Carried Off, a DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon fanfic by Raberba girl (rough draft)
Astrid screamed in horror, surrounded by flames and unable to believe what she had just seen with her own eyes. Hiccup couldn't be gone. He couldn't. He had been right there, he had always been there, he would always be there, he couldn't be gone. He couldn't have been stolen beyond her helpless reach, that sort of thing...never happened. She made sure it didn't. Why had it happened?!
It was so hot- The place was on fire, her children were in danger. She had to drop her axe in order to hold them both, and she shouted again in frustration and a fear that she refused to acknowledge. She was weaponless, vulnerable, unable to defend herself while holding onto two sobbing infants...
The first person she saw when she stumbled out of the forge was Gobber, but the man was weeping and heedless of the chaos around him, she couldn't hand off the children to him. The next person she saw was Fishlegs, and though he seemed shocked and horrorstruck, he wasn't weak-kneed the way the blacksmith was. Astrid shoved her babies into the man's arms. "Take them to shelter," she snapped. "And take Gobber with you if you can get him to move." She had a feeling the older man was ruined for the rest of the battle, and the village could now afford to lose their remaining smith less than ever.
'Hiccup's gone Hiccup's gone Hiccup's gone Hiccup's gone...?!' She couldn't bear the thought. She didn't want to think at all, so she snatched up a fallen weapon and charged at the closest dragon she saw, roaring at the top of her lungs.
o.o.o.o.o
There eventually came a point when Hiccup decided he had no choice but to accept this strange new reality. He had been abducted, and he couldn't count on ever being able to escape. He had been abducted by dragons who seemed to have no interest in eating him. He was here in this strange place now, and maybe he would die, but it was looking more and more like he wouldn't, so he needed to find something better to do than cower.
He stepped nervously out into the light, trying to ignore his winged, green-eyed shadow. He wandered across the wide ledge, looking out at the nest - which was really rather beautiful - and flinching but trying not to shriek and run away whenever dragons came over to sniff at him and lick him and poke him with their snouts and croon at him and breathe unlit gas on him and preen his hair and tug at bits of his clothing.
It was bizarre. He knew, KNEW, from a lifetime of experience, that dragons were bloodthirsty, greedy, aggressive, dangerous monsters. Yet the animals he found himself surrounded by seemed like entirely different creatures, displaying a wide range of emotion and treating him primarily with curiosity and perhaps even affection.
"What is happening?" Hiccup asked in bewilderment, patting a dragon five times his size that was nudging him gently in the stomach. "Why are you not horrible?"
His feet inevitably led him to the king. He knew it was a king, this mighty white beast with eyes that seemed eerily all-knowing. A part of Hiccup dreaded getting anywhere near the gigantic ruler of his people's ancestral enemies, but another part of him knew that he was intruding in the heart of this ruler's territory, that he lived and breathed at the dragon king's pleasure, and that he would need to acknowledge his host with respect.
Enormous aquamarine eyes turned patiently to him. Hiccup immediately knelt, head bowed so he wouldn't have to look at the giant, humbling himself more meekly than he would have to any human ruler. He opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly could think of nothing to say. He seemed to shrink, miserable and strangely ashamed, until he became aware of the enormous headache hovering again.
He swallowed. He swallowed again, harder, feeling shaky and hot with fear. Then he dug his fingers hard into the moss he knelt on and whispered, "Yes."
For a long time, nothing seemed to happen, until the wait made him a little bored and he inadvertently relaxed.
"?"
Hiccup immediately went rigid at the mental contact, his breath coming short. His eyes darted up to the king, but then he lost his nerve and couldn't look again.
He'd felt it. He'd sensed the question, a feeling of confusion and curiosity and slight frustration that wasn't his. "I- I-"
"? Who." It wasn't exactly a word - more like the curiosity of before, plus the wordless impression of a person. Of Hiccup. He could somehow tell that the king was asking who he was.
"I- I- I'm Hiccup."
"Ai ai aimmhkkupp?" Those, to Hiccup's shock, were sounds, though inaudible. It was the mental replication of sounds moving through his mind like the recollection of speech. The king's next thought, however, wasn't a word, but more like an impression of dissatisfaction and confusion and deliberate patience. "Wrong."
Hiccup swallowed. This time, he tried to think at the dragon king, deliberately trying to emphasize the sounds of his name and sort of surround it with concepts. "Hiccup. Identity calling me, me. 'Hiccup.' Human call to me, 'Hiccup,' 'Hiccup' me, I answer." He closed his eyes, overwhelmed by the momentary intensity of the king's delight. The sensation quickly faded, and he realized that the king was actually holding back, trying to be gentle with him in this otherworldly 'conversation.'
"Hiccup. Sound-name for you small frightened thing compassion, 'Hiccup.' Hiccup, I greet you."
