Morning
"Errrrrggghhh..."
Ever had one of those mornings that when you wake up you felt as if some bones may need to be reminded where they were supposed to be placed?
Personally, I didn't. But I bet this—
*Pop* *Pop* *Crack*
—Is what it sounds like!
"How long had I been asleep?" Hiccup asked out loud, craning his neck.
"Since yesterday, Our Leader!"Came the very enthusiastic, and very loud, reply of Trick and Treat.
Hiccup flinched at the noise. "You two, be quiet." He demanded to the Zippleback.
"Yes, Our Leader."The Zippleback sounded rather dejected.
"Oh! Good morning, so—!" A slight pause. "Er, Hiccup."
"Ms. Dragon Lady." Hiccup greeted back. He'd be lying if he said that was the first response his mind offered him.
Valka walked towards Hiccup and then suddenly gave the boy a hug. "I was so worried about you yesterday." Her voice seemed to crack a bit.
Hiccup winced a bit. "My apologies, Ms. Dra—"
Valka interrupted him. "Please, call me Valka." She gave Hiccup and almost motherly smile.
"... Ms. Valka." Hiccup wasn't sure where that came from. "But it was the only way I could help Kickstarter. Besides—" He twirled his shoulders.
*Pop* *Pop*
"—I'm fine for the most part."
Valka gave the boy an unamused look.
"Eh..." Hiccup sheepishly scratched the back of his head. The teen can't help but feel nostalgic at the look. He remembered when his mother from his previous life used to give him the same look.
Valka dropped her look and just sighed before giving Hiccup another hug. " Just don't do anything reckless like that again."
"I won't." Hiccup told her. 'What she doesn't know won't hurt her.'
Because, seriously, he's Hiccup Horrendous freaking Haddock III! Not to mention, the glowy eye thingy would probably make his life more complicated than it should be!
He is oh-so dreading the time he comes face to face with Drago Bludvist.
"Glad to see you're awake, youngling."
Hiccup tilted his head a bit to look past his mother and saw the Stormcutter. "Cloudjumper." He greeted the dragon. The boy scanned the area, in search of something. "Where's...?"
"Hiccup!"
'There they are.' Hiccup saw the two Changewing siblings. Accompanying them was Stryker the Night Fury. The teen fought down the urge to simply rush towards the jet-black dragon and just hug and never let go.
Seriously, it's getting really hard to do so.
"We caught breakfast!" Sibel happily declared, gesturing towards the pile of fish at the side.
"My thanks for your initiative, Changewing siblings, but you do realize I am incapable of eating those." Hiccup replied.
"We know that." Invy stated. "That's why you're mother set up a fire pit!"
Indeed there was a fire pit! Recently made too. How convenient. Hiccup looked at his mother. "Thanks for that. Despite my best efforts, I was never really a good fire starter." The teen gave Valka a thankful smile.
Valka smiled back. "Come on then. Let's eat." She said before walking towards the fire pit. Hiccup's stomach growled in response, rather loudly as Valka gave the boy a knowing look. Hiccup's face flushed in embarrassment before he joined his mother.
"Hey, human." Hiccup turned his head towards Stryker. "After yesterday, know that I don't owe you any favours." The Night Fury huffed.
Hiccup gave him a smile. "There were no favours to repay, my dragon fri—"
One look from the dragon was enough to tell Hiccup that Stryker was having none of that. He then turned his head away, silently sulking. 'Toothless dislikes me...'
How tragic, Henry. Truly, truly tragic.
"What's with that look, Hiccup?" Valka asked, noticing her son's crestfallen look.
Hiccup immediately wiped the look off his face. "Nothing! I have..." Hiccup thought of a reason worthy of his sullen look. "Lost the apology gift that I was going to give Stryker here!" He gestured to the Night Fury who gave him a questioning look.
"... An apology gift?"
