NOVEL NEXT Chapter 29: chapter 8
As promised, Chief Stoick called a town meeting before the Great Hall was prepared for dinner. All the Vikings were confused when Hiccup went to the front with Kala right behind him in dragon form.
There were murmurs floating through the crowd as they made their way to where Stoick was standing. Ever since Hiccup awoke from his coma a few months ago he always hid away in the far corner of the Great Hall. So, seeing him stand next to the chief was very odd to the Vikings as of late.
"Alright settle down everyone! Hiccup has something he would like to say!" Stoick bellowed to quiet the crowd.
Hiccup took a deep breath and took Stoick's place as the chief backed away.
"I've been keeping something from you all for a while now. A few of you have already found this out, but now I think it's about time you all knew."
Murmurs started up in the crowd again and someone decided to speak up.
"Does it have to do with why the dragons left?!"
"In a way, yes. This actually has to do with Toothless. I've been lying to you all about him. For one he is not even male. He's female. Secondly, her name is actually Kala. And..she can transform into a human."
Chaos erupted as soon as those words left Hiccup's mouth. He flinched and backed away to Kala for comfort, which she provided by pulling him close with her left wing.
"If that's true, then prove it!" A Viking shouted.
"Yeah!"
"How do we know you're not lying right now?!"
"Show us!"
"Alright that's enough!" Stoick bellowed and the crowd went silent once more. "I understand what the boy says sounds delusional, but he speaks the truth. I didn't believe it at first just like you all, but after seeing the lass for myself I believed him."
Stoick looked over at Hiccup and Kala, then nodded and motioned for Kala to come forward.
"Go on and show them." He encouraged her.
Kala took a deep breath and slowly folded her wing back up then made her way to where Stoick stood at the beginning of the meeting. She looked back at Hiccup and he nodded with a small smile. She crooned softly then looked back at the crowd and slowly transformed into her human form.
The crowd stayed silent from utter shock.
"H-hello." Kala said timidly as she shyly waved at the crowd.
That's when the screams and throwing of weapons ensued. Hiccup and Stoick protected Kala from any harm as some tried to rush up and cut her head off. Kala flinched and shrank back from the onslaught of insults and horrible names.
'This was a bad idea..I knew no one besides Hiccup would accept me..' She thought.
Kala was about to transform again to dash out of the hall when something unexpected happened. Out of all of the Vikings, Gobber came up to her and hugged her tightly. She froze in place with wide eyes and the chaos came to a pause, weapons falling to the floor.
"It's a pleasure to meet you properly lass." Gobber said, never faltering from his position.
Kala teared up and hugged the man back.
"Thank you Gobber.." She whispered.
Hiccup and Stoick smiled at the sight. Leave it to Gobber to be the first one to step up.
"Group hug!" Ruffnut and Tuffnut shouted as they bolted over to the dragoness and blacksmith and joined in on the hug.
Little by little, the rest of the village accepted that the Night Fury they came to know as Toothless was actually a timid girl that seemed to be just like their inventive heir.
As the village was getting to know their new addition, Astrid was steaming in anger at the entrance to the Great Hall.
'Why is no one attacking her?! Can't they see that she's a demon?!' The jealous girl thought as she watched the scene unfold in front of her.
It wasn't fair. Astrid tried so hard to get where she was, and all that demon had to do was transform in front of the whole village and cry as Gobber hugged her to be on top?!
"HOW ARE YOU ALL SO CALM?!" Astrid bellowed in rage.
Everyone looked at her as she pushed her way through the crowd to get to Hiccup and Kala. Kala became skittish and hid behind Hiccup and he held onto her protectively.
"CAN'T YOU SEE SHE'S A DEMON?! WHY ELSE WOULD HICCUP HIDE HER TRUE FORM FROM US?! SHE'S MANIPULATING HIM!"
"Astrid that is enough!" Astrid's mother shouted as she grabbed hold of her daughter and pulled her away from the terrified girl.
"But Mom!"
"No buts! Your mother told you that was enough young lady! Can't you see the poor girl is terrified of you?!" Astrid's father asked as he motioned towards Hiccup and Kala.
He was right. Kala was shaking like a leaf in the autumn winds with tears flowing down her face, a hand covering her neck as if to protect it from a blade. Hiccup was glaring daggers at the blonde that was being held back by her mother's grip.
"Good! She should be terrified! She deserves everything I am going to do to her for what she's done! She stole Hiccup from me!"
"Stole?! I was never yours to begin with Astrid! You're the one trying to steal me from her !" Hiccup growled out.
"She shouldn't have had you in the first place! She attacked our village just like the rest of the dragons! What has she done to deserve forgiveness?!"
"Are you serious?! She killed the Green Death! She saved all of us from the clutches of Hel! And you think she hasn't done anything that earns forgiveness?! You really have gone mad from jealousy, haven't you?!" Hiccup asked, anger flowing out with his words like lava from a volcano.
"Hiccup, let it go." Stoick said as he rested a hand on the boy's shoulder, then he looked at the Hofferson family. "Take your daughter home. I will fill you in on the rest of the meeting afterwards."
The Hoffersons nodded and dragged their raging daughter out of the Great Hall. When the doors closed once again, Hiccup put his full attention on Kala.
He hugged her tightly and ran his hand through her hair.
"Shh..you're alright milady..she's gone now..you're okay.."
Kala clung onto him like her life depended on it as she cried her eyes out into his shoulder. Her body was trembling violently from how much she was crying. Everyone gave her sympathetic looks. The other teens came up to the couple and gave Kala a group hug.
Hiccup smiled at them and mouthed a thank you. The others nodded with small smiles of their own.
Stoick looked at the group and smiled softly.
"You five take the lass to the back to calm her. I'll handle the meeting from here."
Hiccup and the others nodded then guided Kala to the back of the crowd to help calm her down.
"Alright! Now onto the second topic of this meeting. The reason the dragons left. From what Hiccup has told me, the dragons have a mating season that happens every year around this time. That is why our dragons have gone. As for the location, we have no way of knowing the area they chose to use for mating season."
"Well, if it's mating season, why has Kala not gone with all the other dragons?" Spitelout asked and others agreed.
"She will head out tonight. Hiccup was able to build her a prosthetic that allows her to fly on her own."
"How much longer will we have to wait for them to come back?" A random Viking asked.
"It could be a week until they return. So, we will have to make do without them this Snoggletog. Now then, who's hungry?" Stoick asked and many Vikings crowded to get some food.
~~~HTLANF~~~
After the meeting and everyone was calm and fed, Hiccup took Kala back to the hut to get the automatic tailfin.
When they made it to the hut, Hiccup pulled her into a passionate kiss. Kala's eyes widened, but she slowly melted into the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck.
They pulled away from one another and rested their foreheads together as they caught their breath.
"Promise me you'll be careful.." Hiccup said as he held her close.
"I promise. Promise you won't worry about me the entire time I'm gone?" Kala asked with a smile.
Hiccup chuckled and nodded. "I promise."
Kala smiled and kissed him softly, then she transformed and waited patiently. Hiccup went inside and grabbed the automatic tailfin, then he came back outside and put it on for Kala.
"Try it out, love."
Kala moved her tail in front of her and opened her right tailfin. What shocked her was when the prosthetic opened in sync with the other. Kala purred happily and nuzzled Hiccup. He chuckled and nuzzled her back.
"Glad you like it. Be safe, okay?"
Kala nodded and touched her forehead to his as a way to say, 'I love you.', then she took off.
Hiccup watched her fade into the night with a sad smile.
"I love you, too.." He mumbled, then he went inside to get some rest.
~~~HTLANF~~~