He steeled himself and straightened his shoulders. "Hello, sir."
The man nodded. "Hello. Can I help you?"
"Yes, um," Hiccup cast around for a good way to start the conversation. "Are you Milady's father?"
"You mean your wife?" The prince nodded. The man smiled. "Even if it's after the fact, it's still nice that you thought to come ask my permission. Come in." The man entered his hut and Hiccup, hoping he could straighten this out and still get some help, followed.
Hiccup set his pack down by the doorpost and looked around the small one room home. Well, not quite one room, there was an area set aside with a partition, a much bigger version of his changing screen back home. It probably had much the same purpose. His host finished setting a rather crude kettle on the fire and sat down in one of the chairs, motioning for Hiccup to also take a seat. He did, leaning forward on his knees.
Well, here goes. "Sir, I didn't come to get your blessing, I…" he took a deep breath, "I need your help."
"With what?" asked the older man, smiling at the boy in front of him. Was he having the same problems Toothless had come to him with?
"I need to get Toothless back."
The man smiled indulgently. "Did my daughter let her temper loose? Don't worry, she won't stay away for long."
"It's not that," Hiccup tried to specify. Why was talking to this man exactly like trying to get something through to his own father? "She's been taken."
The atmosphere tensed as all thoughts of lovers' spats flew out the door. "By who?"
"Thanatos."
He leaned forward, mirroring the boy's posture. "Tell me everything, starting with the first time you met him."
So Hiccup, replaying their conversation in the ballroom, detailing what he'd done and what Toothless had told him after that. The other man would have been furious, if not for the fact that, when he spoke about how Toothless was forced out of the room, the boy's eyes lost their light and he leaned his head forward so his hair shadowed most of his face. "I came here because she said you could help me, that you knew things that could help me. Please." Green eyes begged. "I just want to get her back."
Toothless' father, Alpha, went over to the single window in the hut and looked out over the sea. This boy was willing to do anything to get his wife away from the man he saw as a monster. Thanatos would never think to watch out for such a toothpick as a threat. "To get Toothless back, you have to defeat the Red Death."
He sighed and walked over to the fireplace. He took the kettle off the fire and poured the hot drink into two earthen mugs, one of which he handed to Hiccup. "Death has taken precautions. He can't be killed by disease, wounds, or old age. Only one thing can slay him."
"What is it?" begged the boy.
"The only way to kill Thanatos is with a coal. It is the only thing that will penetrate his hide, dragon or human, enough to kill him. And he guards that jealously. He encased the coal in a rock, swallowed by a goose, stuffed inside a hare, kept in a stone chest at the top of a huge oak tree. But to even get to the oak tree, you have to fight off its guardian, a white dragon with blue eyes that shoots lightening instead of fire."
I would come with you if I could, but Death knows me too well. If I were to even step off this beach or swim beyond the limits of the inlet, he would know and suspect I was up to something, especially after how I tricked him before for my daughter's sake. You would have to do this alone."
They spent a few more minutes in conversation, toying with different strategies. If not for the fact that Toothless was on the line, Hiccup would very much have enjoyed the conversation. It was nice to talk with someone on the same mental level who could point out the flaws in his plans, the biggest one being that he needed several players in the game. He couldn't go back to the castle because, as Alpha pointed out, that would draw Thanatos's attention and take too long. Who knew what he was doing to Toothless up in that castle.
After the failure of a breakfast, Death ordered her back to her tower and to put on what she found on the bed. If she didn't, well…it was best not to think about such things. And there was only so far she could push the disgrace of a skin changer before his temper got the best of him and he resorted to violence or worse. It wouldn't do to be damaged when Hiccup came for her. And he would.
She entered the room and immediately reconsidered obeying. That black leather dress was probably only two feet long! A roar from the courtyard reminded her of her previous experiences here, ones that wounded her just short of scarring. At least it wasn't the slave outfit from her last time here.
She slipped the dress over her head and shimmied into it. The plunging neckline made her grimace. Please don't let Hiccup come today, she prayed as she yanked down on the hemline and threw her hair over her shoulder, obscuring the top of the dress and the skin revealed with it.
Another roar ripped through the castle. "Get down here you shifting scum!" She forged her spine straight and unyielding, gave the dress one last tug, and walked back into the fire. At least it was black. You might take the changer out of the skin, but you couldn't take the skin out of the changer.
Hiccup bid the man goodbye three hours before sunset and so he hand enough light for the climb. He looked down occasionally to check if his prosthetic was securely wedged into the rock face. Alpha watched as he climbed the stone. He hoped the boy succeeded and brought his daughter home to him, even if she didn't get to stay for very long. He just wanted her away from the man who took her the first time.
We jump back to Hiccup and Toothless in this chapter. And since I got asked a question by a guest, humor me.
The green skin acted like a cloak, shielding Toothless from the effects of the chain magic so she was able to get away. But she needed a safe place to hide with the chain magic was wearing off, and that's where Hiccup came in.
Please Review! My muse for this is currently in a coma and needs to be woken up by the sound of lovely reviewers. I'm actually not kidding, guys.