As a disclaimer, I'm posting this story early because I have to go to a countdown party of my mother's. Consider this as a present from the mockingjay!
6 hours before midnight
"Hiccup! Get over here! We need your measurements!" Stoick's voice calls out, echoing through the dark alleys and dense trees, and ending up in my ears (and pretty much everyone else's). It's been this place, in the dark woods, where I've been having an annoyed session of looking for Toothless.
"I'm coming, dad!" I yell back, even though I'm pretty sure that he won't be able to hear me. Lowering my voice, I glare at the trees in every direction as if they were my enemies. "Now, trees, tell me where you hid Toothless."
I trample the grass, gazing in every direction for the mischievous Night Fury.
"Toothless… I swear, you've got to be kidding me. I'm going to be late for the Celebration!"
The Celebration was an annual celebration here, when the Vikings stopped fighting each other and got themselves drunk enough to fight each other again on the next day. Not everyone celebrated it, but as the son of Chief, it was natural for me to 'uphold the traditions laid down before us by our ancestors'.
Basically, I'm screwed. I can't find Toothless, who has made off with my measurements for some reason, and without them dad won't be able to continue with his village decorations, and then I'll be screwed a few more times over by everyone else.
All because of a really, really, hyperactive dragon.
"Oi! Toothless!" I cup my hands together at my mouth, yelling out the words with seriousness. "I need those manuscripts! Now!"
I run through the woods, not knowing where I'll actually end up. Toothless is almost always in the woods if he isn't by my side. I have no idea what goes through his mind, but I guess he likes the solitary in the woods just as much as he likes stalking me all the time.
"Hiccup!"
I turn around, my heels spinning so quickly I can feel them crack towards the call's source.
"A-Astrid?" I ask, taking a step backwards as I register her voice. She can be scary if you make her.
"What do you think you're doing?!" she asks, shaking her fist angrily at me. "Why are you out in the woods, all alone, and ditching the decorating?!"
"I'm looking for Toothless," I answer truthfully, hoping that she'll pass off some of the anger to him.
She rolls her eyes and takes a step towards me. I know by instinct to take one step backwards.
"You're kidding me," she says. "What's Toothless got to do with this?"
"Well, I think he might have stolen the manuscripts," I say as if I was broadcasting another sunny day on Berk. "I think you should help me find him-"
Instead, she knocks me clean off my feet with a punch. It's like one of those cliche stories when you're falling to the ground slowly, your face and shock slowed to make the whole scene more dramatic.
"You idiot!" Astrid yells, her face contorting into rage as she steps up to me slowly. "Do you think that Toothless will- AHHH!"
Out of nowhere, Toothless's body sails from the branches above, knocking Astrid to the ground and pinning her there. He growls angrily, and I hear his teeth appear to the world with a shing.
"Astrid!" I yell, getting up in shock, but Toothless's tail swipes me right back. He turns to me, a urgent croon urging me to leave.
"Hiccup!" I hear Astrid expel, amidst Toothless's aggressive growling. "Get him off me!"
"Toothless!" I yell, and instantly, Toothless's snout turns to face me, though his body is still firmly pinning Astrid to the ground.
Toothless gives me the same urgent croon, though this time with a questioning tone muddled up in his vocals. I spot a few slabs of iron on the ground, dripping with saliva.
"Toothless," I say shakily, "Let go of her, and- are those the measurements?"
"Oi! Can you stop him first?!" Astrid asks, before before being silenced by an angry Toothless.
Toothless shakes his head, his eyes still pleading me to leave.
"Toothless, Astrid means well," I say shakily. "She's not going to hurt me. I swear!"
Toothless looks at me with a wary look.
"I'm serious!" I say, waving my arms up and down quickly. "At least, she isn't trying to kill me."
I watch Toothless's eyes dilate, then turn to Astrid, then steps away from her very slowly.
