Who's the Cutest Reptile?
The relationship between Toothless and Sharpshot was complicated. One day, the two dragons would get along just fine. But then the next day, the two would be screeching and howling at each other and Sharpshot would throw flames in Toothless' direction for the next four hours. Hiccup would always intervene when the arguments got too intense, and then the two would go back to mutually respecting each other.
Of course, Toothless knew Hiccup liked him more. It was obvious since Hiccup carried Sharpshot around in a bag. Toothless got to walk beside his rider. His rider could ride him! What could Sharpshot do that could top the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself? Toothless smirked to himself. Sharpshot could never top a Night Fury.
Toothless' ears perked up at the sound of the door opening. He bounded downstairs, his tongue lolling out of his mouth to greet his rider, but skidded to a stop when he saw Sharpshot in Hiccup's arms. Hiccup had a huge smile on his face.
"Hey, Bud!" said Hiccup. "We were just training out in the woods a while ago with the others."
Toothless was staring at Sharpshot, who was currently nuzzling in Hiccup's chest. Hiccup laughed and petted the small dragon's head.
"He's tired," said Hiccup. He gave the dragon another pat on the head. "Aren't you just the cutest thing?"
Toothless' jaw dropped. What did his rider say? Did he just call Sharpshot cute?
Profanity!
Toothless frowned and glared at the Terrible Terror as Hiccup walked upstairs to his loft. Sharpshot shifted and faced Toothless, a mocking expression on his face. Toothless growled. How dare he!
"Come on, Bud," said Hiccup. "We have to get ready for bed. Tomorrow we're doing flight training."
Toothless smiled and began to walk upstairs. Flight training was always just him and Hiccup along with the other Dragon Riders. The humans never brought their Terrible Terrors during those exercises. Sharpshot would be stuck at home. All alone. Perfect.
"You know what?" said Hiccup as he unstrapped his prosthetic. "Why don't we do flight training with the Terrible Terrors too?"
Toothless choked on his fire. What?
"I think it would be beneficial," said Hiccup. "The dragons need to work as a team in case the rider gets separated from them."
Toothless shook his head vehemently. No, no, no!
"I'm glad you agree," said Hiccup. He yawned and then blew out the candle. "Goodnight, Toothless!"
Toothless watched as his rider fell asleep. What the Thor? He was shaking his head no! Sharpshot couldn't come to flight training. Sharpshot wasn't cute. Toothless was the favorite, not Sharpshot. Period.
Toothless walked up to Hiccup's bedside and was about to slide his head under Hiccup's arm to sleep with him when then Terrible Terror suddenly flew down, batted at Toothless' face, and snuggled next to Hiccup. The young viking snuggled into the dragon and Sharpshot smirked at Toothless.
Toothless growled back. Oh, it was on.
…
"Okay, did everyone bring their Terrible Terrors?" asked Hiccup. The Dragon Riders were currently standing on top of a sea stack just a few ways away from Berk. Everyone nodded.
"Could you explain the instructions one more time, Hiccup?" asked Fishlegs. "Iggy, Meatlug, and I just want to make sure we do everything right."
Hiccup nodded. "Sure. First, have your Terrible Terror fly beside as you do simple maneuvers in the air. Then, fly through the forest on the island down there and shoot at the targets that are set up. Both your riding dragon and Terror have to shoot the targets together in order to complete the exercise."
"Let's get on with it already!" shouted Snotlout. "I need this guy off my arm!"
The purple Terror only bit down harder and Snotlout screamed in pain.
"Ah, the sound of Snotlout's scream is music to my ears," said Tuffnut.
"He sounds like a girl," cackled Ruffnut. "Do it again! Bite harder!"
"Come on, you guys," said Astrid. She mounted Stormfly with Sneaky flying beside her. "We have to start the exercise now!"
The Dragon Riders mounted their Dragons, their Terrible Terrors flying beside them.
"Everyone ready?" asked Hiccup. When everyone nodded Hiccup shouted, "GO!"
The Dragon Riders took off, starting with their simple maneuvers. Toothless kept an eye on Sharpshot the whole time. Hiccup clicked the tail fin mechanism and they flew toward the island to fly through the forest.
Now, that morning, Toothless had watched Hiccup plan the entire exercise. It was boring, yes, but the Night Fury was willing to do anything to regain the favorite status between him and Sharpshot. Toothless was going to speed through the woods, loose Sharpshot in the dust, and then fly back to Berk before the little creep followed them back.
"Dodging maneuvers, Toothless!" said Hiccup. Toothless smiled and obeyed, flying through the trees at high speeds. Toothless dodged every tree with ease, but Hiccup was pulling back.
"Whoa, Bud! You need to slow down! Sharpshot needs to catch up!" he said. Hiccup and Toothless slowed down and watched Sharpshot with disdain as the small dragon flew up from behind. Why did Hiccup like the dragon? He was slow! He stole his fish!
