AN: This is technically late, but I'm going to pretend that it's not because this chapter is really long and it's only like an hour late, so... Yeah. I hope you guys enjoy it! :)
NOTES: Never say Goodbye, because Goodbye means Going Away, and Going Away means Forgetting...
REVIEWERS!:
BrawlerGamer: Lots of mysteries, and many answers to be found! The bromance is real, and will be strong in this book specifically. Then you'll like this chapter as well! But I'm pretty sure by the end of this chapter you will know how I plan to get Toothless to Hogwarts...
Elphaba818: The friendship is strong with these four, and don't worry, you won't have to wait any longer. As for reactions? Well... You'll just have to wait for those...
Arwen Eledel: I know, I'm kind of mean towards Hiccup. But if you like Toothless's POV, you'll enjoy this chapter for sure. Jack and Hiccup are always fun to write, so I'm glad you liked it! I'm also happy to hear that you're enjoying the incorporation of everything. This update might come a decent time for you...? Again, this is technically late, but we're ignoring technicalities for this one. I hope you did well on your math test! And thank you so much, you're too sweet! :3
Origami Stars: Yes, the iconic scene that everyone loves! I'm glad you enjoyed it! :)
erohime928: Hello, friend! And thank you for all of the reviews you left on my other stories, they are much appreciated! While I have incorporated Hijack into some of my other stories, in this series they are simply friends. I'm trying to avoid shipping in this series for the most part, aside from canon pairings. It just works better for the dynamics and overall plot of the story. Your review made me laugh though, so thank you! I'm not sure if I should be glad or worried that my story left such a powerful impact upon your soul... But I'm glad you like it! :)
C: Yeah, these first few chapters are going to follow the movie pretty closely, but the next one will start getting into the thicker, unknown portion of the story. I think Hiccup sees Jack a lot differently than everyone else and that's why he seems to be acting different. I'm glad to hear that the movie bits aren't boring, and that you're enjoying the Hogwarts pieces I've been throwing in there. I feel bad. I feel like I'm neglecting Jack, Merida, and Rapunzel. Toothless has some POV in this chapter again, so I hope you enjoy that as well! And don't worry about late reviews! There's no such thing as a late review! I appreciate all your support, and I hope you enjoy all of the twists and turns I have planned for this series! A lot of exciting stuff is about to go down! :)
Music: "Test Drive" by John Powell (How to train your Dragon 2010)
Chapter 3: Test Drive
That night, when the sun dropped below the horizon, a storm moved in, chasing the residents of Berk into their homes and the Great Hall to find warmth and shelter. Hiccup would've preferred to stay in the partially open-walled forge, quietly sketching in the warmth of the melting fire while the rain continued to pour. Hiccup loved the rain. It was calming and helped him to relax. Helped him to focus.
But Gobber had other plans. The old smith had been serious about Hiccup socializing, apparently. Especially with other kids his own age.
Gobber dragged him out of the forge and up the hill to the Great Hall for dinner. The smith insisted on going over to where the other teens were sitting, plopping himself down in one of the open seats, and pulling Hiccup into the seat between him and Ruffnut. The other teens glanced at him with varying looks of disinterest or annoyance. Fishlegs looked more nervous about it than anything else. Hiccup just stayed silent and tried to be as small as possible while Gobber easily launched into conversation, asking the others how excited they were for Dragon Training.
Immediately the other teens brightened with excitement, looking up at the senior warrior as they talked about winning the chance to kill the Monstrous Nightmare and the scars they hoped to get. Gobber laughed in response and went off on the story of how he lost his arm and leg to a dragon.
"...and with one twist, he took my hand, and swallowed it whole!" Gobber told them, waving about the whole cooked chicken he had on a stick. The other teens were completely enraptured by the story, but Hiccup had heard it as many times as all of Gobber's other stories, so he sat quietly, picking at the fish on his plate. "Oh, and I saw the look on his face." Gobber continued. "I was delicious! He must have passed the word because it wasn't a month before another one of 'em took my leg!"
