Ok so this chapter isn't as long as I would like it, but it does what it needs to do. Anyway, I got an awesome set of reviews for 13, which helped me along in my creative process to create this chapter! So keep those reviews flowin! Now go read, it's more interesting than listening to me ramble.
Chapter 14
Stoic
It was a disaster. Hiccup had been injured, the ring had been heavily damaged, and every single captive dragon they had owned was gone. Escaped through the hole in the chain barrier. There were reports of them flying eastward. One of each common breed. Most of the villagers had already gone back to their knew houses. A few remained behind with Stoic and Gobber. A few were crawling over the rubble created by the first explosion. What was not clear, was how the vile creatures had escaped from there kennels! Each and every door locking mechanism had been disengaged. Not destroyed, or even damaged as one would expect from a dragon attack, but merely unlocked, as if the beast had waltzed through hole and simply flipped the levers! The beasts couldn't be that smart!
"What do ye make of it Gobber?"
"Something flipped the levers."
"Would you happen to have any thoughts as to what?" He heard some of his stress and annoyance slip into his voice.
"I personally would point my hook at the Night Fury that blew that hole in the ring."
"What?"
"Well what did you think it was Stoic? Only a Night Fury shoots those kindo' fire balls. The Gronkle's is similar but I don't think a Gronkle ever blew blue fire."
He hadn't even noticed the fire that caused the damage. Why was there a Night Fury on Berk in broad daylight? There was no reason for it to be here.
Wait..
"Someone get Astrid. Bring her to my house." And with those words, he turned, and strode haughtily from the ring.
XXX
Hiccup
The clearing was completely empty. The sun was just beginning to set, and the shadows were long and deep. A midsized doe came limping through the trees. Toothless had said that the injured ones were the best to target, that way you didn't take away any of the herds potential to multiply. If you wanted to stay fed, you needed a food source that grew. Fish was great, but despite all the physical changes he had adjusted to, he found he still needed diversity in his diet.
"Relax. Stop thinking so much."
"How in the hells am I supposed to stop thinking?"
"Would you like me to help?
"If you think it will help, I guess."
He felt a jolt. Then there was a rushing in his head. Thoughts were moving, very fast. All the thoughts, emotions, feelings, the very substance that made up Toothless' portion of their mind, began to rush outwards. Eventually, there was nothing left of Toothless in his mind. But he could still sense him. All around. It was as if Toothless had broken off from, and surrounded, his mind. Then he felt a prick. It was as if Toothless had jabbed him, hard. Then, he felt one of his thoughts, disappear. Well, not disappear exactly, rather it had flown away. It had followed Toothless. No, Toothless had pulled it away. Then another winked out, and another. Parts of his mind were beginning to disappear. At first he was shocked, afraid! What was happening? Then that was gone too. He didn't feel anxious, or worried, or angry, or even hungry. He simply felt calm. His vision began to darken around the edges.
The doe held his total attention. It had stopped now, near the center of the clearing. He heard the crunch of grass stalks from between the mammal's jaws, as if his head were a few inches from the teeth. He could smell the animalistic, musty odor that emanated from its fur. He was downwind, completely unknown. Slowly, very slowly, his knees began to compress. It was now, or never.
He leapt. The ground fell away and he was flying between the boughs of the nearest trees. As he reached the highest point in the arc his body had generated, the doe's head snapped upwards. He began descending. The doe's feet slowly started to react. Behind the doe he saw Toothless, hanging from one of the trees with his eyes scrunched shut. His body contacted the doe. He threw his arm around its neck and used the momentum of his leap to pull it to the ground. He landed on top of it. The poor creatures legs were kicking and flailing, as it made it's wild, final, attempts at life. He could feel the beat of life through his arms within the creatures neck. His eyes located the exact point. He bit down, and tore upwards. A horrible screech of pain emanated from the thing's ragged throat. He reached out and grabbed the head, and twisted savagely. The doe fell limp.
Toothless dropped from the tree. In an instant, the dragon's mind fell inwards upon Hiccup's and they violently recombined. Thoughts and emotions raged through both of them. Hiccup felt the doe fall from his hands as he rolled over and curled up, trying to keep the maelstrom in his head from tearing him apart. His head felt as though there were small hot coals bouncing around inside. Toothless wasn't faring much better. He was crouched on the ground with all of his appendages, including his tail, clenched up against his body. Eventually, the tangle began to sort itself out. Toothless was the first to recover. He stood and paced to Hiccup's side.
