Author's Note: Hello, all! =D Welcome back to "Sticks and Stones!" Don't really have much to say this time around, so I hope you enjoy part two of "How to Talk to Your Dragon!" =D
Summary: Discovering that Dagur has a plan to expand his armada and attack Berk and other islands, Hiccup and the Riders come up with a plan to stop him...and the young viking reveals his new uncanny ability to talk to Toothless to his friends. (DOB.)
How to Talk to Your Dragon, Part Two
He could understand Toothless. He could understand Toothless…
I…I can understand Toothless?!
Toothless blinked. Then, he blinked again. Hiccup could tell that thousands of thoughts were running through his head, and he seemed extremely taken aback. Hiccup was just as dazed.
"Oh my Thor…" Toothless said. Well, Hiccup couldn't see his dragon's mouth moving, but he was still talking. Hiccup deemed that he was hearing his dragon's thoughts. "You can understand me? You can actually understand me?"
Hiccup nodded slowly. His mouth seemed to have stopped working.
"Holy Seadragonous Giganticus Maximus," said Toothless as he shook his head. Then, his ears perked up. "This is…insanely cool."
"Cool? Cool?!" exclaimed Hiccup, which made Toothless jump back in surprise. "This is crazy!" Then, Hiccup paused. "Well…I guess I have to admit that this is a little cool…Actual communication with dragons. Astounding really."
Toothless smiled, but he was still surprised that he could now properly communicate with his best friend. Although, he and Hiccup never needed to talk to understand each other; they just knew what the other was thinking, even without words. It was rather interesting that they could carry a conversation with each other in words.
"So, how are you feeling?" asked Toothless as he looked his rider over.
"I'm feeling okay," replied Hiccup. The young viking flexed his arm and winced a little. "My arm still hurts, but it isn't that painful."
Toothless nodded. That's good. The Night Fury cocked his head. "I wonder how we're able to talk to each other now…Not that it's bad or anything. I'm just curious."
Hiccup thought for a moment; he was curious about the sudden and new ability too. The auburn-haired teen then snapped his fingers when the answer came to him.
"Bud, I think when you bit me, it must have done something," said Hiccup. "I think when you bit me, we all of a sudden got the ability to understand each other." The young viking tapped his chin. "But I haven't read anything anywhere that says dragon bites can give people the capability to talk with the dragon that bit them…I wonder if this is the first time it's ever happened."
Toothless shrugged. "I've seen other dragons bite humans before, but they never seem to gain the ability to talk to them."
Hiccup nodded. That made sense. People back then didn't take the time to actually sit down and study dragons. If someone saw a dragon, their first inclination was to go and attack it. Even if vikings had been bitten by dragons before, none of them had gained the power to talk with that specific dragon that bit them. Or they just didn't sit down long enough to see if they could. Vikings were rather impatient sometimes.
Hiccup slipped out from under his covers and looked up at Toothless with a smile on his face. "It's amazing how we can actually talk to each other now. Think of all of the possibilities! I could interview you and learn about how life is like in the eyes of a dragon, unlock new information and secrets about Night Furies, what it's like to be a dragon, and—"
"Whoa, whoa, slow down," said Toothless, his tail swished behind him. His rider's excitement on learning more about him was nice, but they had an even bigger question that they needed to face. "We can get to those things later. Right now, we need to decide whether we should tell the others about our ability to communicate."
"We will," said Hiccup. "After we meet up with the other Dragon Riders at the Dragon Training Academy and discuss what to do about Dagur."
Toothless nodded in agreement, and Hiccup climbed out of be and placed Toothless' saddle on his back. The two soon took off into the pale blue, cloud dotted sky, and headed toward the Dragon Training Academy.
…
As Hiccup and Toothless soared over Berk to the Academy, Hiccup asked his dragon, "What happened after I fell unconscious back in the cave?"
"Your sire and your other companions came and brought you to the elderly healer lady who tended your wounds and injuries," replied Toothless. "Then, your sire put you in bed."
Hiccup nearly laughed at the way Toothless spoke and referred to things; he sounded so formal and sophisticated. Toothless flicked one of his ears and grunted.
"Don't make fun of the way I speak," said Toothless. "We dragons talk this way, and we aren't changing a thing."
Hiccup blinked. "Wait…how did you know what I was thinking?" The young viking hadn't said anything out loud; he silently made his remark about how he found Toothless' speech amusing.
"What do you mean?" asked Toothless. "You said what you said out loud."
Hiccup shook his head. "I didn't open my mouth at all, Bud."
Toothless' head lifted up and Hiccup spotted the look of an idea on his dragon's face. "I think we can communicate telepathically! We should test it out."
The Dragon Training Academy soon came into view, and Hiccup patted Toothless' head. "Sorry, Bud, but we're going to have to wait on doing that. We'll test your idea out later."
Hiccup and Toothless landed in front of the entrance of the Academy, and the young viking scratched Toothless on the head in a silent "Thank you." They both entered the Academy and found that everyone was already waiting inside. Hiccup greeted the rest of the Dragon Riders with a smile.