"Isn't it weird to think that your hand's inside a dragon, like if your mind was still in control of it? You could kill the dragon from the inside by crushing it's heart or something." Fishlegs smiled at his idea, getting more into it with each word.
"I swear I'm so angry right now!" Snotlout growled through clenched teeth. "I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot! I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight, with my face!"
"Uh, uh, uh! No," Gobber grunted grabbing hold of the wing on his chicken and pulling it off. "It's the wings and tails you really want. If it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon."
Hiccup froze, staring down at his fish. His eyes were slightly wide and his stomach tightened with guilt. It was his fault. He was the one who shot down the Night Fury. He injured the dragon's tail. Now the dragon was going to die. Even if the villagers didn't find him there was no way he would survive the winter. He couldn't escape the cove, and the lake would freeze over in the cold.
Hiccup didn't know why, and he knew it was insane, but he couldn't let the Night Fury die. He screamed at himself about how wrong it was. Letting the dragon go was bad enough, now he was going to help it? But his heart constricted painfully as he thought of the dragon, his dragon, dying.
He felt nauseous. The Great Hall suddenly seemed a little bit too crowded. The door a little bit too far away. His hands itched as he thought about what he could do to save the injured dragon, and his heartbeat started to race. The image of the Night Fury laying tied up and Trapped on the ground filled Hiccup's mind.
He needed to go. He needed to go outside and breathe. He needed to help his dragon.
While the others were distracted, he slipped out of his seat, and quickly made his way towards the door. It felt like an eternity before he made it outside, and Hiccup gasped when he finally did, cool air rushing into his lungs and the continuous chant of the rain all around him.
Hiccup raced down the hill, through the pouring rain. He was soaked to the bone by the time he got to the forge, but he didn't feel cold, or even out of breath. His mind and heart were racing as he moved to the back room of the forge, his work space that Gobber had given him so many years ago, and he went to his desk, opening his sketch book to the page with his drawing of the Night Fury.
He quickly drew in the missing lines of the left tail-fin, making the drawing whole again.
Hiccup worked through the night, the pain disappearing as he lost himself to his work. He sketched and measured on pieces of parchment, worked the bellows and tended the fire as Gobber had taught him. He took the scraps of metal left behind from other work to create a long, thin rod, using a small hammer to form it and then dipping the red-hot metal in the water barrel, causing a loud hiss and a puff of steam. Gobber had always complimented Hiccup on his nimble fingers and ability to shape the small, delicate bits and pieces that the old smith's stubby, meaty hands couldn't manage. The talent came in handy with the small joint pieces and tiny beads that were necessary for the boy's design, created from the pieces he took from an old shield that was laying around. It also helped in putting the pieces together along with the leather he'd cut and sewn.
He held the finished project out in front of him, satisfaction rushing through him as he closed the fan-like creation to reveal the sketched plan pinned on the wall behind it. Outside the first colors of dawn were beginning to reach into the sky, and Hiccup knew exactly what he needed.
Tucking the contraption under his arm, Hiccup rushed down to the docks, hoping to get what he needed and then slip away before anyone was awake to notice him.
"Hey, Toothless..." Hiccup called lightly, carrying his project under his arm and a large basket over his shoulder. The early morning air was crisp and cold, but sunlight touched the top of the stone walls.
The Night Fury was laying curled up, dozing in the early morning, but at the sound of Hiccup's voice the dragon's head perked curiously, tilting his head at the use of the word 'Toothless', and then he got to his feet, watching Hiccup with that same piercing gaze. Hiccup wondered what he thought of the name. The boy had been thinking about it for a while, and it just seemed to fit, seeing as it was the first time they'd become acquainted with each other.
"I brought breakfast," Hiccup said as he finally dropped the heavy basket onto the ground. The Night Fury sniffed the air curiously, peering at the basket with interest. "I hope you're hungry." Hiccup grunted, kicking the basket onto it's side and causing a pile of fish to slide and flop onto the grass-covered ground.
