"That's a funny name." Pixie commented, and Hiccup had to fight the urge to point out the fact that hers wasn't much better by reminding himself that she was just a child.
"Well, I'm... not like other Vikings." He admitted, bringing the prosthetic limb up to his face as a small smile graced his lips, "Like this leg. It's obviously a fake to take the place of the real one, but it's different than other fake legs, too. See this indentation here is made special to match Toothless'..." The sound of his dragon's name brought him back from his rambling, "Toothless' saddle." He finished a bit sadly before putting the limb back where it belonged.
Seeming to notice his change in tone, the young dragoness stepped closer, pressing herself flat against the ground. She wanted to nuzzle him affectionately as her mother did for her when she was upset, but she knew humans were supposed to be the enemy. The only reason he'd been allowed in the nursery was because he'd been asleep, and it was a good chance for the hatchlings, who had never seen humans before, to study them. Seeing what she was doing, Hiccup couldn't help but smile again, reminded of the first day he'd fed Toothless. Eventually, she gave up and backed off a bit, curling into herself. "Where's your real leg?" Another one of the younglings wondered aloud.
"It... Well, I don't know exactly what happened to it. Either it got burned off by the explosion of the Red Death, or it broke off when I hit the ground. Most likely burned off- Toothless took most of the heat and impact for me." Hiccup replied, "I got knocked unconscious by the Red Death's tail, so I don't know for sure. You'd have to ask him, he saw the whole thing."
"The Red Death?" One of the young voices chirped. They were often told stories about the Red Death's influence over other dragon species as a cautionary tale, so they knew at least a little bit about her, "You fought the Red Death and lived?"
Hiccup chuckled, "Yeah, pretty amazing, isn't it? I'd be dead by now if Toothless hadn't gotten to me when he did," Again, at the mention of Toothless, Hiccup felt a pang of worry deep in his chest. What had he done to offend the dragon?
"Oh, tell us the story!" Young Pixie begged, seemingly over her pout, as she was now sitting up, making the most adorable and pathetic puppy dog face Hiccup had ever seen. Granted, he really only ever got that face from Toothless. If one of the Vikings tried it, he'd probably be scared half to death.
"We love stories!" Another voice chirped, "Please tell us! We hardly know anything about life outside these tunnels!"
Hiccup glanced over at Sky, who was now joined by Flamewing and the alpha female. They all seemed to be listening intently, and Flamewing even gave him a nod of approval. "Alright... Well... It all started the night I shot Toothless down." He explained, in great detail, about how he met Toothless and learned from him, and how they came to be friends, flying with him for the first time, all of the events leading up to, and including, the death of the Red Death- even going into detail about what went on in the dragon training arena. He was so engrossed in telling the story that he didn't even notice how much closer the hatchlings had gotten- now, several of them were visible in the light, and the little one who had first started talking to him was curled up against his side, her head resting on his thigh as she listened intently.
A bit shell-shocked by all of this information, Sky wondered aloud, "Your pack used to kill dragons for status?"
With a small nod, Hiccup replied, "We just didn't understand why they attacked us back then, but now that we've made peace with the dragons, life on Berk is much better. Dragons and human helping each other and working together, protecting each other. I know it sounds insane- if anyone had even suggested the theory before I met Toothless, I would've thought them to be insane, but... It feels right, now." Looking directly into Flamewing's eyes, he added, "We're not all that different... In fact, there are a lot of similarities between us... If you'd just give me a chance to show you, we don't have to misunderstand each other anymore." The dragon bristled at this, and Hiccup redirected his gaze to the little one in his lap, falling silent.
"Why did you spare Toothless?" Pixie asked softly, seeming to have accepted the elder Pixie's new name. "You could've had everything, and like your teacher said, a downed dragon is a dead dragon. Even we Night Furies believe that."
Well, okay, so he might have forgotten to mention a few conversations when he told the story. "Well, I..." He exhaled deeply and let his head fall back against the wall. Looking into the darkness he could almost see those green eyes trained upon him, as they had been that fateful day. "I made a mistake. All Vikings know not to look into your prey's eyes, but I did, and... When I looked at him, looked into his eyes... I saw myself. I'm only just now beginning to realize that I didn't know the half of how true that was."
