Banished, Chapter 3, The Wild

[Autumn, year one]

The sun rose calmly, it's blinding body slowly climbing over the horizon. The rays of light shining over the vast Nordic seas. It shone through the thick mists that surrounded the dragon island. And gently woke a sleeping Nightfury.

The beast opened one of its eyes, a large green orb scanning around him with its dilated pupil. A terrible terror was scurrying around the base of a nearby tree, probably looking for its morning meal. The small dragon was clawing off some lichen from the tree, munching on the moss like plant before swallowing it. The Night Fury let out a huff, it was not planning on eating moss any time soon.

Something stirred against the dragon, and it raised its head. Toothless peeked down at the young boy that it had wrapped in its wings. Hiccup tried to stretch, but found the confines of his dragons embrace to be a bit too cramped for him to move completely freely. He gave the dragon a gentle pat on his stomach, and the large beast unfolded his wings, allowing the boy to leave the confinement of the beast's embrace.

He stretched fully, sleeping in the dragon's wings wasn't unpleasant, albeit a bit cramped. He usually didn't wish to stir in his sleep a lot, since he didn't want to interrupt the rest of his reptilian friend. The dragon needed his sleep as much as he did after all.

Hiccup looked around. The field in which they slept was nice and lush, tall grass brushed against his legs as it waved with the breeze. The soft winds calmly rolling over the island. The thick mist still hung over the island, masking everything with a white hazy glow in the morning light. Toothless rolled over onto his feet, stretching his own legs and unfolding his wings fully to then neatly fold them at his sides. He shook his body, the saddle falling into a comfortable position as the straps adjusted themselves on his body.

"Here bud." Hiccup said as he took a step towards the dragon, adjusting a strap around his left front leg. "That's better." He said as the dragon shook his leg, testing the new way the strap lay, he warbled happily. Toothless was excited for their new life on their own, and nuzzled Hiccup affectionately.

"What do you say," Hiccup began as he rubbed his hands together. "Do you feel like getting some breakfast?" He asked Toothless, who in response jumped up and down happily. Nudging Hiccup, signalling him to lead the way.

They calmly walked, Hiccup had no idea what the island looked like, but even if he did he'd have no idea where they were. The mist prevented him from taking a proper look at the island from the air. So they were forced to do their exploration on foot.

They walked through the trees and grass, the island must be incredibly fertile, since the grass grew tall and the trees seemed to grow even higher than on Berk. The trees were covered with lichen, so in any case he'd have something to eat. Although he would be content with something a bit more, well, edible.

He looked around them while they walked, the amount of different kinds of plants on the island was surprisingly large. He wondered how it was possible for such a deserted island to hold as abundant of a variety as it did. That was until he saw something incredibly peculiar. The tall grass that grew on most of the areas had been mixed with a different kind of plant, which had a rich yellow colour instead of the gentle green of the forest.

Hiccup inspected the plant, finding it to be regular, cultivated oats. They weren't as rich and full as the oats they grew on Berk. Probably because of the lack of human attention given to the crop, but the fertile ground compensated for some of that.

"What are oats doing here?" Hiccup wondered aloud. Were there people living on the island? He didn't think so, the oats also seemed rather untended, sharing their ground with weeds and other plants. Properly tended crops would grow in neatly cultivated ground, so that they could reign over the nutrients that lay in the soil, instead of having to share it with weeds and grass.

He looked around the patch of grains, and quickly found the origin of the crops. A roughly woven linen sack lay caught in an exposed root of a tree. The bottom of the sack was torn by what seemed to be dragon claws. Hiccup guessed it was looted during one of the raids, and eventually tore open. Some of the grains must have ended up in the ground, eventually sprouting.

He picked the bag up. He must be able to use this for something, since he had left his old woven basket in the cove. Perhaps he could make a couple of small saddlebags out of it, although proper leather would be preferable.

