A/N: I do not own HTTYD or any of the characters.

Special thanks to HurryPollo for editing.

Reviews are appreciated.


Ch. 7: Nadder Dodging and Freedom

"So you don't think the pulley would hold?" Hiccup asked, looking up from the arena floor to Gobber, who was leaning up against the railing above him.

He heard the Nadder approaching, and walked off to his left to avoid being found.

Gobber had set up a maze in the ring, to teach the trainees to be aware of their surroundings while in combat. The other students seemed to be floundering, with the random attacks from the Nadder.

But Hiccup, with his extra sense was just avoiding the dragon while talking to Gobber. It helped that the dragon couldn't seem to be quiet. It was always humming or commenting on the trainees' behavior.

Gobber just assumed he was working on another one of his projects, but Hiccup was really just looking for a way to get the nightfury out of that pit. Specifically, he was trying to figure out a way to use pulleys and the loose tree the dragon had told him about to lift the dragon out of the pit.

"Focus, Hiccup! You're not even trying!" Gobber said indignantly as Hiccup successfully avoided another encounter with the dragon.

"Today is all about attack!" Gobber said to the trainees in general, "Nadder's are quick, and light on their feet. Your job is to be quicker and lighter."

Hiccup heard Fishlegs yelp in surprise from nearby in the maze, followed by the Nadder's, the other female dragon, laugh.

"I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!" Fishlegs yelled.

"Look for its blind spot, every dragon has one, find it, hide in it, and strike."

You forgot to strike! The Nadder said cheerily, and Hiccup heard the twins yelling and running away from the dragon.

"So, so how would I get the pulley to hold?" Hiccup asked, stopping below the man.

"You need to anchor it into something more solid than dirt, now get in there!" the mustached man chided, pointing to the maze behind him.

"Hiccup," someone whispered to his right, and Hiccup turned to see Astrid and Snotlout kneeling by a corner. The blonde gestured for him to get down.

He registered the Nadder's humming from just around the corner, and shook his head, indicated that they should follow him, and turned and walked the other way, trying to recall if there were any trees near the edge of the cove that he could drill into.

"Do you think a tree would do? If I drill into it?" he asked Gobber, ignoring the people running past him.

"Hiccup!" Gobber exclaimed, exasperated, throwing his hand out.

He turned just in time to see Astrid falling toward him. He raised his shield and managed to block her axe, but the two fell to the ground.

Hiccup registered the twins making cat calls, but Hiccup ignored them, he looked off to the side to see the Nadder getting up. The pain from the Nadder's head making him dizzy-"Ugh"

He felt Astrid push him down on his chest as she got up, knocking the breath out of him.

She saw the Nadder approaching them, and twisted her shield and axe off of his arm, then hitting the dragon in the face, shattering the shield.

Hiccup hissed at both the pain in his arm and the Nadder's. It hurt.

"Is this some kind of a joke to you?!" Astrid asked, and Hiccup looked up through the pain to find her glaring at him.

"Our parent's war is about to become our own. Figure out what side you're on," she said, pointing her axe in his face. She turned and then left.

Hiccup sat up slowly, the statement striking him.

Which side of the war was he on?

Sure he was human now, and cared about his tribe.

But would any of this matter when his body changed?

Would he even remember these people?

Hiccup felt his hands tremble at the thought.

What if he ended up killing these people?

"Hiccup? Something wrong?" Betty asked, walking up to him, the stern woman looked concerned.

"It's nothing," Hiccup said, lifting himself up off the ground.

"Right, come on, let's go," Betty said, obviously defaulting to the 'walk it off' attitude Berk warriors were known for. The two walked out of the arena, and to the training grounds.

Betty taught him the basic stances for sword fighting, and a few basic movements, and instructed him to go over them every day, until they were instinct. Even though they merely did stances and basic movements, by noon Hiccup's arms and legs were sore, too sore to make the trek to the cove and back in time for work at the smithy.

He silently apologized to the nightfury as he walked off the training field.

"Rough training, eh?" Gobber said, as Hiccup dragged himself into the shop.

"Why do I have to be so weak?" Hiccup asked, leaning his sword up against the wall and putting on his apron.

"Oh, this again." Gobber rolled his eyes, picking up a heated blade form the fire.

