A/N: I should warn you, this chapter is heavy on my personal dragon culture headcanon, and the dragon culture and eventually magic will grow heavier from here on out. Just to let you know! Hope it doesn't put anyone off.
After the rest of the Berkian dragons got involved, learning Dragonese became ten times easier and ten times more stressful for Hiccup. Easier because now he had about a hundred tutors instead of just one, and more stressful because all of them wanted to talk to him any chance they got.
It was the monstrous nightmares that were the most laid-back about the whole thing. Something about their prestige among the dragons required them to carry a high-nosed, hard-to-impress air. Their haughtiness usually grated on Hiccup, but it was actually calming to be around when the rest of the dragons were attempting to talk his ears off. The terrors were the worst, but perhaps the most entertaining. Hiccup was beginning to learn that Berk's smallest dragons were its most terrible gossips, who also loved to argue. Stormfly was the most precise about language, and Hiccup learned at least a dozen words per day from the nadder alone. But it was actually Meatlug, who was perhaps the most down-to-earth, simple, (but not in a bad way) and humble of all the dragons, who served as Hiccup's verbal anvil as he hammered out the difficult pronunciations. Grammar was Toothless' forte, but even the night fury tired of practicing after a few hours, so Hiccup would go and talk at Meatlug for a while. Even if she looked like she was asleep, she would wake up to correct him if he said something wrong.
As Hiccup's language skills blossomed, Toothless began to spend more time with his dragon family. They were all as astonished as he was about his transformation, and just as baffled. The night after Hiccup and come to the arena and spoken, the night after Toothless had returned, the dragons had held a conference of sorts at the arena. All the humans were asleep in their beds, even Hiccup, and the dragons – and one dragon-human – chattered away in Dragonese without the need to slow down for any humans trying to understand.
"But what is it like not having a tail?" Spitelout's terror asked.
"And not having wings!" "Or wings!" "I said that," "Shut up!" Barf and Belch said in turn.
"Toothless, are you positive you didn't eat anything rancid or strange in the forest?" Hookfang put in.
"All of you, quiet down!" Toothless put out his hands. "If you want answers, let me speak. No, Hócfæng, I did not eat anything of the sort."
"But wings! Wings!" the terror insisted.
"We said that!" Barf and Belch.
Toothless looked annoyed. "If you must know, I often forget about wings. Not because they are missing, but because I do not feel that I need them. Not in this form." He did not tell them, for he had not even told Hiccup, that he'd developed a twisting in his stomach that he sometimes suspected had to do with a growing fear of heights. "It is the same with tails. I have been too consumed with other human senses to fret about things like tails and wings."
"Other human senses?" Hookfang sounded surprised. "You talk as if they are something to behold." The dragons laughed, because they all knew human senses and coordination were the laughing stock of creation.
"But they are," Toothless said, and it shut them all up. Toothless, one of the most refined, most powerful dragons in the skies, was talking about human senses like a hatchling who'd just flown for the first time. "They truly are. Not like we appreciate senses. Yes, the hearing vision and sight and smell are terrible on the best of days – they cannot sense cáfnes at all,"
"That's horrible!" Cried Stormfly, "it's a wonder they survive at all."
"Hush," barked Meatlug, "he's not finished yet."
Toothless nodded at her gratefully, yesterday's grudge forgotten. "No, you see, they may not have all that, but they have other things that make up for it."
"How do you mean?"
"These," Toothless said, and lifted his hands, wriggling his fingers for them to see. "They are magic. I can… do things, hold things, move things, in ways that would be impossible for a dragon. That is why Vikingr have such complicated nests, and outerskins, and the extra-claw things they call swords and daggers, and their line languages. They make them with these." He gestured. The dragons were listening carefully. "And their sense of touch is…" He smiled, unable to help himself. "it's like nothing I've ever sensed before. You all think that humans shy away from fire, and cry when they are struck, and shiver in the high winds, because they are dramatic, no? Because they are weak."
Hookfang snorted. "Not that it isn't amusing, but yes, of course."
Toothless was shaking his head. "But they're not, you see. Would any of you say that I am weak? When I lost my tail, or when I was captured? Or fell from the fire of the Queen?"
"Of course not," Stormfly said. Toothless was not bragging, not by dragon standards. They watched him for an answer.
