Hey guys! This is a retelling of one of my most favorite scenes in the first How To Train Your Dragon Movie! Also, if you didn't already see, I updated my profile and now I have links to my book White As Snow and to my book blog. Enjoy!
The Dragon stood over the pond watching the fish as they swam by, it was as if they were taunting him. He didn't know how to catch fish without flying; it had never occurred to him that one day he wouldn't be able to. A cloud of gloom settled down around him, he still hadn't fully accepted that he lost his flight. Even three days later he kept on finding more and more things he would never do again. He had kept the boy here, even though it was quickly becoming more and more apparent that he would have no way to bring it back to the island, and that no one was coming for him, and that hurt a lot.
The Nightfury sighed and promised himself, one more try and if he couldn't get a fish he would steal it from the human, the last thought made him feel a little guilty, but he ignored it, He hadn't eaten in three day it was now or never. A fish leapt out of the water, and the Nightfury quickly stuck his head in, reaching for it. The quick movement caused a weird zipping sound, yet another thing that set him apart.
The boy watched from the ledge, he'd taken to sleeping on, it didn't bother the Nightfury because it could easily see Hiccup, but ultimately made him feel safer. Now he finally had time to better observe this rare creature, he quickly noted the whooshing sound it made as it dived into the water. That was something he had never heard another dragon do, this one was unique. How would he ever remember all this to add to the book of dragons when he got back to Berk? Correction, if he got back to Berk.
When the Nightfury's head resurfaced empty for umpteenth time, Hiccup stared guilty at the small pile of fish beside him, he'd caught earlier in the morning so he could avoid the beast. The dragon had helped him light a fire, without it he would be just as hungry as it was now, and beside he could get closer to better observe it. He sighed; his conscience was getting the better of him again. Any other Viking would have killed the Nightfury long time ago, or at best waited for it to starve, but Hiccup was well, Hiccup. He plucked a fish from the pile and stood up, slowly he made his way down the rock wall, carrying the fish in one hand and using the other to grasp on to cracks and small ledges. His feet clung onto the footholds he had found, those large boots sure made climbing difficult.
Two fish swam in the water just out of his reach, he tried his best to reach them but they were out of his range, he re-emerged defeated, he walked back toward his last fire nest and lay down. Suddenly, he heard the tumbling of rocks, his ears perked up and he lifted his head, the boy was climbing down from its ledge with a fish. The dragon's stomach growled, and he lay his head back down and closed his eyes, looking at the fish only made him hungrier. His ears followed the sounds of footsteps, turning back and forth, till they stopped.
Hiccup paused about five feet away from the sleeping Nightfury, he watched as the ears swiveled back and forth searching for movement. The dragon lifted its head and gazed at him with its large green eyes. Very carefully he moved a bit closer and held out the fish, his arm shaking. The beast considered the fish and leaned in slightly as if it was going to accept it, but then as if remembering something it whipped backwards and growled. Hiccup stared at it puzzled, then realization dawned on his face, it must have guessed that he was carrying a weapon. After dropping the dagger in their first encounter he had found it again yesterday, he reached into his fur vest; his shirt was gone but he had kept the vest for warmth. The dragon growled. Before he could second guess himself he pulled the dagger from his pocket and dropped it on the ground, and kicked it into the pond with his foot, he hoped he wouldn't regret this later.
The Nightfury stared at the fish in the boy's hand, why had he brought it here? He moved forward a little deciding whether or not to snatch the fish, when he remembered it had a knife. He quickly sprang back and growled. The boy, after some thought reached into his vest, the dragon was instantly on alert, he roared softly in warning. The human froze then before the Dragon could react, pulled out the dagger, dropped it on the ground and kicked it into the lake. The Nightfury relaxed and looked at the boy, his eyes wide, ears raised.
The boy held out the fish again and the dragon lowered himself to the ground and carefully approached the fish as if stalking prey, he retracted his teeth as to not scare the hatchling, and open his mouth. "Huh. Toothless. I could've sworn you had..." The Nightfury unsheathed his teeth to snatch the fish and gulped it down, and licked his lips. "... teeth."
He looked up, the boy must be hungry too, he should try some fresh fish perhaps he'd learn to like it, and to stop burning it. The Dragons retracted his teeth, for some reason the human was scared of his them. He slowly walked forward and the boy begin to back away until he was pressed up against a rock. "Uh, no. No, I don't have any more," The boy said, stupid human… he didn't want more fish.
The Nightfury's eyes narrowed and its throat started to convulse. He regurgitated half of the fish into the humans lap then sat back on his haunches waiting. The human stared at him with a shocked expression, looked up and back down, then slowly it lifted the fish to its mouth and took a bite. It smiled weakly, made a weird mhhing sound, and held the fish up to him.
He knew better, the human hadn't swallowed it. The Dragon swallowed, gesturing for it to do the same, and the human lowered the fish, and finally it swallowed. The boy half smiled, and the dragon mimicked it, the humans smile grew into a full one and it began to stand up. It reached a hand toward the Nightfury, and it growled and sped away.
He flapped off and crashed on the other side of the cove, made a fire nest and settled down, a bird chirped and captured his attention, he lifted his head to examine the creature. The bird took off and he followed it with his eyes, mesmerized by its flight, when he turned his head he caught sight of the boy sitting very close to him. The Nightfury narrowed its eyes and grumbled in annoyance, and lifted it wings and tucked them in and wrapped it tail around itself. He listened as the boy scooted closer and closer, he lifted his wing and found the boy reaching for his tail, the dragon snorted and the boy took the hint and left.