Chapter 2
Hi everyone! I have to apologize for the time it took, I had some things to deal with and it took a lot of time. Also, my computer recently had to go through repairs and it was away for a few week. Even though my mom let me borrow my laptop, I was left without my files (because I forgot to save those on my USB). But now, enough with that, I'll let you enjoy that new chapter!
Just a little summary before for those who needs it: Hiccup is adapting to the tribe after killing the Red death. With the help of his friends, he teaches the inhabitants of Berk to ride dragons. One morning, three castaways are found: Viggo, Ryker and Heather, a small family. They are greeted by Stoick, but Hiccup have suspicions.
This evening, the castaways came in the Great Hall to dine with the other people. Hiccup still disliked that, but he didn't say a word. Astrid kissed him as an encouragement, so he decided to ignore them, until the girl with black hair came toward them. Fishlegs beamed, and maybe that was the reason why the dragon-boy did nothing to lead her away.
"Heather! I'm glad you'll join us!"
"I'm glad too, it's good to be with people of my age."
"You travel a lot?" Asked Astrid.
"Yes; sometimes we have young sailors with who I can befriend, but not recently. By the way, could you remind me of your names?"
They all introduced themselves, but when it was Hiccup's turn, he did nothing. He just remained silent, until Astrid nudged him.
"My name is Hiccup."
The girl awkwardly smiled to him, obviously taken aback by his cold attitude. Astrid spoke again: "I bet that you never saw any dragon riders in spite of all your travels?"
"Never indeed. Fishlegs told me he got a Gronkle, what do you have?"
"A Nadder, her name is Stormfly."
They happily chatted, only Hiccup remained silent and scarcely spoke to her. He looked at Astrid and immediately saw that she was disappointed. He took her hand gently, and though she didn't take hers away, she didn't respond to his touch. Heather was impressed when Fishlegs explained that Astrid was the one nicknamed 'the Dragons' Princess'. In the end, pretty much everyone liked her, except maybe the Dragons' Prince.
"What is wrong with you?!" Hissed Astrid once they were outside.
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean: why are you acting like that?"
"I told you, I don't like those strangers much. Why should we let them around our dragons?"
"Come on, a dragon is not a kitten, they can defend themselves! And they are probably aware that hurting any of them would be their doom! Why do you suspect them like this?!"
"I don't know, but they are different from the usual merchants!"
"That's not a good reason. You are different from other humans, yet I took the risk and tried to know more about you. You, above all of people, should know that rejecting someone because they're different is wrong."
She left him here and went home. He didn't try to catch her back, disappointed and angry because she couldn't understand, because she had a point and he didn't like to admit it. His dad went home soon enough, and his son's bad mood didn't escape him. Even though Hiccup was a bit reluctant to tell him at first, he finally spilled everything out.
"I see. You're both right in a way."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it's true they are guests, therefore we have to be welcoming. But it's not a bad idea to stay on guard either. After all, it's unwise to trust strangers too much."
"So you understand how I feel."
"I do, though I don't see why you're feeling especially wary of them."
"I don't really know either, but Toothless caught a strange smell on them, and my instinct tells me I should beware. What should I do?"
"Well, try to be friendlier. If Astrid is right, you'll avoid rejecting people for no reasons; and if you're right, then it will be easier for you to discover what they are doing by getting close to them."
"That's smart…You're slier than I thought!"
"Haha! Not that much, actually, but you pick a thing or two while being chief. I can tell you that it's better not to let your enemies see through you."
"And when I'm suspicious about someone, I shouldn't let them know," he summed up. "I often used tricks and all against dragons, because they were stronger than me, I had to be smarter than them. But tricking a dragon and tricking a human isn't the same."
"I'm sure you can figure something out. They'll stay for some times and work in the harbor in exchange of a small ship. Just be careful, okay? If you've got anything, tell me immediately."
Hiccup smiled to him, he was feeling better now. That night, his mind worked on how he would approach them. At the same time, Viggo was plotting as well. He and his 'family' had waited for their hosts to be asleep before talking.
"Now, tell me, my dear Heather, what did you learn about them?"
"Well, not much it was mainly a friendly conversation. Oh yes, that guy Snotlout boasted about the fact they were the ones teaching the rest of the village about dragons. And the girl Ruffnutt said that it was mainly thanks to Hiccup that they could do it."
"He is key to their dragon training, nothing I couldn't have guessed."
"I'm sorry, but I couldn't ask too many questions; it would have been obvious."
"To her defense, we didn't learn anything more interesting."
Viggo gave Ryker a murderous look, and thankfully enough, it made him shut up. Heather was obviously afraid.
"They…They invited me to come and see their dragons tomorrow. Fishlegs says that I could even ride on his dragon."
"Ah! Now that's interesting. Now, tell me everything you can about the dragons' prince. I said that already, but he isn't what I imagined at all."
