Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD
A/N: This chapter was written for my friend IronGut ;)
Long Awaited Conversations
Hiccup, Astrid and Valka had come back to the Ice Nest, to visit the King and ask him if he could help them all hear thought-speak. Hiccup had no idea if it was even possible to let someone who wasn't heart bound hear it, much less make it permanent, but if he could…it would change everything. At least, it'd make things a lot easier now that he and Astrid were married and living together.
*So, I was thinking maybe I could make other people hear thought-speak, but I have no idea where to start, and then I remembered that you helped me start think-speaking properly so maybe you'd know a way to do this…um, do you?* he asked the Sea-Giant, hopeful and a little sheepish. He probably has better things to do Hiccup chided himself, like…I don't know what he'd do for fun, but…
*IDEA* the King replied, surprising him. He hadn't really expected an answer that wasn't a simple, apologetic 'no'. It wasn't like this had happened before.
"Really?" he asked aloud. "He says he has an idea" Hiccup said for the benefit of his wife and mother, who were waiting nearby. They were surprised as well; though the Sea-Giant was ancient and wise, so perhaps he knew more than they realised. Astrid then asked what the plan was, and what they had to do.
In a series of mental images, the King conveyed to Hiccup what his idea was. First, Hiccup moved to the cliff edge and placed his hand flat on the rough scales of the King's chin, which was the highest he could reach. Then he looked back and gestured for his mother to join them. "Okay, so, I'm just gonna…" Hiccup said awkwardly, reaching out and placing a hand on her forehead. Here goes…
"…close your eyes…" Hiccup instructed. He summoned his Will and said "I'm gonna try and reach into your mind. That sounds creepy, doesn't it? Sorry." The King urged him to focus. He concentrated, picturing the King in his mind's eye and trying to project it to Valka. "Can you see the King? In your mind, I mean?"
She didn't answer at first; he could feel her frowning. Then she said "…Yes…"
"Good…" Hiccup's temples were starting to throb. "So, imagine reaching out to touch him" he instructed. It felt like something was pressing against his forehead from the inside, like his brain was trying to escape from his skull. All of a sudden, he felt an odd snapping sensation, as if a taut trip-wire had been plucked in the back of his mind. They gasped. He was afraid it hadn't worked.
"What happened?" Astrid inquired quickly, worriedly. "Are you guys okay?"
Valka reached a hand up to her head. "Yes…I felt something strange. A sort of…twang" she muttered, blinking. "Was that supposed to happen?" she asked.
Hiccup almost didn't dare hope… "Did you imagine what I said?" he questioned, and when Valka nodded, he spun around and called "Toothless, say something!"
*Something* the dragon repeated dutifully. Valka's jaw dropped, her eyes widened. She could hear him. Trembling, she moved over to Cloudjumper and gazed up into his eyes. "H-hello, Cloud" she said, a smile playing on her lips. He purred and greeted her in turn. *Hello, Valka.* His voice was deep and rumbling, like thunder. Her eyes welled with joyful tears, and she hugged him.
"Wait, so, it worked then?" Hiccup double-checked. Valka turned to her son, beaming even as she cried. "Yes, it worked" she confirmed, "I can hear them. Thank you, Hiccup, thank you. This is…it's incredible. I never dreamed I'd…"
Hiccup smiled as well, pleased. "Don't mention it. Okay, Astrid, it's your turn."
By the time Astrid could hear thought-speak, Hiccup's brain was throbbing. At least that was what it felt like. *It isn't going to hurt him every time, is it?* Toothless asked the king as Hiccup leaned on him, and Astrid tried to help him drink some willow-bark tea that would help ease the pounding headache.
*YOU SUPPORT MIND LINK. USE WILL. NO PAIN* the King replied. If Hiccup let people hear thought-speak through Toothless, and Toothless used his Will to reach out as well, their bond would help him do it without getting a migraine.
They thanked the King for all his help. *YOU'RE WELCOME* he replied, before withdrawing from the conversation. Hiccup and Toothless went to try and sleep off the headache, whilst Astrid and Valka decided to go with their dragons for a private talk, and have the first real conversation with their partners, well, ever.
"Can we go see our old cave?" Valka asked Cloudjumper. He replied *If you like*, and lowered his shoulder for her to climb on. She mounted with practised ease and he flew up to the cavern they'd shared together for twenty one years. It was empty now, of all the things Valka had gathered to make it into a home for herself, but as soon as he landed Cloudjumper knew things were different.
