Chapter 38

Hiccup grunted as she stumbled on some of the wet brush which carpeted the forest floor. But she couldn't stop. If she did, the men would catch up to her and then she would be a real gonner. No. She had to keep running.

Hiccup had known for a while that Maraud's plan wouldn't work. Mainly because it wasn't really a plan at all, and just him trying to keep himself from freaking out by telling everyone that things would be alright. But Hiccup knew. There had been too man variable—to many things which could have gone wrong, and not enough things which could go right.

First off, just trying to smuggle four bears into the Bear King's castle was a huge risk. Hiccup hadn't exactly been sure why Maraud wanted her and the triplets to go inside with him instead of just going inside himself, explaining the problem to Toothless, and then bringing him outside after Toothless had been briefed. It would have been safer. It would have been smarter.

Hiccup would have told Maraud her own plan if she had been able to communicate with him. But she was a bear. Also, the girls were frightened. They wanted to be near their big brother. And Hiccup didn't have the heart or energy to explain why it was a bad idea. She had just run down from the mountain, with all of them on her back, and only three legs to support all the weight. By the time the five of them had reached the edge of the woods, Hiccup had been more than happy to just rest and let Maraud take lead for a while. Now Hiccup wished she would have pushed her thoughts onto him.

Secondly, Toothless was notoriously good at keeping grudges. If he thought that the bear Hiccup had turned into had eaten her, there was no saving bear her if he saw her. Maraud, of all people, should have known about Toothless's temperament.

But Hiccup couldn't look back right then, even if hindsight was 20/20. She had to run. Too bad she was tired and hurt and hungry. She hadn't eaten since that morning, and now her body was paying the price for that.

Hiccup's gait faltered for a moment and she stumbled to a stop, breathing heavily, and pushing her weight onto her trembling paws. Her ears flickered back and she heard the clacking of horse equipment being ridden and a low hum fill the air. Hiccup lifted her snout to the air and took a deep sniff. Thousands of scents invaded her nostrils, but she focused on the ones which seemed familiar. Those scents which should have given her comfort by instead forced her to run, feeling terrified and alone. The smoky, woodsy scent of her father. The cool, earthy scent of Maraud's father. They were after her. And they would try to kill her.

Hiccup forced herself to start running again, but it wasn't good enough. Hiccup's round ears swiveled behind her and she was painfully aware of how much louder the sounds of the hunting party were getting. Hiccup kept running, searching for a safe place. Her subconscious mind steered her hulking body to the safest place she knew. The circle of ancient stones. They still seemed to give off some sort of power. Hiccup stood near the far edge of them, as far from the hunting party as she could get. She took a deep breath, trying to inhale some of the power she could feel the earth give off, but it didn't work. She was weary and exhausted.

Hiccup felt her surroundings slow down. Her breath came out in loud pants. Something in her mind changed, and Hiccup's body posture soon followed suit. No more running. She was done. She didn't go through everything she had gone through in her life just to die as a bear in some Valkyrie-forsaken forest in Scotland because her idiot of a fiancée had been trying to protect her. And by the gods, if she hadn't left him or killed him yet, she was going to marry him!

The men rushed into the clearing and stood, tense, looking for her. Without her consent, Hiccup's bear body let out a menacing growl. The men turned to her and she felt her muscles tense. Some of the villagers actually started running towards her. All Hiccup knew was that she was in danger. Then, darkness. It was like all the other times she had turned into a 'real' bear, except so much faster.

Darkness and aggression were all she felt for gods knew how long.

The next thing Hiccup knew, she was blinking and pulling against the ropes which held her down to the ground. Hiccup took a deep breath, about to roar at the people who held her down. If there was one thing she knew, it was that a good roar could scare people into letting go of anything and send them running to the hills. Or make them faint on hills. It depended on how weak of heart they were.

But then Hiccup froze. She sniffed the air again. She knew that awful scent; the one which smelled like rotting carcasses and molding wood, all covered in dried blood. It was here. Mordue.