"Yes!" Hiccup was so glad all those times he practiced in front of a mirror in preparation for the time when he gets to meet Toothless paid off. "I was supposed to give you a compensation for your..." The boy simply gestured to Stryker's tail-fin.
"Not to worry, Our Leader!" Trick and Treat, who simply came out of nowhere(actually they dropped down from the sky), proudly declared.
"You do?" Hiccup asked with hope in his voice.
"Yes!" Trick started.
"Thanks to Kickstarter, of course!" Treat happily continued, gesturing to the Monstrous Nightmare.
"H... Hello, human." Kickstarter replied.
"I am happy to see you are okay now, Kickstarter." Hiccup told the dragon with a relieved smile(I wonder how many emotions a smile can really give...).
"Y-yes, M-my Leader." Kickstarter replied, rather shakily for a dragon such as himself. He's a Monstrous Nightmare, not exactly the image of meekness if you know what I'm saying.
Hiccup's irritation levels rose a bit. "You have been hanging out with Trick and Treat, haven't you?" The boy's tone held a dangerous edge to it as his eyes slowly gazed to the Zippleback.
"Eek!" Trick screeched, eyes widening in fear.
"W-we were t-teaching him the p-proer ways of addressing you, Our Leader!" Treat whimpered with the same fearful expression.
Hiccup glowered at the two-headed dragon. "No fish for you this breakfast."
Valka laughed a bit. "Oh come now, Hiccup. Don't be so harsh on the poor dear. They're just helping out a fellow dragon." She teasingly chided her son.
Hiccup forced down the urge to give his mother an irritated look and opted to sigh. "Helping me irritate me more, that is." The boy turned to look at Kickstarter. "Please, Kickstarter. We're friends, aren't we? Just call me Hiccup."
"Yes, M… Hiccup." The Monstrous Nightmare murmured.
"Good." Hiccup turned to Valka. "Let's eat then. I'm starving!"
And so they ate breakfast under the peaceful, yet still rising, sun… Except for Trick and Treat who sulked in a corner.
"So…" Stryker started, pausing a bit to swallow a cod. "What's this about a gift for me?"
"Oh!" Hiccup fought back the urge to childishly giggle. "As I have stated, it is a compensation for your missing tail-fin! I told you before, didn't I? I'd rather deliver than promise." He said with confidence in his voice.
Maybe if they were trained in Oral Communication they would've sense at least a tiny amount of childish joy hidden in Hiccup's voice.
"It better be good." Stryker huffed.
"Do not worry! You will be overjoyed once I show it to you!" Okay, maybe not, but at least one person would be.
After eating, Hiccup had asked the Zippleback where they had stored his invention. Once he had retrieved it, he showed it to the Night Fury.
"… What is it?" Stryker asked, cautiously eyeing the contraption the human held in his hands.
"It's an artificial tail-fin that will allow you to take flight once more!" It was the simplified version, but it was all they needed to hear.
"A tail-fin…" Stryker blinked. "To replace the one I lost?"
"Yes! All you have to do is stay still and I shall install this contraption to you and you'll be flying up in the air in no time!" Hiccup failed to hide the eagerness of his voice but the Night Fury ignored it.
Age apparently does not equal maturity sometimes.
"That youngling is way too excited in my opinion." Cloudjumper commented. Valka shushed him as she was curious to see how Hiccup could help the Night Fury fly once again.
"And… How can that help me fly?" Stryker asked.
Hiccup's smile would've grown wider had he lacked the sufficient self-control. "I'm gonna have to fly with you!"
Those who were still eating nearly choked.
"You… What?!" Stryker gave the human an incredulous look.
'That was… Unexpected.' Valka thought to herself. Sure, the idea of soaring through the skies on dragon back alongside her son was a fantastic idea…
Really, she just wasn't expecting that.
"I know I know; it sounds crazy."
"Ludicrous even!" Stryker scoffed at the idea.
