Disclaimer: I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or Riders of Berk.
Chapter 4:
Eret came back in when Toothless came out to tug at his sleeve. When he walked into the surprisingly homely cave - even with a small fire pit in the centre of it all - the inhabitants were shrouded in a kind of comfortable silence. There was definitely some tension from questions unanswered that Eret had not been privy to, but the atmosphere was otherwise relaxed.
Questions and accusations could be hurled later.
"I was talking to…mom," Hiccup suddenly said as Eret took a seat; the dragon trapper (ex-dragon trapper?) noticed how the woman's face lit up at the title, "and she agreed that we should find some allies."
"Allies?" Eret couldn't withhold his scoff. "From here? Not unless you want to ally yourself with either Drago or Berk."
Hiccup shook his head insistently. "Mom says that there have been small dragon colonies all over the archipelago. We just need to find them. And she can lead us to the first one."
Eret frowned. "Really?"
"You trapped dragons," the woman pointed out, not unkindly. "Unlike you and your employer, these groups worship dragons and treat them justly."
Eret barely winced at the veiled accusation.
"Well, it's different now," Hiccup told her. "Anyways, she said they're called the Defenders of the Wing and the Wingmaidens."
"The what and the what?" Eret asked in disbelief.
"Yeah," Hiccup shrugged. "But if you survived that long we can't really judge."
"Where are they?" Eret frowned.
"Islands further northwest," Valka answered easily.
"And why can't your flock just help?" Eret asked.
The woman's gaze darkened. "Regardless of what Hiccup said about Berk…vikings aren't the gentlest of people, and I am worried about their reaction to the dragons, especially since they have been held captive by those with dragons. And…" she reaches out to stroke her dragon's flank. "Many of the dragons we saved have been injured. I am not bringing them back into war unless we can help it."
"War?" Eret echoed.
The woman nodded. "I am not risking Drago Bludvist finding out where we are."
That, Eret could completely understand. He nodded as well, though his shoulders slumped slightly.
"So what now?" He asked.
Hiccup stood up and dusted himself off. "Toothless and I are heading for Wing island; apparently, the Wingmaidens and Defenders of the Wing congregated to the same area when a volcano exploded and…yeah."
Eret blinked. "What about me?"
"Best if you don't go," Hiccup's mother said. "You're a well-known trapper, and we want to be allies with them. You going would bring a bad message."
Eret sighed. "Alright. So I guess I'm staying here?"
Hiccup nodded. "I won't be gone long. And you can spend some time getting to know your Nadder."
"She's not my Nadder," Eret objected.
Hiccup shrugged, a growing grin on his face. He walked over to where a small heap of supplies had been rested on a leather cloth, and then placed them in the leather pouch that was attached to Toothless' saddle. "It looks like I've got everything. Thanks for the supplies, mom."
His mother nodded, a pleased look on her face. "Cloudjumper and I will show you the way out."
"I won't be long," Hiccup promised Eret. "Toothless is the fastest dragon this side of the archipelago."
"Be careful," His mother warned. "Though they love and revere dragons, the conditions around the archipelago has made them wary. They might not be as easy to convince as you think."
Hiccup nodded with a small frown.
"I'll…see you later then," Eret said awkwardly, raising a hand in a farewell gesture.
Hiccup smiled and waved back. Then he slid aboard Toothless' back, as easily as the woman got onto…Cloudjumper, was it?
And then they shot out of the cave and were gone.
"Alright, Toothless. We just gotta convince a group of people and their dragons to join our cause in freeing Berk. Easy peasy. Just another day in the archipelago," Hiccup muttered to himself.
Toothless let out a sound that sounded immensely sceptical.
"Hey, I don't need this negativity," Hiccup chided. "We can do this, we just need…to have faith in ourselves. And maybe a little bit of a miracle."
Toothless rolled his eyes.
"Alright, so we should be approaching soon," Hiccup said to himself. "Mom said to look for a volcano, and then the island over should be where they're hiding."
