Igniting the Fuse

Toothless was looking sicker lately. He was gone for shorter amounts of time, but was always more tired then he would've been before. He didn't sleep by me anymore. Now he slept near the entrance of the cave like he's afraid I'll leave. His scales were growing lighter, even if the smallest bit, and my guilt was skyrocketing through the cave roof. "I won't leave again, I promise!" I would say. "You don't need to act like I'm going to leave if you take a small nap" I would argue. "Sleep Toothless! I learned my lesson, I won't leave again, I get it!" I would beg. But, leaving broke his trust. And now nothing I do or say could convince him to take a good night's sleep. He currently looked almost dead in front of his pile of fish, not caring to take a bite.

I looked down at mine and couldn't bring myself to eat when I'm the reason my brother his doing this to himself. I shifted uncomfortably and he snapped his face towards me. "Eat your dinner Hiccup" he said bluntly. I looked at him, then back at the fish. I couldn't even open my mouth at how sick the guilt was making me. "Hiccup, eat your dinner!" he scolded. My stomach felt tight in a knot, burning, daring me to try and choke down food to it. "I...I...I'm not hungry, thank you" I said quietly, getting up to leave. A paw snapped on my tail. "I won't ask again Hiccup. Eat" he commanded. I shook my head and tears began streaming down my face. My body shook with sobs as guilt began overwhelming me. I stood there, leaking, and Toothless didn't try to comfort me.

He came around in front of me and pushed me back to the pile of fresh fish he brought home. He was mad at me. Betrayed, hurt, and scared, and he still had the decency to bring back fresh fish for me. And what am I doing? Leaking like a hatchling over something I caused. Looking at the dead fish made me sick. I fell back on the ground and just leaked. I couldn't accept this. Not after putting my brother through whatever torture he's going through. I didn't deserve this kind of thoughtfulness. I buried my face into my paws and leaked like to tomorrow. When Toothless finally decided to comfort me, I shoved him off. "Brother, come on" "No!" I cried. "I deserve this" I whimpered.

"Hiccup…" "I shouldn't have left, I know! It's my fault, everything's my fault, I don't deserve this! Just leave me alone, I don't deserve it!" I cried, leaking my heart out. I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed, hating myself even more for what I did, and how inconsiderate I was when leaving. "Baby, stop leaking" he soothed, sliding all around me. I didn't listen and kept leaking hysterically anyways. My self resentment grew as I didn't try to push him away. I kept telling myself I didn't deserve his comfort, but I gave in and let him help me anyway. "Hiccup, calm down" he tried. I just shook my head in defiance. "No! I can't do anything to help, and..and now you're overworking yourself, and you're mad, and..and I can't do anything cause it's my fault, and…" "Hiccup stop it!" he hissed. A wail of resentment was all that came out.

"Shhh Hiccup, you need to stop leaking" The flood of emotions began to slow enough for me to whisper one last thing "I don't deserve to be comforted". I let myself get lost in my guilt again. "Hiccup! Hey, look at me!" he said, shaking me a bit roughly. My unstopping, leaking eyes met his. "Do you know why I'm acting like this?" he questioned. My gaze wandered, but he directed it back to his. "B..because I left the cave…" I whispered. "Yes, because you left the cave. I work day in and day out to keep you safe from the outside world. Have for the past fifteen years since the day you hatched from your egg. And in a day, you almost made all that effort worth nothing" he explained, heartbroken. I went back to sobbing, my guilt levels beyond the skies. I could've sworn they were up in the darkness with the Moon and her stars. "But, making mistakes are a part of life. Doing them isn't what matters, it's that you learn from them".

I still didn't look at him fully. I couldn't. "You shouldn't punish yourself because you made a big mistake brother. What you should do is learn from it and try to do better next time" he said, rubbing my head over and over. I tried to resist the feeling of comfort I began to feel, but I wasn't strong enough. "Now that you know what happens, will you ever leave again?". I shook my head like my life depended on it. I don't think I could stand the guilt of it again if I ever made Toothless act like this again. Toothless gave a hum of approval and went back to soothing me.

