Hey guys, I'm back! So sorry if the last chapter was super short, I just ran out of time to write it and wanted to get something posted so that you guys won't stop reading it. By the way, thank you so much for the amazingly wonderful comments! Anyways, to the chapter!
Hiccup flew for hours until he found the island he was looking for. The only reason he flew for hours was because he had made a large circle around all of the islands twice and then decided that it was time to find the owner of the scale. The island was actually fairly close to Dragon Island, but none of the dragons went there because of the inhabitants. No one had ever seen them, but they heard tales and legends about the horrific creatures that lurked in the caves on the island. It was called The Island of Fear. Hiccup was friends with the inhabitants, but only went to them if he needed help. It was time to call for back-up.
Toothless was the only Night Fury that Hiccup had ever seen, but not the only dragon with the name Fury. Two Light Furys dwelled on the island and they blended perfectly with the day time. They were the opposite of a Night Fury. Crystal and Shimmer were sisters and the only two remaining Light Furys that Hiccup had encountered. They lived on the island with some other dragons that were very dangerous, but not well known. In fact, many of the dragons hadn't even heard the name of the species before. Only a few knew about them and they were the elder dragons of the islands. Hiccup landed on the smaller island and called out to Crystal. She was the leader of the island, chosen by Hiccup himself. She was the older of the two sisters and Shimmer was quite fine with letting her sister lead. She knew that Crystal would be a better leader then her. The other dragons on the island also let Crystal lead without a fight because they believed in Hiccup and they believed that he had made the right choice.
"Crystal, I am in need of a favor," Hiccup called to his friend. Next to Toothless, Crystal was his favorite dragon, followed close behind by her sister, Shimmer.
"We are listening Hiccup and no need to shout, we were right behind you. We also need to talk to you." Crystal looked very lovely with her scales gleaming and glowing in the soft light raining down from the moon. Her sister Shimmer looked the same only in a smaller scale.
"I assume you heard the plan," Hiccup asked his friends. They looked briefly at each other and then Crystal spoke.
"That's what we needed to talk to you about Hiccup. We are willing to help out in any way we can. Those Vikings hunt our kind and kill us for sport. They feel that they are the most powerful species to roam these lands and seas, but we will show them. Right Hiccup," Crystal told Hiccup. She was ready to fly to Berk right now and take on the entire population. Hiccup noticed this and tried to calm Crystal down.
"No need to attack yet. We need to wait for the games to begin then we can take action. For now, I need you and Shimmer to gather up the strongest dragons from each grouping and train them in stealth and battle. You two are the best I know of."
"What about Toothless," Shimmer asked in a small voice. She was very tiny and fast, but was shy. She also sort of liked Toothless.
"I need him with me," Hiccup told them. Shimmer nodded and looked down at the ground. Hiccup could tell she was slightly disappointed that she wouldn't have the chance to hang out with Toothless, but something came to his attention. "Crystal, Shimmer, you two need to start training the troops now because we need to be ready. I will come up with a final plan and how this will all work out three days ahead of time. For now, please hurry off to the other islands and grab the strongest and also report if you see any boats heading towards Berk. I need to know how many and how close they are to Berk's shores." Hiccup dismissed them with a nod and they shot in opposite directions so they could cover more ground. Hiccup had changed out of the Night Fury form to talk to them and decided that he needed to get some preparations done before the big day. Hiccup shot up into the sky as a Night Fury just as the moon began to sink to allow the sun to shed some light.
Astrid woke up very early in the forest because something was poking her. She reached slowly, not disturb the attackers, for her axe and the swung the flat edge and it connected with someone's head. Astrid heard oomph. "Snotlout?!" Astrid flung him up from the ground and noticed that he had brought the others too. "Why were you poking me in the side with a stick," Astrid screamed at him.
"Stoick was looking for you and so were we. The first few ships began arriving about an hour ago, but we spent like 45 minutes trying to find you," Snotlout replied, rubbing his head. Astrid was still fuming as the group arrived back at the village. The village was swarming with new faces and some that Astrid recognized.
"Hey, Willow! It's been a while," Astrid shouted to a tall, red-haired girl. Willow spun around and ran up to Astrid.
"Hey Astrid! How's everything been?"
"Great! How about you and I'm guessing you're competing this year too huh?"
"I am doing wonderful and I am competing. That's not going to be a problem is it Astrid," Willow joked.
"Not at all. I plan on winning." Astrid playfully hit her on the shoulder and Willow said goodbye. Willow followed a person who must be her chief into the Great Hall. Astrid gestured to the others that they should follow her into the Great Hall. The meeting that all of the contestants and their chiefs attend. It signaled the start of the games.
