Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD
A/N: This is the second to last chapter of TIB. It is comprised of two vignettes that each take place after a time jump of two years. These are ideas that I wanted to put in but weren't enough for whole chapters. Also, you'll notice that I'm using the names of characters from the books (but not the characters themselves).
This is because I'm lazy and sometimes it's easier to nick names (ha!) than it is to come up with new ones. Furthermore, one reader suggested that Helena would end up nicknaming Ebony, 'Bunny', and I love that idea, so she's had a bit of a name change, XD
I think that covers everything. Without further ado, I give you…
Chapter Twenty Five
Time Jump: Two Years
One warm summer evening on Berk, the Haddocks were, for once, having some wind down time. Astrid was grooming Stormfly, scrubbing a brush under the Spike-Tails jaw and over her beak as she purred and whistled happily. Selena was grooming Bunny, licking the two year old kit sprawled out carelessly between her paws and making small whines of protest at the unwanted bath.
Helena wasn't happy that her cousin was getting a bath when she wanted to play. Thankfully, her parents didn't try to give her a bath. Instead, her dad pulled her into his lap and began to read with her. He traced his finger along the words in the storybook and spoke each one aloud. "A is for Apple. B is for Bird."
"Birdie" Helena smiled, pointing at the picture of the bird. Hiccup whistled an imitation of it tweeting, and pretended to peck at her nose. She wrinkled it at him and giggled.
"C is for Cat. D is for…"
"Dragon!"
"That's right, clever girl" Hiccup praised, beaming at her. They kept reading together. He wasn't reading aloud just for Helena's benefit...Hiccup knew that Toothless was peering at the book over his shoulder, he could feel the dragon's warm breath on the back of his neck. He didn't know how much Toothless could understand, but he didn't want to discourage him or make him feel left out.
As for understanding…in many ways, Toothless was strangely fascinated by the book and the words because he didn't understand them. He knew that the small strange clumps of straight lines meant something, they meant sounds, because Hiccup said they did and his other half wouldn't lie to him.
The heart bind let Hiccup hear thought-speak, but it had changed Toothless as well. When he looked at a picture, he didn't just see meaningless curves and colours, or something that looked vaguely familiar. He could see in his mind what the picture was supposed to be. He recognised it as a bird, or a dragon, or somebody's face.
It only seemed to work for things he had seen once before. Hiccup's study was full of pictures of inventions he had yet to build, and Toothless couldn't even begin to imagine what they might look like in real life. Still, he saw the pictures of himself and Astrid and Helena, and knew who they were meant to be, and that was nice.
Written words, though…they confused him. Hiccup pointed at each clump and said a word, but were the sounds of that word what the lines meant? How did he know which sounds to make? The lines didn't make any noise, and they didn't look like what they were supposed to be. Maybe this was just how humans drew sounds, with little clumps of lines. But which line meant which sound?
It felt like he was flying in pitch darkness, sending out his searching roar, but only getting bits and pieces back. His pride had kept him from just asking so far, but he wanted to know…so this time, when Helena grew bored of the reading lesson and scrambled off to play with Bunny, Toothless nudged Hiccup.
He shuffled his paws shyly and asked, *Hiccup? Do you think you could, maybe…teach me to read?*
Hiccup looked surprised and pleased all at once. Astrid, who had overheard, remarked, "I didn't know you knew what reading was."
*Hiccup said the clumps of little lines you humans draw mean sounds* Toothless explained, *but I don't know which sounds they mean, and I'd like to know, because it's itching at me*.
"Well, we'll give it a go" Hiccup said gamely, before wincing. "Ow. Ah. My leg's gone numb. We'll start the lessons later, Toothless, I need to walk this off. Ow" he groaned, struggling to get to his feet.
That night, Hiccup lit a lamp in his workshop upstairs and held the alphabet book in its light. *Right. So, the smallest clumps of lines are called 'letters', Toothless* he began, the black dragon listening attentively, ear-flaps pricked. *Each letter can mean two different sounds, and if you put two letters together, it can mean another sound. You with me so far?*
Toothless actually looked a little lost. *How do you know which sound it's meant to be telling you?* he asked curiously.
