howtotrainyourdragonlover here with the next chapter of The Aftermath. I apologize for the wait but I'm afraid this is how it is going to be for a bit, an update every weekend (no thanks to school). However, if I get a break from schoolwork I will update sooner. A big thanks to those who reviewed, favorited, and/or followed. You guys are awesome! I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or any of its characters.
70 years later
He could hear them beginning to land. At first the sound of their wings was very soft, but then it grew louder as he assumed more of the creatures began to descend from the skies. He wondered why the lookout for the morning hadn't sounded the alarm but then he heard it.
"DRAGON ATTACK!"
The cry was followed by a gunshot that rang clear through the air before all hell broke loose.
Hiccup sprang from his bed just as he heard his father rushing downstairs and the door slam behind him. He flung his legs over the side of the bed before sliding his feet into his boots and began to fumble with the laces. He muttered under his breath as he couldn't seem to lace his boots fast enough before finally grabbing his coat and rushing out of his bedroom to the staircase. Reaching the front door he flung it open only to be greeted by an unpleasant surprise.
A Monstrous Nightmare, hearing the door open, locked its gleaming yellow eyes onto Hiccup's before it snarled and opened its jaws, a bright orange and yellow light beginning to glow at the back of its mouth.
"Ah!" Hiccup screamed, slamming the door just as the dragon unleashed its fury through fire. He could feel the warmth of the blaze behind the door as his breaths came out in terrified gasps. With a deep breath, he managed to calm himself before thinking, Just another day in Berk.
"Fire!"
A screech sounded from outside as Hiccup presumed the dragon had been shot. Then, there was a furious roar and a scream. Hiccup ran to the living room and dared to look out the window above the sofa. He pulled back the curtain to find the beast beginning to chase after the three men who had shot at his hide. Realizing he could now escape, he once again ran to the door, flung it open, but this time managed to run outside. The front of his house was in flames as were others in the neighborhood as more dragons began to descend and burn the homes to the ground. Hiccup continued sprinting down the street as people shouted at him.
"What are you doing?!"
"Get back inside!"
Hiccup continued running though until he finally reached the center of town where the chaos only became worse. He ran as a dragon breathed a wave of fire, setting what was left of any foliage in the area ablaze and took out the sign which read 'Welcome to Berk! Population 56'. The '56' had been scrawled on the sign as numerous other numbers had been scribbled out, including the original '213'. As he watched, he felt something grab the back of his jacket and swiftly hoist him off the ground.
"What is he doing out again?!"
Hiccup stopped struggling to be released when he heard the question and turned to see his father looking into the turmoil of people running and shouting as if waiting for an answer. Steven Haddock, more commonly known as Stoick which was the well-deserved nickname he had been given when he was general of the army, turned to face Hiccup and asked, "What are you doing out?!" before dropping Hiccup to ground and yelling, "Get inside!"
Hiccup quickly took off not daring to look back as he had his eyes set on his destination.
Gobber's Army Surplus the sign above the store read as Hiccup bolted through the front doors only to be greeted by a mass of people yelling for ammo and weapon repairs. He managed to squeeze past the mob before finally making it to the counter and jumping over to the other side.
"Oh, how nice of you to join the party," Gobber told him as he worked on someone's gun. "I thought you'd been carried off!" No one was really certain what Gobber's real name was. Many had asked, but the man refused to disclose any information on his name. So, the townspeople simply called him by what he wished to be called by, Gobber.
"What who me?" Hiccup asked as he swiftly put on his work apron. "I'm way too muscular for their taste." Then, flexing a nonexistent muscle he declared, "They wouldn't know what to do with all this!"
"Well, they need toothpicks don't they?"
Hiccup rolled his eyes before someone slammed a quiver full of arrows needing to be sharpened in front of him. Before he could take the broadheads to his work station though, a dragon blasted the shop right across the street.
"Fire!" someone yelled before the fire brigade rushed in with their buckets of water ready to douse the flames.
Hiccup watched as Scott 'Snotlout' Jorgenson, Finn 'Fishlegs' Ingerman. Rhonda 'Ruffnut' Thorston, and Tristan 'Tuffnut' Thorston each took their buckets of water and threw its contents on the flames. Then, came Astrid Hofferson. Hiccup watched, mesmerized, as she doused the flames right before a dragon flew down and blasted the shop yet again.
Astrid, he thought dreamily as he gazed at the girl, fire raging behind her but she didn't bat an eye. Oh, their job is so much cooler. Hiccup felt someone lightly whack him over the head. He turned to find Gobber.
"Oh come on. Let me out, please!" Hiccup begged "I need to make my mark!"
"Oh you've made plenty of marks, all in the wrong places!" Gobber replied, jabbing an accusing finger with his prosthetic hand at Hiccup's chest.
"Please, two minutes, I'll kill a dragon, my life will get infinitely better, I might even get a date!"
"You can't lift a crossbow, you can't shoot an arrow, and you can't even aim!"
"Ok, but this will help me" Hiccup said as he gestured to his strange contraption near the shelves behind him. He gave it a gentle pat before it shot two arrows into the waiting crowd. Fortunately, everyone managed to dodge the accidental attack but Hiccup was not saved from their glares, and Gobber's scolding, after the fact.
"Now this right here is what I'm talking about!"
"A minor calibration issue…"
"Hiccup! If you ever want to get out there to fight dragons, you need to stop all this."
"But you just pointed to all of me!"
"Yes, that's it! Stop being all of you!"
Hiccup glared at his mentor, who glared back in return, before replying, "You sir are playing a dangerous game, keeping this much raw power contained. There will be consequences!"
