AN/ Thanks toothlessgolfer for beta reading this chapter. Please review, as always. Hope you enjoy this chapter.
An Unexpected Gift
Chapter Six
O
"So according to you, this plan will get us Hiccup without anyone knowing?" Alvin asked the trembling Outcast. They were in a sort of throne room that was actually just a big cave. The throne that Alvin was sitting on was made out of a rough wood and it didn't look very comfortable. There were banners on the walls that had seen better days and two guards at the entrance. A young man stood before him and it looked like he didn't want to be there at all.
"Yes... oh gr- great and mi- mi- mighty Alvin." He stuttered. He was scared out of his mind.
"Very well. If this works, you'll have earned yourself a promotion. If it doesn't..." Alvin said. He allowed the Outcast's imagination to finish the sentence. Sometimes silence was more powerful than words and this was one of those cases.
"You're dismissed." He said. The young soldier walked away in a brisk pace that he was trying to make as respectful as possible. The effect was almost comical.
"Send a messenger hawk to Mildew, tell him to come here as soon as possible. Send a boat to fetch him." Alvin said. One of the guards walked briskly away to carry out his orders.
"Is the chamber ready for use?" Alvin asked the remaining guard.
"No, but it will be in a couple days." The guard answered.
"Very well. It better work or those Danish torturers will know the meaning of irony." Alvin said. The guard didn't know what irony meant but wasn't anxious to find out so he just nodded politely.
T
Asking most of the dragons whether they knew of any Bewilderbeast nest nearby was exhausting. In hindsight it perhaps hadn't been the wisest idea to hold such an inquiry during the night, when most of the dragons were asleep. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but that was probably just because I preferred the night over the day. Just my nature as a Night Fury.
Turns out there had been some sightings of unknown dragons to the southeast. Hiccup was going to be happy to hear that, since it might indicate a Bewilderbeast. I was getting getting hungry at that point, so I decided to head down to the docks to steal some fish. No one would know since it's almost impossible for humans (and most dragons for that matter) to see me in this darkness. Not if I didn't want to be seen. As I flew down to the docks I noticed a lone figure walking to the opposite side of Berk. Judging by his direction it looked like he was coming from one of the farmhouses, the one with the dragon hating villager. He must have been taking a nighttime walk.
Even though I was flying very lazily I was still so fast that I didn't have any time to think about the matter further before I had arrived. I found a barrel of fish that was open at the top and ate only a few of them so that it would not be noticed.
Having sated my hunger, I made my way home. I slid stealthily through the big open window Hiccup had made so that I could come and go more easily and laid down on the stone slab.
Hiccups smell had changed even more as it slowly became more dragon-like. I was starting to like it.
He stirred in his sleep. He had slept restlessly these past days. When he turned so his back was to me I noticed two indentations in the blanket. So he was developing wings now. Perhaps when he takes his first flight he'll stop being so upset about the transformation.
I dreamt that night about flying beside Hiccup on a moonless night, the perfect environment for a Night Fury.
O
"You summoned me, Alvin the Treacherous?" Mildew asked.
"Obviously I did. I have conceived a plan to capture Hiccup and it involves you. There are a number of Outcast prisoners on Berk after the plan to kill Hiccup failed, causing us to lose a great number of men and a good portion of our fleet" Alvin said, looking at a human skull mounted on the wall when he said the part about the plan failing. The unfortunate owner of said skull had been the mastermind behind that particular ploy.
"Yes I know about the prisoners. I share a drink with one of the guards occasionally." Mildew said.
"Good. Your job is to wait until a night when Hiccup is separated from his Night Fury. Once he is, you have to release the prisoners silently and tell them where he lives and that they're supposed to capture him without anyone knowing. They must also know that there's a ship waiting for them in Eagle's Inlet for them to escape in. After that just go home and act surprised when they announce that the chief's son is missing." Alvin said.
"Fine, I'll do that. Anything else you wanted to tell me?" Mildew asked.
"No. Have you got anything to report to me?" Alvin asked.
"Why yes. They say that Hiccup is turning into a dragon. Held a meeting about it. I'm skeptical myself, after all, how could a thing like that be possible? I think he may just have contracted some strange disease and they're all jumping to conclusions." Mildew said, rambling slightly at the end.
"Yeah, most likely. Unless you have something else for me, you're dismissed." Alvin said, thinking about something else.
Mildew left quietly, secretly glad to get out of Alvin's presence.
