CHAPTER 31: Memory
Unbeknownst to the whole village, Hiccup disappeared without a trace. On his own accord. He'd decided to take an isolated stroll through the dense forests of New Berk, past the beautiful waterfalls and the giant mountainous heaps of trees and the walls of moss.
He dragged his boots through the woodland of New Berk. The chirping birds and being surrounded by nature did a lot for Hiccup mentally. It got him out of the current situation and served to calm his nerves. Everything Eret said back there stuck with him. He still felt like what he was doing was the right move for the future of the tribe and his family, and he was never going to contemplate going to war at this stage in his life, not as a dad.
Taking a wander through the forests instantly brought back the memories of Toothless. Ever since events had started occurring beyond New Berk and back near the central archipelago, Hiccup had thought about Toothless much more. The events surrounding Yurlin's rise made him realize that he genuinely appreciated the company of Toothless when the dragons were around, and especially the security he felt.
Ever since he saw Toothless for the first time in ten years a short while ago, when he reunited with the Night Fury after Snoggletog, alongside the Light Fury and their Night Lights, Hiccup had felt more helpless than ever. It made him realize that the security Toothless brought to the vikings, and the dragons as a whole, brought to the vikings, was something they'd vastly underappreciated. In a way, the dragons being with the vikings prevented instability from arising. The two exceptions were Drago and Grimmel.
It made Hiccup wonder - if the dragons were around today, would the rise of Yurlin have even happened? would it have been prevented? because Yurlin's emergence came precisely from the instability left by Drago Bludvist and in some part, Grimmel the Grisly.
Nonetheless, as Hiccup himself said before, he wasn't going to work up a fuss about Alfa Yurlin. He considered the possibility that Yurlin, being on the side against Drago, was someone who could be utilized as a buffer zone of some sort between themselves and the Warlords, or a shield to defend against them. It just felt totally inconceivable to him that, ten years after the dragons left, there'd be a desire on the part of anyone to create a conflict. In a way, he was refusing to believe it.
Hiccup wiped away the tears from his eyes. He arrived at an open space of grass surrounded by a majestic waterfall to the side and heaps of trees and moss. He'd stumbled upon quite a few twigs around some of the tree trunks. They gave him an idea, an idea that'd take him back to the 'good old days'.
He slowly picked up one of the medium sized twigs, and snapped the end off to make it a bit sharper. Hiccup walked a few more minutes up to a patch of dry mud near the waterfall, and he planted the twig into it. Ducked down facing the ground, he began drawing a shape in the mud with the twig.
Hiccup gulped as he did this, and he felt his chest ache as if he was mourning some sort of loss. The more he drew the shape in the ground, the more emotional he felt.
He drew two distinct ears in the mud, followed by a familiar shaped head. Shortly afterwards, the eyes went on in the middle of the head. He was drawing the head of Toothless, much like he did all those years ago as a boy when he first tried to bond with Toothless.
Seeing the resulting drawing in the mud, after gently tossing the twig aside, only made his eyes tear up more. He never realized that seeing Toothless for only a short period as he did, after their Snoggletog pageant, would trigger these feelings.
Hiccup was a father of two lovely children, a husband, and he had a great support network around him in the form of his mum, Valka, and Gobber, as someone who was close to Stoick. He had a competent tribe with a proud history behind it in which he was honored to be Chieftan of in the steps of his dad, but he missed Toothless.
He missed the whole aura of that period when the dragons were still around. He missed the mornings in which he and Toothless would take early flights across what was Old Berk, and venture off to uncharted territories to make exciting discoveries. He missed Hookfang, Cloudjumper, Stormfly, Meatlug, Grumpy, Barf and Belch, he even missed the Bewilderbeast and he missed the dragons in general.
He missed the warmth and security he felt from Toothless, and just having that sort of a friendship with him. He wouldn't change his life today if he had the chance, being a dad and all, he loved being a dad and he loved his two kids wholeheartedly.
But he was beginning to seriously wish that the dragons...would come back. The whole arising situation with Alfa Yurlin across the archipelago triggered this more than anything, but also that brief reunion he had with Toothless after the Snoggletog pageant not too long ago. Especially since Zephyr had seen Toothless behind the stage that night for a brief moment of time, and then subsequently the two of them seeing him on that boat and flying on top of him.
Hiccup had never come out by himself into the woods like this since becoming a dad, but he felt like he needed some fresh air to calm his emotions. He was particularly annoyed at Eret's whole insistence back at the house. He genuinely thought Eret was doing this because he still had a collection of guilt about initially being on the side of Drago, before coming over to the Hooligans.
Hiccup liked Eret and trusted him, so he didn't think Eret needed to prove anything anymore. He was more than a member of the tribe at this point, and he'd helped massively in informing Hiccup about the presence of Grimmel the Grisly at the time the 'Night Fury killer' was on a rampage on Old Berk seeking to kill Toothless. Hiccup just thought Eret needed to take a step back and accept that he had nothing to prove anymore.