Toothless nodded.
Before long, an ash coloured mountain and its equally demolished island met their eyes, dotting in the otherwise lush ocean palette of blue and green. The island was half-sunken, tilting at a precarious angle which indicated the severity of the damage that the volcano eruption had wreaked.
"What kind of volcano eruption was this?" Hiccup mumbled. "Not even the Red Death's island was that badly off."
Toothless' growl was less than reassuring, green eyes darting back and forth as if beckoning the second island to appear within their line of sight.
Sure enough, as Valka's words had indicated, another island appeared on the horizon; this one was covered in green and dotted with the occasional cliff. Compared to the first island, it seemed a tropical paradise.
"Kind of envious about the weather they're getting," Hiccup murmured as they swung down lower.
Toothless let out an agreeing growl. Just because dragons had the ability to warm themselves up didn't mean that it wasn't a pain to have to do it among Berk's winter-plagued weather.
His head suddenly jerked forward as he caught sight of what they were looking for.
Curling from one of the trees - barely visible save for a dragon - there was a thin wisp of smoke curling above the greens of the trees. There was nary a sound, but the smoke was promising. Where there was smoke there was humans, and hopefully these were the ones that Valka had directed them to.
"C'mon, bud. Let's land near there."
Toothless found a small clearing not too far from there and landed gracefully, waiting for Hiccup to slide off.
Hiccup patted his head. "Nice landing."
Toothless preened.
Then a rustle in the bushes caught their attention, and they tensed. Toothless dropped into a defensive crouch, turning this way and that to find where the threat could be lurking. Hiccup, on the other hand, kept one hand on Toothless, ready to pull his overprotective dragon back should the noise have come from the groups they were looking for.
"Hiccup?!"
Fishlegs was having a good day. Scratch that, he was having a great day. Mala and Throk had seemed in a good mood today, and it was revealed that they had found some shipment of supplies shipwrecked on their beach.
The former Berkian had helped out, and had found some new notebooks and ink that he could use to further include all the knowledge that had been lost with the destruction of the Book of Dragons. He shuddered as he remembered seeing the Great Hall - and all that was inside - being reduced to ashes by Alvin the Treacherous and his army of dragons.
That had been the last thing anyone had expected.
But…it was okay now. It was. Fishlegs was on an island, safely away from Berk, and among a group of people who appreciated his intelligence.
Sure, it was no Berk. And maybe he felt just the tiny inklings of guilt when he thinks about the friends he had abandoned while enjoying life here.
But he had survived. He had gotten out, and there was no way he was going back.
After Hiccup had…well. After the lightning incident, nothing had been the same. Astrid had been more aggressive than usual, and Snotlout surprisingly solemn after the initial bravado that Hiccup was alive and playing a prank on them all. The twins…Fishlegs never knew if the twins fully understood what was happening, but their pranks virtually disappeared overnight.
And then the whole thing with Alvin and the Outcasts and the Berserkers, and it was just too much.
So Fishlegs continued to live a life of leisure, albeit a very secluded one, on this island with the dragons.
And that day had been a good day.
Until one of their guards had announced that someone with a dragon had landed on their island. With the threat of Alvin, and then of…Drago whatshisname in the far north, these things called for all hands on deck. They could take no risks.
Fishlegs had been nervous, but he was far from the timid nerdy viking who conformed to everyone's wishes now. He wielded a spear and a shield, and shuffled among the bushes.
Then he caught sight of just what the dragon was, and every instinct to hide in him froze up, shrivelled, and was thrown away.
"Hiccup?!"
"Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked incredulously. Fishlegs came lumbering towards him, eyes wide with disbelief.
"Fishlegs!" There was a sharp snap from their left, and Toothless turned to bare his teeth in that direction.
"Throk!" Fishlegs ducked his head. "I'm sorry, but this-"
"What's going on?" Mala demanded, emerging from the bushes regally. "Fishlegs, do you know this boy?"