Valka was about to climb off his back when he grunted *Wait. New scents.* Cloudjumper sniffed the air, the ground. *Our scents are gone. A Fire-Scale family lives here now* he explained. Valka felt strangely…disappointed? No, that wasn't quite right; they hadn't been here for a year at least, of course the cave would have been reclaimed. Yet at the same time, it had been theirs.
"Let's go flying" she suggested quickly. "We don't want to…to be trespassing."
Cloudjumper obligingly flew out of the mountain and soared up through the wide open sky. Valka sighed in contentment. "It's so peaceful up here" she murmured. Cloudjumper crooned agreement. *Valka, you liked it here, didn't you?* he asked hesitantly. *Here at this nest?* He felt he needed to know.
Taken aback, she replied "Of course I did, why wouldn't I?" Surely he didn't think she'd been miserable all those years, exploring and helping dragons?
*This wasn't your home* he warbled regretfully. *You didn't choose to be here…I kidnapped you. I know it's been a long time – well, for humans - *
"It has been a long time" she agreed before he could go on, "and I forgave you a long time ago. Cloud, I don't think I ever blamed you in the first place! I loved living here amongst dragons, learning about you all, helping you. This was my home, Cloudjumper, for twenty one years. It doesn't matter that I wasn't born here. I choseto stay here with you. I didn't want…I couldn't go back to Berk."
*Didn't you miss it?* Cloudjumper asked curiously. *Berk, I mean.*
"No. Yes. Kind of?" Valka shrugged. "I missed Stoick and Hiccup, of course; and Gobber" she added as an afterthought. "But I didn't miss the fighting. I didn't miss the looks I'd get or the whispers behind my back. I definitely didn't miss having to…" Her throat closed up. Old memories crept into her mind, and she shuddered. It had been so long, and she thought she had moved past it all…
"C-Cloudjumper? There's s-something I need to…to tell you." Valka felt herself tremble. He wasn't the only one with old regrets; but he deserved to know the truth about her, after all this time. Cloud felt her shaking too, and glided down towards one of the smaller islands that surrounded the nest. *It's okay, Valka* he rumbled comfort, *I'll land down here and then you can tell me everything.*
Once he'd alighted in the snow, she slipped off his back and took a few steps through the crunchy whiteness. Cloudjumper waited patiently. At last, Valka took a deep breath and began to speak. "When Hiccup found Toothless, everyone thought he was the first person on Berk to ever ride a dragon. You and I know that isn't quite true." His yellow eyes gleamed with fond amusement.
"But he was the first to…to spare a dragon" Valka continued, wrapping her arms around herself as if to ward off the cold. "Or at least, to spare one so completely at his mercy…I killed dragons, Cloud" she confessed. "I hated it every single time, I hated myself, but I still…in self-defence, or to save someone else…I couldn't let one of my own tribesmates be killed, they were still my people." (1)
She began to weep. Cloudjumper shuffled closer and nuzzled her, crooning. *Don't cry, Valka, please* he implored her, as she embraced him. *You're not a dragon killer anymore. You didn't know any better. You didn't know the truth.*
"I…when you came, I thought…I was sure I'd have to…my Hiccup was there, and he was just a baby, I had to protect him" Valka pleaded, guilty and apologetic. "Then I saw you, not hurting him, not hurting me, and it hit me all at once, what I'd done. That I'd killed intelligent creatures. I couldn't bring myself to...try and defend myself…I thought fate was catching up to me at last" she admitted.
Cloudjumper purred over her. *I wouldn't have hurt you* he assured her. *As soon as I saw you, I knew you didn't belong there. Besides, your eyes reminded me so much of Reika that I just…grabbed you.* He whimpered sheepishly.
Valka smiled at him, her eyes watering. "I'm glad you did. Is…was Reika your sister?" she asked gently, remembering that she reminded him of her. "What was she like?" Valka wondered, hoping to change the subject to something happier. It occurs to her a second too late that if Cloudjumper had lost his sister, this might not help after all. "It's okay, if you don't want to talk about it."
*Why wouldn't I?* he asked, blinking puzzled. Then he stared off into space, lost in memory. *My kind don't have large clutches. I had two clutch-brothers, Solaruppras and Hadegi. I was Solsetur. Reika hatched later* he explained. (2) Valka listened closely, enraptured. *She had lovely blue scales like our dam, and she would follow us everywhere, asking about everything she could think of.*
"She sounds like a dragon I'd have liked to meet" Valka commented. She hesitated, not sure if she ought to ask. "What…what happened to her?"
Cloudjumper let out a long sigh. *She ate a prey beast that must have eaten blue oleander. Reika grew sick, and weak, and none of us knew how to help her …* He moaned softly in sorrow and closed his eyes. Valka's heart broke for him.
