A/N- Back again! One piece of action over, the next bit just around the corner. As always, bear with me as these are old chapters, but reviews are still appreciated!
Two Worlds Collide
Chapter 9: Shattering Reality
"Okay, okay, listen up!" Stoick yelled. We were all in the Mead Hall: Stoick, the gang, Toothless, me, and a good two or three hundred other Vikings. I really was not interested in finding out how often Vikings bathed. Ugh.
Hiccup, Toothless, and I were standing by a column nearest Stoick, and the rest of the teens were about 10 feet off to our right. Stoick was standing in front of the stone table that surrounded the hall's fire pit. "Alright, ye all probably know why we're here, so I'll make it short. The newcomer, Hawken, just earlier saved mah son from drowning when nobody else could. How he did so, however, is what we came here to discuss, as I have heard there are a few questions needing be answered." He turned to look at me. "Hawken?"
I sighed and stood up, and walked over to the edge of the table, placing my hands down and looking out at the crowd. "Where exactly should I begin? No, hold that thought, how many here already know where I come from?" The response I got was rather startling. I knew Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout to be rather gossipy, but just about the only people who knew my origins were those present at the talk in Stoick's house. "Well then, that gives me a good place to start, as it will probably answer a few questions. Long story short, I come from a different world entirely, one where dragons do not exist and this whole world was made up as a story for entertainment. I came to this village thanks to some sort of time-rip connection between our two worlds." Shocked gasps reverberated around the room, and suspicious mutterings began to float about.
"Now, before anyone jumps to conclusions, my, eh, abilities did come from your world," I explained. "They were given to me by a dragon that was on this island when I came through the portal." Hiccup stood up and walked up to me. "Did you say dragon?" He asked. I nodded. "I didn't stutter, did I? Yes, a dragon, but not like any around here."
"What did it look like?" someone asked. I thought back. "Sort of like Toothless there," I said, gesturing toward said Night Fury, "but with light cream and peachy red and orange markings. Oh, and it had two pairs of full size wings instead of just one." ::Most undeniably the Mystique,:: Toothless said. ::Their species is rare as it is, and almost never seen around here.:: I gave him a sidelong glance. "Yeah, you already explained that."
Everyone in the hall gave me strange looks. After a couple of seconds it got irritating. "What?" I snapped. Then it clicked. "Right, you can't understand him." A few more gasps reverberated around the room. Stoick pointed an accusing finger at me, then to Toothless. "Ye can understand the beasts?" I shook my head. "No, I just have a mental problem that makes voices in my head. Yes, I can understand him. And no, it's not because of where I'm from, it's only because of the abilities I have now." I looked out at the crowd. "By the way, they're not beasts," I said loudly. "They are highly intelligent, most at least as smart as people. Some, like the Night Fury there, are probably as intelligent as the smartest of any of us, maybe more." That earned a few irritated glares.
"A-anyways," Hiccup said, "back to the dragon you encountered. You said it directly gave you the powers you have?" "Yes, I already said that," I drawled. "Sorry, just trying to clear things up here," Hiccup replied. "I've heard stories from down further south about a dragon like that. Supposedly they can speak sometimes." I laughed. "Only one can, and she can do more than speak. When I came here, I was somewhat expecting dragons, but the Mystique, as Toothless calls her, turned human when she gave me the gift. Like me now, anyone who is given the gift, I speculate, can become a member of either race." Gobber gave me a dumbfounded look. "So, ye mean there are dragons that can become human?" "That is what I said. And only one can, as far as I know."
Plenty of the Vikings in the crowd weren't convinced. "How do we know this ain't just a trick of Loki?" someone asked. I sighed. "Goody, just another tidbit to share. I believe in a very different faith than Vikings do, so I cannot be Loki's toy. I believe in only one God, as it turns out so do the dragons, and only a select few chosen by our God are given gifts like mine. Mind you, this is what we believe, and besides what I can do now, I have no evidence that I can give to say outright that you all are wrong." Gobber stood up from the bench he was sitting at, and leveled his hook hand at me. "So, yer sayin' we are wrong about something once again?" I held up my hands. "Lets not get into a religious discussion, it always ends up badly. I believe what I believe, you believe what you believe, let's just end it there."
