I Own Nothing
All Rights Reserved
Chapter 9
Dinner and What Followed
For the next two days the Dragon King continued to show Astrid around different parts of the Sanctuary. He even offered to take her for a flight on a dragon, but she declined. While she could not deny her feelings about dragons were changing, she was still not comfortable with the idea of riding one. Moments later, when Astrid asked if he would like to spar with her, he declined. Her axe was gathering dust in a corner.
Among other things, they often spent time watching Stormfly's babies or wandering around the various paths and just talking. She learned some more about the places he had seen, at one point refusing to believe there was such a creature as a rhinoceros, and he learned more about what she had been doing on Berk. He seemed very interested when she told him about the survival training she had taught, and chuckled rather loudly when she mentioned the Twins had shot Spitelout's money into the ocean.
At other times during the days he would vanish for hours. She stayed in her room when this happened, unwilling to risk getting into trouble with the dragons. What he was doing during those moments she had no idea. He might be out flying, attending to the island, and once she heard hammering and guessed he was at his forge. For her part, she spent some time writing down her own observations to present to the Chief upon her return. The King had provided her with charcoal and parchment though just how he had gotten them she had no idea. After all she had seen, if he had told her there was a dragon with scales that turned into parchment when it molted, she would have believed it.
What interested her most of all was the King himself. It was not just that she was greatly impressed by his ability to live harmoniously with dragons, nor was it his knowledge of a world she'd never imagined. Rather, it was his behavior. She could not shake off the sense that he knew something that she did not, yet ought to. The way he moved around her at times felt disquietingly familiar. After all he had told her the first day he stopped discussing his own life, baring the observations on his travels. While Astrid decided to respect his privacy, it didn't lessen her curiosity about him. Quite the contrary for by not talking about it he only added to the mysterious air about him. She had hoped he would show her his own room, but he did not. She did not even known where it was located.
Another one of the many things that aroused her suspicions was that her guide never ate in her presence. Whenever they stopped for a meal during the day he would watch her but ate nothing himself, and he was completely absent at breakfast and suppertime. Astrid quickly deduced that he was unwilling to take off his helmet or his mask, whichever he happened to be wearing. Both of them covered his mouth. This deduction just raised another question: exactly what he concealing? This further fueled the sense that she knew him from somewhere. He certainly seemed to know an awful lot about her, and though when she mentioned this he shrugged and mumbled something about 'keeping informed,' she wasn't entirely convinced his spy network was his sole source of information.
Looking at the helmet and wondering what it concealed was a great source of frustration for her. Indeed, it seemed that the more she learned about the Sanctuary and the person who had built it, the less she knew about that person. It had grown so frustrating in fact that by the end of her fourth day there she considered confronting him about it, and even thought of getting close to him and pulling it off. He seemed to be aware of this, however, for at times he intentionally kept an arm's length away from her, and she suspected he had some trick about his helmets and masks to keep them firmly attached to his head.
She was in her room compiling and organizing her notes for the day, when to her surprise a letter was carried in by a Terror. Its contents asked her if she would like to join the Dragon King for a sunset dinner.
She hastily wrote a 'yes' on the parchment and handing it to the waiting Terror. The prospect of having a meal with him suddenly calmed her curiosity, for she felt and hoped that all of her questions would be answered before she went to bed that night. A part of her wondered if he was trying to ask her out on a date or if there was more to this meal than his letter had let on, but she decided she was reading too much into it. That didn't stop her, however, from trying to look as attractive as she possibly could and spending a bit more time than usual arranging her hair.
As evening fell she made her way to the Main Hall (she didn't need Midnight to guide her anymore), where he was waiting with a basket and a blanket tucked under his arm. She noticed that his mask was different. While most of his face including his eyes was still concealed, this one didn't cover his mouth.
"Good evening," he said formally. Thanks to the new mask, his voice was clearer and more nasally than it had sounded before. "You…look…well, very nice, I mean…" the little of his face that she could see appeared to be turning red. "Well, anyway, shall we?" He gestured with his arm and they walked off down a passage Astrid had never used before. The passage began sloping upwards and they were soon walking on top of the wall of the crater instead of inside it.
