"Hiccup, don't!" Valka screamed as she tried to get to her son, but to no avail as the Night Fury—
*Pew!* *Whoosh!*
Fired and missed Hiccup by mere meters before the attack then hit the wall that was far behind the boy.
'What...?' Valka was flabbergasted. It all happened so fast she couldn't think of anything coherent. She opened her mouth to say something, but found that she couldn't say anything at all.
In fact, just about every dragon was simply too shocked to say or do anything after that. Trick and Treat had practically fainted on the spot, Cloudjumper shared the same jaw dropped expression as his rider, and Invy and Sibel felt their hearts pound so rapidly, it almost feels like it was about to jump out of their chests.
Hiccup cracked his eyes open, and immediately felt relief for not becoming a mere pile of ash by now. 'Thank Odin.' He thought in relief before focusing on the Night Fury before him who was staring at him with widened eyes.
"You... You really aren't lying." Stryker muttered, shutting his eyes and shaking his head. He could've killed the human... He has never killed anyone before. He didn't have the stomach to take a life of anyone at all. 'I could've killed him... Oh, mother of dragons, I could've killed him!' The Night Fury wailed in his thoughts, the prospect of spilling blood making him nauseous.
"Of course I wasn't." Hiccup stated as he advanced towards the Night Fury. "I wanted to show you that you have my trust."
"By letting me kill you?!" Stryker could not believe this human! Admittedly, his situation could be similar to this in certain conditions. "What kind of idiot would be willing to die just for something like that?!" Okay, maybe he's being a bit hypocritical, but he's trying to make a point!
"The trying-to-prove-a-point kind of idiot." Hiccup answered with a tone that's almost matter-of-factly had it not been for that slight humor injected at the last second.
"Not my point, human!" Stryker roared with fury. Honestly, what was with this human?!
"Hiccup!" Both Invy and Sibel had snapped out of their stupor and hurried to the boy's side.
"Calm down, you two." Hiccup commanded, pushing away the two worried dragons' heads. "I am unharmed." He assured them.
"Unharmed!" Invy scoffed with nothing less than disbelief. "You nearly gave us a heart attack!" The female Changewing used her lower jaw to conk Hiccup on the head.
"Ow!"
"Please don't ever do that again." Sibel pleaded, nudging his head at Hiccup's torso. Hiccup patted Sibel's head, albeit awkwardly.
"Hey! I'm still here, you know!" Stryker snarled, irritated that he was being ignored.
The two Changewing siblings glared and hissed at the Night Fury. Hiccup immediately commanded them to stand aside as he refocused his attention on the Night Fury. "My apologies. Back to business." His eyes then stared into the dragon's own piercing gaze.
"What do you want? You wouldn't have freed me back then and come here offering me a chance to kill you so freely as a 'sign of trust' without wanting something" Stryker demanded.
"It appears you and I have... Shall we say similar goals?" Hiccup calmly replied. "In your Nest, a monstrous dragon holds you and your fellow dragons in its grasp."
Stryker snarled. "That Tyrant does not deserve to be called a dragon."
"Regardless, I wish to destroy it." Hiccup stated. "I have felt its Connection. Needless to say, it was not a pleasant conversation."
Stryker snorted. "And what do you want me to do? I cannot fly anymore, thanks to losing my tail fin—" Stryker thought he saw the human's face grimace a bit before reforming to his previous expression. "—and neither I nor your humans have the strength to stop her."
"Which is where the trust comes in." Hiccup held out his hand towards the Night Fury. "I might have a way to help you fly once more, but..."
"But?" Stryker would take any chance to fly again and have a chance to free his fellow dragon.
"This requires a... Second hand to accomplish." Hiccup stated, almost sheepishly.
"I don't care." Stryker drew closer towards Hiccup's outstretched hand. "As long as I can fly again, and able to free my fellow dragons, I'll take whatever I can get." However, instead of pressing his snout at Hiccup's outstretched hand like he expected the dragon to, Stryker swatted it away and bared his teeth at the human teen. "Don't think this is enough for me to trust you, human. Right now, you're just a means to an end." The Night Fury snorted.
Hiccup rubbed his hand as he chuckled. "Of course. That's all I—?"
"OUR LEADER!"
What resulted after the Zippleback's awakening was... Chaotic, to say the least.
