Post A/N (PLEASE READ): After seven months of writing this first chapter and having just barely finished the story as a whole, someone pointed out to me that the first chapter is actually really freaking confusing at parts because of the fact that I jump around a lot, and in result, it's really hard to tell what's going on and immediately turns people off. So I'm really sorry for that guys. I was told before that it was kind of hard to follow, but I guess I didn't take it seriously enough. And now, several months later, I'm gonna try to fix it by literally prefacing each segment with the point in time at the beginning of each one. I hope it helps, and even if you are still a little confused, try and read on. It gets much better and it will all make sense. It's just this chapter that I strung together poorly. If you are STILL confused about something afterwards or see something I could do to make it easier to follow, hit me up with a message. I'll be happy to help and appreciate the feedback.
Anyway, here it is. I hope you enjoy!
PRESENT- IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING EVENTS OF CLASS
On this particular day, when paws broiled on rocks and houses turned into walk-in ovens, I didn't believe it was the remarkable heat of the early evening being onslaughted from a more extraordinarily hot sun that made me the equivalent of a writhing-red piece of coal. In other words, I was on fire, but the sun wasn't to blame for that. Sure, it was hot, but I knew it was a deeper resonance that made me consider jumping into a lake and seeing if it would curl up as steam.
However, don't be misconstrued. The evening was truthfully so blazingly warm that all the lakes around were probably already long dried up, giving reasoning to why all the humans were dropping like flies, and I swore I could hear the sizzling of the scales on my back behind me simmering like a boiling pot. That bizarre fact concerned me for a second and I thought for a second that I should quickly step in the shade to save myself. That follow-up thought stirred actual, startling concern in me, because, for the briefest of moments, I truly believed if I didn't get out of the sun, I would begin to melt.
I wholeheartedly believed for a moment that my real body would melt under the sun if I didn't escape it, like I was a black ice cube. I was CONVINCED for a moment that was a REAL, POSSIBLE THING and it was happening. I had to roll back and slap myself mentally, worried I was having a heat stroke. Is having insane thoughts a side-effect of heat stroke?
Maybe it was because of how rare hot days were on Berk, and it was messing with my head. Or how unstable my feelings and temperament were. I didn't really know why I would invest myself in something so ridiculous. Gods, I should probably get some water.
Recovering from my tangent, at any rate, I shattered the idea that the visible heat waves in the air were doing more than minutely contributing to the reality that I felt like the sun had brunt me to the crisp black color I was. It was thanks to a whole different reason. To be frank, I couldn't even feel the heat of the sun as it set under the ocean, not anymore (another symptom of heat stroke?).
It was a inferno inside that made me hiss at the touch and happy to burn anyone who weren't careful. The figurative fire of my temper was lit in a long past heat of the moment, and I was hungry for more fuel of any kind to keep it alive, to relieve the fidgety tension that racked my body: A person with enough backbone to try a "What the hell were you thinking!?" or "You had to do that in front of everyone?!" so I could have reason to yell, even if it wasn't likely.
A stroke of bitter luck would supply an argument, but I would have rather settled my fury by taking it out properly on the one who deserved it. Like that insolent, thick-headed dragon who I wished deeply to turn tail after he fled and to face me.
He had been the slimy bag of scales who provided me a match to ignite to. The Deadly Nadder attacked one of our students in the ring during a lesson without reason. It woke up a side of me that rarely saw the light of day anymore, and now it was writhing and demanding to be attended. I wanted to unleash this wrathful fire upon him. A fire that transcended the heat of the day itself if he could imagine that.
Nevertheless, I was grateful he wasn't coming back. If he did, I wasn't confident I could restrain myself, and nor I or the academy needed a fight to deal with. Having a much messier conclusion than a simple heated argument, it could be fatal in a school where our intention was to teach, collaborate, and bring species together. This alliance had been established only a year ago, and it still needed to plant its roots- we needed this to work. It was fragile, and only a small nudge to it would tip it into a downward spiral of sorts. Still, it really would have felt great if I could char him.
As I sat aside to the side of the gate and trembled on the edge of the island, once watching the Nadder fly off, now simply extracting myself from everyone, looking over the raving waves smash into the rocks far below. I was too distracted to notice daybreak dropping beautiful glittering gemstones across the endless water's surfaces. I was groping through my skull, pulling together the confrontation that only vaguely imprinted my brain, wanting to make sense of it and figure exactly how I handled it in my frenzy. My memory was never up front in those situations, so it was difficult.
