Chapter 8 - It's When Silence Arises, That Panic Ensues

They were silent for the first few minutes of the flight back to Berk. Astrid could only see the sides of Hiccup's face, but she knew he was frowning. His silence was a little unusual, so she leaned left to look around him and realised why. Helga was still shaking in front of him, he was attempting to comfort her with one arm wrapped around her waist. She was probably trying hard not to imagine what had happened back there.

In the end though, Helga is the one to break the silence, "What in the name of Thor happened back there?"

Hiccup turned his head to share a look with Astrid, before turning to answer his sister, "You probably heard it, but there was this massive dragon, the likes of which I've never seen, and it…it was big enough to eat another dragon whole."

"Oh gods," Helga whispers, the fear in her voice thick. "I can't believe something like that exists. I don't understand what is even happening."

Astrid, who had time to contemplate everything, speaks up as Toothless flies them back into the Cove, "No, it totally makes sense. It's like a giant beehive. They're the workers and that's their queen. It controls them," she swings off of Toothless quickly, "Let's go find your dad."

"No! No," Hiccup calls after her, also getting off Toothless, he runs after her and stops her, "No, not yet. They'll kill Toothless. No, Astrid, we have to think this through carefully."

Astrid took a quick peek at where Toothless was still standing, Helga having yet to even dismount as she seemed to be frozen inside her own head, "Hiccup, we just discovered the dragons' next, the thing we've been after since vikings first sailed here, and you want to keep it a secret? To protect your pet dragon? Are you serious?"

Hiccup, who had started walking away from her, turned back around, a serious look on his face, "Yes."

Astrid felt the wind leave her sails as she realised, he truly was serious and it was the first time she had ever seen him like this. He had nothing else to say on the matter and turned a little away from her, "Okay," she relents, "Then what do we do?"

"Just give me until tomorrow," he says, "I'll figure something out."

"Okay," she says softly, before punching him in the shoulder, "That's for kidnapping me."

He shares a look with Toothless, and Astrid takes a moment to check that Helga was not in the least paying attention, she was not, before grabbing him by his harness and kissing him on the cheek, "That's for everything else."

She left hurriedly, too embarrassed to stick around.

It was finally the day, the day Hiccup was supposed to kill a dragon. Although he himself knew that was the last thing he was going to do, the crowd cheering his name had no idea. He was currently standing near the gate to the arena, staring up at where his father was preparing to make a speech. Helga was with him, sitting beside one the small statues. If the look on her face was any indication, she was sitting down to avoid the possibility of fainting from the anxiety coursing through her.

The crowd continued to cheer as their father finally started speaking, Hiccup turning his focus towards him, "Well, I can show my face in public again!" okay that stung. "If someone had told me that in a few short weeks, Hiccup would go from, well, being, uh, Hiccup, to placing first in dragon training, well I'd have tired him to a mast and shipped him off for fear he'd gone mad."

Helga had turned her head to face their father now, and Hiccup could tell that if her eyes were open, she would be glaring, but all she could muster was a very non-threatening frown. Amongst all the cheering, their father continued, "And you know it! But here we are. And no one is more surprised," ouch, "or more proud than I am. Today, my boy becomes a viking. Today, he becomes one of us!"

Hiccup felt his stomach tighten, the first time his father had ever said he was proud of him, and it was all for a lie. "Be careful with that dragon," he heard Astrid's voice from behind him.

"It's not the dragon I'm worried about," he admits, watching his father move to his chair, Helga following behind him using her cane. She takes a place sitting along the platform the chair was on.

"What are you going to do?" Astrid wonders behind him.

"Put an end to this," he answers, "I have to try."

He turns to face her, "Astrid, if something goes wrong, just make sure they don't find Toothless. And please watch over Helga for me."

"I will," she agrees softly, "Just promise me it won't go wrong."

He had no time to reply as Gobber came around the corner, "It's time Hiccup. Knock 'em dead."

With a quick glance at Astrid, Hiccup walks into the arena, placing his new helmet on his head and trying to block out the cheers of the crowd. It was hard to block out the other teens above him though. He moved over to grab a shield, followed by the smallest weapon he could find, a tiny dagger. He knew that second choice would confuse the crowd, but he was not here to kill a dragon, he was here to change minds. He takes a deep breath, "I'm ready."

The Monstrous Nightmare wasted no time as its cage was opened, it came raging out, completely lit on fire from head to tail. It moved around the arena, climbing the fenced ceiling, sending off a blast of fire into the crowd, thankfully not hitting anyone, before eventually, it was back on the ground, no longer on fire.

The crowd grew silent as they watched, the dragon was drawing near and as Hiccup slowly walked backwards, he dropped his shield and his dagger. He reached his hands forward slowly, and he could almost feel the confusion coming off the vikings around him. The dragon snarled, "Hey, it's okay," he says to it, "It's okay."

That is when he does the thing that made it solid, he removed his helmet from his head, "I'm not one of them," and threw it to the ground.

He heard the gasps of the people around him, but he could tell by the look in the Nightmare's eyes, it was starting to understand. "Stop the fight," he hears his father say from above.

