"Snotlout, there is no scientifically possible way that that man could be Hiccup from the future." Hiccup sighed and rested his head on his arm. "Then why does he look like him, huh Fishlegs?" Hiccup stroked the axe laying in front of him. "Because he just happens to." Hiccup let out a few more tears. "Yah right, admit it Fishlegs, I have to be right, there is no other explanation." Hiccup buried his head in his arms. "There are plenty of other explanations." Hiccup began to cry softly. "Oh yeah, then give me...he's waking up!" Snotlout yelled at the top of his lungs. Hiccup jolted up from the noise and rubbed the tears from his red eyes. He felt a soothing nudge on his side and he turned to find a concerned Toothless. Hiccup smiled and rubbed Toothless' head. "You're right, bud. I have a duty to do," he said, "I have to be strong...for Astrid."
Hiccup sniffed a little as he walked up to the chair that the man sat in. The man closed his eyes shut tightly and then opened them widely to wake himself up. "Who are you?" Hiccup asked. "Water...need...water." The man muttered. Hiccup nodded at Fishlegs who fulfilled his request. The man quickly emptied the glass. "Who are you?" Hiccup asked again. The man took a deep breath and looked up at Hiccup. "I am..." He was cut off by Hiccup's mother walking in the door. He just stared at her, taking in her features for a while, and then stood. The man slowly walked towards her. "Valka?" He questioned. She stopped to look at the man. He reached up and examined her hair. "Valka, is that really you?" He asked, a hint of emotion coming from his voice. She looked at him, puzzled. "Should I know you?" She responded. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand up to his face. "Got my nose."
Valka breathed in sharply. "Remus?" She asked. He smiled and nodded as a tear flowed from his right eye. "Remus!" She yelled as the two embraced. The three boys watched in puzzled astonishment. Remus spun Valka around and the two seperated. "Look at you," he said, "Mother would be so proud." Hiccup became even more confused. "Mother?" He questioned. Remus turned to him. "And is this your son?" He asked walking up to Hiccup and examined him. "He is built just like the great Roman warriors that came before him," he said. "Roman?!" Hiccup exclaimed. Remus embraced him. When he released him Hiccup gave him a completely bewildered look. "Who are you?!" He yelled. Remus smiled. "My boy, I am your uncle Remus." He responded and embraced Hiccup again. When he released he turned to Valka. "Where is his father? I would love to meet my new brother-in-law," Remus said. The room turned silent and the viking heads looked down at the ground. Snotlout removed his helmet. Realization hit Remus like a brick. "Oh...oh, I am so sorry." He walked up to comfort his saddened sister. "Well, I have a story to tell you, too."
Riding wings of black, the heir of Julius shall unite his people, and with the power of the Dragonstone, conquer the greatest of his enemies.
Tuffnut looked at the mysterious man. "That didn't rhyme," he said. Remus took a sip of mead. "I said it was a prophecy. I didn't say it rhymed." He responded. "But aren't prophecies supposed to rhyme?" Snotlout asked, taking Tuffnut's side. Remus smiled. "Not ones from this source, this source tends to be a little less confusing, yet much more vague." Remus answered. "Now onto the story."
Romulus and I were born twins to Emperor Julius II. Fifteen years before our sister, Valka. When a Roman child turns ten, they are given the chance to receive a dragon. This is either a dragon who has been in the family for some time, an egg of such a dragon, or if they wish to be a warrior, they can go out into the wild to claim their own. Having been trained by private tutors, Romulus and I were more then prepared to train our own dragons, so when we turned ten, we set off. We searched for over a week, and we found many wild dragons, but none of them felt, right. For me, I sought one with limitless grace and beauty, whilst unbeknowst to me, Romulus sought one with limitless power. Then, one day, it began to storm. Frightened, we found shelter in a small cave hidden within the wilderness. The next day the storm showed no sign up subsiding, so we explored the cave. That's where we found them.
"What? What did you find?!" Snotlout yelled out. "I was getting to that." Remus responded.