This particularly prideful Nadder was ridiculously infuriating with his presence at the class session. It seemed his only purpose of showing up was to be an ass and do his absolute best to screw things up and bother whoever he targeted. The day's class was a group of very young children, all frail and panicky, still partially intimidated by all the big dragons who were trying to walk them through the instructions. The Nadder relished in staring them down and scaring them, but eventually, he lost his fun as they all avoided him on the other side of the ring where he couldn't get to without going through us. After an hour of frustration and growing hate on my part of him not leaving and how I couldn't make him leave without force, he deliberately sat next to a pile of diverse flying gear and waited for an unguarded victim. A boy inevitably went over, without any regard to the dragon in his excitement to fly for the very first time with Snotlout and Hookfang. He shot a fireball right before the kid's toes, terrifying him. I turned on my heels at the explosion and finally snapped -a jarring, bone shaking snap- and I threw the loser out.
Regardless of my difficulty to stitch everything together, my rage alongside the raw flesh and blood on my claw was a good indication that I taught that slime-crusted needlehead a special lesson of my own. The message being- don't screw with my students, or my rider, unless you wanted to screw with me. He knew well enough now that he didn't want that.
An audacious coward, I thought. Trying to harm a very young human child and threatening Hiccup when he stepped in the middle of it, saying he would "bury countless needles in his throat".
I couldn't help but wonder why I didn't kill him.
I stopped trembling and let out a frustrated groan, scolding myself.
It was that kind of thinking that made last night so terrible. I didn't kill him because it wasn't necessary and it would have made matters worse than they were. I didn't kill him because I was thinking logically. If I would have retained some of that logic and reason last night, I wouldn't be in the excruciating situation I was in, but it was too late for that.
Don't think like the impulsive idiot you know screws things up. You did the right thing this time. You can applaud yourself for this one, but not too much.
It might have felt good that I avoided this stack of problems, but I was already struggling to carry the rest.
Dammit, what was I going to do...
Like a sudden storm dropping overhead from the acknowledgement of last night's events, it rained down with some mild and used-up frustration to wash out and replace the anger, however, it was mostly the regret and shame of the royally sucky night that took its place.
I wanted to fix what I had done wrong, but I knew wasn't in the best frame of mind to make anything better. I needed to settle down and lose the energy before making amends with the one I illegitimately tagged fault on. I was at fault. It was my fault, dammit.
Until then, I needed some water. I didn't feel good, and my skull was swimming through a spectrum of moods dangerously quick. Intuition told me I should avoid shriveling up prior to confronting my problems head on.
I didn't notice at the time, but the fire apparently caught on something. I watched as the teenagers carried buckets up and down the steps from the dock urgently, in such a hurry they didn't notice all the water was splashing out of the buckets on the way there. Everyone was yelling to each other and cooperating, and I heard stomps inside the walls; probably the dragons trying to help how they could.
I found I was right when I looked inside the gate. The pile of flying gear the boy was intending to grab from was on fire, the leather shriveling and stinking. Fishlegs and a little girl I couldn't recall the name of were pouring water on it while Meatlug attempted to stomp it out. They had enough help regardless of me and they were taking care of it, so I stayed out of the way.
What a waste of equipment. It will be a while to replace all of it.
A boy with a very eventful evening ran around me with a bucket fourth-the-way full, determined to help.
|| Danny! || I called.
He turned on his heel immediately, splashing the rest of the saltwater in his face. "Huh? Oh, hi Mr. Night Fury! Thanks for saving me!"
The boy was timid, but energetic with the ones he's warmed up to. I imagined Hiccup was just like him at the age.|| I told you Dan, you don't need to call me that. My name is Toothless. || I reminded him again, even though he perfectly well knew my name. I quickly glanced around. || Are you okay? He didn't get you, did he? ||
"No! I'm fine!" he assured me enthusiastically, "It was really close, but you threw that jerk out, so it's okay. Man, that was so awesome! You totally showed him, the way you roared really loud and then you-."
|| Alright, alright. I know, lad, I was there. || I stopped him, || Listen. You need to be careful of that dragon. If you see him again, tell someone immediately, preferably one of us. Don't go near him. Do you understand? ||
"Yes." he said, looking a bit pale, "But, do you think he going to hurt me?" he asked.
|| He's not going to touch you. || I said with undeniable certainty. || Just be safe, okay? ||
"Um, okay Mr. Ni-"
|| Toothless. ||
"Toothless." he corrected with a nod and a smile before running off to the dying fire equipped with a empty bucket. "Bye!"
