Gift of the Night Furies, Chapter 2

To Astrid's frustration, Crimson managed to evade her and get away. After searching in vain for ten minutes, she went home and cleaned herself up as best as she could. She decided to find Hiccup.

Sure enough, he was in the forge working on another one of his projects. "Hiccup?"

"Yeah, I'm over here, Astrid," he replied, grabbing a pair of tongs from the tool rack. "Whoa. Uh, what happened to you?" He noticed the obvious spots of dragon saliva and some stains from the yaknog she was serving earlier. One piece was stuck in her bangs.

Irritated, she pulled it out of her hair and threw it on the ground. "Your brother, that's what. Turns out he couldn't handle my new holiday drink."

Hiccup winced at the statement. Knowing Javelin was a dragon at the time meant that whatever Astrid had cooked up was not meant for any consumption. "I'm sure it just needs a little work," he commented, hoping to calm her down.

"Hmm. What are you up to?" she asked, gesturing to the table.

"Okay, you're gonna think I'm crazy, but I just couldn't stop thinking about what Tuffnut said last night. Toothless can't come and go like the other dragons, and that's just not fair." He tested the contraption by moving a bar, which simultaneously opened and closed the prosthetic tail fin. "I was up all night and I think I found a way to fix that."

"No way!" Astrid exclaimed, eyeing the whole thing, forgetting about her previous dilemma. "You built him a new tail? So he's gonna be able to fly without you?"

"Yup."

"Wow, what a great gift. But what if he never comes back?"

Hiccup's face saddened a bit after realizing what the other teenager said. With the new tail, Toothless wouldn't need Hiccup anymore to go flying. He could go where he pleased. He was brought of the rabbit trail by Astrid's quick answer.

"What am I saying? Of course he will! Well, see you. I need to make some more yaknog." She turned and left, leaving Hiccup with his work. It was silent for a while.

"Is she gone?" a deep voice rumbled from outside.

"Yeah, come on out." A crimson dragon dropped to the ground and made his way into the forge, making sure to watch for the young Hofferson girl. "You're lucky she didn't catch you."

"We're even as far this goes. If I didn't take a sip, you'd be spitting it out right now." Crimson examined the tail. "You think this will work?"

"Of course it will. Just a few more finishing touches and it should work well."

"He will put it to very good use."

"Hey, did you ever find your sister? I know her almost as well as you do."

Crimson laughed. "Only enough for you to think you do. Yeah, I found her. She... just wants to be alone for a while. But I know she also wants Toothless with her."

"All the more reason for this, then."

Toothless was jumping on the roof, assuming Hiccup was inside. "Hiccup, get up and get out here! I want to fly."

The boy came around from the village. "Toothless, I'm down here, bud." The Night Fury dropped onto the ice patch next to the house. "I have something for ya."

Toothless sniffed the bundle, then gazed inquisitively at Hiccup. "What do you think of that? Yeah!"

When Hiccup moved to his tail, Toothless turned to keep him in his sight. "I want to know what it is, first."

"Settle down, bud." He got to the tail and crouched over it to keep the appendage from moving.

"What are you doing?"

"Trust me, you will love this!" He got everything strapped and adjusted, then patted the tail.

Toothless moved it away, half-eager to see what his soul-brother had put on. He tried to open his right tail fin, but it wouldn't budge. In a fit of panic, he shook his tail around violently, almost hitting the boy in the process. "Get it off! Get it-" He stopped when his fin finally opened all the way, with the leather one working in tandem.

The Night Fury examined his tail in curiosity. Bringing it around for a better view, he closed his fin. The false one did the same. Both reopened at the same time. Hiccup, meanwhile, was smiling happily. "There you go. See? Got it?"

Toothless turned around to look at his rider, his pupils thinner than they usually were. He sniffed repeatedly, "I... I..." He didn't have the words. His instincts did, however, telling him to fly, to return to his mate.

Hiccup, seeing his best friend's eyes, moved forward. "Toothless..."

The dragon leaped back before he could be touched. In a second, he turned around and took off, leaving Hiccup in shock. "I'm sorry!" he roared as he went into the clouds. "I'm needed somewhere else."

Hiccup didn't hear the second part, his mind focused on those two words. 'I'm sorry!' He just stood there, staring at the spot where his friend had disappeared into the clouds.

Crimson was in the cove, already having brought a load of fish for his sister. He was resting on a large boulder when he heard the roar. His ear flaps perked straight up as he searched the sky. Twilight walked out of the cave, also looking for Toothless.

Strong flaps were heard as the male Night Fury descended into the cove. He landed, and Twilight went towards him. He met her halfway and caressed her with his wing. "I was wondering when you'd come," Twilight said, nuzzling her head against his neck. She saw the automatic tail fin and smiled.

"Me too."

Crimson smiled at his sister and brother-in-law. He jumped down and examined the device. "Hiccup did a fantastic job. How does it feel, Toothless?"

The embrace ended when the Night Fury turned to answer. "It feels... wonderful, really. Now, I can do what I was supposed to." He gave Twilight a dragon kiss. "Taking care of you."

"You already are."

