Hiccup had his back to the crowd, cutting the ropes off of Toothless, but he was still listening. As the last rope was lose, he went over to Toothless's head and smiled.
"We did it bud," He whispered, scratching the reptiles scaly head. Toothless purred, licking his master gently. They sat there for a few seconds, Hiccup not really paying much attention to what was going on behind him, but one sentence caught him off-guard.
"I'm not the one who should say their goodbyes," He heard Alvin say. Turning around, he looked over at them to see what was happening. What did he mean? Hiccup asked himself. He stared in horror as the crossbow was drawn away from Savage's face to his own. Then he could hear the trigger being pulled.
Toothless looked at his rider questioningly, noticing the confused expression in his face. He looked copied Hiccup's direction and stared at the man his rider had previously fought. His acid green eyes widened in horror as the weapon, the man was holding, pointed towards his rider. He looked at Hiccup who stared with wide eyes. This wasn't a part of their plan. Toothless's ears perked up at the sound of the trigger getting pulled, and he let out a roar in fear.
Everything seemed to go in slow motion. The way the arrow spun in circles towards its target. The way the wind went quieter and one could no longer hear the howling of it. Everything went deadly quiet for a few seconds before anyone could register what was happening. Berkians shrieked out in horror, hoping to warn their hero before it was too late, but nothing would have been quicker than the arrow. Nothing, but a certain Night Fury.
Toothless roared in fright, supporting his whole body further on his front legs. The purple plasma building in his throat. He felt his instincts getting ready to fire the plasma blast on the arrow, but his eyes registered the people standing a couple of feet in front of him. He knew if he released the blast from the position he was in, could be dangerous. It could cause great injuries to the ones standing in that directing. In the lasts second, he stood up behind Hiccup who fell down to the ground after having supported himself on the dragon, and fired the plasma.
Hiccup stumbled backwards, his elbows catching his weight before he could crash fully to the ground. He heard the familiar sound of plasma getting released. But it wasn't the only sound he could hear. A horrific voice cried out in pain along with a grunt that sounded like someone used great strength to accomplish a task at hand. His eyes looked in front of him where the arrow was headed, but he didn't focus on that. No. He focused on the treacherous man with wide eyes, blood trailing out of his mouth with a gasp of utterly shock and pain. Alvin dropped the crossbow and stared in to nothingness. The plasma, Hiccup had previously heard, shot above his head and blew the arrow to pieces, but the blast continued forward. The blast stroke forward with great speed, pushing Alvin's body backwards and further into what had caused his painful expression. That was when he saw it. He could see the tip of a sword sticking out of the man's abdomen. One could only see the blood dripping from the sword. The blood soaking his armor and the blood leaving his mouth.
Suddenly, the sword was yanked out of Alvin's body and he collapsed to the ground, revealing Savage boiling in anger.
"Serves you right," Savage muttered, throwing the blood soaked sword beside the dead body of his previous chief. He looked up from the dead corpse and met Hiccup's eye, considering the other eye of his was still closed from the gash. Taking a quick look back, he motioned for his men to follow him as he slowly stepped forward. Hiccup stood up, looking in amazement as the outcast crowded around him. Both outside and inside the academy. "We owe you our lives," Savage began, kneeling down with his right hand on his chest and head low to show respect. The outcasts dropped their weapons and copied his actions. Everyone kneeling in the direction of Hiccup. "How can we repay you for everything you've done?" Savage looked up to the stunned Viking.
Hiccup felt something inside him. Was it Pride? No. He felt…powerful. His stunned face went calm as he walked over to Savage, placing a hand on his shoulder. At first a little unsure of doing so, in case the man would eventually jump on him and murder him right then. But after witnessing the man killing Alvin the Treacherous, he felt a little more secure.
"No need to kneel," Hiccup said, smiling a little. Savage stood up with hope and a little hint of wonder in his eyes. "You can repay us by promising to never follow in Alvin's footsteps, and from now on live in piece with the tribes around you. Including us," Hiccup removed his hand from his shoulder and held it out for him to shake. Savage smiled gratefully, accepting the offer by responding to the hand shake. Hiccup felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around he saw Gobber, standing there with the proudest smile he'd ever seen before.
"We've missed ya lad," He announced, patting his shoulder.
"It's good to be home," Hiccup said calmly, looking over Gobber shoulder to see the Berkians taking off the rest of the chains. He looked around, searching for his friends in the crowd, and found them by an outcast getting removing their chains.
"I'll be right back," Hiccup said, jogging over to them. He could hear Gobber shout his name, a hint of urge in his voice, but he didn't care. All he cared about was making sure his friends were okay. From a distance, he noticed their ripped up clothes. The fabric of their clothes a little blood stained and the bruises barely visible from beneath their clothes. They seemed to be the only ones injured. The rest of the village was rather dirty clothed.
"Hiccup!" A voice called out for him. Gods, how much he had missed that voice. "Thank Thor you're alright!" Astrid cried out, looking over at him. Not before now had he taken notice to how much she had changed. The sun reflecting in her ocean blue eyes and lighting up her blonde ash coated hair. All of them had changed in fact. They were no longer the small teenagers who could have been mistaken to be thirteen years old. Now they looked like young adults. Much taller than before. But one thing Hiccup took notice in was their body structure. They weren't as built up and strong anymore. Now they were rather thinner than before and weaker.
He ran over to her, pulling her into a tight embrace.
"Don't mind me. You're the one who should be worried about," Hiccup said. "Are you guys okay?" This time he talked to all the six of them.
"We're okay-
"I'm starving," Tuffnut complained, cutting her off.
"Look, I'm all sweaty and dirty. This really isn't good for my reputation," Snotlout announced, gesturing to himself.
"I just want Meatlug back," Fishlegs whined, holding his head low.
"Where are the dragons?" Hiccup asked in shock.
"They were sent of the Island to Dragon Island right before the invasion. We'll tell you everything later. Right now, you have to get to the Great Hall," Astrid explained urgently.
"What, why?"
"It's your father," She paused. Hiccup's eyes widened in realization. He had forgotten about his father for a few minutes. "We don't know what Alvin did, but it's bad. Really bad," Hiccup gasped, turning around to fetch Toothless, but someone held him back.
Astrid pulled him back with all her strength. He turned around confused, but felt soft, warm lips crash on his. They kissed passionately, Hiccup's worry fading a little but it was still there. Everything around them slowed down just like it did when the arrow was shot towards Hiccup. But this time it felt better. It felt loving and pleasurable instead of horrifying.
Hiccup was taken by surprise but soon responded to the kiss, placing his good hand on her cheek. They pulled away a few seconds later. "I've wanted to do that for a while now," Astrid smiled. Hiccup smiled at her, pecking her cheek before he started walking backwards.
"I'll be right back," And then he was off, mounting Toothless who had found him while they had their moment, and set off in top speed towards the Great Hall.