One Small Step for a Viking
"Alright, I'm ready. I... I'll do it."
Hauk nervously ran his fingers through his brown, shoulder-length hair. His matching eyes twitched between the Night Fury and Rumblehorn milling around behind the riders, who recently landed in the clearing outside the longhouses. Once grounded, both dragons were eager to sniff and poke at each other, which devolved into some playful fighting.
Hauk stared at Hiccup, taking a gulp of air to steel himself for what he was going to do. It was simple, in theory. Touch a dragon.
Any fool could do it, right?
Right?
Almost everyone else had by now. Being the only tribe in the Barbaric Archipelago without any dragon riders would be terrible, especially with the Bog-Burglars getting three. Tomorrow, this place will be swarming with the beasts that would be looking for riders, so there's no better time to man up than just in the nick of time.
Hiccup blinked at the realization that he was being addressed and slowly spun around, picking the older teen out from the loose scattering in the open area outside the longhouse. When he realized what, exactly, was going on, a smile formed on his face.
"You sure, Hauk? You didn't seem too happy yesterday when I threatened to sic Dart on you if you hold out much longer."
"The Terror?" Hauk scoffed, allowing his voice to slip back into its usual baritone joviality. "Can ya' blame me? They're the worst sort of dragons ever! The forest doesn't slow 'em down at all. Even with large shields and nets, they're the trickiest to deal with. D'ya know how many scars I have from-"
"Hauk," Hiccup chirped up, cutting off the other Viking, "I know, I know. Grub told me all about that last raid."
Hauk scowled, disappointment sliding into his voice. "I wasn't there."
"Oh?"
"Hunting trip."
"... Oh."
"Anyway," Hauk said, brushing his shoulder in irritation, "Terrors suck! It's a good thing you keep yours away from me. Take that as you will."
"You do realize," Hiccup threw out with a bored expression, "that killing dragons isn't really a thing around here, right? And dragons attacking Vikings won't happen, either."
"I know!" Hauk snapped. He stiffened as the Night Fury locked eyes on him. The Rumblehorn took that opportunity to knock the smaller dragon on its back and tumbled it around.
Hauk deflated and said in a softer voice, "I know. I'm trying, it's just… hard. The dragons orphaned me in a single raid and, well, you've heard it all."
Hiccup slowly nodded. Hauk cast a glance at the Night Fury, which was trying to dance around the larger Rumblehorn and over its tail to jump onto its back.
"I've fought dragons before, but to just walk up to one and touch it and say, 'hey, let's be friends and whatnot'..." Hauk shrugged. "I need to make this happen, Hiccup, so I figured, maybe if I try it with a dragon that isn't as scary – like yours – then I–"
A snort caught his attention. The black dragon cast a glare his way, but the distraction cost its footing as the Rumblehorn shoved against the base of its neck, overturning the thing. The Night Fury instantly rolled over and sprang to its feet, letting out a little snarl while walking past the larger dragon. Hauk was starting to learn that this was normal play. This pair especially seemed to enjoy roughing each other up, so it would not be surprising at all to learn that all that snarling could have been their way of saying, "Hello, how are you on this fine morning, good sir? Oh, marvelous! May I have the honor of your company for a spot of tea?"
Hauk nervously wrung his fingers, taking an unconscious step back from the dragon that was pressing its head against the rider. "Although, I'll admit it does look quite a bit scarier up close."
Hiccup rolled his eyes. The dragon mimicked his expression.
"That is so creepy," Hauk whispered.
"You know his name, Hauk. You also remember the first rule of interacting with dragons."
"Ummm, was that the one about not making eye contact when you have a weapon or a bladed tool out."
"No, that was rule number two."
"Oh, right, never sneak up on a dragon and grab its tail."
Hiccup deadpanned at the larger Viking. His dragon did likewise. Hauk squinted at the dragon, which stuck out its tongue in response.
"I'll take that as a 'No'?"
"That leaves only one left," Hiccup said in a bored voice.
"Right, then, that would be to treat dragons as you yourself would like to be treated."
"Correct" Hiccup drawled out with obtusely fake enthusiasm, emphasizing and dragging out the 'R'. He gave a sarcastic slow clap and rolled eyes to match. "And how would you fancy being referred to as it instead of something more personable... like your name?"
"Ah, I see your point. Sorry about that."
"You're looking at me, Hauk. Shouldn't you be apologizing to Toothless?"
"Uhhhh..."
Hauk's eyes flicked over to the dragon. His fingers turned into a writhing mass of worms.
"Sorry... Toothless?"
Hiccup chuckled despite himself. "Most eloquently spoken, Hauk Silver-Tongue. Toothless demands others respect me and I'm learning to require the same for him, too. He's used to it, though. You're not the only tough nut we've worked on cracking. Cute little puppy impression be damned, there's something about him that can set some people on edge."
