"You good there, Hiccup?"
The boy in question looked up. He was in his human form, inside the forge. He looked at the forge window. Phlegma the Fierce was there. She did not seem to be carrying anything.
"I'm good." Hiccup nodded at her. The headache from yesterday had subsided. It was easier to fall asleep when he was mentally exhausted.
The woman stared at him. She looked up and down, observing his condition. "You sure? You look like a dead man walking two days ago."
"I just need some good sleep." The boy shrugged. He had fixed his sleeping schedule by sleeping at night yesterday. His body ached a bit, mostly because he had forced himself to sleep for an entire day.
"Have you gone to Gothi, at least?"
"I did." Hiccup nodded. He smiled at her. "Thanks for worrying."
"Alright. If you say so." Phlegma seemed hesitant. With that, she walked away from the place.
Phlegma the Fierce was one of the villagers that seemed to care for him. His mother told him that she was best friends with Phlegma before she was taken away. It would be reasonable to assume that she care for him because of he was her son.
Hiccup let out a sigh. He moved to grab an iron ingot from the table and dumped them into the furnace. The boy moved to dump some more, emptying the table from ingots. When that was done, he looked at the furnace.
The metal was being melted. However, it was slower than he expected. Hiccup approached walked to the other side of the furnace and grabbed a firewood. He placed the wood into the firebox under the furnace. Seeing that was enough wood, the boy nodded approvingly.
Hiccup waited for the metal to melt. As he did, he thought more about what he learned last night. Some memories from before had returned to him, but they did not look like they were complete. There could be more memories he had. Those might come back at some point.
If there was ever any respect he had for alpha dragons, they were all gone. He hated them for what they did. He despised them for what they had done to his species. It was an atrocity that they did to fight their war. Even the Great King did it themselves.
It did explain why dragons were so afraid of him. Some dragons had long memories and they pass those stories to their hatchlings. It would not be surprising if he heard stories about his species slaughtering dragons for the fun of it.
Hiccup went to watch the metals melt. It was not melting any faster. Frowning, he moved to check the firebox. The fire was getting dimmer. It looked like the firewood he put in was not dry enough for them to burn.
The boy cursed under his breath. He cursed his luck. Gobber was the one who brought the firewood. He wondered if he brought them in when it was raining again. It was not the first time he did something like that.
Restarting the fire in the firebox would be a problem. Gobber had taken the flint before he went off to the Great Hall. They did not have a backup fire starter since that went missing days ago. If he wanted to start the fire again, he needed to run back and forth to the Great Hall.
He could not leave the forge; someone might come by to drop their weapons.
Suddenly, Hiccup had an idea.
He looked around the place and noticed that nobody was around. He approached the forge window and closed it. Knowing that he had some privacy, he moved to the centre of the forge. Hiccup prepared himself for what he was about to do.
In quick succession, he transformed to his dragon form, fired a plasma blast into the firebox, and transformed right back to his human form. The plasma blast went into the firebox, drastically increasing the flame.
Hiccup looked around once more. Seeing nobody noticed, he moved to open the forge window. There was no Vikings around. Nobody saw him doing that. That was good.
He did wonder where everyone went off to. The street was usually somewhat crowded.
The boy snorted. They were most likely at the Great Hall, planning for another expedition to Red Death nest. There were times when he was worried that his father might not come back.
He usually assured himself that nothing could kill that lug of a Viking that was his father. That was something he thought to himself back when he was littler. However, after saving him years ago, he was not sure of himself.
Suddenly, Hiccup heard footsteps at the back of the forge. His acute senses alerted him of someone walking. He rolled his eyes. It was most likely the twins or Snotlout trying to prank him. It was not the first time it happened. He would know if they ever tried to enter the forge.
The boy let out a sigh. He decided to ignore them. He approached the furnace to check the melting metal. It was melting faster after he increased the fire. He went to grab an axe head cast.
"Are you sure he's here?"
Hiccup almost jumped. He sniffed the air to scent his surroundings. Sure enough, he smelled three dragons outside the forge. A Deadly Nadder, a Gronckle and a Terrible Terror – a small dragon that looked like a slimmer Night Terror.
What are they doing back there?!
"I'm sure. This was the earliest scent."
The boy cursed under his breath. His dragon form and human form had different scent. He could smell his dragon form's scent lingering in the air. It was faint, but it was there. Deadly Nadders were known for their tracking capabilities. It was not surprising that they could smell him from kilometres away.
He did not expect his dragon scent to linger that long. That was embarrassing. He was supposed to be the sneakiest one around! He was supposed to be untraceable!
"This close to the village? Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. I think he's inside this building."
Hiccup braced himself. He moved to grab the sword on the table.
"… nah, I'm not going in there."
"Why not?"
"I smelled a human inside. It's probably a trap."
"Ah. Well, that was worth a try."
"Let's just go. I don't feel safe here."
The boy let out a relieved sigh. He placed down the sword. He did not want to deal with them, not when he was inside the village.
"Ooh! Metal food!"
"NO!" Hiccup shouted as he rushed through the backdoor. He had bought a lot of metal from Johann days ago, placed at the back of the forge. They were expensive! Gronckle liked to eat metal. He will not let them have it!
The boy barged out through the door. There, he saw a Deadly Nadder, a Gronckle and a Terrible Terror. The boulder dragon was mid-way trying to eat an iron ingot from a small crate.
Hiccup immediately pushed the dragon back. He grabbed the crate and narrowed his eyes. "Back off!"
"Human!" The Terrible Terror screeched. The small dragon quickly hid behind the Deadly Nadder.
"Rock Eater, Let's go!" The Deadly Nadder shouted. She had put some distance between them.
"My food!" The Gronckle exclaimed. He nudged forward, trying to get the crate.
"Not food!" Hiccup yelled at him as he used his body to cover the crate.
"What is that human yapping about?" The small dragon tilted his head.
The boy rolled his eyes. Most dragons could not understand Norse. It was something that they had to learn from humans, either taught by them or learning by themselves.
"MY FOOD!" The Gronckle roared. He flew up and fired a fireball towards Hiccup.
The boy dodged to the side. It hit the ground where he was standing before and created a scorch mark on the grass. Seeing that he was obviously attacked, he took off running into the village, carrying the crate of metal with him.
"FOOOOOOOD!" The Gronckle roared once more. He went to chase after Hiccup, who were running down the street.
"Rock Eater, what are you doing?!" The Deadly Nadder shouted.
"Leave the human!" The Terrible Terror screeched. "We're in a human nest!"