"Here we are," he pointed to a spot besides a large boulder. "The sun will be setting in about an hour, but there's no hurry."
"Where's Toothless?" she asked, looking around for the Night Fury.
"Oh, I suggested he spend some time with his dragon friends tonight. Let the humans have some time together." He chuckled, "it's been a very long time since that's happened, I can tell you." He threw the blanket on the grass, sat down on it, and began to distribute the contents of the basket.
"Well, let's see here," he said, "bananas, here's the sole and here's some sauce for it—here's some bread and cheese—and here are some peas and carrots," He produced these items as he spoke and then looked up at her to see her reaction. Astrid glanced at the basket, which now only contained a bottle.
"Oh, I almost forgot! For our beverage tonight, here's a bottle of apple cider." He poured the drink into two gleaming silver goblets, handed on to Astrid, and raised his own. "Cheers!"
"This is delicious," Astrid said after she'd sipped it.
"And there's no alcohol in it either," he told her, "you could drink a whole barrel of it and your only problem would be the need to use outhouse 5 times an hour."
"I'll keep that in mind," she said dryly.
"Shamrock didn't," he chuckled,
Astrid chuckled too. "All right, I can tell you want to tell me more about it, so how is it made?"
"Simple. I put apples under a wooded press, and then have a Gronkle sit on it. The apple juice is squeezed out into a trough which leads to a bucket. It's then purified and sugar and water are added, and viola! But anyway, shall we eat?"
"And where'd you get the cheese from? I suppose a dragon produced it?"
"Dragons don't produce milk. I bought it." Technically he had stolen it, but he left behind enough coins so he did not consider it illegal. The way he saw it, he just bought it when the seller was not present. "You'll find most merchants don't care what you look like as long as you've got the money." Or don't actually see you. "I got the money from a sunken ship. There are lots of wrecks underwater and Scauldrons fish up valuables for me when I need it. Now, shall we eat?"
They did. For some time neither of them spoke, opting to eat and look out over the ocean. Then he abruptly asked her what she thought of his home.
"It's very…interesting," Astrid said after considering her answer, "you certainly seem to live well,"
"I like to think so too," he replied, sipping his cider.
"But do you ever get…well, tired of having only dragons for company? Don't you ever want to spend some time with a human?"
"I believe that's what I'm doing right now,"
Astrid nearly punched him in the arm for that answer. "That's not what I meant!"
He chuckled, and for the very first time Astrid saw him genuinely smile. There was something so warm about his expression that for an instant her heart fluttered, but she told herself it was only due to the delicious food she'd been eating.
"I'm quite satisfied with the company I have now," he said softly, "I don't need anybody else here."
"But why don't you want any human friends?"
"Aren't you my friend?" he asked lightly.
"I—I suppose so, but wouldn't you want any more? You seem like a very nice man and you're incredibly inventive—so why don't you want to live amongst your own kind?" She suddenly felt coquettish. Perhaps it was the fact that she was having dinner with him at sunset. "Of course, I don't object to you preferring to be alone with me,"
"And I hope you don't object to being alone with me, milady" he grinned.
"I might if this was Berk. After all, a warrior like me having dinner with the Dragon King at sunset…that would get a lot of people talking,"
He laughed. "I can already hear the dragons gossiping about this. The so-called Dragon King is having a sunset dinner with a beautiful she-Viking. It'll be months before they stop teasing me."
Astrid laughed and grinned back and a change came over him. He was looking at her in such a way that made her feel strange. Butterflies seemed to be in her stomach, and her heartbeat seemed to increase. Despite the air beginning to get cooler, her forehead suddenly felt warm. She couldn't even explain or describe what she was feeling. She had little experience with men, especially romantically. Most of the options on Berk were not even worth considering in her opinion. Consequently, she had no idea of how to react to what she was feeling. So she shook herself, pushed her hair out of her face, and gave him a reassuring smile. It had the opposite effect, for she heard him inhale sharply and become tense. As casually as she could, she asked if anything was the matter. He just shook his head and began to stare at the tree behind her. For what was only a few minutes but felt much longer, neither of them spoke, knew what to say, or even looked at each other.
