SO...remember when I said I wasn't going to upload until after the new year? I couldn't resist...considering I just read Conceal, Don't Feel: A Twisted Tale...I felt like uploading. It's a good read. Basically the plot is what if Elsa and Anna never knew each other. I enjoyed it. Also over 100 favorites and followers?! What is this madness?! :P
So here's a late Christmas present for you! Enjoy!
It's time for the Reviews Review! Is it working? Yes? No? Repeat the question? Ideas for names in the reviews, please!
vangian13: I was being cheeky. I know! I just had to! The moment was too perfect!
Guest 1: Yep! Here it is! And thank you for the wonderful Christmas wishes! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas too!
Guest 2: Thank you!
bsmith1138: Thank you!
gwencarson126: Yeah, it sucks when people have to die. We don't like saying goodbye. It's human nature. Thank you for checking the story out!
EtheriousLogia: Not quite! But someday!
ulquiorra. schiffer. 1291: Yes! It lives!
f5repeat: It's funny you should mention that...that's exactly what the OG author thought of when he wrote that bit!
The-real-dragon-rider: Thank you! This means a lot. Believe me, taking this over right during the hype of Frozen 2 froze my blood. I was so nervous. Now that the hype has died down, I'm kind of glad I did take this over. If I ever finish one of my stories this is the one I want to finish the most. And even if it takes me twenty years(Hopefully not!) I will give this rendition of the story 110%. Maybe I'll even break the meter! Thanks for tuning in! I hope you stick around!
joeyginise: Well...unless someone knew the circumstances around replacing the swords with frying pans, you'd think it was pretty stupid too. :P
AliceCullen3: Thank you!
K.I. Hernandez: Yeah. I was pretty nervous taking this over, but I'll do my best!
Author's Note: So here we go. A time-skip right to the events of Frozen.
Now in case the following chapter is confusing, Hiccup's armor that he's wearing in this chapter is a mixture of his flight suit from HTTYD 2 with the compass, dagger, charcoal, and extra parchment for the map with the advancements of his Dragon Scale armor from Hidden World. So that includes the flight system, and the dragon scales added to the armor from Toothless.
Hiccup's everyday outfit is the outfit he wore in the Hidden World while on Berk doing his Chief duties.
Heather's armor is the same as her armor in Race to the Edge. Haven't figured out her everyday outfit, but it's probably something similar to her outfit from Riders of Berk. More details to add later.
And now the most difficult part. Toothless' flying rig. Okay, so the order of the rigs goes as follow.
Original Rig: Created on Berk, same as in the first movie. Seen or mentioned in Chapters 1-6.
Second Rig: Created in Arendelle: Improved version of the first rig with flameproof tail from Hidden World. First seen in Chapter 8.
Automatic Tail 1: Created in Arendelle, during Snoggletog, same as in Gift of the Night Fury. Destroyed by Toothless. First Mentioned in Chapter 8.
Automatic Tail 2: Created in Arendelle: Improved version of the first, painted black with fireproof paint made out of Toothless' scales, same as in Hidden World. First seen in Chapter 8.
Current Rig: Created in Arendelle: Improved version of Automatic Tail 2 and the Second Rig, creating a combo tail. Hiccup can pull a lever which gives Toothless full control over his movements. This means he can fly on his own. Tail is painted black like the second Automatic Tail. First seen in Chapter 9.
This rig will be the main rig throughout the rest of the story with minor changes to it to improve functionality.
I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let's go!
Chapter 9
The Boundless Sky. Vast. Clear. Crisp. A black blur raced across the ocean with tremendous speed. The whistling banshee scream of the Night Fury echoed across the waters. Upon it's back was a man, covered in black leather armor, his face covered by a helmet that was more dragon-like than any other helmet of the time. The pair passed a squadron of Thunderdrums, moving through the water. The two cut through the herd, flying under and over the wings of the Thunderdrums, their movements quick and refined as if they had been practicing it for a long time.
The man was laying flat across the dragon's back, pulling himself up into the saddle, flicking a pair of pedals as the dragon did a barrel roll.
"Yeah!" shouted the man as the two went skyward.
They rolled and tumbled through the ethereal cloud-scapes and were joined by high-flying Timberjacks as they soared in formation. The man pulled back the handlebars of the saddle, and patted the Night Fury's neck as they leveled out.
