"Hiccup?"
Hiccup was startles when this raspy voice called out, almost asked, his name. It sounded strange and foreign, yet somehow familiar. He pushed himself off the wall, looking at the masked person with curiosity. He looked at the person in front of him as he calmly removed the mask.
The mask was more an entire helmet, covering the back of the head, as well as the neck. Hiccup was surprised to discover that underneath it was a woman, she was tall, that was something he had already seen, and the armour seemed too big for her. She had brown hair and green eyes. She was definitely older than him, but she was probably younger than his father.
"Could it be? After all these years." The woman asked herself, standing straight, now around his height. She kept looking at him, then her eyes would defocus, like she was gathering some sort of memory. She'd look away for a bit, before looking back at him. "How is this possible?"
"Erm, should I," Hiccup began carefully, he really wanted Toothless to wake up, he didn't feel comfortable. She had him thinking of Gothi, who was an amazingly kind and nice woman, unless you got to her bad side. He felt like that right now, like this was some kind of calm and lovely lady, who he didn't want to anger. He furrowed his brow, she did look familiar. "Should I know you?"
The women looked shocked, even hurt, she looked away quickly, before slowly looking back, an explanation ready. "No, you were only a babe." She began, her voice feeling soft and calm, while it was actually nervous and a bit rash. She looked away, her head hanging low in what could only be seen as shame. She looked at him again, eyes pleading some unknown plead, she breathed heavily, and sighed. "But a mother never forgets."
Hiccup's eyes went wide, his mouth trying to make sounds or say things, but his mind not registering anything. His head had been open and clear just a second ago, like the blue sky on a summer day, he had been alert and vigilant for anything that could happen, but now it was slowly getting clouded, clouding completely as he was trying to comprehend the information.
Realization came as the sting of a bee while dreaming, and he took a sharp breath. Valka was scared he'd alert all the dragons of some major problem, so she quickly motioned him to be silent.
"Shhh," She said softly, thinking about how she was going to explain everything. "Come."
Hiccup was amazed at how quick she was, she was standing before him just a moment ago, but she had quickly and swiftly made her way through the entire cave and to the other side. It was astonishing. She stood in the opening of a smaller cave, large enough for a human and a few dragons, but not all species.
"Wait!" Hiccup yelled as he ran after here.
She lured him further through the cave with short words or sentenced. "Come." She would say, excited. "This way." She'd explain, which was kind of unnecessary since in the cave you only had two ways to go, forwards and backwards.
Toothless followed behind him, carefully trying to fit himself through the cave. Some parts went more easily than others, but that was to be expected. Hiccup watched in awe as she climbed a steep rock easily with her staff, hooking the bone end behind the edge and pulling herself up. He ran against it, hooking his hook blade behind it before pulling himself over the top.
"Slow down." He said, although he didn't really have trouble keeping up with her. Even if he had, she would wait at every corner of the cave, looking back to see if he was still coming. "You can't just say something like that and run away."
The only response that he got was another soft and exited "Come" as he followed her further. And he discovered the interesting resemblance between his two parents, they both didn't listen to him.
"Do you know how crazy that sounds?" Hiccup asked as he followed her further. "What? And, and how did you, how?" He stuttered. Trying to get to her and get her to stop. She was incredibly agile and speedy, probably something she already was and has improved thanks to the living with dragons.
He saw a soft blue-green glow at the end of the cave, and saw his mother disappear into the bright light. He continued, almost slipping and slamming into the rocky wall as the stones became wetter and slippery.
He rushed around the corner, his eyes adapting to the sudden bright light that hung in this part of the cave. It felt like he was outside, but the air was warmer and more moist. His eyes slowly adapted, and he could see the most incredible amount of dragons he could ever imagine. There were Snafflefangs, Rumblehorn, Snaptrappers, Sweet Deaths, Timberjacks, Hackatoos, it was amazing.
He looked further, only to spot more dragons, even species he had never seen before. Sure, his few trips back to the archipelago hadn't allowed him to explore everything as clearly as he perhaps would have, but it always excited him when he saw new breeds of dragons.
Toothless came out of the cave behind him, pushing Hiccup aside so that he also could take in the view. You could visually see how surprised and excited the dragon was to see such a large group of dragons together in harmony.
