Chapter 3:
Hiccup was woken up early the next morning by the sound of angry shouts and fierce growls. Not knowing what he would face when he got out the door, Hiccup grabbed his prosthetic leg and quickly tried to do up the strap. After finally putting it in place, Hiccup jumped out of bed, and in the process, he accidently woke up Toothless, who lifted his head up to look at Hiccup walking down the stairs as fast as he could, and then he heard the growling of dragons outside, before standing up and trotting after Hiccup, who by that time, had wrenched open the front door and was looking out of the gap that it left, with a mixture of shock and confusion attached to his face.
There stood Marko, his pointed white fabric covering his face, and by the way he was standing, you could tell that he was relaxed, even though he was completely surrounded by the entire villages settlement of Vikings, all of them carrying axes, spears, spiked maces, or at least some kind of object that could inflict some damage to this stranger if he put a foot out of place. The Dragons, however, were gathering around the other side of the village, all growling rather quietly.
Stoic, looking rather heavy eyed, walking part way between the gap that separated the village and the strange new comers, and silence fell upon the village, Vikings and Dragons alike. "What are you doing here, stranger? Who are you?" asked Stoic, his eyes trying to bore into Marko's eyes. But Marko wasn't looking at Stoick, but was looking over Stoick's shoulder and had spotted Hiccup. "Ah, Hiccup," said Marko clearly. Everyone, Vikings and Dragons, turned their head towards Hiccup and Toothless, who were wide eyed and there suddenly became very uncomfortable.
Slowly, Hiccup limped towards to ring of Vikings, where a pathway made itself between two Vikings that Hiccup had seen a few times in the village, and continued all the way to the middle. The walk seemed like an eternity to Hiccup, feeling all of those eyes on you, watching your every step. But before he could reach the middle, Stoic held out his hand to stop Hiccup going any farther. "Do you know this man?" asked Stoic, glaring at Hiccup. Hiccup gulped nervously, before breathing in deeply, and saying, "Yeah, I know him. His name is Marko, me and Toothless found him just outside the forests of the south." When Hiccup stopped, his father looked at him, as though looking for any sign that he was lying. But before long, his eyes softened ever so slightly, before sighing, "Well, if he's a friend of yours, then he can stay. But he will need to build his own house, but in the mean time, he will have to stay somewhere else."
Hiccup released a huge sigh of relieve that he didn't know that he was holding. At least he knew that they weren't going to kill Marko. Stoic turned around to face the rest of the village, "Well, don't you all have work to do? MOVE!" Slowly, the crowd started to thin, and Stoic nodded and muttered something that sounded like, "I'm just gonna go home for a bit," and Hiccup waited until there were just five figures still there: Astrid, Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Fishlegs, all of whom were still staring at Marko with uncertainty. Hiccup looked over to Marko and, nodding his head towards the other dragon trainers, saying, "Well, Hiccup? Aren't you going to introduce me into your friends?" Hiccup thought it over for a bit, before shedding a small smile, "Sure, come one." Following Hiccup, Marko walked up to the teens, whose dragons were now behind them, looking curiously at Marko. When they both stopped in front of them, Astrid was the first to say something, "Hiccup, who actually IS this...Marko?"
Hiccup just sighed and then told them all what happened exactly as he remembered. Fishlegs had his jaw hanging open for most of the story, Ruffnut and Astrid had expressions of puzzlement, and Tuffnut, along with Snotlout, both wore expressions that said 'Do you really expect us to believe that?' After Hiccup finished the story, Fishlegs asked a question that Hiccup had forgot to ask him, "Um, Hiccup? Where exactly is Marko from, anyway?" Hiccup opened his mouth to answer, but closed it when he realised something: he never got to ask Marko where he was from, not even what tribe he was part of.
He turned to Marko, who was looking over to the few remaining dragons that were still watching him in case something strange happened. "Um, Marko?" asked Hiccup, and Marko turned around to face him, "what island are you from, or what tribe are you part of?" At these words, Marko dropped his gaze from
the teens and looked hard at the ground. He sighed, and bringing his hands up to his pointed fabric covering his face, and pushed it back over his head, then showing his face to the teens, whose mouths were open in shock.
He had a large scar just below his right eye: it ran from just below his right ear, and stopped just as it reached the side of his nose. On the other side of his face, he had a tattoo that Hiccup found familiar: it was a picture of a Night Fury, and it was as black as the night sky, and it went from the side left side of his chin to the top of his left ear. His icy blue eyes only added to the fear that was coming from him. His hair was something of a surprise: unlike the rest of his face, which looked formidable, his hair resembled something close to Hiccup, except that instead of brown, Marko's was jet black. When he spoke, it wasn't his normal, cheery voice, but was a voice that sounded of pure ice. "I...am...one...of...The White Furies."