Chapter 3
In Cover of Darkness
Hiccup stalked through the village at a heavy pace. People didn't even try to go unnoticed as they stopped in whatever they were doing and outright stared (glared) at him. Children were ushered out of his path, knives and weapons were clenched in threatening hands, the whole village watched him as though he were some sort of diseased vermin. He didn't care.
Hiccup went straight to the smithy, banging the door loudly as he stomped in. Gobber was there and Hiccup caught the flash of worry in the man's eyes before his face became impassive as he looked away again. Hiccup ignored him, pacing into his roo-the back room with deliberate steps.
There was plenty of leather left over from his many attempts with Toothless saddle. He didn't need anything fancy, just something that would get the job done, besides he'd already been forming half ideas and blueprints since yesterday afternoon when he thought he'd be leaving for good. Hiccup got to work and Gobber left him alone. The harsh clang of metal reverberated loudly from the main smithy, but even that seemed to be drowned out by the overbearing silence.
Their usual banter was gone, and with each second of the crushing quiet Hiccup felt every piece of his bond with the man sever thread by thread. It was becoming clear that he'd finally managed to turn away even Gobber. He shouldn't be surprised really, Gobber was one of the most fearsome and faithful dragon slayers that there was. The man had lost two limps to them for Thors sake.
Still a small part of Hiccup had selfishly prayed the blond wouldn't hate him, would somehow miraculously, maybe not be okay but at least still accept Hiccup after all this. That hope was quickly being snuffed out with every tiny glance Hiccup shot the man's way only to see that Gobber was resolute in his ignoring of his no longer apprentice. Hiccup supposed he should be grateful Gobber even let him be in here.
It only took about two hours to cut, shape, and stitch the leather and by the end of it Hiccup had something resembling small saddlebags. They were made quickly, weren't overly sturdy and definitely not pretty. They were also rather small, would probably only hold half of what was in the basket he'd packed. He'd also have to ruin his saddle by bolting several clamps into it so the bags would have something he could fasten them to. But at the moment he really couldn't give a damn about all that. The only reason he hadn't done this already was the need to leave Berk quickly and unnoticed, now it didn't even matter. Besides these would make it easier to fly out of here with Toothless.
It was getting dark now, but he could still hear most of the village fast at work preparing to leave come morning. With any luck he'd be putting a stop to those plans.
Throwing the connecting strap of the light little bags over his shoulder Hiccup made his way back into the main smithy. Gobber was still making sure all weapons would be ready for tomorrow, still hard at work, still ignoring Hiccup. Hiccup knew the man could see him out of the corner of his eye, Gobber always noticed Hiccup, even when the boy was completely behind him. But he didn't look up from his work, he even turned his back on Hiccup opting to use the workbench for the time rather than the anvil.
Hiccup felt his gut twist at the action. This all felt just so wrong. But he bit his lip, glared at the floor, and made sure to hold his chin up as he walked to the door. Even if Gobber couldn't see him, he'd still make sure his head was held high for the last time he was in his longtime friend and partial guardians presence.
He got as far as opening the door, allowing a breath of wind to tickle his face before he stopped. A part of him was screaming to just keep going, to just suck it up and walk out now. But then it really hit him, this really would be the last time he walked through this door. It was like yesterday afternoon all over again only this time he suspected that Gobber knew it too.
"I know you probably don't want to hear this right now" Gobber continued to hammer away, nearly drowning out Hiccups voice. Hiccup couldn't say why; the smithy's shoulders didn't bunch, his swinging rhythm didn't change, but Hiccup had no doubt that the blonde Viking could hear him. "May not ever want to hear it, but for whatever its worth" he felt his throat begin to tighten, there was a pressure forcing its way onto his chest and it was becoming harder to breath. He wanted the man to look at him, even if it was with hatred Hiccup just wanted to see his face as he said this last thing. But the Viking didn't turn, didn't stop in his work, and Hiccup had to say it before he completely broke down "…thanks Gobber".
And with that he left.
