Dimension Splash Chronicles
Event: The Labyrinth of Shard and Shadows Part 3
Pov: Hiccup, Link, Toothless, Skari
Time: Year 10.11 of Hiccup and Link’s existence in the game
The light from the orb felt much brighter and warmer now that the Vashta Nerada had been defeated. Hiccup, Link and the two dragons sat on the floor for a quick breather. It had been a fairly terrible experience no matter how you viewed things, and both Hiccup and Link were still in pain as their bodies slowly recovered from the shock of being shredded. Hiccup reached into his satchel and gave Link a health potion. That would certainly speed up the recovery. Hiccup pulled out one for himself and drank the small phial of sticky pink liquid. Warmth and a numbing tingle shot from his chest to his arms all the way up to his head and down to his foot. The sharp stinging stopped, and most of his wounds closed over. Now it was the dragons’ turn. Hiccup looked into his satchel and began to pull out a raw side of beef. As soon as the meat left the bag Skari’s head whipped over, and with brutal fierceness he snapped it out of Hiccup’s hand tossing it to the far side of the corridor. Both Hiccup and Toothless watched in a bit of shock to see Skari desperately, disgustingly strip the meat down to the bone in split seconds. He then turned back hoping for more.
“Uh... sorry. That was actually meant for both of you.” Skari looked terribly disappointed. His body was on the verge of collapse from keeping himself charged for so long. He would just have to make do. Toothless moaned in annoyance; he didn’t like it when other dragons ate food that was meant for him, but considering Skari had an diet that occasionally included humans, Toothless was at least happy to keep him satisfied.
“Sorry about that.” Skari clacked. Whether he meant it or not was unclear.
“I guess better you than me. I’m not nearly as injured as you, and you’ll need to recover from that neck wound. Plus... I don’t trust you when you’re hungry.” Toothless gave him a sideways glance.
“Huh... I wouldn’t trust me either.” Skari admitted and then turned and moved a little distance from the rest of the group.
Link got up and stretched, pulled the Master Sword back out of its sheath, but the sword did not glow. Night had fallen, so they would have to rely on torches and the ceiling orbs to keep them out of the blackness. He gave the sword a confident swish through the air, for he was feeling much better. Those health potions had been hard to come by over the years, but they were incredibly effective. Hiccup was sitting next to Toothless calmly stroking the dragon’s smooth black sides. Toothless was humming with his eyes closed in pure bliss. It didn’t matter where they were or what was happening, as long as Hiccup was happy Toothless was too. Link looked down at them and said cheerily, “Well nothing like near death to get you two all affectionate again! Still, don’t you think we ought to keep moving? I mean, we are not safe yet, even if Toothless might make you feel that way.”
Hiccup nodded and got to his feet. The two dragons perked up and followed as the group continued its long trek into the never ending darkness. Hiccup walked as close to Toothless as he could without the Night Fury tripping over him, and Toothless warbled happily. The dragon felt so peaceful and wonderful to have Hiccup back close to him, and the funny thing was that they were still in peril, Skari was still the dragon responsible for the death of his parents, the Gemnodes were still on the search, and the tunnel seemed to stretch on for eternity. But none of that mattered, not right at that moment. He and Hiccup were together again, Hiccup trusted him, he could feel it, and it had been so painfully long since he had felt that warm loving emotion coming from his boy’s heart. That was a feeling worth being in peril for.
Time crawled on. It was very tricky to tell if they were even moving in this never ending path, but finally something broke the monotony. Four black suits of armor lurched out into the light from in front of them, but this was not going to be like last time. The group quickly stepped back, and Skari reared up with a deafeningly high shriek. His body surged with arches of bright blue lighting, and the energy funneled to his mouth and released in a blinding flash. The electricity dove into the figures, and each one stumbled and fell in turn leaving only bone and metal. The swarms would need to learn a new tactic if they wanted to hunt a Skrill. The four suits of armor had been guarding something, a wall, an end to what had seemed to be an endless tunnel. It was black and smooth with only one tiny slit in the rock face.
“You know, when you call something a labyrinth, it usually means there are hundreds of different paths and only one that leads you out.” Noted Hiccup. “This place has been a pretty straight shot, and apparently this is a door of some sort.”
“Yep, and if this isn’t the key we wasted a lot of time taking it from Ike.” Link pulled the Blessed Blade from behind his back and prepared to stick it into the slot.
