AN: Ok two quick things. First off "This" means words 'This' is mentally done. Secondly Doragon Ji is looking over my chapters and looking for spelling errors and pointing out anything that doesn't make sense. Also I would like to thank my friend Vala411 for reading over the first half of this story as well and checking it over.
"I'll see you later on today Hiccup, try to save your strength and fight hard." Cracking open an eye I saw Stoick leaving Hiccup and Thane. He turned to Thane "Suppose we better wake your brother I have to tell him a few things."
Taking my legs off of the fireplace I slowly stood up cracking my back as I stood up "No need, I'm up."I said rubbing the gunk out of my eyes. He turned towards me "Good I um... I need to speak to you alone." He said glancing at Thane.
He must have got the point because he walked to the door "I'll see you two in a few minutes." I nodded as he walked out of the door then turned to Hiccup "Ok what is it?" He dragged his foot across the floor a bit "I um… Astrid knows… about everything."
I nodded slowly "I know." His eyes widened a little "You know… how?" My eyes rolled "Because my friend, you and I aren't dead." He laughed nervously rubbing the back of his neck "I guess you're right… also what was it that happened to you yesterday?"
My eye twitched a little at the memory "Just slipped and cut my hands on a rock." He nodded before waving me to follow "Ok just wondering, also I have an idea for the fight but… not sure how well this will go." He said pushing open the door.
I followed swiftly as we made our way to the smithy. When we made it into the back room he turned to me "I'm going to show them all the truth." He said with a confidence you only get when it's your only option.
"You know that's crazy right?" He nodded and took a breath "You think I don't know that, it's my only option." Slowly I put an arm on his shoulder "You'll do fine, after all you've gotten this far right?"
"I really hope the gods are on my side today… well it's not going to do me a lot of good thinking about it, let's get some work done." He said picking up an axe and bringing it to the grinding wheel. I shook my head, it wouldn't be easy with that thought roaming in your head all day.
oOo
We were in there for a couple of hours before he was called down to the arena. As quickly as possible we cleaned up and started our trek to the arena. He seemed to get slower with every step but I stayed at his pace "Hey, don't think for one minute that you won't be able to do this." I said giving his shoulder a baby punch.
"I know… still hard not to though." He said with a dreading voice. I didn't dare say anything in fear of pushing him over the edge into a nervous breakdown. When we made it to the entrance Astrid was already standing there with almost the same look as Hiccup.
She greeted Hiccup then me "So this is it… I'm going to show them the truth." He said to Astrid. She slowly nodded and looked away. With more force than I thought possible from him Hiccup placed me next to Astrid "You guys have to promise me something, if things go wrong you have to take care of Toothless."
I didn't expect him to ask ME that question, but before I could say anything Astrid spoke up first "Ok just… promise me that nothing will go wrong." He was about to say something but Gobber opened the gate and pushed him in "Knock Em dead!" Gobber shouted before slamming the gate shut.
He turned to us "You'll get a better view up top." He said before walking up. I turned to Astrid who was staring through the bars and placed a hand on her shoulder "It'll all work out." She didn't say anything. Letting go of her shoulder I followed Gobber to the top.
I found Thane standing right next to the edge of the cage "Don't get caught in the fire." I whispered to him meaning it both literally and figuratively. He nodded and then we proceeded to watch.
Hiccup was now standing in the middle of the ring "I'm ready." He said just loud enough to hear. One of the many doors swung open and a vat of flames came pouring out along with the nightmare. It began to run around the top of the arena until…
… Until it looked at me "You viking, I know that scent!" It shouted before crawling to our part of the cage "Thane move." I whispered loudly. He slowly backed up with me "How do you like it!" The nightmare shouted while shooting a column of flame at us. While pushing Thane out of the way I dropped to the ground allowing the flame to fly over me.
Looking back up I seen the nightmare going back down towards Hiccup 'Always something trying to kill me.' I thought pulling myself back off of the ground. When we both got back to the edge about ten seconds later he was already calming it down 'Damn that was fast.'
"It's ok, it's ok… I'm not one of them." The atmosphere immediately dropped as soon as his helmet hit the ground "Stop the fight…" My head turned toward Stoick who was standing "NO! You all have to see this, they're not what we think they are…" He said reaching out his hand.
