A/N: So it seems once a week updates are all I'm capable of at the moment, for which I apologise. We're starting in with the timeskips now, and hopefully we'll start to see some more of Hiccup's character developement from here. I've deliberately not mentioned Hiccup's age, or how much time has passed; for the first, because Toothless doesn't know, for the second because I like to leave it open for interpretation.
Before we continue, a response to some reviews!
Sairey13 - Those are some really great thoughts! I wrote them down on my document for possible ideas to include, I hope you don't mind :) This story is very much going to be what the readers want. I only have a vague plan so far, and a lot of it is coming from you guys!
Breyannia - Flying is fun! I'm sure Hiccup will get there soon!
LolitaPrincessLove - I have heard a couple of people say they'd like to see the Dragonese happen, and I just couldn't resist! So here we have it, Hiccup learning Dragonese.
alright a plot - Aw, thank you so much! I want to try and work in a lot of the other elements from the movie if I can, but I don't want to bite off more than I can chew. Right now I'm very much flowing with the reviews here, and throwing in my own ideas here and there as well. And you're right, not every day, but the first few days/chapters, I had some points I wanted to get across and I wanted to lay down the initial groundwork for the awesome bond we see in the movie :)
Thanks everyone for your reviews and follows, I hope this chapter lives up!
~x~
I awaken to the prick of sunlight at my closed eyelids; the warmth that bathes my scales as the sun chases away the night. I lie with my eyes closed for a moment, waiting for the inevitable. The warm bundle that had been tucked against my side when I fell asleep is missing, which can really only mean -
Cold water splashes on my nose and I sit up with an undignified yelp. In my haste, I bang my head on the low hanging tree branch I'd forgotten was there. Peals of laughter add insult to injury and I narrow my eyes on Hiccup, who doesn't even try to look innocent.
He wipes his still wet hands on his outerwear, and smiles up at me in what I assume is supposed to be a winning manner. I snort at him and without warning, I lunge forward.
This is clearly what my young Skinchanger has been waiting for, as he takes off across the cove, swift and agile as a deer.
"Old! Slow!" He calls over his shoulder, his tongue tripping over the still unfamiliar sounds that make up Dragonese. I had never thought a Skinchanger capable of learning Dragonese, and the day Hiccup first spoke a word of it, I think he nearly scared my scales white.
He is clever, my Skinchanger; we have seen the pass of many mooncycles together and it still surprises me how much he has grown. He is still a Hatchling, small and skinny, but now he moves like a creature that belongs in the wild. His paws are roughened and no longer get sore and bleed when we walk long distances. In the cold, when the white powder covers the ground, he wears coverings on his paws like other Skinchangers. The story of how I appropriated those for my Hatchling is one I wish never to repeat. He climbs a tree well enough, and falls perhaps only half of the time. He can't catch his own food yet, but Hatchlings aren't expected to do that for some time; and I have noticed that only much bigger Skinchangers go hunting.
The cove was a blessing from the Skymother when we found it, shortly after...Well, after. The walls are high, smooth rock that forms a natural shelter. A small waterfall feeds our little lake, teeming with fish, and in the dead of the cold mooncycles when it freezes, it is a beautiful sight. Hiccup is safe here, and though I try not to do it often, I have left him alone here many times without incident. A tree grows against the side of the cove, the biggest I think I have ever seen. There is a small hollow at the base of the tree, just barely big enough for Hiccup, but it provides shelter from the weather in the colder mooncycles.
I catch Hiccup by the back of his hide, carefully clenching the cloth in my teeth and yanking him to a sudden stop.
"Who is slow now?" It is difficult to speak around a mouthful of Hatchling, but the growls and croons of my language have been known to me since before I hatched, when I listened and learned through the shell of my egg. Hiccup laughs and slaps ineffectually at my nose,
"Let go!" He tells me, and at that I realise how foul his cloth covering tastes.
I let go as abruptly as I had grabbed him and Hiccup lands with a 'plop' on his rear.
"You smell. And you taste like old fish." I inform him, dropping onto my haunches and curling my tail around my legs. Hiccup gives the comment some thought, peeling his covering away from his body and giving it a careful inspection with both eyes and nose.
"Yes!" He finally agrees with a decisive nod and I chuff a laugh.
"You need more of these things." I nudge the cloth with my nose, careful not to inhale as I do so, and Hiccup agrees with another nod.
We fly most of the way across the island, with Hiccup held carefully in my claws. We have tried flying with him astride once or twice, but his legs are simply not strong enough to hold him to my neck. Until he grows, this is an arrangement that works for the both of us; Hiccup's fear of the skies was slow to depart, no doubt due to the cave incident we do not speak of. Now he thrills in our short flights, infrequent as they are.
"Faster!" Hiccup yells over the howl of the wind, and I am only too happy to obey.
I land us in the shelter of the trees some distance away from our destination, and we creep the rest of the way on foot.
We lurk within the forest, just at the edge of the first Skinchanger dwelling.
