A/N: HTRYD is back and currently being typed off of my phone, so I apologize in advance for any goofs and mistakes that my autocorrect might make.
Chapter Summary : Continuing where ' How to Call Back ' left off, Hiccup's search for answers continues, only to be put on hold when he finds himself suddenly out of commission. Meanwhile, with his favorite viking unable to, it's now up to Toothless to uphold the health and sanity of his loved ones, especially when a newcomer comes in to stir things up.
Parchment paper and old ink engulfed the young viking's bedroom in such a way that the two dragons who lived with him feared that one false move on their end would end up sending their house up in flames. Despite this fear, that didn't stop them from going up to the bedroom periodically to check on the male, though he always seemed to be focused on the same thing whenever they did.
"Nothing... It says nothing about blonde haired dragons, and that's the last thing I have to look at until I can go out again!" Hiccup all but yelled as he threw his arms in the air out of frustration.
If the dragons had to take a stab at why their viking was so bitter, they wouldn't blame it on his research. They would have blamed it on the three straight days of bad weather that was currently keeping the boy grounded and kept up in his home. 'Cabin fever' seemed to be the appropriate word for it, as Hiccup had spent those three days pouring over whatever scrap of paper that said anything about dragons, regardless of type. Needless to say, everyone in the house was now concerned for the boy.
"If this rain keeps up-" Hiccup groaned, slapping his hands against his desk before pulling a piece over to his line of sight and re-reading what ever was on it, unconsciously reaching up and rubbing the still fresh wound he had gotten just days earlier.
The paper in his hands was one that he had gone over several times already. It was whatever little notes he had managed to gather on Valka when they had first brought her home and what not. It wasn't much to go off of, but Hiccup felt that if he just kept reading it, something might suddenly click from his chicken scratch of notes and he would be able to figure things out. It was more than likely wishful thinking, but it was something to do, and something he had been doing for quite a while now. For now, he found himself far to caught up in his reading, or rather his re-reading, to notice two sets of eyes watching him.
'Mommas read dat pape over a bazillion times already!' Valka whined as she crawled up the stairs with the older dragon following closely behind her, nudging her back and bottom whenever she stumbled up the uneven stairs.
'Not exactly a bazillion, but you are right... I have as good a mind as to burn it when hes not looking.' Toothless muttered, before adding. 'The last time he slept was after he got knocked unconscious, almost four days ago if you count it...'
'Yeah! We gotta get momma to stop readin' and do something else then...' Valka chirped, ignoring most of what Toothless had said, and figuring that Hiccup needed to do something different on her own.
'Go in and distract him, then.' Toothless urged, gently pushing her further up the stairs.
'Like how?' She asked a little curiously.
'I don't know. Go see if hes hungry or something.' Toothless suggested suddenly as he stopped just 1/3 away from Hiccup's bedroom entrance.
With a little nod of her head, Valka reached the top of the stairs and quickly made her way over to her mommy and sat down at his feet. Glancing over to Toothless, she sent a thumbs up his way, causing the older dragon to roll his eyes and yet still continue to watch. Valka then turned back to Hiccup and began to tug on his pant leg.
"What is it, Val?" The boy huffed, suddenly setting down his paper and looking down at her.
Putting on her best adorable face, Valka proceeded to rub her tummy in a 'hungry!' Type of gesture. Hiccup instantly got the message, and with a soft sigh, he pushed out his chair and gently picked up the baby dragon and held her to his chest.
"Okay, Val. I guess a quick break for food wouldn't hurt- What time is it anyway...?" Hiccup muttered suddenly, his eyes darting over to his window and widening when he saw the outside world.
It was dark with heavy rain clouds, but the moon still shone through like a type of homing beacon. The human viking knew what time it was based off of the moon's position in the sky. It was hanging low in the sky, and he knew what that meant.
"Four in the morning!?" He groaned, looking down at his little dragon with an expression of both stress and worry. "I didn't realize I had been at this for so long."
'If you call three days being long...' Toothless muttered from his position on the stairs, soon backing back down them as Hiccup headed towards them.
Huffing his chest out at the dragon's comment, which he just so happened to over hear, Hiccup responded by nudging Toothless ' artificial tail with his own artificial limb before rolling his eyes. It seemed that just simply getting Hiccup out of his room had been enough to change him back to his playful and somewhat boyish self, much to the relief of the others.
"So, what sounds good, guys?" Hiccup began as the trio entered into the kitchen. "As long as we don't have to cook it or make any noise this late st night, that is."
Not waiting for an answer from either Toothless, nor Valka, Hiccup set the baby down on the table and began to quietly sift through whatever food stuffs they had at hand. At first, it would seem as though his careful and quiet movements were just a result of the late hour, but the duo who were watching him knew better. They noticed how frazzled Hiccup still seemed, and how the slightest noise, even if it was just his own hand sliding across the table, made him wince. However, they couldn't tell if him being frazzled was the result of the kick to his head or the home invasion that had taken place not to long ago. Whatever the reason, all three seemed to be concerned.
