Hiccup was approaching the cove on the same level as the dragon. He was hiding between two huge boulders. He held up his shield in a gap between the two rocks and threw his fish out.
Someone nudged him in the back, and Hiccup jumped a foot in the air. He would've screamed if the person hadn't put her hand over his mouth to keep him quiet. Skullette gave him an unimpressed look before taking her hand off his mouth. How did she keep sneaking up on him like that?!
"Would you stop doing that?!" he hissed.
She rolled her eyes. Or from what he could see of them, her dark bangs falling over her eyes. Even if she could see, it'd be nearly impossible with all that hair. "Now what fun would that be?" she smirked. "Besides, someone's got to be around to make sure you don't get yourself killed."
"Like you'd be worried about that," grumbled Hiccup, starting to get fed up at this point.
"What was that?"
"Nothing!"
Hiccup turned back around, and he walked forward, but his shield then became wedged in between the boulders. Skullette heard the clang of the shield hitting the rocks and rolled her eyes yet again. She stepped out from behind him, and she ducked underneath the shield. Hiccup followed soon behind.
Hiccup looked around for the dragon, not spotting it on top of a flat rock jetting out the middle of the cliff side. Beside it was a tall, dark figure. Both were simply observing.
Skullette listened for the dragon, but couldn't hear any light footsteps, so she decided to listen a little closer as she sat down. Just faintly, she could hear breathing. And not just the patterns she normally heard with dragons, but human. There was another person here.
"I'll just wait here," she said, listening. "I'll tell you if I hear anyone coming." Right after that sentence left her mouth, she held up one hand to keep Hiccup silent since he normally couldn't go a few minutes without some sarcastic comment. She needed complete quiet. After a moment, she could finally pinpoint where she heard the breathing. With her right hand, she pointed towards the direction of where the Fury brothers watched, revealing a small stone ring on her finger. A faint glow of pink emitted off it, disappearing as she dropped her hand. "You might want to look over there," she remarked casually.
Just as Hiccup followed her advice, the Night Fury came out from its hiding spot and approached Hiccup. He took a few steps back, but stopped himself. He held out his fish to the dragon. The Night Fury purred as it slinked up to him. It suddenly growled, sending Hiccup a few more steps back. He had no clue what to do.
Looking up from where the dragon had come from, he saw the Night Rider staring down at him with that hateful glare again. His mask was on, obscuring his face. Yet his eyes still told that he wanted to run Hiccup through with a spear for even coming near the dragon. This time, his arm was in a makeshift sling that seemed to be made of various sources from the nature in the cove along with pieces of his ruined armor.
Meanwhile, Skullette froze in fear when she heard the soft footsteps of the dragon, thinking for a moment it was the Night Fury she shot down all those years ago. If it was, and she prayed it wasn't, she hoped it didn't notice her.
Hiccup touched his vest, and the dragon growled again. He got an idea of what was unsettling it. He touched his fingers to his knife, and the dragon growled even more. Maybe if he made himself seem less threatening, and more like he came in peace, the dragon would trust him at least a little. He took out the knife, outstretched his arm to the side, holding it out as far as his arm would go, and dropped it. It fell to the ground, but the dragon still seemed wary. Of course it would, Hiccup reminded himself. It probably thought he could go for it at any time.
He knelt down to touch the knife, and the dragon growled again. He got the message, and instead extended his foot out towards the knife. He balanced it on his foot, and kicked it into the water. When he looked back at the dragon, it sat back and purred again. Hiccup let out a breath, and the dragon approached him. It hesitantly reached its open mouth to the fish. There were no teeth in its mouth, only its gums showing.
"Huh, toothless," he mumbled. "Could have sworn you had…"
Teeth shot out from the gums, and the dragon snatched the fish out of his hands. Hiccup jumped, but all it did was gobble up the fish. "Teeth," he finished, his hands held close to his chest.