After stilling her muscles to an almost impossible degree, Hiccup gathered all her strength. She felt the love she had for all the people now trying to kill her. There was no way she was going to allow that. And there was especially no way she was going to allow them all to be murdered by the demon bear. Hiccup suddenly pushed against the ropes around her body, pulling and straining against them, trying to bite them off of her, using her claws to attempt to cut them. She called out in her rough bear voice, but no one answered her.

Did no one understand?! She needed to get out now! How else was she going to protect them? How else was she going to protect herself? Toothless was nowhere to be seen and at that point, she was the only person (bear, who cares?) who could honestly stand a chance against the beast.

Hiccup thrashed around in a frenzy, trying to look into the dark forest for any signs of movement. The rain was now coming down in hard pellets and it chilled her, despite her thick fur. Toothless would've hated it.

Hiccup called out again, trying to look into the men's eyes. But no one would listen. But they had to understand! She roared again.

"He's coming!" She shouted at them all. "Stop trying to hold me down and get ready! He's coming and he's out for blood! He's not playing this time! He wants no survivors!"

Hiccup could feel Mordue's blood-lust hanging in the air. It made her sick. There was no real scent to it; it was more like a feeling which pressed down on her, making her previously achingly empty stomach begin to feel queasy.

"You all need to leave! Please!"

Hiccup would have protested against the ropes and kept shouting warnings at them all if she hadn't looked into Hank's eyes. They were hard and cold and he looked as if he couldn't wait to spear her straight through with the pitchfork in his hand. Hiccup stopped struggling. She knew that look. She had seen it so many times it was almost perverted how comfortable she was with it. It was the same face her father used to make when a dragon made the unfortunate decision to land in front of him.

Hiccup was now the monster of Dunbrough's eyes. And nothing she could do or say would change that. She was going to die. And then they were going to die. These were really her last moments.

It almost seemed surreal to Hiccup that her life would end at the hands of some of the people she cared the most about.

The dragon raids hadn't killed her. Neither had the bullying (which was surprising, because Vikings were over-the-top in everything, especially violence). The numerous falls off of Toothless in her attempt to learn how to fly with him hadn't done her in. The Red Death hadn't killed her. Toothless having to practically bite her foot off in his attempt to reach her before she got swallowed by the flames hadn't killed her, either. Stress hadn't killed her (another surprising thing, because Hiccup had been sure at times that the stress would just choke her until she stopped breathing). And even Mordue wasn't about to kill her. It would be her father and her future-father-in-law and a village full of people who she had befriended.

So, she was a goner. Because Hiccup couldn't find it in herself to fight too strongly against the people who she held so dear in her aching heart. So she accepted her fate. Hiccup inwardly laughed as she thought of Maraud's reaction if he had heard her saying that. He would've had a fit! That boy… always fighting against his fate. Or his mother. Whichever one was more inconvenient for him at the time.

Her last moments… who would she think about?

Toothless. Hiccup's eyes watered. She hadn't seen him in days. Her body physically pained her at the thought. Even when he was a secret to Dunbrough, Hiccup had seen him at least one a day, for hours at a time. And since she had introduced him to the people, he hadn't been away from her side for more than a few moments. He was her companion. Her best friend. Her brother, in ways. He completed her in a way no one else could. But even if he saw her now, Hiccup was sure she would only see hatred in his blue-green eyes. And she would still love him.

What would she give to go back to the happier days? Everything. Back when she and Toothless could romp around and play all day in their cove because Hiccup didn't have any other friends or responsibilities. Back when they were still learning everything about one another. Back when they were more or less happy. And after that, after the Red Death, no one complained when Toothless was always beside her. Eating with her, sleeping with her, working with her. No one said a word because everyone knew. They were two halves to the same soul.

Her father. What if somehow Maraud was able to turn her body back into human form after they killed her? What would her father think? He already blamed himself for Hiccup's mother's death. How would he handle the fact that he had been the very cause of the death of his daughter? For that matter, would he even be alive to see that she was Hiccup? His little girl? The one who constantly made his life harder and more challenging than Hiccup ever wanted it to be? Would he be able to fight Mordue off and escape with his life? Hiccup pushed the thought aside.