Later that night, At the Mead Hall
"Alright, where did Astrid go wrong in the ring today?"
"I, uh, guess it's because I got distracted a bit back there."
"No kidding. You almost got turned to a roasted Viking had it not been for Hiccup~"
*SMACK!* "Ow!"
Hiccup quietly laughed as he entered the Mead Hall. The antics of his friends were always quite amusing. Although, he could do without being soaked in rain on the way back from the Cove. He forgot that happened in the movie.
"Tuffnut's right, Astrid." Hiccup heard Gobber stated as the auburn haired teen grabbed a plate of chicken legs and a mug of water before settling on a vacant space on the bench next to Fishlegs. "Ah, Hiccup. Glad to see you could make it." The tone of Gobber's voice suggested that he was anything but glad.
"Sorry." Hiccup shrugged. "My weapons needed some maintenance check." He excused nonchalantly.
"I didn't see you at the forge." Gobber proclaimed, narrowing his eyes at Hiccup.
"Then I must've left before you went in. I went to the woods for some practice, gotta keep my reflexes sharp and all." That was like, what? Excuse number thirty five? Hiccup honestly lost count.
Gobber decided to drop the subject, knowing that he's not gonna get a clear answer from the boy. "Alright, where did Hiccup go wrong today?" The half-limbed man questioned, causing Hiccup to look up from his plate and give the man a bemused look.
"Uh, he didn't go wrong." Ruffnut answered, in an almost matter-of-fact tone of voice.
"Unlike others." Tuffnut added with a snicker while subtly(Nah, it was pretty obvious) gesturing to Fishlegs and Snotlout. He would've included Astrid had his head gave him a reminder that it was still aching from Astrid's fist.
Snotlout glared at the male Thorston twin. "Oh, really? Who was it again that first got taken out of the ring? Oh, that's right! It's you two!"
"All of you got taken out pretty quickly." Astrid quipped while rolling her eyes.
"She's right. Hiccup, go explain where exactly they went wrong." Gobber ordered.
"Well, for starters..." Hiccup sipped from his mug of water. "They were lucky the dragon wasn't in the mood to blast them to Valhalla."
"Oh?" Gobber raised an eyebrow. "And how did you come to that observation?"
"You can see it throughout the dragon's attacks." Hiccup replied before taking another bite of his meal and swallowing it. "Back at the arena, I noticed that the dragon wasn't aiming directly at us. Its attacks were focused more on blasting the shields out of our hands. I do not know why, but I'd suppose it was from the years of captivity." He explained.
'More like I mellowed it out.'Hiccup added in his thoughts.
"Not the kind of observation I was looking for, but it gets the point across." Gobber shrugged. "You all need to learn one simple thing: In the battlefield, no one can afford distractions."
"Well that's gonna be tough, my sister's a big distraction." Tuffnut jeered right before being slammed face first onto the table by his sister.
"You're the big distraction!" Ruffnut shot back. The only reply she got was a muffled voice.
"You need to live—" Gobber slapped Ruffnut on the back of her head. "—and breath this stuff." The half-limbed man then dropped a book on the center of the table. "The Dragon Manual-everything we know about every dragon we know of." He told the teens.
*Rumble*
Gobber let his eyes wander to the ceiling for a bit before refocusing on the teens. "No attacks tonight. Study up." He said before leaving.
"Wait, you mean read?!" Tuffnut exclaimed, the word 'read' seemed like poison to his tongue.
"While we're still alive?!" Ruffnut added.
"Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" Snotlout asked out loud in annoyance.
"Oh, I read it, like, seven times! There's this water dragon that spoils boiling water at your face! And, and there's this other one that—!" Fishlegs was cut off from his ramblings when Hiccup tapped him on the shoulder.
"Fishlegs, please." Hiccup made sure to restrain his lips from smirking. "It's very fascinating and all, but think of the audience here for a bit." He said, putting a bit of emphasis on the word 'audience'.
Fishlegs caught on to what Hiccup was saying. "Oh!" He put a hand over his mouth to cover the grin that was forming on his lips." Right, right. How inconsiderate of me." He said in almost mocking tone.
Snotlout, ignoring that slight against him(and the twins, but they didn't really get it), stood up from the bench. "You guys read, I'll go kill stuff." He declared as he went to leave the Mead Hall.
"Count me in!" Tuffnut eagerly exclaimed.