“Is it just me... or was this too easy?” Hiccup suddenly stated.
Link stopped. “It isn’t just you. We’ve been through much worse than this just trying to get elemental gems or other treasures. I mean, even Hamish the Second’s treasure was trickier than this, and yet for some reason not even the Gemnodes have gotten into this crypt...” A horrible feeling washed over the boys. What was behind that door?
Link stuck the huge, heavy, golden blade into the wall and there was a definite click. The Blessed blade began to glow with Aether Fire, and a vertical red fissure appeared on the smooth black wall. The line glowed and burned and widened until the wall split in two and swung open leaving the Blessed Blade floating in the air. Link grabbed it and put it back into its sheath, and the group walked forward slowly. It was clear now, they could all sense it, something terrible and dark was in that room, but they had no choice but to face it. As they entered the door, the ceiling orb descended slowly and let off its cold glow. Every inch of the circular chamber was illuminated. There was nothing on the floor, nothing on the walls, nothing on the ceiling. At the opposite side of the room was a black, ornately carved door with a clear keyhole, and in the very center of the room, standing directly beneath the glowing orb, was the statue of an angel. It had its eyes covered by one arm as though weeping, and in the other it held a shining bronze colored key. The group stepped slowly up to it, looking over it carefully. In this dimension, statues had been known to move; the White Witch and the Golden Dragon had used creatures of stone to terrible effect. Link walked to the door on the opposite side of the room, looked it over, and said, “Yep... it is pretty obvious. That key is what we need. I don’t think we’ll be breaking this door down any other way.”
“Well, we’ve had worse... I think.” Said Hiccup. The statue was still motionless, and its poise was truly saddening. Hiccup had seen so much sadness, so much to make one weep, that he looked away. Link was still examining the door, Skari was staring at him in curiosity, Hiccup had looked away, and Toothless, Toothless blinked.
The next thing Hiccup knew Toothless had leapt back and was snarling at the statue. It had dropped its arm and was looking right at him. Link ran up and eyed the figure over carefully. “Ok, so it can move. Not really surprising... Did anyone actually think we wouldn’t have to fight?” He drew the master sword and pointed it at the angel’s calm face. Hiccup got onto Toothless. Then the orb above the room began to flicker. Link looked up at it, and when he looked down the angel was centimeters away from him. Its face had contorted into a snarl, and its open mouth revealed thick, ugly fangs. Link shouted in surprise and jumped back. “Ok, ok... so that’s how you want to play?” He swung his sword and caught the statue solidly in the chest. It crackled, but whatever it was made of must have been very, very hard to withstand a blow from Link.
“We just need the key.” Hiccup stated. He and Toothless were watching the angel from behind. Suddenly, the orb flickered again, but this time it faded out completely. There was a horrible cracking sound, and Link shouted out in pain. The orb lit itself again, and Hiccup and Toothless looked down to see Link gasping at the angel’s feet. He was gripping his left side wincing. “It punched me!” He coughed. “I think... I think it broke my rib.”
Toothless and Skari snarled. Hiccup leaned forward on the back of his friend and said, “Alright Bud, that is about enough of that. Fire!” Toothless sucked in a huge breath and gas balled up in his throat. He sent a plasma blast sailing through the air, and it exploded against the side of the statue sending purple and orange flames licking in all directions. Skari fired next and the electric blast snarled into the statue and crackled and buzzed as thousands of volts of energy passed from Skari to his cold opponent. Then everything stopped. Hiccup could see a large chunk was missing now from the angel’s chest where Toothless had hit it. Then the light went out again, on and off in very quick, irritating spurts. The angel’s face turned and its snarl grew fouler. “Shoot again, Bud!” Toothless fired, but the light went black as soon as he did so. His fire flew into the wall at the far side of the room and missed its target. The angel seemed to have vanished, but as Hiccup turned his head his heart jumped in his chest. The creature had moved, moved unrealistically fast in that split second of darkness, and now it was reaching out to him and Toothless with clawed hands and a wicked expression. The light failed again, and in an instant the angel had moved up within feet of Hiccup and Toothless. Skari had now crept around behind it. He lifted his tail, and sent it slicing into the angel’s back. His spines scraped against the stone, but the statue remain unmoved. The lights failed again and this time for a prolonged period. Just as Link stumbled to his feet, there was another snapping, crunching sound. The lights came back on, and the angel had Skari in its grip. One hand had his bottom jaw clasped tightly, and the other was bending his wing out of socket. He was howling in pain, and the parts of his body that were free were thrashing around wildly. The key in the angel’s hand was digging into the flesh of his mouth, and he bit at it savagely. Then before anyone could do anything, the light flashed off again, and there was a sound like a gunshot, and Skari’s screams vanished.
