Yeah, I know, I said, I don't make any author notes after the one from the second chapter ( I already said that after the first chapter, damn), but it somehow feels not right, to just not thank everyone for his/her review and the tips, they offered.
So, to The Werewolf Assassin: I will try out, what you said, although I do not really like it, it just feels like the chapter then consist more off paragraphs, then of anything other. And I am sorry, but I like POV changes. You can look at situations from so much different perspectives, so I will make a POV change, whenever I feel, it's appropriate.
To NTYTekHTTYDFan (duuude, what name :D): Yeah, I "borrowed" myself one or two things from The Past Defines The Future, written by NFSLover, which you should read by the way, if you didn't yet (yahoo, plug FTW :D), but he wrote this chapter so perfectly, you cannot write a chapter with the same content without copy one or two thing. I tried to give it my own characteristics and some new innovations (if you can call that innovations), but ended up nearly copying the second chapter. I'm sorryL!
To Angryhenry: If water with salt is no water, then what are the oceans filled with? :D (Don't mind me; I can be a sarcastic, little asshole, sometimes.)
I do not know, if this is my last author note and I will not say anything towards that theme, since I failed so horribly with the last information given, but I can say, I will not give an author note with every chapter.
Thanks to everyone, who read this and actually liked it.
Chapter 3: Of executions and liberation
No one's POV
The stranger was led into the Ring, guarded by two Vikings, his hand bounded to his back. He could see the hate and the anger in the face of the Vikings and heard them yelling at him. He did not care. He looked up to the sun, suspiciously, as if he was asking himself, when something special would occur.
In the middle of the Kill Ring stood Stoik the Vast, with a face full of expression but simultaneously showing no feelings.
"This stranger, who refused to tell us his name, is guilty for the action of helping the traitor", his voice cracked shortly, but no one seemed to notice it," formerly known as Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, escaping his treason. Therefore he will now be sentenced as if he was the named traitor." He turned around to the man. "Any last words?" he asked.
"Remember these words, Stoik and every one of you as well", said the stranger in his calm voice. "You now may call Hiccup a traitor, an outcast, a ", he looked to the teens, saw the tear stains on Astrid's face and smiled under his hood, "weakling. But you all are responsible for what Hiccup became. You either made a broken man or", his voice became silent, almost threatening, "you made yourself the most dangerous enemy, you ever have to face. And believe me; you will have to face him." With these words, he turned around to Stoik. "And you, Stoik the Vast, will have to justify yourself in front of him." He fell silent.
"The penalty", said Stoik the Vast, over the noise of mumbling and few shouting's, which grew louder, after the man ended his speech, "is death by dragon." After he said that, the whole crowd began to cheer, awaiting a spectacle.
The man began to laugh. He did not mind the irritated looks or the angry shouts, he got, he just laughed. "You sentence me to death by dragon", he chuckled, "although you saw, what Hiccup was capable of doing?" He stood up, while he laughed, he had sat down. "Speaking of Hiccup", he smiled and looked at the sky, "I think, it's time, I take my ride."
With these words, the earth around him exploded.
Hiccup's POV
I did not know why the man had saved me, nor why he seemed so familiar. But I knew, I couldn't just let him die, because he wanted to save me. After flying for about three hours, I got to that conclusion and Toothless agreed with me. We made our way to an island, which was only one flight hour away from Berk and settled there for the night.
The next morning, we took off and I used the time, we were in the air, to make a plan, how we could free the man. Although my plan seemed to ten to go wrong, I felt myself better with something planned out in my head, whether it worked or not.
But my plan was not necessary. We got to the Kill Ring just in time, to see the earth explode, where the stranger stood. When the dust settled, my father was alone in the ring, with a gigantic hole, where the stranger had stood seconds ago. It was deadly silent; the Vikings around the Ring seemed unable to comprehend, what just happened.
