AN: This is the fic for my Sanctuary AU comic! You can find it and other drawings for this AU with /sanctuary-au in my tumblr (petitcastellan). It's a page, not a tag, so just copy that and paste it after my url! :)
You can also find Snowflake's (my OC) and Jack's design in that link, or in my deviantart (kuramachan5).
Big thanks to Karla (charlotteandcheese on tumblr) for being my beta! And Sammy (inthewestwing on tumblr) for helping me with some things in the fic (she was also the one who put me in the Hijack world).
I hope you enjoy this story!
Thank you all for the kudos and comments! I just want to leave here a warning for this chapter: there's violence, blood and spoilers for HTTYD2. Be aware!
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy it.
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Berk used to be a turbulent island. When the cold winds and snow weren't attacking them, which was almost the whole year, the dragons would serve as a biggest problem.
An old village with brand new houses. The fire had always the fault for it.
But after Hiccup the Useless had become Hiccup the Useful, the island finally got its peace. With the help of his first and best friend, Toothless, the boy was able to show to his people that dragons weren't evil creatures and that it was possible to live in peace with them.
But it doesn't mean the danger went completely away.
After numerous blattles against enemy islands, problematic dragons and even the hard job of training their own dragons, not only the village had changed, but also Hiccup. For good.
Four years had passed since the Great Battle of the Red Death. The kid who used to be looked at as a hassle and a disappointment had now all the village's eyes towards him. They were now expecting more miracles, more good things coming from that boy. And so did his father, Stoick the Vast, the Chief of the Hairy Hooligans of Berk.
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- chapter one -
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It was a beautiful spring morning. Hiccup was quite anxious to see his new flying armor in action. He had lost days making it, and Toothless was starting to feel bored and annoyed for not flying as much as they used to do together.
Maybe he could use that in their Annual Presentation of Thorsday. The other kids always had amazing things to show with their dragons, and Hiccup wanted to do something even more spectacular and unique. Well, as unique as his Night Fury.
Toothless left an annoyed sound come out of his mouth. He was starting to feel impatience, for his best friend was taking ages to dress his armor up! It wasn't a full viking armor, but it still was something troublesome to put on one's body. Especially alone.
It had a black breastplate - with a big belt crossing it -, black gardbraces, orange scales all over the plackart and legs, and orange upper and lower vambraces tied with three black belts. Hiccup was still with half of those things on his body.
"Come on, Toothless." He complained. "I promise it will be fun. Just wait a little bit more."
The dragon just rolled his pale green eyes and walked around the room just to sit on his bed made of rock again.
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It took a long time, but Hiccup was finally done. He put his dagger in the support on his left vambrace, the fire sword - something he was really proud about, one of his best inventions so far - in the support on his right leg, and took his new helmet - that was also a mask.
Toothless was sleeping again, but when he heard footsteps coming closer to him, he woke up and looked at the human who was coming.
"Let's go, bud." Hiccup just patted his snout and laughed a little when he saw the dragon's excitement for flying. That would be a great day.
Except...
When both dragon and boy were already downstairs, Stoick was waiting for Hiccup near the fireplace. He had a serious expression on his tired face.
"Dad?" The younger viking asked. A mixture of concern and even a little of fear was present in his voice. He always hated to have serious conversations with his father. They always ended with screams and an urge to cry where no one could see him.
"Son, we need to talk..." Stoick said without moving a muscle. But then, he slowly turned his head towards the younger viking. "We need to talk about your future as a man and as a Chief."
Hiccup sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Not that again... "Aw, dad. Can we talk about this later? I am, erm, busy right now." He tried to nod, as if he wanted to believe in that, too.
"You are nineteen years old, Hiccup." The older man began. "When I was your age, I already had leaded a battle against an entire army of an enemy island. I already had-" He lowered his voice, afraid that Toothless would hear this part. "I already had killed so many dragons I lost count." Now, with his voice as loud as before and with a serious posture, he continued the speech Hiccup had almost memorized. "Since I was a baby I knew what I should do and what I should become. And you, my son, should know it, too."
"I know that one day I will be the Chief, dad." He put his helmet on the table and tried to avoid looking at his father's eyes. They were looking at him like an old eagle expecting its prey to move. "But... I don't want it. I mean, I don't want to be a Chief now."
Stoick didn't say anything, which just made Hiccup more nervous.
The boy gestured a little while trying to say what was in his mind. "You know, dad. Toothless and I have so many things to do. So many lands to explore and the sky to-"
His father left a loud sigh come out of his mouth as he pressed his fingers between his eyes. He was starting to get impatient. "You can't spend your whole life around the world, Hiccup. You have responsabilities!" His voice was getting louder. "You have an island to take care of, you have people to help... and dragons, too!"
Hiccup looked at Toothless, trying to seek any comfort or help. But the dragon couldn't do anything to help him. Flying away in that moment would just make things worse.
