Odin's Hall, Asgard
When they exited the portal to Asgard, the first thing that they saw was that they were now standing in the middle of a massive throne room. The walls were made of gold and silver, the floor was marble, and the ceiling was made of pearls. Marble pillars ringed the edge of the massive room and a regal purple carpet covered most of the floor. Across from them was a golden staircase leading up to a raised dais where a large golden throne overlooked the entire room. Seated in the throne was a massive man wearing ornate ceremonial armor. A golden patch covered one of his eyes, and a massive spear was draped across his knees. Around the room, dozens of different people, some of them guards wearing golden armor and wielding spears and swords, others normal looking people wearing court robes and armor, looked on them with shock and surprise on their faces. In contrast to the vast majority of the people around them, one woman wearing a white gown, knelt before the golden staircase, her eyes locked on Hiccup as he sat in the saddle.
Every person in the room had their eyes on Hiccup and Toothless, surprised by the sudden appearance of a massive armored black dragon and a cloaked rider. The Valkyrie slid off of Toothless' back and immediately moved towards the base of the golden staircase and knelt beside the woman in the white gown.
"My lord Odin, I have returned with the Rider of the Night Fury, the heir of Berk, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. He has agreed to come and speak with you and my lady Freyja about the situation developing on Midgard."
The god seated atop the throne, Odin, rose and slowly begun to descend the staircase. When he reached the bottom, he stared directly at Hiccup and Toothless for several moments before glancing around the room at the various spectators.
"Leave us!" His voice filled the hall and in mere minutes the hall was empty except for him, the woman in the white gown, the Valkyrie, Hiccup, Toothless, and the guards at the edges of the room. When they had gone, he stepped past the two women, who rose from their kneeling positions, and examined the dragon and rider before him. He turned to look at the Valkyrie and the woman behind him. When he spoke, his voice no longer filled the hall with its energy.
"You are certain this is the one? I was led to believe that he was a child, as weak as a babe and incapable of holding a weapon. This man before me looks nothing like that description." The Valkyrie dipped her head before answering.
"Yes my king. It is him. He agreed to come here at the behest of his lord Akatosh. The god claimed that he has adopted this boy and his dragon as his children." He glanced at her questioningly. "Did I hear you right? Akatosh adopted them? As his children?" she nodded fervently before Odin looked to the woman in the gown.
"Freyja, did you know this information when you told me about this boy?" The woman in the white gown nodded and stepped forward. "I knew that it was Akatosh that had taken the boy and his dragon. I was unaware that he had…adopted them, or exactly what that would entail for him and his Night Fury."
Odin nodded and Freyja stepped forward to address Hiccup. "Come down from your dragon child. I promise that we will not harm you. I assure you that if that had been our intention you would not be alive right now."
Hiccup snorted in derision but did as she asked. They hadn't been openly hostile or demanding so he was willing to play along…for now. When he was standing before them he noticed that he could meet Odin eye to eye and Freyja had to look up to stare into the black eyeholes of his mask.
Freyja stepped forward to get a closer look at him before reaching her hand up to touch his mask. To her surprise, and to the surprise of Odin and the Valkyrie, Hiccup's hand shot out from beneath his cloak and snapped closed around her wrist in a vice like grip. She recoiled with shock and attempted to pull her hand away from him. She was again surprised by her inability to pull her hand from his grip; it was like it was made of iron.
Feeling like his point had gotten across; Hiccup spoke for the first time. "I don't care if you're a god, a goddess, or one of the daedric princes…Do not touch me without my permission." He released her hand and dropped his own beneath his cloak again as Toothless gave a deep chuckle at the goddesses expense.
Odin and several of the guards had stepped forward when he had grabbed her and spoken but when he released her they relaxed. The goddess looked down at her wrist where her pale white skin was turning red and raw from where his armor had chaffed it.
"That was a strong grip young man. I will be sure to keep my distance in the future." Hiccup nodded and then Odin stepped forward, an indiscernible look on his face as he held his spear, the legendary spear Gungnir, in a less than peaceful stance.
"You have a lot of nerve to assault a goddess of Asgard like that. I should have you killed, or at least tortured, for such blatant disrespect." Hiccup met his gaze beneath the mask. "You have a lot of nerve to think that you can touch me without my express permission. If one of you tries it again I will kill you. And believe me, the last god that thought he could force his will over me ended up in a very unpleasant situation."
Both divines went wide eyed, but Odin's expression quickly became skeptical. "And how is it that a mortal human came to harm a god. I can only assume that it was an incredibly weak and insignificant god if you were truly able to kill him." Hiccup glanced back at Toothless as the black dragon growled low in his chest. "I don't rightly care what you think. Alduin was no lesser god and he certainly scared me a lot more than any of you do. Now he's dead, and his soul belongs to me."
