Come Darkness, Come Light

Chapter 12 - What's Left Behind

A/N: I don't know why I feel the need to post an update pretty much every day...I just can't help myself, I guess. P.S.— It is so cool how people from all over the world are reading this!

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I lost HTTYD in the divorce. All I own now is a pair of socks.

VALKA'S POV

After a brief period of searching, Cloudjumper had managed to find my son's discarded wooden bow in a small clearing just outside the icy walls of the nest. I tried not to freak out when I saw the item and no Hiccup, but my mind was going crazy with the possibilities. Cloudjumper was able to pick up Hiccup's faint scent, and he'd followed it away from the nest towards the south. We'd been flying for a while, and there was still no sign of my son. We were nearing the coast, which meant there wasn't a lot of land left to search. I couldn't figure out why he would fly out this far. He said he was going to practice archery in the forest.

My gaze was scouring the land below, but a panicked screech made my head snap up. After a few seconds, I could make out the familiar form of Shimmer, the Deadly Nadder that liked to spend time with Hiccup and Toothless. What was she doing out here? And more importantly, why did she look so frantic?

Cloudjumper sped up to meet the out of breath Nadder, slowing into a hover when we reached her. *What happened?* He questioned calmly as she flew back and forth in front of us nervously.

*It's Hiccup! He's in trouble!* She answered quickly, her eyes flitting between us and the direction she came from.

"What?!" I exclaimed, following her line of sight. I couldn't see anything past the large hill in front of us. "Where, Shimmer? Show us, now!" I ordered. She chirped in agreement and immediately twisted around, flapping her wings as hard as she could. Cloudjumper stayed hot on her tail.

The flight was short—she hadn't gotten very far. I took in a sharp breath when I noticed the ship on the beach. No no no...It had clearly been damaged and ended up crashing here. But what were humans doing all the way out here? This island was even farther north than the Northern Markets, and it was surrounded by miles and miles of ocean. It wasn't even on any map I'd ever seen. Based on the state of the ship, my assumption was they'd landed themselves in quite the storm, and it had pushed them way off course.

I nudged Cloudjumper, and he glided down to the ship, landing warily on the deck. Shimmer set down right beside us, her head lowering anxiously. I jumped down, looking around. I couldn't see or hear Hiccup, and there was no sign of any people onboard. Had they survived the storm? I could tell from the netting and small cages littered around that they were trappers. If they had survived and were now roaming the island...

"Hello? Hiccup!" I called out, staying next to Cloud. "Where are you?" I continued, pressing a worried hand to my forehead as my heart began to pound. Cloudjumper hunkered down next to me, his chest rumbling. Shimmer appeared just as on edge. It seemed as if she would take off at any second.

I blinked in surprise when Toothless suddenly jumped out from beneath the floorboards through a large hole, which now that I really noticed it looked like a boulder had smashed through the wooden planks. My entire body froze when I took in Toothless' appearance. His scales were covered in blood, his pupils were narrow slits, and he looked absolutely murderous. He was unrecognizable.

I held a shaky hand to my mouth, placing the other one on Cloud's shoulder to keep me standing. Toothless seemed to stare right through us, and he growled viciously, stalking forwards. I knew right away that he fully intended to attack, and that I needed to treat this situation carefully. Whatever had happened before we got here triggered all those instincts in him I'd been trying to repress all these years.