How To Train Your Dragon- From One World To Another

Disclaimer:

The Film 'How To Train Your Dragon', is Copyrighted by DreamWorks Animation and Distributed by Paramount Pictures. Directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois and released on March 26, 2010

The DreamWorks 'Dragons' were directed by Dean Deblois and Chris Sanders and released in 2013- 2018. I only claim Copyright to my characters and some of the elements of the story that are of my own creation.

The Seconds from Disaster is a US/UK-produced documentary television programme, owned and produced by the National Geographic Society and Darlow Smithson Productions

Chapter Soundtrack(s):

Grief and Sorrow- Taylor Davis

Author Warning, Notes:

This symbol (*) means that there's something written about this particular paragraph in the Ending Author's Notes.

Viewpoint Signs:

***MS*** (movie scene)

***EMS*** (end of movie scene)

***WPov.*** (watcher's point of view)

...

Chapter 18

His touch calmed her, and so did his voice when he said,'' You're going to be okay, Ronja. Everything is going to be okay.''

***WPov.

The screen paused...

'' Famous last words, '' my father said with a deep grimace, tightening his hug on me, again.

As for me, I couldn't help but utter a small quiet sob before recollecting myself.

But my father had still heard me.

When he leaned his cheek against the side of my head, I could hear his hitched breathing. Droplets of something wet dripping on top my head told of tears sliding down my father's cheeks.

'' You stopped breathing? And your heart stopped?''

I looked up at my uncle and cousin who were both gaping at me with a pale, stricken complexion.

I looked around the room to see others looking at me with similar expressions ( especially on the faces of my friends' faces).

I nodded sadly.

'' Apparently, me feeling what my sister and mother had experienced caused... a reaction where I was able to feel their suffering and be in a state where I could have been there, as well, not safe in the hotel- room.''

'' If that's what happens when twins are so closely connected, I'm in no hurry to experience such a thing myself,'' Tuffnut exclaimed weakly.

'' Well tough luck, bro, because we are twins!'' Ruffnut retorted, glaring at her brother before looking up at me with tear filled eyes.

'' Did you... realize your sister had died?''

I shivered slightly.

'' I felt empty... like a part of me had been ripped apart, but I didn't realize the implication until... we were told of the accident in the train tunnel while I was being checked up on at the hospital. Or in more understanding terms, in the place of the 'modern healers'.''

Ruffnut released a shuddering breath and closed her eyes tightly for a moment. She, too, gave a shiver.

Tuffnut reached out to her, then, and held her hand.

I clenched my mouth shut and looked away, eyes pinching shut for the moment it took for me to hear the Cinema theatre screen come back to life.

***MS***

Sigrun and Sonja, along with many of the others, had opted to get away from the flames, but it had ended up being the direction in which the heat and smoke had been rising.

As the tunnel had sucked in air from the bottom of the tunnel, it had caused a massive updraft that propelled smoke upwards, engulfing the sister- train that had been heading downwards and choking the attendant and his single passenger to death.

The tunnel that had become a giant chimney!

All that smoke had then poured upwards to engulf the top of the tunnel, claiming three more victims in the station building.

The people, who had inadvertently made the decision to move upwards, had been on collision course with certain death.

The rising heat and smoke carried toxic chemicals, and the most dangerous component had been carbon monoxide (named by scientists) that entered one's bloodstream and the haemoglobin.

When inhaled, the carbon monoxide prevented the body from using that blood to carry oxygen.

***WPov.***

'' Oh, that doesn't sound good at all,'' Fishlegs mumbled with a paled face.

I could tell he couldn't quite understand the full extent of the scientific terms (but probably much more than most Berkians), but he understood enough to make him look deeply aggrieved over what he had just witnessed.

My father sucked in a sharp breath, brows deeply furrowed as he wiped his arm over his eyes to stave off the fallen tears on his cheeks.

'' Yeah, it definitely hadn't been the direction to go to escape death, but how would they have known in that sort of situations?! So many people had lost their lives that day,'' I thought miserably as I wiped at my own eyes as I looked away from the screen.

The tears in my eyes had been a constant presence for a long time now, and I desperately swallowed a risen lump in my throat as I leaned deeper into my father's chest.

I could feel his heart racing against my back, and I was sure mine was doing the exact same thing.

