Hiccup wasn't sure what was happening to him. For the last three days, the Night Fury called Toothless came to see him several times a day. He often brought meals and news of his impending fate. On the second day, after apparently noticing how bashful Hiccup was, he brought him a loincloth much like the ones Toothless and the other Draco-folk wore.
The Draco-folk, as he'd quickly learned to call them, fashioned clothes and other things from their discarded scales. Upon closer inspection of the loincloth, he could see hundreds, maybe even thousands, of scale fragments woven together in some way Hiccup couldn't begin to fathom.
The loincloth Toothless had brought him was mainly yellow, with orange spots patterned upon it and brown leather acting as a waist-liner and belt.
"This cloth is made from the scales of the Draco-folk that one knows as 'Terrible Terrors,'" Toothless said when he came in one early evening, a meal and new present in hand. This was when Hiccup was still at odds with the night-coloured dragon for the whole 'abducting him with a herd of goats and condemning him' debacle. What exactly he'd been condemned to was yet to be seen, but he'd been condemned, and that was all Hiccup cared about.
At least, he did . But then a thought intruded upon his brooding and his innate curiosity couldn't help but force him to break his silence.
"Do all dragons make their own clothes?" He'd asked, looking over his shoulder at Toothless, the white-scale tarp draped over his shoulders. He wasn't cold. It was actually quite warm every hour of the day here, reaching its peak at noon before chilling somewhat. But even the night was comfortably toasty, something Hiccup was not at all used to.
"No, this is careful, delicate process. Takes many years to learn, even more to master. But Draco-folk, not 'dragons', give their shedding to those who know these things, and they get back cloth. It last long time, is mostly undamaged by fire and very strong." He demonstrated the last property before Hiccup's own eyes by pulling on the cloth with his razor-sharp claws. Admittedly, he didn't seem to be putting his all into it, but any human-made garment would've been shredded by the action.
"This one asked for this for Hiccup, as these are the only ones this one thinks would fit that one."
Hiccup stood, doing his best to cover as much as possible with his tarp and padded his way up to Toothless. He took the loincloth without looking the other in the eye. He'd seen Hiccup naked, and that fact alone made Hiccup go pink in the cheeks whenever he was around.
"Thank you," he said in the tiniest whisper before turning around and letting the tarp fall from his shoulders. He was quick to get the cloth under his feet, wanting to be covered as soon as humanly possible. But he went too fast and fell backwards. Toothless' large, warm, hard hands were there though, gripping his upper-arms in the lightest of holds, treating Hiccup as if he'd break at the slightest rough touch. Though for someone like Toothless, that likely wasn't inaccurate.
Hiccup flushed red and wordlessly pulled the cloth up his legs and to his waist. He found he had to hold it there as it was a bit too loose. He stood there, not knowing what to do, thinking that if he were freed, he'd have to waltz around holding up his only clothing, doomed to public nakedness with even the slightest startle or need to hold something.
"It tightens," Toothless had said after a moment of silent observation followed by an instant of realisation. He got to a knee before Hiccup. His clawed fingers each took a leather knot that jutted out of the waist of the cloth, just above Hiccup's boy parts. He pulled them taut and the cloth tightened around Hiccup's waist. He knotted the threads that had come from the waist, and now the loincloth stayed firmly around Hiccup's waist.
"This is a tightening-thread. This one knows not if that one's people had thought of such a thing, yet." Toothless sat down cross-legged and pushed the tray of food he'd also brought towards Hiccup.
"No, we haven't. We have something called a belt. It's a- a piece of leather that wraps around the outside of the waist, with a buckle on the front. It does the same thing." He pulled the plate towards himself and started to pick at the roasted fish first.
The Draco-folk knew how to cook. And they cooked well. He supposed it made sense. Fire was an integral part of their biology and, he assumed, their lifestyle and culture. It made sense that they'd mastered cookery.
The fish pulled apart with the slightest prodding of his fork. It was cooked perfectly, warm right through to the centre without a single scale being overly-charred. It was cod. He'd eaten fish for nearly every supper for over a decade, what with his father being a career fisherman. Though Stoic Haddock was an exceptional seaman, a chef he was not, so Hiccup had been treated to unseasoned, un-exceptional fish dishes. Still, food was food. It was said fish was good for the brain, which he certainly was evidence for, even if only anecdotally.
