Chapter 1: Gone

Hiccup never thought it would come to this. But then again, he was surprised he hadn't done it earlier. He was surprised he didn't leave right after he felt comfortable riding Toothless. He figured that a small part of him was still hoping. A part of him was hoping that one day, everyone would accept him. He waited for the day when they would be glad to be around him rather than be burdened. Hiccup tried countless times to become friends with the only teenagers that were his age. But even they shunned him. Well, almost all of them.

Astrid was the only one who hadn't directly insulted him, at least until today. Now, as he was packing all his baskets for his travels, he realized that she was the only one out of everyone in the entire village that hadn't directly called him useless or a mess up. But now…

It was the day that they would face the Deadly Nadder in dragon training. Gobber had an intricate wooden maze set up to make them think about their movements. Hiccup had different priorities, however. He was more concerned with everyone's knowledge about Night Furies than he was about the Nadder chasing everyone about. That's when he heard his name.

"HICCUP!" He had all but a second to turn around and see Astrid Hofferson land on him with her axe on the battlefield. He heard the twins make a remark about them, but he didn't care for it too much. When she got off of him in the nick of time to slam the shield into the Deadly Nadder's head. Hiccup was cowering behind her. At the sight of him, Astrid decided she had had enough.

"Is this some kind of a joke to you?! Our parents' war is about to become ours! Figure out which side you're on!" she exclaimed as he pointed her axe in his face. After fifteen years of suffering, Hiccup finally snapped. I already did, he thought. And with that, he stood up quickly and walked straight to Astrid. Shocked by the sudden burst of confidence from Hiccup, Astrid backed away. Hiccup looked her straight in the eye with all the ferocity he could muster. Without another word, he turned around and went to gather his things.

Once he made it to the cove, he was ready to leave. He had his basket full of his things, and Toothless all saddled up. They didn't know where they were going to go, but anywhere was better than there.

Hiccup was so caught up in today's thoughts, that he hadn't even noticed Astrid sitting on the rock above him.

0000

After Hiccup glared at Astrid, she couldn't help but feel his anger. She would never admit this to anyone, but she was actually a little scared by his sudden ferocity. She always thought of Hiccup as a gentle, kind boy. That was one of the reasons she had a secret crush on him. But today, she was already aggravated by Snotlout's earlier attempts at flirting that she snapped at the only teen she would ever be willing to be with. When she saw the look in his eyes, she could tell that something had been pulled; a stick had been snapped inside him. As he walked away, she couldn't help but feel a little regret for what she had just said: to even question his allegiance to them was a low blow.

So she decided to follow him. She was going to apologize somehow. But she couldn't figure out how. When he started running towards the woods with a basket on his back, she couldn't help but feel suspicious. She carefully followed him through the trees and into a vast cove. She had never been to that place before in her life. When she finally confronted him, he was already cowering back. Astrid could tell he was hiding something.

That's when she saw it. A Night Fury, black as night with green eyes full of ferocity, just like Hiccup's. She was so taken aback by the site of the night fury that she tripped over a stick and fell back on her head. She felt a thump as her head crashed into the rock behind her, and then the world went black.

0000

"Oh boy, oh boy this is bad," Hiccup said as he tried to pull Astrid's head into his lap.

"This was never supposed to happen bud." He didn't want to leave her like this, but there wasn't much time left before people would start noticing their disappearance, well mostly Astrid's. He made sure that she was still breathing before laying her head back carefully into some soft grass. Even when she was unconscious, Hiccup thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world.

With one last glance at her, he took off on Toothless. It was already nighttime by the time they actually lifted off and the moon was full and shun upon the cove. Hiccup couldn't help but notice how Astrid slowly got up after he and Toothless took off. He saw her fall to her knees when she saw that he wasn't there anymore. He thought that she was about to cry for a second, but Hiccup knew better. Who would cry for Hiccup the Useless? Without looking back, Hiccup and Toothless flew away from the island.

0000

Astrid awoke to the beating of wings around her. Oh God, there must be a dragon raid, she thought. But she looked around only to find herself in a cove. All the events of the day came rushing back into her mind. She followed Hiccup, confronted him, hit her head, and now… now she couldn't find him. She looked around to see if he was anywhere in the cove, but all she saw were burns in the grass. At the sight of the burns, she felt her heart drop. Hiccup was… gone. The dragon must have killed him. She didn't even notice the tears that were falling from her eyes. After a few more minutes of grieving, she couldn't but think it was all her fault.

If she just kept her mouth shut, none of this would have happened. Hiccup would be safe, but because of her, he was gone. Astrid ran back to the village as fast as she could, tears streaming out of her eyes. She burst into the great hall to find their chief in hopes that they could find the only heir Berk had.

