Chapter 3 up!

I hope you like what you're reading by now, because I'm having really fun, and it's no longer a simple bedtime story as I keep paper and pencil near the bed and the plot is getting more complicated – and involving more characters.

Now, I promised I would have replied to all the reviews, so…

Guest: thanks for calling me a good writer ^_^ I'm not THAT good actually. I've known better fanwriters – they have even betaed me. Writing a story is not easy stuff – that's actually the reason why Chapter 1 was just a pilot until I decided to go on.

Did you watch Race to the Edge? I did and it was awesome! (warn me if you don't want spoilers, because some revelations in that series are actually useful for the plot)

Chapter 3

Rest and Digest

I couldn't sleep that night. I recalled all the events that had led me to that point – getting kidnapped, waking up shackled to a bedpost, all my failed attempts to run off, and the fateful injection. I remembered my mission, the one for which the others had jeopardized their own lives to create a diversion to let me escape.

Look. For. Help.

Now, maybe I had found it, maybe I didn't.

I needed to control my transformation, first. Then, tell my story and hope that someone would believe it. Maybe Hayden, who seemed to trust me enough.

If only Hayden could come back.

I didn't know what day it was, not then, but judging by the weather, and the trees, it probably was the beginning of the fall, so there WAS school. Very probably, Hayden wouldn't have had time to come to his – OUR now – cove.

I didn't know what day it was, indeed. I also didn't know that the following day was Saturday.

"What do you think, Little One?" Hayden lifted the plush up to his eyes and sighed. "Was it all some kind of dream?"

He threw himself on his bed and sighed. Home had always looked empty to him, but in those days when Dad was away, it was even emptier.

He didn't really understood – first Dad didn't want him to get hurt, then he had to leave for days. It was odd.

But even more than that, the dragon in the woods – he had started referring to him as Toothless for his retractable teeth – was the strangest thing he had ever seen. From what story book had he jumped out? Seriously – a dragon?

A dragon with retractable teeth, who laughed at a joke, gestured him to follow, did a facepalm (more like a facepaw) twice, and wrote "I am a boy" in the dirt?

Not even George R. R. Martin or Christopher Paolini could have thought of that.

Either Hayden was going mad – or something was happening. Something big. And honestly, Hayden hoped for the latter: a forgotten archipelago, a boy who was somewhat the outcast of the town, and a friendly dragon was the perfect combination for the coolest of the stories.

In a corner of his mind, his common sense (which, strangely, sounded a lot like Dad) kept telling him he should have considered himself lucky to get back the Mangler and Little One, and it was time to forget everything and maybe let an adult with a gun check the cove.

But he… couldn't do that. It was a dragon, not a rogue bear or something like that. And it wasn't an it, he was an "he". A sentient being who could understand him and communicate.

So, first things first, what could an intelligent creature who was probably into hiding need?

"Hey, Toothless!" Hayden walked into the cove, with his school bag full of food on his shoulders. "I brought breakfast!"

He got back on the bike and pedaled down the small slope, then he pulled the brakes and got down.

Toothless approached him with a happy gait, tongue sticking out of his mouth.

"Well, hello to you too," Hayden put down the kickstand and grinned in return. "I hope you like snacks and cookies, because that's all we have for now. And yeah, we're having breakfast together."

Toothless grinned again, then he bumped his nose on Hayden's shoulder. Hayden sat on the ground, tore open a pack of cookies, then ate one and passed another to his new friend. They spent some time in silence, with their munching as the only noise they could hear, then Toothless yawned and stretched.

"What's up, bud?" Hayden straightened up and looked at his newest friend.

Toothless laid down on the ground and rubbed his eyes with his paws. He yawned again, and this time his… "voice"… had a higher pitch. It honestly sounded more like a voice and less like a verse. He even looked somewhat smaller.

Hayden made a step backwards when he realized the dragon was really shrinking. His legs became slightly longer and thinner, patches of cloth seeped from underneath the scales, his snout shortened and paws became hands and feet.

"Cookies? Seriously! Was that really so easy?"

He had spoken! Toothless had spoken!

Hayden didn't immediately understand what he was saying – Toothless had a pronounced lisp – but those were definitely words. He still had wings, a tail, patches of scales everywhere, and long, rod-like ears, but apart from that, he looked like a preteen. His head was covered in short, spiky black hair that looked as if they had been cut without caring for the looks, he was wearing dirty and ragged clothes, and his feet were bare.

"No way…" Hayden felt like he was about to have another attack of hiccups. This was way beyond anything he could imagine.

"What's wrong, Hiccup?" the dragon boy asked him.

"Wha…?" Hayden pulled a face.

Toothless grinned and shrugged. "Well, man, that's all the sounds you made when you saw me."

