Soooo no hard feelings on the cliffhanger right? Ok thx for the reviews you've given this story so as a gift, here's a new chapter made just for you all awesome readers so enjoy and try not to have panic attacks (yes I'm talking about you Iris Patton)
Without any interruption, here we go...
"What?" Stoick took a step back, his body tensed at the statement Heather made while Gobber and Spitelout just looked too stunned to even back him up. "I have no idea what you're talking about!"
"Don't lie Stoick, we've went to the ancient library, we spoke to the keeper, we saw the names on those books, we heard the truth!" Heather accused, knowing that the chief was trying to act stupid to get out of the subject. Unfortunately that plan won't work on her. "Hiccup isn't your real son by blood, your real son died just moments after his birth in Berserker island. You know for a fact that what I'm saying is the absolute truth! Hiccup's my twin brother, and he's also Dagur's brother."
Stoick's eyes widen before he turned away as his large hands held the table, giving it such a tight grip that the wood began to break! "You have some nerve addressing me in that tone...And then going around claiming that my son is your brother! HICCUP'S NOT YOUR BROTHER NOR IS HE A BERSERKER! HE'S THE HEIR OF BERK AND HE'S ALSO MY SON!"
"STOP DENYING THE TRUTH STOICK!" Heather raised her voice, slamming her fist against the wall, shocking herself, the teens, and the two adults other than Stoick in the Great Hall; no one has dared raised their voice in front of Stoick the Vast unless they were Hiccup, Valka, or someone who has a death wish. "Stop your acting, we know everything, we're not born yesterday and we have enough proof to prove it. You think that your lies, secrets, and acting can last forever, well news flash chief they won't because eventually they'll spark up like wild fire and go crazy. How long did you actually think you could hide this all from Hiccup? Dagur has such a big mouth, he was practically the reason why we set off to find that library. You lied to your own son, you only told him a small portion of the truth of the Berserker family. And as much as it pains me to say this but this time, Dagur was right...You did have secrets you've kept hidden from your own family, or should I say adoptive family."
Gobber could see how close Stoick was to grabbing the table and beat her up with it but he couldn't help but agree with the girl. "Stoick, I believe that it's the right thing to tell them the truth, you can't deny and hide this forever."
"I can and I will," Stoick growled, not caring if he's giving more proof that the teen is right. "I kept this from him this long so I do it for as long as it takes. Hiccup is my only son, he can't obtain such knowledge no matter what it takes! He can't find out..Not now not ever...HICCUP CAN NEVER FIND OUT ABOUT THIS!" On cue with his anger, Stoick used his own fists to break the table in half, making everyone step back with fear.
Only Heather took a step forward again, even though she was shaking from such an action, she still dared to approach the chief. "Stoick can you honestly be sure that you'll be able to hide this from Hiccup for a long time? Not all secrets kept can be hidden, eventually they'll be revealed, and start sparking like wild fire, leading to chaos. Do you really think you can gain your son's trust by doing this? What if later in the future Dagur somehow captured Hiccup!? He'll tell him the truth but make it seem exaggerated enough to be believable, he might be able to convince Hiccup to join his forces." She ignored the gasps several of the teens made, to think that Hiccup would want to side with Dagur. "Would you rather have your son's worst enemy tell him the truth, and convince him to unintentionally take the wrong path or tell him now where he has his friends, dragons, family, and the village for support?"
"What makes you think Dagur will capture Hiccup and tell him all that!?"
"Honestly Stoick, Dagur managed to deceive all of us more than once and when he captured me, he swore to tell Hiccup everything. Dagur may be a deranged lunatic but he is very crafty when it comes to getting what he wants," Heather stomped her foot, getting tired of the chief's denial of everything. "For the love of Thor Stoick! If you really love you son then...then...THEN YOU'LL TELL HIM THE TRUTH!"
"That's totally out of the question! There's no guarantee that he'll handle this well!"
