Chapter 3 of Eternal Cycle series. Again, you can read Cycles as separate stories but you might not understand everything if you haven't read Chapter 1.
This one is the first multi-chapter Cycle. I don't have everything ready right now but I swear I'll complete it. Sometime. Features HTTYD movie 1.
THE FIRST CHAPTER IS 'Eternal Cycle: Massacre Managing' FOUND ON MY PROFILE! That one is a Naruto fic.
Terminology-you-might-not-need-but-got-anyway:
(Cyclist: A person who repeatedly gets born into different worlds.)
Cycle: One life for a Cyclist.
(Can Cycle: Cycle with canon story and next to no changes. It doesn't matter what time it starts.)
Trick Cycle: Cycle with story differences, small or big. They have to be noticeable.
(Mix Cycle: Cycle with two or more stories somehow combined. Crossover.)
(Trace): The first Cyclist. A girl, most of the time.
Rina: Trace's other self/inner self/first self.
(Drew: Trace's sibling/brother.)
(Frisk: Trace's sibling. Gender neutral.)
The ones in parenthesis () aren't mentioned in this fic. At least they shouldn't be. And the name 'Trace' isn't actually created at this point in her eternal life.
Now, enjoy!
CYCLE 7:
Can Cycle, How To Train Your Dragon.
Kernel. That was her name. A nut core. Strange. But not as strange as her life. This was, what, her… eighth? time as a toddler. And the last time left her, well. Better not think about her last life. The whole civilization died in a flash of an alchemy circle, all for one man's immortality. She and Rina had failed to do… anything. She was a moody toddler for sure but she just couldn't bring herself to care.
Everyone was just… there and in a blink of an eye it was gone. She didn't want to go through that again. Even though she acknowledged it was very unlikely this life.
She was a twin sister to a brown haired, green eyed toddler. With a small scar on his chin. Hiccup, was his name. Odd, she knew. Like Kernel, but worse. They were viking children. Vikings seemed to think horrendous names kept trolls away or something. But girls will be girls and they have to have at least a little better names. She had landed in the 'How to Something Your Dragon' movies seen in her third life. If she remembered correctly. She hadn't even seen them. Five lifetimes in between made you forget rather easily. Though her last had been… cut short.
Why was she stuck in these reincarnations, she wondered. Melancholy gaze watched the clouds as they made shapes like in any other world. At least the sky stayed mostly the same everywhere.
She missed Naruto and Sasuke. And Rina. She wasn't here. She feared she had died in the last reincarnation. She truly feared her other self was gone.
Luckily she had Hiccup. The little boy was a ray of sunshine in her world of darkness and sorrow. She could forget she was an adult seven times over. She could forget the trap she was in for a moment. She could brighten up her brother's day and he could do the same to her. It was at four and a half years old that she decided she would be Hiccup's support in the world everyone heaped expectations on him. The leader's son. Stoick the Vast's son with next to no bulk and all brain. Kernel thought it a good thing. The village thought not.
"'iccup!", she laughed as the two played tag, "You're it!"
Stoick watched them with a smile. He was a loving father with no idea how to be one. Kernel loved him anyway. As did Hiccup. Their life was close to perfect up until they turned five and met other kids. Their intelligence stood out and was regarded as a strange thing. They didn't fit in. But Hiccup had Kernel and Kernel had Hiccup so it was okay.
Everything was okay if they had each other.
xXXx
Kernel was eight when she got the first sign of Rina. A telepathy link of a kind. It was muddled, only feelings. And she knew Rina wasn't inside her that moment. And that she was a few years younger than herself and Hiccup. Possibly not human but capable of understanding some human language and emotions. Kernel sighed. She had no idea where or who.
xXXx
Hiccup was Gobber the Belch's apprentice. A blacksmith's apprentice. Kernel would admit to some curiosity. So it wasn't that big a surprise to either Hiccup or herself that she sneaked in almost everyday to see what they were doing. Her brother was a great teacher. Together they would learn and bounce ideas for new things and inventions. It was amazing. Like when she started learning about medical seals her first reincarnation.
"The metal's ready!", she called to her brother who nodded determinedly and took the hammer up as she put the almost white glowing metal on the anvil. It didn't take too long for them to have lots of hooks with and without clips and many leather straps ready for use. The twins grinned at each other and got to work.
A full day's work and both had a set of climbing safety gear with long ropes. Straight, or almost straight, out of Kernel's memory. They were ready to climb a cliff.
The two had found an interesting looking ledge at one of their explore-the-island trips and were determined to see what it had. Taking the stuff with them the two ran into the woods and in half an hour were standing at the bottom of the tall looking mountain thingy.
"Okay. I'll be down here and you go up", Hiccup said, taking the lead easily.
They worked the ropes so the other would hold the climber's weight if they slipped. The climber would put hooks into the hard rock every few meters so the fall wouldn't be a big one. It was a good system and Kernel thanked the one who had come up with it. Some testing and having fun later they were ready to try for real. An hour and a half after she was all the way up and looked wide eyed around the ledge and a cave! They'd found a cave! One that was hard to access by normal means and hidden in a good place.
"Hiccup!", she called down from the ledge, grinning from ear to ear, "We found a cave!"
Her brother grinned too, vibrating with excitement. They had wanted a hideout for so long and now they might have found the perfect one. He knew it was a good idea to climb it. Though Kernel was the one who had a good method for that. And it looked so fun! The twelve-year-old beckoned for his sister to come down so he could try. She did so and laughed happily as she descended. The cliff curved a bit outwards so the rope was the only thing not letting her crash to the ground as Hiccup let his weight carry her. She hit the ground lightly and they switched places, first pulling all of the rope back down to them.
Then they realized a problem. Both of them weren't going to get up at the same time with this method. And then they had a genius idea of putting another hook higher than the ledge and then the one up there could still safely be the counterbalance. All in all, it didn't take long until they were both standing in front of the cave.
"Who first?", asked Kernel, a bit nervously.
Hiccup shrugged, also uncomfortable and wishing for a torch. They stood still for a moment before the boy broke the silence.
"Maybe we should just get a lightsource before going"
And so they did and got to exploring it. The space was pretty big. As in, their house big. With a bit of extra room. And another entrance covered in moss and tree roots. This one looked like the perfect place to slide down and the twins made sure to make plans for that later. It was a good looking hideout. And they would use it in the coming three years as their escape from taunts and expectations. So it happened it was decorated and used as a home away from home to think of everything and to just be with each other.
xXXx
"Kernel?", asked Hiccup one day, "Do you think dragons are intellectual?"
The fourteen-year-old turned to her twin, long hair in a swirly messy plait bun at the back of her head, and raised an eyebrow, "Do you?"
Green eyes stared at their room's ceiling in frustration. He was clearly warring with himself over two beliefs. Conflicting ideas. Kernel smiled reassuringly.
"I do…", she said and also stared up, "They have intelligence, that much is clear with their attacks. I think they might have their own community… As for why they attack all the time, we can only speculate", she paused for a long moment, "Perhaps… someday we could just observe how they live"
Hiccup seemed thoughtful before smiling too. He hoped they could. It would be scary, and hard, and amazing… But they had each other so everything would be fine.
(If any of the vikings had heard they'd first be scandalized and then ask what language the two were talking in. 'Intellectual', 'community' and 'speculate' were words too big for this island. But not for a girl who has lived lives. As in, plural. She had accidentally taught them to her twin)
xXXx
Prologue end. Hopefully you liked it!