"Toothless, you know that doesn't wash out!" The dragon laughed. "Yes, yes, laugh it up." Hiccup then surprised his brother by tackling him to the ground. They started to wrestle until their mother walked past.
"Really, boys? Can you please refrain from acting like complete children?"
They shook their heads. "No, mother. We love to wrestle!" Hiccup replied, Toothless nodding in agreement.
Thunder rolled her eyes at their antics. "Well, then, not now. The King wishes to see you both."
The bonded brothers got up and walked through the series of ice caves and tunnels to the great chamber where the King resided. They bowed before him before Hiccup jumped up onto one of the tusks and sat down. "What did you need, King?"
The King chuckled. "You and Toothless are the only bonded in the world, and therefore the strongest, besides one of my species. The Queen in the West, she is causing more harm to dragons than good. I have received word that her dragons attack human villages, and then the Vikings, in turn, attack the dragons, even capturing them in order to learn to fight against them. As the strongest, you two are assigned the task of freeing these captured dragons and, if necessary, taking down the Queen."
Thunder gasped. "My King, I hated to interrupt, but my sons… They are only eighteen. While they are the fiercest and strongest fighters in our nest, and they have faced these tasks before, facing a Queen is much worse. A Queen is almost as big as yourself."
"They will be fine Thunder. Hiccup and Toothless are the strongest bonded I have seen in my very long life. Which is why I am also naming them my heirs." The crowd of dragons that had gathered around gasped. The Great White King naming an heir was a huge deal. Bewilderbeasts lived for a thousand years give to take. And while they knew that the King was older, he was nowhere near that age. It meant that he was both extremely proud and loved the human and Night Fury and that he was preparing for the worst to occur.
Hiccup and Toothless knelt in front of the king again. This was an extremely high honor to be bestowed upon them. They were now going to be considered as Princes among their nest and to most dragons. Thunder's pride swelled in her heart. She was the proudest mother that ever lived.
"Rise, my Princes. The task that you must carry out will begin in the archipelago. I must warn you, dear Hiccup, that you will need to face your old tribe at some point again, maybe soon. The attacks on that island grow with every passing month by the Queen's nest," the King stated, not unkindly. He knew that Hiccup loathed speaking about his previous tribe and island.
"King, thank you for warning me," was all he replied with. He showed the utmost respect for the Great King and his predictions. It was, after all, part of the magic of the Alpha species. Toothless glanced at his brother, who showed no fear or regret or anger. Hiccup had indeed mastered the art of concealing his emotions from most. But the bond told the dragon a different story. He knew the raw mixed emotions that sailed inside Hiccups chest, the anger, pain, frustration, sadness and hatred. He also knew that if his brother didn't confront these emotions and leave them behind, they would eat him alive eventually.
Toothless made a resolution with himself. He would fly them both towards that island. Berk, Hiccup once called it. They would head that way, stopping to help islands and dragons along the way.
Thunder approached her boys… They were so grown up. Hiccup was a man and Toothless a grown dragon, bigger than her. She never noticed before… "Hiccup, you will need to fashion armor. I have been saving the scales shed from your brother. May I suggest using this? Also, the other dragons have brought leather for the rest. The flaming sword also may be insufficient. Conceal some weapons and other tools upon your person so that you never go without. Toothless's satchel bag will also need to be filled with some provisions-" she kept listing the things that need to be done. She always did.
Hiccup laid a hand on her snout. "Mother, it will be alright. We have gone before. We always return."
She nuzzled his face and neck. "I know, son. You are so grown. I want you boys to protect each other. Always."
"We will, mother," piped Toothless. "We will come back eventually. Just promise to be here when we do."
She laughed in her dragon way. "Of course!"
With that, the King dismissed them and they bowed. Hiccup and Toothless began preparing for their journey to the archipelago.
"Toothless have you seen the cans of Nightmare gel?" Hiccup called from the cave he stored his weapon parts.
"No! Oh wait… They're here. You put them by the entrance. Have you seen the fish?"
"Is food all you think about?"
"No… Yeah, most of the time."
Hiccup rolled his eyes. He couldn't judge too harshly. It was rare that Hiccup wasn't hungry. He burnt off a lot of energy working and running around, especially in the forge. It wasn't a forge in the traditional sense, but the Nightmares and Gronkles helped to melt down the metal he worked on. It got a bit hot in that cave.
Hiccup had never seen himself in a looking glass mirror before, only his reflection in pools of water. He knew he had green eyes, reddish brown hair and not the worst looking face in the world. His body on the other hand… While he was scrawny and small when he was younger, he had shot up tall, to be about six foot two, with a lean, muscular body. He had no fat on him, but he wasn't big and stocky like most Vikings. It was actually a comfort to him because he didn't want to be like them.
His bond with Toothless, combined with twelve years of being in a dragon family had given him the strength of a Nightmare, the senses of a Nadder and the swiftness of a Night Fury. The bond had also been kind on Toothless. He was much quicker and stronger than all other Night Furies, and the extremely rare ability to never run out of fire. His skin had also thickened, so much that a human arrow could not pierce him.
"The fish is in the basket already, bud. Never leave home without it. Trust me. Now, I'm pretty much ready," he announced, sliding his Gronkle Iron blade into place by his wrist. "You?"
"Yeah, Hiccup. I'm good." Hiccup proceed to load the basket onto Toothless and secure it properly. "I can feel it, it's on properly."
"Just making sure," Hiccup smiled. "This is going to be an adventure."
Toothless rolled his dragon eyes. "You say that every time we leave."
"Well, it's true! Every time we fly, it's a new adventure." The brothers walked out of the cavern's side by side. You never know what is going to happen or where we are going to go and end up."
I know where we are going, Toothless thought. He didn't say it out loud, though.
Most of the nest was gathered around the entrance of the sanctuary, ready to say their goodbyes to the brothers. The King hushed the noises, "Goodbye, young princes, and good luck in your quest. The dragons of the world are behind you both."
They bowed to the King, waved and took off in flight. Thunder watched until she could no longer see them, and then kept watching for hours after.