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"I should've known! I should've seen the signs! We had a deal. So everything in the ring, a trick? A lie? The dragon? That's what you're worried about? Not the people you almost killed?"
It all happened so fast. The screaming, the demands, the questions, the rage, hatred. Hiccup struggled to stay in the moment, to convince his father that the beasts were not, in fact, beasts. But intelligent creatures with emotions and desires that could be soothed by kindness and kindled into anger, just like humans.
"Enough!" Stoick boomed, swinging his arm out and slamming it against Hiccup's small chest. Hiccup didn't get the chance to yell out as he was flung across the room before slamming into a pillar with a croak, the air punched from his lungs. He slid down, limp and breathing stilted.
Stoick stared at the boy in surprise, startled by his own outburst and the strength of his swing, before balling his fists in resolution. He watched the shallow rises of the boy's chest and stood taller. "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third," Stoick started, voice rumbling with damnation, low and booming. "You are hereby disowned.” He stepped forward, mouth twisting into a sneer as Hiccup stared up at him with wide, horrified eyes glossed by tears. “You are no longer my son and therefore no longer the next in line for the chief seat of Berk. You are exiled. Show your face or step foot on this island again, and the chopping block will be the last thing you see before Hel welcomes you." Stoick's words hung in the silence and he struggled to cap his pure rage, body trembling with the effort. "You've thrown your lot in with the devils, demon.” He turned around and made way to the main entrance. A pause, then he murmured over his shoulder, "Your Mother would be ashamed." The Hall door slammed shut with a deafening bang.
Hiccup was a crumpled heap, struggling to breath, vision blurry with tears, and thoughts sluggish. His breaths were raspy and short as fire burned in his lungs, crawling up his side. He couldn't find it in himself to truly cry, too deep in shock. He crippled forward, fetal position. His body shuddered with ragged breaths, sending shooting agony through his ribs and worsening his state. The cycle repeated.
His reprieve was short lived, stirred from his pitiful state by the yelling, stomping, marching that cut through the haze of pain. He tipped his head, trying to focus past the blood thumping in his ears, and heard an equivalent to the entirety of Berk calling for his head.
The grand doors slammed open and a mass of vengeful Vikings entered, led by Astrid and Snotlout. "Come out, coward!" Astrid screamed, ax raised and pitched to cleave her prey in half the moment her eyes were to lay on him. Berk yelled and jeered in agreement. Snotlout reiterated her words before glancing at her, seeking approval. They called for his head and demanded blood pay for his disgrace. He had defiled traditions and spit upon the graves of the innumerable Hooligans who had died gruesome deaths, sacrificing themselves in protection of their home.
Hiccup's already pale face went ghostly in terror. His heart was threatening to beat out of his chest and lead all of Berk directly to him. Gripping the pillar, he pulled himself onto quaking legs and watched, waiting. He was dizzy and grasping at consciousness.
The moment their collective focus was elsewhere, he dashed across the Hall and out the side door. The people divided in search but their target was long gone.
He stumbled downhill and collapsed onto the door of his- of the chieftain's home. His surroundings were blurring and his sides were in fiery agony. Every breath, shift, and tug it took to pack was bringing tears to his eyes, spilling them down his cheeks, snot dribbling from his nose and onto his pale, cracked lips. He stumbled up the stairs and entered his former room before raiding his minimal belongings. A single satchel was packed with clothes and blankets.
He looked about. The path was clear and still. He darted, running too fast in a decline and tipping head past feet. He emerged from the storage shed with a basket of fish. Next stop, the Forge, and then the Arena.
The Forge was quiet. He pulled himself over the counter and plucked a stray satchel before darting straight for his crook- his former crook. All his documentation on the creatures had to be taken. Every notebook, scribble, and scrap paper was shoved unceremoniously into the pack. He would organize them later. Right now, there was too little time and he couldn't risk leaving a single note behind to these savages. He tossed a few pencils and extra journals in for good measure before setting the satchel aside and crouching down, reaching under his small cot. The tears were pouring now and he whimpered in pain but continued to reach. He emerged with two suits. One black, one brown. One refitted, upgraded, and improved. The other, archaic by comparison. He shoved the black suit into the already bursting satchel and tossed the brown one into the coals before carrying everything to the Arena. It was finally time to go.
He heaved both packs down to the Arena and slipped between the bars. His eyes roved the space and followed the scorches and claw marks along the ground and walls that were the unmistakable work of a Night Fury. His gaze landed on the cell beside the Monstrous Nightmare. Leaning against the triple-reinforced door with fresh scars on its metal, he held his breath and listened. A quiet groan.