"I'm sorry. I wasn't careful enough. I lost concentration for an instant, and my control slipped." Hiccup felt Toothless' nose rest on the left shoulder of his tightly curled body. That one point of connection allowed him to orient, and begin to find himself in the swirling mind that he shared with Toothless. After a few minutes, he was able to unfold. Slowly he raised his head. "That was well done if it was any consolation. I couldn't have done better myself."
"Maybe not, but you would have been able to do it without removing the majority of your mind." Toothless gurgled out a loud dragon laugh.
"Or could I? Hiccup that's exactly what I do when I hunt. I separate the distractions in my mind, and push them to the back. That leaves only the parts I need for hunting. The only difference between your hunting and mine, is the fact that you needed help. Now you can practice and soon, you'll be able to do it yourself. Hiccup glanced down at the doe.
"It's getting cold. We should eat while it's fresh. You first. No, no I insist." Toothless stepped forward and opened the beast's side with a quick movement of his claw. He reached through the hole he had created with his spade shaped nose and began to bite and tear at the organs within. Hiccup stepped around to the other side of the doe and pull his belt knife from it's sheath. Toothless raised an eyebrow from across their meal.
"You managed to pick that up too?"
"I think I ran faster than I have in my entire life."
"I didn't want to give you that mark though. If I had been off for even a tiny bit, I could have blinded your eye."
"But you weren't. And I'm not. So let's just move on. Actually, I rather like it."
"Like it?" Toothless' thoughts were incredulous.
"Yeah. It's distinctive. He used his knife to slice open the other side of the doe. He began to tear and cut the muscle away with his hands and blade, transferring each new piece into his mouth. Blood was everywhere. It separates me from them."
"Them being Vikings."
"Yes. And if this shiny, hard stuff is anything to judge by, It's going to be scales soon too."
"Well let me tell you, you're one of the most attractive Vikings I've ever seen." Hiccup raised his eyebrow.
"You've found other Vikings attractive before?"
"… huh. I guess not. Allow me to rephrase, you're the most attractive human I've ever laid eyes on. Hiccup laughed.
"Much better."
XXX
Stoic
As the sun began to sink towards the horizon, Stoic the Vast was grumbling to himself. The boy had been doing wonderfully. He had lasted more than a minute without a single weapon or scrap of armor! Then the damned Night Fury had interrupted him. It had to be the same. A black dragon whose image wasn't in the dragon manual. That had to be it. There was a Night Fury running around in the forests of Berk. It had been smart enough to open the arena, blind every human in the area, release every dragon in the ring, and it had given Hiccup a parting mark when it left! The boy would have a scar, straight as a ship's mast, for the rest of his life. That wasn't so bad. Few others had ever born such a scar on their face. It would be a source of awe on the part of others, and pride in him. He could see his house now.
It seemed dark. Perhaps Hiccup had gone to bed. Odd, he was sleeping an awful lot these days. Well, that was to be expected with all of the action he was part of now! The boy was finally becoming a Viking! He stepped inside. The house was cold. Strange, Hiccup usually lit a fire when he was in the house alone. Then he felt a breeze. He squinted into the darkness in the direction the air was flowing. The back door was open. He opened it and stepped through.
And almost fell over Astrid. The girl was sitting on the back porch, starring off into the forest. When Stoic bumped her, she didn't even flinch. She just sat and starred into the distance.
"Astrid?" No response. "Astrid what in the name of Thor's shaggy beard are you starrin at?"
"Hiccup."
"Hiccup?"
"Dragon."
"Astrid you are making absolutely no sense."
"The dragon took Hiccup."
Silence.
"What, did, you, say?"
"The dragon. I saw it. Out there in the tree's. Then Hiccup walked into the woods. It grabbed him. Took him away."
"When!"
Astrid said nothing for a full minute, and then;
"I know where it will be."
"You do?"
"I know where it sleeps."
Stoic ran back through the house, knocking his chair over as he went. He burst through the front door. Jumping down from the step he looked around wildly, spotting Gobber making his way back towards the smithing stall.
