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Chapter 16 - Sins and Fears

"Hiccup! Hiccup!"

A group of voices called out for him in unison, in the distance. But it was so dark... he couldn't see... but the voices sounded so far away.

The voices sounded greatly like the Vikings, but at the same time, like the voices of his friends and family back at Terra Dracones.

"Hiccup! Hiccup! HICCUP!"

He tried to move, but he felt something pulling him back. He ached to go find those voices, but he couldn't move.

"Hiccup! Hiccup! HICCUP!"

Hiccup woke with a jolt. For a split second, he did not realise where he was, then he remembered: he, Matthew, Toothless, Swiftclaw and Winterwing were in a small unoccupied hut on the Isle of Berk, returning to his old home that he had left more than five years ago, after the previous night where he had offered to help get rid of the dragon problems the Vikings had suffered for decades.

Part of him didn't want to help, however. Part of Hiccup felt like he should've stolen some supplies from the blacksmith's workshop, fixed Toothless's tail as quick as he could and head back to Terra Dracones as soon as possible. No turning back now... Hiccup blinked, and noticed, through the crack under the door of the hut, and the window on the side of the hut that it was early morning. Toothless, who had his rider wrapped under his wing, gave a little grunt and went back to peaceful sleep. He slowly, gently and carefully, moved Toothless's wing away from him, and he stood up and stretched, until he heard some small, feeble bird noises, sitting by the window.

Turning, Hiccup noticed that it was Lightning, Percival's messenger falcon. Hiccup was partially surprised; the smart bird had flown to Berk via a way shorter than the route Hiccup and his friends took. Lightning held out his leg, and noticed that he had a rolled-up letter tied to his leg. Gently, Hiccup removed the letter, grabbed a small pouch from his rucksack - seeds - and water which he poured into a bowl, then took out a small pile of seeds for Lightning. Gratefully, Lightning gave a small squawk and began to eat. He had a small hunch on who had sent the letter. He opened it and began to read a very familiar scrawl:

Hiccup, Matthew and Percival -

Reply as soon as you get this. Well, I'm kind of mad you left without me knowing - but too late now.

Won't ask questions about what and why you're doing - I know I won't like it.

Hope you're fine and well - I just want to hear back from you.

- Andiron

So it was from the guild's captain, Andiron. He glanced at Matthew, who was still asleep on Swiftclaw's back, with a blanket draped over him. He left the letter over on the dining table and gazed out the window.

Some Vikings had already woken up. Some stretched their arms and breathed the fresh air of the outdoors, others started to head off to the docks to head out fishing. None had paid much attention to Hiccup; however, when a few Vikings noticed him, they shivered and turned away, not bothering - or wanting - to look at him again. A crisp breeze entered the hut, which somehow made Hiccup happy. He'd missed that feeling. Even though he often felt it back at Terra Dracones, it was never the same with Berk.

And Percival... what about him? His best friend, other than Matthew and Toothless, was probably lying unconscious in bed, with no-one with him but Gothi, not even a friend or dragon to stay with him. Winterwing shifted in her sleep, as if she had read Hiccup's thoughts. He almost cursed, blaming the Vikings for Percival's fall from the sky.

He felt so strange, so nervous, even, to return home to Berk, after five years of vowing he would never return. But weren't some of the Vikings acting strange? Mildew, of course, was still that gods-damned idiot with that dumb sheep of his. But Stoick... his own father who had attacked him, not recognised him, arrested his friends and was prepared to kill their dragons - he had turned all nice, just because he had found out about Hiccup, his lost son, his prodigal son, who had returned after five years of enjoying a great life on Terra Dracones, a place that welcomed dragons as friends, with new allies, friends and family, two new best friends he called brothers, exploring new lands and dragons never heard, and going on amazing adventures, enjoying an abuse-free, hurt-free life. And Astrid... Astrid Hofferson. Astrid had always been so suspicious of Hiccup, ever since he had started to progress in his dragon-killing classes, and now, five years later, she looked at Hiccup with, not a mixture of anger and loathing, but with a mixed feeling of confusion and curiosity. It was strange.

What had happened on Berk? What impact of me leaving and coming back did the Vikings have? No... they couldn't have missed me. They shouldn't have missed me. After all, I didn't miss them! Oh gods, this is all so confusing...

