Written at: 2 January 2022
Story Word Count: 10,608
Language: English (UK)
History:
Publish (FFN) – 11 June 2022
Publish (AO3) – 11 June 2022
Pairing:
- Hiccup (Toothless) x Light Fury
A year had passed. Things had significantly calmed down in Secret nest since that day.
Hiccup had ramped up the training of his dragons. He further militarised them, preparing them for any future attack that might happen. Every dragon there needed to be able to take on multiple enemy dragons at once, as they would never have the number to fight against Red Death nest.
Hiccup's dragons understood the situation. After debriefing, they were glad that their training had paid off. They were eager to follow through training, since they know that they were getting smarter, better and stronger under him. By the end of it, they were more competent and ruthless than before.
Hiccup increased the focus on intelligence and security, knowing that they would need as much information and strength as possible for an attack. The nest finally lifted the lockdown after they were sure such attack would not happen again. They allowed outside dragons to visit, often under watch of the native dragons in the nest.
They did ban Red Death's dragons from ever coming into the nest.
Thankfully, the rest of the year went off without any incident. Red Death had gone completely silent. There was no communication exchanged, none of her dragons seen outside their nest, not even patrolling in Helheim's Gate. There was no declaration of war. Something had happened to them. The scouts reported that all Red Death's dragons were inside the Dragon Island, with occasional village raids to feed Red Death herself.
Cloudjumper came from time to time with Valka. They both refused to talk about what they had told Great King. Whatever happened to Red Death, they were sure that the Great King had been involved in some way. They somehow kept their status as a neutral nest after the attack.
Which brought back at the situation that Hiccup was in.
"HOIST THE TORCH!"
Hiccup flinched when he heard an explosion. He was back at Berk, inside the forge. He was in his human form. The boy was currently working overtime at night, fixing weapons that was brought into the forge.
A dragon raid was happening at Berk. Hiccup was sure that they were Red Death dragons. He could smell them. Most of the incoming dragons were common, meaning that there was no surprise threats that they might encounter.
"Hiccup, are you done with it?"
"Here!" Hiccup shouted at Gobber. He handed him a stack of swords, before moving to grab stacks of axes. They both moved to dump the weapons at the table near the window. Vikings immediately rushed in to grab anything they can, before going off running into the battle.
Hiccup was wearing his armoured attire. It had become his usual attire after he turned 15-year-old. His father demanded him to always wear them. While he trusted Hiccup to protect himself, he wanted him to always be prepared.
Notably, Hiccup got himself a new sword. It was something that he made using his own scales.
"Hiccup, did you-"
"NIGHT FURY!"
"GET DOWN!"
Suddenly, the whole forge was rocked with explosion. Hiccup had just pushed Gobber out through the forge when the whole thing exploded into smithereens. The boy looked up to the sky. He could see a faint white silhouette there, before vanishing into nothing.
Hiccup was shocked. A Night Fury?!
He thought he was the only one!
The boy got up from the ground. He looked around for something to use, before remembering something at the garage section of the forge. He had made a bola launcher contraption. It was meant for his dragons to use at the nest, but he made them at Berk because the lack of proper material.
The idea was for his dragons to use complex contraptions. It was a stupid idea since they were not humans, but Scorpion insisted. He had yet moved them from Berk to the nest, since he did not have the time to do so.
Suddenly, he heard another whistle. His acute senses notified him that the enemy Night Fury was coming his way. His eyes widened. Red Death nest was raiding them. That meant she got a Night Fury to assassinate him!
'They could try.' Hiccup thought.
Hiccup ran away towards more open area. He had to get away from anyone, mainly Gobber, who was still disoriented. Right on the last moment, Hiccup rolled away. The plasma blast was fired right when he did that. The attack splashed the ground with a loud explosion.
"Hiccup!" He heard Gobber shout at him.
"It's after me! Gobber, move!" Hiccup shouted at him. Looking up to the sky, the enemy Night Fury had disappeared. However, Hiccup knew that it was still loitering around. There were not that many dragons around, meaning that the dragon raid was starting to end.
He needed to shoot down that enemy Night Fury.
The boy ran towards the forge garage. It was mostly intact. He unwrapped the contraption. It was a wooden contraption that resembles a bow, except it was designed to throw a bola.
Hiccup pulled and began dragging the contraption out of the garage. He took off into the forest, hoping to evade the enemy Night Fury.
It worked. The enemy Night Fury was still loitering and looking for him. However, it had yet spotted him.
Hiccup went up to the hill and dragged the bola launcher there. He noted that he had a clear view of the whole village from the hill. Looking up to the sky, he searched for the dragon that tried to kill him. While the night sky served as a camouflage for the Night Fury, he noted that this one could turn invisible. He wondered if that was a skill common amongst Night Fury species.
That did not mean Hiccup could not sense it. After all, what eyes couldn't see, ears and nose could still spot them. The wind disruption was one of the things that he could sense.
Hiccup spotted it. It was flying around, circling the place. He aimed the bola launcher at it. He waited for the right opportunity. As he did, he noticed that the enemy Night Fury was heading towards him. It had spotted him right after he did!
Seeing that it was diving towards him, Hiccup fired the bola. The enemy Night Fury fired a long-range plasma blast. The boy instantly rolled out of the way as the bola launcher were blown off into pieces. Not long after that, he heard a snap and a shriek. He saw something fell into the forest behind him.
Hiccup let out a relieved sigh. He had shot down the enemy Night Fury.
The boy looked at the village. Things were calming down. He decided that they could last without him around for some time. With that in mind, he took off into the forest, going to search for the dragon.
The forest was calm. Usually, dragons immediately evacuated off the place when there was a dragon raid. It was intentional, since they did not want to get involved with anything related to the dragon raid.
It made the search easier for him. When there was only one dragon scent, things were easier to find. Hiccup found the dragon within couple minutes. What he saw greatly surprised him.
It was not a Night Fury. However, the appearance was like one. Instead of black scales that Night Fury usually had, it was white. The colour on its throat to underbelly was blue, and the eyes were blue instead of acidic green. Instead of spikes along its back, there was a long, thin spine. It was a dragon that he had never seen before.
"Whoa…" Hiccup whispered. It was the most beautiful dragon he had ever seen. Most dragons he saw were usually faced with his apathy. However, for some reason, this one seemed to attract his attention.
He noted that it was a female. That might be why.
The dragon was glaring at him. Hiccup noted that he could smell Red Death's call on her. He pondered the potential of this dragon being the last of her kind like him. If that was the case, he would need to break the influence of Red Death from her.
With that in mind, Hiccup moved to grab the dragon. He held onto the bola and lifted her. After some time, he began dragging her deeper into the forest, going to a more secluded place inside the island.
Hiccup found a secluded area. It was a cove. There was some pool of water there and the cove was hidden enough that Vikings would not find them. The boy placed the dragon at the centre of the cove. He moved her a bit, so she had her belly pointing up to the sky.
The dragon was looking at him the whole time. Hiccup took a deep breath before transforming into his dragon form. The dragon's eyes went wide. Looking down at him, Hiccup noted that the dragon recognised him at that form.
The boy turned dragon moved and mounted right on top of the dragon. He cut the rope that held her head, pushed her head to expose her neck. He extended his teeth. His body crackled with green electricity. He felt the dragon struggled underneath him. However, he was bigger and stronger than her, and she was fully restrained, so all effort was moot.
Hiccup sank his teeth into her throat. The dragon tried to scream, but the Night Fury held her down. Purple electricity crackled onto her body, as Hiccup forcefully tore into her mind and tear the alpha call out from her. He could feel Red Death trying to keep holding onto her.
