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Chapter 19: The Wingman
(Hiccup)
"Are those feathers?"
"Where?"
"On your mouth. You have…" he squinted, "did you eat a raven?"
"Should I not eat the black birds?"
"I don't know..." Hiccup replied uncertainly, "I mean… what if it was one of Odin's ravens? What if you just ate Huginn or Muninn? Can you imagine Odin's wrath? I for one would rather not enrage the Allfather any further. I think I may be on his bad side already. And even if it was just another raven... poor thing."
Hiccup had always liked ravens, especially since they never chased him around the village to peck his ankles, unlike hens and roosters often did on Berk. In fact, he did not recall ever being bitten by a raven, something very few Vikings could claim.
"Fiiine..." Toothless pouted. He looked thoughtful for a bit, then made a heaving noise, then a second and a third.
"Oh, no no no," Hiccup cried imploringly, "I didn't mean-" but it was too late.
Toothless regurgitated the black, still bloody carcass of the bird, and spat it out on the ground, close to where Hiccup gathered his building tools. It was a considerably more gruesome sight than the occasional regurgitated fish.
"Ugh, that's awful! Why would you barf it up?!" Hiccup protested, looking away from the half-chewed bundle of feathers.
"You said you did not want me to eat the black birds," the dragon explained, lowering his long ears to the sides in a display of remorse.
"Yes, but I didn't mean you should barf it up!"
The dragon sighed and rolled his eyes, as his remorse slowly transformed into annoyance. He then bowed down, and slurped back the little carcass from the ground.
"What are you… Eeew! Toothless!?" Hiccup yelped again, wincing at the sight. "You ate it back?!"
"Will you make up your mind already?! Eat the raven. Do not eat the raven. Just chose one, will you?"
Hiccup hid his disgusted face in his hands. "Do whatever you want. I'll just go throw up."
After grabbing a hatchet, Hiccup returned to building his shelter by the forest's tree-line. He was determined to finish the small abode before summer's end. So far, he had managed to make the wooden perimeter of the hut's floor, and, with the Night Fury's help, he had also raised the main wooden pillar, along with the two couples of crossed rafters at the two ends of the tent-like structure, upon which he had placed the central ridge. He was now making the sloped wooden walls, which was the most tedious part, though it was also the simplest.
The three Terrible Terrors enjoyed helping as well, bringing Hiccup the tools he required when he asked for them. The small dragons had been easy to train, even Twitch, the yellow one, who was the clumsiest and smallest of the three. Khnut, the Zippleback, had tried to help too, but the two capricious heads caused more damage than anything else, whilst Dreyri, the timid Monstrous Nightmare, would always flee at the sound of the beating hammer.
As the weeks passed, much to Hiccup's alarm, the more his house came together, the more his other belongings came apart. Some of his clothes looked more ragged by the day. He did try to wash and mend his limited garments as often as possible, but he had never washed or stitched a pair of breeches in his life. Learning to do so, although just a minor drawback of his exile, had been surprisingly hard to accept. At least he found he was quite apt at sewing, a job that was generally entrusted to the women back on Berk, which was all the more reason why Hiccup was glad there was no one there to see him as he fumbled with the needles and thread he had found.
Most tattered of all, of course, were Hiccup's boots, of which there had been no extra pair within the hidden Berserker crate, and which were impossible to repair. He had tried to stop wearing them most of the time, but when he worked without them he would regularly injure his bare feet. The boots were now held up with rope, which finally, one midsummer morning, prompted Hiccup to visit the island of Thargran, to replace them with a new pair. As usual, Hiccup asked Toothless to stay hidden deep within the forest of the large island, as he sneaked into the very southern-looking village for the third time.
It was not hard to go unnoticed in the bustling streets of Thargran, but Hiccup still walked with focused ears and tense muscles, ready to sprint in case some of Spitelout's men were on the island. He had checked the crowded docks first, to see if there were any Berkian ships or boats. Hiccup recognized the crest drawn upon one ship's sail: a stylized boar's head with black tusks. It was Balheim's crest, which, while not surprising, was still a slightly unnerving sight. Fortunately, all other crests seemed to be relatively foreign.
Hiccup did not think it wise to prolong his visit in that village, but the place was bigger than Berk, and he had to find either an actual leather-worker, or a trader of general goods, without asking around too much, for he did not wish to attract attention. Eventually, Hiccup found the latter, near the northernmost side of the docks. The trader had set up three stalls there, each shaded by canvas awnings bearing rare, flashy colors.
