Chapter 8
Hiccup
The second waking was a little easier. He knew that he was Hiccup. He knew that he was human. He knew that Toothless was a dragon, and he knew that he was feeling some extremely strange things about said dragon.
Unfortunately, his knew found clarity of mind did not bring with it an explanation for the pain. It was a very strange feeling. He was being continuously burned from the inside-out. Yet no damage was being done. In fact, as he lay there, eyes closed listening to the heartbeats of both him and Toothless, he found that he quickly acclimatized. The repetition of the pain's fluctuations in time with his heart, allowed his mind to disregard the pain as just another rhythm of his body. Soon he found himself looking to other matters.
He felt extremely comfortable. Far more comfortable than he had been in his bed within his drafty attic room, in fact, far more comfortable than he had ever been. Then, he both heard and felt a second faint pulsing rhythm, resonating around him. It came from all sides at once, and it relaxed him. Toothless. He was enveloped within his dragon's embrace. And there was no place better. He almost stopped caring about what had happened before his long sleep. As soon as he thought about that, it all came back to him.
He had been struck with an axe, seen tons of images while his head felt as if it were on the brink of exploding, then he had started imagining that Toothless was speaking to him. His friend had asked him for permission to enter his mind. Then his memory was dark. He assumed that he had fallen back to sleep. Hopefully his head was in a better condition now.
"I was wondering when you would wake up. That was faster than I expected." He froze. That same voice was bouncing around inside his head. The sound of it was beautiful, like music. It was rich and resonating, dark and warm. It was like a memory, but he had never heard someone speak with that voice. And yet it still sounded familiar. "Hiccup you did hit your head, but I doubt it was hard enough to cause you to hallucinate to this extent. It's me. Toothless. I'm right here." He felt Toothless shift around him and he opened his eyes. Then a wing pulled away and two enormous green eyes peered down at him.
"Toothless, if that's really you talking, why are you talking?" Toothless blinked and he felt a chuckle roll through his friend's chest.
"I talk very often. The problem of course, is that you humans are too thick skulled to pay me heed." Ok that was a little more confusing an answer than he had hoped for.
"Are you telling me that you have been speaking the entire time I've known you, and I just haven't been able to hear you?"
"Hiccup, did you think I was some dumb beast? Giving my affection blindly in return for care and food? Did you think me a pet?" He was horrified. Was that what Toothless thought of him?
"No!" he protested, "I saw the intelligence in your eyes! I could see that you cared! And I cared about you! You were never a pet to me."
"Hiccup, I will ask this of you again. And this time I hope that you will remain conscious." He tensed. "Hiccup will you share your mind with me?"
In a way this made sense. Toothless wasn't moving his mouth or making any noise, the dragon's voice was bouncing around inside his head. So how else could he be communicating except for some form of mental connection? And to what extent was this connection? What did it mean that they had it?
"Was that…" he swallowed, "what made my head hurt so badly before?" The expression on his friend's face fell, and became mournful.
"Yes. And it was my fault. I didn't realize that you were the mind I was communing with! I tried to share too much, too fast. I almost killed you. You basically experienced some of the key points in my life before I met you. I'm so very sorry Hiccup. I want to do things right this time."
He lay there and considered for a very long time. By the sounds of it he would be opening his mind, in essence, himself, to be shared with his friend. The thought made him feel even warmer than he already was. They would be closer than anyone else could be.
"Toothless. Please help me understand this. Help me see."
And there, he was suddenly aware of another sense. He could not have put it into words. Surely no one had ever experienced this before. He was aware of his mind. It was as if a third eye had opened, and now he was free to see a new layer of the world. He could feel a massive and intimidating presence all around him. Perhaps that was Toothless.
"Hiccup, I will not allow any harm to come to you. Now come forth, close your eyes, and see." He let his eyes slide shut and with his new sense; he reached out to the larger presence surrounding him… And touched it.
Warmth, shadow, and sound enveloped him. It was as if music had been given a feel, and a look. He watched as filaments of shadow spun, twisted, congealed, stretched and wound around him. They were all the world consisted of. Then he began to know things. He felt Toothless' mind nudge against his, more than once, and with each nudge, came new knowledge.
He knew that Night Furies inhabited the ice lands of the far north. He knew that they communicated with each other through direct, mental contact. He knew that humans such as himself, were unable to comprehend this contact. He knew that Toothless had flown south as soon as he was able, to escape the land where his mother had died. And he knew, that his was the first mind that Toothless had touched in this way, for many, many winters. Toothless was feeling a joy far beyond any kind of happiness that he had before experience. For a few more brief seconds, they remained, minds touching, feeling what the other felt.
Then they broke apart, and his eyes opened. He stared up at Toothless in wonder. Toothless stared back with sheer joy. He needed to stand up. To move. To do something. This was far too amazing to keep still. Immediately Toothless began to unwrap himself. How had he known?
