"Modern myth".
How to train your dragon, Toothcup.
By: Sinattea.
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Disclaimer: Cressida Cowell owns the book series, Dreamworks owns the movies. I own nothing but this AU.
Note: I promised you, didn't I? Short chapter, though, but sooooo full.
I also Snaketongue-ed a lot in this chapter. Watch out for it.
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Read, enjoy, review! ! ! !
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Chapter 31: Cold dish.
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They started circling each other, slowly, carefully, aware that it was necessary to study the opponent before the inevitable fight.
- I know your secret, Toothless – Green Death stated sarcastically -. There is no way a human could've beat me.
Green Death never stopped chuckling to himself in the most dangerous of ways. Toothless tried to keep his expression as cold as possible, but despite his efforts his eyes were already shining with a dragon's ire.
- I know everything – Green Death kept teasing, earning a subtle roar from Toothless.
- And what do you expect to gain with that? No one will believe you.
- The Hunters already did.
Toothless stopped to a halt, swallowing. Green Death's maniac smirk widened.
- Oh, yes, I'm a Hunter now – he confirmed. He stepped away some meters, just to make sure Toothless wasn't interfering in the monologue he'd waited so long to shove on his face -. After you ruined my life, we moved south, but I wasn't going to let you get away with it… – a flush of rage exploded in his voice - This is my place! Mine! And my stupid father just walked away like that. He was weak, so I left him.
Toothless tried to seize the opportunity to take his enemy by surprise, but Green Death wouldn't let him, he kept walking backwards, in circles, keeping himself at the perfect distance. He might be talking, but beneath the black sunglasses his eyes were glued to Toothless, watching his every move. He definitely wasn't dumb as the bullies he surrounded himself with at BHS.
- I went on, following some rumors… letting some people know what happened to me even if they didn't believe me. By then I already knew you weren't human. It's not hard to figure out if you go to the right places. And they started looking for me, your biggest fans – he snorted in cruel laughter -. Till they took me to Italy, and you won't believe how much they hate you there! ! All of you. Hunters, myths… They knew it was a dragon as soon as they saw my scars; took me in right away. They taught me things. But the best part is, I didn't tell them shit! – he exclaimed, incredibly self-satisfied of how he'd outsmarted the Hunters, of how he'd outsmarted everyone - They think you're one of those… guardians, that you sent your dragon after me. But I know better. You are what they've been searching for all these years, and I didn't tell them a fucking word!
Toothless frowned, perplexed, what was he talking about? What did he mean by search? The Hunters hunted, period. Unless Green Death knew even more than Toothless feared, which he seemed to do.
- I kept the mouth shut, because if somebody is gonna kill you, dragon, that's gonna be me!
Kill? So Green Death was serious with all this stuff. He truly had become a Hunter and he no longer thought of Toothless as a person, only as the beast his new organization wanted to destroy.
- You're crazy if you think you can stand against a dragon – Toothless' fingernails slowly blackened, turning into sharp claws. Green Death had clearly gone insane, and he was a danger. He hated to think of it, but there was no other way to solve this other than playing along.
He would have to kill Green Death.
- Try to prove me wrong hybrid! – Green Death invited with a psychotic gesticulation, taking a leap towards Toothless, who immediately stepped up and punched him, knocking him down. Pieces of his black glasses scattered all over his face.
The ground shook as Green Death hit it, as if a giant stone and not a human had fallen. But instead of yelling in pain, the bully just laughed maniacally. He rolled over his back and pulled a small bottle from his pocket. Watching how Green Death opened the bottle, Toothless approached in suspicion, leaning to rapidly take it from his hands before he could use it (whatever it was); but in the moment Toothless touched it, its content spilled and he was the one to yell. His hand was burnt.
- Oh, yeah. I know 'bout the eel venom.
Green Death emptied the bottle on Toothless' feet and made him lose his balance out of shock and pain. Even through his shoes, the venom was strong enough to make Toothless feel as if his skin was melting in acid. Green Death stood up, grabbed a huge branch and covered it in the remains of the liquid poison spilled on the dirt. Then he attempted to hit Toothless with it, but the dragon-boy managed to sneak away since he was, even hurt, faster than the former quarterback. Desperate, Toothless removed his shoes to prevent the venom from producing further damage, but doing so hurt his hands enough to have the skin peeling of his fingers. It hurt unnaturally. What the hell was that?
