Hiccup had never really believed in fate, being a man… boy of science and mechanics himself. However, he was sure, as he flew high above the island, that it had been his destiny to find Toothless. It could be coincidence that Hiccup's prosthesis fit perfectly into Toothless', but this was simply too hard to believe when they were soaring so high above their home. There was an amazing aura of peace around them both, and it was ripe for the breaking. "Okay Toothless," said Hiccup over the wind, "let's try something a little more fun." He stood in the stirrup, pushing down on Toothless. They both went into a dive picking up speed quickly. Right before they hit the water, Hiccup and Toothless pulled up. They sped up into the air, quickly breaching the clouds. They came out on top. The view was beautiful; the morning aurora was shining bright green all around. They both breathed the clear, cool air, letting it fill their lungs.
"Boy!" Hiccup cocked an ear, while Toothless looked around for the strange sound. No one else ever flew this early in the morning, let alone this high up. "Hey boy! Down here!" The voice came again, Toothless looked down and his jaw dropped.
Hiccup looked down over Toothless' head, "What's wrong buddy, did you— what the?" Below them was a man, just a man. He seemed to be flying under his own power, even though this seemed impossible. Hiccup didn't know how, but he knew this creature was a man. It shouldn't have been so obvious though, the man's face wasn't even showing. In fact, the only parts of the man showing were his hands. He was completely covered in a deep black robe, shrouding his entire body. On his face was a mask, yellow with black eyes and a black smile seemingly etched on there. Even though the mask was plain, it seemed somehow descriptive and identifying. His hands were also covered in black, but this black was fur. It covered his hand all the way to the tip, which was a claw that was pressed to his mask.
"Listen boy, I needed to get a hold of you, but I don't have much time. I'm running low on—" a whining sound came from inside his robe. "Aw crap," and suddenly he began to fall. Hiccup and Toothless stared for a moment, still bewildered, but Hiccup shook his head and snapped back to attention.
"Come on bud, we gotta save him," he said, plunging into another dive. They quickly caught up with him, as he was calmly slowing his descent by making himself as spread out as possible. Toothless nabbed the man right out of midair. "Over there," Hiccup gestured to a small island near Berk; Toothless nodded. They sped down towards the island. Toothless placed the man on a stone altar on the island, behind which was an idol of a Viking goddess. Hiccup hopped off Toothless as they landed; he steadied himself on Toothless' side. He knew this island as Freya's Shrine, for he had been visiting here often lately1. "Okay," Hiccup started, "Explain yourself. Who are you?"
"I am DH, Muse of Happiness. Please clarify 'explain yourself,' I don't understand." DH's black smile was radiant, almost seeming to be like a "bright black."
"Okay," he said, "First, how were you flying up there?"
"Magic, sorry, that's the best explanation I can offer," he shrugged apologetically.
Hiccup scoffed at first, but then he softened and in a less defensive tone he asked, "Could you teach me?"
DH shook his head sadly, "I'm sorry, but there are only seven others in existence who can possibly do that, and you're not one of them. If it's any consolation to you, I can't ride a dragon."
Hiccup nodded slowly, "Okay, why are you here?" Toothless was glaring warily at DH.
"I was sent here for a few reasons, by several people. One thing is that a close friend would like an autograph," he produced a pen and a piece of parchment, handing it to Hiccup. After Hiccup fiddled with the pen for a moment, DH grabbed it and pushed the button on the top.
Hiccup stared at the pen in amazement as he slowly signed the piece of parchment, "That's great, why didn't I think of that…?" He looked back at DH, holding the pen and parchment out, still eyeing the pen enviously.
DH chuckled, "Keep the pen." He took the parchment and put it in his robe, being careful not to bend it. DH crossed his black-furred arms and leaned back against the altar. "Now, for the second reason I'm here." He took a deep breath, "Now don't get too excited, but our friend Freya," he pointed to the idol behind him, "sent me to help you out."
Hiccup's jaw dropped, "Oh gods, you're from Valhalla?" He fell to his knees. Toothless was looking back and forth between Hiccup and DH, confused about Hiccup's behavior. "You must be a Valkyrie. I've always wanted to tell one of you that I'm so grateful for the aurora and—"
DH put his hand on his mask, shaking his head, "See, I told you not to get excited. No, I am not a Valkyrie and I am not from Valhalla. Just listen." He then looked at Toothless, putting a claw to his mask. "Speak in tongues," and suddenly his voice sounded like hundreds of thousands of people speaking at once in different languages, but it was still perfectly comprehensible, "I feel I owe you an explanation dragon." He dipped his robed head in respect, "Your rider has confused me for a god, however I was only sent by one."
Toothless seemed to scoff with a low growl, but DH roughly understood what it meant.
DH smiled, "Perhaps it's not the smartest thing, but humans are very attached to religious symbols." DH kept his claw on his mask, deciding to continue the spell so he could understand what the dragon said.
Toothless' eyes went wide, he growled in surprise. This creature understood his language, the ancient tongue of dragons. Thousands of possibilities went through his head, and he absentmindedly let out a series of chirrs and growls.
Hiccup stared at DH, "Wait, can you understand him? What did he say?"
DH smiled, "He asked you not to scratch behind his ears when you two fly, it's distracting." Hiccup and Toothless were in awe, unable to speak. "In any case," said DH with a clap, "We are off-topic." He looked at hiccup around the finger still pressed to his mask, "You see, my friend Freya," Hiccup bowed his head slightly at the mention of the name, "told me that you have been praying to her about a problem. Now, she can't come down here to help you, so she sent out a call for me. And it is my belief that there is only one person that would be better, but my dear sister is busy right now, so you'll have to settle. Now come and sit with me." He patted on the empty space next to him on the altar.
