[OLD] Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragon One Shots

Burn the Witch | Part 2

(Sorry for the somewhat obnoxious amount of time skipping in this shot 😩)

AU/Ship: Same as part 1

Hiccup's P.O.V.

The cluster of voices grew more prevalent and the light from the lanterns and torches became brighter as I ran. Luckily, I could run pretty fast, and I wasn't carrying much, so that gave me an advantage. I came to a halt at the fork in the pathway, leading to three locations in the forest. To my right was the way to my cabin, and I knew that would be too easy to spot out if the other Vikings had decided to follow me. Straight through the center led to the place Toothless stayed, and there was no way in Helheim I was going to risk anything with him. So, to the left it was. I had gone through before, just to scout, but there was never anything that interesting, so I didn't go to far. I didn't let this get me down, though. If I don't know the way around that part of the forest, they know even less. I just need to make moves that throw them off my trail every once and a while, and I'll be good. Well, I won't be good, per say. I won't be murdered by my own people, which isn't bad.

~ ~ ~

Okay, that took a little bit longer and more energy than I was expecting, but I'm still alive, so, you know, beggars can't be choosers. After running for a good ten minutes, I was finally able to find a stone wall that was pretty covered in vegetation. I took refuge there for a few minutes, until I was sure they had kept running, thinking I had continued as well. I then started walking back to the village so I could find the correct pathway and get to Toothless. I tried not to think too much about what I was going to do. Of course, I knew this wasn't going to stop me from continuing to help people who my village mistook for villains. But where was I supposed to stay? Am I going to get a chance to explain myself, to see my dad again? My eyes started to water. I wiped them off before I could start crying and tried not to think about it.

~ ~ ~

I arrived at the area where I had first found Toothless. It was a low valley circled by short cliffs. I usually had him spend his time there, just to make sure he's safe. Luckily, as long as I'd always feed him, he was never bothered by having to keep quiet in one area for basically the whole day.

I stepped down the side carefully and sat down by the lake (pond?) were Toothless was sleeping. "Hey, bud," I whispered, petting him to wake him up. He yawned slightly and rubbed his eyes with his paws. Once he came to, he purred, confused at my presence. "I left the workshop unlocked," I explained, "and Astrid found all your stuff. I grabbed a few of your extra tails before I left, though." I showed him the two tails I managed to pack that were in my bag. His expression changed. He purred softly, putting his head on my lap, giving me very big puppy eyes. "It's fine, bud," I laughed, petting him. "We knew this would happen eventually. Now, I get to spend more time taking care of you, that's all." He wasn't convinced this situation was positive. He laid down behind me and curled his tail around. "Thanks, bud," I said. He closed his eyes, going back to sleep, and I decided I should probably do the same.

* * * * *

The next morning, we went for a fly through the mountains that lied at the edge of the island. We ended up resting on one of the ledges for a good portion of the day. I spent my time drawing various sketches of different dragons while Toothless ran around, chasing after sticks I'd through. Suddenly, though, he paused, looking at a small bubble of light on the ground. He pounced in an attempt to catch it, looking surprised when it was able to escape his grasp. He continued chasing after it until it completely disappeared. I was then blinded by the same light. "Hey there, stranger," I heard a familiar voice speak, slightly echoing from the mountain walls. I smiled, looking up to see the boy I had saved yesterday, Jack Frost.

"Hey," I smiled. Toothless was rather excited to see him, to my surprise. Jack hovered down, petting Toothless, sitting down next to me. "So," he began, "some stuff went down last night, huh?" I laughed awkwardly. "You... you saw that, hm?"
"Course I did." His smile shifted to a look of concern. "You alright? They were pretty, um, determined."
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine!" I continued smiling as genuinely as I could. "They're insane, I've been wanting an excuse to make it out of there for, like, a year. This is a blessing, especially for him," I gestured to Toothless, who was currently drawing in the dirt with a stick. Jack stood up, clearly not buying my act. He called Toothless over, before jumping up onto a ledge higher up on the mountain "Follow me!" he called.

We made it up to a part of the mountain with a cave in the side of it, but it didn't feel right to call it that. It was brightly lit, and all sorts of flowers and vegetation decorated the walls. There were a few smaller dragons that were nested in the vines. "Woah," I breathed, impressed.
"I have a lot of spare time," he said, a hint of embarrassment in his tone. I continued looking around, noticing a table with some chairs, as well as a board that had been pinned to the wall, a few blankets laying over it. "Where did you get all this?" I traced the carvings in the wood of the table with my fingers. "I had some help," Jack responded, tossing a piece of meat from a bowl on the table up in the air, a Terrible Terror flying across to catch it in his mouth. "This isn't what I wanted to show you, though." He grabbed my hand and walked me to the edge of the cave, almost causing me to fall. "Jack, be more careful!" I laughed.
"Right, sorry." With his staff in one hand, he grabbed my waist with the other. "Hang on," he said, lifting me up into the air, landing us both on the ledge on top of the cave.

"Alright, now, what's up here that's so important?" I laughed. Jack didn't answer sat down, crossing his legs, looking out at the view. I quietly took a seat next to him. His expression was odd. He looked very sad, but still joyful. Like he was okay with being sad, happy about it, even. "There," he held out his staff in the direction of a small village far in the distance, with no more than 5 to 10 buildings. I looked at him, not directly asking him what was so important about this small village.

"I wasn't always a Guardian, you know. Well, you call them spirits. Point is, I wasn't always like this. None of us were, the other Guardians, I mean. We all had lives, families, communities, before we were chosen. We were all chosen for a different reason. But we were all chosen for a purpose. To protect people. Kids, mostly, but, you know." He uncrossed his legs, hanging them over the ledge. "My little sister's why I was chosen. It's a long story. Well, it's not, but it's... difficult, I guess. We were ice skating on a really bad day. The ice was incredibly fragile. It was cracking under her weight, my sister's. So, I did what I could." His smile was gone. His attention was in the sky, at the moon, a solemn look on his face. I expected him to finished his story, but apparently, that was it.

"You're doing the right thing," he spoke, his considerate smile returned. "They're going to learn that all the people, the creatures they meet aren't bad, eventually. It'll probably take a while. But you and Toothless'll definitely be a reason why." I nodded, not noticing I'd lost my ability to keep a fake face on. "I just wish they'd listen," I said quietly.
"They will," he rested his hand on my shoulder in reassurance, "they will. It'll just take a little bit." He took my hand and lifted me to my feet. "Maybe I should take you to meet the guys. Do your people believe in the Easter Bunny?" I gave him a look, leading to both of us laughing. Jack then pulled me towards him, preparing to lift me back down to his base.