How To Find A Hiccup

End part 2

"Everything Comes to an End... One Way, Or the Other"

Hiccup and his party sat in the small rowboat while a Thunderdrum pulled them to their destination. The dragon was alone; Hiccup had ordered the others to stay on Berk. He wasn't about to send a bunch of kids to war.

He sighed.

Deep down he knew that Kyla wouldn't sit still. In a lot of ways, she was like him when he was that age. He just hoped she kept herself out of trouble better than what he did.

He looked back over the water. The moon and stars were hidden behind large, dark clouds. It made the ocean look almost black. There weren't many waves, just small curves in the ocean's rather flat surface. It had a certain beauty to it.

So many thoughts were going through not just Hiccup's head, but everyone's head. While Hiccup was worried that his screw up would cost the lives of his friends and fiance, he was afraid that he had pushed Toothless away, too. Stoick, being chief, was concerned for his people both on Berk and on Dane's island. Even if they did successfully get the hostages on the boat and off the island in one piece, that won't stop the invasion Dane will launch. Gobber was the least worried. He didn't have anyone on the island that he cared for... not like the others. If anything happens to Snotlout and the others, he'll go into a depressed state for who knows how long. But it wouldn't be as bad as how the others would react. Phlegma cared for everyone Dane had, but it was Astrid she couldn't get out of her head.

They left Berk about half-an-hour ago. They still had two, or maybe 3, hours before they would reach Dane, a little bit before dawn. It was quiet among the group. The only noise was the boat splashing against the water and the heavy breathing of the Thunderdrum.

"Tonight, this nightmare ends," Stoick said. "Everything comes to an end... one way, or the other."

"Just a few hours till we find out whether the ending goes our way," Hiccup quietly said, looking at the other people in the boat.

"You think Kyla and the others will stay on Berk?" Gobber asked after a moment. Hiccup looked up at the man sitting across from him. He gripped the side of the boat tightly as the Boat was rocked by a large wave.

He shook his head. "I doubt it. Kyla was never one to sit still." Gobber rolled his shoulder.

"I know it would be the right thing that she didn't come, but I can't help but hope that they'd come and assist us," Gobber said. Hiccup nodded his head.

"Yeah, at least we'd have an army to go up against Dane's," he said. "But they're just kids, you can't throw them into a battle. They'd have no clue what they were getting into." Gobber nodded and leaned back against the boat. He seemed to have said what he wanted to say.

"How ya doing boy?" Hiccup asked the dragon in it's native tongue. The dragon grunted in response, but then gave an honest reply.

"Just fine, though you viking friends are heavy." Hiccup chuckled.

"You're doing great," Hiccup said. The dragon grunted again. "What?"

"From what I understand about Dane, how could my own kind serve him? You are much more deserving," the dragon said. Hiccup sighed.

"Technically, Dane dethroned me. Most dragons fallow whoever they see as leader, not who's most deserving. I'm not saying they're dumb or wrong for doing that. Heck, Dane was strong enough and smart enough to dethrone me so maybe he is more deserving. I might have let him keep the job, if it weren't for his intentions on using his new found army," Hiccup leaned back against the side of the boat, finishing his small speech. The dragon seemed to not want to talk anymore after that and just kept pulling the boat along

Hiccup looked up into the dark clouds. It was dark outside, but you could still see the puffy clouds. A shaky breath left his lips. A night like this were Toothless's favorite time to go flying. The vikings noticed Hiccup's slightly darkened mood, but they didn't push him.

The dragon looked back and knew immediately what he was thinking.

"Don't worry, Hiccup. Toothless is fine; after we finish up with Dane, we'll go and get him back," it said. Hiccup looked at him, but didn't say a word or show any other emotion than regret.

(~)(~) – Toothless – (~)(~)

Stupid Hiccup, who does he think he is!? I saved his life and yet he yells at me? What was I suppose to do, I was only protecting him! Toothless thought these thing over and over again as he darted away from Berk. It had only been a few hours since Dane took the humans away. Personally, Toothless didn't understand why he liked them so much, weren't they always mean to him? Sure, he could understand why he would be upset about Astrid, but Hiccup should have known that what Toothless did was for his own good.