"And yet, if you had seen me these past weeks, you would say I was the weakest human of all. Stormfly, I yelled at you days ago for burning Hiccup's hand – I am sorry about that."
"It is forgiven. I did wonder why you were so angry, though. The Prince is a Fire Shaper and burns often, I did not think it was a big deal."
Toothless frowned. "That is because Gicpa hides his pain perhaps better than I ever could. Fire does not just hurt, not like you would understand the word. It is a constant hurt, like being sliced open with a blade over and over again, a hurt that does not stop until it is completely healed. I burned myself accidentally, my first week in this form," he unrolled a sleeve and revealed a red patch of skin. "It has not yet healed. It still hurts," He said. Stupidly, one of the terrors decided to test the theory, and reached out to stomp right on the burn. Toothless yelled and cursed, involuntarily reaching out to backhand the culprit. The dragon skidded away with a yelp, unharmed, but the rest of the dragons were staring at Toothless with wide eyes. Toothless scowled and blushed at the same time, tucking his arm back to himself. "As I said," He glared, and the terror had enough grace to look apologetic.
"But how do they stand it?" Meatlug asked. "I see Vikingr hurt all the time - and the Prince's leg!"
Toothless sighed. "I do not know. Gicpa does still suffer because of what I did." He was looking down. They all knew that he referred to Hiccup's leg. "But there is another side to human feeling, something deep, down here," he pointed a finger to himself, right where the soft of his gut met the tip of his sternum, "that pulls on every sensation and reels it into something I cannot describe. It is a feeling like no other, that makes everything else, the bad hearing, and smell and vision, and the hurts and burns, makes it worth it. I wish I could describe it to you," and he sounded like he really did. He wished his family could know what he'd discovered. The dragons did not say anything in reply, because they almost wished he could, to.
"But you cannot stay a Vikingr forever, Toothless," Meatlug said after a while. "What are we to do?"
A chorus of murmuring followed, without any real suggestions, because they were all just as confused as the other. Toothless sighed. "Gicpa and Astrid were hoping that conversing with you all might shed some light on the matter. But I fear we are all just as ignorant as the other on this."
"Us, perhaps…" Meatlug ventured, "but… you don't suppose Ealdcwén would know, do you?"
"Oh, no," Hookfang deflated, "not that old crone."
"Meatlug has a point," Stormfly didn't sound happy about it, but glanced at Toothless for support. "Ealda is the oldest dragon a thousand leagues. If anyone would have a reason to know about… this," she nodded toward Toothless, "She would."
Toothless pursed his lips, and nodded. "It would be wise to talk to her, I think. Gicpa brought me to speak with the Vikingr elderwoman, but she was unable to help."
"Ah, but the Vikingr elder was born and raised here, remember," Meatlug told them, "Ealda comes from the eastern mainlands. She may yet know more about the world than us or any Vikingr here at Berk."
Toothless didn't actually know if any of the Vikings knew about Ealda. Even if they had, he couldn't imagine what they'd do with her. She did not fly anymore, but mostly slept. She lived in a quiet cave beneath the rocks of the island, and spent her days fishing the shallows and laughing at forest creatures. She was an ancient breed of nadder from the mainlaind, taller and thinner than Berkian nadders, and a mute grey color instead of the bright yellows, blues and greens like Stormfly. Her scales were scared, her leather hide sagging, and her eyes were clouded with cataracts. Her ears, however, were as sharp as ever.
"I feel the moon humming at me, and yet someone's decided to come and badger me from sleep. With food, I should hope. And… have they brought a human along with them?" Curled in sleep as she'd been, Ealda craned her neck up and sniffed, curious.
"Good startime, Ealdcwén," Stormfly bobbed a head at her, even if she couldn't see well. "There are five of us here," she said,
"Six," Said Belch. "Shut up!" said Barf.
"Ahmm," Ealda chucked at the zippleback. "Five and six at once, we shall say. And who else is there?"
"Meatlug, Hookfang, and Toothless," Stormfly told her. A strange quiet followed, as Ealda lifted her head more and sniffed again. After thinking for a while, she said,
"I do not smell the smoke of a night fury among you, but only that sweet, light fur of vikingr."
"That would be me, Ealdcwén," Toothless said, putting forth an effort not to sound annoyed.
