Yes, It's An Author's Note: In the FYI department, I've updated my profile a few days ago so that it actually has some actual information about me. It's no longer the lame entry that it's been for the last decade. In case any of you have looked there before, feel free to look again. Nothing earthshattering, I'm afraid... I'm still not as interesting as Ozzy Osbourne, but then who is?
Onward.
Chapter Five: Tinkering
Hiccup was never sure what to call it – Toothless's Pond, Toothless's Sanctuary, That-Walled-Pond-in-the-Middle-of-the-Island. He'd been afraid to give it a name in the past in case he blurted it out during a conversation and revealed Toothless's existence to the dragon-hating citizens of Berk. Even now he still struggled with an appropriate name, since Toothless didn't use it as a home any longer.
He usually settled on Sanctuary – short, sweet, and covered a lot of possible meanings.
Sanctuary wasn't all that secure a place though, not since the dragons had moved into Berk. There were occasional reptilian visitors that used it for a watering hole or a rest stop. But no Viking frequented the place and Hiccup hadn't had any good reason to divulge its location to his dad or anyone else. Only Astrid knew about it and she had no interest in it other than to check up on Hiccup when he disappeared for too long.
He hadn't visited Sanctuary in over three weeks, not since he started his Mainland forays. That had occupied his time considerably, and now dragon-squad training had taken its place. But now, after another long and semi-frustrating day of flying and frying, he was ready to resume his work.
The pond hadn't changed much at all in the last two years, but it did have a new addition not far from the gap in the cliff walls surrounding the pond. Toothless deftly landed right next to the addition, a wooden structure that was little more than a few pine boards attached to a series of bracing stilts, slanted to allow snow to slide off rather than build up and collapse the roof. Hiccup had built it piecemeal, carrying or flying in materials and tools when he had the chance to do so. It was designed to keep the weather off the gear underneath, though it still got buried during the long snow periods that consumed the fall and the winter. Hiccup could only use it in the spring and summer.
He had to improvise a few things – a heavy slab of granite instead of an anvil, a rather amateurish-looking fire pit for a forge, and most of his tools were half-eaten by rust. It had a real haphazard feel to it, though considering that most of the gear was scavenged or cast off that wasn't surprising. But as makeshift blacksmith shops go, it could've been worse.
This was Hiccup's tinkering spot, away from prying eyes and ears. Many Vikings still had scars from Hiccup's previous inventions, and they were thrilled to hear that Hiccup had abandoned his hobby – at least in public.
Hiccup dismounted from Toothless and went inside his shop, pressing against the struts to make sure they hadn't rotted and weakened. Satisfied that he wasn't walking into a death trap, he went to the large covered object centered in the shop. Toothless watched as he threw off the cloth coverings to reveal his year-old pet project, inspecting it for any new insectoid or rodent housekeepers. A few spiders had moved in, but otherwise it was free of unwanted residents.
"Help me move this out in the open, will you?" said Hiccup, throwing Toothless a rope attached to the project's support frame. The dragon caught the rope in his teeth and began yanking it backward, pulling the wheeled framework out from under the structure and into the cheery sunlight.
With better light to work by, Hiccup began his formal inspection of the device. Unless something had warped, corroded, or bent while he was away, it should've remained in good shape. Most of the object's bulk was a support frame built from cheap lumber, the biggest piece being a four-foot-long log about the width of Toothless's torso supported on a quartet of angled wooden limbs. The log had another dragon saddle secured to it, an older model designed for one rider but with a few new modifications. Those modifications went along with the cylinder attached to the underside of the log, half as wide but slightly longer than the log it hung from. Made of sturdy oak, the device had a series of springs and coils within, along with a supply of the thinnest, strongest rope Hiccup could acquire curled in the rear. The front section was concave, a hole in the center with a metallic spear-like attachment inserted and connected to the rope feed. The attachment could be fitted with a number of different tools, not unlike Gobber's interchangeable left hand. Truth be told, that's where Hiccup got the idea.
