Everyone was completely stunned with Heather's announcement.
"H-Heather? Don't you know us?" Fishlegs asked.
She frowned. "No, I've never seen you before my life."
Hiccup blinked. "Heather, are you all right?"
Heather looked down at him and immediately recognised him. "Hiccup?"
Toothless looked at him. "Looks like she still knows you."
Astrid looked up at Heather. "Do you recognise the rest of us?"
Heather shook her head. "I've never seen any before in my life."
Hiccup and the others, apart from Fishlegs, who remained with Heather, immediately made their way to Ragnar. They were quite surprised to see that Ragnar was himself again, but there was a strange glow about him.
"Memory loss?" said Ragnar looking intrigued. "It might be short-term amnesia caused by plod force trauma to the head."
"Hold on, since when did you get your body back?" Toothless asked.
"I didn't, I managed to separate my soul from Skull," Ragnar explained. "I only entered his body because I had no time to do anything else, but now I'm able to use my astral projection form to commune with you to make things easier."
"Good, no offence, but I didn't fancy carrying you around for the rest of my life," said Skull.
"How about we get back to the issue with Heather?" Astrid advised.
"It's so strange, Heather had completely forgotten that me and Toothless ever existed, but she still remembers Sir Hiccup," Ruby frowned.
"True, but you didn't recognise Astrid or Fishlegs either," Hiccup reminded.
"Clearly it is more than short-term memory loss," said Toothless.
"Indeed, most likely she has lost a few decades which means she has no knowledge of the Seven Deadly Sins," said Ragnar rubbing his chin.
"That explains how she recognises me," said Hiccup rubbing the back of his head. "She and I met before she became a member of the Seven Deadly Sins briefly about 16 years ago."
"Perhaps I should see her for myself, put things in perspective before she panics," Ragnar advised.
When they made their way back to the barn they found that Heather was completely gone and Fishlegs looked as if he had been plastered against the wall.
"What happened here?" Ruby gasped.
Fishlegs rubbed his head. "She flipped out, I tried to stop her, but she swatted me away. I think she didn't mean to hurt me, I guess she just didn't realise her own strength."
"Where could she have gone?" Astrid pondered.
"What did we miss?" Ruffnut asked as she, her brother and Sven approached them.
"Only that Heather has lost about 16 years of her memory and now she completely disappeared," said Toothless.
"How can you lose a giant?" Tuffnut frowned. "I mean they are pretty big, you could see her for miles."
Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Not for long, you're forgetting they got longer strides than humans do. She could only take 30 paces and she could have travelled about 5 miles."
"She could possibly be heading back to her homeland," Ragnar assumed. "If so we need to try and find her before she runs into the Ten Commandments."
"Then let's move it," said Hiccup as they ran desperately.
They didn't waste any time and immediately entered the Black Dragon and quickly rode away from Xeovell.
"So where exactly did have a live before she joined the Seven Deadly Sins," Ruffnut asked.
"Yeah, I mean where do giants call home?" Tuffnut asked curiously.
"The Giants live in a place they call Megadoza, it's located far to the north in the most mountainous area on the entire continent," Hiccup explained. "Actually it's past gone the other side of the continent."
"That's like 300 miles away," said Fishlegs.
"And at her speed should be able to reach about a day," said Hiccup.
"How fast can this thing go?" Astrid asked.
"Just as fast, but Heather did get a head start," Hiccup reminded.
Heather meanwhile was running as quickly as he could back to her homeland, but there was only one person on her mind.
"Dagur," she said.
16 years ago, Heather had been part of a team assisting humans in combat. There were only about three of them, one being her older brother Dagur, who was a fierce warrior the time. He was also known by his moniker as Dagur the Deranged.
"It's begun," said Dagur folding his arms.
Dagur was a good head taller than Heather and he had fierce red hair, he share the same forest green eyes at her. He also had a tattoo over his left eye and a thick beard and one or two scars.
"Heather… Margarida… let's go," he said.
Dagur made the first move and immediately jumped on top of the enemy troops, who were bunch of barbarians from the North. His weight alone caused a massive cloud of dust and knocked away several squads of enemy troops instantly.
