Chapter Four
It's midday by the time the ship arrives in Berk's port and-as much as she may have wanted them to be-Astrid and Toothless are not the only ones waiting when it shows up. Both of them are nearly bouncing with excitement, eager to know how it went at the meeting.
Toothless roars and hops a few feet into the air, flapping his wings and shooting a purple blast of fire into the sky. He lands and spins in a circle, looking like he's chasing his tail.
Astrid giggles at the sight of him, knowing exactly how he feels. They're both beyond excited to see their friend again, after three long days of anticipation. At this point, she's pretty sure that if she had wings, she'd be flying too.
The ship lowers it sails and ties itself down, dropping anchor. A moment later, Stoick appears on the deck. He waves to his people and tosses the gangway across, easily crossing the little wooden bridge and jumping onto the pier.
The villagers erupt with cheers for their beloved leader having returned safely and, a few seconds later, Hiccup strides out of his room. The teen is now dressed in his usual clothes, other than a glistening pendant hanging around his throat. His left hand hovers above it, turning it over and over absent-mindedly.
The villagers shout, excitedly for him as well. But, without a doubt, the loudest cries come from Toothless's own mouth. He roars, almost frighteningly before flapping clumsily into the sky and bouncing over the heads of the Berkians to reach his little Rider.
"NIGHT FURY!" Someone barks.
"GET DOWN!"
Hiccup looks up, hearing that. His emerald-colored eyes light up at the sight of his dragon. "Toothless!" He laughs, running toward the Night Fury.
Toothless coos and tackles his friend, licking the boy's face and purring like crazy. He sniffs Hiccup's head, shoulders, chest...and pauses when he gets to the talisman over the boy's heart.
Hiccup giggles and sits up, pushing the dragon off of him. "Haha, I missed you too, buddy." He says, reaching out to scratch Toothless's neck the way he likes. But before his fingers can even come close, Toothless hisses and backs away, his eyes narrowing. Hiccup frowns. "What's wrong, Toothless?" He asks, getting up.
At this point, most of the villagers have gone to the Great Hall where Stoick will be announcing their renewed treaties with certain other tribes. Which means it's only Hiccup and Toothless left. Astrid eventually joins them as well, watching Toothless's angry expression with a curious eye.
"What happened?" She asks him.
"I...don't know." Hiccup admits as he pulls himself to his feet. He takes a small step toward Toothless, causing the dragon to tense up and growl. "Buddy? What's the matter?" He wonders, slowly reaching out toward the Night Fury.
Then, the unthinkable happens. Toothless's pupils go narrow in fury and his teeth slide in. Hiccup's hand gets a little too close for comfort...and he snaps. Hiccup manages to jerk his hand mostly out of the way in time but the dragon's razor-sharp teeth still manages to graze his forearm, cutting into the soft flesh like butter.
Astrid gasps as Hiccup cries out in pain and stumbles away, gripping his bleeding arm. He trips over his own, clumsy feet and falls onto the dock, staring at Toothless with wide, shocked eyes.
As the smell of his Rider's blood hits Toothless's nose, he seems to snap out of whatever angry trance he'd been placed in. The dragon's eyes widen in realization and he whimpers, his ears folding back. He just...bit Hiccup!
"Toothless..." Hiccup mumbles, still reeling from shock. A throbbing pain emanates through his arm as a bit of blood wells to the surface and drips onto his pants. He winces and staggers to his feet, unsure of what to think.
Astrid takes his elbow to support him, not that he really needs it. What in Odin's name just happened?! She asks herself, looking back and forth between her best friend and his dragon. Toothless would never hurt Hiccup...right?
Said dragon whimpers, pathetically and lowers his head. Regret shines in his eyes and he coos, sadly. He has no idea what could have made him do that. It's like something pushed him to do it. When he tries to think back to a few moments ago...everything is fuzzy in his memory. And to make it all worse, he can still smell the awful stench of blood on his friend, see it rolling down his arm, dripping off the ends of his fingers, even taste it on his own tongue...and the look of terror in Hiccup's eyes... It's enough to send a stabbing pain through the dragon's heart.
Hiccup blinks a few times, as if he isn't sure all that just happened. He looks down at his arm, just to be sure. But, surely enough, his arm is still bleeding. "Toothless..." He says again. "Are you okay?"
The dragon whines like a kicked dog and takes a little step forward. He winces at the unsure look on Hiccup's face and the way he edges a bit backwards, only to stop himself. Toothless whimpers again and moves closer again, slowly shutting the gap.
Then, obviously sensing the danger has passed, Hiccup kneels down and wraps his good arm around the dragon's neck. "What happened, buddy?" He breathes.
"Hiccup, are you alright?" Astrid wonders, still eyeing Toothless with a nervous look on her face. She knows he'd never hurt anyone, especially not Hiccup...but something definitely happened there. And she's afraid it might happen again.
