Hiccup smiled as he lifted up the Changewing skin, pinching it between two fingers and rubbing the material.
His smile widened as he flipped the skin and watched his arm disappear.
He could certainly use this.
oOo
"Here Earthblade," Hiccup called, tossing a fish to the large white and red whispering death. Turns out once he got over his initial grumpiness, he was quite intelligent and was easily trained, he bonded to Hiccup quickly, though not so much that he would let the boy ride him.
Not that Hiccup would want to ride a whispering death, far too spiny to be comfortable. He scratched the dragon's snout, smiling softly.
"I don't get how you do that," his uncle said, shaking his head.
"Here," Hiccup grabbed his uncle's hand, noting with some satisfaction that he had finally started bathing more regularly, and pulled it toward Earthblade. "It's okay," he soothed the dragon, holding out his second hand to calm the beast.
He watched his uncle's face as his hand made contact with the dragon, smiling at the awe visible in his face.
It was incredible that first time, and it never got old.
"Where is that slacker!?" a voice rang through the hall, and Hiccup realized he was late for his lessons.
"I gotta go uncle, bye," he pulled his uncle into a quick hug, before racing out the hall. Alvin smiled as he left. He recalled when they had been enemies, and how often Hiccup had thwarted his plans, and wondered what would have happened had things played out differently.
Would he have grown so close to the boy that he cared for him as one of his own?
Only the gods knew.
(And us who watched Riders/Defenders of Berk, we also know (: we know all.)
oOo
Fishlegs leaned against Meatlug, finally feeling some semblance of peace after Hiccup's... departure.
Unlike Astrid or the twins, who felt confident Hiccup was alive and was going to turn up sooner or later, most likely later by the look of things, Fishlegs wasn't so sure. The chances were in the single digits!
But for right now, he felt at peace, leaning against his dragon.
Inner peace.
The thought came to him almost like it was being meditated by a red panda in an alternate universe, when Meatlug suddenly got up and started digging in the sand, causing Fishlegs to fall over.
"What are you..." Fishlegs trailed off as Meatlug uncovered some kind of glowing, color changing stone.
"What is that?"
oOo
Hiccup grinned as he finally figured out how to properly work the dragon skin, how to get it to change when he needed it too, and to be visible when he didn't.
Now he just needed more.
But where would he find more Changewing skin? Outcast island only had two changewings, and he highly doubted Changewings shed their skin more than once a year.
So he would have to find more Changewings.
"Great, just what I needed, to have to steal from a pack of highly aggressive, invisible, acid spitting dragons. What could possibly go wrong?
Apparently no one ever taught Hiccup not to ask that.
Even in the spirit of sarcasm.
oOo
"Twenty sheep and my first born, Gustav!"
"Me?" the young viking asked.
"Ten yaks!"
"Four chickens!"
"Three chickens!"
Clearly that last one didn't know much about auctions, even impromptu auctions where nothing was for sale.
"EVERYBODY STOP!" Stoic roared, storming into the hall. "Fishlegs, what is this all about?"
"It's a stone of good fortune," Gobber said, grinning widely.
"Everyone, the stone is Fishlegs' to do as he pleases, I don't want to hear any more of this!"
The grumbling crowd made their way outside.
"Twenty sheep and Gustav Larson! You're turning that down? Seriously? What do you want for it?"
"You can't have it, Snotlout, it's mine," Fishlegs said, hugging the gem to his chest.
"Oh, I think I can, you seem to forget when Snoutlout wants something he just takes it!" he emphasized his point by swinging his arm and making a fist.
"Oh yeah? How badly do you want it?" Astrid asked, stepping between the two boys.
"Pshaw, you're lucky I don't hit girls."
"Yeah well so are you," Astrid warned, a threat obvious in body language and tone.
The twins, Astrid, and Fishlegs made their way from the great hall, Snotlout stayed behind, eyes narrowed.
"Okay then, take it, it is."
oOo
Hiccup slid down a slope, glad that his sword master had made sure he learnt to keep his footing in treacherous turf, using his feet to guide his fall more than propel him forward.
Wrapped in an improvised cloak of dragon skin keeping him invisible, he cautiously approached the nesting grounds of the Changewings, Glint and Flare stayed back as Hiccup's escape route.