"Bud?" He called softly, "You in there?"
There was a warbled response and a new wave of tears sprung to the boy's eyes, this time in relief. He sagged, only momentarily, resting his forehead against the metal, before jumping to action and running for the gears. He blocked out the pain as best he could and heaved with every muscle fiber he did not possess. It barely budged an inch before he dropped back down, sagging against the wheel. Dismay and pain and exhaustion had his limbs feeling the weight of a hundred skies.
"Almost there, Bud!" He called, "Just hold tight. I'll get you out of there." He took a fortifying breath before grabbing the wheel's peg and pulling it down with his body. The wheel shifted downward by the peg then snapped and he landed on his ass. He stared at the wood shard in his hand.
It rested in his palms. His small, worn palms that had done so much to gain Stoick's approval. And here he was, in the Arena, with a cracked rib, if not two or three, probably a concussion, and trying to save a dragon. A Night Fury, no less. The very bane of the banes of his tribe, of any tribe, existence. Disowned, exiled. All alone.
He screamed and threw the shard aside. He buried his head into his hands and sobbed, chest constricting. He was totally helpless to save the one being that mattered to him. That he mattered to. His months of lying, of sneaking off, of learning. Only for it all to culminate in yet another failure. Proving he really was what Snotlout and the others would call him, Useless. Too weak to even open a door, a door caging in his best friend on death’s row.
He jerked violently when a hand came to rest on his shoulder. Scrambling backwards, he hit the wall and looked up with wide, red, distraught eyes and found Gobber. Dear, dear Gobber. The only Viking who truly cared.
"I'm not going back, Gobber." Hiccup stated, staring the man head on. He pulled himself to sore feet and unsteady legs and leaned against the wall as he made way for the wheel. He gripped it, small jaw set in determination, "I'm not."
Gobber's bushy unibrow was crinkled at the boy’s dismay as he watched him work with all his might. He watched Hiccup grow up, practically raising him in many aspects. He hobbled over and grasped the wheel with his good hand and grunted as he pulled.
Hiccup looked up, startled. A beat passed but he did not question it. They worked together and the door seemed to lift ever so slowly, inch-by-inch until it was all the way up. The second Hiccup let go and stepped towards the dark cell, a jet black blur burst forth and shot around the Arena before darting straight for Hiccup. Hiccup moved in and was tackled down.
Gobber leapt forward in alarm, hook hand raised, only to falter. Hiccup laughed recklessly as the beast nuzzled him under the jaw with his large nose, receiving scratches and hugs and rubs in return. A moment, then Gobber dropped his hook in resignation, watching the boy's wet, pained face stretch wide in unadulterated joy.
The duo eventually parted and Hiccup faced his mentor. "Come with me."
"'Fraid not, Laddie." Gobber murmured solemnly, sad eyes memorizing the boy's face. "I belong here. With the Vikings." He stepped forward as Hiccup's expression twisted. Resting his hand on the boy's thin shoulder, he smiled. "Y'er place s'up there, Lad. With them. Flyin'. Y'er no Viking. Y'er a Rider. An' ahm proud of ya, Son."
Tears wetted Hiccup's cheeks, again, and he surged forward, wrapping his arms around the blacksmith's frame. Gobber clutched him earnestly, knowing a piece of his heart was leaving on that Thorforsaken beast. "Thank you, Gobber. For everything."
They parted and shared sad smiles before Hiccup attached the satchels to Toothless' harness. "Bud, blast the doors?" He asked as he settled properly into the saddle.
Toothless warbled gumlessly, happy to oblige. With a few quick blasts, the doors were melted and the prisoners set free. A Deadly Nadder, Gronckle, Hideous Zippleback, Terrible Terror, and finally, the Monstrous Nightmare. The latter lingered, sniffing at the trio from a distance with a dubious eye before taking to the sky. The remaining beasts let out a collective roar and shook her wings before following and setting to the air. Gobber, Hiccup, and Toothless watched them fly. The mentor and mentee shared a final silent nod of goodbye, their gazes speaking more than words ever could. Within seconds the duo were in the air, Berk growing smaller and smaller with every beat of Toothless’ wings.
Hiccup faced forward and smoothed over one of Toothless' echolocation flaps. "We're free, Bud." He murmured. "We're finally, finally free."
Toothless warbled and picked up speed, intent upon putting as much distance as possible between that cursed island and his human.