A/N: Hey everyone! This is my first full-length fanfic. I've already finished writing it, but I'll edit the chapters before posting. I'm going to try to post one every couple of days, but if that gets too much, I'll back it down to one a week. Rated T for character injury, possible death and battle. Nothing too graphic, nothing suggestive and no coarse language. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the How to Train Your Dragon movie or TV show. I do have a handful of OC's that are mine. So basically, if you recognize the character, it's not mine. :P
CHAPTER ONE
Hiccup stifled a yawn and held up the finished product to the rays of the rising sun streaming through the windows of Gobber's workshop. He smiled to himself. Perfect.
A thump came from the roof and a moment later, a black dragon jumped down in front of the window. Hiccup smiled. "Morning, Toothless."
Toothless groaned his reply, and dropped a bundle of leather and harnesses on the ground. Hiccup yawned and smiled again. "Ready for our morning ride?" He slipped the item he had been making into his pocket, put his tools back in their places and stepped outside.
He scratched Toothless on the forehead, stifling another yawn. Toothless looked at him quizzically.
"Yes, I stayed here all night," Hiccup said, picking up the harness and started strapping it on Toothless.
Toothless rumbled.
"And no, I'm not going to tell you what I was working on. It's a surprise." Hiccup secured the last strap and mounted the Night Fury.
The two friends took off. They soared in and out between the towering rock formations dotted around the coast of Berk. Hiccup nudged Toothless to go down closer to the water. They skimmed along the surface, the wind blowing the mist from the sea into Hiccup's face.
Hiccup reached down with his hand and splashed up a little water at Toothless. The dragon growled playfully. Hiccup laughed. Toothless turned sharply, dumping his rider into the freezing cold water, then crashing into the sea himself.
Hiccup came up sputtering and laughing. Toothless grinned at him, then smacked a wing down on the water, further soaking Hiccup. Hiccup laughed again and tried to wipe the water away. He raised a hand to splash Toothless back, when something scaly brushed up against his leg.
Hiccup looked down into the water. He caught a glimpse of a large black shadow… "Toothless…?"
Toothless dived towards Hiccup. An ugly, gray-green head broke the surface of the water, its razor sharp teeth bared. Hiccup grabbed Toothless' saddle. Toothless leapt out of the water, and flapped his wings, trying to keep in the air. Hiccup swung himself onto the Night Fury's back, and inserted his metal leg into the stirrup. The prosthetic tail fin on Toothless' tail opened, and rider and dragon soared up into the sky.
They circled above the creature in the water, staring at it. It shrieked, whether as a warning to stay away, or disappointment of loosing its prey, Hiccup didn't know. The creature dived under the water, its long neck never seeming to end.
Hiccup clung to Toothless. "I've never seen that before," he whispered. "What is it?"
Toothless moaned, shaking his head as if to indicate he didn't know.
Another gray shape broke the water's surface. Two, three, four of the sea creatures swam around, shrieking. The water rolled off their heads in a greenish color.
Hiccup stared at them, then looked back to Toothless. "Let's go back home. We need to let Dad know about these."
#
Toothless landed next to Hiccup's house. Hiccup dismounted. "Be right back, bud." He turned and ran inside the house. "Dad?" Hiccup called. No one answered. Hiccup looked around, but no one was inside.
He ran back outside. "He must be at the Great Hall," he said to Toothless. He stopped. Astrid and Stormfly stood next to the Night Fury. "Uh, hi, Astrid." He slipped his hand into his pocket, fingering the object inside.
Astrid raised an eyebrow. "What happened to you?"
Hiccup looked down at himself. "Oh, yeah. Uh, Toothless sorta... dumped me into the water while we were out flying."
Astrid looked at Toothless and laughed.
Hiccup curled his fist around the object in his pocket. "Um, Astrid, I need to, uh, ask you something."
"Okay." She tucked a section of her golden hair behind her ear, looking at Hiccup with curiosity. "What is it?"
"Um, well..."
The roar of a Monstrous Nightmare split the air, cutting off Hiccup's unfinished sentence. Snotlout landed Hookfang next to Stormfly and Toothless, Fishlegs and his dragon Meatlug and the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut and their Zippleback right behind him.
"Hey, Astrid. Hiccup," Snotlout said, dismounting his dragon and standing beside Astrid. "What's up?"
"Nothing," Hiccup said, a little too quickly.
"Actually, I think Hiccup was asking me something," Astrid said, turning back to face him.
Hiccup felt his face grow warm. Not really the best of times, Astrid. "Oh, yeah. I, uh, um, was wondering if you, er, wanted to go, uh, flying with me later today."
"Just you and Astrid?" Ruffnut asked.
"By yourselves?" Tuffnut smirked.
Ruffnut smacked him. "That's what I said, dummy."
"Uh, no," Hiccup stammered. "I mean, Toothless will be there too."
The twins snickered. Fishlegs raised an eyebrow. Snotlout glowered. Astrid glared at the others, then smiled at Hiccup. "Sure. I'd love to." With another glare at the others, she mounted Stormfly and took off.
Hiccup stared after Astrid for a moment until he realized the others were still staring at him. Face burning, he mounted Toothless. "Uh, see you guys later."
