Carried Off

by Raberba girl

In a world where he never shot down a dragon, Hiccup, a young husband and father, is abducted by a Night Fury during a raid. He spends the next fifteen years in an icy dragon sanctuary until an unexpected reunion with his dragon-riding teenage children. "What if?" scenario with Hiccup in Valka's role. Sequel to "Untitled dark ha."

8. Dragonf

Carried Off, a DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon fanfic by Raberba girl (rough draft)

"Babe!"

"Not now, Snotlout," Astrid snapped.

"Aw, come on, don't be like that."

"I'm busy."

"You're always busy! Look, babe-"

"I am not your babe."

"Okay, fine, Astrid! I have a proposition for you."

"The answer's no."

"You haven't even heard my proposition yet!"

"Doesn't matter. I already know it's no."

"Astriiiiid! Come on, you're a grown woman, your bed's a little less crowded now, I know what you need. I'm just saying, I'm here ready and waiting to, y'know, crowd up your bed again."

She hated so much that he was right. And that he was less repulsive to her now than he had been two or three years before. "Snotlout, you are married now."

"Hey, no problem, I can get divorced!"

"On what grounds, Snotlout?!"

"On the grounds of...uh...oh! On the grounds of she hasn't given me any kids!"

"Of course she hasn't, Snot. She's 47."

"Exactly."

"Uuugghhh, Snotlout..." 'Don't tempt me.' "I am not going to destroy a woman's marriage just because you're taking advantage of my husband's death to try to get into my pants."

"Fine, then I won't divorce her! You can be my mistress; problem solv- OOOOWWWW!"

o.o.o.o.o

When Hiccup awakened again, he went to wash off all the dragon spit he was covered with, which he did in one of the normal pools rather than the hot spring he usually used. Naked and covered with gooseflesh from the ice-cold water, he rested against a rock and wondered vaguely if he would die of hypothermia.

No such luck. As soon as Toothless realized that his human's body temperature was dangerously low, the dragon practically lay on him until Hiccup stopped shivering. "So suicide by bath isn't going to work, either, huh."

Then it was breakfast. Hiccup was annoyed at his traitorously ravenous body, and ate far more than he ordinarily would have even in normal health. After a few meals, though, his body seemed back to normal, and he was left with the dismal prospect of spending the rest of his failed life here, learning how to forget about his children and perhaps how to be happy in his beautiful prison. "Toothless, fly?" he asked softly. He needed a distraction.

The dragon looked at him, but instead of reacting with excitement the way he usually did, he made a sorrowful sort of noise and was practically cringing as he lowered himself for Hiccup to mount.

Hiccup frowned as he slipped onto the dragon's back. "What's wrong with you? You love flying."

Toothless walked slowly to a ledge and didn't take off immediately. Hiccup was about to urge him on when the Night Fury lifted his head and called out.

The great sea dragon rose to his full height. Hiccup stared, wondering what was so different about this flight that the king himself would take notice of it.

"Goodbye." Love and sadness flooded Hiccup's mind and then reluctantly retreated.

"What?"

A swarm of dragons, many of whom Hiccup recognized, rushed to fly above him and Toothless, crying out over and over again. Some of them landed and nuzzled or licked or preened Hiccup before taking off again. Before Hiccup could gather his thoughts and properly ask the king what was going on, it was too late - Toothless finally took off, Cloudjumper at his side, and the nest was left behind.

"Up," Hiccup signaled with his knees, but the dragon only rolled his shoulders and pressed on. "Toothless? No fancy flying today?" The only answer was a warble that Hiccup didn't understand. "What is wrong with everyone this morning?"

After a while, Hiccup realized to his surprise that they were flying south. Halfheartedly, he thought about making another escape attempt, but to his shock, Toothless continued on course with no prompting, and flew straight through the invisible, mysterious barrier that had always turned him away before. "Toothless?!"

