Tales From Berk
Chapter Three: Absence...
At the wooden dock of Berk, a small group of vikings were entering a longboat, preparing to depart. That is to say, most of them were. One was wrestling with his dragon.
"Toothless, Toothless..." Hiccup groaned, trying to keep the Night Fury from getting on the boat. "I'm sorry bud, but you can't come with us. Gobber says bringing other dragons along will give us away."
Toothless gave Hiccup a pleading look, crooning softly as he did.
"Don't give me that look." Hiccup frowned. "You've gotta stay here. Look, none of the other dragons are coming, aren't they?"
Toothless gave a self-important snort.
"You are not getting any special treatment, mister." Hiccup said firmly.
Giving up, Toothless pressed his face against Hiccup's, licking him goodbye.
"It's okay, bud." Hiccup patted him on the head. "We'll be back as soon as we deal with the Boneknapper. And to be honest, we're not really sure there even is a Boneknapper, so we might be back sooner then you think."
Patting Toothless on the head one last time, Hiccup joined his friends in the longboat.
"You two done with your sappy little goodbye?" Snotlout jeered.
"Shut up, Snotlout." Astrid snarled.
Gobber got on the boat, joined by his pet sheep, Phil.
"Alright, you lot, let's get goin'!" Gobber boomed. "We've got us a Boneknapper to knobble!"
The young vikings started moving the oars, their rowing pushing the boat out to sea. Toothless watched sadly as they departed.
Some time later, Toothless was padding aimlessly around the village, depressed. He did not know why he was so sad; He and Hiccup had been apart before, for much longer. Toothless' time in the hidden glade quickly came to mind. But those short, secret visits had taken place months ago. Nowadays, Hiccup and Toothless were hardly ever apart, something to which the Night Fury had grown accustomed to.
As he continued his morose trek, Toothless suddenly heard a dragon's roar like none he had ever heard before. Over the horizon came a swarm of what looked to be armored dragons. Toothless was apprehensive, as was most of the village's inhabitants, until his keen eyes spotted Hiccup on the lead dragon, joined by Gobber, Phil, and the other young vikings. Toothless' throat made the dragon equivalent of cheering as the lead dragon landed in the centre of the village.
"Believe me now, Stoick?" Gobber called to the astonished chief.
The Boneknapper lowered his head, allowing his passengers to disembark.
As soon as Hiccup's feet touched ground, Toothless tackled him to the floor, licking him repeatedly.
"Easy, bud!" Hiccup chuckled. "I'm happy to see you, too!"
The old saying was true: Absence really does make the heart grow fonder.
To Be Continued...
(How to Train Your Dragon and all associated characters are the property of DreamWorks Animation.)