So Much More
By: Selim
Summary: As future king, Toothless was entitled to the wealth, power, and women that came with the job. A chance meeting with a creature from another world teaches him that there is so much more outside his world and only he can protect it. Antro-Toothless x Hiccup
Warnings: AU-AR, Antro-Character, sug. human sacrifice, sug. dragon slavery
Pairing: Toothless x Hiccup
Disclaimer: I do not own How to Train Your Dragon. This is a piece of fiction and the author is not making any money off its creation.
Mother still offered him that same reassuring smile she had since those first moments. He had first compared it to a look a man would give a dangerous animal in the wilds. Now, it seemed almost comforting, a constant in his changing world. Mother had never hurt him in the past, she wouldn't do it now.
Being led into a grand library beyond anything Berk ever had, Hiccup stepped away from the dark female dragon, moving along the shelves with adoration. Dragons were not gods, they served the gods. In a sense, they were animals and animals couldn't read. Animals couldn't maneuver carts or capitalize in animal husbandry either, but that was beside the point. These dragons were different. These dragons were almost human in nature.
His shoulders relaxed as the door shut, leaving him in a room with Mother, King Clawless, and the one smaller dragon that could speak in the human tongue. King Clawless wore the uniform that everyone else wore, from Toothless to bad dragon. Hiccup scrutinized the proud dragon and his familiar smirk.
"What's going on?" He finally asked. He had to repeat his question when he realized it was rushed and whispered. Focusing on the human-tongued dragon, Hiccup shifted his form, caught between submission and mock-authority. His early training to be village leader felt lost within him under his years of training to be a delicate sacrifice.
The yellow-green dragon paused in his conversation with Mother and King Clawless. "That depends."
Storming over to the divan, Hiccup settled across from the human speaker and perpendicular to Mother and King Clawless. "All of it. Where are the gods?"
"It is believed that you were given to us by the gods."
Hiccup frowned. In other words there wasn't any gods in the mountains. This world was strange enough to account for it by referring to the gods' intervention. There had been a mistake on both species misunderstanding. "And the bad dragon?" He meant the red one, who had grabbed him not once, but twice. The very one who had hurt Maybar.
"He will not bother you again. I will not let him, or anyone else, sell you." The dragon straightened his back, directing his focus entirely on the human. Hiccup shifted.
"Toothless won't let anything happen to me." Hiccup stared back. "I don't need any other dragons; just Toothless, Mother, and Maybar." He tilted his head back to consider King Clawless. While the man hadn't been demanding, his face was firm and menacing. These features disappeared when Mother was in the room, but Hiccup knew that the look could come back in a second.
The man reminded him of his father. Stoick was a fierce man before his people. To lead a village, he had to be a firm leader. His cold exterior would melt in the presence of his family. "I see." The dragon murmured. "We will see if you still decide that once Toothless returns."
Hiccup nodded, placing his hands on his knees. He listened closely for the familiar sounds of Toothless' stride. He didn't have to wait long before the dark dragon stepped into the room, a tiny dragon at his side. King Clawless straightened his back, not even standing as the small one did. Toothless scowled at the dragon, a low whisper of, "Ripper." Stunning eyes crept over the room, finally falling on the human still nestled into an armchair.
Settled in front of the chair, Toothless placed both hands at Hiccup's side, leaning in for inspection. His clawed fingers, never rough, brushed over Hiccup's jaw, tilting and considering every scrape, bruise, and dirt swatch left in the wake of the kidnapping. "You're safe now." He promised in his deep, vibrating voice. The words didn't scrape against his ears as they had at one point. Now the dragon language seemed almost a low hum of an insect than a dangerous growl of a beast. Toothless' was more so, it pulled interest in the boy. He wanted to learn this language so he could understand every word that escaped the dragon's lips.
"Safe now, Toothless." Hiccup repeated with trained ease. Toothless' face always seemed to brighten when he tried using the dragon's language.Such a smart and cleverhuman he was. The Seer was never impressed with his abilities.
