How To Train Your Dragon: Possibilities
5. Communication: If there's one thing Hiccup can do well, it's talk and write at length. Toothless will happily listen and watch him just as well. But sometimes, the Night Fury finds himself envious of his human's ability. If only they could reverse those roles somehow...
The sounds of pencil scratching against paper was one of the few noises audible during the rather uneventful night as it ran over the surface of the parchment with ease. In the dimly lit glow of the lantern nearby, it left sketchy traces of black in smooth curves as each letter began to take shape, leaving words and sentences that the author hoped would remain for years to come. The man in charge of that pencil making these notes was one of the only Vikings who could accurately add to the volumes of pages than came before this one. It was a task he had set himself to complete almost out of a duty, though no real person had actually ordered him to do so. He had just felt obligated to after all he had seen and experienced.
The Book Of Dragons. A tome written generations ago by Bork The Bold (or Very, Very Unfortunate depending on where you started looking in his history) for the sole purpose of categorizing and noting the traits of the dragon species of the world. Stoker, Boulder, Fear, Sharp, Tidal, Mystery and Strike. Names that any Berk resident worth their salt knew by heart since the days of the Dragon Wars. And since it had been subsequently added to and expanded on by the lineage of Berk that followed Bork, the Book had proven to be one of the most invaluable sources of information to Viking kind when it came to fighting back against the scourge of attacks that had plagued their lands for years. Granted, it had also caused some trouble in recent years, but it was a part of the island's history and was treated with near reverence. Although now, these days it had proven to be somewhat out of date. After Berk had made peace with the dragons so many years ago, the continuous advice of 'kill on sight' and the general aggression against these creatures in the Book's pages was thrown into question. Some species had never been documented by being classed as too dangerous too early, others had simply been missing because there was no way for Vikings to find them without the aid of dragons themselves. With each new addition, the Book had become increasingly disorganized and the classes were all over the place throughout its many pages, making it a nightmare to find specifics in. It would be a big challenge to even try and amend one part of it, yet alone the entire thing. But that was what Hiccup was trying to do.
Over the past few weeks in the spare time he had from running the village, Hiccup had spent the better part of many near sleepless nights in his room essentially rewriting the Book Of Dragons for the second time in Berk's recent history. He had done so once before many years ago, but after the latest events, the world had shown there was much more to add. He didn't want it to simply be a guide to learn about dragons anymore, but also show how their personalities shaped their behavior and how to gain their trust. Just as he believed the world should know. He was still keeping the better part of Bork's work intact to honor how he had started it off in the first place, but was adding in new and updated facts about the traits of dragon species as well as his own sketch work to make it the best revision yet. His own maps had proven handy in adding information on dragon habitats among other things and Valka's own knowledge had been put to good use in adding the new species too. Right now, Hiccup was working on the latest page about the Hobblegrunts, noting how their different color shifts showed their mood at any particular moment. Apart from his scribbling, the house remained quiet since Valka and Cloudjumper had decided to take a night flight around the nearby isles. Hiccup had chosen to stay inside, smiling as he finished off the newest page and set his pencil down with a stretch (and crack) of his fingers. There were only a few left to go now before the new Book was completed and he had been looking forward to this latest one for quite some time. Though, this would be the last one for the evening. Or was it morning yet? He couldn't tell. Hiccup grabbed his mug from the other side of his desk and took a swig of water to clear his dry throat, thankful his beverage was still drinkable despite how he had neglected it for some time. The chief swiveled in his chair for a moment before turning to his side, looking towards his final subject for the day.
"Whew! OK, bud, looks like it's time to do your page at last. Now, first things first, hold still so I can get a good angle for the sketch..."
