Enpowera: This chapter ending up much longer than planned and didn't even include all that I wanted to include. If you notice variants in writing styles, it's because the friend I roleplay'd with helped me writing this chapter on Google Docs. After this chapter there will be one more set in the Movie timeline, followed by getting more alternate universe.
The next morning had Hiccup awake bright and early, compliments of Toothless licking her awake.
"Get off, you overgrown cat!" Hiccup groaned, gently pushing him away. Last night was the best camping experience she'd ever had, as Toothless provided enough heat to knock back the Nordic chill that always happened at night. "Uck, I need a bath now." She was covered in dragon slobber, which somehow resulted in an idea hitting her, "Toothless, shoot a plasma blast into the water to heat it up." she pointed to the nearby lake.
Toothless did as commanded and the water became toasty warm. Hiccup squee'd in delight and stripped off her dirty clothes, running into the water to enjoy the sweet sweet warmth of a hot bath (a luxury she only got on special occasions).
Toothless shifted to human form, stripped, and joined her. Hiccup laughed as he splashed her, splashing back. Bathing was forgotten for a while as they started a splash war.
I wonder if this is what it's like to have a brother...or just someone who cares. Hiccup pondered a while later as she returned to actual bathing, untying her braid to wash her hair. As soon as both Toothless and herself were clean, she climbed out and worked on getting dried off; once dressed, she sat down to comb out and braid her long hair.
"Do you need help?" Toothless asked, reaching over to help braid her hair.
"NO! It's not appropriate," Hiccup exclaimed, "only myself, a female, or when I get married, my husband can help do my hair." She explained on seeing his look of confusion. "It's tradition…" The last person to have even tough her hair aside from herself had been her aunt when she stayed with Snotlout's family.
"Oh...sorry,"
"It's okay, you don't know our traditions." Hiccup stated as she finished up the braiding.
Hiccup started explaining viking traditions to Toothless as she was walked back to town. One mile outside of town she sent Toothless on his way to make sure he wasn't caught. Hearing the horns announcing the return of the viking ships had Hiccup make a mad dash for the docks to greet her father (only briefly remembering to drop her things off at home).
At the docks, Stoick was more or less bombarded with news about Hiccup being something of a dragon whisperer and that she had officially become apart of dragon slaying training as a result. To say he was stunned was an understatement as pride swelled up in chest. Hiccup arrived and felt that something was off as her father gave her a proud look for the first time in a very long time.
"Hiccup, it is true that you're taken dragon training?" Stoick asked once he spotted her, the tone in his voice more confused than anything.
"On accident…" Hiccup hesitantly answered, afraid of his reaction.
"An interesting accident, to be sure. I'll need to think on this, but for now...I need a break from all the sailing." He patted her on the head as gently as he could and worked on going back to the house.
Hiccup followed, wanting to tend to her father like the good daughter she was; she wanted to make up for her hidden behavior these past few days. Once at the house she sat about making him a large lunch, and for once they chatted as they ate, Stoick asking questions about what she'd been up to and how she wound up in dragon slaying training with Hiccup answered the best she could. Once done eating they went to head to the arena for the last day of dragon slaying training - the session to decide who got to slay the Monstrous Nightmare tomorrow.
Hiccup gulped as Ari and her entered the ring, fear filling her to the brim. Ari, however looked confident and ready to fight. He shot glares towards the girl and all but shoved her out of the way as he raced to attack the Gronckle that was released. Alas the Gronckle ignored him in favor of heading towards Hiccup, Ari's axe bouncing off it's rock hard hide.
"What?! GRR!" Ari went in for another attack, pissed at being ignored.
"Wait...I don't have anything for you…" Hiccup did NOT want to win this. The thought of facing a Monstrous Nightmare filled her with dread...especially since it'd incur Ari's wrath upon her.
The Gronckle had other plans. She flew right up to Hiccup and rolled over onto her belly for a scratch, just like a dog. To say the audience was shell shocked would be to put it mildly.
Ari's shock, however, pooled into jealous fury as well. "How! Does someone! Like YOU! Manage to take down a GRONKLE!?" he screamed while storming over to Hiccup with flailing hands and eyes filled with raging blue fire.
"How DARE you!" Hiccup yelled, "I worked hard to learn this," granted 'this' was taming dragons, not slaying. I won't back down. Not in front of this crowd, not as the future chieftess.
"Then where's the axe to finish it?" Ari asked with an icy edge to his voice, eyes focused on hers and didn't look anywhere near breaking contact anytime soon.
"We aren't killing dragons till tomorrow, and I have my sword right here," Hiccup drew her weapon. Stoick had handed it to her prior to leaving their house. It was a sign of status, as swords are for chiefs and their heirs only. " I just didn't need to use it."