The outside frame had a secured hatch for internal access and a few metal levers for regulating spring strength. Two more levers acted as a trigger and rewind system, secured to the saddle's right stirrup in the same way the saddle's left stirrup controlled Toothless's tail rudder. The right stirrup controlled the mechanism, both to launch it out and then rewind it.
Hiccup wouldn't say he was naturally ambitious, unless ambition was defined as spending most of your life relentlessly trying to emulate your average Viking warrior. But this thing – this was ambitious by any definition. Using some of the design innovations from his bola launcher and some brand-new inspirations, he had gone and created a grapple launcher. But to make it work, it had to be heavier and bulkier than his previous device. An average-sized Viking might be able to manhandle it, but Hiccup couldn't hope to lift the thing on his own. However, his intentions for the device didn't involve Vikings.
"Looks like we're good to go," said Hiccup after finishing his inspection. He pushed on the front end of the framework, the frame's maneuvering wheels creaking but cooperating as he aimed the launcher at an old keg he'd been using as a target. The keg was weighed down to keep it from moving from repeated impacts, and it sported several gaping holes already from the launcher's spear attachment.
"One more test fire and we'll move on to the field test," he said, double-checking the alignment.
Toothless sniffed the grapple launcher and then looked at Hiccup with a disapproving expression. Hiccup could easily guess what Toothless was thinking: You're not putting that thing on me, are you?
"C'mon, bud, it won't be that bad," said Hiccup, climbing on top of the Fake Toothless Log. "Think about the upside. If we get this thing to work, fishing's going to be a breeze."
That was Hiccup's primary purpose behind the grapple launcher – fishing. Berk had always been a fishing village and the steady supply of fish was what kept the new dragon population happy and fed. However, Berk now needed a lot more fish than before. Most warriors were putting down their axes and picking up fishing lines, but even with the added manpower the village was essentially breaking even on supplies. While most dragons were capable of fishing on their own, there was some concern about what the dragons would do if the fish supply began to dwindle.
Instead of relying on the slower longboats for fishing runs, why not use dragons? Attach a weighed net or even a spear to the grapple and you had yourself a fishing tool. Dragons were natural fishers anyway, so why not use those talents to Berk's favor?
There were other potential uses for the grapple launcher, the pettiest being to show up the Gunnarr Vikings and their second-rate bola launchers. Hiccup admitted that there was a pride issue here. If he could get the device to work before the summit, he might sneak it into the squad demonstration just to spite the Gunnarr bigwigs. They can build a better dragon trap; he'll just build a better dragon.
Toothless still wasn't looking convinced. They had plenty of near misses just giving Toothless the ability to fly again. Putting a new piece of gear into the equation probably made him uneasy.
"I promise that it's safe," reassured Hiccup. "Observe."
He had already spent time configuring the grapple launcher to align with a targeting reticule built into this particular saddle. Hoping it hadn't gotten knocked out of alignment, Hiccup pressed down on his right stirrup, clicking the footrest to the Release position.
With a loud thump that shook the entire framework, the launcher's metal shaft flew out from under Hiccup, a wiggling trail of rope in its wake. It slammed into the wooden keg with the strength of a ballista round and imbedded itself halfway in. It remained stuck until Hiccup clicked the Retrieve position, the rope suddenly reversing direction and dragging the metal shaft out of the keg and back into the launcher.
"See?" said Hiccup. "That makes a dozen successful shots. A couple more tweaks and we'll be ready to go." Toothless didn't seem that impressed, but he waggled his head in tacit acceptance of Hiccup's plans.
The rest of Hiccup's free time was spent uninstalling the two-seater saddle and replacing it with the launcher saddle, Toothless patiently standing around or lying down over the launcher as Hiccup hooked and unhooked, strapped and unstrapped, fiddled and configured. By the time the sun had faded into the sea, Hiccup had successfully installed the saddle and had practiced attaching and detaching the launcher several times.
Needing to get back home to lead signaling practice, he left the new saddle on Toothless. Unlike saddles, the launcher was not something he could leave on Toothless indefinitely. It was far too bulky and cumbersome. He also didn't want to spoil the surprise just yet. If tomorrow went well, everyone would see his new gizmo in action soon enough.