She proved to be a challenge, but Hiccup did not let go. He sank his teeth deeper but did not move to tear it. As he worked on releasing her, the dragon felt indescribable amount of pain. Every inch of her body racked with pain, and she felt needles stabbing her head.
After what appeared to be five minutes of an agonizing pain, everything stopped. Hiccup had purged the call from her. She was no longer Red Death's dragon. She was now a free, wild dragon.
After finished purging her call from her, Hiccup let her go. The dragon was groaning in pain, slowly trying to recover from what happened. As she did, the boy turned dragon circled around her, observing her appearance.
She looked far more beautiful when looked closely. Hiccup noted that the left tail fin of the dragon was missing. If they had similar anatomy, it meant that the dragon could not fly at all. Seeing the cove wall were deep and high, he knew that she would never be able to get out of the cove.
Knowing that she would be stuck there, Hiccup slashed and cut her ropes. He moved and sat right in front of her, waiting for her to recover.
"Oh… that… that hurts…" The dragon groaned. Hiccup found her voice melodic.
"Consider it a retaliation for trying to kill me." Hiccup replied.
That immediately snapped her from disorientation. She went upright to face her, only to back away in fear and terror. She knew who he was. The dragon tried to fly away. However, she did not get too far before she curved to the right and crashed to the wall. She scrambled back up and pulled her tail into her. Her eyes widened when she saw the damage. She had lost her flight!
Hiccup slowly approached her. Knowing that she was doomed, the dragon fired a plasma ball at him. It hit his face but did nothing at all. The dragon kept firing and firing, but Hiccup was unfazed. He was not even damaged at her blast. The explosion created scorch marks all over the place. It was as if nothing could stop him!
The dragon finally ran out shots. She dashed forward with her claws raised. Hiccup spun around and slammed her with his tail. She flung back to the wall behind her. The dragon slid down to the ground, injured from the hit.
The dragon realised that the battle was over when it started. She finally limped and showed her submission to him. Hiccup went up right close to her and sat there. He tilted his head, observing her.
They stayed like that for some time. The dragon was confused to see him like that. She pressed her back to the wall some more, before speaking to him. "What are you waiting for?"
"For you to say something." Hiccup answered.
That confused the dragon. "What?"
"You came here trying to kill me."
The dragon winced. "I- I'm sorry. I don't know it was you. I- I had gone to your nest to help, but I was turned away-"
"Whoa, whoa, stop right there." Hiccup halted her. She sounded fearful and desperate. "I'm not mad. I'm just annoyed. Now, let's start from the beginning."
"My name is Toothless." Hiccup introduced himself. "The leader of Secret nest. Who are you?"
"M- My name is Luna." The dragon – now known as Luna – hesitantly introduced herself. "I- I'm a Light Chaser."
"Great!" Hiccup happily replied. "Now. Let's start with the most important question."
Then, he glowered at her. "Why did you try to kill me?"
Luna whimpered. "I- I'm sorry! Red Death threatened to kill me and my family if I don't do it." She confessed.
Hiccup tilted his head. She was telling the truth. "And where is your family?"
"I-" Luna shuddered her breath. "They were at your nest. We came from Hidden World. Red Death's dragons came to me and threatened my family. They want me to kill a human at this island. I didn't know that human was you. I was forced to agree."
"And you said you came to my nest because…?"
"I need protection." Luna admitted. "I- I brought my family to your nest and we were attacked. Red Death had a call on me and your dragons sensed it. They captured my family. She promised to release them if I kill you."
Hiccup tilted his head. He remembered the report of dragons that was captured for trying to get into the nest. Scorpion never told him about the species, simply the numbers.
"When did this happen?"
"Five sun cycles ago." The dragon admitted.
"Alright." Hiccup nodded. "I will cut you a deal."
"I had released you from Red Death's call." Hiccup explained. The dragon's eyes widened. She never thought such thing was possible to be done from external force. "I have your family. I will release them for you. Under several conditions."
"What is it?"
"You and your family must join my nest." Hiccup told her.
Luna felt conflicted. She had heard of Toothless and the Secret nest. They were a neutral nest that helped dragons without any sort of expectation from them. Most of her friends that came back to the Hidden World admitted that they had been saved and helped by the Secret nest before.
It was why she had come to the Secret Island. She needed protection.
Seeing her expression, Hiccup continued speaking. "The Secret nest is currently at war with Red Death's nest." He explained. "You and your family would have my protection. I am doing this for you and your family."
Luna was silent. She looked away. "… Why do you want to help me?"
"Because I care." Hiccup simply spoke. "You came to my nest for protection. My dragons turned you away, but you told me of your situation. If you accept my offer, you and your family will be granted an asylum in my nest."
"How come you're so trusting over someone that tried to kill you?"
"Because I know when you're being honest or not." Hiccup simply spoke. "If you haven't noticed, you're trapped in the cove. I could just leave you here and let you starve to death."
"My dragons execute prisoners 7 sun cycles after capture." Hiccup continued speaking. "Unless there was interrogation happening, which most likely don't happen, your family will die in 2 sun cycles."
Luna's eyes widened with horror. Hiccup continued explaining. "My nest runs autonomously. It can run itself without me being there. I never knew about this situation until I shot you down. If you try anything funny, I'll let them run its course, and that's going to be it for you and everything you have."
Luna realised that she was utterly stumped. She was at complete mercy of the Night Fury in front of her. All other choice she had would lead to her and her family's demise. She had no other choice but to submit to him.
The dragon slumped, further showing submission to him. "… Okay." She finally spoke. "I'll take the deal."
"Alright." Hiccup nodded. "Stand up right. It's improper for a dragon like you to be like this."
Luna was confused but complied anyway. Hiccup placed his paw on her body. In a second, all the wound and injuries she had were gone. It also grew back her tail fin. The dragon pulled her tail and was amazed to see her tail fin back.
"Wow…" She gasped. "The stories were true… you can heal anything…"
"Save your thanks later." Hiccup grunted. "Let's get your family out first."
With that, both Hiccup and Luna took off into the sky, heading towards the Secret nest.
Luna was sitting at the centre of the security sector in Hiccup's nest, guarded by two dragons behind her. The dragon was nervous, since she was in the middle of the nest that she was seeking protection with.
All the dragons around her were big and strong. They spoke in authoritative manner and never hesitate to do what they needed to do. Most of them were carrying objects that looked much bigger and heavier than them.
If the whole nest decided to turn against her, she would never stand a chance. Light Chaser or not.
"Luna!"
The said dragon turned around. There, she saw a pair of Light Chaser running towards her. Both were somewhat larger and older than her. "Mom! Dad!"
They reached at the middle and wrapped themselves in a hug. They sat close to each other and wrapped their wings amongst themselves, while nuzzling their noses. After some time, they released themselves.
"Luna, I'm glad you're alright." The old female Light Chaser spoke. She was very relieved to see her.
"I- I'm okay." Luna responded. "I found Toothless, and he wants to help."
"Toothless?" Her father questioned.
"That would be me."
The three Light Chasers turned around. There, they see Hiccup coming towards them. He was accompanied by a Deathgripper named Scorpion. "Glad you finally reunited with your family."
"Thank you." Luna softly spoke. "I- I don't know what to say…"
"As our agreement, you and your family has been granted an asylum in the Secret nest." Hiccup declared. "You will be protected and taken care of. You are now dragons of the Secret nest."
The adult Light Chasers' eyes widened. "You made a deal with him?" Luna's father asked, looking at his daughter.
"I- I had to." Luna admitted. "He was our only chance."