"You need to form your own family. You need a wife, you need kids!"
"Hey! Hey!" Now it was Hiccup's turn to speak loudly. "I think I am too young for this. I- I don't want to marry anyone now, dad. I am good like I am. Single and free."
Well, maybe he shouldn't have said that last word. Maybe he shouldn't have said the whole sentence.
Hiccup blinked a few times when he noticed how angry his father was. Should he say something else? Should he be quiet? His heart started to beat faster when Stoick walked in his direction.
"You proved to be a better person than everyone in this island thought you could be. I still believe that you aren't my biggest disappointment and I want to keep it." And with that said, he left the house, closing the door behind him stronger than he needed to. Stoick always said things without thinking when he felt angry...
The young viking stood still for a second before looking at his dragon. Sometimes his father really knew how to hurt his feelings.
Toothless walked towards his best friend and purred. He hated to see Hiccup sad or angry. And especially when his own father made he feel like that. If he could, he would take the human away and never come back. Toothless could take care of him. He could make he feel better. But Berk was Hiccup's home. Stoick was the only family he had. The only thing the dragon could do, in the end, was to watch his best friend cry when he needed to.
At least Hiccup was just angry in that moment.
"Let's go, bud."
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Hiccup didn't know for how long he and Toothless had been flying, but he was sure they were far away from Berk. The island had disappeared completely from his sight and there was no dragon flying around the ocean. He could finally relax.
With a long sigh, he changed the pedal for a glider mode, so Toothless could freely surf on the air with his wings and tail.
The dragon, however, was too concerned to relax. Everytime Hiccup and his father talked about the younger viking's future, they would spend even more time away from the island and sometimes in places the dragon didn't know yet. He was afraid to find wild dragons or even human enemies.
But he would fly anyway. If that would make his friend feel better.
"I wish my dad could understand that I am a different viking." Hiccup finally spoke. He didn't seem less angry. "I've been preparing myself to be a Chief, but not the way he wants me to. And I don't want to marry anyone!"
Toothless left a low growl come out of his mouth, as if he wanted to agree with what the human said.
"I can't really see myself doing that..." And sighed again. He had forgotten his helmet on the table in his house, so the cold wind was making his nose ache a little and his hair was moving like crazy. It just added to his bad mood. "Hey, bud. Do you want to fly up the clouds? I think the wind is better there."
The dragon moved his head enough to see Hiccup, and then again growled in agreement. The cold wind was annoying him, too.
But, something caught his attention. Before the human could change the pedal again, his sensors started to move and to make low sounds. He was hearing something, but he couldn't understand what it was.
"What's wrong, Toothless?" He asked, concerned. They had stopped in the air and the dragon was still searching for whatever was making that noise.
It sounded like danger, Toothless was sure. But what was that? Where was it coming from? He decided it was better to come back to Berk. He couldn't risk both of his and his friend's life.
And that was the moment when he finally found what was making the noise.
A sailing ship was crossing the ocean under them. They were really high on the sky, so it looked like the ship was small. But Toothless knew better. It had five sails and a horrible dragon sculpture on its front. The symbol on the sails wasn't from any island he and Hiccup had seem before, which just made it even more suspicious. And there were big things on the deck...
Toothless' eyes got wider when he realized what those things were. Especially because one of them was positioned in his direction.
Dragon weapons.
With a startled screech, the dragon tried to move his body in the air, trying to turn around to be able to fly back to Berk, but it was too late. Even though Hiccup had changed the pedal and moved his body to help the dragon, they couldn't escape anymore.
A loud noise crossed the air as a man shot the weapon that was positioned in the dragon's direction.
His wings moved to the left as much as his body, but the spear that the weapon shot was quite fast. And, after a few seconds flying in the air, it hit the winged creature. It had a strong rope attached to it, which made everything worse. They weren't exactly trying to kill the dragon, they were trying to capture it!
"Toothless!" Hiccup cried when he heard both the dragon's scream and the sound that the impact made. It tore the left side of his body, penetrating the skin and muscles enough to make a pretty bad injury, and crossed the left wing, capturing and holding the animal in the air.
Hiccup didn't know what to do. Everything was happening so fast and his mind was working like a chaotic machine. He and his best friend were being attacked and he had no idea by whom and why.
But it was a foot to the end.
The man who originally shot the spear warned a few other men in the deck about his succes in capturing a dragon, and asked for them to pull the rope.
Toothless was still screaming and trying to free himself, but it was just hurting him even more. "Stay calm, bud. Were are gonna be o-" The young viking stopped talking when the rope pulled both of them in the ship's direction. And it was so fast Toothless couldn't even shoot a plasma blast to try to free himself. They were capturing them!
Hitting the deck like a giant rock, Toothless tried to stop his body from moving with such force and to protect his friend's body, but the impact threw Hiccup away, almost taking with him the pedals and the saddle.
