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 34.

=Hiccup's POV=
[December 11; Midmorning]
[Hunter Isle; Town]

I have to say, honestly, I've become mostly comfortable here on Hunter Isle. Everyone is exceptionally friendly, accepting, work well together, and love to have a good time. I still haven't told anyone about my powers, other than those who already knew. And unfortunately, I've yet to discover the source of the dragon hunters' raids. I've tried a few times, but I'm not seeing the dragons fly off in any one direction afterward like with Red Death being the queen of the Dragon Island nest. I've reported these findings to Viggo and Ryker, also that Toothless isn't able to pick anything up around them on our flights. I said we'd keep looking into things, but we also stuck around during the heat of the raiding to help out where we could. I was happy to work in the forge with Ulrich a lot now; I went there a few times a week to help him out in repairing weapons, or building new ones. Ulrik was happy to have me working beside him; I was fast, skilled, and organized. I can't believe I've been here about a month now; it's still surreal.

I've learned through some conversations what the ages of the Grimborn kids are finally. In Viggo and Truda's family, Brynjar is two years older than me at twenty-one, but will turn twenty-two at the end of April on the 30th. Runa is three years younger than me being sixteen and her birthday is February 8th. For Ryker and Hertha's children, Vera is also three years younger than me, aged sixteen as well, but her birthday is December 28th, and before Runa's. Then there is Agnar, who is the youngest at age fourteen, and his birthday is June 6th. I had always suspected that Viggo and Ryker were in their mid to late forties. Ryker is forty-one, he had Vera with Hertha, who is thirty-nine, at the ages of twenty-five for Ryker and twenty-three for Hertha. Viggo is thirty-nine also, having Brynjar with Truda, who is thirty-eight, at the ages of eighteen for Viggo and seventeen for Truda.

I also learned the reason Ryker isn't chief of the hunters despite being older because it was decided over a game of Maces and Talons, a game often used to see if an heir was ready to take the throne, and the decision making of a future chief in battle. Evidently, and kind of expectedly, Viggo won that game. I still didn't know much of their lives, and to my knowledge, they didn't know much of mine. I knew Viggo and Ryker knew my life wasn't great growing up, and the happiness I thought I had only lasted for a little while. I haven't revealed much of my past, and I didn't know if Viggo and Ryker have said anything to them; they told me they let the others know that I had a lot going on and was working through some stuff, but that was it. I believed the brothers when they said it, but then it made me nervous if people were wondering just how messed up I was.

It's ten days until Snoggletog, the 21st of December will start two weeks of darkness for us. It's usually a pretty quiet time for all villages because no one wants to do much or work in the dark. Some still had to, for guard and taking numbers of the where the storage is at for food and supplies. I only knew all this from my years on Berk, but it seemed the dragon hunters didn't stress any of it because their business most of the year and readied to get through the winter months. Also, it was a great deal warmer in Hunter Isle, so their planting and harvesting could go a bit longer than other places in the East and Northern tribes. I'm debating after Snoggletog to send Stormfly, Hookfang, Barf and Belch back to Berk; I feel those four have learned their lessons, or at least I hope so. I'll send Stormfly with a letter to make sure all of Berk knows not to come after me in revenge, or it will be their mistake.

Harsh? Perhaps. But I wasn't playing with them anymore. This is the second time they've abandoned and hurt me. The first was when I found a way for humans and dragons to live in peace, that we didn't have to fight them. The second time was eleven months ago, when everyone decided that I'm too dangerous and don't belong there because I'm different. I get my powers were not normal, at any capacity, but it's not like I asked for them and I was made to hide them over the years. Regardless, I wasn't going to deal with them giving me nonsense over my choice to befriend the dragon hunters. I'm sure all that happened between the riders and me has reached my father, so now I'm waiting it out for some kind of retaliation. Maybe they wouldn't and heed the warning, but still; it was something I had to watch for. I didn't want the hunters having to deal with all that.