"Okay, now let's try this again," said Hiccup. Toothless grunted and took off again, Sharpshot following from the side. They made their way through trees and were almost at the end of the course when Toothless initiated plan B. He bumped into Sharpshot purposefully, causing the Terror to fall down. Toothless knew the Terror wouldn't be hurt. Sharpshot was a tough dragon, and Toothless knew this from witness.
"Toothless, stop!" cried Hiccup. Toothless rolled his eyes. What would it take for Hiccup to realize that he was the awesome dragon and Sharpshot, well, wasn't?
Without Toothless' permission, Hiccup steered them back to where Sharpshot had fallen. The two landed and Hiccup rushed up to Sharpshot and picked up the dragon in his arms.
"Are you okay?" Hiccup asked the dragon. "That was quite a fall."
Toothless snorted. Seriously?
Sharpshot crooned and nuzzled into Hiccup again. Toothless looked away, disgusted. His plan should've worked!
"Okay, you two. Let's finish this up and then head back to Berk with the others," said Hiccup. Hiccup climbed onto Toothless and Sharpshot flew beside them once again, shooting Toothless dirty looks. The Night Fury only growled in response.
…
"Dinner time!"
Toothless ran down the stairs at lightning speed, bumping into Stoick as he did so. The Chief stumbled backward in surprise.
"Well, someone's hungry," remarked Stoick.
"Yeah, well that's because the main course today is…" Hiccup paused dramatically. "Haddock!"
Haddock. Haddock. Haddock! Toothless licked his lips. Haddock was his favorite fish, even before he had met Hiccup. The Night Fury watched with excitement as Hiccup placed the basket of fish in front of Toothless. The dragon dug into it instantly.
Hiccup then fed Sharpshot by playfully holding up fish for the dragon to catch. Toothless grumbled. Hiccup would toss fish to him when it was dinner time too. It was their thing!
Bedtime eventually came around and this time, Toothless went to great lengths to not let Sharpshot near Hiccup. Toothless watched as Hiccup did his nightly routine and then laid in bed with a book. Hiccup often read before going to sleep on some nights, and would sometimes read Toothless stories. The book he was reading tonight, though, was about inventions and mechanics, so Toothless wasn't interested.
But Sharpshot was. The Terrible Terror flew up to Hiccup, and Toothless' eyes Night Fury pushed Hiccup out of the Terror's way and growled at Sharpshot.
"Whoa, what?" yelped Hiccup as he fell out of bed. "What was that for, Toothless?"
Toothless growled at Sharpshot and the little dragon backed away. Toothless stood between him and his rider. Toothless was the favorite. Not Sharpshot. No way in Valhalla was he going to let Sharpshot take his place, but the sneaky little Terror managed to fly into Hiccup's arms again. Toothless roared indignantly.
"Bud, what's the matter?" asked Hiccup.
Oh, I'll tell you what the matter is! thought Toothless. Sharpshot being near you is a health code violation!
While all this came out in grunts and growls, Hiccup seemed to understand.
"Does this have to do with Sharpshot?" he asked. Toothless nodded.
"Well, you two have been acting pretty strange today," said Hiccup. Sharpshot stared up at Hiccup, his yellow eyes dilated innocently.
"Don't give me that look!" said Hiccup. "Toothless, you're jealous and Sharpshot, you're just rubbing it in."
Jealous? Toothless? The Night Fury snorted. He wasn't jealous. He just wanted Sharpshot to stop being cute, stop taking all the attention, and stop taking Hiccup.
Hiccup sighed and leaned against Toothless. "You do know I love both you guys, right? This isn't a competition. You're both important to me and nothing is going to change that. You two just have to learn to respect each other."
Toothless whined.
Hiccup rolled his eyes. "And you're both cute. There. Are you happy now?"
Toothless warbled happily.
"Okay, now you two need to make up," said Hiccup. He set the Terrible Terror down in front of Toothless and backed away. "Say sorry."
Toothless stared daggers at Sharpshot and Sharpshot glared back. Toothless sighed and decided to be the mature one. He growled "Sorry" in dragonese and Sharpshot said sorry just as begrudgingly.
"Good. Now, it's getting late. You two need to get to bed," said Hiccup. He picked up his book from the floor and placed it on a shelf. He crawled back into bed and Toothless laid his head on his chest. Hiccup sighed but smiled.
"I guess you can sleep here tonight," said Hiccup.
Sharpshot took that as an invitation and curled up next to Hiccup too.
Hiccup blinked. "Or, both of you can sleep here tonight." He shifted his position and closed his eyes. "Goodnight, you guys."
Toothless smiled. While he still wanted Sharpshot to be second place, the current relationship between the three of them was fine too. Toothless watched as Sharpshot fell asleep and an impish, gummy grin spread across Toothless face. The Night Fury lightly pushed Sharpshot to the ground. The Terror didn't stir.
Toothless sighed contently and fell asleep on Hiccup's chest. Much better.
Author's Note: I think Sharpshot is the same Terrible Terror that snuggled up with Hiccup in the the first movie. And since he stole Toothless' fish when they first met, I think it probably took some time for the two to actually respect each other. X)
Until the next story!
-BeyondTheMoon1203