Fish out of Water

There are a lot of variations that distinguish the different species of dragons. Some have four legs, others have two. Some can glob out a slow-burning blaze, others a hot but short-lived core of white-hot death. Others yet don't even breathe any fire at all. Some are faster, some have better endurance for long-distance flights, while others don't even fly at all.

However, there is one thing that makes all dragons of all sizes and varieties undeniably similar. They don't have room for the excess weight of fat. The belly is only so large and, considering dragons are both large and high-energy, going more than a day without food is brutal. Two days is nothing short of stupid. Three days is simply beyond insane, as one particular emerald green dragon was learning from experience.

The deadly adder, as the land-striders always called him, thought himself to be the perfect compromise. Two powerful legs gave him great mobility on land and strength to stand his ground against others. The lack of forelegs was hardly any cause for longing as this only made him lighter. Two large wings, but not too large, granted impressive speed in flight with the ability to effortlessly glide on the breeze with the rest of them.

For all that he had going for him, though, he could hardly summon the strength to flare his wings just before smacking into the water. It slowed him down enough to avoid injury, at least.

This made one thing painfully obvious. His species was terrible at swimming. Not that it mattered, as swimming or doing anything when starving and exhausted was relatively impossible. The only thing he could do, really, was to contemplate the inevitable fact that he was drowning and was about to die.

The land-strider that splashed in with him was doing fine, though. His form allowed for decent mobility in water. Also, unlike the dragon, he still had some strength left in his body.

It is a well-known fact that dragons weren't meant to go days on end without eating. The body starts to consume itself at an alarming rate and will not stop until fed or dead. Toothless had once explained that land-striders, with all their layers of fat, sometimes go days at a time without eating on a regular basis. Even little Firefly had more fat compared to his weight in muscle than any dragon.

As if to rub in this fact, the land-strider that splashed in with the dragon had his little, soft talons wrapped around the dragon's horn in a futile attempt to drag him to shore.

Not that he was the one flapping his nonexistent wings ever since we left the ground.

Water engulfed the dragon's head again and he desperately kicked, but his movements were more like sluggish thrashing than anything else.

He hadn't meant to get himself into such a desperate state. When that land-strider had jumped up onto his back and clung on like a leech, he initially just wanted to scare him. Take him up high and show him who's in charge. Drop him and catch him a few times to put him in his proper place. However, whether he was grabbing onto the dragon's neck, leg, or tail, that land-strider could not be shaken off. At first, it was an irritation. Then, it turned into a game. Eventually, the game of trying to shake off the land-strider was interrupted by moments of simply soaring with the wind and enjoying the scenery.

Throughout everything, he had talked about his past with projected thoughts that were as sloppy as one would expect from an untrained land-strider, yet still discernible enough. The interesting thing, though, was to learn just how strange a land-strider's mind could be. The dragon knew he had killed this land-strider's sire, but the little creature lost so much more before that even happened. One by one, he had lost his mate and all of his offspring. As he described each loss, he didn't blame the dragons – and not because the dragons were controlled. No, he blamed himself. He saw himself as a protector of his mate and offspring.

Such dedication to one's mate was completely understandable. After all, if you can keep your mate after her first clutch, then she can lay more when those eggs don't hatch or the newly hatched dragons are too weak to make it. Sometimes, they're too weak to break their eggs or they don't have the proper survival instincts and stumble off the edge of a cliff before learning to fly. Usually, a female dragon may take some risk for her offspring, but if a male dragon is fighting for them, he's likely also fighting for his own life, territory, or mate. After all, a strong female can lay eggs for a long time.

This land-strider, though, had dedicated his life to protect his offspring. Even though he was being raided by large, fire-breathing, claw slashing, fang-chomping, quill-shooting dragons, he felt responsible for each of his offspring's deaths. With each loss, he explained in detail why he was too weak, too slow, or had become too overwhelmed with this or that.

