Disclaimer: All rights go to Cressida Cowell and DreamWorks.
Thank you x1tears1x and Huidaman for following this story.
Thank you all for reading this! It's been fun to write, and really nice to see people review and favorite this. This was my first attempt at a fanfiction, and it's been a great experience. Thank you all for being supportive and just generally a wonderful audience.
Lastly, a special thanks to Driscoll. This story would not have been nearly as good without his help.
I feel like I should leave a quote; something poignant or sad. Something about goodbyes, or about this not being the end, but I couldn't find anything that wasn't really cheesy. So, I figured I might as well end this with my own little brand of cheesiness, with one final inside joke, with one final request:
One final onwards.
"Hiccup!" A small-female-two-legs ran into my brood-love, who as usual, was not paying attention to his surroundings. The female-two-legs fell to the ground, dragging my brood-love with it, and buried its long claw in his round-tree.
If I had allowed my head to materialize, I would have been shaking it in amused disappointment. My little-brother should know better than to not pay attention during a fight, even if it was against a juvenile sky-scales who just wanted to play.
"Ooh, love on the battlefield," One of the other two-legs crooned.
"She could do better," A similar-looking-two-legs added.
The female-two-legs jerked its head up. The sky-scales was running straight for them. The female-two-legs pulled at its talon, its muscles straining to unfix the talon from the tree.
"Just," My little-brother struggled to speak as the crazy-two-legs on top of him kicked his chest through the tree. "Let… me… why…" It planted its leg on his cheek and tore the talon out, along with a sizable section of the tree.
The two-legs spun towards the charging sky-scales, and raked its talon across her head. The sky-scales squawked in pain and retreated back into its cage, grumbling that the game wasn't fun anymore.
"There, you got it," My brood-love said, rubbing a paw against his cheek as he sat up.
"Well done, Astrid," The missing-leg-two-legs yelled from the edge of the stone pit.
"Is this some kind of joke to you?" The female-two-legs shouted. "Our parents' war is about to become our war! Figure out whose side you're on."
It turned away and began walking away from my brood-love.
"Why does there have to be sides?" He asked. His question was barely a whisper, but the female-two-legs heard it. It froze, and whirled back to him.
"They don't give us a choice!"
My brood-love cringed, and raised his forelegs in appeasement to the snarling-two-legs. "When have we ever given them one?"
I did not like where this dream was headed. My brood-love could not become sad again, ever since his dream of that large-infuriating- two-legs, my little-brother had become distant. He had not shown up for a full sun after that, and it had taken him another two moons before he spent one in my cove. I would not –I could not—allow him to regress. He would stay happy even if it meant that I had to personally watch every one of his dreams. My brood-love would be happy.
I stopped the dream, but it was much too early to wake my brood-love. The moon was still high in Midgard. Shifting the Ginnungagap, I pulled my little-brother to a happier memory. One without this yelling-two-legs where he could be happy. Maybe this dream would remind him that not all two-legs were bad, that life was worth living.
The mist of Ginnungagap solidified again, forming tall trees and long, swaying grass. The sun filtered through the leaves, casting the shadows away and bringing my brood-love into view.
He was followed by a small-round-two-legs. It walked beside him as they observed the quite forest around them.
"What are we doing here?" My little-brother broke the silence.
"I found out a way that we can be popular," The round-two-legs chirped back.
"What is it this time?" My little-brother groaned, despite having his teeth bared.
"There's only six of us, right?"
"Uhh… who's us?"
"You, me, the twins, Snot, and Dogsbreath," The two-legs rattled off. "We're going into dragon training together."
"But that's in eight years."
"Yes, but –but, I think that they'll all be friends by then, so…"
My brood-love shook his head. He had no idea what the two-legs was going on about.
"So, what?"
"There's only a twelve percent chance that Snot will stop being an idiot, but there's a twenty percent—"
"What are you talking about?" My brood-love stopped walking. He wanted to know what he was getting into.