I know the village inside and out now, I know everyone here, and I know all the forest. I spent my days exploring when I wasn't with Ulrich in the shop/forge. Nobody minded, and I was typically always back at the Grimborn place for breakfast and dinner, not always for lunch. I did end up a little sick after that first flight with Toothless; just a couple of days where I was tired, nauseous, and had a headache. I had a few moments where I almost threw up, but it didn't happen. I spent those two or three days just keeping to myself, and making sure I didn't get anyone sick; I'd eat outside with Toothless if I had the appetite to eat at all. I'm not sure what I'm doing for Snoggletog; I don't really want to intrude on the Grimborn clan, but as they've welcomed me into their lives and home so easily, I plan on making them each something from me. I'd been working on things every day, just so they'd be ready in time.

For me, I wasn't sure how okay I'd be when Snoggletog came; that was when my dad announced Astrid and I were betrothed and to be married in a month from that night. I was so happy, and then the week before the would have been wedding; my secret came out. And the night before the would have been wedding, Astrid left me. I know it's because she's afraid of me, even if she won't admit it. No one can break a betrothal once it's finalized except death, or one partner backs out due to fear of their live. So maybe Astrid's parents were scared, but they couldn't have forced Astrid to leave me. Only Astrid made that choice, and that's exactly what she did. I still feel the pain of the heartbreak, and I wasn't sure how long it would be for me to get over things. Maybe Toothless and I would just go flying around for Snoggletog, then relax for two weeks. Knowing me, I'd still go flying or work in the forge; it was a nice distraction.

Unfortunately, today was not one of our calm days as we're in the middle of a raid. I noticed that the dragons didn't hit when it was still dark out, or early morning; they happened whenever. This raid started a few hours ago, right in the middle of breakfast. I didn't know what to do here; I didn't kill or hurt dragons, I was just trying to either get their attention to leave or shoo them away from people and food. During all this, I was trying to figure out why the dragons raided when there was no nearby nest with a leader, and no real reason.

"We gotta figure out these attacks, bud…" I sighed heavily. Cinder, Stormfly, Hookfang, Barf and Belch were trying to help us out, but it wasn't doing much. People were going to get hurt if this didn't stop, and I didn't know what to do. Viggo, Ryker, and their families were all in on the fight; Agnar was on fire brigade. I panted as the Grimborn family made their way to me.

"How did you handle raids on Berk, Hiccup?" Runa wondered.

"I didn't," I replied.

"What do you mean? You stopped them there, so how did Berk handle this?" Vera inquired.

"I stopped them on Berk by nearly killing myself against a mountain-sized dragon," I remarked. "I never fought in raids,"

"Why not? Every teenager and adult fights in the raids…" Vera stated.

I scoffed slightly and rolled my eyes. "Not me…My father had me locked up in the forge with the blacksmith. I wasn't even allowed on fire brigade…" I muttered.

"Is that because you're his only child and he didn't want to risk your life?" Viggo asked.

I shook my head. "No, I was just the troublemaker he didn't want getting in the way…" I said softly. "I told you…My tribe hated me, still do…So I was just told to stay inside and out of the way…"

"I swear to Odin, if I ever see your father face to face; I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind…" Ryker huffed.

"Not the time, Ryker," Viggo informed. "Still, you've helped other tribes with raids, yes?"

"No," I replied. "When Red Death was defeated, a lot of the raids stopped for many of the Archipelago Viking tribes. The riders and I just handled a few issues with dragons that needed training to coexist on islands with humans,"

"Okay, so how do we do that here. You know we don't mind dragons living here, as using your dragons for the example…" Brynjar questioned.

"My dragons are trained, these ones aren't and I can't train in mass groups like this; they have to be settled…" I mentioned.

