Everything after the events with Shadow in the river became a massive blackout for Hiccup. He couldn't remember anything that happened after she bit down on his shoulder and marking him, in fact, he would have dismissed it as him hallucinating if there wasn't a few puncture marks on his flesh that could only be made by her fangs.
He looked at the mark and traced his fingers over it, to ensure that it was really there and it actually happened. It did happen. He let her do it to him. He wanted her to be that close to him. He guiltily loved the way her claws grazed his back, and the way her teeth scoured his neck.
It was a horrible, guilty pleasure that he should feel repulsed by, but privately shivered with delight when replaying those moments. He shouldn't have liked it, he shouldn't have liked the pain she gave him when she sunk her fangs into his shoulder, but he did. And it was concerning.
People didn't act like she did, it was unnatural, wild, feral behaviour. She acted so much like an animal, something that should repel people. Hiccup found this behaviour endearing and interesting. She was strange and unique.
He was attracted to her draconic behaviour, and so desperately wanted to know why she was like the way she is. What made her act that way, what made her torment him like that, what made her mark him, how could she manipulate him so spectacularly? Oh how he wanted to know.
She truly was a sight to behold.
The way she acted was always so strange, with the way her behaviour matched that of a dragon, and Hiccup wondered how much of a connection there was between her and the Black Moon. Even though he had never seen it, he was sure that she acted so much like it, it was uncanny. She had spent so much of her life around that creature that she would have picked up some of its characteristics, but he had no idea exactly how long she would have had to be exposed to it in order to naturally act like that.
He wished he could ask her, ask all these questions. He wanted so desperately to learn from her, learn about her, and find out just who she really is. But he didn't know how she would react to his questions. She had reacted badly in the past to his prying, in fact, it lead to the discovery of a nest of Whispering Deaths. And he knew just how well that turned out.
His gaze was dragged back to the mark on his flesh left by her. He had been marked, and bund to her in a contract. He mightn't know exactly what it meant, but he was sure that he was bound to it forever, until she cashed in what he promised her.
His own life to save hers.
She wanted to trust him, but so many years of being betrayed, turned on, abandoned and handed in left her to become a very untrusting person. She never liked getting too deep into anything without an escape route. That's what the mark represented. Her escape.
She had played her cards well, and manipulated him into having him be her human shield to save her own skin when she needed it. Hiccup could understand her reasoning, but he was still slightly upset about it. She would trust him more now, but she would probably never trust him completely without this escape.
But she had given him something worthwhile. Her eternal trust, for one time of service. He could use her trust to learn more about her, and she could only ask of him to save her once. To Hiccup, it almost seemed like he got the better deal. On Berk, the chances of her needing protection from him in a life or death situation would almost never happen. He was sure that he got the benefit of the doubt.
"Hiccup, are you ok? You've been sitting there staring into space for a while now." Called someone. It was Astrid. She looked at him curiously as he was lost in thought.
Hiccup shook his head to clear it and smiled at Astrid. "Yea, I'm alright. Just thinking." He said Astrid smiled in return and pulled him along to where everyone was packing up their stuff to head back home. Bags were being stuffed with equipment, and saddlebags were being filled and attached to saddles.
Hiccup went to his belongings and put everything neatly in the bags, just as Toothless came over to him, ready to have the saddlebags attached. But as the Night Fury got closer to him, his eyes became slits and he sniffed him curiously. Hiccup wasn't normally alarmed by this, but the way Toothless looked absolutely possessive over him made him feel slightly apprehensive.
Suddenly, Toothless whipped his head around to Shadow and growled at her. The dark and shadowy girl raised her head as the dragon spoke to her.
Hiccup desperately tried to translate what was being said, but his knowledge on dragoneese was still limited and he couldn't translate everything. The other dragons however, could easily understand what was being said. The other teens watched, fascinated as the black dragon and the girl talked.
'How could you do this to my Hiccup?' growled Toothless in dragoneese.
'He … for me to trust him. I asked that he… in … for my trust.' Growled Shadow in response.
'You … him! You … him into a … that he doesn't … … You … him to your …!' retorted the dragon. Whatever he was talking about, he wasn't happy about it.
By the looks of it, the teens could barely understand what was going on between the two, and could understand even less about the actions that occurred beforehand that was causing the Night Fury to have a go at her.
'I've learnt to never trust … without an … How is this any …? By not fully trust… … I have managed to stay alive this long. He … to know more about me, but I can't just … trust him … doing so would put my life at risk.'
