Author's Note: Hello everyone and welcome back to "Sounds of Silence!" =D I'm so sorry for the late update; I was finishing up an ROTG video edit that I've been working on for the past four days and I just completed it about an hour ago! =D Unfortunately, I accidentally deleted some of the video footage that I used, so I had to go back and retrieve the videos and put them back in, as well as make some adjustments since everything (sound effects, clips, and text) kind of shifted when I replaced the footage. =/ I did put all the videos back in, but I still have to fix a couple of things until I can actually mark it complete. =) *Sighs* I'm a little upset though that a lot of stuff got messed up, so I decided to work on the edit tomorrow so I can take a breather. XD
Anyway! Chapter twenty! =D I can't believe we're so far in this story! =D It's actually almost over, and I still vividly remember piecing together every scene, drawing the cover, and literally flipping out after I got my first few reviews, favorites, and follows. X) Thank you guys so much for sticking with me on this journey, and I hope you continue to do so as we near the end. =D
But enough sappy stuff...the story isn't over yet, so I hope you guys enjoy chapter twenty of "Sounds of Silence!" =D *Blows party horn*
Chapter Twenty: Of Breaking and Defending
All he had to do was distract them. That wouldn't be too hard…right?
Why he had allowed his son to use his crazy plan still boggled Stoick's mind. War was a delicate thing, and Hiccup's plan was reckless, dangerous, and, well, crazy. There were so many risks, so many things that could happen that would send Berk crumbling. If something went wrong, Berk would fall, and Hilmar would invade them. What would happen next, Stoick didn't want to think about; the thought was too dark for his head.
While Hiccup was doing something dangerous, Stoick had faith that his son would manage. Hiccup had been in several perilous situations before, which was rather redundant for Stoick, but Hiccup always found a way out of them. Even when there seemed to be no meaning of escape. He was small for a viking, but he had a lot of strength packed inside of him. Something that Stoick wished he had realized long ago.
Stoick and Skullcrusher flew alongside the A-Team, Fishlegs, the twins, and Snotlout, who were focusing their fire on the oncoming ships below. The Chief of Berk glanced down at the strife that was taking place below him. Buildings were on fire, many of Hilmar's men swarmed the streets running through the village, carrying daunting weapons and wearing thick armor that surpassed its duty in protecting them. They were heavily armed, but their overprotection did bring them down quite a bit. The Berkians were able to easily knock most of the men down with the swing of their weapons. Some Dragon Slayers were weighed down by their armor, causing them difficulty in moving around.
So far, Berk had been holding up considerably well despite the bleakness of the situation. The vikings fought like the ture warriors they were, battle cries reverberating through the air like echoes on a cliff. The children, elders, and healers were safely tucked away in their assigned parts of the island. The last report Stoick had received was that the kids and old were alright, and the wounded vikings and healers in the Cove were doing fine. This was a relief to Stoick; Hilmar's men hadn't reached them. Nor did they know where to look for them.
The Dragon Slayers ran around the village, pursuing any Berkian that crossed their path. Some got caught in the traps that were laid out while others managed to make their way through unharmed. The dragon above blasted at the ships and men who approached. Stoick, the A-Team, and the remaining Dragon Riders were focused on destroying the ships too as well as preventing any more Dragon Slayers from touching the shores of Berk.
"Chief!" shouted Snotlout from behind. Stoick turned around, giving the Jorgenson his attention. Snotlout pointed straight ahead, where three dots were flying toward the large dragon up ahead. "Rin, Astrid, and Hiccup are making their way to the Foreverwing! We might have a chance!"
"And this battle will finally end," said Fishlegs wistfully. Meatlug quickly rolled out of the way of a flying boulder. Fishlegs hugged his Gronckle tightly. "I'm starting to get really tired of all the flying projectiles!"
"Why would you want this to end?!" exclaimed Tuffnut as he and his sister swooped down from a smoke cloud. The two were dusted with ash, and their hair was singed at the edges. Still, their eyes glinted with mischief and their smiles were half-crazed. "The explosions here are awesome! I've never seen so much destruction!"
"Or fire!" added Ruffnut. From behind them, a group of arrows came hurtling by. Completely unfazed, Ruff and Tuff turned around, using Barf and Blech to blast the arrows way. Once the threat was destroyed, they turned back around, grins still plastered on their faces. "I never want this to end!" Ruffnut hollered.
"Same here, sis!" concurred Tuffnut.
"So you'd rather watch Berk burn to the ground than stop the damage?" asked Snotlout sardonically.