He placed it down on the ground, folded open. The bag was so torn that it was closer to just a piece of canvas. He turned to the oats, picking one of the plants. He grabbed it at the bottom of the stalk, where he snapped the plant and placed it on the canvas. He continued to so with a few more. Toothless looking at him curiously.

"Come boy, this is food." Hiccup said as he picked another strand and tossed it onto the canvas. "For me at least." He added as he turned back for more. He wasn't sure if the dragon would like bread, or perhaps just the stalks. They fed the yaks with those, didn't they?

Toothless waddled over to the patch with oats, retracting his teeth as he closed his mouth around a dozen the wild plants. With an effortless pull, he tore them from the ground, roots and all. He walked over towards the destroyed linen sack, dropping the now exposed and plucked plants on them. Hiccup looked surprised when the dragon walked back for a second batch. Sure, a Viking with a proper scythe was still quicker, but without any tools at hand Toothless was making short work of the small path.

After just three more bites the dragon had gathered all the oats that had matured, as well as a few strains of grass and other weeds that grew in-between the crops. He calmly sorted the stalks, making sure they all were the same way and wrapped them in the linen.

"Alright." He said as he plucked some long strands of the grass and tied them around the linen to close it. "I could make some bread with this." He muttered to himself as he inspected the rolled-up package. Toothless nudged him in his back, urging him to continue in their quest looking for food.

"Do you hear anything?" Hiccup asked the dragon as he placed he carried the oats. "Maybe a stream, or the coast." He really couldn't see far, and all he heard was the wind through the forest, and occasionally the beating of wings in the distance or a dragon roaring. It was strange to be surrounded by so many wild dragons, especially since this was their turf, and he couldn't spot them. But they seemed to not mind the Night Fury and his companion.

Toothless' ears twitched, turning towards his right. The dragon warbled softly, motioning his rider to follow. The beast waited for a few seconds to allow his rider to catch up before continuing towards the sound he had heard.

"Water?" Hiccup asked as he walked alongside the dragon, they were entering more densely populated forest now. The grass made way for more trees, and the ground turned from green fields into muddy dirt. Hiccup stepped on a dry branch, which snapped under his weight.

The thick foliage above them had one good very clear good point though, it seemed to keep out the fog that lingered around the island, allowing him to see just a bit further. Although this might prevent any wild animal from hiding in the fog, the forest gave any predators plenty of other places to hide. He stepped closer to Toothless, resting one hand on the saddle in case he wanted to quickly jump on.

After a moment, Hiccup was also able to hear the sound. Splashing, probably some kind of waterfall or pond and stream. Hiccup didn't know if they were up high or low. But because he couldn't hear the sound of clashing waves he guessed it would be fresh water.

A little further through the forest it started to clear up again. The muddy ground being swapped for lush green grass. The mist was also back, and in force. As visibility decreased they continued walking towards the sound of the water.

A small creek slowly came into view. It came gently crashing down from between the rocks of the mountain to their right. Hiccup guessed it was from a natural basin of rainwater somewhere up high. The stream wasn't much, eight feet wide on average, and about two feet in depth on the deepest parts. But the water was spring clear, and looked incredibly refreshing. Hiccup calmly kneeled down next to it. He dipped his finger in the water, it was ice cold. He pulled his finger out, licking it to taste the water. It had no specific taste, not salt or bitter. Seemed like regular spring water.

He gladly opened the top of his flask, pushing it underneath the surface of the water. The bubbles of air escaped as the flask filled with the water. Beside him, Toothless was also happily enjoying the refreshing stream. He gladly drank the cold water, feeling refreshed. With his large green eyes the dragon scanned the stream for fish, but couldn't find any.

"What do you say." Hiccup began as he stood up, capping of his flash again. "Shall we head back towards the coast and get you some breakfast?" He asked the dragon, which warbled happily in reply. Hiccup kept walking with Toothless, following the small creek downstream. He never expected the island to be this beautiful. And so full of life. It wouldn't surprise him if there was even some livestock on the island – like chickens or yaks – that had managed to escape the dragons' clutches at the last moment.

