Taking the Plunge
Wind tore through Hiccup's hair as he and his dragon zipped through the air. The blue sky stretched out endlessly above a carpet of white, fluffy clouds that ate up the horizon. Without the protection of his helmet, which was secured to the saddle, his eyes stung, his temples ached, and his cheeks burned, but it was worth it a thousand times over.
Gods, I needed this so badly!
Hiccup looked past his feet at the dragon who practically kidnapped and took him hostage. Normally, getting knocked to the ground and unceremoniously tumbled around would only make him more brazen in his defiance against whatever Toothless wanted him to do, but he decided to make an exception this time and it turned out to be the best thing since bread-making Vikings sliced bread.
That's not to say that all the other decisions were regrettable. For example, deciding to let Camicazi and Teaser stay here simply seemed right and it wasn't just because she was a friend. Sure, after Hiccup bared his metaphorical teeth and told everyone that she's staying and they'll just have to live with it, they all wanted to mob and burn him, but they'll get over it. If the very man she tried to kill would allow it, then the others could learn to eventually quit their bellyaching. Besides, she and her dragon could serve as an undeniable example of how his training, a heaping helping of persistence, and a little bit of luck could land someone on a dragon's back.
All the drama, though, was building up so much that Hiccup could even recognize the mood it put him in. So, when Toothless playfully knocked him around and dragged him to the saddle – and not the other way around – he relented and let the Vikings take care of themselves. Flying through the air with Toothless turned out to be an absolute necessity.
Well, Hiccup realized, it wasn't really flying, but it had always seemed natural to use that term for all things one does in the air with his dragon.
Falling? Nah. Plummeting? Dropping? Hmmm...
Diving!
His sky-blue terror, Dart, had teeth anchored to his boot, ready to grab him and try his darndest with his little wings to save the rider should something go wrong. Dart had joined him on a couple "trust falls" in the past, but could never be comfortable seeing him falling separated from Toothless.
Hiccup focused on a soothing calm, allowing it to project outward and seep into the dragon. The death grip loosened and Dart crawled up Hiccup's leg to mount on his back, tightly clinging to his shoulders and waist. Dart extended his wings a little bit – not too much, as the force would hurt him at this speed – but enough to control their fall. Hiccup laughed as the two angled a little bit this way and that, not really flying, but definitely falling with more control and grace.
Say, that gives me an idea. What if I use leather to make something that does what Dart is doing right now...
The clouds engulfed the rider and the world was lost to his eyes. Dart screeched and tightened his grip. As they broke through the other side, Hiccup looked up at the infinite ocean below, blinking at the stinging, icy wind that seemed to bite even more with the accumulated moisture.
Toothless whined at having fallen behind. Whenever Hiccup angled himself just right, the big beast just could never match his speed. It was the one time he could gloat at being faster than his dragon. Then again, it was the one race he would never want to actually win in the end.
Hiccup held out his arms and flattened against the wind, allowing Toothless to graze past, wings folded, tail held straight out, mouth open, tongue hanging out and flapping in the wind. Hiccup grabbed onto the tail and climbed his way up its length, around the rear leg, under the wing, past the front leg, and down toward the head, where he held himself steady against the jaw.
"You were right, Bud!" He shouted. The wind tore the words from his mouth, but it was the excitement and other projected thoughts the dragon was hearing, anyway. "You were absolutely right and don't you dare let me go that long in such a depressive mood!"
Toothless projected his joy and glee as he gave Hiccup a lick on the face. The tongue was actually pretty dry and hardly deposited any saliva with how the wind whipped at it.
Hiccup laughed at the dragon. The dragon gnawed on his head.
As they started to get closer to the ground, he grappled his way up to the saddle and clicked himself in. They leveled out and he donned his helmet and flipped the eye protection flap down. It blocked out all the light, but with the palms cut out of his mittens, he was able to make contact with Toothless and see through the dragon's eyes. The first thing he noticed was a Gronckle with a large rider approaching.
"Hey, Bud," Hiccup shouted over the wind as he leaned forward. "You up for one more?"
Toothless roared with joy at the rhetorical question. The Gronckle put on the speed to catch up in their ascent. Dart squawked at the realization he wouldn't be able to keep up and dove into Hiccup's lap.