The next day's series of coordinated drills went off much better than before, the only incident of note being Ruff and Tuff's Zippleback getting upset with… well, itself, and almost knocking Fishlegs off his Gronckle while the dragon's two heads sparred with each other in midair. Ruff and Tuff were okay, naturally blaming each other for somehow sparking their mount's bad behavior.
Hiccup supposed a little optimism was warranted. The squad was hitting more targets than they missed. They flew together well, followed orders without much complaining, and they were beginning to get the hang of the hand signal alphabet to the point where they only misread the signals half the time. Given another month, they'd be perfect. Given five more days, they just might avoid looking ridiculous in front of the Gunnarr.
Alone with Toothless, flying above the trees around Sanctuary, Hiccup was feeling a different kind of tension. While confident of his new device, he couldn't help but worry that it might decide to fire out its rear end or explode for no good reason. While those ideas were silly, he did have to caution Toothless not to turn his head down toward his belly. The launcher had plenty of clearance if Toothless kept his head straight, but while the launcher had a safety lock to prevent accidental firings Hiccup wasn't about to risk his friend's health on its reliability.
"Okay, bud, let's go teach that keg a lesson," said Hiccup, banking Toothless to the right and lining him up with their target keg on the other side of the pond. Despite his earlier reluctance, Toothless seemed to be getting into the field test and headed for the keg with gusto. This time out, the keg was free of any moorings and might just come along for the ride.
"Over to the right… A little more… Good, hold." Hiccup stared down the reticule, keeping the brown keg firmly in the center. He had a good idea of the launcher's effective range from his previous tests, but it was harder to judge such things on a moving dragon. He had about sixty feet of rope, so he had to get pretty close for this to work.
Diving toward the keg, Hiccup made his best guess and shouted, "Fire!" as he pressed down on the right stirrup. The launcher's shaft lanced out, Hiccup not even feeling the recoil thanks to his powerful friend. Toothless pulled up from his dive and climbed back towards the sky, Hiccup looking back to see if he hit the keg. Alas, he spotted the shaft dangling behind them in the air, keg-less.
"Missed," said Hiccup, retrieving the rope into the launcher. "Okay, let's try again. Go slower this time so I can correct the aim."
Toothless banked again just as the launcher finished rewinding, sighting up on the hapless keg once more. Hiccup decided to wait until they got a little closer this time, as he couldn't tell if he had flubbed the last shot due to range or accuracy. Toothless could turn in very tight places, so he trusted his dragon not to bash them into a wall or the ground.
Hiccup triggered the launcher again… and absolutely nothing happened. He tried twice more, but the launcher refused to obey his right foot's commands.
"Uh, oh," said Hiccup, Toothless already climbing out over the trees again. "I think we misfired. Better come in for a…"
Then the launcher fired, surprising Hiccup and Toothless with a yelp and a growl respectively. The metal shaft sailed out on its own accord, successfully hitting the top of a lonely and sickly-looking pine and managing to get snagged well and good.
"Of course," said Hiccup dejectedly, and then he was holding on for dear life as Toothless lurched in the air, growling in alarm as they became stuck in an endless turn around the ensnared tree. Toothless pulled against the rope, but couldn't dislodge it from the tree. Forced to continue banking around the tree, the rope began to wrap around the pine, slowly bringing them closer and closer by the second.
Then there was another lurch, Toothless protesting again as the rope began to actively pull them in at a faster and more forceful rate.
"Oh, no, no, no, no!" Hiccup realized the enormity of the mechanical failure. Not only had it misfired, but now it was automatically rewinding, dragging the two of them towards the tree. Toothless was pulling as hard as he could against the launcher, twisting against the incessant rewind like a fish on a line, but he wasn't going to break them free before they collided with the tree.
With Toothless in a full panic, Hiccup only had seconds to make the call. The tree was too flimsy to support the dragon's weight. They'd break through it and fall the rest of the way down. They were at least fifty feet up. The fall could kill them both. The launcher shaft was too entwined in the tree now to hope it might come loose in the next two seconds.
But he could still set things loose on his end.