Unfortunately, the seconds he spent looking at his hands in utter confusion were enough for Green Death to reach him with the venomous branch, that hit him in the stomach so hard it made him cough blood. Toothless fell to the ground, incapable of moving due to the appalling pain. How… how had Green Death done that?
Toothless gasped and coughed; he couldn't breathe. Green Death crouched next to his head, like a vulture.
- I could kill you right here right now, hybrid – he whispered -. But that would be too easy. I've been thinking it'd be a lot more fun to torture you, to ruin your life. Cliché, I know… But it feels so good to picture the face you'll have when I'm done. I can get why that is the ultimate vengeance: a dish best served cold.
- And what are you gonna do? – Toothless managed to mutter, streams of blood dripping through his half-open lips -. Rip off my wings? That won't work if I'm still human…
Green Death let out a laughter so cruel and terrifying it could have been the very devil's.
- Yeah, I'm rippin' off your wings. Metaphorically. Rumor has it, that you're not only a freak, but a fuckin' bitch – in this moment he smashed the branch against Toothless' body one more time, raging -. How would you like if I got my hands on that little boy of yours?
- Damn y- - -! !
Toothless tried to stand up, but Green Death saw it coming and smacked the poisonous branch against his face before he could even curse. More blood.
Green Death cracked the bones on his neck and knuckles as he walked away, amused, to take a look down the cliff.
- How fast you think he'll hit the bottom?
Toothless couldn't say anything, but gathering all his desire to protect Hiccup, he managed to roll over his side. If only he could stand up, if he weren't so dizzy to transform…
Then the voices came. And they were really close.
The gang was running towards them, calling Hiccup frantically, begging him to come back and warning him that he was out of his senses, that he would get killed (not literally, because they had no idea what was actually going on) if he meddled into that fight.
And Toothless saw Hiccup, running out of the tress into the viewpoint clearing, still very far from him or Green Death, but closing in.
He couldn't shout at Hiccup, tell him to stay away… Toothless felt so powerless he wanted to cry. He had to stand up, he had to reach him…
Hiccup stopped as soon as he realized Green Death wasn't the one laying on the dirt.
Toothless was now on all fours, trying to force his feet to obey and move. But then the corner of his right eye caught the most terrifying image: Green Death was taking his hands to his mouth, crooked in a deadly smirk, making a funnel around it… Toothless knew all too well what those gestures indicated.
Green Death breathed fire against Hiccup.
- NOOOOO! ! !
Everything disappeared in a toxic cloud of heat and smoke, turning the viewpoint into a dreadful imitation of hell.
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Although Astrid and Fishlegs were the leads, it was the twins who saw the fire first. "Watch out!" they yelled, and pushed everybody down as a surreal explosion expanded above their heads and faded in a second, leaving some branches and leaves on fire, but without hurting them.
- What the hell was that? – gasped Astrid, clumsily standing up.
- Someone blew up the viewpoint – Fishlegs' eyes were open in pure terror.
- Hiccup! ! Toothless! !
They all kept running uphill, boiling tears of fear streaming down their eyes, desperate to reach the top and at the same time horrified of what they might find.
What they found, however, they never saw it coming.
Hiccup lied on the floor, curled up beneath a strange, hideous figure. No, curled up with a strange, hideous figure. He seemed to be unharmed, despite the grass turned to ashes around him, but what was that thing holding him? ? That… black, winged beast?
The smoke dissipated, revealing a familiar human face and body attached to the demonic features, blended with them.
- T-Toothless…? ?
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Just before the fire hit him, Toothless managed to reach Hiccup and enfold him in his wings, tighter than ever. Hell unleashed around them, but it couldn't hurt them inside the black cocoon of a Night Fury's skin and scales. They were safe. They were alive. Right?
- Hiccup? ? – the dragon-boy called, distressed.
Hiccup's hands pressed the arms around him with a little more force, letting Toothless know that he was alright, although he couldn't speak right now due to the smoke.
None of them could move, or speak, or think. Not yet.
The smoke cleared and Green Death's silhouette became visible, advancing towards them with a huge smirk on his face.
- I knew it! – he yelled, triumphant - No human could've ever beat me! You're a freakin' hybrid! !
Toothless could barely breathe, least of all stand, but he could shield Hiccup with his wings. And he would die before allowing any harm come to him.
