The story is still alive, guys! Happy New Year :D
NOTE: I DO NOT OWN HTTYD
Chapter 10: A Leap of Faith and Friendship
Normal POV
Nobody on Berk was prepared when the pirates attacked.
Haggard and his men stormed the island, armed to the teeth with their swords, axes, clubs, hammers, crossbows, spears, and all manner of sharp and deadly weapons.
But those were nothing compared to their portable cannons. They had been imported from a faraway land and were light enough to be transported on a ship and had wooden wheels so the pirates could take them wherever they went. All it took to send the heavy iron balls that downed any dragon plucky enough to try to attack was lighting the fuse and the pirates were also armed with enough torches to set several houses aflame. Cannons were something the Vikings of Berk were not familiar with and, coupled with the element of surprise playing in the pirates' favor, they found themselves at the mercy of Haggard the Cutthroat and his men.
Zenna's POV
I must have been sleeping for hours because, by the time Stryka nudged me awake, the sky had darkened until it was almost black in color and the moon and stars had come out. "Had a grrrrroooood nap, Zen…?" Stryka purred, licking my disheveled hair. "Wha…? Oh, hey, Stryka…Yeah, I feel rather refreshed…" I yawned, stretching myself out.
That's when I remembered that I was still wearing the white coat Hiccup had made me and I still had his letter crumpled in my hand. I smoothed the letter out and folded it before taking off my coat and tucked the letter inside its pocket. Folding up the coat, I mounted Stryka's back. "Let's go home, girl. I have a very special one-legged boy to apologize to," I said. Stryka smiled toothlessly, glad to see that I'd come around, and spread her wings and took to the skies.
When Berk came into view, I saw fires in the distance…and instantly sensed trouble.
Stryka growled, baring her teeth, as I told her to fly low so we wouldn't be spotted. We glided down over to Thor's Beach and we were in for a massive shock. My friends were taking the children and the elderly into the caves while their dragons all lay in a heap, looking exhausted.
"Guys!" I shouted, sprinting over to them. Astrid was the first to see me and immediately ran over to me. "Zen! Oh, thank Thor! We all thought they got you, too!" she exclaimed, embracing me. Once Astrid let go of me, I examined Stormfly and the other dragons. "What happened? They all look like they've been hurt…" I worriedly looked to the Twins. "It was those weird weapons. Balls of iron flying straight at us…Barf and Belch got hit in the stomach and they can't blow anything up much less fly!" Tuffnut groaned while tending to his half of the Zippleback. "Weird weapons and balls of iron flying…you mean cannons?" I asked, eye wide. "Cannons…nasty name for such things. Blowing iron balls into the sky sounds fun but if our dragons get hurt…I think Tuff and I just found the one dangerous thing we'll never think of playing with…" Ruffnut said quietly before petting a whimpering Barf.
"Okay, I get it. They're using weapons we're not used to. But who is attacking us?" I asked, getting a bad feeling in my stomach. Surely Alvin couldn't be the one attacking since we've signed a peace treaty with him and his tribe…unless Dagur had escaped.
Then Fishlegs came forward with a terrified look on his face. "Um, Zen? You don't happen to recall a particular group of thugs who…well…beat you up shortly after Elias died, now, would you?" he asked timidly. I looked at him, my face turning stone cold as the horrible memory washed over me. "Haggard? Haggard the Cutthroat?" I asked, spitting the name out as if it were poison. Fishlegs gulped, "Yep…he's back…"
I took out my battle sticks immediately clenched them hard. Haggard and his thugs had beaten me up when I had been at my lowest point. When he and his gang had been shipped off, I had been relieved but also outraged. They had made Hiccup risk his life for me and I did nothing to get back at them…
Wait a minute…something wasn't right here…
As I looked around my friends and the group of villagers they had led to safety, I noticed that a certain auburn-headed, emerald-eyed, freckle-faced, and one-legged boy was missing along with his Night Fury.
"Where are Hiccup and Toothless?" I asked my friends who all paled. Snotlout, after having been silent the whole time I was there, spoke up. "He and Toothless are still out there, Zen. After our dragons got shot down, he ordered us to go and hide with the others," he informed me. Stryka roared in alarm at the thought of her beloved mate in danger. I, on the other hand, squeezed my sticks so hard that I thought I'd dent the metal coating them.
"Stay here with everyone, tend to your dragons, and keep out of sight," I ordered the team. "You and Stryka be careful, Zen," Astrid said grimly. Nodding, I mounted Stryka and we took to the air. "Stay high up in the clouds, girl. We can't let them see us," I whispered to Stryka as we neared the town plaza, where the whole battle was taking place.
