This weekend is my last weekend of sem break. Come Monday, it's back to school so I decided to work on this. Hope you all like it ;)
Note: I do NOT own HTTYD 2.
Chapter 7: Revelations and Another Kidnapping
'Man, Hiccup's mom must have lived among dragons for a long time…' I thought as Hiccup and I went after her. It wasn't exactly easy. We had to squeeze through a lot of narrow spaces in the tunnels my best human friend's mother was leading us through.
"Um, h-hold on! Wait just a minute!"
Hiccup had now recovered from the shock and was now relentless in trying to get some answers. "This way." His mother motioned to us as she leaped from rock to rock, as agile as…well, I'd say maybe some of those gymnast people I had seen in Greece.
"Come." Hiccup's Mom called after us again. "Come back here!" Hiccup shouted. I had to continuously duck to avoid hitting my head on the rocks. How long did this tunnel go? "You can't just say something like that and run off! You're my mother?! I mean, do you grasp how insane that sounds?!" my best human friend asked loudly, obviously still in shock and now relentless in wanting to get answers. "Come, quickly." Hiccup's mother said as she easily climbed over an outcropping.
'Yep, she's definitely Hiccup's mother…' I thought, unable to keep myself from smiling in amusement. Aside from Hiccup, I now knew one other person in the world who would not listen to serious orders or questions that often.
"I have questions!" Hiccup declared, struggling to go over the same rock outcropping. "Where have you…been all this time…?!" he grunted as he tried to scale over the rock, failing several times, until I myself had gotten over the rocky hurdle and, with Toothless and Stryka's help, pulled him up. "Wh-what have you been doing? They-they said you were dead!" Hiccup continued as he went on ahead of me.
I followed in silence, curious as to know what would happen next.
"Everyone thinks you were eaten by…" Hiccup suddenly stopped talking as we finally got to the end of the tunnel. "What? What is it, Hicc? What do you…" I asked him, unable to contain my curiosity and peered over his shoulder.
"Dragons…" "Holy…Shields…"
Hundreds, thousands, no, millions of dragons were all over the place! Monstrous Nightmares, Deadly Nadders, Hideous Zipplebacks, Gronckles, Hotburples, Rumblehorns and all the dragon species I could name and even some Hiccup and I have never even encountered flew about this amazing paradise. There were lush green trees and tropical vegetation growing everywhere, which was incredible because we were in such a freezing area! That's when I noticed that there was ice surrounding the place, graceful forms of frozen water that glowed blue in the light. In short, this was like a paradise in the midst of the cold arctic for dragons!
This was a Dragon Sanctuary!
"If Fishlegs were here…he'd be freaking out by now…" I said in awe as Hiccup and I walked around, trying to take in every detail and every dragon we could see the best we could. Suddenly, Toothless and Stryka growled at something up above our heads. Looking up, we both saw Hiccup's Mom and her dragon, the Four-Winger I had seen earlier, looking at us.
I couldn't help but feel that the dragon my best human friend's mother was with…looked kind of familiar…
But now, I just watched as Hiccup tried to talk to his Mom.
"This is where you've been for twenty years?"
Nod.
"You've been rescuing them?"
Yet another nod.
"Unbelievable…" Hiccup murmured in awe. Finally she spoke. "You're not upset?" she asked hopefully. "What? No, well it's a bit much to get my head around to be frank. It's not every day you find out your mother is some kind of crazy, feral, vigilante dragon lady!" Hiccup rambled, accompanied by some much-needed and appropriate hand gestures.
I silently laughed along with Hiccup's mother. Even I had to admit that his statement was amusing. "Oh, ha-ha-ha. At least I'm not boring, right?" she asked him. A dragon had then approached Hiccup and was nudging him. "Well, I suppose there is that…one specific thing." Hiccup admitted, giving it a gentle pat. Another dragon had approached me and was busy trying to get my attention. "Hey there, friend…" I giggled, petting it on its snout.
"Do you…do you like it?" Hiccup's mother asked, slowly approaching Hiccup. "I-I…I don't have the words!" Hiccup said in awe.
