A/N - So. A user on Ao3 named Vindice left a comment on where no one goes. They said, and I quote, "What this drabble implies is that Toothless died before Hiccup did, and then came to pick him up to go together, just like always!" So I'm writing it. Sorry in advance.
Disclaimer - If I owned it, this would be a movie.
It was odd, how it had happened.
The King of Dragons, like he did most days, was resting on a stone on the rim of the great waterfall, on the outskirts of the fog that shielded his nest from view. His gaze was cast over the horizon, watching for...something. Even the King himself knew not what he waited for, what he was hoping to see. He knew that once, long, long ago (even for a dragon), he knew someone. Someone truly special. This Someone, as small and as weak as a hatchling, was always with him. The King remembered that, at least.
Was that who he was watching for? The Someone? Hadn't he visited The King once, long ago? Hadn't they flown together?
This Someone, as clever and as bold as a Nightmare, was first his enemy, but then his friend, his brother. He took something from the King, but then he returned it.
What had he taken?
The King, on his rock, shifted uneasily at this thought, at this missing memory. What had the Someone taken? Not a possession, he didn't think. Something more important. The King curled in on himself, whining as he tried to remember. He rested his chin on the tip of his tail, just before his two tail fins.
The...fin.
Of course. How could he have forgotten?
The Someone, his hands as quick and as steady as a Night Fury, took his tail fin. But...he had returned it. And then he gave the King a better one, one he could use on his own.
On his own?
What had the first one done? If he couldn't fly on his own, then how had he flown before? He definitely remembered flying. He would soar through the clouds, dipping and spinning, rising up and up and up, and then he would fall. He wouldn't rise until the Someone did, when he spread his own wings and began to fly, all by himself. The King remembered feeling proud of the Someone, but also...sad.
Did he still wear the tail fin the Someone had given him? The King examined his tail more closely.
No, he remembered now. It had grown back, finally, after a decade or two. The King remembered a brief period of pain, of being unable to fly, unable to join his mate and his fledgelings as they soared through the clouds, dipping and spinning.
Maybe if he flew now, he would remember the Someone.
Yes. The King would do what they used to, flying up and up, and then falling together, then finally flying again. And then, when he had finished, he would remember the Someone.
Yes.
The King spread his wings and took off without so much as a glance back towards his nest, nor a thought towards his family. He rose higher and higher, up into the clouds. He beat his wings for a final time, and then he fell. Falling back through the clouds, towards the sea.
Yes. He could remember more now. The King's wings were spread wide, and he spun and spun down through the clouds, towards the sea. The Someone would always be below him, and then the King would catch up, and then they would spin around each other, like the Earth and the Moon.
The King tucked in his wings and fell faster, through the clouds, towards the sea. He would catch up to the Someone. He needed to catch his boy. He would swoop underneath him, and his boy would close his wings and fall onto his back. Then he would hook his foot into the thing he always wore, and he would open his wings, and they would fly away.
The King strained his eyes, searching the rapidly closing space between him and the sea for his boy, for his Hiccup. He couldn't see him anywhere. Where was he? What had he been doing?
The King roared as a sudden panic overtook him. He needed to catch Hiccup. He couldn't fly for very long, and he always needed the King to catch him before he fell all the way through the clouds, towards the sea.
His eyes darted back and forth. No...no...he couldn't let Hiccup fall! Where was he? He couldn't fly until he had Hiccup with him! He couldn't leave without him! Not again.
His eyes widened. Not...again?
He had left Hiccup on the docks, staring after him as he led the Vikings to the nest of the Queen. He had left Hiccup on the beach, sobbing over the body of his sire, whom he had killed. He had left Hiccup on the cliff, after he had just lost his home, and his purpose.
He remembered. The King remembered. He remembered everything.
And he remembered as he fell through the clouds. And he remembered as he fell towards the sea.
He remembered as his breath left him. He remembered as his eyes drifted shut.
Toothless remembered.
…
…
…
Toothless.
The voice was small, and it was weak. It was calling him back, back from the darkness.
Please...I want you to be here for the end.
Hiccup?
I don't want to go by myself.
Maybe Toothless could make a quick stop, before he left completely. So, instead of going into the darkness, he turned to the voice, and he followed it. He didn't walk, and he didn't fly. He didn't think he had legs or wings anymore, but as he got closer to the voice, he thought he could feel them coming back.
And soon, he saw a doorway. He pushed it open with his nose (he had a nose again) and crept into the room. Books and maps littered the floor, blocking his view of the back of the room. Toothless pressed his wings tightly against his body and crept through the maze, keeping his steps soft and light.
Then he stepped around a pile of scrolls, and he saw him.
Hiccup.
…
…
…
It was odd, what had happened.
One day, the King of Dragons had simply vanished.
Some said that he had grown tired of the dragon's exile, and so he flew away, away into the sun.
Some said that he had missed his rider, and so he went to visit him, but was shot down by the hunters that still roamed the seas.
And some said that he had simply stopped living, the pain of a life he once lived more powerful than the peace of the one he lived now.
Maybe they were all right, in their own way.
A/N - Well, writing this hurt me emotionally, but I can barely imagine what it did to you. Hopefully you read where no one goes, otherwise the ending is probably a little unsatisfying. If you haven't read it yet, go ahead and do that now.