Small Step
It was a week and a half after the fight between Ash and Hicca. Everyone could see the change in Hicca's demeanor. She was pulling away from the tribe. Before the fight Hicca walked through the streets as if she was a villager. She would strike up conversation with them, smile at them, and joke with them. But now, Hicca only ever came into town to eat, ask about Siver, and continue her lessons with her peers. Then she would immediately head back to the cove without acknowledging anyone.
Her interactions with Ash had become nonexistent. Ash was a man of his word and didn't speak to her anymore. When they passed by each other, they kept their gazes straight ahead without giving the other a glance. Ash was heartbroken, he hated himself for not telling her how he felt. Now he had dug his own grave by fighting her. Now he would never have her, and it was all his fault. His mom had tried to encourage him to let her find him a wife again, but he firmly rejected her offer. If he couldn't have Hicca, he would rather be alone.
Hicca was as heartbroken as Ash. She had wanted there to be something between them. If Ash had said he liked her, she would have been the happiest girl in the world. But instead, it was all about the runes. All about following the Viking way. Hicca wouldn't be with anyone just because 'fate' determined they were supposed to be together. Hicca made her own fate. She had been doing that since she met Toothless and left the tribe.
Stoick who had been noticing Hicca's withdrawal from the village was growing concerned. He was getting worried she would decide to leave. He had to do something. He had been trying to give her space since she didn't seem too fond of speaking to him, but he didn't want her to leave. During one of her visits into the village he invited her over to share a meal with him. To his surprise, she accepted. She agreed to come over at sundown and eat dinner with him. Stoick immediately rushed back to his house and prepared beef broth with some bread. He also grabbed a basket of fish for her dragon, hoping she would appreciate the gesture. With everything set up, he sat down and nervously awaited for Hicca to arrive. Hicca and he hadn't shared a meal at this table together for a long time. Hopefully, if this dinner went alright, he could change that.
After a few hours, Hicca arrived. When he answered the door he was surprised to see her in an outfit that looked just like the one she wore as a kid. It was surprising to see her out of his ninja outfit. He invited her inside and she entered with Toothless coming in after her. Taking the stew of the fire he prepared them both a bowl of the broth and gave her dragon the basket of fish. She thanked him for feeding her dragon and they sat down to eat. They were both silent as they ate, with only the sound of wood on wood as they ate.
Deciding to break the silence, Stoick spoke up. "So Hicca," he began nervously. When she looked up from her bowl at him he continued. "Have you decided if you want to rejoin the tribe or not? Because the elders have all agreed that you can rejoin" he said hopefully.
Hicca paused for a moment and lowered her spoon full of broth back into the bowl. Releasing a breath she looked into Stoick's eyes before answering. "That's actually why I decided to come tonight Stoick," she said while holding his gaze. "I think I'm just going to leave. Probably sooner than later," she answered with a shrug.
Stoick's stomach dropped to his feet. This was his worst nightmare, he had to try and stop her. "Hicca I know that things with Ash didn't work out, but that's no reason to leave," he said frantically.
Hicca shook her head before answering. "It doesn't have anything to do with Ash. I just don't belong here. I never have," she said sadly.
"Of course you do Hicca. You're a Viking and this is your tribe," Stoick pressed.
"No I'm not. I never have been. But that's ok. Everything that made me a terrible Viking makes me a great ninja," she said with a small smile. "Besides, the village is more than capable of taking care of itself. One person won't make much of a difference. It's not my business anyway," she said with a shrug.
Stoick slammed his hand down on his table in frustration. "Stop pretending that we don't matter to you Hicca!" he shouted. Hicca's eyes widened before she set her face in a scowl. "You care about all of us Hicca. You came back to Berk, you came to save us. I can see it in your face when you walk through the village," he said with conviction.
Hicca frowned at Stoick and stood up. "Well maybe I don't care about this village. It's not like this village ever cared about me before the dragons. I had to tame a dragon and slay the biggest dragon in Viking history for everyone to finally not consider me as a nuisance and an outcast," she shouted back harshly. "On top of that, no one had even bothered to apologize to me. Is 'Hey, sorry Hicca' so hard to say?" she said with a snarl.
"Well can you blame them? You act so cold to everyone you make it seem like an apology wouldn't make a difference," Stoick retorted.
Hicca snorted before chuckling dryly. "You know what the funny thing is? I don't care about anyone else's apology. All that really matters, that ever mattered is yours," Hicca admitted.
Stoick paused as he took in what she just said. Looking down, he took a breath to calm himself. When he looked back up to Hicca's face his eyes widened in surprise. She was crying. Tears were running down her cheeks as her face was twisted in pain.