"Good." Toothless' body leaned forward, as if he intended to place a kiss on Hiccup's temple. His warm breath wrapped across the boy's temple when he froze, contemplating his actions before pulling away. Sheepish, the dragon stood tall to face Mother. "I request your ear, King Clawless. There is bad blood in our castle and, perhaps, to be part of the family."
Hiccup watched with ruptured interest. Even the dragon who could translate was too busy observing to do so.
"I understand your concern about the Slavers being within our castle, it is a fair assessment in light of the recent happenings in our lands, however I cannot permit you to put any of my people at risk to bring these people crawling out, Toothless." Clawless growled in a non-menacing way. Mother placed a hand on his elbow, whispering low and sweet.
"Let him speak, Darling."
Toothless offered her an appreciative smile before continuing. "According to Fishhook, he was approached by a man while surveying the market. This person was seeking a particular slave, one that only comes every ten years from the mountains. They've been heard of, but never seen. Our men are good about keeping their stolen persons under tight surveillance."
"Most," Ripper interjected, "End up accidentally killing the humanbefore a week out. They treat them very much as slaves, however if it gets known they have one, the law would come down upon them. As you have seen with the ones collected, only my Eirick was most healthy, but even that did not save him from an untimely death at the hands of incompetents." The last was spoke with a hiss directed at the three dragons in the room.
Hiccup stretched his legs out, bare toes brushing along the cool wooden table between them. Not doing anything was beginning to grate on his nerves again.
"It is a status symbol amongst these traders to possess a species that no others do. The market value of this particular humanis staggering to the millions of gems. There will always be a demand for them, however we have the opportunity to remove the biggest distributor, the one who purchased Hiccup at least once."
"Are we not going to investigate the other time?" Mother inquired with a tilt of her head.
Toothless' features darkened. "And that's the root of the matter. I do not think the original buyers hand wasn't too far off from the second purchase. It was too soon after the first failed attempt to purchase Hiccup for there to be another buyer on the market. In fact, I cannot help but think the one person who witnessed Hiccup's return may have a hand in the most recent attempt to abduct him."
"And you have already collected him." The King scowled. "I fail to see the necessity of this meeting. While I understand Fishhook is your friend - he is like a son to me - he has disobeyed my rule and must be punished for his actions. His careless ways has not only touched this human, but my family. We are right now waiting to hear world from the doctor of Maybar and the baby's condition."
"The problem, Father, is that I fear my would-be betrothed may be a part of this distribution ring. I do not know how, but I find it unlikely for her not to be completely innocent in the recent matters considering her father is the one that initially spent millions to have Hiccup."
Mother hissed. Ripper stood and walked past Hiccup's chair, his shaky claws squeezing the boy's shoulders as he went. It was King Clawless who remained quiet and in his seat, watching Toothless with unnerved eyes. "That is a sharpened accusation. Thrown in the wrong crowds could ruin your reign when you step into power, especially if made hastily at the wrong person. While your mother is not overly fond of Flaremoth, she comes from a powerful family. Although bought, many of my cabinet will blindly support him all the same if requested."
"I'm sure, Father. Just... give me this chance to prove that she is equally a guilty party. If I am wrong, I will beg her forgiveness before the court and you, my King." Toothless stiffened his wings.
Hiccup watched the exchange carefully, not sure what they were talking about. Probably him, he realized solemnly. What to do with the human who was more trouble than he's worth. There's no way to go home, you missed that opportunity trying to get back to Toothless.
Said dragon turned his attention to Hiccup, dropping back to his knee. His rough fingers took Hiccup's small hand, grasping it carefully. "I need a favor from you, Hiccup."
"Toothless," Mother started. King Clawless held up a hand, silencing up.
"Ripper, could you translate for me. I have a specific request."
He never felt like a slave. Slaves did not choose to work for others. Hiccup chose this life when he was ten, five years before to save the girl he had a slight crush on.
To know he had a choice whether to comply or just leave the situation was power Hiccup wasn't aware he would ever get to experience again. Toothless maintained eye contact with him as he spoke, discussing the situation from the moment Hiccup had been picked up in the mountains until only minutes ago when they arrived back to the castle. He supplied names and descriptions of each person so Hiccup could understand who they were and of what value they had in this world.
