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Flying sessions that took place in the evening were among the very best things to exist in Hiccup's opinion. Since it was Autumn, they didn't have to be out for very long before the sun had set and everywhere became dark – the prince couldn't see far with his bare eyes, which was why he had to use his other senses to be aware of the surroundings. Evening was also the safest time of the day to fly for a prince. Thanks to his one-of-a-kind Night Fury, they were completely invisible in the sky; if no one knew he and Toothless were up there, no one would ever find out.
It was warm even though they already were over a month into Autumn, so the breeze that brushed his bare hands didn't leave his fingers numb from the cold. The relaxing atmosphere of flying helped Hiccup clear his thoughts and now he barely remembered why he was so stressed before. There just was something about soaring the night skies that simply suited him. Only if he could stay here forever...
Hiccup snapped out of his thoughts as he realised his dragon had noticed something on the ground; the Night Fury had become restless and was constantly looking down instead of forward, trying to locate something. The prince squinted his eyes, attempting to see it, but he soon came to notice it was no use – it was way too dark to see anything from up here. Being a very curious person, he could not possibly ignore whatever Toothless had spotted, so he gave the dragon a sign to go down, and the Night Fury was happy to act on it. The closer they got to the ground, the more clearly Hiccup could hear something that reminded him of a dragon's screeching, but it couldn't have possibly been that. They were so far from Berk that it'd be impossible for someone to be here, especially when he was the only one to have a bad habit of going on forbidden flying sessions. These creatures didn't simply wander around free either, for the dragon trainers had weekly trips to the nearby forests in hopes of finding a new dragon to train for Berk's army. It had to be some other animal that just made similar noises to dragons.
Once they reached the ground, they landed with a silent thud. Hiccup climbed off Toothless' back and his feet hit the grass. They were at the edge of a forest that the prince had faint memories of from the maps that Berk kept in the chambers. He knew the risks of going into the woods, and he was aware that whatever was out there could be a trap. Some nasty Briralian could have somehow spotted them in the sky and now they wanted him and Toothless dead. From the corner of his eye, he could see the black dragon moving his head from side to another trying to locate the origin of the screeching sound. It sounded like the creature was crying for help or that it was in a lot of pain. Actually, it was a combination of both.
They entered the forest. Hiccup could feel adrenaline run through his veins, and his heart had begun beating really fast. He couldn't help feeling excited about this little adventure.
"That poor thing can't be too far, it's becoming more and more distinct," Hiccup muttered to Toothless that let out a gentle growl as response. He wasn't exactly sure how he was going to help that animal, especially as he didn't have the slightest idea what kind it might be. It didn't matter if it were a dragon, he would still be clueless as to what to do to help. He had befriended and trained Toothless a long time ago, but since Stoick had made sure to have tons of dragon trainers in their midst, he never got a chance to train another dragon. He didn't know how they differed from species to species. And he still couldn't be certain that this all wasn't just a trap.
So many things could go wrong as he got closer and closer to the sound, but the prince didn't care; the curiosity had taken the better of him. He told himself that he had a Night Fury that could disappear into the night by his side, and that he could leave really fast if it didn't happen to be some kind of an animal.
Among the screeching noises, he suddenly heard a very panicked human voice. So there already was someone trying to help the poor thing? Hiccup frowned in confusion. Toothless had started to let out deep and muffled growls and the dragon rider had to hush him – he didn't want to be seen before he had observed the scene himself so that they could leave safely if need be.
In no time, they were so close that Hiccup could tell that the human was a female, and that the creature indeed was a dragon. They were on a clearing, and the girl was clearly trying to get the dragon in her control, but the reptile wasn't listening to a word she was saying. Hiccup found a large bush behind which he and Toothless hid themselves to follow the scenery.
"Easy now, easy," the girl cried out in frustration, "what's wrong with you?!"
Every inch of Hiccup's body wanted to go there and try his best to calm the dragon down, but his brain told him to stay put for a while to see if the girl could work it out herself. A minute or two passed by but no progress was seen. The girl grew more and more desperate after each failed attempt to get closer to the dragon, so Hiccup decided it was time to offer her a helping hand.
"You stay here, bud," Hiccup told Toothless in a loud whisper. The dragon didn't look pleased with his orders, but he stayed put. He was about to take off his helmet until he realised it'd be safer for him if he kept it on. He shouldn't rule out the possibility that it could still be a trap and learning his identity would make them act quicker.
"You alright there, miss?" Hiccup shouted over the dragon's screaming. The girl spun around to face the prince and he could see he had nearly frightened her to death.
It took her a short moment to collect herself before she spoke. "I am, but my dragon… something's wrong with her and she won't listen to me! She has never been like this with me," she said desperately, flailing her hands on her sides.
"Did you just say that dragon is yours?" he asked, not quite believing that. How could someone own a dragon if they didn't know how to handle it?
"Yes, but that's not the point," the girl snapped, both frustrated and angry. "I really need to know what's bothering her, she…" The rest of her sentence was silenced by her dragon. Hiccup raised his gaze from the girl to the dragon. It was really dark and it was almost impossible to see anything, but he was determined to try.