*You can tell from the other letters. Look, see this letter?* he asked rhetorically, pointing at the letter 'A'. *This can mean an 'ah' sound, as in 'apple', or an 'ay' sound, as in 'ale'* he explained. *You get it?*
Toothless stared hard at the lines, trying to memorise the shape of them. *Ah...apple…ay…ale…I think I get it* he said uncertainly.
Hiccup turned to the next page and pointed to the next letter. *This letter can mean a 'buh' sound, or a 'bee' sound*.
He went through each letter of the alphabet, explaining the sounds each letter could mean. Then he thought they'd better call it a night, he didn't want to overwhelm the dragon all at once. *You're doing really well, bud, good job* he praised, and Toothless crooned happily, nuzzling him.
For the next few nights, the reading lessons continued. Toothless could tell how patient Hiccup was being, so he did his best to pay attention and understand. He sort of got the idea, trying to memorise the shape of the little clumps that were 'letters', and the sounds they were pictures of. He could match sound to letter well enough, but stringing them together into a word was trickier.
It was all just so confusing! A sound in one word could be made by different letters in another word. Sometimes a pair of letters made a new sound and sometimes they didn't. Some letters were silent, they were pictures of a sound that wasn't there. Sometimes letters made different sounds if there was a certain letter behind them.
Take the word 'sky', for instance. *You said the last letter meant a 'yuh' or a 'why' sound. Shouldn't the last letter here be the one that means an 'I' sound?*
*Well, because if we spelled it like this…it would say 'ski'*.
*But I thought that other letter meant an 'ee' sound*.
*It does*.
*….Let me get this straight. The letter that means a 'yuh' sound means an 'I' sound when the 'kuh' letter is behind it, and the letter that means an 'I' sound means an 'ee' sound when the 'kuh' letter is behind it?*
*….Pretty much. Look, they have to be spelled like that so we know how to pronounce them*.
*You could pronounce that letter with the 'ih' sound instead*.
*But then we'd have to say 'I'm going skih-ing' and that doesn't make sense*.
*Why not?*
*It just doesn't, Toothless*.
Those words were repeated often over the next few days, usually in the same mildly exasperated tone. Hiccup could tell that Toothless was really trying, so he did his best to be patient and encouraging. There was just so much to explain, things that he took for granted and didn't have a good way to explain.
To be fair, the dragon was a quick learner; and unlike someone else Hiccup adored, he didn't tend to get bored and wander off in the middle of lessons. It was clear, though, that his inability to fully grasp what Hiccup couldn't help but make sound obvious, was frustrating Toothless. That frustration sometimes rubbed off on Hiccup, despite his best attempts to remain calm.
He was really, genuinely impressed by Toothless' progress, but the dragon himself didn't seem to feel that way. It all came to a head one night…Toothless was picking his way through one of Helena's storybooks, one hesitant syllable at a time. *…The…buh-lack…black…cat…chuh…chay…chased…chased the big…guh…grey…rat. The rat ran…in…into a…bur-row* he struggled to read, mispronouncing the last sound as 'ow'.
"Burrow, Toothless" Hiccup corrected, saying it with the right 'oh' sound. The black dragon huffed impatiently at himself and glared through narrowed eyes at the words on the page. What was the matter with him? He knew the sounds for 'burrow' and what a burrow was, so why would he make such a silly mistake?
"Hey, don't beat yourself up" Hiccup said encouragingly, "You're doing well! You're reading the one syllable words much quicker nowadays. It's only been a few weeks and you've already made so much progress. We'll get you reading properly yet!"
Far from putting his mind at ease, Hiccup's enthusiasm only made Toothless feel worse. Suddenly, he didn't want to stare at little black lines and try to remember which sounds they meant. *I need a break* he said bluntly, padding up to the edge of the platform and looking up past the canopy at the clouds and stars.