"Look," he said suddenly, and he pointed towards the ocean. The sun had begun to set in earnest now. The sky around it had changed to a brilliant gold, progressively turning to a cornflower blue. The clouds were a mixture of burnished orange and blood red and many were tilted and shaped so that they looked like fingers pointing towards the great orb that gave the world its light. The mighty ocean below appeared to be a sea of molten bronze rather than water, and far off on the eastern horizon a single star had appeared; one small crystal white point amidst the slowly darkening heavens.
"It's beautiful" Astrid whispered. Even though she couldn't see his eyes, she could tell that they were looking right into hers. She felt was as if an invisible power was trying to bring them together. For a moment the two of them seemed to be about to succumb to this pressure, when the Dragon King abruptly got to his feet and walked towards the edge of the cliff. He stood there with his arms outstretched and eyes closed. He took a deep breath, letting his body absorb the last warmth of the sun's rays.
"Look at this, Astrid," he said, opening his eyes and resuming his usual posture. "We are seeing something that no other humans can see tonight, because no other humans have ever stood on these cliffs. There's nothing here but us and the sky, the sea, and the land we're standing on.
"When I look out at times like this I realize just what it means to have Toothless for my best friend. We can go anywhere we like. We can fly to the tops of the tallest mountains on Earth, we can cross the largest oceans and deserts, journey into the deepest parts of jungles, perch on the tallest trees, soar over and into canyons no human has ever seen before, or we can descend into caves none know to even exist. There's no limit to what I can do. How many people can say they've touched the clouds? I've gone closer to the stars than anybody in Europe, and I might just fly high enough to touch them one night. Why would I want to go to live with a bunch of brutes who think of nothing but drinking and fighting, when I could do that?
"All over the world people are destroying each other, kings oppress their subjects, landlords cheat their tenants, women are raped, beaten, and disgraced while men are praised for their sexual conquests, and people slave away every day of their lives and die no richer or happier than they were when they were born. A handful grows bloated on silk mattresses and ignores the people just outside their door sleeping in the mud. And all the while wars are going on, bringing out all the evil in every soldier. On the battlefield you're praised for running a sword or spear through somebody's guts; the more the merrier. You can dismember and decapitate all you want; cut a living person into a pile of unrecognizable blood soaked pieces, and as long as it's the enemy, who's going to argue? At home you'd be executed yourself for doing so, but on the battlefield commit those same actions and you're a hero.
"But with Toothless, I can get away from all of that. Let the rest of the world allow injustice and violence to rule everything: I don't have to be a part of that. I can fly a little ways into the air, and suddenly everything wrong with the earth fades away. What is glory, or riches, or slaves, or wines to me, when I can see a sight like this whenever I want to? Here, I'm free from everything, Astrid. Here, I am my own master, answerable to nobody but myself and the best friend I've ever known and will ever know! That's why I live with dragons, Astrid! The world is at my feet, and nobody can stop me from doing whatever I want! With Toothless, I have freedom; sweet, pure, wholesome, and unfettered in every way!" He suddenly checked himself and sat down. "Why wouldn't I want this life?" he said softly, more to himself that to Astrid. "Why wouldn't anyone want this life?"
It was some time before anybody spoke again. He stared at the sky reflectively while Astrid looked at him with greater interest than ever before. While listening to his speech she'd become more and more convinced that she knew this man somehow. She felt that his name had been on the tip of her tongue this entire time and yet she still couldn't get it out. It was driving her mad and she suddenly couldn't stand it anymore.
"Will you do something for me if I asked you?" she said. It had been some time since anybody had spoken and her voice sounded a lot louder than she had intended. He snapped out of his reverie and smiled.