Hiccup was talking with Toothless when the sound of wings could be heard. Crystal was hovering in the air outside of the cave he and Toothless were in.
"Hiccup, many ships are docked at Berk already and there were four more on their way. Shimmer and I have gathered the dragons you asked us to. We are ready and waiting for the final plan." Hiccup nodded and then smiled.
"Looks like the time is upon us. Luckily, I have made the final preparations and everything is ready to go. Gather everyone in the clearing that you chose Crystal, you too Shimmer. Toothless, come with me, I may need your help with something. Hiccup changed into a Night Fury and took off with Toothless on his tail. Crystal and Shimmer shot up into the sky to go and gather the troops. It was almost time.
Hiccup and Toothless flew to the cliff that overlooked all of the gathered dragons.
"You all know why you are here I suppose," Hiccup shouted so that he could be heard. The dragons all grunted and nodded their heads. "The time of war is almost upon us. We must be ready to strike at any moment and be prepared for what may happen. Sadly, some of you may not come back alive. Some of you may be captured or your closest friend may fall, but it gives you more of a reason to fight! The more of us they take down, the worse they have yet to happen. You have killed hundreds of them, but that doesn't compare to the thousands of us that they have killed for sport. They don't understand that we just needed food. We need to survive just like them! They don't know what they have provoked! They think that it was bad years ago when raids still occurred. Well, they're in for a surprise! Are you ready to avenge your fallen family and friends?!" The dragons roared and flapped their wings in response. Hiccup raised his best sword. It had a blood red blade with some black streaks throughout and a black handle. It was strong enough to be used like an axe, but have a better durability rate. It was also sharp enough to slice straight through a log in one swoop and light enough that Hiccup could easily wield it even though he had grown stronger and taller in his time away from Berk. He had been training every day for the perfect time to strike. It was growing near. It was time for Hiccup to make his move.
Astrid had woken up to the sound of a horn. It was the first day of the games and Stoick was calling everyone to the Great Hall. The hosting chief always gave a speech at the break of dawn to all of the contestants and chiefs that would signal the start of the first day.
Astrid sprang out of her bed and flew down the stairs. She sprinted to the Great Hall and shoved her way to the front of the massive crowd that had already gathered. Torches had brightened up the room and it had an overall warm feeling in the hall.
"Can I have everyone's attention please," Stoick said from the stage. It was in the front of the Great Hall and Gobber was standing to the right of the chief. "Everyone, please settle down," Stoick commanded the crowd. Everyone immediately settled down until someone shouted something that they shouldn't have.
"Hey Stoick, where's your son?!" Stoick's face just remained emotionless, but Astrid could see that her chief's face was growing red with anger.
"Yeah Stoick, what happened to that runt?! He should be competing like all of the other chief's sons." Stoick just held up his hand.
"No one has seen my son in weeks. He will not be competing this year." The torches were suddenly blown out. There was the sound of dragon's wings and then a laugh.
"Why not," a voice said. Stoick spun on his heel, but he couldn't pinpoint where the voice had come from. It was a familiar sound though. Suddenly, the torches were lit again and it showed a Night Fury standing in the middle of the crowd. Every Viking near it grabbed their weapon and slowly backed away. "Why can't your son compete, Stoick? Would you be too embarrassed by the outcome?" Stoick Just stood on the stage. The Night Fury shot up into the sir and into the rafter, revealing the person behind. The person who had spoken wore a mask and armor with amazing craftsmanship. The masked man looked up and the Vikings who saw his eyes gasped. The person did not have human eyes. His eyes were a deep purple and that's not why the people had gasped. They were dragon eyes. Astrid knew who this was, but no one else seemed to. Astrid looked up to the Night Fury in the rafters and the dragon looked into her eyes. She mouthed Toothless and the dragon just bared its teeth at her and gave a growl. Everyone in the Great Hall had heard this growl and some of them shouted.
"Everyone calm down. He won't hurt anyone unless I ask him to or he feels the need to prove his point." The man walked forward and the Vikings cleared a path for him. Stoick watched as the strange man who appeared out of nowhere walked straight towards him. As soon as the man reached the stage, they stopped. The person spun around to face the audience and spread his arms. The Vikings gasped once again at the sight. By spreading his arms, the man revealed Night Fury wings that are fully functional. He flapped them enough to hover above the group and then shot up to the rafters with his friend.
