The Black Sphere Chapter 5
The former dragon-people scarcely noticed when the black dragon turned human along with them. They were too involved in examining themselves and each other for any lingering signs of their reptile nature, and finding none. "Overjoyed" would be the wrong word to describe their reaction; "relieved" would be a better description. Two couples greeted each other with hesitant but passionate embraces, as though this was the first time in years that both of them were human at the same time. Others were quick to thank Rangi for his role in their transformation.
Rangi, on the other hand, was horrified at what he'd just done. He saw his black, scaly chief turn into a slender youth with no clothes, whose legs wobbled just before he fell over sideways. It had been years since he had last seen Hiccup as a human; he had to take it on faith that this young man who didn't look much older than himself was really his chief.
Astrid let out a desperate roar as she ran over to join them. "Rangi, what you do? Change him back! NOW!" Rangi held up the black sphere and desperately recited the nonsense words again. Nothing happened.
"If you're trying to make him a dragon again, it's no good," Leiðtoga said. "The sphere can change you into a human or a half-human, never a dragon. Besides, the effects last for about twelve hours before they wear off, unless the person with the black ball wanted it to last longer than that."
"Somebody is lighting a torch back in the village," a male voice called. "They must have heard the guard screaming."
"Then we need to get out of here before they find us like this!" Rangi exclaimed. "Chief-night-fury, can you walk? That is you, isn't it, Chief?"
"I... I... I don't know," he stammered. He got up on his hands and knees and stayed there for a few seconds. "Everything feels so wrong! I have thumbs and fingers... I'm speaking Norse again... I don't have wings or a... oh, gods, I can't fly!" He hid his face in his hands and nearly fell over again.
Astrid skidded to a stop next to the man who used to be her mate. What was he now? She knew that he was still Hiccup on the inside, but on the outside, he'd turned back into the nerdy-looking boy who'd repeatedly tried and failed to get her attention when she was still a girl. "Can I help you stand?" she asked anxiously, then realized that he probably couldn't understand her anymore.
"Chief, try and stand up," Rangi urged him. "If Lunklunk catches you among his thralls at midnight, he could do anything, from filing a legal complaint to throwing a spear at you. We've got to get you out of here." Hiccup took his offered arm and slowly, agonizingly pulled himself upright. It took effort for him to stay that way.
"I haven't walked like this in years," he said to no one. "I think I'm back to my fifteen-year-old body again. How are we getting out of here?"
"We'll both ride on Astrid," Rangi decided. She crouched down, but Hiccup didn't climb onto her back. He nervously made his way to face her. He tried to offer her a TrueSight, to reassure her that it was still him in this body, but nothing happened.
"It's still me in here," he said to her. "I still love you, and I still think you're beautiful... but our next mating flight might be a problem."
DON'T WORRY ABOUT THAT NOW!
GET ON BOARD.
WE'LL SORT THIS OUT LATER.
He glanced at the runes she'd just written, nodded, and clambered onto her back. Rangi rode just behind him. They made a clean getaway; the first of the Lava-Lout guards didn't arrive for another five minutes. By the time they got there, all the thralls were back in their huts, so the guards saw nothing out of the ordinary and went back to bed.
As they sailed through the night sky, Hiccup turned back to face Rangi. "The last time I did this, Astrid was riding where you are now."
"Which Night Fury were you riding?" Rangi wondered.
"We were riding on Toothless," Hiccup said. "He was the only Night Fury at that time. He turned both of us into Night Furies. Now, that stupid sphere turned one of us back. I think I'm done with black things changing my body around. This is going to be very awkward when we get home."
"You mean, because you've got no clothes?"
"No, I think I've still got some clothes in my dad's old house. It will be awkward because I'm supposed to be the chief of the village, but now I don't look the part."
"I think that might be the least of your worries, if you don't mind my saying so."
Hiccup shook his head. "I honestly have no idea which of my worries should be the biggest."
"I know you used to be human," Rangi said hesitantly. "I kind of remember you from when I was a child, but I always figured, that, if you were human, you'd be... bigger. Stronger. More, uhh..."
"More like a typical Viking?" Hiccup asked with a touch of a wry grin.
"No, more like a man! No, I'm sorry! That came out totally wrong. What I meant to say is, uhh..."
"What you meant to say is what you said," Hiccup tried to reassure him. "It's okay. I never did measure up to any of those standards. I was more Viking-like as a dragon than I was as a Viking. Now I have to figure out how to make the tribe behave without growling or shooting fire."
"This is going to take some getting used to," Rangi decided.
"Thank you for summing that up," Hiccup replied dryly. Astrid snorted in spite of her concern about him.