Ari bit back what explicit and rude (but mostly rude) comment came to mind due to that, "Fine." He growled and stormed out.
Hiccup glared at his retreating form, anger filling her till she heard the announcement that she'd won the right to kill the Monstrous Nightmare. Oh no...I am so out of here. I can't kill a dragon…
~~~Minor time jump~~~
"Screwed, screwed, I am so screwed," Hiccup was rushing to pack clothes, food, and whatever random things she needed for a trip. "I cannot face that dragon tomorrow...I just can't!"
Hiccup finished packing and dashed out of the house. She took off towards the forest, heading towards the cove. She was rushing too much to focus on hiding her tracks, which made it easy for a certain viking to follow.
"Well, this looks rather interesting…" Ari muttered to himself as he followed after her, years of training to slay dragons making him light on his feet and hard to find when hiding.
Hiccup did not notice as she yelled out to Toothless, "Come out, Toothless, stuff is going South in the village and we need to get out of here fast!"
"South of where?" Toothless asked as he bounded over in his (kind of) human form, "is your village moving south somehow?"
"I have to kill a dragon tomorrow, so we are leaving right now!"
"What!?" Toothless roared rather literally.
"What was that?" Aira muttered as he got closer to where the two hung out. On seeing Hiccup - as in the chief's daughter, the scrawny redhead that had a knack for tripping on air and building things that she only saw useful, the one who took away his chance to slay a Monstrous Nightmare - talking with what looked to he a dragon-human hybrid, something in him… snapped. Hard. He charged forward silently at first, but once he was in a decent axe-throwing range he let out a war cry.
Hiccup screamed in fear, jumping out of the way of the weapon and hoping Toothless did the same. How had she not noticed the enraged viking following her through the forest?! Now everything was ruined, and Toothless would be killed, and she'd have to kill the Nightmare, assuming SHE wasn't killed as a traitor.
Sadly, for Hiccup at least, Toothless in fact did not back down and instead charged at him with teeth looking sharper than usual for his human form and his nails looking more claw-like as the distance between himself and Ari decreased…
"Stop!" Hiccup pleaded, "don't kill each other!" She felt like crying...ignoring the fact that vikings don't cry. "We need to talk this through, without violence. Ari, meet Toothless, my Night Fury, Toothless, meet Ari, local ass,"
Both guys awkwardly stopped - good news is that no blood was shed, but now there was a cut in the ground thanks to Ari's axe - and stared at each other.
"I am not - you've confused me for Snotlout!" Ari stammered.
"I fail to see how he's a donkey." Was Toothless' only reply.
"And - wait - NIGHT FURY?" Ari stared at the two as if both had grown two heads at once.
"Show him," Hiccup commanded, "and yes Ari, I meant you. Snotlout is the king of assholes, while you are just an ass,"
Ari just stared at her with rather blatant anger until Toothless's dragon form was now the center of his attention/vision. "Is… he why you're suddenly so good at dealing with dragons?" he asked slowly with an odd weight of careful wording and precision. Though while Ari was talking to her, Toothless let out a dragon snigger at his sister's comment about Snotlout.
"Yes. They really are amazing," Hiccup stated, "Toothless is amazing."
Toothless let out a coo of thanks, though it was quickly replaced with a sound of surprise and giving chase after Ari when the blond bolted out to tell the village (and Stoick, who'd be told first if all went well).
"Catch him!" Hiccup managed to jump on Toothless so that they could catch the boy.
Toothless was very quick to follow after Ari, glad for Hiccup's help to fly. It wasn't long before the two of them had caught up to him, Toothless snagging him up by his feet as though he were small game and lifting him above the trees.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Normally viking boys didn't cry except for the use of intimidation in battle, but being dangled by one's feet by a legendary dragon species would be a viable exception to that rule. At least that was Ari's logic way, way, WAY in the back of his head. The front was screaming too much to really process rational, logical and coherent thoughts right now.
"Great job, Toothless," Hiccup encouraged, "Ari. Promise you won't tell anyone and we might let you live," She was jesting. Kind of.
Ari's response was an indigent, "As if I'd keep quiet about this!"
Toothless fixed this by leaving Ari atop a pine tree as though he was a tree the druids decorated during the winter times (down in what is considered The United Kingdom today) and threatened to use his weight to catapult Ari who knows where to doom and death.
"Okay, okay, I'll keep quiet!" Ari held onto what he could of the tree for dear life, "Just let me down, PLEASE!"
"Oh no, down is not where you are going," Hiccup smirked as she pulled Ari onto Toothless' back, "show him how awesome you are!"
Toothless responded in kind by flying in a manner that would keep Hiccup decently safe due to the harness but potentially drop Ari. There was a lot of rolling involved as well.
Ari was back to screaming as though he was a god's plaything and found himself holding onto Hiccup - who was smaller than him by every stretch of the imagination - as an anchor to stay on and for protection.
