HELLO MY DOODS! I'M BAAACK! I want to first apologize for the long wait, I've had some family problems I've needed to deal with for the past…..FOEVER! But I'm back, and updating all of my stories, so here's the next chapter of the Love's Purest Form! I apologize once again, and hope you enjoy!
Chapter 9: A Sickening Truth
It was dark, wherever I was. I looked around to try and see anything, but there wasn't anything in sight. I looked back and forth, up and down, side to side, but there wasn't anything. 'Am I dreaming?' I thought in question. This wasn't like any other dream I've ever had. Something else was going on here. When I heard a growl, I knew it for a fact. I jerked behind me, but still it was dark. "He...hello?" I called out. Nothing. I felt something brush my back, but there wasn't anything there. All of a sudden, I saw a light. I started to walk towards it. The closer I got to it, the more I could hear. The more I could see, the more I could feel. I felt a horrible sense of dread pool in my stomach.
I made it to the end and what I saw was horrific, to say the least. It was day time, and Dragons and Vikings were battling. And not a raid-sort of battle. Dragons were flying over head, while most were fighting on Berk, right below me. The death I saw was endless, bodies lying in their own blood; dragon and human. Said creatures were fighting to the death, non-stop. I could see dad ordering people while fighting, the gang struggling against the dragons, having no past experience with battle. I looked up to see two Night Furies hovering over the battle. One clearly smaller, and older. A female?
While the other was someone I knew deeply. Someone I trusted with my life. "T..Toothless? What are you doing...help them!" I shouted. He didn't hear me, only looking down at the fight with shame. The Night Fury behind him began to pull him along, away from the fight. He complied. "No! Toothless, stop this! You can stop this!" "No" a voice commanded. It was strong, and feminine. "He can't. None of them can" she said.
I looked around for the voice, but only saw the battle. I was extremely confused as this voice was out of place. Not apart of the gory scene in front of me. More like it was in my head. "Hello?" I called weakly. "Hello child" she replied. It was all so confusing."I don't...understand" I voiced. None of this was making sense. I fell asleep at home, in my bed, and I was watching from a higher place, the battle. Heck, I could see my house from here. The feminine voice chuckled. "And no mortal would. What you see before you is the outcome if you try to make peace with dragons. It is not possible".
I looked in confusion. Who is this woman? My heart dropped in realization. "You're her..aren't you? Your the Queen dragon that enforces the raids". The voice chuckled once again. "So, your reputation doesn't fail you, child. I am. But you must understand that I'm not what you might think of me". I narrowed my eyes. "You control dragons to raid us. I find it hard to see that in any other sense but bad".
I kept looking around for the Queen, but still found nothing. "That is because you mortals only see from your perspective. Take a look from mine..". I looked down to the battle. "What do you see child?". "I see fighting. Death, blood, war…". I looked down and flinched as I saw Fishlegs smashed into a building by a Gronckle. "Yes. And this is how it must be. Humans and Dragons have always been at battle. That is how it is made to be. Peace is only a temporary hope that only the weak minded strive for…".
I looked down again as she spoke, seeing all the people I know fighting, and failing against the dragons. "What you fail to realize, child, is I need to survive for both species to live. Dragons and Humans were both created as each other's weakness, so one doesn't dominate over the other. What you see before you is what would be without my presence…" I studied the scene carefully. The dragons fighting ferociously, fire, teeth, and claws while the humans charge with war cries, axes, spears, bolas, and swords.
"If I fail to keep dragons from fighting to the end, war is all that would be. Both sides would fight to the end, neither prevailing, but neither losing. They would fight until they eliminate each other, and all will be lost". It all seemed….wrong. I shook my head. "That's not true. It can't be, you speak as if both sides are incapable of emotions, of love, of happiness. You're talking like both sides want to fight each other. Dragons fight because they don't want to die. They raid us because you force them too. Humans kill them because that's all they know. All that you've taught them". I argue.
"Yes, but even you must realize any attempt at peace will lead to chaos. Humans...do not like to change if they are happy. They like to stick to their ways because change would be too difficult".