"Whoever said that he will handle this well, of course Hiccup will take this hard but it's better for him to know now than it being too late!" Heather held the scroll up once again. "Look it might be hard to tell your son that he's not your real son by blood but... If you don't have the courage to tell him Stoick, then WE'LL TELL HIM!"
"Tell me what?" A voice asked nervously from the door entrance of the Great Hall, causing everyone to freeze with fright. The person who spoke from the entrance was none other than Hiccup himself, with Toothless right behind him! He cautiously approached the awkwardly silent group while trying to ignore the broken table. "What's going on?"
Everyone was still as quiet as door mice, Heather's eyes suddenly saw Stoick making a small smile, getting ready to brush this off with a lie but she was step ahead of the man. "Hiccup, there's something we need to tell you...It's totally unbelievable but its true, and if Stoick can't bring himself the courage he needs to tell you then I'll have to tell you myself."
"What are you talking about, why would my father need the courage to tell me this something? What does he even have to do with this? I don't understand." Hiccup looked at his father, who just sighed and regrettably looked away from his son's confused eyes.
"Hiccup..." Heather began, not sure how to start but she had to start anyway. "You know that gravestone you and Snotlout found yesterday?"
"Yeah but how did you-"
"You were told that the gravestone belonged to Gobber...That's a lie!" Ignoring how taken aback Hiccup was, she continued. "That gravestone doesn't belong to Gobber... It belongs to Stoick the Vast, for his first born and only child who tragically died a few minutes after arriving to the world during a peace treaty with the Berserker tribe."
"That can't be true, aren't I the first born and only child of my father?"
"You're not Hiccup! Eighteen years ago, on the day Berk visited the Berserker tribe for the treaty, the wife of Oswald the Agreeable gave birth to twins, a girl and boy, both had a dragon birthmarks. The girl had the mark of a razorwhip and the boy had the mark of a nightfury. But the same night was when the wife died and when the child of Stoick the Vast passed away! Oswald didn't provide enough medical attention the wife of Stoick the Vast, and not only did he lose a wife but Stoick threatened to declare war to avenge the death of his child! His wife lost the necessities to have another child after that miscarriage, so of course any grieving parent would do so but Oswald was the man of peace so he couldn't allow another war to take place! So to prevent a war from breaking out, he decided that he would have to give up one of his three children."
"Okay but I still don't understand how-"
"Just listen, Oswald's first born son was Dagur, so he had to give up one of his twins as a peace offering. He offered the twin boy to the chief of Berk for three reasons. The child looked closely related to the couple so there wouldn't be an appearance issue, to prevent the war bloodbath to begin, and to prevent the war for the throne of Berserk when the three heirs are grown. So months later he gave up his second son, hiding the birthmark and making everyone swore to secrecy, including Berk, making sure no one in the younger generation find out!" Heather could see the shock growing him Hiccup's face, she knew he was putting the pieces together. "Hiccup, you were that child! Oswald the Agreeable is your real father by blood, and he's mine and Dagur's father."
Her eyes took a glance at Stoick, his fists were getting tight again, as if begging for her to stop but she knew the truth had to be told. "Which means Dagur is your brother, and that I'm your twin sister!"
Hiccup's eyes widen a little, taking a few steps back in shock as he shook his head. "No that can't be...No, i-it's just a Snoggletog prank right?" He then forced a fake chuckle to see if that theory was right. "Yeah that's it, a prank, you really had me panic for a minute there Heather." He looked at his friends for support but they shook their heads to let him know that this wasn't a prank as Astrid stepped towards him while her eyes glistened with tears.
"This isn't a prank Hiccup, we've saw the evidence and heard the truth, now let us prove it to you." She then turned to Heather, nodding for her to come forward with the jar of the gel substance. "The three heirs have dragon birthmarks, Heather has a razorwhip, Dagur has a skrill, and you should have a nightfury right behind your neck." Without another word, Heather then rubbed the substance around the spot behind Hiccup's neck, catching him off guard while his eyes looked towards his father pleading for help with this as the twins grabbed some mirrors to hand to Heather.
