A/N: Merry Christmas! Here's another update. I hope you've all had a good day!
Sorry about the cliffhanger from the last chapter! I didn't want to leave you guys hanging, but December has been a busy month for me. As such, the update for "Snoggletog Showdown" for today will likely be a little late.
—
The Grimborns
With a jolt, Toothless woke from his sleep, confused and scared. His big, green eyes immediately looked to the bed, to find that Hiccup was still not there. A sad whine escaped Toothless as he worried for his best friend. He felt completely helpless— worse than when he had discovered that he could no longer fly and was trapped inside the cove. So much worse...
A nudge at his side startled the Night Fury until he looked beside him and remembered that he had a new bedmate. Heimdall had been startled awake too, when Toothless had woken so suddenly, and was now trying to comfort his new friend.
Toothless licked Heimdall's forehead, trying to reassure the dragon that there was nothing to worry about, everything was fine. Though it was hard when he knew that wasn't true. Something was wrong, he could feel it deep down inside. Hiccup needed him.
Narrowing his eyes, Toothless let out a huff of air. Whether or not Astrid went with him, Toothless was going to make his way to Healer's Island, to Hiccup.
—
Staring into the mesmerizing flames of the fire as the treasures inside were destroyed and their shelter burned to a crisp, Katla knew she was going to be blamed for their losses. She had stopped Hiccup from being killed by her father so that she could try to show her family what she could do— she could fight and kill like them, she was one of them... not that her family had ever felt like they were united in any way to begin with.
As Ryker— having lost the short altercation with Stoick and sporting a new cut across his cheek— growled in rage, tossing something into a pile of things and knocking it all down, Katla flinched, remembering how he used to be. Never had he been a doting and loving father, but he had always been the more gentle of her two parents, which wasn't saying much, but he had been more willing to nurture than her psychotic mother.
When Katla had been a young child, she had quickly learned from her mother that love was to be earned. She and her brother had to work hard for their mother's approval and once their father had left to work for Uncle Viggo, there was just Yrsa.
Their mother didn't seem to care too much that her husband was away, other than to complain that she had to care for two children on her own, and making them do things to make her life easier— often telling them that the reason she had kids was so that they could grow up and take care of her and their father when they were older. Their lives weren't their own, Katla and Ullr belonged to her, were not allowed to venture off on their own.
Ullr took it in stride, ever the favored between the two. He worked hard to learn his craft, to become a great archer so he could earn his mother's praise, though she took credit for his accomplishments in any way that she could. And Katla, she was the scapegoat, the one who took the blame and did everything she could to try and outdo her older brother, to prove her worth. She wished for her father to return... he at least gave her a chance, because she was family, something he used to value to an extent.
However, after Yrsa got herself and her kids cast out of their village, for reasons Katla was never told— other than that no one understood them and it was all their fault— they settled in another village in a much busier part of the world. It took a while, but Ryker finally caught up to them.
Katla had been relieved to see her father, until she realized that he was not the same man who had left. No longer did he seem a slightly warmer presence than her mom, he was just as cold as she was and obsessed with everything he had lost. Apparently, he could have gotten them treasures and riches, they could have had it all, but there were two people he blamed for everything he had lost. A dragon rider from a far off land and Uncle Viggo, who had always been cold and calculating in Katla's eyes.
No one was allowed to bring up the condescending, traitorous brother, or the dragon loving, annoying boy. Yrsa and Ryker fell further and further, taking their family from place to place trying to find their place, trying to make up for all of their losses, until they had ended up on a prosperous island, seemingly free of people. There, Katla and Ullr were further encouraged to take and to hate. They were told that people cast them out for being different, that they hadn't been willing to help them out or to give. Other people kept their riches to themselves while they had nothing, so it was up to them to take what they needed.
That was how Katla and Ullr had been living, learning to follow in their parents' footsteps, told that they were at a disadvantage in life because of who they were, never learning anything of value or getting an education. That was how things were when Katla had stumbled upon a young man and his parents, spending time together on the island. There seemed to be something broken in their family too, from what Katla had observed. But still, she could see the love that was there, the warmth and kindness that she secretly longed for. Deep down, she wanted what Hiccup had— two parents striving to show how much they cared for their child. All Hiccup had to do was be himself and let them in.
