Sorry for the lateness, I went camping over the weekend. It was my first Patrol-o-ree as a member of BSA!
"And you know what, Toothless?" Frustration boiled in my chest. "Why am I even asking for permission?" I wasn't a child anymore! "It's my war against Viggo. My dad just doesn't understand." What else was new?
'I want to sleep,' Toothless told me bluntly, gliding slowly back to the Edge from Berk. The sky was bright blue and cloudless, like it had been for the past eight days. 'I'm tired and my wings ache. You need to rest. You won't believe how stupid you were when I tell you about this later.'
I rolled my eyes, leaning back in the saddle. My dragon could be so grumpy sometimes…
'Over there!'
I yelped and my neck snapped back as he suddenly changed direction. "Whoa! What is it, bud?"
'Listen!'
A high pitched squeal drifted up from a nearby island and I winced. Everything was so loud. It took far too long for the dots to connect in my mind, and I mentally slapped myself when I figured it out. "Sounds like a dragon in trouble." I shook my head vigorously, hoping it would clear my brain. "I must be tired. I almost missed that."
'You don't say?' he snarked. 'You haven't slept in days.'
I peered down at the island as we dived towards it, rubbing my eyes. Scattered boxes and broken cages littered the beach, and I was relieved when I recognised them almost instantly. "Dragon Hunters. High alert, bud."
He was silent, already evaluating the scene. I resisted the urge to yawn and dismounted. It took two tries to find the dragon, but a waving wing finally captured my attention. "All right, watch my back."
I made my way to the fallen dragon, blinking when it was farther away than I'd expected, and held my hands out in a non threatening gesture. It seemed pretty badly hurt, unable to get up, and I winced at its piercing cries for help.
"Hey there, little guy. It's okay. Whatever happened, it's over now." Where were the dragon hunters? "We're here to help you."
#It flailed its legs and wing, but the other one was pinned under its body.
"Is there something wrong with your wing?"
'Hiccup, I don't like this.'
I glanced around, but couldn't see anything that might have spooked Toothless. I ignored him and turned back to the dragon. "I'm sure we can fix that."
Blue scales materialised in front of me and I jumped.
"Uh?" It took a moment for my brain to register the three new dragons who'd abruptly leaped out of the bushes when I tried to investigate the dragon's bad wing. Did they feel threatened by me? I knew some dragons, especially ones who'd had contact with hunters, distrusted humans on sight.
'Duck.'
I spun around, saw purple fire, and fell to the ground before it could blast my face off. "Whoa!"
It slammed into the trio of dragons leaping at me, and I scrambled away from the not-so-prone dragon next to me. "You're not hurt! Whoa, Toothless."
He leapt over me as I retreated, coming face to face with the dragon. 'Back off!'
It faced him—and his deadly fire—for almost three seconds before turning tail and scampering away. I was mildly impressed.
In the safety of its friends, it hesitated a moment. I dashed forward and grabbed Toothless' neck before he could follow up the warning with an actual attack. "No, bud! They might just be scared, or defending their friend."
The four dragons took the opportunity to scamper away.
'Hiccup!' he groaned, exasperated.
I cringed, annoyed. The dragons hadn't really hurt me, but he was shifting into protective mode anyway. "Thanks for having my back. Clearly, my reaction time isn't what it should be."
'And you won't even let me defend you!'
I took a few steps forward, taking a moment to investigate the island. We'd never stopped here before. A tall rocky spire thrust high into the air and the soil looked thin, though there were trees in wide patches across the place. What did the dragons eat? They obviously lived in the forest. If I could—
'No.'
I rolled my eyes. "Oh, come on. You know we're going after those dragons." He didn't look convinced. "I mean, we have to help them. So work with me here and keep your eyes open." I strode off, confident he'd have my back.
'This is a bad idea.'
I ignored him and started following the trail left by the dragons. They hadn't been sneaking, and the broken branches were so conspicuous that even I could see them. Toothless caught up in no time, like I'd predicted. The signs got more obvious as we went on, and a niggle I couldn't define developed at the back of my mind. I bent down and picked up a fragment of wood, testing its weight.
There was a noise in front of us. I pulled out my spyglass and hurriedly adjusted it while Toothless growled. 'We should go. This is their territory.'
I was too interested to quit now. The dragons glanced back, as though to make sure we were still following, and moved on again. I raised two fingers, one for me and one for him, and motioned forwards. We moved between two bushes, rounding a corner, and I glanced up to see a narrow crack in the rock ahead of us.
'No,' Toothless said firmly. For once, I agreed with his over cautious-ness.
"Yeah, I know, it's pretty tight. We better go around it."
I turned around and did a double take. The tracks, obvious in the dry ground, had turned around and headed back into the bushes. We were blocked off. Three blue heads poked out of the bushes and I winced. "Oh, what the—"
Toothless growled.