"They will be resistant to change...but will do what's necessary to survive. For their friends, family, and tribe" I argued. "You claim that we are created to be each other's weakness, but what you fail to realize is that our greatest weakness can be our biggest strength". I stood up from wherever I was, not really remembering falling to my knees. The Queen didn't reply so I decided to speak again. "Peace is possible if you work hard for it. Even if it's small, and even if it's temporary. It is possible. You just need to work for it. You think this is how it's meant to be, but you're wrong,
There's always going to be minds that will want war, or just hate for their own reasons. But that doesn't mean fighting is the answer. I don't know why you hate Vikings so much, or rule over dragons like this, but you're wrong. Peace is possible, and is far from weak. I will do what it takes to end this war, and if it means killing you, then I will do so" I spoke firmly.
The Queen spoke again, but this time angrier. "I am warning you child. Without me, both sides are doomed to failure. They will kill each other and they will not stop. You will single handedly be responsible for the destruction of all Humans and Dragons. Do you really wish for that?". Despite the screams of pain, and roars of terror, I looked up to the sky, unafraid. "Destruction can be avoided if both sides work together. Separated like you have them now is the only way both will end as you say. And….I think you know that".
It was quiet for a second. Eerily so. A roar so thunderous, so loud, so...frightening overtook all of my senses. I covered my ears, but it was still there. I felt like something was choking me. Both from the outside and in. I shook my head to get rid of it, but nothing worked. "YOU WILL OBEY ME AND SUBMIT LIKE THE REST!" she roared. It hurt my head so much I screamed out in pain. I felt a pressure in my head, like something was pressing down on it, crushing it. I shook my head wildy.
I faintly felt something else shaking me, calling my name. What was it again? Harold? Henwick? Hiccup? That was….no, that couldn't be it. 'No, don't give into her!' I thought. But the pain, it was so unbearable! "Give in child, and all the pain will go away…" a soft voice said. I faintly recalled she was a Queen. A series of shaking hit me, but I wasn't the one doing it.
'No, don't….give...why am I fighting? She sounds so kind and safe' I thought. What broke me out of the...spell? was a hard slap to my face. "Ah!" I yelped. The force pushed me to my left, only holding myself up by my hands. My face stung from the fresh assault and blinked in my dark room. My eyes felt watery, and reaching up I felt tears. I also felt the sting from whoever hit me. I took in deep breaths and sat back up. 'When did I sit up?'
I looked up at the face of my attacker to see the tear-stained face of the only person to visit me this time at night. He was still crying and shaking like it was the end of the world. "T..Toothless?" I whispered unsure. He choked out a sob and all but threw himself around me. I was so confused and stunned that he of all people hit me. I was rendered speechless from whatever just happened. 'She...she tried to….but I'm not a….how…' was all that ran through my head. I was so confused I didn't bother trying to calm Toothless. I slowly grabbed his arms from around me and pulled him off me. He wasn't sobbing like before, but tears still leaked from his eyes. I gave him the most serious face I have ever made. "What. Was. That?" I said quietly. He just gave me the most terrified look of his life.
Toothless' POV
It was morning, and hours after it happened. Hiccup was sound asleep in my arms, exhausted after the stress of last night. It was nearing midnight last night when I got that feeling again. The exact same one I had before that Outcast took off Hiccup's leg. This time, though, I didn't hesitate in getting to him. His dad, along with a good chunk of the village left yesterday afternoon to go to a chieftain meeting so I wasn't worried about an angry Viking father getting in my way.
I ran to his house and burst through the door. Nothing was there. No scent, no sound, nothing. I didn't question my instinct though, and ran up the stairs to his room. I ran in and saw he was having a nightmare. I didn't think my protective instincts would flare at a simple nightmare. I walked up to his bed and laid a hand to his forehead. He wasn't feverish, or seemingly sick at all. Everything seemed fine, but my gut kept dropping.
I lifted him up and laid down behind him, and set him in my lap. I began to whisper comforting things, but he didn't get any better. In fact, he only got worse. He began mumbling things, about dragons and peace, when I noticed it sounded like he was talking to someone. Call me paranoid, but I didn't want to take any chances if it was her. I began to shake him lightly. "Hiccup. Hiccup wake up, you're dreaming". I said firmly. No response.