"Luna, we don't know anything outside the Hidden World." The old male Light Chaser scolded her. "We only know this place because we heard about it."
Hiccup walked and stood next to Luna. "I assure you that we will not force you to do anything." He firmly spoke. "The Secret nest is neutral. Even after the attack from Red Death, we remained as such. Our neutrality were acknowledged by the Great King, and we honour his acknowledgement on us."
"We can do whatever we want here?" Luna's mother questioned.
"Within reasons." Hiccup responded. "We have some rules in place to keep peace around here. We expect you to follow them."
"Well, if the place is as peaceful as the story says, I guess we can stay." Luna's father nodded.
"Great!" Hiccup happily responded. "Let me be the first one to say this; Welcome to the Secret nest!"
"The dragon next to me here is Scorpion." He explained as he gestured to the Deathgripper next to him. "He would be the one giving you the tour around the place, as well as some of our history. He'll lead you to your place when the tour is done."
Hiccup looked at each of the dragons in front of him. "I will leave all of you to him now. I have something else to do. Take care."
With that, Hiccup flew up and went out of the nest, leaving the dragons there.
Everyone at Berk gathered at the Great Hall once the dragon raid was over. Most of them were silent as they listened to Gobber telling the tale. Stoick and Gobber were standing at the front.
"… Hiccup pushed me out right before the whole forge exploded." Gobber finished. "After that, I saw it attacked and tried to kill him. That thing missed its shot."
"And where did Hiccup go?" Stoick asked.
"Last time I saw, he went to the forest, dragging something from the forge."
"And you didn't think of following him?" The chief raised his voice.
"What am I supposed to do, Stoick?" The blacksmith asked, exasperated. "The kid can handle himself on his own. You can't always coddle him when he can deal with those Outcasts."
The villagers nodded in agreement. Stoick's overprotectiveness were getting annoying for them. Hiccup know how to handle himself!
"But he haven't returned yet, has he?" Stoick insisted.
"We heard explosions coming from the forest." One villager responded. Stoick clenched his fists.
Suddenly, the Great Hall door barged open. Everyone turned around to see who that was. It was Hiccup. He was standing at the doorway. He looked like he was holding something on his hand.
"Sorry for coming late." Hiccup announced. He came forward to the front. The crowd parted like red sea. "I had things to do."
"Hiccup, where were you?" Stoick hissed.
"Off into the forest." Hiccup simply spoke.
"You had the Night Fury after you, lad." Gobber asked, worried.
"It was no Night Fury." Hiccup scoffed. He raised his hand and showed them what he was holding. It was a small, white sheet of dragon skin that looked like a tail limb. Hiccup had found the sheared tail fin from Luna and disposed it. He had cut a small part of it for himself.
"You faced against the beast?" Stoick asked, surprised.
"Yes." Hiccup nodded. "It was not a Night Fury."
"How did you know, lad?"
"For one, I can see it coming out of a dive." Hiccup shrugged as he lowered his hand. "You can't see Night Fury. Secondly, it was persistent. Third, it revealed itself."
"So, you killed it."
"No." Hiccup shook his head. "I managed to cut something from it before it ran away."
"Did you see what it look like?"
Hiccup snorted. "Maybe." He shrugged. "You don't really pay attention to details like that when you're fighting something actively trying to kill you."
"Hiccup, this is serious!"
"I am being serious!" Hiccup retorted, glaring at his father. "The dragon was something that I've never seen before."
"It doesn't have any horns." The boy explained as he began circling at the front, looking deep in thought. "It's sleek with white scales. It's fast, obviously. It attacks like a Night Fury. I think this dragon is somewhat related to Night Fury."
Hiccup stopped in front of his father. He looked up to face him. "When it ran out of shots, it resorted on getting up close and personal. I had to defend myself."
"And you survived?" Stoick gaped.
"Why is it so hard for you to believe that?" Hiccup threw his hands up, exasperated. "I'm not that defenceless, am I?"
"Sorry lad, but your dad here was just worried." Gobber supplemented.
"Thank you for the obvious." Hiccup rolled his eyes. "It's not like we had this conversation every time he couldn't find me during dragon raid anyway."
Everyone fell silent. The villagers weren't sure on what to say. Hiccup crossed his arms. "So…" He started. "Since I was the one who saw it and had some proof." He held up the sheet once more. "Do I get the honour to name it?"
Gobber laughed. "Aye lad! You fought it. You made 'em run off. Ye get the honour."
"I think…" Hiccup started. "I'm going to name it; Light Fury."
The villager whispered amongst themselves. Stoick decided to ask. "Why Light Fury?"
"It attacks like a Night Fury." Hiccup simply spoke. "But the scales are white. Why not make the name somewhat identical to make it easy to call out?"
"Very well." Stoick grunted. "Light Fury it is. Now go back to your house. I have something else to deal with."
Hiccup nodded. He turned around and went out from the Great Hall, leaving the place.
Months had passed. Luna and her parents had settled in at the Secret nest. For the most part.
There weren't much that they must do in the nest. Luna's parents were too old to do anything. Since they were considered elders, they were usually left alone to do their own thing. Food would be brought to them when they were too tired to fly, and they would often rest their body at their quarter.
Luna's parents would sometimes visit hatchlings at the nursery. They would tell their tales of their olden days, since they had lived through the time when dragons of old roamed the skies. They were old, roughly 150-year-old, and it was the oldest age for Light Fury.
Luna herself did not have that many things to do either. She was someone that the dragons would consider an asylee inside the nest. She was under protection of the Secret nest from the Red Death's dragons. She could eat and sleep there without doing anything at all.
It was the part that made her felt indebted and guilty. She had joined a nest without contributing anything. For her parents, the whole nest understood. They were old and they could not do much at their age. The nest accepted them because they wanted them to live the fullest of their life before death. For Luna, she was young and energetic, 15-year-old of her age. She still have a lot of energy to do a lot in life and a long lifespan to go along with it.
Luna had tried to contribute around the nest. She tried helping at the Medical sector but visiting dragons would cower in fear once they saw her. They instantly became uncooperative, mostly because they were afraid of her. She did not know how or why; they were simply afraid of her. Obeah was understanding and told her she could try herself at the other sector instead.
She tried to help at the food and resource sector. Gathering food was something that she was good at. Unfortunately, Indigo had straight up rejected her, citing that she had far more potential to do other things instead of gathering food for the nest. She insisted on helping, but Indigo were stubborn on her decision to not include her into the sector.
Then, Luna tried to help at the security sector. She was trained along with the other dragons that was just as fast as her. The training was tiring, merciless and brutal. She was disciplined and came out to be the best out of everyone. She proved herself loyal to Hiccup.
When the training was done, she was assigned to cycle around the nest and guard the sectors. That was where the problem began. Visiting dragons would sometimes come and go around the nest. When they saw a strong Light Fury wandering around, they would simply run away from the whole nest altogether.
Scorpion pitied her. Unfortunately, he did not have anything else that could make use of her. He praised her skills and determination, before sending her off and tell her to try another sector.
The last sector she tried was the Intelligence sector. Ghost quickly found out that Luna had a talent on information gathering. She was perceptive, observant and intelligent. She was quick to make decision and fast to learn something new in that sector. She went through the training and found herself to be the best one that come out of the batch.
She was deployed several times, mostly scouting around the island. Ghost refused to let her anywhere outside the island, mostly because there were risks involved if she ever come to harm. She was still considered an asylee, so any harm that come to her meant that there would be dire consequences for the whole sector.
She felt like being restrained for what she do. At some point during the scouting mission, she was attacked by several dragons. She fought and easily won the battle, but after that, Ghost refused to give her any mission outside the nest.
