A/N: Yes, I did eventually get my Gift of the Night Fury. Although I'm totally thinking of whether or not to sue Amazon. They kept me waiting for the most amazing movie short ever. I found out that if you leave it on, THE MOVIE FREAKING STARTS ITSELF OVER. My life…is surrounded by HTTYD. And now they have made a movie that NEVER. ENDS. I'll have fun with that ;^;
I'm sorry I didn't update yesterday. I got a lot of homework, then I had to go to an after-school religion thing. So there's all of that right up in my face~ But I am back! And…this is the chapter. That I have been waiting so eagerly to write. I hope you all like it. And I hope you die of cuteness while reading. O.O Actually, this is the idea that made up everything else in the story, so this is really cool for me to finally reach it! But Gobber's accent is hard to do without it being understandable, so bear with me.
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"I don't know what to do, Gobber." Stoick huffed, frustration welling up inside the chief as he stood beside his old friend. "It's been a week. You'd think that he would have gotten over it by now, but nothing had changed. I thought it was something that would just last a few days. And whenever I try to bring up the subject of a new dragon, you should see the look he throws at me. He has to grow up sometime, he's too old to be moping around like that."
Gobber blinked slowly, his breath coming out of his mouth in a steam and furling into a small cloud in front of him. Overhead, a small snow was starting to pick up, white flakes drifting down to the island of Berk in an almost lazy pattern. It was a good break from the usual blizzards that shot down from the sky, and most children were out making snowmen by now. Through the mass of playing children, he spotted the group of teenagers together.
They looked somewhat bored, sitting around together and looking around aimlessly. Gobber immediately caught sight of Hiccup near the edge, sitting beside Astrid. The boy had on a small smile as he opened his mouth in a small laugh at something that she had said. For a moment, Gobber wondered what had Stoick so irritated, but then frowned. Astrid flashed Hiccup something of a relieved smile, leaning back to say something Snotlout. As soon as she looked away, Hiccup's smile wavered somewhat, his eyes flickering up to the sky as if he was expecting something.
Heaving a small sigh, he turned back to Stoick and looked at his friend calmly. "Maybe you shouldn't try to start so big." He offered, the chief giving him an odd look as he spoke. "I mean- you have to remember that Hiccup an' Toothless were closer than most of 'em. Maybe he just aint ready for another one."
"I don't see what you mean by starting small." Stoick grunted, shooting a small glare over to the Viking. "Hiccup just needs to get over Toothless and pick out a new dragon. A Monstrous Nightmare, perhaps. It might not be as strong as a Night Fury, but it sure is close. I'm sure that soon he'd be as good of friends as he was with Toothless. As Chief's son, he really should be setting an example for every one else, not being quiet and depressed. He just needs to be shaken out of it."
Gobber was shaking his head even before Stoick could finish. "Nah, that's not what I was meant." He said shortly, glancing over at Hiccup one more time. Snotlout was slowly crafting a small snowball, and Gobber supposed that soon the whole village would be overrun by flying snowballs. He might as well get his point across now. "You can't start with a dragon, Stoick." He explained, eyeing the group as the snowball was chucked into the back of Astrid's head. "That defeats the purpose of startin' SMALL."
Stoick gave a small grunt to show that he was listening. Astrid whipped around, glaring daggers at Snotlout as she made her own ball of ice, throwing it square in the boy's face. Ruffnut and Tuffnut grinned where they sat, and started to join in, Ruffnut throwing one that hit Hiccup's back. The boy started, getting up and hesitating for a moment or two before joining in, a ghost of a smile getting stronger and stronger on his face as he hit Fishlegs. Adults passing by grumbled as they got hit by the flying balls, and the little children around the scene screamed with excitement, joining in the snowball fight as more and more people started to dash forward. Gobber preferred to stay where it was dry, but seeing the sight made a small idea wriggle into his head.
"That's it!" He said, catching Stoick back to attention at once. "You need to get somethin' to get Hiccup's mind off of Toothless. Since he doesn't want a dragon yet, you should get him somethin' that isn't a dragon. Somethin' that he needs to take care of and pay attention to. You know wha' I mean?"
"Where would I ever get something like that?" Stoick asked, obviously wanting to go with his plan other than Gobber's complicated one. "Why can't I just-"
"Stoick, trust me. I know Hiccup, and if you get him a new dragon, he'll just ignore it. He wont take care of it, and if you force him to, he wont love it for anythin'. You have to smart about this. If you get him something that he has to have patience with, and has to raise, then it'll be somethin' that will surely get his mind off of Toothless and bring 'im out of the state he found himself in. Trust me, it'll work."
Stoick gave his friend a skeptical look, but supposed that right now wasn't the best time to question him. It was true that he could trust Gobber, he'd trust him with anything. The only time that Gobber had let him down was the first dragon raid when Hiccup was his apprentice. He had taken his eyes off of Hiccup for two minutes, and the boy had zipped away. But that had been the last time he had let Stoick down, after he truly realized why everybody was looking at Hiccup closely all of the time. "I'm still not sure about this, Gobber…" Stoick sighed heavily.