"I'm guessing the claws and sharp teeth might have something to do with that."
Hiccup waved a dismissive hand as he tried to keep a straight face. "Nah."
The dragon took a small step forward, causing Hauk to jump back with a less than dignified yelp.
"Wha... what's it doing? Err, he, I mean, umm, Toothless."
"You said you wanted to touch a dragon. Toothless is a dragon. This isn't metallurgy science, here. C'mon, all the dragons coming over here tomorrow are gonna stay for the rest of the class, so you may as well do it now before you're surrounded by 'em."
"Right... yeah... just do it. Touch a dragon, they said. It would be easy, they said."
Hauk sucked in a deep breath of air and squared his shoulders. His stance slackened a little as the dragon took another small step forward.
Too close!
Hauk slid back a little. Hiccup grinned.
"It's kinda hard to touch him from that far away. Maybe if you got a little closer?"
Hauk glowered as he wrapped the fingers of his right hand around his left fist, focusing on crushing it into dust. "Your aptitude for stating the obvious leaves me slack-jawed in absolute wonder and awe."
"C'mon," Hiccup chided in a humored voice. "Don't make me resort to calling you chicken. Your arm is bigger than me and I roll around on the ground with Toothless."
"Ok ok, I'll admit up close it– no, he– he looks really... dangerous. How do you, uh, deal with the danger?"
"Danger?" Hiccup stepped in front of his dragon and spun around to look at it. Him. Hauk visibly relaxed at the barrier the boy's slight body provided.
"Danger, danger, danger," Hiccup softly mumbled as if trying to puzzle through something. "Toothless, do you have any danger we should know about?"
He put his hands in the dragon's mouth, forcing it open. The dragon tilted its head from side to side.
"Nope!" Hiccup declared as he stuck his head between its rows of teeth. "Don't see any danger here. I mean, sure, he has teeth, but I know he won't bite. How about..."
Hiccup pulled his head out and gave a gentle shove against the side of the dragon's neck, causing the beast to roll over, then crouched down as he picked up one of the front paws, experimentally running his thumb across one of the claws.
"Nope," he said, standing up and brushing his hands together. "I mean, yeah, he has sharp claws, but he's not going to try to maul you or anything."
Hiccup turned to look at Hauk, who was softly chuckling, nervously.
"Aha!" Hiccup snapped his fingers. "I know what you mean by danger. You're worried about me." Holding a hand up in oath, he said, "I swear on my life that I will not attack you. There, does that help ease your concerns?"
Hauk deadpanned at the rider but gasped when he suddenly noticed the dragon on its feet, a mere two paces away. He swallowed hard and fought against himself to hold his ground. The broad dagger, sheathed against his back, just above his hip, came to mind. It was a sturdy piece of steel that had one purpose, which was to withstand the substantial force he could exert on it to cut through any living tissues. Well, two; it was pretty handy for making kindling.
"Should I, ummm, get rid of my weapon?" Hauk asked.
"Pah!" Hiccup waved it off. "That would hardly be fair, don't you think? Toothless can't remove all his claws and teeth, so would it be fair to demand that you completely disarm yourself? Just treat him like another Viking. Pretty much everyone carries a weapon for self-defense, but we can also tell when someone's out to cause trouble. He's smart and can recognize an aggressive move. He knows where your weapon is mounted and that the handle is on your right, so he'll know if you make a move for it. Just don't and we'll all be good."
Hiccup reached over and snagged one of Hauk's massive fingers in his own little hand. The moment Hauk realized his hand was being guided to the dragon's snout, as he had seen the rider do with other Vikings, he jerked it back.
"C'mon, Hauk," Hiccup chided. "You're so close. Be reasonable. Did he attack me? Or Gretta, or Gerd, or Thuggory, or Vigdis, or Arnvid, or-"
"I get it," Hauk impatiently cut in, "and to your point, the dragon has been as harmless as a lamb."
Hiccup smiled. "Good. Then you know that you can trust him. Just act on that knowledge. Just do it and it's done!"
"Ya, do it and it's done."
Hauk sucked in a deep breath, his mantra established. With a shaking hand, he slowly reached for the dragon, whose clawed paws were motionless on the carpet of leaves. By now Hauk was accustomed to seeing the dragon's mouth void of visible teeth, but he knew they could be extended in the blink of an eye. He knew the widened pupils were a sign of nonaggression, but he's seen how quickly they could turn to slivers when the dragon gets aggressive.
"Just do it and it's done. Do it and it's done. Do it and it's done. Do it and it's-"
With eyes closed tight, Hauk lunged forward, roughly landing both hands on the dragon's snout.
"Done!"