Hiccup looked at him in concern. "Yeah, maybe we have done enough for tonight. A nice flight will clear our heads…unless, you'd rather be on your own for a while?"
That made Toothless' ear-flaps go down in worry, and he glanced at Hiccup uncertainly. *You…don't want to come?* he couldn't stop himself from asking. Was Hiccup upset with him?
"No, no, of course I do. I just…thought maybe you'd want some time to yourself. You seem…a little stressed" Hiccup explained.
*I'm not stressed* Toothless lied, *and if I were, how would being on my own help anything?*
"Fair enough" Hiccup agreed, mounting up.
They flew over the island to make sure all was well and at peace in their domain. Dragons called out in greeting to the pair, but respectfully gave them their space. On the furthest shore, Urchin was lying with his chin in the sand and some of the flock perched on his head. He seemed unbothered by them for now, he had finally grown used to it, but he snorted away the seagulls that pecked at his nostrils.
It was peaceful, and the cool night air felt soothing against Hiccup's bare skin and beneath Toothless' wings. Yet despite this, he could still feel that something was bothering his other half. They simply glided for a while, letting the wind carry them, and presently Hiccup stroked his dragon-half's shoulder, and murmured "We can stop the lessons if you want."
Toothless made a small noise of surprise and a bit of alarm. *No, it's fine* he protested hurriedly, *I'm fine. I just needed a break. You don't have to stop teaching me how to read. I can still learn, I just…need to try harder* he said determinedly.
"Toothless" his other half sighed, exasperated, "You do this every time. You pretend that nothing's bothering you, but you know that I know that something is. You're going to tell me eventually, so why not tell me now?" he questioned. Some days, honestly, the dragon's pride...
He could feel the tension in Toothless' shoulders, and pressed his hands against them as if, by pressing hard enough, he could push away the troubles that weighed on the dragon. He felt more than heard Toothless sigh in pleasure and defeat and resignation all at once. *I don't want the lessons to stop* he said quietly.
"But is that because you want to learn to read, or because you think I want you to learn to read?"
That made the dragon peek back at him, curious and a bit confused. *Don't you want me to learn?* he asked, tentatively adding, *…I thought you did*.
"I do…I did. I mean, it seemed like a neat idea, but I know it's frustrating you. I'll understand if you've changed your mind" Hiccup explained. Then he sighed and added, "It doesn't feel right, talking to you from back here. Let's land".
They went to the cove, naturally, gliding down in a spiral to land at the edge of the lake. Hiccup dismounted and wandered over to pick up a stick, sitting down on a rock. He doodled in the dirt as Toothless sat beside him, folding a wing around him to keep away the wind. The dragon's shoulders shifted in embarrassment and he couldn't meet Hiccup's eyes.
"Why did you ask me to teach you to read?" Hiccup asked, not upset, simply curious. "I mean, why now? It's been years since I told you the lines meant sounds".
*I just sort of forgot about it* Toothless admitted, *but then you began teaching Helena to read, and I was curious…and you've been trying so hard to teach me, I didn't want to let you down*.
"Oh…" Hiccup smiled fondly and turned so he could catch Toothless' jaw in his hands. "You have never let me down, and you still haven't" he reassured his other half. "So what if you can't read? I can't fly or spit flaming plasma out of my mouth. And I'll never be able to, no matter how hard I try. Maybe you'll never be able to read properly, and that's okay. If we could both do everything the same, we wouldn't need each other" he pointed out gently.
This was true; they were stronger together because of their differences, not in spite of them. Toothless rumbled a wordless agreement and closed his eyes in an affectionate slow blink. Hiccup returned it, reaching up to caress the dragon's snout and jaw. "I didn't…I never meant to make you feel pressured. I'm sorry, Toothless" he apologised.
Toothless crooned reassuringly and licked his cheek. *It's not your fault. I was…making myself feel pressured. I knew the lines meant something but I didn't know what, and I thought if I just tried hard enough, then…then I would understand* he tried to explain, *and I want to! I like looking at the lines and knowing what they mean. It feels like…like magic* he confessed, shyly.
