User blog:Invisiblewing/HTTYD Fanfiction/Retelling: Part 12

I just recently heard about the new season of Defenders of Berk start date, some content, etc. To avoid confusion with so many things going on, I will get this story finished as soon as I can. Most likely, there will be one more post after this one. I will try to get it posted by the end of next week so that you can focus on the new TV series. As always, I appreciate any comments or suggestions for improvement. Thanks for reading.

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Not my son. Not Hiccup. Not anyone on Berk for that matter. I told Hiccup to stay on the ground. I wanted him out of the way, just like all the other times dragons were around. Where he would be safe and not accidentally risk everyone else’s lives, like all the other times. But he didn’t listen today. Maybe it was for the best. Maybe Hiccup saw that he could end the Viking-and-dragon war. Even if it meant losing his life.

“HICCUP!” I shouted in panic. Maybe he was still alive. “SON!” Nothing. I headed toward the remains of that monster he and his dragon had just killed.

What really bothered me wasn’t how Hiccup was keeping a dragon secret. For Odin’s sake, it was a Night Fury, and I didn’t care. What bothered me was…me. Because I did exactly what Hiccup did. I didn’t listen to my own son. Too many things were happening at once. Especially when he told me that his dragon could find this Thor-forsaken nest. His dragon. Toothless, I think, was its name. Toothless, indeed. I stopped a snort from erupting. Where did he get that sense of humor anyway? It wasn’t from me. I just knew “Toothless” had teeth that could crush a man’s skull.

I slipped on a large, smooth stone, finding my hand coated in red. Blood. I wiped it off using my vest. Checked to make sure I wasn’t bleeding that much. No gash. It was the beach. From the dragon. Whatever happened to it, it was definitely dead now. Thank goodness, but Hiccup was still nowhere to be seen.

I watched everything once the dragon and Night Fury came streaking back down to the ground. And I saw the explosion wrack the Night Fury, sending Hiccup directly into the dragon’s tail. It happened in slow motion, seeing my own son nearly flattened on the end of the tail. He bounced off like a rag doll and tumbled headfirst into the fire. The Night Fury dove after him, but I wasn’t sure if it could get to Hiccup. I knew if I saw any charred remains of a Viking, it was going to be Hiccup. I didn’t want to look, but he was my only son. And it took something like this to make me pay attention to him? That was all stupidity and ignorance.

I stopped. Looked straight ahead. A lone black figure on the beach. Maybe it was the Night Fury. Either that, or my eyes were playing tricks on me. I ran forward silently. The hunched shape got bigger as I approached. It was definitely real. Definitely a Night Fury.

I stopped immediately. After what I had done to Hiccup’s dragon, I thought it might shoot me with a fireball. Slowly, I made my way toward the dragon, finding its head tucked underneath a wing, eyes closed. Both wings were wrapped around its body. The dragon was breathing heavily and straining with every breath. It was injured. I looked down at its tail and found a mess of wires. Hiccup made all these. He spent the last week under everyone’s noses helping this dragon fly again. One of the wires had bent and stabbed clean through the dragon’s tail about three-quarters of the way down. There was only one tail fin. The other was missing. I remembered seeing a fin made out of leather when Hiccup’s dragon was being lowered onto the boat as our compass. It must have lost the artificial fin during this battle. The Night Fury was slowly dripping blood from its tail. It took another breath, moaning slightly. If Hiccup were here, he’d know how to handle all this.

Gobber slowly walked up behind me and asked, “Is this Hiccup’s dragon?” I nodded slowly. “Well, we might as well kill it, put it out of its misery,” he said as if this was nothing to him. I was simply going to wave him off when he blurted out, “You wanted a Night Fury head mounted in your house, didn’t you?”

I turned around and faced him. Looked at him like the chief of our village should do when someone is out-of-line. But said nothing. Because there were no words left. The expression on my face told him exactly what he needed to hear anyway. Gobber motioned again toward the dragon, but I stayed firm. If this dragon was going to die, I was going to make sure it would be warm and safe, not because somebody wanted the glory of being the first to kill a Night Fury. It only seemed fitting that I should take care of something my son had started. Gobber shrugged with a resigned look on his face and backed up a few steps, giving me and the Night Fury space.