The light turned back on, and Skari was nowhere to be seen. There was no blood, there had been no flash, just that noise and Skari had disappeared. Hiccup and Toothless, much to the Night Fury’s surprise, felt their hearts twist into anxious knots. Had he been killed? Toothless angrily fired another blast. It scorched the statue in the face, but when the flames died out, Hiccup noticed that the angel’s chest had repaired, it looked perfect, in fact it looked better than when they had first come in. Now its head was cracked and marred, but everywhere else had been repaired. Link had noticed it too. “Hiccup! Hiccup, it healed itself, it used Skari as a health item somehow--absorbed energy from him!” Hiccup’s heart sank even lower. Not only had it apparently killed the Skrill who had just saved them all, it had fed off of him while doing so. Link was finally recovered enough to fight, and he sliced at the hand of the statue that was holding the key. His sword vibrated and bounced off, but he hit again. This time the wrist of the angel cracked. Link struck down again, angrily, shouting, and his sword embedded itself in the statue’s arm. Then the light flashed again. Toothless shot, but the statue had moved, and when it moved, Link felt his sword tugged violently from his hand. The statue had whizzed around behind him and had him in a choke hold. The light was on again, but Link was gasping for breath. The light went off.
“No!” Hiccup screamed as he heard a sick snap and a thudding noise right after it. The light turned on again, and Link lay paralyzed on the ground, his sword having dislodged and fallen beside him. The statue had broken his neck. In this world, that kind of an injury could heal, but Link would be unable to move for a long, long section of this battle, and his health would drop terribly fast. Neck breaking was an expensive ability, one that took many Power Gems, and Hiccup just hoped and prayed that Link would recover before his life was sapped away. Before Hiccup could do anything, the light went off again. Suddenly, Hiccup remembered Endeavor, and he drew and lit his sword as quickly as he could. The orange flames only illuminated a little of the room, and even they seemed to begin to flicker. Toothless could see the angel by the light though, and it wouldn’t move unless it was in the dark. The Night Fury shot another blast into it, and then another. Both tore into the chest of the stone figure, and both left gashes in the stone. Just as Hiccup’s sword began to flicker uncontrollably, there was a very familiar screech from back in the hall. Skari leapt into the room.
Hiccup and Toothless and even the immobilized Link were relieved and shocked. So was Skari. He looked at Toothless in confusion, then at Hiccup. “You are still here? You’ve not been killed or defeated it yet!? That isn’t possible... How long was I gone?”
Toothless was completely confused. “You’ve only been gone a very short amount of time, Skari.”
“No, no that isn’t right. I’ve been gone for hours. I was sure you would have won or been defeated by now. It put me back near the beginning of the catacombs.”
“What? Then how did you arrive so quickly?”
“You call that quickly? It took me hours! I am starving--dying, Toothless! If I don’t get food I’ll not be able to generate any longer...”
The conversation between the dragons came to an abrupt end when Hiccup’s sword went out completely. Skari tried to fire a blast, but he missed. It did generate enough light to see the statue, and it was now right on top of Hiccup and Toothless. Its horrible cracked face snarled just inches away from Hiccup. Toothless fired, but the blast missed again, and he and Hiccup both felt incredibly strong, cold, rough hands clasp around them. “Hang on, Bud!” Hiccup screamed, and then they both fell onto the floor in a distant hallway.
Hiccup and Toothless were both flat on their backs. Actually, Toothless was flat on his back which meant he was flat on Hiccup. “Ugh... Bud, do you mind?” Toothless tried to roll over, but he felt nauseated and weak. His attempt failed and he wound up just flattening Hiccup to the floor again. “Ok Bud, take your time, but this really isn’t comfortable.” Hiccup was trying to be sympathetic because he felt sick too, but it was hard to be sympathetic when Toothless was lying on top of him. Toothless shifted his weight, tossed all his legs to one side, rolled over, and Hiccup rolled over with him because he was attached to the saddle. Toothless wouldn’t stand, he felt awful. Hiccup was the same, his head was splitting and he felt as though he was going to vomit. He breathed heavily, “Ok, Bud... what just happened?” Hiccup took in his surroundings. “Oh no... Oh for the love of Thor.” They were at the first wall of shadows. Hiccup was now both worried and frustrated. “Now we are separated from Link and Skari, one of whom has a broken neck, and we are on the wrong side of the shadows! We have to get back to them, Bud.”
