Chapter 7, Chapter 7, Chapter 7! XD! *squeals*
IT'S FINALLY HERE, GUYS. THANKS FOR WAITING. AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP ON DECIDING WHAT TO DO FOR THIS CHAPTER. YOU GUYS ARE GREAT! EXTRA LONG CHAPTER FOR ALL OF YOU! NEXT CHAPTER, THE MYSTERIOUS MAN WILL BE REVEALED. IT'S ALL COMING TOGETHER NOW!
So there was a tie between (a) and (b), so it's going to be a combination.
Also, a quick note to all of you: Whenever I say "Hictooth" I mean that they'll just be bonding a lot. Nothing more. I had a misunderstanding with a reader, and I wasn't sure if you guys thought the same thing. I just wanted to make it clear. :)
Shoutouts:
animalsarepeopletoo: Hey, thanks! And more Hictooth bonding will be in this chapter:)
AvatarAngel0723: *cackles* The villain will be revealed at the end of chapter 8, I think… you will see the horror… THE HORROR!
flopy: Glad you like the Hictooth, more will come this chapter!:)
katurdi: :D! I'm so glad you like it so far, and I agree- Hiccup needs a good knocking out! You'll see who this 'evil dude' is next chapter;). Clue for my evil cat's name: it rhymes with 'diehiccupdie!' Figure it out yet?;)
SailorMew4: Yeah, Hiccup will keep on semi-remembering stuff along the way, and as for the mysterious person… it's _! AHHHHHHH! SHIELD YOUR EYES AT THE POWER OF _! If you're not satisfied with that… well, I'll go with Astrid. Yeah. Astrid's the anonymous person. Happy now?;) JK, it's not Astrid, as you probably have guessed...
When Hiccup woke up the next morning, his head pounded painfully and he ached all over. For a minute, he forgot why he felt so bad, but it soon came back to him: the "Toothless" dragon had kidnapped him yesterday, taking him to a sea stack where Hiccup had fainted, causing his head to hurt even more than usual.
Hiccup grimaced. That hadn't been fun.
He sat up in bed, looking around. His father was slumped over in a chair, snoring very ungracefully, and Toothless was still watching him from the corner. Hiccup sighed. Clearly he hadn't gotten any less protective overnight.
Hiccup slipped out of bed, keeping an eye on the dragon. Maybe he could sneak out of the house and leave Toothless behind…
But, of course, Toothless wasn't going to leave his rider alone again any time soon. The dragon stood up, yawning, and cocked his head at Hiccup like he was saying, Where are we going today, Hiccup?
Groaning, Hiccup opened the door. "Stay here, dragon. I'm going out."
Toothless rumbled, pacing over to his rider. He looked up at Hiccup with big, pleading eyes, one which Hiccup couldn't look away from… surely he couldn't disagree with such a beautiful animal...
Hiccup found himself nodding. "Fine. You can come with me. I'm just going to see Astrid. Can you… can you take me there?"
Toothless snorted, walking out the door. Hiccup took that as a yes. After leaving a note to his father saying where he was going, Hiccup followed Toothless outside. The dragon waited for him to climb on, and very hesitantly, Hiccup did.
Toothless took off, happy to be with his master once again. It felt like old times, where they would run around Berk together, so full of content… but this was different. Hiccup didn't remember Toothless or any of the fun times they had together. The dragon was alone in his happiness.
When they got to Astrid's house in under two minutes, Hiccup looked impressed. "Wow, you're fast. Thank you for taking me… Toothless." The dragon smiled back at him, and Hiccup shook his head. "I'm never going to get used to that…"
Before he could walk up to Astrid's hut, the blonde viking burst out, seeming deep in her thoughts. But once she looked up and saw Hiccup and Toothless, she broke into a smile. "You're okay!" Astrid barreled Hiccup into a hug. "I was so worried ever since yesterday. And I see that you and Toothless are getting along better."
Hiccup scratched the back of his head, uneasy. "Yeah, sure. Better. Anyways, I was wondering if you'd like to do anything later on..." Astrid paused, and Hiccup grew worried. Of course Astrid wouldn't want anything to do with you, Hiccup! You're useless! Plain useless!