"Boy?" Hiccup muttered.
"Yeah," Fishlegs stammered. "This was…this is Hiccup. He was…my friend. Back on Berk."
Mama regarded Hiccup with no little surprise. "You escaped from Berk?"
"Sort of," Hiccup said, frowning.
"How are you alive?" Fishlegs asked, whirling around on his friend. "We all thought you were dead!"
"So did I," Hiccup said. "I just…woke up. After I climbed out of the ocean I was here. In this time."
"That's really strange," Fishlegs murmured. "Do you think it's an act of Thor?"
Hiccup shook his head. "Honestly, I'm just trying to get by here."
"How did you find us?" Mala interjected. "Were you followed?"
Hiccup blinked. "Uh, my mom directed me here. And no. At least, I don't think so." He glanced back at Toothless, who shook his head in agreement.
"Your mother?" Mala asked with a frown.
"Oh, uh, Valka," Hiccup supplied.
Fishlegs' mind blanked for a moment. "Valka is your mother?" He asked in disbelief.
Hiccup gave a wry laugh. "Yeah, trust me, I'm still working through that. I found out a few hours ago."
"That's crazy!" Fishlegs babbled. "What were the odds? You and your mom were the first vikings to tame and ride dragons! That's so…that's just so unbelievable."
"It sure is a strange coincidence," Hiccup said.
"So…Hiccup, was it?" Mala said. Hiccup nodded. "What are you doing here?"
"I was kinda hoping to speak to the Defenders of the Wing and the Wingmaidens," Hiccup said. "I'm looking for allies to help overthrow Alvin back on Berk."
"What?" Mala and Throk asked in shock.
"No way," Fishlegs instantly denied.
"What? Why not?" Hiccup demanded. "Fishlegs, Berk is our home."
"This is my home now," Fishlegs said. "I'm going to defend here. Berk fell a long time ago. There's no way we can take it back."
"We can if we work together," Hiccup implored. "Look, you guys have your dragons. Together we can overthrow Alvin, and take Berk back. We can save everyone."
"That's not going to happen," Fishlegs immediately shut it down.
Mala stepped in front of him, one hand out to quiet him down. "Why not take Valka's dragons?"
"Because her dragons are saved," Hiccup pointed out. "They're a sanctuary, not an army. They're not ready for combat the way your dragons are."
"So because of that, our dragons can be risked?" Throk demanded.
"What? No," Hiccup shook his head.
"It sounds like that's what you're saying," Throk pointed out.
Hiccup scowled, then smoothed his expression down, glancing back as Toothless gently head-butted him in quiet support. "Look, I just want to save my home. I want to save the people there. You don't know how bad it's gotten-"
"Actually, I do," Fishlegs said, eyes narrowed. "And I don't want to."
"How could you abandon our friends?" Hiccup burst out. "Everyone's back there! Our friends, our family-"
"Me abandon them?" Fishlegs demanded. "What about you? You upped and left-"
"That's not fair," Hiccup snapped. "I didn't ask to get transported here and somehow miss the last fifteen years, but I'm here now. And I'm going to change everything."
"Not without support you aren't," Mala pointed out rationally. "We can't risk our dragons and our location unless we know for certain that you have a plan that will work."
Hiccup frowned. "There is never that certainty," he countered.
"Exactly," Mala said. "We aren't going."
Hiccup glanced at his dragon in frustration. Toothless seemed equally annoyed at the obstacles that was facing them, but in lieu of being able to say anything, only narrowed his green eyes at everybody.
Mala, taking no notice of this, merely turned back to head towards the village. "Stand down, everyone." She turned to Hiccup. "It's getting late," she said. "You and your dragon may stay with us for the night, if you so wish."
Hiccup looked up at the sky. Sure enough, it was starting to be painted in beautiful shades of pink, orange and violet, in a gradient that would soon approach midnight blue.