Eventually, there came to be no doubt about it. They were leaving the nest. Hiccup's heart beat a little harder, and he tried to quash the hope that maybe, maybe, at last they might be setting him free of their own accord. "I... Don't be cruel to me... Don't get my hopes up and then make me realize I'm wrong..."

They touched down at twilight, near the first decently safe-looking human settlement. The three of them spent the night curled up together for warmth and comfort, and lingered together in the morning.

Hiccup embraced both dragons and whispered how much he would miss them. When they saw he was leaving, Toothless cried and licked him and nuzzled him; Cloudjumper preened him as meticulously as a mother dressing her daughter's hair on her wedding day.

Then Hiccup walked away, and the dragons did not follow, and it was a long time before the memory of Toothless's mournful wail began to fade from Hiccup's mind.

o.o.o.o.o

Hiccup gained enough money doing smithwork and odd jobs to earn him passage to the edge of the Barbaric Archipelago. Then, in the familiar, war-torn territory of Vikings and dragons, Hiccup had to hide his identity, since only the Berserkers were still allies of Berk. He would be run out of town if anyone else found out he was the Hooligan heir who had caused his tribe to fall almost to the level of Outcasts nearly nine years before.

He pretended to be one of the Bog-Burglars' 'Lost Boys' so that no one would try to pry further into his background or think he was worth anything. As far as the people he met were concerned, he was just one more fatherless, unwanted son who'd gotten kicked out of his female-controlled tribe as soon he was old enough, and had spent the years since then trying to make a real life for himself. 'Not too far from the truth, actually...'

His cover story and his skills and what was left of his money got him food, shelter, and eventual transportation to an uninhabited island on the border of Hooligan territory. He had hoped to be able to catch a ride from Trader Johann, but his path never crossed with the man, which meant that he was going to have to figure out a way to get from this tiny heap of rock in the middle of nowhere back to his children on Berk.

Hiccup woke up in the middle of the night to find two very small Gronckles nosing curiously at him. They both paused when he awakened, probably sensing his surge of adrenaline and increased heartbeat, but he didn't move and he breathed deeply to calm himself down. One of the fledglings licked him. "Hi," Hiccup whispered. He slowly lifted a hand and scratched at her rough hide. The fledgling rumbled in delight and pressed into his touch; her sibling pawed at Hiccup, and he lifted his other hand to oblige with more scratches.

The mother dragon, who had been rooting around in Hiccup's belongings as a third fledgling investigated the remains of the campfire, raised her head abruptly and growled in alarm.

"It's all right," Hiccup called softly. "I'm a friend."

The mother marched forward, scattering her sheepish children, and stood over Hiccup, glaring at him. He had learned that dragons responded to eye contact from strangers as if it was threatening, so he moved his gaze away, and he lifted his chin to indicate surrender. After a long moment, the Gronckle cautiously lowered her head to lick his bare throat, just like the dragons at the Sanctuary had done whenever they won a game or a power struggle or had finished chastising a repentant youngling.

"See?" Hiccup murmured. "You win. You're the boss. I won't hurt you. Okay?"

The Gronckle made a wary humming sound and backed away.

Hiccup rolled onto his stomach and started to crawl forward, but she nervously took another step back. "I'm not gonna hurt you," he crooned, lifting his hand. "I just need your help with something, okay?"

The Gronckle sniffed and licked his fingers. Her children, encouraged, approached again to investigate Hiccup. Ignoring their nudges and gentle bites, he started trying to haul himself onto the mother dragon's back without actually standing up, but she shied away and barked to her children. The fledglings protested, but then nuzzled Hiccup in farewell and reluctantly turned away.

Hiccup exhaled as he watched the little family disappear into the darkness. "Patience, Hiccup," he whispered to himself.

It took several days for Hiccup to befriend the mother Gronckle and get her to trust him enough to let him onto her back. It took a few more days for him to coax her to bring him even to the very far side of the island of Berk, since she seemed understandably reluctant to get so close to the human village. "It's okay, girl, just a liiiiittle farther, then I promise I will never bother you or your kiddos ever again, okay?"

