Knight's Honor

The New Enemy

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The dinner party was in full swing, but Hiccup had no interest in being there. Instead, he and Toothless went to the Cove near Raven Point. They wrestled around for a bit before Hiccup sat down and fell into deep thought, becoming oblivious to his surroundings.

The thing that was heavily on his mind was what happened early today. He wasn't proud of nearly killing Pate. He tried to assure himself that he'd never go that far, but another part of him wondered if it was true. He only got frightened when he was uncertain about it. What would he become if he let himself behave like that? True, Pate was the one who pushed him over the edge, but that was hardly a reason. He should've known better and ignored him.

"The Order stands for peace and unity, and their leader tries to murder someone..." He shamefully mumbled to himself. "And they think I should be the next Chief, heh."

During the time he was sharpening the swords, another thought hit him. In less than two days they would set out and battle Drago's army. There'll likely be a lot of casualties for both human and dragons, and even if they won or lost, this war would likely continue. He wanted a single, huge battle to end it once and for all. But unfortunately, that wasn't always the case.

Much like him, this revolves around Drago. He hoped without Drago, the enemy would fall apart, much like Brutus and Cassius had hoped about Julius Caesar.

"That's a rotten example." Hiccup reminded himself. Because Mark Antony and Octavius had taken up the fight and fought a civil war for another three years before they turned on each other. Still, he hoped if Drago was killed, the enemy would simply give up.

But as he often asked himself; would there be peace?

Knowing human nature, it was unlikely. If Alvin or Dagur survived, they would likely seek revenge. He suspected that real peace was virtually impossible, more on a worldwide scale. Still, he wanted there to be some peace in this corner of the world. And that meant a battle. And win or lose, it was on him. He knew it was Drago's fault, but that didn't excuse his own actions. He and his Knights sided with the dragons, therefore siding against Drago, he'd gotten other people involved with this, and now he'd compelled them to join him against his enemy. To him, almost every death was on him.

Astrid had asked him why he didn't want to be chief. Aside from the reluctance to lead the place of his childhood torment and the unworthiness he now felt, the true reason was he didn't want this; the fact that the cause of so much death and the pain was ultimately him. That was a responsibility he hated and yet for a chief, it was unavoidable. Already, when he was looking at people he wondered if he was looking at them for the last time.

Yet, he knew someone had to carry such a burden. Somebody had to lead or things would only get worse. Drago wouldn't just get away. If Hiccup did nothing, the deaths would still be on him. It was ironic, he's leading people to their deaths so not all of them could die.

"Please Hiccup, would you just say something?"

Hiccup jumped. He was so deep in thought he hadn't noticed that Astrid had found him.

"I've been looking for since it got dark." She said softly. "Stormfly believed you might be here." She looked around but it was too dark to make out much.

"So." Astrid sat down next to him, looking a bit uncertain. "Your Knights are at the party. Plan on going anytime soon?"

"I think I've had enough parties. One of the only good things about the last one was the pepper cake."

Astrid laughed, but it didn't match her expression. "I wonder if the Twins did that on purpose."

They sat for a few minutes and looked at the stars that were up in the sky.