Note: I do NOT own HTTYD 2 and all rights go to the respective owners.
Chapter 3: Eret, Son of Eret
Zenna's POV
"This was no ordinary forest fire…" I murmured as we flew over the burnt forest, one part still covered in flames while the further part contained the charred remains of trees. The scent of smoke was overpowering as we flew across the fjord. Hiccup and Toothless were on point and Stryka and I were right beside them with Astrid and Stormfly right behind us.
Finally, we reached the fjord's opening…and were greeted by an astonishing sight.
A huge glacier like structure made of ice unlike any glacier we've ever seen before!
"Whoa…" "Holy Shields…" Hiccup and I both mumbled in awe. Hiccup turned back to look at Astrid, who looked kind of uneasy. "Stay close." He advised her before we cautiously flew over to the massive hunk of ice. It didn't take us long to see the ruined fort stuck in the jagged spires of ice. We were completely shocked. What kind of thing could have that much power and that much ice to destroy such a fortress?
"What happened here?" Hiccup wondered out loud. "Whatever it was, it was something humongous." I told him, noticing a gigantic footprint in the mud. Apparently I wasn't the only one feeling uneasy, for Toothless and Stryka growled warningly.
"Alright, easy, bud." "It's okay, Stryka, it's alright." Hiccup and I told our Night Furies soothingly. "Hiccup! Zenna!" Astrid whisper-shouted to us, seeing movement on some of the ice spires.
Suddenly, a voice cried out, "FIRE!" and a net was launched at us!
"Incoming!" I yelped as Stryka quickly flew out of the net's path. "ASTRID, LOOK OUT!" Hiccup yelled as he and Toothless avoided the net. Astrid and Stormfly weren't so lucky and they got caught!
"No! Aaahhh! Hiccup!" Astrid screamed as she was thrown off Stormfly as she plummeted. Luckily, Hiccup caught her. Now we had to rescue Stormfly!
When we came in for a landing, a bunch of men were already trying to keep Stormfly subdued. One of them, a man with black hair wearing a yellow fur vest, was leading them in tying her up. "Watch the tail! Ah! Tie those legs up!" he ordered as he lassoed Stormfly by the horn. My blood instantly began to boil with fury.
'Nobody messes with any of my friends' dragons and gets away with it!' I thought as Hiccup and I told Toothless and Stryka to land.
"STOP!" Hiccup yelled as we descended onto the ground. "Leave the Nadder alone!" I cried. "Stormfly!" Astrid shouted worriedly.
As soon as we got off our dragons, we readied our weapons. Astrid held up a jagged bit of wood (her axe was still attached to Stormfly's saddle, you see), Hiccup took out his flaming Dragon Blade, Inferno while I took out my battle sticks…and hit the switches.
Instantly, the top ends of both sticks screwed off and flaming iron spearheads popped out! Then I quickly attached the special iron cuff that bound my sticks together to make them into one, fire tipped battle staff! Trust me, it took all of my, Hiccup and Gobber's combined ingenuity and two weeks to make those upgrades. While the battle sticks originally belonged to Elias, I knew that he would want me to make them stronger and have more purpose so I did just that.
"What are you doing?!" Astrid asked the men, who we figured were Dragon Trappers, angrily as Hiccup and I waved our flaming weapons around. "Whoa!" the other trappers, save their leader, were amazed and temporarily distracted.
"Back again?" the leader then said before he focused on Toothless and Stryka, who growled aggressively. "Soil my breeches. Those are Night Furies. I thought they were all gone for good." He said in mock admiration, which made me all the more mad.
"Looks like our luck's turn for the better, lads." The leader said to his crew, casually planting one foot on Stormfly's snout before adding, "Don't think Drago has one of those in his dragon army."
That piqued my interest. A Dragon Army?
"Dragon army…?" Astrid mumbled out loud, also as suspicious as I was. Hiccup, meanwhile, tried to diffuse the situation before things got ugly. "Look, we don't want any trouble." He said to the leader carefully.