Luckily, Hiccup caught no signs of recognition on the merchant's face. The man had probably heard no news of Hiccup's bounty, which allowed Hiccup to browse freely, eventually buying the smallest pair of boots he could find. They were new and unused, so he had to give two whole silver coins in trade, but he did not haggle. He knew by now that it was not too bad a price for a pair of new leather boots, especially for one that fit him. He still had a few more silver coins and a dozen coppers, since, the last time he had been on Thargran, he had managed to sell the two rusty seaxes he had found in the buried crate, so money was not as pressing an issue as it had been during his stay in Old Balheim.
After a long flight east, Hiccup and Toothless landed back on the sandy beach of their own island. To Hiccup's surprise, the other dragons were gone, all but Dreyri, who was lounging contentedly under the late afternoon sun.
Hiccup dismounted, and left his old boots with his other belongings, after wearing his new ones.
"Where do you think they went?" He asked, chewing on some leftover bread whilst contemplating his new boots.
Toothless approached the young female Nightmare, sniffed her, warbled something, after which she replied with a dismissive puff of smoke. He then trotted back to Hiccup.
"I… I don't know," The dragon said, hesitating. Then, eagerly, he added: "Let's go look for them. I should be able to follow their scent."
Hiccup accepted, smiling as he mounted on the saddle once again, ready for another pleasant flight in the warm summer air. He relished the feeling of flying this time of year, for he knew how much harder it was going to be when the winter's freezing winds attempted to bite his nose and ears off.
They flew with the sun on their backs again, piercing the occasional cloud, before Hiccup began to grow worried.
"Are you sure we're on the right track? Maybe they've already returned."
"I am sure."
Hiccup found some unease in the dragon's inner voice.
"The truth is… I think I know where they went."
"Really? Why didn't you say so?"
"Promise not to get mad?"
Hiccup frowned. "Why would I get mad?"
Toothless seemed to be gathering his thoughts. "We have actually been following them for a while… to a nesting island. It is the season when dragons make hatchlings."
Hiccup sat up straight against the wind, taken aback. "Oh," was all he managed to say, as the implications flooded his mind.
"It is not much further now. Can we go too?" Toothless asked expectantly, but also rather nervously, which was uncommon for the Night Fury.
Hiccup cleared his throat. "Uh? Oh! Uhhh… yeah. Sure, we… we can go. I mean… why not." He muttered, glad that his friend could not see his reddening face and ears. He could still not help shifting on the saddle, seemingly unable to remember how to sit properly.
"If you do not want to go, we do not have to go. We can still turn back." Toothless cooed and glanced back at Hiccup with genuine concern. "I'm sure I'll survive one summer without… how do you say exactly when you get on top of another dragon, and put y-"
"Toothless!" Hiccup barked.
"What? At least tell me how to say the word."
Hiccup took a deep breath, held it, then exhaled: "You mean... 'sex', I suppose… or 'mating', for dragons."
"Yes. That. I really need to do that. I never waited so much when I was still free from the queen, and the call is hard to ignore these days. I did not say anything before, but... I have been feeling the call for almost a moon. Can we go then?"
Hiccup considered the request once more, yet, try as he might, he could not imagine saying no to his friend, so he quickly fought against his unease regarding the topic, and patted the side of the dragon's neck.
"You've always been there for me, bud. I guess I can be your wingman for one day. I owe you this much."
Toothless purred gratefully, then roared into the wind, giving Hiccup the briefest signal to brace himself, before making a celebratory barrel-roll in the sky, after which, he sped onwards.
"So, is this why you've been chasing ravens in the forest for no reason?" Hiccup asked, a couple of wingbeats later. The question was not really driven by curiosity, rather it was an attempt to lift the lingering air of unease, which, Hiccup felt, was somehow his own fault.
"You know..." Toothless said coyly, "maybe."
Not for the first time, Hiccup found himself realizing that Toothless was, in fact, an animal like any other. Hiccup tried to think of himself a bit like a farmer. It was, after all, any farmer's duty to let the cattle breed each year; a development, the performance of which, as Hiccup knew very well, even the chief of the village had to know all about. Unfortunately, Hiccup could not think of Toothless as anything akin to a farm animal, especially now that the dragon could talk. This made him feel as baffled about the situation as he was uncomfortable.
Oh, who am I kidding… I'm just an animal too.
Hiccup let out a resigned sigh as he remembered that shameful awakening of his, not two weeks past. It had not been the first time such a thing had happened to him, but this didn't make Hiccup any less baffled about his own odd urges, even though he was aware of their meaning.
Am I really no different than a yak in rut? Are all humans just like animals, only smarter? Even a hiccup like me?
As if knowing where Hiccup's thoughts had drifted, Toothless cut in: "Sorry for not telling you where we were going. I was afraid you would say no, seeing how you never talk of these things. Especially after how you acted that morning…" he hesitated, "…when we slept in the cave."
Hiccup felt his ears burn anew; the far-too-warm summer wind against his face was helping not at all.
