A/N: I do not own How to Train Your Dragon.
To all those who are curious, I am no longer going to be establishing a buffer of unreleased chapters, as it is just not how I work. I like to get feedback as I go, in order to improve future chapters. This will mean that it will be less consistent with updates, but that is its own thing.
Flashbacks are in bold, dragon thoughts are in italics.
As Hiccup made his way through the forest and to the cove, he kept thinking about what he had done that day, how everyone had looked at him, how Astrid had tried to kill him, but most of all, how he would never truly be accepted by his own tribe. And when he saw Toothless in the cove, waiting for him, Hiccup made up his mind—he was leaving as soon as he could.
#
For Toothless, the day had been uneventful, having spent most of it basking in the sun's gentle rays, until he sensed something different in the way his rider was moving, something unnerving to even the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself, but he could not place the reason for the difference.
He heard his rider say to him, "It's time for us to leave Berk behind and move on with our lives. You are the only one who has been a true friend to me. There is nothing left here for either of us. I just have to gather some gear, and we should be ready to go." I wonder what happened to him to give the edge of ice to his voice, he was always so warm and happy, but something has changed. I am glad he finally saw some sense and decided that we should go find somewhere else to make our home. And he moved forward, nuzzling and cooing to the distraught boy in an attempt to provide comfort.
#
That night, a shadow glided through the forest and into the village of Berk. It carefully gathered basic supplies: leather, food, schematics, clothes, blankets, maps, and tools from the forge, before leaving a final letter to the people of Berk.
It read, "People of Berk,
I have decided to leave Berk and disown my family name. This choice came from the years of relentless bullying by those around me, particularly my former cousin, Snotlout. When Astrid snapped at me in the arena, I finally realized that I would never be accepted as a member of this tribe. I promise you that I will return one day, and you will understand the Hel that you put me through. Pray that I show you the mercy you never gave to me.
—Hiccup the Useless"
Hiccup was ghosting through the forest, returning to the cove where he would leave Berk behind, when he heard the sound of a woman sobbing. His every instinct told him to stay away from the sound, but there was something about it that was intriguing. Eventually his curiosity got the better of him, and he changed his path so that he would approach the source of the sound.
When he found the source, Hiccup was shocked, to say the least. It was Astrid sitting there sobbing. He felt the urge to go an comfort the sobbing shieldmaiden, but his mind told him that was the wrong move, and he headed to the cove, where Toothless would be growing restless.
#
The following morning, Gobber found Astrid waiting for him outside the forge holding the shards of her axe. She asked, "Gobber, I know this axe is in bad shape, but it was so well made. Could you please repair it?"
Gobber replied, "Saying your axe is in bad shape is a bit of an understatement, and even if I wanted to, I could neither repair your axe nor make you one of similar quality."
Puzzled, Astrid asked, "Weren't you the one who made my axe in the first place?"
Sadly, Gobber replied, "I could never make such a weapon, Hiccup was the one who made most of Berk's weapons, but he did not sound like he was coming back any time soon." Then he entered his shop, ready to go on with the day, leaving Astrid wondering if she could ever do anything to make up for what she had done.
Angry with the world, Astrid decided to go work off the negativity by going after Snotlout and the twins, who already deserved it.
#
Around noon, the thunderous voice of Stoick the Vast rang out across the village of Berk, summoning all to the square. When everyone arrived, he held up the note that he had found, and he began to read, feeling the village should know. When he finished reading, he noticed that the teens had all gone pale and wondered what had happened to make them react like that.
It was then that he noticed Snotlout's arm, inquiring, "What happened to your wrist, did Astrid get tired of your attempts at flirting again?"
Much to Stoick's astonishment, Snotlout replied, "Astrid had nothing to do with this, Hiccup was the one who snapped my wrist," before shrinking away in embarrassment and leaving Stoick to his thoughts.
How had he missed the fact that his son could fight, and in that moment, he realized why the teens had gone pale when he had read the note: they were terrified of what Hiccup had promised them, for they all knew that Hiccup kept his promises.
A/N: Such a nice cliffhanger... For those who have told me before that they did not like how I did not explain how Hiccup got so good with fighting, I will be covering that in chapters 3 and 4, where we will also see Hiccup gearing up... Just a note, there will be divergence from the story "Run," so if this is seeming too familiar, it is due to how this story is being written. All the same content will be covered, but there will be more details in this version, as well as better continuity.
I would appreciate any and all feedback for this story, it helps me to become a better writer.
