Toothless woke to light entering the barn from a much brighter source than the dim candle lanterns inside the barn. The light was coming from an open flame, held by Astrid. "Toothless," she whispered, "Hiccup's done."
The dragon wondered how long he had been asleep, or how long it took for Vikings to perform the procedure of taking off a leg. He rose from the straw, being careful as not to wake Izara or Kieron, and went to the human female. She motioned for him to follow her out, and when he did, he discovered that the rain had finished, and the clouds had cleared enough that he could see the sun struggling to pull itself above the horizon, though Nótt still held the sky in her dominance.
"Come on," Astrid said, walking briskly across the field and around the village, "People will wake up early because of what happened last night, they'll want to check on their flocks and blame whoever they think is responsible."
When they reached the Haddock Hall, Astrid had to shove the Night Fury through the small door located through the back of the home, rather than the larger one in the front. He didn't enjoy it that much, but it was better than raising questions to why Astrid was bringing the very dragon that had been chained to a boat not a week prior into the house of the chief.
It was dark inside the back of the house, but further in, there were several lanterns hung around to provide maximum light to those inside.
The smell of blood and sweat stung his nostrils and made his eyes smart, and it made him feel apprehensive about padding to where Hiccup was sleeping. The healer was in view, scratching instructions with her staff onto the stone slabs with the ashes of the fire – it was much easier to communicate by pictures than by hitting others with a stick, or at least, that was how he felt about it. Toothless hesitantly approached the platform, sniffing at the hand that hung limply over the edge.
He could see the adults in the room, Gobber, Gothi, and a man with his left arm in a sling, presumably Astrid's father – they all visibly stiffened at his appearance from the shadows. The second man's jaw clenched in barely contained rage, then he turned without a word and left the building, slamming the door shut behind him.
"Dad!" Astrid called after him, trying to follow, but Gobber stopped her.
"Leave him be, lass. He needs time to accept our new peace," he let Astrid break from his grasp. "It will be long before the pain leaves. Yer family, aside from yerself an' Trap, will take a very long time to forgive."
"I know," Astrid muttered. She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You better call a village meeting and make people understand before they kill the dragons." Gobber nodded, then made for the door, as well as Trap who stated that he would be the sensitive speaker to balance out his uncle.
So Toothless was left with Astrid, the old woman, and Hiccup, all in silence, all unmoving, so the Night Fury broke the vigil, placing himself close to his pup. He tried his hardest not to look at the empty space where the boy's left foot was supposed to be, but his eyes kept flitting to the spot. He couldn't control them, so he laid his head against the boy's side, on the bed. The rest of his body followed to lie on the floorboards.
Toothless crooned to his pup, the tones that were calming to Night Fury pups. It used to have an effect on Hiccup, but didn't elicit a reaction from him now. Maybe it was a good thing, since the pain would be fresh from the amputation, and waking would only call the pain to the surface. Toothless continued humming and cooing, wishing that what had happened, hadn't.
He should've made Hiccup climb on his back in the cove instead of kidnapping Astrid, and they would've left to see the world.
Toothless would probably show him the coast of the mainland, how it would stretch on forever until the horizon swallowed it, or they could explore the glaciers east of the Night Fury colonies to the north – fly to the peaks of the mountains and swim in the glacial lakes. No catfish, hopefully.
He'd take the boy places he'd never seen before and do things he never would've dreamed of doing.
To see the white, gold capped pyramids in the ocean of sands, the hanging gardens that were lifted to the sky by white walls and watered by a river that seemed to defy all logic. Maybe he would've taken Hiccup on a hunt – unicorns were entertaining game. They'd exchange riddles with a lesser sphinx, and entertain nymphs with stories. They would've found a flock of gryphons and trade for jewels and metals Hiccup had never seen before, or followed a leviathan while she flipped and spun out of the waves like a rainbow of scales and fins.
They would've gone to the Crescent Isle, when they were ready, and he would finally be home with Tempest. He could imagine Hiccup's delight at an island full of dragons, and in time, his people would accept the human among them.
The Vikings would live their lives as always, farming, shepherding, fighting the dragons. They would hardly blink an eye to the fact that Hiccup was gone, mourning probably not taking long – Vikings didn't seem to be the sentimental type.