"That's probably because idiots told us he was bigger and taller than three men. People and their need to exaggerate!"
Viggo nodded, for once, he couldn't disagree with Ryker. People could really be idiotic when it came to rumors.
"Well, he didn't really speak to me, I don't know, he seems to dislike me. The girl, however, the dragon's princess, seem to like me more. Her real name is Astrid, she is the one with the blue eyes the shorter hair. I saw him kissing her and taking her hand. Do you…Do you still want me to seduce him?"
"No, she'll hate you, and you don't need that. Worse, the whole group could hate you if you try to break them apart. Just be their friend; show her you're no rival. Plus, you still have an opening with that Fishlegs. As for that Hiccup…I don't think he suspects anything, maybe it's simply the result of being feral most of his life."
She simply nodded, feeling incredibly relieved and they finally got to bed. She did her best to sleep, but her bloodshot eyes showed how much she failed to do that. Viggo told her he would come with her in order to see the teens himself. She was far from thrilled when she heard that, but she showed nothing. Instead, she put on her most charming smile and went to find Fishlegs in spite of that. He was talking with Astrid.
"Hi!"
"Hey! How are you? Good morning, sir," Astrid said politely.
"Good morning to you. If I understood well, you invited my niece for a dragon ride."
"Y…yes, if you agree with it," Fishlegs stuttered.
"I would just like to be around. My brother wasn't willing to let Heather around dragons alone, but he also wanted to give our hosts a hand for the housework. That's why I suggested to go in his stead. So I'm afraid you'll have to endure my presence for a bit," he joked.
"No problem!"
The teens brought the guests to their dragons; Viggo stayed out of their conversation but listened carefully.
"I'm sorry for Hiccup's behavior yesterday. He is always nervous with strangers; he still has to adjust to the village's life."
"Oh, I thought I did something wrong," Heather admitted.
"No, don't worry."
. As she was thinking about him, she saw him with Toothless and the other dragons. He was wrestling playfully with the Night Fury, and once again, she could see the feral boy she ran away with. Even though she was angry at him, she couldn't help but smile and soften. He was pinned on the ground by Toothless when he noticed them.
"Here you are, I wondered if we would see you," she told him with a grin.
He looked up at her and smiled. Jumping back on his feet, he kissed her briefly but tenderly. He turned to Viggo and Heather: "Good morning. I hope you're well installed."
Though a bit awkward, his greeting was a relief compared to yesterday's coldness and Astrid took his hand to show him she was happy about that.
"Very well, Mulch and Bucket are really nice to us," Heather answered. "So…Those are your dragons…They're impressive."
Even though Heather was intimidated at first, Fishlegs took her hand (blushing like crazy while doing so) and pressed it against Meatlug's snout. The female Gronkle reacted positively, licking the girl's hand and waving her tail. She backed away when Viggo approached though. It only fed Hiccup's suspicion. The same thing happened with Stormfly. Fishlegs took Heather on Meatlug's back and they heard the girl yelp when they started to fly. Hiccup looked at Viggo and saw he was carefully watching his niece. Something still felt weird to him, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Astrid turned toward him:
"I'm going to look for the others. Stay here, okay?"
"I will."
He watched her leave, but strangely, she told Stormfly to stay where she was. He also decided to stay on the ground, he didn't want to leave the man by himself around the dragons. He thought Viggo would try to get out of his sight, but no. Instead, the man came and sat by his side in the grass. Immediately, Toothless came at his brother's side and curled his tail around Hiccup's form while growling, showing clearly that he wouldn't let that stranger hurt him. Viggo tensed a bit, and Hiccup quieted Toothless with a few scratches and petting.
"He won't hurt you. He just shows you shouldn't hurt me."
"I have no bad intention toward you, or him. I just want to make sure that Heather will be alright. You don't fly with them?"
"No, not right now, I'm waiting for my friends."
They watched the pair flying silence; Heather would open her arms to feel the wind, only to embrace Fishlegs again whenever she would get scared. Hiccup couldn't help but smile, she reminded him a bit of Astrid during her first flight.
"I know I'm probably not the first one, but may I ask you some questions?" Viggo asked gently.
"What kind?"
"I would like to know how you found yourself with dragons; that's not exactly common."
"I thought you heard of me already? Didn't you hear about my story?"
"I heard some tales, but people often say wrong things. I heard you were taller than grown men, for exemple. So I don't know what's real anymore."
"Well, my house was on fire and both my father and my mother tried to save me both. But my mother got me first and kept me as her cub."
Though his explanation confused Viggo at first, he understood quickly enough that he was talking about his human father and his dragon mother. He grinned: "Quite simple actually. It was probably tough to survive among dragons."
"I had my family. You mostly need to be swift."