Meanwhile, some of the dragons from the sanctuary were now surrounding Toothless and Stryka. At first I thought they were ganging up on the two of them but it turns out that they were just welcoming them. One of them even sniffed Toothless' behind! I giggled as Toothless gave them a small snarl to make them leave him and Stryka be.
"Can-Can I?" Mrs. Haddock (I've now decided to call her that until she says otherwise) asked hesitantly. Hiccup nodded along with me.
"Oh, they're beautiful…" Mrs. Haddock breathed out as she approached our two Night Furies. Toothless and Stryka immediately took a liking to her and they immediately bonded. "Oh, ha. Oh incredible. They-they might very well be the last two of their kind…" Mrs. Haddock said in amazement while Toothless and Stryka rolled over for belly rubs.
"And look! He's your age!" she gushed to her son, fingering the small nubs on Toothless' change. "Wow…" Hiccup said in awe. "Oh and so is this young dragoness! Mates! They're mates! Give them a year or two and they'll be ready to have hatchlings!"
Well, that little revelation got me and Hiccup excited and hopeful at the same time. Toothless and Stryka were close to coming of age! That meant that maybe after a year or two they'll have babies!
"No wonder you all get along so well." Mrs. Haddock laughed as she imitated Toothless and Stryka's adorable noises. Then our two Night Furies both slid their teeth back into their gums! "And retractable teeth! How did you two manage?" Mrs. Haddock asked us as she gently held our dragons' tongues and inspected their teeth by looking in. I couldn't help but admire her courage. You need to have guts to shove your head into any dragon's mouth!
And it looks like I wasn't so invisible to Hiccup's mother as I had originally feared.
"We found them in the woods. He was shot down and wounded while she came out of the brush to help him." Hiccup explained, gesturing to Toothless and then to Stryka.
All at once, Mrs. Haddock grew solemn and introduced us to some dragons she had rescued. "This Snafflefang lost his leg to one of Drago Bludvist's iron traps." She began, showing us a blue and brown colored dragon with a stump for one of its hind legs.
"There's a little bit of swelling there…" I observed and brought out a small container of one of my soothing balms. The Snafflefang cooed gratefully as I gently spread the substance over its stump, easing the swelling.
"This Raincutter had a wing sliced by razor netting." Mrs. Haddock then introduced us to a sleek dragon with a torn wing. "Some bandages could help…" I suggested and, in no time, I had disinfected and bandaged the torn areas. The Raincutter gave me a gentle nuzzle in thanks.
"And this…" a color changing dragon then approached us, its eyes white with blindness. "Poor Hobblegrunt was blinded by a tree snare…" Mrs. Haddock patiently held her hand out and let the poor blind dragon approach her slowly using its sensitive sense of smell.
"And then left to die all alone, scared…" she said sadly. Now, blindness was something that even I couldn't cure. "I feel your pain, big guy…" I cooed, giving the Hobblegrunt a hug. It changed color, which was hopefully a sign that meant it was feeling okay.
Deep inside, I felt unbearable anger toward the trappers. Especially…him. Could he have done all this? Was he and his gang of trappers all responsible for the dragons' suffering?
Then Mrs. Haddock turned to Toothless and Stryka. "And what of this? Did Drago or his trappers do these too?" she asked me and Hiccup, holding up Toothless' tail fin and stroked Stryka's eye patch.
Uh oh…
"Um, Stryka got injured when we had a little flying accident, Mrs. Haddock. That was also when I lost one eye as well." I managed to explain. As for Hiccup? Well, good luck to him!
Hiccup awkwardly laughed before looking at me with a look that clearly said, 'Help. Me!' while I just gave him a look that said, 'You're on your own, man!'
"Well, crazy thing is; I'm actually the one who…shot him down."
I nearly laughed at Mrs. Haddock's incredulous expression. Oh, Hiccup was toast!
"Hey, it's…It's okay though! You got me back, right bud? You couldn't save all of me, could you? You just had to make it even!" Hiccup managed to fully explain while he fooled around with Toothless. To finish his defense, Hiccup held his metal left foot out in front of him. "So, peg leg!" he concluded in a sing-song tone.