Hiccup briefly looked back to see behind him. The Gronckle was chasing him. The Deadly Nadder was running after the Gronckle. The Terrible Terror was flying next to the Deadly Nadder. The two of them were not that far from the boulder dragon.
Hiccup sensed a fireball coming to him. He jumped up high to dodge the fire. He landed on a cart, jumped onto a rooftop and took off running along the wooden ridge. The ingots rattled inside the crate, as the boy was running while carrying them.
The boy sensed another fireball coming. He jumped to the side right as he reached the chimney. The fireball hit the chimney and exploded, sending bricks and debris flying all over the place.
Hiccup summersaulted in the air. He rolled onto the ground to soften the impact. He used the momentum to sprung back up and continued running down the street.
The boy had a destination in mind. He was running to the Great Hall. He scowled at the fact that there was nobody around. There was not even patrol around the place! Where was everyone?!
"Rock Eater, leave the human alone!" Hiccup could hear the two dragons trying to bring senses back to the Gronckle. "LET'S GO! We'll get you rocks to eat later!"
"How is that human still running?!"
Hiccup moved to the side. A fireball flew past him and hit a wooden barrel. It exploded, sending burning fluids all over the place. It spread and hit the wooden houses around them, setting them on fire.
The boy was lucky that none of them hit him. Oil fires were hard to extinguish. He looked back a bit to see the Gronckle flying a bit lower than expected. He looked ahead to see the Great Hall closed. There was no one guarding or standing around the place!
Hiccup growled. He could not barge into the Great Hall. The doors were meant to open outward!
Whose bright idea was it to make them open outward anyway?!
Suddenly, Hiccup sensed another fireball coming. He ducked and it flew past his head. The fireball went straight to the Great Hall door. It exploded but did not do any damage to the door. It did, however, broke something and bent the door inward.
The boy gritted his teeth. It was a disaster. He could've killed them when he had the chance. Now that he was being chased by a dragon and carrying metal, he would obviously be blamed for everything that happened!
Hiccup finally reached the Great Hall. He looked back to see the Gronckle charging towards him. His eyes widened. "No, no, no, no, NO!"
"FOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!" The Gronckle roared as he charged. Hiccup was right in front of the Great Hall door when he crashed to him. As a result, it broke the hinges and the wood holding the door. The door smashed inward, forcing them open in a wrong way.
Hiccup was thrown erratically into the Great Hall. Iron ingots flung out from the crate. It clattered onto the ground. The boy saw Vikings inside. They were all surprised to see him there. He also saw his father there.
However, his focus was on the dragon. The dragon charged another fireball. Hiccup threw the now-empty crate to the dragon. The fireball went flying and hit the crate mid-air.
The Gronckle moved to charge another one. However, before he could do that, he was knocked out of the air by a Viking. The others shouted battle cry as they moved to overwhelm and pin down the dragon. They moved to grab ropes and restraints, going to capture the dragon.
Hiccup let out a relieved sigh. He looked through the broken doorway and noticed that the two dragons had fled the area. It seemed that they had more sense and self-preservation than the Gronckle that came with them.
"Hiccup!" Hiccup felt himself lifted off the ground. It was his father. He forced him to stand from the ground. "What are you doing?!"
"I was at the forge carrying metal." Hiccup replied. He stared at his father. "Then that dragon came by and attacked me. I had to run back here since nobody was around."
Stoick grabbed Hiccup and inspected him for injuries. Seeing that he was fine, he let go of him. He pinched his nose bridge. "Why didn't you run to the patrol? We have plenty outside."
Hiccup stared at him. "What patrol?" He plainly asked. "I didn't see anyone at all when I took off running here."
That made his father pause. He looked outside through the doorway. After some time, he walked out to see what was going on outside. Some other Viking also went out to follow their chief.
While the Vikings were busy, Hiccup moved to pick up the ingots on the ground. Thankfully, there were not that many of them. He could carry them with his hand just fine.
"Are ye okay, Hiccup?"
Hiccup looked up. It was Gobber. He looked concerned. "I'm fine."
"You went flying into the Great Hall, lad!" The blacksmith exclaimed. "You need Gothi to check on ye!"
"I'm fine, really." Hiccup assured him. He picked up the last iron ingot from the ground. "Just a bit disoriented from running for your life here, carrying a bunch of metal, with nobody to help or save me from a dragon."
"Right." Gobber grunted. "I'll guide you to the forge. I have something to do there as well."
The boy let out a sigh. "Let's go then."
With that, the two of them walked out from the Great Hall.
As they did, Hiccup saw the kids passing by. Snotlout was the first one to speak. "Nice work, Useless!"
The boy rolled his eyes. He quietly followed Gobber heading to the forge. He did not want to deal with the aftermath of the incident.
He needed to find a way to make sure that it did not happen again.
Hiccup landed on top of a mountain. He stretched his wings as he observed his surroundings.
Weeks had passed since the incident. The Night Fury had been searching for an unclaimed island. It would be a place outside of nest territory or Vikings around. It would be his island, where he could rest and away from any distraction of other dragons.
The island he found was a massive island, full of mountains that reached up high into the sky. It was not surprising that dragons never bothered to stay in the island, since there was literally nothing there but rocks and mountains. Not even water. There was no Viking settlement because of that exact reason. It was only five minutes flight from Berk to the island for him.
Hiccup heard someone landed close to him. Turning around, he saw Cloudjumper standing there. Valka was sitting on his back.
"So, this is your place now?" Cloudjumper asked, looking around. "… there's not much around here."
"That's okay." Hiccup replied. "It's my island. I can terraform them to whatever I want it to be."
"Have you told the King about this?"
"I did." Hiccup nodded. "It was unclaimed. I decided to claim this territory as my own, since nobody wanted it."
Cloudjumper looked doubtful. "Alright. It's your place, after all." He paused, before asking. "What are you going to name it?"
"I'll call it… Secret Island." Hiccup declared.
"Secret Island." Cloudjumper repeated. "Not sure what so secret about it."
Hiccup huffed. "It's hard enough to come up with something original. And besides, it's kind of associated with me."
"So, your nest name is also Secret nest." The Stormcutter dryly spoke.
"Yup." Hiccup nodded. "Easier to remember if it's the same name."
"What about your name?" Cloudjumper asked.
Hiccup tilted his head. "My name?"
"Dragons called you Dark Chaser all the time." Cloudjumper spoke. "That's your species name. I don't think it's appropriate to call you that all the time, is it?"
"Well, my name is Hiccup, but that's my human name." Hiccup hummed. "… I might need a name for my dragon side."
