Rift-Raft has posted a new story! I wish for it whatever luck I can call upon.


"If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it's meant to be."


"Toothless, there's something I need to tell you."

I looked at Hiccup with a raised eyebrow, at least until I noticed the faint fear scent. Wrapping my tail around him further and fanning my half of my tailfin to block a spray from the lake after a strong breeze, I waited for him to continue. I had to force myself to let him go at his own pace even though I really wanted to know what was wrong. I didn't think anything could ruin this day for either of us, especially not after another flight. I was almost too concerned to notice how even minor breezes are unusual in the cove on an evening as calm as this one, especially now that the Dragon of the Sun is so low in the sky.

Hiccup sighed as he slightly turned away. "Alright, but please don't be mad at me. I can't really help it."

Something was clearly bothering him, and I was NOT going to make it worse. "Why would I be mad?" I asked, using the tone of my grunts more than the actual words to carry across the meaning.

Hiccup sighed again. "I have to leave the village for a few days, and you can't come with me."

My eyes widened and I bolted up, determination completely forgotten. "No!" I shouted, jumping on top of him to keep him right where he was. I am not letting him out of my sight for such a long time! Not when he's this fragile! "You can't!" I said, shaking my head fiercely.

Hiccup sighed a third time, not even giving the slightest struggle. "I don't have a choice."

"Yes you do! You can just stay here!" I argued. Of course he has a choice, and I wasn't going to let him make the wrong one!

He looked up to me, his pine green eyes now filled with desperation. "Toothless, you know I trust you. Now I need you to trust me."

I gasped at the request, feeling a knot in my throat that choked down any arguments. That sounded so similar to what he said over a year ago, when he first changed my mind right here in this cove, that I didn't even want to argue. I've already accepted that I was wrong to do all the awful things I did back then, but Hiccup told me that's not always enough. He said that sometimes, I have to accept that I am wrong, in the moment, not just that I was wrong. I slowly turned my eyes to meet his, only for the link to burst forth, stronger than ever.

Desperation and despair were at the forefront of his mind. He doesn't want this anymore than I do. I noticed his expression get worse as I sent over a strong refusal.

Breaking the link and looking away with a heavy sigh, I used all my willpower not to give in to his begging right away. He is not going to get away with this without an explanation. Reluctantly, I stood up, taking his metal paw off with my mouth to make sure he couldn't run away. I took a few steps back and spoke as calmly as I could. "Explain."

Hiccup gave an annoyed look at his stump before starting. "You remember that meeting today? The one that all the villagers went to?" he asked, looking up to me when he finished.

So that's what this is about. I didn't think the humans would try to take Hiccup away from me again. I hissed and shook my head.

Hiccup closed his eyes and turned away. "Toothless… please."

Damn. Why does it have to hurt so much more when he doesn't fight back? After a long time, I sighed and nodded, but I didn't try to keep the venom out of my voice. "Yes, I do."

He sighed too. "Well, it looks like one of the other tribes found the nest after we took down the Queen. They want all the Viking tribes' leaders and heirs to gather together so they can figure out what to do."

"Why do they need to do that?" I asked, my confusion droning out my anger for the moment. I didn't understand why humans would need to do something so… well, I can't think of a word to describe it, so I tilted my head and gave a questioning grumble for clarity. (I would later find out that the word I was looking for was "human". Dragons look to their own Kings, not the Kings of other nests, for guidance.)

"They probably want to ask each other if anyone knows what happened, or what we should do now. The war is over, but no one knows it yet. They probably don't know what to make of the raids ending. I wouldn't put it past them to think that the dragons are just waiting to strike."

"But that's ridiculous! Why doesn't your King just tell them what happened?" I asked, forgetting about the language barrier for a second. Hiccup looked like he got most of it, though. All that time we spent going one word at a time is finally paying off.

"Well what's he supposed to say?" Hiccup lowered the pitch his voice and made it sound a little like the King's. "'My son and his dragon friends killed a giant Queen dragon that was controlling all the other dragons, so the war is over. By the way, he did it while he was still a brown Shadow-Blender, the same one that made all the raids worse for the last year, but he's human again, so don't blame him, because everything's alright now.' I don't think I'd make it to the summer gather alive if anyone outside of Berk knew about my secret, and if we want the best shot at peace, we can't let that happen."

"Can't he just say the war is over and not the rest?" I asked, this time careful about each word.

He shook his head. "No. If he said the war was over, everybody would ask him how he knew. They'd hound us non-stop with messenger hawks, or even worse, show up personally to get some answers the old-fashioned way. You know how stubborn Vikings can be."

I groaned and looked down, trying to think of any way out of this. A brilliant idea suddenly hit me. "And you have to go? You can't just have him pretend you're dead?"

Hiccup chuckled at this before responding. "I asked my Dad the same thing, and he said he asked himself the same thing, but he thinks that would only make things worse. In fact…" he trailed off as he looked over to me and our eyes met.

The link he made lasted only long enough to show me one thing: his father's… apology? I stared wide-eyed at the image before resting my head on my paws and looking at the smooth surface of the lake. After thinking for a long time, I stood up and slowly walked over to Hiccup; I didn't want the link, but I did want to make this count, so I closed my eyes and gently leaned over, pressing my forehead against his. Even though I knew he wouldn't understand me this time, I spoke anyway. "I do trust you, Hiccup. I'm just worried you won't come back this time."

Hiccup gasped, and after a few seconds of trembling, he pressed back. "Thanks, Toothless."

