A/N: I'm here to show you all that I care in updating quicker than last time! I loved all the reviews I got from last chapter, and I hope I get as many this time! And do not fret all of you, my love for HTTYD will stay permanently, no matter how long it takes for me to update! You all know I have no life, right? :P
READY TO JUMP AROUND IN THIS CHAPTER? Hopefully it shall be epic.
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Running. Tripping. Stumbling. Hiccup's breath came in rapid gasps as he raced forward, eyes wide and heart pounding with fear. He was clumsy as he tried to push himself faster, panicking as he heard loud thumps getting closer and closer to him. The world around him was getting darker, misshaping itself as Hiccup tried in vain to see through the oncoming darkness. Throwing his hands out in front of him, he felt himself slow as he tried to find his way through.
He froze as his palm landed on a smooth, curved surface. Panting, Hiccup's eyes slowly widened, bringing up his other hand and smacking it against the rock. Spinning around, Hiccup did the same to all the walls that were now surrounding him, all coming out as slick rock. "No!" Hiccup screamed with frustration, spinning in a full circle as he saw that walls of a cave enclosed him tightly. Pressing his back against the wall, he trembled as he heard a spine-chilling roar getting closer and closer to where he was pinned.
Shaking uncontrollably, Hiccup saw a gleam of green eyes from the shadows, barley a moment before something shot forward quickly, leaping for him and crashing into the boy at full-force. Grunting in pain, Hiccup felt himself land on the ground with a loud bang, the boy's eyes clashing with large, round, green ones. The image slowly took place, the female dragon crouching over him, her pupils dilated with anger as she dug her claws into his stomach.
He opened his mouth to scream, but it wouldn't come out. His mouth flexed open, a silent scream coming out of it as the female straightened, an odd sort of rumbling coming from her that sounded remarkably like laughter. All of a sudden, she changed, morphing into a different dragon, one that made Hiccup stiffen with surprise. It flashed by rapidly, barley lasting a second. The female changed from herself to Toothless, the dragon's familiar green eyes leering as he looked down at Hiccup. The change was rapid, flashing back and forth without pausing, without hesitating. Hiccup swallowed the lump in his throat, fingernails digging into the rock underneath him as his eyes widened. Finally, the Night Fury raised its head, still flashing back and forth rapidly, eerily. Green gas bubbled in the back of the throat, and that was when Hiccup closed his eyes tightly and screamed.
Something bopped him on the nose sharply, causing him to jolt up immediately, eyes wide and heart hammering. For a moment, darkness closed on him, and he thought for a fleeting moment he was dead. But then there was a muffled mew, cross eyes gleaming over at him from the end of the bed. Ludi shuffled her paws underneath her, face sour as she looked at her human angrily. Hiccup blinked rapidly, looking around as he realized with relief he was in his room.
The sun wasn't up yet, it wasn't even peeking over the horizon. Raising a shaky hand up to the side of his head, Hiccup hesitated for a moment, staying still as he looked down at the bed blankly. Tearing his gaze over to the side unwillingly, Hiccup's eyes flickered over to the edge of the room, jumping immediately as he saw that Toothless's head was raised, the dragon looking at him carefully. The jump had nearly caused him to fall off of his bed, a small squeak coming from the boy as he snapped his mouth closed tightly.
Toothless's ears flattened to his head at once, tilting his head to the side. It was then that Hiccup saw the concern in the dragon's green orbs, forcing his fear away roughly. This was Toothless, this wasn't the thing from his dream. Blowing out a huff of air, Hiccup reached up, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Sorry." He breathed out slowly, closing his eyes for a moment or two as his bit his lower lip. "…Bad dream, I guess." He offered, not sure whether he was talking to himself or not.
Surprising Hiccup slightly, Toothless gave a chuff, pushing himself up to his feet and making his way over to Hiccup's bed, whining slightly as he rested his head on the edge. He looked up at Hiccup with what seemed like an almost apologetic look. The teen blinked slowly, eyes traveling down to Toothless's tail, the black fin that shone up at him seeming to almost mock him. He opened his mouth, once again nothing came out as he looked down glumly at the tail.