Cloudjumoer snorted at the younger dragon's words. "Hey, I have a human riding on my back and I'm not really complaining."
You know, I could probably insert a joke here but I'm gonna be the mature man and—
"I don't care! I'm not just gonna let a human ride me!"
I'm not sorry… Okay, maybe a little bit.
Hiccup lowered the contraption in his hands. "Look, I truly am sorry for your tail-fin and I'm trying to make it up to you."
"You're not asking whether I'm okay with your methods or not." Stryker growled.
Hiccup let out a melancholic sigh. "I suppose I haven't taken that into consideration." Honestly, this was way harder than he'd thought it'd be.
Stryker took another look at the contraption in the human's hands, and then moved his gaze towards the Monstrous Nightmare.
He did say he'll take whatever chance he'll get so long as he can fly again and free the other dragons…
But placing his trust in such a level to a human, of all things, would be, to quote practically every dragon he knew back at the Nest, the height of foolishness.
But the other dragons… They Tyrant is growing stronger and he has no means of fighting back against it on his own.
But humans are untrustworthy! They kill dragons just for the fun of it.
He cannot afford to lose any chance to save his fellow dragons from the Tyrant… He promised them that.
…
Stryker took a sharp intake of breath as he made up his mind. "… Fine."
Hiccup blinked. "Really?"
"If… If I can fly again and free my fellow dragons by trusting you, so be it." Stryker declared with resolution.
Hiccup nodded. "Well said, my friend."
"Don't push it."
"… Okay." Hiccup walked over to Stryker's tail and sat on it. "Now, please refrain from moving a lot as it will make it difficult for me to put all this on you."
Stryker smirked and did the exact opposite of that which caused Hiccup to yelp in surprise.
"I deserve that..." Hiccup moaned, fixing himself upright. "But, please, I have just remembered I am in a tight schedule as it is."
No, really. He just remembered that he was supposed to be back at Berk instead of taking a night off in the Cove. Great... More headaches to deal with.
Once he had installed everything that was needed to be put on, Hiccup stepped back to admire his work.
Stryker grumbled as he fidgeted a bit due to the foreign objects strapped around his body. "This feels uncomfortable."
"Yes, I suppose I need to adjust a few things." Hiccup mused out loud before walking off towards the exit of the Cove.
"Hiccup, where are you going?" Valka asked.
"Back to the village, of course. My overnight stay here is likely to draw suspicion among my fellow peers. Do please make yourselves comfy while I'm gone." Hiccup, without turning back to face them, gave them a wave of goodbye before exiting the Cove.
Once he's gone, an almost uncomfortable silence settled in the Cove.
"So..." Stryker decided to strike up a conversation with the other dragons linked to the human's Connection. "How did you guys meet with him?"
"We are glad you asked, Stryker!" The Zippleback exclaimed with joy as they began their, in their most humble opinion, most life-changing meeting with the human that they came to know as their Leader.
Stryker thinks that he might've chosen the wrong conversation partner...
-0-
At the Village
As Hiccup had thought, his disappearance during yesterday earned him some suspicion. Well, sort of. The villagers who were quite attentive had asked him why he was nowhere to be seen yesterday. He was quick to assure them that he was fine and had simply been training in the forest the whole time.
However, the situation was quite different when he had reached the Dragon Arena.
"Hiccup! There you are!"
"Where've you been? You were gone for an entire day!"
"Did you find the Night Fury?"
"Did you fight it?"
"You got them all worried, cousin. I, of course, wasn't."
Hiccup raised both of his hands in a gesture of 'stop'. "Guys, guys. I'm fine. I was only at the forest in search of the dragon, and no I haven't found it yet." He told his friends.
"Well..." Hiccup felt Gobber's presence behind him. Or, to be more accurate, saw the man's shadow. "Glad you made it to today's lesson, Hiccup." The half-limbed man stated with a tone that suggested he wanted Hiccup to say something.
