Chapter Text
The sunset was indeed a charming view. Mayweather had stood outside the arena, looking at the dragons in front her. Their owners were nowhere to be found, not even Hiccup who was in charge. She looked at the dragons playing with each other, and some play fighting. She didn't even know dragons can play fight like regular vikings do sometimes. Toothless was there, resting his head as he had chewed on a leather ball for toss n' throw activities. He wagged his tail vigorously as he chewed on that ball, sometimes teething it.
Mayweather watched the dragon with widened eyes. His was calm and alive at the same time. He was lost in his own little world, eyes innocent and large as he fidgeted with the ball in his mouth, covering it with a thick coating of saliva.
I wonder how its like to be in Hiccup's perspective, Mayweather thought in her mind. It was funny really. Her uncle had forbidden her from training dragons, though she was never really interesting with them in the first place. She didn't even train dragons; those Leatherheads were always lying on her. But when she was constricted of doing so, there was indeed an urge for her to actually train a dragon, even if it was a Terrible Terror.
That dragon though…
That dragon was harmed by Tigerlily and her so called friends. Mayweather has stepped in, and defended the creature without realizing she was in a harmful situation. She saw that the dragon needy, and needed care in everyday possible. She felt sorry for the thing, but probably now it must have died from severe blood lost.
"Sup, Mayweather," said Tuffnut with a raspy voice. Mayweather jumped as she didn't know Tuffnut was standing behind her for nearly the minutes without her knowing so.
"Oh gods… you scared the living life out of me!" Mayweather said, laughing nervously at the boy, who laughed at her back at her. He had a double-ended spear in his hand with decorative motifs.
"Yeah, you seemed kinda weird with the chief yesterday. Is everything okay with you?" Tuffnut said, scratching his left buttocks. Mayweather needed to tell someone about what happened.
"Well not exactly… I really need to speak to Hiccup actually. Do you know where he is?" Mayweather asked of Tuffnut. Tuffnut then scratched the back of his neck, trying to figure out where Hiccup was at.
"Uuuuh. I think he's at his house, probably at the forge," Tuffnut said. Mayweather had been there a few days ago. She learned from Gobber that Hiccup works with him in the forge, merging and making swords and shields and maces and all that came with the viking heritage.
"Thanks Tuffnut," Mayweather said, patting him on his back before running to the forge with was on the other side of the town. If you were to fly a dragon right on top of Berk and see what it looked, it was a canal of small villages intertwined with each other, and several house merged with one another. It was difficult to get around Berk without having people knock into her. Some of the villages had offered her clothes, boots, weapons, and food in addition, but she refused humbly and went to the forge.
When she got there, rings of smoke had released from the shed, as if someone was working there. The smell of iron had floated up her nose, and she coughed the ghastly smoke that came with it. She entered with the neck of her shirt over her nose to block the odor of iron from entering her lungs. Mayweather saw Hiccup banging on some iron, specifically a doubled sided axe.
"Hiccup?" Mayweather said accidentally opening her shirt and smelling the very toxic air. She coughed suddenly, waving the semi-solid particles from her view, revealing a sweaty and rather tired Hiccup.
"Oh, Mayweather," Hiccup said, finishing his work, dunking the axe in the water to have it cool, "I actually need to talk to you about something."
"You did?" Mayweather said, a little surprise about the turnabouts of this situation.
"Yes, my dad thought of it actually," Hiccup said with a suppressed laugh, "I don't think it's really necessary, but my dad was serious." Mayweather cocked her head in confusion.
"What did he say?" Mayweather asked. Hiccup had sat down Mayweather on a chair, and sat next to her with grieving eyes.
"My dad thinks I shouldn't be with you alone," Hiccup finally said. Mayweather's eyes widened a little. She couldn't believe what she just heard.
"What do you mean? What happened?" Mayweather said, a voice now cracking from the heart-breaking situation.
"Look I know it doesn't sound right, but my father had heard from Vladimir that you began to lie constantly after the death of your parents," Hiccup said. Mayweather's eyes had widened even more. Her eyes furrowed in anger, and she just felt this pain in her chest that thumped loudly as she was accused of this.
"So what are you trying to say… Hiccup," Mayweather said, slowly standing up and looked over Hiccup. Hiccup felt this overwhelming feeling of fear cast over him. He stood up to, backing up a little.
