'Ello! I am CanIHaveAHug. Otherwise known as Bob. Or maybe not known at all. *huh…* Anyway, here is my tribute to this community story! :D Enjoy!
Toothless paces along the deck, a dissatisfied growl rumbling beneath his lips. The Vikings aboard the same ship eye him nervously as one black paw lands in front of the other, his anxiety and furious worry obvious.
Don't be mistaken, the Vikings of Berk had long ago come to terms with this normally playful, protective Nightfury. But when his human was ripped from his grasp? Well… it becomes a little more dangerous to be around this uneasy dragon.
Distracted by his thoughts, Toothless never realizes the humans' unease, and continues to pace.
"Hiccup… Dammit, Diana, if you or any of your disgusting Lunarians touch a hair on my human's head, I will absolutely DESTROY you, goddess or no!"
His mother doesn't respond, which sets both satisfaction and unsure confusion in Toothless' heart.
Now then… How to save Hiccup without releasing his cruddy excuse of a mother from her prison and bringing the end of the world.
As of now, the Berkian ships were on a medium-pace, heading for Diana's Island. There had been no need for discussion when the decision was first made. After both Toothless and Stoick had let out a piece of their fury at losing Hiccup, they looked each other in the eye, and nodded. They both agreed that there was nothing that would deter them from saving their scrawny, endearing boy, and that was final.
Although, they were going to need a plan. Simply storming in and attacking was out of question. Giving himself up? Possible, but more of a last resort.
"Come on, Nightfury!" Toothless thought to himself angrily. "You're supposed to be smart! How did Aunt Meridia defeat Mother in the first place?"
She had more power for one thing. And the support of the other gods. But Toothless sure doesn't have the power of a god; much less have more power than the blasted goddess of the moon.
Maybe he could just replicate her technique and modify it through mortal-like ways. Unless it was quite literally a battle of will, it could be a plausible idea.
Except for the fact that he still had no idea how Aunt Meridia won.
Toothless' scowl deepens, and unconsciously snarls his displeasure, causing the nearby Vikings to jump.
At their startled noises, Toothless is pulled out of his thoughts and randomly notices his shadow outlined against the floor of the deck, and feels the heat of the sun baking his pure black scales.
The sun. Although she refuses to act for either side, surely she gazes over their battle with at least a partially sympathetic heart?
"Meridia…" Toothless mutters. "Watch over my Hiccup… please. Although we do not share blood, he is my brother. From one protective sibling to another, I beg of you, let Hiccup be safe…"
Suddenly, a wave of nausea washes over him.
Toothless suspects his mother didn't approve of him praying to his aunt, but he refuses to apologize. Toothless totters on his feet, and with a slight groan, falls into a calm slumber.
###
Hiccup wakes up once more in his enclosed dreamland. Basically the white room, with all its glory of an unidentified source of light and total absence of coloration.
He almost missed it.
The young man hauls himself upright, and stares around in confusion. For once surprisingly, Hiccup found himself alone. No old man, no Toothless, nobody.
Hiccup frowns in suspicion and takes one cautious step forward.
All of a sudden, the lights go out, and Hiccup is plunged in darkness. He 'eeps' in surprise and stumbles onto his bum.
And then… a floating, brightly flickering flame appears.
A breath hitches in Hiccup's throat, but he quickly quells his surprise and instead filled with curiosity. He gets on his feet (er… foot and prosthetic?), and approaches the fist-sized ball of flame. He holds out an open palm, with the intention of touching it, when a gleam blinks a few inches away.
Hiccup recoils in surprise for the third time in 5 minutes, and huffs at seeing a small moon duplicate as the cause of the gleam.
A tiny Diana… cute. Hiccup thought, a tidbit irritated.
The boy turns back to the flame, and tentatively holds his fingers towards it…
And immediately curses, sucking at the small burns on his fingers.
Brilliant, Haddock. The boy scowls. After years working at a fiery forge, and months living with fire-breathing dragons, you still don't know that you shouldn't play with fire. Wow.
After the pain eventually subsides, Hiccup continues observing the hovering objects. He slowly circles the flame, which he eventually came to assume represented the sun.
Nothing else had seemed to occur for several minutes though, and Hiccup found himself feeling frustrated from the seemingly useless glowing balls.
Well… glowing ball. Wait, what?
Hiccup turns his head back and forth, looking between the mini sun, and the mini moon. He had just placed himself between the two in order to get a closer look at the markings on the mini moon when he released that it wasn't shining its moonlight.
He turns back to the sun. The sun was glowing as bright as ever though. So why wasn't the moon?
Hiccup frowns at the dim sphere. "Funny you don't have a glow…" he takes a step to the side to observe it from a different angle, when the moon gleams its light again!
The teenager raises his eyebrows. Then a thought struck him.
Feeling a bit stupid, Hiccup puts himself between the sun and moon. The moon goes out.
Take a step back. The moon glows again.
In front. Back. In front. Back.
Lose glow. Glow. Lose glow. Glow.
Well, at least he's established a pattern here. However, what if the case was just that the replica simply came without a glow? Perhaps some magic mishap?
