Hiccup, Toothless, and the Siren

A/N: Here you go! Another tale from the Sea Trilogy AU. It takes place shortly before the events of Out of the Sea. And this one features some familiar faces from that story. Hope you enjoy it!

It was almost midnight when the mermaid swam up to the giant dragon skeleton that lay in the middle of a barren wasteland. Her hair was as black as the waters around her, and her tail was the vivid red of freshly spilled blood. In her hands she carried a large conch shell that was glowing faintly, illuminating the path ahead of her which led right into the skeleton's open maw. She hesitated for maybe half a second before swimming determinedly through. Movement below her caught her attention and she glanced down, wrinkling her nose in disgust at the sight of the wriggling polyps that were scattered about the ground. She reached up with one hand to pull her hair out of their reach and continued further into the skeleton until she emerged into the gigantic rib cage. There she stopped, drifting uncertainly at the edge of the chamber beyond.

"Welcome," said a low, gravelly voice, and the mermaid turned her head to face the speaker, who was illuminated by a faint light pulsing from a great cauldron in the middle of the room. She was a half-woman, half-octopus creature with a thin, skeletal body and long white hair. Her eyes were yellow and sharp, and her eight purple-and-black tentacles writhed on the floor. She was gazing unblinkingly at the newcomer without a trace of surprise in her eyes. This visit was not unexpected. "I see you found the place without any trouble."

"Your son's directions were most helpful," the mermaid replied in a calm, collected voice that betrayed no emotion whatsoever. As she spoke, she glanced at another figure floating just behind the old woman. He was also very thin and had long hair, only his was black instead of white and his body morphed into that of a green eel rather than an octopus. He smiled when he caught her eye but didn't speak, knowing that his mother disliked it when he spoke during her business transactions.

Excellinor the Sea Witch swam forward so that she and the mermaid were eye-to-eye. The mermaid returned her stare bravely, not even flinching when the old crone got within a few inches of her face. "Yes," Excellinor crooned after a moment, nodding in satisfaction. "I think you'll do just nicely." She turned and headed over to her cauldron, peering intently into it. The mermaid neither knew nor cared what was in the cauldron that held the witch's attention, and she was keen to get to the details of her visit.

"What exactly is it you wish for me to do?" she asked.

Excellinor did not turn around but spoke instead to the cauldron. "You are a Siren, are you not?"

"I am," replied the mermaid. "I thought that had already been established."

"Just checking," the witch said quietly. "One can never be too careful when such power is at stake, you know." There was a pause as she continued to stare at whatever lay inside the stone basin before her. Then she went on, "Your task is simple: kidnap the prince and bring him to me."

For the first time, the Siren reacted. Her eyebrows went up in surprise. "Kidnap the prince?" she repeated. "Just like that? You make it sound so easy."

"With your talent, it will be," Excellinor promised, still not looking around at her. "The only real challenge you'll have is dealing with the Night Fury. The prince keeps him as a pet and he never goes anywhere without it. But I think if you use your skills wisely, then you can take care of the beast and then use it to get to the prince. I've been watching him carefully and I believe he'll do whatever you say if you use the right words and display your little talent properly."

The Siren made no response to this, but a flicker of uncertainty showed in her eyes. Excellinor's son Alvin, who was watching the Siren carefully, noticed but said nothing. There was silence for a while as the mermaid considered the witch's instructions.

Then she asked, "And if I succeed, what do I receive in return?"

Excellinor finally looked over her shoulder, smiling coldly. "How does the title of Duchess sound to you?"

The Siren's face twisted into a cold, delighted smile that made her look somehow more sinister than the witch across the chamber from her. "Like music to my ears," she replied. "Very well. I'll have the boy here by nightfall tomorrow."

"Good." Excellinor returned her gaze to the cauldron. "He always goes for a swim in the afternoon, away from the palace. Your best chance to move will be then. It will just be him and the Night Fury. No one else will be around to help him or hinder you."

The Siren nodded, and without another word she turned and swam away, the glowing shell in her hand illuminating the dragon skeleton's throat as she exited. When she was gone, Alvin turned to Excellinor and asked, "Do you really think this will work, Mother?"