Hiccup was startled as he saw something move in the corner of his eye, and he quickly turned to the large Stormcutter that hung from the ceiling. He looked carefully at the large upside-down dragon, and could see his mother standing calmly on the claw of the dragon, holding on for support.
"This is where you've been, for twenty years?" He asked softly as he looked at the dragons that flew around the nest. He turned to his mother, who was silently and happily nodding. He looked back at the ungodly amount of dragons. "You've, you have been rescuing them. Unbelievable."
"You're not upset?" She asked carefully, behind Hiccup Toothless was already getting greeted by some other dragons.
"What? No, I, maybe, It's quite a lot to wrap my head around to be frank." Hiccup said, still trying to fully grasp the idea of his mother standing in front of him. "It's not just every day you discover that your mother is some kind of crazy feral vigilantly dragon lady."
"Oh," She chuckles as she hooked her staff in the claw of Cloudjumper, the large dragon calmly guiding her down, before she calmly slid the last few feet down over its wing. "At least I'm not boring, right?"
"Well, there is that," Hiccup began as he was approached by a dragon, who was calmly sniffing this newcomer to get to know him. He turned to the dragon, petting it gently on the nose. "one specific thing."
"Do you like it?" His mother asked carefully, she really hadn't ever even dreamed of seeing anyone from Berk so full of love for dragons, let alone her own son, so she threaded carefully, feeling like she was on thin ice that could shatter at any moment.
"I don't have the words." Hiccup said as he allowed his eyes to wander through the nest again, seeing Toothless surrounded by dragons who were trying to greet and smell him. It only took one dragon to get too close into his personal space for the Nightfury to growl loudly, warning the other dragons to stay back.
Valka chuckled softly as the Nightfury looked at the other dragons with a mixture of annoyance and distrust. She turned to Hiccup. "Can I?" She asked, Hiccup nodding softly.
Valka immediately approached the dragon, first showing that she wasn't a thread. "Ooh, he's beautiful." She said as extended her hand to let the dragon sniff it, before calmly tracing the spines along his back with her finger. Toothless, understanding that she wasn't a thread, nuzzled her, and Valka calmly replied the favour.
Hiccup watched calmly as Toothless wrapped himself around Valka, chasing her hand. "He might very well be the last of his kind." She said softly as she scatched the dragon on his chin. The beast immediately turning on his back to allow for easier belly rubs. She spotted the small flaps on the side of his chin. She flicked them softly as she counted them. "And look." She said as she finished. "He's your age, no wonder you get along so well."
The dragon launched itself off the ground again, running a small circle around her before facing her again. He made some inaudible notices as he kept his mouth open, Valka mimicking them as she sat in front of them. Then Toothless retracted his teeth, smiling a gunny smile. Valka was immediately caught by this interesting subject, she gently opened Toothless' jaws, ticking her head in to inspect the mouth of the dragon. "Retractable teeth?" She giggled in her excitement. Petting the dragon on its rough tongue. "How did you met him?"
"I found him in the woods." Hiccup said awkwardly, not really sure how he was going to bring the origin story of Toothless to his mother. "He was, eh, shot down and, eh, wounded."
Valka calmly stood up, her face sadder and grave now. She turned to one of the dragons that had swarmed beside around Toothless before. "This Snafflefang has lost its leg to one of of Drago Bludvist's iron traps." She said as she calmly stroked the Dragon. She turned to Hiccup's other side. "This Raincutter had its wing sliced by razor netting." She explained as gently lifted the dragon's wing with her staff. She turned to yet another dragon, a purple Hobblegrunt. She waved her hand in front of the Dragon, who only reacted because he heard and smelled her. "And this poor Hobblegrunt was blinded by a tree snare, and then left to die alone and scared."
Hiccup gulped as she turned to Toothless, picking up his artificial tailfin to inspect it like she had with his fins and gums. "And this?" She asked, looking at it with a mix of awe and horror. "Did Drago or his trappers do this too?"
"Oh, yea, well, crazy thing is, I'm actually the one that shot him down." Hiccup began chuckling awkwardly, Valka looking at him in confusion. "Hey it's okay though. He got me back." Hiccup quickly added as he patted the happy Nightfury beside him. "You couldn't safe all of me, you just had to make it even, so, peg-leg." Hiccup said as he lifted his left leg, or what was left of it, and showed his prosthetic.