Ludi perked her ears, straightening as she looked over at Hiccup, sensing something was the matter. The fluffy cat gave a small mew, pushing herself forward and plodding over to her human as she looked up at him with her big eyes. Pushing her face into his side, the kitten mewled loudly, her voice seeming to echo in the darkness. Giving a light sigh, Hiccup looked out the window again, back at Toothless. He knew he wasn't dreaming anymore, and yet the sight of the dragon rubbed him the wrong way as of right now. Something he thought would never happen.
"I'm going to go get some air." He mumbled tiredly, shooting Toothless a quick smile, and turning, swinging himself over the bed and straightening himself a little clumsily. He was always worse on his leg in the morning, if this could be considered a morning, really. Technically it was, but whatever. Scanning the room, Hiccup blinked, realization slamming into him.
"Shadowclaw?" He called out into the small room. He expected to hear a small response, a chirp or at least something from where the dragon usually slept. But there was nothing except for silence. Looking from Ludi, over to Toothless, he raised his eyebrows, but they merely stared back at him, not giving him any clues to where the smaller Night Fury could have gotten himself off to. He really should have less people in the room with him when he slept, it was like he was running a zoo in here.
Shaking his head to clear it, Hiccup turned, walking over silently to the door and opening it carefully, as to make it not creak. Peering out into the hall, Hiccup blinked, shifting from foot to foot nervously. If his father saw him right now, he would be met with a lot of questions, something that he didn't feel like answering right now. He didn't know where he was going, he would probably just wander until the sun rose. The thought almost made him want to retreat back to his bed and fall back asleep, his body weighted down with exhaustion. But he knew even if he went back in there and lied down, he would never be able to fall back asleep after what just happened.
Making sure that the area was clear, Hiccup stepped out into the hall, closing the door with a small click behind him. Biting his lower lip, Hiccup made his way carefully down the stairs, making sure that he kept quiet as he took it one step at a time. Stairs sometimes proved to be difficult with his leg, but he managed to do it without much of a hassle this time, to his relief. He made it to the door quicker than he expected, and slipped outside without much to his relief.
Breathing out a breath of air that turned into a foggy cloud, Hiccup narrowed his eyes, looking over the burnt remains of Berk. The sight made his stomach twist into a knot, he had almost forgotten about the damage to his town in everything else that had happened. But nevertheless, Hiccup started forward, feet crunching in what little snow there was left. Most of it was snowmelt, the boy wincing slightly as the cold crept through his boots. Shivering, Hiccup hugged himself tightly, rubbing his hands over his arms rapidly to try and create some sort of friction from him and the cold weather.
Glancing back at his house, Hiccup felt a wave of guilt wash over him, causing him to stop in his tracks. Lowering his head somewhat, he stared at the ground, his hair covering his features as he let out a gusty sigh. The thought of him feeling like this made him want to slap himself. His hands fisted at his sides, and he glared down at the ground. "Stupid." He muttered, raising his hands and banging on either sides of his head.
Why couldn't he just forget whatever Toothless did before? Why couldn't he get it out of his head? Toothless was his best friend! He was the dragon that gave him everything he had now, he was the thing that made Hiccup finally take a stand for himself. Before Toothless gave along, Hiccup just let himself get walked around on. If Toothless wasn't here, it would still be that way. Toothless had saved his life, in more ways than one. If he forgot all of that for what happened before…who was he?
The thought made him start, looking back up at the house with wide eyes. The fact was that he didn't know. He didn't know who he was without Toothless. He wouldn't be himself, he wouldn't be what he knew. When Toothless had left, Hiccup had just become slower and slower each day, he had refused to get up in the morning, each chore and task in front of him would be done with the least amount of effort, the least amount of care. He just wasn't right without Toothless there by his side.
