Notes: I'm pretty sure that the only thing canon-divergent in this story is that Hiccup understands some limited Dragonese. And I think they didn't know what a Razorwhip was at the time of the first movie. But what do I know?
"It's satisfying to know that all our food is being dumped down a hole," Hiccup snarked.
Astrid stared. Dragons were supposed to be these insatiable monsters, raiding the village, making people starve, to feed their ravenous appetites, but… "They're not eating any of it," she blurted wonderingly. She opened her mouth to say something else, just as a Gronckle, not unlike the one they faced in training, hovered over the hole and dropped a little fish – hardly bigger than a minnow – down it. Sleepily, it smacked its lips—
-and a mighty maw reared up. It opened, jaws snapped, and the sleepy, smiling Gronckle was no more.
"What is that?" Astrid barely had time to gasp before she heard the echo of a deep rumble, powerful as tectonic plates grinding. The boy next to her stilled. Incredibly, Hiccup cocked his head. His attitude was unmistakably one of listening.
"…let… down," he whispered. "Face… coming-after… because." Even in the dark she could see his brow furrow. "What?... I don't get that."
Contrary to popular belief – and Snotlout's fevered fantasies, most probably – 'pretty but dumb' was not in a shieldmaiden's job description. Astrid didn't waste any time making inane observations to Hiccup such as 'you can understand the dragons?' After a fashion, he clearly could.
Hiccup, on the other hand, was of the pretty-but-dumb persuasion, wasting energy on redundantly telling her, "I can understand some of it. Not all." Gee, like you translating for me wasn't a clue, muttonhead. "Alphas have a clearer voice." Then all the color drained from his face as the deep voice rumbled again. "Oh no…" he whispered.
"What?" Prudence be damned. "What did that thing say, Hiccup?"
"It said…" Hiccup looked down at his dragon. "Night Fury."
Astrid's midsection coiled like a snake. If it wanted the dragon to give them to it, she wasn't going down without a fight, and—
Her center of gravity shifted. She landed on hard rock as Toothless tilted his body, depositing the humans on the ledge. Huge green eyes fixed Hiccup and warbled urgently, softly, before his tongue darted out and licked Hiccup from head to waist, and then Astrid before she had a chance to react.
With a last look back and a final chirring sound, he slipped out from behind the column of rock to fulfil the giant's summons.
Hiccup stared after Toothless worriedly. "He said to stay where we are."
The giant voice rumbled again. Toothless had walked along the ledge to face the hole. Astrid knew it was ridiculous to ascribe human feelings to a dragon, but he looked… resigned. Bracing himself, almost. "What's that thing saying?" she whispered into Hiccup's ear.
"I'm—trying…" He listened some more. "Night Fury… away. Long time, away." Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut, head almost peeking out from behind the rock. "Question… do you have… tribute… to show for it?"
Astrid felt the color drain from her face. The dragon wouldn't risk being eaten. He would tell her he'd brought two humans. That prize was rare and valuable enough that it would exonerate Toothless for sure, earn him back the monster's approval. Humans being carried off by dragons was so rare that she hadn't heard of any case other than that one fifteen years ago. She didn't blame him, of course, it was just the way of the world. The way of the wild, even: survival. Astrid was already looking about for an escape route, hoping to get moving before the dragon gave them up, instead of having to run. Just behind her was a—
"No… tribute," Hiccup translated, the words sounding as though they burned his throat on their way out.
Astrid's jaw dropped.
The tectonic plates ground. Hiccup was strung so tight he was trembling. "No… tribute… at all?"
Astrid's muscles tightened. Give us up, she found herself urging the dragon. She didn't want Hiccup's dragon to betray them, but they were humans and he was a dragon, and she was warrior enough to know what needed to be done. But Toothless remained stupid could he be? If he gave them up, he'd save himself, and Astrid was a good enough warrior to bolt for the exit she'd detected, get them both out.
The nest was silent, but for the whispering of a thousand wings. Toothless' soft warble nestled into the soft sounds. Hiccup keened softly, slumping. "No tribute," he translated, voice raw. "No tribute at all."
The tectonic plates screeched now, loudly enough that Astrid could blame that sound for the shock that tore through her, laying waste to all she knew. The roar went on and on. "Violation," Hiccup translated. "Punishable b—by…" He went paler, if that were possible, and whispered, "By death…"
He didn't give us up. She's going to kill him, Astrid thought. He's going to die. For us.
She was freefalling, everything she knew razed to the ground. No! Focus! She'd only been woolgathering for a second, but to a warrior, a second could kill. She clutched onto her training, solid ground in shifting sands.