Closing his eyes and praying that Odin was in a good mood, he reached down toward his right foot and grabbed a special emergency strap. With a mighty tug, it fell free. The strap holding the saddle to the dragon came undone, leaving Hiccup with a sudden feeling of weightlessness as he separated from Toothless.
The new several moments were severally disorienting – tumbling, a lurch or two, the smell of pine all around him, the slap of leafy needles as they buffeted him. The frantic cry of Toothless growing farther and farther away…
Then one last lurch brought the disorientation to an end, his shoulders and left leg aching as he began to get his bearings once more. A disheartening swinging sensation had replaced the weightless feeling as he realized he was stuck up in the tree, still a good fifty feet up and with nothing in reach.
His harness had saved his life, the two chest straps and his metal foot brace keeping him connected to this dangling saddle. He held onto the saddle with both hands and looked up, dreading what he was about to see. Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as he expected. The launcher was tethered to the tree, having rewound as far as the bound-up rope would allow, and the launcher remained attached to the saddle. The tree, while a thin specimen, was supporting his weight, though the top leaned over toward Hiccup as if keenly interested in him. For once, being small was a good thing.
Believe or not, Hiccup had anticipated this possibility, or something like it. This particular saddle came equipped with an emergency release in case the launcher got hopelessly tangled. Hiccup didn't have any plans for getting untangled this high off the ground, however.
Twisting his head around, he could see Toothless at the base of the tree, unharmed and growling up at him in a fearful tone. He'd made it safely down, though he wouldn't be able to fly back up without the saddle. That wasn't stopping Toothless from trying to scale the tree, shaking the entire thing and making Hiccup grab the saddle even tighter.
"Toothless, really bad idea!" he yelled downward, making Toothless stop his accent attempt. "The tree won't support both of us. Go get help."
Toothless was understandably reluctant to leave his friend hanging in a dangerous situation and he refused to leave. "It's okay, Toothless, it's not like I'm going anywhere. Go get someone," Hiccup ordered. He didn't relish the ridicule this incident was going to net him, though it still paled to some of his past moments of spectacular failure.
Toothless finally relented and made to take off toward Berk, off to the south. But as Hiccup watched, Toothless took a few steps in that direction and then halted. His ears perked up and he twisted his head around as if zeroing in on some distant sound. After a few seconds of this behavior, the dragon did a one-eighty and rushed off further north, into the deeper part of the forest.
"Toothless!" yelled Hiccup. "Berk's the other way!" But Toothless was already gone, leaving Hiccup wondering what could be so blankety-blank interesting that it could distract a dragon from saving his friend's life.
When you're freaked out, time has a way of mercilessly crawling by. So it was for Hiccup, who felt like he had been hanging in the tree for hours on end even though the sun had barely changed position from the last time he'd check the time.
He couldn't stop thinking about how he'd brought this on himself. His need for solitude combined with a desire to tinker, with a surprisingly erratic dragon thrown in for good measure, had led him here. Most Vikings preferred to perform their acts of stupidity in public, where supportive friends and healing balms weren't too far away. But no, he had to do it in private.
He thought about swinging toward the trunk and grabbing it, then detaching from the saddle and shimming down the tree. But the part of the tree he was suspended from was bent over and didn't look all that healthy. Serious motion might cause it to break.
Regardless, he might have to try it eventually, and sooner than later. Trying to get down at nighttime would be suicidal. But he'd wait a little longer. Toothless might have suddenly lost all sensibility, but there were other dragons and dragon riders in the air. One of them was bound to notice him. Again, though, after the sun went down his odds of rescue weren't going to look too good.
He had another thought – the auto-release lever on the launcher. Assuming that it hadn't gotten jammed during the misfire, the auto-release would allow the rope to slide free and lower the launcher and its hapless tagalong down to the ground. It would come out pretty fast, but slower than the rate of freefall. However, he'd have to climb up the strap suspending him below the launcher and somehow hold up not just his weight but all the extra gear while he fiddled with the device.
Well, no better time to get into shape than… what's that?
He heard it – a human voice in the distance, growing louder. No mistaking it, someone was coming in his direction. As he listened, he thought he heard short insistent growls accompanying the masculine voice. Toothless – he'd recognize those growls every time.
