Chapter Twelve
The next day was Hiccup's final exam. A large crowd had gathered around the arena. Aniu slipped between the crowd and managed to blend in for the most part. A few people had stopped and noticed her, but they didn't bother questioning her presence. She was more than thankful for the distraction that was currently happening. She took advantage of the situation and managed to reach the entrance leading into the arena itself.
Hiccup had been pacing around the gate when he noticed Aniu hiding in the shadows. His face changed from a frown to the slightest of knowing smiles. Aniu nodded back and glanced over her shoulder after noticing Astrid arriving with someone else. Now this man was almost as intimidating as Cybele when she was angry. With a wooden leg and a hook for an arm, he could have easily passed for a pirate. But the mustache and Viking helmet gave away his position.
She assumed that this man was Gobber, someone Hiccup had mentioned once or twice upon their getting to know each other. He had mentioned most of the people who he was close to. Of all the people she had learned about over the last few days, Gobber had known Hiccup since he was young… well, younger.
"Well, I can show my face in public, again!" a voice boomed over the roaring crowd. Aniu peered through the metal mesh to see a large looking Viking who could easily overpower Gobber standing up. This one had a burly looking red beard and a helmet that looked similar to Hiccup's. Her eyes widened when she realized that this must be Stoick, Hiccup's more than intimidating father. Once the crowd had quieted down, Stoick continued, "If anyone had told me that within a few short weeks, Hiccup would go from being… well, Hiccup, to placing first in dragon training, then I would've tied them to a mast and shipped them off for fear they've gone mad!" The crowd was roaring with laughter, and Aniu felt her face burn with anger.
How could his own father be so ignorant? she wondered. Did Stoick not see what this was doing to his own son? She didn't miss the look Hiccup gave as Stoick went on.
"But here we are, and no one is more surprised, or proud, than I am. Today, my boy becomes a Viking. Today, he becomes one of us!" Hiccup's shoulders slumped with guilt as the crowd cheered on in agreement.
To kill a dragon meant that he would become one of them. A madman. Aniu looked down at the ground shamefully as she remembered all the classes she was forced to take. On Burgus it was learn fast and grow up fast. Zena had always proven herself the worthiest warrior on the island, and she knew her sister was more than capable of killing dragons.
"Be careful with that dragon," Astrid said when Stoick was finished speaking.
"It's not the dragon I'm worried about," Hiccup admitted. He then turned around to face Astrid, his eyes falling upon Aniu before speaking again, "Astrid, if anything goes wrong, just make sure they don't find Toothless or Cybele."
"I will," Astrid nodded in agreement, having realized how much the dragons meant to both Hiccup and Aniu. "Just promise me it won't go wrong."
Hiccup's eyes softened as he looked back at Aniu, who had been hiding in the shadows up until now. Suddenly she ran over to him and did something she never expected to do. She wrapped her arms around him in a hug, startling both Hiccup and Astrid.
"This plan will work," she tried reassuring him. "It has to." She was even more surprised when Hiccup hugged her back.
"Aniu, thank you for trusting me," he whispered before Gobber approached them. Gobber rose an eyebrow when he noticed her for the first time.
"Eh, and who might you be, lass?" he asked.
"She's a friend of ours," Astrid replied confidently. Aniu looked at her in surprise as she parted ways with Hiccup.
A friend of ours… it was the first time she had ever considered humans as friends. Aniu's eyes widened in realization when she understood what that meant. She couldn't hide the grin that followed before nodding in agreement. Gobber rubbed his mustache thoughtfully before placing a hand on Hiccup's shoulder, causing him to flinch.
"Well, it's time, Hiccup. Knock 'em dead," he said.
Hiccup walked into the arena once the gate had opened. He placed his helmet on his head as the crowd cheered in encouragement. As the gate slowly closed, Aniu found herself watching the scene warily. A weapons rack had been placed on the side of the arena, and he went over to grab a shield instead of an actual weapon.
"Please tell me you know what you're doing?" Astrid asked as she glanced at Aniu.
Aniu just narrowed her eyes as the gate opened, and the Monstrous Nightmare immediately burst out while covered in flames. Monstrous Nightmares had this nasty habit of lighting themselves on fire. Aniu had learned that the hard way when she met her first Nightmare up close and personal.
"I'm going to torch you, human fishbone!" the Nightmare roared as he spit fire at Hiccup. Aniu flinched at the threatening term as Hiccup dodged from each attack. The Monstrous Nightmare had continued scurrying along the walls and metal mesh while Hiccup was looking for a place to hide. "You'll all suffer for keeping me locked up!"
