I Own Nothing

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Oh no! The last chapter ended on a cliffhanger! Find the author and hang, draw, and quarter him, roast the parts over a spit, douse them in piquant sauce and gasoline (I'm sure it's tasty), and then imprison him for life! I mean, seriously, the way some people talk you'd think I'd committed a mortal sin for ending a chapter on a tense moment and asking readers to wait less than a week to see what happens next!

And in response to 22ablanchard: I know what your little theory is!

Chapter 24

Hiccup's Decision

"Ah, Cloudjumper," Toothless said, "Good to see you made it back. What happened with the Defenders? Has the Eye been safely disposed of?"

"Not exactly—you are not going to believe what they—"

The Night Fury suddenly tensed up. "Did you hear that?" Before Cloudjumper could answer he went charging up the stairs.

Hiccup was shoved onto the floor, his attacker falling on top of him while trying to stick a knife in him.

Astrid heard the noise and groggily opened her eyes. It took her a moment to realize what was going on, for the room was dark and she was still affected by the drugs, but when it dawned on her that her husband was using all his strength to prevent his throat from being cut, she cried out, fell out of bed, and fumbled around for her axe.

Hiccup kicked his attacker in the shin was his metal foot, but the man did his best to ignore it, so close was he to success. His eyes seemed to burn with eagerness and he was calling upon every ounce of his energy to deliver the finishing blow. His free hand went closer to Hiccup's throat and tightened its grip. Hiccup suddenly spat into the man's eyes and he inadvertently loosened his hold on him. It was all Hiccup needed. He pulled a knife out of a sleeve pocket and plunged it into the man's hand. The man cried out and fell backwards, falling off of him, while Hiccup climbed off the floor and punched him in the face. At that moment Toothless burst in, dove straight at the man and knocked the wind out of him as they slammed into the wall.

There were shouts from downstairs but Hiccup did not hear them. Nor did he see Astrid rushing towards him, her axe at the ready. He simply gestured for Toothless to back off and then grabbed the man by the neck and lowered his head so their faces were almost touching. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now," he whispered fiercely. He was trembling worse than his would-be murderer was.

"I was just fulfilling a contract," the man grunted.

"Oh is that what you call it? Is that what you call trying to murder a man in his own room?"

"I was just fulfilling a—"

There were so many things Hiccup wanted to shout at this man, but he kept them to himself. Instead he continued in a low and horrible tone, "I have every right to cut you up and feed you to a dragon right now. But I won't, because I want you to deliver a message. Go back to your 'client' and tell them how you failed—"

By this point Stoick and Valka had burst into the room. Cloudjumper was trying to squeeze his head and neck through the door while Stormfly was behind him trying to force her way in.

"—and tell them from me that if they don't drop this bounty immediately, I'll pay double to whomever brings me their head! And remind him that unlike Berk his people are only loyal to the highest bidder!" He pulled the lever that lowered the section of the wall, picked up the man, and threw him screaming off the platform.

"He landed in the snow," Hiccup announced so blandly it was almost chilling, "Lucky him. Skullcrusher can collect him now. Tell Johann we've found his missing crew member—oh don't look so surprised, where else could he have come from?—anyhow, someone can ask Johann where he picked up this one, then a dragon can fly him there."

Astrid seized him by his arms, looking as terrified as he was furious. "Hiccup, talk to me! Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Hiccup quickly put his hands on her shoulders reassuringly. "I'm fine, Astrid, I'm fine. It's alright, it's over." Abruptly he pulled away from her, "Stay here. I'll be back soon. Stormfly will stay with you, all right? Toothless, c'mon,"

Astrid tried to go with them but the sleeping drugs had made her so woozy she was compelled to sit on the bed. Stormfly now managed to enter the room and rushed over to her.

Hiccup stepped outside and saw Stoick dragging the hapless mercenary through the snow like a giant doll. The commotion was waking people and windows were lighting up along the pathway. Valka caught up to the prisoner and grabbed his shoulders, much as Hiccup had done. "You can also take a message from me to all your friends. If any of you try to hurt my son again, you might as well kill yourselves, or else you'll be begging me for death by the time I'm through with you."

"That goes double for me," Stoick growled, "Hang on son, where are you going?"