"What?" he squealed, pretending not to understand, for it was the only reaction that came to mind. "I don't… What are you talking about?"
Hiccup had since hoped the Night Fury would have somehow forgotten about the little accident. He had actually wished to forget about it himself, as he had never felt more embarrassed in his life. Alas, when Toothless shot a knowing look back at him, Hiccup had no choice but to accept the fact, and confront the matter.
"Uhh… I... I'm really sorry about that," he murmured under his breath, though he knew Toothless could still hear him. "I didn't mean to gross you out… I'm just… I'm sorry."
"Why?" The dragon produced a confused warble. "It just means this must be your first… how you said… 'sex' season, right? You must find a female too."
"What? Me? No, there's no way- I mean, no need..." He mumbled nervously. "Anyway, you don't have to worry about me. It won't happen again."
"Why? Is sex season already ended for humans?"
"Humans don't really have a… 'mating season'," Hiccup pointed out, feeling surprisingly encouraged by his friend nonchalance on this awkward topic of conversation. Despite Gobber bringing up such matters as material for humor with disconcerting regularity, Hiccup had never felt at ease talking about these things, especially when it came to answering questions about himself, and thus giving away his obvious lack of experience.
"You do not have a season? Then how do humans know when it is time to sex?"
"Well, it's…uhh…" Hiccup rubbed his forehead, "anytime, I think."
"So you are going to need to look for females ALL YEAR?!" Toothless let out a wail of worry and alarm. "This means we will have to keep going to a village continuously from now on! This is going to be really dangerous..."
"No, no," Hiccup interjected quickly, forcing a chuckle. "No need for that. No village. Don't worry. I'll… manage." He tried his best to sound more reassuring than ashamed.
"Oh! Are we going to steal a female from a village? That might work."
"What?! No! Of course not! Are you crazy?! I'll just… manage. Without kidnapping anyone. Without… you know… a 'female'."
Not that any Viking girl would ever let me near her anyway, even a captive one, Hiccup added in his mind, feeling some of the bitterness of disillusionment, which used to visit his thoughts regularly as he was growing up on Berk.
"Then how?" Toothless asked, conveying an unwarranted amount of concern on the matter. Hiccup could almost taste it.
Was Toothless messing with him? There had been a strange, eager look on the dragon's face as he asked the question, but his curiosity felt real. It was hard to tell sometimes; their mental connection allowed for ambiguity.
Hiccup let out another exasperated sigh. "I'll take care… you know… by myself?"
"Really?" Toothless said curiously. "I didn't think humans were that flexible."
"What...? I don't… I mean..." Hiccup mumbled incoherently for a while. Then, as Toothless glanced teasingly back, Hiccup caught the grin on the dragon's face, and slapped one of his long ear-plates, scowling. "This conversation is over."
"Alright, alright," Toothless said quickly, letting out a throaty, draconic chuckle. "Suit yourself. But I still think we should find you a mate too someti-"
"Toothless, bud?" Hiccup cut him off.
"Yes?"
"Shut up."
Hiccup tried to sound serious and offended, but he could not suppress the smirk from his own face. There was just something about Toothless trying to tease him that he found utterly amusing, and maybe even comforting, not to mention fascinating. There seemed to be an odd universality to the activities and body parts fit for humor between humans and dragons. Hiccup contemplated the odd discovery for a while, when his thoughts veered to the prospect of visiting an actual dragon nesting island.
"Toothless! Wait! Does you wanting to go to this island mean there will be other Night Furies?"
"Not likely." The dragon replied casually.
"Oh. Then how… how will you… you know…?"
"What?"
"If there aren't other Night Furies… what are you going to do?"
"The same as always," Toothless said with barefaced conviction. "I will find some other dragon."
"Oh... Do dragons do that? But then… I never saw any half-breeds, like with dogs."
"There are 'half-breeds', actually. They are just very rare. I am not sure when it happens, but some dragons mate with different dragons anyway. It is fun, but they do not always make hatchlings. At least I do not think Night Furies can make hatchlings without other Night Furies, but that happens no more than two or three times in a lifetime. Dragons like me prefer being alone most of the time. We only meet other Night Furies by chance, and if it is mating season, we might mate. But the world is big, so chances are very low. That is why there are so few of us. I have never met another Night Fury."
"Never?!" Hiccup let out a disappointed moan. "Didn't you ever get lonely being alone all the time? When you were free I mean."
"Night Furies do not get lonely," Toothless claimed proudly. "Besides, it is better if we do not meet each other too much. Trust me."
"Really? Why is that?"
The dragon warbled absently for a bit. Then, without answering the question, he let out a celebratory yowl.
"Look!"
When Hiccup lifted his eyes from the back of the dragon's head, he saw that they had reached their destination.
