Chapter Five: Lighting the Pyre
The audience was able to sooth down long enough to notice that the screen had lit up again.
Toothless was pacing around in the globe room, agitated and growling under his breathe. Jack was looking over the globe as North previously instructed, trying to find Hiccup. Rapunzel was wringing her hands and Merida was pacing as well, before looking up at the spirit.
"Anything?"
"Nothing. I see no little green dot, or whatever is supposed to represent Hiccup's belief, anywhere in the Nordic circle." Rapunzel then looked up. "North did say Pitch was here. Maybe he tampered with the globe." this made Jack frown and he hit the globe with his fist in frustration.
Hiccup was touched that his new friends were so concerned about him. Toothless was glad that Hiccup finally found a pack he can trust and rely on. But he couldn't focus on that at the moment. He needed to make sure that his brother was safe.
North then entered the room, Phil close behind. The two then approached Toothless. "Alright dragon. Just tell everything that happened to Phil. He's well versed in Dragonese and he'll explain everything." Toothless looked between North and the yeti, before breathing through his nostrils heavily, seeing no other options. He began speaking in his tongue, and Phil began translating in his own.
"I see. Hiccup and Toothless were flying when they were ambushed by the Dragon Rebellion." Merida frowned.
"'The Dragon Rebellion'?" Bunny sneered beside her.
"Furious's followers. The Dragon King." Rapunzel's eyes widened in terror.
"The Dragon King you mentioned has Hiccup!?" Jack soon joined in.
"Then why are we just sitting around? Let's go!" North held out his hand for silence. "We can't just rush in blindly. Is there anything else, Toothless?" Toothless then spoke some more, Phil translating shortly after. North frowned.
"Peculiar. One of the dragons, Groundshaker, started heading elsewhere instead of following the flock." North then marched over to the globe. "Groundshaker the Whispering Death," he announced, and all the lights on the globe went out until one remained. This light was flying fast overseas, and it was...
"Berk..."
"Why is he going there?"
"It's heading straight for Berk!" Merida frowned.
"That's Hiccup home!" North stalked away, and over to a small crate.
"Here is the game plan. Merida and Rapunzel will follow Groundshaker, find out what he is up to. Jack and Toothless will follow Hiccup. Considering he was taken by the Dragon Rebellion, best guess is he is at the Nest in Dragon Island."
The group nodded before Jack looked confused. "How's Toothless supposed to come. He can't fly without Hiccup, and I have no idea how to work his fin." North smiled.
"I got that covered." he turned away from the crate and presented something to the spirit and dragon. Something wrapped in a black tarp. When he pulls the tarp, what they see makes them smile.
The scene cuts to Hiccup terrified face being illuminated by the lava as he stares up at the leader of the Dragon Rebellion. Hiccup tries to look confident, but Furious just chuckled. "No need to look so hostile, young whelp. I merely had my soldiers bring you here so we could... negotiate." before they could continue, a Gronkle slowly approaches, a small fish in its paws. All was silent as the Gronkle presented it to Furious. The Red Death looked at the Boulder Class before in one swift move, closed his mouth around the poor dragon and ate him whole. Many dragons pulled back into their dark corners in fear.
"Did he just eat another Dragon?!" Jack cried out in terror, while the rest of the audience gasped in shock. While it was not unheard of for Dragons to pray on another, this was a Gigantic. An alpha dragon, a dragon supposed to provide for and protect the colony. They weren't supposed to eat them.
"My sincerest apologies. I never start a negotiation without a little snack."
Hiccup goes to take a step back, but a growl from behind makes him freeze. (To which Toothless growled at himself) Furious chuckles lowly. "Yes, you're right to be afraid in my presence. But in all honesty, I'm curious, young Viking. The Night Fury was loyal to me for many years, ever since I found him and gave him a purpose in my hive. And yet, as soon as he met you, he... defected." Furious's voice was calm, but the undertone of humiliation and anger was visible at the word 'defected'. "So that makes me wonder; what is so special about you, that he would abandon his kind for the very species that slaughtered his kin to near extinction?" Hiccup swallowed and straightened himself as he addressed the Red Death.
"Because we share a common goal. For man and dragon to live with each other in peace." Furious's eyes seemed to widen before they narrow on Hiccup in curiosity.
"You seem... familiar. Different, but familiar all the same. Tell me, Viking hatchling, what is your given name?" Hiccup gulped once more.
"Hiccup." Furious growled.
"Speak up!" the boy flinched, feeling helpless without his dear friend with him before he coughed and glared. "Hiccup." He announced. "My name is Hiccup." Furious reeled back in surprise, but not at Hiccup's disrespectful tone, but at his name.
"Hiccup?" he questioned, looking deep in thought. Hiccup looked nervous and prepared to flee before the Red Death's next words made him stop in surprise. "There was a boy I knew. Born a Viking, but we grew up together. He was my best friend. Practically my brother in all but species. He, too, was named Hiccup by his sire. He was known as Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Second by his colony."
Hiccup could only look shocked. "My ancestor?"
Everyone in Berk frowned to each other in confusion. Everyone, of course, knew about Hiccup the Second, the Traitor who sided with Dragons. He was, in fact, the reason everyone didn't want Valka or Hiccup to sympathies with the enemy. But no-one knew about Hiccup II being allies with such a beast.
"You're related?" Furious asked, inquisitive before he chuckled almost kindly. "Of course you are. You are the spitting image of him when he was your age. When you first came here with the Night Fury, I thought it was a trick of the mind. In fact, I thought you enchanted me with some human magic and I prayed to Freya that I wasn't going mad. And you have the same beliefs we had." Hiccup frowned.