"Hey, me too!" Ruffnut soon followed after.
"Guys, wait! See you tomorrow, Hiccup! You too, Astrid!" Fishlegs waved goodbye at the two.
That only left Hiccup and Astrid...
Hiccup coughed awkwardly as Astrid refused to even look at his general direction. "So, uh... I guess we'll share?" He offered, gesturing to the book that Gobber left at the table.
"No!" Astrid blurted out before clasping a hand over her mouth. "I mean... No, I already read it before." Which was technically true. She read halfway through it before falling asleep.
"Er..." Hiccup scratched the back of his head. "Listen, Astrid, about what happened back at the Arena—"
"I'm really, really, sorry about that!"
"No, no!" Hiccup waved his hands dismissively. "Technically, it's my fault you got distracted in the first place so I should be the one apologizing instead." He said before standing up and walking towards Astrid. He then gave her a hug.
Astrid's eyes widened as she froze at the contact. Her mind started to draw a blank...
Actually, it was more like 'HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!', you know, like a boiling kettle.
"There, there." Hiccup told the blonde shield maiden. "None of us got hurt, and the important thing is that you're not hurt." He withdrew from the hug and gave her a soft smile.
Astrid managed to regain her bearings after her brain temporarily crashed for a moment, and when she did...
"ImsorryIgottagoIjustrememberedsomethingthatIneededtodosobyeseeyoutomorrowHiccup!" And there she goes, out the doors of the Mead Hall and gone from Hiccup's sight like she was a paper caught in a very strong gust of wind.
"Uh..." Hiccup sweat-dropped. He then noticed the other occupants of the Mead Hall giving him looks. "What are you all looking at?" He growled at them.
All they did was chuckle before resuming whatever it is they were doing.
Hiccup shook his head. "Huh... Ashley always loved it when I do that... Then again, I think she punched me in the face on the first try." He mused before his gaze landed on the Dragon manual on the table. He grabbed it and then flipped the book open.
"Dragon classifications... Thunderdrum, Timberjack, Scauldrons... Kill on sight, extremely dangerous, kill on sight, blablabla..." The auburn haired boy murmured as he quickly flipped through the pages. His eyes narrowed in disdain at the repetitive words; extremely dangerous, kill on sight. "They wouldn't know the meaning of the word." He silently scoffed before tossing the book back on the table.
Hiccup then decided to walk back home. His mind then flashed back to his earlier conversation with his mother...
FLASHBACK SCENE BECAUSE I CAN
After calming down the worried(understatement of the damn century) Zippleback, Hiccup decided to find out what his mother was here for... Again.
"So... You're back here again." Hiccup started as he sat in a cross-legged position on the ground across his mother who was using Cloudjumper as a sort of back pillow(the Stormcutter didn't mind, really). "May I be indulged in your reasoning?"
Valka fidgeted for only a second, but Hiccup noticed it. "I... Er, I was looking for someone." She stated nervously.
Who knew trying to talk to your son whom you haven't seen in more or less fourteen years could be harder than facing trappers?
'Again, she sought me out.' Hiccup concluded in his thoughts. He then decided to veer away from that particular subject for a bit. "Nice armor by the way; very mysterious and intimidating."
"Oh!" Valka snapped out of her nervousness. "I made it myself. To help pacifying wary dragons." She replied. Good... She could do small talks like these. No need to rush the big reveal.
Cloudjumper rumbled in slight annoyance. "You're terrible at this, you know that?"
Hiccup glared at the Stormcutter. "I dislike your attitude, dragon." He growled at the large dragon.
Cloudjumper, opting to ignore the fact that the boy can understand him perfectly, gave him an annoyed look. "Who are you to judge?"
"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III for your information." Hiccup shot back.
Valka softly gasped at how easy Hiccup could understand dragons. "You really can understand them?" She asked.
"Comes with this." Hiccup's left eye glowed a bright emerald green. "It's complicated. I'm not really sure how I got it myself."
Valka was mesmerized by the glow of Hiccup's left eye. It reminded her so much of the King's Connection and she couldn't help but feel her draconic instincts flare up a bit. "Beautiful..." She murmured, almost dumbly.
"It's confusing, that's what it is!" Cloudjumper retorted, but neither of the two humans paid him any heed.
Hiccup's face flushed a bit. "Ehe... I wouldn't really... Put it like that but I guess..." He sheepishly scratched the back of his head.
