Chapter 25:
On chief Asan's boat, sailing to Dyflin…
"Well, you certainly were a busy bee weren't you?"
Hiccup spun around and Toothless growled at the same time, and Hiccup came face to face with the Skrill. It was awake at last, and its eyes were wandering from in-between him and Toothless.
Hiccup was certain the Skrill could see as easily as he and Toothless could in this time in the night, although the full moon was a substantial benefit in that aspect.
"Hello Spark, how are you feeling?" The sixteen year old politely asked the Spike Bolt dragon.
The Skrill moved its body till it was standing up, while Toothless's growling increased in volume and ferocity. His eyes not once leaving Spark's. While Spark herself just blinked several times and kept looking at both of them.
"What's the matter Night? Not happy to see a Spike Bolt?" Spark teased, before quickly turning around and licking one of her wounds and turning back.
Toothless narrowed his eyes. "Shut up." He retorted.
"Aw, is poor wittle Night angry at me?" Spark continued, taunting the Night Fury of which was getting more and more annoyed.
Toothless lifted himself up and bared his teeth at the Skrill. "You're lucky Hiccup is here! I'd tear you limb from limb if he wasn't! Your species has got a lot to answer for!"
Spark now looked furious. "Oh, and Nights don't?! Is that a threat?! I'd have no problem killing you right now in-"
"Ok guys stop it!" Hiccup yelled, standing in-between the two furious dragons and throwing his arms up in the air. "Rivalry is not going to get us anywhere!"
A couple of the Vikings on the boat edged nervously away from the dragons, keeping their distance.
Toothless looked at Hiccup and huffed, before laying down again and keeping his furious looking eyes latched onto Spark.
Spark remained where she was, and instead looked around her.
"Where's Gothi?" She asked, she sniffed then turned around.
Her eyes fell onto the wooden crate near the edge of the boat.
"Spark, I'm really sorry." Hiccup began, walking over to stand next to the wooden box. "She passed away shortly after you crash landed here."
The Spike Bolt just stared at the box, eyes unmoving and unblinking, before it closed them and she began to gently pet the box with her snout, and sniffed. Clearly able to pick up the scent of Gothi. She then sat down, and Hiccup backed off a little, as the dragon circled around the box, and curled up around it tightly.
She then began to make whimpering sounds, and Hiccup walked back over to Toothless.
The Night now was not angry anymore, but looked saddened too. His eyes wide open and soft, no longer frustrated or arrogant.
Hiccup sat down next to him, and began gently stroking the Night Fury's face, from the top of his head down his forehead and onto his soft and twitchy nose.
He repeated the motion several times, as it was relaxing him. And it wasn't just Toothless who was enjoying it. Hiccup did enjoy the calm, and serene pat of motion on his best friend. The rough and scaly surface of the dragon, but also the warmth and fluent friendship flowing between the pair.
Even when Hiccup just left his hand for a little longer on Toothless's nose, that brought back memories from both of them.
The time of bonding, when two lost and fractured souls met and became soulmates in the peace and serenity of the forest.
The unbreakable form of trust forged within those times, unlike any other they both had experienced.
With the young boy, Hiccup, disregarded and unwanted among most of his people. His longing for a friend, a person to share his emotions and hug him in times of need. And that person came in the form of a dragon, a Night Fury. He found more than he could have ever hoped for, more than a person, more than a dragon, a soul mate that appeared as his first greatest fear.
And with the Night Fury. A dark, mysterious and fragile past bears memory upon the Night. Presenting the memories at random times into his mind, plaguing him from trusting and bonding with another dragon. Until his fractured soul met Hiccup, a young being who like himself, had endured rough and difficult times.
The Night felt he owed his life to the young man. He had rescued him without his knowledge from a decade of solitude and slavery to a gargantuan monster, known by many dragons as the queen. Before his decade of unintentional service to the queen, lies dangerous and difficult memories that are squeezed into the back of his mind.
Lurking behind a vail of despair and darkness of the decade of slavery, lay the memories awaiting an awakening. But the time is far-fetched, and more important matters await the Night at present. The lurking memories are not forgotten, but merely waiting for the ignition of a searching spotlight.
"Hiccup, you need to get some sleep."
