Journey to the Past
A/N: Some quick notes before we start the story. First of all, thank you all for your responses to "The Servant and the Heiress." I had so much fun writing a HTTYD fairy tale and I'm glad you enjoyed reading it. I have had some requests, and they are as follows:
Guest: A story based on Mirror Mirror, which is based on "Snow White." I haven't seen this movie but I have recently purchased it online, so as soon as I get a chance to watch it and make some notes, I'll be able to tell whether or not I'll try it. I'm really hopeful: I was kind of considering a Snow White retelling and this may be the perfect way to do it. But please note that I don't plan on doing any more full-length crossovers like Out of the Sea. Anything I do will be in short story format, so what will likely happen is that I'll borrow elements from Mirror Mirror in order to tell a story that is closer to "Snow White" in plot. Again, all this depends on what I think of the movie when I finally see it. As for your other request, Mad Father, while the idea sounds interesting, I'm trying to stick to actual fairy tales, so I probably won't do it. (Besides, I've never heard of it before, so I'm afraid I probably wouldn't do it justice.)
allison 200: A HTTYD-Tangled crossover. Well…like I said earlier, I'm not going to do a full-length retelling like Out of the Sea again. But I have started on a story called "The Girl in the Tower," which will be a HTTYD retelling of the Grimm brothers' "Rapunzel," on which Tangled is based. It will be closer in plot to the original fairy tale than the Disney movie, but I may throw in some nods to the film as well. We'll see. You also suggested "Thumbelina," (specifically with Hiccup in the title role) and I have to admit, the idea intrigues me. It will be difficult, given the plot of the story, but I think it's doable. I'm certainly willing to give it a shot. I'm rather fond of that fairy tale so I would like to try it. The hardest part will be keeping the Don Bluth movie out of my head while I'm working on it…
Thanks again for your requests, and I'll do my best to give them all a fair attempt. You're more than welcome to continue requesting fairy tales, but I can't promise anything. The ones I've got lined up right now will probably take up a good amount of time, and I'm also toying with a "Beauty and the Beast" retelling, so I might be thoroughly sick of fairy tales by the time I'm done with this lineup. But you're more than welcome to make requests, and I promise to at least give them some consideration.
One more note about requests, though. A couple of my readers (I'm naming no names) have made the same request several times. Please don't. It drives me nuts. I love getting requests from you guys, but please only ask ONCE! I know I'm not always good about replying to reviews/requests, but you can safely assume that if you've posted a review with a request in it, I have read it and considered it. Asking for it over and over again will not make me want to write it any more than I would if you asked only once. In fact, the opposite tends to happen: I get irritated and resentful and just flat-out refuse. So please, I'm begging you, stop with the multiple repeats of requests. Ask once and then let me decide. Thank you.
I promise this A/N is almost over!
As for this particular story, a quick explanation: Basically, I got the idea to cross HTTYD with Don Bluth's Anastasia. Hiccup would play the title role and sing this song after being released from an orphanage on Meathead Island at the age of eighteen. I'm not going to write a full-length crossover for reasons already stated, but I hope you enjoy this brief little glimpse of what such a story might have looked like.
"Journey to the Past" from Anastasia © 20th Century Fox
And now…FINALLY…on with the show!
The doors of the Meathead Island Orphanage opened with a bang and two people staggered into the cold, wintry day. One was short, squat, and walked with a heavy limp. The other was tall, slight, and seemed reluctant to leave. The former was Phlegma, the headmistress of the orphanage, the old woman who had been in charge of the island's parentless children for decades. The latter was one of her charges, now freshly-turned eighteen and ready to make his way in the world.
No one knew his name or where he'd come from. He'd been found wandering around the Meathead village when he was eight years old, dazed and confused and on the brink of panicked tears. When asked who he was, he couldn't answer. He'd received a nasty blow to the back of his head, a wound that was crusted with dried blood, and his amnesia was severe.
He didn't remember that he was Hamish Haddock, the heir to the chiefhood of Berk, one of Meathead Island's closest neighbors. He had no recollection of the party he and his parents had attended on Meathead Isle, a great gathering of the chiefs all across the Archipelago. And though he wore it around his neck, he didn't remember receiving the necklace his mother had given him, a present to help make up for her continued absences as she went off on raids and quests. He didn't recall that the necklace – or more specifically, the charm attached to it – was really the key to a music box, a music box that had long been missing.
He'd forgotten about the Outcasts raiding the island in the midst of the celebration. He'd forgotten watching his father fall to their swords. He'd forgotten being pursued across the icy landscape with his mother, chased by Alvin the Outcast himself. He'd forgotten his hand slipping from his mother's grip. He'd forgotten the sharp, blinding pain that had shot through his skull as he hit the frozen ground.
All he knew was that he was a nobody, a nobody who only had a necklace to his name and nothing else. Unless you counted the name he'd been given, a name he didn't particularly care for: Hiccup.
And now he was being kicked out of the orphanage. He was officially of age and no longer qualified for its care. He had mixed feelings about his release. On the one hand, this was the only home he knew – or at least remembered – and he had friends here that he would probably never see again.