Toothless shook his head. If Hiccup didn't want him then so be it, the human was only holding him back and getting him into life threatening situation.

The dragon landed on a small island around noon. Toothless didn't even think it could be classified as an island; it was more like a rock just big enough for him.

The dragons sour mood lasted throughout the day. He was constantly battling himself over what happened and whether what he did was right or wrong.

Toothless flew over the water, looking for some fish for lunch. The water was dark blue and Toothless could see a faint reflection of himself. It saw his wings, his severed tail fin with the mechanical replacement and... the empty saddle.

Toothless groaned, his appetite gone.

That night, Toothless slept on an empty stomach. No matter what Hiccup had said to him, the dragon still missed his friend. Toothless sighed. Hiccup wasn't a friend, he was a brother. A brother from another mother and... species.

Toothless made up his mind, tomorrow he'd fly back to Berk. If Hiccup wanted him, than he'd stay, if not...

Toothless left first thing in the morning. He picked up fish along the way. You can say what you want about how unlivable Berk might be, but the fish there was some of the best Toothless had ever tasted.

In a few minutes, Berk came into view. Toothless smiled and picked up his pace.

It wasn't long till his paws hit the ground. His head was stretched to the sky, sniffing, trying to find Hiccup's scent, ignoring the vikings around him. Where are you?

"Toothless?" A voice sounded not to far away. Toothless new the voice! It wasn't Hiccup's, but it was a friend.

Kyla ran up to him. Toothless made sure to greet her with a nice lick on the face.

"Oh... gross!" Kyla said, wiping the slobber off. "Toothless, what are you doing here? Where were you!"

"I'll tell you later, where's Hiccup?"

"He left last night to Dane's little island." Toothless growled.

"Where's the island?"

"A little ways that way," Kyla said, pointing behind her. Toothless grunted and took off into the air. "Wait!" She yelled, but Toothless was already out of hearing range. She sighed. "He's in a boat, not in the air," she said quietly.

Kyla shook her head and ran back to her group. "Come on! Saddle up, we're going to help Hiccup and Toothless."

(~)(~)(~)

Hiccup and his team had landed on the island's small beach, he had sent the dragon back to Berk. They made it unseen, about an hour before dawn.

They stepped quickly on the soft sand along a short, long stone hedge. No one had a clue where they were going, but they were to...

"You guys really suck at stealth," an all to familiar voice sounded behind them. Hiccup turned around.

Dane was laying on his stomach on top a tall rock, his chin resting on his fists. He had the most innocent look with bright eyes and a large smile. It seemed genuine; it made Hiccup sick.

"Dane!" Stoick yelled, walking closer to the rock. "There are..."

"To ways this can go down," Dane interrupted. "Gods, that has got to be the worst line ever used in the history of confrontations." Dane rolled onto his back, his head hanging off the ledge of the rock. "Here we are; about to have an epic showdown that will go down in the history books!... well, I guess that I'll have to write it down, seeing as you and the other Berkians are about to become, well, bloodstains on the earth."

It was still dark, but Hiccup could see the smirk as plain as day on Dane's face.

Phlegma pulled out Astrid's battle ax and pointed it at Dane. Her face was crunched up in anger and hatred. "You!" She yelled. "Where's my daughter?"

Dane changed his position again; now sitting up, his legs dangling over the edge. "Daughter?"

"Astrid!"

"Oh... that's right..." Dane trailed off. "She, umm, tied up in chains, hasn't been fed anything or had an ounce of water. She was stripped of everything but her leggings and shirt and is currently laying down on freezing rocks in 20 degree whether... Oh! And she's that way." Dane pointed to the opposite side of the island. "You know, it's kinda funny, if you would have docked there, you would have seen them right away, got them onto your boat and be on your way to Berk. Ah well, this way will be more fun."

