I neither own nor claim any rights to How to Train Your Dragon...

Alright... After this chapter, the timeline is going to start to really leap ahead, and will cover important events in the lives of Oscar Rodgers, the people of Berk, and those who will become their allies through marriage. New characters will be introduced, and beloved characters will die. It is only natural with the passage of five human generations worth of time. Two of those deaths I have already written about, in my one shot storys collection. Those one shots will be deleted as they are integrated into this story. I have not been writing the events for this story chronologically. I know what events need to happen, and where they need to fall on the timeline. The ending has already been written, and I cannot wait to share it.

Without further ado, I give you the latest chapter in A Ripple in Time:

A RIPPLE IN TIME
Chapter 11 - A Revelation

Oscar and Raenick returned to Berk after having decided to reveal the truth to Stoick the Vast, establishing a for-chiefs-only flow of information leading to the day when an Icarian advance team arrives to build the portal that would one day be called "Odin's Mirror." They had agreed that there should be no delay, after which, they both would need to leave Berk.

O O O

Stoick whistled as he walked up the stepped path towards his house. The day's chiefing duties miraculously went off without a hitch, and he was anticipating a quiet evening at home, with a mug of ale and a warm fire, and without the need for a single block of ice to ease his non-existent headache. He opened the door to his house, turning to look out over his village. He backed into the house with a contented smile, and closed the door. As he turned around, the smile left his face to be replaced by a concerned fown. He was not expecting anyone else to be here, and yet he was now facing Raenick the Frugal sitting in his chair at the firepit with Oscar Rodgers standing behind her with his forearm resting on the tall chair back.

"What are the two of you doing here," he asked, reaching for the axe he kept propped up near the door. People did not typically wait uninvited in someone else's house unless they were up to no good. And he had certainly not invited either of these two to his house.

"Easy, chief," said Oscar. "We are here to talk, nothing more. We have answers for you."

Stoick eased his hand away from the axe, and instead, crossed his arms and fixed the intruders with a stern expression that screamed, this had better be good. "I'm listening."

Oscar laid one hand on Raenick's shoulder, and the Nartaran woman reached up and took it, giving it an encouraging squeeze. "As Gothi pointed out, I am not from this world. That is not completely true, sir. I am from this world's future. I was part of an expedition that was studying a piece of technology left behind on what you call 'Lone Island.' That device was a time portal. I stepped through it in order to escape an earthquake. It was a risk, but I figured that it would be better to be lost in time than dead. The portal brought me to this time. It was responsible for my memory loss. I don't really belong here, but here is where I have ended up, and I can never get back home."

Stoick bared his teeth in an annoyed grimace. "So you lied to me about where you were from."

Oscar shook his head. "No, sir. I am from where I told you. I just didn't tell you when I was from. That would have opened the door for all sorts of questions it would be dangerous to answer. Things I know about the future could alter the past, and have some really nasty effects.

Stoick thought about it. It did make sense. But something wasn't right. "So why tell me now?"

"Because, Stoick," Oscar said, "Raenick's people who are from another world, will be coming to take Berk's dragons away in roughly five generations."

Raenick met Stoick's now-fiery gaze with a cheerful smile. "When that happens, there will be a lot of bloodshed that I would like to see avoided. Berk is fated to be destroyed, but not by my people. History records that in about five generations' time, a great blizzard will hit Berk directly, and nothing will be able to survive it. The dragons must be saved before that happens."

Stoick shook his head. "The dragons, but not us?"

"The dragons do not belong here, either," said Oscar.

That non-existent headache Stoick had been so grateful for had become a headache that was very much existent. "I think I need to sit down," he said, taking a seat in the chair across from Raenick.

Raenick explained about how the original dragons ended up on Midgard, and why they were being transported to begin with, and how her people planned to evacuate them in five generations. "The problem is that the Ark vessels will not arrive in time to get the dragons off this world before the blizzard hits. We have closer ships that are not equipped to transport them, but they carry technological components. It was determined by my superiors that the engineers on board can construct a time portal before the blizzard hits, and get the dragons to the future, where the Ark vessels will be waiting to carry them on to where they should have gone to begin with."

