Stoick brought his fist up, slamming it into a Berserker's face and sending him to the ground in pain. The chief sprinted around the corner, seeing more Berserkers flee behind it. He stopped short and noticed a barricade being built as Berserker vikings retreated behind it.
"They've taken half the village!" Stoick thought to himself in a panic.
"Retreat! Retreat!" A Berserker viking yelled out over the wall. Stoick hid in a nearby home, watching as men fled behind the safety of the wall. When he thought the surrounding area to be free of any Berserker observers, Stoick crept from his shelter and made his way back to his regrouping men. Gobber noticed Stoick and waved him over, a smile on his face.
"Stoick! We drove them back! They're retreating," Gobber said, the smile slowly fading from his face as Stoick slowly shook his head.
"Gobber they've retreated behind a barricade. They've got half of the village behind those walls," Stoick said sternly, making sure everyone who made it back heard. Stoick looked over his men, happy that so many had returned, but saddened by their defeated expressions. The chief looked over his shoulder, glancing at the destroyed homes, the blood splatter glowing lightly in the dark streets illuminated by torches. Stoick sighed deeply, knowing the battle wasn't over, just on short hiatus.
"Rest up, this battle is over yet," Stoick said loudly. He showed no sign of weakness or any sign of fatigue. He knew his responsibility as a leader and hoped his men would get some confidence by their chief's strength. A flapping sound brought eyes up to the skies as the Dragon Corps descended onto the scene. All the men returned and seemingly sustained little to no damage. Spitelout hopped down from his dragon, calmy making his way over to Stoick.
"They've retreated beyond the wall a good distance, likely going over strategies and replenishing their strength," Spitelout relayed, "It's lucky we formed the Dragon Corps when we did, they certainly didn't expect it. Without this, we would've been overwhelmed a while ago." Stoick nodded his head, glad that they've made some progress at holding of their invaders.
"We've managed to pick apart much of their invading force, but they are still dangerous. We know how Berserkers get when backed into a corner," Spitelout warned. Stoick nodded as the men around him began to eat rations and rebuild their strength.
"There's no need to remind me. I'm just glad that we could hold them off and take down a number of them without sustaining many casualties ourselves," Stoick announced to his men, making sure they heard the last part. Gobber laughed and patted Stoick on the back.
"Well of course. We've got the best men, the best strategy, and the home field advantage," Gobber said with a smile. Stoick nodded his head, allowing a small smile to form on his face. Right now his men needed optimism and hope for the upcoming battle. They already managed to take down many men, they could do this without having to bring the teens into danger. They were the best on the island when it came to dragon handling and formation, but the last thing Stoick wanted was youth getting caught in such a dangerous battle.
"I'm going to check the hall, make sure everyone is okay. Gobber, come with me. Spitelout, I'm leaving you in charge," Stoick said as he turned towards the direction of the hall. Spitelout nodded as he went over battle strategies with the Dragon Corps and ground troops. Gobber jogged to catch up to Stoick, stopping just short of overtaking him.
"They're going to be fine Stoick. That crafty bunch is always one step ahead of us," Gobber said enthusiastically, patting Stoick on the back. The chief gave him a questioning look, but shook it off going up the stairs. Both Gobber and Stoick heard a loud blast come from inside the hall, rushing to the front door and were greeted with a horrible sight.
"What happened here?" Stoick said loudly in shock, bloody coating the floor in front of him. He'd never seen something this bad before, and he'd seen his fair share of injured vikings. This was a different level. Stoick quickly looked up, noticing all the teens staring in one direction. A lone Night Fury with a smoke trail leaving his mouth. Stoick could visibly see his trembling, his deep breaths, his wide slit eyes overflowing with tears.
"Hiccup? Hiccup what happened here?" Gobber said confused and sickened by the grotesque sight in front of him. Astrid quickly turned around and shook her head quickly, holding a finger to her mouth. Stoick and Gobber quickly turned their gaze back to Hiccup. He'd stopped trembling and his breaths were much shallower as the young Night Fury slowly raised his gaze from the ground to the mutilated viking body.