"Nothing it's just that-" Hiccup suddenly saw Mayweather grab the axe he had just finished forging together.
"Just what? Now you're taking sides with that Thor forsaken piece of bones you call a chief," Mayweather said, dragging the head of the axe across the floor creating small sparks with it. She was referring to her uncle, seeing how unbelievably
"Mayweather, I'm not saying that," Hiccup said, maneuvering around Mayweather as she was getting closer. She snapped her neck back at Hiccup, who had frightened eyes.
"Then what are you say?" Mayweather said. She didn't know what came over her. She was scared for herself and for Hiccup. The anger had settled in her already.
"I'm just saying that losing someone can be very hard," Hiccup said, grabbing her hand that held the axe so strongly it felt as though to were part of it. He had taken the axe, and placed it on the table behind him.
"Oh what do you know about losing someone," Mayweather said, no realizing the anger in her voice that cracked. Hiccup went deep into his thoughts and spoke softly.
"I lost my mother when I was young," Hiccup said, making Mayweather snap out of her violent trance. Her faced cooled down, and she slumped back on the chair. She put her hands to her face, covering her shame.
"I'm so so so so sorry," Mayweather said, now crying a little now. Hiccup had picked Mayweather as she cried and hugged her tightly. Hiccup had reached to the point of crying too, but it would only make Mayweather cry even more.
"It's okay," Hiccup said. Mayweather had wiped her eyes, hiccuping in the process. Hiccup had wiped her cheek, and combed her hair back a little.
"I'm sorry I reacted like that," Mayweather said, "Just how you came out at me like that-"
"I know, and I'm sorry that I made you feel you feel untrustworthy," Hiccup said. Hiccup then thought at something. Why did she react to him and not to the other kids when they had picked on her and made her angry.
"It's just that, I like you very much Hiccup and your like, my best friend," Mayweather said, "and it hurts a lot when someone accuses you of something that your not." Hiccup nodded in agreement with her statement. He wasn't believed by anyone before Toothless entered his life, not even his father.
"I know who you feel…" Hiccup said. He suddenly pulled his arm around her neck and jerked her a little, "So you wanna hang out with us today. We're doing a training mission today on Dragon Island," Hiccup encouraged. Mayweather looked down on the ground, not responding. She couldn't be around dragons
"Hiccup, I have to tell you something too," Mayweather said, facing Hiccup with worried eyes and twiddling fingers.
"I can't be around you guys; you're with your dragons all the time and Vladimir had prohibit me from being near dragons," Mayweather said with a shy voice. Hiccup had his hands laid on the table, just thinking of the insane request from her chief. It was absorb, ridiculous, and complete unreasonable. The whole island was packed with dragons, even rogue ones at that.
"That's stupid!" Hiccup flat out said, throwing his arms, "I mean what did he expect Berk for it to be. It's full of dragons!" Hiccup was getting frustrated at all of this and all that happened before.
"I know it sounds bad, but it's probably for the best," Mayweather said, not putting an effort into stopping her uncle from letting near a dragon let alone train one. She wasn't very interested in dragons anyway, but how Hiccup portrayed it seemed so exciting and thrilling.
"I'm going to talk to my dad about this again," Hiccup said, "This whole thing about you not being near dragons has gone a little too far."
"Hiccup if anyone should talk to your father it should be me. I want him to know that what I'm saying is true," Mayweather said. Hiccup understood this. She needed Stoick to talk to her anyway, with all the troublesome occurrences this month, she needed to settle it straight.
Hiccup had indeed insisted on having Mayweather talk to Stoick the Vast, chief of Berk. Mayweather had never really knew him in person, as he was fatherly to her the knight at the storm. They say that when he was a baby, he popped off the head of dragon clean off his head. Considering how large and well… vast he was, it was a believable story, but nothing to get overzealous about. She had walked in the Haddock home with hand in hand, posture hunched, and eyes large for the unexpected. She saw Stoick at the table with Gobber, who was looking over some hand drawn structures of some sorts
"Is this a bad time?" Mayweather said, skipping out on her talk with the chief, but Hiccup had pushed her back into the house, eying her to talk to him. Her voice got Stoick's attention, and actually stopped everything he did, as if he was expecting her to visit him.