"Thank you, Toothless," I say, my nerves still not entirely with me. Toothless gives me a lick. As soon as he gets closer to me, though, I whisper in his ear in annoyance.
"There. You've completely ruined my chances of hitting on her. Happy, now?"
Toothless croons somewhat innocently, causing me to groan.
As soon as Astrid gets up, a powerful push of Toothless's tail pushes me right into her, knocking her off her feet (again) and causing me to… uh… land on her. My body lands on top of her, my arms pushing feebly to not press my weight down on her completely.
Our eyes lock for a moment, and in that moment, I swear that every part of my body was on fire, despite the falling snow and the the cold ground. My heart is beating several million times per second, and I can swear that her heart is too.
Well, until she shoves me off and storms away with the measurements. Oh, well. At least I won't need to take them to dad.
I turn around to see Toothless rounding my side, a satisfied croon on his face.
"What was that for?" I ask, glaring at him.
He lets out another innocent croon, amid a well-you-asked-for-it look in his eyes.
"I did not ask for that," I say, trying to hide the very obvious blush on my face.
Toothless rolls his eyes and warbles.
"But.., do you think she'll like me more? I'm pretty sure that I worked out a bit more, and maybe she felt that… Or am I not good enough? What if I need to work out more? Do you think that she'll want to date me after this?"
Toothless sniffs uninterestedly.
"Toothless," I ask, snapping back to Earth in annoyance. "I-"
Toothless reaches his snout out towards a butterfly slowly, watching it as it hesitates. After several seconds, it lands on his snout softly. It stays there, in its curious position, its wings closed and the snow falling down on him gently.
"Whoa," I whisper. The butterfly opens its wings once, looking into Toothless's large eyes. Toothless looks at it back with intent.
The butterfly opens its wings again, and takes off into the falling snow. We watch it for a bit, its light blue wings fluttering noiselessly as it flies away.
Toothless turns to me, warbling happily.
"Is that why you took the measurements?" I ask, rubbing his snout gently. "To make me see butterflies?"
Toothless shakes his head. He spreads out his wings, crooning questioningly.
"You want to go flying? Now?" I ask ludicrously, to a warble of content.
I turn towards the village. I can already see lights beings put up.
"My dad is going to get really mad at me," I say, looking at Toothless nervously.
Toothless tilts his head, his eyes expanding as if waiting for an answer.
"But I doubt they'd miss me," I say brightly, climbing on top of a happy Toothless. "Let's go."
5.5 hours before midnight
As soon as I'm in the air, I recall the feelings of freedom and disregard for the humane activities that we do to sustain our lives. The rush of cold air, the million collisions with the falling snowflakes, the slash of the wind as Toothless sweeps against the current effortlessly.
"Alright, bud, where do you want to go?" I ask, padding the mechanism at a forward position, opening the tailfin as Toothless makes a swift turn to the right- a path that I had never been to before.
"Toothless?" I ask, leaning downwards to see him more clearly. He shifts his ears up in question.
"Does this involve me being home in time for dinner?"
Toothless gives me a frustrated growl and shifts his wings rather abruptly.
"Oh… sorry," I say slowly. "I thought… well, nothing. Just keep flying."
But Toothless slows to a slow glide, his ears perked up in wait.
"Well, I… I'm not a big fan of Celebration," I tell him. "I think it's stupid."
Toothless shifts his wings slightly as if to tell me, go on.
"I mean, the people who are happy celebrate their minds out, whereas the people forgotten lie in their cabins and watch the Celebration go on without them. Kind of makes me feel sad."
Toothless croons understandingly.
"I know, Toothless," I say as Toothless beats his wings faster, fully headed towards his destination. "Thanks."
We fly in silence for several minutes, his croons the only thing keeping us aware of the journey that we were in. My mind wanders about, thinking about snow and people and (as people my age do) think about girls. Toothless seems to know this, and keeps on crooning at explicit points that cause me to snap back to reality just at the right moment.
I don't dare ask him, though. That would be embarrassing.