Hiccup nearly jumped at Toothless's sudden voice, having being in a trance of thought and sincerely enjoying the peaceful motion of being with his best friend again.
"All right. But what about you?" He asked.
"I'll sleep here, don't worry." The dragon assured.
Hiccup stood up, just as Toothless spoke, "Hiccup, I'm sorry you had to go through all that, it's my fa-"
The young man placed his hand on Toothless's huge lips, silencing him. "Don't you dare say it's your fault. It was mine, and mine alone. I'm the one who insisted on going to Myrka unprepared and fast, I made a huge mistake. But I had an enormous amount of luck and fortunate coincidences that got us out, and with our goals. But that won't happen again I fear. Anyway, I'm so sorry you had to go through all that, you went through a lot more than me. And I'm so sorry bud."
Toothless had widened his eyes immensely, but slowly he sighed, and nuzzled his head affectionately into Hiccup's chest. The motion almost tickling him.
Then he suddenly did something that Hiccup wasn't expecting. He raised his head with a mischievous smile, and brought out the full force of his slimy and sticky tongue and wiped it strongly all over Hiccup's front and face.
Hiccup fell back on the deck, covered in saliva.
"Ugh! Toothless!" Hiccup exclaimed, half laughing and half disgusted, now examining his soaked and sticky chest.
The dragon laughed. "Oh I've been wanting to do that for so-"
Before he finished his sentence, Hiccup charged at him and began scratching and tickling the dragon at every nook and exposed bit of flesh he could reach.
"Vhat is all zat racket?" Boomed Asan, suddenly throwing open the hatch door and looking around the boat till he saw Hiccup and Toothless, of whom had frozen and weren't moving. Toothless had his tongue lolling out of his mouth upside down, and had his paws up in the air. Whilst Hiccup was lying down on top of him, and both of them were staring at Asan.
Hiccup's body heat rushed to his face and ears in embarrassment, as he hopped off the dragon and Toothless turned back around and lay down on his stomach, resting his head on his paws.
"Sorry Asan, I'll be down in a minute." Hiccup spoke, his voice cracking.
Asan shook his head with a smile on his face and proceeded back down the stairs again.
"Go and sleep." Toothless barked, "Before I throw you overboard."
Hiccup chuckled, and walked over to the hatch. He pulled it up and took one step down and then looked up to examine Spark again.
"Please try and be nice to her. Try and get on will you? She's just lost a close friend." Hiccup directed that to Toothless, and he nodded in reply, whilst flicking his left ear.
"Night buddy."
"See you Hiccup."
With that, Hiccup descended down the stairs and closed the hatch behind him.
"'ere, I'll s'ow you to your room." Spoke Asan, as he just finished helping Kormak into bed. He turned around and walked back into the same room and turned to show another bed against the wall opposite Kormak's.
Hiccup sat down on the bed, and looked up to Asan. "Thanks Asan, this means a lot to me. I'll be fine now, thank you."
"My pleasure boy." And he left the room, shutting the door behind him.
Hiccup unbuckled his belt and took his sheathed sword off, placing it next to his basket. He also now looked down, examining his new clothes.
"You'll really blend in with your dragon at night."
He looked up and saw Kormak lying down in bed, leaning on his hand and turned towards Hiccup.
"Yeah." Hiccup agreed, looking down at the black clothes he was wearing.
"I see that training has worked considerably for you Hiccy." Kormak commented, raising his eyebrows suggestively. "Quite the ladies' man I'll wager."
Hiccup got into bed as quickly as he could, trying to hide a blush spreading to his cheeks. "Uhh.." He trailed off, not sure what to say.
Kormak chuckled, and put his hands behind his head and turned to the ceiling. "Trust me, there aren't many better feelings than one that you can experience with a girl."
Hiccup sighed, jealousy flooding through him. "Been with a few in all your years I bet."
"Hey!" Kormak sounded offended. "I'm not that old! I'm only twenty-three!"
Hiccup raised his eyebrows as he too turned to look at the ceiling, his hands behind his head. "Really? You're only 23? Wow, I can't believe I haven't actually ever known your age."
"Till now."
"Till now." Hiccup repeated Kormak's words.
They lay there in almost complete darkness, enjoying the gentle swaying of the boat on the seas. For a few minutes, they said nothing. Until Hiccup broke the silence.