When they landed, many of the Night Furies were awake, waiting for them. That was typical; they worried about Hiccup's schemes misfiring and were always glad when everyone returned home safely. This time, that plainly wasn't the case.
"Where's Dad?" Full-of-surprises asked. Bang, Six, Faithful-brother and Thing Two nodded. They paid no mind to the thin human on Astrid's back; they knew where she'd been, and they assumed that she'd rescued another Lava-Lout thrall.
"Kids... you're looking at him," she said slowly as her two human passengers dismounted.
They stared at Hiccup for a few silent seconds. Finally, Thing Two spoke for all of them. "No way!"
"It's the truth," Astrid said firmly. "The human magic backfired and turned your father back into a human again. We think it's temporary."
Full-of-surprises shook her head vigorously. "This... is my father?" She walked right up to him. "No! That can't be him! My father would be bigger than that!"
Hiccup looked humiliated. "Full-of-surprises, I hate to ask this, but can you speak Forge so I can understand you?"
Six was dismayed. "You mean we can't even talk to our own father anymore?"
"Do what he said! Speak Forge!" Astrid barked.
There was awkward silence for a few seconds.
Finally, Hiccup spoke up. "I'd better go get dressed before the night watchman sees me like this." He headed for his old house, walking slowly and uncomfortably, wincing whenever his bare, tender feet landed on stones, nearly falling several times.
After he was out of earshot, Thing Two said, "That is not my Dad. It cannot be him. He is too small and thin."
"It's really him," Rangi argued. "I was right there; I watched him get transformed."
"He looks exactly the way he looked when Toothless transformed us into Night Furies," Astrid added, lapsing back into dragon language. "His human body hasn't aged a day in six years. It's him."
Bang shook his head sadly. "If anyone would know him, it's you, Mom. I have to believe you, even though my own eyes tell me differently." Full-of-surprises slowly nodded, followed by the others.
"So... what happens next?" Six wondered. "Is he still the Viking chief?"
"He's still the son of their previous chief, so I'd say 'yes,' " Astrid decided. "But he may need a little extra muscle to get things done now. Maybe we should take turns following him around and snarling at any Vikings who give him a hard time."
"But they voted him in when he was a dragon," Six objected. "Will they still accept him as a Viking chief, now that he's a Viking again?"
"I'd love to see their Law-Speaker try to sort this one out," Faithful-brother mused.
"They may have to do just that," Astrid thought out loud. "This tribe is used to a chief who bellows orders and intimidates people into obeying. Hiccup as a human couldn't intimidate a Terrible Terror, and if he tried to bellow, he'd probably hurt his voice. This tribe may be leaderless until we can get the real Hiccup back."
Six nodded. "This would be a really bad time for another tribe to raid Berk."
"I won't let that happen," Full-of-surprises decided firmly. "From now until we get Dad back, I'm doubling the dragon patrols. No humans from another tribe are getting anywhere near this place, unless they're traders." She ran off to find more dragons to assign to the aerial patrols.
"I'm really having a hard time with this," Thing Two admitted.
"You and me both," Bang nodded.
"I think we all are," Astrid said. "And I assure you, he's having a harder time than all of us put together! But it's one of those weird things that keep happening to us Night Furies, and we're going to find a way to deal with it, the way we always do."
"But how?" Bang asked plaintively.
"Just like the way he's walking now: one step at a time," she answered. "Six, I want you to be his first escort. Follow him around, and don't let any Vikings push him around. One of us will take your place in a few hours so you can fish for your breakfast."
"That may not be necessary," Six answered. "If he's turned back into a human, then he may want to sleep while it's night, and not get up until the morning."
"Good point," her mother nodded. "Still, I want him watched by at least one Night Fury at all times, even if he's asleep."
"Do you really think the Vikings will be a threat to him?" Bang asked.
"I'm more worried about him being a threat to himself," she replied. "I remember what Hiccup used to be like. As a human, he was a walking disaster looking for a place to happen. I hope his mind has matured enough that he won't have a relapse into that kind of stuff, even though he's gone back to living in a human body again. But I won't chance it. He's been away from humanity for too long; he may have forgotten how frail he is. I don't want him to hurt himself."
"Okay, Mom," Six finally agreed. "And I'm glad you're taking charge. I feel totally lost."
"Somebody has to do it," Astrid said. She left the obvious unsaid: Usually, Hiccup would take charge.
She turned to Rangi, who had been standing there, unable to understand the rapid-fire dragon-language discussion. "Hiccup not need interpreter for now. You stay out of trouble, be ready if we need you for something."
"Got it," he nodded. "I think I'll see how Orn is doing."
"You think he still in Berk village?"
"I don't know for a fact," Rangi said, with a sly facial expression, "but I have a guess where he might be."
"What is your plan for him?"