She embraced him and nuzzled him like a dragon. "Oh, Cloudjumper. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I…I know it's not the same, but I hope you know that I'm proud to be a sister to you. I love you. You still have a family."
*I know* he crooned, nuzzling her in return. *I'm happy here, with you.*
Astrid was having the time of her life. A friend Stormfly had made here, Clawlifter, was showing them around the nest. Some dragons kept their distance; he said they had been hurt by humans before and were wary. Others were curious about Astrid, especially once they discovered she could understand them despite not being heart bound. It was a very strange thing.
There were flooded caves where hatchlings would learn to swim and fish. A troupe of Scuttleclaw babies were splashing about in one such lake; Astrid got soaked when they all charged over to greet her and Stormfly. *Who are you? You're a human! Are you nice? Your fur is yellow! Do you wanna play? Look how long I can hold my breath!* they said all of this and more, all at the same time.
Astrid quickly felt overwhelmed. *Quiet!* roared a nearby Scuttleclaw. The little ones stopped chattering, but they still crowded around Stormfly. She loved hatchlings and nuzzled them affectionately. Astrid couldn't resist petting them as well – they were so cute! But goodness, she hoped her own baby wouldn't be this much of a handful. "Hey, guys! My name's Astrid, and this is Stormfly."
They told her their names all at once, then snapped at each other because *I said mine first!* Their mother – or so Astrid assumed – rolled her eyes in exasperation. Stormfly rattled her spikes loudly to get their attention. *Speak one at a time, you silly things* she chided, *or we can't understand you!*
They briefly argued over who got to go first. *Where did you come from?*
*We're from the Berk Nest. Astrid's mate and his other half are our new Alphas, so she and I are very high ranking* Stormfly explained proudly, preening.
*What are you doing here?*
"Oh, well, Hiccup, my husband – I mean, mate – wanted to see if your alpha, the King, could help me and his, err, dam, hear thought-speak" Astrid told them, "and it worked. That's why I can understand you. If you were wondering."
*Why do you have a pet human?* one of them asked Stormfly. Astrid's eyes widened, caught between amusement and indignation. Pet human, indeed!
Stormfly cackled. *Astrid isn't my pet. She's my rider. We're partners* the Spike-Tail insisted, putting her worries at ease. *We learn new tricks together, and she grooms me until my scales gleam, and I comfort her when she's sad. We care for each other and fly with each other and fight by each other's sides. Really, Astrid is my best human friend* Stormfly declared, purring happiness.
"Aww, thanks, my girl" Astrid beamed. "Who's your best dragon friend, then?" she asked curiously. "Wait, don't tell me, let me guess…is it Toothless?"
*Good guess* Stormfly said, clicking amusement. *What gave it away?*
"Oh, y'know, the way you two play with each other was kind of a clue" she chuckled, before realising that the Scuttleclaw hatchlings were still there. "Sorry, we got distracted. Was there anything else you wanted to ask?"
*How did you and Stormfly meet?* one of them asked her inquisitively.
Astrid's good mood faded a bit. "Oh, err…that's not the nicest story" she warned, but before she could think of a better one, the youngsters cried out in disappointment. They clamoured to hear about it anyway, begging *Please!*
Finally, she gave in. "Alright, alright! But don't say I didn't warn you." Astrid took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. "We met when I was fifteen. She was…sort of…I can't say it" she shook her head, "I'm sorry. I don't like thinking about it." Stormfly cooed at her reassuringly. "Sometimes I feel like I don't deserve you."
*It's okay* Stormfly croaked quietly. To the little ones, she explained *Astrid's human tribe and my pack weren't always friends. Our old Queen – an ugly, horrible Fire-Giant – made us raid the humans and steal their food. They fought back. Sometimes they'd capture a few of us so their fledglings could learn how to fight. I got captured, Astrid was learning to fight. She was very good at it.*
"No. Stormfly, you shouldn't praise me for that" Astrid protested. "I was so…stupid back then! All I cared about was being the best warrior on Berk and defending my people, upholding my family's honour. I could have really hurt you, and I wouldn't even have known what a wonderful dragon you are!"
