"Learn how to see.

Realize that everything connects to everything else."

A Brief Account of

What Hiccup Did About the First Man Who Was After Him

It was not clear to Hiccup how he knew that there was another person in the next inlet. But, after living for more than two months in the wilds of his home isle with only dragons and animals for company, the movement of a human was like the difference between a Terror's spitfire and a Nightmare's full blown inferno.

What if it was someone from the village, come to retrieve him? Surely after so long they would understand that he could take care of himself- that he had succeeded and didn't mess everything up. They wouldn't send someone to haul him back, save him from his own failure, at this point. Would they?

Hiccup backtracked and wormed his way to the top of the stony ridge that looked down into the next inlet. When he caught sight of the man he knew to be there he pressed himself to the rocks and froze, observed with narrowed eyes. The man was not from his village. Hiccup puzzled and tensed in fear, considered for a moment that the man could be an enemy- one of the Outcasts or even a Berserker looking for trouble- before he saw a familiar longboat anchored off shore. It was far more colorful and decorated than any of the ships from his village, and the sails did not bear warlike crests.

It was trader Johann's ship.

Hiccup edged backward, rolled onto his back and heaved a sigh of relief as Toothless picked his way over the rocks toward him. The dragon must have seen him peering over the ridge and picked up on his mood, because he crept close to the ground as he approached the top. When Hiccup apparently relaxed he did as well, and wedged his flat head under one of the boy's arms.

"Yeah, yeah." Hiccup's smile was preoccupied as he engaged the young dragon in a miniature tussle, batted off the beast's paws then wrapped his hands around the sides of his reptilian head and gave him a gentle shake. He couldn't tell if Toothless was just bored and wanted to play or was attempting to parse out his mood. The Nightfury seemed to pause to take in his voice so Hiccup started talking again. He stared into the middle distance, one hand absently running along where Toothless's wing membrane anchored to his back.

"Trader Johann wouldn't be looking for me. He only comes by every couple months so he hasn't been to the village since I left. And I don't think he'd try to take me back unless dad made an explicit request. Then he'd be obliged to make an attempt, to keep up good relations with the tribe. But outside of that…"

Hiccup flip-flopped. Returning to the village by boat would be much, much faster, but he didn't really want to go back yet. He still hadn't made it to the northern most point of the island, after all, plus with Toothless as a dependent he couldn't afford to be taken back. It was altogether too easy to imagine how the tribe would react to a Nightfury, baby or not. Yet Johann wasn't much of a risk, so how should he handle the confrontation…?

After minutes of anxious waffling he realized- there didn't have to be a confrontation. Johann wasn't looking for him, didn't even know he was here. Even if he did, it was Hiccup who knew the lay of the land, Hiccup who wasn't tied to a camp or burdened by fears of dragon attacks. He was perfectly free to do whatever he pleased.

Including walk away.

Toothless chose that moment to tire of the boy's pensive, and mildly stunned, silence. The dragon rolled a light growl from high in his throat and pounced on Hiccup's boots.

"Hey! Would you-"

Hiccup shook him off and tried to shoo him away from his feet but the bright-eyed Toothless danced just out of reach, head bowed in play. When he was sure he had the human's attention he sat up on his haunches expectantly, tipped his head back to flash his gummy mouth, and made the series of loud hiccupping-chirps that meant I'm hungry, let's go fishing!

"Hush- Toothless-!" Hiccup hissed, and eased forward with his hands raised.

The young dragon interpreted the motion as play and bounced to his feet. He continued his excited chirping, much to Hiccup's distress. Johann wasn't that far away.

But his attempts to calm the dragon only encouraged him. Hiccup made a tiny, nervous sound. Clearly his methods were faulty. What did adult Nightfurys do, then, when there was danger and they needed silence? He hadn't the faintest idea.

So he improvised. Hiccup managed to place a palm on the young fury's nose, which briefly startled the dragon to stillness. He stroked down Toothless's neck, from his throat to his chest, and spoke softly to the fierce little nestling all the while.

"There you go… I know you haven't eaten yet today, bud, but I'll catch a big cod fish just for you if you'll be quiet with me for a moment…"

Eyes half closed, Toothless swayed with the rhythm of each soothing pet as if hypnotized. Hiccup was loath to look away in case he suddenly came to his senses, which seemed likely. But the dragon was quiet so he stretched as far as he could, trying to see over ridge, and wondered if Johann had heard. In his distraction he went from rubbing to absently scratching under the dragon's chin. Encouraged by Toothless's purring, he thought nothing of it and was baffled when the dragon collapsed with a pleased sigh.

"Uh yahh…" His eyes flicked from his hand to the dragon, out cold, and back. He was sure it wasn't how adult Nightfurys kept their chicks quiet, but it worked.