"Ask away,"
"Will you take off your mask?"
His smile vanished instantly.
"No."
"Then will you tell me your real name?"
"No."
As she considered what to say next, Astrid shifted her position, hoping she might get a chance to snatch his mask off. He seemed to be aware of what she was planning, however, for he backed away from her.
"Please?" Astrid said, "You've shown me so much already. Why not show me your face too? Why not tell me who you really are?"
"Because I have no name, and it's better if you don't see my face." He replied quietly.
"Why? Are you horribly disfigured or something?"
"As a matter of fact, yes I am. I live among creatures that breathe fire and have very sharp claws. Accidents have happened. I can't show you my face because I don't exactly have one anymore. Besides—and I'm telling you this so you'll understand—doing so would be dangerous."
"Dangerous? How could it be dangerous to know what you look like?"
"Astrid, think about it. To a great many people in the world, I am among their worst enemies. Dagur, Alvin, Drago Bludvist, and plenty of others would give their fortunes to see my head on a plate of lettuce."
"And do you think I'd tell people like that what you look like?" she retorted, "More to the point, what difference would it make if they knew what you looked like? How could they use that knowledge against you?"
"As to the first question, when you return to Berk, you will be swamped with questions. Everybody will want to know every little detail that you can remember, and everything you tell them will soon be known throughout the entire archipelago. Any one of those people who count me as an enemy will soon hear everything too. But you can't tell them what I look like if you don't know yourself." He turned away from her and stared at the sky. "Truth be told, Astrid, I've been thinking recently that showing up at that meeting was a mistake. I might have moved too soon before it was safe to do so. I was overconfident. We'd just driven off Bludvist and I was convinced the time had right. I might have misjudged things. Even allowing you to stay here might have been a mistake at this point in time."
"But since you live way out here, what good would it do them to know what you look like?" Her tone grew sympathetic and understanding. "If you're afraid of scaring me, there's nothing to worry about. I've seen disfigurements, I can stand the sight."
"If you know what I look like, sooner or later you'll tell somebody, and they'll tell somebody, and eventually every Viking will know, and then some will use that knowledge to figure out who I am. People like Dagur and Alvin will then hear about it, and they will go after anyone who might be connected to me, and they will use them to get to me. They'd go after you too, if they thought you had the knowledge of my identity. They'd torture you, Astrid, and they'd torture everyone else I once cared about, because they'd believe I would not be able to stand back and let it happen. And they'd be right. I'd come to stop them, and walk right into whatever trap they'd set for me, and as long as they had hostages, I'd be their slave until they decided to finish me off." He was shaking now and his voice was trembling. "That's why I won't show you who I am, Astrid. It would put too many lives at risk, including yours and mine. And that's a risk I refuse to take."
"But what if I promise not to tell anyone?"
"Astrid, they'd torture it out of you. Do you have any idea about what that is like?" He spoke more coldly than she had ever heard.
"Do you?" She countered. She noticed he was trembling and muttering something. It took him some effort to control himself.
"That—that's beside the point. I am not taking this mask off, and if you try anything, I will not let you go back to Berk."
Astrid was shocked. "You wouldn't dare!"
"Push me any further and you'll find out!"
"My tribe would come for me if you did that!"
"I'd like to see them try! But if you heed my warnings, there will be nothing to worry about."
Astrid looked furious.
"No!" He backed even further away from her. "I've given you my reasons, and I think they are perfectly understandable. I cannot let you know who I am, and if you aren't afraid for your own sake, think about the other lives you'd put in danger if you knew! If you knew who I was—" his voice trailed off. Abruptly he began to pick up the plates. "I think we should go inside before the night chill settles in."
He deliberately kept his distance from Astrid as they walked back, and when they reached a fork in the tunnels he only said 'goodnight' and left. Astrid felt a sudden impulse to follow him, but checked herself. She went to her room but made no efforts to go to bed. Instead she paced around debating what he had told her. Eventually she began to hear a loud clanging sound and guessed the King was blacksmithing again.