Toothless could feel the old woman's gaze on him, eyes full of a lifetime of loss to the dragons, healing every gash and wound and watch as her people died by the claw and fang of the dragons. The woman had seen many horrors, know great pain. She was a living testament to the pain of her people. If he and Hiccup had flown off, and not kidnapped Astrid like they had, the healer would not be the last generation to witness that pain – it would've continued and they would've driven themselves to die with their stubbornness. May she be the last. Toothless prayed, focusing on Hiccup's slack face.
"We're going to have to wait until the villagers calm themselves down," Astrid said to nobody in particular, staring off to the wall and at the decorations that hung there. They mainly consisted of shields that depicted gruesome deaths, mostly on the dragon's part, and decorative axes that were spotless.
Toothless lifted an ear, trying to listen for any shouting coming from the villagers, and unfortunately, he could, and it was getting closer.
"Where's the chief?"
"Why is that murderous devil in our village?!"
Who put you in charge?!"
"Stop!" Gobber shouted, shutting them all up. "All very good questions you have, which my fine young nephew will answer for you."
"Gobber!" Trap barked in annoyance. There was a whole while of general shouting and angry mob noises, which were all stopped when Trap yelled above them all. "Shut up! Can you all just shut up for a minute for the love of Odin?!" That shut them up very efficiently, so he continued. "The chief is still at the Nest with the rest of the men, regrouping and rebuilding the fleet." Trap's voice was quivering at being shoved into the attention of everyone there. "The Night Fury and the three other dragons are in the village. You are not to harm them, or any other dragon that comes here in any way."
Shouting started, but an impatient growl from Gobber silenced them. "if ye touch those dragons, yer gonna hafta answer to me, personally." From the lack of questions raised at that statement, they had already explained the battle to the Villagers, it seemed, before they all started yelling and making their way up the hill.
Toothless lifted his head when they started their grumbling and naysaying, and he wondered if Gobber and Trap could hold off the villagers if things got out of hand and if he himself was able to fight them off if they managed to get past the two and inside the Haddock Hall. The Vikings continued their grumbling and complaining, but they seemed to be generally appeased by Trap's statements. If it was any different, it wouldn't have mattered, because Trap had bolted inside and slammed the door in front of Gobber's face. "Time for Gobber to answer all those fine questions," he growled. "So much for being Stoick's right hand man."
Trap wiped his head over his forehead, then came further inside. He dropped himself into one of the chairs by the fire.
"So, how did it go?" Astrid asked in a sing-song voice.
"Awful," he moaned, "It started pretty well, I think, they thought that we killed the Queen was great, but once he got to how – eh – not so much. I think the only ones who are close to accepting what's going on is the Ingermans, but that's because Fishlegs already filled their barn with dragons."
Toothless knew that they didn't think he was listening, because the two siblings launched into a rapid conversation of what they had to get done. Clear a barn that wasn't full of precious hay for the dragons, rein in the other teens to help think of what to do with the dragons in the spare times, and get somebody needed to go see where the Zippleback went. The Night Fury quickly lost the conversation thread, so he set his head back on the bed beside his Hiccup under the watchful eye of Gothi.
Ephos and Dophos were probably seeking out a place to wait for everything to blow over – their combined thoughts probably had deduced before they all had landed that the Vikings would be less than hospitable towards the dragons to start. Somewhere in those troubled minds, there was a sure spark of brilliance, which Toothless made a resolve to dig out at some point.
Toothless slowly pulled himself up, but stopped when his belly made an obnoxious grumbling noise. He dropped back down to the floor in embarrassment when the three humans all looked at him. "Toothless!" Astrid exclaimed, "I completely forgot to get your food! You haven't eaten in days!"
It was true – Toothless hadn't touch a fish since the salmon that Astrid has snuck for him in the arena pen. All the Vikings had for food on the journeys were some hard substance they called biscuits, and whatever fish they could catch, which wasn't much, was given to the dragons who had to fly.
"Trap, I'll raid the chief's storeroom, make sure Toothless doesn't eat Gothi." That earned her a good, solid thwack over the head. "Somebody needs to take that thing away from her." She ducked away, then left back to the room that smelled of food.
She returned with a basket several minutes later. It smelled heavenly, and when she opened it, he saw that it was filled with slabs of dried meat. "Trap, you think he'll eat yak?" The boy shrugged, claiming that he never fed the dragons in the arena before.
