Dear readers, thank you so very much for your support !
Ever more of you tag this story as a Favourite. Some even chose me as a Favourite Author!
What a tremendous support, it really 'gives me wings'.

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Chapter 5. Yet more surprises

The next day
Next day Nighthawk and Hiccup returned. In a moment the yearlings were all over them both. I had to warn the little ones, for as they jumped up Hiccup I saw him sway. He doesn't stand firm on that unnatural foot and I suspect my boisterous little ones can make him fall down. "Let's find Hiccup a nice boulder or log to sit on" I heard Nighthawk say next to me. I saw what 'sit on' for a human means when not much later I saw Hiccup sit comfortably on a fallen log. All yearlings sat down on their haunches next to him, looking very smug.

"This is comfortable for him" Nighthawk told me. "When he kneels like you saw him do yesterday, or when he sits on his haunches like us, it eventually starts hurting. I saw him rub his stump yesterday evening."
"Stump, you mean...?"
"He can remove the iron foot and the end of his natural flesh still sometimes troubles him."
"Does your tail ever hurt? I had wanted you to ask you last year, but we had so little time for questions."
By the look in his eyes I realised it was still a delicate subject. So I quickly added "I still have so much to ask you. But let's talk during naps of the little ones, they should not hear everything."
"Yes, let's do that. But to answer your question: no, my tail did not keep hurting like Hiccup's stump does, or sometimes does. But I miss my tailfin very much, it has been hard to be not whole, I cannot deny that. That is, until last year, you know, when you so lovingly... touched... when you accepted my tail. It eased my burden so much."
"I'm only glad I did. It opened up my heart for you even more... Nighthawk, during the first nap of the little ones, will you tell me how you lost your fin and how you became friends with Hiccup?"
"It's one and the same story. I will tell you."

Father is a hero
"First something else, love. Your harness has to come off. I want to feel my lover again, like you were last year. We only had a few moments together yesterday."
"Do you have mating-feelings then?" Nighthawk asked surprised.
"No, but I do have love-feelings."
"Me too! Off it goes, then. You and the little ones see how it's done. Oh, look at them!" They had grown tired of 'sitting' and came jumping our way.
"But look, Heather lies on his lap now."
"Lap?" I asked puzzled.
"That's not so much a part of his body, but the space on top of the legs, a comfortable place where their little ones like to be" Nighthawk explained.
"Well, Heather sure likes to be there!" She lay curled up on Hiccup's lap, with her head resting on his arm. It looked like she was purring.
"How was it to sit like a human?" Nighthawk asked his other children. They chirped to their father all things on their minds and licked him.
"Listen, all of you. When I do not fly, I do not need the harness. So it can come off. Hiccup can do that now." And he gave Hiccup a signal.

Hiccup stood up and walked to us. Now I saw what "hold" really is, as he carried Heather in his arms, cradling her to his chest, but taking care that she could move the wing that was not pressed against his body. He did have difficulty carrying her, though. My yearlings are not that small anymore and the weight of Heather already was much for him. He must have strained himself yesterday, then, when he lifted all of them up. After having covered half the distance, he had to lower her. Heather did not jump our way, though, but walked next to him, keeping an eye on him.

Soon Hiccup was busy taking the harness off. The children were utterly amazed, and I hardly less. I also noticed how precisely a human can move his hands. Hiccup did very fine movements with them. Indeed, like Nighthawk had said, arms and hands are more than forepaws. Hiccup can grasp something specifically with one of his fingers opposing the four others. The grasping which we do with our teeth, he does with his hands, but far more nimbly. Every finger does a little bit of the work. Amazing.

One thing after another, the harness came off. But nothing was as strange to the little ones as when at last the unnatural tailfin came off. It disturbed them to see Nighthawk's tail with half the fin missing. "Ooooh" they sighed and backed away in dismay. I noticed how that affected Nighthawk.

Hiccup too saw the reaction of the yearlings and told them "You father lost half of his tailfin, but he has been so brave. He is a hero. To the dragons that know him, he is a hero." The little ones did not understand all of it and looked up at me questioningly. I had understood the words, but did not understand why Hiccup had said that.
Baffled I translated "...so they say your father is a hero." The children were quick in picking up the positive notion and approached Nighthawk's damaged tail again, cheering "A hero! Father is a HERO! What is a hero, mammy?" "That is a dragon that is very brave, and does very, very brave things." Now they cheered even louder.
I faced him and asked "Did you, my love? I find you brave, but how come-"
"Well, hero is a bit much. Hiccup is the real hero, but I will tell you as soon as I can." Yet I saw the praise did him good.