For how much the critter had lost in life, his mate included, it was almost unreal to see him so calmly discussing it. He wasn't radiating any hatred, anger, or bitterness, just a calm, sad acceptance.

The only annoying part the dragon found in all this was that this made it more difficult to hate him.

Well, that and he was so focused on the land-strider that he didn't notice how he had allowed his flight to go on too long for the state he was in. Granted, the decision to leave the ground in the first place was void of any wisdom, but the rate at which his strength simply drained out of his body was a complete shock. At first, he felt like his body was filled with air. Then he felt weak. Then he felt like he was dead. Then he felt wet.

Water engulfed him again and he desperately kicked, but there was no strength. His head sunk below the surface. His legs refused to work. His wings splayed out limply, half-unfurled, dragging him down. Water sloshed into his mouth, which could never seal around his overbite the way a land-strider's could.

His head sunk down with the rest of his body under the waves. As his vision started to blur and fade, he considered the irony of this whole situation. So many times in the past, he had tried to drown his grief in the ocean, but his body was a stubborn thing that would not accept such a fate. Now that there was no strength to stop his body from preserving itself, accepting such a watery death felt wrong and cowardly. It felt... disappointing. For how annoying that land-strider was, he needed the dragon. They needed each other.

A stabbing pain shot through the dragon's body and he found his head above the surface. He hacked out water and took in a gulp of air before his head dunked in again. The land-strider was still trying to drag him to shore by his horn.

He must not realize how small he is.

The dragon's talons dug into the sandy ocean floor and he took a slow step forward. Then another. His legs collapsed as his strength failed again. Water forced its way down his throat. They were close to shore, now. The land-strider was able to stand up with his head above the water, but the dragon couldn't move. There was simply nothing left.

Another sharp pain in the back of his leg jolted him. He lunged forward. The land-strider tugged on his horn again. It wasn't until this moment that the dragon noticed the shiny claw in the land-strider's soft talons and realized what was causing this pain. He hissed and snapped at the creature, but came up short and sprawled out against the ocean floor. Bubbles rose as water choked the life out of him. The water was much shallower, now. The choppy surface would have been below the dragon's knees if he only had the strength to stand. It was almost low enough to expose the land-strider's legs, but still enough to drown a dragon that couldn't even lift his head.

Through the growing, blurry darkness, another flare of pain erupted from the underside of the maw from another poke of that shiny claw and the dragon lunged at the annoying rodent who didn't have the decency to let him die in peace, but came up short again. Anger and disappointment seemed to boil off the land-strider and seeped in between the scales.

{You are pushing your luck you miserable insect!}

Another poke, another lunge. His vision turned red with rage. He would have been hissing and screeching if he had the capacity to breathe. Another poke. Another lunge. Another failed attempt to bite off that annoying limb. Another poke. Again and again. The dragon took one more lunge and flopped onto his side, completely expended. The land-strider could poke all he wanted. Death was nigh and it would all be over.

As the dragon lay there, hacking out water and enduring the spasms that wracked his whole body, the rage started to fade. His first thought was the surprised realization that the water did not come up to drown him again. The sandy ocean floor had given way to a pebbled beach. One side of his head was resting against the ground, but he was able to see out of the other eye that was facing up. He could see the land-strider had the audacity to toss the shiny claw away and smirk at what he just accomplished.

{I hate you so much, you miserable little creature!}

{You should be thanking him. He just saved your life.}

He flicked an eye over to see black scales and green eyes glaring out contempt. On his back, a smaller pair of green eyes stared with tortured worry. The little rider wanted to intervene, but his dragon would have none of it and the rider relented.

Toothless gave a huff as he leaped up into the air. A high-pitched screech and the sound of an explosive blast from behind was followed by a splash of water.