Katla had first seen the young man, standing in a patch of chamomile by himself. Then, the mother and father had followed. Katla had been excited at the opportunity placed before her.
Her stupid brother was hunting down a trader and would likely get to hunt down another when the ship they had seen drop off the first, came back to retrieve him. Yrsa and Ryker were pleased with Ullr's skill in archery, in his ability to track and hunt down prey. The pay off would be huge— a ship full of goods.
However, while her parents were praising Ullr, Katla would ready herself to hunt down her new target, would learn about him and his parents. She would tell her mom and dad about her hunt and she would prove to them that she was not the useless one in the family, she was just as capable as them, she was one of them.
Something hard suddenly hit the back of Katla's head and she let out a gasp, hand raising to grip at the source of her new pain as she broke her steady gaze at the fire and turned around with wide eyes.
"Can you do nothing right?" Ryker glowered down at his daughter, no love in his eyes, no affection— that wasn't anything new to Katla. "They're getting away!"
Katla didn't bother to argue, the thought didn't occur to her. Her parents weren't ones to be argued with, not if she wanted the same affection that they rewarded her brother with. As soon as the words had left her father's mouth, Katla was on the run.
She rolled her eyes as she noticed her brother catch up with her. He would steal her glory, would take credit for getting them back. A sudden fury rose in her and she reached out to smack her brother in the arm.
"Not now, Kat." Ullr didn't even spare her a glance. "We don't have time for this."
Hating that she was now being treated as a pest, Katla let her rage fuel her as she launched herself at her brother, tripping him up before they both rolled into a heap on the ground. Katla was immediately on her brother and pounding her fists at his chest while growling.
"Katla! Gods! You're crazy!" Ullr yelled in frustration. He caught her by the wrists and forced her to look back at him, though she struggled and remained stubborn. "This is your chance, are you really going to let them all get away because you decided to throw a fit? This is why mom and dad don't think you can do anything right. You let your emotions get in the way."
Katla took a breath and went limp, allowing her brother to shove her off of himself and sit up. Ullr remained quiet for a few seconds before speaking up again.
"You didn't know that the person you were stalking was the dragon rider dad told us was responsible for taking everything from us. He never gave us a name. But now that we know who Hiccup is, you can gain dad's favor." Ullr got his sister to look up at him, her eyes gleaming with curiosity and mischief.
"How?" Katla asked.
"With basically the same plan you already had." Ullr continued. "I know what we can do, to torture Hiccup and cause his parents grief. Dad will get revenge on Stoick and Hiccup, and he'll get the satisfaction that Hiccup suffered."
"...what do you have in mind?" A smirk spread across Katla's scratched up face, the dried blood from her nose only making her look that much more scary.
By the time the two siblings were in agreement and in pursuit once more, Ryker and Yrsa were just ahead of them. Their father would likely have words with them later, about messing around and not staying on task, but they would counter that anger with a plan. All they needed was Hiccup.
—
"No!" Valka was ready to leap down from the ledge that her husband had pulled her onto, but he held her back as an arrow whizzed through the air, right where they had been looking down at their son. Stoick didn't dare let his wife look back over the ledge, knowing that the young archer had a good aim. He had just lost Hiccup to the Grimborns, he wouldn't lose Valka too.
"Try to get him back before you're hunted down yourselves, or he dies!" The taunting voice of the girl reached their ears at the top of the slight cliff, followed by crazed cackles of laughter. Valka tried to lurch forward once more, but was no match for her husband's strength. She turned to Stoick with wide and angry eyes— that was their son being dragged away like some hunted animal! How could he just sit there, holding her back?
"Stoick, we have to-"
"There are more of them than there are of us, Ullr will shoot you with an arrow before you even reach the ground. If we try to get Hiccup back now, we'll fail. How would that help our son?" Stoick was then reminded of the arrow sticking out of his arm guard, the shaft broken after what they just went through, and plucked it out of the thick armor, tossing it away as his wife finally stayed put. He seemed surprisingly calm despite the situation, but Valka could see the panic and worry in his eyes, even as he tried to keep a level head for once.