The earth exploded again, this time outside of the Ring. In the dust cloud, you could only see a shadow, but this was enough, to let most Vikings grab their weapons tighter. It was a snake-like shadow, with a big head and a horn on its forehead. When the dust settled this time, I stared for about five seconds, before I was able to understand, what I saw.
It was a dragon, snake-like and with spikes all over his body. In its wide open mouth, I could see six rows off long, sharp teeth. I remembered this body shape from the book of dragons. There was a drawing of a whispering Death, which looked exactly like this dragon, although there were to major differences. The first was the coulor. Whispering Deaths had dark colours like black or dark grey, this one was completely white, with red eyes. The second difference was the size, this thing was freaking huge. Normal whispering Deaths were about 25 to 30 meters long; this dragon was about three times that size.
The next shock was that the dragon had no horn on his forehead. What I mistook for a horn, was the stranger, standing on the head of the dragon. I could hear him from where I was with Toothless, just standing in the air, stunned by the unexpected sight.
"I'm afraid, I cannot longer make use of your hospitality, although I quite enjoyed it, to stay here", said the man, amusement in his voice. "I will set of nor and bid you farewell and I think, I can speak for Hiccup, if I say: Where you do not want us, we will not stay.
Since you are so annoyed with dragons and dragon raids I will take it upon me, to take these", he gestured to the hole, the big whispering Death left and exactly in this moment, five dragons climbed out of it, four of them positioning themselves left and right of the white dragon, the terrible Terror flying up to him and seated itself on his shoulder, "'unwanted guests' with me, so you no longer need to bear their presence."
With these words, the white dragon took off, followed by the four others. The Vikings still stand there in silence, shocked and not able to comprehend, what just happened. The stranger made a hand sign towards me to follow him and I shrugged. Since he rode on a dragon and saved me and Toothless the day before, it could be pretty useful to hear, what he had to say.
Five hours later, we landed on a small island, just consisting of a mountain, a small strap of forest and a beach. When I landed with Toothless, the stranger stood in front of the big whispering Death, who had his head bowed towards him and mumbled something. I looked questioned to Toothless, who gave me his How-am-I-suppose-to-know?-look. I shrugged. Maybe I could ask the man himself. When I turned around, I saw him petting the white dragons head. Seconds later, the dragon turned around and flew off, followed by the other dragons. He looked after them and then turned around to me. Although I could not see his face, I could swear, he had a smile playing his mouth right now. I studied him closer, but could not discover anything, I did not saw the day before in the Kill Ring. Black boots, black trousers, black doublet with a lot of pockets on it, black leather gloves, a black cape with a hood, which coated his entire face in darkness. The only difference was that he did not have his four swords with him, but I suddenly remembered for swords, being attached to Toothless saddle. I wondered how they got there and now recognized them as the ones, the stranger wore before he cut my bonds and the bonds of Toothless. I turned around and dissolved the swords from the Toothless saddle. Toothless had curled himself up, one eye resting on me. I smiled and petted him.
"I'll be alright", I whispered. He just gave a grunt as a response. I turned back to the stranger, who hadn't moved.
"I think, these swords are yours", I said. He nodded, took them from my hands and attached them like before; one on each side of his body and two crossed behind his back.
"I can understand, that you have many questions", he said, his voice this time serious, without any traces of sarcasm or amusement. "I will try to answer as many as possible, as long as it does not concern my identity. Also, I have not enough time, to answer all of your questions, so I would suggest, you should start with the most important."
I nearly started with "Who are you?", but then remembered, he would not answer this question. So I just blurted out the first question that came in my mind:"What is the matter with this white dragon? It looks like a whispering Death, but is much bigger and the color does not fit."
"It is called a screaming Death and it's just a mutation of the original whispering Death", he explained, the amusement returned, likely about what I considered 'important question'. "And I know your next question already; Thorn takes the other dragons to a place, where they can live in peace, if they want to live there."
"Wait, Thorn?" I asked perplex. "So, you named him?"
"Of course, why should I not", he asked and I was pretty sure, I heard a grin in his voice.