'Blacksmithing,' she thought, 'hah, just like Gobber, just like...'
Blacksmithing.
Oh Gods she had been so stupid!
Her heart began to pound. The pieces came together and it all began to make sense. Dear Odin, the answer had all been right in front of her this whole time and she had only now guessed it!
But now that she had guessed it, what was she going to do about it? His warnings came back to her memory and she knew beyond any doubt they were not idle ones. He said himself he would not let her leave if she knew, so she obviously could not tell him. But what about anyone else? How would the Chief react if he knew? She dared not think of that. She knew how angry he could get—did he not still hate dragons for killing his wife after over 20 years? And what would happen if the rest of the Viking tribes found out? Again his warnings came back to her.
She made up her mind quickly. She obviously could not tell him that she knew now. She feared him now that she knew who he was. He was not the boy she had known, that much was obvious. Who knew what he was capable of now? And here, the only authority was his. He was not answerable to anyone here. She felt she would have to play dumb if she ever wanted to see her parents again. But would she tell her parents when she got back? She could not see what good it would do. No, whatever she had thought of this night in this room would not be told to anyone. For the sake of peace, she would not reveal who she thought the King's truly was.
Another thought came to mind and strengthened her resolution. She had seen him over the years get trounced upon by everybody, ignored by his family, insulted by most others, deserted by everyone except Gobber. Now he was here and happy. That speech he had made at dinner about freedom came back to her. How could she risk taking that happiness away from him now? She owed it to him to keep this a secret.
As soon as she made this resolution doubts plagued her and the noise did little to calm things. Was she doing the honorable thing? Joining in a secret and keeping a lie did not sound very honorable. But yet again she thought about how the Chief might react. And now something selfish as well came up. If by some miracle the Chief and the rest of Berk took this news well, what would happen to her position in the tribe? The fear of losing it was strong. What would her father say if such a thing happened?
She stayed up thinking and pacing around, running through her options over and over again until it was nearly morning.
Astrid's guess had been right, for as soon as he was alone the King went straight to the forge, made certain the doors were locked, and began to pound away on an axe blade. He often did so when he was distressed. It gave him something else to think about, and allowed him the chance to take out his frustrations on the metal, and he really needed it tonight. He plunged into the task ferociously until he began to forget about what had happened. He lost track of everything that wasn't a part of blacksmithing, until he had no idea of how long he'd been working and felt no reason to care about how long he'd been working. He might have gone on in this way until daybreak, when he was snapped out of his unrelenting focus by a loud pounding sound on the doors that made them shake. He unlocked the doors and pulled them open to find an impatient Toothless.
"Well it's about time!"
"Sorry, Bud," his best friend replied sheepishly, "I just really got into my work,"
"I noticed. So, how'd it go—and why are you still wearing your mask?"
The King put his hammer down and sat on a stool sighing. "I was afraid she might sneak in and see my face. I had to lie to her and tell her I was horribly disfigured, but I'm not sure if she bought it." He briefly described what had happened. Toothless listened grimly.
"Was I right, Bud?" He asked when he'd finished the retelling.
"I don't know, to be honest."
He threw up his hands in exasperation. "I don't either! It's driving me crazy! Was it sensible or cowardly to not tell her the truth? I've already told her so much now; why not just finish the job? I'm already tired of talking in half truths and giving vague hints!"
"Look, I know it's frustrating, but there are only a few more days to go, and then she'll be gone."
"Yeah, she'll be gone" he mumbled, "she'll go back to Berk and who knows when I'll ever get a chance to talk to her again, and I can't make up my mind if I ought to, or if I even want to! I'd like nothing better than to tell her everything, but what would she do if I did? What would happen when she tells everybody else? What'll happen when they find out? Gods, I had to threaten her to get her to drop it! How could I do such a thing? Why does it always have to be me in these predicaments?" he slammed his fist onto a sheet of iron.