"You can do it like how other dragons did it." Cloudjumper suggested. "You know, Valka called me Cloudjumper because I used to pretend I'm walking on clouds. Some other dragons name themselves based on the colours of their scales."
"Okay. That makes things easier." Hiccup hummed as he thought. "… Toothless. I think that's something unique about myself."
"Toothless?" Cloudjumper questioned.
"Yeah." Hiccup nodded. He opened his maw. His teeth moved in and out of the gums. "Retractable teeth."
"Alright." Cloudjumper nodded. "Toothless it is then."
Valka rattled her staff. She wanted to know why they stayed in the island for so long.
Hiccup turned to look at her mother. "Mom, this is my new place."
"Welcome to the Secret Island." Hiccup declared. "Home of Secret nest. Population: me."
"Your new home?" Valka repeated, curious. "What happened with Berk?"
"Dragons happened." Hiccup answered. "Other nests came to me for help. It got too much that Vikings took notice, so I had to act. I'll be staying here when I'm not at Berk."
"Hmm." The woman hummed as she looked around. "It… could use some work." She lamely finished.
Hiccup faltered a bit. "Give me a few days and I'll turn this whole place around." He spoke. "I learned couple of tricks by imitating alpha dragons."
"Why don't you start then." Valka gestured.
Hiccup nodded. He flew up into the air and went to the centre of the island. He reached for the biggest, tallest mountain there and flew towards the middle section. His body began to crackle with green electricity. Then, he let out a powerful beam of plasma.
The plasma spread into the shape of a huge circle. It immediately burned through the rock and stone. Hiccup pushed into the mountain, creating a hole there. He entered the hole and repeated the process going downward. He disappeared into the mountain.
Cloudjumper and Valka gaped at what they had seen. They heard loud grinding sound coming off from the mountain, meaning that Hiccup was still doing the job. They stayed there for half an hour, still in shock with what Hiccup just did.
Suddenly, a hole appeared at the base of the mountain. It became a large floor exit that dragon could easily go through. The Night Fury walked out of the mountain and shouted towards them. "COME ON! GET DOWN FROM THERE!"
That snapped Cloudjumper from his shock. He flew up and head straight to the hole at the centre of the mountain. He entered the brand-new cave that Hiccup just made.
It was a massive cavern with a lot of space to fly around. There were also yellow, red and orange glowing crystals illuminating the place. On the ground were grass, with some trees around. There were some places that was shallow, with only dirt on them. Around the corner, they could see Hiccup doing something that was growing the trees.
Hiccup's body was crackling with green electricity. Every plasma blast he fired grew trees on where it hit. Cloudjumper and Valka were amazed to see him doing that in such a short time.
After finishing his work, Hiccup looked around. The green electricity on his body disappeared. He nodded in approval. "Okay. That should do it for now."
"What…" Cloudjumper gaped. "But… HOW?!"
Hiccup looked at him and gave him a smug look. "A bit of trick that I know."
"You literally created a cave!" Cloudjumper exclaimed. "And then the trees, the grass, the crystals – this place reminded me of that story about Hidden World!"
"It was kind of modelled after that." Hiccup admitted. While he had never seen them himself, the alpha dragons had described it to him before. It was as close as he could get to Hidden World.
Hiccup landed on the grassy cave. He squished the dirt with his paws. He frowned. "A bit too soft, but I think it'll harden as time goes."
The Night Fury flew up into the sky. He spun around as he fired plasma fire to the cave walls, making them glow with blue colour. Suddenly, large spiral clearings grew out of the place where he fired them. Soon, it became clear that those clearings had become a ramp from the bottom to the top.
When Hiccup reached the top, he flew out of the cave. Moments later, there was an explosion, and the whole top of the mountain disappeared, revealing the open sky above. The Night Fury then closed it up but leaving some tiny holes around the cavern ceiling. The holes were then covered with something above it.
Moments later, they heard a thunderstorm. Slowly, water began pouring down from the holes. It rained inside the cavern, and the rain began filling the shallow area around the cave. Soon, the shallow area were filled with water. It became a small, isolated ocean there.
The water spread around the corners and formed large rivers. The river connected all the ocean there. When all of them were full, the water began pouring out of the lower cave path, out from the cavern. It was when both Valka and Cloudjumper realised that Hiccup had created a perfect cavern nest out of nothing.
The Stormcutter flew up into the air and went out through the top cavern exit. He flew higher to see what happened up there. His eyes widened upon seeing what Hiccup had done to the mountain.
The tip of the mountain was gone. Instead, it looked like staring down at the top of a massive volcano. However, there was no volcano. Instead, it was a lot of massive trees, stacked against each other. The mountain area was so high, clouds were floating close to it. There was a dark, massive clouds floating right on top of it. It was raining down water into the trees.
From down below, it looked as if it was simply an inactive volcano. It was a deep hole, and there were trees inside it. The trees were not tall enough to reach the ridge. The trees were hidden in there!
Hiccup was laying down on the ridge. He looked tired and exhausted.
Cloudjumper flew and landed right in front of him. "You… made this?" He whispered, looking around the place.
"Ta-da." Hiccup lamely spoke. He spread his wings for a bit. "Do you like it?"
"Toothless." Cloudjumper started. "Do you know what this means?"
"What?"
"This means you have an amazing nest all for yourself." Cloudjumper spoke, still in shock with things happening around him.
"Glad to know I raised the value of a relatively worthless island." Hiccup dryly spoke. He yawned, before stretching himself. "I'm off to sleep. Building the nest was really taxing."
With that note, Hiccup flew up and entered the nest. Cloudjumper looked back to Valka, who stared at him with shock, before flying up to follow him.
Hiccup landed at the centre of the new nest. He slowly circled around and heated the ground with plasma flame. After heating his bed, he squished the burning dirt, and lay down there. He rested his head, ready to sleep.
Cloudjumper landed in front of him. Valka jumped off from his back. She looked around the place. "… it looks beautiful."
Hiccup looked up. "Thank you." He replied, wearily smiling at her. "I've never done something like this before. I'm glad I tried to imitate the alpha dragons."
"Imitate?" Valka inquired.
"Each and every alpha dragon has their own abilities." Hiccup explained. "Tree Hugger can grow vegetation. Great King can create crystals, other than ice. Green Death can terraform her nest with her flames."
"Somehow, I can do what they can, to certain extent." Hiccup admitted. "I learned from imitating them."
"That's incredible." Valka gasped. "So, you can imitate other dragons' abilities?"
"To certain extent, yes." Hiccup nodded. To demonstrate, he fired a ring of fire into the sky. He let it loose for a few moments, before stopping. He looked at Cloudjumper and stared at him with smug expression.