To which he replied with, "Ha! You should have thought of that before you stole all of our dragons and blasted our fort to bits." Gesturing angrily to the remains of the fort. His men shouted angrily in agreement.
"What are you…talking about?" "What are you accusing us for?" "You think we did this?" the three of us all asked. "Ha. Dragon trapping is hard enough work as it is without do-gooder Dragon Riders sneaking in to rescue them." The lead trapper said disdainfully while he kept a watchful eye on Stormfly.
"What do gooder—" Hiccup began to ask when he remembered something important. "There are other Dragon Riders?" my best human friend asked. "I thought we were the only ones…" I murmured to myself in shock. I guess Berk wasn't the only place in the world that had dragons coexisting happily together with humans…this was quite a discovery.
The trapper we were talking to didn't seem too interested with our questions. "You mean, other than your thieving friend from last night? You tell me. You may have an ice-spitting dragon on your side…but we still have a quota to fill. How do you suppose we explain this to Drago Bludvist?" he asked us, narrowing his eyes at us.
I was about to tell him that we'd never heard of a thing such as an ice-spitting dragon when I noticed that his eyes were…a familiar shade of brown. But where had I seen that shade before…? Slight amber like look to them…really familiar…
"Drago What-vist? Does anything you say make sense?" Hiccup asked sarcastically. One of the trappers stepped forward. "He's expecting a new shipment of dragons for his army by tomorrow." He told us grimly. Another trapper stepped forward and warned us, "And Drago don't take well to excuses."
'Wow, their boss sounds like a ray of sunshine and inspiration…' I thought as I saw the leader of the trappers pull down his shirt. My eye widened in horror once I saw the huge, symbol like scar on his chest. By the looks of it, the thing must've been applied with a branding iron…something that was guaranteed to hurt like high hell.
"This is what he gave me the last time I showed up empty-handed. He promised to be far less understanding in the future." He informed us as he straightened up. I couldn't help but feel sorry for him…Branded like a common bull by your master just because you messed up a bit…that's just awful.
The situation was getting tense. Hiccup could sense it and quickly began to devise a plan. "Alright, we don't know anything about a dragon thief or an ice-spitting dragon…" he began to say but I could already see the men on the ice spires pointing their crossbows at us.
I quietly gulped and locked my gaze on the lead trapper. He had a smug look on his face that I now wanted to wipe off.
"Or your lunatic boss and his dragon army, okay? Just give us back our dragon and we'll go, strange, hostile person whom we've never met." Hiccup concluded.
Still…the guy looked oddly familiar to me. Maybe Hiccup and Astrid have never met him…but maybe I have…Was that even possible?
That's when I looked down from the strange trapper's face…and saw the pin.
On the man's fur vest…was an old tarnished silver pin made to look like an owl-faced dragon.
My heart nearly stopped beating. It was the exact same one I gave…
"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Eret."
Holy Shields…
"Son of Eret."
Holy…Holy Shields…
"Finest Dragon Trapper alive."
Holy…Holy…Holy Shields…
"After all, it's not just anyone who can capture a Night Fury." He was now pointing his sword at us. Toothless and Stryka looked like they were both ready to attack so I did the one thing I could only think of at that crucial moment.
And that was to say…
"Eret?"
You could've heard a pin drop for miles around after I said that one name. Hiccup and Astrid both looked at me like I had sprouted two heads. Toothless and Stryka curiously cocked their heads to the side. The dragon trappers looked confused while Eret kept his sword raised and pointed at me as I dared to walk to stand in front of him.
I ignored all the weird looks and stares as I gazed at the face of the one person I had yearned to see for the past 12 years. The brown eyes that reminded me of rich amber…those blue tribal tattoos I had seen get marked on his chin when he came of age at 12 back in our old home in the South…
His face had changed a little bit but I still recognized him. Why I couldn't earlier was either due to my anger or maybe my eyesight. And, oh gods, the pin…he had kept it all these years even long after it had lost its silver gleam…
But as I looked at him, I could tell that Eret didn't recognize me. I guess I had changed a lot ever since we said our good-byes…
But my love for him hadn't. If ever, it had become stronger.