Half an hour passes, and my arms start to chill under the coldness of the air.
"Toothless, it's getting kinda cold," I complain, to which Toothless snorts and prepares to shoot a firebolt-
"Um, it's okay," I say hastily. "That's a bit too warm. I'll just have to make do with this."
Toothless lets out a soft blast of fire, warming me instantly. Amid the falling snow, the soft air, and the warm body of Toothless making me feel slightly… tired. Especially after all that fiasco from earlier.
"Oh. Uh… thanks," I say. "Do you mind if I hold you close and keep the tailfin at open?"
Toothless croons happily and speeds onwards.
5 hours before midnight
I sleep.
4 hours before midnight
When I wake up, we enter the realms of a rocky archipelago. Toothless begins to slow down, sniffing at more often intervals, all the while feeling more and more excited.
"Toothless?" I ask, but after he ignores me, I turn around and look for what Toothless might possibly be looking for.
I survey the terrain below. There are several caves here, and many more deformed rocks. Some of them are still smouldering, a purple-blue hue in its aftermath.
"Burned rocks..." I say to myself, to which Toothless croons in agreement.
Toothless's eyes widen, his ears flick upwards as he takes a dash downwards- I have to shift the padding abruptly to keep him on track, his wings speeding towards a large cave with extreme excitement.
"Oi, Toothless, watch out!" I cry, holding on to him tightly. "Don't go too fast-"
Toothless lands perfectly on the cave ground, his presence shaking the whole cave as his heavy legs hit the rock firmly. For exactly one second, there is silence as he lands.
Then Toothless is knocked off his feet, and I'm sent flying towards the ground. A wing comes out to save my fall, causing me to slide to the ground safely.
"Um, Toothless-" I say, opening my eyes to see another Night Fury pouncing towards me, his fangs bared in hunger. Toothless is still pinned to the ground by another Night Fury.
"TOOTHLESS!" I yell, rolling to the side and avoiding the Night Fury's fangs by an inch. The Night Fury advances on me slowly. I push myself backwards until I feel the cold wall of the cave blocking me, the Night Fury's growls becoming louder and louder.
Instantly, Toothless shoves the other dragon off him, and jumps in front of me defensively.
3 hours before midnight
"Don't hurt him! He's my friend!" I hear a deep voice ring out. I look around frantically for the voice, but I find nothing.
"What? A human is your friend?" a younger, but still deep voice answers him.
"Yes," the first voice says… with a growl.
"Um, Toothless?" I ask, genuinely freaked out by the lack of humans to provide sound for these voices. "Can you hear those voices?"
"What voices?" the younger voice asks. "I don't hear anything."
"Shut up, Kuro," I hear the first voice answer.
"What's wrong, brother?" a young voice pipes up. Simultaneously, a smaller dragon appears by the other dragon's side.
"Um, Toothless?" I ask desperately, getting up and touching his tail. Instantly, he turns his snout around, but I do not see the urgent expression in his eyes.
"Yes?" the voice asks, Toothless's head tilting at the same time. "Is there something wrong, Hiccup?"
That's when I faint.
53.5 seconds later
"Oi, Hiccup," I hear faintly, along with a nudging feel next to me.
"What..." I ask sleepily. Wait… who asked that?
I bolt upright, slamming right into Toothless's snout, much to his displeasure.
"Ow…" the voice asks, with Toothless rubbing his snout with his legs. "That smarts."
"Toothless?" I ask, getting up warily. "Is that your voice?"
"Um..." he says slowly. "Yeah. I forgot to tell you something..."
"What? This is your voice? Toothless?" I ask, holding his snout as he croons. "Why can I hear you?"
"Well..." he says. "Night Furies, as you know, are highly intelligent-"
"Are you seriously going to be vain now?" I groan.