"Someplace where I can think, where nobody's going to try to kill me!" Hiccup yelled. Ignoring the falling snow and the cold wind, he and Toothless flew to the top of a sea stack. Only a very large and powerful catapult or dragons could attack them up there, and Hiccup knew that latter would not and the former was seldom found on ships. He slid off of Toothless and looked out over the ocean, thinking deeply and breathing with difficulty. Now that the attack was over he could calm his still racing heart and try to get his limbs to stop shaking.

"Well, Bud, what now?" He asked at last.

"We've had prices on our heads before," Toothless said, as if trying to make light of the situation, "Remember back in China?"

"They didn't exactly put a price on our heads that time—"

"They would've if we hadn't left first." The dragon reminded him.

"Well, we were going to leave anyway. Being a wanted man didn't matter then. But now…" he sighed. "If we aren't safe at home, where are we safe?"

"In the middle of nowhere?"

"We thought that before, and Adoncia still caught up with us." He kicked a pile of snow. As he did so his gaze fell upon Berk and he could see, thanks to a bonfire in the Plaza, a lot of villagers had gathered. "That's odd. Isn't it a bit cold and late for that many people to be outside?"

"Well the Tribe's next Chief did just get attacked—"

Hiccup pulled out his spotting scope. "Ah, that explains it. Mildew's giving another one of his speeches."

Toothless snorted. "He must be spouting some new garbage about how we've doomed Berk and everything."

"And there goes Dad and my failed killer. They're both shouting. Judging by all the expressions, the mercenary's probably screaming Viggo's threats and Dad's no doubt telling everyone not to listen to him. There's Trader Johann—he always looks so nervous, doesn't he? It looks like Glidregar the Nadder will be transporting our mercenary. There goes Mildew again—does he ever know when to shut up? And everyone will end up with frostbitten liver as a result of standing outside and listening to him. And yet…" He started pacing again. "We've got to do something, Bud. If we don't regain the initiative fast all the tribes around here will assume I'm weak and useless again." He froze in his tracks, "But the weak and useless are frequently underestimated…"

Stoick was also pacing around in the main room of his house, now that the assassin had been dealt with.

"Would you please stop doing that?" Valka cried impatiently. "All this pacing is not helping here!"

"And what will?" Stoick demanded, "Our son has a price on his head! How can we get Viggo to remove it?"

Astrid came slowly down the stairs. "Where is he?" she asked groggily.

"How're you feeling, lass?" Stoick asked in a tone a lot softer than it was a minute ago.

"I'm just fine." She said. She would probably have said the same thing if she had been cut in half. "I'm fine. Where's Hiccup?"

As if to answer the question, the door opened and Hiccup entered, followed by Toothless. They were covered in snow. Toothless looked like he was half albino. Hiccup's face turned bright red and he made straight for the fireplace, rubbing his hands together. "It's a bit chilly out there."

Astrid looked at him incredulously. "Is that all you can say after what just happened?"

"No." He straightened up, went to a cupboard, and started rummaging through the food, pulling out some apples and putting them in a bag. "I'm leaving,"

"WHAT?" Stoick and Valka exclaimed. Astrid looked at him fixedly. She had already guessed what he was doing.

Hiccup looked directly at his angry family. "Yes, I'm leaving Berk. I was just attacked in my bedroom—"

"Son, let's not act rashly here—"

"In my BEDROOM! WHILE MY WIFE WAS SLEEPING A FEW METERS AWAY, A MAN WAS WAITING IN A WARDROBE TO MURDER ME!" His voice lowered, but retained its edge. "I'm not risking it again, so I'm getting out of here while I still can."

"Son, we can protect you here!" Stoick insisted, "We can protect you better than we can if you're somewhere else!"

"Can you?" Hiccup retorted, "An assassin got into our house without anyone noticing—while Astrid was asleep! He could have killed her easily! It was just as fortunate for him he didn't." he added darkly. Stormfly, who was cramped in a corner, angrily nodded.

"I'd been drugged!" Astrid shouted, "If I'd had all my senses working fine I would have caught him!"