"How could you say that to me," Hicca whispered quietly. "How could you say I wasn't your daughter? We were supposed be all we had to each other. You were supposed to be my dad, you were supposed to love me no matter what," she said while her body racked with sobs. "How could you just cast me out?" she asked sadly.
Stoick watched his daughter cry while his heart clenched with guilt. He thought that she was no longer affected by this. Obviously he had been wrong. He didn't realize how badly he had hurt her by disowning her and exiling her. As he opened his mouth to speak, Hicca cut him off.
"Well you know what? I don't need you. I don't need this village, I don't need your 'Viking way'. I found my own way. The ninja way," she spat at him.
This made Stoick's rage boil over inside of him. It was one thing to be mad at the village and him. But to insult the way of their people. Her own people, her family, her ancestors. That was going too far. "Oh and the 'Ninja way' is so great. You hide in the shadows and kill people in their sleep. You're no better than Siver and his men," he shouted back.
Hicca's eyes widened as her father's words stabbed her in the heart. It's like he once gain disowned her. All that work she had done to be strong, he had just rejected and insulted. She had never felt so low. She had been right. Her father, her people, she would always be an outcast to them. An oddity. She didn't belong here and she never had.
"Well you don't have to worry about me anymore. Your little embarrassment to the Viking way will just disappear. I found a real family with the clan. Goodbye Stoick," she said before turning and running to the door. She tore it open and dashed out with Toothless right behind her.
Stoick immediately got up and attempted to call out to her. But when he reached the door, he saw that Hicca was nowhere to be seen. Gritting his teeth he punched a wall, splintering the wood. He was cursing himself on the inside. The words he had spoken were out of anger. He hadn't meant to say them to her. He had never hated himself as much as did now. He contemplated going after her, but he decided that it wasn't the best idea. Hicca obviously wouldn't want to see him right now. With a sigh, he prayed to the gods that she would still be on the island tomorrow. He hung his head sadly before he stepped back inside his house and closed the door behind him.
At the cove, Hicca was sobbing uncontrollably as she buried her face into her dragon's neck and clung to him like her life depended on it. Toothless watched his human with concern. He felt helpless as he watched her wallow in her sadness.
Finally after several minutes of nonstop crying, Hicca ran herself dry. Releasing a shaky breath she spoke, "Why did things have to go so wrong hun'?" she asked her companion. "Why can't they love me for me?" she asked referring to Ash and her father. Toothless warbled at her before nudging her cheek with his face. This got her to smile as she looked in the eyes of her faithful companion. "You'll always love me, right hun'?" she asked. Toothless warbled at her before nodding and licking her cheek lightly. He would always love her. He would stick by her no matter what.
Hicca smiled and wiped away her tears. "Thanks hun'," with a sad sigh she looked up at the crescent moon. She looked at it and thought it was beautiful. "We're gonna leave hun'. Tomorrow," she told her companion. He nodded in confirmation before settling down and letting his rider lean against him. Hicca hadn't wanted to leave until just recently. She had honestly considered staying. With all the ways Berk had changed, she figured she had a place here now. But she had been wrong. She and Toothless would move one and explore the world as they intended. Tomorrow she would do some maintenance on Toothless's saddle at Gobber's. Then they would go. But she would say goodbye to her father. She owed him that.
As she settled back against Toothless and relaxed, she felt her eyes getting heavy. She started to drift of to sleep when suddenly something caught her attention. Toothless released a growl as he heard the same thing. They both stood up and focused on their hearing. She heard men. A lot of them. She could hear weapons and armor clinking together as they marched around the cove and towards the village. She guessed that it was more of Siver's men. They were obviously trying to get the drop on the village. She felt a fire of rage burn within her as her desire to defend the village blazed to life.
"Come on hun', we're gonna help," she told her companion firmly. Toothless growled in confirmation. Hicca quickly ran to put on her ninja gear and grab her weapons.
No one was going to threaten her friends and get away with it. It was time to put her skills to use.
As Stoick was sleeping in his chair a sudden roar from a dragon woke him up. Stoick immediately leapt up and grabbed his helmet. Bursting out of the front door of his home, he saw his people fighting with other Vikings from an unknown tribe. He immediately figured that Siver's men had obviously snuck into the village. Normally they could repel any attack with their dragons from afar, but inside the village the dragons couldn't use their fire without risking setting the village ablaze.
