Chapter 9
Disclaimer : I Don't own HTTYD!
Thought / Dreams / Event from the past
[Voice from the past]
"Dialogue"
Letter
Emphasis
Dangerous Tone
Leave the rest to me, Dad.
Such a short and simple words, but Stoick's eyes widened as he read them. Hiccup, He thought as he looked at the black dot against the cloud, a grin slowly made it's way to Stoick's face as realization to what was happening dawned on him, his Son was alive.
"What the hell!" Alvin cursed as he saw 4 of his ships destroyed in less than a minute, catching Stoick's attention.
He smirked at the Outcast Chief, "You're wrong, Alvin." He said confidently as he put the medallion and letter into his pocket, "The Gods aren't smiling at you today, but at us, Berkians." He calmly looked at the dragons, considering that Hiccup told him to leave the rest to the boy, he figured that the dragons were on Hiccup's side.
"What are you saying, Stoick?" Alvin asked him with a scowl on his face, "And why are you smirking like that? Do you think you win?!".
"Victory is ours, Alvin, because someone had come to aid Berk." Stoick answered with a confident smirk before looking at his people, refraining from saying Hiccup's name or their relationship to lower any possibility of Hiccup being targeted by the Outcasts later. "RETREAT!" He yelled on top as his lungs before he made his way back to the village, breaking through any Outcast who dared to block his way, leaving Alvin to stare incredulously at Stoick's retreating back.
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Up above the clouds, Hiccup looked down at Berk and saw that his Dad, who stood out so much with his big body and red hair, and the other Berkians had retreated to the village. He smirked and patted Toothless's head, "Come on, bud." He said calmly, "It's time to reward those Outcasts for attacking Berk with a rain of fireballs".
"I've been waiting for you to say that, Hiccup." Toothless said with a smirk, though for other people the sound that he made was only some croons and purr.
A whole year was a long time, long enough for many things to happen – even though Hiccup spent the first 3 and a half month half sleeping – and one among those many things that had happened was Hiccup finding himself to be able to understand Dragonese even though he couldn't speak it, just like how dragons could understand Norse but couldn't speak it.
Toothless and Hiccup pulled into a dive and aimed to shoot at the space between Berkians and Outcasts as a warning on the Outcast's part, while a sharp whistle was made as they dove as Toothless's wings cut through the air, the signature of a Night Fury's attack. He shot his plasma blast on the ground before the rest of the dragons shot their own fireballs at the surrounding of the Outcasts, stopping the Outcasts on their tracks and creating a thick smoke of dust.
"Do you think that's enough?" Hiccup asked Toothless as they circled around to make sure they didn't miss any Outcast.
"If those Outcasts are as stubborn as your usual type of Vikings, then no." Toothless answered as they finally stopped circling around and just hovered 10 meters above the village between the Outcasts and Berkians, to show the Outcasts that they had to break through them first if they want to attack the people of Berk.
"Well, it won't hurt to try first." Hiccup said back with a shrug before focusing ahead of him while pulling his bow from Toothless's saddle and pulled out an arrow from the red quiver on the left side of the saddle, "A fire, please." He asked as he leaned forward and showed the head of the arrow to Toothless, Toothless silently shot a really small blue fireball at the arrow to light it, "Thanks".
"You're welcome." Toothless said with a smirk, already knowing what Hiccup's plan was.
The smoke cleared and they could see the Outcasts coughing from inhaling the smoke of dust, "What's the meaning of this?" Alvin growled in anger as the man stared at Hiccup, "And who the hell are you?!" He was shocked to see Hiccup on top of a dragon, the one species that he had never seen before, but he was too angry to think about it.
Hiccup smirked behind his mask, Of course he can't recognize me, He thought in amusement as he aimed his arrow at the Outcast Chief, I doubt that my own Dad can recognize me in this attire if not for my letter.
