Adapting to Change
Hiccup's POV
The whole event left me a little shaken, when I shut myself down. I hadn't tried to leave anymore, try to argue with them, or tried to push them away. I was far past the point of resisting them anymore. I was just a hatchling after all, I wasn't meant to be on my own yet. I mean, I'm not even halfway to being full grown! My wing had just healed, and although I could fly on my own now, I didn't. I stayed right next to my new siblings, on the ground, in the cave. I only ever left if I was thirsty or had to 'let out'. Nyla and Toothless seem to be more relaxed. It started when my wing had healed and I could fly again, with their permission of course. They gave me the option and I was just about to jump when I stopped. I thought about what happened the last few times I flew and walked back over to them. They were caught off guard when I told them I didn't want to fly then.
I knew our problems were far from over, with my dad on the hunt for me and this 'Queen' they've mentioned, but we were all enjoying the peace for now and I couldn't ask for anymore than that. Nyla was out hunting food for the 3 of us and me and Toothless were sunbathing. It was a lot warmer here than where I was hatched. I enjoyed it, very much. That doesn't mean it was 'tropical weather' warm. A light breeze passed by and my eyes snapped open at the sound of something unnatural. My stomach went uneasy and I looked into the woods to see familiar blazing, gold eyes. I slowly backed up until I bumped into Toothless. I didn't want to wake him, but knew we'd both be in serious trouble if I didn't.
Not taking my eyes from the golden ones, I walked over Toothless slowly until he was in front of me. "Ugh, what?" He groaned. My expression caught him off guard. Knowing me, My eyes were most likely wide, but the rest of my face frozen. "Hey, what's wrong?" I kept my eyes on his, not daring to move them. Toothless got the hint and looked behind him. His eyes moved from mine to Toothless' and they met gazes. Toothless stood up slowly and at the same pace, stood in front of me protectively. His cold laugh echoed in my head and sent freezing cold chills down my spine.
"So, son, who's the new victim? Thought you would have learned by now what happens to your friends". He stepped out of the shadows of the forest and into the light. His hide was mostly grey of scars, eyes that could scare even the most noble ones, and size was bigger than Toothless by a little. "So you're the famous freak who's killed 100s merciously. Thought you would have been bigger." "Hahahaha! My, a defiant one he is. So, what's it to be Night Speeder, quick and painless, or slow and torturous?" Toothless wrapped his tail around me and guided me under him. "I have a better idea. How about you meet a friend of mine? She'll be very happy to meet you!"
He gave a dark laugh. "You and your Queen don't scare me, boy! Now, I'll give you the same deal I gave all of the little rat's friends. Give him to me, or die." I whimpered at him, clinging to Toothless' foreleg. "How about neither, and who ever said my friend was the Queen?". Before anything else happened, Nyla showed up and shot at him from afar. My dad gave wide eyes, not expecting 2 of them. She landed and came to my other side. I could see the rage in his eyes; he knew he couldn't win this against 2. "Don't think you've avoided this, boy! I'll be back for you, and this time you won't escape! None of you!" Nyla launched at him, but he disappeared into the forest without a trace. I looked up at Toothless' stricken face, trembling. He didn't look down at me, but pulled me in closer.
"Coward" Nyla said as she returned. "You two alright?"
"I'm fine, but he's a little shaken"
"A l..l..little?"
Memories of him flooded into my mind and I shook my head and ran into the cave. I didn't want to see all the blood he spilt on my paws. I ran to the end of the cave, curled into a ball, and trembled my fear out. I knew what he could do, and what he would. 'Stop it, Hiccup, you're pushing yourself away again' I thought while Nyla showed up and curled around me. I looked up at her and snuggled into her shoulder and neck , letting my emotions out. "Hey, you're ok, we all are, see? Not a scratch". I let out a sad chuckle. "Maybe not this time. Nyla, I'm scared of what he'll do next" "Shhh, we'll be ready for what he throws at us. If worst comes to worst we can introduce him to the Queen".
Toothless showed up just then. "Everything will be just fine, Hiccup. He won't win, we promise". I was cuddled into Nyla, but I felt his heat on my back when he laid down behind me. I didn't stop trembling, though.
Toothless' POV
I didn't push the subject any longer; clearly Hiccup was getting some ugly reminders of his father. None of us talked anymore, we just let the comfortable silence calm us in warm layers. Hiccup stopped trembling and un-clinged to Nyla. She suddenly lost her temper, "UGGGH! Some dragons these days! Going around and hunting their hatchlings! Forcing others to kill or be killed! I just, UGGGG!" she roared while blasting the wall. Me and Hiccup just let her release her anger. She roared and ranted for a while until her fire was extinguished and anger out of fuel. I got up and licked her neck to calm her. "I know the feeling Ny, but we can't lose our heads now. We need to keep calm and work together. Who knows, maybe we can get out of this mess".