I turned back around and knelt near the Night Fury’s head. Placed my hand gently on its neck. The dragon moaned slightly, craning its neck to look at me. I couldn’t do anything but look back. I wished I had actually paid attention to the dragons we were fighting all these years, wished that I could see them differently than murderous beasts. It took me an entire lifetime to figure it out. Hiccup? A week.

Looking at the Night Fury in front of me, I noticed it had two of the most beautiful yellow-green eyes anyone had seen. Two eyes that stared directly into your soul. The Night Fury stared at me with no change in its expression, like it was waiting for me to do something. But I knew a fireball wasn’t coming right now.

“I’m…I’m sorry,” I told it tearfully after a pause. “I’m so sorry. This is my fault.” Normally, Vikings are supposed to be good at hiding emotions except anger and happiness, but I thought we should always make an exception when your family is in danger.

The Night Fury blinked. Paused for a second. It groaned as its wings slowly unfurled to reveal an unconscious Hiccup. The dragon had somehow gotten to him and held onto him with its legs. And shielded him with its wings. Hiccup had several gashes, bruises and maybe a few broken bones, but he was here.

“Hiccup?” I asked, reaching quickly for my son. I wasn’t paying attention to the Night Fury holding him, because he was my son. The dragon let me pick him up. I tossed my helmet to the side and put my ear against his chest. His heart was beating with a weak thump-thump rhythm. But he was alive. Hiccup was safe.