It was one thing knowing from the aftermath of that day that almost two hundred people, two of them your family, had been killed by a freaking glitch in a fan fitted into a vulnerable control panel.

But to actually see those series of events leading to the accident play right before your very eyes were heart-wrenching.

And I wouldn't be surprised if everyone in this theatre was thinking along the same lines.

We weren't that numerous on Berk! Especially after some of our village warriors had been killed on the Island of 'Helheim's Gate'. Everyone was one big family on Berk.

And knowing this I found myself not just myself lamenting over the loss of my own family members, but all those lives that had been lost in that same fiery inferno.

Before anyone could utter another word, or move from their chosen seats, the screen started showing another scene that looked to be the final part of this tragic tale.

***MS**

Following the tragic accident, investigators had made the decision to make sure they would prevent such a disaster happening ever again.

They had wanted to investigate further, to know if such a terrible occurrence could have been avoided.

But upon examining the safety specifications, the results they had unearthed ended up shocking the entire country of Austria.

The designs for the train had been fatally flawed and had lacked even the basic of safety features.

For one, the Funicular had no smoke detectors and its two fire extinguishers had been out of the passengers reach in sealed attendants cabs.

And there had been no way for the passengers to contact the attendant.

There hadn't even been an emergency brake-switch in the passenger's side of the train.

It raised another question.

Why had there had been so few safety features?

***WPov.***

'' Yes, that's what I'D like to know, as well!'' Stoick practically bellowed.

His voice was coated with such intensity and vehemence; the same kind of volume weight he had shown that day in the Kill- Ring.

It had me startle and wince, and from the corner of my eye, I could see Hiccup give a small flinch of his own.

For a moment our eyes met and we acknowledged each other's similar reactions.

***MS***

During the hundred years funiculars were put into operation, no fire had ever occurred inside a coach.

This meant there had been a long drawn out perception that a fire like this could never occur.

And incredibly, the funicular had complied with the safety rules.

But the rules themselves had been hopelessly outdated and hadn't taken into account any new systems fitted into the apparatus when the train had been modernized.

The hydraulic braking system and electric power had put two new innovations that had severely increased the risk of fire, but the most serious blunder of all had been the fitting of a totally unsuitable fan-heater inside the control unit of the attendants' cabs.

In the aftermath of the investigation, sixteen individuals had been charged with negligence and indirectly having caused the death of one hundred and fifty-five people.

But on August the 19th 2001, the case had gone to trial when the people accused of negligence had defended themselves. Their argument being, that they had taken the necessary precautions and that the fire could not have been foreseen.

Therefore, it came to be, that in September 2002, their charges were all controversially acquitted after the court had found that there was insufficient evidence against the people that had first been charged over their negligence.

The victims' families had all been devastated by the outcome.

***WPov.***

'' I was in a very upset state of mind even before that bit of news, so you wouldn't believe how furious I was when it was made clear that no one would be held responsible,'' Klaus said through gritted teeth, turning to look at his brother- in- law with eyes flashing in anger at the memory.

'' And that case went to trial just a handful of days following my disappearance from the woods in Finland?!'' I spoke up loudly, wincing at the realization.

I shared an upset glance with all the teens that had become my friends.

'' ARRRGH! If that had happened in Berk those people would have been held accountable!'' Stoick growled, clenching his hands into tight fists.

'' The way justice works in that world is seriously messed up,'' Gobber cut in loudly, before sighing heavily.

'' It's all about the evidence in the 20th century and apparently, there hadn't been enough of it to charge those people,'' Klaus sighed, holding a palm over his eyes for a moment.

***MS***

In the wake of the disaster, new safety regulations on similar mountains trains had come into plan throughout the Alps.

Video links to the attendants, cell phone reception inside the tunnel, and an intercom system were installed into the train's control unit and the train's compartments.

Also, the new safety measures had included emergency door handles for the passengers to reach in the wake of a potential disaster.

And hammers for breaking windows were also included in the list of new safety measures.

All this ensured that passengers would no longer find themselves in a situation like the one in the year 2001. It had been a disaster just waiting to happen.

***WPov.***

'' What good are all those new gadgets when one of those 'Loki forsaken machines' had already caught fire and killed all those people?'' Tuffnut practically shouted, eyes watering.