Well, that was all the previous day, now, Hiccup was on his way to his trial. His gut felt like it was made of rock. He would soon find out if he was going to die or going to spend the remainder of his life imprisoned in Yggdraal.
To make matters worse, Toothless wasn't the one who came to get him. Instead, it was a Nadder, scarlet-scaled with their wyvern wings and dark amber gaze. His hands were cuffed in irons, an unnecessary step in Hiccup's opinion. Where would he run to? How would he get home? He was already trapped. The size of his cell was hardly important.
Whether he be confined to a single room or given free reign of the city hardly differed in his eyes.
In both cases, he would never see his home again.
"Where am I going?" he managed after building up the confidence to speak after a minute of walking. The Nadder simply looked over their shoulder and regarded him with a squinted gaze. His eyes shot to the ground, and he flushed red from head to chest.
He steeled himself to not say another word until spoken to. He didn't want to squander what little chance of sympathy and compassion he may yet have.
A moment later, they arrived at a pair of large stone doors flanked on either side by a pair of rocky-looking Sentinels, their scales thick and grey. Unlike the Draco-folk Hiccup had seen so far, their loincloths didn't look to be made of their own scales. They were grey, yes, but fine and thin, like the hides of the others.
Hiccup's immediate assumption was that the Sentinels' scales were too thick and unmalleable to weave into cloth. Though he didn't get to ponder the issue for much longer, as the subjects of his sporadic thoughts pushed the doors open with the soul-drumming groan of stone against stone.
Hiccup brought his hands up to block the brightness. The sun shone at high-noon, bearing down furiously against Yggdraal. His skin felt hot and, unfortunately, a lot of it was bare.
Hiccup stumbled onto a hot grey-brick path that heated the soles of his feet. His guide was unbothered by it, but for him, it hurt. He didn't say anything though, since he didn't think he'd get much pity from his guide. So far, only Toothless had shown him any semblance of kindness, and this Nadder was distinctly not Toothless.
Hiccup was led to the edge of the platform they were on, which kept him in with a guard rail taller than himself. There was a wicker basket that looked to be missing its hot-air balloon waiting for them. The Nadder hissed something at him while pointing to it. He got the message and stepped in, though flushed as the action made his cloth ride up his thigh.
The Nadder either didn't see or didn't care as they went about tying his cuffs to the edge of the basket. Then, they picked up a harness on the ground that was tethered to the four corners of the basket.
Hiccup wasn't prepared for what he saw next. The Nadder began to change. Their eyes closed, and their body went lax as their bones shifted. Their scales stretched and readjusted, pulling taut over their new shape. Their face widened as their arms broadened, their wings spreading far and wide.
He didn't look away until it was done, and the biped he'd known so far was gone, replaced by a crimson Deadly Nadder right from his textbooks.
"Whoa," he breathed. The Nadder looked at him with their draconic gaze narrowed, and he looked down red-faced, feeling like he'd just unabashedly watched someone strip and change clothes.
The Nadder took to the sky, and the basket went along with them. It was rocky at the start, but the dragon quickly smoothed their flight-pattern out, and Hiccup was actually soaring through the air like a bird, able to stand and look around without being jostled and thrown around.
He looked over the edge of the basket. His breath seized in his throat. For miles upon miles in every direction, colossal branches seemed to extend forever onwards, each with rocky islands on their ends like the one he'd just come from. He looked in the direction the branches seemed to originate from.
Hiccup's jaw went slack, and his eyes widened despite the wind beating against them. The trunk of Yggdraal was the biggest thing he'd ever seen, several times wider than even the biggest ships. Its bark was a wide variety of streaking browns, and its branches jutted out in endless supply. The mighty tree went too high for him to make out the top, even on a day as clear as this.
He thought this might be the actual Yggdrasil from legend and was currently traversing from Midgard to any of the other realms that existed on its mighty tendrils.
This wasn't even to speak of what existed on the branches themselves. Each one had what seemed like its own mini-city, with jutting buildings and colourful dots flying in and out of each. More Draco-folk, he assumed, all of whom existed in this miraculous sky-city unbeknownst to even the most learned human.