Before he had time to put it down, Toothless had used the opening between Hiccup's legs push his head underneath it, lifting the boy from the ground and making him land in his saddle.
Valka looked at the two, they had an incredible bond, and she was surprised that the Nightfury didn't care much that his rider had maimed him for life. "What did your father think of your Nigthfury friend?"
"Well, he didn't take it all that well." Hiccup began, getting comfortable in the saddle. "But, then, he changed, they all did. From what I heard, pretty soon everyone had dragons back home."
"From what you heard?" His mother asked surprised. "What had you been off to?"
"Well, that's quite a long story really." Hiccup said as he looked around him. "But I guess I have some time."
"And we have some catching up to do." Valka added as she walked to the edge of the outcropping they were on. "Come."
Hiccup calmly followed her, Toothless following them too, he didn't want to be left alone with all those other dragons again.
"Who should start?" Valka asked a bit nervous as she walked through the grass and dirt that grew inside the sanctuary.
"You start." Hiccup said. "Please."
"Well, as you know, Berk was a land of kill or be killed." She began her story, watching out across the large sanctuary as she visualized that faithful night.
It was the same as it could have been every other night, the dragons swarmed the skies as the torched were pushed up into the air by the large mechanical systems of weights and cogs that were fitted underneath them. The skies were lit by the glow of the fire of the beacons, the torched, but also the burning homes of their fellow villagers, as well as the occasional spurt of flames from a dragon. "But I believed peace was possible." She explained.
She still remembered that poor Nightmare that had been hit by a boulder from one of the catapults, knocking it down and stunning it for a few seconds. Immediately another Berkian ran towards the downed beast, his axe held high, aiming for the exposed and vulnerable neck of the dragon. However, before he could complete his swing and end the life of the dragon, his weapon had been stopped. She remembered how she had grabbed the handle of the weapon, stating that killing the dragon would only make it worse.
"It was a very unpopular opinion." She said as she remembered the shocked and disappointed looks that they would always have, the way every Viking would look when you said that there was another way to do the things they had been doing for years and years. She had seen it so many times.
"Then one night, a dragon broke into our house." Valka continued, feeling the fear that she felt when she saw the tail of a Stormcutter disappear through a hole in their roof. "Finding you in the cradle."
She ran through the village, as fast as she could. She swung the door of her house, which was thick and heavy and would usually give her a bit of trouble, open with ease, immediately grabbing a sword from the wall next to her. Holding it in front on her defensively as she slowly walked towards the large dragon. She remembered the mixture of emotions. She had felt so fearful, not for her own life but for that of her child. But she was also curious, seeing the large dragon playing with her kid, holding its sharp and deadly claw just above the cradle, Hiccup trying to grab it as he giggled. It was an interesting memory, she couldn't feel joy, since her baby had been in a potentially deadly situation, but she also didn't felt sadness or anger, she didn't know what to feel. "I rushed to protect you, but what I saw was proof of everything I believed."
She had lowered her sword, but somehow had startled the dragon. In its shock Cloudjumper had accidently made a small cut in Hiccup's chin, which was the origin of the scar she recognised him with. The dragon had turned to her, also curious as she had raised the sword again, ready to defend her child and herself. The dragon's eyes had been so large, so kind. It was incredible. She had lowered her sword even further, to the point where the top of it was resting on the ground. The dragon had just been sniffing calmly, trying to familiarise the strange woman in front of him. "This wasn't a vicious beast," She explained. "But a gentle and intelligent creature, who's soul reflected my own."
But she remembered how the axe had split their connection, and how Stoick had barged into the house, hoping to protect his wife and son. She remembered seeing how the dragon's eyes had turned to slits. It breather his fire around the room, Stoick ducking away from it. She rushed over to the dragon, pulling at the side of its head to make it stop, just like she had tried with the Viking earlier that night. The dragon had turned to her, and in a matter of seconds has grabbed her with its claws, beating its four wings to take off, taking her away from her home. She had heard Stoick shout her name, and she had shouted his, seeing him standing at the edge of the burning home, watching her through the broken roof, not able to do anything.
"You and your father nearly died that night." Valka finished. "All because I couldn't kill a dragon."
"Well, it runs in the family." Hiccup had stated dryly.
"It broke my heart to stay away." Valka said as she turned back to Hiccup. "But I believed you'd be safer if I did."