"Of course," the witch said calmly, her eyes still fixed on the depths of the cauldron. "She will bring the prince to us, and you will deliver the message to the king that his son has been kidnapped. Make sure he knows that if he doesn't come alone, then the boy will die. When the king comes it will be time to barter: the throne for his son's life." She smiled wickedly. "You'll be King of the Seas by this time tomorrow, my dear."

Alvin chuckled darkly, turning his eyes down to see what his mother was staring at. Shimmering atop the thick liquid bubbling in the basin was the image of a young merman lying asleep in bed, his auburn hair spread on the pillow under his head, his eyes closed peacefully. A black dragon lay curled up a few feet away.

"Yes," crooned Excellinor, snickering with delight. "Soon…soon it will all be ours…"

Miles away and safe in his bedchamber, Prince Hiccup Haddock lay sound asleep, his dreams undisturbed, unaware that he was being watched.

…

The following afternoon, Hiccup and Toothless went for a swim through the reefs. If anyone asked where they were going, the prince was prepared to say that they were just off to see the sights with no particular destination in mind. But in reality, he was trying to put as much distance between himself and the palace as possible before taking yet another forbidden trip to the surface. He kept looking back as he and his dragon friend swam, on alert for anyone who might have followed him. The very last thing he needed was for word of his visits to reach his father Stoick, who would be furious. But they were in luck: there was no one about.

Hiccup stopped swimming, and Toothless halted too, crooning. Hiccup scratched his chin affectionately and said, "All right, bud. You ready?"

But before the Night Fury could give any indication he was ready for a trip upward, the dragon stiffened, his ear fins perking as he sensed a new presence. He bared his teeth and growled faintly, sharp green eyes dilating into slits as he peered around, searching for the unknown entity. Hiccup, knowing his dragon well enough to realize what was going on, looked uneasily over his shoulder, expecting to see one of his father's guards coming their way or perhaps a wild dragon looking for a meal. It wouldn't be the first time his silvery-green fish tail had caught the attention of a hungry dragon. However, he didn't see anyone or anything. "Toothless, what is it?" he asked, edging closer to the Night Fury for protection. "Is someone there?"

Toothless didn't respond, continuing to stare at their surroundings suspiciously. For a moment or two, there was silence.

And then they heard it: the sound of singing.

It was a female voice, and it was so beautiful that it made Hiccup's breath catch in his throat. He'd never heard anything like it before in his life. Whoever or whatever was making that sound was no ordinary sea creature. He'd been told by several merpeople that his own voice was one of the loveliest in all the ocean, but it was a Terrible Terror's squawk compared to this.

He and Toothless both looked about and finally saw the singer. It was a gorgeous mermaid with pale skin, waist-length black hair, and shimmering red scales that flashed gold in the sunlight filtering down from above. She held a large conch shell in one hand, and it glowed brightly with a pulsing light that seemed to become stronger when she reached for higher notes. Her sharp, cold gray eyes were fixed on them, unblinking, her open lips curved upward in a wicked smile.

Even though Hiccup had never met one before, he knew in an instant what this creature must be: a Siren, a mermaid with the power to manipulate others with her voice. He felt his heart miss a beat. Sirens were rare and had been more or less shunned by other merfolk for their tendency to steal others' voices and use them as part of their arsenal. He stared at the Siren in mute shock for several seconds, wondering what she wanted with them, what she was planning to do, and if there was anything he could do to escape her before it was too late…

As he pondered, a flurry of motion beside him caught his attention, and he looked around to see Toothless, his head up and ear fins perked, totally absorbed by the Siren's song. He was no longer growling, and his pupils had become the barest of slits as the Siren's song infiltrated his mind, taking control of him. He was swimming slowly toward her, totally entranced, and Hiccup felt a thrill of horror.