The Nadder ascended as Hiccup got lost in the imagery, unable to wipe his drying eyes but not caring. It resonated in his heart just how little he truly knew of these people. He wasn't really a dracozoologist. He merely pretended to be one, able to only gleam the barest fact. And even then, it was only what he had been allowed to know.
The scenery disappeared from his line of sight as the Nadder flew over one of the countless branched islands that made up Yggdraal. The ground on this one was a flat, smooth grey with columns surrounding the perimeter, each one topped with a statue of a Draco-folk brandishing a spear.
Then, Hiccup looked ahead and felt his gut shrink. He saw a town of grey rock ahead of him, with spired buildings and folk of varying sizes and colours flying overhead. Hiccup had to look up in awe at the colossal structure that served as the town's centerpiece. It stood taller than any building he'd seen before, with more intricacy and thought put into its making than any painting or mosaic. The sun bounced off of it, speckling the diminutive structures around it in countless dots of green. The surface looked as smooth as perfect marble, streaked and veined with varying shades of green. Depictions of Draco-folk morphed into their fully draconic form garnished the top, glowering out over the island with four shining golden eyes.
Then, the basket hit the ground, and Hiccup jolted. Waiting for him and seeming much more intimidating than the dragon overlooking the city, was a quartet of Monstrous Nightmares, each with a razor-sharp spear in hand. Two came over and took an arm each and lifted Hiccup up out of the basket. They kept hold of him as he walked along, destined for the heart of the town.
There were watchers. A lot of them. Hiccup felt all of their eyes bearing into him, wondering why this outsider was amongst them, desecrating their home and threatening their existence. They murmured their guttural language to each other in poorly hidden whispers, and their wings batted in irritation behind them. He was a spectacle, an oddity that they all wanted to gander at. They all pushed as close to the front of the crowd as possible. He didn't meet any of their eyes nor did he look around to see what species of dragons he could recognise. He felt the weight of his mortality on his shoulders as he was dragged forward through the main street, a perfectly carved path leading him to what might be his doom.
He was entering the dragon's den well and truly. That sentinel perched on top of the building wasn't going to look out for him. It would be looking for him, prepared to reduce him to cinders.
Hiccup was brought up a flight of stairs, large ones he would've had to individually climb were he not being carried. When they reached the top, he saw a pair of double doors so massive that they likely could've fit a caravel through their threshold. A pair of Gronckles pulled them open.
Hiccup was the centre of attention. For all the eyes that'd been on him outside, the ones here bore into him with scathing ferocity. These people weren't like the ravel on the streets, these were folk who knew the scope of the threat Hiccup represented. Or the threat they thought he represented.
Each of those eyes followed him, filled with fire, as he was ushered inside.
He stood, tiny but unmissable, on a red marble sun in the centre of the room. He was surrounded on all sides by Draco-folk. They were either sitting on stands, perched on ledges or hanging from the ceiling. But there was uniformity to them. They were stratified from left to right, starting with more armoured, larger folk, then large but lithe, lithe and medium sized, and so on, until it got to the small but notably fierce Terrible Terrors. He was immediately able to tell for whom his loincloth had been fashioned. Their colours and statures made them the only candidates.
"Hiccup?"
Hiccup jumped. Toothless stood there, large and dark, with his soft green eyes, razor sharp claws and silvery strands of hair cascading down his neck. He hadn't really noticed that before. He must've tied back before. He blushed when he realised he was staring and moved his attention to the ground.
"Hi." He started to tremble, certain that he was mere moments away from being sentenced to death. "What are you…here for?"
"To speak in that one's defence. These ones haven't many who can speak that one's tongue. This one is also entrenched and responsible for that one's being here, so this one must also be held accountable before the High Scales." Toothless spoke quietly, having gotten to a knee to speak to Hiccup eye-to-eye. "Those ones are not unreasonable. They will be fair to that one."
Hiccup looked behind him. On a high dais sat five chairs, each of varying height and width. The foremost one looked small enough to be able to seat Hiccup comfortably. The remaining four looked like they were made for someone of Toothless' size or bigger.
