Anything Is Possible

Rated: M
Pairing: Hiccup & OC-Runa
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the HTTYD or Frozen characters. Everything belongs to its original creator. However, I do own all my characters.

Chapter 27.

=Normal POV=
[November 17; Afternoon]
[Hunter Ship; Sea]

Viggo, Ryker, and the dragon hunters had known it wasn't going to be a cheers and tears type of reunion when the dragon riders inevitably showed up because of Johann revealing that Hiccup was with the hunters. Of course, Johann changed the story no doubt and told the Berkians that Viggo and Ryker had Hiccup with them as a captive, and forcing him to do work on their ship. Hiccup didn't have an idea for what Johann would say about Toothless, but as he heard the riders demand Viggo and Ryker to give him and Toothless back, it was assumed that Johann probably said Toothless was being kept in a dragon proof cell on a lower deck of the ship. However, what none of the hunters doubted was that the riders were simply giving up and leaving once told that Hiccup wasn't there. No, all of them knew that the dragon riders wouldn't miss an opportunity to try and take them down just for being alive.

The only shock was the dragon riders learning that someone stopped Astrid's attack on Viggo and Ryker when their backs were turned. And that someone turned out to be Hiccup, who they had been made to believe in ethical reasoning for once, wasn't there at all. Unfortunately, the relief that the dragon riders felt to see Hiccup after ten months was immediately replaced with shock and confusion as things escalated to Hiccup and Astrid fighting one another. Although, it more looked like Astrid was trying to keep up and just defend herself against Hiccup. The other riders were still on their dragons watching, Viggo and Ryker were relaxing against the wall, amused by the battle while the hunters were cheering for Hiccup.

"I don't remember Hiccup being this good of a fighter…" Dagur mentioned.

"Me either," Heather frowned.

"Hiccup doesn't even like to fight! He hates it," Snotlout reminded.

"Yeah? Well, then that down there must not be Hiccup…" Tuffnut remarked.

"Because this guy who looks just like Hiccup can fight and is more than happy to!" Ruffnut finished her twins' sentence.

Hiccup and Astrid continued to exchange blows from their weapons, jumping around and ducking to avoid each other's weapon striking their bodies. Any of the hits could prove to be a bad injury or fatal; Astrid had to be especially careful not to get burned since Hiccup's inventing knew no bounds, and somehow, he got a sword to light on fire with just the push of a button. It didn't appear Hiccup was going to give this up any time soon, and Astrid didn't look like she wanted to keep fighting but had to.

"He's doing quite well," Viggo complimented.

"All that training we did with him paid off. I told you he would be good with a weapon if we worked with him a bit," Ryker grinned.

"Yes, yes, Ryker. I know." Viggo sighed.

Astrid managed to get Hiccup bending a bit to try and force him down, but Hiccup reversed it by using Astrid's weight against her; he shifted his footing and pulled Astrid's ax forward, taking Astrid with it, and she was yanked off the ground and tossed across from Hiccup, landing on her back with a grunt. Hiccup stood up, the look of annoyance in his eyes.

"I can do this all day, Astrid," Hiccup told her as Astrid panted and forced herself to get up, then ready to fight more.

"So can I…" Astrid remarked as she charged at Hiccup again, which made him sigh and pulled the sword raised the blade to block her attack. After that, they kept going another five minutes before Astrid held off Hiccup's sword and kicked his leg to make him drop to his left knee. Astrid went to bring her ax down on his neck. It wasn't to kill, just keep him still and no longer fighting her.

"You're so predictable," Hiccup commented with a grin.

"Am I now? From my position, I've won." Astrid spat.

"You're so overconfident that you've won, and I can't beat you? Believing you're the best makes you cocky, and that ensures you will never be able to see all the plays available," Hiccup smirked. Astrid's eyes widened. "All these years of training with you has shown me that you always go for the same type of end attack, which allowed me to realize that from your position you can't stop me if I do this," Hiccup adjusted his the handle of his sword on the deck to shift around slightly to her side, the use the handle for a smoother spin.

"What?!" Astrid gasped in shock as Hiccup kicked her legs out from under her. Astrid started to go down back first; Hiccup grabbed her ax from her right hand. As soon as Astrid hit the deck and opened her eyes from the hard landing, Hiccup stood over her. Astrid went to grab her ax and realized it wasn't there as she looked up at Hiccup with what could be considered shock and fear.