At the mention of Alduin's name, the divines once again seemed shocked. "Alduin the World-Eater is dead?" Asked Freyja. "But that's impossible. Alduin was destined to destroy Nirn from the beginning of time. Don't you dare lie to us boy!" She grew angrier the more she spoke, thinking him a liar. With a sigh, Hiccup decided to educate the Norse goddess on Tamrielic prophecy.
"If you knew anything of my world you would know that there is a second part to the prophecy you just mentioned. Yes, Alduin was destined to destroy Nirn from the beginning of time, that is correct. Yes, the Nords who rebelled against Alduin four-thousand years ago were beaten, that much is also true. But before they died, they used the power of an Elder Scroll to send Alduin forward in time four-thousand years. There it was written that at the time of Alduin's return, the Last Dragonborn would return to do battle with him for the destiny of Nirn. A Dragonborn is the only one who could have killed Alduin."
After a few long moments, realization begun to dawn on Odin and Freyja and the goddess' jaw dropped as she eyed him up and down one more time. "YOU!? But how? How can it be possible that you are Dragonborn? How could that conniving dragon have planned something like this? To steal one of our subjects from us before he was even born?!" She slammed her fist into her open palm.
Toothless hissed angrily at the insult to his adoptive father and Hiccup decided to give them a taste of what it meant to be Dragonborn. Letting his Thu'um leak into his voice, he spoke.
"Insult me or my father again and my voice will be the last thing you ever hear!" The walls around them shook violently and the divines and their guards were nearly knocked to the floor from the strength of his Voice. Toothless also decided to give them a taste of his own voice, as he released a Thu'um filled roar that knocked most of the guards to the floor and cause Odin to drop to one knee, using Gungnir to keep himself upright.
When their display was over, Hiccup turned and leapt into Toothless' saddle before looking down at them one last time. "I didn't come here to be interrogated on my past and insulted. How I became Dragonborn is none of your concern. If you truly wanted to keep me as a worshipper you would have helped me when I prayed to you ten years ago. Instead Akatosh did it for you. Now, I came to this place to hear why you wanted me to return to my former homeworld. Since you two seem so intent to avoid that subject, we'll just be on our way."
Toothless turned away from them and Hiccup began channeling his magicka, projecting it forward in the same manner that the Valkyrie had to create the portal to Asgard. Now he did the same, only faster and in the opposite direction, much to the surprise and awe of the Asgardians.
When the portal was complete, a scene of the peak of the Throat of the World could be seen on the other side and Toothless stepped forward to pass through it.
"WAIT!" Freyja dashed forward, a look of pleading on her face. Hiccup rolled his eyes and was tempted to simply ignore her, but for some unknown reason he stopped Toothless and looked down at her once again. "What?"
"My apologies Riddari, you are correct, we have been poor hosts to a visitor and a child of a fellow deity. Please, allow us to explain why we asked you here, it is imperative to the survival of your former home and people." Hiccup thought her words over for several minutes and sighed. Cutting the connection to his magicka he allowed the portal to close and slowly slipped out of the saddle and to the ground.
"Thank you Dragonborn. We-" She was cut off as Hiccup held up a hand to silence her. "Cut to the chase. My patience has worn thin as it is. Tell me why you wanted me to come here, quickly." Freyja nodded and swallowed hard.
"The reason we asked you here is because your homeland, your people, and your family are in grave danger from a threat, that if left unchecked, will destroy every living being in the Barbaric Archipelago." Hiccup growled as she spoke, causing her to trail off as she reached the end of her speech.
"Stop associating me with that place! I left that world behind ten years ago and I no longer see it as my homeland. Those people never wanted anything to do with me and the only family I need is Toothless." Both divines could hear the sadness and anger in his voice as he spoke but he continued nonetheless. "Nirn, Tamriel, the people of the empire and of Skyrim are my people now. I wouldn't change my life for the world now." He turned back to face her with a cold hard look in his eyes. For a moment, Freyja and Odin alike both thought that he would turn away again and leave without hearing the rest of what she had to say. But true to his word, Hiccup motioned for her to continue with his hand. "So what about my birthplace?" he asked frigidly.
Toothless gently nudged his rider with his head in comfort and Hiccup stroked his chin mindlessly as Freyja continued. "The dragons that were plaguing Berk while you lived there were not attacking for food as most of your former kin believed. They were being forced to against their will by the Alpha." Hiccup straightened at this news.
"What do you mean by Alpha?" he asked with suspicion. "Like Alduin?" Freyja nodded. "Yes, an ancient dragon, far larger than any you would have previously met while you lived there. He forced the smaller dragons to bring him food, which is why they attacked your islands. But he was very old, one of the oldest dragons in existence. When you left, he had been approaching the end of his life, and he died not three years after your departure. His death released the dragons from his control, which in turn allowed them to return to their own natural habits and lifestyles. For the past seven years there has been peace. But recently a new alpha, a female known as the Red Death has taken control of the dragons and incited them to once again attacking the Vikings of the Archipelago."