"Hmm," The child purred, considering this. "And what did you look like?"
Hiccup furrowed his brow. He hadn't been expecting that. "Lost, lonely, hurt... Ashamed."
"Because you're a runt?" Another of the hatchlings wondered.
"Well, yes," The boy admitted, "But more than that. I'm the chief's son. I'm supposed to be the manliest, most viking-like person the world has ever seen, and yet there I was, standing in front of a dragon that I couldn't even take down without the help of a machine, and I couldn't even kill him..." He glanced to Flamewing apologetically, "That thing that shot Sky down, it was an invention of mine, what I used against Toothless. I don't know how in Odin's great green earth they got it,but..." He rubbed his temples, struggling to think through his throbbing headache. Finally, it came to him. "That no-good, lousy traitor!" He snapped, getting to his feet so suddenly he lost his balance and fell flat on his face. Lucky for him, the ground was padded by scales that broke his fall. Realizing there was nothing he could do in his current state, he sat back against the wall once more, glowering at the fire, "Mildew!"
Flamewing huffed indignantly, "I'll have you know our hatchery is free of mold!"
"No, no, not that... Mildew is the name of one of Berk's former vikings. A stubborn old man who hated dragons and tried his best to get rid of them at every turn. I should've known better than to trust him!" Hiccup curled himself into the fetal position, "This is all my fault." He realized, "The raid, the bola launcher, even Toothless' initial capture. If I'd just listened when he tried to get me away from that book-!" He hung his head in despair, his tiny frame shaking.
Pixie placed her paws on his thigh and nudged her face between his legs and his face, a space just big enough for the runt's little head. Now nose-to-nose with this peculiar human, she asked sweetly, "Does this mean you'll tell us another story?"
Hiccup couldn't help himself. A smile broke out across his face and he chuckled softly at the young dragoness' innocence. "I'll tell you all the stories you want to hear, Pixie." He said, sitting back a bit. She met his gaze and twitched her lips some, trying to imitate his smile. When she finally managed, Hiccup, without thinking, grabbed the tiny thing in his arms and hugged her tight to his chest. "Thanks, girl... I needed that." He murmured, not noticing that the other dragons had gone tense, ready to attack. Pixie was perfectly content, however, purring softly as she was lowered to the ground. Finally noticing the intense atmosphere, Hiccup mumbled, "Sorry, that's... That's what Toothless did one of the first days in the cove. Copied my smile... He's been acting strangely since we got here."
"Tell us the story about Mildew," Pixie pleaded, not giving him the chance to dwell on the subject of Toothless, which was probably a good thing. It's unhealthy to worry like that, especially when sick.
"Right, the story." At this, most of the Night Furies settled down again, though Pixie's mother and the alphas were still a bit anxious. "Well, Mildew's always been a cranky, stubborn old man, for as long as I can remember, and when we made peace with the dragons, he kinda went off the deep end. I swear he spent every waking hour plotting against the dragons. One time he got them all so sick they nearly died, but luckily we found a cure for it just in time. That's just the kind of guy Mildew is, he, he does these things without even batting an eyelid." He exhaled, trying to calm his nerves, "Well, what happened was, Mildew tricked me into believing there was an Island full of Night Furies... Which, I now know is true, but he gave us directions to a deserted island. The notes he forged warned that Night Furies don't get along well with other dragons."
"Well that much is true," Flamewing's mate murmured thoughtfully.