Hayden snorted, then he noticed Toothless now really lacked teeth: on the left side of his mouth, the front and side incisors were completely missing, and the maxillar canine was chipped. That explained the lisp, Hayden supposed.

"I know, I'm not a nice sight," Toothless rolled his eyes. "I can assure you I looked better. Spoke better too, before some madman decided to feed me my own teeth."

"Well, that must have hurt," Hayden mumbled.

"You can bet on it, Hiccup." Toothless sat down and yawned. "Man, I'm ssooo tired…"

"Ooh, he's shooooo tired…" Hayden chuckled and mimicked his lisp. Strange as the situation could seem, he could relate better to his new friend now that they could actually talk. "By the way, Toothless, it's Hayden. Hayden is my name. If you want to tell me yours, we can give up on stupid nicknames."

"I'd have to kill you if I told you my name," Toothless mumbled rubbing his eyes. If that was supposed to sound like a threat, Hayden thought, even without the lisp he looked like a big baby ready to take a nap.

"Oh, I'm sssho sshcared!" Hayden mimicked his lisp again.

"Stop it!" Toothless lifted an eyebrow. Then, he looked at his feet. "Sorry, man. It's just that… there's a lot I'd have to tell you, then. And I still don't know if I can really trust you. I've… I've seen too much."

"Well, we're two," Hayden sighed. "I don't know if you were around when it happened, but about ten years ago, my mom was abducted by some organization. We never knew why, they asked for a ransom but the detectives weren't really convinced about it. I mean, a group of scientists and their guard, who gets them for a ransom? And then, some weeks later… nothing. Nothing more. No trace of the criminals, no trace of Mom either. Most people say she's dead, that they're all dead… Mom… and Claude… and Finn, and all the others. That they can't be alive after all these years. But there's no proof of their death so they could be anywhere."

Toothless made a sad face.

"I never met my parents," he said. "Your mother was the one who made that thing for you – that plush you took away?"

Hayden nodded.

"You're lucky you have a memory of her. I… I wish I could help you. Maybe once I'm done with what I have to do."

"They could be anywhere." Hayden sighed.

"Anywhere is the word. A man I used to know often told me that anywhere might even mean right under your nose." Toothless pointed at his own nose, then yawned again. "You don't mind if I sleep, do you?"

"No, don't worry," Hayden walked to his bike. "I'm leaving some food here, if you get hungry again. If people notice I'm missing for too long, my father might leave the divers and rush back here with all the police forces in the archipelago… well, bye Toothless. It's been nice talking to you."

He got on his bike and started pedaling back to the town, maybe with even more questions in his head than the ones he had left home with.

I knew that smell on the plush, even if I didn't tell Hayden. I had smelled it on the Helheim. It would have meant telling him ABOUT the Helheim, and I didn't feel ready, not yet.

One thing I didn't know, though, was that it was not because of the cookies I had regained a somewhat human appearance. Now, I don't really know everything about the matter, but the transformation is controlled by the nervous system, and there are two branches of it that coordinate reactions to danger and to good conditions to rest. That's the main axis that controls the transformation.

Basically, I couldn't turn back because I was scared out of my wits. Now I was feeling quite sleepy, I had met someone I could call a friend, and my stomach was full of cookies, my nervous system was set on "rest and digest" and I was a little more like myself again.

And, as Hayden left, and I looked at my hands and saw that the scales were slowly fading, one by one, the only thing I could think of was that, step by step, I was closer to home.

*Even closer than you'd expect, man* - Hayden

Hiccup, write on your own journal!

It felt very strange, to Hayden, to be back in his old, normal town after the strange morning he had just experienced, yet there he was, on his bike, in his green polo shirt, cargo pants, and the brown fishing vest he actually used for his tools.

He had to be at the docks at ten o' clock to retrieve a package from the express courier boat – he always had to, on Saturdays. He kept ordering stuff online for his bike or his contraptions, so often that the courier, a loquacious man named Johann Trader, had a story ready for him every damned weekend – and he didn't let go of Hayden's mail until the story was over.

Another interesting person who spent most of his time at the docks was Shay, the skipper of the school ferry. He was a man in his early twenties, and even though he claimed to be from Lee Island, he had a heavy Irish accent that had made some people question his origins. From what he had heard by the twins, Hayden knew he had grown up at the foster house at Lee Island, and he had moved to Berk quite recently, where he had taken over the job of the old ferryman when the old man's eyesight had started failing.

He had longish, messy dark hair, a stubble and thin mustache, he wore a leather jacket and a pair of torn jeans, always walked around as if he owned the place, and Hayden had seen him smoking a cigarette a lot of times. He didn't like him, and honestly he hoped to move to Lee Island the following year, just so he wouldn't have to see Shay's face every day.

Ruffnut had a crush on him, but Tuffnut claimed that Shay was already head over heels with another woman – a child psychologist, judging by what the Thorston boy said. Fat chance, Hayden thought. Such a bumpkin with a doctor? Bleh. The doctor probably had to find an excuse not to see him.