She ended up being stuck roaming inside the nest. She was meant to gather information about visiting dragons. As a result, she made visiting dragons flee upon seeing her. Ghost ended up telling her off. The rest was history.
"You look confused, dear."
Luna snapped out from her thoughts. She was in her quarter, living alongside her parents. The quarter was a regular cave with crystals inside them. There was a pile of fishes at the middle. Her parents were eating them.
"Sorry mom." Luna muttered. "I was just thinking."
"Well, there's not much to think about here." Luna's father chuckled. He gulped down a fish, before continued speaking. "Food is plenty, not much to do, just a lot of rest."
"I remember when you complain a lot about food." Luna's mother retorted to her mate. "You made Luna fly far looking for food."
"She doesn't need to do that anymore." The father spoke. "Speaking of – how's your work? I heard you got reassigned in the Intelligence sector." He chuckled. "That's something you're good at, right?"
Luna gulped. She had not told them of what happened yet. "I was…" She mumbled. She looked hesitant.
Her parents noticed. Luna were shifting on her place, looking down and uncomfortable of the question. They both paused from their eating. "Luna." Her mother softly spoke. "Did something happen?"
The young Light Fury let out a sigh. "… I got kicked off." She admitted. "I was assigned to do nest patrol inside again and like before, everyone ran away from me."
"Oh, dear." Her mother whispered. "That's not good."
Her father laughed. "That's my girl." He boasted. "You know how to scare them off!"
"That's not very nice of you, dear." Her mother frowned at him. Then, she looked at Luna. "Don't listen to your father, Luna. I'm sure you'll figure something out."
"You know, I heard a lot of things back at the Hidden World when they talk about dragon nest at the surface." Her father told the tale. "Lots of nasty things. Lots of dragons die, food were hard to get – it wasn't pretty."
"I don't have good expectation coming here." He continued speaking. "But after living here for a while, I'd say those pillock back at Hidden World were all talking dungs."
"Deary, that's not a good thing to say in front of our daughter." Her mother scolded him.
"Sorry dear." Her father apologised. "But I stand my point. Going to this nest is the best thing that ever happened to us. Don't you think, Luna?"
"I know…" Luna spoke. Her ears flopped down on her side. She looked sad. "But I felt… bad not doing anything. Everyone was so peaceful and kind. They just fed us and let us live here."
"I know how that feel, dear." Her mother soothed. "Have I told you the time when I was sick? Your father insisted bringing me fish all the time."
"I remember that." Her father smiled. "You were stubborn trying to hunt for us. I had to force you to eat the fish I brought in."
Her parents chuckled at that memory. Luna frowned. "But it's not just one dragon. It's a whole nest that's helping us."
"We know, dear." Her mother smiled at her. "You have to accept that this is the reality."
"You're still young, Luna." Her father lectured. "You have a long life ahead of you. You can go on adventure, see new places, maybe get a mate and have some fun in your life."
"If it's hard to find a place where you belong, you can always try to go higher." Her mother lectured. "They say the sky is the limit. I'd say that we can go far beyond the sky one day."
Luna pondered on what her mother told her. She had been rejected from all the sectors in the nest. She did not need to do anything and that made her feel guilty. She wondered if she could get something by going to Toothless instead.
"I have to go." Luna stood up.
"Good luck, dear."
With that said, Luna went out of the quarter.
Hiccup was inside his meeting area along with the other sector leaders. He was in his dragon form. The place was a simple cave with some crystals around, with one cave way that led to the security sector. It was a place he made so he could meet with the sector leaders without using his own quarter.
Hiccup was sitting at the front, while the others were sitting in a half-circle shape surrounding him. The sector leaders were focused to him.
"What about the scouts?" Hiccup questioned, looking at Ghost. "Did they see anything around Helheim's Gate?"
"Nothing." Ghost shook his head. "Not even raiding dragon. It was complete silence."
"For the past few days?"
"Yes." The Changewing nodded. "We don't know why. None of our scouts were willing to enter Helheim's Gate to find out."
"Understandable." Hiccup nodded. "Keep monitoring the situation."
"Yes, Leader."
"Indigo, how's the food situation?" The Night Fury asked the Deadly Nadder.
"It's going well." Indigo explained. "Far too well. Our nest is overflowing with food. We have enough that will last us for several months. We do not need to ration them anytime soon."
"Did any of them go bad at least?" Hiccup asked, concerned.
"The Corpse Eaters are willing to eat rotten food." The Deadly Nadder explained. "It was in their diet."
"Good. Do not let any food go to waste." Hiccup told her. "Give everyone more food since we have so many. Share them with visiting dragons."
"Yes, Leader."
"Excuse me?"
Everyone turned to look at the entrance. There, they see Luna standing at the cave way.
"Yes?" Scorpion asked.
"I want to see Toothless." Luna asked.
The sector leaders gave way, revealing Hiccup sitting at the front. The Night Fury tilted his head. The Light Fury approached and stood in front of him. She looked somewhat nervous.
After some time, Hiccup asked. "What do you need?"
Luna straightened herself. "I want to work." She spoke, determined.
Hiccup raised his eyebrows. "Okay. There are a lot of work around the nest that you can do. Indigo?"
"I'm sorry, Leader." Indigo bowed to him. "She had come to me to help, but I refused. She had too much potential to be wasted by gathering food."
Hiccup frowned. He looked at Scorpion. "Scorpion?"
"I apologise, Leader." Scorpion bowed to him as well. "She's too strong that she scared our visiting dragons. I had to turn her away."
The Night Fury raised his brows. Luna did not look intimidating to him. Then, he remembered the time when dragons would not even want to approach him. He looked around. "Obeah? Ghost?"
"She scared the patients." Obeah simply spoke.
"Dragons are too scared of her." Ghost responded.
Hiccup looked exasperated. "Ghost, she doesn't have to be inside the nest to do missions."
"She's an asylee, Leader." The Changewing explained to him. "I do not want to take much risk because of her status."
"Fine." Hiccup growled. He looked at Luna. "If nobody is taking you in, then I will."
That confused the other sector leaders. "Sorry, but what does it mean, Leader?" Scorpion questioned.
"You heard me." Hiccup spoke. His tail lazily swaying behind him. "Luna, from now on, you will only take order from me and me alone. You will be serving directly under me."
"Leader, not that I'm questioning you…" Scorpion started, somewhat nervous. "But is it a good idea to have a newcomer to be serving directly under you?"
"She had been here for a few months now." Hiccup shrugged. Then, he smirked. "And besides, I have couple of things that I want to try. There are some training methods and experiments that I want to do together with her."
The sector leaders winced and paled. "I changed my mind!" Indigo suddenly started. "I can accept her in food sector."
"You already refused her." Hiccup deadpanned. He looked around. "All of you had rejected her. None of you had any right to do anything with her anymore."
Luna was confused. The sector leaders were all looking at her with pity. What was going on?
"In other words." The Night Fury continued speaking, getting their attention back. "She's mine. If there was any complaint about her, I want them to be redirected to me. I will personally discipline her myself."
"Yes, Leader." The sector leaders chorused.
"Now, leave us."
The sector leaders walked out of the nest. They sent Luna pitied look as they leave. Once everyone was gone, it was just Hiccup and Luna.
"So!" Hiccup happily spoke. "You really want to work under me?"
"The other sector doesn't want to take me." Luna explained to him. She still looked determined. "So, yes. I want to work under you."
"Alright." Hiccup nodded. "I assume you already got training from the security sector?"
"I did." Luna nodded, shuddering a bit. It was akin to a torture.