"What do you think, bud? Wanna give this another shot?"
The dragon grumbled in protest.
"Toothless! It'll be fine."
The man reached down, pulling a lever, activating the automatic tail control for his friend. Toothless flexed his real tail, testing the artificial one to make sure everything was working, it's black color absorbing the sunlight. A croon from him signaled to the man it was working, while the man unhooked himself from the saddle.
The man rolled his shoulders as if to amp himself up.
"Ready?"
Toothless snorted unenthusiastically.
The man slid off of Toothless, diving away from him, yelling as he plummeted. Toothless dived after him. They spiraled through the air, face-to-face. As they neared the ocean, the man pressed a button on his armor, deploying wings. Reaching up the man grabbed some handlebars, and extended the wings, immediately halting his descent. Toothless unfurled his wings, and slowed down. The two glided through the air, feeling free and for a moment, the same. The same rush of adrenaline. Independently together.
Toothless shot out a burst of plasma underneath his friend, the heat pushing him up as they continued.
The man smiled underneath his helmet.
"This is amazing!"
A cloud layer washed past, exposing a towering rock formation, dead ahead.
"No longer amazing! Toothless, watch out!"
Toothless shot a plasma blast at the rock formation, shredding it to pieces as the two flew right through the debris, landing on another sea stack.
"That was too close, bud. It really came out of nowhere."
A crack was heard as the sea stack collapsed and fell into the ocean. Toothless grumbled.
"Hey, it's not my fault, bud. I didn't know it was there."
His dragonic friend rolled his eyes.
"Excuses...again."
The man turned a little wheel, which retracted the wings on his back and tucked them away. Once that was done, the man pushed up his black helmet, and pulled it off, revealing a twenty year old Hiccup, his face matured with a sharp jawline, and some peach fuzz growing on his face. His auburn hair was shaggy, and had several viking braids. While he never considered himself a true viking, he did like some of the traditions. Snoggletog being one of them, though he rarely called it that anymore, adopting some of the local words for the holiday.
Braiding his hair wasn't high on the list of Viking traditions, but when his hair kept getting into his eyes while working at the forge, he had asked Heather to braid it. She did, and everyone didn't seem to mind, so he kept asking her to braid it.
Hiccup glanced out across the landscape, taking in the land which was new to him.
"Oh. Looks like we found another one, bud."
A pebble hit him in the back of the head, causing him to turn around to see a pouting Toothless.
"Toothless! Oh, what? Do you want an apology?"
Toothless grumbled, letting out a couple barks.
"Is that why you're pouting, big baby boo?"
His dragonic friend made an annoyed grumble.
"Well... try this on!"
Hiccup hugged Toothless, trying to wrestle him. Toothless' face turned annoyed like he just didn't care.
Hiccup continued to wrestle him.
"Ya feeling it yet? Huh? Picking up on all of my heartfelt remorse?"
Toothless growled softly and stood on his hind legs, carrying Hiccup towards the edge of the cliff.
Hiccup groaned.
"Oh, come on. You wouldn't hurt a two legged-"
He glanced down.
"AHH!"
He clutched tightly onto Toothless as said dragon let out a guttural laugh.
"You're right! You're right! You win! You win!"
Toothless fell backwards, pulling Hiccup with him, tackling him to the ground and the two played.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! He's down! And it's ugly! Toothless and Hiccup, enemies again, locked in combat to the bitter…"
Toothless dropped onto Hiccup, pinning him, the air in his lungs immediately exiting his body with a groan.
"URFFF!"
Toothless watched his rider before licking his face, repeatedly, making Hiccup groan.
"Gaaaaagh! You KNOW that doesn't wash out."
Toothless laughed and Hiccup wiped some of the saliva off his armor and flicked it onto Toothless' head. Grumbling, Toothless licked his paw, and wiped it off.
Hiccup looked around at the new land, and reached underneath his chest plate, pulling out his journal. He opened it, pulling out a piece of parchment out and folded it out on the ground. It was a map of the Archipelago.
Hiccup paused looking it. There were many blank spots on the map, but Hiccup knew what they were. He glanced at one spot in particular, close to Dragon Island. He tapped it with his finger as he remembered the first time they came back to the Archipelago, when Toothless got too close, and was called in by the Alpha dragon that lived there.