Toothless agreed, and as he got to his feet, his sickness having left him almost completely. Hiccup was still on his back, but now there was a more serious problem. How was Toothless going to get Hiccup through those shadows? Link had done it somehow, Skari could do it, he could do it, but what about Hiccup? The Night Fury whined and shook his head in angry frustration, he had hoped to not find himself helpless against these shadows again.
Hiccup stepped off of him. He was thinking the same thing. Getting through those shadows to Link and Skari was not just an option, it had to be done. There had to be some way. “Ok bud... we need to focus, we need to think.” Hiccup paced back and forth and eyed over Toothless. “How did you get through, Bud? It was your scales, wasn’t it?” Hiccup was almost more familiar with Toothless’s own abilities than the dragon was, and Toothless gave a head shake of agreement. He couldn’t always understand what Hiccup was saying, but he had really learned over these ten years how to read what the boy was asking him. “Ok. Ok...” Hiccup scratched his hands through his hair and his brow furrowed as he tried to think. He was pretty much panicking because he had no plan, and his brother was going to die if he didn’t get back to him. “Alright, let’s just figure you out first, Bud. You can go through the shadows, but you have to keep your eyes shut... right. Um, you used an air gem to breath?” Again Toothless let Hiccup know he was correct with a quick grunt. “And you had to keep your mouth shut. Other than that you were fine. Oh...” Hiccup stopped his frantic movement as an idea came to him, but he did not really like it. “You had to keep your mouth shut...” Hiccup did not want to do this idea unless he absolutely had to, but he looked up at Toothless, and the dragon had caught his thought. Toothless looked him over, pretty much sizing him up. The dragon had a concerned look in his big green eyes, he did not really like the way things were going either.
“Huh... and you are thinking what I am thinking.” Hiccup was a little exasperated. “Oh for the love of Thor.” Toothless retracted his teeth and opened his mouth very slightly while looking at Hiccup, but then he pressed it shut firmly. His face furrowed into cross lines. There had to be another way. Hiccup took a deep breath, tried not to think about what he was about to do. “Um, yeah.” Hiccup looked at Toothless’s eyes. Suddenly this whole thing felt really awkward. Who was going to break the ice because both of them knew pretty clearly what there option was? Hiccup scraped his metal foot across the stone floor. Toothless finally opened his mouth a little wider and raised his brows questioningly while cocking his head to one side. “Heheh... yeah, Bud. Kinda what I was thinking. Um... I could breath with my air gem, but...Phew.” Hiccup looked up at the ceiling trying again to not think about how painfully awkward Toothless was looking at his suggestion. The Night Fury had clamped his mouth shut again. “Ok, come on, Bud... let’s get it over with.”
Toothless whined. He didn’t want to do what Hiccup was asking him to do. It felt so... wrong. He was carnivorous and all, and naturally this would work, but Hiccup was his friend, and this wasn’t something he felt comfortable with. He kept his jaws shut, but in his mind he was at least running through the fact that he would probably have to do this thing. Hiccup took off his fur vest and then his flight harness. He tied his satchel to the straps of leather on Toothless’s harness. He put Endeavor inside, and then he took off his boot and his prosthetic. He leaned unevenly on Toothless’s shoulder now. “No point in bothering you any more than necessary, and, ah... I don’t think I’ll have much room. Bud, maybe I can, well, hold onto your tongue and sit kinda halfway in?” Toothless at least liked that idea better. Hiccup would have to go in feet first. The boy took another deep breath and then laid on the floor on his chest. “Ok Bud, seriously, don’t draw this out.”