Toothless, having spent the last few hours watching Hiccup work and waiting obediently for his time to shine, perked up an ear plate at hearing his Viking speak and shuffled about to a better position in anticipation of what he would consider to be the best part of this whole endeavor. The Night Fury had always liked it when he got to watch Hiccup work, whether it was crafting his inventions in the armory or writing down notes or drawings in the maps and journals they had made together. He especially liked it when Hiccup had drawn him in the past and wanted to make sure he looked as good as he had done in his human's past work. He adjusted his legs to sit comfortably in case he was there for a long time, tail and wings tucked against his body in a way that almost mimicked the sense of smug pride he had felt when he had been first acknowledged as the Alpha. Toothless almost seemed to snicker at Hiccup with an odd stuttered rumbling sound, throwing a glance towards the Viking as if to give him permission to proceed. Hiccup himself could only really laugh at the status his dragon was now apparently wielding. Being Alpha almost looked like it had gone to his head a bit.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Your Majesty," he retorted with a mock fancy accent. "I promise that I won't leave a single scale not looking absolutely dashing!" A snort from Toothless showed that the mocking tone of his human's voice had been noticed as Hiccup leaned over to rub under the Night Fury's chin in apology. As his good and prosthetic feet worked together to move his chair into just the right spot for getting the best angle, Hiccup nodded in a silent order for Toothless to remain still. The dragon obeyed and focused his gaze away from Hiccup on purpose, like he was watching something way off in the distance. Similar to how he had done all those years ago in the cove, actually. Hiccup had always said it helped to seem like Toothless didn't notice he was being drawn, made it look more 'natural'. That's what the Night Fury had been told when he had been shown the sketches made around the same time back then as well. He had to admit his human certainly knew a lot about this particular craft, much more than his own attempts had shown.
"Perfect, Toothless, just keep still like that. I think you're gonna like it..." Hiccup mumbled, just as he started coloring in one of the sketch's pupils. Toothless couldn't help but smile with a pleased vibration at being such a big help, even if he risked messing up the sketch with his altered expression. He began wondering when he could get to see what Hiccup would write about him too. Though he knew the page wasn't supposed to be just about him, it wasn't like the young chief had much other source material to go with for information, right?
Another few minutes passed by before Toothless noticed that Hiccup's pencil had stopped its scribbling, wondering if he could move from his position to see his handiwork. As the writing tool was laid down against the desk, Hiccup raised an arm and brushed it over the page to wipe away any excess marks and reveal it properly for Toothless. The Night Fury excitedly hopped his way over to the desk and leaned in his snout to peer at the sketch, sniffing at the page and tilting his head different directions in order to get all the right parts inspected. The sketch showed Toothless looking off to the right, his ear plates pitched upwards like he had noticed something to focus on intently. The dragon's lean and speed-focused form was surprisingly detailed for such quick work, the particular dominant scale patterns on his legs and forehead easily a big feature. Toothless continued to inspect the picture for a moment more as Hiccup watched with hopeful eyes. His ear plates flopped about his head like dog ears before his usual toothless grin showed itself. Hiccup had gotten almost every detail perfectly! Or so the dragon would think since he wasn't able to really see what he looked like most of the time. Either way, he appeared to be very pleased with the miniature version of himself on the page as he nuzzled into Hiccup's shoulder with a crooning sound, clearly impressed with how talented his human was. Hiccup's own smile couldn't hide itself at having his work accepted so eagerly.
"I'm glad you like it, Toothless. I figured you'd be the harshest critic of anyone," he admitted with a sheepish shrug. The Night Fury nudged him again with another exhale of breath and Hiccup reached up his right arm to lazily hang around his dragon's neck as he flexed his left hand's fingers to get ready for the final stretch of writing.
"Alright, let's get the basics down, eh?" he suggested, beginning to write in the different sections in Viking runes along the currently blank Night Fury page of the Book.
" 'Size: 26 feet in length. Speed: Near faster than sound at maximum. Distinguishing Traits: Largest wing-to-body ratio of known dragon species, jet black coloring, split spikes down spine.' Hmm..." Hiccup paused, drumming the pencil against his chin as he pondered how to phrase the next part. This would be where he would usually list off the most important facts in a description for a dragon species, but he would have to think carefully about the Night Fury page. His previous attempts at adding to it years ago were done well before he knew anywhere near as much as he did about Toothless now. Having to get that all of his current knowledge down on just a single page would be difficult and he knew Astrid would accuse him of favoritism if he didn't manage it. Then again, he also knew she would say the same thing if he didn't keep it as factual as possible. He began to make a start on some separate sheets of paper as part of his practice notes before he wrote in the final version. After all, he didn't want to have to rewrite the whole thing if he made a mistake.
