~Hey guys, I'm so, so sorry I haven't posted the chapter in a while, it feels like forever! It's been busy, but now I'm back! Hope this chapter's good! Xxx
As the fire brews on the pit, Heather dipped a rag into a cold bowl of water and pats Hiccup's head. His breathing returned normal and his pressure stabilized and his pulse was string; but still not one sign of movement.
After Hadrian sailed out to Thor knows where, Stoick ordered everyone to fall back to Berk to take care of Hiccup. Stoick's been going most of the work, and he almost wouldn't sleep; but seeing as how he had a meeting in the Great Hall today, he gave the duty over to Heather, temporarily. Why he didn't ask Astrid? He needed to her attend the meeting; the same rule applied with Toothless.
Heather patted Hiccup's forehead and sighed. His chest rose and fell in gentle repetitive motions. Despite the circumstances, he looked, peaceful. It was understandable seeing as how he didn't have a goodnight's sleep in what appeared to be a while. As she placed the cloth tentatively on his forehead, she brushed her knuckles against his cheek.
He sighed slightly and shifted a little. At least his senses were coming back, he can feel. And this was definitely a sign of hope for Stoick when he returned. But Heather's hear beat went rapid as she saw Hiccup's eyes flutter, then slowly and drowsily blink open. He turns his head to face Heather as she gasps.
Hiccup groggily smiles. "Hey Heather." He says softly.
Heather stayed there baffled for a moment before she answered. "Hey Hiccup!" she whispered in excitement. She carefully removes the rag from his forehead.
She wanted to leave, but there's a chance he'll fall back asleep and she'll have fetched Stoick for nothing. Besides, he still looks incredibly sleepy; it's most likely he'll fall back asleep any second, really.
"Where am I?" he softly asks.
"Back home, you're safe." She replies.
Hiccup goofily smiles and reaches his hand up. "I've missed you." he says as he caresses her cheek.
Heather slightly blushes before giving doubtable laughing. "Glad to see you're okay." She says as she was about to take his hand off, but as she holds it, his fingers suddenly coil and pull the back of her hand to his cheek.
He smiles again. "I missed you." he repeats. "I missed seeing your face. Always so pretty."
Heather felt her cheeks grow warm, but she tried not to get her feelings racing as he added what sounded like a rather drunken laughter after his words.
"Aw, thank you Hiccup." She replies. "I, missed you too."
"Hey," he suddenly says. He motions a floppy arm motioning her to come closer. "come here."
"What?" Heather asks leaning closer.
"I want to tell you a secret." He whispers, as if to keep it quiet.
"What is it?" she asks hesitantly.
Hiccup places his hand tentatively on her cheek. Then he barely scoots over in his bed and whispers, "I think you're really pretty."
Heather freezes as she tries to process what he just said.
"Like, really pretty." He finishes. "And you're so sweet."
Heather withdraws, her mouth agape. She stares at him as his eyes struggle to stay open. He'll pass out soon. She needed to hear him say it again.
"What, Hiccup?" she asks, and his head rolls to face her. "What did you say?"
"I think you're pretty. Really pretty." He says with a drunken point to her. "And I like you."
Then without giving her another chance to ask, he yawns and suddenly he's out like a candle. His hand drops and his head rolls to the middle of his pillow where his face goes emotionless again. It took the crack of a large log in the fire for Heather to realize, her heartbeat was the loudest thing in the house. Her face was blazing hot and she was slightly shaking, with, excitement.
She tried to reason with herself, he was drowsy, tired, and loopy. There's the highest possibility he won't even remember any of this when he woke up the next time. Heather stood on her wobbly knees and made her way out the door. The cool breeze hit her straight in the face like a splash of cold water. She breathed it in and tried to calm herself.
Did that just happen? She asks herself. And yet as she felt her face, she was smiling so widely. Was it from him waking up? She had calmed herself down and decided it was the logical answer. And now she needed to go tell Stoick; he'll be so happy.
Heather took a deep breath and rushes down the steps and to the Great Hall. She bursts through the door to see Stoick at the head of the fire pit while other intimidating Vikings bordered the outside. Astrid and the others were seated off to the side and it seemed they were in the middle of a conversation when everyone stops and looks to Heather.
"Heather?" Stoick asks. "What is it?"
Heather tried to catch her breath quickly and thanked Thor she ran since now she can blame her flushed cheeks on the exercise. Stoick lifts himself up from hovering over a map of some sort to make his way over to her.