"Bang on time as usual, you, huh?" Shay noticed him and smirked. "Six months and you come here every Saturday. People would think you're up to something!"

Hayden snorted, got off his bike, and tried his best to ignore the tactless youth.

"Yeah, good morning to you too, Shay," he snorted. "Is Johann here yet?"

"Uhm, actually, he's stuck on Lee Island because a young hooligan damaged his boat," Shay mumbled.

"Let me guess. Dagur?" Hayden asked.

"Old Ozzie's son? Definitely." Shay stretched his arms. "Seriously, I really don't know how that man can have such a bane for a son and such a sweet and nice little girl. Hope just has her hands full with those two. She keeps saying that the boy has the worst form of hyperactivity she has ever seen, and quite the vicious nature too."

"Believe me. I know," the thirteen-year-old said. "Their father works with mine." Hope had to be the child psychologist Shay was trying to woo. And of course it was something Oswald would do, sending Dagur to the shrink, at least after the teenager had earned himself a nice trip to the police station for vandalism.

Hayden still remembered a lot of the play dates he had had with Oswald's children. That time Dagur had "taught" him to play football and he had ended up in the hospital with a serious sprain. Or that one when they had gone swimming together and Hayden had almost drowned – despite having a life jacket.

"So, does this mean I won't be getting the stuff I ordered?" So much for ordering electric stuff online. Hayden had been so sure he would have beaten the Hiro brat at the next science fair, and now he had nothing to work with!

"Actually…" Shay made a smug grin, jumped on his boat, and pulled out a sealed package from a chest. "You know… I always come and go anyway. And I've seen you going up and down these docks enough times to know you. Here's your electric material. Just don't build a detonator!"

Hayden stared at the young ferryman in disbelief. Shay had his stuff. Shay had taken his stuff to Berk because Johann couldn't. Yet another strange happening in those days of strange happenings.

"… thanks…" he mumbled, taking the package in his hands.

"You're very welcome," Shay grinned – a sincere grin. "I know you, Hayden Haddock. You think I'm bad lot, you treasure that bike more than your life itself, and you want to beat Hiro Hamada from the junior high at Lee Island ever since he beat you in sixth grade."

"Well, who wouldn't want to beat that little…" Hayden mumbled.

"That little is nine, Hayden. It may burn, being beaten by a younger child, but you're not being mature, at all."

"Well, who knows? Maybe his brother has helped him all the way through. Or his aunt. And he doesn't have to spend a fortune on ferry tickets or shipment."

Shay covered his forehead with a hand and sighed.

"Hayden, don't do anything you could regret. I used to know a boy who was a lot like you, and right now I don't even know if he's still alive."

He probably meant Thomas Fury.

But Hayden couldn't care less.

He had his dreams and he would have chased them, one step at a time, he thought as he pedaled back to town with his precious cargo in the backpack. Beat the rival. Get Astrid's attention. Go to high school. Leave that island forever.

Yeah, but then? What about Toothless?, something in his mind reminded him.

The horn of a car right behind him reminded him he was in the streets. He stopped, pulled his bike on the sidewalk and sat on a bench. That urchin, the dragon boy, seemed desperate for help. And Hayden was probably the only one Toothless knew on that island. He had seen a lot, Hayden could realize that even if Toothless wouldn't tell. If he didn't really trust a boy his age with what he had seen, that could only mean he had been in serious trouble.

The sound of steps warned him someone was approaching him, he looked up and saw that Astrid Hofferson was standing near his bench.

"So now you have your bike back, huh?" she mumbled, looking at the Mangler. Hayden almost jumped on the bench.

"Astrid! Hey! Hi Astrid. Hi Astrid. Hi Astrid…" he stuttered nervously. "Uhm… so… yeah… fixed it. It's up again. I'll be on it at next practice."

It was a good excuse – Hayden could fix the unfixable, to use Gobber's words. Such a pity no one else believed him.

Astrid grumbled.

"Honestly, I don't know why you do it," she said. "Your father is in the police, your mother is gone, and all you try to do is beat some brat at the science fair or try to get into the cycling team. Hayden, seriously! You're stuck on this!"

"You're in the team, too," the boy made her notice, but he wasn't too sure of what he was saying. Of course, Astrid was the ace of the team, but she never really had her head in the game. "And we're thirteen, Astrid. If we don't decide what we do with our lives now… I guess Mom would never want me to waste my life away looking for her."

"You know nothing, Hayden."

"That was Jon Snow. Not me. You know? Jon Snow. That character from the books," Hayden folded his arms and smirked. "The one in the Night's Watch... who looks like that Eret boy who plays football for the Lee Island High School…"

"… Hayden!" Astrid really looked as if she was losing all of her patience.