Hiccup's POV
I had woken up when I heard the blasts with Toothless. Dad had tried to keep me inside, just like in the good old days, and even resorted to locking me inside the house while he charged into battle. Luckily, I knew about 15 different tricks to get out of the house and used one of them to get Toothless and I out of there.
And the sight that greeted me was akin to Helheim on earth.
Houses were on fire and, to my horror, dragons were being shot down left and right by cannonballs. The sight of dragons being shot down like back in the days of the raids made my blood boil. "Come on, Bud!" I shouted and mounted Toothless, clicking on the stirrup and opening the tail fin. With a shriek, Toothless shot up into the air. Our friends joined in the fight and, for a while, we were able to blast some of the cannons so the pirates wouldn't be able to use them.
Then the Twins and Barf and Belch were hit, followed by Fishlegs and Meatlug, then, Snotlout and Hookfang and, finally, Astrid and Stormfly were struck down. My friends hadn't suffered any serious injuries, aside from a few cuts and bruises, but their dragons were pretty banged up. Once I had ordered them to head to Thor's Beach with the children and the elderly, Toothless and I went back into battle.
Zenna's parents and Dad were on Serpent and Serpentine and I joined them. "How many of them are there?" I asked, pointing to the pirates scattered across the plaza. "About 20 to 30…wait, Hiccup! I told you to stay inside!" Dad exclaimed, looking pretty steamed. "Like it or not, Dad, Toothless and I are fighting alongside you!" I snapped, effectively shutting him up. "We'll need all the hands and claws we need, Stoick," Edgar told my father. "Gobber and Spitelout are leading the attack on the ground while every other rider we have are doing the best that they can…" Henna murmured.
"FIRE!"
"LOOK OUT!" I yelled as Toothless and I quickly did a loop to avoid two cannonballs. Serpent and Serpentine managed to dodge them as well but, then, another cannonball came out of nowhere! "No!" I screamed as the maroon Zippleback was shot out of the sky with my Dad and Zenna's parents holding on for dear life. Toothless roared and did a power dive, reaching Serpent and Serpentine in time to support him before he suffered a crash landing.
My Dad and Zenna's parents were, thankfully unharmed, but I knew they couldn't leave Serpent and Serpentine alone so I told them, "We'll keep on fighting. If you three can take Serpent and Serpentine to safety, do it and join the battle again."
My Dad, surprisingly, didn't protest and gave me a proud smile. Maybe I was already showing some Chief material. But I didn't have time to dwell on it now. Toothless and I had a fight to win!
Zenna's POV
Stryka and I were relentless in attacking from above and destroying as many cannons and ships we could. Then, to our bad luck, we ran out of plasma blasts. "Looks like we're gonna have to fly in low, Stryka…" I murmured. Stryka warbled a reply and we dropped altitude.
A bad decision because, all of a sudden, a cannonball came whizzing towards us and hit Stryka's wing! "Stryka!" I screamed as my one-eyed dragoness shrieked in pain. We fell out of the sky and hit the ground hard. "Stryka! Stryka!" I yelled, sliding off my best dragon friend's back. Stryka didn't respond. Her eye was closed but I could see her chest rising and falling, indicating that she was just unconscious.
"Whoops…I didn't mean to do that to your lizard, slut. I was aiming for you."
That cruel, cold voice brought me out of my worry and replaced it with burning anger. Gripping my battle sticks so hard that my knuckles turned white, I slowly turned around to see Haggard the Cutthroat leering at me with a nasty grin on his face.
"No bodyguard to protect you now, slut. What you gonna do about it?" Haggard sneered at me. I didn't reply and merely twirled my battle sticks, assuming a battle stance. "I was hoping you'd do that. Ripper's been hungry for your blood," Haggard snarled, drawing his cutlass. One second passed, the two of us just glowering at each other, before we charged! "I! HATE! YOU!" I shrieked with every swing at him, my battle sticks meeting with Haggard's cutlass. "You fight like a wimpy slut! Oh, wait…you are a wimpy slut!" Haggard snarled, parrying my blows. Damn, was he getting on my nerves! "Quit calling me that, bastard!" I growled at him as we fought. Haggard was so close to me that I could smell his rotten breath but I ignored the urge to gag and kept on fighting.