"How do we calm them then? What can we do to stop this, Hiccup? I don't want to hurt the dragons because there's clearly a reason why they do this, like you told Ryker and I on the ship…That there isn't always dragons who are just aggressive and want to attack, sometimes there's a problem," Viggo said as I looked at him. "What do we have to do?" I looked around as I saw many villagers tired and getting closer to group up and ask what to do.

"Do you trust me?" I asked.

"You know we do," Ryker replied.

"But does everyone?" I looked at both Viggo and Ryker.

"Yes," The two said as others nodded.

"I really hope I'm not about to regret this…" I sighed. "Lower all weapons," I mentioned.

"But-," Someone started.

"Don't ask questions, just do what he says," Ryker ordered.

"Lower all weapons," Viggo nodded to the command. Slowly, everyone began to lower their weapons and put them away, including the members of the Grimborn family.

"Do it, Toothless," I snapped my fingers. "Alpha mode," Toothless closed his eyes and shook his body once as his back spines split apart and took on a blue glow along his back, nostrils and showing through his gritted teeth.

"Woah…" A few gasped, backing up but still intrigued.

Not more than a moment later, Toothless's eyes opened as he sent a blue blast up into the sky that burst out like waves, getting the attention of the dragons flying around. All of them stopped and flew closer, hovering above the area where we were. I pulled my sword, revealing the blade to have hook-like edges on both sides. I unhooked my shield and tossed it in front of my feet before igniting the sword in fire with a button on the handle. I brought it down on the shield creating a loud resonating ringing sound, the dragons roared out in response before Toothless and I both threw out our left arms, his was the left wing and my left hand held my sword. It was meant to be a directional point to have them fly off to a safe spot, like the hatchery that was a few islands up and probably where they would be best with mating season coming up. The dragons instantly bowed their heads and flew off in a large group to where we sent them.

I doused the flames on my sword, as the glow faded off on Toothless. "Good work, bud," I rubbed his head a bit.

"What did you do?" Hertha asked, still amazed.

"I stopped the raid…Isn't that what I was asked to do?" I replied.

"Well, yes…But I thought you said you never stopped them before on Berk," Vera blinked.

"I haven't on Berk, I wasn't allowed out in raids to do anything and I wouldn't have been able to do what I just did without Toothless anyway," I informed. "Toothless and I discovered this being out on our own for a few months. We worked with dragons a lot, and some of them were in big groups. When some got a bit testy with Toothless, and he was protecting me as I was defenseless; he took on that blue glow thing and the dragons backed off a bit." I explained. "It gave me enough time to find a weapon and make a similar ringing noise, the dragons stopped and we sent them off my pointing somewhere, but not before they bowed to Toothless. So I dubbed the blue glow as Alpha Mode'. Since the dragons sort of regarded him as their boss, but I think in dragon terms; it's Alpha, the dragon in charge," I shrugged. "Wasn't sure if it would work here, but guess it did,"

"And why did we have to put our weapons down if your idea was just an idea with no guarantees?" Ulrich questioned.

"Would you calm down if there were a bunch of angry Vikings waving weapons at you?" I asked.

"Probably not," Ulrich shrugged.

"How do you think the dragons would react then? Even if my idea hadn't worked, having the weapons down and away would show the dragons that you didn't want to fight, and would assist in keeping them calm, and possible to train them. I wasn't about to try the training idea without using something bigger that could just send them all off," I mentioned.

"Whatever it was, Hiccup; it was brilliant and I thank you," Viggo said gently, offering a slight head bow to Hiccup.

"You're welcome…" I said.

"How come you said you hoped you didn't regret what you did?" Runa asked.

"Because I…Don't like showing anyone my dragon training secrets and I have to trust you with my life to go through with it. It's…My biggest fear to show someone, anyone what I can do with dragons and then have them turn around to use that knowledge to hurt the dragons…Then I feel like it would be my fault they were being hurt or killed, know what I mean?" I informed.