"Why'd you even ask her to dinner if you were so concerned about this?" Toothless demanded.
He shrugged. "The plan this whole time has been trying to get Astrid on our side. I was simply following the plan, and I thought it might nice to share a meal with her, that's all. And look how well that turned out!"
Toothless went over to him and looked him straight in the eye. "I think there's more to it than that. I think you've always had feelings for her and that a part of you was hoping to indulge in them tonight." His friend sighed and sat down again, taking off his helmet and running his hands through his hair in exasperation.
"Hic—"
"Don't say it!"
"Sorry."
"I abandoned that name, Bud, you know that."
"Sometimes I wish you'd choose a new one."
"Like 'Indecisive'?" The Dragon King asked with a sad chuckle. Toothless smacked him in the head with his tail.
"Getting back to my question," Toothless said, ignoring his rider's yelps of pain, "Am I right? Is that what you've been hoping to do this whole time? Are you trying to get Astrid to be your mate?"
"I'm thinking I ought to teach you dragons a few human terms to make conversations a bit less awkward."
"Different words, same meanings and implications. But if it makes you feel better: what do you hope to gain by spending time with Astrid?"
He sighed. "She doesn't have much time left here. I wanted to make the most of what we have left, that's all."
"Spending more time with the human who just so happens to be the same human whom you've had feelings for ever since you first set eyes on her? The same human you've compared every single woman to on our travels? The same human whom you still have feelings for?"
"I never said that."
"Oh please, how long have we known each other?" He looked at his friend square in the eye again. "You still have feelings for her. Just admit it."
"I don't know, bud, I don't know, all right! All week I've been trying to assure myself I'm staying focused on our plans, that I'm not being distracted by personal feelings but…the fact that the woman I worshiped a decade ago is actually looking at me and listening to me…it makes me feel happy, bud. I can't help myself when she's around, I like being able to talk to her and tell her things! It's as if I've got to make up for all those years of stuttering and our eight year separation! That night when we were stargazing…and tonight, when we were in the sunset and she smiled at me…she looked so beautiful it made my heart started pounding…I came so close to kissing her, and there was a moment when I thought she wanted me too." He put a hand to his forehead as if feeling his temperature. "I can't stop thinking about it, Bud! My heart pounds when I'm alone with her, the sight of her smiling gives me butterflies in my stomach, and I keep thinking about her leaving the Sanctuary and I don't her to go. I sometimes feel like I should just go and confess everything and beg her to stay with me." His smiled at the thought, and then it slowly faded. "And then reality returns, and I'm reminded that I can't do that."
"Why not?"
"I remember why it just wouldn't work, Bud. You know as well as I do her staying here wouldn't work out."
"Honestly, I don't profess to be an expert in those kinds of things," the dragon looked at him sadly, "I'm good at reading you, but that's because we've been brothers for such a long time. As for the girl, I don't know. Still, she's here, isn't she? If you've got feelings for her, why don't you do something about it? You weren't scared when we faced the Red Death, why should a female Viking make you nervous? Sitting here and moping isn't going to bring the two of you together! Go talk to her! Really talk to her! Tell her the whole truth, if you think it'll work! Nobody here's going to stop you!" When his human didn't move Toothless growled in exasperation. "Ugh! I hate seeing you like this! I always feel nervous when you can't make up your mind about something! When we fought the Red Death I wasn't scared because I knew you had a plan to follow, and it's been the same in all of our adventures…you'd come up with a plan and we'd follow it, and if it went wrong you'd think of something else, but this…this is just unnatural! You've always been quick to make a decision, so what makes this occasion so different?"
He spent some time considering the question, and when he finally answered he spoke very determinedly.
