6/15/10

A Place To Call Home

Summary: Something is wrong with Toothless and Hiccup is going to do whatever it takes to make it right.

Disclaimer: All rights to "How To Train Your Dragon" belong to DreamWorks and Cressida Cowell; I own nothing except an awesome Toothless plushie.

Chapter 7

"Dragon!" Stoick bellowed testily upon landing on the small island. "Show yourself, you great devil!" He was irritated from the long flight, the first half of which he had spent trying to keep down last evening's meal, and the second half trying to get the blue dragon's back spike out of his ass cheek. He honestly couldn't see the attraction to flying through the air. If Great Father Odin had wanted them to fly he would have made them birds.

The flock of Night Furies surrounding them took exception to the large man and made shrieks of protest, flapping their wide leathery wings. Astrid placed a delicate hand on his arm, and cleared her throat. "Sir, it might a good idea to act more…tactfully." She gave him a hopeful smile.

The Viking chief looked at her, brows furrowed. Tact? With a dragon? But he had to remember that she, and the other village youth, knew much more about the beasts than he did. It was a hard concession to make for a Viking of his years, but one did not lead an entire village without some consideration to other viewpoints. And he was here for Hiccup; that was the most important thing. The leather straps of the saddle groaned in his hands as he gripped the bundle tightly.

He started again, raising his voice to be heard, but keeping the vitriol out of it. "Toothless. I need to speak with you." Astrid smiled up happily at him, though he felt foolish at the mere thought of having a conversation with a dragon. "Please," he added while looking at his future daughter-in-law. She nodded in approval.

Several moments marched on as they waited anxiously. "Maybe he won't come," Stoick said, trying to keep the regret out of his voice. "What Hiccup did, it may have broken him. It may be too late."

"No," she said a little too quickly, as if perhaps she were ashamed of having the same thoughts. Astrid had told him about leaving Toothless on the island, about how the dragon had been driven half mad by the abandonment. Having known the no-nonsense girl all her life, Stoick was certain there was no exaggeration in her description, and the catch in her voice spoke volumes about her own feelings of guilt over the situation. "He'll come. He has to." She put her fingers in the corners of her mouth and let out a sharp whistle. "Toothless! Please! He didn't mean it, I swear!"

Their attention was drawn by a commotion, and they shortly realized that a Night Fury was trying desperately to walk to them, while another held on to its tail, wings flapping to gain purchase. "Oh my," he heard Astrid gasp at his elbow. "That must be his mate. Hiccup said she was, um…Viking-like."

Stoick could only chuckle. Toothless' eyes were wide and focused on them as he dragged the smaller female along in his wake. Finally, grown tired of the effort, he stopped and gave a frustrated roar over his shoulder at her. Blinking in affront, the female released her hold and gave a squawk of consternation in return, but Toothless had already taken advantage of the freedom and bounded to them quickly He sniffed excitedly at Stoick and Astrid, and then at the Nadder, finally sniffing the sand around them, searchingly.

"He's not here," Stoick said softly, his heart filling with inexplicable compassion for the beast, and the even more inexplicable look of disappointment on his face. Shaking his head at the mere thought, Stoick stepped forward, clutching the roll to his chest. "Toothless, I've come to take you home. What Hiccup did, was terrible, but it was done out of love, even if it was short-sighted and dim-witted." He held the bundle out. "He's miserable without you and, I believe…" he looked back at Astrid who gave him a nod of encouragement, "you belong with us, on Berk."

Toothless sat watching them, nostrils flaring. Then he glanced over his shoulder, towards his mate. She gave a soft bleat of sadness before turning and walking slowly back to the woods. Toothless stepped towards Stoick and took the crimson tailfin in his mouth, giving it quick tug. Both Vikings smiled in relief.

Hiccup woke up with a pounding headache and a dry mouth. Laying on his back staring at nothing, he listened. The house was empty, but the sounds of the village filtered in. He wanted to sleep more, but he knew he really needed to get out of bed. He hadn't been to the forge in two, three days? He'd lost track. His stomach groaned painfully as the dinner bell sounded from the great hall. Had he really slept through the whole day? Hiccup sighed in resignation.

Once dressed, he walked outside. The sun hung lazily over the western horizon, as if it were a small child trying to put off bed for as long as possible. With shoulders hunched, Hiccup strolled leisurely down the path, occasionally kicking a stone out of his way carelessly. He was vaguely aware of a crowd gathering in the village square, murmurs of surprise and gasps of astonishment reached his ears, but he paid them no attention. He was about to turn towards the great hall, when an excited voice cried out, "Night Fury!"

