.How to lead a Return Migration.
SUMMARY: While leading a return migration, some problems were just bound to happen. Set: Gift on the Night Fury. Not good English, a little of OOC and intelligent Dragons. Three-shot.
WARNINGS: This is the fic from the foreigner. Keep that in mind. My fourth fic in this fandom. Set in the Gift of The Night Fury (so I do suggest those who didn't watch it, to watch it) directly after the scene where Hookfang and Hiccup flew away.
A/N: Finally, the last part. I don't know why but it was hard to write. And I'm not really satisfied, but I think it was the best I could come up with. xD
DISCLAIMER: I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or Gift of The Night Fury.
ATTENTION!This chapter is not Beta-ed!ATTENTION
Chapter 3: How to survive the road trip
Hiccup thought that after getting hatchlings on the boat, calming them down (which was much harder than making them excited), then showing the dragons how exactly they need to carry the boat so hatchlings won't fall off through the holes (while trying to stop the Nightmares from obliterating it. Seriously what was their problem?!) and actually getting into the air (but not after tucking the six eggs into a safe place in the boat cushioning it with spare leaves, twigs and hay he borrowed from some nests) everything will go smoothly and they will reach Berk preferably till the midnight.
(And maybe even with a certain dragon already there and waiting for his human friend.)
But he really need to learn that nothing goes smoothly when concerning dragons (or Hiccup).
-15 minutes in the air-
At first Hiccup thought he imagined it, but the second time he saw a movement on the deck underneath him and Stormfly he was riding, he was sure that some hatchling were sneaking around.
The second he lifted his head the movement was repeated and he quickly looked back. It were Fiesty and Purple with it's siblings edging towards the wood dragon carving on the nose of the boat. He watched for a second in the silent bewilderment, but snapped out of it when Stormfly growled warningly.
"Hey!" they gave the rope to a free dragon nearby and flew to the hatchlings who already climbed up on the head, "It's dangerous to play here!"
Purple startled because of Hiccup's yell and his little claws missed the grip on the head, which sent him backwards with the wind. Stormfly reacted, swooping down and catching Purple into her claws.
-What where you thinking?!--I just wanted to ride on the front!-
Hiccup scratched his ear, swearing that he could here a conversation in those screeches and whines.
Maybe Gobber was right about him slowly going crazy- well crazier?.. Though listening to Gobber he already was born nuts.
-40 minutes in the air-
There was some irritated grumble from the dragon underneath him and Hiccup couldn't help bit wonder who exactly it was. Stormfly and Hookfang (along with several other Nightmares and Nadders) were patrolling the too-adventurous hatchlings and he switched to another, a deep navy and purple with a little of pink coloured Nightmare*. He was sure he had seen it around the village before: it's interesting colour and a little twist of horns that is unique for the each Nightmare were familiar, but he couldn't be sure.
He tried to pat and scratch the dragon on the pleasure points reassuringly, thinking that the dragon was tired of the weight of boat it was sharing with twenty other nest mates, but the Nightmare rejected petting with another grumble.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Hiccup asked concerned, but the dragon just let out a half-growl and a half-moan. "Are you feeling okay?"
The dragon snorted and swung it's head as if in agitation at the question. Hiccup wasn't sure what was going on with it, but he tried to ease the dragon's mood.
"Don't worry boy, we will get there-"
Hiccup wasn't sure why he was suddenly plummeting to the ocean, but he didn't manage to scream because almost instantly his fall was stopped by the claws around his torso.
He gasped breathlessly as Stormfly lifted him into the air and dropped him on Hookfang's back.
"What the hell was that?!" he whizzed through his shock staring down where his previous ride was circling under the boat and snarling at everyone who flew close to it.
Hookfang snorted the sound that Hiccup could recognize from Gobber when he received a slap from enraged Berta when he mentioned her weight.
