Chapter Forty-Seven: When the past is revealed not everything is alright
Hamish sat alone at the long table when Hiccup was brought in. He was scribbling on some papers and without looking up he said: "Leave us. Stay by the door but I want to talk to him alone an undisturbed. Anyone who wishes to speak to me shall come back later, do you understand?" The other two guards nodded and said: "Yes Sir." Blondie hesitated.
"But Sir, what if he starts shooting fire again?" "He won't. Those cuffs bind his powers. Now go George."
The guys name was George? Poor fella. No wonder he was always so uptight and angry.
They left the room and Hiccup was left alone with the chief.
He just stood there and waited for Hamish to start.
But the chief continued writing his papers.
Fire cracked in the hearths. Wind whispered through the broken wood.
After a few minutes Hiccup got annoyed.
"Look" he said "You want to execute me by sundown. The time until then I could use for better things than standing here and watching you writing your shopping list."
Hamish stopped writing and looked up.
"That's a loud mouth you've got there. But I wouldn't expect anything different from one like you." "One like me?" Hamish ignored his question.
"Tell me the truth. Why are you here?" "I told you. We are on our way to defeat the Darkness. Something my…" "…Ancestor started but never finished, yes I know. I know too well. In fact I don't know anybody who doesn't know better than me."
Hiccup stopped. "How did you…" "Know this? My dear boy, you are not the only one in this world that knows of the darkness existence and knows that those stories are more than just fairytales to tell little children before they go to bed. My family has known for generations about the evil out there. But that doesn't matter. What matters, are you. You and the other dragon-riders and your dragons." "What…?"
"And your laughable try to unite the world. And yes, I know who you think to accomplish the task ahead. Unite them once again just like eons before.
Wake up boy. Humans are not made to be united. They have to argue. They have to fight. It's called natural selection. Survival of the fittest!"
"What?"
Hiccup was downright confused. What stories? What uniting eons ago? Legends and fairytales? And what did he know about darkness?
He shivered remembering his dream.
"What do you mean how darkens came here in first place?"
"So you do believe me! You know I'm right!" Hiccup yelled. "Never said you weren't but back to what I was saying.
What do you think made darkness take form?"
"I don't know." The reply was dry, bitter and full anger.
"Humans." "Excuse me?"
"There were always good and evil, light and dark. There can't be the one without the other. Counterparts don't exist without each other. You know what they said. Chaos grows from order but order rises from chaos.
Anyway. Counterparts. They can't really fight each other. They are two poles. The nature of live and creation balances on a thin line tightened between these two poles.
Usually these two sides can maintain a certain balance. Because they will be affected too if something is wrong. They will interfere from time to time to keep things going.
So, back to the humans.
Humans, as you may know, are a rather odd creation. You are familiar with the shades of live?" "With what?" Hiccup asked.
This history lesson started to go somewhere he was sure he didn't want to go.
"I take that as a no. What I'm talking about is the natural dark side in every one of us. We all have a dark and a light side inside us which makes us neither one-hundred percent good or evil but rather gives us the ability to wander between the two sides in a kinda grey-area and decide of ourselves which path we follow. And we all have a tendency to one side."
Hamish stopped. "Questions so far?" "Yeah, why are you telling me this crap?"
"I'm getting there. And it's important." Hamish sneered.
"That light/dark-thing made it easier." "Made what easier?"
"I told you humans cannot unite, right?" "Yes. But you haven't really told me why."
"Because of their dark side." "Come again?"
"It's human's indecision. Their inability to agree with each other, their constant bickering, their stupidity, their jealousy and their weak minds made it easy for the evil to corrupt them, their minds and little brains and become powerful!"
He paused and let the information settle in Hiccups brain.
He stayed impassive but inside his thoughts were racing.
But Hamish continued.
"Of course that created a major disruption in the scales of good and bad.
So that is why the gods interfered." He paused again.
"They think they are so mighty. They think of them as Represents of the good, as the mightiest and most divine beings there are."
His voice was bitter and hard and he laughed not amused.
"They called the dragons from the heavens. They are creatures of light and truth. They cleared the humans' minds from the fog of submission and foiled darkness's plans. Together men and dragons fought the darkness."
"See. And that's what has to happen again. That is the union I'm talking about."
"I wasn't finished." Somehow Hiccup really didn't like where this conversation was headed.
"After the war was fought, it was assumed that dragons and humans would part again.
