Chapter 1: The Flight before the Find
The wind was beginning to pick up as they flew through the clouds. The tree line zipped underneath them as they swerved around the rocks that made up the Isle of Berk. Toothless grumbled quietly and Hiccup smiled.
"What's wrong bud? Getting tired?" he asked, and Toothless made a scoffing sound, and picked up speed. Hiccup laughed, the wind whipping through the holes in his helmet. They spiralled upwards into the cloud and broke through, the wind slowing down but Toothless speeding up. Hiccup laughed and held out his arms to touch the clouds. Almost 8 years of this and each flight still took his breath away. Toothless dropped below the clouds, diving for the sea. Hiccup yelled and Toothless pulled up at the last second, making the noise Hiccup had accepted as laughter. Hiccup gently bopped Toothless on the head.
"Don't do that" he said, trying not to laugh.
Toothless came up higher, flying in line with the shore. They had passed Berk and were approaching the back of Berk. They had been in the sky most of the morning, and the sun was nearing the middle of the sky. Hiccup decided to see if Toothless wanted to stop.
"What do you think buddy? Time to go back for lunch?" he asked, reaching down to pet Toothless' head, but he growled and stopped flying, instead hovering in place.
"Toothless? What is it?" he asked, before he realised Toothless was focused on something in the distance, and Hiccup raised his eyes. His green eyes widened as he saw what Toothless was looking at.
A billow of smoke was rising from the forest. It wasn't a forest fire, which was a relief, but as the chief of Berk, Hiccup knew where his men were meant to be, and no-one should be in the forest on this side of the Isle.
"Come on bud, let's take a look" Hiccup said quietly, and Toothless began moving towards the smoke. Once they got close to where the smoke was billowing, Toothless landed in a nearby tree, his claws tightening around the branch, still growling. Hiccup looked over his friend's head, and saw no-one near the fire that was still burning. Hiccup turned, flipping up the visor on his helmet, and looked around them on the ground. There were footprints left in the soft dirt around the fire, and he knew someone was close.
A loud crack tore through the silence, and Toothless' growl grew louder. Hiccup braced himself as Toothless arched, ready to pounce. Another crack echoed and Hiccup realised someone was walking through the forest. He started being able to hear footsteps, and he felt Toothless getting ready to shot a plasma blast. There was a final crack and someone broke through the tree line. All Hiccup could see from where he was standing was a fluffy hood and for a moment he thought it was Astrid and his heart stopped. She was the last person he needed to see right now, but then he realised that this person was taller than Astrid, and they were walking back to the fire. Toothless' growls quietened and he turned his head slightly to look at Hiccup. Hiccup nodded and Toothless fell quietly to the ground, but somehow the person heard him and whirled around. Hiccup's eyes widened as they locked eyes with him. It was a girl.