"Hiccup!" Fishlegs shouted as he caught up.
Hiccup pointed up. "Race ya!"
The burly rider let out a sigh, which shifted into a grin. "You know that even Toothless can't match a Gronckle for rate of climb."
Hiccup shrugged and leaned low to hug his dragon's neck.
"I'm just checking," Fishlegs shouted over the wind between the loud flaps of the Night Fury's wings, which blocked both sight and sound as they were driven hard to gain altitude.
"You seemed-"
WHOOSH
"Really stressed-"
WHOOSH
"Is there-"
WHOOSH
"Anything you-"
WHOOSH
Hiccup quickly asked his dragon to tell Meatlug to tell Fishlegs that he was alright. Fishlegs stiffened in the saddle and a look of awe stretched across his face. Being the only other rider who could hear dragons, Hiccup knew he got the message.
"That is so-" Fishlegs shouted out in giddy excitement.
WHOOSH
"Awesome! I completely-"
WHOOSH
"-that we-"
WHOOSH
"-do that!"
Both dragons continued to ascend at a rapid rate. One buzzed straight up while the other pumped his body like a caterpillar in tempo with his wings. Meatlug zipped around Toothless with her tongue lolling out in sheer delight and he playfully nipped at the hardened ball at the end of her stubby tail.
Eventually, they broke through the clouds and Toothless snapped his wings out to leveled off so he could rest and his companion dragon wouldn't have to work so hard to maintain flight. Gronckles may have the advantage of vertical flight, but staying airborne gets harder the higher they go and they can hardly take any advantage of the stiff wind to gain lift. Hiccup figured they were plenty high for a fun trust fall, but nowhere near the excessive heights he and Toothless were before their previous dive.
Hiccup looked over at the larger pair that took up a pace to the side and shouted out, "Really, Fishlegs, I'm good, now. I really appreciate the concern, but I just needed to get away from all the drama for a bit. Remind me to listen to Toothless more often."
A grumble from said dragon shook Hiccup's body. He reached down and affectionately slapped the scaly neck.
"Anyway," Hiccup shouted over as he took his helmet off, "I think I should take my new elated attitude to the riderless dragons over on Toothless Tackle island. You wanna take charge of the games?"
Such games were actually something Tofa had cooked up and she would be helping out in running them, being the only one who could reliably hear all Berk's dragons from a distance. Vikings and dragons would be teaming up for some relay races and contests. All Fishlegs had to do was make sure the twins, who recently flew in to replace Astrid, didn't blow up the island or something like that. He straightened in his saddle at the responsibility placed on him.
"You sure you don't wanna stick around?"
"I need this, Fishlegs. Please. Grub was almost murdered, then Cami was almost murdered, and now everybody wants to murder me because I don't want either of them dead. It's all just stupid Vikings saying stupid things and doing stupid things and they all come baying at me for every stupid little thing and-"
Hiccup yelped as his dragon spun upside down. They finished the roll and returned to level flying. Hiccup couldn't stop himself from grinning.
{That's much better. If you go back to beating yourself up, I'll be forced to dunk you in the ocean.}
Hiccup chuckled. "Anyway, Fishlegs, you've seen what all this drama has done to me. I used to be a pretty jolly person, I swear!"
The larger rider looked over with a grin. This high up in the air, nothing could dampen anyone's spirits. "Not your fault, Hiccup. It's a heavy burden and people are people."
Hiccup flashed a smile. If there was one creature in this entire world that would understand, it would be Toothless. If there was one Viking, though, Fishlegs took an easy first.
"Toothless and I will just tell stories around the campfire, so to speak, with the other dragons. I'll see if I can get that really reclusive Nadder to touch me."
Toothless growled at that. Even with the elevated respect the dragons had for the pair that freed them from the Red Death, some of them could still get very unnerved by a hand stretching out toward them. Said nervous dragons also happen to have sharp teeth and claws. Fishlegs spared a quick glance at Toothless, but wasn't bothered by such growling. He had grown used to it by now.
"Alright," Fishlegs said. "I'll let you know how it all goes. I'm not holding my breath for the Greenbellies, but maybe we'll break through the shell and get those Lava Louts and Berserkers to touch Meatlug or the BB." That was the unofficial nickname for the Zippleback heads of Barf and Belch. The Thorston twins also took on the same nickname when Tofa referenced them as a pair. Apparently, in a blinding stroke of draconic genius, the Zippleback named their riders after themselves.
