"Woohoo~!" Hiccup whooped joyfully as he plummeted down to the sea from 100 feet in the air. Most people would have panicked, but not Hiccup. You see, not only was his natural habitat beneath the roiling waves of saltwater, but he had a friend flying through the sky that would catch him before he hit the water.
"Toothless!" Hiccup called out in a rumbling croon. The Nightfury Hiccup befriended so many years ago swooped down to catch Hiccup in his hind claws. The dragon boy was twenty now; old enough to be called a man in human society. Toothless would always snort and say he's still a hatchling in his eyes whenever Hiccup brought it up.
"How many times have I told you not to call me that?" Toothless griped sourly. Hiccup grinned innocently up at him and Toothless rolled his eyes. Hiccup laughed at his friend's dower pout and patted his leg.
"I'm sure there are less stars in the sky than times you've told me not to call you Toothless." Hiccup replied cheekily before yelping in surprise. Toothless had dropped him and let Hiccup fall into the sea. It was only a 10 foot drop this time, so Hiccup was unharmed when he came up for air. It was Hiccup's turn to pout and Toothless' time to laugh hysterically. Hiccup looked like a drowned cat with seaweed caught in his hair.
"Don't look at me like that!" Toothless cackled as Hiccup swam to the near by rocks that jutted above the surface, "This should teach you not to call me such an undignified name!"
Hiccup stuck his tongue out at the winged beast; a human trait he'd picked up on one of his trips to shore. He wrung out his hair before shaking his head like a dog.
"Oh stop that! You know I was just teasing!" Toothless wheedled Hiccup as he plopped his wide, flat head in his lap. Hiccup tried to keep a straight face, but ended up giggling at his friend's dramatics.
"So was I, you useless reptile!" Hiccup chuckled as he scratched Toothless' chin, "Besides, all of your other titles are too long and tedious to say aloud! What, should I shout 'Night's Fury, Offspring of Hela and Thor, Cutter of the Sky and Bringer of Storms when you drop me from high up in the air?" Hiccup raised his brow and smirked knowingly at Toothless.
"Well no…" Toothless pouted; realizing the impracticality of his real name, "…but Toothless?" Hiccup giggled again and Toothless growled.
"Well your teeth retract and it's a very misleading name! Your enemies will think you have no teeth and suddenly 'CHOMP!' you've got your fangs digging into their flesh!" Hiccup punctuated his morbid picture by snapping his jaws with a toothy grin.
"Fine! I see your point." Toothless relented with a huff, "I'll just call you a funny name, see how you like it!" He decided.
Hiccup rolled his eyes as Toothless thought up some horrible name to call him. Hiccup rolled lazily onto his back and resolved himself for a very long wait. Toothless was very cunning and quick on his feet, butcreative was not a word Hiccup would use to describe his friend. That was his job.
"Slug…? No that's too gross even for me. Egghead? No, that's one of the hatchling's names…" Hiccup snorted and felt sorry for the poor hatchling, "I know! I'll call you Chum!" Toothless grinned wickedly as Hiccup shot up with an indignant scowl.
"You will not!" He growled, "I swear, Toothless, if you call me such a disgusting name…!"
"You'll what? Oh Chummy Chum of mine?" Toothless challenged with a triumphant grin on his face.
Hiccup hissed and lunged for Toothless's unguarded front. Toothless was shocked that such a stupid name could make Hiccup fly into a rage like that. Still, Toothless would not stand idle while he was attacked. His serpentine eyes narrowed into dangerous slits and his teeth slid into place. He tackled Hiccup and pinned his wriggling form down with his bulk. Toothless bared his teeth but did not attack as he hissed,
"What's gotten into you?"
"Do you even know what chum is?" Hiccup snarled as he continued to thrash around in Toothless' grip, "It's fish guts! The humans use it to attract bigger, better fish and even dragons sometimes get fooled by the scent of blood in the water!"
Toothless paused and considered Hiccup's words. He didn't know the humans used chum to lure dragons into their nets, just the bigger fish. Now that he knew, he could see why Hiccup would be upset with the nickname. If Hiccup started answering to 'Chum,' he would essentially be saying he was dragon bait.
"Oh." Toothless said dumbly, "No I didn't, actually. I'm sorry."
He lifted his front talons off of Hiccup's chest and sat back on his hind legs. Toothless widened his big, green eyes apologetically and started to croon. He sought Hiccup's eyes out with his own and gave him a gummy grin when Hiccup finally looked at him. Hiccup regarded Toothless for a moment before snorting. He smiled back and giggled a bit.
"It is forgiven, you overgrown lizard." Hiccup snorted with a small grin.
Toothless let out a soft crow of triumph and flopped backwards to bare his belly. He started writhing around on the rocks like a cat scratching an itch. Hiccup's smile widened and he ambled onto Toothless' belly to hug his friend and settle down for a quick nap. They both rested in the afternoon sun for a while; simply content to be.
Seagulls cawed overhead. The waves crashed against the rocks and licked their scales playfully. The scent of saltwater was left behind in their wake. A small pack of Terrible Terrors soared around and picked off the hapless gulls one by one. The sun beat down on the odd pair and if Hiccup were more human, he'd have gotten a tan.
Hiccup's eyes blinked open lazily as a thought came to him. He stretched out on Toothless' belly and grinned with growing excitement. Toothless cocked his head to the side like a confused parrot and let out a questioning croon.
"Mother says she has a surprise for me." Hiccup explained giddily, "For my birthday!"
Toothless blinked and let out a wry chuckle.