As he lay there, motionless, save for deep, shuddering breaths, the green dragon flicked an eye to look at his land-strider. It wasn't until now that he realized this land-strider used that shiny claw to poke at him and provoke him to anger. His own rage gave him the strength to make it to land even when he was resigned to death. It was actually quite clever in an annoying sort of way.

He flicked his eye to look down the length of his body. Water practically boiled off his scales. It was fascinating to focus so much effort into moving a leg or wing – anything – but still see no movement at all. Another round of coughing allowed him to breathe a bit more freely and he gulped at every bit of air he could. The land-strider wasn't faring much better. He was panting through deep breaths and was barely able to stand. His entire body shook uncontrollably – whether from the wonderfully cool air or exhaustion was uncertain. It was likely both.

Toothless deposited some fish on the beach, nearby. Firefly looked like he really wanted to get close, but a black wing held him back and he made no attempt to go around it. The green dragon's land-strider – the annoying insect that insisted they continue this awkward life together – grabbed a fish and tossed it. The thing flew right through the open maw and landed on the pebbly beach with a wet smack. The dragon tried to lift his head or close his jaw, but nothing happened. His breathing became even more erratic.

{This would be an embarrassing way to die. Starving to death with a fish literally in my mouth.}

The land-strider disappeared from sight, but a blow to the underside the dragon's neck made him gag. He snapped up the fish and ate it whole before gathering his talons under him to lunge at the land-strider. Before he could move, though, another fish smacked into his snout. With his head still pressed against the ground, he grabbed the fish and... nothing. He tried to tilt his head to swallow it, but nothing happened. Again, the land-strider disappeared from sight and a sharp pain flared up on the underside of his jaw. He swallowed that fish and craned his neck around to snap at the land-strider, but only got another airborne fish in his face. This time, though, he was able to catch it in his teeth and swallow it.

Resigned to his inability to lash out at the all-too-confident land-strider, the dragon simply allowed his legs to splay out underneath him and focused on catching the fish that were tossed at him. They were common fare, but these scaly wonders never tasted so good!

Several fish later, his head flopped down to the ground again. He still felt the pressing need to assert some sort of dominance over his rider, who had just dropped to the ground in front of him, shaking from exhaustion. He lunged forward and wrapped his maw around the creature. At least, that was the intent, but his snout slammed into the beach a little short. The land-strider simply smirked and casually poked at the teeth with his little, soft talons. The dragon didn't want to actually kill or injure the creature – only make a statement.

That will have to wait until I have the strength to lift my head.

A crack of thunder sounded out overhead and rain started to pour down. The all-too-confident land-strider even had the nerve to crawl under the dragon's limp wing. Firefly had produced some long-haired animal hide for him. The dragon craned his neck around to look at what he was slowly starting to accept as a rider. It only made sense with how much they needed each other.

{I suppose you need a name, rider. That's what all the other dragons have done. What would fit? Mate-Killer? Infuriating Insect? Dragon Tormentor?}

The dragon knew he would have drowned without the land-strider's help, but whether that was a good or bad thing was questionable. Granted, the land-strider shared the fault for getting them in this situation. It was only fair to say they both caused each other's grief and pain just as much as they needed each other.

{Perhaps you could still save me from my grief, land-strider. Perhaps, I may even learn to accept another mate. Perhaps, together, we can both find release from our miserable state of existence through some means other than a cowardly death.}

Off to the side, Toothless chuffed as he held a wing over his rider. {My Firefly saved me when he had every reason to hate and kill me. If any creature can save you from your sorrows, it is your new rider. You would be surprised what a rider could do for you.}

{Then I shall be surprised.}

The green dragon closed his eyes. He knew he would be fine spending a night in the rain. Now that he had food in his belly, his body could stop eating itself and start recovering from the stresses of the past few days. The temperature had become unusually warm for how cold it was only the previous day. He had a feeling that, under his wing and that hairy hide, the rider would be fine, too. As tempting as it was to lift his wing and expose his rider to the cold rain, his body refused to move – probably due to a lack of strength. Just before sleep overtook him, he figured out a name for his rider.

