Ch.8: Throughout the Years

It has been 6 years since Hiccup and Toothless left Berk and arrived in Corona. A lot of things have changed since their arrival. Corona became the first kingdom to live in piece with dragons and the only place to have a Dragon Training Academy. Of course, Hiccup was in charge of it and he taught everyone how to train and ride dragons. But who was in charge when Hiccup and Toothless were not around? That would be the second best rider, Rapunzel. Hiccup trusted her with everything and how couldn't he when in just 2 weeks the princess was about to be become his wife. King Fredrik insisted on writing the invitation letters. He sent them by ship and not by dragons as he didn't want to cause any panic. However, despite the upcoming wedding and how much Hiccup and Rapunzel loved each other, the king still wondered what were the strange sounds coming from inside Rapunzel's room during nighttime that resulted in Toothless sleeping until noon. Queen Auriana had a feeling what was going on, but decided to keep it to herself.

Hiccup's life couldn't be better. It was true that he and Toothless sometimes went on dangerous missions, like the one 2 years ago when the two of them went to Berk at night to free the captured dragons. They were caught by Astrid, but Toothless managed to knock her out by a slap with his tail, long enough for them to escape before anyone else showed up at the arena. They also went to the other Viking–inhabited islands to free the dragons and they took all of them to Corona.

Now, everyone in the kingdom has their own dragons. Some even have 4, like Mari, who befriended the Nightmare, Zippleback, Nadder and Gronckle from Berk. The little girl was extremely happy and named them Hookfang, Barf & Belch, Stormfly and Meatlug, respectively.

As for Toothless, he was becoming an excellent leader to the dragons in Corona. He had a new tailfin. Hiccup made a more darkish yellow tailfin, cause he knew that bright yellow didn't go well with the Night Fury. Hiccup even made himself an armor from dragon scales, which he always wore on missions or when he was in the sky with Toothless to test the flying mechanism of the suit. He had made himself an interesting weapon, which he called 'Inferno'. From one end came out a sword that bursts into flames thanks to a Monstrous Nightmare gel, and the other sprayed a Zippleback gas. As for the new tailfin for Toothless, Hiccup not only changed its color, but also added a locking mechanism so Toothless can fly on his own when he wants to.

Yup, Hiccup couldn't ask for a better life. Only if he knew that one of the ships King Fredrik sent with the invitations had mistakenly took course straight for Berk.

Speaking of Berk, the only good thing that had happened was the dragons mysteriously stop raiding.

A few months after Hiccup had mysteriously disappeared, Stiock had named Snotlout a heir and after a few weeks, he immediately regretted his decision.

Snotlout tried to impress Astrid every day, but she always rejected him. One time, before the dragons disappeared, he tried to impress her by facing the Nightmare and the results were catastrophic. The Stocker Class dragon burned several houses and even part of the Great Hall was burnt, and people couldn't get close to it as it had covered itself in flames. The rampaging continued for nearly an hour before the dragon tired itself out and the Vikings quickly put it back in its cage before it could start another rampage. What's worse, they were raided that night and they barely survived. Nearly every animal was taken and their food supply decreased drastically. After that raid, Stoick said that he'll choose another heir as Snotlout was incapable of being a leader. Heck, with his tries to impress Astrid, he caused more destruction than Tuffnut and Ruffnut usually did.

Right now, Stoick was at a meeting in the Great Hall with some of the other tribe chiefs they were allies with, mainly Bertha from the Bog–Burglar tribe and her daughter, Camicazi; Alvin from Outcast Island and Oswald from Berserker Island, and his children, Dagur and Heather. They were discussing the sudden disappearance of the dragons from their respective training arenas.

Everyone was confused on why and how did the dragons disappeared, except Heather. She looked more worried than the others because she the truth.

(Flashback; 8 months ago)

Heather was walking around Berserker Island in the middle of the night when she suddenly heard noise coming from the arena. She quickly, but quietly walked over and peered over the cage. She was shocked by what she saw. There was a human down there with a Night Fury right behind him. The figure walked over to the cages and slowly opened every single one of them, letting the dragons (a Monstrous Nightmare, a Scauldron, a Changewing, a Whispering Death, a Timberjack and a Razorwhip) out. Heather must've been seeing things, because the dragons didn't act ferocious at all. They all seemed to be calm. That's when the figure spoke to them.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you. We're here to get you out of here, but you need to be quiet," said the figure, gesturing between him and the Night Fury.