There was a short silence between the two, before Hiccup broke it with a question. "But, how did you survive?"
"Oh, Cloudjumper never meant to harm me." She said as she walked toward the edge of the cliff. "He must have thought that I belonged here, in the home of the great Bewilderbeast, the alpha species. One of the very few that still exist.
Hiccup looked in awe as he saw the Bewilderbeast, it was even bigger than the Red Death. It was massive.
"Every nest has its queen, but this the king of all dragons." She explained. "With his icy breath, his greatful giant build our nest, a safe haven for dragon everywhere."
"Wait, that's the ice-spitter?" Hiccup asked confused. "He's responsible for all that destruction?"
"He protects us." Valka corrected him as the two walked down a bit lower, to a place where a few baby dragon lived. "We all live under his care, and his command."
"All but the babies, of course." Valka added, seeing Toothless get swarmed by a pack of little curious Scuttleclaws. "Who listen to no one."
They babies flew off once Cloudjumped roared loudly enough to get them to leave Toothless alone, and they calmly flew towards the Bewilderbeast, landing on its head. The large beast opened its eyes, shaking the small dragons of its head and rising on his feet, turning to Hiccup and Valka.
Hiccup was impressed, now that the dragon itself stood before him he could truly see how massive it was. Beside him Valka had bowed down, and on his other side Toothless felt uncomfortable looking the large dragon in the eyes.
"I've been living with them for twenty years Hiccup," Valka continued softly. "Discovering their secrets."
The Bewilderbeast let out a small cloud of his icy breath, sending it straight to Hiccup, the cloud enveloped him, and suddenly the nice temperature of the nest had changed to a cold and winter like temperature, but it only lasted for a second. When the cloud had passed he felt the warmth again, and he felt the snow sticking in his hair.
"He likes you." Valka said after she chuckled for a second.
"Wow." Was the only thing Hiccup managed to utter, impressed by the sheer size and power of the large dragon.
"You must be hungry." Valka suggested as she looked at Hiccup.
"Eh, yea." Hiccup responded absently, still looking at the gentle giant in front of him. "I could eat."
"Good." Valka said as she walked around his back. "It's feeding time."
The silence that covered the ship was deafening. Everyone looked calmly as Hiccup flew off, the Nightfury gathering speed quicker than anyone had expected. The only person who wasn't paying attention to the current situation was Ruffnut, who was lying on the deck next to Eret, her head leaning on her arms and her feet swinging in the air, gawking at the young trapper.
"What is going on?" Heather asked as she pulled Ragnar into the group, Stoick turning to him with an angry scowl. "What is he thinking?"
"I don't know." Ragnar pleaded in his defence. "He's grown overconfident again."
Stoick cocked an eyebrow. "This has happened before?"
Ragnar looked at Stoick, deep in thought whether he should mention this. That was until he felt a jab into his side by Heather. "You've been keeping enough away from us." She said sternly. "Explain."
Ragnar sighed softly. "It was in back south." He explained. "We had a good run, but he was pushing his luck."
"What made him realise?" Astrid asked, hoping to know how to convince Hiccup about the situation. "How can we make him realise that?"
"He has a large scar across his chest as a memory." Ragnar explained. "One that almost killed him."
"How did he get that?" Stoick asked, worried for his son, but interested in his history.
"Trying to convince someone who couldn't be convinced." Ragnar said softly, remembering how naïve and convinced Hiccup had been a few years ago. "If that hadn't happened he might have planned to talk to Drago."
Stoick's worries deepened. "And what else haven't you told us?" He asked with a stern look.
"Everything that was vitally important." Ragnar explained. "We've just kept out some details."
"Like Drago going after an ancient weapon?" Stoick asked. "One that would make him incredibly powerful."
"Well, I, he, how?" Ragnar asked shocked.
"This!" Stoick said as he showed the letter, the Templar seal evident on the paper. "Should I read it?"
"I don't think that's necessary." Ragnar said calmly, but Stoick cleared his throat.
He tried not to make too much eye contact with Heather as Stoick read the letter, since he could basically feel her stare bore into the side of his head. He turned and looked at Astrid, who was staring at the sky instead of him, more worried than angry.
Gobber looked different than the rest. He looked like he had expected this all to happen, after all, he recognised the young Hiccup that was still having his little spot in the young man.