"And what beliefs were those?" Furious stood tall, wings spread as he towered over the boy that was barely the size of one of his scales.
"To bring peace to the worlds of man and dragon." Hiccup could only look on in surprise and wonder as his announcement shocked everyone in the entire hive. Scenes showed dragons looking at each other in surprise. Their King had a human companion?
The same dragons did the same as their future counterparts, before daring to capture a glance of their king. If he had a human companion, why wedge war on the species of the man he claimed to love so?
"It was my first year of life." Furious's face faded out to white to show a baby Red Death chewing on some yak bones in a cave. "My dam and sire were already resting in the Field of Fólkvangr and I was raised by a surrogate family. They were out hunting whilst I stayed in my nest." it continues to show the teething Furious before the sound of wings made him look up and rush over to his adoptive parents. Catastrophic Quakens.
"But when they returned, they returned with a strange little creature that they decided to take under their wings. A little Viking hatchling." The Quaken mother slowly lowered her front to gently place a baby Hiccup II on the stone ground in front of Furious, who watched him with a tilted head and curious eyes. "I honestly thought this would be my first solid breakfast. But then they told me that this little fleshbag would be my new little brother."
The scene now shows Furious sitting alone, trying to look indifferent as Hiccup II gnawed on the spike-less club of his tail. "As you can imagine I wasn't too happy about being a littermate to a little human." Furious strode away from the baby and laid down to try and sleep. But then Hiccup II followed him and snuggled up to him. Furious merely got back up and moved away once more.
The audience almost chuckled at how child-like and light-hearted this was.
"But," Furious continued, a fond undertone in his voice, as the baby on screen looked like he was about to cry, "The stubborn little bugger grew on me eventually." before Furious grabbed hold of his bear-skinned diaper and pulled into his chest, and Furious began spooning him.
"As he grew, he was shown to be strong, cunning, a born leader. Not to mention charming." Furious chuckled, as the memories showed attributes that exhibited these traits, such as stopping a charge of a boar and flipping it over his head or laying a trap for another boar to fall into. Literally. Or flirting with female dragons, who blushed at his attention while Furious rolled his eyes beside the boy. "My surrogate family gave him a name. A dragon name; Dreki."
Toothless straightened. He knew what the name meant; Dragon. Toothless briefly wondered just how 'dragon' this Hiccup was.
The scene then shows years have gone by, with Hiccup II now a 15-year-old boy. And Furious was right; he was the spitting image of Hiccup save for the long, untamed and blonde hair and the wild blue eyes brimming with excitement and curiosity, tanned skin from days spent in the sun and a few light scars here and there from play fighting with his brother and other young dragons. And the fact that his attire only consisted of a bear skinned loincloth. He was on a ledge of the volcano of Dragon Island, watching the sunrise. Furious then came up beside him, now the size of a Monstrous Nightmare. The two pseudo brothers looked at each other and grinned.
Next scene later, and it showed Hiccup II and Furious flying through the cloud, which was given a pink hue as the sun shined through them. The boy even sounded like his descendant.
"In the end, we truly were brothers."
Hiccup and Toothless exchanged looks, before looking up to see if they can catch a glimpse of Furious. It wasn't difficult, but his attention was sorely on the screen that presented his past, both to his allies and his enemies.
The scene then shows Hiccup II working on a bear trap that caught Furious's leg. "He would save me." Furious lamented as the trap snapped open.
The scene then changes once more to show a group of boar approaching a limping Hiccup II. One was about to charge before a now spiked club knocked it aside. "And I would save him."
"Those were the days." an image of Hiccup II and Furious hugging was shown, before swirling into black.
"But once we voiced our dreams of bringing man and dragon together in peace, that was when things went dark. We decided to watch the humans of Berk. Study them. We would camp out on Berk's very own volcano. Around this time, I was the size of a Titian Wing Nightmare, so we weren't that easily spotted. But nevertheless, we were eventually found." Furious told him as the memories showed Hiccup II and Furious flying above Berk before landing on the volcano. It then showed the duo walking through the woods before Furious tripped a wire, triggering a Roper trap and tying up Furious tightly. Hiccup immediately turned around and pulled out his claw-made dagger and prepared to cut him loose, but a Berkian hunting party came out of the shadows and pointed their weapons at them, forcing him to drop his dagger and surrender.
"After our capture, we were taking to the hive of Berk. Where the King was waiting." it then shows Hiccup II shoved to his knees, wrists tied while Furious's tied up form is brought up beside him on a wheelbarrow. They look up to see Grimbeard the Ghastly, who was glaring down at the two with contempt.
"We thought we were in over our heads. And we were. But the king recognized my brother as one of his hatchlings, that he had apparently abandoned years ago." the memories cut off to show Furious's angry expression. "For being born; a runt." Furious looked right at Hiccup as he said this, and the boy looked down.
He knew what that was like.
Jack and the girls looked at Hiccup in concern, remembering his words about how if he wasn't Stoick's only heir, he himself would have been abandoned. Stoick himself looked very shamefaced, not liking what he just heard about Grimbeard.
But when he thought about it, everyone knew about the three sons of Grimbeard, Hiccup the Second being one of them, but none of their stories told of Hiccup II having a dragon companion.
"To hear that the runt he cast out had survived and had gained the favour of dragons, suddenly made him proud to be his sire. He was welcomed into the village with open arms and I was allowed to roam so long as I stayed by Dreki's side." the visions then showed the two were released from their bonds and allowed to roam through the village.