"Err… percent. I found a book of them in my parent's room."
"Percents?"
"Just percent. They, err… they say if something will happen or not. Like, who will win dragon training."
"And how does this help us?" My little-brother asked, resuming his walk.
"You'll see," The talkative-two-legs crooned. "They're just up ahead."
"Wait! They?" My brood-love stopped again, his face twisting into a torn mask of confusion and fear.
"I say we jump out an' scare 'em," A two-legs' voice carried through the borders of the dream.
"Nuh-uh! They'll be expecting that," A different voice shouted back. "We should hide!"
"But we've done that!"
"What did you do?" My brood-love asked, taking a step back from the shouting-two-legs.
"Not here."
"Uh-huh."
"They can help us," The small-two-legs assured.
"No!"
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Ha! Made you say no."
"Help us? Listen to them," My brood-love kept his voice low, as if he were afraid of being overheard by the annoying-two-legs. "What can they do?"
"Shh!"
"You, shh!"
"Just, give them a chance. If we get them to like us, then that's seventy percent of them that like us. We'll be popular."
"Is that right?" My brood-love asked as the similar-looking-two-legs leapt in front of him, yelling a wordless howl as they attempted to scare my little-brother.
They scowled, slumping their shoulders in disappointment when my brood-love did not get scared. The female-two-legs recovered first, and pushed its other half away.
"You've come to the right place," The female said, twisting its paws before it in a strange gesture.
"We are masters of all," The other chimed in.
"Uhh…" My little-brother started to back away.
"Why are you here?" The female-two-legs lowered its voice.
"Uhh…" He was still confused.
The other two-legs stepped forward. "We just wanted to hang out."
"Ugh. Why?" The male asked.
"We thought it would be fun."
"No. Why would we do that?" The male continued; glancing at its other half, a dim light in its eyes as its mouth hung partway open.
"Who knows?" The other shrugged back.
"Let's go."
"Yeah, Dogsbreath still needs some payback."
The similar-two-legs both turned and dashed into the woods.
"We can help!" The small-two-legs shouted.
"We're listening," The two-legs reappeared, flipping their legs over a tree branch and hung themselves upside down. I had no idea how they could have gotten there so quickly, but due to the unconcerned look on my brood-love's face, this trick must have been ordinary two-legs-magic.
"Hiccup can get into Gobber's forge," The little-two-legs rambled, holding its paws close to its chest. "There's stuff there that you can use."
The similar-two-legs turned their heads towards each other, baring their teeth in appreciation of the small-two-leg's appeasement.
"What are you waiting for?" They both called, slinging their legs from around the tree and falling to the ground below.
"Told you it'd work," The small-two-legs whispered.
"Nothing's happened," My brood-love said.
"But it will."
"Why do we want something to happen, again?" My brood-love asked.
"Come on, this is our chance to be like them."
The small-two-legs ran ahead, catching up the other two-legs who had walked ahead of my little-brother.
"What if I don't want to be like them?" He said quietly to himself.
Receiving no response my brood-love sighed and raced after the other young-two-legs.
The two-legs-nest appeared through the trees. A collection of wooden dens and earthen mounds rose into the sky, towering above my little-brother, though I knew them to be small enough to jump over. The similar-looking-two-legs crouched low to the ground; they prowled forward with hunched backs and raised paws, slinking in between the dens as if they did not want to be seen—although my little-brother was much harder to spot, despite walking the way a two-legs normally walks.
"Why are you two doing that?" My little-brother asked.
"Shh, we're sneaking," The male said.
"Shh, I'm trying to sneak," The other chastised, glaring at its other half.
The similar-two-legs stood up straight, each pressing their head against the other, as they made a Shhhh sound in the other's face. Somehow they managed to keep walking forward while doing this.
"Err... guys," The small-two-legs interrupted the strange two-legs-ritual. "Guys! The forge is this way."
"I knew that."
"No you didn't."
"Uh-huh!"
"Nu-huh!"