Toothless flicked his eyes up to his rider. {Who are these land-striders Benevolence is talking about? I can't quite tell from what he's projecting.}
Hiccup hunched forward in a fit of laughter. Whenever he heard a dragon refer to Fishlegs with the name Meatlug had given him, it caused Fishlegs to blush. Hiccup focused on images of the Vikings being referenced as well as memories of the tribal crests he had seen in books and on their ship sails.
Toothless flattened his sensor lobes down against his neck.
{They are the ones who attacked a while ago, captured you, and made you drink that strange water that almost killed you?}
"Yep," Hiccup casually said as he leaned back to secure his helmet to the saddle. "Among others. You know nobody here was in that invading fleet, right, Bud? It was their other tribe members."
{Meatlug, you like giving land-striders a hug, right? Do me a favor and hug them with your teeth.}
"No!" Fishlegs shouted in surprise to his dragon. "You will not hug them with your teeth. Don't you go listening to Toothless!"
The Night Fury grumbled and snapped at the Gronckle. They were too far apart to reach, but it was the gesture that counted. Hiccup laughed and slapped one of Toothless' sensor flaps, which naturally turned into a battle as Toothless twisted his neck sharply to fight the heavily insulated arms with his scaled sensor flaps.
"Really, Bud," Hiccup said as he batted at the scaly lobes. "You should - GUH - know by now that Meatlug- HA! Take that! - is as bad at keeping secrets as her rider - OW! Break my arm, why don't you."
The rider lunged forward and wrapped his arms around the Night Fury's head. Neither rider nor dragon was certain who won that bout, but Toothless trilled in contentment, anyway.
Looking up, Hiccup raised his voice and said, "Hey, Benevolence."
Fishlegs blushed and buried his head in his hands. It never got old.
"I was thinking about how we're teaching our students to trust dragons," Hiccup continued. "A refresher in the doctrine we preach couldn't hurt."
"I have plenty of trust in Meatlug, thank you very much." Fishlegs nervously angled his dragon away.
Toothless and Hiccup angled to pull up alongside again. "I was just thinking, being so high up, there's only one way down."
"Technically," Fishlegs shouted back over the wind, "There are many ways down. Meatlug and I happen to have a particular fondness for the sightseeing gradual-"
He stopped when someone blocked out the sun.
"You wouldn't!"
Hiccup's lips curled back into a feral grin. From his upside-down position, the sky below and the clouds above beckoned. He just finished releasing the straps that secured him to his saddle and kicked off of his dragon's back as gravity started to take over. Fishlegs never was a fan of trust dives, but looking back, he would be glad he did it. Probably.
"I would!"
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"C'mon, grumpy Grump. Participation is not optional!"
Tofa grabbed the Hotburple's lower lip in her fingers and pulled with all her might. The dragon briefly graced her with a bored stare through lidded eyes before closing them again. She was counting on his participation in her Dragons and Vikings races and games extra...
"How does that go again, Mr. Benevolence sir? Dragons and Vikings races and games extra... extra-vinegar? Exra-gonza?"
Fishlegs buried his head in the side of Meatlug's neck to hide his face. It really wasn't a surprise to hear her use that particular name as she always refers to people with their "dragon name". It always made him feel an overload of flattery to hear it.
"This is torture, Lug!" he declared in a muffled voice. "I'm tickled and all, but it's just too much."
"C'mon Mr. Benevolence sir," Tofa pleaded impatiently. "I hafta get this right. It's extra-what?"
Fishlegs peeled his face away from the dragon's neck. He had already given up hope of getting Tofa to just call him by his regular name.
"Extravaganza."
"Ah! Yes. Extra-ganza! C'mon, Grump. It's not every day you get to play in a Dragons and Vikings Races and Games Extra-ganza!"
The dragon gave a groan and rolled over. Tofa crossed her arms and stomped away, but a smile wormed across her face as she sidled up next to the Gronckle.
"Oh Meeeeaaatluuuuug..." Tofa called out in a lilting, patronizing voice.
The dragon replied with a lick to her cheek.
"Would you be a dear and do something for me?"