I turned and started for the well once more. Nobody tried approaching me. I was glad for it. My initial desire to yell at someone had lifted, but I couldn't handle anymore talking. I wanted to be left alone.
I shoved my head in the cold water of the well, smoothing my rising headache. After a few huge gulps, I began to lift my head back up, then quickly submerged it again.
I waited until Hiccup was in the ring until I walked back to the cliff. I passed the opening to the inside once more, eyeing the teen's back sadly as I continued past. Seeing Hiccup once again seemed to do me in. My legs felt heavy. I dragged myself to the grass and laid down, letting a paw drape over the edge. I was too exhausted to stand anymore.
Of course, someone attacking our students would make me mad, and it did. But nothing could nothing set me off like it did when someone threatened Hiccup. Layers of myself would instantaneously be slashed and torn away to reveal a very protective beast within, a part Hiccup at times was concerned with. I grew so furious some points I couldn't even fathom the anger looking back. And if someone hurt him...
I wasn't offended by his friends and their hollow threats, it was in their nature and it was healthy to joke around with each other. I understood when Hiccup broke windows with his unstable inventions and was yelled at for it, he needed that too. However, I would never stand there composedly while some stranger promised Hiccup specific hurt. Naturally, I would rip their tongue out and jam it down their throat to save them the trouble of knowing when to hold it.
That was a justified response on my part, but I needed to be capable of smothering that natural reaction. It was that inability and its control over me that drove everything into the ditch and its explosive conclusion during last night's fight. It was the impulsive side of me I couldn't help, and how much I cared about Hiccup that amplified it. Though, for him, it would be hard to believe that at this point. After all the things I said, it was only because of how much I cared about him. What was the human term for that? Oh, right. Bullshit.
Later, I would submit my neck to the line and hope. Whether I had to bow to him and beg for forgiveness, I didn't care. He was my boy, and I was a jerk. The biggest, crappiest, rudest, meanest jerk in the existence of the world. It was my mistake, and I earned whatever potential tragedy that came from it.
I rested my head on the ground, watching the sunset. The sun snaked through the clouds gorgeously in a blast of pinks, purples, and oranges. A beautiful goodbye and a beckon to the night on the other side.
Gods, don't let this be the end.
##
PRESENT
"Toothless?"
I jerked slightly at the sudden sound, opening my eyes. Disoriented and confused, I looked around and found the water still far below and the sun long absent from the horizon, the moon spreading it's ghostly lights across the deep dark ocean. Realizing I fell asleep, I pushed myself up.
"Hey." I heard again.
I turned, finding Astrid looking at me with a raised brow and a twitch of a smile. "Are you alright?' she asked.
|| Yes, I'm fine. || I finally answered, blinking harshly. || I fell asleep. || I told her, hiding my embarrassment.
"Here?" she asked incredulously, then sat down next to me with a simple "Alright then". Her hair gently whipped in the breeze, and she pulled out a hair tie to pull it up in a bun. "So, what's up?" she said through the metal pin in her teeth, and then stabbed it into the blonde hump on her head. "You seemed pretty upset today."
Typically, Astrid wasn't one to beat around to bush. She was always straight to the point. One of the things I liked about her. || Aside from what happened, no, I wasn't upset. || I told her, but I would be stupid to think she would believe that. I knew I couldn't hide it very well.
"You sure?" she looked at me.
I nodded. || What are you still doing out here? You should be in the village by now. || I asked her quickly.
"I was closing up the ring, I volunteered to do it myself since everyone was wiped out. Apparently you were pretty haggard too; the sun I guess. I don't mind though, I don't have anything waiting for me at home."
I was fond of the girl. She was always a lot of fun, and she cared a lot about Hiccup. I welcomed her company when the boy wanted to hang out with her. She was kind, strong, and playful, and I encouraged the inevitable relationship between them. They both blushed, but no one could deny how much they liked each other.
The girl dangled her feet over the edge. It was a drop that would do a lot more than sprang a human ankle, and she leaned boldly over the edge and peered at the rocks below. "What about Hiccup? How's he?"
I'm sure I twitched, but I pretended I didn't. "He's fine." I stated. I didn't want to talk about him.