"It's a monster!"
"No, he's from the giant race! Dagur the Deranged!"
Dagur then slammed his fist into the ground and immediately pillars of sharp bursts of erupted during all the barbarians in her path.
Heather managed to grab several in her hand, but merely tossed them into the nearest lake. Margarida on the other hand, didn't raise a finger against the barbarians and many of them charge towards her with their weapons raised.
Heather immediately looked at her in a panic. "Margarida!"
Dagur quickly created a sharp pillar of spikes securing the barbarians before they got anywhere close to her.
"Margarida, are you okay?" Heather asked as she approached her.
Dagur looked annoyed. "Quit fooling around!"
He then heard screams and then saw a massive giant emerging from the ranks of the barbarians.
"Damn, those barbarians hired a giant of their own," said one of the soldiers.
Dagur smiled. "Dumbledoss the Rumbling Mountain, you're the Western warrior chief, right?"
Dumbledoss raised his fists. "I must destroy you."
A few hours later, the battle was a victory for the soldiers and they were cheering loudly.
"We're victorious!"
A lieutenant then immediately approached Margarida with a bag of money. "Hey, little giant girl, here is the reward we promised you."
"Thank you," said Margarida taking the money.
Dagur had won his fight against Dumbledoss, who was now skewered by massive sharp spikes from the ground.
"You died a noble death, Dumbledoss," said Dagur looking at his opponent with respect.
Heather felt that this was a pointless waste of life, all this battle did then was fuel their pride. Unlike the humans giants had no need to gain territorial and it was in a secret that the Giants were in decline over the past thousand years alone.
They soon returned back home, Megadoza, where they were given a hero's welcome.
"Hey, look! Our warrior chief has returned! We heard all about it Dagur how you faced against Dumbledoss from the West and took him down!"
"Yes, he was a valiant warrior," Dagur nodded.
Later that night, Dagur took the two of them in private to discuss the battle as he was exactly pleased with their involvement in the battle.
"Margarida, what happened out there today?" Dagur demanded.
Margarida looked at him nervously. "Uh, well… I just…"
Dagur then turned to Heather. "Saying goes to you Heather, how many did you kill?"
"I grabbed about 10 of them and tossed them into the nearest lake," Heather shrugged.
Dagur narrowed his eyes. "I asked how many you killed. There will come a time when you'll regret not finishing them off when you have the opportunity."
"Killing them on the off chance that they might hurt me is ridiculous," said Heather narrowing her eyes back. "And I still don't get the reason why we have to help the humans to fight each other in the first place?"
Dagur sighed. "The humans do their part by providing us with battles and rewards while the Giants do their by providing the humans with power. It's called coexistence."
"Coexistence?" Heather questioned with doubt. "How can that be true when they would have us killed members of our own kind?"
"We Giants are a proud race of warriors, seeking out battles in warfare is our duty, death through combat is our greatest desire. We find meaning in life through battle, it's our nature, by ending their life, during combat, we give our opponents the greatest courtesy imaginable."
Both Heather and Margarida couldn't see the glory of a pointless battle such as the one they participated in.
The next day, Dagur began their training session to strengthen their bodies through intense physical training.
"For a warrior, winning the battle as the only justice there is. Think of defeat as death, to live on is the greatest humiliation," said Dagur.
Margarida was panting heavily, but she carried on with the training nonetheless. "Heavy Metal!"
Her entire body then immediately became metal, but it looked a bit fragile from the casual observer.
Dagur approached her and patted the top of her head. "There there," he said and then punched her hard in the gut. He punched her so hard that it broke a concentration and she coughed out a bit of blood.
Dagur shook his head and then looked at his sister. "Your turn Heather."
"Heavy Metal!" Heather roared and immediately she hardened her body as hard as metal, but it was far tougher than Margarida's attempt.
Dagur then punched her as hard as he could, Heather was able to withstand it and was only pushed back a few feet away. Dagur actually smiled, but then he continued to deal powerful blow after blow to test Heather's endurance. Heather held her ground as long as she could but eventually it was too much for her and she lost her concentration.