Meatlug bounced up to her feet and started to wiggle about. Being a dragon, she was the captain of her team and had already chosen Gretta from the Bog-Burglar tribe as her first team member, so she was already feeling excited. Tofa put on an evil smirk and casually pointed at Grump.
"Hug!"
The Gronckle took a leap and buzzed her little wings, shooting at Grump. At the very last moment, the big loaf simply sprang into the air with a speed that did not seem fitting for a dragon so bulbous and Meatlug zipped underneath.
"And that," Gobber said in a dry voice from where he stood nearby, "Is why I let the lump of scales do whatever he wants. What can any mortal do against that?"
After missing her target, Meatlug quickly dug in and ground to a stop, spun around, and looked at Grump with a slack jaw. Tofa could feel the confusion from the Gronckle and the satisfaction from the Hotburple.
"C'mon, Meatlug!" Fishlegs cheered. "You're an Ingerman and an Ingerman never gives up!"
Tuffnut jeered from behind, "Unless a plate of food gets in the way- OOF!"
His twin sister, Ruffnut, socked him in the shoulder.
"Shh! I wanna see how this plays out."
Meatlug pawed at the ground and took off again. This time, though, she leaned back, taking advantage of a Gronckle's impressive agility in the air and slowed down just in time to react to Grump's evasive maneuver. She didn't quite tackle him, but they sort of glanced off each other and grappled around as they tumbled over the ground. It ended with them taking turns licking each other.
"Good!" Tofa shouted excitedly. "Now that we have awoken the slumbering dragon, I shall choose for him since he's currently occupied. Thuggory, you will be on team Grump."
Tofa figured that should be a good pairing. He had touched a dragon for the first time only this morning and it was like pulling teeth, so a dragon that would often be confused for an inanimate, scale-covered boulder would be a good match for him. That left only the Lava Louts and the Greenbellies to go. They were watching from the sidelines. Hauk was starting to warm up to the idea of approaching a dragon, though. Tofa figured he was getting close.
"Ha! It's only natural I get the biggest dragon," Thuggory loudly declared as he strode forward.
Tofa thought it was adorable that he was holding onto such a facade when he was still nervous around anything scaly. She thought it was pretty funny. Those who have fought dragons before had the hardest time petting them. Though his face hid it well, she could feel it in the emotional hum. The very notion of being around a dragon without a weapon in his hand was unnerving.
It was tempting to see if she could silently project a request to a dragon to fly in and tackle him for fun, but Hiccup was very adamant that a Viking would approach a dragon on his own accord or never at all. He had said that trying to force them to touch a dragon would only be bad and never good. Thuggory, for example, was so close to approaching a dragon on the first day, but his little scuffle with Astrid and Stormfly almost ruined everything.
Lowering his voice a little as he walked past Tofa, Thuggory said, "Don't think it's a boy dragon, though, Miss. Scales are a bit light, dont'cha'think?"
"Trust me, Thuggory sir, Grump is definitely a boy dragon."
Thuggory stopped and stared at her inquisitively. She could tell there was skepticism, but he wasn't entirely dismissing her. She liked that about him; he treated her like an adult and didn't make her feel childish. Despite what Hiccup said, he actually wasn't too bad of a person. Maybe he was simply intimidated by Hiccup.
"And how would you know he's a boy and not a girl? Did you-"
"Because," Tofa quickly cut him off, "I am the dragon princess and nobody questions the princess!"
Thuggory chuckled as he walked on.
Tuffnut piped up, saying, "You can tell because, on Berk, every dragon is the same sex as the rider."
"Wait, that can't be," Fishlegs piped up. "I mean-"
"Yeah!" He pressed on, cutting off Fishlegs. "You see, Toothless is a boy, just like Hiccup. So are Hookfang and Grump. Stormfly is a girl. We all know Zipplebacks are both - makes mating season really easy for them. And that matches the pattern because I'm a boy and Ruff is a girl, which probably fooled most of you- OW!" Ruffnut knocked her brother to the ground. From his prone position, Tuffnut straightened his helmet and said, "And Meatlug is a female, so..."
"But," Fishlegs said as he squinted in thought, "That would completely invalidate your logic because..." His face slid into a bored scowl. "Ha... ha... ha... Very... funny."