-Females.-
-1 hour and 26 minutes in the air-
There was a commotion in the boat. Hiccup jumped from Meatlug he was riding this time (who was struggling with her rope, flapping her little wings feverishly) on to the back of BarfBelch who flew closer to the boat. With the help of the Zippleback, Hiccup somehow managed to climb into the wooden structure and into a mass of chattering hatchlings.
"Okaaaay, so what's wrong with you?" Hiccup muttered catching one of the Gronckle's hatchling. The tiny thing the size of his head whined at him with big adorable eyes and Hiccup couldn't help but coo at it.
"Awwwww, aren't you a cute little thi-GAH!"
The Gronckle smacked it's little jaws disappointedly at not-so-tasty taste of human's hand, as Hiccup grimaced at the imprint of teeth on his limb. The little chubby dragon's stomach growled loudly.
"Okay, I get it. You are hungry, but how are we going to feed-" the growl resonated through the crowd of hatchlings, " -all of you?.."
They couldn't take a stop during the journey if they wanted to arrive before midnight. Hiccup even arranged the dragons so they changed shifts by passing ropes in the flight. If they stop on some island to feed this hoard of hatchlings, it can take an unknown amount of precious time. Hiccup frowned, thinking it over as the Gronckle hatchling squirmed in his grasp, gurgled and burped a smelly puff, right into Hiccup's face.
"Ugh!" the teen wrinkled his nose, "As Gobber said, don't hold it in yourself- Hey! I got it!" Hiccup brightened and quickly put the hatchling down, whistling for the BarfBelch.
"Come one guys, we are going fishing!"
A half an hour later, a pile of squishy and soft-looking fishes (and a couple of chunks of what Hiccup assumed was… whale) were on the deck with Hiccup, as the teen tried not to inhale too deep the smell of half-regulated fish. Taking a squishy cod in his hand and trying not to gag at the feeling, Hiccup navigated his way through the ropes on the deck to the nearest hole.
"Dinner!" He threw the fish into the hole and at the sound of tearing flesh and excited chatter peered into the hole. Hiccup shuddered at the sight of many-many hungry eyes directed on him.
"Okay, I think we will need more fish… And no way I'm going down there."
-2 hours and 48 minutes in the air-
It was darkening pretty quickly now, Hiccup noted as he carefully steered BarfBelch, which was pretty hard, considering the fact that he was sitting where the dragon's necks met and nudging both heads into a right direction of the Berk. He glanced up into the sky, seeing the first stars appearing in the mix of orange, red and blue. Suddenly the Zippleback underneath him lurched slightly, his heads swaying in the different directions.
"Wow, what's wrong boy?" Hiccup yelped as the one of dragon's head (Belch) turned to him with the look that was pretty familiar to one of the Thornston twins.
-Something funny or disgusting is going to happen.-
That was what basically meant Belch's guttural dragon laugh.
Suddenly there was some smell in the air and a few high-pitched high calls from other dragons and the whistling of something small falling down into the water. Multiply something.
Hiccup glanced down, sticking out his tongue and making a disgusted face, "Ugh. Gross. And unexpected."
-Why do you think we, adults, are so organized?*-
Barf and Belch laughed, and Hiccup rolled his eyes, still wrinkling his nose.
"It doesn't make it any less gross." He mutter as the Zippleback continue to chuckle, ignoring the sound of splashing accompanying the sound of wing beats.
-4 or more hours in the air-
"Can't see a thing." Hiccup muttered, squinting his eyes trying to see in the darkness and through the clouds they got into. "Hey, girl, we need to get a little higher, above the clouds." Hiccup nudged Stormfly with his knee, and the dragon obeyed, roaring out to others and they moved up.
Above the skies there was a dark-blue nothingness dotted with glowing stars and the whiteness of clouds underneath them, basking in the glow that seems to go from within them. Hiccup shuddered at the cold air, and smiled shakily at Stormfly's click.
-You okay, up there?-
"Yeah-yeah, fine." He ignored the clutter of his teeth, but apparently Stormfly wasn't that easily tricked. The Nadder huffed and puffed out a smoke through her nostrils, the wind pushed it immediately back at Hiccup and the teen sighed as the smoke burned his freezing skin for a second, leaving a pleasant warmth after it.