At long last, as twilight began to fall, Hiccup set foot on his homeland. He stood for a minute, looking around and breathing the air and absently caressing the fledglings who kept bumping against him. Then he smiled at the little Gronckle family, made his best imitation of the sound the Sanctuary dragons had cried at him when he'd left for the last time, and headed into the forest.

The young Gronckles followed him for a while, prancing at his side and darting off to investigate various things as if they were pet dogs, but their mother eventually called them back, anxiety in her voice. The fledglings sadly nuzzled Hiccup one last time, and then he was alone.

It was long after most people's suppertime when he reached the village. Trying his best to not be noticed, Hiccup made his way to his house - at least, the spot where his house usually stood. The building looked different; it had likely been damaged and repaired during his absence.

He was dreading seeing Astrid again, but what he wanted more than anything in the world was to see his children, so he barely hesitated to walk inside.

The central fire was low, shielded from the babies by a screen around its perimeter. No lamps were lit. Hiccup dimly registered the sound of female voices coming from behind Astrid's closed bedroom door - Astrid herself sounding like she was arguing or ranting, the other woman's voice a murmur, both too muffled to distinguish the words.

Hiccup barely noticed because his eyes were fixed on his babies - Finn lying in a heap on the floor, making low, dull sobs as if he had been crying unheeded for a long time; Valka standing by a chair and gripping it for balance (she could stand up now...?!), screaming at the top of her lungs in outrage that she was being ignored in the quiet, boring darkness.

'They're so big,' Hiccup thought, horrified and grieving, even as he reached out with a soothing croon in his voice. 'They're so big, I missed so much, this is what you did to us, Toothless, how can I forgive you for this...?' "Hey, baby girl, hey~"

He was a little startled when Valka jerked and shrieked out an extra-loud cry as his arms came around her. She thrashed and hit him.

'She's frightened?!' "Val...Val, sweetie, it's me, it's daddy..."

She cried out in a strange mix of distress and curiosity, painfully gripping his ear and a fistful of his hair for a minute as she stared intently at him. He kept very still except to rub her back soothingly. "Hi," he whispered, trying to smile. The baby relaxed a little and started biting him, which hurt too because she had teeth now that hadn't been there the last time he'd seen her.

"Oh, Val..." Still holding her, he reached out for Finn, who abruptly went silent at the first touch. The baby stayed rigid and quiet as his father gently stroked his back, but when Hiccup started to tuck his hand beneath the boy's body and pull him closer, Finn panicked, struggling and sobbing. "Finn, Finn, hey, it's me, it's just me, it's all right, it's only me..."

The boy kept squirming, clutching Hiccup's arm hard, sounding terrified as he wept.

'He doesn't recognize me...my own children don't recognize me...' Tears ran down Hiccup's face as he let go of his son, who crawled away on his belly and clutched at a stuffed animal, still crying.

Valka was babbling curiously now, patting Hiccup and pressing her face to his for a long moment as if wanting to experience his tears for herself. Then she pulled away so she could plop down on her bottom and play with the cluster of dragon scales hanging from his waist. "That's where I've been, sweetie," Hiccup whispered. "I didn't mean to leave you. I would have never left you if I'd had a choice. I'm so, so sorry."

He scooted close enough to reach Finn again, relieved when Valka followed her new toy. Hiccup didn't try to pick up Finn this time, but simply stroked the boy's back, feeling a very tiny bit better when he realized that the stuffed animal his son was clinging to so tightly was actually the little Nadder that Hiccup's own mother had made for him when he'd been a baby. Someone had taken it from his things and given it to Finn to comfort him in his father's absence. "I came back, Finn...it's going to be all right now..."

After several long minutes, Finn's small body started to relax. Hiccup caressed his hair and stroked his cheek with a gentle fingertip. Finn turned away and rubbed his face against the stuffed animal, but then he paused and pressed his head into Hiccup's hand again. Hiccup petted him a little more, then lay down on his back and cautiously tugged the baby onto his chest. Finn tensed but didn't resist, lifting his head to peer fearfully into his father's face.

