How To Raise Your Dragon
A/N: HTTYD2! Just saw a preview to it and I'm a little excited so I decided to strike while the iron is hot and update this story :D
This is just a very short filler chapter! Toothless's chapter will come about next time but for now I wanted to do something cute. Also I wanted to present the baby dragon's new name :D Also its to set up the next chapter by having something happen that Toothless would be jealous of.
The unnamed baby dragon had finally awoken from her nap sometime after her 'mommy' and dragon friend had left for the academy. Upon waking up, she squeaked curiously and looked around the room, only to find it empty. Frowning, she carefully jumped off of her little place on the bed and padded over to the wood ladder that lead down stairs. Unfortunately, since she was just a baby, she didn't know how to get down the stairs by herself, and ended up tumbling down them and landing on the floor below face first. Sitting up, the baby whimpered in pain and rubbed her sore nose with her tiny paws and tried to get the pain the go away.
'Owie! Dis isn't a really good morning is it!' She hissed as she dropped her now tired arms and just sat there whimpering, until she heard a rumbling voice coming from above her.
"Aww, hit yer face did ya?" Well, she knew exactly who that was! It was the ginger haired guy her momma was talking to earlier!
Looking up at him, the little dragon frowned and nodded her head and then pointed to her nose as proof of injury. The Viking took the hint, and carefully picked up the baby and petted her head until she calmed down a little. After that, he took her over to the kitchen table and placed her on it. She watched him curiously as he went to a nearby barrel and took out an eel and then tossed it to her. She happily pounced on it and ate it all up in just a few second, already feeling much better. Stoick couldn't help but smile at the dragon, and pulled up a chair next to her at the table.
"Feeling better?" The chief asked, though he already knew the answer as he reached over and patted her head again. "I bet if your 'mother' was here, he wouldn't have let you fall like that."
'I know! But momma is away.' The dragon cooed, flapping her small wings every so often for added emotions.
"Well, we'll give him an earful when he gets back." With that, the Viking shrugged his shoulders idly. "Till then, hows about we go into town and run some errands?"
The dragon thought over her options, and nodded her head quickly, all while jumping onto the man's shoulder and sitting on it. Sure, she missed her mommy and wanted to wait for him to get back, but going into town sounded way more exciting than waiting and that made her happy!
"Its just a quick update on weapon production with Gobber, then a survey of the ships, and then afterwards we can just tour Berk if you like?" The Viking Chief said, getting up and walking towards the door. "Only if you want to that is."
'Yesh!' The baby cooed in agreement to this.
So, within a few minutes, the pair were out in about in the outside air, which was usually warm for this time of year. Still, the warmth made the baby happy and she basked in the warm sun as they walked, arriving shortly later at a shop called Gobber's.
"Morning, Stoick!" The blonde man called, waving over at the two.
"Good morning, Gobber." The other grunted in response and was about to speak again when he was cut off by Gobber.
"Who do you got there?" He asked suddenly, pointing to the baby dragon. "Never seen that little one before. Is it one of Hiccup's?"
"She is." Stoick said quickly, realizing that he had forgotten to introduce her. "Until further notice, Gobber this is my 'granddaughter'-"
"Granddaughter?" Gobber asked with a laugh, before facepalming. "Oh! I see, animal imprinting and what not. Thinks Hiccup is her mother, eh?"
"That would be the case." The ginger admitted, letting the baby run along the length of his arm and back.
"Well then, that's awfully sweet." Gobber said in a teasing way. "Now come on, whats the lass's name?"
"Well, I heard Hiccup call her Changeling-" The dragon hissed suddenly at the sound of the stupid name.
"I agree with her, that's no name for a little one." Gobber replied, shaking his head slowly. "What she needs is a real Viking name. Like, Magnus or something."
Well, that name was already an obvious NO, but Gobber was right. Thinking for once, Stoick put a finger to his chin and thought about it for a very long time. There were very few female Viking's he actually knew, so coming up with names was difficult. After giving it some thought, he finally came up with one name that would be perfect for the little dragon.
"How about Valka?" He asked the little dragon, who in turn seemed to think it over before nodding her head happily and eagerly.
'I wuv my new name! It perfect!' The baby, now dubbed Valka, chirped happily as she wrapped her tiny arms around Stoick's larger one.
"Valka? After yer wife?" Gobber asked, sounding a tad surprised by the choice of name.
"Why not? Seems fitting doesn't it? Both are strong, brave, and not to mention adorable." Stoick asked, smiling down at the dragon and patting her head. "Though, maybe we can call her Val the Great for short?"
"How is that for sho-?" Gobber was about to ask but instead shook his head. "I don't even wanna know. So I take it you're gonna go about showing her off now?"
"Whats wrong with that?" Stoick asked sheepishly, holding Valka out at arms length. "Her mother won't be home till evening, it be nice if she had some people to keep her company."
"Okay, but don't get to carried away with things like you did when Hiccup was bor-" Gobber began but stopped when he noticed that his friend had already left, and just a short distance away, he could already see the chief introducing the baby Val to the rest of his friends.
Meanwhile:
"I think I know whats wrong." Her deep eyes never once left the sharpening blade of her weapon as she spoke. "Its like when my mom had my baby brother, I felt threatened."
"You think Toothless feels threatened by the baby?" Hiccup had to laugh at this, it was such a stupid statement. "Astrid, she isn't even a quarter his size."
"I meant placement wise, genius." She shot back, her eyes shifting ever so slightly to look at him. "Babies need constant attention you know. Which means someone has to be left out."