"What's the matter?" Dagur questioned. "Is that all you got?"
"No, not yet," Heather winced clutching her stomach.
Margarida then quickly placed herself between the two of them and shielded Heather. "Please, stop this."
"Margarida," Heather stared.
Dagur lowered his stance and walked off. "We'll be called on to fight again soon, don't slack your training."
"We've had enough!" Margarida cried. "We don't want to train or fight any more! No more battles, you understand?"
Dagur stopped and looked at her. "Then have a child instead, contribute by raising a wall where they can take your place."
Later that evening both Heather and Margarida talked over dinner.
"Heather, you left our homeland once years ago, right?" Margarida asked.
Heather shrugged. "I want to get away from my brother."
"So, did you have fun?"
Heather rubbed the back of my head. "I don't remember it all that well to be honest."
"Listen, I've been thinking of leaving our homeland to…"
Heather immediately rose to her feet and shock. "Really? You're thinking about leaving?"
Margarida panicked and looked at the door, not wanting anyone to overhear their conversation. "Quiet, not so loud."
"Sorry," said Heather as she sat back down. "But are you serious?"
"I hate the very thought of going into battle," she said with tears in her eyes. "The truth is I could never harm nor kill anyone. I would rather die than be forced to fight ever again." She then looked up at Heather. "Hey, Heather?"
"What is it?" Heather asked.
"Do you think she meant that?" Margarida asked placing a hand over her stomach. "If I have a baby will I be excused from any more fighting?"
"Maybe, but you don't have babies to be made tools of war, you do it to immortalise yourself," said Heather calmly.
"Huh?" Margarida blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Human children have the luxury of choosing what they want to be in life, but we Giants just want them to be warriors to bleed on the battlefield. Our constant warfare has severely weakened our race, we may be long-lived compared humans, that means nothing if we kill ourselves."
Dagur meanwhile was talking to the elders of the village and their topic was about Heather.
"I don't understand why you are so committed that girl Dagur?" said the head of the elders. "Your father and mother may have been two of our best warriors and you have certainly proven yourself, but Heather lacks your fighting spirit."
Dagur then removed his glove showing the bruised and bloodied hand. "Look."
The elder was surprised. "What happened to your hand?"
"Heather does have the potential to surpass our past and present warrior chiefs. I will train her to be the most powerful fighter that the Giant Race ever known."
Unbeknownst them Heather had listened to the entire conversation and she didn't like the idea of them planning her future, especially one she didn't agree with.
Heather soon returned to her room which she was sharing with Margarida and immediately shook her in order to wake her.
"Margarida! Margarida, wake up," she said in a hushed whisper.
Margarida awoke and looked up at her. "What is it?"
"I want to leave here too," she said. Margarida was completely surprised by this comment. "I can't stand being in this place any more. So when you leave I'm going with you."
Margarida turned away from her looking ashamed. "I'm sorry, but I… I've changed my mind. I know what I said but I was angry, I wasn't thinking what could happen after."
Heather stared at her. "Wait. You want?"
Margarida clenched the helm of her skirt. "Why would we leave anyway where else would members of the Giant Race fit in? Everyone would be afraid of us, we wouldn't be accepted anywhere we went. That is worse than staying here."
Heather was a bit saddened by her words and very disappointed.
The next morning Heather left the village and began wondering around the countryside.
"What am I going to do?" Heather sighed. "I don't wanna try this on my own."
"Hey! Giant!" a voice yelled. "Stop right there!"
Heather came to a stop and looked down and there she saw a group of soldiers blocking her path.
"If you want to pass, you're going to have to pay up. This road masterfully built by mighty humans and we don't let barbarians like the Giant Race to use it without permission."
Heather narrowed her eyes, these humans might be wearing the uniform of soldiers but acting nothing more than common highwayman. No doubt they shop down anyone who went down the road and clearly they weren't too picky on who to prey upon.
She was about to act when suddenly a small human appeared rather nowhere and took down the leader of these soldiers.
