Sorry for the wait. Warning: emotion
Hiccup woke slowly, feeling consciousness slip into his body. He felt a stinging, throbbing pain in his neck, which wasn't pleasant. He sat up, and looked around. He stiffened with a small gasp. He was in Astrid's hut. He was on her small couch in the downstairs area. A fire was going, and Toothless was curled close to it.
Hiccup looked around and then decided to stay exactly where he was. He sat himself in a comfortable position on the couch, placing his tail so it flopped off the side. He had learned weeks ago that there was no comfortable human way to sit with wings, so he resigned himself to having them folded against his back and leaning against the back of the couch. The silence was comforting, broken only by Toothless' soft snores and the crackle of the fire.
'Yes, I'd love a cod...' Toothless mumbled in his sleep. Hiccup could only guess what he was dreaming about. 'No, no i'm allergic to... can't stand...'
Hiccup smiled and rolled his eyes. He heard movement, and the door opened. Astrid came in, and turned to some guest she must have had with her.
"Well, you wanted to be here, come on in. It's okay. When he wakes up, you can..." She trailed off when she noticed Hiccup was already awake. "He's already up. Go on." Her voice was too gentle to be addressing Snotlout, so who-
Akey. Hiccup bit his lip. Akey would be very hesitant to be here. Hiccup peered down and saw the lad. He seemed even smaller than Hiccup had ever seen him. He was drooping as he moved forward, staring at his feet. He slowly moved toward Hiccup, and eventually glanced up. As soon as their eyes met, Hiccup saw just how much guilt was in the boy's eyes. He looked as though he would never forgive himself. The boy's eyes flitted to Hiccup's neck, winced, then flitted back down to his feet, where they stayed.
"H-h-hi, Hi-i-i-c-c-cup." He whispered.
"Hey Akey." Hiccup said as gentle as he could. "You okay?" Akey nodded quickly. Hiccup motioned for him to come closer. Akey didn't move. "Hey, c'mon, buddy. It's okay. I know it isn't your fault." Akey shrunk even more, and started shaking slightly.
"B-b-b-but it i-i-i-is." His voice was barely audible. "I hurt y-you."
'It is fine.' Hiccup insisted.
'No it's not.' Akey said in return, voice still soft and guilty in his other language. 'I could have killed you, and it's all my fault. Because I can't control what I am. Everything that's happened to you is because of me. I have to go.'
'No. Stay. Please, key.' Hiccup begged. 'Not your fault. Is no one fault. Please.'
Akey sighed and straightened. 'Even so. I cannot stay any longer. I'm putting everyone here in grave danger. One more moon and I could kill someone.' His mouth twisted in a grimace. 'It's happened before. Please, Hiccup. I must leave. Give me a boat, and I will go.'
'No, I please no I can't- I can't let you go off like that." Hiccup said firmly. "We'll find a way, Akey you don't have to-"
'Yes, I do.' The boy stated firmly. 'I am a threat. A curse. A problem. Everywhere I go, disaster follows. I will not stay and put your lives at risk any more than I already have.' Reluctant tears were already forming in his eyes. He didn't want to go. But he had to.
"You can't run forever." Hiccup pointed out. "No one can."
'Then hopefully I'll die somewhere and no one will be hurt ever again.' Akey said with conviction. 'Then this horrible beast will finally stop ending innocent lives.'
Hiccup found himself shaking his head, refusing that this was the only way. "No, there has to be something. Anything. Akey, don't just quit-"
Akey lowered his gaze. He stared at his small feet, the knowledge of what he was and what he'd done and what he had to do weighing harder on his tiny frame more than any twelveish or eleven-year-old should ever have to deal with. With a deep breath, he gathered the strength to look up into Hiccup's eyes again.
'Thank you for all you've done for me. I don't deserve the kindness I've gotten from this place, and you, and your wonderful friends. But Heather is right.' Akey smiled weakly and put a hand on Hiccup's knee. 'I must go.' He shook slightly and sighed again. 'I'm so sorry for what I did to you. I'm so sorry you're going to die because of me. This is the punishment I deserve. Good- goodbye.'
With this, he turned and walked uneasily to the door. Hiccup watched him, too burdened and upset to move.
"Akey..."
"What? He's not actually leaving, is he? " Astrid asked. She couldn't understand half the conversation, but she had gotten the meaning of it.
"He is." Hiccup said the moment the door to the hut closed again.
Akey was gone.