"Hey there, big guy," Hiccup said softly.

Finn buried his face in Hiccup's chest, now clutching at his father's tunic as he hummed in an unhappy way that was not quite crying anymore. Valka crawled onto Hiccup's legs and gripped his belt buckle, apparently trying to pull it off. After a minute, Hiccup carefully supported Finn as he sat up and started rocking a little. "It's all right, Finn. I love you. I would never hurt you."

Approaching footsteps made Hiccup hug Finn tighter and clutch at Valka as he looked up apprehensively. It was Astrid - but he had never seen that expression on her face before. She looked pale and shocked, even frightened, as she held out a plate of bread. Her mother stood in the background, staring at Hiccup with a similar expression. "It's all we have," Astrid whispered. "I can't sweeten it, it's all we have. This house honors you; leave us in peace."

Hiccup finally understood, and worked very hard to not burst into mirthless laughter. "I'm not dead, Astrid."

She kept staring at him.

"I'll take the bread, though. Thanks." He picked it off the plate and took a bite out of it, allowing Valka to chew on the other end.

"...Hiccup?"

"I'm not dead. I...escaped. But I'm not saying a word until I've had a good night's sleep. Speaking of which..." He gave the rest of the bread to Valka to gnaw on and put his arm around her, standing up holding both babies. Finn's grip on his tunic tightened. "The kids will be with me tonight. We'll talk tomorrow, but I can't deal with you tonight, Astrid. I can't." He turned away, relieved when she just stood there and didn't try to follow him up the stairs.

...The loft was empty.

Hiccup stared at the barren room that was no longer his. The bare bed frame and empty desk remained, but other than that, there was nothing. Hiccup went back downstairs without a word, and did not glance at his wife as he crossed the room.

There weren't many people out at this hour, and the one or two he passed seemed too drunk to notice him. He knocked at Gobber's door with his foot. There was no answer, so he knocked again, this time without stopping. Valka pounded an accompanying rhythm on his shoulders and babbled loudly.

Heavy, uneven footsteps sounded from inside, and the door was finally flung open. "If you didn't have the kids with you-" Gobber started to snarl, but then broke off. He stared much as Astrid had, though with less fear and more pain.

"I'm back," Hiccup said softly.

"Ach, lad." The man sounded close to tears. "Don't do this to me. I'll come with you in the next raid, and gladly, but...not like this, quiet and shameful..."

This time, Hiccup didn't feel even the slightest urge to laugh. "I'm not dead, Gobber," he murmured, "and it's not your time yet. The dragons didn't kill me. I came back."

Valka let out a cranky, "Waaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh" noise and flopped over backwards. Hiccup struggled to hold onto her, and was grateful when Gobber took the little girl out of his arm.

"Now, stop that, Val," the older man scolded gently. "You're not old enough yet to take a bump on the head and walk away laughing."

"Can we sleep here, Gobber? Astrid kicked me out..."

Gobber stared.

"I mean, she didn't 'kick me out,' per se, but...all my stuff is gone. She just... What, the instant I left, she threw all my stuff on the garbage heap?"

"It's here," Gobber said faintly, still staring at Hiccup as if not quite convinced he wasn't a ghost. "In the back room...the forge, you know; your room, really..."

Hiccup stepped back far enough to peer into the forge, but of course it was too dark to see. He meant to go investigate, but found that he couldn't bear for his daughter to be out of his sight. "Here, give me Val back. Can you bring a candle?"

His personal belongings were, indeed, packed up in trunks and crates stacked up in the back room. "I couldn't bear to see them thrown out or given to someone else," Gobber confessed. "She asked me to pick out anything of yours that I wanted, but I took it all. I just...I couldn't..."

"I'm sorry, Gobber. I wouldn't have left if I could help it, I swear. I wanted so, so badly to come back, I wish I could have come sooner."