"I SAID STOP THE FIGHT!" Even my dragon senses could feel the echo of the hammer making me slightly dizzy. I pushed it out of my mind as the nightmare tried to turn Hiccup into a chew toy "AHHHH!" Every fiber of me wanted to go in and help but I know that I can't.
Thane took a step but I put my hand out "Don't, we can't interfere. This is a turning point and I really don't want to eff this up." Slowly he stopped pushing and watched with me. Astrid was already in the arena taking the heat off of Hiccup.
"Come on this way!" I saw Stoick at the door already opening it. The two of them started to sprint at max speed to the door. But we all know that he doesn't get there "HICCUP!" Astrid shouted in terror. I looked around behind me for Toothless to be coming at any moment now….
I waited about seven seconds and then I knew something was wrong. Quickly looking back in the arena I could see the nightmare about to roast him and everyone was mortified at the sight "God damn it." I shouted before leaping over the cage with a war cry to distract the nightmare.
Landing with a roll I came out of it sprinting "Come on you overgrown lizard!" I shouted throwing a knife so that it just grazed the side of its face. It did the trick as it stopped holding Hiccup 'You NEED to find Toothless and find out what the hell is happening!' I mentally shouted at Thane.
He nodded and ran off in the direction of the cove "Ok now it's just you and I big boy." I said grabbing a little personal invention out of my pocket, dragon nip balls. It's just tightly bound dragon nip that would come loose on impact.
Grabbing one I chucked it at the things face "Ha what did you think tha…. That… wo…" The nightmare's eyes went half lidded and it collapsed 'Ok… that went better than…' All of a sudden he started to get back up and I mentally cursed at the short duration.
'Dave, I found him on the edge of the forest… with a net over him.' I evaded a flame and quickly replied 'Free him, and anything that is there… kill it.' I could feel the nod and quickly pulled out another Nip ball. Sadly grass doesn't move far or fast when thrown so it was easily evaded.
Cursing my luck again I pulled out my sword "NO!" I turned to see Hiccup running up to me much to the displeasure of the people behind him. He made it up next to me "Don't… kill him." He said catching his breath.
I grabbed him and pulled him out of the way of another shot "I'm not gonna kill him, this is purely for defence." I whispered loudly keeping us back. He looked around the arena "Oh gods I'm so dead when we get out of this." Sadly I had no idea what would happen after this mess up.
But fate must like to fix itself as the deadly whistle that will instill fear into all vikings hearts was heard 'Oh god thank you Thane.' I mentally cheered. The side of the cage was blown open and in came a night fury tackling the nightmare.
Multiple screams and gasps could be heard when the smoke cleared. Toothless fought with the nightmare for several seconds until the bigger dragon realized that it wasn't going to win and flew into its cage.
Vikings now began to pour into the arena "Toothless go… get out of here!" Hiccup shouted but Toothless wasn't having any of it and began to knock around like rag dolls. Then came Stoick, he tackled him to the ground and I could see the gas building in his throat.
"No… NOOOOO!" I heard Hiccup shout next to me. Toothless closed his mouth and looked back at us with a sad croon before getting thrown forward with a dog pile to follow "Oh gods please just… don't hurt him." I heard him say with a defeated voice.
Stoick's axe was lifted in the air already for a killing blow. I had a hand on my knife to throw at any second… slowly Stoick stopped mid chop and aimed it towards the ground "Put it with the others, I have something to deal with first." I heard him say glaring in our direction.
He walked over to us with his axe still drawn and grabbed Hiccup with one hand lifting him "Hey!" I shouted to which he glared at me "You follow me… NOW!" He said beginning to walk with Hiccup still in his hands. Knowing I had no other choice I followed .
He stayed at a fast pace while staying silent. I decided to use my time wisely 'Thane you did it whatever you did.' I waited a few seconds before getting a response 'I had to kill… one of those things you told me about.' He said with the sound of disbelief 'Are… you alright?' I asked slightly worried. A mental chuckle could be heard 'Nothing a night fury can't handle.'