"Hey!" Cloudjumper realised. "That's my flame!"
"It's mine now." Hiccup spoke with haughty voice. "Mine is better than yours."
Cloudjumper growled but did not respond at his remark. He looked away and began walking to opposite direction. Hiccup chuckled. He lay down his head and rested there.
Valka came close to him. She began scratching him, making him purr. "I've seen some dragons that can imitate other dragon's fire." She whispered. "I didn't think Night Fury can do that."
Hiccup began purring louder. He closed his eyes. It took Valka a few moments to realise that the Night Fury had gone to sleep. The woman smiled. She pat his head, before turning back to Cloudjumper.
She had something else to do.
"You sure this is the place?"
"Yeah. I'm sure."
"I remember going here. There's nothing here."
"Well, it is called Secret Island." Cloudjumper argued.
One month had passed since the creation of the Secret nest. Cloudjumper was flying along with a flock of dragons. The dragons in the flock were carrying wounded and injured dragons. He was herding dragons in need from the Dragon Sanctuary to Secret Island.
"I take it, Dark Chaser isn't going to visit anymore?" A Monstrous Nightmare asked, looking at Cloudjumper.
"He's going to spend most of his time here." Cloudjumper answered. "And… his name is Toothless."
"Toothless." The flame dragon nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."
Cloudjumper led the flock of dragons into the nest. The place was somewhat brighter and greener than the last time he remembered. There were grass, dirt and trees on the large spiral balcony. There were rocks of various shapes around the place.
The flock of dragons were impressed. "Whoa…"
"It's a nice nest."
"I don't think this was here before."
"Toothless really know how to pick a nest."
Cloudjumper landed at the bottom of the nest. The rest of the dragons followed. In front of them was Hiccup, who was sitting and staring at them with curious expression.
"Welcome to my nest. The Secret nest." Hiccup declared. "Just put the wounded there so I can reach them."
The injured dragons moved to a separate area. Hiccup reached them and began healing their wound one by one. The first one was a blinded Changewing. The Night Fury placed his paw onto it. His paw glowed with green colour, and the eyes instantly fixed itself.
When that was done, the Changewing bowed to him. "Thank you."
Hiccup moved on to heal the others. A Terrible Terror who lost its tail was regrown. A Skrill with missing wing had it regrown. A Deadly Nadder with missing leg was regrown. And so on, so forth, for the other injured dragons there.
When everyone had been healed, Hiccup turned to look at the resting flock of dragons. "Right. Some rules in my nest. First, don't fire offensive flame around."
The dragons nodded. It was a common rule for nests to ensure that nobody gets injured, or worse, accidentally destroying something in the nest.
"Second, you're allowed to stay in the nest, but not for long." Hiccup explained. "Staying and resting for a few sun cycles is fine, but don't go beyond that."
"Lastly, don't do anything destructive in the nest. If you want to fight someone, do it outside." Hiccup warned. "Break any of these, and you'll find yourself at the sharp end of my claws. Everyone understand?"
"Yes, Toothless." The dragons chorused.
"This is not related to my nest, but if you see me outside the nest, do NOT come and approach me." Hiccup growled, making them gulp. "This is for your own safety."
"Right. Any questions?"
A Deadly Nadder stepped forward. "What is this nest supposed to be?" She asked.
"The whole island is my territory. The nest doesn't really have any purpose, other than a place for me to stay and rest and heal other dragons." Hiccup answered. "There would be time where I would be off somewhere else. If I'm not in the nest, feel free to wait until I come back."
The Deadly Nadder bowed and stepped back. "Thank you."
"Any other questions?"
"Will you be visiting other nests?" Someone asked in the crowd.
"No. You have to bring the injured here." Hiccup answered. "Not sure if you noticed, but this island is in a neutral area from any other alpha dragon nests. This is intentional. I don't want to be associated with any alpha, no matter who it is."
"So, you're staying neutral?" The same dragon asked.
"Yes." Hiccup nodded. "Any other questions?"
There was silence. After some time, Hiccup spoke. "No? Okay. You're free to go." He spoke, making shoo gesture towards them. "Feel free to explore my nest and do… whatever. Just don't break anything."
The dragons took off into the sky. Most went out of the nest, but some decided to explore the place. After Hiccup was left alone, Cloudjumper came close to him.
"It's a nice place." Cloudjumper commented.
"Thank you." Hiccup nodded. "I made a lot of effort on it."
Hiccup noticed that Valka was nowhere near Cloudjumper. "Where's Valka?"
"She's back at the Dragon Sanctuary." Cloudjumper spoke. "She was busy helping the dragons there. I had to herd the dragons she couldn't help here."
Hiccup remembered the King telling him the name of the nest. It was Dragon Sanctuary. "Everyone is busy, it seems." He commented.
Suddenly, a Gronckle came down and landed in front of them. The Gronckle had one of its paws chopped off. It bowed to Hiccup. "Toothless."
Hiccup approached it. However, before he could do anything, another dragon landed. It was a Timberjack. Its large wings had holes in them.
"Toothless." The Timberjack bowed to him.
Another dragon landed. This one was a Deadly Nadder. Hiccup let out a sigh. He threw Cloudjumper a dirty look, before moving to help.
This would take a while.
Months passed. Winter was coming. The Vikings in Berk were busy preparing for the winter. Around the village, Vikings were nailing their windows with wooden barricades. Some other Vikings were carrying food, and others were moving things around.
Hiccup, in his human form, was helping Gobber making nails at the forge. The adult blacksmith himself was busy making nails as well. He served some Vikings there, giving out nails for those in need.
Suddenly, Stoick came to the window. "Where's Hiccup?"
Hiccup looked up from his work. He looked at his father. "Hey dad."
"Hiccup." His father leaned over the counter. "Winter is setting in. I want you to stay at home. Don't go out into the forest."
"… okay." Hiccup spoke. That would not be a problem. He could sneak in and out of his room through the window. His window was not barricaded, mostly because he could firmly lock them from the inside.
His father came up with it after his mother was taken away.
"Gobber." Stoick called him out.
Gobber looked up from his own work. "Aye chief?"
"I'm going to an expedition." The chief spoke. "Just… one ship. I'm going to check in with the Berserker. We'll be back before the winter."
"Alright chief." Gobber shrugged.
Stoick nodded. With that note, he walked away.
Hiccup made note of where his father was going. He looked over to the pile of nails he had made. They were inside a crate. Then, he looked at Gobber. "That should be 500 nails. Do we need more?"
Gobber looked at the crate. "That should be good, lad."
"Great. I'm off." The boy replied, moving to the exit.