After a few seconds of rubbing, Heather and Astrid could see the nightfury birthmark appear bright as day, as the twin sister gabbed the mirrors from the twins to show the doubtful heir. "Look Hiccup, the library, the birthmark, and the gravestone are all the proof you need to believe me when I say that you're my brother, and the son of Oswald the Agreeable." Hiccup looked through the second mirror, looking at the small birthmark that he had no idea that it was hidden from him after all these yeas but he still won't agree that easily.
"But h-how do I know that this isn't a lie, something you guys must have misunderstood...My father would never hide something like this from me...No there has to be some mistake!" Hiccup stepped away from Heather and Astrid, backed up against the wall of the chief and heirs' portraits. "There's no way I can be your twin brother Heather...Look this isn't funny guys, so quit the prank..."
"Hiccup, it's true lad," Gobber spoke up, getting mentally upset that the teen was denying the facts. "I was there when Oswald handed you to Stoick and Valka. Don't ignore the proof that's right in front of ya' or in your case behind your neck."
"IT'S NOT TRUE STOP IT ALREADY!" Hiccup cried out, rapidly shaking his head as his hands grabbed his hair while he noticed that his father just stood there with his back turned, not even saying a thing to help him.
"If you don't believe us then ask the man you once called father!" Heather stated, knowing they could repeat everything to Hiccup for a years and he still wouldn't believe them. "Ask him."
Nodding with the idea, Hiccup cautiously approached his father seeing that the tall man made no move to turn around to face him. "Dad? They're lying right? I'm not really the blood son of Oswald the Agreeable? I-I-I'm your real son r-right? Y-You'd never hide s-something l-like this from me...Right?" Oh gods why am I shaking, this is Stoick the Vast, my real father! Of course, he'll just turn around and laugh then say sorry for scaring me like this with this prank. Yeah that's it! Hiccup placed his hand on his father's shoulder, the man made no reaction to turn around. "Come on, this i-is just a big understanding, right dad?"
Before Hiccup could ask again, Stoick finally turned around, placing both hands on the teen's shoulder while his head looked down, his body was shaking. The once happy chief of Berk was now shaking, not wanting to look at his son straight in the eye but he did it anyway, but instead of a face of laughter that Hiccup was expecting, it was a face red and puffy, tears bursting out with sadness and guilt. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Hiccup..." Stoick kept repeatedly saying sorry as the tears fell, then embracing his son tightly still saying the same words. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry son...I'm so sorry...I'm sorry...I'm sorry...Hiccup I'm so sorry...I'm sorry...I'm sorry Hiccup..Oh Hiccup I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry..."
"Dad?" Hiccup choked, stunned at such a reaction that he wasn't sure what the father was sorry for. "Why...Why are you saying sorry...This isn't true..."
"It's all true Hiccup," Stoick finally confessed, seeing that there was no way out of telling the truth that he knew that he could never hide. "Y-You're not my real son by blood...You given to me and your mother as a peace offering from Oswald the Agreeable, to stop the war I was about to declare! I was so angry with the man for not providing medical attention to my family that night, so he had no other option but to give you up! Then from there, we kept it a secret, only the council and Gothi know about this here, I swore that I'll never tell you that it'll be better that way..."
"So you lied to me...Tricked me for all those years..." Hiccup suddenly pulled away from the embrace, the Great Hall suddenly looked so new, so strange, no longer a place he was accustomed to. "So was everything just a lie? Was my whole life here on Berk a lie!?" Hiccup pointed toward the portrait of him and Stoick that was painted three years ago. "Was that a lie too?!"
"No Hiccup, none of that is lie, nothing in you life was a lie!" Stoick tried to calm his son but the boy kept asking more questions that were too complicated to answer.
"Then why were you afraid to tell me? How long were you planning to keep this from me!? Were you even planning to tell me at all!? Was all those years before I met Toothless, those years of neglect and your disappointment, was that what you really felt about me!? Did it really had to take training a dragon, defeating the Red Death, and losing my leg to get you to really accept me as family!? Am I a replacement to you!? Was I just a peace offering to calm your stupid temper and to replace what you've lost!?" Hiccup could feel more confusion enter his mind when the man didn't answer, when no one else did. The trust was slowly breaking again. "WHAT AM I TO YOU!? WHAT AM I TO BERK!? WAS ANYTHING HERE REAL AT ALL!?" His hand punched the wall, leaving a small dent on it.