Toothless opened his mouth slowly and bit around Hiccup’s legs up to his thighs. He then lifted Hiccup up off the ground. Hiccup held his back stiff and balanced himself by pushing his palms down of Toothless’s bottom jaw. Toothless tilted his head back, and Hiccup felt himself beginning to slide in. “Ok, ok, ok... ah, um, you ok, Bud?” Hiccup turned around to look at the dragon’s eyes, and their expression told him that Toothless was clearly not ok. “Well this isn’t fun for me either, but we need to get to Link.” Hiccup slid in up to his chest. It was warm and slimy and slick, it smelled really badly of fish, Toothless’s throat pressed against Hiccup’s legs, and his tongue had this unpleasant reflex of yanking backwards and trying to push him down. Hiccup wrapped his arms under Toothless’s tongue, and Toothless tried to close his mouth. It worked, but then Toothless gagged. That was almost worse than the normal discomfort that Hiccup was experiencing. “Oh gods... Sorry, Bud. I didn’t think about that. Ok, um... yeah. Oh man, this is not fun. Ok, I’m gonna let go, but don’t worry, I should be fine. You just run and spit me up as soon as you are sure it is safe. I trust you Toothless.” Toothless didn’t want him to, but Hiccup let go, and Toothless forced himself to loudly swallow the boy down.
“Ok!” Came a very muffled voice. “I’m fine... well, not really, but run, Toothless!” Toothless tried really, really hard to not think of what he had just done and focus. He rushed into the shadows with his eyes closed. Both Hiccup and Toothless felt sure that they were the one getting the worse side of this ordeal.
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Skari stood weakly over Link. He was trying to generate electricity so as to give off light and keep the horrible statue from moving. He eyed it angrily, but deep down he was starting to feel afraid. His body was burning itself up. Usually he rode in storms where the energy of the clouds surged through him filling him with power, making him feel like he could do anything, but underground he could only generate his lightning by using himself as a battery, and that battery was running low. The orb lit itself up again, much to his relief, and Skari stopped generating static. Link moaned, and then there was a popping sound from inside his neck. He grit his teeth for a second, but then he leapt to his feet and picked his sword back up off the ground. “Thank goodness I have fifty Power Gems!” He shouted as he drew the blessed blade as well. “It’s going to take more than a broken neck to take us down.” Skari felt a surge of hope as Link charged the angel. It had healed itself again, in fact, it looked much, much stronger now than ever before. The Hylian swung both swords down on the wrist of the statue, but they did even less now than they had before. The rock was hardening. His enemy was growing terribly powerful. Then the light went out again. Link felt hands grab around him from behind, but he plunged the Blessed blade backwards, the light shot back to life, and the statue stood screaming with the sword sticking out of its chest. “Ha!” Link jumped away from it and looked it over. “It is weaker when it is moving! If only I could get its hand.” Link pulled and the Blessed Blade slipped out of the angel. He swung at its wrist again, but then he noticed something funny coming from the Master Sword, a pale light, and as soon as he noticed it, the light went out again. There was a metallic clang, and then the light came on again. The angel was gripping the blade of the Master Sword in its hand, and white light was trickling up from the hilt into the angel’s fingers. Link looked and saw to his dismay that the large cut he had made in the statue’s chest healed itself. “I don’t understand!” He shouted as he tugged at his sword. “How is it doing this?” Link pulled his sword from the angel’s grip.
Then there was a clacking of claws on the stone floor from the hallway. Toothless rushed in with his eyes tight shut and his middle slightly bigger than usual. “Toothless!” Link shouted “Glad to see you. Where’s Hicc-”
Toothless’s eyes popped open and then opened even wider as he lurched his head forward making a loud, bubbly wrenching sound in his throat.
“-up?” Link cocked his head sideways.
Toothless wretched again. There was a squelching gurgle from his stomach region and his throat distended slightly. “Oh come on, you’ve got to be kidding me!” said Link. That brother of his really was just stupid sometimes. Toothless wretched again, and Hiccup’s foot and stub came up into his mouth. Toothless tilted his head down to the ground, and then with one last bubbly noise he forced Hiccup up and out onto the floor. Hiccup lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling, his face and clothes covered in in drool, and his hair all droopy and wet. Toothless looked down into his eyes comically concerned. Hiccup let out a funny sort of noise and breathed in deeply. “Whew! Thank Thor that is over!” He let out a hysterical laugh. “You ok buddy?” Toothless yelped happily, and he was going to lick Hiccup’s face but decided that he had already soaked the boy enough. Instead he brushed Hiccup’s wet bangs to the side gently with his snout and hummed a sort of apologetic noise. Hiccup sat up and looked at Link who just stood there shaking his head.
