Ch. 7

Hiccup's brief snooze was cut short when Toothless bounded back and lifted him into the air by his good foot. "AAHHH!" When Hiccup realized it was only Toothless fooling around, he stopped flailing. "You just had to do that, didn't you." Toothless opened his mouth and Hiccup dropped onto the ground with a thump. "At least you retracted your teeth this time." Toothless grumbled and once Hiccup was standing, promptly knocked him over with a huff. "You made your point, don't offend a Night Fury, I'm sorry," Hiccup said righting himself. Toothless, eager to get back to Valka urged Hiccup to gather the remains of his tail fin and saddle before rushing off into the foliage. "what's gotten into you bud?" Hiccup not able to keep pace with Toothless waited a few seconds for Toothless to realize Hiccup wasn't behind him and return.

The sun was setting when Toothless returned to the clearing with Hiccup. It hadn't taken that long, but the evening was setting in fast. Hiccup stumbled out into the clearing and fell onto Toothless's tail, his prosthetic having caught an unseen root. "Hiccup, are you hurt?" "yeah, must've tripped on a—" Hiccup stopped, remembering that Toothless could in fact not speak. He looked up, "MOM?!" "Hiccup, you've been missing for 2 weeks, the whole village is worried about you." While Hiccup and Valka talked, Toothless looked around in dismay, "Cloudjumper, did Eletra say where she went?" "she didn't say, she was in a rush to leave before you and Hiccup returned." "I need to talk to her before we leave for Berk" "I wouldn't worry, Valka will probably want to spend the night here," Cloudjumper said reassuringly. "Thank you Cloudjumper" smiling he turned back to Hiccup who was still talking with his mom.

"I'm sorry mom, I was trying out some improvements I made to my flight suit when something happened to Toothless, I landed on this island and only found him in the last few days." "I can see that," Valka said vaguely upset at her son. "Astrid might not forgive you so easily." "Yeeah" Hiccup said wincing, not wanting to dwell on what painful receptions awaited him back on Berk, Hiccup changed the subject. "Did you bring Toothless's backup tailfin with you?" He held up the tattered remains of the current tailfin, bent metal, and scraps of tattered blotches of red made up what was once Toothless's tailfin. Valka was surprised by the condition of Toothless's saddle, showing all the wrong signs of Toothless getting into a fight on the island. The two Vikings puzzled over how Toothless would make it back to Berk with such perfectly damaged equipment. Toothless meanwhile took this time to escape back to Eletra, hoping his time with her was not coming to an end.

"Eletra?" Toothless called out as he entered the cave, it felt—empty. Looking around he saw her against the wall with her eyes glazed over. Eletra did not hear Toothless enter as she was trapped in her thoughts. "How quickly is he going to leave? Will he just slowly fade away?" she felt a soft nudge yet couldn't rouse herself from her thoughts. "ELETRA" Instantly she snapped back to reality. "Thascale!" Toothless was taken aback when she pressed her muzzle into his, it was unexpected, but not unwelcome. After a long moment, she backed away, obviously pleased with herself. "I hope I wasn't too forward with you Thascale." Toothless felt as if he'd just won 3 rounds of dragon racing without stopping to rest. His heart raced, his head felt light, and he felt unusually warm all over. Toothless tried to speak, but nothing came out—the shock had yet to wear off.

Eletra watched as Toothless tried to collect himself, with limited success. "I—I wanted to talk to you" He finally said after recovering his scattered wits. Both Night Furies soon left the cave to sit on the ledge. "Thascale, when Valka repairs your gear, you're going to leave aren't you?" "Yes—" Eletra looked at him her eyes a mixture of sadness and anger. He quickly finished. "—I am going to leave, but I want you to come back to Berk with me." Eletra's eyes lit up, her fears dissipating, dozens of possible replies passed thru her head before speaking, some less dignified than others. "Thank you!" Toothless was unsure how he'd bring Eletra to Berk without alerting Hiccup, "maybe Cloudjumper will be willing to assist me" he thought. Several minutes past before Eletra spoke again. "Thascale, how will you get me to Berk? I don't know how to get there unless I trail behind you and Hiccup." "I was going to ask Cloudjumper to fly back and guide you to Berk under cover of night." "Why all this secrecy? I can understand Hiccup from what you've told me, but sneak me in without anyone knowing?" She was confused, Toothless responded without missing a beat. "I want you to be comfortable with your new home before introducing you to a bunch of new Vikings and dragons." She smiled, happy to have a definite answer.

Early the next morning, Eletra awoke shortly before the sunrise to an unusual sensation, she thought the ground was breathing. Opening her eyes, she looked for the reason for this phenonium, only to find in the night she'd moved and was using Toothless's neck as a pillow. Embarrassed, she moved away, just to see his tail twitch. When she looked back Toothless was staring at her curiously. "Is my tail that fascinating?" he teased. "Oh stop, I was just—I mean I was just—" she stopped and gave Toothless an unconvincing glare, he chuckled before getting up. "I need to get back before Hiccup wakes up, just stay on this island and wait for Cloudjumper tonight." " Alright Thascale, I look forward to seeing you again." "As do I" after a quick grin, he left to return to Hiccup.

Toothless arrived back at the clearing, settled down, and pretended he never left. "Toothless, where've you been? Valka brought a spare tail fin for you, I don't know what to do about your saddle." Hiccup said to his dragon. Toothless looked around and found he must've fallen asleep after settling back in. Toothless soon realized that while Valka had brought a spare tailfin, that was all she brought. Hiccup needed his help to ensure the tailfin wouldn't close mid-flight. One scorched patch of ground later, Toothless had melted the joints in the tailfin together, so now it was incapable of closing. While this did result in the loss of part of the leather, Hiccup was not concerned. "I think that about does it, great work bud."

Neither Hiccup or Valka thought of a way to repair the extensive damage to his saddle, so it was that when they left, the saddle stayed behind. Toothless had a difficult time staying level with the improvised solution for the tailfin. It worked, but Toothless could feel the difference, and he did not like it. "Are you going to keep pretending that your tailfin is not working as it should all the way to Berk?" Cloudjumper, who was not easily fooled, asked after watching Toothless for some time. "I want to keep my mind busy, that way I won't turn around." Cloudjumper was initially confused but then remembered the female Night Fury. "You miss her, don't you? Is there anything I can do Toothless?" Leveling out momentarily, Toothless responded, "yes, please fly back tonight and guide Eletra back to Berk, please have her fly to the cove that I so often go to." Cloudjumper agreed with minimal questions, and soon Toothless resumed his fakery.

On Berk, word had spread of Valka going to search for Hiccup, confirming opinions throughout the village that something had indeed happened to Hiccup and his dragon. Astrid waited impatiently for Hiccup to return, she would ensure he was alive—and then kill him. When Hiccup finally arrived at Berk, it was a warm reception, everyone was relieved to see Hiccup and Toothless return safely. The welcoming, however, was interrupted by Astrid, who after pushing her way thru the crowd, greeted Hiccup with a punch to the left arm. "OWW! Astrid, you're—" but he didn't have the chance to finish his remark, as Astrid had already firmly planted their lips together. A long moment, and several cheers later, she stepped back—before stomping on his good foot. "YEOW! Hiccup said hoping on his prosthetic as he held his good foot with both hands, but he quickly fell backward onto his dragon; his fake leg having slipped in the dirt. "What was that for?! You've already punched me." "That was for making me wait two weeks to punch you for getting lost!" Astrid said before walking off into the dissipating crowd feeling satisfied.