"I know that Astrid, but the fact is you didn't have all your senses working fine. I'm not blaming you for what happened, but how can any of us believe we're safe if assassins are getting into our homes with ease and only sparing people because there's no profit in it? Surround me with bodyguards and they'll just get hurt or killed. You could all get hurt or killed in the next attempt on my life. And sooner or later some mercenary is going to get lucky and I'll be gone permanently." He now looked directly at his father. "Look, do me a favor and think about this rationally, all right? What if I disappeared for a bit? Vanish into the wilderness, let those mercenaries disperse and try to hunt for me all winter, let Viggo assume he's won, and then, when the novelty's just starting to wear off, I'll slip back and we'll clobber those hunters once and for all."

"And just where would you go?" Stoick asked sharply.

"We," Astrid interrupted. "And what makes you think this would work anyway? Adoncia managed to find us in the wilderness several times, remember?"

"Yes, but that was Adoncia chasing us and she was riding a dragon. How many dragon hunters and mercenaries do you know use dragons?"

"Don't give them any ideas," Stormfly shuddered.

"And just where would you go?" Stoick repeated. "And did you just come up with this plan so you can go do some more exploring?"

"Dad! I would not put a price on my own head to give me an excuse to go exploring! I'm not that desperate to see more of the world! Astrid—did I hear you right when you said 'we'?"

"Yes you did." she replied firmly. "Are you going to argue with me about it?"

"On the contrary, I'd feel a lot better if you were with me. Although there may be some risk involved,"

"And do you think that scares me?" she asked coldly. "There's risk involved no matter what we do."

Stoick put his hands up. "Stop it right now, both of you. Hiccup, there's no reason to believe you'll be safer in the middle of nowhere than here. Here at least we have the muscle to protect you. I'll assign human and dragon bodyguards, we'll search every ship that comes in, we'll have patrols out at all times, and the increasing ice and snow will discourage most mercenaries from coming here," he said reassuringly, "You'll be safer than anything on Berk has ever been before!"

"And what happens when the thaw comes?" Hiccup asked skeptically.

"By then you'll have come up with a plan to make the hunters back down and the weather will be calm enough for us to act." he said confidently.

"He just did come up with a plan! Hide out for a while and confuse them!" Toothless exclaimed.

"And you and I both gave warnings to that mercenary." Valka added to Stoick's statement, ignoring what Toothless had said, "If he spreads the warnings, it may convince others the risk isn't worth the reward and they'll give up. It won't stop all of them but it'll stop the majority."

"And the remaining minority will be the most daring, determined, greedy, and brutal of the lot, who'll have the best chance of succeeding." Hiccup said, "Sorry, but for the moment my safety lies in distance and speed. If we start now and keep to areas where there are no humans, it'll be long odds of them catching us. There's plenty of wilderness out there."

"But didn't you mention somebody who caught you before?" Valka asked.

"She's dead now. And I've learned from that trip. For one thing, I think there have been too many loose mouths already around here." He looked at his parents apologetically, "it might be safer if even you two didn't know where I'm going,"

Stoick looked even angrier at the idea but Valka understood what he was saying. "How long do you think you'd you be gone for?"

"Maybe five weeks, maybe as many as ten," Hiccup said slowly.

"Son, I really think you'll be safer here—"

Hiccup's patience was getting exhausted, and so was his physical state. His face looked aged, his hair was a tangled mess, and his body seemed ready to slump over at any moment, but his eyes were alive with burning fire. "That's enough."

"But Hiccup—"

"That's enough."

"No, it's not enough! We've got to—"

"Would you just hear me out?"

"—make a real plan, not just run off into the—"

"Are you even listening to me?"

"—wilderness where anything could happen and—hey, you look at me when I'm talking—"

"Oh here we go again—"

"Will you listen for a change?" they exclaimed simultaneously.

"Did you rehearse this?" Valka asked curiously.

Stoick was about to regain the initiative but Hiccup held up a hand. He looked directly at his father, eye to eye. "Before I left Berk the first time you've been obsessed with keeping me safe and away from anything dangerous. You know, I think that's one reason why I enjoy the rush of adrenaline so much. And ever since I came back you still keep doing everything to keep your heir out of danger—"

"And what's wrong with that? You're my son!"