And ignoring him like this…he still had the tail. The thought came off sort of cruel to Hiccup, but it was true. Without the old tailfin, Toothless wasn't grounded like before. He could take off on his own accord now. If he kept pushing Toothless away…the dragon wouldn't leave him again, surely? But…if he felt unappreciated…but it wasn't like Toothless to do something like that. It seemed like Hiccup didn't know anything about Toothless these days.
"Hey, there. Lovely night for a stroll, hmm?" Hiccup started, turning as he blinked rapidly. Astrid stood behind him, a small smile on her face as she looked at him carefully. She was bundled up tightly in a coat, something that Hiccup envied. The teen looked at her with slightly narrowed eyes, looking at the dim bag underneath her eyes. Before he could ask, Astrid started to speak, cutting him off. "You okay? I don't usually trek out in freezing cold weather before the sun comes up, but…you seemed pretty upset."
Instead of answering, Hiccup said bluntly, "How did you know I was out here?"
Astrid merely shrugged, giving him another smile. When he didn't return it, her smile faltered slightly, the girl giving a small sigh that made her bangs ruffle up in front of her. "Listen…" She started, wincing slightly as she spoke. Hiccup regarded her with an expressionless face. "I know what happened was a little…unexpected. But you can't let it get to you like you're doing, alright? It's tough seeing you like this, you know?"
"I get it, Astrid." Hiccup growled, looking away darkly. "You've said it only thirty times."
But the blonde only rolled her eyes dismissively. "It's because Odin knows you never listen the first few times around." She sighed, amusement bordering the edge of her voice. "So instead of lying to both yourself, and me…how about you tell me what's really bugging you?" She raised an eyebrow at the boy, who had taken on a sour look. "There's no denying it, Hiccup. The sooner you admit it, the sooner it will go away for good."
The teen licked his lips, turning his head and looking over to the side at the ground, going silent. Stuffing her hands into the pockets of her coat, Astrid looked at Hiccup, patiently waiting for the teen to reply. Overhead, the blonde started as she realized that snow was falling overhead, growing thicker and thicker as it started to speed up. She barley had time to appreciate the small little flakes before Hiccup spoke up, the girl turning back to him immediately.
"You saw the tailfin." Hiccup murmured, closing his eyes.
"That could mean anything-"
"And what if it doesn't?" Hiccup demanded, turning and glaring at her as frostily as the snow. Astrid stopped, blinking rapidly. "Think about it, Astrid! Those were obviously Night Furies earlier, it just couldn't have been any other dragon! The blasts were too powerful." Glancing back over at his house, Hiccup's voice dropped considerably. "I mean- last time he destroyed it. What if it means something more than just forgetting about it? What if he isn't…Toothless anymore?"
"Of course he'll be Toothless." Astrid said soothingly, reaching out and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Listen, you two are the best pair on the island, everybody knows that. It would take something a lot more than something like that to rip you two apart. The real problem I think is the fact that you don't trust him. You don't trust him to keep being your friend and keep being the same dragon he's always been. And don't forget, you still have to be the same Hiccup. You have to be able to trust him like you did the first time you found him grounded with your net."
Glancing over at her, Hiccup gave her a ghost of a smile, still slightly crooked. But it was gone as soon as it came. Words tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop them. "It was her." He blurted out quickly, Astrid not looking as surprised as he thought she would have. "It was the same dragon, I'm sure of it. The female that started all of this." He closed his eyes tightly, gritting his teeth. "I thought she was gone."
"So did I." Astrid murmured, looking at her friend with sympathy. "It'll be okay."
"I just-" Hiccup broke off, pausing before going on. "I just don't want to loose him again, Astrid."
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"I do NOT want to loose him again, Fleetfoot, do you understand?" Nightflight demanded, whirling around on the Night Fury as he met her gaze head-on. The female was in a rage, eyes wild with anger and teeth bared as she looked at the male. "We will not fail again, Fleetfoot, do you hear me? We can't afford to loose another time. They'll begin to get wiser than us and it wont be as easy. I thought you told me you knew what you were doing!" Her eyes glowed with fury as she looked at the male expectantly. "Explain yourself."