Stoick was leaning forward, elbows on his knees, and his hands on his forehead. He now had at least a two-iceblock headache, and it was getting worse. "So let me get this straight. Dragons crashed on Midgard almost a thousand years ago. They were released on what is now their egg-laying island, from there, the red death called them to Dragon Island, and they became a plague to Vikingdom for generations, now they are free to be the peaceful beings they originally were. Now they only have a few generations before a blizzard will kill them all, but your people can save them, but not us."

Raenick nodded solemnly. "That about sums it up."

Stoick was not pleased at all. "And why must it be them but not us?"

"It is not in our mandate," she said, matter-of-factly. "Disobeying our mandate can have dire consequences."

I see," said Stoick. As dire as, I don't know, AN ENTIRE SOCIETY FREEZING TO DEATH!?"

Raenick cringed at Stoick's shouted, and very pointed question. "Chief Stoick, believe me, if it were my decision to make, I would find a way to do something. But it is not up to me. The Council has spoken."

It wasn't fair. But Stoick had to admit that during the dragon war, his own father had to make decisions that resulted in people dying so that others might live. It was village policy that he himself had still enforced up to fifteen years before the Red Death was defeated. That was why there were only six children who were had survived back then. And those six ultimately had played a part in changing everything for the Vikings of Berk. Without them, there would be no peace between dragons and humans. It was a few years after that that the Night Fury had joined the raids. And while most of the raids were still very destructive, looking back on those in particular, there was a measure of order to them which did reduce human casualties. Raiding other tribes that were not hit as hard by the dragons made a difference. Could it have been that Toothless had been sort of looking out for humanity even back then? Stoick sighed. "Well if it is Berk's fate to perish, at least I at least know that we helped the dragons find peace here for a time."

Raenick and Oscar shared a look. This was easier than expected.

"Now what are you not telling me?" Stoick asked with an expression that implied that he was tired of being left out of the loop.

Oscar spoke before thinking. "In about seven years time, A madman named Drago Bludvist is going to attack Berk, and he will be responsible for your death."

Raenick practically hiccupped with the sharp intake of breath she made, and her face took on a mask of fury. "RODGERS!" she shouted, and both Stoick and Oscar jumped.

Stoick's mouth was hanging open, and he felt his hear skip a beat at the mention of the man he remembered from almost twenty years ago who had caused so much death.

"I'm sorry, Raenick. He needs to know."

"You fool," she hissed. "Nobody should know their fate like that. You run the risk of messing up the future!"

"Knock it of, Raenick. The accident that landed the dragons here inadvertently caused a lot of people to die. Who is to say that they were meant to die. How do you know that one of them wasn't meant to have kids who would do great things in the future?"

"You idiot," she said. "It's part of history. You just told a man about the future. Now what happens if he takes steps to change his fate? What sort of repercussions have you caused here today?"

"Like it really matters. In five generations, Berk is going to be destroyed. We just told him as much. How do we know he won't take steps to change the destiny of his entire tribe?"

"I AM RIGHT HERE!"

Stoick's shout brought Raenick and Oscar out of their exchange.

"Tell me one thing," the chief said. "We beat Drago, right? He doesn't take Berk?"

Oscar's knowledge of the future of Berk was limited. He just knew that Stoick would die due to the actions of Drago Bludvist. There were no specifics. He looked to Raenick for an answer.

Raenick stared daggers at Oscar for a moment. Then with a sigh, she fixed Stoick with a serious expression. "Hiccup will face Drago twice. The first time he will drive Drago away. The second time, Drago's own most powerful ally will turn on him, and he will not survive. Berk will be safe."

Stoick sighed. "And my son. He will be a good chief?"

Raenick smiled. "What does your heart tell you?"

Stoick closed his eyes and smiled. "That he will be a greater chief than I have been. I am still amazed that it was my son who brought peace between Berk and the dragons. That the gods chose me to be the father of a true hero is an honor I am not worthy of. My mind was closed for so long, and my heart was hardened after losing Val."

