Final chapter, at last! Sorry, that took longer than it should have. I was worried I wasn't gonna finish it. Well, here it is!
Chapter 8: One Last Try
After Hiccup finished, it was for a while that no one spoke. They just all exchanged glances with each other, unsure what to think.
Snotlout was the first to speak. "Is this a prank?"
"No," Hiccup responded firmly and without hesitation.
"Do you know Hiccup?" Astrid shot at him.
"I mean, well," Snotlout began, trying to get an excuse out. "He can't be serious."
"I am serious," Hiccup said.
"Well, maybe you're delirious or some-"
"I'm not."
Snotlout's jaw dropped. "You're kidding. You mean, you're actually being positively serious?"
"Yes," Hiccup said, nodding for emphasis. "It's not a joke or a lie or some paranoid fantasy, it's actually happening."
"Yeah, uh, I want proof," Ruffnut scoffed.
"Fine, I can do that," Hiccup exhaled. "Ruffnut, you have Dragon Nip which you're gonna stuff down Snotlout's shirt. Pull it out."
Ruffnut and Tuffnut gasped.
"What? I didn't- How did you-" Ruffnut stammered.
"It's in that secret pocket in your right boot," Hiccup replied.
Ruffnut sure enough pulled out a handful of Dragon Nip from her boot.
"Witchcraft!" Tuffnut exclaimed, pointing at Hiccup. "No one knows about the secret pocket except me! And Chicken. And Belch. And Barf, too, actually. Uh, but the point is, they've never revealed it since they can't talk, so you shouldn't know!"
"After seeing it done over and over, you start noticing patterns," Hiccup said.
"I don't think that's enou-"
"Snotlout, just look out there." Hiccup pointed towards the forest over which the clubhouse was situated. "The Night Terrors are going to appear in three, two. . ."
Right on cue, Smidvarg and the gang emerged from the forest.
Hiccup jerked his thumb behind him without looking. "Wild Terrible Terrors breaking Snotlout's hut."
A loud clatter arose from Snotlout's domicile.
"Hookfang's roar."
A loud snarl.
Hiccup snapped his fingers. "Explosion."
KA-BOOM! Smoke erupted from the hut while the Terrible Terrors were chased out by an ignited Hookfang.
"Aaaand that."
The S hanging above the front entrance fell off with a sickening clunk.
Snotlout squeaked. "My S. . ."
"Yeah, you're gonna need to fix that later. So, do you guys believe now?" Hiccup asked, throwing his arms out.
They all mumbled "yeah" and "totally" and "I'm convinced."
"This is an amazing discovery," Fishlegs mused. "Time loops are actually possible."
"Question, though," Tuffnut asked, raising his hand, "and I'm sure I'm not only the one who wants to know: why is this happening?"
"That's the part I'm confused about," Hiccup sighed. "It just sorta happens, and I don't even know why. We plan, we fight, we die."
"We all die?" Heather asked.
"Not always. Sometimes it's just some of us or only me."
"So, we die, then, loop! and we're back?" Tuffnut laughed. "I mean, how cool is that? I mean, it's scary, obviously, but a little cool!"
Toothless eyed Tuffnut unamusedly. Idiot.
Fishlegs whimpered. "There have been legends about this, but I wasn't sure if they were true."
"Legends? What legends?" Astrid questioned.
"Men who have incurred the wrath of the gods are subjected to time loops until they are driven mad and die soon after."
"Fishlegs, I don't think that's the reason," Hiccup said. "It doesn't make sense."
"I don't think anything about this makes sense," Astrid muttered, crossing her arms.
"Uh, okay, maybe if you go through the events again," Fishlegs suggested. "The first day when it all started, maybe something happened that'll explain this. Try to be as detailed as possible."
Hiccup, complying, shut his eyes in concentration. "Okay, uh. . .I wake up to the twins' morning show. See Astrid who's not happy at all. We plan then set out. The twins are talking, we spot the transport. Ruff and Tuff go in, we all follow. Fishlegs gets crushed by a sea stack, Toothless gets shot, and he and I both drown."
