The 'Dragon Defender'

Thread Of Fate

"Hiccup!" Astrid gasps in horror, hurrying over to his side. I take a step back, keeping my sword drawn but not brandishing it towards her. I can understand why she'd be concerned, of course. I'm not that cruel to deny her her panic.

She turns wide eyes upon me, attempting a stern face, but her fear too prominent for it to work. Fear for Hiccup's life. Fear for her own life. Fear of me.

"I-Indigo..."

I look down at Astrid blankly, waiting for her to continue, not moving.

"... How could you...?"

"How could I?" I chuckle. "He's been asking for this for a long time, Astrid. Hel, he should be grateful I restrained myself until this point. We had a long talk about this. I warned him that I was at my wits end with him, that I wouldn't be making any more excuses for him. I've killed people for pulling a quarter of the little stunts he has."

Hiccup's pained yelling has softened to weak groans and heavy, laboured breathing. Astrid helps him to the ground, tears starting to spill from her eyes.

"You don't have to do this... you, you have a cure, right? You have to have the cure."

When I don't answer, Astrid gets up and tries to make a desperate grab for my satchel, but freezes when I move my sword in her way. "You're not going to take it," I shake my head. "If Hiccup has to die to keep everyone safe... so be it. He sealed his own fate when he refused to back down."

"Indigo, please, I can't- I don't know what I'll do if he's gone!"Astrid begs. "Berk needs a chief... Toothless needs his rider... Valka needs her son... the group needs our leader, our friend... and Hiccup's my best friend in the whole world... Indigo, you know I love him. We were, we were betrothed... we were going to get married... and start a family, some day, when we were older, and, and ready for that..."

Astrid's tears are falling now. She sniffs and wipes them, though there's a slight smile on her face as she begins to reflect on the oh so perfect life she and Hiccup had planned for themselves.

"Hiccup always liked the name Zephyr. He said it, said it made him think of the clouds and the wind... like when you're flying on the dragons... he never thinks of anything other than dragons, does he?" She laughs bitterly despite herself, her tone shaky and void of any real humour.

"But... but he'd think of me. Of us, of our future... and... and I can't accept a future when he's not in it..."

"... I know what you're trying to do," I remark slowly, keeping my tone level. "I'll do anything," she tells me. "Just... don't let him die..."

She reaches her hand out towards me, her shaky palm facing skyward. "Please... I'm begging you, Indigo... let me save him."

I look between Astrid and my satchel, considering. It would be a close call, but there's still time left to save Hiccup. And after what I've done to Valka already, I don't suppose I could truly take her son, her last surviving relative, away from her...

But would leaving him alive cause more problems than the hypnosis could solve? Hiccup would still be very much at large, and he'd forget all the things I told him - if I let him remember he'd still know too much due to the locations and the context - and he'd still be just as boar-headed as ever.

At long last, I feel two nudges at my sides. The Changewings are here, finally. I have options now. Whatever happens, they won't be a threat, or at least they'll be back to square one on that front.

I take a deep breath, let it out, then sheath my sword.

~•~

"So what happened after that?" Asher asks carefully, a hand on my shoulder. I've been informing him and Adriana of what occurred - Selene is looking after Melanite, unaware that I'm back yet - since the moment I got back. We also picked up Plasma on the way as he was the first to find me returning, so we're having the discussion in his nest to avoid Melanite overhearing any of this business.

"I handed over the vial," I confess, sighing. "Had the Changewings handle them both while I flew away to a rendezvous point on an island partway between here and Berk. They fed the humans some story of the Dragon Master rescuing Hiccup from a bunch of Slitherwings and bringing him back to Astrid. I didn't care to specify details. And even if they were inconsistent, the humans can easily put it down to the panicked situation... I guess killing Hiccup might not be the best move in terms of my relationship with Berk; Astrid or Valka would be made Chieftess and would likely swear a vendetta against me for killing the former Chief. Then Berk would end up hostile to me, and that's incredibly inconvenient at the best of times... you know?"

"You did good, Indigo," Adriana smiles softly. I shrug at that. "I wouldn't say 'good'... I almost killed someone, just for being curious about dragons..."

"You almost killed someone for ignoring reasonable boundaries and risking peoples' lives and safety in the process," Asher corrects, shaking his head. "Don't gloss over that."

I nod slightly, then glance up at Plasma. He's stayed rather stoic this whole time, but there's been a spark in his eyes as I've recounted my time on Berk, almost an erapturement with every word. Clearly he knows it's not appropriate to show it, but I have the suspicion that he's treating this like yet another myth of mine.

"What do you think?" I ask him. He considers for a moment, humming thoughtfully as he tries to gather his words. "Well... when you think about what you did... are you comfortable with that?"

"I guess so..." I murmur. "I can live with my decision to spare him. But... I can't say for sure if it was the right decision."

"What makes you question that?"

"What if I was too weak to do what was necessary?"

"What if you were strong enough to do what's right?"

I shrug, unable to come up with an answer. "I don't know... but... what if I'm still the bad guy for allowing it to happen? I'm some kind of myth, so... am I the villain? In this story?"

"Hey, not at all," Plasma intervenes, leaning forward from his position opposite me to set his hand on my free shoulder. "It's easy to make the wrong choice, but it's hard to make the right one. But sometimes, that's what makes it right; fighting for what you believe in even when it's tough. And despite everything, you kept your morals intact, even when it would have been easy and convenient for you to just walk away. I don't think a villain could say that."

I nod slightly, looking down. He pulls away from me, settling back down as I mull over his words. Admittedly, they did help.

"I mean... my morals still allow room for mass murder, so..."

Asher laughs loudly at this. Wasn't that funny, but okay.