"Let's see... 'This dragon's speed and stealth during flight are near legendary. Utilizing different strengths of fire for maximum effect at hunting and problem solving, the Night Fury is easily the most intelligent of all species.' OK, good so far. Could use some of that." Toothless liked the sound of the compliments, rumbling with content acceptance in a way that made Hiccup smirk as he continued reading what he wrote down aloud. The Viking found himself stopping again as he tried to think how to chronicle the Night Fury's attitude. That was near legendary as well from his own experiences, though not in the way of his predecessors would think. Hiccup turned his attention back to Toothless, brushing over his neck scales again with twitches of his fingers.
"So what do you think? Maybe something about how you're really brave when you're curious or perhaps just mention how you're a pushover when given some fish?" he joked, prompting Toothless to grumpily thwack him upside the head with the edge of his wing.
"H-Hey, OK!" Hiccup spluttered, refocusing his efforts back into serious mode. "Well, uh... how's this? 'The Night Fury's sense of loyalty and protectiveness is unlike any of the other dragon species. Once you have earned it, there is nothing they won't do for you.' Wait...would that be right? I mean, I've only ever seen one Night Fury, so to say they all do this is wrong... but then, I only have experience of an individual and it has to be a proper description of the species not the individual... ugh..."
Toothless just stared at Hiccup nearly blankly at his ramblings from thinking aloud. Hiccup himself had clearly lost the focus of what he was talking about as he continued to speak to no-one in particular. He caught himself doing that when he felt another exhale from Toothless ruffle his messy hair and could only really shake his head at how he was fussing so much over the page. He sighed and looked back at his dragon.
"Shame I can't just ask you what you think would work, huh? Ah, well. Just let me know if this sounds OK as I go, alright bud?"
Toothless nodded his head in agreement to the request, listening attentively for when he would need to give his input at each section. Hiccup continued to mark down notes on the seperate pages with Toothless peering down at the letters as they formed from the movements of the human's hand. Although, the dragon's previous positive expression had faltered after Hiccup had begun to write again. The last words the chief said kept rolling around in the dragon's head as he brushed a claw against the ground.
'I would tell you if I could, Hiccup. I really wish I could...'
If there was one thing that Toothless often wished he could do properly, it would be to do what Hiccup did. All of his drawings and writings and...'words', did he call them? It was how Hiccup communicated. And that method of communication fascinated Toothless. Humans communicated in the same way other dragons did by making noises. When it came to noises, however, the roars of humans had much more structure than the dragons could manage. In some ways, Toothless had taken on those mannerisms after so many years together with his human, trying to imitate how Hiccup growled. Hiccup always seemed to like it when he copied and Toothless liked it too. Because of that, the dragon sometimes imagined what it would be like for them to have a proper 'conversation' (was that the right word as well?) like Hiccup did with the others, like with Astrid and Valka and everyone else. After all, thanks to the years he had known the Viking, Toothless could understand nearly everything that Hiccup said to him. Whether it was commands, hyperactive babbling about inventions, the dry sense of humor that they both shared or (best of all) the affections, the dragon got it all. Audibly, Toothless had worked out the meanings of what Hiccup roared through repeated listening and practice. But he had been unable to help Hiccup understand his roars properly to the same degree because of this language barrier. There had been times he just wanted to agree properly to Hiccup's plans with more than just a nod, give more of an indication to his mood than just a growl. And, lately, he wanted to properly return the admittance of their familial love he'd heard only a few months ago during the lightning incident somehow. He just couldn't make the noises, no matter how he tried. Thankfully, his Hiccup was smart and got the general gist of what his dragon tried to say most of the time, but situations like this sometimes bothered Toothless internally. The main thing he couldn't grasp was how Hiccup did all of it in the first place. How was he able to actually make those sounds to mean things? How did humans come up with this drawn way of growling in the first place to go with their actual growling? How did Hiccup know what all of these strange symbols meant when he wrote them down? What did they even mean when you looked at them after he'd put them on paper? It all made Toothless's head spin thinking about it too much, in all honesty. He knew that Hiccup had been trying his best for all the time they had known each other to discover the secrets of dragons and how they lived. But Toothless often wondered if the Viking knew that curiosity went both ways when it came to dragons. Or so the Night Fury assumed so. He didn't know what Cloudjumper or Stormfly or the others thought about this, but it certainly interested him. Toothless made a decision to show how much it did, nodding his head to himself with a grunt of determination as he stepped forward to sit rather close to Hiccup's side and watch him work.
