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 33.
=Normal POV=
[November 25; Dusk]
[Hunter Isle; Over Town]
Hiccup had been flying high with Toothless for the last hour; it was mainly to make sure the tail fin was working right in all the positions. Hiccup also taught Toothless what mechanism activated the automatic tail. There were two; one that Hiccup could pull by himself, and another that Toothless could hit if Hiccup and he got separated. The new rig allowed Toothless to glide, fly, and change positions on his own, but Hiccup could also do it and keep things like how it started. So far, both males were enjoying it; being in the sky again and flying together. Hiccup was far above the clouds with his friend and felt a lot better than before; he still wasn't perfect, that was probably a long way off if at all possible to happen. Hiccup had no idea if he'd ever be fully alright again, as he was suffering abuse, abandonment, and heartbreak. Hiccup was even dealing with the stress of some members of the hunter tribe knowing he had powers while the others did not, and also that Hiccup needed to learn how to control his powers, learning what he could do, and that would take some time after years of having to push them down.
However, flying now helped a lot in relaxing and collecting Hiccup's thoughts. In Hiccup's eyes, Berk was behind him and everyone who lived there. The only person Hiccup really missed was Gobber, and didn't want to associate him with the others because the man never did Hiccup any harm. Hiccup wanted to see Gobber again; that was the one person Hiccup could always go to when things were hard, and Gobber would listen, or crack a joke, but it always makes Hiccup feel better. And Gobber usually had some advice to follow the laughter; Hiccup still held onto what Gobber told him about not trying to be so hard to be something he wasn't. Funny that is sounded a lot like what Viggo mentioned on the boat before they arrived at Hunter Isle about why was Hiccup trying so hard to fit in when he was born to stand out. Regardless, Hiccup still had his worried about revealing his powers; the last thing he wanted was to get the looks, words, or anything like what happened with Berk.
Hiccup knew it was nearly dinner time, so he should probably get back. "Ready to head back, bud?" Hiccup asked his friend. Toothless warbled contently but nodded. Toothless made the turnaround and they headed back to Hunter Isle, then dipped below the clouds to see the island in sight, with almost everyone, gathered around to watch Hiccup flying Toothless with the new rig. Hiccup thought it was kind of funny that they looked so intrigued, but then again; he couldn't expect them to be used to something like this. For Hiccup to change their minds; the raids would have to be stopped and he'd have to get them to have this; bonded dragons, the ability to fly, and see how amazing it was for themselves. Getting over the island now, Hiccup wondered if he and Toothless should test the new addition to the rig, where Toothless could fly alone. "Should we test the new parts?" Toothless grumbled a bit. "Oh, stop it…I gotta make sure it works…" Toothless gave in and nodded.
Hiccup reached over and pulled the lever to switch the rig to Toothless's control. "Ready?" Hiccup asked his Night Fury. Toothless crooned as Hiccup pulled his feet from the stirrups and balanced in a crouch on Toothless's back.
"What's he doing?" Vera wondered standing next to her brother Agnar.
"It's Hiccup, my daughter," Ryker sighed.
"Who knows with Hiccup; he's a man of many mysteries and we never know what he's going to do until he does it," Viggo chuckled.
Hiccup stabilized himself, taking a deep breath before jumping up and backflipping off Toothless, then heading straight down. "Oh, I think this is that catch game Hiccup told us about in the Southern Markets port before we returned here," Hauk stated.
"Yeah, where he jumps off his dragon and then Toothless catches him before they hit the ground," Another explained.
"Isn't that dangerous?!" Truda and Hertha screeched, instantly looking to their husbands.
"Probably for a new rider, but not for Hiccup…" Viggo informed.
"Yes, Hiccup mentioned that even if he timed his call for Toothless wrong; his dragon would know when to dive for him," Ryker added.
Hiccup checked where he was, still good, at least until the flashback hit of something from on Johann's ship. Hiccup closed his eyes tightly and sort of tucked his head in. "That looks like a flashback face…"
"You're not wrong…" Ryker replied. "He's getting too close to the ground!"
As if on cue, Toothless sensed something wrong with Hiccup and dove down, tucking his wings to get closer to Hiccup. As soon as he was close enough, Toothless crooned at his friend, nudging him affectionately to get Hiccup's attention. Thankfully, Hiccup snapped out of it, taking heavy breaths. Toothless gave him a look that said let's land first, and Hiccup understood. Toothless adjusted for Hiccup to grab the saddle and pull himself back into position, but Toothless took over as soon as he knew Hiccup was in place. Toothless shifted out of the dive and extended his wings to make the loop, then Toothless turned around and landed on the ground near the Grimborn house, and Toothless took them behind to the third level entrance.