Toothless enjoyed their new way of live, even if it was just the first day. He happily jumped from one side of the stream to the other. He loved it. He was finally out of the boring cove, and for good probably, seeing how badly his rider wanted to leave when he got to him.

The dragon's ears perched upwards again, hearing gentle waves clashing against a rock cliff. He made some inaudible noise at Hiccup, motioning the human to climb on his back. Hiccup didn't understand the large reptile at first. But Toothless fixed this by running around the boy, pressing his snout between his legs from behind and lifting the boy over his head in one quick motion. Hiccup suddenly found himself on the back of the dragon again, safely in the saddle.

He let out a soft chuckle as he strapped himself in, hooking the safety ropes he had to the saddle. Toothless increased his speed now that he didn't have to keep up with the boy. The excited dragon finally leaped to the ear when he trusted the sounds he heard enough. As expected, the ground disappeared from underneath them after what would have been only a few more steps. The edge of the cliff had been hidden in the thick fog. And Hiccup realised that the fog itself wasn't so dense on the island itself. It was mainly surrounding the island, forming a barrier or shield against invaders. Hiding the dangerous sea stacks that had cost so many ships.

Toothless and Hiccup were only just in the air as they heard the loud roar of the giant dragon. He looked behind them, but found only mist. The large dragon was probably still inside the volcano, and something had just happened to make it angry. "Let's get as far away from here as we can." Hiccup said to Toothless as they flew towards the edge of the mist bank. "We'll grab some food on the way." He said. Toothless shot a quick glance behind them. The dragon agreed with the boy, he'd rather leave the island with the evil dragon as far behind them as possible.

Toothless was beating his wings powerfully, soaring through the sky ever so graceful. He stopped when the speed was adequate, the young rider was still holding his freshly plucked oats on his back after all. They passed out of the mist bank, allowing the dragon to navigate using its view again. Less at risk for obstacles, the two relaxed. Hiccup allowed himself to release a sigh of relieve. He had felt so relaxed on the island at first, so calm. But the roar of the giant monster dragon had startled him again, which was acceptable. He felt like that beast could even cause some of the most fearless Viking to falter.

They continued their flight, Toothless was scanning the surface of the water impatiently as they bled speed, adjusting to a more comfortable tempo of their flight. The dragon was hungrily scanning the surface of the water. The sea was moderate, a gentle breeze created small waves. Some of them sprouted whitecaps. The foam gently resting on the crests of the waves.

But the dragon wasn't interested in the whitecaps or the waves, not at all. Instead, it was peering past them, trying to identify schools of fish underneath the surface of the water. The colour of the water darkened, which could indicate the presence of a large school of fish. The Night Fury made a crooning sound, trying to catch the attention of Hiccup.

The young rider looked down when he heard his dragon. "What's the matter bud?" He asked as he reached down to pet the side of the dragon's head. The Night Fury pointed its snout towards the surface of the water, trying to get his rider to see the school of fish. Hiccup followed the dragon's gaze, his own eyes landing on the same school of fish as Toothless' had. "Ah, breakfast." Hiccup said as he switched his leg into a different position. The tailfin shifting accordingly.

They slowly circled the school of fish. Toothless eyed them carefully, trying to find a good place for him to strike. A sound alerted Hiccup that the dragon was ready, and the rider switched the tailfin again, allowing them to climb into the air.

They only needed a small bit of extra altitude for Toothless to be high enough. The dragon caused himself to stall out, rolling over his back to turn down towards the surface. Hiccup switched the stances of the tailfin accordingly. The two flew in unison.

They dove towards the water, a soft whistling noise starting to form, but not reaching nearly as loud as an average attack. Instead, Toothless only created a small purple fireball. It wasn't nearly enough to destroy a catapult tower or a Viking house, but it was enough to explode on the surface of the water, the resulting shockwave stunning the fish that swam close enough to it.