Taking a deep breath and relaxing her tense body, Valka glanced back down at where their son had been taken, now that he had been dragged away and the people gone, then looked back to Stoick.
"I suppose you're right. I just... I'm worried. Those people are cruel." Valka relented.
"I'm worried too..." Stoick looked full of regret and guilt. "I wish I had been able to grab him first, he was struggling the most... I didn't have time to think, I just reached out and grabbed whoever I could get my hands on."
"I wish it had been Hiccup, too." Valka placed a reassuring hand on his arm. She knew he still loved and cared about her, even if he wished he had saved Hiccup instead. She and Stoick were both parents, even if he had more experience than her. She would have put Hiccup first too. Valka could have landed better, she could have made the climb again or defended herself. Hiccup hadn't stood a chance, not after having landed on his bad leg.
"I just keep failing him, no matter how hard I try." Stoick said miserably. "I keep hurting my son... I'm a terrible father."
"We'll get him back, Stoick." Valka kneeled up so that she was more level with her husband, then she took his face in her hands. "If you were a terrible father you wouldn't be trying so hard to make things right. This family trip was meant for us all to bond together, and we have. Hiccup gave us the chance we were hoping for."
"I promised him that I would protect him..." Stoick didn't think he could feel like more of a failure than he did in that moment.
"So did I." Valka replied. "We both did, we still can, but we have to focus and come up with a plan, we have to save him."
"Our last plan didn't work."
"No... but I think that's because one of them knew Hiccup." Valka thought back on the entire altercation. "Who was that man?"
"Ryker?" Stoick raised an eyebrow, realizing that his wife didn't know the whole story with the Grimborns and the Dragon Hunters. Stoick, himself, didn't know everything that had happened while his son and his friends had been living at Dragon's Edge, but he knew most of it, and it seemed about time that he told his wife about it. She would need to know who Ryker was and what he was capable of. In the meantime, they would also be able to keep an eye on Hiccup from their position on the ledge, and come up with a plan to get him back.
—
A sharp pain to his stomach brought Hiccup back to awareness, and he coughed as he tried to take in a breath. As he opened his eyes a slit, barely having the motivation to do even that with the pain radiating through his body, all Hiccup saw before him were the feet of someone who was looming over him as he lay on his side, on the ground.
Another sharp pain erupted in his stomach as the person kicked him again, causing Hiccup to want to curl in on himself as he gasped.
"Wake up." Ryker's cruel voice broke through the fog in Hiccup's brain and he remembered falling, then... being dragged away. His parents had gotten away without him while he had been captured. The ache in his heart returned as the memory came to him, though he tried to push it away, tried to fight against the negative feelings threatening to take over, tried to keep his doubts buried deep down where he thought they belonged. His father would not let him fall, not on purpose. Hiccup was... mostly sure about that. His dad had managed to save his mom, after all.
Hiccup let out another cough and breathed deeply as he tried to push himself into a sitting position so that he could get a better look at his situation, but it hurt to move and he struggled. It took him longer to sit up then it should have. His amputated leg hurt more than he could ever remember it hurting before, his head was pounding, his back was sore, it hurt to straighten out one of his elbows— likely having whacked the ground when he fell— and now his stomach hurt too.
As Hiccup sat, hunched over and breathing though the pain, he could hear as Ryker chuckled softly, enjoying the sight of his enemy struggling and in pain.
"I wasn't sure if I would ever run into you again." Ryker spoke from somewhere in front of Hiccup. "I've imagined the things I would do to you, if I did."
Hiccup couldn't help the shudder that went through him at Ryker's words. He didn't like the sound of that at all. He already knew, they were planning to make him pay, they wanted to hurt him. The only thing Hiccup could think to do, was to stall whatever they had in mind, for as long as he could, until his mom and dad could come and save him or he could come up with a plan to get out of there. Though, in his state, it seemed unlikely that he would be able to escape on his own.
"How... how are you not dead?" Hiccup had to swallow before continuing, his mouth was dry and his voice raspy.
