DISCLAIMER
I still own nothing, see Chapter 1 for full details :)
Chapter 13 finally here, another fun episode :) Really great Hicca/Hiccup scenes to write :) Enjoy :)
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Episode 13
When Lightning Strikes
Hiccup – Hicca
Astrid – Arvid
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Living with dragons has its ups... and its down. You need to stay calm and keep a clear head. Not always easy with Vikings. Bu, in our own way, we're very reasonable.
Lately, the Viking village on the isle of Berk had been experiencing a new kind of dragon problem. They weren't attacking again or anything like that, but with the weather turning warmer for a change, most of the dragons had taken to relaxing on peoples roofs. Unfortunately, while Viking buildings stood up fine against harsh weather conditions, most ended up collapsing under the weight of the large winged reptiles.
Stoick soon realised they had to do something about it, otherwise all the roofs in the village would need repairing. So he asked Hicca to do something. The dragons were her responsibility, and she was surely smart enough to come up with a solution. It took her a while to come up with an idea, but after some sketching and planning, she showed her idea to Gobber.
"More supports?" She asked after looking over the designs.
Gobber gave a shrug, "Well, they are dragons."
Hicca nodded and added more attachments to her drawings. Her idea was a simple one, making large stands out of metal, with thick bars for the dragons to sit on. The metal would also get warm in the sunlight, giving the dragons a warm place to rest.
A couple of days later, with the help of the other teens, most of the other villagers, and the dragons, several Dragon Perch were finished and scattered throughout the village. Then they had to put it to the test. Arvid climbed onto Stormfly's back flew her above one of the perches, slowly directing her down onto the metal structure.
The Nadder gave a worried chirp as she slowly approached the metal structure. "It's okay, girl. Just take it easy."
Slowly the Nadder descended onto the metal beam, clutching the beam in her talons and gently folding her wings in. Thankfully, the perch took her weight without even a creak or groan.
"Yes! It worked!" Hicca cried out as more and more dragons started landing on the perches, they all seemed to be holding strong, even the Terrible Terrors were able to land and rest on the smaller metal struts near the top.
But while the other where happy their roofs weren't going to be destroyed anymore, the twins looked up with a frown.
"So... we built these things so stuff wouldn't break?" Tuffnut asked glaring down at his hammer.
Ruffnut rolled her eyes, "I don't understand you people."
While the twins grumbled at the others, Hicca looked up at the structures she designed, she was actually very pleased wither herself.
But when a problem is caused by something Vikings don't understand, they lose all sense of reason. And that can become very dangerous.
That night, Gobber came over to the chief's house to celebrate the success of the Dragon Perches. The three of them sat at the table and clanked their mugs together, while Toothless ate from his own fish basin.
"Perches for dragons! Some of your best work." Stoick cheered as he took a large swig of his tankard, only for his face to scrunch up as he glared into the mug. "Although we may need to move the one over the well."
Just as Hicca was about to take a sip of her own mug, Stoick quickly put his hand over the top. Thankfully, Hicca was too excited to notice. "And the perches are just the beginning, we can build landing areas for them, maybe even stables in the cave underneath the village and-"
"Easy, Hicca. Remember, Berk is still for people," Stoick said to calm her down. Just as the words left his mouth, a distant rumble sounded. But the three ignored it, rumbling was not a strange nois when dragons were concerned.
"Vikings before dragons," Gobber agreed. Toothless perked his ears up at the blacksmith's last comment, he gave an annoyed growl. "Yeah, I said it. Deal with it." He gave the dragon a defiant look, Toothless simply rolled his eyes in return.
Just as Hicca gave a small giggle, another louder rumble sounded. But this time, it didn't sound like the usual Gronckles playing. It was louder, and deeper, like thunder but without the added pitter-patter of rain drops.
Toothless quickly ran upstairs as the other three rose from the table, Hicca followed her father outside. The sight that greeted them outside was one Hicca had never seen before.
As it turned out, the sound really had been thunder, but although there was no rain, dark clouds gathered overhead, and lightning struck down from them. The light kept striking the village, Hicca had never seen so much lightning before, even in the storms they'd had before in the harsh winters, the lightning had never attacked like this before.