Toothless released the fireball effortless, and the purple ball struck the surface of the water. The explosion wasn't by far as large or spectacular as the average, but it still allowed the water to be flung a few feet into the air. Toothless pulled out of the dive, carefully trying to avoid flying through the large spray of water. Something Hiccup appreciated greatly.

They passed over the area of impact again, noticing that a few fish were already starting to float on the surface. They stopped to hover, Toothless beating his wings with all his might to allow them to maintain their altitude. The dragon waited for a second, until he felt his rider switch the stance of the tailfin again.

They approached the fish with a shallow dive. Toothless managing to keep his body just above the waves. He glided close to the water, opening his mouth and allowing his lower jaw to dip into the water, scooping the fresh fish into his mouth. He pulled up again, carefully swallowing the mouthful of fish. After a quick turn they headed back in, doing another pass across the area that was covered with the most fish. It didn't take long, and after they'd pulled up and Toothless had swallowed another batch of fresh fish they continued their journey to the next island.

Toothless beats his wings powerfully, after a moment they had reached a comfortable speed again. This allowed the dragon to occasionally beat his wings to keep the speed up, but glide for the rest of it. Hiccup sat comfortably on the back of his dragon, scanning around them. The vast expanse of sea brought a calmness with it, but also a hint of anxiety.

He guessed it was natural, and he wouldn't mind it if their new life was just that. Calmness with the tiniest hint of anxiety. He had abandoned his tribe in favour of their enemy after all. And he guessed he wouldn't really be embraced lovingly in other settlements with his dragon.

He shifted in the saddle, but felt something push against his leg as he did. He grabbed the small bulge in his pocket, pulling out the small decorative skull. He had forgot about her in the heat of the escape and attack. Questions started to surface in the back of his mind.

Had she seen him leave on Toothless? Or had she arrived at the cove too late to catch wind of his final escape?

And if she had seen them, would she have told the village? Would they believe her. He guessed they would. It had been too sudden and too much of a surprise that Hiccup had suddenly become the best student in the ring. It was too unpredictable.

And Astrid was competitive, sharing that information could grant her the first place. Which would give her the honour to kill the dragon.

The dragon that he had set free yesterday, right. Perhaps because of that little stunt she wouldn't have a reason to tell the village. Although she'd also know he did it, the pieces would fit together perfectly.

And then Berk would not only know that he befriended a dragon and chose them above his own village, but also that he attacked them, destroying the bridge, the pens and releasing the dragons.

He wondered how his father would feel about the news. The thought of his reaction made him glad he left. He didn't know if it'd be anger or disappointment – probably a mix of both – but he was certain he wouldn't be able to handle it.

He closed his hand around the skull, putting it back into his pocket. Perhaps he could find a use for it, maybe later. For now, it just brought up too many questions and fears in him.

Sadly enough the thoughts weren't as easy to put away. His mind kept wandering to the people in the village, and how they would react. What would Gobber say? Would his own mentor cast him aside, or would he perhaps take his side in the matter? Would he be reasonable? Hiccup didn't think so. The old smith leaded the training program against the dragons, and had lost not only his foot, but also a hand to the beasts. He guessed that the old Viking had no room for empathy for the beasts.

But who would? Everyone in Berk had lost someone to in the raids. Burning houses, explosions, collapsing towers, it was all part of the hazard that came with the attacks. Not to mention the possibility of starvation during the winter months, when the food that the dragons took was most needed.

But every settlement had these problems. Every settlement had their scars, and a lot of those would be linked to the evildoings of dragons. He guessed he was different than most Vikings, not for better or worse, just different. He had managed to live together with the beasts. Well, at least not fight with them. But at what cost? Forsaking his tribe, his title, and his heritage? To trade it all in for a life as a hermit in the wild?