Gobber walked forward. "You little... wait till I get me hand on ya!" Dane chuckled.

"Hand, because you only have one, that's funny," Dane said. Gobber growled. Dane's eyes squinted in Hiccup's direction. He was standing a few steps behind the rest of the vikings, his eyes avoiding Dane's.

"Hey, Hiccup, how's it going?" His tone changed to that used to babies and little kids. "Whats wong?" He continued in his baby voice. "Not doin so hot, are ya? What about Toothy? Isn't he here to comfort you?" Hiccup shut his eyes and balled his fists. Dane smiled. "You didn't, did..." Hiccup didn't respond.

"You chased your best friend, the only one who stood by you when no one would... away?" Hiccup clutched his hands into fists. Dane laughed. "I feel sorry for you... well, I feel sorry for me, really. I wanted you to watch him burn. And since dragon have scales, it would have been a slow process. His scales slowly heating up, getting hotter and hotter until the soft flesh behind them started to roast –"

"SHUT UP!" Hiccup yelled, his eyes meeting Danes. One look into his eyes and Dane's mouth shut with and audible 'snap'. "This. Ends. Now. Come down here, were taking you into custody." Dane snickered.

"OK," he said in goofy voice. He shook his head laughing. It was a good thirty second until he regained himself. "In all seriousness, I'm running out of things to say that will hurt you morons. Lets move on to the main event, shall we?"

Then Dane disappeared, vanished right out of thin air. The vikings eyes widened and Hiccup gasped. Hiccup knew the trick well.

"RUN!" Hiccup yelled, but it was to late. His visioned blurred and soon he couldn't see anything. Dane's Changwings had captured them. They were probably sitting right behind them the whole time.

The next thing Hiccup knew was that he was slammed down onto a crude, wooden chair.

(~)(~)(~)

It felt like a fist, but something smashed into his face. Then again, two more, three, six then seven in quick succession. Hiccup couldn't see a thing, a brown bag had been placed over his head. A voice started to talk. In the back of Hiccup's mind, he knew it was Dane, but the pain was to unbearable. His brain felt like it was pounding against his skull, his nose bleeding and he was pretty sure he had a few broken teeth.

Hiccup didn't understand the words Dane was saying, everything seemed shady, fuzzy. The sound became mumbled and got quieter and quieter until a final punch sent him into the sweet bliss of unconsciousness.

(~)(~)(~)

Hiccup woke to a swaying motion. He was being moved, but the bag was still on his head so he didn't know where he was or how long he had been out. He tried yelling out, but his mouth was gagged with a cloth.

He must have been transported outside for light broke through little holes in the bag. It was no longer night.

Hiccup's chair was put down abruptly, making him grunt. His wound still hurt like hel, though, and most any movement sent him over the edge. He didn't remember what Dane did to him, but despite his normally calm mood, Hiccup wanted to return the favor. He believed that anyone could be saved from doing evil, but you have to draw the line at one point or another. And, with everything Dane had done, Hiccup knew he should have drawn that line a LONG time ago.

The bag was ripped off his head and the gag removed. Light flooded onto his face and he had to shut his eyes. He heard voices, mainly Dane's. It was some time before Hiccup opened his eyes and, as soon as he did, he wanted to shut them again. There, in front of him, was a crudely built platform used for hanging people. He tried to move, but found the he was bound to the chair.

His eyes went wide as he scanned the people on the platform with rope around there neck. From left to right; Astrid, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout, Phlegma, Gobber, and, lastly, Stoick.

"Ah, mornin Hiccup. Great day to watch those you love be hanged, isn't it?" Dane said, walking beside him and patting his shoulder.

"Hiccup!" Astrid yelled. She had been stripped to nothing but her leggings and shirt. All of them had. She looked like dragon crap. Dane must have payed her the same visit he had to him earlier. Her eyes didn't show fear, but sorrow. Sorrow... for him.

A tear slipped down his cheek and he bowed his head slightly, his eyes never leaving her's. "Sorry," his lips said, but no sound came out. Dane left Hiccup's side.