"The lightning is hitting everywhere," She said watching the lightning rain down.
Stoick frowned at the sky, "It usually doesn't strike here in the village."
"Thor must be angry," Gobber took a step back with a worried look. "The only other time I can remember lightning ever striking Berk-"
Gobber and Stoick shared a look, "Barnstat."
Hicca turned to look at the two of them with a questioning look, "Barn-who?"
"Jürgen Barnstat, drifter, sailed into town," Stoick explained. "He was stealing from widows and old men."
"To punish him, Thor gave him a lightning bolt right to his helmet when he was fixing the mast on his ship to make his escape." Gobber pointed behind him inside the house, on the wall hung a scorched helmet. Hicca was about why her father had kept the helmet, but then again it was only natural for the chief to keep the helmets of traitors and thieves as trophies.
Stoick spoke up again, "By the time Thor was finished with him, our whole fleet was on fire!"
"We shipped him off the island and Thor hasn't hit the village since."
"Threw him of the island? Pretty harsh," Hicca muttered to herself.
AS the words left her mouth, another bolt of lightning struck, this time setting alight one of the nearby houses. As more lightning crashed, more fires erupted.
Stoick sprang into chief mode and began calling out orders, "Gobber, organize a bucket brigade. I'm going up to the great hall!"
Toothless rushed down the stairs and ran after Hicca as she followed Stoick and Gobber outside. More lightning set fire to the several houses in the village, this was getting worse by the second. Arvid and some of the other teens were already helping out where they could, but just as Hicca was about to climb onto Toothless's back, the Nightfury reared back with a roar.
He turned and ran as fast as he could, leaving Hicca standing there with a startled look on her face, she quickly ran after him. She glanced at the other Vikings in the village, while most of the past buckets back and forth to put out the fires, her father picked up an entire water basin and threw it over a nearby house, Hookfang and Meatlug also flew in to help.
"I got to find Toothless," Hicca took off into a run, passing the twins on her way past the village. For some reason Ruffnut and Tuffnut thought it was fine to just sit back and watch the village burn.
"Yeah, now that's what I'm talking about!" Tuffnut cheered.
Ruffnut nodded, "I always liked Thor."
Hicca eventual spotted Arvid and waved him down, the Nadder landed next to her with a thud, "I-I need your help. I need to find Toothless!"
Arvid nodded and reached down to her, "I just saw him by the Great Hall." He pulled Hicca up onto the saddle and pushed Stormfly forward into the air.
As the villagers finally started to get the fire under control, Stoick carried the injured to the Great Hall and gathered the other villagers.
"Don't worry. You're gonna be alright," the chief called out to them.
"It's striking throughout the entire village. It's like we're under siege!" Mulch cried out.
Bucket covered his head with his hands, "I've never seen Thor this angry!"
Stormfly swooped in close while Hicca and Arvid kept an eye out for the Nightfury. Finally they spotted him and landed in the hill near the great hall, looking up as Toothless as he clung to one of the perches.
"Toothless!" Hicca yelled out to him, for once he actually seemed scared. Lightning flashed close to him again, making him jump.
"Did you see that?" A gravelled voice sounded. Hicca looked over and spotted Mildew a little distance away, did he really have to show up now of all times? Things were already bad enough.
She followed his line of sight back to Toothless, watching him worriedly as he was forced to jump from perch to perch. The lightning struck again and again, always one step behind the midnight dragon.
"Look! The lightning is following him!" someone called out, for some strange reason it seemed like they were right. It seemed like the lightning was chasing Toothless, and he was scared.
"Toothless!" Hicca yelled out to her dragon. She ran over to where he landed and wrapped her arms around him, stroking his frills comfortingly.
"Don't you understand?" Mildew's voice rang out again. "Thor is made at all of us! And I'll tell you why. Because of him!" The old man jabbed his staff towards Toothless. "As you know, the Night Fury is the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself! We've let him live among us and now we will all pay the price!"
The longer and louder Mildew spoke, the more it stirred up the crowd. Even after all the times he complained and shouted, he was still able to get the people on his side somehow, but all the while, Hicca just glared at him.