"Aw, it'll work." Gobber said, waving it away with his one good hand. "Actually, I think I know exactly what could work for Hiccup. Do you know Bertha? The one that lives near the edge of the village?" Stoick let out a small mumble, looking over curiously to the house where she lived in. Gobber followed his gaze. "I heard that her pet-"
"We don't need one of those in the house." Stoick interrupted, giving his friend a small glare. "I'm sorta confused on how many trouble-makers you want in my house, Gobber. I don't know about you, but my limit is one."
"You let Toothless stay inside the house." Gobber said fairly. "Just give it a try, Stoick. Which do ye want? A few messes here and there around the house with your son going back to the way he was? Or do you want to do nuthin and just keep things like they are? Besides, it'll be too small to do anything rash for a long time."
"That's what I thought when Hiccup was born." Stoick sighed. But his gaze turned thoughtful as he looked back at the group of teenagers. It wasn't such a bad idea, much as he hated to admit it. He was never one to have a soft and thoughtful side, but it made sense. If Hiccup would take care of the new animal and raise it, then he would be able to move on to another dragon soon enough in time. Although it wasn't exactly something that he preferred doing - was used to doing, for that matter - he was willing to at least give it a try considering what could happen if he didn't do anything about the matter.
"Gobber, you make me do the weirdest things. You and Hiccup both do." Stoick said, face still blank.
"I know, I know." The Viking chuckled, turning away and starting back to the forge. "It would be more impressive if we had planned it that way, eh? Good luck Stoick!" And with that his friend rounded the corner and disappeared.
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Silence. Tense silence reigned through the room as Hiccup looked down at his plate. He was still hungry, but after five minutes of awkward silence, he would excuse himself just to get away from his father. He didn't have to look up to see the look on his father's face, he could feel it boring into him. Stoick's eyes were narrowed, a somewhat blank look on his face that he always got when he looked at Hiccup.
Bunching his shoulders slightly, Hiccup poked at his food dumbly, giving a small cough to fill the moment of quiet. It wasn't like they talking extensively during dinner, but it wasn't silent like this. Stoick usually shot a few words to Hiccup to start a conversation, and basically Hiccup talked the rest of the time until Stoick finally got up and left in the middle of one of his stories.
Stoick didn't even try and mumble a few things to him. He only stared at his son carefully, the probing look making Hiccup shift uneasily in his seat. Clearing his throat finally, Hiccup lifted his eyes up to meet his father's. "Uh…I think I'm gonna go up to my room now." He said quietly, dropping his fork onto his plate with a small clatter. "I guess I'm not really hungry."
Stoick blinked slowly at his words, and Hiccup paused for a moment or two before trying to make a move to get up. As soon as he did that though, his father spoke up, making him freeze. "Hiccup, sit down. I need to talk to you." Blinking rapidly, Hiccup planted himself back down with a small thump, looking at his father nervously, a slight grimace on his face.
Taking a deep breath, Stoick leaned down and placed a rather large bag on the table. Hiccup eyed the pouch as his father began to talk. "Well, Hiccup." Hiccup wished that there was silence again, he didn't like the tone his father was using. "I know that Toothless being gone has…upset you." Hiccup blinked, guard dropping slightly with surprise. "And I…understand that you do not want a new dragon so soon."
His father was taking pauses, clearly not being used to talking about things like this. Mostly the words 'understand' and 'I know you're upset' were not something that crossed his tongue very much. If they had been talking about anything else, Hiccup would have been trying not to smile, but he merely stared steadily at his father without saying a word, the pouch still going as a mystery to him.
"So I thought that you might want to start small." Stoick reached over to the bag and picked it up gingerly. Hiccup blinked with surprise as he saw something wriggle from inside, a small squeak just barley reaching his ears. Putting the bag down in front of Hiccup, Stoick pulled back and nodded towards the bag invitingly.
"I don't want a baby dragon either, Dad." Hiccup said shortly, nudging the bag away.
"For Thor's sake, Hiccup!" Stoick snapped. "Open it! You got not idea what's in there."
Letting out a heavy sigh, Hiccup pulled the bag back to him roughly, a louder squeak following the movement. Blinking, he pushed it away, untying the top of the bag and peering inside. It was actually bigger inside the bag than he had expected, and for a minute he didn't see anything in there. But then there was a small flash of eyes, and something small reached up and poked him in the nose.
"Wha-?" The boy looked down oddly into the bag for a moment before reaching inside and feeling something fuzzy, fur like down rubbing against his hand. Feeling around, he finally got his hand to wrap around the thing and he pulled it out to look at it fully. "What?" He repeated, looking back up at his father. "I didn't ask for this."
It was a small kitten, just weaned from its mother. Fur stuck out in what seemed like all directions, and its steps were just starting to get less shaky, the cat growing confident in its strides. It was silver, and really fluffy. When it looked up at Hiccup, the boy caught a flash of amber eyes, and it opened its mouth in a chirp, pink tongue sticking out as it did so. Outlined on the silver fur, black stripes lanced down the cat's spine and sides, making a border on its forehead.
Hopping forward, the cat pressed its head to Hiccup's hand, meowing shrilly. Hiccup didn't even look at the cat, his eyes fixed on his father's. "Where did you get it?" He asked.