The young viking rolled on the deck just to stop near more weapons and traps on the other side of the ship.
Toothless growled loudly. He was worried about Hiccup, he was feeling an excruciating pain caused by that spear, and there was also the fear that those men were going to kill them. What should he do?
When five men approached him, the first thing that crossed the dragon's mind was to shoot them. They were holding more ropes with their big and dirty hands. Toothless couldn't move because of the pain, but he had to do something!
His pale green eye globes had thin black lines on them, and all his teeth could be seen as he growled towards those humans. His eyes were moving between them and Hiccup, trying to seek any comfort by seeing that his friend was okay.
But Hiccup's situation wasn't any better. He had fractured a rib when he fell on the deck and it was making his movements really difficult. And, to make everything better, four men were approaching him, too. The grin on their faces were as scary as their swords.
He tried to get up, but one of the men kicked him on the stomach, making him roll again on the deck.
"Look at what we've got here." One of them, a black haired and bearded men with a giant helmet with Monstruous Nightmare's thorns, laughed after saying that. "A skinny brat and a black dragon. Boss will love to know it."
Toothless tried to move again, but the spear was still in his wing and his blood was starting to bath his body. He couldn't move more than his head. So, concentrating all his strength, he shot a purple plasma on the men near Hiccup. The dragon usually needed speed to make his attacks more effective, so in that situation his plasma could just push humans to the ground or burn things. And he did both things this time.
Noticing the attack, the men near the injured animal tossed their ropes around him and pulled him, tying up the dragon and preventing him to shot more plasma and to move, too. "If we don't pay attention, this beast will be the one that will kill us." One of them shouted to the others. "We need to hurry and finish this now."
Toothless screeched with his closed mouth and tried to free himself again. Useless. His eyes searched for Hiccup, praying for him to be okay.
The young viking tried to get up again, with success this time. He was scared and worried about his dragon, but he was also angry. Who were those people and what they wanted?! And he got desperate when he saw more two men walking toward Toothless with their dirty swords. The dragon was still trying to free himself, but he was clearly in a big pain. The rope around his head was hurting him and the blood that was coming out of his left wing and the side of his body was already bathing the wooden floor under him. Hiccup needed to be fast.
Grabbing the dagger on the left vambrace of his armor, he tried to run to his best friend, but the men near him started to attack him. They seemed to be bloodthirsty.
"Don't you dare touch my dragon!" The young viking yelled while defending himself from the men's onslaughts. However, his dagger was too small. Near those swords, it looked like an ordinary knife for cutting bread, which was tossed away when a bearded man attacked Hiccup one more time, leaving nothing but a profound cut on the boy's left hand.
The said man left a pleased laugh come out of his dirty mouth. His massive body structure could give the worst nightmares to whoever tried to fight with him. If you think Stoick and Gobber are big, it's because you have never seen this guy. And, well, pretty much everyone else in that ship.
The men were getting closer to the screaming and helpless Toothless, and it just made Hiccup's situation even worse. What could he do? What could he do?!
Without thinking twice, the young viking took the fire sword that was fixed on his right leg and attacked one of the men who were blocking his way.
The fire made all of them step back for a second. They had never seen such thing before! The cut on Hiccup's hand was making the experience pretty unpleasant, but he had to do it. He had to save his dragon.
"Leave the dragon alone or I will have to burn you all." He said through his teeth. But, it just made those men laugh unnecessarily loud. A small kid like that was threatening them? That was ridiculous! They would never take that seriously.
The same man that cut Hiccup's hand approached him again with his onslaughts. The younger viking defended himself with his sword, but the man's strength was immeasurably bigger than his. The enemy attacked one, two times, and finally managed to throw the fire sword away, making Hiccup back off a little. His fractured rib was aching too much.
He tried to think fast while trying to escape from the man's attacks, to discover a solution, but his thoughts disappeared when he felt something sharp cross the left side of his belly, followed by a feeling that some warm liquid was touching his skin and clothes. His eyes got wider, and he looked down.
The enemy's sword had crossed his skin as much as the spear on Toothless' body. It had opened a big injury that was spilling blood so fast Hiccup felt dizzy. They got him. The enemies got him.
"Toothless..." He murmured, looking at the dragon that was now more in panic than ever. His mind was starting to fade out, for he was getting too nervous and bleeding too much. His eyes searched for his dagger, but he couldn't find anything. Anything but the men's laughs.
"Stupid kid." One man used the pommel of his sword to knock the younger viking down, hitting him on the nape. Apparently, they wanted to have a little fun before doing their job there.
Hiccup hit the ground without any resistance. His belly and hand were aching, and now his head, too. His vision got blur and everything was moving in front of him because of that last attack. He wasn't sure if those were his groans or the dragon's growls, or if someone was pouring hot water on his body or if it was actually his own blood. "Toothless..."