Hiccup was wearing an armor of thick leather with complicate design all over his body*, a leather boot covered his right foot while his left leg ended just a bit below his knee and continued by a specially made metal foot, and a mask with Night Fury as it's design covered his face. Giving him an intimidating appearance, but if people ever thought that Hiccup wore it to scare people off because he couldn't fight, they would regret ever thinking about it.
(*AN : Hiccup's armor is like the one he wears in HTTYD 2)
"That shot earlier was only a warning, Alvin." Hiccup said calmly through his mask, the mask slightly muffled his voice so it wasn't really recognizable unless he was yelling. He chose to ignore the second question and just silently aimed his arrow at Alvin's shoulder and not anywhere vital since he wasn't the type to kill if he had another choice.
"Who are you?!" Alvin demanded again when Hiccup didn't answer him the first time.
"I have no obligation to answer your question, Alvin, and therefore I won't tell you who I am." Hiccup said cheekily but with some seriousness in his voice, "Now, leave Berk this instant".
"Like hell I will listen to you!" Alvin roared furiously, forgetting about the fact that there were so many dragons surrounding him and his people.
"Ah, that's not good." Hiccup said calmly before releasing his fire arrow, hitting Alvin's left shoulder just as Hiccup wanted. The pain from the fire arrow wasn't what the man had to worry about though, because as soon as Hiccup released his arrow, Toothless shot at the man's armor which caused the man to get thrown backwards while the rest of the dragons followed his example and gave their own shots at the other Outcast's armor. They could easily tell that the dragons didn't serious when they shot at the Outcasts, for the attack was too weak for a dragon their sizes. "This is your last warning, Alvin." Hiccup announced once Alvin and his people got back up to their feet with a grunt of pain, "Leave Berk this instant or we will destroy you like we did to your ships".
Alvin growled furiously as he finally remembered that he and his people were surrounded by a huge flock of dragons, all of them ready to attack when Hiccup told them to, though Alvin didn't know that the boy in front of him was actually Hiccup. What Alvin knows was only that there's a boy in front of him, who ride on a black dragon and could command the other dragons at his will, and that information alone was enough to spark fear into his heart, which was quite a feat since Alvin was normally fearless.
Alvin was furious, but he couldn't do anything but to retreat. "This isn't over, Dragon Boy." He growled at Hiccup, "I will come back, you hear? And you will be begging for my mercy then." He then looked passed Hiccup to Stoick, who was smirking at Alvin, "I will definitely destroy you and this village, Stoick, mark my words!" He yelled to the Chief of Berk before turning around and dramatically made his way to his two remaining ships, the rest of the Outcasts following him.
Hiccup watched silently as the Outcasts left before Toothless landed, the other dragons soon landed one by one in front of him and his dragon, with Flarestorm (the Monstrous Nightmare), Skyring (the Deadly Nadder), Rainleaf (the Changewing), Bonecrusher (the Boneknapper), and Thundress (the Skrill) stood in front of the rest of the dragons. He felt it more than see when Sharpshot (the Terrible Terror) landed on his shoulder, he then waited until all of the dragons had landed before getting off from Toothless's back.
The time has come for him to face his Dad and the rest of his tribe.
Just as he turned around, he was greeted by the sight of Vikings, with the exception of his Dad and Gobber, all pointed their weapons at him and his dragons. "Who are you?" Spitelout, Stoick's Brother as well as Hiccup's Uncle, demanded as he looked cautiously at Hiccup. The boy might had helped them, but he didn't know that the boy in front of him was Hiccup and would do nothing to harm them, so he was being cautious in case the boy would turn on them.
Before Hiccup could answer Spitelout's question though, a thin man from the crowd cut in, "Who cares who he is!" The old man was Mildew the Unpleasant, the most annoying person in Berk, "That guy allies himself with the dragons! We should kill him for his treachery!".