Toothless took off, and Hiccup reached his hand into his pocket. He sighed.
They landed outside the Great Hall. Hiccup slipped out of the saddle. "Back in a minute."
He ran up the stairs and opened the doors. Sure enough, Stoick and Gobber sat at one of the tables, deep in discussion.
"Dad!" Hiccup hurried over to them.
Both men looked up. Stoick stared at Hiccup's wet and bedraggled figure. "Um, good morning, son?"
"What happened to you?" Gobber asked. "You look like you got dumped in the sea off the back of a dragon and then nearly attacked by a second dragon."
"Um. That sort of is what happened..." Hiccup said.
Stoick raised an eyebrow.
"Well, Toothless and I were flying over the cove and skimming the water. I splashed Toothless and he... dumped me."
Stoick burst out laughing. "Oh, Toothless."
Toothless purred, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Dad, I wasn't really trying to encourage that," Hiccup said.
"Well, as long as it's not me, I can laugh about it." Stoick winked.
"He's got a point, Hiccup," Gobber said. "It is rather funny when you think about it."
"I'm trying not to," Hiccup mumbled. "Anyway, I came here to tell you something."
"I'm listening," Stoick said.
"When Toothless, uh, dumped me, I saw a dragon in the water, a kind I've never seen before," Hiccup said.
"What did it look like?" Gobber asked.
"Well, I didn't quite get a good look until after Toothless and I took off. It attacked me- but I'm fine," Hiccup added, seeing the concerned look on his father's face. "It was really long, with greenish gray scales. It had long sharp teeth. There were at least four of the dragons, maybe more."
Stoick leaned back in his chair. "Well, you're the dragon trainer. What do you propose?"
"Tomorrow I'd like to go back down to the cove and make more observations. Maybe then we can figure out a way to train them."
Stoick nodded. "Sounds fine to me." He paused. "Just wondering though, why not today? Usually you would want to get to know the dragons as soon as possible."
Hiccup felt his face grow warm. "Uhh..." He glanced over at Toothless. "I'm going for a ride... with Astrid."
Stoick smiled. "Ah."
Gobber thumped his hand on the table. "Well, Stoick, I'd better be going." He nodded to Hiccup. "Good luck with those dragons."
"Thanks," Hiccup said.
"We'll follow you out," Stoick said.
The three men exited the Great Hall, stepping into the bright morning sunlight.
Hiccup looked into the sky, watching the dragons with their riders soaring through the air. His gaze settled on one dragon, or rather her rider, and he stared at Astrid, watching her and Stormfly's every move.
"Hiccup?"
Hiccup looked over at his father, who watched his son carefully, his eyebrow raised.
Hiccup felt his face grow warm again. "Um, yes?"
Stoick smiled. "What were you staring at?"
"I think we all know well enough," Gobber said. He winked. "And you might as well stop staring like a lost, lovesick puppy and do something about it."
Hiccup reached into his pocket and squeezed the item within. He glanced over at his father, who smiled knowingly, a look of pride in his eyes. "Go on, son. I'll see you at the house."
Hiccup nodded, waved to Gobber and ran over to Toothless. "C'mon, bud." He swung up into the saddle and Night Fury and rider took off into the sky.
They flew up next to Astrid. "Hey, Astrid, wanna take that ride now?" Hiccup asked.
Astrid looked over and shrugged. "Sure." She nudged Stormfly to hover next to Toothless. She stood up on the Nadder's back and jumped. She landed behind Hiccup, and sat down, wrapping her arms around him.
Hiccup started and turned to look at her.
Astrid grinned. "Hi."
"Show off."
"You would have done the same thing," Astrid pointed out.
Hiccup paused. "Okay, maybe I would have, fine."
Astrid smiled and looked over at Stormfly. "See you in a bit, girl!"
Stormfly nodded and flew off. Another Nadder flew up beside her and they flew away.
"Who's that?" Hiccup asked. He nudged Toothless and he started flying away from the main village on Berk and towards the coast.
"That's Flamestone," Astrid replied. "Stormfly and him..." She trailed off and smiled.
"Oh," Hiccup said. "Well, good for her."
"Hiccup, do you think Toothless ever gets... lonely?"
Hiccup frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Well, he's the only Night Fury on Berk, and the only one we know of. There might not even be any more Night Furies."
Hiccup frowned and looked down at his dragon. Toothless seemed to be ignoring them. "Toothless?" he asked.
Toothless turned his ear up towards Hiccup.
"Do you?"
Toothless turned his ear down and moaned.
Hiccup placed a hand on Toothless' shoulder. "I'm sorry, bud. I never thought about that."
Toothless shook his head, as if indicating he didn't care.
For a while the three were silent, drifting through the clouds above the sea. Astrid leaned her head against Hiccup's back. Hiccup glanced back at her, then placed a hand in his pocket. Now's your chance... he told himself.
He took a deep breath, then paused. He shook his head. No, now's not a good time.
Hiccup toyed with the object in his pocket. But who knows when there'll be another time? He sighed, and took another deep breath. "Astrid?"
"Yes?"
"Umm, well, I was wondering, if, um, maybe..."
The shriek of a furious dragon split the air. Cries of terrified children joined in, coming from the coast near the place Hiccup had seen the sea dragons.