"Smoother, Toothless, my stomach can't handle this," Hiccup was looking a bit green. She wasn't sure if it was the loops or the closeness of Ari causing her stomach to feel queasy. She was so over her crush on him.
Toothless obligated her request and eased out into a more smoother, manageable flight that didn't threaten to possibly off Ari.
"Thanks." Ari mumbled while hoping Hiccup couldn't see how small he felt from the experience of that initial flying hostility.
I can show you the world
Shining, shimmering, splendid
Tell me, prince, now when did
You last let your heart decide?
I can open your eyes
Take you wonder by wonder
Over sideways and under
On a magic carpet ride
A while later had Ari looking around in amazement, snuggling closer to Hiccup. The world looked amazing from up here...so much more magical. Hiccup was just resisting the urge to push him off, the boy getting to close for comfort.
A whole new world
A new fantastic point of view
No one to tell us "No"
Or where to go
Or say we're only dreaming
A whole new world
A dazzling place I never knew
But now from way up here
It's crystal clear
that now I'm in a whole new world with you
"Hey Hiccup? I'm, ah...I'm sorry about...everything. I was just so focused on trying to prove myself to save my family's name and I didn't realize what I was doing for it. Even if you ARE different from most girls in Berk, you should still be treated with respect." Ari sighed and tugged on his bangs a bit.
"You're forgiven," She may not have a crush on him anymore, but she could always use a friend.
The two chatted about what all Hiccup had learned about dragons whilst floating aimlessly -or so they thought. Toothless felt something pulling him and started to drift away from Berk, heading into a large flock o dragons.
"What's going on?!"
"I have no idea," Hiccup worriedly answered, "Toothless where are we going?"
Toothless didn't respond. An hour or so later had them arriving at a large mountain island with hundreds upon thousands of dragons.
"Holy shit…."
They were flown into a cave, where all the dragons were dumping food into what looked like an area of red mist. Toothless landed behind some cover for the sake of Hiccup and Ari.
"This is what they've been doing with our food? Just dumping it down here?" Ari looked rather displeased at this realization. The two vikings moved closer to get a better look.
"I'm sure there's a reason..."
A Gronkle spit up a single fish. It then proceeded to try to flee for it's life and get ate by a giant head.
"...By the Allfather..." Hiccup and Ari were very very afraid.
When the lone Gronkle was consumed, all the dragons quickly took off up into the sky. The teens got the hint and climbed back on Toothless, Toothless taking off as fast as he could to get them to safety.
"Where're we going now!?" Ari kinda clung to her out of fear.
"Away from that," They narrowly avoided a fireball, "Let's head home,"
Toothless wasted no time in heading back to Berk.
"For the record, I won't tell anybody about what happened just now." Ari breathed a small sigh of relief once Berk came into view. "And...up until that recent point, this was really cool."
"That's because Toothless- and all dragons are amazing,"
"Yeah, if only everybody could experience it." Ari nodded in agreement as they landed semi-near the village, but safely out of view. "But what ARE you going to do tomorrow? You know your dad won't like it if you try to befriend whatever dragon comes after you."
"I have to try,it'd be easier if he wasn't so overprotective," they landed in a secluded spot and Hiccup got off Toothless.
"Sadly, the only way to prove yourself is if you killed a dragon." Ari sighed and tugged on his bangs a bit. "This is beyond unfair. Even if you're not fighting, you've proven yourself more than capable of being able to deal with dragons."
Toothless nodded in agreement with Ari's statement, making a small sad coo as he nuzzled Hiccup's hand.
"I guess," Hiccup stated, "I just want to feel like I'm not just biding my time till marriage, that I actually matter as a person to my father...and not just a bartering tool"
"What's marriage?" Toothless asked, shifting into his humanoid form for the sake of being able to talk. Which led to a quick explanation on how he shifted forms.
"Marriage is a life-mate bond," Hiccup explained to Toothless once they returned to the original topic. "It's used when people fall in love or arranged for convenience or political reasons. More likely than not, I'll be married for political reasons."
"But your father forbids you fall in love?" Toothless looked rather upset at this notion. "Nobody, dragon or human, shouldn't be forced to have a life-mate bond with somebody they don't love."
"It's not that simple," Hiccup stated, "and nothing is planned that I know of, but it probably will happen. I'm heir to the tribe. I'm gunna be married off to either the future chief of a different tribe or to my father's choice as ruler of this tribe"
"And Odin forbid your cousin takes his place." Ari muttered, jealous. A part of him hoped that he would get to marry Hiccup and be the next chief.
"Won't that mean...I won't see you anymore?" Toothless looked like a puppy that was just kicked.
