First, I'd like to thank all of you who had reviewed, feedback means the world to a writer!
Someone, , asked about the update schedule and I'm going to update at least once a week, but I'll give my best to update two or three times a week, especially if I get a lot of reviews. Expect updates especially on Sundays and Wednesdays!
Now, on with the chap!
Shadow and Silver
Chapter 02
It had been six months since Hiccup and Toothless left the island of Berk. Both found a pretty nice deserted island and made a cave their home.
Hiccup was happy among the dragons, they were kinder to him than most Berkians his whole life, though he missed talking to someone. He'd often talk to the dragons – especially Toothless – nonstop, but he didn't hear a reply for all those months. It was a bit lonely not to listen to someone's voice in reply.
Both were flying at night, they loved to spend their time like that before going to sleep. Toothless responded to a movement of the tailfin and shot right up to the skies. They passed through the clouds, getting so high, the moon seemed to be bigger, and so the Night Fury stopped climbing on the air and began soaring above the clouds.
Hiccup took in a deep breath as he opened his arms. The night was freezing cold and they had to prepare for winter, but he couldn't feel anything but freedom.
"It's so peaceful up here, Bud, don't you think?" He petted Toothless's neck. "It's like nothing could get to us."
"Sometimes I wonder what happened in Berk after I left… Do they think I'm dead? Did they look for me? Is Gobber lonely or does he have another apprentice? And… who is filling my role as heir now?" He shrugged. "Not that I want to go back… I miss them but it's not even as much as I though I would… I just wonder…"
Toothless cooed as if he was offering his friend some support. Hiccup mustered a small laugh.
"I know, I shouldn't be worrying about it so much… So, what do you say we make this flight a little bit more fun?"
The Night Fury growled happily. He quickly dove down, gaining an absurd speed. Toothless then opened his wings, breaking the fall, but just slightly, so both could flip to the sides as if they were avoiding imaginary barriers. Playing around, Toothless flipped upside down and then dove in the ocean making a loop, darting back up. The movement made the boy on his back laugh and scream in joy.
They continued flipping around until they were tired and then they headed home to their cozy cave by the foot of the mountain on the island they called Itchy Armpit.
"It's so humid I'm still wet… It'll take a long while for my hair to dry…" He complained as he changed his wet clothes for his dry pajamas. On cue, Toothless lit up the bonfire in the center of their cave. "Thanks, Bud." So he sat by the fire, wishing he had some warm food, but too tired to cook anything.
Toothless lied by his side and Hiccup leaned onto him. He was so tired he fell asleep siting like that, instead of the usual comfortable warm cocoon under Toothless's wing.
The next day, Hiccup woke up with an irritating cough. It wasn't strong, though, therefore he mostly ignored it as both dragon and rider exited their cave in the morning. The boy was sore; he had to remind himself not to sleep in a position like that ever again. He needed to lie down in a more comfortable position.
During the day, Hiccup and Toothless had to work for their provisions, so they collected grains Hiccup had been planting, he picked up fruits, asking Toothless to catch them with a basket on his mouth and after lunch, they had to go fishing. Hiccup had this weird sensation they were being watched all day and sometimes Toothless would be drawn to noises at the distance, like he would do when he heard dragons chirping or even fighting nearby. So Hiccup paid no mind to it.
In those months away from society, there were times when they'd need human things and when that happened, they'd often just get it from nearby villages – unseen –, for example, the net they used to go fishing. Toothless held the net and both dove into the sea, searching for a bunch that wouldn't be faster than a Night Fury.
They repeated the process a few times until they caught enough to fill barrels of fish. Hiccup closed the last one.
"Well, Bud, I guess that's it for today…" He sighed. "And I'm tired…" He closed his eyes and let a hand run through his wet hair, feeling the beginning of a headache. He coughed again and Toothless cooed near him, concern filled his bright green eyes. "I'm okay, Bud…" He said, but his throat ached from coughing all day. Even breathing was difficult with his stuffed nose, and thus his voice came out more nasally. "I just want to lie down and sleep for a day or two." He laughed, but it became more coughs.
A branch was snapped nearby and Toothless immediately took a defensive instance, growling at the noise's direction. It took longer than normal for Hiccup to understand something was off.
A dagger came flying towards him and he barely had time to duck; he was way slower than usual. In fact, he was feeling awful all day, but had been pushing it to the side and ignoring it until the job was done.
"Who's there?" He yelled despite the pain in his throat.
