Chapter 2 - The Past
(Hiccup's POV)
I stood there, mentally away from the action around me.
"Did I just go back in time?" I asked myself, snapping out of my train of thought.
I looked around and saw a Night Fury accurately destroying the catapults on the outskirts of the village. I knew that it was Toothless, because he was the only Night Fury in these raids, and he was in the exact same place he was all those months ago. That, and I saw him destroy the catapult he destroyed right before I shot him down all those months ago. . .
But, this time. I didn't hit him. I didn't even shoot it at him. I just stepped of my bola-launching catapult, and followed Toothless with my eyes. Because since I have this impossible chance to re-write history, I want to meet Toothless on different terms. And as I thought about that, he flew off to attack a tower just East of here, and it looked like he was effortlessly gliding through the air.
While I was focused on him, I heard something come over the cliff-side, crushing my bola catapult in the process. I had an instinct, actually, a demand in my body that told me to get the heck out of there. I obeyed, and started to run, feeling searing fire land just behind me, and I knew that I was being chased by that Nightmare.
I ran past some houses until I got to the village square, where I ran towards the pole I ran towards back then. But instead of hiding behind it, I just used it to change the direction of my running. I jumped, used my right hand to hook into it, and slung around 90 degrees, running towards the catapult that my dad was on before Toothless blew it up.
My dad obviously noticed me being chased, because I heard commotion behind me, and turned to see my dad fighting the Nightmare.
The two were in a fierce fight. Fire, fists, and claws. . .this fight had it all.
And of course, my dad won, and the Nightmare flew off defeated.
Dad rolled his shoulders triumphantly, and walked over to me saying,
"HICCUP! What are you doing here? I told you to stay in the Forge! Now go!"
He picked me up by the collar, and threw me in the general direction of the Forge as he ran towards a Gronkle.
I glanced at him, and obeyed. I walked back to the Forge, and decided to just stay there until the raid was over.
It was an hour later, and by now, all the dragons flew off except for. . .
"Night Fury! Get Down!" A male viking hollered.
I heard an explosion, and saw the last standing catapult fall. I couldn't help but smirk at that. I don't know why I smirked, but I thought that that was kind of funny. I focused on my desk and noticed my dad walking towards the Forge in my peripheral vision.
He walked in, and noticed me sitting there, saying,
"Hiccup. What where you thinking? You could've been killed! Or you could of had someone else killed!"
I just looked up at him with an innocent face.
"Well dad, I'm sorry. I just wanted to help." I said, as I was trying to make my dad appreciative or proud.
"Well. I know, but just don't do that. I already lost Val (Hiccup's mom), and I don't want to lose you."
I smiled up at him and said,
"Don't worry dad. I'm not going anywhere."
He looked at me, and patted me on the back while saying,
"Glad to hear it son."
We both smiled at each other when another viking ran in.
"Stoick! We need some help with these Nadders!"
Stoick looked at me once again, and turned towards the viking that addressed him.
"Alright! I'm coming!"
He ran out, and I sighed, slumping down in one of the baskets, almost getting stuck in it.
It was about another hour or so when it was safe enough for me to go back to my house. I got up, and started to walk back to the house when I was stopped by Gobber.
"Hiccup me lad! Where are ya' going? I got something to tell ya'!"
I shrugged, and walked over to Gobber with curiosity.
"Yeah. What is it Gobber?"
"Well, Stoick and I talked about this, but he wants to grant your wish. Ya' start Dragon Training tomorrow!" he said with a smile on his face.
I looked up at him, and looked at the ground, trying to make an obvious impression that I didn't want to do that.
"Hiccup me lad. What's wrong wit' you? I thought you'd be excited."
I looked up at him and said,
"Well, normally I would be, but I don't want to fight dragons. I just. . .don't. But I won't mind being your apprentice. Because I could give you a helping hand with the Forge, and the Dragon Training ring."
Gobber pondered this, and walked off mumbling to himself.
I shook my head, and walked towards my house, pondering this whole 'Time Travel' thing. It didn't take me but 5 minutes to get there, but I didn't want to go inside. Instead, I wanted to go into the forest.
I sighed, trying to figure out what I wanted to do, and eventually went with going into the forest.
I walked around my house, and stood at the entrance of the forest, wondering how I was going to meet Toothless now. But, before I walked in, a hand grabbed me from behind.
"Hiccup! Where are you going?" The voice asked.
I immediately recognized the voice, and replied,
"Dad! I was just going for a walk in the forest to clear my mind."
He looked at me and said,
"Oh no you're not. We've got something to talk about."
He then basically dragged me into the house, and sat me down on one side of the fire pit as he sat down on the other. There was a period of silence before he finally spoke,
"Hiccup. Gobber told me you don't want to fight dragons. . . He also told me that you want to be his apprentice. Why?"
I looked at him and replied,
"Well dad, I don't want to fight dragons, because I'm just going to get in everyone's way, and get myself or someone else killed. And I don't want to die, or have someone else's blood on my hands, so I don't want to fight dragons. But I do want to work in the Forge, and help Gobber with anything there. Because, I will be able to help him make more weapons, materials, and supplies for everyone, so no one will be in short supply. And I also want to help him with the Dragon Training ring, because that will take a load off of his back, so. . . yeah. That's my explanation."