Her friends. Would anyone be alive to tell them what happened to her? Had anyone told them already that they thought she was dead? Did anyone tell them that they thought she was killed by a bear? Would they even believe it?

Hiccup thought about Astrid. Her first real human friend. Of course, at firsts Astrid had been angry. But then, after they defeated the Red Death and Hiccup got used to her handicap, the two girls had some bonding time. Astrid had confessed about how she actually liked Snotlout, but got aggravated and hurt when he chased after her, and then moved on right to another girl, without giving her feelings a second thought. In return, Hiccup had confessed how afraid she was. Every Viking knew about her, and every Viking knew that she was not a good wife to have. What if she died old and alone? No love for her?

Ruffnut had been a bit easier to get along with. All she had to do was laugh at the girl's jokes, and that wasn't difficult. Really, Ruffnut was a riot. Just thinking of her jokes made Hiccup laugh, even in her predicament: tied to the ground while in the form of a bear, about to be killed by the people who were supposed to be her family, or ripped apart by Mordue.

Tuffnut and Snotlout had apparently felt bad about treating her so foully for so long, and had one day stood up for her when a boy pushed her into the mud. That was the day they decided on being her new brothers, and it had been one of the best days of Hiccup's life. No one had ever stood up for her before, and while most Vikings would have hated it, Hiccup wasn't most Vikings. It showed her that they cared, and even Toothless was a fan of their new attitude.

Fishlegs had always been a nice intellectual friend. Before all the craziness with the Red Death, he had never been mean to her. In fact, he had been quite nice to her. But, he had never really been very forthcoming about the friendly relationship. Otherwise, Hiccup was sure she might've come to like him. In a more than friendly manner. But, since he had been too afraid to ever stand up for her, Hiccup hadn't given him more than a thought in that regards. And she was glad she hadn't. Because if she had, she might not have gotten a very tempting offer from a certain queen of Dunbrough.

Eleanor. Mum. They were both the same person. She was kind and wise and wonderfully protective of Hiccup, but in such a way that Hiccup had never felt suffocated, just loved and cherished. Hiccup had heard the way she had berated Maraud any time he had done something awful to Hiccup. And as much as Hiccup didn't want to admit it, it had always been hilarious to see.

Hiccup's real mother had died so long ago that the most she remembered about the coveted warrior was her scent, the sense of warmth she gave to Hiccup, and the song. The song that Hiccup would try her hardest to never forget. And though Mum was no replacement for Mother, Hiccup found herself loving Mum like she had never loved anyone. It was a strange type of love, almost like a friendship, but stronger. Hiccup felt a sense of safety that allowed her to confide in Eleanor about anything—even Toothless. Just remembering her mum's warm embrace and eager smile and the laugh she let out while smiling made Hiccup feel warm inside. Her laugh was just like her son's…

Maraud. At first, Hiccup had honestly not known what to feel. She had seen him in the woods before her boat had landed. That hadn't exactly gone over well with her dad. She had been awkward and a bit stiff with him, but after a while, she had really opened up to him. He had been kind and helpful and she had decided that she trusted him enough to introduce him to Toothless. Too bad she had chosen the wrong day, because he had let his wrathful side out and stabbed her in the leg with an arrow.

But he had tried so hard after that to get her to forgive him. She wasn't an idiot. Hiccup knew she had just been stubborn when she had refused to listen to him. In a way, Hiccup was almost thankful for 'Princess' McGuffin for challenging her. If that 'princess' hadn't come and try to marry Maraud, Hiccup wasn't sure she would even be talking to Maraud. On the other hand, if she hadn't been talking to Maraud, she probably wouldn't be a bear right now…

But there was so much more to Maraud than anger and stubbornness and stupid decisions. He was protective and willing and adventurous. He was kind (when he wanted to be) and hard working and funny. He was loving to those close to him, and there was no denying how appealing his physical appearance was.