Oh, the feel of his body
Cheering up ever more he asked "Children, will you watch over my harness? Keep all animals away? All rabbits and mice?" I chuckled, for immediately they formed a protective ring around it and started hissing.
"Now come, my love, they may call me a hero, but you are the queen of my heart" Nighthawk said, a light gleaming in his eyes.
"You stay there, children, your father and I are going to share our love."
And off we ran. Oh, to feel him again, scales against scales. We bumped into one another, we pushed against one another, rolled over one another.
I heard the children cheer. For a moment I watched what they were doing. They had forgotten about the harness of course, and were jumping up and down while screaming their excitement. "Mammy!" "Mammy!" Father!"
"You stay there, sweetlings, go back a bit. That's good!"

I went back to nipping Nighthawk everywhere. We looked into each others eyes. No more secrets, such a relief there. After some time our movements slowed. He stroked the top of my head with his chin.* He nuzzled and prodded me, which made love and tenderness flow through me. Chest to chest, our heads curved around each other tenderly. Stretched out wide, our wings met, meaning so much as they are flight and life. The sail's edges, sensitive to the currents of air in flight, being equally sensitive to the currents of emotion beneath the caress. Safe to steer by…
"My love" Nighthawk whispered "we're together again... my beauty... our love alive in the little ones... how I longed for this moment... I longed for you so much."
I couldn't find words and sighed, pressing myself against him.

Nighthawk whispered "You know I remember all the scales on your head? First you have three little ones, here, right above your eye" and he gave three little licks. "Then a bigger one here, a bit triangular. I always think about that one as my scale. Please, Silverwings, let that one be my scale." I giggled and gave him a lick. "And then here - lower your head dear - there are bigger ones together with little ones, like a path, up to your ear. No, keep your head low, so I can lick. Mmmm..."

A rustle in the grass made us look down. There were the little ones. They had not been able to stay where they were, and now shyly looked up at us. "Oh, come, you children. I love your mammy, my lovely Silverwings, and I was just telling her that I remember every scale on her head. When I was in my faraway home I always thought about Silverwings and the beautiful scales on her head. Mammy, lower your head so I can show them." The little ones started to giggle. "You see, all the scales make a path to mammy's ear? I was just licking the path, like so!" He did and I gave a muffled cry for he also licked my sensitive ear. The children cheered and cried "Me too! A lick? Me too!" He lowered his head and gave Tumble a lick, but he was still in the love-mood and licked so fiercely that it flipped him over on his back. "WHEE..." Tumble cried out and giggled on, little paws batting the air.
"Ha ha, you stay upside down, I'll flip you all over." And before long all little ones lay paws up, laughing and giggling.

"We'll lie down now and you come lie in between us. That is, first you all go in the bushes and poo, as you surely must need to" I said. When they came back we licked them clean. "Slow down" I whispered to Nighthawk who was still a bit wild "it's supposed to calm them now". When they had settled I said "Children, this love between your father and me has been the start of your lives. This is how you came to be." They didn't understand of course but they blinked at us curiously and happy. Then they became sleepy and soon dozed off.

"They need more naps." I whispered. "And yesterday night they were exhausted. So many new impressions in such a short time."
"And how is it with their mother?"
"The same, to be honest. But I would not miss it, not miss you. I mean, look at us now! After a short silence I asked "Will you tell me now, you know, about you and Hiccup?"
"Let's shift a bit then, so the little ones really cannot hear us. I'll curve my tail around them and shield them from the sun with my fin and you sit close to my head, so I can whisper and you can yet see them."
"You start to sound like a father."
"I AM a father!" Oh, the pride and joy in those few words.
"Yes, you are, darling, you are."

Nighthawk tells
"I'll tell you the main things, Silverwings. Once we have more time I will fill in the details. Yet you ask me whatever you want." He then started to tell me a very disturbing story in quick, half-whispered lines. About how there had been a war between two islands in the ocean. How a tyrant monster had enslaved dragons to bring her food. How these dragons raided the island of Hiccup's people for the sheep that she preferred above all other food. How the growing hatred over losses and injuries had made the raiding become ever more cruel, until it was no less than a war. How he himself had been ensnared by that cruel monster and had just started to raid when he was shot out of the sky. That it had been Hiccup who shot him down. And that in crashing through the trees one half of his tailfin had been ripped off.

