Author's Note: Some of you guys are gonna hate me for this chapter...Be warned. =')

Hello everyone and welcome back to "Sounds of Silence!" =D Some random good news I felt like sharing: I got accepted into an early college program that I'll be starting in the fall! =D I've been wanting to get ahead in school for some time, as I feel like majority of my classes aren't challenging enough, so I'm hoping that when I start these new classes, I'll feel like I'm actually being challenged. X) And I might even earn a degree by the end of high school. =D I'm super excited, but I'm extremely nervous as well. X) I hope that things will go well!

Anyway, here's the next chapter for "Sounds of silence!" =D *Sniffs* We're so close to the end, ya'll. Just four more chapters remaining. =') *Cries*

Chapter Twenty-One: An Unexpected Turn

Hilmar had found them. And he was not happy.

In an instant, Rin charged, what appeared to be a battle cry tearing from her lips. Fire burst from above, accurately representing the two's emotions as they attacked each other. Flames flashed from above, the bursts of fire coming from the distant battles on Berk. Rin slashed, swiped, and sliced at her father with her cutlass. The gemstones on the handle flashed brightly, as if it were feeding off of Rin's rage. However, Hilmar was her match, and he easily dodged and blocked each and every blow that Rin swept his way. The man lunged with his large axe, but Rin quickly rolled out of the way, landing on one knee before gritting her teeth and attacking with fury.

Astrid pulled out her own axe and charged too, hoping to incapacitate Hilmar alongside RIn. It was two against one; Hilmar was outnumbered, but he was strong and Hiccup knew that the two wouldn't last for very long. He turned to the dragons, who looked ready to jump in and intervene, but Hiccup had other thoughts.

"You guys keep on burning away the chains!" ordered Hiccup. The trio of dragons stared at him as if he had grown two heads. "I know we'd benefit if you were in the battle, but we need to get the Foreverwing free before Hilmar decides to use him!"

On cue, the Foreverwing shuddered and shook. The leaves rustled in the trees above and the various birds that had decided to land on the branches flew off into the night. The Foreverwing could feel what was happening, and he was probably panicking at this point. Hiccup turned around to survey the fight in front of him. Astrid took Hilmar from behind while Rin had the front. The two were strong together, and they shared a smooth battle dynamic. They leapt and dogged with unmatched grace and landed kicks or even blows with the butt of their weapons when they got close enough. Rin often took the first hits while Astrid followed. Hiccup deemed that the woman was still upset about her father's choices.

The two fought wonderfully, but their efforts weren't enough. Hilmar ravaged like a bear, swinging his axe with the strength of a lion. He parried every blow, dodged every attack. Hiccup didn't know whether to be incredibly frustrated or seriously impressed.

There wasn't much he could do since he was deaf, and someone needed to be ready to defend the dragons if Hilmar tried to hurt them. Still, Hiccup turned to Toothless and told him to fire a plasma blast in Hilmar's direction. The Night Fury obeyed instantly, shooting a bright purple blast at the Leader of the Dragon Slayers, who was momentarily stunned by the sudden hit. Once Hilmar got to his feet, he didn't attack. Instead, he stood as frozen as a statue. Astrid held her fighting stance while Rin approached her father. The grip on her cutlass slackened as she approached him; her eyes glittering with emotion. She spoke to him, but Hiccup could hear, allowing him only to observe as Rin once again tried to reconcile with her violent father.

…

Her steps were light. Her expression grim but pleading as she slowly approached her father. The very sight of him made her want to scream, shout, to anything to expression the tumult of emotions that raged through her chest. Rin's mind was screaming for her to land a blow, perhaps even run her father through, but in her heart, she sensed an opportunity. All she had to do was convince him to stop.

So many times had she tried to do so, and each time had failed. Rin felt like she was stuck in an endless loop whenever she tried to placate her father and cajole him to stop the strife and war that he had sparked. Eventually, she stopped trying. She succumbed to her father's ways without protest. Rin followed him everywhere, standing to the side watching. Witnessing. Seeing close up all the villages that he had destroyed. She had walked through the remains of the towns. She had seen the rubble and ashes. The bodies and poor, lonely souls who had lost everything to a forced dragon raid. Rin had seen it all, and yet she didn't do anything about it.