"And you're sure that's it?" asked Fishlegs.
Hiccup shook his head. "I don't know, maybe it's conflated with the other times we died. The first day was, like, two weeks ago for me."
"Maybe focus on the battle, then," Astrid put in. "Was there anything weird that happened?"
"Yeah, like flying pigs or the sky raining hellfire," Tuffnut added.
Hiccup sighed. "I don't know, it-"
Then, suddenly, he remembered. The rainbow flash of light, how it blinded him. Then, that dragon, that iridescent, skeletal dragon in the cage.
Hiccup's eyes flew open as it all came together. "Oh my gods!"
"What? What did you remember?" Astrid asked anxiously.
Hiccup rushed into the clubhouse, seized a charcoal pencil and began drawing hurriedly on a blank sheet of paper.
"Ooh-ooh!" Tuffnut exclaimed. "It's that game where you guess what the person's drawing! Okay, everyone quiet! It's a- a bat! A tail! Toothless! A ghost! Ruffnut! No, wait, that's not right. Come on, I know this, don't tell me, it's-"
Hiccup finished. "On the smaller fleet, I saw the Hunters had caged this dragon."
"D'oh! Hiccup, I was supposed to guess!" Tuffnut groaned, then stared thoughtfully at the drawing. "Man, that is one ugly dragon."
"Fishlegs, have you ever seen a dragon species like this?" Hiccup asked.
Fishlegs squinted at the drawing. "I think so, once when I was reviewing the Dragon Eye. I forget what it was. . .oh, that's right, they called it a Time Wraith, I believe."
"I like it," Tuffnut smiled. "It's scary and awesome!"
"Time Wraiths are incredibly hard to find, as their iridescent scales can camouflage it when in sunlight," Fishlegs continued. "Of course, that makes them easier to spot at night. Even though Time Wraiths are known for their evasive agility, if their tail's weighed down, it's impossible for them to fly. Plus, if hit by a Dragon Root arrow, they lose their fire-breath for several hours-"
"Abridged version," Astrid interrupted.
"Right. There's this legend -I thought it was impossible- that when in danger of death, Time Wraiths draw energy from the sun and can rewind time up to thirteen times to try and save themselves."
"The first time we attacked the fleet, I saw a flash," Hiccup murmured. "I was in direct sunlight at that point. That must have been how I got caught up in this."
"So, the time loops are 'cause of a rainbow-colored dragon?" Snotlout then let out a scoff. "That's weird."
"I've seen weirder," Ruffnut said. "I don't know when, but I have seen weirder."
"You said the Wraith can camouflage. Y'think the Hunters want its scales?" Astrid mused.
"That would make sense," Fishlegs remarked. "They'd be virtually invisible when hunting other dragons. And with those dragon root arrows-"
"They'd be unstoppable," Heather finished.
"Well, we just won't let them." Hiccup then exhaled. "But how to stop two fleets without dying in the process, I'm not sure how to do that."
"And we've only got, what, one chance left?" Snotlout groaned.
Hiccup facepalmed. "Oh, gods, that's right, this is the thirteenth time."
"Wait, only thirteen loops, you kidding?" Tuffnut moaned. "Thirteen is the universal unlucky number!"
Astrid touched Hiccup's shoulder. "Hiccup, you've lived through this day. You've seen all the outcomes. That's an advantage."
"Yeah, but they've got huge reinforcements. The only way that could benefit us would… be… wait a minute," Hiccup breathed, realization dawning on him. "I think I've got something."
. . .
"Here comes the first fleet!" Hiccup turned his spyglass to the left. "And there's the second, right on schedule."
"For the record, Hiccup," Snotlout piped up, "of all your crazy plans, I've gotta tell you this is your craziest plan to date."
"It'll work, Snotlout."
"You sure about this?" Astrid asked somewhat uneasily.
"Positive." Hiccup gripped onto the handles. "Let's do this."
Toothless growled in affirmation, then dove down. They rushed across the water, approaching the rear of the second armada. They turned up and Toothless fired, sending the Hunters into turmoil.
