My Hiccup 49

The teens had to wait a long time indeed before they could start their treasure hunt. Flashburn was livid about Hiccup simply walking away when the sword master was supposedly lecturing him on technique and Stoick's inability to control him and his utter disrespect of his former mentor which led to a huge argument between the two Vikings that had Gobber jumping in the middle before things got too violent by which point Hiccup was sorely starting to miss the peace and quiet of sitting in the Outcast prison reading to Dagur and the other prisoners. In the end nothing came of it and the kids were allowed to retire to their dome with only their ears ringing but their pride still intake.

Stoick followed them wanting to once again remind Hiccup to follow the map and give a few last minute instructions in case the map wasn't clear enough – Gobber drew it after all. He placed a large hand on his son's still much smaller shoulder and pointed toward the wall where the door was hidden. "Remember, when you reach of end of the stairs turn right then right again, understand?" he asked, he pointed to the left and waited for his son to nod or acknowledge what he said. When the boy did, although he looked utterly confused, Stoick gave a big smile and tight hug. "Everything you need is in your bags."

"Okay…" Hiccup murmured as he looked to the two bags his father hadn't unpacked and wondering exactly what were in them – he really hadn't a chance to look since they arrived.

"Remember wait for the bell to chime twelve times."

"We will," Hiccup promised. The other kids hastily made the same promise.

It was already late so the kids acted as if they were going to bed. It was all for show for Flashburn's benefit. Not one of them were remotely impressed by him anymore and just about all wanted to leave – Astrid was excelling in the course and sort of wanted to finish but she was willing to leave if Stoick declared the were going to. They lay on their cots pretending to sleep – although the way Fishlegs and Snotlout were snoring, Hiccup was pretty sure they were out cold – until the giant bell in the bell tower began ringing the twelfth hour.

Moving quickly while it still rang Hiccup and Astrid jumped out of bed and hurried to the wall with the hidden door, pressing bricks and feeling groves until one popped and the door Stoick had spoken of suddenly slid open. Hiccup gave a little victory cheer as he looked to his friends. His smile instantly fell.

"Guys…get up," he said in his loudest whisper.

The twins were staggering out of their cots toward them but both Snotlout and Fishlegs were actually sound asleep, much as Hiccup had feared.

"Do we leave them?" Hiccup asked Astrid, unsure what to do with the two.

She rolled her eyes in annoyance and went to Snotlout's bed, grabbed one ear in her hand and yelled directly in it. "GET UP!"

Snotlout bolted upright with a jolt of shock. "I'm up! I'm up! Hey, why'd you do that? I had this perfect dream of you and me…"

"Save it, I don't want to hear it," she grumbled as she walked away.

Hiccup didn't want to be so mean let alone so loud so he tried shaking Fishlegs. Now when they were young this would have worked. Fishlegs was much smaller than, only a little bigger than Hiccup and no nearly so heavy. But now Hiccup could barely move even his arm let alone any other part of him. "Come on, Legs, wake up," Hiccup pleaded, not wanting to leave his friend behind just in case Flashburn did figure out what they were up to and took it out on Fishlegs. The large teen was no good at keeping secrets and frightened fast. Plus there was no guarantee that his father would be able to save him in time. "Fishlegs," Hiccup tried again before giving up and resorting to Astrid's method. "WAKE UP!" he yelled directly in his friend's ear. That may not have been such a good idea.

Fishlegs gave a start but rather than sitting up like Snotlout had he jumped and rolled over directly onto Hiccup and sending them both to the floor. "What?" the heavy set boy cried in surprise.

Hiccup had been nearly crushed by Fishlegs a number of times in his young life, usually by surprise hugs or playful pin downs when Hiccup tried running away from one of his hugs that were just as tight as Stoick's, but on occasion Fishlegs fell on him and all the wind was knocked right out of his small lithe body. "Ow…" was all that the young heir managed to say before Fishlegs was scrambling to get off him.

Fishlegs quickly got to his feet and reached down to haul Hiccup to his own. "Are you trying to scare the life out of me?" Fishlegs reprimanded as he steadied Hiccup.

Hiccup winced as he felt around his ribs absently. "I'm pretty sure you squished the life out of me," he retorted with a wince. He was tender but nothing broken. Small but sturdy, Gobber always said. "Come on, we found the door. Let's find this treasure and get out of here."