"Well, it did seem as though the lightning struck right at the dragon." One of the villagers pointed out, muttering starting to spread over the crowd.
And of course Mildew continued to egg them on, "Yes! Right at the dragon! And a lightning storm the likes of which we've never had! There is but one thing for us to do: banish the Night Fury! It's the only way!"
Stoick cast a look of concern over the people while Hicca watched everyone worriedly, their concerned muttering was never a good sign.
"Thor is angry at us because of the Night Fury. You all saw it!" Mildew continued.
"What!? No! This is ridiculous!" Hicca stood in front of Toothless to defend him.
But Mildew ignored her, "If we don't act now... well... need I remind you of... Barnstat!"
Hicca threw her father a pleading look, if they wouldn't listen to her, hopefully the villagers would listen to their chief. Stoick stepped forward, "You're right, all of you! Thor is angry, but I don't believe he's angry at Toothless."
The auburn haired girl breathed a sigh of relief and spoke up again, "That's right! Have you all forgotten what Toothless has done for this village!?"
Mildew rolled his eyes at her, "Well, then who do you suppose he's angry at?"
Stoick decided it was time to cut the argument short, before it grew even more out of hand, "I don't presume to know Thor's mind, Mildew. But we will find a way to soothe his anger."
Thankfully his words calmed the crowd, at least for now. But that was minor compared to their next problem, now they somehow had to calm a god.
/LINE BREAK/
The next morning was only slightly better compared to the night before. Actually, you couldn't really tell it was morning. The clouds were still so dark and thick overhead, only the smallest steams of light could break through.
The teens and their dragons met in the village plaza, almost all of them were looking at the sky as another distant rumble rolled past.
"Another storm is coming," Hicca muttered to herself, they had to think of something before tonight otherwise even more houses would be burnt, not to mention the other villagers would start to blame Toothless again.
"Thor tore a hole in the Great Hall. Maybe he's hungry? I know I am," Tuffnut spoke up.
Hicca turned to the others, "We need to make Thor happy. But what do you get the God of Thunder and Lightning?"
"In the past, I know Thor's enjoyed a sacrifice or two," Fishlegs suggested.
Ruffnut quickly jab her thumb towards her brother, "Let's sacrifice Tuffnut!"
"Okay, what time should I be there? There better be fire involved."
Hicca frowned at him, was he really okay with that? "Nobody's gonna be sacrificed!"
"Not yet, anyway," Snotlout muttered.
"I had an aunt who was cursed by Odin once. She had to pay tribute to him by sailing to the end of the Earth," Arvid spoke up with a shrug. That would be a lot simpler than a human sacrifice.
"Did it work?"
Arvid shook his head, "I don't know. I guess she couldn't find it, because she kept showing up from the opposite direction."
"If I were Thor, I would want a giant statue," Snotlout said loudly. "Of myself, Snotlout, as Thor!" He stood on Hookfang's head as the dragon lifted him up into the air, he struck a pose, trying to look powerful.
Arvid frowned up at him, "You do know we're trying to make him happy?"
"Exactly!" Snotlout brought him arms closer and kissed his bulging biceps.
"I think I just threw up in my mouth," Arvid grumbled with a grimace.
Hicca thought for a moment, "Actually, that's not a bad idea."
"It's not an idea, it's a reflex."
"What? No! I-I mean the statue."
Arvid's shoulders lurched as he quickly covered his mouth, Hicca frowned at him, he was really stretching out his one joke. "No! Not Snotlout! Thor!" Hicca ignored the glare her cousin shot at her.
"Hmm... Berk has never given Thor a statue," Fishlegs thought aloud.
"Well, the it's high time we did!" Hicca said with a nod, they needed to get started if they wanted to finish by tonight.
After Hicca quickly drew up some sketches, she divided the statue in to sections, and gave each of the other teens a section to work on. Snotlout worked on the feet and legs, Fishlegs the lower body, Arvid worked on the upper body, the twins handled the arms, and Hicca herself over saw everyone else while working on the head.