I needed a moment, to order my thoughts, this was all very confusing. I thought, I was the only one, who saw dragons not as mindless, bloodthirsty, emotionless beasts, who only lived for killing humans. A question travelled through my mind about which I thought, since mine and Toothless escape from the Kill Ring.
"Why did you save us?" I asked.
"Because you are capable of ending this war. I am tired of waiting and couldn't just let these stubborn Vikings toss the only chance of peace away, they had since the war started three hundred years ago", the man answered.
"How could I end a war, I'm not even a good Viking, I am so un-Viking, the moment, I enter a village, it's the n-Vikiiengst village of the whole archipelago", I muttered.
"And that's exactly, why you can end this war", the man said calmly.
I looked up, unbelieving he just said this.
He laughed. "Being different means not being better or worse than others. Different is a neutral word, it just means you can do things, others can't. And because you are different the way you are, Hiccup, you can end this war. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day, you definitely will."
A high pitched dragon scream rolled over the island. The stranger looked up in the air and sighed. "Looks, like my time is up", he said. Then he looked at me, tilting his head a little.
"Do you know where you want to stay?" he asked. I just shook my head.
"Fly from here towards east", he instructed me, "the third island has a village on it. Say, the Darkness has sent you. They will at least let you stay for the night. If you can help them with a certain problem, you may be welcomed to their tribe."
He stepped back three steps and held an arm up in the air, like he was waiting for something. "Remember always, if you need help, feel free to call", he said and again I could have sworn, that he smiled. "But also remember that own experiences are sometimes more worth, than gold or silver."
"Wait", I demanded, "Can I ask you one last question?" He nodded.
"Is it true, what you said about the defense system of the Night Furies?" I asked, while looking back to Toothless, who still lay on the same spot, curled up in himself.
"Good, that you ask I nearly forgot something", he murmured, dropped his arm and approached towards me and Toothless. I tensed up, ready for an attack, but Toothless just lifted his head and tilted his head, with a curios look in his eyes, which were fixed on the stranger, who know stood in front of him. He held out a hand and Toothless nuzzled his hand with his snout. I relaxed myself. If Toothless trusted him, I could do this as well.
The man stroke the neck of Toothless until he suddenly pressed a certain spot, which had the effect of letting a pair of crests spread up on Toothless back.
The stranger stood back and nodded. "Now he can get narrow curves better", he said towards me. "Consider it as a good-bye-gift." He went back to the place; he stood before, turned around to me and held up his arm again.
"To answer your question from before", he chuckled, "I have no idea, I never met a Night Fury before."
And with a whoosh, he was gone
I stood there several seconds, staring on the point, where he had been just a few moments ago, until someone pushed me in the back. I turned around and saw Toothless, who eagerly waved with his tail. I laughed.
"You're right, bud", I grinned, "We should go, as well."
I mounted Toothless and we took off, in the direction, the stranger had advised us to go.
Toraska's POV
"Son, have you seen him around lately?" asked my father. It was about the tenth time, he asked it this week and I was tired of giving the same answer again and again.
"No father, I have not and even if he is in this village right now, you now as well as I do, that he only shows himself, when he wants to".
"Yeah, yeah, you're right", rumbled Asmenis, my father, a typical Viking, although a bit smaller then a normal one and also with more brain and fewer stubbornness considered good for a Viking.
"It's just", he continued, while we were walking towards the edge of the city, "he did not show up for six months. That's the longest time, I can remember, he did not show his face her. I mean", he gestured around, "he practically owns the village. Why would he not show up here for such a long time?"
I sighed. "I don't know father and I…" I was interrupted by a scream from one of the watch towers.
"Dragon!"
"Is it this one again?" my father shouted back.
"No", came the answer, "It is smaller and black pitched. And it seems that… by Odin's beard!"
"What is it?"
"There is someone riding this dragon and it is going to land at the edge of the village!"
"Let's go" my father said and we hurried to the border of the village.