The sun had set and the last bits of daylight were quickly retreating with it. Hiccup wasn't sure when his fast walk turned into jogging and then descended into an all-out run. He knew people were staring again, and he suspected he'd started his sprint before actually making it out of the village but he couldn't be bothered to care right now.
He ran away from the village, and straight into the forest, straight to the cove, ducking under branches and leaping over rocks and logs barely even registering where he was going. He smacked into more than a few low hanging branches, and tripped and stumbled the whole way, crashing into the earth at least twice. But each time he just scrambled back up or forced his way on.
Right now he had just one thing, one thing that he forced himself to focus on. After all it was far more important than any other petty troubles he might be dealing with. He had to save Toothless.
Hiccup crashed into the cove practically skidding under the rock entrance. It was dark now and the stars were beginning to dot the sky. He sprinted for the small rock outcropping that he kept his riding vest and harness stashed under. It was a blessing that he'd been so distracted after him and Astrid's flight that he'd forgotten to take off Toothless's saddle.
Oh Odin. Astrid.
Hiccup actually felt his knees give out and he landed on his ass in a daze. In all the insanity he'd completely forgotten about her.
Damn and to think she of all people had been the one to accept Toothless, to accept him. And now he'd be leaving.
The girl he'd had a full blown burning crush on since before he'd even thought girls were pretty had finally noticed him. Not only noticed but maybe even liked him. Obviously not the same way he liked her but enough for the kindling's of a friendship perhaps.
Hiccup couldn't help it, it started as just a few mirthless chuckles but soon Hiccup was all out laughing at the sheer injustice of it all. He sprawled on the grass cackling up at the rising moon. A pressure formed at the back of his eyes and for the first time he didn't fight it. He laughed and cried all at once. Tears trickling out the corners of his eyes and falling down his temples to salt the grass below.
Odin he wanted Toothless. This place felt so empty without the dragon. Over the past few months Toothless had become the first real rock in Hiccups life. He wasn't sure if even Gobber had ever been as valued a friend as Toothless had quickly become. Hiccup had always envied some of the friendships the older Vikings had, the ones were those who had no blood ties would happily call a friend brother or sister. Because really that's what they were, hell they were something more in most cases, something even beyond a thing as simple as siblings. Bonds forged in sweat rather than made in blood were the strongest by far. And that's exactly what he had with Toothless. He would die for that dragon without a moment's hesitation and Toothless's actions today had proved that the dragon would do the same for him.
He didn't know how long he laid there but by the time he sat up his body had grown stiff and cold sending a shudder through him at any errant wind. He carefully retrieved and folded up his riding vest and whatever tact couldn't be left attached to Toothless. Everything was placed neatly in the bags and thrown back over his shoulder.
Hiccup walked back to Berk anxiety beginning to knot up inside him again. He just did his best to focus his mind on the task before him now. He was going to free Toothless, and it was going to be tonight. He already had a half-baked plan, and as he walked the more wayward details were beginning to fall into place.
When he broke the tree line and saw Berk, much of the village was already indoors, it was dinner time so most of the village was probably up at the mead hall eating. Hiccup skirted around the edge of the houses as best he could anyways. The furious sob, laugh fest he'd had out in the forest seemed to have cleared his head at least somewhat. He was now in enough frame of mind to comprehend fully what all those glares meant, and while he told himself that they didn't matter, he still couldn't help but want to avoid them.
He slipped his way past a patrolling guard and ducked into his-the chiefs home. He felt a flood of relief the second he realized Stoick wasn't there. He'd already guessed as much, seeing as there was no light filtering through any of the cracks and no smoke coming from the chimney, but Hiccup still felt a terrible dread at the thought of encountering his fa-the chief again.
Hiccup stumbled up the steps of the darkened house to the room he wasn't sure if he could consider his or not anymore. He treaded quietly honestly feeling like he was some kind of intruder here. Hiccup hurriedly pulled the still packed basket out from its corner. He plopped himself and the saddle down before it and quickly began pulling out the many items he'd packed. He needed to downsize significantly. Now that he looked, the saddlebags wouldn't be able to carry even half of the baskets items, and he would have to get a little creative with how he packed.
