Fury (A How to Train Your Dragon Fanfiction)

Chapter 13: Help

The funeral for Stoick is solemn, to say the least. I keep my distance from everyone, standing on a grassy ledge near the beach while Gobber speaks, my arms crossed over my chest. The sun has long since set and the sky is dark. A battered ship containing Stoick's body is pushed into the still iceberg-filled lagoon.

"May the Valkyries welcome you, and lead you through Odin's great battlefield. May they sing your name with love and fury, so that we might hear it rise from the heights of Valhalla...and know that you've taken your rightful place at the table of kings," Gobber calls into the night air.

Bows and pitch-dipped arrows gathered from the battlefield are handed out. Gobber hands a set to Hiccup, meeting his eyes with sympathetic glance.

I feel alone and sorrowful. Everyone knew Stoick so well, and then there's me; the new girl who happened to show up with a Night Fury just as all this happened. Stoick died thinking that I wasn't going to stay. I don't belong, and even though I'm incredibly sad, I don't feel worthy to attend this funeral.

They've all grown up together, and they've known me for a week or two.

Even at my loneliest moments, Nightstar was there for me. As isolated as I felt, I was never truly alone because I had my dragon. Even she has been taken from me.

"For a great man has fallen. A warrior. A chieftain. A father. A friend," Gobber says, his voice breaking.

Hiccup dips his arrowhead in a smouldering chunk of wreckage, igniting the pitch that coats the tip. He releases his arrow, which sails through the air and lands on the deck of the ship, where Stoick is laid out on a pyre, covered by a sail with his axe upon his chest. The others follow Hiccup's lead. They draw back in unison and release their arrows, filling the sky with crisscrossing, flaming streaks. They arc over the lagoon and set the ship ablaze.

The sight of the fire causes more horrible memories to flash through my mind. I back away, my legs giving out as I collapse onto the knoll, squeezing my eyes shut as I try to block everything out. I think of what Drago said. He saw his village burn and his family die, like I did.

What if I had turned out like him? The thought makes my heart palpitate with fear.

Here I stand on a wrecked battlefield, watching the funeral pyre of a great chieftain burn to ash.

Who am I?

Nobody.

I'm not worthy enough to shoot an arrow into his ship.

"I'm sorry, Dad," Hiccup whispers. "I'm not the chief that you wanted me to be. And I'm not peacekeeper I thought I was. I don't know..."

I lay down, burying my face in my hands as the tears start to flow. I find myself drifting off to sleep through the tears. The bright light of the funeral barge fades and my world becomes dark.

General POV

Everyone else manages to drift off to sleep, but Hiccup keeps watching the fire. His eyes flicker to Thora every once in a while. Her eyes shut even tighter in her sleep and she makes small whimpering sounds as tears run down her face. He finds himself wanting to go and comfort her, but his feet stay rooted to the spot. Seeing her like this, sad and vulnerable, is strange for him. After all, she hides most of her softer emotions away.

"I like her."

Hiccup turns his gaze to his mom, Valka, who sits down next to him with a weak smile.

"I do too. She's...something else," he agrees.

"She wasn't in Berk while you were a babe," Valka comments. "What's her story?"

He shrugs. "She hasn't told us a lot; she's been alone since she was seven, away from people at least. Her village was destroyed. She lost both her parents," he rattles off. "And...her favourite colour is purple."

She smiles, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You came early into this world. You were such a wee thing. So frail, so fragile. I feared you wouldn't make it." Hiccup lowers his eyes, but Valka lifts his chin. "But your father...he never doubted. He always said you'd become the strongest of them all." She pauses, her eyes glowing with love. "And he was right. You have the heart of a chief and the soul of a dragon. Only you can bring our worlds together. That is who you are, son." Hiccup doesn't answer, his heart aching. "He wanted nothing but the best for you in life."

"Yeah, he did."

"I think she could help you with that." She gestures subtly towards Thora's sleeping form.

"Mom...she doesn't want to stick around Berk."

"So why not give her a reason to stay?"

She goes back to her spot while Hiccup stays awake a little longer, thinking over her words.