A/N: Good news! I've finally worked out what the heckie I'm doing, so we're gonna get some plot progression in this chapter, and hopefully we'll be able to bring this AU little adventure a tad closer to the movie! Yay! Also I may miss an update this week, since my final exams are coming up and I'm supposed to be studying, but we'll see how we go!
Jason Brody - Thank you very much! I'm glad you've enjoyed!
Sairey13 - I think we'll definitely be seeing some Stoick in this story; I love him way too much to eliminate him from my writing
Breyannia - Always gotta have a villain ;D Couldn't leave our Giant Dragon Queen out, now could we?
XXPinkMustacheXX - I'm really pleased that you said that, because that's the exact age range I have in my head at the moment! So I'm glad I'm writing it enough it's recogniseable
kitty.0 - Yeah, that made me giggle too ;-)
Little Voidsinger.
It's dark, the moon huge and round in a star filled sky. At first, I'm not sure what wakens me, for everything seems right in my world. There is a small bundle against my side, tucked close and safe beneath the protective curl of my wing. I feel each expansion of my Hatchling's chest as he breathes; feel the sigh of air across my scales as the gentlest of touches.
And yet my heart pounds double time in my chest, and I feel threatened, torn between the impulse to bare my teeth and hide.
Little Voidsinger. Do not ignore me, child. You are safe with me.
And then I hear it; a voice whispering across the edges of my mind, smooth and warm. Beneath it I feel the steel of command, and my muscles twitch as though to obey, but I curl closer around Hiccup and flatten my ears to my head.
Silly Hatchling, you cannot block your ears to me.
Be quiet, I want to tell the voice. Leave me in peace. But her words linger, push and prod at me and I feel as though I'll never rest again. Her voice is at once the most wonderful and horrible thing I've ever heard. Spasms pass along my body and I've never felt as at war with myself as I do now.
Come to me, little Voidsinger. Here, here, here…
Her voice echoes in my mind, and I think I black out for a moment; one moment I am curled close around the only family I have, the next I am airborne, flying fast and hard. The island is a blur of landscape below me, a dark mass I can barely see. I have no idea how far I've flown, or even where I'm going. Part of me panics, because I have left Hiccup asleep and alone, vulnerable to the cold without my heat to protect him. A greater part of me panics because I cannot turn around.
I can no more change direction than I can breathe underwater, and this is terrifying. My mind is consumed by the chant of Her voice and my body follows Her call without any consent from me. The island peels away below me and now the ocean is what rushes by.
That's it, not long now, little Voidsinger. You are nearly home.
She speaks again, and She is pleased. I can hear the smug satisfaction in her tone, and I'd like nothing more than to burn her away with my Fire - for taking my will, if nothing else - but instead I am pleased because She is pleased. As long as She is happy, then everything is well and all is right in the world. The sound of her voice in my mind, satisfied and loving, makes me the happiest I have ever -
HiccupHiccupHiccup.
It's a desperate struggle, and I feel as if I am tearing myself apart, but I throw the name up like a barrier. I think of my Hatchling's smile, of the way he leaps on me every morning and sleeps curled against my side every night. I think of his smile, his frown when it is bath time, the way he tries to run every time, and I catch him every time. Her voice fades a little, and my pace slows a little and I start thinking of turning around.
No! Clever little Hatchling, but you shan't escape my net that easily.
Her voice is back; whispering, always whispering. The ocean gives way to rocky shores and I suddenly find myself in a huge, cavernous volcano - mostly inactive, from the smell. The hot, sulfurous air is heavenly on my scales, and for a moment I forget my panic in favour of heatwarmfire. There are many other Dragons here, whole nests cowering on the many ledges within the cavern. They stare at me with disinterest, their gazes as flat and lifeless as though they were made of stone. Smoke obscures the base of the pit and I circle absently in the air before I select an empty ledge from myself. I want to go home, but this is home, and why ever would I wish to go anywhere else?
Welcome home, my child. Her voice says, eerily echoing my own thoughts, and I think again of my soft, squishy little Skinchanger who jumps all over me and seems to forget how fragile he is. This is not home, because home is laughter and clear lake water, and a Hatchling I have no idea how to raise but I'm still try-
Enough!
Her voice snaps in my mind and my thoughts grind to a halt, Hiccup's face chased away by the razor sharpness of Her tone. The smoke below me swirls, and then a black hole slowly emerges and Skymother save us, it's not a black hole it's a nostril. Her nostril is bigger than my head, and it's one of two. And as the great head slowly rises from the smoke, terror ices the blood in my veins, and I can't move although my mind desperately gibbers at me to flyrungetaway. She is the biggest Dragon I have ever seen, and when She hauls herself up to the level of my little niche, She has to tilt her head in order to pin me with a glare - from all three of Her eyes.
