Age of the Dragons (HTTYD Fanfiction)

Chapter 23

Dang it! I could have sworn it was Tuesday today! I seem to be permanently a day off!

Hiccup stumbled backwards, reeling with shock.

His father. In a coma.

It was just too much for him to handle.

He sank down into a chair, breathing hard. Your father is in a coma. Your father is in a coma. echoed around his head, pounding at his heart.

Scarlet looked at him with despair. It had torn her heart to tell him, but there was no way she could hide the truth. She watched as her son crumpled, slumping until his shocked expression could no longer be seen.

Then, Hiccup stopped. he thought about all the time he had spent with his father. All the good memories, all the worried ones. And then he thought about Shadow. His friend. If he gave up, what would Shadow do?

And he smiled. All was not lost! There had to be a way to fix this. So he squared his shoulders, and looked up with a determined expression.

Now it was Scarlet's turn to be shocked. This was not the Hiccup she remembered, this Hiccup was confident. A leader! Something in that horrible time had brought out qualities in him that had been so deeply buried they weren't visible.

Then, he spoke, in a stronger, more powerful voice than she had ever heard from him.

"Take me to Dad."

~/|\~

All that evening, and late into the night, banging could be heard from the forge.

As co-leader of the A-Team, Soren had been instructed by Hiccup in the basics of Blacksmithing, and he now put that knowledge to good use, tinkering with the old gun and making modified capsules that seemed to work better with modern design.

And finally, when he collapsed onto his old bed in New Berk near midnight, Soren finally felt satisfied that he might be able to do something with the knowledge and materials he had gained.

The next morning, work started on preparing again. The checklist moved smoothly, and almost three-quarters of the materials were packed and ready by lunchtime. Finally, Soren felt that they were moving fast enough that they would be there for the Berkians in time.

And that evening, only one item was left on the list.

"NOTE"

This item had puzzled the A-Team from the start, and after two days, they still weren't sure what Christopher had meant. So that night over dinner, they congregated to discuss it once more.

As usual, Ruffnut and Tuffnut were late, so the rest of the A-Team, plus the dragons that had already gone fishing, started without them.

"Okay." Soren said. "After searching all around New Berk, we still don't know what this note is, or who sent it." the others nodded. There was silence, as they all thought. "Ugh!" Lila said, banging her head against the table, "we've exhausted all the options! WHERE COULD THE NOTE BE?!!"

"You mean Hiccup's note?" Tuffnut said, coming up behind her. She whirled around. "What note?" she asked. Tuffnut folded his arms. "Do you mean I was the only one who stalked Hiccup around the day he wrote a note with a bunch of important instructions to the people who came back in case he didn't, and hid it in the forge?"

There was silence, as the others gazed at him in exasperation. Then they were all gone, dashing towards the forge.

"I'll take that as a yes..." Tuffnut said, and meandered off after them.

~/|\~

The doors to the medical room slid open, revealing a setup very similar to the one Hiccup had spent days in. Most of the patients were silent, breathing through masks attached to hovering machines.

But about halfway down the room, Hiccup spied a familiar face.

Stumbling over to his fathers bed, he sat down next to him, seeing his worry-wrinkled face tensed even in unending sleep. Gently resting a hand on his dad's arm, Hiccup sighed. "Hi Dad." he said. "I wish I could have come back sooner. But it wouldn't have worked. I'm sorry I caused so much trouble. Maybe, just maybe, if I had come back sooner, you wouldn't be here..." And he began to cry softly.

Scarlet watched from afar. Her own grief was enough, but her son's grief nearly shattered her. But Hiccup quickly dried his tears, and stood up. "I'll find a way to wake you up. I promise." Hiccup murmured softly, and he walked slowly away.

On the way back from the hospital, Hiccup stared out the window in awe and horror. The absence of trees made him nervous, and the hard, sharp, soulless buildings much heightened the feeling. This gleaming Paragon of technology was a bleak and barren landscape, as far as he was concerned. And he suddenly felt a strong longing for the soft, green, alive landscape of New Berk.

But that's why I'm here. Hiccup reminded himself, to bring New Berk into this world.

Soon, the car arrived back at home. Hiccup got out, but Scarlet didn't. "Are you coming, Mom?" he asked, when she did not get out of the open door. She sighed. "I have to go to work." Hiccup looked puzzled. "But you only work morning shifts as a writer, and you get Wednesdays and Fridays off since the editors are the only ones allowed in the office..." Then, he trailed off.

"But you have to support his medical bills too." he realized. Scarlet only nodded. "I'll be back at 2." she said wearily, as the car pulled away.

~/|\~

"Note..." "Note..." "Note!" Soren exclaimed, pulling out a piece of parchment from the handle of the anvil. "Finally!" Lila exclaimed, "you'd think that a forge would be easy to search, but..." she pulled out a drawer, which triggered a pulley, which triggered a gear, which opened a large compartment in the ceiling where various sharp tools were stored by a system of bars and levers.

Soren looked surprised, then he laughed. "Typical Hiccup!" Then, he paused. "Both Hiccups, actually." he added, "ancestor and descendant seem to have the same complicated flair!"

Lila laughed, and the rest found seats in the forge, while Soren opened the letter. "Okay!" he said, "let's do this!"

And he unrolled the parchment.

And stared at it blankly.

"What?" Lila asked.

Soren just turned the parchment around.

It was almost completely blank, except for a short sentence in the middle.

"Q1B43_L       Press the button."

"Uh..." Soren said, "what?"