One year, eleven months and twelve days after the battle of the Red Death
Night, darkness, evening, sundown, eventide, all of these words mean the same thing in the human language of Norse. The time of which everything is shrouded in darkness, the sun hiding and leaving the world out of its watchful gaze. Once upon a time, the night fury would sleep and hide within daylight, and thrive within the comforting shroud of darkness. Naturally, any nocturnal creature should feel vulnerable without the welcome darkness protecting them.
Maybe other night furies, if there are any other night furies, still do thrive in the night. This particular night fury however, does not.
A creature sits silently in the shroud of darkness, watching as the human village below it prepares for sleeping time.
The creature is roughly four times the size of an average human, and weighs about 25 vætts. The first thing you would notice is that it is covered in jet black scales, all tightly woven nigh-impenetrable ovals that protect against damage very efficiently… unless they're scraped off first to reveal delicate skin of the same jet black color. Its wingspan is massive even when compared to its own body, measuring in length at about 62 palms when fully extended. It walks upon four legs, each paw equipped with rock-hard grippers with razor sharp tips. Its green-yellow eyes that take up most of the creature's face are heavily light reflective, often appearing to glow when a small light source in nearby. The black pupils dilate from slits to orbs depending on the creature's level of aggression, as well as focus. Its head is mostly flat and oval shaped like that of a salamander, with small ridges rising from the middle of its head and progressively getting larger as it stretches across its back and down its tail. It has eight plates on its head, four on each side, and two large ones that most assume are its ears. Its mouth is large, with a massive forked tongue and gums with retractable razor sharp teeth. Its tail is about 41 palms in length, and has a second set of wings at the base of it, and a single tailfin and the tip. There is supposed to be another, however it was amputated long ago.
The creature is a male night fury, though he would insist upon being called his name, of which only recently he had discovered the significance of. Its name in Norse is Tannløs, which roughly translates to "without teeth" or Toothless. He was named for his peculiar anatomy, more specifically his ability to retract his teeth at will. It was one of the first words his human had uttered upon their true meeting.
Toothless had only recently known his name's meaning, the fact that he even has a name and what a name is about three "weeks" ago. A name, as he had discovered, is means of identification invented by creatures that trade voices and writing. As a creature that had originally not known of language or of the trading of voices, this concept was entirely alien to him. But as he had come to find more and more about his human, the more he liked the idea of trading voices, and he now even thinks in the language of the Norse.
How would a creature such as Toothless obtain this information? Well, it had started roughly two years ago when Toothless had met a human. Before meeting the human, he was serving under the will of the deceiver, or the Red Death as the humans later dubbed it. During one of the attacks upon the village Toothless was now standing within, he was tasked with destroying important human structures from afar. Despite the shroud of darkness and the lightning fast speed he was travelling in, he was still shot down by what the humans refer to as a bola.
The thrower of the bola had come later to claim its kill, but had spared Toothless at the last minute, freeing him. The human kept coming back to Toothless, and progressively grew their friendship. The human's name was Hikke, or Hiccup.
Toothless had his left tailfin amputated upon his crash landing after getting shot down. Hiccup had found a way to replace the amputated tailfin, and return him to the skies.
Toothless enjoyed reminiscing about their first weeks together. He felt a pang of guilt from his original mistrust of the boy, but his heart was warmed every time he thought back at how persistent Hiccup was with gaining his trust. What baffled Toothless the most about their unlikely friendship is how fast Hiccup had trusted him. Some would call it foolish naivety, but Toothless believes it is simply because he is more intuitive than the average creature.
Several rather regrettable events transpired after the sire of Hiccup (whom Toothless only recently found out is in a position of power over the other humans) had returned. Toothless was captured after saving Hiccup from a pit fight with a "monstrous nightmare" as the humans called them. He then led the humans to the massive deceiver herself. She was considered an unnatural beast because of her ability to use the wondrousness of thought trading against the dragons. She is capable of subtly commanding others, and they will carry out the orders certain that they were the one who came up with the idea.
