The Black fire (BOOK 1)

Deserter

-Narrator: Hiccup.

After taking the gas, we made our way to the armory. Gobber left the basket on a desk and sat on a chair, panting. ''Well...(pant*) here you...(pant*) have the damn thing...(pant*)'' I looked at the canister, full of that precious gas that make things blow up.

Just what I needed.

I took it with both hands, as it was pretty heavy even for a basket full of air. And went outside, heading to he cave. ''Goodbye Gobber!'' I shouted. And from the outside I heard: ''Goodbye! (pant*) I'm really curious about what are you going to do with that... (pant*) Make sure you show it to me when you finish it!''

 I froze in place, remembering what I was going to do; I was going to left my home... my home!  I had to think a little about this, analize all the options, judge the situation from as much angles as possible. And then... ''Fail...'' I said to nobody in particular. ''Everytime I think about doing something for the good of the village, everything goes wrong. There is no need of thinking this...'' I said. ''This is not for me, is for the village, they are better without me, I am just a... failure.''

I cleared my mind and ran to the cave, ready to prepare the bullets.

*(FOWARD A COUPLE OF DAYS AGAIN, TO THE NORMAL TIMELINE.)

-Narrator: Hiccup.

I inserted one of the bullets and locked it in place. I sat on the cockpit and took a glance to the contols. ''Everything in order...'' Then I jumped out. ''This is going to be hard.'' I said and then sighed. The plane needed a flat- long runway to liftoff, not like Mark's plane, because mine got less power. 

Making and engine is hard ok?! 

I wrapped a rope to the landing gear and the other extreme to myself. Then, I proceeded to pull the whole craft outside the cave to the plain in front of it. It took me an hour, but I finally got it in place. After that, I ensured the runway was clear and, after  ten minutes I prepared myself for the journey.

There was a bag with food and water for at least a week and some basic stuff I didn't want to leave here.I prepared it the day before, but I've checking if everything was inside for like ten times. There was my sketchbook, my pencil and some more things. I closed it and threw it inside the cockpit.

Immediately after, I was also inside the canopy, doing the last adjustments. I pumped a bit of fuel to the engine, checked the temperature (by touching the cylinder that was poking out of the fuselage): the engine was ready. Then, I grabbed the starter with one hand and one of the propeller's blades with the other. I breathed slowly, focusing myself on the task. ''Ok, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third, your best creation is ready... are you too?'' I looked over my shoulder to see the village in the distance. In my head, all my life passed flashing in quick images: The gang, the raids of the dragons, Gobber, Gothi, my dad... It was time for me to leave that place and start a new life, hopefully they will live nicely without me. I took one last deep breath: ''I'm ready.''

I pushed the propeller to start the rotation manually, a second later, I pulled the trigger and shot the bullet. It made a big ''BANG'' and the exhaust pipes spat flames and black smoke. The whole craft buzzed, trying to start the cycle of the engine. ''C'mon buddy, c'mon... you can do it... C'mon!'' The engine purred, louder at every second. The propeller spinning faster and faster, but not yet starting the engine. But then, suddenly, the craft came back to life! The motor of the craft roared like it was ready for anything I asked him to do.

I wasted no time and pushed the throttle to the top. The craft roared even louder and started moving foward, gaining speed fast. I made some math in my head and calculated that I needed at least 150 km/h basing on the lessons I learned from Mark. I had to reach that speed before the runway ends, because at the end of it, there was the cliff of Berk, amazing for romantic dates on summer, but deadly when trying to fly a plane.

The plane accelerated fast to the speed I needed, but when I pulled the stick up, it didn't lift off the ground. I tried again, and again, but it was futile. I was at the edge of the cliff when it finally got it's wooden wheels off the land. In the air, I tried to get some air-speed before turning, in order to avoid stalling and falling to the ocean. I looked at the speedometer: 270km/h... it was enough.

I turned left all the way, heading the village.

-Narrator: Stoick.

I was with Gobber in one of the dockyard's towers, talking about important things I can't remember. Suddenly, I heard something very familiar, yet very different. When I realized what it was seconds later, I looked at the sky and shouted: ''Prepare the catapults! Everybody in position! We are being attacked!''

Everybody was soon in place and all the catapults loaded with flamed proyectiles. A plane passed above me and Gobber, and something seemed very strange very soon; it was another plane? ''Mark had another one of those machines?'' I asked to Gobber, but then I realized that he wasn't responding, he looked surprised about something, very surprised indeed. His jaw was hanging and his eyes were as open as they could be. ''Make sure.... you show it when you finish it...'' He said, very quietly. I looked at him, completely lost. ''What Gobber? What is happening here?'' I demanded, shaking my friend in order to wake him up, but instead he only said: '' He is showing us Stoick...'' I lost my nerves at that point. ''SHOWING US WHAT GOBBER, COOPERATE WITH ME! WHO IS SHOWING US?'' His only answer was to point at the sky, towards the plane that was doing a circle in the sky. ''Waiting for orders Stoick!'' One of the vikings on the catapults said. ''Wait!'' I ordered, looking at the machine closely.

It was a completely different plane, made of wood, the canopy was opened and inside, on the controls, was...

...was...

I froze just like Gobber did, mouth hanging and eyes wide open. I saw how my son looked at me with tears in his eyes. ''Don't do it... please Hiccup... don't...'' I cried, but before I could finish, he turned the plane and dissapeared in the clouds.

Forever.