"It's, it's Hiccup!" she squeals. "He woke up!"
Everyone seems to jump at once at her words. "Are you sure?" Stoick asks as he settles the crowd down, including Astrid and the others.
"Yes, it was only for a minute, but he was awake and talking!" she says, and just out of her peripherals, she can see Astrid scowl, upset she wasn't the first face Hiccup didn't see.
And this raises red flags all over Heather's mind.
If Hiccup woke up and saw Astrid, would he have said the same thing to her? The possibility adds on to the fact how drowsy he was, so she adds it to the list.
"Do you know if he'll wake up again soon?" Stoick asks.
"I, I mean it's possible. He did seem like he'd wake again by the end of the day." Heather answers.
Before Stoick could say anything else, Toothless leapt over the pit and rushed out the door. He raced down the steps and busted into the house. He crept up to Hiccup's bedside and saw the young Viking breathing peacefully. He leaned in close and breathed gently on the boy's forehead just as he did the time he was in bed after defeating the Red Death.
He watched as Hiccup's eyes tightened for a brief moment before relaxing. Toothless barks a few times before Hiccup's eyes fluttered open again, this time they were more awake and focused then with Heather. Toothless practically squeals as Hiccup's eyes blink a few times before focusing on the Night Fury before him.
"Hey Toothless." He says in a soft tone. Toothless squeals and leaps on Hiccup's bed licking his face nonstop. "Okay! Okay Toothless, I'm happy to see you too!" Hiccup says with a laugh.
"Hiccup!" he hears someone call. Hiccup looks to the door while he wipes off the dragon saliva on his cheeks. His father was in the doorway along with practically half the village behind him.
"Dad." Hiccup says with a smile and a tone of, relief. His father rushes into the room and gathers his son in his arms, making a quick note to be gentle. Hiccup returns the hug and Stoick can feel the crushing weight of worry lift off his shoulders.
"Thank Thor you're alive." He says.
Everyone else rushes into the room and greets Hiccup with smiles and words of happiness. They gave him gentle pats on the back and warm hugs. Apart from his father, Astrid seemed the most excited and relieved to see Hiccup okay. Hiccup stretched in his bed and pulled aside the covers.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa Hiccup. Not yet." Gobber says as he places his hands over Hiccup's "We need to get Goathi and Grandmamma here to give you a proper check up."
"Gobber, I feel fine." Hiccup assures, but no one will seem to relax until it's done.
So Hiccup decided to please them and let them inform Goathi and Heather's grandmother. Once the two arrived, Grandmamma would not stop pinching and stretching Hiccup's cheeks in delight. They conducted a full check up and Hiccup proceeded to be healthy and well. Everyone's tensions deflated and yet they were rejoiced.
Hiccup was already up and walking after Goathi and Grandmamma were dismissed. Everyone was dismissed and Hiccup was finally given some peace after they left. He was given some fresh yak milk and two good legs of a fat chicken. He scarffed them down in an instant and he was eager to stretch his legs.
Astrid and the others wanted to come, but Hiccup wanted to go alone. Will all this attention with him sleeping for, according to Stoick, for at least two days. No one has a feeling where Hadrian might be but Hiccup had a pretty good idea. He had managed to walk and fly around the village before meeting everyone in the Great Hall for a celebratory dinner. While things seemed to be at a standstill for a moment, Hiccup still knew this was only the beginning of Hadrian's evil plan. He was going to strike, so Hiccup decides it's best to celebrate now, without any regrets, in case Hadrian strikes soon.
Over on Outcast Island, Hadrian was in the dragon arena, fighting off a Monstrous Nightmare. The Nightmare's blood from scratches leaks out and trickles down his scaly arms and legs. Most of it streams down Hadrian's sword in a grotesque slick of crimson.
He's breathing heavy, and the Nightmare's coughing up blood and saliva, giving its body a deadly shade of crimson. A deep red blaze that mimicked the fires of hell. Hadrian smiled as the dragon struggled to stand up.
"I must admit, I'm disappointed." Hadrian mocks. "They said you were the second best. That only the BEST of warriors should challenge you. And yet here you are."
With one last swipe, he struck the dragon down and it collapsed in its own blood. Hadrian smiled and wiped his sword on the dragon's skin. He then sheathed his sword and started walking to the Outcats' Great Hall.
"Sir, if I may ask, why are you battleing the dragons if we are to use them against Berk?" one soldiers asks as he hands Hadrian a towel to wipe off some blood from his face and arms.
