DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING
A.N.
Well, Toothless is quite the troublemaker, isn't he? And his plans totally backfired too. Serves him right.
This isn't one of my favorite chapters, but it's an important one. (It also has some Hiccstrid in it, which made it totally worth it). The climax is also really close now!
Enjoy, dear readers! Enjoy!
Toothless's mind had wandered off, and he flew solely based on his instincts now. He vaguely registered that Astrid and Hiccup were talking above him, though he did not understand what they were talking about.
As his body controlled his movements instead of his brain, everything became a blur. There was no ocean; there was no Berk; there was only a destination. By now, he had even forgotten the Vikings currently riding him. He only knew that he had to go somewhere, no matter what he wanted or who he was. Everything else was irrelevant.
Something in Toothless subconsciously realized that the feeling was wrong, but his basic instincts were fighting against him. They managed to keep his better judgement at bay, almost as if disuse had made them stronger.
Toothless had not flown this way in a long time. He almost always knew where he was going, or why he was going there, but this instance was an exception. He remembered feeling this way before, though, but he was not aware enough to realize the cause. If he were fully cognizant, he would know that he hated the sensation of being at the mercy of his instincts. He would also know that his destination was nothing to be desired. If he arrived, it could spell certain doom for the dragon and his riders.
He dropped, soaring through a thick white fog, unaware of Hiccup's questioning. Dragons were suddenly surrounding him, flying on all sides, and he managed to avoid colliding with their fog-concealed bodies. Even in his trance-like state, he was able to maintain his coordination.
There was a sort of chorus of screeches, roars, and moans from the various dragons, all of which betrayed fear, frustration, and a desire for safety. A fully conscious Toothless would know why they felt such things, but that wasn't the case at the moment.
As he continued flying, Toothless felt Hiccup place his hand on his head. He wanted to know what was happening, but most of all, he wanted to leave the presence of the other dragons. In any other situation, Toothless would have complied immediately. But the dragon was still not aware enough to know that his destination was bad, so he shook off Hiccup's touch.
Toothless descended again, and he was soon maneuvering between closely positioned sea stacks, eventually making his way toward a large, volcanic island. It too was partially concealed by fog, but visible veins of lava cracked through its surface, and a craggy mountain top rose above the clouds.
In his stupor, Toothless felt his body moving toward an opening in the mountainside, passing into it with an easy shift of his wings. He then proceeded to soar through a dark tunnel, which led into the heart of the volcano. The dragon subconsciously twirled and dove to avoid protruding walls or sharp stalactites, somehow familiar with the anatomy of the mountain.
They eventually arrived in a huge cavern with a floor that seemed to be an abyss. If it weren't for the strange rock formations rising from the ground, thus indicating a base, anyone would have thought that it extended into Helheim. Moreover, lava must have rested at the bottom. An orange-red glow rose from its floor along with thick coils of smoke. Plus, the temperature of the cavern was swelteringly hot.
Luckily, the change in temperature brought Toothless back to his senses, and he suddenly realized where he was.
By becoming too relaxed during his flight, his carefree mind had allowed his instincts to take over. And a dragon's first instinct while flying is to find a nest, which is exactly what he did, and shouldn't have done.
A procession of dragons flew over the gorge, dropping their kills into its opening. Toothless knew that the Queen rested below, gigantic jaws wide open, awaiting her daily-delivered meal. At the thought of her, Toothless was gripped with complete and utter terror. He immediately broke off from the procession, soaring toward the side. He hid behind a rock formation.
Toothless was too panicked and disoriented to think clearly. He wasn't quite sure how or why he had arrived at the nest, and his attention was mainly focused on rationalizing his memories. It did not occur to him that he should leave yet-his brain was far too muddled to form such thoughts. Plus, fear of the Queen had paralyzed him, and he could do nothing but cower behind the rocks.
He sensed Hiccup on his back, and that comforted him a bit. But he had flown farther into the Queen's clutches than he ever had before-not since he had left her service, anyway. If she saw, smelled, or heard him, she would not hesitate to eat him. Queens were the only cannibalistic dragons, and that disgusted Toothless.
Then a jolt went through the dragon. He had brought Hiccup-the only person on the entire planet that he cared about-to a place where any humans, no matter how kind or generous, would be killed. How could he do something like this? If Toothless was going to die here, that was his fault. But now...now he was dragging Hiccup down with him.
He watched with apprehension as a dragon that he identified using the images of "fat," "lumpy," and "slow," fly over the cavern. He had once heard Hiccup call them something ridiculous like "Gronckle," but right now, he wasn't concerned with its name. He was worried about its fate.
Its disproportional wings struggled to carry the heavy creature, but their excessive fluttering managed to keep it airborne. It hovered over the canyon with a sort of lethargy, slowly opening its large jaws and angling itself downwards. A single, small fish slid out of its throat, descending into the cavern below, and by extension, the Queen's jaws.