He piled everything across the floor in a sort of category system. His clothes in one pile, tools and gear in another, food, and any means for catching food in a third, and finally a small miscellaneous pile. He'd had three sets of extra clothes and that was quickly downsized to one. He also left the extra pair of boots and jacket as well as his blacksmith vest, he was going south after all, he could live with being a little cold for a few weeks. The tools he made the most acceptance for. Creating was one of the few things he was good at and he'd definitely need them if anything were to happen to Toothless's saddle. Not to mention he'd now be completely in charge of taking care of himself, which meant gathering food and water, shelter, clothing, ect. All things that tools could greatly help him in. He and Toothless had gotten good at catching fish over the past few weeks and even though he'd probably get sick of the stuff in no time it would still keep him alive. As for the fishing net and few snares he'd packed Hiccup left those knowing that with his smithing tools he could just make more. In fact the only thing he took from that pile was a small pouch of dried nuts and berries, tucked into an inner pocket of his vest.
Now for the hardest pile of all. Before him sat some of the only objects Hiccup had ever truelly called his. There was his mothers breast hat, a few of his favorite books he'd collected over the years, a decorative arm band Gobber had given him on his thirteenth birthday, his pocket sketchbook, a childhood wooden horse toy littered with teeth marks, some dragon scales he'd found with Snotlout of all people when they were just kids and several other small objects that he already knew he would ignore.
He looked at the scales first, there were eight of them in all, Lout and him had been only eight years old gone with their fathers to the Berserker village for some peace treaty formalities. They had been the only children brought along under the pretense that they need to get the occasional taste of diplomacy. It was a rather ridiculous notion as the two were mostly left to their own devices while at the neighboring island, especially considering that nearly all the village's children were told to stay away from them. Even though the two villages were allies, the Berserkers had something of a scathing view of those from Berk, believing themselves somehow above the dragon slaying Vikings.
Snotlout had ranted about it vehemently during their stay there, his young cousin being the only one around to listen to most of those rants. Hiccup had agreed with him, mostly, and even as they grew it was one of the few things the two had ever been able to hold a conversation about. Not just that village but others, Hiccup had learned a long time ago that the best way to keep Lout from pounding him into the ground was to get his cousin ranting about other Viking villages. Even the ones Snotlout liked he could easily go on for hours about the merits and flaws of, and honestly Hiccup usually agreed with him on many of his beliefs, maybe not quite as loudly but he still agreed. It may have been the only thing he'd ever felt bonded to his cousin through, and the scales were something of a representation of such.
While at the Berserker village, the two had gone exploring together, at first Snotlout had been against it, but their fathers refused to let them wander off anywhere alone. And if there was one thing Lout hated more than Hiccup, it was boredom. He'd allowed Hiccup to tag along (as he'd put it), but many times he'd been surprised at how quickly Hiccup would get ahead of him, always the little explorer. Throughout the day they'd found several different dragon scales and for no real reason ended up collecting them as they went. It was fun. And by the end of it they'd had fifteen in all.
That night they'd sat with their fathers who were both more than happy to explain to the boys which dragon each scale came from and the many ways to kill each in turn. And by the end of it when they'd divided up the scales Snotlout had said Hiccup could have the bigger half cause Lout felt he was getting the 'cooler' ones, to this day Hiccup didn't believe that. It was odd, because it was with Snotlout of all people, but it was one of his most precious childhood memories, and Hiccup certainly didn't have a lot of those.
The scales were completely useless, aside from something slightly pretty to look at. The logical thing to do would be to just leave them. Yet Hiccup found himself piling them up on each other and tucking them into his second vest pocket. He figured if nothing else he could at least sell them.
Next Hiccup looked through his books, and though it pained him he came to the conclusion that he couldn't take any of them. Books had been one of the few things he'd ever found any joy in growing up. Filled with tales of adventures and heroes far braver than he could ever hope to be. He consented in taking his sketchbook though, tucked away next to the scales, he suspected there'd be many boring lonely nights and days ahead of him and figured he'd at least need something to occupy himself.