Then, a pitched screech tore through the air. Light poured in from above as the high ceiling opened. Five shapes flew in, and Hiccup could only stare. These must be the High Scales Toothless mentioned. In the five, he made out a green and blue Terrible Terror, a russet-scaled Stormcutter, a violet Thunderclaw, a teal Sliquifier, and lastly, a species Hiccup didn't recognise at first. They were as pure white as Toothless was black, and the more he looked, the more he realised they were a palette-swapped version of a Night Fury.
The five all descended onto the dais from on high as if they owned the sky itself, gliding with precision and grace. Every other Draco-folk in the room averted their eyes. A strong hand pushed Hiccup's head forward, so he was forced to look away, too. When the hand pulled away, the five dragons had been replaced with five humanoids.
The Terror took the foremost seat. The Light Fury, as he just dubbed it, and the Sliquifier took the two seats to the immediate left and right respectively. The Thunderclaw and Stormcutter took the ends.
The Stormcutter let out a cry, and all chatter and whispers echoing through the theatre flickered to a halt.
"The High-Scaled one just bid those and these ones be silent." Hiccup flinched. In his maelstrom of thought, he forgot Toothless was right behind him.
The Terrible Terror stood and started to grunt, growl, click and trill their throat. They also gesticulated, the small, clawed hands and wings batting and waving in tandem with their words.
"The High-Scaled one is telling why this diet has convened, who that one is, why that one is here, and how those ones and these ones will debate your fate." Hiccup repressed the urge to shudder and collapse. It seemed that he would be getting a fair trial, at least. He supposed he ought to be grateful for that.
The Terrible Terror went on, and Toothless translated. There was a traditional prayer spoken, a declaration of the fairness of the upcoming diet, and finally, an open question asking if anyone wished to step forward in the defence or offence of Hiccup. Toothless raised his wings high when the chance came to put himself forward for defence. But he wasn't the only one, much to Hiccup's surprise. A Terrible Terror stood from the crowd, their wings raised. Their scales were a deep, burnt orange flecked with black, they had a spiky nest of crimson hair on their head and a black cloth around their hips.
They flew from the stand and took a place to the left of the dais the High Scales sat on. Hope fluttered in Hiccup's gut for a moment, thinking that he would have two Draco-folk here to defend him with not a single ounce of opposition.
That notion was quickly quashed when the Light Fury stood from their seat and descended to the right side of the dais. He gulped and looked back at Toothless, whose piercing green eyes were bearing into the ground, his jaw set like granite and a scowl furrowing his face. He realised that Hiccup was looking at him and softened his expression.
That set a vomit-inducing feeling into Hiccup's gut.
The Terror addressed the assembly briefly again and sat. Toothless told him that the opportunity to step forward has passed. Then the Stormcutter stood, standing at over twice the height of the Terror, their russet scales making them look like an ancient automaton. Hiccup couldn't help but gaze in wonder. Then, his eyes met the Stormcutter's. They looked at each other for just an instant, but Hiccup could've sworn that the High Scale winked at him.
The Stormcutter started to speak in his deep and guttural milieu, his words bouncing around the theatre. Then, Toothless whispered in his ear.
"That High-Scaled one is announcing that that one is to be given a chance to speak in that one's own defence, and that that one is not to be interrupted."
Then, the High-Scale looked at him and seemed to speak to him.
"That one has just been offered a brief recess to consult with the defence."
Hiccup looked up at the Stormcutter, gulped, and took a single step forward.
"Y-Yes," he announced, trying to make his own voice travel as far as the High-Scales' had. It didn't work, and his voice, instead, cracked. He looked down, red from ear to chest as he heard unmistakable snickers from the assembly.
The Stormcutter raised a hand and there was silence. They then nodded and gestured towards the left side of the dais. The orange Terror was waiting there, ready.
"Hello," they said in a hushed whisper, sounding much more confident with the speech than Toothless did. "My name is Ember, and we need to be brief," Ember said, putting one hand on Hiccup's shoulder and the other on Toothless' hip. "Firstly, if you are wondering why I've come up in your defence, it is because I am an anthropologist. I study humans, much like your kind study mine, and have never had the chance to actually meet one before now."