"What...have I done?" Hiccup whispered out, his voice shaking as he took ragged breaths.
Toothless took a few steps closer to his love. He could see the pure terror and self hatred that flooded into Hiccup's eyes. Toothless felt his heart drop. Where did this sudden outburst come from? This isn't like you at all Hiccup. Hiccup quickly looked up at the slowly approaching Toothless and quickly took a few steps back.
"No! Stop! I don't want to hurt anyone! I don't want to hurt someone again! I didn't know it'd kill him! I didn't know! I didn't know!" Hiccup yelled, his eyes screaming a thousand emotions, "It just happened! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! He was going to kill you! He was, he was..." Hiccup trailed off as he slumped to the ground. The young Night Fury was absolutely terrified of himself, of what he did. He clutched his head, trying to block out the world as he screamed, tears rolling down his cheeks. Toothless quickly rushed over and hugged his love, bringing him in close, showing him as much comfort and love as he could manage.
"Just hold on Hiccup. We'll get you through this. You don't have any control over your flames, you didn't know what would happen, you were only protecting me, okay? You're a good person Hiccup, I know, everybody knows you'd never intentionally kill someone," Toothless said loudly, but lovingly, comfortingly. He felt his Night Fury nuzzle into his shoulder as he sobbed out to the world. The bigger Night Fury could feel the gently stream of tears flowing down his chest, feeling a tight pull in his chest. His love was crying and he felt compelled to hug him tighter and protect him from the cruel and beautiful world they lived in.
Astrid watched on as Hiccup broke down. She didn't blame him, creating carnage like that to save your friend. It was enough to make any person break down in fear and regret. Combined with the scene he likely saw when the first arrow barrage hit, it was hard for her to imagine a scenario where Hiccup didn't break down at some point. His nature just didn't allow death and destruction. His morals are too strong and solid. She knew her best friend, and this wasn't him.
"Hiccup, it's going to be okay," Astrid said calmly as she knelt down next to the young Night Fury. Hiccup's eyes were opened only slightly, but enough for Astrid to see the great amount of remorse and defeat in his eyes.
"We all know you'd never hurt someone intentionally. You were only protecting Toothless," Astrid said calmly, "I don't blame you at all. Seeing an axe go up, ready to strike down at your Night Fury. I wouldn't be surprised if you reacted on instinct after last time." Astrid rose up from her knees and slowly approached Stoick, motioning the rest of the young vikings to follow her.
Hiccup watched as the young vikings stood in a circle, going over the events that occurred not too long ago. His head buzzing with a surreal feeling and shock. He was terrified of himself. He reacted without thinking and killed a man, and brutally at that. What if it happened again? What if he lost control, react on instinct, or just accidently fired at someone and hurt them? At this point, his body felt as more of a curse than a gift. Something inside of him stirred however. He pushed himself farther into Toothless, taking in his warm embrace. The strong heartbeat of his Night Fury is what slowly brought him back to reality, to rational thought.
"I...I killed a man...I did," Hiccup thought to himself, "But now..now isn't the time for this...he was going to kill Toothless...yes I went overboard but I don't know what I'm doing. Just..keep your mouth shut. It was a mistake...but everyone is safe...just be thankful for now." The young Night Fury's crying slowly came to a halt after short while. The feeling of being nuzzled into his Night Fury felt so right, so warm, so comforting.
"T-thank you bud," Hiccup whispered, "You're always here for me." The young Night Fury rubbed against his dragon's chest, showing his affection. Toothless licked Hiccup's head, not being greeted by the usual disgusted outcry, but rather a soft purr of love.
"Is he purring?" Toothless thought to himself, a soft blush growing on his face. I was so beautiful, he was so beautiful. All Toothless ever wanted was for his Night Fury to be happy, to protect him, to make him feel loved, to care for him, to ease his worries and doubts. So far, he'd felt as if he failed protecting his love and it seemed as if he was doing protecting.
