Toothless' father stopped at the opening to a large cavern. Hiccup could hear what sounded like explosions and saw flashes of colors. Toothless' father turned to the twins and Barf and Belch.
[My oldest said you three love to explode things and pull pranks. Was he correct?]
Ruff and Tuff bounced in place. Barf and Belch shared a glance then stared at Hiccup with a look that was half beseeching and half resigned. Hiccup smiled. The twins reveled in exploding things. Barf and Belch just tried to keep the damage they created to a minimal but still allow them an outlet for their unorthodox creativity. Still, Hiccup trusted no dragon with the twins more than Barf and Belch and their mate, who proved adapt at keeping up with all of them.
Toothless' father chuckled. [In this cavern warriors and guards train their breath attacks. There is another training cavern for more strategic forms of fighting and that is where my daughter has taken your warriors, Snotlout and Hookfang, my son. Here, these other warriors of your nest can enjoy a morning of exploding everything so long as they remain in the cavern. I do not want my nest destroyed.]
Hiccup blinked when Tuff rushed forward and hugged Toothless' father much like Hiccup hugged Toothless at times. The alpha of the nest blinked, glancing at Hiccup then titled his head so he could see Tuff a little.
[Um, young one?]
"You are my new favorite of all our allies," Tuff said. "The Changewings blending in thing is cool, but you let us explode things."
As quick as he hugged Toothless' father, Tuff let him go and turned to his sister.
"I bet I can explode more things than you."
"Oh, it's on."
Both teens ran into the cavern. Barf and Belch screeched, gave a fast bow to Hiccup and rushed in after them. Hiccup heard several explosions then heard the twins cackling. He went to step in but Toothless placed his head in the way.
"We're fine!" Tuff yelled.
"Go on about your day!" Ruff called.
"Can we do that again, Mr. Night Fury?" Tuff said, presumably to one of the dragons in the cavern.
[Uh, who are you?] a female voice questioned. [And why did you run in here without announcing yourselves?]
"Oh, our bad," Ruff said. "I'm Ruffnut and this is Tuffnut and he's Barf and Belch. Barf's the better of the two." That last had been said as if she meant to whisper but still spoke loudly. "Hiccup's our boss man and his new dad said we can blow things up. He's so cool."
A white colored Night Fury stepped out of the cavern and looked at Toothless' father.
[Really?] she asked, proving to be the one who questioned the twins.
Toothless' father laughed. [Just for the morning. I suspect they bore easily and we are taking the others to meet the Elder. I'll have someone collect them later.]
The white Night Fury sighed but bowed, her sparkling wings spread. [As you wish, my alpha. Let's hope there is a cave at the end of this,] she muttered as she walked back inside.
Toothless father did not look scared or worried. In fact, Hiccup saw a gleam in his eyes that made them twinkle. His mate huffed at him but did nothing else as they all started walking again.
Hiccup noted Fishlegs looked over his shoulder at the cavern then back to the alpha pair.
"The white Night Furies," he began, "they don't have the same amount of sensing lobes the black and lighter black Night Furies have. Their back spikes are different too. Are they the same as Night Furies?"
[They are not the same but are considered cousins to the Wind-shriekers your kind calls Night Furies,] Toothless replied. [At least that's what the elder tells us. Truthfully, all dragons see them as a different colored Wind-shrieker as they can fly just as fast as we can and they shoot the same breath attack. They have an ability we do not possess though. They can fire their breath attack, fly through it, and blend in with their surroundings, not unlike the Illusion-scales.]
"Does this mean there's an ability your kind can preform that theirs cannot?" Astrid asked as they came to a convergence of corridors.
[Yes,] Toothless' father answered. [Though it is rare and only one Wind-shrierker has been known to preform it.]
The conversation paused a moment as everyone realized a rowdy group was heading up one of the corridors. Hiccup gasped and heard every other human do the same as several adults stopped and bowed to Toothless' father and mother. Three were Night Furies, though one was a grey color instead of the deep black Toothless sported or the lighter black Moondust was. Two were the white Night Furies and Hiccup noted they sported the same dusting of sparkles that the others he had seen also had. Two were Western Dragons like Shadowfire, but one was a burnt amber color while the other was a green and white color. The other six were a mix of the other species in the nest Hiccup did not know but had seen when he was named a prince of the nest.