Earlier he had transferred what he was sure they needed from both his bags into one, including "fire suit 1", a prototype jumper that was meant to withstand extreme heat and not catch fire. It was made from scales Hiccup had collected whenever Toothless shed them and sewn onto a jumper he made from fabric he traded Johann for. It worked really well and Hiccup was able to walk through fire and over hot coals which nearly gave his poor father a heart attack the first time he witnessed Hiccup test it out, but had never been tested in the extreme heat that Hiccup wanted to test it out in.

Throwing open the shutters on one window wide open he whistled for Toothless. From the dragon stable across the courtyard he could barely make out the ebony shape of his best friend dart into the shadows and cautiously streak toward the barracks. Hiccup stepped out of the way as his best friend lunged for the window and silently slipped inside.

"Hey, bud," Hiccup cooed giving Toothless a loving scratch under the chin. "I see Dad made sure to keep your pen unlocked with no trouble. How you doing?"

The dragon gave him a lick across the cheek in answer causing his rider to laugh.

"I missed you, too, bud." He hoisted the bag he needed on one shoulder and headed for the secret passage with his dragon and friends behind him. "Let's find this treasure and go home."

His father and Gobber didn't lie, the stairs case was steep, long and twisting and stone steps far narrower than the average Viking foot. Everyone had to walk sideways the further and further down they went or trip and possibly send everyone into the black abyss. They held torches in front of them as Toothless took the lead, the only telltale sign of him still being close to them being the red of his prosthetic tail. The stairs seemed to go on forever and the lower they went the walls changed from brick to stone to rough rock, with it came the change of temperature from warm to humid to cool then downright cold as winter and soon they were all shivering. Hiccup began questioning the sanity of this mission and why his father would even consider packing fire suit 1 for such a cold place. Soon they reached flat ground and the teens were able to stretch their feet as they looked around the narrow tunnel they now stood in.

"This…this will be the scene for my next horror story," Tuffnut announce, sweeping out his arms in a grand gesture as he took in the bleakness of where they stood.

"Yeah, count me out," Ruffnut grumbled as she looked around, a mix of worry and anxiety on her face. "So Hiccup, which way do we go?"

Their young leader looked over the map. "Dad said to go right but pointed left. Uh…" He lifted his torch higher and looked in both directions but there were no other tunnels.

"Unless he's guiding a ship or riding a direction, you dad's sense of direction leaves a lot to be desired," Snotlout taunted, taking the lead.

"Snotlout, wait!" Hiccup called before his cousin could get too far. "Maybe this is like the secret door. Feel around the walls, gang. Maybe there's another hidden passage. Something nagged at Hiccup to check the left wall. Just the way his father was acting, as if someone might have been listening in on them, he might have wanted Hiccup to do the opposite of what he said. So while his friends searched the right wall he and Toothless searched the left. Toothless's snout was to the ground, sniffing at the edges until he came to what appears to be an old worn path leading right into the wall. Hiccup followed him and ran his hands over the rough surface until his hands pressed against what might have once been an engraved and very old Hooligan insignia. It could be barely seen under all the dust and webs. "Whoa," was all he could think to say before pressing firmly against it.

The rock creaked and screeched as a section of it pulled away from the rest, far more loudly then the old secret door. All the other teens hurried over to see what he had found.

"Another creepy corridor?" Snotlout all but yelled at Hiccup as the younger boy pulled out his map to study it once more.

"Yep, it's right here and Gobber's map. He only drew a little bit of the other one so I guess we go this way." He pointed ahead and before anyone could object he and Toothless began walking.

"There better be gold where we're going," Snotlout shouted after him but he stayed close to the group not wanting to be left behind.

They walked for what felt like hours, the darkness seeming to creep in from everywhere. A few times Toothless would growl and snarl into the darkness, others he would give a small whine that had Hiccup hurrying to his side and giving him a reassuring pat on his arm or flank.

"I'm bored," Ruffnut called from behind and gave a big yawn.

"Yeah, when we gonna find this treasure and go back to bed, my feet ache," chimed in Tuffnut.