“You did it. You brought him back alive!” I said. I held onto Hiccup, making sure nothing else would get to him. The rest of Berk heaved a collective sigh of relief and murmured loudly in elation. All of us realized that Hiccup was our answer to those dragon raids. He knew what to do when we didn’t. Because he dared to wonder.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I held Hiccup against my shoulder and placed a hand on the side of the Night Fury’s head. It looked at me with a low rumble. “Thank you for saving my son,” I said quietly. And I could have sworn the dragon blinked in understanding.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Well, most of him, you know,” Gobber said out of the blue. I didn’t care. Hiccup was alive. He was safe. All because of the Night Fury lying on the ground in front of me. I stroked the dragon’s cheek. The Night Fury sighed audibly and closed its eyes. In the space of a few hours, I had gone from thinking Hiccup was a fool for claiming to befriend a dragon to adding one more blessing to count each day: a Night Fury. This dragon was a gift from the gods to Hiccup. And I didn’t realize it until now.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I slowly stood and faced the rest of the Vikings here on the island, holding Hiccup in my arms. I noticed all of the dragons the children rode to this island were standing amongst the crowd. Regardless of having dragons around, it was time to be a chief again. And I was about to make a decision that I never thought anyone on Berk would ever make.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Find any boat we have left,” I commanded. “Even if we only have rafts. Everybody will have to share space.” The group of villagers nodded in assent, waiting for more instructions because I had that look on my face. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Opened them and looked at my people. “Bring the boat here, and we’ll get Hiccup and his dragon on first.” I motioned toward the Night Fury. I knew it would take up a lot of space on a boat, even more so with an injured tail like this. And I knew we had to take care of it now. I couldn’t risk leaving it here, especially if we had to make more than one trip. The crowd, including the dragons, dispersed, most of them heading toward the boats. Hopefully we could at least find one that was still intact. The dragons wandered off somewhere else.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“STOICK!” a voice shouted. “We have one over here!”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Tell him to bring it over here, like I told him to,” I said to Gobber. He nodded and limped over toward the boat. Climbed in and motioned for several people to join him. A crowd gathered to push it into the water. Using wooden planks as oars, the boat slowly made its way over to me, Hiccup and his Night Fury. The boat landed maybe fifteen feet away from us. I boarded and placed Hiccup near the helm, where he would be generally safe and out of the way of people tromping around.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Let’s get a platform underneath the dragon,” I suggested as I walked back toward the Night Fury. “And keep its tail straight.” Several Vikings were near the boats the giant dragon had torched. One of them produced a long section of the hull. It might have been long enough to slide underneath the Night Fury. I motioned him to bring it over here.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I compared the length of the dragon to the plank, noting the plank was about two feet too short. “We can slide this under its tail. I’ll hold the dragon’s head. We need to get it into the boat first, then the Vikings.” The Viking with me nodded. I wasn’t interested in making small-talk, especially because I wanted to help a dragon all of a sudden. But I knew it was Hoark. The villager who loved to torment my son. Well, if I caught wind of him doing that again…let’s just say it wouldn’t end well for Hoark. He probably wasn’t going to try again anyway, now that he knew Hiccup had a protector in the form of a Night Fury.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">We slid the plank most of the way under the dragon’s tail. It moaned in pain, which I knew it was going to do. We had to finish this job quickly. Walking my way up the dragon’s side, I lifted it gently in sections to allow Hoark to move the board underneath the dragon. I had gotten to its neck when Hoark said, “That’s the end of the plank.” I nodded in understanding.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“You four,” I said, pointing with four fingers. “Help us lift this dragon onto the boat.” Nobody moved. Not when it meant getting near a dragon. I couldn’t play the Look-After-Hiccup-If-You-Don’t-Cooperate card this time because my son had saved all of us. He was going to be a hero soon. I had to think of another reason for them to help. “Help us with the dragon,” I said again. “Or I will leave you here.” They slowly walked over, grumbling, and lifted the Night Fury. I kept its head level, although it groaned in pain again. “Don’t let its tail slip.” We slowly walked the dragon onto the boat and laid the plank down. Edged it toward the side of the boat to give us a little more room.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“We’ll get everyone we can on this boat. If we need to make more than one trip, so be it. I will make sure everyone gets off this island by the end of the night.” Villagers began filing onto the boat. Several of them tried to get as much distance as they could between themselves and the dragon. But the Night Fury paid no attention. It just sighed and kept its eyes closed. “Do not touch the dragon,” I said sternly. One Viking ignored me and knelt by the dragon’s head. I was about to move toward her when I realized it was Astrid. She stroked the Night Fury’s cheek and sat down next to it. The dragon opened its eyes and looked weakly at Astrid. Heaved a sigh and relaxed. I figured she wouldn’t hurt the dragon. If anything, she would be the one to nurse it back to health.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">When the boat was full, I took a rough count of how many Villagers we had left. About two trips’ worth. This was going to be a long night, but I made a promise to my people. And as chief, I had to keep that promise. We pushed off and made the first of several trips back to Berk.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">We hadn’t made it far from the island when fog set back in. And Hiccup’s dragon was going to be of no use to us now. Not when it was semi-conscious, and not when it was injured.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Stoick!” a Viking said. “We can’t see where we’re going.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">At that moment, the boat glanced off a rock spire, sending a jarring shock through the hull. I winced in anticipation as the Night Fury slipped off the plank slightly. Its tail moved just enough to send a wave of pain through its body. We all heard it screech and begin panting.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Get its tail straightened!” I shouted. “And somebody needs to be a lookout!” Astrid slid over to the Night Fury’s tail and began moving it gently onto the plank. The dragon groaned as she moved its tail.