"Just wait a second." Gobber stopped him.
"Yeah?"
"… don't go too far from the village." Gobber warned. "Gothi said the cold would be the worst this winter."
"I won't." Hiccup answered. Gobber already knew that he would be exploring the forest again, despite what his father told him.
"Alright." The blacksmith nodded. "Good luck, Hiccup."
When Hiccup returned to his nest, it was already winter there. At least, the winter cloud was there. They were raining down snow to the nest.
The boy turned dragon shuddered. The cold wind were way worse than he remembered. Gobber was right when he told him that it would be bad. The white snow falling was shrouding his vision. Thankfully, there was no fog around the place, but it would not be long for the fog to settle in.
Hiccup, in his dragon form, arrived back to his nest. There, he saw several dragons flying around, going in and out of the nest. There was also a lot of dragons standing around at the bottom. He noticed that there was a large pile of food at the centre. He saw fishes, yaks, sheep and other various livestock.
Those food were not supposed to be there. Hiccup landed and demanded. "What are you doing?"
"Toothless!" A Deadly Nadder squeaked. Everyone immediately cowered at the sight of the Dark Chaser.
"Why is this here?" Hiccup asked.
"I- We apologise, Toothless." The Deadly Nadder immediately bowed to him. "We were rallying dragons from other nests here. We're gathering all our food here to share them with everyone."
Hiccup understood. However, he was curious. "But why in my nest? There are other empty island around."
A Monstrous Nightmare stepped forward. He looked determined. "Toothless." He rumbled. "We apologise for bringing our food here. We were… desperate. We're trying to help other nest to survive, as most of them were our own kins."
A Rumblehorn stepped forward, looking equally determined. "Some of our families were Red Death's dragons." He spoke. "I do not wish for them to be eaten."
A Terrible Terror stepped forward. "Please, Toothless." He pleaded. "You're the only neutral nest here. The alpha dragons recognised it. If we do it somewhere else, we will be attacked. We don't know any other place where we could do this."
Hiccup's eyes widened. He looked around and noticed how grim the situation was. For some reason, they had brought their hatchlings. The hatchlings were all hiding behind their parents, cold and afraid. The parent dragons looked resigned, as they expected him to take everything from them.
Hiccup realised that they were desperate. They cooperated with each other because they have friends and families on the other side. They do not wish for them to die through starvation. In case of Red Death's dragons, they do not wish to be eaten for not finding food for her.
Winter was the worst thing for everyone.
After some pondering, Hiccup sighed. Bless him and his bleeding heart. "Fine." He relented. "Just don't leave a mess when you're done."
The dragons were relieved. "Thank you, Toothless." The Monstrous Nightmare bowed down to him.
Hiccup grunted, before flying up to the other part of the nest. From higher viewpoint, he observed the dragons doing their thing.
There were many dragons flying around, dropping food to the pile. While it was plenty of food there, based on the number of dragons around, it did not look like it was enough to feed them all. More and more food dropped in, and some of them were almost rotten. The dragons on the ground were counting the food, trying to find the right amount to share for everyone.
"This is all we have?" Hiccup overheard one dragon spoke.
"Yes." A Deadly Nadder down below spoke. "I'm sorry, but that's all we have."
"What should we do?" A Gronckle near the dragon asked, concerned. "That's almost ten nests worth of food! It's not enough for all of us."
"We're spreading this thin." The Monstrous Nightmare spoke. "We… might have to ration everyone. Focus on feeding the young and… maybe feed ourselves to Red Death."
The Gronckle looked away. "… I'm sorry."
"It doesn't seem enough to last for winter." The Deadly Nadder spoke, observing the pile of food. "Some of them were old and rotten."
"We can give those to the Corpse Eater." The Monstrous Nightmare answered. "The rest, we might have to spread them thin."
Hiccup felt pity. Back at Berk, he remembered some time when there were not much food left in the village. His father had to ration everyone, making sure that everyone got enough food to go for the day. The worst part was that it happened during winter as well.
After some contemplation, Hiccup decided to help. After all, he had been healing dragons free of charge. It was something he liked doing for the sake of helping.
The Night Fury stood from the ground. He flew down to the middle of the group. There, he spoke. "You three, come with me."
Hiccup and the three dragons flew up into the sky. They went out of the nest.
The four dragons landed at the beach. It was snowing outside. Hiccup turned to look at them. "I've decided to help you with your food problem."
"I- we would be honoured." The Deadly Nadder stuttered.
"But what can you do?" The Gronckle asked. "N- No offense, Toothless. Your nest don't have any food. You're the only one living there."
"I never saved any food because I never have any reason for it." Hiccup explained. "However, I am knowledgeable enough to know how to gather massive amounts of food in a short time."
Hiccup pulled something out of his backpack. It was a large net. Four balls attached on each side, and two had ropes on them. The Night Fury spread the net onto the sand, revealing what it was.
The dragons watched as Hiccup moved to spread the net. When that was done, the Night Fury looked up to the dragons. "Spiked Two-Legs, you hold onto that corner. Rock Eater, hold that corner."
The dragons moved and held onto the balls with their maws. Hiccup moved to the other corner, grabbed the ball with one hand, and the rope with another. "Flame Skin, hold that corner like this."
The Monstrous Nightmare did as he was told. "What are we going to do with this?"
"You'll see." Hiccup grunted. "Let's fly but keep in this formation. Stay close to the water."
With that in mind, the four dragons took off into the sky. They spread apart as it became apparent that the net was far bigger than it looked.
The four dragons had been flying for some time. Hiccup was looking on the ocean, looking for school of fishes. The other dragons were not sure on what to do, but they were determined to learn.
"Flame Skin, whatever you do, hold onto that corner of the rope." Hiccup warned. "When I give the signal, drop the stone."
"O- Okay." The Monstrous Nightmare hesitantly agreed.
Hiccup saw it. A massive school of fishes heading straight to their direction. "Flame Skin, drop."
Hiccup and the Monstrous Nightmare dropped the rocks. It plunged the net into the water, and the rope untangled from their paws. They held onto the end of the rope. They kept moving forward, as the net caught tonnes of fishes under the water.
The dragons could not see it, but Hiccup could. However, they could feel that the net had caught something huge, because it became heavier as they move.
After some time, Hiccup shouted. "That's enough! Flame Skin, pull!"
Hiccup and the Monstrous Nightmare pulled up first. The other dragons behind them saw massive number of fishes down below. Realising the plan was, once they saw the rocks, they immediately pulled as well.