Next to her, Hiccup tensed. Astrid wondered if he was going to offer himself as tribute, or something. Gods knew, after today, she'd seen that Hiccup was crazy enough to do just that. She clamped a hand around his wrist by way of prevention. But no, Toothless was 'speaking' now, and Hiccup was listening. Toothless warbled, chirred and whistled, interspersed with the huge creature's roar. "Injured. Not… his doing. Not… intentional. Humans…" Hiccup leaned forward, and whatever he heard next made him wince and his hands curl into fists. He slumped, shaking his head.
"What?!" Astrid prodded urgently. "What did he say?"
"A human shot me down." It came out a moan.
Astrid's eyes flitted between Hiccup and the other dragons, all murmuring, all listening.
The behemoth roared again, then made rumbling noises. "Night Fury… important to… to the nest. Useful to Majesty." Hiccup swallowed. More rumbling, as Hiccup listened, vibrating like a bowstring.
"What's she saying?"
Hiccup suddenly went limp, and she didn't need the translation to know the death sentence had been commuted. Still, it was a relief to hear Hiccup's whispered, "…Let him live."
"Oh thank all the gods," Astrid murmured.
But the conversation wasn't done yet. "But—there have to be…" Hiccup sounded doubtful of his own understanding. "It's a word I don't know. It means," he whispered, "What comes after? Because?"
Astrid suddenly understood. "Consequences."
Hiccup stiffened.
They looked over to where Toothless was laying himself flat on a broader part of the ledge. His resigned eyes flickered over to them, and the message was clear even to Astrid: Stay put. Stay hidden. Please.
"No," Hiccup said, entirely unnecessarily, Astrid thought. She pulled him back.
The big dragon's voice rumbled a command. Toothless' face screwed up. How could Astrid tell that what he was feeling was shame?
The command came again, more insistent. Astrid shook Hiccup's arm. "What's it saying?"
Hiccup's voice was choked. "T—turn over."
Face still locked in a grimace, Toothless turned over on the ledge to lie on his back. The position was vulnerable for any animal, Astrid knew that much. When he laid his sleek black head back to expose his throat, Hiccup keened softly.
Dragon training had taught the young Vikings that dragon fronts were not substantially different from dragon backs: both were armored and resistant to attack. Whoever had taught them that had clearly never seen a Night Fury. Toothless' underside was soft and velvety, unexpectedly fragile in the half-light. In the flickers from the cave's fires, through the delicate skin, she could see the soft pulse of his heart beating. And there he lay, exposed for whatever the—had Hiccup called it an alpha?—wanted to do to him.
There was another rumbling command, and a Monstrous Nightmare, easily four times Toothless' size, separated from the group. "I—it wants her to—to punish Toothless..." Hiccup's voice shook.
Big green eyes met theirs. Sternly, although he was clearly terrified, Toothless surreptitiously pressed at the rock with one foreleg. Don't move.
Then his pupils narrowed and he closed his eyes in resignation, looking away. Hiccup keened under his breath.
Astrid had never thought much about dragon sizes, except in regard to the Terrible Terrors. But it struck her, as the black Night Fury lay on the ledge, how small a dragon he really was. If he curled up in a ball, he probably had no more mass than a Gronckle. Unholy offspring of lightning and death he might be, but he was tiny. And vulnerable, lying there. She could see his face tense – when did she learn to read a dragon's face? – as he lay there waiting for the Nightmare to tear his stomach open… "But that thing said not to kill him!" Astrid blurted.
The dragons began to chatter among themselves, voices rising in pitch. "Toothless…" Hiccup breathed, voice hitching. She couldn't blame him. One swipe of the Nightmare's teeth, or claws, would lay Toothless' intestines bare. Astrid knew that from dragon training. Now, she was ashamed to admit to herself as she stared at the creature – their friend – who was giving himself up to keep them both concealed, that she knew the quickest ways to kill him, the best way to disembowel a dragon, or cut out its heart.
The Nightmare reared up and blasted flame at Toothless' stomach. Astrid choked down her shriek. She knew how to follow orders. Hiccup jerked, but kept his composure better than Astrid had thought he would. The Nightmare blasted shot after shot, Toothless with his face closed and turned away. Next to her, Hiccup half-smiled, breathing fast and hard, fists clenched. When the smoke cleared, she could see why: the sleek black belly was still velvety and unharmed.
"She doesn't want to hurt Toothless," Hiccup whispered, so low she had to strain to hear although his mouth was practically touching her ear. "Dragons are fireproof. She doesn't like obeying that thing's orders any more than Toothless does!"
The bass roar came again, tectonic plates grinding. Hiccup paled. Before Astrid could ask, the giant maw came up, snapping. The Nightmare darted upwards.
Too late.