"Because it's not just me I've got to think about in this case, Toothless. Suppose I do what you suggest: go to her room and bare my soul to her and tell her everything. What if she rejects me? She barely even looked at me when we were younger, and who knows how her opinion of me has changed since then, if at all? Tonight certainly did not help, I can promise you that. If she rejected me, she'd then probably reject everything we've shown her about dragons, and then she'll return to Berk and tell them exactly what we don't want her to say. It could wreck our plans just when they were starting to get going. What kind of credibility would I have among the tribes we're trying to get on our side if they knew that the Dragon King was called fishbone, useless, and the village disappointment, among other things? I can't risk everything we've built on a mere crush—"
"You don't believe it's just 'a mere crush.'"
"That doesn't matter here, Bud! Don't you get it? What matters first and foremost is the peace we've been working for between dragons and humans! That should have been my priority these past days, only every time I'm around her I keep forgetting it! But suppose I do what you suggested and she reciprocates my feelings? What then? She's going back to Berk in a few days, and I'm staying here. How would we maintain a relationship? And what if the people of Berk don't approve of it or refuse to approve of dragons, which would amount to the same thing in this case. We couldn't keep it a secret for very long, and sooner or later she'd have to decide to stay with her family, tribe, and friends or stay with me. I don't want to be the reason she'd have to make that decision. And besides, if word got out of our relationship, Drago or Alvin might take advantage of it. And I'll bet Snotlout wouldn't like it too much either." Now his voice began to tremble. "I…I think that for now…at least, until there's no more chance of hostility between us and Berk…there's no chance for Astrid and me to be a couple…there's probably no chance for me to be involved with anybody, actually…I'm too different here." Tears suddenly came into his eyes. Toothless gently nudged him.
"Bud, you know what it's like having to be the only one of your kind. You know what it's like to lack company of your own kind,"
"I've got you and that's good enough for me." Toothless replied firmly.
"But at least in your case there's nothing you can do about it because we've never seen another Night Fury. But in my case…look, earlier tonight Astrid was asking me if I ever want human friends, and the truth is, sometimes I do. And while I know there are plenty of humans within a few hours flight of here, I keep feeling that I can't go near them. It sounds crazy, I'm sure, but that's how I feel, Bud."
"Well, who needs them? You've got us!"
"I know that, Bud, and you guys are the greatest, but I just…I'm still a human and you guys are all dragons, and the fact remains I'm still alienated from my own species here because all the other humans around here disagree with me. I feel that it's just like it was before I met you! And after all these years I'm getting tired of being different from the rest. Why can't I just be more like everyone else?" He shouted.
"I've got a better question. Why can't everyone else just be more like you?"
His friend suddenly started laughing. "Because I'm an adrenaline addict who lives with dragons."
"And don't we love you for it!" Toothless grinned, then suddenly pounced on him and began licking him.
"How many times do I have to tell you—?"
"I know that stuff doesn't wash out, yeah, yeah, yeah, like you wash your clothes much to begin with." He got up and watched his rider try and wipe saliva from his armor. "You know, we could go back to China or India, or someplace that accepts dragons. They were friendly enough. They'd accept you. I kept telling you we could settle down there, you could find a lovely woman and raise a clutch…"
"And abandon everything we've started here? We came here to change people's minds, and that's what we're going to do."
"Good point. Say, suppose we take Astrid flying? I'll bet I could get her to fall in love with you if we did."
The human chuckled. "Right, because all it takes to win a girl's heart is to take her flying through the clouds."
"How about we kidnap her?"
"Toothless!"
"Why not? Kidnap her, take her on a flight, confess your feelings, kiss her until she likes it…I know a lovely quaint little spot in Sweden…bunch of islands just on the Ostsee. It's the perfect spot for a romantic kidnapping!"
"Like that's going to go over well. You're really weird, you know that?"
"We're all a bit weird, I think. It's what keeps us from getting bored."
"I'm best friend with a dragon who's a kidnapper and a philosopher. I'm a lucky man."