But no more, she thought when she stopped walking, only a few feet away from her father. She hated how weak she had felt then. She hated how her father treated her like he had control over her like a pawn. A puppet. Hilmar tugged at her strings, and she had no choice to obey. But as she stood before him, a sliver of moonlight shimmering onto both of their forms on the back of the dragon that started it all, Rin was lifting the dagger to cut those ties once and for all.

"Father, you need to stop," Rin said. She trembled with rage, but her voice cracked with desperation. "Just put an end to all of this. It doesn't have to be this way!"

"And why not?!" screamed Hilmar, gripping his axe tightly. Rin shifted on her feet, ready to defend herself if he decided to attack again. "These beasts don't deserve to live amongst us! They're nothing but monsters! You know what they did to your mother. I'm avenging her!"

"But is this really what she would've wanted?" asked Rin softly. She took a step forward. Hilmar glared down at her, eyes like stone. "Would she have wanted all this carnage, all this destruction? All this, and for what? When will you be soothed?! You need to accept the truth, father. The dragons aren't monsters! They only defend themselves when they feel threatened, and that's exactly what happened on the raid that night!"

"YOU'RE WRONG!" raged Hilmar.

"No, I'm not!" Rin shouted back. She gripped her cutlass tightly, but she didn't strike. "You cling to your sorrow, and you need to let it go! Losing mother didn't only hurt you, it hurt me too!" Tears threatened to spill from Rin's eyes. "I almost did something unforgivable, but I stopped myself knowing that revenge wouldn't make me feel any less bereaved. You need to let go of the past, let her go. She's gone, father, and this won't bring her back. Nor will it heal your wounds."

"You lie daughter!" seethed Hilmar. He charged and swung his axe, but Rin quickly parried with him, her face scrunched in determination. She had sparred with her father long ago when she was a child, and she knew every one of his tactics. Rin bravely rolled out of the way, brandished her sword, and blocked when her father charged again. Her hands gripped her cutlass tightly; the gemstones flashed in the moonlight.

Astrid came up from behind, ready to bash the head of her axe against Hilmar's head. She lifted her blade and leaped into the air, her axe held high over her head. She was about to bring it down when Hilmar suddenly turned around, and bashed his axe against Astrid's side, ripping her tunic and cutting a bit of her flesh. Astrid cried out and toppled to the ground. Before she could stand up, Hilmar had kicked her to the side. Astrid banged her head against a tree, and her axe flew out of her grip. Lifting her head, she weakly watched as Hilmar and Rin continued to fight.

Rin continued to parry, still not wanting to injure the only family she had left. She pressed her blade against her father's, her eyes flashed with grief.

"I know how you feel, father, but revenge isn't the answer! It's not going to solve anything, and it's not going to bring her back!" Rin knocked her sword against her father's axe and kicked him in the stomach, only hard enough to knock him over. The man leapt to his feet, his scarred eye rippling as he sneered at his daughter. Rin's scarred glowed against her smooth skin as she once again approached Hilmar. She threw her cutlass to the side, showing Hilmar that she wasn't going to fight him. For a fleeting moment, the man looked surprised.

"You need to let go," said Rin. She gestured to the area around them. "You need to embrace the future, and not wallow in the past. Stop torturing the dragons who had nothing to do with that raid. Just because they were bad doesn't mean they all are. End this now, father. I beg of you."

For a moment, Rin thought she had got through to her father. He seemed to be processing what she had just told him. She was proven wrong, however, when Hilmar's face turned red with anger, and he gripped his axe in his large hand. He stood up from the ground, seething.

"I will NEVER forgive those horrible creatures!" he howled in outrage, but anguish decorated the edges of his voice. With one final thrust, he managed to shove his daughter out of the way, slicing her side. Rin gasped and she fell to the ground, her slender fingers lifting to the gash on her side. Blood seeped past her fingers, and she looked up at her father, heartbroken. Hilmar only spat in the grass, his eyes as stoney as his heart. But even through the petrified look in his eyes, they appeared to be saddened. He turned his back from Rin and turned to Hiccup, who was the only one standing apart from the dragons, who were still working on the second to last chain. Hiccup gulped and he turned to Toothless, Clarity, and Stormfly.