Toothless scrunched up his nose – Night Furies didn't eat red meat, it didn't really agree with them all that much, only a few rouges that he had talked to had tried it, and apparently, it sickens one for the first while, but after, it becomes the best tasting thing. He never cared for it enough to try, mostly because Tempest never allowed him to, and his duties required him to be on his feet and wings.
The Night Fury tried his best to convey that no matter how much he wanted it, he wasn't going to allow himself. Astrid eventually caught on and returned the basket to the storeroom. Gothi just smiled at Astrid's frustration, then joined the younger girl in the back, then returned silently with a transparent container filled with a golden substance.
A honeycomb.
Toothless was shocked that she knew that his species was particularly fond of those. He couldn't stop himself from sniffing at the jar, and to keep his body from wiggling in excitement when she snapped the seal. Oh, that smells good. He thought, then ducked his head respectfully towards the healer. Wordlessly, she placed it on the floor, allowing him to scoop the honeycomb out of the jar with his tongue, then suck the honey out of it. He crooned his thanks, seeking her empty hand out in appreciation.
At first she seemed shocked, but she slowly loosened her muscles and allowed herself to relax, letting Toothless lean into her as much as he though her elderly frame could take. She gave his head a dismissive pat and sent him back to Hiccup's bedside, as if, all of a sudden, she approved of him being there.
The Night Fury complied, pausing to spit the empty honeycomb out, then returning to Hiccup's side, hunger sated for the time being, even if he wished for more.
It was quiet again, only the fire to be heard crackling in the hearth. Keeping track of time was useless, because nothing changed, that is, before Gothi vamoosed them all from the house. Her reasons were unknown, since she kept to her silence, but he assumed it had to do with the fact that the dragon and two pups were doing nothing but taking up the air, and that couldn't do much for Hiccup.
They were all driven out of the house onto the front step of the hall – Trap and Astrid were able to grab onto the wood dragons flanking the doors, but the Night Fury was less fortunate than they in that respect. He couldn't fold in his wings, so he tumbled down the front steps of the hall in an awkward jumble of poorly arranged limbs.
He eventually came to a stop, but he felt like he didn't deserve the rough treatment. He righted himself quick enough, grumbling in frustration.
"Heya, Night Fury!" It was Kaliddene – he wondered where she was last night, but it didn't seem to matter, because she was jumping up and lively from the roof top of the closest house and landed right next to him.
"Don't call me that." Toothless growled, propping himself up on his forelegs.
She chirred good naturedly, "You look uncomfortable, Toothless the Night Fury." The drake scowled at her, and was trying to come up with some clever retort, but Astrid was there and interrupted his trail of thought before he could. "Oh, it's good to see you're alright!" She exclaimed, "I thought you had flown off like that Zippleback, but I'm glad to see you stayed." Kaliddene leaned into Astrid's embrace.
"I think I like her even more now," the Nadder said, then paused, "Should I let her know that I broke one of the figureheads on a house down the hill? What are you looking at me like that for? It was an accident!"
"Can you try not to break anything else?" He asked pithily, "We can't afford to get the Vikings more angry than we have to – our peace is going to be fragile until the men and women come back from the Nest, the chief with them."
"Then it's probably too late to mention that we got into the fish."
"You what?! Kal, why would you do that?" Toothless was astounded by their lack of reserve.
"Kieron went first, I'll let you know," she replied defensively, "and those identical siblings let us into the storehouse thing!"
"Did you at least save me any?" Toothless asked. He wouldn't be surprised if they hadn't but that honeycomb wasn't exactly a fitting meal.
"I was coming to invite you to join in before Kieron ate it all – I thought you might enjoy that." The female Nadder nodded her head, motioning for him to follow her. "They didn't even bother to move their storehouses, which made it all the easier to find," She said cheekily, "We found it in a heartbeat."
"So the three of you were trying to break in when the twins let you in?"
"Ya," She responded sheepishly.
Astrid followed behind; Trap had left to go check on the rest of their family, saying that their father had probably left somebody named Hackney under the care of their older sister. Astrid didn't protest much, and contentedly followed the Nadder and Night Fury in silence all the way to the storehouse.
Kieron was lying outside, basking in the sun; Izara was just coming out of the building, looking very full. "That's the most I've eaten in months." She plopped down with a satisfied grunt. "It's wonderful." Toothless could smell the fish on them, and it was heavenly. "There's still some inside," Izara said when she saw him, "follow your nose."