*Exactly!* Stormfly chirped, *You couldn't have known! Hiccup was the first one to figure it out. Besides, you said it yourself, you wanted to defend your tribe. As for hurting me….I don't know if you've noticed, Astrid, but I have very large claws and sharp teeth and spikes I can flick out of my tail. I could have hurt you. I wouldn't have, don't worry. None of us wanted to hurt you, not really.*
Astrid was touched, and surprised that she hadn't noticed before…Stormfly and the others had never really tried to kill or even injure their future riders, had they? Well, there was the whole incident with Hookfang, but that didn't really count. Before she could ask about it, a hatchling beat her to it. *Why not?*
*Because they were just fledglings. It wasn't their fault they had to fight us* Stormfly replied. There were other reasons, like the fact that if they had mortally wounded any of the young humans, the full grown ones would have been very angry and probably killed them…but the young Scuttleclaws didn't need to know that. *I'm not saying we made it easy for them, of course.*
"Oh, yeah, sure" Astrid smirked, leaning over to look her dragon in the eye. "You know, I could have totally taken you on" she boasted with a wink. Stormfly let out a little caw of amusement. *Of course you could, Astrid!* she replied.
*I don't get it! You were fighting, and now you're best friends?*
"Pretty much" Astrid nodded. "Hiccup showed me that dragons…that you guys weren't what we thought you were, and he needed our help, so I got the others and we were going to fly the captured dragons to rescue our tribe. I remember…he led me over to Stormfly and as soon as her snout touched my hand, it felt right. She was a beautiful warrior, like me, and we just…clicked."
Astrid felt a sudden urge to go flying. Stormfly felt it too, and stretched her wings. *It was nice talking to you* she said politely, *but we have a lot more to see and do. Run along, now.* She nudged them away, despite their whines of protest, and carried Astrid out of the cave. "They're so adorable. I bet they drive their mothers crazy, though, all that energy they have" her rider commented.
*Probably* Stormfly agreed. She looked back at Astrid with a mischievous glint in her eye. *You're going to have a baby. Maybe we should ask them for hints!*
The King's suggestion worked; Hiccup was able to let his father hear thought-speak via Toothless without getting a headache. "Right! Skull Crusher, say hello to Stoick" he prompted, beaming. *Hello, Stoick* the Rumblehorn grunted.
Hiccup turned to his dad. "See? I told you. Pretty cool, right?" he asked eagerly.
"Aye" Stoick nodded, "I s'pose it will be nice not to have to guess what they're tryin' to say. So…is that all?" he asked bluntly.
"Oh, yeah, we'll just…let you two get to know each other. C'mon, bud." Once Hiccup and Toothless had flown away, Stoick and Skull looked at each other.
"He probably thinks we're gonna have a long, involved conversation."
*Indeed* Skull Crusher snorted agreement. *But you're not that sort of human, and I'm not that sort of dragon.*
"Must be why we get along so well!" Stoick chuckled. Still, he figured since they were here… "Hiccup says you dragons don't call yourselves the same things we do. So what do Rumblehorns call themselves?"
*Our kind are called Chargers.*
"Good name" Stoick nodded approvingly. "It suits you. Speaking of names, you must have had one before – well, you know…"
*Before you named me* Skull finished. It had been a while since he thought of his former name. *Oloritiegbe* he answered at last (3). *Olori for short.*
"I never heard a name like that" Stoick remarked. "Where do you come from?"
*Far away* Skull Crusher answered. *Further than you Vikings have gone. The coast on the other side of a vast desert, a hot dry land with large prey beasts grazing on huge plains of grass. I'd never seen snow before I flew up north.*
Stoick had heard plenty of tales of the distant lands to the south that never had snow. The thought was appealing – Odin knew it would be nice not to have to shovel the damn stuff in the winter – but still, snow and ice were part of his world. He almost couldn't imagine life without it. "That must've been a shock."
The dragon snorted. *It took a bit of getting used to* he admitted. They both chuckled, though Skull's laughter sounded more like wheezing. *I was a chief* he revealed. *The alpha of my pack. I challenged the old one and won.*
Stoick's bushy eyebrows darted up to chase his receding hairline. "Really? I guess we have even more in common than I thought!" he remarked. Then he frowned. If Skull Crusher had been an alpha, but when they met he'd been alone… "Something happened to them" he said gruffly, but sympathetically.
Skull Crusher growled, but not at his rider. *Drago Bludvist happened to them.*
"Oh." Stoick reached out a hand, and Skull pressed his horn against it. "I'm sorry, old boy. That terrible man, that monster…you don't have to talk about it."
*I want to – but there's not much to tell. I tried to fight the humans off, but they captured everyone. Only I escaped. I crossed the desert to get away from the hunters. I felt such guilt for failing my pack, I tried to protect others…but I never wanted to join another flock until recently. I could tell not all humans wanted to hurt dragons, even if I didn't go near them. But you understood me first.*
They really did have a lot in common. "I'm sorry for your loss, Skull Crusher…but I'll admit, I'm glad you came north. It's been an honour to have met you" Stoick declared firmly. The dragon head butted him gently – well, for a Charger – and he wrapped his hands around Skull's horn. "Truth he told, you weren't the first dragon I ever bonded with" Stoick admitted. He trusted Skull not to be upset.
