XII. Left
Fists and teeth clenched, Stoick pushed opened the door of his house and came in. He sent his bag flying and threw his son's axe so violently that it embedded itself in the wooden beam that was in its path. The chief of the village flopped into a chair and held his head in his hands. He breathed deeply to calm down. But it didn't work.
He had totally lost control of events. He was already quite nervous because of his endless problems with his son – problems which had got worse lately – and his vain search for the Night Fury, but before what had just happened, he had a plan, and knew more or less what he was doing. However, his son and the dragon had slipped through his fingers, leaving him with that horrible feeling of failure. He was furious. He should have noticed Hiccup had found the Night Fury. He should have kept an eye on him since the beginning, instead of thinking that he would be shocked enough to be unable to do anything for a couple of days. But at the same time, he had to leave to look for the dragon. He had also failed here. He had thought that leaving his son alone was necessary because he would be doing something which would possibly solve his problems. And, unattended, Hiccup had got ahead of him.
Maybe he shouldn't have gone for it without trying to make a better plan. But he had had to be quick. And now, the Night Fury was alive. And away. With Hiccup.
Stoick was seriously starting to have enough of all this. His son and his ideas. He even thought that if he had definitely left, maybe…
No.
He couldn't think like that. He wasn't allowed to. Because even so… Hiccup was his son. His only son. And more than the succession issue, there still had kind of a… paternal affection. His son was the best and only thing his late wife had left him. He had seen him grow up, and found a bit of Valhallarama in him. A bit too much sometimes.
But that son had just given up his Viking fate to go away with one of their enemies. That son had slowly gone down in his esteem as he had seemed to take another way than the one he was supposed to. Stoick couldn't consider him his son anymore.
However, that was also because he wasn't treating him like his son. He couldn't take him seriously, he was too worried and angry at the same time.
He refused to see what he was missing by not listening to him. Vikings were stubborn, and he was the best example of it.
Astrid opened the door of her house and found herself outside, in the sunlight half hidden behind the clouds. She blinked, waiting to get used to the brightness of the day, and started to walk, to go to Hiccup's house. She was trying to convince herself that it was because they had to talk about what they would do now Toothless was alive and all that stuff, and not because she only wanted to see the boy, but the closer she was getting to his home, the more she was smiling. She thought she might be looking a bit stupid, smiling to herself, but she didn't care. She was going to meet Hiccup, and she didn't know why but it was enough for her to feel happy. Maybe because she knew he was happy too, since he'd been reunited again with his dragon the day before.
Speaking of dragons…
Hiccup wasn't the only reason for her good mood.
The Nadder. It was the first thing she had thought about when she had woken. She remembered how she had looked at her, in such an expressive way that it had almost scared her. For a second, she had felt as if she was trying to communicate.
Even if she was getting more and more attached to her, she was still a bit dampened by her fear of being discovered. She knew perfectly what the Vikings would think about that, and she didn't want to find herself in the same situation as Hiccup. This feeling she was doing something forbidden was making her think about him and Toothless. He must have certainly felt the same at the beginning of his relationship with the dragon.
The sun was already quite high in the sky, showing that the morning was almost over. Astrid had got up a short while ago; she didn't like sleeping in, but she had come home so late that the sunlight hadn't even woken her.
She was at Hiccup's home. She knocked, and heard steps inside the house. They were too heavy to be the young Viking's though. Indeed, his father opened the door.
"Good morning, Astrid. What are you doing here?"
"I'm… I'm looking for Hiccup. Is he with you?"
"No."
"Oh… and… where can I find him?"
"Nowhere."
Puzzled, Astrid looked at Stoick. He didn't seem to be decided to give her more details. The young girl noticed that he looked… preoccupied. And his harsh tone wasn't really reassuring.
She shyly asked, "What do you mean?"
Stoick didn't answer at once. The girl started to get a bit worried. She was afraid the father and son had argued, and…
She held her breath. A series of catastrophic hypothesis streamed past in her head. What if Stoick had heard Toothless wasn't dead? And what if… he had punished his son? Or had he lied, and Hiccup had learnt it? Had he found the dragon and killed him? If so, where could have Hiccup gone?
"Left. He had left." Stoick finally said.
He was getting angry again. He both needed to put words on his fury, and feared to let himself go. Astrid hadn't done anything, she shouldn't suffer from this. But he had to tell her the truth. He had to tell someone.
"I don't think he'll come back." he said.
Astrid frowned. She didn't understand.
"But… he… when? Why?"
"I don't know. He… the dragon…"
Astrid really didn't understand why Stoick would say Hiccup wouldn't come back. It had to be one of his regular flights with the dragon he was doing to forget a bit about his problems, so there was no reason he wouldn't come home.
"Hiccup left with Toothless?" The girl asked, hoping for some explanations.
Stoick stared at her. She bit her lips. Too late. He had read in her eyes that she knew.
"You… you knew he was alive?" Stoick asked, raising his voice.
"No, well yes, I… we have… found him…"
"YOU KNEW HE WAS ALIVE!"
Astrid moved back, surprised. She was completely lost in front of the sudden anger of Stoick. She didn't know anymore what she had to say or not. She didn't know anymore who knew about what, nor who had lied to whom. So she kept silent. Stoick carried on.
"You didn't say anything… Both of you! You acted behind my back, you two!"
Stoick was realizing a lot of things seemed to have occurred while he was absent. Once more, he felt like he wasn't controlling anything anymore.