Skari’s jaw had dropped slightly. He stood there just looking, staring in utter and absolute surprise, and then the corners of his open mouth curled up into a delighted smirk. “Toothless, did you just--”
Toothless continued to nuzzle Hiccup, but answered with a firmness, “No.”
“Yes you did.” Oh this was just too good in Skari’s opinion.
“No,” Toothless looked up and crossly groaned. “I carried him, simple as that.”
“And by ‘carry’ you mean you ATE him!?” Skari didn’t care that they were in danger. He kept his eye on the statue as he slipped up beside Toothless. He clacked his jaws and warbled in an utterly amused laugh. Toothless tried to ignore him. “And you--” Skari laughed again. “And you were so squeamish about me eating the dragon hunters! Look at you! At least I don’t eat my friends. Is it my turn next, or is he just yours?”
“I assume you are joking, but let me explain something, Skari.” Toothless was trying not to suddenly find the situation funny himself. Had he really just done that? “If you ever bring this up, I’ll pulverize you!” And with that Toothless let his eyes smile a little. At least the situation was over, even if he was getting teased.
Link got to Hiccup who stood up. The dragons both watched the statue as Skari continued to gargle teasing questions at Toothless who eventually just gave him an annoyed, deadpan stare. Maybe acting like Skari was being immature would solve the problem. Link asked Hiccup what had happened. Hiccup tried to stand up and look as helpful as one possibly can after having been barfed into the middle of a room with a lethal statue by your best friend in front of company. He put his equipment back on as he filled Link in on the details. “We got put back near the beginning of the maze. We’ve sprinted all the way here. Not a pleasant trip.”
“Obviously not, but you’ve only been gone a fe minutes. By Hylia you smell!”
“Well what do you expect? His breath is bad enough at times. Wait. No, that isn’t possible. Trust me, it was lot longer than a few minutes.”
“No, I’m positive.”
“So am I. I can promise you I was in Toothless for a whole lot longer than minutes.”
“Wait, but...” And then Link understood. “That’s IT!”
“What’s it?” Said Hiccup, and the light suddenly flickered. The statue turned to face them.
“This thing, this statue, it feeds on time energy! That is why it hasn’t sent me back, it wants my sword, and it is sucking power out of it! It healed itself once by transporting Skari back, and now it did it with you two. You had to face hours of time, but it only was minutes for us because you had been placed back! It is so simple!”
“Not really...” Said Hiccup. The statue moved closer again as the light continued to flicker.
“Well, now that we know how it works, I know how we can get it back to its original strength and nip it in the bud. It has been feeding off of time energy, but if I know my stuff, a paradox will make everything that it has fed off of undo!”
“How would we do that?”
“We just need to go back in time and do something that would make our going back in time impossible. Not too hard. I had several of them when I was trying to save you. It has drained my sword, so we can’t use it, and it won’t zap me back, but you or Toothless or Skari could do it. All you need to do is--”
But in his excitement both Link and Hiccup had not been watching the angel. It was right on top of them now, and it reached out and touched Hiccup and Toothless again. Back they went, back again.
Hiccup and Toothless fell on their backs for the second time. They were very close to the same place, just a little further from the wall of Vashta Nerada. Same as before they both felt sick, but luckily this time Toothless hadn’t landed on to of Hiccup. Then Hiccup heard something, it was his own voice coming from the corridor. “Bud, bud we need to catch ourselves!” Hiccup and Toothless ran along the hallway, and Hiccup screamed out as loud as he could, “Stop! Wait!” The voice ahead of him ceased, and Toothless and Hiccup ran right into their former selves. The other Hiccup had just taken off his vest. He looked up and stepped back shocked. “Ok... what is going on?” The two Toothlesses eyed each other in surprise, something incredible forming in their hearts.
“The angel, it puts you back in time.” The future Hiccup gasped. “Trust me, we have to make a paradox. I don’t know how, but we have to make it where something I do prevents me from being sent back as you in the future... I think.”
The past Hiccup looked cautiously at him. “How do I know you are not some trap? Stranger things have happened.”
“Uh... I can tell you what you are planning and prove that I did it.” Hiccup pulled at his tunic which was still slimy from Toothless. “Oh, and trust me, it is as bad as you are expecting.”