"Hiccup, come on, wake up!" I said more urgently. I shook him harder this time, and that's when he screamed. He grasped at his head and shook wildly. I froze at the reaction, something so familiar to me. Something I've seen her capable of. I didn't think it was possible for her to be able to control a human, but when he started to give in is when I lost it. I cried and shouted for him to wake up, shaking him to the point where any normal person would've woke. He didn't.
I finally lost it and did something I never thought I could do. I slapped him awake. It seemed to have broke her spell too. I swear I've never cried that hard before. He was in such shock after it all that he barely said anything above a whisper for the whole night. I gave him the brief explanation that that was her trying to control him. It had almost happened to me a few times until I swore not to do anything against her.
He didn't know it, but that was a warning. A warning to me, for openly attempting to defy her. I decided to stay the night, just to be sure of..well...everything. I didn't sleep the rest of the night. All of my attention was on my mate, and my mate only. If the Queen can control humans, what does that mean for the world? For the village? For Hiccup? I just trembled and buried my nose in his hair. No, I can't...I can't let anything happen to him. I drew him closer to me just to be sure he was real. 'That was too close. I can't put him at risk like that again' I thought with a new found determination.
Hiccup, in turn was shifting, a telltale sign that he was waking up. I didn't move, nor did I look at him as those beautiful green eyes opened to the world. He didn't speak, either. I closed my eyes and buried the rest of my face in his hair. It was almost 15 minutes before he spoke up. "Toothless….this….this doesn't change the plan". I huffed. "What plan?" He groaned and looked up at me. "Toothless.."
"No. I'm not putting you at risk like that. Not again" I spoke firmly. "Toothless, I'm always going to be at risk. Just like you're always at risk". I was visibly trembling with anger now. Did he not get it? "No, it's different now. She almost had you Hiccup! She almost took you from me! I didn't know she could do that!" I yelled, sitting up. He followed.
"Neither did I! Do you know what that means? It means she's getting strong enough to take humans too!" He argued.
"I can't do that to you Hiccup! I can't let her take you like she has been doing with all the other dragons!"
"And what if she does? What it she decides like last night that I'm too much a threat to live, what's to stop her from taking control again?"
"We don't become a threat then!" I shout at him. He didn't back down.
"Are you listening to yourself?!"
"No, I won't do it anymore! Not after that" I decide turning away from him. "Toothless! Are you seriously giving up?" He questions in slight betrayal. "I...I c..can't lose you" I say softly. "I won't". He crawls over to me and softly moves my face to meet his. "You aren't going to". I look at him. Those precious eyes, freckled face, and weak body. Soft hair, intoxicating smell, and golden heart. I tighten my own and come to a final decision. One like my mom made for me. "You're right. I'm not going to".
His eyes widened at my tone and I looked away from them, knowing that by looking back I'll break. I stood from the bed and rushed out as quickly as I could. "We can't give up because of a simple scare!" I hear him yell after me. But, I can't do it anymore. I can't put him in danger because of me. I'm his mate, and I'll do what it takes to protect him. Even...if I have to leave him to do so. 'Is this what you went through mom?' I thought, blinking my tears back and racing into the forest.
Hiccup's POV
I walked through the day a bit numbly. Anyone who asked, I just told them I wasn't feeling well. He wasn't at training today, and I didn't see him anywhere I thought he could be. His house, the cove, nowhere. Astrid seemed to pick up on my mood during lunch. "Hey Hiccup, I need help with something, can you come help me". I blinked from my daze and nodded with a kind smile. We walked to the cliffs above the docks. "What did you need help with?" I asked a tad confused. "Hm? Oh, that was just an excuse to get away from the group. What I want is for you to start talking about what's bothering you".
I blinked a few times. "I didn't realize I came here for you to help me instead of the other way around". She twirled around her axe, something she always carried around since the Outcast incident. She sat down and pulled me along with her. "Well, you don't have much of a choice, so what's up?". I gave her an exasperated look, opening and closing my mouth to say something in reply, but decided I should probably talk about it. I just took a deep breath.
