"Ah!" Hiccup screamed as his body jolted up in his bed, knocking the cover to the floor.
He'd just been dreaming about something. Something important.
A dull ache creeping up from his spine to settle in his chest. He rolled over, squeezing his eyes shut, stuffing his face into his pillow. He wasn't ready to remember what had happened, to recall the nightmare.
The faint pins-and-needles sensation, still there, buzzed through him like a soft vibration, though the closer he drifted to full consciousness, the faster it seemed to fade. Suddenly there was a smooth but slick feeling on his hand.
Hiccup yelped and jerked back, nearly tumbled off the bed. He gripped the headboard before he could. Toothless' pale green eyes shined, filled with worry. Hiccup readjusted himself in his bed, pulling up the cover back over his now shivering body.
Toothless cooed in worry as Hiccup patted his moist forehead. "I-it's okay bud. I just . . . had a bad dream."
Toothless laid his head in Hiccup's lap and he wrapped his arms around Toothless' snout for comfort. Hiccup's eyes slipped dazedly to his window, where he watched the half-naked tree limbs quiver and sway, waving in and out of his view, like clawed hands snatching at the sun.
The sun.
"Oh no!" he croaked.
He was supposed to be at the Dragon Academy right this very second! Hiccup hustled out of bed and threw on his green tunic draped over the back of the chair of his desk. He quickly ruffled his fingers through his hair and followed Toothless out to the skylight and into the air.
Cool air breezed around him, stirring his hair, blowing the scent of rusty leaves and singed autumn smell that was almost spicy. It was a nice day, if just a little bit cooler than Hiccup liked. At least it didn't look like it was going to rain.
Toothless' black wings flapped up and down, cutting through the air and making a heavy whoosh every time they went down. The sun sent a rippling effect across his scales. Hiccup tries to let the air blow away the trouble of the dreams. And yet there was something about it that seemed, ominous.
A warning.
Hiccups thoughts were disrupted as Toothless make a sharp dip down into the arena of the Academy. As expected, everyone was present and ready to go. The only thing Hiccup was thankful for was today, Gobber was teaching hand-to-hand combat, instead of Hiccup teaching the class different facts about dragons.
Fishlegs was the first to notice Hiccup as he turned around from scratching Meatlug by the ears. "Oh, there you are Hiccup. Where were you?" he asks.
Before Hiccup can respond, an irritated voice chimes in from behind him. "Nice of you to show up." Hiccup turned around and found Astrid, looking little more than upset.
Hiccup sighed in aggravation. This is not the way he wanted to start his day. "I'm sorry I'm late guys. I overslept." He says.
Astrid's face softened, knowing Hiccup wasn't one to miss out o something he was so passionate about.
"Meanwhile, we're here on time, and waiting while you got to sleep in." Snotlout interjects with an irritated tone.
"All right everyone, let's get started!" Gobber called as he entered the arena. His peg leg making a quiet thump as he walked. "Today, we will be discussing about how to attack without weapons."
"Uh, didn't we already go through this?" Tuffnut asks as he rests comfortably on one neck of his two-headed Zippleback.
"That was with the shield. Today, it's no weapons at all." Gobber informed. "Now you will find yourself face-to-face with an opponent who's bigger, stronger. It won't matter if he has a weapon or not since he'll have you by possibly twice your size and speed. But, as said by my great, great, great, great grandfather, the bigger they are, the harder they fall."
Hiccup leaned against Toothless' side as Gobber went on to explain. The images of last night's night dream began to resurface. There was something about it that was, important. But Hiccup couldn't decide what.
"Hiccup!" Gobber yelled, causing the young Viking to flinch. Hiccup met his eyes. "Pay attention. This is serious."
Hiccup nodded, but that didn't cue Gobber to go on and continue. Instead he stayed and stared at Hiccup, as if he was waiting for him to say something. Hiccup shuffled his feet in little circles, staring at the ground that suddenly seemed very interesting.
"Hiccup, what's bothering you? You're never distracted." Gobber says.