"Okay, so this is what you were worried about." I tried to make the best of it. "Look, bud. They haven't really done anything."
As one, the three dragons lifted their heads to the sky and spat. A trio of glowing balls of fire, similar to Meatlug's lava shots, flew high into the air and arched down on top of us. I barely had time to squeeze my eyes closed before they splattered down.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!" Blistering heat and vicious agony coated my face.
My hands flew up to cover it, but pain streaked down my fingers from the gooey fire and I pulled them away before they could get even more burnt.
My legs crumpled involuntarily and I struggled to breathe through the wall of airless fire, screaming as the fire ate into my face.
I couldn't hear anything past the shrieking of my nerves, begging for something, anything, to put it out!
A thick strip of fire suddenly vanished, replaced by sticky coolness that quickly numbed the left side of my face.
"P—please—" I begged, blindly turning towards the direction it had come from. I needed more—
Deadening slime smothered the rest of the fire and I collapsed stomach up on the ground, breathing raggedly. Footsteps were loud and heavy around me, and I pushed myself upright, blinking.
It was dark. I blinked more rapidly, ignoring the stinging burn on my eyelids, and swung my head from side to side, my chest working frantically.
"T—Toothless?"
Still in complete darkness, I tried to stay calm and take stock, but it was impossible.
"Toothless? Please!"
A plasma blast was fired somewhere near to me, and I instinctively pressed myself deeper into the ground. The warm air of a shock wave washed over me.
"Bud?"
I stretched out, searching, and a warm snout touched my hands. 'Why aren't you running?'
My lungs heaved with frightened gasps of air. "I—gods—I can't see—"
I heard another round of shots, the whistle as they arched through the sky, and they splattered against something two feet in front of me.
'We need to go!' Toothless barked.
Desperately clinging to him, I scrambled upright and ran blindly, following the small patch of scales directly beneath my fingers.
'Looks like it's the canyon.'
My feet stumbled and I cried out in terror for the brief second I wasn't in contact with him. I couldn't see.
'Come on!'
My fingers tangled in the saddle straps and I hung on for dear life, my legs pounding across the rock floor. He took a sudden turn and I lost ground, barely keeping up, before he tugged me to one side. I lost my balance and fell over with a small hiss.
"T—Toothless—"
'Shh. We're in cover.'
I scooted closer, curling myself into the gap between his chin and the ground. "I'm s—scared—"
'It's okay. Gothi can heal you.'
"If we get out of here." I bit my lip to stop it from trembling. "Those d—dragons—"
'Won't hurt you again.' A scaly foreleg curled around me. 'I've got you.'
Another fireball landed near us and I flinched. "What are we going to do?"
'Can you fly?'
I struggled not to panic. "Maybe? It'll be like flying at night, right?"
'Probably, but I don't want to risk it. The trees are too thick to fly out of, anyway.'
I leaned back against him, a yawn surfacing despite my best efforts. "I'm guessing you won't let me try to tame them with the Dragon Blade?"
He snarled. 'No way. Not even if you could see.'
"What have they been doing?"
'Trying to kill us,' he deadpanned.
"I'm serious!"
'They're clinging to the walls of the canyon, trying to shoot at us. What do you think their shot limit is?'
I flinched at the next explosion. "I don't want to find out. Can we get out of here?"
'Not the way we came, I accidentally collapsed it. Maybe if we keep going.'
"Let's do it." I stood up, keeping close to his shoulder. "Tell me when."
I waited a few tense seconds before he barked a quick, 'Go!'
I sprinted, guided by him, for about a hundred metres, before he slowed to a stop. 'They're not chasing us.'
"That's good, right?" I hoped it was.
'Either they've suddenly changed their minds about killing us, or they're very stupid, or they know something we don't.'
"Let's go with changed minds." My knees trembled, and I leant against him. "Alright, let's hold up here. I've got to rest."
'We should keep moving.'
I whined a little, exhausted, and he groaned. 'Stupid Vikings. You should have taken a nap earlier.'
A sudden hiss of fire made the discussion moot. "Man, these guys don't give up!" I waited for the splat of fire hitting something, but it never came. Instead, something like the sound of crushed leaves leapt from side to side above my head. "Uh, bud?"
'It's… bouncing?' He didn't sound sure. 'Now it's landed, it's still burning, it's—'
Something large tackled me and I fell to the ground, legs pinned under a large scaly body—
BOOOOM!
—and sheltered from the abrupt jarring explosion.
'You alright?'
I took a deep breath and waited for my heartrate to return to normal. "Yeah…"
'Got to watch out for those.'
I nodded slowly, accepting the supporting head that helped me to my feet. "That nearly gave me a heart attack."
