Journey of a Thousand Miles: Chapter 3

Hiccup remembered asking his dad about the south when he was little. His father had told him a story about a giant creature the size of a large dragon, covered in fur with razor sharp fangs and teeth, able to stand on its hind legs and tower over most men. Needless to say, Hiccup had gone to bed having nightmares about these giant animals his father had called bears. Sometimes they even breathed fire at him. Now, it felt like those nightmare had come to life, except now he was even more vulnerable, not having half a left leg and all.

He made it all of ten feet before he yelled for Toothless. The beast behind him roared, a snarling sound that twisted up Hiccup's gut even more. At eleven feet, the beast was on him, and with a slap of its mighty paw, sent Hiccup flying into a tree.

The air rushed out of his body, which was screaming in protest to the pain. His right shoulder seemed to be aflame, burning with a heat that threatened to char the rest of his body and turn him into ashes. He saw his vision waver, becoming black at the edges, and he realized he was threatening to pass out.

'No…gotta stay awake…Toothless…' Hiccup's brain whirred. He tried to push himself off the tree, but stopped when he was in a sitting position. It was as far as he could go. He looked up, eyes bleary and filled with pain. His head lolled to the side. The beast stood over him, arm raised for the death blow. Hiccup's eyes closed. 'Sorry Toothless. Sorry Astrid. Sorry Dad. This is how I'm going to end.'

"GROAARRR!" Toothless's roar split the night in two. Hiccups eyes flashed open, just in time to see Toothless hit the beast like a bat out of Hel. They went flying over a few feet, snarling and slashing at each other.

"Hiccup!" Astrid placed her hand on his shoulder, startling him. "By the gods…"

Her eyes were wide as she stared at him. His hair was matted with blood, and his arm was slashed open and bleeding. She grabbed him under the arms and began dragging him over to Bluebell, trying to get him out of the way of the two battling titans.

Suddenly the bear let out a loud snarl that died off abruptly with a wet gurgling sound. Toothless promptly let out a roar, releasing his hold on the beast's throat. It had all been over once he had a grip on the beast's throat. He wasn't going to let go of that, not while it was still living. Toothless slowly walked over to Hiccup, favoring his left foreleg.

"Hey…" Hiccup reached up and rubbed the dragon's snout. He felt something thick and warm on the dragon's face, then Hiccup's consciousness then faded away.

"Hiccup!" Astrid dropped to her knees beside him. She let out a sigh of relief when she realized he was still breathing. Toothless nosed the boy, wiping some of the blood onto him. "C'mon Toothless…lets get him back to camp."

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"Ohh…my head." Hiccup stirred, his head pounding, and shoulder and arm throbbing. Slowly he sat up, marveling that he still seemed to be intact. Toothless, laying beside him, nosed him gently on the arm. "Hey bud."

"Can't you do a simple task like filling water skins without screwing up?" Astrid asked. Hiccup recognized the tone in her voice. She had been worried, and was unsure how to react. So she went with the typical Astrid comment. He looked up at her. She was sitting on the other side of the embers of a fire, poking them with a stick, seemingly deliberately avoiding looking at him.

Hiccup glance over at his arm, which was bandaged with white fabric. "You know me, Hiccup the Screw-Up."

Hiccup chuckled, and Astrid looked over at him, worry in her eyes.

"Relax Astrid, I'm fine! Just a little sore." Hiccup said. Her face immediately composed itself to the normal mask.

"You're right, I've seen cat scratches deeper than that pitiful wound the bear gave you." she teased. Toothless gave a grating laugh beside Hiccup, who just shrugged.

"Got any water?" He asked, swallowing as he tried to quell his dry throat. Astrid pointed to one of the water skins an arms reach from him.

"I found that next to a stream not to far from here, along with some bear tracks. I was going to see where they led back to." Astrid said, referring to the water skin. "I think some moron must have gotten himself attacked."

"Haha, very funny." Hiccup pushed his blankets aside and tried to get to his feet, wobbling slightly. He was definitely sore, and probably would be for a while. Astrid came over to steady him, placing her arm around his waist. "So…lets go find some Timberjacks!"

"You can't be serious." Astrid said, eyeing him.

"And why not?"

"You- oh never mind." She sighed. Stiff and sore, he was still determined to see his mission through. Every bit the stubborn Viking his father was. "Remind me to hit you after your arm gets better."

"Will do."

Toothless lead the way into the forest, following the stream until it came to a pond, then veering left, smelling something.