"I'll take my chances. Now, finish sharpening those arrows!"
Hiccup went back to his workstation to sharpen the arrows but found himself wondering which dragon he should aim to kill. A Nadder? Maybe, at least it would get me noticed. Gronkle? Eh, it would get me a girlfriend. Hideous Zippleback? I'd kill two birds with one stone and get twice the status. Monstrous Nightmare? Only the best go after those. That is when the perfect dragon came to mind. Night Fury.
At that very moment, a screech ripped through the morning air and a blast of blue fire took out the town's water tower and whatever little water remained inside gushed out.
The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself Hiccup thought as he gazed at the water tower where he had just spotted his prize. Hiccup then turned to find Gobber grabbing a loaded gun before he told Hiccup, "Man the fort Hiccup, they need me out there. Stay…put…there. You know what I mean."
Hiccup blinked in response before the man let out a fierce battle cry and rushed out onto the battlefield through the backdoor of the shop.
As soon as Gobber left, Hiccup saw his chance and rolled his contraption out the back door as he heard the waiting customers yelling at him to come back.
"Yeah, I know! Be right back!" he lied as he continued rolling the device out the door and onto the street.
Hiccup didn't stop running until he had reached the highest point in town. It was a mere hill in what used to be Berk's park until the dragons had burnt all the trees, shrubbery, and playground leaving nothing but a pitiful, deserted sight. He set up his invention before scanning the skies for anything he could hit.
"Come on, give me something to shoot at" he muttered to himself, desperately hoping for any type of dragon to cross his path. Then, there was a familiar screech and as Hiccup prepared to fire, a blue blast illuminated the figure of a Night Fury. Hiccup looked through the scope on his device and fired the two arrows before he heard a shriek pierce through the air as he saw the silhouette of the dragon plummet into the abandoned city that lay to the east of Berk. Where the arrows pierced the dragon's hide he couldn't be sure, but all that mattered to Hiccup was he hit it.
"I hit it? Yes, I hit it!" Hiccup exclaimed, arms raised in triumph. "Did anybody see that?" Hiccup heard something snort behind him and felt its warm breath on his neck. He turned around slowly to find the Monstrous Nightmare from earlier glaring at him, yellow eyes filled with hatred. "Except for you…" As he saw the Monstrous Nightmare rear back its head he bolted, screaming.
Stoick looked up from the snared Deadly Nadders that lay before him and saw his son running from a Monstrous Nighmare. He groaned in frustration before telling the others guarding the dragons, "Do not let them escape!"
Meanwhile, Hiccup had fled back to the center of town where he quickly ran into a telephone booth and slammed the door behind him. He later realized hiding in a phone booth was a bad idea.
The Monstrous Nightmare saw its prey was snared and had nowhere to run, like a cat that had cornered a mouse. The beast opened its jaws to unleash its wrath as Hiccup cowered and prepared for the blaze that would end him. It never came though.
The dragon, before it could fire, felt something barrel into its side and was knocked down by the force. It quickly returned to its feet and snarled at the man before him. The dragon was ready to burn him to a crisp, but when it opened its mouth to do so all that came out was a small ember.
"You're all out" Stoick said as he began to bash the dragon's head which bled from each blow.
The dragon did nothing to protect itself and could only writhe in agony before it finally realized it had lost the fight and flew away.
Hiccup watched the dragon as it flew erratically through the air in retreat before he stepped hesitantly out from the phone booth. He had barely stepped two feet away from the phone booth before a dragon sent it up in flames along with a few unfortunate shops that happened to be near it.
Hiccup cringed at the sight of the buildings going up in flames and not daring to face his father muttered, "Sorry, Dad."
Screams could be heard as people dodged out of the fire's way and rushed out of the shops, gazing as their work went up in flames.
Amidst the turmoil, Hiccup noticed the dragons fleeing with Berk's precious food supply as the first light of morning back to seep through the clouds. Unsure of what he could say to make the situation better he quickly said, "Okay but I hit a Night Fury."
Hiccup felt his father grab the back of his coat as he pulled him away from the onlookers who had begun to form a circle around the two.
"Not like the last few times, Dad. I mean I really actually hit it." Hiccup pleaded with his father who was still dragging him away. "You guys were busy and I had a very clear shot. It went down in the city, let's get a search party out there before it…"
"Stop!" Stoick yelled as he himself stopped before he began to berate his son. "Just stop. Every time you step outside, disaster follows! Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Fifty-six people to feed and our storage was just raided of almost everything we have!"
"Eh, between you and me we can do with a little less feeding don't you think?"
"This isn't a joke, Henry! Why can't you follow the simplest orders?"
"I-I can't stop myself. I see a dragon and I have to just kill it, you know? It's who I am, Dad."
"Oh you're many things Henry" Stoick muttered while rubbing his temples in frustration. "But a dragon killer is not one of them. Get back to the house. And make sure he gets there! I have his mess to clean up."
Hiccup felt Gobber smack him on the head before the latter began to escort the former back home. Along the way, Hiccup saw the group of teens snicker and point at him before Hiccup gazed back down at his feet. I'll show them, they'll see. When this day is done they'll see Henry Haddock holding the heart of a Night Fury. Just wait.
Well, that's the end of this chapter. The next will most likely be shorter than this one but no promises. Also, I felt that Hiccup's father would most likely call his son by his real name rather than his nickname 'Hiccup'. Please, let me know if you feel otherwise. I hope you enjoyed and thank you for taking the time to read. Please feel free to leave a review but please, no flames. Good-bye for now!