Ruffnut and Tuffnut's shoulders slumped. "Wait…where would we live if Berk didn't exist anymore?"
"Probably in a hole," said Ruffnut. She shook her head. "Yeah, I don't do tight spaces."
"Then keep on defending the island," ordered Stoick. "We need to drive the Dragon Slayer away as soon as possible."
"I don't know how long we can hold this up for, Chief!" cried Gustav from the back. He gripped Fanghook's horns tightly. "There are so many ships—"
"And more just keep on coming!" yelled Spitelout. His Deadly Nadder flinged a flurry of spines down at a group of Dragon Slayers, who had nearly surrounded a viking. They backed away to dodge the arrows, giving the berkian warrior time to move deeper into the village.
"But we have to keep fighting!" insisted Stoick. "If we back down, we'll be destroyed!"
"And if we don't back down, we'll be destroyed either way!" Spitelout shot back.
"So…are we leaving or are we not leaving?" asked Bucket. Mulch whacked him across the head.
"Of course not!" said Mulch.
"Although that would be nice…" mumbled Fishlegs.
"We're not backing down!" shouted Stoick. He pointed beyond the armada, toward the Foreverwing. "My son, Astrid, and your friend Rin are out there trying to free that dragon. Once it's released, we'll have a chance."
"And how do you know they'll come back?" asked Spitelout.
In truth, Stoick didn't know if Hiccup and his friends would return. Hiccup was deaf, meaning that out of everyone, the risks were far higher for him than anyone else. Stoick only wanted to protect him when he insisted that he stayed home during the first attack Hilmar launched on them. It seemed so long ago, but Stoick remembered how insisting Hiccup was. How determined he was to fight even though he was at high risk. He wanted to protect his people just as much as Stoick did. He wanted to protect the dragons and preserve the peace that he had worked so hard to bring.
But Hiccup was Stoick's son. And he didn't want him flying off into dangerous situations in order to do so, but yet he had allowed him to go and free the Foreverwing, for reasons that not even Stoick understood. Perhaps he was desperate. Perhaps he gave in to his son's begging and decided to let him go. But deep down, Stoick sensed that there was something more, something else that made him allow Hiccup to free that dragon.
Though he didn't know it then, it was trust that had allowed him to let Hiccup go. He trusted his son with everything he had, and he knew that despite the situation, Hiccup would make it back alright. Hadn't he done so many times before?
"I don't know if he'll come back, Spitelout," Stoick responded after a few moments of silence. His eyes narrowed as they looked at his brother. "But if there's one thing I know, it's that Hiccup's stubborn. And when he sets his mind on something then by Thor he's going to do it."
"So…what do we do?" asked Snotlout.
"We keep defending the island," answered Stoick simply. "We continue to hold up the barriers, and hold the fort for as long as we can until my son returns."
No one argued with the Chief. If they did, they most likely would've been sent to prison. So, without anyone saying a word of protest, the A-Team, Riders, and Stoick the Vast dived back into the battle, dragons blazing.
Stoick hoped that his son would come back alive.
…
It was dark. And that darkness was unsettling.
Midnight had rolled around the corner, the time of day where back then, vikings would hide away in their houses or stand outside, weapons raised, ready for an unexpected dragon attack. On Berk, it was always darkest in the middle of the night, so as Hiccup, Rin, Astrid, and their dragons trudged through the forest on the Foreverwing's back, he couldn't help but feel anxious.
No moonlight filtered through the leaves; they were as old as the dragon himself, but they were big and green. They swayed in the wind that brushed by; the leafy canopy as thick as a blanket. The underbrush was overgrown with plants of all sizes. Hiccup recognized a few, but he didn't have a name for the majority of them.
Hiccup was thankful that Rin had chosen a Monstrous nightmare for her dragon. Clarity allowed a small flame to burst from her back, allowing the young riders sight. Thick, heavy chains sparkled in the firelight. There were many of them, which meant that the six had to work quickly.
Rin walked up to a tree and gave the chains that held it a good shake. She frowned as she recognized what type of chains her father had used: dragon proof. Hiccup scowled as well but discovering that the chains were dragon proof didn't trample his determination. Hiccup turned to Toothless and pointed to the chains. The Night Fury walked up to them and blasted a stream of flames at the metal. The chains burned, turning orange due to the heat, but they stubbornly stayed in place.