From above, he thought he heard something close to a chuckle. But he could've imagined it. When he looked up where the Night Rider stood, for a moment, the hateful glare was gone, replaced by an amused look. The glare returned when he noticed Hiccup staring.
The dragon licked its lips and began forwarding on Hiccup. He backed up nervously, hoping that this wasn't a bad thing. The Night Fury came closer to sniff him. "No, no," Hiccup said as he sat down on the ground while the dragon too close for comfort. "I don't have any more."
The dragon stopped, and Hiccup noticed its dragon eyes showed no threat. More curiously, the dragon began to gag until it spit out half a fish into his lap.
Hiccup made a disgusted sound at the sight. He cleared his throat and relaxed when the dragon only sat back on its hind legs. The black dragon looked from the fish, then back to him expectantly. From above, hearing another soft chuckle, he could just tell the Night Rider was smirking at the situation he now found himself in. Hiccup couldn't believe it for a moment. The dragon wanted him to eat the fish.
Well, he wanted it to trust him. Here goes nothing. Slowly, Hiccup picked up the raw fish and took a bite out.
Hiccup tried so hard not gag. He held the disgusting chunk of fish in his mouth in his cheeks away from his tongue. The dragon, meanwhile, gulped loudly. Deciding to just get it over with, Hiccup swallowed, forcing the chunk down his throat. He shuddered at the retched taste before looking at the dragon. It licked its lips, and he gave it a crooked smile. In response, the dragon cocked its head and twitched its lips to show a toothless smile. Hiccup slowly pushed himself off the ground, reaching for the dragon's face. An inhuman growl met him as the dragon's teeth popped out. It growled at him as well before running to where the Night Rider was coming down from his hiding place.
The Night Rider sat down beside the dragon. The two started to have a conversation in their language. Hiccup vaguely remembered how when he was first seen six years ago, the Night Rider had a problem understanding what the people in his village shot at him. Insults or questions of why he helped the enemy had always appeared to go unheard by him. Maybe it was because he couldn't understand.
Skullette, who had heard everything that happened and was now happening, was staring blankly ahead with an unimpressed look on her face. Hiccup noticed when he glanced behind his shoulder, and he said in a defensive tone, "Hey, I just ate a fish for that dragon. Cut me some slack."
She shrugged, smirking. "Trust me; I'll never let you live that down, Fish Breath."
Inwardly, Hiccup groaned. He could hear the future teasing now. "He wanted me to eat the fish, I ate the fish!"
She shrugged. Slowly, he turned around and approached the dragon. He sat down a few feet away, cross-legged. An inhuman growl met him once again as the Night Rider narrowed his eyes at Hiccup, backing up. The dragon said something to him, and he relaxed, but his glare only intensified. If looks could kill, Hiccup would be six feet under.
A bird chirped, and the Night Fury watched it fly away with envious eyes. It then noticed the teen and pinned its ears back. It laid its head back down and turned its body to cover its face with its tail.
Hiccup scooted across the ground toward the dragon's tail. He reached for it, and the dragon lifted its tail, showing his eye, growling playfully. Hiccup rose to his feet and walked away, defeated.
Time had passed and the sun was going down. Night sat beside his brother, watching the young human sitting on a boulder, drawing in the dirt with a stick.
"Why is he even here?" Night snarled, glaring daggers at the small boy.
"He doesn't seem dangerous…." his brother said uncertainly.
"You never know," Night huffed.
"Does he even look like he could hurt someone if he wanted to?" the Night Fury snorted, jerking his head in the boy's direction. Night had to admit he had a point. The boy was so skinny, he didn't even look like he'd be able to hold up a sword without falling over.
Night rolled his eyes. "You can never be too careful," he grumbled, folding his arms over his chest.
His brother ignored that comment, and left Night to scoff. His eyes glanced over to the human sitting by the entrance of the cove, where nearby he could see a wooden shield wedged in between two rocks. She had dark brown skin and dark hair that fell loose over her shoulders. She was probably about five inches shorter than he was, and she looked strong, but he knew he could win in a fight against her any day. Or at least once his arm was healed. Bangs hung over her eyes, obscuring them, yet even from here he could catch glimpses of the scars marring the area around them.