Hiccup imagined his face. It was all hard angles, with a stone-like jaw and cliffs as cheekbones. His eyes were deep in his eye sockets, but for how hard they could look, his eyes were colored like soft crystals. Just looking into them made Hiccup want to melt. His nose was long and straight and his lips were soft-looking and pink. His hair was wild and untamed, but it suited him. His body was well-toned from all his training and horse-back riding. And his voice!

His accent was to die for! It made Hiccup's stomach warm and she always had to push down a blush when he spoke to her. His voice… it was so deep. She imagined kissing his Adam's apple while he spoke. Would it vibrate? How would that feel against her lips?

For a moment Hiccup imagined it. He would be calling her name: "Hiccup! I finally found you, Love!"

Oh, when he called her that, dragons did summersaults in her stomach.

"Don't you touch her!"

Wow. Hiccup had a really good imagination. His voice was so… Maraud-like in her mind that it was almost like he was really there. Except, she knew it was just her imagination, obviously.

But then, his voice wasn't all in her head. Hiccup felt a sudden unnatural breeze of air in front of her and her eyes (which she actually hadn't noticed had closed) snapped open. There he was!

"Don't you take another step closer!" he snarled, warning the other men away. Because of his anger his voice turned threatening, deeper than usual. It made the hairs stand up all along Hiccup's back. She was so glad he wasn't looking back to see her reaction. His raw, unfiltered emotions brought out the heaviest accent she had heard from him yet, and it thrilled Hiccup.

"Boy, that thing killed your fiancée! Hiccup is dead because of that! Don't you want vengeance?!" Fergus called.

"This is my wife!" Maraud called back. "I know it, Toothless knows it, and we won't let you get to her!"

It was then that Hiccup took in Maraud's appearance. He was sitting stiff-backed, sword in hand, muscles taught, ready to fight off anyone who tried to harm her. And he was riding a familiar mass of midnight blue scales and claws.

"Toothless!" Hiccup roared out happily. Her eyes would have filled with tears if she was in human form. Since she was a bear, a low whimper escaped her snout instead. Toothless turned back and smiled at her, revealing nothing but pink gums, even though Hiccup knew the rain was bound to irritate him. Toothless knew it was her! He loved her and had come after her! And Hiccup knew now that she would never let him go. At that moment, Hiccup wanted nothing more than to get him out of the forest. She wanted him at home, drying off by the fire, safe and sound. Safe. Safe.

"Toothless!" This time Hiccup's roar was urgent. "Get them out! Mordue is coming!"

It was a really good thing that Toothless and Hiccup never really needed words to communicate. Toothless raised his sensitive snout into the air, taking in all the smells that the rain seemed to amplify. His pupils turned into slits and he turned to face Hiccup, growling lowly. Hiccup sniffed the air and tensed. Mordue was somewhere behind her.

Mordue ignored her and Toothless. He jumped off her dragon's back and faced the men, body still taught, blood pumping with adrenaline. He hoped no one noticed his three sisters, still bears, hiding at the edge of the forest in the direction he and Toothless had come from. He just needed to ensure their safety, so he brought them with him. But right now, Hiccup's safety was the one in the most jeopardy.

"Get away from this girl," Maraud grit through his teeth. "My girl!" He practically snarled at the gathering of men in front of him. A few gripped their weapons tighter and stepped forward. The space between Hiccup and the mob was quickly diminishing, and while Maraud wasn't the smartest man around, he knew that was a real problem.

Maraud spun around and looked at the men who were holding onto the ropes which held Hiccup down. They had let go and were now wearily facing Toothless, who was glaring dangerously at something in the same direction as Hiccup. But he couldn't actually be growling at Hiccup. What else was out there?

A few of the men who had once held Hiccup down grabbed their pitchforks and started towards Toothless, but before Maraud could tell them that that was a bad idea, Hiccup was out of her ropes and standing in front of Toothless, snarling at the men.

