Silverwings and Toothless

by white aspen

Silverwings waits for Toothless, a year after they met and fell in love. He is a father of five now. Toothless promised to come visit and reveal to her 'the secret of his flight' which he fears can still tear their love apart. Toothless aims to get her to Berk. But what can he expect of a solitary taiga-dwelling dragoness? Read about Night Fury love and challenges.

6. Hiccup

Summary
Silverwings has been able to accept the fact that her lover Nighthawk has a close bond with a human. However, the fact that a human came into her life puts her world upside-down completely. She learns from her children though, they readily accept everything about their father and his 'human brother' as they are not yet prejudiced. Both Nighthawk and Hiccup are delighted with the yearlings and they in turn have the time of their lives with their father and his friend.

For Silverwings however, the appreciation she has begun to feel for Hiccup disappears completely when Nighthawk reveals that Hiccup was the one that maimed him and made him lose his flight. She keeps that hidden from Nighthawk. But it will not be long before Hiccup, with his uncanny understanding of dragons, senses the renewed hostility of this terrifying dragoness.

Just moments ago it is revealed to her that there are even more dragons and humans near of an accompanying search party, which upsets her tremendously. She demands that they tell her everything now. Nighthawk tells her there's one more thing: Hiccup has a message for her.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Chapter 6. Hiccup

The message
"Lady, I have a message for you" Hiccup said. "I will speak to you with due respect". With that he lowered himself on one knee.
That started me. "Nighthawk, he must not pain himself. I can see this posture is uncomfortable."
"My dear, the message is formal and very important. He will address you in a way the humans show the highest respect."
The highest respect? "Children, then we stand up. Come stand in front of me and listen carefully."

"My Lady, first of all I want you to know how much the dragons and the people of my village like Toothless and care for him. In our village he is held in high esteem. When he returned last year, everybody was so happy for him that he had found a mate. On our island we never saw another Night Fury in all these years. It was clear to everyone just how happy you had made him. So everyone wants to meet you!
Therefore, Lady, on behalf of the dragons of our village, on behalf of the humans of our village and of on behalf of the chief of our village, my father, I herewith invite you to come and pay us a visit. If you agree, we will escort you to our island, which is called Berk. Later, we will escort you back to the Mainland at any time you wish, if only before the storms of autumn. Will you please consider it? The village would be honoured if you came."
He paused for a moment and concluded less formally with "We would so very much like that."

Baffled, I did not know what to say to this. But the children did. "Yes mammy, oh yes, yes! Please, pleeeease?" Still stunned, I looked Nighthawk in the eye. There was such a fragile look there. This is important to him, very important.
"I... but how... the children cannot...?" I stuttered.
"We have thought about that. Each dragon can take one of the yearlings on its back in a basket. A kind of little nest, it will be safe."

At once I understood this had been their plan all along. They cunningly had worked towards it. I felt a bit tricked. But I had to admit, they had worked towards it as gently as possible, taking little steps at a time.
Again I gazed at Nighthawk. I must not make him suffer by delaying my decision, he has suffered enough in life. So I said to him "It scares me very much, the whole idea. And it MUST be safe for the children... but I... we will go with you."

So you will travel in a basket
Hiccup shouted. The yearlings peeped. I went over to Nighthawk and leaned against him for support. "Now I need your help, this is too much. Help me, Nighthawk."
"I will, Silverwings, for sure. Oh, thank you so much, my darling. You make me so happy right now, you know that?"
Yes, I know.
"You really take it easy now. The other dragons can hunt for you, if you let them, and they will protect you and the children. They will want to do all the work so you have all the time to adjust. Oh, they will be so relieved. But not half as much as I am."

Pulling myself together, I said "You know, Nighthawk, in a way I am relieved too. I have been worrying about how much time together we would have. In this way we will be together longer. But now I am worried about our children. I do not understand, how will they travel with us?"
"In a basket! But let Hiccup explain that. I guess you will have to see. I will have to see too. We dragons sometimes carry things in a basket, but Hiccup is the one who thinks things out. He thought about how my harness must be and then made it. He gets ideas and then makes them in the smithy."
"Smithy?"
"You will see what a smithy is. Yes, YES!" Nighthawk cried elated. "You will see EVERYTHING for yourself, as you will see the entire village. You'll see Astrid and Hiccup's children. You will see his father-"
"Did Hiccup say his father is the chief of the village?" I interrupted.
"That's right. His father is the chief."
But then Hiccup must be... have a lot of status? What is all this? You both are called heroes, you yourself are held in high esteem, Hiccup is the son of a chief. Dragons care so much that they help you?"