"Well, I'm glad you do, because there are a lot of things you will be doing." Hiccup spoke as he walked. He moved to sit in front of the cave way. "There's no going back from this. Once you do, you will lose your asylee status. You will truly become my dragon."
"I will do anything to repay your deed to me." The Light Fury spoke, still determined.
"Good." Hiccup nodded. "From now on, you are no longer an asylee. You are a citizen of Secret nest. You are now my dragon. Congratulations."
"I will personally be training and teaching you." The Night Fury continued speaking. "When I'm done with you, you will be my assistant. There are a lot of things that you need to know and learn to directly serve me."
"Okay." Luna nodded. "Err… should I start calling you Leader?"
"Toothless is fine." Hiccup responded. "My dragons insisted on calling me Leader. I just don't bother with it anymore. Now, come to my quarter tomorrow and we will start your training. I have things to do in the meantime."
Luna nodded. Hiccup moved over. The Light Fury went out of the cave, feeling excited. She could not wait to start her first lesson with the leader of the nest himself.
Luna regretted her decision.
"Come on, I know you can go faster than that."
The Light Fury gritted her teeth. Hiccup and Luna were flying up high in the sky. The Night Fury made her wake up early in the morning and chase him around in the sky with everything she had. They both were still around the island. There was some dragons watching them dance from below.
Luna first tried chasing him the normal way. When she realised that he was faster than him, she tried firing plasma blasts at him. That did not work, as he was too agile in the air. She tried to catch him off-guard, but nothing seemed to work.
Hiccup had no intention to retaliate. They started early in the morning, and they were still at it in the evening. It infuriated her that she could not catch him at all!
Luna fired a plasma blast at him. Hiccup moved to the side, dodging the attack. She was getting exhausted. Her wings and tails were somewhat numb and painful. She was pushing herself to the limit.
"Tired already?" Hiccup spoke, looking down nonchalantly.
"Shut up." Luna hissed.
Hiccup dove down and Luna followed. Their bodies produced loud piercing shriek, followed by loud sonic booms that echoed across the island. Vapour surrounded their wings as they reached supersonic. They kept on going lower and lower.
Suddenly, Hiccup pulled up. Luna followed but feeling somewhat disoriented from the force of gravity. Her eyes widened as she realised where he was heading. They were heading straight to a large amount of sea stacks!
Hiccup entered the sea stacks and Luna followed. The Night Fury was not slowing down at all. He kept his pace as he gracefully dodged and weaved around the place. Luna was not faring so well. She had to slow down to ensure that she did not splatter onto the rocks.
As a result, she lost sight of Hiccup. She growled in frustration as she looked around for anyone watching. She still had one trick under her sleeve. Knowing that nobody was around, she fired a plasma blast in front of her. It exploded and splashed right onto her body. Her scales reflected a bit, which made her disappear completely from sight.
Hiccup came out of the sea stacks. He slowed himself down to see if Luna had come out of it. She did not. He was worried if she had injured herself, until he sensed something in the air. "I see…"
The Night Fury moved and landed onto one of the sea stacks. He let out a sigh. "Amateur."
Suddenly, Hiccup jumped and latched himself onto something invisible. It immediately sent him flying toward, as it was flying fast when he caught it. He spread his wings as he tightened his grip onto it. The invisible object struggled, but Hiccup was strong on his grips.
Finally, the invisible object revealed itself. It was Luna. She had her wings folded back and her whole body held by Hiccup's paws. She was facing down on his underbelly. "HOW?!" She shouted in disbelief.
Hiccup flew up into the sky, carrying Luna with him. "Oldest trick in the book!" The Night Fury laughed. He looked down to her. "You think I don't know how to counter that? I can do that too you know."
Suddenly, Hiccup disappeared. It looked like Luna was floating up in the air. She floated down onto the ground close to the sea and carefully placed there. Moments later, Hiccup appeared, sitting close to her.
Luna stayed on the ground. She looked up to Hiccup. "How did you know I was there?"
"I can sense you based off wind direction and temperature." Hiccup explained to her. "You disrupt the wind around you when you fly. Your scales heats up when you're invisible. I can sense and see them."
The Light Fury gaped. Wind current and temperature were something she learned from her training at the intelligence sector. She never thought it could be utilised like that. "You can do that?"
"Yup." Hiccup nodded. "And with enough training, you can do that too." He paused, before continuing. "… Actually, I'm not sure if you can. Maybe sensing wind disruption. That one can be learnt."
"Your eyes can see temperature?" Luna asked, amazed.
"Yup." Hiccup nodded. "Ready for another round?"
Luna tried to stand, but she collapsed when she tried to. Hiccup moved to check her. "Alright, I think that's enough. Give yourself some rest."
The Night Fury moved to check on her body. There were some scrapes around the base of her wings, shoulder and forehead. He assumed that it was her first time to ever achieve supersonic. Hiccup pressed his paws onto her and casted dragon magic. In instant, those wounds went away.
Hiccup moved to check on her face. He went right up close to her, checking if there was anything that he missed on her forehead. Luna held back a gasp at the intensity of his gaze. He had healed her and checked if she was okay.
Her heart fluttered. She blushed a bit at how close his face was to him. She was too exhausted to think about anything else. She had to admit, Hiccup was attractive to her.
Hiccup backed off. "Okay." He decided. "You strained your wings too much. Was that the first time you ever go that fast?"
"I… rarely fly that fast." Luna admitted.
Hiccup nodded. "Not surprising." He absentmindedly spoke. "Hidden World was basically just an enormous cave. It was understandable that you don't have much experience going really fast."
Luna wanted to growl, but she did not have the strength to do so. The Night Fury smiled. "Say, you showed me how fast you are. Do you want me to show you how fast I am?'
The Light Fury pondered for a bit, before nodding. "Sure."
Hiccup flew up into the sky. Luna watched as he went climbing up at fast pace into the sky. After some time, he stopped climbing and started flying on a huge circle path around the island. She saw him went faster and faster, until she heard a loud boom coming from him.
However, Hiccup kept going faster. As Luna watched, his wings were covered with vapour as he fly around. As he went faster, she noticed purple silhouette and trails coming from his body. Her eyes widened when she recognised them. Those were plasma!
Luna watched Hiccup going extremely fast. He achieved the speed that she could never achieve in her life. If there was any attraction she had on him before, seeing how fast he fly increased it by tenfold. She was mesmerised at the speed he could do. It tantalised her as a dragon.
Luna admitted that Hiccup was a strong dragon. Extremely strong, at that. She admired his strength and prowess. No wonder her plasma blast did not do anything to him. He often bathed in plasma with how fast he was going!
After some time, Hiccup slowed down. Luna noticed that it took some time for him to slow down. When he did, he swoop down onto her and sat in front of her. He did not even look fazed at what he did. He did not look tired at all!
"So…" Hiccup started. "What do you think?"
"Wow…" Luna breathed out. Her mind was still dazed with what she had witnessed.
"Oh yes." Hiccup nodded, looking proud of himself. "That was years of practice with blood and tears." He physically winced at the memory. "Lots of them. I would not recommend anyone to go through that."
"What?" Luna snapped out of her trance. "Why?"
"Going that fast will literally tear your limbs apart if you're not used to it."
Luna's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Yup." Hiccup grimaced. "I forgot how many times I literally tore my tail and wings learning them. Thank gods I can regrow them. Otherwise, that would probably it for my life back then."
It was when Luna learned the scale to achieve that speed. She could never achieve the speed that he had achieved. That made her feel small. It made her admire him even more. She purred at her thoughts.
"Do you want to call it a day?" Hiccup asked her.