"No!" Astrid yelled, "You didn't eat everything, did you?" She rushed into the storehouse before Toothless, though he did manage to squeeze past her when she froze onto the spot. He followed his nose indeed, and it led him to the rack of hanging fish. The Night Fury didn't hesitate in snapping them straight off their places, and swallowed them whole, even when Astrid made a sound of dismay. "Gobber's gonna kill me."
She pinched the bridge of her nose, "How in Hel am I supposed to explain this to him?" Toothless grinned at her with the smile that Hiccup had taught him, hoping that it would calm her some, but if anything, it made her even more upset. "Stop eating!" The Night Fury darted away from his food, extremely disappointed that his eating was cut short.
He returned outside to find the three other dragons chirring at hi. "Yes, hilarious, you three are all stuffed silly and I'm living on honeycombs and dried fish." When they continued to chirr at him, the drake stopped his tail on the ground in frustration and dropped himself next to them with a huff. "I hate all of you."
That's when Snotlout flailed past; running as fast has his feet could take him. It looked as if his body was having a hard time keeping up with his legs. All the dragons had no idea what they had just witnessed and all their heads followed Snotlout's scrambling progress to the barn, where Astrid was just coming out. Kieron shook his head, "That hatchling needs help from the gods." The other dragons all silently agreed by nodding their head in unison.
"Astrid!" the boy cried, "Astrid! Oh my gods, on second, lemmie breathe." He puffed, holding up a hand. The other was propping him up on his knee as he struggled for breath. "Gobber's getting ships ready – he wants all of us with a dragon ready by noon."
"Can your Nightmare take that?" Astrid asked skeptically, "I mean, his wings got pretty hurt when he pulled in the ship for us."
"You bet it hurt," Kieron grumbled.
"Eh, he'll be fine," Snotlout waved unconcernedly.
"I think Stormfly will be able to – as long as she's up to it." Astrid said simply, scratching the back of her head with her hand.
"Who's that?" Snotlout asked, scowling.
"My dragon, stupid. The Nadder!" Astrid replied, exasperated. When the boy shrugged, she scowled back at him, "Stormfly – because she flew with the ship and dragged your sorry ass through the storm - Stormfly?" It was the most obvious thing in the world, but the boy still looked lost. He made a confused sound, followed by him shrugging dramatically.
Kaliddene rustled her crown spikes self-importantly, "I like that name – it highlights my hardworking attitude… Stormfly." She tested the word on her voice. Kieron scoffed.
"My human will have a much better name for me."
"Did you decide something while I was busy?" Toothless scowled, giving them all stern looks.
"We decided that it would be best if we left our old lives behind. It would be better for us to leave them and start over again, with the Vikings, if they'll have us," Izara stated, "Mostly my idea." Toothless nodded in understanding – it seemed fitting, and almost like what he had done, leaving Aranon behind and taking on Toothless.
Astrid and Snotlout where still harping on about names. "Fireworm," Snotlout countered one of Astrid's snide remarks at one of his prior name suggestions.
Kieron's head shot up, "Excuse me, what did he just say?" Toothless took his turn to chirr. Fireworms where small, annoying little pests in the dragon world, like rats were to humans, and no doubt the Nightmare did not take kindly to the name the human chose. "He did not just – oh, he did."
Snotlout was unaware of the bristling Nightmare, because he continued his talking to Astrid. "Yep, saw it myself – I saw it somewhere."
Astrid snickered, "I didn't know you could read."
"I don't," Snotlout scowled, and continued to be oblivious to the fact that Kieron was coming up behind him.
"And you're sure you want that name?" Astrid smirked.
"Yes, I want that name – he can set himself on fire, can't he?" Snotlout snarled at her, "And he's my dragon, isn't he?"
Kieron came up right behind the boy, hooking his waistband with a protruding tooth, and pushed Snotlout chest-first against the wall of the storehouse. "Don't you dare name me after these damn parasites."
"I don't think he likes his new name," Astrid commented drying, crossing her arms squarely over her chest.
Kieron shouted in agreement, pressing his head harder against the boy, who was now breathing like a cornered animal, in a panic, eyes wide. Toothless felt no need to intervene, neither did Astrid on the two she-dragons. They actually seemed to be enjoying the payback for their abuse in the human's kill ring, and Astrid just looked straight up amused. The Nightmare continued to press the boy against the wall, blowing scalding smoke up his back.