Hiccup's eyes did another scan of the people in front of him: Dane, Astrid, his father... wait, where's Raden? "Dane," Hiccup choked out. "Where's Raden?"

Dane cleared throat. "Well, his corpse was starting to rot so I tossed it in the ocean... problem?"

Hiccup looked up to Astrid. She bowed her head. Hiccup gripped the sides of his chair.

"You..." he trailed off. He started to thrash, trying to break free of his bindings.

"Hey!" Dane yelled but Hiccup didn't stop. The chair couldn't take much more and a loud crack sounded. From nowhere, something hit Hiccup hard on the back of his head, making him stop his thrashing. Hiccup looked behind him to see a nadder narrowing its eyes at him.

It was like a curtain was pulled back. Hiccup now took note of all the dragon that surrounded them.

Dane was annoyed. "Just sit there! Gods!" He jumped on top of the wooden platform on Stoick's side. "Ya know, Hiccup, I put a lot of effort into this. So, if you could just sit there and watch your friends and family die, that'd be much appreciated." Dane walked to the other side of the wooden platform where Astrid was. Beside her was a lever.

"Let me explain how this little thing here works," Dane said, patting the lever. "You see, if I push it forward, than a platform under Stoick feet goes bye bye and, well, so does your father." Dane laughed. "Lets start the countdown!"

"3!"

"NOOO!" Hiccup yelled. He started thrashing again, forcing the Nadder to wrap its tail around him, holding him in place.

"2!"

"Please, Dane! I'll do anything, STOP!"

"1!"

"NNNOOOOOOO!" Was the last gut wrenching scream from Hiccup when... a black blur swept across the ground just before Dane pulled the lever. The wind generated from the blur was intense! It blew Dane right off the platform!

Hiccup had closed his red, teary eyes when the blur swept across the island. When he opened them, he expected to see his father dangling by a rope tied around his neck. But his father wasn't there. The rope was still there, but it seemed to have been cut a few inches above the head.

Dane was back up on his feet. "What happened!?" He yelled. He looked at Hiccup. The man had a big toothy grin to return his frazzled gaze. "What's your..." I high pitched whistle rang out in the air high above them. Dane's head shot up.

"NIGHTFURY!" Dane screeched as he rushed back to the lever, hoping to finish his hostages before Toothless finished him. But he was to late. A plasma ball rained down from the sky, hitting him in the back. He cried out. The blast sent him skidding across the wooden platform and off of the other side, only stopping when he collided into a rock.

"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup cried out, happy his friend was here. The dragon was still in the sky and out of sight, which was good, considering all of the dragons down on the ground would not hesitate to attack him.

Dane got up slowly. His body hurt everywhere. "Zippy! Take Toothless down!" His dragon nodded and took off into the air. Dane ordered 4 other dragons to take to the skies to bring Toothless down.

Dane rushed over to Hiccup with a dagger in hand. "I'll bloody kill you before the dragon saves ya!" Hiccup began to struggle again as Dane got closer. Astrid was yelling at him with the others.

"Tell my parents I said hi, in Hell!" Dane said as he raised the dagger. Just then, a force hit Dane from behind. Stoick had jumped from the point where Toothless dropped him. Dane landed on his back with Stoick on top of him. Stoick raised a fist, but was struck on the side by the Nadder that was holding Hiccup, making him grunt. Stoick was sent skidding across the rocky terrain, stopping a few feet away.

"You fool!" Dane yelled at the dragon. The Nadder was confused, but understood when it saw Hiccup, free from his bindings, freeing the others.

Dane got to his feet, but before he could take a step forward, a dragon came crashing down in front of him. Dead. It was a dragon he had sent up against Toothless, a nasty burnt gash on the side of its neck; blood pouring from it. Then another dragon fell off in the distance. It was also dead with a similar wound. Two more fell from the sky, both dead. Then the Skrill fell a few feet behind him. Dane turned around. The dragon crawled a few inches, blood trailing behind it, until it dropped... dead.

