Sorry about that little hiatus, I've been busy the past few days. Enjoy the next entry!
Entry 77
Each new discovery I make with Toothless blows my mind just as much as the last. Today, I got to see his playful side.
When I got to the Cove, I showed Toothless the new design for his saddle, and explained my ideas for how it'll work. When I asked what he thought, he pushed it toward me with his nose. For a moment, I was worried he'd rejected it… but then he looked down at it, then up to me, and pushed it close again.
"You… you want to try it?" I asked. He nodded, and a wave of relief crashed over me. I quickly got to work attaching it, tying the saddle around his neck before moving on to the lower part. He stepped into the rings, and I pulled them up to his shoulders, their leather strap resting against his chest, and then buckled it all to the main saddle piece. Once done, I stepped back. "Alright, all that's left is for me to add some parts to the tail, get the rope, and then we'll see if all this hard work was worth it." He looked at me, expression unreadable but not upset. So, I went around back to his tail, trying to pull it off, but it wouldn't budge. The buckle must have gotten jammed during one of our crashes.
Annoyed, I took a tool from my vest, and tried forcing it open. Toothless must have heard me, because a moment later, I heard him growling. I looked back, startled to see his pupils narrowed and teeth bared. He thought I was trying to hurt him. "It's okay! It's okay! I'm not gonna hurt you!" I said, slightly panicked. I showed him my hand, so he could see it wasn't a weapon. "See? Just a tool. Not a weapon. Please don't kill me…" He shut his mouth, though his eyes remained narrowed.
Still a little shaken, but glad he wasn't going to kill me, I went back to trying to get the tailfin to release. As I was, I suddenly felt him rush away, his tail shooting from sight. Thinking he was just done with me, I turned around, only to see him… playing. He looked around confusedly, as if the thing he was playing with had disappeared, before seemingly spotting it and pouncing again. It was then I noticed what he was chasing: the reflection of the sunlight off my tool.
Amused, I went to hide behind a rock, then started deliberately shining the light all over the place. Toothless followed its every move, trying so hard to catch it. Finally, he seemed to notice me, and looked from me to the light several times before his expression turned flat. I laughed. "Took you long enough. Aren't Night Furies supposed to be the smartest dragon?" Toothless just glared, grumbling something, probably in response to my comment. "Fine, fine, I'm sorry. But can I at least finish getting that tail off?" He just dropped back on his haunches, as if to say 'fine, but I'm still not happy about it'. I laughed again, and went back to work. Finally, the buckle came unstuck, and I pulled the tail off. I walked back to the front of him, amused to still see his grumpy stare.
"I'll be back tomorrow, you big baby," I said, and he huffed in response. Then, I added one last comment, hopefully to make things better. "And hey, it's not such a bad thing to get to play like that." I paused, wishing I myself could still get away with childish behavior. "It means you're still young," I finished, suddenly feeling rather sad. Without another word, I turned away, heading back toward Berk.
Toothless sure is lucky, in that way. I don't know how old he is, but he can't be much older than me, at least in dragon years. If I could, I'd love to still goof around, be a kid for a while longer. But I can't. There's too much expected of me… not just as the chief's son, but simply as a person. So many eyes are watching, and I can't afford to be childish anymore.
But maybe Toothless can give me a little of that childhood back.
Until next time…
-H
Well, that's a little sad... but, yes, Hiccup, Toothless can give you the happiness of childhood :3