My brood-love scowled; evidently the similar-two-legs annoyed him as much as they did me.
"Why are we doing this again?" He asked.
"If they like us, then it'll be easier to get Snot or Dogsbreath to like us," The small-two-legs replied. "It's percent."
"I still don't think these percents are a good thing," He grumbled in response, but he had his teeth bared. My little-brother seemed to be enjoying this adventure of his, even if he did not want to admit it.
It was nice to see him happy with other two-legs for a change. It made me feel….
No. I pushed that thought from my head. My brood-love was different from the other two-legs. He was unique in his acceptance of my kin; the other two-legs are not willing to make peace. That stone pit was evidence enough of that. The two-legs kept dragons there. They beat them with their talons and blocked them from the sky. No. My little-brother was alone in his acceptance of my kin.
The group of two-legs halted before a den; this one was different from the rest. It was made of more stone than tree, and through a hole in its wall I could see dozens of two-legs-talons and things of two-legs-magic.
"Ooo," The similar-two-legs cooed together, it was almost as if they had never been to this den before. My little-brother reached forward with his paw, and pushing aside the tree wall, created a large hole in the den.
"We coulda' done that," The female groaned.
"Yeah, why'd we need him?" The other-half-two-legs complained.
"Hiccup knows where all of the good stuff is," The small-two-legs said, much to the amusement of the other two-legs.
"Uhh… I do?" My brood-love asked quietly.
"Yes."
"But I don't—"
The similar-two-legs fell forward, scrambling against each other as they charged heedlessly into the unfamiliar den.
My little-brother cringed at the sound of falling debris as the two-legs ran around the enclosed den. He could not believe that he was letting them do this. It was not like he could stop them if he wanted, the door did not have a lock after all, it was just –he did not want to be yelled at.
"Look what I found!" The female-two-legs shouted, holding a small branch with a round talon attached to its end.
"Put that back!" My brood-love shouted, finally managing to bring himself through the hole. "That's Gobber's hammering-hand."
"Eww!" It dropped the branch.
"Ooh!" The other swooned, catching the branch before it could hit the ground. "So this was inside him?"
"No –" My little-brother began before he was interrupted by the male.
"Boring," It let the branch fall to the ground. "Where's the cool stuff?"
"We can hit him with this!" The female held up a long talon that was much too heavy for it, causing the two-legs to fall over from the weight.
"Or shoot him with this!" The male held up a curved branch.
"Or! Or," My brood-love rushed forward. "We could get someone else to do it for us."
"How's that fun?" The similar-two-legs asked at the same time.
"This way you can watch while it happens," He continued. My little-brother did not want to get in trouble.
The similar-two-legs looked at each other, and nodded, folding their forelegs over their chests. "Go on."
"If you steal something from Gobber, and sneak it onto Dogsbreath, then Dogsbreath will get yelled at, and punished."
"And you can laugh at him, while Gobber screams," The small-two-legs added.
"What should we take?" The female asked.
"His axe?" The small-two-legs said.
"His hands?"
"His socks?" My little-brother suggested.
"His socks?" The female paused. "That's weird… I like it."
"Ooh, but let's just take the left ones!"
"Yeah! He'll freak when he finds out."
"Hiccup!" The two-legs froze. "What are you doing in Gobber's forge?"
My brood-love looked over his shoulder towards the den's hole. The hated-two-legs from a few moons ago was standing outside, but it could not see the other two-legs within.
"Uhh… I was looking for you." My brood-love said, turning his back on the others and walked towards my-most-despised-two-legs while the others fled through another hole.
That was my cue. I would not let this cruel two-legs talk to my brood-love. It would only make things worse again.
I swirled the Ginnungagap, obliterating the hated-two-legs until nothing remained of the dream save a slight white fog.
My brood-love had seen enough two-legs for a moon. He needed to see dragons. My little-brother needed to be reminded that there was good in Midgard.
I reformed the dream.