The only thing that didn't make sense, and Hiccup didn't voice it from his embarrassment, was he did not understand yet what Toothless' friends had to do with any of it. What value were Mother, King Clawless, Maybar, and Massclaws? Or even the little girl dragons that sometimes played at Maybar's ankles, scrutinizing Hiccup's every action with some disdain that he breathed the same air they had.
Simply put, Toothless wanted him to do what he had been trained to do for the gods - be attending and subservient. If it had been for Toothless, Hiccup would have heartily agreed. It was one of the few things he felt good for. He never did anything right at the smithy before he became a chosen sacrifice and he certainly wasn't going to be a good leader of Berk. The problem was, Toothless wanted him to serve a girl, a female dragon who had likely arranged the second kidnapping.
Swallowing, Hiccup placed his hands in his lap as Toothless continued, Ripper's voice following seconds later. "I need you to tend to her every need, make her want you serving her now and forever. She might check you over for deformities, but don't startle away. Allow her to look and be interested. I'm going to have a scribe nestled into the snack cart; he'll be recording everything that is said. Should she attempt to leave with you or have someone else take you during the stay, feel free to scream for me."
"You won't let her hurt me?" He asked, his voice shaky.
"Of course not." Toothless, still on his knees and holding Hiccup's hands, smiled. "She'd have to rip me apart to take you away."
Hiccup smiled back. "I'll do it." He said with certainty. "I want to," he reassured Mother when she stood up, appearing ready to fight this decision. "She hurt Maybar." He folded his hands in his lap, decided. "I wish I could understand her, move her along to discuss what she wanted with me - if it was her. Maybe you will teach me your language, Toothless?" He tilted his head to the side with a pleased smile as Ripper translated with apparent unease.
Toothless' cheeks darkened and he dropped his head before pulling away. "Are you ready?" He asked the room. Mother frowned.
"Toothless, we must talk."
"And we will, Mother, just let me solve this problem first and then you can talk my ear off for the next ten years." Toothless brushed her aside. Scrambling out of his seat, Hiccup followed after the tall dragon, finally glad to have something to do.
He was taken to a nice tray cart, piled with a wide selection of cakes and other desserts, tea, and a bitter drink that Toothless favored in the mornings. The tiny dragon, Rockcounter, climbed under the cart where he would be hidden away from prying eyes by a long decorated sheet. Toothless and the creature exchanged a few short words before the dragon focused all of his attention on the human. "You'll be safe." He repeated, eyes downcast. "I wish I could promise you always, but I can promise this one time."
Feeling tense, Hiccup grabbed the dragon's hand. Their skin was so different, he realized for the second time that day. No. You realized he was different the minute he wrapped his hand around your dick and made the bad liquid come out. Hiccup blushed. Bad liquid or not, it still had felt so good those few seconds before he realized what had happened. Maybe if you ask, Toothless will do it again.
Stop that, naughty Hiccup.
"Hiccup safe w-with," he struggled on the word, "Toothless. Today, tomorrow, tomorrow-tomorrow." He tried.
Toothless' didn't seem reassured, but his flat nose pressed into Hiccup's hair, breathing heavily. His shoulders sagged with heavy wings and for a second, he didn't seem so tall or scary. He looked like a lost child in a confusing world, something Hiccup was very familiar with these days. "Go." The dragon pushed him towards the doors with the cart.
Using his shoulder to prop the door open, Hiccup slid the cart in with only a passing look at Toothless. Inside, the tall red dragon straightened expectantly. Her shoulders slumped upon seeing only him, her attention falling back towards a wall with little more expression than disinterest. "Toothless is going to be late," he said in his own tongue when he realized the dragon hadn't followed him in. He nervously walked closer into the room, ready for anything to come out and grab him. "He said to bring you snacks. These cakes are really delicious."
He was rambling. It was the only thing he could do just short of running to the door and begging someone to stand guard in here.
Busying his hands, he sliced off a portion of the cake, placing it on a fine plate. His hands shook as he handed her the plate, which she took gracefully without word.
Standing quietly for a few seconds, Hiccup shifted nervously. "Some tea! Tea is good." He grabbed the white cup, noting the beautiful floral print along the wide mouth. Pouring the drink, Hiccup offered her the cup. This time her fingers stayed upon his hands for a second longer than necessary.
