Small timeskip coming up, I don't think there is much to add regarding the characters interactions on Berk, I just have two things to develop before moving on to the ice nest.
Anyway, review corner :
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And there is- ... nothing worth answering here, so ... thank you all I guess ? You can read the chapter now.
Hiccup opened his eyes, he had slept at the valley again, he remembered the warmth of the ground, heated up by Toothless fire. He was convinced that he hed never found a better surface to rest on than roasted grass. One thing felt wrong though, there was a big pressure on the lower part of his body, it didn't hurt it was just uncomfortable, Hiccup tried to stand on his back just to discover than Toothless had moved in his sleep and now his legs were stuck under the young dragon's large body.
"Oh great." He sighed ... It wasn't that bad after all, it was even a bit warm. In fact he could stay like this foreve- "Hmmf!" The night fury started to roll on himself, probably not feeling that he was now covering Hiccup's torso and preventing him from breathing, the young Viking repeatedly swung his arms against the dragon to wake him up, after fifteen seconds he was almost out of breath.
Thankfully he had struggled enough to wake up Toothless who proceeded to lick Hiccup back to recovery. "Arg stop you oversized lizard I'm fine ! You already "saved" me !" He couldn't hold back his laugh, he was supposed to sound angry, not reward this kind of behaviour ... well he liked the dragon too much for that anyway.
"Can I stand up now ?" Toothless gently purred and helpt Hiccup to stand up with his wing. "Looks like someone is taking after some big quad winged dragon right ?" Speaking of Cloudjumper, the dragon was nowhere to be seen, and his mother wasn't either. "Do you know where they went ?" He asked Toothless, the dragon snuffed loudly, a shrug actually. "Well ... I have got the whole day so hum ... how about we check out this new tail fin ?"
Toothless sat on his back, waiting for Hiccup's next move. The young boy went to unwrap the new tail fin and showed it proudly to the dragon. "Just gotta put it on your tail no-" suddenly the dragon lowered the front of his body, his eyes were beaming with playful intent "Oh no you don't, I'm not running after yo-" the night fury, hopped around Hiccup, giving him a weak tap on the back with the tip of his tail "Hey wait !"
Hiccup ran after Toothless for a few minutes with the tail fin in his hands. It was pointless, he would never catch the night fury ... but it was fun, he liked doing it and he liked even more the gummy smile of Toothless, purring at him every ten seconds, as if he was encouraging him to keep running.
Toothless ended up rolling on his back, Hiccup didn't waste any time installing the prosthesis, the new system that he added to link the movement of Toothless tail fin to the prosthesis seemed to tickle the dragon a bit but overall it was not uncomfortable "Wow, it fits better than the first one." Hiccup stepped away from the dragon's tail "Can you try to move a bit with it ?"
Toothless tried to fold his tail fin, the prosthesis followed at the same time, Hiccup had succeeded ... well, it wasn't perfect of course, but for a start it was more than he could have ever asked. "Well, do you like it bud ?"
The night fury hopped around the young boy, folding and unfolding his tail fin in every possible way. It was almost perfect, the next version would be perfect, it had to be ... and then he will be able to fly with his mother and-
Hiccup shivered, what next ? Toothless would be able to fly again, his mother would be able to leave with the dragon and go back to her own business ... and him ? Nothing would really change, it's not like he could actually leave Berk behind like his mother did fifteen years ago, but he wished he could ...
He wished he could fly away with her and forget about everything related to Berk without hurting anyone, but there was Gobber and his father. Hiccup forces himself to smile at Toothless, sharing his happiness, but it didn't last. He couldn't hold a happy face, Toothless noticed his mood of course, the dragon purred at him. "It's nothing bud ... if you had to deal with family I guess you would understand." He answered.
The night fury looked away for a moment, almost pensive. Hiccup thought it would be best to not disturb the dragon, he shouldn't have assumed Toothless may not have a family himself somewhere in the world. However the duo was startled by the sound of wings pushing against the air, judging by how heavy it sounded they immediately recognised Cloudjumper.
Valka and her companion landed in the cove, the vigilante had brought a rope and a bag of food with her. Hiccup didn't think about what he was doing, he ran toward his mother and hugged her, the gesture was still unfamiliar and akward for them, but they were getting better at it. "Sorry for leaving without telling you, I just thought you were sleeping comfortably with Toothless."
Hiccup judged that it was useless to mention that sleeping was great, waking up not so much. His silence was useless though, Toothless laughing growl and his signature gummy grin had caught Valka's attention and after taking closer look at her son's ruffled hair she had pretty much figured out what happened. "Yeah, I could get used to that too I guess." Hiccup admitted. "What's the rope for ?"
