Chapter 6

Never turned out to be about ten minutes. I swear I meant it to be longer, but black wings absorb heat, and the small space I was hiding – ahem, resting – in heated up quickly. Too quickly for a dragon used to living next to the cold ocean.

Thus, at the ten-minute mark, I crawled out. Thankfully, most of the crowd had grown bored and dispersed. Stormfly and Astrid were still there, the latter with her eyebrows raised. I sullenly stared at the ground.

"I'd promise not to tell them," she said, "but everyone's already heard by now."

I sulked. I sulked even more when Snotlout and Fishlegs came around. Snotlout complained about how the two of them had 'missed all the excitement', but Astrid shut him down pretty quickly.

"Whatever," Snotlout said. "We're supposed to go now, anyways. Are you coming?"

"Sure," I said, "let me just . . ."

I looked back at Toothless, who towered over me.

Oh.

"Give me a second." Astrid adjusted the saddle on Stormfly's back. She climbed on-board, and then finally remembered that I had been sitting in front of her.

She smiled awkwardly. "Sorry, Hiccup. Uh, talk to you later?"

I gave her an exasperated stare.

"Right. See you later."

I nodded. That was better.

The three of them took off into the sky. A few seconds later, shouts rang through the air as the twins and their dragon appeared over the houses and tried to catch up. Toothless watched them go. He turned to me, mouth partially open. The ground trembled as he hopped up and down, tracing out a small circle around me. I knew what this was: it was Toothless's Let's go flying! dance.

"Toothless, I can't," I told him.

He nudged me with his snout. Then he drew back with a confused croon.

"Even if I could work the tailfin, I can't even get the saddle on." My chin fell against the ground. "Until further notice, we're grounded."

Toothless laid down next to me. He laid his head on my back. I had assumed that this spell would only be an inconvenience for me, but I'd forgotten just how intertwined me and Toothless were. Dragons were meant to be in the sky. But, just as I was no longer able to ride dragons, Toothless could no longer fly. Sure, I could get Astrid or even Dad to fly him from time to time, but they weren't me. They couldn't work with Toothless like I could. It would be like taking a dog trained to fight boar and pitting it against a rat. Almost cruel.

"Sorry, bud." I nuzzled him as best as I could. While I had never stopped regretting how I cost Toothless his tailfin, some days were worse than others. Today was one of those days. I mean, when you're faced with a reminder on how your best friend can no longer fly on his own, you get . . .

Wait.

He could.

"I got it!"

I meant to jump to my feet, but Toothless had his weight on me, so my tail just flopped up and down.

"Uh, could you let me up?"

Asking politely didn't get anywhere, so I got my point across by clawing the dirt vigorously. Once freed, I shook myself, and then ran to the forge. Toothless followed after a beat.

"Whoa!" Gobber nearly tripped as I darted between his legs, grazing his peg leg. He did fall into the wall when Toothless accidently body-checked him.

"Where is it?" I leapt back onto one of my worktables, and began raiding the shelves above. Scrolls tumbled onto the wood, unravelling themselves and drooping off the table's edges.

"Hiccup?" That was Dad speaking. "What are you doing?"

I tried to explain through a mouthful of parchment, but gave up halfway through. They'd understand once I found what I was looking for.

There it was! I unrolled my scroll of choice, and flattened it out as best as I could. Which involved stretching myself out and laying on top of it.

Dad and Gobber inched closer. Toothless stared at the scroll, too. But unlike the two Vikings, his eyes did not light up with understanding.

"Aye, I remember that," Gobber said. "But didn't the dragon hate it?"

I slammed my paw on the scroll. Yes, Toothless had once rejected the auto-tailfin and the concept of flying alone, but times were different now. I had no idea when this spell would wear off, and I wasn't about to leave Toothless grounded during that entire time.

"Sure, I could whip up another for you," Gobber said.

Dad frowned. "Will he accept it?"

I nodded. Toothless would, even if I had to nail it to him myself.