{I know you cannot hear me... rider, but I have decided. You have saved my life and you may yet save me from my own madness, so your name shall be Salvation.}

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Darkness.

Complete, perfect darkness.

Astrid barely stiffened in astonishment before her ingrained discipline forced her to remain completely still as she blinked the sleep out of her eyes. Such an absolute darkness was very unfamiliar. Even inside her home on the darkest night, there was always some sort of light from torches or muted stars overhead that filtered in through the cracks in the walls.

Her heart skipped a beat at the sound of a deep rushing of air that seemed to come from all around. A steady, muffled pounding, like that of a war drum from very far away, could be felt almost as much as heard.

Astrid puffed out a sigh as realization dawned on her sleepy mind. It had taken a lot of begging and pleading on Hiccup's part, along with whining "But you promised..." a bunch of times to get the shield-maiden to allow Toothless to curl up around her when she laid down to sleep. As much as she liked Toothless, she was initially quite uneasy about the idea of sleeping with the very dragon that was barely able to control his rage enough to… not murder her...

That's what really rankled her. Not that the dragon hurt her. No, he attacked her. In battle, one must have complete and absolute trust in his battle-brothers and battle-sisters. Everyone must assume the best intentions of each other.

Though Astrid never had the chance to fight in dragon raids, she has seen quite a bit. Once, an errant swing of one Viking's ax cost another Viking his left arm. The victim just laughed it off because it was an honest mistake. He said, "You saved my arm from a Nightmare's fangs, once, so we'll call it a draw."

On the other hand, there was one time when Spitelout got in some really hot water. Stoick had commanded him to retreat to a fortified position because they were overwhelmed and Spitelout took great offense to that. In his anger, he struck out at Stoick, who managed to mostly block the blade and received only a minor slice. Still, the trust was breached.

Spitelout has proven himself a great warrior again and again, but trust is hard to earn and easy to lose. It was the same with Toothless in Astrid's eyes. Sure, maybe she offended him greatly and he may be in the right to confront her about it, but this wasn't just an errant swing of a blade. He made a decision and…

Astrid sighed.

And Hiccup barely intervened in time to stop Toothless from killing her.

After she and Hiccup left Grub and that Nadder on the beach – at Hiccup's own insistence, surprisingly enough – she had really laid into Toothless with a scolding of a lifetime. She lectured the dragon about how he needs to trust her. She berated him about thinking that she was threatening his rider after all the times she's saved his reckless self. After all, way back when Toothless was shackled to a boat and shipped off to watch the entire tribe fight a battle against the Red Death that was doomed to end in catastrophe, Hiccup wasn't exactly nipping at the bud to do anything until a certain someone gave him hope and pushed him out of his depression.

All her scolding, though, was only met with frantic licks to her face and regurgitated fish and small forest wildlife Toothless hunted down and laid out at her feet, which he then proceeded to bury in front of her... for safekeeping... or something like that. It was a bit creepy how he stared so intensely at her while burying the offering. There was no room to doubt that Toothless deeply regretted hurting her and, more to the point, betraying her trust. It was clear that he was learning that Hiccup wasn't the only person he can trust.

What was not clear to Astrid, though, as she blinked the sleep out of her eyes, was how she ended up hugging one of the dragon's forelegs and using the other as a pillow.

A loud banging startled her. A black wing lifted and she quickly rolled to her feet only to almost trip over a tail. Freed from the warm embrace of scales and wings, the absolute darkness was replaced by a lesser darkness, but she could still barely discern the profile of Stormfly and Toothless right next to her. The fire in the center of the longhouse had burned down to embers and half-burned logs along the periphery and didn't put out much light at all.

The banging sound came again. Astrid bent down to pick up her double-edged ax she was sleeping on top of, as per usual, and removed the leather sheath over the blade as she approached the large door. Hiccup and Stormfly, who were sleeping together, and a few other Vikings and dragons were also roused by the commotion.