"I'm sorry Hiccup but you're like a hatchling." He felt rather annoyed at that. He was sixteen after all. "I mean that your mind is very new to this. You're broadcasting most of what you think for anyone to hear who can. You wanted to get up, and I heard you thinking so." He placed an arm on the ashy ground to lift himself up. Now that Toothless wasn't obscuring his view, he could see the moonlight raining down on the cove.
That was when he was reminded of his shoulder. As he placed pressure on it a dull ache hit his shoulder. Looking down, he saw that the material of his tunic was cleanly split around the ax wound. The wound itself was crusted over with dry blood. Odd. Astrid's throw should have nearly chopped his arm completely off. Yet he was barely impeded by the wound. He rolled his shoulder around a bit. It was a little achy but that was about it. That wasn't natural.
"Toothless. How long was I asleep?"
"You slept for about one half of your hours."
"Do you have anything to do with my shoulder's healing with no medical treatment of any kind?"
"No. I cleaned the wound as best I could but I'm no miracle worker." Great. So his shoulder was now miraculously healed, and only the gods knew why. Lovely. Suddenly he looked rapidly around.
"Where's Astrid?" Toothless was now getting to his feet, stretching as he went.
"She left just a little after you fell asleep." It would take her at least an hour to reach the village. She was probably only half way there. If he were in the village when she got back, it would discredit any wild stories of dragons and devils that she had to tell. Toothless must remain secret! If the Vikings caught even a hint of this his dragon would be in terrible danger! He was grounded without Hiccup. A downed dragon, is a dead dragon.
Toothless heaved a huge sigh behind him. "Very well if we must then we must. Come on." Toothless beckoned with his head. Hiccup ran to him and gave him a huge hug around the neck, before lifting himself into the saddle.
XXX
Astrid
Half way. She had to be half way at the very least. Hiccup. He had leapt in front of her ax. She had thrown an instrument of death straight into him. She had to tell the village. A Night Fury was nesting nearby. How else could Hiccup have known where to find it day after day? They would come out in force. The entire village would hunt this one dragon to its death. And then Hiccup would be free.
She could still feel her skin crawl as she remembered it's large forked tongue caressing the inside of Hiccup's jaw. The thing would die. One thing nagged at her though. Why hadn't the beast killed her? She had seen murder in its eyes when the ax had found Hiccup's shoulder.
Then, it had paused, glanced back at Hiccup, and brought its tail around instead for a non-lethal blow to the head. It had happened so quickly that she could not have prepared for it. It connected solidly with her skull. Now she had a goose egg on the side of her head, and she didn't feel too happy about it. No matter. It didn't change her action. She continued at a brisk pace toward the village.
XXX
Toothless
Joy engulfed him like a cloud. The time's when he was aloft with his Hiccup had served as the happiest times of his life. Now it was so much better. He could feel Hiccup's mind hovering very close to his. The only problem was that mind was full of anxiety. Ever since he had found out that the human female had set out for the village his mind was nothing but a confusing maelstrom of worry. The concern was so intense that it had even interfered with his own thoughts once or twice. All this worry was focused on him. The boy had forgotten himself completely. He had forgotten about his shoulder, about the pain. That was a concern to Toothless. His Hiccup was in constant mind numbing pain. Yet Hiccup barely spared it a thought!
He reached out and touched the boys mind. His eyes still showed him a view of the coastal cliffs over which he was flying, the trees whizzing past in a blur, and the waves crashing into the cliffs base, silver in the moonlight. But his inner eye showed him a familiar sight. A large room created of golden mist. It swirled and undulated, yet maintained the general shape of the interior of a great human hall.
He radiated feelings of calm and certainty. The Vikings were never going to touch him. He felt the boy start to relax just a bit. "Now look at it this way. No matter what happens down in that village, I will be waiting just inside the tree line. We will keep in constant contact, and we will leave at the first sign of trouble. We possess an advantage, and that is the fact that no one except Astrid is aware of me. Furthermore, not even Astrid knows that we can silently communicate. Hiccup was calmer now and he smiled slightly.
"I suppose I am over reacting just a bit. But Toothless I don't want you anywhere near the village!"
"Hiccup I refuse to argue with you. I remain in contact with you at all times or you're not going in there." His rider cast around for some kind of argument or clever comment but he came up with nothing. "Good." In the distance light could be seen above the horizon.
The village came into view. Most of the buildings were fully reconstructed and only a few still displayed signs of damage. "You humans are industrious. Like little ants running around and fixing their hill no matter how many times it gets knocked over."
"Yeah. And they think just as much too." He smiled and angled his wings for a descent to the forest. The trees rose up to meet them and then engulfed them. Their landing was far more graceful than any of their first bumbling attempts. His boy leapt out of the saddle. "Alright. You stay right here in this clearing. I will stay in the village for about half of the day, and then we can go. If nothing goes wrong anyway."