"Alright, but you have to promise me everything I tell you here stays a secret, ok?" She nods and encouraged me to speak. "Well, um, me and Toothless have kind of had a secret relationship for quite a while now, and.." "Wait, you and T...Toothless?!" she spoke in shock. I covered her mouth with both hands, as she said it kind of loudly, and looked around to see if anyone heard her. No one was around so I internally breathed a sigh of relief. Astrid relaxed from a cringe as I pulled my hands away from her face.
"Sorry". I gave a small nod, still looking around to see if anyone noticed. "But I mean, you and Toothless? Who would've thought?!" She exclaimed quietly. "Yeah, you are the only other person aside from Gobber to know". She once again looked in shock. "Really? You...you trust me that much?" I played around with the thought. "Eh...kind of. I mean you probably would've forced it out of me sooner or later so.."
She looked away a bit shyly. "Besides, it would be hypocritical for you to talk about it to someone else, so there's that too". That earned me a punch in my shoulder. I huffed. "But...that's what's bugging you? Your relationship?" she questioned. I shook my head right away "No, it's….how do I explain it?" I questioned out loud. In truth, I was looking for a believable lie that's tied to the truth. "He...he's gotten to a point where he thinks I'm better off without him. Like, because of how badly things were before for me".
It sounded good enough. "We got into a fight, and he stormed off. I've tried looking for him, but couldn't find him". She blew a raspberry in thought. "That is a bit rough. What are you going to do about it?" She questioned. I had been thinking the same thing all day. "Eh, probably something stupid". She nodded in reply. "How about you?" I asked, attempting to change the subject.
"Huh?"
"How are you and Ruff?" I asked genuinely curious. "Oh! Oh...we're good. We're still both knew to the whole relationship thing, but I think we're getting the hang of things". I smiled and looked to the horizon. "That's good". It was quiet afterwords. Until there was a fire halfway across the island. Both me and Astrid shared a knowing look, and ran to see what the twins did this time.
The fire was at the forge, and Gobber was already yelling at them. "What happened?!" I yelled. I had most of my papers, drawings, plans, and everything else you could think of in there. The whole thing was on fire. Villagers were rushing to any nearby wells, or emergency fire brigade barrels for water. And for once, I joined them. This was after all, my workplace.
It took an hour, and nearly all of the water above ground, but the fire was gone. Along with most of the forge. I was covered in soot and sweat, and turned towards the twins who were in a similar manner, having helped put out the fire. "What did you guys do!?" I asked a bit peeved. "It was her fault, she told me to do it!" Tuff yelled, pointing to Ruff. "No, she told me to do it!" Ruff argued, pointing at Tuff. "No I didn't!...wait, what?" They continued to argue. I just put my face into my hands, running them up my hair.
"You know what, it doesn't matter" I say defeated. I walked up to Gobber who was looking up and down the forge. "So, do I want to know how long will it take to rebuild?" I question, unsure. "Well, ya don't need to worry about work for a while, if that's what ya mean". I groan and walk away. 'Welp, guess who's back to feeling useless again?'. The cove for a bath sounds like heaven, even if the water's fridged. I run back home to grab a new pair of clothes and other washing materials and head to the cove.
Like this morning, Toothless wasn't there, so I had the whole place to myself. Something I couldn't decide if I was happy about or not. The water was extremely cold, but I didn't care. I wanted to be cleaned from the fire. I took off my blackened clothes and slowly walked into the water. Deciding this was taking too long, I just dove in. I froze in a small shock from the temperature change, but got used to it, I grabbed my soap and scrubbed my hair, body and face, thinking back to last night.
'She was almost able to control me. Had I not been slapped, she would have too. She's getting too powerful'. I subconsciously put the soap away and just soaked in the pond. 'Toothless doesn't want to help because he thinks it's too dangerous for me. I can't give up now, though. If I am right, dragons aren't what we think they are. I have to do something to not only prove to Toothless I can manage by myself, but to get this thing in motion' I thought.