But to his surprise, Astrid smiled. "Sounds great, Hiccup! How about we meet at the Academy later on? I can bring the other riders so we can work on your dragon-trust skills more."
Hiccup was confused. "The Academy…?"
"Oh, yeah. It used to be the dragon killing arena."
Toothless growled at the name, and Hiccup felt surprised. "So, the dragon killing arena is now a place to train dragons?" He raised his brow. "That's just stupid."
Laughing, Astrid began to walk up to Stormfly's living quarters. "It was your idea, Hiccup! You do have some crazy ideas at times. I'll meet you at the Academy later." She opened the shed door, and out came Stormfly, yawning from her sleep. Astrid jumped onto the dragon and nodded down at Hiccup. "See you later!" She took off.
Hiccup watched in awe during the whole thing. And the dragon didn't even protest when she climbed onto it… amazing!
Toothless snorted, and Hiccup turned to face him. "Ready to go to the Academy, Toothless?" he said, trying to make the word sound as casual as possible. Toothless's head bounced up and down, making Hiccup chuckle. "Okay… but not at the same speed as yesterday. I don't think I can handle that anymore." He climbed onto the dragon's back. "Let's go."
He watched the boy from the trees as he jumped on his dragon's back, and the two took off. He frowned. Why weren't they flying?
Now that he thought about it, Hiccup Haddock had been acting a little strange around dragons lately.
Almost… fearful.
Chuckling, he backed away into the forest.
"We'll meet soon, Hiccup."
"Alright, guys, let's start with the training exercise," Astrid announced.
All the Dragon Riders were in the Arena, waiting for the lesson to start.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, let me show Hiccup how it's done," Snotlout said, pushing Astrid out of the way. "Listen here, Dragon Boy. I've always been your hero, and you do everything I say. Got it?"
Hiccup blinked. "Oh-kay?"
"Did I hear a tone, Hiccup?" Snotlout mused, raising his brow. When Hiccup didn't reply, Snotlout nodded. "I thought so. Anyways, you can try starting with Hookfang. He's a perfectly trained dragon, and I'm sure you'll at least come close to getting along."
Hiccup smiled weakly. "Thanks, Snotlout. I really appreciate it."
Tuffnut looked confused, and turned to his sister. "Did Hiccup just thank Snotlout?"
Ruffnut crossed her arms. "I think he did…" Her eyes widened. "It must be because of Odin's Reckoning! Why didn't anyone tell us?!"
Tuff hugged himself, weeping. "But I was so young…!"
"Quiet, you two!" Fishlegs scolded, keeping his gaze on Hiccup being led towards Hookfang. "Hiccup has to focus! There's so many things that could go wrong, and it would be best without any distractions!"
Ruffnut walked up to Fishlegs, jabbing her finger in his face. "Listen, Fishlegs! We're all going to die! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE. And all you care about is-"
Astrid barged in. "Ruffnut, quiet. Watch Hiccup, and don't say anything, okay? Do you think you can handle that?" She walked off, rolling her eyes.
"She didn't let us answer," Tuffnut huffed. "Is that a retalkrical question?"
Meanwhile, over where Hiccup was with Snotlout, Hiccup was nervous. He was approaching a Monstrous Nightmare, the most deadliest dragon in the archipelago besides the Night Fury. Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear…
"Okay, Hiccup. Do your thing," Snotlout said, crossing his arms. When Hiccup didn't move, Snotlout groaned. "Dragon Boy, we don't have all day. Come on!"
Hiccup swallowed. Here he went…
The boy took a step towards the Monstrous Nightmare, his balled fists shaking with fear. "H-hello, dragon."
"Get him to allow you to pet him," Astrid offered. "Hold your hand out, and look away from his eyes. That shows the dragon that you don't want to hurt him."
Hiccup nodded back, grateful for some feedback. "O-okay…" He held his palm out, turning his head away from Hookfang while hoping for the best. For a moment, the dragon didn't do anything, but he soon pressed his snout against Hiccup's palm.
Relieved, Hiccup sighed, looking back at the dragon. "That wasn't so bad, I guess."
"Scratch him under the chin!" Snotlout grinned. "Hookfang loves that."