"By the crosswinds!" Ealda actually stood up, her spines ruffling from head to toe. "Toðléás!" She exclaimed, "You are Vikingr!"
"…That is why we are here, Ealda," Stormfly told her. Toothless shuffled self-consciously beside his friend, blushing despite the fact that the mainland nadder couldn't see him through her blind eyes.
"But… for how long?" Ealda asked, reeling.
"This would be in my fourth week as a vikingr," Toothless told her. She breathed in and tried to compose herself. After a few beats to gather her thoughts, she asked,
"You do not know why, then?" He sighed.
"We do not know how."
"We were hoping, if you don't mind, that you might know something, Ealda," Hookfang put in in his suave tone.
Ealda slowly sank back down to sit perched on her nest. Her back remained straight, blind eyes wide, as she settled. "Well," She said, "I might not remember many legends from my days among the wéyr across the seas, but this, this I remember," she said confidently.
"You know, then?" Toothless couldn't deny his excitement, "you know what has happened to me, why I have become a vikingr?"
"Not in the slightest," Ealda said, confidence unwavering, "but I remember hearing about it in a legend, when I was a young hatchling."
Toothless stared at her, mouth agape, wanting very much for her to see his glare. Then, she added.
"More importantly, I remember who told me."
"Who?" "Who?" Barf and Belch asked at the same time, and for once didn't bicker over who'd said it first.
"Tell me, masters five and six at the same time," she turned a grin on them, "who is the fastest flier among your wéyr?"
"Why?" Stormfly interjected. The elder nadder looked to her, her blind eyes somehow glimmering with an inexplicable sight.
"You will need swift wings to alert the Kindelline of this news."
Hiccup was nearly done with his breakfast when Toothless finally woke up. Well, 'awake' was a generous term to use. He'd actually fallen halfway down the stairs before miraculously landing on his feet again and shuffling the rest of the way down to the ground floor. He fell into a seat across from Hiccup, shirtless, waistband twisted sideways, hair looking like he'd been falling through air all night long. But most notably,
"Thor above, Toothless, what happened to your eyes?"
Toothless looked blearily up at him, and couldn't have said what exactly had happened to his eyes, although he had noticed. They were squinty and blurred and achy. He wasn't entirely sure why.
"Did you sleep at all last night, bud?" Hiccup looked worried. Toothless sniffed because his nose was running.
"…yes," he said through a harsh morning voice. It wasn't lying, not really. He'd slept for a least part of an hour after he'd returned to the house. Hiccup saw through the bluff, and Toothless would've cursed in Dragonese, if only he hadn't taught Hiccup to understand all of the good ones.
"Oh, well you sound sure," Hiccup said in the deadpan sarcasm that was his trademark. He leaned across the table and touched a forefinger to the dark semicircles beneath Toothless' eyes. Toothless wasn't entirely sure how this was supposed to help, so he watched the hand go to and from his face with quirked eyebrows. Hiccup still looked concerned.
"You should go back to sleep, bud." And Toothless was sure it was the only time he'd ever hear the words come from Hiccup's mouth. "You look horrible."
Toothless shoveled a few spoonfuls of oatmeal into his mouth before rising, shoulders slumped, to shuffle around to the stairs. He took the steps slowly - he would not fall all the way back down again. Hiccup wasn't looking up at him when he said,
"Whatever it was that you were out doing last night, you can tell me about it when you wake up."
Toothless grunted, not really listening, and forgot everything else the moment his head hit his pillow.
When Toothless woke up again – truly awake this time, it was past noon. He would've slept longer, if it hadn't been for the shouting coming from downstairs. No longer bleary-eyed but confused by the mind games his internal clock was playing with the position of the sun, Toothless got out of bed and went to the door. When he opened it, he actually jumped at the shouts echoing from below. Astrid and Hiccup were fighting, by the sounds of it. Astrid was a good deal louder than Hiccup was, but nothing new, there. Curiously, Toothless poked his head over the edge of the loft to look down at them.
"Astrid, if she's not there, there's not much I can do-"
"You speak Dragonese, stupid, can't you just… go and ask one of them?"
"You don't own her, you know, she'll be back soon."
"I just want to know where she's gone to!"
"Astrid, relax, I'm sure Stormfly can take care of herself, you don't have to-"
"Worry? Hiccup, if Toothless disappeared like this on you, you'd be worried sick, and you know it."