Some of the Vikings roared their agreement, it seems that they forgot about the huge number of dragons behind the boy and the fact that Hiccup was standing calmly beside a black dragon that they had never seen before, not to mention the Boneknapper and the Skrill who stood just a few feet away from Hiccup and Toothless.
Toothless and the dragons behind the pair let out a deep growl and all of them get into defensive position, ready to protect Hiccup if the Vikings attack the boy. Hiccup simply placed his left palm on Toothless's head to calm him down and raised his right hand to the side, to tell the other dragons that they shouldn't attack unless they got attacked first.
"QUIET!" Stoick roared at them, causing them to fell into a shocked silence, they were shocked that Stoick would stop them while normally he would be the one leading the attack. "Don't attack him." He said sternly at them before turning to look at Hiccup, "Hiccup." He said softly as he looked at the masked boy, whom he was certain to be Hiccup from the message earlier and the fact that one of the tail fins the Night Fury has was different in color than the real one, just like the drawing on the wall of Hiccup's work place in the forge. His softly spoken words earned many shocked gasps from the Vikings of Berk, but he ignored them and just stared at his Son.
"Dad." Hiccup answered him before slowly removing his mask, revealing the face that the Berkians thought would never see again after the boy's disappearance for more than a year. He locked gaze with his Dad, "Long time no see, Dad." He said with a small smile, "I hope you have read my letter and know the reason of why I left Berk without telling you or anyone else".
"Aye, I have, and I understand your reason." Stoick answered as he found himself awe struck by the confident and authority in Hiccup's voice and eyes as he spoke those words, "I have to say that I couldn't be more proud of you than when I read it." He then slowly made his way to his Son as to not spook the Night Fury whom he know to be very cautious from the way the dragon watched his every movement, he stopped in front of Hiccup and smiled, "I'm so proud of you, Son. You have been treated badly by us, bullied by the teens and given cold shoulder by the villagers, and yet you still try your best to help and protect your people in your own way. Even if you have to break our rules and traditions by doing so".
"You knew of their treatment to me?" Hiccup asked in shock. He would never think that his Dad knew about it, and he was also surprised when he heard his Dad said that he was proud of Hiccup.
"Nothing happened in this village without me knowing about it, Hiccup, and I'm ashamed to say that I didn't do anything to stop them." Stoick said sadly and seriously before his eyes darting to Toothless, "Okay, almost nothing." He corrected himself as he remembered that he didn't know a thing about the Night Fury until he read Hiccup's letter.
Hiccup gave a short chuckle before smiling a small smile at Stoick, "Let's talk about this later in our home, Dad." He suggested lightly, happy that his Dad didn't just banish him from Berk for befriending dragons like what he had feared, "For the time being though, I think we need to explain everything to them." He motioned to the group of Vikings who had been gaping at them like a fish out of water.
"I agree." Stoick said with a nod of agreement as he looked behind his shoulder to his people, he then looked at the dragons behind Hiccup and the Night Fury warily, "I think you need to send them off first though, I don't think the people would be comfortable knowing there are so many dragons in the village, and to tell you the truth, so am I".
"I guess it's understandable, this is all so new to you." Hiccup nodded back at him before turning around at the dragons behind him, "Everyone, thank you for your help." He smiled at them, "You can return to the Nest now".
"Feel free to visit us anytime, our two Alphas." A big red Nightmare named Sparker from the flock said to him and Toothless with a dragon version of a bow, he was the one chosen to lead the flock of dragons in the Nest since Hiccup and Toothless couldn't possibly do it on their own as well, they have their own flock to lead.
"Please don't hesitate to ask if you need our help again, dear Alphas." A purple Nightmare beside Sparker said softly with a bow as well, her name was Darkflame and she was Sparker's Mate.
Hiccup nodded at them and watched as almost all of the dragons flew back to the Nest, leaving only his flock on the ground, waiting for him to tell them where to go for the time being. He looked at his Dad, "Is it alright if they stay here?" He asked as he motioned to the remaining dragons.