0000

Hiccup felt tired. They had been flying for hours and a hint of orange was already starting to show in the horizon. He heard Toothless grunt out of exhaustion, so they decided to rest on a small island. They were already far away from Berk; no ship would sail this far. They probably thought that he was still on the island. After all, how else would he get off? They didn't know he had trained a dragon. As they landed on the beach, Hiccup couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he stayed and tried to convince the Vikings how friendly dragons really could be.

But as his feet came into contact with the sand, Hiccup couldn't deny feeling as if something was watching him. The island sent shivers through his spine and he thought he saw the black silhouette of something on the tree line. Almost as soon as he had noticed it, the figure was gone.

Hiccup carefully approached the tree line before calling out to the mysterious figure. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

Hiccup thought he heard strange whispers all around him. But he was snapped out of it when he heard the sound of a catapult. He quickly turned around and saw Toothless trapped underneath a net with heavy weights holding down each corner. Hiccup saw what looked like a pirate clamping Toothless's mouth shut with a belt.

"I got the devil!" he exclaimed.

"Good, I'll get the boy," another said.

Before he could do anything, another pirate came out of the trees and held Hiccup in an arm lock. Out of the corner of his eye, Hiccup could see two other burly-looking pirates come from the tree line.

One of them looked like the leader of the group. "Well, well, well, look at what we got 'ere lads," he said.

The one holding Toothless down chuckled. "What's your name kid?" he asked bitterly.

Hiccup didn't respond; he did not want these pirates to know his identity. As if reading his mind, the pirate nodded and said, "I see how it is." He then hook-punched Hiccup in the jaw. He could feel the blood in his mouth. With a punch to the stomach this time, the man finally said, "I'm only going to ask this one more time. What is your name?"

Hiccup coughed some blood out before weakly muttering, "Hiccup. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, heir of Berk."

Hiccup heard all the pirates "Ooooo" sarcastically. The leader then spoke again. "Well if you're a chief, then by all means I'll just go ahead offer you my most sincere greeting."

Hiccup received another punch across the face. "W-What do you want from me?" Hiccup asked faintly.

The pirate simply laughed. "What do you we want? I'll tell you what we want. We want money, and LOTS of it. I'm sure your village will be more than happy to get their scrawny chief back."

"M-My village will never pay for me. I'm worthless to them," Hiccup said through the blood in his mouth. He heard Toothless whimpering as the pirate held him down.

"Then I guess you're worthless to us too then." The pirate turned around and waved the pirates over after saying, "Teach 'im a lesson boys."

The rest of the pirates took turns beating Hiccup senseless. He wondered when the suffering would end and he could just die. It seemed that Death had other plans for him. With a kick to the face, Hiccup blacked out and fell to the ground.

0000

"What do you mean he was taken?!" Stoick the Vast's voice boomed through the great hall.

"A night fury took him, chief! We need to get out there and look for him!" Astrid yelled as she gestured to the doors.

Then she noticed Stoick's eyes narrow.

"Wait a minute, how did you know he was taken?"

Astrid looked at the ground and said, "I followed him after I yelled at him in dragon training. He ran into the woods afterwards. I was going to confront him, but then a night fury came out of nowhere and I fell backwards."

Astrid could see anger forming in Stoick's eyes. "So let me get this straight. You insulted my son and drove him, the only heir to the chiefdom, to his death?"

Taken aback by his harsh words, Astrid took a step back. "I-I didn't think he would-"

She was suddenly interrupted by a fist slamming on the table. "I should have seen this coming! I should have never put him in dragon training with all of you! You should all be ashamed of yourselves! What a great dishonor you have all brought upon your families!"

Astrid was shocked by the chief's words. She could see in the corner of her eyes the rest of the group cowering back at his words.

"I want search parties all over this island! No stone gets unturned!" Without another word, the chief shoved past Astrid with a glare and kicked the doors open.

0000

With his face in the dirt, Hiccup looked up to see the four pirates around him. After beating him senseless, Hiccup thinks that they are going to kill him. But as his eyes move from one pirate to the other, he can see the frightened expressions on their faces as the moon shines on them. He hears strange sounds around him that sound like faint lightning strikes. He sees the trees around him start to collapse as the mysterious force moves closer and closer before he sees a black hooded figure standing in front of them all.

