Hello, everyone! It's been a while, hasn't it? I hope you all are doing fine during this time and I am relieved to say that me and my family have been spared from the Covid virus. As an introvert, I was pleased by the isolation. Something else that pleased me was your response to this story. I still want to keep the updates slowly because well, I haven't worked on this story for a long time and I'd rather put out a new chapter after I am sure I've added something more to the overall project. My interest varies in this fandom at the moment, but I thoughts about giving you guys something and repaying you for your support.
Although, by the end of it I'm not sure how much you'll appreciate it… Hehe…
I don't own 'How To Train Your Dragon'. The rightful owners are Cressida Cowell and Dreamworks.
Chapter 2: Downed Dragon…?
That night was a raid.
Hiccup woke up to the scent of burning wood and he was up in a flash, almost flying down the stairs and yanking the door open. Only for a dragon to spit fire at him. He closed it immediately and grimaced at the hot sensation seeping through the logs. A few seconds later (and several deep breaths), he opened the door again and sprinted outside, dodging Vikings left and right.
It was ridiculously early, still so dark with hardly any moonlight shining through the clouds. The air was freezing but, Hiccup thought morbidly, the burning houses warmed up the vicinity enough so everyone could move efficiently.
As he ran down the hill towards the forge he noticed his father with a couple of adults discussing casually, as if flying, fire-breathing lizards weren't zipping above their heads wreaking havoc. One of the men split from the group and seconds later two enormous torches were raised and lit, bathing the village in light and showing the swarm of dragons above them. It wasn't until a hand yanked him to a stop that he finally took his eyes away from the sky and switched to the blonde beauty that was Astrid Hofferson. Just in time as a blast of fire landed in front of him.
"Do you ever stop daydreaming?" The edge in her voice was somewhat unnerving and Hiccup couldn't help shrink a bit. It was too similar with the days of ignorance and derision when the girl simply walked by him, regarded him with stony eyes and moved on uninterested.
Astrid noted his reaction and immediately her hand dropped. She cleared her throat. "We are on fire patrol duty, do you wanna join us?" Her voice was still tense but she was trying to be nice, which Hiccup truly appreciated.
"Ah… n-no! No. I should go and help Gobber in the forge." At her slight frown – Gods, she was beautiful in the glow of the fire – Hiccup stepped back, hands twisting and gesticulating away from them. "Besides, I'm not sure how much help I can be here… right now…"
Blinking for a second, Astrid picked up on the hesitance that had nothing to do with the fight and more to do with 'do I even want to kill a dragon anymore?'. She managed a grimace of a smile and nodded in understanding. "Alright, Haddock. But keep your eyes on the present, okay?"
He smiled his crooked smile and saluted her. Rolling her eyes, the blonde ran off and the young heir only took a second of watching her disappear before continuing on his way. The moment he entered the shop his hand was reaching for the apron.
"Ah! Nice of you ta join the party! I thought ye've been carried off!" The blacksmith was at the anvil, beating straight a red hot sword. What it took to deform the blade so much Hiccup didn't want to know.
He scoffed, trying to hide his amusement at the scenario. 'Not unless it's Snotlout'… "What, who me? Nah, come on! I'm waaaay too muscular for their taste." The strain in his voice as he lifted the spiked hammer and placed it on the wall for easy access was ignored by both in exchange for the banter. "They wouldn't know what to do with all... this."
Gobber was unimpressed by his flexing. "Well, they need toothpicks, don't they?"
As he switched his prosthetic to continue with the sword, Hiccup ran to the service desk and opened the windows where impatient Vikings were looking between the shop and the sky. He didn't waste any time, grabbing the handful of weapons to fix them as soon as possible. The men's exclamations to hurry up were no help to begin with, but that's how Vikings usually rolled. Can't have conversation without some yelling…
As he was working the bellows, a house suddenly exploded outside, the fire spreading quickly to encase the wooden structure. The shouts were more distinguishable as everybody was drawing attention to the fire and not a minute later, Hiccup saw the other kids running to the scene dragging an entire water barrel and buckets.
He stopped working to watch their kind-of worthless attempt at saving the house. They each splashed water on the fire putting it out somewhat in the front but that didn't deter the rest from continuing eating at the wood. Also, the random shot that exploded behind them that nullified their efforts entirely was just the berry on the pancake.
But Astrid… oh, she looked like a vengeful goddess walking away from the fire, wisps and shadows dancing beautifully across her frame. He didn't even realize he was leaning on the window until Gobber lifted him by the back of his tunic and dragged him inside.
"Oh, come on. I wasn't doing anything!"
"That's exactly it. Ye have more important things ta do then daydream." Hiccup sighed, rolling his eyes dramatically. Gobber's stern glare softened. "Listen, Hiccup, there's a good reason why yer here, and not there."
"Yeah, so I won't get in the way."