On the other hand, there was Phlegma…
"I got you a job at the fish market," she was saying as she led him out into the cold morning. "You go straight down this path till you get to the fork in the road. Go left—"
She was interrupted by Hiccup offering his final farewells to the kids peeking out the door and windows of the orphanage. "Bye!" he called, waving, and the children waved back.
Phlegma glowered. "Are you listen—"
"Bye everybody!" Hiccup turned to his ex-headmistress. His smile flickered. "I'm listening, Madam Phlegma."
Phlegma grumbled and grabbed Hiccup's faded purple scarf, yanking it so that he was forced down to her level. He grunted in discomfort and recoiled. The headmistress was not a pretty sight even at a distance, but up close… "You've been a thorn in my side since you were brought here," she snarled, turning and leading – no, pulling – him toward the orphanage gate. "Acting like the King of the Wilderwest instead of the nameless no-account you are!" The scarf fell away from Hiccup's neck, and he sighed in mingled relief and resignation. As she continued rambling, not even noticing that she'd lost her hold on him, he waved one last time at the kids behind him before following Phlegma. She was still ranting, "For the last ten years, I've fed you, I've clothed you, I've kept—"
"A roof over my head," Hiccup supplied wearily. He'd heard this more times than he could count.
Phlegma whipped around with a gasp, eyes widening. Then her scowl returned as she swung the gates open. "How is it you don't have a clue as to who you were before you came to us, but you can remember all that?"
Hiccup reached into the neck of his dirty yellow tunic as Phlegma approached him. "I do have a clue to—"
"Ack!" Phlegma waved her arms exasperatedly. "I know!" She snatched the charm on the necklace, once again pulling Hiccup uncomfortably close to her face. Leering, she read the inscription on the flat, vaguely circular metal disc. "'Together on Berk.' So you want to go to Berk to find your family, huh?"
Hiccup smiled hopefully. "Mm-hmm."
Phlegma laughed. "Little Hiccup, it's time to take your place in life." She unceremoniously shoved him out the gate and into the snowy morning. "In life and in line! And be grateful, too." She tossed his scarf to him, which he caught full in the face. "Together on Berk!" she called mockingly, and then, cackling, she slammed the gates closed. She turned and began waddling back to the orphanage, pausing to call over her shoulder, "Be grateful."
But by this time, Hiccup was on his way into the forest, and he did not look back.
He continued walking for almost an hour before he came to a fork in the road as promised. Hunching over and mocking Phlegma's raspy voice he said, "Be grateful, Hiccup." Then he looked back in the direction he'd come and added in his normal voice, "I am grateful. Grateful to get away!"
He paused to look at the signpost. The branch on the left read, "Fisherman's Village," while the one on the right read, "Meathead Village." Hiccup hummed quietly in thought. "'Go left!' she says." He turned to look down that road and glowered. "Well, I know what's to the left. I'll be Hiccup the orphan forever." Then he turned in the other direction, and his face softened. "But if I go right, maybe I could find…" He trailed off, fingering the charm around his throat. "Whoever gave me this necklace must have loved me."
He huffed and turned in a circle. "This is crazy. Me? Go to Berk?" He hesitated, and then he looked skyward and addressed any god that might be listening, "Send me a sign! A hint! Anything!"
He sat down heavily on a snow bank at the base of the signpost and put his chin in his hand. He was perfectly content to wait there until…
There came a low warble from behind him.
He twisted around and gasped. There was a dragon standing at the edge of the trees. He was about as tall as Hiccup's waist with sharp features and an intelligent-looking face. He was jet-black in color, his scales shining in the midmorning sun. His eyes were large, vivid green with curiously dilated pupils. Hiccup noticed that one of his tailfins had been torn away by some violent force, rendering the dragon unable to fly.
Hiccup knew his dragons pretty well – it was a hobby of his – but he'd never seen this dragon before. Very few Vikings had. "A Night Fury," he breathed, standing up.
The Night Fury warbled again, clearly wondering if this strange human presented a threat to him or not. "Hey there," Hiccup said in his softest, most placating voice, a voice one might use when trying to console a spooked horse. "Hey there, boy. I won't hurt you. Hey, you hungry?" He reached slowly into the pocket of his tattered old green coat and pulled out a salmon he'd snatched from the orphanage kitchen on his way out. "You want this, bud? Huh?"
The dragon approached him warily, eyeing the fish with unmistakable longing and hunger. He opened his mouth and leaned in as close as he dared. Hiccup looked at the dragon's empty gums and frowned. "Huh. Toothless. I could have sworn you had—"
Suddenly the dragon's gums weren't so empty. His retractable teeth extended and he snatched the fish out of Hiccup's grip before the young Viking could blink. He pulled his hand back with a little yelp as the dragon gobbled the fish down in seconds and licked his lips in satisfaction.
"…teeth," Hiccup finished weakly.
The dragon approached again, sniffing Hiccup. "Uh…" He staggered backward and ran into the signpost. "I don't have any more…" he explained worriedly.
