Time for another Hiccup chapter. Let's check in and see how he's been doing since leaving the village. P.S. I'm sorry that this is really super late. I was focusing on my other story because it seemed to be more popular.

Review Replies:

aaquater: Yes, it is unbalanced, but I don't think Hiccup minded that one bit. Haha. Also, that is, in fact, the very reason these opening chapters have been a bit slow, action-wise. Trust me, once the story gets going, it's really going to pick up.

Guest (anonymous): Thank you for the birthday review! (Well, it was posted on my birthday, I mean.) Anyway, yeah, there are lots of reasons why this chapter is so late, but I hope it makes up for the lateness. Y'know, I thought about the idea of having them give each other parting gifts…and then I forgot to add it in. Drama, you say? I believe there is some drama waiting in this chapter. Let's have a look now, shall we? Haha.

Here we go. Next chapter starts…now!


Chapter 7: Flight

The sun had, by this time, risen well above the horizons and into the sky. It looks like it's going to be a good day for flying, Hiccup determined from the lack of clouds and the bright warm sun. He sighed softly, not wanting to alert Toothless to how he was feeling; the dragon needed to concentrate and, honestly, Hiccup did too. Though they were flying in a straight path for now, if they needed to make any adjustments to their flight path, it would be at a sudden notice and Hiccup needed to be ready to switch the pedal position (which would move Toothless artificial tailfin) as quickly as needed.

There was not much in the surroundings around them that could distract Hiccup's mind from wandering back to Berk. Below them was the vast expense of waters that surrounded his home island. When he was younger, Hiccup would always wonder how far it stretched. He vaguely remembered asking his dad about it, but Stoick had given him a cryptic answer and young Hiccup had lost interest quickly. How easy it would be to just turn back now, follow these very waters back to Berk…and back to Astrid. The last several days that had lead up to this grand departure had been surreal. Hiccup knew that he and Astrid had become much best friends in the time since he had mediated peace between their people and the dragons, but he had never thought that she would ever agree to be his girlfriend. Most of the village had been surprised (even just a little bit) too; this kind of thing only seemed plausible in the stories that his father used to tell him when he was a small boy, stories that helped him to fall asleep and see visions of happy moments and sights. No, I have to stop thinking about Berk and Astrid! Hiccupberated himself. Focus, Hiccup. Focus on the mission. Focus on finishing up the required tasks as quickly as possible! Still, his heart ached for home. Never before had Hiccup experienced this feeling. He felt so sick of being away already and he was desperate to return home. I guess that means I'm…homesick? I guess that would be a suitable way to describe this feeling.

Hiccup tried to focus his mind on the mission and his current flight. Gods know he tried, but he just couldn't stop his thoughts from drifting back to Astrid. There were no obstacles and nothing around to distract his mind.This mission would be so much easier if Astrid and Stormfly were here. The boy could sense that Toothless felt the same way. Of all the dragons in their small group of friends, Toothless seemed to connect most with Stormfly.

In an attempt to focus better, Hiccup chose to stare straight ahead and clear his mind. Sometimes, he would use this method back home and it always seemed to work…until one of his unsuspecting friends (or his own father) would startle him. This time, though, there was no one to startle him; Toothless was concentrating on the flight. Unfortunately, this time, his assumption was not entirely correct.

Hiccup knew not how long it had been; he had not looked at the positioning of the sun as that would just be a remainder about how slow this day (and flight) was going. It had been some time later, however, when he felt Toothless growing restless. The sudden tensing of Toothless's body jolted Hiccup from his thoughts. "Yeah, I get it. You're homesick too, huh, bud?" he asked, rhetorically, to his friend, using the word he had just recently created.

Toothless scoffed and shook his head. He tried to turn and fly back the way from which they had been traveling, but Hiccup stopped him, making sure they stayed set on their current flight path. This did startle Hiccup, though, and he began to fully focus, trying to find out just what Toothless was trying to convey to him. Hiccup, having known Toothless for quite some time now, knew that this type of behavior was not typical for the dragon. The Night Fury knew how important this mission was for Berk and for Hiccup's father; Toothless would not be trying to end it without a very good reason.