She gazed into the eyeholes of his mask, a look of pleading on her face. "You are the only ones capable of stopping her. If you do not, your birthplace will be destroyed and all those innocent people will die. So I implore you, return to the place you once called home. Save the people there, and destroy the Red Death."
Hiccup could feel the emotions swirling within him. He was torn. His father and the people of Berk had never done anything for him. They had scorned and hated him for being different, for not being a true Viking protégé. If not for Toothless he might still be there, living with their scorn and disgust, or maybe his father would have exiled him at some point for being a useless parasite, preying off of the village's hard work.
In Skyrim he was respected, and even feared, among his fellow citizens. He was a legate in the Imperial Legion under General Tullius with wartime command of an entire army. And as the only Dragon Rider in existence; he was an incredibly valuable asset to the Emperor's armies. He was a high-ranking, well respected member of the Companions, Arch-Mage of the College of Winterhold, and leader of the Thieves Guild in Riften with influence and power throughout not just Skyrim, but all of Tamriel. He held an incredible amount of sway with the emperor, and just as much power over his and every other noble's life with his connection to the Dark Brotherhood.
But even as he thought of all the glaring differences between his current situation and the one he fled, he couldn't stop himself from thinking about the better things he had experienced on Berk. Being Gobber's apprentice sat at the forefront of his mind, the good natured blacksmith had probably been the only Viking who treated him with even the slightest bit of respect even before he had begun acing Dragon Training.
He thought of the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and how they had always been as quick to crack a joke as they were to fight one another, even if most of those jokes had been at his expense. Fishlegs had always been the tamest of his fellow teens, not overly mean but certainly no saving grace in his times of need.
This train of thought brought him to Snotlout, his despised cousin who was always ready to bully and torment him whenever he had the chance, even during Dragon Training. Likely he was next in line for the position of chief in Hiccup's absence. His fists clenched and sparks of lightning rippled up and down his arms as his anger grew. He can keep the damn throne. He thought icily.
But eventually his thoughts wandered to Astrid, the star young shield maiden of Berk. She had been one of the few bright spots during his miserable tenure on the island. Even though his feelings for her had long since died, he could still remember the warm feeling he had gotten whenever he had laid eyes on her. She was completely out of his league and still he wanted her. Back then it would have required nothing short of a miracle for her to even consider him as a potential partner.
But now he was different. Life in Skyrim was hard, many times harder than it had been back in the Archipelago and with the help of the Greybeards, Aela and the Companions, Tolfdir and the College, Brynjolf and the Guild, Nazir and the Brotherhood, as well as Paarthurnax' training, he had grown, in strength and stature as well as skill.
He could shoot on par with the best archers ever known. He could wield any weapon, from small kitchen knives to massive war hammers with incredibly lethality. He could cast spells that Elven mages would be afraid to even attempt. He could walk through a crowded street like he was invisible and either steal the clothes off of someone's back or drive a knife through the heart of a target. He was a force to be reckoned with, and with Toothless by his side he was near invincible.
He chuckled at the thought of how easy it would be to win her favor now. Anger and pride told him to leave the Berkians to their own skills to survive. They were in an entirely different world and they hadn't wanted him in the first place. But at the same time, honor and his own protective nature wouldn't let him just leave them to die like worthless animals. He ground his teeth in frustration, he was at a loss. But then he felt Toothless approach from behind and bump his shoulder with his snout. Hiccup turned and nuzzled his friend's cheek with his own before staring into the dragon's green-gage eyes. "I don't know what to do Toothless. The last thing I want to do is help those people. But I can't just sit by when we could have done something to change it. What do you think we should do?"
The Night Fury snorted before answering in Dovahzul, his deep voice and the powerful language he spoke caused the entire throne room to shake, but the situation was worthy of evoking his speech.
"I think you should follow your heart. It has yet to lead you astray. Whatever path you choose to take, I will follow with fire in my belly and my teeth ready for battle." Hiccup smiled beneath his mask and nodded to his friend. "Thanks bud." He said as he came to a decision. Turning back to Odin and Freyja he addressed the goddess.
"I don't particularly like the thought of going back there. In fact it makes my skin crawl just thinking about it. But you're right. I can't in good conscious leave all those people to just die. I'll go. I'll do what I have to do to stop the Red Death, no more, no less. And then I want to return to Skyrim, to my home."
Freyja's face lit up with happiness at his acceptance and she nodded eagerly. Even Odin seemed pleased with the Rider's decision. He stepped forward and spoke, his voice once again filling the hall with power. "Prepare yourselves, for the journey ahead will be difficult."