"No, I…" Luna tried to stand up. She collapsed before she could stand up.
Hiccup moved to soothe her. "You're still exhausted. I think we'll call it a day." He spoke. "Come on, I'll carry you back to the nest."
Hiccup moved and stood on top of her. He grabbed onto her and took off into the sky. The Night Fury did not notice, but Luna was furiously blushing under her scales. She had a crush on him, and his action had solidified and validated her feelings.
She would earn his affection, no matter what it takes.
The dragon raids at Berk was getting worse.
Things were not looking good at the village. Usually, dragons would raid them from time to time. They would often have some food left by the end of it, sometimes. However, it seemed that whatever luck they had were gone. The dragons had taken almost all their food.
It was not something new to them. Dragon raid had starved them from time to time. Usually, the dragons would know when they did not have much food. However, it seemed that the pattern was broken, because even if they did not have much food, they would simply wreck the place instead.
It had been going on for roughly a month. They were regular, normal dragon raids. Vikings fought against dragons to keep their food. However, with the constant harassment from the dragons, things were not looking bright for them. They often barely have any food to go through the day.
Stoick did not lead the village to dragon raid that year. The morale in the village was low. He needed to stay to manage the village. It was a grim situation for everyone. Dragon raids were getting more often, and people were getting demoralized.
"Do you want the bread, Hiccup?"
Hiccup looked up. He was in his human form. He was drinking a tankard of water at the house, sitting on the table at the living room. Stoick was sitting at the opposite side. There was a plate of bread at the centre.
The boy looked at his father. He looked resigned but determined. Hiccup understood why. They do not have that much food. It was their last ration for the day.
"I'm good." Hiccup shrugged.
"You need energy to work at the forge, son." Stoick softly spoke.
"I can go hunt something at the woods to eat." The boy responded. "A rabbit or something. I'll be fine. You need it more than me."
It was true. Hiccup did not need any food. He was a dragon. He could hunt and gather food himself, not to mention that his nest was flourishing with food. He was not hungry. His father needed it more than him.
Stoick looked like he was about to argue. After some time, he let out a sigh. He grabbed the loaf of bread in front of him, before moving to eat it.
Hiccup stood from the chair. "I'm going off now. Good luck, dad." He spoke before moving to get out of the house.
The whole situation was almost relatable to him. Red Death's dragons had been raiding Berk a lot lately. It reminded him that time when his nest almost starved during the winter.
Later that day, Hiccup went back to his nest. He was in his dragon form, flying down into the nest. He entered it and swooped down into the food sector. He circled around, looking down at their storage.
Food was overflowing through the storage. It was basically a hole, and everything was flowing out of it. Dragons were dumping more and more food into the already overflowing storage. Several others moved to grab more than necessary from the pile and took off into their living quarters.
Hiccup noticed that several others were moving the pile to different places to ensure that it did not reach the ice holes. Fishes, yaks, livestock – there were so many foods sprawling around!
"Leader!" Hiccup heard someone called him. He looked down to see the sector leaders sitting at one of the balconies. The Night Fury flew towards them and landed in front of them.
"Yeah?"
Indigo started. "We have a problem."
"We have too many foods?" Hiccup dryly spoke.
"We gathered too many foods at once." Indigo corrected him. "We found an island with a lot of animals and the new batch of recruits caught a lot of fishes. Everything was hunted and brought here. We do not have the place or time to consume them before they expire."
"Have you shared them with other nests?" Hiccup questioned.
"We did." Indigo nodded. "They were also overflowing with food."
"Everyone is well-fed?"
"Everyone have more food than usual." The Deadly Nadder confirmed. "Including the Corpse Eaters."
"Alright, any suggestion on what to do?" The Night Fury asked his sector leaders.
"I suggest we throw them away." Scorpion responded. "We can maintain our storage by throwing the ones we don't need."
Hiccup frowned. "No." He firmly spoke. "I do not want any of our food go to waste. Any other suggestion?"
"Well! If the Red Death dragons weren't so hostile, they might appreciate getting some of our food for free." Ghost suggested, earning glares from the other sector leaders. He shrugged. "It's just a what-if situation if they didn't attack us."
Hiccup snorted. "That would be the very last thing we'll ever do." He replied, somewhat sarcastic. "Sharing food with dragons trying to kill us. Wonderful."
"What should we do, Leader?" Indigo questioned. "We need to get rid of the excess food somehow."
Hiccup frowned as he pondered on what to do. He did not want to waste any food. He knew how it felt to be starved. Long time ago before the merge, both human and dragon side had been starved before.
His dragon side was starved for some time because he could not get any share of food from Red Death nest. His human side was starved once as a punishment. He did not wish it upon anyone if possible.
Suddenly, Hiccup got an idea. Berk was currently facing famine due to dragon raids from Red Death. He could share some of his food to them. He was not sure if his dragons would approve. That would not matter. He was their leader, after all.
"I say we use them as investment." Hiccup started. "We dump them to a human village."
The reaction was instantaneous. Indigo reared back, Scorpion was confused, Ghost frowned, and Obeah looked outraged. "What?!"
"You heard me."
"But why?" Scorpion asked, bewildered. "The humans had done nothing to us."
"We had been raiding human villages for some time." Ghost warned. "It would not be wise if we suddenly dump our food to them."
"They wound our dragons." Obeah growled. "Why do you think it was wise to throw our food to them? We might as well give them to Red Death's dragons!"
"SILENCE!" Hiccup roared.
The sector leaders immediately cowered. They were suddenly reminded of their place in the nest. Hiccup glowered at them. "I did not make this decision without reason. Remember who you are talking to before saying outrageous things to me." That was directed more to Obeah.
Hiccup calmed himself down. After some time, he spoke. "I suggested it because human villages were our source of resources. However, unlike other source of food, we treat them like livestock." He explained. "If we keep them alive, they will gather food and resources for themselves, and from there, we raid them to get what we need."
"We dragons do not have the capability to make their contraptions." The Night Fury started. He could, but the others could not. "We steal their contraptions for our own use. Nets, cages, metals – they were all from them."
"Maintaining certain human village would be beneficial for us." Hiccup continued speaking. "It was why I ordered you to leave some food for them to survive. It was why I told you to take only what you need from them."
"There are some exceptions, of course." Hiccup huffed. "But that was beside the point."
"You have two options." The Night Fury spoke. "Either we find dragons willing to take them, or we throw them to someone that need them. Throwing them off is not an option. Your choice."
The sector leader looked at each other. They were nervous, since their leader had given them the ultimatum. They did not know how to handle the situation. They hesitated to make the decision.
After some time, Indigo took a step forward. "I'll do it." She spoke, determined. "I'll have the dragons dump them to a human village."
Hiccup looked at her and nodded. "Organise the others. I will be leading this one."
"Yes, Leader." Indigo bowed to him.
Hiccup looked at Scorpion and Ghost. "I want you two to get the dragons ready for possible human village invasion." He spoke. "If they try anything while we give them food, kill them."
"Understood." Scorpion and Ghost bowed to him.
"Obeah." Hiccup started, getting her attention. "I want medical dragons ready in case we returned with casualties."
"Yes, Leader." Obeah bowed to him.
"Let's move." Hiccup ended.
With that, the dragons flew to different directions, going to do their own tasks.
Hundreds of dragons were flying in the sky. They were carrying a lot of food on them. Yaks, fishes and livestock – held with their claws and mouth. They were heading towards the certain island called Berk.
The dragons were flying in formation, separated in groups in combat box formation. Every group was comprised of 12 dragons, with each three dragons grouped together. From below, their formation look like an arrow.