"You guys should be ashamed, a bunch of men dangling up on a girl like this," he said and immediately took down the remaining soldiers within seconds.
"Retreat!" one of them yelled and immediately ran to the hills.
The human then turned and looked up at Heather, it was then that she noticed that he had a prosthetic leg and he was left-handed judging from the position of his sword.
"You all right?" he asked.
Heather was still bit stunned that a human would ask such a thing let alone come to her defence. "You know I could have handled them by myself."
The human shrugged. "Maybe I just wanted to be a gentleman."
"Well, I appreciate it."
"I'm just glad I could help."
Heather just looked at him curiously. "Hey, I'm a giant so why aren't you afraid of me?"
The human just merely chuckled and his eyes turned to a sabertooth wildcat that just appeared out of the bushes.
"How about we discussed that over some lunch," he suggested.
In a matter of moments he was able to slay the sabertooth cat and immediately began to roast its remains. Heather had to admit that he was a skilled cook, but she was still quite surprised that he would even talk to her let alone cook a meal for her.
"Really? So you came here from Berk?" she said surprised.
"Yeah," the human nodded. "You should see the place for yourself."
Heather looked at him sadly. "I would but since I'm part of the Giant Race I would probably scare everyone."
"Maybe, but I can tell you this you will scare any of my friends," said human as he took a massive bite of meat. "Every single one of them is different in their own way, heck some of us aren't even from the same species. Anyway, the name is Hiccup and I'm looking for someone so I'll be around for while. Maybe we'll meet again sometime."
Heather smiled. "I would like."
With that one conversation Heather's frown turned upside down and she was ready to return back to her homeland.
"See you later," she said as she waved Hiccup goodbye. "Oh, and my name is Heather."
"See ya, Heather!" Hiccup yelled as he waved back. "It was nice meeting you."
"You too, it was nice meeting you Hiccup!"
She then smiled broadly as she began making her way back home. "So there are people that who will accept us. There's even a place where we will be welcomed."
Heather soon returned home in order to tell Margarida that they could leave, but when she got there later that night she was greeted with terrible news.
"She's dead," she said horrified.
Dagur was busy forging weapons. "I sent her out to guard the mining town and while she was there some bandits showed up and…"
Heather was completely horrified.
"I know that she was on her own, but losing to bandits?" Dagur scoffed. "Pathetic."
"Now tell me who sent Margarida out there on her own," Heather demanded.
Dagur stopped what he was doing and looked at her. "Naturally as warrior chief I did. Even if she was useless, I'm sure it was satisfying to die fighting."
Heather clenched her fist and then without warning punched Dagur across the face. Dagur then retaliated by striking her back so hard that she fell to the ground.
"Now tomorrow morning we will be joining the Berkian Knights in a large scaled suppression of the barbarians," Dagur informed her.
"She didn't want to die on the battlefield like you do Dagur," Heather spat. "Margarida, she would have rather died then forced to fight with anybody."
"Tell me Heather, do you feel the same?" Dagur questioned.
Tears rolling down Heather's face. "I-I don't feel strong either way. If push comes to shove then yes I'll fight, but it will be to protect someone I care about not for glory, not for the sake of just fighting because doing that is sad and meaningless."
"Absurd," said Dagur dismissively. "Someone you care about? The only reason we live is the chance for power and pride."
Heather turned on him. "You're wrong! 'Power and pride'? Our lives mean more than that."
Dagur marched up towards her. "Ever since you returned after wondering who knows where for 500 years you've been spewing utter nonsense." He then grabbed the helm of his shirt and lifted her towards his face. "Who put these ridiculous ideas in your head? And what is with that stupid outfit? You're dressed like a human or fairy, not a warrior. Don't you ever forget Heather, you are a proud member of the Giant Race not the others… understand!"
He then pushed into the ground looking at her with disdain. "Forget about all those silly dreams."
Later that night Heather made her way to the mountains looked at the night sky.
"Am I that different?" Heather pondered. "Is what I want really that strange? I don't know." She then had a glimpse of a husky looking boy in a cave.
'I'll always be your friend and I will always stand by your side,' said a voice.