"Alright! Okay!" The boy cried, "Your name is Hookfang! Hookfang!" His voice dropped to a pleading whisper, "Please don't kill me."
The newly dubbed Hookfang backed away, letting Snotlout drop to the ground, "Much better," he snorted, then shot Stormfly a victorious bark, "I told you my name would be better than yours." Stormfly snorted, but didn't say anything to further the conversation.
Astrid seemed rather amused while Snotlout continued his speech, "You know – Hookfang – because he has massive teeth that'll kill you if you get on his bad side?"
"You better keep your distance then."
Snotlout glowered at her response, "Whatever, you go find Fishface and I'll find the twins, we need to be ready to leave by noon." When Astrid reminded him that the Zippleback had flown off first thin, the boy shrugged, "Don't want them in the village while everyone's gone, do we?" Astrid shrugged, but seemed to agree with that. Toothless found himself agreeing also.
Snotlout was going to be going his own way with Hookfang, and Astrid the other with Stormfly and Izara, so she could accompany them on their search for Fishlegs.
Astrid seemed pretty awkward, trying to figure out how to climb onto Stormfly's back, but the she-dragon quickly tired of the girl slipping on her scales and getting nowhere, so she lowered her wing for Astrid to use as a step. The girl settled in at the base of the dragon's neck, legs over the wing joints. The Nightmare made quick work of getting Snotlout to sit on his neck, hands gripping on Hookfang's tree branch horns.
Toothless knew he wouldn't be needed or particularly helpful in either of their ventures, so he decided to explore the village in daylight, letting the others fly off.
He started by leaving the courtyard, and following what looked like a sheep path between houses and out to what he assumed was the village green. A row of evenly placed torches were placed down the footpath along the houses and shops. There were quite a few humans, he was surprised that nobody had noticed that all the dragons in the village had congregated around the storehouse, maybe they had been scared off by Trap and Gobber's orders.
A group of women were talking together, they seemed focused intently on their conversation but Toothless could see their eyes occasionally darting their children, young girls and boys wielding wooden swords at each other, laughing and shouting short battle cries. "Take that, ye greasy Outcast pig!"
The Night Fury watched from the shadows, which were quickly lessening due to the time of day it was. So it didn't surprise him too much when a girl with a frizzy red head of hair saw him and dropped her wooden sword in shock. He tried his hardest to put on a happy, non-threatening smile, making sure that his teeth were sheathed. The little girl stifled a giggle, quickly pulling a serious face.
He might or might not have intentionally raised his ears and widened his eyes.
Hiccup used to find all of this endearing, but the Night Fury hated it when Hiccup called him 'cute', but it did have an effect on the girl.
She giggled, letting down her hands to her sides. She stole glances at her playmates to see if they saw the hiding Night Fury – two others saw the paths her eyes were taking. One boy with white-blond hair like snow, and the other a petit girl with a waist length gold braid. The two seemed more hesitant about the dragon – it was only natural, he supposed, them being Vikings – but the redhead dropped into a crouch, slowly moving towards the Night Fury with her hand outstretched to him. Her eyes were alight with curiosity.
"Fox!" The girl hissed, "Don't touch it! You momma told us not to go near the dragons!"
"Oh, shush," the girl, Fox, scoffed, "he don't have no teeth to chomp me with, and if Snotlout can touch him without gettin' eaten, so can I."
"He's just a cousin – it doesn't mean you don't taste better than him," the boy said, "you probably do! I mean, Fox, that's a Night Fury!"
Fox defiantly stuck her tongue out of the others, "You two are cowardly little babies." The two pairs of eyebrows drew together in annoyance. "Snowhare, are you coming or no?" The white-haired child shook his head vigorously, blue eyes wide with fear. "Goldfin?" The second girl seemed to contemplate it longer than Snowhare, then slowly allowed her feet to move her closer to the alley where the Night Fury was waiting for them to come closer to him, still holding onto his 'cute' face and mannerisms so not to scare them off.
Although she was brazen compared to the other two, Fox played it safe and held her hand out under his jaw.
It felt like pure bliss when it connected with the soft spot under his jaw. When he started to purr, involuntarily, of course, Fox laughed again, smoothing her hand along his hide, "He's like your brother and sister's Karelian dogs, Goldfin!"