Ruffnut gave a sidelong glare down at Tuffnut." An astute observation, brother. However, as much as I condone and, dare I say, encourage such dispensation of malevolent banter, I can't but feel as though-"
"Ya!" Tuffnut howled. "It's funny because I implied he's a girl and girls are so silly and-OOF!"
Ruffnut kicked her brother, who grabbed her leg and pulled her down to the ground. Fishlegs eyed them with a bored expression as they rolled around.
"Meatlug... hug!"
Ruffnut noticed the impending doom and immediately disentangled, rolling out of the way just in time. Her brother, though, was less fortunate and found a much larger opponent trying to pin him to the ground with greater success and much less difficulty.
Unlike Ruffnut, the dragon was also liable to lick one's face.
"I shall have vengeance!" Tuffnut declared with bravado as he shoved at Meatlug's tongue. "Belch! Ummm, shock Fishlegs. Uhhh, tackle?"
The Zippleback didn't move, save to lean over and lick Meatlug.
"Fine. Be that way! I order you to ignore me. Yes, good dragon. You're doing such a good job!"
"Alright BB," Tofa said. "Once you are done licking the Nut, you may pick someone for your team. Remember, no riders."
The Zippleback walked up and Belch, the shocking head, tapped Agnar from the Mystic tribe. He tensed up and held a hand out in defense, but was starting to get to the point where he could trust a dragon. However, the other head pressed its nose into Camicazi's chest to receive some scratches on the snout.
Half the students wanted to either send off Camicazi or kill her for breaking the "Two members per tribe" rule while the other half didn't really care. The former half was clamoring to grab their metaphorical torches and pitchforks to make Hiccup send her back when the rider just took off. Meatlug filled in Tofa on what happened. Hiccup's idea to withdraw himself and let them cool off was working so far. Camicazi was being uncharacteristically cooperative, knowing the thin line she tread, and with Hiccup gone, all the haters could do was whine to Gobber. Said haters found as much success in that as those who complained that they were here to tame a dragon, not play games with them. In other words, they would have been better off whining to a boulder.
Still, just because Camicazi could join the game didn't mean BB could pick her along with someone else for free.
Tofa rolled her eyes. "You can only pick one, BB. We're counting you as one dragon for this. Make your choice."
The two heads hissed and snapped at each other as though they forgot that their necks joined the same torso. The Vikings nearby took a couple uncertain steps back, but Tofa thought it was really funny. Both heads, though independent in mind, had full control of the same body and felt the same things. Barf wanted Camicazi because of all the stories Toothless had shared about how the younger Bog Burglars were very skilled at giving belly rubs. Belch, though, was more focused on winning. In the end, Belch was a gentleman and allowed Barf to pick Camicazi, but insisted that if she didn't give marvelous belly rubs, then he would choose next time.
The drafting proceeded and, eventually, the three dragons each had a team of eight Vikings gathered around. Tofa went through the different games they would be playing.
The first was a simple relay race to run across a field, grab a scrap of meat from the latest goat that had been butchered for food, run it back to the starting line, and feed it to their team's dragon. That one was Astrid's idea. Nothing builds trust like giving a dragon a fish and observing that you didn't lose any fingers. The pressure of competing against the other teams would help break through any timid reservations.
The second was brilliantly named by Ruffnut as "Draggin' Dragons." Each team had a simple sled made of logs lashed together that would slide over the slick leaves that had accumulated on the ground. The dragon would lay on the sled and the Vikings would pull on an attached rope to a turn-around point. There, they would switch and the Vikings would quickly secure the rope to the dragon's harness and then pile on the sled to be dragged back.
The third and final game was purely the spawn of Tofa's wild imagination, inspired by her time spent in the woods with her Terrible Terrors. The Vikings had to catch as many fish as possible from the inland lake, trickling streams, or the ocean off the beach. They weren't allowed to use any man-made tools, but their dragons and anything found in the woods was free game. The catch, though, was that the dragons couldn't touch the water. Tofa and Fishlegs, along with her six Terrors to act as relays, would be cycling among the three teams to make sure the dragons understand what the Vikings are trying to say. Sometimes, the thoughts a Viking projects when speaking can get distorted, and as some were starting to learn, repeating themselves louder and more slowly didn't help at all.
