I will save you

Chapter 3: A Strange Storm

Hiccup's POV

The wind whistled past my ears as my hair flowed freely through it. I took a deep breath, settling into my saddle as I enjoyed the peace and quiet that surrounded the two of us, up above the clouds, where no one could ever bother us.

"Isn't this great, bud?" I asked Toothless as I patted the side of his neck. The night fury turned to look at me with a gummy smile as he shot a celebratory plasma blast. The smoke from the explosion blew past us as we sailed through the remnants of Toothless' blast.

A faint rumble could be heard from ahead of us, disturbing the peaceful silence of the early morning skies as we were snapped back to reality. I furrowed my brows. "That's sounding an awfully lot like thunder, what do you say we turn around and go back home."

Toothless grumbled in agreement, diving down beneath the clouds. But as we broke through the clouds, we found ourselves surrounded by big, dark clouds that lit up a chilling blue in the distance.

As the loud rumble from the clouds rang through our ears, Toothless dove even further down, set on getting us out of the storm. And just as we were about the break through the last clouds, a bright light flashed behind us and hit Toothless' tail with such force that he buckled, and sent me flying off his back.

"Toothless!" I screamed as I desperately tried to unpack my flight suit, but to no avail. The dragon growled in exasperation as he plummeted to the ground, far from me, with a smoldering tail fin.

"Toothle—" I was cut off my the heavy impact of my back hitting the freezing waters. Pain rippled through my body as my vision grew dark around the edges before I lost all sight and consciousness.

***

I slowly blinked my eyes open, my head thundering like a thousand rainstorms. What had happened?

"Do you think the lad's dead, Chief?" A familiar voice asked as the faint smell of mutton tickled my nose hairs.

"I don't know, Gobber, maybe you can ask him yourself!" I felt my heart stop beating. A voice I thought I'd never hear again spoke, the booming, unmistakeable voice of someone I had held close to my heart for as long as I had lived.

I opened my eyes completely and was momentarily blinded by the light before I was met by the sight of a person I thought I would never see again. "Dad?"

Laughter erupted from the two men surrounding me, like they'd never heard anything as ridiculous as what I had said to them. "I'm sorry, son, but I'm afraid you must've hit your head a little too hard, I'm not your father."

I sat up and took in my surroundings. I was laying on the beach, a very familiar beach. I glanced over to the side and immediately recognized the very spot Astrid had taken her last breath.

Astrid. ASTRID! If my father was alive and kicking then that meant...

"Get up, boyo, we'll get you to the healer." Gobber grunted as he raised me to my feet. I studied the older man closely and found him looking much younger than when I'd last seen him. I turned to my dad and found his beard a fiery red, with just a hint of grey in it, nothing like the grey-streaked beard he had the last time I had seen him.

"No, thank you, I think I'm quite alright. Just a little ... misunderstanding." I forced a smile as I met my father's eyes, who couldn't seem to recognize his own son. Perhaps it was for the better if I kept my identity a secret a little while longer.

"Well, if you're as healthy as you say, how about we show you around our island for a little while, get you acquainted while we figure out a way to get you home?" My father placed a hand on my shoulder as he waited expectantly for my answer.

I nodded eagerly. "I would like that, very much."

Dad and Gobber guided me up to the village, showing me and telling me all about the buildings I had grown up around and heard the stories of hundreds of times. The only thing that had surprised me during my little visit to the past, was mostly how trusting my father seemed of me, even though to him I was a complete stranger. Who knows, perhaps he felt the bond we had shared and figured I was trustworthy?

"And here, as you might have guessed, we have our Great Hall." My father gestured to the large, slightly scorched, ornate doors built into the side of the mountain. The Chief beamed with pride as he placed his hands upon his hips and looked up at the Great Hall.

"Uh, dad?" A squeaky voice came from behind us, causing us all to turn around. "C-can I talk to you for a minute?"

I nearly had a heart attack when my eyes landed upon the boy ahead of me. Before me stood what I assumed to be a 15 year old version of me, seeing as he still had his leg, no Toothless by his side and our father had a look of disappointment tearing at his features.

"Yes, just let me finish this tour—"

"But Dad, it's really important!" Younger Hiccup interrupted, looking quite uncomfortable with speaking to his father before me and Gobber. Gods, did I know the feeling all too well.

"I said, not now, Hiccup." My dad stated, his voice eerily calm, but with that familiar strict undertone that seemed to haunt his every word.

"But dad—"

"We will talk later, Hiccup, right now I'm showing ... I didn't quite catch your name?" My father turned to me, eyebrow raised as he awaited my answer with crossed arms.

"Oh," I rapidly racked my brain for potential names. "It's Harold."

"Just Harold?" The younger version of me asked, a brow raised in suspicion.

I chuckled nervously, a little frightened to speak with the younger version of myself. "Yeah ..."

"As I was saying, I'm busy showing our new guest, Harold, around. We'll talk later, Hiccup." My dad finished, walking away from the young Hiccup before he even had the chance to answer.

I glanced over at the younger version of myself, whose shoulders were slumped as he had once again been overlooked by the father he looked so much up to. Memories of my own teenage years flowed through my mind as the gut wrenching feeling of never being good enough for my own father seeped back into me. Gods, did I know how bad he was feeling in that moment. I shot myself a reassuring smile, but it didn't seem like he caught it as he dragged his feet towards his house.

Stoick the Vast had already reached the middle of town square by the time he stopped and turned back toward me and Gobber, head held high. "Now, Harold, let us show you our famous dragon-killing arena!"