A/N: A short drabble I decided to post. It was my birthday yesterday - I'm seventeen. :D
Reach
The Nadder reared back, overwhelmed and afraid; in doing so, it got itself tangled in the rope that had been draped loosely about its neck and fell. The three who'd been coaxing it into the village fell back, and their cries raised the alarm. One terrified dragon was bad enough; but the great creatures fed off each other's energies, and when one was upset it caused a blanket of anxious disquiet to settle over the rest of them, making them all nervous and jumpy.
They were wild, wild animals after all, and the Vikings couldn't just forget they weren't tame; that would be one's last mistake.
Several men and women grouped around it now, which made things worse - flinging its head about, the dragon let out a cry and ruffled itspinned wings, a pressure beginning to build in its lower throat.
The crowd shifted back slowly; the next action the creature would make was sure to be a fiery one. Easing back slowly, the Vikings put some distance between themselves and the dragon, though it did little good. The thing was still tangled in lengths of rope and visibly becoming more and more distressed.
Until a familiar whistle whispered through the air, and a dark form was drawing near from the skies over the ocean. The graceful Night Fury dropped lithely to the ground from the sky, folding its wings carefully around its rider, and bounded toward the commotion without a sound.
Those in the way fell back to let the black creature pass. And when it was close enough and still far enough away from the rampaging dragon, the boy on its back patted its head a few times and it came to an immediate stop. The auburn-haired Viking reached down to detach his left foot from a pedal on the harness, and swung himself down. He landed unsteadily and with the slightest cringe, leaning against his dragon for a minute, but waved off attempts made by the surrounding villagers to help.
He motioned for his dragon to remain where it was, and moved unhesitantly toward the agitated beast.
"There now," he told it calmly, "there's no need to be scared." He slowed his approach when it looked at him with one magnificent eye, and smiled as its wild thrashing abated slightly. "You're only getting yourself more stuck," the boy pointed out, never pausing as he made his way towards it. "I could help you get it off, you know."
And something about the human, so small in comparison to itself, made the dragon hesitate to attack. And when the unusual Viking offered it a hand, it lowered its snout slowly, inch by inch, before hesitantly brushing against the soft fingers.
"See? You're still alive." Immediately the boy set to untangling it, coiling the rope around his shoulder as he unraveled it. The Nadder turned as it needed to, understanding now, and as soon as it was free it stretched its wings out and was gone.
Shading his eyes, the boy looked after it for a few moments before turning to his audience. Uneasy at all the eyes on him, he didn't have time to think of anything to say before his fellow Vikings were all around him. Hands patted his shoulders and ruffled his hair, careful as always not to jarr him; and Toothless was at his side, pupils round in bright green eyes.
"You've got something special, Hiccup," one man told him, grinning.
And Hiccup smiled.
.
End.
