Trigger warnings: the next section will be dark and a little grotesque but will explain why the riders have not found Hiccup yet.
Stoick and the dragon riders had not stopped searching for Hiccup. Every day they went out, going further than ever before, searching the Hunters hunting grounds, attacking every ship, searching every island but there was no sign of Hiccup, Viggo or Ryker. The scent had gone cold and not even Stoick's Rumblehorn could find them. Stoick was not a man to give up but with the cold season quickly approaching he pulled back the search, certain his son would have escaped his captors by now and would find his way home. It was a false hope but hope nonetheless.
Surprisingly, Hiccup disappearance brought a number of tribes together. The Outcasts, Bog Burglars, Defenders of the Wing, Meatheads and even the Berserkers (Dagur having somehow survived the almost massacre and saving his dragon Shattermaster) had joined together in the search. Dagur and Heather often lead teams deep into Hunter territory but with no luck whatsoever. No one was talking and even the few Hunters they brought back were clueless as to where Viggo would have taken Hiccup, all they knew of was the bounty on the boy's head. Dagur refused to give up. Hiccup had escaped and eluded him so many times that he knew without a doubt his brother was alive and he kept the hope alive even when others were ready to give up. He reported to Stoick directly, never played games, got little sleep, and was back out before sunrise.
Almost two months proceeded like this. The war between the Outcasts and Berserkers ended, not with a peacetreaty or even forgiveness between the two chieftain's but the fact that Dagur was too preoccupied trying to find Hiccup that Alvin gave up trying to capture him and throw back in prison. Everyday Dagur searched for Hiccup was a day another part of his once cold heart broke.
Then news came and it wasn't what anyone wanted to hear.
Travelling to Berk was routine for Johann. He was used to sailing alone but did enjoy when he met up with his brothers in trade. Everyone always had a story to tell and Johann was particularly fond of the chance to tell a tale. The winds were good and he was travelling at a lovely pace that were have him to port in only a few short days. Normally there was not much to see along his voyage between islands. A few sea dragons and wildlife but nothing to concern himself with. That day was different. Just as he rounded Daring Peak, a jagged rocky island that towered high above the sea like a frightening dragon, a mammoth sea stack in a sense, he spotted something floating in the water.
At first he mistook it for a long and was about to steer the ship around it but something familiar caught his eye, a little splash of red that should not be there. He set the sail so the ship would up alongside it, certain her had been mistaken. As he neared his heart began to sink. It was a body. That was not totally new for him; Johann had seen his fair share over the years, normally after a storm where sailors had been thrown overboard and drowned or maybe after a dragon attack but this body was altogether different. This arms were bound behind a back. The body itself was thinking and long and…
"Oh sweets Gods," he breathed, instantly recognizing the brown leather armor with the intricately painted Nightfury sigil on one shoulder pads, the dark brunette hair, and missing leg. Without a second thought, he cast out a net and pulled the body in. It was not easy. With some hauling a and cursing, he got it and the net back aboard and sprawled out on the deck. "Master Hiccup," he whispered.
The body was badly damaged, many parts chewed on by fish and small sea dragons, but it would appear the young man had drowned long before that. His face was all but gone, soft things like his eyes and ears eaten first, lips ripped or chewed off. The rest of his skin had stretched and cracked from his body no doubt bloating and then returning to size once the internal gasses had escaped. Aside from his damage to the face, the body was also missing it's fingers and the stump of the right leg looked as if it had been destroyed further and was gone almost completely to the new now.
Johann had seen many horrific things but not to this degree and not to someone he had known since their birth. He was afraid to touch the body but could not leave it on his deck like this. It needed to be turned home and given back to its father. He refused to think of the body as the young man he once knew. That man was gone now, the body only a vessel he had one occupied. Finding his best and most expensive fur, he wrapped and bond the body, the arms now at its sides. Stoick would not be happy but at least this would bring closure.
