Chapter 7: Night Terror
I know that most people aren't able to remember their night terrors. But some can. I did my research on night terrors, but I'm not an expert.
I originally had one of the bad guys as Viggo...but after the last season came out...I couldn't.
I'm sure even Viggo wouldn't have stooped that low.
RIP Viggo Grimborn. You will be missed.
Krogan, however? Wouldn't put it past him. Son of a half troll got what he deserved.
After HTTYD2
(Eret's POV)
It's a late night on Berk. I'm dreaming of Becky's and my wedding day. She was the most beautiful woman I'd ever laid eyes upon that day, and that's saying something; she looks that beautiful every day. At least to me, she does.
I'm woken by Becky whimpering in her sleep, her whimpers getting louder by the second.
Another night terror.
I remember Valka telling me to not wake her up during her night terrors, as that could leave her more frightened than before.
She starts screaming.
I try to keep myself calm for her sake. I can't leave her, but I haven't a clue what I should do.
"DRAGO NO! LEAVE HIM ALONE! It's me you want! ...It...it's me you want. Please...please...he doesn't deserve this..." Becky's screams lessen to whimpers, which lessen to heart-wrenching sobs.
It's all I can do to not put a hand on her shoulder.
"No...please, no...Eret, don't leave me...please don't leave me...I need you..."
I watch her, hoping she'll wake soon.
She suddenly bolts up in bed, looking around with wide eyes. She turns to face me.
"E-E-Eret?"
"I'm here, my love. I'm here." I put a hand to her cheek, my heart breaking for her.
She collapses, sobbing, and I don't hesitate to hold her close, knowing she needs me.
"It's over, love. Becky, it's over. I promise you it's over. Shhhh. You're okay. You're okay. I've got you. I've got you."
Neither of us says anything for the next several minutes as I just hold her.
Her sobs soon diminish, and she rests against me, both emotionally and physically exhausted.
"We...we were on his ship...and you were getting branded...we couldn't leave for an hour and the burn was just getting worse and worse and I...I couldn't do anything. You were in pain and you were slowly dying. There was nothing I could do to save you."
"Oh, my darling. My sweetheart. I'm so so sorry. I'm right here, baby. I promise. I'm not ever leaving you. I promise."
"C-can we go for a walk?"
"Of course we can, hon."
I help Becky up and we walk downstairs and out our door.
We start walking through the village, and I'm careful to avoid any place that might remind her of Drago.
She leans on me, and I have my arm around her shoulder, making sure she's warm enough.
I should've grabbed the blanket from our sofa.
"Are you warm enough?"
"I think so. Thank you."
"You're welcome."
We walk in silence, me occasionally glancing at her, still overwhelmed that she's my true love.
I know that now isn't the best time to be thinking about that sort of thing, but I just am.
And I know she's still overwhelmed that I'm her true love, too.
And I'm okay with that.
We go to the Cove, and we sit against a log.
She slowly starts to fall back to sleep, so I gently lay her head on my lap.
I look at the small lake near us.
Tuffnut had told me that this was the very lake that Becky had tried to drown herself in before she was brought into their family.
If she had succeeded...Gods, I can't even think about that without tearing up.
Just the thought of losing her, to Drago...or to suicide...
My thoughts are interrupted by Becky stirring.
"Shhh. I'm here, my love. I'm here. I won't let anyone or anything hurt you. I promise."
I try my best to get comfortable, not wanting to wake my wife.
"Eret?"
"Hmmm?"
"Can I talk to you about something?"
"Of course, my love. What is it?"
"You know how I never talk about my biological family?"
"Yes."
"My parents - my real parents - they were killed in a dragon raid when I was 16...that was before I came to Berk."
"Oh, honey. I'm so so sorry."
"Thank you. But that's not all. I...before I came to Berk, I...I was going to be sold into slavery."
"Slavery?"
"Yes. Much like how I was when I was with...with you-know-who...exactly like that, except not as bad."
"Go on."
"But when I saw who I was going to be working for...I fled my island, and I ended up drifting to Berk. Hiccup rescued me and the rest is history."
"Who were you going to be working for?"
"A man by the name of Krogan."
"I knew him. He was punished by Drago for failing him."
"I know. He was punished during the ten months I was away from you."
"Oh, gods. Did you-?"
"See him get punished? No. All I know is he was a step below Drago and he was a dragon flyer."
"So Krogan was after you?"
"Yes. Drago punished him for failing him, and for wanting me. I was only Drago's. Krogan prized me more than the other women on my home island."
"And you were only 16 then?"
"Yes."
"Oh, gods. 16 and you became an orphan...that's not that young, but it's still too young to lose your parents...and for you to almost become...become...you know what I mean."
"Ruffnut and Tuffnut thought me dead...they told that to Krogan during one of their encounters with him. But he saw me when I was with Drago. Krogan wanted to get to me. The scary thing is, Drago actually protected me."
"How far along were you then?"
"About seven months."
"He wanted to protect his baby."
"But then why did he kill him after he was born?"
"He's a madman...you of all people know that. So...when you tried to kill yourself all those years ago, before we met?"
"It was because of losing the only family I'd ever known...because of what I could have gone through with Krogan."
"You didn't have pain back then?"
"No...it only surfaced around my 20th birthday. Before I was brought into the Thorston family, I tried to kill myself. Because of what I could've gone through with Krogan and losing my parents. It was all too much for me."
"Oh, gods. And then you had to deal with being banished from Berk, away from your adoptive family. Dealing with Drago, losing your son. In my opinion, the gods should give you a break every now and then. But if you had been working for Krogan, you wouldn't have met your adoptive family...you probably wouldn't have even met me."
"I probably would've killed myself because I didn't have people who loved me."
"You do now."
We look behind us and see Ruffnut and Tuffnut.
"Ruffnut? Tuffnut? What are you guys doing here?" Becky asks.
"We followed you." Ruffnut says.
Becky and I both give them looks as they climb over the log, sitting next to their adoptive sister.
"And we heard our sister having a night terror. We've grown accustomed to recognizing when she's having one." Tuffnut says.
"She had them even before Drago?" I ask.
"Of course. Her family was killed in a dragon raid before she came here." Ruffnut says.
"And with what I could've gone through with Krogan, that made my imagination go wild."
"Anyway, you now have people who love you, Becky. You've got us. And you've got Eret. You didn't have to love her, Eret. But you do. And we didn't have to adopt her into our family, but we did." Ruffnut starts.
"I will be eternally grateful to you for adopting her into your family. She needed a family. And you delivered." I say.
"Until someone – not mentioning any names, Becky – got banished from Berk." Tuffnut says, smirking at his adoptive sister.
"Granted, Tuff, it was for my own protection. And getting banished wasn't sobad in retrospect." Becky looks at me.
"I got a pretty sweet guy out of it, after all."
"No, you're the sweet one."
"No, you are."
"No, you are."
"You both are!" Ruffnut and Tuffnut exclaim at us, tired of our lovey-dovey antics.
Becky and I laugh before starting to make out.
"Get a room!" Tuffnut says. Our lips still locked, Becky takes this opportunity to playfully smack her brother.
Ruffnut and Tuffnut soon leave us.
Becky soon falls back asleep, a smile on her face as she leans on me.
I know that together, we can get through anything.
Even night terrors.
