Home-Bound: The Beginnings (HTTYD)

3 - Masked Rider

Hiccup woke up the next day to the sun shining in his face. The window, which was conveniently placed to wake him up at the right time, showed the village below him, bustling with activity.

He could just make out the tall, muscular figure that was his dad talking in the chaos he saw.

Good. He thought. More stuff to keep him from realizing I'm gone.

Smiling, he ran the plan through his head, making sure he would not miss one detail.

Weapons? Check.
Satchel? Check.
Tail and saddle on Dragon? Check.
Goodbye notes?

He quickly pulled out two notes from his satchel. One for his father, and one for Gobber.

Check.

He left his notes under the ruffled blankets, where his father would certainly look, but not right away. He wanted to make sure he had as much time as he needed to get away before they looked for him.

Throwing the satchel over his shoulder, he looked around the room he probably would never see again. His clothes scattered over the dresser on the far wall. Green. His favorite color. It reminded him of his mom. Hiccup glanced over at the desk next to the dresser. It was full of drawings and old journals. He eyed the piece of paper pinned up on the wall. Sighing, the boy yanked it off the nail it was on and stuffed it in his bag.

Astrid woke up early that morning. She would train until her hands fell off if she could just prove to everyone that she was better than him. Better than that Hiccup.

She threw her axe at a tree and yanked it out. Spinning around, she pulled her hand back and prepared to throw her axe again. The warrior stopped just before it impaled Hiccup in the face.

"Hiccup!" She gasped. "What are you doing here?!"

"Nothing," he said, waving it off. "See you later, Astrid."

Frowning, she crept up behind him. Holding her breath, she hid behind a rock and listened intently to any sound she could hear. Astrid couldn't hear any footsteps anymore.

Ok. I will follow him, She thought. I will find his teacher.

Taking a deep breath, she pounced, only to find Hiccup was long gone.

She swung her axe in frustration, only to find a little-worn path with small foot prints. Astrid followed the path for about half a mile until she came across a black scale. She immediately recognized the scale and ran the entire way back to the village, not caring about the burning feeling in her lungs.

There was only one black dragon they knew of.

"No, Mildew. Fungus will not get extra feed." Stoick sighed. Mildew was really getting on his nerves.

"Aye, but he's a' startin' to seem a' li'I sick." Mildew retorted.

With a grunt, Stoick just called out "next" and just as the man in front of him began to speak, he heard a loud, urgent voice call his name.

"CHIEF!"

"Yes, Astrid?" The large man said, turning to face her.

His eyes widened when he saw the young woman run out of the forest with a red face.

"Hiccup... Is... In... Forest..." She panted, in between breaths.

"Yes, I know that he always goes there."

"No! He is being... Chased by..." Astrid couldn't find the words so instead held up the jet black scale.

She thought that Stoick would run into the forest to go and save Hiccup, but nooo. What she didn't expect was the whole village pushing her out of the way to claim the head of the fabled Night Fury.

As soon as they took to the sky, Hiccup felt like all of his sorrows were relieved. No one would be able to hurt him, no one would be able to bully him, but most importantly, no one would be able to catch him.

After about three exhausting hours of flying, they soared over flat clouds that shimmered in the morning sunlight.

He took out the picture that was previously pinned up on the wall. It was a family drawing, of Stoick and Valka holding Hiccup in their arms. When Hiccup was first born, an artist had been commissioned to create a family portrait. This piece of parchment was just the sketch. The main painting, which hung in the Haddock household, had burned down during the dragon raid that also took Hiccup's mother.

Hiccup folded up the piece of parchment again and patted Toothless's side. "So, Bud, where should we live?"

"No idea, this is your problem to figure out."

Hiccup groaned and rubbed at his face. He had planned his escape, made dozens of different contingency plans, but of course he forgot to plan what came after. Where he would go.

Just then, a figure in leather armor and a mask emerged from the thick blanket of clouds. Toothless immediately halted in his spot, sending clouds swirling around them. The dragon and its rider disappeared in and out of view. The person on the dragon pointed a staff at the Night Fury before returning to the cover.

"Ok... no sudden movements-"

He was cut off when a four-winged dragon snatched Hiccup off the Night Fury and a Monstrous Nightmare caught Toothless mid-fall.

"Toothless!" The black dragon looked up and prepared to shoot a plasma blast at the dragon carrying Hiccup.

"No! If you shoot him, I fall!" He yelled.

Toothless immediately closed his mouth and whined at his rider.

"What if they hurt you?"

"We'll be fine." He told his dragon although he was completely unsure himself.

The hazy fog around them cleared to show a massive fortress made of ice. There were dragons flying out of the small imperfections. Looking up, Hiccup saw that even at this high altitude, they were barely halfway to the middle of the huge nest.

A crack in the ice came into sight and the dragons dumped Hiccup and his Night Fury inside.

"Toothless!"

"Why did you take us here?" Toothless growled at someone behind them. His tail curled around Hiccup protectively as he snarled, teeth exposed.

Hiccup turned around to see the masked man staring at them.

"I did not know there were other riders," the person said, inching closer. The voice was surprisingly feminine, and she held up a hand despite Toothless's growling.

With a wave of her fingers, the Night Fury's eyes widened before collapsing in complete bliss. She ran a hand down his jaw, counting the tiny flaps. The woman then turned to Hiccup.

"Who are you?" Hiccup asked, his whole body trembling. She reached out a hand but he backed away until he couldn't anymore, pressed against a cold rock surface.

Her hand froze just before it made contact with his face. She let out a stuttering breath.

"Hiccup?" She backed off, removing her helmet. "Could it be?"

He thought the woman looked familiar.

Her bright green eyes scanned his features. His eyes did the same.

"Should I know you?"

The woman sighed. "No. You were only a babe." She hesitated before continuing.

"But a mother never forgets."

.