"NNNOOOOOO!" Dane screeched. He turned back to Hiccup. He had released everyone and they were standing behind him along with Stoick. Toothless landed beside him, crouched and with barred teeth and narrowed eyes. Dane had tears in his eyes from the death of his companion, but also hatred.

The dragons were gathered behind Dane. He let loose a forced laugh, though it wasn't menacing. "I... have an army," he said, "what do you have?"

"A reason to fight," Hiccup said. Dane clutched his fists.

"Well a "reason" won't give you victory," Dane said, his voice cracking.

From the water, burst a hundred water dragons, sending water pouring on to the island. The dragons and their riders landed behind Hiccup, staring holes into Dane.

"What," Dane whispered to himself.

"Now I have an army," Hiccup said. "An underage army." That was said to the kids behind him. They ignored him.

Dane paced back and forth, never taking his eyes off of the small army in front of him.

"Surrender Dane, there's no point in more death," Hiccup said. Dane shook his head.

"As long as you are a part of those deaths, then it'll be all worth," Dane said. I should have killed him when I had the chance, he thought. "Attack!" Dane yelled, "KILL THEM ALL!" Dane turned and ran as his army attacked. Hiccup didn't even give the signal when his "army" charged on their dragons.

"You guys control the war down here," Hiccup told his father and the others. "I'm going to get Dane." Hiccup hopped onto Toothless.

"You got it, son," Stoick said. Astrid reached out and grabbed Hiccup's arm.

"Kick his but for me," she said before she smashed her lips into his for a quick, passionate kiss. Hiccup stared into her eyes for a moment.

"I'll give him what he deserves," was his response. He took off into the air.

The battle was raging fiercely on the small island and Hiccup had a birds eye view of it all.

"Come on, bud, we gotta find Dane. This island won't be able to handle this forever," Hiccup said. Toothless sped up.

"I'm sorry, bud, I was a real jerk. I know what you were trying to do and I'd be dead if you hadn't. Th..."

"If you're going to thank me, don't. I gave Astrid to the bad-guy, remember? It'll haunt me forever," Toothless said.

Hiccup patted the side of his neck. The two circled the island a few times, giving supportive fire from above while they looked for Dane. Without warning, Toothless started to dive. "Found him," Toothless said.

Dane had gotten away from the battle by a good margin, but the sounds were still heard. Toothless landed in front of him, cutting him off. The boy had gotten a sword from wherever he had set up shop on the island.

"Dane!" Hiccup yelled as he jumped off Toothless. The dragon screeched at the boy. Dane brought his sword up into a fighting position. "You can stop this!"

"But I won't."

"Do it!"

"Kill yourself!" Dane shot back. Hiccup shook his head agitated.

"You don't understand! This island won't be able to handle the battle! It's to..." Just then, the earth shook for a second before it stopped. Hiccup looked at Dane. "You don't have Whispering Deaths, do you?" Dane's eyes shot left and right.

"Maybe," he said.

"And they have tunnels underground, don't they."

"Heh." The island shook again, making Hiccup stumble. Dane saw his chance and charge with a battle cry. Toothless jumped over Hiccup and charged too. Dane needed a way to pass the dragon and fast. He quickly got an idea.

Toothless charged up a plasma blast, but before he could fire, Dane slid on his side, punched the dragon under the jaw where the pressure point was, making the dragon fall to the ground useless. Dane snapped back up to his feet and continued to charge. Hiccup was unarmed when Dane brought his sword back for a strike.

The weapon came down, but something caused Dane to cry out and fly backwards onto his back. Hiccup looked behind him to see Astrid. He turned back to Dane. The deranged boy had an ax smashed into his shoulder, blood seeping from the wound. Astrid had hit Dane with her ax.

I'm glad mom brought my ax, was Astrid's first thought. Dane tried to get up, but the unforgiving island moved again. This time, the island began to change. The ground beneath Dane shifted and began to get pushed upward from underlying problems in the island, probably caused by Whispering Deaths. The ground began to rise fast. Hiccup made a choice and dove onto the rock being pushed into the sky.