The island was quite small, smaller than Hiccup had expected, but that was not what made his jaw slack. There was a volcano on its eastern side. It too was very small, almost stunted compared to the ones Hiccup had seen so far in his travels. Yet, unlike the others, this one was active. As they approached from above, Hiccup saw the wide, bright-red cauldron of molten rock, trapped in a black crater but for two cracks in its perimeter. He gasped when he felt the waves of heat radiating from it, even from that distance.
This was the first live volcano Hiccup had ever seen. He had only heard descriptions of the rivers of liquid stone flowing and burning their way down the sides of such mountains, and, now, he could actually see them himself. He was probably the only living Berkian who had. There were still only two streams of lava, narrow, slow, and rather harmless-looking, but they were glowing as hot steel on an anvil, and, by the cliff from which they spilled over into the sea, huge columns of white steam rose, accompanying the smoke of the volcano's mouth high into the sky.
Steam rose also from some of the colorful pools of water on the western side of the islet. Orange and yellow near their edges, they became greener and even blue towards their deeper centers. They all bubbled lazily by the feet of the mountain, releasing the smell of sulfur into the air.
To the eastern side, the volcano was trailed by steep, black cliffs, so Toothless circled the flatter planes extending towards them as they approached from the west, near the boiling pools. Despite being also trailed by cliffs, this far safer side of the island did have some sparse vegetation. Beside a few lonely patches of grass, the occasional greyish-green bush grew on the otherwise bare land, which was made in equal parts of dark sand, yellow dust, and red rock.
Hiccup's amazement was not only fueled by the otherworldly terrain, however. Hundreds were the dragons crawling around and coloring the landscape. A few of them were even of species Hiccup had never seen before. A smile formed on his face; there were still so many dragons in the Archipelago living free from the queen's clutches. Some of them were dancing in the air, amongst wails for attention and challenging roars, performing complicated tricks and twirls to show off their might. Others circled dangerously close to the volcano's lip, perhaps to flaunt their resistance to heat, or more likely their courage.
At a closer inspection, not all dragons were courting. Some were preparing nests for their eggs, using stones or dry shrubs. Others were flying away with their newfound mates, perhaps to settle somewhere else. And others still, much to Hiccup's unease, were shamelessly mating across the island. Some appeared more reserved than others about the activity, seeking relative isolation, though it was a futile struggle, since there was no actual place to hide amongst the far too scanty undergrowth.
Although not completely barren, this land had no wildlife, except for flocks of small seabirds. This was clearly a place for winged creatures only; a landscape so alien, that Hiccup would have never thought possible in the realm of Midgard. This was no place for humans.
They landed in an empty clearing near the southern sea-cliffs, but Hiccup barely noticed. Toothless shook his back impatiently, beckoning his rider to get off.
"Can you take the saddle and fin?" He asked. "I do not want it to break. Things should not get too rough, but some males might get involved, and they are usually aggressive this time of year, so… you never know."
Hiccup tried to picture what expectations crowded his friend's mind, but he quickly decided he'd rather not know the details. As he freed Toothless from his many contraptions, a few dragons started to appear in the clearing, staring and sniffling in the Night Fury's direction. They stalked closer, curiously.
"So… I'll just be going then," Hiccup said, gesturing with a thumb over his shoulder as he backed away. "Come find me when you are… you know… done."
Toothless grumbled questioningly. "You cannot go away. It is dangerous. You stay here."
"Here?" Hiccup said with a dismayed grimace. "I can't stay here while you court another female. It's not right."
"Oh, I do not have to do 'court', if that means what I think it means. I do not need some mating dance. I am a Night Fury. Some dragons admire the rare ones like me. They will just come for my scent. Dragons chosen by a Night Fury have better chances with stronger males or females of their own kind later. They usually just come to mate, so they can get my scent, and then they leave."
"That's sort of… obscenely… convenient," Hiccup murmured, then yelled: "Wait, what?! I'm not staying for that! I'm definitely not staying for that!"
"But I cannot let you out of my sight. It is too dangerous."
"Oh, come on," Hiccup pleaded, his shoulders drooping forward with plain exasperation.
"Do not worry, I am not shy," Toothless said reassuringly (or was it mockingly?), "but you do not have to watch, just stay where I can see you. And do not get close to other dragons; you do not want to repeat what happened when you went to hunt alone on Old Balheim. This time I will be too busy to save you."
Hiccup hid his face in his hands for a second time that day, letting out a low moan of "Odin help me", before sighing. "Fine. Is that cliff close enough?" He gestured towards the sea.
Toothless nodded. "Just do not fall off it."
"I make no promises," Hiccup mumbled as he grabbed the dragon's saddle and prosthetic fin.
