Okay, I am really sorry about not posting anything in forever. This is on me, I admit that. I lost a bit of interest in the story, but I still have some good ideas in store for the story and the one after this. I planned on it being a trilogy, and I plan on keeping that promise to myself, and depending on how it goes, I may even make one or two more stories after that using the same continuity. After that, who knows, hopefully you all will stick around...even with this horribly drawn out updates.
Hiccup walked silently through the trees, hearing the sound of leaves crackle beneath his feet. The cool breeze carried him through the dense foliage. One paw after another, the dragon crept through the forest. The moon hung in the sky, illuminating his path just enough. He could see the previous tracks in the dirt. Someone had been there very recently. He didn't get ahead of himself, however, as he moved forward, tracking the prints for a while longer until he came over a small ledge leading down towards a decent sized dirt patch.
The hole was filled with a good amount of water. It was enough that nearby animals would come and take a few drinks from before taking their leave. It didn't even register with the dragon what the site really was. The torn path along the foliage he didn't notice, the patchy works of grass along the small dirt indent, and the impact point. He looked away quickly, still feeling overwhelming guilt for the actions that took place, even if it did bring him untold happiness. A smooth voice called out to him softly, almost a whisper.
"I don't regret that day, so neither should you," the familiar voice whispered through the black veil of night, "If I got a chance to do it all over, I would purposefully let myself get shot down." Hiccup smiled, keeping his eyes ahead of him. He was grateful for the dragon.
The two dragons went through the trees quietly, following the scents and the prints left behind. Soon enough, the two were near the edge of a clearing. The moon brought light down on the small field revealing a few silhouettes in the distance. The hushed voices were carried far in the silent night. Whispers that neither dragon could clearly understand. A fire suddenly started as the few members of this meeting lit torches and said a few words. They couldn't see their faces. They were anonymous and that made them all the more dangerous. Then one turned towards their direction.
It was Spitelout. Hiccup's uncle. Berk's second in command. He was there.
"Oh," Toothless said softly, eyes widening a bit. He didn't quite expect that. He glanced over and saw that his companion was no longer there. Looking forward, he saw Hiccup calmly walking towards the center of the field with the few men there blissfully unaware.
"Oh shit," Toothless said, trying to get to Hiccup as silently and quickly as possible.
Hiccup stood firmly where he was, staring directly at the men just a few feet in front of him. They looked back with blank expressions. Not ones of expectancy or surprise, but rather, a startling indifference. Spitelout stepped forward, watching the dragon carefully. Hiccup looked on with a confident and vindictive glare, refusing to cower away from this man. Toothless quickly caught up to Hiccup, planting himself to the side of his companion. The two stood there in the dull light brought on by the torches and watched as the now detailed figures moved around in the soft grass.
"We figured you'd show up sooner or later," Spitelout said flatly. The viking looked very unhappy with the current situation. His eyes just seemed to stare right through the dragons. They were void in the most disturbing sense. Hiccup stared directly into them, unfazed by the passing remarks.
"It was surprisingly easy," another viking said, "All we had to do was spread a rumor using a single word. We counted on you being smart because, you know, that is what you do." The viking had a disturbingly gleaming smile. His eyes were a dark brown with scars running up and down his face. He was smaller than you'd expect but his looks gave off a nightmarish atmosphere that compensated for the height.
"So what? Why did you want him here?" Toothless asked loudly and aggressively, keeping his eyes on all parties involved. One viking smiled and scratched his neck quickly.
"Oh we needed both of you to come!" The viking sound, spraying saliva all over the grass as he spoke. His disgusting mouth held very few teeth and his withered old appearance only fueled his crazy persona.
Spitelout shot glares at the vikings, silently ordering them to remain silent unless directly spoken to. The men looked on displeased but obeyed regardless. Still, their silent shapes worried Hiccup, though he tried not to let it show. They were outnumbered, but he knew the two of them could defeat them. They were stronger now than they ever were before.
"The reason we wanted you here tonight," Spitelout started off, "was to convince you to join our cause." Both dragons glared at the senior viking with such disgust that several vikings had to avert their gazes for a few moments. The indomitable atmosphere the two Night Furies gave off only added to the tension. The two dragons were one in the same.