"Looking for something, Milady?" Hiccup waved the ax in his right hand before tossing it to the side and setting his foot on her chest and pointed the tip of his flaming blade so close to her neck that she could feel the heat coming off it. The dragon riders stared in disbelief; Hiccup actually took Astrid down. "There was nothing you could have done to win from the position you were in, Astrid." He remarked. "Even if you pulled back to avoid what I did do, I could have elbowed you in the gut, taken the ax while you doubled over, and then swept your feet out before pinning you just like this." Hiccup informed.

Viggo and Ryker started clapping, then the other hunters on all the ships. "Well done, my boy," Viggo congratulated. "Excellent job. Seeing all moves possible at your disposal and picking the one that allows you to make two critical hits; one to the ego, and one for physical damage."

"Exploiting a weakness can be considered three strikes, brother," Ryker stated and smiled. "He didn't just hit her ego by calling out her overconfidence and cockiness, then render her defenseless by taking her then keep her down at sword point…" Ryker paused as Viggo looked at him. "He also exploited the weakness that she left herself wide open no matter what counter she tried to make and wouldn't have been able to stop him." Viggo nodded to agreed.

"Yes, that is true. Very impressive, Hiccup." Viggo said. "I commend you on such brilliance and skill in your fight,"

"Thanks, I think. But do take some credit; you taught me how to fight better and always using anything against my opponent." Hiccup reminded with a smile before he looked back to Astrid. "I've watched you train since we were kids, I know your hand combat and weapon fighting styles. That's why I said you were predictable, Astrid. I beat you because unlike you claiming to know me, I do know everything about you." He told her as she stared at him. "Even without Viggo and Ryker teaching me better swordplay and hand combat; I probably could have beaten you years ago when we trained,"

"Then why didn't you!" Astrid yelled at Hiccup, anger showing, but there was hurt in her tone.

"I let you win," Hiccup replied as he removed his foot from her chest and doused the fire encasing his blade before putting it back where it belonged between his back and shield. Hiccup stepped away from her figure as she slowly got up. "For almost five years now, I've been letting you win all our sparring fights, whether they had been weapons or hand to hand."

"Why!" Astrid glared.

"I held back, obviously." Hiccup deadpanned. "That's how someone would let someone else win. Do I honestly have to explain this to you?"

Astrid balled her hands to fists at her side as Hiccup folded his arms over one another and walked away with his back to her. "I know what holding back and letting someone win is Hiccup! I want to know why you did it! If you could beat me years ago, why did you let me win over and over again and make me think you couldn't defend yourself?! All that training, you didn't even need it. I trained you because you asked me to do it, so I spent all of my free time on you, for you-," Astrid ranted.

In all of Astrid's talking, Hiccup had slowly closed his eyes and became more annoyed with a developing headache as she went on and on about how she did it all for him. Finally, she saw Viggo and Ryker step back from Hiccup. As she was about to ask what they were so scared of, Astrid saw Hiccup's back to her. Hiccup whipped around with a glare as her eyes widened, and she stepped from him; she'd never seen such an angry look in his green eyes before.

"I DID IT BECAUSE I LOVED YOU!" Hiccup exploded as Astrid quickly shut her mouth. "Alright?" He asked in a much calmer tone. "I wanted you to train me because it was the only way to get your attention. Before dragons and after, you only cared for training. It's all you did and wanted to do. So I figured if that was the only way to spend time with you was to be training, then I'd do it. So I asked you to train me so that we could spend time together," Astrid just stared at him in shock. "But no, I never needed you to train me, Astrid. Gobber had been since I was ten years old."

Hiccup didn't take his eyes off her. "Why did I hold back in fights and let you win? I didn't want to hurt you by suddenly getting as good as I do." Astrid's mouth opened a little. "Yeah, you remember that line, don't you? When you found me in the cove, demanding to know how I got so good in dragon training because nobody just gets as good as I did, especially me?" Hiccup asked as she nodded her head once to him. "I know you trained all your life to enter that kill-ring when we were fifteen and own it to become the best student in dragon training. To win the honor of killing your first dragon in front of the village." He paused.