"I was caught on some debris that hit its teeth and then flowed over the Submaripper's head as it began taking in the water and ships with its whirlpool." It sounded like Ryker was smirking at his luck. "It's not like the Submaripper could have taken in all of those ships, it was too much for it. A lot of the pieces either sunk or ended up floating back up to the surface. A few others survived, not many."
"How lucky." Hiccup knew he shouldn't antagonize, but it slipped out anyway.
"Lucky?" Ryker's voice grew angry, causing Hiccup to finally look up at his captor. As he looked up, Hiccup realized that it had to be late afternoon by now. He and his parents had built the fire and infiltrated the Grimborn's home at first light that morning. He'd been out for a few hours, at least. As he glanced around, he saw Yrsa not far away, digging through the rubble of the house. Ullr and Katla were no where to be seen.
Hiccup jumped, jostling his leg in the process as he looked back at Ryker, only to find him right in his face, mere inches from him.
"You listened to my brother, didn't you? You both fought to take me and the Dragon Hunters down." Ryker growled.
"What, I should have listened to you instead? You did overthrow your own brother." Hiccup got defensive despite himself. "Trusting his word was the better option."
"I didn't leave my brother for dead, but he would've let me die." Ryker seemed to feel betrayed, even though he had betrayed his brother first. "Then you and your Dragon Riders took out my fleet, I lost everything! I returned home in disgrace, just to find my family gone. I had to track them down with nothing to my name. I was at the top, and you and my brother sent me down to the lowest depths, working the worst jobs just to get by."
"If you had been honest in your dealings to begin with..." Hiccup started, but then stopped talking when Ryker grabbed his face and brought him uncomfortably closer.
"You only have yourself to blame for your current situation." Ryker stared into Hiccup's eyes, speaking in a low but resolute tone. "We're here because we were forced to move from place to place, we do what we do so that we can gain back the treasures you took from me. We're building ourselves back up and no one will ever look down on us again. And it is all because you left me for dead! I've been given the chance to seek vengeance, at long last."
This time, Hiccup didn't dare speak. He was barely taking small breaths of air, not wanting to breath while so close to his old enemy's face. He could feel the power the man possessed, just in his strong hold around his jaw and cheeks. Ryker wanted to kill him, to make him suffer, and he was in a good place to do it, right then.
For what seemed like forever, the two simply stared into each other's eyes. Ryker's full of malice, hatred, and... excitement. And Hiccup's full of determination, pain, and fear.
The relief was instantaneous when Ryker finally let Hiccup go, shoving his head back and setting him off balance in the process. Hiccup caught himself by his elbows— wincing as his sore elbow whacked against the ground again— preventing himself from falling onto his back, but the movement shifted his leg once more, causing him to take in a sharp breath.
"You will pay." Ryker simply said as he stood, towering over Hiccup again. "And then maybe someday my brother will too."
Hiccup scrunched his face up in confusion, the fear and pain briefly forgotten in a moment of pure confusion.
"Viggo is dead." Hiccup said without thinking as he slowly pushed himself back up into a sitting position. Ryker immediately turned back around to look down at Hiccup.
"What makes you say that?"
"I... well, he..." Hiccup didn't know what to say. Viggo had saved his life by sacrificing his own. Viggo had bonded with a dragon... had switched sides. How would Ryker react to that?
"Tell me." Ryker demanded.
"Viggo... he switched sides. He came to respect dragons. He gave his life to save mine..." Hiccup became quieter as he neared the end of his short explanation. Ryker stepped back, a thoughtful expression on his face, seeming to be considering what Hiccup said. Hiccup had been sure that he would lash out in anger. It seemed Ryker went back and forth, from defending his brother, to hating him. Ryker had worked hard to support his wife and children and to reunite with them, but he treated them all so terribly. Ryker had always been dangerous, but now he was just unpredictable, unstable, and insane.
"You... saw him die?" Ryker asked in a calmer voice than Hiccup expected.
"Well... no. I didn't see it, but I was there." Hiccup realized as he thought back on that moment, that he really hadn't seen exactly what had happened. Though he remembered the feeling of absoluteness, the sense that Viggo had died and was gone for sure this time.