"Okay." Hiccup huffed after he had caught his breath. "That's... Disgusting." He muttered, side-stepping around the pile as the dragon shifted around as well, still a little wary of each other. "Uh, I've got some salmon, some nice Icelandic cod, and a whole smoked eel." Hiccup said, watching the dragon nose the fish curiously. Suddenly he pulled back though, a rumbling growl coming from his chest as his ear-flaps fell back and he stepped back a bit.
Confused, Hiccup leaned down and picked up the eel by the end of it's tail. A grimace scrunched his features as he held the eel because Hiccup, personally, hated eel, but he held it up to the Night Fury to see if that was what was upsetting him. The dragon recoiled, giving a shriek of distress at the sight of the sea-creature.
"No, no, no, no! No, it's okay!" Hiccup shouted, quickly throwing the eel off to the side and holding his hand out to the dragon in a calming gesture. The Night Fury sniffed, as if he had smelled something terrible and was still trying to get the smell out of his nose. Hiccup smirked a little. "Yeah, I don't really like eel all that much either."
Seemingly content now that the eel was gone, Toothless turned to the pile of fish, nosing it and starting to eat. Hiccup watched as the dragon munched happily on his meal and started backing away towards the Night Fury's tail.
"Don't you mind me. I'll just be back here, minding my own business..." Hiccup muttered quietly as he tiptoed over to Toothless's tail and knelt down beside it with his project that was still tucked under his arm.
Very carefully, Hiccup started to move the leather fan closer to the tail, but it almost immediately moved away, making Hiccup look up to see if the dragon had caught him. Seeing that Toothless was still distracted by the fish, Hiccup went back to inching his project closer, but it kept moving away and up and down.
"It's okay." Hiccup tried to soothe, but Toothless wasn't paying any attention to him, the dragon was to busy sticking his head inside the basket in search of more fish. Frustrated by the moving tail, Hiccup finally crawled on top of it and quickly set to work on the buckles of his project, securing it into place on the dragon's tail.
Unnoticed by Hiccup, Toothless suddenly froze, letting the basket drop to the ground as he lifted his head with wide eyes. He shifted a bit, wriggling his tail and flapping his remaining fin. Toothless stopped though, his ear flaps, jaw, and wings dropping as he recognized the weight on the left side of his tail.
Not noticing the huge, dark wingspan that was stretching out to it's full length behind him, Hiccup continued adjusting the buckles until they were fastened properly, and then sat back to admire and critique the work. "Huh, okay." Hiccup murmured. "It's not too bad. It works..." It seemed to fit alright, but how was he going to make it operate properly? A gear mechanism, perhaps? Operated by muscle movement from the tail?
In an instant, Hiccup was yanked into the air, and in his panicked yelling he latched onto Toothless's tail as the dragon jumped into the air, his wings moving powerfully. Hiccup looked around wildly, but was distracted by the sight of the prosthetic tail-fin folded uselessly against the tail.
Toothless rapidly started to fall towards the ground, unable to operate the tail on his own, so Hiccup reached forward and pulled with all his might to open the tail-fin. The leather contraption snapped opened and immediately caught the air, causing Toothless to shoot straight up out of the cove and into the sky. They flew up high over the treeline, and Hiccup's heart raced with pure adrenaline as he saw the trees, earth, and ocean far below. The wind rushed all around him, and he felt weightless. His heart and lungs leaped with excitement as amazement flooded his veins. He was Flying!
"Oh my- It's working!" Hiccup cried ecstatically as he felt the muscles of the tail move, and he instinctively tilted the tail to the side. Together, the boy and dragon looped around back over the cove, flying low over the water. "Yes! Yes, I did it!" Hiccup cheered.
At the sound, Toothless's ears perked and his eyes widened. Looking back at his tail, he saw that the little Hatchling boy was still on his tail. He'd originally thought the boy was just going to chase it about and play like all Hatchlings do, but this human had fixed his tail! But even so, the Night Fury couldn't take the boy with him. No matter how Different this Human Hatchling was, he had to stay here with his Nest where his Ohana was. If he dropped the Hatchling now, the boy would land safely in water and not be injured.