"Hey, guys," said Hiccup as he waved to them with his right hand. Astrid looked up from where she was sharpening her axe and smiled. She set her weapon aside and ran up to Hiccup, giving him a short hug.
"Hey, Hiccup!" she greeted cheerfully. Astrid pulled away and asked, "How are you feeling? Are you sure you don't want to rest a little longer?"
Toothless snorted from behind them. "Your girlfriend is really worried about you. Are you certain that you two are not together?"
"Toothless!" Hiccup exclaimed, and a light red blush crawled onto his cheeks. Astrid blinked and the other Riders looked up from what they were doing in equal confusion. Toothless frowned at Hiccup.
"Now look what you've done," said Toothless. "They think you're crazy."
Just…Just don't think at me for a bit, okay? thought Hiccup.
A gummy grin spread across Toothless' face. "Oh, so we can communicate telepathically! This is incredible!
"Uh, Hiccup?" called Astrid. Hiccup turned from Toothless and faced her and the other Dragon Riders. "Are you okay? What did Toothless do?"
"He beat him in a staring contest," said Tuffnut. "I'd be upset with Belch if he beat me."
Hiccup was having a mental conversation with Toothless, but to the other Dragon Riders, it looked like he was simply just staring and making strange faces at his dragon. Hiccup couldn't come up with an excuse to cover up his and Toothless' little secret.
"I think Hiccup's brain got messed up when he and Toothless crashed," said Snotlout as he crossed his arms. "I'll take over the Academy until Hiccup feels better."
Astrid whacked Snotlout's shoulder, making the Jorgeson yelp in pain. "Hiccup isn't crazy," said Astrid defensively. "And even if he was, I would take over his job because I'm second-in-command."
Snotlout scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I don't see why he gave you that job…" Astrid whacked him once again.
"Guys, I'm fine," reassured Hiccup. "Now, we should get started on the meeting. Did any of you find anything useful during or after the Berserker's attack last night?"
Fishlegs stepped up. "Astrid and I found a Berserker soldier out in the woods after we brought you back here."
Astrid nodded. "We managed to get him to talk," she added. "And the soldier revealed the entire plan to attack Berk and capture you and Toothless. They were going to use you guys as ransom to get Stoick to surrender."
"We also got from the soldier that the Berserkers are currently in the process of making a new armada of ships. A giant one in fact. They only have a few more to go before they launch the ultimate attack here on Berk," said Fishlegs.
"The ships are heavily armed and will be almost impossible to destroy once they're all complete," said Astrid. "Our best shot is to go to where the Berserkers are hiding their new ships and destroy them all before they get the chance to rebuild them."
Dagur put in a lot of work into making his ships, and that meant lots of materials and lots of payment. Hiccup knew that Dagur wouldn't be able to replace his ships after they were destroyed since he wouldn't have much left to even fund the reconstruction of his ships.
Snotlout crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, yeah. Amazing plan, Astrid. But here's the thing…We don't even know where the shipyard is."
Fishlegs pulled out a map and rolled it across the brown wooden table and pointed to an island that had a red circle around it. "The soldier also gave away the location."
Astrid smirked at Snotlout, and the Jorgeson grumbled.
Toothless curiously walked up to the table and looked over the map. He cocked his head and narrowed his eyes.
"Hey, I know where that island is; it isn't very far from here," said Toothless. "The waters surrounding it have the best haddock and fish a dragon could ask for."
Stormfly looked up at Toothless and squawked something to him. The Night Fury crooned a response.
What did she say? asked Hiccup.
"She said that she recognizes the place too, and she recommends that she and I take the lead on this mission."
Wait, wait, you mean us, right? asked Hiccup.
"Yes, yes," replied Toothless. "But who do you think carries you where you want to go?
Oh, right, said Hiccup.
"Hiccup?" came Astrid's voice.
Hiccup and Toothless both looked up at the Dragon Riders, who wore looks of bemusement and slight concern.
"Seriously, dude. Are you okay?" asked Ruffnut.
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," said Hiccup. "Why do you ask?"
"You and Toothless have been staring at each other for a while," said Astrid.
Hiccup looked at Toothless and the Night Fury shrugged at him.
"We should tell them," said Toothless.
I suppose so, said Hiccup. I just hope things don't get weird.
Hiccup sighed. "Okay, something did happen back in the cave."
"Oh, oh! A guessing game!" Tuffnut said excitedly.
Ruffnut rubbed her hands together. "Okay, okay. Was there a Whispering Death in the cave?"
"Uh, no," said Hiccup.
"Was there treasure?" asked Tuffnut.
"Did you and Toothless find our lost great uncle?" guessed Ruffnut.
"No and no," said Hiccup with a deadpan expression.
"You know, he'd just tell you if you two muttonheads would just shut up," snapped Snotlout.
"Geez, fine," said Tuffnut. "We were just trying to guess what he was going to say."
Hiccup shook his head. "Anyway, what happened is that I can…I can talk to Toothless."
There was a brief bout of silence. Pure silence. While it only lasted a few seconds, it felt like eons to Hiccup.