The second the fish had appeared, Toothless knew that the heavy dragon was as good as dead. It had not sacrificed enough for the Queen, whom desired livestock and buckets of fish. Since she had to satiate her ceaseless hunger, she would eat the Gronckle just as easily as she would devour the fish. The cannibalism would also maintain control over her subjects, since they would be too terrified to defy her.
Sure enough, the Queen's gargantuan jaws rose out of the fog and snapped over the heavy dragon, probably swallowing it whole, and then descended back into the hole. All the dragons were seized with fear at the sight of her, and they backed into hiding places. Even Toothless began breathing heavily, his heart beating so fast that he was sure it would break out of his ribcage.
As he dealt with his panic, he heard Astrid whisper "What. Is. That?" with incredulity.
Between Toothless's heavy breathing and Astrid's words, the Queen became aware of their presence. She reemerged from the bottom of the cavern with a heart-stopping growl, probably realizing that there was a dragon who had yet to deliver his sacrifice. She waited for a second, probably smelling that he had two humans on his back, which she would certainly eat if given the chance. After all, she would eat anything.
Of course, if Toothless sacrificed his riders, he would be safe, and the Queen would ignore his mutiny. But the thought did not even cross the dragon's mind. He loved Hiccup-they were best friends, and though he might not be his family in the "human" sense, he felt like the boy was his kin, perhaps even his brother. No, he would never do something so unbelievably selfish.
Perhaps the Queen sensed his intention to rebel, because she tensed up to lunge. But the only things that Toothless really registered were Hiccup's urges to leave, which he obeyed at the last moment. Just as he took off, the Queen's jaws snapped over their former hiding place. Any other dragon would have died, but Toothless was simply too fast, and he managed to evade her.
Toothless struggled to fly out of the cavern through an opening in the top, aware that the Queen would be hot on his heels. Luckily for him, the other dragons had been startled out of their hiding places, and they swarmed around the cavern like a tornado. This provided a sufficient distraction-enough for him to escape the Queen's jaws once again. Instead of closing them on Toothless's scaly body, she caught a different, disoriented dragon, and then wasted time pulling it into the gorge with her. By the time she would realize her mistake, Toothless would be long gone and not worth the effort to follow.
After that experience, Toothless took a lot time to calm down. His heart was still beating at a dangerous rate, and he worried that it would never slow down. But thankful words from Hiccup and Astrid made him feel a bit better about his weakness. After all, he had gotten them into that mess. It was his fault that their lives were in danger. He had never felt so guilty-probably because he had never felt responsible for anyone else before.
They flew stunned for a while, eventually returning to the ravine. Toothless had never been so happy to be back in the safety of the gorge's enclosed walls. He knew the Queen would never find him here, and that relaxed him slightly.
As they landed, he heard Astrid trying to explain the workings of the dragon nest. "It makes sense; It's like a giant beehive. They're the workers, and that's their queen. It controls them."
She skillfully jumped off of Toothless's back, running back toward the village after saying something like "Let's find your dad."
Toothless understood every word but "dad," because Hiccup had never used the term before. He wondered if it was an object that his rider had misplaced.
For some reason, Hiccup was very against finding this "dad". He stopped Astrid in her path, saying disturbing things like "they'll kill Toothless."
Judging by their tones of voice and body language, it appeared that Hiccup and Astrid were having some sort of argument involving Toothless's safety. The boy hoped to protect the dragon at all costs, while the girl wanted to do something risky.
Once again, the dragon felt a surge of affection for his rider. He was just as determined to protect Toothless as Toothless was determined to protect him. The last thing either one wanted to do was put each other in danger.
Luckily, Hiccup seemed to have won the argument, and despite what Toothless had expected, Astrid accepted defeat rather gracefully. It seemed that his rider was worried about something else...something that he would have to face. But Hiccup rarely talked about his life in the settlement, so Toothless couldn't identify the problem. He wished he knew, though. He wished he knew very much.
Hiccup and Astrid stood silently beside the pond for few seconds, perhaps collecting their thoughts. Then, the girl punched him in the arm, claiming that it was payback for "kidnapping" her-whatever that meant. The dragon was beyond attacking her for such a light punch, but he did respond to the boy's confused stare with an equally confused moan.
Then the girl did something else-something that Toothless didn't recognize. As the boy rubbed his shoulder, she pulled his face close to hers, placing her lips against his cheek. Astrid then released him, unwilling to meet his eyes.
Did she just...peck him? Do humans do that?
"That's for...everything else," she said quietly before sauntering back to the village.
The action was definitely not hostile, as far as Toothless could tell. In fact, it seemed affectionate-very affectionate. It was so affectionate that Hiccup was obviously stunned at the gesture, and he stood wide-eyed for a while.
Toothless approached him, moving to his side. He looked and purred at his rider with perplexity, wondering what the lip-peck could mean. He hoped that his rider would explain. But Hiccup seemed embarrassed by what had occurred, and he rejected Toothless's implied questions with a rude "What are you looking at?"
Toothless didn't take that to heart, though. The boy's behavior was indication enough of what the lip-peck really meant.