Valka snickered "You have to learn how to ride with a dragon in a way or another, trust me, you do not want to find yourself falling down a few hundreds meters away from the ground. Toothless and you aren't ready for an actual flight yet, and before you ask, no, Cloudjumper and I aren't going to constantly catch you two if you lose your balance. That's why we are practicing first."
"Never said I was against theory before practice, I'm pretty much done with Gobber's learning in the job method." Hiccup explained, Valka was glad he didn't take his father's habit to rush in before thinking.
She threw the rope into her sons arms and walked around Toothless, noticing the new tail fin. The system that Hiccup added was way more complex, not perfect of course, she had studied dragon anatomy for years and she ould clearly see some faults that limited the movements, but it was perfect for basic flight positions. "It suits him, we could make it fire proof too if we used some of Toothless lost scales" Valka rubbed Toothless tail for a whole minute, almost forgetting about the world around her. "Oh, sorry I was ranting I guess. Have you tried to fly a bit without us ?"
"Uh, actually no we-we were uh ... waiting for you to come back." Hiccup answered, putting the rope around his torso to carry it.
"Well then, first exercise of the day." Valka grabbed her staff and got on Cloudjumper's back, gesturing at the dragon to move up to the top of the valley. "You two will have to follow us through the woods, we are going to test that new tail fin in the open."
Hiccup nodded, he looked at Toothless asking for the dragon's permission to climb on his back. The night fury gestured at the young viking with his head to get on, Hiccup tried to make himself comfortable, he quickly found out what his mother meant, he didn't really have anything to hold on to Toothless. "Ok." He took a deep breath "Nice and easy bud, you aren't throwing me into the lake again right ?"
Toothless shrugged, the dragon got into a leap position, giving a few seconds for Hiccup to hold on. The young dragon jumped into the air, flapping it's wing with more strength than what would be necessary, meanwhile Hiccup managed to stay on the night fury's back, it wasn't as hard as he expected, more surprise than fear.
Valka and Cloudjumper took a moment to judge the duo's first performance. "What do you think my friend ?" The dragon lady asked her partner.
* Scared, hurt. * Cloudjumper stated, going along what Valka had also identified. "It is so obvious then ... Hiccup, Toothless, before we continue, try to relax a bit. Hiccup, you are holding on correctly, but do not be so tense, you will end up hurting yourself with time, try to let your body follow along with your partner. As for you Toothless, you do not have to fear about losing your balance."
As she spoke to the dragon Valka made the effort to add gestures, Cloudjumper helping her by moving his body in the process. "Your wings are as strong as they were a few days ago, trust your strength." The night furry purred at the tips. "Good, let's proceed."
Valka had attached toothless to a large tree stump near a cliff, Hiccup didn't like where this exercise was going. "It's just about getting used to your position with Toothless ... and helping Toothless to get used to his prosthesis." His mother finished to tighten the rope and moved a few meters away with Cloudjumper. "You feel that breeze ? Go on ! Glide with it !"
The young dragon lifted his wings, the wind carried him about one meter above the ground. "Well, that's pretty steady, we are barely moving an inch now." Hiccup noted as he looked at the ground around them.
"Be careful son, you are forgetting about the exercise." Valka warned with a playful tone.
"What ? But look mom ! I'm doing great ! We perfectly in sy-" What the duo didn't notice with all their enthusiasm was the massive and sudden gust of wind about to crash down against them, pulling the night fury backward with enough force to make the rope snap and send both of them rolling down into the forest.
"Balance hum ... yes, yes you definitely got that. Focus though ? You still need to work on that." Hiccup dusted his clothes, he was mostly uninjured, he went to check on Toothless, the night fury was surprised but fine, the tail fin wasn't damaged either.
"Lesson learnt, I get it, less marveling, more looking at what's coming forward." Toothless growled at Hiccup in protest. "What ? It's my fault now ?" The night fury made a sloppy attempt to hit Hiccup with his wing, making the boy laugh "How that's how it is then ? You wanna get revenge ? Come at me !" The young man charged forward swing his tiny fists against the leg of the dragon who barely responded to the offence. "Here we are ! Dragon and vikings at war again !"
Cloudjumper laughed at the scene, Valka's partner didn't have a playful mindset but the sight of these two kids fooling around each other was perhaps the funniest thing he had ever seen in his life. To Valka the scene was priceless, it proved once again that everything she believed in was right, even more than she thought. It had taken months to fully bond with the Stormcutter, Hiccup had spent less than a week with the night fury.