Maraud mentally smirked. While Hiccup was alive, she wouldn't let anything touch a single one of Toothless's scales. Maraud knew that they would die for each other. But today, they wouldn't have to. Not if Maraud had his way. Even though he had been trying for so long to get over his selfish tendencies, at his core, Maraud was still a spoiled little prince. He would throw a fit and lash out to get what he wanted. And what he wanted right then was Hiccup. He would get his way, and she would be alive for a long time. She was his. And if Maraud had any say whatsoever, she would not be leaving his side until he died.

He glared at the people in front of him. Chief Stoic was there, looking murderously at Maraud. Maraud smirked. He would be getting millions of apologies and thanks from that man later.

"That's not a monster behind me! It's Hiccup!" He said, voice hard and full of conviction. He didn't sway a single man in front of him towards believing him. If only he had listened to his mum and her stupid lessons!

"Get out of the way, Lad!" Hiccup's da growled. Maraud felt determination flowing through his veins as freely as the rain poured around them Maraud's clothes and hair stuck to his face, but he didn't care.

"No! I'll not let you harm my future wife!"

"That bear is an animal!" one of the men screamed.

"That bear is a cursed Hiccup!" Maraud denied. "If you lay one hand on her, I'll—!"

Maraud was cut off by the simultaneous growls of Toothless and Hiccup. Maraud turned his back to the men to see what was going on. The two Berkians were facing the forest behind Hiccup. Hiccup's hackles were raised, and Toothless had spread his wings, giving him a nightmarish appearance. What was in those woods?

His question was answered by two glowing red eyes. Mordue. Maraud was about to turn and tell everyone to run, but before he had the chance to, Mordue rushed into the clearing, heading straight for Maraud.

This is it, he thought. I'll die, and Hiccup will still be a bear.

But Hiccup was having none of that. Before Mordue could kill Maraud, Hiccup pushed Maraud to the side with a surprising amount of gentleness for how suddenly she did it. Mordue ended up crashing into her instead. Because of her lack of four legs, Hiccup fell right over. But before Mordue could slash at her vulnerable body, Toothless screeched and bit into Mordue's stomach.

Mordue roared in pain, and Toothless quickly pulled away, head stained red with the bear's blood, which now ran freely down its body. Mordue was about to go after Toothless again, but Hiccup was already on him, literally jumping on top of the demon and biting into its neck.

Before Mordue could retaliate, Hiccup was on the ground, backing away from the dangerous foe. Mordue made to pursue her, snarling viciously, saliva running down his mouth. Maraud hefted his sword in front of him, about to take a running start towards the demon threatening his fiancée, but he was beaten by two spears. The long weapons stuck out of Mordue's side like toothpicks, and Young Macintosh and Wee Dingwall froze like statues next to the monster. It would've killed them, too, if their fathers hadn't pulled them out of the way in time.

Maraud ran up to the beast while Toothless and Hiccup forcefully herded the men back. Maraud slashed at the monster, but it didn't do much. Its hide wasn't like normal bear hide. It was tough, like leather, and slick, like oil. Getting a hit to stick was nearly impossible. Killing it seemed like wishful thinking.

Mordue slashed a heavy paw at Maraud, and he felt the skin around his left hand peel back at the same his sword flew out of his hand. If it weren't for the warmth of his blood, Maraud would've thought that the wetness running down his hand was just the rain.

Maraud stumbled back as Mordue rushed forward, jaws open, teeth gleaming in the dark. Maraud fell down, closing his eyes, bracing himself for death. Instead of feeling pain, however, Maraud heard a body crash into another body. Maraud's eyes snapped open as he witnessed Hiccup wrestle with the larger, more dangerous bear. His heart stopped beating for one moment… two.

The very ground shook as the two repeatedly slammed into each other. Toothless started rushing in, to try and help Hiccup, but Maraud got in his way. He would tell Toothless just wanted to blast Mordue to pieces (at least, he was fairly sure that's what Toothless wanted), and as much as Maraud would have loved to see that, Maraud knew Toothless couldn't.