"It was just basic movements, nothing strenuous and I'm exhausted!" Hiccup complained, throwing his arms out.

"It's because you're working muscles in ways they've never been used before," Gobber said, adding under his breath, "you have enough energy to complain though," He hammered the metal he was working with, "You'll bulk up a bit eventually."

"Like I was supposed to doing this job?" Hiccup said, throwing his hands up in the air, "Because that worked out well," he scoffed sarcastically.

"You're here to learn, not bulk up," Gobber chided, pointing with his hammer arm, "it's your mother's genes. She was as thin as a twig too, then she hit puberty and bulked up, you just have to be patient."

"It seems that's all I can do these days," Hiccup sighed, pulling on his gloves and getting to work.

"So what's this project you've been hounding me all day about?" Gobber asked.

"It's hard to explain, but essentially I need to lift something up a wall," Hiccup said, "I have a weight that I can drop to counter act it, but I don't think there's a place to put a pulley."

"How big of a scale are we talking?" Gobber paused in his work.

"Not… anything big."

"Hiccup, if you're launching things again…"

"I'm not."

"You know what your father said," Gobber said, shaking his finger, "after the yak incident-"

"I'm not launching anything!" Hiccup insisted, and Gobber frowned looking at him suspiciously.

"I'm putting my foot down," Gobber said, "no more of this business. Find a different project. It's gonna end badly, I just know it."

"But-"

"No," Gobber said, glaring at him, and then turned back to his work, "if I find one pulley missing, you're losing a hand, got it?"

Hiccup sighed resignedly, and began to tidy up the shop.

So much for plan B.

The two worked steadily, until dusk came, and then they made their way up to the watch tower for evening dragon training. They started up a fire pit, and eventually got around to telling stories. Hiccup wasn't really listening, until Snotlout's outburst caught his attention.

"I swear I'm so angry right now!" the black haired teen growled at his chicken, "I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the legs of every dragon I fight. With my face."

"Nah, it's the tails and the wings you really want," Gobber said, emphasizing his point by pulling the wing bone off of his chicken, "if it can't fly, it can't get away. A downed dragon is a dead dragon."

Hiccup's eyes widened, an idea coming to his head.

It was crazy.

But it would work.

Hiccup stood up and left the hut, walking down the stairs quickly.

Blueprints forming in his brain.

He worked all night, in the forge.

Hammering away at the iron rods and making sure they were perfectly balanced. When the dawn came up in the morning, Hiccup was holding the world's first artificial dragon limb in his hands. He had dragon training in a few hours, but Hiccup felt that this was more important than training. He grabbed a whole basket of fish from the food storage, and ran into the forest before the morning watch was on duty.

Where were you yesterday?! The dragon called, as Hiccup entered the cove.

"Sorry, I got held up yesterday," Hiccup said, out of breath from carrying the basket, his muscles sore, "but I got great news, I know how to get you out of here, and get you up into the air again!"

You're crazy, how much sleep did you get last night? You have bags under your eyes…

"I'm not that crazy," Hiccup said, as he landed on the dirt floor of the cove. He set down the basket, and held up the product of his night's work.

The dragon looked at the device, curiously.

Hiccup smiled, and then opened it wide, presenting the final shape to the dragon.

That- THAT'S A TAIL FIN! The dragon cheered excitedly.

"Yeah!" Hiccup said, picking up on the dragon's enthusiasm. He smiled, "Yeah, my mentor gave me the idea, he's got an artificial leg and arm as well, so I thought, why not just give you one?"

This is so exciting! I'm going to fly again! The dragon said, jumping around happily. Come on, put it on!

"You need to stay still for me to do that," Hiccup laughed, as the dragon jumped around like a little kid, "here, eat your fish and I'll put it on," Hiccup said, kicking over the basket of fish.

The dragon moved to sift through the pile, but started hissing.

What the hell is that thing doing in here?!

"Whoa, whoa, calm down," Hiccup said, stepping forward. He saw the black and yellow stripped eel mixed in with the fish, "are you talking about the eel?" Hiccup asked, holding it up.

Don't touch it! It's poison! What the hell are you doing?! What if it bites you?!

"One, its dead. Two, It's not poisonous to me, I'm not a dragon," Hiccup said, rolling his eyes, he tossed the dead sea snake off to the side, "there, better?"