"Don't," was all Aniu said in Dragonese. The Nightmare spun around in shock upon hearing someone speak in his native tongue. "He is not a threat, not like the others."
The Monstrous Nightmare narrowed his eyes and dropped down to the ground. Aniu found her hands gripping the metal gate as she locked eyes with him. Normally she would refuse to make eye contact, but this was one challenge she wouldn't back down from.
"A human who can speak our language?" he rumbled in amusement and stared at her coldly. "I never thought I would live to see that day."
"You were captured by these humans and locked away," Aniu began as she recalled what Hiccup had told her. The Nightmare bristled at that, clearly not enjoying those memories. "But it doesn't have to be that way. Not all humans are bad, and we've found a way to make peace with them."
For a moment it looked as if he was going to consider her suggestion. Then his eyes narrowed and he snapped his jaws at her, confirming her worst fears.
"The humans are nothing to me, nothing but prey for our Queen," he snapped before turning to face Hiccup once more. "I am going to kill you, to make an example of our power."
Aniu's eyes widened in horror as she realized where he was going with this plan. Stoick and the other Vikings had watched the entire scene in amazement. Never had they expected a dragon to hold any conversation with a simple human. Astrid looked at Aniu uncertainly when she noticed how her eyes had widened.
"Stop the fight," Stoick ordered as Hiccup dropped his shield.
"No, I need you all to see this," Hiccup replied, ignoring the obvious threat. "They're not what we think they are. We don't have to kill them."
"I said stop the fight!" Stoick bellowed this time, slamming his fist against the metal bar in the process.
The moment Stoick hit the metal bar was when chaos unfolded. The Monstrous Nightmare tried biting Hiccup's hand off. Luckily Hiccup was able to pull it away in time. Unlucky for Hiccup that the Monstrous Nightmare started chasing him around the arena.
"I'm going to kill you all!" The Monstrous Nightmare roared in fury.
"We have to get in there somehow," Astrid gasped when she understood the situation.
Aniu didn't hesitate to try and open the heavy gate keeping the Monstrous Nightmare and Hiccup in. Hiccup tried reaching the shield he'd had earlier, but the Monstrous Nightmare blocked his way. The Monstrous Nightmare was just inches from his intended target when Aniu crawled underneath the metal gate and faced him herself.
"I'm not letting you hurt my friend!" she shouted, catching his attention. She was thankful she had taken her bow and arrow with her, and fired without hesitation. The arrow had hit its target, the Nightmare's chest, but that didn't stop him from charging after them.
"You may speak like a dragon, but that does not make you one!" the Nightmare snarled as he had her against the wall.
Hiccup had tried running for the gate when Stoick opened it, only to realize that the Nightmare had Aniu cornered. She had her bow and arrow raised and aimed for one final attack. If this was how she went, at the teeth of a dragon, then so be it.
Just when he thought it was over, everyone heard the familiar screech of a Night Fury. Or two Night Furies. Toothless and Cybele fired a plasma blast at the bars before breaking into the arena.
"I won't let you hurt my sister!" Cybele roared with more fury than Aniu could ever remember.
"And you're going to think twice before hurting my best friend!" Toothless added as the two of them wrestled with the Monstrous Nightmare.
More and more humans were piling into the arena as Toothless and Cybele fought off the Nightmare. Aniu's eyes widened with panic as she realized they were cornering the Night Furies, oblivious to the fact that they were trying to help.
"Alright, guys, you gotta get out of here, now!" Hiccup pleaded as he tried pushing Toothless away.
"And leave you with these humans?" he scoffed with a roll of his eyes.
Aniu's hands were shaking while she reached for her bow and arrow. The Vikings had also reached for their weapons as they approached the dragons, seeing them as the threat. That was when she felt someone grab her hand and hold her up.
"I saw you speak with that dragon," a man with spiky black hair growled. "You throw your lot in with them, then you are a traitor to us all, girl."
"Let her go!" Cybele snarled as she charged. The man let out a cry of shock when she knocked him aside with her tail, dropping Aniu in the process. "Aniu, are you okay?" she asked frantically as she smothered Aniu in licks.
"Yes, I'm okay," Aniu almost laughed at the fact that even in the face of danger, Cybele could act like this. She did her best to brush off the dragon slobber just as Stoick and the others had tied down Toothless. She placed one hand on Cybele and glared at the humans who were approaching them. "If you do anything to hurt my sister, I will let her burn you to a crisp," she snapped in their language.