Having the most blacksmithing experience, Hicca finished ahead of the other and when to check on them. They were actually doing well, aside from the twins wanting to hurt each other instead, and Snotlout forgetting which way knees bent. She looked up at the sky again, watching with a worried look as lightning flashed behind the clouds.
"Okay, guys, we better start welding these pieces together," Hicca looked over the other's work. So far they had two backwards legs, a pair of metal shorts with a lightning belt buckle, a large sheet of metal with Nadder spikes in it, and two metal cylinders along with two dented helmets.
"Yeah. I really think Thor's gonna like this."
Finally after a few more hours, the statue was finally finished. They quickly covered it in a large sheet and had the dragons carry it to the hill near the chief's house, soon a large crowd had gathered, including the chief. He looked at Hicca in question, but she just gave him a quick reassuring smile.
As the crowd grew and curious murmurs began, Hicca took a deep breath and stepped forward in front of the covered statue.
"Attention! Attention everyone! Okay, so, i know we're not exactly Thor's favourite people right now, but I am confident that this beautiful statue will go a long way towards getting us back in his good graces!" Everyone's face seemed to light up as Hicca spoke, she just hopped this really worked. "So, without further ado..."
Hicca grasped the ends of the sheet and with Toothless's help, she uncovered the statue. It stood taller than any of the houses in the village, the metal polished and shiny. It stood tall and proud, it's hammer raised high and it's other hand held forward like a guardian.
The crowd gasped and smiled at the shining statue, it truly looked magnificent. Stoick turned to the crowd with a large smile, "Well done! Thor will appreciate this tribute, and will smile upon us once again!"
The crowd cheered again, slowly they all began to return home, happy that their homes would be safe again. But as the crowd dispersed, Mildew stood firm. "You really think this is enough to appease the mighty Thor, while you allow a Night Furry in your midst!? You're fools! All of ya!"
Thankfully, the rest of the crowd had gone home, it was just Hicca, the teens and her father left standing by the statue. But Hicca frowned an looked up at the statue again, would this really be enough for a mighty god?
That night the thunder and lightning raged again. Gobber, Stoick and Hicca stood at the entrance to the chief's house and watched the sky worriedly.
"Unbelievable. There's even more lightning than last time," Hicca said with a frown.
Gobber scratched his head, "I don't understand. We gave Thor a giant statue!"
Stoick turned and made his way back inside as Gobber firmly shut door, "IT was a gallant effort, Hicca, but it looks as though this is not what Thor wanted."
Stoick sat heavily in his chair while Hicca stood and thought, there had to be something else they could do. She was pulled out of her thought when Toothless gave a gurgle behind her, she turned to see Gobber taking a couple of steps back from the dark dragon.
"Gobber, what are you doing?"
The blacksmith's eyes shifted nervously, "Hey, I love Toothless, I'm just erring on the side of caution."
The dragon whined sadly and looked up at Hicca, "Hey, don't worry, bud. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. No matter what some people think!" She shot Gobber a glare as he shuffled awkwardly. She wasn't going to let Toothless be blamed for this, there had to be something she could do.
That night the lightning lit up the sky in jagged beams, striking more houses and setting them alight. While the twins sat atop their house and admired the light show, others rushed towards the statue, maybe hopping for a sign from the god himself. But instead of something helpful, the lightning became even fiercer, giving the statue an ominous glow. Suddenly, a bolt hit the statues hammer, the lightning streaked through the metal being and shot out from his hand. The crowd gasped in horror as the statue shot a bolt of lightning towards another house, engulfing it in flames.
"That's what Thor thinks of the statue! I told you what he wants, and we haven't given it to him! Until we rid this island of that Night Fury, Thor's fire will continue to rain down upon us!" The people raised their fists and roared in agreement, they wanted this to end, and they were willing to do anything to protect their village. Even if it meant getting rid of Toothless.
Inside the Haddock house, they had no idea of the oncoming horde. Gobber leaned against the wall listening to the lightning rumble, Stoick paced back and forth in thought, while Hicca and Toothless sat by the fire as she ran her hands over his frills.
A though buzzed in her head, so she looked up as her father stepped closer. "You... You don't really think Thor is angry because of Toothless, do you?"