"Where is your prince, little human?" The soft purr followed.
Hiccup tilted his head to the side, letting his confusion show. "I'm here to serve." He whispered in his own tongue. His eyes canvassed over the cart of treats, not sure what to offer next. If it was Toothless, he would have offered the dragon an additional pillow or a massage. Perhaps would clean up after the dragon, especially since the man seemed to leave messes in his wake. "Can I, um," he shifted nervously, "Um, clean?" He waved around the already polished room.
The female dragon placed her two dishes on the couch. Nervous that they would fall over, Hiccup gathered the items up and placed them on his cart. "Attentive little creature are you?" She hummed. "Will Toothless be joining us?"
"Toothless!" Hiccup smiled, picking up the name in all of the words she spoke. "Toothless is very busy right now; he said I was to make you comfortable."
"Hn, too busy to see me." Flaremoth huffed, sitting back in the chair. "I told him I was not interested in this stupid mating contract. It ruins everything."
Hiccup remained focused on the female, unsure what she wanted. He tried offering her the tea cup again. She carefully took the cup from his hands. Her grasps along his fingers remained as she placed the cup back on the cart. Straightening his back, Hiccup curled his fingers nervously.
Was she checking his nails? Nervously, he glanced at his cuticles. Dirty. Good Viking hands, his father's voice echoed in his head. Though slender and long, they had been dirtied with oil and soot since the days he started working at the smithy with Gobber. After, they had been used to garden and clean, cook and bake, and by the end of the day his fingers bled. Fingers, clean enough to handle food, his nails shared the story of the day. Dirt and blood, a hangnail he would bite off later.
"My father was so pissed when you slipped out of his fingers. He paid all that money up front for you and you slip from the guards and back into the royal control." She hummed. "The hypocritical royal court." She rubbed her fingers over the quickened pulse vein in his wrist. "Sitting on a goldmine and they're standing by their high moral ground. Dragons should not own dragons. That law says nothing about humans. Lesser humans."
Hiccup shifted uncomfortably. "Can I get you something? I think we have a little cake in here that's topped with strawberries and it's really good. The cook only lets me have one though, but Toothless gives me his cake."
Flaremoth did not release her grip on him. Instead, she seemed to pull his arm closer, looking over his arm. She moved her finger up his arm, towards his shoulders and his neck. With an affirmative noise, she released his chin and held him at arm length. He couldn't help but get the feeling he was being checked out like a prized sheep. "You're their little loophole. The law doesn't protect you and, so long as they don't whip you, no animal rights committee would protect you. You beautiful little animal."
"Please let me go." Hiccup whispered, tugging his arm free. "I don't want dragons touching me," he whispered, not looking her in the eye.
She pulled him back, grip firm. "Perhaps I can place ownership of you in our mating contract. Appropriately, of course. 'The servitude of one human to the service of the crowned princess.'" She released him with a sharp brush of her hand down his body. A low hum fell upon her lips as she rubbed her fingers together in thought. "The chance to teach my father how real business should be done."
"And how is that, Lady Flaremoth?" Toothless' voice chimed from the door. Turning, Hiccup rushed to the dragon, hiding behind the taller figure. Arms across his chest, Toothless considered his fiancé.
The female sighed, dropping her hands to her lap. "The right way; that people cannot - nor should they - be forced into servitude."
Toothless made a low, breathy sound as he made his stride across the room, the wide doors shutting behind him and sealing with the smallest of noises. Shifting after, Hiccup stayed by the arm of the chair. "Hiccup, a drink please." He pointed to the tea cart at his elbow. Huffing, Hiccup moved to the cart, grabbing up a knife to cut a piece of cake. "No. Drink." Toothless taped the beautiful pot. Without a word, Hiccup complied with the demand. "He's a good boy, just a little slow with the language barrier. He makes up that by being more attentive by our needs. Always a few steps ahead - I want cake, but if I let him give it to me now, he'll never learn the language."
Flaremoth's long mouth pressed together. "I... do not understand."