The armband Gobber gave him was a no brainer. It was easy to carry seeing as he just had to tie it around his bicep (small as it may be). It was thin, only a little over two inches in width but it was layered with beautiful ink stained designs chief of which was a dragon, spinning across the outward part of the band, with the tiniest red stone imbedded in the leather for an eye.
That only left his helmet and toy horse. Hiccup bit his lip, these would be the hardest to decide on. His gut reaction was to say yes to the horse, it was one of the only things he had left from his mother. But the same reason that had him debating on the helmet, left him wondering about the horse as well. He already knew his father didn't want him, that fact had been made more than clear. But what about his mother? Would she feel he was a disgrace as well? Would she regret birthing such a pathetic Viking? Hiccup didn't know. Valhallarama had died when he was just a boy, long before he'd ever been dubbed Hiccup the useless. He'd always tried to tell himself that she was his mom, that she would love him no matter what, but in truth, he wasn't so sure. And this situation, this leaving, the whole I am best friends with a dragon, he knew she wouldn't be able to accept that. Even if she could somehow amazingly still love her son after such a betrayal there was no way she would be okay with it. Hiccup felt his gut clench again as he felt a new wave of tears threatening to spill.
Throughout his life, whenever he'd felt truly alone, when everyone including his father seemed to turn their back on him, he'd pretend his mother was there. Pretended that they could still talk to each other, that she could still listen to him, and above all that she could still hold him. But with this? If he truly left, truly turned his back on his people and there way of life, somehow he just knew that he could never call up such an imagining again. Valhallarama had been a true Viking. If by some miracle she could somehow be here today, he would also be turning his back on her.
Most painful of all, he was certain she would turn her back on him as well. Both his parents would have disowned him. She would be just as disappointed in him as Stoick was.
Hiccup sighed long and deep. He stared at the two objects before him, both the last connection he had with his mother, and one the last he had with his father. He'd already sort of suspected he would be leaving the helmet. It more or less belonged to his father anyways, seeing as it had been a gift meant for a dragon slaying son the chief of Berk could finally be proud of. It hurt but the toy would be staying too. He didn't need it for anything, and any sentimentality it may have carried he no longer felt deserving of.
Hiccup picked the toy up, stupidly bouncing it around as if it were a real galloping horse one last time, just like he'd done almost all his life. Then he set it back down.
Hurriedly Hiccup shut out all thoughts and set himself to the task of packing the few items. Of the tools he had a two wrought iron hammers, a file, one pair of tongs, and three different sized tappers (1), as well as a chisel bit. He divided them up equally between the bags for even weight; the tongs were wrapped up in his spare shirt, and the larger hammer in his spare pants to save space. He shoved a hatchet, with a leather holder, in one bag and tucked in a generous sewing kit with material for both leather and cloth in the other. He also put in a small pouch of oil for cleaning and keeping the leather. Both bags might have fit a few more small things but he didn't want them bulging
Hiccup hoisted the bag back over his shoulder, this time threading the straps through their buckles across his chest to free his arms. It was heavier obviously but still easily managed, even for a weakling like him. He took one last look around to make sure he hadn't missed anything. Satisfied he walked to the door but paused. He wasn't coming back…again he looked around. Just once more he took in the room he'd called his for just over seventeen years.
Hiccup turned and hurried down the steps and out the door. He ran back to the village edge and didn't slow until he was certain he wouldn't be able to see his house. He made his way mostly along the villages side, occasionally ducking in through alleys and walkways to avoid having to climb up any shear rock cliffs.
Finally he stood at the bridge that connected the two cliff faces of the village and the dragon arena. The two rock faces connected several miles further inland, meeting at a large cascading waterfall, the river had long ago cut its way out to the ocean leaving each cliff face with a near 70 foot drop. There were two Vikings constantly patrolling, mirroring each other's movements across the bridge so that one man was always looking each way.
