Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to How to Train Your Dragon, they belong to Cressida Cowell and DreamWorks.
AN: I'M SO SORRY! I feel sooo awful! I know its Friday you guys, but I have an excuse. A power line snapped in my town and I had no Internet last night. So I have to update today. I hope you guys like my new chapter and will forgive me for the late update.
A bright light forces me to open my eyes and I immediately regret doing do. I squeeze them shut but they fly open again when it occurs to me that I'm alive. I sit up, looking frantically around me for Toothless; terrified that my last thought came true.
At first I don't see him. The landscape around me is surprisingly familiar, and it takes me a moment to remember why. It takes me another to recover from the shock of finding myself on the inlet that Toothless and I had landed on during our first flight together.
The sun is directly overhead when I glance up. Getting to my feet, I begin to search for him, hoping against hope that my friend has survived the fall as well.
I spot him when I crest a small incline, lying in the natural dip next to a rock – which he clearly narrowly missed crashing into when we fell – that hid him from my view previously. For a moment, my heart stops as I stare at his chest that isn't moving, but then he takes a shuddering, shallow breath and I almost pass out with relief. That's the first thing I notice. The second is the huge, red, and rather obvious Monstrous Nightmare crouched just to my dragon's left, looking at me with the utmost hatred.
I have no idea why it's here, but one thing is clear by its posture: I will not be allowed to approach Toothless to help him.
I take a deep breath as I realize what I had to do. Without gaining this dragon's trust, I couldn't help my own. Frustration floods through me as my gaze slips from the Nightmare to Toothless lying on his side, once again unconscious and broken because of me. Impulsively, I make a move to go to him, but the Nightmare advances slightly towards me, snarling deep in its belly.
Feeling rather ironic, I hold my ground and look it straight in the eyes, relaxing my shoulders to show that I meant it no harm. I had just run away from doing essentially the same thing; taming a Nightmare to show everyone that dragons could be trusted. Except the situation is now reversed on me. I have to get this dragon to believe that I'm not going to hurt it; that I can be trusted.
I walk slowly up to the angry and now slightly confused dragon, extending my palm as I go. Letting go of all my self-hate and my own anger for the moment, I never waver in my confidence or look. I let it know that I am a friend by using my body language. Stopping about two feet away from it, I leave my hand hovering just in front of its muzzle. Just like I had done with Toothless not long ago. The only difference here is that back then, I had been afraid that the dragon at the end of my hand would rip it off, but now there is no doubt in my mind.
The dragon hesitates for a moment, confused by what I'm doing. No human in this area would have ever dared to approach a dragon in such a way. It is on guard for an attack; its eyes darting around us, but never leaving my face for more than a few seconds. I wait patiently and do not allow for a second any doubt to leech into my body. This dragon will not hurt me, I haven't threatened it.
Time stretches on as the two of us, enemies by birth, stare at each other until the Nightmare lowers its head and makes contact with my palm. There is a brief pause in which neither of us moves, and then it shrugs away from me and stalks over to Toothless. It lies down beside him, but not touching him, supplying my dragon with heat. Leaving just enough room for me to be able to walk all the way around the Night Fury without the Nightmare getting in the way. It glares at me as it rests its great muzzle on its paws, clearly deciding to be cautious of me while it remains unsure about trusting me.
I breathe a sigh of relief. Approaching the two dragons as quickly as I can without appearing threatening, I kneel down with Toothless between me and the new dragon. The rock is at my back and I have to press myself against it to avoid leaning on my injured dragon.
I stare dumbly at Toothless just lying there. For a moment, I don't know what to do. Then I lay my hand as lightly as I can on his neck, "Buddy, wake up." I whisper, desperate for him to be OK, for me not to have injured him beyond his healing abilities yet again. The last thing I had taken from him, I had been able to fix with a forge and plenty of tools at my disposal, but at the cost of his freedom. He is no longer a wild dragon, no longer free to roam the skies as he pleased. Maybe this time, I have taken his life, or done some irreparable damage that I couldn't fix with all the tools and supplies in the whole world.
How I wish he would wake up. This thought rips through me as tears spill down my cheeks in grief.
Wave upon wave of sadness, anger and self hatred that do not belong to me crash into me, forcing me from the black nothingness. With awakening, I also receive another barrage of sensation, this time my own. Pain, more intense than any that I had felt in many, many suns. I flex all of my muscles as slightly as I can; nothing broken. Now I can focus once more on the emotions I am receiving.
My hatchling is sitting next to me with his hand on my neck, and by the tone of his voice, he is pleading to me about something. His emotions are steadily climbing into a frenzy of panic and worry. Briefly, I examine them, trying to discover the cause of his distress until I realize that it's me. I am the cause. He is worried about me.
Unused to this sensation, I cannot help but have a small swelling of happiness in the pit of my belly. To have someone care about me, and to worry about me has long since disappeared from my life.
I am also puzzled by this revelation. To care for another so deeply, means that they are part of your flock, your clan. Something you protect and are protected by. Of course, that feeling must be returned by the other. But, my hatchling is human; could I really consider him as part of my family? This is confusing…
I suppose, as he does fly with me – technically – that he could be my flock. It had been so long since I had had anyone to share that joy with. Gratitude flows through me in his direction, but like always he cannot perceive it.
Slowly, I peel back my lids to see my newly-realized clan member and to comfort him. He gasps in surprise when he sees me looking back at him. He makes a move to throw his arms around me, but stops. Apprehension replaces his relief as his hands flutter over me, looking for a place to put his hands. The swelling in my belly gets a little bigger as I realize he doesn't want to hurt me. Admirable, but unneeded.
He looks strange. His face is red, and his green eyes are even more so. Liquid streams from them in rivers. Alarm shoots through me. What is wrong with him? What has happened? Are his eyes not working properly?
Wait. I have witnessed such a thing before. Relief floods through me when I figure out that he is crying. Humans cry strange. Dragons do not shed tears. They simply vocalize their unhappiness in a sorrowful bellow, or in whimpers.
I watch sobs wrack his body endlessly, great shuddering ones as he tries to calm himself. He crawls around me so that he is at my head and places a hand on my nose. I close my eyes and hum contentedly as I get to work healing myself.
The healing speed of a dragon is much quicker than that of a human. By at least 9x. With only a few dozen bruised ribs and sore paws, I would be better in no time. My hatchling appeared unhurt, I am warm; we are safe for now. I can sleep.
Toothless had just stared at me with eyes full of love and a little concern, just before he had fallen into a deep sleep. I didn't deserve it. I'd hurt him again. If he didn't need me to fly, I would leave him so he would have a better chance at living through his life. I seemed to bring destruction to everything and everyone that I cared about.
With no one but the ever watchful Nightmare for company, I curl into a ball my Toothless' head and try to sleep.
AN: I know that there isn't much happening in this chapter, but I needed to have a bunch of filler stuff, I guess. Unless you all thought it was a good chapter, then you can review and tell me :P I know I said that I would have another story up, but without power last night, I couldn't charge my lap top after I typed up this chapter, so it'll have to be up next Thursday. Thank you for your patience and show your love :P 3