"Why?" Stoick asked in confusion as he looked at the dragons warily, mostly at the Skrill, the Changewing, and the Boneknapper since he had never fight against those type of dragons before, "I don't see any reason why you want them here, you dragon is that Night Fury, right?".
"Toothless is my partner, yes." Hiccup explained to him calmly, "These dragons are my flock, and like Toothless, they are also my best friends and already like a family".
"Those beasts will destroy our village if you let them stay, Stoick!" Mildew cried out again.
"Beasts?!" Toothless snarled as he bare his teeth towards the skinny old Viking, "If anyone a beast here, it's you, Viking!" He had heard many things about what they did to Hiccup in the past, he wouldn't forgive them for all the pain they caused his Brother.
"Yeah!" The rest of the dragons snarled as well. They also had heard the story about Hiccup from either Toothless or Hiccup himself, and they were also angry towards the Vikings for treating Hiccup so badly. Hiccup was a hatchling in their eyes, and all hatchling should be treated with care and gentleness, not by cold shoulder and cruelty.
The Vikings jumped and get their weapons ready when they heard the dragons snarled at them, but Hiccup merely raised a hand at the dragons and they stopped snarling, shocking the Vikings yet again.
"Calm down, you lot." Hiccup said to his dragons calmly as he looked at them, "You can't blame them for being uneasy around dragons, the war had been going on for 300 years until all they know about dragons are that you are dangerous and will kill any human on sight." He explained to them, although he knew that being called as a beast wasn't the only thing that angered them, "Go and stay in the forest for the time being, I will see you later".
"I'm staying with you." Toothless said sternly.
"Of course." Hiccup whispered fondly, already used with his scaly Brother's protective attitude, before looking at the rest of his dragons, "Go on." He said softly. They hesitated, but finally agreed and flew to the forest reluctantly, they were still worried that the Vikings would hurt Hiccup again, either it's physically or verbally. "You too, Sharpshot." Hiccup said as he flicked his index finger at Sharpshot's head when the dragon didn't leave with the others, earning a yelp from the tiny dragon before the said dragon flew away with an unhappy grumble.
"How can you order them around like that?" Gobber asked in shock and a bit of awe.
"I'm not ordering them around, but I will explain it in the Great Hall." Hiccup answered simply before walking to the Great Hall, with Toothless followed him silently while glaring daggers at the Vikings.
Stoick and Gobber were the first to follow Hiccup, the others were following more slowly since they didn't trust Hiccup and Toothless. The walk to the Great Hall was silent and filled with tension, Hiccup and Toothless could feel the tension in the air and grew tense as well. From how Stoick acted earlier, Hiccup knew that he could trust his Dad to not attack him, and he trusted Gobber to listen to him first before judging, but he was afraid that the other Vikings would do things the Viking way, attack first and ask later.
They entered the Great Hall, with Hiccup, Stoick and Gobber at the front, up on the platform over looking everyone, while the rest stood in the audience. "Is everyone here?" Hiccup asked to break the silence, "I would rather explain this once".
"Now that you mention it . . ." Gobber looked at Snotlout, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs, who stood at the front of the crowds so they could see better and were sweating while looking both nervous and worried, "Where are Astrid and Ruffnut?".
"Uh, Astrid is . . . um . . ." Fishlegs tried to explain but he was too nervous to do it right.
"Astrid was kidnapped by a Nadder!" Snotlout blurted out.
"What?!" Stoick, Gobber, Elga, and Keila, Astrid's Mother, cried out in shock and horror while Hiccup looked at Snotlout in confusion, his main flock and the dragons from the Nest were with him when they dealt with the Outcasts, so he was sure his dragons wouldn't have the time to kidnap Astrid.
"And Ruffnut jumped on the Nadder to try and help Astrid!" Tuffnut said in annoyance, he wanted to do some action too.
Silence . . .
"WHAT?!" More of the Vikings cried out now.
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To be continued . . .
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