"Why'd he take off like that?" Runa wondered.
Ryker and Viggo knew they couldn't say anything; they only found out some of what Hiccup was going through on the ship, but not even they knew it all, and it wasn't their place to tell the rest. It would break Hiccup's trust in them. "Hiccup is just…" Ryker paused, unsure of how to word things.
"Going through a rough time right now, and still working through some things," Viggo finished the sentence.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Hertha inquired softly.
"Believe me, we've tried. Viggo and I offered to help, and originally, Hiccup didn't trust that we wouldn't use whatever he said against him. Although we've earned his trust and friendship in the time he was with us on the ship; Hiccup hasn't said anything about what happened. All we know is that his tribe betrayed him," Ryker said.
"Also that he had been captured for a short time, tortured, and separated from his Night Fury until recently," Viggo added. "Unfortunately, Hiccup refuses to talk about what happened, but we know that he has to be ready to discuss it too, and I suppose he isn't yet," The man shrugged a bit.
"Well, perhaps now that he has his dragon back, and is on solid ground with a tribe again…Maybe he'll open up a little more, over time?" Truda offered.
"We're hoping so," Viggo nodded. "Come along. Let's disperse and head home for dinner everyone," The man added.
"Tell the lad he can use my shop any time he likes!" Ulrich called to Ryker and Viggo as they were heading off with their families to get home.
"Will do, thank you, Ulrich!" Ryker waved as the Grimborn family headed home, then the rest of the tribe split off to get home or finish up daily tasks. While walking to the house, Ryker hung back with Viggo. "What should we do when we arrive?"
"Let's leave Hiccup to calm down a bit, and we'll see how he's doing when dinner is served," Viggo offered. Ryker nodded and the males continued making their way to the house.
. . .
[Dusk]
[Hunter Isle; Grimborn House]
"Supper!" Truda and Hertha called together.
It was now 6:30 pm; Truda and Hertha cooked the meal while the children assisted in cleaning up and setting the table with utensils, cups, and plates. Viggo and Ryker were in their shared office going over reports from the day, or week depending on when certain things were checked on. Hiccup minded his business ever since the flight; he'd been with Toothless in their space. The Grimborn family grouped up to sit down but noticed Hiccup hadn't come down at all. The family waited a few moments, but Hiccup still hadn't come to join them.
"Perhaps he fell asleep?" Hertha suggested.
"The Night Fury still would have heard," Viggo mentioned. "Runa, why don't you head up and see if he's awake?" He told his daughter.
"Okay, Dad," Runa nodded as she got up and walked up the two levels to Hiccup's room. Runa gave a few knocks and didn't hear anything on the other side for a moment or two, but then she heard Toothless make noise and a groan from Hiccup. Runa knocked again, lightly. "Hiccup? It's Runa…" She said softly.
"What?" Hiccup moaned as Runa frowned a bit.
"It's dinner time," Runa informed. "We yelled for it, but you never came down, so we thought you could be sleeping,"
"I was…" Hiccup replied, then yawned.
"Oh, I'm sorry…Are you okay?" Runa asked when Hiccup finally opened the door and she saw that Hiccup looked exhausted, and perhaps a bit pale.
"I'm not…Sure yet…Thanks for waking me up, I'll be down in a few minutes. You go ahead and start," Hiccup told her.
"Alright," Runa nodded to him. Hiccup backed up some and closed the door again, then Runa turned around to head back downstairs and join her family. "He said he would be right down, and to start without him," She relayed to her father and the rest waiting for her return.
"Excellent, we'll get his plate his ready for when he joins us," Truda smiled.
"Was he sleeping?" Ryker questioned.
Runa nodded. "Yeah, but I think it's because he's not feeling well," She explained.
"Why do you say that?" Truda questioned.
"Hiccup looks exhausted still, and kind'a pale," Runa shrugged a little. "I asked if he was okay, and he said he wasn't sure yet," She added.
"I suppose we'll have to see when he comes to sit down with us for dinner," Vera offered gently. The others nodded in agreement as they began to eat their food, and a plate was made then set aside for Hiccup. Brynjar and Agnar had gotten three buckets of ten fish each for Toothless, along with a large bowl of water.