Clouds tore through the air, my brood-love hollered in excitement as the Ginnungagap-Toothless drifted in a downward arc towards the water below.
This was what he needed. A simple dream of that peaceful sun, a reminder that we could escape the hated-two-legs, a promise that things would be better in the future.
"That was amazing!" He shouted from the Ginnungagap-Toothless' back. "Is it always like that?" He asked, but the Ginnungagap-Toothless was not listening.
I remembered this part. Some fish had caught my attention.
The Ginnungagap-Toothless folded its wing, and spiraled down into the water, eliciting a laughing-shriek from my brood-love. A moment later, they reemerged with a dozen fish tails protruded from its mouth.
"A little warning next time?" My brood-love scolded from his perch.
The Ginnungagap-Toothless nodded its head, while I fought the urge to laugh. My little-brother was strange—in a good way. He would voice displeasure while radiating joy, or bare his teeth while slumping his shoulders. I did not understand him sometimes, but he never ceased to make me laugh.
The Ginnungagap-Toothless shared my sentiments, chortling from the gaps in the mouthful of fish. It looked around, spotting a small island, and began its descent so that it could properly eat with my little-brother.
He climbed down from the Ginnungagap-Toothless' back as soon as it landed, dropping to the ground and stumbling away with his teeth bared in elation. The Ginnungagap-Toothless spit out the fish in its mouth, forming a slimy pile before it followed my brood-love with its head.
"Where are you going?" It crooned. "The fish is here."
"I need to find some wood," My brood-love replied, turning back to the Ginnungagap-Toothless. "Stay here, I'll be back."
The Ginnungagap-Toothless looked down at the pile of fish, briefly considering staying behind to guard it while my little-brother wandered the unfamiliar island. The debate did not last long, and it quickly bounded over to him, nuzzling against his side with its head. He laughed and placed a paw on its black scales.
"I'm looking for some sticks for a fire. Little trees," My little-brother added in explanation.
The Ginnungagap-Toothless nodded its head. I knew that 'tree' meant tree, and the apparition ran ahead, quickly picking up several small branches while my little-brother looked around for branches of his own. It quickly ran back, and spit out its collection of branches by my brood-love's feet, before looking up for approval.
"Thank you, Toothless," My brood-love bared its teeth and picked up the slightly damp wood. "Do you think you can also start a fire for me?"
The Ginnungagap-Toothless looked at him quizzically. I did not understand him either. He set the wood down and began stacking the branches against each other. He looked back up and sighed.
"I guess I can't expect you to understand everything I say," My little-brother stopped and rocked back onto its hind legs.
"Fire," He gestured at the branches. "Fire."
He pointed at the branches then pointed at the Ginnungagap-Toothless. "You know," He mimicked the screech of my breath. "Fire," He shrugged, but I understood it that time. My brood-love wanted me to use my breath. He wanted me to set the branches on fire.
The Ginnungagap-Toothless complied, bending its head low over the branches and sighed a short spat of blue.
Soon a small fire started within the branches. My little-brother appeared pleased and sat down with his back to the Ginnungagap-Toothless. He took one of the fish, an action that would have cost any other a fierce growl and the potential loss of a paw, and placed it onto a branch, before holding it over the flames in another of his strange two-legs customs.
The Ginnungagap-Toothless guzzled a few fish politely, although it saved most of the fish for my brood-love. He needed to eat more, but try as I might I could never get him to eat more than one full fish and a bite from another. It was no wonder that he was still so small. He just did not eat as much as he should.
A flock of annoying-bug-eyed-pests flew towards my little-brother, squawking cries of 'mine' and 'fish' as they tripped over each other in an attempt to get the fish.
The Ginnungagap-Toothless growled, extending its teeth and scrunched its snout in a snarl. The low reverberating beat of the growl filled the dream; my brood-love looked up, his eyes flashing in recognition.
"Toothless?"
Oh, Hel!
I stopped growling, but I was too late. The rest of my body materialized from the fog, my little-brother had seen me. He snapped his head around and stared at the Ginnungagap-Toothless behind him.