Before I could respond we were at the hall and I watched him practically throw Hiccup into the room "How could I have not seen this." He started mumbling. Hiccup started to speak but no real conversations could be understood. Until Stoick turned to me.
"You… you gave him this idea didn't you!" He shouted while walking up to me. Slowly I backed up "I've done nothing wrong, I've merely just encouraged him." I stated staring him in the eye. He reached for me but I was too quick and pushed it out of the way while hitting him in the chest with my palm pushing him back.
"Please don't hit me, I really don't want to fight you." I half asked half begged. Thankfully luck was on my side for once and he turned back to Hiccup "So you've thrown your lot in with them, they've killed hundreds of us!" He shouted "And we've killed thousands of them." Hiccup said back gesturing in the direction of the arena.
"They don't want to attack us they have this… thing on their island that…" "The nest?" Stoick said cutting him off "Umm did I say nest?" He grabbed his shoulders "How did you find it?" He pushed his father's hands off of him "I didn't Toothless did he… oh gods." I could see the realization in his eyes as Stoick started to walk away.
He chased after him "No dad you don't understand this this is huge, you won't win this one… LISTEN TO ME FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE!" The sound of a smack echoed through the hall. Silence ensured for a couple of seconds "You're not a viking… you're not my son." I closed my eyes as I cringed at the stab at his heart.
"READY THE SHIPS!" I heard him shout before the doors slammed shut. After a couple of minutes Hiccup got off of the ground with tears falling as well as a red hand mark on the left side of his face. I walked over to him not knowing what to do. He fell back to his knees and stared at the ground.
"They're all going to die… my dad, Toothless, the village…. All of them." I kept quiet as he wiped his nose "They're all going to die and I couldn't do anything." He said closing his eyes. After about a minute he got up silently and walked outside. I followed of course.
We walked to a cliff overlooking the docks and immediately I felt bad. Toothless was being loaded onto the lead ship and his cries could be heard from here. The tears could be seen by anyone that would pass by in his eyes. On top of it all anyone that did pass by called him names… not very nice ones either, I don't remember that part about the movie.
We continued to watch the war party assemble in complete silence. Then they started to leave, he still didn't say anything. After about thirty minutes the ships were out of view. I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see Astrid. She walked up beside him.
"I can't imagine, you've lost everything. Your father, your tribe, your best friend…" He turned to her "Thank you… for summing that up." He said dryly while shaking his head "Why couldn't I have just killed that dragon when I found him in the woods, would have been better for everyone."
"Yep, anyone would have done it, so why didn't you… why didn't you?" She asked him "I don't know… I couldn't." He said turning away from her "That's not an answer." She shot back "Why is is so important to you all of a sudden?!" He half shouted back.
"Because I want to remember what you say right now." He turned back to her sharply "Oh for the love of, I was a coward, I was weak, I wouldn't kill a dragon." "You said wouldn't that time…" She slipped in "Oh whatever I wouldn't! 300 years and I'm the only viking that wouldn't kill a dragon." He said turning around and silence taking over.
"First to ride one though… sooo?" His eyes widened a little and his posture got a little straighter before turning back to her "I wouldn't kill him because he looked as frightened as I was… I looked at him, and I saw myself." he said looking down "I bet he's pretty frightened now, what are you going to do about it?"
"Eh… probably something stupid." He said with a shrug "Good but you've already done that." His eyes lit up all of a sudden "Then something crazy." He said before running off "That's more like it." She said before chasing him. I of course followed once more.
We caught up with him rather quickly and he pointed to Astrid "I need you to get all of the teens to the arena and Dave… follow me." She split off towards town and we ran across the bridge in the direction of the arena.
"So what's the plan?" I asked as we were nearing the main gate. He chuckled as he grabbed the lever "I plan on showing, hopefully, the teens so that we may turn the tides of this fight." He said while walking in "Ok hopefully this should do the trick."
He grabbed a fish out of a barrel on the side of the arena "When was that put there?" I asked confused "Well dragons need to eat too, otherwise they're not in fighting condition for us to train." Made enough sense to me so I grabbed a couple and followed him in "You get the Nadder and the Gronckle. I've got the Zippleback and the nightmare."