"This can't really be the reason you brought us here," Hiccup stated quickly, "You knew exactly what our answer would be ahead of time, and if this were a trap, it would have been sprung by now." Spitelout smirked and shook his head slowly.
"You always were a smart little runt," Spitelout said, "but I guess, this wasn't too difficult to figure out. Of course we would need you two alive, you're too valuable to just kill off. So that leaves one last question."
"Why?" Toothless pressed further, growing restless as each moment ticked by. The air was stiff and cold as it passed through the dragon's lungs. He knew much was amiss, but he couldn't quite grasp what it was. They wanted them there, yet, it seems like they had no real plan, no strategy. They brought them all the way out here, in the middle of no where. The dragon filled his lungs up quickly and blew out the torches illuminating the area. The plain was once again dark and seemingly lifeless.
"Stay put," Toothless instructed Hiccup in a hushed tone. Quietly, the dragon moved around the circle of men, tripping one here, throwing one there, creating disorder and panic wherever he went. His whispers rang throughout the clearing, echoing off the trees, the distant mountains, and inside the heads of the vikings.
"Why?"
He didn't receive an answer, rather the sounds were all the two dragons needed. They could hear it in the distance, the low rumble of fire, the crashing, the screams. They turned their heads and could just barely see the orange horizon on the village. A village under siege by it's own citizens.
"Oh gods," Hiccup said, realizing the true motives of the vikings, "What have you done!"
"Keeping you occupied. Don't feel bad, we tried to get just about anyone who would pose a threat out of the village in some way. We don't need anyone getting in our way. We'll take Berk and Stoick will be out of business, so to speak," One viking blurted out, rattling away, talking all the time he could to stall.
"Hiccup, let's go!" Toothless shouted as he bounded towards his mate. Hiccup nodded, spreading his wings to take flight. He lifted off the ground but was pulled down quickly but a strong pair of hands. Hiccup slammed into the ground hard, his breath being pushed out of his lungs.
"Hiccup!" he heard Toothless call out. The Night Fury rolled onto his back and kicked his assailant hard, sending him sprawling across the grassy plain. Another viking came charging towards Hiccup, raising an ax with the intent to kill. The dragon charged the man, dodging the swing of the ax and swinging his tail into him with an audible crack of a few ribs as the viking went tumbling into another. He heard a faint whistling as an arrow flew by his head, barely scrapping against his scales. Scanning quickly, the dragon fired off a plasma blast into a man, sending a shower of blood onto the men around him. Looking around, Hiccup noticed several more vikings down and injured from Toothless. Quickly and quietly, the two took off into the air.
The two could see the destruction in the village below. There was an amazing conflict going on below, viking against viking just about everywhere one looked. It looked more like a free-for-all brawl than any armed or coordinated assault. The village was in complete pandemonium. Scanning the streets, Hiccup quickly saw Astrid and Ryuu in front of the house. From the looks of it, several vikings had attempted to take the dragon by force and met some unfortunate fates ranging from broken bones to a missing hand. Toothless sent a blast down, dispersing a few vikings from the area before the pair landed next to the young viking.
"What the hell is going on!" Astrid shouted out with Ryuu clinging onto her shoulder looking confused and scared.
"Spitelout is trying to take control from Stoick!" Hiccup yelled out, trying his hardest to remain calm whilst the village around him slowly turns against itself. Just one arm punching the other in this civil war.
He began looking around quickly, trying to decipher his next move. He was struggling to stay calm while the village around him was crumbling yet again. Of all of the things he imagined that could bring Berk down, he never anticipated this horrifying self mutilation.
Everywhere he looked, it seemed like another pair were having it out, punching, kicking, biting, swinging, stabbing, and even killing one another. It was complete madness on a scale that Hiccup had never previously seen before. Not even the attacks from Dagur nor the burning of the village compared to this. It worse seeing loves ones die, but its even worse seeing them kill one another with seemingly no regret or remorse for their actions. The walls of the village were caving in with every blow each side made on it. The cracks were there, but now, they were on the verge of becoming holes in the house of Berk.