"I miss my Meatlug," Fishlegs added, sounding just as whiny and tried as the twins even though he had caught an hour or two's worth of sleep while the others patiently waited for the coast to be clear.

"Finding Hamish's treasure didn't take this long," Snotlout grunted in agreement.

"Then go back to the dorm," Astrid offered as she walked next to Hiccup, subconsciously making sure he didn't trip as he tried walking and reading a map while holding a torch. "Hiccup, are you sure we're going the right way? There are no markers to help show the way and Gobber's notorious for making tall tales and shotty maps. And I haven't heard or seen a Driller dragon so…"

Toothless began growling again and instinctively moved in front of Hiccup, his tail whipping around his rider protectively as his wings spread to shield the others.

"Great, just great! You had to open your mouth and jinx a perfectly good treasure hunt!" Snotlout chastised as he drew his bludgeon from his belt.

Astrid's timing was always impeccable. A low whirling sound could be heard up ahead and as it grew so did Toothless's growls until nearly the whole cavern was vibrating. The sound of talon feet followed next and soon the teens were forced to cover their ears against the loud echoing sounds.

"Stampede!" someone yelled but Hiccup wasn't sure who, the words barely heard amongst the chaos.

Hiccup looked around frantically, hoping to find some means of escape. They could never outrun Driller dragons and if they stayed one of them was sure to be run through by the sharp horn on the end of their noses. "Get against the walls!" Hiccup ordered as he scrambled over Toothless's tall to do just that. In the process he dropped the map and torch as he tried yanking Toothless out of the way of the charging Drill dragons. But the Nightfury held his ground and got lower, ready to charge as well. There are times when a rider simply had to trust his dragon to protect himself and Hiccup pressed against the left wall, silently praying that Toothless could take care of himself as he had many times in the past. It just so happened, as strangely as luck did with him, that his backside pressed against yet another hidden button and before he had a chance to even yell, Hiccup found himself tumbling backward into yet another dark corridor. He managed an undignified yelp that signalled his friends to his location before everyone piled in after him, including Toothless and the door slammed shut again.

"The map!" Hiccup realized far too late as he tried finding the release so they could get back in the main corridor where he had dropped it. His fingers danced over the rock wall, desperately searching but to no avail. They were now trapped in this corridor. He slumped back against the wall with a sigh of defeat, his mind barely registering the clomping of talons on the other side of the wall. "I lost the map," he announced to his friends, fully expecting to be reprimanded for his foolishness. He should never have let his Dad talk him into this hunt.

Astrid shrugged as if it was no big deal and ducked down to catch Hiccup's gaze. "It's no big deal. Gobber said it was incomplete anyway so sooner or later it would have been no good to us. We'll keep searching in this direction and Toothless will alert us to any other dragons just like he did the Drillers. Come on, we can't give up now." She took his hand and pulled him away from the wall. "It's probably not that far now, anyway. I mean how many tunnels can there be down here?"

A lot.

Hiccup had found a ball of twine in his bag and while he questioned it at first he was never so happy to having it. He tied one end to a heavy boulder near the entrance of this new tunnel and slowly unwound it as they walked. Now that they didn't have the map he wasn't taking a chance on any of them getting lost. So they stayed close to one another, no one daring to walk out of sight for even a moment, and continued on their way, exploring one tunnel until it came to a dead end then back tracking and trying another, rolling and unrolling the twine as they went. Hours passed with each member becoming tiring as they searched and searched for the treasure. Sometimes they had to pause as the heard Driller dragons stampede through another tunnel either above, below or somewhere behind them. It hard to tell in the darkness, everything seemed so loud and almost on top of them that it was easy to get frightened or wish to be back home in their own warm safe beds. Bit by bit the kids began to give up, their feet sore, minds tired and bodies ready for a good long nap.

"Maybe we should give up," Astrid finally conceded to the others' demands. Maybe there's a reason no one has found Grimbeard's treasure in over a century. Or maybe someone already did."

Hiccup hated to agree with her on this one but he was beginning to. He was tired and sore and his bad leg was starting to ache something fierce. It was time to give up…or so he thought. Out the corner of his eye he saw the first twinkle of light he had seen since descending that awful staircase. It seeped out from under a tiny crack in yet another rock wall and seemed to be giving off more heat than the torches the teens carried. Not sure if he was still awake or dreaming, Hiccup stopped walking and stared at it for a moment before finally turning direction and heading for it.