The great jaws caught her wingtip. She fluttered, any creature's instinctual blind struggle to live. There was a downward jerk. The Nightmare screamed as giant teeth crunched her wing. Hiccup screamed, his cry drowned out by dragon whistling and shrieking and Toothless' own horrified roar. No! thought Astrid. She saved him!
The giant's head jerked back, maw gaping. Gray gums retracted to reveal pointed teeth, each as long as Stoick the Vast was tall. It bit down into the Nightmare's stomach. Blood spurted and the brave creature shrieked and fluttered, a butterfly on a pin, oddly graceful in death.
"No!" Hiccup shrieked, lost in the pandemonium of the dragons' cries. The nest was a hive of screaming. "No, no, no, no, no!" Calmly, the giant's tongue slid out, pulling her into its open mouth. Wings and tail and all disappeared, and then the giant itself subsided, invisible once more.
"She killed her," Hiccup was sobbing. "She killed her!"
"Quiet." Astrid was a Viking, and a warrior. She knew this was no time to mourn.
Astrid never cried. But tears streaked her face just the same.
There was another roar. Another dragon detached itself from the mass. It had a sleek metalllic body, gleaming all silver, a long shiny-plate neck, and a face with a single, upturned tusk. Its tail was long and telescopic, spines sticking out all along its length. Astrid's limbs went cold.
"No…!" Hiccup choked, sounding as horrified as she felt. Clearly he knew what class of dragon this was. Astrid was no Fishlegs, but she remembered the Book of Dragons well enough: "One single blade of the Razorwhip's tail is as deadly as the sharpest battle-axe."
The Razorwhip flapped its wings lazily for a moment. Then it approached Toothless, whose green eyes widened. The Night Fury rolled onto his stomach, folding in his wings to protect them, leaving his flanks and back exposed. This time he was not commanded to turn back over.
"No-no-no-no-NO!" Hiccup shrieked as the Razorwhip drew back her tail and slashed, carving a great gouge across Toothless's back. Astrid barely had time to clamp her hand over Hiccup's mouth before his scream betrayed the humans' location and made all their friend's suffering for nothing.
The Razorwhip fluttered backward to gain momentum, then streaked forward to head-butt the smaller dragon with an impact hard enough to drive him into the rock face. The blunt curve of its horn smashed into Toothless' right eye, with such force that Astrid thought for one terrible moment that it had crushed Toothless' skull. Hiccup screamed as if he was the one struck.
The nest was a mess of shrieking, the dragons fluttering in what even Astrid could tell was distress. She expected the Razorwhip to follow through with more blows, but instead the snakelike dragon retreated and batted its great wings in a sort of hover, waiting for Toothless to recover. He staggered, shaking his dazed head. "Oh no, bud," Hiccup whispered, "your eye…" The eye smashed in by the horn was already huge and puffy and swelling shut, but before it closed completely, Astrid glimpsed the iris: all red, no green in it at all. She wondered if he would ever see with it again.
And still, he dragged himself back to lie flat on the rock shelf to take the rest of his punishment. She dared to hope, as the Razorwhip had not attacked again. "Maybe this one doesn't want to hurt him either…?" Astrid ventured. But then the bass rumble sounded again.
The Razorwhip landed next to Toothless and began to lay into him with its tail. With every blow, the razor-sharp barbs slashed open Toothless' flanks and back, leaving gouges and laying bare strips of flesh. Hiccup lunged forward. "No!" Astrid hardened her heart and held on, even as she felt his tears streaming down her hands. But the slight boy kept struggling in Astrid's arms as black scales and blood flew and splattered "No, that's enough!" Hiccup yelled, as if the creature giving the commands could understand or care. "Stop it! You'll kill him!"
"Shut up." She yanked him back and clamped her hand over his mouth. One thing she knew: When executing a battle maneuver, especially one that involved stealth or deception – unfamiliar to most Vikings, of course, who liked to kill first and ask questions later – the last thing, the absolute last thing you wanted was a well-meaning friend to come in and crap all over it in the name of 'helping.' Toothless had made this sacrifice to protect the humans. He needed them to be silent, and silent they would be. So she kept her hand clamped Hiccup's mouth as he screamed, cutting off the cries that would, eventually, have alerted the monster to their presence. Many of the other dragons, she could tell, were aware of them, crouching on the ledge covered in the Night Fury's scent, but in some act of defiance, were turning a blind eye. Not ratting them out. And if dragons could keep silent to protect the two humans, then Hiccup could have some self-control and keep his mouth shut.
"No!" Hiccup sobbed into her muffling hand. "No! Toothless! STOP IT!"