"For a while there, it seemed our dream was being realized and set into motion. Several days later, a meeting between Dreki and the alpha would discuss the future of man and dragon. Pave the way for peace between our two worlds. But, humans," Furious trailed, anger filling his tune. "They are prone to jealousy. One of Dreki's birth brothers, Thugheart they called him, hated that Dreki was suddenly gaining all of his father's attention and favours. So he went to the alpha with the story that we had violent, rebellious intentions." The images showed Thugheart looking at Hiccup II and Furious with contempt as they talked to passing villagers, before storming off towards the Great Hall. He approached his father and told him his story, and as he did, Grimbeard's face twisted into fury.
Everyone had an unsettling feeling grow in their stomach. Snotlout especially since Thugheart looked eerily like him… Krókur noticed Hiccup's kin shifting uncomfortably and briefly wondered if he was okay, then wondered why the Helheim did he care?
"So during the treaty, which was supposed to be a milestone for man and dragons, Grimbeard attacked and turned the hopeful event into a massacre." at a table, Hiccup II hands a paper with his signature to Grimbeard, but the man was stone-faced as he ripped it in two, pointed at him accusingly, his mouth spewing muted curses, before he drew his sword, his villagers following him before only shadows showed countless innocent dragons who came to witness what could have been a historic event, be slain by the blade of man.
"Grimbeard went for Dreki and I jumped to protect him." Grimbeard approaches the fearful Hiccup II and thrust his sword forward. In the last second, Furious jumped in the way, the sword piercing through his shoulder and out his back. Furious let out a roar of pain that shook the walls of the Great Hall but kept his glare on Grimbeard.
Until a gasp of pain from behind steered his attention to his brother.
And was shocked to find that the blade had cut clean through his body and hit Hiccup II in the chest. Grimbeard pulled the sword out and both Furious and Hiccup II fell, the dragon on his uninjured paws, and the boy on his knees, his hands pressing against the gushing wound. Everything seemed to go in slow motion for Furious as he watched his brother fall onto his side, blood soaking the clothes the village females gave him.
Stoick felt like throwing up at the sight of the boy who looked so much like his son loosing so much blood at the hands of his own father. Suddenly he didn't see Hiccup the II. He saw his son. He didn't see Furious. He saw the Night Fury. And he didn't see Grimbeard. It sickened him that he saw himself wielding the bloodstained sword.
Furious was frozen in shock before letting out a roar that shook the whole island, causing the entire fight to freeze around them. The Red Death trembled with pain and rage, before he began to approach Grimbeard, a murderous look on his face.
"...Furious..." Hiccup II moaned to his brother, taking his attention off his father. "Don't hurt him... please... don't hurt anyone. Just... get everyone to safety..." the hateful look on Grimbeard's face slowly shifted into horror, as he seemed to realize that he made a mistake. He rushed past Furious, despite his growls, and cradles his son in his arms, trying to stem the bleeding. Furious hovered over the two as Hiccup II's breathing became shallower by the minute.
Finally, he took one final breath and the light in his eyes dimmed.
Hiccup himself was starting to feel sick. The entirety of the four looked absolutely sick to their stomachs as they all envisioned their Hiccup in that scenario. Rapunzel couldn't restrain herself any longer and wrapped her arms around Hiccup tightly, Jack and Merida following soon after. Hiccup smiled, but it was strained. It scared how Hiccup II's eyes glazed over like that.
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Second, or Dreki the Dragon Whisperer was dead.
Furious let out a roar of agony while Grimbeard even tried tears of true remorse. Furious reeled on the chief and hit him with his tail, sending him flying and far away from Hiccup II's corpse. The Red Death then gently picked him up in his arms and roared to his brethren before taking off, breathing fire through the roof, creating an escape and flew off into the cloud.
The camera panned on Furious as he led the remaining Rebellion to Dragon Island, Hiccup's head laying beside the fresh wound on Furious's shoulder.
A flash of light and we're back to the present, with the scar, fully healed, being presented to the boy as Furious took a deep breath. He lowered himself back into his lave pit and looked Hiccup once more with a stern glare.
What will Hiccup say?
"WOAH!" Merida cried she struggled to hold onto the reindeer's reigns. Rapunzel's hair flailed in the wind as she rode beside Merida.
Merida and Rapunzel frowned, before they remembered that they were supposed to be heading towards Berk. But why were they riding a deer?
"We should've taken a boat! Or one of those Snow Globes!"
"They would be too loud. We need to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible. Comet and Dasher are the fastest Reindeer in North's Sleigh Team and are our best way of getting to Berk." Merida sighed, seeing Rapunzel's reasoning. Doesn't mean she had to enjoy it. Rapunzel's eyes scanned the sea and widened. "Look!" Merida looked to where she was pointing and gaped.
It was a fleet of ships, flying the Berkian colours and sigil. The camera pans to the leading ship, to show Stoick standing at the very front, watching the horizon. Merida and Rapunzel went higher, to the cover of the clouds. Stoick squinted, but then Gobber came up to him. "Listen... Stoick... I was overhearing some of the men just now and, well, some of them are wondering what it is we're up to here - not me of course, I know you're always the man with the plan - but some, not me, are wondering if there is, in fact, a plan at all, what it might be?"
"Find the nest and take it." the man said emotionlessly.
"Ah. Of course. Send 'em running. The old Viking fall-back. Nice and simple." (many chuckled at the light-hearted humour of good old Gobber) Merida frowned, "But Hiccup said that they can't find the Island without a dragon. How could they hope to find it?"