“Great... thank you for summing that up.” Both Hiccup’s smirked slightly, remembering how often they used to use that phrase.
“You know, it is kind of fun to talk to myself. I can tell you you’ll make it because I did, and then I got sent back here, and... Oh wait.”
“What?” The past Hiccup saw something dark pass along the future Hiccup’s face.
“The paradox... If I kill you, then it will be impossible for me to come back to the past to kill you. Link said it will undo everything, so we’ll be safe... I think.”
“Oh perfect...” The past Hiccup sighed. “And that even makes sense. Sounds just like Link, too.” He quietly weighed his options.
“Please, please, I don’t want to do this to myself, I don’t, but you have to trust me. If you don’t this cycle will continue until we die of exhaustion. It is called a labyrinth because the angel will give us endless paths, but only one will get us through, and apparently that is a paradox. Please, you have to trust me.”
Past Hiccup looked into the eyes of the future Hiccup, and he saw all the fear and doubt and horror that he had lived through. Those were his own eyes, he knew it, and this was not a sham, it was a terrible, terrifying choice. He cringed. He had died many times before, but to be killed by himself... that was different, and then he looked at himself and realized that there was a bigger problem. His future self had Endeavor, but he wouldn’t use it. He couldn’t bring himself to kill someone just because it might fix something. It was not that it was himself, it was that that someone was innocent and he would be killing him to achieve an end. It didn’t matter what dimension he was in, that wasn’t something he was willing to do. Past Hiccup was willing to die, scared but willing, but future Hiccup was not about to murder. He flicked his sword out, tried to screw up the nerve to use it, but he couldn’t.
Future and past Toothless had not stopped staring at each other. They were mesmerized. It was what Toothless wanted so badly, another Night Fury, someone just like him, he and Hiccup had searched so, so long, and here it was. This one even had a missing tail and was his age. It was a miracle. The things he could do with a companion of his own species, the love and loyalty they could show. It would fix everything that Skari and his family had destroyed, but then both Toothlesses saw both Hiccups, saw the one Hiccup trying to be brave and the other having a war with his own conscience. The past Toothless stepped between the future Hiccup and his own. Then the the future Toothless understood, it was what Skari had talked about, it was what Link had been trying to explain. These Hiccups... one had to kill the other. He looked at his past self and explained, but his past version would not stand for it.
“No. You can’t kill him, not in front of me. I don’t care who you are.”
“This is something, something to do with time, and I don’t understand it, but we need to trust Hiccup.”
“I will not let you hurt him. I won’t let him hurt himself if that is what is happening.” The past Toothless snarled.
“Wait...maybe we can make it to were he doesn’t have to. But...”
“Only I would think of that... You really are me aren’t you. I... I am willing, but are you?”
“I don’t know.” The future Toothless whined. Suddenly he saw himself as what he would be, a murderer, he would kill his only hope of a companion. “I will try. For Hiccup.”
“For Hiccup.”
Future Hiccup was still fingering around with his sword, but his conscience burned. He couldn’t just kill himself, and even if he did, how would he know that he was actually going to undo everything? What if he actually died? What if his hand was the one that turned himself over to the Gemnodes? He never liked fighting, he hated killing, but to kill for his own sake... to kill himself for his own sake, that was horrible. Then, just as he was debating, the two Toothless stood and faced each other. Both Hiccup’s asked at once, “Bud, what are you doing?”
The past Toothless opened his mouth, inhaled, and green gas slipped up his throat. The future Toothless, with a heart broken wail, reared back and with as much force as he could generate blasted his past self in the mouth. The past Toothless’s head exploded out the back, and he fell shuddering to the ground. Future Toothless looked on in horror as the one thing he had dreamed of most, as another Night Fury, died by his own fire. Both Hiccup’s shouted “NO!” and fell by the wounded dragon, but the past Toothless closed his eyes slowly and died without a sound.
The entire hallway burst into a ringing, horrible cacophony of noises. The world around future Hiccup burned, shredded, and was pulled apart. He felt that he was swirling around and around in a field of endless white. Then everything stopped, everything. Time, love, life, it all held still, and then it all reversed. Hiccup and Toothless fell back into the room with the Weeping Angel at the exact moment when the statue reached out to touch them first. But instead of touching them, the angel cracked, white lines dug across its face and arms, and then with a bright and glimmering flash, the angel exploded sending bits of gravel skittering across the floor. The paradox was not just going to take things back, it was going to suck all the time energy that the angel had devoured back out all at once, and that was lethal. The bronze key fell to the ground, and Hiccup and Toothless stood staring at it blankly.