With the ax's neck gripped tight in hand, she unbolted the latch. The wind flung the door open so forcefully she had to take a surprised leap back to avoid getting smacked in the face. A bolt of lightning took that very opportunity to illuminate an emerald green Deadly Nadder standing just outside with someone hanging from its maw. It took Astrid a moment to realize that someone was Grub and that this Nadder was the very one that had tried to kill him not too many days ago. He was dangling from the dragon's teeth by the back of his tunic and the waist of his pants.

As Grub caught sight of her from his interesting position, he mumbled, "I can stand on my own two feet, but this scaly parrot is trying to... I don't even know!"

It wasn't until Toothless shoved her to the side that Astrid realized she was holding her ax in both hands in a battle stance and the Nadder was hissing through clenched teeth. Toothless was definitely vouching with his actions that the Nadder was not hostile, so Astrid leaned the ax against the wall and went to inspect Grub, who the dragon had just dropped into a particularly large puddle outside the door. He was awake, but somewhat out of it and barely able to stand. His skin was cold, but his arteries were still somewhat warm, so he would probably regain his health quickly if he even got sick in the first place.

The Nadder, which was too weak to gulp down a fish without help only earlier that night, now seemed to be much stronger. The rate at which dragons could recover was always amazing, but one learns to stop being surprised by it. Once, Stormfly had badly sprained a wing and a leg in a particularly nasty "unintentional landing" that may or may not have been from trying a crazy stunt in an attempt to outperform a certain maimed dragon and his maimed rider. For some reason, Stormfly ate very little during her recovery but was back in the air after only two days.

Tofa yawned as she sauntered up with a Terrible Terror cradled in her arms. A pile of those little dragons marked where the two younger Bog Burglar girls were buried with Tofa for the night. The reigning dragon translator looked up at Astrid and said, "Redemption says Salvation is fine, but he hasn't eaten or-" Tofa let out a yawn, "slept in three days, so Redemption wants him to sleep in here where it's warm. At least, I think he said three. It's fewer than the number of horns on his head, more than the number of eyes, but not by much, so-"

"Hold on," Astrid interrupted the child with a sweet smile and a lilting voice. "You completely lost me, but back up. I'm gonna get Grub in here. He needs heat, food, and rest."

Tofa had been high on the hog these past two weeks, representing a third of all dragon whisperers on the island and the only one who could hear dragons speak without requiring contact. The fact that she was surrounded by dragons and Vikings who were trying to better understand said dragons only made her even more excited, but she would always use the name a dragon gave his rider instead of his actual name, which confused people at best and was sometimes annoying at worst. Astrid reviewed what the dragon whisperer said a couple of times before realizing that "Salvation" and "Redemption" were names the dragon and his rider came up with.

Are they trying to turn roll call into a sermon?

Tofa stamped her foot. "That's what I said, Miss Zealot!"

Astrid rolled her eyes internally as she put on that "I'm speaking to a child" face and said, "That's not what I heard."

Tofa huffed and went to clamber on top of Toothless, who was using his maw to pull the door closed behind the green Nadder.

"So," Hiccup said as he rubbed his eyes, "they're on good terms, now?"

"Yessir Mr. Firefly, sir," Tofa piped up. "Redemption says that he's slept a bit since you last saw him and he ate all the fish and the deer leg Toothless and Stormfly left for him, but Salvation refused to sleep and then the weather got worse and woke Redemption and Salvation started walking back here, but couldn't make it, so-"

"And so explains the toothmarks in his tunic," Hiccup interrupted with a light chuckle. "But you're really giving everyone a headache with all these dragon names. Grub can introduce his dragon to us just like everyone else did... in the morning."

"But... but... I think it's so sweet to name his dragon Redemption. It's not just because he's learning to see dragons differently, but he saved Redemption's life. He felt like he was redeeming himself from back when he lost-"

"Tofa!" Grub snapped from where he was leaning heavily against a kettle stand by the fire.