"No," Hiccup says in response, "I need you all to see this. They're not what we think they are. We don't have to kill them."

Helga's cry of 'Dad, no!' was his only warning before his father shouted, "I said, stop the fight!" and brought his hammer down on one of the iron bars of the arena.

This startled the dragon, and Hiccup, who was so close to touching it, had to quickly dodge as it tried to bite his arm off. He started running as the dragon chased him. It tried roasting him with its fire as he tried harder and harder to get away from it. It chased him all around the arena, and he heard both Astrid and Helga shout his name. A quick glance at his sister revealed she was grasping the bars where there father had just been, fear written all over her face because she had no idea what was happening. Astrid though, she had made her way into the arena, but he had no time to think as the dragon stopped him from grabbing another shield.

Astrid herself called out to him again and eventually grabbed a hammer, throwing it at the dragon. The hammer hit the dragon in the head, and although it did not hurt it, it did take its attention away from Hiccup. Unfortunately, that meant it was now focused on Astrid. It was now her turn to run from the dragon, but at this point, Hiccup heard his father yelling, "This way!"

He looked over to see his father had opened the gate into the arena, both he and Astrid made a break for it. Astrid was closer, so she made it, his father grabbing her and placing her behind him. Hiccup was not as lucky, just as he neared, the Nightmare fired, cutting him off from the exit and having to run back into the arena. The dragon caught him and just as it had him under its talons, that is when he heard it. The unmistakable whistling of an incoming Night Fury.

Toothless blasted his way into the arena, creating smoke which blocked the view for most of the vikings. Hiccup was thankfully no longer under the claws of the dragon, but when he recovered, it was to see Toothless duking it out with the Nightmare. He managed to knock the larger dragon away from him and made a point of staying between Hiccup and the Nightmare, roaring at it, making it know it would have to get through him to reach Hiccup. In the end, he scared off the other dragon.

Hiccup stood and raced over to try and push Toothless away, "All right Toothless, go. Get out of here."

That is when a large number of the surrounding vikings jumped into the arena, shouting and heading straight for Toothless. "Go, go!" he pleads, pushing on Toothless' head again.

He hears Astrid plea, "Stoick, no!" and turns to see his father grabbing an axe and entering the ring.

"Dad no, he won't hurt you!" he cries, but Toothless notices the angry viking and heads right for him, "No, don't! You're only making it worse!"

Toothless fought the vikings, kicking away any that came close before he reaches Stoick, pinning him to the ground, "Toothless, stop!" he shouts, as Toothless was beginning to fire on his father, "No! NO!"

Toothless, hearing his plea, stops and turns to face him, an apologetic look on his face. Hiccup has no time to react before the vikings come and before long, have Toothless restrained, "No, no! Please don't hurt him!" he says to them, trying to move closer, but Astrid holds him back, "Please don't hurt him."

"Put it with the others," he hears his father order angrily, before walking over and snatching Hiccup right out of Astrid's arms.

He then wordlessly drags Hiccup away.

The moment things had started to go wrong, the second she heard her father stand, Helga felt the blood drain from her entire body and the fear settle in. She knew nothing but the shouting and screaming of the vikings around her. The roaring and snarling of the dragon. Even when Toothless made his appearance to save her brother, although she was relieved her brother was safe, she still felt the terror as she knew what this meant for them. She had managed to make her way to the bars of the arena, trying hard to make sense of what was happening around her, but the noise had been too loud. She was panting despite not moving a muscle and she could feel the nervous sweat trickle down her face.

She heard the moment Toothless was caught, her brother's pleas to not hurt him all she could hear in that moment. After that, she had no idea what was happening, the sound of the crowd dispersing was no help. She had dropped her cane somewhere behind her and had no hope that she would be able to find it. She had no way of moving safely and she was scared. Scared for her brother, scared for his dragon and scared for what this meant for them now. She started to feel the first signs, the shortness of breath, the pounding in her head and the loss of all sense around her as a panic attack set in.

She started hyperventilating and everyone else must have left by now as no one was coming to see what was wrong. She slowly fell to the ground, leaning against the wall of the arena, wrapping her arms around her knees trying hard to even her breathing. She feared she would remain like this when the noises started coming back through, "..ga…elga…HELGA!"

"A..As..Astrid?" she said, trying even harder to steady her breathing.

"Yes, just breathe, in, out, in, out," Astrid say calmly, breathing along with her to help.

After a few moments, Helga feels the world return to normal and she could hear more than just Astrid, she could hear the birds and wind again. Which also brought back her sense of the current problem, "Astrid, where's Hiccup?"

"Your father dragged him off to the Hall," she answers, reaching down to help her to her feet.

"I need you to take me there," she says, "Please, I need to know what is going on."

"Okay, let's go," and to affirm her agreement, Astrid places one of Helga's hands in the crook of her elbow as they make their way to the Hall.

The walk across the bridge and through the village is silent, and even when they ascend the stairs, neither girl could find anything to say. They must have reached the top, because she could hear her father's voice come through, "So everything in the ring, a trick? A lie?"