"He says he isn't afraid of getting his hands dirty," Rangi said. "Hiccup told me that the tribe is facing an iron shortage. I figured maybe we could drop Orn on Breakneck Bog for the day, and see how many buckets of bog-iron he can fill before suppertime."
"Good idea," Astrid nodded. "I think Hiccup will approve as well. Be sure to feed him!"
"I'll get him some dry rations so he can take them with him," Rangi thought out loud. "But there's one small problem. He doesn't have his own dragon to ride. Can one of the Night Furies take him there, keep him company, and bring him home?"
"I have better idea," she decided. "You and Thing One take him there, keep him company, bring him home. Also, you collect some iron while you there. Keep you out of trouble."
Rangi started to protest, but Astrid cut him off with a low growl. "Fine," he said as he hung his head. "Two sets of dry rations and an extra bucket. Got it." He slouched off, clearly unhappy with his work assignment.
Faithful-brother had to chuckle. "Astrid, you would have made a good chief."
"So I've been told," she said crisply, "but it's not my job. But here's one more chiefly command. Faithful-brother, find Thing Two and tell her to go get Toothless. He needs to know about what's happened to Hiccup."
o
Hiccup found his old house in very much the state it was in when he'd last entered it as a human. It was supposed to be the chief's house, but the chief of Berk had been a dragon for several years, so the house had been unoccupied. He swept the cobwebs aside, found some old clothes in his old room, got dressed, then collapsed into his old bed. His body was exhausted, but his mind was racing, and it took him a while to fall asleep. When he finally awoke, the morning was nearly half spent, and he was still human.
"There are times when I really wish I could wake up and say something corny like, 'It was all a dream,' " he said to no one as he worked his feet into his boots, a very unfamiliar feeling. His own voice sounded strange to him. He couldn't see well in the darkened room. Everything felt wrong! How could he ever have felt at home in a body like this? He made his way downstairs, leaning hard against the wall to make sure he didn't lose his balance and tumble down the stairs. This house reminded him too much of his father. He opened the door (it was handy to have a thumb and fingers, maybe) and stepped outside.
Night-fury-six-shooter was napping just outside the door, but she awoke at once when she heard the door open. "Hi, Six," Hiccup said. At least he could still tell the Night Furies apart. If he couldn't distinguish between his own children, that would really be bad.
"Rawr," his daughter said.
"Huh?"
"Sorry. I say good morning, Dad. How you feel?"
"Like a fish out of water, without fins and with half my scales missing," he groaned. He hunched his shoulders for a moment, then relaxed them and sighed. "Nope, no wings. Six, you can't imagine how it feels to lose your wings! I feel mutilated."
"Sounds scary."
"I hope you never have to find out. Now I've got to figure out what I'm supposed to do next. Breakfast, maybe?" He looked around and tried to get used to the idea of seeing everything from ground level, and having to walk to get wherever he wanted to go.
He heard a surprised grunt from overhead. It was Toothless, closely followed by Lady-night-fury and Night-fury-cave-flyer, returning to Berk to find out what had become of Hiccup. Toothless was one of the few Night Furies who remembered Hiccup from his human days (Astrid and Lady-night-fury were the only other ones); he saw his friend on the ground and spiraled down, with his family right behind him. At the same time, Spitelout and Snotlout saw the young human and the Night Fury next to the chief's house and came striding over toward them.
Toothless landed first. He looked Hiccup over from head to toe and back up to his head again. "Croo-oo-oon?" he asked.
"Sorry, bud, but I can't understand you anymore," Hiccup said sadly. He rested his hand on Toothless' nose for a moment, remembering some long-distant old times.
HE SAID, WHAT
HAPPENED TO YOU?
Lady-night-fury wrote that; Toothless had never learned Forge, and his written runes were rudimentary at best. Hiccup quickly described what had happened last night, and Lady-night-fury translated for her mate. Toothless growled and groaned.
HE SAYS HE DOESN'T
UNDERSTAND. MAGIC
AGAINST MAGIC SHOULD
MAKE A HUGE FIREBALL.
WHY DIDN'T THE REVERSE
TRANSFORMATION KILL YOU?
"It's probably because the giant-fireball rule only applies to a dragon's Power," Hiccup decided. "This seidr didn't come from a dragon, so the rules must be different. And would I sound ungrateful if I say that I'm glad it didn't kill me?"
Cave-flyer suddenly looked excited.
"If this transformation not from dragons, then Dad's Power is still working on you," she said in Forge. "If we get rid of human magic, then maybe you turn back into Night Fury!"
"That sounds logical," Hiccup nodded, "and it's good news if you're right. But how do we get rid of the human magic? The dragon-people said that the black sphere only turns people into humans or half-humans. They didn't mention a way to turn it off."
