Toothless lunged first. He grabbed one of the crew and threw him overboard. Then he charged up a plasma blast and shot another crew member, breaking the hull and scattering wood everywhere. As other's shielded their eyes from the debris, Hiccup used it as cover to move near the other crewmates and cut them down.
They finally got their wits about them and started attacking the dragon and his rider. Swords clashed, but their iron was no match for Hiccup's gronckle iron and almost like butter his flaming sword cut through weapons and bodies alike. As more crew fell, it became clearer how hopeless it was. Hiccup pushed shoved and attacked his way through each person's defenses as Toothless, covered him from behind.
After a few minutes, part of the ship was on fire and most of the crew lay dead. Only three remained. The captain and two other crewmates. Toothless began charging another shot but stopped when the crew surrendered. The dragon saw the hopelessness in their eyes and the loss of their will to fight. Hiccup was not so merciful. With two quick strikes he decapitated both of the crewmates. He turned slowly towards the captain. Toothless stared, shocked at the two dead bodies unsure of what happened to his best friend.
Hiccup grabbed the captain by the neck, "Who sent you!"
In a terrified and garbled mess the captain spoke, "No one! We are independent!" Hiccup didn't like that answer and punched the man. "I swear!"
Hiccup raised his sword towards the man's face, "Then tell me why you kidnapped these teenage girls!"
The captain held up his hands in a placating gesture, "It's good money! We capture women and sell them. The younger, the higher the price tends to be. No hard feelings, it's just business."
"BUSINESS!" Hiccup cut the man's ear off, the heat of the flames immediately cauterizing the wound. "What kind of a business sells women! Especially the younger ones! You know damn well what happens to them once they are sold!" Hiccup raised his sword again this time ready to strike him down.
The captain fell on his knees and begged, "Please, have mercy!"
Hiccup let out a mirthless laugh, "Mercy? You mean like you were going to show these women?" He yelled. "You don't deserve any mercy." He growled.
Once again Hiccup raised his sword to finish him off, but Toothless nudged him and crooned softly. Hiccup looked at the night fury and saw him pleading. Hiccup came to his senses and lowered his sword, his expression softening. Then he sighed.
"You're right bud," he gave Toothless a quick pat on the head. "We will have a trial." With that he then knocked out the captain and found some rope lying around and used it to hogtie the man. Hiccup silently thanked Snotlout and the twins for their tying him up when they were younger so he learned how to do this.
Hiccup searched the ship and found no others aboard the vessel. So he quickly untied the three captives and ushered them onto Toothless' back. It was a bit more weight than he was used to, but it needed to be done. Hiccup climbed on as well and they took off. Toothless grabbed the unconscious captain as they flew by.
They did one circle around the ship before Toothless dove and shot once below the water level causing the whole ship to rock and sway. In a few minutes it is going to sink. Satisfied, they headed back to Berk. Zephyr was grabbing on tightly to Hiccup's back.
"That's the second time you saved me this week." She said.
"Let's not make it a habit okay?" He said, and she nodded into his back.
"You're the chief of Berk right?" One of the other females asked.
"That's me miss." Hiccup replied.
"Thank you so much for saving us, these monsters kidnapped us from Berserker island. I didn't know we deserve the attention of a chief, but I'm glad you came."
"Nonsense, no one is too insignificant for the chief. Normally I would say a chief protects his own, but you aren't mine to protect. We are allies however, I think, so I'll let it slide." He gave her a sideways smile then returned to looking at the front.
There wasn't much to be seen, this late at night. Hiccup was relying entirely on Toothless. The rest of the ride was a comfortable silence. And after a few minutes, lights appeared on the horizon. Berk is here. They stopped by the healer's hut and dropped off the two young ladies, to make sure they weren't injured and had at least a place to stay the night.
They then dropped off the captain in the jail cells. Who knew we had jail cells on Berk? Granted this was a new Berk, but still. Once the man was sufficiently locked away and guarded, Hiccup felt it was time to take Zephyr home. That was until it dawned on him, I have no idea where she lives. I can't just ask her, I'll look like an idiot.
Hiccup walked over to Zephyr who was still sitting on Toothless. She was slowly stroking his side. Hiccup climbed in front and gave Toothless' neck a good rub.
"Hey bud, can you take her home?" He asked hoping Toothless at least knew where she lived. The dragon nodded and bounced down the street. They passed by most of the houses until they reached the edge of the town. There was a large two story house that was in a secluded part just outside the village. The building had a large A-frame to help the snow fall off and it had multiple dragons etched into the wood. They seemed to look like Stormfly and Toothless. It was surrounded by trees and Hiccup could hear muffled voices on the inside. Her parents must be worried sick.
Toothless stopped just outside the front door. Hiccup and Zephyr dismounted. Hiccup put his forehead to the dragons, "Thank you Toothless." Zephyr also put her hand on his head and thanked him as well.
As they approached the door, Hiccup paused. He turned and looked at Zephyr and gave her a mock bow. As he opened the door he said, "After you M'lady." Which earned him an eye roll from the young valkyrie.
Now that she was safe and sound Hiccup was in a much better mood. He almost forgot about the captain currently stinking up his jail cell. Keyword: almost. As they stepped through the precipice and into the domicile they were immediately greeted by a scream.
"Zephyr!" Astrid screamed as she ran over and grabbed the teenager into a giant hug. Zephyr choked and tried to push back from the attacker. Hiccup noticed that they weren't alone. Other than Astrid, there were three others in the room. The older woman from the council meeting and a white haired couple. Hiccup immediately recognized them as Astrid's parents, just an older version of them.
"-m, air!" Zephyr choked out. Astrid immediately put her down and moved the hair out of her face and behind her ear.