"FIRE!" a hunter screamed, and nets flew everywhere.
Toothless dodged them with great skill, firing a blast at one of the launchers.
Hookfang and Snotlout shot massive bolts of fire while the twins cut the fleet off with a wall of fire. A rain of weapon fire ensued, and Hiccup smirked. Astrid shot at the ballistas, catapults, and net-launchers.
"We've got their attention," Astrid yelled over the din.
"Perfect," Hiccup smirked. "Whaddya you say we use it? That's right, follow us!"
The Riders steered towards the smaller fleet, and the ships followed them. Hiccup and Toothless darted towards the left of the eight-ship armada. Leaning over, Hiccup produced two bottles of Monstrous Nightmare gel. Hiccup looked back to see the others doing the same.
They flew over, startling the hunters.
"Now!" Hiccup yelled.
They deployed the Nightmare gel which splattered obsequiously on the decks.
In a flash came a swarm of fire arrows from the other fleet.
"Evasive maneuvers!" Hiccup shouted.
They turned away, and the arrows hit the Nightmare gel-soaked ships.
KA-BOOOOOOOM!
The explosions set the ships on fire, taking out some of their wooden catapults and ballistas. Screams of anger and pain erupted from the ships.
"Ha-ha! Ya guys must feel awful, ya hit your own people!" Tuffnut taunted.
"The battle's not over yet," Astrid reminded him as Stormfly sent spikes at one of the flaming boats, pinning several archers to a mast.
"Flaming Justice here! Get your free Flaming Justice!" Snotlout chanted out while Hookfang spewed out fire.
Boulders were launched from the left. Hiccup and Toothless barrel-rolled, and the Hunter's fire dashed against two of the ships, leaving gaping holes in their sides. Astrid swooped in through the holes and freed the captive dragons and Hiccup and Toothless sank the ships.
Heather and Windshear swooped in between the fleets, taking out the mainsails to prevent them from escaping. Dragon Hunters screamed orders and they rushed for reinforcements.
"They're going for the chains launchers!" Hiccup cried out.
Toothless flawlessly dodged the coil and fired at the men, incinerating one of them on the spot. Barf created gas around the ships, completely enveloping two boats of the larger fleet in a massive cloud of green. Belch sparked it up, and they caught fire. The cargo promptly flew off while their prisons took on water.
Then, a rain of Dragon Root arrows flew through the air. Nets and bolas spun dangerously near them. The Riders were encircled by a cloud of enemy fire. Those with the speed advantage were somehow able to dodge. However, Meatlug and Fishlegs were not exactly known for that.
"Oh, Thor! Oh, Thor!" Fishlegs exclaimed while Meatlug did her best to avoid the unforgiving nets.
Toothless shot a plasma blast at a twirling bola. They were being surrounded. They circled back up to the sky to try and regroup.
"Okay, looks like they've gotten better with not hitting each other," Hiccup muttered fretfully.
"Now what, genius?" Snotlout groaned.
"Flank 'em. The twins and I'll cover you. Snotlout, you're with Astrid. Heather, with Fishlegs."
"Permission for large explosions?" Ruffnut asked Hiccup excitedly.
"Please say yes, please say yes," Tuffnut muttered, crossing his fingers for luck.
"Go all out!" Hiccup said with a determined smirk.
"Yes! Positive thinking works!" Tuffnut screamed ecstatically.
The twins gassed and exploded the right of the armada, driving the hunters back away from the reinforcements which gave Hiccup and Toothless the opportunity to plasma blast the weapons. In came Astrid and Snotlout from the left. Hookfang stayed in front of Stormfly to block the arrows. Astrid sent spines through the ships while Hookfang torched the decks. In like manner, Heather and Fishlegs came from the right and attacked.
Astrid was twirling down and firing magnesium blasts. Hiccup noticed a netting catapult was being loaded, and Toothless quickly plasma-blasted it.
"Go on in, Astrid! We've got you covered!" he yelled.
Astrid went into the inside of the ship, and made a new exit through the hull, which made it take on water and sink.
