I apologize for not updating sooner. I got distracted, and had some writer's block. My world has pretty much turned upside down, so please give me some leeway.
Before I start this chapter, I want to say thank you to R37uy for helping me with this story so far. They have helped me so much with making this story, giving ideas and motivation. So thank you so much.
Stay safe from the Corona Virus!
Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own How To Train Your Dragon, and I never will. :(
"Human speech"
"Dragon speech"
Thoughts
Chapter 5 - A New Body
Hiccup stood up on unsteady legs. He looked at his wings and tail, moving them around.
"Hiccup? Are you alright?" Toothless asked.
"I think so." Hiccup growled back. "Let's go outside, where there's more room to move around." He stepped forward, tripped on a paw, and fell on his face. "Oof."
"Hiccup?" Astrid asked, "What are you going to do now?"
"My plan is to figure out how this body works first, then figure out if I can turn back to human or if I'm stuck like this." Hiccup said.
"Why wouldn't you try and figure out how to turn back to human first? I mean, you would have more options available to you." Fishlegs queried.
"Because some situations need flying, and I might be separated from you guys, so I would need to know how to fly first. Also, dragons are more powerful than humans." Hiccup blinked, and then said, "This body feels right, deep down inside me. It feels natural."
"Son… How powerful do you think you are?" Stoick asked quietly.
"I don't know." Hiccup said honestly. He stood up again and looked at Toothless, "So… How do you walk?"
"Put your front right paw forward." Toothless instructed. Hiccup did as he was told, and managed not to fall over again. "Now place the back left paw forward. Then your other front paw, and then your other back paw. And repeat." Hiccup did so, and found himself walking forward, though rather slowly. He found that it was very easy, and started to walk quicker. But then he found himself right in front of Gobber. Hiccup stopped and inhaled. Immediately, he smelled the scent of what he somehow knew to be iron, sweat, grime, and general smelliness. He backpedaled, finding that to be easy as well, moving away from the horrible stench that was Gobber.
"Eurgh. You smell HORRIBLE, Gobber." Hiccup declared while trying not to smell the stench rolling off all the Vikings in waves.
"You get used to it." Toothless said.
"What do you mean? I bathed just last month! I smell great!" Gobber protested. Hiccup and Toothless vehemently shook their heads.
"To a dragon, you probably smell really bad." Fishlegs reasoned, "But then how could dragons even be near Gobber?"
"Toothless says that you get used to it, but I doubt that." Hiccup said, and was rewarded with an indignant tail slap.
"Why would you ever doubt me? I am the best of the best, a Night Fury, and it is impossible for me to be wrong." Toothless held his nose in the air. Hiccup held in a laugh.
"It is always possible to be wrong, Mister Arrogant Dragon." Hiccup retorted. "But let's go outside already and figure out how in the world to fly."
"Fine." Toothless grumbled, and then promptly turned around and jumped out of the window behind him. When he saw no sign of Hiccup, he called up, "What's wrong? Why aren't you coming?"
Hiccup slowly padded over to the window and peered down. "Toothless, jumping from this high up is dangerous."
"No, it isn't. Not for dragons. Just jump down. Come on." Toothless insisted.
"What are you doing?" Stoick asked as he saw Hiccup walk over to the window after Toothless jumped out.
Hiccup looked back and said, "Toothless wants me to jump out."
Silence reigned over the room until Fishlegs said, "Technically, it would be easier than the stairs. Considering your, er, predicament, stairs would be difficult to go down with no experience. Jumping once would be quicker and easier than the stairs, and it would be hard to get hurt because for a dragon, that is a short distance."
Making up his mind, Hiccup jumped down to the ground with unexpected grace. Stoick sighed and made his way to the stairs and out the door. Walking up to Hiccup and Toothless, who were both watching him curiously. The other Vikings followed Stoick out of the house. Unfortunately, Spitelout was walking down the street and saw the two Night Furies in the street with Stoick, Gobber, and the teenagers.
"So you found another Night Fury, eh? Where'd you find it?" Spitelout asked.
Snotlout ran up to his father and said, "That other Night Fury is Hiccup! It was really weird and cool and-"
Spitelout interrupted, "You expect me to believe that? That's insane! You really expect me to believe that," he gestured to Hiccup, "is Hiccup?" Hiccup glanced at Stoick and shrugged.
"I am Hiccup." Hiccup stated. Spitelout nearly wet his pants in shock.
"Th-the dragon talked!" He stammered. He started to get worked up.
"Of course I talk. It's just a matter of if you understand me now." Hiccup said.
"Spitelout, calm down. You need to-" Stoick tried to say, but was interrupted by Spitelout.
"You ask me to calm down when there is a dragon who talks perfect Norse, which dragons shouldn't be able to do, and you claim that he is your son?!" Spitelout spluttered.
"Please stop-" Hiccup tried.
"This is absurd! This is crazy! We must be cursed by Loki! The gods have-" Spitelout ranted.
