Honestly, I never thought I would write this story in the direction it was going in. In the two years I have played this in my head, I wasn't expecting to make it this far. It has been an adventure these last few weeks. I am thankful for Fanfiction and How to Train Your Dragon. My creativity is coming back to me. Here is Part 13 of the story, and I am sure it will continue to grow.
I do not own How to Train Your Dragon movies or the books…I simply enjoy the characters and creating new adventures for our friends.
Enjoy!
Hiccup plopped himself in the middle of the woods—the very spot Toothless had landed when he had been shot down. With his legs drawn into him, he sat in the darkness, waiting for the sun to bring light. In all honestly, he wanted to stay in the darkness. Eventually, he would have to move into a better spot. He was sure someone would come looking for him eventually. Anxiety creeped He didn't want to be near them. He didn't want to see his wife.
Astrid.
The anger overtook him and he pounded the dirt with a fist. Out of all the people, he figured she wouldn't have turned her back on him. How could she not trust his judgement? He knew he had seen Heather. He knew he had seen Cecil. They were the reason he had made it back to Berke, somehow alive.
Toothless nuzzled him suddenly. He cooed, and allowed his rider to lean against his side for warmth. Hiccup hadn't realized he was shaking. Was it from being so angry or was he really cold?
As daylight approached, he decided to make his way to the Cove. Even though he knew he couldn't go down into it, the thought of being around it seemed to have given him a little bit of ease. Some comfort. After all, it was the place he had befriended Toothless. It was the place where he had found himself.
Toothless walked with him slowly. When Hiccup would stumble, he would catch him. Hiccup felt his stomach growl slightly, but he wasn't hungry. He didn't feel like eating. Funny, his family had been encouraging him to eat, but after this, yet again he didn't want to eat.
At the mouth of the Cove, Hiccup sat down. He could hear birds chirping as they bathed in the water below. It was still mid-morning. He had been listening for anyone approaching them from behind. No one came.
Toothless cooed at him gently. Hiccup gave him a lopsided grin, and he reached up and rubbed his dragons head. He sighed.
"Toothless, did I really see Heather out at the caves?" he asked.
The dragon snorted, and wagged his tail. He showed Hiccup his gummy smile, and licked his face.
"I thought so," he said. "I wish Astrid understood."
Eventually, Toothless brought Hiccup a blackberry bush (literally, a whole bush) from the hill behind them. He pushed his rider to eat. Hiccup sucked on some berries. He felt thirsty. The berries helped with that a little bit.
"What is wrong with me?" Hiccup asked himself. His dragon nudged his shoulder gently. Hiccup then realized it was his bad shoulder Toothless was nudging. But, it didn't hurt near as bad as it would have a few days ago.
Hiccup untied his sling and laid the cloth in his lap, holding onto his elbow to take some pressure off. He took in a deep breath, held it, and started guiding his arm back and forth a little bit. There was a dull ache, but nothing horrible.
For another fifteen minutes, Hiccup worked his arm gently. He could stretch it out in front of him, but couldn't put it over his head. It was hurting too badly at this point. He sighed, and Toothless licked his cheek.
"Getting there, bud," he said. He sighed, then leaned back against his best friend, leaving his arm to relax in his lap.
It was approaching midday, and he was surprised he hadn't heard anyone yelling his name. He assumed they had organized a plan without him present. Figured Spitelout was trying to take over the village, or maybe his mother had given him all control. He was assuming the worst.
"Toothless, what is going on?" he asked him. The dragon cooed at him. "I mean—this doesn't seem possible. My own WIFE—My mother—not believing me. Why does she think I have gone mad?"
"Maybe you have."
Hiccup jumped at the voice. He barely recognized it. Toothless was up, growling but eased up almost instantly, catching a familiar smell. His teeth retracted back into his gum lines.
"Heather?" Hiccup asked the air. When no reply came, he questioned himself as to whether or not he was going insane again. But, if that was the case, so was Toothless. He had heard the voice, too. He could see it: His mother handing over the Haddock power to the Jorgenson's, naming Snotlout the chief and throwing Hiccup into the stalls until he stopped cracking, then chaining Toothless down in the Dragon Academy. The Night Fury would once again be a feared dragon to Berke because Toothless would literally kill to come to his aide.
"Why am I hearing things?" he asked himself.
"You aren't, Hiccup," said the voice again. This time, Hiccup could tell where it was coming from. He looked towards the deer path, and from over the rocks Heather appeared from the Cove. Her bow was hanging off of her shoulder. She wore a small smile, but concern showed in her emerald eyes. After a moment, she said, "It's nice to see you, Hiccup."
