How To Win The Soul of A Dragon

Chapter 25

"May the Valkyries welcome you, and lead you through Odin's great battlefield" said Gobber. We were all standing by the cliff as we stared at the ship going away in the distance, the ship that held Stoick's dead body on its deck, covered in a blanket and with his helmet on top of it. Hiccup was at the edge of the cliff, while Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout, Valka, Astrid and I were some meters behind with bows in our hands, waiting for the signal to shoot the arrows lit on fire towards the boat "May they sing your name with love and fury, so that we might hear it rise from the depths of Valhalla" continued Gobber as he handed the bow and arrow to Hiccup "And know that you've taken your rightful place at the table of kings" the blacksmith placed a hand on my friend's shoulder, as I stared at him sadly. I could tell by the way he was standing that he was trying his best not to cry, and it hurt me to see him like that, but there wasn't anything I could do. Nothing could compensate for the loss of a parent; I had learned that the hard way "For a great man has fallen" his hand slipped of the Viking's shoulder. I looked away, because if I kept staring at them I would cry, and that was the last thing I needed.

Even though I knew little about Stoick, just what Hiccup told me, the things he did and the things he said were enough for me to know that he, indeed, was a great man. I was wrong in misjudging him, everything negative I had thought of him was completely wrong, I'm not saying that he was perfect, nobody's perfect, but the awful things I had assumed about him weren't his flaws, he had other flaws that weren't the ones I presumed.

"A warrior" I looked at my side, all the people were showing their sadness in their own particular way "A chieftain" Snotlout and the twins' eyes were crystalized "A father" Fishlegs had some silent tears spilling from his eyes, while Eret was staring solemnly into the sunset, he didn't known Stoick all that well, but nobody likes to see people die.

Except, perhaps, Drago Bludvist.

I hated that man, everything was his fault. With his desire for control and power, and his stupid revenge plot. If he hadn't been a complete lunatic, none of that would have ever happened. And the fact that he was somehow involved in the disappearance of my foster parents, turned that hate into rage.

He had to pay for what he had done.

"A friend" Astrid and Valka had saddened faces, but managed to get a hold of themselves. I looked back ahead, just in time to see Hiccup igniting his arrow in flames with the help of the burnt wood beside him. He pulled it back and aimed towards the ship, I noticed he hesitated a moment, before releasing the string. The arrow flew the distance between the ship and us, before landing on the boat and setting it on fire. That was our signal; we all aimed the arrows towards the boat, and shot them simultaneously. They all landed scattered on the deck.

"I'm sorry, dad" said Hiccup quietly after some minutes in silence "I'm not the chief that...You wanted me to be. And I'm not the peacekeeper I thought I was" I stared at him sadly, there were a million things I could have said to prove that it wasn't at all true, but I stayed in silence. It wasn't the right time "I...Don't know..." he didn't know what else to say. Luckily, his mother ran a hand through his hair lovingly and began speaking for him.

"You came early into this world" she started quietly "You were such a wee thing. Oh, so frail, so fragile" Hiccup had once told me that he had been born prematurely. Still, in my opinion, he had become so strong even if there was that tiny detail "I feared you wouldn't make it" she placed a hand on his shoulder "But your father... He never doubted" there I had some more proof that what I thought about Stoick was completely wrong "He always said you'd become the strongest of them all" I smiled through my tears, that I had somehow managed to hold back "And he was right" of course he was. Valka placed a hand on his cheek "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" now some tears did fall from my eyes.