Not a moment after the boy's figure disappeared out the door did Hiccup waste. He stood to follow Akey, and he was steeling himself to follow him wherever the kid went, to argue, to hug. Astrid watched as he left, closing the door behind him. He followed the boy as he turned towards the heart of the Edge. He followed Akey across the valley. Through the woods. The sun slowly rose higher and higher. Hiccup began to realize where Akey was going, and a feeling of dread rose up in him. Akey was moving towards the volcano at the Edge's center.
"No, Akey..."
He hoped the boy's path would veer, but it never did. Hiccup began to feel incredibly distressed.
He's not going to just throw his life away, is he?
The thought filled him with dread. He refused to believe it. Akey had to have some sense of hope for his future... a future, Hiccup realized, that didn't have any reason to be hopeful. Much like his own. A future of torment. Of hurting others, no matter how hard you try to help, or however good your intentions are. Invention after invention failing. Person after person turned mad and killed to a curse.
Knowing it's not your fault, but like it or not, you can't and will never fit in.
The feeling of helplessness. Bitterness.
Akey had reached the mouth of the volcano. Hiccup was a few feet behind him, stealth abandoned. Akey probably knew he was there, but wasn't acknowledging his friend. Akey stepped forward until his small feet were at the very edge of the hot rock. The volcano hadn't erupted for a long time, but it was still hot. Hiccup could already feel the intense, unyielding heat from it's lava. Akey stood there for a very long time. Hiccup stood behind him, unsure what to do. The last conversation hadn't yielded any solution whatsoever. Why would this be different?
"We both know this is the only way." Akey said suddenly, conviction charging and hardening his voice more than usual.
"It's not a very good one." Hiccup said, walking forward. "Don't do this. I've been where you are. I once tried to do what you're doing. I figured that nothing could change, that I'd be stuck as Hiccup the Useless forever. I ended up failing even my own suicide attempt." He chuckled dryly at the irony. "Akey, come here. It's okay. Maybe we can't fix either of our problems. But I can be here for you."
"You fixed your problem." Akey said bitterly, not moving. "You're respected now. Even when you die, people are going to remember you as a hero. The boy who changed his world when he was only a teen, the boy that tamed a mighty Night Fury, the boy who was destined for greatness even when no one saw it. No one is going to remember me like that. Anyone who remembers me at all will remember me as someone who ruined their life. As the boy who never had control, who killed people. The cursed one." He was shaking slightly.
Hiccup took a step forward. Akey turned to look at him. "I don't want to live anymore." Akey said, full on crying now. "I don't want to go on like this." Hiccup took another step. Akey closed his eyes. He held his arms out and let himself fall. Hiccup gasped as he disappeared from sight. He moved with speed he didn't know he had and leaped after Akey, grabbing the boy's leg. Instinctively, he snapped out his wings and tried to gain height. The heat seared under his wings, and the hot air blasted him upwards. He wrapped himself around Akey when he was sure they were free of the volcano, and let himself fall to the rocky ground below.
He hit the rocks, and agony shot through him. He held Akey tight to him, refusing to let go. The boy was shivering slightly and letting himself be held as they tumbled down the side of the volcano. They eventually stopped when Hiccup ran out of momentum. Hiccup still refused to let go of Akey, even though the lava was far behind. He was afraid to let go of the boy, and he felt angry and confused, frustrated. He opened his eyes finally and opened his wings, which were raw from the tumble. Akey was curled up in Hiccup's paws, and shivering. He didn't know why.
"Hiccup, you-" He mumbled.
Emotion got the better of Hiccup, and in the moment, he felt the strain of what had just happened.
"Don't you ever do that again!" Hiccup said fiercely, hugging Akey to his chest. "Don't you ever. It's going to be alright."
Akey let himself be hugged for a decent length of time, then pushed away. He looked sadly up into Hiccup's eyes, pupils so wide it was adorable. He looked like a kicked puppy. He could see a sort of affection and protective fury in Hiccup's eyes. He began to feel guilty for yet again putting someone in danger. He drooped.
"Sorry."
Hiccup softened and gently rubbed a paw on Akey's shoulder.
"Hey. Just... just don't throw your life away like that. Things may be bad, but that's never a solution. Well, never a good one. Running away from the problem won't fix it. And you can't run away from what you are." Hiccup tried to smile.
Akey began to cry again, tears rolling down his freckled cheeks.
"A-kay." He mumbled. Hiccup held him close again as he began to let out small sobs, and they stayed like that as the sun rose in the sky.