Too late did I know that Haggard was planning on fighting dirty until he did a low sweeping kick and knocked me off my feet! I tried to get up only for Haggard to point his cutlass at my heart while some of his men came running, armed, and surrounded Stryka. "Move and I order my men to kill your dragon, slut," Haggard warned me. I paled and remained still as a statue. Haggard laughed and ran his finger across his cutlass's blade. "Alone, dragon knocked out, surrounded…and that bodyguard of yours ain't here to protect you anymore…" he sneered before tapping the tip of his weapon against my chin, making me look at him in the eye. "Face it. You'll always be a weakling no matter what you do. You're just a silly, wimpy, little slut," he mocked me. I merely glared at him. Before, I had believed Haggard when I was depressed over Elias' death. But, now, I knew he was wrong. I was no longer a girl but a woman.
And a damn strong and cunning one at that.
Once Haggard's face was close to mine, I quickly scooped up a handful of dirt and threw it at him! "Agh!" Haggard staggered back, momentarily blinded by the dirt, while I stood up and quickly disarmed him. "Kill the dragon!" Haggard suddenly yelled. But, before I could stop Haggard's men, a plasma blast came flying out of nowhere and blasted Haggard's men away!
Toothless and Hiccup came in for a landing, with the latter of the duo rushing over to Stryka's side while Hiccup ran over to me. "Hiccup!" I exclaimed in sheer relief. Haggard had gotten up and was about to attack but Hiccup was armed with his Gronckle Iron shield and quickly slammed it into his face, which I found really awesome and really funny.
Of course, more pirates came running to his aid and we were surrounded. Toothless was hovering protectively over Stryka, who was beginning to come to, and was practically a demon and attacking any pirate who dared come close.
Hiccup and I stood back-to-back, our weapons at the ready…and, just like that, we forgot about our big fight and became a team again.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about leaving!" I shouted as I thrust my sticks out and poked one pirate's eye out. "Apology accepted! I'm sorry I got mad at you!" Hiccup yelled as he fired a pair of bolas at another. "I forgive you!" I replied. Then, worrying about Toothless and Stryka, Hiccup and I simultaneously thought of a plan. We shouted taunts and called Haggard and his pirates names to rile them up and, once we were sure their attention was on us and not on our two Night Furies, we made a break for it and led them on a chase.
"We're cool?" Hiccup panted as we ran into the forest. "We're cool," I gasped as we kept on running.
Normal POV
It's amazing how an attack by pirates can reconcile two old friends.
Hiccup and Zenna ran as fast as their legs could carry them, brushing branches out of their faces, as the whole band of pirates chased them deeper into the woods. They had long forgone their weapons so they could run quicker. Looking behind them, the two could see that their plan had worked for all of the pirates were chasing them. They dodged cannonballs being fired from the portable cannons this way and that and, all the while, held each other's hands so they wouldn't be separated.
What they didn't account for was for them to end up at one of the seaside cliffs. "Nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. End of the line, you two!" Haggard barked as he prepared to light the fuse of the largest cannon.
Looking at each other, Hiccup and Zenna knew what they had to do as the fuse was lit. "No matter what happens, I'll stay by your side no matter what," Hiccup promised Zenna. "No matter what, I'll always have your back," Zenna promised him in return.
Any second now, the cannonball was going to be fired.
"Okay?" Hiccup faced Zenna, his emerald green eyes blazing. "Okay," Zenna nodded, her one violet eye reflected in his own.
BOOM!
The cannonball was fired...at the exact moment when Stoick and the Berkians arrived at the cliff to assist the two siblings not by blood but by bond.
When the smoke cleared and the ringing in everyone's ears ceased, Stoick, Edgar, Henna, Gobber, Spitelout, Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, everyone saw that Haggard and his crew laughing victoriously…and that Hiccup and Zenna were both gone.
"We got them! We got them good!" Haggard howled with laughter before seeing the Berkians, who all wore looks of shock, horror, and anguish. But, in the blink of an eye, those looks were replaced with enraged expressions.
Haggard and his band of pirates didn't stand a chance against an entire village angry at the murder of their two youngest heroes and sole reasons why peace among Vikings and dragons had been made possible. It was a bloodbath and Stoick, Edgar, and Henna, to avenge their children's deaths, made sure to kill Haggard themselves.
However, once all of the pirates lay dead at their feet, the people of Berk mourned.
Edgar and Henna tried to dive down the cliff to hopefully retrieve their daughter's body but Gobber and Spitelout restrained them. "We go to the Great Hall…to honor our fallen…" Stoick said, holding back his tears, as he held Hiccup's Gronckle Iron Shield in one hand and Zenna's battle sticks in the other.
With heavy hearts, the Berkians left the cliff…without looking over the edge and seeing the bubbles rapidly rising to the surface.
BAM! Cliffhanger! What do u think happens next? Find out in the next chapter of "I'll Let You Go If You Let Me Go" ;)
-GuardianDragon98