The dragon narrowed his eyes at him, and then shook his whole body like one big cat before starting to eat. Hiccup smirked at the gesture, and carried the tail fin over to the end of the dragon's body.

He placed the artificial limb down, and reached for the dragon's tale, bringing the two together.

Is it on? The dragon asked, shifting to turn around, thus moving his tail.

"No. Stop moving. Eat your fish." Hiccup said, grabbing the belts for the tail. He buckled the limb to the tail, and then examined it, opening the mechanism.

"There," he said, smiling to himself, happy at how close the artificial tail looked to the real one.

All done? The dragon asked, and Hiccup could feel the anticipation inside him.

"Alright, you're free to go, let's see what happens." Hiccup said, stepping back.

The dragon shifted, adjusting its stance, than unfurled his wings to their greatest extent.

The nightfury took off with a powerful beat of his wings, shooting forward faster than Hiccup thought possible. But the artificial wing didn't stay open, closing due to the wind.

The dragon let out a frustrated yell as he fell down into the water.

It didn't work! He said, surfacing, and looked over at him, I don't understand…

"It didn't stay open, damn it all. Why didn't I think of that? Come here, let me look at it," Hiccup said tiredly, rubbing his neck. The dragon swam to the water's edge, and dragged himself out of the water. He sat down on his haunches, and put his tail in front of him.

Hiccup approached and looked at the tail, "I'll need to find some way to keep it open during flight."

Hiccup frowned, looking at the tail, "This is going to be hard," he said, pulling out his notebook, he started to sketch out ideas on ways to keep the tail open in flight.

But you can you fix it?

"I think so, but it's going to take time, do you adjust your tail during flight? Or does it just stay flat?"

It needs to be able to adjust. Like this. He said, demonstrating by flapping the living fin up and down, It lets me turn without changing my body angle, as well as turn sharply.

"Yeah, this is going to take a while then," Hiccup said, writing down notes. Maybe if he had the mechanism adjust to the angle of the other tail fin?

Wow, your mind works so differently from ours.

"What?" Hiccup asked, looking up from his work.

Never mind, it wasn't anything important.

"This isn't good," Hiccup admitted after a while, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "I could get this to work but… it would take-months to build the mechanism, and even then you would still have to come in so I could oil it."

That's too much time to be stuck down in a hole, and too much work for the future. What happens if it breaks?

"Yeah I know," Hiccup bit his lip, thinking, "I'll keep this in mind for later though, and maybe I can do something with it. Looks like we'll have to figure out another way to get you out of this hole…"

Well… The dragon shifted, and he could feel uncertainty coming off the dragon, I don't think the idea of my flying out is too bad. I mean why not cut out the self-adjusting mechanism completely?

"Then what's going to change the tail angle in mid-flight?"

You could.

"Wait, as in I ride you?"

Yeah. Do you think it's doable?

"Certainly. But-you won't be able to fly freely…," Hiccup said, "Are you okay with that?"

Well I'm not exactly ecstatic about it, but…

"Then, no," Hiccup dismissed "we aren't doing it if you're uncomfortable with it."

Well think about it. The dragon said, looking at him strait in the eye, You manage to shoot me down, a shot that is nearly impossible to make. And then when you come to find me your curse comes back into play. You can talk to dragons now, which allows us to communicate. This- the dragon lifted up his tail and put it down with a thump- happens. You happen to be knowledgeable in artificial limbs. There are too many coincidences for this to not be the work of the Norns.

Hiccup was silent for a while, taking all of this in, "Why couldn't I just have a normal, boring life?" Hiccup asked, looking up into the sky. He groaned and covered his eyes, falling back down to the ground, "They just keep throwing these things at me, and I feel like a puppet, you know? What do they want me to do?! I'm just one human! I can't do much!"

I guess we'll figure out eventually. The dragon said, watching several birds fly across the clearing.

"Fine, but if we're doing this, you need a name," Hiccup said, rubbing his eyes, "I can't just refer to you as 'dragon' or 'nightfury' all the time."

How do you pick names then? The dragon asked, looking down at him.

"I don't know. I've never named something before. Maybe we just brainstorm until it clicks?"

Why are you named Hiccup?