"It is true, Silverwings. And it may sound like quite something, but Hiccup once was almost an outcast. You must have noticed how frail he is. You will yet see how burly his people are in general. When he was a youngling, everyone looked down on him, despite his status. His father was unhappy with his offspring. Part of Hiccup's soul was dying when we met. In truth I was his first friend. He sought my friendship because he craved it. So much, that he even looked through all the outward terror that a Night Fury brings and picked up on my inner miseries.
And I somehow sensed his cry for help. I was not in a much better state. I was shunned by my own kind, partly because I kept aloof. But the other dragons were also afraid of me. Dragons in my region are... were... afraid of Night Furies as a species, though we are not the largest dragons by far. Thing is, our fire is the deadliest, as it can even pierce dragon scales. And in fight we are nearly invincible. So I was in not much better state then Hiccup when we met. I also just had found out I had lost my flight, so I... we... So, yes, we may be seen as heroes now, but we both will never forget how things were. We still are a bit suspicious about too much praise. More important to me than all the status is that you grace me with your love, Silverwings. And I wouldn't mind if for the rest I would be just any dragon."

"That's a lot you tell me now, darling. A lot..." I sighed.

"Mammy!" Boulder prodded my leg impatiently.
"Yes sweetie. Oh, of course, we talked so long, your father and I, didn't we? So long. And we have Very Important Things ahead of us, don't we? We are going to see where father lives. Come to us, all of you."
"What is a basket?" "Where do you live, father?" Now the children were asking away.
"Did you hear there are other dragons not far away?" Nighthawk asked back. "What do you think, are we going to meet the other dragons?"
Now the little ones were not so sure anymore.
"These dragons are my friends" Nighthawk told them. "And each dragon has a human friend, just like me and Hiccup. That's how it is where I live. You will see for yourselves. Because we will travel, children. We will go in the direction of the setting sun. On my island, you can see the sun go down in the ocean."
"What's an ocean, father?"
"That is water, lots and lots of water."
"Like a puddle? We have puddles here, after rain."
"Dear, have they even seen a lake yet?"
"No, only a glimpse of the river nearby."
"You will see, little ones. The water is so wide and so deep you can dive in it and swim around. And hunt for fish. You go practice that now: you spot a fish and use your wings to swim and catch it."
In no time the children were engrossed in hunting down imaginary fish, flapping their wings. That gave Nighthawk the opportunity to face me again.

I got my adventure
"I will tell you now why you can understand Hiccup" he said. He explained that Dragonese is a language close to the root of all languages, so somehow we get the general meaning of what is said in any other language. How totally amazing this is!
"I have tried to teach Hiccup Dragonese but he doesn't pick up the thoughts, only the supporting vocalization, what he calls the 'grunts' and 'growls'. Yet he is aware that there is more. But I speak to him through body language in combination with vocalization. That already is quite clear to him. But if he really needs to find out what I mean he asks questions and I nod 'yes' or shake 'no'. And he is smart, often he asks the right questions. He has a keen understanding of humans and dragons alike, of their beings and motives. You will yet find out."

After some hesitation he continued "Silverwings, are you cross with us? We really didn't know..."
"Yes and no. I am cross with Hiccup, for making you lose your flight..." Cross? Hah! At this moment I would mow him down if it was only him and me. "...and for the strangeness he brings. Humans bring strangeness. Humans and dragons together... I don't know. Are all these humans 'Rider' to the dragon they fly on?"
"They are friends, but no dragon shares a bond as deep as Hiccup and me. So the answer to that is no, I guess."
"Seven dragons, that is a LOT of dragons. I have never seen so many dragons at one time. How will I even speak to them all?"

Suddenly I realized something. "I must tell you something, Nighthawk. It in fact excites me to go in the sunset direction and see the ocean. You know, in a way my desire to see the ocean is why we met."
"How so?" he asked amazed.
And I told him how I had wanted to go on an adventure and see the ocean, that Thundercloud had talked to me about, for myself. That I had used the restlessness of the oncoming mating period to muster the courage and fly in the sunset-direction. But that once I saw the mountain range that separates the taiga from the ocean, I had not dared to cross that.
"That is why I got stuck where you found me. My mating period had come, and I readied a mating ground there. But if I had not wanted to see the ocean, I would not have been there."
"So you were on an adventure!" Nighthawk cried out. "You surely got more adventure than you wished for."
At that we had a good laugh together. It made the yearlings gather around us again and look up at us curiously.

