Fireflies
A How To Train Your Dragon One-Shot.
Fireflies, were, in Toothless' opinion, beautiful and unique. The lightning bugs formed a bright glow together, a harmony of light, that only the evil and the wicked could not appreciate. They lit up the dark like Flightmares, but they possessed the gentle nature of angels. Designed not for a great purpose, to command respect for what they could do, or to ensue fear in predators- but to be gazed upon fondly. It was no wonder how fireflies knew no enemies, or strife, and only the brightness of the world they lit.
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However, until that pleasant, amazing evening he spent with his rider, Toothless didn't even know of the existence of the fireflies. This was probably because of the fact they had never been this far out south, and when they had been, they hadn't stayed on any islands long, having to return home.
But this time, they were resting and spending the night on the recently named Ember Island. The place itself was beautiful and serene- the sight could capture any heart, it seemed to Hiccup.
It mostly consisted of thick, dense, shady forests, proudly bearing its tall, bright emerald green pine-like plant life. Down further, the forest ground was fresh, earthy soil, with the occasional appearance of fallen pines and branches on the forest floor. Bushes, ferns, and more deep green shrubbery lined the trees.
Two places caught the keen, lime green eyes of the dragon and rider; the first, being a rushing, gorgeous waterfall surrounded by the outskirts of the forest. The light, shallow lake featuring a few smooth, pale grey rocks- some large enough for even Hookfang to lay on- practically had crystal clear waters. Toothless also happened to spot out the vast, open field that rested in the heart of the island, surrounded by the tranquil pines. It was there that they landed, the dark dragon's claws sinking into the warm, moist soil under the blades of grass that tickled the soft underside of his paws, and brushed against his talons.
He crooned softly, giddy in his mind, excitement tingling in his nerves. Maybe it was just because he was sick of flying after eighteen hours with only a few stops, but by Shenron's name, he was almost in love with the earth right now!
Hiccup seemed to pick up on his happiness (probably because his ear plates were perked up as tall as bunny ears), because the young man, now twenty years old, chuckled and rubbed his neck, sliding out the saddle. He stretched, reaching his arms over his head as he walked towards the tree that offered shade in the last hours of daylight. The orange light reflected off Toothless' scales, and Hiccup's armour, casted over them through the trees.
After a bit of nudging and gesturing to his back, the dragon got his partner to take off his saddle, and they both relaxed, Hiccup also now free of his flight suit.
The dragon craned his now much looser neck to the evening sky, and released a long, winded breath of warm air, inhaling the sweet, gentle aroma of the island and the forest. It was crisp, cool, not too cold or hot, just right for them both.
Hiccup was also apparently captured by the peace and tranquillity of their chosen location; he was smiling softly, with said expression growing wider when he looked at his dragon, and without rhyme or reason, simply brought himself to dive down and lay down in the grass, laughing giddily. Toothless roared for the pure sake of his joy, also rolling down so he laid, limbs and body spread out in the soft field. He allowed his wet, sloppy tongue to hang out the side of his toothless smile, and Hiccup saw this, laughing again. The man's hand ran over the scales of his ebony snout, the two gazing at the clouds for the longest while.
"C'mon, buddy." Hiccup eventually said, getting up. "We ought to go catch us some dinner before it's too dark. Shall we try the river we saw when flying overhead?" Toothless nodded, snorting happily and offering his back.
Suddenly, he frowned, feeling only scales underneath him, and he opened his mouth to speak, but the dragon had already launched forward, running.
For a moment, he couldn't even muster up a sound. The cool breeze hit him strong, flying past them as the Night Fury galloped, much faster than any horse or beast. It ruffled his hair, and now overwhelmed by a new-found sense of freedom and adrenaline, Hiccup whooped and cheered, holding on with his calf muscles- or, calf muscle and peg leg- and clutching onto the dragon's thick neck in front of him, his fingers clutching onto the smooth, small ebony scales. How he'd never just been on Toothless' back when he was simply running like this, he had no idea.
Glancing to meet his dragon's gaze, he grinned. The dragon leaped into the forest, his sleek black figure a fleeting shadow between the trees. He cast a gust of wind in his wake as he ran, fallen leaves and branches being swept away by dirt and his paws. A fallen log lay ahead, and with a concentrated sensation of built-up anticipation in his powerful joints, Toothless pushed off the ground and soared over it, jumping clear and strong, landing with a thud and continuing his gallop.