Hiccup's cheek warmed with a slight shade of pink, embarrassed as Gobber shined an invisible spotlight on him. "I, I've got a lot on my mind." Is all he says.
"Well, pay attention. Nothing fixes problems like a good punch to your opponent. But you can't charge in right away." Gobber now directed this toward the class as he turned his back to Hiccup, leaving him shrouded in his shadow.
Hiccup tried to shrink himself while the darkness enveloped him. He needed to think. Not knowing why, but just that he had to. He tried to put on his best effort in training, only to be defeated by Astrid once again when it came to combat.
The minute the lesson was over, Hiccup mounted Toothless and both flew away to the flowerbed made by the Typhoomerang Dragon some time ago. But before they landed, Hiccup took Toothless up high. Higher, higher. Higher than the mountains that stood proud and tall, now beneath them.
Then Hiccup pulled on the handles of Toothless' collar and they did a full back flip. Twisting down to the earth. Twisting once, twice, freewheeling. His world became a spinning kaleidoscope of blurred clouds, of blue skies and lush green prairies. An all-too-quick half turn, and Hiccup felt the catch of gravity as they leveled out. They then dipped down and landed with a smooth crawl.
Hiccup hopped off of Toothless and literally just plopped onto the ground next to him. He spread his arms out in a T position and let his brown hair drape over his eyes, blocking out the glare of the evening sun. He tried to move his hands behind his head, but his shoulder was still sore from training with Astrid. He drew a sharp breath, and just settled with the one.
Toothless settled comfortably next to him, the heat of his seat emanating. The warmth braised over Hiccup's skin along with the scent of singed grass and dirt. The sun warmed Hiccup's face despite the autumn weather, and soon his skin began to tingle in the way it does when you're out in the sun too long.
He rolled over under the shade of Toothless' outstretched wing. Feeling the cold sensation spread through his face, starting from his cheeks. Toothless' slick tongue licked his cheek. Hiccup looked to him, and Toothless made that humorous smile he knew always cracked Hiccup up.
And today was no different. Hiccup laughed as he wiped away the sloppy kiss. Toothless purred as he nuzzled Hiccup's cheek.
"I'm okay bud. I'm just, distracted. And tired. I'm surprised Astrid didn't rip my arm out." He jokes and Toothless cooed. "I'm fine."
Over in the foliage, a shadow apparition peeked through the limbs of bushes and branches. Watching the boys and his dragon. The eyes squinted as Hiccup pushed himself to a sitting position. Elbows hugging his knees.
Hiccup was just scratching behind Toothless' ear when the snap of a twig caught both their attention. Their heads cocked in the same direction and Toothless began to snarl.
"What's up bud?" Hiccup asked.
Toothless got up on all fours and turned to face the gathering of trees. A grimace forming across his mouth, his retractable teeth ready. Hiccup pushed himself to his feet and faced the trees.
He turned to Toothless. "Let's go."
Hiccup pulls out his knife he kept in the belt of his tunic and walked with cautious feet, as if he's sneaking up on a sleeping beast.
He and Toothless walked a few yards in but nothing emerged. Hiccup was glad, he didn't want to find anything. He turned in a circle, Toothless glaring from side to side.
"I don't see anything bud, maybe we should go." Hiccup insisted, until he was stopped with the snap of a twig. Toothless' head perked and snarled. A deep guttural growl from the back of his throat. He hissed in the direction of the snap.
Hiccup turned and faced an opening of bushes. A soft but deep hatred-filled growl prowls through the foliage. Seeping through the limbs of the bushes. This didn't make sense. The limbs were practically bare from the autumn season, how could he not see what was hiding?
Suddenly, Toothless was screaming. A horrible screech that sent goosebumps all across his arms and legs, and down his spine. Hiccup turned and Toothless was suddenly entangled in ropes.
"Toothless?!" Hiccup cried out in confusion.
And just as he said this, a heavy, meaty hand reached out form the foliage, from the darkness. Hiccup stumbled back, and another hand reached out and grasped his wrist that held the knife.