"Hey, it's true," the younger voice from before says, the younger dragon nearing the looking-at-me-with-concern Toothless. "We're really smart. Sorta…"
"Anyway," Toothless continues, "Our intelligence also depends on the time of the day. It's like when you give your mind a break so you can use it when you need to. We save most of our excess intelligence for the night, where we come out and hunt."
"From what I've heard, though, this dragon doesn't hunt at night anymore," the younger Night Fury says jokingly, nudging his head at Toothless.
"Shut up, Kuro," Toothless says, a wing shoving him away. "Moving on, not all of our excess intelligence is used, even after nighttime. So it's saved up until the end of the year, where it's at its peak."
"It allows us to talk to other Night Furies that way," Kuro pipes up. "So it's ideal for family reunions and wooing other dragons."
"Any luck this year?" Toothless asks amusedly. Kuro, who is only slightly smaller than Toothless, and his eyes a lighter shade of green, buries his head under his paws.
"You'll have better luck next year," Toothless says understandingly. He pats him with his wing.
"I gave her two fish and a rock!" he moans. "She wasn't impressed!"
"You should try giving her a flower," I say. "She'd like that."
Both dragons turn to face me, Kuro lifting one of his paws off one of his eyes.
"What?"
"Well, humans like flowers," I say. "Don't dragons do as well?"
Toothless looks at one of the younger dragons, who is playing with a flower happily.
"Oh… yeah," Toothless says. "I might have forgotten that."
Kuro lets out a sound of hope/despair.
"What do you mean?" I act, scratching my head.
"I… uh, sorta was thinking of what to give you so you could impress Astrid," he says nervously. "I didn't know what humans liked, so I sorta gave you that fish."
"Oh… so that was what you wanted me to do?" I ask, an amused expression on my face. "Give it as a gift to Astrid?"
"Inthehopesthatyou'dhelpmewithmymateoneday," he says all very fast, but not fast enough to be undecipherable to Kuro, who gets up and tries to make a joke (but gets shoved away immediately).
"How come I can understand you, then?" I ask Toothless.
"I guess it's since you're with me all the time," Toothless says.
"You have gotten way stronger the last time I saw you," Kuro mutters, coming up to Toothless's side again.
"So… you guys come from all around the world just to meet at midnight?" I ask.
"Something like that," Kuro says. "Hana should be here soon, but…"
"Hana?" Toothless asks, rolling his eyes. "Does she really need to come?"
"But Hana is awesome!" the little dragon says. "She plays with me every year!"
"That's because you're a girl, Yuki," Kuro says with a shiver. "Hana hates males like us."
"That's because you guys are so old!" Yuki shoots back. "And she's bringing Ma and Pa along, so you can't complain."
Toothless and Kuro give each other a you-can't-be-serious look.
"So, tell me your story," Kuro says, turning to me. "How did you end up here?"
"I came with Toothless," I say, instantly getting a pang of guilt. "Who, well, needs me to fly."
"How come?" Kuro asks curiously. "I don't get it."
In response, Toothless shows the tailfin and retells the story from his view.
"Well… the lands near Berk became controlled by the Red Queen, and I was shot down after trying to give cover fire…"
"By me," I blurt out quickly. Kuro snaps towards me, but Toothless just croons.
"What?" Kuro asks, narrowing his eyes at me. "You dewinged a dragon? My brother?"
"He had terrible aim," Toothless jokes. "Couldn't even get my snout properly."
We both turn to face him.
"You're not mad?" Kuro and I ask at the same time. We turn to face each other quite awkwardly.
Toothless shrugs. Or whatever the equivalent of a shrug is.
"It's made me who I am today," he says, "And I'm okay with that."
Kuro looks at me strangely.
"So… you took him into captivity?" Kuro asks.
"No," Toothless says with a hint of a growl. "He found me, made me a new tailfin, and killed the Red Queen."
There's a stunned silence as even Yuki stops playing with the flower and turns towards me.
"You brought down the Red Queen?" Yuki asks in awe. "Really?! The dragons where I lived were warned not to go near the area, because the dragons that did had their minds brainwashed into following the Red Queen."