For some reason, Hiccup doubted that. The moon just seemed to amplify the light instead of just being there. It shined just like the sun did when exposed to light, like the glare of ice in the morning.
Wait a second. Ice. Ice reflects. But with their close proximity, the moon wasn't melting, so then it must be…
###
"A mirror!" Toothless gapes, astounded by the revelation. "Mother is just a mirror of Aunt Meridia's power! That's why she's weaker! She's… she's a copycat!"
Toothless takes a deep calming breath, swallows, and then sits back on his haunches. Wow. He knew his mother was a bit of a bitter power-craver, but… he had never known why. This certainly explained a lot.
He would've spent good time thinking about how to utilize this info, and perhaps ponder on how to thank the magic being who was somehow sharing it, but the show wasn't over yet. The two orbs float towards each other, until the moon positions itself in front of the sun, clogging its light with a pitch black circle. The eclipse.
Toothless growls at it, despite knowing that his mother wasn't actually in there. So what a surprise he got when he spots the vague outlines of his mother's form in the darkened moon.
Okay… just calm down, Toothless… The Nightfury tells himself, feeling her mental (though it had to be fake) presence creeping towards him. You're just still dreaming… Juuust dreaming…
She formed as a fellow Nightfury, and burns her piercing gaze into his eyes. Under it, Toothless' mental walls falter for a moment. But a moment is plenty.
Diana's mind invades his, and although he fought madly, he was no match for a goddess.
She lifts a paw in test. Toothless unwillingly finds his paw lifting as well. She puts it down. As does he.
She smiles and lifts her head. Toothless smiles and lifts his head. She prepares to fire the Third Link. Toothless prepares to bring the end of the world.
Just as the heat fills his maw however, something new appears before him in a crouched position.
"Hiccup!"
A delighted smile lights up his face, and he sticks his tongue out to begin licking his rider. He didn't know how Hiccup got into his dreams, but he didn't really care either. His human wasn't hurt!
He stops however with a befuddled expression when he saw Hiccup doing the same thing he was. Bent forward a bit, jaw hanging open, tongue lagging off the side.
Toothless feels his smile fall. Another reflection. A… dream.
But it must have some sort of reason to be here, in his mind! A dream from the divine forces, especially one as so interactive as this, always has a purpose; he just had to figure out what it was.
Then for some reason, Toothless finds himself leaning back to sit upright the human way and tilting his head in sync with Hiccup!
Okay… so maybe Hiccup isn't the reflection, maybe I'm the reflection. Toothless pouts at this. But there's no way Hiccup would casually stick his tongue out like that in order to lick me. It's a purely dragon thing, and he knows it.
So who's in control? The two wonder as one voice.
###
The Messenger, a traveler of dreams and speaker for the gods, appears before the Brothers as an old man just as they realize they have accidently possessed each other. Or perhaps "entwined souls" would sound less threatening? Possession by a spirit is never exactly looked up to anywhere in the world, as far as the Messenger could tell.
The Brothers both turn their heads towards him with the same startled, suspicious looks.
The similarities were so eerily close, and pounded the area with such a powerful aura, the Messenger almost took tail and ran for it.
But unfortunately, his job was to deliver messages, and deliver them he would.
"Toothless. Hiccup." He nods to each in acknowledgment. "I bring word from the gods above."
The Brothers glance at each other nervously, then gestures for him to continue with a synchronized wave of hand and paw.
Odin, that is creepy.
"You, dragon and human, are one. You have entwined your souls through your unending love as brothers. You are also the alternate reflection of Meridia and Diana; you Brothers love each other in the way the Sisters could not.
"Although only a small piece of her reasoning, Diana envies you for the tranquil equality you share." He looks at Toothless. "She believes that if she could not have it, neither should you. Ironic as it is, Meridia had subdued Diana through a mirroring technique, and Diana intends to use it now. She will force you to become her mirror so you would fire the Third Link that would free her from her prison. But as you are mortal, and she is not, there may be only one way to resist her."
The Brother's eyes widen, and they lean closer. "And that would be?" they ask in one voice.
The Messenger smiles slightly.
"A mirror may only present one reflection at a time."
###
On a quiet, but bustling Viking warship, the toxic green eyes of a Lunar dragon sprang open.
###
Lying on a straw mat in a warm healer's hut, a young man with evergreen eyes blinks into the land of consciousness.
###
Miles away in the wondrous, lightless world of outer space, Meridia watches as Diana's path grows closer and closer to her own.
The time was nigh.
Soooo… How'd I do? You like it? Don't like it? Wanna stuff my head down a toilet for making this so deux-ex-machina-ish? [I'm sorry…]
Dawnbreaker note: First of all, I'm sorry to 'CanIHaveAHUG' for this chapter being so awfully late (just to let you all know, it's been laying in my doc manager for a good few days)
I personally found this chapter really interesting. We found out who the old man is, we found out about Diana's weakness and the relationship between her and her sister and all that. A mirror can only have one reflection at a time eh? and obviously hiccup is toothless' mirror now but will he be able to resist Diana from taking his place? Will we see Diana released along with Meridia (that's how it goes according to story, hope you've paid attention) or will they stay trapped? Ah, so exciting!
-Dawnbreaker