There comes a time when Gobber would jump out of Hiccup's ability to weasel his way out of anything the man would want out of Hiccup. This is one of those times.
Hiccup gulped nervously. "Haha... I don't suppose my friends have mentioned anything that could be a possible explanation to my disappearance yesterday?" He asked as he gave a look towards the teens that shook their heads in response.
"Oh they told me something alright. They told me you were out searching for a new dragon. But that'll come up later." Gobber pushed Hiccup towards the other teens. "Today's training partner is the Hideous Zippleback. You see those buckets of water?" The man gestured to the six buckets of water all lined up. "Leave your weapons outside and pick one up."
Everyone did as told and, albeit hesitantly, entered the arena. Gobber then sauntered inside with them before he gestured for a random Viking to pull the Zippleback cage's release lever. The man nodded and pulled the lever which resulted in a—
*BAM!* Green mist that smells of gas started to pour out and shroud the area.
"Today is about teamwork." Gobber informed the recruits as he stepped away from them. "Now a wet dragon's head can't light its fire. The Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky. One head breathes gas, the other head lights it. You're job is to know which is which."
The mist forced the teens to separate and form into a two-partnered group as it fully encompassed their field of vision. Hiccup was partnered with Fishlegs who was panicking a bit. "Razor sharp serrated teeth, it injects venom for pre-digestion... First ambush attacks by crushing its victims..." The husky Ingerman boy mumbled nervously.
"Calm yourself, Fishlegs. The Zippleback is a mischievous dragon; the more fear you show, the higher the chance the dragon will target you." Hiccup advised.
That got Fishlegs to cease his mumblings; however it did not quell his fear. "How do you know that?"
"Let's just say I've had enough experience in that particular study and leave it at that." Hiccup told him before grabbing the larger boy's hands and started to move.
"H-hey! Hiccup, what are you doing?! We might run into the dragon!" Fishlegs squeaked. Although his larger amount of mass could allow him to break free from Hiccup's hold, he'd rather stick close to the person that managed to save him from being turned to a pin cushion by the Deadly Nadder, or Stormfly as Hiccup had called it.
"We need to get out of here. The gas is extremely flammable and a single spark could blow us all to Valhalla." Not that Barf and Belch would actually blow them all up. It wasn't in the two-headed dragon's nature. Well, killing is sort of part of it but he knew that the Zippleback they were facing would rather toy with them rather than killing them outright. "We need to find the others and regroup."
Meanwhile, Snotlout and Tuffnut were circling around in search of the dragon while lightly shoving each other away. "If that dragon shows either of its faces, I'm gonna..." Snotlout saw a figure approaching them. "There!" He pointed at it and threw the contents of his bucket at it. Tuffnut immediately did the same.
This earned them two yelps of surprises.
"Snotlout! What the Hel?!" That was Fishlegs' voice!
"Ugh... Now I have to change my schedule to clean this up." Came Hiccup's voice.
"Hiccup? Fishlegs? What are you doing here?" Tuffnut asked.
"We are trying to regroup. The dragon is nearby and it will pick us up one by one if we do not stick together." Hiccup replied before looking past Snotlout and Tuffnut. "Speaking of the dragon..." He hurriedly stepped closer to Tuffnut and Snotlout before yanking them away from their position.
Good thing too as Hiccup faintly saw a jaw snap from the cover of the thick green colored gas.
"Why did you do that?!" Snotlout exclaimed, rather peeved that his cousin just yanked him without any warning.
"Leave."
"What?" Tuffnut asked, confused at Hiccup's order.
"Leave now. Find Astrid and Ruffnut. The dragon is just in front of us." Hiccup stated before dropping his bucket of water. "Well? Go!" Fishlegs, Snotlout, and Tuffnut hurriedly complied after hearing the seriousness of Hiccup's voice.
"Show yourselves, Barf and Belch. I can sense you." Hiccup called out to the dragon. He was greeted by silence...
