Chapter 14: The Truth Comes Out

Javelin traced the lines of crimson scales flowing across his body like arteries. They felt like his own skin, even on the synthflesh covering his right arm. Despite their hardness, they were just as flexible as before the transformation.

Fortunately for his disguise, they didn't flow up his neck.

Yet.

He sat down crosslegged, and let his mind connect to the Force. He needed answers. He needed to know what was happening to him.

An island appeared from the darkness. It was Berk, standing strong in the sunlight. A red streak shot towards the village and he followed.

He was close enough to see the dragon's details. It was a bright crimson, with maroon thrown in here and there. He couldn't tell how large it was, but it looked like it was bigger than Toothless. Then he saw the forelegs.

They were built like a Night Fury's, but the claws were much more dextrous, moving like human fingers. The right foreleg blended into silver and had a smell of metal.

That image had a sense of familiarity. Before he could contemplate further, the dragon landed in the forest. Time lapsed, backwards or forwards he could not tell, and the now resting form changed.

Into him...

A voice answered his unspoken question. "Alpha blood flows through your veins. When you learn, use it wisely..."

He opened his eyes, the trees surrounding him. When he got back to the cove, he quickly fell asleep, despite the questions churning in his head.

"HIC-CUP! HIC-CUP! HIC-CUP!" the village of Berk chanted, praising their new Dragon Training star. The massive crowd surrounded the Arena, ready to see the son of Stoick the Vast finally become a Viking.

From the entrance, Javelin joined his blood-brother and Astrid in watching the chief give his speech.

"Ah, I can finally show my face in public again! If someone told me that in a few short weeks, Hiccup would go from being... uh, Hiccup to placing first in Dragon Training, I would have tied him to a mast and shipped him off for fear he'd gone mad!" The crowd cheered. "And you know it."

"Remember, brother, I'll be right here."

"Be careful with that dragon," Astrid said.

"It's not the dragon I'm worried about," Hiccup replied, watching his father take his seat at the head of the ring. "Astrid, Javelin, if something goes wrong in there, just promise you'll protect Toothless."

"You know I will with my life," the warrior promised. Twilight was waiting on a nearby sea stack. He told her not to come unless he called for her.

Astrid gave her word. "I will. Just promise me it won't go wrong."

Gobber came from around the corner. "It's time, Hiccup. Knock 'em dead."

With that, Hiccup walked into the ring and towards the weapon rack. Javelin stared with calculation as the heir picked up a shield and small dagger. Even from across the ring, he could hear Stoick's voice. Changing further and further.

"I'm ready," Hiccup proclaimed. The doors to the Nightmare's cell unlocked.

Hookfang burst into the open, ready to die fighting. He dashed across the walls, skin aflame, showing his power to all. He stopped in the center, hanging upside down from the net ceiling. He looked down and spotted Hiccup.

"So this is the one that will slay me?" he growled as he dropped down. "How pitiful and insulting."

Hiccup backed up slowly, dropping his shield and dagger to the ground as the dragon approached. "It's okay," he soothed, holding his hands out. "It's okay."

Hookfang looked to his helmet. "Drop it," he rumbled.

Hiccup held his helmet, one of the last relics of his dead mother, in his hands. After a split-second, he tossed it to the ground, stating, "I'm not one of them." Hookfang started to sense what the boy was trying to do.

"Stop the fight." Stoick's voice had the faintest touch of concern. Javelin placed his hands on the portcullis, waiting for the saying 'what can go wrong will go wrong' to prove itself here.

"No. I need you all to see this." Hookfang edged closer to Hiccup, the feeling of trust growing inside of him. "They're not what we think you are. We don't have to fight them." Almost...

"I SAID STOP THE FIGHT!" Stoick yelled, bringing up his warhammer and banging it down on the safety bars in front of him.

It all came crashing down that moment. Hookfang, startled by the noise, gave in to his defensive instincts and snapped at the boy. He managed to jump back in time, but the Nightmare attacked, intending to end Hiccup.

Javelin pulled upwards, lifting the gate. "Hiccup!" He raced after the two, and whistled sharply. Hookfang shifted his attention to him. "Stand down, Hookfang."

"No! This was a trap!" He spat some fire as a warning.

The crowd watched in fear and horror as Gobber's assistant faced down the large dragon with no way to defend himself. They saw him crouch down and place a knapsack in front of him.

"Stand down. Now," Javelin warned. He moved his hands into the leather, and grabbed what would save him... or kill him.

"That boy was a distraction!" he looked at Hiccup, who had rejoined his father. "So they could kill me from behind."

Javelin followed Hookfang's eyes to Stoick and glared. "No, Stoick. This is between me and Hookfang."

Everyone gasped at what the man said. Did he just call the Monstrous Nightmare, one of the most dangerous dragons known to Vikings, a name? Like it was a friend? Shouts of "Traitor!" and "Son of Loki!" popped from among the people.

Javelin looked around, seeing hatred and anger flowing from the village. Hookfang looked ready to strike. Kneeling before him, the warrior donned his true helmet. "Best to reveal the truth now, friend," he breathed.

Hookfang followed the call of an unseen Alpha and bathed Javelin with fire. Stoick, Hiccup, Astrid, and all the spectators looked on as the flames bit at the suicidal man.