That was enough to stop them in their tracks. The Vikings stood there for a few seconds, stunned that she could speak in both their tongue and the tongue of dragons. Gobber held Toothless down while Stoick approached Aniu, holding his hammer firm in one hand.
"And just who might you be?" he demanded in a cold voice. Aniu only glared back at him.
"My name is Aniu," she replied, her own voice held equal ferocity. "And she is my best friend, and my sister."
For a moment, Stoick wasn't sure how to react to that. Then he gave one of his men a nod, and Aniu felt a sharp pain shooting up her spine. She let out a cry of shock before collapsing on the ground, Cybele's eyes widening in panic as she struggled to get away. By then it was too late. Most of the Vikings had already surrounded Cybele, and despite her powerful wings and plasma blasts, they were easily able to overpower her.
...
Hiccup's eyes widened in shock when Stoick ordered Spitelout to knock out Aniu. He was more than happy to oblige, hitting her hard in the back. The impact was powerful enough to send her crashing to the ground.
"Throw her in with the others," Stoick ordered. "She claims that this beast is her sister, then she is more dragon than human."
"Dad, how could you?" Hiccup demanded as he struggled against Gobber's grip. Once they had put Toothless away, Gobber grabbed hold of him before he could reach Aniu's side. "She was only just beginning to trust me!"
Stoick threw him a glare that told him this was far from over. Once the crowds had depleted and both dragons and girl were locked up, Hiccup was led back to the Great Hall. He knew he was in for an earful. Stoick could care less whether or not the dragons were hurt, or the girl who had helped them.
"I should've know, should've seen the signs!" Stoick grumbled the moment they were both inside. "We had a deal!"
"I know we did, but that was before I… ah, it's all messed up!" Hiccup said, struggling to find the right words and contain his own anger.
"So everything in the ring, a trick?" Stoick demanded.
"I screwed up," Hiccup admitted. "I should've told you from the start. I just… I… take this out on me. Be mad at me. Please, don't hurt Toothless, or Cybele and Aniu." Stoick's eyes narrowed at the mention of the girl.
"What do you know about her? Who is she, really?" he asked.
"She was taken in by the dragons when she was six," Hiccup explained, hoping that just maybe Stoick would realize they weren't who they thought the dragons were. "Before then she was abused by her own people… haven't you noticed all those scars?"
"You would care more about some wild child and the dragons then the people you almost killed," Stoick deadpanned after understanding where Hiccup was going with this.
"They were just protecting me! They aren't dangerous!" Hiccup snapped.
"They've killed hundreds of us!" Stoick yelled.
"And we've killed thousands of them!" Hiccup shot back. "How do you think they feel when we're killing their family?" He paused as he let that sink in. "They're just trying to defend themselves," he quickly added as Stoick began pacing back and forth. "They raid us because they have to. If they don't bring enough food back to the Queen, they get eaten themselves. There's something on their island, dad. She's—" Stoick's eyes widened at the mention of their island, and Hiccup held back his tongue when he realized his mistake.
"Island?" Stoick demanded. "So you've been to their nest?"
"D-Did I say nest?" Hiccup asked nervously.
"How did you find it?" Stoick commanded.
"I-I didn't find it," Hiccup admitted as he stepped backwards. "Toothless did. Only a dragon can find it." His eyes widened with panic when Stoick looked at him thoughtfully. "Please, dad, no! You… you don't know what you're up against, it's like nothing we've ever seen!" Stoick just ignored him and pushed him aside. "Dad, I swear you won't win this one!" Hiccup tried to stop his father when Stoick ignored him again. "For once in your life, would you please just listen to me?" he begged. Stoick did something that would forever haunt him. He shoved Hiccup to the ground and glared at his own son.
"You're throwing your lot in with them. You're not a Viking. You're not my son," he snapped. The world felt as if it had stopped for Hiccup. His eyes widened in horror as Stoick turned around and pushed open the doors. "Ready the ships!" he shouted.
AN: So this chapter was fun to write... I loved writing about how the villagers reacted to her and Stoick especially. Also, I've been listening to a lot of Sidewalk Prophets lately... Has anyone heard their new album, Something Different? If not, than I highly recommend it. I got to see them live at Winterjam, and they were awesome! And last but not least, please remember to review! Reviews will make me update faster, and let me know that people are still interested ;)
dracologistmaster - Thank you! Hopefully this chapter lived up to your expectations.
MMM - Lol, Yeah I need to go back and edit a few errors I've made over the last couple of chapters. I will probably do that once this story is completed...