I don't own HTTYD. I just own this story and all the other stories which will be coming and what I have already written previously.
I always planned on writing a sequel to Leaving Berk. Anyone who had never read it, do so you will have an idea of the plotline.
Please let me know what you think.
A Visit out of Spite.
It had been 7 years since he had travelled through the skies of the Barbaric Archipelago following the end of the Red Death, and how the Hairy Hooligans had turned on him and the dragons despite his efforts to integrate them into the tribe despite Mildew's successful efforts to once more prove to him the Hairy Hooligans had more brawn than brains.
Still, it was good to be back in a way; when he had travelled out of the Archipelago, exchanging his skills as a blacksmith to forges throughout the edge of the Archipelago, who was rapidly rebuilding following the dragon raids to pay for the maintenance of the Toothless' fin and maps for there best routes out of Viking territory. On his travels, Hiccup had visited dozens of dragon sites throughout the Archipelago; thanks to Toothless, finding them was really easy, and Hiccup had encountered many dragons who were now blissfully free of the Queen who was behind 300 years of pain and war.
The best thing about the dragons at the time was how they had essentially no interest in humans or any of the tribes; for Hiccup, this merely just proved his point of view, that the dragons did not and would never need humans. And if there was a dragon attack, it would merely be an act of self-defence.
The light was going down, soon it would be night.
In Hiccup's mind that was perfect for him since it would give him the time to drop by Berk. As he sat astride Toothless, feeling the comforting weight of the katana he had trained with thanks to the Samurai warrior he had befriended on a trip to Japan, Hiccup bit his lip as he wondered what the changes to Berk would be. There was no doubt in his mind some things would have changed, but on the other hand, much of the village had remained the same for generations.
Vikings, as a rule, did not like or do change that well. Their traditionalistic minds preferred everything the way it had always been; sure, when he had been growing up and witnessed the dragon raids and the inevitable aftermath, the Hairy Hooligans had not bothered to build their homes with materials that were inherently fireproof. They hadn't bothered to find ways of building anything with stone which could have been blasted with fire from a hundred dragons, and the flames would not even have damaged the insides. The first time he had seen buildings like that had been in Rome, they had not entirely been made out of wood; sure, from what he had learnt, some of the buildings were vulnerable but the principle was still sound.
But even if they had chosen to keep working with wood, the Hairy Hooligans had just made everything the same as if the raid hadn't even happened.
Hiccup shrugged his shoulders in dismissal, and he focused on guiding Toothless towards Berk. A part of him wondered why he was focusing on Berk solely, when there were other islands with Viking tribes on them, like the Bog-Burglars.
And Camicazi.
Hiccup sighed through his nostrils as he thought about the beautiful heiress of the Bog-Burglar tribe. There was little doubt by now she had already gotten married, and it was a missed opportunity for him. He had just been so angry with the way the Hooligans had treated him after Mildew had begun framing the dragons for all sorts of crimes, although the pain caused by Astrid who had distanced herself from him and once more began treating him as something which was invisible and unseen had hurt, even more, he had just fled from the Archipelago without a thought. Hel, he hadn't really paid any thought to Camicazi for years.
Hiccup didn't care nor want to really continue the Haddock family line. It had brought him nothing but trouble, especially with how his grandfather had made Stoick smash his head into a rock, supposedly to teach him about what a Viking could do. When Stoick had tried to make Hiccup do the same, all he had gotten out of it was a concussion. And a very angry, very disappointed father.
But at the same time…
Hiccup would have loved to have shared his life with somebody other than Toothless. Maybe even have a dragon flying family of his own, but there was no doubt in his mind if that was in his future, he would meet and marry someone..
Hiccup shrugged his shoulders and he continued carrying on. After spending nearly an eternity flying, Hiccup guided Toothless above Berk. It was such a dark night nobody noticed their presence. But there was trouble. Hiccup's eyes crinkled in confusion as he watched the Hairy Hooligans battle against a night attack from another band of Vikings.
"Outcasts?" Hiccup whispered to himself curiously, before he shrugged dismissively.
Toothless crooned at him.
Hiccup patted him on the flank. "Just take us down to land, on one of the sturdier roofs."
After they'd landed they could see the Hairy Hooligans were struggling against the rogue Vikings. In the crowd, he could pick out a few Vikings he had known, and he also saw a few children trying to be taken by their parents or peers to safety. Hiccup sensed rather than saw Toothless turning to him curiously, wondering what he was going to do.
Hiccup looked down torn at the spectacle. It would be incredibly easy for him to simply pull Toothless up and fly off, leaving the Hooligans to deal with the Outcasts on their own. They had stopped being his tribe years ago, and he owed them next to nothing. But at the same time… Hiccup's heart clenched at the sight of Gobber; the triple amputee blacksmith was still alive, and Hiccup smiled as he saw him hobble into battle. It was great to know he was still consistent and still alive; Gobber might be crippled beyond all recovery from the medical standards set by other parts of the world, but he was still a devastating and experienced warrior.
No.
