Argument

My sickness only lasted a day, thank the Skies. I had a few shivers since this morning, but all seems fine since. Though I think I should be sick more often, as Toothless hasn't left my side at all today like he would've. He constantly checked on me though, being the highly overprotective brother he is (Note; HIGHLY). We were currently laying around in a winter pile, basically both of us tangled up in each other, asleep. I was currently in an uncomfortable position on my back with Toothless on top of me, almost crushing me. Any other time I would've complained, shoving him off and him playfully refusing. But for one thing if he wakes up there's a chance he'll leave me again and I really liked it when he was home. Another thing is he's been really tired lately and I didn't want to wake him.

Though, I REALLY wish he'd move off my wing. It was starting to go numb. I squirmed a bit until he moved his position, thankfully. Onnn to my other wing. This time though, his weight was almost completely on it, bending it painfully. If I tried, I could probably hear the bone cracking as he moved. I screeched. Both of us jolted up, me away from him in pain, him in surprise and shock. "Oww!" I complained, testing my throbbing appendage. I could see Toothless blinking a few times from the corner of my eye, most likely trying to comprehend what just happened. "Hiccup…" he mumbled. I stretched my wing out and flinched as pain jolted through it. I didn't even open it half way. My brother seemed to catch on.

"Oh Shit, Hiccup let me see it" he ordered. I turned to my side and spread out my wing. Not all the way, of course, but enough to let him do his prodding. "I leaned on it while sleeping, didn't I?" he asked. I nodded while hissing. "You-AH! You need to lose weight" I mumbled. He sighed as he nosed the injury. "It's not broken or anything. Maybe sprained, but it should be fine so long you don't use it" He said, still looking oddly tired. "Oh, ok" I mumbled, yawning myself. I curled back onto the floor and looked at him expectantly. Normally I'd question him more when he wouldn't go back to sleep, but he looked super stressed and really tired. He curled up, in front of me this time, and closed his eyes.

I didn't care if he ended up breaking my wing, but I curled up under him like before. It just felt wrong to sleep alone when he was in the cave with me, like he was leaving me more on my own. I know I'm a teenager, but the thought of being on my own scares me. Who would be there to keep me happy or to tell me stories? Who would be there to lick my injuries or comfort me during storms? Who could protect me from No Scales with their fake claws, or even other dragons that poisoned the skies? I don't think he really knows how much I need him to survive.

I felt really anxious at the thought of him leaving me one day and never coming back. Stormfly has her own family to take care of, she can't continue to take care of me like Toothless. She babysits me, a lot, but that doesn't mean I'm her sibling or actual family. 'That settles it. Tomorrow I'm going to ask him to take me outside. Even if there's No Scales or Dragons that poison the skies, I want to know what to do if something ever happens to him. I need to' I thought, looking at him. I whimpered in sadness at how tired and stressed he really looked. If I was being honest, I could even say I saw a little grey in his scales. He tightened around me and began to purr. He did that a lot when I was ever ailing.

I let him know the gesture was appreciated by curling more into him, and closing my eyes. 'I don't understand what's happening to you Toothless, but I'll do what I can to lick your wounds'

"No! Absolutely not!" Toothless scolded.

I looked down a little, doubting if it was a good idea to even ask him. "But, you'd be with me! You could keep me safe if something ever did happen!" I argued.

"Well for one thing, you need to keep off that wing or it'll get worse. Second, you could be hurt, or even worse, killed!"

"I'll take that risk! I mean, you might almost get killed every day for all I know!"

"I've seen what's out there Hiccup! I know what to expect and what to do, you don't! You're too inexperienced to take care of yourself"

"Then teach me! How can I ever be ready if you won't teach me? What happens if someone comes in here; I don't know how to fight. Hiding will only get me so far"

He ran a paw over his face "For the love of the Skies…" he mumbled "...Hiccup, where is this coming from? You didn't care yesterday" I avoided his eyes. "Hiccup" he said sharply. Fear of being yelled at kept me frozen in place, but more fear of telling him how I really felt kept me from meeting his eyes. He walked up to me and butted my head with his. "Hiccup, look at me" he said with that tone of voice. The one where you can't argue with what they say or you'd be in even more trouble.