Feeling terrible for ever doubting his friend's intentions, he twisted his head to pinpoint their location. They weren't in view yet, but they were probably coming from the north, which didn't make much sense as no one lived out that way and few Berkians recreated this far out of the village.
As the voice grew closer, he swore it sounded vaguely familiar. He closed his eyes and strained to make out the words:
"This way? Yes, nudge me more, as if I haven't already taken the hint… It would help if you could give me some idea of what you need from me. I'm assuming someone's in distress, but you might be lonely for all I… Salo krebit, pushy dragon, you'll take my arm off if you pull any harder."
Hiccup's eyes shot open. He knew that voice.
No way.
The two of them appeared below the tree a minute later. Toothless was emphatically gesturing up towards Hiccup with his head. The man with him looked up and studied Hiccup, nodding, as he finally comprehended the dragon's intentions.
"Nestor?" shouted down Hiccup.
The man responded to the name with confusion and he squinted up at Hiccup. "Have we… Ah… Wait… Hiccup?" The confusion ended and was replaced with absolute shock. Nestor regarded Toothless, looked back at Hiccup, looked back at Toothless once more, and then slapped his forehead. "And here I figured there was more than one black dragon in these parts. Plus he didn't have a saddle. Didn't think there was a connection to you. I suppose the false tail should have been a giveaway."
"Nestor, what are you doing here?" asked Hiccup.
"Getting accosted by your demanding dragon," replied Nestor. "What are you doing here?"
"I live here."
"In that tree?"
"The island!"
"Ah, yes. Obvious question, really. And you're up a tree because…?"
"Because I'm a very stupid person. Help?"
With his snout, Toothless insistently nudged Nestor toward the tree before he had a chance to respond. "Yes, yes, pushy dragon,' said Nestor, taking hold of a branch and testing its strength. "Rest assured, I wasn't going to leave him at the mercy of the elements. By the Fates, it hasn't even been a day yet."
Despite being a few years older than Hiccup, Nestor wasn't a great deal bigger than him. His nimble torso allowed Nestor to squeeze between clustered branches that any other Viking would have found impassible. That said, Nestor snapped off several branches on his way up, though he always caught himself before falling. The tree was a pitiful thing - Hiccup wouldn't be surprised if a gull landed on an upper bough and toppled it.
Hoping to not witness his fortuitous savior fall to his demise, Hiccup watched Nestor as he moved up to roughly even elevation with Hiccup, the enigmatic man steering clear of the bending section of the tree as he sized up the situation.
"Is this a lesser-known Viking custom?" asked Nestor. "Getting stuck in trees? If so, your people should abandon it and move on to better ways."
"Save the commentary for later," replied Hiccup, dangling a couple of feet from Nestor. "What do you think?"
"Might be able to grab the device and hoist you down, but it was tricky enough getting up the tree by myself. Going down with one free hand while keeping you from failing… not looking forward to that."
Hiccup gestured up at the launcher. "There's a release lever on the device above me. See if you can get to it."
A moment later, Nestor was up near the launcher, gripping the tree for dear life while his right hand studied the contours of the device. The tree bent further over with Nestor's added mass, but it didn't groan or otherwise indicate it might be near the breaking point.
"Okay, there's a lever marked Full Release," said Hiccup. "Can you see it?"
"There are several levers, none of them marked."
"Yes they are," defended Hiccup. "The runes might be upside-down, but…"
"Oh, runes. That's what these scratches are. Can't read runes."
"But you can speak Norse."
"Yes, speak. Not the same as reading."
"Well, I'd give you a crash course, but I'm not teaching literacy fifty feet off the ground." He had to think about the design so he could give Nestor accurate instructions. "The farthest lever on the opposite side. That should be it."
"What happens if I pull the wrong one?"
"Anything from nothing at all to me getting out of this tree really, really fast."
"Ah." Nestor rearranged his body so he could get at the other side of the launcher and slid his free hand along the wooden cylinder until he found the metal lever where Hiccup said it would be. He looked back at Hiccup with an anxious gaze. "How do I work it?"
"Pull toward you, and then let go. Otherwise you'll come along for the ride."