So Hiccup had maimed him! That shocked me so much that Nighthawk had to hush me and nuzzle my head to calm me down. I stared over to where Hiccup sat: seemingly an innocent, frail human, busy scratching on some flat thing with sort of a twig.

"Did you maim him in retaliation?" I asked hotly.
"No. But not because it hadn't crossed my mind. I am like all dragons, Silverwings, including being vindictive. But from Hiccup I learned something important and that is that you have a choice. Not in whom you are, or what happens to you, but in what your do, in your actions. So rather soon I chose forgiveness, friendship and peace. It's those things that ended the war. The slaying of the tyrant was necessary, but forgiveness and friendship really brought on peace."
While I pondered those words, he continued "Believe me, love, what Hiccup did in shooting me down was normal in that war. We killed the humans, the humans killed us. The thing he did afterwards, when he found me and did NOT kill me, THAT was the shocking difference. And ever since he found out I could not fly anymore he has tried to remedy that. -Oh, we have to stop, the little ones are stirring. Just keep calm, love, everything between Hiccup and me worked out fine. We became friends. Just wait until I can speak with you again."

That day, whenever the little ones napped or played with Hiccup, Nighthawk quickly told me more. That he had such special feelings towards Hiccup, that maybe if they had met under different circumstances and Hiccup had not crippled him, he might have chosen Hiccup as his Rider. It had felt that way.
"A RIDER, but Nighthawk, that only exists in the legends. How can this be now?" I exclaimed.
Nighthawk gave a shrug "I do not know for sure. It just feels that way. He is that close to me."
"Things hung in the balance, then, when you introduced him to me. I would have killed him if you had not stopped me."
"There is no life without risk. That is what Hiccup's mate told him last year when she gave Hiccup permission to go on the search with me in rut. We would not have met otherwise."
"What a risk she took! She greatly cares about you too, then."
"She does, as do their children."
I... I can hardly believe humans care that much for a dragon."
"For dragons. Many more of his people have befriended dragons, and fly on them."
"No, NO... that's just too... too... I can hardly believe that... But I have to believe you."

Sleepless again
Again I could hardly sleep. So Nighthawk was one of the dragons of the sunset-lands. Or, not lands, he lived on one of the islands in the ocean. The ocean Thundercloud had told me so much about. That I feared, that yet fascinated me so much. So Thundercloud had heard the truth when he was told dragons lived on islands in the ocean, but that a terror was there. So the terror of the tyrant monster had come to an end. And somehow Nighthawk and Hiccup had played such a part in it that they are called heroes since. Nighthawk had been a bit vague about that, I need to ask him to be more specific. Yet during the last stages of the fight with the monster, Hiccup had fallen off Nighthawk and he had mangled Hiccup's foot in his effort to save him. How utterly strange this all was. It had not been retaliation, Nighthawk had assured me of that, but in some strange way they had become even and depended on each other now. Though Hiccup would be able to survive without Nighthawk, as I understood his tribe supports him. But Nighthawk could not survive without Hiccup and the help of his tribe. Yet Hiccup stayed by his side and he and his mate even had taken huge risks for Nighthawk's wellbeing.

Still, Hiccup had caused my love to lose his flight. They both may have come to terms with it, but I allowed the pain to wash through me in the quiet of this night. In one hostile act Nighthawk had been reduced to a crippled state. He might be considered a hero on his island, but everywhere else he would be an outcast to his own kind, particularly in mating time. He wouldn't stand a chance against any other Night Fury male and no female would consider him twice. Other than me, that is. How had Nighthawk been able not to retaliate in hate? As the anger built in me, I hated Hiccup for what he had done.

How do I balance this? I need to as I don't want to upset Nighthawk and I don't want to drive a wedge between them. Or influence my children in a negative way. Yet the whole thing cooled the little bit of warmth I had begun to feel for Hiccup. All it did was confirm to me how dangerous it is to be around humans.
Then again, there is more to humans than I had ever imagined, so much became clear to me. And it was not only Hiccup that rode a dragon. More of his people did, and for those dragons it wasn't even necessary as it is for Nighthawk. I was very uncomfortable with that. I even shuddered with disgust now, imagining a human climbing on my back.