"STOP!" Hiccup roared. He started to glow a bright white, and then vanished.
"Hiccup? Where are you?" Stoick called. No response. "HICCUP?"
Hiccup blinked. One second, he was watching Spitelout yell, and the next, he was in the cove. How in the world did he end up here? The only logical answer would be that his newfound powers acted up and dumped him here. But then the next question would be why they dumped him here. Hiccup thought for a bit, and came up empty. He had no idea whatsoever how his powers worked.
On one hand, or paw, his powers were unreliable, and judging from Spitelout's reaction, the other villagers would shun him. They would be loud and angry, and violent images assaulted Hiccup's mind.
On another paw, his powers hadn't hurt anybody, so that meant that his powers were safe for everybody so far.
With this thought in mind, Hiccup looked around at the cove he had last seen about 5 years ago. Some plants had attacked one side of the rock wall around the cove, covering it with leafy vines with small light purple flowers that Hiccup could see perfectly. They smelled sweet, and he inhaled it eagerly. The sounds of birds twittering in the trees and the rustle of branches in the forest above him calmed Hiccup.
Hiccup relaxed and laid down, curling his tail around him. He yawned. It had been a long day for Hiccup, and as the sun set to the west, spreading smears of vibrant shades of orange, pink, and yellow across the sky, he found himself falling asleep. As the darkness of sleep enveloped him, his last thought was I'll figure this out tomorrow.
"Hiccup!" Stoick shouted. "Where are you?" He had gone through half of the village yelling, irritating some Vikings and concerning others. Gobber had gone through the other half, looking for Hiccup. The teens took to the sky and searched over the rest of the island, calling for Hiccup. Toothless was frantically flying with the teens, searching desperately. Though before they could find him, it became too dark to search.
"Stoick, we'll find the laddie in the morning. Go home, an' sleep." Gobber instructed a worried Stoick. "Ya can't search in the dark, anyway."
"Thanks, Gobber. I'll see you tomorrow." Stoick trudged up to his empty house and entered it. He walked to his bed and laid down, trying to fall asleep. But sleep was a long way off for him that night.
The next morning, Stoick walked out of his house and immediately went to get Skullcrusher. As he walked to the stables, he saw Astrid get on Stormfly and jump into the air, already calling out Hiccup's name. He smiled briefly, and reached the stables. He quickly saddled Skullcrusher and jumped on. "Come on, boy. Let's go find Hiccup."
They took to the sky, quickly reaching the forest. They met Astrid there, who called, "I think we might want to try the cove next. We haven't checked there yet."
"The cove?" Stoick asked, confused.
"The place where Hiccup trained Toothless." Said dragon had just flown up to them and warbled. "We're going to the cove. We haven't looked there yet." Astrid explained to Toothless. He turned and flew in the direction of the cove. "Well, I guess we'll follow him."
Soon, Toothless swooped downwards and gently landed in the peaceful cove with a yawning Night Fury. "Hiccup!" The overjoyed Night Fury cried. Toothless bounded over to Hiccup and tackled him in a massive hug.
"Toothless! Hey, bud-Yuck, stop it!" Toothless had started to lick him on his stomach, and Hiccup started to squirm. It turned into dragon laughter, and Hiccup tried to push Toothless off of him, to no avail.
"I will never stop! This is my revenge! You went poof and had me worried sick all night, so now you must face the ultimate punishment: tickles!" Toothless declared.
"Bud, ha ha, are you, ha, ticklish?" Hiccup growled through giggles.
"Absolutely not." Toothless claimed.
"Let's find out if that's true." Hiccup said. He twisted under Toothless, dumping him onto the ground. Hiccup pounced on Toothless and started to vigorously lick Toothless on the stomach, and Toothless lost it. He laughed and squirmed under Hiccup, and the inexperienced dragon fell off of Toothless. But before Toothless could pounce on him, he got onto his paws and called, "Truce! Truce!"
"Fine. But only this once. Next time, war shall occur and I will emerge victorious!" Toothless declared.
By now, Stormfly and Skullcrusher had landed in the cove and their riders had dismounted. The two dragons snorted at the two Night Fury's antics. Astrid and Stoick ran over to a slimy Hiccup.
"Are you okay, Hiccup?" They asked at the same time.
"I'm fine." He said.
"Let's get back to the village." Stoick said. He walked towards his dragon.
"Erm, there might be a slight issue with that." Hiccup said.
"What issue?"
"I still can't fly yet, so I'm stuck here." Hiccup looked down sadly.
"That can be easily solved." Toothless said.
"So you'll teach me?" Hiccup asked.
"Yes, of course." Toothless said.
"What did he say?" Astrid asked curiously.
"He said that he would teach me to fly." Hiccup said as a toothless grin spread across his face.
Again, I am so sorry for updating so late. My life has been hectic lately, and a scary moment in which my father might have had the Corona Virus happened last week. It was a false alarm, though, so all is well right now for me and my family. Stay safe! And please review!