"I'm glad you realize it. And it just might work. You never know…"
"No, we don't know. But last time I asked her about riding a dragon she declined." He looked thoughtful and calculating. "But she's getting more comfortable, so perhaps she'll be less reluctant in a day or two. All the same, if she does go flying, she'll need her own dragon, because I don't want her sitting behind me. She could pull my mask off. That's why I did take her flying initially, that and the fact that I wanted her accustomed to peaceful dragons first." He groaned. "And I threatened to keep her here if she tried to see my face. Gods I was so horrible then, but I had to say something to keep her away from me and that was all I could think of. I've gotta apologize."
"But why should it matter about your mask? You're going to reveal yourself to her one day, right?"
"Yes—at least, I believe I will, but it would be better to do it on my own terms, not if I'm taken by surprise. And I want to be certain of what she thinks about me first. And I have to be certain it's safe to do so. Bud, do you think we moved prematurely here? Drago's gone for the moment, but he was hardly the only one out here who was an enemy to dragons. Maybe we should have waited longer, or tried things on a smaller scale instead of telling every Chief in existence about us."
"But if you just keep waiting it'll never happen."
"True, but…well, it doesn't matter now. What's done is done. It's what will be done next that matters now. And maybe it's not hopeless…if we get Astrid on our side I think I could start getting others to accept the facts too…in fact, maybe it's for the best we moved too soon. If we get our potential enemies united against us and can get any potential allies to unite with us, we could settle this…but that means war."
"We know the risks." Toothless said. "So, we get our enemies into one group and offer them one last chance and then finish off anyone who ignores it, then, with a victory on our side, we go forward integrating dragons and you get Astrid as your mate. That's nice and straightforward."
He glanced bitterly at his helmet. "Assuming she'd ever go for all of—"
"If you think of gesturing to all of yourself, I will wash the saliva from your clothes by dropping you in the ocean!" Toothless growled. "I think you're fine just the way you are—except for when you've pulled some of those crazy stunts—"
"What stunts are we talking about exactly?"
"That latest Dragonfly test flight, for instance?"
"Oh, right...mild calibration issues."
"Your 'mild calibration issues' are going to be the death of me!" Toothless laughed. "Even so, those people on Berk were stupid for not using their brains and seeing you for who you truly are, and that's their loss! And if they're still acting that way, I say let 'em have that snot filled chuck of beef for their next chief and deal with it! And if Astrid is the same as the rest of them, then she can mate with Snotty and I'm sure they'll be very happy!"
"When you put it like that, I don't know if I should laugh, be horrified, or feel pity for Berk."
"Well, they gave you 15 horrible years. I'd say let them pay for it."
"Bud, we can't be too vindictive, you know that. It sets a bad example that others won't hesitate to follow." He patted his dragon on the head. "Still, thanks Bud."
"Getting back to a subject we were talking about earlier, do you want to go flying?"
The King smiled sadly."Yeah, I'd like that,"As he put on his helmet and mask he abruptly turned to the Night Fury. "Toothless, if I ever lost you…"
"You won't."
"If I ever lost you, Bud, I'd…I'd probably go insane or kill myself or something."
"Remember our agreement!" Toothless growled. "We promised each other if one of us died the other one would not do anything to speed up their own death."
"I know, but still…I don't know what I'd do without you to help me…thanks Bud."
"I'm always here for you, and you know it. And I always will be."
"All the same, Bud," his best friend replied as he finished putting the saddle on the dragon. "I want you to look after of yourself."
"You've got to do that too." Toothless replied, "So, have you made up your mind about Astrid?"
"Yes. I've got to apologize to her, and remember that I can't let any personal feelings get in the way of things. And we've still got to keep my identity secret until we're positive we've got enough supporters." He was about to climb onto the dragon's back when a blue Terrible Terror flew into the room.
"Sir! Sir!"
"What's up?"
The small dragon landed on the King's shoulder and whispered something into his ear. His grip on the saddle tightened.
"What is it?" Toothless asked.
"Drago Bludvist has been spotted on a ship off the coast of Denmark heading this way," the King replied grimly. His hands began twitching. "And that's not all. Remember Adoncia?"
"Oh no…"
Authors Note:
I'll bet everyone thought this was going to be the big reveal moment. Not yet!