"Hiccup! Move your ass!" he heard the familiar voice yell in his ear. Recognizing the situation, the dragon realized there were vikings heading in their direction. Hiccup knew he would be able to take them with Toothless' help, but the last thing he wanted to do right now was injure more Berk citizens, even if they were trying to kill them. It didn't make a whole lot of sense, but right now, Hiccup just needed time to think, time to process and form a plan. Unfortunately, he did not get the luxury.
The men were on them in a matter of seconds. Toothless had already fired a warning blast in their direction but they gave it no head and charged forwards towards Hiccup. The dragon dispatched a few of the men with ease while Toothless swatted a few away and blasted a few to the ground. Astrid held her own, proving her ability by taking down three large vikings within a matter of seconds. Her bloodied ax strung to her side and the frightened dragon still clinging to her shoulder, she looked on with a sense of satisfaction and beckoned for another viking to challenge her. In the course of thirty seconds, the viking mob and attacked then retreated away from the group. Amidst the chaos, Stormfly had landed and helped dispatch the remaining few who refused to give up.
"Damn it! Damn it!" Hiccup shouted out, unable to restrain his frustration. He clutched his head with his paws and repeatedly cursed to the air, trying to get it out of his system. The others watched on, not saying much, but agreeing with his overall attitude, feeling it most appropriate at this time.
"Okay, okay! Focus! Focus!" Hiccup said to himself, composing himself. The dragon gathered his thoughts, trying to calculate the possible outcomes of each scenario as well as the origin point for the entire calamity that befell them.
"Okay, okay! Uhm, how did we get here! Let's see, Ryuu came with Tatsuo. The village burned. We rebuild. I see an outcast ship. We investigate. Hostiles. We get back. Outcasts fled to us. Alvin and his theory. Berk splits. Civil War," Hiccup recited in his head, trying to figure out where the path went wrong. He relived every moment he could clearly remembered, trying to remember something useful, anything useful that could be used to end the current situation.
"Hey! Hate to break your concentration, but mind telling me where the hell you guys were? I was stuck here while this massive fight starts with nothing but this baby dragon!" Astrid yelled out while glancing about, looking for anyone else who might want to pick a fight with her, but considering the bodies around her and the blood on herself and the ax she held, she figured no one would really want to come near her, at least for a bit.
"Look, we thought we found something to help us stop the Ragnarok group, but it turns out it was an elaborate trap to get us a way from the village so they could take down Stoick," Toothless said quickly, not wanting to be explaining at a time like this. Astrid looked on with confusion, understanding the situation, but still needing details in order to fully create an understandable story.
"What? Speak clearer fish breath!" Astrid yelled in frustration, causing the two to throw insults at each other for a solid minute while both Ryuu and Stormfly watched in dismay and amusement. Hiccup stared at them with a soul piercing glare
"Stop it! Seriously? Just, shut up, please! Look, earlier yesterday when we all went looking for the resistance group I asked Gobber about it and he told me about Ragnarok and I thought about it and went on a ridiculously stupid hunch and it somehow worked okay? I thought if we went to the plains, like Vigrid, something would be out there and I was right and they lured us out and they fooled us into believing there really was anything in the fields to get us away from Berk so they could take it alright! They know who stood a threat and it was us, but we're too valuable to them, so instead of killing, they just diminished threats!" Hiccup said, yelling by the end. Astrid stared at him for a few moments, considering the information and gathering the details.
"And you're telling me Berk vikings managed this plan?" Astrid asked sarcastically, clearly not amused or buying into the fact that something this elaborate was the work of Berk vikings. Hiccup stared at her for a moment, his face slowly changing to confusion, then realization, then to horror.
"Oh my gods, we are all so stupid," Hiccup said. Looking up, he could see the realization dawn on Astrid's face followed by complete anger as she began swinging her axe about angrily, cursing loudly as she expressed her anger.
"It was Alvin," Hiccup said, "It was fucking Alvin!" The dragon punched the ground in frustration and roared into the slowly dawning day, beckoning the sun forward with a vengeance he knew the village deserved.
