Dragon Friend (sequel to the dragon boy) Chapter 18 - Protect Hiccup
frostcup fanfic
Authors note: Two words. Please review. Until tommorow. And enjoy. But especially. Brace yourself.
Hiccup had never been so scared, and he'd been in plenty of heart stopping situations.
Even the last time he'd found himself facing the Night Fury. The first time they'd met. He'd pinned him against the rocks. One paw around his neck, fury in his eyes. He'd felt certain he was going to die, then. But that was nothing to how he felt now.
They hadn't been friends then, and now, seeing his friend turned against him, he struggled not to fall to pieces in front of the madman who'd caused all this.
After setting Jack to release the dragons from the traps, he'd gone to try and reason with Drago. He'd kept the idea hidden from Jack, knowing he'd disapprove, and try to stop him, but he'd felt confident in his abilities to talk to Drago, and bring about the peace once more.
No one wanted war. Everyone could be reasoned with. No one killed for the sake of it. He could change Drago's mind about dragons, and he could save them all from war.
Oh, how wrong he'd been.
He thought back to what his father had said: "War is what he wants... you can't negotiate with people like that." He should have listened, but he'd stubbornly refused to believe it.
It turns out his dad was right. Drago wouldn't stop until he had every last dragon, and Viking, at his feet. He wanted to rule over everything. He wanted power, and was willing to do anything, kill anyone, to get it. He wanted war... because he was confident of victory. He knew he could conquer them all.
Hiccup had wanted to believe in the best in people... and now he was paying for it. Drago had ordered the Alpha to have his most faithful companion kill him.
He watched as possibly his best friend ever stalked towards him, with murderous intent. The normally round pupils of his eyes reduced to narrow slits, not a flicker of emotion in them. He barely recognised him as the friend who he'd flown on for five years, and given him a purpose in life, and yet, it was him.
The Night Fury. Toothless. Head dragon of the Berk training academy, and loyal companion to the heir of Berk. He was now a primeval monster, with mind set on killing his rider.
Hiccup tried not to shake, tried to keep the tremor out of his voice, tried to hold his ground. But he didn't succeed in either. Edging backwards, and trembling a little, as he pleaded with the black dragon, trying to reach his old friend.
"Toothless? Toothless, come on, snap out of it! This isn't funny, bud..." He was now witlessly scared, not one of his words had any impact whatsoever.
The stalking continued. The jaws hung open, snarling viscously, baring a full set of sharp interlocking teeth.
"Toothless!" He yelled, tripping over a stone behind him, breath quickening. Oh gods- no, no. He was actually going to do it! He was going to die here, and it was his best friend that was going to kill him.
He shuffled backwards, as he heard a dreadfully familiar, shrill whistling noise. He'd heard it many times before, but he'd never expected to be on the recieving end of one of his Night Fury's plasma blasts.
A blur of motion in the air caught his attention. A pure white dragon.
Jack!
The Sky Dragon shuddered, as he struggled to hold back the Alpha's mind. But he was failing more and more rapidly with every beat of his wings.
His vision swung out of focus. He tried to get it clear again, but a second after success, the world faded again. He was headed in the right direction, that he could just about tell.
He kept on beating his wings, a race against time, and a fight against the Alpha. He had to win both.
Suddenly, the call of "come to me" changed. The Alpha was cunning. He knew that his master wanted to kill the little human, and that Jack was headed the same way.
"KILL HIM." The voice urged.
No... Jack thought. He couldn't... The truly terrifying thing was, he didn't know if he could stop himself. He didn't know if he could resist that horrible command.
He attempted to assert his control over his thoughts, only succeeding in remembering why he didn't want to kill him.
He was his friend. He was going to 'KILL'- no, he was going to save him! Save him! He had to protect him. Protect Hiccup, protect Hiccup 'KILL' No- Protect Hiccup!
The Viking saw the white dragon's slit pupiled eyes, and the world seemed to halt, and crumble around him. No... Not Jack... No. Anyone but Jack.
He had been hoping against hope that the Sky Dragon had escaped. But the Alpha had got him, too... and he was headed for him... His heart stopped.
No... He was trying to kill him, too.
Having Toothless try to kill him was one thing, but Jack... he was his soulmate- they shared each others minds! They'd saved each others lives so many times- Jack especially saving him. He had always valued Hiccup's life before his own. He'd saved him from his death so many times, and now he was actually about to send him to it- no, wait!
His slit eyes shivered, dilating for a moment. He was fighting it! So why was he still coming over here?... Oh no...
He finally put two and two together. Whenever he was in danger, who always lay himself down to protect him: Jack.
The pupils narrowed again.
Hiccup didn't know what was happening- was he coming to kill him, or save him?! He couldn't quite decide which idea was more terrible.
That he was about to die because of Jack, or that Jack was about to die to protect him.
Jack managed to get another glimpse of the scene, again- the effort involved almost fracturing his mind- and saw the blue fire rising up from the depths of the Night Fury's mouth.
He couldn't stand to see his dragon friend corrupted like that. Over the years, he'd become almost as close to that dragon, as he had his rider. It pained him to see him like that. he couldn't let him suffer too.
It was then he made the impossible descicion to save Toothless too.
He didnt even know if he could stop himself killing Hiccup, and yet hed decided to save both of them. He had to. He'd do whatever it took.