The tail struck one of Toothless' front paws, cutting a slash so deep that for a moment Astrid feared the limb was severed. Toothless wailed, but held position, making no move to escape, claws scrabbling desperately for purchase on the rock as he writhed in agony. Hiccup was frantic, shrieking and sobbing, fighting Astrid like a wild man, so that even she had trouble holding him. She had no doubt that if she let him go, he would fly to his friend's side, even if it killed them both. "Hiccup. He told you to be quiet," she tried desperately.
"No! Stop it, stop hurting him—!"
And suddenly, it was over.
Astrid slumped, taking her hand off Hiccup's mouth. Thank Odin, it was over. Such a punishment could not go on long anyway: the book told her that dragons healed fast, but among predators, even a non-fatal wound could easily kill. And Toothless had sustained many. The Alpha was cutting it pretty fine, if keeping him alive was the objective.
Making him suffer, now… that objective had been achieved to the full.
Trembling, Toothless tried to get to his feet. He stumbled to his knees and Hiccup jerked, letting out a cry. "Come on, bud," he choked. Astrid convulsively clamped her hand back over his mouth. "Hiccup, be quiet!" Astrid hissed, wincing herself at the sight of Toothless struggling to stand, his legs failing him, shaking visibly even at this distance. "Oh, Toothless," Hiccup moaned, as though he were the one too badly beaten to move. "Oh, bud…"
Astrid noticed that the cave was full of dragon cries, as its denizens slowly began to go back about their business. "If you lower your voice, I'll let you go," she hissed into Hiccup's ear.
Hiccup nodded. The moment he was released, he lunged forward, stopping just short of being seen. "Come on, Toothless." His voice broke. He reached out a hand. "Come here, bud, come to me." He was choking on his tears, but kept his voice as steady as he could. "I'm here. I'm here, bud. Come to me."
Toothless finally staggered to his feet. He let out a groaning roar when he put weight on his mauled leg. He lurched, whimpering, but steadied himself, and she could see the will that kept him standing. Next to her, Hiccup winced. "Oh, buddy. Oh, Toothless…"
"Shh," she commanded. "Almost there." Sure enough, Toothless had started limping along the ledge. Heavy and painful, he shuffled to where Hiccup was waiting, holding his arms open for him.
"Oh, Toothless!" The moment the dragon touched his human, he almost threw himself into Hiccup's arms, desperate for comfort after his ordeal. Hiccup was already there, as desperate to hold as Toothless was to be held, wrapping his arms around him and gathering him in. Toothless nuzzled him, whimpering muted at the back of his throat. "Oh bud…" Too exhausted to stand, the dragon sank to the stone floor. They went down together, Hiccup falling to his knees, drawing the big black head in close to his chest, laying his human-cool hand over his swollen eye and rocking and comforting him. "Easy, bud, easy. I'm here, it's over, it's all over."
Hiccup just held him there, rocking, as Astrid stared. Even having seen Hiccup screaming as his dragon – his friend – was hurt, it was still a shock to see him weeping over Toothless, murmuring soothing words to the dragon and even kissing the top of his scaly black head. But stranger, she thought, had been the dragon's sacrifice. He had refused to give them up, relentlessly insisted that they stay hidden, and suffered willingly, almost unto death, to keep them from the monster's wrath. He could have handed us over to her and saved himself… Astrid's world was thoroughly upended, and all she could do was watch as the dragon and Hiccup clung to each other like drowning creatures.
Then the dragon roused himself. Astrid didn't need to understand his language to get his message. We have to go.
"Bud… you're in no shape to…"
The dragon's good eye narrowed, and again Astrid needed no translation. To stay is death. She was inclined to agree.
Toothless slipped out of Hiccup's embrace and slithered, stomach low to the ground, along the ledge. His injuries were leaving a bloody trail behind him, but he looked back with urgent green eyes, and pushed on. Resigned, shoulders slumped, Hiccup slunk along behind him, Astrid bringing up the rear with all the stealth she possessed.
After a few moments of creeping along, the rank air of the cave began to give way to the fresher tang of a sea breeze. Astrid appreciated anew the creature's – no, Toothless' – intelligence: He had known that this ledge would lead them out of the cave when… Astrid swallowed… when the Queen was finished with him. Astrid watched the dark shape of his body leading the way. His step was far from steady, his body still shaking. It was a bitter feeling to know that the dr—that Toothless—had known when he chose this ledge that he might be too weak after… afterwards… to fly immediately.
Then they were out in the cool night air. The dragon shivered. Reptiles were cold-blooded, weren't they? But dragons had fire… did that keep them warm, or was he too badly wounded to… Toothless interrupted Astrid's thoughts with a soft nudge of his snout and a pained jerk of his bruised head. Get on.
Warriors don't question orders, especially good orders. Astrid had swung one leg over the dragon's body, flinching only a little as her thighs touched the deep, bloody gouges in his side, in the time it took Hiccup to make some inane protest. "We'll die if we stay," she observed, already clutching the saddle.