'Hiccup was able to learn almost everything when he watched me. So maybe if I watch what he does lots and lots, I can learn too. That would make him happy, wouldn't it? I like it when my Hiccup is happy.''
Maybe if Toothless saw what Hiccup was doing enough times, he would understand how his human was able to make those shapes that mean something too! That settled it. If he couldn't speak the words, Toothless was doing to try and make them instead. That would tell Hiccup everything he wanted to say! Hiccup felt Toothless wiggle thanks to the arm still draped around the Night Fury's neck.
"Oh, you want to be more hands on editor, bud?" he asked, moving his hand around again in a sneaky idea. His digit pried to just behind the dragon's head and began rubbing at the sensitive spot near Toothless' neck that made his spine plates flutter and split themselves apart. Toothless broke into a spasm as a pleasant tingling traveled down his spine with a nearly high pitched croon. He could nearly curse at Valka for showing Hiccup that spot, the tingly sensation making his whole body quiver. No, he had to focus! He wanted to show Hiccup he was learning too! With a shake of his head to be rid of the residual tingles, the dragon focused his eyes back at the writing, seeming more determined than ever to understand it without distraction. Hiccup's moving fingers paused as he tried to work out what Toothless was doing. That spot usually sent his dragon rolling around the ground in delight and it took a lot to break him out of that. The Viking eased off and decided to let Toothless observe, but couldn't hide his initial look of concern at the out of character behavior. With his voice hushed at remembering just how late it had become, Hiccup moved his notes to plain view.
"OK, what do you think of this?"
Another hour passed before the page was completed. During that time, Valka and Cloudjumper had come back home and wished a good night to their counterparts before sleeping themselves. The sky was already beginning to lighten as the dawn approached slowly but surely. Hiccup had decided to soldier on to get this part finished and with each line that he wrote down and spoke aloud, Toothless was memorizing what he could manage. Which wasn't much, especially since the length of day was making both him and his human yawn something fierce.
Toothless could now say with nearly full certainly that each big space between those shapes meant the start of a new 'word'. He had also been taking special care to follow each gap in case certain words jumped out at him. The shapes that Hiccup moved over with his pencil while reading, the ones that matched him saying 'Night Fury' and 'Dragon'. Those same combinations of shapes kept coming up when Toothless followed them in tandem with Hiccup's voice, but without any knowledge of what the other ones meant, it was becoming a bit confusing. A wide yawn made Toothless' jaws part with a gentle sigh of breath, just as Hiccup set his pencil down with a wince of pain, clutching at his left hand with his other.
"OK, OK, ow, ow, ow, done, no more..." he muttered. "Remind me to take a break in future before I end up losing a hand to match the foot." Hiccup brushed over the finalized page with his not-cramped-up hand, looking over his work like it was some sort of magnum opus despite his tender digits. Adorned with the large sketch of his own Night Fury and signed at the bottom as if to give a bit of an author's credit, it was certainly something to behold. He had noticed Toothless trying to follow along what he was doing throughout the time they had spent on the page as well. Maybe the dragon was just wanting to make sure it was as flattering as possible despite the fact he couldn't really read the words. As if to put his friend's mind at ease that he had been put down with plenty of praise, Hiccup began to read his final notes on the Night Fury out loud for the final time, to which Toothless listened (and also read along with) intently.
" 'Though once thought to be supernatural thanks to their elusive and rare nature, the Night Fury is still one of the most remarkable dragon species in the world. With the largest wing-to-body ratio of any Strike class dragon, this creature can easily reach speeds that near the speed of sound. Just as maneuverable as it is fast, the Night Fury's preferred method of attack uses that speed in combination with its shot-like fire to attack targets from a distance.
" 'The Night Fury can change the intensity of its fire to suit any situation. It can vary from being able to bounce off solid objects to blowing apart even the strongest of rocks. They usually has a six shot limit, but particularly determined Night Furies can push themselves beyond this limit when provoked. Their skin appears to glow with their internal fire when threatened enough and the fire itself can double in effectiveness even with the weakest blasts. Though Night Furies can sometimes appear to be toothless, their teeth can retract and appear in an instant when necessary and the strength of their jaws is on par with other Strike class dragons.' " Hiccup paused in his reading, turning his attention back to Toothless to check for a reaction. The dragon seemed to nod in approval just as his big emerald eyes had finished catching up on the writing. So far, he hadn't been able to get much besides the few shape combinations of words he'd picked up already. The one mention of his own name had caught his eye, but it wasn't made with the big runes like the other ones. Maybe names were different? Or...well, he wouldn't think on the "whys" yet. Too much to process for one night. But it at least all sounded wonderful! Toothless growled, bobbing his head towards the page as if to order his human to continue reading, which Hiccup did without hesitation. Never refuse an Alpha, right? This next part was his favorite anyway.