"I don't know, but I'm gonna find out," Rapunzel told her, making the redhead frown even more. "How?" Rapunzel made Dasher fly closer to the water before jumping in.
Everyone's eyes grew wide.
"Gusty move." Astrid told the long-haired blonde, which made the girl in question smile bashfully. She was a little surprised herself with that move.
"What is she doing?!" Merida hissed to herself while Comet snorted. Rapunzel then started flailing around, feigning drowning.
"HELP! Someone help me!" Gobber heard her cries and turned to her direction and pointed, "We have a lady overboard!" the ship turned towards her and Gobber reached down, plucking her out of the water and setting her on deck. Someone handed Gobber a blanket and he wrapped it around Rapunzel's drenched body.
Hiccup smiled. Gobber can talk tough and prove it, but he was still a good man.
"Thank you," Rapunzel whispered to him, but her eyes scanned both the deck and the skies, looking for anything that was out of place and hoping Merida was staying out of sight.
"No worries, lass." Gobber then turned to Stoick and whispered to him, "Now what? Do we turn back?" Stoick looked between him and the girl, before sighing regretfully and shaking his head.
"No. We've come too far to turn back now, and I can't turn this entire mission around for one girl. Get her below deck. Out of sight and the beasts won't bother her." Gobber reluctantly nodded.
Hiccup sighed. It seemed both he and Gobber were hoping that Stoick had enough conscious to turn this expedition around if an innocent, non-warrior life was at risk. Guess not.
Meanwhile, Rapunzel was staring wide-eyed at something she didn't expect.
Groundshaker. Tied down on the deck in a harness and everything. And what was even odder was that he wasn't even struggling to get out of his restraints. He just laid there calmly. As though waiting. Feeling her stare, Groundshaker open one of his eyes and seemed to grin at her maliciously.
Toothless' eyes grew wide that Groundshaker was in the hands of his Soulful One's father, before growing confused that he was fighting his restraints. He knew Groundshaker. He wasn't one to take defeat or capture lying down.
Unless…
Toothless' eyes grew wide with terror, before he spun around to face Groundshaker. "Does your madness know no bounds?! You willingly surrender yourself to lead the humans to what is supposed to be a sanctuary?"
Groundshaker growled, "I had my orders, traitor. Then again, you wouldn't know about that would you?" The Night Fury growled, before turning back to the screen.
Gobber suddenly came up behind her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Rapunzel jumped at the contact as the blacksmith started to steer Rapunzel away. "You don't want to get close to that one lass. A Whispering Death is one dragon you don't underestimate."
Rapunzel turned back to Groundshaker, who was watching her go before resuming his rest. The words hang heavy on her head.
Back in the sky, Merida was watching the ship course correct and keep moving. The redhead frowned, before continuing to follow. "I hope Hiccup is having less trouble than us right now."
Cuts to Hiccup's face illuminated by the lava as he pleads to Furious. "Look, I get it. They hurt you. They hurt someone close to you and you want to hurt them back. But that was 300 years ago. If you give them a chance and explain why you're doing this, I'm sure they're more willing to change."
Furious sighed in pity, "Just like Dreki. So naive and desperate to hold onto your inhumane beliefs." Hiccup glared.
"My beliefs are for the benefit of every man and dragon in the world; the very definition of humane." Furious then let out a string of bellowing laughter. The dragons around the two slowly edged away, not wanting to upset their unhinged king.
"'Humane'. What an ironic word coined by a species completely devoid of compassion for any other forms of life. Or each other for that matter." Hiccup was silent before shrugging.
Stoick, Astrid and the other trainees shifted uncomfortably.
"Duly noted, but I'm sure with a lot of work, I know that we can change things for the better-"
"You do not know! You can only guess. You have not seen the things I have seen. If you had, maybe you wouldn't be so willing to give your species a chance." Furious told Hiccup, "I have eyes everywhere, hatchling. I have watched as Vikings, your people raid acres of land already belonging to a colony and claiming it for their own. I watch them murder strangers or even their own kin just to defend their honour. I watched as they enslaved one of their own and gave them away with broken spirits. Your people have ravaged the world like a pledge." Hiccup had his head down the entire time Furious listed all the atrocities most Viking tribes have done, but by the time Furious was near the end, Hiccup had enough.
"And you think you're any better?" many dragons in the nest looked shocked at how blunt the boy was with their little-patience ruler. "Rather than taking care of the 'pledge' yourself, you send the people you were meant to protect and provide for on a warpath. And I suppose along the way, you got hungry sitting on your rump all day." Furious growled lowly, but Hiccup went on. "So you upped the ante and forced your people to hunt for you as well, and if they didn't bring back enough food, you'd eat them yourself."
Everyone in the theatre was silent. Pitch himself was quite impressed with the boy's nerve. Gothel, however, was merely reminded of the boy's mother and sneered. Mor'du wondered what kind of bear the boy would be if he was touched by his curse. Furious was silent.
The volcano was deadly silent, before Furious hmphed. "You would be a good beta to my colony."
That was an answer Hiccup did not expect to receive. "What?"
"What?!" Stoick demanded.
"Oh, come now, Sál. That is what the Night Fury calls you, isn't it? Sál... 'soul'. You defiantly have the soul of a dragon. Do you honestly think your people will understand you and your desires?" Hiccup glowered.
"Don't pretend you do in turn." Furious grinned.