'' Those 'gadgets' are hopefully going to prevent others from being lost in a similar accident, Tuffnut,'' my father was quick to answer as he lowered his hand from his face before leaning forward in his seat to give the young boy a comforting squeeze on the shoulder.

Ruffnut gave a sniffle and grabbed her brother by the shoulders, pulling him close and clinging onto him with an uncharacteristically desperate demeanour.

I bit my lip hard, watching the two from the corner of my eye.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut still had each other, and hopefully, they would never get into a situation where they would permanently lose one another.

Like I had lost my sister, Sonja.

The screen before us slowly started to change scenes. Though blurry at first, the details on the screen began to show up...

***MS***

The screen showed a variety of people, relations and friends of the people lost in the Kaprun Mountain-train accident, gathering around the accident site.

The people were laying flower bouquets, pictures and tokens of their loved ones on the ground at the accident site.

Their faces were sorrowed up in mixed emotions of despair, disbelief and perhaps even fury towards those they might've felt were responsible for the loss of the important people in their lives.

Klaus and Ronja were there amongst the crowd.

The father stood motionless for a moment; his own bouquet of flowers was held in one hand and the other was holding Ronja under the back of her knees as she clung to his neck.

Ronja's strawberry blond hair was out of a braid, falling long and in waves against her shoulders and upper back as she pressed her cheek against the crook of her father's neck.

When the screen 'zoomed' in closer, one could see that though there were tears in Ronja's eyes, the pupils holding a terribly blank expression.

Her eyes were like black holes, giving her the image of a child still very much in shock; and trying to process that her sister, her other half, was gone.

And not only her sister!

Her mother, the person who had loved both her children equally, the one who had tucked them both into bed every night, was lost to her! The mother, who had taught Sonja and her the art of using weapons and had given them her native language, was no longer there to hold her, to teach her more about life.

***WPov.***

I could hear the sad exclamations from people in the background and I thought I heard Fishlegs's, Ruffnut's and Tuffnut's stifled sobs.

Sighing, II turned back to the screen, wincing at my younger- self's blank expression.

It was a rather scary one and had me thinking back to the reason why Elsa and Annukka had tired of me during that last school semester.

The expression I had on my face was one of depression brought on by the grief of loss, and if I had worn that expression often it had been no wonder my 'friends' had believed I wasn't interested in anything they had wanted to discuss, or do.

I turned my head to face the person who suddenly lowered a large hand on my shoulder before the person slid it down to grasp my hand.

My father.

He was looking at me with sympathy, mixed with grief made afresh by the images shown on the screen. There was also a plea, there, as if he was asking me to never, ever give that sort of expression to anyone again.

I suddenly felt extremely guilty, for it wasn't just my friends who had been on the receiving end of that 'blank' expression. And not just my father, but any relation I'd communicated with during the first few months following my dear mother', and sister's, deaths.

Of course, I couldn't promise that I would never look the way I did on the Cinema screen.

But I couldn't promise to keep from ever falling into that sort of state again.

''I'll...I'll promise to try not to become that depressed again, dad,'' I murmured quietly.

Dad nodded and ruffled my her hair that was still a mess from sleep.

Then Anca joined in on our huddle, her voice worried as she crooned at me and nudged my face. I reached up to rub my hand across the dragon's jawline.

'' I'm okay, now, Anca. I'm okay, 'that me' is gone,' I murmured, looking into her large golden yellow as she peered intently at me.

'' The last couple of weeks on Berk tell a different tale, though. That that sort of expression slid onto your face often,'' Snotlout mumbled from his seat near me.

'' Yeah, there was an emptiness in your eyes like the one we saw just now,'' Hiccup added with nervousness in his voice.

I uttered a small sigh.

'' I probably did, but it was because I was lamenting the fact that I couldn't speak of my secrets to anyone; that I still felt like a loner amongst those who are of my mother's former tribe, and family of my mother! And I was desperately missing my father, so excuse me for having looked like someone had dropped a mountain on me.''

'' And if that girl we saw returns at any time? I mean, your mother did say you have a tendency to lock what you truly feel inside of you.''

'' If she does return it probably means something else is bothering her. What will you guys do, then? Push me away as Elsa and Annukka did?''

My eyes glinted with a spark of panic as the old fear of being pushed aside by my former friends bubbled to the surface.