"And then your dream was crushed because the village screw up suddenly got good because he was learning how to deal with dragons from a dragon." Hiccup continued. "So after dragons came into our lives and we had peace with them, despite knowing I could beat you with ease, I held back and let you win because I didn't want you to get jealous and I didn't want to upset you." He stared. "I didn't want to hurt you because I knew how important it was for you to be the best. That's another thing you always wanted, Astrid. To be the fastest dragon rider, the strongest warrior. To be the best because you hated if you were anything but that." The guilt started creeping onto her face.

"I didn't want to come in and just take away what you worked all your life to become. I know how hard you strive to be the best, Astrid." Hiccup said. "That's why I took the dive and held back. That's why I let you win. Because I knew it was important to you. So I continued to play the part of defenseless, weak, and will never win a fight because I'm just not cut out for it." He explained. "Do you get it now?" He asked. "I had you train me to spend time together, and lost all those fights because I knew it's what made you happy. Training and being the best was important to you and made you happy."

Astrid looked like she was about to cry again; it was faint, but the tears were starting to form. "And I did all that for you, Astrid. Because I cared about you. Because I loved you. There wasn't anything I wouldn't give for your safety, and there wasn't anything I wouldn't do for your happiness…I always had your back, Astrid. Day, night, rain, snow, and shine…If you needed me for anything at all, I was there for you." Astrid's chest tightened as Hiccup's cold eyes bore into her very soul, but she could see the pain he felt.

"All the other times you've been around, those were your choice to be there when I didn't expect anyone to come and save me from danger. When I end up in life-threatening situations, it's usually because I put myself there to save the people I care about, and I accept the choice I made, and always willing to give my life for those I love. I never expect to be saved. But this time…It wasn't my fault, and everyone walked away. Including you. All for something I didn't ask to happen. Something that wasn't my fault. And the one time I needed you to be there, Astrid, the one time I needed you to have my back, you weren't there for me." Hiccup stated coldly.

"Hiccup…I-," Astrid tried to reach for him as Hiccup backed up and shook his head.

"Don't." Hiccup warned her as she bit her lip. "Just…Don't. It's too late for apologies. I don't want excuses or lies, and we are way past talking this out to fix things. No amount of time will ever be enough to repair the damage. What's done is done. You made your choice to leave me, and I made my choice to leave altogether." He said sternly to her. "I am done with you. I am done with the Hooligan Tribe. And I am done with the Isle of Berk. Now, take your ax," Hiccup handed it to her and stepped back again. "Get on your dragon, go away, leave me alone, and goodbye."

Hiccup put his fingers to the corners of his mouth and gave a short, high-pitched whistle as Stormfly squawked and flew closer to the ship. Hiccup motioned for Stormfly to land and then lower for Astrid to get on her back. Once Astrid was in place, Hiccup snapped his fingers and extended his arm outward. Stormfly understood the command; she took to the sky and then hovered with the others.

"You're really not coming back?..." Fishlegs asked softly.

"No, I'm not." Hiccup responded.

"You rather stay with your captors?" Snotlout asked, looking away, though.

"If I was captive, don't you think I'd be locked below in a cell with chains to keep me there? Not up here, walking around freely? Even Toothless isn't captured or hurt," Hiccup informed as Toothless came out to sit beside Hiccup between Viggo and Ryker. The brothers each gave Toothless gentle rub on his head. "We're not prisoners here."

"Then, what are you? Just catching a ride with your enemies?" Dagur huffed.

"They're obviously not enemies if they were calling each other friends before the fight, Dagur…" Heather rolled her eyes.

"That's correct. We are friends," Viggo confirmed.

"How can you be friends with them after all they did to us?" Dagur remarked.

"The same way I can be friends with you after everything you did to me, Toothless, and them," Hiccup folded his arms over one another now.

"You can't use that, Hiccup. That's not fair," Heather defended.

"Fair or not, it's fact. Dagur was our enemy before he became a friend. Even Alvin was an enemy before he was an ally. It just proves no matter what people have done, trust can be earned, and enemies can become friends." Hiccup scoffed. "Why are Viggo and Ryker different from Dagur and Alvin? You're willing to forgive some, but not others? Rather hypocritical, don't you think?"