The two friends barely managed to escape. Hiccup knew it was the reason for the raids on Berk and had so named it the "Red Death." He was still trying to figure out how to defeat it. Not only because it would free the dragons from it's tyranny, but also to protect his home of Arendelle in case it turned it's eyes southward.
Hiccup subconsciously touched the dark purplelish-green crocus on his left shoulder pauldron, remembering his home. He had decided to take a couple months off from the forge, and explore the known world with Toothless, though he did make plenty of overstock in case anyone would need something.
A quiet croon snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Sorry, bud. Just thinking."
Toothless gave his friend a look.
"About home?"
Hiccup nodded sensing the words behind his look.
"Yeah…come on. Let's finish the mapping."
Hiccup pulled a piece of spare parchment from under a leather flap on his right arm. Holding the paper out, Toothless licked it, and Hiccup applied it to the edge of the map. He pulled out his dagger and sharpened his charcoal before putting the dagger away. He flipped open his compass on his right arm, and adjusted it before closing it.
"So what should we name it?"
Toothless lifted his left foreleg, and chewed his armpit.
Hiccup nodded.
"'Itchy Armpit' it is."
Hiccup continued to draw the surrounding landscape as he talked to his dragon.
"Whaddya reckon, bud? Think we might find a few Timberjacks in those woods? The odd Whispering Death or two in the rocks? Who knows... maybe we'll finally track down another Night Fury…."
Toothless looked at his rider with a croon.
"Wouldn't that be something? So, whaddya say? Just keep going?"
Toothless let out a quiet rumble. A quiet roar was heard as a metallic silver dragon appeared behind them. Hiccup smiled.
"Windshear! What are you doing here?"
The silver dragon rubbed her snout against Hiccup, and he gave her a scratch.
"Tracking you," said a voice. Hiccup turned to face the mysterious voice. The voice came from a hooded individual and the owner of the voice pulled the hood back. Long raven black hair fell out, falling to the person's waist. It was a woman. Her body was curvaceous hidden under lithe muscle and silver armor made from scales of her dragon. Sharp green eyes stared at Hiccup.
"With some help. Hey, Hiccup."
"Heather!" Hiccup said with shock. "How'd you find me?"
"Not easily. Took two Deadly Nadders and a Trader to track you down, but Windshear managed to track you easily enough from there. Honestly she alone could probably reclassify her species."
Heather was of course referring to the new Book of Dragons that Hiccup was writing. One that detailed all of the known species of dragons, and how to train them. Razorswhip's were classified as a Sharp Class species of dragon. They weren't great trackers, but Windshear seemed to be an exception. With her tracking record, it was kind of surprising that her species wasn't in the Tracker Class like the Nadders were.
After the incident with Heather breaking into Hiccup's house, Hiccup managed to forgive her, and she quickly re-earned his trust, becoming close friends with each other. The year prior to this trip, Heather had asked Hiccup if she could come on a trip, and Hiccup allowed her to go. It was during this trip, Heather had found Windshear, who had been injured in a fight with a Typhoomerang, and Heather nursed her back to health, creating a bond with her, much like how Hiccup and Toothless bonded.
Once she was healed enough to fly, she came with Heather, Hiccup, and Toothless back to Arendelle. Hiccup had even built a new wing for his home, just for a place for Heather to live with her dragon, which Heather really appreciated. Heather had promised Hiccup that she would watch the forge for him while he was gone for this trip. But what she wasn't expecting was Hiccup taking her on as an employee to write down orders, and remind him of certain things he needed to do.
Hiccup smiled at his friend and co-worker.
"How's the forge doing?"
Heather sat down next to Hiccup, braiding some of his hair.
"Good. I've been getting new orders though. Especially from the royal advisers."
Hiccup glanced at Heather.
"Really?"
"Yeah," Heather replied. "Apparently the Princess is getting coronated in a couple weeks. We're gonna have a new queen. Some of the orders look important. Like really important."
Hiccup nodded, putting his map away.
"Well, I was gonna turn around here soon, but I got distracted. Exploring the world with the offspring of Lightning and Death itself is a great way to spend your day. Lots of new stuff to see and do. I've even found several new dragons. Like there's one that sings a song...and.."
Heather clasped his shoulders.
"Hiccup, focus."
Hiccup shook his head, running his hand through the back of his hair sheepishly.
"Sorry."
Heather laughed.
