Home-Bound: The Beginnings (HTTYD)

8 - Rider on Berk

"Let's go to the top, shall we?

"Ok."

.

The rest of the climb wasn't that bad. The duo occasionally took small rests at the different levels in the tree. Luneah led Hiccup through the dizzying spirals, until the staircase stopped and gave way to a ladder carved in the wood.

"Climb, but be careful," Luneah warned, coming to the steepest and most narrow point of the staircase at the top of the tree. The final level's entrance was marked by another doorway carved into the wood, this time covered by a thick fabric curtain. Luneah pushed it aside and led him in.

If Hiccup thought the other levels were cool, then this one was mindblowing. There were wood torches covered in dragon scales so that during the night, the space would safely be filled with fire-light. The table-tops here were pure stone, polished and smoothed to a perfect, glossy shine. The level might have been the smallest out of the rest but it was still gargantuan, and the best decorated. The floors were solid wood planks instead of half-branch and half-hardwood. There were actual wood walls surrounding the room instead of dense pine needles separating each little area. All except the farthest wall, which had a large window that cut through the wood wall—unlike the other pseudo-windows in the pine needles, this was actually inlaid with glass and an intricate wood frame to keep the glass in place. Right in front of it was a messy bed with sheets and pillows. The bed was elevated off the ground and boxes and crates occupied the extra space under it.

He pointed to the bed. "Who lives here?"

Luneah ran to the bed and sat on it. She laid back, laughing. "Because it was my idea to create this tree house, my brother gave me the top floor. I love the view from up here, anyways."

"This is amazing!"

The girl smiled and blew her hair out of her eyes from where it had fallen when she laid back. "When the bullying was really bad, this was my escape. I would stay here for days, just hiding from everyone. My brother would cover for me at training saying I was sleeping over at a friend's house or I had gone camping. I just wanted to get away from everything. Leave it all behind. People exhaust me. They hate me, anyways."

"But why? You and Jay are the nicest people I've ever met!" Not to mention the prettiest, Hiccup added mentally.

Luneah finally stood up and walked to the other side of the Penthouse. There were three huge bookshelves completely stuffed to the brim with books. She pulled one out and opened it. "They believed that my parents sacrificed themselves for me." In the book was a drawing of a young girl being held by two people. The mother was gazing lovingly at the man, who smiled at the baby girl.

"Is that them?"

"Yeah. Sometimes I can see their faces. I can almost feel their presence. Like they haven't really died."

"It was the same with me. I never remembered my mom, but I felt like I should know her, when she first presented herself to me."

Luneah shut the book with a snap and pushed the item back into its original place.

"I wish I could see them, one last time. Say goodbye to them, and thank them for letting me live longer."

Hiccup wanted to hug her. He didn't mean to bring up her parents and bring down her mood. He just really wanted to make her smile again.

"You shall, one day," he settled for. It was what his father once said, like a mantra, whenever the two of them sat together on Valka's death anniversary. The pain of losing a loved one was often unbearable, but the time spent with them was worth it. And the knowledge that you would see them again one day was what kept people going.