"Yeah…I know how that feels, I was very thin as well when I was a boy…"
He stopped his sentence, and Hiccup couldn't help but find his expression quite strange. Toothless was still watching Viggo carefully. He growled to Hiccup: "I still dislike this smell. I think the others smelled it as well. Meatlug was wary, and she rarely is."
"I know, but I need to know more about him."
"We should follow them when they go home. Maybe that way I could find where that smell comes from."
"Good idea. But for now, I'll just speak with him."
Viggo seemed a bit lost at this and Hiccup pretended he was only reassuring his brother.
"I can understand, Ryker can be a bit protective of me. But how did you survive without encountering any humans? Surely, there are things dragons couldn't do for you."
"I had a human friend, she helped me with some things. But she is dead now."
He didn't say anything else; he didn't want to speak about Millie. He missed her sometimes, when he wouldn't understand humans, he wished she was there to explain. Thankfully, he had his friends. Before Viggo could speak again, the others arrived. Fishleg and Hetaher went back on the ground and Viggo told her that he would go work on the harbor, as they decided they would pay their ship that way. The seven teens spent most of their times together, Snotlout trying to hit on her, but it seemed like she preferred Fishlegs. During the afternoon, Astrid suggested Hiccup they could take some times apart. He thought she only wanted to spend some times with him, but once they were in the woods, out of reach, she became dead serious:
"Hiccup, I think you might be right."
"About the strangers?"
"Yes. There is something weird. I remember that when we met them, I felt something wrong; I brushed it off, but I felt it again."
"Finally! You see, I…" He stopped at her angry look. "Okay. What is it?"
"Well, when her father touched her, she was uneasy. And now, I noticed she was avoiding her uncle's eyes. If anything, she hardly speaks to him, she just replies to him. As if she was scared."
Hiccup's eyes widened slightly. She was right! That was one of the things which nagged him: they were not a normal family. He had felt him without seeing it.
"You're right, I think I felt it, but I didn't know what it was exactly! There is something else, though. This guy Viggo was talking to me and something was strange. I didn't really want to answer his questions, but I felt I had to."
"What did you speak about?"
He explained her and she seemed thoughtful: "It doesn't seems like weird questions, I mean, people are curious about you. Maybe we really are imagining things. But just to be sure, we should speak with the other riders."
He nodded and smiled to her while taking her hands: "Not right now. We took some times alone after all."
With a little smile, she kissed him: "It's going to rain, let's find a shelter."
"Why? Can't handle a bit of rain?"
"Of course I can! But it's a bit annoying, you see."
"I like it on you."
"You like rain on me?"
"Yes, I like to see water run on your skin, especially when it shines once the clouds are gone. It looks like you're made of sun."
She couldn't help but blush at those words: "That was quite poetic."
The rain did fall, and the animals around were the only ones to witness the two teens running and dancing while the thunder was roaring above the forest.
The next days went normally, the group was watching the newcomers carefully (though Fishlegs was a bit unwilling to do that to Heather); Viggo and Ryker would mostly spend time helping Mulch and Bucket, working in the harbor and training with some Hooligan men. They were making some friends already. Heather would either help her family or stay with the teens or go on the beach. All in all, they were doing nothing suspicious. Sometimes, Viggo or Ryker would watch Heather while she was learning how to ride a dragon. While Ryker wouldn't speak much to him, Viggo would ask Hiccup question and chat with the boy. Although he would never say or do anything wrong or suspicious or mean, Hiccup would always feel a bit uneasy.
Snotlout soon noticed that his father was getting along well with Ryker and Viggo. Naturally worried for his dad, he warned him to be careful around them, that they suspected something, but Spitelout just brushed it off. According to him, Hiccup was nothing but a wilding who was scared of anything and unable to act friendly. Though Snotlout wanted to defend his cousin, he failed at it. His father still hated the Dragons' Prince and would hardly call him his nephew.
"Believe me, son, you would have been a much better chief. I'm pretty sure you'll be, by the way, there is no way that runt could ever be a good heir."
He just left their house and Snotlout followed him outside and saw he was going toward the tavern. His mother was home soon.
"Where is your father?"
"At the tavern. Is it me or…I mean…"
"He spends more and more time there," Maka hissed. "I'm tired. I'll give him a dress down tomorrow. Going at the tavern at times is fine, but he gets drunk too often."
Snotlout didn't like that truth but he couldn't deny it. He went to find Hookfang and spent some times with his dragon friend, the one he could talk to with absolutely no fear. Spitelout was home really late that night; being awaken by his noises, Snotlout saw with fear that Viggo was helping his dad to walk back home.
O o O
"Did you hear what they were saying?" Asked Hiccup the next morning, after Snotlout told him what happened.
"No, sadly I didn't. Anyway when my dad is drunk, it's a bit hard to understand him," Snotlout sighed.
