as his son, his awkward, clumsy and absolutely wonderful child, was ripped away from him shouting for him again and again. So much like his beloved wife all those years ago.

Tears found themselves running down his face and into his beard as he mourned.

Hours later the villagers would find their leader still standing on the same spot, staring at the sky where their heir disappeared. The atmosphere was dejected. Even if nobody really liked the boy, seeing their Chief like this broke their hearts.

Gobber was the first and only to approach. He laid a comforting hand on his old friend's shoulder. No words were said. There was no need to.

Grief and agony filled both their hearts. But as the time passed, it changed to something else.

'I will avenge you, son,' the Chief thought as anger and hate directed itself to all dragonkind. They would pay for taking away his family and he would hunt down every single one of those devils. Starting with that owl-faced Stormcutter.

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Aaaand... CUT!

This is it for now and I hope to upload the next chapter soon.

Next Chapter:

Hiccup meets someone who he thought was long dead. (As if we don't know who it is already...)

I hope you enjoyed and don't forget to review on your way out. See you next time!

Omeiku signing out!