Isn't Fate artistic, though? spoke a small voice in his mind, all sardonic and mocking.

"Shut up," Hiccup said in a mixture of a growl and a mutter.

"Shut up? What the heck d'you mean?" asked a voice behind him. Hiccup turned around. Matthew was awake. He let out a yawn, and said: "You didn't take off your armour before you went to sleep."

"Shut up, I was really sleepy, I literally was asleep before my head hit the resting place. And... sorry. I was talking to myself."

Toothless let out a purr, as if to say, Talking to yourself means you're insane, Hiccup.

"Shut it, you," Hiccup smirked. Toothless gave him a lick on the cheek.

Matthew stood and looked out the window. "It's really early today, isn't it?" he muttered. "What's for breakfast?" He turned to the dining table and grabbed Andiron's letter. "What's this?"

"Andiron sent it," replied Hiccup. "I guess he found out about our return to Berk. He doesn't really understand it, I think, but he's letting us go."

Matthew nodded, and stuffed the letter into the pocket of his black coat. "I'll give this to Percy when we go visit him." He looked at Hiccup and noticed his sudden gloom. "What's up? He's gonna be alright. It's not that bad."

"Yeah..." Hiccup frowned. "But I just feel as if the Vikings are gonna do something bad to him."

"They won't," Matthew said darkly, "or they'll be forced to eat my blades." Then he smirked. "Don't worry, I won't do that to them... probably." He stood.

"Where're you going?" asked Hiccup.

"Visit Percival," he said simply. He turned to open the door, but then turned to see a warbling Swiftclaw. Matthew smiled gently and pat his dragon on the head. "No, Swiftclaw," he said quietly. "Berk doesn't like dragons now, so it'll take a while, but I'll be back sooner than you think." Swiftclaw attempted to smile, and he licked his master's cheek. "I'm off to see Percival."

That was when Winterwing's ears perked up. She slowly ambled towards Matthew, but he said, "Sorry, Winterwing, you can't come. I told Swiftclaw not to come with me already. Don't worry, Percival's fine."

Percy seems to have the worst luck out of all of us. He gets arrested, and now this...

Toothless let out a small purr, and slightly downcast, the two Night Furies walked back to Toothless. He seemed like the leader of the two Night Furies, just like Hiccup was 'appointed' as the leader of his group. Matthew looked at Hiccup. "You coming with me?"

He shook his head. "No, thanks," he said, looking up at the ceiling. "I want some time to think. Besides, I can't leave the dragons alone, by themselves."

Matthew nodded. "Alright."

"Wait, don't you need your coat? It's a bit breezy outside."

"Nah. It's fine. I can handle stuff like this. Besides, it's still early in the morning. I don't need to bring out my swords either. Well, I'll be heading off. See ya, Hiccup. You know where to find me." Then Matthew disappeared, leaving only the sound of a wooden door of a Viking hut closing gently.

Hiccup sighed. I'd forgotten to tell Matt about the nightmares... but do I have to? Oh gods, I just remembered, there's nothing much to do here on Berk... there's not even a library or something... and I can't go out flying with Toothless... the Vikings won't like him, and I can't just leave Swiftclaw or Winterwing, or force them to tag along with me...

He strapped on his leather armour, and his braces around his arms, and brought out his notebook, and began to read all the notes on dragons that he'd written down during his adventures.

Death Song... Mystery class. Instead of breathing fire like most dragons, it spews an amber-like substance at its prey, to form an impenetrable cocoon, which traps the prey until the time for the Death Song to eat.

Razorwhip... Sharp class. One single Deadly Nadder-like blade of its tail is deadlier than the sharpest battleaxe. Aggressive and deadly nature. Barbed tail that can squeeze the life out of any human or dragon. Toxic breath that can burn the flesh off a human from a hundred feet away, as well as poisonous tears. Diet of sea slugs.

Rumblehorn... Tracker class. Can follow the faintest scent anywhere. One of the best trackers in the known world. Intelligent and strong in combat. Surprising speed and agility for its size. Can detect disasters weeks away, and excellent at stealth and camouflage. Can be aggressive at times, but are very loyal and friendly to riders and people once trained.