He sailed all night to get to Berk's shores, the body safely stored in the hold of his ship to keep from being spotted by any passing riders. He could not bare to see the horror in the young ones' faces. He made good time, arriving at the island just before dawn and immediately asked one of the night watch to awaken Stoick. The cold of the approaching winter was in the air. It was only another month before the trade routes would close.
Overhead the Berserker chief could been seen on his Gronkle preparing to head out. The young chieftain spotted Johann and immediately landed his dragon on the dock. Johann stepped back in fear. Dagur was a temperamental young man that had attacked him on more than one occasion and Johann wasn't sure what to expect from him. But Dagur made no move to board the ship. The boy looked tired and more in need of sleep than a fight.
"Hey Johann," the Berserker greeted, brushing his spiky red hair back. "Kind of early for a delivery, huh?"
"Ah…yes, yes it is, Master Dagur…uh…would Stoick be awake yet? You are here as a friendly, yes?" Johann asked, looking past the Berserker toward the safety of the night watch. The men didn't seem overly concerned about Dagur's presence.
Dagur gave a laugh but it was devoid of mirth or even his normal boutique of insanity. "Probably at Mead Hall. The guy hasn't slept much since…" Usually bright green eyes looked downward, a sadness Johann had never seen in the youth before coming forward. It was such an unusual look on the youth that Johann was taken back.
"Ah…yes Master H…" he couldn't bring himself to say it, not with the body resting just below their feet. "I am sorry. I know you were rather…fond of him."
A world of emotion played over the young man's face. Dagur settled for a small nod before glancing over his shoulder at the sound of thumping feet on the wooden planks. Stoick , Gobber and Alvin made their way to the ship, all of them looking ass if they had only had an hour or two of rest in weeks.
"That's my cue to get out of here," Dagur said, quickly climbing back onto his Gronkle, no doubt trying to escape Alvin.
Johann gave a small wave before turning his attention to Stoick. The Hooligan chief looked a little confused by his early arrival but the trader didn't delve into his usual pleasantries or casual chatter as he normally would when greeting the chief. For the first time he went straight to the matter at hand or at least did his best. "Stoick…I…" He hesitated a moment, trying to form the words.
"What is it, Johann?" Stoick asked, clearly expecting some sort of trouble out to sea and secretly hoping the Hunters had been found.
"It's young Master Hiccup…"
Hope filled Stoick at those very words but quickly fell at the look on Johann's face.
"You best follow me," the trader said, his voice soft, as if afraid to speak too loudly.
For a moment Stoick simply stared at him, confused and then his eyes slowly widened and fear replaced the confusion. He hurriedly followed Johann into the bowels of his ship and it didn't take even a moment for his eyes to fall upon the bundle of fur the was wrapped tightly in the shape of a body and situated on a low bench. "No…" he whispered, unable to believe what he was beholding. His mind refused to accept such a thing as he moved closer. Very carefully, his hands shaking, he untied the leather straps holding it all together. It took all will power to make his arm work and dedication pull the fur open. When he did his heart stopped and all he could do was stare in horror at the body hidden within. It was in bad condition, the face unrecognizable but there no mistaking who it was. The armor, the missing leg, the hair…it was his son. It was his little boy.
He fell to his knees as a anguished cry escaped him. Gobber was so next to him, his hand on his shoulder, and shaking nearly as bad. It was Alvin who had the foresight to cover the body once more. He said nothing, there was nothing he could say to ease his old friend's broken heart.
News travels quickly on a small island like Berk. It was hard not to notice Stoick's large format cradling the bundle of fur to his chest or the on booted foot that seemed intent on escaping the confines of the shroud. No one said anything to Stoick but they came out to the Plaza, each feeling the sorrow of losing their future chief. The riders rushed to Stoick's home but Gobber refused them entry and took them to his forge to explain the situation while Alvin and Spitelout cared for Stoick.
The riders, Hiccup's closest and dearest friends, each reacted differently. There shock and anger and sorry. Some managed to hold themselves together until they were in private. Fishlegs broke down immediately. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were silent, both in shock. They wandered away without a word but we're later found huddled together crying in their Soggy Place. Snotlout got mad and smashed a few things as he stormed out. Heather took a shell shocked Astrid home and stayed with her until she cried herself to sleep and then went to find Dagur.