"I know that. But the way I see it, Berk isn't safe for me anymore. Those mercenaries will keep coming, and the longer I dangle here like a piece of bait the tastier the catch becomes. If I leave now, maybe I can lure them away from Berk and everyone here, and save myself at the same time. The way I see it, staying on Berk exactly what I should not do."

Stoick was visibly hurt. But his silence implied he was agreeing to this, or so Hiccup thought at any rate. He went back to his packing.

Astrid cleared her throat. "Hiccup, does it have to be right this instant? Couldn't we sleep on this and talk about it in the morning? You're father might be more receptive by then. And no offense, but you look ready to collapse. You really should get some sleep."

"I'm fine, Astrid. And I'm leaving tonight."

"We are," she said flatly.

"I'll go get Greta," Valka said, "She'll want to say goodbye before you go,"

Stoick was shocked. "You agree with him too, Val?"

"Yes, Stoick. We tried our idea and look what happened! I think his plan is the best we can go with now."

Stoick was not sold completely on this, but with Valka agreeing to it he got the impression he had little choice. Then he shook his head. He was the Chief! He gave the orders and made the decisions around here! If he said Hiccup should stay on Berk, Hiccup had to abide by his decision!

He mellowed almost as soon as he thought this. Just because he was Chief did not mean he was always right. And this was not some petty argument; this was his son's life!

Still, he wanted a bit more control over this situation. "Wait a minute, Val. Don't go anywhere yet. Son, tell me truthfully: you intend to just hide out? No adventures or picking fights or getting into trouble like last time?"

"Not if I can help it."

"Tell me where you're going anyway, in case I need to send a rescue team again."

"And what if Viggo captures you?"

"How could he capture me on my own island?" Stoick laughed.

"He could put a price on your head," Hiccup suggested.

"I'd like to see him try!"

"He just might. And don't forget, Drago captured you on your own island."

"And Drago's dead. So are Adoncia and Dogsbreath. And assuming Viggo tried and actually succeeded, what makes you think I'd give up such information? Are you implying I'd crack?" Stoick snorted, "Viking's don't crack under torture!"

Hiccup raised his eyebrows and his body began twitching. Toothless groaned. Astrid put a hand over her mouth. Stoick was horrified when he realized what he had just said.

"Oh gods, son, I'm so sorry, I completely forgot about that!"

Valka was confused. "What did you forget about?"

"Nothing relevant," Toothless said hastily. Hiccup had once pretended to crack under torture with Stoick and Astrid present. Stoick and his late brother Spitelout Jorgenson had made no effort to hide their disgust at his apparent weakness.

"Getting back to the point," Hiccup said with forced calmness, "Anybody can crack under torture, but a person can't say what they don't know. And Viggo is more likely to leave you alone once he realizes you can't aid him."

Stoick had some other ideas for how to meet this, but he got the feeling Hiccup had an answer to all of them. He had to decide then and there, could he trust his son's judgment would save his life?

"All right," he said at last, "Do it. But listen to me, you three," he pointed to Astrid, Stormfly, and Toothless, "You are never to leave him alone, understand? And you are bringing him back safe and sound or so help me…" he did not need to finish his threat for them to get the point. "And you listen to me now, Hiccup: I want you back on Berk by Snoggletog. No excuses. If you aren't back by then, I'm going to hunt you down myself, if I have to search the entire world for you."

The young couple and their dragons were ready to go in under an hour.

"All right," Astrid said, "lower the wall and we'll be off. We'll fly straight up into the clouds before changing direction. Which direction are we going, anyway?"

"I'll tell you when we're in the air," Hiccup said cautiously. Astrid did not object.

"Does it strike you that they're a bit paranoid?" Stormfly asked.

"Sometimes that makes the difference between life and death," Toothless reminded her. Maybe if they had been a bit more paranoid the Sanctuary would not have been destroyed, and maybe this whole mess with Viggo would never have happened.

They heard footsteps on the stairs. Stoick, Valka, and Greta Hofferson came into the room.

"You weren't thinking of leaving without saying 'goodbye' to your parents, now, were you?" Greta asked with a bemused look. Astrid at once went to her mother and hugged her with as much strength as she possibly could.