With that thought, the dragon flicked his tail to one side, causing Hiccup to lose his grip and fall down into the water with a yell and great splash. However, without Hiccup there to operate the fin, the contraption fell shut, and the dragon lost control. Toothless looked down and saw the fin just before he hit the water with an even greater splash.
It was followed shortly by a happy whoop from the Hatchling.
For better or worse, after the flying attempt, Hiccup forgot about all of the fears and doubts he had before. Suddenly he was visiting Toothless every day, playing and laughing as he learned more and more about the dragon, and Hiccup loved every moment.
Another sleepless night that was filled with leather work and sewing lead to the addition of a saddle to Toothless's flying equipment, but Hiccup didn't feel tired at all when he was in the cove, presenting his latest project to the Night Fury. Toothless had responded to it with bright eyes and wiggling haunches, running away from Hiccup in his own fun little game. When Hiccup finally managed to get the saddle on the energetic dragon, the two attempted another flight. This time, Hiccup rode in the saddle, holding a rope that controlled the tail-fin.
The result was another unexpected swim in the lake.
After that Hiccup added a latch that connected him to the saddle so he wouldn't fall off, and he decided to connect the rope controlling the tail-fin to his foot instead of having to hold it in his hand. It worked slightly better, as they stayed in the air longer and the tail was easier to control, but keeping a position for extended periods of time was almost impossible and ended with them falling into a field of shoulder-high, minty smelling grass. Hiccup had to admit that it did smell nice, and when he pushed through the grass to find Toothless in the field, he found the dragon rolling about happily and purring loudly. Hiccup took a small sample of the grass back to his workshop so he could take notes on it.
The day after that Hiccup was scratching behind Toothless's ears, just discovering that the dragon appreciated a good scratch as much as his cat Fiddlesticks. Toothless purred loudly, leaning up into Hiccup's scratches, and then Hiccup moved one hand to scratch the dragons chin, but then Toothless froze and fell over. Looking down, Hiccup was shocked to see that Toothless was still purring, but was almost asleep. As if he'd been dozing comfortably in the sun for the past hour, or something.
The next day he noticed Toothless chasing after a light reflected from the small hammer he'd brought with him, so Hiccup started angling the metal towards the sun and moving the dot on purpose, causing Toothless to chase it around the cove for a good hour.
Eventually his days spent with Toothless lead up to a point where he was actually starting to feel confident in his design for the tail. He ran the rope along Toothless's body from the fin to the saddle where it connect to a small pedal for Hiccup's foot. The whole contraption took quite a bit of work, and by the end both Toothless and Hiccup himself were completely outfitted with what Hiccup had unconsciously come to call his riding gear.
This time when they tested the new design they went to the windy cliffs just a little ways away from the cove and tied themselves to an old tree stump, so they could use the strong winds to glide in place while they both got used to the new tail. And the tail worked perfectly. It worked so well, in fact, that Hiccup was able to sketch down a cheat sheet for himself for the positions of the tail-fin.
They did, however, run into a problem when the rope keeping them in place snapped and they went flying back into the trees. The latch that helped Hiccup to not fall off while flying was bent, locking in place and keeping Hiccup attached to Toothless no matter what they tried.
"Oh, great." Hiccup sighed, thinking hard about what to do. There was no way Toothless could use his fire without hurting one of them, Hiccup didn't have any of his tools, and there was no way Hiccup could get the saddle off of Toothless while still attached to it.
It was later, when he was leaning against a building and trying to look casual while one of the villagers passed by, that Hiccup concluded he'd been getting quite good at getting away with stupid ideas. Perhaps all the pranks he'd done with Jack had been good practice?