Stoick finished calmly, putting the piece of paper back into a pocket of his armour. "Well." He began. "Anything to add?"
"Well, I don't think this is the biggest problem at hand." Ragnar began softly, hoping to pull some of the attention away from the letter. "We need to go after Hiccup."
"I don't think that is the biggest problem you have at hand." Heather said angrily from behind him, and Ragnar didn't dare to turn around to face her, which only aggravated her more.
"We'll fly up front with Skullcrusher and Grump." Stoick said as he looked at Ragnar with a stern look. "You all stay behind us."
Before Ragnar could answer, he felt a slap against the back of his head. "Small details, hm?" Heather asked sternly, demanding an explanation. She was angry, sure, but that anger was filled by how hurt she was, and because she was angry at herself for not seeing this coming. "What happened to trust and no more lies?"
"I'm sorry." Ragnar said as he looked down at the deck of the ship. He didn't want to face her, he felt like he had no right to do so. Had they not done the right thing keeping them out? Was it not the best thing to do? "We didn't want to pull you all into this."
"So you just do it all on your own." Heather said with a stern tone. She needed to get the point across once and for all, but she didn't feel like that was ever going to possible. "Leaving us to wait and hope you'll return."
Ragnar didn't say anything, just looked at her. "Sorry." He muttered again.
"Way to keep us out, assassin." She said sternly, she didn't need his apologies or his excuses, she needed trust, and apparently that was not something he could share.
He watched in awe as his Cloudjumper rolled in the air, the four large wings allowing for powerful and precise movement. What was even more inspiring was how his mother manged to stay on the dragons back effortlessly, like she was glued to the dragon. She rode it standing, without a saddle or anything to hold on to.
Hiccup flew calmly behind her, watching around him carefully, the clouds had cleared around these parts, and he could easily spot the enormous swarm of dragons that was following them. It looked like almost every dragon from the nest had come, except form the younger ones, who would receive food from their parents or other dragons.
"Where are we going?" Hiccup asked confused as he saw his mother do a loop to face him, he and Toothless stopped to not crash into her. "I thought we were going to eat?"
"Oh, we are." Valka said with a smile as she made a few gestures, Hiccup looked below him, seeing that a large group of tidal-class dragons was circling underneath him, trapping a whole bunch of fish inside the circle.
He saw the colour of the water change, and the Bewilderbeast emerged from it, jumping high in the air. Of course, it wasn't that high if you compared it to its size, Toothless could also launch himself a few feet into the air from water, not much trouble there. But to see such a large and powerful dragon do it was a sight to behold. It went so slowly, the large weight accelerating and decelerating slowly. At the start of the jump, the Bewilderbeast has grabbed all the fish that the other dragons had herded into the middle. Hiccup looked at it with interest, it was amazing to see how the other dragons helped to feed their king, a whole different way than the Red Death.
But then, just as the Bewilderbeast was starting to fall back down into the sea, it spewed out all the fish it had collected, launching it high up in the air, allowing all dragons of the flock to feast on the meal.
Hiccup looked around in shock, seeing fish literally everywhere. He looked at Valka, who was laughing on the back of her dragon. But he could feel how impatient Toothless was getting, he looked at his dragon, who had his tongue hanging out of its mouth, looking around at all the fish that was flying through the air. He looked at Toothless, his eyes big and excited, and Hiccup allowed him to go after as much as he could carry.
Luckily Toothless was familiar with speed, and has a rapid response. He quickly grabbed the fish that he found left and right of him, and it only took one dive to have his mouth, and soon his belly, filled with fish.
They stopped at a nearby, ice-covered, island to rest after the dragons had eaten, it was important for dragons not to be too active after a meal, since it could cause some trouble with their digestion. As they landed Valka found a piece of clear snow, and she drew a map in it using her staff.
"You should see the places there are out there, Hiccup." She began, focussed on her drawing. "Countless islands, countless dragons." She said as she drew freely, a large map of the archipelago's largest islands. "And I think there is a whole other continent south of here." She said as she drew a simple line in the snow to the south of her map.
"I might be able to help with that." Hiccup said as he grabbed his notebook, he knew exactly which page he needed and which map it was, and he carefully unfolded his enormous map of the large continent. "It's larger than you'd think."