We sat there for who knows how long, me leaking, him comforting me. I clung to him like he was my last life-line. 'I can't lose him because of my stupid actions. If he wants me to stay here forever….then I guess I will' A part of me died at the thought of never getting to see colors again. But Toothless does everything in his power to keep me safe, why shouldn't I do the same? A new ache grew in my heart of never being able to leave. It stuck just as much as the guilt. And the pain of it grew, but I locked it up knowing there wasn't anything I could do to change this decision. "Your fish is going to get stale if you don't eat it Hiccup". Food…..didn't sit with me right now. "I don't want it right now". "Please brother, for me?" I stubbornly shook my head, burying my face more into his neck. He chuckled. "Why are you so stubborn?" I didn't reply.

Toothless slept with me last night, finally. He was still asleep right now, but I wasn't. My brain was active again and it woke me up early.

I guess there was always a part of me that knew leaving was never an option. That since Toothless never let me outside, there would be a slim chance I would ever be leaving the cave. Yes, we do leave for migrations, but I'm always asleep during the time, hibernating because of the cold. I'm younger, so it effects me sooner than Toothless. But that's off topic. The realization that I now swore to myself, willingly, that I would never leave this cave, or any cave hit me, and killed off a side of me that had been alive for years. I would always imagine life outside. The colors, the warmth, the wind, the skies, secretly hoping one day I'd be able to fly out of here and take it all in. I always had hope, let myself fall into denial that I could leave by some miracle.

But now, I swore that I would never leave, for my brother's sake. And with that blow to my hope, all of my imagination died with it. I won't be leaving. I can't leave. I never will. My heart began to sink and lose color, turning as grey and gloomy as the stone I lived around. I didn't think about outside anymore. I had no motivation and no hope. I can't leave now, so thinking about it will only make it worse on me. A nudge to my face caught my attention and Toothless looked back at me. He woke up.

I sucked all my previous thoughts away and gave him a tired smile. He got up, ready to just fool around with me until he had to leave, but I couldn't bring myself to play. "You don't want to play?" I heard him exclaim in disbelief. I faked a yawn. "I'm too tired". He gave me a calculating look. I held it before shrugging

"I...I don't know, it's probably from last night, or..or may that growth spurt you were talking about a while ago"

I quickly noted how unenthusiastic that sounded.

"Maybe" he said walking back over to me. I could tell he didn't quite believe me. We stared at each other for a long time. His gaze changed.

It melted.

Calculating

Confusion

Worry

With how I felt I'm sure he could see a change in my eyes. I know I could feel it digging a hole in my heart. "Hiccup, you don't need to keep punishing yourself for what you did" he said eventually.

Um, what?

'I guess that's what he thinks is wrong with me'. "I know, and I'm not. I promise" He didn't look like he completely believed me. I sighed. "Will….will you let Stormfly come back?" I asked, looking back into his eyes. His pupils visually slit from her name. "Hiccup, she…" "I don't care if she lied. I won't leave again. Nothing she says can make me leave, I promise" I say a bit bitterly. He clenched his eyes shut and clawed the ground, clearly at war with himself.

"I…" some form of hope at seeing the other half of my family rose. "...I'll think about it. She influenced you, and I'm not comfortable with that". That hope sank, but I wasn't terribly surprised. I nodded, looking away from him and set my head back onto my paws.

"Brother…" Toothless asked in a wavering voice.

I didn't respond.

"Brother what are you thinking?"

I stared numbly at the floor in front of me, thinking of what to say.

"Just…." I started, hesitating.

He looked at me nervously, waiting for an answer.

"...that I really want a nap" I ended.