After Tofa excitedly ran through the different challenges, Fishlegs sidled up and jokingly said, "I can't tell, Tofa, are you excited about this at all?"
"You know it, Mr. Benevolence sir! I just wish Firefly were here. I think he'd have a lot of fun."
"I'm sure he's doing just fine with the riderless dragons over yonder."
"Yeah!" Tofa squealed. "With so many dragons around, He and Toothless must be having the time of their lives!"
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"Toothless, get off me, you big oaf!"
Hiccup felt a grumble from the dragon that was sprawled out on top of him as the only reply. They had been spending most of the afternoon with the riderless dragons on Toothless Tackle island, surrounded by a bunch of dragons that Hiccup liked to tell others were, "The few, the proud, the extra-curious."
Earlier this year, the very notion of getting a group of dragons who would want to acquire a rider would have sounded like the dream of a madman, but Hiccup was happy to be that madman who would make the dream a reality. Sure, there always were dragons around ever since the Red Death was destroyed. A lot of the dragons from the Red Death's nest flocked to Berk, dazed, trying to come to terms with how creatures so small could play a part in their salvation. Of course, there were many dragons and Berk had only so much space and wildlife, so they dispersed right after Hiccup woke up to find he was missing a limb.
It wasn't until Berk had acquired a so-called dragon whisperer as a resident and the riders learned that they too could train to hear dragons speak, that the idea of rallying together any dragons interesting in gaining a rider was even considered. Also, while being kidnapped by a fleet of thousands of bloodthirsty Vikings intent on burning Berk to the ground didn't exactly sound like a splendid day, there was no denying that the dragon raid organized to rescue him was the start of these "wild" dragons and the Hooligans paying more attention to and even approaching each other. Recently, the fishing ships started making small detours past some islands surrounding Berk to share some of their fish and the guts they would have otherwise tossed away with the dragons.
Hiccup looked around from his position under Toothless' belly.
And now I'm surrounded by over twenty of them, plus Terrors, all seeking a rider.
"Ya know, Toothless, I think we'd both enjoy this historical moment more if you weren't sitting on me, you big bully."
Toothless grumbled and licked the rider's face.
It all started out nice with some simple joy flying with the dragons. The duo would fly to some of their favorite spots where there were lots of tall sea stacks and narrow openings to fly around and through. One of their favorite stunts was to dive down at a rocky arch, fly up the inside of one leg, and finesse things just so to lightly dance along the top of the inside of the arch before shooting down the other side. It actually took a lot of practice to perfect how to lean just right and required the rider and dragon to be locked in with each other so much that they might have been two heads of the same Zippleback.
When the other dragons would go on their first flight with their new riders, they would think back to this display of balance and precision and say to themselves, "Someday, my rider and I will do that!"
Or maybe their spirits would be crushed as they say, "Will he just stop screaming and thrashing around back there?"
Toothless was of the mind that it would definitely be the latter.
After the flight, Hiccup, Toothless, and Dart worked on showing the other dragons how to interact with Vikings. The little details needed to be hammered into them, like taking precautions to avoid crushing, eviscerating, or burning their riders.
Hiccup would play with the other dragons when the opportunity came up, but they hadn't learned tact when it came to smaller creatures. A tug of war would end with the first tug. A game of tag would end when the dragon would fly off somewhere Hiccup could never go or lunge right into him, knocking him down to grab the fish he was trying to keep away.
Needless to say, Toothless was not a fan.
However, whenever a dragon would immediately bring an end to playing around in a way that neither found fun at all, Hiccup would turn to Toothless or Dart. They would chase each other and wrestle and tumble around on the ground, having a grand old time. Some of the other dragons were starting to catch on to the fact that Toothless would engage with his rider in a way that was fun for both of them or the way Hiccup would do the same for Dart. For the most part, though, the dragons ended up playing and fighting with each other in a much more rough and impressive manner. It took a while to get used to it with the dragons on Berk, and Hiccup was seeing a lot more of it. Tough creatures simply liked to play rough. Mauling and biting and trampling sort of rough and that was just play to pass the time. Hiccup would need to make it clear that such behavior around Vikings unaccustomed to dragons as allies instead of enemies may send the wrong message.
All that, though, had nothing to do with why there was a grumpy lump of black scales using his rider as a bed.