Stoick gave a small smile and shook his head, "Of course I don't."
Suddenly a pounding on the door interrupted them. Mildew gravelled voice sounded from the other side, "Open up, Stoick! We've come for the Night Fury!"
"But I'm afraid they do." Stoick stood between Hicca and the front door protectively, "Get Toothless to a safe place, I'll try to reason with them."
Hicca quickly stood from the floor and grabbed her father's arm, trying to stop him, but he just place a large hand on her shoulder. "Just go!"
Hicca frowned but nodded as she looked at the floor. Gobber gave Toothless and pat on the head before the girl and her dragon ran upstairs, she jumped into his back and the two leapt out of her bedroom window. Hicca quickly dismounted peaked around the side of her house, seeing the angry mob just outside the front door she quickly darted back behind the building. Toothless gave a quiet murmur, Hicca turned and patted him on the head, "Don't worry, bud. It's you and me."
With that the two took off, they couldn't risk being seen from the air, so they instead ran along the tree-line at the edge of village.
/LINE BREAK/
Meanwhile, Stoick and Gobber finally stepped out of the house to face the crowd.
"Give up the dragon, Stoick! Look at your people. We've had enough!" Mildew shouted angrily.
"You're too late. He's gone," Stoick answered simply.
"Stoick's already sent 'im off the island," Gobber added.
More lightning crackled in the air, Mildew frowned and banged his staff on the ground. "Thor says otherwise. The dragon must still be on the island. Find the Night Furry! Go!" Mildew directed the villagers to find the dragon.
Thankfully they didn't immediately check the edge of the village, where Arvid and Hicca secretly met. The blond male peeked behind a house as the shouting villagers past by, "We can hide Toothless in the cove for now."
Hicca shook her head, almost everyone knew about Hicca and Toothless's secret cove, it would be far to obvious to hide there. "No, they'll just find him. We have to leave."
Arvid spun to look at her, "We?"
"He can't make it on his own. And I wouldn't want him to. I'm going with him, Arvid." Hicca stood firm as she ran her hands over Toothless's neck.
"But you'll come back, right?" Arvid was starting to get worried.
She nodded, "Yeah, eventually. When they all realize this didn't happen because of Toothless."
The both jumped as they heard the villagers getting closer. "You better go," Arvid said quickly.
Hicca gave Arvid a quick smile, then she turned and jumped onto Toothless's back. The two took off and flew away from the village and towards the others side of the island.
Soon after, a small group of villagers lead by Mildew found Arvid. "Where's the girl!? And more importantly, where's the dragon!?"
Arvid glared at the old man as Stormfly hissed behind him, "I don't know, Mildew. But you got your wish, Hicca and Toothless are gone."
Mildew's eyes twitched in anger, "Oh, bah! Find the Night Fury! All of you!" With that Mildew and the others turned back into the village.
Arvid glance back at the sky, but he could no longer see the dark shape amongst the grey clouds.
/LINE BREAK/
Hicca flew Toothless low over forest, ready to land and hind if need be. Mildew's search party was expanding out from the village, if they weren't careful they would be easily be spotted and most likely caught. They landed on a small outcrop and quietly watched from above as some people pass by below them, the villagers walked in a long line, and unfortunately it didn't seem like there was an easy way around them. Toothless noticed this and gurgled up at Hicca, she nodded and directed him upwards into the clouds, they would just have to go over them.
In the thick clouds, Hicca gripped the reins tightly. Flying through lightning clouds was insanely dangerous, but they didn't have much other choice if they didn't want to be spotted. At first things seemed to be going alright, with the occasional crackle and rumble around them.
But then a bolt shot down mere inches in front of them, Hicca and Toothless both pulled back, but another bolt struck close to them again mere second later. Hicca let out a scream and pushed Toothless down through the clouds, the lightning was getting way too close for comfort. Suddenly another lightning bolt struck, it hit Toothless's fake tail and destroyed it in an instant.
Toothless let out a roar in pain, but the situation only got worse from there. Without his tail, Toothless started to fall, smoke trailing from where his tail used to be. Down in the village everyone could seen the large black mass falling from the clouds, leaving a trail of smoke in its wake like some kind of commit.