"Right! Sorry." Astrid put her down, "I'm just glad you are safe." Astrid gave her a quick hug before facing Hiccup.
"And you mister, Thank you for-. Hiccup! What on Midgard happened to you!" She yelled, running over to inspect him.
"What?" He furrowed his brows in confusion.
"You're covered in blood! What did you do? Are you hurt?" She asked worriedly. Everyone else also approached equally worried. Hiccup looked down and realized he was indeed nearly covered from head to toe in blood.
A little shocked himself he said, "I'm fine. I just uh, had a chat with the crew."
Astrid stared at him. Both in amazement and fear. "Go get washed up, we will talk later." She dismissed him.
"Sorry, which way is the washroom?" He asked and she looked at him for a brief second as if he was insane. Her eyes widened a bit when she remembered his memory.
"Right, it's the far room on the left. Water is already in there, but it's definitely cold by now." Astrid's parents watched him leave questioning his weird antics.
The washroom was simple, just a large tub and a section for coals. There was also a piece of metal that was polished to create a mirror. The coals were low and the air was frigid. Not entirely the best temperature for a bath, so he decided to scrub himself as best as he could with his clothes still on.
The water wasn't freezing, but it still wasn't warm. He used the water to rinse off and scrub the blood that collected on his hands and arms before trying to remove as much as he could from the clothes covering his chest and legs. It took a bit of time, but he managed to get most of it out. He then looked in the mirror to get the rest off of his face and beard. He let out a small chuckle. How had I not noticed I had a beard before.
Hiccup realized that he wasn't really a hiccup anymore. Sure he was still smaller than the sheer size of his father or most other vikings, but he still shouldn't be trifled with. Nothing quite reminds you that you are indeed not a 15 year old boy like looking at your older self in a mirror.
After he finished cleaning himself up, he was on his way out of the washroom when he heard voices. It seemed that the majority of the people had left and only Astrid and Zephyr remained. He didn't want to eavesdrop, but he leaned in towards the door to listen. They were talking about the events that just transpired.
Zephyr cleared her throat, "I was out in the forest, you know teaching those trees a lesson on manners." Astrid chuckled at that. "Then I went for a flight on Pouncer, it was short and simple just to clear my head."
"Then these men docked on the north beach. I didn't see them until it was too late. They grabbed me and tied me up on their boat. I tried fighting back but there were too many. We started sailing away, I thought. . . I thought." Zephyr choked up tears welling in her eyes.
Astrid pulled her in close, "It's okay Zeph, you don't have to finish." Astrid pulled back a bit to look down at Zephyr, "You know what we say right?" Zephyr straightened her back and took a deep breath trying to calm herself down.
She looked Astrid in the eyes and said, "Haddocks don't cry." Her mother chuckled. Hiccup however froze. Wherever his mind was, it was now firmly dragged back down into the present. That was not what he was expecting her to say. His brain was running a million miles an hour. Every single puzzle piece was falling into place. The auburn hair, Astrid being nice, the shocked faces, why she hugged him, the anger. It all made sense. So the initials were not for Hofferson but for Haddock. His name. But that's not possible. Is it? I'm useless and everyone made sure I knew it. There's no way she's my daughter. Hiccup thought.
"That's right we don't" Astrid said. "Now, run off to bed. I still need to talk to your father when he finishes cleaning up."
Well that settles it. He heard Zephyr scurry off to the other room. After a brief pause he emerged from the washroom. Astrid was sitting in a chair facing the fire that was warming the house. She looked up at him.
"Much better." She said with a smile.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He accused her.
She raised an eyebrow and sat up straighter, "Tell you what?"
He rolled his shoulders, "Oh, I don't know, small stuff like the fact that we are married. Or that I have a daughter. You know things that might give me a heart attack when I figure that out!"
She sighed, "You are supposed to figure them out by yourself. That's what brings your memories back."
He huffed, "I did figure it out on my own and it didn't bring any memories back. I just feel lightheaded. I need to sit." He walked over to the chair next to Astrid and plopped down. He looked over to her, she was looking down at the floor. She must feel guilty.
After all, it was pretty obvious. She had a marriage braid, was not wearing her kransen and had a small fur cape which signified her status as the chief's wife. And he was the chief. Hiccup got so overwhelmed with everything that was going on he managed to fail to see the obvious signs of their relationship. If he was this oblivious, how is he going to get his memory back on his own?
"Hey Astrid," She looked over to him. "I understand why you did it. Sorry for getting mad at you. Just please, no more secrets. Tell me at least the big things."
She smiled weakly, "Alright. No more secrets."
Here she was. His lifelong crush who just so happens to now be his wife. He wanted to console her but he didn't have a single clue how. He started to reach his hand over to try and comfort her. He was hesitant and approaching slowly as if she was going to explode.
Well, she didn't explode but the door to the other room did. Hiccup and Astrid both jumped as the door came flying across the house and sliding to a halt just before the couple. Hiccup stared at the door terrified of what crazed monster might have caused this. Astrid looked pissed.
Hiccup turned and looked at the door, unable to form words at what he just witnessed, when a young boy stepped through the door. This sucked Hiccup's breath out of his lungs. He was looking at himself. It was a boy that looked almost exactly like Hiccup remembered himself. He wore an olive shirt but no vest. With just normal tan pants. He also had the same green eyes. This boy however had blonde hair which looked just like Astrid's. Hiccup's eyes widened. It can't be.
The small boy looked sheepishly over to his parents, "It's just a minor calibration issue." His eyes locked with Hiccups, "Sorry Dad."
Hiccup stared at him. His son. Completely at a loss for what to say or do. So Hiccup did the most natural thing he knew. He passed out.