He sighed, and his dragon noticed that his riders mind was clouded. He guessed it wasn't that strange. The Night Fury himself also felt slightly conflicted by the choice to leave the nest he had grown fond of. But he knew it was for the best. He too had been blinded by the conflict, he too had felt as if the humans were their enemies just because they had been when he was born. Until he met his own.

He felt content. He could do without the nest, without a flock. As long as he was with his rider. They were their own nest, their own flock, and in his case, their own family. He beat his wings again, gaining a bit more speed and altitude before he switched back to calmly gliding.

They flew in silence, calmly gliding across the winds as they further away from their old homes, further away from Berk and the nest. Further away from their old lives. Hiccup stretched and yawned on the back of Toothless. If he only had the right materials he could do quite a bit of work on the back of the dragon during these flights. If he had some fine rope he could make a satchel out of the piece of woven fabric they found, in there he could store the oats themselves, instead of the entire stalks.

If he could make the sack fine enough he'd even have a place to store excess flour that he made. He'd only have to crush the oats fine enough between a few rocks. He could do that. A bit of water from his flask and he'd be able to create his own bread.

He made a mental note for the things he needed. A knife would definitely come in handy, as would some kind of sewing materials. Some rope would be good, since that had almost limitless options. He could use it to tie stuff to Toothless' saddle, catch animals, mend his clothes, and quite a lot more.

His thoughts were disturbed when he spotted something on the horizon, a few sea stacks stood out proudly among the vast body of water. He leaned forward, patting his dragon on the side of its head. "Hey bud, sea those sea stacks?" He said calmly, knowing it was a rhetorical question. The dragon warbled in confirmation. "What do you say we check them out?"

Toothless beats his wings powerfully for a moment, getting a tad more speed as he leisurely continues to glide towards the sea stacks. The small rocky formation slowly growing on the horizon.

A map, that would be perfect. He could mark the places where he had found water, different plants and food. As well as marking safe and unsafe areas. He cursed softly, why hadn't he thought of that? Sure, if he'd taken a map from somewhere it was bound to go missing. But he could have copied a part of it he would at least have a head start on making his own.

He reached in his vest, grabbing his notebook from it. He opened the simple book. The page that opened carried his thoughts on where Toothless had first landed when he had shot him down. The drawings of the woodlands around raven point were ruined when he had crossed through them though. He flipped a few pages, passing his drawings of Toothless and his notes on dragons. All the little bits and pieces that he had learned about dragons.

He flipped path the pages, finally arriving at empty ones. He placed a small dot on the map, writing dragon island next to it. He looked at the sun, he guessed they were heading North-West. He drew another dot on the map, this one indicating the sea stack ahead of them.

He flipped the page so he faced the back of his new map and started writing notes. He wrote about what had he encountered on Dragon Island. Fresh water was the first mayor thing. If he was to survive in the wild he'd need to make sure he would be able to always find a source of fresh water. He could also travel further north, where the snow would already be settled for winter, and get water from ice and snow. But then he'd also risk freezing, so he guessed it would be best to stay a bit more south, keeping to the 'warmer' areas of the archipelago.

The also wrote down his discovery of the oats, since that was also the one he was the most proud of, it was a shame that the giant dragon lived there, since he'd be happy to set his camp up there. Plenty of food, plenty of water.

He sighed, perhaps he'd return there some other day. Maybe he could try to fully map the island, or to at least find some more food and sources of water. At any rate, he'd first like to keep as far away from the large dragon as possible, and he had a feeling Toothless would agree with that.

The sea stacks were growing larger now, and they were almost there. Toothless let out a happy warble as he prepared himself to land on one of the large rock formations. It had a nice grassy top, with a few trees that bravely faced the elements on the almost barren sea stack. Hiccup shifted the tailfin, and Toothless did so too with his half. They pitched up and slowed down, and gently landed on the top of the sea stack.

Hiccup still surprised himself with how well the flying went, especially now that flying together felt like it was the most natural thing in the world.

