True Calling
A How To Train Your Dragon Fanfiction
Hiccup really needed to clear his head where he couldn't be disturbed.
Stoick didn't believe Astrid had seen him and Toothless, so that gave him a little bit of time to sort out what to do, but not much. Tomorrow was the final day of dragon training, and everyone expected him - him of all people - to kill a dragon in front of the entire village.
He knew better now. He couldn't kill dragons. Not after everything that had happened already. Toothless was the best thing to ever happen to him, just not in the way he had expected, and it was because of Toothless that he was learning there was a lot more to dragons than any of them had ever thought.
What they "knew" about dragons, they really DIDN'T know.
The problem wasn't that he'd figured this out though or that he was sneaking off every day to see a dragon he had befriended. The problem was in convincing everyone else, chief among them - no pun intended - being his father. It didn't really matter if he could convince everyone else if he couldn't convince Stoick. The Chief's word was basically Law in the village, and Stoick hardly listened to anyone, but he especially didn't listen to Hiccup.
The thought of leaving and never looking back crossed his mind. It would be all too easy on the back of a dragon and he didn't think Toothless would have any complaints about that. He figured his dragon would have even less complaints of he understood exactly what Hiccup would be running from, but for once in his life, his father was acting proud of his son, and he'd be lying to himself if he thought he didn't want to make that work out. He just needed to figure out how to make it work, without killing a dragon in the ring.
Toothless rumbled at him questioningly and Hiccup realized he'd been too lost in his own thoughts to be paying much attention, and they'd been gliding for a while without a clear destination or altering their course much.
Hiccup gave him an appreciative pat. "Sorry bud, just thinking." Pursing his lips, he glanced around for a good place to land where there was no way they could be seen, especially if Astrid was intent on finding them. The top of a tall sea stack looked like a good place and he leaned towards it. Toothless easily caught the motion and banked in the direction Hiccup wanted them to go, climbing up to the top of the sea stack and landing.
For a moment, he just sat in the saddle. They were high enough up that he could easily feel the wind buffeting his hair and kissing his face, the auburn-brunette inhaling deeply and exhaling heavily. Toothless tilted his head back, watching Hiccup out the side of his eye in what Hiccup chose to interpret as concern. When Hiccup finally slid down from Toothless's back and sat down somewhere toward the center of the towering stone, Toothless stretched out and half curled behind him, giving him something to lean back against.
"Sorry bud," Hiccup apologized when Toothless crooned wantingly and glanced at the sky. "We're not going to be doing much flying today."
Toothless snorted disappointment but also curiosity, sensing the small human's tension.
"Tomorrow everyone expects me to fight and kill a dragon to prove that I'm one of them."
Toothless made a low snarl that sounded indignant and disgusted, pupils narrowing into slits and nose wrinkling.
"I can't do that though, but none of them will understand. Especially not my father."
Toothless crooned sympathetically, eyes becoming large and affectionate again as the dragon nosed under his arm in a comforting way. Hiccup wrapped an arm over the top of the dragon's neck and idly scratched his scales.
"Oh, Toothless, if I could just show them how amazing dragons really are and that we don't have to fight you guys. I mean, if I can tame a dragon everyone calls the Child of Lightning and Death, then it shouldn't be hard with other dragons." He paused and rolled his eyes, huffing. "But good luck trying to make a Viking change his mind."
A low, neutral rumble was the only answer he received.
"If I could just convince Dad that we don't have to fight dragons, then I wouldn't have to worry about everyone else, but he's the most stubborn of them all. I mean, h-how do you argue down the Chief of Berk and tell him that how he and everyone else has been doing it all this time is wrong? He's never going to listen to that. He won't even listen to Astrid and she's the best dragon fighter in our generation."
He sighed heavily. He really needed more than one day to figure out what he was going to do.
"If I could just... show him, maybe he'll be open to what I have to say, but only telling him is never going to work." Pondering it a moment longer, he idly shrugged his shoulders and glancing at his dragon. "So maybe I can try and tame the Monstrous Nightmare tomorrow, in front of everyone. That might work, right?"
Toothless rumbled uncertainly. It was far from the reassurance he'd been hoping for.
Hiccup sighed again. "Yeah, that might just end up going horribly wrong." And if something went horribly wrong, there was no chance at all that Stoick would listen to him that dragons were not as big of a threat as they first thought. Worst case scenario, they would find out about Toothless and kill him, and Hiccup was determined not to let that happen, but he also couldn't let himself get killed, because Toothless can't fly without him, and no one else would understand that Toothless is not a threat to even give the dragon a chance.
Astrid already knew about Toothless, even if she couldn't prove it. It was only a matter of time before she could. He didn't think he would manage to get her on his side in such a short amount of time, so he needed to get Stoick on his side first, as if that was going to be any easier.
Coming to a decision, he stood and turned to face the Nightfury.
"We're going to have to get Stoick somewhere alone, and I'm going to show you to him."
Toothless, clearly, did not like the idea, growling a noise of protest. Hiccup held up his hands in placation.
"I know, I know, but what other choice do we have? I can't keep this secret forever, and I can't kill dragons, bud. If they find you before I can change their minds, they'll try to kill you, Toothless, and I won't let that happen. If I can't change their minds, then I'll find a way to keep you safe, at least, so that they'll never be able to hurt you." Kneeling, he held Toothless's head by the underside of his jaw, pressing his forehead against the dragon's. "You're my best friend, bud, and I won't let anything happen to you."
Toothless warbled affection and gratitude, before Hiccup was back on the saddle.
"Alright then, let's get some flying in while I figure out how we're going to do this."
Toothless happily barked agreement and ran to the ledge, dropping down into a dive before finally catching air under his wings.
They spent the better part of their day flying, still trying to get a feel for Toothless's new tail and how to make the most use of it, until the sun was beginning to set and they were both starting to tire. Hiccup's mind was still abuzz with possibilities of how he was going to convince Stoick, but so far he hadn't settled on one or another of his ideas.
They circled the cove, looking for any signs of anyone that might have followed them into it, but he saw no one in the large pit of stone and deemed it safe to land.
Sliding out of the saddle, Hiccup immediately started undoing the latches and belts, neatly hiding them in the far side of the shadow of the cave, where he could barely see anything at all. Toothless stretched out languidly and briefly illuminated the darkness with a low flame as he turned in a tight circle, patting it down and curling up to rest. Hiccup smiled, but he still couldn't quite quell the apprehension in his chest.
"Good night, bud," Hiccup murmured, receiving a low sound in reply that might have been a returned, dragonic good night before he started to trudge towards the exit, stretching skyward and yawning himself. Maybe the walk back would give him just enough time to solidify his plan into something doable.
Or at least, that was the intent, before something jumped him from the brush only a few yards from the alcove and shoved him up against a tree roughly. It hurt, but the mental moan that followed it had less to do with the physical pain and more to do with knowing exactly how much trouble this entailed.