'The arena…' "That's it!" I shout in glee. I swim back to shore, plan forming in my head. I dry myself off and put on my second set of clothes. I was shivering, and should have warmed up before I did anything, but I needed to get back home and plan this out. I rushed to pack my things, putting them back in my bag and ran to the entrance. Or, I would've if I hadn't run into Toothless' chest instead.
He was in dragon form and giving me a glare. I glared right back at him, and moved to run back to the entrance. OOOOnly for him to trip me and place a paw to my chest, pinning me to the ground. I gave him an angry look as I read his glare. 'What are you doing?' it read. I crossed my arms and spoke. "I don't know what you're going to accomplish by trapping me here. I'm not saying a thing to you, and you can't make me". I felt a bit accomplished by that. And..I spoke too soon. Three seconds later I was back in the freezing water of the pond.
I surfaced, stuff from my bag floating back out. I gave him such an angry and shocked look. He moved over to the entrance, blocking my way and getting into a ready stance as if I was about to try something. I glared at him, teeth chattering from the cold. 'Fine. If he wants to do things that way, two can play that game'.
I threw off my now soaked bag, and dove under the water. I swam down until I couldn't see and swam in the direction behind me. There was a large tree I could hide behind until he got worried enough to dive after me. I swam in complete darkness until I found a main root of the tree. I surfaced just as my vision was fading to hear a large splash at the end of the pond. I hid behind a large root as he began swimming to where I dove under.
Once he did, I as calmly and slow as I could, moved to a rock and got out, jumping on some of the larger rocks out of the water. I got behind a bush, out of the water just as he came up for air. He looked a bit worried, making me feel guilty for tricking him, but what choice did I have? Of course I love him, but I can't be selfish and let the world suffer for the chance of me being safe. Well, safer.
I struggled at keeping my shivering in control as he dove back under. I began moving again, running as far as I could to the other end of the cove. He surfaced again, more worried and this time, looked around to see if I had gotten out. I was hiding behind a tree, unwisely holding my breath after I ran. This time, my heart rate increased, most likely tricking him to think I was a small fox or something. He dove under again, and I ran to the exit, climbing up rocks to the small cropping where I could leave.
Toothless surfaced again, and looked around confused. I looked back at him, at the exit, as he finally spotted me. I turned away from his reaction and booked it. I heard a screech of rage and splashing, signifying he got out of the water. I decided the long way back to the village might be better to take. It'll buy me time to get away from him. I took a sharp left and dove for some bushes. I ran through them as I came upon a tree to climb. I did, and made that my source of traveling.
The sun was beginning to set, and I was beginning to regret taking the long way. And, life in general. It was getting harder to tell, but I was sure my fingers were beginning to go blue. I took a moment to warm them up. I could faintly hear Toothless calling my name but ignored it. He was just going to interrogate me on what my plan was. It took until it was dark to get to the village, but I managed to avoid Toothless the whole way back.
When I got back, I instantly started a fire in the fire pit. I retrieved a blanket from my room, then curled up in front of the blazing fire. My cloths were still damp, but I was considerably warmed up when my back door received three pounds. I knew who it was and decided to ignored it. He knocked again, and this time his voice accompanied it. "Hiccup? Come on, open up, I know you're there". I stayed put, not breaking my gaze from the fire.
He tried again. "Hiccup, please". The fact he was pleading was breaking my mental walls. 'Don't give in, don't give in, don't give in..' I stood with an annoyed sigh and walked to the door. When I opened it, I was met with his annoyed glare. I gave one of my own. He lifted something up to me; it took me a second to realize it was my bag from the cove. He dropped it in my hand and brushed past me, inviting himself in.
I rolled my eyes and shut the door. "Good to see you too, boyfriend" I said sarcastically. He didn't say anything. I hung up my soaking things near the fire to dry and sat down near the fire again. I raised my hands in front of the flame to warm them up when Toothless grabbed one of them. He held it in his warmer hand, rubbing it. I pulled away from him. "I'm fine".
"You're freezing" He argued. I realized then he was checking my temperature.
"I'm fine" I repeated.