Fleetfoot paused for a moment, looking slightly awkward. "I did have it all under control, Nightflight." He said, wincing slightly at the sound of the female's grunt of disbelief. "I was caught off-guard by accident, it was entirely my fault. I promise I'll do better next time." He lowered his head, shame filling him as Nightflight rolled her eyes at the excuse.
"You do know what we are trying to accomplish? The importance of this mission?" She snapped irritably. "We have all of the other dragons waiting behind us, we are the leaders of the event, we can't let them down because we got DISTRACTED. We are here to wipe the puny island of Berk clear of any human life! We came to retrieve both Toothless and Shadowclaw. Without the insolent human there to mess things up, we'll have BOTH of them back here with us."
"Killing the people is easier said than none." Fleetfoot mumbled. "They seem to be quite experienced with this type of things happening." He paused at Nightflight's look, quieting at once as he shied away. "But I'm not saying we should stop trying, of course." He added quickly. "After all, this was only the first time. Err- when do you want the next raid to be…exactly?"
"The sooner the better." She said without hesitation. "They'll be too busy rebuilding. This time we have to be more efficient in finding the key people. We have to find Toothless and Shadowclaw for one, we need to know where they are. We need to find that human, too." She added darkly, eyes narrowing slowly. "But I want you to bring it to me. Alive. I want to be the one to kill it. Anybody who disobeys those orders will be in trouble, do you hear me Fleetfoot?" She leaned in close, pupils dilating. "He's MINE. I will not loose anything else to him."
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"I wont loose anything else to those Night Furies." Hiccup mumbled, ducking his head as he looked over at Astrid. "It was bad enough the first time, I don't know what I would do the second time. Is that why they're back? Are they going to try and take Toothless again?" Should I keep him inside? Would he stay inside? Would he hate me? The questions went unvoiced as he looked over at Astrid worriedly. But the blonde shook her head, not able to answer him for once as she looked on carefully.
"I think you might need to take a breather." Astrid murmured, reaching out once more. "Try to go back to sleep-"
"I can't go back to sleep." Hiccup hissed, side-stepping away from her. The girl started at the movement, slightly surprised as she blinked rapidly. But Hiccup didn't pay any attention to it, shivering from the cold as his teeth chattered loudly. He trembled and shook, hopefully more cold than anything. "…Sorry." He breathed, grumbling something under his breath before he repeated. "I can't go back to sleep."
Astrid's shoulders slumped as she looked at the bags the had rimmed below Hiccup's once-lively green eyes. Had something as small as this reawakened this much fear inside Hiccup? But- looking around at the burnt and charred buildings, she had to admit that it wasn't that much of a small thing. Was Hiccup right? Could it have been a form of…threat? The word sent chills down her spine. "Hiccup, you have to try." She whispered in the dark.
Hiccup did not reply.
"Toothless isn't going anywhere as of right now, right?" Astrid prompted, giving him a small smile. "It's fine right now, nothing is going happen, you have to trust me on this one, okay?" Tilting her head to the side, she walked forward slowly, leaning over and wrapping Hiccup in a tight hug, the boy warm compared to the cold weather around them, even without a coat on. "You have to trust Toothless and he has to trust you. That's all you need now."
"But what if it isn't good enough?" Hiccup whispered brokenly.
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"And what if it isn't good enough?" Nightflight demanded, fixing Fleetfoot with an angry glare. "You say that you will try your best, and yet you might slip up like last time. We can't afford things like that, Fleetfoot, do you understand?" Her voice had risen to a roar, the male wilting away slightly. In front of the other dragons, he was a brave and powerful leader figure. But when Nightflight came forward, he found that he couldn't find the words he used as a leader. The confident ones slipped his mind.
