Ch.10
Toothless landed behind the Hiccup's home, realizing he should explain his plan to Eletra before going inside. "Thascale, I thought you wanted to keep me hidden." Eletra said confused, "Hiccup will find out about you sooner or later, I'd rather he not discover you by accident." "are you sure—" "You'll be just fine, I promise, I trust Hiccup." It wasn't Toothless's faith in Hiccup that put Eletra at ease, but his promise that she'd be alright. Toothless was about to move when a thought caused him to pause. "I wonder if this what Eletra wants?" he looked at her, she looked back unsure what he was looking for. "Eletra, what do want to do?" "I'd like to meet this Hiccup you've told me so much about, now can you please show me where I can sleep." Relieved, Toothless began to move, "we'll find a more suitable place to live tomorrow." Inside, Eletra, having looked around Hiccup's room to her satisfaction, or much as was possible with a sleep Viking in the center of the room, lay down to sleep. Toothless settled down beside her and protectively draped his left wing over her. For the first time in days, a long-fought battle of thoughts and emotions in both his head and his heart—stopped. He felt at peace, his only thought the slow breathing of his new mate beside him.
In the morning Hiccup awoke, as usual, attached his prosthetic as usual and said good morning to the two Night Furies sleeping nearby as usual. It wasn't until Hiccup was at his steps did he realize something was very different about Toothless this morning. He pivoted in place, unsure whether he was really awake or not. Hiccup looked at his dragon, but couldn't believe it, he blinked, then he rubbed his eyes, but the second Night Fury remained protectively under Toothless's left wing. He was unable to get his mind and mouth to agree on a full sentence—or any words for that matter for a solid minute. Downstairs Valka was calmly sipping her tea in front of the hearth not thinking about anything, just enjoying the quiet. That's when she heard it, the unmistakable sound of Hiccup having missed a step while trying to race down the stairs from his room. "Are you ok?" Valka asked as Hiccup hobbled over to her out of breath. He nodded and sat down. After several seconds, Hiccup's mouth opened, and he began to speak in an almost frantic tone—if he'd actually managed to do more than spout gibberish. Valka looked at him, a mix of worry and amusement crossed her face, Hiccup stopped talking once he realized this.
A few minutes and one cup of tea later, Hiccup spoke again. "MOM, THERE IS A NIGHT FURY IN MY ROOM!" Hiccup realized his mistake after a few seconds of silence and spoke again. "I MEAN THERE IS A SECOND NIGHT FURY IN MY ROOM!" With that said, Hiccup collapsed into the chair he was in. "Another Night Fury?" Valka said to herself, the feigned innocence dripping from her comment. "Guess Starlight is ready to be found," she thought, checking to ensure Hiccup was okay after his morning shock. Hiccup had in-fact fallen asleep leaving Valka to dwell on why Toothless would want to reveal Starlight so quickly.
Meanwhile, The two Night Furies slept, blissfully unaware of Hiccup's reaction to the discovery of Eletra. Slowly the two dragons woke, the first was Toothless, who heard footsteps coming closer. To his surprise it was Valka, carrying a small basket full of fish. "mmm, is that delightful aroma fish?" Eletra said sleepily, her eyes still shut. "Yes, there is a small basket of fish," Toothless whispered keeping his eyes on Valka. Eletra lazily opened her eyes to see Valka carefully set the basket down and back away. "Hiccup is asleep downstairs, you gave him quite the shock Starlight." Valka chuckled thinking about Hiccup's entrance down the stairs. Starlight wasted no time in devouring the fish and settling back down to resume her sleep, Toothless took this opportunity to close his left wing, which was starting to ache. He Turned back to Valka to see she'd vanished, and taken the basket with her. "I'd better find myself some breakfast, this is going to be a long day." He thought, making a move to get up, much to the displeasure of Eletra.
All at once he felt a tug, he turned his head to see Eletra had hold of his right tailfin in her mouth. "Just try and go anywhere, I'm not letting go." That's what she tried to say, but with a tailfin firmly grasped in her mouth it came out more like, "juff twhy amd gowa amywheref I'mf noat leffing gaof." Between Toothless's uncontrollable fits of laughing, he managed to ask her to repeat what she said, in which she repeated herself with no success. Finally, she released his tailfin and spoke, "I said, just try and go anywhere, I'm not letting go." By the time she said this, Toothless had moved his tail out of Eletra's reach, and he smiled. That's when Eletra knew she'd messed up, but not yet wanting to move, made no effort to recapture his tailfin. "you're sneakier than I originally thought" Eletra did not like being bested, and she was determined to get back at him somehow.
Toothless was careful to steer Eletra away from a majority of the village that day, any Vikings that did happen to see her didn't believe their eyes and dismissed her as a hallucination. The only Viking to react as strongly to Eletra's existence as Hiccup was Astrid. She was resting against Stormfly on a sunny cliff when the two Night Furies flew past her, making her question her sanity. "Two Night Furies? How could I miss that!?" She said bolting upright. She grabbed Stormfly's face and looked her eye to eye, "how could I miss that!?" She let go of her dragon, well and truly unsettled by how she could've missed spotting a second Night Fury. ""I've been alert on every patrol, I couldn't have seen double, how could I miss another Night Fury!" Stormfly was interested where Toothless found another Night Fury as well, but unlike her rider, she was not coming apart because of it.
Later that day, when Astrid happened across Hiccup, he wasn't prepared for what hit him—literally. "OW, why—" was all he could say before Astrid roughly grabbed his flight suit, essentially capturing him, and demanded to know how long she'd not spotted the unknown Night Fury. "Um, um, if it makes you feel any better, I only found out when I woke up this morning in my room, and I'm sure there weren't any dragons in my room when I went to sleep." Hiccup was trying to avoid another punch in the arm, and much to his relief she released her hold on his flight suit upon hearing his statement. She felt better knowing that even if she'd missed the Night Fury arrive on Berk, Hiccup had missed this Night Fury enter his room. With her angry pacified, Astrid's curiosity took hold, and the two Vikings become so involved talking about the new Night Fury and everything that could mean, they forgot to go look for the dragon itself.
Toothless and Eletra meanwhile, had not stuck around for any of the delightful reactions to her presence, as they were too busy finding an empty cave that was to their liking. It was sometime after passing by Astrid and Stormfly that the pair found a cave to their liking. It was a good fit for Night Furies, and the cave itself was partially sunk into the ground with the top half being composed entirely of rock. The entrance was hidden from sight by a small rock overhang and a few bushes, making the hole look like just another shadow, which was just big enough for a Night Fury. The floor of the cave was a mix of rock and dirt and was large enough to hold several fully grown Night Furies. That night, Hiccup was surprised to discover that neither Toothless or Starlight, a name Valka had suggested for the new Night Fury, were in his room. He knew it was near hopeless to search for a Night Fury in the dark, having personal experience to draw from. So he resigned himself to sleeping, hoping to get a better look at the wonderous new Night Fury soon.