" 'The Night Fury is one of the most fiercely loyal and protective dragons in the world. Once you have earned a Night Fury's trust, there is nothing they will not do for you. They will be your companion, your ally in battle and your greatest friend. They show a great curiosity to learn about the world as much as you do about them. If you show that you are no threat, they won't show you teeth in return. If you encounter this dragon, consider yourself one of the lucky few who have.' "
Hiccup then pointed to his signed name on the bottom, scrawled in the same runes as the others but in a much more messy form. Whether that was because it wasn't part of the official text anymore or because Hiccup's hand muscles had just given up, neither of them could say. Either way, Toothless felt touched by how Hiccup had written that last paragraph.
"Figured it needed a bit of a personal touch. Works, don't you think?" Hiccup mused. The Viking had almost exclaimed 'favoritism be damned' with all of that information, the Night Fury gently crooning in Hiccup's ear and nuzzling against it. Toothless felt very proud of the chief for putting such effort into this book and to see he had nearly reached his goal of completing his work made Toothless want to speak that pride aloud even more.
'I'm one of the lucky few to have met you too, you know.'
Hiccup reached up his arms and hugged around Toothless' neck, copying the nuzzling action with one of his own.
"There, did I make you sound all big and important, Your Highness?" Without missing a beat, Toothless lolled his tongue out as a silent threat to drop the mock royalty jokes before Hiccup flinched in anticipation of being doused in slobber before they slept. Luckily, he was given mercy and Toothless simply 'laughed' in his stuttered vibrations before moving his head free to let Hiccup up. The young chieftain stood from the chair and stretched his arms upwards, a little concerned when he heard a noticeable crack from his spine pierce the quiet of the night. Or early morning.
"Yep, definitely need to focus more on 'moving' when we do this again..." he muttered, flumping onto his bed a few steps away with an exhausted sigh. Toothless watched him and saw that his human had been working harder on this Book than he first realized. An even bigger reason to get his plan right.
"I'm just gonna...collapse here, if that's OK, bud..." Hiccup said into his pillow. The Night Fury approached the side of the bed, leaning down to pick up the blanket which had fallen to the floor from Hiccup's heavy landing. He flicked it up and over the Viking before Hiccup himself grabbed it to cover his shoulders.
"Thanks, Toothless..." he mumbled sleepily, seeming to forget about extinguishing the lantern on his desk as he nodded off almost instantly. Who knew that excursions of formal writing until morning would take it out of you?
Toothless smiled and nodded his head in a silent congratulation of a job well done. Now he had another job to finish. The Night Fury turned his attention back to the still open Book across Hiccup's desk, beginning to re scan his admittedly tired eyes over the shapes once more. If he could just figure out what some of them were, he knew exactly what he wanted to say to Hiccup. Then it would just matter of practicing his drawing.
'Rest well, my friend. I'll be ready to show you tomorrow, I promise.'
The morning arrived all too soon for Hiccup as the usual cries of Terrible Terror flocks on the rooftops broke him out of his slumber. He grumbled as he came around, rubbing his eyes with one of the broadest yawns he could remember having in recent weeks. He really must've gone overboard yesterday, especially since his left hand still felt like had fallen off from all of his writing. Hiccup shook himself awake, brushing his hair out of his eyes as he sat up in bed. He was a little surprised to see that Toothless was not sleeping on the opposite side of the room, but wasn't particularly worried either. It had been a long night and he was more concerned with the possibility he had massively slept in rather than his companion's condition. He grumpily stood up from the bed, slipping into his one good shoe and a fresh shirt before starting to head downstairs. When his nose detected no aroma of his mother's cooking, Hiccup winced to himself. He had really lost track of time, hadn't he? Then again, given how infamous Valka's cooking skills were, maybe it was a good thing. That's not to say she wasn't improving. Gobber had actually been teaching her to make some pretty good stuff, it just had more of a potential to go wrong compared to the average cook.