"You look after each other, now," Greta said hoarsely, "You're all I've got left of my family now." Then she brightened up. "And don't forget, Astrid, you owe me some grandchildren!"

"Mom!"

Greta laughed, "And you take care of her, Hiccup. And take care of yourself too, got it?"

"Don't I always?" Hiccup tried to grin. Astrid raised her eyebrows. "Don't answer that."

"Don't worry, I'll look after them," Toothless promised. Valka patted him on the head and said "You take care of yourself too. If Hiccup lost you, I don't know—"

"He won't," Toothless said shortly.

Hiccup turned to Stoick. "Well, Mom, Dad, I don't know exactly when we'll be back, but don't start worrying until after Snoggletog."

They nodded. An awkward silence came as the three of them just nodded, smiled, and shrugged uncomfortably. Stoick normally did not show his softer side when in the presence of others unless he was acting spontaneously. Valka's instinct was to hug her son as tightly as possible, but she could not help but wonder if she should act on it. Hiccup meantime was uncertain of what his parents was going to do and could not quite decide how he should react. Getting goodbye hugs from his parents, or any hugs at all for that matter, was still a rather rare occurrence. But finally, after Toothless gave an impatient snort, Stoick came forward and carefully gave his son a slight hug.

"You…you take care of yourself, son. You're the next Chief after all, you've got duties here and you can't perform them if you get…well, killed,"

"Thanks for the reminder. Don't worry; dying isn't on my priority list."

Valka suddenly joined the hug and it instantly became a lot more emotional. "You all look after each other. And don't lose another limb, alright?"

"That's another thing I have no intention of doing,"

"And I don't intend to lose one," Astrid added.

At last Hiccup broke out of the hug, "Now look, if Viggo tries anything against Berk…well, you know what to do if it comes to a fight. But don't forget, if he comes here it's our dragons he'll be after. I've already spoken to the dragons about this, but just in case. And deliver this parchment to Fishlegs as soon as possible."

"We'll hold Berk until Ragnarök," Stoick swore.

"No, Dad, don't do that. If something happens and you have to abandon the island, do it. If our tribe survives we can recover and rebuild what was lost, but—look, what I'm trying to say is, if Viggo pulls something and survival means fleeing and getting help elsewhere, do it."

"We will if we have to, but we won't because we won't have to," Stoick said firmly. "Drago couldn't destroy Berk and neither will Viggo."

"I hope not, but just in case, you know, it can't hurt to be prepared for the worst. I'd rather be ready for the worst and be pleasantly surprised later,"

"I know. And while you're gone I'm going to find out how that man escaped. We'll find him, somehow."

"Speaking of which," Hiccup handed him a sheet of parchment, "Give this to Fishlegs tomorrow." He turned to the dragons, "all ready?"

"As ready as we'll ever be," Stormfly replied.

Stoick pulled the lever and the wall went down. The two large dragons spread their wings, Hiccup changed the tailfin positions, Astrid gripped her saddle, and everyone else watched them take off into the black winter's night.

"Keep them safe, Odin," Stoick whispered, and the two women beside him nodded silently.

Cloudjumper looked uneasily at the heavy clouds the dragon riders had disappeared into. "I never did get to tell them what the Defenders of the Wing had decided to do with the Dragon Eye once they learned of Grimborn's escape."

The following morning the Chief handed Fishlegs a note. It read:

"Fishlegs, destroy this as soon as you've read it.

We need to know where Viggo's base of operations is. Get some volunteer dragons and have them let themselves be caught by dragon hunters. As you know, dragon hunters rarely kill dragons until the last minute, because dragon corpses tend to stink and decompose quickly, so the captives should be all right. Rescue teams will follow them from a safe distance, and will save the captives once a hunter ship's final destination is known. These hunter ships will make for a safe port once they've caught any dragons, and at least one of them is bound to head for Viggo's place. And tell every dragon that if an opportunity comes to capture Viggo, take it.

"Good luck and tell everyone to be careful. I don't want any fatalities. I don't want Viggo to know what we're planning either. I hope you'll the information ready for me when I get back.

H,"

Fishlegs was puzzled about why he was given the job, but he understood what Hiccup wanted and resolved to get started as soon as possible.