Toothless growled unintelligibly. Shadow growled back.
'You had better not use my Hiccup as a … … to save your own … hide. I know what you are, what your … do to others. You will not do that to my Hiccup. You hurt him, and I will … you. I don't care what you can … into. You are still a … and … … in my eyes.'
With that, Toothless huffed and turned away from Shadow, who gave him an obviously rude hand gesture.
"Uh, what just happened?" asked Fishlegs. Shadow turned to him. "Toothless just called me a manipulative and heartless wyrm, no biggie." Then she went back to packing up her things.
They all knew that there was more to that conversation – especially Hiccup – but she said nothing, and they were slightly too afraid to ask.
The ride back to Berk was uneventful to say the least. The dragons, who understood everything that Toothless and Shadow said, were ignoring her, and the teens were simply riding in silence. Shadow was sitting behind Hiccup on top of Toothless – who refused to acknowledge her at all.
Long. Awkward. Silence.
Hiccup could sense the tension in the air, which was figuratively thick enough to cut through. The silence was killing him. Eventually, he decided to risk it and attempt to talk with Shadow.
"Uh… umm… hey, Shadow… uh…" stupid, he thought. He couldn't even form words. She tilted her head curiously at him, wondering what he was trying to say.
"I, um… I was wondering… what exactly happened between us… at the river?" he timidly asked her. He could see her blank expression and tried to elaborate.
"You see, I don't fully understand what you did. I don't know why you did it or what it means."
Shadow hummed to herself for a moment before speaking.
"I forced you into a contract. You wanted something from me which I couldn't just give to you. I manipulated you into promising me something in return." She said.
Toothless growled at her, then ignored her entirely.
"Toothless doesn't like what I did, because I manipulated you into the deal. I used my skills to practically hypnotise you into agreeing to my terms to get what I wanted from you. You wanted my trust, but I didn't want to give it to you… not without a way out of it."
It was starting to make sense. Shadow had lived a long life and came across many untrustworthy people, who most likely got her to trust them and then used that information against her. She was used to people betraying her, and didn't want to risk it happening with him. She wanted to trust him, but her past experiences told her to never fully trust someone.
She had learnt to always have a way to cut ties with people if they turned. She knew to always have a way out.
"I really want to be able to trust you Hiccup, completely and utterly. But I have lived for decades in a world where everyone is against me, and I can never be certain of who to trust. I have learned from many past experiences to always have an escape route. And even though you are the most unique person I have ever met, I don't trust myself to be completely open with you, without fear for my life." She said.
She tore her gaze from his and looked out towards the horizon on top of Toothless's wing.
"The one person, the one thing which I have always been able to trust is the Black Moon. It taught me how to survive, it taught me its ways, its culture, its secrets. The Black Moon is the reason I am still alive at this point. It taught me to act like it did, hunt the way it hunts, it taught me to lock away my feelings to stop them from betraying me, because it needs me alive. We keep each other alive, and the only way it could ensure that I live, is to teach me to do what it does."
She sighed and looked back in his forest green eyes. Eyes that bore into her soul with curiosity, understanding and sympathy. Hiccup could understand the things she was talking about. He understood the life she was forced to live.
"This is why I marked you. It's a technique the Black Moon sometimes uses to ensure loyalty and service for its own gain. If it finds someone, dragon or human, who has something it wants, and can give something that it desires too, it will create a contract, and bind them to it. It's a two way street. The Black Moon gives, and takes. But it will always use that person or dragon to save its own life. It taught me to do this, in case I need to do the same."
sorry everybody for the kinda lame chapter, I just needed to get this information out in the open before all the big stuff happens. dont worry, the big reveal is not too far away now, just a few more chapters and then BOOM! I've decided that after this next chapter, where Hiccup learns what he can do with this new contract, there will be a time-skip to a day or so before the new moon. throughout the time-skip, Hiccup will have asked a few major questions, but nothing epicly major will be revealed. after that, it will focus on Shadow trying to get away from Berk before midnight, and shit will go down. although, I may need a bit of help for that part. Shadow needs to get away from the village, and somehow, the dragon riders need to be there too, although I cant think of a good enough excuse for them to be there. After that, they all need to rush back to the village where in their absence something big would have happened.
Please review this chapter and any ideas you may have for this part. thankyou so much for reading and helping.