Immediately he rushed into the fray and shouted orders to his people. He commanded the children and noncombatants be moved out of the village while all combatants secure the armory and start repelling the invaders. He watched as his people fought against the invaders and their dragons joined the battle as best they could.
Ash was currently engaged with a Viking wielding a large battle axe. Stormfly was also fighting as she lashed out at a group of five men a few yards away. Ash cursed himself at allowing himself to be disarmed. He was fighting with a handicap as the injuries he sustained from his fight with Hicca hadn't completely healed. Ash ducked as his opponent attempted to behead him. Dodging the blade he rose up and delivered an uppercut to the bigger man. It hurt him, but he was too big to be knocked off his feet. The man then jabbed the handle of his axe into Ash's ribs. The same ones Hicca had recracked. Wincing in pain, Ash kneed the man in the stomach before punching him across the face. The man went down and fell unconscious. Ash smirked to himself proudly. But his victory was cut short as he was sucker punched across his face from his left.
Stumbling to the side, he attempted to clear the cobwebs before facing his opponent. Unfortunately he was caught off guard as a larger Viking clotheslined him. Laid out flat on his back he was suddenly pinned as his opponent pinned his chest down with his right knee and trapped his arm beneath his foot. Ash struggled to break free as the man then grabbed him by the throat with his left hand and raised his sword. Ash realized the man was preparing to finish him off and fought his hardest to get free.
All around, Ash's friends were engaged in fights of their own. Ruffnut was near the armory, guarding the village's weapons at the chief's orders. Her brother was at her side fending off enemies that came to close with a spear. Their dragon was fighting along with them, perched on top of the armory they shot fire blasts at any who dared to try and flank their riders. Putting her lessons with Hicca to good use Ruffnut hurled shuriken after shuriken at the rushing Vikings. She managed to kill a few by hitting them in the neck but many she just hit in the arms dealing shallow cuts. Unlike Hicca who covered her shuriken in poisons these enemies could keep fighting. Valiantly the siblings fought against the hordes of Vikings, hoping that their people could turn the tide.
Near the center of town, Snotlout, Fishlegs, their dragons, and a large group of Hooligans were engaged with the enemy. Fishlegs, who had never been much of a fight was armed with a stone hammer that he swung at the enemies. His great strength allowed him to greatly injure any incoming enemies and his dragon Meatlug was batting them aside with her head and tail. Any who tried to shoot her rider with arrows she would blast and leap in front of him and use herself as a shield. With her hard, rocklike skin the arrows bounced off and she returned to battle. Snotlout and Hookfang were loving this fight. Snotlout lashed out with his war axe, dealing fatal blows to enemies while Hookfang would bite his enemies and fling them away with his jaws. Then he would bat them away with his wings and tail to keep them from his rider.
The chief was being swarmed by enemies intent of taking his head. But Stoick was much too stubborn to let them. Armed with only his fists, he lived up to the legends told about him as he beat and tossed his enemies around. Surveying the situation, he cursed when he saw that his people weren't winning. They weren't losing either but they needed a way to turn the tide. As he continued to scan the village his eyes stopped on a battle and his stomach dropped to his feet. Ash Hofferson was being pinned down by a Viking that looked ready to behead him. He shouted out for Ash and attempted to rush to his aid, but he was blocked by more men trying to kill him. He could only watch the horrible scene play out in front of him.
All around Ash's friends saw his distress. They desperately wanted to help him, but they wouldn't make it in time. They all shouted to him, telling him to break free, but it was no use. They watched as the Viking pinning him down was preparing to deal the death blow and all of their blood ran cold.
Ash grit his teeth in frustration as he tried to break free. He could hear Stormfly distressed cries as she probably was trying to get to him. With a last struggle, he finally gave up and accepted his fate. As his last act of defiance he glared up at the man pinning him down. And what he saw on the man's face confused him. He saw regret.
"I'm sorry about this lad," the man said to him quietly. This confused him. It's like the man didn't want to kill him. His confusion disappeared as the man was about to kill him. Ash's life flashed before his eyes and the only regret he had was not telling Hicca how he felt. With that, he waited for the man to send him to Valhalla.
Just as the man prepared to behead him, Ash was saved. From out of nowhere a black arrow was fired and pierced the man's chest. Stabbing him in the heart. The man's eyes widened as he got up off Ash and looked down at the arrow sticking out of his chest. He dropped his sword to the ground with a clang before he fell backwards and died.
Ash immediately got up and rubbed at his neck. He looked around and tried to see where the arrow had come from. No Hooligan really used arrows as they had never been a practical dragon fighting weapon.