Above them, Toothless felt simultaneously insulted and touched, and he frowned at the sensation.
"Alright, fine, but really, can you just give her one day? It'll be fine, trust me. She might just be… taking a break. You know, from all the chatter."
"Chatter? That doesn't make any sense."
"Well, maybe not, but… really, just relax!"
"You tell me that one more time, Haddock, I'm going to put my fist through your-"
Toothless sniffed.
Hiccup looked up. "Toothless!" He said. He could only see Toothless' nose and eyes peeking over the ledge. "How long've you been there?" he asked. Astrid turned to look up at him. Toothless did not reply, but his shifty eyes said enough. Hiccup sighed. "Whatever. Come on down, bud. I don't suppose you know where Stormfly is?" Hiccup asked. Astrid was giving Toothless a weird look because his trousers were still twisted sideways from sleeping and he wasn't doing anything to fix his hair, either, as he strolled into the kitchen for a glass of water. He took a leisurely swallow before answering, while Astrid and Hiccup stared at him.
"The whole island knows," He said between gulps. "She flies on a mission to the West Kindelline post – she left last night."
Hiccup and Astrid stared. "The- wait, what?" Hiccup asked. "Where is she going?"
"Not 'where'," Toothless said, setting his cup down and finally readjusting his trousers, "to whom. The Kindelline – they are a series of outposts, a chain stretching from the westernmost islands to the far Eastland, across the mainland. It is an ancient line of communication between dragon colonies," he explained.
"And Stormfly had to go see them because…" Astrid crossed her arms.
"Because of me," Toothless said, at looked slightly sorry about it. "Because I am human. The dragons here do not know what to make of my condition. They send word across the Kindelline in the hopes of receiving answers from those that know better about these things."
"You think someone does know?" Hiccup asked. Toothless shrugged.
"We hope so. I cannot say how long it will take to receive a reply to our queries, however. Even for the swiftest of dragons, crossing the mainland is a massive journey." He started shuffling around the kitchen, looking for food. He'd become rather adept around human foodstuffs, and had developed a partiality to bread in particular. Hiccup had often wondered if he shouldn't just hire him out as an apprentice to the local baker.
"And why does Stormfly have to be the one to take the news?" Astrid asked, trying not to sound upset for Toothless' sake, but not doing a very good job at it. Toothless spoke around a mouthful of sourdough to say,
"She's the fastest set of wings on Berk," he swallowed, and looked a touch bitter as he rolled his eyes. "Well, except for me, of course, but… nevermind that. When we decided to send someone off to the Kindelline last night, she was the natural choice. I am sorry if she did not get a chance to bid you goodbye – I admit our pushiness forbade her from doing much of anything before being off."
"How long will she be gone?"
Toothless looked thoughtful as his thumbs dissected a roll. "It is hard to say. The Kindelline move their posts according to the seasons. The local post is slightly farther away from Berk this time of year, but not as far away as it could be. Winds willing, if she pushes herself, she may be back tomorrow night, after dark."
Astrid bristled at the news, but hid her irritation well now that she understood the reason. "Right," she said. She drummed her fingers against her skirt for a moment before sighing. She turned to Hiccup and, with little warning, drew back a fist and slugged him across the shoulder.
"Ow!" He hissed and had to bite his tongue, because he now had two languages of tempting curses to choose from. "Astrid, for the love of Odin, when will you stop doing that?!"
"That was for being an insensitive prick," she snarled like she hadn't heard him. Then, predictably as ever, she grabbed him by his collar and pulled him close to kiss him soundly on the mouth. She let him go after a few seconds, and tucked her hair behind her ears and tried to pretend he was the only who was blushing. "That's for trying to help anyway." She said, voice much softer. After looking at Hiccup a moment more, she looked over at Toothless, who had watched the exchange with equal parts curiosity and bewilderment. "Thank you, Toothless." He smiled at her, and she left. Toothless looked over at Hiccup and had to try very hard not to laugh at the dazed look on his bright-red face. Eventually, Toothless lost the battle and laughed anyway. Hiccup's eyes darted to glare at his friend.
"What are you looking at?" Hiccup snapped. Toothless shook his head, smiling.
"You humans have very strange mating rituals."
Hiccup began sputtering, and turned ten shades redder. Toothless laughed harder.