Hiccup glanced from Toothless' head to his saddle, catching the dragon's good eye, before reluctantly swinging a leg over. "Lay yourself flat down on his back," he said over his shoulder to Astrid. "It'll distribute the weight better. Hurt him less."
Hiccup bit down on the rest of his thought: He shouldn't be carrying us at all, he shouldn't be flying in his condition. Watching Toothless being 'punished' had been the worst moments of his life. Every cut of the Razorwhip's wings, every time his friend had cried out in pain, had echoed through Hiccup's body, making him dizzy and heartsick. Now, as Toothless spread his wings and glided up the ledge, catching the thermals so his battered body wouldn't have to do as much work, Hiccup's entire body clenched to hear his friend groan. Flying was hard on the body – on the wing-joints, on every tiny muscle in the wings and torso and tail that you used to keep steady and maintain your balance. Flying with a weight on you – of two humans, yet – placed yet more strain on Toothless, although in full health Hiccup wouldn't have worried. But now… Now, he was acutely aware of every tiny muscle movement as Toothless curved and banked on his way back to Berk. Every minute shift of bone and sinew beneath him made his own muscles tense with the knowledge of the pain it was causing Toothless, heart aching when his friend couldn't quite hold back his groans. He pressed himself flatter, letting his hand stray to the poor swollen eye and cup it gently to protect it from the wind. He steadfastly ignored the wetness he could feel soaking into his trousers where his calves were pressed against Toothless' gouged flanks.
The ride seemed to take forever to Hiccup, every nerve on high alert even though all he could do was shift the foot pedal and pray. At long last, they glided into the cove. Toothless landed by the water's edge and lay quite still.
Hiccup leapt off, glad to finally get his weight off his friend. Get that saddle and flying gear off first, he thought. Check him over, make him comfortable. "Okay. It's okay, bud." His heart clenched again as he saw the exhaustion in Toothless' face, lying there with his eyes closed. Getting them home had taken more than the dragon could give. Hiccup undid the buckles and all but wrenched tore the saddle off, only gentling his movements to spare Toothless more pain. Then he knelt to his friend, wrapping his arms about his head and laying his cheek against his snout. "Okay, it's okay now. It's okay. I got you, I won't leave you. You did great, you got us home. Rest now, I'll take care of everything…" The great black throat bobbed, making Hiccup feel stupid with the realization. "Oh Thor! Thirsty, I bet you're thirsty, huh? You need water…"
Astrid watched, speechless. She felt foolish beyond imagining to have ever thought the dragon a pet. At the start of the flight, she had not known, couldn't have imagined, the full extent of… she stared at Hiccup and Toothless… of whatever this was. Toothless had endured – her mind shied away from the word torture even as her eyes would not leave the deep gouges in his side – had taken a beating for them, or at least for Hiccup, his human, to keep him safe. The dragon had strategized, he had gotten them out safely with all hands. Like a commander, or a ship's captain. A competent one.
When Hiccup spoke of water, she wordlessly held out the small drinking-bowl she kept in her pack, a sheet of metal hammered paper-thin, curved to perfection. Hiccup had made it, but he took no notice of that fact as he all but snatched it out of her hand, with the barest of thank-you glances, but she took no offense. He scooped water from the clear lake and poured it over the dragon's head, cupping his hand over his swollen eye and splashing it. Toothless' eyes blinked open. "Okay, open wide," Hiccup instructed, scooping up more water. "Here…" He poured bowlful after bowlful into his friend's mouth. The dragon drank greedily: he had clearly been parched. Astrid knew how thirsty one could get after a battle… she forced herself to say it: after you'd been wounded, or taken a beating. She'd sustained enough drubbings in training and in actual fights to know the feeling. It was uncomfortable to know exactly how a dragon felt.
Only… Hiccup's crooning voice was still in the background, an affectionate murmur… only Astrid had never had anyone to bring her water, or tend her wounds after.
"Where does it hurt the most?" Hiccup was asking his dragon. He did not say, "beloved," but the endearment lay, trembling, in his voice. It was written all over his face, it was in the way he cradled the great black head, it was in the way he laid his hand tenderly over the injured eye, in the way he bent and touched his forehead to the dragon's and kissed the scales on the crown of his head again and again. The dragon soaked up his affection almost desperately, shifting in his friend's embrace as though hungry for touch, crooning and making tiny sounds in the back of his throat. When Hiccup begged again, his hands still ceaselessly petting and soothing, "Please, Toothless. Please tell me where it hurts the worst so I can take care of you," Astrid found herself suddenly looking away.