The rock rose fifty feet in the air with only enough room for a small battle between two people. Hiccup slowly got to his arms and knees, then to his feet. Dane still lay on the ground, moaning and groaning with the ax in his shoulder.

"Had enough, Dane?" Hiccup asked. Dane whimpered.

"You hadn't even touched me yet, it was your friends that have done everything. Useless," Dane said.

"What will it take to end this madness?" Hiccup asked. Dane brought his head up to look at him.

"Death," he said. "I'm king of the dragons. Kill me, and the title will be given back to you. You'll then be able to stop my dragons." Hiccup's eyes widened. That would work.

But the island wasn't done yet. The rock tower began to crumble. Hiccup and Dane went into a free fall for a few seconds, falling twenty feet. They landed back on the tower with a grunt, their bones crunching and the air escaping them. The tower only slowed for a few seconds before the tower began to fall again, this time all the way to the hard ground.

Everything hurt. There was no sound, no sight, just pain. Slowly, Hiccup began to come back to his senses and slowly opened his eyes. He moved his arms and cried out with pain. He got to his elbows and looked in front of him.

Dane was still on the ground, trying to yank out Astrid ax. Hiccup tried to get up, but crashed back onto the ground in pain.

"AH!" Dane shouted trying to yank out the weapon that was stuck in his shoulder. "AAAHHHHHHH!" Dane gave a battle cry as the ax finely came loose. Even Hiccup heard the sickening sound of the ax being pulled out of human flesh.

Beyond all odds, Dane got to his feet. He took one step, than another, toward Hiccup dragging the bloody ax behind him. Danes face was devoid of emotion. It was like he was a zombie. Dane was halfway to Hiccup, until the mans best friend jumped him. Toothless crashed into Dane, pinning him to the ground with his paw. He charged up a plasma blast.

"NNOOOO!" Dane screamed. The dragon stopped and looked over to Hiccup. At first, he was confused, but Hiccup knew what the dragon wanted. He wanted Hiccup choose; do you want Dane to live, or die?

Hiccup stretched out his hand toward the dragon and gave a thumbs-up. Dane smiled; life. But that smile slowly turned into a frown as Hiccup's hand slowly began to turn until his thumb was pointing towards the ground; death.

Dane looked back up at Toothless. "AAAAHHHHHHHH!" Dane screamed as Toothless charged up a blast. Hiccup closed his eyes.

(~)(~)(~)

Astrid watched atop a water dragon in the sea as the island slowly crumbled. Dane's dragons had just up and left when the island began to sink.

No one really knew why Dane's dragons left, but maybe Hiccup got command back and told them to back off.

That was the least of her worries. The only thing Astrid cared about at the moment was watching Hiccup fly away from the island, join her and his father and tell them that everything was all right. But her hopes slowly slipped away as the last of the island was swallowed up by the ocean.

"No. Where is he? He cant be gone! WHERE IS HE!?" Astrid yelled, she tried to hold back the tears, but a few slipped down her cheek. She looked over to Stoick who was on another dragon. His head was bowed.

She looked back to where the island used to be, but no sign of Hiccup.

"Hey! What's that?" Kyla shouted, pointing into the water. At first, Astrid didn't see it, but after a moment, she saw what was getting people hyped. A black figure was swimming through the water.

Toothless.

Astrid smiled, but cheered – as did everyone else – when Toothless handed her an unconscious, but breathing, Hiccup.

Astrid pulled him close to her, hugging him. "Thank you, Toothless," she said.

(~)(~)(~)

Many things await the dragon rider when he awakes from his slumber. He'll need to get Astrid's, Snotlout's and the others dragons back from Dane's jail. He'll probably disband all of the islands that hold teens and send them home. There's still a lot of work to be done, but Hiccup can handle it. I mean, come on, he's the king of dragons, after all. But, remember, there can only be one king... however, that doesn't mean it won't keep future people from trying.

THE END