He unhooked himself from the saddle, swinging his leg to the other side and sliding down from it. The grass was flattened underneath his feet. Hiccup stretched his leg. They hadn't been flying that long, but his legs still felt a bit sore.

He looked around him, the sea stack was a welcome change from the mist covered dragon island. It did make him realise how small the island was though. From wherever he stood, he could see the other end of the sea stack's top. It felt almost claustrophobic in a weird way.

He walked towards the edge, looking down onto the tops of the smaller sea stacks. It looked like one of them had a rocky surface, which had formed a natural reservoir of rainwater. It wasn't large, but from where he stood the water looked clear and clean. He checked around his current sea stack, but there wasn't much there. The trees were sturdy and old, large pines that rose tall from the ground. Some of their roots were unearthed, clawing around the rocky sides of the sea stack, disappearing in nooks and crannies.

He walked over to Toothless, who was batting his paw at a small sapling that stood among the trees. "Can I borrow you for a moment buddy?" He asked, climbing on the back of the dragon. He didn't bother to strap himself in this time. "What do you say we pop over to the next one?"

The dragon looked at the sea stack Hiccup was pointing at, and happily obliged. With a graceful leap and a short glide the dragon landed calmly on the next sea stack. This one was indeed rockier and not at all as lush as the other one, but it did feature the small reservoir. Toothless quickly walked over to it, drinking some of the water that rested in the reservoir. It was clean, and perfectly drinkable.

Hiccup slid of Toothless again, kneeling next to the large dragon at the edge of the basin. He cupped his hands together, submerging them to fill the cup he formed with water and bring it closer to his face. He calmly drank some, tasting the fresh water. He guessed it was only a few days old. It hadn't rained on Berk, but perhaps the rain had passed by the island without any problems.

He stood up, wiping the cold water off his chin. He looked back at the taller sea stack behind him. They could probably stay here for the night, perhaps they'd even be able find shelter in a small crack between the rocks. But at any rate they, or he at least, would need fire. He looked at the trees on the taller sea stack, he didn't have an axe or any kind of tool to get his own firewood. So he'd have to rely on Toothless for everything.

Perhaps if the dragon could manage to topple one tree down to the lower island he'd at least be able to walk from one island to the other. Although he'd rather have Toothless to hop from sea stack to sea stack instead of walking across a narrow pine tree.

It was probably smarter to just break off the smaller twigs and let them dry for a bit. Or check if he could find any loose twigs and branches around the trees. Fresh branches wouldn't burn properly anyway.

He sat down, he guessed they had a while until he'd have to start getting ready for the night. They'd be able to get some more fish, Toothless could eat most of it, as long as Hiccup had one to bake over the fire. In the worst case, he could try to create bread with the oats he found. But he guessed that it would be smarter if he'd make dough tonight, leave it to rest during the night, and bake it the next morning. He wasn't really looking forward to wasting too much daylight on baking the bread after all. He wanted to continue traveling with his dragon.

"Hey Toothless?" Hiccup asked as he looked at the dragon. "Do you think you'd be able to get some wood for a fire?" He asked the Night Fury. The dragon looked at him with a puzzled look. But when Hiccup pointed to the trees on the other sea stack he seemed to understand.

Partially at least.

A quick blast was enough to tear a large branch from the tree, which fell down onto the grass underneath. The end that was attached to the tree was smouldering softly. Hiccup looked at the slightly smoking pine tree. He guessed it worked. Wet wood didn't burn as well as proper dry wood. But he guessed the Night Fury would be more then able to light that branch on fire. He walked over to his dragon again. He reached for the saddle and lifted himself on the dragon's back.

Toothless understood that Hiccup probably wanted to reclaim the branch he had just shot off the tree. So, with a subtle leap he jumped from the sea stack, making a short pass through the air before they circled back towards the taller rock. They approached form an angle they hadn't before, and Hiccup scanned the surface of the rock carefully, looking if there were perhaps placed in the rock where they could spend the night in shelter.