Hiccup was grinning like a madman, caring not for anything but the dragon beneath him, and the world as it flew by as fast as it came.
Finally, Toothless did slow down, transferring to a light trot, neck raised and head bowed into it, as if tucked towards his chest- his head was lifted between the ground and horizon, but his eyes were directed forward- in many senses, he appeared as a horse would.
Smiling, slightly out of breath, and his heart still thumping loud, Hiccup reached down, rubbing the scaly neck of his companion. He swung off the back, and looked around.
As he had suggested, they were now at the river they had seen when arriving. Underneath his boots was the banks of the decently deep waters, a beach of pebbles and rocks. They crunched under his boots as he walked down towards the blue waters, crouching down and running a hand through the moderately cool liquid. Toothless stepped up to it, leaning his neck down and taking a leisurely long drink of water to refresh his throat. The viking heir waited, glancing at his best friend occasionally.
"Right," He said, looking down into the river. "Now the matter of dinner. Simple ide-"
SPLASH.
He lowered the finger he had raised minimal seconds previous, and shrugged. "I like your idea better."
Hiccup chuckled, watching as the Night Fury took much more fun out of a very basic and usually uninteresting task mostly did- the dragon was roaring happily, pouncing around in the waters and slamming his paws on any fish he could see. First he acts like a horse, Hiccup mused, And now a bear. What's next, I wonder.
Only adding to his amusement, was the fact that his dragon actually succeeded in catching a rather hefty amount of food, for his time-consuming method. After gathering up their variety of fish, they ate, Hiccup eating one and a bit while his dragon scoffed down plenty.
Remarkably, the large creature finished first, which the viking found incredibly amusing- to the point that he nearly choked on the mouthful of meat he had been swallowing.
Toothless could only stare on, seriously puzzled, and wondering what in the name of every higher force- human or dragon gods- was so entertaining that his human nearly sent his dinner down the wrong tube.
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When they were correspondingly finished, did Hiccup now relax.
He and his dragon were casually strolling through the woodland, the adolescent moving astride the glorious beast.
Sighing deeply in contentment, Hiccup stroked his partner's head gently.
They sauntered side by side for a while, watching the swiftly darkening skies between the breaches of the canopy. The dragon's scales glimmered in the star and moon light, shining delicately with a silver sheen.
A few more minutes passed by, and before long, they came to a stop before the large lake, the waterfall cascading down the rocks. The corners of their mouths twitched in sync- as did their heads as they turned to face each other for a split moment. Hiccup stifled a giggle, as did Toothless for a snort of amusement. The ebony lizard slithered on past him, standing on the shore of the lake and waiting for his rider.
Once he had freed his chest and upper body of his shirt, and pulled himself free of any other garments, he slipped into the cool, gentle waters.
Toothless crooned, sliding in himself and creating a slightly larger upturn of water.
The adolescent viking laughed, raising an arm to shield himself from the sprayed water. This action gave the dragon a brand new idea that lit up like a flashlight in his mind- he reared up in the lake, dragging his wings towards Hiccup and drenching the young man with the fresh water. He got a mock-gasp of betrayal, before the dragon received a splash of water on his own scales.
"Hey!" The Night Fury protested, fully conscious that the only thing that fell on Hiccup's human ears was an indignant snort. Even if he made himself sound ticked off, though, it was obvious that Toothless wasn't the slightest bit mad at his rider and soul-mate.
The pride of Berk smirked, brushing a strand of now wet, slick auburn hair behind his ear. His whole head was now darker, as water appeared to do to human locks- although, then again, all animal fur did that, did it not? Toothless snorted to himself, entertained at his bizarre train of thought. I must be picking up my rider's weirdness, he amusedly thought to himself, before giving his ear to what his partner had to say to him.
"Don't give me that look, Bud. You started it!" Hiccup pointed in a very-much accusing fashion, and the dragon rolled his grass green eyes. It was accurate, granted, but the prideful young dragon wasn't about to let him know that.