The sound of Ryker chuckling once more, drew Hiccup from his memories. Hiccup didn't know what to make of Ryker's behavior, or what to say. Was Ryker sad by the news? Angry that he couldn't seek revenge on his brother anymore? Betrayed by Viggo switching sides?
"Viggo isn't dead." Ryker denied.
"...I'm pretty sure that... he is." Hiccup winced, not wanting to upset Ryker and be punished in some way for it. "He had four arrows in his back."
"Took some fire, did he?" Ryker seemed amused. "He wore thick leather under his clothing, always had a plan of some kind."
"I suppose he did." Hiccup agreed, though he was sure that Viggo couldn't have survived the electrical attack by the Skrill he had bonded with. Even himself and Toothless had barely made it out. Though, Ryker and Viggo had both survived worse, despite all odds.
"Viggo's out there, I'm sure of it." Ryker's face darkened and he suddenly seemed so determined. "He's out there, laying low, having found his way out. And I'm going to find him and make him pay for wanting me dead and for becoming a traitorous dragon lover."
Hiccup remained quiet, not wanting to draw attention to himself as Ryker continued to repeat that his brother wasn't dead as he lost himself in his thoughts and obsession with revenge. He had become so consumed with how things could have been and what he thought he had lost. In Ryker's mind, it was everyone else's fault that he ended up where he was— moving from place to place, looked down on, his family seen as filth, stealing and killing. He had sunk so low and taken his family down with him, his crazy wife making it all the easier to fall.
"I'm not even surprised to hear it, there was always something wrong with Viggo." Ryker continued to speak to himself as he paced in front of Hiccup until suddenly, he stopped and turned to face him. "He had a fixation on you."
"He just liked a challenge..." Hiccup got an eerie feeling as he saw a smirk grow on Ryker's face.
"He admired you." Ryker stepped closer to Hiccup. "Not just as a rival, that's why he was able to change sides— your influence on him. He came to care about you, considered you a friend. Then, in the end, he couldn't take you down."
Hiccup didn't know how to answer that. It was true that Viggo had complimented him as a worthy adversary on a few occasions, had helped him in the end, and that he had come to respect dragons fairly quickly and easily. Though, Hiccup didn't know what relevance that was to the situation.
"So, when I find him..." Ryker squatted down in front of Hiccup. "I'm going to tell him how much you suffered before you died, then watch as his cocky facade slips when he hears what happened to his admired friend."
"...he's dead, Ryker." Hiccup couldn't think of anything else to say. He knew that his situation was bad and he couldn't help the fear at what Ryker had planned, though he tried to hold onto the sliver of hope that his parents were working out a way to save him. They would save him... they loved him, somewhere deep inside he knew that.
Ryker merely chuckled as he stood up once more. Hiccup had expected some backlash for his remark, but he was finding that Ryker wasn't very predictable. If Ryker didn't have the urge to hurt him in that moment, then they must have something horrible planned for him.
As Hiccup remained sitting on the ground, feeling pain from various parts of his body, he wondered if he could push past the pain, get up, and run free. Ryker was no longer paying him much mind, his attention suddenly captured by a pile of stuff that he was rummaging through.
If there was ever a time to run, it was then. He would have to get up slowly, without drawing attention to himself since he knew getting up was going to be hard for him and would slow him down. Hiccup did not look forward to putting pressure on his stump, he wasn't even sure if he could. Maybe the best way to escape was to scoot or crawl for the tree line, then try to get up, and hop to some kind of hiding spot. His options didn't give him much hope.
"Everything's ready!" Katla's voice, coming from a path through the trees, broke through Hiccup's deliberations. He could have cursed at the horrible timing. He hadn't even been able to make up his mind on what to do before Katla and Ullr were traipsing back and drawing the attention of their parents. Escape was no longer an option in that moment.
"Tie him to this chair." Ryker didn't acknowledge whatever it was that Katla and her brother had accomplished, instead, picking up a wooden chair that had been knocked over and leaning against a pile of things. Katla deflated visibly, disappointed in not receiving any praise. Ullr obeyed immediately, taking up the offered chair and setting it upright.