"Ah Mayweather I've been meaning to see you for a while now," Stoick said, standing up and walking up to Mayweather with a smile on his face. He was nearly 8 feet taller, like a giant of some sort. She had stretched her neck upward to see the man in front of her.
"You… did?" Mayweather said, with a cringed nose and enlarge eyes.
"Yes, I've been hearing some things from your chief, Vladimir. And I want everything all out in the open today," Stoick said. Hiccup had stood out near the threshold of his house, not wanting to interrupt the moment.
"Hiccup, why don't you go and help out the village, they can use some help with the yak and sheep," Stoick said, giving him a "go and leave" face. Hiccup took this seriously and walked away from the house getting to his dragon at the academy.
Mayweather was alone with the two large men, Gobber finishing the sketches and putting them aside. She formed a thin line with her lips, and eyebrows high up to her pointed hairline as she looked back and forth at the men.
"Mayweather, this island has been here for seven generations, and our people have lived here in peace with no signs of harm, threat or heckle of anything kind," Stoick said, looking through a window to see his people help each other out, which proved his point in peace. "And it had come to my attention that some of the children from your tribe have been bothering you for quite sometime since your arrival."
"Well, not exactly bother. Just the fact that they happen to enjoy seeing me in pain," Mayweather said, trying to laugh it out as a way to feel a little clearance in her mind.
"This is a serious matter, lassie," Gobber said with a furrowed unibrow. Mayweather had silenced herself for the moment, having a rather mundane and parochial view.
"Mayweather just because you're from a different tribe, that doesn't make me any less important in the situation. This is my island, and I always have the final word," Stoick said. He placed a reassuring hand on her should. There were hairs on the back of his hand and on his knuckles too, which creeped her out a bit.
"I can't be near dragons anymore. My chief thinks that they're unholy beasts. He hates things not being in place," Mayweather said. Stoick and Gobber had exchanged looks as they though of the idea of not allow dragons near the children was incredibly ridiculous.
"Well it's rather important that the children here learn how to train dragons. Right now we are in a middle of a war between two clans the Berserkers and the Outcasts," Stoick said. Mayweather began to wheeze heavily to the Beserker name came up. Her eyes had suddenly shut tightly in the painful memory.
"Berserkers! ATTACK!"
Within seconds a portion of Berserker men had jumped from their ships, and charged at the Leatherhead men and women who fought towards their enemy. The banging and clinking of iron smashing into each other was loud and ominous to the middle ground of Mayhem's Abyss. Godrid the Noble stood from a watch tower, calling out in a large tuba like horn, creating a blast of a sound, having everyone scream in fear of the horrid outcome of it all.
From far Mayweather was at the crop field, shooting her head out of the stems that surrounded her. She saw fire consume the background of the island. She dropped all her things and had gone into the house to warn her uncle, who had sat in the main room.
" Uncle Vladimir, a fleet of Berserkers are making their way through the village! We have to evacuate!" Mayweather said. Her uncle looked at her with squinted eyes and furrowed eyebrows.
" I'm the chief and I'll say when we need to evacuate!" Vladimir said with annoyance, he knocked into her, making her stumble a little. He looked outside to see nothing but warfare in front of his eyes. The houses were burning and fallen soldiers were scattered everywhere. The Berserkers seemed aggressive with the remaining ones as they were fighting them off.
Vladimir had grabbed Mayweather and fled in the house to run through a backdoor that lead to the forest. They ran through the thick vines that draped over them, they went down a steep hill. The Leatherheads that had survived were at a bunker-like refuge that had stored water supply. The children were also their, with their mothers and fathers holding them close as if was going to be the last thing they held.
" C'mon lass, we have to get all of this to the-," Vladimir was suddenly struck on the back of the head with a powerful knock to the back of the head. Mayweather screamed in horror as she saw a berserker herald completely clad in a male shirt and a helmet that covered his face completely.
The children and parents had fled out of the bunker and into the shore where their long boats were waiting their for months. Vladimir had regained consciousness, and ran like a baby from the man in front of him. She looked at him with fear in her eyes as he inched towards her, his axe held up high to cut the girl. She coward in front of him as he swung. He stopped in mid swing, as an arrow had struck him. He fell down face first to the ground. She saw her father stand before her with arms flexed from a bow and arrow at the still alive berserker.
" You'll not lay an unholy hand on my daughter you wretched demon from Helheim!" Godrid spat, an arrow readied at the man, who hissed in pain.
