Toothless blinked himself awake, unsure of how long he had slept. He had been exhausted from many days' hard flying, and they had not even slept the night before, thrilled as they were to be around each other, and then helping Hiccup free the Bewilderbeast. After that, they had gone back down. Toothless was unaccustomed to the Hidden World—day and night were indistinguishable.
Albino had found them a large flat rock to sleep on, on a mound of mossy ground, but she was gone now. Toothless stood, looking around, and heard an excited bark from somewhere in front of and down. His ear frills lifted, and he peered over the edge of the mound.
The white Night Fury was facing a small swarm of hatchlings, all of whom were play-bowing to her. One was of Cloud-jumper's breed, a Stormcutter, but almost comically small in comparison, and several were Gronckles (probably all from the same nest), as well as a hatchling Light Fury and some Nadders. Albino play-bowed back, wiggled her tail, and then jumped up, flapping straight up into the air not very far. The older ones mimicked her and lifted up with her and the younger ones, especially the Gronckles, struggled.
The small Stormcutter unfurled its extra wings and pumped them, lifting further into the air, although still not very much.
Albino dropped back down to the ground and stuck her flat Night Fury head under the Stormcutter's feet. Throwing her head up and rearing back, she launched the baby into the air further and it shrieked with glee. The other hatchlings cheered and spit sparks, gathering around Albino's legs, all wanting it to be their turn. She calmed them a moment, nuzzling them and looked up to call the Stormcutter back down to them. It was not very far in the air; if she stretched up on her hind legs it was only a few inches above her nose, but it didn't seem to know how to land. It crowed uncertainly and she tossed her head towards the ground.
Come back down here.
It kept flapping.
Albino jumped up and flapped her own wings, showing him how to do it more slowly to lower back down gently. He tried it, and every time he lost altitude tensed, and cawed in alarm. Still, he dropped enough so that Albino could land with her back feet on the ground and catch him with her nose so that he could stop flapping, relieved.
Once he was safely on the ground, exhausted, Albino was mobbed by the Gronckle babies, and she allowed them to push her over with a gentle yell of surprise. On her back, they crowded onto her chest and she used her feet to throw them up and catch them. They squealed excitedly, all waiting impatiently for their turn.
Until a deep huff sounded nearby and a massive Gronckle buzzed down, opening its jaws. The babies, hearing their father, jumped over to him and clambered into his mouth, which he left open. Albino rolled to her feet as he nodded gratefully to her and lifted himself and his brood away. The other babies squawked after him and chased on the ground, the Nadders gaining more ground on him than the Stormcutter or Light Fury hatchlings.
Albino watched them go, a smile in her cheeks, and then started coming back to Toothless. When she finally turned her head to him and saw him watching she ducked her head shyly, eyes wide. Her ear frills flattened, embarrassed.
But Toothless's face tilted and he rumbled gently. There's no need to be embarrassed. Albino lifted her head and her frills pricked up again, her own face cocking to one side happily. She purred back.
—
Light Fury parents did not raise their babies on their own; it was more of a communal family. Every dragon in the Waterfall Gorge raised every hatchling into their ranks as a unit.
Night Furies were not meant to be like that. They were born only a few at a time, the same as Light Furies, but their parents traditionally raised hatchlings until they were old enough to go find their own Nest to defend.
Albino had not gotten that.
Her parents, thinking that she was a Light Fury, had tried their best. But eventually they just brought her to the Gorge and left her there to be raised with dragons who looked like her, who seemed to know what to do with her.
They used to visit her every once in a while—her siblings and her parents. Twice a year on each of the solstices. She had sensed them coming and was waiting in the air when they appeared over the horizon. They used to spend some time with her, flying with her, playing games with her, teaching her odds and ends about Night Fury behavior in the world, paying their respects to the Hidden World, and then going back away. She'd always watched them fly off. And after the last time, they just didn't come back.