That's when Toothless and Stryka went under the both of us and bounced us onto their backs! Laughing Hiccup and I playfully scratched them under their chins, which they both loved. Mrs. Haddock regarded us warmly before looking at us both.
"Ehm, what did your father think of your Night Fury friend?" she asked Hiccup first. "Ah, he didn't take it all that well." Hiccup shrugged. "And how about you, lass?" she asked me directly. "My parents were shocked at first, I'll admit Mrs. Haddock." I replied politely.
"But then, he changed. They all did. Pretty soon everyone back home had dragons of their own." Hiccup told his mother. "Berk's now a land where Vikings and Dragons peacefully coexist, Mrs. Haddock." I chimed in.
She didn't really look too convinced. "If only it were possible." She said to Toothless and Stryka. "No, really." Hiccup managed to say before she continued. "Believe me, I tried as well but people are not capable of change, Hiccup." She said as she looked at her dragon.
"Some of us…were just born different."
As her dragon flew off, Mrs. Haddock decided to let us in on what had happened to her twenty years ago. I listened intently, for I was finally about to discover something important about my best human friend and his family.
"Berk was a land of kill or be killed. But I believed that peace was possible. It was a very unpopular opinion…"
I visualized a raid in Berk, like the ones back in the past. I could see Hiccup's Mom running about, trying to stop her fellow villagers from killing the dragons only to get disapproving looks…I guess that's where Hiccup got his natural talent in connecting with the dragons…
"Then, one night, a dragon broke into our house, finding you in the cradle…"
I can totally imagine how frightened she must have been when she saw that dragon break into her house. I imagined her grabbing a sword and rushing up the stairs to Hiccup's nursery…
"But what I saw…was proof of everything that I believed…"
Now, I remembered when Hiccup told me how he had gotten the scar on his chin. He told me that when he had first seen the dragon, he thought of it as a playmate and played with it. Then I remembered him telling me that the dragon had accidentally rocked the cradle he was in, causing its claw to nick his chin which gave him that familiar old scar…
"This wasn't a vicious beast. But an intelligent, gentle creature…whose soul…reflected my own…"
I now pictured the dragon and Hiccup's mother looking into each other's eyes…followed by Stoick charging in and trying to attack the dragon. In the resulting chaos of fire and ruin, the dragon had snatched her away and took off into the air, leaving Berk and a heartbroken husband and father…and a scarred and now motherless baby Hiccup behind…
"You and your father nearly died that night…all because I couldn't kill a dragon." Mrs. Haddock then concluded, looking at Hiccup sadly. After a minute to take all the information in, Hiccup sighed, "Well, it runs in the family."
And I had to agree with him on that. Hiccup was never meant to be a dragon killer. He was a dragon trainer through and through…just like his mother.
"It broke my heart to stay away, but I believed that you'd be safer if I did." Mrs. Haddock told him, guilt written clearly on her face.
'It wasn't exactly always safe for Hiccup…He was always being pushed around and picked on…It would have been a bit better for him and his childhood if she had been there for him…' I thought.
"How did you survive?" Hiccup asked his Mom. "That's what I'd like to know too." I piped up. Mrs. Haddock then saw her dragon return to the cliff we were currently standing on. "Oh, Cloudjumper never meant to harm me. He must have thought I belonged here…" she told us, leading to the lookout view.
I only had a minute to look at Cloudjumper curiously before…
Hiccup and I saw it.
"In the home of the great Bewilderbeast."
A majestic, snowy white dragon that was a lot bigger than the tyrannical Red Death we had faced five years ago! Hiccup, Toothless, Stryka and I were in awe of the great dragon. And we also noticed that any dragon who went near it bowed down to show respect.
"The alpha species, one of the very few that still exist. Every nest has its Queen but this is the King of All Dragons!" Mrs. Haddock told us, smiling as she introduced us to the ruler of the Dragon Sanctuary. "With his icy breath, this graceful giant built our nest. A safe haven for dragons everywhere." She continued, gesturing to the Sanctuary's icy interior as we walked down to get up close.