"We completely understand, and you don't have to worry, Hiccup. We won't use anything we see against the dragons, we just hope that until this raid situation can be resolved; we can turn to you for help in not hurting or killing them. A good number of us do believe that we don't need to fight or kill them, but obviously…It's fight or die right now," Truda said gently.

"I understand that, I'll help any way I can until we get to the bottom of things," I assured.

"We're indebted, Hiccup," Ryker told me.

"No…No one is indebted to me. Friends help one another out," I replied gently. I didn't want a bunch of thanks and praise for what I did. I was simply doing as I had been asked in finding a way to stop the raid before someone got hurt or killed, and they entrusted me, someone who work with dragons all the time, to do that. I set my sword and shield on my back again.

"How do you get your sword to light on fire…" Agnar asked curiously.

"Trade secret of working with dragons," I winked at him with a smile.

"Well, the only dragons that can light themselves on fire are Monstrous Nightmares…So it must have some characteristics from how they do it," Runa pointed out.

I laughed a little. "That's right. Exceptionally good deducing on dragon facts." I nodded to her. "You must get those thinking skills from your father, no doubt," Runa giggled, nodding in agreement. Viggo seemed to beam proudly at the mention.

"Mom's personality and dad's smarts," Runa remarked with her chin up.

"Who are you more like? Your mom or dad?" Vera wondered with a smile.

I smiled some. "Definitely not like my dad, and…I never knew my mom, she was taken by a dragon when I was a baby, so I'm not sure if I turned out like her either. I've always been different from others," I shrugged. "Gobber says I was like her with seeing dragons differently and believing peace was possible, but I guess I'll never really know,"

"Gobber?" Agnar inquired.

"My old tribe's blacksmith, and the man who raised me in the absence of my father. Gobber was my mentor in forging, and basically my dad," I chuckled.

"Did your father pass when you were young too?" Brynjar questioned.

I shook my head. "Hm? No, no. My father is still very much alive. Gobber raised me because my dad was too busy with other things than being my father," I mumbled. "Hard to see someone as a dad when that's not what they were to you," I shrugged a little.

"You talk highly of this Gobber," Truda smiled.

"He's probably the only one I miss and wouldn't mind seeing again as long as it isn't the tribe's island…" I replied gently.

"Really? I thought you said they all betrayed you?" Ryker stated.

"Gobber didn't stand up for me against the others, but I just can't fully put him in with the others. I know Gobber would never intentionally hurt me, he never has…" I admitted. "So maybe he wasn't there when I needed him, but I won't fault him either. I'm sure he had a reason, probably my dad's orders or whatever. I'm just not gonna go back to the island to ask him," I added.

"I suppose you could ask him now," Viggo said.

"If he were here, I'd probably hug him first, then ask questions later," I smiled.

"Tell me, does Gobber care more about you than that warning you gave the riders not to come after you?" Viggo asked.

"Likely," I nodded.

"Does Gobber ride a dragon?" Viggo wondered.

"Yeah, a Hotburple named Grump. We got him from you guys during that dragon auction…" I informed.

"Guess you got your wish," Viggo pointed behind me.

"I suggest you turn around because there's an incoming dragon rider on a Hotburple with a hook for an arm and peg for a leg coming in who clearly didn't listen to your warning," Ryker said. My eyes widened as I whipped around just in time to see Grump land and Gobber on his back.

"Man…What a flight!" Gobber remarked as I just stared in shock. Gobber was here?! On Hunter Isle?! "Odin bless you kids who can sit on your dragons for hours, or days…" He complained while getting off Grump and cracking his back. "Oh, there you are, laddie. Good, I don't have to go searching for ya," He chuckled with his hands on his hips. "Now, you and I-," I instantly moved near Gobber and hugged him tightly. "Need to talk…" Gobber finished the sentence in surprise. "But I guess it can wait a little bit," The man shrugged before hugging me back. I'd ask questions later, just like I said I would, after the hug. I could cry right now, Gobber was here; he came looking for me and I was just feeling an overwhelming amount of emotions to see him.