He made to leave, but turned around, feeling the sudden need to say something witty, like 'you owe me for this' or 'don't have too much fun' or anything that could have shown he was not as uncomfortable as he felt. He still wanted to make sure Toothless would enjoy himself without guilt, or hesitation, or hurry.
He needn't have worried, however, for the dragon had already begun nuzzling at a Deadly Nadder's beak, while a Timberjack was sniffing curiously at his hind quarters. Hiccup spun around, and hastened his pace stiffly towards the cliff. If the other dragons took notice of the little human, they ignored him.
Hiccup approached the low cliff, and sat with his feet dangling just above the sea, the waves spraying the soles of his new boots. He inadvertently nibbled his bottom lip, and tapped his hands on his thighs.
How long is this going to take?
Waiting, Hiccup tried to ignore the distant, but nonetheless disconcerting noises of draconic love-making, coming not only from his friend's direction, but from all across the island. To distract himself, he stared intently at the sky, and at the colorful dragons dancing like leaves in the wind; there were so many, he couldn't even begin to count them.
Slowly, Hiccup found he was no longer feeling so much disturbed by the situation, but rather oddly fascinated. The dances, the courting, the whole life-giving endeavor, they all held a certain beauty as parts of nature. Hiccup had so far become somewhat acquainted with death. He had lost his mother when little, he had seen some of his villagers perish to the war and to disease. He had learnt to kill in order to eat. Yet, on that island, there was so much life.
Hiccup smiled at two Monstrous Nightmares circling each other in the air just above him; there was nothing monstrous about them then.
Encouraged, and maybe a little curious, Hiccup allowed himself a bashful peek over his shoulder, towards the clearing. Yet, as soon as he spotted Toothless in the distance, leaning awkwardly against what looked like a female Timberjack, he shut his eyes and turned around.
I guess life can be gross too, he thought, flustered. He promised not to let his curiosity get the better of him a second time, but, a very short while later, he broke that promise, only to see Toothless again from the corner of his eye, engaged in a similar tussle with a Deadly Nadder.
Another one?!
He could not decide whether to feel happy for his friend, or jealous, and not because of the Night Fury's unfair ease in finding 'playmates'; at least not just. Most of all, he envied his friend's nonchalace with the very matter of sex.
Hiccup rested his elbows on his knees, his chin cupped in his hands. As he contemplated the setting sun, the idea shyly emerged inside his mind that maybe, one day, even he, as an animal, would happen to partake in that exciting activity with a human female, one that would hopefully share his feelings of attraction. Was he ever destined to do it? He certainly wanted to, in his dreams for one, and increasingly while waking too.
At least once.
He still could not shake off the fear of being a disappointment in that field, as he had been in many others. The little he knew about sex, Hiccup had learnt from Gobber's dirty jokes, and by overhearing the other boys' and men's banter. Not to mention Berk's farmers. Even Gobber's jokes weren't as flustering as some of the farmers' work-related conversations.
Though pretending disgust when he was little, in the last couple of years Hiccup's ears had grown avidly curious regarding the exhilarating subject. And yet, it still felt as if he was perpetually in the dark about something important, something that even Toothless seemed to know.
Hiccup wondered, not for the first time, if he was perhaps destined to stay a virgin forever.
There's always someone in every village, right? If there is going to be one from Berk for my generation, then it's probably going to be me, isn't it?
He was surprised at how important it all felt, even in the face of his condition as an outcast. Despite the circumstances, he seemed unable to accept that strangely unappealing destiny. He didn't want to be that person. He already had the worst reputation a Viking could ask for. He could not accept to also never know a woman's touch.
Even if it isn't Astrid.
The image of the girl flashed into his mind. He could see her eyes, her hair, her agile figure in the distance. He imagined her swimming towards this island. Towards him. He tried to remember her as he saw her in some of his dreams, but the memory was, as in those dreams, fuzzy and unclear.
Despite what most people claimed, Hiccup had never believed dreams to be omens, since none of them had ever come true. Lately, however, he had caught himself hoping some of them were. Predictions of the future. Particularly the ones in which he could touch the girl's lips with his own, and even the ones when he'd see her in different states of dishevelment, engaged with him in activities that made his face flush, and his stomach tighten.
Those dreams were becoming rather frequent again. In fact, they had already been somewhat frequent before, when he was still on Berk. Hiccup could not recall when exactly, but a swelling appetite for pleasure had long started brewing inside of him. For the last year or two, most of the 'dirty' things men often joked and cackled about in Berk's great hall, after a mug of ale, Hiccup would sometimes catch himself, if not dreaming, then thinking about, especially now that his daily preoccupations had calmed, and his survival was no longer the pressing concern it had been in the first months of his exile.