"Twelve years…twelve years and you still wear it…" I whispered to him, gently touching the pin, hoping that maybe he might remember. Eret looked at me with a mix of suspicion and bewilderment. But when his gaze dropped to his mother's pendant, which was around my neck…
'CLANG!'
Just like that, the sword slipped out of his hand and I saw a flash of recognition in Eret's eyes as his facial expression turned into one of complete and utter shock.
'A completely natural reaction when you're reunited with your childhood sweetheart after 12 long years…' I thought as he gaped at me, speechless. Finally, he hesitatingly reached out his left hand to touch my face. I nearly melted as his strong hand cupped my right cheek. It had been so long yet his touch still took my breath away…
He had tears in his eyes as he stared at me, completely focused solely on my face. His thumb gently brushed against my cheek, making me sigh longingly as I leaned into his gentle touch. I closed my eye, wanting to savor this moment. In all honesty, the present situation we were currently in…not exactly a good time for a reunion.
But I didn't care. I was just so happy.
"…Zenna?"
I opened my eye once I heard Eret call my name. He still looked so shocked, so confused…
'Don't be scared, Eret…It's me. I'm really here…' I thought as I smiled at him. Eret then finally smiled that sweet, adorable smile I've missed so much. What I didn't realize was that we were leaning closer towards each other. My heart hammered in my chest.
My second kiss was about to happen!
What I also didn't realize…was that my friends decided to execute their escape the second Hiccup saw me and Eret about to kiss. Toothless and Stryka both fired plasma blasts at a large ice spike above us, causing me and Eret to spring away from each other. Hiccup then ran over to Stormfly and used Inferno to cut her free from the net.
"Stormfly, come on! Go! Go!" Astrid shouted as she led her away. Hiccup then grabbed my hand and began to pull me away from the scene.
"W-wait! Hiccup, wait, I can't-" I tried to protest but Hiccup had already gotten me on Stryka's back and we were already taking off and leaving!
"Stryka, no! You don't understand! I need to go back!" I yelped. But Stryka ignored me and kept flying. Suddenly I heard Eret's voice.
"Zenna! Zen! ZENNA!"
I looked behind me and I saw Eret running over to the edge of the ruins of the fort. When he couldn't go any further he looked up at me and Stryka as we flew farther away, a look of pure grief on his face.
Just when we were reunited at last, fate became cruel and decided to separate us once again…gods, my life sucked…
Just when we were about to get too far away, I forced Stryka to turn around. I knew I couldn't make her go back, but I had to tell Eret something important.
At the top of my voice, I yelled out the promise he had made me 12 years ago when we said good-bye to each other…
"I'll come find you! Just wait for me!"
Stryka let out a roar of distress before we finally flew away from the ruined fort. We both caught up to Hiccup, Astrid, Toothless and Stormfly in record time. Hiccup and Astrid were both giving me weird looks along with Toothless and Stormfly. Stryka was really worried too and warbled softly at me.
"I'm okay, girl…I'm okay…" I said softly, not really wanting to say anything. "Zenna, what was that all about? All of a sudden, you just happened to say that guy's name, go over to him and…" Astrid asked me, completely shocked at my behavior before Hiccup politely cut in.
Looking at me with serious emerald green eyes, Hiccup asked, "Zen, do you…know him?" I could hardly meet his gaze. "I don't wanna talk about it…" I said quietly. "Zen, we're serious. Did you know Eret before all of this?" Astrid asked me. "I said that I Don't. Wanna. Talk. About. It!" I snapped at them angrily.
That shut the two of them up.
Still, I felt bad for just going off like that. It was just…argh! Everything was suddenly all so messed up! I just reunited with my childhood sweetheart, the love of my life, and realized that he was a Dragon Trapper while I was a Dragon Rider, got separated from him once again…
My life was now currently being thrown into chaos that was just so maddening that I felt like I was going to suffocate from it and explode!