'Come on.' I took one trembling step, then another, and my legs grew sturdier as we moved. It was scary how much I relied on my sight. I had no idea what was going on anywhere around me. Dark dark and dark. My foot would catch on something and I'd open my eyes instinctively, only to see nothing. It was worse than waking up without a leg!
'This way.' I felt his wing brush against my legs and turned round a corner, my fingers clutching the saddle straps. Something metallic hit me in the shin and I gasped, hopping. 'Careful!'
"Bit late, bud." I knelt down and carefully investigated the object with my fingers, pulling them back the moment I felt something sharp. "Is it a weapon?"
'I think it's a sword… It's very bent. Used to belong to a hunter.'
I stood up again. "Just keep going?"
'It's a dead end. There's a gap I could fly out of—'
"Let's go." The movements needed for mounting came to me naturally, though my heart skipped a beat when I missed the stirrup the first time.
'Can you fly?'
"We'll find out." I hadn't realised how tired I was until I took the weight off my legs. Another yawn burst from my mouth. "Ready?"
Muscles moved and stretched beneath me and I clicked the tail into take off position. There was a sudden rush of air and I felt the ground receding beneath us. A short screech of air warned of a travelling fireball and I instinctively threw myself against the saddle, before realising it was Toothless'. Thankfully, I hadn't fouled our flight.
'Oh no.'
"Oh no what?!"
'Try to keep up!'
He shifted, tilting and dropping, and my foot twisted the fin into roughly the right shape. An explosion of noise by my ear made me squeal, and I almost missed the next sharp turn. 'Focus!'
Plastered flat to his back, I desperately tried to match my movements to his without sight. It wasn't as hard as it could have been, but we were still slower than normal. The shots stopped, and he tilted his head to one side. 'They're leaving?'
A massive cloud of hot breath puffed against my neck. "Uh…"
'What the—duck!'
It didn't take much talent to fall, and we quickly plunged through a thick layer of trees, branches and leaves whipping across my face, and landed heavily on the ground. I sat there, stunned, for a few moments, and almost fell out of the saddle when he started to run. "What the—"
'Sorry.' A thin branch slapped my ear and I instinctively hunched down, leaning flat along the saddle. The world shrank to me and Toothless, racing through a sightless world of noise.
"Where are we going?"
'Away.' He ran smoothly, and I rested my head against the back of his neck, yawning. The repetitive motion was soothing, and sleep dragged at me jealously. I had escaped it for eight days…
oOoOo
'Off.'
I blinked and shook my head in an attempt to wake up.
'Hurry.'
"Wha…"
I fell sideways, arms reaching out to grab at something to break my fall, and landed hard in a patch of dirt. "Ow…"
'You'll be safe here for a while. You're in a small pit with a rock overhanging it. There's plenty of cover, but try not to move.'
"Wait, what?"
'You're not in the best shape to deal with eleven dragons right now. I'll be back soon.'
"Bud, wait!" His footsteps sprang away.
"Okay…" I pulled my knees up to my chest and buried my face in my knees. It stung, and I hissed quietly. Toothless' numbing saliva must have started to wear off. Rock scraped against my back and I scooted into it hurriedly, feeling terribly exposed. The slightest sound made me jump, and I stretched my hands out fearfully, following the rock wall behind me. Like he'd told me, it was a small pit. I couldn't tell how high up it went because I didn't dare stand up, but it was maybe seven paces long and four wide. Just big enough for a Night Fury to curl up in if they squeezed.
I shrank back to the corner I'd originally been in, hoping it was under the cover I'd been told about. The soil was firm under my legs, damp and cool. Despite the instinctive fear of a vulnerable prey animal pounding through my veins, sleep didn't take long to drag me down again.
oOoOo
My face was burning again when I woke up, and I hurriedly suppressed the painfilled wheeze before it could draw any attention.
Shhhssst.
I froze, barely daring to breathe. There was something directly above me, probably on the edge of the hole. Carefully feeling for anything that might make a sound, I lifted my weight onto my hands and eased backwards. The rocky walls met my back far too quickly, and I tried to be small, pulling my knees up to my face.
'It's me.'
I strangled a yell of surprise at the sudden low whisper. "I almost wet myself!" It was as loud as I dared, a low hiss that sounded angrier than I was.
'Sorry.' Toothless sounded tired, and I felt guilty for snapping.
"Are you alright?"
'I can fly. We've got a few minutes before the Deadly Shadows find us again.'
"Deadly Shadows?"
'We've got to name them something. Would you prefer Smidvarg? Horrible Painful Death the Dragon?'
"No, Deadly Shadow is fine." I motioned at my face. "Could you…"
He leapt down into the pit and I closed my eyes and mouth tightly. The thick saliva was unpleasant and slimy, but the relief spreading through my nerves was enough to make up for it. I wiped the stuff off my nose, eyes, and mouth, and smiled. "Thanks, bud."