*I know. Your first dragon was a Bellower – I mean, Thunderdrum – that you named Thornado* said Skull Crusher casually. At his riders' look of disbelief, Skull rolled his eyes and pointed out *I can smell a scrap of cod on a boat a thousand wingbeats out into the ocean. I could smell another dragon's scent lingering on the saddle. I asked about it and the other dragons told me everything.*
"Of course they did, the scaly buggers" Stoick grumbled. He'd been looking forward to telling Skull Crusher all about Thornado. Then something occurred to him. "So, err, did you and Thornado ever cross paths and meet?" he wondered.
*Not really. I rather dislike trying to talk to Bellowers, to be honest, Stoick.*
"You mean cos they're deaf?"
*No. They can hear thought-speak just fine. It's because they're just too loud.*
Stoick held back a laugh. Skull asked *Do you want me to meet him?*
"Well, it might be nice to see the fella again. I've missed him these few years."
*Climb on, then. I'll take you to Dragon Island. But don't say I didn't warn you.*
When they reached the island, Stoick and Skull Crusher first had to find Thornado. They ran into one of his adopted fledglings, now almost full grown. Bing said his sires were swimming in the ocean on the other side of the island. At least it sounded like he said 'sires', but Stoick assumed he'd misheard.
Skull hadn't been kidding about Thunderdrums being loud. Well, to be fair he'd known that already, thank you very much. Perhaps it was because they were deaf, or maybe they just liked the sound of their own voices, but all of Bing's thought-speak was loud and direct. He rambled on and on about what they'd been doing, and how they'd caught a massive tuna yesterday, it was SO BIG!
At last he dived into the water in search of his family and Stoick breathed a sigh of relief. Skull groaned. "Heh. I see what you mean. Not big on being quiet, are they?" his rider chuckled, giving his carapace a hearty slap. He landed on the shore and once Stoick had dismounted, warmed up the ground to rest on.
It felt like a long time before five Thunderdrums burst out of the water. Stoick recognised Thornado immediately, and the dark blue sea dragon recognised him too. *Stoick! It's good to see you! Bing says you can understand us!*
"Aye!" he laughed, "That's Hiccup's doing. Or I guess I should say 'Alpha-Hiccup'. So I thought I'd come and visit for once. Oh, and I'd like you to meet Skull Crusher. He's a Charger, and my…well, second dragon. Not that you weren't a good one!" Stoick added hastily. Oh Thor, he wasn't nervous, surely.
Thornado looked at Skull Crusher with interest. *Hello! Nice to meet you!* (4)
Skull resisted the urge to roll his eyes and groan. *Likewise* he replied.
*You must meet my family!* Thornado declared happily. *This is my mate Whirlwing! And our sons Bing, Bam and Boom! All of you! This is Stoick! My old rider! He helped me save Whirlwing from angry boars! Do you remember?!*
The purple Bellower replied *Yes! And you fixed my wing! Thank you!*
"Heh, yer welcome! And ah, apologies for mistaking your gender."
They all looked puzzled, or as puzzled as Thunderdrums could. *What do you mean?!*
"Oh, it's just that we mistook you for a boy dragon" Stoick explained awkwardly.
Whirlwing blinked rapidly several times. *I am a drake!* he declared bluntly.
Stoick was a bit taken aback. "Oh, you mean…you two are…that is, you're uh…"
*They're both males and they're mates* Skull Crusher declared. *What's the matter with that?* (5)
"Oh, nothing! It's just that I didn't know dragons could, uh, swing that way."
The dragons stared at him. *Love is love* Skull Crusher said wisely. *If we want to have offspring that can also have offspring, we mate with our own kind. If we want to be mates with a dragon we care about, we court them. It's simple.* He added *We can still have eggs with other dragons, but they can't have eggs.*
Stoick nodded slowly. "Ach, it's a shame Fishlegs isn't here. He loves this kind of stuff." After a moment, he hit on a solution. "I'll just get Hiccup to ask Toothless about all o' that later. So, Thornado, old friend" he said to the Bellower with a beaming smile. "Why don't you tell me how you and Whirlwing first met?"
(1) This is based on a headcanon from my friend Rarden.
(2) Their names are the Icelandic for Sunrise, Noon, Sunset and Wander.
(3) This is a mashup of 'Leader of the group' in Yoruba. Headcanon that Rumblehorns are native to Africa, since they're partly based on rhinos.
(4) I am far too amused by the idea that Thunderdrums yell all the time XD.
(5) The world needs more gay dragons. This is not up for debate.