"OI!" Gobber turned. "Get everyone you can together! Anyone who's able bodied and thirsty for revenge! We know where the Night Fury is!" Gobber's eyes popped wide. He turned and took off limping through the village.
"Eh! Up an' at em you buncha lazys! We're goin dragon hunting!"
XXX
Hiccup
The sea breeze was cool and soothing. The salt in the air was a pleasant shock to his lungs. The grass was soft beneath his feet. He could feel it reaching upwards as he rubbed it between his toes. The sun was sinking into the ocean. An amazing collection of colors spilled across the sky. Footfalls resonated through the ground. He was back. Finally.
The foot falls became more intense, and then stopped. "About time you got back." A large mass descended above his head. Toothless' head curled over his shoulder and pressed against his chest. He felt himself fall backwards against the massive and scaly wall behind him. The warmth spread through his bare back and eliminated the tiny amount of chill that had existed in the tip of his nose. The world loses interest when your off. Where did you go anyway?
"I forgot to bury the bones. The last thing we want is a hoard of scavengers swarming all over the place. We live here after all." Hiccup's eyes widened. We. Here. We live here. We as one, call a place home. It was an amazing feeling. He had never truly called the village home. He had spent so many days away from that place, slipping into the forest. It had become a sanctuary. Temporary at best, but still, he had needed it. Now with Toothless here, it seemed, permanent. He could stay here. With Toothless. Forever.
Suddenly the suns light disappeared. He hadn't even realized he'd closed his eyes. Now with the light gone, they popped open. His gaze was met with a barrier of scale. Toothless had brought his wings forward, passed his shoulders, and surrounding his own head, along with Hiccup. He turned, and took one step back, placing his back against the membrane of Toothless' wings. Before him, two orbs of emerald fire were revealed, floating in the darkness. His eyes felt hot, as if he were about to cry.
He heard Toothless take in a sharp breath. "Hiccup, look." And there was an image in his head. A second pair of orbs floating in the darkness, glowing with light, though these were a different shade of green, darker. They were smaller as well, but there were still shaped the same. The shapes within the orbs were oblong, tall and thin.
"Is that, me?" The larger orbs grew even larger, and Hiccup felt something brush against his face.
"That's you." He leaned into the contact. Toothless' face was so familiar to him. As his cheek passed over ridge and smooth space alike, he was able to picture it exactly through the darkness. Almost as if he had been lead there by forces beyond his knowledge, he found his lips pressed against those of Toothless.
His eyes widened. Last night, he had been in the clutches of instinct. Now, he was fully in control. He stayed there for a long time feeling the tiny scales slide between his lips. Toothless seemed to be frozen. The dragon did not move a muscle. He was waiting, watching, observing. He wanted to know what Hiccup would do. Almost without thought, slid one hand down Toothless' neck until it rested on his shoulder. Then, his tongue slipped shyly out, and tasted the scales of a Night Fury.
It was the same strange paradox as his scent. Sour, and yet sweet at the same time. Then the taste intensified. His tongue, had met it's counterpart. At first, they curled around each other, simply content to finally meet. Then they began to dance. One would make a move, and the other would reply in turn. Sometimes they were coy, other times bold. One would make a playful flick, or stroke of the other, and then dart back before the other could respond. Then, something clicked into place. Hiccup felt his tongue, slide into the split of Toothless'. The twin prongs of Toothless' tongue quickly rotated and wrapped themselves securely about Hiccup's.
Something triggered inside Hiccup. He could feel a tingling in his shoulder. The left one. Where Toothless had marked him, claimed him, made him his. Heat flooded through Hiccup's body. Pure, undiluted fire burned within him. The constant drumming pain tripled in intensity. Then he moved his head to the side. Soon he had moved so far that his tongue broke it's embrace with Toothless'. Instead, it ranged out along the lines of Toothless' face, tracing each and every detail. Toothless began to thrum, deep in his throat, especially as Hiccup traced over the eyeridge.
"Hiccup." The boy paused. "before this goes any farther, let's go back to the cove." Hiccup thought about it for a fraction of a second. The cove had a readymade bed of soft fluffy ashes.
Hiccup nodded.