"What was she doing right before she started acting like this?" the prince asked.
"I'm not sure, I was just looking away and the next thing I know, she's acting like this," she replied. "I figured she might have hurt herself or something."
"That is very likely, yes," Hiccup said absent-mindedly as he was trying to examine the dragon with all he got. He would really have some use with the light of Toothless' plasma, but it was essential to keep his identity secure; he was known for owning the very last Night Fury, and he couldn't still trust the stranger that was standing right beside him although he had concluded by now that her intentions weren't malicious. He knew that if that dragon suddenly fired at them, Toothless would waste no time in jumping out of his hiding place to come defend him so he needed to act quickly.
"But when she's acting like this, there's no way for me to get to her. Maybe your dragon's presence might help?"
At that moment, Hiccup was thankful he had decided to keep the helmet on so the girl couldn't see the face he made at that suggestion. "And what makes you think I have a dragon?" He tried to sound casual, but he was pretty sure anyone would've noticed the hint of surprise and panic in his voice.
"I'm not an idiot, you know. People don't just wander around in a suit like yours if they haven't a dragon. I was just wondering if –"
"No," he said harshly. "And no more questions about my dragon. Which doesn't exist."
The girl didn't say anything to that, but he could feel her eyes on him. To escape the possible flood of questions, he took a few steps closer to the girl's dragon that was now about a hundred feet from them. He wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he really wanted to help the poor thing as she was clearly in a lot of pain. It wouldn't hurt to try the same techniques he had used with Toothless when he was 15, at least he really hoped so.
"Hey there," Hiccup began, soon realising how dumb that must have sounded, but he kept on repeating it in the most mellow voice he could possibly use. He hoped it wasn't his imagination, but after a little while, the dragon seemed to have calmed down a little as she was no longer screeching so loudly. "It's fine, you don't need to be afraid of me. I'm just going to see what's hurting you."
She was definitely listening to him. The dragon had stopped pacing around hysterically and it seemed like she was paying close attention to what he was saying. Hiccup swallowed around the huge lump in his throat. When he was close enough to the dragon, he stretched out his hand, dropped his gaze to the ground and just waited. It felt like forever, and the pained voices that the poor reptile let out every once in a while made the tension grow bigger. Then he felt the dragon's snout on his palm, and he felt surreal. It was an instant throw-back to the moment he had bonded with Toothless and he had thought he'd never get to experience that sensation again.
He startled as he suddenly heard the girl's voice from behind him. "I think I should continue from here, she doesn't really approve of strangers touching her." The prince hadn't had a clue that the girl had been following his footsteps all along. Without saying a word, he took a few steps backwards and followed the unknown girl with his gaze. Hiccup's head was still buzzing, and his adrenaline in his veins was now sky-rocketing. The girl walked next to her dragon and began speaking to her, and the reptile instantly appeared to recognise her voice. The dragon let out silent groans every now and then, which confirmed that she was still in pain when the girl began examining her from head to toe.
"Did you find anything?" the prince asked loud enough for the girl to hear him. She had bent down and she was staring at the dragon's hind legs.
The girl stood up but her eyes were still fixed on the legs. "Dragon hunters," she said emotionlessly. "She has stepped on a trap and hurt her leg, it's bleeding."
When she finally looked at Hiccup, he saw the anger and disgust in her eyes. Hiccup said nothing. It was true that there were still some kingdoms around them that hadn't taken dragons in with open arms like Berk had done, and they still hunted these poor creatures, but it would've been odd for them to be setting traps this close to Berk. A more reasonable explanation was that the dragon trainers of Berk had just forgotten the trap laying around.
He decided on staying silent though, because his dad had once taught him that a royal should never speak badly of his kingdom. And it might be that this wasn't even the trainers' doing, so there was no reason for him to make the girl despise Berk. Not that it would matter though, the stranger was probably a nobody anyway so her opinions on things would have no value anywhere.
"How bad is it?" he eventually asked.
"I think we will manage. It doesn't seem terribly bad and we shouldn't be that far from home."
Hiccup tried to think of some village that would be close by, but couldn't come up with any. Another short silence fell, but it was soon broken by the girl that was now approaching the prince.
"Hey, thank you for helping me get closer to her. How did you do it? I mean, I've never seen anyone form a bond with a dragon that fast, and my dragon is very sensitive to new acquaintances. I've never had to go through anything like that before, and this evening flight was just a stupid whim of mine. I clearly shouldn't have gone tonight."
Now as the girl was close to Hiccup, he noticed that she had blonde hair that she had braided and was now resting on her other shoulder. He couldn't make out the colour of her eyes, but that look of anger and disgust was no longer present in them. He also noticed that they were about the same height, which meant she was around his age. "I just had a feeling that was telling me what to do," he said. "Where do you live?" he asked out of curiosity.
The girl just looked at him, it was difficult to read her face. "That is not a concern of yours."
"So, you like to remain a mystery?" he asked teasingly.
"Actually, yes, that's exactly what I want. And you're hiding behind that suit yourself, so you're the one to talk."