Heather was more confused than ever. She had to do something. Something, that didn't result in her getting killed. She slowly walked to the entrance of the arena and decided to let herself known.

"Who are you and what are you doing," she asked, trying to sound brave.

The figure turned around, revealing to be a teenage boy. She wasn't expecting that. But she also wasn't expecting the dragons to growl at her. Without wasting a moment, the boy stood between her and the dragons, facing the reptiles.

"Guys, it's okay. Remember, be quiet or you'll wake the Vikings up ad we don't want that," said the boy and the dragons stopped growling, and the boy spoke to the Night Fury. "Toothless, make sure she doesn't get away."

The Night Fury nodded and jumped on Heather, pinning her to the ground. She looked at the dragon and saw its green eyes. She had never felt more scared in her life. She heard footsteps and saw the boy walking towards her.

"You're pretty crazy for coming here by yourself," said the boy.

"And you're crazy for being friends with a dragon," retorted Heather and the boy chuckled.

"You got a point there. But having a dragon as a best friend has its perks," said the boy.

"Okay, but can you get the dragon of off me. I promise I won't tell anyone," said Heather, scared.

"First of all, the dragon is HE and HIS name is Toothless," said the boy firmly.

"Okay, okay, now please let me go. My father, Oswald, will get worried," said Heather and the boy looked surprised.

"Wait! Oswald the Agreeable is your father? You're Heather," asked the boy in shock.

"How do you know my father," asked Heather.

"Being the son of the chief of Berk also has its perks," said the boy.

"The son of–. Wait, you're chief Stoick's son? You're Hiccup," asked Heather, surprised.

"Yeah, you can say that," said the boy, now known as Hiccup. "What have you heard about me?"

"Well, everyone in the Archipelago knows that you disappeared a few years ago. Some even thought that you've died, but considering you're standing right here, I guess they were wrong," answered Heather.

"Good. Let them think that," said Hiccup, coldly, taking Heather by surprise.

"What do you mean by that? Your father–," started Heather, but Hiccup interrupted her.

"My father doesn't care about me. The only thing he cares about is Berk and killing dragons," stated Hiccup. "He never spoke to me unless I accidentally destroyed something. He never really acknowledges me. It's like I'm invisible."

Heather couldn't believe what she was hearing. She has heard about Stoick's son being a weakling, but to be ignored by his father? That just couldn't be right, but a thought entered her mind.

"Can I ask you something," asked Heather and Hiccup nodded. "How did you become friends with Toothless?"

Hiccup sighed and told her his entire story. How he met Toothless, how he succeeded in dragon training, why he disappeared a few years ago, where he was staying, everything. Heather just stood there, listening. She couldn't imagine how hard must've been for Hiccup. After Hiccup finished his story, he chuckled, confusing Heather.

"What's so funny," asked Heather.

"You must've been really paying so much attention to my story that you didn't notice the Razorwhip standing right behind you," said Hiccup, gesturing to the said dragon.

Heather turned around and saw the Razorwhip standing calmly. She panicked and jumped back, bumping into Hiccup.

"Is it going to eat me," asked Heather in fear.

"If she wanted, she would've done it 10 minutes ago," said Hiccup with a smile and an idea came to his mind. He took Heather's hand and slowly walked towards the Razorwhip.

"Wait, what are you doing," asked Heather, scared.

"Just trust me. This is how Toothless and I became best friends," said Hiccup and the two stopped right in front of the dragon. "Extend your hand and close your eyes. Stay calm."

Heather wasn't sure if this could work, but still followed Hiccup's instructions. She slowly extended her hand and closed her eyes. A few seconds later, she felt something touching her opened palm. She opened her eyes, and gasped. The Razorwhip had pressed her snout against her palm.

"Congratulations, the two of you have bonded," said Hiccup happily.