"What is that?" Fishlegs wondered aloud as he came up next to Hiccup.

"I don't know," Hiccup admitted. "A dragon crypt?"

"A nest?" Snotlout asked worriedly.

"The Driller dragons' nest?" the twins asked in unison.

"Whatever it is it's probably dangerous," Astrid threw in before sighing and rolling her eyes when Hiccup moved even closer to it. "And of course you never listen."

Hiccup placed his hand flat on the rock. It was hot, very hot but no more so than Toothless slab after it had been heated for him to sleep on. It was a muggy sort of heat not meant to burn but to warn away. It felt strangely…familiar. "Search for a panel or button," he quickly instructed to others as he felt around. There was something important on the other side and everything in him scream he needed to find it, that what he wanted, what he needed was only feet away.

Astrid gave a loud sigh before joining the others in the search. All the time she watched Hiccup, seeing the way his demeanor changed from curious to near obsessive and fearing what they might discover once they found a way in. She had only ever seen Hiccup like this when he went up against Snotlout at Thawfest but it was not nearly this worrying.

Finally the door gave and everyone smartly stepped back and against the walls for fear of a backlash of flame, all but Hiccup. He stood there staring in with such a look of wonder and familiarity that the others left the safety of the walls to see what had him so captivated. It was quite the treasure they expected to find, no vast riches or diamonds and gold but then treasure comes in all forms and sizes.

The room was bare. With the exception of numerous bronze and wooden shields hanging from the cavern walls there was no gold or jewels of any kind. A pit burned brightly in the center that upon closer inspection seemed fathoms deep. Too deep and wide to create enough heat to serious harm any from above but the deeper it got the brighter it burned. "I wonder…" he murmured to himself as he fingered the strap on his bag. He put it down away from the pit and rummaged through until he found his fire suit.

"Yep, this was your dad's dumb idea and you have a fire suit so you get to go down there," Snotlout grumbled as he watched his younger cousin. Despite his harsh words there was a hint of worry. That hole was deep and Hiccup would be on his own for who knows how long. Snotlout wasn't certain if Toothless could even go with him. The Nightfury was small compared to the other dragons but he did have an impressive wing span that may not be useful in this case.

Hiccup wasn't paying attention to a word he was saying. He was already wiggling into his fire suit and clasping the front shut then making sure his boot and prosthetic were in properly and adjusting straps and what have you. "How do I look?" he asked when he had everything together, including a hood and protective face mask that he could barely see through.

"Like a skinny ass baby Nightfury," Tuffnut teased.

"You're just missing the tail and wings," Ruffnut agreed. "Don't worry, we'll sew them on next time Toothless sheds his scales.

"Har, har, you two are hilarious," Hiccup retorted before adjusting his gloves. He threw Fishlegs the rope from his bag. "I coated this Toothless's saliva so it's not flammable. I need you to lower me into the pit than pull me up when I yank it twice," he instructed as he stepped to the edge of the pit. "Hopefully it's not as deep as it looks."

Fishlegs wound the rope around his middle twice as Hiccup tied his end around his waist. "Has this been tested?"

"With Hookfang," Hiccup answered as he tugged on his end.

That didn't reassure the bigger boy. "Ah…alright, just ah…go slow and no jerky jumps. I know you want to go down fast I just don't want to going down with you, you know what I mean?"

Hiccup gave him a reassuring smile or it would have been if he didn't have the mask on. "I'll try to take it slow." And then, before anyone else could stop him, he was making the climb down. It's an odd sensation to be grabbing rock covered in fire and more than once Hiccup feared he may have misjudged the suit and it wasn't ready for such temperatures. Other than growing increasingly warm the suit worked perfectly. He called up to his friends periodically to let them know he was okay and was met by the gaze of his over protective dragon who insisted on following him down even if it meant sheering the steep much as his rider was. Hiccup only grinned to himself, happy to have his always faithful companion by his side. The climb down was treacherous but Hiccup had been scaling the side of mountains and cliffs since the time he could walk and with or without his prosthetic he planned to do so for the rest of his days. Of course having a dragon fly one to the top was always easier. By the time they reached the bottom, a good two hundred feet or more from the top, his hands and legs were sore but nothing had caught fire as the temperature became a blistering, near unbreathable state. He took small breaths in order to not burn his already suffering lungs and looked about the flaming inferno his dragon and he had climbed into.