The Night Fury spread her wings wide to try and slow their decent, but without a way to steer, they just ended up spiralling. They hit the tree line, bouncing from the branches, and hitting the ground hard. Toothless slowly stood and shook himself free from the dizziness, he looked around and found Hicca stuck in a bush, he gripped her jacket in his mouth and pulled her free with a short tug.
"Whoa... You okay, bud?" Hicca shakily stood, brushing the dirt from her clothes and pulling the leaves free from her long hair. Toothless gave a gurgle and pulled his tail round to show her, the fabric tail had been burnt away completely, leaving just the metal barbs and gears behind. The ends of the barbs were still glowing orange as Hicca stepped closer, she knelt down and gently reach out to touch the crocked bars but quickly pulled her hand back with a hiss, "That's where the lightning hit..."
She looked closer wondering why the lightning had targeted them, the longer she stared at the singed metal, the more the wheels in her head started to turn. The sound of lightning made her look up, from here they could see the village across the ravine, the light crackled and danced around the village. It struck each of the Dragon Perches and coursed through the statue of Thor, but it never hit the trees surrounding the village, or even the houses themselves.
It was only striking the metal structures. "The metal? I wonder..."
But before she could dwell on it further, a whooshing sound rushed past her. Two bola's flew past her and wrapped tightly around Toothless, binding his wings to his body.
"Secure the dragon!" Mildew shouted as he and the other villagers rushed forward.
Hicca tried to reach out to him, "Toothless! No! Leave him alone!" But one of the men grabbed her and dragged her away from the dragon.
"Don't try and stop us, you'll only make it worse for your precious dragon," Mildew told her as three of the villagers held Toothless down. Of course Toothless struggled against the villagers, but he wasn't fighting at full force, he would never want to hurt them. Hicca was held back and forced to watch as he was bundled onto a cart, tied down with iron bars and a muzzle bound tightly around his maw, it was all too familiar from the last time the village had captured Toothless.
Hicca screamed out to try and stop them, but she was far too small and weak to do anything. She couldn't even keep up with the cart as the villagers dragged Toothless away.
She was left shaking and crying in the forest as her best friend was dragged away.
/LINE BREAK/
The villagers took Toothless down to the docks, ready to shove the dragon out to sea, hoping it finally end the lightning storms attacking their village from the sky.
But Stoick and Gobber rushed forward to block their path, "I know you're afraid. But this isn't how we do things on Berk! These dragons are not the beasts we once thought they were. They're part of us now." Stoick held out his hands to the people, trying to reason with them.
Mildew jabbed his staff at Toothless, "Not this one! Not anymore!" There was almost a smile on the old man's face, he was finally getting rid of the dragon.
"Release the dragon, Mildew!" The chief demanded.
Mildew gave a groan in annoyance, "Open your eyes, Stoick. It's the only solution and you know it. IT worked with Barnstat and it'll work with Toothless."
Stoick couldn't think of anything else to say, he couldn't forcibly stop his own people, but they were too far past listening.
Near the Forge, Hicca finally made it back to the village, out of breath from the run. Her eyes scanned the room searching for something in particular, weapons lining the wall but a normal sword or hammer wouldn't do. Her mind had been whirling as she ran, and now she had a plane, if it worked than the village finally see the truth.
Hicca whirled round and finally spotted an ornamental spear in the corner, it was dull and a little rusted, but it would work for what she had planned.
She was just about to leave when the other teens rushed over. "Hicca! They've got Toothless! They're about to float him off to sea."
"I know. Why do you think I have this?" She held the spear up to show them.
"Oh, tough one. How many guesses do we get? Five?"
Hicca just rolled her eyes at Tuffnut's words. "Oookay... Arvid, fly me to the docks!"
Arvid nodded and ran over to Stormfly, he jumped onto the saddle and pull Hicca up, the two took off and quickly headed for the docks
/LINE BREAK/
At the docks Stoick was still trying to hold off the villagers, but he had now given up on words. "If you want to get to that dragon, you're gonna have to go through us!" Stoick drew his sword while Gobber raised his mallet hand. If words would no longer work, then maybe force was the only way after all.