Gobber hugged him then, arms encircling father and children alike. Then he herded them back into his home, where Hiccup settled the children for the night and made up a bed for himself on the floor and told Gobber his story. "I thought I was going to die. Like, it took maybe two or three days of being terrified out of my mind before I finally realized they weren't going to eat me."

"Why didn't they eat you, lad?"

"I...I don't know, Gobber. They...they're really different. They were so different, Gobber, I don't even think they were the same flock." The more Hiccup spoke of this, the more convinced of it he became. "They can't have been the same flock. There were so many species, Gobber, more than I was able to keep track of, not just the few who always attack here. And they weren't... They were nice, Gobber."

The older man barked out a laugh.

"No, really! They...I mean...you just have to take my word for it. They weren't cruel or vicious at all. They would...they were happy, they played together and were affectionate, they were...I mean, they were like people, you know? Not monsters. Just people."

"You sound so much like your mother," Gobber murmured.

"Oh, Gobber, that's the other thing - they KNEW MOM! They knew her, they remembered her, Cloudjumper, he's that four-winged one who took her, he...he took her just like Toothless took me, Toothless is the Night Fury, but they didn't want to hurt us, they thought they were rescuing us, and Mom, she was there for a long time, I don't know how long, but she died and they missed her, the king...oh, man, the king, where do I start?"

"Hiccup," Gobber said, very quietly, "I think you ought to get some sleep now."

"What?"

"Please, lad."

"...You think I'm crazy, don't you."

Gobber sighed heavily. "All I know is that I'm glad beyond belief that you're back, but you are breaking my heart, Hiccup."

Hiccup couldn't speak for a minute. Finally he was able to whisper, "Good night, Gobber."

"Good night, lad. If this is a dream, then it's a pretty good one."

"Mm..."

To be continued...

Author's Notes: Originally, Hiccup was going to stay in the Sanctuary continuously from the time of his abduction to the time his kids are teenagers, but I later reconsidered. I realized that the story could actually go in several different directions, and if I ever get around to doing AUs of this AU, I want to experiment with some of those alternate scenarios.

Anyway, in the end, I figured that Hiccup's personality is not entirely the same as his mother's. I was also surprised at the intensity of Hiccup's love for his children when I wrote about his interaction with them as babies, and it started becoming more and more plausible that he'd make more of an effort to return to his children than his mother did. I played with the idea for a while and managed to work it out to where I could still stick reasonably close to the overarching plot despite Hiccup successfully managing to return to his children.

Most of the research I do for my stories is frustrating, because a lot of times it's so hard to find specifically what I'm looking for at all, much less an adequate number of sources. (I was actually surprised to find as much on Christian church services in Kenya as I did - two YouTube videos are better than the nothing I expected. XD)

Carried Off is different, because much of my research for this story involves pregnancy and infant/child development - and there is SO MUCH information about that on the Internet alone, much less in books and stuff. So much. It's fantastic, I can look up anything related to babies and young children, and find many different sources for what I need. XD I'm also really glad that it occurred to me to turn to YouTube for videos of young children. My personal experience is with children ages 4-13, but I very rarely work with kids younger than 3 or 4, so YouTube was great for helping me with their physical and linguistic development and stuff. (It also helps that I have a baby niece to watch now, heh.)

Speaking of research, when I first posted this chapter, I was doing a research project on religious cults, particularly the FLDS (it started out as a personal project, but now it's doubling as preparation for Astrid's Dragon Treasure story). While responding to a review on the previous chapter, it occurred to me that there are parallels between Hiccup (and Valka) in Carried Off, and some of the women who escape or are rescued from abusive cults like the FLDS. Valka is like one of those mothers who realizes that something is wrong with her community, and the price for her escape to freedom is losing her children. Hiccup is like one of those mothers who genuinely believed in her religion, was ripped away from her home against her will, thinks she's going to hell now that she's been "contaminated" by the outside world, and would willingly return to slavery if that was the only way she could be with her children, even after she's seen that the cult leaders lied about what the outside world is like. It's interesting to me how two things with no inherent connection (HTTYD and religious cults) can be linked due to particular circumstances.