It was weird seeing Heather again. Especially since it was apparent Hiccup was the only one who found her visit unexpected. Hiccup looked to his father and he only smiled.
He placed his hand on my shoulder. "Why don't you show Heather around the island, Hiccup?" he asks.
Hiccup hesitated and he can see Astrid shift out of the corner of his eye. Hiccup wrapped a fistful of his cloak and closed it even more. "Um, I think I'll pass." He says and everyone's faces turn to surprise.
"Now, now Hiccup, that's not the way to treat a guest." Gobber says with a nervous laughter.
"Well, she's been here before. She knows her way around." Hiccup argues.
"But it's being hospitable." Stoick says.
"I agree with Hiccup." Astrid says.
"And hey, I'll even take up on the chance." Snotlout suddenly interjected.
"Hiccup," Stoick started.
"Look Dad, I'm sorry. Really I am, but I need to go get Toothless and-" As Hiccup was walking away, Snotlout decided it would be a good idea to step on his cloak.
The button snapped and Hiccup spun in a circle and suddenly he covered his arms. But a second later Hiccup blinked his eyes open, and remembered the marks were gone. So he quickly covered his spazy moment.
"Snotlout!" he said. "Gobber gave me this for Snoggletog last year."
"So what? It's the summer months. Learn your season, and fashion for that matter."
"Aw Hiccup, your tunic." Astrid pointed out, and Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief.
"Is that why you wore that thing?" Stoick asked.
"Uh, yeah. Didn't want to looks raggedy for our guest." Hiccup said.
He swooped the cape around and clipped it back on his shoulders. He heard Heather laugh. "It's okay Hiccup. You don't need to look good for me."
"Easy for you to say. You don't need to try to look good." He replied without thinking.
Hiccup's eyes widened, and he felt this cheeks bloom with heat. He could see everyone's eyes widen in surprise and Astrid's face morphed into a small scowl.
"Okay, guess I could give you the tour." He says and his father smiles. "Even though you've been here before." And he looked to his father.
Heather laughed. "Thank you Hiccup." She says.
She walks up to him and he opens his arm, like the gentlemen do, and he loops her hand through, locking them together.
"Well, why don't you kids go with them?" Stoick says and Astrid scoffs but goes on.
The tour, while unnecessary, it took up time and helped Hiccup forget about his, problem. The teens showed her all around once again and the whole time, Astrid didn't seem to like any of it. She seemed to be holding a glare at Heather the whole time.
But it didn't really make sense, she was the one who helped save her family. This new attitude toward her was unreasonable. Hiccup shook it off as they approached the blacksmith's shop.
"So this is the blacksmith's shop. The place where all weapons and dragon modifications are held. And they can also get a thirty percent discount if you purchase an axe today." Hiccup joked.
Heather laughed as she walked in. "Hasn't really changed since I left." She said.
"Speaking of which, not that we want you to leave," and he could've swore he heard Astrid whisper, 'speak for yourself', "but why'd you come back?" Hiccup asks.
Heather was browsing the weapons, and placed a knife back on its hooks before speaking. "My family's visiting my grandmother." She says.
"I didn't know you had a grandmother, Heather." Fishlegs said.
"I didn't either. Well I did, but where she lived remained anonymous. Until we found out she's been living here on Berk."
"Really? Huh, I didn't know that." Hiccup said as he followed her in.
She traced her soft finger along a spread of Hiccup's old sketches. "None of us did, apparently she's been living here for only a few months. Close to a year actually."
"Where did she move from?" Hiccup asked. He leaned against the anvil, crossing his arms while she completed her full circle.
"Again, not sure. She has a way of flying under the waves. She likes to be mysterious. Probably explains why she didn't come to many family parties." Heather jokes at the end.
They both laugh together and Astrid clenches her fists. As Heather rubbed her hand along the pages, she unknowingly to Hiccup walked closer. Hiccup only smiled as she looked to him and softly smiled.
"So!" Astrid's voice suddenly booms and the two jump. "Why don't we continue on huh?" she asks.