Had it only been a day?
Hiccup turned to Toothless, who gave a concerned croon and pushed his head into his rider's hand. He tried for a small smile. "I'm good, Toothless."
He didn't notice how Mala regarded the exchange thoughtfully, then turned and returned to the village.
"Hiccup?"
Hiccup looked up blearily, rubbing his eyes to clear the sleep from them. He quietly pushed off from where he had been lying against Toothless, and squinted at the light from the candle. "Fishlegs?"
"Oh, were you asleep?" The viking suddenly seemed eager to leave. "I'll leave you to it-"
"No, wait," Hiccup stretched and stood up, folding the blanket back onto Toothless. The dragon opened one eye in a slit, determined his rider was not in any danger, and settled back down again. "I'm awake now."
"Oh," Fishlegs hovered nervously by the doorway.
"Uh, come in," Hiccup said. His room was one that had been hastily prepared for him; since the island didn't have a lot of visitors to begin with - and which Hiccup had learnt consisted only of the Defenders of the Wing since the Wingmaidens had left for another island - Throk had generously given up his room. "What's up?"
"I just…I didn't mean what I said. Earlier," Fishlegs mumbled. "I don't-I know it wasn't your fault. I was just-"
"Angry," Hiccup nodded, voice soft. "I get it, Fishlegs."
"No, you don't," Fishlegs objected. But this time, his voice was low instead of loud and angry.
"You're right," Hiccup shifted, sitting on the bed and offering Fishlegs the chair. "I don't. So tell me."
Fishlegs swallowed and then took the seat, setting the lantern down on the cleared desk with nervous, jerky gestures. He tried to look anywhere but at Hiccup, and then when he finally did, he did so with wide eyes that barely concealed fear.
"When Alvin came the first time with Mildew…we fought back. We won. We thought it was over, but then the Berserkers attacked. And then we won again. And then the Outcasts came, and then the Berserkers came, until it was like a never-ending cycle. Stoick was tempted to ask the other tribes for help, but when he did…" Fishlegs sighed. "It seemed like Alvin and Dagur learnt what teamwork was as well. And once Dagur got his Skrill…"
Hiccup sighed. "Berk didn't stand a chance."
"No," Fishlegs shook his head solemnly. "Not all the vikings lived like us, Hiccup. They were terrified of dragons and wanted us as far away from them as possible."
"But that's why they failed," Hiccup implored. "They weren't working together. If we do, we can defeat Alvin."
"And the Skrill?" Fishlegs asked. "We have Toothless, but that's a Skrill. Who knows what Dagur has been teaching it!" He shook his head again. "No, the safest option is to stay hidden. We scatter and hide, diminish the chances of us being found by anyone. You don't know what they do to people."
"I was on Berk," Hiccup said softly. "I saw what they did. I didn't see all of it, but what I saw sickened me. We shouldn't have to live in fear. We're Berkians. We don't let anyone just come and do whatever they want to us."
Fishlegs didn't respond to that point. He just stood up. "You should be careful, Hiccup. Now that people know you're alive, and with a Night Fury…you don't know what Alvin will do to Berk."
With that, he left, and Hiccup was left in the dark, mulling over his words. As he did, he thought back to what Fishlegs said.
We scatter and hide, diminish the changes of us being found
Even so, as Hiccup curled up beside Toothless once more, he found his thoughts circling. If he couldn't persuade Mala of why they should band together, maybe he could do it by telling her what would happen if they don't.
"I believe you said you have another proposition for us," Mala said, seated on the large chair in front of the room. Hiccup nodded. "Let's hear it."
Out of the corner of his eye, Hiccup noticed Fishlegs frowning. He steeled himself, and with one hand on Toothless' head, and the reassuring warmth that he emanated, Hiccup looked up at Mala.
"You guys scatter and hide to reduce the chances of you being found." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Mala nodded. "But with your forces so scattered, if you were attacked, you wouldn't stand a chance. At least, not without severe casualties."
