Chapter Seven
Going anywhere near a human village was the last thing Aniu planned while staying in the cove. She had enough nightmares while they were there to begin with. The people of Burgus had left a painful reminder that would never fade. While she tried burying that part of her past behind her, Aniu knew that it would always come back to haunt her.
The worst part of it was knowing what the people of Berk would do if they discovered Cybele or Toothless. They would only find a reason to hunt the two Night Furies down, and Toothless wouldn't be able to flee. Without his tail-fin, flying was next to useless unless he had Hiccup to guide him. More importantly, they would likely see fault in her lack of trust towards humans.
I've grown up mostly around dragons, she reminded herself while staring at the ground. Those people would never accept someone who is seen as different, especially someone like me.
A shiver swept through her when she thought of losing Cybele. She couldn't let that happen. Even if they had been fighting for the last couple of days, the bond they had would never be shattered. Aniu wasn't planning on letting anyone hurt her sister/best friend.
Hiccup must have been out of his mind if he thought she would trust him enough to lead her through a village. Trust was something that had to be earned. As far as Aniu was concerned, Hiccup hadn't done anything to earn her trust. Especially when he seemed so interested in Astrid.
She narrowed her eyes when he finally arrived at the cove that night. Hiccup's hopeful gaze never wavered when he looked at her, and she knew he was expecting her to follow him. That was the worst part of it – he was expecting her to trust the very people who would turn against her the moment they found Cybele and Toothless. Worst still, Aniu had no doubt they would turn on her when they found she could speak Dragonese.
"Please, I need help getting this adjustment right," he pleaded after noticing that Aniu hadn't wavered under his begging gaze, "And I need someone who can keep an eye on Toothless while we're in the village."
Toothless only snorted at the mention of someone keeping an eye on him, "I wouldn't worry about some little hatchling watching over me."
"You know, maybe it would be better for those people to capture you," she snapped in Dragonese.
She ignored the look Hiccup gave her, while Cybele's eyes widened in disbelief. Aniu knew it wasn't fair to keep snapping at the Night Fury. A combination of exhaustion and guilt crashed over her. Between the nightmares and everything else, she was allowing her emotions to get the better of her.
"I don't like this anymore than you do, but he might have a point," Cybele tried cutting through the icy tension between Aniu and Toothless. "He won't be able to fly if the hatchling can't fix whatever needs repairing."
Toothless just looked at Cybele indignantly when she pointed out his inability to fly on his own. He might have adjusted well to the idea of Hiccup helping him fly, but that didn't make him feel any better about losing half of his tail-fin.
Aniu held back a sigh of frustration as she looked between Cybele and Hiccup's pleading eyes. If it was anyone else, she would have jumped at the opportunity to say 'no'. But, Hiccup wasn't just anyone. She wasn't sure if his people could be trusted, for that matter. He could have been leading them to their deaths without meaning to. Or worse, he could have meant it.
"Alright, fine," she finally relented after realizing Cybele had a valid point. Her shoulders sagged at the thought of having to go anywhere near a village. "But that doesn't mean I have to like it."
"You don't have to like it," Hiccup reassured her. He let out a heavy sigh of relief and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly when their eyes met, "I just need someone who can help me out, and keep an eye on Toothless while I work in the forge."
It was decided that Aniu would take Cybele with her in case they needed to make a hasty retreat. Thankfully, Cybele was smart enough to linger in the shadows as they trekked through the forest. The female Night Fury was on high-alert after what had happened on Burgus. If anything happened to her friends, she certainly wasn't going to let the humans get away with it.
Since it was too dark to make out anything beyond the dimly lit lanterns and torches around the village. Aniu knew that she would have gotten lost if she was traveling alone. Luckily, Cybele was able to see with ease and had guided her to avoid running into any trees or wild boars that might have threatened them.
It's been so long since I've seen the human village, Aniu thought as she tried taking everything in.
There were wooden structures that made up the dwelling place of the people who lived here. Most of them looked as if they had recently been built. A few had scorch marks on them from the last raid. Toothless and Cybele were currently hiding behind one of the structures to keep them from being discovered.
"Hiccup," one Viking greeted him as they walked past, oblivious to the girl hiding with their dragon friends.
Not for the first time, she was thankful humans were easy to trick. Well, most humans, anyways. The village wasn't as heavily guarded as she expected upon their arrival. Then again, she could see that there were higher vantage points for Vikings to keep an eye on dragons in case of a raid.
Once the footsteps sounded further away, Aniu breathed out a sigh of relief. Even she could pick up the stench of blood that clouded the air. This village was well known for fighting against the dragons for centuries. Aniu couldn't help but wonder if things would ever change. If what Hiccup was doing would ever change the impact of lives here.
