Previously in HTTYD: The Terrible Duo
Me and Hiccup said our goodbyes and went to our separate ways. Swift followed me back. Good thing the rain died down a bit. Now... There was only a few things in mind...
'How can we get close enough to the Night Fury without looking like a threat? Is it even possible to tame that dragon? No matter. We'll find out tomorrow... Most Interesting Indeed.'
With Stoick, Near Helheim's Gate
"I can almost smell them..." Mused Stoick. "They're close."
Stoick stared at the forest-like fog that shrouded the location of their enemies. "Steady." He commanded. A couple of seconds later. Stoick then commanded "Take us in."
"Hard to port. For Helheim's Gate." Stated the Viking, steering the boat.
"Hard to port!" Repeated another Viking.
Then... They entered the fog...
Silence...
"ROOOOOOOOOAAAAARRR!"
Swift's POV, At Raven's Point
I ran across the forest as I follow the scent of the Night Fury. Normally, I'd stay in the house and wait for Marcus. But It seems his friend's Natural Curiosity is, as how humans say, infectious. I reached a cove and searched for the Night Fury.
...There!
Slumping on the ground with a bored expression on It's face, was the Night Fury itself. I jumped down to the cove and let out a shriek.
It noticed me and growled. "What are you doing here?" It, or rather he, asked. I got closer and growled as well. "Calm down, Night Fury. I am swift." I introduced. His demeanour changed from threatening to curiosity. Is Curiosity really that infectious?
"A Speed Stinger? Good! You can help me get out of here!" Screeched the Night Fury. I hummed. "How did you get here?" I asked. "Long Story short, A human managed to shoot me down." Sighed The Night Fury.
Interesting... "What other humans have you met here?" I asked. "One scrawny human with auburn Hair and Another scrawny Human with hair as white as the snow." He answered. I know those humans. Hiccup and Marcus.
"If you don't mind..." I got closer to him.
"I would like to have a discussion with you..."
Dragon Arena, Marcus's POV
"Hey, you know, I just happened to notice the book had nothing on Night Furies. Is there like another book or a... Sequel or maybe a little Night Fury pamphlet?" Hiccup asked Gobber, before a shot from the Nadder burnt his axe into nothing but a sizzling stick.
"Not now, Hiccup! When in a fight, Questions really needed to be saved for later!" I scolded.
'Why must you always be so curious in the wrong time?' I thought as I yanked Hiccup away. Today, We're studying all about attack. Gobber thought it was a good idea to set up a maze while being chased by a Nadder.
"Nadders are quick and light on their feet!" Instructed Gobber
The dragon roared and tried reaching us. Until it found Fishlegs. The dragon roared and raised It's tail, revealing sharp spikes.
"You're job is to be quicker and lighter!" Easy for you to say! You're not the one down here!
Fishlegs barely escaped the dragon's poisonous spikes by letting his shield take the attack. "I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!" Complained Fishlegs. Really, Fishlegs? You didn't bother to question it when we were being chased by a Gronckle yesterday?!
"Look for It's blind spot. Every dragon has one. Find It, hide in it and Strike!" Gobber lazily instructed.
Luck seemed to be on the twins side today. The twins accidentally ran into the dragons blind spot. They tried to stay in it but, as usual, those two couldn't help but argue again.
"Do you ever bathe?" Ruffnut asked her brother in disgust.
"If you don't like it, then just get your own blind spot!" Tuffnut threw back, shoving his sister.
"How about I give you one?!" Ruffnut shouted, butting her head against her brother.
Luck decided to say "Screw them" as the dragon fired a shot at them. But not before Ruffnut yanking her brother away from the line of fire.
"Blind spot, yes. Deaf spot? Not so much." Chuckled Gobber. I scowled and glared at Gobber. Hiccup halted to a stop. I stared at him as if he was crazy.
"So how does one sneak up on a Night Fury?" Asked Hiccup, ignoring The dragon that was clearly on our tail. "No one's ever met one and lived to tell the tale." Answered Gobber dryly before yelling "Now, get in there!" at Hiccup. "I know, I know but hypothetically..." Before Hiccup could finish, Astrid whispered to us to get down. Which we reluctantly did, seeing as the dragon was merely inched away.
Astrid did a Tuck-and-roll. We followed suit. Unfortunately, the shield Hiccup was carrying proved to be more harmful than safe, as Hiccup was pushed down by the weight and failed to get out of the way before the dragon caught him.
