How To Train Your Dragon: A Loss That Shouldn't Be
Chapter 1: The Crossing To Valhalla
'I'm sorry...'
Toothless didn't know how long it had been. The passage of time didn't seem to hold any meaning to him anymore. Every ticking second just continued to feel numb, like it didn't have a single impact on his being. He paid no attention to it, he didn't care. It could've been hours, it could've been days. He could only stare out across that dark horizon of ocean at the single ship left behind from the attack threatened to disappear over the horizon. The one that now carried him alone.
"No dragon can resist the Alpha's command." Drago hissed through gritted teeth. "So he who controls the Alpha...controls them all."
The glinting spear in Drago's head ceased it's spinning and became still, it's sharp end pointed towards Toothless. The Night Fury backed away a step from the man just as a horrendous noise shook the air around him and Hiccup. The Alpha stared down at the smaller black dragon, its pupils narrowing to slits of black as the spines covering its head twitched at the deep bass shaking its way into the ground. At that very moment, Hiccup saw Toothless break into a fit of frantic spasms, the Night Fury's head head shaking with roars of protest as he fumbled around his feet like he'd lost his sense of balance.
"Toothless?" Hiccup blurted aloud, a rising fear of alarm starting to show itself in his voice when his dragon didn't respond to him. "T-Toothless, you okay, bud? What's going on?" he continued, trying to keep his voice in that usual warm tone that he knew the Night Fury always responded to. Toothless didn't respond this time and only continued to writhe with snarls of frustration, almost as if he was in pain from the Alpha's frequency piercing into his ears.
"Witness true strength. Strength of will over others."
They said it would take him to Valhalla. A realm of kings and brave warriors, they explained, where he would be honored for his bravery and remembered for all time. Toothless hated the thought. He hated it so much it made him want to tear the sky down in his anger. It made him want to claw his way to this Valhalla on his own and drag his rider back to knock some sense into him for doing this to him. Yet, he knew that anger was misplaced. Toothless only had himself to blame for what happened, no matter what Astrid or Valka or anyone had tried to say. He hadn't changed in his demeanor, he couldn't. All he wanted was his human to be here. His soul mate, his other half, didn't belong with kings or warriors. Not even with the gods the Vikings cherished so. He needed to be here.
"No, no, no, no, come on, what are you doing? Knock it off! Stop!" Hiccup's voice cracked as he started to panic. His brain was starting run out of things to try. Nothing he knew about trying to control a dragon was working and it wasn't working on the one who knew him better than anyone. He couldn't have known that Toothless couldn't hear him. He couldn't have known that the dragon he knew had been buried beneath the surface of this control, the Alpha's sheer will spurring him on with a single command: destroy. It was the only thing running through the dragon's head and there was nothing Hiccup could do to break its hold.
"Toothless, no! Toothless!" he begged, his head turning to look behind him as he saw a wall of ice make its way slowly towards him with every step back, the giant columns of frozen water having falling from the shards of the Sanctuary mere moments ago. And now they were to serve as the perfect trap. Toothless' wings outstretched as his deliberate steps towards the human pressed into the ground without fail.
"Don't!" Hiccup cried, his eyes starting to sting as they welled with the beginning of tears, terrified that his best friend stared through his very being with such menace. Another snarl from Toothless' hung open jaws sent chills through his body, the memory of the first time they had met in the woods flashing before his vision. Toothless had shown mercy then. But there was no hint that it would happen this time.
The memories kept replaying over and over in Toothless' head. His sense of utter powerlessness, his lack of strength against the overwhelming presence of the Alpha piercing his skull. The sight of his human desperately trying to stop him. To the Night Fury, that hurt the most. The fact that his closest companion in the whole world had been so scared of him, terrified of what was happening and what he couldn't control.
'I made you afraid... I didn't want you to be afraid of me...'
It didn't help that Toothless' imagination was also running wild with what could've happened instead. Maybe if he had been stronger, if he had put up more of a fight against that horrible monster, then he wouldn't be stood here alone on the shore. If he had been the dragon that his human had always relied on whenever things got rough, then this band of broken warriors wouldn't be weeping for their fallen comrade. If Toothless had protected him like he should... then he wouldn't be here pleading for forgiveness from someone who could never answer that plea.