Oh, again I forgot to ask how long they will be able to stay! But it really does not matter how long, every amount of time would be too short. Why do I feel this way, I asked myself, wanting so much to be with Nighthawk? All dragonesses raise their children without their mate, don't they? And then, seven years later, they mate with another male and raise his children, together with the older ones. That is, if a male comes, as there are so few of us left.
Oh, I so wish to mate with Nighthawk again. We only shared the last days of the whole mating period last year. The heat had worn off too rapidly.
I want us to be together so much.

Oh, don't be foolish, I chided myself, such things do not exist. Thundercloud had mentioned it only jokingly "And then there is mating for life. But that is only in the legends". It must be in my nature. I had been very attached to Thundercloud also, and had wept bitterly when I had to leave him to lay my eggs. And now I feel so much attached to Nighthawk. It must be something strange of me.
Legends. It struck me: had not also the notion of a Rider been only in the legends? Yet Nighthawk had mentioned this very day that he felt like Hiccup is his Rider. So why not-
Don't get foolish thoughts, you. Try to get some sleep.

Yet more surprises
Next day they returned, burdened with something extra. A deer! What a feast! I had been worrying about food. Early today my hunt had not been successful, I had not been sharp enough after three? four? nights of hardly any sleep. Eventually I only managed to snatch some rabbits, that, once half digested, I regurgitated to feed the yearlings. But, it is hatchling food and they prefer the soft tissues of prey by far now.
So, this gift of food was more than welcome and before long we all dug in. Except for Hiccup who ate some kind of unknown food.

Licking my lips clean, I said "So you hunted this morning?"
"No, not us, the other dragons from the search party did. It is a gift from them."
"OTHER DRAGONS?" I exclaimed. Immediately I realised that was the strange flock of birds I had seen. That had been dragons, seen from afar! Yet I sensed something fishy about this news, though I could not put a claw on it. Again there was disturbing information: other dragons were in my territory and yet I was obliged to thank them for their gift.
"Why did you come accompanied by other dragons?" I asked somewhat suspiciously, adding reluctantly "I should thank them for their gift of meat, of course."
"As for the meat: they will not deplete your territory of prey, don't worry about that. They took care to hunt far away. As for them travelling with us: we travelled in a group to be safer. And they helped us search for you. There are seven of them, with seven humans that ride them."
"HUMANS? There are also HUMANS near?" Now I was really upset. It is one thing to hear about dragons and humans riding them, but quite another that they are actually near. So there were seven dragons and seven humans near!

Angry, I snapped at them "You tell me everything now as I will have no more of this. I will hear every bit of surprise you planned on yet giving me! -Oh, look what it does to the children."
At hearing my angry voice they had huddled together, timidly eying up at me.
"Oh, my sweetlings, you did not do anything wrong. I got upset. Mammy got upset by herself. It's a bit silly of mammy for there is nothing to worry about. Everything is fine and I will keep it that way." During the last words my eyes flashed a warning at Nighthawk. Then I lowered my head and nuzzled them. "There, there, shhhh, give mammy a lick, oh yes that is nice. You are my darlings, come lie against mammy's tummy. There, there. I'm going to tickle you! Here comes my paw!"
By now they were giggling again and batted my talon away with their little paws.

"I see we have been stupid. Sorry for that Silverwings. Let us know when you and the children are ready, because we have a message for you. It is the last thing, then there will be no more surprises."
"It better is!" I snapped back. Softening up however, I said "But you can tell me now."
"Silverwings, it is a message Hiccup has to deliver."
"Hiccup! Well, my sweetlings, shall we hear what Hiccup has to say to us? It is a message, I hear." I looked up at Hiccup coolly.

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Will you review (again)? It's such a pleasure.

* exactly this moment is captured by Laryssa in her drawing "Toothless and Silverwings" that is the thumbnail picture of my story. She made this drawing a gift to me which made me very happy.
If you want to see the original picture, browse: whiteaspen on deviantart; open favourites. See: Toothless and Silverwings by ~Laryssadesenhista.

There is also another sweet picture of a yearling, timidly looking up:
Night Fury-Toothless Dragon by ~Starrypoke.