Hiccup managed to get up before the jaws of the dragon snapped at him. The dragon climbed up and pursuit. It spotted Astrid and Snotlout.
"Watch out, babe. I'll take care of this." I heard Snotlout boast. I heard a "thump" of a weapon clearly missing It's target and also heard the dragon's version of a mocking laugh. "The sun was in my eyes, Astrid." Proclaimed Snotlout. I would've listened more if I wasn't feeling a little panicked since Hiccup was trying to ask Gobber questions again!
Luckily, The dragon was too busy chasing Astrid to pay attention to hiccup. The dragon crashed into one of the maze walls and the others fell as well. I cursed under my breathe and tried yanking Hiccup but, man, the guy can be so stubborn as a rock, He's almost like one when curious.
Astrid was somehow on top of the walls and jumped while screaming "Hiccup!". The girl fell on Hiccup and Hiccup fell on his back. The axe was embedded in Hiccup's shield! Curse that Shield!
'I hate our luck...' I thought as the twins jeered.
"Oooh, love on the battlefield." Tuffnut mocked.
"She could do better." Ruffnut chimed in.
I gave them a glare that said "And what does that mean?!".
The nadder got up on it's feet and roared at us. I raised my sword in hopes that the dragon will leave us alone with enough injuries. I stood my ground as the Nadder charged at us. I gulped nervously... 'Come on, Marcus! You're able to make a dragon run before! No need to be nervous now!'
Suddenly, Astrid came from behind me and slammed the axe(which still had Hiccup's shield embedded on it) on The dragon's head. It whimpered and limped away from us.
"Huh... Well that was unexpected." I muttered.
Astrid glared at Hiccup. Oh boy... I guess It's no surprise as to why I get aggressive towards Astrid. She's just a jerk. Like all of them...
"Is this some kind of a joke to you?! Our parent's war is about become ours! Figure out which side you're on!" She snapped.
Hiccup, unable to reply, just got up and left.
Seeing Hiccup like that... Makes my anger become cold as the freezing tundra!
I marched towards Astrid and glared at her. Marcus maybe forgiving... But Frost bite isn't!
"Speak for yourself, Astrid! You're too obsessed with self Improvements to give a crap about the village!" I snapped at Astrid. She glared at me, matching the intensity as mine.
"And what's that supposed to mean?! You, of all people, should know that Hiccup's just a hindrance to us! Dead weight!" She snapped back.
"AT LEAST HE'S SMARTER THAN HALF OF THE VILLAGE COMBINED! YOU ARE JUST A VIKING WANNA-BE WHO THINKS SHE'S ON TOP OF THE WORLD!"
At that, All of the teens(even Gobber) gasped. Astrid glared even harder at me. So did I. Everyone knows that Astrid is also the scariest and toughest girl there was. But I'm not afraid. Frost bite is not afraid of her! Though, I don't have time for them... They're just Vikings... Nothing more, Nothing less...
I turned my back at them and said "Why am I even wasting my breath on you? You're all just... Vikings. Rude, Bloodthirsty and too oblivious to see the diamond in the coal mine. Given time, Hiccup will become something better than every Viking in this damn Village. Better than Stoick, Better than his cousin(obviously) and certainly better than you... Astrid."
With that, I left the arena to follow Hiccup. Leaving Confused teens, a shocked Gobber and a furious Astrid behind.
At the Forest
I managed to catch up to Hiccup and found him walking towards the forest with a fish and a shield at hand.
We both know where We're headed. Although, the trip was rather silent as Hiccup has that look on his face again.
I sighed. Oh, great. Here comes "Mr. Self Loathing".
"Why do I even bother, Marcus?" Hiccup asked. "I mean, All those years everyone just sees me as useless. The runt of the village. Stoick's little disappointment." He finished. Hmmm... This is a tough wall to crack.
"Don't say that!" I said, raising my voice a little. Hiccup recoiled a bit but listened intently. "You're not useless! You maybe weak and always get into trouble..." Hiccup slightly looked down at that. "... But look at the things you've done before dragon training! You shot down a Night Fury, Released the dragon that no Viking would ever do and actually managed to see the Night Fury without even losing a limb! And Gobber said no one has ever met one and lived to tell tale!" I finished.