Hiccup and some of his sector leaders were at the back, relatively higher than everyone else. Luna was also there, flying next to Hiccup. They watched the island coming closer to their sight. The Night Fury and Light Fury were carrying a large, dead yak on their claws. The others were not carrying anything.
"We're here." Hiccup reminded them. "Remember the plan. Do not let anyone be captured."
"Yes, Leader!" The sector leaders exclaimed. They broke off from him and went further to begin the mission. Luna stayed behind.
"Stoick!"
Stoick looked up from the map. He was at the Great Hall talking with Gobber and Spitelout when someone barged in. "What is it?" He asked, exasperated.
"Stoick, you have to see this!"
The three of them ran out of the place to see what was going on. The other villagers were there as well. Everyone was looking up to the sky, looking horrified. "What's going on?" Stoick demanded as he looked up to the sky.
There were hundreds of dragons flying. The sky was filled with them. Stoick could only stare in horror. They did not have anything. They were not ready for battle. They do not have any resource to fight back!
"Get your weapons ready!" Stoick shouted. "Man the catapults!"
"Chief, we have nothing for the catapults!" One of the villagers shouted.
Stoick gritted his teeth. "Ignore the catapults. Get your weapons ready!"
The other villagers scrambled to get their weapons. It was obvious to everyone that it might be the end of them.
The dragons moved around and lowered themselves. They were still in their formation. They flew over the village and began dropping things that they were holding onto them. Whatever they threw was concentrated towards the centre of the village.
The Great Hall was right at the centre of the village. He looked at what they were dropping at the clearing in front of him. His eyes widened. Those were fishes, yaks and livestock! They were food! The dragons were dropping food to them!
One formation group dropped their food, flew back up and fly away to the distance. Another group went down, dropped their food and flew away. They repeated the process until there was a huge pile of food at the centre of the village and no more dragons above them.
The villagers were all frozen in shock and awe. They stopped whatever they were doing to watch the dragons drop food to their village. It was something that they had never seen before!
Finally, two dragons flew by. Stoick recognised the dragon. It was the Night Fury and the Light Fury. They both threw the food they were holding onto him. Two yaks landed right in front of him. The chief could only stare up at the dragon who had saved his life before.
Suddenly, they heard a loud voice coming from the dragon. "Consider this my dragons' gift to you, Stoick the Vast!"
The whole village was shocked to hear the dragon speak! Stoick realised that it was the same Night Fury that had raided them before.
It was the same dragon that had saved him.
Then, the Night Fury spoke again. "Goodbye and good luck fighting Red Death nest!"
With those messages, the two dragons flew away to the distance, leaving the whole village stunned and frozen with what they had seen, and a huge pile of food in the middle of the village.
Later that evening, the dragons returned to the nest. Hiccup and Luna landed at the food sector. The place was no longer overflowing with food. It was still full of food, however. It was tidier than before.
The sector leaders landed in front of them. Hiccup looked at Indigo. "How's the food storage?"
"Everything is in order." Indigo nodded. "We managed to dump enough to queue the expiration time. We should have enough for the next few months."
Hiccup nodded back to her. He looked at his sector leaders. "Anything else to report?"
The dragons were silent. They seemed to be grumbling. However, Ghost looked deep in thought. He occasionally glanced at Hiccup, as if he wanted to ask something, but could not. Hiccup noticed this. "Ghost?"
The Changewing looked up. "Yes, Leader?"
"Do you have something to add?"
"I… have a question, actually." Ghost admitted. "It was about what you said back then. We know you can talk like a human, and I heard what you said."
"We heard you speak as well." Scorpion nodded. "We did not think much of it."
Hiccup smiled. "You want to know what I meant when I said that."
"Yes, Leader." Ghost nodded. "I apologise. I do not wish to be left in the dark."
"That's fine." Hiccup nodded. "Let's discuss this somewhere private. There's too many ears around."
Later, they moved and gathered to the meeting area. It was a secure place where they could meet without anyone eavesdropping. Scorpion, Ghost, Indigo, Obeah and Luna were sitting there, placed in half-circle formation. Hiccup sat at the middle front of them.
"How about you start, Ghost?" Hiccup gestured.
"Why did you mention Red Death to them?' Ghost questioned.
"The human village I chose had been fighting against Red Death dragons for the past 300 years." Hiccup explained. The other dragons were surprised to hear it. "By telling them that, I hinted them that I knew that they were trying to find them."
"But why?"
"Because they were harassing Red Death nest." Hiccup simply spoke. "At some point, they would find them. Red Death would come after them, and when the opportunity comes, that's when we jump her."
The sector leaders were confused, but Ghost understood the implication. His eyes widened. "Y- You don't think that I'm thinking, is it?"
"Yes." Hiccup nodded.
"What is our leader talking about, Ghost?" Scorpion demanded.
"Proxy war." Ghost whispered. He looked like as if a huge revelation had come to him. "Secret nest is neutral from any dragon conflict. We remained passive even after Red Death attacked us. We could not retaliate because we do not have much firepower against her."
"And as an alternative." Hiccup finished what he had guessed. "We turn everyone against her. Give them some food or resource for them to start or continue. What better way to start than to make the humans go and try to kill her?"
The other sector leaders finally understood. It was a good idea. "But those humans would die the moment they set foot on her island." Scorpion pointed out.
"I know." Hiccup nodded. "The point was to bring her out from her nest."
"Why?"
"I'm afraid I cannot tell any of you further than this." The Night Fury responded.
That confused the sector leaders as well as Luna. Obeah was the first one to ask. "Why, Leader? Did you not trust us?"
"I trust you to protect the nest with your lives." Hiccup replied. "I trust you with a lot of things about me. However, the problem is not because I don't trust you enough. The problem is that I am not an alpha dragon."
"We are forever loyal to you even if you are not an alpha dragon." Scorpion declared. The other sector leaders, including Luna, firmly nodded their head. They agreed with that declaration.
"I am not questioning your loyalty." Hiccup declared back. "All of you had proven your loyalty to me. However, I know some of you still have the calls of other alpha dragons. How would I know that they're not listening to what we were saying right now?"
The dragons were hesitant. They knew Hiccup was right. Luna was a wild dragon, so she did not have any sort of secondary allegiance. Scorpion was from Green Death nest. Ghost and Indigo was from Great King nest. Obeah was from Tree Hugger nest. They still held onto the call of their former leader.
An alpha dragon call could be used to read dragon minds and whisper to them from afar. While dragons could break out of alpha call, it would require them to wilfully mean to break them out. Most dragons did not, mostly because they were loyal to their alpha.
Dragons follow alpha dragons simply because they know they were well taken care of with them. They kept their call on them, even after long gone from their nest, mainly because they still follow their values and ideology. It was a fallback for them in case they wanted to go back home where they belong.
It could also be forced upon through intimidation. Unlike the King of All Dragons, other alpha serving under him could not control dragons. At least, not completely. They control them through soothing words, convincing arguments, telling them things that they wanted to hear. That was easy to do when they could read their mind and send their thoughts into them.
Alpha dragons, in Hiccup's opinion, was cunning and manipulative. He was lucky that he was immune to them. He was lucky that he could purge alpha call from dragons, even if it was extremely painful for the dragon. Breaking Luna from Red Death influence took some time for him to do.
Most of them mean well, but he could never trust them.
Especially after learning what they had done to his species.
"Regardless." Hiccup continued speaking. "This should never leave this cave. Do not tell anyone about this, or else we risk actual attack from Red Death herself."
"Yes, Leader." The sector leaders chorused.
"Good." Hiccup spoke, aloud. "Dismissed."