"So that's why you weren't here last year," Kuro says. "You were busy serving the Almighty Fat Queen."
"I didn't do fight her alone, though," I say, nodding towards Toothless. "He did most of the work for me."
"Only after you did your half," Toothless replies amusedly. "You know, jumping into a burning ship, nearly drowning to save me… so I had to step up and make sure I did my part."
Kuro and Yuki stare at Toothless.
"Wow…" Yuki says. "Can I touch you?"
"Leave him alone," Toothless says. Yuki gets the message and turns back to her flower.
"Anyway, the tailfin can only be operated by a human," Toothless says. "Which is why he's with me now."
"And you're stuck grounded otherwise?" Kuro asks in amazement.
"Yeah," Toothless says. "Though," he wraps his tail around me, "I'm okay with that too."
Kuro gives his a perplexed look.
"You're okay with not flying?"
"As long as I'm able to look out for my brother-from-another-mother," Toothless says, "I'm okay with that."
Kuro gives him another perplexed look.
"I don't get it," he says.
"Hey, when you've got more than just yourself to talk to, life gets pretty interesting," Toothless replies happily. "Plus, he actually understands what I'm thinking-"
"I do?" I ask, also quite perplexed. "I thought I was just guessing and you went along."
"Well, you're a good guesser, then," Toothless jokes. "Plus, Hiccup gets into loads of adventures, and he never stops talking, which is why he's cool."
"He has really bad breath, though," I joke. "No wonder why I haven't seen another Night Fury around-"
Toothless gives me a huge lick. Coupled with the cold weather, the saliva threatens to encompass me with a blanket of chill right away.
"You know this doesn't wash," I groan, trying to shake off the thick, clear saliva- Toothless licks me again.
"See?" Toothless croons. "This is why I stay with him. Plus, he has a deep side too, which you don't see often. So, yeah, stalking him all the time is even more fun than flying."
I look at him with a shocked look.
"Sometimes."
"Oh," Kuro and I say at the same time. We look at each other awkwardly again, this time Kuro giving me a huge lick. I gasp for air as Toothless croons in amusement.
"Give me a break-"
"Hana!"
"Oh no," Toothless mutters, turning around to meet an also slightly smaller, but more tender female who I can only guess to be called Hana.
"Hana!" Yuki cries, accidentally shooting a plasma blast that misses Hana by a few inches. "You're here!"
"I know," Hana says, rubbing her snout on Yuki happily as they reunite. Kuro backs really far back to the wall, siding right next to me as he lets out a small shiver.
"Do you know any human girls that are scary?" Kuro whispers, watching as Hana lets the small Yuki climb on her back.
"Um, maybe?" I say, thinking of Astrid.
"Yeah," Kuro mutters. "Wait 'til you see how scary Hana is. Shiro's the only person who can keep her in control."
"Hana!" Yuki says, jovial at Hana's return. "Shiro's back!"
"Shiro?" she asks, spinning around to see Toothless. "Shiro!"
"He even brought a human friend here," she pipes up as Hana tackles Toothless into a dragon hug. "Isn't that cool?"
Hana gets off Toothless and looks at me, her eyes curious.
"A human?" she asks, nearing my slowly. "Shiro's friend?"
"Yes," Toothless's voice comes. "He's the person who got me here-"
"And you!" Hana shrieks, glowering at the now cowering Kuro. "Why are you here?"
"The last time I checked, I was the thirdborn dragonet of Pa and Ma," he whimpers from below the protection of his front legs.
"Hana, enough," Toothless says. "He's been through a lot."
"I'm never going to forgive you for ruining my chances for a mate- hmph!"
"I'm going to assume that you didn't find a mate either," Toothless says, to Hana's displeased sniff. He turns to me. "By tradition, if a female Night Fury has a mate, then she has to introduce him on the first Reunion day, then they move to the male's side afterwards."
