"Leaving. We're leaving. Let's pack up. Looks like you and me are going on a little vacation. Forever." I let the sack of fish slip over my shoulder. I can't believe this is actually happening. Me. Kill a dragon. All I've done in the ring is just avoid getting killed. I haven't killed a dragon at all. Not even when I had Toothless wrapped and perfectly unable to do anything, I couldn't kill a dragon. Now I'm expected to kill one, as my 14 year old pile of all bone and scrawny-ness, in front of the whole village!
I can't even hold a sword above my head, nonetheless swing it. I get up and stroll over to Toothless, who sits over in a dark corner of the sunken valley. He perks up, eyes wide, and I contemplate how nobody has ever realized how gentle these creatures are.
I add the final words to my list, and add the final period with a flourish. I look up at Toothless, and he watches me write, eager to know what is happening. "Hey, bud. This sound good?" he cocks his head, as if to say 'What?' so I start to read off the plan to him.
"Ok. Once it gets dark," I look up. hints of gold and pink start to glaze the edges of clouds. "…Which will be soon. I run into town and make some parts for your tail. You're probably going to break some things." And with this, one of his head flaps smacks me. I playfully shove him back, but get back to reading the list to him. "After I get some stuff done at Gobber's, I grab a bag of sheep wool, and we head out right before dawn. Sounds good, bud?" with this, Toothless makes a throaty gurgle, and I pat his nose. As more and more color bleeds into the sky, I start prepping Toothless for the flight off of Berk.
I causally stroll through the village as the sun goes down on the horizon, knowing full well that nobody will notice me. everybody's too caught up in congratulating my dad how I managed not to turn into an unmanageable hiccup to society. I silently enter into my house and crawl up the steps into my room. Scurrying around my room, I snatch every article of clothing I own and throw it into a sack. I reach for my multiple drawings, but my hand falters. I know I won't be able to take them all. Feeling sadness on leaving so much work behind, I shrink away. Hoisting my bag over my shoulder, I sigh as I walk out of my room for the last time.
After stopping in on my own little hide out, where I had been drawing Toothless when my dad bust in, and I grab all the mechanical drawings for Toothless' tail, and stuff them in the bag too. I made my way to the smith and begin to make more of the stuff for Toothless.
After making the equivalent of two tails, a drunk Gobber saunters in. "Hiccup, what are you doing here?" Gobber slurred.
"I want to make myself a few things for tomorrow." I easily slip out. It's true; I do need them tomorrow, just not for what everybody thinks. Gobber is pretty dumb when he's drunk, which happens quite a bit. So I just usher him out, telling him to "Go back to celebrating, I kinda wanna focus on this. Enjoy yourself Gobber. Bye." And with that, I shut the smith's door, and lock the outside out.
The partying stopped well into the dark of night. Dad knows that I stay out of the house all the time, avoiding him, quite often. A few hours after the quiet settled in, I looked around me. I had about three and a half tails, plus spare small parts, two saddles, and lots of extras. I also managed to snatch quite a bit of food from around the village, and I could see the full moon was starting to near the horizon, and I needed to get out of here before the sun rose. I grabbed the bags, with great difficulty no mind you, and waddled out into the forest to Toothless.
I see Toothless asleep on glowing embers, the things I brought earlier sitting beside him. I sulk over to the big boulder and let the bags drop, and immediately feel a million times lighter. The inky black is starting to fade into a deep blue on the far east, and the moon has sunk below the tree line. It's time to leave.
I load the last of everything on Toothless, who looks a little less than pleased about all the extra weight. But I've seen him carry trees, so I am confident in his flying ability. I toss him one more fish and climb onto his back, and we take off into the black abyss.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S NOT HERE?" Hiccup was supposed to be back at the arena by noon. It was already late into the night, and there had been no sign of the chief's son since sundown the day before.
"Stoick, calm down, he's probably just hiding."
"GOBBER, HE'S NOT ANYWHERE! I've looked in the smith, the great hall, the cliff he used to go and sit on, I've asked the kids, I've asked the villagers, nobody has seen him since he was chosen yesterday." By now, Stoick was completely distraught. He sat down abruptly and buried his face in his hands. "Gobber, I lost Valka to the beasts, I can't lose Hiccup too."
"Stoick, I actually saw him yesterday, he was in the smith." Stoick perked up, hope splashed all across his face. "Making lots of odd things. I believe I saw one put together. It looked like a dragon's tail, almost. But it had lots of straps, and I thought I saw him making another saddle. For what, I have no idea, but he made one last week too. I was drunk, though, so I didn't think to ask him." And the hope that remained within the great chief was extinguished.
"He's gone, and I didn't even get to say how proud I was. He was all I had left, Gobber. Now it's all gone." And with that, everybody left the great hall. All who remained in the great building was Stoick, with the torches all burnt out, and the great fire in the pit reduced to measly embers.
It's been two days since I left Berk, all all I've found is just random islands, no bigger than Berk. Toothless and I have landed a few times, to eat and nap, but I can tell Toothless is getting tired. I lay down on Toothless' back, ready for another night, but something stops me. Something that smells a lot like… cooking meat.
I look down, but see nothing but ocean, and an alert dragon. I lean down to Toothless, "Follow the meat, bud. I'm starving." And with that, I lie down and let the glorious smell of turkey legs and steaks waft into my mind.
About 20 minutes , after following the ever growing scent of delicious, juicy meat, Toothless does his gurgle, and I turn to face forward. On the horizon, sits a large castle atop a cliff. And with the glorious sight of land and the delicious scent of fresh food, we soar through the golden clouds as the sun sinks below the horizon, an over sized pebble in a small puddle.
In the dark of the night, we slowly approach the stone castle. I think this seems like a nice place to stay a while. I steer Toothless away from the castle. If I have to live here, I don't want to be known by the locals. Deep in the woods, there runs a stream that I could live near. I aim Toothless just a little left of the stream, landing in a small field near the bubbling stream. The Night Fury makes a purring noise and I turn around, only to see him rolling around in the grass.
Quickly running over there, I unlatch all the baskets and sacks from off of his back, and he starts running around the field, happy to be free of the weight. Glancing around, I realize we have landed in a giant bowl, similar to the one we left in Berk. But here, the bowl's sides aren't sunken into the earth, with edges of worn rock, but the sides are made of such think foliage and vines, it is near impossible to see out of, and I'm pretty sure nobody can see in. Comfortable that we are well hidden; I reach inside of one of the bags, and feel around until I feel a few sticks with some canvas over them. I pull out the tent, and set it up, and crawl inside, leaving Toothless outside to play in the small area I'll now be calling home. I hear the bubbling stream, wind through the trees, the stark smell of pine, oak and birch trees, and the faint glow and hum from the castle not too far away.