Hope
He had thought about it all night, or more accurately, he had thought about it as his kind did. On and off through the night, when he remembered, though no answer could be found. Was the young one an outcast? Exiled? Perhaps he was from far away, perhaps he had come in one of the hollow trees from the sea and he didn't know about the adult Wing-less views.
It was all very confusing, and it was with great anticipation that he waited for the young one again. He did not however, expect the young one to come so early.
"Toothless. Oh, Toothless!" The young one was here and he had with him a carrier. He'd seen those before. Big empty things they carried stuff in. What had he brought? It smelled like swimmers, many swimmers. The young one set it down and tipped it over, revealing, swimmers!
Happy, he started to sort through them. He could smell his favorite, the special silvery ones, in there somewhere, if he could just get those. The young one was talking again, when he heard one word that terrified him. He spotted it then, there partly hidden among the swimmers was the Limb-less Devil. The young one lifted it up. NO! He cried out. The young one threw it away.
"Yeah, I don't like eel much either." The young one said. He snorted in agreement, though like was too mild a word. None of his kind liked the Limb-less Devil. Hungry, he started eating the swimmers. The young one moved from his line of vision but he wasn't worried. Swimmers for last and first meal, and funny things, if he had wanted to kill him, the young one had had plenty of chances.
The young one, however, was doing something, something with his tail. He stopped eating and tried to wriggle it. Only to realize that he felt the weight of something he had been missing since the night he failed, when he had stopped being the protector of his brethren.
It was a bit heavier perhaps, than his previous one had been, but the other bit was there. What was it about this young one? Why? He wondered.
But it didn't matter. He could fly away, be the protector once more. He could fly in the sky and hunt as he pleased. He could protect and distract. He could be a Night Fury once more.
Slowly, the thoughts running through his mind, he spread his wings. He needed to get out of here, needed to see how this new tail worked. One great push and he was up. Beating his wings he rose and tried to get away. He was almost there, almost there… but no, something was still wrong. He couldn't control it the way he had the one before. The new bit didn't work. He was just about crash when it worked. His tail worked and he was able to fly up. Yes!! He could be free again. He could protect and one day hunt the cause of his brethrens plight.
He flew over the big hole he had been trapped in for the last few days when he heard it.
"Yes! It worked!" the young one was still with him. Even in the sky, the young one had followed him by riding on his tail. Well, he didn't need the young one. He had what he needed. He could go back to how he had been before.
Swiftly, he flicked his tail. Throwing the young one off and into the water, it would soften the fall, as he tried to continue going. However, almost instantly his tail stopped working again. He crashed into the water as well sending off huge waves of water as he hit it.
This was something to think about. The young one had given him a glimmer of hope, however there where things to worry about. He could not control whatever it was the young one had made. Not good. Apparently only the young one could make it work. Not particularly good either. He was unable to fly at all by himself, bad. The young one had devised some way of helping him fly, but it was only a partial solution. Without the young one there would be no flying.
Very well, then the young one would have to ride along. Being ridden was preferable to never flying again. He might not be able to protect as he had before, but he had hope now. He could fly again. He could again be a mighty creature of the sky; reveling in the scents of the wind, the warmth of the currents and the absolute joy of flying.
He had hope now. That was what the young one was, he thought, as he made a lips pulling face though there was no one to see, he was a hope that everything wasn't as hopeless as it seemed.