ACT I: embers
5: Storm Clouds
As the island and Hiccup had been expecting, the first storm of winter hit that night. The shutters rattled and the Haddock house was even draftier than usual. Hiccup could still see slivers of the dark sky outside, with snow whirling past furiously.
The weather fits my mood pretty well, he thought darkly.
Being without Toothless was awful, and it must be so horrible in that stupid cage in the Academy, with the wind howling and all of the snow.
Sighing, he walked back to the dinner table where Stoick was bringing over two bowls of stew. The Chief's bowl was at least twice the size of Hiccup's head. Stoick's brow furrowed. "It's Toothless, ain't it son?"
Hiccup looked up at his dad, scowling. "I can't believe you caged him," Hiccup said furiously.
"Ya know I didn't want ta, but would ya rather go ta war wit' tha Mangy Muttonheads? 'Cause if it escalated, tha's wha' would've happened – ya know Vikings," Stoick said, trying to sound sympathetic.
"Stubbornness issues," Hiccup supplied tonelessly. "Yeah, I know."
The knowledge didn't ease the heavy weight in his chest though. Although the anger at Gringuts had come and passed over the course of the day, he found most of the time he couldn't scrounge up any guilt for punching the other heir. Okay, none of the time.
"Keep yer head up son," Stoick said gently, "Toothless'll be out in no time. Now eat, ya need some meat on yer bones."
Now that was a familiar phrase, one he had always hated, but it made him feel better; it was almost comforting, somehow. He picked and played with his stew for a bit, before digging into it.
"An' son, Chief Knuck an' I have been talkin'... an' we think it's best if ya an' Gringuts put this mess behind ya..." Stoick sounded as awkward as he looked, but his mouth was set in a firm line. Hiccup looked up at his father in disbelief.
"There's no way I'm spending any more time around that son of a halftroll, rat eating munge bucket bast-"
"Hic'up, language!"
"Sorry dad," Hiccup mumbled bitterly, lowering his voice. Stoick sighed.
"One day son, yeh'll be Chief. An' so will Gringuts. Yeh'll have ta learn how to git along sooner or later, an' tha sooner tha better. Deal?"
"This conversation is feeling very one-sided-"
"Deal?!"
Hiccup sighed, rolling his eyes. "Deal," he said miserably. At least tomorrow he would able to visit his dragon. And, as a surge of anger and guilt ran through him, he would make a self-flying tail for Toothless. He would tell the Night Fury the truth once the tail was done. And then, he would give Toothless the choice to leave or stay, now knowing the truth. His stomach churned at the thought. What if Toothless got mad? What if he flew away and never came back?
Toothless deserved to know. Even if Hiccup had put the moment off, it was eating him on the inside, and he didn't want it to cause a rift. Besides, most of the dragons had been pretty forgiving and hadn't left their riders. He and Toothless had a special bond. They would be okay.
Right?
#####
"Hey bud," Hiccup walked in the Academy, a large basket of fish on his back. He wobbled slightly under the weight; he had brought extra fish, especially Icelandic cod, Toothless' favourite, to soften the blow of not flying. "Had a good sleep?"
The Night Fury greeted him eagerly at the bars of the pen, giving him a toothless smile. Hiccup set the basket of fish down and pulled the lever of the cage down; slowly, the gate creaked open. Hiccup knocked over the basket with his good foot, and the fish spilled out of it. Toothless eagerly ate the fish up, and Hiccup couldn't help but grin at the sight.
"I need to take your saddle off, make some adjustments," Hiccup explained. He waited until Toothless was done eating before moving forwards to take off the saddle and flight gear. The easiest way to make the new tail was to use the original as a starting point. Toothless let out a soft whine as he closed the cage again and began to walk away, the flight gear bundled up in his arms. "I'm sorry bud," he turned back to his dragon, "but this is important. I'll visit you as soon as I can, okay?"
Toothless was obviously unhappy and moaned to show his reluctance, but laid down all the same. He placed his head on top of his paws with sad eyes. It took every ounce of Hiccup's restraint to not run back to his dragon. He had to get this done. For Toothless. (Although a part of him wondered how many days their friendship had left.)
The forge was empty - Gobber must have taken the day off to go drinking with some of the other men at the Meade Hall. It was just as well, Hiccup figured; he didn't want to be bothered. Now, it was time for the tail. He started by pulling out his old design, alongside the newest one. It was all willpower, from there.
He set to work.
After only an hour or two of work, Hiccup found himself interrupted by a loud cough at the door. "What?" he said irritably, whirling around. Stoick stood there, looking awkward in the cramped space and uncomfortable in general.
"Son, Chief Knuck is here wit' Gringuts. It's time fer ya to put this all behind ya." He gave his son a pained look. "Please, Hic'up, behave."
"I will if he does," Hiccup said testily, but followed his father out of the Forge all the same. Chief Knuck had planted a hand on his son's shoulder, which seemed to be all that was keeping Gringuts from running away; Hiccup wished he would. Hiccup simply resigned himself to glaring at Gringuts instead.
"Yer father an' I were thinkin'," Chief Knuck began, "tha' it'd be best to star' this as soon as possible. Diplomatic, civil business." He gave Gringuts a pointed look, especially. "An' the Forge is as good a place as any to... to bond...?" The Chief trailed off feebly. "To put this mess behind us," he added firmly, giving both boys a stern look.
Stoick clapped his own hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "Behave ya two." The two Chiefs walked away from the Forge, casting nervous glances over their shoulders every so often until they were out of sight.
"Look, Gringuts," Hiccup began fiercely, "I'm only tolerating you right now because I have to, but don't think for a second I'm willing to forget what you did to my dragon."