The net was completely full of fishes. It was the size of two Viking ships, and they were very heavy. The four of them got close together. The three other dragons were flabbergasted at how much fish they had caught.
"By the gods." The Monstrous Nightmare gasped. "Fish!"
"Don't celebrate yet!" Hiccup barked. "Whatever you do, do NOT drop the net. If you do, we're starting this over!"
With new, refreshed determination, they flew back towards the Hidden nest.
The dragons had finished piling all the food they had from their nest. Everyone looked resigned, waiting for the organisers to come back and share the food with everyone. They were all looking down, saddened by the outcome of their gathering.
"Careful! Don't let it scrape against the wall!"
Curious, the dragons looked up. Their eyes widened upon seeing a massive net full of fishes right on top of them. It was eight times bigger than the food pile in front of them!
The four dragons carefully hovered it right on top of the existing food pile. Hiccup carefully instructed. "Okay. It's too heavy for us to let go. We need to-"
Suddenly, the net ripped itself from below. Fishes began pouring out of the net right into the food pile. However, as it went out, the hole went wider, making it pour out even faster. The surrounding dragons scattered and evacuated from the area.
Some fishes flung into the lakes and stayed alive there. There were way too many fishes around, and not much clear area on the ground. The dragons stayed up at the balconies, amazed at the amount of food that was brought in.
When that was done, Hiccup stared at it with exasperated expression. "And… never mind." He sighed. "It ripped itself. At least the food is here. Just let go and I'll take care of the rest."
The three dragons let go of their hold. Hiccup pulled the net onto himself. After gathering everything, he threw them aside to the nearby balcony.
Hiccup landed at the higher balcony, observing the surroundings. The massive pile almost covered the whole ground area of the nest. It even reached the height of the first layer of the balcony. Fishes flopped all over the place. Some even reached the second floor of the balcony.
It made a mess in his nest.
"Right!" Hiccup roared, getting the attention of everyone. "This is my contribution to you. All of you. I've made a mess In my own nest for this, so don't make me regret this decision to help."
"Thank you, Toothless." The dragons immediately bowed down to him.
The three dragons from before began coordinating the other dragons. Everyone looked cheerful now. After some time, dragons swooped in and began grabbing food from the food pile. The rest of the dragons followed, happily chattering with each other.
Hiccup smiled as he moved deeper into the balcony. He was happy that the other dragons were happy. He hoped they did not starve for the winter. There, he rested his body, trying to get some sleep.
"Toothless."
Hiccup opened his eyes. He had not gotten sleep yet. He was annoyed. Looking up, he saw the three dragons from before, staring at him with awe and admiration.
The Night Fury sat up. "What do you want?"
The Monstrous Nightmare started. "We… would like to show our gratitude."
"All the food there could feed every nest gathered here for the entire winter." The Gronckle rumbled, looking relieved and thankful. "Even the dragons from Red Death nest could survive."
"You had given us something that we never imagined having." The Deadly Nadder spoke. "You had given hope to all of us." She was hesitated. "… we want to show our gratitude."
Hiccup tilted his head. "You don't need to, really." He answered.
"But you have been doing this, thanklessly, for world cycles." The Deadly Nadder insisted. "You healed us, you took care of us, and now, you fed us. You have no reason to, yet you did. We are all far more indebted to you than you ever thought we were."
"You have our eternal gratitude." The Gronckle spoke. "We would like to repay them. What can we do for you, Toothless?"
Hiccup rolled his eyes. "You see the pile of food we gathered?"
The dragons nodded. The Night Fury continued. "Get rid of them from my nest. Do whatever you want with it. I don't care. Clean that up. Don't leave any food behind. I don't want to see any of it when the winter comes."
Hiccup stood up and walked off from the flabbergasted dragons. He paused, before turning his head towards them. "Don't make me regret helping you."
With that, Hiccup flew away, out of the nest.
Hiccup knew that it was probably harsh to tell them that. However, he had a reputation to hold up amongst the dragons. It would not do well if he appeared too soft, after all.
Unbeknownst to him, his action made him even more popular amongst the dragons. After all, not many dragons were willing to help others without anything in return. Hiccup behaved like an alpha dragon, despite not being an alpha. He took care of them without expecting anything in return, and it was something that they admired from him.
Few days later, winter came.
And it came, really, really bad.
The temperature dropped extremely low. Everything at Berk came to a halt, as they gathered in their homes and Great Hall. Their usual thick fur coat did not help much, as the winter was far colder than anything they had ever seen.
It was not just the cold. The snow was also a problem. It always snowed, from day to night. Thick fogs covered the whole place, and they could not see anything that was not within their hand reach. During the night, there would always be heavy, windy thundersnow.
The whole place was piled with snow, and in some parts, they were as tall as fully grown Viking. Some houses were destroyed, as the unlucky few forgot to reinforce their rooftops against the weight of the snow.
Hiccup, in his human form, was sitting inside the Great Hall. All the windows were closed and barricaded, and most of the Vikings were there. Notably, his father was not there. Instead, Spitelout was sitting where his father usually was.
Suddenly, the Great Hall door flew open, revealing Gobber there. Strong wind began rushing in. He went inside and immediately closed the door.
Everyone let go of their bated breath. They moved back to do their own thing. Gobber approached Spitelout and began talking with him. They were speaking in muffled voice that was drowned amongst the chattering villagers.
Hiccup drank from the hot tankard of mead he was holding. He let out a relieved sigh. He had vacated all the dragons from his nest yesterday. The sea were all frozen, and the ice were extremely thick, meaning that it was almost impossible for anyone to gather food from the sea. Wildlife were off the table as well, as almost all the animals there had gone to hibernation.
Couple minutes later, Gobber and Spitelout came to him and sat on the opposite side. Hiccup looked up. He was curious as to what they were up to. They looked nervous, and Hiccup could smell hints of fear coming from them.
"Err… Hiccup." Gobber started. "How are you today?"
"I'm… just doing my best." Hiccup shrugged. It was cold. There was nothing else to say.
Gobber and Spitelout looked at each other. Then, Spitelout spoke. "Say, Hiccup. Have… Stoick taught you anything about chiefdom?"
Hiccup frowned. He did not know where that line of questioning was going. "He rarely talked to me. How am I supposed to know anything about it?"
"We were just curious, Hiccup." Gobber patiently explained.
Hiccup narrowed his eyes. He did not like where it was going. "… where's my dad?"
That got a reaction from them. Hiccup could smell resignation from their body. "Hiccup. We… your father haven't returned yet." Gobber admitted.
"He said he was coming back before winter." Hiccup whispered. "He said he was visiting the Berserker… He's there, is he?"