Valka looked in awe, she discovered the scale pretty quickly, and only then realised that only this fraction of the continent was as big as the entire archipelago. "How did you?" She asked in shock, she had taken expeditions of a few days to map the far end of the archipelago, heading so far south would've cost weeks, if not months.
"Well, I haven't been at Berk a lot the last couple of years." Hiccup began awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "I've only returned last year."
"Your father allowed you to go on such a long trip?" Valka asked surprised. "For how long."
"Six years." He explained. "And it wasn't a trip."
Valka looked at Hiccup surprised and confused. "Explain." She stated simply.
"Well, after we killed the queen at the nest I may have fallen into the sea a bit." Hiccup explained. "And I woke up with just a bit of memory loss."
"Just a bit, hmm?" Valka asked surprised, she noticed that Hiccup had never had a mother in his life, he couldn't lie to save his life. The only one to fall for this would be Stoick.
"The only thing I remember was dad disowning me." Hiccup said softly. "So I found a friend and we left."
"He did what?!" Valka asked surprised, she knew Stoick could have a temper sometimes, but disowning his own son?
"Don't worry." Hiccup quickly said. "We made up, apparently."
"Apparently?" Valka asked warily.
"Don't remember much of it." Hiccup answered. "Probably didn't leave an impact."
"So where did you go?" Valka asked. "I don't suppose there is some kind of village who agrees to housing a Nightfury."
"And a Skrill." Hiccup added. "And no, not that we know of." He said. "But we found a place to hide them near Roma."
"You've headed all the way to Roma?" Valka asked. She had heard stories of the large cities towards the south, buried deep in the Roman Empire, but it all sounded too surreal to be realistic.
"Yep." Hiccup answered dryly. "Me and Ragnar, a friend I met, we both wanted to go as far as we could."
"I see." Valka said, before she was interrupted by Toothless, walking through the snow, using a large icicle that he had in his mouth as a pencil to draw in it.
He squinted his eyes, small snowflakes landing and sticking in his eyebrows. He scanned the sky, which was difficult with this weather. The wind had increased and it had started to snow, which wasn't strange, they were so far north that they were about to reach the parts where the snow would fall throughout the entire year. This area of permafrost was a dangerous place, since some of the most dangerous dragons lurked there, one's that couldn't be tames. There also didn't grow any food, so if you got lost or shipwrecked and your food ran out you couldn't gather more.
He hoped Hiccup hadn't been so stupid to head there, he expected more of him. The boy could do a lot of irresponsible and stupid things, but he knew he still had a sense of rational thought.
"Stoick! Look!" Gobber shouted over the wind, calmly flying by his side in the harsh wind, snow gathering on his moustache. He the faceplate of his helmet open, either because he felt like it, or because it had frozen in place. He pointed downward, where a large, fresh, hole was in the icy sea. Stoick shot a serious look at Gobber, descending with Skullcrusher to investigate.
The hole was large enough for a Nightfury, but it was also large enough for a Monstrous Nightmare, it was broad and long, broken pieces of ice floated inside it. Behind it there were a few narrow slids of broken ice, two right behind the hole and a couple much further away.
They matched the pattern of hunting Seashockers, who often prayed on large fish who surfaced and broke the ice. Those large, two headed, tidal dragons were a force to be reckoned with. They often hunted in packs, capable of taking down large fish and animals. They usually didn't attack ships, but they had a habit of circling around ships that had ran aground or got stuck, since they could pray on crewmembers who jumped overboard. Sometimes they carried them off to nearby islands, other times they would never surface again.
Stoick looked at the main hole, spotting a small brown item floating in the middle of the water, he gently guided Skullcrusher down, taking a good hold of the saddle so that he could lean over the side to grab it.
It was a helmet, a leather one. Hiccup's. Only a small layer of frost had formed on it, so it hadn't been lying here long. Stoick held it in his hands, turning to Gobber, who was looking at the helmet with horror, possibilities shooting through his head. He looked at Stoick, a pained and troubled face. Stoick was determined however, his son wouldn't die this way, he couldn't.
"Find him, Skullcrusher." Stoick ordered his dragon, keeping the helmet near the large and sensitive nose of the dragon. It sniffed a few times, cold and chilly air mixed with the scent of Hiccup, a scent he had smelled earlier that day. It didn't take long for the dragon to find a clear trail, heading to the mountains nearby.