It seemed like a good idea to Hiccup, so he nodded. "Thanks." He began to scratch Hookfang's chin, moving upwards. The dragon didn't react at first, but then suddenly he growled, sounding like he was in pain, and Hiccup pulled away. "What did I do?" he squeaked. "I-I didn't mean to…"
Hookfang roared, sending a blast of fire at Hiccup. Fortunately, Hiccup had had his share of close encounters like this, and rolled out of the way. "What the-"
"I've seen this before!" Fishlegs yelled, his eyes wide with understanding. "There must be something wrong with his teeth! Remember how he acted the first time it happened? It's exactly the same!"
"Help... me!" called Hiccup, nearly getting his head burnt to a crisp by Hookfang's fire.
"I'm on it, Hiccup!" Astrid said, running up to Hookfang with determination written all over her face. She ducked as Hookfang almost clawed her to death, and then jumped up near the dragon's mouth. But Astrid couldn't seem to get a clear opening to fix Hookfang's tooth...
Hookfang then decided to change targets. He was after the boy who had made him hurt so much now. Roaring, the dragon leaped over to Hiccup, cornering him against the wall.
Terrified, Hiccup was unable to move because of his fear. He never should have done this! Stupid, stupid Hiccup! Now he was going to be killed for being so gullible… oh, why hadn't he seen this coming before?
Toothless was ready, though. He had been worried ever since he rider stepped up to Hookfang. And now that the other dragon was prepared to kill his master… well, let's say that Toothless wasn't going to let Hookfang get away easily.
The Night Fury sent a plasma blast out that hit Hookfang's side. Hookfang roared, falling to the ground. Astrid was on him in an instant, and quickly moved Hookfang's tooth back into a place. A moment later, the dragon licked his mouth, searching for the pain…
It was gone. He was fine now.
Hiccup, on the other hand, was not. He was pressed against the wall with wide eyes, looking ready to faint at any moment. Toothless cooed, alarmed with his rider's state. He started to walk up to him, but Hiccup yelped. "Stay away, dragon," the boy ordered, his voice trembling. "You're not going to kill me that easily."
Toothless cocked his head, sitting down. What did he mean?
"I… I have to go," Hiccup breathed, and darted away. Before he left the Academy, though, he turned to Astrid. "Thanks for trying to help, but dragons will always be killers in my opinion. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to continue training. Please take Toothless for the night… again, I'm sorry." And then he left.
Fishlegs gasped. "Hiccup's not going to trust dragons again? That's… that's impossible! He's practically part dragon himself!"
Astrid shook her head, keeping an eye on Toothless. "I guess, all we can do now is hope for the best."
An icy silence filled the group.
How had the Friend of Dragons become so afraid?
Hiccup stayed alone all afternoon, until night finally came. His father never stopped asking, "Hiccup, are you alright? What happened?"
Hiccup never gave a straight answer.
Finally, the boy was ready to go to sleep. He was sure he'd have nightmares, but it was better than staying awake and reliving the moment when Hookfang cornered him over and over again. He blew out his candle with a quick puff, and fell into an uneasy sleep.
His dreams would not be kind tonight.
Even though it was night out, he could see the Haddock home perfectly from his spot. He drew closer. Closer… closer…
And then he arrived.
In one minute, he climbed up the side of the hut with surprising agility, and then dropped into Hiccup Haddock's room. He walked over to the bed, looking down at the boy.
"Time to come with me now, Hiccup," he growled.
He knocked the boy out with a crushing blow to the head.
Then, with Hiccup tucked under his arm, he left.
Now, is it evil laugh time? I think it is! *laughs evilly* *grins*
Cliffhangers are so… amazing! (Maybe not for you, but for me, totally! :D)
Will the mysterious man will be revealed next chapter? Will Hiccup have another flashback? YOU GOTTA WAIT TO SEE!
By the way, sorry for the typo last chapter where there were two B's instead of one being a C! *laughs* I know that must have been confusing, but thanks for still reviewing!
Also, I have announcements:
(1) Once I reach 50 follows, I will do an EXTRA EXTRA long chapter for HTTYH.
(2) Once I reach 50 faves, I will write a holiday special story- of my own pick- with 10 chapters.
(3) Once I reach 5,000 views (I can check) I will randomly pick a new story suggestion and write it!
So, spread the word! See ya next chapter!
-thepurplewriter333
