Chapter Ten
A/N: I hate it when I'm nearly done typing the responses...and then I accidentally hit the back button and lose everything... *ANGRY NOISES*
In response to...
Wanli8970: Well, legit Sirens are more mermaid-esque but I did version my dragon-Sirens after mermaids so they're sort of a hybrid... XD And with Flara, I don't know when I'll be able to use her (or if I'll ever get a chance) since I have so many plots/requests in the works right now. But I'll let you know if I decide anything.
Majora098: Thank you so much :) I'm glad you're enjoying my stories & characterizations. :D
Cottonmouth25: I just referenced the fatherly moments between Hiccup and Stoick...dealing with THAT SCENE from the movie... o_o
Q-A The Authoress: Yup :)
InsaneWarrior0: Yeah, and it's real beauty... XD
Breyannia: Well I'm glad you're enthused! :D
TheGallopingCupcake: Lol, probably. XD And yeah, so far chapters 9 and 7 have been my favorite...although this one isn't too shabby either, if I may say so myself. XDD (I'm just geeking out over it because I conjoined two smaller chapters together to make a longer one and I really like how it ends...you'll see.)
NightFury101 (from chapter 1): Lol, it's fine! I don't at all expect you to drop everything you're doing whenever I post a story! But I'm glad you're liking it so far and I hope you can catch up in time for the climax! (It's gonna be a doozy... LOL!)
InfinitiumAce: That's fine, computers suck... XD But I think you'll be surprised if you think that's where the story is going... And yes, I totally quoted the movie with that sentence. XD Thanks, I'll your offer in mind.
xInsertCreativeUsernamex: You'll see what it is by the end of this chapter... D'aw :( I really do hope you feel better soon. Get some sleep and eat soup and stuff. That makes me feel better :)
The next morning, Hiccup is slow to wake. He yawns deeply and his eyes are too heavy to open so he snuggles further down below his blanket furs and decides to go back to sleep. Until he hears the familiar coos of his dragon, that is.
The boy groans tiredly and swats at Toothless's nose when his Night Fury purrs and licks the boy's cheek, trying to rouse him from his slumber. "Nooo...come on, Toothless...five more-" Hiccup suddenly cuts himself off, tears stinging his eyes for a second as he flinches at the pain in his mouth. The entire left side of his jaw aches below the gauze his father tied there. He doubts his split lip is still bleeding...but it hurts a lot more than it did last night.
Hiccup hears Toothless's sympathetic whimpers and opens his eyes to find his friend leaning his head on the side of his pillow, a sad look in his bright green eyes. "It's okay, bud." Hiccup assures him quietly. "It doesn't hurt that bad." And then he sits up and tentatively grazes his fingers over the gauze, finding it sort of torn and hanging on by a single edge. It must have come loose in his sleep.
So, with grimace, he pulls it the rest of the way off. Toothless whines worriedly at the sight of dried blood on the bandage but Hiccup shakes his head. "It's fine, Toothless." He assures him as he turns to the window, squinting to see his reflection in its transparent surface. Oh boy... Now that the sticky gauze has been removed and it's no longer pulling on its torn lip, it actually feels more numb than anything. But it still looks terrible...which isn't going to sit well with his father, who already feels awful about it.
Speaking of Stoick, where is he? Hiccup tilts his head, listening to the utter silence downstairs and realizes his father must have already left. He feels a nervous twinge in his stomach when he remembers how out-of-it his dad had been while under the influence of the Siren...and part of him fears that one of those dragons could have gotten to him again...
Toothless warbles in surprise when Hiccup suddenly tosses his blankets away and fumbles over the edge of the bed for his prosthetic. The dragon snorts and nudges his Rider's hand away before carefully drawing the metal leg out from beneath the bed himself and handing it to the boy, himself.
Hiccup smiles gratefully as he attaches his prosthetic. "Thanks, bud." He says, scratching his friend's scaly chin. "I want to head down to the Academy to check on that Siren... Hopefully, Dad will be there already."