Hiccup and Heather exchanged a glance and Hiccup let her leave first. They went for another fifteen minutes around the village. Hiccup stayed in the back, not knowing why, but just needed to, as Tuffnut, Fishlegs, and Snotlout showed her around.
As he followed, he kept getting the strange feeling of being watched. He would constantly glance back and forth but no one was there. Until he looked ahead at the group and saw it. Hiccup stopped dead in his tracks.
His body went numb. A dark shadow figure was creeping behind Astrid. His shape started as a black shadow, and then slowly his features flowed until his evil grin made Hiccup grit his teeth in hatred.
Hadrian smiled in return. The way he moved, so fluid and graceful; he was horrible and fascinating all at once. Like a scorpion prepared to strike, all angles sharp and menace. Fear pulsed through him, and yet he stood rigid.
"Hello Hiccup." He said. "Nice to see you."
Suddenly, he moved. Hiccup's focus snapped to him as, in a series of quick, jerky motions, he brought an arm around Astrid, extending a black-clawed hand toward her.
His nails, more like charcoal fangs from a deadly venomous snake, gleamed in the daylight. Broad daylight.
"What are you doing here?" Hiccup asked.
"Just paying a friendly visit." Hadrian mocked. "And speaking of friends, I like yours."
He brought a claw to Astrid's face, poking lightly at her ear. Hiccup watched in horror as Astrid swatted at the nonexistent fly.
"Stop it!" Hiccup snapped, and suddenly everyone turned and faced him.
Hadrian drew his hand away, using the same claw to point at him now. "Never pegged you for the jealous type."
"Don't touch her again."
Snotlout made a face, and it was the only thing that reminded Hiccup everyone was still there. He stood up straight and cleared his throat.
"You guys go on ahead!" he called. "I need to get something done, but I'll meet up with you."
"Are you sure?" Fishlegs asks.
"Yeah, I'll see you guys at the Great Hall!"Hiccup says.
Then he turns and runs in the opposite direction. He rushes through the village until he ducks into the nearest alleyway and rushes into an abandoned courtyard behind the buildings. He stops in the middle of the yard and turns in a circle.
The courtyard had been abandoned and was now overthrown by vines and foliage. Trapped between the archway walls, Hiccup looked in the shadows and darkness until he turned at his entry point, and there standing tall, Hadrian.
Hiccup clenched his fists. "What do you want?"
"Only what any messenger wants, Hiccup. For his message to be heard." Hadrian says. "It's time your friends learned the truth. And if you don't tell them, I will." He almost threatens.
"Leave them out of this." Hiccup orders.
"I didn't bring them into this. You did." Hadrian says pointing an assuasive finger at Hiccup. "The day you came into their lives as me. And now, I want it back. Tick tock Hiccup. Time is running out."
Hadrian slowly back sup as he's saying this, and when he's finished, a typhoon of fire explodes out of nowhere. Hiccup stumbles back on his cloak and screams as the wall of fires descends on him. He squeezes his eyes shut and readies for the burns. But nothing happens.
The fire's gone.
It disappeared and not even one scorch mark was left behind. The only thing Hiccup sees when he opens his eyes is Astrid standing in the now empty archway.
"Hiccup!" she squeals in worry. "Are you okay? I heard you scream."
She runs over and helps Hiccup up off the ground. She dusts off his cloak. And moves to face him upfront.
"Are you okay?" she repeats.
"Y-yeah." Hiccup says.
He looks all around and scans his body. Nothing. No burns. No scars.
Fishlegs walks through the alleyway and asks. "Everything okay Hiccup?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just, got spooked. Stupid birds." He says with a nervous laugh.
Astrid's face contorts to worry. So far she's the only one who knows about Hadrian. Or at least his possible return. She only knows what she witnessed in the woods. And that was just a similar scene.
"Hiccup?" she asks, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Hiccup only abruptly shook it off and sped for the entryway. Breezing past Fishlegs, he burrowed into his cape. He looks to Astrid and Fishlegs, then he looks away, with sudden tears threatening to show. He runs through the alley and nearly crashes into Heather.
He skids to a stop and only glances into her green eyes. They ripple with worry and sudden concern. Hiccup flinches away and runs. But his flee was cut short when he crashed into Gobber thick-muscled body. Hiccup crashes to the dirt.