Hiccup rolled back as a tail that aimed to sweep him off his feet came.
"If it isn't dear Hiccup." Barf purred.
"Come to add us to your growing Connection then?" Belch added. The Zippleback was still obscured by the thick gas.
"I assume you have been informed by Meatlug and Stormfly." Hiccup said as his eyes searched for any signs of attack. Despite being friends with the two-headed dragon, Barf and Belch had no qualms "playing" with Hiccup.
"True, true." Barf replied.
"But we shall not let you off so easy, dear Hiccup." Belch added as the two heads started to slither out of the smoke.
"I would be insulted if you did." Hiccup remarked, crouching into a defensive stance.
"Then let's play!" Both heads roared excitedly the Zippleback showed itself to Hiccup. The Zippleback's eyes glinted with mischief as they prepped up an attack for the boy.
Meanwhile, with the other trainees, the three boys managed to find Astrid and Ruffnut.
"Fishlegs? Snotlout? Tuffnut? What are you doing here?" Astrid asked. She then noticed something off. "Where's Hiccup?"
"He... He stayed behind to fend off the Zippleback, I think." Fishlegs replied.
"What?!" That was Astrid, Ruffnut, and Gobber's voice exclaiming that one word.
"M-maybe he's just fine?" Tuffnut added.
Suddenly, a torrent of flame erupted from the smoke followed by Hiccup rolling back to avoid said torrent. "Guh..." Hiccup grunted as he came to a halt.
"Hiccup!"
"You guys might want to stay back a bit...!" Hiccup advised them as he vaulted to the left to avoid a lunge from Barf's head. Gobber and the other trainees could only watch as Hiccup narrowly avoided another blast from the Zippleback.
"Gobber, do something!" Snotlout was the only one that could voice out everyone's thoughts as Astrid and Fishlegs were panicking too much to speak while the twins were unable to speak as their mouths were too busy biting their own hands.
Gobber started to move to help Hiccup out of the most-likely-life-threatening situation but was interrupted when a torrent of flame almost hit both him and the trainees. "Hiccup!" The man shrieked at the boy who was constantly on the move.
"I got this, guys! Don't worry!" Hiccup assured them(although he was not really convincing anyone). Dodging another torrent of flames by rolling forward, Hiccup ran past the Zippleback and then smacked his hand on the two-headed dragon's side. "Tag, you're it!" The boy laughed out loud.
"Hey!" Barf roared.
"No one tags us and gets away with it!" Belch added as the Zippleback chased after the boy.
Hiccup was actually leading the dragon back to their cage and distracting them with the Zippleback's favourite game, Tag. "Nanananana~!" Hiccup chanted as he ran inside the cage.
"You're cornered!" Both heads of the Zippleback exclaimed as the dragon entered inside the cage.
Hiccup grinned as he managed to get past the dragon and outside the cage. He hurriedly closed both gates, but not giving the Zippleback a remark. "It appears I win this time, Barf and Belch." His left eye glowed a bright emerald green and felt his Connection link with the Zippleback's own.
"Oh come on!" Barf whined.
"You cheated!" Belch added before the gates of the cage closed in on the Zippleback.
After the cage was secured, he turned to face the others. They all looked at him with shocked faces. Hiccup decided that he should get out of here as quick as he could. "Okay! So are we done? Because I got some things I need to do that will make me busy for a while." Hiccup then hurriedly made his way out of the arena, ignoring the gawks and calls of his name.
-0-
At the Forge
"Come on... Where is it?"
One thing that you dear readers must remember is that Henry is an initiative person. So it shouldn't come off as a surprise that he already has a saddle made even before meeting Stryker.
"Gah!" *CRASH!* "Stupid hunks of metal..."
Also, he's an HTTYD fan, so do please forgive him if he's not at the most organized of mindsets right now.
"Aha! Found it!" Hiccup happily exclaimed, picking up a slightly dusty saddle made in the likeness of the animated series. No, really... Every. Single. Detail.