''NO!''

I gave a start at the vehement, imploring reaction from Hiccup, Snotlout, Astrid, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut.

''We would most certainly try to make you talk about your feelings, but we would never do what Annukka and Elsa did to you!''

I almost wanted to retort that they already had 'wronged me' by stealing my diary and refusing to return it.

But eventually, I decided to just leave that argument alone, this time.

'' Depression can come unwanted, but I doubt it will appear unless something especially mind- consuming occurs. I was already depressed over my sister and my mother dying, and then my friends started pushing me away in school just before the summer vacation. I tried to be there for my friends, our friends that Sonja and I had mutually shared. They were grieving for Sonja, too, but in the end, it took me too long to snap out of my depression.''

I sighed, rubbing a hand over my face.

'' I'm sorry I've made you all worried these past two weeks. The whole 'not being able to talk about my secrets', as well as missing my father was really wearing on me.''

'' But you have to admit it's been going on a bit too far these past two weeks; I mean you haven't had much of an appetite and your very thin, now,'' Astrid said with worry in her eyes.

'' Just as skinny as Ruffnut!'' Tuffnut joked out, which had his sister screech in outrage and slam a fist on his head, hard.

'' You know a man should never talk about a girls weight, right?'' I said with a smirk in Tuffnut's direction as the blond haired boy groaned and clutched his cranium.

'' But a woman obviously can talk. HAH!'' Tuffnut grumbled out, one eye squeezed shut while the other peered at me.

'' Changing topic, have you slept at all these past several days, Ronja?'' Snotlout piped in with concern in his blue eyes.

'' Well, I slept well last night after that talk with my uncle,'' I answered, looking at Stoick who gave me a warm smile from his seat.

'' Until someone became insistent to wake me up,'' I added, looking at Anca who gave a loud huff and nuzzled me on the face, again.

'' Besides, I was in a dour-state of mind and eating wasn't really on the top of my list of priorities,'' I added, shaking my head slightly when both my cousins gave me an admonishing glance.

'' What?! It's not like I was the only one of us with less than satisfactory appetites because we had next to nothing to do but lounge around the Great hall!''

''What?! Is it true, Stoick, that the Devastating Winter is as bad as my wife always lamented to our family during the winter days? And can it really turn our children entirely stir-crazy from being cooped up inside for weeks on end'?'' my dad asked the red-haired chief in partial disbelief before looking me over thoughtfully

Stoick nodded, throwing us teens a disgruntled glance, that also held concern.

'' Long enough for the appetites to be staved, it seems. I will not stand for any more of this 'not eating' when food is in good supply. You teens are still in the growing stages of your lives and need to eat as much as possible. This goes for not only you, Ronja and Hiccup; but to all children in the Great Hall. Even if you do not feel hungry I implore you all to eat to keep your strengths.''

We teens shared chagrined expressions before Ruffnut and I looked down at ourselves appraisingly for a moment. We had both lost a lot of weight over the past week.

But so had Snotlout, Hiccup, Astrid, Tuffnut and Fishlegs.

We looked up at the others who all wore sheepish expressions; ones that we found ourselves mirroring.

Then Gobber just had to add to the embarrassment by opening his 'big-fat mouth'.

'' For sure, those kids need some beefing up if these last few weeks are of any indication,''Gobber chuckled out, which earned the one-handed, legged Viking a fierce glance from not only us teens, but from our parents as well.

....

'' I wouldn't word it like that, but yes, the teens do have to get their appetites back before their all skin and bones,'' Mrs Hofferson commented to the two women sitting close to her.

'' I quite agree on that. Even Fishlegs is looking a bit peaky,'' Mrs Thorston answered with a sigh, which had Mrs Ingerman give her 'the look'.

'' Not like Ruffnut and Tuffnut are looking any better, either,'' she retorted, folding her arms in front of her chest.

Their exchange was halted when another sorrowful, musical tune filled the theatre, catching everyone's attention.

...

I winced, sucking in a sharp breath (that was echoed by my father) as the theatre screen focused on another scene...

To be continued...

End of Chapter 18

....

Author Notes:

The accident in Kaprun happened on November 11th, but I wanted to change the dates a little so that they would coexist with the setup of my characters ski-holiday.

Constructive criticism is always welcomed by me, the Author. :)