So the dragon coos in confirmation and stands up, trotting down the stairs ahead of Hiccup, who follows him a few seconds later, once he's gotten his vest and right boot on. As he climbs down the stairs, he chews his lip thoughtfully.
What if we can't train the Siren...?
A thick crowd has already begun to form outside the Academy's closed doors. Inside, the furious shrieks of a dragon can be heard and the villagers outside look both distraught...and curious.
Standing near the front of them, is Gobber. The blacksmith's voice shouts over everyone else's as he tries to convince them to go back to their lives and that there's nothing to see here. "The Chief has everything handled!" He tells them. "No reason to panic!"
But they don't exactly seem panicked. Especially once Hiccup is spotted. At the sight of him, they begin murmuring amongst themselves about how 'the Siren attacked his house last night' and 'he and Toothless managed to subdue it!'
Hiccup smirks nervously at them as he passes, head down and shoulders drooped, as if trying not to draw attention to himself. It's only once he reaches Gobber that he says anything. "What's going on here?" He asks quietly.
"Eh, everyone heard the ruckus last night...so when they heard you'd captured a Siren...well, naturally they're curious." His mentor explains casually. "Yer father was here a few minutes ago. Wanted me to tell you not to get near the thing until he returns." But even as he says it, he's pulling open the doors and hobbling inside. "But frankly, I think it gets nervous around crowds." As Hiccup follows him in, he notices why his friend said that.
The Siren is still tied up the same way as last night. Its black eyes staring hatefully at the two humans as they walk in, but its expression turns especially acidic when Toothless strolls in after them. It's thrashing violently and hissing below its makeshift muzzle, trying with all its might to escape the binding.
"Whatever you want to try, you'd better try it now." Gobber instructs. "Believe it or not, this is the calmest it's been all morning." And then he turns and heads back outside, leaving the doors open a crack...just in case.
Seeing that the bigger, burlier man has left, the sea dragon goes still. It narrows its eyes at Hiccup and releases a long, low growl between its teeth.
Hiccup swallows in fear but motions for Toothless to back off. "It can't hurt me now, bud. And you'll only make it nervous."
His dragon snarls in outrage and defiantly remains beside him, green eyes flaming with anger at the other creature. His teeth have slid into place and he opens his wings a little, almost flaunting the fact that he can move his wings and isn't tied up.
The Siren replies with a harsh shriek.
"Toothless!" Hiccup scolds as he jabs a finger in the opposite direction. "You've gotta let me try, bud! Now go outside and wait with Gobber!" For a moment, Toothless only continues his stand-off with his enemy but after another commanding bark from his Rider, he reluctantly folds back his ears and turns away to slink toward the door.
He won't go outside and leave his Hiccup alone, but he will give him some room to work... After all, if anyone can train this horrible beast, it's the Night Fury's Rider.
With his dragon out of the way, Hiccup returns his full attention to the Siren. It's gone perfectly still and, if it weren't for its roaming, black eyes, he might think it fell asleep. He draws in a steadying breath before offering a half-hearted smile and beginning to slink forward.
"Hey, there..." He begins in the calmest voice he can manage. "It looks like your wing is pretty badly hurt... It must be pretty sore."
The black sea dragon narrows its eyes as he gets closer.
"I know we kind of got off on the wrong foot...but I just want to help you." He assures it. "So...if you wouldn't try to bite my good leg off, I'd really appreciate it." He tries to laugh at his weak joke as he motions to his right leg, which the Siren briefly looks at, as well. "So? What do you say?" He asks, slowly extending his hand forward toward the captive dragon. "I'll try to fix your wing and you don't kill me, okay?"
For a split-second, he thinks it actually might work. His hand is hovering only about an inch above the creature's forehead, but before he gets a chance to seal the deal, it releases a bloodthirsty hiss and thrashes desperately as it snaps its jaws below the muzzle.
Toothless roars and leaps to his feet, racing over instantaneously to shove Hiccup away from the suddenly violent dragon. The Night Fury snarls, his scales bristling in rage. How dare this thing threaten his human?!
"Toothless!" Hiccup grumbles as he stands back up from where he fell when his dragon shoved him. "Bud, calm down! I'm fine, look!" He prods his friend's face in his direction and smiles reassuringly. "See?"
