Chapter Nine
A/N: So I'm thinking there will probably be two or three more chapters. :) We're almost done...!
PS: You guys probably know how much I love to listen to music while reading/writing. And sometimes I suggest songs to listen to while reading certain stories. So I would say "Siren's Song" (which was posted by Levon Mkrtchyan on Youtube) for this one!
BEGINNING OF THE CLIMAX!
In response to...
xInsertCreativeUsernamex: I think we all needed it...I know I did... (And I share in your exhaustion. I just drove a total of six hours for my family reunion and...I just...I just want to sleep...for a month...)
TheGallopingCupake: Thanks :) And I guess you'll just have to wait and see what happens with the Sirens.
InfinitiumAce: Yup, no point in writing about their return flight so...here they are! As for the Astrid-losing-her-leg fanfic, no promises but if I think of a coherent plot to go with it, I'll let you know.
MHJohn64th: Lol, I'd never abandon you on a school day! (I know that feeling) And yeah, Hiccstrid and Fatherly!Stoick/bonding moments my favorite stuff in the franchise! Those moments are so sweet! And as for chapter nine being a close runner-up well... haha... I guess you should just read it and find out. :)
Wanli8970: Thanks :D
samsamwww: Thank you...and sorry about your feels. I didn't intentionally salt your wounds... (okay, maybe it was kind of intentional... Sorry.) XD
Cottonmouth25: I'm assuming you haven't seen the movie yet so I'm just going to say ignore my author's note all together and go see HTTYD 2 as soon as possible... you'll understand then.
InsaneWarrior0: Hm...he probably will, actually. XD That is, he WOULD...if he ever got the chance... (dun dun dun)
Q-A The Authoress: Thanks...it was...interesting... *flops tiredly onto bed to sleep for the rest of my life*
Breyannia: Yup, they're home safe for now...but the Sirens are definitely not done with them yet. Thank you :D
RazzlePazzleDooDot: I'M SORRY! I KNOW I'M A TERRIBLE PERSON FOR DOING THAT BUT IT WAS COMPLETELY NECESSARY! XD sort of... okay, I'm just really sadistic and horrible. sorry...
A fine ocean mist sprays over Berk's beach as black waves roll in over the sand. It's still quite late at night and the entire village is asleep, even the rescued Vikings from the Siren's nest have succumbed to rest within the village's Great Hall.
That's why no one sees it at first.
The very edge of a multi-colored dorsal fin splitting the water as it snakes its way through the ocean, in the exact direction of Berk. The Siren's large, black eyes are narrowed in fury, its nose still full of the scent of the blood from its wounded offspring. As it glides toward its revenge, it lifts its massive head from the water and opens his snake-like jaws, breathing a pale purple mist over the shore like it's done a handful of times before.
The hallucinogenic fog seeps over the island, drifting through the air like a phantom as it follows the Siren's directions. And soon, it finds its target: a single house standing a bit away from the rest of the village.
The Siren growls furiously at the scent within. The human who severed its hatchling's tentacle is inside. And soon, the mist seeps under the door and floats into the house...
CLANG!
Hiccup wakes with a start, his eyes snapping open at the sound of something falling over downstairs. Sitting up, he rubs his eyes and glances around his bedroom. "Toothless?" He whispers, noticing his dragon isn't on his stone slab. But then, the groggy boy pauses, his head tilting slightly as he listens to something. "Dad...?"
Hiccup throws off his blankets and goes to the stairs, peeking down to find his father slowly trudging toward the door. His father's steps are clumsy and off-balance, like he's sleep walking, and he's mumbling quietly under his breath. But...
A fearful gasp escapes Hiccup's lips when he realizes. The first floor of his home is flooded with mist! The same kind the Sirens breathe! "Oh no..." As quickly as he can, Hiccup returns to his desk and grabs a piece of parchment. Tying the cloth around his mouth and nose, he holds it there in hopes the mist won't be able to penetrate it. Then, he runs downstairs to his father, who is just reaching out to take the door handle.
"Dad!" He barks, fumbling with his one free hand to grab onto Stoick's arm. "Snap out of it-WOAH!" He yelps as he's suddenly yanked forward as his entranced father tries to shake him off. "Dad! Come on!" Hiccup yells. "It's the Siren! It must be trying to control you!"
But Stoick doesn't seem to hear his son's pleas and he only continues dragging the boy alongside him as he tries to reach the door, drawn in by the images the dragon has placed in his head.
Hiccup growls in frustration when his father nearly manages to escape his grip. Not that the puny boy is really making much of a difference in slowing is dad's progress... He grinds his heels into the floor, even trying to dig the nails of his prosthetic into the ground to create leverage...but it doesn't help. "TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup shouts as he struggles to keep hold of his father. "I NEED YOUR HELP!"