Hiccup walked in front of us and offered a smile. Even if you could see his pain, the smile warmed my chest and most definitely Nyla's. He rubbed himself in between our forelegs in a sort of figure 8. We both chuckled at separate times at his hatchling antics. "I suppose you're right.I hate it when my temper gets the better of me". Rubbing her legs Hiccup said "You can't help it. So, what do we do if he comes back? I don't know about you, but even leaving me with one of you isn't going to keep any of us safe". I looked up from him in thought. He's got a point. 2 against 1 with him is too much for him to fight, but me nor Nyla can always be together at the same time.
I looked at her for any ideas, but none came. "We….we'll figure out something, Hiccup. Just stay here and close to me or Ny when we're around. Even if you need a drink or need to let out. From now on, stay with us until we have this sorted out, got it?" I said sternly. He nodded and began to rub my legs. "I hope you guys had better luck with your family". We both flinched at the word 'family'. He stopped rubbing our feet and looked up at us. "Or not?" We both sighed and shared a look. I know neither of us wanted to explain, but we had to.
I picked him up by his scruff and carried him over to our sleeping spot. Nyla joined and stiffly laid down next to me. "Now, the thing with our family was it was big. 7 in total. They loved us, and we loved them, but they were only around for a small amount of time. Our mother was the spitting image of me, only as a female. She had acid green eyes, a kind heart, optimistic, and saw the other half of the day. She was a little bigger than Nyla is now. Our father was the spitting image of Nyla, only as a male. He was bigger than me. He had the same purple eyes and Ny, protectiveness, temper, and saw the day half over.
Next comes our other siblings". He interrupted me. "You had other siblings!?" Nyla nodded. "Terrence and Nick were twins. They came from the same egg with our Nana's pale blue eyes. They were troublemakers all right. Could get anyone in trouble and get away with it" She explained. "Then comes Selena, the youngest in the litter. She shared Nyla's and our father's eyes, but was a complete dream of a hatchling. Small, innocent, sweet, loving, and I would have bet anything she was smart and protective. You remind me of her, a lot actually" I say to Hiccup.
He smiled, then asked "What happened to them?" Nyla jerked her head away, not wanting to cry in front of him. I took in a shaky breath and explained "We were all migrating for the winter when a flock of Fire Rings attacked. Me and Nyla were on our mother's back while the others were on our father's.
Flashback
Me and Nyla were play fighting on mommy's back. I was winning and she threw a fit about it. "Moooom! Armen's not letting me uuuup!" She only chuckled. "Come on Armen, play fair" she said. I pouted and said "But what if this was a real life situation mommy! She would need to fight back to get up!" I turned towards daddy's voice when he spoke "That's true Armen, however you both are still hatchlings. You're too young to need to worry about that yet. It's me and your mother's job to fight for you". Nyla shoved me with a smug look and I tackled her again. Now I gave the smug look.
We continued this until a dragon popped up in front of daddy. Me and Nyla jumped back and huddled close to each other. The dragon head was round with spikes all over it, leading down it's snake-like tail. It's wings were small, about my wingspan each. It's teeth were long and rotated in a circle. It opened it's mouth and roared showing off more rotating teeth. Mommy and daddy reeled back and roared themselves. I peeked over at my other siblings to see them cowering in fear too. More popped up around us and I made myself as small as possible.
The next few minutes passed as a blur because mommy began to fly as fast as she could away. I turned around and saw daddy fight them off. He was doing good until one came from behind and… "DAADDY!" I shouted. Mommy heard and stopped. Her mouth opened and she screamed "NOO! MY HATCHLINGS!" She looked up and saw more of the dragons flying for her. She choked back a sob and flew off. Not before a spine embedded itself in her stomach. We flew to the nearest island and landed.
There was a cave and she ushered us into a crack in the wall. "Mommy, where are you going?" Nyla cried. "Shhhh. I..it's alright, my young ones. Now, I need you to be s..strong for each other, can you do that?" I nodded "We will, but you're going to be here with us, right?" I asked. She licked us both and said "I'll always be here when you need me, alright? Just stay strong for each other and you'll both make it through another night". We all cried and she looked away from us towards a few roars. "Stay in here and don't make a sound". I wanted to say more, but she was gone before we could.
We heard roars come from outside the cave and the smell of metal came to our noses. It was blood. We cringed at all of mommy's roars of pain. I covered my frills and Nyla buried her head into my shoulder, trying to hold back a scream. On and on it went for what felt like hours when a final cry was heard. It was so loud it echoed through the cave. It wasn't the other dragon's roar, far from. We sat there, trembling for hours and hours. The light came and went from outside when I finally moved from our spot. Nyla stayed glued to my shoulder as we made our way out of the cave.