The village is a small, squat thing built on the hills overlooking the sea. Rickety wooden structures lead down to where the Skinchangers leave their boats and another structure sits separate, built on the edge of a cliff. I had found the village a few mooncycles ago, and together my Hatchling and I had whiled away many a suncycle observing it. We never stray too close, for neither one of us wish to be caught. Perhaps it would not be so bad for Hiccup, given they are his kind, but after our last encounter with Skinchangers I am less inclined to let them near my Hatchling.
Now how are we going to do this? The idea had seemed good in theory; neither of us knows how to make the outer skin that Hiccup wears, and the weather is too cold for him to do without it. With the cold mooncycles approaching once again, he cannot do without them. Learning that snow and uncovered Skinchanger paws do not mix well was one awkward experience too many.
"Too many." Hiccup murmurs into the quiet, his hand gesturing vaguely in the direction of the village. I can't help but agree, and it seems our cause is lost.
"Hurry up, Ruffnut!" The shrill voice reaches my ears just as I am contemplating a departure. Hiccup points immediately to the two small Skinchangers hurrying away from the village and into the forest. They are not much bigger than Hiccup, likely Hatchlings themselves and thank you, Skymother, their front legs are loaded with baskets of hides.
"Convenient." I stretch my mouth wide in a toothless smile, the expression I had learned from my Hatchling to mean happy. Hiccup scrambles up onto my shoulders, his skinny legs curling firmly around my neck, and we slink silently after the Hatchlings. They lead us on a short trek through the trees to the river, where they kneel upon the bank side by side.
"Are they...washing?" I query, thinking of a time I'd seen Hiccup dunking his own in the lake, muttering about being dirty. Hiccup is quiet a long time, just long enough for me to wonder if I spoke too fast. Hiccup's understanding of Dragonese is much better than his ability to speak it, but sometimes he still gets confused.
"Think so." Hiccup finally replies, wrinkling his nose.
Hiccup hates bathing, and both forms of skin get a very rare washing. Usually I have to physically drop him in the lake, but the water is always so cold he never stays in long.
"This is stupid," One of the Hatchling's says abruptly, and I think she is female by the high pitch of her voice. Her fur is the yellow of beach sand and rests on her back in a short, thick braid. The other's fur is in two braids on either side of her face and is more tan than yellow.
"Why doesn't Tuffnut have to do the washing? I hate washing!" The one called Ruffnut complains, plunging the first item into the river viciously.
"Because we're girls and that's what girls do." The other retorts, and from her tone I guess she is unhappy as well.
"What now?" Hiccup nudges my side with his paw, and I switch my attention from the females to my Hatchling.
"Distraction?" I suggest after a moment, and Hiccup nods. He slides down from my neck and lands lightly beside me. He slinks out of the trees slowly, making very little noise as he does so. He is just edging into the clearing when a branch snaps beneath his paw, the sound harsh on the still air. I am not entirely sure if it is an accident, but it has the desired result. Both girls spin around and Hiccup freezes under their stare.
"Who're you?" The first girl demands, standing up. I guess it is a question by the tone of her voice, though the words mean nothing to me.
Hiccup tips his head at the girls, his long fur sweeping in front of his eyes and smiles.
"Where did you come from?" Ruffnut takes a step away from the river, eyeing Hiccup suspiciously. "Never seen you before." She adds, and I can see the curiosity in her face.
I wait patiently in the trees as the Skinchangers slowly creep closer to Hiccup and he lets them. They ask him several more questions, but Hiccup doesn't reply; I don't know how much of the Skinchanger language Hiccup remembers, so he might be as confused by their questions as I am. When the first girl gets close enough she can almost touch him, Hiccup turns and runs off - in the opposite direction to where I wait.
The girls yell after him, and after a quickly exchanged glance, they take off in pursuit. I hadn't really expected it to be so easy, but then Skinchangers are a curious lot, and Hatchlings of any species are even worse. I wait for a few moments after they leave before I dive upon the basket, snatching it up in my claws and diving across the river and back into the shelter of the trees to wait for Hiccup to return.
The girls return before Hiccup, mere seconds after I return to hiding. They must have only chased him a very short distance before changing their minds. They exclaim noisily upon finding their missing basket, and I chuff a quiet laugh to myself. A moment later, Hiccup leaps from the bushes and lands heavily upon my back, laughing quietly to himself.
"Scare you?" He whispers, leaning close to my ear flap. I snort to let him know how ridiculous I find the question, and flick him with the ear he'd been leaning so close to.
"Not even close." I respond, and turn away from the river to go home.
Hiccup drops down off my back and scoops the basket into his paws, heaving the heavy weight up against his chest.
The hides we stole, it turns out, are clearly made for an adult Skinchanger. The top part alone, when Hiccup puts it on, completely swamps him and trails in the dirt behind him when he tries to talk. He strips after the first step, and only my nose stops him planting his face upon the ground. The hide intended for his rear legs is a complete loss, with Hiccup's legs so much shorter it'll be a wonder if he doesn't get lost inside them.
"Maybe next time we should try for Hatchling sized skins." I wonder aloud, and cannot help but to laugh at the sight of my Hatchling, swimming in cloth and hid.