"Where is he?"
|| I don't know. ||
"That's weird. When he's hiding away, he's usually with you."
There was heavy silence hanging in the air for a few moments. I could finally breathe when she changed subjects. "Well, thanks for getting rid of that Nadder, even if you did scare the shit out of everyone. I was convinced for a second that our next lesson was going to be 'how to clean up after your dragon's fight'."
It could have been. Without my fresh exercise of self-restraint, it would have been. Thank the gods it wasn't. || He was a jerk. || The little boy's human term was satisfying to say, oddly. I found myself using it in my thoughts and saying it out loud often.
"We've tolerated much worse." She supplied.
I huffed. || I didn't have the patience tonight. ||
"I thought you weren't upset." she looked at me.
I evaded. || Let's not forget how hot it was. ||
She squinted for a moment, "Yeah, I guess it would throw anyone out of the loop here." she settled and stared at the dirt for a few seconds. "Hey, I got a question." she said after a few seconds. I grunted, not very excited to hear whatever came next.
"Did something happen?" she suddenly asked.
The question caught me off guard and I looked at her. || Excuse me? || Thor Almighty don't do this right now.
My heart clenched and my blood banged in my ears. I didn't get this worked up over nothing unless it involved Hiccup. It was what the boy did to me.
She locked eyes with me as if she caught me red-handed. A rush of irritation washed through me.
|| Don't stare at me expectantly like I know what you are talking about. || I snorted and cut off the eye contact, annoyed.
"I think something happened between you and Hiccup." she announced.
HOW do you just- what?
I caught myself hesitating, quickly overcoming the lump of surprise in my throat. I thought I could hear the effort of it when I asked, || And why would you think that? ||.
I think she noticed it too, and rolled her eyes, "Nobody could ignore how you were avoiding one another like total strangers, but everybody was sweating too much to give it much thought. I stayed after because I wanted to talk to you. Did something happen?" she asked again.
|| We didn't get in a fight. || I told her bluntly.
"I didn't suggest that." she said with a raised brow.
I scolded myself. || Nothing happened, Astrid. || I groaned. || Enough. Please. ||
"I don't know how to respond to that." she said after a moment of studying me, "Every time Hiccup is brought up, you grow frantic. That doesn't scream 'everything is dandy' to me."
|| It should be a sign that I don't want to talk about it then. ||
"What's the big deal?" she asked, exasperated, "It can't be that bad, can it?"
|| I don't know! || I snapped. She looked shocked and confused, and then concerned.
I sighed, lowering my voice.|| Did he say anything to you? ||
"What? No. I couldn't get a word out of him."
|| Then I can't say anything. It wouldn't be fair if I told you. || If he didn't want her to know, I will respect that.
"Why? Is it his fault?"
Humans loved the gossip, didn't they.
|| No. ||
"...Yours?"
|| Yes. ||
"Hm." she thought and stood up, trading the cliff for a much safer wall-lean. She looked proud she was able to notice something was up. "Well, when did you guys last talk?"
Even if she was being nosy, it was kind of relieving to get it out. || Last night. ||
"Whoa. It must have been worth something then." she laughed dryly.
I slept overnight in the cove and didn't return to the village until our class was half-way through. It took me an hour to build the courage and strength to fly out of the our shaded sanctuary and show up to simply see him there.
"You know, if it was your fault, you are the one who needs to fix it." she told me.
|| I know. || I responded, a little annoyed by her tone.
"And you should know that that kid will avoid you at all costs if he knows you are mad at him. Maybe you've never been caught up in that, but I certainly have."
|| Astrid. I know that. || I stared at her.
The girl sighed, "Yeah, sorry. Of course you do. I know it's not my business what happened, and I'm sorry for trying to claw it out of you. But I want you to know that I watched him go down to the dock about an hour ago and I haven't seen him come back yet. He's probably still down there, and more or less, I'd count on him hoping you'll come down. Everyone's gone. This is your perfect opportunity."
I shifted anxiously. || Okay. ||
She didn't move or suggest she had anything else to say. She simply stood there, staring at me, waiting and expectant.
I looked back at her, and then I jerked my head back with a brief growl of frustration. || There's no reason for me to wait any longer, but you can't blame me for hesitating. Don't wait up for me. ||
"Yeah. Everyone's been in your position, Fury, I walk myself into it all the time, and I totally understand. However, you are right. You have no reason to wait, so why should you?" she shrugged, "I can't help you with how you can do it, but you know how to talk to that kid better than anyone else. You two are one of the same. You can figure it out."
