The Great Endeavor - A Tuffnut Love Story (HTTYD/RTTE)

23. The Voice

A rare look of fear flashed in the chief's eyes. "Hiccup, no," Stoick spoke firmly, "what we need is to stay as far away from her as possible."

"Dad, she needs to know what's going on," Hiccup argued, "if she does, maybe she'll get a better control of what she doesn't even know she's doing."

"Or she'll just decided to take over the world," Spitelout suggested sarcastically. "Bad idea."

Astrid backed up Hiccup. "I don't like the idea much either," she admitted, "but I'd rather try to stop this than go into hiding."

The other dragon riders nodded and affirmed their agreement. Stoick sighed, knowing there was no stopping the stubborn group. "If you survived The Isle of Loki," he began, reluctance in his voice, "..maybe you can do this."

The other adult Vikings gave Stoick mixed looks of fear and bewilderment. "What, and rest the world's fate in the hands of six teen-agers?!" One Viking argued.

"We know her," Hiccup reminded, "and she proteced us on the island."

There was silence in the Great Hall. For a while, everyone was too nervous to speak up. Finally, Tuffnut asked, "so, Chief, how does one find a demigod?"

• • •

As soon as Endeavor realized that they were free from the island, she fled. Somehow, her wishing to be away from the riders had placed her, in fact, far away. By the time her head emerged from the ocean, she was alone.

She sighed in contentment, trying to ignore the pain in her heart. After all their time together, and she had betrayed them. Endeavor buried these thoughts deep down and began to swim toward a speck of an island in the distance.

After a long swim, she crawled onto the beach and stood. Sand stuck to her wet cream and gold armour. She wrung her hair out and whipped it around so that it wasn't dripping anymore. The island she'd come up on was huge and quiet, covered in uneven ground and evergreen forests of varying heights.

It felt strange, to be in such a bland world again. She knew that it was surely a relief to her dragon rifing friends. But for Endeavor, this was the strange land.

Then suddenly, a voice echoed in Endeavor's head. I'm proud of you, it cooed in a masculine tone.

Endeavor jumped, looking around to see if someone was around. But it was only her. Scrunching her eyebrows suspiciously, she spoke with confidence, "who's there?"

For a long time, there was no response. But Endeavor was not going to ignore this; if someone else was on this barren island, she was going to know who and why. Persistent as always, the voice chuckled.

Endeavor was baffled. The voice didn't sound like it was coming from around her, but from within her own head. Her stomach dropped at the thought. I've longed for this day, my dear, the voice went on.

"..This day..?" Endeavor questioned, trying to hide her nervousness.

The day were you would be strong enough to hear my voice, he explained.

Endeavor felt her scales began to take over her body, as fear willed her into a more defensive form. Now fully dragon, Endeavor bolted into the forest. She zoomed through, all the way to the opposite side of the island. There, she hoped to be rid of the voice, but to no avail.

You cannot run from me, child, he told her, I am in your head.

"Who are you?" Endeavor demanded with a visious hiss.

There was a moment of pause. You know who I am, though you've forgotten, the voice spoke in an oddly comforting tone, when you are ready, you will remember.....until then, I will be waiting, if ever you should call.

Endeavor felt the presence of the voice leave her head. Somehow, she knew it was gone. For now. But she could not forget about it. It ate away at her for the rest of the day. "'You know who I am'..." She repeated to herself, digging through her mind, trying to remember. She couldn't deny that the voice had a familiar warmth. This only bugged her even more.

By the time the sun set, Endeavor felt her body become tired. It had been so long since she'd watched the moon rise. Laying down in the sand on outskirts of the island, she looked up at the stars. It would be the first time in years that she would be able to sleep soundly, without worry.

But as she readied herself to sleep, Endeavor couldn't help thinking of Tuffnut. It was he who had helped her to sleep on the island. And now, without him, she found it difficult to relax enough to sleep.

• • •

"Be careful out there," Stoick spoke in a voice heavy with concern, "all of you." The six dragon riders stood before him in a row. It had been a day since the meeting, and they were ready to go.

"We'll be alright," Hiccup assured, "and if anything goes wrong, we'll have the dragons."

"Except nothing will go wrong," Tuffnut added in, a hint of defensiveness in his tone. He didn't like how everyone was talking about Endeavor like she was some evil thing. He rolled his eyes and reminded, "it's just Endeavor."