"I promise to be the one protecting, don't worry. I want you to know how much I love you," Toothless whispered to Hiccup. Hiccup let a smile form as he licked his dragon affectionately.
"And I love you too, to much for words," Hiccup said. He heard a soft cough from the direction of his father. He quickly turned to look, his ears perked up and pupils widening. The small group of vikings were giving them both weird and confused looks. The twins looked just about as confused as they usually do, Snotlout just stared with an open mouth, Fishlegs scratched his head uncomfortably, Gobber had a raised brow and a questioning look, Astrid had a small smile as made a heart with her hand. Then there was Stoick, who just stared at the two with that usual disappointed look Hiccup was familiar with.
"Look, I can expl-" Hiccup started off.
"We'll talk about it later, now's not the time or the place for that. Just get over here and listen to what I have to say," Stoick said, shaking his head. Hiccup and Toothless made their way awkwardly over to the group, not enjoying the awkward silence and stares that they were received with.
"Right, as I was saying. You did a great job defending the villagers, and your efforts have not been in vain. With the Dragon Corps on our side, we've managed to push back and defeat much of their original force with many of their remaining men barricading themselves on the lower half of the village," Stoick said sternly, "From what we can assume, their regrouping, rearming and replenishing their soldiers. We've gotten lucky and we've only lost a few men. With our force, we are likely to drive them out of Berk by sunrise. Now, if anything goes wrong, you are our last resort, our trump card. I don't want any of you out on that battlefield unless its absolutely necessary, got it?" The teens nodded their heads swiftly, understanding their orders. With that, Stoick and Gobber wished them luck and made their way back to their men.
Spitelout gave out locations to his men as he flew over the upper village, scanning for any injured, or dead of their own and keeping a keen eye out for any Berserker stragglers or attacking force. Spitelout flew to the ground, frustrated from the lack of lighting that usually overflowed through the streets. He couldn't find anyone, let alone see anyone in the dark. He pulled a torch out of his dragon's side pouch and held it up. Spitelout's Monstrous Nightmare nodded and blew out a small flame to light the torch. The pair walked through the dark night, making sure to make as little noise and attract as little attention as possible.
He peeked around a corner, noticed a barricade in front of him. He quickly put out his torch and slowly slid his view around the corner again. No one seemed to be guarding it and it looked poorly built in contrast to the others. Spitelout quickly got onto his Nightmare as they took off back towards the viking camp. He jumped off of his dragon and ran towards Stoick and Gobber who had recently returned and where currently telling worried fathers, mothers, and friends that everyone was okay. Spitelout stopped short in front of Stoick when he heard his son was okay, a wave of relief flooding through his body.
"Is something wrong Spite?" Stoick asked, turning to his brother. The younger sibling shook his head lightly and walked closer.
"I've found a poorly built barricade that looks unguarded. This could be out ticket into their camp," Spitelout said quickly. Many men breathed sighs of relief and a small ripple of quiet cheering swept through the men. Stoick raised his hand up, asking for silence.
"Get your things together men, we are going in," Stoick announced, "Johan! Come here." The young viking obliged his chief and quickly approached him.
"Go to the hall and keep guard there. I'd feel a lot better if I had a capable viking up there as well," Stoick said, a tinge of worry fleeting through his voice. The young viking nodded his head in understanding.
"Yes sir," Johan said, bowing slightly. Stoick watched for a bit as the young Viking disappeared from view. A hand waved in front of Stoick face, turning his attention towards the hand's owner.
"Like I said before, those kids can hold their own against some Berserkers. Besides, we just need to sneak into their barricade and strike them while they're weak," Gobber said, "We finish off their invasion and we send them back to wherever they came from." Stoick was amazed at how optimistic his friend and trusted ally always was. Either that or he was just really good at hiding his fears and doubts. Stoick only nodded slightly.