Fortunately, he had become provident enough to manage his needs regularly (and strictly in secret), so as to avoid more awkward awakenings with Toothless. The dreams did not have the same power on him then, but they were still there to remind him of his unrequited desires, and of the pointless fantasy of, one day, sharing a bed with that fierce Berkian maiden, or even any maiden, though Hiccup had eyes for Astrid alone.
Could that day ever come?
As if to answer his question, a small Terror squawked by Hiccup's side.
"Twitch! You came here too!" Hiccup said happily, beckoning his little yellow-scaled friend to come closer. He welcomed the distraction. "Where are Sharpshot and the others?"
Twitch approached and brushed his head on Hiccup's thigh, purring.
"Nice place this island, right? Having fun?"
The dragon let out a desolate cooing sound, almost a sigh. Hiccup scratched Twitch behind his small, twisted horns. He did not need to connect to the little Terror's mind (something he couldn't do anyway) to understand why he was sad.
"Can't find a mate, huh? Tell me about it."
Hiccup's mouth curved into a small smirk. While he didn't think what he'd said to be particularly funny, he found opening up about his private predicament with the tiny Terror to be surprisingly liberating.
"I guess we can't all be like 'Jarl Charmingson' over there, can we?" Hiccup said dryly, nodding towards the clearing, but without looking... at first. Then, he could not resist. Biting his bottom lip, he turned to briefly spy again. His face did not burn as much this time.
"That's not the same Nadder as before, is it?" Hiccup asked, though he did not need an answer, for he knew it to be true. "Man... I know what you are thinking, Twitch. I wish I was born a Night Fury too."
Twitch squawked again.
"Don't worry. I'm sure one day you'll find someone," Hiccup told the little Terror, trying his best to sound comforting. "At least you are not an outcast. Or a fugitive. Or both."
Still scratching the little Terror, Hiccup stared at the horizon, as the sun to his right dove slowly into the sea, like a red ball of light. At this time, Hiccup could look straight towards it, without hurting his eyes. It had the same color as the lava spilling slowly from the nearby volcano. He wondered if the sun was in fact nothing but a ball of hot steel that the gods heated up every morning, and then quenched inside the endless sea during the night.
Something heavy suddenly nudged Hiccup's back, shoving him towards the precipice.
"Whoa! Toothless?! You've almost made me fall off the cliff!"
"I would have caught you," Toothless said confidently. "But I warned you to watch out, and here you are, sitting right at the edge."
"Yeah, well… I was trying to stay as far as possible from… uhh…" He trailed off. "So, how did it go?" Hiccup finally asked. Was it proper to ask? Should he pretend nothing had happened? Or did he have to congratulate his friend? He was not sure how a human's friend was supposed to behave in such situations, much less a dragon's. Toothless did not seem to notice his unease.
"It was great. Thank you for waiting." The dragon said with a toothless grin across his happily spent face. "But I would not mind coming again before summer ends."
Hiccup chuckled at that, then wiped what he knew to be a stupid smirk from his face, and replaced it with an awkward, but nonetheless supportive smile. "I can't say no to you, can I?"
Toothless licked him appreciatively. Hiccup had grown used to the large tongue brushing his face, but after what he'd just seen Toothless do on that island, for some reason, he could not resist grimacing and wiping his cheek with his sleeve.
"I will make it up to you when you find a chance to mate too," Toothless promised loyally. "We can even visit the human village more often, so you can look for a female, but only if you are careful not to get caught." He gave special emphasis to that last part.
Hiccup was prepared to decline the offer, just like he had before, yet now he found he didn't want to. Had the dragon's confidence rubbed off on him?
You never know what Freya might have planned for me, right? He thought, then simply replied: "Thanks."
When Toothless was saddled and ready to fly back, the sun had set completely. Fortunately, light lingered longer this time of year, and the volcano's mouth glowed in the twilight like a gigantic pot of coals. Hiccup wanted to see how it looked in the night, but he was getting tired, and the thought of food and sleep was more appealing, both to him and to the Night Fury.
Besides, Hiccup had promised Toothless to visit this place again. He could no longer refuse, nor, to his surprise, did he wish to.
August, the month of harvesting and drying hay, of fervent trading and sea-travel, the month of the harshest dragon-raids and of dangerous nest-hunts had finally come to an end, yielding its place to September with surprising tranquility on Hiccup's island, south as it was, forgotten as it seemed by the southern villages, and even by the dragon-queen's horrific appetite. Nearly half a year had passed since Hiccup had left Berk as an outcast, and, so far, for almost six months, he had survived, and in one piece at that.
Still, to this day, Hiccup was not sure whether to celebrate for the loss of his home, or mourn. He had done both, though not in the same measure. Grieving with homesickness had come easier, at least until recently. The last few weeks had been different, for they had likely been the most pleasant, and by far the most carefree in Hiccup's memory.