The amnesiac teen made his way through trees filled with glowing stones.
Changewing eggs, he realized, and gave the egg-filled trees a wider birth. No need to attract more trouble than necessary, right?
Eyes roving the nest, he finally spotted a small stream running through the forest and followed it, knowing from Glint and Flare that Changewings preferred to have easy access to water while shedding their skins.
Sure enough, after a two minute hike, a small lake came into view, surrounded by both Changewings and shed Changewing skin.
Perfect.
Silent as a shadow, the young invisible boy crept around the reptiles, picking up a stone, he hurled it as far as he could, hoping the noise would distract the beasts. It worked somewhat, dragging attention from relaxedly alert to focused on the point where the stone met a tree. A single Changewing went to investigate, the others watching out for an ambush.
Taking advantage of their distracted state, Hiccup raced forward, grabbing Changewing skins. He needed at least five, though seven would be preferable. He grabbed six, and was reaching for a seventh, when all the Changewings bolted upright. He froze, unsure whether or not they had detected him.
He breathed a sigh of relief as the dragons all took off toward the Northeastern beach, opposite the way he had come. He breathed a sigh of relief, idly wondering what had caught their attention.
He quickly made his way back to Glint and Flare, not trusting his luck to hold if he waited any longer.
He quickly stowed the skins, and they took off, giving Hiccup an excellent view of what had caught their attention.
A Nadder and a Gronkle, or a Boulder class at least, were hastily flying away, Hiccup assumed the Changewings were chasing them.
"What say you? Should we go even up a bit?" Hiccup asked, tugging lightly on the reins, sending them flying for the other Changewings, all the while unaware of the riders on their backs.
oOo
"Invisible, acid spitting dragons, just what we needed," Fishlegs shouted as he flew under a falling tree. He pulled back on the reins hard, stopping Meatlug instantly as a Changewing appeared in front of him, about to spit acid. Then, out of nowhere, it got knocked aside, and the path was clear.
Fishlegs and Astrid didn't pause to investigate, they flew as fast as they could, though Fishlegs turned back, and his blood froze.
A man in a Changewing Skin cloak stood atop a Changewing, which, along with one other Changewing were holding off the rest.
Then they were out to sea and the mysterious man was gone, leaving Fishlegs wondering if he had imagined it all.
But the shout of victory that was barely heard on the sea breeze was most definitely human.
oOo
Hiccup grinned as he flew away from Changewing Island, he had gotten everything he needed, and was excited to begin working on his suit.
He would be the invisible rider, no one would see him coming until it was too late. He closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of the wind in his hair.
Then something was different.
"Position three, no four."
A black ear-flap slapped him in the face.
"Yeah, go baby!"
"...cheat sheet! Stop!"
Falling, plunging. Then...
Flying, soaring, over, left, barrel roll.
A purple explosion.
Hiccup passed through the fire.
And he was somewhere else.
Fire and Ice collided, to dragons the likes of which he had never seen. Or had he.
A giant Behemoth flew over a small village, razing it with flame, an explosion of ice, a face so like his own, blue eyes, shoved to the dirt.
Images blurred until he knew not what was up or down, sanity or madness.
He knew not who nor where he was.
He was nothing, empty.
He was everything, heavier than iron.
Large concerned green eyes, a midnight black dragon face, a worrying croon.
He was drowning.
Hiccup sat bolt upright, sputtering and shivering from the freezing water dumped in his face. He was met with the worrying eyes of his uncle, Earthblade, Glint and Flare. And the slightly gleeful Savage, who still held a bucket in his hands.
Hiccup frowned, he never liked Savage, and the feeling felt mutual. He would make sure to watch his back around him.
"Are you alright?" He looked up to meet his uncle's eyes, which were shining with concern.
"Hiccup,"
"Toothless," Hiccup mumbled, and both Savage and Alvin took a step back, they seemed almost... afraid.
"No, no, no," Hiccup mumbled, squeezing his eyes closed, trying to clarify the image in his head.
He wasn't aware of being lifted, or carried, or laid down and tucked in.
He didn't feel his uncle brush his hair out of his eyes, didn't hear him leave.