His breath left him and he sucked in a deep, shaky lungful. Hesitantly, he opened one eye, then the other. The dragon just stood there, staring into his eyes. Those green orbs seemed to grow a little softer in appearance. He could feel it. It was just like what Hiccup had described, but so much... more... more... everything!
"This... is so... cooool!"
That connection to the dragon was there! It wasn't like reading the dragon's mind, but there was a definitive perception of his feelings. Hauk could tell that Toothless was growing annoyed by how much this was dragged out. Still, Hauk could tell the dragon was bending himself wholly to make this work for his rider's sake and so was happy that this bridge has been crossed. In a single moment of this connection, Hauk felt all fear and foreboding vanish, replaced by awe and the sense of accomplishment.
"So," Hiccup said through a wide grin, "What do you think about Toothless?"
"He's... he's..." Hauk breathed in wonder and adoration. "HAHAHAHAHAAAAAIIIIiiiiiii did it!"
Hauk pulled back and pumped a fist in the air, laughing and cheering at himself like a little child on Snoggletog. He skipped around the dragon, shouting "I did it! I touched the dragon!"
Toothless started to prance from paw to paw, infected by the Viking's joy. Hauk felt around the dragon's snout, feeling the smooth scales, the soft inside of his nostrils, the hot breath with every exhale, the warm moisture of the–
"Gah!"
Once his brain finally realized that the dragon's mouth was clamped down over his fingers, he jerked his hand back. After the initial shock of fear, though, he started to giggle again.
"And now you see why I call him Toothless," Hiccup said.
"This is... this..." Hauk stuttered, trying to find his tongue in all his giggling. "Thank you, Toothless!"
Without any warning, he lunged forward, wrapping his massive arms around Toothless' neck. The dragon had to dance on his hind legs to keep his balance as he was lifted so that his front paws dangled off the ground. Hauk suddenly realized what exactly he just did. He never meant to hug a dragon. The thought of all those large teeth right next his neck and the sharp claws skidding against his boot wasn't as scary as his mind was telling him it should have been. Still, he jumped away with a squeal, causing Toothless to land his paws heavily on the ground.
"I-I-I... uhhh, I dunno what came over me, there. Sorry, uhhhhh… Hey, Toothless, wanna play?"
Hiccup chuckled. "Really, Hauk? You were scared to touch him a moment ago."
Hauk stared at the Night Fury's eyes in thought. He knew he could trust the dragon. Toothless was dead-set on making sure his rider succeeded in bringing Vikings and dragons together. Besides, in that moment of contact, Hauk developed a suspicion that the Night Fury really wanted to play with someone and was wondering what it would be like to wrestle with such a large Viking. Hauk always enjoyed a good old-fashioned tussle with friends at home and there was something relaxing about using his massive frame to manhandle the bulls and yaks.
"Well, ya know," Hauk said, "he's proven he can be trustworthy. And if he hasn't attacked me yet, I don't think he will in the future. Besides, he looks like he really wants to play and… Oh, can I play with your dragon, Hiccup? Please?"
The Night Fury stared at Hauk intently for a moment before his lips curled and a large, toothless smile split his face. It felt like a very awkward moment until Toothless suddenly lunged forward. Hauk grabbed the dragon's neck and the two tumbled over the ground, separating after a roll and coming to a crouch. Toothless wiggled his tail slowly above his head for a moment before slapping it against the ground behind him and bolting at the Viking with his tongue hanging out in mirthful glee.
Hauk grinned as the dragon leaped into the air.
A dragon is playing with me! I'm actually playing with a dragon!
"This is so cool!"
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Wind thrashed through Hiccup's hair as he and his dragon tore through the open sky. To his right rode his father, proud and powerful on Skullcrusher's back. Snotlout on Hookfang and the ever-timid Fishlegs on Meatlug flew behind. On the other side, Astrid gave Hiccup an encouraging smile. The twins riding Barf and Belch each wore a feral grin as they stared ahead. Hundreds of dragons with riders surrounded them as they flew steadily onward.
Ahead, The enemy started to come into focus. Hiccup looked over at his father.
"Dad, please! Let me talk to them. Nobody wins a war, we just end up with those who lost and those who lost even more. Let me try once more."
Stoick rolled his eyes and waved him off dismissively. Hiccup sighed. Fighting would seem to be inevitable. Swords, axes, and spearheads glinted in the sunlight. Some riders readied bolas and grappling hooks to strike out at the enemy.
The two opposing fronts of dragons and riders clashed violently in a maelstrom of fire, steel, pain, and death. Roars, battle cries, and shrieks assaulted the ears. Uncountable dragons and Vikings crashed against each other like waves against a cliff. Toothless gave his own roar as he angled in to tackle a Monstrous Nightmare from the sky.
However, Hiccup flicked his ankle to steer the dragon down. A snarl was his retort as Toothless tried to angle himself back up.