"Well, they didn't earn our trust and friendship, and they never well. Especially since they turned you against us. They're dragon hunters, Hiccup! How can you be okay with being their friend, unless they've brainwashed you into believing we're the enemies," Astrid huffed, trying to act tough from what happened earlier.

"You know something…" Hiccup facepalmed with a sigh. "This is a waste of time. You're not going to listen to me, you never have." Hiccup closed his eyes. "Just go and don't come back."

"We're not leaving without you!" Astrid snapped. "You're coming back home, and that is final!"

"Back home?" Hiccup replied with a smirk. "That's not my home anymore. It's dead to me…And so are you." The five members of the Hooligan Tribe gasped with wide eyes. "Every single one of you who rejected and abandoned me, is dead to me. Now, go be beside yourselves in shock at what I said somewhere else. I don't need to be rescued from the dragon hunters; I've been here since June when they saved my life. We got to talking, realized we're not so different after all, had plenty of fun times and laughs…So I gave them my trust and we became friends. At least they appreciate everything I can do, and accept me for who I am."

"Hiccup, you're talking like you're going to join them!" Snotlout glared.

"And what if I do?" Hiccup asked calmly with a smile. "What are you going to do about it if I choose to join them?"

"Are you serious right now?!" Astrid fumed. "You're turning your back your own people! On dragons! You're nothing but a traitor!" Suddenly, the air shifted. "Effectively immediately, I'm replacing you as head dragon rider and trainer, Hiccup. You want to stay with these hunters, fine. But it makes you an enemy to the dragon riders, and no longer a rider yourself. We'll be taking Toothless with us." Astrid stated in a firm tone. Everything went quiet as there was something eerie about the silence and a think tension. But more than that; there was something ominous in the area. The hunters felt it. The riders felt it.

Viggo and Ryker slowly looked to the teenager standing between them. Hiccup stood still, like a statue with his eyes closed. "Hiccup?" Ryker asked. Hiccup didn't move an inch or respond.

"I don't believe it's a wise idea that you go through with that you're planning, Astrid," Viggo warned.

"I didn't ask, nor do I care what you think, Viggo." Astrid remarked. "Riders, prepare to attack and sink the ships. Be careful of Toothless; we'll grab him after."

"Nobody touches Toothless…" Hiccup's voice was so quiet, Ryker and Viggo barely heard it. "Nobody takes Toothless…" Hiccup's hands tightened to fists at his sides.

"Astrid, I implore you to take heed in the warning…" Viggo stated as Hiccup's brows furrowed in anger.

"Shut up, Viggo," Snotlout scoffed. "Ready on command, Astrid."

"Us too," Ruffnut and Tuffnut agreed.

"Don't you listen, you stupid girl! Don't do this, you're just gonna tick Hiccup off and I really don't think you're going to like the outcome," Ryker tried.

"On my signal!" Astrid called.

Hiccup started shaking. "No one will take him away." Hiccup's voice was cold and deep.

"You should have thought about that before you went and made buddies with dragon hunters," Astrid replied as she raised her ax to throw at Hiccup, only to make him move away from Toothless, though.

"Hiccup…Just take it easy. We won't let them take Toothless away, I promise," Viggo said to Hiccup.

"Don't lose control now, lad…" Ryker added softly.

"On the contrary…I've never felt more in control," Hiccup responded as the shaking stopped.

"Give me a break," Astrid rolled her eyes.

"Get behind me." Hiccup told Viggo and Ryker. Toothless crooned, rubbing against Hiccup's hand. "It's okay, Toothless. I swore to you that no one would take you away from me again, and no matter who it is that tries…If it's the last thing I do; I will keep that vow, bud." He said to his friend gently before scratching under Toothless's chin.

"Hiccup, what are you going to do?" Viggo questioned.

"The only thing I know how to do…" Hiccup paused a moment as sensed Astrid's energy shifting to throw the ax. "Protect my friends." Viggo and Ryker's eyes widened. "Now, get back…" He ordered again. Viggo and Ryker looked at one another nervously before taking a few steps back. "You too, Toothless." Toothless rubbed against Hiccup's hand once more before moving back with the Grimborn brothers.

Astrid whirled her axe towards Hiccup as he didn't bother to move as everyone watched with a mixed collection of feelings between curiosity, anticipation, and worry. "Fire!" Astrid commanded.