She waved a hand and the images restarted. This time they showed the Great Hall doors just a storm hit. The doors opened and the teens, minus Hiccup, were shown gathered around one of the many tables inside. Gobber walked around them asking questions.
/Alright, so where did Astrid go wrong in the ring today?
I mistimed my somersault. It was sloppy. It threw off my reverse tumble.
Yeah, we noticed.
No, no, you were great. That was so Astrid./
[Brother, is that one blind?]
"No. Why do you ask?"
[I am no expert on humans or what their facial expression mean, but even I can tell your female hates for him to talk to her. I was wondering if there was a reason he could not see it.]
[He does not wish to,] Shadowfire said. [He believes he is the best and thus should have Alpha's mate because she is the best as well. Arrogant and prideful really.]
[Pathetic, actually,] the female Nadder said. [She rejects his advances and he dishonors himself and her by continuing.]
"I'm gonna kill you dragons," Snotlout growled.
"No, you are not," Gyda said. "One, I did warn all of you that the barrier will shock you if you try to cross. Two, if you managed to live and get over here to attack any one of the dragons I will not stop the others from killing you. Now, we will continue."
The images restarted. Gobber's voice filled the cavern.
/She's right. You have to be tough on yourselves./
Hiccup walked further into the room and Gobber noticed him. Hiccup moved to the end of the table and grabbed a plate of chicken. Snotlout blocked him from sitting on the bench. Hiccup walked around him and snagged a tankard though Snotlout shifted to prevent him from sitting again. Hiccup just walked to an empty table to Fishleg's right. As this happened, Gobber did not interfere. He merely asked another question.
/Where did Hiccup go wrong?
He showed up.
He didn't get eaten.
He's never where he should be.
Thank you, Astrid./
The Terror snarled and flew off Hiccup's lap, landing on the other side of the female Gronkle. He faced the barrier, spread his wings, and hissed and growled at the teens. Hiccup stepped between the Nadder and the Gronkle and knelt next to the Terror
"Easy," he said, gently petting the Terror. "Why are you mad at all of them? Only Snotlout tried to keep me from the table and the twins always say stupid things. Astrid and Fishlegs didn't do anything wrong."
[Neither tried to stop the one youngling from being rude to you and she said something about you that was false. You were the hatchling of their alpha while you were still in that flock. They dishonored themselves and you by acting that way.]
"What did she say that was false?" Hiccup asked.
[They all spoke falsehoods, actually,] the male Nightmare said. [You were required to be at the training by order of your sire. As the Tiny-Fang said, he is their alpha and at the time, was still yours. Your teacher said survival was the point of the exercise. You were not supposed to be eaten at all. Not that the Rock-biter would actually eat any of the younglings in that stone den. Your teacher also failed to call you out and said your shield thing was the most important part of your defense. Thus, you going after it meant you were where you were supposed to be. Just because they are blind fools, youngling, does not excuse their dishonorable actions towards you.]
"Dishonorable?" Astrid asked, her voice low. "What do you mean?"
[He is the youngling of an alpha,] the Nightmare said. [Even with him now being in Protector's flock, his sire is still an alpha. The treatment he has received from all of you thus far has been deplorable and dishonorable. You call yourselves a flock of warriors but refused to teach one of your own to fight. You call yourselves honorable but allow one of your own to be abused. Only monsters act in such manners.]
[The Flame-skin is correct,] the male Nadder said, standing. [Protector, may I approach your brother?]
[For?]
[I wish to honor him. He has proven to me in our time together here that he is worthy of it.]
Hiccup heard Toothless give a strange sounding warble-hiss. The Nadder nodded his head. Toothless then cooed.
[Hiccup, do you mind his approach?]
"You know I don't, bud."
[Then approach, Spike-thrower.]
The Nadder moved around to a clear spot to Hiccup's left. Hiccup turned to face the dragon and his jaw dropped when the Nadder bowed by lowering his front half and holding out his wings. The Terror actually cheered and lightly buffeted Hiccup with his wings. The two Gronkles gave surprised, but pleased sounding, grunts. The female Nadder chirped. The two Nightmares and the two Zipplebacks all cooed. Hiccup heard a shuffle to his right and looked over to find the Terror coping the male Nadder's pose. He then heard a noise to his left and looked there as well. The female Nadder and the two Gronkle's also copied the male Nadder's pose. Movement from behind the bench had Hiccup turning. His eyes widen when both Nightmares and both Zipplebacks bowed as well. The only ones remaining upright were Toothless and Shadowfire. Toothless made a pleased sounding coo and to Hiccup's shock also bowed. Shadowfire chuckled.
