Chapter 28

It's been a few days since Hiccup and Toothless had arrived at Clang, the island that Heather has been living with, and while Toothless's physical wounds were progressively healing, there were still some mental and emotional scars that he just couldn't shake off.

It pretty much started the night after they arrived. Then, Toothless seemed to be a bit more distant than usual, even around Hiccup, which they all understood as he did take quite a beating in Krogen's prison, but in the following days it seemed to turn into something more.

He would barely move an inch all day, minus the inches required to move so the healer Ironslicer can examine him and the others required for him to use the bathroom but other than that he pretty much just lied in the infirmary bed, staring out the window into the open ocean.

He would barely speak to anyone and barely eat or drink, just when he truly felt hungry or thirsty but even then he really wouldn't move far from his bed to get it.

On the fourth day of this going on, Hiccup walks up with some food that he picked up in the Clang marketplace and says, "Hey, love. I managed to get you your favorite, smoked mutton leg!"

Toothless, who was still staring out the window, sighs and mumbles, "Not hungry."

Hiccup sighs and sets the food on the table before saying, "Look, Toothless, this isn't like you and you know it. Yes, I know things were bad for you at that prison but-"

Suddenly, Toothless snaps at Hiccup, turns around and says, "No, you don't get it! You don't get it at all! How could you possibly understand when you weren't the one tied up and tortured like a dragon during Berk's war?" Toothless then realizes what he said, who he said it to, and how he said it. He sighs and says, "Sorry, Hiccup. I shouldn't have snapped at you."

Hiccup was initially shocked at the sudden outburst, but he chooses to not say anything back. Instead, he stands next to Toothless and wraps a wing around him saying, "You're right. I don't know how you were treated. I've never seen anyone get beaten up like that so I really can't say what it must be like. All I did in there was get raped, escape, and help you escape." He kisses Toothless on the cheek and says, "But all that's over. Now I'm here again and I promise that I won't let anything else happen to you."

Toothless lets out a deep sigh before saying, "Hiccup, sweet as you are, you actually still don't get it. They…didn't beat me up just because they wanted to find you."

Hiccup gets a look of confusion. "Well then, what was it?"

Toothless puts his good hand, his left hand, in front of his face before saying, "Oh, Artruthium, I really don't want you to hear this but at the same time you need to. Ok, here it goes. When I woke up in the cell…"

(Flashback to when Toothless woke up.)

Since Toothless was hit with Speed Stinger venom, he really had no choice but to watch as Hiccup was being dragged into a dragon cage by Astrid and the Singetails and taken away. Toothless himself was also set on top of a Singetail's back and they flew for what felt like hours until they had reached Hunter Island and he was thrown into one of the cells.

Once there, his body had slowly recovered from the venom and was soon able to move again. As soon as that happened, Krogen had stepped up to the cell he was in and said, "So, you were that Night Fury that foiled my plan to find the old King of Dragons. Don't seem like much of a big, strong dragon now do you?"

Toothless growls at him. "What do you want from us? Where's Hiccup?"

Krogen chuckles. "Hiccup has been taken to a cell on the opposite end of the prison. We had to separate you two for…safety reasons. But don't worry, his old friend, Astrid is in there with him."

Toothless pounds on the steel bars. "If you, Astrid, or any of your flaming ass guards touch a single scale on Hiccup, I swear I will-"

"Do what, exactly? You're just a human in a cage reinforced with dragon-proof metal. Sure, if you were still a dragon then we might be a little more scared but the fact is that you aren't. You're just a weak, pathetic human." Toothless was speechless when he heard that, but that seemed to make Krogen smile wider. "Well, that shut you up." He then notices a light glow on his chest. He uses a light flame to open up his shirt, revealing the mating symbol that he and Hiccup share.

Krogen's eyes widen. "Is that what I think it is? A dragon mating symbol? And, I may be wrong but is that the same symbol that you guards saw on Hiccup when taking him away?" The guards nod.

Toothless growls. "Fine, you caught me. Hiccup and I are in love and we took the mating ritual months ago."

Krogen smirks wide. "Oh, this just makes things even better. Boys, take him to the torture chamber."

Toothless had a plan to bolt as soon as the gates were open, but that idea was shot as he felt another Speed Stinger venom dart pierce his neck, making him paralyzed once again. He watched as he was taken to another room where it was pretty much just a large room with a chair in the center.