HIccup's main goal for the moment was to get the dragons accustomed to being around people. Just as he was trying to get all the Vikings to work up the nerve to touch a dragon, he was also trying to get dragons to touch a person. Their respect in him for the whole Red Death stunt was what he was counting on leveraging to get them comfortable with the idea of approaching him and letting him touch them. Hopefully, that confidence would transfer to the other Vikings.
Some of them really opened up. The two Timberjacks, for instance, were very friendly. Dangerously friendly, according to Toothless, who had hawk eyes on their razor-sharp wings, tail, neck, and, well, everything. Once they saw that touching Hiccup led to scratches, rubs, and dragon nip that the others seemed to like so much, they were eager for their turn to the end of being pushy to get their chance. Hiccup was very excited to get to spend some time with them, though, as he had never seen a Timberjack up close before.
The Nadders, on the other hand, were quite defensive and even timid when it came to touching the rider. There was one in particular that simply would not allow any sort of contact and would hiss and snap at Hiccup if he even thought about reaching a hand towards him. The dragon promised to behave and insisted that he needed a rider, but would not elaborate.
"C'mon, Bud, his teeth barely touched me. See? The bleeding's already stopped. I've endured worse just from tripping over a rock. Get off me. Toothless!"
Toothless shifted a little and the weight on the rider increased. Hiccup looked to the side to see Dart standing between him and the Nadder, just watching in curiosity, unsure of what to do.
Hiccup put some drama into his voice and called out, "Daaart. Saaave meee. Heeeelp."
The little dragon took a couple uncertain steps forward, flicked some glances up at Toothless, and licked Hiccup's cheek. Toothless chortled. Hiccup deadpanned at Dart.
"Gee. Thanks."
Looking up at the Night Fury's snout hovering above him, he said, "Really, Toothless."
{You're being dangerous, Firefly.}
"It's what I do. You are being overprotective."
{It's what I do. Go to sleep and I will keep you warm.}
Hiccup snorted. "Go to sleep?! The sun hasn't even set! C'mon, Toothless, just a little more. I've made good progress so far. Besides, what are you saying to them all by sitting on me all day? Oy!" Hiccup slid into an exaggerated Scottish accent. "Once ye git yer rider like me, here's watch'ya do. Ya sit' on him. All day long. Great times. No better life for a dragon than to sit on his rider all day. The riders love it, too!"
Toothless shifted and the weight increased.
"You do realize," Hiccup squeezed out through the increasing pressure on his whole torso, "That you're going to receive my wrath. If this continues, there will be consequences!"
Toothless shifted and the weight increased.
Hiccup reached up with one hand and started to scratch his dragon's knock-out spot at the base of his jawline. Naturally, Toothless jerked his head away. Hiccup anticipated this and used his other hand to scratch the side of the neck in just the right spot, pressing a finger into the soft area right behind the skull. The dragon twitched and wriggled around as Hiccup set his other hand to the same task on the other side.
Toothless started to squirm and growl as he put a paw over Hiccup's face, but some scratching along the base of one of the smaller sensor lobes sent him rolling onto his side. Immediately, Hiccup leaped up and pressed the backs of his knuckles into the soft spots along the neck, weaving around the paws that were trying to gently pry him away. The larger dragon could have knocked him away at any time, but Hiccup knew he loved this sort of treatment even if he never admitted it. Toothless frantically squirmed, whined, growled, barked, and made other strange noises under the tickling assault. The tickling transitioned into a good old-fashioned belly rub and, just out of spite, Hiccup ended by scratching the knock-out spot while the dragon was lost in rapture.
Toothless' head slid heavily to the ground and his legs went limp. Hiccup stood, looking at the dragons that were staring on with slack jaws, and leaned his hip against Toothless' shoulder.
"And let that be a lesson to you if you ever feel like sitting on your-ACK! Counterattack!"
Dart jumped up and clung to Hiccup's side, nuzzling, licking, and nibbling at his ticklish spots along his ribs. The little dragon had observed the twins going at each other and had apparently picked up a thing or two on how to incapacitate a person. Hiccup heaved uncontrollably in laughter as he fell against the Night Fury's belly and clawed in futility as the Terror climbed a little higher to dig his snout into the nape of the rider's neck.