But Toothless's gaze immediately lands on the freshly scabbed slice in his human's lip. He knows Stoick is the one who 'hit him' but it was the Siren's fault his Rider got hurt! With that thought in mind, he whips back around to growl at his enemy again.
And Hiccup puffs out a sigh when he remembers that his incredibly intelligent dragon can also be quite stubborn. Especially when it comes to the safety of his human companion.
He's just about to ask Toothless to give him some room so he can try something else, when he hears the flapping of wings overhead. Looking up, his eyes go slightly wide when he sees who it is.
Hiccup folds his arms and frowns deeply at the sight of her. "Pardon me, milady...but you should be resting that ankle! Not flying around!"
Astrid shrugs as Stormfly lands in the Arena. Her injured left ankle is encased in several layers of bandages and braced against a splint, but she doesn't seem to mind it too much. She actually grins at Hiccup when he walks over and chuckles, "At least I still have my ankle..."
He glares at her poor humor before rolling his eyes. "Seriously, though, Astrid. You shouldn't move around too much on it."
And she nods in agreement. "Which is why I have Stormfly. As long as I'm not actually walking, I'm fine! Besides," She almost purrs as she narrows her eyes at him. "I seem to recall a certain thick-headed Viking walking around the very day he woke up from a coma and losing his leg."
Hiccup sighs. "Yes well, I am thick-headed and believe me, that night I was wishing I hadn't walked around so much..."
"It's fine, Hiccup." She assures him suddenly, craning her neck to see past him. "So it's true then, you really did catch a Siren?"
He hesitates for a moment, not so sure he wants to end this conversation yet. She really should be taking it easy... Of course, who is he to talk? So instead of pressing the matter further, he simply nods. "I told my dad I could train it so he wouldn't just kill it but...so far, it's not going so well."
Astrid frowns. She leans down and pats the side of Stormfly's head, motioning for her to let her down. Her Nadder does so with a concerned squawk and watches with worried yellow eyes as her injured Rider slides down her wing, landing lighting on her good foot.
"Astrid...!" Hiccup sighs in exasperation and hurries over to her, allowing her to lean most of her weight on his shoulder. "What are you doing? I told you to sit still!"
But her focused, blue eyes are intent on the dragon behind him. The Siren snarls at her, also clearly remembering her from the battle in the cave. It curls back its lips and hisses at her.
"Are you sure these things can even be trained?" She wonders. "They seem pretty...feral."
"Well, we have to try." Hiccup points out as he slowly, awkwardly wraps his arm around her waist to better support her. Clearing his throat, he avoids her eyes and stutters with the continuation of his thought. "It's either train one...or try to kill all of them."
"And then we're right back in our dragon war..." Astrid mumbles, knowing that no one wants that. "Maybe we should...just give it some time." She offers. "I mean, these things probably haven't spent a lot of time around humans other than...well...eating them. Maybe if we let this one get used to us, he'll figure out we're not just food...?"
For a moment, Hiccup just continues to stare at the Siren. Its black eyes shimmer with resentment and he can't help but feel his friend is probably wrong. But what other choice does he have? And besides...telling his father that's their plan will certainly buy him so more time to think of a way to train it, if nothing else. So he nods his head and smirks at her. "It's the best we've got right now, that's for sure."
But Astrid's eyes have fallen on his split lip and she sighs. "What did you do?" She asks him, tipping his chin up to get a better look. "I swear, you are the clumsiest person I've ever known..."
Hiccup hesitates, a twinge of sadness in his chest when he remembers how he received his bloody lip...but then he shakes it off. It's not his dad's fault. So he just shrugs and says, "It was an accident."
Astrid blinks, taken aback by his hesitation and the troubled twitch of his brow she knows all too well. "What kind of accident?" She asks him, suspiciously. But before he gets a chance to say anything-
"Uh, Hiccup! You probably want to see this!" Gobber calls from outside. His tone is tight, almost...fearful.