"Hi," Hiccup whispered, amazed. With an effort, he tried to give the mental impression of a return greeting. "'Hello,' come harmless shy welcome." He was tired. This form of communication was strangely draining.
"Hiccup weak rest. Safe hide dark safe."
Hiccup was aware of the Night Fury carrying him away.
o.o.o.o.o
It was so quiet. When the last of the dragons took to the air, Astrid watched them for a long time, even after they had flown out of sight. Her weapon, already hanging precariously from her limp fingers, finally dropped to the ground. She had nothing now to distract her from her grief, which surged tightly in her chest and squeezed out of her eyes in the form of tears. They slipped down her face as she thought, aching, of Hiccup. 'He's gone...he's gone...I'll never see him again...'
Slowly, feeling very old, she set about taking stock of the damage, helping with the injured and bereft, receiving reports from her warriors. All the while, Hiccup never left her mind. He was gone. Snatched away from her in an instant, while she'd been so helpless to keep hold of him.
He had been so brave. That was the part that most shocked and bewildered her. She had spent her whole life believing him to be weak and cowardly, yet her last glimpses of her husband had been seeing him shield their children with his own body, and charging empty-handed at a Night Fury to...to save her. To save her. The children he adored, perhaps it was understandable that he would willingly lay down his life for them; yet to have risked himself and paid the ultimate price to save her, who had held him in contempt...
It shook her badly. She had seen strong men and women risking their lives to help comrades and loved ones, but she had never seen someone fling himself against such impossible odds, sacrificing himself for the sake of someone he didn't even like.
'I've been... All this time, I was wrong about him. I...!' It was unbearable. The fact that she had lost something whose value she hadn't realized until it was already gone made the grief even more painful, so she tried hard to focus on anything that wasn't what she had lost.
o.o.o.o.o
When Hiccup awakened, it was nighttime, and he was curled up between the black dragon's forelegs in the shadows of its lair. "Nooooo, it wasn't a dream..."
The dragon croaked curiously and nuzzled him.
"Stop doing that! You are not a cute little pet, you are a vicious bloodthirsty monster. Don't you have any self-respect?" Hiccup was pretty sure the dragon wasn't actually going to eat him, but his body seemed to be slower to catch on to the idea. His heart was thudding almost painfully, his skin prickling with heat. All his instincts were screaming at him to flee or fight, but he forced himself to remain still in the dragon's embrace.
His stomach growled. A nervous tremor went through him as the dragon instantly lowered its great black head to sniff at Hiccup's belly. "D-Don't mind me, I-"
The dragon's eyes rolled back in its head, and it started to make gagging sounds.
Hiccup stared. Just when he remembered why this seemed so familiar, half a fish was regurgitated onto his chest. "...You are disgusting."
The dragon vocalized encouragingly.
"No, okay?" Hiccup complained, finally struggling free of the dragon's hold. "I am not going to eat something that you already ate."
The dragon frowned, then scooped up the fish in its mouth and stalked. Hiccup gasped and backed away until he was trapped in a corner. The dragon's silly-looking mouthful of fish didn't do enough to reduce the menace of its narrowed eyes and low growl.
Hiccup swallowed. "I...I... At l-least let me cook it first, okay?"
No response. Of course the dragon couldn't understand him - it was an animal.
Slowly, praying that he wasn't making a mistake, Hiccup crouched down until he was lower than the dragon, which made him feel too vulnerable. 'Get a grip, Haddock, it's not like you'd be safer at full height, either.' He patted the stone floor and then imitated the sound of a Night Fury blast as best he could while sweeping his hands away from his mouth. "Fwwsshh! There, shoot! Fwwsshh." The dragon dropped the fish, staring in confusion. "Fwwsshh. Fww-" Hiccup shrieked and jerked back when a plasma bolt hit the stone right next to him.
Which was, after all, what he'd been asking for, right? "Th-Th-Thanks," he gasped out. Wincing in disgust, he picked up the fish with the tips of two fingers and laid it on the hot stone. The meat sizzled, and Hiccup smiled a little in relief.
He eventually needed another fire bolt, which the dragon provided on the first try this time, and managed to cook the fish thoroughly enough that he hoped the taste of dragon drool and cave dirt would no longer be noticeable. Then he took a bite. "Mmm. Secondhand meat cooked on the floor; yum." His tone was sarcastic, but the fish actually didn't taste too bad. He might even try this again next time, though preferably with fresh meat on a cleaner surface.
Next time?
'No. No. No. I've been kidnapped. I'm going to die. I will never see my children again.' Suddenly overcome with the full weight of his situation, Hiccup curled tightly in on himself, trying hard to contain his grief. 'I'm going to... Finn, Val, if I could just...I only wanted...'
More licking from the dragon.