"Because my credit is forever ruined by this idiot," she hisses at Kuro.
"It's not my fault that I played tag and ran into your wooing session!" he mumbles. "I got lost. I didn't even know I was deep out of my territory until I ran into you."
"Stupid idiot," she says with a glare, turning to look at me. "So, are you friends with this slime?"
"Save yourself," Kuro whispers. "I'm already dead."
"I- uh," I begin, but Toothless distracts her with a shout of "Pa!"
Two large dragons (slightly larger than Toothless, and skin more rugged), fly in, landing silently and gracefully.
"Ma!" Yuki yells in her little voice, running up to greet the pair of dragons. "Guess who came this year!"
"Hello, Yuki," Ma says with a croon. She turns to face everyone else (i.e. me too). "Hello, Hana."
"Hi, Ma, hi Pa," she says brightly, running up to meet them.
"Hiya, Ma, Pa," Kuro says, very careful to avoid nearing Hana as he goes over to embrace his father.
"Hello, Shiro," Ma says as he goes over to her side. "That's your friend, isn't it?"
"H-how did you know?" Toothless asks with a shocked expression. Ma simply nudges him with a wing and chuckles.
"We've heard of your adventures, firstborn son," Pa says. "It's a good thing that Hana brings us so much news. She says the news travelled miles and miles, so she wasn't so sure if it was real."
"Turns out my news is pretty accurate," Hana says proudly, shooting a death glare at Kuro.
"You two must be close if you can talk to us." Ma says, nearing me slowly and gracefully. "So, how is it being with Shiro all the time?"
"Great," I say quite truthfully.
"Do you see him as a friend? An acquaintance? A pet, maybe?" Pa asks, a slight growl in his voice.
"Friend, sir," I say honestly. "Never as a pet."
Alright, the latter part was a lie, but that was only during the first few months with Toothless. He proved to be much more than just someone who followed me everywhere. He has a mind of his own, dreams of his own, and a really bad taste for fish.
"It's true," Toothless says. "No 'master' would jump from a cliff just to save a 'pet'."
Ma scans me for several moments, then nods and turns towards her dragonets.
"Well, you're always welcome here every year," she says with a smile. "He needs you after all. And Shiro, do pay your siblings a visit sometimes."
"Yes, Ma," Toothless says, touching his wing with Ma as a sign of promise.
"Party!" Kuro shouts, spreading his wings happily. "C'mon, Shiro, I'll race you to the fish pond. I've been itching to race you ever since you disappeared last year."
"I bet you'll lose by a mile," Toothless says with a smirk as I climb on.
2.5 hours to midnight
It turns out, of course, that we win (though not by a mile). We do, however, bring back lots and lots of fish. As Kuro goes back to hunt for bigger meat, Toothless and I talk about trivial stuff that I've been dying to ask Toothless.
"What's your favourite colour?" I ask.
"Don't have one," he says.
"Pick one, then."
"Um… black. You?"
"Green."
"Alright, my turn," he says. "Why do humans never stop talking?"
"Because we have mouths that can actually speak words," I answer.
"Ohh," Toothless says sarcastically. "Figures."
"What do you usually say when I screw up?"
"Something rude," Toothless croons. "That I can't say in front of Yuki."
Yuki turns towards us, but Hana nudges her back.
"What's your favourite food?"
"Are you kidding?" Toothless snorts. "It's cod. You?"
"Chicken legs."
"Ooh, I like that too," Yuki says.
"Alright… why is cod not your favourite food?" Toothless asks.
"Well, um…" I mumble.
Suddenly, Kuro returns with a thud.
"I've got some more food!" he yells, dropping a dead lamb.
"Food!" Yuki and Toothless yell at the same time.