Jack's life meant nothing now. All that mattered to him, was those two. No matter how impossible everything screamed at him it was, he would save them. Both of them.
Hiccup saw the blue fire starting to appear in his dragon's throat, and desperately reached out to Sky Dragon.
"Jack!" He called out, with both body and mind. There was no response from the dragon, no indication he'd heard him. Hiccup hadn't even felt a flicker of his friend in his mind. All he could sense was the dark, oppressive control of the Alpha.
Hiccup started shaking, uncontrollably. Jack was going to kill him- if Toothless didn't first.
Have to save him. Have protect both of them. Protect Hiccup. It became harder and harder to hold onto his thoughts. He repeated them as best he could, but they started to fade from his mind.
He felt himself slipping under the Alpha's control.
NO! Something snapped within him. Something which refused to be denied. A strength he didn't even know he had suffused him, and it refused to to away.
Perhaps he had fallen under the Alpha's command, but that one part of him remained. One single thought.
I have to protect Hiccup.
He backed into a ledge of ice behind him. He couldn't escape any further, he was cornered! At the mercy of the dragons! He was practically dead already!
He'd all but had a heart attack several times over, and it was now rattling about in his chest, going so fast it was like the drumming of a Gronkle's wings. But, wait.. was Jack... glowing...?
The Sky Dragon got ever closer. Have to save him. Have to protect Hiccup. Protect Hiccup.
He was about to head straight towards the path of the flames. The shrill rising of sound reached its peak.
The glow around the Sky Dragon grew stronger.
Hiccup's breath froze in his chest, as he saw Jack's intention.
"JACK!" He yelled.
Protect Hiccup.
KILL HIM.
The blue fire rose ino the dragon's mouth.
ProtectHiccupProtectHiccupProtectHiccup.
"NOOOOOOOOO!"
A flash of white obscured everything, and for a while Hiccup knew no more.
When he came to, he found himself sprawled on the ground. A thick white fog all around him. He struggled to see through it. His heart was still raced, and breathing heavy, so he couldn't have been out long. He was shaking from the shock of the horrifying experience, and felt strangely weak... Jack...
As the fog dropped a little, he saw a white dragon laying on the ground. A boy lay beside him, dressed in black. The dragon was still...
Then it stirred, and shifted itself. It's eyes opened. The pupils were permanent slits, not a hint of resistance in them. Mindlessly, it lifted its head, and went to join the other dragons, surrounding the Alpha's head like a living crown. Jack? What was he doing?
"Jack?" He called out. His voice had no effect on the white dragon, and it continued on its zombie course for the Alpha.
Suddenly, a net appeared from nowhere, capturing the great dragon, and dragging him down. The dragon called out, but it was all wrong- it was startled, not scared... and the way it struggled on the floor... Like it was just an minor inconvenience, stopping him from going where he wanted to go. His wings still flopped, uselessly, in an attempt to reach its goal.
Jack would never do any of that. He was terrified of nets. He'd be struggled, and tearing, at the net, by now, roaring furiously in rage, and terror, as he tried to get himself released... If it was him, at least. Hiccup began to realise that that wasn't his friend anymore.
There was not the slightest sense of him from their bond- like he wasn't even there.
Hiccup saw who had pulled him down. Drago. The reason for all this needless misery. Worse than that, the dragon skin wearer released him, taking a place on his back.
That, more than anything, rocked Hiccup to his core.
Jack was a free dragon. He'd never allowed anyone- not even him- to ride on his back... and he'd never even thought to ride on the Sky Dragon's back, it just wasn't meant to be. He wasn't meant to be ridden. He was meant to be unburdened.
But, there he was. Succumbing to the indignity of a rider, without even a struggle.
Suddenly, Hiccup was furious. How dare he! How dare he sit on a Sky Dragon's shoulders! How dare he take over a free creature of the sky, and make it a puppet for his own will! How could he do that to him?!
"Hey!" Hiccup yelled, stumbling to his feet, and running forwards.
"HEY!" The Sky Dragon took off.
Hiccup didn't even stand a chance of getting anywhere near it.
He wasn't flying as fast as should be, the mindless, Alpha obeying puppet not caring for speed, only for obeying its master. It was all so wrong. Hccup shouted again. "JAAAACK!" His voice grew hoarse with the call. No response came back.
He watched, as they all faded into the ocean fog. The new Alpha... the dragons of the sanctuary... and his best friend.
He just stood there, disbelieving. Unable to take in the crushing loss. How could he have failed so completely, and utterly, miserably?!
A gentle hand on his shoulder, made him turn around. It was his mother. Still here, in spite of everything. He was grateful of that. He felt his anger calming- now was not the time to get frustrated. But, then he realised, she wasn't looking at him- she was looking at the oddly dressed, black haired boy.
He was lying on the ground, just beside where the Sky Dragon had been. Who was he? Hiccup had never seen him before.
He went over to him, and crouched down beside him. He was just coming to.
He stirred, and made a growling noise in the back of his throat.
"...protect Hiccup..." He muttered, in a daze, before his eyes, slowly, blinked open. His irises were a startling cat green, and strangely familiar.
Hiccup was about to ask who he was, when their eyes met... and Hiccup realised... he'd seen those eyes before. He knew who this was, no matter how impossible it may seem.
He'd seen those eyes look back at him evey day for the last five years. Emerald green, curious yet intelligent, playful and caring.
The boy... was Toothless.