"Do you… need anything?" Astrid asked haltingly.
Hiccup was still completely in his own world with Toothless: he was comforting his friend, and nothing else mattered. "Salve if you can get it," he said without looking at her. He was examining Toothless' leg. With another splash of water, he washed the blood off, revealing the deep gash. It hadn't been half-severed as Astrid had originally feared, but it was bad. "Bandages. As soon as you can." He stroked the dragon's head. "Can you lick it, bud? Can you reach?"
Slowly, the dragon bent to his foreleg, grunting as the movement pulled his wounds open. Hiccup murmured encouragement, nodding and praising him when he got there and licked the wound, pushing his tongue as far inside as it would go, Hiccup pressing close and urging him on even when it clearly hurt to do so, until it was all thoroughly coated with dragon saliva. Astrid frowned – was there some reason for it? "I'll do the other ones," Hiccup said, puzzlingly. "I know you can't move."
When he was done, Hiccup pulled off his fur vest and laid it carefully under the wounded limb, crooning comfort when the dragon growled softly in pain. "Ah, bud, I know it hurts, I'm sorry. We got this, you and me. Fix you up, good as new. I got you. I got you."
"Anything else?" Astrid asked. It would be dusk soon: the sooner she could go and come back, the better.
"Yeah." When Hiccup looked up at Astrid, his voice sharpened again, all business. "If you can, bring back some of that lousy-tasting stuff Gothi uses to numb pain – it doesn't have any ingredients I haven't seen Toothless at least taste, so if it doesn't help, at least it won't hurt." Unembarrassed, he stripped off his tunic, soaked it in the cool waters of the lake for a moment, and laid it over his friend's eye. "That should help keep it from swelling too bad." His voice softened again. "Bet you've got a killer headache, huh, bud? We'll get you something to help you with that." He looked down the gouges on Toothless' side, then up at Astrid. "I'll wash these out and get him to lick them – dragon saliva has healing properties. Well, at least Night Fury saliva." Ah, so that was why! "Shallower cuts on dragons heal better uncovered – but if you can find some clean cloths, I'd like to get some compresses on those bruises." He looked down. "A blanket, two if you can carry them. Not sure if he'll be up to generating his own heat, and it gets cold out here at night."
Astrid blinked. She had never seen Hiccup so businesslike: he was completely in command of what he was doing, not being apologetic or awkward. "Okay."
"Thanks," Hiccup said as an afterthought, but he was already turning his back to her, crooning to Toothless and using her bowl of water to wash the already-clotting blood off his cuts. After they were cleaned, Hiccup held Astrid's bowl out to Toothless, telling him bracingly, "Give it a lick, fill 'er up." When the dish was full of dragon drool, Hiccup brought it up to each freshly-washed cut and coated it fully with saliva, smoothing it on with his hand. It should have been disgusting, but instead was strangely intimate.
Astrid felt an odd heaviness in her limbs as she watched them together, unable to turn away. Hiccup, noticing her stare, quirked a half-smile. "I'll wash it out. Or I can make you a new bowl, sorry. He can't do it himself, so I have to." Toothless flinched and whimpered as Hiccup tended to a particularly deep slash, and Hiccup winced with him. "I'm sorry, buddy. I'm so sorry." He shook his head. "I'll be gentler, I promise."
Toothless shook his head gently and crooned. His eyes opened – or at least the uninjured one did – and fixed on Hiccup with what Astrid could only describe as adoration. "Oh, Toothless," Hiccup murmured. "You didn't have to do that. You shouldn't have done it."
The dragon's eye focused and he moved his head, clearly saying, Yes, I should. He looked beyond Hiccup and met Astrid's eyes. And she knows I was right to do it.
Staring into the dragon's eyes, Astrid found herself nodding slowly. Toothless was a warrior too, battle-hardened as she was. As Hiccup was not. And since Hiccup was currently blinded with emotion, Toothless had looked to her for understanding.
It was… disconcerting.
"I'll get the stuff," she said, and was off.
It was only as she was jogging back that it occurred to her: She had seen Hiccup this businesslike before: in the forge, when he thought no-one was watching. But she'd never, ever known the clumsy, shy boy to act this competent, this commanding—but not in arrogance, merely with rock-solid conviction of what needed to be done. It was that conviction, she realized, that had her obeying him, whereas she would never obey some stupid saber-rattling Viking show of command. It was the same reason she respected and obeyed Stoick the Vast: that he knew what he was doing, and was one of the few villagers with common sense. Mostly.
It would take her several days – and a battle – to link these thoughts with the oft-deliberately-ignored connection that Hiccup was actually Stoick the Vast's son.