"Fine but I will be with you at all times. Now go shoo." Hiccup turned his back and started in the direction of the village with a slightly confused look over his shoulder. He leapt into a tree and secured himself from a bough by means of his tail and hung with his wings wrapping tightly around himself. The pine needles tickled and rubbed at his scales. Good he was about as well hidden as he could hope for. Keeping one eye open he cast his mind out and joined Hiccup. The hall of misty golden light shifted, and formed itself into surroundings.
XXX
Hiccup
He felt it when Toothless joined him. He felt the brush of his mind, and then things began to change. His vision blurred at first, then sharpened into an image so clear he felt as if he were seeing for the first time. The world gained a slightly bluish tinge, and the outline of each and every tree, rock, and shrub seemed to be outlined in a cyan glow. He could see details at a distance that was very disorienting. The sounds of the forest sharpened as well. He could hear the hoot of an owl that he was sure was way too far away. The close up sounds were now much louder; the sound of the rustling branches was now an impeding hiss in the air.
"Well this is different."
"What?"
"You don't see this?"
"The forest?"
"No not the... Oh never mind."
"The forest looks just as it always does Hiccup."
"Well then maybe this is just how you see.
"You know you should probably stop talking to me out loud. It will look a little odd if you walk into the village talking to yourself.
"Well hey I never really thought about that. I guess I could try…. Can you hear me?"
"Yes I can here you quite well. Now, let's go take on a village full of Vikings!"
He stepped past the last trees, and out into the open section of ground between the forest and the first houses. The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon, and he could see the first stirrings of activity. It felt very safe walking into the village with Toothless beside him. He could feel his friend's presence all around him, protective and alert. It bolstered his courage as he strode out into the streets.
He could feel Toothless examining every single detail of the village while he looked around. As the sun's light increased he made his way through the town toward the mead hall. Many of the Vikings he passed called out cheerful greetings. Hiccup could only manage a weak smile back at any of them. He found himself staring at them.
They were so… off putting. So unbalanced. They lacked what anyone could call grace. Unlike Toothless. When Toothless walked, it was like a dance. His scales reflected the light of the moon and stars, yet he could still slip into the shadows like a ghost should he desire it. Toothless was beautiful.
"Not that I'm not flattered Hiccup, but could you possibly pay just a little more attention to our path? We've gone passed that large building we were headed for." Toothless' voice had a smile in it. He blushed and reversed direction heading back towards the mead halls' door. His thoughts about Toothless had changed somewhat. Even now he could see that face before him. Perfect in every way. He shook his head and shouldered his way past the door.
Inside it was smoky and warm from the hall's cook fires. He made his way through the haze toward the large counter that served as a windowed passage to the kitchens. He took a plate of steaming cod and boiled turnips. The things were repulsive but they had to be eaten in order to maintain health. He also grabbed a flagon of mead on his way to his table. He had only started drinking the stuff in the last year or so, the taste was a little repulsive but the bracing effects got one started in the morning.
It was then that his own personal storm descended upon him. As soon as he sat down Fishlegs materialized in front of him. The twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut were next, followed by Snotlout. They were all talking at once and he remained silent. His heightened hearing was being thoroughly abused by the onslaught.
"Hiccup do these children ever stop talking? It's really quite painful."
"Sorry, one moment." He spoke. "HEY!" The four other teenagers fell silent. "I can't figure out what any of you are trying to say. One at a time please." Snotlout was the first to speak up.
"Where the heck have you been cuz! No one has seen you since you totally took out that Gronkle the day before yesterday!" Hmm. It seemed that all of a sudden Snotlout wasn't ashamed to be related to him anymore. How very convenient.
"I've been… um… Hunting. Yeah hunting. Just spending a day or two in the woods you know?"
It was clear from the looks on their faces that they most certainly did not know. But then they were so used to not having any idea what he talked about that they didn't even give his answer a second thought. They began babbling again to him and at each other about the final exam. The epic battle that would take place between him and the Monstrous Nightmare. It should be happening today but the repairs had set the village back a bit.
The teenagers were so loud. So vulgar. A horrible odor hung around most of them. He needed to escape. He left the rest of his food on his plate and quickly got up from the table and made his way toward the entrance. The morons were so busy talking about him that he didn't even notice them leave. At long last he felt fresh air again.
Then Toothless whispered, "Uh oh."
And he could see the reason for it too, or rather reasons. There on the edge of town Astrid staggered into view. Her hair was full of leaves and twigs and there were a lot of small tears in her clothing. It looked as though she'd plowed straight through a large chunk of the forest on her way here. At the same time, down by the cliffs, he could see a very familiar figure coming into view as it ascended the scaffolding. Stoick The Vast, had returned to Berk.
