Key:

Normal speech

Thoughts/emphasis

Dragonese

Telepathic communication

Chapter Four: An Audience with Odin

Hiccup gradually grew weary as he glided over the waves so he had limited time before he had resort to swimming again. By now, the sun was almost below the horizon now and he was well beyond Weedsnake territory so he figured it would be safe enough to go back in the water for now. Folding his wings, he made a dive for the water and swam towards Thor's Beach. However, he quickly ducked back below the waves when he spotted someone on the sands next to a familiar black dragon – it was Kyra and Windwalker and from this range, Hiccup could tune in easily to their telepathic communication stream (again it wasn't exactly something he was technically allowed to do as a Halfling but he was never one to pay attention to rules).

"Do you really think he's still out there?" Kyra asked.

"You seemed sure that you heard something earlier, Kyra," Windwalker replied. Hiccup was astonished to hear what the Star Backed Night Fury's real voice was like – it had a crystalline, song-like quality to it that reminded Hiccup a lot of Kyra's voice when she sang. He found himself wondering what Toothless' voice really sounded like. "You do not doubt yourself, do you?"

"I can't be sure if it was him, Windwalker – that's the thing," Kyra sighed. "Everything was so disjointed." Hiccup's heart leapt – Kyra had heard him earlier? He was so tempted to call out to her in his mind now but he restrained himself – she wouldn't believe it was him.

"If you believe he will return then he shall," Windwalker reassured. "I have never had reason to question your belief before and I have no reason to do so now. He is of your blood and is the closest human companion of my mate." So they made it official, Hiccup couldn't help but smile. He ducked further underneath the water when he felt Windwalker's thoughts sharpen.

"What is it?" Kyra asked urgently. Windwalker sniffed.

"I thought I felt something," she replied. "There's no need for concern – probably just a Fireworm nearby or something. We should head out – the food stocks need refilling." Hiccup heard Kyra sigh in frustration before he saw the familiar shadow of a Night Fury taking flight above his head. Confident that things were now safe, he swam up to the beach and stumbled slightly at the feeling of having solid ground beneath his feet. Thankfully, his tail prevented him from overbalancing too much. He crept into a nearby cave out of sight with a clear view of the beach before settling down – at least no one could see him here. Hiccup had often used this same cave when he was small to hide from his father when he feared a scolding. Now, he was hiding from everyone with no clue how to get back to the way he was three years ago. Desperate, Hiccup cast his eyes to the heavens which were gradually darkening and being dotted with stars.

"Mighty Gods of Asgard...hear me out," he prayed. "For three years I have been trapped in this half-dragon form by a curse I don't know how to lift. I can't go home and restart my life like this but if you can...please help me find a way out of this. Help me get back to the way I was." He paused in his prayer before voicing something he would never usually ask for. "Just tell me what to do and I'll do it. Please...help me get home." As expected, nothing happened so Hiccup settled down to sleep, curling up as he'd grown used to doing lately and bringing his tail up to block the moonlight from his eyes before dozing off.

Hiccup awoke when he felt the presence of another human being. Blinking himself awake, he shrunk further into the cave when he spotted the silhouette of another person outlined in the moonlight outside. His dragon vision kicking in, he could see that the silhouette belonged to a young boy – probably no older than thirteen he guessed. Was he from the village? Hiccup couldn't remember there being a kid old enough to be a teenager now living on Berk – all the kids he knew had been, what, five when he last saw them? Astonishingly, the boy seemed aware of Hiccup's presence despite the fact he'd kept silent.

"It's okay – I know you're in there," the boy called. Hiccup gulped. "You don't need to be scared. I know what's happened to you, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III."

"You know me?" Hiccup mumbled, slowly creeping out from his hiding place. The boy's face was lit up in the pale light of the moon. He certainly didn't look like anyone from the village. His hair was as blonde as the sun at the height of summer and his sky blue eyes sparkled like stars. His skin appeared whiter than the finest silk and there was an otherworldly quality about him. Hiccup wondered if this was a dream or apparition – this was proven false when his bare foot came into contact with a conch shell.

"Okay, I disproved the dream theory..." Hiccup muttered, wincing in pain. "Can someone tell me if I'm dead?" It was a stupid question but then again, Hiccup wasn't often one for smart questions in these situations.