But the body didn't fall. It rose, the remains of the clothes burned to ash. It rolled repeatedly on the ground, extinguishing the fire.

And as if to prepare an encore, a ferocious screech sounded and part of the safety net was blasted to pieces. Only a few saw a black form dive into the smoke.

"What's going on down there?" someone yelled.

"Toothless!" Hiccup yelled, breaking away from his father.

"Hiccup!" Stoick shouted, but his son ran into the heavy gray cloud.

It lifted to reveal Hiccup talking comfortingly to a medium-sized dragon, the red Monstrous Nightmare, and a figure clad in crimson armor bearing a longsword in his right hand and a gold shield covering his left arm. He stood, ready to defend himself and...

Hiccup?

"Hookfang, back to your cell. I'll handle this." The man briefly watched the red dragon return to his home before turning to look at the Chief of Berk, who slowly approached.

"Back away from my son, demon."

Javelin checked his surroundings again. The villagers had assembled their weapons and were jumping into the ring, ready to attack the unknown man and dragon. He moved closer to Hiccup. "Toothless, you need to get out of here."

"No. I'm not leaving Hiccup in danger," the Night Fury growled.

"I'm not askin- Watch out!"

Toothless sprang into action and smacked the ambushing Viking to the ground. They all charged at Javelin and the dragon. Toothless, despite being grounded, was doing well, toppling and driving back the attackers.

Javelin did the same, but he kept his intentions clear in his attacks. He wouldn't hesitate to defend himself, but he would not kill. He fought off several warriors before spraying the ground in front of him with fire. They were deterred for a moment.

He saw Stoick racing towards him with malice. Toothless shot past Javelin and pounced on the Chief. "Hiccup, stay there!" he shouted, making his way through to Toothless, who had pinned Stoick to the ground.

Hiccup shouted, "Toothless, stop!" He saw him rear his head back, ready to blast the chief, his father, into oblivion. "NOOO!"

Toothless swallowed the gas and looked apologetically at his rider. "I'm sorry," he crooned before a hammer smacked him in the face. Disoriented and stunned for a brief second, he was pushed off of the chief and dogpiled on.

Seeing Toothless being wolf-packed and hearing Hiccup's pleas triggered the memory of his draconic family's last moments. He lost his focus and, as with the Night Fury, he was soon tackled and pinned. With much restraint, he refused to call Twilight.

Stoick pushed an axe away and glared at the dreaded Night Fury and the bright red warrior close by. "Put it with the others. Him, too."

He was chained up and thrown into Hookfang's cell. With his arms behind his back, he rolled and backed against a wall. The doors closed, leaving only a few lines of sunlight.

"That worked out well. All you managed to do was get yourself and the Night Fury captured."

Javelin scoffed, "That's true. But I also kept my promise to you."

"What?"

"You get to live to fight another day, Hookfang. I promised I would keep you alive today and I did." He closed his eyes and rested.

"I should have known. I should have seen the signs." Stoick was outraged at what Hiccup, his son, had done. He had defended a dragon with the help of that crimson demon.

"Dad."

"So everything in the ring. A lie? A trick?" He paced in front of Hiccup, boiling with anger.

"I screwed up. I should have told you this before now. Please, take it out on me, be mad at me, just... don't hurt Toothless," Hiccup pleaded.

"The dragon?! That's all you're worried about? Not the people it and that demon almost killed?!"

"They were protecting me. He's not dangerous."

"They've killed HUNDREDS of us!" Stoick yelled.

"And we've killed THOUSANDS of them!" Hiccup shouted with the same tone. "They defend themselves, that's all. They raid us because they have to. If they don't bring enough food back, they'll be eaten themselves. There's something else on their island, dad. It's a dragon-li-"

"Their island?" He interrupted. "So you've been to the nest?"

"Did I say nest?"

"How did you find it?!"

"What... I didn't. Toothless did. Only a dragon can find the island."

An idea formed in the chief's head. 'Only a dragon can find the island.' Of course. How could he have been so dense?

Hiccup saw look in his father's eyes. "Oh no. No, Dad. No. You won't stand a chance against this one. It's like nothing you've ever seen." Stoick ignored him and walked to the doors. Hiccup pulled on his arm with no improvement in the situation. "For once in your life, will you please just listen to me?!"

Stoick tossed his arm back, throwing Hiccup to the floor. "You've thrown your lot in with them. You're not a Viking."

Hiccup's eyes went wide.

"You're not my son."

He turned and resumed his walk to the doors. "READY THE SHIPS!" He paused, realizing what he had just done only for a second. As he regained his composure and stormed down to the docks, a voice entered his head.

"You may no longer be his father, Stoick, but I will continue to be his brother."

Off in a dragon's cage, the crimson scales snaked upwards.

(AN) - Well, there you are. Hope you liked this chapter and found the action/dialogue to be appropriate for the arena scene.

I noticed I reached over 500 views with this story, so thank you very much for reading it. And thanks again to Adipose169 for his reviews.

For next chapter, I have ignored writing the harbor scene. The music always flows into my head during that scene, and for me to try to write it down... I'd probably butcher it.

On that happy note, have a good rest of the day and stay strong.