"Oh, I understand it perfectly. You find me to be a tyrant, yet the best kind of solider is a willing one. Like Groundshaker. Any minute now, he will lead your people to my island, and I will finally have my revenge!" Furious declared, shocking Hiccup to his very core.
"That's why he's not fighting his chains! He's luring the entire village to a death trap!" Merida shouted. Gobber nodded.
"Smart, that one." Some Vikings slowly turned their heads to glare at him for his unwanted comment.
"No..." Hiccup made to run out of there, but a nearby Nightmare turned on his fire jacket, warning him from taking another step.
"You can deny my warnings all you wish, Sál. It will not change your fate. And even if by some miracle you were to defeat me, you would only soon fall to the greed of man. So why be forced to choose?" Hiccup frowned, the words sounding familiar.
"Our parents' war is about to become ours. Figure out which side you're on!" Astrid's voice echoed in his head before he 'shook' himself awake and glared.
Astrid looked over at Hiccup. She never realized until now how much those words could have affected him. Hiccup didn't turn to her.
"This world will face many foes in the coming future. Should Pitch be unable to stop them, would it not make sense for us to stand against them together?"
"I'd sooner skin myself and wear it as a Berserker cloak then side with you." Furious chuckled.
"I admire your resolve, boy." Furious then gazed at him thoughtfully. "Tell me. Do you ever wonder about the very first Hiccup before you and my Dreki?" "Hiccup the First?"
"Konungur, the dragons of old called him. He too tried to bridge the worlds of man and dragon together, and for a time, succeeded. Until Dreki's sour excuse of a father betrayed his legacy and enslave dragon kind and mankind. I implore you, Sál. Don't walk down the same path they did. For every Hiccup that tried to make a change, suffers betrayal and agony."
Hiccup, like his future counterpart, said nothing.
"You are strong, Sál. Far more fit to lead, far more deserving of respect than all the leaders, man and beast in this realm. I bet you could rise above the ranks and even overshadow Pitch in the world I envision. The very moment you found the Night Fury, opportunity has offered you a chance to prove your worth. Together, we could show the world the TRUE might of dragons."
The silence was thick in the air. Some dragons slowly crawled out of their hidey-holes, so that they can hear Hiccup's answer. For a brief moment, Furious smiled, taking Hiccup's silence as an answer.
"No."
Once more, dead silence lurked in the volcano. The colony crawled back into the shadows, fearing Furious' reaction.
"No?"
"No." Furious looked, well, furious as his eyes burned holes into Hiccup's. "If we did do that, we are proving everyone that they were right to hate dragons and they'll keep coming for you. They will hunt you down until only your corpses and bones are left. Billions could die, and for what? To avenge a boy that wouldn't want this?"
"You know nothing of what my Dreki wants!"
Many dragons leaned away. This was getting very heated very quickly and this clearly was not going to end well.
"DO I?!" Hiccup roared at an equal velocity to Furious' own cry, ignoring the Red Death's growls. "Hiccup the II told you to spare his father because he didn't want blood on your hands. And now you're dragging his name through the mud by tramping over everything the both of you worked to achieve! This is killing men and dragons, males, females, hatchlings!"
"A sacrifice I'm willing to make to ensure the dragons have a place in Pitch's kingdom!" Hiccup's glare darkened.
"You don't care about the dragons. Just yourself." Furious growled, rising to his full height, wings partly showing.
"I AM THE DRAGONS!"
He then threw his paw forward and grabbed Hiccup in a life-threatening grip.
"HICCUP!" Stoick cried out and Rapunzel gripped the boy's arm frightfully. Toothless snarled in anger at Furious' actions.
Furious squeezed until there was a sound of bones cracking and Hiccup let out a heart-wrenching cry. The dragons whimpered as Hiccup barely opened his eyes to see Furious leering at him as he held him close to his face.
"Rest in peace in the Meadows of Fólkvangr... runt." and opened his maw to swallow them whole. Hiccup tried in vain to wiggle out of his iron grip. It was no use. He was going to...
A high pitched whistle echoed in the volcano, making Furious freeze. The whistle just got louder and louder and everyone present in the volcano knew who it was. Hiccup looked up and smiled.
"TOOTHLESS!"
The Night Fury is shown, diving before pulling up at the last minute, a plasma blast charging in his maw.
"GET AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!" the subtitles appear as Toothless fires right into Furious's eyes. The Red Death roared in fury and pain, releasing his hold on Hiccup. The Viking flailed his arms, trying to grab onto a ledge, anything when a blue blur caught him.
Everyone tensed when Hiccup started falling but cheered when he was rescued.
"Don't worry, buddy. We gotcha." Hiccup turned his head to see Jack, who was grinning widely at the boy but was sweating rapidly, his snow-white hair clinging to his forehead and breathing heavy.
"Jack! Are you ok?" Jack chuckled. "Yeah. Just a bit warm. I'm good." Hiccup frowned, not believing him before he remembered.
"We have to get out of here! Berk! My father-" "I know. They're already here. They're setting up the catapults." "WHAT!?" "Their planning on breaking the entire side of the volcano open." "No, no, no! We have to stop them!" "yeah... Yeah! Sure. We'll get to that!" Jack told him, but Hiccup frowned. Jack didn't sound too good there.
Jack winched. "Yeah. Winter Spirit in an active volcano. Not a good combo for a rescue mission." Toothless nudged his shoulder comfortingly, grateful that Jack was willing to risk his health to save his human.
Back outside, Stoick draws the attack plan down in the sand in front of his generals.