"You're not dead, but I must admit you've given it a fair few shots in your time," the boy chuckled. Okay, now Hiccup was confused – how did this boy know so much? "Well, it is my job to know what's going on in the other realms," the boy shrugged with a mischievous grin creeping onto his face. "It's more than some o the others can say...oh, bother. This again..." he muttered.

Hiccup couldn't help but bow with his face almost plastered to the ground – he'd literally just realised that he was in the presence of a god! It had been given away the moment the boy said he watched over the other realms (there were nine in total and the gods of Asgard watched over them all). He just needed to figure out which one it was.

"Oh, stand up straight – skip the formalities already. You never act this way around your sister," the boy groaned

"That's...a little different, Your Godliness," Hiccup stammered. He couldn't be sure which god he was talking to so 'Your Godliness' seemed like the best way to go right now. And it was true – despite Kyra being the human incarnation of the Goddess of Dragons, Hiccup knew her too well to treat her like one. She hated it anyway.

"True," the boy-god admitted. There weren't any fancy flashes of lightning or crackles of thunder surrounding the boy so Hiccup ruled out the possibility of it being Thor. Which was kind of a good thing seeing as Hiccup was still a little wary of lightning after the little stint with the 'lightning-being-somehow-attracted-to-metal-but-no -one-knew-so-they-blamed-it-on-Toothless-and-to-pr ove-his-innocence-Hiccup-accidently-got-himself-hi t-by-lightning-mulitple-times' thing. "Still, you may stand. I face enough of that small talk in Asgard as it is – expect from my sons, which provides a nice breather once in a while, I'll grant you that." Okay, judging by that last sentence, Hiccup assumed that he was in the presence of Odin – the King of the Gods himself.

"It is...Odin, right?" he double checked.

"Smart lad!" Odin chuckled. Hiccup suddenly remembered the myths he was often told when he was a kid – apparently Odin's preferred mortal form was that of a young boy. "I see that's at least one thing that hasn't changed about you – Loki always did admire your wit." Oh, well, Hiccup took that as a compliment. Still, his face turned into a sarcastic frown.

"Yeah, about the change thing, I was wondering if you could help me out a bit," he huffed, extending his wings the best he could, indicating his tail and gesturing to himself. "Because it would be really great if that's the reason you're here."

"Well, were it in my power I would have helped you out of this a long time ago," Odin replied regretfully, his youthful face full of experience and wisdom that an unknowing passer-by would think odd of a thirteen year old. Hiccup couldn't believe what he was hearing and cut across instantly.

"What do you mean by that? You're a god – the King of the Gods!" he protested. "Your powers are supposed to surpass those of any mortal being who originate in Midgard!"

"Indeed they do, but dragons do not!" Odin roared, changing from a mild-mannered teenager to a fully grown man with shoulder length hair and blazing eyes. Hiccup cowered slightly – maybe he took it a step too far. Odin calmed down but remained in his adult form. "I apologise, but what I say is true. The Goddess of Dragons, Lohikäärme, is not of Asgard and dragons are not from your realm of Midgard." So Lohikäärme was the name of the dragons' Goddess, Hiccup thought. 'Kyra' was so much less of a mouthful (easier to pronounce as well). "She comes from a realm we do not know the name of and her power is unparalleled. As such, the dragons that reside in your world have magic beyond our control and, as a result, cast curses to strong to break by normal means – I'm sure you've heard that it is almost impossible to cheat a dragon's curse." Hiccup sighed – oh, he knew, alright.

"So there's nothing that can be done about it?" he asked. "I'm stuck like this forever? And Kyra...she'll never get her powers back?"

"Well, I never said that," Odin pointed out. "I merely said that a dragon's curse can't be broken by normal means, not that there was no way to break it at all." Hiccup's face lit up.

"You mean there is a way?" he asked excitedly. Odin's face broke into a smile.