Toothless huffed out his chest as he excited the academy swiftly. There was no way what Astrid said was true, because there was no way in heck he was jealous of that little blue menace. Puffing out yet again, he frowned when he realized that this was in fact one of those rare times where he actually truly agreed with what his human rider had said about the situation. It was also one of those rare times where the black dragon actually took an interest in what those around him had to say, because as he turned the corner, he caught a conversation between two familiar vikings that interested him.
"Well, I heard Hiccup call her Changeling-" Toothless froze and stuck his tongue out, annoyed by the topic of discussion and yet at the same time feeling the need to stop and listen in.
"I agree with her, that's no name for a little one." Gobber could be heard replying, causing Toothless to hiss softly. "What she needs is a real Viking name. Like, Magnus or something."
There was that stupid name again! The same one Hiccup and what ever that baby's name was had shot down the moment it was brought up. Toothless couldn't help but snicker at it this time though, because if the baby dragon ended up changing her mind and the name stuck, then it would probably be quite the headache for poor Hiccup. Finding this to be something he'd like to see, the dragon sat down quite a piece away from the three and watched.
"How about Valka?" Stoick asked the little dragon, who in turn looking up at him with her large eyes before nodding her head happily and eagerly.
'So much for Magnus...' Toothless muttered in his own dragon-language, frowning but still not moving from his spot.
'I wuv my new name! It perfect!' The dragon, now dubbed Valka, squeaked as she wrapped her scaled arms around Stoick's. 'I hope momma wike it too!'
'Love and like! Use your Ls!' Toothless mumbled from the side lines, finally standing back up and stalking a little closer to the group.
"Valka? After yer wife?" Gobber asked, a soft gasp catching the end of his tone as he spoke.
"Why not? Seems fitting doesn't it? Both are strong, brave, and not to mention adorable." Stoick asked, looking down at the dragon, but then up quickly when he heard a snort of disapproval coming from somewhere close by.
'More like little, annoying, and a human stealer.' The older dragon thought, stopping a short distance away and sitting back down.
"Though, maybe we can call her Val the Great for short?" This time, the nightfury did not conceal his snort like laugh/growl of both humor and again, disapproval.
'Hes talking about her like shes a viking!' He growled, more so to himself than to anyone else again. 'Shes a baby dragon! Not a human!'
"How is that for sho-?" Gobber was about to ask but instead shook his head, possibly in humor. "I don't even wanna know. So I take it you're gonna go about showing her off now?"
"Whats wrong with that?" Stoick asked sheepishly, holding Valka out at arms length. "Her mother won't be home till evening, it be nice if she had some people to keep her company."
'Everything is wrong with that! And Hiccup is not her mother! Stop calling him that!' If Toothless could speak English and if he was loud enough, he would have gone over there and tell Stoick that, but since he wasn't he opted to tell himself that instead.
"Okay, but don't get to carried away with things like you did when Hiccup was bor-" Gobber began but stopped when he noticed that his friend had already left.
Toothless blinked in relative surprise at first, but then frowned when his dragon eyes surveyed the surrounding area and found that just a short distance away, the chief was, introducing the baby Val to the rest of his friends and fellow vikings. Annoyance, humor, and a bit of anger hit the dragon all at once as he growled lowly at the sight. He didn't know why, but everything about 'Val' was irking him to the extremes. Not even a full day had already gone by and already he felt as though that weasel was over staying her welcome.
"Toothless!" The sound of his rider's voice caused his growling to cease and his ears to perk up.
Turning around quickly, the dragon watched as his rider rushed over to him, with a bit of difficulty due to his metal leg which he still had yet to get used to (even with all the time he had to do so already). Toothless put on his best smile at the sight of his best friend, and happily pranced over to the human and tackled him like he normally would as a greeting.
"Hey buddy, where have you been?" Hiccup asked, completely un-phased by the accepted tackle hug.
'Around.' Toothless replied, though he knew that Hiccup probably couldn't understand him anyway.
"Are you okay bud? You left without telling me." The human boy was quick to change topics as he scratched his dragon behind the ear.
Toothless nuzzled Hiccup under his chin, as his way of answering the question by means that Hiccup could understand. In turn, the viking sat up a little and smiled brightly at him. After this, he carefully climbed back up to his feet and patted the dragon's head gently.
"Thats good, so does that mean you're up for a little practice toda- Whats going on over there?" Hiccup asked, curiously looking in the direction of the small crowd of people.
Before Toothless could even stop him, Hiccup was walking in the direction of the crowd, and soon disappeared into the mix of vikings, leaving the dragon with the option of going in after him, or waiting for him to return. Muffled voices could be picked up from the crowd also, one being Hiccup's voice, which Toothless could pick out from, even when mixed in with crowd. He sounded amused, but more importantly happy, so Toothless couldn't be completely pissed by it. A short while later, the brown haired viking finally returned from the crowd, and much to Toothless's delight, the baby dragon was not on his person.
"Geez, dad's really taking to this whole 'son raising a baby dragon' thing." Hiccup laughed once he was back in ear shot. "And I think we've got a keeper on her name. What do you think of Valka?"
'Stupid.'
"Glad you think so buddy! Well, I left Val with dad so we can go practice, if thats oka-"
Hiccup never got to finish that sentence, because the moment he started speaking, Toothless had already knocked him into his rightful place on the saddle and was taking off in the direction that they would usually go when starting flying practice. Of course it was okay with Toothless! The more time he got with his buddy without that baby around, the better.