The Reunion officially begins. As the dragons celebrate/feast on the hunted, I'm taken in just like I'm part of their family. Yuki finally has the courage to prod me, Kuro jokes about my lack of appetite for fish, and Hana asks me about human life, how we eat, our interests. Toothless fills everyone with the cheery atmosphere of having a lost sibling back. He tells adventures of him and me fighting off enemies. He even tells them about my love interest- er, Astrid, much to my embarrassment ("She even kissed you?! I don't believe it!" said a dismayed Kuro). Even his parents nudge a raw fish towards me, which I take.
As the other dragons share the fallen lamb, which I find slightly repulsive, Toothless gives me a happy smile.
"Warm family, ain't it?" he asks with a croon.
"Very," I say. "They're really… nice."
"I know, right?" he smiles. "Though Kuro is annoying as ever. Well, that's a plus, I guess."
"Why isn't Yuki living with you parents?" I ask.
"She actually… well," Toothless lowers his voice to a whisper, "Ma and Pa thought she was a stillborn at first. When she hatched, she showed no signs of movement at all. So they took her out to a distant land and left her there and forgot about her. But then I found her a few months before Reunion, and she was alive and with a group of friends. So I took care of her and led her here. She was born in her territory, though, so she won't go back to Ma's and Pa's."
"And you were born…?"
"I was the first to be born," he says. "Right here, like everyone else. But I was rebellious… I didn't like my parents. I actually sent them away from this place and made them go live where Hana and they live now. But they came to Reunion every year, and so did I. They had Hana and then Kuro and then Yuki. Eventually, when I had a little sister to protect, I finally came to terms with my parents, and they forgave me."
I nod.
"So… yeah," he says awkwardly. "Everything's good now. Except for the Yuki part, but we all agree that she doesn't have to know."
"Kuro seems terrified of Hana," I remark.
"Well, you don't mess with a female who's in love," Toothless says grimly. "Now she hates him for messing up her love life. Something like that."
"AHH GET OFF MEEE!" comes a despaired Kuro's voice.
"Wow," I say. "I never knew dragons had such a unique way of family."
"I get tired of Ma sometimes," he admits, "But I'm still her son, I guess."
He looks at me with a very you-know-I-mean-a-bit-more-than-that look, and I understand.
"You get tired of me sometimes," I say, "But you're still my friend."
He nods.
"My best friend," Toothless says, wrapping his tail around me. His artificial tailfin brushes my side, and I smile.
"Hey! What about me?!" Kuro asks, appearing from behind us. "Whatever happened to your favourite brother?!"
"You're my favourite biological brother," Toothless says with a grin.
"Mmph," Hana says from the other side of the cave, causing Kuro to duck for no reason. As Hana and everyone else laughs, Kuro gets up with a weak smile.
"Shiro, do you mind if we play something… less fatal?" Kuro says, limping slowly. "Maybe something that doesn't involve biting."
"We could practice you proposing to a girl," Toothless suggests. Kuro lets out a groan.
20 minutes to midnight
After the fish was expended, the games exhausted, and there were no more stories to update everyone's life (Toothless's stories took about half the whole time, and everyone just kept passing their turns just to get back to Toothless/me), the dragons began to take their leave.
"Good luck, everyone!" Yuki says cheerfully, standing at the entrance of the cave. "Remember, I'm always cheering you guys on!"
"See you guys," Hana says with a smile. "I'll be sure to bring you guys back a mate next year."
"I'm going to be more awesome than my brother next year!" Kuro says happily. "But who am I kidding? I already am."
"See you, everyone," Toothless says. "I'm going to make sure that I'll be here next year."
"Stay safe," Pa says.
"Don't get into trouble," Ma says.
They all watch me, as the snow outside rages on.
"Well?" Toothless asks me. "What do you have to say?"
"Me?" I ask, "But I'm not…"
"C'mon," Kuro says. "Speak up! We can't hear you!"
"You've got to make a little parting message!" little Yuki says happily. "C'mon!"
"Well..." I say, not knowing what to say. I didn't even think they'd consider me as their… group. "Thanks, everyone. You guys are awesome. And…"
I look at Toothless, who is by my side.