Suddenly, Hiccup heard sounds just outside of his little room. Footsteps... Or, to be more specific, one foot and a peg leg. "Found what, lad?"
"Gobber!" Hiccup quickly turned around to face Gobber who had entered his workshop, easily taking over what little space was inside it, and hid the saddle behind his back. Of course, like in every similar situations Hiccup has seen before, he was caught red-handed. "What... Brings you here in my little domain?"
"You didn't really think I was gonna let you off that easy, did you lad?" Gobber narrowed his eyes at Hiccup who could only gulp nervously.
"Of course I didn't." Hiccup replied. "I simply thought that it could be put off at a later date."
"You're a good liar, Hiccup. Gods know how many times you've tricked your friends, Stoick, and me as well." Gobber told the boy who would most likely be sweating bullets right now if he could.
"Me? A liar? Why, Gobber, your words wound me." Hiccup mock-gasped in an attempt to divert the conversation to a more controllable scenario.
"Hiccup." There was no mirth in Gobber's tone. He was serious.
Hiccup gulped. "Y-yes, Gobber?"
"What are you hiding? Where were you last night?" Gobber asked the boy.
Hiccup's mind quickly attempted to make appropriate and suspicion-free replies to that. "I was..." He could not allow even the slightest of clue to his dragon friends, Toothless, or even his mother and Cloudjumper. "... Training."
Gobber didn't buy it. "The truth, Hiccup." That was when he decided to question the glaringly obvious object that the boy tried to hide behind his back. "And what's with that?" He pointed at the object.
"This?" Hiccup revealed the saddle to Gobber. "Just a side project of mine, really. My first attempt at sewing leather." He answered with a fake-but-pretty-convincing-proud smile.
Okay, I lied. Hiccup was genuinely proud of his achievement to not only create a saddle with his own two hands, but to replicate every single detail of the saddle of the original Hiccup. Not to mention, the artificial Tail-fin and the mechanics behind it is, in Hiccup's opinion, his best creation as of yet(Of course it was a given that Endeavor is still his favorite).
Hey, the most important thing about using a facade to hide something is to actually mean it while actually trying to hide something else.
"As for my suspicious and worrying absence yesterday..." Now comes the hard part. He's gotta have to be extra careful with the details on this one. "I will admit that training is only one of the reasons for that, and I do feel slightly guilty for trying to keep a secret from you, of all people, Gobber."
Gobber gave the boy a bored look.
"Erk..." Hiccup winced. "Anyway, what exactly did my friends told you about me yesterday?"
"They told me you were after a new species of dragon that only comes out at night." Gobber scoffed. "Right, and I'm Thor."
Hiccup mentally groaned. 'Of course. What was I expecting?' He thought to himself before coming up with the appropriate response. "Well... Partially true, I suppose. But not quite the whole story." He supposed that telling a half-truth shall suffice.
"Then what is the 'whole' story?"
Hiccup nodded. "Right. So I was out by the forest practicing with Endeavor while trying to actually track a dragon. Not a new species, mind you. Just a dragon that I thought was wandering around the forest. Anyway, I was wandering around the forest when a Monstrous Nightmare came falling out of the fucking sky!"
Gobber gave him a dubious look, obviously indicating that he found Hiccup's story hard to believe.
Hiccup ignored the half-limbed man's stare and continued on with his story. "As such, I did the most sensible thing anyone in my position would do!" Discounting people like his parents, of course. "Run towards the opposite direction!"
Gobber was not too sure if he actually heard some pride in Hiccup's voice as he proclaimed that.
"However, despite my best efforts to evade the dragon, it was not without some... Complications" Hiccup scratched the back of his head for effect. "I had apparently run off to a deeper part of the forest of which, though I am loath to admit, I have gotten lost." Hiccup sighed with a mixture of embarrassment and regret.
