A/N Hi guys! I wrote this a while back and thought I'd put it up since we're all stuck at home now.
It's old, but I can finish it up if you guys like it. (and if I can remember where I was going with it.)
Chapter 1
The fire was gaining fast. It was all he could do to stay ahead of it. Wings straining, chest heaving, the hot wind streaming past his face. "We can do it." he thought. But just as it looked like they might make it, the huge club-like tale swung in front of them. Toothless tried to avoid it, but the tale piece that Hiccup had made was too badly burned. They slammed into the tale. Hiccup was thrown off Toothless' back and fell towards the inferno. Toothless turned and tried to dive and catch his friend. He flapped his wings as hard as he could, but he couldn't catch up. As they fell into the fire, Toothless was five feet from saving Hiccup. Five impossibly long feet. But he didn't give up, he was not about to let his friend die without a fight! He was a Night Furry, nether lightning or death itself could stop him!
The Vikings stood transfixed by the explosion before them. Once the dust and ash settled enough to see, Stoick the Vast, Chief of Berk, searched for his son. It was eerily quiet as he picked through the rubble, ash slowly falling from the sky. After a while, he saw Toothless laying in a heap on the ground. Running as fast as his weary legs would go, he soon made it to the downed dragon. Stoick looked over the scene before him and sank to his knees. Then, with a tear in his eye, quietly whispered "I did this.".
Toothless opened his eyes and saw the Viking chef on his knees, and a crowd of other Vikings behind him with worried and concerned faces. And slowly, he unfurled his wings.
to everyone's amazement, Toothless had managed to catch Hiccup. But it wasn't very pretty.
"Stoick, we need to get the lad back to Berk and let Gothi have a look at him." said Gobber as he came up behind Stoick. "Aye, you're right." replied the Chief. "But I don't think any of our ships would be able to make it back in time."
"what if we towed one of the smaller boats behind a few dragons?"
Stoick and Gobber looked up and saw Astrid standing beside them.
"that's not a bad idea." Stoick said. "Alright, let's see if we can find us something seaworthy."
In the end, they had to build a small raft out of what was left of some of the ships. Before they left Stoick turned to Gobber and said "I need you to look after the rest of the Vikings. Repair what you can, then set sail for Berk."
Gobber put a hand on Stock's shoulder
"Don't worry about us." he replied. "Just get that son of yours back home safely."
Hiccup was wrapped in some blankets and was laying in the middle of the raft. Toothless, who refused to leave Hiccup's side was also on the raft, along with Stoick. Astrid was riding Stormfly, leading the rest of the teens, on their dragons, as they all pulled the raft with everything they had.
The sun was setting by the time they reached Berk, but there were still some people that had seen them coming and had spread the word. Everyone was silent though as they saw their chief carry his son up the ramps, through the street, and to his house.
Once Hiccup was in the bed, Gothi had everyone leave (except Toothless, who watched over his friend the whole time) and started getting to work.
Hiccup was covered in burns, deep cuts, and bruises. Gothi applied salves, ointments, and various other remedies. But after a few hours, she stepped back and slowly shook her head. She had done all she could do, but it was probably not enough. She walked outside and found Stoick pacing back and forth in front of the door.
"Well, how is he?" he asked. But he already knew the answer.
Gothi gave him an "I'm sorry." look.
"How long does he have"
Gothi started to sign in the type of hand signals she used to communicate.
"I don't know. He may not make it to sunrise."
Stoick had to fight back the tears. No parent should have to bury their child. he loved Hiccup, though he didn't show it much. Which he now regretted. The chief put a hand on the elder's shoulder.
"Thank you Gothi. I know you did your best."
"I'm sorry I couldn't do more" she signed back. Then turned and left the chef to be alone with his son.
Astrid had watched everything from a crack in the back door. And found herself fighting back tears of her own. It surprised her that she felt the way she did. Yes, it was sad the Hiccup was probably going to die, she would consider him a friend.
"but why do I feel like...never mind. It doesn't really matter anymore now, does it."
When Gothi left the house, Astrid sat down against the back door and tried not to cry.
The moon was starting to rise, and a cold breeze was coming in from the sea.
Then she heard something move inside the house. Concerned, she looked back through the crack.
There was Toothless, with one paw on Hiccup's chest. There was a hazy blue aura around the two of them. Suddenly, a small blue flame formed around Toothless' paw. Astrid watched in horror at what was happening. "what is he doing!". But as she watched, the fire didn't spread, or even burn anything. It just lasted for a few seconds, then went out. Then the haze started to fade, and that's when Toothless looked up, right at the crack in the door. Right at Astrid. Those big green eyes piercing right through her soul.
She jumped back, startled. Then turned and started to run. But Toothless was faster. Somehow, he was through the door, across the short distance Astrid had managed to run, and able to pin her down before she could react. But he just stared at her with those big green eyes and his head cocked to one side. A questioning look one his face.