Hiccup spread open his wings and took off into the sky, leaving the rest to scramble to catch up to the dragon. The Night Fury scanned the village streets, looking for any place that might've been left untouched by the mob, but he could see that nothing in the village went unscathed. Glancing towards the great hall, he noticed that the chief's house was completely untouched like a separate entity from the ongoing battle within the village. The dragon suddenly swooped down, landing outside the door with loud thud before busting the door open.
Hiccup saw the figure of Alvin standing over Stoick who was tied to the chair and barely conscious. His head was bleeding and he had a difficult time holding his head up. Alvin glanced back and beckoned for the dragon to come closer
"Hey, get over here and help me untie him," Alvin said roughly, fidgeting with the ropes with his large fingers, unable to get a grip on the knots.
"What?" Hiccup said a little too aggressively. Alvin ceased his fidgeting and looked at the boy with a stern and rather confused look.
"What is there to explain? I walked in and I found him like this. Get over here and help me untie your father," Alvin said rather harshly. He didn't look too good himself. He had a cut over his right cheek and his clothes were ripped and dirty. The house looked like a mess, pots spilled over, wall hangings strewn about, wood broken and splintered. The dragon dragged his eyes across the large figure in front of him, hearing the sounds of the others landing behind him.
"I know what you've done," Hiccup said strongly, watching as the viking looked over at him, eyes gleaming with a strange gleam. He smiled with his crooked smile.
"And what exactly would that be boy?" He said in a half snarl while working on getting the knots untied. Hiccup took a few steps forward while the others joined him in the doorway. The dragon growled slightly, making his intention clear to the outcast.
"This was all you wasn't it? I know you're a manipulative sociopath who will stop at nothing to destroy Berk. This whole scheme was yours wasn't it? You were manipulating us from the start weren't you? I get the feeling you met Tatsuo before any of us on Berk did and you sent them our way. You went on the hunch that they would come and destroy our village. All this was one big game of chess, moving pieces where they needed to be to gain sympathy from Berk, to give yourself the better image. You planned this all," Hiccup said quickly, thoroughly, and with an air of superiority having believed he figured out the game that Alvin had so intricately created with his own pieces and rules. However, Alvin just stared ahead, straight through the dragon almost before refocusing on his eyes. The viking shook his head slowly.
"No you idiot, I don't think you have a single clue about what you're talking about. I vowed to protect the village! Stoick and I made a pact when I was banished! He didn't want to do it, but I made him! I made the mistake! We agreed I'd relay information I gathered from enemy tribes back to Berk through Mildew who was the one who formulated the entire operation! Only I and a three other Outcasts knew of the plan! All the others were just pawns I used to better our reputation and better our image," Alvin said, pointing his finger directly to the group of children in front of him with a disgusted and irritated look on his face, "You think you know everything don't you kid? I've got news for you, this world is so much bigger than you think! There is so much more out there than you can image! I've seen things kid! I've seen dragons the size of this island! I've seen places you would never imagine! Until you go out there and learn for yourself, you are destined to be naive for eternity! You've opened your eyes and seen things other can't but you're still only looking at the surface! Dig deeper underground you brat!" The former Outcast chief turned around and grabbed the ropes, pulling hard for a few long seconds before completely breaking the rope itself. He panted and rubbed his hands, feeling the rope burns starting to take their toll. He glanced one more look at the dragon and his friends and shook his head.
"Hiccup, he's right," Stoick muttered out, seeing his son in the doorway, "All of it, its true, just go out...go out and protect our village son...we'll talk soon alright? We've gotta talk..." And with that, the chief passed out once again, slumping into Alvin's arms. The viking glared at the kids and motioned for them to leave.
"You heard him kid, get out of here, go help somebody while I make sure he's okay," Alvin said and when there was no immediate response from the group, the shouted at them louder than before, "Go!"
With that, the four dragons and one viking girl took to the skies once more, watching as the harsh landscape below wriggled with the bodies of brothers and sisters fighting against one another. Steel and flesh connected in the streets, blood and sweat coated the pavement, and the desperate screams of the many filled the brightening day.
As the sun rose, it seemed as though the village of Berk would fall.