"It breathes ice?" I asked in amazement. "Wait, that's the ice-spitter? He's responsible for all that destruction?" Hiccup asked, referring to the fort we had found earlier. "He protects us. We all live under his care and his command." Mrs. Haddock explained to us both.
I then spotted a bunch of colorful, baby dragons surrounding Toothless and Stryka. At first the two of them were happy to meet them. But when they started to come a bit too close, Cloudjumper had to roar in order to shoo them off!
"All but the babies of course, who…listen to no one." Mrs. Haddock laughed as we watched some of the babies playing on the Bewilderbeast's head and flying off when the great Dragon King woke up from his nap.
Hiccup and I stood as still as statues while Mrs. Haddock, Cloudjumper, Toothless and Stryka chose to bow to the mighty beast. The two of us were just awestruck. Up close, the Bewilderbeast had icy blue eyes that were still so gentle as he looked at us. And mind you, he was gigantic. Hiccup and I honestly felt like ants as we gazed at the Bewilderbeast.
"I've lived among them for twenty years, you two, learning their ways, discovering their secrets." Mrs. Haddock told us, just as the Bewilderbeast breathed out some icy vapor. Hiccup and I shut our eyes to avoid getting them frozen and when we opened them, we saw that our hair had iced up!
"Ha, ha. He likes you two." Mrs. Haddock chuckled. "Wow…" Hiccup and I both breathed out in awe as we shook the ice off our hair.
Cloudjumper then suddenly nudged me. I turned around to see him cocking his head to one side. Curious, I copied him and he crooned before looking up and suddenly doing a little jump. Something about his actions told me that he wanted me to say something.
I decided to just say the most random thing I could think of. "Yes, you…jump over clouds?" I said, a little unsure if that made any sense. To my surprise, Cloudjumper started jumping around excitedly!
That's when I realized why he looked so familiar.
"Holy Shields, I know you!" I gasped as a brief memory flashed back into my mind.
(Zen's flashback starts)
'She had run away into the forest that day. Her parents had just told her that they were going to leave the South after a month to go to a new island where they will live from now on. Zenna hadn't taken that announcement too well and ran away from the village. And she didn't stop running until she had reached the glade where she and Eret frequented because their wolf friends were usually there. Poor eight-year old Zenna was crying, tears welling up in her violet eyes and slipping down her face…
That's when she realized that the wolves weren't in the glade. Then, she heard the distinctive sounds of the pack howling accompanied by a fierce growl that didn't sound so wolfish. Following the sounds, Zenna ended up in an open field where she saw the wolves…surrounding a dragon!
Little Zenna gasped in shock before deciding to intervene before things turned ugly. Quickly, she howled to the wolves to get their attention. The wolves, hearing her call, obediently loped over to her and she soothed them with pats and cuddles. The dragon then watched the young Fiersome girl with curious golden eyes.
"Go home, friends. Leave the dragon alone." Zenna told her wolf friends nicely. The pack eventually left the field to go back into the safety of the forest. That was when the dragon flew over to Zenna and landed right in front of her! Amazingly enough, Zenna stayed calm and stared unflinchingly into the four winged dragon's eyes. Even when the beast tossed its head back and roared right in her face, Zenna stood firm! The dragon could then only stare back at her in surprise.
"You have four wings! Four-winger! Four-winger!" Curious and excited, Zenna then laughed as she raised her arms up and down, pretending that she had wings of her own. Then she cocked her head to the left, which the dragon copied. And then she cocked her head to the right, which the dragon copied as well. Then much to her surprise, the dragon did a full turn!
"You're like an owl, four-winger." Zenna giggled. The dragon's gaze softened and shook its head. "Oh, you have a name?" Zenna asked innocently. The dragon nodded and then looked up at the clouds in the sky. Zenna figured that the dragon wanted her to guess its name.
"Cloud? Your name's Cloud?"
The dragon then jumped up a bit.