Hiccup nodded slightly, it was the same with his dad. "I don't think they'll try to hurt him, though. I mean, why would they do that?"
"Yeah, and if they wanted to hurt him, they would have done it while he was drunk, hardly able to defend himself," added Snotlout to reassure himself.
"Indeed."
"What are you two talking about?"
They saw the twins coming toward them. They had that usual stupid smile they would always wear whenever they did some stupid trick.
"We decided to relocate Mildew's chickens inside his house. Poor thing were a bit sad outside!" Ruff laughed.
"They were so happy to be in a cozy that they decided to paint it in their own way," Tuff added. "I must say, I'm starting to be really fond of chickens, in fact, this inspires me…"
"No!" Yelled Snotlout.
"Oh gosh, are you touchy!"
"Viggo is getting a bit too close to his dad," Hiccup explained.
"He is getting close to Mildew as well. He was walking the stinky old man back home when they surprised us," Ruff declared thoughtfully.
"What? What did you say?"
"Viggo was talking to Mildew. I don't know what they were saying, but the old grump almost looked like he was in a good mood."
"Yeah, we always see him growl and yell at us, usually."
"I don't mean to defend the old grump but there is a reason for that," Snotlout sneered.
Hiccup didn't say anything; instead, he stood up and went to find Astrid. When she heard what had been said, she voiced out his suspicions: "He is getting close with people who hates you. You know, now that I think about it, I saw him speaking a lot with the Leifman yesterday."
The Leifman was a couple who didn't like Hiccup and resented him for bringing dragons around. They went to find Stoick, but he wasn't home. They eventually found him in the harbor, and they were surprised to see that the foreigners were ready to leave. The ship they obtained was just a small fishing boat, but it would be fine enough for three people. Heather seemed nervous again, and Viggo and Ryker were thanking everyone.
"I'm aware you're being generous," Viggo declared. "We'll be back as soon as possible with many merchandises and gifts to thank you."
"I hope nothing wrong will happen to you on your way."
"A boat like that is rarely noticed by pirates, and the weather seems favorable. We'll go to Berserker Island, I think. We have friends there who will be able to help us."
"Oswald is someone good, he'll help you I'm sure."
"He'll be too preoccupied, from what I heard, his two children had disappeared."
"A tragic story, indeed," said Viggo while sneaking an arm around Heather's shoulder.
Hiccup couldn't help but hiss silently and curl his lips when he saw the way she tensed. In fact, she had turned pale at their last sentences. Astrid and Fishlegs both noticed that and the shy boy couldn't but voice his concern: "Heather, are you alright?"
"Ye…Yeah, just a bit nervous to sail again."
"It should be alright," Ryker assured.
The whole group was dumbfounded. Nothing wrong happened at all, they were leaving peacefully and everyone was wishing them a good trip.
"Maybe they'll do something when they'll come back," suggested Astrid once the group was away from prying ears.
"Or maybe they got too scared to try anything," Ruff said.
"Or maybe they were spying but only to see whether or not we had wrong intentions toward the rest of the archipelago," Fishlegs murmured. "Maybe it was preventive."
"Or maybe their plans just failed. We know, Ruff and I, that plans can totally fail at times, no matter how awesome those can get."
"Or maybe we were just wrong," mumbled Snotlout.
"Hiccup?"
He was silent, but when he saw all his friends looking at him, he spoke: "There was something wrong with Heather, guys. And there was something wrong with those men. But yeah, maybe…Maybe they are bad people, but that doesn't mean they'll try to hurt us."
"They'll come back, let's keep that in mind," Astrid reminded them.
As they would often do, the young couple went in the forest to spend some time alone. Their dragons came along, Toothless would annoy and tease his brother at times en he wouldn't chase birds with Stormfly.
"It's weird, but after everything we did, I'm almost…Disappointed," Astrid murmured to him while leaning against him and holding his hand. "I wouldn't say that to the others, because it's egoistical. After all, it's much better for everyone if those guys were fine. But I thought we would discover something."
"Yeah, I feel quite the same. It's weird. But I have to say I started to like Heather"
"Me too. She really doesn't seem like a bad person, she is quite funny in fact."
"Fishlegs will be happy to see her again," Hiccup murmured with a grin.
"Yeah! However, we should…"
Sudden growls, followed by a whimper and a grunt stopped Astrid in her tracks. They saw Stormfly and Toothless agitated and stumbling. They rushed to them and Hiccup tried to ask what was wrong, but for the first time Toothless wouldn't answer. All they could do was watch in despair as their dragons became limp. Before they could do anything else, they both felt a sting. They just had the time to see the small darts planted in their skin before falling into darkness.
Now, what will happen to our poor kidnapped friends? Well, you'll see in the next chapter! Don't hesitate to review, and sorry again for the time it took! The next chapter of The Shieldmaiden and the Fury should be updated soon.