"Bertha's cat had kittens a few weeks ago. I figured that it would be good for you."
"Why?" Hiccup asked flatly.
"You know, to have something to look after." Stoick said, gesturing to the cat uselessly. "Actually, it was Gobber's idea. But o' course, I went along with it. You might not want a dragon, but you need to move on from Toothless. Stop moping around the village and things like that." Clearing his throat loudly, he pushed back from the table, standing up and turning back to go to his room. "It's your problem now." And with that, he left.
Hiccup blinked again, looking down at the kitten. It had taken to lying down on the table now, more or less in a crouching position. It's eyes were wide as it looked around, and it let out a small mewl to the unfamiliar landscape. All in all, it looked pretty pathetic. Looking around the room, he half expected somebody to crash through the door and tell him that it was joke of some kind. But nothing happened.
Staring down at the cat for what seemed like forever, he finally let out a short sigh, deadpanning as he reached forward. Grabbing the loose skin around its neck and lifting it into the air, Hiccup watched as the kitten immediately curled up into a small ball. Blowing out his cheeks and holding the cat closer to him, Hiccup started up to his room, stumbling up the steps with difficulty thanks to his leg.
After he had made the kitten a small bed in the corner of the room, Hiccup placed the bundle into the mound of pillows. The small thing nearly got swallowed up by the mass of pillows, letting out a startled mew as it sank it's microscopic claws into the surface of the pillows, clinging on for life. Hiccup stepped back to asses his work, and gave a small nod. "You'll sleep there." He said firmly. "It looks okay enough."
The cat let out another loud meow, but Hiccup turned back and got into his bed. Wrapping his blanket around him tightly, Hiccup tried to ignore the cold that had started to get to him. Something near the back of his room made a small clanging noise, but Hiccup ignored it roughly.
He didn't want the cat. He didn't want something that would try and replace Toothless, because it never could. The boy drew his knees up to his chest, the cold metal of his prosthetic chilling him as he did so. His teeth started to chatter, and he made a face as the kitten mewed once more behind him. "Go to sleep." He snapped, burrowing his head into the pillow, trying to block out the noise. But the cat still kept it up, mewing loudly, high-pitched and annoying.
Glaring hotly at the wall, Hiccup listening as the incessant noise got closer and closer. Balling his hands into fists, he started to curse his father and Gobber for even thinking that he would want such a thing. It was annoying, small, and it would never do anything for him. He had never had a cat for a reason. He might have pleaded for it when he was little, but he grew out of it once he saw Ruffnut's old cat attack her face viciously. One of the many reasons why he didn't necessarily like cats.
The boy blinked as he realized that the meowing had stopped. It was just as silent in the room as it was at the dinner table before the cat had been introduced. Blinking rapidly, Hiccup pushed himself up slowly, craning his neck so he was able to see the mound of pillows in the corner. He made a face as he realized that it was empty.
Pushing himself up fully, Hiccup looked around the floor for the missing kitten. It wasn't anywhere on the floor either. Finally, Hiccup jumped as he spotted it, sitting right beside his pillow, large amber orbs fixed on him as he looked down at it curiously. Finally he spoke, tilting his head to the side. "How did you get here so fast?" He asked curiously.
The kitten let out a tiny mew in response, slinking forward and settling down on the edge of Hiccup's pillow, big amber eyes almost pleading as it looked up at him. It was silent once more before, "You know, I don't even know if you're a boy or a girl." Hiccup said eventually, eyeing it carefully. He had half a mind to shoo it back to the corner where it was supposed to sleep, but something in him bent as he looked at the cat fully. It looked exhausted from the trek onto the bed, the least he could do would be to let it sleep there.
"Just for one night." He said stiffly, looking at it indifferently. "Then you're back over there. Alright?"
The cat closed its eyes immediately, its purr audible from where Hiccup sat, loud for the size of the small thing. Laying back down, Hiccup shuffled to the side, leaving enough room for the kitten on his pillow. If it was only one night, it would be fine. As long as it was just one night.
Looking at the bundle of fur, Hiccup noted that it looked a little dirty. Maybe he could wash it in the morning. He had heard rumors that cats hated water, he supposed he would test that then. It also looked like it was hungry, Hiccup wondered what food to give it. Reaching over, he stroked the cat's back slowly, the downy fur feeling velvety soft against the skin of his hand. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad. Well- not as bad as he thought it would be. It still probably wouldn't amount to anything.
Letting his hand rest on the cat's back comfortingly, Hiccup closed his eyes, probably just as tired as the small kitten. For once, the teen wasn't staring emptily at the spot where Toothless was lying, not at the moment. The hole was still there, Hiccup could feel it in his heart like a ragged gash.
But right before he sank into sleep, he let a small, genuine smile cross his face.
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A/N: This is not stalling, this cute little cat actually DOES have something to do with the story X3
I hope you like this story, and I hope that you will review! Give me your input! What do you think the cat is, a boy or a girl? What would you name it?
…Steak? …In an Easy Bake oven? …With spices and everything?
YOU'RE ON! *Epic determined face*