Hiccup glanced at Astrid, who had stopped massaging his neck when Gyda told everyone the human names for the dragons. She lifted an eyebrow and tilted her head towards the white Night Fury. Hiccup turned back, finger lifting to tap against his chin.
"You have some scales that shine," he began, "like the others of your kind I have met. I can imagine standing in the right place with the sun falling upon you or the others, you all are bright because of those scales."
Hiccup faced Astrid, unwilling to make the call without her input. Something he knew he would seek for the rest of his life. Above anyone else, even Toothless, Hiccup trusted Astrid to tell it to him straight and aid him in making the decisions he had to on a daily basis.
"Bright Fury?" he asked.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw both white dragons grimace.
"What about Light Fury?" Astrid asked, smiling softly.
Hiccup grinned. "Yeah, yours is better, probably."
He turned to the dragons intending to ask them which they preferred or if they wanted completely different names. The one who had spoken did not give him a chance to give his question.
[I prefer Light Fury.]
[So, do I,] the other one said, its voice female.
Hiccup smiled. "Then we'll go with that."
Both dragons and several of the others in the group blinked and stared at Hiccup.
[You are not mad that we did not pick your name, my prince?] the male Light Fury asked.
"No," Hiccup answered, chuckling. "I keep telling the dragons back home that they can refuse any name they want. That they don't have to take a name they dislike just because I or one of my flock picks it. It's their name. They have the right to have one they like. Same with you all and the human name for your species. You can pick mine or Astrid's, or even reject both. If I let my nest dragons state their preferences, I can't get mad at you for doing the same."
The Light Fury titled his head. He then shook himself and warbled. [Can you teach that last bit to my mate?] he asked only to get wing slapped by the female beside him. [Ow! Sister, rude much!]
Hiccup chuckled but held up both hands, palms facing the Light Furies. "My blood father always said that a wise chief does not tell a woman how to run her house or her marriage, eh, mate-hood."
That caused all the known female dragons, even those with Hiccup, to laugh. Two of the Night Furies, the grey one and the other black one with blue eyes, also laughed. The rest of the group facing Hiccup stared at him as if he had betrayed them. Toothless' mother moved into Hiccup's line of sight and nuzzled his arm.
[Your blood father is a wise male. You would do well to listen to him.]
"Yes, ma'am."
Toothless' mother chuckled softly. [Mom, my son.]
Hiccup jerked. His back became like the Gronckle iron rods he and Gobber forged as handle cores for many of the tribe's axes. Toothless' mother stared at him and warbled in what sounded like a concerned tone.
"His blood mother was taken by a dragon during the war when he was still a baby," Astrid said, softly, resuming massaging the back of his neck. "He has never had someone he could call mom before."
Toothless' mother crooned, a sound echoed by the other females in the patrol group. Toothless' mother then warbled and Hiccup blinked when Sharpshot dropped to the stone. His confusion grew as Toothless' mother rose upon her hindlegs, shuffle-walked forward, gripped Hiccup gently with her forelegs and pulled him close. Her wings then enclosed around him and he felt her muzzle bury into his hair.
[I will never take her place, my son,] she said softly, [but I would be honored if you did call me mom.]
Hiccup buried his face into warm scales and hugged her as best he could. "Thank you," he whispered. "Mom."
The dragoness chittered and crooned, but this time a happy sound. Hiccup smiled as his hair was ruffled by several deep breaths. Toothless' mother let him go, falling back down to all fours. Hiccup nor more stepped back than the female Flame Whipper waddle-walked closer and nuzzled against his side.
[That you willingly let dragons live with you, that you willingly call dragons flock, after what they did to you,] the female began, [I cannot begin to describe how amazing you are, my prince.]
[We really should continue on,] Toothless' father said, softly. [Ice-shooter, take your patrol flock and go get breakfast. You all have earned the morning off.]
The Flame Whipper stepped back and she and all the dragons with the Woolly Howl bowed.
[Thank you, alpha,] the Woolly Howl said. [My prince,] he continued, as he and the others stood. [Should you find time, I would like to speak with you some more, if I may.]
"Sure," Hiccup said, smiling.
With that the patrol group continued on down the cross corridor. Toothless' father turned to Gyda.
[You hesitated when telling us the Poison-tail's human name,] he began. [Why?]
"We did not know they lived this far north," Gyda replied.
Toothless' father chuckled. [Those two are the exception as they seem to thrive in the cold, but the rest of their kind tend to stay within the heated parts of the nest. They patrol the corridors. We've already passed several.]
"Um," Fishlegs began, sounding as confused as Hiccup felt.
They had not seen any other Flame Whippers as they walked.
[Look up,] Toothless said, chortling.
Hiccup did so and his jaw opened. He heard Fishlegs squeal in delight and heard Gyda chuckle.
"Well," Astrid stated. "That's handy for security. Hard to avoid a guard that can walk on the ceiling."
The bright green and gold Flame Whipper looking down at them from the tunnel's roof, laughed. Its gaze fell upon Hiccup.
[My prince,] it said its voice male. [Your intended would make an excellent guard leader.]
Hiccup tilted his head. "What is a guard leader?"
[The one directly in charge of a flock of guards,] the Flame Whipper said. [Much like the Ice-shooter was the patrol leader for that flock, I am the guard leader for the flock of dragons assigned to this part of the nest.]
[It's a system I wish to implement back home, brother,] Toothless said. [As it would fall under my role as Nest Protector to create these flocks and assign the guard and patrol leaders.]
Hiccup lowered his gaze. "I like it. My blood father will as well. He wants to get dragons and humans teamed up to patrol and work guard shifts together anyways."
"Amazing how much can change in so little time," Fishlegs said. "The chief used to think of nothing more than to wipe out dragons in order to free us from the horrors of the raids. Then Hiccup changed his and most everyone's minds. Berk is now free of those raids. The dragons are now free of a tyrant. Both humans and dragons can grow again."
[Now I see why you are an elder-in-training,] Toothless' mother said. [You speak in one breath.]
Fishlegs grinned as the other expressed their mirth at the dragoness' statement. Toothless' father tipped his head to the Flame Whipper and began walking. Hiccup and the others either waved or acknowledged the guard dragon as they wished before following him.
"Um, sir," Astrid said as they curved around a bend in the corridor that began to slope down. "Earlier you said there was an ability Night Furies could do that Light Furies could not and only one Night Fury has ever done so. What ability is that?"
[Unlock a power within that turns our back spikes to blue, intensifies the strength of our breath attacks, and allows us better endurance to continue using our breath attacks. It's said the way to unlock that power starts with the splitting of ones back spikes.]
"You can split your back spikes?" Hiccup asked.
Toothless' father paused and hunched his back. Hiccup blinked. Astrid hummed in an intrigued tone. Fishlegs squealed again. Hiccup only really paid attention to Toothless' father's back spikes opening and closing and Gyda's choked grunt.
Kirika: Hehe, that was a favorite of mine too. So, I had to include it.
Don: Hi, welcome and thank you for reading and reviewing. I'm glad that you like how I'm telling the story. I'm having a blast with it. Biggest blast is meeting all my readers. And yes, Hiccup's 'wings' will come.