It was lunchtime when the Riders, Stoick, Gobber, and dragons found their way out of the secret chamber and underground cave. They returned to the village hungry, but before they got a bite to eat, they took Hiccup to Gothi, even though he refused.
Gobber didn't take the time to fix one of his spare legs in the chamber. That was because Hiccup would run away if he did, and like everybody else, Gobber wanted him checked out.
Stoick carried his son over his shoulder out of the Chamber of Mystery.
Sure, the young man fought at first, but he eventually wore himself out. Now Hiccup just casually hung from his father's shoulder, with his head propped up, as they made their way through the village.
Toothless played Follow the Leader with him. He walked before Hiccup and refused to leave him.
Hiccup's legs swung back and forth with the movement of his father's hips, but he didn't wear another spare leg on his bad one. Because of that, there was no way he could escape.
Astrid walked beside Toothless with her arms crossed and smirked at her friend. "So, how do you like it up there?"
"Ha, ha. Very funny," Hiccup sarcastically spoke. "Come on, Astrid. Is this necessary?"
"Yes. Yes, it is."
Before long, Ruffnut and Tuffnut joined them, and they, too, started to play with Hiccup.
"Personally, I am super jealous. At least you got a ride back to Berk," Ruffnut said.
"I know," Tuffnut agreed. "It's so sad. Here, we must work our muscles sore, and young Hiccup gets the easy way out."
"Oh, for the love of—! You and Ruff, Tuff, are riding on the back of Barf and Belch for Norse Sakes!" Hiccup snapped.
"Ah, that's right," the twins admitted, peering down at their two-headed dragon.
Astrid and Toothless pushed them off to the side so they could see Hiccup better.
"Please, Astrid," he begged. "Tell Gobber to fix one of my legs."
Astrid again smirked. "Sorry, Hiccup. You'll run away if he does."
Toothless laughed slightly, but his smile died when he saw Hiccup's face.
Five minutes later, the Vikings and their dragons climbed the stairs to Gothi's hut, where they found her meditating under the midafternoon sun. She was a short woman with two long braids who wore a Viking hat. In her hand, she held a stick. Since Gothi was mute, she communicated by drawing symbols in the dirt. She preferred that instead of sign language any day.
The Vikings and dragons stopped behind her, and Stoick pulled Hiccup off his shoulder. He set him down before him, and Astrid quickly grabbed him to prevent him from falling.
She put Hiccup's arm over her shoulders and snuck behind the meditating old woman. Clearing her throat, she smiled nervously and asked, "Um, Gothi?"
At the sound of her voice, Gothi immediately lost concentration and opened her eyes. She angrily clenched her fists and turned to see who interrupted her. She facepalmed at the sight of the Riders, her usual clients. She did not need to write down what she was thinking. It was all in her face.
Gothi mentally asked the teens, "Again?"
Chuckling nervously, Astrid lifted her hand and waved.
Hiccup merely rolled his eyes.
Gothi took the Riders, Gobber, Stoick, and only Toothless into her hut. Meatlug, Stormfly, Hookfang, Barf and Belch remained outside and napped. All that playing around in the Chamber of Mystery worked off a good sweat for them, and they wanted to sleep it off.
Before Hiccup knew it, he sat on the client bed in Gothi's hut with crossed arms and a pouty face turned on. Astrid stood beside him.
She rested her arm on the bed's bedpost. "Oh, if looks could kill. Why such a pouty face, Hiccup?"
Hiccup sighed and dropped his shoulders.
Off to the side, Stoick, Gobber, and the rest of the Riders spoke with Gothi and told her what happened in the underground cave. They explained the entire berserk episode, but Hiccup couldn't believe it happened. He never went berserk. It wasn't part of his personality.
To make matters worse, Toothless rested on the dirt floor before the client's bed and played with one of Hiccup's bent spare legs. He chewed it and wagged his tail. The dragon treated the leg like a modern-day tennis ball.