With one bat of his large paw, he splashed his friend, and the unamused Hiccup sat (or, rather, stood) through the repeated the process of being drenched. The man huffed at the scaly creature, who lifted his triangular head and snorted a puff of smoke to give him the real, classic 'in-your-face' mojo, from the perspective of a huge, scaly, winged, fire-breathing reptile. It was much more effective than it sounded from that way of describing a dragon, too; after all, Hiccup did call it off, albeit with a frisky slap to his neck, a sarcastically 'mean' smirk and a fittingly rude stuck-out tongue.
After that, though, they decided to just relax, and settle in the lake, gleaming silver in its gentle surface from the moon's reflection. Hiccup luxuriously washed, keeping a grateful voice in the back of his mind- very few public places allowed a… Nice, clean, because, well, so many big, smelly, hairy Vikings had taken them up over the time, and they didn't exactly clean them out.
Toothless watched the display- unlike him and his race (the dragons), humans usually washed in complete, utter privacy, for their understandable reasons. If they did bathe together, it was either with family or close friends, or only with their gender, and usually their age group. While he, and his fellow fire-breathers doubted they'd ever understand their friends' antics, they did respect them.
Toothless stood on that title, so when Hiccup admittedly felt a bit self-conscious, he shielded his sight with a shadowy wing to allow his precious human the respect he desired. A few minutes later, it seemed as if whatever brief phase of embarrassment Hiccup had gone through had faded, and the Night Fury brought his wings back to splayed out over the water's surface, floating. The lake's waters passed and sploshed over the dark membrane, soothing aching muscles and the stretched sections. He eyed his partner with a slight glow of happiness in his chest- he was allowed to bathe with him.
As weird as it sounded, Toothless saw this as an outcome of their special bond, their trust, and it felt like an honour to him.
Weird? Yes.
But also totally, completely, one hundred percent worth it. Take that, Stoick! He thought triumphantly, and he let a stupid, goofy, gummy smile come across him- he chortled to himself. A dragon was allowed in secluded details with the human, but not his own father. Granted, he was a dragon, so that did change things up, but Hiccup viewed him more of a friend than a mere pet.
"Bud?" Hiccup asked, eyeing him with a smile, both intrigued and amused. "You're grinning like an idiot that just won a genius award at the Summer Solstice Festival during the yak-pie-eating competition. What's gotten into you?"
He merely gave his partner a nuzzle and nudge, crooning innocently. Hiccup rolled his eyes, letting it slide as he leaned against the ebony dragon.
Alright, the Night Fury couldn't deny the facts. It felt strange to have Hiccup's back bare against his scales, but that didn't really matter. It was just an odd little factor that rang in the dragon's thought stream. While the young man wasn't as overly buff as other Vikings, he had gained quite some lean muscle over time. Hiccup's pale, freckled skin gleamed in the moonlight, and he had to briefly scan his eyes over a couple of scars on the flesh. Some made him cringe, others were faded memories. Hiccup's emerald eyes met his shortly, and then followed their tracks, getting the message- he offered his kind comfort, stroking his scaly, powerful shoulder with a gentle hand and touch.
They stayed like this for a while- leaning against one of the rocks, against each other. The cool waters lapped at their scales and skin, and they kept no track of how long they stayed in the lake- most likely an hour, maybe even longer.
Toothless had a good chuckle, noticing how Hiccup's fingers and toes had wrinkled from being in the water so long, yet again another strange, but hilarious human attribute.
Hiccup got dressed once more, while the Strike Class dragon stepped out and shook off.
He gave a gummy smile and warble when Hiccup dumped his damp towel over his neck, swung onto his bare back, and leaned on him as the dragon took them back to the field, the two humming their favourite folk-song together. The instruments were his dragon purrs, while his rider's now gentle, soft nasally words brought it to life, telling the story of a brave viking boy, and his dragon. Their souls were practically glowing, dancing with each other, frolicking in the starlit skies, playing with the very fire that was forbidden to lick the walls of their undying bond.
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"So, Bud," Hiccup spoke quietly, rubbing over his companion's skull. Toothless crooned. "Where's after this?"
The dragon snorted and shook his head once, as if to say he didn't know. Hiccup chuckled and nodded. "Right." He looked to the dark skies, as they approached the field, and finally broke out the forest, only to see a sea of yellow lights stretched out and glowing over the grass and alongside the trees.