And so it was. For centuries there were no dragons seen on earth and only humans and animals remained.
And live went its way.
Eventually stories became tales, tales became fairytales, fairytales became myths and for years the battle of darkness was forgotten.
But of course the absence of darkness didn't mean the absence of conflicts! The world is once giant conflict, one battle of interests and that's good. That means change. And live is all about changes. But" here the wicked/mad gleam returned to Hamish's eyes "Only as long as it doesn't get beyond control! Well. It got beyond control but not because of Darkness. It was defeated, weakened for eons.
No. The dark side in us remained. It's part of our very being Hiccup.
Even though we don't like to admit it, we all have our own darkest thoughts, deepest wishes, most secret desires. Even thoughts we do not dare to tell out loud. Maybe those we even are ashamed off.
But everyone who ever tried getting rid of them will know…that's hard. Impossible even.
Because they make us who we are. Along with our other qualities.
So, back to the fighting.
Humans grew even more apart, became more different, developed new whishes and dreams. Conflicts began to occur more often, battles got wilder and bloodier. Human kind became what it still is today. A ruthless mass of power-hungry murderer.
This, again, set off an imbalance.
But don't forget, Darkness had nothing to do with it. Not yet at least.
So the gods saw themselves forced to send the dragons back to stop the fighting. Again.
Mankind would've been extinguished otherwise. They would have killed each other until there would be only one last person standing.
Well. The humans didn't like the 'help' very much. Up then, the stories of the old had been reduced to legends and fairytales, as I already told you.
No one believed it. Well, a few selected did. Anyway.
Humans thought the gods punished them. So they started to fight the dragons and each other. To say it bluntly, they all became enemies."
A smug smile that didn't fit with the story he told Hiccup, Hamish put his elbows on the table.
"And here comes the big mistake. As soon as that first fight between human and beast started, the old bond between human and dragon was destroyed.
War clouded Midgard. And it has been like this for centuries now.
It only got worse. With hate, depression, anger, jealousy, pain and death rising from the world, it soon reached the last crumpled bits that had remained of Darkness.
You see, you can't really kill or destroy it because it's part of all of us. It's all and it's nothing."
Hiccup shivered as Hamish used the same words as Darkness in his dream.
"So darkness rose again. It fed of the human's mistakes.
It was and is delighted by the fact that those two that eons ago fought together and sent it into the abyss, are now arch-enemies and enabled its rise to full power."
"There has to be a 'but' in the story!" Hiccup yelled. He wished he could pretend not to believe what Hamish said but the dread in his stomach said otherwise.
"Indeed." Hamish sneered.
"There were those few that remembered the old stories.
They formed a truce, an alliance, with the dragons. They became riders again.
Of course" he said in a matter-of-fact-voice "They got shunned out as traitors and had to leave and hide. They should have listened to the riders. It would've been better for them." Hamish taunted. Hiccup frowned.
What did he mean with that?
"Well, the riders couldn't do anything but hope and pass their knowledge on. They were far too few to build up an army and fight. They were hunted and executed for treason."
Hiccup felt something hurt in his chest.
"Why didn't the gods do anything?" Hamish laughed.
"They long had lost the control over the situation. Dragons are as old as the gods. They are no creations. They belong to the first life-forms in the universe with the gods.
But I'm wandering from the subject.
The dragon-riders. Oh, they were magnificent people back in the old days. Not so stupid little pony-rider like they are nowadays in Derandolia or" more snotty at him "Like you." Hiccup hide his cleaned fists in his sleeves. "
"They were traitors of course, but none the less were they magnificent.
Even though you are a traitor riding a dragon, one cannot deny the bravery behind those actions. Whatever the case, they were annoying.
Luckily there were only few of them.
But you know the saying: 'Just because something's small doesn't mean it has no effect." Hiccup chewed his lower lip in anticipation.
"The dragon-riders maintained a certain balance and together they fend off every evil Darkness threw at mankind.
I wish I could say they were very good at it but it would be a lie. If you only have a handful people to protect mankind form its own stupidity, then you don't need much to take them down.
Darkness of course laughed its butt off at their attempts. Still their work was like a protective shield against the evil and for a long time humans lived protected from the actual threat.
Because the riders were living in constant danger they passed down their knowledge secretly form father to son, staying in touch with other riders all the time, trying to learn and shared everything they knew.