"Jump? Is that your name?"
The dragon shook its head and looked up at the clouds again before doing another jump. Zenna thought hard.
"You jump over clouds?"
At that question, the dragon made a face that could have only meant, 'Way to be obvious' that was so comical that Zenna giggled. "You are a jumper of clouds…" Zenna mumbled to herself.
Suddenly, she understood.
"Jumper…Cloud…Other way around…that spells…Cloud…jumper…Cloudjumper! That's your name! Your name's Cloudjumper!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms out grandly to show the dragon that she got it. The dragon then warbled and nodded. "Yay! I got it, I got it, I got it!" Zenna giddily cheered. The dragon, Cloudjumper, then looked off into the distance. Zenna had a feeling that she was gonna have to say good-bye to her new friend now.
"Bye-bye, Cloudjumper! I hope we see each other again someday." She waved to the dragon. Cloudjumper crooned, looking at the little girl with what looked like a smile before spreading its massive four wings and taking off.
Zenna smiled to herself. She had made a new friend…and it was a dragon named Cloudjumper…'
(Zen's flashback ends)
"Holy Shields, it is you! You've gotten bigger the last time I saw you, Cloudjumper!" I laughed as my old friend nuzzled me. Stryka gave me a confused croon along with Toothless while Hiccup looked at me in amazement.
"You know him?" Hiccup asked me, gesturing to Cloudjumper. "Yeah, I met him in the South a month before I moved to Berk with my family…Wow…I always wondered if I'd see him again someday and now I have! Cool coincidence, huh?" I told him, petting Cloudjumper gently.
"Aye, it is. And what a great coincidence to see you again, lass." Mrs. Haddock said to me as she walked over to me and gently held my face in her hands. "I was there, hiding in the woods from the wolves, when I saw you. You were quite a brave child, not running away even when Cloudjumper tried to scare you. And I've never forgotten those eyes of yours…or, eye in your case right now." She said gently. Both Hiccup and I were amazed. This was suddenly turning into a day of great revelations and coincidences!
"Oh, she's a beauty son! She'll make an excellent wife! She loves dragons just as much as you do! Well, aren't you going to formally introduce me to my future daughter-in-law?" Mrs. Haddock gushed, gently placing a hand on my shoulder and looking at my best human friend expectantly.
And now…for the explanation part of the day.
Hiccup and I both groaned in exasperation, "We're not dating!" while temporarily forgetting that this was the first time we had ever met Hiccup's Mom!
"What?" she asked us, surprised. Realizing what we had done, Hiccup and I blushed and immediately began stammering out apologies. If I had looked over my shoulder, I would have seen Toothless and Stryka quietly snickering in the only way dragons can.
It was half a dozen apologies and few minutes to compose ourselves and collect our thoughts later when Hiccup and I decided to fully explain.
"Um…Mom…she and I aren't dating. We…have our own love interests…" Hiccup told his mother awkwardly. "Hiccup's 'milady', Mrs. Haddock, is Astrid Hofferson-the finest shield maiden and axe wielder in all of Berk, Rider of the Deadly Nadder, Stormfly, and Berk's resident Sharp Class and Tracker Class expert." I hastened to add.
"Right! And she…" Hiccup began to say when I realized that he was about to tell her about…him. "Uh, I'm not currently dating anyone, Mrs. Haddock. And I don't really plan to right now…or ever for that matter." I said quickly.
Mrs. Haddock looked slightly surprised, but also looked like she could understand what we were saying.
Hiccup then decided to do a more formal introduction. "Mom, this is Zenna Arrowhead Fiersome. She and her family moved to Berk from the South twelve years ago. We've been best friends ever since the day they arrived. She's one of the bravest, strongest and most loyal fighters in Berk, the Dragon Doctor…and an amazing friend." He grinned as he introduced me to her. "It is an honor to meet you, Mrs. Haddock." I greeted, politely curtsying. Finally, Mrs. Haddock smiled. "It's an honor and a pleasure to meet you as well, Zenna. And please, call me Valka." She said warmly.