"Speaking of which, where is your dragon, exactly?" Gringuts said, feigning politeness. "Still in the Academy?"
Hiccup narrowed his eyes. "Why do you want to know?"
"You and I both don't want to do this, right? So, what do you say to me going one way and you going the other and if our fathers ask we make up an excuse?" Gringuts did have a point, Hiccup conceded. "And honestly, is it so wrong to be curious about a creature as great as the Night Fury?" There was an oddly hungry gleam in Gringuts' dark eyes.
"Fine, your idea isn't that bad. But as for my dragon, you can find him yourself."
As Gringuts left the Forge with the Academy as his destination, he smiled to himself. Oh, I plan to.
#####
"This is a dump they've got you locked in, isn't it Night Fury?" Gringuts sauntered in the Academy. It was empty, so the classes must have either been another day, or were outside of the Ring. Toothless growled as the Muttonhead approached him. "Nah, you won't touch me or you'll get your boy into trouble. Again. And you don't want to do that, do you?"
Toothless' growls faded, but the dragon still looked murderous. Gringuts smiled smugly. "Thought not."
His eyes roved over the cage, its mechanisms, the exits of the Academy. How the Night Fury's saddle wasn't there; it was grounded. He grinned. Excellent. "Can't fly, hmm?" Toothless' expression didn't change. "You know what they say - a downed dragon is a dead dragon. It's a miracle you're even here, actually. Thank the gods for that. Night Furies are extremely rare. Why, I've ever heard that you're the last one. It must hurt, being alone. I suppose you have the twig, though, so you're not truly alone."
Gringuts leaned in close and leered at the dragon on the other side of the bars. "Don't worry, soon, you will be."
#####
Two days of work - two more day until the tribes were gone, and now the new tail was finally finished. Hiccup stood back to admire his work, trying to ignore the way his stomach was tying itself into knots. He wanted to go see Toothless, but he didn't think he would be able to handle it without breaking down somewhere. He was just thankful that Gringuts had stuck to their shaky truce and left him alone. Although, he couldn't remember seeing the heir of Chief Knuck around Berk all that much over the past few days. Perhaps that was because he had rarely left the Forge... yes, that must have been it.
Stomach grumbling, Hiccup left the prosthetic tail on his work desk and headed back home to have dinner. He and Stoick often ate in the Meade Hall, seeing as Gobber was the only one who could really cook, but the Chief of Berk had made a special request and Hiccup wasn't about to push the envelope more than he already had. (Or at least not to do so with his father explicitly knowing.)
"Had a good day son?" Stoick grunted, already sitting at the table when Hiccup walked in. He shut the door to his home with some effort, the wind blowing fiercely against it, snow scattering onto the wooden floor before turning to little droplets of water because of the roaring fire in the fire pit.
Hiccup shook himself off of the snow. He took his seat at the table. It was a relief to be out of cold, and the warmth of the fire was rapidly spreading throughout helped himself to the chicken in front of him.
"Pretty good." Hiccup tried to keep his tone upbeat and cheery. Hopefully, his father's obliviousness to how he was actually feeling would be a good thing for once. "I finished a project I was working on in the Forge. And Gringuts wasn't too bad either," he added.
That last part was a complete lie, but Stoick seemed to buy it. "Good, good," the man said, stroking his beard. "And Toothless?"
Hiccup hastily swallowed the lump that had sprung up in his throat. "He's... doing okay. Antsy, because of no flying you know? I'm feeling restless myself." It was true. He had missed flying so much it had manifested into a stomachache. Whether that was from missing flying or his rapidly growing fear of losing Toothless, he wasn't sure. Either way, in Snotlout's words, 'it totally sucked.'
"How are the trade negotiations going?" the teenager asked.
"Slowly but surely," Stoick said, letting out a huff of frustration. "Some of the Chiefs don't seem to realize that dragons are companions, not just mindless, endless means of transportation."
Hiccup nodded, frowning. "I can imagine how fun that must be," he said dryly. "Everything's being packed up, though, with the tribes leaving so soon? The first storm of winter will be blowing in any day here."
"Aye," Stoick said heavily. "Chief Knuck even said they might leave early." A small smile grew under his mustache. "Which means Toothless would get out earlier, too."
Hiccup involuntarily grinned. "That's great," he said excitedly. Then, he remembered what that would mean, and his happiness vanished in an instant. He hoped it didn't show on his face and forced a yawn. "Well, I should be getting to bed. Really wore myself out today, so yeah... I'll be going now..." He hurried up the stairs as fast as he could, coming face to face with the slab of rock Toothless always slept on. The sight did nothing to help his mood.
Sighing to himself, the Viking got into bed, but didn't fall asleep for a long, long time.
#####
"Hic'up-"
Someone was shaking him. Everything was dark and warm - there was a faint glow. His vision was blurry as he opened his eyes, seeing a candle only a few inches from his nose, clutched in his father's hand. Stoick looked agitated and worried. "Hic'up! Get up son!"
Hiccup sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, still disorientated. "What's going on?" he asked groggily.
"We're under attack, son! A Silent Slayers boat, just off Raven's Point!"
Long time no see. I know, I know, not only is this chapter long overdue, it's much shorter than normal. For that, I am truly sorry. Life got caught up to me, I got swept up into another fandom. I shall never be abandoning this story. NEVER.
The plot thickens - or rather, I just really wanted to end on a cliffhanger. This chapter didn't have a huge amount plotwise, I guess, but is still important. Next chapter's end of Act I and everything really starts going to hell. I'm excited. You, my dear readers, should be afraid. Very, very afraid.
But seriously, I love you guys. Thanks for being patient with me. :)