Hiccup growled and hopped to his good leg. He reached for Toothless and said, "Give me that," but Astrid pushed him back on the bed.
The Night Fury growled and pulled his toy close to him. He closed his eyes and turned his head.
When the remaining Riders, Gobber, and Stoick stopped chatting with Gothi, the meeting broke apart, and Gothi approached her pouting patient.
Astrid stepped off to the side and let her work.
As she watched, Stoick took her shoulder because he felt her uneasiness.
Gothi hopped onto the client's bed and studied Hiccup up and down. She stood on her tiptoes and leaned in close to his head.
"Uh," Hiccup uncomfortably spoke, pulling away from her.
The old woman put her staff down and pressed her index finger against the bruise on his temple.
Hiccup flinched and grabbed her wrist.
"We know it hurts, lad, but Gothi needs to check that bruise," Stoick explained.
What was so mysterious about the bruise? Well, it wasn't the typical bluish-purplish bruise. Instead, it was light yellow. The color was similar to the crystals Hiccup found in the underground cave.
"It's not the bruise that hurts," he told his father. "It's my pride. Here I am, completely fine, and you guys say I'm not. I'm telling you, Dad, you shouldn't have chewed me out in the Chamber of Mystery in the first place."
"Uh oh," Tuffnut said. "I'm sensing a bit of jealousy."
"What am I jealous about?"
"Face it, son. You're a terrible liar. You're hiding something from us, and we want to know what," Stoick sternly said.
"Dad. I already told you. I'm not hiding anything." Nevertheless, as Hiccup said that, Toothless again crouched to the ground, looking guilty.
"You disappoint me, son." Chief Stoick crossed his arms and glared at the eighteen-year-old Viking. "If you're going to become chief, you must stop everything. The lies, the secrets. People are relying on you."
Hiccup narrowed his eyes to an angry position and raised his voice. "Well, maybe I don't want to be chief!"
Right when he said that, everybody gasped. Did they seriously hear that from Hiccup?
Gothi plopped down on her backside and crossed her legs. She curiously watched the angry young man argue with his father. She noticed that the bruise on his temple was glowing a little. Gothi wondered if Hiccup knew what he was saying. What if something was forcing him to fight back and act like that?
Hiccup glared at his father, "Yeah, I said it!" and pushed himself to his foot. He grabbed the bedpost and continued to snap. "I'm not like you, Dad! I can't run a tribe of people! Somewhere in the archipelago is where I truly belong, and believe me, I will find that place whether it kills me!"
"Hiccup," Astrid nervously spoke, but Hiccup ignored her.
He turned to Toothless and ordered, "Come on, Toothless. I've had enough of all this rubbish."
Toothless whined, but he approached his Rider's side.
Hiccup snatched the bent spare leg out his mouth and climbed onto his neck. He ordered Toothless forward, and with his head lowered, the dragon exited the building.
The remaining Riders, Gobber, Stoick, and Gothi watched them leave.
Astrid rubbed her eye and horrifyingly asked, "What is wrong with him?"
"Wrong with him?" Tuffnut questioned. "That was the best thing I've seen all day! Who knew that skinny, one-legged Rider could pick a verbal fight!"
Gothi remained on the bed. She scratched her chin and batted her stick on the bed's covers. She felt like she knew what was going on with Stoick's son. Something was tormenting him—something powerful, and if she didn't whip up a cure soon, Berk could lose Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III forever.
***
Not far from the island of Berk, in the waters of Medieval Norway, sailed a group of longboats. Dragon Hunters. Berserkers.
Ryker, one of Hiccup's worst enemies, was on one of these boats. He was a big, powerful man with a bald head and a goatee. He crushed logs, so he had powerful arms.
Aside from him, another one of Hiccup's worst enemies was with him. His name was Dagur. He had red hair and a beard and was as powerful as Ryker. Both of these men served Viggo, the leader of the Dragon Hunters, and they all had one goal. Use the Light Dragon to eliminate Hiccup Horrendous Haddock once and for all. One of the reasons was because he was the next heir of Berk, and two, he owned a Night Fury, one of the most powerful dragons in the Viking world.