Hiccup looked at her for a moment. Toothless's tail wagged in glee. When Toothless took a step towards her to officially greet her, Hiccup fell to the ground on his knees and began weeping. There in front of him was Heather. Then, the thought occurred to him: Maybe he was hallucinating again. She was approaching him. Her arms instantly went around him from where he sat in a heap on the ground.
He pushed her away, and she lost her balance and fell to the ground herself.
"Don't be afraid," she said to him.
"What is the truth?" he asked her.
"The truth?"
"I keep seeing faces—your's—Dagur's—and Cecil's. My family thinks I am CRAZY! And I am starting to think I am. I mean—you are here right in front of me! I thought—I thought you were taking over the Berzerkers—"
"I was—but—not now," she said.
He was weeping again. His motions were overpowering him. Toothless was trying to comfort him. He glared at Heather for upsetting his rider.
"Toothless—" she sighed. She crawled up closer to Hiccup and put her arms around him again. This time, he didn't push him away. Toothless continued to eye her. "Stop, Toothless."
Hiccup tried to compose himself. "Heather—"
"I am sorry," Heather said to him.
"Why don't they believe me?" Hiccup asked her. "I keep seeing these faces—reliving the abuse. They are starting to not understand or believe me—And it was—When I said I saw you there—but—"
"Hiccup—"
"You were here the other day—"
"Hiccup," Heather said. She sighed. "Let's go back—together. I'll tell them. You aren't crazy. And you aren't seeing things. To be honest, I was surprised Valka didn't jump me when I came to the door the other day to talk to her about what happened."
Hiccup took in a deep breath and exhaled. "Yes—why didn't—"
"Because—Cecil—" Heather said. Hiccup looked at her long and hard for a moment. She had to break eye contact. "I went to your house the other day. I wanted to tell your mom everything that had happened. She seemed—worried. More worried than I had expected."
"How did you get through the patrol I placed out?" Hiccup asked her. "I placed that out a few days after I arrived back. It's been extra heavy—"
"I know," Heather laughed. "Hunting for food has been hard because of that. Hunting at night has been the easiest—"
"How—"
She sighed at him again. "Hiccup, we didn't break through the patrol. Trust me, you have no holes. I've already looked." She paused again. "Hiccup, we have been at Berke since the night you arrived."
Hiccup glared at her. "What?"
She swallowed, and wiped her sweaty hands on her pants. Biting her lip, she spoke to him.
"When you were placed into the boat, Cecil and I pushed you out to sea. It wasn't but a few hours later we came back looking for you and Toothless in the boat. We tied a rope around the mast, and Windsheer pulled us to Berke."
After a moment, Heather spoke again.
"You weren't in that boat for days, Hiccup. Your family only assumes so. You were only in that boat for a full day before we reached Berke. The plan was to get your back to Berke and let Toothless guide everyone down to the docks to retrieve you so that we could go into hiding for a little while. We towed you into Berke. Well, when the storm approached, we started sending out SOS signals. Lightning struck the mast in the middle of the storm. We were separated from you. When we managed to find you, Valka and Astrid were already with you. Toothless had continued the signals with our absence."
Suddenly, Hiccup remembered screams in the lightning storm. At first, he remembered hearing Astrid's but then the lightning, and Heather's. He remembered Toothless keeping him wrapped up and protected from the sun and the rain. He remembered the taste of the cider Heather had been trickling down his throat.
"So—you've been hiding in the Cove all this time?"
"Yes," she replied. We didn't want Dagur to track us down here. We thought if we stayed hidden we would be keeping the island safe for some time. We wanted you well before we told you what was taking place. When you put everyone on patrol, we never came out. I've snuck food from the Great Hall when it was getting harder to hunt. For the most part we have stayed in the cave in the Cove."
"Heather—it has been a month since I've been home," he said gently to her. "Do you know anything about Dagur coming here?"
"No," Heather said.
"You were supposed to be with the Berzerkers—"
"When I heard Dagur had you, I went to Outcast Island. With me being his sister—he trusts a little too easily," she said. "I cornered Cecil one night on his break and asked him if he would help me. He agreed almost immediatly."
"Heather, you could have come forward the same night, verses hiding. I don't get it—why—"
"She has been hiding as a favor to me."
Hiccup looked behind Heather and saw Cecil standing there looking down upon them. He was just as Hiccup kept seeing in his dreams.
"Glad to finally see you better, my friend," he said after a moment.
Hiccup stood up and walked over to the man. He cradled his arm against his chest, holding the sling in his hand. It appeared as though Cecil had a bruised eye at one time. His arm was bandaged, but other than that there looked to be no other harm done to him.