H
I awoke that morning finding that I had somehow curled up in a ball in my sleep. Another aspect of my transformation. I uncurled myself and lay on my back staring at the ceiling. Or at least tried to because for some reason it was very uncomfortable to lie like this. Something on my back felt squished. Two somethings. As I sat up and touched my upper back I realized why. Two tiny little wings were attached to it. They were growing extremely fast, since they had only been stubs yesterday.
That was when I realized that Toothless was watching me from his slab.
"Hey bud. Find anything last night?" I asked sleepily.
"Yes, some unknown dragons to the southeast, could be a nest. How are the wings'" He said the first part dismissively, as if how I felt about the wings was much more important.
"Um... I'm not sure. Haven't had them very long." I tried moving them without much luck as I said this. Toothless looked at them attentively as I did.
"Try folding and unfolding them." He commented. So I did and found it much easier to do. Although 'Much easier' was still quite hard. Took me a few seconds to fold them completely.
"Keep practicing. You're using muscles that just grew a few hours ago, so it makes sense that they're so weak." He said after a few cycles of folding and unfolding. I could tell I was improving already, and could move them up and down a tad as well.
"Aside from the wings, I can see that there have been some other changes as well." He said, clearly wanting me to tell him more about them, so I obliged.
"Well, my eyes have changed, as you must have noticed. I have amazing night vision now, no wonder you prefer the night over day! I can also sense colour much better as well. Aside from my eyes, my nose is now much more sensitive, the scales have spread and a tail is starting to form." I replied. He was paying so much attention that he looked like he was drinking in my words.
"Interesting. It looks like the changes are speeding up." He said thoughtfully.
"Anyways, you were talking about some dragons to the southeast?" I asked.
"Yes, apparently quite a few of our dragons have noticed unknown dragons in that direction. As I said it could mean that there's a Bewilderbeast nest there. I didn't manage to ask all of our dragons since some of them were away but that does seem like our best lead." He answered. This sounded promising.
"We'll check it out later today then. In the meantime I have some... er... business to attend to. Can you ask the dragons who weren't here last night about the unknown dragons while I'm gone?" I asked him. He looked at me suspiciously.
"What business?" He asked. Oh boy.
"It's kinda private and since I know you can understand me I want you to stay out of it." I said. Things were a lot simpler when he was just a smart fire-breathing lizard with wings.
"It's about Astrid, isn't it?" He asked. How did he know?
"What? No, no, no this is something... else entirely. I'm going to have a... a...a private talk with dad. Yep, some quality father-son time. Definitely not going to tell Astrid how I feel about her. That would be preposterous!" I said. I never was a good liar. He was giving me an exasperated look now. Great job Hiccup, he knows. As usual.
"Ok, fine. I'm meeting with Astrid. Happy'?" I confessed. The look continued.
"And I'm going to tell her that I love her because I might not be able to with my own voice soon." I said. Shortly after discovering we could talk to each other I realized that I just can't keep secrets from him. Something about his eyes just make me spill.
"Hmph, about time. It's been two years since you two became a couple, if you had been dragons there would have been hatchlings by now. I don't get why humans take so long to court each other, seems inefficient." He said as he opened the large window to get out. What if I found a female Night Fury I liked? Would there be any reason to continue the relationship with Astrid if I find out I can't transform back? No, I mustn't think like that, of course I'll find a way. Even if I didn't what are the chances of finding a female Night Fury? And even if that unlikely scenario were to occur she would probably be more attracted to Toothless since he's better at being a Night Fury.
"Bud, one more question, what's it like to fly?" I asked. I was getting very curious.
"You already know that." He said, almost out the window.
"No, I mean solo-flying, not on someone's back." I responded. He stopped climbing out the window and turned around.
"The feeling is almost indescribable. If it were a word, other than 'flying', it would be freedom. Imagine falling, but you control where you fall to and how fast. You feel the air moving against your body and you know exactly how to use it to do... everything. Whatever I say won't do it justice, so you will just have to wait and find out for yourself." He said, and with that he flew out the window leaving me alone with my thoughts.
A
I was sharpening my axe while leaning against Stormfly that morning. Technically I didn't need to sharpen it as much as I did but the activity relaxes me and I've been needing a whole lot of relaxing the past few days.
I was almost done when I saw Hiccup approaching. He looked slightly sleepy which meant he had slept in again. His eyes were weird though, they seemed to shine more than usual and were greener. When he got close enough for me to see some details I discovered why. His eyes were completely different, all green with no white. Just like Toothless's.
"Before you ask, yes, my eyes have changed and yes, I have tiny wings now but can we put all that aside for now because there's something I've been meaning to tell you." Hiccup said, coming to a halt before me.
"What is it?" I said curious.
"I'm saying this now because soon I won't be able to. Astrid, I love you."