All around, the Hooligans were shocked to see the enemies being picked off by some unknown attacker. As an invader was about to attack Ruffnut, who had just run out of shuriken, an arrow pierced his sword arm, making him drop his weapon and cry out in pain. Ruffnut used this moment to pick up the man's sword and stab him with it, killing him. Then she scanned the area to try and find her savior.
As Fishlegs was about to be charged by a Viking wielding a war axe, a black shape suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted him off the ground. Fishlegs' jaw dropped open as he looked up to the skies. He wondered what had just happened and then it struck him, "Its Hicca!" he shouted in relief.
The invaders were getting scared as someone they couldn't see was attacking them from the shadows. One by one they were dropping as strange star shapes projectiles suddenly came out of nowhere and embedded in their necks and killed them. The Hooligans could only make out a black blur darting out from houses and dashing by the men before returning to the shadows. Then suddenly the men's throats started leaking blood as they had been slit. Two men felt a prick on the necks before their muscles locked up and they went down, unable to move and at the total mercy of the Hooligans.
Stoick tried to process what was happening. All the men surrounding him were suddenly being killed. One man that had been about to attack him was suddenly crushed as one of his comrades fell out of the sky and on top of him. From a nearby ally, a black chain shot out and wrapped around another man and pulled him into the shadows. As the last two men in front of him were preparing to attack two knifes flew past Stoick head and hit both men in the eyes. They screamed in pain before Stoick took advantage of this and knocked them unconscious.
As Stoick looked around, he saw that his people had won. Most of the invaders had been killed and their throats had been slit. Other had shuriken embedded in them as they bled out form the stabs and cuts on their necks. Some even had arrows protruding from their necks and hearts.
"Hicca," Stoick whispered as he realized what was going on. She had helped them. Saved them once again.
"Is everyone alright?" Hicca called out as she stepped out of an alleyway and into the open. She stood in the center of town as people were rushing to thank her. She ignored them as Stoick pushed his way through the crowd and up to her.
"Hicca, what happened?" he asked.
"These people came from the rear of the island. I heard them heading towards the village so I came to help," she answered
Stoick nodded and thanked her before issuing orders to collect the bodies. The group around them dispersed and Hicca's peers came up to admire her. Ash stood off to the side. Hicca had saved him and he wanted to thank her. But he had made a promise not to speak to her. With a sigh he turned to walk away when suddenly a shout caught his attention.
"Die you monster!" a man shouted as he came out from behind a corner. He then drew a knife at his belt and hurled it at Hicca's head. Ash's heart stopped and his blood ran cold as Hicca suddenly fell to the ground.
All around, people witnessed the man's surprise attack on Hicca and gasped. It looked like the knife had hit her in the face before she fell to the ground. They watched as she remained motionless.
The man sneered at having killed the woman who had attacked his comrades. Then suddenly he was struck hard in the face. His attacker was Stoick, whose face was twisted into pure rage. Stoick lashed out at the man, intent on pummeling him to death. "HOW DARE YOU HURT MY DAUGHTER!" she shouted between swings. Every punch caused blood to come out of the man as his people tried to keep him from beating the man to death.
As Stoick was beating Hicca's attacker, Ash rushed to Hicca's side and knelt down beside her motionless form. He was at her back and he reached out to touch her, but hesitated. "Hicca. No," he whispered quietly. "Please Hicca. Get up. Please be ok. You have to be ok," he muttered desperately. "Please, I can't lose you gain. Not again," Ash choked out as he tried to hold back tears.
A roar suddenly caught everyone's attention. Looking up, they saw Toothless spiral down and land in front of Hicca. He looked worried for Hicca as he crooned in concerned. He came up to her front side. Inspecting her face, his expression suddenly changed. He released an annoyed groan and sat back on his haunches before huffing at Hicca's body.
"Toothless?" Ash said at his weird behavior. He was acting really strange for a dragon whose rider had died. Then suddenly, his eyes widened as Hicca sat up. Then she leapt to her feet before dusting herself off. Ash's mouth was hanging open as he saw that she ok. With her back still faced toward him, he couldn't see if the knife had done any damage. Suddenly Hicca turned around and he gasped at what he saw. Hicca had caught the knife in her mouth. There wasn't a scratch on her.
"Wow. Does anyone else think that it completely hot?" Tuffnut asked breaking the silence. All around, many male Vikings nodded their head in agreement, including Ash.
"So…you're ok?" Ash asked Hicca.
Hicca spat out the knife before answering. "Yeah I'm fine," she said nonchalantly. Like she hadn't just done something amazing.
"But you fell to the floor," Fishlegs said confused.
