Shellshocked

Chapter 3

Sorry if the lack of dialogue is boring you, I promise that it will get better. Having him alone makes it hard for the story to flow nicely, because there isn't much variation. Hence the memories.

***

"Accepting defeat is the most difficult, but necessary part of competition, Hiccup," he murmured, with his back to the cave entrance, stalagmites and stalactites spiking the cold air which made his breath cloud in little puffs.

He ordered his men to move immediately to the ship and to leave the Flightmare to the Riders. It was a loss, a small sacrifice he was willing to make. It was all part of the game.

The Hunter reminded the boy of his defeat even though Hiccup couldn't hear him. Hiccup would realise it soon enough. The boy didn't have any real experience, his carelessness and failure to be ruthless would end up in one of his group getting killed. Or himself.

One had to be ruthless.

Difficult decisions needed to be made.

Sacrifices needed to be made.

Viggo came to on the hard rock with his eyes closed, still as the stones that surrounded him. The smell of smoke was present, which puzzled him. If he was dead, why did everything still smell like it was on fire?

Then the full impact of his battered and burned body was felt. He gasped in pain and instantly regretted taking in such a large breath as it hurt his ribs and something powdery floated into his tongue. Spitting it out and resorting to more frequent, shallow breaths, he opened his eyes. Chalky ash sprinkled down from his eyelids before he took in the sight.

Every part of him that he could see without turning his head was covered in coating of the same flaky, grey substance that blanketed the ground.
The ash consumed everything in sight, the rocks, boulders, dead trees and even the sky. There was still a misty haze to the dawn air that reminded him of the fog that sometimes lay over his island base.

By Odin, all of this... meant he had lived through the night!

It struck him with complete incredulity  that he wasn't dead. What had happened to the lava? What had halted its flow? He moved his left hand and watched the ash sprinkle off in a trance, his brown eyes focussing on the layer of grey. Now—now he had some hope! With the lava no longer spreading down the mountain, he needn't worry about how long it took him to get away. Hel, he'd crawl off this island if he had to.

Still bewildered as to why the molten stone hadn't reached him, he grasped the rock he'd been pressed up against all night and slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position. He was immediately aware of how extremely stiff his arms and legs were, not to mention his neck! How strange. No matter how he'd slept over the years of being an elite Dragon Hunter he hadn't felt like this. Viggo had slept on the hard floors of a ship, on the damp ground, and at one point, positioned awkwardly in tiny cave when he and his men had took shelter from a torrential storm. After a sigh, he put it down to his extensive injuries.

Speaking of injuries, he still couldn't see out of his left eye. Viggo closed his right just to make sure, and strained to see past the dark void that had settled in his left, but there was nothing.

He let his arm drop and blinked a few times. It was sore, but not as agonising as his skin. He craved water not only to drink, but to run over his hot burns. It should have been done earlier, but that hadn't been possible so for now Viggo would just have to avoid coming into contact with it.

His complete exhaustion from last night had mostly faded. Moving every limb was an effort, but he managed to use the stone to stand. This small achievement fuelled his hope even more, even though he did tell himself to not onto that feeling too tightly. Viggo knew all too well that a situation could turn in a flash.

His right foot tentatively stepped forward, then his other, and suddenly he was walking through the papery snow. Ash swirled around his feet as he made his way forward. Large pointy rocks that resembled miniature mountains replaced the trees. A forest of stone rose around him in the hazy air, both of them merging to veil the surrounding area. He could see a few metres in front of him. No more. No less.

SMACK! He hit something hard! Too immersed in his surroundings, Viggo fell back into the ash. A cloud of it billowed up around him as he thumped painfully onto the rock underneath.

What had he run into?

Viggo raised his head to see a neat line of boulders stretching out on both sides. Odd.... the boundary disappeared into the smoke so who knew how long it was?

He got up painfully and gauged how high it was. It reached up to the middle of his ribcage. With both hands placed flat on a smooth boulder, he leaned over and looked down. On the other side was black. The black was riddled with twists and ripples, smooth, and dully reflected the dim light. Of course! Cooled lava!

Finally, things made sense. These boulders had stopped the lava flow enough for it to cool down and harden, thus saving his life. But they weren't here by chance. And they weren't here yesterday. No, someone had put them here. And who else could have placed the boulders in such a way?

The Dragon Riders.

An unforeseen feeling of reluctant gratitude came about, and he didn't know if he wanted to feel it or not. This was unexpected. A move he wasn't prepared for, one that had wiped an enemy completely off the board and bought him time to counter the rest. The gratitude felt heavy in his chest.

The Riders had saved his life.

***

Note: I'm not here to be cliche. There is not likely to be be a random dragon rescuing Viggo in these chapters. I know that it happens in season six, but he's changed then, and it doesn't make sense if it happens twice. He would've changed his stance on dragons much earlier otherwise. So Viggo Grimborn, an independent man, is going to grit his teeth and try to get out of this Hel himself, with or without help from others. Said help may or may not happen. No spoilers ;)

This is the start of Viggo's character development and it's super exciting because I'm writing all this with season 6 (and of course season 5) in mind!

The next chapter will be up on Monday, thanks for reading!