Hiccup rubbed his forehead, "Right, I know that now. I didn't back then... So I took Toothless out to the island, alone. Just the two of us. Toothless... He tried to warn me, but I just wasn't picking up on his cues... When we got to the island, we called for Night Furies, and we saw what appeared to be a Night Fury come out and call back to us. At first I was excited and sent Toothless to go meet him, but then I realized that something just wasn't right and I called him back, but by then it was too late. The Outcasts captured both Toothless and myself and brought us back to their island, demanding that I train their dragons. When they imprisoned me, they made a big fuss in front of my cage and put Mildew in the one across from me, saying they'd changed their minds about a deal they had. At first I ignored him and kept using my rock to dig through the rock-" The dragons shot him the same "you idiot" look Toothless had when he'd told this story before. "I was desperate, alright? I just... I had to get to Toothless."
Sky blinked at this. "Toothless? You said you were captured. Weren't you concerned for your own freedom?"
"Not without Toothless." Hiccup replied without hesitation, "I'd never leave him behind like that. The thought never even crossed my mind 'til now." The dragon seemed perplexed by this until Hiccup explained, "It's just like you, Sky. I could've left you where you were to tear yourself to bits trying to get free and run off on another dragon, but instead I risked my life to go after you without a second thought. That's how important Toothless is to me. All dragons, really. If it were a fellow viking I'd do the same thing... Dragons are not my enemies, they're my friends... I see them as friends, even if they're too proud to accept that. I'm alright with that. I'm used to having friends who are too proud to call themselves such." He admitted, grabbing his arm out of nervous habit. "The only real exception to that is the Red Death. There was no reconciling what she had done." For a time, there was silence as the words were absorbed by the dragons, before finally, Hiccup continued the story. "Mildew suggested I 'give them what they want.' A dragon trainer. So I announced that I would train their dragons, then, when the guard opened my door, I hit him over the head as hard as I could with my fake leg. It didn't work out as well as I wanted it to, but Mildew actually helped me. He used this creepy staff thing he carries around to knock the guard's head against the door of his cell, and that knocked him out."
"Nice!" One of the hatchlings cheered, imagining the scene.
"Well, not that nice. It was all just a ploy. He got me to set him free so he could help me through the tunnels to Toothless, who had somehow already gotten himself out, unbeknownst to me. The fastest way to get to the place they kept Toothless was through a lava field full of wild dragons. I knew we'd need help when we got to the guards, so I befriended a Nadder... Unfortunately, part of that process meant I had to tell Mildew how to earn the dragon's trust. He must've passed that information along to Alvin... See, because when we were making our escape, Mildew "fell" off of that Nadder, and we had to leave him behind because we were so vastly outnumbered. He planned the whole thing..." He sighed and rubbed his temples, "He must have taken the bola launcher when he packed up all of his stuff. His house was empty before Toothless and I even left for the island. He must have had some sort of rendezvous with Alvin without anyone noticing..." Hiccup's head fell back against the wall, "This is all my fault," He concluded, closing his eyes.
Pixie shifted uncomfortable, "Sounds more like it was Mildew's fault to me." She stated simply, "He's the bad guy, right?"
"Yeah... I guess... But if I'd just paid more attention to Toothless in the first place-"
"So why didn't you?" The young dragoness pressed.
Hiccup had to take a moment to think about this. "I guess I was just so excited about the possibility of other Night Furies existing. Up until now, we've really had no evidence of that."
"That man, Alvin," Flamewing interjected, "He's been to this island before. The first time he came, it was at night, and we were able to evade him by keeping to the skies, but he knew we were here. He found some scales and footprints. He even took some of those scales, probably to use on that fake Night Fury."
"I've been meaning to ask," Hiccup said suddenly, "Why is the floor of this area covered in scales?"
"The hatchlings." Sky replied, "They shed more frequently than we do, and while we'd normally clean up a mess like this, we find that when they practice flying, it makes their landings a bit less painful."
"Oh!" Hiccup looked down at the scales, somewhat surprised. He hadn't even thought of that, and, to say the least, he was impressed by this.
"Anyway, it's time for the young ones to sleep, and you should get some rest yourself, boy. Don't get too comfortable on this island." Flamewing warned, turning and walking away. The hatchlings groaned, begging for another story first, but of course, their mothers refused them.