There's a first for everything
Hiccup approached us too, smiling. While we were talking he had been studying the sky and he clearly had something on his mind. He was relieved and happy, yet wary. I noticed how he kept Nighthawk in between him and me. Just as well he doesn't seem to read MY body language. Then he would notice my anger towards him and then he would not be wary, but scared! However, I'll keep the peace for Nighthawk's sake.
"I have a proposal now that the weather is so fine" Hiccup said. "Uhm, Lady, you tell me what you think about it. What Toothless and I can do is to give your yearlings their first flying experience. We can gently fly up while I hold one yearling. We could fly low, in a circle, and then land again.
While the little ones danced and shouted, Nighthawk and I looked at each other.
"Hiccup never ceases to amaze me" he said "I would have never thought of that: it is possible and not dangerous."
"Children, first I will see how Hiccup holds you, and you must be able to sit still and not jump or anything." I cautiously told my excited children.

So the harness had to be put on again. Now we all saw how that was done. Before long Tumble sat down on the saddle before Hiccup. Hiccup had one arm around him and with the other held the iron grip. First they walked and ran. After I had run alongside and established that Tumble was sufficiently secured, they took off in the air. Oh, to hear the jubilant cries of my little Tumble!
Once up in the air, Hiccup held him with two hands, so Tumble had the freedom to flap his wings too. What a sight: Nighthawk flying in circles with the precious burden on his back. I shook myself free of all anxiety and cheered along with the others.
"Now let Hiccup hold you again, Tumble!" I heard Nighthawk cry, "we are going to land, hold yourself still." With hardly any wind Nighthawk could steer well enough so they made a soft landing.
"Mammy, mammy, I flied!" Tumble cried when he was lowered to the ground. He practically jumped at me and licked my snout all over.
"Yes, my son, I am so proud of you. You were amazing. ...You go now, Boulder. That is, have you pooed already? No? Fireweed? You go then." The little ones were so excited, they couldn't stop chattering.

When some time later they napped in front of me, I saw Nighthawk take off once more with Hiccup and fly around in circles. Why would they do that? Once down Nighthawk came running my way all exited.
"Hiccup says I can try and fly on my own. On my own, Silverwings! Oh, I have to keep my voice down. We just flew while he did nothing. He tied my tailfin in a fixed position and in that position I took off, flew and landed. I could do that again, Silverwings, but without him on my back! It's because there is no wind and there is a lot of updraft here due to the summer heat on this flat land. It's never like this on our windy island and it's not flat. That is why we never thought about it. I will try now. Oh, Silverwings!"

I stood up in excitement. There he flew, alone! He gradually gained height like he had done with the yearlings. When he swooped over, he yelled and laughed. It made the yearlings stir, but they were too deep asleep to wake up. Hiccup also yelled. I looked at him and my cheerful mood suddenly left me. You may be shouting out in joy, Hiccup, but Nighthawk has not flown alone in a long time because of your evil action! Anger surged through me and as if Hiccup felt it he turned to me and, startled by the look in my eyes, stumbled back a couple of paces. Serves you right, you useless human!But I quickly sobered up. What are you doing, Silverwings? This is a time of happiness and you get ever more cranky. This is not good. You should focus on Nighthawk, it is his moment.
As soon as I did that I felt much better. Nighthawk gradually lost height and landed reasonably graceful near to me. In one jump I was with him, wings wide.
"You did wonderful, how was it?" I asked.
"Easy!" and he gave my face a wild lick. "But why does Hiccup just stand there?" and off he was to Hiccup, knocked him over and licked his face.
Moments later he was with me again. "Huh, huh, huh" he laughed "Hiccup is a bit shaky. Why is he so nervous? He shouldn't worry so much. But Silverwings, jump in the air with me. Let's fly together! It will be nothing like a mating flight, but still... Come, my love".

"I would like to, I really do, but I do not dare to leave the children alone."
"Alone? But Hiccup is near."
"Hiccup!" I snorted with disdain.
At seeing Nighthawk observe me I quickly added "I mean, Hiccup can hardly defend them, he doesn't have the strength to fight predators off."
"But there aren't any, I scanned around all the time up in the air."
But then my old fear overrode my disdain and I started to fidget and tremble.
Nighthawk noticed and asked "Love, what is the matter?"
"Oh, I am so sorry to spoil your moment, I really am. I wish I had the courage to leave the children. I know no predator is around. But... but..." I hung my head.