The teens looked at Heather pleadingly, mentally screaming for her to do something but she did nothing but watch.
Before Hiccup could rant anymore, Toothless nudged his friend with concern, calming him down a little but he looked at the man who he called father then at everyone else in the hall. "I...I gotta go!"
Without allowing anyone to say a word, Hiccup sprinted out the doors of the Great Hall, his eyes and mind no longer seeing Berk as home as he once saw it for all those years. Instead of snow, rain poured that day, as the raindrops did well to camouflage his rapidly falling tears as he ignored the desperate calls Stoick made from the hall, begging for the boy to come back. All his mind instinctively told him to do was to run as far away from the village as he can, ignoring and pushing through the passing villagers who stopped to ask him what was the matter. In his mind, the villagers suddenly seem like strangers, not the people he grew up with, heck at the Great Hall when he looked at his friends, they look like strangers now!
Toothless, who was right behind him, was the only one who didn't look like a stranger to him, as the two friends continued to run from the village then through the beach, and finally in the forest while the rain poured! Hiccup could hear dragons and their riders call his name out from a distance, making his pick up the speed as he directed Toothless to act as a decoy to give the searchers the wrong direction as he ran to Thor knows where. Not wanting to leave his friend but understanding that Hiccup needed to be alone to think, Toothless took off to a different direction to confuse the dragon riders.
Hiccup just ran past trees, making turns, going down hills until his prosthetic slip from the ice and mud, causing him to fall and roll down the next hill he was about to go down, landing face down on the ground, the rain still falling while he rolled to his side and just laid there, not even bothering to pick himself up. He didn't bother to find out where was he, but all he could do now was curl up in a ball as he cried, sobbing out loud not caring if anyone could hear him. His chest tightened up with pain, as if his heart was getting pierced by swords and needles slowly one by one. Flashes of memories flashed through his mind, memories of him and his father going on the fishing trip, the Snoggletogs they had, how Stoick comforted him at his time of need, how proud the father was of his accomplishments, how they manage to train Thornado, flights around Berk at sun down together, the Hamish the First treasure, the portrait, saying goodbye to Thornado, meeting Skullcrusher, everything that had happiness, laughter, sadness, anger and comfort!
Was everything a lie!? Hiccup thought as his hands wrapped around his aching chest while the tears and rain kept falling. MAKE IT STOP! MAKE THE PAIN GO AWAY! PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!
"Heather you got what you want, now why won't you let us find him!?" Stoick growled, his eyes red from the tears after trying to search for Hiccup in the rain and was about to follow Toothless but they were stopped by Heather and Windshear.
"He needs some time to think things over," Heather simply answered, "This is hard for him and for you too chief. I know you wanted to keep him safe from the pain the truth might have but in a way it's the pain that helps you mature, that'll help Hiccup become a better leader. Believe it or not but now you two can now have the string of trust with each other without having to lie anymore. It may hurt him now but soon he'll see that we told him this for his own good."
For someone younger than Gothi, she was right. However now Stoick could feel a gnawing feeling in his chest, like someone was ripping it out of his chest! It hurts alright, it pained him to see how shocked, and upset Hiccup was, the way the boy looked at him, full of distrust and betrayal.
"Don't worry Stoick, you'll be able to talk to him very soon," Heather reassured the father. "It might take him while to see you as his father again but now all he needs to be alone...But I think it'll be alright if you go find him to talk once this storm is over, after all right now he needs you. And you both need each other to support each other through this." Although Heather seems very calm about everything, deep within herself she had no regret telling Hiccup, that even though it pains her to see her brother like this, it was the right thing to do. I just hope Hiccup has the strength to forgive and that Dagur doesn't show up...
End of this chapter folks so see ya next time ;)