Chapter Text
Red barely managed to get up during the distraction, and the dragon's hateful chant rang in his ears. It was so hard to think . . . He'd failed. He'd failed everyone, and they saw him as a failure.
Mew, the Wodensfang, hovered by his ear. "It's not your fault, lad. You were so close. Fate can be cruel sometimes."
"I know, I know!" Red's gaze darted around him. He could hear Furious's voice under all that, and once the giant dragon got here, everyone left would be incinerated.
If they weren't all dead already. Red saw one man's face being ripped apart by his own hunting dragon.
"I just have to find Pika and Gyarawing. I need to make sure they're all right!" As much wreckage as the dragons had already caused, the vikings weren't a threat to be taken lightly. Several dragons were already dead, and Gyarawing was the gentle kind that wouldn't hurt a soul.
"You're l-looking for me?" Pika chirped in his little way, then sent a shock through Red. "You sh-shouldn't do that! We need to get you out of here!"
"I can't just run away! People are dying!"
A familiar mood dragon flew into sight, gently gliding through the air and dodging attacks as she followed Red.
"Don't worry," Jiggly said in Norse, which she could speak for some reason. "Green managed to get some people's attention, and Giovanni is leading a retreat. She sent me to find you and tell you that he's also put a reward out on whoever can bring you back to him."
Red stopped for a moment. "Is she angry with me? About . . ."
Red touched his forehead, where the mark was.
Jiggly snorted. "No! She's known about it for ages. She wanted to come meet you to wish you well, but she got caught up in the retreat. I think she's planning on stealing the Lost things back for you."
Jiggly hadn't turned the slightest bit purple, the color of lies. So . . . As far as she knew, Green was genuine. She was still on his side. He wasn't completely alone, just as he'd realized when Blue also stood by him.
Speaking of Blue, Red had lost sight of him. Was he dead already? Was there a chance he'd gotten away? Jiggly flew away while Red frantically searched the crowd of bloodshed. Where was everyone? How was it possible to survive this much carnage?
Carnage you weren't good enough to prevent. Carnage that is your fault, you Hiccup.
Hiccup forced the thoughts out of his mind for the time being and continued searching the crowd. As he dodged more and more fires and flying axes, he caught sight of Gyarawing's distinct blue-and-purple fish-scales, and he ran towards it without another thought, not even considering that Gyarawing could have joined up with the rebellion.
It was a fair assessment, as he hadn't. He was walking through the back door of the keep, and Red hurried to follow. When he made it outside to where Gyarawing had disappeared off to, he slowed for a moment.
Blue was standing there, with Goldie, Charclaw, Gyarawing, and Green's little brother, Silver. Blue looked up.
"So you finally decided to get up," Blue said, his voice clearly strained. There was blood all over his clothes, and he looked tired. "And you found us. That'll make this easier."
Red stepped forward. "Why do you have Gyarawing? Blue, what's going on?"
"You're leaving, Red. Right now," Blue said. "You were always going to be the hero, not me. You're the one who found all the King's Lost Things. You have to get out of here."
"Goldie's here," Red said. "Aren't you coming?"
Blue shook his head. "Someone needs to keep an eye on Berk and the Hooligans. All the potential heirs to become chief were just outed as runts or liars that broke tradition. It's going to be some kind of chaos."
"Then . . ." Red looked at Silver. "He's sending his dragons with you?"
Silver nodded. "Green told me to gather our allies. I don't have a dragon of my own, and they're all over the place. Since the vikings of Berk would kill them on sight . . ."
"We decided this was the best option. I'm pretty sure Green planned it this way when she sent Silver to find me," Blue said, then gently stroked Charclaw's head, and Charclaw leaned in to the touch. "They'll keep you out of trouble. They're amazing dragons."
His voice cracked on amazing, then he shook his head, straightened, and nodded to Silver. "You're good to go. The attacking forces won't see you if you keep below the trees for a while."
Silver nodded, paused, then handed Red his lobster claw necklace.
Red stopped. "Silver . . . I thought you said this was all you had of your parents?"
"I'm not going to run into them where I'm going, so I'll need you to say hello for me if you meet them," Silver said, then climbed aboard Goldie's back. "They're also heavier than lobster claws tend to be, and make a good weapon in close quarters. And Green says they're lucky, but I don't believe in that as much as you guys all seem too."
Red hefted them a couple of times. He was right about the weight. How odd.
Odd, and touching that he'd offer Red a gift. Yet another person. "Thank you, Silver."
Silver nodded again, then clicked his tongue once (Which was actually the sound indicating a question in Dragonese) and Goldie ran down to the cliff and dropped, only coming up to level flight mere feet from the ground below.
Blue stood and watched for a moment, as did Red.
"Well, I'm not going to be the sentimental one, Red," Blue said, turning away from the dragons that were quickly fading into the trees. "But . . . You know how I said you'd need aid from fortune to get ahead? That was stupid. They clearly don't care about you other than to hurt you. Instead, take this other prayer: Fly with the speed of Thor's chariot, and escape with Loki's trickery. Everyone will be hunting you, if Furious hates you as much as you say, so don't stop running."
With that, before Red could say anything, Blue handed Gyarawing's reins back to him and ran back inside. From where he stood, Red could see that he'd picked up a sword and joined the fight to hold the line so others could retreat.
"He's going back to Berk? I don't think that's such a good idea on his part," Mew said.
"He is an idiot, sometimes," Red said, turning back to the edge of the cliff. All he had to do was leave. "All vikings are, some more than others."
The dragon Furious' roar echoed through the skies, louder than anything Red had heard in his entire life. It was the kind of volume that would leave a man deaf, so Red didn't count on ever being able to hear anything again.
He instead watched, as the much healthier-looking dragon Furious, with his massive size, looked around the area, saw the ships that the vikings were fleeing towards, and start clawing his way over to that side of the mountain.
Red took a deep breath as he stared at the monstrous dragon looming above everyone, almost within striking distance to destroy the boats that everyone was fleeing in. I can save them. I can save them.
All I have to do is lure away Furious. My friends are counting on me.