Being cared for
"Silverwings, come, lie down here with me. Tell me what is wrong."
Then I told him of the disastrous loss of my first clutch of eggs. That I had insufficiently scanned the surroundings and a bear had marauded the nest. Between sobs I managed to say "I have never been able to tell anyone. I know I am over protective... I know I shouldn't be, but..."
"Oh, my darling, my love... hush... shhh... So you too are scarred by life, though your scars do no show like mine. I never knew this. Oh, I realize I need to know so much more about YOUR life too. You have to tell me, my love. So there is much more to my 'Happywings' then meets the eye. Yet you seemed so joyful last year."
"I was, I am, because of you" I said, still sobbing.
"Come, come close. I have to take better care of you."
He looked up at Hiccup and signalled him to come.
"Hmm, Hiccup does not want to come over. Strange. Maybe he wants to leave us alone. But you relax, don't worry, there, there..."

* ...I am out hunting. But prey seems to be far off. What I search is not here... I have to travel again... go away and leave this place. Somewhere far away I will find... find...
My children cry... I must hunt... find them something to eat...*
*Silverwings!*
"Mmmmhh?"
*Silverwings, wake up!*
I woke up with a start, stood on my feet at once and growled around viciously. Quickly I took the situation in: my children cried upset, Nighthawk looked at me worried and Hiccup stood nervously at some distance.
"You were so fast asleep, I could hardly wake you up." Nighthawk said. "Since they woke up, the little ones have not wanted to play but just lay by your side. But when you slept so long they began to fuss and whine. Then I tried to wake you up."
Still groggy from sleep I lowered my head and shushed and licked the children. "Oh, mammy slept so long and so deep. Oh, my sweetlings, hush now." They calmed down but stayed subdued.

I looked up and saw it was early evening already. As soon my head cleared somewhat I explained to Nighthawk that I had hardly slept for days.
"This is not good. You really should not be alone tonight, Silverwings. You will take a good night's sleep while I watch over you and the children."
Soon it was agreed that they would quickly grab Hiccup's things from the other camp and return before dark. I would give up the secret of the nest, as it would be abandoned within days anyway.
I insisted that I would meet the other dragons the next day. Delaying the meeting would bring no relief, so better to move on.
When it grew dark, we all walked over to the nest site. Before long we lay safely in the cave, while Nighthawk sat in the opening with Hiccup lying next to him, just outside.

Again I woke up in the middle of the night, but when I opened my eyes I saw the silhouette of Nighthawk outlined against the near-dark of a summer's night. He sensed I was awake and his head neared me. He nuzzled me and breathed over me. "Thank you" I whispered, closing my eyes again. I felt so... cared for. I hadn't felt this safe and happy since... since I was a youngling and my mother watched over me and my brothers before she disappeared. My mother...

Mammy...

I quickly drifted off again.

When I woke up next morning I felt so refreshed and happy. Wonderful, to wake up with your lover near.
"Did you sleep well?" he asked.
"I slept well, thanks to you. I feel good again."
Now the yearlings also woke up and were instantly jubilant to find their father near. And of course they found Hiccup and curiously watched the way he was bundled up with something wrapped around him. The wrap turned out to be perfectly fine for playing peek-a-boo. Of course they were a bit too old for that, but this was something else than a tailfin before their mother's face. Yet I noticed that he did not touch them and eventually quietly turned away. Now the yearlings babbled with their father while he washed them, one after another, with long stokes of his tongue. Then I quickly went over to the bushes with them to poo, as washing stimulates that.

Hiccup speaks with me
We settled on the meadow in front of the cave. Once more Nighthawk and Hiccup visited the other party to collect a prey, that is, if the others had been successful in hunting. They had indeed, so we all could eat. Hiccup again ate a different kind of food.
"What is it that he eats?" I asked Nighthawk.
"It is called bread and it's made from the seeds of some sort of grass. The humans make it grow in rows, and then collect the seeds. They call that harvesting. You will be able to see it yourself, as I guess it is harvest-time once you are on our island. We dragons play a part in that, that is, the younglings. All younglings that had their 'first fire' this year have a wild time burning the stubbles to ashes and ploughing the ash into the dirt, while their parents cheer from the sides of the fields. It's sort of a festival. I must say, we learned from the humans to make fun out of competitiveness."