Hiccup and Mordue were practically intertwined as they fought. While trying to help Hiccup, Toothless might accidentally injure her instead. It seemed that Toothless figured out the problem, as well, because after a second of struggling against Maraud, he relented, agitatedly flapping his wings and crying out to try and help Hiccup.

Hiccup, in the meanwhile, was beginning to get tired. No. Not beginning. She had already been exhausted. At that point, fighting with that bear, the only things keeping her going were adrenaline and the love she had burning inside of her. But that wasn't enough. The energy reserves inside of her were emptying at an alarming rate. Hiccup could feel her body begin to give up.

But she couldn't die. That would be too easy. No. She refused. Not now. Not like this. Think, Hiccup. Think.

Hiccup's eyes darted to her surroundings, and in her momentarily lapse in concentration, Mordue threw Hiccup against one of the standing stones which made up the powerful circle. Toothless cried out, and in that moment, the world became silent for Hiccup. Of course! How could she have been so stupid?

Hiccup quickly stood up and turned to that Mordue was the one closest to the stone. It was a good thing that he had chosen that stone in particular to throw her into. It had already been weakened when she and Toothless had accidentally crash-landed in it, what seemed like a lifetime ago. Having a bear hurled at it probably didn't make it any stronger.

Hiccup stood up on her one leg, ignoring the muscles beginning to cramp there, and pushed all her weight onto Mordue, who had turned to face her, and then risen up on his two legs, as well.

The wall behind him shifted, but the stone didn't break. Desperate, Hiccup hit him again, but Mordue wasn't stunned anymore, and was beginning to get annoyed. Suddenly, a prickling feeling went through Hiccup's back, and she turned to the right and jumped.

Wise decision on her part, because Toothless had decided enough was enough and had run into Mordue with enough strength to break the rock. The stone crumbled and Toothless slithered out of the way just in time to see Mordue crushed by the powerful stone.

Hiccup was panting, and Toothless had an odd expression on his face, a mixture of pure terror and raw hatred.

Hiccup let out a weary breath. It almost sounded like a relieved huff. She and Toothless exchanged glances. The sky was clearing up, the rain stopping so suddenly it almost seemed impossible. The air was beginning to lighten with the oncoming dawn.

Hiccup felt strange, almost like something inside of her was beginning to shift. It wasn't exactly an uncomfortable feeling, but Hiccup didn't like it. However, bigger things were happening. Cheering. Hiccup's mind cleared.

He was dead. Mordue was dead.

Like always, this isn't edited, so sorry for any issues. I wrote a good chunk of this in the 'so-late-it's-early' portion of the day. Lol, try to figure out which section that was (it won't be hard). So I spent a bit of time wondering if I wanted bear-Hiccup and Toothless to be able to speak when she wasn't a human, and I decided I didn't want that, for a couple of reasons. One: she didn't turn into a dragon, and I just thought it would be weird if Toothless could randomly speak to other animals, because he didn't talk to the horse, or the sheep on Berk or anything. Two: I've read so many fics where Toothless talks like a human in his head, and that doesn't seem right, and then there's the ones where he sounds like an idiot, and that DEFINITELY doesn't seem right, so I decided to play more into their non-verbal communication skills. I liked the idea of them having such a strong bond that Hiccup didn't even need to be a human for Toothless to be able to understand her.

Anyway, I just realized that I started this fic exactly one year and a day ago, so I'm trying my hardest to end it by tomorrow! I already have half of the next chapter written up :3 And speaking of endings...

TWO CHAPTERS LEFT!

I'm honestly so excited to see everything come together! We're at like, 259 favorites, and 305 followers, we're in FOUR communities and y'all have given me about 260 reviews! I think I've become such a better writer thanks to this, and that was honestly my entire goal! So thanks so much for sticking with me in this story, through the fast updates and the amazingly long unofficial hiatuses, it's been great, especially with such great followers 3 For this chapter I was kinda hoping we'd get closer to my three hundred review goal, so... just review if you have the time? Reading those reviews honestly makes me want to write so much more, y'all wouldn't even believe it! So honestly, thanks a lot :)