Night Fury... (which was obviously Hiccup's favourite species of dragon) Strike class. Known as the most unholy offspring of Lightning and Death themselves. Shoots quick, purple-blue plasma blasts. Flies extremely fast - faster than the speed of sound - and the fastest known dragon. Very agile. Can use echolocation to find their way through complete darkness. They have high intelligence for their kind, and great stamina and endurance. Strong and persistent.

The Night Fury notes were followed by a picture of Toothless that took up the rest of the page.

Hiccup smiled, but the smile quickly vanished as he remembered that he was on Berk, where Vikings could have the authority to kill him any moment.

He looked at Toothless, who quickly noticed him, and gave a quick 'hmph' (could dragons do that? If so, Toothless did), and turned away from him, covering himself with his wings and his tailfin - both his flesh one and his artificial one created by Hiccup.

"Big baby boo," he muttered, grinning. He turned the pages of his notebook, then closed it, and placed his back in his satchel. It brought back memories, of how he'd left Berk just five years ago. He still kept the journal with the drawings of Toothless. It had been completed, however. The papers and plans that had Toothless's draft tail-fin were still back on his desk back at Terra Dracones. The flask of water and the jar that originally held dragon nip were memories close to him.

But... did he have any good memories on Berk? A few - Snoggletog mornings, where the villagers stopped teasing him, his birthdays, where the same happened (only because Stoick would get mad at those who teased and hurt him on that day, but even that stopped at the age of seven)... but that was it... wasn't it? Most of the time, he was abused, hurt, teased and ignored on Berk, mostly led by Snotlout Jorgenson...

Then he'd decided to leave. Leave Berk, leave Berk forever, find a place where he was accepted. And Toothless... one of his only friends was a dragon, wasn't he? He wanted a place where Toothless was accepted too.

But now he was back on Berk. Berk, the place where he'd vowed never to return. He'd loved Terra Dracones, loved the co-existing place of dragons and humans, loved the friends he called his brothers, the adventures around the world. To him now, Berk felt like a prison - a place where it was dark, desolate and lonely, a place where the weak were bullied, a place where you could never escape. But now he was back - it was as if he had been suddenly arrested for a crime he didn't commit and taken back to the cell. Hiccup knew a lot about this. He'd had plenty of experience.

He'd called Terra Dracones his one, true home. But now... Hiccup was back on the Isle of Berk, ready to face his fears and his past.

You can't let every single sin end with tears... Hiccup refused to cry. He didn't cry on Berk - where it was deemed by the Viking majority that crying was for the weak. He didn't cry on Terra Dracones - he didn't want too many people to know about his past.

Wear them proudly on your sleeve among with your fears... The fears and the past he had kept hidden away. He tried to be strong and resilient against them, but they came back, through visions, flashbacks, hallucinations, nightmares...

Some people, they want to draw near with a maze of emotions... Hiccup feared those people would be from Berk. Snotlout, Astrid, everyone else... even his own father, for the gods' sake!

He remembered that quote from a book he'd read. He partially hated it when these types of things came up; it was as if they were talking directly to him.

Hiccup closed his eyes, but they snapped open as the door opened, and Hiccup instantly sat up, awaiting the black-haired, black-coated Matthew, but instead, found a large man with a red beard and Viking chief's attire.

Stoick.

"Hiccup." His voice was wary. "May I come in?"

Review Replies:

AvatarHiccup: Thanks so much! I hope you'll love reading more chapters!

RandomWeirdoDragon: Thanks! Keep on reading more chapters, and I hope I'll keep ya hooked!

danielk440: Oh yes, sorry about that. But thanks for pointing it out! I'm looking for reviews like that! My best answer for this is that since Toothless, Winterwing and Swiftclaw travel together... you know how the white Night Fury stands out? It'll grab attention, and the Vikings will notice the other Night Furies. Is that okay? Thanks for the review! ;D

Efyudhxffgg (guest): Thank you for your review! I apologise for the long wait.

X1FrostDragonX: Thank you for your comments! I'll make sure to keep it up ;)

H20eagles (guest): Thank you for the review and your comments! I apologise for the long wait. And yes, there will be Hiccstrid soon, I can assure you that. But it may or may not come easy... (evil laugh in the distance) What do you mean, I was laughing evilly? *shrugs*