I glanced at his eyes, then away. Then back at his eyes and away. I didn't hold the look like I knew he wanted me too because I was scared. I didn't want him to know why. Either he'd yell at me more or he'd ignore it, like usual. He butted my head once more, forcing me to hold his eyes. I cowered, still not giving in. "Brother, talk to me. What are you thinking?" he asked softly. I have to admit, this was kind of random, but I didn't want to stay in the shadows anymore while he risked his life everyday for reasons I'm unaware of. This is what sets me apart from being a child to a teenager. "Well...I….I just...you...you're always…*sigh* How's it fair that you're always out in the dangerous world, while I'm stuck here, safe?"

It was silent for a few tense seconds. "Hiccup…" he began, but I didn't let him. "No, you're always out in danger and I am always left here, basically wondering all day if you're going to come back in one piece, or if you're gonna come back at all!" "Hiccup…" he pressed, but I ignored his warning. "And while we're on the subject, I don't even know why you leave me! You expect me to just be ok with you leaving, unexpectedly, out of nowhere, and be gone for random amounts of time! You come back and expect me to...to be ok with this, but I'm not! And you won't even give me the benefit of knowing why!"

At this time, Toothless was turned away from me, oddly rigid and tense. "Brother, stop it!" he ordered, but this was a wind that couldn't be stopped by a mountain. "I mean, how can you do that to me? To Stormfly? I'm sure she has her own problems to deal with, let alone make time to babysit me. And even then she sometimes has to leave too! No, I don't want to sit here anymore and do nothing! Not while the people I love are putting themselves at risk for seemingly nothing important!". That did it. Something in Toothless snapped. He lunged back at me, pinning me to the ground, tousling my bad wing enough to make me gasp. "ENOUGH!" he roared, silencing the cave.

I was stunned on the floor. Maybe it was the aggressive tone he used when yelling at me. Maybe it was the sudden attack that I didn't predict he would ever use on me. Maybe it was the force of emotion behind those burning eyes. The rage, the anger, the despair. Maybe it was because I didn't recognize the dragon on top of me. Whatever it was, I was scared. My heart was racing and I, for the first time ever, was frozen in fear. At the paws of my own brother of all things. "You aren't leaving this cave. Ever." he spoke. The threat was there. Whether he knew it or not, he just threatened me. "I have seen too much failed heroism to just let you leave. I have lost so much from that world out there. Skies be damned if I lose you too".

My mind was going a mile a minute, to fast for me to try and figure out what he meant by that. I have never, EVER seen my brother do that. He's never treated me like this. He never used fear to make me follow his rules. He never scared me, never made me feel unsafe, and never made me leak. Until now. He got off me slowly, not breaking my gaze until he was off me completely. I didn't move. I was too afraid. I could hear my heart thumping in my chest, feel my blood pulse through my body. I choked. A lump grew in my throat and tears began to fall, no matter how much I tried to stop them.

I flew back, completely forgetting my wing, when Toothless took a step closer to me. I didn't stick around to see his face. I felt threatened and scurried up to my ledge, curling as far back into it as possible. Ironic how my brother taught me to come here if I was scared, only years later, to be the one to scare me. That was not my brother. I had no idea who that was, but I didn't like it in the slightest. "Hiccup…" he called up. I flinched and whimpered, making myself as small as possible. I didn't want to see his face. Not even a glance. I knew if I saw his face I would only see those rage induced eyes hovering over mine. I shivered, trembled, and sobbed, something I hadn't done in years since the last storm to ever scare me.

Some teenager I was. Couldn't even stand up to my own brother.