Fighting against the wave of panic threatening to overcome him, Hiccup cried, "Toothless!" But the Night Fury was completely under the Siren's spell and didn't respond. "Toothless!" he tried again, louder, but with the same result. Now the Siren was reaching out with her free hand, her shell burning fiercely in the other as the dragon swam closer still. A few more seconds and she would be able to touch him, and then…

Hiccup thought frantically and could think of only one thing to do. So without pausing to consider it further, he opened his mouth and also started to sing. It wasn't as beautiful or spectacular as the Siren's song, but it was a melody Toothless knew well, for he often sang it to the Night Fury when they were alone. It was their special song, a song of deep friendship, of brotherhood, of a bond so deep and strong that it couldn't be broken by means fair or foul. The slow, rhythmic melody flowed from Hiccup's throat without any effort, combating with the Siren's song, creating a disjointed harmony that was somehow both eerily beautiful and wrong at the same time.

Toothless stopped swimming toward the Siren and turned to look at Hiccup, his ear fins now tilted in his direction. His pupils widened slightly, though not much. But it was enough to make Hiccup's heart leap. It was working! His song was working against the Siren's, and Toothless had responded! But the battle wasn't won yet. The Siren continued to sing, her haunting song filling the ocean around them and tempting the dragon to join her and turn against the prince. But something held him back, and he floated uncertainly between the two singers, just a few inches away from the Siren's outstretched hand. Hiccup repeated his song, louder this time, and he gazed deeply into Toothless's eyes, silently begging him to return, telling him how badly he needed him, how much he loved him.

And then Toothless's eyes returned to normal, the pupils expanding into round, warm orbs. With a croon he turned around and swam back toward Hiccup. The Siren fell silent in shock as Toothless stopped in front of his merman friend, warbling what sounded like an apology. Hiccup reached up and stroked his face, smiling broadly and bringing his song to a close. "Toothless," he sighed, reaching his arms up and around his neck. "Thank you, bud. Thank you."

Toothless crooned quietly, but before Hiccup could say anything more, he suddenly felt like something large and hot was being shoved down his throat. He gasped and choked, clutching his neck, and said, "What was—?"

He faltered almost at once. He had spoken, but it wasn't his voice that issued from his throat. The voice that had spoken was deep and resonant, a far cry from his usual tenor. Toothless drew back in surprise, looking at Hiccup in confusion. "No!" Hiccup cried, but once again it was the bass voice that came from his lips instead of his own.

The Siren laughed, and Hiccup looked over at her. She was grinning wickedly, and the large shell in her hand was glowing a vivid red, a stronger glow than before. And suddenly he understood. She had swapped his voice with another's, a stolen voice that now resided in his body. She wanted to confuse Toothless and draw him away from his friend.

But it didn't seem to be working. Though confused, Toothless didn't draw away, and after a moment he inched a little closer. Hiccup smiled warmly, stroking his forehead silently. The Siren's smile turned to a scowl, and she raised her hand. This time, Hiccup saw the shell's glow intensify, and simultaneously he felt that same uncomfortable sensation of something being shoved down his throat. He clutched his neck again and, a feeling of trepidation brewing deep inside him, spoke softly. "Toothless, it's still me," he said, though this new voice he had was even less like his own. It was a female voice, high and shrill, likely stolen from a little mermaid child. Toothless snorted once but still stayed floating beside him. Hiccup was deeply touched, his heart swelling with the knowledge that, even without his own voice, his dragon still knew who he was and wasn't fooled by the Siren's tricks.

The Siren snarled impatiently and raised her hand again. This time, the sensation was different. Instead of something being forced down his throat, Hiccup felt as though something was rising to his mouth. He clenched his jaws shut but they were yanked open by some magical power, and a golden orb of light emerged. He gasped as he watched it drift away, over to where the Siren was floating, and it slipped into the depths of the shell in her grasp. He asked, "What have you done now?" Except when he tried to speak, nothing came out. He blinked and clutched his throat again, this time close to panic.

The Siren had stolen his voice.

Toothless looked highly confused and a little frightened, as though he wasn't sure he should flee or not. Hiccup reached up to touch his snout, but the Night Fury sensed his distress and drew back nervously. Hiccup shook his head anxiously but nothing came from his lips, which opened and closed silently like a fish's.

And then the Siren started to sing. Using Hiccup's voice. Singing the special song he reserved just for Toothless.

NO! Hiccup mouthed as Toothless looked around, ear fins perked at the sound of his friend's voice. He turned to face the Siren as the song continued to flow from her foul lips. He swam a few feet toward her before he stopped, head tilted in bewilderment. The Siren continued to sing, but Toothless moved no closer, and Hiccup could tell something was holding him back.