The dragon, seeing his human friend on the ground over his own blood, got desperate. He wouldn't really mind giving his life to protect Hiccup, but now he couldn't do anything. The thought of losing his friend proved to be worse than the feeling of being an useless reptile. He tried to free himself again, having no success at all. And the spear in his wing was making it worse.
What Stoick would think? Ah, he was so angry that Hiccup yelled and refused to accept his fate as the Chief. He was always so disappointed to have a son like Hiccup. It got better after the Great Battle of the Red Death and some adventures after it, of course. Everything was getting better, especially their relationship. But now... It wasn't time to regret his actions, but Hiccup wished the last time he saw his father he had hugged him and said that he loved him, despite everything. And Toothless...
The young viking tried to move his body, but a piercing pain crossed his body and brain by doing so. He then again felt useless. "I'm sorry, bud... I couldn't protect you."
Toothless screeches were starting to get really loud in that moment. No. No, that wasn't the injuried dragon. After a second, Hiccup noticed that that wasn't a sound a Night Fury would normally make.
Forcing his senses to the fullest, he looked around the deck and the sky, searching for whatever was making that sound. It was getting louder.
"What in Thor's name is this?" The men started to murmur to themselves.
Suddenly, something exploded at the right side of the ship. The men screamed, just to hear another explosion and the sound of something flying extremely fast over the sails. It sounded like a Night Fury attacking, but it was bigger. A lot bigger.
"Ready the weapons!" The captain cried and took his own sword. "Don't let it get to the deck!"
And another explosion. They were making the ship move violently, but it wasn't on fire yet. Instead, a noise of really tiny and sharp things happened after the explosion. It sounded like... frozen water being tossed at a rock.
A loud and terrifing growl came from the sky before one of the sails being exploded. Hiccup had to move his body not to be hit by the woods that were falling. And, after he did it, he looked at Toothless, that had his gaze fixed on the sky. Hiccup followed him and finally found what was making that mess.
A giant and light blue dragon was hovering over the ship. Its large wings were making a violent wind, which just made the ship move even more. The men couldn't even keep themselves on their feet.
Hiccup's vision was still blur and he couldn't see straight, but he was sure that that was a dragon. A dragon with thorns on its head and a big tail. He was sure he had never seen a specie like that one before. Its color was mixing with the sky, so locating it was pretty difficult.
The dragon flew again, now in the good sail's direction and landed on it, almost breaking it by doing so. And what Hiccup saw next was even more surprising. And weird.
Someone was riding that dragon. The person had the face covered by a mask with five thorns on it. The body was covered by clothes, tough boots and a cape with big dragon scales. It seemed like an armor and Hiccup was almost sure it was a man. The Misterious Person was holding a staff made of wood. It looked like a question mark. And, as soon as the dragon landed, he got off of it and slid on the sail, hitting the deck with his feet and hands. In that position, he looked like a small dragon. Hiccup couldn't stop looking at him.
The men finally managed to get up and, seeing the Misterious Person, they got a little scared. He was still in that position, but he was now moving a little to the side.
Hiccup had seen that before. When dragons with four paws want to attack their preys or an enemy, they first move slowly as if they want to warn the other creature to back off. But those men didn't know it, so they obviously attacked the Misterious Person without thinking twice.
He jumped to his right side, escaping from the swords, and used the staff to hit one of the men's head. He used so much force that the man fell unconscious on the ground. And in less than a second he was attacking the others, hitting them in the face with the staff and sometimes with his fists and feet. He seemed to be a great fighter.
The blue dragon was still on the sail, looking at the action in a complete silence. It looked like a giant sentinel.
Hiccup tried to move toward Toothless in silence. He didn't know if the Misterious Person and his dragon were good or evil, so he wouldn't risk. But he was losing a lot of blood and the pain and confusion made it impossible. If he moved so much and lost more blood, he could die! But he also needed to save his dragon...
The young viking gave up on it when he noticed the sudden silence. There was no battle cries, no swords hitting anything. He could just hear the sea moving against the ship. He looked around, and noticed all the men on the ground.
The Misterious Person, however, was still in action. He took a dagger from his belt and moved toward the injured dragon.
Toothless seemed to have fainted. He was really quiet and had stopped moving, but still seemed to breath.
"Toothless..." Hiccup moaned. He was trying to move again, to drag his body with his hands. It wasn't really working, but it caught the Misterious Person's attention. "My dragon... don't hurt him... please..." His vision was starting to get worse. The headache was pulsing, everything was defocusing and moving. "Toothless..."
The man looked at Hiccup for a second and to his own dragon. He then started to approach the young viking slowly and as he was coming closer, he lowered his body to touch the deck with his hand and tilted his head, still walking. Like a curious dragon.
An that was the last thing Hiccup saw before fainting.