Hiccup smiled and said, 'I know what you mean. Toothless, the fact that you can read even a little bit is incredible! I am so proud of you. You're doing something no other dragon has ever dreamed of…and to tell you the truth, you can read better than some of the people here on Berk" he added, leaning in to whisper.
Toothless tipped his head curiously. *Really?*
"Really. A lot of humans can't read. It takes us years to learn to do it, bud, because we start off not knowing what those strange little lines mean either" Hiccup explained, before asking "Do you think you can remember what you've learned so far?"
*Yes, I think so* Toothless replied after a few moments.
"Then I don't think it'll hurt to take a longer break. If you still want to learn to read, then I'll do my best to teach you, but you don't need to learn it all perfectly in just a few weeks. We have all the time in the world, after all" Hiccup reasoned.
*You're right* Toothless replied, crooning gratitude and rolling his eyes at himself, and nuzzled his beloved one. *We have time*.
Time Jump: Two Years
Helena and Bunny led the way through the forest…as a small child, she had nicknamed the baby dragon 'Bunny' because her name sounded a little bit like "a bunny." The adults had found it amusing and humoured her…and sort of regretted it ever since.
Her best friend Cammie, and her twin brother Ozzie, followed behind them. She'd wanted Aegir to come too, but he was sick in bed. "Um, Helena? Are you sure we should be out here alone?" Ozzie inquired, looking around cautiously at all the trees.
"Don't be such a scaredy-cat, Ozzie!" his sister admonished, rolling her eyes. She flicked away the bright red hair that fell into her eyes and teased, "Are you scared the trees are gonna get ya?"
Oswald frowned. "I'm not scared" he insisted, "I just don't think we're allowed out here in the woods by ourselves. It's not safe."
All three of the girls, even Bunny, stopped and stared at him. "Duh! That's why we're out here! It's an adventure, Ozzie, adventures aren't supposed to be safe" Camacazi scoffed. Were there dangers lurking in these woods? She said bring it on!
Helena insisted, "There's nothing to be afraid of, Ozzie. Even if we do get into trouble, there are dragons everywhere!"
The little boy looked a bit incredulous at this. "That's sort of what I'm worried about" he said.
Helena gasped indignantly, and marched up to him. "Don't be mean!" she scolded, poking him in the chest. "The dragons aren't gonna hurt us, Ozzie. You know that! I meant that they can go and get my dad and uncle Toothless, that's what I meant."
Bunny was only four, and didn't quite follow everything that was being said, but she lolloped over to Helena's side anyway. Cammie came over too in a show of solidarity. Outnumbered, Ozzie sighed in resignation. "I'm sorry, okay? I know the dragons won't hurt us on purpose…but we're small, and they're huge. They might…step on us, or something."
Cammie burst out laughing. "You think they're gonna step on us?!" she giggled, stomping exaggeratedly down the path. "Look at me, I'm a big scary dragon! Grr!"
Helena started giggling as well. "Dragons don't walk like that! They walk like this" she declared, taking the biggest strides she could and holding her arms like they were wings. It swung her hips back and forth, which on an eight year old looked utterly ridiculous. Bunny, delighted by this new game, mimicked her cousin and started stalking, her tail swishing from side to side. Ozzie rolled his eyes and trailed after them.
Around the next bend, there was a Hotburple dozing on the path and blocking the way. "Careful!" Cammie whispered loudly, "Mind the big scary dragon!"
The girls giggled behind their hands. Bunny crept towards the bigger dragon, dropped her hindquarters into a hunting crouch, and pounced! She landed sprawled over his back, and the Hotburple jerked awake with a gurgling snort. He sniffed the air and recognised Bunny's scent, the Alphas scent on Bunny. The kit was no threat and not to be harmed, no hatchlings were, so he decided to just go back to sleep.