The two Riders exchange knowing looks before Hiccup helps her back up into the saddle and they both run out of the Academy, only to skid to a halt at the sight before them.
"That's..." Astrid begins, her eyes roaming the beach as she tries to take it all in.
"...a lot of mist." Hiccup finishes, his suddenly trembling hand unconsciously finding Toothless's side as his dragon begins to snarl and bristle furiously.
Disturbed rumbles move through the crowd of Vikings as they watch the enormous plume of purple mist rising from the water. What is it? Where is it coming from? Only Hiccup and Astrid's expressions are both understanding...and terrified. They know what that fog is...and what it's capable of.
When the teens look at each other next, they don't need to say a word. Both of them already knows what needs to happen.
"Come on, Toothless." Hiccup mumbles as calmly as possible as he hops into the saddle and starts buckling himself in. To get that much mist, there must be hundreds of Sirens out there. We're gonna need a distraction until the villagers are out of harm's way. So they immediately take to the air and rocket out toward the beach at top speed.
"Everyone clear the area!" Astrid barks over the sound of the distraught crowd. "That mist is dangerous, we've seen it before! Go home and leave it to us, we know what we're doing!" If only that were true...
The crowd hesitates, their expressions becoming fierce as they reach for their weapons. They all clearly remember what nearly happened last time they left their heir deal with such a battle himself...
"You heard her!" Gobber shouts. "Return to your homes! The Chief will be here shortly, I'm sure!"
So after another few seconds of reluctance, the Vikings lower their weapons and hurry off toward home, trusting that the Riders and their Chief will be able to take care of this...whatever it is.
"Thanks, Gobber." Astrid says tightly. Her eyes are trained on Hiccup, who is circling over the beach, struggling to see how many Sirens there might be. "I've got to go help him." Stormfly squawks as her Rider signals her to take off but Gobber stops her.
"Not with that foot of yours, yer not!" He protests. "You fly off and find the other Dragon Riders! I've got to go alert Stoick to what's going on!"
"What about him?!" Astrid demands, jabbing a finger in Hiccup's direction.
"He'll be alright. Toothless'll keep him safe until help arrives." At the reassuring tone in his voice and the truth in his words, Astrid sighs in defeat. She knows he's right. She'll be of no use to Hiccup if she just gets thrown from the saddle and her foot gets even worse. If anything, he'd put himself in danger to protect her... Their best bet right now is the other teens and Stoick.
"Alright. I'll be back as soon as possible." And then she and Stormfly fly off in the direction of her friends' houses and Gobber hobbles away to find Stoick.
He doesn't understand it. The beach is absolutely smothered in fog so there must be hundreds of Sirens...and yet he doesn't see a single one. Of course, they're probably hidden beneath the waves but...you'd think he'd see something to tip him off to their presence. But there's just...nothing.
Toothless's growls go quiet and his scales bristle, pupils so narrow they're merely slits. The Night Fury frantically looks back and forth, his nose twitching as he tries to sniff them out. It's maddening! He knows something is here, he can feel it. But he can't detect them in any physical way...
These things really are brilliant hunters.
Which is just great... Maybe Hiccup will add that to the Book of Dragons if they make it out alive. Which is looking less and less likely the longer they hover there above the shore, feeling like they're being stalked by invisible eyes all around them.
Well this is eerie. Hiccup comments dryly as goosebumps prickle across his arms. I think I'd rather be fighting them than just sitting here waiting to be surprised...
Fortunately -or unfortunately he soon gets his wish. And it comes in the form of the most massive dorsal fin he's ever seen. It splits the water so suddenly that ocean spray hisses against Hiccup's face and Toothless shrieks in surprise, his flying becoming momentarily clumsy as they both stare in horror as the single fin raises further and further out of the water until it nearly blocks out the sun...
"Well..." Hiccup gulps. "At least it's not a hundred Sirens..."
He's right. There's only one Siren here now. Problem is...it happens to be their very, very unhappy queen.
A/N: DUN DUN DUN! Climax starts next chapter!
(Also, if there seemed to be a part in this chapter that was choppy-sounding, it's because this was originally split into two different chapters but I ended up putting them together.)