'I wasn't strong enough. It's my fault... I'm so sorry...'
"Dad!" Hiccup screamed, his arm outstretched as if to tell his father to stay away. He knew he could still control his dragon, he could win Toothless back, he just needed to try harder. Stoick wasn't going to take that chance, already seeing the dim purple color begin to illuminate Hiccup's body. With his limbs aching at his rush to reach his son in time, Stoick threw himself forward towards Hiccup just as Toothless' throat constricted and sent out a speeding fireball towards them both. It all happened so fast. Time seemed to move in slow motion for them both. As the scorching heat of Toothless' attack began to close in on them, Hiccup's thoughts screamed at him to try one last time to break through the Alpha's control. His mouth began to change into the shape of yelling Toothless' name, something to make the Night Fury stop even though the action had already been done. He wouldn't get the chance to speak the words he wanted to.
After Drago had left, taking the dragons and his armies to Berk, the ruined Sanctuary had been left eerily quiet. Even in their grief, the other Vikings were taking the time to properly honor their fallen. Maybe it was just a way for them to cope, maybe they had gotten used to being part of a people for whom death seemed everyday in their warlike state. The fact that Drago had chosen to let Toothless go free rather than ensnare him with the Alpha along with the other dragons was just plain cruel. Maybe it was because Toothless was unable to fly without a rider who could work his tail, a fact that would mean he would be useless to Drago. Or maybe, worse still, it was to make the pain even worse on purpose. To think that madman could have such a cruel streak shouldn't have surprised anyone. But what always did surprise them was how deep that evil ran.
They had tried to take the body away from Toothless soon after they had made the pyre on the ship deck. An act that the Night Fury had refused to let them do. He had held onto that poor boy's form with his claws like it was the most important thing in the world to him, like it was the last thing that was tying him to the world he left behind. He wanted to have snarled and bit and spat flame or anything to keep them away. They couldn't take him, they just couldn't. But a broken dragon's body wrought with grief wasn't enough to resist their advances, his former furious strength of protection having been all but drained from what had happened. And now here he was. Watching his beloved Viking sail away across that void. Forever. What was left of Toothless' heart was breaking all over again.
Valka swallowed the welling of fear in her throat as she tried to get closer, hoping that Toothless would remain docile for now to let her. She approached Stoick first, sliding to her knees as she tugged on his gigantic frame with a grunt of exertion.
"Stoick!" she cried, pulling at his arm as he rolled onto his back. Her husband spluttered after a terrifying moment of laying still, coughing as if the smoke had collected into the back of his throat. He pushed himself up onto his elbows as he tried to make sense of what happened. He squinted, blinking his eyes as the blurry view of his wife's face came into view.
"Val..." he said softly, trying to get back to reality. His mind slowly caught up with him as he came around, his paternal panic rising in his chest and outweighing any desire Stoick had to take on Drago. His head frantically turned around, hoping to see that he had been successful in his efforts to save his son. He soon found him only feet away.
"Hiccup!" Stoick yelled, clambering his heavy frame to his feet as Valka followed him in an equally panicked state. The chief's gut was already twisting as he rested his gaze on the sight of his son's contorted body strewn beneath heavy blocks of ice. He hurried to Hiccup's side, tossing aside the chunks of material like paper as they fell to the ground in heavy thuds. He grabbed Hiccup's body and pulled him onto his back, shaking him roughly to rouse him from his lack of consciousness. As he did so, Stoick couldn't help but notice the grisly damage that had been left behind from the dragon's fire. His mind protested it, trying to ignore the gaping wound in his boy's stomach that hadn't been properly cauterized and was leaking crimson to the ground, the smell of burning flesh, the sickening sounds of mangled bone against muscle when he was moved. Stoick felt numb even contemplating the thought, but it was already creeping into his mind.
"No...son, you wouldn't. You're not doing this to me again! You..." he stammered, shaking Hiccup again more desperately as he still didn't get a response. "Hiccup! Hiccup!"
