What did I tell you? Only nine days this time. Prewritten. It's magic.
Yes, I know I deceived you with that first chapter. You're thinking, "But Astrid, Hiccup wasn't on Outcast Island there at all!"
Have faith, readers. Have faith. I'm not finished yet. We still have (gasp) three mistakes left to go.
~ The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing ~
"It says there's a reason that there's only Night Furies on that island," Hiccup says abruptly, flipping the single page of one of the notebooks as he carefully traces a Night Fury face on his doubled map. Toothless, interested, comes over, and Hiccup looks up at him, slightly worried.
"Turns out, you guys aren't that friendly to other dragons." He turns back and reads from the notebook. "'Herds of Night Furies can be extremely hostile to other species.'" Hiccup takes a deep breath, dread descending over him, and stares at his wall. "If the other kids come with me on their dragons…"
"Well." Frowning, Hiccup shuts the old notebook and stands, stretching slightly. "Looks like it's just you and me, Toothless," he says softly, reaching for the satchel hanging off his bedpost and trying to quell the rising tide of panic. The hope that he'd fostered only that morning suddenly had yet another complication. Other species…did that just mean dragon species? Or were they bad to humans, too? He's confident that Toothless can protect him, but against that many…
Why is everything he tries to do so hard?
But he's already made up his mind, and he's not going back on it now. It'll be better this way if things go wrong. Only Hiccup will get hurt. He's more than willing. Toothless' family is worth almost anything he has to give. He tilts his head at the stairs, indicating Toothless go down them first, and then he follows. Hiccup grabs the last apple from the bowl on the table and a jug, stuffing them into his bag.
"Come on," he whispers, half-tiptoeing out of the house and shutting the door behind him. He stumbles down his front steps and climbs on Toothless' back. "Well, this is it, Toothless. You're finally gonna see you're not alone." Hiccup clicks his leg into place and they take off, the strong black wings pumping high over his head on either side of him.
Hiccup stays quiet for a little while, then says brightly, "Next stop, the Isle of Night."