'Ready?'
I felt for the saddle and climbed on, sliding my foot into the pedal. Slow flying was probably doable. "Go slowly, please."
'Not too slowly,' he warned. 'We need to get away before they wake up.'
I clicked the tail fin and moved my hands from the top of the saddle to his shoulders. He spread his wings, I could feel it, and they came down with a powerful beat. I leaned into the steep upwards motion, holding the tail fin steady, and waited for the moment when we'd level off. He took us high, so high it was hard to breathe, and settled into a long glide. I leant forwards and rested my head against my arms, still feeling the pull of sleep. Thor, I was tired…
oOoOo
I tumbled off his back, still half asleep, and was caught by a scaly tail. "Where are we?"
'Berk.'
I blinked, pleasantly surprised when I saw a flicker of dusky movement. My sight must have started to return! "Where on Berk?"
'Near our house. I'm tired.'
He leaned into me for support, head sagging, and I frowned. "Are you alright?"
'A few nasty bites, but mostly bruises from the fireballs.'
I rubbed his shoulders and he purred wearily, twisting into it.
"I was stupid. I'm sorry you had to pay for that."
'A few days of rest and I'll be fine.'
"Me too. I think I can see a little."
'That's great.'
I frowned when he swayed. "Home. Now."
We hobbled up a hill together, and I carefully made my way up the stairs by following his directions, fumbling the door open.
"Hiccup!"
I guessed that meant Dad was home. A large hand seized my jaw and twisted it from side to side, inspecting the damage. I tried to smile. "You were right?"
"Odin's beard, did you try to take on the dragon hunters by yourself?!"
"No, just a pack of obviously aggressive dragons," I admitted. "They were clever, Dad. One of them acted injured to draw us in, then they led us into this narrow canyon and we couldn't fly out until the end, where they were waiting."
He pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. "At least you're safe."
'Barely.'
I winced. "Yeah, I owe Toothless a lot—is he okay?"
"Can't you tell?"
"Not really, I can't see much—"
I heard his hand slap his face. "It's a miracle you survived, son. I thought you were mature enough to cope with the midsummer's sun. Obviously, I was wrong. Next year, I'm grounding you."
I cringed. "Fair enough."
"Well, Gothi's out of action until she gets a good night's rest… I'll see if I can find a different healer."
"Thanks. So, Toothless?"
I could feel him rolling his eyes. "A bit banged up, but nothing a few days of rest won't fix. Both of you look dead on your feet. Go to sleep."
I opened my mouth to protest, and a sneaky tail wrapped around my legs, pulling them out from under me. 'Bedtime.'
I was carried upstairs despite all my protests, and forcefully pulled into a cocoon of wings and legs. "It's too warm for this!"
'Liar.'
True. The Edge was warm, and Berk always felt cold in comparison. I surrendered with an indignant huff. "Thanks, bud."
Slightly fishy warm air ruffled my hair. 'Anything for my stupid human.'
"M'not stupid…"
THE END
Quick reminder, and an update. If several options tie with a single vote each, I'm not posting any of them. I'll sit and wait until one gets another, or a different one gets two.
1) Always Come Back—1.8k words, oneshot. Just some gratuitous Toothless whump, really.
2) Blood Always Shows—9.6k words, five oneshots in the same universe. I'm not entirely sure about posting this, because it deals with some stuff I know is a sensitive topic, and (thankfully) I have no personal experience with it. Nothing too graphic, hopefully, but still trigger warnings for self-harm and accidental near suicide.
3) Blush—1k words, oneshot. An attempt at humour. Right after HTTYD 1, Hiccup and Toothless were the pair dragons and humans went to when they needed translation. And sometimes, those conversations could be... embarrassing.
4) Coconuts—3.5k words, oneshot. Berserkers poison Hiccup, and Toothless and Astrid have to find the antidote that happens to be halfway around the world within a week.
5) How Not To Pick Your Dragon—3.1k words, oneshot. I saw an opportunity for Hicctooth hurt/comfort and took it. Slight deviation from the episode How To Pick Your Dragon.
6) Lowest Moment—23.3k words, sixshot. AU on Weakest Moment. Hiccup flew from Toothless' grip as he hit the ground, leaving Toothless alone to brave both Alvin and Dagur.
7) The Unspeakable Happens—3.7k words, oneshot. Like the title says, the unspeakable happens. Set in HTTYD 2.
8) Tired—3.7k words, oneshot. Immediate aftermath of HTTYD 1. Hiccup isn't Useless anymore, and he's determined to keep it that way. Toothless only wants his human well rested and healthy again.
9) Undeserving Trust—5.1k words, oneshot. The Terrible Twos, but from Toothless' POV and with a few extra details.
Thanks for making it this far!
~JustAnotherRandomPoster