Maybe he realized that she wasn't who she sounded like.

Hiccup swam forward and put his hand on Toothless's shoulder. The dragon looked around at his touch, and their eyes met. They stayed perfectly still for a long moment as Toothless studied the prince, and Hiccup knew the precise moment when he decided that the merman was his true friend, not the imposter using his voice. He turned back to Hiccup and warbled again, and Hiccup threw himself on the Night Fury, wrapping his arms around his neck, overcome by relief and joy.

The Siren stopped singing abruptly and shrieked in rage, using her own voice again. Hiccup and Toothless swam a few feet away in alarm as she glared at them. Then she started to sing again, the same tune that had captured Toothless's attention earlier. This time, Toothless didn't respond at all, but Hiccup felt oddly sure that she wasn't trying to lure Toothless anymore. She had another purpose in mind, but he didn't know what.

Everything became clear in a moment when another dragon, a Scauldron, appeared and swam to her side, eyes wide with slit pupils, drinking in the seductive strains of her song. She stroked its forehead twice before she said in her musical voice, "Attack."

The Scauldron obeyed at once, streaking toward the prince and the Night Fury with his jaws open, teeth bared aggressively. Toothless, sensing danger, pinned his ear fins back and darted forward, blocking Hiccup from harm's way but also putting himself into it. He roared a challenge, and the two dragons began to fight, teeth and talons flashing. The sight filled Hiccup with a sense of terror that intensified with every scratch and bite the Scauldron landed on Toothless's scaly hide. But without his voice, he was completely unable to call the dragon back or to even scream in horror.

The Scauldron landed a bite on Toothless's shoulder, and his friend's roar of pain was enough to drive Hiccup into action. He darted bravely – and perhaps a bit stupidly – forward, throwing himself into the middle of the fray. He seized the horn on the Scauldron's snout and tugged at it. It didn't hurt the dragon but it did distract it long enough for Toothless to scratch its chest. The Scauldron bellowed and tossed its head, throwing Hiccup into a dizzying spiral which ended with the merman lying prone and vulnerable on the seafloor. The prince looked up in terror, feeling faintly nauseous, and saw Toothless being flung away too, hitting a nearby rock with a grunt of pain. Hiccup tried to scream his friend's name, but of course no sound came from his lips.

Then the Scauldron turned to look at Hiccup. He stared up at the beast looming above him and felt his heart miss several beats as he watched the dragon's cheeks swell. He knew what was about to happen: the Scauldron was filling its mouth with water and heating it to the boiling level. In a moment or two it would release the jet of hot water, which had the potential to peel the skin right off the bones of any creature in its path.

The dragon's cheeks reached maximum capacity. There was a pause. Hiccup lay still, frozen with fright.

Then Toothless charged forward with a furious roar, coming once again to his friend's defense. His jaws closed over the Scauldron's neck, and the wounded dragon whipped his head back in pain and rage. The jet of boiling water went astray, shooting well off the mark and making the Siren duck with a shriek of fright. It was so close a call that her flesh turned pink from the heat.

In the same instant, the Scauldron's tail whipped around as it struggled and thrashed, and in one swift blow it knocked the glowing shell from the Siren's hand. The mermaid shrieked in pain, rage, and terror and reached for it, but the dragon's tail had scooped up the conch and was propelling it toward the rocky bottom. There was a loud crash, and the dragon's tail shattered the shell into a thousand pieces.

The moment the shell broke, an unearthly scream filled the sea. It was coming from the Siren as she watched the source of her powers disintegrate. But this was soon drowned out by another sound: the sound of singing. A multitude of voices, male and female, young and old, deep and high, rang out, seeming to come from nowhere and everywhere all at once. Orbs of light rose from the shattered remnants of the shell, and Hiccup realized that these were the voices the Siren had stolen, the voices that he had set free. They continued to emit their songs for several seconds before they shot off in different directions, speeding away to find their owners. One of them returned to Hiccup, who opened his mouth gladly to receive it, and a moment later his song was coming from his own throat once more. The Scauldron, still reeling from the Night Fury's attack and frightened by the spectacle, turned and fled without a backward glance. Hiccup and Toothless were alone again with the furious, beaten Siren. Without her shell, she was powerless, just another mermaid without a weapon in her arsenal. And with Toothless on Hiccup's side, she was badly outnumbered, a fact she was only too aware of.