"I will smite you down you over grown lizar-" Toothless decided to end the fight by pinning down Hiccup under his belly, this method was extremely efficient and required little effort, the young man was completely defenceless ... and as inoffensive as he was before "Ok, ok hmmff, can't breath." Toothless purred at Hiccup, but the dragon didn't move, Hiccup cursed himself, of course the night fury would be smart enough to ask for the exact words. "Y-you win, I surrender !"
Toothless laughed and rolled on his back to free Hiccup who immediately took a few deep breaths, Valka still laughing along with Cloudjumper hurried to her son's side to make sure he wasn't going to hurt himself. "You picked a fight you couldn't win son hahaha."
Hiccup collapsed on his back "Next time I'm bringing my secret weapon, my trusty heel !" He yelled ironically.
Valka thought again about the bond between her son and the night fury ... perhaps they could- ... yes, after all the tail fin worked. And the two could trust each others. The dragon lady smiled and exchanged a glance with the stormcutter who picked up with her idea and seemed as excited as she was. "Hiccup ?" She called, catching her son's attention and the Night fury's at the same time "I thought it was too early but ... I think you are both ready." Her son starred at her, wonder growing into his eyes "How about we go for a fly together ?"
"Like- ... right now ?!" Her son asked enthusiastically with Toothless purring alongside him.
"I do intend to show you where I have been living all this time, it would take weeks to reach it by boats, even an entire month. But with a dragon on your side, it would take only a few days, but do not think it's a short trip away from the village, it is a dangerous and long journey." Valka explained has she climbed up on Cloudjumper's back "And now-" the stormcutter leaped into the air and flew away from the valley. "-we go where no viking can !" She yelled.
Hiccup instinctively got a hold on Toothless neck, the young dragon helped his partner to get on and in a swift motion they were airborne. The young boy kept checking on the tail fin, asking his friend his anything was wrong but as far as he could see, it worked, it was stable.
Valka and Cloudjumper didn't wait for them, the experienced duo moved toward the massive cliffs that were coming out from the ocean. "Let's show them we can do it ! If the tail fin fails, I will be right here with you bud, just let me slide down your tail like the first time." Hiccup whispered to his friend.
Toothless growled gently and gained some speed to follow along Stormcutter.
Valka turned around to watch her son, she never had this feeling ... pride ? Yes, that was pride, but she had nothing to do with it, Hiccup was a natural he didn't need her help to bond with Toothless, had she not been here the two of them could be in the same state they are now.
She acknowledged Hiccup's talent and his courage, if she could do one thing to pay back her debt it was to teach him everything she knew. With a gentle tap she asked Cloudjumper to gain some altitude to see if Toothless could follow them above the clouds and if Hiccup could hold on to his partner.
Surprisingly the duo got pass them and now they were the ones waiting. "You can go up and down good ! How about turning left and right now ?" Valka called to Hiccup as she pointed toward a set of cliffs partially hidden into the mist.
"Think you can handle that Toothless ?" Hiccup asked with a pinch of sarcasm, not doubting the ability of his friend to evade obstacles. The night furry dived down, following next to the stormcutter, the large dragon had an extra set of wings, it was easier for him to make complex manoeuvres of course, but in term of speed nothing could beat a night fury.
Valka thought it would be logic to warn Hiccup and Toothless about things such has balance between each others and speed but there wasn't an immediate danger and beside it was probably better if they learned by themselves. As she expected Toothless ended up bumping into a few cliffs before the duo slowed down, allowing her and Cloudjumper to catch up with them.
"Not as easy as you thought right." Valka taunted as she took the lead once again to go back to the valley.
"We know we know ... but it wasn't that bad in the end ?"
"Bad ? For someone who has spent less than an hour on a dragon's back you are doing great." Toothless rubbed his head against Valka, probably feeling ignored "Oh you did great too do not worry ... actually I think you deserve a little reward for your efforts." The dragon lady dragged her hand across Toothless skin and pressed her fingers into a specific spot of the dragon's spine, the small wings in Toothless back suddenly divided in two "Now you should be able to deal with these sharp turns." Valka explained.
"Wow." Hiccup could only respond as he was stunned by what looked like magic to him, Toothless hopped around them, flapping his new back wings. "Just how do you know that ?"
"You could be surprised ... it took me some time to earn the mothers trust and be allowed into their nursery, you learn such more from young dragons." Valka explained as she watched Toothless discovering his new ability. "We should try again tomorrow."
Hiccup smile dropped, he sat down near the lake and threw a rock in it. "Do you- ... do you expect me to leave with you at some point ? I mean ... to definitely leave Berk."
She couldn't answer immediately, for a few seconds Valka was under the influence of doubt. "Well- ... I cannot force you to do anything, but does this village still has anything to offer you ?"