He didn't dwell on the thought, though, because Toothless stuck his head out as soon as the man had passed, looking around curiously, and Hiccup had to pull the dragon along to the forge. Lucky for Hiccup, no one saw him or Toothless, and they managed to fix the latch before anyone caught them. Toothless did become interested in anything that smelled like Hiccup, though, so pulling him out of the forge and getting him back into the forest took a little more time than expected. Hiccup was especially surprised to see that the item Toothless seemed most curious about was the axe his father, Stoick, had given him about two weeks ago. Hiccup even ended up bringing it back to the cove and explaining that it was a gift from his dad, so Toothless could sniff and peer at it to his heart's content.
The two were fortunate though. No one had discovered their secret. That cove felt like a completely different world to Hiccup, full of light and color. He didn't hurt when he was with Toothless. He felt fine. Happy. Normal. The cove was their world, a world for laughter and play without care. Everything outside that world seemed so grey and so dark, and Hiccup found himself leaving the cove every evening counting the seconds until he could be with Toothless again. Hiccup wasn't sure when it happened, but he'd become as dependent on Toothless as Toothless was on him for flying. Hiccup didn't want to be in pain anymore, he didn't want to act like everything was okay, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to handle things going back to the way they were before. He wouldn't be able to handle losing Toothless.
By all sensible logic it was crazy. Complete insanity. But that didn't stop Hiccup from going to the cove everyday. From laughing, and smiling, and growing closer to that dragon with each passing moment.
Because Hiccup couldn't remember a time when he felt as if he Belonged.
Yes, he loved his father and Gobber, and he had plenty of friends at Hogwarts, but Hiccup had always felt out of place. Like a fish trying to climb a tree, or a bird trying to live underground. There were plenty of people he loved and cared about, but he had never found a place where he honestly felt as though he was meant to be there.
So Hiccup kept going back to the cove, and everyday they practiced flying together at the windy cliffs. With each passing day they got batter and better with the tail-fin, and eventually they both knew that they were as ready as they were ever going to be.
The wind rushed all around him, brushing through his hair, and there was a sudden feeling of something opening, or unlocking. Suddenly the sun was brighter, the sky was bluer, the ocean's song was louder. He felt a pull, a call, from something that he didn't know, but he knew it was familiar.
Up in the air, high above the trees and the island, Hiccup felt as if he could breathe, move, feel. His lungs expanded more now that they could, he hadn't even realized how constricted his heart had felt inside his chest, and the feeling of Toothless's warm scales and slight adjustments for different air currents were comforting. Familiar.
"Okay there, bud, we're gonna take this nice and slow," Hiccup said, patting Toothless's shoulder as he spoke. They were extremely high up with only the top of Berk's tallest mountain and the white fluffy clouds around them. "Here we go. Here we go. Position... Three. No -four." Hiccup continued, scanning his cheat sheet nervously as he moved his foot to angle the tail-fin properly.
They arched in a half circle, Toothless's wingspan going almost vertical as they moved around a bit. Hiccup looked back at the tail to make sure it was functioning properly, and then steeled himself.
"Alright, it's go time. It's go time." Hiccup encouraged himself as he and Toothless angled downwards towards the sea together, veering into a dive.
Hiccup's heart soared as Toothless let out a roar of pure delight.
"Come on, buddy. Come on, buddy!" Hiccup called out as they straightened out just above the water, shifting to one side a bit to much, but managing to recover just after Toothless's wing skimmed the ocean's surface, sending up a misty spray of salt water behind them. Hiccup bit his lip nervously as they flew straight towards a sea-stack that made half a circle, glancing up at the seagulls that were roosting at the top of the rocks. They flew through without a problem, and Hiccup smiled excitedly. "Yes! It worked!"
But then Hiccup's foot was at the wrong angle to turn properly, so the pair slammed into another, shorter sea-stack. "Sorry!" Hiccup shouted over the wind as they angled themselves away and right into another sea-stack. "That's my fault."
Toothless grumbled in annoyance and smacked Hiccup in the face with his ear flap. Hiccup yelped and then rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah! I'm on it!" Hiccup told him. "Position four, uh, Three."