"NO!" Hiccup shouted at his dragon, shifting the tailfin to angle off to the side of the fray. "We can't just go on like this. We need to find their leader and talk some sense into him. We need to use diplomacy here if we-"
Hiccup grunted from a particularly violent change in direction. Air was forced from his lungs as his dragon bucked and kicked, fighting the directions of his rider, trying to correct his course to get back into the fight. Hiccup pressed his heel down, folding in the tailfin completely. The duo tilted to the side and started to plummet, but he extended the fin after a moment. Anger and resentment were pouring off the dragon as he roared his fury at his rider.
{We must fight, Firefly! There is no other way. Do not try to avoid your fate.}
Hiccup slapped one of the Night Fury's sensor lobes in irritation.
"I spit on fate! Look, over there, that must be their leader. Take us in close, Bud."
The dragon refused to comply and, instead, angled toward a Zippleback. His claws dug into one of the dragon's necks and its pained shrieks tore at Hiccup's ears and heart. He folded the tailfin in again and Toothless snarled at the lack of control.
"C'mon, Bud. We can't afford to fight like this. You gotta let me do it my way!"
The dragon gave no response save to fold his wings. They dove down and landed hard on the snow-packed glacier below. Hiccup tore himself out of the saddle, jumped off, and rounded on his dragon. Red splatters and crumpled bodies started to dot the white snow as dragons and Vikings fell like hail.
Hiccup couldn't figure out why Toothless was acting like this. The dragon has always insisted that trust in his rider was his greatest asset. Whether learning to fly with the prosthetic tailfin for the first time, fighting the Red Death, interacting with Vikings – anything – Toothless would freely voice his objections in his own special way but would end up going along with his rider so long as he knew he was respected. They always worked out their differences and agreed to meet in the middle. This tunnel-vision behavior in fighting his rider struck Hiccup as very uncharacteristic of his dragon.
"What is wrong with you, Toothless?! You need to trust me. Now, let's get back up there and- GAH!"
He gasped as Toothless clamped down hard on his arm. The teeth were not extended, but the force of it all hurt.
"Toothless! Stop!"
Hiccup drove his forehead hard into the dragon's nose. Both reeled back in pain from the impact. Hiccup rubbed his forehead for a moment, but when he looked up, his jaw dropped.
A shapeless form, shrouded in a black mist, stood by Toothless. All Hiccup could do was stare dumbly and point in shock. Eventually, he found his voice.
"Ta… Ta… Ta… Toothless, look out! It's right behind you!"
The dragon didn't move, nor did the strange interloper. In fact, Toothless showed no sign of recognition as he simply stood there, staring off into infinity. Once again, Hiccup couldn't find his tongue. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. From the dark mist, laughter drifted out – bold, cruel, and malignant. Hiccup tried to speak but was robbed of breath.
"You think you can win?" the dark form taunted in a cynical, guttural, unearthly voice. "You think you can avoid your calling, boy? You can never run from yourself. You did this. You brought them together. You gave them to each other and now they are killing each other."
"No." Hiccup weakly gasped out, tears brimming in his eyes. "Please... No... I didn't... You can't... Please..."
"You have only yourself to blame!" The voice continued in righteous indignation. "You alone and nobody else. It was you who gave them the dragons. You know that if left to themselves, dragons live their own lives with minimal interactions. Only Man can organize wars so grand. Dragons make for fine weapons, do they not? You should be very pleased with your progress."
A wailing screech drew Hiccup's attention upward for an instant before a Nadder crumpled to the ground. Dragon and rider were impaled together on a spear and flew apart on impact in a crimson spray.
Hiccup's knees refused to support his weight and he came crashing down to the hardened snow. "No... Please... I didn't... Please stop the fighting. Please!"
Again, that mocking, condescending laughter. "And why should I?"
"I didn't know! I swear if I had any idea that I would have caused so much death and suffering... It's not my fault! The world is what it is, and so I acted. I-"
"No!" the cruel voice cut him off. "You acted, and so the world is what it is. You. Did. This."
The dark form suddenly vanished in an explosion of sound. Hiccup crumpled backward from the force and couldn't hear anything save the painful ringing in his ears. He slowly stood up on shaky legs as his dragon stared at him through vacant eyes, pupils narrowed to slender slits. The rider cast a pleading look.
"Toothless? You don't... believe that, do you? I would never-"
His breath caught in his throat as Toothless lowered his stance and started to growl threateningly. The dragon's pupils constricted into narrow, vertical slits. Hiccup stumbled backward.
"Wha- what are you doing there, Bud?"
Toothless took a menacing step forward. Hiccup took an uncertain step back. The ringing in his ears started to fade, replaced by the steady beat of a war drum.