Hiccup looked at Ember wide-eyed. He hadn't ever considered the idea that he had counterparts among the Draco-folk, and, frankly, he didn't know how to feel about it. He supposed he had to be okay with it, considering he was a dracozoologist. It'd be hypocritical to take issue with Ember's profession.
"And you want to keep me around to study me." It wasn't a question, Hiccup could tell that Ember was interested in him as a specimen or a case study. He'd take it, it wasn't like he had any other means of making friends.
"Yes, and if speculation and rumours are to be believed, you were studying us when you were," Ember paused, their black eyes, flecked with burning red, darted left and right as if they were bashful. "Taken."
Hiccup wrang his hands and nodded.
"Well then, consider this an opportunity for us both. I can learn about humans from you, and you can learn about the Draco-folk from us. Toothless is already prepared to be responsible for you if things go well." Ember's eyes darted past Hiccup. He followed the gaze and swallowed. The Light Fury looked as fierce as Toothless, with black claws tipping their digits and platinum locks waving down their shoulders.
Hiccup looked to Ember, whose eyes were still locked onto their High Scale opposition. Then, Ember shook their head, crimson hair bouncing side to side.
"Snowfall will try to give a scathing argument against you, but her argument will be based purely on emotion. Anthro-folk and Draco-folk haven't had a meaningful interaction in decades, and you differ in appearance to the ones we've had past conflict with. If we speak carefully and emphasise your willingness to cooperate, cohabitate peacefully, and learn about us for the sake of knowledge and not warfare, we can achieve the best outcome."
Hiccup watched Ember's mouth as they spoke, not wanting to miss a syllable. Then, he clicked that Ember referred to Snowfall as "her". Not once had Toothless referred to anybody by a specific pronoun. He dared another glance over his shoulder at the High Scale. She was certainly beautiful, her tail swatting with grace and her posture poised and elegant, with a white cloth around her waist that was trimmed in black.
But she didn't look like any "she" that Hiccup had met before. Her chest was as flat and as rock-solid looking as Toothless', as were her abdomen, arms and legs. She looked as masculine as the Night Fury next to him, perhaps with slightly more shapely hips.
He decided not to question it. If he lived, there'd be time for that later.
"What should I say? Or do?" Hiccup asked. Sweat dripped down his temples and underarms. He thought of debating Snowfall, and it sent tremors down his spine. His mind was going back and forth. Snowfall looked stony and ready to blast him, her brow furrowed, her nostrils flared and her tail making sweeping motions across the floor. He felt Toothless' large hand on his back. He looked up at him and was met with a warm smile.
His heart fluttered, and, for an instant, it felt like everything would end up okay. Determination blazed in the Night Fury's eyes. Hiccup tried to reflect it but couldn't muster the will. He just shot him a weak smile back while refocusing his attention on Ember.
"Do not say anything strange or antagonistic. Keep your words safe, simple and above all, friendly. Harpoon of the High Scales knows enough of your tongue to get the general idea of what you'll be saying." Ember motioned towards the teal Sliquifier who was currently resting their chin on their fist, looking bored but maintaining a razor-sharp gaze.
"You could say that he is the most neutral of them all. He is moderate and tends to not take hard sides. He goes along with what his district decides, and they are a fickle folk. That means Harpoon is as well."
More burning questions seared into Hiccup's brain. He wanted to know what districts Ember was talking about. He wanted to know what hard sides there were and how the High Scales were selected. If he lived he knew his time would be completely occupied with him learning everything he could about this society. It was so alien from his own that every little thing seemed like a new, ground-breaking discovery.
"So, be careful what I say, got it. Anything else?"
"Yes, when you are addressing the High Scales directly, which you must do while giving your defence, you must remove your loincloth."
Ember said this as if it were just a little caveat, an afterthought that didn't warrant bringing up any earlier. Hiccup flushed a deep crimson and his hands started to nervously wring the hem of his only clothing. Ember's brows furrowed. Then his eyes widened.
"Oh, yes. Right. Humans are very secretive about their bodies when not in the home. Well, I'm sorry to say but there is nothing that can be done for it. When facing the High Scales one must show that they have nothing to hide, refusing to do so would be damning for your case and give Snowfall every chance she would want to have you…" They trailed off, their wings drooping.