"You know Kormak, there is something that's been worrying me."
"What's that?" He asked, sounding curious.
"Something that I know very little about, and I'm trying to fit the pieces together."
"Go on."
"Something Gothi told me, a while ago. She spoke to me about something out there that she claimed was really bad. Apparently it's something that knows no peace, light or wisdom. She said it seeks to corrupt, trick and I think she also said destroy. It's meant to be some powerful being that holds a lot of authority. It's mysterious and she told me to be cautious." Hiccup explained.
"But," he continued, "that's not it. That's all she told me, but then there's also the information that Toothless told me. He said there's a queen dragon of sorts that's massive and resides in a dragon nest not far from Berk. It controls dragons and forces them with some sort of power to bring it food and invade Viking villages."
"And there's one more thing." Hiccup kept on. "Just after Toothless and I got re-united, King Harun of Myrka faced us and was holding my personal notebook next to a fire. He said that he had memorised my notebook, and apparently so has his master. He said 'his master.' And what I'm trying to figure out, is are all of these three things the same thing? Or is each one different or are two the same and the other is different?" Hiccup finished.
Kormak yawned, then began "Hmmm…"
There were a couple minutes silence.
"I'm guessing, and remember these are guesses. But possibly what Gothi and Toothless were talking about could be the same thing. I mean, it sounds right that what Toothless is saying seems to be the worst being there is. But as to what Harun meant, I got no clue. Unless if he is maybe taking orders from another Viking or something?"
Hiccup pondered on that. "Yeah, I don't know…"
"I think we should concentrate on other things first though Hiccy. Like if I'm to be going with you on this quest thing, there are matters which need to be taken care of. Such as my family, and finding out what my marks means."
Hiccup nodded to himself. "Of course. I agree. Plus, it's not like we'll be able to leave straight away. I need to fix Toothless's tail. I must think of some way that can make him fly again. It could take a while."
"That's true too, yep." Kormak agreed. "Can't save the world without flying."
Hiccup smiled to himself.
"All right, I think I'm done for the night. Let's sleep." Kormak yawned again and sounded tired.
"Good idea, good night." Replied Hiccup, turning on his side now and getting comfortable.
"Night Hiccy."
And Hiccup Haddock fell asleep with a smile on his face.
The following morning…
She did not sleep well, that much she knew. Her dreams stacked of images involving a now good looking boy called Hiccup, a sleeping violet dragon and a furious Night Fury.
She kept her eyes closed, and raised her hand up to her head. Feeling two large bumps there that hurt to touch.
Vague memories of being beaten on the head came rushing back to her. The last thing she knew was when she was standing with Hiccup in the Night Furies cell, before Hiccup apologised then he-
Suddenly she felt a soft and wet surface against her bruises on her head.
Vali bolted upright and her eyes sprang open. Though they were nearly blinded by the amount of light streaming in through the circular windows.
But once her eyes adjusted, they fell on a intruding but handsome figure sitting on a seat by her side.
"Good morning."
"WHAT THE!-" She began, and she pushed Hiccup away and tried to get out of the hammock.
"Relax Vali, it's all right." He tried to assure.
"What are you doing in my-!" She suddenly looked around the room, and noticed everything was unfamiliar. She was not in her bedroom in the castle on Myrka.
Vali looked down and saw she was still clothed in the same clothes that she was wearing when she led Hiccup into Myrka's Underground Network.
"I'm here to help you. And all right, I'll be upfront and honest." Hiccup began, standing a few steps back.
But to Vali's confusion, the young man did not start speaking, but instead started rolling up his long-sleeved black shirt on his right arm.
"What-" But Vali lost her voice when she saw what Hiccup revealed. She found herself mesmerised and shocked. Her eyes wide open and unblinking.
Hiccup had rolled up his right arm sleeve, and what was revealed to Vali's astonishment was a glowing bright blue mark on his arm. She recognised it after staring more closely at it as a dragon mark of a Night Fury. The same breed of dragon she had been torturing since she was told to do so.
Vali blinked several more times, as if it was some trick of the sunlight, but the more she looked, the more genuine it seemed to be. She could not understand how this was possible.
"It's a dragon mark. A mark of the Night Fury." Hiccup explained. Pushing his sleeve back down to cover it.
