Starlight, Star Bright - The Story of a Fool, Through an Even Bigger Fool's Eyes
What with a stranger washing up on Berk and taking a special interest in his son and news of Outcast activity reaching his ears, Stoick the Vast is uncharacteristically uneasy. Sequel to 'To Be Loved the Way You Love Me'.
Chapter 29: Refresh My Memory
A/N: Another new chapter? Oh, my, what is-ah, yes. Less than a thousand words. As per usual xP Sorry guys. I'll try and update soon, how's that?
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The noise from high above my head had me looking up, at the tiny, barred window. It was out of my reach, and too far above my head to crawl out of, but the noises made me wonder what kid was throwing rocks at the window this time. Most of the time, Dad let them throw rocks when he led me, shackled securely, through the village, and they normally waited until then to do it. Maybe this kid just hadn't gotten the memo.
I rolled my eyes, tugging at my short chains, sweat trickling down my back. Pulling myself up, ignoring my muscles protests' (my arms seemed oddly weaker than they had been, and I couldn't figure out why) I tried to prop myself up on the windowsill. "You should wait until I get my next whipping!" I called through the bars, latching onto one of the bars with my fingers in hopes that I wouldn't lose my grip. "It'd be easier for you to hit me—Oh, Odin, what the hell!"
I fell back on the cold, dirty stone floor, staring in shock up at the window. A face had suddenly appeared in between the bars, peering in at me, blue eyes shining in the darkness. Only the eyes were visible; with the dim light, the man could have been featureless. Something in it stirred my memory, but I couldn't think how or why.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The bars suddenly popped loudly off the door with a clatter, and a man dropped down from the window, holding his hands out in a placating gesture. "I'm so sorry, Hiccup, I didn't mean to scare you…"
But coming towards me with your hand outstretched, especially if you're a huge hulking Viking man, is not recommended when it comes to me, so of course I just pressed myself closer to the floor, preparing for a blow. When all I felt was a large but gentle hand encasing mine, tugging me up, I dared to open my eyes again and see what was going on.
"I'm sorry," the stranger repeated. "I didn't know you were there, I'm sorry…Hiccup, I really am sorry, I never meant for this to happen…I was such a blind idiot…can you forgive me?" He knelt down in front of me so we were face-to-face, and he gently put one hand on my shoulder, one on my cheek, running his thumb along a line of countless freckles. He displayed a gentleness I had never seen in any Viking man before, but again, his movement stirred some memories up, some previously forgotten ones. I just wish I knew who had held me so tenderly like this before, because I knew it wasn't Dad. He didn't do tenderness or emotions, or anything, really. Nothing except bloodlust.
"Forgive you?" I repeated, mystified. "For what?"
It was his turn to look bemused. "You…you know what I'm apologizing for! I mean, I got you into this mess in the first place, remember?"
"Not really." I shook my head. "As I recall, this was my own stupid fault."
He flinched when I said the word 'stupid'. "No, you can't blame yourself for my mistakes—
"But I'm not," I responded, now thoroughly confused as I tried to break free from his half embrace. "I don't even understand how I could blame you for something that is clearly my fault. I mean, technically, it was Dad who locked me up here, but if I had never trained Toothless in the first place, this would never have happened."
"Hiccup—
"No, it's okay, they can't make me regret it."
"Hiccup, you're misunderstanding completely. That wasn't what I meant at all, I…I…"
"Listen, I'm having a lot of gaps in my memory right now, so if you could refresh it, that'd be great."
"Um…" He glanced uneasily at the cell door. "May I update you on the way?"
I looked at the cell door, too, and then back at him before slowly shaking my head. "If you're going to rescue me, you rescue Toothless first. I'm not leaving without him."
"Hiccup, Toothless isn't here."
"No!"
"He's on—
"Dad didn't kill him, he wouldn't do that, would he? I mean, he wasn't answering my questions about him, either, which made me kind of suspicious, but…but…"
"Calm down! Alvin didn't kill Toothless, Hiccup. Your dragon is in a safe place, okay? He's actually waiting for you as we speak, so we'd best hurry."
"Oh." This eased my panic and fear a bit. I wanted to tell him he had to jump through hoops before I would go anywhere with him, but the problem was, there was something about him that made him impossible to be afraid of. His blue eyes spoke of being trustworthy, of being a friend. Somehow, I sensed that he only wanted to help me. "I…I…okay." I took a breath. "Refresh me on the way."