"That too! Ye can't exactly lift a hammer, swin' an axe or throw a bola…" Hiccup shot him a dry look. "But more importantly, if you ever want to get out there ta fight dragons, you need ta stop all... this…"
The heir's look turned incredulous. "You just pointed to all of me!"
"Yes! That's it! Stop being all of ye!"
He couldn't tell if Gobber was joking and he was trying to make him feel better with an overblown enthusiastic performance… or if he actually meant every word. It was painful for him either way. So he did what he did best. Bury it.
"You, sir, are playing a dangerous game. Keeping this much, raw Viking-ness... contained? There will be consequences!" The dramatics were smothered somewhat by Gobber's condescending smirk.
"I'll take my chances. Sword. Sharpen. Now."
Hiccup was a bit depressed at the turn of that conversation. Him and Gobber usually had a banter going on in the shop 24/7 but today was more heavy-blowing than normal. He unenthusiastically took the sword to the grinding stone and began working on it but his mind was miles apart. All his life he had been trying to fit in and when that didn't work he decided to fit in 'Hiccup' style. He couldn't kill a dragon with his bare hands like most so he built machines to help him with that. But not even those were successful half the time. The other half they were a danger to the village.
He shook his head to banish the thought. He didn't have to worry about killing dragons anymore. He didn't want to. All that effort, all those hours wasted on perfecting the mechanisms, sketching and wracking his brain to come up with solutions to make his thoughts real. The sword nearly slipped through his slack fingers but he managed to catch it before it would have toppled over the stone and taken him with it. He still stumbled back, and the sudden rocking of explosions didn't help his balance.
"NIGHT FURY! GET DOWN!"
Hiccup gasped and dropped the blade. He dashed to the window just in time to hear the tell-tale high-pitched whistle coming closer. And the nearby catapult was blasted to pieces. Nothing left to save as the purplish flames consumed it while the rest fell into the sea. A second later and its dark shape blended with the night sky once more.
"Toothless…" He was still attacking them. "Whatcha doing, bud?"
Maybe he didn't know what else to do. It wasn't like Hiccup was out there and easy to pick out from the crowd. Toothless was just doing what he knew he had to do and that was covering for the other dragons as they raided the village. He needed to leave the smithy and go somewhere where he could be seen by the dragon.
Somewhere where he could get his attention…
"Ooohh… hehe, yeah… Huh, well crazy thing is… I'm actually the one who shot him down. It's-It's okay though… he got me back, right bud?"
Hiccup froze. He then slowly turned to look at a huge contraption covered by cloth further back in the shop.
"… No way."
A grunt nearby made him look at Gobber, switching the tongs for an axe. "Man the fort, Hiccup. They need me out there!" He stopped in the doorway and turned to him. "Stay. Put. There. Ye know what I mean."
Watching him limp on the battlefield, war cry on his lips and axe waving in the air made Hiccup think this was some awfully impeccable timing. What were the chances that he would be left alone during a raid when the Night Fury clearly showed up along with a long-ranged invention he had only finished last week?
Pretty low considering it was him… or high? It had every chance to turn into a disaster so maybe he shouldn't feel surprised. Hiccup decided to just go with it. He ripped the dusty rag off the Mangler and took a second to run his hand on the wood before he was spiraling down the village with it. He was aiming for one of the remaining catapults, so he angled the machine towards a lone cliff side facing the sea.
Without hesitation he opened it, set the launcher, put a bola inside and aimed at the sky. He was panting after having to push the cart almost halfway across the village and even uphill for a bit. His sweaty palms were fixed on the trigger as his eyes scanned the blackness of the sky for any sign of a shadow blotting the stars.
This was it! The moment that would start everything! He and Toothless would finally meet and together they would lead the tribe to a prosperous future. He couldn't pass this chance! It was now or never!
… But then…
"I found him the woods. He was shot down and… wounded."
He did what he shouldn't… He started thinking.
"This Snafflefang lost his leg to one of Drago Bludvist's iron traps. This Rain Cutter got his wing sliced by razor netting. And this… oh, poor Hobblegrunt was blinded by a tree snare… And then left to die alone and scared." His mother's voice floated gently as she recited the hunters' atrocities. The coldness in her tone as she regarded Toothless' missing fin. "And what of this? Did Drago or his trappers do this too?"
"Huh, well crazy thing is… I'm actually the one who shot him down."
Hiccup was struggling for air for an entire different reason now. His fingers were shaking on the Mangler, and seriously… What a terrible name that was! He was going to shoot down a Night Fury! He was going to shoot down Toothless… his friend… his… his someone very important that he wasn't even sure what truly meant to him!
Hiccup was looking at the intense green eyes, so alike and so different from his own. He wasn't scared. But he did feel a certain knot of unease the root of which he couldn't understand. The dragon was at arm-length away from him and he wanted to touch it – him. Touch him! He smiled and the dragon narrowed his eyes. He then pulled back his lips, in an attempt at copying him, revealing toothless gums.