Toothless's food set up was a lot like a common pet dog's; there was an old mead barrel that Hiccup cut in half. One side for food and the other for food, Hiccup would wash both out twice a day. After about ten minutes, there was movement on the stairs as Hiccup made it down, then went right to the main door to let Toothless in. Unfortunately, the Grimborn's house was not built for Toothless to be able to go between levels, so he had to go down from the third floor outside, and then come around to the living, dining, and kitchen space.
"Ah, there you are, Hiccup," Viggo greeted.
"Hi, sorry…I didn't mean to fall asleep," Hiccup replied softly as Toothless moved carefully to get to his spot, and then Hiccup went to set down, finding his plate already made up.
"Oh, don't worry about it," Brynjar waved it off.
"Yeah, we've all done it," Agnar shrugged with a smile.
"Tired from the flight?" Runa giggled.
"Probably a mix of being so high up again, and working in the forge all day," Hiccup replied respectfully. "It's been a long time since I've done either, much less both in one day," He added.
"You can get tired from being too high up?" Vera asked.
"If you're not used to it, yeah. You can get lightheaded because the air is thinner, little harder to breathe until you adjust," Hiccup explained.
"Gave me quite the scare when you jumped off your dragon," Hertha said lightly.
"Oh…Sorry about that. It's a game that Toothless and I play where I fall off and he comes after me. It started as a rescue move, still used as one, but since it's been so long since we've been able to fly; we thought we should practice it with the new rig. I needed to make sure that the new addition for him to use the automatic side of the tail fin would let him fly without a problem," Hiccup stated.
"And what if it hadn't?" Ryker wondered.
"I had four other dragons on standby to grab me, and one of them, probably Cinder would have gotten Toothless. Stormfly likely would have rescued me; she's the fastest," Hiccup explained while eating in between.
"I thought Night Furies were the fastest?" Runa blinked.
"They are, as are any of the Strike Class dragons. But second species would be Deadly Nadder," Hiccup smiled.
"Now, I'm curious…" Truda began. "If you don't mind answering that is?" Hiccup motioned for her to go ahead. "Who are all those extra dragons? I know Toothless is your bonded dragon, but the others?"
"The Nadder, Nightmare, and Zippleback belong to four of the dragon riders. Cinder is an old enemy turned friend who I helped out and he's refused to go too far," Hiccup replied.
"Why do you have the dragons of the other riders?" Brynjar questioned.
Hiccup was silent a moment or two, he assumed Viggo and Ryker must have told them some of the situations. "My job as a dragon trainer and protector is to make sure the dragons aren't being hurt senselessly, and my position as leader of the dragon riders allows me to make the decision to take their dragons away if they're abusing their bonds." Hiccup said softly.
"What did they do?" Agnar inquired.
"They forced their dragons to fight when the dragons didn't want to and ignored a direct order when I said not to launch the attack. So my punishment is that if they aren't going to listen to their leader, and force their dragons against their wills; they lose their dragons for a while." Hiccup responded calmly. "I'll decide when they can go back when the riders in question have had time to sit with what they did,"
"Very firm and fair choice, Hiccup," Viggo nodded to him. "I commend your leadership skills,"
"Thanks, I think," Hiccup stated.
"How come you didn't take all the dragons from the riders? Aren't there a bunch of you?" Runa mentioned curiously.
"Well, anyone who can ride a dragon can be part of the dragon riders, but my group was the training/missions team. We handled all the…Issues with dragons. Everyone else rides just because they enjoy it. Flying is incredible," Hiccup told her. Hiccup didn't mind answering questions about dragons for them, if anything; that was a good thing to have their curiosity and give them positives about dragons. "And I didn't take the others who had been in the group who attacked because they recognized the dragons didn't want to fight and tried to stay out of things."
"Ah. Very reasonable," Ryker smiled and Hiccup wondered why he said things that way; they were there and heard the whole explanation. Maybe the brothers hadn't said anything to their families.
"So…Can I ask something?" Vera wondered after a few moments of silence and eating.
"Hm?" Hiccup looked up at her.
"How come you made friends with the hunter tribe and staying with us for now?" Vera asked. "Doesn't your tribe and family miss you?"
"Vera, that is none of your bus-," Ryker began.
