AN: I surprised myself with this one. I didn't think I had such disturbingness within me. It's not horror or anything, but simply the way it reads is eerie. Anyway, remember that little girl in the first movie, when Toothless is being loaded on the longboats, and Gothi's cuddling her and a little blonde boy? This is what she saw. Enjoy!
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I remember I was watching, with my brother and Mama Gothi, when they put the big black dragon on the boat. He was crying, and they put big chains on him, and he cried harder.
"Mama Gothi," I said, "why are they hurting him? He's scared." She just hugged me and my brother closer. I looked up and I saw that boy, the one no-one likes, watching, and he looked sad, and he was watching the big black dragon too.
"Mama Gothi," I said. "if the boy doesn't like it, then why are they doing it?" Mama Gothi was silent. She always is. On the big boat, Chief turned and saw the boy. He frowned and looked away.
"But Mama Gothi," I said, "isn't that boy Chief's family?"
But the boats went away, and the boy was still here. Then the girl comes. I like the girl, she's strong and brave. I want to be just like her. She talks to the boy, and then they turn and run to the place where the dragons get hurt. I follow them, and the boy calls the dragons out, and they listen to him. They are cute, and I want to cuddle them. Another two boys and the two-who-look-the-same are there too, and they all climb on the dragons and fly away. I run to Mama Gothi.
"Mama Gothi," I cry. "The boy is gone!"
But she just smiles. I run to Mummy.
"Mummy!" I cry, but she runs past. Everyone is very quiet. I go looking for my brother.
"Why is everyone quiet?" I ask him.
"Because the boy did bad," he tells me. "He made friends with the big black dragon."
"But if people have friends, why can't dragons?" I whine.
"Because they hurt people," he says.
"But people hurt dragons, too. Maybe if we don't hurt them, they won't hurt us."
"Ingie, dragons are mean. The boy did bad, and Chief told him he wasn't a Viking."
"But if he's not a Viking," I say, confused, "then what is he?"
"He's an Outcast," my brother says proudly. "I heard someone say that in the village. I don't know what it is, but he's one."
Outcast sounds like a bad word. I don't want to say it; I might get in trouble. Me and my brother sit for a while, before I start hearing yells. I run to Mummy. She's pointing at a big blue dragon, and it has people on its back. It's the girl! Behind her are the red dragon, the green dragon and the brown dragon. But where's the black dragon?
The big blue dragon lands, and Chief and the girl hop off. Chief is holding the boy. He looks different. He's asleep, and he's wearing strange pants. One leg is the same green it always is, but one is red, and Chief's belt is tied around it. Why is the boy sleeping? Then I see that he has no foot.
"Mummy," I say. "Where did his foot go?"
She turns a strange colour and starts yelling for Mama Gothi. When Mama Gothi comes, she turns the same colour, and she runs up to the boy. Then I see Chief is crying.
"Mummy," I say. "Why is Chief crying?"
They carry the boy away somewhere, and then the other dragons turn and go into the distance. When they come back, they're helping pull big piles of wood. Maybe they used to be boats. The big black dragon is there, and the moment he's close enough he jumps onto the island and starts running towards where the boy went. He's letting out scared noises, and I follow. They're in Mama Gothi's house, and Mama Gothi is frantically drawing with her staff, and the girl suddenly starts crying.
"No," she wails. "He will make it! This is Hiccup; he won't give up."
"Astrid," Chief says. "Can you go take care of Ingie? She's watching through the window."
He sounds scared, and I wonder why. The girl comes outside and picks me up.
"Okay, Ingie," she says quietly. "Come on…"
I follow the girl down the hill, and I hear sounds from Mama Gothi's house.
I tug on the girl's skirt.
"Why is your friend screaming?" I ask her. She turns a funny colour and scoops me up, hugging really tight.
"He'll be alright," she says, more to herself than to me. "I know he will."
And she places her hands over my ears, and now I can't hear the boy anymore.