Even as Toothless and the rest of the Vikings stood in formation across the coastline of the Sanctuary, the memories wouldn't stop repeating, the horrific reminder of this tragedy playing in a loop that wouldn't turn off. The sky had turned dark as nightfall descended, leaving a single lantern on the solitary ship before them to illuminate it. A dimly lit fire, forged from the remains of the wrecked ships from the battle, stood a few feet away from them. Stoick and Valka held each other, their eyes never once leaving the sight of the ship slowly drifting away from view. The riders, Eret, and Gobber stood in a line not too far away from them. Astrid meanwhile stood by Toothless, her resolve looking like it was threatening to shatter the more she stared at the scene before her. She knew inside that she had to be strong, for Toothless and herself more than anyone. But as brave as she was, Astrid was finding it to be the most difficult thing she had done in her life. The Vikings stood ready for their roles in the ceremony. Though none of them looked like they were ready or willing to do it.
As the giant beast responsible for the act began to turn away at Drago's command, its attention was broken from Toothless. It didn't have a use for him anymore and the Night Fury's threatening stance from before shrank down to normal. Toothless shook his head, grimacing as the noise of the Bewilderbeast finally ceased and left him free to his own thought. His eyes returned to normal, squinting and blinking back to the real world as he tried to figure out what had happened. Where was Hiccup? The last thing he had remembered was the pair of them facing off against that nasty dragon trapper. The next thing he knew, he had been...overwhelmed by this awful presence. He didn't even know what it was, he just knew it had frozen his thoughts behind a veil. He remembered feeling rage and anger and the need to kill, but he didn't know why. The dragon crooned, feeling worry rise within him when he didn't initially see Hiccup standing there to comfort him with his words as he usually did. Hiccup always did that when he was worried and it always soothed him. But there was no sign of his human anywhere. And it was then that Toothless noticed the figures crowding around something. Both Hiccup's father and mother were there, Astrid and the other riders were there and Hiccup...
Toothless' eyes turned wide, suddenly racing forward to try and see what was happening. Was he there? Was he OK? Even as he approached them, Toothless had to note that the Vikings were all quiet, his ear plates twitching to try and pick up on anything they were saying. They didn't speak a word. Only muffled sobs reached the dragon's ears as his front paw touched the ground not too far away from them. Stoick heard the footstep crunch into the ice and finally raised his head from his grief stricken trance. He knew who that footstep belonged to and raised his body up with a ferocious snarl of his own. Valka watched in shock as Stoick's brow scowled harshly and he stood, his eyes almost wild as the rage filled his words. He was yelling louder than Toothless had ever heard him do before.
"NO! Get away from him!" Stoick screamed, the power of his voice making the Night Fury flinch from the sheer volume alone. "Y-YOU did this! You demon, you...!" he continued, his voice breaking under the strain of the situation as he raised his fist above his head like he was going to strike. Toothless whined, taking a step back at Stoick's words. Valka raised an arm up towards her husband's hand, pushing her head into it as her own voice threatened to fail through her tears.
"I-It's not his fault...you know that..." she murmured, trying to be the voice of reason. Stoick's angry expression faltered. He sighed out a sob, sinking to his knees once more as another tear slipped over his burly features. He knew his wife was right. This poor creature was nothing more than a tool to Drago. Blaming him for this wouldn't change anything. Toothless hummed again in puzzlement, glancing between them both as he seemed confused as to what they were blaming him for. They were so angry, so sorrowful...had he done something wrong? Where was Hiccup? The dragon began to feel angry himself, growling in frustration that they wouldn't tell him where Hiccup was as his front leg stamped into the ground. It wasn't until the Night Fury finally directed his eyes at the crumpled bundle between the two Vikings that he felt an awful chill run through him. The same one that had run through him when they had faced the Red Death and when Hiccup had been initially kidnapped by Valka's dragons. The small amounts of red liquid pooling at his paws were more than enough to make that chill hit even harder. Toothless let out a panicked noise as he realized that the bundle was his Hiccup.