Bunny scrambled over him. "Good idea, Bunny!" Helena beamed, following her and climbing over the Hotburple as well. Cammie climbed over next. Ozzie hesitated, but if he went around it meant going off the path, and who knew what might happen then! So he clambered over as well.
"It's not far now" Helena announced, before ducking under a low hanging branch and scrambling down a shallow gully. All four of them got rather muddy by the time they made it to a small clearing at the bottom. In the middle of the clearing was a large upturned sieve, with some string tied around one handle and a large stick lying on the grass.
"Yes!" Helena beamed, "We did it, you guys! We caught a troll!"
"Did we?" Ozzie asked dubiously. The girls ignored him.
"What're we gonna do with it?" Cammie asked eagerly. "Ooh! Maybe it'll lead us to buried treasure!"
"Cammie, trolls don't bury treasure" Helena shook her head, "they steal socks. Duh. We're gonna make 'em give everyone's left socks back, and my dad's foot."
"What if they ate his foot?"
"Um…then we'll make them say sorry."
Ozzie whispered, "How do you know there's a troll under there? It could be a mouse, or a hedgehog…"
"Or a snake!" Cammie suggested, far too eagerly for his liking.
"Yeah…" he shuddered, "or one of those little squawking dragons."
"They're called Biters, Ozzie" Helena corrected, "and it won't be one of them. Bunny marked her territory here so the other dragons would know not to disturb the trap we set."
Ozzie looked a bit grossed out. "Wait…you mean…"
"Yep, she peed here" Cammie said brightly, pointing at the grass he was kneeling in, "right there!"
"Eww!"
"Shh!" Helena urged them, putting a finger to her lips. She beckoned for them to follow her, and tiptoed up to the sieve. Her friends followed her, and formed a circle around the trap. Bunny got ready to pounce on whatever they'd caught. Maybe if she was lucky, it would be tasty!
"On the count of three, okay?" Helena whispered, "One…two…three!"
She and Cammie grabbed the handles of the sieve and lifted it up. Bunny jumped on the pile of left socks they had used as bait, and the Biter curled up in the middle of them. The miniature dragon woke up with a frightened shriek and wriggled out from under her paws; he flew towards Ozzie, who yelled and ducked, and landed on a nearby tree branch. From there, he hissed irritably at them and scampered further up the tree.
*Sorry!* Bunny called after him with an apologetic whine, before nuzzling Helena, who smelled a bit sad. Helena smiled and petted her, before sighing in disappointment.
"So much for catching a troll". Cammie huffed her hair out of her eyes and told a bemused Bunny, "Pee harder next time."
"Wait! Trolls can turn invisible, so it might still be here, just hiding!" Helena insisted, crouching down and rifling through the bait.
"Um, but if it's invisible, it might have run off and we'd never know" Cammie pointed out. She bit her lip and suggested, "Maybe it really didn't work this time."
"It's never gonna work. Face it, Helena. The grown-ups are right, there aren't any trolls" Ozzie told her solemnly. She scowled at him, sulking. What did he know?
"Uh-oh" Ozzie said suddenly, picking up one of the socks. The Biter that had been nesting in their bait had chewed and burnt the socks. Not to mention, it had rained the night before, so they were wet and dirty as well. "I told you we're gonna get in trouble."
They put all the socks in the sieve, and covered it with Ozzie's coat. The girls carried the sieve between them as Bunny led the way back to the village. All they had to do, said Helena, was sneak the socks into dirty laundry. Nobody would ever know! Ozzie asked how she was going to fix the holes. Helena protested that lots of socks had holes in them, the grown ups wouldn't notice.
However, as they emerged from the forest behind Helena's house, they heard a mocking voice call, "Hey, princess!"
Some older boys sloped up to them. In the lead was Thuggory, Helena's arch-enemy. He was three years older than her, and they had despised each other ever since she was old enough to walk. "Go away, Thuggory!"
"Don't wanna" he sneered at her. Then he pointed at the sieve she and Cammie were carrying, and asked, "What's in there?"
"I said go away, you big dummy" Helena retorted. Bunny picked up on her irritation and stepped in front of the three kids, spreading her wings and growling.