She looked from the prince to the dragon and back again, her fists clenched and teeth grinding with rage, but she didn't dare do anything with the odds suddenly stacked against her. There was a long pause.

Then she sped away, swimming at top speed toward the wilderness that lay beyond the kingdom's boundaries.

Toothless growled as if he wanted to give chase, but Hiccup put a hand on his shoulder to calm him. "She's gone now, bud," he said. "And I don't think she'll be bothering us or anyone else ever again."

Toothless turned to look at him, his eyes wide and filled with affection and relief. Hiccup smiled, feeling his heart swell happily. "Thanks, bud," he added, reaching up to cup the Night Fury's muzzle in his palm. Toothless closed his eyes and crooned contentedly.

Hiccup turned his gaze upward, thinking about the surface and his plans to visit the forbidden realm. But he hesitated, and then with a sigh he said, "You know, I think I've had enough adventure for one day. The surface can wait till tomorrow, don't you think?"

From the warble Toothless gave, Hiccup knew he agreed wholeheartedly.

…

Excellinor was not happy to see the Siren again. She'd watched the whole confrontation in her cauldron and was furious at the mermaid's failure. The Siren was kneeling before the Sea Witch, her hands raised in supplication. "Please," she said, "just give me another chance! I'm sure I can still bring the prince to you!"

"How?" Excellinor demanded. "Your powers are gone, you fool! You have proven that you cannot hold up your end of the bargain, and I don't give second chances!"

Excellinor raised her hands and chanted something under her breath. At once, the Siren was surrounded by a golden light that grew brighter and brighter. The Siren's eyes widened and she tried to escape, but she was held fast by the spell and couldn't move. She could only watch in terror and dismay as her body slowly shrank and shriveled until the once-beautiful mermaid was reduced to a wrinkly, ugly little gray polyp, wriggling on the floor of the cave.

Excellinor sniffed and turned away, looking back into her cauldron as the image of Hiccup and Toothless returned to the palace. The only good thing to be said about the Siren's failure was that the fool hadn't said what she was doing or why. There was nothing to link the attack back to her. Hiccup would tell Stoick about it and it would be dismissed as an isolated incident, and it wouldn't be examined any deeper than that.

"No matter," she murmured, more to herself than to Alvin, who gazed at the newest addition to his mother's garden with distaste. "Soon we'll get them. And Stoick's boy will be the one to deliver the king to us. I am sure of that. We just need to be patient, that's all. The opportunity will come." She smiled wickedly. "All good things come to those who wait."

A/N: So Hiccup's no stranger to losing his voice, apparently.

I hope you're not upset with me using the magic shell plot device again, since I did that in another of these tales, but hear me out: several years ago I had planned a story about merpeople and it would have ended with this scene. The story was never written, but I did write the climax because it was so clear in my head that I had to get it down. Originally, the merman character (Hiccup in this version) would have snatched the shell from the Siren while the dragons (water horses in the original story) were fighting and then smashed it after the Siren's failed attempts to convince him to return it to her. I adapted that scene as well as the Siren's resulting death for the story "Battle at Sea" in this collection, which was also adapted from the climax of the Broadway musical version of Disney's The Little Mermaid. I made some changes in order to avoid repeating myself too much, and here we are. It's amazing how a piece of writing can be reused, repurposed, and recycled, isn't it?

Since I seem to be getting back into this AU, hopefully I'll be able to resume writing Return to the Sea. It would be nice since I know a lot of you out there are waiting for me to post a new chapter, if of course you haven't given me up as a bad job and abandoned me…which after such a long delay I guess I couldn't blame you if you did…

Anyway, hopefully you'll be seeing more from this AU soon. Apart from Return to the Sea, I've got some other stories for this collection lined up that I'm looking forward to doing. Thanks for reading this, and I hope you enjoyed it! :)