Ok so I know I'm late getting this chapter out but I had some personal issues that I had to take care of so pretty much my entire Sunday was shot as was most of today. I'm just now able to sit down and get this chapter out, so I'm going to set the timetable for the next (and last) chapter for Friday as this week is packed for me and I won't have much time to update. This also applies to those of y'all who have read my other story "Learning To Fly", especially since I haven't started typing the next chapter yet.
Now came the hard part.
Actually getting the dragons to Berk.
For almost all the dragons, it was simple: just making sure they all stuck together. But as for the Alpha himself….
It was painfully obvious that the burden of carrying Toothless had been shared between Cloudjumper and the handful of Timberjacks and Typhoomerangs within the flock. So to relieve their extra weight and give Toothless his flight back, Hiccup had a plan.
"Hookfang?"
His cousin's dragon walked over, grunting at Hiccup attentively and approaching his crouched spot by Toothless' tail. Giving the poor dragon some gentle scratches in a decade late apology, Hiccup guided the dragon to Myra, immediately taking a liking to the small girl.
Looking back to Toothless' tail, Hiccup assessed his situation. While the gears and mechanical parts were still intact by some Odin given miracle, the connecting rod and the fin itself were long gone.
"Mind fetching me some leather and metal from our boat, Hookfang? It's down on that beach to the east," Hiccup asked, catching the Nightmare's attention once more. Nodding to Hiccup, the dragon took off.
Hiccup detached the remnants of the tail and its attachments, eyeballing the burn marks that had twisted the metal in spots, discoloring the silver. A shock of recognition ran through him and he looked up to glare at Toothless, huffing a laugh under his breath and shaking his head.
"Stubborn reptile."
Toothless rolled his eyes, chuffed, and then narrowed his dilated eyes at Hiccup playfully.
"Just like Snoggletog, eh?" He asked and gave Toothless an affectionate scratch as Hookfang returned, a bundle clutched in his talons.
Nodding his thanks to the dragon while rubbing his horn fondly, Hiccup then approached the bundle, unwrapping it and removing the enclosed leather, metal, and tools.
"Myra!" He called over his shoulder to his daughter, who was being fawned over by Stormfly and Meatlug. "Mind bringing Stormfly over here?"
Myra rushed over to her father, Stormfly and Meatlug hot on her heels and Toothless and Luna's daughter running circles around her feet.
Hiccup held a couple pieces of iron up to Stormfly, his hands covered with a pair of leather gloves that had been in the bundle with his tools. "Give me some heat, girl," He said and turned his head to the side to not be blinded as Stormfly complied. The iron melted just enough to be moldable, just the result Hiccup was looking for.
Grinning, he gave her a chin scratch. "Thanks girl," He said before beginning to reconstruct the tail fin. It was time-consuming and occasionally frustrating work, but the metal came together well enough until all it needed was to finish cooling so the leather could be attached.
"It's going to be automatic," Hiccup said. Toothless grumbled softly but stopped when Hiccup ran a hand down his side. "But I promise once we get back to Berk, I'll make a copy of the old saddle."
That seemed to satisfy Toothless, for he purred contentedly and then spun around, covering Hiccup with dragon saliva.
"Toothless! You know that doesn't wash out!"
Toothless chortled at his rider, who was grumbling about the saliva messing up his clothes but was smiling as he wiped it off his face and hands. Laughing, Hiccup reached down and cut out the leather, carefully matching it up with the metal frame, and then attached it.
"Alright, bud, let's see if this works."
Hiccup began affixing the tail fin as Toothless held as still as possible as he watched. Moments later, the viking chief stepped back and the alpha dragon lifted his tail, extending his natural right fin… which was then matched by its artificial twin.
"Yes it worked!" Hiccup exclaimed, Toothless warbling beside him in excitement. "Myra, bring Luna and the hatchling over here."
Myra had yet again wandered off, this time playing with the baby Fury and slowly gaining the trust of Luna. As Hiccup watched his daughter play, he smiled fondly as she carefully approached Luna, instinctively taking the vulnerable pose that had since been immortalized within the tales of bards: her head down, looking toward the ground, and her hand extended but not yet touching the dragon, putting her full trust in the creature.
After a beat of Luna hesitating briefly, she nuzzled the girl's hand and let her rub her head gently, purring at the action. Smiling, Myra guided both Luna and her baby to Hiccup and Toothless excitedly.
"Did you see me, Dad?" She babbled with the excitement typical of one her age. "I earned her trust, just like the stories said you did!"
Hiccup laughed, ruffling her hair fondly. "Yes, sweetheart, I saw. You were incredible." At her father's praise, Myra's smile widened. "Now, why don't you give Luna her baby back and-"
"Stardust."
Hiccup blinked.
"Huh?" He asked intelligently.
Myra gestured to Toothless' daughter, who was now nuzzling her father. "Her name's Stardust."
A smiles slowly etched its way onto Hiccup's face. "Well, get Stardust to sit still and hand her off to Luna. Berk is waiting."
He looked back at Toothless and didn't need to say a word. The alpha roared, and each dragon took to the air while awaiting his command. Hiccup took one last look around, a realization hitting him and making him grin when he saw Luna retract her teeth and pick up Stardust, settling her in her gummy mouth. Myra hovered near them, unsure of where to go, but looking at the dragons in awe.
"Come here, Myra," Hiccup beckoned, gaining her attention. "Alright, now climb on Toothless like you did earlier… Yes, just like that. Now I'll be right behind you, making sure you won't fall." Hiccup instructed, steadying his daughter before gathering his tools and climbing on after Myra. He patted Toothless' side and their identical eyes locked joyously.
"Ready, bud?"
Toothless warbled affirmatively then crouched before taking off, the rest of Berk's flock following in his wake.
So last chap before the big ending! (Not really big, and i don't like how I ended it) but the story ends next chap!
As for this, I hope this chapter answered your questions Rosalie Barvik! I tried to drop hints earlier, but essentially that part was based entirely off the Annecy clip descriptions, the promo picture, and trailers.
(Below may be possibly serious spoilers but it is speculation)
It's confirmed that Hiccup does set Toothless on his own at some point to track down the Light Fury. This is shown not only in the promo picture of Hiccstrid with the new tail, but also in one of the Annecy clips and it is clear that Toothless flies without Hiccup in the trailers; most prominently being the "Romantic Flight 2.0" scene from the October trailer. So I think it is kind of obvious that when the dragons leave, Hiccup is forced to take the tail he makes for Toothless to find the Light Fury and make it reinforced so that Toothless can go be Alpha and not worry about being grounded without his rider. I can see the scene playing out in my head (personally I think it will be directly after the scene where Hiccup says "It's time bud") but either way the tears will come!