Hiccup sat with Toothless near the center of the hall in the circle of young vikings once again. Hiccup glanced over at the pool of blood where the dead Berserker once lay before Toothless removed his body from the hall. Hiccup still subconsciously shook when he thought about the viking and his mangled body. It was another image to be locked away in his vault alongside the memories of his transformation on the street that day.
There was an uncomfortable silence in the air, accompanied by Astrid's soft smile. She nodded her head, almost as if she won something. She had been acting strange ever since earlier when his father scolded him for his affectionate displays in public, during a battle with another tribe.
"So, uh, what exactly is going on here between you two?" Fishlegs asked breaking the deafening silence between them. Hiccup averted eye contact with the others, shifting his feet uncomfortably.
"Uhm, well, I...we...," Hiccup started to say, failing to really explain anything. Astrid's short laughter broke through his sentence, eyes going to her.
"They are in l, o, v, e," Astrid said teasingly a giant smile on her face. Confusion came back to the vikings faces as the looked at one another.
"I can understand the fact that you like guys, but a dragon?" Snotlout said in his usual judgmental tone. Hiccup scratched his arm feeling really uncomfortable.
"How are you going to talk yourself out of this one," Hiccup thought to himself trying to formulate a solid response.
"Well, it can't be too hard to imagine. I mean, he's been there for me from the start, since before this...this uh...change," Hiccup said, gesturing to his body, "If I still had a human body...It'd be a bit weird, b-but I'm a dragon...and a dragon's allowed to fall in love right?" The young vikings looked around at each other and nodded in a 'I guess so?' kind of manner. They were all very unadjusted to the idea, and they're most likely still not used to the idea that Hiccup, his normal, usual, clumsy and intelligent self, just a dragon.
"Maybe we should...talk about this another time...when the air isn't thick with war," Hiccup said, hoping to drop the subject. Toothless nudged his Night Fury slightly.
"Isn't that uncomfortable for you?" Toothless asked with a tinge of laughter in his voice. Hiccup stuck his tongue out at the Night Fury playfully.
"There's a time and a place for everything bud, and now is not the time for conversations about relationships," Hiccup said with a sarcastic attitude, making hand gestures and head movements. Toothless laughed slightly watching his love trying to amuse him. The door to the hall creaked open as Johan stepped in. He quickly closed the door behind him and approached the circled teens. The viking stopped short of the group, staring at Hiccup with at tinge of fear and wonder in his eyes. Hiccup noticed and remembered that stare all too well from the many villagers he'd pass on the streets.
"Johan! What are you doing here?" Ruffnut asked, giving him a wink as the viking slowly drew closer. Johan flinched some from the unwanted advances made by the female twin. He made his way around the group, trying to keep distance between him and Hiccup, but tried to keep casual and inconspicuous about it.
"The Chief asked me to come and help out here if anything goes wrong. They found a weak point in the barricade and they're going to sneak through it and attack them while their weak," Johan said in a flat voice. It wasn't that Johan never seemed to have any enthusiasm, he's just the type of viking who avoids putting any emotion into their voice. The young viking also fidgeted as he stood watching the group, as if constantly worried about something.
"Where was this weak spot at?" Fishlegs asked. Johan scratched his cheek for a moment before answering.
"It was over by the market, just slightly south of the log stall. I think that's what Spitelout said at least. We got lucky, the barricade was badly built and no one was guarding it," Johan said in his ragged and flat voice. Hiccup cocked his head to the side, wondering why they'd leave a poorly constructed barricade like that unattended. Surely they were smart enough to do something about it? Maybe Dagur was defeated on the battlefield and the Berserkers were just scrambling to buy some time behind those walls. No, Dagur was too strong of a fighter and strategist to allow himself to be brought down so easily. The question is back to being why. Why would you leave that specific, badly built wall unattended? Unless you want us to think it's unattended. Maybe thats what he planned on, one of our vikings finding the weak point and they'd attack it by 'sneaking' through. Hiccup's eyes widened as he figured it out in his head.
"It's a trap!" Hiccup screamed out as he took off out of the hall, flying down the staircase with a confused Toothless and young vikings hot on his tail.