"Knowing Skuldra, it'll probably be more chores for you, since you're 'of age.'" Hiccup could hear the quotation marks when Toothless said "of age." He pouted and stuck his tongue out at the dragon before plopping his head on his crossed forearms.
"Jerk." He muttered goodnaturedly.
"But really, what do you think she got you this year?" Toothless asked as Hiccup's excitement finally rubbed off on him.
"I don't know! It could be anything! She says she'll give it to me when you've left for the raid…" Hiccup's mood soured at the thought of Toothless going somewhere he couldn't follow. Toothless growled softly as he thought about the Red Queen's hold on him. He sighed in resignation and chinned his little Hiccup.
"I'll be on Berk this time. Big rocks, a hoard of screaming Vikings, can't miss it." Toothless informed him. He always told Hiccup where he would be during raids so that he wouldn't worry as much. Hiccup had gotten it into his head that if he couldn't go with Toothless himself, he would at least know where to direct his fury if he never game back. Hiccup gave Toothless a deadpan look and said,
"There are thousands of islands like that, my friend. You'll have to be more specific."
Toothless let out a bellowing laugh; something he'd learned to do from watching Hiccup. He opened his mouth to explain what Berk looked like in better detail, but then a ship sailed by. Toothless ducked down and used his pitch black scales to blend in with the rocks. Hiccup burrowed under Toothless so his bright green scales wouldn't be seen.
"Well if you want to know where Berk is…" Toothless muttered ruefully, "Follow the ships with that picture on the sails."
Hiccup craned his neck so he could get a better look. Berk's ships were large and well-fortified. Hiccup could see dozens of dings and scrapes in the hull, but none of them went all the way through. The sails were like war banners for a returning army; large and proud to bear the house sigil. Berk's crest was a dragon speared through the snout with a sword. Hiccup shuddered and raised a hand to trace his face.
The crest looked oddly familiar.
"You should go home now, Hiccup." Toothless whispered cautiously in Hiccup's ear, "Things are about to get ugly, soon. I'll meet you back here on the morrow. Maybe."
Hiccup gulped and nodded. When the ship passed and sailed out of sight, Hiccup dove back into the sea and swam back to the safety of his school.
Skuldra greeted her son with a soft stream of bubbles. Hiccup did the same, though his were less enthusiastic. Skuldra crooned worriedly at Hiccup, and he told her what he saw.
"If the warriors are back, then the raid will be bloody." Skuldra said with a knowing look. Hiccup was worried for his sky walking friend. It was a sad thing to see her hatchling so distressed on his birthday, but Skuldra couldn't blame him. The Red Queen cared little for her subjects; let alone their happiness. No one dared disobey her once they were ensnared in her nest. If the Red Queen called, you answered. Period. Even if you died.
"The Night's Fury will be fine, my son." Skuldra consoled him, "He never misses, remember? And no human has ever seen him without meeting a swift end."
"There is always a first time, mother." Hiccup fretted solemnly. Skuldra scoffed and swatted Hiccup with her wing. He yelped indignantly, but held his tongue when Skuldra gave him that look mothers always seemed to have.
"No more of this! It's your birthday and here you are worrying over 'what ifs' and things that haven't happened! Be happy today or so help me I'll stick you with the guppies!" Skuldra scolded him with a warm, motherly smile at the end. Hiccup giggled and scratched the back of his head.
"You're right. I'm being silly." He agreed sheepishly.
"Yes, you are." Skuldra snorted fondly, "But no more of that! I promised you a surprise, didn't I?"
Hiccup's mood instantly brightened. He grinned and darted to and fro like an excited puppy as Skuldra dragged out a small chest from beneath the rocks. It was a curious human tradition Hiccup observed one time. The humans would put their gifts in a box before they gave it to someone. It prolonged the suspense and the school found they liked that a lot. Skuldra pushed the chest towards Hiccup with her nose and he practically attacked it in all the excitement.
Hiccup tore away the rusted lock by smashing it with a rock. He unlatched the sides and paused for dramatic effect. Skuldra barked at him to get it over with already, and Hiccup did so with a laugh. He slowly opened the chest and blinked curiously into the contents it held.
"It's a blanket?" Hiccup asked as he gingerly raised it from the chest. It was small, and faded with time and seasalt, but Hiccup could definitely see the outline of a family crest. There was a sword and something else he couldn't make out. Hiccup gulped and looked to his mother for an explanation.
"You were wrapped up in that when I made you mine." She told him softly, "Your human family must've left you with a small courtesy, because they don't usually leave their family crest on the children they mean to kill."
Hiccup regarded the blanket with a mix of feelings. He was angry, of course. His human family left him to die, who wouldn't be resentful of that? But there was also curiosity tugging at his heart. Hiccup wanted to know why they would leave him with a small part of their family if they were intending to kill him anyway? Humans, especially Vikings, took their sense of togetherness seriously. Surely they must have wanted Hiccup to be a part of them if they left him with his family crest, right? But then there was the guilt. Skuldra raised him despite all the barriers that should've kept them apart. She was Hiccup's mother and the school was his family. How could he want to learn more about the human family that abandoned him when his dragon family was there for him through thick and thin?
"You are my son, Hiccup, never forget that. I just thought you would like to know where you came from, now that you're of age in human terms." Skuldra assured him. She wrapped her wings around Hiccup and drew him in close. Hiccup buried his face in her scales and Skuldra laid her head on Hiccup's. Skuldra crooned gently and held Hiccup as he sorted through his tumultuous feelings.
"Thank you, mother." Hiccup breathed as he leaned into her touch. Skuldra crooned.