[Glad I did this earlier,] he said. [It's a bit crowded back here.]
"What are they doing?" Hiccup asked.
[They are acknowledging you, Alpha,] Shadowfire said.
"Acknowledging me? Huh?"
Shadowfire chuckled again. [You are Alpha. They are are acknowledging that.]
"Wha- why?"
[You have shown us you are worthy of the title,] the male Nadder said, still bowing. [You may have knocked Protector from the skies but you did not kill him and you freed him. He calls you kin even after this event. Shadowfire has repeatedly called you Alpha and accepts your authority. His mother also obeys you.]
"Hiccup," Gyda began, "you have the soul of a dragon, the heart of a chief, and mind and will of a king. The dragons see this even if your tribe is blind to it."
Hiccup swallowed and sat down fully. None of the dragons moved and he could hear only silence from the other side of the barrier. He blinked and stared at Gyda, silently asking for help because he had no clue what to do. No one bowed to him. Ever. No one declared him in charge of anything. Ever. Everyone actually feared the day he would be put in charge, though many spoke against such an event occurring. They all declared, even if Hiccup could hear them, that Stoick would one day remove Hiccup as heir and give that title to Snotlout. Snotlout loudly declared such at times as they grew up.
"Hiccup," Gyda said. "You need to say something to the dragons. They will not move until you do and we do have more to see."
"Uh, how?"
[Just thank them,] Shadowfire whispered. [We don't need big speeches.]
"Uhm, uh, thank...thank you..uh, yeah."
Toothless chuckled and shifted back to a seated position. The other dragons chirped or cooed and followed his lead. The male Nadder tipped his head and moved back to his spot. The Terror nuzzled against Hiccup, which caused Hiccup to scratch the Terror.
[Brother, do get up out of the floor, please. It is cold.]
Hiccup stood but could not keep his mind from spinning in a myriad of directions. The dragons accepted him. They defended him against his family. They bowed to him! He felt a small nudge and looked down. The Terror stared up at him, worried.
[Alpha, are you okay?]
Hiccup did not answer. He moved, without really knowing he did, to stand in front of Toothless. Toothless titled his head.
[Brother? What is wrong?]
Hiccup still did not answer. The dragons' actions rendered him speechless and drained. He leaned against Toothless and buried into his brother's neck. Toothless did not move, except to curl his head down. Hiccup felt tears build in his eyes and could not stop them. Toothless cooed. Hiccup heard several shuffles and felt several nudges against his back and legs. Soon his tears stopped. He straighten but kept a hand upon Toothless neck. He glanced around, surprised to find all the dragons but Shadowfire standing close around him. It was clear the nudges were from the female Nadder, the female Gronkle, and the Terror. He wiped his face with his free hand and froze. Even though he knew his tribe was wrong about dragons and was beginning to believe Gyda and the dragons about them being wrong about him, he still did not want any of them to see him cry. A Viking never cried in private much less in public.
"They can't see or hear us right now," Gyda said. "The barrier is solid and we are muted to them just as they were to us earlier."
Hiccup blinked, staring at her across the female Gronkle's back. The barrier was indeed a solid wall. He focused upon Gyda.
"Thank you," he whispered. "Uhm, you.. you won't…"
"They will never know unless you tell them yourself."
"Thank you."
"Take all the time you need, Hiccup. We will resume when you are ready. Not before."
Hiccup nodded. He leaned against Toothless again and looked around at the other dragons.
"Thank you," he said. "For so long I knew I was useless and wrong. The wrong child. The wrong heir. But you all accepted me. You all told me I was worth something to you. Thank you."
All the dragons cooed and those that could nuzzled him. Hiccup smiled and made a motion to step away from Toothless. The dragons immediately backed up. Hiccup moved and sat back down. The Terror jumped into his lap once more as the other dragons moved back to their spots around the bench. Hiccup took a deep breath and nodded his head once. Gyda snapped her fingers. The barrier turned see through once more. To Hiccup's surprise, his father, Gobber, Astrid, and her mother stood near to the barrier.
"Witch," Stoick growled. "What did you do that for?"
"None of your business," Gyda replied. "And I am not a witch. Please get that through your thick skull. Now, go sit back down. We still have more to see."
"No. I have allowed this for far too long. Release my son and return us to Berk."
"Your son is not my prisoner. Get that through your thick skull as well. Your son is an honored guest here. Now, sit back down."
