New Life Ahead [HTTYD]

Chapter 5: For Better or Worse?

For the first time in all of his life, the former human named Hiccup experienced a rage so great, it would have humbled any other Viking on the island. That and the fact he was currently a dragon that was both rare and intimidating made his anger a lot more visible.

His wings flapped, his arms flailed, and his roars cut through the night as his paws stamped and clawed at the ground. The Night Fury meanwhile, had gotten back to his feet while looking on at the human with surprise, worry, and pity. Hiccup paid him no mind, focusing all his thoughts on the village he lived in his whole life.

All his life he had tried so hard. And for what?! An acceptance into a community that didn't take him seriously? Instead blowing off his claims that his Bola Launcher shot down one of the greatest and supposedly most dangerous of all dragons?

He thought about all those who had done nothing but make him feel useless since his mother's death: Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, even his imaginary love-interest Astrid was part of the teasing and bullying he had suffered. At this point, those daydreams of them being together were over.

Then there was Fishlegs: it was easy to see why he had stopped being friends with the chief's son. The minute Hiccup had shown how easy he was to make fun of, Fishlegs had started to hang out with him less and less, until eventually he stopped altogether. While he didn't bully Hiccup, he mostly stood off to the side and did nothing to help him, even when Hiccup was on the ground with bruises and urine.

Then Hiccup's thoughts turned toward his father. Ever since his wife died, he had become stricter, made every single conversation one-sided, and even used Hiccup as a motivation to get every Viking to hunt down the dragon's island.

And not in the 'raising one's self-esteem' sort of way either. More like the 'anyone who stays, will look after Hiccup' type of way.

As for Gobber...

...

Hiccup's anger deflated so fast it was almost comical. His claws stopped flailing, his wings drooped, and his body fell down to all fours while his expression of anger slowly became that of shock. The Night Fury was confused at first, but a quick delve into the human's mind told him everything.

The boy had just remembered Gobber, the blacksmith of the village. While Gobber did indeed agree that Hiccup was defenseless, even against other Vikings, he did at least make an effort to help Hiccup feel better about himself. In fact, the man had been more of a father figure than Stoic currently was, and probably ever would have been. He was probably one of the only good experiences Hiccup had ever had during his time as a human.

"What am I doing?" Hiccup asked. The Night Fury looked at Hiccup, who was solemnly staring at the fire. "I can't just reject the whole village simply because they didn't treat me the way I wanted. It's where I grew up, and I can't deny that."

The Night Fury was now very confused. Wouldn't this human just make up his mind already? It had just gone from angry to passive in the span of a few seconds. Even the most temperamental Monstrous Nightmares didn't have mood swings this quick!

The dragon sat up on his hind legs assessing the human while Hiccup rested his head on his forepaws, wings tucked in and tail curled around his body. The fire crackled and popped as the human thought about what to do now, while the dragon, once again, patiently awaited the humans' next action.

Just as the dragon was about to speak up, the human let out an audible sigh and stood on all fours. He then turned his head towards the Night Fury. "I'll come with you." he said.

Out of all the things the dragon had expected to the human to say at the moment, THAT was not one of them. He stared at the human, his mouth dropping open. Was this human really going to go without any hesitation?

Hiccup, sensing the dragon's confusion, explained his decision. "Where else can I go? I'm a dragon now. I can't go back even if I wanted to. Even if I was a human, I doubt anything would have changed for me there. I would probably be back where I've been for most of my life: trying hard and failing miserably." The human lowered his head sadly. "Maybe the village will benefit from my absence. No more accidents, no more slip-ups, no more... (Sniff)...mistake..." Hiccup began to sob once again, struggling to say his words, "of a ch-ch-chief's son."

The boy squinted his eyes shut as they swelled with tears, unable to talk anymore about former home. The Night Fury felt sad as well as impressed by this human. Rather than focus on all his negative experiences in the village, Hiccup had chosen to see more of the positive aspects of this change, even if most of them were not helpful towards Hiccup himself.

But it was a noble action, and that further increased the Night Fury's own reasons for NOT resetting this human's mind. As the human shook with grief, the dragon came and raised its paw to wipe the boy's tears from his face. Hiccup nearly jumped from the contact, but calmly accepted the dragon's act of kindness.

"I think we should move now." The dragon used its tail-fins to smother the fire. Both dragons were illuminated once again by the moonlight as their eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness.

Hiccup looked up at the dragon, his eyes drying but still red. "Can we sleep here tonight?" He asked.

The dragon regarded Hiccup with confusion. Why would he want to stay when he just said he would go with the Night Fury?

Hiccup looked down at his paws. "It's just...I've spent all my life here, and I want to remember my last day on this island."

The Night Fury, feeling that this request was reasonable, nodded silently, and then started to walk deeper into the forest. After a moment, he turned his head towards Hiccup, who hadn't budged. "Come on, let's find a cave. It'll be safer to sleep there than here." The dragon continued walking.

Hiccup nodded, head, wings, and body lowered in sadness as he followed the dragon.

Both dragons disappeared from the clearing, leaving only the charred remains of human clothing as a reminder of the human who, as of now, ceased to exist from the village of Berk.