I nodded and went over to the nadder cage "Hi in there um… I need your help." I said right next to the door "Like I would help a viking." She growled on the other side "Please don't kill me, I'm going to open the cage." I said before pulling the lever hoping I wouldn't be fried at the hostile sound in her voice.
Surprisingly enough she walked out without trying to kill me "Hi there, I'm not here to hurt you…" She started to eyeball the fish in my hand but also the sword on my back which I tossed as far from me as possible."You want this? Here, this is hopefully enough payment not to murder me right out." I said tossing her the fish to which she snached out of the air.
Her head tilted sideways when I slowly began to near her "I don't want to hurt you, all I want to be is friends." I said stopping while extending my hand and looking away. After a couple of seconds I felt a warmness in my hand and turned to see her head on my palm.
I couldn't help but grin, this always feels good to do "Ya see, not gonna hurt you." I said giving her head a nice scratch on the side which she leaned into. After a few seconds I stopped and she whined at the scratching stopped. Letting out a chuckle I backed away "No worries, there's more to come in the future." I said before going to the Gronckles cage.
It ended up almost exactly the same as the nadder except that she licked me once or twice. It really is gross stuff. While (trying) to wipe it all off of me the teens showed up right after Hiccup was done with the nightmare.
They all lined up about 20 feet from us on Astrid's orders. Hiccup walked up to them but they all started talking first "If you're gonna kill us, I'll go with the gronckle." "This plan is soo amazing." Hiccup was trying to get a word in until Ruffnut went right up next to him.
"This is crazy… I like that." She half purred into his ear. I could see the redness start to set in until Astrid pulled her off "So what is the plan?" He grinned and clapped his hands together "Who want's to ride a dragon?" All of the teens stared at us like we had two head except the twins.
"Ya dragons! Imagine the chaos we could cause with one of those dear sister." Tuffnut said punching his sister in the shoulder. They both started cackling until they realized that everyone was staring at them "What?" They asked at the simultaneously. Most of us just started shaking our heads.
"Either way, Snotlout come here." I could see the surprise in the boy's face as his name was called. As he was walking over to Hiccup I heard my name "Dave uh… can I borrow you for a few minute?" I turned to see Thane standing by the gate clutching his stomach… where there was also blood.
Without a second thought I sprinted over to him "What the hell happened!?" I asked grabbing him and lowering him to the ground to sit "Well uh… I was able to remove the net rather quickly but I kind of got jumped by one of those things. He got me good with a knife." He said lifting his shirt for me to see a stab.
"Ok um… I'm going to get you to the healer." I said pulling him back up giving him my body to lean on. After he was up I took his shirt off and used it as a makeshift a glance back they were bonding Snotlout and the future dubbed Hookfang. Knowing that everything was fine for now I began to bring him to Gothi's hut.
It took us almost ten minutes to get there. While knocking on the door I took a peek back under the bandage. It wasn't too bad as long as it gets treated right. A few more seconds later she opened the door and immediately her eyes widened at the sight of blood.
"Please help…" I begged. She nodded and gestured us in quickly. I set him down on a cot and waited as she went over and took off the poorly made bandage. My hands were caked in blood, more than I thought there was. Not letting it get to my head I waited patiently.
After a couple of minutes she had it cleaned and stitched up. Thane was well asleep already thankfully. She turned around and started to write on the ground. I looked down at it "What happened to him?" I had to take a second to think about what to say "It was an accident, he got in the commotion when people were running around but found strength to come find me."
Her eyes widened as she started writing again to which I read again "Where did you learn to read this?" I mentally wanted to backhand myself, only Gobber knows how to read this stuff. Taking a few seconds to think again I came up with an idea "It resembles a language that I learned a long time ago." She stared at me for a few seconds before letting it go.
I walked over to Thane and whispered to myself "I'm sorry for dragging you into this." After a couple of seconds I turned to Gothi "Will he be alright in your care?" She nodded and I knew I had to go before the teens left so my legs began taking me back to them.
The time it takes to get there without someone wounded is about two minutes. When I made it to the arena everyone was on their respective dragon and looking like they were ready to go "Wait, Dave are you coming?" I nodded and he gestured everyone to stop. I quickly thanked him and hopped on Hookfang.
"Next stop, the nest."