Hiccup smiled as he jumped off the cliff. Falling was the closest he could get to truly flying anyway. But his free will was abruptly stopped when something caught him out of the sky. He looked up at the claws that held him. Uh oh…
"Hiccup, how many times have I told you not to do that? You're going to give me a heart attack!" Thunder asked the boy. She had never liked him doing that, even if his brother was around to catch him.
Over the past four years, Thunder had come to care and love the human boy as if he were another hatchling, even as far as to introduce him to the Alpha King of Dragons. And during this time, the small boy had learned how to understand the language of dragons. So he knew very well the reprimand that was going to come next from his surrogate mother.
She set him down on the ground and then landed in front of him. "Hiccup, dear, you could really hurt yourself. I know that you always believe that Toothless or I will be there to catch you, but one day we might not. And then what would happen? You would plummet to the ground. And I would lose you."
"Yes, mother. I'm sorry," replied the boy, his head hanging in shame. Thunder rubbed her head against his to display her love and forgiveness and he ran off again, probably to find his brother.
When Hiccup had been accepted into his new family, it had taken them a short while to adjust. Toothless was still, in dragon terms, a hatching at six years, and they had taken to each other instantly. The two were now almost inseparable. But when that dreadful Queen had entered the archipelago nest the next few months, Thunder had taken her two children to the Dragon Sanctuary, where the Alpha ruled in kindness.
He had allowed the small boy refuge in the nest, even to go as far as to command the dragons in his care to teach him about the dragon way of life.
"Come on Toothless! Let's go flying!" Hiccup yelled. Toothless was only more than happy to comply since he loved to fly and be close to his brother, who had no wings of his own to speak of. When he was smaller, he didn't understand why the hatchling his mother had taken in had no wings or tail, but he slowly understood as they grew.
The Great White Bewilderbeast rumbled lowly, "Boys, be careful not to fly too far. The Sentries have reported some human vessel activity in the area."
"We will be safe! We promise our King," the two boys chanted together, same as they did all the time.
Thunder watched as her two hatchlings flew off. She knew they had done this a hundred of times, and they always came back safely, yet the feeling of dread never left her heart. She expressed as much to the Great King, who stated, "I understand, Thunder. I have the same feeling."
The boys flew for a while before coming to rest on a small sea stack they could see their home from, on the lookout for those human vessels in the sea. They spotted one and were careful not to launch into the air while it was in range of them. What they didn't notice was the second one, which was hiding in the fog bank a little bit behind them.
"Let's go home, bud."
"NIGHT FURY!"
Arrows, bolas, nets, chains were all hurled in the air, Toothless managing to twist and turn to get away. In the dragon's efforts to evade all attempts at capture, one of the arrows pierced the young boy on his back. Hiccup cried in pain, and Toothless almost halted, but an arrow whizzing past reminded him of where he was. The dragon flew high into the clouds and the angry Vikings below cursed their gods for being unable to capture their prize.
"Brother, what has happened? Are you okay?" Toothless asked, concern and worry lacing his dragon rumbles.
"I'll be okay, Toothless. But we have to get home. Now. The arrow…"
Hiccup looked down at the arrow that had pierced his stomach. He knew he was losing a lot of blood, but held strong for the sake to Toothless getting the home first before panicking. Toothless streaked the short distance home, staying above the clouds so the Vikings couldn't see them again. Waiting for them by the entrance was Thunder, having been sitting there since they left.
She sensed her human hatchling's pain before she saw him, running to meet them just as he fell off the back of his dragon brother. "My little Hiccup! An arrow! Those humans will pay for hurting my son!" she roared.
All the dragons nearby, who had come to grow fond of the small human looked on with concern and worry. Hiccup shivered from the cold in his body but reached up to touch his mother's snout, trying to reassure her that he would be alright. He could force no words from his mouth, weakness seeping into his heart.
Thunder carried her hatchling to the healer dragons, where they could take better care of him. However, after they were able to dislodge the arrow from Hiccups stomach, he lost even more blood. Stopping the bleeding proved tricky but they managed, now it was just infection that they were worried about. Halfway through the procedure, Hiccup fell unconscious from the pain.
A few days past and the wound showed signs of infection. With every hour that passed, it became more clear that the poor boy would die. The entire nest felt solemn and forlorn, believing this to be the end of the human hatchling that they all loved. Thunder furiously paced the ledge, and Toothless sat quietly beside his brother guilty and believing this to be all his fault. The Great White King turned his head and came closer to the family. "Thunder, stop pacing. There is still hope."
"How, King? My son, my little Hiccup. No one wanted him on his human village, they abandoned him. How can I show him that we will not treat him the same way?"
"Initiate the dragon bond."
Thunder stopped and looked at him, stunned. "The… But, King. He may not survive the bond in his condition. It may very well kill him itself."
The King ignored her and looked at her other son, the dragon curled up to protect his brother and give him warmth and comfort. "Toothless, Night Fury, would you bond with your brother to save his life?"
The smaller Night Fury looked directly into the King's eyes. "I would do anything for my brother." He didn't know what the bond was, but if it had a chance of saving his brother, he would take it. Toothless loved Hiccup more than anything in the world, and he knew Hiccup felt the same way. They would go to the ends of the world to protect each other. While they may not have been blood brothers, they had a connection stronger than even that.
The Bewilderbeast looked at the two young ones in front of him and decided that they were worth it. They were brave, bold, strong and smart hatchlings and they would be able to survive the bonding. "Then, little Night Fury, draw blood and run it into the wounds of your brother, and then his mouth." The Bewilderbeast proceeded to do the same. To create the dragon bond between a human and dragon, one needed the blood of the Alpha and the dragon that was to be the bonded. This magic that the Bewilderbeast possessed in his blood allowed for the connection to be made.
Hiccup's heart began to beat furiously, and Toothless collapsed in pain beside his brother. This process was painful, but the Great White King could feel the bond grow as surely as he knew that Hiccup would live to see another day. The brother's pre-existing bond, the connection they had was strong enough to survive the process. Thunder watched in awe as Hiccup's infection started to recede, and the injury close over in a matter of minutes. Hiccup's breathing began to even and he was no longer sweating with fever. He would survive.