The two went inside the nest, leaving the Crimson Fury by himself. After a minute, he jumped back onto his rock and looked to the sky. "Thank you, Lord, for this blessing. Please help me protect my family. Amen."

After lounging around for an hour or so, Crimson decided to get some material from his house. While he did enjoy being a dragon, he didn't want what was coming to be seen only in memory. After grabbing a quick bite of fish from the ocean, he flew back to the village, making sure to not grab any attention. Of course, it was daytime, and he was certainly recognizable, so he made due with silent glide.

Fortunately, one of the storm shutters on his house was open, and he landed inside. He went downstairs to the common area. On a shelf were three carvings of helmets, each the same as the others except in color. Black, yellow, and green. There was a talon drawn onto the wall above each one, its color the same as the helmet below.

He went to a small table, a couple books scattered across the top. He found his journal and deposited it into an open knapsack. Carefully, he picked up a few pencils with his claws and put them inside as well. What else? He considered his Dragon Manual, but chose not to. Since nothing else came to mind, he closed the sack and wound it around one of his forelegs.

He exited his home the same way he entered, and closed the shutter should a storm or stray prank hit the building. Crimson checked to make sure it was secure, and it was.

"Javelin."

The dragon froze when he heard his name. Crap. He dropped his head and turned to look at Hiccup. "Hello, Hiccup."

"What are you doing?"

"I was... gathering a few things."

"You're not leaving, too?" he asked dejectedly.

"What? No! Hiccup, I won't ever leave you. Same with Toothless and my sister." The dragon took a deep breath. "I don't know why the dragons left. I truly don't. But I do know they will come back."

"Including Toothless?"

"Of course. Hiccup, you are as much his brother as Twilight is my sister. He will come back. All you can do is just be patient." Crimson hugged Hiccup with his unladen foreleg, then moved away and took off. He went straight up into the clouds and disappeared from the ground.

As he returned to the cove, his thoughts were on what he had said. 'I don't know why the dragons left. I truly don't.' He couldn't help but feel that he lied. But he didn't; he did not know the real reason why the dragons left. He could only assume. And assumptions were not truth.

He barrel-rolled back into the clouds to check his position. The cove was behind him, so he pulled back up until his body was upside-down. Diving back down through the gray sky, he rolled back into the normal position. Three-quarters of the way down, he pulled up and glided for the rest of the flight.

He found his rock and gently landed on top of it. He untangled the knapsack on his foreleg and set it down. Crimson jumped off and burnt a patch of snow and grass ash, then laid down and went to sleep, focusing on his human form.

When Javelin awoke from his slumber, the sky was still filled with cloud cover, but it had the tint of dark blue and bright orange that belonged to a unseen sunset. The ground beneath his body had a small tint of brown, but is was barely noticeable. As he slowly got up, his muscles ached with the now expected pain from changing between forms. When he began his practices, the pain was near unbearable and forced him to rest. Now, his body still called for more sleep, but the pain was at a level that didn't leave him completely defenseless.

The soldier went to the boulder and opened the sack. Pulling himself on top, he removed his helmet, took a seat and flipped through his drawings. Although he thought of himself as being nowhere near Hiccup's level of capturing images, his own were highly detailed.

He stopped at one of them; a picture, one of several, of Twilight's smile. She was looking shyly towards him, but also past him at the same time. Her brilliant black scales were a definitive shade, the texture almost capable of feeling. The dragoness' eyes spoke of love and innocence, her smile, a thick, curved line, accentuating them.

He moved on after a moment, finding a blank page to work on. The charcoal pencil was just about to touch the paper when he heard it.

Twilight moving around in her nest.

Snapping his book shut, the pencil marking his spot, Javelin rolled off the boulder. He half-ran, half-walked to the cave, remembering to put his helmet on. The cave was burrowed to the west, so it was difficult to see in the evening. As the night-vision clicked on, it was joined by the heavy landing of a dragon. Not even looking back to see who it was, Javelin moved farther inside the cave, saying, "Come on, Toothless."

The two slowly walked until they reached the corner, then turned right. There, in the green-and-brown nest, was Twilight, laying comfortably on her side. She was curled protectively around something, but her wing and tail hid it from view.

Toothless was the first to walk forward, his footsteps nervous. His head was low in hopeful curiosity. "Twilight?"

The dragoness opened her acid green eyes and smiled. "I'm fine," she said as she pressed her snout against his. Twilight turned towards her extended wing. Her tired voice was full of joy and love. "Take a look."

She retracted her wing, and Toothless' pupils widened. Resting on the ground, leaning against her belly, were two large, black eggs. Slowly, the new father leaned forward and inspected them. They had a rough, yet still smooth texture to them. He tried to talk, but was speechless.

Javelin came up, his book latched to his belt. He knelt at the edge of the branches, observing the eggs and the new life they held inside. Both of them were as tall as the length from his elbow to his wrist. "They're beautiful, sis."

Toothless curled himself up next to Twilight, covering her with his own wing. The black eggs disappeared into the safety of the happy couple.

"Just like you..."

(AN) - Well, there you are everyone. Two happy Night Furies and their eggs. Now you just have to wait for next chapter.

As a reminder, everyone, I'm gonna start writing Dragons' Destinyafter I finish GotNF. Do feel to review and comment.