"I'm sure you do." Toothless hummed. "As long as my father rules, we must follow his rule. I must follow his rule at least publicly. Hiccup has been an," He paused, "Eye opener. The law does not apply to his kind, although he tries to do so. Hiccup is mine, to do as I please."
"Oh?" The female leaned in. Her necklace, a long beautiful emerald, slipped into her tight blouse, between her breasts. Toothless' eyes followed it. Hiccup bit the inside of his lip, not liking what was transpiring in front of him. "You do not seem the kind of man who would support that particular franchise."
"Neither do you." Toothless leaned forward with a pleased curl of the lip. "I do worry about this mating union and its relation with my servant. I do not want to see him being shipped out to some poorly run farm to work his days, forgotten in the sun until he dies of mistreatment. Hiccup!" The boy jumped. "The lady needs more drink. Drink!"
Jumping at the loud noise, Hiccup grasped for the teapot blindly.
"See," Toothless hummed happily, "He is such a smart animal."
"That he is," Flaremoth purred. "Positively delightful. Are all humans like that?"
Toothless nodded. "While Hiccup is the last living one, the ones collected in the beginning were all well trained by their previous owners. Humans are made to be subservient to their betters, instinctively. You can understand then why I'm so protective of him. He's so rare - it's only proper that I should have something of value like him."
"But of course," Flaremoth smiled. "May I?" She nodded toward Hiccup. With the prince's approval, she reached for Hiccup, pulling the boy before her. "He is very fine, no muscle, but that can be fixed with the appropriate eye." She cooed sweetly, embracing the boy. Hiccup glanced over at the dark dragon to her left, begging quietly for some help but Toothless just offered him a sheepish smile. "Perhaps we can create a business agreement. You need a mate, per your father's rule."
The scowl marring Toothless' face was real.
"As I said during your party, I am not looking for a mate - prince or otherwise. I have business ventures that, er, need a blind political eye. My father and I have very different business approaches. Slavery, as you may know, is a tough subject. In the past, slaves have been built around conquest. Captured prisoners would be sold to the highest bidder and worked until death. Rinse and repeat every battle. These days we have fought less, the real deterioration of our society my father claims. Slaves are becoming a higher commodity in which individuals are sold into. This leaves a constant demand that can never be filled."
"And your solution?"
"We fall in with the law and create. We do not create slaves, we create servants" She looked over Hiccup again. "Children, as you are aware, tend to fall in line with their mother's specie. If we bred him, repeatedly, we can create a new fraction. We bred them with secondary groups. Continual humans in our lands, legally created. You take on the family business. Children of servants," She said this with air quotes, "Become servants themselves. Legally created servants."
Toothless leered. "That get sold on the market."
"Not in so many words. Under the currents, perhaps a trinket or two is exchanged, but the real price for the time being is political support. I give them legal servants, they give you their devoted support." She leaned forward. "And appropriate deal for a young prince with no support under him."
"And of our children?" Toothless sipped his drink. "As my mate, I will be needing children. Heirs."
The lady settled back, releasing her hold on Hiccup. Free, the boy moved far across the room, where neither dragon could grab him. "Two children, which will be my other return towards you for allowing my business to continue."
Setting his cup down, Toothless straightened his back. "Appropriate, I believe. You are quite the business lady. I am sure you are aware that your father placed a bid on my human the day of my betrothal?"
"Which fell through, my Prince."
"Yes, well... someone else has placed a secondary bid on the human."
Flaremoth's chest expanded with pride. "I would not worry of it. Whomever it was will not attempt again."
"You will not attempt to underhandedly take him from my service?"
"So long as I receive rights to his offspring."
Toothless rose. "That settles that then." He met her pleased eyes. "Rockcounter, did you get all that?"
The tiny terror stuck his head out from under the cart. "Yes, My Lord Prince."
"What is the meaning of this?" Flaremoth stood, disgust written across her face.
"This, my lady, is the end of our agreement." The doors opened, two large dragons with twin heads each stood stiffly at the only exit. Hiccup watched all the beasts with fascination. "You may bring the lady down to the dungeons. I wish for her to be detained separate from her father and Fishhook. When the full story comes out and all warehouses of, and I quote, servants has been apprehended, see me." He nodded to the guard.