"Val Haddock?" asked Oscar. Raenick dug her fingernails into his arm and he stifled a yelp. Perhaps telling the Chief that his wife would be found alive and well, and would eventually return to Berk was not a good idea.

Stoick seemed to have been lost in thought and did not acknowledge that Oscar had spoken his wife's name. "Hiccup will do fine as Chief," he said. "Knowing that He and Berk will thrive, when the time comes, I can die content. And sense I clearly will not be learning the specifics of my death, there's nothing to do but go on living day to day."

Oscar and Raenick were facing away from the back door, so they did not see Hiccup entering the house. "I would suggest writing down what we told you. Hiccup will need to learn about it when he becomes Chief," said Oscar.

"Learn about what?" Hiccup's nasally voice caused the two to jerk around to face him.

"Oh dragon's balls!" Raenick snapped and immediately slapped a hand to her mouth. This day was just getting better and better.

Stoick stood up and walked towards the ice box. "Have a seat, son. I'll be sure to leave you a block. You'll need it."

Raenick and Oscar both sighed at the same time. They recapped what they told Stoick, minus that part about Drago and his father's death.

Hiccup sat there and took it all in with a furrowed brow. When they were done telling their tale, he looked directly at Raenick. "How do we know you're really not from this world, and aren't just spinning some wild tale to make us surrender our dragons?"

Raenick plucked the eyemask out of her left eye, revealing the purple and orange eyes that Oscar still found fascinating, and even beautiful, because they were so different.

Hiccup's eyes widened. "O... Kay..." he said. "That answers that question."

Raenick stood up as she replaced the eyemask. She then reached into her belt pouch and pulled out a device similar to the translator she had used earlier.

"What's that," asked Oscar.

"Short-term memory modifier," She said as she twisted some dials. "If you will please close your eyes, Stoick?"

Hiccup realized what was about to happen. "You're going to adjust my memory?"

"I need to, Hiccup," the Icarian said kindly. "It is not time for you to know this. But your father will write it all down and make sure you get it when you eventually take over as chief." If I am around at the time you read it, I can remove the memory block. It will be painful if I do, but I will if you wish it."

"It'll be alright, son," Stoick said.

Hiccup nodded reluctantly. Stoick closed his eyes.

Raenick pressed a button on the device. "Memory lock, for defined timeframe. Passcode Lightning's Shadow Brightest Future." She released the button and the device beeped. She pointed it at Hiccup and clicked another button. Hiccup immediately passed out, and Oscar caught him before he hit the floor.

"When he wakes up," said Raenick, "He won't remember the past several minutes. Tell him he came in to tell you something, but suddenly grew dizzy and fainted. Scold him for working so hard and not getting enough rest."

"I can do that," stoick responded, "He does work too hard. and he doesn't get enough rest."

After getting assurances that Stoick would write the letter for Hiccup to read when he becomes chief, they took their leave.

"Why didn't you block Stoick's memory of what I told him about his death?" Oscar asked.

Raenick frowned. "I didn't want to risk blocking part of what he needs to know. The blocker does not allow for selective memories. Just a timeframe. It will do for Hiccup, because there was only one piece of information he learned during the timeframe, and if he can't remember getting to the house, Stoick's exhaustion explanation should cover that."

"Why will it hurt if the block is removed?" Oscar wanted to know.

"The memory is there, but the neural pathways that can access it are now routed around the memory. If the block is removed, suddenly the pathways will reconnect. The shock of the brain suddenly reintegrating the memory feels like a very intense, but thankfully very brief migraine headache. We only use memory blocks as a last resort. Inflicting pain is not something we enjoy."

Her answer made sense. "Raenick, I am really sorry for what happened back there."

"What's done is done. We just need to trust in the Creator of All that everything will unfold as it should."

Oscar smiled, glad that she was no longer angry. "Amen to that," he said with a smile.

And the river of time flowed onward...