Toothless blinked once, a bead of moisture running over his cheek. His eyes were had now lost their former green luster, red veins spreading from the outside edges as if he had never stopped crying. They ached in pain like he hadn't either. His entire being felt heavy, like the weight of the world had been forced upon his wings without his Viking to help him escape its gravity. Toothless' ear plate twitched as he heard the voice of Gobber start to speak. He didn't know what any of it really meant. He could only assume and hope that it was at least a fitting thing to say.
"May the Valkyries welcome you and lead you through Odin's great battlefield..." Gobber started, his voice low and deliberate to try and contain his emotions. "May they sing your name with love and fury so that we might hear it rise from the depths of Valhalla and know that you've taken your rightful place at the Table Of Kings. For a great man has fallen. A warrior of heart. Heir to a chieftain. A friend...and a son".
The last line finally broke Astrid once more, her body slumping against the dragon's own as she began to cry again. Toothless had never heard Astrid cry until today. She had always been the strong one, the one to keep a clear head despite whatever happened. It wasn't something he wanted to hear again. The way she heaved and held onto him for support... him, the monster that had done this in the first place. There was some sort of irony in there, the dragon was sure of it.
'Get up. Come on, get up!'
Toothless batted Hiccup gently with his paws, mirroring their play fights to try and get him 'fighting' back. The Night Fury soon found himself freezing when warm moisture coated his claws in a red color. Toothless whimpered, worriedly looking between Stoick and Valka for some sort of answer.
'Why isn't he waking up? What's wrong with him? Wake him up!'
They met the dragon's wordless inquiry with the same look. Eyes red and dry from their tears, a general numbness about their being. Toothless' entire body went slack. His ear plates sank downwards across his head, his wings impacting onto the floor as if they had lost the strength to hold themselves upright. Genuine fear began to flood his senses as he pushed at Hiccup, nuzzling that limp arm over and over again.
'N-No, you wake now! You wake up right now, Hiccup!'
The humans surrounding him could only watch as the Night Fury vainly, desperately tried to wake up his human, pushing at him with both of his claws now with more frustrated and insistent growls over and over. Again he kept his nudging and nuzzling going, his nose starting to turn as red as his paws as the dragon's crooning became more anxious. Valka's heart broke all over again at seeing such a beautiful creature be in such distress. She had never seen such behavior before from a dragon. Yet alone for a human. The fact that it only showed the bond her son had had with Toothless made it all the harder to face. She bit her lower lip and held out a hand, placing it on the Night Fury's forehead to stop his movements. Their eyes met. Toothless' mouth hung open as he whimpered again, though his 'voice' seemed to break at doing so. The dragon's pupils dilated, his eyes becoming shiny in the dim light of the battlefield.
'No, he...he's fine. I protect him, I always do... I protect him'
And it was then that Toothless saw the wounds. The way they smoldered and burned, the way the stench of decaying flesh hit his senses enough to make his nostrils flare. It was then that he realized his own mouth still felt warm like he had just used his fire. As the connections were made and the truth hit like a blow from a Viking's axe, Toothless felt like his very heart was collapsing in on itself, unable to stop the moisture building in his emerald eyes.
'My Hiccup...he...he's not...'
Stoick stepped forward, moving towards the small fire of debris they had constructed before them. With Valka's own bow in hand already armed with an arrow, the chieftain exhaled slowly once to maintain his composure as he held the arrow near the dancing flames. In a matter of moments, a stray spark hit the flammable arrowhead and set it ablaze with heat as well. Stoick's brow remained stern as he raised his arms upward, the bow pointing towards the sky. His hands were trembling as they held tightly onto the taught and tensed string, his mind struggling to really comprehend that this would be the last act he would ever have the chance to do for his son. Valka, as broken by this ordeal as he was, rested her hand against her husband's shoulder with a fierce grip to support him and also cease her own trembling. She would be strong for him, to help him be strong for everyone else. Stoick loved her for it. The burly Viking closed his eyes, a single tear slipping from one to roll down his cheek as he forced his fingers to relax. As the tension was released and the projectile was sent spiraling through the air, Toothless caught sight of it in his peripheral vision. And he suddenly realized what they intended to do.
'No...no, they can't! Leave him alone, leave him ALONE!'