With that, I left Dad and Gobber in the forge. The auto-tailfin was a delicate machine, so it would take them a while to make. There was no need for me to hang around and get in the way, especially since if I was there, Toothless would be getting in the way, too.

I sat down. "So, now what?"

Toothless sniffed around. A piece of rawhide – some other dragon's toy, no doubt – caught his attention, and he claimed it eagerly. I crept closer. It smelt of leather, and a touch of blood. Didn't seem too disgusting . . .

I pounced. I snapped my jaws shut on the rawhide, and pulled. Toothless immediately sunk down, body rigid. My face tried to smile even as I clung to the rawhide. I tugged and tugged with jerky motions, keeping my eyes fixed on Toothless's face.

He growled playfully. Small furrows formed in the dirt as he dragged me forward. He shook, lightly, but still enough to draw me off-balance. The sudden movement made my wings open.

This was fun. If it wasn't for the fact that I was using my teeth to hold the rawhide, it was like things were perfectly normal. Just a boy and his dragon, having some fun in the sun.

Toothless's eyes narrowed. His head tilted slightly in that way it did when I knew he was really going to shake . . .

Oh.

Oh.

And suddenly, hanging on became a matter of life and death. Before I could even consider letting do, I was thrown into the air. My whole body snapped to one side, then reversed direction. And again. And again. Part of me just wanted to let go and get it over with, but the muscles in my jaw had hardened. Like it or not, I was going to hang on.

It was over quickly. The momentum of the shake sent me rolling onto my side. The rawhide slipped out of my mouth.

Toothless leaned toward me. He sniffed.

I rolled belly-up. I laid there, stunned.

Toothless dropped the rawhide on my face.

"Add insult to injury, why don't you?" A spark of energy ran through my blood, lighting it on fire. I whipped into a crouch, and pawed the ground.

He backed up a step as I charged. I went after his forward foot. He moved that out of the way, so I seized his other one instead, remembering just in time to sheathe my teeth. Not that it would have made much of a difference.

Warm air slithered down my back as Toothless picked me up by the wings. I flailed. My tail kept smacking him in the shoulder.

With me still dangling by my wings, Toothless marched to the forge. He peeked his head inside, calling to Dad and Gobber through his mouthful of dragon. The two of them were still bent over my scroll, muttering to each other. I couldn't hear them over the ambient noise and the crackle of flames, but I could tell by a lack of the scent of burning metal that they hadn't started on the tailfin yet.

"What is it?" Dad set down a metal tong as he turned. "Hiccup, what are you doing?"

I squirmed. Believe me, Dad, this was not my idea.

Toothless held me up high. His body wriggled with excitement. When Dad spoke again and mentioned my name in passing, Toothless nodded eagerly.

Gobber laughed. "Well, looks like you caught yourself a baby Hiccup."

I bared my teeth. A moment later, I remembered I had to unsheathe them.

I rocked as Toothless's weight danced from one side to the other. He seemed to be waiting for something, but neither I nor the other two Vikings had any idea what.

"Well, okay," Dad said. "Uh, good boy? You can go now."

Toothless did so happily, head – and me – held high. He set course for a nearby Gronckle.

I curled into a ball, and tried to blend into his scales. Looks like Toothless had decided to play show-and-tell with me. Maybe if I were quiet, no one would notice . . .

When I finally uncurled, Toothless was busy showing me off to a Nightmare, who was cautiously sniffing. I snapped at her, and she drew back. Toothless shook me a little, as if to tell me I was being rude, but he set me down. While he smelt of cold, Nightmares smelt like warmth. Damp, sticky warmth. Like sweat or saliva, though not as pungent as the former.

I slipped past her head (it was bigger than me!) and scampered toward her body. Her head followed me, with her neck curving and nearly going between her front legs. Her claws flexed, adjusting their grip on the ground as her weight shifted. Beside her head, I caught a glimpse of Toothless's green eyes.