Before they could discuss this any further, Spitelout swaggered up to them, followed by Snotlout. The younger Jorgenson immediately noticed Hiccup, and tried to get his father's attention. But Spitelout was so accustomed to dealing with a dragon chief and a young human assistant that he failed to notice that the young human "assistant" wasn't Rangi.
"Which one of you dragons is the chief?" he demanded. "I can't tell you apart. Gobber wants to know if he should use yesterday's iron nuggets for weapons, or should he make spare parts for the fishing boats?"
Hiccup smiled. "The chief says to make spares for the boats. We don't have a critical need for weapons as long as the dragons are protecting the island."
"Uhh, Dad?" Snotlout asked.
"Not now, son!" Spitelout snapped. "Gobber said he knew you'd say that, but he reminds you that, when Snoggletog comes, all the dragons will fly away and they won't be able to protect us."
"The chief says," Hiccup went on, "that we've got more iron coming, and we'll be able to make weapons soon without taking anything away from the fleet. But if the fleet can't catch fish, then a lot of the dragons will leave for good, and that's a bigger problem than losing them for a few weeks in the dead of winter."
"Dad," Snotlout tried again, "there's something that I think you should know..."
"Not now, boy!" the elder Jorgenson snapped. "I guess that makes sense... but how can you tell that's what the chief is saying? None of these dragons is making any dragon noises, so how can you translate what they're..." His eyes went wide as he finally realized what he was seeing.
"Dad, that's Hiccup!" Snotlout blurted out. "And he's not a dragon anymore!"
"Why didn't you tell me that sooner, boy?" Spitelout demanded. He looked back at Hiccup. "Oh, ho! So the magic finally wore off, eh? You're a plain old Viking boy again!" He clapped Hiccup on the shoulder; Hiccup's knees nearly folded up. Four Night Furies glared angrily at Spitelout. He didn't seem to notice, but went on. "Do you really think you can control this tribe without your fangs and your claws, boy? I think you can't. I think this tribe needs a chief with some muscle in his arms and his legs and his head, don't you?" Snotlout struck a pose and flexed his biceps; Spitelout didn't notice him, either.
"I think I'm still the elected chief of this tribe," Hiccup retorted, but he didn't sound too sure of himself.
"Maybe that's true, for now," Spitelout grinned. "But not for long! We Vikings have ways of fixing bad situations like this. I've got to take your answer about the iron back to Gobber, and then... and then I think I need to make a little plan." He strutted away toward the forge, leaving Snotlout behind with Hiccup and the Night Furies.
"Hiccup, what happened to you?" Snotlout asked. He looked and sounded slightly upset.
"I was playing with another tribe's magical toy without understanding it, and it whacked me a good one," Hiccup admitted. "I'm back to being human again, for a while at least."
"I kind of got used to seeing you as a Night Fury," Snotlout admitted. "You were a lot cooler that way. Do you have any idea what my dad is up to?"
"Of course," Hiccup shrugged, as though it was no big deal. "He's going to wait until he can catch me in front of a big crowd of Vikings, like maybe at supper tonight. Then he's going to challenge me to single combat, so he can become the chief in my place. He's wanted to do that for years. Now he thinks he can pull it off."
"You don't think he can?" Snotlout wondered.
"I think I've got some friends who don't want to see that happen," Hiccup said, and rested his hand on Toothless' head.
"Now I'm confused," Snotlout said. "I don't want anything bad to happen to my dad... but ever since you've been in charge, things on Berk have been good. There's plenty of food, our traders make money with every voyage, we never get raided, and the dragons win all the wars for us. If there's going to be a fight, I don't know who I should be rooting for. It wouldn't be a fight to the death, would it? I don't want that, either way."
Hiccup smiled warmly. "Why, Snotlout! That might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me."
"Please don't tell my dad I said that!"
"My lips are sealed," Hiccup nodded, "and my friends won't repeat it, either. Will you?" The Night Furies shook their great heads "no."
"Great," Snotlout said, relieved. "Now I have to do a little hunting to put food on the table. Good luck with the human stuff. I'll see you later!" He strolled off toward his house.
"Dad, what you do? Spitelout is bigger, stronger than you now," Six asked him.
"I'll think of something," Hiccup said, distracted.
"You always say that! But you not dragon now. Solving problems not so easy when you turn into thin human." She looked him up and down to emphasize her point.
"You just gestured to all of me. But I'd like to solve one problem at a time, if I can. And my next problem is headed right this way." He pointed out to sea. A ship was approaching, and it bore the shields and the pennants of the Lava-Louts.
o
A/N
Congratulations to reader "nw150" for submitting this story's 2000th review.