Ruffnut's POV
Astrid was literally freaking out. Toothless. Was. Gone. And when she went to go check on Hiccup to see if he could help her. I had pulled her aside saying that it was 'bad luck' for the groom to see the bride before the ceremony.
Now. She was seething.
"Ruffnut! What am I supposed to do! I am freaking out here!"
"I know, Astrid! I know! But, calm down! This is supposed to be your special day!"
"I know. I know. But... I really need Hiccup here right now. He always knows how to cheer me up."
"Well, how about I go ask him what I should get for you?" I suggested.
"No. Don't freak him out. He'll be twice as stressed as me if he found out Toothless disappeared."
"Well... Is there anything you do want?" I asked her.
"Can you get me some water? Please? I just need something to drink."
"Sure thing. Be right back."
I walked out of Astrid's hut to the wedding festivities and everyone was chatting.
Suddenly Heather pulled me off to the side where she and the gang were standing.
"Does she know?" Heather hissed at me.
"Know what?" I asked.
"The thing! You know when the thing happened..." Tuffnut trailed off. "Ya. I don't know. What's happening?"
"Hiccup vanished! We've gone over this like ten times! Stay focused!" Heather said and hit Tuff on the shoulder.
"What! He's gone!" I shouted and Fishlegs shushed me.
"Yes, he's gone. Toothless went to go find him." Fishlegs explained. "We can't let Astrid know because she'll be devastated."
"I know! How could he have done this to her?" Heather asked while pacing.
"It's because he's been carrying the weight of something. For a long, long while." I looked up and gasped when I had understood the dragon hanging from the roof. I recognized her to be Mist and her mate Eclipse was beside her.
"It's true. I don't know how long or what it is... But it's been killing him slowly and we've found him murmuring about telling Astrid something or not being good enough for her or even murmuring about the stupid Gods." Eclipse continued.
"But... Hiccup's always loved the Gods. What would make him hate them all of a sudden?" Fishlegs pondered aloud.
After a couple of minutes, Heather's eyes widened, "I think... I might have an idea... And if I'm right... It would destroy anyone to burden that." I could practically see her putting pieces together. "I have to be wrong." She muttered.
I looked at her and somehow I doubted that she was.
Hiccup's POV
I launched into the story. How I had died. Which he knew, obviously. And everything that had happened afterwards.
"When I died I saw a light and I really just wanted the pain to be over so I went to it and found the Gods at the end. And they were fighting about how they'd promised Dreki, the Goddess of dragons, that the time would come for a new dragon prince and princess to rise and that I was supposed to train them so they could bring peace.
"Dreki was furious and threatened to make Níðhöggr eat the world because they had failed to protect me until the time came when I would train them. Now, none of the Gods wanted that so they were going to send Delta in my place."
"Then how are you here?" He asked me.
"I haven't explained everything, yet. Thor, who has watched over me, Delta, all Skrills and Night Furies since birth, refused to allow me to go to the afterworld, yet. So he said that instead, they would send me back."
"Wait... I thought you said Dreki was the goddess of dragons?"
"She is. But, Thor is the God of thunder and lightning. Delta and I can become Night Furies, who..."
"Who use lightning to become invisible..." He finished for me.
"Exactly. So Thor... He asked to make a deal with me. Because he had to appease Dreki or the world would be eaten which, I don't think I even need to tell you, would not be good because then everyone would be dead."
"Hiccup. None of this seems so bad. Why haven't you told anyone?"
"Just wait. I haven't gotten to that part of the story, yet. So Thor asks me a question. He asked me, 'What would you give to see your family again?' Now all of the Gods are freaking out because they've never sent someone back before. Dreki, however, was eyeing Thor curiously. I think she was approving of his plan."
"What did you say?"
"I told him, I would give anything. But... for any member of my family and friends to be hurt in any way. If any of you were hurt I wouldn't have been able to live with myself for the decision. I can hardly with the decision I made and none of you are going to be hurt by it." I smiled sadly at him. I had always cherished the moments we had together. But with the bargain, I had struck with the Gods. I felt that each moment was a hundred, thousand times more precious than before. And the weight of it... I was tired of carrying this weight alone and maybe... Just maybe... It was time to share the weight with someone else so I might not be crushed before I could fulfill my end.
"Hiccup? What was the bargain?" He seemed hesitant as he asked. I was just as hesitant if not more so, to answer.
"I have to train the next dragon prince and princess. That was the deal." Even as the words left my mouth I felt as if I had betrayed him. It was true that I did have to train the next dragon prince and princess but that wasn't the true cost.
I turned to look at the horizon and I knew it wouldn't be long before Toothless asked me why I was leaving if that was the only cost.
"Then why are you leaving? Why do you think Astrid wouldn't want you?" He asked me. And I knew he was really asking me why I'm leaving him. "Don't go, Hiccup. Come back with us and spend the rest of your life with Astrid."
I looked at him with sad eyes. "That's just it. I can't."
YOU ARE READING
The Rise of Light (Book 3: Together Forever)
Fanfiction"I-I'll leave. I was just trying to find my way home these past five years and my family." Hiccup has returned home to the Hidden World. However, nothing is as he expected. He finds that his dad died. That Delta is Chieftess, has a mate and four ch...