"I assure you that I will make sure to have everybody on the same wing-"
"I should be up there with you in the front lines." Nightflight snarled, cutting him off. The female paced back and forth, looking much like he did a while ago as she whipped around to face him. "Putting somebody as stupid as you in charge of all the others isn't the best idea I would be smart enough to put down. I should be leading the others, I'm the only one that grasps the object of importance here."
"Nightflight, your wounds are still healing." Fleetfoot said firmly. "You have to stay in the back until you are to be fully healed." At the female's sharp look, he added: "It wont be long now, though. You said yourself that you can do most things now. That was better than the way it was last week."
At this, Nightflight relaxed slightly, blinking as she lifted her head into the air. "Yes, I suppose." She sighed, breath curling in the air. "I'll be ready to fight in a short time." She murmured. "And then I'll be able to be on the front lines. I'll be able to make those humans suffer myself. I'll be able to find Toothless." Her eyes clouded as she spoke the dragon's name, Fleetfoot remaining quiet as he regarded the female cautiously. Shaking herself, Nightflight gave a firm nod. "For now we'll continue attacking the humans while they are trying to rebuild their homes. That way when I am healed, they will have nothing to protect them." The dragon's eyes were merciless as she growled darkly, the dragoness laughing at something she thought was funny.
Fleetfoot did not know what to do, remaining silent as he dipped his head to her. "And I'll be right behind you." He promised, although he wasn't sure the female heard him.
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Finally, Astrid drew backwards, studying Hiccup carefully. "I want you to try." She said finally, reaching over and brushing snow off of Hiccup's shoulders affectionately. "I want to try and sleep, because then you'll be even worse tomorrow, and we don't want that, right?" When Hiccup didn't laugh or smile, she frowned. "You have to try, Hiccup. You can't just not sleep for your whole life. Toothless isn't going to do anything to you, he'll be sleeping right by you. Nothing is going to happen tonight, I know that for a fact."
Hiccup did say anything, but Astrid could see the faint flash of relief in the boy's eyes. The blonde smiled once more, this time more genuine as she giggled somewhat. Leaning over, Astrid pressed her lips to Hiccup's cheek shortly, drawing back and giving him a reassuring squeeze on his hand. "You'll be fine." She promised. "We all will, you'll see. I'm always right."
Hiccup's eyes were clouded in thought, and finally, Astrid decided that she had to leave. Backing up slightly, she turned and started retrace her footsteps back to her house, her footprints having already been covered up by the snow. She was halfway gone when suddenly, she heard her name behind her. Turning, Astrid blinked as she looked at Hiccup, the boy's hands fisted at his sides. His eyes were burning with a new kind of fire as he looked over at her, his jaw locked with determination.
"She's not going to do it again." He said thinly, almost growling out the words.
Astrid turned fully, looking at Hiccup, faintly surprised.
Hiccup looked down at the ground almost angrily, teeth starting to ache from the pressure of grinding them together. Nightflight's claws sunk deep into the earth, the dragoness's eyes alight with bloodlust as she scowled deeply. The boy let out a shaky breath, raising his voice so that Astrid heard it loudly where she stood. Nightflight raised her voice into a triumphant roar that seemed to shake the whole island. The two opened their mouths, shouting out the next words completely in sync.
"TOOTHLESS IS MINE!"
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A/N: Pft. Did not know how to word that part. I feel like a middle schooler. I mean- I am. But it sounds like they're fighting over a boy. XP
But it's a lot more epic, you know? I hope you liked what I did. See what I did there? :"D
Something big is going to happen soon! Strap yourselves in tightly ^^
So anyway, you know how I told you I was Hiccup for that anime convention? Well, every morning we woke up really early, so the last day we did that, I was REALLY tired from the convention the other day. So I dressed up like Hiccup, and I did this stuff: I rammed my hip into the edge of a counter. I accidentally tripped over my Toothless pillow pet. I burned myself with the flat iron. I rammed into a wall. And I tripped over the steps at least twenty times. All in the course of an hour.
My aunt was laughing and she said: "You make a perfect Hiccup!"
Thank you. Thank you very much o-o