I could practically hear him rolling his eyes. He crawled up behind me and wrapped his arms around me, causing involuntary shivers to suddenly wrack through my body. Ok, maybe I wasn't as warmed up as I originally thought. "You know I don't need you to constantly take care of me. I can do it myself". He huffed and pulled me closer. "I can definitely see that". I pulled away from him, yet again. "You know, you argue that you're bad for me, but yet you don't think I can fend for myself" I say, sitting in front of him.
The blanket I was wrapped up in fell down my arms. "Well today wasn't very convincing". "Well, I was avoiding an angered dragon" I say. "That happens to also be your boyfriend". "Irrelevant. Would you have me do anything different if it were a wild dragon?" I ask. "You wouldn't have to. I would be there to protect you". "You're missing the point. I'm going to need to learn to fend for myself if I'm going to end the war". He gave me a stern look. "And since when are you going at this alone?" he asked.
"The minute you walked out the house this morning. I've decided I'm not letting this go on. I was hoping you'd join me, but if you think it best to back out, I can't stop you. I won't". He aggressively pulled my arm, making me look at him. "The whole point of me backing out was to keep you safe. I'm not going to let you throw yourself into the fire because you think you can make a difference".
I huffed in disbelief "And the whole point of working together is so we can make a difference! You're a Night Fury, Toothless, Night Fury! You're different from the other dragons and can make a difference! The Queen thinks you're too weak to fight against her, thinks you'll give up before the actual fight" I argued. I saw a mix of emotions play around in his eyes, going from rage, to conflict, to shock. "Now, I know for a fact that's not who you are, but please...don't prove her right" I finally begged.
I crawled up to him, and cupped his cheek. He bit his lip and looked away from me. "I can't...I can't lose you, Hiccup. I need you, and I can't let you do this" He told me stubbornly. I let out a breath in desperation. "Toothless, you are the second most feared dragon in the archipelago. I managed to not only avoid you, but out smart and get away from you. Today was enough proof of that" I requoted.
"I love you, but just because you think it's too risky doesn't mean I'm going to give up. This is my home, no matter how bad it's been to me, this is where I was raised and this is what I'll die for, even….even if it won't return the favor. I can't do this without you, love. I need your help. It's not just them I'm doing this for, it's for you too" I continued. He wouldn't look at me so I knew I was getting somewhere. I guided his face back to mine.
"What...what if something happens while I'm with you?" he asks, internal struggle clearly showing in his voice. "What if something happens while you're not with me?" A asked. That struck a nerve. "I want so bad to do this together, love...but I will go at it alone if I have to...no matter the odds. Y...You're either w..with me, o..or not" I say, my heart breaking after the stress of the day.
I hated to do this to him. He looked so torn between sides, but we have a chance to change things and he's being selfish….selfish for me. I need him not to be, otherwise we can never truly live in peace. I look away after a minute, thinking I knew his answer by now. I couldn't help but start crying. It was always me that destroys things, or ruins them. The fact I can't stay put and safe is what was breaking us apart.
'Why didn't I see this coming? I let him in, why was I so stupid?! I knew this would happen!' I thought angrily. I cried looking off to the side, thinking for just a moment that I truly hated myself. That's when I felt my chin being guided up to meet his. I was still thinking all the worst of myself when he leaned forward and planted his lips onto mine. I froze at the motion. I had a little Deja vu from our first kiss, minus the tears. He pushed me back slowly, laying me on my back. The kiss was different from all the other ones we've had. While passionate, it wasn't one of lust or dominance. Only love. Desperate for said love, I leaned forward into the kiss, ignoring the tears running down my face.
No words were spoken.
But a thousand things were said.
No heart was broken.
But mine was being sewn back together.
No feelings were lost
But a thousands more were gained.
That night wasn't one of passion.
But was of love.
And Love Only…
Author's Note: I'M BACK LLAMAS! If you haven't read the note on top of the chapter, it explains why I've taken so long to update. I apologize once again to my followers, but I'm BACK! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and comment on what you think. I will be posting more frequently from now on, so stay tuned!
-LlamaQueen666