Hiccup looked up to Toothless, who gave him a solemn nod. Hiccup was embarrassed of his body at the best of times. Even in his own home he wouldn't be naked unless it was to bathe. His own father hadn't seen his bare body since he was ten. The times his trousers would be taken down for a spanking didn't count.
"There's nothing you can do?" he asked, his voice pleading, his eyes watering. Ember shook their head, their crimson fire locks waving as they did.
"Nothing. It is an immutable custom."
Hiccup nodded, his heart feeling like it was being crushed between a pair of rocks. He wouldn't be shocked if his kneecaps popped out at any second.
Then, Ember went through the line-up of the High Scales. He was expected to address them each by name during the defence. The Terrible Terror was named August, the current chancellor of the High Scales. Then, there was Harpoon and Snowfall, the Sliquifier and Light Fury, and Cloudjumper and Bolt-Cutter, the Stormcutter and Thunderclaw.
Each had a single vote, except for the chancellor, who would have a second vote in the event of a tie, which could happen if another High Scale abstained or was deemed to have a conflict of interest.
Ember's voice tickled Hiccup's ear during this broad explanation. His eyes darted up and down their body as they went through the formal addresses he'd need to use with the High-Scales. Since he didn't have wings, Ember simulated them with their arms instead.
Hiccup then clapped his hands over his ears as a cry rang through them. He looked up at the dais, where Cloudjumper seated himself again after silencing the theatre. Then, August stood and started to speak in Draco-tongue.
Toothless whispered in Hiccup's ear. "That High Scaled one is announcing the official beginning of that one's trial and is announcing that all recesses are done."
Snowfall got the chance to speak first. She stepped forward, her wings beating and sending gusts of wind in their direction. Toothless and Ember didn't balk, but Hiccup did take a step back. She pinned him with an icy gaze that froze the cold sweat running down his back.
As she spoke, Toothless gave him the play-by-play. Humans are dangerous, they are wicked, they have hurt the Draco-folk, they will hurt the Draco-folk if given the chance. They couldn't take the risk of letting a human stay within their midst lest he learn all their secrets and report back to his own kind. She purported the risks of invasion, the potential destruction of their home and the annihilation of their way of life.
Hiccup couldn't deny that her accusations weren't unfounded. Human history was a tapestry of wars and disputes painted by blood. But that wasn't him, that's what he'd have to show everyone if he wanted to live and learn about this society. And if step one of that was getting naked in front of over a hundred strangers, then so be it.
Snowfall went back to her place to the right of dais. Now it was his turn. Ember put a hand on his shoulder, squeezed it, and told him that they would lay the bedrock for his argument. Toothless translated. It was only now that Hiccup wished he'd been given more time to prepare. He would've stood a better chance had he learned a script or had more time to learn of the Draco-folk's customs.
But he only had minutes, and he would have to make do.
Ember stepped back. Now, it was his turn. Toothless held out his hands, his eyes darting down to the cloth, Hiccup's only dignity. He flushed red despite his steeled nerves. He pulled on the drawstring, undoing it. He caught the waist of the cloth before they fell down to his ankles but only caught the front. The back of it slipped down, and his ass was on display.
His hands trembled, and he wished that the floor would swallow him. It showed no signs of doing so. Thankfully, Toothless was there to give him a kind smile and a friendly look. It wasn't a lot, but it went a long way.
Hiccup lowered his only garment down to his ankles and stepped out of it. He cupped one hand over his bits and handed the cloth to Toothless. He went as crimson as Ember's hair from ear to chest. He could feel every pair of eyes on him, each pair drilling holes into his naked body, observing him and taking away his dignity.
Ember took his hand and shook their head with an understanding but firm smile.
"I can't have anything to hide."
Ember was the one to translate for him it seemed. It made sense considering how much better at his tongue they were than Toothless. They led him back to the centre of the theatre, back to the red marble sun in the centre of the room. From that spot, he was unmissable.