I wonder . . . I mean, if anything went wrong, I'm sure Toothless would protect me. I'd seen him take on Nightmares before, like Hookfang way back in the day. I would be safe.

With that in mind, I took a deep breath. Then I pounced on the Nightmare's tail.

It wasn't like biting Toothless. She was slimy. Must have been the stuff she used to light herself on fire. So, I spat her tail out pretty quickly, and then focused on scrubbing my tongue.

Both Toothless and the Nightmare gave me a pitying look.

The slime clung. It tasted like something had thrown up in my mouth. I had to lick dirt before the taste went away.

"You could have warned me," I complained. I cast the two dragons a sullen glare.

Okay, so new discovery: biting Nightmares was a very, very bad idea. I wonder if anyone would ask questions when they saw that addition to the Book of Dragons. Well, if they did, they would probably assume it was the twins. Or maybe even Fishlegs looking for a new ingredient. Certainly not old, reasonable Hiccup.

Toothless chuffed. He nipped at my tail and then took off, nearly spinning. When I just stared at him, he did his little shrug, and then chased around the Nightmare.

I watched them.

Well, it's not like I had anything better to do.

I ran after them.

The riders returned at sunset, miserable, exhausted and beaten down. Toothless and I had been waiting for them in the center of Berk, although I was starting to regret that now that I saw their expressions. Whilst Fishlegs just looked like he needed a good nap and the twins like they had been forced to sit through a two hour lecture on making bread, waves of frustration were rolling off Snotlout and Astrid. Astrid, in particular, looked menacing.

Snotlout was first to stomp off. He had his helmet tucked under his arm, and his hair seemed greasy with sweat. His dragon followed after a second, seemingly still in a good mood. Fishlegs and Meatlug left next, both with heads bowed and feet dragging. The twins and their dragon left soon after.

That left Astrid, our dragons and me. Stormfly had already gravitated to a fish buffet. Toothless looked as though he was considering joining her.

Astrid growled under her breath. She dragged a hand through her hair. As the blonde strands rippled, her scent sharpened. And by that I mean it shot straight up my nose and made my proverbial hackles rise. It was still her scent, but too hot – too piercing.

She was angry. I would have been able to tell that without my enhanced sense of smell. Her face was doing that thing where it scrunched up and some of her upper teeth showed. Though part of me instinctively shied away from her anger, I crawled over to her anyways. I stayed close to the ground, with my eyes fixed on her boots. The picture of submissive caution.

It took her a while to notice me. I think she had forgotten I was no longer taller than her. But when she saw me and my subdued manner, she calmed down a little. At least, that's what her sudden deep breaths said.

"I'm sorry, Hiccup." Her fingers worked their way through her hair again. "We looked everywhere in that area, but we couldn't find any trace of where the witch had been. No supplies, no home, nothing."

She was upset. That was obvious. Upset over what she perceived as a failure, and even more so over what she perceived as failing me. I wanted to tell her that it wasn't her fault, especially since I shouldn't have turned my back on a known enemy in the first place, but that wasn't exactly happening in my current state. I tried patting her foot, but I don't know if she even felt it.

She exhaled. She glanced at me, and I think it dawned on her that I was kind of getting a neck strain from trying to look at her face. So, she knelt down, and using her knee as support, I stood up. It almost put us at equal height.

"I might be able to chase down a few of the trader's ships," she said. "They might know something about her. If not, there are the other islands . . ."

She waited for my opinion, which I gave her at once: absolutely not. Other islands meant other tribes and few, if any of them, were dragon-friendly. Not yet, at any rate. Dad and I were going to try to force the issue at the Chief Gathering in a few weeks.

"I thought so," she said glumly.

For a moment, we basked in each other's gloom.

. . . And then Toothless dropped by wanting to be scratched.

He purred loudly, and nuzzled Astrid's hand. She rolled her eyes, but obeyed. Toothless savoured it for a minute or so, and then poked me.

"Uh, no thanks," I said.

He got more insistent. Mostly toward Astrid. He was prodding her free hand, and trying to guide it toward me.