When we arrived there, a small crowd has formed, looking at the dragon, which was approaching very fast now. Everyone clenched their fists around their weapons and murmured about this dragon.
"No one attacks, when they do not attack first", my father ordered. There were a few protests, but I knew the people would obey.
The dragon landed about thirty feet away from us, growling at the crowd, but stopped instantly, when a boy, who just climbed from his back, put a hand on his head.
"Easy, bud", I could hear him whisper. "We want them to like us."
I squinted my eyes, this boy seemed rather familiar. As the son of a chief, I got to know other villages, when my father visited them. I thought about it. I had seen this boy before, but where?
"Who are you, why have you come here and why have you brought a dragon with you?" my father asked.
The boy opened his mouth to answer, when I realized, why he looked so familiar.
"You are Hiccup, the son of Stoik the Vast, chief of Berk, aren't you?" I asked.
The boys face hardened, when I mentioned his father.
"I am Hiccup, that's true" he spat out, "but Stoik is no longer my father, like Berk is no longer my home. He disowned me and made me an outcast for befriending a dragon."
The whole crowd murmured, mostly in agreement of Stoik's actions, but I just looked at him.
"Why did you befriend this dragon?" I asked. The murmurs stopped. Even my father looked at me with slight surprise.
"Because he was the only one, who accepted me for who I am" Hiccup answered.
I nodded and then turned around to my father. "When he can prove, that this dragon means no harm towards us, can he stay?" I asked him.
My father scratched his chin. "I do not know, son, it could be dangerous to have a dragon within the village. On the other hand, he can maybe help us with our little problem, if he really befriended this dragon and it does not mean any harm."
"He" stated Hiccup. My father looked confused towards him. "Toothless is a He" Hiccup told him.
Asmenis starred buffed at Hiccup. Then he began to laugh and soon the whole crowd laughed as well.
"Well", said hiccup sharply, "It seems, you do not want us here. Come on Toothless, we…"
"Wait" shouted my father, still laughing. I couldn't stop myself from laughing as well, it was just too hilarious.
"We do not laugh because you referred to your dragon as a He", said my father.
"Which kind of dragon is this, by the way?" shouted someone from the crow. I could see amused faces and the grip around the weapons were looser than before.
"He is a Night Fury", said Hiccup.
Mumbling rolled up once again. My father chuckled.
"You named a Night Fury, the offspring of lightning and death itself, Toothless?" he asked, still chuckling.
Hiccup grinned. "Show them, bud", he said towards Toothless, who just followed the conservation with lightly tilted head and a confused look. He opened his mouth and we could see the sharp, white teeth, the next moment, they were gone and he flashed a gummy smile at us.
This was too much for some villagers. They collapsed on the ground, laughing. But I was fascinated. I slowly walked towards the Night Fury and hold a hand towards him. He growled at me, but was instantly calmed down by Hiccup. I stopped about five centimeters away from his snout. The dragon hesitated and then pushed gently his snout against my hand. I began rubbing his head and he started to purr. His pupils became wide and he rolled himself on the back, to reveal his bottom.
"He looks and acts like an overgrown puppy", I said, smiling.
Hiccup laughed. "That's an excellent description of Toothless, if he does not feel threatened", he grinned.
"Alright", said my father, "your dragon does not seem to be a danger. But I still want to know, why you are here."
Hiccup turned towards my father and made a huge breath, then realesed it.
"The Darkness has sent me", he said simply.
Everyone fell silent immediately. The whole crowd just stared at Hiccup, I forgot to scratch Toothless throat and my father looked at him with a disparaging look. Then he nodded.
"Everyone, meeting in ten minutes in the Mead Hall. Tell it everyone." He turned around to Hiccup. "I am really eager to hear your story." With these words, he left. The crowd followed him
"Did I say something wrong?" Hiccup asked nervously.
"I will explain it to you later, but you just need to know now, that you can stay for a while", I smiled and also went towards the Mead Hall. Nevertheless, I understood, what Hiccup whispered towards his dragon.
"Looks like we found us a new home."