Hiccup hunkered down by the main rock outcropping on his end. He remained crouched, ready to move at a moment's notice, eyes on the sky. He'd have to do this soon before the main meal in the mead hall was over and others came to change shifts with the two guards. After about ten minutes he was shivering from the night's cold but was glad to see a small cloud drifting towards the moon. Several others had come before but not at a good enough moment for Hiccup to risk it with the guards.
The cloud passed in front of the moon just as the guards reached the end of each bridge side. Hiccup took a deep calming breath and just as the first tendrils of darkness creeped across the bridge he moved. Hiccup sprinted as fast as he could dashing to the bridge. He was grateful for his moccasins muffling most of the sound as he certainly wasn't doing anything to help. the guard on his side was slowly moving away, back turned so obviously unable to see Hiccup but the other would be able to the second the moons light shown again. He swiftly stepped onto the bridge trying to be as quiet as possible now as he was only five feet from the guard closest to him. Quickly Hiccup walked to the bridge side, crouching down and placing his hands on its edge. He had just a moment's hesitation as he looked over at the deadly drop and made an almost inaudible gulp. And just as the moons light returned Hiccup was gone.
The approaching guard passed, completely oblivious to the boy now dangling on the bridges support beams. Carefully Hiccup hooked his legs around the nearest pole, he shimmied his hands a bit until he could reach out and grab one of the bottom supports and hoist himself into the relative middle of the bridge. He heard the soft thud of footsteps above him and held completely still for fear of alerting anyone of his presence.
Slowly, cautiously Hiccup began to work his way along the supports towards the bridges center. If it was dark above it was practically pitch black down here, the only light Hiccup had was when one of the passing guards walked overhead the light of their torches filtering through the spaces between beams. Luckily Hiccup already knew these beams like the back of his hand.
Houses weren't the only things that were destroyed during dragon raids. Twice in Hiccups life the bridge had been destroyed and each time he'd aided Gobber in reconstructing it. True the whole village would pitch in, but bridge making was a bit more complicated then houses. Hiccup being so light had been the one sent to bounce around the many beams and rocky edges, hammering in nails and bolts to keep everything together, granted all those times he'd had a rope around him in case he fell…which he did.
There was no rope this time, and no laughing Gobber to pull him back up and half-heartedly scold him for not paying attention. It was when Hiccup reached the center of the bridge that he was most reminded of this fact.
The bridges supports jutted out from each cliff face to form a sort of arch. Only problem was each arch side ended nearly six feet apart, meaning there was no supports between him and the other side of the bridge. Taking several deep breaths Hiccup felt at the saddlebags, making sure they were still tightly fastened. He looked at the many planks above him and more importantly at the bits of moonlight filtering between the spaces. He picked his path and took another deep breath.
He waited for the guards to pass by each other and over him then he thread his fingers through the nearest opening and swung off the beam. Hiccup dangled there for a minute, readjusting his grip and getting used to the extra weight of the saddlebags. Then carefully he let go with one hand and reached out for the next opening. Hiccup cautiously made his way across one board at a time. He may not be the strongest Viking, hell he wasn't even able to claim being mildly fit, but if there was one area of athletics Hiccup had always been good at it was climbing. Well that and running, but most Vikings didn't consider running away a very great skill to brag about.
Part of it came from his adventure seeking ways while growing up. If one wanted to see what was at the top of that rock or how far you could look from that tree branch, one needed to climb. It was one of the only things Stoick had ever been able to boast about in favor of his son. Hiccup hadn't fully understood growing up why he was so good at it, nor did he particularly care, but Stoick had once explained to him that climbing was about more than just strength, yes strength helped, but technique and picking your rout played far bigger roles. He'd then told Hiccup that he'd learned those lessons from Valhalarama, who had dragged him out on more than one occasion to go climbing simply because.
Hiccups thoughts quickly returned to the matter at hand, he needed to stay focused right now, not think about his mom. Especially because right now he could hear the approaching footsteps of the guards. Shit, he didn't think he'd been dangling that long. He was still a few feet away from the nearest support beam. The steps were getting loser, any minute now torch light would fall on his fingers, and even if they weren't looking his direction the pink digits would be all too obvious against the dark wood.