"Hey! Let go!" Hiccup yelled in fury as he tried to pull his hand free. But the hand twisted and jerked Hiccup's arm like it was the rotted twig of a long dead tree. The knife skitters across the dirt, small clouds bellow up and metal clinks echo in the air.
The knife had barely made it to its final rest as a matching hand grabs Hiccup's other wrist and pulls them behind his back. Bending it so that the pain was so severe, Hiccup screamed for mercy. He could feel the rough texture of rope scrape against his skin. Once his hands were secure, the meaty ones holding him drifted upward and locked his biceps in an iron grip.
"Let go!" Hiccup demanded.
Toothless cried for his owner. He struggled to loosen himself from his own physical prison, but it was no use. Suddenly two giant, dark silhouettes crawled out from the cover and grabbed Toothless by his back legs and tail.
"Toothless!" Hiccup screamed as he watched helplessly as his best friend was dragged away into the darkness. One final cry – a mixture of a paralyzing scream and a screech for help – bellowing from the darkness before the devastating and eerie silence consumes it.
Hiccup, on the verge of tears from watching his friend be dragged away like a sack of flour, continued to thrash and kick.
"Now, now boy, let's not be hasty." A rusty voice spoke from the darkness.
Hiccup looked all around, but only saw the dark silhouette of the bare trees. The purple-gray dusk of twilight blackening everything. Like a paintbrush coloring over every warm and welcoming tone, only to replace it with cold and unforgiving darkness.
"Who are you?" Hiccup demands. His body suddenly falling numb at the remembrance of his dream
No. This can't be happening. He pleads.
"Don't worry boy. This wont' hurt a bit." The voice promises, but the hollowness of it made Hiccup shudder.
A third, but different hand reaches from the darkness and grasps most, if not all of Hiccup's hair. Forcing him to look straight ahead. At first all he sees is blackness, but then, the outline of two eyes materialize.
Their unforgiving and the pupil was nothing more than a slit. Pitch black in the buttery pool of its eyes. Hiccup could even see the yellow color surrounding the pupil bleed into a soft white in the cornea.
"W-what . . ." Hiccup stuttered, but was stopped when suddenly the pupil of the eyes began to swirl. "No. No!"
Now Hiccup knew what was going on. And he had to get away. But the hands refuse to let up. Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut so tight he could feel the tissue rip from the tension. He could feel a forefinger and thumb grasp his cheeks. Two more fingers forced his eyes open.
The swirling of the pupils was overpowering. Hiccup couldn't look away. The world became a blur as it mimicked the motion of the pupils. Hiccup felt all feeling leave his body.
He began to feel, relaxed.
Everything blacks out after that.
That night, as Astrid was feeding Stormyfly her new daily dose of chicken, she petted her dragon as she gobbled down a leg. "That's it girl. Even if Hiccup knows, he'll still be dead last once we finally race." She said with a smirk.
There was suddenly a loud boom. It rattled the foundation of Stormfly's house. Her head perked and spikes stiffened. Astrid steps closer to her Nadder as thunder mumbled in the pale gray sky.
"Watch it girl." She readied.
A flash of lightning lit up the sky. A bolt appeared like a fissure in a cracked porcelain vase. Astrid looked around but saw no one. When suddenly, a shadow moved to her left. Her head darted in its direction and with another flash of lightning, she saw that it was a cloaked figure. The hood concealing his face.
"Hey!" she yelled. But the figure kept running.
It headed for the roof of a nearby resident's house. Astrid picked up her duel-bladed axe and ran for the figure. The figure had something concealed inside it's cloak. She chased after it as it jumped up on a couple of barrels by the house and landed on the roof in smooth swift motions. So stealth like it was astounding, its feet only making a quiet tip.
Astrid ran up to the side of the house and tried to see its face. Suddenly the figure lifted its hand and in between the pointer and middle finger, the blade of a small dagger. It whipped it at Astrid, and missed her toe by an inch.
Astounded, she jumped back and looked up, and with another flash of lightning, and wave of its cloak, the figure was gone.