Mala's eyes narrowed.
"I recently found a dragon trapper who worked for Drago. He said that Drago's been expanding his army in the south. It's only going to be a matter of time before he gets here. And combined with the Outcasts and Berserkers in the North? They're going to meet up sometime, and when they do, it's not going to be pretty for anyone."
"So long as we stay hidden," Mala stressed, "we will be fine."
Hiccup shook his head. "You didn't see what Drago was doing to those dragons, to the people around him. He has an armada of armoured dragons completely under his control" - and okay, maybe he was stretching here just a little from what he's deduced from Eret - "do you really think you can fight against that?"
"What's your point?" Throk demanded.
"I don't think anyone can fight against that," Hiccup said. "Not even Berk."
Mala frowned.
"Mom's ice sanctuary dragons, even if they do fight, can't do much. We're all too divided right now, and there are too many factions. That's why we need to take advantage of it. Get you guys and mom's sanctuary together. Launch an attack on Berk and reclaim it, the vikings, and our dragons. Once we do, we're going to be in a much better position to fight Drago."
"We want to live in peace," Mala shook her head. "We don't want to fight."
"I don't think you have a choice," Hiccup pointed out. "As I said, Drago's expanding. And now that Berk knows I'm alive and somewhere in the archipelago, they're going to tear every island down to find me."
Throk reached for his spear, eyes narrowed. But Mala stopped him with a raised hand.
"What are you proposing, Hiccup Haddock?" She asked.
"We work together," Hiccup said. "We take the initiative and band together. We take Berk before they travel outwards, and then we prepare to fight against Drago's army."
"You don't know if that will work," Mala pointed out softly. "I can't risk the lives of the people here."
"Your people's lives are already at risk," Hiccup said, voice softening as well. "Would you rather your people fight on their feet or live forever in fear?"
"They can't live if they're dead."
"Aren't you sick of hiding?" Hiccup asked. "Drago and Alvin are on opposite side of the archipelago. They will fight, and when they do, you guys will be caught in the crossfire."
"You seem very confident that we will get dragged into this," Mala observed.
"I've only been back here for two days," Hiccup said slowly, tightening his hold on Toothless. The dragon head butted him in concern. "But already everything is so different. People who don't fight have been forced to fight, and so have dragons. Everyone is choosing a side instead of working together, as we should be." He sighed. "I'd much rather be the person shouting against everyone else than conforming in fear."
"That sort of attitude will get you killed," Mala gave an amused half-smile that hid what she was thinking.
Hiccup shook his head. "Not if everyone else has the same attitude."
Mala glanced at him for a moment longer. "Interesting," she said. "You are definitely not Valka."
Hiccup blinked. "What?"
Mala shook her head. "Do not worry." She stood up.
Maybe it was the threat of Drago, as Hiccup pointed out. Maybe it was the suffocation of living in fear, of having watched the Eruptdon be killed before their very eyes and their island sunk to the ground. Maybe it was just because Mala was sick of hiding before other people, and longed to finally take a stand.
And where she couldn't before out of fear of her village's safety, here was a boy with a Night Fury who was convinced that he could make a difference, who was offering her this choice that she had never known was one in the first place. He was his mother's spitting image, but the determination and stubbornness in his eyes were a completely different tone that Mala was not used to.
But first: "as you said, only if everyone has the same attitude can we prevail. Talk to the Wingmaidens. They are our closest allies; should they agree, we shall work with them and you to take back Berk. To stop Drago before he comes for us all." Mala decreed.
A smile slowly formed on Hiccup's face. "Really?"
Mala nodded, a small smile forming on her own face as well. "The Wingmaidens are in an island east, not too far from here. Ask for Atali, and tell her that Mala and Valka have sent you. That will get you to be heard out."
"Thank you," Hiccup murmured.
"Don't thank me yet."