"You can tell me later. We need to get back to Arendelle. I'll race you."
"Oh, you're on! Come on, bud!"
The four took flight and flew south at high-speed.
It had been a couple weeks since Hiccup and Heather returned to Arendelle. Hiccup and Heather were in the forge working. Heather was up front at the counter taking new orders while Hiccup was at the forge itself pounding away at some metal as three masted ships entered the harbor, docking nearby.
The town was abuzz with activity as the townsfolk dressed their town with colorful banners, and ribbons. Everyone was dressed in their Sunday best as Hiccup glanced out at Kristoff and his reindeer, Sven. He winced in disgust as Kristoff ate a carrot that he had shared with his reindeer, though he couldn't really complain. Toothless did the same thing with him when they first met. Noticing him, Kristoff gave him a wave, and Hiccup waved back before returning to work.
Heather smoothed out her apron and dusted off her shirt, and leggings.
"And that's all the orders from the Captains of the visiting royal vessels. I'm gonna head home and change."
Hiccup nodded.
"Alright. I'm just about finished here as well. Let me just…"
He pounded another piece of metal before quenching it in a vat of oil. While on one of the journeys with Toothless, the two discovered oil was another way to quench their swords and other metal work items. While more expensive to ship it was easier to cool some of the smaller knives and household items, which didn't fracture under it like it did with cold water.
Hiccup set the piece aside to let it cool, and pulled off his apron, dusting down his brown tunic, and black leather vest.
"Alright. Ready when you are."
Heather smiled and grabbed the open sign, handing it to Hiccup as she shut the windows to the forge.
Hiccup smiled a lop-sided grin. While he wasn't interested in Heather, he had to admit she was very pretty. He pitied the fool who would try to win her heart. She would sooner hit some guy over the head then kiss him. In the time that he knew her as a barmaid, any guy that would try to talk to her or touch her, she always had a dagger on hand ready to put against their throat. It was one of the reasons Hiccup hired her to work in the Blacksmith's with him. This way she could work in relative comfort and in clothes she wanted to wear without being looked upon like a freak of society. In a way they were both outcasts.
Plus he knew she hated that job.
Heather pulled off her apron and handed it to Hiccup where he hung it on the rack next to the door.
"I'm thinking about going for a night flight with Windshear tonight."
"Toothless needs one too," Hiccup replied. "Especially with all the orders I've had to fill this week, I have been working overtime. Maybe I can get some fish to placate him…Odin knows he gets too much already."
Heather laughed.
"He does like his fish. Come on. We better get going."
Hiccup sighed with a chuckle as he locked the door to the forge, following after Heather.
Later that evening, Hiccup and Toothless sat on a cliff face, looking over Arendelle. The sun had set quite some time ago, and the castle was lit up on the inside with a bright amber light, showing more life than it had during the five years that Hiccup had been in Arendelle.
"Looks like some big party. Kind of glad we weren't invited. Too many royals. Too many that think they're entitled to everything on Midgard. We'd fit in perfectly."
Hiccup snorted, catching Toothless' attention.
"Sorry, bud. Was thinking about the party down there. It's kind of funny considering how many royals are in there, and I'm not, even though I'm technically by their standards, a prince. Honestly, I'm kind of glad I self-exiled myself, bud. Living the simple life with you, Heather, and Windshear? I wouldn't trade it at all for being royal..."
Toothless crooned and nuzzled Hiccup. Hiccup smiled and placed his forehead against his best friend's head.
"Love you too, bud."
Hiccup glanced up and saw Windshear staring down at him.
"Well hello to you to, Windshear."
Windshear pushed him off the cliff with a nudge before grabbing him with her teeth, laughing.
"Very funny." Hiccup replied sarcastically.
Heather hopped off of Windshear's back, and patted her neck.
"Alright, girl. That's enough."
Windshear unceremoniously dropped Hiccup from her mouth, and nuzzled her rider. Hiccup just chuckled.
"Is that your way of telling me I need to relax?"
"More or less," Heather replied, playfully nudging him. "Quite the view up here."
Hiccup nodded.
"Yeah. You know you're one of the only people other than myself to come up here. It's only really accessible from the back of a dragon."
"Wow…" Heather replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm such a lucky woman."
Hiccup stammered.
"Well..I mean….you see…"
Heather laughed again.
"I'm just teasing you, Hiccup."