The villagers all knew how strong their chief was, but they also believed sending away the Night Fury would save their homes. There was a mix of fear and anger in all of tthem.
Suddenly, two figures pushed their way through the crowd. Stoick and Gobber braced themselves, but the two turned their backs on the chief and the blacksmith, instead facing the crowd with their fists clenched. Stoick's eyes widened in surprise as he stared at the backs of Bucket and Mulch, then again, it wasn't really that much of a surprise considering.
Bucket and Mulch were two of the more gentle Vikings in the village, simple fisherman who had both been helped greatly by Hicca and her dragons, both of them even had a soft spot for the young girl. Stoick's surprise quickly fell back into his fierce look as the four of them faced the rest of the village, "Thank you, lads."
"I-If we're choosing sides, Mulch... uh... there's more over there. Lots more."
"We stand with the chief, Bucket."
But just when it seemed like the two sides were about to meet in a battle, a cry came from above, and a blue Deadly Nadder swooped between the two sides.
"Stop!"
Everyone turned as the Nadder looped around and landed heavily on the docks between the two sides, Hicca jumped down from the saddle, still clutching the spear tightly. "You could get rid of Toothless, you could throw him off the edge of the world, but it's not going to stop this lightning from destroying Berk."
Hicca held the spear higher, thunder and lightning making her jump, "It's the metal. The lightning is hitting the metal! Just think about it. We never had a lightning storm like this until we put up those perches, that statue, right? They're all made of metal!"
But Mildew tried to brush her off, "Bah! You ever heard of anything so insane!?"
As the crowd started to get riled up again, Hicca ran to the end of the dock where Toothless was still bound, holding up his tail for the other to see. The metal was still slightly warm to the tough, "You see? This is where the lightning struck Toothless. On this connecting rod... this metal connecting rod!"
But there were still cautions murmurs from the crowd, how could a simple material they used every day of their lives be responsible for a lightning attack? Hicca decided to put the final part of her plan into action, "Look, if you don't believe me, I can prove it!"
She ran back around towards Arvid, "Fly me up."
All of the Vikings on the dock watched as Arvid pulled Hicca up onto the dragon, he fly her up towards the mast of the ship, the same ship they'd been planning to sail Toothless away on. Hicca carefully stepped out onto the wooden beam holding up the sail, grabbing the mast to keep her balance.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" He asked her.
She gave a small chuckle, "Sure? Uh, that's a strong word. It's really more of a... hunch." She smiled at him while Arvid just looked worriedly, "I'll be fine. Go."
Arvid did as he was asked and pulled Stormfly away from the ship, the Nadder giving a small chirp in response.
Gobber and Stoick watched from bellow, "Oh, boy, here she goes again..."
The chief shook his head, "She doesn't make it easy."
Hicca held onto the mast as she looked down at her father and the others, "You'll all see for yourself!" She winced as another bout of thunder boomed loudly, sounding like it was right behind her. "When I attach this metal rod to the top of the mast, the lightning will be drawn to-"
She didn't get to finish her sentence.
A stream of light suddenly hit the spear she held, coursing through the shaft and directly into her. She vaguely heard her father yelling, but for the most part she just felt like thousands of needles were jabbing into her skin like fire ants.
The lightning rushed through her whole, from her raised hand all the way down to her metal leg. The bolt actually didn't last long, but the feeling was intense and seemed to last for years.
Finally it let her go.
All of the energy left her, her grip slipping from the mast as her body went limp. She fell from the mast and down in to the chilly water bellow, but even the shock of the cold sea didn't wake her. The others could only watch for a moment, frozen with shock and horror as to what had just happened to the young girl.
But Toothless reacted instantly, almost as soon as he saw his human fall, he stopped holding back. He thrust his wings out and broke the bars holding him down, clawing away the muzzle and ropes, a burst of adrenalin rushing through him. Without a second though, he shot past Gobber and Stoick and dove into the water after her, beating his wings as if he was back in the air, diving down deeper and deeper after Hicca.