"Guys, you don't have to watch me." Hiccup muttered, somehow sensing the four eyes on him.
'We're just concerned.' Toothless huffed, going over to his human companion and nudging his leg gently. 'And for good reason.'
'Mhm!' Valka chirped, hoping off of the table and following Toothless' lead of nudging Hiccup's other leg, gently causing the Viking to go to his knees and become eye level with them both.
"I'm okay. I know I've been a little off lately, but I'm okay. Really." Hiccup tried to assure them, sighing heavily as he reached up to his bruise and gently began to rub it. "Perfectly fine."
'You're not! You haven't slept in three days, your bruise looks even worse now, and you're starting to talk to yourself... Again." Toothless all but growled, watching as Valka toddled over to Hiccup and began to lick at the mark again like she had done when he first got it.
"Look, the sooner we find out what's going on with Valka, the sooner we can put this whole thing behind u-" With a sudden yelp, Hiccup suddenly found himself being pushed over by Toothless and sat on by Valka.
'Valka, stay there and make sure he sleeps.' Toothless said firmly, curling up next to them and draping a wing over them both.
Got it!' Valka giggled, laying on her back across Hiccup so he couldn't get up- or at least sit up due to her small size.
"Real mature, you two." Hiccup huffed as he unsuccessfully attempted to get off of the kitchen floor. "I'm not going to sleep on the floor though, just let me get to bed."
Rolling his dark eyes, Hiccup tried a few more times to sit up, but eventually he gave up and simply laid back and attempted to close his eyes. However, with the pain from his bruise still bothering him, and the fact that he still had the weight of two dragons on top of him, he found this to be rather difficult. Luckily, it didn't last to much longer, as a gentle knock suddenly sounded from the front door, and in an instant all three of them were up and ready for action. 'Action' mainly meaning that Hiccup was ready to answer the door, Toothless was ready to tear the newcomer to shreds, and Valka was just going what the others were doing for no reason.
"I wonder whose out this late..." Hiccup muttered as he quietly stalked towards the door. "And in this kind of weather."
Slowly making it to the door, Hiccup shot a quick glance towards the small crack between the blinds and the windows, only to find that it was still much to dark out for him to really see anyone. Frowning, he turned to Toothless and gestured for him to follow behind him as he opened the door. The figure that was revealed to them made Hiccup feel both relieved, and a little uneasy. While it wasn't one of Alvin's cronies, and certainly wasn't anyone that Hiccup knew of.
"Hello, um, can I help you?" Hiccup asked, looking up at the figure and trying to pick out any familiar traits that he could find in the low lighting.
"Yes..." Well, the voice revealed this person to in fact be female. "May I come in...? If only for a moments rest?"
"Um, I'm really not-" Hiccup was cut off my the woman suddenly moving passed him and into the house. "And you're in my house anyway..."
In the new lighting, the female was now revealed to be heavily clocked in a light grey cape that hung over a long dress in a similar colour. However, her face was still a mystery, as she wore a wide brimmed hat with a dark veil attached to it that fell over her and stopped at her chest. With this much in mind, Hiccup allowed Toothless to step in front of him quickly, the uneasy feeling he had from earlier still present.
"I apologize for the intrusion, but I needed a place to rest for a moment." The female said, though she remained standing as she seemingly began to look around the room, as the brim of her hat rotated slowly.
"T-thats okay then," Hiccup stuttered, uncomfortably moving away from the door and closer to where he had last seen his daughter. "Just... What- I mean, who are you?"
"Just a simple traveler who has lost her way in such horrible weather." She shot back quickly, her head suddenly turning to face Hiccup once more.
Freezing in place, Hiccup felt the dulling throb in his head return ten fold, unable to look anywhere else but at the female for some unknown reason. Groaning softly, Hiccup soon found himself in a strange type of staring contest with this new comer, all while hoping that this would be the only strange thing that she did while here. At the same time, he also began hoping that Valka was out of sight somewhere else in the house, just in case.
"Are you alright?" The figure asked, suddenly sounding rather concerned as she stepped closer to Hiccup. "You've paled since I first came in."
"I-I'm fine." Hiccup lied quickly, stepping back as he tried to ignore his pain, that for some reason felt even worse now. 'Maybe Toothless was right about it getting worse...'
Just to stop her from seeing his bruise, he was quick to put his hand over the mark, which ended up being a huge mistake on his end, as he suddenly dropped to his knees for the second time that day, and this time from the horrible pain that started in his head and ran all through him, feeling as though a thousand drums were simultaneously beating within him . It was in this moment, that he found that he could register very little, unaware of where Toothless and the female currently were, but fully aware that Valka had now revealed herself and was now sitting in his lap.
"What an interesting little thing..." Was the last thing he heard before things went dark very suddenly.