"Nice job bud, I think we scared them. How about we show them we mean business?" Toothless cooed quietly so that only Hiccup could hear him. Hiccup scratched his friend lightly on the snout and then jumped down from the rafters. He landed on the stage in front of Stoick and the wings covered Hiccup like a canopy. Hiccup stood up which caused the wings to fold down. "Do I have permission to speak Stoick? Do I even have to ask," Hiccup said behind the mask. In the crowd you could hear murmurs of 'who is that' and 'why does he need a mask'. Hiccup held up his hand and the crowd was silent. "You never answered my question Stoick, I'm waiting." Stoick just glared at Hiccup. "I would also like to go back to our little discussion earlier about why can't Hiccup, your son, compete?"
"Hiccup has vanished and I have not seen him in weeks. He would not be able to compete with Berk as his island. Unless he has found a new island to compete for and they want him to compete and he is able, he cannot compete in these games." Stoick continued to stare at the masked person. He had a slight idea of who it was, but he doubted that it was Hiccup. This person was courageous, brave, tall and more muscular then Hiccup. Hiccup was afraid, a coward, a screw-up, skinny and weak.
"What if I told you that he has found a new island and they would love to have him compete and become the winner of this year's annual games? What if he was here, but you couldn't see past the outside and into his heart that you hurt him. You, Astrid, Snotlout, and everyone on Berk. You never told them why Hiccup wasn't here right now and standing at your side, ready to compete in these games. Are you going to tell them or should I?" Hiccup waited for a response, but Stoick's jaw just stiffened and clenched up. "I guess I will tell them then. They drove him away. Stoick disowned his only son and made him leave. They forced him off of this island. You know what I can't do this anymore. Toothless, bud, come on down," Hiccup called into the rafters. The most feared dragon in the Archipelago flew down from the rafters and landed next to the masked man. "Stoick disowned me. They drove me away. They forced me to leave and not return. I left and they hunted me down. They caught me and trapped me here. I left again when I decided that we weren't safe. The island of Berk shunned me and banished me from its shores, never to be seen again. Well here I am." Hiccup finished and took off his mask. The crowd was stunned as well as Stoick.
"Hiccup, what happened to you? Why did you come back?" Stoick saw his son's eyes flare red for a brief moment before returning to their normal forest green color. However, they were still dragon eyes.
"I trained with my friends and family. I trained every day after I left for hours so that when the time came I would be able to do this. I came back to show that what you do to us is wrong." Hiccup spun back around and glared at the throng of people gathered. "You will have to pay the price. Have any of you wondered what happened to all of the dragons? They just disappeared didn't they? No more raids, no more dragons in training arenas, no more dragons on your islands at all. No one wondered what happened huh? Well I should tell you." Hiccup paused and then looked at Toothless.
"You tell them if you want. It is your choice my friend." Toothless told him. All of the Vikings just heard was a deep-throated growl and a snarl back from Hiccup.
"I'll tell you where all of the dragons went. They came to me. They flew to where I brought them to. They gathered and they listened to me. We all agree that there is a problem between Vikings and dragons."
"Hiccup they've killed hundreds of us," Stoick shouted at Hiccup. Hiccup turned around and brushed of the hand that was on his shoulder quite forcefully.
"You've killed thousands of them!" Hiccup couldn't contain his anger any longer. His eyes turned blood red and he unsheathed his sword. "None of you can see straight! Realize that they only mean to survive! We need food and so do they! They are my family and friends, my only family after Stoick disowned me and my only friends I have ever had. I have tried to be friends with some of you, but you shrugged me off and you hurt me! You were always cruel to me. You told me yourself Stoick, 'You are not my son'. You remember that don't you! They day you told me to leave, the day I told you my deepest secret, the day I flew off with Toothless. Toothless here has been my only friend and my only family for years and then Astrid dragged me out of the forest I called home for my whole life and brought me to you. You cared for me for a week and then you ignored me once you saw the big disappointment I was. Am I still a disappointment Stoick, am I?!" Hiccup was screaming now. The Viking crowd was just dumbfounded that the small hiccup had become this. "I have an army, thousands upon thousands of dragons awaiting my call. Many of the dragons you have never even dreamed of. They would have been useful allies, but you had to make them enemies. That was where you went wrong Stoick. You should have respected them when you had the chance. By killing and capturing thousands of us you have provoked a war. A war between Vikings and dragons that shall be heard throughout the Archipelago. Those were your faults Stoick," Hiccup told his former father. With that Hiccup climbed atop Toothless and they shot through the doors and into the glowing daylight. Hiccup was heading back to his friends who were ready to lay down their lives for their fallen friends and family. The war had just begun.
And cue cliffy ending. Sorry to disappoint all of you who thought that this was going to be the chapter with the big battle. I shall make the next chapter, the entire chapter, the battle scene. That's all I have to say right now so till next time!
-AIC