"Right. You Vikings sure like living dangerously, don't you?"
"Well, me personally…"
"Rhetorical question," said Nestor, yanking the lever.
Hiccup's stomach threatened to come out of his throat as the saddle fell away, taking him with it. He held onto the free-falling saddle, his eyes squeezing shut from stark terror. Then the ride became a series of fits and starts, Hiccup's heart starting every time his fall slowed and stopping every time it accelerated. It lasted way too long, his eyes refusing to open until the fall had come to its final conclusion.
One final jerky halt knocked his hands free of the saddle and would have thrown him off completely if not for his other moorings. His eyes shot open at last, his breath coming out in quick exhales. He hadn't felt any impact and he was still breathing – good signs.
He heard a worried growl coming from underneath him. He looked down and saw Toothless maybe ten feet below him, the dragon looking back up at him with a mix of curiosity and concern. The ground was a lot closer now, the fall certainly survivable.
He looked up and saw that the grapple launcher's rope had played out to the end of its length. A lot of it had tangled up in branches, shortening the length so that he had come to a stop still dangling in the air. Nestor was already coming down the tree almost as quickly as he had scaled it.
"Phew!" breathed Hiccup. "I really didn't think that was going to work."
"You have the Fates' Luck," said Nestor, now almost down to the ground. "Don't squander it. Now, if you'll excuse me…"
"Uh… I'm not out of the tree yet. You do know that, right?"
Nestor jumped the remaining distance down to the ground, landing with a quick forward roll and then proceeding to run away. "You can handle the rest," he explained as he ran off, his legs glowing orange once more. "I'm sorry for my abruptness, but… well, bye."
Just like that, Nestor sped away into the forest, leaving Hiccup to sputter with a semi-coherent stream of babble.
"But… What… Er… HEY! Toothless, help!"
Now his dragon friend could actually help him directly. Toothless reared up on his back legs and extended his body all the way up towards Hiccup. His head touched Hiccup's right leg, allowing Hiccup the leverage he needed to unhook his harness and his left leg from the saddle. Leaving the saddle and launcher behind, Toothless gently lowered him to the ground, Hiccup sliding off Toothless's head and safely to the solid dirt below.
Completely losing any remaining relief from surviving his grapple launcher accident, Hiccup tried in vain to spot Nestor out in the forest. But the minute it had taken Hiccup to get free had given Nestor plenty of escape time – he was gone.
"Oh no you don't," said Hiccup. "Not this time, pal. C'mon, Toothless, we're flying after him." When Toothless narrowed his eyes, Hiccup realized what he'd just said and slapped his forehead. Nope, no more flying until they installed another saddle. The Fates' Luck, indeed… whatever that meant.
"All right, we'll run after him." Hiccup proceeded to climb on Toothless's back, already missing the reassuring feel of leather underneath him. "Just don't go too fast."
Toothless swiveled around to face the direction Nestor had run off, but he made no move to follow. He sniffed the ground and shook his head, raising his ears as if hoping to catch a distant clue of their elusive ally. Hiccup knew Toothless had a better sense of smell than a human and far better hearing, but he couldn't track prey through the forest like a bloodhound. Not unless they had some idea as to where he went.
Then it occurred to Hiccup that Toothless had already found Nestor once. That could be their starting point.
"Go to where you found Nestor before," said Hiccup. "Maybe we'll catch a break and he'll be there." He didn't believe that would happen, but it was still worth a go.
With Hiccup clinging tightly to the dragon's neck, Toothless sprinted into the forest, wisely keeping the flying leaps to a minimum. Hiccup wasn't sure what he was going to say or do if he actually caught up to Nestor. But he had to know why the man was on the island – the safety of the village could hinge on that knowledge.
It wasn't that big an island, and a good chunk of it was mountainous rock with no redeeming value other than its snow-capping qualities. The island was more accessible than before thanks to the growing air-travel industry, but there were still a few places that remained undiscovered in the Berkian wilderness.
Firebeard Peak – the steepest of Berk's mountains, and with nothing of interest on its slopes other than a navigational landmark or two. The base of the mountain had been swallowed up by a thick forest of evergreens, which made approaching it by foot difficult but not impossible.