The other was still cautiously watching, "But I don't think that Ruff and Tuff can set this dragon on me." Toothless glanced uneasily at her. There's another one? Gods help us all. But she was abnormally petite for a Viking, not scrawny like Hiccup, but fine boned and big-eyed, she couldn't possibly be a threat. They both were on his left side. Toothless lowered himself down to the ground so the girls could reach his back easier, to rub his wings joint and along the sides of his crests. Hiccup had never scratched him there, and it felt wonderful to have those girls' fingers scratching at them. They slowly became less apprehensive around him, even scratching behind his ears. Snowhare would scowl at Toothless like a good little Viking warrior, occasionally looking around the corner of the house to make sure that nobody else would come and see that the two girls were giggling and making the Night Fury melt into a puddle of bliss.
Toothless suddenly rolled over to the right, exposing his belly to them. The girls enthusiastically rubbed at his hide, and involuntarily, he found himself kicking his back leg on reflex. Fox giggled again, "He's definitely like the Karelians, looks all big n' tough, can kill like nobody's business, but when it comes down to it, he's a big ol' puppy dog." She scratched at his ribs.
Snowhare came around the corner again, eyebrows scrunched up together, "Fox…"
"You coming around Snow?" She asked cheekily, grinning ear to ear.
"Fox, you really, really need to get away-"
"Fox! Fox!" A woman cried, marching around the corner. She held a furious scowl on her face and her posture threatening. "You come away from that demon this moment, young lady!"
As if the two girls were tied by cords, they yanked themselves away from the dragon's side. Goldfin darted away like some flighty golden bird around the back corner of the house, bare feet pattering away on the dirt.
More women came around the corner, the ones that had been having the conversation together. The women all were poised as if they'd beat him to death with their laundry baskets, a stray thought entered his mind, wondering if they had done so before. He dismissed it for the present time, which loomed much closer than the thought.
"Goldfin, ye coward!" Fox yelled after the girl long gone, "Get back here and face yer fate!"
"Fox Jorgenson!" The first woman barked, grabbing the girl's wrist just as she was about to dash after her playmate to administer justice, "you are in big trouble! What did Gobber tell you about touching the dragons?"
"Te not to," the girl grumbled. Out of the corner of his eye, Toothless could see Snowhare stick his tongue out at Fox in an 'I told you so' way. A woman who was clearly his mother flicked his ear and dragged him off by it.
All the others left quickly after that, harried expressions clear on the woman's faces, like they were scared of being seen even remotely close to the Night Fury by the other villagers. They didn't bother to shoo him from the alley, so he excused himself silently.
You may go now, and continue your duties, my Second.
As you wish, and as we may, my Leader.
That was usually now it went when he was dismissed by Torok from a meeting in the council or from his regular duties. Using it now would almost be mocking the ritual in some way.
The dragon bounded up to the rooftop of one of the houses beside him. The village looked for more recognisable from that vantage point, he could remember the layout better from above, what little he knew from the few raids he had been on, and that one terrible run in with that sheep and Astrid by the smithy.
He wondered if the Vikings would take kindly to the new development of living with the dragons about, though he didn't expect them to for a while. The reaction, as it had been always before with the Vikings, was completely natural. Overcoming that basest instincts would be a challenging for the humans on the island, and he wasn't going to rush their interactions, he supposed the best way to deal with the Vikings was to introduce them to interacting with the dragons slowly and carefully, but he couldn't wait for Stoick and the fleet to return to Berk, that would be far from logical. It didn't help that they only had the words of five teens and Gobber to go on, along with a group of dragons that weren't exactly grateful for being imprisoned for however they were treated in ways they had been. Except for Stormfly, she got herself captured on purpose, more of for fun than anything else.
He still couldn't get over that, it was ridiculous no matter how one spun it or looked at it from any prospective.
The dragon dropped to his haunches on the roof, observing the people that passed by. The sun almost was at it's peak in the sky, and when he looked down to the docks, he could see two fishing boats being prepared, as well as what looked like a sleek racing vessel with odd shaped sails. They were all being loaded with supplies and what Vikings adults that remained in the village with no business to attend to.
Toothless watched Gobber direct them, sending the man with a crate to the second fishing boat, and the woman with a box of swords needed to put those back where she found them and bring something they'd actually need . She stomped off indignantly with her box of swords.