I wasn't the same since that night I broke down. It was grading on Toothless, and truthfully myself as well. I didn't play as much or smile. I spent a lot of time on my ledge, or just staying quiet. In those moments I thought about my future, how dull and grey it'll be. How it could be something more. How it won't be because I sacrificed that side of me for my brother. I clawed the ground aimlessly while I waited for my brother to return. I feel warm when he comes back safely everyday, but I never jump to greet him in excitement like before. He jokes around with me and tries to play with me, but it's never the same. It doesn't reach my eyes or my heart like it used to. I don't spend my time complaining about being bored anymore. Now I just sit a comfortable distance from the entrance and wait until I hear my brother's wing beats return.

That's all I'll be doing for the rest of my life anyways, so why not just accept it and start now?

I knew what changed. I grew up a little bit. For years, I spent denying and twisting reality in small attempts to try and please my mind and get what I always wished for. Hope ran that part of me. And when that dream died, I had nothing left to avoid the truth with. This is my life. Stuck in a cave with nothing but family keeping me running. And this is how it will always be from now on. Sighing, I continued to scribble of the ground with my claws. No more weird shapes of what I thought would be trees. No attempts to make flowers. Just, plain old, boring lines like my life.

No more spark.

No more fun.

No more imagination.

I heard flapping and looked up to wait for my brother. The wingbeats were different though.

Larger.

Slower.

Not like Stormfly's. Too big.

Not like Toothless'. Too pronounced.

A large shadow dropped in front of the cave. A tail with red, flimsy spikes slithered in and out of view. My heart dropped.

Another dragon.

As quietly and quickly as I could, I hid in my ledge. But, luck wasn't on my side. It never was. Small pebbles and stones were dislodged when I used my hind legs to push myself up into the ledge. I shrunk back as terror began to overwhelm mt body. There was a grunt and a few large thumps and dragging noises filled the cave.

'It's inside! It's inside! It's inside! Ok, uh, stay calm, wait for Toothless, stay calm, wait for Toothless, stay calm, wait for Toothless!' I thought feverishly.

I looked at the large dragon. It was yellow and brown, and in some areas, a color I hadn't been introduced too yet. It was large. Really large. It was taller than Stormfly, and bigger than her too! It barely fit into the cave. He sniffed the ground and his yellow eyes slit. He roared, a roar sounding loud and pitchy.

I flinched and covered my ears.

I concealed a whimper.

Before long, another two dragons flew in, barely fitting in. One was brown and bumpy, looking short and fat with thick scales and a large jaw. The other was a Spine Tail, as I recognized, but it's colors were different. Lighter and in colors I hadn't recognized before. "Ok, we found his nest! All we need to do is find the boy and leave before anyone notices" the brown one said, a voice like gravel. It was a he from what I could tell. They all began sniffing the cave looking for, who I could only assume was me. I struggled to conceal my hyperventilating breaths.

"Come on out child, we won't hurt you!" The Spine Tail soothed. Her voice was calm and soft, almost convincing me to come out. 'No! Hide and wait for Toothless, hide and wait for Toothless' I thought again. The largest dragon, the one that had horns, sniffed a little too close to my ledge for my liking. He eventually stopped and looked back here. I kept my eyes closed so I wouldn't be seen. "Guys!" He hissed. "I think I found him" I swear I stopped breathing. A lot of shuffling confirmed that they all came over.

"It's ok boy, we're not here to harm you" the Spine Tail spoke again. My heart beat faster the closer they got.

"Yeah! We just want to take you for a walk!" the largest one said. I heard a smack and an 'ouch'. If I wasn't terrified, I could've laughed. I trembled as the large one stuck his head in.

"Come on out, we don't bite"

Thu-thump

"We just wanna talk to you little one"

Thu-thump

"We aren't going to harm you

Thu-thump

The large one's snout was inches from my body, long teeth that could tear me in two seconds from my body. So, I did what every reasonable teenager did.

I clawed his snout and booked it out of the ledge.

"Ahh!" the dragon cried, his face scratched. "Lightclaw No!" the Spine Tail roared, and I squinted while jumping back as the cave was illuminated with light. I blinked, my eyes adjusting when I saw the most terrifying, but oddly mesmerizing thing I'd ever seen. The large dragon was alit with fire, the flames not even charring his scales. 'How do I fight that?!' I thought with panic.