Flaremoth hissed. "You-! He speaks lies, I simply went along with my Prince's wishes. He is the one seeking to sell off the human! Have him arrested at once!" The guards looked at unease with the thought. "He is breaking the king's rule!" The female screeched, taking a step towards the prince..
When the room had first grown tense, Hiccup had covered his ears, trying to block all the loud noise. The moment he saw threat towards Toothless, he rushed forward with the same rage he had felt when that big red dragon had sought out Maybar and the baby. Standing before Toothless, he stretched his arms out to block, the best glare on his face. "Leave him alone! Go away! Bad dragon, bad dragon!" He shouted.
Bringing an arm around Hiccup, Toothless pulled the human back. "I have to agree with the - what's the word you called him? Animal? - you are a very bad dragon." The guards did as instructed, the smallest of looks towards the prince.
"My Lord King will be informed of this entire transaction," The left head of one of the beast chimed, "As there was conspiring against the thrown brought before this room and the ears within it."
"Of course." Toothless breathed. Dropping to his knee, he smiled. "Hiccup, you're safe now."
Hiccup crossed his arms. "You yelled at me, stupid dragon! I don't understand your stupid language."
Wrapping his arms around Hiccup's body, Toothless breathed heavily into his hair. "I apologize for everything that occurred in this room. I will make you safe from here on out."
Exhaling, Hiccup closed his eyes. He didn't know what the beast had said, but he couldn't help but feel reassured and truly safe with the one person, past all the language barriers, that protected him.
Excused from cleaning up the mess left from the encounter, Hiccup followed Toothless back to the sitting room where Mother, King Clawless, and Ripper still sat. Hiccup slipped a hand into Toothless' claw when he noticed that Massclaws had joined the room. Toothless bowed his head towards King Clawless.
"She was taken into custody. Rockcounter has dictated the entire exchange for the record." Toothless bowed his head. "There will still be slave traders and she did not fully announce that she was the second buyer, however I am sure that if you seize her accounts, there will be a reduction in finance to account for it. She... wanted Hiccup to breed."
Mother chuckled, offering Hiccup a seat. Ripper broke the silence with a throaty laugh. "I would have loved to see her try. Eirick and I tried for... may years and had no egg to show for it. Humans reproduce, but not in any way I have ever heard of. More rules on who needs to carry the baby. Eirick didn't really know, he says that hadn't been part of his training to come to our world."
Toothless frowned, sitting in the only open seat in the grand room. He didn't appear startled when Hiccup slid out from the spot next to Mother to settle beside him. Wrapping a protective arm around Hiccup, Toothless settled back. "Now, Mother, what was it you wanted to speak about earlier?"
An apprehensive glance was sent toward both Massclaws and Clawless. When no support was offered, she clasped her hands. "Hiccup will be leaving us today."
Sitting up, Toothless canvassed the people for an answer. "Was there another gate to his world in the mountains?"
Clawless patted his wife's shoulder, taking control of the talk. "No. We just believe that Hiccup is not safe in our care. You have seen already that even the most trusted men have put him and our family at risk for needless gain. We will be sending Hiccup out to stay with Commander Ripper."
Toothless' mouth and arm dropped. Hiccup looked between him and the older dragons in the room, trying to figure out what had been going on. The old dragon started speaking, but not in the human tongue. "I know you have grown fond of the boy, Prince Toothless, but you must think of his safety. Until your guards seized my home, I spent years with Eirick with the world being none the wiser of his existence. The Queen and King have requested I move the human there until he is better acquainted with not only our language but our culture."
"We will compensate you completely, Commander." Raincloud added. "We shall also compensate Hiccup for his troubles. A monthly allowance, fit for a young lord."
"Y, you can't just send him away!" Toothless bristled. "I am fixing my guard. He shall remain in my custody!"
King Clawless growled. "He is not your servant, Toothless. We have used services not ours to receive. Unless you want to spend the next few years digging out the gate to let him back into his world - and resealing it mind you - he has no choice but to remain with us. At this current time, he is safer under the care of someone who speaks his language and has years of experience with his kind."