"When we crack this mountain open, all hell is going to break loose."
"In my undies." Gobber mumbled, "Good thing I brought extras." Spitelout rolled his eyes in annoyance before Stoick turns to his fleet. "No matter how this ends, it ends today." Gobber nodded, though reluctantly. Meanwhile, on the ship, Rapunzel looked on in worry as she clutches her blanket close, before turning to the winged serpent, who continued to lie still.
Back in the volcano, Toothless fired another shot at Furious, who shook it off and sneered.
"Why, Draumur? Why side with these insects? Why side with the runt?" Toothless growled, and for a moment, his spines glowed blue.
Hiccup frowned, as did the others. Did Toothless just glow?
"Because he gave me something you haven't given me in my five years under your rule." The subtitles translated, and Furious narrowed his eyes, wondering what the little Viking boy could possibly give the Night Fury what he couldn't.
"Hope." and with another whistle, Toothless prepared to fire and Furious rose from his pit to attack when the volcano's walls shook with a series of tremors. The both of them looked outside. It was coming from the sides of the mountain, leading towards the beach.
The camera cuts to the inside of the mountain, before showing that the walls in view crumble away to show the outside, with Stoick approaching the mouth of the dark tunnel, hammer and shield in hand. Stoick's eyes scanned the darkness before Pleghma and Spitelout lit another cannonball and fired, the ball of fire lighting up the cave.
The sides, floor and even the ceiling were practically overlapping with dragons.
Stoick let out a roar as he charged into the cave. The dragons roared as well - but flew right past him as he tried to land a hit on any that got to close, as did Gobber and many others, but missing and only watched in bewilderment as the dragons took flight and abandoned their home. From the ship, Rapunzel looked on in worry as Groundshaker started to look concerned when not one dragon flew down in an attempt to free him of his shackles. From a sea stack hidden partially in the fog, Merida had an arrow at the ready, but she too could only watch in worry as dragons piled out of the mountain and took to the skies.
"It that it?" Gobber asked, before shrugging, considering a win for all of them.
"We've done it!" Spitelout cheered and the fleet followed suit, raising their weapons in the air in victory. Everyone cheered - except Stoick. Something wasn't sitting right in his gut. He looked at the ship and could see that Groundshaker was now struggling to get out of his bonds, and Rapunzel watched, slowly backing away.
"RUN!"
The cheering died down when a shout echoed across the beach. Stoick looked around wildly. He knew that voice! "RUN!" there it was again! Stoick looked at the direction at where the warning came from and his eyes widened in shock.
It was Hiccup. He was standing on another sea stack, Jack laying on the flat surface beside him, looking winded and sweaty. "You need to run!"
"Hiccup?" Stoick murmured, wondering how and why his exiled son was here.
"NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR A FAMILY REUNION!"
"Please, you need to leave. Furious is going too-" the floor of the cave cracked, and the entire mountain seemed to shake. Then there was a loud shriek, creating a gust of wind that nearly blew Stoick off his feet. The mountain shook even more and then there was a small whistle. Stoick squinted, and then Toothless appeared and snatched Stoick off the ground. The Chief struggled but then Toothless gently put the man down amongst his people and faced the mountain.
Stoick was tempted to attack the dragon while his attention was off him, but the look on his face, the look of fury and patience, made him follow his gaze and watched the mountain cautiously. Then Stoick saw something move in the shadows of the tunnel.
Something was coming.
"GET CLEAR!" everyone rushed towards the edge of the beach. Toothless took flight. Hiccup jumped off the sea stack and lands on Toothless' back. They take off before landing beside Stoick and Gobber, who watch in horror as Furious bashed through the walls of the volcano, revealing his vast form.
"Beard of Thor, what is THAT?!" Gobber cried, and Hiccup looked on grimly.
"Furious. A Red Death and the reason Berk and Dragons have been at war for 300 years. He won't stop until all humans are eradicated." Toothless growled and Stoick looked very afraid.
"Odin help us."
Furious chuckled lowly. The Gods can't help them. Not Odin, not Freja, not anyone.
Pitch, however, frowned. He had learned that arrogance was not a viable battle tactic.
Furious let out a tremendous roar and made to give chase to the trespassers on his island. Stoick glared.
"CATAPULTS!"
They fired, but Furious merely glared, gave another roar and picked up one of the catapults in his jaws. The Vikings fled in terror.
"To the boats!"
"NO!/NO!"
Stoick and Hiccup's warnings came in too late as Furious let loose a torrent of fire at the ships. Those that didn't burn to their demise jumped off the ships and into the waters to douse the flames.
The only ones that were still on the burning ships were Rapunzel and Groundshaker. The Whispering Death whimpered. "My king, what are you doing? I did as you asked!"
"Yes, you did. You've served your purpose and will go down in history as the dragon who lead the humans to their doom." Furious told him emotionlessly, and Groundshaker looked utterly betrayed that the dragon he served fatefully was willingly sealing his fate.
Groundshaker could only look to the floor in disbelief. It was as if all of his services to Furious was gone with the wind and meant nothing to the dragon king.
"Smart, that one!" Gobber said as he and Hiccup followed Stoick as he storms forward.
"I was a fool."
"Glad to see you finally acknowledged it." Hiccup told the chief humourlessly, before stepping in front of him. "You have to get everyone to the far side of the island!" Hiccup leads Toothless along while Stoick and Gobber follow.
"I think we'll stick around," Gobber told him as Stoick gave the order to Spitelout to led the men out. "Just in case you're thinking of doing something crazy." Hiccup turned to them.