"So let me get this straight..." Gobber pinched the ridge of his eyebrows. "You're telling me that you were out by the forest trying to find a dragon. But then you were attacked by a Monstrous Nightmare, of all the dragons, and then you got lost."
"Of which I had to spend the entire time in a Cove, beautiful place by the way, and wait until I can get my strength back... Or at least, feel my legs once more."
"And then you come back to the village the day after. That about right, lad?" Gobber gave Hiccup a questioning look.
Thankfully, Hiccup was trained to handle this situation. And by trained, I meant that he spent a few hours in front of the mirror doing his best to re-enact scenarios of similar circumstances to this very situation he is now in. "I know it is hard to believe, Gobber, but you have to trust me on this one. I'm telling the truth here."
You know, not including the parts that he secretly has the ability to communicate with dragons via the Connection, making an artificial Tail-fin and saddle for Toothless, having other dragon friends, and meeting his mother.
"Would I ever lie to you about something like that?" Seeing the look on Gobber's face, he immediately responded. "Now that I have given it thought, do not answer that. But my point still stands! My words are nothing but the truth."
Gobber stared at Hiccup's face. To be honest, he was sort inclined to believe Hiccup's words. While rather rare, encountering a dragon in the forest of Berk wasn't really all that farfetched so Hiccup being chased by a dragon wasn't really unbelievable to an extreme extent(Even then, he sometimes gets chased by a dragon even when he's in the village). Gobber sighed. "Alright, lad... I'll trust your words for it."
Hiccup let out a sigh of relief and gave Gobber a thankful smile. "I thank you for trusting me, Gobber. To be honest, I wouldn't have found my own words easy to believe either."
'Not factoring in the circumstances that led to me being chased by a Monstrous Nightmare, of course.' But no one needed to know that.
"Ah, off with you, lad." Gobber shooed the boy who then ran out of the forge with the saddle. Once alone, Gobber couldn't help but take a glance at the stuff that were scattered around Hiccup's workplace. Mostly papers detailing various contraptions. One, or to be more accurate, a few captured his eye. All of the papers were drawings of an odd looking dragon in different angles; one on the front view, the other on the back view, two more on side view which covered both the left and right side of the dragon. The dragon's left tail-fin appeared to be more emphasized compared to the rest of the drawing and the dragon appeared to be sporting squiggle lines which could appear to be cables wrapped around the dragon. One final detail was a description on each of the paper's bottom part but it was written using strange looking letters that were definitely not Norse lettering. He decided that this must be something the boy truly wished to keep secret if he went to the trouble of making up his own letters just so no one can understand them. "What are you hiding, Hiccup?"
No one was there to answer the man, and he doubt Hiccup would answer even if he's still here.
-0-
At the Cove
My dear readers, do you still remember the fact that Henry used to own a cat that he nicknamed Toothless(Anyone accusing him that he did so just because the cat was jet-black and had green yes will be met with denial as he will state that it was just to spite the stupid cat for clawing him in the face during that one particular time).
"No."
Well, Toothless(Stryker) sure is reminding him of the damn cat.
"Although I am aware that you are a dragon with pride, please consider this as a speed up to me helping you fly once more."
"I don't care. I'm not putting that on."
Hiccup growled under his breath at the Night Fury's stubbornness. "You are not making this any easier, Night Fury."
"Not putting it on no matter what you say, human. I am not some common animal." Stryker snarled at the human. Seriously, he a Night Fury. No, THE Night Fury for the love of all dragons!
Hiccup sighed. In all honesty, he should've expected this kind of reaction. The circumstances of his meeting with Toothless were severely different in comparison to how it originally went so there are bound to be some major changes to his original plan. It was a given, a scenario that Hiccup himself had foreseen the very same day that he found out about his abilities. However, simply put, his self-proclamation as an HTTYD fan appears to cloud his judgement more often than he'd prefer.
Or at least that's what he tells himself anyway.