"You can still visit him, if he so wishes," reasoned Raincloud.
"This," Toothless hissed, "Is unjust!"
Massclaws, who had sat quietly analyzing the situation, dropped his hands into his lap. "You're blinded with fear, Brother. He has been robbed from under you twice and you're afraid the third time will come. I understand that. In a week, when Hiccup is snug in a bed to the south, you will realize how right this decision is. As mother said, you can visit him, he can visit us. Right now, he just needs to go into hiding until things calm down and he becomes comfortable with our world."
Following each person, Hiccup grasped his pants. "Toothless?"
The dragon's green eyes turned to him. The hardened expression melted to defeat as shoulders slumped. The other four dragons in the room relaxed, but Toothless had already straightened his back. Hiccup's attention fell to the dragon's hand, now grasping desperately at his own. "You are as bad as those slave traders."
Huffing, Raincloud turned to her husband for support. King Clawless growled. "You're being insolent, child."
"No, I am not. I'm perhaps thinking of the one thing you four haven't had a chance to realize." Toothless glared at each of them. "You're just like those slave traders, you're grabbing Hiccup and moving him. Even I've made bad decisions up to this point. None of us are dealing with this correctly."
The tense atmosphere didn't diminish. "And how," Clawless finally asked, "Are we making the wrong decision?"
"We haven't given Hiccup the chance to voice his opinions." Toothless admonished. "I forced him to stay hidden. I thought he was too weak to protect himself. I took it upon myself to believe that without my resources he wouldn't be safe. Instead, he single handedly takes down one of my guards protecting family. Now you have taken away his choice on where to live." He took a deep breath. "If Hiccup chose it, I would dig out every rock in the mountain to return him to his people. Give him the chance to choose."
Hiccup noted a change in tone almost immediately. Every dragon seemed... embarrassed over something. Still grasping Toothless' hand, Hiccup looked up. "Tell me what's going on."
"Ripper, translate for me, please." The older dragon, with the faintest of smiles, nodded. "Hiccup, we cannot force you to do anything you do not wish to do. The same goes with where you will live. We have some ideas, but if you have a better one please offer it. Our first is with us, here. The next is with Ripper - your translator. Third, we can find a way back to the human world with you so you may live again with your people. Or anywhere you think you want to live. It is your decision to make."
Swallowing as the translated words met his ears, Hiccup glanced around the room. "I, I get to choose?" He asked, no one in particular. There was a round of nods, from Mother and King Clawless, Massclaws and Toothless. "They said I wouldn't have a choice anymore." The seers had told him, years ago, that his last choice was to become a sacrifice. Some days, he regretted that being his last decision.
"Everybody has a choice," Toothless whispered.
It really didn't feel like a choice. There were only two options that sparked something in Hiccup, the chance to go home and the chance to stay with Toothless. "I like having a choice."
Ripper leaned in. "Do not feel you must do something to make any of us happy. We are happy if you are happy."
And Hiccup was happy when others he served were happy. It was an interesting paradox, he realized as he settled back on the seat with Toothless' hand still in his hold. "I want to stay here," he started. He swallowed heavily, trying to find his words. "I have a purpose, given to me by the gods. I don't know what it is, but something tells me that it's here. I want to find it." A full smile spread across his face as his grip tightened on the dragon's hand. He rocked forward, feeling rather smug as the dragon words bubbled in his chest. "Hiccup stay with Toothless!"
The hug from the dragon was all he needed to know he had made the right decision.
End Author Note: I actually finished this August 2013 and started working on the epilogue shortly after. I sat there and stared at this fic and stared at this fic and... I hated it. I hated how the ending went and the disconnect between both Hiccup's tale and Toothless' tale. As of June 2014, when less of a work-load, I'm going to be re-writing this. Chapter 1 (rewrite) is available to the public on my livejourrnal, which can be found in my journal. It will be transferred to within 2 weeks. There are changes where Toothless investigates the mountains and finds Hiccups. Additionally, the story is taking a different path on how Toothless and Fishhook interact and the protagonist after The Human.
At the same time, I will be removing "Behind Bars" from the public to focus on other work for HTTYD such as rewriting So Much More and Saturday Night.