Title: Out with the Old, In with the New
Summary: Hiccup tries to make things better and Toothless isn't having any of it, but when push comes to shove, do they have what it takes to go the distance?
Disclaimer: I do not own, this is true. I make no money, please don't sue.
"Come on, Toothless, Please?" Hiccup panted, as he leaned on his knees for support.
For the past half hour or so, he had been chasing Toothless around Their Lake, trying to get the Night Fury to stay still, so he could replace the tailfin part of his saddle. To be fair, the expression on the dragon's face told him that he'd wear it, eventually, he just wanted Hiccup to work for it. And work Hiccup did. He was sweaty, dirty, and tired. It was his dad's fault, actually. He'd told Hiccup that his leg would heal faster the more he used it. Toothless had been in the room, and that had been that.
/You're tired?/ Toothless asked. Hiccup smiled.
For a while now, Hiccup had been learning Dragonese from Toothless. Dragonese was the language dragons used to speak to each other. It was a difficult language to learn, involving clicks, whistles, and a whole new system of sequential grammar. Hiccup could barely speak it, but he understood some of it, and Toothless made sure to speak slowly and simply to accommodate him.
/Yes. Hiccup tired./
He sat down, trying to get his breath back. As Toothless moved to lie down beside him, he couldn't help but be excited. This new design was the best yet, and he was proud of it. The mechanism that controlled the tailfin was a marvel of engineering, involving these things called gears. He'd gotten the idea from the Roman books in the library. Most of the books there were Roman, actually, most probably loot taken from boarding cargo ships leaving the Roman Empire. Few Vikings wanted to read, fewer could read Latin, and the only people who wanted to and could read Latin were Hiccup and his grandfather.
'This is going to be great!' Hiccup thought. His expression must have been contagious, because Toothless was wriggling with excitement, so eager was he to start flying.
"Settle down, buddy!" He laughed. He couldn't tear the grin off his face as he crawled over to Toothless's tail. Hiccup switched the fins and then stood to put the old tail into a small crack in one of the large boulders around Their Lake. Already inside it was Hiccup's old dagger (rusty from disuse), and a spare change of clothes (too small by now) in case he needed it.
As Hiccup walked away, Toothless swished his tail from left to right. 'Heavier than usual' He thought. This was strange, because for the past few months, Hiccup had made the thing lighter and lighter. Not that Toothless minded the extra weight. The last heavy fin he'd worn had thin blades on its edge. It was fun to have, but Hiccup had declared it too dangerous to wear on a daily basis when the Night Fury had accidentally sliced through a weight bearing rafter in Hiccup's house. Stoick had been maaad…
Toothless brought his tail around, to see why it felt like there were things pinching on his remaining fin, but Hiccup chose that moment to swing himself onto his saddle. He took off!
'Ah, this is the life.' Toothless thought. This was where they felt most at home, most at peace. Just the two of them and the sky. 'His pedal work's a little stiff today.' The Night Fury noticed. It was a lot stiff actually, but Toothless found that he didn't mind. Flights like these were getting fewer and farther in between. Not only did Hiccup have Pirate Lessons with the rest of his peers (Which he was horrible at, and no one was surprised), but he helped some of the other Vikings with their dragons.
Yes, flights like these were to be treasured. Toothless stopped thinking for a while and just let his body soar. He didn't even notice Hiccup take his foot off the pedal-stirrup thing that controlled his fake fin. You couldn't really blame Toothless, though, for not knowing. Because it had never happened before, not on purpose. Because even without Hiccup's efforts, they kept on flying.
A/N: The plot thickens. I hope. I think a lot of you know where I'm going with this.