Stoick looked at Gobber, and the two quickly let Skullcrusher lead them, heading into the clouds above them, the cold weather turning their hair white as ice and snow stuck to it. They calmly, giving Skullcrusher the time he needed to take up the exact track, instead of rushing him and risking that he made a mistake. That rarely happened, but Stoick wasn't taking any chances. If Hiccup was far then going father could spare them half a day, which could make the difference between life and death in some cases. But if they lost their track they would first have to backtrack, which was difficult with following scents, since they would linger for a while, but eventually would slowly drift with the wind.
Scent was like driftwood. If a ship sunk you could often trace the location by the wood and materials that came loose over time, leaving a trail towards the vessel. But as time went by the remains would be scattered over a larger area, and it would be difficult to see from one piece to the next, which made it slow and tedious work. It would change from trying to follow a constant line to following prints, prints that were slowly growing more apart. Untill you found one print at the beginning of a forest, and the other could lie behind some hill on the other side of an island. It almost made it impossible.
Luckily Rumblehorns had exceptional noses, and even when a scent was slowly starting to scatter they could easily track it. He slowly flew towards a large mountain, which was covered by a large roof of blue ice. It was a special kind of ice, and Stoick had remembered seeing it before, on the deck of the trapper's boat. A few small icicles lay on the deck, this made Stoick fearful, perhaps this was the base of Drago Bludvist.
They slowly entered through a hole in the wall, Skullcrusher gently flying through the hole that Hiccup had flown through while he was still being kidnapped. Stoick ordered Skullcrusher to slow down further, their wings softly, eventually stopped as they landed. It would make less noise.
Stoick didn't want to give his presence away, since he felt like Hiccup had been grabbed by some dragon. It made sense, only that way could they fly into a cave that high up the wall. He guessed that he was grabbed mid-air, causing Toothless to fall down into the ice, his helmet must have been attached to the saddle.
He wondered where Toothless' would be, as far as he knew Seashockers didn't eat other dragons, so perhaps they dropped him off at a nearby island. That was to be hoped, since that would probably be the best for the dragon. He knew that the Nightfury was capable of walking long distances, as were most land dragons. But he wasn't sure the dragon could swim very well.
Behind them flew the other riders, who had no idea of the recent discovery. They all had their thoughts and speculations for the large hole in the ice, but since Stoick and Gobber were suddenly going another direction they guessed Skullcrusher has found another lead.
"So, how are you holding up?" Astrid asked Ragnar who flew silently.
"Pretty well I guess." Ragnar said dryly. "The only communication I have with Heather is her looking at me like she wants to kill me, she won't talk at all."
"That's usually not a good sign." Astrid said with a smile, they both had their ways to get back at their boyfriends, and looking at Ragnar, Heather's seemed to be working.
"You don't say." Ragnar said as he patted Bolt, the dragon also worried for the other rider and his dragon.
"I wanted to ask something." Astrid began again, catching Ragnar's attention. "Why did Hiccup get so angry when Stoick mentioned Marcus?"
"There was a betrayal within our guild." Ragnar explained. "In the end, it has cost Marcus his life, as well as a lot of others, Hiccup pulls all the blame on himself."
"Why didn't he tell us?" Astrid asked, surprised to hear this. "We could have helped him."
"He just didn't want you all to get involved in this mess." Ragnar explained. "It's quite a big thing."
"Why though?" Astrid asked. "Why does he reject help, why doesn't he want any assistance?"
"He doesn't want you to fight a war that isn't yours." Ragnar said. "He doesn't want Berkian, or anyone else's, blood spilled for a cause that they are not fighting for."
Heather flew just a bit behind them, glad to hear that her strategy was working, but also understanding Hiccup's decision to try and keep them out of it, although it hadn't worked. Perhaps she had been a bit too harsh on Ragnar, shutting him out completely. It was a noble choice after all, keeping them safe by keeping them out of the conflict.
AN:
So, another one finished in a week, and more than 6000 words, so I'm pretty pleased. I've tried not to follow the movie exactly, but it was just a bit easier this way. Anyway, with a bit of luck I'll be able to finish the next chapter for next weekend as well, and perhaps I'll even be able to get to upload a chapter each week again. I hope so, I've managed to do it this week and it had been pretty busy with projects and exams. But that's nothing you all need to worry about :P
Take care,
R4y