"Oh dratz, might as well" the Spine Tail said. Her tail spiked up and I narrowly dodged the poisoned spiked that flew at me. They lodged in the cave wall. The Brown one flew at me, wings making a grating buzzing noise. I shot up over him, and looked at the dragons surrounding me. 'Ok Hiccup, two options: Stay in the cave and kill three dragons, one you know you can't defeat and two you've never met before. Or run' I thought. Despite my promise, it wasn't hard to figure out the safest option.

I charged a blast, one that had all three ducking down from. I shot the biggest blast I could manage at the cave roof. It exploded, making rocks and dust fall everywhere. Ignoring the dizzy rush the blast had left, I shot past the Spine Tail blocking the exit and quickly made a left. I ran until I reached the fog end. There was no sound and no dragons from what I could tell, so I used my wings to propel me up some of the mountain. I haven't flown properly in years, my body getting too big for the small cave, so flying at the moment was a no-go. I heard roars in the distance, ones sounding like the large, yellow dragon. I looked around and found a small opening I could hide in. A strange, large, brown root that was over two stones. I hid in the shadows under it and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

I waited for something to happen. One of those dragons to come after me, that buzzing noise that hurt my head, Toothless mad at me again because he thinks I left on my own, again. I shook and whimpered, scared. "Ok Hiccup, you're alone, and outside. Dragons attacked you and you escaped. Just...wait for Toothless to come, he'll find you and take care of it" I reassured. I began to rock back and forth while I waited, fear of that noise hurting me keeping my mind on high alert.

I didn't realize how light it was until it began to grow dark. The only light on the island was the glow of the red and yellow, and unidentified color #3 that streamed endlessly out the mountain. My fear lessened throughout the day and I just waited. 'Should I go back? No, they might be waiting for that' I thought. My fear had steadily went away, but I was getting worried. 'Why is Toothless taking so long?' Shadows appeared before me and I froze. But I didn't hear anything. I then noticed dragons flying overhead and to the top of the mountain. 'Maybe that where Toothless is!' I thought excitedly.

Forgetting all dangers, I climbed out of hiding and tried to fly up the mountain.

Yep, big mistake.

It wasn't that I couldn't, it's just I've never flown freely before, in open air. And looking down at how far I could fall made me think twice about flying. So, I spent…..I don't really know how long, but I was huffing in air as I almost made it to the top. It was really cold up here and my throat was begging for water. As I got closer, a different kind of buzzing noise hit me. There were voices in that buzzing. I climbed and when I made it to the top, I froze.

Looking down, not only sent the worst heat blast of my life, but also revealed an interior glowing with unidentified color #3. On ledges surrounding the glow were dragons similar to the ones I saw previously. The only one I think I didn't see before were the two headed ones. But, I didn't see any sign of another Death Striker. Or my brother. A squawk rang out in the air, causing me to flinch, and I saw a bunch of dragons fly in, dropping their food….into….the mist? I looked for a sign of black, or even Stormfly, but didn't see either. One of the dragons that had buzzing wings hovered over the hole and brought up a small fish.

"That's all you offer me?!"

I flinched at the volume, looking for what dragon made the noise. Believe me when I say I didn't miss it when it reared its ugly face. The buzzing dragon was lost out of sight as teeth larger than Toothless chomped around it. My mouth dropped.

'This….this….thing just…..ate another dragon….' I went rigid with fear.

Three thumps behind me caused me to jerk back, and I mentally kicked myself for forgetting I was supposed to be hiding. The three same dragons had me cornered, and I crouched down low, heart about to give in from fear.

"Well, well, well, look what the dragon dropped in" the brown one said. They each gave identical, evil looks.

'Oh, why me?'

Author's Note: Dun Dun DUNNN! What will happen to poor Hiccup? So overwhelmed, so naive, so much DANGER! Hope you like the new chapter, and let me know what you think will happen next!