One of the pirates shouts something, but Hiccup is so close to unconsciousness that he doesn't hear him. The hooded figure simple stands there before taking out a staff with a strange curved blade on the end of it. All four pirates draw their swords in preparation for a fight. All of a sudden, Hiccup hears a loud crash as all four pirates fall down to the ground. He sees the hooded figure approach him. Hiccup cannot make out the face underneath the hood; it is too dark to see even with a full moon. As Hiccup begins to loose consciousness, he feels a very bony hand on his forehead before the hooded figure says, "It is not your time…"

Hiccup woke up several hours later in a bed. He thought he should feel sore from the beatings, but if anything he felt better rested than he ever had in his life. The bed he was laying in was softer than any furs he had ever rested on. The covers of the bed were not even furs, but something softer that had multiple layers. Hiccup took a look around. He was in a very strange room unlike anything he had ever seen before. The floor was made up of stone bricks and the walls were also made of bricks. Tall windows around the room filled the room with sunlight. The ceiling was very tall with an intricate chandelier hanging.

The door was made of dark oak and the handle was a carving of a skull. Behind him was the bedframe. It had intricate carvings and writings in it. But all carvings and sculptures on the headrest lead to one sentence that was larger than the rest.

We do only what we are meant to do.

Hiccup got out of the bed and walked over to the window. He looked outside and was taken aback by the scenery. The room he resided in was part of a gigantic palace that over looked the entire island it was on. Hiccup only heard about castles like these in stories that traders would bring whenever they came to Berk. But there was something strange about this place. Hiccup felt… well he didn't feel anything. No sadness, no happiness… nothing. He felt like he didn't belong, like he wasn't meant to be in this place, like no one was meant to be in this place. When Hiccup turned around, the same figure with torn black robes stood before him. Hiccup hadn't even noticed him, or it, enter. There was something eerie about the man, something off-putting.

"W-Who are you?" Hiccup asked.

"It's magnificent isn't it," he simply replied. His voice was raspy and sounded forced. The mysterious figure acted as if he hadn't heard Hiccup's question.

The figure walked past Hiccup to the window. As he passed by, Hiccup felt himself shiver.

"The first of us built it. Five thousand generations ago, the first of us decided that he did not like living underneath the Earth. So he built this place."

"I don't understand…" Hiccup said.

The figure turned around slowly. "I wouldn't expect you too. But I suppose that you are curious as to why you are here and what exactly I am." The figure started to raise his hands to his hood. Hiccup hadn't noticed it before, but his hands were…bones. Not bony, but they were skinless. They were simply bones.

"I am known as many different things, but one name is most associated with me. Many people fear the day that I come for them," he said as he pulled back his hood. Hiccup's eyes widened when he saw not a man, but a skeleton. The figure in front of him was a skeleton with a blazing darkness in, what would be, its eyes. "Your people call me Death."

Hiccup shivered as it said those words. There was no way that the force that claimed everyone's lives was standing before him. "That's-That's impossible."

"Is it really so impossible? When you arrived at the beach, you sensed something didn't you? You saw me destroy all of your attackers. And here I am, standing before you. Is it really so hard to believe?"

"If-If you're death, then does that mean I'm dead?" Hiccup asked.

"Far from it. We have plenty of things to do. All will be explained in due time. For now, I suppose that I will appear to you as my former human self."

Death's robe started moving around to cover him and engulf him in what became black smoke. As the smoke dissipated, Hiccup saw a fully skinned man who was standing in front of him. He was no longer wearing his torn robes, but was rather wearing a strange outfit. He was fitted with leather boots and torn pants. He was wearing a black tunic with a ragged hem that fell beneath his waist. He had black hair and red eyes that sent shivers down Hiccup's spine.

"Follow me," he said in a voice that was much more human. Death waved the door open with his hand and walked out into the long stone hallway.

"It is time for us to begin," he said as Hiccup followed him into the dark hallway.

0000

After hours of searching the island, no one could find Hiccup. Stoick's heart broke the day Valka was taken, but now that he lost his son as well, there was nothing left but a cold shell of a man. After the searches were called off, Stoick pushed through the great hall and pointed a finger at the teenage group. They all cowered back in fear of the chief.

"Your actions will not be forgotten. You have all brought great dishonor to your families. Especially you, Hofferson. I would have expected more from the greatest warrior of your generation." With that, Stoick swiftly turned around and stormed to his house. Shortly after, Astrid ran out to her own house. She could already feel the tears welling up in her eyes. She really missed Hiccup. If he came back now, she would tell him how sorry she was for ignoring him ever since they turned ten. She would have told him how she wanted them to be best friends like they were when they were kids. She would have told him how she had a secret crush on him. As she sobbed into the pillow, all she could think about was the look that Hiccup gave her when he left the academy.