He nods, releasing his grip on the dragon. "I'm fine, just a scratch." Then, he looks back at Toothless with a knot in his brow. "But...what just happened? It's like that wasn't even Toothless just then."
Astrid shakes her head. "I have no idea. He was so excited a minute ago."
"Well," The Rider's expression softens in relief as his dragon begins to purr and nuzzle his hand. "Whatever it was, it looks like it passed."
Toothless coos at him and leans down to sniff his wounded arm. For the life of him, he can't remember what got him so upset.
"It's alright, bud." Hiccup assures him. "It's not bad."
"Regardless," Astrid mumbles as she steps forward. "You should get that cleaned and bandaged so it doesn't get infected."
He nods and stands up. "Good idea." Then, turning and flashing a little smile at Toothless, he says, "Come on, bud. Let's go home."
"Aragwen the Terrifying?" Astrid snorts at how the name doesn't match her friend's description of the woman he met. "Yeah, she sounds real terrifying. The scariest jewelry vendor in town..."
Hiccup laughs as he turns his locket over again, running his thumb over its rough surface. "She wasn't a jewelry vendor."
"Oh?" The blonde girl leans back where she's sitting on Hiccup's bed. "And who, exactly, was she?"
Hiccup smirks, scrambling to remember the name of her village. For a moment, he thinks he's forgotten. But then, the word floats through his mind as if whispered by an unknown voice. "She's the chief Farfalee." He tells her, musing about how he remembered such an off-the-wall name. "It's some little village on the mainlands."
Astrid nods. "Then that explains why we've never heard of her before."
"Heard of who?"
Both teens turn to find Stoick poking his head through the door to Hiccup's room. The chief smiles at them, a little sheepishly. "Ahem, sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt."
Hiccup snickers and shakes his head "Aragwen the Terrifying." He responds, rolling his eyes at the absurd title. "I met her at the meeting yesterday." He says as he motions to the dragon-eye locket. "She gave me this."
"Ah..." Stoick nods in understanding. "I've met her before. Odd lady, she is. Although she's kind enough to make up for it."
"Odd?" Astrid asks. "Odd how?"
Hiccup leans forward, intrigued.
But Stoick merely shrugs. "It's nothing concrete." He assures them. "There are just some rumors floating around about the people of Farfalee...and their chief as well."
"Oh?" Hiccup finds himself frowning a little. Why does it bother him to hear that people of gossiping about her...? "Like what?"
Stoick chuckles, awkwardly. "Well, I don't personally believe in all this sort of...superstition...but many folks believe that the people of Farfalee are...practicing some sort of...dark magic."
Astrid blinks. "Magic? You mean...like witchcraft?"
Stoick nods. "It's been a rumor going around for a while now. Many people think that she's a witch, herself. That's where she got the name Terrifying."
Hiccup bites his lip to keep from speaking out against this crazy talk. Anger boils in his stomach but he doesn't know why. It shouldn't annoy him this much! It's only rumors and his father plainly said he doesn't believe them.
But still...
"Witchcraft?" Hiccup mumbles, rolling his eyes. "There's no such thing."
"I don't know Hiccup..." Astrid suddenly says.
When he looks at her, he finds her eyes gazing at the pendant around his neck. With a scowl, he lifts his hand and closes it around the locket. She's not insinuating what he thinks she insinuating, is she?
"Remember how Toothless flipped out on the docks this morning...? I'm not saying it was...magic. But he'd definitely never do that under normal circumstances..."
Hiccup frowns, looking down at his arm which has been wrapped in stark white bandages. It still stings a little when he moves it. She's right... He realizes. Toothless would never attack me... "But witchcraft?" He sighs. "You really think Aragwen is a witch?"
Astrid shrugs. "I didn't say that...it's just...maybe you should get rid of that locket. It might not be magic but whatever is in inside of it definitely did something to Toothless...it might not be safe to keep it around."
The locket...? He drops his gaze to the object around his throat. It glistens in the sunlight that filters through the window, looking ever-so innocent. His hand is drawn to it again, like a magnet. Maybe she's right...maybe I should-
"No." He answers, suddenly. Hiccup blinks in shock. Why did he just say that? "That's ridiculous. There's nothing wrong with this pendant." And again! It's like his voice has a mind of its own...
"Hiccup-" Astrid begins, only to stop when he suddenly stands up.
"I'll see you later. I'm going for a walk." And he storms out of the room, propelled by legs that won't listen to him and a mouth that won't let him speak. His heart thunders quickly in his chest as a small voice whispers in his mind...
Don't fight, Hiccup...just let yourself go.
A/N: Woop! Woop! Happy New Years! (I stayed up until midnight so I figured I'd update as a gift!) YAY!