[HTTYD] Hybrid: Lies (theme 58)

Hybrid: Lies (theme 58) [rough draft], a DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon fanfic series by Raberba girl

List of themes by Xcaii, Variation 4 for the 100ThemesChallenge group on DeviantArt

 

A/N:  Takes place a little before "Puzzle."

 

o.o.o

 

Valka was relieved once the boy Eret had been safely returned to his castle home.  She needed some time to recover from the idea of having finally established a connection to the human world for her son.  (Or, rather, she started procrastinating now that she had at last made some real progress.)

 

Hiccup had no such inhibitions.  Two days after the incident, as he and Toothless were sprawled together in a pile of boredom, Hiccup suddenly decided that he wanted to play with his newest toy.  "We will go find that Cornered 'Eret' that I like," he told his companion.

 

"Scared young human," Toothless remembered.

 

"He's better than those OTHER human cubs that I very much don't like!!!"

 

Toothless studied him for a while.  "...Half Of Me, You are missing your human breedmates?  You are lonely being in this many-dragons-and-two-humans nest?"

 

Hiccup buried his face in his brother's neck.  "I am happy with You here.  ...But maybe a little small tiny bit lonely."

 

Toothless licked him for a while to comfort him.  When Hiccup was soothed, Toothless told him, "We will go find that Cornered that You like."

 

"Yes," Hiccup said happily, glad to have his other half's support, but he also climbed onto the dragon's back and rubbed the scent of his skin over Toothless's scales and licked the dragon's forehead, asserting claim in order to reassure them both.  "My Half Of Me that I love is MINE first always forever, but this fun Cornered human, I will play with him and then I will feel better.  My Half Of Me that is mine."

 

"Mine," Toothless purred, rubbing his cheek against Hiccup's arm.

 

They waited until Valka went to bed and Ice Hunt took over parenting duties.  They waited a little longer.  Then Hiccup crawled over to his other half's father and asked to play with his new toy.

 

Ice Hunt considered the request uneasily.  "Your dam who adores you, she will very much worry if you go so far away without her."

 

"Mama is asleep," Hiccup crooned persuasively.  "Mama can't worry because She's asleep!"

 

Something about this didn't seem quite right to Ice Hunt.  He knew that his human friend would be extremely unhappy if he took her precious thing so far away from her, but little Dragonheart had a point when he said that she wouldn't even notice the absence if she was asleep.  Yet...something was wrong.  The little human never smelled or looked like this when he was innocent.

 

Ice Hunt suddenly knocked Hiccup to the ground and pinned him, growling.  "You are doing this 'deception' that we very much don't like?" he guessed.

 

Hiccup squirmed, his body language and the scent of his guilt acting as an admission.  Toothless, feeling just as chastised as his other half, hunched down low and whimpered.

 

"Right now you are not Dragonheart, right now you are Liar and are very much human."

 

Hiccup burst into tears, cowed and repentant and miserable.

 

After a moment, Ice Hunt set his paw aside and started licking the boy to comfort him.  "We shouldn't hurt your dam who loves you," he said gently.

 

Hiccup was curled up in shame.  He started to speak but soon gave up, too subdued to even try.

 

Toothless crept close and crouched over him, hiding him from sight.  Speaking on Hiccup's behalf, he said in the dragon equivalent of a whisper, "Sad, lonely.  Want to find human cub Cornered to play with and not be lonely, but Mama will be scared even though there's no danger, Mama will keep us home, boring, Mama is so scared and wants me to be scared, too.  I'm so unhappy, what do I do, what do I do--?!"

 

"Hush."  Ice Hunt nudged Toothless aside and licked Hiccup again.  "We will ask Alpha.  If Alpha says we may go, we will go.  If Alpha says we must stay, we will stay."

 

Hiccup stretched out, exposing his vulnerabilities to express his gratitude and humility.  Ice Hunt accepted the gesture, then nudged the boy to his feet and carried him to the king.

 

o.o.o

 

Author's Notes:  Even though what Hiccup said was technically true, he knew that a dragon's default would be to interpret what he said at face value.  So it was a lie in spirit, which is what Ice Hunt picked up on.  There might be a few occasions where dragons would try to mislead, but overall they are animals and usually have no reason to obscure the truth.  Deception is a very human trait, and dragons disapprove of it being used unjustifiably.

 

Ice Hunt's and Hiccup's relationship is a little complicated....  Ice Hunt hasn't quite adopted him, because dragons only 'officially' adopt hatchlings who are orphaned or abandoned, and Hiccup still has his mother to take care of him.  But because Hiccup is two halves with Ice Hunt's hatchling, Ice Hunt and Hiccup sort of see each other as 'honorary' parent and child.

 

I've been replying to reviews slowly but steadily; sorry for the delay!  My goal is to get to all of them before too much time has passed.

 

Looks like you guys might have to wait a while for that 'Hiccup freaking out Eret's servants' story - as I was working on the vignette after this one (which is Hiccup's meeting with the king), Valka and the Bewilderbeast suddenly started shoving plunnies at me, so I might be jumping backwards on the timeline to when Hiccup is a baby/toddler again. :/

 

When I first started posting this fic, I expected (because of past experience, such as His Soul Reflects My Own...) that I'd be jumping all over the timeline like crazy.  One chapter, Hiccup would be six years old, scampering around with hatchling Toothless in the Sanctuary; next chapter, teenage Hiccup would be getting underfoot in the Hooligan forge.

 

I didn't anticipate that I actually would be writing the chapters more or less in order, merely making small timeline jumps rather than major ones.  I think it's because it's important for me to get Hiccup's character development right, because I'm more prone to make huge mistakes with his development if I jump around too drastically.  Anyway, if I continue on like this, it's probably going to be rather a long time before Hiccup gets to Berk.  Eret (and sort of Hiccup along with him) goes through an entire plot arc before Hiccup ever sets foot on Berk, and there's a lot of random dragon-focused ideas I still have to write, too.  (And now watch me suddenly go and write a bunch of Berk chapters right after I've said this. X'''D)

 

Ftr, here is where I've been listing the Hybrid vignettes in both chronological order and theme order.  As always, FFN will eat the link, but it should work fine on AO3 and DevArt:  raberbagirl.wordpress.com/indexmisc/#hybrid

 

Complete:  11/100