Astride really didn't appreciate having a dragon's face inches from her own. No matter who it was.
When she didn't say anything, he nodded toward her and made a small bubbling noise. The question was obvious. "What where you are doing?".
"Nothing! I could ask you the same thing. Now, let me up!".
Toothless sat back on his rear and gave her a sarcastic look.
"I was concerned about Hiccup, alright! But seriously, what did you do?".
Astrid mentally kicked herself. "am I really talking to a dragon?".
Toothless just raised his eyebrow, or, the dragon equivalent at least.
"I bet he learned all these expressions from Hiccup.". Astrid thought. She was NOT going to play these games.
"whatever.". She huffed as she turned to walk away, Hopping Toothless would do the same.
He didn't. He just sat there and watched her go. Until she reached her house.
Astrid couldn't sleep that night. She knew that Hiccup wasn't long for this world, and the fact that he might die while she was sleeping didn't help ether.
It was sometime past midnight when Astrid decided she couldn't take it anymore.
Quietly, she got out of bed, rolled up a blanket and grabbed a small, fur pillow, and slipped out the back door of the house.
The moon was full and gave off plenty of light for her to see by. But that also meant that she could be seen easier. Sticking to the shadows, Astrid slowly made her way up to the chief's house. Once she worked her way to the back door, she pressed an ear to it to see if anyone was sleeping.
Astrid could hear heavy snoring coming from the chef himself, but that was it.
Carefully, she opened the door. It did so without a sound, as Hiccup kept it well-oiled so he could get out quietly to go see Toothless when he was trapped in the cove.
Once her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she crept over to the bed to check on Hiccup. But all she could see was the dark mass of Toothless as he had curled, protectively, around his friend.
Astrid sighed, then found a dark corner, unrolled her blanket, and tried to sleep.
As quiet as the door was, Toothless still heard it. He opened one eye and looked down from his perch in the rafters.
It was that human girl that Hiccup liked so much. He chuckled to himself.
"won't she be surprised.". He thought.
"then again, won't thy all.".
Toothless couldn't help but wonder if he had done the right thing.
"No.", he said to himself. "I can't second guess now. Besides, it's the only way to save him.".
Then he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
Several hours before sunrise, Hiccup felt something nudging him, trying to get him to wake up.
He moaned. "five more minutes at least. I just killed the biggest dragon any Viking has ever seen. Can't I at least get some sleep?".
When he tried to say as much, his mouth just wouldn't work. Everything was mostly numb.
Still, the nudging continued.
"Hey, it's time to get up sleepy head.".
Hiccup wasstartled by the voice. he had never heard before, yet it was somehow familiar.
He tried to roll over to see who, or what, it was. But something got in the way. So instead, he just turned his head.
Hiccup almost jumped when he saw Toothless setting beside the bed with an expectant look on his face.
"Come on.". Said the voice again. But this time Hiccup had seen Toothless say the words.
"what in Thor's name is going on?". He thought to himself. He'd never been able to understand Toothless before, why now all of a sudden?
"what's going on bud?"
In that one short sentence, Hiccup's world was turned upside down. He heard the same, rough, voice that Toothless had spoken with, come from his own mouth. So surprised was he by the new sound of his own voice, that Hiccup jumped out of bed, fell, and crumpled on the floor. Most of his limbs where still numb and his back was sore.
Toothless looked around quickly to see if anyone had awoken. Thankfully, no one had.
"Could you be any louder? We need to get to the woods before someone see you."
"Why would it matter if someone saw me?", said Hiccup as he tried to stand up straight. Which he soon found that he couldn't. His back was too sore, and it just didn't feel right.
"Have you looked in a mirror recently?", asked Toothless.
Hiccup still couldn't figure out how he could understand the dragon. He had spent many hours with Toothless, watching how he behaved, how he acted, so Hiccup knew how to red his body language, but to actually understand what his friend was saying was hard to comprehend.
Hiccup looked down at his arms, but they weren't there! They had been replaced by the same thick, scaly forearms that Toothless had. Looking at the rest of his body, Hiccup almost feinted.
Gone was the small, scrawny, Viking boy with brown hair and freckles. He was now a black, scaly, night fury with wings and a tail.
Hiccup sat and stared at himself for a few minutes unable to speak or figure out what had happened.
Toothless, having enough tact and wit to understand that this sort of thing might be kind of traumatizing for someone to go through, wisely left Hiccup alone for a bit.
Finely, Hiccup recovered enough of his senses to speak.
"Ok bud, explain.", he said, somewhat harsher than he meant to. But hey, he had some right to be upset.
"After you fell off my back when we were fighting the Green Death, I tried to catch you. And I did, but not after you were pretty badly burned, Almost unrecognizable. They brought you back here and had the elder look at you, but there wasn't much she could do."