Pixie, however, had a very different request. "Can I stay here with Hiccup?" She wondered, looking to her mother nervously. "Please? He'll keep me warm! You and the others move around too much in your sleep." Being the runt, and an albino, Pixie had some body heat issues. When her mother finally nodded her consent, Pixie's face lit up and she pounced on top of Hiccup with shocking force, knocking him to the padded ground below before curling up on his chest.
Hiccup gave her a lopsided smile and said softly, "You're brave, offering to sleep by a scary human."
"You're not scary." Pixie murmured bluntly, "You're nice, not like the humans in stories at all." The boy reached up and rested a hand on the young one's back, feeling her every breath.
"Thank you." He whispered finally before drifting off to sleep.
When he woke some time later, Hiccup found that Pixie was already wide awake, just watching him sleep from her perch on his chest. "Hey there, Pixie," He greeted, gently scratching the scales behind her head.
As she melted into his touch, another voice said, "You sleep too much."
Startled, Hiccup sat up suddenly, holding Pixie against him protectively. After a moment of adjusting to the light, Hiccup finally saw the owner of the voice. "Sky, don't sneak up on me like that!" He chided, releasing the small dragon into his lap.
"He was here the whole time." She chirped, "Toothless came by, too, you slept right through it. All the hatchlings wanted a chance to talk to him, like he was famous. He didn't stay long though, he just came to see how you were doing, then left."
Hiccup sighed uneasily. Well, if Toothless was concerned about him, that was a good thing, right? It meant they were still friends? "After all this time, I'm finally able to understand him when he talks to me... So why does he keep shutting me out?" He wasn't really asking anyone in particular, more just thinking out loud, but Pixie didn't see it that way.
"Maybe he's scared?" Hiccup blinked, jostled from his thoughts, and looked down at her. "Maybe he's scared he'll say something wrong."
Sky tilted his head thoughtfully, "He did smell faintly of fear... I thought it was Flamewing's presence and didn't think much of it. The two of them have never been close."
Hiccup opened his mouth to ask what had happened between them, then closed it again. No, that was something he should ask Toothless directly, provided they ever spoke again. "Maybe..." He admitted finally, "Seems like a silly thing to worry about after all we've been through, though." There was silence for a time before Pixie suddenly bounced out of Hiccup's lap, took a few steps into the darkness, then looked back expectantly.
"Well? We're going on an adventure, right? To find Toothless?" She asked, trying her best to mask the sheer joy she felt at the prospect of leaving the cave.
Hiccup glanced over his shoulder at Sky for approval. While he did want to find and talk to Toothless, he didn't want to risk his life to do so by "kidnapping" Pixie. "I'll tell your mother and Flamewing where you're going. You stay close to Hiccup, understood? And the first hint of danger, come running back here."
"Yes, sir!" Pixie chirped, looking to Hiccup excitedly.
"Is this really okay?" He asked Sky in a hushed tone.
The dragon chuckled, "She's a Pixie. Nobody would care if she disappeared. Why do you think her mother let her stay with you?" This said, Sky stalked off into the darkness, and Hiccup looked to the runt with a pang of guilt.
No one would care if she went missing? Well, he wouldn't let that happen, anyway. "Do you know the way out?"
"I'm never allowed to go, but I know the way..." She paused for a moment and frowned, "But you can't make noise-pictures, can you?"
"Noise-pictures?" Hiccup's mind raced back to the time Toothless had used a strange sound to find his way out of a cave-in. The noises made pictures? "No, I... Humans can't do that."
"Grab my tail, then. I'll lead the way- just don't hold on too tight, okay?" She more or less thrust her tail into his fist, anxious to get moving.
"Yeah... Right behind you." Hiccup gently held the tail between two fingers and slowly followed his guide through the abyss.
Told you I'd start responding to reviews with PMs. Nobody told me though, what do you all think about the shenanigins I mentioned in the last chapter? Should I do them or not? I'm just going to assume not if nobody says anything.
Isn't little Pixie cute? I'm thinking of having Hiccup give her a better name. Any thoughts/opinions/suggestions?
Either way, hope you liked this chapter! Review please~!