"Ah, do you guys mind hurrying it up a little?" the young viking pleaded. The dragons continued to blast away, but they were already burning the chains away at their fastest.

Hilmar tossed his axe to the side. The thud of it landing against the ground sounded like an echo to Rin.

Astrid groaned from where she leaned against her tree, attempting to get up. She slumped against the trunk, pain decorating her features.

Hiccup continued to encourage the dragons to burn away the last and final chain, he glanced behind him to find Hilmar staring at him. Once again, he had gone completely still, which sent shivers down the boy's spine.

Without looking at her, Hilmar said to Rin, "I'm not going to kill you."

Rin got to her knees, using her arms to support herself. She breathed heavily, glaring at her father who stood before her.

Suddenly, he snatched the cutlass that Rin had dropped when she fell, and the woman's eyes widened in horror. Hilmar turned to Hiccup, gripping the curved blade in his grip. His eyes almost glowing with acrimony.

"I'll kill him instead," he growled.

…

Hilmar ran at Hiccup at full force, sword pointed and ready. The young viking turned around and his eyes widened at the sight of the blade coming straight for him. There were only mere seconds before it would run him through. Hilmar charged like a bull, a cry erupting from his lips. Hiccup was glued to the spot. He wanted to move, but he couldn't move. He couldn't move at all. His breaths quickened as he tried to force himself to do something—anything—to defend himself, but he was frozen. He was frozen in fear. Faintly, he could hear the other dragons behind him diving to his rescue, but somebody already had.

Rin.

She had placed herself between Hiccup and the sword, taking the stab herself. The sword ran through her as if she were paper, and the woman let out a scream as she fell to the ground. Realizing what he had done, Hilmar's hand trembled as he ripped out the sword, letting it fall to his side. It was coated with his daughter's own blood. His only daughter. Hilmar stumbled backward, mouth agape with shock.

Though he couldn't hear here, Hiccup was sure that Astrid had screamed from where she laid. Hiccup ran up to Rin, dropping to his knees beside her as he mumbled, "No, no, no, Thor please no!"

Hiccup's eyes watered as he examined Rin before him. Blood dripped from the side of her mouth. Her eyes flickered like a dying light. Her breaths were shaky and weak. Hiccup gripped her hand; it was cold. Tears threatened to spill past his eyes. He didn't only feel deplored, but he felt guilty. So very guilty.

"Why…?" he asked her quietly. "Why did you do that? You didn't have to…"

Rin said something back, but Hiccup couldn't hear her final words, and that caused the tears to fall.

Astrid appeared to know what Rin had said, and she locked eyes with Hiccup, promising that she'd tell him if they got out. When they got out.

Rin gave Hiccup's hand a gentle squeeze, and then her grip slackened. Her eyes became vacant. The slow rise and fall of her chest ceased.

Rin the Ravenous was gone.

Hiccup had forgotten that Hilmar was still standing there. From above him, the man turned from sorrow to hate. With shocking suddenness, he clenched his fists and shouted into the night, a sound that Hiccup knew everyone below could hear.

Stillness followed afterward. Astrid looked shocked, and Hiccup could read Astrid's lips say "harpoon!"

The Foreverwing shuddered. Then he shook and quaked. And though Hiccup couldn't hear him, he felt the dragon let out a roar that could be heard all the way to Valhalla.

Author's Note: ...

...

...

So...um...yeah...that just happened.

Before you guys yell at me, I did struggle writing this chapter, okay. =') This is the first time I've written a character death (well, an OC death in this case). I love Rin so much, but I was always planning on her being...well...killed off eventually.

...

...Yeah I'm just gonna go before you guys bring your angry dragons and pitchforks. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you in the next chapter. =) *Slinks into shadows*

Until the next chapter!

~BeyondTheMoon1203