"Oh, sorry Hiccup. Didn't see you there." Gobber says as he helps him up.
"I-it's okay." Hiccup says.
He looks and sees everyone else running up behind him. They halt when they see Stoick and Gobber. Like Hiccup, they were expecting a chase.
"Hello sir." Astrid says.
"Hey Dad, what's up?" Hiccup asks as he holds his cloak, making it appear as if he were merely chilly. If it weren't for the warm weather, it would've been believable.
"We came to let Heather know her grandmother is ready for her visit." Stoick says.
"Really? Already?" Heather asks with excitement.
"Well, your parents want you home to freshen up, then we can all go see her." Gobber says.
"What exactly does your grandmother do?" Hiccup asks.
"Uh, she's a witchdoctor." Heather nervously says.
Everyone's eyes widen. Heather nervously rubs her arm.
"Wow. That's really cool!" Fishlegs says. "What does she do?!" he asks in excitement.
"Uh, I'm not sure. Nothing bad, thank Thor. So I don't know." Heather says.
"Wonder if she made any potions or brews." Astrid asks.
"Maybe we can make her turn Snotlout into a toad." Hiccup jokes.
Hiccup laughed, and suddenly, something crept over him.
He looked down and a red reflective glow.
Gobber must've cracked a joke because everyone was suddenly laughing. And their eyes averted from him. Hiccup looked and saw the letters from before creep up his arms. But there was something else.
More letters.
Not his name or even Hadrian's. They were just random markings along his legs. In a style, or even language Hiccup had never seen. It must've been old. Really old, like before the Vikings even sailed here. He quietly gasped and closed his cloak. He slowly backed up as everyone's eyes were off him.
But just as he thought he was clear, Astrid turned and caught him. "Hiccup?"
Even when Hiccup turned and faced her, he only closed his cape tighter, and turned.
"Hiccup, wait!" she called after him and no doubt now everyone was looking to him.
But he didn't care. He couldn't let anyone see. But for some reason, when Heather called him, he stopped. His lip quivered and the letters eerily glowed a soft light from within him. He could hear her soft footsteps come up behind him, and Hiccup could suddenly feel himself trembling.
"Are you okay?" she asks.
Hiccup takes the risk and turns to her. "I'm fine." He lied, and his voice proved it. It trembled like his body. "I just need to go. There's something I need to do."
"What's going on Hiccup? Is everything okay?" Astrid spoke that time, and Hiccup could see her coming up from behind Heather.
"I'm fine. I just need to go." He says.
"No." Heather declares and Hiccup steps back, practically frightened. "Something's wrong. What is it?"
Stoick comes up from behind the girls, that familiar concern reflected on his face. "What's going on Hiccup? What aren't you telling us?"
Hiccup closes his cloak. "I, I can't explain it. I just need to leave."
And with that, Hiccup turns and bolts of the decks.
"Wait!" He hears his father calls, but Hiccup doesn't looks back.
He runs through the village and through the Plaza, and the Square until he reaches the lone tower he'd been searching for. He stares at it as it scrapes the sky. The wood was old and taken over my moss and mold.
Hiccup took his time climbing the stairs. He would look out and the view of the village was breathtaking, but he didn't come to be wowed. He finally reached the top and was briefly discouraged when he saw the door and windows boarded up.
But he took the chance, and knocked.
There's an eerie moment of silence, but then the sound of a lock unlatching was heard from behind the door and then it opens ajar. Hiccup cocked his head to the side and he could see a flash of grey and wrinkles. "Goathi?"
The door opens wide, and Hiccup's greeted with a wrinkle smile and faded blue eyes. She looks to him and when her eyes drift to Hiccup's legs, her smile fades and those blue-grey eyes shift to worry.
Hiccup opens his cloak and revels the glowing cryptic. That red glow emanating from the inside. Goathi bends down and reaches out, but Hiccup takes a slight step back. She looks to him, and he lets her.
Strangely her soft bony fingers felt comforting when tracing the letters. When she's done with her, inspection, she looks to him.
"I need your help."