"Hiccup." Spitelout spoke, getting his attention. "Your father had gone to the Berserker Island to renew a treaty with Oswald the Agreeable. Trader Johann came to us and told us that he had seen him at the Berserker island. They had signed the treaty."
"That was a few days ago." Gobber took over the explanation. "Your father was supposed to return here yesterday. Hiccup, I'm not saying that anything happened to your father-"
"No." Hiccup shook his head.
"Hiccup." Snotlout tried to calm him down. "It's okay. If you don't want the chiefdom, my son Snotlout can-"
"Stop." Hiccup raised his voice.
The Great Hall quietened. They had heard his outburst. Gobber and Spitelout looked around and realised that it had gotten everyone's attention. Spitelout tried to defuse the situation. "Hiccup, calm down-"
"You're telling me that my dad is out there, stranded somewhere in an island and can't go back because of this blasted winter." Hiccup started, angry at what they were implying. "And you're here acting like he was dead?!"
"Hiccup, that was not what we mean!" Gobber spoke, standing up from his seat.
Hiccup stood up as well. "Oh, I know exactly what you mean." He hissed. "Coming here to me, asking if my dad taught me anything, telling me my dad haven't gone back from the Berserker Island. Where do you think that conversation would go?"
"Hiccup-"
"Why don't you guys send a search party for him instead of coming to me?" Hiccup angrily questioned them. "Why are you coming to me treating as if he was dead?"
Spitelout stood up from his seat. "Because we care for the village!" He roared.
Hiccup and Spitelout glared at each other. The large man was surprised at the intensity of the glare that the boy mustered against him. Both did not relent from their glare.
"… just the village." Hiccup slowly spoke. "Figures."
Hiccup walked out from the table. Everyone was silent as they watched Hiccup heading towards the door. "Where are you going?"
Hiccup turned around and glared at Spitelout. "My dad sacrificed his blood and sweat for the village." He spoke. His voice was calm and threatening. "He had done this for years. Now he might be in trouble, and what did you do? You come to me acting like he was dead."
"You're not his right-hand man." Hiccup coldly spoke to Spitelout. "You're a fiend and a coward. Goodbye."
Then, Hiccup opened the Great Hall door and exited the place. The door slammed shut with a loud wham. Everyone at the Great Hall moved and stared at Spitelout, who looked shaken by the whole ordeal.
Hiccup narrowed his eyes. He was in his dragon form, flying up in the cold, wintery sky. It was night-time, and the thundersnow was getting worse. He could not see anything, but he knew the way to the Berserker Island.
The Night Fury roared an extremely high-pitched sound, sending purple-coloured sound signal onto the thick frozen ocean. It allowed him to 'see' where he was and what was on the ground. Echolocation was one of the abilities that Night Fury had.
Hiccup listened to the echo of his sound. He ignored the cold around him, as he know that his inner flame would keep him warm. Frowning, he roared once more. This time, he caught a glimpse of something at the corner of his range.
The boy turned dragon roared at that direction. He listened and 'saw' something there. It was a ship. Deciding to figure out if that was the one, he approached it.
From close by, Hiccup could make out the flag. It was the Hairy Hooligan Tribe flag, meaning that his father might be inside. The whole ship was stuck on the thick, frozen ocean. There was no light coming from the inside, and there were frozen dead bodies on the deck.
Hiccup landed on the deck. He looked around. There was nothing amiss. He went to check the bodies and realised that there was no wound on them. Everyone was frozen cold. There was no food around. Usually, they have bread or apple littered around the ship. Did everyone die of starvation?
The dragon shook his head. They must've died because of the cold. He moved to the captain's cabin and found it wide open. Entering the place, he found his father there, down on the floor, leaning to a wall.
His father looked terrible. His body was cold, very cold. It saddened Hiccup that his father was in this condition. He looked like he was on his final breath.
Stoick was struggling to open his eyes. He was tired, extremely so. He saw a silhouette of a black dragon coming into the cabin. He let out a weak chuckle. He was doing to die by a dragon, just like his wife did.
"I'm sorry…" Stoick whispered. "Valka…" Then, he let go of his consciousness.
Hiccup moved to check him. His father had fallen unconscious after he entered. That was good. It meant that he did not need to knock him out to carry him. Deciding the best way to tackle the situation, the Night Fury stripped him of his weapons. Then, he dragged him out of the cabin.
He put himself on top of him. Firmly holding his body, he took off into the air, heading towards a safe place.
Hiccup found a small, empty island. It was simply a cave mouth with a large clearing inside. There were some fallen trees there. He flew into the cave and placed Stoick at the centre. Knowing what to do, he grabbed the large tree branches and surrounded his father with it.
After putting enough distance, he lit up the wood with his plasma blast. Seeing that there was a consistent source of heat, he fired continuous plasma flame right around his father. When that was done, Hiccup moved and sat right on top of him. He wrapped his wings around him, covering him from the cold wind outside.
Hiccup knew that he would probably be killed when his father woke up, but he did not care. He had found his mother years ago. He would not want to lose his father in trade of his mother, no matter how terrible his father was.
With that in mind, he lay down his head and closed his eyes. After some time, he went to sleep.
The next day, Hiccup opened his eyes. He raised his head and looked around. He was still in the same position as before. The fire had gone out, and it was bright outside. He checked the person that was underneath him.
Stoick was warm, but still unconscious. He was in a better condition than before.
Hiccup unfurled his wings. He circled around and burned the ground around them with plasma fire once more. When that was done, he went out of the cave to see what was going on outside.
The thundersnow was gone, but it was still extremely foggy and hard to see. It was much safer to fly around now because it was not as windy as before. It was most likely safer for him to move his father back to Berk.
Suddenly, he heard a groan. Eyes wide, Hiccup turned around to face his father. He groaned as he slowly got up from the ground. He looked dazed from his experience yesterday. "Oh… what hit me…" He groaned.
Stoick stared at the Night Fury and froze. Both stared at each other, surprised. Hiccup was surprised that his father woke up just now, while Stoick was shocked to see a dragon he had never seen before there.
However, he recognised him from his encounter of being saved by the dragon before. "Night Fury?" He whispered. He pat his own body and did not find any of his weapon. He looked down to see that he had been completely disarmed!
Seeing an opportunity when he was not looking, Hiccup spun and slammed his tail right to his father's head. It hit with a resounding wham, and with the condition his father was in, he instantly collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Hiccup let out a relieved sigh. He was not expecting his father to wake up. He knew his father had a strong will, but he never expected them to be strong enough to wake up a day after being starved and almost frozen to death. That was unexpected for him.