"Calm down there, Bud. What's gotten under your skin?" Hiccup flicked a quick glance over his shoulder. Nope, nothing. Toothless was definitely advancing on his own rider. Hiccup's heart rate spiked. "Alright, if you're trying to scare me, you win, Bud. I am very scared, now."
His eyes were torn upward by the twin screams of a Zippleback. It slammed into the icy surface with a sickening crunch that made Hiccup wince. Toothless didn't even notice as he stared with an almost demonic look.
"Alright, Bud, just take it easy. We'll do it your way. You win, alright? I'll cooperate if you just calm down. We'll go... kill some people... together."
Hiccup stumbled and fell backward, but caught himself. When he looked up again, he noticed green gas building up in the dragon's mouth.
"Toothless, what are you doing?"
The dragon closed his mouth and puffed out his cheeks. The scream of a Night Fury on a fire run sounded out as air whirled around inside.
"Bud? Can't we talk about this?"
The dragon reared his head back. Hiccup willed his legs to move, to run away, to find cover, but his feet were stuck. The crumpled heap of a Monstrous Nightmare, dead with a spear through its slackened jaw, lay just off to the side in a pool of blood. It would make for good cover, but his legs refused to move.
Hiccup cried out in desperation, "Toothless? Stop! Please! STOP!"
His ears heard a faint pop. His eyes saw an indigo bolt of death and destruction erupt from the dragon's mouth. His mind, though, was a stubborn thing. Time seemed to slow down as he wrestled with his senses, refusing to process the input. Toothless would never hurt him; that much was certain. Therefore, this cannot be Toothless; it must be some other dragon.
Toothless would surely come and save me since I cannot save myself. He must!
Hiccup closed his eyes and held out his hands in front of him.
"TOOTHLESS!"
A headache pulsed through his head. His ears rang and his temples throbbed. The chilled air seemed to whirl around, sucking the breath from his body. He blinked his eyes open in a frenzy as he gasped for air, his mind frantically scrambling to come to terms with what just happened. He knew his dragon saved him because dead people don't wake up. Toothless attacked, but it wasn't Toothless. Hiccup saw the fireball heading right for him, so somebody saved him and took him here.
But where is here, anyway?
The wooden floor was cold against his cheek. As his vision started to clear, he could see a fire flickering nearby. Rays of sunlight weakly filtered in through gaps between the wooden slabs of the floor.
No, that can't be the floor. It must be a wall. People lay on floors, not walls.
"Toothless?" Hiccup croaked out in a whisper, trying to force some volume through his parched and stuffed up throat. "Bud?"
Finally, he saw the dragon several feet away, slowly rolling to his feet, whining and snarling. Hiccup was startled to attention by the gasping wails of a girl. Casting about, he saw Tofa curled up in the fetal position and groaned as realization hit him. He wished he could count the number of such nightmares in the past couple months on his fingers. This, though, was the first time another dragon whisperer was nearby. Tofa must have picked up the dream through Toothless. Though only nine years old, she was by far the most sensitive dragon whisperer and was using the Night Fury as a pillow.
Hiccup grit his teeth, trying to push the images out of his mind as he crawled over to place a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"It's alright, Tofa. Just a dream. See? I'm right here. Toothless is right over there. None of that really happened. Just a stupid dream."
Toothless rolled over to all fours, frantically switching between snarling on the inhales and whining on the exhales. This was not the first time he has attacked and killed his own rider in a dream and it always put him in a sort of emotional shock. Dreams were normally a foreign concept to a dragon. Even more than a human, to them, waking from a dream was foreign, disorienting, and disturbing.
Hiccup gasped as he was overcome with a constricting terror at the approaching form looming over him and he stumbled backward, falling to the ground. He instantly realized how foolish it was to fear his dragon and scolded himself for reacting that way. Toothless' expression instantly softened and he groaned as he flopped over to his back. Hiccup crawled forward and draped himself over the dragon's neck. He could feel regret and annoyance from the dragon as he yowled in anguish.
{Never do that to me again, Firefly! Why do you have such dreams? I would never hurt you. I trust you with my life and that will never change. I would sooner die a painful death than harm you. You know this!}
"Sorry." Hiccup smiled weakly. "I really gotta figure out how to stop projecting my nightmares."
In a blue blur of motion, Dart jumped at the rider and latched firmly on his arm, quivering and screeching in distress. Hiccup pulled the little dragon in close, sandwiching him between himself and Toothless. It seemed to comfort the little Terror quite a bit and his claws loosened their painfully tight grip.
Looking around, Hiccup saw some other Vikings stumble to their feet after this disturbance. Others simply rolled over, trying to ignore the commotion. Stormfly was starting to rise up on her long legs, shedding off Gretta and Gerd, who were sharing the dragon as a pillow with Astrid. The Nadder didn't seem to be shaken by the nightmare, so Hiccup concluded that she must have been far enough away that his own weakly projected thoughts didn't reach her as they did Toothless. Stoick was already on his feet, soothingly rubbing Skullcrusher's snout, who must have been barely within range to have his own sleep invaded by such disturbing images. Hopefully, he got nothing more than vague glimpses. It was times like this that Hiccup felt very glad he was nowhere near as potent as a dragon in projecting thoughts.
