Into the Lair

A slight shaking to my shoulder rises me from my sleep. My vision blurs, then focuses on an object a few feet away.

"Uh, good morning Mom. How did you sleep?" I try and avoid the topic that is bound to come up.

"I'm fine Hiccup. And how did you sleep? Did any Terrible Terrors wake you up at midnight? Or perhaps the Gronkle's roar at one?" Mom crosses her arms and gives me an all knowing glare.

"Nope. I must have slept right through it. I was up late working on some new ideas of mine." I fake a yawn trying to sell the lie.

"Hm, interesting. I thought you were a light sleeper?"

"I must have been really tired." She ignores my comment and moves on with the interrogation.

"So, you were in the forge the entire night?" Toothless raises his head, and meets Cloudjumper staring him down. I feel bad that Toothless has to be questioned too. After all, it was all my idea.

"With the few occasional breaks, ya. Toothless and I were here all night." Mom sighs and shakes her head.

"Give it up Hiccup. I know you weren't in the forge last night. I checked in the forge every hour after you failed to return home in time. Hiccup, you have to be careful. There are vikings and some dragons that would kill you and Toothless. Promise me you will be more careful."

"I promise." Mom pulls me in for a hug. After pulling back she says,

"Now go give the elder dragoons a good massage for lying and not coming home in time. You too Toothless." Mom and Cloudjumper leave. Leaving me alone with a grumpy Night Fury.

"I told you she wouldn't buy your lame excuse."

"Oh be quiet. You didn't have an ideas at all. At least I tried. Now let's go give the elders their massage and get this over with."

I stumble into my forge. Flopping down at my desk I sigh. Toothless grumbles behind me and I turn.

"Go ahead and get some rest bud. I'm going to be working on a new sword for a while." Toothless pads over to a corner and starts his routine for bed. I turn to where I store my metal and notice I am all out. I push myself up and groan at my acing muscles. Turns out that elders love having their backs rubbed for hours. I grab a bucket, leave the cave and go to find Ironbreath.

"Ironbreath! I need some more iron!" The Gronkle looks over at me.

"Nice to see you Hiccup. Got the rocks?"

"Yep, right here." I toss some rocks at his feet and he gobbles them up. I place the bucket at his feet and he spews lava into it. "Thanks Ironbreath."

"Anytime Hiccup." On my way back to the forge, I take a moment to relax and enjoy my surroundings. Dragons are settling in for the night. Parents are guiding their complaining children to their nests. I feel calm, at peace. I couldn't imagine living anywhere else but here, with my family. I smile and duck into the forging cave.

The cling of a hammer on a sword echo through the quiet sanctuary. All the dragons have settled in for the night and I'm next. I stick the sword into a bucket of water. Leaving it there, I clean up the mess I have made creating the weapon. I take the sword out of the water for a quick examination of the sword. The hilt is plain right now but I will carve and decorate it later. The blade its self is unique. It is missing the center with the exception of two strips supporting the sword. I'm hoping between the less metal used, and the light weight of the Gronkle Iron, that I will be able to wield the sword as fast as a Night Fury can fly. I set the sword down.

Yawning, I head over to my bed in the forge. I collapse on my bed. As soon as my head touches my pillow, I'm out.

"Come on Hiccup! We are going to miss breakfast!"

"I'm up. I'm up." I stand up on unbalanced feet. Toothless nudges me and sends me to the ground.

"Gosh Hiccup, when did you become so frail."

"I'm not frail. You know that. Or do I have to show you my muscles again?" Toothless bows into hunting crouch and I follow suit.

"Oh I know that you are pure muscles, but you aren't strong enough to take on me…and Cloudjumper." Cloudjumper walks into the room at that moment and looks around confused. Seeing the position we are in, he rolls his eyes and tells us,

"Keep it short. Breakfast is on the table." I turn to Toothless just as he tackles me. I let myself roll backwards onto my feet. Toothless and I meet head on, each trying to gain the upper hand. Toothless backs up before leaping onto me. We crash into the floor. Toothless mimics viking's hand to hand combat and I deflect each blow. I kick my feet up onto Toothless stomach, launching him to the ceiling. Toothless bounces off the ceiling landing before me. I fake an attack from the left, but switch directions and attack from the right. This catches Toothless off balance and I push him to the floor.

"Boys! Come eat your breakfast or I'll give it to Cloudjumper." I scramble off Toothless and sprint to the cave. Toothless, being a Night Fury, beats me home by a mile and is already starting breakfast when I enter the cave.

"Morning Mom."

"Good morning Hiccup. How did you sleep?"

"I slept good." The chatter dies off as we all dig into our food. Mom isn't the best cook in the world, but I've grown up with it and am used to it. I finish my food and lean back in my chair.

"Toothless and I are going exploring today."

"Oh really? After last time I think that you are going to be staying home."

"Come on Mom, please. You know that you won't be able to contain Toothless and me to the nest." A sigh escapes her mouth as she looks down at their food.

"Alright, but I want you home by sunset."

"Ok deal. Come on Toothless let's go."

"Sure, don't even ask me if I want to go. Just assume that I want to." Toothless turns up his nose and looks away from me.

"Do you want to go flying Toothless?"

"Yes I do. Thank you for asking." I roll my eyes and hop on.

"See you later Mom!" We zoom out of the cave and out to open sea.

"What do you say we head south?"

"Works for me." We angle south and to the horizon beyond.

"I want to get far today, so fly far and fast."

"Yes master." Sarcasm drips in Toothless voice.

Hours later, we rest on a small island. Soaking up there sun, I lay down on the sand and stare into the sky. A large plop and a shower of sand let's me know that Toothless has laid down beside me. I drift into a light slumber.

I wake and look up at the sky. We only have a few hours before sunset. I wake Toothless and we hit the sky. A few minutes later and Toothless begins acting funny. His eyes dilate and he swings his head from side to side.

"What is it bud?"

"I don't know. Something is trying to pull me in." He looks back at me and his eyes widen.

"Hiccup, I know that look. Don't do it. Need I remind you that we need to get home before sunset?"

"Toothless, this could be the reason that the dragons were acting weird. We have to check it out and help the dragons."

"I hate it when you are right."

A few minutes later and we arrive at an island. We fly through an opening in the mountain and set down on a hidden ledge. Sweat pours off me from the heat. Dragons begin to enter. They drop the food they are carrying into a large, misty pit.

"Hiccup, look." A Gronkle regurgitates a small fish into the pit. A loud grumble sounds from below, and a giant head emerges from the mist. It snaps its jaws shut around the Gronkle and melts back into the mist.

"Let's get out of here."

"We can't just leave the dragons Toothless. They are getting eaten by their queen." Just then, a small sound echo's through the cavern.

"What was that?"

"That, was the sound of the queen who is about to eat us." I whack Toothless on the head.

"Quiet." It sounds again before silence settles in. Then, a quiet roar sounds throughout the cave. My eyes narrow in confusion. That wasn't a dragon roar.

"Is that…"

"I think it is."

"Well Toothless, let's go. Looks like we have someone else to save." We shoot up and out of the cave, high into the sky. We pause among clouds and look back. The queen has emerged from the mountain and is attacking a group of vikings.

"Ready bud?"

"You bet I am." We dive down towards the queen. A whistling sound sounds from Toothless as we dive. He pulls up behind the queen and let's loose a plasma blast.

Author's Note: Just wanted to let you all know that I changed the intro to the last chapter a little bit. Nothing to dramatic so don't freak out. I feel like it added to the story a little bit. Let me know what you though of this chapter and have a wonderful holiday season.