Hiccup threw another rock in the lake "Point taken ... it's hard to appreciate anything on Berk, the whole dragon killing tradition kept me going until- ... until I met you and Toothless, but it's not an option anymore, I guess it never really was one anyway."
Valka sat next to Hiccup and handed him a flat stone "You are thinking about Stoick then ?"
Hiccup took the flat stone and began to fidget with it "Yeah, and Gobber too, you know how crazy dad can get when he doesn't get what he wants, just imagine how bad it can get when you take something away from him. And Gobber ? He is like- ... a lamb, a very buffed lamb, I can't betray him like that he- ... ok sure he doesn't believe in me but he acts like a descent human being with me unlike the rest of the village."
Valka nodded "I was in the same position than you when Cloudjumper offered to take me back. It's not about following logic or something like our heart in a poetic way ... choices exist to make things change, and as long as you keep changing you allow yourself to live." The dragon lady looked in Toothless and Cloudjumper's direction, Hiccup followed her gaze, the two dragons seemed to be discussing, just like them. "You allow others to live depending on your choices, but in the end it is about you."
"If I stay here there is nothing else to gain ... but if I come with you- ... I don't want to be a burden."
Valka shivered "N-No ! You were never a burden and you will never be, I will always be here for you, no matter what you choose."
Hiccup threw the flat rock across the lake, it bounced thrice before reaching the other side of the valley. "I will wait for dad's return and I will talk to him, just to let him know I'm leaving, I do not care if he doesn't accept. I just wish- ... I just wish he can let go." Her son explained his project.
"I understand, I will have to leave for a week then, I need to keep my pack on check and report. Can you handle things without me for a week ?"
"I have been doing pretty good for a few years ... well, as good as I can be from a Viking point of view." Hiccup replied, Valka dragged him against her scale armor and hugged him.
"If I do not return, or if you wish to join me sooner for whatever reason ... let me tell you how to find us." Valka grabbed her staff and took her time to draw a map in the dirt, it was the largest Hiccup had ever seen.
"You explored everywhere by yourself ?" He asked with amazement.
"Hahaha, I wish I could, most of this is from memory, I collect maps and put them together. The world is far bigger than our small archipelago." Valka proceeded to give Hiccup clear indications, Toothless joined in when he saw Valka drawing and Cloudjumper followed along. "Three days away, follow the ice but beware the dragon hunters, they aren't part of any clan and they do not care about peace with dragons, they enslave them, hurt them ... they are far worse than the Vikings of Berk."
"Trappers ? ... you- ... you fight them ?" Hiccup couldn't tell if he was impressed or worried, but considering he just found his mother and had no intention of losing her he chose to be worried about her activities.
"Yes, they serve a man called Drago Bludvist, he is insane ... but he controls dragons like a tyrant. I have been a thorn in his plans for domination since Cloudjumper brought me to the nest."
Her son complained of course "You could have mentioned that, I'm not a kid-"
"But you are too young Hiccup, you shouldn't have to worry about this, not yet. Drago is the biggest threat but he is only a man, it will take time but one day he will make a mistake and then I will end his path of destruction."
"You kinda sound like dad when you do heroic speeches."
"Then it shows how determined I am."
Hiccup decided to go sleep in his house, he and his mom spent a long time saying goodbye, hopping that this week would be over quickly. Valka gave a few tips to her son regarding dragon training, just enough to survive with relative ease, however she strictly asked Hiccup and Toothless to avoid long or dangerous flights since she wouldn't be here with Cloudjumper to help them if anything goes wrong.
Toothless was about Hiccup's age but he didn't consider himself a kid, he had been on his own for a long time, yet Valka turned out to be a fierce motherly figure, a strict yet kind one. Though both the dragon and the human knew that they would have a lot of bonding sessions involving flight and fish stealing.
His life had taken a turn for sure, during the morning he was forced to go to dragon training he tried to blend in with the other teens, it was simple, survive and stay away from them. But Hiccup couldn't resist putting Valka's tips to the test and Ohhhh how it worked ...
They still saw him as a weirdo but for the first time in about ten years the other teen were sympathetic ... it was a lie of course, just a way for them to approach him and learn his tricks. He had to avoid them in the past and it wasn't going to change.
Astrid wasn't especially found of his tricks, especially when it meant that she couldn't be the top viking of the day because of Hiccup stealing all her glory. As if he wanted any, it was progressively getting worse, if he wasn't an expert at judging behaviours he had a good insight to feel trouble coming.