Jack couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips. "He's not wrong."
"I can buy you guys time to get out of here while we distract Furious." Hiccup gets on the saddle and buckles himself in, before wheezing in heavily, clutching his stomach in pain. Toothless warbled in concern as both Stoick and Gobber noticed the action.
"Your hurt."
"Yeah, well. Nearly getting crushed and swallowed whole by a gargantuan dragon will do that to ya," he told them, his tone flat as he prepared to take off. Stoick comes forward and takes hold of his wrist.
"Hiccup," Stoick's mouth opens and closes, and opens again, unsure of what to say. "I'm sorry. For everything." Hiccup nodded, "Yeah, me too." Stoick looked between the monster that was helping itself to the catapults and back into the eyes so similar to his own. "You don't have to go up there."
Hiccup smiled. "We're Vikings, it's an occupational hazard." Stoick wrapped his hands over the boy's.
"Just, please, be safe." Hiccup, again, grinned.
"When am I not safe?" he asked before they took off to fight Furious. Back on the ground, Gobber raised an eyebrow.
"Was that one of those rhetorical questions?"
Again, Jack, and the girls, chuckled to themselves. Hiccup was glad that they, at least, weren't panicking anymore.
Hiccup and Toothless gained more height and began taunting the Red Death. "Come on! Show me what you got!" Toothless roared his own insult too. "Fight us, you lazy coward!"
Furious growled and snapped his jaws at them, barely missing them. The two of them dive bomb him again and cut it pretty close. "Not even close!" Hiccup yelled, but then whispered to Toothless, "That was pretty close." The Night Fury snorted before the dragon spotted something on the burning ships.
Rapunzel was trying desperately to free Groundshaker from his chains. Toothless makes a turn, and when he reaches them, hovers over them. "Rapunzel!" the blonde looked up at the boy and the dragon. "I have to help him!" she told him, turning back to breaking the binds.
Meanwhile, Furious is about to approach Hiccup while his back his turn, (Stoick tensed) before...
"HEY!" Furious turns his head to Merida's voice, only for her to fire an arrow and hit him clean into one of his eyes.
"HA! That's my girl!" Fergus roared proudly and Merida smirked in victory.
Furious roars in agony and turns in his pain, his tail heading straight for the ships.
"RAPUNZEL!"
With a cry, Rapunzel dives off the ship and the club strikes. Sending Groundshaker sinking into the ocean.
Merida gasped in shock that her actions may have inadvertently caused one of her best friends' demise and Gothel was promising death to anyone who caused her flower to perish.
Rapunzel immediately starts swimming down to help. She pulled on the chains fruitlessly, giving Groundshaker a sad look as he appeared to accept his fate.
But then Groundshaker noticed something behind her. She turned around and was surprised to see Gobber swimming towards them. They exchanged eye contact before Gobber dug his hook into the wood of the harness and broke the harness apart. Groundshaker looked between the two, before wrapping his tail around the both of them and making a clear shot for the surface. He breaks through the water and sets both of them down gently. They all seem to have a mutual understanding before Groundshaker flies off.
"Well," Gobber started, looking quite awkward, "That was something." Rapunzel giggled (And the audience laughed once more) before Jack landed in front of them. He was looking a lot better now but was still breathing rather heavily.
"You ok?" He asked, ignoring Gobber's bewildered expression. "Yeah, I'm fine. You?" Jack smiled. "I'm good. Just needed to cool down after flying around a volcano. I'm fine." the blonde nodded before a war cry from a certain redhead made them look around to see that Merida had actually scaled Furious's body until she was on his head and driven her arrows into his head.
The Highlanders all cheered at their princess' show of bravery, though Elinor tensed up immensely. She knows now more then ever that Merida was capable of fending for herself, but that still doesn't change the fact that she was currently riding the head of a dragon the size of a mountain.
"Cancerous insect. Get off of me, you human filth!" Furious then began to swing his head around, trying to shake the Scottish princess off. But Merida drew her sword and dug it into the Red Death's skull in order to hang on. But she knew it wouldn't hold her for long. Eventually she'll lose her grip and fall, or her sword will snap and she'll loose a weapon. She then heard a roar and looked to see Groundshaker making his way towards them. He roared, and somehow, Merida understood what he was trying to convey. She pulled her sword out and ran down Furious's nose, before taking a leap of faith.
And landing on Groundshaker's back.
Elinor sighed and Fergus held her close once more as the boys ran down the stairs and into Merida's lap. Their sister smiled and held them close.
"Thanks." Groundshaker hissed in return and made to fly away, but Furious turned his head and begins to inhale deeply. Both of them get caught in the suction and are pulled towards the monster's gaping mouth. The Vikings below watch with dread before they heard the familiar whistle of the...
"NIGHT FURY!"
"Get down!" Gobber shields Rapunzel as Toothless fires a massive blast that jolts Furious's head to the side. Merida is thrown clear of his mouth... and Groundshaker. She tumbles through the air, screaming as the ground races toward her. It looked like it was over for her until she's suddenly caught by the leg.
"YEAH!" The twins cheer at what they saw as an awesome and holy terrifying experience.
Hiccup looks down, but can't see her. "Did you get her?" Toothless looks below him to see Merida smiling at him. He returns it, only with no teeth. He then gently set her down beside Rapunzel, Jack, Gobber and Stoick and lands beside them. The former two look them over. "You guys okay?" "Yeah." "We're fine. But how in Helheim are we supposed to beat him?" Hiccup wonders aloud as they watch him scrap his paw on his wounded face.