That gave Thuggory pause. "Whoa…hey, call off your dragon" he protested, taking a step back.
"You ain't scared of a baby dragon, are ya?" asked one of his cronies. Thuggory glared at the speaker and protested, "I'm not scared of anything! But I don't have a dragon yet, so it's not fair if she gets to try and scare me with one – which I'm not!"
Bunny hissed at him. He flinched a bit, and then glared at her. "Watch it, scaly!"
"Don't call my cousin names!" Helena said defensively.
"Aw, whatcha gonna do about it? Tell on me to your momma?"
Helena glared up at him with righteous indignation. "I could. My mum's the Chief. And I'm gonna be the Chief, so one day you guys", she pointed at the boys she knew lived there on Berk, "are gonna have to do what I tell you."
"Oh, yeah? Well, I don't have to" Thuggory sneered at her, "So why don't you just run along, ickle baby Chief" he mocked.
One of the other boys said, "You don't gotta be scared of that dragon, mate. She calls it Bunny" he drawled.
The older kids sniggered. "Seriously? First it was 'Toothless', now 'Bunny'? What's next, are ya gonna name a Night Fury 'Snowdrop' or something? You're just as weird about dragons as your dad" Thuggory said cruelly.
Helena gaped at him, outraged. "My dad's not weird!"
"He is, too" one boy insisted, "I heard my mum say that his dragon cursed him, or summat, and that's why he can understand them."
"You dummies don't know anything! Dragons can't curse people, that's stupid" Cammie scoffed at them.
"And uncle Toothless would never do that to my dad!" Helena declared passionately, little fist clenched. "They're best friends, so you just…just shut up!"
"Uh, Thuggory…"
"That's what's so weird about him" said Thuggory, "He's best friends with his Night Fury even though Toothless bit his leg off."
"Hey, yeah" one of the ten year old's lackey's agreed, "My big brother said Hiccup tore his dragon's tail-fin off and the dragon bit his foot off in rev-oof!" He grunted, the wind knocked out of him, as Helena dodged past Bunny and plunged her small fists into his midsection. He pushed her away, and Bunny jumped on him –
A full on fight nearly broke out, if not for a shadow falling on them all from above. The kids froze and looked up, wide eyed, as a sapphire-eyed Night Fury swooped down and landed in front of them, spreading her wings and baring her teeth defensively. It was much scarier when an adult dragon did it.
"Aunt Selena!" Helena cried out in relief, and Bunny purred happily at the sight of her mother even as she crouched submissively.
Thuggory and his cohorts, meanwhile, were looking more and more nervous. "Uh…nice dragon…shoo!" He flicked his hands pathetically at the Night Fury.
Wingbeats heralded the arrival of three more dragons, ridden by Astrid, Dagur, and Thuggory's father, Mogadon, Alvin's second in command. "Selena tells me you're picking on our daughters and their friends" Astrid informed the boys with a stern glare. Weak protests spilled from them and dried up almost instantly.
Mogadon dismounted and strode up to Thuggory and gripped his son's arm. "What's the matter with you?" he demanded, "If I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times; you don't cause trouble for me when I bring you on these visits! What do you have to say for yourself, boy?"
"This isn't fair!" Thuggory protested, "we were just talking to them! Let go of me!" he yelled, struggling to tear his arm away.
"You're grounded. We're going home, now" Mogadon stated firmly. He frogmarched Thuggory over to his waiting Fire-Scale. Once they were both in the saddle, he looked at the Chief of Berk. "My apologies, Astrid."
"It's fine, Mogadon. Safe winds to you" she replied. The Outcast's regent nodded, and then his dragon took to the air.
"As for the rest of you, I suggest you go on home. And I will be talking to your parents about this" Astrid warned the rest of the boys. They scurried off.
"Good riddance" Dagur muttered, before asking, "Oswald, Camacazi, are you two okay?"
"We're okay, dad" Ozzie replied. Cammie declared more passionately, "We had 'em on the run!"