That broke the ice and the three of us were now all at ease with each other.
"You two must be hungry." Valka said. That's when I realized that I was starving! "Ah, yeah, Zenna and I could eat." Hiccup shrugged. "Good. It's feeding time." Valka smiled, showing us the way.
That's when a ray of light shone down on my pendant. I blinked against the glare of the glinting silver before taking it off my neck. I then looked at the pendant and then at the water down below. I was slightly troubled as I pondered on what I was about to do.
This pendant had once belonged to Eret's mother, who died a long time ago. Eret had once told me that he only knew her for a short while before she passed away and that the pendant was the only thing he had left of her. And he had given it to me before I left the South…as a token of his love…
'And then he turned around and became a no-good Dragon Trapper, Zenna! He doesn't love you anymore! You don't need this stupid, worthless pendant anymore! Throw it away so you can feel better!' my subconscious told me. I nodded. Eret and I had grown apart…and we were now supposedly enemies.
Taking a deep breath, I threw the pendant as hard as I could. It sailed through the air before falling into the water with a barely audible 'plop!'
The Bewilderbeast then looked at me curiously. Quickly, I excused myself. "Your Dragon Highness…" I said curtsying before I quickly left to follow Valka and my friends.
Meanwhile…
Eret's POV
'It's official. The gods hate me…' I thought through my annoying headache, holding an ice block to my head, while my crew struggled to clear the ice. First, I broke Zenna's heart. Second, my men and I hadn't caught any more new dragons for Drago and now…we were currently stuck because the waters around our ship were filled with ice!
"Do we go back?" One of my men asked me. I finally lost it. "We've nowhere to go, nothing to sell and no heads to call our own, if we don't turn up with dragons and fast…!" I all but managed to blow up before I was suddenly snatched by a dragon!
"Careful what you wish for!"
Oh great…that Astrid girl and her Nadder again!
As my men tried to take the dragon carrying me off down with the nets, I looked around and saw that the same gang of Dragon Riders was with my kidnapper. "What is this?!" I demanded while holding onto the Nadder for dear life. "A kidnapping." Astrid replied.
Then the Twin girl who was trying to flirt with me earlier got in too close. "Yay! Can he ride with me? Can he? Can he?" she asked eagerly, latching onto my arm. 'Odin's axe, get this crazy girl away from me!' I thought as I tried to move. Luckily the girl's twin brother grimaced and directed the Zippleback they were both riding on away, much to my relief.
"You're going to show us the way to Drago." Astrid told me. Ha! As if I'd do that! "And help Dragon Riders sneak into Drago's camp? Just kill me now!" I refused. "That can be arranged! Stormfly, drop it!" Astrid smirked.
Oh no, she wouldn't!
And then, I found myself falling down towards the frozen ocean at breakneck speed!
Yep, she would!
"Good girl! Stormfly, fetch!" I heard Astrid amidst my screams. I was desperate and terrified so I gave in. "Ahhhhhh! Alright! Okay, I'll take you to Drago!" I yelled fearfully as the ice got closer and closer!
In the nick of time, Stormfly caught me. "Ha, works every time." I heard Astrid say confidently. Letting out a huge sigh of relief, I tried to relax.
Little did I know that that was just the beginning of the torture.
"Oh, almost forgot!" that was what I managed to hear from Astrid before I was dropped again!
"That's for Zenna!" she shouted, catching me and then dropping me yet again!
"That's for breaking her heart!" she had Stormfly fetch me before dropping me for what I hoped was the last time!
Oh Thor, if this is the punishment I deserve just hit me with one of your lightning bolts already!
"And that's just because I hate you!" Astrid snapped at me, having her dragon Stormfly fly down after me.
I breathed out a huge sigh of relief when I was caught once more and, thankfully, stayed that way. But now, I could feel only shame as I remembered what I had done. Now, I had to show them the way to Drago's camp. And I had a feeling that Drago wasn't going to be very happy about this…
'It's official. The gods truly hate me!' I thought miserably.
Read and review. Those things inspire me to write better ;)