"Can we go back to the cove now?" Toothless asked, already getting nervous.
"Shh," Hiccup shushed him as he tried guiding Toothless through the village.
"This place looks just like your old home," Cybele added warily. She was well aware of what Aniu had gone through in her village before they left. "Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea," she realized as she noticed how nervous Aniu now looked.
Aniu shook her head and tried to cast the dark thoughts away. She was well aware of the dark past surrounding this island. So many dragons had been slaughtered here, and it left a stain on the history between humans and dragons.
Though, she was also aware that Cybele was referring to her own past on Burgus. A shiver swept through her as she recalled how many times she would run through the village in the feeble attempt to avoid Karn and his goons. She'd even tried hiding in the forge at one point, but that had ended in disaster when the blacksmith found her. No one bothered trying to comfort her when the blacksmith used the branding tool to shoo her away, leaving a scar in the process on her right arm.
They all tried to stay as quiet as possible, Cybele looking around curiously as she picked up new scents in the air. This was the first time Toothless had ever approached a human village without attacking, too. He was curious about everything around him, and had stopped more than a few times to sniff anything new cautiously.
Finally, they reached a place that was filled with dragon-killing weapons, something that put Aniu on edge. Sharp blades and maces could be seen, and a fire that was never put out in the middle of the forge. Aniu had always wondered how the humans were capable of keeping a fire like that.
"Oh, a bucket, any food in there?" Toothless asked as he nosed the bucket and stuck his head inside. "Darn it, nothing."
"Toothless, be quiet! We're going to be discovered it you keep that up," Cybele growled.
She yelped as her tail whacked against a barrel full of weapons, knocking them down in the process. Aniu would have laughed at the sight if it wasn't for the fact that they were in dangerous territory. One wrong move could end in disaster, especially since she suspected they weren't supposed to be at the forge in the first place.
Hiccup passed Aniu a few tools that she was somewhat familiar with. She remembered how they worked from her short time spent with humans. But figuring out how they worked was a whole different story. She tilted her head to one side as they worked on the saddle. He was just about finished when a voice suddenly spoke up.
"Hiccup, you in there?" asked a feminine voice.
Toothless and Cybele perked up in alarm as they heard the voice, and Aniu looked at Hiccup with wide eyes.
"Astrid," he whispered, clearly surprised to find that she had followed him.
He quickly headed out to distract her, the string still attached to his hip and Toothless' saddle. Aniu looked at Hiccup frantically as she tried to finish the saddle best as she could. Cybele and Toothless were beginning to panic as they realized Astrid was one step closer to discovering them.
Aniu tried her best to keep them calm as well as herself, but it was easier said than done. Finally, Toothless yanked Hiccup back into the forge, and they made a break for it before Astrid could find them. The minute they had left the forge was when Cybele and Toothless took off into the night.
"I knew this was a bad idea," Aniu muttered crossly. "Now she's going to know something is wrong."
"True, but I was able to fix the saddle with your help," Hiccup said with a smile. "And we did it before Astrid caught us. That's what's important."
"I suppose that's true," Cybele said reluctantly. "But, that doesn't make it any better."
Toothless warbled in agreement and nuzzled Cybele comfortingly, earning looks of surprise from Aniu and Hiccup. Hiccup seemed to notice that something was off with Aniu. She was staring off into the distance as they returned to the cove.
"Is everything okay?" he asked after noticing something was bothering her.
"It has been a long time since I last went anywhere near a human village," she admitted, refusing to look at him when memories came rushing back. Suddenly, the scars along her neck and wrists began burning as she pictured Karn pressing the tip of his blade against her, and his gang of bullies used bands of rope to tie her wrists together, "All I know is they will do whatever it takes to end my life…" She paused, feeling that familiar spark of resentment surge through her at that moment. "Maybe it would be better, that way."
Hiccup's heart wrenched with pity when he realized it was more than what she was letting on. Even he noticed the scars that she tried hiding. There was only so much she could hide, and it didn't take him long to guess that some of those scars weren't just from dragons.
"Hey, you know that isn't true," he tried reassuring her. Aniu flinched when she felt him hesitantly reach for her hand and cup it with his own, squeezing it gently. "Look, I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to you, and, I plan on keeping that promise."
Cybele nodded earnestly in agreement as she nudged Aniu gently, "He's right. I wouldn't let anything happen to my sister."
Despite her earlier misgivings, she couldn't hide the small smile that followed. She was touched by Cybele's loyalty and affection towards her. More importantly, she was shocked by how caring Hiccup was, despite everything that had happened over the last couple of days.