And he didn't hear Savage complain that it had gone too far. That Alvin was becoming too attached, and that abandoning Berk was crazy, and that... he didn't hear any of it.
He simply saw a pair of green eyes that filled him with warmth, large black wings that took him to the sky.
He only saw Toothless.
He didn't feel Glint, Flare, and Earthblade snuggle against him in a protective circle, he was lost to the world.
He knew Toothless was a memory, he could feel it. But he wondered...
What about everything else he had seen? The giant ice spitter, the ravaging inferno. Memories, or visions?
That question kept him up long into the night.
oOo
"So, you wanna talk about what happened yesterday?" Alvin asked his nephew as he picked at his breakfast.
"It's..." he paused, and put down his fork. "I was flying, and a maelstrom of memories, or visions hit me."
His uncle stiffened.
"But none of it made any sense! There were giant dragons spitting fire and ice, and there were eyes, and a Nightfury, Toothless, and people and a woman who looked like me..." he trailed off, the images that had flashed through his mind too chaotic for him to put into words.
"I see, and you don't remember anything... concrete?"
"Other than I had a Nightfury named Toothless... no." Alvin nodded.
"Maybe the rest will come back in time," he suggested, and Hiccup shrugged.
"I s'pose so," Alvin smiled at him.
"That's the spirit, now run along, you don't wanna be late for lessons," Hiccup shoveled food into his mouth faster, wanting to finish it all.
"Oh, Hiccup? I need to speak to you tonight, so try to remember to come on time here for dinner, 'kay?"
"Okay, bye, love you," he pulled his uncle into a hug, not realizing the spinning headache he had given his uncle from those last two words as he raced out to his first lesson.
Alvin stared after the boy, and made a silent vow.
No harm will befall him while I live.
oOo
Hiccup paced along a beam suspended fifteen feet from the floor, releasing arrow after arrow at various targets set up around the valley he was training in.
The beam wasn't very wide, and not very even, his master said it was to get him accustomed to shooting from various angles, and to keep his balance better.
He stumbled as he shot a fifth arrow, sending it off target, but he continued regardless.
In the end, he hit fourteen out of twenty, far better than he ever would have hoped for before.
He grinned as the last arrow struck home, but his smile quickly evaporated as his master came in.
Master Sven was kind, but strict, and if he thought Hiccup was getting too big for his britches he would give him some impossible task to humble him.
He straightened up slightly as Sven inspected him, then the arrows embedded in the targets.
He hadn't missed any shots terribly, though the fifth shot was almost an entire five inches from where he had aimed.
"You did well enough," Sven said, stroking his beard.
Suddenly the Strung bow slung across his back was in his hands and an arrow was whistling toward the target.
It split the fifth arrow in half, and Sven growled.
"What in the name of Great Odin's Ghost is that?" he was very clearly referring to the fifth arrow. Hiccup swallowed, but met his teacher's gaze head on, this was war training, and he wouldn't act like a scared child.
"I missed, as I was turning for the fifth shot, I stumbled, and missed." He didn't offer excuses, he told what happened, and awaited judgment.
"A lap around the course, when you can run it without stumbling, you can go," his master turned, but and left, but not before adding, "Oh, and Hiccup, you did surprisingly well." Hiccup smiled, then jogged toward the 'course' it was basically a long circular track with short walls, long gaps, tall walls, and low hanging barricades.
He smiled and started at a slow jog, leaping the first wall...
oOo
Astrid sighed as she surveyed the damage caused by the Changewing mothers.
How had four dragons caused this much chaos? She shuddered to think what would have happened had the Changewings caught them earlier. She spotted Snotlout lifting up a large pillar and frowned.
All this could have been avoided had one idiot done what he was supposed to.
She sighed.
How was she supposed to get through to him? She knew she shouldn't use violence, she also knew Hiccup would find a way.
But Hiccup wasn't here.
She shook her head, trying to blot out those painful thoughts.
He would be back, and she would be waiting. Until then she had a village to care for.
But as usual she couldn't get those forest green eyes out of her head.
oOo
Hiccup worked on his armor through the afternoon, plagued by eyes he might or might not know.
He couldn't get those sky blue eyes out of his head.
Even as he worked on his Changewing armor, he still saw them in the back of his head. Watching him.