Out of a sudden, a girl jumped on him and pined him to a tree. The girl was fast, surprising Toothless and then he was right in front of Hiccup and too close from him, so if the dragon shot her, he could hurt his human as well. The girl had an axe against his neck.
He looked at her. Raven dark hair in a side braid and green eyes like his, but he had never seen her before, she didn't seem to be older than him.
"Who are you?" He repeated.
"Set him free." She said angrily.
"What?"
"The dragon. Stop subduing him to do your bidding. Set him free and I'll let you live."
"What?"
A Razorwhip came close, protectively, and Toothless changed his focus to the dragon, analyzing the threat.
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't act stupid!"
"Toothless is my friend, I can't just 'let him go'! Besides, he needs me to fly!"
"So you did that, hun? You took his flight away so you could control him. I watched you order him around all day!"
"What? No! He does these things because he wants to! And because I need his help to prepare everything for the winter for both of us!" He slowly touched her hand, finding it strange that she felt so cold. "Just let's talk… I can explain things… and who are you? Are you on the dragons side, too?"
It was impossible, right? He was the only one so far that knew that dragons were peaceful creatures. In all of those months, he had traveled and met many dragons, but he had never seen someone like him, someone who believed dragons were good. Who was this girl after all?
The Razorwhip had a saddle on her, so it was obvious she was with the girl. Toothless roared at both intruders, tired of that crazy girl threatening his best friend. The Razorwhip positioned herself between Toothless and the girl, protecting her. The Night Fury roared even more, getting closer to them, he wasn't willing to let them harm Hiccup.
Cold and strong winds quickly brought dark clouds over their heads.
"He wants to protect you…" She thought out loud.
"Of course! He's my friend."
She put down her axe, but still looked at him with distrust. It was obvious they had some sort of bond.
"Why don't we just… talk a little?" he rubbed his neck, thankfully, the blade didn't tear his skin. He looked up; Thor seemed to be angry, for the clouds were full of thunder. "It looks like it's gonna have a storm. My home is near here, we can rest and wait it out."
"Why would I trust you?"
"You were the one with a blade on my neck. But you seem to be on the dragon's side just like I am. I'm not their enemy. Toothless is my friend and he does what I ask because he wants to. He also protects me, as you noticed yourself. Just like your Razorwhip. So tell me, why are we different?"
The girl gulped. "You have a good point… You're smarter than you look."
"Thanks… You're stronger than you look."
Before she had the time to complain about his comment, he started coughing hard. Toothless immediately jumped to his side, nudging him tenderly.
Her eyes traced him from top to bottom; indeed, he didn't seem like a warrior, she could easily take him down. "Okay, but try anything funny and I'll chop your head off with a swing of this blade."
"Fair enough."
The girl felt slightly bad for doubting him and attacked him all of a sudden, but having dragons mistreated was something that made her blood boil. However, this boy was indeed far from the usual hunters she had crossed paths with. So she followed him to the cave, even though she was still prepared for any surprises and her dragon was also searching for traps.
The entrance was narrow and curvy, but they all managed to squeeze in. The girl wondered if a Monstrous Nightmare would be able to go through, and her conclusion was on the negative. The cave soon opened up to a larger space, broad enough to fit everyone comfortably. The curvy entrance blocked most of the strong wind. There were three paths as if they were rooms and the one they were standing in the living room.
Toothless quickly lit up the fire in the middle of the 'living room' while Hiccup entered in a cave path where he kept his personal belongings, including the dresser he's made and clothes so he could put on dry ones. He left the 'room' as soon as he had new clothes on.
Hiccup took Toothless's saddle and tailfin off. His movements were so slow, his body ached, by now, he was sure he was sick, he just didn't know what illness it was, but he hoped he could sleep it off.
"So... what's your story?" The girl asked, her voice stern, still showing a defensive stance.
"Hi. My name is Hiccup." He said sort of ignoring her question and reminding her there were things to be done first. "This is Toothless. So, who are you two?"
"Hiccup?" Her jaw dropped. He had to admit he expected a little laugh, since it was what usually happened, and he didn't really care for it. "Your name is Hiccup?"
"That's what people has called me my whole life…"
"That's a coincidence… I had a brother with the same name before…" Her voice trailed off and even though he was a bit dizzy, he was alert enough to see it was touchy subject. She sighed. "Well, sorry… My name is Heather. This is my friend Windshear."
It's still little slow, I need to show and set a lot of things before the fun begins, but I hope you all liked it! And as I said above, more reviews will motivate me to update even faster than I already intend to, so you know what you gotta do! :D
See you on the next chap!