And his Night Fury does hear his Rider's cries for help. But...he's a bit occupied at the moment. Toothless snarls quietly as he squares off with the hatchling Siren. Even as a baby, this thing is almost as big as he is. And maybe even as deadly. I'm sorry, Hiccup. Just hold on a little longer! And then the two dragons pounce on each other, claws ripping and tearing as they grapple.
Toothless...! Hiccup silently pleas as he fights to keep Stoick from getting outside. He can now hear his dragon's growls and roars and he knows Toothless is also fighting to keep the Sirens at bay...but he isn't sure what to do to keep his dad from getting outside. Already he's been dragged halfway across the room and Stoick hasn't slowed down a bit. If anything, his trance is getting stronger as time goes by. The words he'd previously been mumbling under his breath are becoming more and more audible...and Hiccup winces when he finally realizes what his dad is saying.
"...Val...stay...Hiccup...have to...village...dragons..."
Hiccup grimaces as tears sting his eyes. He's heard the story before, of the day his mother died, but everyone always keeps it vague and short to spare his feelings. He knows she was killed by a dragon when he was a baby, probably trying to protect him... But to hear his father saying the words he probably said to her the last time they ever spoke...
He sucks in a deep breath to steady himself and tries to push the thoughts away. Now's not the time for this! And it's a good thing he's focused because a second later, Stoick yanks especially hard against his son's grip and, if Hiccup had been slightly more distracted, he would have gotten knocked over.
But his dad's struggles against him are becoming more violent. Hiccup pulls against him but is constantly dodging as his father's elbow nearly smashes into his ribcage three times.
"But you...dragons..." Stoick growls deliriously. "When you...axe...carry all of us... Walk like...talk...us...think..."
Hiccup's gaze goes wide when he recognizes those words. His father spoke them to him.
"Stop...fight...!"
Hiccup gasps as his his dad's arm gives a harsh pull and he goes stumbling forward, ending up falling against the door in front of his father, whose arm has finally escaped his grip. Hiccup snarls and reaches out again to continue but is suddenly halted when his dad screams,
"YOU'RE NO VIKING!" And then his powerful hand connects with the side of his son's face, the slap so hard it knocks Hiccup straight to the floor.
Toothless's head snaps up at the sound of his human giving a sharp cry of pain, in which time, the Siren lunges at him again. It nearly manages to claw his throat but the Night Fury is exponentially faster and fires a plasma blast right into his opponent's face, dropping the Siren like a fly. Then, Hiccup's dragon bolts for the window. He needs to help his friend...!
For a moment, Hiccup is just stunned. He lays there on the floor for a second, staring in bewilderment at the blood on his fingers from where he reached up to touch his lip. His father...hit him! He knows it isn't his dad's fault, he was being controlled, but...Stoick actually hit him! "Dad..." He mutters, staring wide-eyed up at his father.
It's then that Toothless arrives. The dragon shrieks in outrage at the sight of Hiccup laying on the floor and, although he can't see the blood behind the boy's parchment mask, he can still smell it! He isn't entirely sure what happened...but first thing's first. He's got to clear this room of the Siren's mist. So the Night Fury opens his black wings and beats them hard enough to blow the fog away.
In the meantime, Hiccup sits up and unties his 'mask'. He winces as the cold air from his dragon's wings hits his split lip and tentatively reaches up to touch it again. His fingers come away coated in blood once more.
"H...Hiccup?"
The boy glances up, eyes wide at the sight of his dad wobbling dangerously and leaning his head in his hand. "Dad!" He breathes in relief, flinching when his happy smile pulls on his torn skin.
And that's when Stoick looks down and sees his son sitting against the door below him, a trickle of blood rolling down his chin...and guilt stabs through him when he realizes what he did. His brow furrows and he kneels down in front of Hiccup, who only continues smiling at him, trying to ensure his father it's no big deal. "I'm so sorry, son." Stoick says, prodding Hiccup's chin up so he can get a better look at his bleeding lip. "I...don't know what came over me..."
"It's okay." The boy replies. "It's the Siren's mist. It's...hypnotic or something. They use it knock out their prey, but I think it can also cause hallucinations."
Stoick nods, only half relieved that that's what caused him to hit his son. The other half of him is just angry that he wasn't able to fight the dragon's control. So with a frustrated snort, the Chief stands up and offers his hand to Hiccup, who takes it and is quickly tugged to his feet as well.
"Huh? Wait, Dad...! Where are you going?!" Hiccup demands as his dad starts reaching out for the door knob again.
"I'm going to find that Siren, that's where! This has gone too far!" And then he throws open the front door and takes a few steps outside...only to pause when he sees something laying motionless in the dirt in front of him.