It was all rather fascinating. There appeared to be no dragon causing the fire, the walls simply burned on their own, flaming leaping and licking the open space of air all on their own. In the center there was no fire and appeared cool enough for Hiccup to lift his mask and breathe normally. And there, there in the center of all the chaos was the treasure. It wasn't as much as Hiccup and his friends imagined, surely nothing like Hamish's, and definitely not worthy of the powerful king Grimbeard was rumored to be. It was a simply pile of gold maybe a foot or two high and round and on top sat a bejeweled crown. Now that, that was worth something.

Hiccup had never actually scene a crown before, only in books and stories his grandfather would tell him when he was young. He stepped toward it completely in awe. To see such a thing up close was a treasure greater than any gold to him. It was a fabled thing much as dragons were often believed to be, much as a Nightfury was to much of the known world. His long fingers ghosted over the tips secretly afraid that it may shatter, disappear or set off some sort of trap. In this case the trap it triggered was not arrows shooting from the wall in a hail of fire and steel but rather a long, small form not unlike a Fireworm uncurled from around the golden based. It was a dragon, a species Hiccup had yet to discover yet instinctively knew he had seen before only far larger and frightening. It uncurled itself and gazed up at Hiccup with tired pale green eyes, looking bored and exhausted as if it had been waited a long, long time for someone to claim the treasure he protected.

"A dragon boy?" it drawled in an ancient form a Dragonese, the dialect sounding slightly foreign and with more clicks. It chuckled to itself as its gaze roamed to Toothless. "Oh! And a Nightfury to match! What has the world become?"

Hiccup glanced at Toothless in bemusement. "I'm sorry to interrupt your nap but is this Grimbeard's treasure?" he asked in Dragonese when he turned back to the little dragon. Honestly, the way his father talked he thought it would be much grander.

The little dragon scurried back a few steps and looked Hiccup over more thoroughly. "Aye, that it is. And who might I ask are you, little dragon?"

Hiccup's grin grew. Considering this dragon was smaller than a Terrible Terror who was it to call him "little dragon". "My name is Hiccup," he said, trying not to sound rude.

"Hic-cup," the dragon said in disbelief. "Could it be?" Its head tilted to one side as he studied the young human. It scampered over the crown and took a closer look at Hiccup, making the boy frown when its little paws grabbed the boy's face and began turning it from side to side. "It can't be. You left this world over a hundred years ago."

"Ah…okay," Hiccup stuttered, finally pulling free. "And you are?"

For a moment the little dragon looked hurt and then it took a deep breath and stood tall. "I am the Woden, guardian of Grimbread's treasure and prized possession."

"You?" Hiccup asked in disbelief before buttoning his mouth shut. Little dragons can be dangerous dragons.

The dragon pointed one long claw at the boy. "I was not always little. Once I was as big as a mountain, a titan and at my prime, but as I aged I once more reverted to this useless size no better than a hatchling. But my fire still burns." He waved at the burning walls. "And why might you be here, boy with the name of the one I loved like a brother?"

"I'm not really sure," Hiccup said honestly. "I was sent to find a vast treasure but found you and this."

"And what do you see?"

Hiccup shrugged. It wasn't the treasure his father was after but to him the crown and miniscule dragon were treasure enough and not because they were worth a lot money wise but because the crown was a part of the Hooligan's history and this Woden looked as if he had been alone for far too long and needed someone to care for him. He gently plucked the crown out from under Woden and hooked it to his belt then picked up the little dragon and placed him on his shoulder. "Someone who needs help getting out of here," he answered before pulling his mask over his face.

Needless to say his friends were happy with the retrieval of a lone crown and one little old dragon with a bit of an attitude problem, at least toward Snotlout and the twins who kept poking at him. They had hoped for jewels and coins but those were things that meant nothing to Hiccup. And yes, it may have made his father happy if they returned with their pockets lined in gold but that simply wasn't going to happen. Hiccup wrapped the crown in his fire suit once he took it off and with Woden riding on his shoulders as if that was where he always belonged, he and his friends made their way through the treacherous winding tunnels, following the trail of twine until they reached the dorm and the comfort of their beds.