Ryker stood at the boat's bow with his hands behind his back and stared at the open ocean.
Dagur snuck up from behind, but he sensed him coming. "Dagur. How's our little puppet doing?"
"Terrific, I have to say," Dagur responded. He pulled out another crystal of the Light Dragon from his back. "Before we know it, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock will be ours." In his hand, the crystal glowed a little.
Ryker turned to his ally and smiled evilly. "Why don't we ask our little friend himself?"
"Ho, ho. I thought you'd never ask," Dagur chuckled. With that, he pushed past Ryker and took his place at the bow. He cracked his shoulders and loosened his muscles. Once ready, he held the crystal up to the shining Sun.
The shimmering rays struck it, and as soon as they did, it covered the whole longboat in shimmering, yellow dots.
A blast of wind blew Dagur's hair, and he called to the ocean. "Come, my pet! Descend upon this earth and share your knowledge with us all!"
The crew on his and Ryker's longboat stopped what they were doing and peered out at the ocean with the evil man.
The water grew rough, and waves crashed amongst the group of longboats.
Within the ocean appeared the heterochromatic eyes of the Light Dragon, and before the Hunters knew it, a bipedal dragon splashed out of it. Naga! His body dimmed at the sight of his masters, and he roared his metal-screeching roar into the atmosphere.
Naga was a terrifying-looking dragon but also quite beautiful. He had a crystalline, prism-like body structure, two sets of wings, and two heterochromatic eyes. His body was primarily yellow, light yellow, and white, but in the rays of the Sun, multiple rainbows found their way into the many different prisms on it. He stood at least thirty feet tall, weighed about five hundred pounds, and for the finale, he had a set of sword-like teeth in his mouth.
Ryker shoved Dagur to the side and held his hands to the terrifying-looking Light Dragon. "Naga!" he shouted. "I am your master now! Tell me, how is your mission going?" He swiped the crystal from Dagur and held it to Naga's face.
The dragon opened its sword-fanged mouth and roared into the gem. When his sound waves reached the other end, that roar translated to, "Terrific. I've got the boy right where I want him." His voice was just as terrifying as it should be with a dragon of his magnitude. "Only a little more to go, and I will drag him to my island."
"And from there, Viggo will take over. We are proud of you, Naga. In a short time, we can say goodbye to Hiccup Horrendous Haddock forever!" Ryker laughed. "Now go! Fulfill your destiny! Make little Ryker proud!"
The Light Dragon nodded and wrapped his wings around his body. He dove back into the ocean, and the splash he created caused the longboat to rock.
Saltwater sprayed over Ryker, but he did not care. He was too proud of his accomplishment. He finally succeeded with something.
Dagur stood from where he landed and brushed his body down.
"Isn't this fantastic, Dagur?" Ryker asked him. "We are the owners of the most powerful dragon in the world! Hiccup Horrendous Haddock and those pesky Riders have no chance against us!"
"I understand your enthusiasm, Ryker," Dagur spoke, "but, um—"
"But what?" Ryker snapped, facing him.
Dagur jumped. He shivered but went ahead and asked, "Do you not even realize what that dragon is capable of? It has the power to plunge all of Berk and the world into eternal darkness."
"And why do you care?"
"I don't." Dagur held his hands before him to defend himself. "I just think it's wise for you to know."
"Ha! Ha! Ha! You make me laugh, Dagur!" Ryker placed his hands on his hips and laughed for a good while. When he finally spoke again, he said, "I don't care what happens to the world! As long as we eliminate that annoying boy and capture his Night Fury, I am satisfied!"
"I was afraid you'd say that." Dagur sighed and dropped his hands.
***
Naga flapped his wings deep in the ocean and slipped gracefully through the water. His heterochromatic eyes glowed in the darkness, and he made his way toward Berk, where he hoped to make his masters proud so he could return his broken and shattered body to how it used to be four-hundred years ago on Telemik.
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