"Toothless, I don't think Hiccup likes being scratched." She smiled. Say what you will about Toothless, but he knew how to cheer people up. She very deliberately stared at Toothless, and then reached over to scratch Stormfly, who had joined us, while absently remarking on how it was getting dark.

Technically speaking, that was true. But I was a Night Fury. Lightwise, I didn't notice very much of a difference. What sunlight had vanished had been replaced by stars and torches. There were more of those torches leading away from the center of Berk and lighting up dark passageways, but mostly they were centered here. Once, long ago, there would have been big fires in the watchtowers as well. However, with our former aggressors now safeguarding our village, keeping a lookout wasn't such a necessary task. With the absence of a known foe, those watchtowers often sat empty.

But while it hadn't gotten much darker, the colours had shifted. Shadows were longer, deeper, and those parts of Berk still exposed to light were awash with red from either the waning sun or the torchlights. A darker form of the pink-tinted sky.

I walked her home. Well, I sat on Toothless's back as he walked her home. The sentiment was still the same. Her scent had relaxed, so I think the short walk had done wonders to soothe her anger. The dragons recognized the change, too, and Stormfly swooped in to nuzzle her favourite person.

She did something funny when we reached her house. I could tell that when she turned to me, she had definitely been searching for someone taller. She had leaned forward a bit too, as if to peck my human-self on the cheek. But when no handsome, Viking boyfriend smiled back at her, she blinked rapidly, and then found me. Her smile was real, but sad.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She caressed my cheek. Then, she and Stormfly were gone.

I miss being human.

Home was a pit of embers and light snoring. Okay, fine: loud snoring. Dad was louder than I was, even when I tripped over a bowl in the dark. But that was the only hassle as we made our way to my inviting bed.

It took three tries to get on. And one the third try, I only got the upper half of my body on anything solid. Luckily, my quite impressive claws had buried themselves in the blanket, and I was able to haul the rest of me up.

I had just curled up on the pillow, and begun debating whether to go under the blanket instead, when Toothless decided to join me. I felt my ears flatten.

"Toothless, get off!" I hissed. My shoulder dug into his neck as I shoved.

He stared at me with his head cocked.

"Toothless!" Rearing back, I teetered on my hind legs for a glorious second . . . only to fall right over as my wings opened unevenly. So, with my two pairs of legs making circles in the air, I said, "Toothless, you know dragons aren't allowed on the . . ."

Oh. I understood.

"I don't count," I told him flatly.

But of course, I didn't speak dragon. Still, Toothless understood something about what I was saying, because his pupils suddenly grew huge and he snuggled his chin between his front paws. It was, as I liked to call it, his cute face. Toothless knew that it could work wonders on some of the more emotional Vikings. Not me though. Nope. No way. I knew him much too well to be deceived.

Seriously. It wasn't working.

I pointed to the floor. "Off."

Toothless whined. He glanced up and down the bed, as if pointing out how much room there was now. Before, we could only fit if I was on top of him. Now? Well, his tail still hung over the edge, but there was enough of a gap beside his head that I would be comfortable.

"Off," I repeated.

He slunk off the bed and away into the shadows. Then he was back. Half his green eyes shone at me from above the bed; the other halves were hidden below.

"Toothless."

His ears lifted, indicating he had heard me.

I looked back at Toothless. He was giving me his cute face again.

I sighed. I suppose that with this current situation, I could get away with breaking a couple of rules.

"Alright, come on up."

I patted the bed. Toothless sprang up like a jackrabbit, nearly startling me into falling off. I found a nice spot in-between his shoulder and neck, where the curve fitted my back perfectly.

"Goodnight," I said to him.

He purred, and rubbed his head against mine. It was a sentence I needed no help figuring out:

I love you.

And he was gone.

Only for a moment. He had the corner of my blanket in his mouth, and was pulling it toward me. I was just about to thank him, when he spun around, grabbed the opposite corner, and pulled that too. Then another corner. Then the last. And then he went for my pillow. He dropped that not where I was, but on one of the sides.