As my little spiel ended, Hiccup took over and gave his account of what happened when he found me afterward. "So that's how I ended up in the village," I whispered to myself. As expected, the Q and A session went quite a while, but throughout it all, everyone just started getting antsier, and I was getting many a mixed look from people. Some were starting to look accepting, but many were starting to look at me with suspicion.
Suddenly I felt a large, wet tongue slide up my face. "Hey!" I snapped, sliding away in surprise and disgust. "What gives?" Toothless stared at me, and then leaned over and nudged me. ::I'm trusted here. If I show that I trust you, everyone will calm down.:: I sighed, and then sat back down. "Whatever."
However embarrassing it was, my being nuzzled by Toothless garnered the attention of just about every Viking in the room. "Well, if the beast likes 'im, then I think we can trust him," Stoick remarked. "Well of course the Fury like him!" someone at the back of the crowd yelled. "He's half dragon!" A murmur of agreement swept through the crowd. "Now hold on, how many times has the Night Fury been wrong about newcomers, eh?" Stoick asked sharply. Gobber answered. "Almost never." "Exactly. Besides, he did save mah son. Anyone who does that likely isn't here to hurt us, now is he?" Finally, people started nodding approval, and a few minutes later, everyone started drifting off as the short-notice meeting ended. I sighed with relief, and walked over to Hiccup. "Now what?"
He sighed, and then looked around. "Not sure. We might as well head back up to my house." So with that, we exited the Mead Hall. The hall itself was built into the side of a cliff a couple of roads down from Hiccup's house, so it was a bit of a trek back up. Of course, silly me to think that now my secret was out, everything would go smooth and dandy.
"Hey dragon boy!" I grimaced, and turned around. There, walking up the road like they owned the place, were none other than the famed pranksters, Snotlout and Tuffnut. "What do you want?" I snapped. "I'm not in the mood for any of your antics after what I've been through right now. Saving a life and giving a speech right afterward kind of takes it out of a guy, alright?" "Oh, come on, a half-dragon can't be that tired, now can you?" Tuffnut remarked. They both had a bit of a mischievous look in their eyes, so I decided to turn the tables on them as I didn't like how this was panning out.
Focusing on a new picture, my own eyes suddenly changed views slightly as they morphed into Nightmare eyes. Speaking of eyes, it still felt really weird not needing glasses everywhere I went. As the two boys neared, I watched as they caught sight of my face and slowed, their expressions quickly changing from smirks to uncomfortable wariness, to nervousness, and they stopped about ten feet away. Hiccup noticed what they were staring at, and snickered a bit.
"Now, what exactly was it that you were wanting?" I drawled, a slight touch of danger in my voice. It's not often that Snotlout stumbles on his own words. "Oh, uh, w-well, we were just, uh, wondering if-" "We were wondering if you guys wanted to join us in a little race and a , uh, drink!" Leave it to Tuffnut to save the day. Hiccup and I glanced at each other, and started to chuckle. "No thanks," I said, "We're not in the mood for races right now." "And you should remember that guys like us don't drink," Hiccup added. Snotlout waved a hand at us, and he and Tuffnut turned to walk away. "Fine, your loss." Hiccup and I did the same. When he thought we were both out of hearing range, Snotlout muttered under his breath, "Loser."
I stopped, turned back toward the two, who had their backs to us, and shot a blast of Nadder fire between the pair of them. They screamed and jumped, stumbling and falling back on their rear ends. "What the…!" I smirked. "Watch out who you're condescending toward next time," I shouted. "Maybe you'll rethink that opinion you have of me in the future." I turned back again and joined Hiccup and Toothless. When we reached Hiccup's house, Hiccup closed the door and burst out laughing.
"Was it really that funny to you?" I remarked. He nodded, and I turned to see Toothless chuckling in his own draconic way. "Oh, great. Not you too." ::You have to admit, it was funny. They don't often get to be the butt of the joke,:: he replied. "Oh, so the dragon agrees with Hiccup. Who would've guessed?" I shook my head. "Fine, it was funny, but not enough to fall over laughing from."
Suddenly, outside there was a loud BONG! I froze, and watched as Hiccup and Toothless jumped to their feet and headed for the door again. "What's going on?" I asked, starting to get worried. ::One of the alarm bells,:: Toothless said. "Someone's coming", Hiccup said, "Someone we weren't expecting. I can't tell whether they're here to attack or other yet, though." I sighed and followed them, muttering, "Does the action ever end around here?"