Dragons having a festival, having fun... I liked the idea! I thought we dragons only briefly met, if not were outright competitive. That is, apart from mating time, which is also a time of socializing. Like my time with Thundercloud, but that was only with one male.
It made me curious about the dragons I was going to meet today. At sun-high they would come flying in, one by one, so there was time for a brief introduction and some time for me to digest the first impressions. After that, when all had assembled, we would greet formally.

Not much later, when Nighthawk had fallen asleep and also the little ones took a nap, Hiccup walked over to me, his body all tense. Nervously he addressed me "Lady? We have to speak. That is, I would like to speak with you. Will you let me?" and he went on one knee again.
What is it you want, Hiccup? I have no wish to speak with you. But you should not be on one knee again, once is enough. You go sit on the log. I walked towards the log and signalled him to follow me. He sat down and I sat in front of him, ears flattened and tail swishing in irritation.
"Uhm, Lady, has Toothless explained to you how we talk? He always seems to understand what I say, and I have learned a lot about his ways. But when we have to find things out I ask and he nods 'yes' or shakes 'no'. Can we try?"
I nodded.
"So you know! And you will? Thank you."

"Lady, it must be so hard for you that Toothless is connected to me. My guess is that you by far prefer that he would have been on his own with no human involved. May I ask if my guess is right?"
I looked over to the sleeping form of Nighthawk. Will I tell Hiccup the truth? Maybe it is good to have no false pretences. So I nodded.
"I guessed as much and I am glad you are being honest about it. You are not like the dragons of our village who are accustomed to us humans, or even are friends to us. Lady, I can do nothing about how you feel about me, but please believe me that I have come to love Toothless like he is my brother. I hope this comparison does not offend you. Does it offend you?"
A nod... then I shook my head.
"It not so much offends you, but... you are uncomfortable with it?"
Definitely. I nodded.
"Is it only me, or is it humans in general?"
How can I answer this?
"Oh, you cannot answer this. Are you uncomfortable with humans in general?"
A nod.
"Have you been hurt or harmed in any way by humans?
I shook my head.
"Yet..."
In my mind I went over all things I disliked about humans and I must have slightly shrank back...
"Your posture speaks clearly, Lady, you wish to keep away from humans. I am so sorry then, that you have to deal with this. And it is so brave of you that you do."

"Therefore I wish to thank you, Lady. Thank you so very much that you have not forced Toothless to make a choice between us. My guess is he would have chosen you, but it would have torn him in two..." and in a shaky voice he continued "...and me too."
Again I looked at Nighthawk, slumbering in peace. And I nodded. You are right.
I turned my head, looked Hiccup full in the eye and read what was there. He still fears me, fears my power and my judgement. But underneath that there was no guile, nothing hidden. My ears rose somewhat, I nodded and stirred to move away.

"Lady, please? There's more on my mind."
What more? Instantly I got irritated again.
As I sat again he said "Toothless must have told you by now that I did a terrible thing to him?"
I nodded, eyes narrowing, ears again flattened against my head.
He took a ragged breath and continued "That I shot him out of the air and made him lose his tailfin."
My lips parted in a snarl, but a silent one, so as not to wake Nighthawk. Hiccup gulped and broke a sweat. Yet he continued "I am so very sorry about that. So very sorry, Lady. If there was a way to undo it, I would, but there is not. Always I am trying to find a way for him to fly on his own again, but until now I have not succeeded. Toothless had been able to forgive me soon after it happened. He and I have had peace about it for a long time now. But for you it must be terrible to know this and see us being together."

I turned my head away. How right he was. Yes, I hated Hiccup for this, but could not express it because of Nighthawk. Yet, if he had come to terms with it, I also must find a way to do that. Maybe I have to think about it differently. Not hate Hiccup, but hate the deed he had done. Hiccup is much more that this evil deed, so much I have to admit.
"Lady, I fear you" he spoke to the back of my head. "I'm afraid that if I do something offensive in your eyes, or do some foolish thing with your children, you may lose your patience with me and strike me down. I hardly dare to move anymore, I grow ever more tense. It's like you barely tolerate me and it seems to grow worse. It was more relaxed at first, but you changed... maybe after Toothless spoke with you about what I did to him?
I thought about it and nodded.
"I am sorry about that, Lady, I really am."