"I hope not," Hiccup stated,, "I can't imagine not having you around,"
"Me either." Toothless ran over and glomped her, giving her some head nuzzles.
Ari wasn't sure if he should laugh or not at the scene given the circumstances. He also had this weird feeling in his chest at seeing Hiccup in the arms of another man, even if said man was actually a dragon. He was actually jealous.
"There's gotta be another way. You helped me fly, I'll help you get out of this somehow." Hiccup put his hands on her shoulders and looked at her straight in the eye to show how serious his offer was.
"I don't think you can without being killed,"
"But…"
"I'll be fine," Hiccup stated. "I'll face the Monstrous Nightmare, prove my worth, and maybe I won't have to get married anytime soon."
The conversation done, the group split up- Toothless heading to his cove, Hiccup and Ari heading back to the village. Once at the village, the both of them were approached by the other viking teens, who were throwing a dozen questions their way about where they went after the training session.
"Any ideas on what to say to them?" Ari whispered.
"You followed me to try to figure out my training secrets? It's the Truth," Hiccup whispered back. Not the full truth, but not a lie.
Ari shrugged. "I followed Hiccup out into the forest and learned how she's been doing what she's been doing."
Fishlegs and Ruffnut didn't believe him, as indicated by their laughter.
"Was this what you were expecting?" Ari muttered to her.
"I hope that training was fun' Snotlout teased, implying what the other teens were thinking. A boy and girl alone in the woods, hmm, wonder what they were up to.
Hiccup growled, "It's the truth, just because you can't go off alone without fucking, doesn't mean others will do the same,"
"We didn't do anything Snotlout, and if you say we did to everyone in the village and their sheep, I will personally feed you to wild Gronckles." Ari marched up to the shorter male and held him by his shirt. "I don't care if you're related to our chief, this ends now." He wasn't sure what was fueling this, but after seeing what Hiccup can do he saw her in a new and more respectable light.
"One more false word against me and I will order an execution, on the basis of treason," Hiccup stood to her full height (which admittedly wasn't much, but seemed more with her intimidating aura), "I am the Chief's daughter, not just a villager"
Snotlout gulped, realizing he overstepped one too many times. Ari let go of him and stepped back. Fishlegs and Ruffnut looked like they were just slapped in the face, even though they weren't being talked to.
Hiccup turned and went to walk away
Snotlout, recovering from his shock, called out one more insult, "You're just a future bride, not worthy of being the chief's daughter,"
Hiccup turned around and hit Snotlout the hardest she'd ever hit anyone in her life, making a crack as she broke his nose and knocked him out. She then turned and walked away, ignoring the looks she was receiving. Ari was taken back for a bit, though he mentally wondered why Fishlegs was starting to help Snotlout up.
"Hey Tuff, bet I can hit ya that hard in the face too!" Oh Ruffnut…
"Do it!" Tuffnut encouraged. His sister did so, sending Tuffnut for a loop.
"I theenk she broke my nose," Snotlout mumbled incoherently.
"Snotlout, this is the most serious I've ever seen her. You gotta lay off of her." Fishlegs warned, though he still sounded quite spooked.
"But that bitch broke my nose," Snotlout nasally said
"Yes, but she did it because she got sick and tired of you saying things about her." Fishlegs shrunk in on himself a bit as he spoke.
Snoutlout glared at him, "whatever, I'm going home."
~~~~At the Chief's House~~~
Hiccup stormed in, holding her right arm close to her, having injured it punching Snotlout.
"Hiccup, is that you?" Stoick called to her, hearing the stomping.
"Yeah," Hiccup answered, walking past him to get a wrap for her hand
"Everything okay? You sound tense." Stoick wanted to know what was going on.
"Snotlout was just implying untrue things, so I punched him," Hiccup admitted as she started wrapping her wrist.
Stoic had to take a moment to think about how to respond. "Even though we're vikings, we're not barbarians. It's best not to punch those who oppose us outside of the battlefield." He then added softly, "Let's just hope it straightens him out."
Hiccup nodded, "I wouldn't had hit him, but he wouldn't let the discussion be done with,"
Stoick nodded, "You had an acceptable reaction then."
"I'm going to head to bed now." Hiccup stated, forgoing dinner in favor of getting plenty of sleep to be ready for the next day.
~~~Next Morning~~~
"Dad! I'm having my monthly bleed and can't go fight the dragon today!"
"R-Right!" Stoick accepted it with no questions asked.
Hiccup was trying to buy herself time to come up with a good plan. If she had to fake her period the rest of her life, then so be it. She spent the morning thinking to herself on what to do and how to be safe. She needed to be as fireproof as a dragon to survive the temperamental Monstrous Nightmare.
Boom. Inspiration stuck and she ran off to get to work gathering Toothless's scales along with purchasing some needed items. A dragon scale/skin outfit and cape would be perfect.