Astrid spoke to Rin, and Hiccup wished he could hear them, but the Hofferson was already demonstrating whatever she was discussing with the ex-Dragon Slayer. Astrid patted Stormfly's side, and the Deadly Nadder began to fire a magnesium blast at the chains. Rin guided her dragon toward the metal, and she pointed at them. Clarity understood immediately, and she began to fire.
Catching on to the idea, Hiccup gestured for Toothless to unleash his own fire on the chains. The Night Fury complied, and with the combination of their firepower, the dragons were able to break away the metal chains off of one tree trunk. They slipped away into the dark, like snakes slithering into the shadows. Hiccup guessed that they had rolled off of the Foreverwing's back, although he wasn't entirely sure.
There were many more chains to break, so Hiccup and his friends got right to it. The process was repeated so many times, that the steps had drilled themselves into their minds without permission. The Riders would discover chains attached to a tree, the dragons would fire, and then they'd hunt for another. It was a tedious process breaking the chains; the dragons couldn't use up too much fire power in case they needed to define themselves, and even with their fires combined it still took time to break the chains. And time was unfortunately not on their side.
Regardless, the Riders and the dragons continued along with the task of breaking the chains. While Hiccup waited, he took a look around the forest-haven that rested on the Foreverwing's back. Even though it was night, the plant-life on the dragon was beautiful. It looked exactly what a forest was supposed to be. Hiccup wondered what the dragon looked like in the day. Probably even more amazing, he thought to himself. Hiccup now understood why so many vikings accidently stumbled across Foreverwings; they looked so much like the land surrounding them.
The dragons managed to destroy the set of chains that they had been working on, and the three Riders decided to take a break. There was a battle raging around them, yes, but the dragons couldn't be worked too hard, or else they wouldn't manage to destroy the other chains.
Hiccup, Astrid, and Rin found a suitable spot to sit while the dragons in front of them continued to examine the area. Toothless and Stormfly even attempted to strike up a conversation with Clarity, who was more than lackadaisical about engaging in it.
Astrid pulled out a notebook from her satchel and wrote in it. She passed it to Hiccup, who took it curiously. Rin politely watched the dragons in front of them, sensing that the silent conversation was for Hiccup and Astrid alone.
How many chains do we have left? Astrid inquired.
Still a lot, replied Hiccup. But I'm sure we can get them all, right?
Hiccup, we don't have time, wrote Astrid worriedly. Berk's defenses are crumbling, and the A-Team, the other Riders, and Stoick can only hold on for so long. We need to get back and help them as soon as possible.
I-I know, but we still have to free the Foreverwing. If we don't free it, Hilmar could take control of the dragons at any minute.
Astrid froze. Her blue eyes widening in shock. Worry tugged at Hiccup's insides, and he shook Astrid's shoulder to pull her out of her daze.
"Astrid?" called Hiccup. The Hofferson turned to him, and quickly wrote something down in the notebook. Her hand moved faster than the wind, and she practically shoved the notebook in Hiccup's hands once she finished.
Why hasn't the Foreverwing taken control of the dragons yet? Astrid had written.
Maybe it's holding off? Hiccup answered, but he knew that wasn't the reply Astrid was looking for.
We haven't seen Hilmar at all the entire time we were out here. Surely he would've taken control of the dragons right now unless—
Suddenly, the dragons snapped their heads in Hiccup, Astrid, and Rin's direction. Said woman abruptly stood up from her rock and turned around, her eyes narrowed, lips curled back in fury. She ripped out her cutlass and brandished it with the hand of an expert swordswoman, but her movements were tight and her hand gripped the blade so tightly, her knuckles turned whiter than the moon. The dragons growled at whoever was standing behind them. Hiccup couldn't hear their snarls, but he could feel them.
Only one person could rile the usual calm and collected Rin so badly. Astrid stood up and spun around, her axe already in hand. Hiccup turned, unsheathing his own sword from his side, his eyes hardening at the person standing a few feet away from them.
In front of them stood Rin's father, Hilmar the Heinous.
And he was angry.
Author's Note: DANG YOU, HILMAR! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS SHOW UP AT THE WORST POSSIBLE TIMEEEEE AHHHHHHH-!
*Whispers to self* Okay, calm down Moon, calm down...You're the author, you made this happen. So, in reality, you should be mad at yourself.
...But I don't really regret anything, so there's no need to be upset. B)
Haha, anyway...Thank you guys so much for reading, and I'll see ya in the next chapter! =D (I swear it won't be late this time! X))
Until the next chapter!
~BeyondTheMoon1203