Heather then looked at the small patch of flowers. "Where did that memory come from? I only wish my brother could understand that were becoming a dying race. The humans have to be the most dominant race in the entire continent, possibly in the world. Of course that's not surprising considering their short lives at best they can only live for about a century compared to us Giant and Fairies, who can live well over 1000 years."
The next day, against her better judgement, Heather joined up with her brother as they made their way onto the battlefield to join up with the Berkian Knights. The knights had already set up some several ballistas all across the field, Heather had to be impressed with human ingenuity, they create some of the most wonderful things but also the most devastating.
"We're here is requested and ready for work," said Dagur looking down at the captain.
The captain smiled up at them. "Well, well, Dagur the Deranged, we've been waiting for you to arrive. And who is the girl there behind you?"
"This is Heather, my younger sister, and an elite member of our race," said Dagur. "I can vouch for her skills."
Heather was still annoyed with Dagur and refused to comment.
"My, brother and sister together, sounds powerful indeed," said the captain. "And might I say that she is quite the beautiful Warrior as well. My name is Gallant, a Dragon Knight of Berk."
Heather then immediately looked down at him. "You wouldn't by any chance know the name Hiccup, would you?"
"Hiccup?" said the captain scratching his chin. "Oh, of course. You must be referring to that one legged suspicious ruffian. His Majesty just summoned him from somewhere."
Dagur could see that the Berkian Knights were well armed, but there was no sign of the barbarians.
"Nobody is here Sir Gallant, where are the enemy barbarians?" Dagur questioned as he surveyed the battlefield. It was a calm plane so there was no place for the barbarians to hide and there was no trace of a massive army either. "I can't seem to detect their presence."
"Apparently they've made themselves invisible thanks to a shaman, we've been on standby waiting for their arrival," Gallant informed him.
"How very annoying," Dagur grumbled.
Gallant then immediately turned towards the hill with a feared expression on his face as a strange sound appeared in that direction. "Sir Dagur, I hear something over there!"
Dagur didn't waste a second and raised his hand into the direction he was pointing at. Seconds later a large clump of earth erupted from the ground, uprooting a nearby tree in the process.
Heather frowned. "Nobody's over there."
They then heard that strange sound again. "Now I'm hearing a voice from that way," said Gallant pointed towards the plane.
Dagur then immediately ran in that direction and then jump with all his might. He then slammed down on the plane creating a small earthquake, but then the ground gave way and he fell into a sinkhole and boulders rolled down the hillside on top of him.
"Dagur! No!" Heather cried.
The Knights then immediately cheered.
"We did it!"
"He completely fell for it!"
"My plan worked brilliantly thanks to my magical power Hollow Sound," Gallant smiled.
Heather stared down at him. "What do you mean?"
"It may not seem all that impressive, but when used properly even this magic can be effective." He then waved his hand and Heather could hear that same sound appearing in the direction he moved his hand.
"Are you saying you tricked us?" Heather growled furiously.
"Taking barbarians down is one thing, but taking a giant down is a far greater achievement. Especially when that giant is Dagur the Deranged, who tried to attack us, you see." He then turned to his men. "Now men time to kill the Giant's…"
Suddenly the ground erupted behind him as a great column of earth erupted knocking the men aside like they were dominoes. Heather quickly turned and found Dagur standing over hillside, was clear that he was able to escape the trap they had set for him and was now retaliating.
"Dagur," said Heather with relief.
"You grossly underestimated the Giant Race, who controls the Earth," he said and then jumped right beside Heather.
"No, curse you witch," Gallant growled. "Fire! Fire! Fire!"
The men then fired their ballistas directly at them, but Dagur quickly formed a stonewall shielding himself and Heather from the bolts.
"One shot will do! Just make sure you have!" Gallant roared.
Dagur and saw that poison was dripping from the bolts and he recognised it. "These bolts."
A knight then began a mean directly at Heather, who was more exposed than Dagur. He fired a shot which aimed directly at Heather's leg and she was too busy engaged to dodge it.
"Heavy Metal!" she yelled covering her body in metal.