"No, Astrid, seriously…" Hayden stood up. "You haven't always been like this! What do you think you're in? I don't know… an epic war between Vikings and dragons? It's as if you were Don Quixote… and you're tilting at windmills! I got it! You loved your uncle. You'd want him back – or you want justice for him ever since the inquiries have been stopped. I know how it feels. My mother was there. But… if the adults couldn't do anything, what are we supposed to do?"

He jumped on his bike and pedaled away, with no other thought but getting as far as he could from there.

He wasn't too surprised when he found out he had instinctively gone back to his cove – his and Toothless's now – but his newest friend was, and was immediately concerned when he saw him sitting on the ground with misty eyes and crying.

"Hiccup! What happened?" he approached him and sat on the ground, next to Hayden.

There was too much Hayden could think of. He had snapped at Astrid, comparing her to the most insane and worthless adventurer of literature. She had judged as useless all his attempts to become someone in everybody's – and, most importantly – her eyes. And in the attempt to make her reason, he had dug out one of his weak spots – he missed Mom.

And he also missed the old Astrid, his friend, his playmate, the happy girl who had disappeared with the kidnapping of her uncle.

"… what happened…?" Toothless asked him again. Hayden looked up and saw that his friend's eyes were completely green, even the part that was supposed to be white.

"I think you're turning back into…" Hayden tried to mumble.

"Don't change the topic, I'm worried for you now," Toothless replied. "So as long as I can talk, we talk. Besides… I had not noticed any change until you came here weeping your eyes out. So what happened, Hayden?"

He couldn't help noticing it was the first time Toothless had used his real name – even if he liked being called Hiccup. It was a nickname, something a good friend would have done.

"I snapped at an old friend because she accused me of losing my time… pretty much," Hayden sighed. "She lost an uncle to the same people who took my mom. She's… pretty serious about it."

"An old friend? She?" Toothless smirked. The "whites" of his eyes were white again. "Hiccup my dear, I think you're in love."

"What?" Hayden had a start. "Toothless! I never said that!"

"You may lie, my friend, but you're not fooling this," the dragon boy pointed at his own nose. "So, what's her name?"

Hayden stood up and walked a few steps away.

"What does it matter? She surely hates me now." He sighed and looked up to the rock walls of the cove.

"Hiccuuuuup?" Toothless stood up and put a hand around his shoulders. "Come on, you can tell Th… you can tell your buddy. I mean, I'm not some spy who might catch her. And even if I was… come on, we're thirteen. Or at least, I am. Unless it's a new year and I've turned fourteen already. No one cares about kids in this world."

Hayden looked at Toothless and forced himself to smile. If he really cared… if he really wanted to help him…

"Astrid Hofferson," he confessed.

Toothless had a start.

"You mean, Astrid Hofferson from the Berk junior high dodgeball and cycling team?" he asked. "Fearless Astrid? Man… you snapped at Astrid, that girl is badass!" He started pacing back and forth, with an amazed expression and his eyes wide open. "That makes you the bravest boy in town!"

He patted Hayden on his back. Hard. Then, he made an apologetic grin and lowered his oversized ears like a puppy.

"Sorry, still can't control my strength."

"So yeah, now you know my problem," Hayden rubbed the sore spot on his back. "One of the many, at least."

Toothless hinted at a grin.

"I have to make it even now, I suppose," he said. "Hayden, listen, what I'm about to tell you still terrifies me even when I simply think about it. So if at a point I'm no longer able to speak, just put up with it. You'll hear the whole story eventually, one way or another. I need you to know it. But, point is, there are terrorists roaming these waters. And they're behind all those missing person cases."

Just in case you guys don't know, Dagur has a sister. If I can recall, in DoB she was already mentioned, even if she makes an appearance only in RttE. So if someone DOESN'T want spoilers, tell me and I'll delay her appearance as long as possible. And put a big huge SPOILER ALERT sign on top of the chapters.

Shay is the main character of the Assassin's Creed Rogue video game. I don't like him, but basically he is a good man, and I needed a character like him – a two-faced, naïve, confused, but basically good person, also somewhat an idiot – to cover a role in my story. Also, you may have noticed that I have kept some names as names (like Dagur) and put others as nicknames. The reason is simple: Dagur and Astrid are real names. Hiccup… not so much. =P So Hayden it was.

And yeah, Hiro and Tadashi are mentioned. There'll be other mentions – if I'm including Assassin's Creed, that has nothing to do with the HTTYD series, there must be other cameos too, also because many of the HTTYD characters just don't match the roles I need for this story. There are going to be other children – many others – teachers, townspeople, and so on. And all the characters will have to fit properly in the story.

Hiro was the first to appear because I'm making some sort of one-sided rivalry between Hiccup and him. But little Hiro knows nothing about it…