Where I Belong
Author: Nightstar Fury
Rating: M
Pairing: Hiccup/Astrid
Disclaimer: I don't own the HTTYD movies, or any of the HTTYD series such as Riders of Berk, Defenders of Berk, or Race To The Edge.
I Wanna Know More
Hiccup couldn't believe this happened, in all honesty he couldn't. Six days after leaving the ice nest he was caught in a storm and crashed on Viking island but these Vikings were different. They didn't attack Toothless right away, one of the villagers named Astrid was able to earn enough of Toothless's trust to get him to back down so she could make sure he was alright. Of course, there was a minor disagreement about dragons being bad but Hiccup shut that down pretty quickly. But this girl proved to him that maybe my mom was wrong, some people were willing to try new things. Smiling, Hiccup realized that if he had their curiosity about it all then he could show them a different way than killing. Maybe he wasn't a dragon protector, maybe he was a peace keeper for humans and dragons. It was too early to tell but at least for now, things were alright. Toothless growled a bit as Hiccup looked to him wondering what was wrong.
"What is it bud?" Hiccup asked gently. Toothless's back tail fin was bent awkwardly, clearly broken. "Your tail...You can't fly with it like that..." Hiccup sighed.
"What's wrong with it?" Astrid asked curiously.
"The landing broke it...Takes about two months to heal completely if he doesn't try to fly at all..." Hiccup knelt down as he pulled over the bag he'd packed finding some wrappings, few almost flat pieces of wood, and a small jar that he set beside him. Hiccup snapped his fingers as Toothless laid down and brought his tail towards Hiccup slowly. Hiccup opened the jar applying a yellowish type lotion to the tail, then position the small boards, finally wrapping it up so he couldn't move the tail until it was healed. The others just watch in shock, he made a splint for the dragon to heal his tail. "There ya go, how's that feel pal?" Hiccup asked, Toothless jumped around and tackled him licking his face happily. "Haha, I love you too."
"He's so friendly." Astrid pointed out now.
"Of course, every dragon is friendly when you approach them with kindness and understanding." Hiccup said to her, she found herself smiling a bit. Gobber smacked Stoick's arm a bit to get his attention then pulled him off to the side.
"He's got nowhere to go, Stoick...You heard 'im, he's on his own." Gobber said.
"Are you saying we let him and his dragon stay here, have you lost your mind? He's crazy, friends with dragons! I think hell just froze over." Stoick retorted.
"Regardless, its right there in front of you Stoick. The boy is friends with a dragon, a Night Fury who was ready to protect him from us, humans. All I'm sayin is maybe we can learn a little from him, let him stay." Gobber suggested, Stoick sighed looking back at 'Einarr' before closing his eyes.
"You're welcome to stay here, Einarr while your friend heals. Come with me, you must be hungry." Stoick said.
"It's okay, I just ate an hour ago. So did Toothless, we're just kind'a tired now." Hiccup bowed his head to Stoick.
"Very well, I'll take you to my house so you can rest." Stoick offered.
"Can...Toothless come too?" Hiccup asked curiously.
"Is he going to destroy my house?" Stoick arched a brow, Hiccup shook his head. "Then he may come too." The crowd dispersed as Hiccup got on Toothless's back and followed after Stoick to his house. Once they arrived there, Stoick led Hiccup to a spare room downstairs and Toothless laid down on the floor while Hiccup sat on the bed. Stoick left then returned with some blankets and a pillow for him, "If you need anything, I'll be right outside."
"Thank you sir." Hiccup replied, Stoick nodded then left the room face-palming. He couldn't believe he just allowed a complete stranger and his dragon to live in his house for a while. What would his ancestors say, they'd think he lost his mind. Maybe he had? Stoick shook it off and returned to his duties around the village, he would worry about this stranger later. The boy had to be 16 or so, Stoick sighed again closing his eyes. His son Hiccup would have been 17 a week ago. The old chief pushed past his pain moving forward through the village.
Within the walls of Stoick's house, Hiccup sat on the bed after making it. He put his things away neatly and all close together before looking to Toothless and rubbing his head. "I guess this is our new home for a while bud." Hiccup told him, his dragon crooned laying back down to rest. Hiccup kicked off his boots, removed his armor and laid down. He was downright exhausted from all the flying and this latest event with crashing on a Viking island who were so far being incredibly nice and accepting of him but that didn't mean anything. They could be lying and waiting for him to drop his guard or something. Hiccup would have to be on guard until Toothless healed, what other choice did he have? It's all he could do for now.
Finally, sleep took over his tired body and he was out like a blown candle.
(Outside)
The group of teens were walking around, the whole village was talking about it. A boy being protected by a dragon, the boy being friends with this dragon? It was insane to anyone they told but they had all seen it for themselves. What was even more shocking though was Stoick allowing this dragon loving stranger to live in his house, the dragon too for that matter. Stoick hated dragons for taking his wife and son so why would he allow himself in such close proximity to a Night Fury? Did he feel bad for Einarr, or maybe it was that this boy had no home and Stoick felt obligated to helping him because it would be what his wife wanted for him. To help those in need, that is how Valka was for those who knew her. She never wanted to fight dragons, she wanted peace but killing was all they ever did. Until that fateful night her theories about peace were gone with the wind and so was she and the chief's only son.
"What do you guys make of this...Einarr guy?" Snotlout asked.
"He's...interesting, that's for sure." Fishlegs stated.
"You mean completely out of his mind? He is friends with a dragon!" Snotlout huffed.
"So? That doesn't make him insane...It means he knows something about dragons that we don't. That dragon saved his life, it protected him from us, humans when Einarr is a human himself. But the dragon didn't care, it though we were a threat not to it but to Einarr." Astrid remarked.
"I think its cool." Ruffnut said.
"Well he's gonna be here a while, you heard what he said. His dragon can't fly for two months..." Fishlegs said.
"He could leave by boat, what does flying have to do with it?" Tuffnut questioned.
"You don't see it?" They shook their heads as Astrid sighed now, "Einarr didn't come by boat, there are no ships around the island to suggest he got here by ship. I think he was riding the dragon, got caught in the storm and crashed here. The dragon wrapped him in his wings to keep him from taking a hard fall." Astrid told them.
"So you think he rides that dragon? Come on, Astrid be realistic. There's no such thing, Vikings riding dragons." Snotlout laughed.
"His last name means Rider in old Norse. Riddari stands for rider. And Einarr means for Lone Warrior. Einarr Riddari stands for Lone Warrior Rider." Fishlegs pointed out.
"Safe to say, all we have are assumptions. We know nothing about this guy..." Ruffnut added.
"I don't know about any of you...But I want to know more. Seems like he's never been around people before so I wanna help him out, show him we aren't so bad." Astrid smiled rushing off happily.
"Uhh...Anyone ever seen Astrid that giddy before?" Ruffnut blinked, the boys shook their heads. "I think she's got a crush on the new guy." Ruffnut chuckled.
"Oh come on, no way Astrid likes that guy. She doesn't even know him!" Snotlout exclaimed.
"But she said she wanted to know him more. Face it Snotlout, I think you just lost to the wicked hot dragon rider who happens to look about our age." Ruffnut laughed as she and Tuffnut high-fived walking off and Fishlegs going his own way shortly after. Snotlout grumbled, no way he was losing Astrid to some new guy who knew dragons. He'd make this guy fear people and send him off. Snotlout grinned almost as he returned to his own house. The rest of the day was pretty quiet, leading into the night it was the same. Hiccup remained asleep, while the villagers all wanted to find out more about this mysterious Einarr Riddari.