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, you will be able to cheat this curse if you complete these three tests," he explained. Hiccup listened intently. "First: a test of your identity. You must become used to the ways of a human once again – that means no use of your dragon abilities whatsoever." Hiccup shrugged – that sounded easy enough. "Second: a test of your feelings. Namely, for Astrid." Hiccup's heart sank – that could only be bad news if Astrid was involved. For one, she'd probably beat the Valhalla out of him for vanishing off the face of the earth for three years; two, there was the issue that she most likely wouldn't even recognise him; and three...well, this is Astrid, we're talking about. Who knows what else? "She will need to appreciate you for who you are. I'm afraid that will mean you can't tell her, nor anyone else, anything." Well, that was just great. "Third: a test of your heart. Only a strong act decided by heart alone will completely break the curse and return you to your human form. Another thing you must note is that no mortal can aid you in this."

"Right," Hiccup nodded. "Three tests: identity, feelings and heart..." he paused. "Don't the last two count as the same thing?"

"In the informal sense, maybe," Odin shrugged. "In this case, no. Have you ever heard of the 'heart versus head' dilemma?"

"I think everyone has," Hiccup pointed out.

"Well, that's the context we're using here," Odin explained bluntly. Hiccup grimaced – he guessed it made sense...kind of. "Oh, and one more thing – there will only be one person who can offer you any form of help. I believe she is also in need of yours." Hiccup's emerald eyes lit up again.

"Kyra?" he spluttered. "I can...actually tell her? But you just said that no mortal could help."

"Technically speaking she's not a mortal human being," Odin excused. "You do remember that she is the human incarnation of Lohikäärme, don't you?" Hiccup could swear that Odin was just finding loopholes left, right and centre. Still, it was kind of a good thing as it did mean Hiccup had access to some help.

"Speaking of which, will being able to understand Dragonese count as a 'dragon ability'?" Hiccup asked quickly. "Because Kyra gave that one to me when we were fourteen."

"Okay, you have a fair point on that one," the King of the Gods admitted. Hiccup was already raring to go and darted for the exit of the cave. "Whoa! Hold your dragons there, son!" he chuckled as Hiccup tripped over his tail. "That reminds me..." he noted, whistling. Hiccup snapped his gaze upwards as a flash of blue shone from outside and suddenly he was tackled by a familiar face.

"Toothless!" Hiccup cried with delight as the Night Fury began licking his face. "I cannot say how much I've missed you, bud!"

"Well, it's about time you showed your face!" Toothless' voice sounded in Hiccup's head. Hiccup hadn't known what to expect about Toothless' real voice but it was a shock to hear it sounding so rich, deep and soft - it sounded as if it would resonate with Windwalker's perfectly.

"Uh, try not to use the telepathic communication too much," Hiccup pointed out. "Part of trying to become me again." Toothless nuzzled his rider in understanding and reverted back to normal Dragonese.

"Suppose we'd better get started, huh? Looks like we've got a long way to go," he growled jokingly, indicating Hiccup's wings.

"Tell me about it," Hiccup groaned. "How do you sleep with these things on your back?" he asked as he mounted his dragon for the first time in what seemed like forever.

"You mean you still haven't gotten used to it?"

"You're the one who said to keep a hold of my origins!" Hiccup protested, remembering the final words he'd heard Toothless growl before the green fire of the Darkwing had cursed him into his current form. Odin laughed at the friends' joking around.

"You two count your lucky stars that you have each other!" he chuckled. "And Hiccup – good luck, Stoickson." Hiccup glowed with pride at his other last name – he had never been called it before and such a name would only be used at formal ceremonies so for Odin to call him by it was a huge honour.

"Don't worry, Odin! I won't let you down!" he grinned, gently nudging Toothless' flanks and flying out of the cave into the moonlit skies, hooting with joy – he was back in the air once more, but this time where he belonged.

With his best friend.

AN: Sorry it's been a while...exams taking up a lot of my time.

Lohikäärme is, as far as I know, Finnish for 'dragon' (using Google Translate here so if there is a mistake, please let me know). I was out of ideas for names so this is what I usually do in this situation.

About Odin's appearance - apparently a young boy really was his prefered form to take when he visited Midgard (the human realm) so that's where that came from.

SoturiOC: Your ideas for the original character are really good - I admire your character creation. I don't know if I'll be able to fit Soturi into How to Cheat a Dragon's Curse given that I know where I want the story to go and it's been going through a re-write from the original (not this one), but I'll see what happens.