King of Shadows HIATUS

Chapter 27

Stoick let Hiccup rest that night and in the morning they decided that Gobber and Hiccup will split the work between the two of them. Of course, this will not be known to anyone else, some might think that Hiccup was incompetent and that would be an embarrassment. Because of Gothi's white goo, Hiccup rushed to Toothless that night. He went into his mind hoping that whatever Gothi did cured him, but he was disappointed when he saw that nothing changed. Astrid and the teens was really attentive the next few days, they made sure that Hiccup was resting regularly, which annoyed Hiccup to no end but he let them. Sometimes it felt good to be taken care of.

Alhan was slowly getting closer to everyone in the group which is what Hiccup wanted in the first place but, for some reason he doesn't know what he feels about it. Hiccup has told Alhan that they cannot talk in public because of Svik and could only talk near the lake, which has become the teens second hide out, after all they can't take Alhan to Toothless.

Hiccup used the last 2 weeks to recuperate. The exhaustion he suffered the last time he fainted had lasting effects on him but it was just that, exhaustion. This made Hiccup confused, he knows its because of what's in his mind that caused him to faint but the symptoms are really just extreme exhaustion. He went to Gothi to ask her about the white goo that helped him but she just handed him a bunch of the goo and Gobber translated that Hiccup should use it to massage his head whenever he feels tired, then she kicked them out. Hiccup did use it everyday right when he gets back from hanging out with the teens at the lake, which is usually right after dinner.

The last 3 weeks after that was uneventful. The repair of the ships was almost finished, it only needs a few more days. This made Hiccup frustrated and it was noticeable. Whenever someone talked to him, he only responded in short phrases or just one words. Everyone thought he was just sad to see the Silver Tongues go, as everyone knows that he has been talkative to them during their stay but really its because the Silver Tongues are about to leave and he still haven't found the cause of the corruption in his mind. But in a way he was relieved, not having the cause here on Berk means that the corruption won't spread much further.

That is of course, until he received the news. The Silver Tongues left and 1 day later, Stoick called Hiccup, "are you really going to take me with you?!" Hiccup said in horror but Stoick interpreted it as joy and excitement. "Yes, son, it will be good practice for when you have to travel to sign peace treaties" Stoick said, it was obvious that he was excited to be teaching Hiccup the ropes. Hiccup plastered a smile on his face when all he could feel was dread. Stoick told Hiccup that he will be coming with Stoick to join the Silver Tongues in garnering the army that will kill the queen and take the nest. That means Hiccup would not be free from whatever is corrupting his mind and he would have to leave Toothless. Hiccup tried to protest but as in every discussion, he could never get his dad to listen.

That night, Hiccup told Toothless the news, of course Toothless was enraged and demanded to come with. Hiccup tried to explain why he couldn't bring Toothless with him which distressed the dragon further. A few fire balls and lots of pets later, Toothless agreed to stay behind in the nest of the king dragon only in the condition that Hiccup uses the shadows to go to the nest to visit every night. That was what Hiccup was planning anyway.

The next few days was spent preparing for the journey to meet the Silver Tongue's diplomats in the middle of the route towards the Bog Burglar tribe, they can't take the fleet because it might be mistaken as an act of war. Of course, Berk was alight at the prospect of a good fight with dragons and moral was sky high. When the teens first found out about the news they immediately pulled him towards the cove to demand they come with. It went a little something like this,

"OW!, Astrid!" Hiccup yelped when Astrid socked his shoulder. Toothless, who use to be so protective when this happens, simply snorted and just muttered "you deserve that" Ok, maybe he did, he has been hiding the fact that he was coming with the diplomats that would travel to the other tribes and the teens had to find out from Mildew grumbling about it. "Why didn't you tell us you were going, Hiccup??" Astrid was angry and when she is angry she is very shouty. "not cool man, you're going to go fight dragons without us?" Tuffnut said in a huff, Ruffnut nodding along, "he's not going to be fighting dragons, he's just gonna be participating in diplomacy-", "shut up, Guppy legs, no one cares, what we care about is Hiccup is going to go to other tribes, do you have any idea how many hot chicks lives in bog burglar? its an all woman island! I am definitely not missing out" Snotlout said, crossing his arms, and tilting his head up, like he was entitled a spot on the ship.

Hiccup let them speak for a few moments before he raised his hands in a pacifying gesture as he apologizes, "ok, I'm sorry I kept this from you but, I am sorry, I cannot take you with me" he said, his words immediately resulted in complaints and threats but eventually, Hiccup got to explain, "You guys are the only ones that know how to handle the raids, I need you all here keeping everyone safe" Hiccup said, his tone pleading and it was obvious the other are not happy but hey will concede. "but still, do you not trust us Hiccup? we know you have secrets, are we not trust worthy enough to know them? why did we learn that your leaving for probably a year from the old, wrinkly Mildew that doesn't even come to the village that often?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup knows that he could not tell them that it was because he was still thinking about their actions more than 3 years ago. As he was about to make up some lie, "yes, of course I trust you! I -" BOOM, an explosion was heard from the village. The teens looked at each other as they remember what they had all forgotten, the raid was going to happen today. Just as they were about to run to the village, Hiccup grabbed Astrid's arms and said, "I do trust you, come back here after the dragon raid with the others and I'll show you" Astrid took in the seriousness in Hiccup's face and she nodded.

When the teens left, Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief. It was like the gods themselves decided to save him at that moment. Hiccup ignored how messed up thinking about the raid as a blessing is and just laid against Toothless as he waits for the raid to be over. Hiccup thought about Astrid's expression when she asked that question and a wave of guilt and shame washed over him. They are his friends, he should trust them but --clankrattleknock---- they have hurt him, so what if they get a little hurt by him? he shouldn't feel guilty, they deserve it.

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After a while, the teens returned, they were not injured and Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief again. He quickly took them to the top of the mountain and introduced them to the other dragons that interacted with him the most, "and these are my other scaly friends, I named them Stormfly, Meatlog, Barf and Belch, and Hookfang" Hiccup said. The dragon's approached who would be their favorite humans and chattered. Meatlog looks especially happy when Fishlegs scratched her chin, everyone looks happy, even Hookfang and Snotlout. Astrid looks satisfied that Hiccup trusted them with this and she did not push more and the others followed.

As Hiccup watched them interact and bond, he saw a glimpse of the future he wants to have. A world where humans and dragons coexist, live and help each other. Hiccup never thought about what he would do when he finishes the queen, he didn't even consider that the queen dying would not be the end of all the conflict. All he thought that when the queen is gone, all will be right in the world, but now as he thinks about it, that is unrealistic. Maybe the vikings wouldn't be attacked by dragons, but will the vikings accept the dragons? will they even leave them alone?

No, the vikings will hunt down every dragon in the world while they are drunk on their victory. Hiccup saw a war after the battle, it was a war of words and of trust instead of swords and shields. Envisioning the work he will have to do to change peoples minds about dragons almost had Hiccup wishing it was a war of swords and shields instead.

But, no matter how hard it is going to be, the picture that he sees in his mind and the picture that he sees right in front of him are going to happen, because Hiccup will fight any war for his best friend, his shadow, and he will win.