"Alright Bud! Lead the way to the dragons!" Hiccup encouraged him. Toothless looked up at him and shook his head, then continued on the way. Bluebell, who was walking behind the two humans gave a growl, then sat down, refusing even at Astrid's urging to go farther. It wasn't long before they realized why.

The stench of death hung in the air. There were several trees felled, some fresh and others old. Toothless had led the way to a craggy rock feature, and judging by the scrapes and gouges on the earth, the sight of an epic battle. Toothless sat at the entrance to what seemed to be a shallow cave. Hiccup took all this in before he realized where the smell was coming from. Not to far into the trees, there was a rotting corpse of a dragon.

"That's awful." Hiccup said, wondering what could have done it. Then, nearby, he saw a tuft of dark brown fur, and knew his answer. The bear that had tried to kill him. It was a huge beast, and could have taken down the dragon with some effort. 'Probably got it by the wings or the tail first. That's about the best chance it would have had.'

"Grogaga." Toothless perked his ears up and peered into the cave. Hiccup looked at the dragon with concerned eyes. That cooing sound…could it be? He glanced over to Astrid. She was staring into the cave with wide eyes.

Toothless slowly advanced into the cave, giving a small growl, not a fierce one, but one that was more or less to announce himself. An answering coo came from within. Hiccup came up beside him, gently placing a hand on his side. Inside the cave, the light was dim and it took his eyes a moment to adjust. There was a slightly smaller dragon than the one outside, laying still in the corner, throat opened.

"H-hello?' Hiccup called out. He saw a movement beside the dead dragon's tail. A small, pointed head emerged, with two diminutive horns on top. Toothless let out a quiet coo as Hiccup held still. The tiny dragon slowly advanced towards them, walking slightly sideways. Hiccup heard Astrid let out a gasp. The tiny dragon was slightly bigger than a terrible terror, dark brown with a pointed face, a long tail, and claw like appendages on his folded wings. Toothless cooed again, lowering his head to the tiny dragons level.

'No, not tiny, it's a baby.' Hiccup corrected himself.

The baby dragon slowly extended his short neck and touched Toothless's snout. Toothless let out a quiet purr, and the baby dragon gurgled at him happily. Slowly, he raised his head to Hiccup who was standing on Toothless's left side. He hissed, and Toothless made a huffing sound before grumbling at the baby dragon. The dragon stopped and cautiously advanced to Hiccup. Palm and nose met, both keeping a safe distance from the other. It reminded the Viking of a long time ago with his first meeting with Toothless. The baby dragon then pushed his head against Hiccup's hand, making happy noises in his throat.

"Here you go little guy." Astrid slowly extended her hand to the dragon, offering a small scrap of dried fish. The dragon slowly sniffed it, then gobbled the whole piece down as fast as he could muster. She smiled, then turned to exit the cave. The baby dragon gurgled, following after her. Toothless and Hiccup exchanged a look, then followed after the pair.

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"What about Jack?' Astrid asked, petting the baby Timberjack that was curled up in her lap, belly bulging.

"Astrid come on. What about something original? Like…I don't know." Hiccup said, sighing. She had already decided she was going to keep the little dragon, probably even before she fed it the scrap of fish.

"What's wrong with Jack?" she asked, slightly irritated. She had tossed up about six names, and Hiccup hadn't liked any of them. Hiccup sighed before answering.

"Jack the Timberjack? Really?" he answered, sarcastically. Not that he'd done much better…Toothless and all.

"I guess that is kind of lame."

Silence stretched out between them, broken only by Toothless's sneeze.

"I don't know. It kind of grows on you." Hiccup said.

"So says the guy who named his dragon Toothless because he has retractable teeth." Astrid said. Bluebell chuckled behind her, a sound comparable to rocks grating on each other. Toothless gave a growl of irritation.

"So…" Hiccup said.

"I suppose it's as good as it gets." Astrid answered. She looked down at the baby dragon in her lap. "Welcome to your new family…Jack."

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AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Beware non-reader of the above. Below there be spoilers.

So...Welcome to the family, Jack! Jack the Timberjack, really original, but the debate Hiccup and Astrid had was actually more what played out in my mind when I tried to name the little guy. Which by the way, it is a guy. Just cause. Do I see some sharing of Astrid's attention problems in the future? Maybe...muwahahaha.

Oh, and sorry this was kinda short. I couldn't wait to let you guys meet Jack. Chapter 4 Coming soon!