Dusk was gathering as she returned, laden with everything Hiccup had asked for. She clambered into the cove, juggling her burdens as she slid down the rocks. Hiccup sat by the lake, his dragon's head in his lap, rhythmically caressing his face. The slanting shadows from the fading light fell across him, a dark human form backlit by the glint of the sun on the water, merging into the night-black shape draped across his knees. His head came up at her approach. "Astrid." Then he looked down. "Hey, buddy. Wake up. Astrid's here."
"I got everything," she said as she unpacked the bundle. "Here's the…"
Hiccup had plucked the pain medicine from her hands and was already coaxing the dragon to open his mouth. "Thanks," he said belatedly. The dragon spluttered and then let out a half-roar that would have been threatening if he hadn't been cut to ribbons to save their lives. Hiccup gave the threatening gesture all the respect it deserved. "Oh, c'mon, Toothless, don't be such a baby!" Gothi's pain potions were a case of the cure oftentimes being worse than the disease, and Astrid couldn't help being amused as the dragon choked and spluttered, narrowing his eyes at Hiccup in accusation. "I know, I know. We hate them too. But it'll help with your pain." His voice dropped, a little hoarse all of a sudden. "I'm sorry." When the medicine was all gone, Hiccup gave the dragon some water to chase it down. "There ya go, you big baby," he smiled, eyes crinkling up in an almost exact match of the dragon's, who smiled up adoringly at Hiccup with his eyes. Hiccup scratched his head gently. "Yeah, you're welcome, bud."
Astrid stood to one side as Hiccup salved the swollen lumps of bruising on Toothless' back and flanks, wetting cloths and using them as makeshift cool compresses, then coaxed him to stand on three paws and present the fourth for bandaging. As Hiccup crouched low to tie off the bandage, looking encouragingly up at the dragon and murmuring soft words, Astrid screwed up her courage. "We should…" She breathed in, knowing the answer, yet compelled to say it. "We should find your dad. Now we know where the—that thing's dragon-nest is."
Hiccup's brown head snapped up from where it was bent to his friend's leg. Green eyes bored into hers, wide with shock. "No!"
She kept her gaze on him, steady.
Hiccup scrambled to his feet, hands outstretched. "Astrid, no. They'll kill Toothless. I… I can't move him, I can't take him away! He can't fly without me—"
"Hiccup," Astrid soldiered on regardless, "we just discovered the Dragons' Nest. The thing we've been after since Vikings first sailed here. And you want to keep it a secret?!"
"Toothless is hurt!" Hiccup's voice was ragged now. "I can't put the saddle on him, not with his wounds. If they find him, they'll kill him! I can't hide him, he's defenseless, you can't—" The dragon whined, picking up on Hiccup's panic. "It's okay, Bud…" Hiccup whispered. He knelt again, pressing a comforting hand against Toothless' bandaged leg. "Hold on a minute." He spread the first blanket beneath as much of the sleek black torso as he could manage. "Okay, Toothless, you can lie down now." The dragon sighed heavily when he took his weight off his bandaged leg, lowering himself to lie on his unhurt stomach. Hiccup caressed Toothless' face, bending to lay his cheek on the crown of his head. "I'm here, bud. Settle down. It's okay, it's okay," he repeated, almost crooning, until the dragon crooned back, softly, and nuzzled into him.
Bud.
Astrid stared.
The realization was like a mace to the head. Hiccup had not once called the dragon "boy," as one would a pet. He spoke to him as an equal. And he called him… brother.
"Okay," she said. "Okay." She took a deep breath. "Then what do we do?"
Hiccup worked steadily on his dragon's back, salving the cuts thoroughly. "I'm gonna take care of him," he muttered.
"Hiccup… The dragon fight is tomorrow! You're supposed to kill a Monstrous Night…" Astrid choked. The Nightmare who had died to protect Toothless fluttered in her mind's eye, all helpless wings and tiny body compared to the colossal head that had killed her. The same breed as the dragon who died because she protected us. Well, protected Toothless. She shook her head in frustration: she wasn't used to lying to herself. Protected us. When had Toothless become 'us'?
"I won't do that." Hiccup swallowed, eyes meeting hers, and she saw that steel in him again. "Just give me until tomorrow. I'll figure something out."
Astrid was too shell-shocked to say anything but "Okay." Hiccup nodded in wordless thanks. She picked up her mostly-empty satchel. "It's getting dark," she said unnecessarily. "You should get going."
Hiccup looked up at her from where he was kneeling by his dragon. "I'm not leaving him," he said quietly. "You go ahead. I'll see you tomorrow."
Astrid's eyes were beginning to hurt from all the staring she was doing. "You're spending the night in the forest? Alone?"