It also had a cave or two hiding amongst the foliage, much to Hiccup's surprise.
Hiccup's bumpy ride atop Toothless finally came to an end in front of one such cave. It was barely visible, shrouded among the elongated branches crowding the entrance, and it was maybe twelve or thirteen feet high from ground to ceiling. But it was plenty big for something to hide in, certainly something human-sized.
"Oof," muttered Hiccup, sliding off Toothless and straightening his back. "No offense, bud, but ground travel with you is a rough ride." Toothless didn't respond, choosing to sniff the ground around some boot marks in a patch of mud. Hiccup noticed another set closer to the cave, the thick layer of duff on the forest floor obscuring any other tracks. He was definitely no tracker, but it was easy to tell that someone had been here before them.
This part of the forest was fairly lightless, the trees blocking most of the sun and diffusing what little got through. One of the better places to hide on the island – it was almost invisible from the air and had no landing spots for hundreds of yards around.
"You found him here?" asked Hiccup. Toothless waggled an affirmative. Then the dragon eyed the cavern entrance and began to approach it, motioning with his tail for Hiccup to follow.
"Never liked caves," said Hiccup. "All sorts of things live in caves, ninety-nine percent of which I'm pretty sure are poisonous or have sharp teeth or like to eat Vikings… or some combination of the three."
Hiccup's fears were not unfounded. In the past, caves were frequent hiding spots for dragons and you could never know if a cave was dragon-free unless you went in and acted as bait. All known caves on the island were either collapsed, booby-trapped, or guarded if need be. There were a few notable caves that Vikings used to make annuals trips to in order to clear out any unwelcome migrant dragons. It was a good way for a Viking warrior to prove his mettle, or die trying, in the absence of dragon raids.
Hiccup had grown up fearing caves, and it was hard to let that fear go. Just because dragons were no longer the perennial bogeymen of Berk didn't mean there weren't other bogeymen waiting to fill the job vacancy. And it didn't help that Nestor was on the island and had been here already – for all Hiccup knew, he was after something in the cave ahead of them.
Toothless wasn't afraid of the cave, though, and was eagerly pushing his way through the tree cover and into the dim shadows beyond. Not wanting to be left behind, and figuring that a Night Fury was probably the best company you could keep inside a dark cave, Hiccup followed Toothless inside.
The outside sunlight managed to leak into the dank surroundings, making navigation easier but no less foreboding as Hiccup trailed his dragon friend. The air was cooler within but fairly dry. Better yet, they didn't have to go in very far before Toothless came across something of interest, Hiccup almost smacking his nose into the dragon's tail as they came to an abrupt halt.
"A little light, pal?" said Hiccup. Toothless obeyed, spitting a small fireball onto a nearby wall and superheating it to a soft crimson glow. It added more than enough light to see the simple camp spread out on the rocky floor. The cave did go on further, but it narrowed considerably and the ground grew more slick and moist beyond the camp.
Most of the camp was pretty ordinary – a bedroll, a few cooking utensils, some clothing laid out on the rocks. Enough provisions for one person, maybe two. But as Hiccup went about the cave, he came across a few utterly unordinary items… and he recognized them.
An oversized bovine skull with four horns, shining like steel, jagged pieces of metal sticking out from the underside. A leather satchel rested next to it, its contents hidden within. And there was a third object now, resting next to the satchel, wrapped up in a wool blanket. Hiccup could make out a circular shape through the contours of the blanket, but that wasn't what caught his attention.
The object was glowing through the blanket, a soft blue light that seemed both welcoming and disturbing at the same time. It was so faint that he hadn't picked up on it until he was right next to it, but it was hard not to stare at it now. Hiccup found his curiosity rising, feeling the urge to lift up the blanket and examine the object at length. Then he realized that he was already reaching for the blanket and snapped his hand back as a bit of common sense overrode his curiosity. He didn't want to disturb the camp just yet, not until he had located Nestor. Plus it might be some glowy thing you should only touch with ten-foot poles and iron gauntlets. But this newest curiosity intrigued him, adding something else to the list of questions to ask when they eventually found Nestor.