I stayed where I was, but looked towards the other side where the docks were. I turned back. || That doesn't exactly help me, but thanks. ||
She laughed warmly, "Huh. I never thought I would see you this way." I glared at her again, but instead of everything I thought she would do, she came up to me and clutched both my shoulders with a gentle expression. "It's really heartwarming how worried you are, about your rider not forgiving you or whatever for what you did, it's sweet. I wish Stormfly could spare one moment of her preening to at least look at me." she winked.
"But, frankly, it's pretty stupid the way you are thinking." she padded my shoulder harshly and stepped back, "I don't know what happened between you two, but I'm positive it wouldn't pull you guys apart. I don't think anything could. He needs you Toothless." she dug a hard finger into my chest, "You need him too."
|| If you are trying to dig out my heart and show me the truth about how much I care about him or something, it isn't necessary. || I pushed her hand down.
She must have forgotten about it seeing it in the ring and couldn't quite see it in the dark until it was in her face. "Wow. Does your leg have anything to do with it?" she asked, sounding impressed.
|| Astrid. || I reminded her.
"Fine, fine. Don't wanna talk about it. I get it." she raised her hands in defeat. She looked back at me again, smiled, and padded my shoulder before walking past. "Goodnight, and good luck! I'll see the original duo tomorrow. Together."
I watched the girl as she got to the bridge and then I pondered the ground. I was weirded out by the whole exchange. I was never one who needed a cheerleader, and I never thought Astrid was particularly capable and sensitive enough to take that role. How weird it might have been, it definitely raised my spirits, and I felt a little more confident.
Still, I looked towards the stairs down to the docks, and my heart began to beat faster.
##
PRESENT
Hiccup was no where to be seen. I considered the possibility that Astrid was wrong and he slipped away with her noticing, already home or ducking in the back of the forge. The boy could be pretty stealthy sometimes despite his clumsiness. I almost turned back to climb the stairs when I noticed something strange.
Like a footstep in the sand, I almost missed it in the dark. But, Hiccup being Hiccup, always finding ways to do things differently, left behind something more distinctive. I saw, standing upright, lodged between the boards at the end of the dock, what you could call a footprint if you stretched the concept a ways.
There was a prosthetic lacking a Hiccup at the end of then dock, all ready and positioned for a stump to be attached. Next to it was a toppled stack of empty crates; more brushing along the beach. They had fallen off.
The crates were spilled across the dock in a way that suggested he tripped into them and fell into the water. Hiccup wasn't here, but he had to be. He couldn't go anywhere without his leg.
It was silent and still.
I stood on the shore, the sand pushing between my toes and sticking unpleasantly to the pads of my feet. I stared at the deep, dark, and ghastly water across the dock. Nothing moved, neither did I. I didn't make a sound, and I waited.
There was nothing. A front absent of life.
The water looked impossibly black, unimaginably deep. Like liquid death.
The waves remained uninhibited from a single stir. A memory introduced raw fear into my tingling scales.
##
FLASHBACK: FOUR-OR-SO MONTHS PREVIOUS
I held the lanky teen in my embrace as he struggled angrily and fearfully, while at the same time gripping my neck for what he thought was his dear life. I was sitting on my haunches as I pinned him to my chest and he finally found my knees under the water, now using them to his advantage as he tried to slide up out of my grip and crawl over my shoulder. The boy was wearing no shirt, and his wet skin proved hard to grip. The splashing water shimmered through the fresh forest air as the sun pierced the droplets with its light.
|| Hiccup, stop! || I roared. The water was at his chest, and the rattled boy must have been convinced it would somehow pull him down further and smother him mercilessly.
"No! Let me go! I don't want to do this anymore. I can't do this!" he yelled, coughing and panic trembling through his frame, "Just let me go! Please, bud!"
|| Stop, just listen to me, you're fine! You are okay! Don't be scared! ||
"No, I'm done! Swimming is overrated, I don't care. Never again." he said quickly and almost slipped out of my hold and over my shoulder to the dry grass a couple yards away. Before he could, I worked my legs his stomach and cocooned my wings around him, holding him in a tight embrace. He was stuck and had no chance of getting away. "You promised you'd take this seriously, Toothless!" he wriggled and yelled, furious, "You promised you wouldn't mess with me on this! I trusted you!"