She didn't tell him anything. She couldn't even form the words but he knew something was wrong. "They found him," was all she managed when he pressured her. She refused to meet his gaze, not wanting him to see the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. They had only recently gotten Dagur back and she didn't want him going all deranged again.
Of course the moment Shattermaster touched the ground, Dagur was off his back and bursting into Stoick's home, mindless of the fact Alvin was there. Heather tried to stop him but even with all her skill there was no stopping Dagur in such a state. There was a sorrowful scream that echoed throughout the village and rung up into the mountains and then Dagur was running for the house, tears streaming down his face. Heather ran after him, leaving their dragons behind. He didn't go far. He ran maybe a mile or two into the woods where an old tree house stood high above the ground. He scaled it with a thought. When Heather caught up, he was seated in the center of the building, his arms wrapped around his knees and sobbing uncontrollably.
For a moment Heather was unsure what to do. She had spent over an hour comforting Astrid and tried to console Fishlegs, but Dagur was in hysterics, not at all acting the way one would expect at losing an enemy, even a former enemy. But then Dagur and Hiccup's relationship was an odd one, and Dagur never truly looked at Hiccup as an enemy but a wayward brother he needed to teach and protect, even from himself. He didn't pull away when Heather kneeled next to him. He collapsed into her arms and cried all the harder, his wails heartbreaking and just as strong as Stoick's and Astrid's.
"It's my fault," he sobbed into his sister's shoulder. "If I hadn't joined the Hunters…if I never told Ryker about Hiccup none of this would have happened. At least when I was in prison he was safe."
She couldn't argue that fact. In many ways this was Dagur's fault. But Hiccup would never have blamed Dagur.
That night they celebrated Hiccup's life by sending his body to Valhalla. They used Stoick's flag ship for it was the only one suitable for the warrior Hiccup had become since defeating the Red Death at the tender age for fifteen. The sail was replaced with one the youth had designed, the large strike class sigil, an image of Toothless, at it's center.
An odd thing happened when the dragons came to see what was going on. Toothless sniffed at the body but other than seeming slightly confused at no other reaction. He nudged at Stoick but did not seem to understand everyone's sadness. The other dragons reacted much the same. They responded to their riders sadness but had none of their own. They comforted the riders and listened while Stoick spoke the last rites as the ship carrying their beloved friend sailed off in the moonlight, burning brightly under the stars.
What Stoick and the people of Berk did not know but the dragons did, was that the man they sent off to Valhalla was not Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, but a young man of similar build and hair. It had been a cleverly set up plan by Ryker no less. It was a simple plan really. Shortly after Hiccup was captured and Viggo agreed to the auction, Ryker had his men search for someone with a very similar build as their captive. It took time but they found one on a Peaceable ship who matched almost exactly, with the exception of having both legs. The boy had begged for his life when he was brought before Ryker, but killing him had been surprisingly easy. Ryker held him under the water just off shore, killing the youth himself to make sure it was done right. Once dead his left leg was amputated in exactly the same place as Hiccup's, dressed in the former riders clothes, mutilated to the point his face would not be recognizable then thrown overboard on a trade route Ryker knew Trader Johann was fond of using. It was the first time Ryker had left Hiccup since his capture but he wanted to make sure everything went as planned. Hiccup, under the influence of the truth drug, had provided a time line for Johann's next visit to Berk, being off by only one day. Ryker didn't follow the trader to see the funeral pyre, he was confident the with the amount of decompression sustained over the month and a half after acquiring the body that no one would really question if it was really Hiccup or not. Everything that would have separated the Peaceable from Hiccup had been destroyed or mutilated to the point that there was no way to tell the difference between one man or the other and he highly doubted anyone would strip the body in its condition.
Ryker returned to where the Hunters were hiding with a new bounce to his step. No one would try to rescue Hiccup now. To the rest of the world the boy was dead but in truth he was safely tucked away in a nice little room with a bed and warm furs, not happy but very much alive.