Uneasy all of a sudden, Hiccup clung on tighter with his knees and feet. "Bud…"
However, the Night Fury wasn't overly crazed by it. Rather, he looked in awe, amazed and calmed by the lights. While slightly cautious, he stepped one black paw forward, the grass bending under his claws as they approached one of the strange new lights.
Peering meticulously at it, he sniffed, and was shocked to discover it was alive. It was a bug!
He reared back, letting out his astounded yowl. Hiccup hung on to avoid falling off, and twisted around his neck to also stare, murmuring, "Wow…".
Hiccup fondled his encrusted side, boldly sliding down and walking over to the flower the little bug it had landed on. He crouched down, watching the glow of the tiny creature. The yellow light of its… Rear end, reflected in his shiny emerald irises, and it did similarly for the ebony dragon as it slowly re-approached. Straining his thick neck down to watch it on the level his rider did, he crooned his curiosity to Hiccup.
"I think…" The young man paused, eyeing the additional hundred or so bugs. "I think these guys are called fireflies. Fishlegs read about them in one of the exotic books Johann got him. But honestly, they just look like beetles that had lightning strike their butts."
Toothless let out a long, hearty chortle, crowing the name to himself. Hehe! Lightning butts! He… Hehe…
"Oh, yes, Bud. Very mature."
Come on, lighten up, Gloomer-soul. Not everyone has their butt lightning-struck and made to glow- most don't even stay intact.
The dragon snorted on the youth's auburn head, ruffling his hair. They both then turned their attention back to the little fireflies that illuminated the field. By the tree, his saddle and the Viking's armour still lay, undisturbed.
Hiccup watched the lightning bug on the pink flower for a while. Something about the creature was just… Relaxing.
"It's so peaceful, Bud… What do yo- Bud?" He looked behind him, only to see his dragon…
…Chasing every firefly he could see.
The dragon was running after the fleeing yellow lights, batting his paws and happily yapping and warbling. Hiccup smiled broadly, chuckling- he feared not for the safety of the newly discovered creatures, because he knew his friend meant no harm. These bugs were not prey, and Toothless was not their predator. His soul-mate was simply playing, and boy, was he enjoying it.
Hiccup decided that he was especially fond of the moment when Toothless halted on his haunches, staring at one quite brave 'lightning-butt' that had decided to perch itself on his snout.
The dragon looked absolutely baffled, and even when he snorted and huffed and puffed, and shook his head wildly, the tiny animal was pretty determined to stay there. The longer the creature stayed still and stationery, the more Hiccup found it progressively tougher to not laugh to the end of eternity.
"Bud, you're glowing!" He cackled, eventually falling down and rolling around in the grass while his dragon struggled to free his snout, and glared unamused at him.
This was cut short when another firefly decided to land on his nose.
It glowed, he blinked, and Toothless laughed.
"Oh, don't you dare… Glow-butt!" Hiccup laughed, launching up and swatting at the bug, deliberately missing. It flew off with a soft buzz, and Toothless swatted at his own snout, receiving the same outcome.
Together, they chased the bright, glowing creatures through the fields, eventually ducking and weaving between the close trees, often running into each other, much to their amusement. Eventually, Hiccup actually ended up jumping straight onto Toothless' head, and after they recovered from the tangled impact, they laughed until they were rolling in the grass.
Gazing up at the stars that rose above the fireflies, Hiccup exhaled, his breath long and happy.
He pulled out his sketchbook and pencil, quickly jotting down 'Ember Island- the fireflies and the dragon' at the top of the fresh page, and without the need to look at his friend (he had memorized Toothless' appearance by now), he drew the Night Fury, crouched down with paw raised, playing with the lightning bugs in the beautiful meadow surrounded by trees.
Glancing at his partner, he grinned, then nestled himself in the dragon's side, showing the new, recorded memory to Toothless, who purred, and nuzzled his head fondly with a gentle snout.
They snuggled up and fell asleep, their synced breathing and eyes closed peacefully as they flew into the realm of the slumbering.
And now, they knew exactly what a firefly was, and just what it did to a dragon and rider-
It lit up their lives, just that tiny bit more, even if neither realised that.
_The End_
Fireflies, by Crystallion12, 26th of September, 2016.
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