" Daddy!" Mayweather said in joy. She hugged her father with a tight grip around her father's waist. He dropped his weapon and gripped her back with tears in his eyes.
" I thought they gotten you!" Godrid said with a cracked voice. Mayweather had loosen her grip on her father, who looked at him with affectionate eyes.
" Dad come on, we need to get out of here before they find you," Mayweather said, pulling her father by his hand. He accepted this and went on. Not a step further did he emitted a bloodcurdling scream which frightened Mayweather. She yelped and saw what had happened. A sword had impaled itself through her father's abdomen, and was retracted immediately. She covered her mouth and saw the man that stabbed her father.
" Surprise, surprise," a young and rather disturb man said with a sly voice.
It was Dagur the Deranged.
He wore a chieftain's helmet with horns as high as kingdom come. His attire was embezzled with bloodstains of fallen soldiers of her people, and his face cut slightly on his left cheek, where a tattoo had laid on his eye as a scar illusion.
" Mayweather… run… and never look back!" Godfrid said as his final words to his only daughter. Mayweather where to comfort him, but was about to be sliced in half by the deranged man. Luckily she had pushed her body outward to the sandy terrain. She made a running sequence down the sandy hill, but toppled downward as she did not land properly. She fell hard on the sand floor, taking a while to gain her stability. She saw the boats were leaving without her. She ran to the shore, diving into the water, and swam to the longboat. She grabbed the rim of the boat and crawled inside of it to see Vladimir stand over her with angry eyes and a frown on his face.
" Godrid didn't make it… did he," Vladimir said with an annoyed voice, as if his brother's death was nothing important. Mayweather cried her eyes out in front of him. Vladimir felt no compassion for the girl's crying at all. She curled into a ball, covering her face from the horror she had seen in just a short period of time.
Mayweather laid unconscious on Hiccup's bed, breathing erratically and rather violently. Her face twisted in agony as she repalyed the scene over and over again. Sweat had built up in her eyebrows. Her hair was a mess, with a strand of it on her forehead. A sudden but gentle hand had swiftly removed the hair from her eyes. The hand had repeated its motion, smoothing down her hair.
"I think you better leave, Astrid," Hiccup said.
Astrid had looked up with worried eyes. She sat next to Mayweather, removing her hand from the girl's head. She had rushed to Hiccup's home when Mayweather had her episode. She trembled and babble some words that made no sense to the chief or his childhood friend. The men had experience with many warriors having post-traumatic stress disorder after being in war with dragons for many years, but seeing it in a child like Mayweather was indeed a first for the adults.
"All right," Astrid said with a strong face for the girl. It was indeed a shock that Astrid herself would feel this way for the girl. She was perceived as a warrior, a fearless Hofferson. Her emotions got the better of her when things like this came about. Her emotions were confirmed when she believed Hiccup did not make it in battle of the Red Death, and when her uncle Finn was labeled a coward when the Flightmare had appeared during its decade appearance in Arvin Dale's Fire.
"I'll let you know when she's better," Hiccup said, leading her out the door of his home. He closed the, but felt a hand push it back open.
"Make sure she's better, Hiccup. She's very lucky to have us as her friends," Astrid said with faint smile on her face. She had went back home to her house, as it was late already. Hiccup had closed the door again, leaning on it and releasing a sigh of relief. Stoick and Gobber were bewildered at the situation that took place.
"That gave me the willies!" Gobber flat out said. Stoick had tapped him in the back of the head for saying that, having him rub his head in offense.
"Hiccup, I know what I said before, and now I'm making it clearer," Stoick said. He grabbed his son's shoulder and looked at him with faded blue eyes.
"Keep a very watchful eye on Mayweather. The least we can do is pray to Odin for her well being," Stoick said. Gobber had indeed nodded to the agreement. Hiccup was scared for Mayweather. Her attitude today at the forge was nothing compared to what he had heard from his father on her episode today. There was indeed something mentally impaired. One false move can wind up having Hiccup begging for his life.
"Okay dad," Hiccup said with a mumble. Hiccup had nowhere to sleep tonight, so he had called his friend Toothless to give him some comfort, and sleep against his warm belly. The dragon had purred at his friend, for he was comfortable too with his human at his side. Hiccup adjusted himself and slept.