Interestingly, Hiccup had managed to charm the dragons that lie within the "kill ring" into transporting him and his peers to the battle to help. One thing led to another and Toothless and Hiccup were reunited. They had defeated the Red Death, though at the cost of Hiccup's left leg. Toothless tried to consul himself that the loss of the leg could not be avoided, but he couldn't help but think it was because he was too slow to protect him.
With the Red Death destroyed, the dragons now no longer had a reason to attack the humans. Sure enough, the humans had allied with the dragons and had integrated them accordingly, though many of the humans were unhappy. It did not matter though, they were at peace and the people of the human village for once had nothing to worry about aside from winter.
Almost two years have passed since then, and the accumulated knowledge Toothless has obtained comes from the previous three weeks.
At first it was subtle, but noticeable. Toothless suddenly understood human words, though only after Hiccup had spoken them. As it turned out, Hiccup was accidently thought trading the meaning behind his speech, and as he continued to speak around Toothless, the more words the dragon had come to understand. The same thing did not seem to happen to the other dragons, however.
Then came the memory sharing, which once again Hiccup is unaware of. He usually does it in his sleep, silently sharing his memories and thoughts, as well as knowledge, human culture, terminology and what not. Toothless was confused yet delighted at the sudden new understanding of his smaller counterpart.
Earlier this day, however, Hiccup had begun to fully thought trade. Whenever he had a particularly volatile thought or strong feeling, he broadcasted it to Toothless. The dragon recognized a pattern, and hoped that soon the human would be able to truly thought trade with Toothless.
It was exciting, but another day was ending. Toothless shuffled in his spot upon a small hill overlooking the village.
Toothless was happy to see a small figure with a prosthetic left foot start making his way up the village incline towards him. He was having trouble with his prosthetic getting up inclines such as this, but Toothless learned he would prefer to do it himself. Stubborn humans.
Of course, Toothless had no quarrels if Hiccup does not hurt himself.
Hiccup had finally made it up the incline, and sat next to Toothless lazily looking to the sky. Toothless followed his gaze; seeing he was looking at a constellation the humans had named "Aurvandill's Toe." Toothless did not understand; it looked like a series of glowing white dots, not any form of toe. Human imaginations Toothless will never understand.
Hiccup sighed.
"You know, it's been a while since we had been flying in the dark." Hiccup said, not breaking his gaze of the stars.
Toothless momentarily recapped, and found that the last time they flew while it was nightfall was about a year ago.
"Always too busy in the mornings to go and stay up. Apprenticeship, chief training, Astrid, general dragon based duties…" Hiccup droned on. It was true, Hiccup is very busy, yet he still finds time to fly with Toothless at least twice a day.
Hiccup let loose another sigh.
"Maybe it's been too long since we've just winged it." Hiccup chuckled. "No pun intended." He added.
Toothless noted the new word and its meaning. "Pun." Interesting, humans have already made jokes about their strange means of communication. However Toothless understood Hiccup's distress. He felt as if his life is too planned and nothing exciting or surprising happens anymore, much to most of the village warriors' dismay. They grow restless, and are probably going to start a war with some other human village just to sate the boredom and validate their skills in the art of war. Toothless sometimes wonders if all humans are so… violent and warmongering.
Well, all humans except Hiccup.
"What do you say to a quick evening flight?" Hiccup asked, knowing that Toothless would not be able to answer, but will agree anyway.
Toothless crooned in reply, and Hiccup stood up and walked off to get the flying harness.
He soon returned with the flying harness and saddle underneath his left arm. Toothless had gone through the routine of putting on the harness hundreds of times, and knows exactly when to move his legs. The two had practiced this so often, that they are now capable of equipping and removing the harness in a matter minutes. Toothless idly noticed that parts of the leather around his legs feel a bit rough on his scales, and a bit thin, but he ignored it. If it was a problem, Hiccup would have noticed before and have caused them ailment before. His scales are more than durable enough to ignore the scratching.