Link was still lying on the floor with a broken neck, and Skari was still suffering from exhaustion. Link moaned out, “You did it. You actually did it...”
“How could you remember?” Asked Hiccup, who was still staring somberly at the key.
“Everyone who was involved with the paradox will remember it. Skari will too... I think.” Link’s neck healed and he leaned up to try and look at Hiccup. “You ok?”
“No. I am not ok.” Hiccup balled his fist. “Toothless killed himself for me because I wouldn’t. He killed another Night Fury. Don’t you see? He dreamed of that for years, we both did.” Hiccup fell to the floor and leaned against the wall. “And he did it because I didn’t give him a way out.” Link got up and stumbled over to sit by Hiccup as Skari went up to Toothless.
“Hiccup, you are worth more to Toothless than any Night Fury could ever be. How many times will Astrid and I have to tell you? He loves you more than himself and more than any of his hopes and dreams. He trusts you even when he doesn’t understand. Be there for him, and I promise I will try to never separate you two again. For both your sakes.” Link put his hand on Hiccup’s shoulder, and Hiccup grabbed it and held it tightly.
“Thank you... I just wish he didn’t have to do that. I don’t know what he must be thinking now.” Hiccup looked at Toothless and was surprised to see that Skari was cooing something to him.
“So you had to kill your only hope of seeing someone like you? I am sorry... I am truly am. That boy, he was worth it to you? He is worth more than what I took? Dagr, I mean, Toothless... you are a far greater and nobler dragon than I could ever be. I used to hate you, I would have loved to see you suffer, but now I know why you suffer so... You suffer for his sake, and I just wish I was more like you. Toothless, I am sorry for what I have done, and I beg you to forgive me.”
“I do... You are welcome to stay with us if you like.” Toothless breathed out slowly. “We will both have to ignore our old feelings and habits, but trust me... if anyone can change a dragon’s heart, it is my Hiccup. I really am not alone, Skari. I have him, and he is worth more than everything anyone ever took from me.”
Hiccup walked up to Toothless and tried to apologize, but the Night Fury stuffed his big black head right into Hiccup’s chest and purred. He didn’t want Hiccup to apologize, he didn’t want Hiccup to change, and he wanted Hiccup to know he felt that way. “But, Bud?” Toothless nuzzled even harder, pushing Hiccup to the ground and consoling him. Link walked over to the door with the key and both he and Skari looked back to see Hiccup hugging Toothless’s head tight against his chest. Toothless hummed, and Hiccup felt that no words could express how much he loved that dragon and how privileged he was to have such a friend. Hiccup had seen Toothless give up everything for him, and Hiccup felt now that if he was given the opportunity, he would do no less.
Minutes, maybe hours past. Toothless and Hiccup didn’t know, but when they finally got back to their feet, Link was watching and smiling quietly. The door was opened behind him, and inside that room was a small pedestal with the Blessed Blade stabbed down into it. Link had something in his hand. He opened it up, and in the middle of his palm was a tiny, glinting flake of color changing gem.
“You got it!?” Hiccup asked in amazement.
“Yep, it was in a Silent Realm. Beautifully well crafted hiding place; only way to get into it is to use Ike’s sword. Without his sword, the world doesn’t exist! Hide the greatest treasure in a world that doesn’t exist unless your own weapon creates it, now that is clever!”
“But that was the final challenge... wasn’t it, I don’t know, challenging?”
“Nope. Ike was a bit too predictable here. He wanted to be the world’s greatest swordsman, and so he designed a final challenge that he thought only he could master. Quite frankly, two hundred armed sword guardians, one shard in a chest in the middle of them, I couldn’t have been happier!” Link swished his own sword with a flourish. “I finally got a decent sword fight! Now we just need to get out of here, and we better hope that your guess on how this thing works is correct.”
And so the four walked slowly back into the darkness Hiccup riding happily on Toothless and Skari and Link walking on either side. Love and trust triumphed that day, but as Sardilic closed in and caught the scent, Hiccup’s life and everything it meant to his friends was only moments from being snuffed out. The hunt was coming to a close, and Sardilic was about to find his prey.
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