As Hiccup's body slumped forward, Valka quickly jumped off of his lap and hurried over to Toothless, who had just been watching the boy this whole time and wasn't very surprised when he suddenly collapsed. Looking over to the woman, he stood up boldly and strides over to Hiccup's limp laying form and stood before it in a very protective way.
'A concussion or simply exhaustion, no doubt... I should really do something, but after this person leaves..." Toothless muttered, wondering what the least violent way to lodge her from their home would be.
The woman had walked closer now and slowly reached out her hand to Toothless in a similar gesture to Hiccup's dragon training methods. However, her hand smelt heavily of eels, and only served in causing Toothless to shrink away and Valka to toddle forward. However, the baby dragon was quickly stopped by one protective swipe of Toothless' tail, which stopped her from running forward. The woman responded to this action by chuckling softly, and reaching up to brush her veil out of her eyes.
"Protecting ones own..." She mused, showing very little of her face to the two the closer she stepped.
Toothless growled lowly, feeling fire rising into his throat just in case he would have to use it on her. However, that much hostility seemed to be enough to cause the woman to freeze in place, just as she had done with Hiccup just moments earlier. Smirking slightly in satisfaction, Toothless looked up at the woman, wanting to see what she was about to do.
"Word spreads so fast on matters such as these... I hadn't believed it myself, and yet here it is, and I can see it in front of me..." The woman muttered, suddenly and slowly walking towards the door.
'What do you mean...?' Toothless growled, despite being unsure if the woman could understand him or not.
"There are things that happen among your kind- secrets that are so easily snuffed out, but they travel so fast among other kinds once they are discovered..." Her voice was a whisper now.
'So you understand dragons...?' Toothless guessed, watching as the woman walked in an awkward circle in front of the door, similar to any other house hold pet would.
"I understand as much as I need to, and soon you will as well..." She muttered, as she suddenly knelt before the door way and reached into her sleeve.
'You're speaking in riddles! Can't you just speak normally and tell me whats going on so my human behind me can stop driving himself insane?' Toothless snapped, about ready to attack the woman as she removed something from her sleeve.
"I could speak normally as a human would, but both the secret and the answer would be lost in translation..."
Toothless frowned in confusion, watching as the woman laid a bit of glass down by the doorway and standing suddenly before going quickly and shutting the door behind her. Once she had closed the door, Toothless waited a few more moments before slowly making his way over to the door and looking down at the glass. It was pale white, but not very clear, as the floor under it looked rather distorted through it. At first glance, it looked like a piece of glass, plain and simple, but the longer he stared at it, the more Toothless began to think that perhaps there was a reason for it being there.
'Toothy... What do we do about momma?' Valka's voice suddenly pulled Toothless back to reality, his gaze going from the glass to the female in an instance.
'I don't know, kid... But at least hes sleeping now.' Toothless sighed, going to Valka and picking her up by the nape of her neck with his teeth barely out.
Taking her over to the couch, he gently laid her onto one of the pillows and sat her down on it before going over to check on Hiccup and was revealed to find that the boy was still breathing, and he did react to being poked. With that in mind, he made quick work of getting a blanket off of the couch and laying it over Hiccup carefully.
'Is it my fault that mommy keeps getting hurt...? Am I something bad?' Valka cooed from her spot on the couch, bowing her head suddenly and hiding her face in shame.
Toothless looked up at her in concern, going over to her and sitting before her. Here was his chance to tell her what he knew and what he truly thought of her. After all, Hiccup was far to in his sleep to overhear them and anything that he might say. However, he found that he was unable to speak, her eyes filled with to much hurt and innocence for him to be comfortable with.
'No... Its not your fault. Your mommy just has- a history with certain people.' He lied, shaking his head slowly. 'We don't know what you are, but I know that you're not anything bad... Just people who are around you are bad.'
'Even dat person from before...?' She asked, her eyes filling with a little bit of hope.
'No. We didn't know her, but I have a feeling that she wanted to help and not hurt us...' Toothless replied, crawling onto the bed and curling up around the little one.
'I'm still scared though...' She whimpered, curling up closer to the other in an attempt to get comfortable.
'Just sleep for now... I'll keep you safe.' Toothless sighed softly, spreading one wing over her small form as a make-shift blanket.
'Promise?'
A quick nod of the head answered her, and Toothless soon felt Valka going limp as her breathing evened out and she drifted to sleep. Sighing softly, the older dragon's eyes darted back to the shard of glass on the ground, before slowly peaking at the little dragon under his wings. Somehow, the two were connected, but how they were... He didn't know yet. It frustrated him the more he thought about it, but he soon grew concerned, now thinking about how badly it might have frustrated his human, who had been thinking about it none stop for days on end.
There are things that happen among your kind- secrets that are so easily snuffed out, but they travel so fast among other kinds once they are discovered...
'Your kind... Dragons... A secret kept by dragons...' Toothless thought as he suddenly looked towards the door, just as the early morning sun was rising over the land.