Hiccup rolled his eyes and chuckled.
"Okay, okay. I get it. I need to relax."
Hiccup sat down, taking in the view.
"When I don't want to go home or the tavern, I usually come here with Toothless. Just to relax and..see the Kingdom in all it's glory. It's...it's home."
Heather sat down next to Hiccup and looked at him. The moon shone down upon him, illuminating his face in the moonlight.
"He is so adorable, and he doesn't even realize it."
Heather felt her heart hammering in her chest. Her face flushed, and her palms felt sweaty.
"I have to tell him...I can't..deny these feelings I have for him….why can't he see that I….I...screw it!"
Heather leaned over to kiss him when a sharp cold breeze blew between them. She pulled away.
"Brr...what was that?"
Hiccup didn't reply right away, looking down the cliff.
"The fjord! Look at the fjord!"
Heather did so and gasped, as the two watched with shock as the entire fjord was rapidly covered by ice. Hiccup glanced up to see it was snowing.
"Snow? In July? Something is wrong down in Arendelle. Let's get back. And quick."
Hiccup whistled for Toothless and climbed onto his friend's back, flying down the mountain side and back towards the house. Heather sighed, turning to Windshear. She crooned sadly.
"I'm okay, girl."
Heather climbed onto Windshear's back and flew after Hiccup. When she and Windshear arrived at the house, they found Hiccup going through his maps, and weather charts he had made over the past five years.
"None of this makes sense," he muttered.
Heather coughed.
"Hiccup."
But Hiccup didn't hear her.
"The weather around this time of the year last year was warm, and cool, but not freezing…"
He tossed the chart away, digging through another. Heather snapped.
"HICCUP!"
Hiccup froze and turned to Heather.
"Sorry! I didn't hear you come in. It's just..whatever happened...it's not normal."
Heather nodded.
"I know. Look it's late. We can't travel in this weather. Let's wait till morning, and we'll go find out what happened."
Hiccup sighed.
"Okay. You might want to wrap yourself up with Windshear. I'm gonna do the same thing with Toothless."
"Okay. Good night, Hiccup. I'll see you in the morning," Heather said. She headed off to her wing of the house. After changing into his sleep clothes, Hiccup went over to where Toothless was sleeping, and nudged him gently.
"Hey, bud. Wanna let me in?"
Toothless's wings opened and Hiccup snuggled up against the side of his dragon. His friend's wings closed around him and he closed his eyes to sleep.
The next morning, Hiccup was up bright and early, gathering the furs that he had collected over the years and had stored in his cellar. He had never been more thankful that he decided to save the furs rather then sell them off. He was almost finished loading them into the sleigh when Heather came out of her part of the house.
"Hiccup? Where did you get all these furs?"
"I saved them. I told my friend Adgar once, 'I'd rather keep them unneeded than not have them when they are.' And I figured there are people down there that are unprepared for this weather since they weren't expecting it. It's the least I can do. I got the sleigh loaded. Get dressed and let's go."
Heather nodded and quickly went back to her part of their home, and got dressed. Soon, the two were off to Arendelle, carrying their load of furs.
Hans' POV
"This is bloody ridiculous. I came here to be king...not freeze to death." Hans thought. "If I must play the part for a while longer, then so be it."
Hans entered the town square calling out to the townsfolk.
"Cloak? Does anyone need a cloak?"
A woman came up and Hans handed a cloak to her.
"Arendelle is indebted to you, your Highness."
Hans nodded and turned to the rest of the townsfolk.
"The castle is open. There is soup and hot glogg in the Great Hall."
He handed a stack of cloaks to a one of the castle guards.
"Here. Pass these out."
He glanced to one of the entrances to the kingdom to see a man and a woman in thick furs arrive into the square with a sleigh. The man stood up in the sleigh and spoke up.
"Ladies and gentlemen of Arendelle. I've brought furs to keep you warm. Please! Come and help yourselves!"
Several townsfolk went over to the sleigh and the two handed them out. Hans fumed.
"Is this for real? Who are these people? They're ruining the facade I've put on."
He shook his head and went over to the two.
"I don't believe we've met. Prince Hans of the Southern Isles, fiancee to Princess Anna of Arendelle."
The man nodded.
"Nice to meet you, Your Highness. I'm Hiccup Haddock. I run the blacksmith's here in town. This is my co-partner, Heather."