Hurriedly Hiccup made a decision, perhaps not a very good one, but, well let's just hope this doesn't get me killed he thought. Throwing his legs back Hiccup had just enough time to send a panicked prayer to Thor, before his body swung forward and he let go. For a moment he felt just as weightless as he did while flying with Toothless. And then the beam came rushing to him and punched right into his gut. Hiccup landed with an audible "oof" and hastily clasped his arms around the beam, trying to lift a leg onto it for purchase.
"You 'ear that?"
Hiccup froze, one leg still dangling the other with his knee pressed uselessly against the side of the beam.
"Hear what?"
The two guards had stopped just above him. The lantern light filtering through the cracks shifted back and forth as they both looked side to side. He could just make out one of their faces through a rather large gap in the boards, and Hiccups heart nearly stopped as he realized all the man had to do was look down to see him.
"I didn't hear nuthin'" the second voice spoke again, it was the man he was looking at.
"No, I'm sure I 'eard something" the lights shifted more as the man continued to look around.
"Yeah well when you figure out it was just the wind, or a bird, or the waves down there, or one of the other dozens of sounds going on, I'll be over there" and the man continued his patrol leaving the other behind.
The first man stood there for a long moment, mumbling to himself "was sure I 'eard something"
Hiccup felt his grip beginning to slip. He needed to get better purchase on this beam, preferably involving one of his legs, but he didn't dare risk anymore noise with the Vikings ears so open.
The man stood there for what seemed like eternity. Hiccups arms began to shake from effort, he tightened his fingers as best he could and they were starting to get incredibly sore.
Finally when Hiccup felt he was going to lose it and plummet to the water below the Viking moved on, still mumbling to himself about how he'd heard something. Hiccup waited a few more agonizing seconds before wrapping his raised leg completely around the beam and blissfully hoisting himself onto it fully.
He scooted along to the beams edge and took a moment to rest against the perpendicular side support, a leg hanging limp on either side of the beam. The guards made another pass over him, syncing up again as they did. When they were safely out of earshot Hiccup moved again. The trek across this side of the beams went faster than the first. Hiccup was growing anxious now that he was closer to freeing Toothless. He hoisted himself back to the bridge top in a similar manner to how he got under; waiting for the optimal moment when a cloud covered the moon and the guards weren't able to notice.
He sprinted up the small slope and skidded around the corner before either could even hope to notice him. Hiccup took a moment to still his breathing. He still had a ways to go before he reached the dragon arena and Toothless.
AN: 'Can you feel the angst tonight, it is were we are' . Sorry Hiccup. Serious though; was it too much? I've never really written this kind of emotional turmoil before.
Also durring the bridge climb the reason he's relativly okay is that I think Hiccup is a very anaylitical thinker, i.e. give him a problem and he'll do everything he can to solve that problem. So his mind is mostly focused on logic at this point. Make sense? I hope so.
oh and btw, not sure how obvious I've made it up to this point, but Snotlout and Astrid are (while not instrumental) part of the story. Atleast to the extent that they are not hated. To clarify I like Astrid, heck I even like the Astrid and Hiccup couple (I just like Merricup more). I think she is a very strong level headed girl with a sweet side to her. As for Snotlout, well he's just a lovable idiot. On a more introspective level, I actually think Snotlout is very similar to Hiccup in a few ways. Snotlout can be very arrogant were as Hiccup is incredibly self-depricating, both are just as damaging in my mind. Hiccups journey is one of gaining self-confidence and assuradness in his dicisions and skills, were as Snotlout (I believe) needs to gain a level of humility and understanding of others views. Both boys have a bit of a road ahead of them to becoming a man, and while they head in opposite directions, they are parrallels of each other.
Anyways still no Merida(its going to be that way for a while unfortunetly). To the few of you that reviewed: thankyou! I probably got more excited over those than was strictly healthy, but I don't care they'd filled me with smiles.