As his eyes followed the arrow's path, the dragon's head screamed at him to do something. They had said the ship would only be taking him a new place, but that single shot would destroy it with flames! They couldn't! He wanted to rip it out of the air, to drag his claws up and tear the arrow to shreds. Anything to stop this final send off, this confirmation of the fact that the peacekeeper of Berk was going to leave them for good. If that ship was burned, then how would his Hiccup reach Valhalla? How would he be able to go there and bring him back...?
'STOP!'
Toothless' body began to act of its own accord as the thought came to him, the dragon starting to take hurried steps forward towards the water's edge. Astrid exclaimed as the dragon moved and knocked her off balance, trying to go after his rider. The other Vikings hesitated in raising their own bows to the sky at seeing the dragon move. Yet they knew they still had to play their part.
Valka bowed her head, her hand slowly withdrawing from Toothless' head as she surrendered to her own grief once more. The Night Fury looked between all the humans, even the other riders stood feet away as they all seemed the same. Astrid has sunk to her own knees besides Toothless, the tears freely flowing to the ground as she clenched her fists in rage at Drago, threatening to tear through her own clothing. That madman had managed to do what Toothless had thought to be impossible.
'Please... please, you can't be gone...! I'm begging you...'
And it was at that moment that something happened that no other dragon had done before or since. As tears rolled over his scaled cheeks and he shifted his body close to his human with one more pathetic nuzzle, the Night Fury raised his head upwards to the sky.
And Toothless howled.
It was a sound that made everyone shudder from its tone and power. A howl that was infused with pain and longing all at once, breaking in its sustain as Toothless' back heaved in breaths and stammered noises. Yet no matter how loudly the Night Fury forced his lungs to cry, no matter how they burned at the exertion of volume like it would wake his friend, his closest companion in this world, it was no use. The dragon grew quiet, his noises reduces to heaves and humming noises that could only be the draconic equivalent of crying. He gently rested his head upon his human's body as he continued to cry, not even able to summon up the anger over Drago to take action or pursue. Toothless could only stare at his human's face. The way that those eyes used to shine as they looked at him, so full of love and warmth. He would never see that again. The dragon's front legs curled under the boy's body, pulling it against his black underside as his scales touched Hiccup's skin. Neither Stoick or Valka tried to stop him, holding each other as they too were lost to sorrow. Toothless' cheek brushed against Hiccup's forehead. He felt so cold to touch. No longer warm like his embrace usually was. Had been. It was just lifeless.
Stoick's arrow met its target. The wooden frame of the ship, still sliding silently across the surface of the ocean, seemed to suddenly erupt in color and become enveloped in searing orange flames. The masts burned like a signpost to signal Valhalla that its sole occupant was on its way. Toothless couldn't tear his eyes away, even as he began to break into a run with a desperate roar. He couldn't let his human go, as much as the occasion had been designed to force him to.
'Hiccup! HICCUP, NO!'
He heard the unmistakable twangs of other bow strings and a whole flurry of flaming projectiles were sent soaring through the air to join the first. As his claws touched the ocean's edge with a splash, the dragon dived towards the water with a howling plea to stop the ship from leaving and burning.
'S-Stay with me! Please, don't go...! Don't leave me alone... I love you...!'
Toothless felt something tug at one of his wings to hold him back, his tired and aching body unable to stop it from ceasing his movements.
"Toothless, no...you can't..." came Astrid's equally weary and tearful voice, a noticeable shiver in her fingertips as she held on tightly to him. The dragon came to a stand still, a trembling whine vibrating at the base of his neck as he continued to stare at the ever rising fire consuming the vessel.
'Please...'
Were it not for the occasion, he'd almost find it a little beautiful. Maybe that was why the Vikings chose this way to honor their dead, some last glimmer of something majestic and fitting of their spirit before they passed on. For Toothless, it was nothing more than a sign he would never hear, smell or feel Hiccup's warmth near him again. The Night Fury collapsed to the ground with a roaring sob, his legs having failed him as his claws covered his head. The tears came without resistance.
'This isn't real... Hiccup will talk to me any moment. He'll tell me it's all OK, he'll tell me he's not really dead, he'll tell me that he loves me and everything is OK...'