At that, Hiccup's mood seem to get better. "Thanks, Marcus. You're a good friend." He said. I grinned. "Hey, Just because you're not like the others, doesn't mean you're automatically useless. They're Vikings. And you're... you." I said, trying to sound supportive
Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Yeah, thanks a lot, Marcus. My self esteem has definitely improved." He said sarcastically. Okay... That sounded better in my head.
"What I meant was, They're Vikings! They think to themselves that they're special! You, however, are someone who's better than that! Not a Viking, maybe. But who says that being different than the rest is a bad thing?" I said.
Hiccup's mood slightly increased at that. Good, Good... I'm getting good at bringing Hiccup out of his sorry state
Anyway, A couple of minutes later we made it to the cove. Hiccup went first and peeked over his shield. He then tossed the fish in the cove... Nothing.
Seeing that there's no sign of the dragon, Hiccup advanced. Only to have his shield stuck between the entrance. Hiccup tried budging. Nothing. I just told him to crawl over. He did just that. I then tried getting the shield off by kicking it. Only to regret that decision as my foot felt like I kicked a metal ore. So... I just did what Hiccup did.
Hiccup started looking around for the dragon. I, on the other hand, noticed a certain speed stinger sleeping soundly at the other side of us. Swift? What's he doing here? Hiccup gasped and I bumped into him.
Trying to figure out what caused Hiccup's sudden stop of movements, My eyes trailed to the direction where He's looking at... At that moment, I thought my heart skipped a beat. A black dragon was perched upon a rock pile and made it's way down, staring at us like a predator stalking It's prey. Too bad We're the prey!
We stepped back a bit, as the Night Fury was now on ground level with us. I gulped nervously as Hiccup tried giving the dragon the fish he had.
The Night Fury inched closer towards us. A curious expression was written on It's face. It's eyes weren't in slits and... Where'd It's teeth go? The dragon was about to eat the fish until It backed off and growled at us. Hiccup reached for his vest and found the dagger that He kept. I mentally panicked.
"What are you doing?! Throw that away if you want both of us to live!" I whispered/shouted at him. He picked the dagger and the dragon growled. Hiccup stepped back but grabbed the dagger and plopped it onto the ground.
The dragon made a gesture that said "Throw that dagger into the water". Hiccup did just that. Immediately, the dragon's expression changed from aggressive to cute and curious. I weakly chuckled at that.
Hiccup yet again tried giving It the fish. It inched closer and reached for the fish until it opened It's mouth. Hiccup looked confused. "Toothless? I could've sworn you had..." The dragon's teeth suddenly popped out and ate the fish from Hiccup's hand. "Teeth..." Hiccup finished.
... Well... That's new.
The dragon noticed our expression and walked towards us slowly. Crap...
Hiccup and I backed off as the dragon got closer to us. Too bad we were stopped by a rock
"I don't have anymore!" Hiccup said in a panicked tone. Oh gods... Should've brought some as well.
The dragon crooned and then made a weird sound and... regurgitated half of the fish on Hiccup's lap. Ew. That is disgusting...
Hiccup looked at me for answers. I shrugged. The dragon sat on two of It's legs and stared at Hiccup expectantly. Hiccup still looked confused.
The dragon looked down at the fish and Hiccup did the same. Finally getting what the dragon wants, I turned around and gagged. Hiccup then gave it a face that said "Are you kidding me?" and then looked at me with a "Help me" face. I shrugged. Hey, I maybe his friend but... This is his challenge. Not mine.
Then... Hiccup did something that made my stomach twist.
He bit a chunk of the fish. I gagged again.
Hiccup offered the fish back to the dragon. The dragon made a gulping sound, gesturing Hiccup to swallow it. Hiccup's face couldn't get any more miserable. He looked at me for help. I just gave him a face that says "Just do it!". That did the trick. Hiccup took three gulps to swallow the disgusting chunk of fish.
Though my face is starting to look green, Hiccup was greener. We stared at the dragon who was still staring at us curiously. Hiccup smiled, despite the horrible feeling in his stomach. The dragon squinted It's eyes and tried Mimicking Hiccup's smile. I covered my mouth to stop myself from laughing at the cute and ridiculous sight before me.
Hiccup, being the curious boy he is, got up and tried touching the dragon. It then growled at Hiccup before flying off to the other side. Which ended up with him crashing again to the ground.
I then noticed swift was awake and stared at us. Swift then made his way towards us.
"Hey, Swift. What're you doing here?" I asked. Swift answered with a low growl.