"Tomorrow we're going to run our first official test flight," Hiccup said once she had relaxed. Toothless looked at his Rider excitedly after realizing what that meant. Before, it had been simple flight-tests, and figuring out to operate the tail-fin. Now, Hiccup was ready for the next step, and determined to get things moving along. "You sure you're up for it, bud?"
"Of course, I'm ready," he scoffed. "But, are you ready for some of my tricks?"
Aniu rose an eyebrow in surprise when she caught the mischievous grin Toothless was trying to hide. It was hard to believe that this was the same Night Fury they met a few nights ago. He changed throughout the days of meeting Hiccup and getting to know his new friend.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Hiccup said once it became clear what they were doing, the next day.
She simply nodded in agreement, watching as he left for the evening. Her guard finally dropped the moment he left.
She knew she was risking more than just her freedom by getting to know him better. Though Hiccup might have promised that he wouldn't let anything happen to her, that didn't guarantee they wouldn't be found by the other villagers. If someone like Astrid found them, there was no telling what sort of chaos would follow.
Astrid wouldn't hesitate to kill us, she thought bitterly.
The shield maiden clearly had loyalty towards the village of Berk. She wouldn't back down from a challenge, especially if that challenge involved Night Furies. The thought sent a shiver of unease through Aniu. If anything happened to Cybele or even Toothless, she would never forgive herself.
"I see the two of you are finally starting to get along," Cybele warbled once Toothless gave them some alone time. Her laughter was enough for Aniu to roll her eyes in annoyance, "Though, we'd have to do something about that Astrid character. I don't like her one bit."
"Cybele, we are not doing anything to anyone," she sighed irritably.
Even if they did anything to Astrid, the rest of the village would retaliate. It would only prove that dragons were nothing more than mindless beasts, and worse, Hiccup would turn on them. She knew he cared about Astrid, and obviously had feelings for her. Attacking her would only lead to inevitable disaster. Aniu had learned the hard way that sometimes it was better to remain invisible.
"I don't understand why you won't let him in," Cybele shook her head disapprovingly, "It's obvious that he cares about you."
"Do you really think he's going to care about me once he finds a way to win more of his people over?" Aniu let out a bitter laugh, knowing full-well that nothing good lasted for long. "The only reason he's tried talking to me is because I know more about dragons than he does."
Cybele let out a sigh of her own when she realized Aniu wouldn't be swayed so easily. Instead of arguing with her, she rested her chin on Aniu's lap when she sat down near their makeshift nest. The war between human and dragon wasn't likely to end anytime soon, even if another human had gotten involved with dragons. Of that much, Aniu knew.
"Well, whatever happens, I'm glad I had the chance to meet Hiccup," Toothless crooned when he finally reached them, having heard that last part, "I have a feeling that he may be the key to ending this silly war between dragon and man."
If only it was that easy, she thought, knowing full-well that nothing in life was ever easy.
Though, maybe Toothless was on to something. She now knew it was possible for another human to bond with a dragon. And, another Night Fury to boot. If Hiccup was capable of bonding with Toothless, it was entirely possible that he could figure out a way to make peace with the dragons, and end this war once and for all.
AN: Since Easter is coming up this Sunday (on April Fool's Day, no less), I won't be posting anything. Therefore, I felt this was a good time as any to post a chapter on Saturday instead. I also got Far Cry 5 the day after it came out for the PS4. Turns out it's a lot better than I expected, though I'm still used to Primal's controls since I had that for a different system.
I only just realized how short this chapter was in the original, and how much of a jerk I made Toothless XD At least in the beginning. Considering he lost his tail-fin, I think his attitude towards Aniu is somewhat reasonable, if not overly obnoxious. Big thanks to Mariah, Jillian Lee, Sgt Sniper Man101 and Guest for reviewing!
Mariah - It'll be a while until that happens, but it will happen... eventually ;)
Jillian Lee - Thanks! Hopefully it'll stay that way, though I can't make any promises. Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter :)
Sgt Sniper Man101 - Thank you! Fortunately, that didn't happen, though it would have made for an interesting story on Hiccup's part... I'd love to see someone make a one-shot out of that.
Guest - I'm always happy to hear any ideas that will improve the story. That's part of the reason why we write on FF, right? ;) I'm glad your fingers feel better. I do plan on adding bits and pieces of Hiccup noticing Aniu's lack of trust in him, especially later on. And I'm also glad I'm not the only one biased towards Astrid. I feel like she was just a random character thrown in for romance /: And finally, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter ^^ Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter as well!