"Helena, are you and Ebony okay?"
"Yeah, mum; and her name's Bunny, remember?" Helena insisted.
"Right, right…what're those?" Astrid asked suddenly, pointing at the sieve full of…torn and burned socks…that had fallen to the floor when the scuffle began.
All four children squirmed. "…Troll bait?" Helena offered nervously.
She and her friends all got grounded, but it was okay because Thuggory got in trouble as well. Helena was still disappointed that her troll trap hadn't worked. Maybe Ozzie was right and they weren't really real; but if they weren't, then that meant…
Hours later, she heard a knock at the door. "Helena? It's me" she heard her dad call, "Can I come in?"
Helena looked at Bunny as if to ask her opinion. The young kit yawned unconcernedly. "Yeah" she called.
Their dads came in; her dad sat on the bed next to her, and uncle Toothless sat down in the doorway because he couldn't fit in all the way. "I hear you've been hunting for trolls again" Hiccup remarked, half-jokingly. Helena wasn't looking at him.
"Trolls aren't real, are they?" she asked after a moment.
"…Not really, no" he admitted.
"You lied" Helena said accusingly, pouting at him over her shoulder. Bunny was doing the same; they probably didn't realise how adorable it made them look.
Hiccup sighed. "I'm sorry. We adults aren't perfect, you know. We make mistakes, and we're just trying to do the best we can. Now, Selena also tells me you nearly got into a fight with Thuggory and his friends. What happened?"
She twisted around and said urgently, "I had to! They were saying horrid things about you and uncle Toothless!"
"Well, we appreciate you trying to stand up for us, but you don't need to get into a fight on our behalf. Helena, you could have been hurt" said Hiccup.
"I could take him" she insisted. Hiccup chuckled.
"Oh, you are your mother's daughter" he said fondly, "So what were they saying about me and Toothless?"
"Horrid lies" she answered solemnly. "They said that uncle Toothless cursed you, and that he bit your leg off cos you cut his tail-fin off".
Hiccup stiffened. "…Did they, now?" he said finally.
"Yeah. Boys are dumb" Helena sighed, before shuffling closer and hugging her dad. Out of sheer habit, he hugged her back, and scratched Bunny under the chin when she crept over for cuddles of her own. She rubbed like a cat against his hand and under Toothless' jaw, purring happily.
*We need to tell them*.
*They're too young*.
*They need to know, Hiccup. They'll find out sooner or later. Better they hear the true story from you than nonsense from someone else* Toothless pointed out.
*I guess so…but let's not tell them everything, not just yet. I don't want them to know that I…you know…*
*Nearly killed me when we first met? Maybe it is best if we leave that part out for now*.
*You think?*
Hiccup took a deep breath. "Helena, you know Toothless and I love you and Bunny ever so much" he began. "You know that I've always just wanted what's best for you, darling."
"Yeah…why?" she asked, puzzled.
"…Sweetheart, there's something I need to tell you. What Thuggory and his friends said – it wasn't entirely a lie" Hiccup confessed.
Helena frowned, bewildered, and Bunny tilted her head to one side. "Wh-what do you mean?"
"You know the story I told you about how Toothless and I met?"
"Of course!" It was one of her favourite bedtime stories. "You found him in a trap in the woods that bit his tail-fin off, and you freed him and helped him fly again and were best friends forever."
"Yes, that's all true…but there's a, uh, part I left out". Hiccup took a deep breath and took the plunge. "The truth is…I'm the one who trapped him in the first place."
Helena stared at him in disbelief. "You'd never do that to uncle Toothless!" she protested.
"I'd never do that now; but things were different back then. As for this", he gestured at his prosthetic, "Toothless didn't bite my leg off to get revenge…he was trying to save my life."
Helena frowned at him, and shuffled away a bit, which broke his heart. Bunny backed away as well, her ear-flaps lowered and a worried whine bubbling from her throat. That hurt Toothless as well…but the girls would find out the truth eventually.