Toothless scurries down the steps to Hiccup and sort of shoves his way past, positioning his body between the unconscious Siren and his already-shaken Rider. The Night Fury growls at the sight of it and shrieks warning at Stoick when the man starts walking toward it.
"Dad...!" Hiccup almost whimpers, craning his neck to see past Toothless. "Don't...!" But he's silenced by a single wave of his father's arm. "Toothless, let me through!" He whispers as he pushes past his dragon and hurries over to his father's side. His eyes go wide at the sight of the dragon at his feet. This is the first time he's ever seen one out of the water...and also the first time he's ever seen the entire creature all at once.
Its scales are as black as Toothless's although they lay more like that of a fish. The Siren's head is long and narrow with two slimy tentacles extending from its jaw, where a mouthful of serrated teeth are visible from where its mouth lays open. They remind Hiccup of a shark's teeth and he shivers at the thought of the unfortunate people who were eaten by them. Its body is long but...oddly shaped. More like that of an eel or a shark than a dragon. It doesn't have back legs, only a fishy tail, but its front legs are quite reptilian in nature, tipped with rounded claws that appear strong but next to harmless. Its only other distinctive features are the presence of a fan-shaped dorsal fin standing upright on its back...and Hiccup swallows when he remembers how terrifying it had been to witness these same fins cutting the water back in the cave... That, and a pair of underused wings that look frail and papery.
"Odin's beard..." Stoick breathes, his expression both fascinated and repulsed at the sight of such a hideous beast. But a moment later, he seems to recover and stands up, an angry glint in his eyes.
Hiccup stands too and frowns at him. "Killing it won't solve anything!" He points out before Stoick even gets a chance to voice his desire. "There are a lot more in that cave and we can't possibly kill all of them!"
So Stoick growls under his breath and folds his arms. "I'm not going to kill it." He grumbles, earning a relieved smile from his son.
"Good," Hiccup nods. "Because I was thinking...maybe if we can learn more about this thing, we can figure out how to train them!" He turns back to the Siren, green eyes already alight with thought. He vaguely wonders if dragon nip would work on them since they live primarily underwater...
"Alright." Stoick agrees reluctantly. "We'll tie it up and keep it in the Academy."
"Maybe we could-" But Hiccup is cut off almost immediately.
"But listen well, Hiccup!" His father snarls. "If that thing hurts anyone else! Even a scratch! I won't hesitate to pop the devil's head clean off its shoulders!" And then he turns without hesitation and storms back toward the house to get some rope so they can tie the dragon up, leaving Hiccup and Toothless standing beside it in the yard.
The boy's dragon hisses angrily at the Siren but Hiccup waves him off, telling him to leave it alone for now. "It looks pretty hurt, bud. I guess you did a number on him..."
Toothless warbles in confirmation, nodding his head almost proudly as if to say 'you bet I did!' And while this confident act of personality would normally have made his human chuckle, Hiccup's gaze is still locked on the Siren. A fact that makes Toothless whine slightly and tilts his head.
"I think its wing is broken..." Hiccup mumbles, almost absently, as he motions to the creature's right wing, which is slightly twisted. He frowns and slowly moves toward the Siren. "We need to set it or something...otherwise, it'll heal wrong and-"
But he's cut off when the beast's eyes suddenly pop open and it arcs its injured neck off the ground, its jaws snapping furiously as it tries to bite into Hiccup's leg.
The boy gasps in surprise and stumbles backwards into Toothless, who catches him with his nose and roars threateningly at the other dragon. It's at that moment that Stoick arrives again. He rushes over to Hiccup, pushing his son behind him as the Siren struggles to get up, only to shriek in pain and collapse once more.
"Hiccup...!" His father growls warningly.
"You said you wouldn't kill it unless it hurts someone!" Hiccup reminds him adamantly. "And look! I'm fine!"
So Stoick grumbles reluctantly as he trudges over to the hissing Siren. He places a boot firmly on its neck to keep it still as his trained hands tie it up, using the last of the thick, tightly woven rope to camp its mouth shut. The creature thrashes as much as it can but, even so, its movements are sluggish and weak. Toothless really hurt it badly.
"There." The Chief says as he stands up, patting his hands together as if to dust them off. "Now let's move this thing to the Academy before it causes anymore trouble. We'll leave it there for the night and take a look at it in the morning..."
"Right." Hiccup says as he moves to help his father lift the heavy dragon. As they're carrying it to the Arena, neither of them are aware of the black eyes staring at them from the pearly surface of the ocean. Nor the gold-tipped dorsal fin that breaks the water about ten feet behind them...
A/N: So...yeah. That was unpleasant. XD
Thanks for reading and don't forget to REVIEW :D
(For one of my talent-less renditions of what the Siren looks like, you can pop over to my Tumblr (also called LeisaTheGreat) and search the tags 'siren sung' or 'siren') XD