With one last peek to make sure Johann wasn't coming to investigate, Hiccup awkwardly scooped up the limp, snoozing reptile and darted away to where he'd left his pack in a thicket. He thought about emptying his pack so he could carry Toothless in it again, but the dragon had almost doubled in size, and certainly weight, inside a couple weeks. The pack was by no means sufficient. But, with Johann at a safe distance, it didn't need to be. All Hiccup had to do was wait for the man to leave.

Still, the pack held his attention. More specifically, the tears, scuffs, and bite marks that now adorned it. Hiccup ran his fingers along the back of his shoulder, felt the loose, fraying fibers that lined the slice in his shirt. It stretched almost halfway across his back. Beneath was a band of new, pink skin thick as his thumb where his freckles were faint or nonexistent, but no amount of scrubbing had completely removed the bloodstains from the fabric. He curled his toes against the thinning soles of his boots.

Trader Johann, it turned out, had been forced ashore by shifting tides as he tried to cross the straits and planned to depart the next morning. He recognized the son of the Chief, of course, but didn't seem to find Hiccup's walkabout unusual- only commented with a polite chuckle that Hiccup needed a haircut. Plus, after living off rations for weeks between his put-ins, the man was more than happy to trade a dinner of fresh greens and brook trout for some odds and ends. After that first transaction, it was easy to get the merchant going. So Hiccup returned that evening, after he stuffed Toothless full of fish and left the dragon safely tucked away in a food-induced coma. He traded his axe- a stunning, well-crafted weapon, but little more than dead weight to him- for a small hatchet, a hunting knife, some basic but compact leatherworking tools, a new shirt, a sheaf of unbound paper, waxstring, a large roll of leather, and a new satchel. He knew that few weapons ever made it off the island, they were needed, after all, but was still surprised at the value of the axe he took for granted.

What weapons dragon hunters would wield were prized indeed.

Johann was absolutely thrilled to possess the axe, claimed it made his temporary stranding worth it, and happily agreed to take news of Hiccup's continued survival back to his father in Berk. Stoick undoubtedly lived up to his name, but had lost family before. That his father would know not to grieve him was a weight off the young Viking's shoulders.

When Hiccup offered no timetable for his return to the village, the merchant casually suggested that there was a good chance he would be back in the area before winter. The implied offer caught the boy off guard. Not only did it seem unusually kind, but he hadn't allowed himself to think that far ahead yet. Hiccup gamely rplied that, if he hadn't returned to the village by that time, he would watch for the trader and have goods to exchange.

He wasn't an expert, his father had done the bartering, but Hiccup was more than sure that Nightfury scales and eggshells would be worth plenty and enough.

By dawn the next morning, trader Johann's longboat was small and distant against the flat plane of the sea. Hiccup sat at a cliff's edge, already binding his loose leaf paper into a new sketchbook, and watched the boat shrink to the sound of rushing waves and crying seabirds. The morning was hushed, a faint haze over the water brightened to gold as the sun rose. Cool air would soon warm, but still felt chilled when he took a deep breath. His new shirt was a darker green than the previous one, so similar to the hue of the moss that he imagined he must look like he'd grown from the rocks as well. Toothless lounged at his side like an overgrown cat, forepaws draped over the edge of the cliff, content for the moment to watch the word around him.

They sat there long after Johann's boat disappeared, after he'd finished binding his new notebook to leather. When at long last he stood his mind remained pleasantly empty, or, rather, pleasantly full with the world around him. The idea of Winter, and all that went with it, had been spoken aloud. And yet.

Hiccup smiled as Toothless rose.

"What do ya' say? We just keep going?"

Yes, his wound is mostly healed; it was more a severe abrasion than a laceration. That's why it didn't bleed overly much and didn't need stitching/binding. No conversation with Johann; dialogue is supposed to be engaging, but it turns out that's not what this story is about. It came off very, very dull. Point is, Hiccup has resources now.

Yes, in My Side of the Mountain, Sam does keep his little peregrine falcon, Frightful, quiet by stroking her stomach. Awwwww. That little scene is one of the reasons I started this fic. I would also like to mention at this point that Toothless's mannerisms have always been flawless. He parallels most animals that people come in contact with. Dog? Cat? Horse? Reptiles, amphibians, birds? It's all there. How great it that? I got warm fuzzies during HTTYD 2, when Hiccup is talking to his mom and hooks his fingers into Toothless's mouth, sort of grabs the upper mandible and shakes his head. My wolfdog was mouthy when he was young, and I'd often hook my fingers around his teeth and tip him back and forth like that… You got me, Dreamworks. You win.

Today's quote is from Leonardo da Vinci. And Hiccup is learning. Slowly, he's learning to see.