"Darling, I'm so sorry. I didn't tell you because you were too young, and I knew you wouldn't take it well" Hiccup explained. He reached a hand out to her, but she didn't take it. "Helena, please. Can't you forgive me?"
She bit her lip, and finally asked, "Did uncle Toothless curse you?"
Hiccup half sighed, and half laughed. "No, he didn't. It's just that...something bad happened to me a long time ago, and Toothless saved me, but some people don't really understand how he did it, so they think it's a curse, but it really isn't."
"What did he do?"
"Sorry, darling; you're both still too young for that" Hiccup said apologetically. His daughter and niece puffed themselves up in comic indignation.
"Am not! I'm a whole eight years old!" Helena protested. Bunny tried to be as big as possible. They both appeared to have forgotten they were supposed to be cross with him. "Tell us, dad! Please, please, please, please, please!"
*Please, uncle Hiccup!* Bunny pleaded, pawing at his leg.
"Ah, me and my big mouth" he sighed. He glanced over at Toothless and asked, *Do you think this is a good idea?*
*Not really, but you know what they're like. If we don't tell them, they'll just keep asking until somebody does. Your child is worse than you are for tugging tails and tracking something she's curious about* Toothless replied.
*Pot meet kettle* Hiccup retorted, but he knew the dragon was right. Now they'd gotten the scent of a mystery in their noses, Helena and Bunny wouldn't be able to resist getting to the bottom of it. Better they hear the true, if child friendly version from him...
"Oh, how do I put this…ten years ago, before we met your Aunt Selena and all the other Night Furies, Toothless and I heard that they might be living in a faraway land. So we went there to look for them. And when we got there, big surprise, we got into trouble" he explained. Helena smiled, amused.
"We got caught by some very mean people" he went on, testing the waters, "and the leader of the very mean people…he did something bad, because I wouldn't do what he said."
"What did he do?"
"He tried to hurt me, but Toothless saved me. It's just...to do that, he had to use some special dragon magic on me" Hiccup explained. Helena and Bunny stared at him with wide, wondering eyes. He went on, "Toothless and I are…are heart bound, and you're too young to really understand what that means, but it's the reason I can understand dragons."
"Are mum and grandma and granddad heart bound too?"
"No. I sort of gave them the ability. It's…hard to explain."
"Can you give it to me?" she asked next, "I wanna hear what Bunny sounds like!"
*Please, uncle Hiccup!* Bunny pleaded, pawing at his knees, *Please, please, please!*
"Sorry, darling; but it just doesn't work on young kids. Maybe when you're older" Hiccup deflected.
Helena and Bunny pouted at him. "Can we be ungrounded now?" the little girl begged.
Hiccup smiled fondly and replied, "Well, that depends on if you've learned your lesson."
"I won't go hunting for trolls anymore" she agreed.
"And?"
"And I won't get into fights with Thuggory, even though he's a big fat jerk who deserves it."
Hiccup stifled a snicker. "Alright. I hereby officially unground you. So, does this mean I'm forgiven?"
She looked thoughtful, and decided, "I guess so. What do you think, Bunny?" The little kit nodded, tongue lolling in a smile. They both scrambled closer and snuggled against their dad's chests, purring.
"Thank you, darling. I love you so much" Hiccup murmured, holding her close.
*And I love you, little Bunny* Toothless purred fondly as he nuzzled his own daughter. Over their heads, he and Hiccup shared a fond, secret look that said, We really are lucky, aren't we?
A/N: Yay, happy ending :) Now to pre-emptively answer a couple of questions you might have –
Does this mean Toothless will be able to read in future stories?
It depends on whether the stories are set before or after that vignette. If before, then no, if after, then a little bit.
Wait, Dagur had kids?
My plot bunnies work in mysterious ways. There are six 'next generation' riders, and I will be posting some supplementary material for this AU that will expand on the backstory of Ozzie and Cammie, as well as the rest of the Next Gens.
If you have any other questions, please feel free to leave them in a review. Thank you for reading :)