"You have one as well. Look on the underside of your right arm. Though yours is a Skrill."
Vali blinked, unsure of what to do, she just rolled up her sleeve and looked at her mark, half expecting it to be glowing. "Bu-but, mine isn't glow-"
Hiccup smiled, "Of course it isn't. But it will be, if you want it to in time."
This didn't make sense to Vali, so she decided to change the topic.
"Why did you hit me on the head? Why did you take me away from my home you cruel person?" She demanded, sounding quite hurt.
Guilt struck at Hiccup like an arrow.
"I'm really sorry I did that, but in all honesty, I think I might have saved your life. I couldn't save you if you were conscious, you would have put up a fight. I really don't want us to be enemies, I want to be friends. I have a long story to explain to you, and you should hear it when you're ready. For now, I need to help you heal your wounds, and look after you till we reach Dyflin."
Vali was taken aback. He seemed to act very sincere. He didn't sound like he was lying. But she couldn't trust him. She couldn't trust anyone. She knew that. She wasn't raised to be accepting, she was raised to be tough, smart and to not trust anyone.
But on the other side of her mind, she felt like she could trust Hiccup. He did seem very gentle, plus he is now quite good looking-
No. She thought to herself. Pretend to be accepting, and when you see an opportunity to escape or kill your captors, go for it. That's what dad would do. He always said if I should ever be captured, pretend to give in and succumb, but always keep your wits. And if you see an opportunity to kill your captors, get em girl!
"Dyflin?" Vali asked. "How far is it?"
"Just under two weeks." Hiccup answered. Then he approached Vali with his hand held up. "How are those head wounds feeling? Can I-"
"I'll do it myself!" She declared, snatching the cloth from his grip and dabbing her bruises on her head.
"Okay. You know Vali, you don't have to be here. You can leave at any time you want. None of us will stop you. All I want to do, is explain everything about what I'm going to do and what my purpose is. Once I've finished, and you still want to leave or be a part of it, we'll let you. You could be sailing back to Myrka as soon as we get to Dyflin and we'll give you a boat."
Vali then sat down on her hammock. "Then why don't you just tell me now?! I want to get out of here!" She burst out.
Hiccup sighed. "Okay. Can you come upstairs?"
She nodded, and stood up.
Hiccup walked to the door and opened it, then went outside and picked up Vali's sword by the bench then quickly walked into his own room and put it there.
Then he walked up to the steps leading upstairs onto the main deck.
He looked towards Vali's room and saw she was still standing there.
"Coming?" Hiccup asked, gesturing towards himself.
Vali walked over then suddenly stopped before she got to the steps. "Wait, there aren't, by any chance, dragons up there are there? I'm not sure if I dreamed it or not before."
"Yes there are dragons up here. But they won't hurt you if you're nice and calm, plus you'll be with me." Hiccup answered her truthfully.
Then Vali walked back to her room. "There's no way I'm going up there if there's dragons there." She sat on the hammock and folded her arms.
"Ha ha ha!" Came a really loud laugh from above, which was definitely Toothless. Followed by a roar.
Hiccup banged on the hatch. "Toothless that's not helping!"
"I don't care." The dragon growled in reply from above, his voice penetrating through the wood of the ship. "She deserves it."
Hiccup rolled his eyes.
"Toothless?" Questioned Vali, sounding curious.
"It's the Night Furies name." He replied.
Vali looked at him as if he had just grown another two legs. "Yo-you named a dragon?"
Hiccup went down the steps and back into her room.
"Okay." Hiccup said, he sat down on a bench, and took a deep breath. "I'll explain here then."
"Just over two months ago, my island where I come from-"
"What's it called?" Vali interrupted.
Hiccup answered her saying, "I'll tell you after. It's a long story."
Suddenly Hiccup heard the hatch opening and footsteps approaching and then a gentle knock on the door. He turned around and saw Asan, the chief of Dyflin standing there.
"Just getting some food." He said. "Okay." Hiccup replied to him and turned around to face Vali again. He took another deep breath before starting again. And as he began explaining he heard Asan ascending up the steps again and onto the main deck.
End of Chapter 25.
Sorry about long wait once again.
Thank you all so much for those lovely reviews, I'm thrilled some people are enjoying it! :)