Come morning everything was as it should be. There was no hint of a hidden door and everyone was tucked in their cots when a servant came to wake them. Everything except two dragons that slept next to Hiccup, one on his pillow just above his head and the second on the floor with his tail wrapped around the bed frame. The woman gave a scream and bolted for the door awaking all six teens and causing such a ruckus that Stoick and Gobber ran into their room with just their knickers on.

"Dad!" Hiccup yelled in horror at the sight of his father and mentor flashing the girls.

But Stoick either didn't notice or care. His attention was firmly on his son. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Clothes, now!" he yelled, pointing both men to the door.

It took a moment for his father to remember they weren't home on Berk and his cheeks grew almost as red as his beard when realization hit him. He looked quickly to Toothless and pointed to the window. "Go to the stall," he ordered knowing the Nightfury wouldn't dare question him in this situation. Then with a mumbled apology he and Gobber rushed back to their rooms to get dressed.

"That was ah…" Astrid started, her cheeks a bright pink.

"Hot?" finished Ruffnut who made everyone, including her brother, look at her as if she had just lost her mind.

"What's going on in here?" fumed Flashburn when he stormed in a few minutes later when the kids were finally out of bed.

Hiccup and Fishlegs were at the table looking Woden over. They looked up from the little dragon and the book Hiccup was sketching him into. "Excuse me?" Hiccup asked innocently.

That only served to fuel Flashburn's anger more. "What is THAT doing in my castle?" Flashburn asked in a none too friendly voice.

"We found him this morning," Fishlegs lied, for once able to keep a straight face while doing so. He fed Woden a stale cracker while promising the little creature fresh fish when it was feeding time for the other dragons. "He looked lost and hungry."

"I said NO dragons inside my castle. That includes miniscule ones as well," the sword master snarled, reaching for the tiny creature.

Before he could lay so much as a finger on Woden, Hiccup scooped the dragon up and held him protectively against his chest. "Don't you touch him," he yelled at the man as he stepped away.

"Give it to me," Flashburn yelled back as he reached for his sword.

The other kids got between them, Astrid with her axe drawn and Snotlout with his bludgeon. Tuffnut with Macey while Ruffnut held her sword. Fishlegs only had a dagger but it was drawn, too, and he was ready to protect Hiccup and the new little dragon, too.

"What is going on here?" Stoick asked, walking in on what was sure to lead to a blood bath in which only half the kids were likely to survive. "Flashburn, stand down. These are children. What have they done to offend you so?"

The older man glared at him but re-sheathed his sword. "You have thirty minutes to get these…these children and their dragons out of this castle. They have violated the terms of our agreement and allowed a dragon inside these premises."

"We found him," Hiccup objected, still holding the little dragon close to his chest. He looked pleadingly to his father, not because he wanted to stay but because he wanted to prove their friends innocence. After all he did find Woden and technically they didn't bring him into the castle, the little dragon was already in it or rather under it.

Stoick gave a curt nod, seemingly disappoint but with a glitter of pride for his son and friends to stand up to someone like Flashburn without fear. "Pack up your stuff and let's head home," he told the teens before apologizing profusely for their behaviour and explaining Hiccup adoration and protectiveness of all dragons species, not that he cared what Flashburn thought of the subject but to give the kids enough time to get organized and packed up.

It wasn't until they were in the air on their way back to Berk that Stoick asked about the treasure.

"Ah…well there really wasn't much," Hiccup explained as he gripped his saddle tightly. Surprisingly Woden was able to keep up with all the other dragons without asking for assistance or a lift. He told his father all about the fiery pit and how well the fire suit had worked. "I found Woden curled around this old crown. Do you really think it was Grimbeard's?"

Stoick nodded sullenly. "Yes, son. Grimbeard left it guarded by a great dragon where only his heir could reach it."

Hiccup glanced over his shoulder at his father with a doubtful look. "Don't tell me you starting to believe Old Wrinkly's fairy tales."

His father was silent for a long time. "There's a reason Flashburn refused to train you. Maybe some fairy tales are true."