"I'll make sure that Toothless is with you guys next year."
"And you too!" Kuro says, "You're awesome!"
"Hear, hear!" Yuki says, looking at Hana expectantly. She gives me a nod of approval.
"You're always welcome," Ma says with a smile. "Now, let's be off."
Yuki leaves first, then followed by Kuro.
"Flowers, right?" he asks me and Toothless before he leaves. "I'll keep that in mind."
His parents wait to see Toothless/me off. They watch me silently, but not with the silence of a stranger.
As I wave goodbye, Toothless takes off into the cold snow.
"Well, that certainly was a day," Toothless says as we fly through the air. "Personally, I thought that I wouldn't be able to make it to Reunion, or they'd forget me…"
"Nonsense," I chuckle. "You're the star of this year's Reunion. It's way better than Celebration, at any rate."
"Why was that so?" Toothless asks.
"Well… they… you… treated me like family," I say slowly. "No one's ever done that before."
Toothless nods silently.
"It must be good, huh, having a mother," I say. "Someone who actually..."
"She can be annoying sometimes, trust me," he says. "She's very protective, too."
"Reminds me of someone around here," I mutter.
"Well, you can guess where I got that from," he jokes. "Pa doesn't really care about us much. He knows we can take care of ourselves."
"And… about the tailfin..." I begin, but Toothless shakes his head.
"Like I said," he says. "I'm okay with that."
"And… well… thanks," I say. "For a lot of stuff. Including… a family."
"Hey, I should be saying that," he says. "Well… I should, before I don't get the chance to."
"Huh?"
"After midnight passes, I won't be able to talk again until this time of the year. So I'm going to make this quick."
"Toothless…"
"Thank you for giving me an awesome year," he says. "Thank you for shooting me down and befriending me. Thank you for the days and nights that I can live peacefully without the Red Queen's reign. Thank you for the adventures that you've given me. Thank you for trusting me all this time, when I can't even talk to you. Thank you for seeing me as an equal and not a pet. Thank you for giving me a reason to live. Thank you for… everything."
"Toothless," I say, gripping him tightly as hug him. "Thank you."
"It's only a matter of time," Toothless says, "Before the new year comes. Then, I'll be Silent Toothless again..."
"No!" I say, balling my fists. "No!"
"Hiccup…"
"You're just so you when you can talk," I say quietly. "Cheeky, sarcastic, funny… it's all you. I couldn't imagined you to talk in any other way. I can't believe that you won't be able to talk back to me… for a whole year. "
Toothless croons understandingly.
"I know, Hiccup… it's been a great experience, being able to share my words with you."
"I…" I say. "I just want to talk more. How your life's been like before, what your friends are doing, if you have a dream in your life."
"I'll answer them all now," Toothless says with a smile. "My life before has never been this good, my friends are my siblings, and my dream is to be happy. And you, Hiccup, have made that come true."
There's a long pause at this. It seems like a waste of valuable talking time, but to me, it's what I don't say that makes the moment special. All the words in the world couldn't compare to the unbreakable trust and care that was coursing through our minds just now, here, at this point in time, when everything can be understood with a flick of an ear, a trace of a smile, a small croon that means more than a million vocals.
"Your future mate's not going to be happy when she hears that," I joke.
"So? She's probably never had a good friend like me," he croons.
"I guess so," I say with a smile.
"Hey, it's going to be a long flight home," Toothless says. "You should get some rest."
"...Hm?"
"I'm going to cease the ability to talk in a few minutes," Toothless says. "You should go to sleep, and when you get up, you'll be in bed and your buddy will be there to lick you. Alright?"
"Could we leave out the licking part?" I joke, resting myself comfortably on his back.
"Not a chance," he says with a smile.
"Alright, then," I say with a smile. "G'night, Toothless."
"Good night, Hiccup. Thank you."
L/N: Happy new year! Thank you guys for an excellent year! (salute)