In the Flame of Error

By: iamCAMBRIA and Amazing-Thalia-Grace

Introduction

The dawn day was just barely brushing the sky with little bits of powdery rose, when the chief of Berk awoke. His eyes creaked open and he draped his arm over the swollen belly of his pregnant wife. The blonde woman underneath him moaned sleepily, before rolling over. The auburn haired young man gave a small smile before slowly sitting up, trying not to wake his wife up.

He pulled back the fur covers to their bed and slipped both legs over—or one and half legs over. Reaching over with a stumbling hand, he groped about in the dim lighting for his prosthetic leg that sat beside the bedpost. Grumbling, his fingers finally brushed the side of the wood on the prosthetic before he grabbed it. With a slow lethargy, he began to strap it on like every morning. Afterwards, he began to clothe himself in his leather armor and his one bear-fur boot. Then, tip-toeing out of the room, he made the climb downstairs.

His dragon, Toothless, rested in the corner, curled up like a kitten. Hiccup smiled and shook his head. When the Night Fury wanted to, he could be the most deadly thing on the planet, but most of the times, he was as harmless as a hatchling.

Gathering a bit of firewood, Hiccup tossed the kindling into the fire pit. Lighting it, he began to put an iron skillet over it. Reaching down, he pulled up a door to reveal the larder. He reached in and pulled up a few slabs of meat that he and Astrid had prepared earlier that month. With a happy little whistle, he put them to the now heating pan. Adding a bit of yak fat, and a pinch of sage, he began to cook breakfast. The meat began to pop and sizzle, giving the house a beautiful fragrance. Hiccup was thankful that he was the one cooking the food because his cooking was by far, better than Astrid's.

Toothless warbled a sleeping greeting.

Hiccup looked up and grinned. "Good morning to you too bud."

The dragon crooned.

"Yeah, yeah," Hiccup shushed. "Just, let me finish breakfast and then we'll take patrol, alright?"

Toothless yawned before nodding, curling up again.

Hiccup gave a quiet, amused laugh before returning his attention to the food. In no time the meat had cooked to a crispy golden brown, and he pulled the skilled off the fire and onto the table. Pulling out one of their wooden plates from a counter in the corner, he put a few slices on it and sat down. Of course he remembered that he needed something to drink, so he got up and pulled a mug from the same counter and got himself a bit of water from a keg that was nestled snuggly underneath the wood top. Sitting down, he enjoyed the breakfast that he made. The juice of the meat dribbled down his chin with every bite, and even though it wasn't very seasoned, it was savory. Gulping down the water, and finishing up his breakfast, he put the plates aside for Astrid to wash later.

He then put the skillet back over the low fire so that the food would stay warm for her. With a satisfied nod, he turned to face the Night Fury. Toothless looked up at him eagerly, his green eyes wide and warm.

"Ready bud?"

The dragon gave a pleased smile before prancing to the door.

Hiccup chuckled. "Alright, alright Toothless, calm down. Don't want to wake up Astrid."

He opened the door and Toothless ran outside.

Snow blanketed the ground in glittery white mounds. Footprints here and there were stamped all throughout Berk. Hiccup sighed and took in the sight. Berk was finally at peace. No more wars, no more deaths, no more sorrow—it was just peace. It had taken him thirty five years of his life, to understand why his father would ever try so hard. Why Stoick would work himself to death for the sake of his village, it had been a mystery to Hiccup. But it was moments like these, that he realized why—this was his home and that his people were safe. That made all the hard work in the world worth it.

Toothless gave an impatient groan.

Hiccup snapped out of his reverie. "Yeah, yeah, yeah—I'm coming you impatient lizard."

Toothless ran to the boy and slipped his head between the human's legs. Hiccup fell onto the dragon's back with an undignified grunt. Sighing, he laid back against the warm leather saddle rigging and the outline of the black scales.

"I really don't want to go flying this morning, bud."

Toothless snarled.

"I know, I know." Hiccup continued, rubbing his face with his hands with feigned exhaustion. "But I'm just so tired."

The Night Fury flopped his ears around, not concerned.

Hiccup pat the dragon's side. "I'm so glad to know you care, Toothless."

The dragon gave an impatient wiggle.

"Agh! Fine!" Hiccup shouted with false anger. "Let's go flying then!"

Toothless hooted in triumph.

Hiccup leaned sat up in the saddle and leaned over so he could look the Night Fury in the eye. "Sometimes I really think you enjoy torturing me."

Toothless spread his wings in response.

Shaking his head, Hiccup placed his feet into their proper stirrups. After strapping himself in good and tight, he clicked the proper stirrup to do a maintenance check on the dragon's tail prosthetic. After a few good flaps, he found the condition it was in to be satisfactory.

"Okay bud, seems as though we're—whoa!"

Toothless took off into the air before Hiccup was ready to begin. The man groped about for the handle bars of the saddle before finding a comfortable hold. Toothless began to even out in his flight pattern, giving Hiccup a chance to run through his mental check list for the rigging. By the time he was done, he was ready to begin the patrol and Toothless had gotten his daily dosage of tricks.

"Toothless, let's start on the Eastern Side and work our way up to Thor's Hand. We'll get a good view of the Barbaric Ocean from there. Then we can head north to the mountain peak and then south. Finally back to the village." Hiccup suggested, looking at the frozen island of Berk.

Toothless gave an affirmative nod before banking around and heading towards the Eastern Side. Hiccup zipped up the extra leather on his arms, warding off the cold. Snow flurries had begun to sprinkle about again and the breeze was chilling. Berk at one of its coldest.

For a time, Toothless remained quiet, his wings beating in perfect tandem with his heart rate. He could time everything perfectly. When the wind would rise, and he could catch the jets to sail effortlessly. Or when the tides of the air currents would turn and he would have to dive to get below them.

But something happened that he didn't expect. That the Night Fury couldn't time. Something that the missed.

Hiccup barely looked up to see the great looming storm cloud in front of him. All his well-trained reflexes couldn't have prepared him for the vibrating, lightning burning cloud. It was as black as Toothless' scales and as large as the dragon too. Toothless snapped his wings shut to dive, but it was as if the cloud was trying to suck them in. Because even though Toothless stopped flying, they didn't stop moving towards the cloud.

"No!" Hiccup screamed.

The Night Fury was pulled in, the black veil of cloud fluff humming and burning. Their bodies fizzed with the high voltage of lightning. The electric currents rattled Hiccup's and Toothless' bones, blinding them and killing them. They were in the cloud; and it was tearing them to pieces. And it didn't take long before the Viking chief's and the Night Fury's world turned to nothingness.

The last thing Hiccup thought, before everything was ripped away, was that morning—he hadn't told Astrid he loved her.

~0~0~0~

What if this storm ends?

And I don't see you

As you are now,

Ever again.

~The Lightning Strike, by: Snow Patrol