"HICCUP?!" yelled a concerned voice, as heaps of footsteps emerged at the same time.
Hiccup stood back up straight and turned his back to the lovely waterfall. Gobber, Valka, Eret and Astrid had all caught up to Hiccup. Zephyr and Nuffink were also in the mix as they rapidly wanted to find their dad.
"There you are, why did you go without letting us know?! we were worried, after seeing you cry especially!" Astrid said, walking up to Hiccup with their two children.
Zephyr and Nuffink walked up to their dad and simply embraced him, to which Hiccup ducked down once again and hugged his two kids with the upmost love he could give.
"I'm sorry guys," Hiccup whispered to them, "I didn't mean to worry you."
After a few more seconds, Hiccup gently released his arms from around the two of them and he stood back up to face the rest of his family.
"I just...needed some time out. I didn't mean to worry you all and just run off like that."
"We were just worried son," Valka said, "because you were crying and then you just took off. I hate seeing you upset, what's on your mind?"
"The door's always open for you to talk to us, it's as your dad said laddy, you're never alone as a Chieftan. You've got backup all the way!" Gobber said, wanting to assure Hiccup.
"Thanks guys. As I said, I just needed a bit of a cool out. I think seeing Toothless near the Hidden World on the boat with the kids not too long ago has triggered this sort of feeling in me. I just miss them a lot."
"We all miss them, Hiccup, I'm sure of that," said Astrid, "and you know what? it's perfectly okay to express your emotions in that way. It'd be dumb if you didn't if anything!"
"Absolutely, Astrid is spot on. It's good that you're letting it all out rather than keeping it in."
"You know something, though? I wouldn't change anything for anything. I love what I've got now, I guess we all go through this phase as vikings who used to be with the dragons, of missing them and having a moment emotionally. Zephyr and Nuffink, you two are my biggest purpose in life. Not some overseas bubble of events that we have nothing to be concerned about."
Zephyr and Nuffink nodded. The two siblings totally understood what their father was saying. Having seen Toothless themselves now, they were fully empathetic to the words of their dad.
"And Eret," Hiccup said, looking over to his direction, "I know you mean well, honestly. I really do. Don't think that I'm acting this way because of anything you've said. I know you still feel...I don't know, a bit guilty for being a former viking of Drago's entourage and hunters, but you've more than earned the trust of our tribe. You're a good man and you've helped me a lot, especially with Grimmel at the time."
Eret nodded. He figured that it'd be best for him to curb his warnings and stop talking about Alfa Yurlin to Hiccup, based on the reaction the Hooligan Chieftan had gone through just now. Even though Hiccup claimed he wasn't acting this way because of the warnings about Yurlin and so on, Eret had a gut feeling that it was precisely the reason. Obviously missing the dragons was a big part of it, but Eret felt like the things he was saying in the house before played the main part.
"Yeah mate," Eret said, "I suppose I did get a bit too obsessive. I know you've already got a huge burden on your hands, you know? being a Chieftan ain't easy, and I know you're following in the steps of your legendary father. Just let me know in the future if I'm going overkill, and I'll stop."
Hiccup nodded.
"What I'm going to do from this point on guys, is I'm going to put on a positive spree for the tribe. Anything that comes our way, we'll deal with in the most upbeat, viking-way possible. After all, we wouldn't be vikings if we weren't already dealing with things in that manner."
"A bit of positiveness is always needed around these islands, son!" Valka said.
"I mean...we have so much to be proud of. The history alone with the dragons, nobody else before us established that sort of relationship with them. I'm leading in my father's footsteps and we've got so much more to do."
Hiccup felt like, having let out his emotions before, he was in a burst of optimism. He was suddenly grateful for everything he had, from Zephyr and Nuffink, to his family, to the support he had, and to the history he had with the dragons. He was suddenly beaming with energy.
"Zephyr, you've got something on your shoulder, let me have a look," Hiccup said.
"Have I? I can't see anything?" she replied, looking at her arm confusingly.
"That's because I'm gonna TAG you and run away!"
Hiccup gently tapped Zephyr on the shoulder and took a small sprint. Zephyr instantly started chasing her dad as they began playing a game of tag, it was the first time in a while Hiccup had played a game with his kids.
"You're SO gonna get it now, dad!" Zephyr yelled, with Nuffink following behind.
Gobber, Valka and Astrid were all chuckling as Hiccup and the two kids ran around the beautiful scenery playing tag. Eret was stood behind them all. He gently rubbed the back of his neck as he couldn't help containing a look of concern. To him, looking the other way in regards to the events on the archipelago was going to be the biggest mistake of all their lives.
But if Hiccup genuinely didn't want to hear it anymore, then that was what Eret was going to do. Out of respect and a desire not to see Hiccup in that state again, especially with him missing the dragons, Eret was no longer going to warn about Alfa Yurlin - as much as it hurt him not to.