Up ahead, darkening clouds caught Hiccup's attention. How did I miss that? Oh…wait… he stopped, as he remembered that he had just recently been staring out ahead of him without actually seeing. In his satchel that was attached to Toothless's saddle, Hiccup had placed the map his father had given him. It was for emergencies, in case he had to fly off-course. This seemed like such an emergency. Dragons had difficulty flying in storms and most preferred to remain grounded during storms. It was even worse for Toothless due to his prosthetic tailfin. If anything was to happen to Hiccup, Toothless would be as good as downed.

The wind was picking up and Hiccup was having a hard time getting Toothless prosthetic tailfin to do as he wished. He could sense Toothless's growing fear and knew it stemmed from the dragon's instinct to find a place down on land to wait out the storm. Unfortunately, as luck would have it, there was no land anywhere for as far as Hiccup could see. Well, it was a good day for flying… he told himself, sarcastically, as he tried to think of a "best case scenario". He did make a note to introduce "safety procedures for flying in a storm" as a topic in one of his lessons when he returned to Berk from this mission. By then, he should have some kind of makeshift method that would work that he could teach to his fellow dragon riders.

Toothless roared, alerting Hiccup and snapping the boy from his thoughts. "I know, Bud!" Hiccup yelled, a bit impatiently. "We have to land, but I don't see a place…unless you have a better idea!" Hiccup hated being pressured. His usually calm demeanor tended to crack more easily when he was under much pressure and now just so happened to be one of those times.

Huge drops of heavy rain had begun to pelt them. The speed of the wind had continued to increase. They had begun to fly right into the storm. Usually, Hiccup could think quite effectively on the fly, but no solution was coming to him. Wind was blowing the rain into his eyes and his wet hair was already obstructing his vision. A massive gust of wind hit them, knocking Toothless off-balance. Hiccup, luckily still connected to the saddle, was now parallel to the ground instead of perpendicular. This was not a position that he felt comfortable being stuck in, as he looked down at the dark churning ocean below him. "Toothless!" Hiccup yelled, feeling Toothless attempt to right himself, but, ultimately, failing due to the windy conditions. Before Toothless could get them flying straight again, another strong gust picked Hiccup's connecting rope right off the saddle and he, being quite light for a Viking of his age, was swept right off the saddle. If not for his still-connected prosthetic leg, Hiccup would've been sent on a one-way course straight down into the depths of the unforgiving ocean.

Even though Hiccup's prosthetic was still connected, he was unable to control Toothless's tailfin because he was barely hanging on for dear life and could not switch the pedal to its different positions. As a result, they were rapidly losing altitude in addition to being blown every which way. Hiccup was not faring much better than Toothless in this case. He could feel his blood rushing to his head and it was giving him a serious headache. Not to mention that the wind blowing Toothless around was putting much strain on his connected leg. At least I can cross this off my bucket list. Fly from Toothless attached only by the metal leg. Check. Quickly, he pushed the sarcastic thoughts aside because him and Toothless were rapidly approaching the ground…well, water. I'm sorry that I let you down, Dad. Bracing for the crash landing, Toothless curled in on himself, trying his best to protect fragile Hiccup from the impact. Toothless's wings blotted out Hiccup's vision and the young Viking's world was engulfed in black.


Well, I hope that this chapter and the events in it make up for it being, what, two and a half weeks late. It took me forever to write this because I just kept feeling like I wasn't getting it right (at least, to the way I want it). Now I'm finally satisfied with it! … Of course, my other story's being more popular also played a role in the delay.

Next chapter: I'm probably going to try to get the next chapter out on Saturday after 10PM US East Coast time. We'll see how accurate that prediction turns out to be.

As always, thank you all for reading and supporting Wheel in the Sky!

Posted: February 4, 2014