"Baby" I heard, feeling a body wrap around mine. That voice wasn't rage induced. It was soft, kind, gentle. I grew up with that voice, telling me stories and humming me lullabies. That was the voice of my brother. I still didn't look up, fearing what I'd see, but I let my frills comfort me with sound. He began to hum to me, wrapping his tail around mine, and holding me close. I just leaked it out. I'll never be able to look at him the same way again, not after that. He hushed me, hummed, and nuzzled me. I kept my eyes closed tight. Looks could be deceiving and I didn't want to see comfort, afraid my eyes were playing tricks. I let my frills be tricked. Along with my scales. It felt like Toothless. It sounded like Toothless. But after that, I would always be doubtful on if it really was.

When I woke up, Toothless was gone. Stormfly was there, but no Toothless. I shockingly felt relief that my brother wasn't around. 'Well, that's a first' I thought. Stormfly hadn't realized I was awake yet. "Stormfly?" I called out. She looked over to me. "Hey Hiccup. So what's the plan for today? Tag? I spy? Story time, or…" "Stormfly, what's it like outside?" I asked. It was a serious question, with no hint of playfulness or want. Of course I've asked this a thousand times to both Toothless and Stormfly, but this time I really needed to know. I think Stormfly knew it too, as she was rendered speechless.

"Hiccup...you know I can't…" "Please" I begged. From how she was acting, I'd take a guess Toothless either didn't tell her about this morning, or she was really good at hiding things. She just looked up at me where I was laying, up on my ledge. I think she could see how mentally exhausted I was when asking. It wasn't a fight...it was a plead. She sighed and looked out into the bright fog, notifying me it was daytime. "The island you live on is brown and dead. Fog hovers over this place constantly. The water is as dead as the island, looking brown and sometimes black when I fly over it" I listened intently, mentally my hopes sinking.

"But….beyond the fog bank and black waters….A whole world lives out there. You can see the sun, a glow so bright looking into it hurts" she added. I looked at her, trying to imagine such a thing. "The skies are the brightest blue with some of the whitest clouds you can imagine. Flying through them is like flying through thin fog. The islands nearby are fairly dull compared to the places I've been. But the trees are a soft dark brown, and easily breakable when you're a dragon. The leaves are green, and in places south of here, turn orange and red and yellow before winter. And winter, oh how beautiful the snow looks covering the land. It's white, sparkly and cold when you touch it". "Colder than stone?" I asked in wonder.

She nodded "Yes, colder than stone. At night, the sky turns black, blacker than your scales, and you can see all of the Moon's unborn children, awaiting their birth and death".

"What about the moon? What does she look like?" I asked. Sometime during her description, I had moved down from my ledge, right in front of her. Stormfly smiled softly. "The Moon looks like a rock in the sky. She's pale, but not white. You can see large dips in her like craters. Every month she slowly hides herself until you can't see her. But she always reveals herself again. The air is clear and you can see miles and miles in front of you. It's such a beautiful world beyond the fog that hides us. A world I wish you could see Hiccup. There's other dragons to make friends with, there always new battles to fight, and there is always new things to be found" she spoke.

I imagined what all that would look like. I wonder what all that color would look like, how it all would mesh together in harmony. I've only seen Stormfly's hide and blood when I accidentally hurt myself. No other colors. I wondered how other dragons looked compared to us, what living in the open would be like. I had a hard time imagining what was so bad about this world. "Why is Toothless so afraid of that?" I asked quietly. Stormfly licked my head. "He's not afraid of the world Hiccup. He's never been afraid of the world. But, he's lost a lot Hiccup. And the world wasn't there to protect him. Or you. He's afraid of losing you to the world. You mean more than anything to that dragon, and I don't want to know what he'd do if something were to ever happen to you. I don't want him to keep you here all your life, but...I didn't help him in his time of need. And he only trusts me this much with you. Any slip up and he won't let me even a breeze near this cave".

I took a deep breath, looking at the stone near me. She said it too, that he lost a lot. Toothless isn't telling me something. "What did he lose that makes him so scared to trust me?" I asked, looking her in the eyes. She was about to reply when she heard it. After a few seconds, I heard it too. Toothless' wingbeats. An image of Toothless pinning me down flashed through my eyes, and I was up on my ledge faster than a blink. I turned away from the opening and waited for him to land.