Then came ballista arrows and boulders.
"Yah! These guys are the pits!" Snotlout growled, pulling back hard on Hookfang's horns.
Toothless screeched in alarm at something. A manacle was shooting up into the air. With a quick jerk on the saddle's handles, Hiccup barrel rolled out of the way. But in doing so, the chain snaked around Stormfly's tail, stopping Astrid before she got too high up.
From the sudden jerk, Astrid was flung off Stormfly's back and smacked against the wooden deck.
"Astrid!" Hiccup screamed.
"Hiccup, what do we- Hiccup!" Snotlout yelled.
But Hiccup and Toothless had already shot down towards Astrid. This was their last chance, their only chance. No one could die today. He had to save Astrid. She was being encircled by Hunters, outnumbered five to one…
Hiccup didn't realize until too late when a boulder was hurtling towards them. He tried to pull back, but it crashed into Toothless' abdomen, sending him spiralling out of control and Hiccup tumbling through the air without resistance.
Toothless screeched, flapping his wings futilely.
"Hang on, buddy, hang on!" Hiccup pulled on the wings of his flight suit, but they were stuck again. "Oh, I've-got-it-I've-got-it, come on!"
He yanked hard, and his left wing tore. Toothless was ensnared by a net.
"No! NO!"
Toothless hit the deck. Hiccup clawed through the air, trying to grab hold of something, anything. Suddenly, he hit the mast and gripped onto it for dear life. A screech tore through the air. Hiccup glanced down to see Toothless struggling with the rope web in which he was tangled. Hunters gathering around him.
Hiccup had to get down there. To his right was a dangling rope. He grabbed it and swung towards the Hunters.
"Hey!" Hiccup yelled.
One of the Dragon Hunters looked up just in time to get a metal prosthetic to the head. With a small somersault, Hiccup landed on his feet and picked up the sword from the Hunter he had just knocked out. With a determined glare, Hiccup gripped the weapon in his hand.
"Get away from my dragon."
The seven remaining Hunters drew their weapons and charged.
"I did not think this through," Hiccup muttered, and looked around.
A rope connected to one of the masts.
With one swift slash, Hiccup cut the rope and the mast swung down and swept them off the deck and into the sea.
"Okay, fencing lessons, don't fail me now."
Blade clashed with blade in a flurry of blows. The Hunter swiped down, but Hiccup blocked. There was a struggle. Hiccup's arms tensed as he tried his hardest to push back, but the man was stronger than him. From his right came a warcry. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the other man charging towards him.
Quickly, Hiccup swept the Hunter's leg, tripping him, and turned around just in time to block the strike. The Hunter dealt a fury of blows while Hiccup skillfully countered them all. Hiccup struck back and adroitly disarmed the Hunter then hit him in the head with the hilt of his sword, effectively knocking him out.
More men came rushing across the deck. Hiccup ran to Toothless and cut him free. Looking up, Hiccup saw his friends were having trouble dodging the rain of fire. They were bound to be shot down soon.
Adrenaline coursed through his veins, every sound was drowned out by the sound of blood pounding through his ears as he and Toothless were being encircled by the enemy.
Then, a chitter came from behind him. Spinning around fast, Hiccup saw it. The Time Wraith.
"Toothless, cover me!" Hiccup yelled.
Toothless screeched affirmatively and fired multiple blasts at the Hunters. Hiccup ran towards the cage. A Hunter charged at him, but Hiccup dropped down and slid between his legs.
He made it to the Wraith's cage. Hiccup slammed the hilt of the sword against the lock of the cage, effectively breaking it.
The Time Wraith chittered again, its eyes narrowed threateningly.
"It's okay, I'm gonna get you outta here," Hiccup whispered, stretching his hands forward to remove the muzzle.
Using the sword, he broke the chains. At first, the iridescent dragon was frozen, clearly confused by his kindness, but then it chittered lowly and bowed its head in thanks.
As the Time Wraith stepped out of its cage, Hiccup reached forward and stroked its snout with a smile.
"GET HIM!" bellowed a Hunter.