[Your patrol was uneventful?] Toothless' father asked.
One of the species Hiccup did not know, a dragon that was slightly taller and bulkier than a Night Fury, stood. It sported a brown bear color on its top half, the imaged helped along by the fact its back scales looked like fur, and a creamy, pale underbelly. It also seemed to have a beard as some of the pointed scales on the back grew from under its chin.
[The sea stacks are calm, my alpha,] the unknown dragon said, its voice male. [The Tiny-icespitters reported the human found something in the old human dens that excited him, but from what they could see it looked like a flat stone. They were confused but say he still does not offer them harm if he sees them nor does he hide anymore. It seems he has come to terms with their presence and seems to be trying to speak to them. He does not know the Common Tongue so they have no idea what he is saying.]
Hiccup turned to Toothless' father. "Would you like us to speak to this human, sir, eh, Dad, and see what he is looking for?"
Toothless' father tilted his head. [That would be ideal, son, but after you meet your new aunt and after you and your brother show us just how well you two can fly.]
Hiccup grinned but he noted Toothless stared at him with a stern look.
"What?"
[No jumping off this time, brother. That water is ice.]
Hiccup grunted and crossed his arms over his chest. "Thought you're supposed to respect your alpha and not order him about," he muttered.
Toothless' father snorted. [Here, son, you are free of the responsibilities to your nest. Here, I stand in charge. Here, you can rest and be a youngling instead of the alpha.]
[Vacation,] Shadowfire said in a sing song voice, causing one the burnt amber Western Dragon to jerk and stand.
[You sing in the Common Tongue?] it asked, its voice female.
Shadowfire blinked. [Um, yeah,] he said, his horns twitching. [Mom can't understand the Old Tongue so I learned to sing where she could hear and sing along with me.]
[Mom?] the other Western Dragon asked, also standing and its voice proving it to be a male.
"Me," Gyda said, with a small wave.
That caused all the dragons to stare at her wide eyed, the ones who had been bowing standing to do so. Hiccup would have laughed had he still not been slightly annoyed at Toothless for ordering him not to jump while they showed his father their flying. He was not stupid. Winter was in full form here and the winds were still largely unknown.
Around Berk, Hiccup had started being able to read the wind by watching his brother while they flew. He knew when a wind was favorable for jumping so that he and Toothless were not blown apart from each other. At the Hatchery the waters were warm, the air was warm, almost uncomfortable so for someone used to the cold. While the wind patterns were new, they were not extreme like they were around the nest when they were coming in the night before. The water around this nest also had ice floating in it and while he was used to the cold he did not want a bath in ice water. Both of those facts served to temper his desire to jump off of Toothless.
He felt a hand upon his shoulder and glanced left, finding Astrid standing there. She smiled and then slid her hand over and began rubbing the back of his neck, Sharpshot shifting away to allow her. Hiccup's arms dropped but he kept the moan he felt bubbling in his throat locked behind his teeth. No need to invite more teasing from his brother, who had not stopped even though he was courting Moondust.
[We should continue on,] Toothless' father said, breaking into Hiccup's thoughts of yanking Astrid to somewhere she could massage his shoulder along with his neck like she did in his hut after Mildew confronted him.
Of course, he would have massaged her shoulders as well, as it was only right.
[Before both of my sons hit the stone,] Toothless' father continued. [One because his intended smacked him with her tail and the other because his intended seems to be able to make him freeze and droop at the same time. Elder Gyda, is that another form of that magic you wield? Is Astrid learning to be a mage as well?]
Hiccup felt his face burn as Shadowfire, Stormfly, Sharpshot, Sneaky, and Meatlug began to cackle and Fishlegs and Gyda began snickering.
Literally Nobody: Hehe, yep, Snot and Hiccup have an odd relationship. One of my favorite moments in then the Sandbusted episode of RTTE where Snot tells that thief they weren't going anywhere without Hiccup.
Prince: I know that feeling. Glad you were able to survive work and can enjoy the Hiccstrid moments. Snot can be a good fighter on his own, if he allows himself to.
Dark: Hehe, fair warning, read very closely. Things in my stories tend to return at strange places but always for reasons. And this Snotlout was changed by the events he watched in the first book and the events he lived through when Hiccup and Toothless fought that Red Death. Hookfang also helped him a lot.