He couldn't place a face or name to the eyes, he just knew, whoever had those eyes was special. He wished then more than ever he could remember.
But the gods work in cruel ways.
oOo
Shit, he was late.
He was supposed to speak with his uncle during dinner, but he had totally forgotten and had continued working on his armor.
He quickly stored what he had done, and raced off for his house.
He slid under two burly vikings holding a beam between them, and raced off down the street, more thankful than ever for his new prosthetic.
He reached the house in record time, opening the door and all but collapsing inside as he struggled to catch his breath.
"Oh, nice of you to join the party," his uncle said from behind him, causing Hiccup to jump.
"Don't do that!" Hiccup said, "you nearly gave me a heart attack."
"You're late," Alvin said, as if that excused killing someone via terror (as in fear, not the dragon).
"Sorry, i, uh, got a little carried away..." he trailed off, unsure whether or not his uncle was mad.
"Doesn't matter," his uncle said, leading him to the dining room.He was clearly excited, and Hiccup wondered what they needed to talk about.
"So, 'Iccup, as you know, you're my nephew."
"Yes?"
What did that have to do with anything?
"The thing is, as Outcasts, it doesn't really matter who my next of kin is, because oftentimes the next of kin is not Cast Out as well."
Where was he going with this?
"'Iccup, I want you to become my heir, to be the next chief of the Outcast tribe."
Hiccup looked up at his uncle, eyes wide.
"You... you're serious?"
"O'course I am! Wouldn't ask otherwise," he huffed.
"Al, I would be honored to be your heir."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Then what are we sitting here for, we need a feast!"
oOo
The next night Hiccup sat by Alvin's side as his uncle made the big announcement.
Normally, this would be a huge event in the Archipelago, with a representative, if not the chief, from every tribe showing up. But the Outcasts weren't exactly Archipelagos Tribe of the Year, so it was just with the village and guards.
Hiccup smiled as his uncle had him stand and gave the good news, eliciting wild cheering from the inhabitants.
The cheering grew louder as he explained the plan to move to a better island, and stop the pointless fight against the rest of the Archipelago.
He asked for any carpenters to prepare for a journey, and the feast was had.
There were many dragons in attendance, some even picking a human from the villagers, Hiccup had a feeling he wouldn't be the only rider for long.
He smiled as people came to speak to him. One little girl, no older than four, asked if she could pet his dragon. Shocked, he spotted Glint appearing every few minutes to steal food from the table.
All together, it was a loud, merry, viking gathering, with lots of mead, and the occasional brawl. The village went to bed with something they hadn't felt in a long time.
Hope.
oOo
Stoic sighed heavily as he sailed out to meet the outcasts, the Academy flying overhead, Mildew beside him.
He had Fishlegs down on the boat with him, to help with the logistics of the trade deal, the rest watched on as their guardian angels. Watching out for any threat they might face.
If only they knew the only threats were hidden to their eyes, as easily as the changewings they had so recently fought.
In fact, it was two Changwings and their rider, shared, apparently, once Glint realized Hiccup could become invisible too, he decided he also wanted to carry his favorite viking into battle, so they took turns, Hiccup learning several maneuvers to transfer dragons mid-air.
Stoic, feeling reasonably safe, allowed the Outcasts to board his ship.
He made sure Stormfly had her tail raised, ready to make them a pincushion if need be.
"Stoic, how wonderful to see you," Alvin cheered. Next to him was an extremely short man, who had a beady gaze like he spent his days peering at small runes.
"Cut the act, I want this over quickly," Stoic growled. Alvin visibly deflated.
"Look, Stoic, I'm sorry, I really am. I did horrible things, and I was wrong, I see that now. And I get you probably will never forgive me, but, can you at least try to dial down the animosity?"
"No."
"Sheesh, you act like I'm a Ymir or something."
"Can we just get down to business?"
"Right, sorry," Alvin gestured to the man beside him. "This is Brinle, he's my logistics runner, in fact, he tutors my heir."
"Charmed," Stoic said dryly. "I believe you've met Fishlegs during one of your many attacks on Berk?"
"I think so..."
(I'm not going to bore you with trade details I won't understand, just know that it includes mostly Iron to the Outcasts, wood and hides to Berk.)