"My parents chose that, because I'm so small compared to other Vikings," Hiccup explained sourly, "Hiccup is a traditional name for the runt of a litter."

So names are based off physical attributes.

"Some of them are. It's a good start, if anything. Right so… not Blacky. That makes you sound like a pet," Hiccup said, sitting up on his arms, "You kind of look like a bat…"

No. I don't want to be associated with those flying rodents. The dragon said, making a displeased face.

"Well then, give me something to work with here."

The black creature looked down at his hind feet, thinking.

I can retract my teeth? He suggested, opening his mouth and showing the human how he could pull his teeth into his gums.

"How about Toothless, then?"

It's ironic. I like it. So now I have a name, how does it work?

"It's used to identify you, specifically in speech," Hiccup explained, "like say I'm looking for you, and I have no idea where you are. I would walk up to someone and ask them, 'Have you seen Toothless?' and they would say 'Yeah, I saw him over by the barn,' and then I would know where to go. Its simple things like that."

I see, like if I we were in a group, and I needed to address you specifically I would say 'Hiccup' then ask you the question. It's another form of identification, but by sound.

"Exactly," Hiccup said, smiling.

The two lapsed into silence for a minute or two, watching the clouds roll by.

So what do you do in your village? Toothless asked, breaking the silence.

"I do this," Hiccup said, gesturing to the tail fin, still attached to the sitting dragon's tail, "I build stuff out of metal. Like swords and axes."

Oh, you work in one of those really smelly houses, what's the word… a forge?

"Yeah, I help out there. I'm also in training to be a dragon fighter… but I don't think I'll go very far in that field," Hiccup said sadly, shuffling his foot. He had finally gotten his wish, a chance to prove himself, and then the Norns had to rear their ugly heads. Two weeks ago he would have died to be in training. Now he was sitting here talking to a dragon, skipping classes. Life was funny like that.

Then why learn it at all?

"Because it's required," Hiccup sighed, "and a good skill to have just in case of emergency."

I see.

"So what do you do?"

I hunt, eat, sleep. Fly. Sometimes I join in on raids when the queen asks me too.

"Queen?"

A queen is a leader of a hive. They have the power to control large groups of dragons. They're kind of like the chief of a human tribe in a way. The queen leads the dragons, and in return they do her work and protect her.

"That sounds kind of like a losing situation for the normal dragons, doesn't it?"

Eh. Not really, because queens are different. They have powers that go beyond mortality. They can take a mass of panicking individuals, and guide them into strait lines. We group together under queens for the same reason humans make tribes, there is more of a chance that we'll get food. And that we will survive when attacked. Many hands make a whole, you see? But there are good queens and bad queens. Some prefer to take full control of their subject's minds, eliminating all free thought. That would be a bad queen.

"Ah, so the dragon raids, they're attacks lead by the queen?"

Yeah, for food. I'm not one of her hatchlings though; I just don't want to see dragons get hurt.

"Which is why you've never been caught before, probably," Hiccup mused, "because you can just bail when things are too dangerous."

"Everyone in my village is so terrified of you," Hiccup said quietly, looking up at the dragon sitting next to him, "they think you're a demon, that would kill them just by making eye contact… but you're not. You're just like me, or any other person. You just happen to have a different shaped body than me. And it's not just you, but the other dragons, they're all intelligent too."

We can fly and breathe fire. The dragon reminded him, his ear fins lowering to his head, We eat meat, and some of us even eat humans. Your people fear and hate us for good reasons.

"Yeah I guess you're right," Hiccup sighed, drawing a spiral in the dirt with his stick, "I just feel like things could be different, you know?"

Yeah, I feel that way sometimes, too.

The two fell back into silence.

"If I'm going to… if we're going to do this I'm going to need to make a saddle."

Of course. Toothless snorted. I don't want your boney butt poking me.

"Ha, Ha. Very funny." Hiccup said "As I was saying, other than that it should be simple to keep the tail fin open."

"Actually," Hiccup said, his eyes lingering on the broken net still attached to the wall, "I think… that we could at least get you out of this hole with what we have here."

Really?

"Yeah, we just need some rope, give me a second," Hiccup said, standing up and starting to climb the boulders to get out of the cove.

Do you actually think this will work?