Heather didn't bother to look at him choosing instead to help the people, but she did give her greetings.
Hans sighed.
"I thank you for your help, but there's really no need…."
Hiccup shook his head.
"With all due respect, a Chief should always ask for help, even when he doesn't think he needs it."
"Chief?"
"I'm from up north. Instead of King, they use the word "Chief" in order to describe their leaders."
"I see," Hans replied.
But before he could talk to Hiccup anymore, a voice called to him. It was the Duke of Weselton. Behind him were his two bodyguards, Erik and Francis.
"Prince Hans! Are we just expected to sit here and freeze while you give away all of Arendelle's tradable goods?"
"Princess Anna has given her orders…," Hans started, but the Duke cut him off.
"And that's another thing! Has it dawned on you that your princess may be conspiring with a wicked sorceress to destroy us all?"
Hiccup was confused.
"What do you mean by a wicked sorceress?"
The Duke turned to Hiccup.
"The queen! She did this! She cursed the land!"
Hiccup blinked.
"The queen of Arendelle...froze...Arendelle? That doesn't make any sense."
Hans' voice pulled Hiccup out of his thoughts.
"Regardless, do not question the Princess. She left me in charge, and I will not hesitate to protect Arendelle from treason!"
The Duke was flabbergasted.
"Treason?!"
A scared whinny was heard as a royal horse dashed into the square. Hans went over to it, calming it down.
"Woh! Woh! Woh, boy. Easy. Easy."
As he calmed the horse down, the townsfolk started to recognize it, and began to whisper.
"That's Princess Anna's horse."
"But where is the Princess?"
Hans glanced towards the mountains before turning to everyone.
"Princess Anna is in trouble. I need volunteers to go with me to find her."
Several people volunteered, and the Duke called out.
"I volunteer two men, my Lord!"
Hiccup was deep in thought. Heather recognized the look on his face.
"Hiccup, no!"
He went over to Hans.
"Prince Hans. I volunteer as well."
Hans inwardly groaned.
"For the love of...this guy again? He's going to ruin everything...but...maybe...maybe I can play this to my advantage."
"I am sorry, Hiccup, but I can not allow you to go. You are needed here to hand out the furs. You are quite the genius. I could use someone like you on Arendelle's council when Princess Anna and I are married."
Hiccup blushed.
"Um...thank you...my lord."
Hans turned to the crowd.
"Master Haddock here will be in charge of dealing out winter clothing for you all. If you need him, find one of the guards here and let them know."
Hiccup waved shyly as Hans saddled up, climbing onto Anna's horse. The volunteers were provided with horses and saddled up as well.
"Right. Let's be off. Quick now! Ha!"
He snapped the reins and rode out of the square and out into the wilderness, the posse right behind.
Hiccup turned to an anxious crowd. He felt as if the ground would swallow him up.
"Well...let's get you all warmed up!"
Two days had passed since that day and the weather was getting worse. Hiccup was glad he re-enforced his house to deal with Toothless, but even it was starting to show the strain.
Regardless of whether or not they were caught, Hiccup, Toothless, Heather, and Windshear had been outside for several hours each day, helping stranded travelers get to the city. Whispers of the four saviors had started circulating around Arendelle, telling of the mighty heroics of the Dragon Whisperers, who commanded dragons with just a simple hand gesture. Heather was not ashamed of the fame and proudly wore it.
Hiccup on the other hand, didn't want the fame. He just wanted to help. Currently, Heather, and Windshear were out of commission, recovering from the cold after crashing due to a sudden gale. Which left Hiccup and Toothless to patrol in near freezing conditions.
"This winter needs to end one way or another." He thought.
Hiccup's teeth chattered under his mask. He leaned over his dragon.
"Ok...ok...aaayyy..bud...let's turn around for home…."
Toothless gave off a weak roar when suddenly the wind picked up causing snow to rain around them.
"I can't see!"
Toothless roared, a purple beam shooting from his mouth. He took off towards the ground, and landed hard.
"Toothless? You okay?"
Toothless roared once more, and was about to lead Hiccup home when he heard shouting. His roars became increasingly concerned.
"What is it, bud?" called Hiccup.
Toothless found Hiccup in the whiteout and started pulling him towards the shouting.
"Help us! We're trapped! Help!"