Astrid took cautious steps to the Night Fury's side, unsure of what to say or do to ease the dragon's suffering. As much as her own heart had been shattered from this day, she couldn't begin to imagine what Toothless was going through as well. That last thought of delusion was beginning to run in circles in the dragon's head, the shock of seeing the ship burst into flames having set it off. She sighed, sniffing quietly and rubbing at one of her eyes. A hand cautiously brushed up near the dragon's neck to behind his ear, resting there as a gesture of support. Toothless, lost to his sorrow as he was hunched over like this, at least felt the slightest glimmer of gratefulness in the back of his mind for her attempt to help. That made it at least a little more bearable, if only just.
Astrid looked back on the ship, her brow turning into a fierce scowl even though her eyes were still welling over with tears. She knew exactly what she would do if Drago were before her. She'd kill him herself. She'd spent most of her life preparing to kill until Hiccup stopped all of that for good. She was certain she could do it now. Her concentration on the burning wreck was broken when she heard Stoick begin to speak. The chief had been silent the whole time, even with Toothless' attempt to run after the ship, but he eventually found the courage to say something.
"Hiccup..." he started, though his voice was no longer loud and booming like it usually was. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough. I'm sorry that I couldn't make us a proper family again, I'm sorry that I wasn't..." Stoick paused. Whether it was because he didn't know what to say or because his wrecked emotions wouldn't let him was anyone's guess. "I...don't know." The Viking's expression failed him as more tears began to follow the others. It seemed that even in death, he still didn't know what to say to his son. Valka, sensing her husband's unease, took slow steps towards him and gently squeezed her arms around his bulkier one.
"Even when he was a babe...you always said that he would be the strongest one day," she murmured, the lines in her face seeming to have been accentuated thanks to today. "And you were right. He brought our two worlds together in a way no one else ever could." Valka's tone was comforting, even if it was being an obvious mask for her own sorrow. Stoick held onto his wife tightly, keeping her tucked against his body in an almost protective manner as silent thanks. Gobber, the other Riders and even Eret all showed some level of agreement at her words. The 'Dragon Master' had touched almost everyone's lives on Berk for the better. And even right to the end, he had never turned to violence, never resorted to the bloodshed that he despised so much. The greatest tragedy probably was not that he was gone. It was the fact that the world was a cruel place that seemed to have no mercy for those who had kinder hearts. Especially a world that had a creature such as Drago Bludvist in it. That thought alone made Stoick's fists clench. The anger from the idea of revenge rose up inside him at the mere thought of that coward dragon trapper. He spun around quickly to speak to the others as the light of his son's ship illuminated the skies behind him.
"I once told Hiccup that we protect our own. And he died trying to do just that. He tried to protect us and the dragons together from the dangers of the world. And I will not let Bludvist ruin his name by stopping us from continuing that dream," Stoick said sternly. His rage began to replace his sorrow, driving him onward to do something in retaliation. Maybe revenge wouldn't solve anything. Maybe he wouldn't get the satisfaction he thought he would from crushing Drago's skull in. But he refused to let his boy's ideals become tainted and twisted by someone like Drago. "We are going to keep the peace. We are going to save our dragons. We are going back to Berk and we are going to stop him!"
"Stoick... how?" interrupted Gobber, his former joking attitude having been melted away to reveal a much more serious persona underneath it. Even in times like this, he was going to be the voice of reason against usual Viking impulse. "Bludvist took all of the dragons. We have no way to get to Berk in the first place to even think of getting close."
"Not all of them."
The group raised their heads at Valka's voice breaking up the conversation. She wiped across her eyes to rid herself of tears, following Stoick's example and letting her need to avenge her son drive her onward. "The hatchlings," she said simply. "The Alpha can't control them like the adults. We can use them to get back home and stop him before he takes over Berk for himself." Gobber sighed. Stubbornness ran in the family, it seemed.
"And then what?" Eret interrupted. "Even if we manage to get close to Drago, you know what he's capable of. His entire army is going to be there and we don't have anything to fight him with!"