"I hope so," Hiccup said from the rim of the cove as he walked over to the broken net, still hanging over the wall. He undid the nails keeping it in the ground, and made his way back into the cove, "At least this thing is going to have a purpose, rather than just becoming trash," he said, then started unweaving it. He didn't stop until he had a long enough length, and then cut it off with his knife.

"Right now I just tie it here," Hiccup said, tying one end to the first metal rung of the artificial tail, "and… that should be good enough to get you out of this cove," he said, "eh, where do you want me to sit?"

On my shoulder blades, I guess. Toothless said, crouching down.

Hiccup nodded, and making sure that the rope wasn't going to get tangled in Toothless' wing he sat down on top of the dragon and pulled the rope taunt, the tail opening easily.

Hold on. Toothless warned, and then stood up.

"Whoa," Hiccup said, catching his balance with his free hand.

No, this isn't going to work. Toothless advised, crouching back down on the ground, nearly causing Hiccup to fall off, You need both hands to hold on with or you're going to fall off.

"Yeah, I guess you're right..." Hiccup said, jumping off, he looked down at the net, "I can use part of this to hold on," he said, picking up a piece of the ruined net, "and we can tie the rope to my leg, and I'll control the tail fin that way."

Sounds like a plan. Toothless said, walking forward and letting Hiccup tie the piece of netting around his neck. Let's just hope we don't fall and bash out skulls in.

"You aren't much of an optimist, are you?" Hiccup asked, after he had secured the netting around his neck.

Toothless shrugged, More of a realist. Flapping his wings a little, and lowered his neck so Hiccup could get on. Hiccup got up again, and tied the rope to his left foot, making sure the line was taut.

"Alright, let's try this again," he said, gripping onto the broken netting.

Toothless unfurled his wings again, and raised them, then jumped forward and brought them down.

Hiccup closed his eyes, expecting them to hit the water, but another beat of the wings brought them higher.

"We're up!" Hiccup laughed happily, picking up on Toothless' sudden burst of happiness.

Hold on tight.

Toothless twisted his body, and they took a banking left turn, down the length of the cove, rising higher as they went.

By the time they had reached the wall, they were higher than it, and then the trees, soaring just above their tops.

Hiccup looked down and gasped, looking at how high they were, the ground flashing past them quickly.

"This is amazing."

This is nothing.

Toothless turned his body again, and they came across a clearing in the trees.

We're going down, be careful not to fall off.

Toothless said, and curled up his wings.

The ground came in fast, and even though Hiccup was sure Toothless had landed as gently as he could, Hiccup still found himself almost being thrown off due to momentum. He made a mental note to add a harness to the saddle.

"That was so cool!" Hiccup said, jumping off the dragon, tripping over the rope connecting him to the tail.

I'm just glad to be out of that hole. Toothless said, helping Hiccup untangle himself

"Yeah, this is like the best day ever. So much better than training."

You're missing training right now? Won't you get in trouble?

"I'll probably just have to feed the dragons or something as a punishment-" Hiccup shrugged, untying the rope from his foot-"helping you, was more important."

We should get you back to the village. Toothless said, his mood dropping, bringing Hiccup'senergy levels down with him, Untie the rope and get back on; I'll take you closer in.

"Okay," Hiccup said, untying the rope, and getting back on Toothless.

Hold on, we're gonna go fast.

"Ready," Hiccup said, holding onto the netting, and Toothless took off toward the village, fast.

The trees were going by in a quick blur, the world turned to a foggy green. Toothless bounded over logs and boulders with ease, weaving through the trees almost like a spirit.

It all came to an end too soon; as the dragon slid to a stop and Hiccup could just make out the smoke of chimneys in the distance.

"Wow," Hiccup said, dismounting, "you really are fast."

Thanks.

Hiccup untied the rope from Toothless' neck, and after a second of contemplation, he removed the tail, "I'm going to make some adjustments to this," He explained, "now that you're not in the cove, where do you want to meet up? This close to the town you'll be found for sure."

I'll meet you at the crash site around noon tomorrow. Toothless said, nudging him toward the town. No more skipping training either, understand?

"Right," Hiccup said, gathering up his supplies, "see you tomorrow, Toothless."

Have a good day, Hiccup. The dragon said, then took off into the woods.

Hiccup quickly went and dropped the tail and ropes at his house, grabbed his sword, and ran up to the arena.