He was still figuring out how to manage his outcast's life on a deserted island; there was a lot of trial and error involved. He was also worried about the impending winter. His small house was still not ready, and he was not sure how much food to stock up with, and how. Hiccup had even tried salting and drying meat by himself, but of his three attempts, only the last one had succeeded.
Due to a rainy couple of days, as was to be expected in the Viking Archipelago, the first batch he had attempted to dry hadn't done so fast enough, and had to be discarded. It was said that no man should eat meat which took longer than four days to dry. Hiccup was glad he recalled that precious rule of thumb, though he could not remember whom to thank for telling him.
The second batch of meat, Hiccup had smoked, only too much, which had produced a distinctly tarry flavor; it was so bad that even the Terrors had refused to eat any, and they apparently ate anything, especially Sharpshot. The little dragon had often been caught attempting to chew on the raw slivers Hiccup hung from the primitive-looking rack, which he had built for that purpose. Even Toothless had stolen a piece, though he hadn't done it out of hunger, but rather in jest.
In the end, Hiccup was forced to spend more of his coin than he had hoped to buy his winter supplies from the village of Thargran. It was likely not going to be easy being an outcast during the cold, colder, and freezing months, yet Toothless did not seem worried, and the dragon's serenity and composure had become contagious.
Eventually, Hiccup found himself smiling more often than when on Berk, and that was in no small part a merit of his ever-improving ability to speak with Toothless, which had finally dispelled the loneliness of his first few months of exile.
Had that not been enough, Hiccup had even assembled a lively bunch of dragons around himself, his own fire-breathing flock, with which he played by the sea, and worked, and shared food, just like a family. A family that had recently gained a new member, promising more to come.
As the dragons' mating season came gradually to an end, of the three male Terrible Terrors, only Bolt had returned from the nesting island with a female. Neither Sharpshot nor Twitch had been as successful, at least for this year. The new female, Hiccup had named Frigga. She was green and orange, with similar color patterns to Sharpshot's, which sometimes made it hard for Hiccup to tell them apart after sundown. She was smaller than her newfound mate, but just as reserved towards Hiccup, whom she liked, though not with the same enthusiasm as Sharpshot or Twitch.
Frigga and Bolt were already building a nest of twigs where to lay their eggs. Hiccup was not sure whether to feel flattered, or worried, for they had placed the nest right atop the roof of Hiccup's own, still unfinished shelter. Fortunately, it was on the side Hiccup had already completed, wedged firmly on the slanted roof's corner at the back of the structure, where two of the larger rafters crossed, supporting each other.
Beside the Terrors' endeavors, and Toothless' inevitably more libertine approach, the other two dragons' activities had not been as noticeable regarding their visits to the nesting island. Dreyri, the young Monstrous Nightmare in the family (and the only female before Frigga) had in fact shown no interest in visiting the place, and Khnut's habits as far as mating was concerned remained a mystery.
Hiccup did nonetheless learn that the Zipplebacks' two heads shared their vision, as he noticed both reacting to things only one head could see, particularly offers of food. He also discovered that a Monstrous Nightmare's body-coating fire came from its ability to sweat flammable fluid from between its scales at will.
Amongst a multitude of the dragons' smaller idiosyncrasies, Hiccup had also begun to identify the meanings behind a good portion of their throat-noises. Sadly, he wasn't able to reproduce all the noises accurately, despite practicing, but he could still understand the dragons' general intentions, which was more than Bork the Bold, the author of Berk's dragon-manual, could have ever been able to claim.
Aside from learning, Hiccup also began teaching. He taught Toothless to read, and even write, making him draw runes in the sand. Toothless picked up reading amazingly fast. Writing, however, was another matter. The Night Fury's claws, while excellent at tearing flesh to pieces, were not familiar with the careful movements of writing, and wielding a wooden stick between his teeth, as he had in the cove the day they had first sealed their friendship, was even less precise.
As the month of September began, however, Hiccup's enthusiasm for his many activities wavered. While the other dragons did not seem to notice his sudden aloofness, Toothless did, which was why, Hiccup suspected, the Night Fury had just suggested an extra-adventurous, afternoon flight around their island's tall mountain. Hiccup accepted the offer without giving it much thought.
Hiccup, of course, knew the reason behind his current mood, but he pretended it away, knowing it would soon pass. He said nothing about it. He never did. He did not wish to share what the last days of summer meant to him. It wasn't worth the pain, reminiscing about that late summer raid, when his mother had died.
He could still remember when his father had told him. Apart from the tears, the man's stern face had been like stone, and had remained as stone ever since, especially when Hiccup was there. Seven years had passed, but Hiccup could still picture the moment perfectly.