Hiccup turned around to see three men dashing towards them. Hiccup held the sword, but to his surprise, from behind him came a sparkling gold magnesium blast which hit the hunter square in the chest, knocking him down. The Time Wraith swooped up into the sky and disappeared. The only tell that it was still present were the gold blasts precipitating down on the enemy.
"Yea-ha!" Hiccup cheered.
Toothless rushed to Hiccup's side and screeched for him to get on.
Hiccup jumped onto his back. "Right, let's end this."
The two went into vertical takeoff up into the air. Toothless reached the clouds, then swooped down towards the ship which held Astrid and Stormfly. Toothless tore through the air with a whistling sound, charging up a powerful blast. He fired a purple blast and melted Stormfly's chain.
From below Astrid was running to the edge of the ship. Hiccup reached his hand to her. She jumped and grabbed it.
"You finally showed up," Astrid joked after Hiccup dropped her off on Stormfly's back.
"Just helping a new friend out." Hiccup nodded in the direction of golden blasts being spewed on the ships.
"Is that-" she began.
"The Time Wraith! I knew it was awesome!" Tuffnut cheered.
"It likes destruction, like us!" Ruffnut squealed.
"Whaddya we help it out?" Hiccup smirked.
"Yea-ha!"
Barf and Belch dove down and exploded the left side of the ship's hull, freeing the dragons. Hiccup and Toothless barrel rolled, sending multiple blasts at the weapons and blowing them to splinters. Fishlegs and Meatlug spewed lava on the Dragon Hunters' heads, and Heather and Windshear sent spines through the decks. Snotlout and Astrid freed the dragons from their cages below deck, and the Time Wraith with help from the twins sank the boats.
They came to the last boat, the most heavily fortified one. The Hunters sent every last reinforcement it could at them, but the Wraith and the twins blew the defenses to kingdom come. Hookfang lit on fire, and in fear and despair, the last remaining Hunters began to abandon ship. Astrid blew a hole in the deck. Hiccup and Toothless swooped in through the new entrance and into the hull of the ship. Hiccup yanked on the chains in the middle of the cells which drew up the cage doors.
One by one the dragons stepped out, growling happily.
"Follow us!" Hiccup yelled as he and Toothless took off through the hole in the deck.
Night Fury and Rider darted up to the sky with a colorful train of dragons behind them. Then, Hiccup and Toothless flipped upside down and dive bombed back towards the ship, going vertically. Toothless charged up his final plasma blast.
He fired it, and the last ship cracked into two and exploded with a reverberating THOOOOOOOM!
Hiccup hardly believed his eyes as he watched the final ship of the armada sink into the ocean. It was over. It was finally over.
Hiccup let out a breathless laugh. "We did it. We did it!"
"We did it!" Fishlegs squealed.
Cheers rose up from the other Riders.
"We won, Toothless, we really won!" Hiccup laughed and wrapped his arms around his dragon's neck.
From his right came the Time Wraith. With a happy chitter, it nuzzled against Hiccup who gave a quiet laugh. The iridescent dragon bowed its head again in thanks and then took off, following the other dragons which had been set free.
"That dragon is awesome! I totally want one!" Tuffnut said excitedly.
"Good luck with that," Ruffnut scoffed. "It can camouflage in sunlight, remember?"
"Oh, yeah."
"How did you know it would help us?" Astrid asked Hiccup.
He shrugged. "I don't know. Just a feeling, I guess."
"Looks like we have more to write for the Book of Dragons," Fishlegs squealed geekily.
"You think we'll ever see another one again?" Tuffnut asked hopefully.
"Maybe," Hiccup muttered, watching the rainbow-colored silhouette of the Time Wraith vanish in the horizon. "But if we do, hopefully, it's without the time loops."
THE END.
And that's it! Writing this, I was thinking to myself, "This doesn't make sense," so I tried to explain it as best I could, but then again, it's not exactly supposed to make complete sense since it's not canon at all for this universe.
All that being said, I enjoyed writing it, and I hope you enjoyed reading it. So, thanks to everyone who read!
Happy Halloween!