Hiccup checked his sheet and then angled his foot, allowing the pair to angle upwards, flying vertically towards the sky. Toothless gave another roar of delight as they gained speed, and with the wind rushing all around him, his heart racing, Hiccup found himself joining in.
"Yeah! Go baby!" Hiccup whooped. He had never felt anything even remotely close to how incredible he felt in that moment. He was Flying. He was Soaring through the sky on the back of a Dragon! "Yes! Oh, this is amazing! The wind in my -" Hiccup cut off when his cheat sheet slipped. "Cheat Sheet! STOP!" Hiccup cried, reaching back and managing to snatch the piece of parchment out of the air, but Toothless had stopped, and for a moment they were suspended in the air, high above the earth, was the latch that kept them together unhooked.
Hiccup made eye contact with Toothless for barely a second, and then screamed as he started plummeting back towards the earth with Toothless beside him but unable to fly. It was utter chaos as the pair fell through the clouds, screaming and roaring in pure terror. They spun and twisted in the air, trying to reach each other.
"Alright, okay, you gotta kinda angle yourself!" Hiccup called to Toothless, trying to get closer so he could get back in the saddle, but Toothless was spinning in circles with no control at all. "Okay, no, no, no, no! Come back down towards me! Come back down -OW!" Hiccup grunted as Toothless's tail hit him directly in the face.
Hiccup's head spun for a few moments, but when he finally recollected himself, he saw Toothless's back towards him and reached out, grabbing hold of the saddle and pulling himself back into place. He clicked his latch back on, and they somehow straightened out, and then he shoved his foot into place, opening the tail-fin just before they hit the tree tops of the forest.
They couldn't slow their speed, though, and they were heading straight towards a thick gathering of sea-stacks and fog. Toothless let out a roar of terror, and Hiccup glanced at his cheat sheet, but there was no time to straighten himself out.
Hiccup's ears suddenly clogged with words and shouts. He could hear Snotlout, Daren Fouls, Mildew, his father, Gobber. He couldn't do this. What was he thinking? He couldn't even pass Flying with broomsticks what on earth made him believe he could fly on a dragon? He was useless. He couldn't swing a sword, or a hammer, or an axe. He'd never be a viking. He couldn't do it.
Hiccup looked up at the fast approaching rocks and threw the cheat sheet to the wind, shoving all of the voices out of his head until it was just him and Toothless, together.
With a steeled expression, Hiccup leaned forward, pressing close to his dragon, and shifted instinctively. He didn't know how, but it felt so natural. As if he'd been flying all his life. As if he were born to fly.
They angled this way and that, twisting, turning, and even flipping over. Hiccup and Toothless moved together like one being, like two halves of the same creature. They were connected, and they flew until the sea-stacks fell away and the open sea was laid out in front of them, calling to them. They left the fog, evening out to an easy glide, and Hiccup was breathing heavily as he pushed himself up and threw his arms over his head.
"YEAH!" He cheered. Toothless roared with him, just as ecstatic, and he released a blast of fire that exploded out in front of them. When Hiccup opened his eyes and saw that they were heading straight at the fire, his arms drooped back down to his sides. "Aw, come on!"
A few hours later Hiccup was sitting in front of a fire, his hair blown back and a bit of soot on his face, roasting a fish on a stick. Toothless was curled around the boy, letting the human lean back against him, and had a nice pile of fish at his front paws. The dragon offered a regurgitated fish head to his boy, but Hiccup seemed less than excited.
"Um, no, thanks. I'm good." Hiccup smiled, holding up the stick with a decent sized cod on it.
The smell of all the fish must have been pretty nice because, at that moment, three Terrible Terrors came flying towards them. Hiccup's heartbeat picked up a little, feeling a bit nervous about being close to so many unknown dragons, and Toothless must have sensed it because he let out a warning growl at the small pack of Terrors.