"It's…Fine, Ryker," Hiccup said softly. "My…Tribe and family…Betrayed me by turning on me when I needed them the most. And it showed me the only one I can rely on is Toothless, so we both left in the middle of the night about ten months ago now. I haven't been back since, and don't really intend to return either. Toothless and I got into a bit of a tight spot; Viggo and Ryker saved and helped us, then over time we earned each other's trust, respect, and friendship. As I don't really have anywhere else to be or go; I said I'd stay with them for a bit, until I figure out where I'm going next," Hiccup smiled a bit, and gave a soft shrug.
"We told you that you're more than welcome to remain here with us, Hiccup," Viggo reminded.
"I know, and I'll bear the option in mind…But Toothless and I have always kind of been the loners, better together; not always with others," Hiccup admitted.
"You're both fine with us," Ryker chuckled.
"Thanks," Hiccup replied gently. "We'll stay, for now, I know the winters aren't the best to travel in…If you need anything though, instead of braving the waters and risk storm damages…Toothless and I would be happy to go get it for you? Storms aren't an issue above the clouds, and we're faster than the ships," He offered.
"Thank you, Hiccup. I believe we're alright for now, but using your words, we'll bear the option in mind," Viggo smiled. It was silent except for eating again.
"Hiccup?" Runa suddenly said.
"Yes?" Hiccup responded attentively.
"Given your expertise with dragons…And I know you've changed a lot of minds, also stopping raids for your home island…Do you think you could stop the raids here?" Runa questioned as just about everyone stopped eating to look at her, then Hiccup.
"I, uh…I don't know? Stopping raids for my island involved Toothless and I fighting a mountain-sized dragon who was controlling them to raid, to bring their queen food. That's how we figured the nest worked, like a beehive with bees serving their queen. These dragons didn't eat the food themselves, it was all for Red Death, which is what I called the queen because Stoker Class and literally sat in a pool of lava, sleeping like a baby." Hiccup explained.
"Also cost you your left leg, did it not?" Ryker asked.
"Well…Toothless actually bit my leg off to save me from burning to death in the explosion…Rather lose the leg than my life…" Hiccup shrugged.
"Regardless…" Viggo stated. "Runa, it's not your place to ask Hiccup to stop our raids…We do fine when they happen,"
"But if we don't have to fight them…" Vera tried.
"That doesn't mean we go asking our guests to risk their life to find a solution to our problem…" Ryker sighed. "I'm sorry, Hiccup," He stated.
"Oh, it's fine…I was actually going to ask if you wanted me and Toothless to look into the raids for you, but I know hunting dragons is what keeps your business going, and that supports your families and tribe, so I didn't want to overstep my boundaries," Hiccup admitted.
"Stopping the raids would be beneficial to the tribe, we can still go sailing to keep the business running," Viggo said.
"Most of why we're not home a lot during hunting season is because a lot of business is needed to make repairs and replenish what is lost in raids," Ryker added.
"I can look into things about stopping raids here for you if it would help. I don't mind at all and it's kind of my thing when I'm given the chance to bring peace to tribes between Vikings and dragons," Hiccup offered. "Not saying that's what I'm trying to do with you guys, but I get wanting to protect the village and your people so…" He shrugged.
"If you don't mind investigating the cause, it's okay with us…But no life-threatening fights, Hiccup," Viggo informed as Hiccup nodded. "If there needs to be a fight to stop the raids, we want to help,"
"Done and done, my friend," Hiccup nodded with a smile.
"Now, let's all finish dinner and relax for the evening," Truda suggested.
Everyone agreed and continued to eat, then there was clean up about twenty minutes later. Everyone grabbed a seat around the fire in the main room, Hiccup elected to sit against the floor with Toothless despite being offered a seat on the couch. Hiccup explained that he was most comfortable with his dragon, and no one minded. Hiccup was informed that he could use Ulrik's forge any time he wanted to, and the rest of the night was calm. Hiccup looked forward to his new mission of finding the cause of the raids for the hunters, it would keep him busy and something he enjoyed doing too. Around 8:30 pm, Hiccup was asleep against Toothless, and the Night Fury simply shifted for Hiccup to be laying against Toothless's midsection, Hiccup's head on his right arm, then Toothless's wing over Hiccup to encase him in the darkness. The Grimborn family got a small laugh about it but left Hiccup where he was with Toothless, feeling it would be best. By 10:30 pm, the rest headed to their rooms to get some sleep too and that was it for the night.