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Out of nowhere came a loud cackle. It sounded like a dragon. And I knew we were in trouble because we had absolutely no way of defending ourselves. I stayed silent and continued forward, hoping we wouldn’t sink or become a target. Glanced at our lookout. He was shaking with fear. Completely useless.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The cackle sounded again. Somebody pointed and shouted, “Nadder straight ahead!” Several Vikings panicked, rocking the boat and causing the Night Fury to wail in pain again.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“EVERYBODY STOP!” I shouted. The Vikings froze as we continued forward. I felt horrible for the dragon we had on board. All I wanted for it and Hiccup was to get home. I looked at Hiccup just to make sure. He was still unconscious, next to the helm. I turned my attention back to Astrid, watching her wince as she got the dragon’s tail back in line with its body.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">The Nadder slowly faded into view as it flapped its wings slowly. It cackled again, but there was something different about it. Like it wasn’t going to attack. It looked like it was giving a signal. Like it was telling us where to go.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I stepped around Hiccup and took the helm. Turned left, to port. We slowly passed the dragon on our right. It cackled one more time.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Nightmare to port! Turn right!” our lookout shouted. I followed his orders. A system was beginning to fall into place. The dragons were our markers, our lookout spotted them and told me where to go. There was a murmur on board as we passed the Nighmare on our left. It just looked at us as we sailed by.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">We passed the Gronckle and Zippleback in the same fashion. They were serving as our beacons, showing us where to go. After we passed the Zippleback, the fog began clearing. In the distance lay the smallest-looking island anyone could pick out, but I knew it was the one place where everyone wanted to be. Home. I checked the boat. Hiccup was still out, lying next to me at the helm. His dragon was near the middle of the boat, resting. Maybe not comfortably because of its tail, but the dragon was here nevertheless. And Astrid was still on guard. I silently made a promise to Hiccup that he was going to see his dragon again.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">We docked at Berk after about an hour and disembarked. The same four Vikings who had helped me and Hoark load the Night Fury came back and helped to unload it. Probably because they still thought I would hold my threat if they didn’t help. We carried the dragon and Hiccup back to my house. Placed the dragon near the hearth. I walked upstairs and jumped as one of the steps made a loud cracking sound under my foot. I hadn’t been upstairs in so long that I had forgotten about that step. Continued up, and found Hiccup’s bed. Carried it downstairs. I paid that step that complained no mind. Placed the bed in the center of the downstairs area, next to the hearth. Next to the Night Fury, who needed to be tended. I put Hiccup into his bed and covered him, making sure he was comfortable.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I walked outside and found Gobber waiting for another trip. “Is everything all right?” he asked.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I nodded with a heavy sigh. “I need you to help the dragon,” I said. I was placing my trust in him. I knew he was…different, but I had to see to it that my village was safe. Gobber was the only other person here I could trust. “There is a wire sticking through its tail. Take it out and bandage it. I promised Hiccup that he’s going to see his dragon again. Do not make me break it.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Gobber recoiled slightly at the thought of actually taking care of a dragon. I glared at him a little more fiercely. “Got it,” he said quietly. He hobbled inside while I walked back toward the boat for another trip.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I had gotten a few steps away from home when Astrid bumped into me, saying, “Sorry!” She continued inside.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I turned around and walked back. “Astrid, what are you doing?”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Making sure Hiccup and Toothless are okay,” she said assertively. “I’ll help Gobber.”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I nodded in understanding and closed the door. Took a few steps and stopped when a loud shriek echoed through the village. Turned around again and reentered my house. I was ready to toss someone into the ocean when I walked in. I saw Astrid gently holding the Night Fury down and Gobber was holding the wire that had pierced his tail. The dragon was panting heavily from the pain, but I knew that Gobber was going to hold his word.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Yeah, but it hurt my ears more!” Gobber said. He quickly turned back to the dragon and grabbed a strip of soft leather and seaweed. He placed the seaweed over the two open wounds in the dragon’s tail and wrapped it with the leather. The process was clean and efficient because he knew the dragon would bleed out if he paused.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Go get the rest of Berk. You promised,” Astrid told me quietly after Gobber had finished. I nodded and left without a word.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I arrived at the docks, where Spitelout was waiting for me. “They, uh, flew here after we docked,” he said, motioning toward the four dragons nearby. Our beacons.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I smiled, knowing my job had just gotten much easier. “They know there are still people on the island.” I motioned for Spitelout to join me in the boat. I needed someone who could help navigate because I could feel sleep coming on and quickly. We launched, the dragons flying slightly ahead of us.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Take the helm,” I said to Spitelout. He did, and I sat down in the center of the boat, near where a small pool of dragon blood had formed. I tried to get a small nap in before we landed at the island again.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Four hours and two trips later, everyone was home. Spitelout and I had taken turns navigating. He helmed the boat on the trips to the island, and I was in charge during the trips back. I walked into our house a tired wreck, but thankful we had dragons helping us. The Night Fury was lying on its front with a bandage around its tail. The dragon looked at me with a soft grunt when I walked in. It had been watching Gobber and Astrid tend to Hiccup, who was now mostly covered in bandages. And the dragon looked concerned about something. Astrid was in tears.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“S-Stoick,” Gobber said shakily. “I couldn’t do anything about…”