This didn't seem to perturb Toothless, who suddenly started hawking and gagging. Before Hiccup could begin to fathom what he was doing, half the fish was suddenly sitting in the snow at his feet. He grimaced in disgust, and then his eyes widened in bewilderment as he realized exactly what Toothless wanted him to do with it.
Thirty minutes and a series of bonding moments later (including an uncomfortable midmorning snack), Hiccup sighed and turned away. "Well bud, it's been fun and all, but if you don't mind, I'm kind of waiting for a sign here. You're more than welcome to wait with me, but if you have somewhere to—hey!" Toothless seized Hiccup's scarf, the end of which was dangling from another coat pocket, and pulled. If Hiccup hadn't grabbed it, the dragon would have bounded off with his new prize. "Give me that, you useless reptile!" Hiccup gasped. "Would you please leave me alo—"
Toothless started running in a circle around Hiccup, still clutching the scarf in his mouth, his eyes wide and playful, his damaged tail waving about excitedly. But Hiccup failed to see the humor in the situation. "Stop!" he ordered ineffectively. "Give me that back! Give—give—ooh!" The scarf wrapped around his ankles and he suddenly found himself toppling into the snow bank. Toothless, who now had complete possession of the scarf, hopped a few paces away down the path leading to the Meathead Village. Then he stopped and looked back, dropping the scarf on the ground at his feet and gazing innocently at Hiccup. The young Viking huffed as he pulled himself to his feet, brushing the snow from his coat. "Oh, great. A dragon wants me to go to Meathead Village."
Well, you wanted a sign, said a small voice in his head, and he inhaled sharply as the realization hit him. He looked back at Toothless, who crooned excitedly.
Hiccup hesitated for a second longer. Then he sighed and stepped toward the dragon. "Okay," he said uncertainly. "I can take a hint."
He bent down to pick up his scarf, and as he did a wind blew gently into his face, lifting a small flurry of snow from the ground. It was a beautiful sight. Surely that meant this was the right decision for him to make…?
Hiccup realized that he was afraid. He'd never had to make any big decisions in his life before, and this was a pretty massive choice. What if he was wrong? What if this didn't pan out? What if he ended up wandering the streets of the village, no food, no job, and no means to survive?
Or…what if he found out who he was, where he came from, where he belonged?
It was worth the chance.
Hiccup took a deep breath and, using a trick he'd learned at the orphanage that always seemed to help lift his spirits when he was upset, he started to sing.
"Heart don't fail me now
Courage don't desert me
Don't turn back now that we're here"
He took a step down the path toward the Meathead Village, turning his back fully on the other path, the one he was supposed to take. Then he took another step. And another. And another.
"People always say
Life is full of choices
No one ever mentions fear
Or how the world can seem so vast
On a journey to the past"
Feeling surer of himself, he started walking with stronger, more certain steps. Toothless walked alongside him, purring happily. Hiccup grinned at him and continued singing.
"Somewhere down this road
I know someone's waiting
Years of dreams just can't be wrong"
He wrapped his arms around himself as he imagined what might happen to him. A happy little scene filled his mind, and he translated it to song:
"Arms will open wide
I'll be safe and wanted
Finally home where I belong
Well starting now I'm learning fast
On this journey to the past"
They rounded a bend and came to a little cottage at the edge of the woods. There was a family playing in the snow outside, though they all stopped upon seeing the boy and his dragon friend on the path. Hiccup waved to them, and they waved back. The little girl ran forward and invited them to play, and Hiccup found he just couldn't say no. So they all played in the snow for an hour or so, partaking in a snowball fight, making a snow-dragon, and of course petting Toothless, who rumbled like an over-contented housecat.
All too soon, the parents called it a day and took the girl inside. They waved to Hiccup on the doorstep, and Hiccup waved back, feeling suddenly wistful. He continued his song as if he'd never been interrupted.
"Home, love, family
There was once a time I must've had them too
Home, love, family
I will never be complete until I find you"
Smiling again, he set off once more. There was a bit more spring in his step now as he resumed his journey. Toothless bounded along beside him, tongue lolling from his mouth as his new friend continued to sing.
"One step at a time
One hope then another
Who knows where this road may go
Back to who I was
On to find my future
Things my heart still needs to know"
Hiccup started skipping, kicking up the snow at his feet as his song rose to its climax, morphing into a wish, a prayer to any god that might take pity on an orphaned boy setting out to find his family.
"Yes, let this be a sign
Let this road be mine
Let it lead me to my past"
He came to a stop as the forest finally opened up, revealing the Meathead Village lying nestled in the valley below. Hiccup's heart leapt into his throat. This was it. He was on the brink of a whole new adventure, an adventure unlike anything he'd ever known.
He had no idea just what kind of obstacles he was about to face as he ended his song, holding the last note as long as he could and waving his dirty brown hat into the air for emphasis.
"And bring me home
At last"
He stood at the top of the knoll for a little while longer, staring down at the quaint sunlit village. Then he plopped his hat back atop his head, pressed one hand to the charm hanging around his neck, and said, "Well bud…this is it. There's no turning back now."
Toothless warbled in agreement. Hiccup smiled at his new friend, feeling much less alone with him by his side. And then he faced forward once more and set off for the town below.