"Dart! No! Not there! Ha! You can't just- Heheheheeeeee. This is torture!"
Hiccup slid down to the ground and writhed around under the licking assault on his scalp and neck. By the time Dart finally relented, Hiccup was sweaty and sore from all the intense laughter. Toothless, who had woken up during all this, casually poked at him with a paw, clearly wanting in on the fun. Hiccup rolled over and poked at the Terror.
"You are the literal devil, Dart. The. Devil. My mouth tastes like bile!"
A lick on his cheek was the only reply before Dart got tackled by a group of Terrors. He rolled, sprang to his feet, and chased them around. Hiccup stood, looked at the Nadder that had nipped at him earlier, and pointed at him. The motion caused him to fan his wings and hiss.
"And you... you get off easy this time. You can thank Mr. Bossy, here, for that."
Hiccup walked over to the fire ring he had set up and fumbled around for his flint and steel. The sky had turned to a brilliant pink, providing just enough light to start a fire. The tinder and kindling was already set up from earlier today. As per usual, Toothless stood back and allowed the rider to make the fire for himself. While Hiccup had, at times past, resorted to asking his dragon to light fires for him, Toothless saw it as a sign of respect to allow his rider to light his own fire. As Hiccup had learned from his previous visit, just the fact that he could make a fire in the first place was an enigmatic riddle the dragons could never puzzle out.
Only a dozen were still milling around. After lighting the tinder, Hiccup looked up at the crowd. The dragons were shuffling around, watching, uncertain, growing dimmer in the fading light, full of a curiosity that locked horns with their instinctive fear of Vikings.
However, Hiccup had a secret weapon that would help warm them up to him. From his experience with Toothless, there was no doubt that this would practically make the dragons worship the ground on which he stood. As the fire started to spread to the larger wood on top, Hiccup grabbed a sack from the saddlebag that contained a special type of grass he had taken to calling "Dragon Nip".
"Alright, guys, I got a bunch of spices, a fire, and a flat rock to cook on. Now, who wants the best fish you've ever tasted?"
A/N:
"And thus we see how Hiccup got the inspiration to make his wingsuit we see in HTTYD2. If you missed it, it's in the first section during the freefall. Now, granted, the one shown in the movie would barely produce any significant lift, the center of gravity would be horribly tail-heavy so he'd just tumble, he'd have absolutely no pitch authority and terrible yaw control and-"
"Hey, author dude, shut up! You're ruining it."
"Oh, hey, Toothless, you're talking again. Must be an OOC footnote. I have a name, by the way. it's Fizzlemcsch-"
"Yeah, yeah, Fizz, whatever. Stop ruining the movie with physics!"
"But It's hard not to. I gotta give them credit, though; sticking with smaller dragons makes it a bit less unbelievable."
"Oh, c'mon, what's so unbelievable about a large flying dragon?"
"Well, unless it's made of stuff that's four times as light and five times as strong as any other creature on Earth, your bones would break from supporting the weight, your ligaments would tear from the torque, your blood would boil from the metabolic requirements of sustaining flight, you would need massively wide arteries to accommodate the flow of blood required to feed the tissues, leaving little room for bones and muscle and-"
"Alright, alright, I get it. Nerd! Now shut up and just write about me tackling Hiccup and licking him and flying around or something like that. And you still have that golf pun to write!"
"Huh? Golf pun? Oh! Right, that comment by that one person…"
"Dr. Pickle. Get to it. Chop chop, Fizz."
"Well, I'm sure he understands. I just haven't really had a driving motivation."
"Really? That was the worst pun ever. You, sir, are a bogey."
"Oh! Nice one! Still, sorry about putting around with that. I… uhhh, Toothless, why are you glaring at me and snarling?
"You're not getting off the hook that easily."
"Easy there, nice dragon… I could write a stupid little side-story. Oh! Hiccup could go golfing and you could be his caddy! I can see it now… Hiccup would be on the green, looking out at the flag and say, 'I think this calls for a 9-iron, Bud', and then you would pull the club out with your mouth and Hiccup would complain about the slobber…
…
"Ummm… Toothless, I really don't like the way you're advancing on me."
"This is the part where you run away, screaming."
"You don't scare me. You're just a figment of my imagination and-"
"BOO!"
"NYAAAAAaaaaaaa!