Later that night, Hiccup returned to Berk, in his human form.
The boy was walking down the dirt path from the forest, heading to the Great Hall. The pile of food from before was still there, with most of the villagers working on moving the food into somewhere safer. The Great Hall was open wide, with cooked food being brought into the place.
Hiccup entered the Great Hall. People were eating food there. The boy approached his father and sat next to him. "What happened?" He asked as he grabbed a tanked of mead.
Stoick stared at him. He had finished eating a cooked chicken. The man let out a sigh. "… dragons came in and brought us food."
"Oh." Hiccup looked down. He sipped the drink. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"… No." Stoick gritted his teeth. Hiccup knew. Dragons coming in and bringing them food had scratched their pride. They had been killing dragons all their lives, so having them bringing food for them brought a lot of confusion.
"Figures." Hiccup shrugged as he moved to grab a plate. "At least be grateful about it."
"There is nothing to be grateful about this!" Stoick roared as he slammed the table in front of him. Everything stopped what they were doing. They turned to look at their chief, eyes wide with surprise.
"Those dragons raided us." Stoick gritted his teeth. "They took our food. They starved us. Now they come to us with food and tell us that it was a gift?"
Hiccup was silent. The chief let out a sigh. He calmed himself down as he looked at the empty plate in front of him. The boy was curious as to what his father was thinking about.
"It was different, then." Hiccup broke the silence.
Stoick did not answer. The boy continued speaking. "Why don't you tell me what happened? I was out at the forest hunting rabbit."
The chief looked around the Great Hall. Everyone was looking at him. After some time, he relented. "Dragons came in and dropped food to us." He told him. "… the same Night Fury came and raided us." He clenched his fists. "It said that it was its dragons' gift to us."
Hiccup shrugged. "A bit unusual." He commented. He sipped on the tankard of mead. "At least we got food."
"It have a Light Fury on its side." Stoick spoke.
Hiccup paused. He turned to look at his father. He was staring at his face, as if searching for something in his expression. After some time, the boy shrugged. "Alright, well, that's just one attempt."
"You're willing to forgive a dragon for trying to kill you?" Stoick raised his voice.
"I am not one to hold grudge." Hiccup absentmindedly spoke.
"How can you be so accepting of this?" The chief gestured to him, exasperated.
"Because." Hiccup raised his voice. "If I never let myself forgive someone, I would've left the village 8 years ago."
That stunned everyone in the Great Hall. They were listening in to what the two were saying. Stoick looked stunned as well. He could not comprehend his son leaving the village. "Why?"
"You know exactly why, dad." Hiccup spoke. He sipped his drink. "8 years ago, forcing me to become a blacksmith, not even listening to what I say. It took me two days fighting for my life against Alvin and the Outcasts for you to finally, finally realise that I'm not the kid that I was."
"But did that ever change anything?" The boy continued speaking. "No. You just become less protective of me."
"But forgiving a dragon-"
"Forgive, but not forget!" Hiccup interrupted him, looking angry at his father. "I forgive you for what you've done, but you're sorely mistaken if you ever thought I would ever forget them! I forgive that dragon for bringing food to us, but I will not forget its attempt to murder me."
The Great Hall was silent once more. Stoick was surprised at the viciousness that his son displayed. Hiccup rarely showed that side to anyone.
The boy calmed himself down. He drank the mead from the tankard. "Don't forget why we fought dragons in the first place." He warned him. "We did it out of self-defence. We did it to protect ourselves. For over 300 years, we fought them. But then we lost the real reason why we fought them, and it became tradition. It became something that defined us."
Hiccup stood from his seat. He finished the tankard, before placing it onto the table. "Now we have a dragon that can talk." He told him. "They fed us these foods, calling them a gift. By the gods, you better hope that the dragon didn't change its mind and kill us all."
The boy walked to the exit door. As he was about to open it, someone called out. "You're just defending them because they brought us food."
Hiccup stopped. He looked back to the source. It was Snotlout. The burly boy looked angry. "You don't even kill dragon!"
Hiccup gave him a smirk. "Who said I never killed a dragon?"
With that spoken, he opened the door and exit the Great Hall, leaving the surprised villagers behind.
The next morning, Hiccup was at the forge with Gobber. He was busy loading nails onto the window table for other Vikings to take. The old blacksmith was busy talking with the villagers.
Hiccup placed a crate full of nails onto the table. "That should be the last of them."
The Viking on the window picked it up. "Thanks, Hiccup."
"No problem." Hiccup responded. "Next batch should be ready by tomorrow morning."
"Right then." The Viking grinned as he carried the crate. Then, he walked away to somewhere else.
Hiccup looked around the place. There was no broken weapons around. It was nice to not have anything to do at the forge for once. The boy walked to sit on the chair near another table, resting there.
"Hiccup."
The boy looked at the source. It was Gobber. He was standing close to him. Looking behind him, he noticed that the villagers he had been talking to was gone.
"Yeah?" Hiccup asked.
"About yesterday…" Gobber looked hesitated.
"It's fine, really." Hiccup waved him away. "It's already the past."
"You know your father care for you, Hiccup." The blacksmith softly spoke to him.
"I know." Hiccup responded with equally soft tone. "But I can't always be coddled, Gobber. You know I don't like that."
Gobber threw his hands up, exasperated. Hiccup rolled his eyes. The blacksmith spoke. "Did ye know that your father is going to hunt for the nest again?"
Hiccup frowned. "When?"
"In 5 days."
Hiccup pondered. That could be an opportunity for something else. "Leave him be then." He nonchalantly spoke.
"If you want, I can talk him to let you join the Dragon Training before he leave." Gobber suggested, smiling at him. "I heard what you said back then. Have you killed a dragon before, lad?"
"Gobber, I spent most of my time in the forest." Hiccup replied. "Don't you think that I'll eventually find dragons there?"
The blacksmith eyed him for a moment. "You actually fought them?"
"Sometimes." Hiccup shrugged. "They usually left me alone and let me merry on my way. I left them alone if they leave me alone."
Gobber was silent. After some time, he spoke. "You reminded me of Valka, lad."
"My mother?"
"Aye." The blacksmith nodded. "She believed that dragons and humans could work together. But then, she got kidnapped."
"Phlegma told me of that story before." Hiccup pointed out to him.
"That's why your father had been hunting them down." Gobber explained. "He wanted revenge. The dragons took your mother. That's why he was so protective of you. He doesn't want to lose you too."
Hiccup eyed him for a bit. "… Okay."
"Okay? That's it?" Gobber asked, incredulous.
"Gobber, I was just a babe when she was taken away!" Hiccup exclaimed. "What am I supposed to do? Go follow my father for revenge against them? I'm not going to live in misery like my father does."
"'wasn't trying to make you do that." The blacksmith grumbled, shaking his head. "What I'm saying is, your father wouldn't stop worrying until you know how to defend yourself."
Hiccup stared at Gobber with incredulous expression. "… Do I need to go to the Outcast Island again and kill some more Vikings there?" He asked.
"What? No!" Gobber looked aghast. Hiccup looked dead serious when he said it. "Dragon Training, Hiccup!"
"Ah." Hiccup nodded in understanding. "Welp, sorry Gobber. I'm not joining the Dragon Training."
"Are you sure, lad?" Gobber insisted. "You can keep your father off your back if you do."
"Maybe when I'm older, I'll join the Dragon Training." Hiccup explained to him. "For now, I just want to be a blacksmith."
"Alright, lad." Gobber nodded. "Take your time. The offer's still there if you changed your mind."
"Thanks, Gobber." Hiccup nodded.