Hiccup mounted upon Toothless's back, and patted him on the neck. The two took off into the darkness of the sky.
It had indeed been too long since an evening flight. Toothless felt exhilarated despite the rather average speed they were going at the moment. The safe feeling of darkness shrouding him, the reassuring feeling of his human riding upon his shoulders, it was magical. The cool air beneath his wings felt like still water. The wind upon his face felt like cooled silk, gently brushing past every part of his body. The feeling of endlessness sealed his enjoyment. The true feeling of freedom, understanding that you can go in any direction without bounds or rules was intoxicating.
Hiccup was having a good time as well, silently awed by the beauty of the night sky, and the sight of his village illuminated by moonlight alone. While Hiccup may fly every day now, Toothless knew he would never take it for granted. Humans are naturally confined to the ground, and thus sights like this, while common within the area, were rare everywhere else.
Hiccup was softly laughing, and he accidently traded his current thought.
Incredible… is all Hiccup thought as they flew into the sky endlessly together.
Indeed. Toothless thought traded as well, knowing the human could not pick it up.
Hiccup flinched, before looking around him with a look of surprise.
"Is anyone else up here!? Who was that!?" He shouted, look around still.
Toothless perked in sudden excitement.
Hiccup!? Hiccup can you understand me? Toothless tried, but Hiccup did not react.
"Huh, strange. I thought I heard someone speak." Hiccup mumbled.
Was it me? Hiccup can you understand? Toothless tried again, but Hiccup would not react still.
Toothless exhaled, dejected but still excited. Whatever change is happening, it's close! Soon he will understand Toothless, and they can communicate!
The two flew over the island silently, now over the expansive forest that covers the majority of the land. The wind seemed to pick up a little, but it was nothing to worry about.
It was about time they lande-
Snap!
Toothless suddenly felt one of the leather straps on the metallic ring around his right front leg come lose. What the-
Snap!
"Huh?" Toothless heard from Hiccup, as a leather strap on his left front leg suddenly became loose as well. The saddle was still strapped to his chest, but the very front of it was leaning back dangerously.
"Whoa, we need to land." Hiccup quickly stated, as Toothless changed course towards the ground. This was a mistake.
Snap! Snap!
Somehow, two leather straps on Toothless's chest and stomach snapped from the stress. This had never happened before, why was this-
Toothless was broken out of his thoughts when he heard a surprised yelp from his human. He found that the saddle was slowly being lifted off of his back by the wind, and the only thing attaching him to the saddle is the leather straps on his back legs.
The saddle was now rising off of his back, and Hiccup was with it. His prosthetic foot was raised out of the pedal, and he held onto the saddle for dear life.
Toothless panicked.
Toothless tried to stay the course, but now his prosthetic tailfin was flopping uselessly in the wind, sending him off balance. This caused Hiccup to lose his grip of the saddle, and now the only thing keeping him attached to Toothless is the safety harness.
Toothless flips around to grab Hiccup and cushion him from the fall, to see that the safety harness was badly chewed, and Hiccup had not noticed because of the darkness.
All of the leather straps were chewed.
The tension of the harness was at its peak, and a single tiny strip of leather is holding Hiccup to Toothless.
Snap!
No…
The sudden release of tension sent Hiccup flying away from Toothless, just out of reach. Toothless flapped his wings desperately to get to the boy as the ground rapidly approached.
Toothless is almost there, he just needs to-
Hiccup releases a surprised gasp.
Then a tree canopy is all Toothless can see.
If there was pain, he could not feel it. Toothless's eyes widen horror evident in them.
Hiccup!
Toothless scrambles to his feet, the remains of the harness still flopping on top of him.
He regains his feeling.
First thing he feels is a warm liquid speckled upon his head.
He turns around; he sees blood on the dirt.
No.
He sees a small human hand, slightly twisted at the joint.
No.
He sees the entire left arm, twisted and deformed. A bone juts out of the upper part.
T-that's survivable.
He sees a bent prosthetic foot, detached and alone in the nearby dirt.