"You disappoint me, Astrid. I really thought you were better than that."
His tone sounded calmer. But it was almost worse. Astrid looked down.
"Why did you follow my son in his idiocies?"
The young Viking didn't know what to answer. She didn't even know if Stoick was expecting her to answer. Outdid by his authority, she only wanted to leave. To escape from all this pressure. To flee.
That was what Hiccup had done. He had certainly left because of this. The pressure of his father. And now, she had to support the anger Stoick had with him. This was unfair. He should have listened to what Hiccup had tried to tell him instead of getting angry with her.
His idiocies. Stoick really doesn't hold his son in high esteem, Astrid thought.
The girl mustered all her courage, and dared to face the gaze of the Viking chief. She tried not to blink, and retorted, "Because I'm with him."
"That's new."
"You don't understand. He… knows some things. He has discovered some things. You should listen to him."
"You're not trying to moralize with me are you?"
"I'm just trying to make you understand that…"
Astrid hesitated. She perfectly knew what she wanted to say, but she was afraid of Stoick's reaction.
"That WHAT?" he asked, exasperated.
Astrid made up her mind. She felt indebted to Hiccup. She had to defend him.
"That you're wrong. Hiccup isn't the one you all think he is."
"Really? I'm sorry Astrid, I appreciate you, but you're going too far there."
He paused. The girl was divided between fear and determination. Despite the fact that she had to show respect for her chief, she couldn't bear his behavior with his son anymore. And her feelings for the latter only increased things.
Stoick carried on, "And I'd really like to know since when you're so interested in Hiccup."
"What's the problem?"
"Answer me."
"Why would you be bothered by me being interested in your son? You don't think he deserves my interest? I say it again, you're completely wrong. He's worth way more than what he shows. And you should think about it instead of seeing him as someone useless."
"ENOUGH! How dare you… You're pretending to know him better than I do? I'm his father!"
"You don't understand."
"Will you tell me what is it I don't understand?"
"Your son."
"Hiccup? Well, listen, Astrid. I'm done. Since his birth, I took care of him on my own, I have to give him all the love he needs, I did everything I could to make him become a good Viking. He's my only heir, and it looks like no one except me cares about the fact that their future chief is on our enemies' side."
"Hiccup is not on our enemies' side! Dragons aren't what we think they are."
"All this sounds like no one around here is what he seems to be."
"That's the truth! All the problems are starting here, we shouldn't be fighting against them."
"They attack us! We only defend ourselves!"
"That's not their fault. They… they raid us because they have to. If they don't bring enough food back, they'll be eaten themselves. There's… something else on their island, it's a dragon like…"
"Their island?" Stoick interrupted. "So you've been to the nest?"
Astrid bit her lower lip. Once more, she had better keep quiet.
"Did I say nest?" she naively asked.
"How did you find it?"
"What? No… we didn't, the Night Fury did, only… only a dragon can find the island."
Astrid, would you please shut up! the girl thought when she saw Stoick's face.
She had just given him an idea. A very bad idea.
"Oh no, no, please, it's not what you think. You don't know what you're up against! It's like nothing you've ever seen!" she desperately supplied.
But she was addressing empty space. Stoick wasn't listening to her anymore. He was walking all over the house, gathering stuff.
"Please! I promise, you can't win this one!"
Stoick was still ignoring Astrid, bustling and filling in his bag. What the girl had revealed to him had drastically changed his priorities. From now on, the village was more important than his son. If he managed to get to the nest and destroy it, dragons would definitely leave. He would finally accomplish the mission his father had entrusted him with, this mission all his ancestors had passed down to each other through generations. His name would forever be written in the history of their tribe.
Stoick the Vast, the one who defeated dragons and brought back peace on Berk.
Yes. It sounded good. He would find that damn island, destroy the nest, and definitely send the dragons away.
He would deal with his son later. Anyway, he couldn't do much about that at the moment. He didn't know where Hiccup was, and was totally discouraged. He felt like he had tried everything, without results. The father and the son were both stubborn, and each of them refused to understand the other's point of view. The situation was hopeless. They had both had enough of their vain efforts.
The Viking had packed all he needed. He was ready to go. He remembered Astrid, and noticed she wasn't there anymore. But it didn't matter.
He checked one last time that he had everything, put on his helmet, and then caught his coat, hung up behind the door. Hiccup's accidentally fell. He bent down, and noticed a piece of paper on the ground. He knelt, picked it up, and turned it over.
He stared at the Night Fury drawn on it. His anger was coming back out. The dragon was sitting, his eyes wide open, head bowed. Stoick couldn't determine why, but this drawing had something… unusual. The few times he had found himself in front of the animal, he hadn't caught that… thing… he could see at the moment. He observed the dragon more in detail. His head. His eyes. His… smile.
Yes, it almost looked like the dragon was smiling. His eyes were… different.
The pupil. It was the pupil. It was totally dilated, and this was giving him a kind of… harmless look.
Stoick wasn't aware of it, but for a second, he saw the dragon the way Hiccup was seeing it.
Then he remembered. He blinked, and shook his head. A lump in his throat, he angrily crumpled the parchment, and threw it in the fire. He had just lit it off because of his future absence, but the last glowing embers still managed to slowly burn the paper. Stoick stared at its edges going black and shrinking, and then he stood up, made his way to the door, and went out.
He had a dragon nest to destroy.