She realized her mistake as the words left her mouth. Hiccup didn't even bother to correct her, his steady gaze holding gentle reproof. Toothless chirred, meeting her eyes. She could have sworn the dragon was saying I may be hurt, but I'm still a big bad fire-breathing dragon. A top predator. I can protect him. He nosed at Hiccup, then licked his face. "Ugh, Toothless," Hiccup complained, but even Astrid could tell it was pro forma. Then Hiccup grinned at his friend. "Neither of us will be alone," he said to Astrid, smiling eyes still fixed on Toothless. The dragon crooned. "Yeah, bud. You said it."
Hiccup began to remove the compresses from the bruises marring the Night Fury's sleek body. "Pain better, bud?" he murmured, in the soft voice she'd never heard him use for anyone before. The dragon nodded, whuffling softly and turning big green eyes on Hiccup. He looked so adoring that Astrid felt a pang.
"I'm glad." Hiccup pressed his cheek against Toothless' head. "I still think you shouldn't have done it," he whispered, "but I understand why you did." His eyes closed, shutting out everything but the two of them. He kept on speaking, earnest and intimate, as if Astrid wasn't there, as if no-one was watching. And Astrid was stunned. No Viking, certainly no male Viking, would ever speak to anyone with that much raw affection, and certainly not where anyone else could hear.
As she looked on, shell-shocked, the murmuring continued. It wasn't a monologue, she realized, but a conversation: Hiccup offering soft words of comfort and appreciation and wonder, and Toothless warbling softly in response, looking up at him with adoring green eyes. His cuts, Astrid noticed, had already closed over: they were indeed healing far faster than a human's, or any creature she'd seen before. She should have felt fear, or the desire to note it down in some dragon-slaying manual, but instead, a small place inside her own heart felt healed.
A night-bird's cry broke the spell. Astrid shook her head. Tomorrow was going to be a disaster. "Get some sleep," she said. By Thor's hammer, did she just give advice on bedtime? She was turning into her mother! She swiped out, hitting Hiccup on the arm.
"That's for kidnapping me," she said, feeling at least a little better. The sight of the pair of them—She was a warrior! Her chest wasn't supposed to melt inside like this! But she couldn't very well let her feelings out by hitting Hiccup again, so instead she bent to give him an awkward kiss on the cheek. "That's for…" Her chest swelled with warmth, and she couldn't find words. "Everything else."
She turned and fled.
High up above them, just was out of the cove, she took one last look back. The soft smooth dusk made it hard to distinguish anything between the dark blue of the sky and the blackness of the land, but at this time of year, true darkness would not set in for a long while yet. Against the deep blue of the lake, bright with reflected sky, the dark silhouette of Hiccup unfurled the second blanket she had brought and spread it gently over the dragon. The weak whuff of protest she understood well enough, and so did Hiccup, who proceeded to deliver a long speech, its words lost on the wind, in a hectoring tone.
Astrid shouldn't have been able to imagine the one-pseudoeyebrow-raised-yeah-yeah look on the dragon's face, but it was clear in her mind's eye, and she giggled as Toothless ignored Hiccup's instructions and shrugged the blanket off. It was a mistake: the sudden movement forced a yelp of pain, setting Astrid to wondering if the pair would be safe there after all.
Hiccup jerked up to hear the dragon's cry. For a moment, backlit by the lake, their silhouette was one, moving only slightly as Hiccup reached out, stroking and soothing, clearly delivering a mother-hen lecture even though his words were lost on the wind. Then he replaced the blanket over his injured friend. Toothless let out a rumble of protest, but was obviously too weak to put up much of a fight. Hiccup coaxed him with more words that were soft, this time, and finally lay down next to Toothless, body pressed all along Toothless' flank.
Astrid had no time to think But he'll be cold. Against the deep blue of the lake behind them, a great black wing unfurled, curling round to settle over Hiccup in a living blanket. Hiccup shifted closer, raising an arm to wrap about the dragon's neck. Toothless crooned softly, then let out a series of honest-to-goodness cooing sounds as he shifted and reshifted his wing more comfortably around Hiccup, as Hiccup in his turn got comfortable with his arm around Toothless. By the time he was finished, Hiccup was securely wrapped in Toothless' wing, no part of him exposed to the elements, except for the arm reaching up around his neck and a single foot that Toothless' wing wasn't quite broad enough to cover. The dragon really was tiny. But the sight filled Astrid with warmth for all that.
"Guess I didn't have to worry about him freezing to death after all," Astrid muttered to herself as she pushed through the forest toward Berk. One less thing to worry about.
As for her upended worldview, her cherished convictions shattered, the upcoming fight with a Monstrous Nightmare fluttering like a butterfly on a pin, the lingering traces of concern for the two friends wrapped together by the lake in the cove…
Well, she'd worry about one thing at a time.