We found three dragons. We recognized one as a Blue Death, or Night Fury. We were astonished, those dragons were the rarest we knew of. However, we were even more surprised by the other two. One was a pure black with sharp claws, a ferocious tail and six eyes. The other was a beautiful white. She was of sleek build with a long neck and tail, twice as long as the Blue Death, but half the width. Her tail and wings ended on several round protrusions, like lose along a zippleback's back, and she had a backwards facing crest, kind of like hair, that also ended in those protrusions. We stared in awe at the beasts, completely unaware that they had woken and were staring right back at us. They Blue Death growled at us, knocking us out of our daze and then the other two advanced. The black one approached Romulus and roared at him, and he roared right back. This seemed to please the beast as he let Romulus touch him. The white one walked up to me and scratched herself on my leather boots, clearly not frightened by me at all. We bonded in the caves over the next few days as the rain continued to pour and when we left, we left on the backs of our two new dragons.
"What about the Night Fury?" Hiccup asked. "She stayed behind, we later learned she was protecting her eggs. It takes a long time for an Alpha species to meet the right conditions to hatch and, unfortunately, she never got to see them." Remus responded.
For the next five years, Romulus and his 'Black Death' as he called it became the most powerful fighting team in the land. Defeating everyone except me, our only match ending in a draw. That was when our elders decided to look into the furthest reaches of our records and found that they were two Alpha species known as the Black and Yellow Deaths. It just so happened, while looking through those records, they found the prophecy.
"The one that doesn't rhyme?" Snotlout interrupted. Remus sighed. "Yes, the one that doesn't rhyme." He responded.
Romulus believed that the prophecy was referring to him, adding onto his already big ego. He began to 'unite his people' into a great army, and to make sure that the prophecy was about him, he hunted down the Blue Death to ensure their were no other 'wings of black'. In his spite, he killed her, but he found no eggs, as I had already retrieved them. However, this angered him further and he turned his rage towards our father and his city. He attacked without remorse, killing our father and burning the city he had built. The trauma was too much for my mother and she died a few days later. I confronted him, but I was no match for the skill he had been refining for so long. He locked me and my dragon up and took the crown of Rome for his own, claiming that he would conquer Rome's greatest enemy, the world.
Remus took a deep breath. "Thankfully, he was so blinded by his rage that he didn't notice a small ship sailing away with a baby, a dragon, three eggs, and a stone," he said as he smiled at Valka. Fishlegs stood up quickly. "Wait, did you say a stone?!" He exclaimed. Remus nodded. "Yes, while Romulus was busy building his army, he forgot about the stone, giving me the chance to find it." He explained. "So, where is it?" Snotlout asked. Remus pointed at Valka. "Wherever your men found her all those years ago." He responded. Hiccup stood, still confused. "Wait, if the stone has been on this island the whole time, then why has Romulus waited for almost fifty years to come looking for it?" He asked. "Because he never expected it would be up here until the new prophecy he received a year ago." Remus laughed. Tuffnut looked at him. "Does that one rhyme?"
"I told you everything I know about Berk, I swear." The Berserker yelled as two Legionnaires dragged him away. "I said you wouldn't be harmed as long as you provided information." Romulus responded. "And you can no longer do so." He waved as the screaming Berserker was dragged away. First walked in with Astrid in tow. "Ah, Astrid Hofferson. Or should I call you Astrid Haddock as that will be your name pretty soon," Romulus said to her as they walked in. Astrid struggled against First, but the arena had drained her of most of her energy. "Now, now, you don't have to be so feisty, I was merely making an observation." He turned to First. "Leave us." He commanded. First bowed and then exited the room. Astrid stumbled as she got to her feet. "What do you want?" She asked sternly. "You look awfully tired, my dear, care to sit," Romulus said as he gestured towards a chair. When Astrid didn't move he continued. "I couldn't help but notice your extraordinary dragon training abilities in the ring today and well, I have a proposition for you." She just stared at him hatefully. "There's a certain dragon I've been having issues with, she won't eat, sleep, and most importantly, she won't listen to the Alpha" He explained. Astrid gave him a blank look. "And this benefits me, how?" She asked. "If you agree to train this dragon, then I will keep you out of the ring." He responded. "Like you kept that Berserker out of the ring?" She argued. Romulus said nothing and smiled under his helmet. Astrid got the idea. "And if I refuse?" She asked, even though she already knew the answer. "Your next match will be against three of my most blood thirsty dragons. And we don't want to have to tell Hiccup you were killed by a dragon, do we?" He answered. Astrid remained silent. "Good. First, take her to the special cage."