Dad and I sat there for a while, staring into the fire as if it were giving us ideas or answers. I stared into the fire, and wondered how I am going to befriend Toothless, let alone meet him. So, I sat there deep in thought, and didn't utter a single word until dad spoke,
"Well. Then, I guess that you can help Gobber." he said contently.
I looked up, and smiled at him, replying,
"Thanks dad. I just think that this is what I was born for."
He smiled, and waved me away. But before I was out the front door, he told me strictly,
"Do not go in those woods today, Hiccup. I don't want you running into a dragon."
I smiled at him and said,
"Don't worry dad, I won't."
I closed the door, and headed off to Gobber's Forge to see if he needed any help. On the way there, I was thinking about how I can change things since I'm in the past. I mean, I have all my future knowledge, and I can change the future by just making one little thing different. But the future is already changed, since I didn't shoot Toothless down.
When I was done thinking to myself, I found myself right in front of the Forge. I had obviously mentally dosed off, but I slapped myself out of it, and walked into the Forge.
"Gobber? You in here?" I asked.
"Hiccup me lad! Right on time!" Gobber called out.
He walked out and faced me.
"I suppose you talked to Stoick right?" he asked.
I shook my head in conformation, and he asked,
"And I suppose your my official apprentice?"
I shook my head in conformation again.
"Well, alright then! I need you to have these three axes done by Midnight."
He handed me some blueprints of the axes, and I studied them.
"Alright Gobber. I'll have them done by eleven." I said confidently.
"Well, the sooner the better me boy." he replied.
I chuckled and got to work. I forged the metal, and started to mold the axe head. It took me about half an hour, but I finished the axe head, and moved on to the grip, handle, and 'glue' that holds everything together. I finished the first axe by 5:00, and the other two followed.
I had all three axes done by 10:30 (we have a special way of telling time. Too complicated, so don't ask), and Gobber was suprised.
"Hiccup me boy. I couldn't even see what you where doing because your hands were moving so fast!" he said sarcastically.
I chuckled and looked at the three axes I spent the rest of my day working on.
The first axe I made was a golden one, that had a metal rod for the handle, and at the edge, I wrapped linen cloth around it, making a grip.
The second was silver, and had a regular cloth grip and handle.
And the third was a regular old axe. It had it's weaknesses and strengths.
I yawned, and told Gobber,
"Hey Gobber, I'm off to bed."
"Alright me lad! Make sure you're at the ring by 10:00 the next morning! I need you to help me with Dragon Training!" He shouted.
"Alright! I'll be here!" I shouted back.
I walked back to my house, and walked in. I noticed that my dad was already in bed, because the fire pit was still smoldering faintly, and he wasn't sitting next to it. I shut the door quietly, and walked upstairs to my room, trying to avoid squeaky boards. And once I was in my room, I collapsed into a tired heap on my bed.
And once I hit my bed, I literally fell asleep immediately.
The Next Day. . .
I woke up, and noticed that I didn't change into my sleeping clothes last night, but I didn't care.
"One less thing to do." I thought.
I walked downstairs, and out my house to tell what time it was. I noticed that it was 9:58 A.M., and remembered that Gobber wanted me at the Dragon Training ring at 10:00 to help him out.
"Crap! Don't want to be late!" I said to myself.
I ran towards that ring with all I had, struggling to not be late. And, luckily, I made it on time.
Gobber was standing there waiting for me, with a smile on his face once I arrived.
"Hiccup me lad! For a second there, I thought you wouldn't show up on time."
I smiled weakly as I was trying to catch my breath.
"Alright me boy. I need you to stand by the Gronkle cage, and pull the lever when I say. Then after you do that, meet up with me, because I have something else for you to do."
I caught my breath and replied,
"Alright Gobber."
He waved me off towards the Gronkle cage, and I walked towards it, hearing the viking teens approaching the ring.
I got to the Gronkle cage, and stood there, awaiting Gobber's 'Go-ahead'. And as I stood next to the lever, I saw the teens walk into the ring.
"I hope I get some serious burns." Tuffnut stated.
"I hope I get mauled on my shoulder, or lower back." Ruffnut added.
And Astrid replied with,
"Yeah. It's only fun if you get a scar out of it."
Then, Snotlout noticed me, and said,
"Who let that in here?"
I rolled my eyes while Gobber slapped him on the back of the head.
"Shut your trap Snotlout! I'm not in the mood for your shenanigans!"
The teens lined up, side-by-side in the middle of the ring, and focused on Gobber.
"Alright, listen up! Behind these doors are a few of the many species of dragons you will learn to fight!"
He walked towards the Nadder cage, and began walked past the others.
"The Deadly Nadder."
I heard Fishlegs mumble something, but I couldn't make out what he said.
Ignoring Fishlegs, Gobber continued,
"The Hideous Zippleback."
"The Monstrous Nightmare."
"The Terrible Terror."
"Will you stop that?" Gobber asked irritably.