Astrid gave Hiccup a confused smile as she took in the situation. The two of them were on good terms again, but Hiccup could tell she was not entirely pleased with the stunt he pulled a few days ago, draining her rage by getting her to take it all out on him and using the guilt that followed to coerce some cooperation from her. She felt like he had manipulated her – which he did – and resented that.
Stoick fixed Hiccup with an unreadable stare. "Again?"
Hiccup tilted his head from his perch against his upside-down dragon. The trio had taken to doing this to comfort each other every time Hiccup had a nightmare and Toothless and Dart were helpless to partake. He took comfort in just listening to the dragon's pulse and the whoosh of air with every breath. Toothless had his front paws pressed against the rider's back in an awkward attempt at a hug, desperately trying to pull him in close.
"Yeah," Hiccup grumbled, "Again."
"It was a message from the gods."
He jerked his head over to the source of the small voice.
"No, Tofa, it was not. It was just my own stupid imagination taking advantage of the fact that I was asleep."
Stoick scoffed. "Your imagination is many things, son, but persistent and repetitive it is not."
Hiccup deadpanned at his father. "Dad, I-"
He was cut off, though, as a deafening crack of thunder sounded out directly overhead. Hiccup quickly grabbed his prosthetic leg as someone ran over and flung the door open, but it wasn't raining.
Then it hit him. That wasn't thunder; it was the roars of dragons.
Many, many dragons.
Hiccup cursed as he strapped on the prosthetic and donned a coat, stumbling outside. Toothless followed at his heels and flanked him after passing the threshold. The pink of the sunrise was starting to fade as the sun crested the horizon.
Through the morning mist, splotches of colors could be seen. Uncountable dragons whirled around as they crowded to pack themselves into the clearing around the longhouses. Many who couldn't find open ground perched on and hung from various tree branches or dug their claws in to hang off the trunk. This was too many. Yesterday, Hiccup told the riderless dragons to fly over at dawn to start looking for their own riders. There were only twenty-five of them, but over hundreds swarmed around him with more coming into view.
Frantically, he looked around for any that he recognized. Toothless growled and placed a protective wing in front of his rider, who batted it away in irritation. Finally, his eyes picked out a massive Monstrous Nightmare, alpha of one of the four so-called "Dragon Safe Islands" surrounding Berk that many from the Red Death's nest ended up settling on. After a recent invasion against Berk that was thwarted with help from the dragons, Hiccup had a chance to sit and converse with the alphas of the surrounding islands. This Nightmare was near and dear to Hiccup's heart as she was the one who almost killed him after shooting down Toothless during that last raid, back when she was under the mind control of the Red Death. It was she who really helped Stoick open up to dragons as they laughed at the "good old times" when they were trying to kill each other.
Hiccup walked up to the dragon, still a little stiff from having just woken up, ignoring the Night Fury's grumbling protests. The prominent scar that helped him identify the Nightmare twisted as she curled her lips in the best imitation of a smile a Nightmare could pull off, which would appear threatening or frightening to anyone else.
"First Contact!" Hiccup huffed out as he got close. He reached out a tentative hand and the massive dragon extended her neck to press her snout into his palm. "There's never a day I wouldn't be happy to see you, but... there is no way we can find riders for even half these dragons. I was counting on only those few I had been working with. What are you all doing here?"
First Contact took a step back and all the noise suddenly ceased. After all the roars and caws, the silence was almost deafening. Only the flapping of wings could be heard from the dragons still circling above with no clear spot to land. If these were all the dragons from the dragon safe islands, then there couldn't be more than a few hundred, but the colors and shapes all blurred together – both on the ground and in the air.
Suddenly, Hiccup's jaw dropped at the sight before him. All the dragons that had landed pressed in around him and Toothless and splayed out their wings, curling their necks around and pressing their snouts to the ground.
Hiccup stared around dumbly. This was not good. He had just spent the previous night preparing everyone for the new dragons coming in. It took a lot of talking to make any progress in explaining that he does not control the dragons at all. He had to admit they recognized that he and Toothless freed them from the Red Death, but that wouldn't mean they would revere him. Right?
All the dragons were making this gesture, though, demonstrating their trust and respect by exposing to him their most vulnerable and undefended parts: the back and neck. The Vikings were all huddled around the doorways to the longhouses, staring at the scene with a mix of awe, fear, and concern.