Then he was gone again.

He returned a few seconds later . . . Dad's blanket in tow.

"Toothless!" I squawked.

Toothless hopped on the bed and happily dragged Dad's blanket with him. He then happily set to arranging his small collection of blankets and a pillow for some reason.

He stopped. I could feel him thinking about Dad's pillow.

"No!" As he made a move to try to snatch it (probably from right under his head, knowing him), I bit down on his tail. That made him pause.

"No," I said slowly. For good measure, I bared my teeth.

He shrugged good-naturedly. Then he started playing with the blankets again. I watched, both with amusement and a bit of irritation as parts flew into the air and blocked me off from the outside.

Which apparently was his intention. When he finally settled down, we were contained within a burrow made of blanket. Oh, and the pillow was against Toothless's back. I pawed at the burrow's 'wall', finding it tougher to budge than I thought.

"Is this a nest?" I asked him.

Toothless chuffed. He nudged me, trying to guide me back toward him. When I allowed myself to be guided, a large wing opened up and then engulfed me.

Despite the coolness of his smell, he was warm. It was like sitting next to a smouldering fire. I was squeezed in against his chest, with one of his legs serving as my new pillow. The other was draped loosely over my neck, like an imitation of a hug. Further up his body was gap that I could have used to escape, and I thought I caught a shadow of him staring at me. Hard to tell though; it was too dark.

For me, the little Night Fury who was actually a Viking, Toothless's smell was distracting. But I got used to it, soon enough, and my brain ceased to notice. I listened to his breathing: deep and strong. I soon matched his pace.

The underside of his chin grazed me. He purred. I love you.

I stretched up so that I could rub against him, too, and purred. I love you, too.

Review Responses:

Jazz: Hiccup's just very excited. You know him: always curious and experimenting with things. Without his tail, Hiccup is about the size of a Terrible Terror. The tail pretty much doubles his length.

random reader WITH a profile: Thanks!

Snowflake: I plan to. I just don't know when exactly they'll come in.

Randominator Owl: Thank you. Flying is going to be a doozy XD

KH stands for Kingdom Hearts. It was the main fandom I wrote for before this one.

a random person2: I guess you are! The answer is: in a way. The dragons in this story don't really have a language, more so they have certain gestures and behaviors with meanings and moods attached to them. Flight will come up several times. Toothless would love to have Hiccup flying with him :) For the last question, yes, he can if he has to. I think two chapters ago he did write something in the dirt to Astrid. However, writing with a pencil takes him a long time and he doesn't have any pockets to carry them around, so he prefers to avoid that.

dragon lifespan: The villagers and Gobber aren't freaking out because... well they don't really see a reason to. At the end of last chapter, Hiccup hadn't been a dragon for a full day yet. Plus, Hiccup and his friends are always running into problems, but they generally fix those problems pretty quickly (like say... within an episode or two XD). They all think this is another one of those oddities that's going to go away within a few days. It hasn't hit them yet that this could be a long term problem.

Stoick is concerned, but he's going with a "Wait and See" approach at the moment and is staying calm for the sake of the village. Hiccup, likewise, hasn't considered this might last a long time, and is partially enthralled by his intellectual curiousity. Toothless doesn't understand Hiccup's transformation wasn't by his will. The other riders are concerned, but they've been expressing/taking it out on each other, not Hiccup. There's a reason that Snotlout and Astrid were so angry when they got back.

tldr; Everyone thinks this is a temporary problem that'll go away in a couple of days. Once they realize it might not be, that's when they'll get concerned.

Actually, the research I did indicated the opposite: climbing up is much easier than climbing down for a cat. Plus, it doesn't matter whether it's natural for a human, because humans and cats do not climb trees the same way.

True, but I give Eragon a pass on that in the first book because from what I remember, he doesn't really know what's going on or have the knowledge to make those kind of decisions. I can't remember the other books though, so no idea if he stayed the same.