Then, there was full on laughter from Snotlout and the twins. Astrid and Fishlegs respectfully stayed silent. They glared at the laughing trio as they cackled on.
"Really, Hiccup?" teased Snotlout. "You being able to talk to Toothless is like saying the twins are smart!"
Ruffnut and Tuffnut laughed even harder, but they both stopped when they fully processed what Snotlout had said. They both gasped, offended. "Hey!"
Astrid turned to Hiccup; she didn't laugh, but she didn't seem like she truly believed Hiccup either. The Hofferson walked up to the Haddock and asked, "Are you telling the truth? You can actually talk to Toothless?"
Hiccup nodded with sincerity. "I promise I'm not lying. I can talk to Toothless."
"Oh, yeah? Prove it," demanded Snotlout.
Hiccup scratched his head. "Um, okay. Ask Toothless a question, and I'll tell you his answer."
Snotlout frowned at Hiccup. He turned to Toothless and asked, "Am I the best one in this group?"
"To be frank, I'd rather deal with an insane Terrible Terror than you, Snotlout," answered Toothless with a small roll of his eyes.
Hiccup chewed his lower lip, swallowing down a laugh, and he told Snotlout what Toothless had said. Everyone burst into laughter except for Snotlout, who had his arms crossed tightly. He sent a dirty look in Toothless' direction.
"Shut up, Toothless," he said. The Night Fury only gurgled with laughter.
"This opens up several new dragon possibilities!" said Fishelgs excitedly. "We can unlock a dragon's perspective on things, find out new information about Night Furies—"
"But before we get into all of that," interceded Astrid. She turned to Hiccup. "How did you gain the ability to talk with Toothless in the first place?"
"Toothless bit me on the arm while he was trying to save me from falling to the ground," explained Hiccup. "And when I woke up this morning, I could talk to him."
"Thank the gods that he didn't bite your arm off," said Tuffnut. "Then you'd have a metal leg and a metal arm."
Toothless smacked the male Thorston across the head with his tail.
"OW!" cried Tuffnut. "What was that for?"
"Anyway," Hiccup continued. "I think the bite has something to do with me being able to talk with Toothless."
"That sounds pretty logical," commented Ruffnut.
"Now that that's out of the way," said Fishlegs, reeling everyone back to the original topic. "We're going to need an expert to lead us into the shipyard. Someone will either have to go in and spy on the area and get a look at the surroundings, or we'll have to find someone who's already familiar with the terrain."
Stormfly chirped and Toothless warbled.
"Both Toothless and Stormfly are familiar with the island already," said Hiccup. "They can lead us in. We'll leave under the cover of night since the Berserkers will be least expecting an attack at that time. We can hide somewhere near the shipyard, and then destroy the ships as fast as we can."
The Dragon Riders nodded in agreement.
"Now that we have a plan, we should start preparing," said Astrid. "We don't know what to expect from the Berserkers, so we should be ready for anything."
Hiccup nodded. "We'll set off tonight."
"And where are you setting off to exactly?"
The Dragon Riders turned around in surprise. Stoick had just walked into the Dragon Training Academy; they hadn't even heard him enter! Thornado walked loyally behind him, and Stoick looked at each of the Dragon Riders, who were all wearing innocent expressions. Toothless glanced at Hiccup.
Busted, he said.
Quiet, Bud, said Hiccup. The young viking plastered on a smile. "Hey, Dad! We were just…ah…going to race to Dragon Island and back. That's where we're going."
The other Dragon Riders nodded, but they could all tell that Stoick already suspected something. He was the chief of Berk after all. Nothing happened on his island without him knowing about it.
In an attempt to hide their true plans, Fishlegs, Astrid, Snotlout, and the twins tried to cover up the map lying on the table. Stoick shook his head and pushed them all out of the way, and carefully examined the map that sat in the center of the table. Hiccup sighed and told him everything. How Fishlegs and Astrid found a Berserker soldier in the woods, Dagur's growing armada, and the plan to destroy those ships before he got the chance to use them. Stoick listened intently and took in every detail, but his facial expression didn't waver or change throughout the entire time Hiccup explained to him the plan. After Hiccup finished telling his father what he and the other Riders were planning on doing, a few moments of silence passed.
The twins shifted where they were standing and they blurted, "Hiccup can talk to Toothless too!"
Stoick looked at Hiccup with a raised eyebrow. Hiccup laughed nervously.
"Um…uh…Yeah. I can talk to Toothless now." The young viking told his father about that as well. The bite, what happened that morning, everything. It wasn't relevant to the plan about flying into Dagur's shipyard and destroying his ships, but Stoick didn't seem to care.
After Hiccup finished explaining everything that his father needed to know, Stoick nodded and said, "You can proceed with your plan."
The Dragon Riders cheered, but Stoick raised a hand and they all quieted.
"But I'm coming too," the Chief added. "Just in case anything goes wrong. And Thornado's powerful blasts might come in handy when you destroy the ships."
Hiccup smiled. "Thanks, Dad." The green-eyed teen turned to the others. "We'll all leave at night, so be sure to get ready."