Murmurings echoed through the assembly, and all Hiccup could do was look down, tears ready to fall as he trembled. His toes curled and he held Ember's hand in a vice-like grip. Was this meant to humiliate him? He wanted to think so, but the more he thought about it, the more he had to accept that it was a tradition that likely didn't bother most Draco-folk. Ember even pointed out that they forgot that humans were bashful, the implication being that Draco-folk were not. So, what was a customary sign of respect for them was unimaginable indignation for him.
"Hiccup," Ember whispered, giving his hand a reciprocal squeeze. "You must speak."
Hiccup nodded and gulped. He let go of the Terrible Terror's hand and balled his fists by his sides. He kept his eyes down as he got to one knee and bowed his head. "Ho-Honourable High Scales," His voice cracked. "Th-Thank you for granting, granting me, an outsider, a fair trial." He heard Ember's guttural moans and orations, hopefully cleaning up any mistakes he made that Harpoon didn't catch.
"Honourable Cloudjumper, Honourable Bolt-Cutter, Honourable-Harpoon, Honourable Snowfall," His head turned and bowed to the party arguing for his death. "And Honourable Chancellor August," He spread his arms high and wide, his fingers splayed, mimicking the spread of wings a Draco-folk would usually do in his position. "Let the Justice of Yggdraal be true."
He looked to Ember. They nodded and gestured subtly that it was okay to stand.
"I stand before you now to tell you that-" He wasn't allowed to get any farther than that by Bolt-Cutter, who interrupted him with a bored growl and narrowed gaze.
"He's asking why your genitals are unsheathed in this formal setting." Ember whispered, not meeting his eyes when his head snapped to look at them. Hiccup fumbled and stumbled over his words, not able to form anything coherent for Ember to translate.
"That's uh, that's just, um…" His whole body heated up and felt like he was melting from the inside out. He was far from prepared for a question like that. He was expecting to have to defend his right to live, not his junk! They were the ones who insisted he be naked for this!
Cloudjumper spoke up for him, looking across at Bolt-Cutter and explaining things to him in a way that an adult would address a curious child. Bolt-Cutter snarled at the tone and sat back in his seat and waved for Hiccup to proceed.
"Honourable Cloudjumper just explained to Honourable Bolt-Cutter that humans are mammals and that their genitals are permanently on the outside of their bodies, like the animals we poach from the surface."
This explanation didn't make Hiccup's blush disappear. If anything it made that tingling sensation that'd been building in his member to intensify to an unignorable level now. But he would not get hard here. Biology be damned, he was not getting an erection in public while naked and on trial.
"Y-Yes, as I was saying, Honourable High Scales, I stand before you to tell you that I am no threat to you or any of the Draco-Folk of Yggdraal." Ember translated for him. "I am, I am a scholar, and me coming here was an accident," he said, swallowing a lump in his throat. Finding the right words to say was immensely difficult given how many eyes he could feel bearing into his bare body. Not a single angle was spared.
"If you are a scholar, what were you studying?" August asked and Ember translated.
"I, uh- I was studying…you." Many eyes narrowed at him, and it made that sickening tingling sensation increase. He tried to picture his own fiery death to make it stop. "Humans think a lot of wrong things about the Draco-Folk," he continued, fighting back tears as he felt the glares. "I know we think these things by your design and for your safety, but even with what little bit you've let us know, I've always had a reverence and respect for your kind!" He put a hand over his heart, which felt like it was ready to free itself from his ribcage.
"Even since I was small, well, smaller, a child, I've always been interested in learning about dragons: about how you fly, how you produce fire, how you organise yourselves and how you live! And I had this passion when I thought dragons were little more than animals. But now that I know you're more than that, so much more, more than I ever even thought you could be, my respect, my reverence, my passion and my thirst for knowledge have grown a hundred-fold!" He took a breath, not realising that as he spoke from the heart, he noticed the looks less and less. Ember seemed to be doing a good job of translating as he was seeing several softer looks in the crowd.
"Please, let me live. Let me live here, and I promise I will be nothing but the perfect citizen! I will do whatever I have to. Whatever you need of me! I swear I will never try to contact my own people or let them know where Yggdraal is. I will live happily here if you let me, and I will dedicate my life to learning about you, about your society, your history, your culture. All of it. And not so I can use it for anything, but because I want to know for myself the depth and extent of your kind!" Hiccup was out of breath. Ember was working hard to translate what he was saying, continuing for a few sentences after he stopped talking.