"This is a dream," He mumbled. He looked back up to me, as I willed the Ginnungagap-Toothless to disappear, but my brood-love had already seen it. He knew that this was a dream.
"This is a dream," He repeated, this time with his teeth bared. "Wait a minute..."
He closed his eyes, and stood still for a second.
"There. You can talk to me now," My brood-love opened his eyes to see my awestruck face. I had understood that.
"How…" I couldn't believe it. I could understand my brood-love!
"It's my dream," He shrugged. "I can do whatever I want."
"You know about dreams?" I asked.
"Yeah, everyone has them."
I sighed, releasing all of my breath and tension in a prolonged huff of air. He already knew about the Ginnungagap. He already knew about the Ginnungagap! I felt cheated! I could have revealed myself to him a long time ago. I could have talked to him here instead of hiding in the folds of invisibility.
"Is there anything you want to do?" He asked. "We could fly or—"
"We can talk!" I said, more reconfirming my wondrous discovery than answering his question.
"Oh, uhh… okay. Did you have anything in mind?"
I hesitated. This was the moment I had longed for, the moment when I could finally speak to my brood-love! I…I could finally tell him everything, that he meant everything to me, that he was amazing, that he was my little-brother. But I could not think of anything to ask.
"We… you," I stuttered for the first time in my life. I did not know what to say. What could I say? I had one chance, this one moment that would forever be my first question. What could I ask?
"Why are you unhappy?" How could it be anything else?
"I'm not…." He started to deny my claim. "Oh, what's the point? I can't lie to my own subconscious," He muttered. Taking a sharp breath he continued: "I'm not happy because of what I did to you."
I pulled my lips back, revealing toothless gums. "Did to me?"
"I was the one who shot you down. I crippled you. I—"
"You gave me a reason to live," I said.
"—took… what?"
"I was miserable before you. I had no family, no brood. No anything."
"Oh, uhh… so—"
"Why are you unhappy?" I repeated the question. Despite the flutter of yellow, I could still smell a dank pit of blue buried within his scent.
"Everyone hated me until I became good in the Kill Ring."
"And?" I did not understand.
"And. I'm an outcast!"
"And I'm a Toothless. Everyone hates me, but that does not matter when I have you."
My brood-love bared its teeth and chuckled. "You are a Toothless, yes."
The sadness remained. I took a step towards my little-brother, and felt the hard stone begin to crumble beneath my feet. He was waking up! It was too soon. I wanted more time!
I lunged forward and embraced my brood-love, enveloping him in a cocoon of black scales and membrane. I pressed against him, sliding my neck and head over his shoulder as he wrapped his forelegs around my neck.
"Why are you unhappy?" I repeated one last time, as my brood-love faded from me.
My brood-love opened his eyes. He yawned and stretched his forelegs and neck, rubbing against my scales gently before rising to a sitting position amid the tangle of limbs and tail.
"I'm not," He whispered to himself.
I yawned, greeting the rising-sun with a gummy croon of pleasure. My brood-love scratched beneath my chin, causing the croon to cascade into a yowl of ecstasy. He glanced over towards the wall of stone when he thought I could not see. He was thinking about the two-legs nest.
"Dad's going to be worried about me soon," He said, while I released a mournful groan. I was wrong all those suns ago when I claimed that our words did not matter. Now, I wished for nothing more than to be back in the Ginnungagap.
My brood-love stood up to leave. I followed him to his feet and lowered my head in front of him. Closing my eyes, I gave myself to him just as I had done when he first became my hatchling.
I shuddered as his head pressed against mine. We held still for a moment, a blissful instant in the warm rays of the sun's early light, listening to the soft thud of our hearts as they sang together, pounding the harmonious beat of our bond against our chests and minds. We were happy.
"I love you, bud."
"I love you."
With that, he was gone.
My little-brother climbed to the top of the wall of stone, and for once he did not need to look back.
The End