Two of them settled for fighting over the regurgitated fish head, but the third seemed determined to steal from Toothless's pile. Toothless did not seem very keen on sharing, snatched the fish away from the Terror and gobbled it down, taunting the Terror with a noise that sounded awfully similar to snickering.
The Terror got angry at that and scrambled to it's feet. Standing on it's hind legs, the tiny dragon took a deep breath, opening it's mouth as it prepared to spit fire at Toothless -but Toothless shot a tiny flame into the smaller dragon's open mouth, and the Terror's blast went down into it's stomach like a tiny explosive. The Terror jumped up, and then hit the ground hard, wobbling as it got back to it's feet completely disoriented.
Hiccup chuckled at the little dragon. "Not so fireproof on the inside, are you?" He asked as the Terror peeked up to inspect him. "Here you go." Hiccup said, throwing the Terror a fish.
In an instant the fish was gobbled down, and Hiccup settled back against Toothless's side. The Terror slowly got closer, but it only paused a couple of times before it walked right up to Hiccup and nuzzled his arm, settling down right next to him. Hiccup watched in amazement as his hand gently petted the small creature that was now napping at his hip.
"Everything we know about you guys is wrong." Hiccup murmured. Still looking down at the Terror, Hiccup was unaware of the fact that Toothless was now looking at him in a somewhat similar fashion.
Toothless wasn't a very old dragon, but he knew that his boy was Different from the other humans. He couldn't explain why or how he knew, but Toothless was certain that Hiccup needed him. Toothless would protect his boy, and he would make sure that his boy was happy. Because when Hiccup was happy everything got brighter. Yes, Toothless's boy was special, and Toothless was going to stay by Hiccup's side for as long as he would have him.
Hiccup felt physically ill walking back into the village that evening, and gnawed on his lower lip worriedly.
His time with Toothless had been wonderful, as always, in fact it had been better than wonderful, it had been incredible. Sure, a bit terrifying, but incredible nonetheless. He wouldn't change a single thing that had happened, except for maybe one.
Hiccup had forgotten to take the axe his father gave him out of Toothless's saddlebag, a recent addition Hiccup had thought of, but not the point. The axe had been in the saddlebag during the flight, but when they got back to the cove that evening, Hiccup couldn't find it anywhere. The only explanation was that it fell out at some point and was now lost to the trees or the ocean.
Not something Hiccup wanted to explain to his father.
Thinking hard for a solution, Hiccup walked through the village until he got to the forge where Gobber was working away and all the other teens were gathered outside, probably waiting to get their weapons sharpened.
"I can't wait to show everyone what I've got in Dragon Training! It's about time the village started noticing me more." Snotlout was saying as Hiccup slipped into the forge behind the group, unnoticed.
"I can't wait to see the looks on everyone's faces when they realize how awesome we are! Everyone at Hogwarts is gonna be so jealous!" Tuffnut grinned, and Ruffnut nodded in agreement.
"W-what about classes? I -I hear Professor Bunnymund has some pretty cool stuff to teach in Defense Against the Dark Arts. That'll be fun, right?" Fishlegs babbled nervously, obviously less thrilled than the others to be going into Dragon Training.
"As if!" Snotlout scoffed. "Everyone takes Defense Against the Dark Arts. There's nothing great about a Core Class! Dragon Training is only for those who are man enough to handle it. When we go back next week, we'll own that school! Everyone will want to be one of us!"
Hiccup paused at that. Next week? Already? He'd completely lost track of the days. He hadn't even started packing, let alone thought about what he was going to do with Toothless!
"Here we are!" Gobber announced, smiling with satisfaction at the freshly sharpened spear he held. "One razor sharp spearhead, just for you, Ruffnut!" Gobber said, handing the weapon to the girl.
"Thanks, I couldn't start Dragon Training without my favorite spear!" Ruffnut smiled wickedly, and Gobber chuckled.