Astrid sat in her saddle, bored out of her mind, Fishlegs seemed to be getting along splendidly with some extraordinarily short man on deck, and nothing that remotely interested her was happening.
She didn't notice her dragon start to tense and look around, didn't feel the slight gust of wind as an unseen dragon rider circled them, interested in others of his kind.
For his part, Hiccup didn't notice the blue eyes that haunt his sleep in the blonde Nadder rider, so I guess they were both not so perceptive.
What Astrid did notice was Savage, sneaking up behind the chiefs, a blade poised behind Stoics back.
Before she could move to help, a cry rang out from nowhere.
"Uncle!" Savage was lifted off his feet, and tossed into the sea. The two chiefs rose next to each other, and Fishlegs and the short man hopped on the Gronkle as four men poured from below deck.
All the Hooligans stared in shock as two Changewings appeared, one carrying both chiefs, the other with a rider dressed in Changewing skin armor on it's back.
The Rider leapt down, landing agilely on the deck, pulling out a sword and blocking the ax thrust of one of the men. Like a snake his sword darted past the first one's guard, and the man went down.
The second ducked as a volley of Nadder spikes sailed overhead, and was dispatched by the ghost rider.
The rider then engaged the final two, desperately parrying.
The two larger opponents used their strength to try and beat down the rider, but the rider was quicker and more agile, he danced in between the two gorillas, sword gleaming as he deflected and struck.
Then one fell, swiftly followed by the second.
The rider leapt into the air, and was grabbed by one of the Changewings, and flipped into the saddle.
They watched as he flew over to savage, had the dragon pick him up, and drag him to the boat, where both chiefs had been deposited.
As fast as he had appeared, the ghost rider and his dragons were gone.
The two chiefs glared at the figure of savage, who was being pinned by Meatlug.
"I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD SAVAGE!" Alvin roared.
"You..." 'cough' "have let that boy into..." 'cough' your life, and he made..." 'cough' "you weak," he was gasping for breath, crushed under Meatlug's wait.
"Let him up," a voice commanded, muffled and deep. Meatlug compiled at Fishlegs' behest, and Savage was lifted by invisible claws. Something shifted, and eyes became slightly visible.
"I've been watching you, and I never trusted you as far as I could throw you, it's almost funny that you were planning on quite literally stabbing us in the back."
The boy lifted him higher, and higher still.
Then he dropped.
It was a more than two hundred foot drop, but right before he splatted into the sea, he was jerked to a stop.
"You'll be lucky to see the light of day again," the boy growled. He knocked Savage in the back of the head with his sword hilt, causing the man to drop unconscious.
Then, once again, the ghost rider was gone, Savage dropped to the deck like a sack of potatoes.
(Oh, no, I said the name of the vegetable we dare not name.)
Stoic looked grudgingly at Alvin.
"I have no idea who the hell that was, I'm assuming he's one of you?"
"My nephew," Alvin confirmed.
Stoic nodded.
"Tell him thank you for me, and, I think, I think eventually, maybe one day, in the far future. Maybe I can tone down the animosity."
The smile on Alvin's face was almost enough to get him to take it back.
Oh my god, I could scream right now, seriously.
I love Alvin and Hiccup, and I wish there were more fics like this!
Okay, now that I'm done fan-girling.
I wanted to say two things, one, if this chapter made no sense to you, then you need to watch, or read up on Riders of Berk episode 18, gem of a different color. Also, I will be mentioning more episodes, it is highly possible that there will be more episodic themed episodes like this one, however, aside from a few jokes, and some small information gaps, you do not need to have watched Riders or Defenders of Berk to read this Fanfic, though I think seeing how things happened and all will greatly improve your experience, just my thoughts.
Now, give me your thoughts, I want you to comment, if you read this, and don't comment, then you are mean.
Also, the whole 'vision' has nothing to do with the gods, the inspiration for the vision was an episode of Avatar the Last Airbender, were a swamp guru tells him.
"TIME IS AN ILLUSION..." because Aang sees a girl from the future.
Also, random thought, but;
I make stupid jokes, because for every ten people that call them stupid, one person laughs, and that little bit of joy is worth it.
should be a famous quote.
I'm an idiot.
Bye.