Despite Hiccup's silence on the matter, Toothless behaved as if he knew the reason for his rider's current demeanor. Whether willingly or not, Hiccup was not sure, but the dragon had always respected his reluctance to speak about his mother, even after the two had become capable of communicating.
Once the dragon was saddled and geared, they took to the skies by themselves, exploring the narrow crevices amongst the sharp peaks that trailed the lip of their dormant volcano's huge mouth, inside of which, shaded by the sun, their island's small glacier was nestled. Hiccup drank in the last of the strong summer winds pulling playfully at his clothes.
The air was clearer than usual today, and the constant ring of clouds surrounding the volcano's feet seemed to have been blown away. It was a very rare occurrence. Even so, steamy plumes of fog lingered stubbornly around one of the crevices, where the land had collapsed to form a small plateau, like a secret balcony on the side of the lone mountain. Hiccup decided to investigate.
The persistent clouds were actually steam, rising from what looked like a large pool of hot water, trapped in the dark rock, and screened by the steep mountain on one side, and mist on all others. The ground surrounding it was carpeted with thick, green moss.
"Odin's beard! Toothless, that's a hot spring!"
Sharing his curiosity, the dragon dove straight towards the place.
Once on the ground, Hiccup took in his surroundings. Through the tepid mist, he could see the whole southern shore, opposite their beach. At times, gusts of wind made the fog curl and clear, and he could even make out the sea. When Hiccup finally turned around to observe the spring, his face lit up with a huge smile.
It was not too big for a hot spring, wedged in a crevice as it was, but it could still welcome a dozen full-grown Vikings, or a couple of dragons. Hiccup's smile widened further when he realized the water did not smell of sulfur as badly as the lakes of that nesting island. Perhaps this mountain still had some life deep within, and, as the glacier melted, fresh water leaked inside the rock, only to be heated by the warm insides of the not-entirely-dormant volcano.
How did we not find this sooner?! Hiccup thought ecstatically.
He could finally have a hot bath, his first one in nearly half a year. Before he could think about what he was doing, Hiccup took off his ragged garments, down to his smallclothes. Just before taking those off as well, he froze, nearly stumbling in his half-removed under-breeches.
Toothless was still there. Hiccup had always asked the dragon to leave when he washed. This time, he had almost forgotten to do so. Just then, the Night Fury, who had been admiring the scenery after their landing, saw what his rider was doing.
"Oh, I will come back in a while then," Toothless said, turning around, but stopping to contemplate where to go.
"Wait," Hiccup murmured. His ears got warmer, but he tried to ignore the feeling. "You… You can stay… if you want."
Hiccup spoke the words on a whim, justifying his uncommonly bold decision in his mind by thinking there was no other place for Toothless to go, at least none that would not require the dragon to climb down the steep mountain. Yet that was not the only reason. After all this time together, Hiccup could not help finding his modesty before Toothless laughable and idiotic. Why was he still holding on to his shyness when it came to Night Fury? Sending the dragon away felt, now more than ever, like a deliberate insult towards his most trusted friend.
Even so, when Hiccup was finally bare, he still had to fight the strong urge to cover himself with his hands before the dragon's apparently neutral, but likely studious look. He tried to look casual about it, with great effort.
Toothless sat on his haunches. He said nothing. It seemed as if he was trying to hold back his disbelief, or maybe his curiosity. Had Toothless ever seen a naked human? Hiccup did not dare to ask.
Then again, perhaps that was not it at all. Hiccup couldn't tell what was going on in the mind of the suddenly very silent Night Fury. He could only see the dragon's slitted nostrils flare as he breathed. He was expecting some comment, an observation, a joke, a gibe, but when none ever came, he felt almost disappointed.
Yet, silence between the two had always carried meaning. Hiccup had gotten so used to talking lately, he had almost forgotten. Despite the dragon's deceptively blank stare, he suspected that, somehow, Toothless had already understood his current feelings. Hiccup flashed him a small smile, then walked into the water as if nothing had been said. After all, no words had actually been spoken.
As he slowly slid neck-deep into the near-scalding water, Hiccup let out a deep, liberating sigh. It sounded like half a celebration, and a justified one at that, for he had just regained one of the last few luxuries he had been sorely missing from his past life on Berk.
Toothless lay down near the shallow water, but never fully entered the pool, either out of some sort of respect, or perhaps because he did not care for the extra heat. Hiccup did not ask.
The gods are good, Hiccup thought to himself, closing his eyes, feeling the memory of his mother's death and his preoccupations for the upcoming winter melt away with the heat of his bath.
Alas, if any gods existed, they were never good for long. The cold winds were rising already. The days were shortening, and all Viking ships were sailing back to their native harbors.
Fall was coming, intent on taking away this blissful summer's hope. Abruptly.
