Chapter 4 - Parting

Hiccup woke up in darkness. His skin was tingling, but it was not the unpleasant feeling of being burned alive. Toothless lifted the blanket off of his friend. Sunlight reached Hiccup's eyes and he touched his head, moaning. He than caught sight of his hand which was covered in delicate, black scales. Moving his fingers this way and that way he realized that the anatomy was still the same, only his skin got replaced resembling Toothless' hide. After that he examined his whole body to see that every inch of it was covered in scales. Hiccup touched the skin on his face, trying to find out whether it was scaly or not but the feeling on his fingers was numb. That could mean his face was covered in scales too or the scales on his fingertips suppressed any feeling.

He looked up to see Toothless' curious look. "You did this on purpose, marking me as yours. You possessive lizard!" Toothless tried to look innocent. "Don't look at me with these big eyes!"

"Protectifffe."

"What did you just say?" Hiccup inquired, at first not believing his ears, than remembering their deal.

"I'm not posssesssifffe but protectifffe." was Toothless' reply.

"Isn't it the same? One tries to protect one's possessions?"

"While you are mine, you puny human, you ssstill got your own mind, getting you into trouble way too offften. Sssan I need to protect you and your new ssskin will make my job easssier." Toothless added in thoughts, "So I wont fail like last time."

"I see." Hiccup replied sarcastically. "What good does it except for making me stand out like a bonfire in the night?"

"You are fffireprofffe, your ssskin isss toufffer, you can hide better and you don't need to worry about the cold anymore. Besssidesss burnt ssskin really looksss ugly, even when healed."

"I will have to get used to it either way. That does not say I'm entirely happy about it!"

Both, human and dragon, than sat in silence for a long time, pondering on what to say next. Toothless was to get back to talking first, "We brought you sssome closssesss." nodding to a pile. Hiccup stood up and walked over to give the pieces of clothing a better look. Although it was a chilly Berkian night he was not cold in the least, he had to admit Toothless had a point. He decided on a simple linen pant and tunic.

"Now that you can tell me, what is your name?" Hiccup asked.

The dragon looked dumbfounded. "It'sss Tooffflessssss. You named me!"

"No, what is your real name? Before I met you."

"Dragonsss don't fffeel ssse need to name everysssing. I wasss jussst ssse Night Fffury offf my nessst."

"Okay, than would you like to tell me more things about dragon society?"

"Sssome ossser day. It'sss a huge topic and right now I sssink you ssshould go and visssit your fffassser."

"But right after our departure, which I'm sure is inevitable, we will work on your language."

"Hey! It'sss not sssat bad."

"It isss." was Hiccup's reply. "For now you should stick to the shadows, I don't know how much the village knows and I don't trust them to not hurt you."

Luckily the chief's house was on the edge of the village so they had no trouble reaching it. Toothless made himself comfortable on the roof while Hiccup entered through the backdoor. Stoick sat at the table in front of the hearth in which only a small fire remained. Hiccup was glad for the lack of light as he had not to reveal his appearance, yet. After closing the door he stood there, waiting for his father to begin the talk.

"Thanks for agreeing to revive me and not killing Toothless." Hiccup said when he was fed up with the tense silence filling the room.

"Where is that bea - dragon?" Hiccup motioned upwards in respond. "Hiccup, I am, I'm so sorry." That was not what the teen had expected. "The elder opened my eyes and showed me how miserable your life here was. I didn't realize that the other kids did not want you to be around or beat you up, how the other villagers behaved and, worst of all, how bad a father I have been. I wanted to listen to your true wishes for once. I know I can't make up for all that has happened but I wanted to give you another chance for a happy live, that is why I agreed upon reviving you."

"You are not mad at me for, you know, befriending the Viking's most lethal enemy?" Hiccup could not resist asking this question.

"I can't deny I was enraged and disappointed when he fought us in the arena but I came to understand your need for a friend. A friend that you could not find here." Stoick paused. "The father in me demands to not do so but as a chief I have to, there is no other way, I, I have to outcast you."

Tears could be seen on Stoick's cheek and in his beard. Hiccup rushed to his side, pulling his father into a comforting hug. He never thought he would be in this position but life proved him wrong. "It's okay. I expected it. You have a future here on Berk as chief while I have none, never had one."

Stoick ended the hug, setting Hiccup down at some distance to examine him. With his son standing nearer to the fire he now could see the scales. "What happened to you?" he demanded.

Hiccup flinched. "Toothless would rather have me have scales than burnt skin."

The chief could not help but mock, "That dragon of yours is really possessive, ain't he?

"Protectifffe!" could be heard the protest from above.

Hiccup had to chuckle. "And he has some ears!" He had to say the inevitable in the end, better get it over with. "It would be best if I left this night. I'll go gather some stuff, if you don't mind." After Stoick's permission he decided to push further. "May I say goodbye to Gobber?"

His father had to ponder on that for a moment. "Nobody knows you are alive again and it wouldn't be wise to tell the village. It will be hard enough to tell them a story why the Night Fury managed to escape. Gobber couldn't keep it a secret for very long, that I'm sure about."

"Well, then that's it. Goodbye dad." Hiccup said, embracing the chief one last time.

"Goodbye Hiccup. Don't get yourself killed. And have an eye on my son you protectifffe beast, will you?" Toothless just snorted.

With that Hiccup left for the forge to fetch his sketches and prepare to leave.

Author's Note: I am sorry I took so long for such a short chapter. I was just not sure how to do it. Several paragraphs were written, deleted, rewritten and so on until I was finally happy with the result. Finally, the introduction is done!

To compensate for the lacking length of this chapter I can write a longer Author's Note. You want longer chapters instead of longer ANs? Can't blame you but I feel the need to explain some things before I continue in this story, might as well rewrite the summary.

This will be a 'Hiccup-runs-away' fanfiction with several story arcs. I know exactly where I want to end this but I do not know how long it will take to get there. You may participate and send in story plots you think might be fitting for this story and if I like them I will use them. I already got a couple ideas of what to happen next but the more ideas i get (myself or sent in from you) the longer this story will get up to the point I think nothing else needs to be added and the finale starts.

Time to reveal the meaning behind the title. Its not meant to be literal but metaphorical. The worlds Toothless is about to drag Hiccup through are the different plots and story arcs. Nothing all to fantastic. Hope you are not disappointed now.

Before people ask about how much Hiccup will change physically: not more than any growing up adult. This is not a transformation fiction. But I will be working on a transformation one-shot next as I got an idea stuck in my head I need to write down. Therefore, the wait for the next chapter might be even longer. Said next chapter will be kind of filler (Toothless is going to explain the dragon society to Hiccup. Feel free to send in ideas for this society if you got some!) before the sixth chapter will be the first story arc. (world to be dragged through)

See you all next time!