Toothless wasn't interested in the glowing thing. He was sniffing around a large clump of pine needle duff that had been dragged into the cave and spread out into an oval-shaped carpet on the rocky floor. It looked like bedding, and the size of it indicated something large was using it, about the size of a Nightmare. Hiccup thought it might be an out-of-use resting spot for one of Berk's dragons, but the needles were fresh smelling and well organized. Most dragons weren't that neat with their bedding.
Hiccup went over to the bed to examine it further, but the glow from the superheated rock was too faded now to make out more than general shapes. He was about to ask for another light when Toothless suddenly perked up and whirled around, growling a warning towards the entrance. Trusting his friend's senses, Hiccup skidded around behind the dragon and waited for something to happen, not wanting to get between Toothless and whatever was at the cave entrance.
"You sure it's not Nestor?" he asked. Toothless shook his head. No, that would have been too easy, and Toothless wouldn't be on edge. He seemed to like Nestor; why else would Toothless retrieve him to save Hiccup?
Something distorted the light coming from the entrance, like a faint shadow moving across a beam of sunshine, and then Hiccup was feeling that prickly sensation he'd felt two days ago. He felt watched… no, more than that. He felt trapped, like something was standing between him and the entrance. He couldn't see anything, but the feeling was growing more intense as the seconds ticked by.
Toothless felt it as well, his growls growing more threatening by the moment. Hiccup considered moving further into the cave, but Toothless wouldn't be able to follow. Besides, they'd be just as stuck back there, but with less room to maneuver.
Something solid scraped on the rocky floor only a few feet ahead of them, and even in the bad light Hiccup knew he was staring at something. Or, rather, he was staring through something, the dimming light wavering and flowing before him. Toothless was stirred up enough to attack, and Hiccup was getting ready to take cover from the inevitable flame-bath that a fireball in close quarters would produce.
Then the distortion fell away, and suddenly there was another dragon in the cave, blocking the way out. Hiccup recognized the slim body and dark-green scales of the dragon from the Mainland, the one he and Toothless had come to the aid of over a week ago.
Toothless's demeanor changed immediately, his growl dropping and his body relaxing to a point. He stared at the foreign dragon cautiously, perhaps waiting for it to make the first move. But the foreign dragon didn't budge, choosing to stare at both of them with its mouth closed, not threatening but hardly friendly.
Hiccup could now see this brand-new dragon up close. The face was ridged with bony protrusions around the eyes, which were more akin to the eyes of a bird than a reptile. A pair of sizeable ear flags resided behind the eyes, flaps that resembled scales but shifted like dog-ears. Two tiny slits passed for a nose over a large mouth. While there were no tusks or external horns to note, Hiccup caught the gleam of stiletto-sharp teeth when it opened its mouth to yawn. It acted more fatigued than disinterested, but its eyes were solidly fixed on Hiccup, as if expecting something of him.
Hiccup wasn't exactly relieved by this development, but now he was in familiar territory. He'd made friends with lots of dragons over the last two years and he was sure he could befriend another. This species acted highly intelligent, much like Toothless. Hopefully it would respond to his overtures like all the other ones.
"It's okay, Toothless," he said. "I've got this." He motioned for Toothless to back off, which the black dragon did reluctantly. With his hands raised, Hiccup slowly walked toward the foreign dragon, which reacted to Hiccup by lowering its head toward him in a deliberate but non-threatening fashion.
"No weapons," he said. "We're dragon-friendly here. Lots of fish, lots of room to fly around and do what dragons do, lots of friendly people." He got to within a few steps of the dragon and wished he had a fish to use as an offering. But he knew that most dragons were swayed more by kindness than bribery, and he trusted that this one was the same.
He held out his right hand and moved it to within inches of the dragon's face. The dragon didn't flinch, so he kept his eyes forward and waited for a reaction. A friendly dragon would nuzzle it – an unfriendly dragon would try to snap it off.
The actual reaction he got stunned him to no end.
"Apologies, but I'm not familiar with this custom," it said, its deep voice speaking perfect Norse. "Now, what are you doing in this cave?"