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I stopped him with my hand. I didn’t want to hear any more bad news for the night, and I already had a sinking feeling about this. “It’s fine. You can make one for him, right?” I asked.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Gobber’s eyes brightened in realization. “It’ll be ready tomorrow.” I nodded. He clunked out of the house. I pulled up a chair and sat down next to Hiccup and the Night Fury. It was breathing rhythmically. Its head was resting on its front paws as it looked toward the bed. The dragon moaned slightly and glanced at me. To my ears, it sounded like the dragon was worried. Like it was asking me if Hiccup was going to be okay.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">“Do you want to stay here tonight?” I asked Astrid. She nodded silently. “Make sure the dragon doesn’t hurt anything,” I said.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Immediately, I wished I could have un-said that because Astrid replied with a hint of sarcasm, “He won’t. He’s too busy protecting Hiccup.” I nodded in understanding and decided to keep my mouth shut for the rest of the night. It didn’t help that I thought the dragon gave me a sideways glance when I told Astrid to keep tabs on it.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Eventually, exhaustion took its toll on my mind. Astrid was already asleep, sitting at the table with her head in her arms. I stood up and put the chair back. Walked over to my bed and was asleep when I lay down.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: 0.5in; text-align: center;">_______________

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Two days later, Hiccup was still out. I dropped by home periodically to check on Hiccup and the Night Fury. Each time back was the same scene. Hiccup was breathing, but wouldn’t wake up. His dragon was sitting on its back legs next to the bed, watching Hiccup. Every time I walked in, the dragon looked at me with that same concerned expression but otherwise didn’t move.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">This dragon really cares about Hiccup, I thought. And two days ago, I knew dragons were the bane of our existence on Berk. But seeing this Night Fury so concerned about Hiccup told me there was more to dragons than just killing and stealing food. The Night Fury never meant any harm to anyone for the last two days. It hadn’t eaten. I thought it might starve if Hiccup didn’t wake soon. It had barely moved. All it did was wake up and watch over Hiccup. Like it was protecting him.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">Meanwhile, Berk was changing. Because of my son. I decided to try something new with the way things were here. Actually, Astrid had suggested it, because she had a Deadly Nadder following her most everywhere on Berk. She could fly on the dragon, and it occasionally helped Gobber start fires for blacksmithing. But most importantly, the Nadder never attacked anyone. Although most people preferred to keep their distance. If dragons really weren’t horrible creatures, why not have them around? We’d have to provide food and shelter, but that was a small concern. Both Fishlegs and Astrid reassured me that dragons only ate fish. Tuffnut had suggested feeding them eels, but something told me I shouldn’t do it. He seemed a little too eager about it. I decided to let the eels wait until Hiccup awoke because he’d know what to do.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">I held a town meeting on the second day and had Astrid and Fishlegs instruct everyone how to act around a dragon. And it was all common sense. Don’t show yourself as a threat. Bring it fish. Simple as that. By the next day, we had several dragons milling around Berk. It certainly felt different here, having roughly a dozen fire-breathing reptiles in town. But we never had an incident, except for when a dragon or two wandered near the livestock. The yaks, sheep and chickens were still scared of the dragons. It wasn’t too hard to get them away, especially if we had fish on hand.

<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in">In two days, without Hiccup’s direct help, Berk felt truly peaceful.