Heather couldn't believe it. She just bonded with a dragon! She looked at the Razorwhip, who was calm and didn't appear aggressive and ferocious at all. She smiled and petted her dragon.

"You're not that scary," said Heather, softly.

"So, how are you going to name her," asked Hiccup.

"I'll call her Windshear," said Heather with a bright smile.

(End of Flashback)

Ever since that day, Heather sneaked into the woods every change she got to be with Windshear. She was the only Viking, who knew the truth. She knew that Hiccup was in Corona and the princess was his girlfriend. True to her word, she didn't tell anyone about Hiccup and hid Windshear pretty well in the woods.

"What are we going to without dragons," asked Bertha.

"We'll figure something out. There has got to be a way to get to the dragons' nest," said Stoick.

"Everytime we go near that fog, we get attacked by dragons," said Oswald.

"Not to mention the 'Dragon Conqueror' took the dragons we have captured," added Dagur and Heather smirked a little as she knew who the 'Dragon Conqueror' was.

"I've heard he only shows up at night with his Night Fury and has that flaming sword," said Camicazi.

"Maybe he's the one, who sends dragons to raid us," suggested Dagur and Heather had to do something before they all started thinking that Hiccup was a bad guy.

"Or he could be the one, who is keeping dragons away," said Heather and everyone looked at her. "Think about it. He showed up an year ago and months later, the dragons stop raiding us. Maybe he's trying both sides safe. By keeping the dragons away, we don't get hurt or killed and neither the dragons."

"That might be it, but what kind of a human would betray his own kind to be with those devils," said Stoick, angrily.

"If anyone speaks against Hiccup or Windshear again, I swear I'm lose it," Heather thought to herself as she glared at the Vikings.

Luckily, before anyone could say anything, the doors opened, revealing Gobber.

"Stocik, there are ships heading this way," said Gobber.

"Is it a raid," asked Stoick.

"No, they actually look like they're coming with a message," said Gobber.

"Let's see what this is about," said Stoick as he exited the Great Hall, followed by Bertha, Oswald, Camicazi, Dagur and Heather.

When they got to the docks, a ship, whose symbol was a golden sun docked and two men stepped out.

"Welcome to Berk, I'm chief Stoick. May I ask who you are," asked Stoick politely.

"Greetings! We come from a kingdom, called Corona," said one of the men and Heather quietly gasped. "We're here on behalf of King Fredrik to invite you to the wedding of his daughter and her chosen prince."

"We're invited to a wedding," asked Stoick.

"Excuse me, but where's the kingdom you speak of," asked Gobber.

"South from here. A little further from the boundary of the Archipelago," said the other man.

"But the boundary is nearly a week from here," reminded Dagur.

"Well, we don't want to disrespect the King. I accept the invitation. When is the wedding going to take place," asked Stoick.

"A week and 2 days from now," said the man.

"Very well. We'll be there," said Stoick.

"You can bring up to 10 guests with you," said the man.

"We could be part of those 10 guests," suggested Oswald, gesturing to himself, Bertha and the kids. Heather knew this was bad and had to find a way not to go.

"Actually, I think I should stay on Berserker in case of an invasion. Someone has to be in charge," said Heather.

"You're right," said Oswald and turned to Stoick. "What do you say?"

"Very well. The 4 of you may come. I'll bring Gobber, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Astrid and the twins with me," said Stoick to the men from Corona, who nodded and handed a paper to Stiock.

"We'd like you to write the names of the people you'll be bringing with you," said the man and Stoick wrote down everyone's names, and handed the paper back. "Thank you. We'll be expecting you."

"We'll be there," said Stoick.

The two men got on the ship and sailed away. Unknown to them, Heather had sneaked away and ran as fast as possible to the woods. Good thing she had secretly brought Windshear with her. She got on her dragon and they flew towards Corona. Hiccup needed to be warned about the upcoming visit.

To be continued…

Hey, everybody. I'm back with another chapter. I bet you weren't expecting Heather to be in the story, right? Anyway, I the next chapter, Heather will arrive in Corona for the first time and warn Hiccup about the Vikings. How will he react? Stay tuned for more. The next chapter will out at the begging of May. I'll see you next time. Until then, have a nice day.

R&R