There you are, She says and Her voice is a purr, scraping over my thoughts like talon on rocks. I cower on the ledge, my belly pressed close to the heated rock and she bares her teeth at me in what I think is meant to be a smile.
Fear not, little Voidsinger. You are perfectly safe here. She exhales and hot breath washes over me, stinking of ash, death and blood. Welcome to the family. She adds, with a quick glance over the other Dragons. The word family tickles at my mind, and She is speaking still, Her voice in my mind, but I think HiccupHiccupHiccup and slowly Her voice fades to a quiet hum in the recesses of my thoughts. She is trying to command me, bend me to Her will, but I clutch tight to the memory of my Hatchling; to the worry of leaving him alone in the dark.
At first, it seems to be working, and I feel Her control over my body slipping. Just a moment more and I can flee back to the cove, to safety and home. Abruptly, my peace ends and it feels like I've taken a tailspike directly to the head. It's agony, and I roar in protest and paw at my skull, as though I might claw the pain out. I feel Her digging in my mind, sifting through my memories even as I scramble to keep them away from Her grasp.
Clever Hatchling to resist me so. She comments, and she's annoyed but also impressed and I am not sure which scares me most. But how are you - ah. Satisfaction ripples through Her tone, and I had thought I was terrified before but now my heart feels like it might burst from my chest.
A Skinchanger? How...Quaint. She comments, and suddenly Hiccup's face pops into my mind again, but this time his creamy skin is pale, his eyes glassy and distant. There is no smile on his face, no puckered frown of displeasure, no twinkle of mischief in his eyes. For the first time in a long time, I wish Dragons could cry. I want to close my eyes, to stop seeing, but the images are in my mind when I cannot escape them.
"Stop!" I cry aloud, and without ever making the decision to do so, I shoot my flame in Her smiling face. It's a weak blast, and I think longingly of the impressive firepower of my Mother, whose fire would certainly not be extinguished by a single snort from Her giant nose.
Watch your tone, Hatchling. She snaps, but the images stop and I cannot be more relieved. I curl into the smallest ball I can manage, thinking of the days when life was simple and full of flying and fish and Mother, who fixed everything.
Now we understand one another. You will obey me, little Voidsinger. They all do. She says, and I think She is trying to comfort me, but I do not feel comforted. She slowly withdraws, sinking back into the pit, but her influence stays tight around my mind, locking quivering muscles into place. I am not a cruel Mother, She whispers to me, all tenderness and love now that She has me where she wants. You may go back to your little pet, Hatchling. But you will feed me, as the others do. If you do not fetch me enough… She doesn't continue, but the memory of Hiccup's empty gaze is fresh in my mind, and I need no further reminders.
As soon as her hold slackens on my body, I shoot from the ledge and out of the cavern with all the speed my species are famed for. The night sky swallows me and I am a silent, invisible shadow as I race across the land. All I can think of is Hiccup, and the thought that something may have happened while I was gone. What if it wasn't a vision, but truth? What if She had done something while I was gone, taken my adopted family away from me?
I don't even bother with a proper landing when I finally return to the cove, dropping from the sky with all the grace of a Fledgling Dragon on their first flight. The cove is empty, no Hiccup in sight. The place we'd fallen asleep together is empty, the grass still bearing the indents our bodies had made.
Hiccup is gone, and I want to howl at the injustice of it. I want to burn everything in sight, and then find more things to burn when my fire returns. I want to tear Her apart bit by bit until there is nothing left, because how dare she take my free will, and my Hatchling -
And then a small explosion hits my side, and I'm so surprised by it I end up bowled over without quite knowing how. I'm on edge, and I nearly attack on instinct alone, but the familiar scent reaches my nose and I am so relieved I wish again for the ability to cry. Hiccup is whole and warm and safe, his skinny limbs wrapped tight around my neck, his face pressed against my cheek and jaw.
"You left!" He accuses in a small voice, the tiny tremor in his town enough to tell me how frightened he was. I drag him back to our sleeping place, and when he refuses to let go I simply lie down and curl around his fragile form.
"I went for a fly," I say, and the lie sits uncomfortably on my tongue. But he is just a Hatchling, not yet ready to understand how our lives have just taken a very different turn.
One day when he is older and stronger, we will burn Her up, together. She threatened my family, an insult I am not likely to forget anytime soon. Nor will I forget the empty, blank stares of my Dragon brethren, or the stench of Dragonflesh on Her breath. I don't know if she is still listening to my thoughts, but I hope she is; I want her to read her doom in my mind, to know she may have won this round, but she hasn't beaten me, not yet.