She didn't sound angry, but the way she spoke made it clear to Hiccup that she didn't want to stretch this topic any further. Making her talk would have meant that he would've had to tell her something about himself, too, and even though he had already concluded that the girl didn't mean any harm to him, he thought it better to remain unknown.
"Touché," Hiccup said. "Are you sure you will be fine?"
"Absolutely," the girl responded with a ghost of smile on her lips. "It's not like you would be a great help with your non-existent dragon anyway."
It took Hiccup a good few seconds to realise what she had just said, to which he clumsily responded; "Yeah, right… non-existent."
The prince stared at the girl behind his helmet for a short while before he shook his head to no one in particular and headed towards Toothless.
"Hey," she began and Hiccup stopped walking. "Thank you, seriously. I appreciate your help."
"The honour was mine," he said over his shoulder and smiled even though the girl couldn't see it. He then exited the clearing and went to his dragon. He waited till the duo flew away before he and Toothless took off. It was already late, so they had to head back to Berk.
Hiccup wished the morning had never arrived, but it did. Too soon for his liking. He had only had a few hours of sleep last night, and when he was woken up by the cheerful Fishlegs at seven in the morning, he felt like death itself. The prince tried to get the very last bit of sleep and dived even deeper into his blanket, but it turned out impossible as Fishlegs was already opening the curtains to reveal the way-too-bright rays of the morning sun. He let out a groan and covered his eyes with his arm.
"Good morning," Fishlegs said happily. "Brought you some breakfast."
"Great," Hiccup replied with a raspy voice that didn't sound like his own. "What's in today's schedule?"
"Fighting practice and a dinner with the king. Oh, he said he wished you'd get better soon."
"What?" the prince blurted out, not quite following the conversation anymore.
"He was looking for you, so I told him that you were feeling ill and you had gone to see Gothi."
"Ill? Why would I be feeling ill? I'm fit as ever," Hiccup said. His arm was still covering his eyes and he hadn't moved an inch on his bed.
"It's what I came up with to cover up for you," his friend responded, not sounding sorry at all. "You didn't leave any requests as to what kind of a lie you wanted me to tell."
Hiccup finally sat up and scanned the room to find Fishlegs standing by the large windows. The sun made it impossible to see anything but the outlines of him. The prince sighed. "Well, it doesn't matter now. I wish I hadn't gone."
He ended up telling Fishlegs everything about the mysterious girl and her dragon and how he had discovered the way to calm the dragon down. Of course, he wasn't sure whether it worked with all dragon species, but it had worked with that one and Toothless, so it was a start at least.
"And what part of your night made you wish you hadn't gone?" Fishlegs asked after Hiccup had told him the entire story. He clearly didn't understand where things went wrong.
"When I was on my way back to Berk, all I could think about was her. And it took me an hour to fall asleep because all I could think about was her. And now as I brought her up, she will probably be the only thing I am able to think about today, too. I don't understand why, there was nothing special about her."
"Maybe you're still fascinated by the experience you had with her dragon and you just associate her with what happened," Fishlegs suggested.
"I don't get fascinated by things, Fishlegs," Hiccup commented as if that was the most essential part of what Fishlegs had just said.
"Of course you don't," his friend laughed.
They were silent for a while. Hiccup was still sitting on his bed and Fishlegs stood by the windows. "Anyway, I will never see her again and I will surely forget about her once I get something more interesting to think about," Hiccup said, breaking the silence. That statement was directed mostly to himself and not Fishlegs. He finally dropped his gaze onto the untouched breakfast tray that laid on the small table at the end of the prince's bed. He wasn't particularly hungry, but he still reached out his arm to take the loaf of bread from the tray.
"I guess I will be off to do your laundry," Fishlegs stated and walked to the door to grab the basket. Hiccup just nodded as he bit onto the bread. "Don't forget your fighting practice, it starts in a moment."
"It starts when I decide to show up," the prince called out after him, but the door was already shut when he finished his sentence. He was left alone in his bedroom and the mere thought of having to get up and flinging his sword made him want to crawl back into the warmth of his blankets, and he felt how his eyelids felt heavier and heavier by the second. What finally got him up was his father's voice in his mind that started preaching about his responsibilities and having to be ready for anything no matter what, which in this case meant being ready to fling that sword even though every inch of his body was against everything that the term "fighting practice" stood for.
He slowly finished his breakfast and lazily stared at the armour he always wore to practice. Fishlegs had put it ready for him, all he would have to do was to put it on. It was supposed to be his servant's job to do it for him, but he didn't mind; after all, Fishlegs was already busy with all the other chores he had to do, like for example the prince's laundry.
He spent a few minutes putting the armour on while trying to convince himself that attending the practice would be worth it since a war was heaving in sight. He also knew that had he slept a few more hours, he would have a completely different attitude towards this entire thing. Giving his thoughts a deep sigh, he tightened the belt that was around his hips and left the room with all his thoughts on the upcoming practice, and the mysterious girl from last night was momentarily thrown into the furthest corner of his mind.