At the Feet of a Chief

I don't own How to Train Your Dragon. This takes place after the events of the second movie.

GENERAL POV

It had become a tradition for Toothless to take naps in the sheltered cover of the cove where Hiccup had first bonded with him; it was a relatively peaceful place that most dragons knew to stay away from when the Night Fury was occupying it.

The dragon would go there while Hiccup was busy with his studies or helping to bring in the catches from the fishermen; he would go there whenever he felt he needed some space away from everyone, or when he felt Hiccup did.

Hiccup knew that's where Toothless went; after the first panicked time that he had gone missing, Toothless had made it a point to leave clear signs as to where he was going, and Hiccup would only come after him if he hadn't come back by sundown.

So now, as Hiccup stood in the middle of the cove turning in a slow circle on his prosthetic foot, he couldn't figure out where else Toothless would have gone.

"Toothless?" he called hesitantly, cupping his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice. "Come on bud, it's getting late. Where are you?"

Behind him, Astrid sat on top of Stormfly, her sharp eyes scanning the terrain from a higher point of view while Stormfly lit up the cove with a softly burning fire. "Hiccup, I don't think he's here. He would have heard you or smelled you by now."

Hiccup turned to her desperately, spreading his hands out to either side of him. "Where would he be, Astrid?" he asked, his voice cracking a little. "He wasn't in my room, he didn't leave a trail…he's basically defenseless since he can't fly…"

Astrid slid off of Stormfly and stepped over to Hiccup, clasping his shoulders with her hands gently and looking up at him ever so slightly. "Hey. He's not defenseless. He's a Night Fury, for Thor's sake. He'll come back."

She smiled sadly and punched his shoulder. "He loves you way too much not to. Now come on, if we don't get back, your mom is gonna start freaking out."

Hiccup gave her a shaky smile and climbed onto Stormfly behind her, holding lightly to Astrid's waist as the Nadder leapt into the sky and took off for town, swooping silently across the darkening sky and depositing Hiccup at his house. Astrid gave him a wave and then vanished, leaving Hiccup to venture inside alone.

Valka looked up from where she was flipping through The Book of Dragons at the table, a smile crossing her face at the sight of her son. "Evening, dear. Did you find Toothless?"

Hiccup winced and shut the door behind him, leaning his forehead against the wood and trying to settle his nerves. "No," he admitted, curling his hands into fists and thumping them against the door. "He's never been gone this long without leaving me some kind of trail before."

He turned back to his mother with worry glistening in his eyes and ran a tired hand through his hair. "I'm worried something might have happened to him," he said softly.

Valka bit her lip and pushed back in her chair, striding over to Hiccup and tenderly clasping his chin in her fingers. "He'll be all right, Hiccup. He's a Night Fury."

Hiccup reached up and pushed his mother's hand away, lowering his eyes so that he couldn't see the hurt expression on her face. "It doesn't matter," he countered. "I need to go look for him."

His mother pulled back a little, rubbing a hand up her arm. "Okay…let me strap up Cloudjumper and go with you," she suggested.

Hiccup paused with his hand on the door handle and shook his head, his shoulders slumping. "No. I need to go alone. I think that something's wrong, and another dragon-especially one he doesn't know as well as like, Stormfly-might make things worse. Sorry."

He left before she could answer, mentally cursing every step he took away from the house. Valka was the only parent he had left, and here he was pushing her away and denying her some quality mother and son time.

Hiccup decided he would make it up to her later and he made his way down to the docks, figuring it was best to start from the bottom of the island and work his way up.

The docks were abandoned, ships creaking as the waves rocked them against each other. The waves lapped softly at the rocky shore as Hiccup clumped his way across the wooden surfaces, training his eyes up the cliffs in the hopes that he would spot Toothless.

No dragon appeared and Hiccup sighed, beginning to weave his way through the village. He glanced into every dragon pen he passed, thinking that perhaps Toothless had decided to pay a visit to Meatlug or Hookfang and had lost track of daylight.

No such luck though, as he found both dragons snoring away and occasionally sparking in the darkness.

His foot ached as he started the long climb up to the Great Hall, shoving his hands into his pockets and ducking his head so that he didn't have to see the distance-or his father's statue-up ahead of him.