The air suddenly felt charged and tense. Astrid could tell that she had missed something. She could also see the signs in Tofa's face from the sharp rebuke. The girl had a good heart and was getting old enough that crying should be embarrassing, so Astrid bent down and scooped her up in her arms. Tofa wrapped her arms around Astrid's neck, squishing the Terror between them, much to the dragon's contentment.

Astrid looked at the girl and smiled. "Just because a dragon tells you something doesn't mean you should tell everyone about it. Your gift for hearing dragons is truly wonderful, Tofa. It really is, but it also comes with a responsibility not to hurt other people with it." Astrid sighed. "Even Grub. Dragons can have loose lips, after all, especially when they're not used to people being able to hear them."

"But... but... I didn't mean to hurt anyone."

Astrid smiled and used a free hand to caress the girl's forehead. Tofa had been living with the Hoffersons ever since Spring, when she ended up on Berk as an unwanted, wayward orphan. Astrid was happy to have a little sister and found great fulfillment in helping Tofa grow.

"I know," Astrid whispered.

Tofa sniffled and leaned her head against Astrid's shoulder. "Yessir Miss Zealot, sir- Sorry, I mean Miss Astrid." She then turned towards Grub and said, a little louder, "Sorry Mr. Grub sir," and then crawled back up Toothless' tail and onto his back.

Astrid couldn't help but smile at the sight. She looked back to see Grub was already taking off his tunic to hang by the fire. He had a nasty set of gashes along one side, but they didn't appear to be deep or long enough to merit stitching. Besides, the Nadder was stealing that moment to slobber on the wounds. Astrid knew from her own dragon that Nadder saliva helps the skin heal faster.

Weren't those two trying to kill each other not too long ago?

Hauk tossed a blanket at Grub and said, "Here, so you don't blind us when you take off your britches."

As Astrid went to grab the sheath for her ax, she said, "Alright, if you're all done making a commotion, I'm going back to sleep. Also, If anyone steps on me... again, may the gods have mercy on you because I won't."

Nothing breaks up a tense moment quite like a casual, light-hearted death threat.

Everyone eventually settled back down. Even with two larger longhouses, space was a bit cramped with so many dragons involved, but Grub and his Nadder managed to find an empty piece of flooring near Hauk and his Timberjack to collapse on. It seemed Grub also found some chow and, judging by the gratingly loud crunching, he found the world's loudest carrot anyone has ever chomped on.

"Grub," Astrid ground out, "that crunching will stop very soon."

"Yes dear."

"Don't make me come over there.

"Yes, Ma'am."

Astrid smiled despite herself as she laid out on top of her ax again before grabbing the crumpled blankets to spread out on top. As she started to relax, something blocked out the light of the fire that was bleeding in through her eyelids. She didn't even have to open her eyes to know exactly what was happening.

"Fine, Toothless, you can cuddle with me a little more."

The dragon crooned as he curled up around her.

"Only for Hiccup's sake."

"Thanks, Astrid."

Speaking of the devil...

Hiccup sounded half asleep already. That boy was certainly one who could pass out at the crack of a whip. Astrid huffed.

"The things I do for a fool."

Toothless started purring. Astrid had to admit it was quite soothing. Only Night Furies and Terrors could do that and she normally didn't get too close to any dragon from either species.

"Takes one to know one, Astrid, but I'll choose to be flattered by your concern."

"Stormfly, smack him!"

"Awww, thank you, Stormfly. I love you too."

"Useless reptile!"

A/N:
Thanks for reading. Also, thanks to VigoGrimborne for beta-reading.

Also, thanks for dropping a line, Vigo and 10Blue10. Toothless did catch me, but instead of eating an arm or leg, we came to the compromise of eating my head instead. I never use that thing anyway. ;)