Overall, he decided she was…pretty. He guessed. Although he didn't get why she didn't seem to be afraid like the boy was. In fact, though she'd looked directly at him several times over the past few hours, it was like she was staring at him without actually seeing.
Hiccup kept on drawing, oblivious to the dragon conversation behind him. Skullette turned in the direction of the sound, stood up and walked over to Hiccup. She knelt on the ground, touching her fingers to the drawing and tracing the outline. The corners of her mouth lifted up in a small smile. "Not bad," she said lowly. "By the way, how could you tell the dragon is a boy?"
Hiccup recalled when he called it a 'he'. "Sometimes you can just tell, I guess," he answered.
Silently, the Night Rider approached the two, but not silent enough for Skullette. She heard the faintest of sound, and she twisted her head around in his direction. Meanwhile, from behind Hiccup, she could hear the dragon come close. They didn't do anything but watch as Hiccup drew the dragon's face in the dirt. Hiccup noticed that they were there, but continued drawing, acting casual, like he never saw them.
The Night Fury walked off, and Hiccup turned to see him pull a small tree from the ground. Once again, the Night Rider chuckled at the dragon's antics. Or at least he thought it was a chuckle. It could've been a growl for all he knew. Either way, the dragon ran around them, scribbling on the ground with the tree.
A small grin lit up Skullette's features as she heard the sound of the leaves and branches against the ground. Once or twice, the tree brushed up against her leg, and she'd flinch for a split second, thinking the dragon would attack her. There wasn't any other way for her to react since she couldn't attack. But slowly, she began to relax when she realized that he wouldn't attack unless she provoked him.
Once the dragon stopped, he looked at Hiccup and put a dot in the ground before continuing. He came close behind her, causing a branch of the tree to strike her head. She just laughed about it.
"Are you an artist now, too?" Night teased his brother, turning around to take in the dragon's work. He narrowed his eyes at Night and dropped the tree, then nodded at the ground in satisfaction.
Skullette searched for the lines until she found them, tracing the indents of the scribbles in the dirt. Hiccup scanned the scribbles curiously.
He stood up and stepped forward, accidentally stepping on a line of their scribbles. The dragon growled. Hiccup cringed and picked up his foot. This time, the dragon purred. "Okay, let's not step there," Skullette remarked, "unless you want him to bite your head off."
"Thank you, it's nice to be reminded that he could do that at any time," replied Hiccup flatly.
"No problem," she grinned without missing a beat.
Then Hiccup got an idea he wanted to try. He put his foot back down on the line, and the dragon growled again. Pick it up, he purred again. Each time Hiccup set down his foot, the dragon growled, but picking it up made him friendly again.
"What part of, don't step there do you not understand?" groaned Skullette, burying her face in her hands.
"Just trying something out," he mumbled. She heard, lifting her head up so only her scarred irises showed.
"You're crazy. You know that, right?"
"I've thought about it." Hiccup finally picked up his foot and stepped over the line instead of on it. The dragon purred even more, and Hiccup smiled at him. His eyes searched for the other lines, stepping in between. It was like a small maze, but he could see clearly where to step, and he already knew where not to step. With that in mind, he maneuvered through the maze, turning this way and that, watching not to step on the lines.
Before he even realized it, he found himself with his back to the tall dragon. Slowly, he turned to face him. Hiccup stared into the dragon's eyes and hesitantly reached up to him. He growled lowly, and the Night Rider narrowed his eyes once again. Hiccup pulled his hand back, and the two relaxed.
Hiccup started to think. Maybe there needed to be a mutual trust between the two. He just had to hope that it would work and it wouldn't get his hand bitten off. He faced away from the dragon, closing his eyes while slowly pushing his hand up to the dragon's face. Skullette couldn't hear Hiccup moving, but she couldn't hear any growling either, so that must've been a good sign.