He had to move his father back to Berk before he woke up again. If he woke up during the flight, he could always drop him and knock him unconscious. With that in mind, he dragged his father out of the cave. After they went out, Hiccup braced himself for another trip.
He put himself on top of his own father and grabbed his body. Making sure he had a good grip, he flew up into the sky, heading back to Berk.
Everyone at Berk was still in their own house. Hiccup flew towards the shore not far from the dock. Thankfully, the flight was uneventful. Reaching the shore, he carefully placed his father onto the snowy ground. He was still unconscious.
When that was done, Hiccup turned himself invisible and flew up into the sky. He circled around, seeing if anyone would find him there, or if he would wake up.
Few minutes later, he did not see him waking up. Hiccup growled. He must've hit him too hard in the head. Pondering on how to tackle the situation, he flew back towards the village and entered his own room.
Inside, he became visible and transformed to his human form. He grabbed the thickest coat he could find in his room and rushed out through the door. His footsteps created marks on the snow. He ran down towards the docks, ran around some more on the docks, before running towards his father.
Reaching his own father, Hiccup slapped him on his cheeks. "Dad. Dad! Wake up!"
Stoick immediately sat up right. He frantically looked around. "Where's the dragon?!"
"Dad!" Hiccup shouted, getting his attention. "Are you okay? I've been looking for you!"
"Hiccup?" Stoick spoke, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"I… I was searching for a ship to look for you." Hiccup admitted. "Then I found you here."
Stoick looked behind him. It was the familiar view of the docks. The ocean was completely frozen, and it also froze the ships.
"Dad?" Hiccup asked, looking concerned. "Are you okay?"
"I-" Stoick blinked. He was back at Berk. He did not remember how he got there. All he remembered was being trapped inside the ship, seeing the Night Fury and fell unconscious after getting hit in the head.
Somehow, he was sure that the Night Fury had saved him from being frozen to death, knocked him out and brought him there.
It looked like the same one. Just like all those years ago.
It had saved his life again.
"I thought you're visiting the Berserker." Hiccup questioned, getting his attention. He looked around. "Where's your ship?"
"I- It's nothing." Stoick spoke as he struggled to get up.
Hiccup helped and supported him. The chief was surprised that his son had the strength to support him. Standing up, he whispered. "Thank you, Hiccup."
"Let's go back to the Great Hall." Hiccup spoke, leading his father to the docks. "L- Let's prove to everyone that you're not dead."
"What?" Stoick asked, aghast.
Hiccup scowled. "Gobber and Spitelout told me you might be dead." He explained. "I- I don't believe them. I tried looking for you, but I couldn't find any ice breaker ship. Then, I found you at the shore here."
Stoick grimaced. He needed to talk to the village soon.
The door to the Great Hall flew open. Everyone turned to look at the newcomer. Hiccup and Stoick was standing on the doorway. They both entered the Great Hall and closed the door.
The villagers were shocked, especially Gobber and Spitelout. Stoick moved towards Spitelout and spoke. "I have returned."
Stoick sat right next to him. Gobber was the first one to react. "Welcome back, chief!"
The rest of the villagers followed. "Welcome back!"
"By the gods, you're back!"
"Welcome back, chief!"
Stoick laughed. He grabbed a tankard of mead and held it high. "The Berserker signed the peace treaty. Now, we celebrate!"
"AYE!" The villagers roared. Everything suddenly became right in the world for them. They laughed and cheered at the fact that their chief had returned. Villagers began talking amongst each other, discussing about things that they could buy from the Berserker, now that the peace treaty was signed.
Hiccup smiled. He grabbed a tankard of hot mead and sat at the corner of the Great Hall. He was glad that his father was safe.
Stoick was laughing and eating with the other villagers. He was glad that he had come back and survived the encounter. Others asked him how the trip was, and he told them that he had to walk from the frozen sea back to Berk.
That was a lie, but it was something that he had to say. After all, who would believe him if he told them that he was saved by a dragon?
Deep in his mind, he wondered; why did the dragon saved him? What did he ever do to it that he saved his life twice?
Maybe it was a sign from the gods. The Night Fury was wearing something that looked like a backpack. Whatever the sign was, he did not know. He wished that everything would be okay in the future.
Story Excerpt 2
Journal Entry 85-C
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III
Today, I saved my father from freezing to death.
The winter was much worse than the time I was in my nest. Everything was frozen. Never in my life had I ever seen something like this. Usually, there would be some area in the sea that's not encased in ice. That's not the case for this winter.
It was all ice, as vast as eyes can see. So vast, my dad would probably name it after him. The ice looks indestructible too. It took me three plasma blast to finally break some chunks off them. Even then, that wasn't deep enough to get the water out.
I'm getting ahead of myself again, and I'm writing this with ink. Perfect.
Few years ago, I saved my father during the raid because I don't want him to die. Now, I saved him again for that same reason. Why did I save my father? Why did I bother? Why did I care about him? I don't know. I honestly don't know.
My father is neglectful and ignorant of me. He didn't really care about me unless he need something from me. I should've seen it back when I was littler. Becoming one with the dragon made me realise how wrong that was. Sure, he was protective, but that's just how every parent is.
I hate him. I wish he could pay attention to me more. I kind of gave up trying a long time ago after the merge, when I realise that he would never pay attention to me, no matter what I do. It was a fruitless effort.
I should've not bothered to save him. I should've just left him to die years ago. I should've let him freeze to death. After he dies, I could just fly away from the village and never look back ever again. I could explore the world and be the dragon I was meant to be.
My father was the only thing holding me back in this village. I realised this as I wrote this. He's the only person I care about in this whole village.
Why did I care about him? I don't know. I really don't know.
Maybe there's a small part in me that still want his attention. Maybe that's the Hiccup in me that still love him as a father. I really don't want to lose a piece of my family, no matter how horrible they were to me back then.
Maybe that was the reason. They're family. He's kin. He's my dad. No matter how terrible he is, he's still my father. I think that's the only reason why I even bothered with him.
This is giving me a headache. And a heartache. I can't reason my way out of this. The only reason that came up to me is the fact that he's my father and he's my kin, just like my mother. The difference is that my mother left me and taken by the dragon, while my father just ignores me as if I didn't exist.
Come to think of it, both sounds equally bad. If they're so bad, then why do I still care for them? Why did I forgive my mother? I don't understand!
Maybe I'm overthinking this. Maybe it's best if I just ignore this and pretend all of this never happened. Pretend as if they've always been there for me and ignore what happened before.
Why do I even bother writing this in the journal? My hand is just moving on its own at this point.