Hiccup's mind flashed back to the dream from which he had just awoken, straining to recall what that evil voice had said. Hiccup claimed he had no choice and had to respond to what the world around him forced him to do. Given the circumstances, bringing all Vikings and dragons together seemed like the best thing that could happen.
You acted, and so the world is what it is.
However, to act and cause the circumstances, instead of the other way around, was an entirely different story. In a flash, he saw all these dragons fighting each other high in the sky in a meaningless war, falling like tears of sorrow. No matter what happened today, Hiccup vowed he would lay aside every other priority to make sure that these dragons will never follow him or show any signs of special loyalty if it was the last thing he'd do. This sort of control or power was a burden he did not want to bear.
Acting on impulse, he rushed forward to First Contact, grabbed her lower lip, and tugged upward, ignoring Toothless' concerned snarling and whining.
"Up! Get up! First Contact, what are you guys doing?! Get up you crazy dragon!"
The dragon looked at Hiccup with her chin just off the ground to stay on his level. Monstrous Nightmares were large compared to most dragons and First Contact was a Stoick the Vast among normal-sized Nightmares.
{We are not staying, little Firefly. Back when you were searching for volunteers to accept a rider, you told us that this land-strider training is important for both dragons and land-striders alike. We all agree with you and want to see your efforts met with success and that depends on the cooperation of these land-strider students. So, we make it unmistakably clear that to disrespect you is to disrespect us.}
Hiccup stared at the Nightmare in front of him, taking it all in. Dragons don't do this. They don't all coordinate together like this. They don't plan and organize and cooperate. Even the more social dragons, like Nadders and Terrors, have never been known to organize their efforts. They're always too busy competing amongst each other to work toward some common goal. It was a trait the Hooligans exploited during the raids by leaving a couple strategically placed cattle in exposed locations to encourage the dragons to fight over them.
To have such a uniform show of loyalty from so many dragons… A small part of Hiccup wanted to bask in all this positive attention and show others about earning a dragon's trust. He took that small part of himself, threw it down, and ground it to dust under his heel. It was too much for him to bear. This was no time for such a display. He slowly shook his head as he stumbled back, his tongue twisting itself into knots, trying to figure out how to shoo them off.
He gasped as he bumped into something. Twisting his head around, he saw his father at his side, Skullcrusher in tow. Stoick put his massive arm behind his son's back.
"Hiccup, you said there would be less than thirty. What is this?"
Hiccup finally found his tongue and spat out, "Just as much a surprise to me as you, Dad. First Contact, here, said they're just escorting the few dragons seeking riders and are bidding farewell to them. That was very kind and thoughtful, but now that that's done, they're leaving. Now. And that is all."
He cast a pleading look at the Nightmare. "Right, First Contact?"
Hiccup projected his memories of the Red Death, pouring out all of his resentment and bitterness about what that creature did to the dragons, how it humiliated them and used them as fodder for her own utility and entertainment. She used force of mind to make the dragons do her will, but how is obedience through love any different if the end result is the same? Hiccup figured that if he really had such control over the dragons, the other tribes would declare war and he would never trust himself with that sort of power. He poured all his attention into communicating every little bit of contempt he felt regarding any creature having control over dragons - whether through love or sheer force – as he projected one simple message.
{Don't turn me into another Red Death.}
First Contact jerked her head back, letting out a venomous snarl at the thought, as did many other dragons. Feeling suddenly expended, Hiccup let out a sigh.
"Please, guys. Just go. I'll take care of the dragons I've been working with to get them riders. I promise."
Absolute silence reigned for a moment. Suddenly, First Contact craned her head back and gave a loud roar, joined by the other countless dragons on the ground and in the air. She gave Hiccup a quick lick to the cheek and shot straight up. In a flurry of wings, most of the dragons rose up and flew off, leaving a cloud of fluttering leaves. Only the handful of dragons Hiccup had been working with remained behind, huddled together at one end of the clearing, warily eying the Vikings. As the other dragons disappeared into the thinning morning mist, his ears picked up some scattered comments from the group.
"Don't see that every day.
"Did you see the way he commanded them!"
"Ya, he was like OOOBEEEEY MEEEEE!"
"OOOOOOOBEEEEEEEEY!"
Nasally, someone replied, "Yeeessss maaasssterrrr."
"Ya, remind me to pay more attention when he talks about earning a dragon's loyalty."
"I think this is what Pa meant about learning the secrets to command dragons like Berk does."
Hiccup stared at the ground. He wanted to shout at them to stop, but there was no fury rising up in him, only a sickening clenching at his chest.
"Only Man can organize wars so grand..."
Stoick looked down at his son. "Come again?"
"That's what it said," Hiccup mumbled. "In my dream, it said only Man can organize wars so grand."
Stoick scoffed. "Thought you said your dreams are nothing more than your silly imagination?"
"Pardon me if I start to entertain doubt."
