Unbreakable

The middle of a war is not the best time for one boy to discover that he is not unbreakable. Sequel to 'Starlight, Star Bright'.

Chapter 1: I Would Rather Die

A/N: The first chapter of the sequel. I hope you all enjoy! :)

"Humongous?" My voice came out quieter than I meant it to from lack of use.

The man was polishing his sword absent-mindedly, but at my words, he looked up. "Yes?"

"Is…is it just me, or are we going really slowly? I mean, we're nowhere near Berk, and we were really close to it just, I think, thirty minutes ago. In fact, it looks smaller."

Humongous walked up behind me and looked out over the horizon, shading his eyes against the glare of the sun. "Smaller?" he repeated uncomprehendingly.

"Yeah, I mean…we're sailing toward it, right? But it's not getting any bigger."

"Well, I…I don't know," he admitted confusedly. "Perhaps the ship is trapped between rocks? I mean, the water will eventually deliver us back out, but…"

"And if we are?" I demanded, turning to face Humongous, sure my fear was written all over my face. "What then?"

"It'll work out," he assured me gently, resting a hand on my shoulder. "There really is no rush in reaching Berk, is there?"

"Maybe not for you, but for me? Humongous, my whole life is somehow on that island! Everything I think I know could be a lie, and if it is, I have to know the truth." I was clutching the ship's railing so hard that my knuckles had turned white. "And Alvin's probably found out we're gone by now, so this whole place is most likely crawling with Outcasts looking for me!"

"You don't have to be afraid." Humongous replied softly, giving my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "I'm not letting anything happen to you. Not this time."

"Hmm." I mumbled, turning to face the distant outline of Berk, which seemed a little fuzzy, but that was probably from the sun. I didn't bother telling Humongous that Alvin was probably going to find me – as I recalled, he was a pretty persistent Viking, and he was going to keep looking for me until he had me again. And I was going to keep trying to escape again. Essentially, we were playing a game that no one could win.

As I allowed my thoughts to drift away from what I'd left behind and towards what I was hoping to reach, my stomach gave an unpleasant jolt. All of my memories could be unlocked on that distant island, and the thought was both thrilling and terrifying. Humongous had spoken like he wasn't sure whether my real father loved me or hated me, and he had told me nothing about what my life on Berk had been like. Hell, he hadn't even been able to explain how I had lost half a leg, and suddenly there was just a metal contraption in its place. I just knew that Stoick the Vast had a ton of explaining to do.

I would get my answers. No matter if it turned out that I was unhappy on Berk and that Stoick really had been abusing me, the way Humongous had previously thought, the Hero had assured me that Toothless was waiting there for me. Even if I remembered being miserable on that island, there was nothing telling me I had to stay. I would just get to my dragon and go. Simple as that.

Humongous squinted into the bright sunlight, leaning against the boat with a sigh. "The boat should get free of the rocks once enough water pools up beneath it. When that happens, we'll start moving again."

"I don't think we're caught between rocks," I muttered. I was reluctant to admit it, because of how crazy it sounded, but I said it anyway. "I think we're going backwards."

"What?" Humongous looked at me in concern. "Is the heat getting to you, Hiccup? I know it's hot on this boat—

"No," I replied, shaking my head. "It's just…I mean, we looked like we were getting closer earlier, and now we're just going farther away—

"But the wind is on our side, and the current's pulling us towards the island," Humongous pointed out what I already knew, playing with the hilt of his sword in nervous habit. "And if it does start pushing us back, I think they might have a few pairs of oars below deck, so we can always use those…"

I nodded uneasily as I watched the Hero unsheathe his sword fully and scan the surrounding area. "There's something…here," he whispered, taking a quick step away from the railing, so he stood in the middle of the deck. "It's like fog. We might be sailing into some fog, which would be making the island hard to see…"

"No," I shook my head. "It's getting smaller, I know it."

Humongous drew in a breath. "This fog really is thick…if we don't reach that island within an hour, Hiccup, we won't be able to see a thing in any direction, and we can forget reaching Berk until it clears up again."

"And how long will it take the fog to clear?" I demanded. I knew I sounded a little impatient, but I think you'd be just a trifle impatient, too, if you suddenly realized that you'd lost half a leg, and the man who raised you was not really your father. Your father in fact, could be a fantastic man who loved you more than life itself, or a horrible, violent chieftain who did nothing but abuse you. So, maybe that explains why I was feeling so restless.

"Shouldn't take more than a couple hours," Humongous responded. "And we'd have to contend with it to make sure we didn't end up in the middle of nowhere while we were drifting and unable to see."

I rubbed a hand along my forehead with a little sigh as I glanced out at the thickening fog. It really was getting dense fast…faster than any regular fog I'd seen…

The back of my neck prickled suddenly.

"It'll be okay," Humongous reached over and rubbed my shoulder blades soothingly.

"Humongous…" I leaned over and tried to keep my voice low as I spoke. "I don't think this is regular—

"I'm sorry to interrupt this little escapade, but, Hiccup, I'm afraid you won't be reaching Berk today." A sudden voice interrupted our hasty whispers, and I'm pretty sure I jumped about a foot in the air. Humongous turned suddenly, fumbling to grab his sword. I saw my father – or not my father, but the man who I'd thought was my father for sixteen years – climbing onto our ship through the thickening fog, a horrible smile curling his face. His eyes sparkled with malice.

"Or ever," he added for emphasis.

Humongous looked a little shaky, but his sword was steady in his grip. "Get out of here."

Just as I had expected, the old woman I had seen in my cell appeared swiftly beside my father – or not my father…hell, I didn't know anymore – as suddenly as if she had used magic. Humongous' eyes blazed with rage. "Get off of our ship!"

"After all of the time it took to get you here?" the woman raised a thin white eyebrow, shaking out her long hair. "No, I don't think so. Setting it all up so you dolts wouldn't think we'd organized the escape plan was bad enough, but—

"Organized?" I sputtered, surprised out of my fear. "What—

"Well, we knew you wouldn't go anywhere with us willingly, if you had lost your memory, you revolting boy," the woman snapped at me, her pale eyes falling onto me instead. "Besides, I like to keep things…interesting. Like right now, for example. We could have just hijacked your ship and waited until you'd reached 'Berk'." here she put finger quotes around the name, pointing ahead for us to see that the suddenly much closer outline was not Berk at all, but an unrecognizable land. "But I decided to dispose of the useless ones while I still could. Like you, for example." She nodded politely at Humongous.

"I'm getting him to Berk if it kills me." Humongous snarled, his grip on his sword tightening.

"Very interesting," the woman replied softly. "Because it just might. You never know."

"What are you talking about?" he demanded.

"Nobody's dying!" I put in.

"Nobody who we still need." Once again, she turned her pale gaze on me. "Be grateful, Hiccup – you're still needed. You're not dying…not yet."

"I would rather die than go anywhere with you."

"Well, we don't always get what we want, do we?" The eerie fog thinned just as suddenly as it had come upon us. When I saw the woman putting her hands out, shooing the fog away, it just confirmed my growing suspicions. "You don't really have a choice." She pointed to the Outcast warships in a semicircle, canons loaded, archers with drawn bowstrings on the railing. "You're completely surrounded. Now come with us like a good little boy, and we don't have to hurt you."