His eyes fell upon a patch of shade between rocks, but as Toothless closed with the sea stack he could not find the time to notify his dragon. He'd do it on the way back.

They landed calmly, and Toothless walked over to the still smouldering branch, picking it up with his jaws. Toothless turned his head, trying to get eye contact with Hiccup. In doing so, he nearly knocked the young rider from his back with the branch. Hiccup only narrowly avoided the large fresh branch, and was glad that the lush side had been heading for him, not the smouldering one.

After realising what almost happened Toothless quickly manoeuvred the branch away from Hiccup. He still tried to get eye contact with his rider though. Hiccup stood in his stirrups, leaning over Toothless' head so the dragon could look up to see him. The dragon warbled something strange, the sound deformed by the branch in its mouth. Hiccup smiled at the Night Fury, and patted him on the side of the head.

"I think I saw a crack in the rocks on our way here." Hiccup said calmly as went from patting to scratching the dragon. "What do you say we check that out bud?" He asked. Toothless response was clear, the dragon bent its knees, waggling its tail behind him, striking the grass and the sapling that grew on this island. Hiccup held on tightly, sitting down on the saddle again.

Toothless took that as his cue, and after a short run he leaped off the side of the sea stack, he spread his wings as he did so. Slowly gliding for a second before beating them. They circled around and between the sea stacks, allowing Hiccup to search for the same spot of shade again. He found it, and after a second pass Toothless saw a small outcropping where he could land.

Barely though.

After a lot of scratching claws and a couple wingbeats Toothless managed to stay on the outcropping. Once Hiccup was confident that Toothless had solid ground underneath all his paws he unbuckled himself from the saddle and slid off.

The patch of shadow was indeed a small cave. It looked relatively deep, and Hiccup could feel a soft breeze coming from it. He guessed that there was a small entrance somewhere on the other side, where the wind blew against the sea stack. It looked like the cave quickly grew narrow though. He'd probably be able to fit in further in the back, and Toothless could sleep closer to the entrance. It depended on how cold it would be, otherwise he might lie close to the dragon again, not just for warmth, but also for the comfort.

He looked at Toothless. The Night Fury was looking at the darkness inside the cave, its ears turned towards the opening. Hiccup guessed that Toothless heard something inside, because after he while the dragon calmly placed the branch on the ground. He huffed a couple of times, his ears and eyes still focussed clearly on the cave.

Hiccup saw how Toothless drew in a breath, and braced himself for the roar that was about to come. He knew that look on the dragon all too well, since it was printed in his memory after the time the Night Fury had roared to him when he had just cut him loose.

Hiccup covered his ears just before the Night Fury roared. The loud, almost deafening roar echoed in the cave, apparently it was deeper then Hiccup had thought. But besides the echoing roar he also heard other noises.

Before he could explain the other sounds a flock of four Terrible Terrors flew from the cave. Screeching and squawking as they left. It seemed they weren't happy that the large black dragon evicted them from their home. But Hiccup guessed the small dragons were better adapted to living out in the wild then him.

Hiccup stepped into the cave. Toothless following him in, but the two quickly realised that it was a tight fit. Hiccup looked around, a few rocks lay on the ground, and a couple of fishbones lay sprayed in the cave, picked clean of any meat. Hiccup guessed the water here were rather fish rich, since the fish could hide in cracks between the rocks to seek shelter from most predators.

"What do you say we get some food buddy?" Hiccup said as he turned to his dragon, which in response backed up out of the cave. The sun had turned to the other side of the sea stack, leaving the entrance of the cave covered in shade. Toothless used all of his agility to turn around on the small outcropping, eventually finding a way to perch himself facing the sea, his back and tail partially in the cave.

"I guess that's a yes." Hiccup said softly as the dragon turned his head to look at the young rider. Hiccup calmly walked past the dragon's side, grabbing the branch and pulling it slightly inside the cave. He didn't want to risk it falling into the water when they took off.