He sees the broken body, twisted and turned into strange directions. The small speckles of blood upon the clothing.
I-I-It's not-
Finally, his eyes meet Hiccups. The once bright green happy eyes, now suddenly dull and lifeless, seemingly frozen in a state of surprise. The mouth is slightly open. Blood runs from the nose…
Toothless is visibly shaking.
He nudges Hiccup.
It isn't true.
He nudges him again, and again, and again.
The dragon no longer thinks, only feels.
The denial overwhelming, he simply stared. He stared, incapable of comprehending the current events.
He stood there for minutes, listening closely for a heartbeat that never came. A breath, a gasp, anything.
Nothing.
There was nothing.
It hit Toothless full force at that moment.
It started as a low moan that he did not even notice was coming from him. He did not notice anything, nothing mattered. There was only he, and Hiccup. Disturbingly still, lifeless, broken-
The moan increased in volume. Toothless's body shook uncontrollably, his eyes as wide as they have ever been, refusing to blink.
The moan was audible from a distance now. Toothless inched closer to Hiccup. He was close, but he could not touch him.
The moan increased.
It became louder, and louder.
Soon enough it was an uninterrupted roar.
Then it was a screech.
The loudest screech he had ever made.
Wildlife all across the island woke up and fled in fear of the massive noise. The humans within the village awoke with a start, covering their ears. The screech went unheard by no one on the island. The anguish and agony flowed through the screech, Toothless attempting to expel it in any way he can. He screeched and screeched and screeched, yet it never stopped. The pain didn't stop.
He kept screeching until he was out of breath. Then all there was is pained gasps and moans. His legs weak, he fell to the floor in front of Hiccup, still shaking.
There was still disbelief.
It can't be real.
It could never be real.
Toothless outright refuses it to be real.
But it is.
And it will be forever.
No fix.
No relief.
No companionship.
No light hearted giggles and dry humor.
No heartwarming concern.
No more good-intentioned contraptions.
No more… anything.
There is nothing.
Hiccup was everything to him.
No more Hiccup.
There is nothing…
There… is… nothing…
Hiccup is dead.
One month and two days before the battle of the Red Death
Toothless silently watched as Hiccup made his way up through the village. The sun is beginning to rise, but Toothless is not afraid of being seen. He is too far away for the human eye to catch.
Toothless watched the battle that transpired before the rising of the sun. He visibly cringed and ached to swoop in to save Hiccup whenever he was remotely close to another dragon. But he held down his temptation. He knew Hiccup would survive.
If dragons could cry, Toothless would be doing so at this moment- tears of happiness that is. It had been so long ago, yet it was still so fresh in his mind. The sudden and brutal ending to what was supposed to be a never ending story.
Toothless would make it better this time.
This time, he knows Hiccup. This time, he understands him, and his people. This time, there is no guilt or mistrust that will exist between the two.
In the first time in what seems like an eternity, Toothless is happy.
Well that was pretty sudden and f*cking depressing, wasn't it?
I wanted a chapter to explain a few things about how I interpret dragons, and because I'm masochistic, I also decided to emotionally drain myself. Also, I rewrote this chapter three times, each time it was completely different. This one felt the best to me, mostly because one of them had Toothless speaking in hindsight, and the other had him flying in a snow storm for some stupid reason. Lucky I became wise before I blew a hole in my story big enough to fly a passenger airline through.
This chapter is unusually short simply because I felt that having that depressing bit and then continuing on to something completely different would kind of ruin it. Well, the chapter can't really be unusually short if it's the second one, but I guess what I'm saying is that future chapters will be longer.
Also, I will occasionally jump back to the events before Toothless found himself with this second chance to see how he came about such a thing.
Oh, and as for the units of measurement in the beginning…
A vætt is roughly 80 pounds, meaning that 25 vætts is about one short ton.
A palm, as the name may suggest, is the measurement of one's palm. The average back then was 3.5 inches.
Viking measurements! Look at me using Google and a TI-84 like a pro! I'm making ya proud, ma!