I sighed, loosening up somewhat. I turned my head back and gave Hiccup's hand a slight nudge. I will have to live with you, for the sake of Nighthawk. And I am grateful for all your care for him. But I am not half as forgiving as he is. This deed was evil and stays evil. It taints you in my eyes.
"Thank you for... touching me. We do not have to become friends, it just would be nice to not be afraid of you anymore. Is it... maybe... could you give me a sign when I do something wrong? So that not more anger builds in you? I once asked Toothless the same thing and he agreed. We worked things out that way. It really helped us both to get a clear understanding of one another. Will you do this too?
That could be a solution. I do get irritated by things he does, although the most upsetting thing is simply that he is there. But now I keep everything to myself because I do not want to upset Nighthawk. And it relieves me that he says that we do not necessarily have to become friends. That way I do not have to pretend feelings I don't have. A sign... A good idea. So I nodded.
"Oh, what a relief. Can you think of a sign?
I thought for a moment, then showed my fangs aggressively, earflaps flattened to my head. Hiccup nearly tumbled off the log backwards. "It's a clear sign Lady" he stammered "to all, even to your dragonets.
Indeed, it's too obvious. After a bit more thought I found something else and gave a tiny flick with my wings. That would go unnoticed by everyone else.
Hiccup nodded. "You give me that sign and I stop with what I am doing then. Or, if I do not understand, I will speak with you as soon as possible."

I saw him relax and heave a big sigh of relief.
"There must be possibilities for you and Toothless to live by yourselves without me, in a quiet environment, like here. We have to think about that. It must be possible somehow. The only thing is that he will not be able to fly then. But you can hunt for him?"
I was a bit surprised that he had thought about it and nodded a clear yes.
"Thank you for speaking with me, Lady. You have been honest with me, I much appreciate that. Now I am not afraid of you anymore, with the sign and all. And the way you feel about things, it's... only fair you do so" he concluded.

He started to rise, but suddenly my paw kept him seated. It surprised both him and me. I looked to the side while thinking: What is this?... It's just, I must not let him go like this. There should be something more. I took my time pondering, then suddenly I found it. The speech had done me good, I felt less tense, less hostile. Hiccup really tries and does not pretend things. Maybe if I... Nighthawk told me that you have a choice in your actions, so what if I did something... friendly?
I looked Hiccup in the eye with these new thoughts going on in my head. He noticed the change and some colour came back to his cheeks. I then craned my neck to bring my head close. Surprised, he raised a hand a bit, but at that I withdrew. Then neared him again. Again the hand. No, give me a nose. And I softly huffed and crinkled my nose. Now he understood. He closed his eyes and moved his head my way. You're brave, little human. One bite... But no. Peace. I too learn things. I see there is so much more to learn.
And our noses touched.

One more thing about Hiccup
I quickly turned around and went to see my children. Maybe they sensed me, as immediately they began to stir. But something else caught my eye: they had curled up against their father and Nighthawk lay there just so very relaxed. He was fast asleep, yet a smile lingered on his lips. The sight filled me with tenderness, as I had not yet seen him asleep this year. And in a way he had changed. Last year when he was wrapped in the vision, he had also lain very relaxed, but something so vulnerable about him had pierced my heart. Now his body spoke of a deep peace. The children had to call me and prod me before I could tear my eyes away from my love.

The rest of the morning we prepared for the oncoming meeting with the dragons and their riders. Nighthawk told me about some of them. "One of the humans is Fishlegs, Hiccup's closest friend, that is, of his own age. He is also very attached to an elderly human, Gobber. Gobber is of a generation that find it difficult to befriend dragons. His generation has made full war on us and find it difficult to get really close, although most of them tolerate us. Gobber however is able to more than tolerate us. They suffered greatly and some lost their relatives or friends. ...You must know one thing, love... I'm sorry to say, but at one point you must know... Hiccup's mother was killed by a dragon when he was only a youngling."

Shocked to the core, I tensed up.
"Is it that shocking to you?" Nighthawk asked surprised.
Oh Hiccup, you have every right to hate us dragons and you DON'T. "Yes... no... it is, I misjudged him, I really have."
"Why do you say that? But don't be hard on yourself, there has been a lot of misjudging going on. Even up to this day dragons and humans have to learn about each other."
"No, no... I condemned him for what he did to you..." and I told Nighthawk what had passed.

"Love, I'm glad you told me. And now listen: Hiccup and I had plenty of time to come to terms with it. You only had one day. From now on, please don't keep such things away from me. And I have to understand that you don't necessarily share my deep bond with Hiccup. But you're honest, and you try, that's a good thing. Come here, give me a nose."
I did and felt much better. Yet I realised it was a dreadful thing that Hiccup and I share: we both lost our mothers when we were young. And my heart warmed in sympathy.

oOoOoOoOoOo

To be continued...