"Very well." Hiccup decided that, if he wants to gain Toothless' most earnest trust, he shall have to work his way for it and then tossed the saddle aside. "I am supposed to be the one trying to compensate you for your loss so I suppose that gives me no right to make the decisions for you."
Stryker huffed. "That's right, human. You did this to me; you gotta make it up to me my way." The Night Fury then looked at the artificial tail-fin. It was about the same size as his own tail-fin and it was colored red, which sort of contrasts with his jet-black scales. "So… How do we get this started?" He asked the human.
Hiccup perked up by hearing that. "I get on your back… Simple as that." He answered.
Stryker snorted. "Okay…" He then awkwardly lowered himself to a position that he thought that the human could climb on his back without any trouble.
Hiccup held back the urge to giggle like a child as he climbed on Stryker's back. He then placed his left foot on the stirrup before giving it a slight turn. He turned his head to find the artificial tail-fin respond by flapping open. "Okay… That opens that. Now… Why don't you and I take this nice and—?!"
Without warning, Stryker shot up to the sky. Apparently, Hiccup did not notice Stryker crouching into a launching position and unfurl his wings. "Finally!"
"—SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW!"
All the other residebts if the Cove only watched as the two got higher into the sky. For two Changewings, a Zippleback, and a Monstrous Nightmare, it was a the most bizarre thing to see; seeing a human on dragonback. For Valka and Cloudjumper, it reminded the two of the time when they started to fly together as rider and dragon.
Fun fact: Did you know Valka can scream for a very long time?
Anyway, Hiccup and Stryker can be seen barreling through the clouds and even so far as diving down near the top of the trees before flying back up. As one can imagine, Hiccup's reaction is—
"I'm riding a fucking dragon! I am literally up in the air on a dragon's back and flying faster than a fucking ship caught in a storm! WAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHH!"
Stryker snorted at the human's excitement. "You've had other dragons with you, why didn't you fly with them?"
Hiccup managed cease his joyful screaming and get his thoughts back on track from all the intense speed he and Stryker were going before deciding to answer the Night Fury. "I did not see the requirement to do so."
Anyone who is an HTTYD fan can call bullshit on that. Why? Because if you were in the world of HTTYD and can ride a dragon to the skies, you would do it. The real reason as to why Hiccup hasn't climbed on any of his dragon friend's back was because he wanted to experience flying with Toothless first. The boy had honestly lost count how many times he had resisted the urge to do so.
"Let's just concentrate on getting used to this." Hiccup told Stryker as he turned his head at the back. "Okay… Let's see what this does." He then tilted the stirrup which caused the tail-fin to…
*Fwap* Close in?
Both human and dragon then started falling out of the sky. "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
"What are you doing, human?!" Stryker shrieked as he tried flapping his wings but to no avail.
"Don't worry! I got this!" Returning his foot to its earlier position, the tail-fin snapped open just before they reached the trees and flew back up just before reaching the trees. Hiccup let out a sigh of relief. "Let's uh… Let's go back to the Cove for now." The boy declared before shifting the stirrup to a position that he assumed will turn them back. Stryker could only comply as they turned back to the direction of the Cove
Once the sight of the Cove reached them, the two were then presented with another problem.
"Say… How do we land?"
"I thought you knew that." Stryker huffed.
"Uh…" Hiccup did the same thing again where the tail-fin closed. And then they fell to the ground with a—
*THUD!* With Stryker crashing on his underbelly and Hiccup being launched off of the Night Fury's back and face first into the ground.
Valka hurried over to her son. "Are you alright, Hiccup?" The woman asked with worry in her voice.
"… My pride isn't."
Stryker groaned in agreement.
A/n: Okay… Got this one done. Here's the next update for you, my dear readers! Sorry if the short flying scene was not well-written. I'm not good at that part. Anyway, hope you enjoy this update and I'll see you in the next chapter! Bye bye~!