I followed my hatchling instincts to my mother. What I saw was in no comparable way my mother. A Night Speeder, grey instead of black, covered in spines, teeth marks, and lying dead in a pool of her own blood. Her acid eyes were open and dulled to a grey on her scarcely relaxed features. My mouth opened in horror, but I could not look away. Nyla passed out and I just stood there, too in shock to move. When I did recover in the slightest, I screamed out as much fear, horror, pain, and terror as I had until a group of Spike tails found us in the morning.
Nyla was still passed out and I was shaking, crying, and screaming. I fought them when they tried to take us away until one licked my sleeping spot and I was out.
End of Flashback
Me and Nyla we both in tears after my explanation. Hiccup was quiet for a moment as we both cried. I felt Nyla lay next to me and Hiccup start to nuzzle us both. I looked at him, then licked him and Nyla so much my tongue felt like it would fall off. Nyla just nuzzled us both real hard. I felt Nyla fall on the ground next to me, then everything went black for me. I woke up to the sun falling with Nyla sound asleep and Hiccup cuddled to us both, tired but awake.
He noticed me awake and rubbed up against my side. "Sorry I knocked you both out. Your breathing was getting fast, and I got scared. I took in a breath, a weight lifted from my shoulders and pulled him into my stomach. "It's fine, I would have done the same thing". He purred in response.
Hiccup's POV
I'd never seen someone as shaken as me before. So, anyone can imagine my shock when two of the strongest and protective people I've known become a mass of tears and trembles. I didn't act all useless and back off, though, I nuzzled and licked them in comfort. They were there for me, so I'm here for them. Toothless woke up awhile ago, but he hasn't been talking much. Nyla woke up a few minutes ago. She's no different. Everything was quiet, and I enjoyed it despite the heavy emotions in the air.
I took a deep breath. I know what I have to do, even if I don't want to cry right now, it's for their own good. "There names were Judith and Sidney. My older siblings. I was the only boy in my litter" I broke the silence. They both looked at me. I kept my eyes straight. "I'm like my mom with a few specks of my dad. Or what he used to be. My mom was loving, kind, and never able to kill anyone or hate them. She was smart and help my dad in defending the nest. My dad used to be protective, smart, and crazy. Like crazy in a way where he'd make a crazy plan to defend the nest. He was brave and strong.
My sister Judith was like my dad. Strong, brave, and protective. She took after my dad a lot, even in eye color. Sidney was a lot like my dad too, but had more of my mom in her. She was also very protective of me, but wasn't as...bold I guess. She had my dad's eyes too, but wan't a twin". I blinked back some tears that formed. "O..one d..d..day he came home really t..t..tense. He didn't talk, eat, or sleep. We all worried, but continued on our night. 'Sniff sniff' We w..woke up to him and m..mom fighting. We couldn't d..d..do anything but s..sit and watch as he….he". Nyla licked my neck, tears in her eyes as well.
"He n..noticed us w..watching and came up to us. Judith stepped in front of us, b..but he swatted her into a wall with all his strength. Sidney was bitten into a..a..and her neck was snapped. He c..came after me, b..but I ran a..and screamed f..for help". I moved my wing over my side to show a faint, but huge bite mark scar. They both gasped. "He would have killed me if our neighbors hadn't shoved him back. They brought me to stay at the nest's nursery. He came back and I led him away; no matter how many dragons protested. And so, he's been after me ever since".
I got up and looked at them both. "I'm s..sorry ab..bout your family, and whatever mine brings". They both wrapped a paw around my back and pulled me into a hug. We all had a crying fit that lasted for hours. I would calm, then cry, then be calm, and cry again. They held me tight, like almost crushing me tight, but I didn't care. I miss my older sisters, but I have Toothless and Nyla now. No, they can never replace them, but they're here for me now, and have all I need as a hatchling. I love them, and they've proved to me they can always love me back.
My greatest fear is that they'll get hurt or die because I'm here. 'No, if he comes for me and puts them in a position of death, I'll offer myself up. I'll lure him away and give them some time to get up' I thought. They promised me that they'd protect me and never let anything happen to me. We'll, I promise them the same thing, even if they can't hear me. They'd never let me protect them. I tighten my grip on both of them. "I love you guys". They both stopped their nuzzling and licking and just held onto me. Nyla stuttered out close to silently "I love you too". Toothless echoed her.
I smiled and just closed my eyes holding onto them. Yes, I loved them more than words could say. This is what family is. This is who my family is and I wouldn't trade them for anything. They took me in, healed me, protected me, saved me, cared for me. I tried, but failed to walk away from them. I shut them out, left, and even ignored them. But yet they didn't give up on me, no they did what family does. Brought me back. And that is something worth fighting for.
So that's what I'll do. Fight, because I owe them that. I owe myself that.
Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry I've been slacking on my stories, the end of the school year is nearing and tests are arising! So, just a head's up my stories will be coming out slower in the near future. But anyways, I hope you like the new chapter and comment if you want more.
-LlamaQueen666