"M... May I?" Valka requested as she crawled, her movements akin to that of a dragon more so than a human, closer to Hiccup and then held out her hand towards the boy. She did this for two reasons; one, she wanted to once again feel the soft skin of her beloved son, and two was because she was very curious about his ability.
"Uh... Sure?" Hiccup replied before he felt his mother's hand, albeit rather leathery due to her gloves, caressing his skin. More specifically, the left side of his face.
'Truly magnificent.' Valka mused as she slightly tilted Hiccup's face to the boy's right to get a better look at the boy's glowing left eye. The glow was tantalizing, its emerald green color seemed like the perfect fit for her son.
"Er..." Hiccup fidgeted a bit. "I, uh, don't believe I have actually given you my name yet."
That was enough to snap Valka out of her tantalized state of mind. "Oh... Sorry." She apologized before going back to her position beside Cloudjumper. "There really is no need for that, but if you must..." No, really. There was absolutely no need.
Hiccup cleared his throat before standing up. "Hello, my name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III." He placed his right foot behind his left, and then placed his left hand over his chest while his right was tucked behind his back. "A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Dragon Lady."
Valka couldn't stop the laughter that escaped her lips. That was too good. "My... Quite the charmer you are."
Cloudjumper only snorted. "Show-off."
'Make mother laugh with a silly antic, check.' Hiccup smirked as he straightened his posture. "Anyway, let's get back to business. You mentioned something about looking for someone."
Valka immediately recalled why she was here in the first place. "Ah... That's right." She gulped nervously as she felt her heart beat slightly faster. 'You can do this, Valka. You're just going to tell your son that you're his long lost mother, that's all. Easy enough.'
Her hear seems to disagree with that statement.
Meanwhile, Hiccup was having his own inner debate hidden beneath his calm facade. 'Do I gasp like what Hiccup did? Or maybe I should be like 'I knew it!', or maybe I should be skeptical? How the hell do I even know if she's actually going to reveal herself to me anyway?!'
Hm... That's for me to know, and for you to find you to find out, Henry.
"I would..." Valka stood up and then reached for her mask.
"Like to tell you..." She eeeeever so slowly pulled it off her head to reveal her face. She seemed slightly younger than Hiccup had thought her to be. Then again, this was five years before she actually showed up in Hiccup's life.
"That..." Her green eyes, oh so similar to Hiccup's, stared into the boy's own eyes.
'Come on, do it already! You're killing me with all this anticipation you're building up!' Hiccup whined in his thoughts.
"I..." Valka paused once more. She's gonna do it! She's really gonna do it! She's gonna—!
"Wouldlikeyoutocomewithme!"
Not do it!
"Pardon?" Hiccup was certain he heard that incorrectly.
"I-I mean..." Had Valka been a less dignified woman than she is, she'd be opting to stare at the ground and sheepishly twiddling her thumbs. "I would like you to come with me to the Dragon Sanctuary."
Nope, Hiccup did not hear that incorrectly.
"Oh, come on!" Cloudjumper wailed before being quickly shushed by Valka.
"Ah..." Hiccup was thankful that the tone of his response could be mistaken for confusion instead of disappointment. "What brought about such an offer?"
"I, uh..." Valka was feeling very perturbed right now. "I could teach you! Y-yes, that's right!" She gave herself a mental nod. "I could help you learn more about dragons, discover their secrets, and, and maybe help you with your abilities." Good, good... It may not be what she was aiming for originally, but it was still pretty close.
Hiccup quirked an eyebrow at her. If he had been the original Hiccup with his original life, it would've been a very tempting offer. Heck, someone could make a fanfic out of this. In fact, he's pretty sure someone already did. His mind then recalled...
I DO NOT LIKE OTHERS STEALING WHAT IS MINE!
Hiccup shuddered at the memory. "It is a very tempting offer, Ms. Dragon Lady—" Cloudjumper snorted at the referral. "—but I must decline."
Valka's expression shifted to that of surprise. "W-what? Why? I could—"
"No." Hiccup's eyes narrowed at Valka. "In a nearby nest, there lives a monster. A dragon that is, in every sense of the word, a tyrant. Its Connection grows stronger, controlling and taking away the will of more dragons as time passes. I plan to kill it."