"Look, I'm giving you free reign to do this dragon training, but if you don't finish this, then I will do it my way. Consider that a threat. You know as well as I how necessary this is to survive the suspicions of our neighbors. All of them."
"What if my dreams are a warning? What if this is the start of Viking raids on dragonback?"
Stoick waved a dismissive hand as he pushed his son back toward the longhouse. "Those who try to stop all wars will not survive the least of them. Talk to Gothi about interpreting dreams if it's really bothering you. Otherwise, forget about it. Fear is a device more deadly than any blade. Come. Both parties are as nervous as you are at a Snoggletog dance."
"Right," Hiccup breathed out, reluctantly. "Introductions, I guess."
"Atta boy. Chin up. After all, this is what you've wanted so badly. I would have thought you'd be jumping for joy right now."
Hiccup neared the other Vikings that were gathered around between the two longhouses. The dragons followed about ten paces behind, balancing their fear of Vikings with their desire to be around their one point of familiarity. Hiccup glanced from the Vikings to the dragons behind him, and back again, gesturing with his hands.
"Well, dragons looking for riders, may I introduce you to Vikings looking for dragons. Vikings looking for dragons, dragons looking for riders. You may commence... uhhh... mingling."
A/N:
"I wanna take a moment to thank everyone who has shown me support by reading and pushing all 'dem buttons and leaving feedback. It really means a lot to me. I dunno how fun it is for other people to read, but I'm really enjoying the process of writing this. It sure beats writing reports in school."
"Everyone, stop stroking the author's ego!"
"Oh. Look. It's Toothless. How surprising. I guess that's why everything I'm saying is in quotation marks."
"I'll turn your face into quotation marks if you keep writing like this!"
"What? Is my writing that bad?"
"You're a monster!"
"What?! Oh, c'mon, Tooth, I let you do a parody of the forbidden friendship scene with Hauk. I even have another one in a couple chapters that's even more grand."
"Ya, that was really fun, but– Hey, you're trying to distract me! You're a monster. You're tormenting the crap out of Hiccup!"
"Nah. I'm sure he does it to himself."
"You're the one writing this. By your typing, Hiccup got mauled by my brother."
"I bet nobody saw that coming."
"And chewed on by a Skrill."
"Just trying to avoid being too derpy."
"Slapped by his girlfriend..."
"Sounds pretty normal to me."
"Bitten by a Nadder..."
"Hardly. Did I ever tell you about the one time I got my lip bitten by a dog when I was only a few feet tall?"
"And if all that wasn't bad enough, you had me kill him!"
"It was a dream, Tooth. Besides, I thought it would be fun to add some foreshadowing for-"
"Notice how I'm not laughing, Fizz."
"Aw, c'mon. A little drama and hardship makes a story more interesting, right?"
"Nope. I'm taking over your dumb story. I'll do all the typing from now on, so you move.
"GAH! So pushy! Besides, how do you even plan on– oh, gods, he's actually managing to type with those claws. Let's see what he's writing."
Toothless the bestest, fastest, strongest, and most burninatious dragon flew hi in the sky, with his best friend Hiccup. "its a beautiful day." Hiccup said with joy. "Yes it is!" Toothless said in dragonese.
Suddenly a ship came in to sight. Both rider and dragon gasped. "Its Alvin!" Hiccup shouted. "See the ship? It's sails have there tribe crest. Toothless, barrel roll, multiple blasts!"
Toothless rolled as he released three fireballs. The spinning helped because science and stuff lol. The enemy ship exploded and the crewmen were forced to swim all the way back to Outcast island. They were chased by scauldrons the hole way back.
"Nice shot bud" Hiccup said as they flew into the sunset.
"Hey, Tooth, your grammar is actually a lot better than I imagined it would be for a dragon."
"You've only seen the beginning, Fizz. Just wait until I get into time travel and that dragon Iron Man suit for me."
"I think it'd be more interesting if, say, instead of blowing up the ship, you and Hiccup get shot down and captured and would have to learn to cooperate with-"
"NO! It's perfect as is. And it's only the beginning. Prepare to be amazed-"
"Nope! I gotta get back to writing the rest of Hiccup's dragon training shindig before you give Grammarly an aneurysm. Gimme back my keyboard. It's– Rrrrrghhh– Mine!"
"You can't have it!"
"My precious!"
"You can't win against a dragon, you mangy little biped!"
"Just– OW! No fair using your tail."
"Ha! Whimper, little human. Now, back to my amazing story."
Having defeated the evil author, the magnificent dragon continued to type his story of awesomeness and wonder. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the evil author slink around behind the desk, mumbling something about the modularity of desktop computers and wires or something. Toothless suspiciously eyed the sack of flesh, ready to pounce if he tried something cynical. The puny human wrapped his fingers around a black cable in the back of the computer and