It wasn't at all like Toothless to run off without leaving a trail, though lately he had seemed a bit off. He wasn't eating as much as usual and his playfulness with the other dragons appeared forced, even to the denseness of the twins. Toothless nearly setting Barf's head on fire couldn't be missed even by the village idiot.

Hiccup was so deep in thought that he almost missed the top step, his foot catching on the stone and sending him stumbling forwards. He flung out a hand and ground to a halt before fully face planting, one knee pressed to the cold rock under him for balance.

He lifted his head slowly, gazing up at the doors of the Great Hall before moving his eyes left to settle on his father's statue. His breath hitched in his throat when he recognized the dark shape curled up at the foot of the likeness, and Hiccup got off the ground shakily before stepping over to Toothless.

"Hey bud," he whispered, his voice barely breaking the silence. "What's up?"

Toothless didn't even look at him, merely moved his head to a more comfortable position on his feet and gave a grumbling sigh, his green eyes startlingly dark in the night air. Hiccup held out both hands calmly as he walked over to his dragon, his head tilted slightly.

"You okay bud?" he asked softly, reaching his right hand out to settle it on Toothless' nose. "You don't normally disappear without telling me where you're going."

Toothless let out a quiet chirp, his nose blowing hot air against Hiccup's body. The Viking reached out and gently wrapped his fingers around Toothless' harness, giving it a soft tug. "Let's go home, buddy," he suggested, taking a step back. "It's late."

The Night Fury pulled his head away from Hiccup sharply, making the boy stumble again. He didn't fall this time, merely held his ground and watched silently as Toothless scooted back to his original position, resting his head on the base of Stoick's statue and letting out a long, desolate purr.

Hiccup realized with sudden clarity what Toothless was doing there and he felt his heart shatter a little more in his chest at the look the dragon was giving the statue. He moved over to Toothless again, this time settling against the base of his father's statue and leaning his head back to look up at it.

"I miss him too, bud," he murmured, reaching a hand out and stroking Toothless under the chin. "Every single day."

His voice cracked and Hiccup glanced away, biting at his lower lip to keep it from quivering. "It's not your fault, you know," he found himself saying to his dragon. "He wouldn't have blamed you. He would never have blamed you. He loved you almost as much as I did."

Hiccup swallowed and lifted his free hand to his face, somewhat startled to find that his cheeks were damp with tears. "So it's…it's okay that you miss him," he managed to get out, wincing as his voice cracked and Toothless looked at him sharply. "But you can't…you can't keep pushing the other dragons away, and you have to keep eating…because it's not your fault and I can't…I can't lose you too."

His voice finally broke at the end and Hiccup pulled his hand away from Toothless, drawing his knees up to his chin and burying his head in his arms.

He hadn't cried since the day his father had been killed, and it showed now, streaming out of him in body wracking sobs that shook him to his core, in tears that slid all the way down his neck and into the collar of his tunic, in hiccups that gave his name new meaning.

Hiccup was aware of the fact that Toothless had moved over to sit directly next to him, and he took the opportunity to bury his head in the dragon's neck, digging his fingers into Toothless' tough skin and letting loud sobs spill from his lips, the sound muffled by the Night Fury's purring.

When he finally managed to start breathing again, Hiccup found that he was utterly exhausted. His eyes hurt and his throat was raw and when he lifted his head, Toothless gently nudged him in the chin, the dragon's gaze shining with something akin to sympathy.

Hiccup reached his hands out and grabbed onto Toothless with shaking fingers, bringing the dragon close to him so that he could rest his forehead against Toothless' head. "Please," he managed to croak out, his voice much deeper and raspier than he could ever remember it being. "Please don't blame yourself, bud. I can't lose you too."

Toothless chirped low in his throat and licked Hiccup tenderly, and the Viking gave him a shaky smile before settling back up against the warmth of the reptile's body, his head cradled in Toothless' saddle.

He fell asleep there, fingers curled tightly against Toothless' skin, and the dragon curled his body protectively around the boy, settling his head back down onto his feet and gazing up with mournful eyes at Stoick's statue.

Though Toothless would start eating again, and though he would start playing with the other dragons as easily as he had before, it would be a long, long time before Hiccup would ever again find him napping in the cove and not at the feet of Stoick the Vast.

Hahahahaha I hate myself for writing this.

Reviews are lovely.