"I've been asking Heather to not compromise our location. I left this island on horrible terms. I am sure Spitelout would have my head if he saw me." He chuckled to himself. "If Dagur knew I was here, your village would be in jeopardy. And if your village knew I was here, my life probably would be as well."
"Everyone thinks I am crazy," Hiccup said to him.
Cecil sighed, and reached a hand up to Hiccup. "Well, how about we change that?" he asked.
Hiccup looked down at his hand for a moment. He sighed. "Cecil, I am eternally greatful for you saving my life. Can I ask you something?"
"Of course," he said gently. He awkwardly put his hand back down.
"Why did you try to kill my mom years ago?" he asked. Hiccup didn't hesitate. And Cecil's expression did not change.
"Well, lad. I was going through a really dark time myself—" Cecil looked over at Heather. "Much like you right now—I was angry. I was—brainwashed is a strong word for it—Ummmm, how about we say—mislead by Drago. I was out hunting dragons and your mother set them free while I slept on my boat. Lost two really beautiful Nightfuries to her—"
"Night furies?!" Hiccup cried out.
"Yes," he said. "Now, I am glad she stopped me. This was when you would have been a baby, Hiccup."
Hiccup nodded.
"When I caught her trying to sneak back to Cloudjumper—well—I—" He paused. "Please understand I am not proud of it. Your grandfather welcomed me into his home as a child. And going after your mother was the wrong thing to do, but at the time—I was only thinking of Drago."
"Did he brand you—like he did Eret?" Hiccup asked.
Cecil cringed when he said that. "No. I was one of his top dragon hunters fifteen years ago. Slowly, my conscious got the best of me. I went into hiding among the pirates. I never gave details where I was from, or who I knew. I would change my appearance, shave my head bare and grow it back out. When I saw your mother ride off on Cloudjumper years ago, it made me wonder if she had been right all along—that dragons could actually coincide with us humans." Cecil smiled. "You both are living proof it is possible."
Hiccup nodded. He took in a deep breath and let it out.
"Lad, you are not crazy," Cecil said to him. "And if you want, we can tell your family. I have a condition, though."
"What is that?" Hiccup asked.
"Once we do, help me train a dragon—"
"For what?" Hiccup asked him.
"I need protection—someone to watch my back for me. Dagur has a lot of allies, despite how deranged he really might be. I need not only protection but also a friend."
"You are planning on running away, aren't you?" asked Hiccup.
Cecil sighed. "I need to. I cannot go back to Outcast Island. And I know I cannot remain here."
"If Alvin comes back, you should be safe," said Hiccup.
"I'm not quite sure he is coming back, lad. And—forgive me—I know I cannot stay here."
Hiccup sighed. "May I give it some thought?"
Cecil looked at him with a scowl. "Why do you have to think about it?"
Hiccup gave him a sharp look. "Because I want you here, where you belong. You shouldn't have to run anymore, Cecil. I will stand up for you. The past is the past."
"My chief, the past follows you wherever old company crosses your path. Here, tensions will begin. I promise. You don't want me here among everyone. If you train a dragon with me I will be on my way—"
"I hate to tell you this, Cecil, but you are in on our fight. You kept a young chief alive despite what Dagur put him through. You assured he got back to his home safe and sound making sure two of the best healers were taking care of him. Because of you, he survives. And thanks to you, he will defend your name to his village. You can count on that."
Cecil bit the inside of his lip. "That isn't what I had in mind."
"Well, when I arrived at Outcast Island I didn't have it in my mind to get ambushed. Please, Cecil, let me try to help you adjust here. Once the battle is over, if you wish to leave, I will allow it."
"Holding me captive now, eh, chief?" Cecil asked.
Hiccup smiled, genuinely smiled. "No, but something you are going to learn about me. I am as stubborn as my mother and father combined."
Cecil rolled his eyes. "Valka was quite stubborn. And Stoick—"
"He was stoic," Hiccup replied. He held his hand out to Cecil. "Do we have a deal?"
Cecil looked down at Hiccup's hand. After a moment, he reached out and shook it.
"A deal it is, Hiccup Haddock. Now, to convince your mother and the village to allow me to stay. That'll be the kicker there."
Hiccup nodded, and suddenly a wave of anxiety overtook him again. Would they believe him, or lock him away. He didn't know. Scratching the back of his head, he turned to Heather. "Heather, I am going to need your assistance in telling my wife and mother—"
"We will prove you aren't crazy, Hiccup," she said with a smile. "And after we do, can I please have something decent to eat?"
Hiccup nodded. "Fishlegs will be happy to see you."
I am not sure how much I would believe if I was a reader that Heather and Cecil pulled Hiccup back. I actually didn't come up with this until the last chapter. I wanted to throw Trader Yohann into this, but….well….I won't.