"Toothless?"
The dragon's smile became less forced at the sound of his given name. Hiccup chuckled and stretched his hand.
Toothless looked at it for a moment. And with an apologetic croon he quickly licked his hand and dashed back to the dragons.
He had never been that close to a dragon before. No, wait, that was wrong! He had never been that close to a dragon that was not hostile. The warmth in the dragon's eyes was overwhelming and he wanted to get even closer. He wanted to know, were those scales just as warm? Were they hard and stony as dragons' hides were described to be by the older folks? Was his heart beating as fast as his back then?
Hiccup dropped his head on his arm, hands slacking over the machine. He groaned. He couldn't do it. He couldn't bring himself to willingly harm Toothless. Maybe it was intentional before but it was impossible now that he knew what he knew. There was no way he could curse Toothless to a grounded life like that.
The whistle was suddenly growing closer and closer.
The young heir gasped, panicked. But if he didn't then how would they meet again? Without bringing Toothless down there was no way in Hel Hiccup would catch him. And then nothing would change. The Vikings would keep fighting the dragons until Ragnarok or until they would completely destroy each other.
"Dammit!"
With shaking hands, he positioned the Mangler again. The sound was approaching, faster and louder. 'I'm so sorry, bud… I have to.' He blinked the tears out of his eyes and focused on watching the catapult.
It happened in an instant.
A shade blocking the stars and then the wood was exploding. Purple shockwaves illuminated him briefly. It felt like the world slowed down for the two seconds everything lasted. Hiccup sucked in a breath, his whole body trembling. He pulled the trigger.
The recoil thrust him back with a cry. He took a moment to shake the fading pain in his back away and stood up. The only sounds were the crackling lumber of the lone catapult and the distant shouts from the village.
He missed.
No… He-he hesitated.
Hiccup had no idea how to react to that realization. Toothless was fine, maybe spooked by the close call, but he was uninjured. And Hiccup failed at what he was supposed to do.
It was… Over.
Whatever plan they had, they needed the dragons. He needed Toothless. Without him, Hiccup was… well, nobody. Hiccup the Useless striking again…
He didn't hear the growing rumble of a growl. So lost in self-loathing he was he didn't notice the Monstrous Nightmare climbing over the cliff until it was looming over him, all fired up and ready to toast the dumb human just standing there. The dragon crushed the Mangler under giant claws and Hiccup vaguely agreed with that. But not in that moment! No, he was stunned by the sight of an orange-red dragon coming closer. That was on fire! Not even his voice could make it past the sudden knot in his throat. His feet were stuck. He should probably use some of the information in the book or whatever he witnessed from the future…
… No? Nothing? Yeah, he was dead!
The Nightmare reared its head. Hiccup had the presence of mind (or desperation) to cover his head with his arms. He was not ready to be incinerated but even if he ran… he would have just been incinerated a few meters away. Not an improvement.
A high-pitched sound cut through the air and not a moment later a small blast of fire hit the ground in front of the dragon. Hiccup was thrown off his feet again, still curled protectively and a bit blinded by the blast. The Nightmare screeched and another growl filled the space. With a deafening whip of his wings the fiery dragon was off and Hiccup blinked at the picture remaining.
Black scales, elegant, flowing shape, the Night Fury was a sight to behold as he turned his head to glance at him. Hiccup was speechless. In how many years the Vikings have been fighting dragons, the Night Fury has never touched land. He was always airborne, always weaving between dragons with fire to save, cover or distract only. He never engaged, never showed himself… and yet, here he was. Saving a pathetic runt like him from becoming food. He wasn't even worthy of that apparently.
But Hiccup was still overjoyed. Toothless saved him from the Nightmare. He couldn't get his feet beneath him fast enough.
"Bud!" He was running for him, cheeks hurting from how big he was smiling. "I'm so glad you're here!"
The dragon roared. His wings flared up threateningly and eyes the size of needles.
Hiccup stumbled to a halt. "W-What?" Green eyes regarded him with such wariness and such coldness that Hiccup clutched at his vest. "Bud, what's wrong? It's me – It's Hiccup!" He narrowed his eyes but didn't drop the pose. "I'm-I'm your friend! C'mon, don't you remember me?"
The dragon scoffed but dropped the act uninterested and prepared to take off.
"Wait, no! We are friends, please!" Hiccup tried to step closer, but the Night Fury wasn't having any of that. He let loose a weak plasma blast at his feet that Hiccup jumped away from in surprise. "… Toothless… what?"
The dragon looked at him, mistrust and confusion swimming in poison green eyes, and then at the remains of the Mangler. He growled and flew off. And shot a blast that eradicated any splinters left of the thing.
Hiccup was left stunned and absolutely heart-broken. Toothless didn't know him. He didn't remember anything.