And then the impossible happened."
Hiccup hold his breath. He was sure now the good part had to come.
"Your ancestor was born. Under the impressive name of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Second a small Viking boy was sat into this world with a great destiny and a bitter ending."
There was also a bitter taste in his mouth.
Why, oh why did this sound so true and not made up?
"Up until then, the Horrendous Haddocks were a well respected family in the North.
But trouble-makers too.
Hiccup the First was an astonishing scientist and intelligent man with a remarkable talent for peaceful politics. He was also against this whole slave-business and made quite a few enemies. He also came from a long line of dragon-riders and was taught the truth you might want to call it.
And when the time came, he passed his knowledge on. His son Bork wrote the first book of Dragons with him." Hamish reached into his pocket and took out a pipe and tobacco and started filling it, while continuing his story.
"And Bork was Hiccup the Second's father and taught him everything he knew from his father, Hiccup the First.
But Hiccup the Second wasn't satisfied with the way they had to live. He certainly didn't like the idea of keeping it all a secret.
Then Hiccup the Second did the big mistake."
Here he paused and ignited the pipe.
Hiccup felt as if all blood had left his veins.
He had to think about his dream with the gods argument in the halls of Asgard.
"He firstly convinced other dragon-riders, friends of his that it was time to put step out of the shadows and make a change. He told them with each passing second where there was no unity and no peace, Darkness would grow stronger and stronger until there would be no way of stopping it. It was then that he made it his goal to archive this peace.
Infected with his enthusiasm his friends agreed.
He was warned that it wasn't the time yet but Hiccup the second wouldn't lsten. Too long his friend and family had been hiding. He meant good, I'm sure he did. But fate is so cruel."
Hamish looked down and shook his head. He nearly looked sad but Hiccup knew better. "What happened?" he asked in a shallow voice.
Hamish looked up, a smirk plastered on his face.
"He tried to convince the other Hooligans to stop the fighting.
After more than four generations of keeping it a secret, this one man destroyed a precious shield of protection.
The Vikings didn't like it a bit when he told them all about dragons, the balance of the world, the Darkness and so on.
Besides the fact that they thought he was complete nuts they were very mad.
Everybody thought the dragon riders had been eliminated.
And there is nothing people hate more then when they are proven wrong.
They started to hunt his friends and him. Hiccup of course tried to warn them. He was the only one who made it out alive.
He swore to carry the knowledge on and teach others in the world the truth. And prove the Hooligans wrong in their believes. So he went away.
He traveled the world, trained the dragons in all the different nations, solved conflicts, made friends and enemies alike, wrote the book about training dragons; bla-bla-bla, etc-etc-etc.
It was a good plan but good plans have to be executed at the right time. Sadly that time wasn't back then."
He gave Hiccup an ominous smile which didn't foretold anything good.
"So: He trained the dragons wherever he went. Some nations appreciated it, some didn't.
All in all the ancient anger and conflict settled down a bite.
It wasn't perfect yet but like in Baratellum today they weren't archenemies anymore and tolerated each other to a certain maximum."
Hamish drew a long breath from his pipe.
"But even with all the happiness, what was never forgotten was that Hiccups had never forgiven the Hooligans and had never forgotten what they'd done to his friends and family. His desire to prove them wrong turned into a feeling of revenge.
He returned to Berk and attacked it with an armada of dragons.
If the gods did have hope back then that it maybe was time for the great change after all, he crushed it with one single command.
He became treacherous and eventually was no better than any other man in this world.
He meant good, as I said before. Just his dark side was the side he felt more drawn too."
Hiccup shook his head but he was too weak to find the right words to protest.
"The Viking-Tribes of the North eventually defeated Hiccup the Second and killed him, erased his name from the history-books, but it only made matters worse.
Darkness began to rise more and more.
After that nothing happened. The gods retreaded, defeated and angry at mankind and disappointed at the dragon-riders. Each nation went its own way. Occasionally they would fight but nothing major.
Hiccup the second was forgotten, his teachings were forgotten. Man and dragon returned to fighting each other, the original dragon-riders died and those, who kept practicing Hiccup the Seconds ways forgot about their purpose and Dragons were reduced to farm-animals."
Hamish blew out some of the smoke from his pipe.
It swirled through the air and Hiccup caught the sickly sweet smell and tried not to gag.