He also placed the oats and his flask in the cave. He didn't think the Terrible Terrors would be back any time soon. He climbed on Toothless' back and strapped himself in. And Toothless quickly took to the air. Toothless flew calmly around the sea stacks, scanning the surface for schools of fish again. It didn't take long to find them. These waters were indeed rich of fish.

Hiccup didn't even have to audibly signal Toothless, a simple shift of the tailfin was enough for the dragon to follow in the dive. They practised the same routine as they had done earlier that day. Toothless struck the water, this time he had to fly through the cloud of vapor though, since they were too close to the rock wall.

Hiccup didn't mind that much, he wasn't soaked or anything like that, and he'd soon have a bit of fish to for dinner. Toothless flew straight up in the air, stalling once the gravity started to force him back down. The dragon rolled over, Hiccup assisting him with the tailfin. He felt a rush after doing the manoeuvre, and guessed that it wouldn't be strange for them to do some tricks if they had the time and energy to spare.

After a quick scoop Toothless had a considerable mouth of fish, but decided to keep the fish there for now. Some still twitching and trying to escape. The duo landed on the small outcropping again, a bit smoother this time. Only Toothless' hind leg missed the outcropping, but after a quick replacement had also found solid ground underneath him.

Hiccup slid from the saddle again. Grabbing one of the fish from Toothless' mouth. "Thank you." He said as the fish twitched in his hand. Toothless quickly raised his head, swallowing most of the fish whole, only chewing once to cut a few in half with his teeth.

Hiccup however turned to the opening of the cave, he placed the fish on the ground, the tail twitching slightly. He grabbed a rock from, looking at the fish. "Sorry fish." He said as he lifted the rock. "But it's you or me." He closed his eyes and lowered the rock, feeling some of the slime of the fish splatter against his arms. He wiped them against his vest. Toothless was licking his lips in the meanwhile.

Hiccup broke a twig of the branch, piercing it through the mouth of the dead fish. Toothless turned around, walking backwards into the cave. The Night Fury laid down calmly, a soft sigh exiting his mouth. Hiccup could still smell the fish.

He stood up, dragging the branch towards the opening of the cave. Leaving it on the outcropping just outside though. He looked at the Night Fury, who seemed to have intended to have an after-dinner rest. "If you'd be so kind?" He asked, pointing at the log and turning away. Toothless kept lying on the ground, and effortlessly fired a small ball of purple fire towards the log, lighting it aflame.

Hiccup turned back after he had felt some of the splinters land in his neck. The log was burning calmly in the centre, a gentle trail of smoke rising from it, flowing away from the sea stack. He looks at it with pride. Sure, it wasn't him who made the fire, but the two of them were surviving together. He couldn't help it, he was happy with how they were doing.

He grabbed his fish and sat down next to Toothless, leaning against the dragon as he held the fish above the fire. It slowly roasted over the soft fire. Hiccup smiled, using one hand to absently scratch the dragon besides him. The Night Fury started to make soft noises of bliss.

He couldn't blame the dragon. He himself felt relaxed too. He felt free and, strangely enough, powerful. They were doing it, exploring, surviving and managing well.

"Well bud." Hiccup began, looking out towards the sea. The dragon opened one of its eyes, looking at his rider with his large green orb. "Things are going better than expected." He said. "Don't you think so?"

Toothless let out a soft huff, leaning into the scratching that Hiccup was giving him. Hiccup turned his attention back to his fish.

Perhaps his expectations had been too low, since things were definitely going better than expected.

AN:

Cough Cough famous last words Cough cough.

Anyway. Here it is, albeit a bit later than expected. Don't worry, most of the next chapter is already finished. This is where the story will really start to catch some speed. Or at least deepen. There will be a minor time skip. But hey, I don't think I can fit another full chapter with Hiccup and Toothless just frolicking around in the wild with nothing happening. :P

Anyway, have a nice day and take care!

R4y