As they got closer to the shouting, Hiccup saw what had happened. The orphanage had partially collapsed from the storm, blocking off the basement exit where the orphans had taken refuge to stay warm.
Hiccup steeled himself.
"I'm coming!"
He got to the door, and slammed his entire body against it, to no avail.
"OW! Thorsdammnit, that hurt!"
"It's jammed!" called one of the children.
Hiccup thought.
"I...I got it! Everyone back away from the door!"
He whistled for Toothless. His dragonic friend came up next to him.
"Is everyone clear?!"
"Yes! But Mother Superior is knocked out!"
"Don't worry! We'll get her help. Just stay back!"
He turned to Toothless.
"Okay, bud. I need you to blast the door. Concentrate on the center of the door. No high-powered blasts. Start small and work your way up."
Toothless huffed, and charged up a plasma blast.
"Fire!"
Toothless let off a blast, and it hit the door, scorching the wood, but no signs of breaking.
"Come on, bud. Another."
Toothless fired again, this time much stronger. The door cracked, but didn't fall. Toothless took a knee, his strength fading from the cold.
"One more time, bud. We can't give up now."
Toothless stood, stumbling, and he placed his forepaws down, gripping into the ground with his claws. With a loud banshee scream, Toothless fired once more, the purple blast crashing into the door, blowing it to pieces.
Toothless panted, and kneeled.
"Easy, bud. Good job. Just rest now."
Activating Inferno, Hiccup carefully went into the basement, and looked at the kids.
"Everyone okay?"
Whispers went around the group of children.
"It's the Dragon Whisperer!"
"He saved us!"
The building above began to groan.
"Okay, questions later! We need to go!"
Hiccup helped the children up the stairs.
"Everyone, go under my dragon's wings. He'll keep you out of the wind until we can find shelter."
Once the last kid was up the stairs, he returned for Mother Superior, picking her up bridal style.
She groaned.
"What happened?"
"You got knocked out."
"The kids?"
"I got them out safely. Can you walk?"
Mother Superior wearily nodded, and the two started walking up the stairs, Hiccup helping her. The building groaned, bits of the roof of the basement falling down around them.
"There's not enough time," Hiccup thought.
As the neared the top of the stairs, Toothless was protecting the kids from the cold, but was alert.
"Toothless! Catch!"
With a shock of surprise from Mother Superior, Hiccup pushed her out the open door into Toothless, just as the orphanage collapsed around him.
Toothless roared.
Noooooooooooo!
A cough was heard.
"I'm okay! Toothless! Get me out of here!
Toothless dug around the wreckage and found Hiccup. An iron support pillar was impaled into the stairs next to his left leg. A few inches more, and Hiccup could have lost his leg.
"Looks I'm gonna have to remake the armor, bud. I think it was the only thing that saved me."
And he was right. Some of the pieces of armor were dented and cracked beyond repair. Some were even missing, buried underneath the debris. Toothless pulled his rider out of the rubble and hugged him. Mother Superior came over slowly.
"Thank you, Dragon Whisperer. You saved our lives."
Hiccup smiled under his dented helmet.
"It was nothing. I just did what I thought was right."
He clasped one of his hands to his chest.
"Might have a few bruised ribs…."
"Look! Look!" cried the children.
Hiccup glanced all around as the snow seemed to peel off of the ground, and fly off into the sky, forming into a giant snowflake above Arendelle before dispersing into a light flurry and vanishing. Summer had returned.
"Well...would you look at that," Hiccup said. "I'd best be on my way."
Mother Superior stopped him.
"Please...let us repay you. Or at least escort you to the doctor? I can vouch for you and your dragon."
Hiccup shook his head.
"You don't do the right thing for a reward. You do it because it's right. I can fix my armor, and I already have a friend that can help with my wounds. You should get yourself and the children looked at. I'll be fine."
Mother Superior smiled.
"You..you are a rare man indeed. Take care, Dragon Whisperer."
Hiccup nodded.
"I will."
Wincing, Hiccup climbed onto Toothless' back.
"Alright. Let's go home, bud."
Toothless gently took off, and Hiccup waved to the children and Mother Superior as they left. As Hiccup and Toothless soared through the clouds, Hiccup couldn't help but feel like one chapter had ended in his life...
And another one was just beginning.
And that's chapter 9! Guess what? Next chapter is the first chapter with Elsa! See you next time!