As hespoke, Hiccup thought he saw a tear in the corner of Toothless' eye.
"I wasn't about to just watch as my friend died. So, I did the only thing I could do."
"You turned me into a dragon.", said Hiccup, starting to understand what, and why, his friend did what he did.
"How?", he asked.
"Dragons have some magic, but we don't use it much as we only get a little every full moon. I've been saving for a while, good thing too, because that took all I had left."
"Why couldn't you have just healed me or something?"
"I don't know enough about the human body to do something like that. Things can get pretty ugly if you don't know and understand what you're working with."
Hiccup was getting depressed. He had just found a way to get people to like and accept him, now what would they do?
"Is there any way to change me back?", he asked hopefully.
"You would just be turned to what you where before. A wounded boy on the verge of death. And besides, I don't have any magic left."
The room quiet, nether one sure what to say.
Hiccup was unwilling to accept defeat. He would find a way to be normal again, no matter how long it would take. He had only been a dragon for an hour and he already missed his old life.
"Never thought I'd say that.", he thought dryly to himself.
Toothless was now seriously reconsidering his decision to turn Hiccup into a dragon, even though it had saved his life. "Is it better to die a life well lived or live a long one separated from those you love?".
Then, an idea struck Toothless like a bolt of lightning.
He quickly thought it over, then told Hiccup.
"Back at the nest, before we killed the queen, there was a very old and vary wise dragon. She was extremely skilled in the art of healing. If we can find her, she may be able to get back to normal."
"But after we killed the queen most of the dragons scattered. And now that I can't ride you and work the tail fin, how are 'we' going to find this dragon?"
Again, it was quiet.
Then they heard a small yawn, followed by a loud thump, and a moan of pain.
The two dragons looked at the direction of the noise, then Toothless turned to Hiccup.
"I think we found the answer to the second problem.", he said.
When Astrid woke up, she momentarily forgot where she was. And as she tried to get up to stretch, she hit her head on the table that she had rolled under during the night.
Astrid moaned and held her head.
As she looked around, she remembered where she was. Slowly, she got up and raised her arms over her head to stretch. As she did so she saw, not one, but two night furies looking at her, and she froze.
She recognized Toothless because he still had the saddle and tail fin on, but who was the other dragon?
"Who..." she started. Then she saw the bed that Hiccup had been in was empty.
"Where..." she began.
"Whats going on here?" she finely asked
The room was quiet for a moment, only the sound of Stock's heavy snoring filled the room.
Hiccup turned to Toothless for help and he just shrugged.
"Thanks for nothing, again, you useless reptile."
Hiccup started to walk out the back door and motioned for Astrid and Toothless to fallow.
Once they were outside Hiccup walked into the woods a little ways. It was still dark, but he wanted to make sure no one would see them.
Astrid was somewhat reluctant to fallow the two dragons into the woods, but curiosity got the better of her.
Once the three of them where in the woods, Hiccup began to write in the dirt everything him and Toothless had talked about.
"Hello Astrid, it's me, Hiccup.".
Hiccup looked up at Astrid, hopping that she wouldn't freak out.
Astrid was shocked. She stared, open mouthed, at the words in the dirt. How in the Nine Realms did this happen? And why? Was this even Hiccup? But who else could it be, Hiccup wasn't in the bed and he sure as Helheim couldn't just disappear on his own.
"How do I know that you're Hiccup?", she asked. The doubt very present in her voice, and a little bit of fear.
"where is that coming from?", she asked herself.
Hiccup began to write in the dirt again.
"Let me explain...", he started. But then thought better of it. If he tried to explain everything, they might be here till sunrise.
He scratched out what he had written and began again.
"Let me some up. Toothless used some sort of magic to turn me into a dragon in order to save my life. And now we're going to go look for a dragon that can change me back to normal.".
Astrid looked very confused. How did turning Hiccup into a dragon save his life? Was this even Hiccup? And how in the world is another dragon going to fix this?
She looked at the dragon that said it was Hiccup.
"How do I know I can trust you?", she asked.
Hiccup racked his brain to find a way to make Astrid believe him.
Then he remembered something, and since Toothless couldn't read, it was safe to write.
"When you asked me why I didn't kill Toothless I said I was week, I was a coward. You didn't believe me, so I told you that he looked as scared as I was, and when I looked at him, I saw myself."
"Alright", said Astrid, "so now what?".
The sun was starting to come up and the village was coming to life, and Hiccup knew that if they stayed there, they would be seen. He got up, motioned for Astrid and Toothless to fallow him, then started off into the woods. Toothless readily accompanied his friend. Astrid, however, looked back at the village and thought for a moment.
"Here I am, on the edge of an adventure, and I can't decide what to do.".
She looked back at Hiccup and Toothless, who was giving her an expectant look.
Again, curiosity got the better of her, and she fallowed the two dragons into the woods.