"Don't you worry, I've got the okay from Professor North to set up a temporary forge, so I'll be able to help you kids keep your weapons up over the year." Gobber informed them. After a few more minutes the teens wandered off and Gobber turned towards Hiccup. "You may be able to slip past them, but I saw you come in." The smith told him, pointing a finger at Hiccup who chuckled slightly back. "Anyways, don't think just because there's going to be a forge at school that means you can stay up all night working on your projects!" Gobber warned, and Hiccup held his hands up in surrender. "Best get it out of your system now while you can because next week I'll be keeping a close eye on you especially."
"Thanks, Gobber." Hiccup said weakly as the old smith hobbled out of the forge and heading to his house, which was right next door.
Hiccup watched the older man go, his thoughts troubled and stormy. He'd spent so much time with Toothless and had gotten so caught up in his selfish feelings that he'd completely forgotten what was best for Toothless. There was no way Hiccup could smuggle a dragon into Hogwarts, and there was no way that Toothless would survive winter by himself if he couldn't fly. It was all Hiccup's fault. He should've stayed focused, should've never made a tail that required him to operate it. Toothless shouldn't be trapped on the ground, only allowed to fly when he was around, it wasn't fair. Now Hiccup had to set things right. It didn't matter what he wanted, Hiccup needed to do what was best for Toothless and his Tribe.
Gobber was right about one thing; Hiccup wouldn't be getting any sleep that night.
Hiccup's feet felt heavy as he walked into the cove early the next morning. There were small bags under his eyes and his head was hurting pretty bad. He tried to ignore the fact that the pain eased as soon as he saw Toothless. Said dragon came bounding over to Hiccup, excited to see him, and started sniffing the bundle that Hiccup carried in his arms.
"Hey, bud." Hiccup forced the best smile he could, but apparently he couldn't fool the dragon because Toothless's head tilted slightly and he made a concern whining sound. "I got something for you." Hiccup opted to ignore it and keep going, showing Toothless the bundle in his arms. "Yeah, what do you think of that?"
Toothless gave the bundle another curious sniff, and Hiccup moved towards his tail, but Toothless kept following him, therefore pulling his tail away from Hiccup.
"Toothless!" Hiccup laughed a little, unable to help he lightness in his chest. "Would you settle down?" He chuckled as he finally caught Toothless's tail. "Toothless! Come one, bud, let me get this on you!" Hiccup started buckling the new tail into place as Toothless watched him with wide, curious eyes. Green Eyes. "Yeah... You are going to love this..." Hiccup murmured as he finished getting the tail in place. "Okay..."
As Hiccup pulled back, Toothless wiggled his tail and then, displeased by the foreign thing attached to his tail, started to wildly swing around, flicking his tail back and forth in an attempt to get it off.
"No, no, no -Toothless, stop!" Hiccup called out, ducking beneath Toothless's tail when it came flying at him. "Please, wait! Toothless, please!"
Then Toothless flicked his tail and suddenly the tail popped open, matching the other one almost perfectly. Toothless's eyes went wide and his ear flaps perked up, surprised by the new tail.
Hiccup sighed as Toothless began moving his tail and experimenting with it. "There you go. See? Got it?" Hiccup asked, his voice cracking slightly as he hoped he wouldn't have to explain any farther. He didn't think he'd be able to anyways.
Toothless turned to look at him with those warm Green Eyes. Hiccup offered him a weak smile, and for a moment they just looked at each other. Hiccup tried to think of what to say or do, but nothing came to him.
"Toothless..." He stepped forward, but Toothless leaned back, staring at his face with unchanging wide eyes. Something seemed to click in Toothless's eyes, and in the next instant the air swirled all around Hiccup, causing him to duck his head.
When Hiccup looked up, Toothless was flying off into the sky, free as the wind that carried him.
As Hiccup watched the Night Fury fly away, he couldn't help but see the bitter irony. He had expected something inside himself to shatter, to break. He'd even prepared himself for it a little bit. But this was worse. This was a sharp, ominous clash of metal on metal. The clang of a lock setting. That sound was cold and final, it told Hiccup he would never fly again.
It told him he'd be Trapped on the ground forever.