If only he could take a couple minutes, to quickly treat his injuries before fully dragonizing, then he would show Green Death how Night Furies had earned their names.
Such thing, sadly, was not going to happen.
- You're a fuckin' dragon hybrid! – repeated Green Death. Unexpectedly his expression mutated into a cold mask of satisfaction; he held a syringe next to his face - So am I.
He stuck the needle in his arm and injected its whole content inside of him.
Green Death let out a gruesome scream, and fell to the ground face-first amidst seizures. Hiccup and Toothless could do nothing but watch as the convulsions went on, for an entire minute that felt much longer than it should have.
Then everything went quiet. Green Death stopped moving, but Toothless' senses, even clouded as they were, warned him this was far from over. The bully started laughing again, his laughter making the dirt his face was buried in tremble. He incorporated slowly, and Toothless witnessed in terror how Green Death's hands turned into claws as he did so, how scales appeared around his eyes and his clothes were ripped by numerous scales growing from his spine. As he drew a psychotic smile, his teeth sharpened into fangs and smoke blew out of his nostrils.
- You. Are. Dead – he sentenced in a guttural, inhuman voice.
He took a couple steps towards the boys, exhaling more smoke with every step, when his left shoulder abruptly exploded in a bloody hail. He turned around with a ferocious roar.
Evelyn stood right behind him, a gun raised before her, with trembling hands. She'd been thinking of saying something along the lines of "stay away from my boys", very hero like, but such vain thoughts wiped from her mind in the second she saw this… thing threatening them.
- What the…
She shot again when Green Death tried to jump at her. And again, and again; forcing him to retreat out of the potency of her gun's impacts, although the bullets didn't seem to stop him. For a second, her paranoid thoughts came to believe that they didn't even hurt him.
When she ran out of ammo, it was time to reach for her second gun, but Toothless seized the opportunity to tackle Green Death down, and they both rolled over to the very edge of the viewpoint's clearing.
They struggled for what felt like hours, until Toothless' wings and tail gave him advantage and he was capable of pushing Green Death down the cliff.
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- Toothless! – cried Hiccup, running to him and hauling him away from the edge, as if fearing he might follow Green Death just to make sure he really fell.
Now that the danger was over, that his beloved one was there, safe, holding him in his arms, the rush of adrenaline that allowed Toothless' body to move vanished, and the dragon-boy collapsed like a ragdoll, both his human and dragon self writhing in pain.
Hiccup tried to calm him down, to whisper soothing words to his ear, but it was obvious that Toothless was suffering. He was blood-covered; Hiccup remembered all too well what blood-loss meant for dragons.
Evelyn stood next to them, but she was leaning over the broken fence to look down the cliff.
- I don't see his body – she said, grim -. I'll get my electric weapons and go- - -
- No! ! – Hiccup interrupted immediately, his voice full of determined authority -. Toothless is hurt, he needs you. We'll take him to Sunstone.
- You're telling me to let that… thing go? What if he's not dead?
- I don't care! ! We help Toothless first! – Hiccup's tone of voice left no place for arguments: he was so not dealing with that shit.
Not even Evelyn Valhalla could gather the guts to say no to him right then.
- You're right – she conceded -. Priorities. I'm sorry, Jay.
She grabbed her second gun and aimed it at the trees, without unlocking it.
- You! Don't stay there just watching. Come and help! Now! – she yelled at six figures that left their hideout to obey.
It wasn't until that moment that Hiccup realized his friends were there.
And they'd seen everything.
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Another note: Apparently I gave away a lot of information with the last chapter. Many of you realized it at the same time Hiccup did! But still, I bet you didn't see THIS coming! ! !
Oh, yes, this fic is so not over yet. :-)
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I can't promise the next chapter for the next week, for a lot of reasons (one of them being that I have an original story to work on... and a FOURTH DATE! ! ! *squee* Even Squirrel can't believe this is actually happening! ^^), but I can guarantee it won't take longer than two weeks, because it's christmas time! !
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Thanks a lot you awesome reviewers! ! !
diedoktor, Let my dragons roar, NinjaDino721, Sessyruby, The Dragon Squid,
Ern Estine 13624, animelovernewbie, Guest, Splendidguy44, LorreVarguhl,
AliceCullen3, Mayanderson99, violets fire, Kigen Dawn, AlexJohnD, Purified Sins,
ADragonDreamer, BlueStar29, Guest, BigBabyBooDragon.
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