"And then again the impossible happened. Everybody though the imbalance Hiccup the Second had created was too big to be cured. But fate decided different. It decided to give us one last chance. And isn't fate artistic?" He smiled.
"You were born, despite every odd." He sounded amused but also mockingly.
"A tiny replica of Hiccup the Second. Well, nobody probably knew back then, but I'm sure they could feel you were trouble. Fate made you Hiccup the Third. And from that day on boy, you were doomed. You were supposed to make right what the man before you wronged." He smiled wickedly.
"It's the only reason you were born and it's the only reason you're still alive."
"Why?" Hiccup hated how weak he sounded but he couldn't do anything against it. This story had shaken him deeply.
"Why what?" "Why tell me all this?"
Hamish narrowed his eyes down and instead of mocking he growled.
"To show you that you cannot win. What does it matter that you arose from a mighty bloodline, that in your veins flows the blood of heroes, warriors, dragon-riders, chieftains and adventurists, if you aren't even told the truth behind this suicide mission.
And whose fault is that? I can tell you. It's the gods fault. They knew all along. They don't trust you because of whose blood is also flowing in your veins. They are afraid. They don't trust you. For them, you are just a puppet that is used and when it has done its purpose it's thrown away to the other toys."
Hamish's tone changed yet Hiccup wasn't sure what it was.
"I understand that the world expects so much form you, yet you have nothing to help you. You were thrown in harsh world where you just couldn't fit in. Just like your ancestor Hiccup the Second. He didn't fit in either. And it all happened again, sort of. History repeated itself. Fate tried again and again it failed."
He almost sounded regretful.
Hiccup suddenly had to think about his dream with the gods again. Odin having doubts, Thor telling them to just use them, Loki's nearly none-existing protests.
Hamish put the pipe aside and slowly stood up and came walking towards him while still talking.
"As I was saying, you were born and put into action, without any help. You think you can save the world, just like Hiccup the Second before you thought. But you are not naïve or stupid Hiccup, you are intelligent."
Hamish grabbed his chin hard and forced him to look into his eyes. "Maybe you should consider that the world is beyond any saving. Other dragon-rider saw this long ago. It's time that even your great" he spat the word "Line realizes that! This is a battle you can't win."
Hiccup freed himself from the man's grip. Anger boiled in his chest.
"And what exactly did you want to achieve by telling me this?"
Hamish seemed amused. "Don't get yourself killed in a mission that is destined to fail. As I told you, there can't be harmony in the world. It's against nature. We have to say yes to change. But to the right kind of change. Stop while you still can. There are so much better things you could use your talents fore."
Something in his voice had changed. It wasn't cold anymore. It was softer, hypnotizing and Hiccup felt doubt rise in him.
Wasn't Hamish right? This whole journey had seemed kinda out of place. And what had he archived anyway? He was a slave, he had abducted a princess, he had caused trouble wherever he went, he got a friend of his killed for being around him, a group of Outcast was after him and no one would help him.
What if Hamish was right?
He had heard the gods. They didn't believe he could do it. And wasn't it his ancestors fault in first place that they all were screwed? Why pretend any longer? He was a looser. He'd always been one. He couldn't save the world. He saw that now.
No Hiccup that's not true.
The voice in his head was awfully familiar.
It cut through the thick fog in Hiccups brain that Hamish's story had put there.
Those are the reasons why exactly you can do it. As he said. In your veins runs the blood of several generations. Each of your ancestors was a great man and they passed this greatness down to you. Their full power, their heritage, is combined in you.
He hadn't heard this voice so clear in a long time.
Sometimes you first have to make sacrifices and loose things dear to us to reach victory. We have to make mistakes. It's the only way we can learn what is right. But that don't make you weak or anything. They make you stronger.
"Stronger." He muttered while staring at his hands.
Doubt is something you can't prevent or escape. Everybody has doubts and everybody is doubted at some point. Nobody's perfect.
"Not…perfect."
Hiccup. Please know that there has never been any doubt in your destiny. And in my eyes there has never been anyone more capable doing so, then you.
"Me."
Don't let him device you Hiccup. Have faith. Those close to you will stand by you. That is all you will ever need.
"All I will ever need."
"That's right my darling boy. I love you so much. Don't doubt that either."
The clouds in his brain dissolved and he realized what had happened.
Hamish still stood before him but Hiccup could see uncertainty in his eyes for a moment.
He shook his head and backed away.