"STOP THAT!" Hiccup suddenly yelled, jumping to his feet. "You STOLE me, dragon, you took me away from my children, don't you dare try to ingratiate yourself with me after everything you've done to me, to my people - you monster! You MONSTER!" Full of rage, he flung himself at the dragon, fully intending to fight his way to Valhalla. He struck and clawed and bit-
-for about four seconds. Then the Night Fury's roar drowned out his own, he was flung to the floor, flashing teeth descended on him, and he felt a moment of satisfaction.
But instead of ripping him to shreds as he expected, the teeth did not pierce his flesh. The dragon pinned him, its snarl hot and close, seeming to spread through his whole body.
"What are you holding back for?!" Hiccup shouted, thrashing. "Kill me already! That's what you wanted, right?! Kill me! Kill me!" The dragon, fed up with his struggling, shook him hard in its teeth and then crushed him to the ground again. Dazed, Hiccup stared at the wall until he got his wits back, then tried again to strain free. It seemed like no matter how hard he fought, no matter how much the pressure of dragon jaws closing on his shoulder intensified, the Fury, for some inexplicable reason, kept refusing to draw blood. "What is...wrong with you...you stupid...dragon...?!"
Obviously frustrated by his refusal to submit, the dragon planted a paw on him to try to keep him still. Hiccup kept struggling, having nothing to lose. Minutes passed, and more minutes. Fishy-smelling dragon saliva was running uncomfortably down his neck, but still the dragon did not let up.
Hiccup slowly came to the realization that they were at a stand-off: there was absolutely no way Hiccup could escape by force, and the dragon was refusing to hurt him. It was a waiting game, and the dragon would most likely last a lot longer than he could. '...I suck.'
Hiccup sighed, letting the fight drain out of him. He lay limply, resigned, awaiting his fate. After a long moment, the dragon cautiously unclamped its jaws, and Hiccup groaned. The blood circulation in his right shoulder had been restricted for so long, and he knew he was going to have terrible bruises from the pressure of the dragon's teeth...
The Night Fury licked his bare throat, then watched with a distressed-sounding whine as Hiccup writhed slowly. There was nothing either of them could do until the worst of the pain subsided. Hiccup lay on the cold ground, wanting to die, and groaned in angry frustration when the dragon nudged him onto its back. "Just leave me alone! Leave me alone, why are you doing this to me, why won't you either kill me or let me go...?!"
The Night Fury brought him to the king and barked up at the behemoth beseechingly. Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut and covered his face as if that could shield him from the king's thoughts.
"?"
"NO! GET OUT OF MY HEAD! GET OUT, GET OUT!"
There was a flash of surprise and then a withdrawal so sudden that Hiccup felt a little sick. He slipped to the ground and lay on the moss, listening to the king and the Night Fury talk to each other in their dragon language, shivering as he saw curious dragons gathering around. One started to approach him. He knew it probably wouldn't hurt him, but he curled up anyway with his good arm covering his head, hissing as he sensed an inquisitive nose examining him. A roar from the king frightened him into curling up even tighter, but nothing happened except that the surrounding dragons dispersed.
Hiccup lay there for a long time, not paying attention to much except the rhythm of his own breathing, dimly aware of the Night Fury curled around him. It occasionally licked his bruised shoulder and made soft, almost mournful-sounding croons.
"You know that does about as much good as a mom kissing her kid's boo-boos better, right?" Hiccup mumbled. He suddenly remembered his own mother, who had been carried off by a four-winged dragon when he was just a baby. His eyes widened, and he sat up.
And nearly screamed when he saw a huge dragon with four wings, sitting nearby and staring at him sadly. He stared back, pressed up against the alarmed and confused-looking Night Fury. "Y...You... Was it you who killed my mom?!"
The four-winged dragon vocalized softly and began to approach. Hiccup shrank back, then reached to pull the black dragon's wing over himself like a shield. 'I can't believe I'm trying to protect myself with a Night Fury,' he thought distantly.
The two dragons conversed for a moment. Hiccup crouched beside the Fury's warm hide, breathing hard. Then he closed his eyes and scoffed at himself. 'What are you afraid of, Haddock? That you'll get carried off like your mom? Been there, done that. That you'll get eaten? Yeah, Owl-face there looks just as savage and bloodthirsty as the rest of these idiot disgraces to monsterkind.'
He forced himself to let go of the wing and step out into the open. He stared hopelessly up at the four-winged dragon. Their eyes met, and the dragon started to lower its head. Hiccup cringed and tried to duck away, but ended up stumbling into the Night Fury. Hot dragon breath huffed over him. He held his breath and waited.
Tugging sensations prickled his scalp, it felt like someone was combing his hair. Hiccup leaned on the Night Fury, staring unseeing at its shining black scales, trying to wrap his head around the fact that his mother's killer (maybe) was preening him. 'Maybe the Thorstons slipped some weird mushrooms in my soup and this is all just one giant hallucination...?'
The Stormcutter finally sat back and made a satisfied noise, and Hiccup cautiously reached up to find his hair damp with dragon saliva. "Uuuuggghhhh..."
To be continued...