The High Scales shared some looks amongst themselves, as did the assembly.
"How old are you?" August asked.
"Fourteen." He answered, feeling every bit the barely pubescent boy he was. He had only the tiniest bit of hair under his arms and above his cock, and none on his chest or balls. As for those, well, they hadn't gotten much of the memo saying that it was time to start being a man, barely dangling from his body. At least his member had gotten the message a bit, deciding to not completely shame him into a being considered nothing but a child. Though, it was only by a little.
His answer caused some murmurings, and, after directly asking Ember a question, they seemed to come to a conclusion. At least, that's what he thought when August nodded. The Terror spoke directly to Hiccup, and Ember translated in his ear.
"Your heartfelt testimony will be taken on board. Now, it is time for the rest of the defence to speak."
Hiccup had forgotten that both Ember and Toothless would be given the chance to testify in his defence. He hoped that he'd set some sort of sympathetic bedrock for his only allies to build upon.
He stood next to Toothless, still naked, with his hands clenching and unclenched by his side as the Night Fury kneeled next to him and translated everything Ember was saying. The orange Terror's argument basically boiled down to how Hiccup's presence was a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them to learn about humans and how of all humans to end up in Yggdraal it was an academic who was sympathetic to them. They argued that it was fate and needed to capitalise on this chance for furthering their knowledge.
The High Scales accepted this, and then, it was Toothless' turn to speak. Ember stood next to him, their hand in his, his loincloth in the Terror's other hand. He found himself wondering why he was the only one required to be naked for this process and came to the assumption that it was because he was the core subject of the trial.
Ember translated Toothless' argument as it was spoken. Toothless was talking about how this whole situation was his own fault, how he was the captain in charge of the hunt at the time and how it was his own responsibility. He argued that it was unjust to execute a human so young and so intelligent for a mistake that was barely his own. Toothless argued that had this happened barely a year ago, Hiccup would be considered a hatchling by human standards and asked the assembly to consider whether they'd dole out capital punishment on a Draco-folk of equivalent age for simply getting caught up in another's mistake.
He spoke more brazenly than Ember, but it seemed to not be an issue. The High Scales didn't seem to take issue with his tone, at least.
The High Scales dismissed Toothless from the marble sun. They spoke in hushed whispers amongst themselves for several minutes. The whole time Hiccup had a hand taken by both Ember and Toothless. It dawned on him that they too were at risk. He didn't know what speaking for a lost defence got one in Draco-folk courts, but part of him felt like he didn't want to know.
The sun was slightly lower in the sky by the time the High Scales turned away from each other. Hiccup's heart pounded and sweat poured from every inch of his body.
"The Scales have weighed, and a decision has been reached," August said. Again, Ember translated. "The human, Hiccup Haddock, shall be released into the custody of former Captain of the Hunt, Toothless of Clan Blacktail who hatched in Vedrfolnir. The human will be on probation until the Summer Solstice, at which point a final decision will be mandated by the assembly and High Scales. Until that point, the human will be free to do as his Custodian allows. This assembly is convened."
Hiccup would've fallen on his ass had Toothless not put a hand on his lower back. He was going to live! Well, he was going to live for another eight months, but that was a start!
"This is good!" Ember exclaimed. "So very good! It is rare for probations to end in anything less than acquittal. So long as you don't murder anybody, things will be fine!"
"This one hopes that that one-" Toothless started but caught himself. " I hope you don't mind living with…me?" He looked to Ember who nodded in approval.
"No, not at all." Hiccup reached up and wrapped his arms around Toothless' neck and let loose the tears that'd been threatening to spill all day. He had a chance! A solid chance at living! Not only living but living with dragons and learning everything there was to learn about them.
He felt Toothless' arms wrap around him and lift him off the ground. His slumped into the dragon's hold, unable to support himself anymore. The adrenaline of wondering if he was gonna live or die faded away, and, suddenly, leaving Toothless' arms was the last thing he was going to do.
"Let's go home, Hiccup."