"Let's not think about beating him. Right now, let's think about weakening him." Stoick told them. Hiccup groaned once more, adrenaline wearing off and leaving him clutching his stomach once more.
"Hiccup!" Rapunzel surged forward, just as Furious recovered and looked over to them, sneering as he watched the blonde that smelled of ancient magic help the Dragon Whisperer stand.
"We're gonna need a miracle." the auburn boy whispered. Stoick looked between him and Gobber. The two elder men exchanged looks and nodded, before turning to his son.
"You get you and your friends out of that monster's sight, son. We'll buy you some time to make a getaway."("WHAT!") Hiccup shook his head, gripping his father's arm.
"Dad, no-"
"This is not up for discussion. You will escape. You will lead our people off this island. And you will keep them safe. Keep them on a better path than I ever did."
Hiccup couldn't say anything. Only stare up at his father in surprise. Stoick placed a tender hand on his son's cheek, before turning to Toothless.
"You take care of my boy, dragon."
Toothless cooed, "Always have, always will." the two seemed to come to an understanding. Stoick nodded, then nodded at Gobber again, and then turned to Furious.
"Here!" he called to the tyrant and rushed forward. Gobber chuckled, "Oh no. HERE!" axe-hand raised, they quickly got the Red Death's attention. Stoick grabbed one of the spikes hammered down on the beach and threw it, nearly hitting one of Furious's eyes.
"Fight me!"
"No! Fight ME!"
Their constant bickering made Furious look between them before standing tall, deciding to kill them both in one move. Stoick and Gobber braced as Furious inhale deeply.
Hiccup didn't want to look. He didn't want to see his father die. But he couldn't force himself to look away. Rapunzel and Merida grip his hands tightly and Jack squeezed his shoulder. Even the triplets tried to offer their comfort.
Back from where they're standing, Hiccup couldn't sit still any longer and tried to move forward. Merida grabbed him and held him back as he reached out towards his father. "DAD!"
Gas started to build in Furious's throat.
Before a blast from behind knock threw Furious off and from the smoke appeared...
"What?"
It was a blue Nadder, a red Nightmare, a brown Gronckle and a green Zippleback, all flying together as a flock and flying around Furious's head towards the group.
But what was even more strange was the people on the dragons' backs.
"Astrid?" Hiccup's tone was coloured in surprise as he watched the blonde he crushed on and shared his secret with ride the Nadder and lead the other teens on a full-on assault against Furious, who couldn't keep up with the onslaught.
The audience cheered, while Furious growled furiously at the screen. How dare they attack him? He was the dragon king!
before they flew towards them. Astrid urged her dragon to swoop down and grabbed Stoick and Gobber off the ground and landed beside them.
"Astrid. How did you...?" the Hofferson smiled warmly.
"You thought me a few things, remember?" Hiccup smiled. Before Furious's bloodthirsty roar got their attention.
"You think you've won!? Remember what I said, Sál. The runts before you have tried to unite us. And they both failed! Whatever this is," He gestured to the Vikings behind them, which were accompanied by the frightened dragons of Furious's hive. "It won't last!"
Hiccup stepped forward, using Toothless as support, as he was still clutching his side in pain.
"YOU KNOW I'M RIGHT!"
The two of them sneered as everyone behind them exchanged glances. Some even shook their heads in disagreement to Furious's words.
"I don't know." Hiccup finally said, "But for now, I don't really care. I didn't want to believe that you were beyond reason, and I still do. But I understand now that I can't afford to take that risk. If it comes to it, I will do everything I can to stop you from abusing your power on another dragon again."
The Red Death growled ferociously, the two of them getting into a staring contest. After a few, agonizing minutes, Furious hisses, then smiles slyly and adjusts himself.
"I respectfully withdraw, Sál. But know this. Even if your reign is fruitful, your efforts will be for naught. Humans are a greedy species after all."
"I'll deal with that bridge when I get to it."
Furious glared, "Heed my words, Sál. Hope blinds us with false promises. Just like fire blinds us with beauty. And fire is a jealous thing, young hatchling. It swallows everything in its path because it wants the beauty all to itself. And that is when you need to be careful."
"Careful of what?"
There was a pause, and Furious, for a second, looked sad. "Of getting burned."
And with the last words, he spreads his massive wings and flies away.
Everything was quiet until the massive dragon disappeared amongst the clouds, and one of the Vikings cheered.
"WE DID IT!"
Soon everyone followed, and even the dragons joined in the cheer by shooting their respective fires into the sky.
The audience cheered as well along with their future counterparts. They beat him. They really beat the Dragon King!
Hiccup smiled, before the camera goes into his perspective to show that it was starting to get very foggy. Jack appeared in front of him, concerned. "Hic', you okay?" Jack's voices seemed to bounce around, as Hiccup's perspective tipped sideways, before finally falling down, facing the sky.
"Hiccup!/Hiccup!" "SON!" "RAWR!"
Jack and the girls, Stoick and Toothless appeared above him as the Dragon Whisperer slowly lost consciousness.
The scene fades to black.
"What! Are you serious!?"
"Sorry, alright! I can't help how these things are set up!"
Everyone groaned.
Really, really sorry for the delay everyone. Moving day + moving into the back yard shed because privacy = no internet in shed + mid-year exams really does a number on daily writing. But I'm visiting my dad out of state which means I'll be able to re-visit this agenda until holidays are over, or until I move my computer into the internet vicinity and get back to my average day life.
Until then, see you guys soon!