"We only need a small amount. If not, we won't need any." And that's all he says as he pushes through the metal door into the volcanic dome.
Back on Berk, Hiccup was sipping from his mug as Gobber and Stoick conversed among the Vikings. He was staring and poking at his portion of a lamb, occupied.
"Thinking?" he hears a voice, and turns to find Astrid.
"You could say that." He replies.
She sits down next to him and rests her elbow on the table. "What's up?"
"Just thinking about Hadrian. And what's he's planning next. Do they know where he went?" he asks.
"Not sure. Why do you?"
"I have a pretty good hunch." Hiccup answers.
"Son!" he hears his father call. Hiccup's head jerks up. "Is everything alright?"
"I just, I just think we should be finding out what it is Hadrian is planning." Hiccup says.
"It's not as easy as it seems, Hiccup." Gobber interjects.
"Well we all know he's sailed out to Outcast Island." Hiccup states.
Everyone goes silent in shock. "How do you know that?" Gobber asks.
"Well, where else would he go? It's the only place he's ever really called home; besides being in my head." Hiccup says.
"What do you think he's planning?" Fishlegs asks as she walks over to Hiccup and Astrid.
"Something big." Hiccup answers. "And all I can say is, we should be getting ready."
Hadrian hovers over a map of Berk while Alvin, Mildew and several other men gather around. Mildew still seemed in pretty bad shape since Fungus' death, and Hadrian can see it. His eyes wander back and forth over the map as more and more men gather.
One soldier cautiously approaches him. "Um, sir?"
"Yes?" Hadrian asks in a cool tone. Never tearing his eyes away from the map.
"So, what exactly is the plan?" the soldier asks.
"We invade Berk, and take over the city. We will dominate it and take it down, by first eliminating our main targets." Hadrian explains.
"How should we form sir?" another soldiers asks.
"You're only going to be there after I take over the village." Hadrian explains.
"What?!" Alvin exclaims. "What do you mean after?! My men have worked hard for this, and they deserve to be part of the action!"
"Well they're not your men anymore, Alvin." Hadrian says. "They're mine, and I'm running this island. And if you have something to say, Don't say it." In an instant, Hadrian pulls out his sword with still some wet blood on it and holds it shoulder level, pointing to Alvin's face. "Or it'll be your last."
Alvin holds up his hands in a defensive motion and backs up.
"You mean, you're going to take down the village singlehandedly?" asks Savage.
Since Hadrian came to Outcast Island, he's been at Hadrian's side like a lost puppy, and a pathetic one at that. Just as he was a kiss-up for Alvin.
"We don't need to strike down every living person there, we only need to take out those who have a chance at a martyr. And that's Stoick, his lackey Gobber, Hiccup and the rest of the kids. If they're gone, then the village is ours."
"Shall we recruit the Beserkers again sir?" Savage asks.
"Too predictable and just another alley who will betray us in the end." Hadrian explains. "We'll deal with them later."
"Hadrian's got to be planning something, and whatever happens in the end, it'll be my fault." Hiccup explains as the Vikings border the fire pit.
"Don't say that Hiccup." Fishlegs says.
"But it's true. And now he's even more dangerous than ever." Hiccup cries.
"So he's learned a few new combat moves, no big deal." Astrid says in an attempt to calm him.
"It is a big deal, Astrid. Hadrian was a part of me. He knows, everything I know." Hiccup says in a shaky voice. "I didn't just give him facts about dragons, or even facts about you. I gave him more. I gave him you. All your flaws, your weaknesses, everything he'd ever need to know."
He feels a hand on his shoulder and looks to see Astrid's gleaming blue eyes, "But it won't matter. When he makes his move, we will be ready."
Hadrian watches as the cool breeze kicks back his tunic and the dirt from his boot. He stands atop the arena, watching as the men ready Trader Johan's ship. They hoist the sail and load flammable charcoal below deck.
"I really must thank you for your ship, Johan. It's the perfect size for storing our cargo."
Hadrian glances back and sees the man struggling to free himself from the chaffing rope tied to his wrists and ankles. His shouts were muffled as the cloth covering his mouth muted it.
"You'll find that quite difficult. The ropes not so easily breakable." Hadrian says.
A soldier runs up and salutes him. "Sir, the boat is ready. And the Scauldron is free in the water."
"Excellent. Load the men." He orders. "It's time to pay a visit."