For a moment, Hiccup wondered about why the siblings looked so filthy. There was dirt on their clothes and smeared across skin. Had they built more traps that they intended on leading Stoick and Valka into? Before Hiccup could think on it anymore, Ullr was dragging him across the dirt by the back of his collar. Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut as a cry of pain left him, every injury making themselves known in the worst way possible. He felt himself being hefted up into the chair and registered as his wrists were tied to the wooden armrests and his ankles tied to the front legs of the chair.
The pain had Hiccup in a daze, going in and out of consciousness and breathing heavily. His thoughts became confused with reality until he shook his head, to try and clear his mind. However, it wasn't until a few minutes after that, that Hiccup was able to open his eyes and see clearly, some of the pain finally dulling to a throb or an ache.
The first thing Hiccup saw was Katla, kneeling not far in front of him and trying to build a fire. It seemed Hiccup had missed some things while he had been consumed by his pain. Turning his head, Hiccup saw that Ryker was back at the remains of his house, with his wife, both salvaging whatever they could.
"Where's Ullr?" Hiccup asked before he could think through his actions, wanting to know the location of all of his captors. Katla glanced up from her task, the crazy glint in her eye replaced with something more sorrowful.
"Hunting some dinner." Katla answered before going back to her task, she seemed to be struggling. "A lot of our food was ruined in the fire."
"...sorry." Hiccup didn't know why he had apologized, but felt the need. Katla seemed to be in a vulnerable place.
"We'll just replace it all, doesn't matter much to me." Katla didn't look up this time. She seemed to mean what she said, the things in that house weren't what was important to her.
Hiccup narrowed his eyes as he thought about it, seeing Katla kneeling on the ground, only putting half the effort into her task. He hadn't ever seen her so melancholy and... without determination, before. He could work with this.
"Katla?" Hiccup spoke gently and kindly, getting her to glance up at him in inquiry. "When you catch a spark... try blowing on it gently."
Katla blinked as if something had just occurred to her, then she struck the flint again, caught a spark on the bed, and blew on it gently.
"That's good. Now you need to start feeding the flame, before you lose it."
Grabbing some of the twigs she had nearby, Katla did as she was told, feeding the fire and building it up. Once she had a decent sized campfire going, she smiled at her work, proud of herself.
"I've always been so bad at that." Katla grinned happily, meeting Hiccup's eyes.
"Really? You seem like a natural." Hiccup complimented, and he meant it. Katla seemed a quick learner, if only her parents had taught her anything of value.
"No one ever taught me, they just tell me to do it." Katla looked down. Usually, she would do her best, based off of her observations of when her brother would do it, then when she failed, she would be reprimanded and told that she needed to be more like Ullr.
"Katla... some people... not everyone is worth pleasing." Hiccup knew he was taking a risk, talking to Katla this way. She had proven to be very defensive of her family in the past. She took in what her parents told her and believed it with ferocity, she looked up to her parents, and wanted their praise and love more than anything.
Instead of the fury and the hint of crazy, Katla merely tilted her head to the side in thought. When she didn't react more than that, Hiccup decided to continue.
"I used to think I had to change who I was, to please others. But it wasn't until I went against everything I had been taught, and did something that was... me, that I figured out who I was and found happiness."
Katla looked down in thought, seeming to be thinking about what he had said. It didn't make sense to her. There was no love and no happiness, not unless she did as she was told and her mother was pleased. She wasn't allowed to live her own life, her mom discouraged it, and now her dad did too. Ullr was happy, she was pretty sure, because he had their parents' praise and approval.
"Finally, took you long enough." Yrsa couldn't have arrived at a worse moment, insulting her daughter as soon as she had opened her mouth to respond to Hiccup. Katla looked utterly disheartened for a moment, before the fury and crazed glint in her eyes returned. She watched with a glare as her mom kneeled by the fire and held her hands out to warm them.
As Hiccup watched Katla's demeanor change again, he just hoped that any of what he had just said to her, had affected her at least a little. She might just be his best chance out of this, if his parents weren't able to help him.