I looked at Hiccup, only to discover that he made his way to the dragon already. My mouth dropped. Hiccup waved at the dragon before It used It's tale to shield his(I really can't keep using it anymore, plus I think It's a he) face away from Hiccup. Who, in turn, tried touching It's tail. The tail raised, revealing an Irritated face of the Night Fury. Hiccup just stood up and walked away, getting the hint that the dragon wants to be alone.
"So... What do we do now?" I asked Hiccup
"Observe. See whatever we can find about it. In a safe distance." Hiccup answered
"Really? That was the opposite of what you just did a couple of seconds ago." I replied. Hiccup looked away sheepishly and just told me to shut up.
Swift growled again, eager for attention. To which I answered with petting him. Swift purred and sat next to me. Hiccup was observing the Night Fury from afar. I stared at the dragon as well and found out that the dragon is hanging by the branch like a sleeping bat.
We spent all afternoon observing the dragon and talking about dragon training(To which Hiccup didn't enjoy one bit).
In the end, Hiccup settled with drawing on the earth while I scratched Swift on his "Special" spot(Of course, Hiccup doesn't know it yet. Wary dragons can get really defensive). I noticed the Night Fury get closer to Hiccup and stared at His drawings. Which was the face of the Night Fury.
The dragon then walked away and... Uprooted a tree. To which he used as a drawing stick, drawing different lines across the dirt. The dragon ran by Hiccup, resulting with the tree hitting Hiccup on the head. Though not hard.
After the dragon finished his "Drawing", I got confused. It was a mixture of lines. I mentally laughed at the dragon's "Artistic skills".
Hiccup stood up and examined the lines before stepping on one. The dragon growled at Hiccup. Hiccup raised his foot and it purred. Interesting... Don't touch the lines, Hiccup. He doesn't like it.
Curiosity overpowering Hiccup, He stepped on the line again. The dragon growled.
Step off the line. Purr
Step on the line. Growl
Hiccup then tried stepping over the line. Purr
Hiccup smiled and navigated his way across the lines, without stepping on them. To Hiccup, It's sort of a puzzle. To me, It looked like Hiccup was dancing. Which was weird to see, seeing as Hiccup doesn't dance.
Eventually, Hiccup stopped when he was in front of the Night Fury. Hiccup turned around to face the Night Fury. The dragon looked at Hiccup with his curious eyes. Hiccup raised his hand and tried touching him. The dragon growled. Hiccup backed off but didn't retreat. Hiccup looked away and raised his hand again. I feared for the worse. What if the dragon bit off Hiccup's hand?! Another part of my brain told me that I'll murder the dragon if it did.
Then to my surprise, The dragon let himself be touched by Hiccup's hand. My eyes widened.
Hiccup... Bonding... With a Night Fury.
Time slowed down as if the moment would last and eternity. Until...
Hiccup looked up and the dragon looked at Hiccup as well. The dragon snorted and flew off. Leaving a confused Hiccup.
Hiccup and I looked at each other.
"That was..." I started.
"Amazing..." Finished Hiccup.
We climbed out of the cove and Hiccup gave the Night Fury one last Good bye before catching up with me.
"So... What do you think we should name him? Because I can't keep referring to him as Night Fury or dragon anymore. " I said. Hiccup shrugged.
"How about... Toothless?" Hiccup answered
"Really? It's because of his retractable teeth, isn't it?" I said.
Hiccup chuckled. "Yeah... Come on. It's already afternoon." He said.
"Hey I just noticed something... Do you think swift's gonna be okay in there?" I asked, with concern and worry in my tone.
Hiccup shrugged. "Better Hiding place than your house." He stated.
Couldn't argue with that logic.
Swift POV
"So... Believe me now?" I asked the Night Fury with a smug tone and a smirk.
"Truly. You're right, Swift. There's more to humans than meets the eye. Especially the scrawny one With Auburn hair." The Night Fury answered.
"More than you could ever think... Toothless." I said, using His new Name that Hiccup gave him.
Toothless snarled. "Shut up!" He roared.
I fell on the ground laughing.
A/n: Hello, everyone! Nice to "see" you again! And as always, Thank you to all the Readers, Followers and Reviewers! I am so happy to share my story to all of you! Anyway, as you can already guess, It seems Hiccup and Marcus have entered a new perspective to the dragons where no Vikings even thought about looking! The excitement carries on the next chapter of: HTTYD: The Terrible Duo!