I was about to pull back when he started scratching my neck. Before these last few weeks, I never knew how handy Hiccup's human 'hands' could be. I couldn't help but purr at the sensation. Somehow, his scratches always manage to help with my stress, no matter what caused it in the first place.

"I know this is hard for you," he said in a sadder voice than usual. At my raised eyebrow, he chuckled and lost the sadness. "Okay, okay, it's hard for me too. I promise I'll take you flying before dawn tomorrow to make it up to you."

I gasped and felt my jaw drop, having completely forgotten about that little detail up until he mentioned it. After a second more of gaping, I caught myself and snorted. "You'd better."

Hiccup laughed even more at my response. "Well, at least this'll give me the motivation to make you a tail that you can use without me."

My gape, having returned at his latest crazy plan, only got wider before I turned it into a strong frown. "No!" I shook my head for emphasis. "I am not flying without you!"

This time it was Hiccup's turn to be surprised. "It won't be permanent," he said, still scratching my neck and calming my nerves. "Just for when I'm not around. Or emergencies. What do you think would happen if I fell off again?"

After a few seconds of actually thinking about the idea (which, surprisingly enough, does wonders), I sighed in relief. I honestly hadn't thought of that. Maybe it'll be good to have a few extra safety measures. My relief quickly faded into confusion when I thought back to what Hiccup had said. "Now what's this about not making it to a 'summer gather'?" I asked, not quite careful about what I was saying but relying on Hiccup's ability to 'get the gist of it'.

Hiccup's face lit up as if he'd just had an epiphany. "Wait a minute! First, can you tell me if you remember anything from your time with the Queen about a Viking event that happens every ten years?"

I didn't know anything about Vikings, but the last bit of his question caught my attention. If it hadn't been for Hiccup, I wouldn't have known that a 'year' means a full cycle of the seasons, or now have a word for it, one that he can understand thanks to the whole 'being there when I made it'. I nodded before speaking. "Actually, yes. But it had nothing to do with Vikings."

Hiccup looked at me with curiosity, raising both his eyebrows very high.

I tried to find the words to explain, tapping my paw on the ground three times. Damn this would be difficult. I remember the Queen giving a three-week-long 'break' from raiding every 40 seasons. She said it was for 'our own safety', and to 'stay away from the island with a big mountain and stone carvings of human gods'. I also distinctly remember stories about some very curious younglings leaving the nest years ago during the 'break' and never returning. The Queen told us they had gone to the island against her orders, and that the Dragoness of the Moon now has them in her embrace. Nobody ever questioned her warnings after that.

I turned my attention back to Hiccup, finally finding what would hopefully be a good explanation. "The Queen made a holiday. No raids. Every 10 years." I knew he wouldn't understand it all, but I nodded anyway to show I had finished.

He took this in, thinking for a long time before responding. "This… Thing is really important to humans. It's just a guess, but I think that maybe the Queen, despite everything, didn't want to interrupt it. If she stopped the raids completely, then it seems like she also didn't want to exploit the vulnerable villages. It'd probably be like if the Vikings attacked the nest on the first day of spring. Or during the mating season, if the ice wasn't in the way. Plus, she's right. No number of dragons could stand up to the Vikings at the summer gather. I don't even think she could have survived if she went herself."

I felt my jaw almost drop at this. "There are that many humans?"

He shrugged. "Well, it is a gathering of every single Viking tribe in the archipelago, even the unofficial ones, as well as any foreigners who catch wind of it, meeting at one very large, easily defensible place, so yeah."

My jaw dropped even more, before I shouted in anger. "And you're going to one of these?!" I didn't know it was going to be that dangerous.

Hiccup jumped at my raised voice. "No! Well, yes, but not until next summer. The one I'm going to tomorrow is going to be a lot shorter and smaller. I don't think there'll be more than thirty people at this one, and I should be back in five days." He was still scratching my neck when he explained, both his words and his 'fingers' calming me this time.

I sighed again at the thought of Hiccup leaving. "I really don't want you to go."

"I know."

"It'll probably be dangerous."

"I'll be careful."

"I'm going to miss you."

Hiccup looked back to me with a sad smile and rubbed my forehead. "Me too. No matter what happens, I promise I will always return."

We both gave a little start when another breeze shot through the cove, this one stronger than the last. The skies were now overcast, threatening rain, and it was getting late.

"We should probably get back," Hiccup said, moving to my side and hopping onto the leather saddle to begin our now much practiced pre-flight routine. "I have to get to bed early if you want to fly tomorrow."

Grunting my agreement, I took to the air and battled the turbulent winds, my thoughts wandering toward tonight and the rest of the time I'll have with Hiccup. It may be short, but I'll be damned if I don't make the most of it.


The sea's so calm, it's almost uncanny. Glancing around the deck of the ship to make sure nobody would see, I let my mind empty as I took a rare moment to relax, breathing in the gentle breeze and looking up at the stars.

Savage's voice broke me out of my daze. "Dagur! Chief says it's time for my shift." He nervously stepped around our 'special' helmsman, careful not to wake him, and took his place at the wheel.

Sighing and nodding, I turned to head below deck, casting one last glance at the sea as I flipped open the hatch. The waves weren't nearly as light anymore, once again rocking our ship back and forth like a ball of yarn between a cat's paws.

Of course it wouldn't last, I thought, my mind wandering back to my now much more vulnerable village. It never does.


I don't know why, but it was tempting to have Dagur think about himself in the third person.

Thanks for reading, and have an interesting day!

-Rambling Drabble