—
A/N: Thanks for reading! Just a heads up, starting on January 11th, I'll be switching to updates, every other Monday. I have a lot of art commissions and designs to work on in the next couple months, but I'll write as much as I can. I'll try to keep my posting schedule up to date, on my profile/bio.
A special thanks to omega13a for creating a TV Tropes page for this story! He is the only one working on it at the moment, and would appreciate it if anyone else would also help to work on the page. I can't post a link, but if you look up "OrangeCat64 Deviation TV Tropes" it should be the first thing that pops up.
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Gandalf nho: Yeah, it's Ryker and his family. Things aren't looking great, but maybe Hiccup is on to something.
Ysabelle Anne R. Inoncillo: I'm sorry for the wait! As for the scene at Astrid's house that you were asking about, even if Hiccup said that he was fine, I think at that point, his parents wouldn't have believed him. He wasn't acting like himself and they already heard him confess about how he felt, to Astrid, when they overheard them in the cove. Hiccup is trying to believe in his parents' love, but it's not going to come that easily just because he told them that he would give them a chance. Haha, I sometimes feel the same way. The people who wronged Hiccup need to think on their actions! Thanks for the review!
Silver Sentinel: Yes, you did mention in a review a while back that you thought I was holding off on showing the parents, because they were someone Hiccup would recognize. I'm glad you liked the reveal, I know the Ryker thing kind of came out of nowhere, so I was hoping it wouldn't seem to outrageous. I think the family being Ryker's family, gives them more depth. Hiccup wants to believe that his dad tried his best to catch him, but he is prone to doubt and that won't be something he gets over immediately. Hiccup is trying, but it will take time before he can switch his mind set and stop thinking so negatively.
ChiefHiccstrid561: Thanks! And that's okay, I know that not all my readers celebrate Thanksgiving, but it is a well-wish, no harm meant by it. Just like Merry Christmas, you don't have to celebrate Christmas to accept the greetings and well-wishes of others. If someone wished me a Happy Hanukah (which I don't celebrate), I would thank them and wish them well too. At any rate, have a good day! I hope you liked the new chapter and thanks for the review!
corbinace: Ryker lost everything to Hiccup once before, or at least that is how he sees it, so losing his home and everything in it to Hiccup once more, only makes him more angry and thirsty for vengeance.
Romantica 543: It was Ryker! This chapter explains more of what happened to him and his family. I don't think you have to worry too much about graphic torture. I want to keep this story rated T. I also try to be vague when I mention injury. Things might get a little dark, and I will always add a warning before any chapter I think might get too intense, but there won't be any graphic torture or descriptive mentions of injury. I appreciate you expressing your concerns though, it is also your right to choose what you read. Thank you for the compliments, I'm glad you liked the chapter. I do always try to leave hints at what is to come, so that things don't seem to come out of nowhere and are more planned out. Yeah, poor Hiccup was in a lot of pain when he fell. It was very hard for his parents to see. Hiccup is still prone to those depressing thoughts, but he is fighting to push them out of his head now that he is trying to believe in his parents' love.
omega13a: Haha, yeah, the Grimborns have both survived a lot. To be fair, when they don't show the characters actually dying, it leaves things up to the imagination. I'm not sure about Viggo yet, actually. Part of me would love to write him in, somehow, but also... how many times can he come back from the dead (and especially when I already brought back Ryker) before it just becomes silly? Sharpshot is a wonderful little dragon, isn't he? I'll try not to torture you with Sharpshot's fate for much longer! There should be some resolution to that here pretty soon.
CHSHiccstrid: The pain in his stump has been building up for a while now, but it did happen at the worst time. I hope this chapter brought more depth and sense to Ryker and his family. Hiccup is trying to trust in his parents more, though he is prone to doubt now and then. Haha, yeah, Astrid needs to get going!
KinglyRoom59363: Thank you! I'm glad you think that knowing that they are the Grimborn family, adds to their motivation. I was hoping it would. I think this chapter should also give them more depth. I hope you liked this chapter as well!
Anonymous Guest: Thanks for the review, haha. Your reaction made me laugh. I hope you like this chapter too!