Hiccup reluctantly sat up on the altar next to the strange masked man. Toothless coiled himself on the ground by the altar. DH put his arm around hiccup, causing the boy to look back and forth awkwardly. "Now, boy, I heard you've recently had a craving for dragon meat."
Hiccup looked at DH perplexed and about to object, but Toothless beat him to the punch, letting out a few disgusted growls. Toothless' eyes darted back and forth between the two.
DH's smile glowed wickedly, "No, he does not want to eat a dragon. I meant a completely different type of dragon meat." He looked at Hiccup menacingly, "You see, Freya has told me exactly what you've been praying for help with." Hiccup was now a deep shade of red, looking straight up to avoid the eyes of Toothless, DH, and Freya's idol.
Toothless was still confused, not grasping the full extent of human idioms. Toothless purred, tilting his head in confusion. DH translated for Hiccup's benefit, "He said, 'wait, so Hiccup wants dragon meat without eating a dragon.'"
DH thought for a moment, with his claw still to his mask, "Well, I thought about making another joke, but you probably wouldn't get it anyway. Let me be honest, the point I'm trying to make is—"
"No," yelled Hiccup. "Stop," he pleaded to DH, "There is a reason I came to the gods for this advice: it needs to be fixed, and I didn't want anyone to know." Hiccup was still blushing, obviously distressed by the situation. This concerned Toothless, but the dragon was also annoyed that he still didn't know what was going on.
DH sighed, annoyed, but he spoke with compassion, "Listen Hiccup, you may not know or trust me to help you through this, which is why I wasn't a great choice on Freya's part, but Toothless is your best friend. If you can't confide in him, then what are you doing confiding in some lady you've never met, I don't care if she's a god." Hiccup was struck by this statement.
Hiccup nodded slowly in response, and then asked, "How do you know so much about us?" Toothless seemed interested to know too.
DH chuckled, "Listen kid, I flew as fast as you two under my own power and I spoke directly with a goddess. I'm connected, and I've been around the block a few times. You two are so obviously close; you've even got matching injuries. It's damn cute, even." He smiled glowed in an almost fatherly way, "Now, I'm just here to facilitate this and make sure it happens. I'll translate for you Hiccup."
Toothless spoke up immediately, making a few low reassuring purrs. DH said, "I still don't know what's going on, but you can tell me anything. I won't think less of you." Hiccup nodded.
The young Viking boy took a deep breath, facing towards Toothless. "Well okay bud, here goes. I've been coming out here to get help from Freya because she's the goddess of… sexual desires2." Hiccup hesitated on the last part, almost choking on the words. Toothless nodded slowly, processing the information. "Well, recently," continued Hiccup, "even with my new girlfriend and niche in the tribe. I've been having strange fantasies, and I can't stop thinking about them. I, um..." He seemed to be paralyzed in his words. DH patted him on the back for support. Hiccup stood, walking around in circles. "Oh, man, I wish there were an easier way to say this." He turned and looked directly into Toothless' eyes. The dragon gave him his undivided attention. Hiccup swallowed, "I've been having these fantasies… about you, okay."
Toothless' eyes went wide, keeping eye-contact with the boy. He let out a high purring sound. DH translated, "I don't mind at all." They stared at each other for a moment before Toothless' wings dropped to the ground as his mouth dropped open. He let out a chirp and then several quick whirring sounds, looking between his legs and up. It took a lot for DH to keep his composure, "Dragon meat, oh dragon MEAT. Oh!" Toothless shifted into a different position, looking a bit uncomfortable.
Hiccup averted his gaze, "I'm sorry, I know it's weird. I-uh, I'm really sorry you have to think about it."
Toothless let out a low chirr, sheepishly. "Actually, it's not that bad. It's just that I…." DH was waiting for more to translate, but Toothless just gulped and got lower to the ground. He moved his forepaws in front of him as if to cover himself. DH understood almost immediately, and after a few moments Hiccup slowly nodded in understanding. And then everyone there knew that the desire did not only go one way.
"Well," DH's smile glowed as he broke the silence, "my work here is done, and I wanted to visit some others while I was here. Before I go, Toothless, this may be the last chance you have to speak to Hiccup in his language. Do you have any words?"
The boy and the dragon looked at each other, amazed. They had been speaking unhindered by language barriers. It had just felt so natural, they hadn't noticed. Toothless immediately stated chattering quickly. DH immediately chuckled warmly and said, "Hiccup, thank you so much for everything. You cannot even imagine how great a gift you gave me by allowing me to fly again, and not only that. I can say with confidence that I would rather have this, than to have lived on with my tail without you." The dragon stared intently at Hiccup, who was overcome by emotion. The boy immediately embraced the dragon, falling on his knees.
DH made his crafty exit, slipping silently away into the trees. For a moment, if one looked closely, they might just barely see the sides of Freya's idol's mouth twitch at the sides. She was pleased with the work her friend had done, but the boy and the dragon had to figure it out on their own. All would be fine though, if the goddess had anything to say about it. She would watch over them.
1 Freya is the Goddess of Sexual Desire, and he really needed her help, but that is a different story. He also visited to thank the Valkyries for the Aurora.
2 Okay, maybe not quite a different story.