"Night Fury!" Izara shouted just before she buzzed passed over his head. Stormfly and Hookfang made passes close over him also.
"Stop calling me that!" He barked after them, but they all just chirred as they wheeled down to the docks. They all had a human on their backs who were holding on for dear life. They didn't have saddles like he and Hiccup did, just their bare hands and a single rope to Fishlegs and Izara. Stormfly whistled as she landed on the docks, just to alert the humans to their imminent approach.
The humans scattered away from the spot where they were landing, ducking away with their arms over their heads.
The Night Fury didn't want to be left out on the excitement, so he dropped down from the roof, being careful not to crush anybody beneath him. Maybe he tried his hardest to look dignified, but he saw Goldfin on the path, and when she grinned and waved her little hands at him, he gave her a gummy smile, but didn't stay there long, instead, making his way down the ramps to the docks.
His claws gave him good purchase in the wet wood, and it was aged, he could tell from the spongy texture of some of the boards that looked like they needed to be replaced soon. They creaked under his weight, but the time he had on them didn't permit them to do anything further.
When he made it onto the dock, there was already a rough made harness of rope on Stormfly's back, looping around her neck and connecting to another encircling her behind her wings. On either side there were long ropes that extended far behind her and ended in loops, perfect for attaching onto hooks.
"Toothless!" She exclaimed, happily chirping, "Good for you to join in the fun!"
"Ya, such fun – oi, watch it," Hookfang growled. He had just been pinched by the ropes that Gobber and Snotlout were trying to put on him. Snotlout cowered away from the irked Nightmare, but Gobber just growled back. Hookfang took the reprimand as easily as a pup, quietly grumbling, and continued to let them put the harness on him.
"You are going to pull these ships to the Nest?" Toothless asked, "Hope there won't be any new storms or strong winds."
"After yesterday's, I don't think so… it probably will be fine, "Izara put in, she was being fitted for a harness also, it looked like she would be hook onto the sleek racer ship, it made sense, since she had a small wingspan, she would be pulling the lightest ship.
"Dad, you have to stay here. Your arm is broken and you can't possibly think everybody will stay alive with Tani in charge!"
"Your sister is more than capable of taking care of the others – your mother is stranded on an island of dragons, and I'm not taking chances on not going. I'm not going to stand idly by when you all go off on this rescue."
The man scowled again at his daughter when she once again retaliated. "Dad, you'll only slow us down. One arm doesn't get you far on a ship aiming for speed."
"Astrid, let it go. If he wants to come, let him." Gobber was at their sides – Toothless had no idea how that man could move so fast and stealthily on that peg leg. "Let him come."
Toothless decided that the conversation wasn't his to follow, so he returned his attentions to the other dragons. They were quiet now, he assumed that everything was starting to catch up to them, and that they'd have to return to the Nest. Izara had lain down, since her harness was completed, and was resting herself before their coming journey. Hookfang was done also, so he was done with interacting with humans.
"Toothless," He asked, "You'll be staying here?"
The Night Fury Nodded, "I cannot fly without Hiccup, even if I could, I wouldn't leave him for anything."
"Good," The Nightmare grunted, "When that fool, Ephos and Dophos, gets back, kill him for me."
"Him? Them?" Stormfly asked, "Honestly, I don't know what to call… them."
"I'd suppose it depends on the situation," Izara stated, "Like if a Zippleback is speaking, they'd be separate, but in other situations, we'd have to discern for ourselves what to say."
They all sat in silence, all trying to figure out the grammar for addressing a Zippleback, but Toothless himself quickly decided that it didn't matter to him what they called them, it would always be an issue, and he wouldn't strain himself over it.
Hookfang growled in frustration, "Just kill them for me, then the grammar won't matter."
There was a yell from further down the docks, I the first fishing boat, to signal to the other humans that their departure was upon them. There Vikings were fast in picking up their feet, and it wasn't long before Stormfly, Hookfang, and Izara were brought away to have their harnesses attached to the ships.
The sails were snapped open, and the ropes connected to the harnesses grew taught and creaked as the dragons strained forward with their ships. Slowly, ever so slowly, the ships made their way out of the harbour, past the stone guardians, and disappeared over the horizon.
Toothless bowed his head. "Fair winds aid you."
=0=
That's it for another chapter, ladies and gentlemen!