Finally, I sighed in frustration and patted Stryka gently on the side of her head. "Back to Berk, Stryka. Full speed ahead." I told her. She obeyed…and we flew on ahead of our friends.
'Just wait for me, Eret…But how long do I have to keep you waiting…?' I thought guiltily as the two of us flew on ahead.
Eret's POV
'I'll come find you! Just wait for me!'
Zenna's words continued to ring in my head long after she and those two other Dragon Riders left. My men took one look at me, knew that it wasn't a good time to ask about what had happened, and quickly got to work readying the one ship we had that hadn't been destroyed for our next outing.
I had to sit down for a moment not from exhaustion, but from the shock I'd been feeling ever since I saw my mother's old pendant around Zenna's neck.
I just couldn't really believe that I had seen her again…
Twelve years…twelve long years full of longing and then, all of a sudden, she was there. I sighed as I remembered her face, which I had made sure to burn into my memory from the moment I recognized her during our tragically short reunion.
Gods, she was even more beautiful than I remembered…Her face had beauty that rivaled all the Valkyries in Valhalla…her long black hair, dark as the deepest night…
Then I remembered that she had only one breathtakingly bright violet eye. She was wearing a black leather eye patch on the right side of her face! Oh Odin, she was still too young to lose something so important to her body like that! What happened while we were apart?! Who could have been so savage enough to take her right eye?!
'If Drago was the one who did it…Oh no…I seriously hope that it wasn't him!' I thought worriedly. Then one of my men came over to me with a slightly hesitant look on his face.
"The ship's ready, sir. We sail at your command." He said quietly. I was at a crossroads.
Zenna told me to wait for her. And I know I didn't really say it out loud, but I told myself that I would. But then we had to return to Drago's camp, with a shipment of dragons which we had lost the night before. What was I supposed to do?
Do I stay here and wait for Zenna to come back? Or get back to business as usual for Drago?
Come to think of it…I just realized that Zenna and I had grown up to become completely polar opposites. I was a Dragon Trapper…She was a Dragon Rider, and of a Night Fury no less!
'She actually rode that one-eyed Night Fury! And it was like the dragon was her friend! Odin's axe, what happened to Zenna…? I'm so confused!' I thought, still reeling from shock.
That's when a sudden sense of panic seized me.
If she was a Dragon Rider and if Drago ever found out about her…
Oh, gods…
My hand automatically grasped the pin on my vest as I tried to keep myself from imagining the horrifying things Drago would do to Zenna if he ever got his hands on her.
And mind you, those things I tried to keep myself from imagining weren't pretty and were very much capable of giving somebody nightmares for all eternity.
I should know…I've experienced them…
And there was absolutely no way that I was going to let them happen to my dearest heart.
"We head out now. Get the men and we'll set sail." I said, putting on a brave face. My cohort nodded and went on ahead. I picked up my sword and set it back in its hilt. Then, hesitating slightly, I pulled out a small scrap of paper and a pencil. Scribbling down my message for Zenna, I left the note out in the open where I knew she would find it.
I trusted Zenna that she would try to come and find me…
I just hoped that she would understand that I didn't want her to…because I wanted to protect her…
I specifically did not write an author's note because I had a feeling that you guys would want to get to the story real quick ;)
So what do you think? The double POVs surprised you guys, didn't they? I'm planning on applying that idea again in some other chapters so as to fill in the gaps within the story. Plus, I found it really interesting to write in both Zenna's and Eret's points of view. It really helps me bring out their relationship.
We have Hiccstrid, Stalka, Rufflout, Ruffret and lots of other shipping names in the HTTYD universe. Do you guys have an idea for Zenna and Eret's shipping name?
I've already come up with "Zenret" but if you guys have any other ideas, I'd love to hear them
Anyway, my next update on Riders and Defenders of Berk will be coming next weekend. I have to hurdle my Second Periodical Exams next week, so wish me luck!
GuardianDragon98, signing off!