|| Stop accusing and listen to me for a second, Hiccup! ||
"No! You saw me, I almost drowned!"
|| We are out here to learn! And you went out by yourself! Why did you go out by yourself? ||
"I don't know! I was excited! But now I am well aware that I have no chance with one leg and I want out. Just bring me back Toothless! I don't want to do this!" he demanded with a pitiful edge to it.
|| We aren't giving up on this thirty seconds in! You just scared yourself. Stop, stop struggling! I am not letting you go! ||
He finally stopped writhing after another moment. "This isn't fair, Toothless!" he moaned, "Please. For the love of Thor, please let me go." The boy gripped my neck and begged into my scales, gasping on the precious air. I felt bad, but if he got out of the lake, I didn't know if I could get him back in.
|| Stop, just relax. I got you. Nothing is going to happen. || I tried to soothe him.
"This is stupid." he settled with himself. "This is stupid. I only have one leg, I can't swim anymore! There is no way." he continued to hyperventilate.
|| No no no, there absolutely is a way. I don't know what you were thinking, but you can't expect to jump right in and be fine, It will take a lot of practice and time. Just forget about all that for right now though, you don't need to worry about it. We came here so you can experience it after so long and to have fun. You had a scare, but I'm not going to let it happen again. You'll love this, I swear. ||
"Toothless, I- I sank like a rock! I kicked and everything but it didn't make a difference! This isn't something I can enjoy anymore!"
|| Just calm down and hear the words I'm saying to you, okay? You can do this, and you're going to like doing this, but I need you to give it a chance. I'll be right beside you the whole time, and you never need to let go unless you want to. We are doing this for the fun of it, nothing else, and I want you to have fun. Here, look at me, Hiccup. || He wasn't trying to get away anymore, so I took one off one of my paws to gently push his chin up. || I need you to trust me, alright? I'm not going to let you go. ||
He struggled with himself, and then with growl mixed with a sigh, he was fine. "I-uh...phew. Okay, okay. I'm sorry, you're right, it just scared me. A lot. Ugh, I need a minute."
|| That's fine. || I held him up, and he tried to steady his heart.
"Even if we do this, I don't know if I'll be able to swim again." he stated after he'd regained himself.
|| We'll take it in stride, just like you did with walking, and just like we did with flying. We are kind of champs at re-learning fundamental things now. || I smiled.
"I guess you're right. We can do this." he said with new found confidence.
|| It couldn't be that hard. ||
"No, it couldn't."
|| You ready? ||
"Yeah, but let's stick to the shallow end for a little while. Where I can stand."
|| That's the plan. Get on my back and hold on tight. ||
I let him go and he tucked his hands under the loose straps we put myself in so he had something easy to hold on to. He drifted behind me, weightless in the still water. His face was beaming with excitement now. "Whoa. Oh man, it has definitely been a long time." he laughed, enchanted and thrilled at the long lost feeling.
|| Do you mind taking the long route there? || I asked.
"No, let's do it." he laughed.
|| Caught your breathe? ||
"Yup."
|| Take a deep one, here we go! ||
We plunged under the still, cool, lake water- a territory Hiccup had yet to re-master- and cut through the deep blue faster than Hiccup would ever be capable of. We ended up spending an hour in the lake, swimming, splashing, diving, and relaxing. The big, crooked smile never left Hiccup's face. Even after the excitement, when we were drying off under the hot sun, he was glowing with exhilaration. We went back to the cove countless times after that to continue learning, but Hiccup still hadn't quite gotten the hang of it. He could swim by himself for more than a minute.
##
PRESENT
|| Oh, no. || I breathed out and sprinted down the dock. || Hiccup! HICCUP! ||
Post A/N: I'm sure it was strange to read with those disgusting bold notes prefacing everything, and you could accuse me of being lazy doing it that way instead of clearly expressing it through my actual writing (I wouldn't deny it), but it was necessary, and I really hope it helped. I'm so sorry it was so hard to follow before.
If you are confused to why Hiccup and Toothless weren't totally avoiding each other after their "fight", it's because they both care a lot about and need to teach at the dragon academy, so they both went anyway knowing the other would be there. And maybe some other reasons if you want to read into it more, which you might if you continued on :3.
Nonetheless, you can find out what actually happened between Hiccup and Toothless in the next chapter! Thank you so much for reading and sticking through. I promise it gets better.
Leave a review y'all. It can really help, like how the person pointed the problems of this chapter to me. It's really appreciated.