He was yelling at Fishlegs, who grew quiet once he said that.
Gobber rolled his eyes, and pointed at me, saying,
"And the Gronkle."
"What! Wait! Wait! Woah! Aren't you going to teach us first?" Snotlout asked nervously.
"I believe in learning on the job." Gobber replied, giving me the go-ahead.
I pulled the lever, which took all of my strength, and the Gronkle burst out.
The teens let out a startled cry, and they all ran in different directions.
My focus was broken when Gobber waved me over to him.
I ran over to him trying not to get in the way of the dragons or vikings.
And once I got to him, he smiled and handed me a basket full of soft, clay-like rocks.
"I want you to throw these at them."
I gave him a shocked look while replying,
"But they'll kill me!"
He smiled and said reassuringly,
"They'll have to get through me first."
I smiled at him, and opened the large basket of clay-like rocks, and took them out one-by-one.
Once I had about 10, I began to throw them at the teens.
Ironically, the first one hit Snotlout right in the back of the head, and he turned to see who threw it, and saw me holding the other clay-rock. He started walking towards me with sheer anger on his face, but stopped when Gobber gave him a dissaproving look. Gobber then called out to the rest of the teens saying,
"In battle, you will have many distractions. Fire, Water, debris, other vikings running around screaming, and other things. You must know how to concentrate on your opponent."
Snotlout gave me a disgusted look, and turned to continue to fight the Gronkle.
I threw the other clay-rocks at everyone else, and they seemed to ignore it, until I hit Astrid on the face accidentally right when she was about to strike the Gronkle. It threw her off balance, and the Gronkle knocked her over by bashing her shield with its tail.
She got up, and looked at me with a furious look. I thought that she was going to run over here and try to rip my head off. . .But she turned and focused on the Gronkle that was eliminating Ruffnut & Tuffnut, since they were fighting over a shield because it had a flaming skull on it.
I ran out of clay-rocks, so I watched the rest of the fight. . .
Gobber decided to test the vikings by asking them,
"How many shots does a Gronkle have?"
"Five?" Snotlout asked as the Gronkle flew past him.
Fishlegs turned and said excitedly,
"No! No! Six!"
"Very good Fishlegs. . " Gobber said in congratulations to his answer.
And right after Gobber said that, the Gronkle blasted the shield out of the distracted Fishleg's hand, smashing it into bits on the ring wall. Fishlegs dropped his hammer, and ran away screaming.
"Typical." Gobber said sarcastically.
I chuckled at Gobber's sarcasm, when I noticed Snotlout trying to woo Astrid, and I rolled my eyes.
"I moved into my parents basement. You want to come by and work out sometime?"
Astrid ignored Snotlout, and rolled away from him as he was eliminated by the Gronkle.
Now it was just Astrid and the Gronkle.
The Gronkle shot a fireball at Astrid, who easily dodged it, and summersaulted behind the Gronkle, and struck it in the side, making it furious.
It shot its last fireball at Astrid, which knocked her axe out of her hand. I was amazed that she wasn't exploding right now. Because Astrid's #1 rule: NEVER TOUCH HER AXE.
But yet, she stood there calm and content, waiting for the Gronkle to make its move.
The Gronkle charged Astrid, and she easily side-stepped it, bashing her shield into the side of its head.
And at the instant, the Gronkle was out like a light.
Astrid stood on top of the defeated Gronkle while everyone cheered her, except for me. I was wondering if the Gronkle was alright, and I was relieved when I saw it breathing.
"Good job Astrid! Couldn't of done it better myself!" Gobber said, smiling.
Gobber called the teens to him and asked,
"Alright, the rest of you can go home except for Snotlout."
"Wait! What? Why can't I go home?"
"Because! You can't seem to respect Hiccup or anyone else. Including yourself."
Snotlout clinched his fists as Gobber waved everyone, including myself away.
And, while I was walking away I heard Gobber telling Snotlout what to do.
"I want you to carry that overgrown sausage back into his cage, Alright? And you're not going anywhere until you're done. Got it?"
Snotlout grunted, and stormed off towards the Gronkle.
I chuckled quietly to myself as I walked home, a couple of paces behind the others. No one seemed to notice me, so that made me feel comfortable, because I didn't want any attention right now. .
When I got back to my house, I decided to walk through the forest to try and see if Toothless was anywhere, because I still had a couple of hours of daylight, but the chances were extremely slim. Because 1, He can fly, so he could be anywhere. 2, There's got to be at least 100 different Night Furies around the world, so I probably won't meet him. And 3, there is like 20 miles of forest in Berk in every direction, so these three problems make this extremely unlikely.
I still didn't care, I just wanted to try. So, I walked into my house, and made sure I had no weapons whatsoever on me. Then, I took the 3 foot Cod off the rack, because I know that Toothless loves Cod.
And with all these checked and done, I walked out of my back door, not aware that even against the odds, I would meet him. . .
"Alright! Chapter 2 is DONE! Hiccup leaves to go meet Toothless, but since Toothless wasn't shot down by Hiccup, what will ensue? Find out next chapter!" :D