"Thank you Stormfly."
-You are welcome.-
The dragon snorted smugly.
They flew a little more (with Stormfly occasionally warming up Hiccup), before the sky suddenly brightened.
"Oh." Hiccup couldn't help but let out, at the sight of colours stretching across the sky, twisting and overlapping in a silent dance. He heard the chatter from below and noticed that some hatchling peered through the holes on the deck and were chattering at the sight of polar lights, fighting for the better place to see.
Stormfly let out a sound a cross between purring and murmur as she peered down with one of her eyes at the hatchlings and Hiccup couldn't help but agree with her.
"There are so much many wonders waiting for you out there."
-More time in the air-
They flew lower this time. Despite how Hiccup (and the hatchlings) liked the sight above the clouds, Hiccup couldn't fly so high above for too long. And he was pretty sure they were nearing Berk. He had lost a track of time, but according to the stars they were close. He didn't move his watery from wind gaze from the water below, waiting for the familiar lights to appear.
Hookfang underneath him puffed a couple of smoke breaths to warm up the teen, and Hiccup tried to blink smoke away from his eyes, when he finally saw the lights.
"We are almost here!" He cheered and couple of dragons echoed him.
The Berk was getting closer and closer and soon Hiccup could see the two guard statues and people on the edge of the village looking up at them.
"Wait… they did redecoration while I was away?" He asked in bewilderment, noticing houses and the decoration* on the main square. Hookfang huffed.
-Strange humans.-
When they landed and everyone reunited with their dragons and newborn hatchlings (he saw Fishlegs tackling poor Meatlug as she reunited her hatchling: who explained the sight of destruction in his village), Hiccup couldn't help a little content smile at the sight of his village. He waited for Toothless to come running to him, but no black dragon appeared as everyone bustled around.
But he didn't have time to worry: his Father gave him a mighty hug that strangely enough reminded him of a little something.
While Stoick gathered everyone to the Great Hall, Hiccup sneaked back to the boat, from where he took out the six eggs. Putting them in front of the boat, he silently thought what to do with them.
"I can't just live you like this, little guys…" He murmured, furrowing his brows together. A sudden squawk behind him, snapped him out of his thoughts and he turned around to see a little flock of Terrible Terrors running towards him. The smallest dragons of all other species, apparently returned too from their nesting season.
Hiccup looked from the Terrors to the eggs and something clicked in his head. "Of course!"
One of the Terrible Terrors in front (green with specks of yellow and darker green) went closer to him, chattering in greeting.
-What do you have there?-
The little dragon cooed, and Hiccup grinned gesturing at the eggs.
"It looks like I found some Terrible Terrors eggs!"
The dragons surrounded the six eggs, cooing and hissing in excitement, until one of them (the green one) jumped onto the egg and sat comfortably at it, as other puffed fire at it and other five.
"Wait, er, you probably shouldn't-" Hiccup tried to warn them, but apparently these Terrible Terrors were quite young (or really stupid), because they didn't know that-
BOOM!
-that eggs explode when they hatch.
The green Terrible Terror landed near Hiccup (who managed to take cover behind the barrels), a little shaken, but all right. Other little dragons quickly got up on their claws and circled around the new-born hatchlings.
Hiccup smiled at the sight of really tiny Terrible Terrors hatchlings and grown up dragons fussing in interest around them. He turned to the Great Hall, content to leave the dragons, knowing that little ones were in good hands, err, claws.
He limped to the Great Hall, his heart heavy and light at the same time, not noticing a lone black shadow far in the horizon twisting in the clouds.
-The End of How to lead the Return Migration-
*-one of the dragons from the episodes Riders of Berk.
*- in the first episode of Riders of Berk it's reveled that apparently dragons puke strictly in a certain time.
Thank you everybody who stuck with this story to it's very short end.