"What are you up to, Hiccup Haddock?" she mumbled to herself.
The dragon looked at Hiccup's hand cautiously as he stopped when he came close. The dragon sat frozen for a moment, Night looking on, tilting his head curiously. Then the dragon almost pushed forward only to stop himself. A moment later, he touched his nose to Hiccup's hand.
The teen tensed up, preparing for the worst, but when he opened his eyes, he saw the dragon with his eyes closed, relaxed. Hiccup stood frozen in shock. The dragon wasn't actually attacking him. He'd been told time and time again that dragons always go for the kill, but it hadn't killed him yet. At first, he had thought that the only reason the Night Rider was still alive was because he was raised as one of them, and so dragons thought he was one of them. But now, he was starting to think that maybe it was because dragons…weren't as bad as everyone thought.
Then, the Night Fury pulled back and opened his eyes. His pupils were dilated, but they soon formed into slits, and he ran off to where the Night Rider now stood. For once, he wasn't glaring at Hiccup, but more like he was studying him. Maybe humans perplexed him as much as he perplexed them. Especially one like Hiccup.
"I'm glad to see you've actually survived the encounter without dying," Skullette remarked on their way back to the village. "That's got to be the longest you've ever gone without nearly getting killed."
"Ha ha," retorted Hiccup dryly, still in deep thought. He noticed how the older girl's eyes were faraway, well, more faraway than usual, like he wasn't the only one thinking about things. He knew he should resent her even after two years, but he found he couldn't hold a grudge against her. He was just enjoying that she wasn't ignoring him anymore. "What's wrong?"
She sighed softly. "Today just reminded me of something my mom used to say," she said, twisting the ring around finger with her left hand. A nervous tick of hers she never grew out of. "She thought that dragons had feelings like us. She always looked for a different way other than killing, even though your father constantly told her that dragons were evil, and that being soft on dragons wasn't going to get her anywhere but in a Nightmare's belly."
The slight bitterness in her tone surprised Hiccup. She almost never talked about her parents, almost as if she could forget about the pain that came with losing them by not acknowledging that they'd ever existed at all. "What happened to her?" he asked quietly.
"She was depressed for a long time, Hiccup," answered Skullette softly, turning the ring around her finger more feverishly. "She never even liked my dad that much. Not in that way. It was an arranged marriage between my grandparents when they sold her off to his family. Not many were even that upset when she died. She'd been depressed since she'd been forced to kill a Monstrous Nightmare in dragon training. The marriage only made it worse." Her breath became shaky. "I was a few weeks old when she went into the training arena, unarmed, and set a Nightmare loose. Let's just say, after that, everyone became sure that my mom's theory about dragons had been wrong."
"Sorry. I'd never heard about her," apologized Hiccup, feeling guilty for even asking. Yet at the same time, it looked like a weight had finally been lifted off her shoulders. As if she'd been carrying it for a long time.
"No one likes to talk about the dead," she spat, her voice filled with venom. "But they just loved talking about her when she was alive. It's only when she died that everyone was suddenly her best friend." She exhaled loudly through her nose before regaining a calm composure. "But what does that matter now? The past is the past, right?" Although the way she kept twisting the ring around her finger told another story.
"Right…" Hiccup agreed uneasily. Something told him that was the most he'd get out of her without stepping onto a minefield.
After a moment of silence, she commented in a humorous tone, "You could say that's why I'm here to make sure you don't get your own head bitten off, too. If my own parents couldn't survive a dragon, what chance does a fishbone like you have?"
"You're great support, you know that, right?" asked Hiccup sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"I do try," she grinned, pretending that she couldn't hear the sarcasm in his tone. Her smile faded, though, as they entered the village. "Just be careful with that Night Fury. If you die, I swear to Thor, I will find your dead body, bring you back to life and kill you again myself."