"No you're wrong. I don't know what you just did but I can tell you, it doesn't affect me anymore. And no, I won't give up!"
"This is suicide." Hamish said.
"You think my life will be wasted? It won't. Hiccup The Second did not fail his mission. He just didn't complete it. But he laid the steps for me to finish it. I was born to complete what generations of my family before started. They always fought and it wasn't always easy. But in the end we always get up and do our thing. And I don't care if I die doing so but you won't stop me."
He took a deep breath.
"And I don't understand why you would want to stop me. If you know that Darkness is about to consume everything, why would you want me to stop me? You are as much affected as I am. Maybe it has higher reasons I don't know.
I don't understand why you are so bitter. And I don't understand why you told me all this about my ancestor but I know one thing for sure. My ancestor Hiccup the Second was a great man, despite his mistake. He was only one human and for one human is what he did an incredible accomplishment. He left me a heritage. And I'm destined to finish it, no matter what some may say. I don't care what you think. You have lost hope. You could never understand." Hamish turned away from him and walked back to the wall and starred at the tapestry.
"No, you're right. I don't understand." He turned back at him. "I don't understand how you can be so foolish." "Foolish? The only one foolish in this room is you if you think that this will just pass you by. You will die if you don't let me go!" Hiccup shouted, now very angry.
A dark chuckle came from Hamish. "Oh, it will pass me alright! I made sure of that."
He turned around and Hiccup gasped.
Hamish's eyes were pitch-black. His teeth had grown in to fangs. His skin had turned a grayish color.
"You…you're…you support Darkness!" "Of course I do. After all, we can't be all good. And I usually side with the winning party."
"But…but why?" "I finally will get the power I was born to have!"
Hiccup looked at him confused. "You…you are willing to sacrifice everybody's live on this planet for power? Are you serious?" Hamish grinned and his face morphed back to normal.
"I told you Hiccup. Your kind ruined everything.
My family ruled over this side of the world for generations. Port East was the Centrum of the world! But then your ancestor came along and ruined everything. I despise you. I despise everything you stand for. I want back what is mine and this way I get it. You will not leave this island as long as I'm here! You will fail like your grandfather before you and I will make you watch as Darkness tears this world apart and consumes everything you tried to save."
Hamish laughed loudly. It echoed through the room.
Hiccup was horrified.
And then the spices clicked into place.
"That's why the dragons attack your village; that is why Port East was destroyed. They were only trying to stop you."
Hamish just laughed again. "Clever boy. Yes, they do it exactly of what you said. After my father killed the last line of direct ancestors of Hiccup the second, the dragons sensed it. They sense everything. Of course they try to stop me. But I'm chief. I can tell my people what I want and they take it for gold. So no one will ever know. I just keep telling the villagers how evil dragons are and that it is all your fault and it pokes their anger further and makes Darkness stronger!"
"You're monster!" Hiccup spat but a few tears also swam in his eyes. "All these people. You killed them." "They are dead because I know the truth. I only do what is right."
"You call this right? Killing innocent people for revenge? That is not right that is wrong." "But what your ancestor did was right?" Hiccup was fuming mad. "So what did he actually do?" "I told you:" Hamish spat. "After he killed the old chief, he married his wife and disowned the sons, making his sons with their mother the true heirs. One of the disowned sons was my ancestor. And we all swore that one day thing would return to normal."
Hiccup gasped. "You mean…" Hamish looked at him coldly. "Yes. We are related. Sort of. In a difficult way." "How nice." Hiccup said weakly.
Hamish snorted.
"Only the strong can belong Hiccup. You should know that by now."
"Then you should know that I'm very strong. Despite every attempt to kill my line, we Haddocks, always interfered with Darkness's plans. And that won't change now!"
With that he went into action.
The talking-time was over.
It was time for actions.
He drove his knee into Hamish's groin and pushed him away, then bolted for the doors. Hamish was taken by surprise but he managed to yell: "Guards! Size him!"
The doors flung open and heavily armored guards grabbed Hiccup.
He fought but it had no use, his hands were still cuffed.
While being carried away he screamed: "This will end! I will fight and I will defeat you!"
The doors closed behind him and Hamish chuckled.
"No my little friend. You won't."
While walking away he laughed silently.
With that the shadows consumed him.
AN: Confused? Quetsions? Something not making sense? Let me know. Hope you like it! Review! Please!
Love, Kate! 3