He had a bunch of buffed Vikings teens chasing after his secrets and one angry Viking lady who only wanted him gone for good at this point. Hiccup knew what awaited him, he had the occasion to sharpen Astrid's axe more than once in his life and unless he was the worse blacksmith apprentice in the archipelago a single good swing would be more than enough send him to the afterlife.
The afternoon though he was really free, he had upgraded the prosthetic tail fin at least twice, once to make it lighter and adjust the dimensions and a second time to make it fire proof, he got this idea after examining his mother's scale armor. He just had to give Toothless a big belly rub session in order to get the scales.
He was surprised that scales weren't exactly flame proof, they could be melted after some time and used as some sort of paint, it didn't leave any sent and it was as light as water. The night fury really enjoyed this last model, they tested it by flying among the cliffs surrounding the island, it was great !
Until Toothless decided that it was a good experience to fly through the resulting explosion of a plasma shot. Hiccup didn't get hurt, but he was gonna have to get cleaned up. After their flight session they stopped on a cliff on the main island to eat a bit before going back to the valley.
Toothless offered Hiccup another pre-digested fish ... he thought about what his mother said, he already had a roasted fish on a stick and was hesitant for a few seconds, he rolled his eyes and forced himself to eat it. He ended up linking the taste which ironically made him feel even more sick.
"Thanks bud ..." a few terrible terrors gathered near them, eyeing Hiccup's roasted fish, he wasn't hungry anymore at this point so he three the sticks toward them "Comon, you can have it." Most of the pack hurried to get the food while one of them attempted to steal a fish from the night fury's pile.
The bigger dragon engage a "fight" with the terrible terror which ended quickly when Toothless shot a spark of plasma inside the terrible terrors when it was about to spit out some flames. Hiccup made a mental note about the fact that dragons could be hurt from the inside if something else than themselves was igniting their flames.
"Say Toothless, do you- ... do you have a pack ? Or a family ?"
The dragon raised his ears in surprise, he perfectly understood the question, Hiccup couldn't understand dragons like his mother did but he could resent their emotions. Toothless sounded ... unsure, but this didn't seem to be a problem for him, the question barely made him feel uneasy.
"I don't want to hurt my father, it doesn't feel right, it's just- ... I don't really feel like he ever acted like a father, or I can't remember the last time he did." If you had to divert from your pack ... would you do it ?
Toothless growled angrily making Hiccup shiver for a second, this reaction was unexpected, yet this sounded- ... affirmative ? Did Toothless hate his own pack ? Then why was he assisting them during the raid ? There was definitely something amiss, a missing piece to the puzzle ... well vikings didn't do puzzlea, why would they ?
"I would like to be as courageous as you ... just a few more days and they will be back, I'm gonna have so much to tell mom and then I won't have anything to say because I will probably be done summarising everything that happened during this week in about a few hours."
Toothless gave a gentle tap on Hiccup's shoulder with his tail. "Ok no angsty Hiccup I get it ... it's not like you really talk with Cloudjumper either ... uh wait, do you ?"
The young dragon growled happily, giving the viking his signature gummy smile "Father figure am I right ?" Toothless licked Hiccup a few times to make him shut up "Ok ok ! No sarcasm either sorry !"
"Stupid Hiccup ! Stupid son of a troll ! Take this-"
Astrid was furiously throwing her axe into a tree, she was deep enough into the forest to avoid being seen into this kind of mental state. She was enraged, frustrated, she needed to cool down and the best available method she had was to exhaust herself against a few trees.
Sadly killing the chief's son wasn't an option, most of the village would be satisfied if Hiccup simply vanished, but the chief was superior to the village no matter the subject and even if Hiccup didn't have Stoick's support he was still his only son ... and she would rather not end up with Snoutlout as the new chief.
He was annoying, simply unbearable, always in her way, always in everyone's way. If only she could knock some sense into this stupid head of his-
Astrid was about to pick up her axe when she noticed that a lot of trees had been- ... damaged by something, something large enough to leave a big trail. With her weapon in hand she followed the trail, it went down into the forest but the only thing she found at the end was a mess of ropes and metal balls, the kind of tools Vikings would use to neutralise small dragons.
She couldn't figure out how a dragon ended up all the way here, saddly judging by the state of the ropes the dragon managed to free itself days ago, so much for a chance to get her first kill. Astrid managed to contain her anger and decided it was about time she headed back to the village.
On her way though, she saw something else that wasn't supposed to be here, she ducked down behind a rock to counsel her presence, Hiccup was running back to the village, he looked- ... happy ? She lost him for a few seconds after he passed behind a few trees. Astrid attempted to locate him but it was too late Hiccup was gone.
Astrid wasn't the kind of Viking to suspect treachery, but Hiccup ... Hiccup was no Viking and for once she knew she was on to something.