He was not going to let Gobber die. Not now, not after everything. But ever since he had travelled eastwards, and he had seen more of the world, Hiccup had become involved with dozens of peoples, in terrible situations. He had saved villagers from raiders in China (and he'd enjoyed the meal thrown in his honour, while their people had taught him the finer arts of Chinese traditions, learnt from their craftsmen, learnt their languages and their legends), joined in a battle with Korean fishermen to fend off Japanese pirates, learnt Kung Fu from a really harsh master known as Pai-Mei after he and Toothless had stumbled across a vicious attack in a city.
He had grown over the years and he had helped people. But these were the Hairy Hooligans, his former tribesmen. He may not know why the outcasts were attacking Berk, but he didn't really care. To him, they were just people he was rescuing, and that was that.
"Okay, bud. Let's take off. We'll attack from the air," Hiccup told the Night Fury, who growled in agreement. Hiccup took the dragon around the village so they could see the invading Viking ships. They weren't hard to find, they were moored really close to the harbour of the island. His plan was to drive the Outcasts back towards their ships, and once away from the island, he would destroy them with Toothless.
Toothless flew in an arc and dived - Hiccup closed his eyes and squeezed out the pain he felt in his ears when he heard the Night Fury's shriek before the dragon fired two plasma blasts at the ground near the largest packs of Outcasts. Hiccup barely flinched as he listened to their shrieks of surprise and panic.
Predictably Hiccup could hear the overlapping cries of "NIGHT FURY!" And "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"
But he also heard, "HICCUP IS BACK!" "Come back, lad!" "Welcome back to the tribe, boy!"
Hiccup ignored them. He wasn't going to return to the Hairy Hooligan tribe, and there was nothing that any of them could say which would persuade him otherwise; the Hairy Hooligans had burnt their bridges long ago, and there was no way he was giving them another chance even if they were pleased he was back. The last time they'd been that welcoming towards him, it had quickly faded away and there was nothing between them anymore.
"HICCUP!" Hiccup needed a moment to identify the voice; it sounded like a pair of voices yelling at the same time, and he realised he had just heard Stoick's distinctive bellowing growl of a voice mixed with Astrid's more high pitched youthful voice.
Toothless looked over his shoulder. "Ignore it, bud," Hiccup told his friend. "It's nothing."
While he could not deny it was tempting to fly down there and reunite with his father again - Hiccup might have disowned the man in his heart, but he knew deep down he had missed Stoick, but the dragon rider did not want the old Viking chief to manipulate him into staying. He enjoyed his freedom, and there was still so much he could see in the world, where there was more to life than a single Viking tribe on a single island in the middle of an archipelago. He had seen hundreds of islands like Berk, it was nothing special in the long term. In any case, there was a chance, things would be better between him and Stoick later.
But not right now.
A part of Hiccup believed coming here was a mistake. But he knew he had made the right decision in stopping this attack. Indeed, as he thought about it more, if he didn't bother going back, some of the Vikings who were more cynical could hypothesise the Night Fury who'd saved them was just a dragon who'd been flying nearby and saved them out of a degree of sympathy for them and that they were wrong into thinking it was him behind the counterattack.
The counterattack against the Outcasts had worked wonders; the renegade band of Vikings who'd been driven away from their original tribes were terrified by Toothless' repetitive attacks against them, they had had enough. They might have been Vikings, and trained dragon killers themselves, but they were no match for a Night Fury since Toothless didn't land or attack them like a Nadder or a Nightmare, which increased their fear of the fast and powerful dragon.
"Okay, that's enough, bud," Hiccup said to the dragon, "fly over the ships. I want to see if any of the Outcasts kidnapped anyone."
It wouldn't surprise him in the least if the Outcasts were here for that reason; they'd just attacked a powerful tribe, they must have wanted something. In any case, he had heard rumours of the Outcasts kidnapping dozens of people over the years, but there was also the chance they were here simply for the hell of it and Alvin was just waving an axe to prove to all he was still dangerous.
Toothless warbled in agreement and they flew over the ships. Hiccup guided the Night Fury above the ships, but as he flew over them, he didn't see any sign of any kidnapped villagers, and since the Night Fury had better night vision than he did, he trusted the dragon to do a better job. But Toothless did not see any sign of any Viking on those ships who was not a part of the Outcast party. Toothless had a good memory for human faces, and since he had gotten a good look at the Hooligans when things had been good, he couldn't see any of them on the passes.
"See anyone, bud?" Hiccup asked.
Toothless warbled in a way that told Hiccup the answer was no.
"Okay, then. Let's do it," Hiccup said, knowing his friend only had a couple of blasts left, but that was enough for this. "Don't bother shrieking. I don't want them to know we're bombing them until it's too late. And go for random blasts."
The Night Fury overflew the ships before he attacked them, with his blasts reducing them to kindling.
Hiccup looked down at the burning wrecks and sighed before he guided Toothless away from Berk. He had hoped to visit Berk out of spite more than anything else, but he hadn't expected rescuing it.