She and Astrid paused outside the doors as they listened in on the conversation, "I screwed up," Hiccup answered, "I should have told you before now. I just…Take this out on me, be mad at me, but please, just don't hurt Toothless."

"The dragon?" their father asks incredulously, "That's what you're worried about? Not the people you almost killed?"

"He was just protecting me," Hiccup tries to explain, "He's not dangerous."

"They've killed hundreds of us!"

"And we've killed thousands of them!"

The shouting had caused Helga to flinch and she felt as Astrid gripped the hand that was still on her arm as her brother continued, "They defend themselves, that's all! They raid us because they have to," oh no, Hiccup, stop! "If they don't bring enough food back, they're eaten themselves. There's something else on their island. It's a dragon like…"

"Their island?" their father interrupts, oh gods no, "So you've been to the nest?"

"Did I say nest?"

"How did you find it?"

"What? No, I didn't," Hiccup stop talking, Helga shouted in her head, "Toothless did. Only a dragon can find the island. Oh no, no, no. No, dad. No, please, it's not what you think. You don't know what you're up against. It's like nothing you're ever seen."

At this point, she heard their father moving towards the door, ignoring all of her brother's words, "Dad, please. I promise you, you can't win this one! No, dad. No. For once in your life, would you please just listen to me?"

It was at that moment that Helga felt her heart break in two, and the following words from their father, shattered it to pieces. "You've thrown your lot in with them. You're not a viking. You're not my son."

He came stomping out shouting for the ships to be readied and he must have seen her then, "Helga?"

She did knot now what to say, she only let the tears slide down her face, and he must have seen them too, "Helga…I…"

"How could you?" she finds herself saying quietly, before shouting, "How could you?"

"Helga…"

She does not let him finish, "All he's ever wanted to do is make you proud. He tried to be something he was not to make you proud. He finally does something amazing and you can't see passed your outdated ways."

"Helga," he says warningly, "that's enough."

"No," she shouts back, pulling away from Astrid, "Just no. If he's not your son, then I'm not your daughter. He's my twin brother and I would go over the edge of the world if that's what it took to protect him."

She turned away to enter the Hall, but before she does, she turns slightly back to face him, "And for the record, I also knew about Toothless."

She does not let him respond as she enters, making her way to where she could hear her brother breathing from his place on the floor. She refused to acknowledge that it took several minutes before she heard their father finally leave.

Astrid had left the twins alone after Stoick had eventually left. There was nothing she could say in that moment that would help either of them. When she went looking for them later, she found them standing on the cliff overseeing the Docks. Hiccup was watching as they loaded Toothless onto a ship and Helga was standing beside him, gripping his hand tight between both of hers. They both looked despondent, and she admitted to herself that she did not like it on either of their faces. They continued to stand there, even when the ships were well out of sight and even though there was nothing for Helga to see, she had not moved once.

Astrid took this chance to stand to Hiccup's other side, "It's a mess, you must feel horrible. You've lost almost everything; your father, your tribe, your best friend. Though you still have your sister, so there's something."

"Thank you for summing that up," he says dryly in response, but Helga remained still beside him. "Why couldn't I have killed that dragon when we found him in the woods? Would have been better for everyone."

"Yep," she agrees, "The rest of us would've done it. So why didn't you? Why didn't you?"

"I don't know," he says softly, trying to lead Helga away, "I couldn't."

"That's not an answer."

"Why is this so important to you all of a sudden?" he asks, letting go of Helga's hands so as not to jostle her as he moved around.

"Because I want to remember what you say right now," she responds.

"Oh, for the love of…" he mutters, "I was a coward. I was weak. Even with my blind, defenseless sister hiding behind a boulder, I wouldn't kill a dragon."

"You said 'wouldn't' that time," she points out.

"Whatever!" he says, throwing his arms around, "I wouldn't! Three hundred years, and I'm the first viking who wouldn't kill a dragon."

He turned away from her, looking more and more upset, so she said, "First to ride one though. So…?"

Astrid noticed the small smile tugging at Helga's lips as Hiccup finally gave her a real answer, "I wouldn't kill him because he looked as frightened as I was. I looked at him and I saw myself."

"I bet he's really frightened now," she adds. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Eh, probably something stupid," he admits.

"Good, but you've already done that."

"Then something crazy," he finally says before running off.

"That's more like it," she says to his retreating back, a smile stretched across her face.

"Thank you, Astrid," Helga says from beside her.

"You're welcome."

The two girls stand in silence, watching where Hiccup had just run off, before Helga turned to face her, "How long do you think it will take for him to realise he left without me?"

A/N: the end is nigh

I am literally so close to the end that I can literally feel it, I'm actually very tempted, and will probably give in, to finish it right now and not sleep until it's done. Which honestly, it's only 7:30PM so I'll probably still go to bed on time if I don't stop writing. But you get what I mean.

Had another Helga blow up moment, but you've probably realised by now that she has a bit of a temper, nothing extreme but enough that she's more likely to explode compared to Hiccup.

I'll leave it at that so that I can, *cough*, finish this fic.

Seza, out.