Hicca only shrugged. "Just being dramatic," she answered casually.
The rest of the crowd chuckled lightly at her answer. They were relieved to see she was ok. Ash released a sigh of relief as well. Then suddenly he noticed Hicca was staring at him. He flushed slightly at her intense gaze. She seemed to be searching his face for something as her eyebrows were furrowed in confusion.
"Ash?" Hicca began before someone interrupted.
"HICCA!" came the shout of Stoick. She turned to her father as he ran up to her. She was about to tell him she was ok when he suddenly grabbed her face with his hand, smashing her cheeks. Then he turned her face left and right as he inspected her for any signs of injury. When he saw none he smiled and let out a sigh of relief. Scooping her up into his arms, he gave her an intense hug. "Oh thank the gods you're alright," he said in relief.
Hicca's face flushed red in embarrassment at her father's show of concern. She squirmed futilely in his arms as he attempted to get free. "Dad. I'm ok. Gods dad. Will you stop? Everyone is staring at us, your embarrassing me," she said in protest. Hearing her call him 'dad' once again only made Stoick tighten his grip in happiness. After a few more seconds of struggling, Hicca gave up and let her father do as she pleased. Truth be told, she was actually very touched about his obvious concern.
When he was finally finished he set her down and smiled at her. She couldn't help but give him a small smile in return. "I'm so glad you're ok Hicca," he said honestly. Hicca nodded in response. Then she pointed out two men she had taken down with paralyzing darts so that they could be interrogated at a later time. Stoick nodded and ordered some of his men to remove the poisons they carried and lock them up.
Hicca released a yawn in exhaustion before looking up to her father. "Dad. Is it ok if I sleep in my old room tonight? I'm way too tired to go back to the cove," she asked the big man.
Stoick smiled warmly at her before answering, "Of course you can Hicca." When Hicca nodded at him gratefully, he turned and started walking toward his house. He could feel something had changed between him and Hicca just now. Their earlier fight had been forgotten. He felt they had taken a step in the road to reconciliation.
As Hicca was about to follow after her father, she paused and looked back to Ash who had just been standing of to the side. Meeting his eyes, she walked up to him and gave him a small smile.
"What?" Ash asked in annoyance at her smile. He didn't know what she wanted or why she was suddenly smiling at him.
"You were actually worried about me," Hicca said still holding her smile.
Ash flinched at her accusation before scoffing at her answer. "No I wasn't," he said averting his gaze by turning his head. He tried to look anywhere but at her face right now. She was making him blush like mad.
Hicca only smirked at his reaction. "Sure you weren't Ash," Hicca said teasingly.
Ash scowled in the direction he was looking. Then his eyes widened as he felt Hicca put her hand on his shoulders. Looking out of the corner of his eyes he saw Hicca stand on her toes before kissing him on the cheek lightly. He brought his hand to touch the spot she had just kissed before looking back to Hicca in bewilderment.
"Thanks for your concern Ash," Hicca said with a slight blush. "It was…sweet," Hicca said giving him a warm smile. With that, she turned and started following after the chief with Toothless right behind her.
Ash watched her go in complete confusion. Did this mean they were speaking again? Why had she kissed him? Did he still have a shot with her? All these questions and more ran through Ash's mind as he watched the chief's daughter saunter away.
A small spark of hope lit up within him. He really hoped that Hicca had just given him another chance.
As Stoick walked up to Hicca's old room he smiled to himself. His daughter was sleeping in her old bed once again. She had saved the village once more. He had been right. She cared about all of them, even if she wouldn't admit it. Even if she denied it, Hicca was a Viking, and expressing how one really felt was difficult for a Viking.
As Stoick cracked open the door to Hicca's room, he saw her laying down on her bed fast asleep. Toothless was at the foot of the bed and he looked to Stoick curiously. Stoick nodded to the dragon before walking up to the side of the bed and pulling a blanket up to cover his daughter. She grabbed the blanket with one hand before pulling it up to her cheek. Stoick smiled at her sleeping face. She looked so peaceful and it reminded him of the days when she was a child. At that moment, Stoick was sure he could fix his relationship with his daughter. He had taken a small step today, but enough small steps could get you to your goal.
Walking back to the door he took one last look at his precious daughter. He thanked the gods that she had been returned to him. "Goodnight Hicca. I love you," he said quietly.
"Goodnight daddy," Hicca said in her sleep.
Hearing her call him that warmed his heart. With one last look he closed the door and let her sleep. Confident that she wasn't going to disappear anytime soon.
Boom. New chapter. Hiccstrid is back baby Hope you like