It seemed that this dart didn't have as much venom as before because Toothless found himself able to move much quicker this time, but as soon as he was able to move he was strapped to the chair tight as it can go. He tries pulling on the ropes of the chair but found that to be futile so he sat there as Krogen approaches him with a big smirk on his face.

"So, you performed the dragon mating ritual with another male, is that correct?" Toothless simply nods. "I see. And are you aware as to what that makes you?" Toothless could somewhat see where this was going, but didn't want to say it.

(Writer's note: I am going to hate myself so much for writing this.)

"That makes you…a faggot. A queer, homo faggot that is basically a female with extra bits between your legs."

Toothless stares at Krogen with eyes wider than his head. "What did you say?"

Krogen smacks Toothless on the face with a paw. "Shut up. Tell me, how exactly did it happen? Did you suddenly wake up one day and think that females are revolting? Or did you get confused one day as to whether or not Hiccup was male or female?"

Toothless's eyes start to well up with tears as he was hearing this. "Y-you're a homophobe?"

This time Toothless got a scratch to the chest. "One more word out of you and it will be your last. But, you are correct. I mean, the point of living is to create offspring with someone of the opposite gender, not just rub sticks all day long. Hell, it took me years to even think about two males in bed without vomiting instantly."

Toothless wanted so badly to say something, but the tears rolling down his face said everything, plus he knew he'd just get another cut or bruise if he did.

"Matter of fact, right now you're probably thinking of riding my member until your ass is so sore you won't be able to sit for weeks." He lets out a small gag after saying that. "But, I won't give you the satisfaction. Instead, I'll just show you what we do to faggots around here."

Krogen nods to the 4 Singetail guards that were in the room and they all proceed to berate him with various claw scratches, punches to either the face, gut, or wherever they could find. All the while, the tears kept on flowing like little waterfalls as Toothless just couldn't believe someone could be so cruel.

After a solid half minute of this going on, Krogen puts a paw up and says, "I hope this makes you reconsider your life choices. Take him back to his cell." With that, Krogen walks away and the guards unstrap Toothless, who was too sore and weak from the beating to even move, and take him back to his cell where he curled up into a fetal position and cried until he was out of tears.

(Flashback ends)

"…About an hour later they found out that you escaped so they took me back to that room where they treated me the exact same way. Only this time it was more so they could try to figure out where you went and to see if they can get information about your mom's sanctuary. That's when you found me, already torn and beaten from earlier." The tears had come back about halfway through the story.

Hiccup had to take a full minute to pause and process everything Toothless just told him. He says to Toothless, "So, you were tortured because you're gay? Not just because they wanted information out of you?"

Toothless nods before rubbing his eyes with his good hand again. "It was the first time I ever truly felt any kind of discrimination for being who I am. Sure, there was the stuff with Astrid but that was just her wanting to steal you from me, not necessarily her hating us for being gay."

Hiccup stares with a wide eye as he started forming tears as well. "Oh, Toothless. I'm so sorry. I-I had no idea."

Toothless sobs a few times before saying, "The worst part is that it actually got me thinking. What if this is all a mistake? What if…we're a mistake?"

Hiccup had part of a mind to be offended by that, but he understood where Toothless was coming from there. He sits up so that he's looming over Toothless's head and they are locked eyes. "Toothless, none of this is a mistake. What we have is not, never was, and never will be a mistake. What we have is true love, Thor and Artruthium recognized that and even praised us for it. You can't let a guy like Krogen tell you how you should live your life. What matters is that you and I are here for each other and we are happy together."

Toothless sobs a few more times before leaning in and kissing Hiccup right on the center of his lips. He then says, "You're right. What we have is more special than anything in the world, and that's all I could care about." He pats Hiccup's paw. "Thank you, Hiccup. You always know the right thing to say."

Hiccup shrugs. "Eh, from time to time." Toothless laughs a bit at that which causes Hiccup to smile. "There's that smile I missed these past few days."

Toothless hugs Hiccup best as he can. "With you, I will never stop bringing it." With that, Toothless eats the food that Hiccup brought him before they both lie down for a nap, the first of which feeling better about himself than he did all day that day.