Dagur knew that technique would not work and immediately placed his leg to block the attack and the bolt pierced him.
"I could have handled it myself," she said.
Dagur could feel the poison entering his body and immediately fell to his knees.
"Dagur?" Heather gasped as the stone barrier Dagur had created crumbled.
Gallant laughed holding out one of the bolts. "And down the giant goes. This poison comes from the poisonous Slitherwing, the most deadly poison in the dragon world."
"Poison?" Heather stared in horror.
"The Giant Race may be able to turn their bodies into metal, but all it takes is one scratch from this poison bolt to be fatal. Oh, I'm going to be famous beyond—"
Dagur still had a little strength and caused the ground to rise in front of Gallant sending him flying. However, the poison was becoming too much and soon he fell into Heather's lap, barely able to move.
"Dagur!" Heather cried.
"Stay alive," he said weakly. "Leave Heather."
"Don't even think about it, I won't let you die here and leave me behind."
"This is what war is all about. Now whatever you do, stop being so naïve."
Tears were forming in Heather's eyes. "Even now you're so cruel. How could you say something like that in a time like this?"
The Knights were charging towards them to finish the job while Heather was distracted. Dagur use what strength he could spare to cause the earth around the Knights to rise knocking them aside.
"Long ago, I made a promise to our parents," he said.
Heather looked down at him. "They wanted me to raise you as best as I could and they wanted you to be strong, strong enough to survive on your own. I was brought up as a warrior, the only thing I know how to do is fight, I can really teach you anything but that. And now that you're crying like this, I can't even think the right words to comfort you. It's in your hands now, you'll have to protect yourself, be coldhearted."
"I can't, I can never be like you. That is not who I am."
Gallant had somehow managed to survive Dagur's attack and he wasn't quite through with the two of them just yet.
"Kill them both now!" he yelled.
Dagur used the very last of his strength to cause massive stone pillars to erupt from the ground skewering Gallant and many of his knights.
"Just how naive are you?" she said. "Because if you made the effort, I know you could, you could be more powerful than I am. You'd be the best."
The last of his strength vanished from his body and his hand struck the ground and he laid in Heather's arms unmoving.
"Dagur no," Heather cried. "Please don't die! I can't take this! Please don't leave me!"
Only two knight had managed to survive the battle and it left them to explain the mess before them.
"We should go back and report this."
"What are we going to report?"
"I have an idea," he said looking at Heather who had burst into tears.
In the present day, Hiccup and the others were doing everything they could to catch up with Heather.
"Megadoza lies to the north over 300 miles," Astrid informed them.
"I'm so worried," said Ruby. "I hope Heather is all right."
Hiccup and Ragnar looked at one another, the two of them knew what happened 16 years ago to Heather. There was a good chance that her earliest memory would be that fateful day, the day she lost her older brother.
"We'll bring her back no matter what," Hiccup promised.
"It's our responsibility," Ragnar nodded.
16 years ago, the two knights that survive the battlefield gave a false report to their commanding officers. In the report it suggested that Heather was the one who decimated their battalion as well as killing her older brother.
Heather was in no condition to fight back and soon she was brought to the capital to answer for these false charges.
"Heather of the Giant Race," said an official reading from a scroll. "Out of envy for his power, you poisoned and murdered your older brother, warrior and friend of the kingdom. In order to silence any witnesses you massacred 130 innocent Berkian Knights. These great sins are despicable and horrific, that you are sentenced to be beheaded."
"I'm afraid that sentence has been revoked," said a voice.
Everyone immediately turned and saw both Hiccup and Ragnar standing there.
"Who are you two?" said a knight.
Ragnar had been the one that spoke and he stood there with his arms folded. "I know Royal mage of his Majesty and this is Sir Hiccup and we have a decree from his Majesty."
Ragnar had obviously been the person that spoke and Hiccup then stepped forward with a scroll in his hand. He held it out which bore Topaz's Royal seal.
"By order of his Majesty, the king himself, I Hiccup will take custody of the apprehended giant named Heather," Hiccup announced.