It was silent for a few minutes before I heard him speak. "Has he even come down?" I was prepared for Stormfly to tell on me, on us. On our little conversation that I knew he wouldn't have liked. To my surprise, "No. No he hasn't. He woke up a while ago, but he hasn't said anything. Are you sure nothing happened between you two?" I sent a silent thank you her way. That conversation felt forbidden, and I felt a little guilty for hiding it, but I have no idea how much Toothless isn't telling me. So I shoved that guilt into the back of my head and hid it. "Alright. Thank you Stormfly, you can go" it was silent again, and I could tell she didn't move. But after a few seconds, she did and she flew out of the cave.

And silence thickened the air once again. My chest grew heavy and I felt afraid to face my brother. "Hiccup, come down here" he said. I didn't. If I needed to move at this very second, I don't think I could have. "Brother please, come down" I still didn't move. I heard shuffling, and soon I could sense his presence a few feet behind me. I tensed up and waited for something to happen. Anything! He laid down next to me and I turned my head away from him. "Look at me Hiccup, please!" he begged. I couldn't, though. I was once again, afraid of what I'd see. I felt his head on my neck, just sitting there. "Ok" he whispered. He stood and my heart felt like it was breaking. I snatched his paw before he could move, and held it close.

I needed him, even if I didn't want too. He needed to say something, so at least I could look at him without fear. He sat down slowly, putting a wing around me. I didn't look at him or say anything as I leaned on him for comfort. Eventually, he spoke. "I'm so sorry Hiccup. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. It was uncalled for and I'm so sorry that I hurt you. You're my brother and all I want is for you to be safe. That's why you can't leave this cave. And, that's why….that's why you can't know why I leave. It's safe here and you're safe with me, and while this isn't the future I had planned for you, you must stay" he said. I could hear the pain in his voice as he spoke, and I felt myself relaxing as he spoke. He meant what he was saying.

"I never meant to hurt you brother, but please...don't shut me out" He pleaded. I accepted his answer now, but I knew it wouldn't last forever. But there's one thing I need to know. I have to know what it is that he won't tell me. It hurts him still if he had to yell at me for questioning him about it. "What...what did you lose?" I asked with a small voice. "What did I lose?" he repeated. I took a slow breath in my lungs and mustered up what courage I had. "You...you said yesterday that...you had lost so much from the world and that...you weren't going to lose me too" I looked him straight in the eyes as I repeated my question. "So...what did you lose?" He, for the first time in my life, looked like he was about to leak. He set his head back on top of mine, taking, what I assume, was meant to be a breath. It sounded half-way between a sob and a gasp. "Everything. I lost everything" he whispered.

I had no idea what to say. I hesitated before reaching my paws around him in a hug. He hugged me back not a second later. We stayed like this for a long time He huffed after a while. "Well, almost everything". We pulled apart, and I looked at him. The image flashed before my eyes, but I didn't look away in fear. I kept the reminder in my head, but forgave it and moved on. "I'm...sorry too. I shouldn't have pushed you. I was just scared that you would leave and not come back, and I'd never know why or what had happened". He licked my head. "Believe me Hiccup, I'll never leave you. And nothing's ever going to happen to me, so don't start planning my funeral quite yet" he joked. I laughed, even if I didn't believe that. "Now come on. I brought you some fresh fish"

I perked up at that.

What can I say? Fresh fish isn't that common for me. We weren't back to normal by any means, but I was warming back up to him. Slowly. He didn't really specify his answer on what he had lost, but I'll save it for another time. Clearly he wasn't ready to tell me and for now, I wouldn't push him

That night when I slept, I dreamt of flying past white clouds, in an open sky, light everywhere around me. It was the best dream I'd ever had.

Author's Note: Hope you like the new chapter, comment if you want more.