Stoick, Gobber and the others scanned the dark water, trying to spot either the girl or her dragon. As the seconds tick by, the tension only grew. A splash further down the dock drew Stoick attention, he turned to see Toothless backing out of the water, Hicca's water logged leather jacket gripped tightly in his teeth. He pulled Hicca onto the dock and whined worriedly as she lay unmoving.
"Hicca..." Stoick's mind spun with the worst possible thoughts, he rushed over and pulled her into his large arms. He touched her cold cheek and felt for any breathing, it was shallow, but it was there. Stoick breathed a sigh of relief and pulled her in closer. Gobber was also relieved to see the girl was alright, and he was also happy that Hicca had once again proven herself to be right.
The other Vikings had also seen it too. The lightning had hit the metal spear, and Hicca in the process, just as she said it would. As Stoick carried the girl back home, he ordered the others to tear down the dragon perches.
/LINE BREAK/
The next morning, the clouds had cleared and the whole village seemed brighter. Hicca awoke slowly, her head still spinning slightly. She shakily sat up in bed and held her pounding head in one hand, Toothless slowly approached and gurgled softly. She gave him a soft smile, "Toothless. What happened, bud?" She stroked his jaw comfortingly.
A sudden though formed in Hicca's head, and she quickly pulled back the sheets and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She tapped her metal foot on the floor, then did the same to her real one, tilting it back and forth. "At least I didn't lose another one," she said with a slight chuckle.
A hurried stomping sounded from the stairs, "Hicca! You're alright!" Stoick and Gobber hurried up the stairs, her father lifting her off the bed as if she weighed nothing. "You took a lightning bolt to the head," He told her, sounding astonished as he put her back on the ground and patted her head, ruffling her long hair as he did so.
"Just like Barnstat," Gobber pointed out. "Except we won't be throwing you off the island."
"So everyone knows Thor wasn't mad at Toothless?" She asked.
Stoick nodded, "They do now."
"Until we figure out why Thor was angry at the metal, we're all walking on eggshells," Gobber said as they made their way downstairs and out the front door.
Hicca was happy to finally see the clear blue sky again, but at the same time, she was a little sad to see her creations being torn down by the villagers. She knew it was for the best, but still felt a little down as she watched some of the men topple the large Thor statue she and the other teens had made. "Oh, we worked so hard on that statue. Kind of a shame we have to just scrape it for parts."
But Stoick stroked his bread and thought for a moment, "Well, maybe we don't have to. Why don't you take it up to one of the high points on the island and leave it there?" He suggested, placing a hand on Hicca's shoulder.
"Oh, we'll handle that for you," Snotlout spoke up quickly. As he and the twins climbed aboard their dragons, Hicca wondered just what her cousin was planning.
She soon got her answer when she followed the Nightmare and Zippleback on Toothless, watching as they carried the statue all the way to Mildew's house. They dropped the metal giant right on the old man's door step, laughing as he yelled up at them.
"I'm not sure that's what my dad hand in mind, guys," Hicca spoke up as the flew back.
Snotlout just shrugged, "Hey, that's the way I understood it."
Hicca couldn't help but give a slight chuckle, she may not have fully agreed with them, but that didn't mean they'd be removing the statue any time soon.
Over the next couple of days, Hicca found that the lightning storms had impacted a lot of people. For most of the villagers, it made them realise just how rash they'd been in their actions. It wasn't rare for a different family to stop by every now and them, offering their apologies to both her and Toothless.
The lightning had also left its permanent mark on Hicca body. Running all the way down Hicca's right arm, was a jagged pattern of lightning scars. They were a slight orange in colour and looked like ferns criss-crossing across her arm. Gothi had said they would most likely never fade. But Hicca didn't mind, it was just another constant reminder that she would do anything to protect those she cared about.
End of episode 13.
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Chapter 13 finally done :) Really liking this episode, some really great scenes to write about :)
Couple of points: Though it's never mentioned, I love the idea of Hicca/Hiccup with lightning scars after this episode :) Also I didn't include the final monologue in this one, it just felt a little out of place :/ Still, let me know what you think, and I'll see you all net time :)