The young man's eyes snapped up. He realized that many people in the crowd were pointing up. Shading his eyes with his hand he followed their gestures, and his jaw nearly crashed to the ground as he saw the pair of dragons – one shimmering black and sporting a jaunty crimson tailfin, the other brilliant blue – gliding overhead. They banked hard over the sea before touching down in the square. Enthusiastic cheers erupted around him, but all Hiccup could see was…

"Toothless!" he cried and rushed to the dragon. He was overwhelmed by the force of emotion he felt at seeing his friend again, the feeling of a great weight being lifted from his heart. "Buddy," he sighed happily, pressing his forehead against the dragon's face. Toothless, equally happy to be reunited with his rider, returned the embrace with vigorous headbutts and snorts, while pawing at the ground excitedly. "I'm so happy to see you! And I'm so sorry," he whispered.

"As well you should be," a deep voice rumbled in his ear. Hiccup stepped back, confused momentarily, that the Night Fury had just spoken to him. Perhaps this was just a fevered dream after all? But Toothless merely regarded him as he always did with those over-large golden eyes and remained steadfastly silent. Hiccup nearly jumped out of his skin as a beefy hand landed heavily on his shoulder. The start made him lose his balance and his arms wind-milled out to try to regain his footing, but the hand caught his arm easily and righted him. "Easy there, son. What's gotten into you?"

His eyes followed the hand up its attached arm to see the familiar ginger beard and hard eyes of his father, who stood surrounded by villagers cheering the first successful dragon flight of their chieftain. "Dad?" he asked in confusion as he became aware of the riding harness his father was wearing, or to be more specific, stretching out beyond repair. "Dad! You rode Toothless? Toothless, you let my dad ride you?"

The dragon chuffed noncommittally, as Stoick replied, "Eh, it was no big deal, once the beast learned who was in charge." A large tail, half black half red, swished up and swatted him in the back of the head. "Och! I'll rip the other one off, you devil!" Stoick growled, though Hiccup saw a gleam of humor in his green eyes. Toothless simply curled up on the ground as if to take an unconcerned nap.

Hiccup was again rethinking his dream theory, when a much sweeter voice called out his name. Craning his head around his father's ample mid-section he saw Astrid standing, smiling at him. "You did this?" he asked her.

She shrugged. "I helped. I owed it to him for not knocking you out when I should have."

"Hiccup," his father said, regaining his attention. "I understand why you did what you did, but there is an important lesson I want you to learn, especially if you're to become chief some day." Behind him Hiccup heard scoffs and snorts of derision, and Hiccup realized Snotlout and the twins must be close by. Ignoring them, Stoick continued. "It's important to make decisions with your head," he tapped Hiccup hard on the forehead causing his head to bob backwards, "but you also need to make them with your heart," and then he placed a palm on the young man's chest. "Never ignore your heart, that's where your power lies."

"Thanks, Dad," Hiccup said, as emotion welled up in his throat. He had ignored his heart, because he didn't want to selfishly keep Toothless away from his home, but in the end, maybe he had ignored what Toothless really wanted as well.

Hiccup was already planning on getting Toothless out of his gear and feeding him a boat load of fish and maybe getting a bundle of that wild grass he liked so much in apology when his father's large arm hooked around his shoulder, roughly pulling him close with a grunt. He noticed that Stoick had done the same with Astrid in the other arm. "Now that everyone is gathered anyway, I have an announcement to make," the chief's voice echoed around the square. "Arrangements have been made and my son will be marrying Astrid Hofferson! In two week's time, on Frigga's-Day, we will have a wedding!" The crowd exploded into enthusiastic cheers, because there wasn't anything the residents of Berk liked more than an excuse to eat and drink. "Let the preparations begin!"

"Wait, what? Two weeks…but, Dad we just got engaged," Hiccup said feeling the color drain from his face. "I mean, really what's the rush?" A quick look to Astrid told him she was equally as surprised.

Stoick looked between the two of them. "But you still want to be married, don't you?"

"Sure, yeah…"

"Of course, absolutely…"

"Then there's no need to wait. Winter will be here soon enough." He leaned his head down and dropped his voice, and with a wide smile said, "Besides, I'm just dying to meet my grandchildren." He patted them both on their shoulders and then released them. "Oh! That reminds me, I still have the night shirt I wore on my wedding night. Worked like a charm, blessed by Freyja it is. I'm sure with a little alteration it will fit you just fine. I know exactly where it is." With a clap of his hands, Stoick turned and started walking away.

Hiccup felt his stomach flip flop. "Dad, no, no that is so not necessary. Look, there are just some things that two men should not share." He glanced at Astrid and leaned over to give her a quick kiss on the check. "I'll see you later." Then he began hobbling as quickly as his legs could carry him after the larger Viking. "Dad. Dad! Wait! Really can we just talk reasonably about this?"

Toothless roused himself from his nap. He watched Hiccup for a moment before turning back to Astrid and placed his nostrils on her cheek where he'd seen Hiccup place his kiss, and blew a small puff of air out. She giggled in response, and then the dragon waddled happily after the two men. If any villagers happened to be watching, they would have given a double take, and then later, after four large stouts of ale, would swear the dragon was smiling.

-Fin