"But we do..." Astrid murmured, causing the group to turn their attention back to her. Astrid herself didn't notice their staring and instead walked in front of the only dragon who had been left behind.
"Toothless..."
The Night Fury was still huddled on the ground. He hadn't even noticed the rest of his human counterparts speaking, too lost in his memories, in the fantasy that he was simply having a nightmare. They were all preferable to dealing with the reality of the situation. It wasn't until Astrid spoke his name that the dragon broke out of his trance. The endless loop of thoughts stopped. It wasn't Hiccup. His tired eyes looked at Astrid as his partner's love took a knee before him to speak.
"Toothless, I am so sorry for what that thing did to you," she said sympathetically, her voice a little shaky but determined to see what she had to say through to the end. "I know you think there's something you could've done and I know that you think you're right to blame yourself, but Hiccup, h-he... he wouldn't have wanted to see you like this. I know he wouldn't. He knew that you're stronger than that and he knew that you would never hurt him. It's not your fault."
The Night Fury blinked, a weak croon echoing into the air as the dragon looked like he would cry all over again. She was right. Hiccup hated seeing him upset. All the times Toothless had been scared or worried or sad, Hiccup had done everything he could think of to ease those negative emotions away. And here he was now, consumed by them. It was almost stupid how the Night Fury was nearly willfully disrespecting his rider's efforts over the many years they had known one another. Hiccup would never have wanted to see him in this sorry state.
'Oh no... Hiccup, forgive me... your mate is right. You never liked seeing anyone sad, did you...?'
Toothless leaned his head forward slightly, allowing Astrid to gently touch the scales around his cheek. If what she was saying was true, then he knew he had to be the strong dragon Hiccup saw him as. As they made contact, Astrid showed a brief glimmer of a smile when the saddened creature softly vibrated at the touch.
"We still need you, Toothless. Hiccup still needs you. We need you to help us protect everything he and all of us worked so hard for these last few years. I know it's a lot to ask when we don't have a plan and I'm sorry that we can't do anything to make it hurt less..." Astrid trailed off, stopping her own emotions from welling up too much before she sighed. "But please...we can't let him destroy our home. We need your help."
Toothless continued to stare at her. He'd almost forgotten that Drago had decided to travel to Berk after his work at the Sanctuary had been done. And not alone, with his armies and entrapped dragons and everyone that madman had caught in his grip.
'My Hiccup...he still needs me?'
The sorrow of losing his rider began to be set aside and a great anger rose within Toothless' being, just like his human counterparts. He huffed, his brow scowling into something resembling determination. If Drago was trying to break them, then he nearly had. But Toothless would not let the memory of his other half be tarnished by the fact their enemy was going to destroy everything they had accomplished. They would fight this, to the end if need be.
'I won't let you down, Hiccup. I promise you, I won't.'
That's what Toothless decided for himself as he nodded his head at the young woman before him. Astrid followed suit, nodding with a light smile as she stood up.
"Valka, you can teach us how to ride the younglings," she said with an air of authority. "The rest of us need to be ready with a plan. If we're not going to let that lunatic win, we need to be smart and we need to be quick." The rest of the group nodded their heads, impressed with Astrid's words. They wiped away their tears, the defiant Viking spirit showing itself as they began to scheme. Perhaps with this they still stood a chance. Astrid herself looked back over the ocean, just as the last few embers of the passing away ship disappeared over the horizon and left the skies dark once more.
"They won't beat us, love," she vowed. "I promise you, that."
Toothless made an oath of his own. Though probably not the one that anyone else would've guessed. As the sight of his Hiccup's ship finally disappeared from view, the dragon let one more tear slip from his eyes and stain the sandy ground. That tear was going to be the last one he would shed, he promised Hiccup that. He wouldn't cry anymore, not until Drago had been overthrown from his seat of power at the very least. They would honour their fallen properly in time. But they would do so after fighting for the peace that Hiccup had strove to accomplish for years. And then, maybe... maybe they would be given a miracle. Maybe the gods of Valhalla would reward him for achieving the impossible.
'My Hiccup... I will come for you. When that monster is gone, I will come for you and bring you home. Somehow.'