"No..." Valka knew of the beast Hiccup was talking about. "No, you can't!" She pleaded, grabbing hold of Hiccup's shoulders. "You can't fight her alone, Hiccup! You'll be killed!"
Hiccup's expression did not falter. "Not if I play my cards right." He removed Valka's hands of his shoulders. "I have already made plans for the future; I am prepared."
Valka couldn't say anything. She looked into Hiccup's eyes, they were filled with unwavering determination(DETERMINATION!). "I just don't want you to get hurt." She murmured as she looked at her son with pleading eyes.
Hiccup gave her a smile. "Don't worry, Ms. Dragon Lady. My friends won't allow that to happen." He assured his mother before assuming a confident pose, his hands balled into a fist as they pushed against his hips. "Besides, I have a goal! I cannot accomplish that if I am dead!"
Valka blinked. "And that goal is...?"
Hiccup raised his fist into the air. "I will try to accomplish what no Viking has ever done before!"
"And that would be...?"
"Ending the war between Vikings and Dragons!" Hiccup proudly proclaimed.
Stryler, Trick and Treat, Invy, and Sibel who decided to have a drink from the pond did a spit-take.
FLASHBACK END!
Hiccup smiled to himself as he finished recalling the memory. "A bit of a rather reckless proclamation to make, but it was made in the heat of the moment, I suppose." He shrugged to himself as he pushed the doors to his home open.
He then stepped inside before closing the door. It's time to sleep.
With Valka
Valka sighed as she relaxed beside Cloudjumper while looking at the stars of the night sky. She and Cloudjumper decided to stay at Berk for the time being.
Cloudjumper crooned. "Well... I'd say that went... Not too good."
Valka patted her dragon friend's head. "Do you think... He can really do it?"
Cloudjumper quirked an eyebrow at her. "Which one?"
"End the war between dragons and Vikings, I mean."
"Oh..." Cloudjumper snorted. "I wouldn't put my hopes up, but he's surprised me enough to just wait and see." The Stormcutter laid down his head in preparation to sleep.
"I suppose you're right." Valka sighed. "I just don't want him to get hurt." The thought of her son facing the queen of the nearby nest was... Torturous, to say the least. So many things that could go wrong, and yet...
She looked into her son's eyes. They were filled with resolve and confidence. The woman knew that anyone with those eyes are very hard to dissuade from whatever it they wish to do. Maybe... Just maybe... He could succeed where she had failed.
She sighed for the last time before letting herself fall into a dreamless sleep.
Morning, With Stoick
Quite the uneventful few days, if Stoick were to make a comment about this. Lucky too. They couldn't afford battle in the seas. Sure, there were sights of some water dwelling dragons, but they were left alone all the time.
So, with that said, Stoick's mind had been preoccupied with battle strategies(never said they were elaborate) and with that talk he had with his son.
"You're going on another Nest hunt, aren't you?"
"..."
"Mom would not want you to do this."
"... I know."
Stoick shook his head and instead opted to stare at the nearing mist that obscures whatever it was on the other side from the rest of the world. What would Hiccup know about Valka? No, really. The boy never met his mother. But still...
In either case, Hiccup was right. Valka wouldn't have wanted him to continue pursuing the nest. Not only would she be against the idea due to her dislike of harming dragons, she also doesn't want Stoick to recklessly risk his life just to find the Nest.
But, alas! He, along with the rest of his tribe, is a Viking.
"I can almost smell them. They're close." Stoick declared as he stared into the fog. It seems to grow more oppressive as they get closer. "Steady..." In response to the oppressive aura, he glared at the fog and braced himself for whatever the demons on the other side may throw at him. "Take us in." He commanded.
"Hard to port... For Helheim's gate." The Viking who was in charge of steering the ship declare as he obeyed his Chief's command.
"Hard to port!" Echoed another Viking as their ships disappeared into the mist.
It's only an occupational hazard.
... "ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRR!"
A/n: I... Am... Back! Remember what I said on the last chapter where it was hard and I had to rewrite again and again and again and again? I take it back and then place it here! I literally erased my progress and then rewrite it before erasing it again and rewriting it again! Also, happy valentines day!... It's gotta be still valentines day somewhere in the world, right? Right?! Anyway, so sorry if this was a bit shorter than expected, but I felt like this was a good way to end the chapter. See you in the next update! Bye bye~