Hiccup finally found his mother when he reached the bottom of the stairs. She was sat in her usual chair in the main living area and appeared to fit the role of a wise one quite well because of it, a big book resting between her hands as her eyes scanned over the pages. Cloudjumper was peering over her shoulder with just as much intent, almost mirroring how Toothless had acted the previous night. Hiccup took a few seconds to realist she was reading part of the Bork Papers, an older copy of the Book Of Dragons he had initial used as reference for the other pages. His metal foot creaked into the ground, causing Cloudjumper's head to spin like an owl in place and Valka to stop her reading. Hiccup gave an awkward sheepish wave as he continued to walk into the room.
"H-Hey, Mom! Lovely morning, right...? It...is still morning, isn't it? Please tell me it's still morning..."
"Only just!" Valka replied with a chuckle, shutting the book and laying it down on the small table beside her to focus her attention properly on Hiccup. "What on earth were you doing last night to stay up like that? More on this?" Valka gestured her head towards the Papers.
"Yep. The usual note and sketching and all of that," Hiccup said, reaching up a hand to rub around Cloudjumper's fins and coax out a pleased vibration from the Stormcutter. "Guess I got a bit carried away. Toothless kept me company though."
"I had a feeling he would. You know, he was already awake when I woke up."
"Awake? Doing what?"
"He looked like he was looking over your desk," Valka continued, rising from the chair to stretch her legs after having been still for so long. "I saw all of your pictures of him scattered about there, I guess he just liked being able to see what he looks like. I know Cloudjumper did when you drew him, isn't that right?" Valka reached up both of her arms to move her dragon's head down, the four winged beast nudging against her cheek as she laughed at his playfulness betraying his size. Hiccup rolled his shoulders with a similar smirk.
"I suppose these guys don't get the chance to see that often, huh?"
"Another reason why you're good with them, son. You help them learn as well as us." Valka noticed Hiccup appreciate the compliment, though he was already starting to avert his gaze towards the door.
"Say, Mom, have you seen Toothless since then? I know I'm late and all, but he never misses our morning flight." Valka shook her head, wondering if the Night Fury had somehow slipped out of the door when she had been lost in her reading. Hiccup nodded his head in silent thanks regardless and stepped in to give his mother a squeeze. Valka brushed over his hair to make her young chieftain look presentable before nudging him towards the door. She knew he wanted to get going.
"Have a nice flight!" she called after Hiccup as he headed outside. Though her expression did sour a little as her own curiosity started to take over her thoughts. That Night Fury of his was certainly something, but acting sneaky and secretive usually meant that the dragon had some sort of idea. What was he up to?
Wandering around the village and giving late morning greetings to the residents now set about doing their daily work, Hiccup was unable to find any trace of Toothless. He checked the roof of their house, the cliff edges that served as their usual takeoff spot, even down by the docks in case the Night Fury had decided to stick his nose into another catch of fish. Still nothing. Concern was starting to grow in his stomach as he decided to check the one other place a dragon would be likely to be. The Academy Arena. It had been closed since Drago's attack until repairs to the village were complete and Hiccup had yet to finalize the new students who would soon want to make their way into its ranks. And an unused space was ideal as a hiding place for a scheming dragon. As he made his way through the winding hills and odd footpaths towards it, Hiccup's attention was suddenly broken by a screeching noise above him, followed by the beating of wings. He knew instantly that it was the telltale signs of a Deadly Nadder, the blue coloring of the razor spiked dragon appearing in full view as it set itself down besides him. With a smile that hid his look of worry, Hiccup reached up to rub under Stormfly's chin, earning a pleased purring noise from the female. It was like he gave greetings to the dragons as much as he did the people, though he didn't neglect Stormfly's rider.
"Morning, mi'lady!" Hiccup piped up to Astrid, offering a hand to help her down from the dragon's saddle. She took it with a smile of her own and landed gracefully at the ground beneath him. She leaned in towards his cheek and pecked him in a greeting of her own, making Hiccup feel grateful (and flushed in the face) that she had not gone for the obvious punching of the spring coil. Again.
"More like early afternoon, eh? What are you doing down here? I was almost doing your morning patrol for you when I didn't see you up there," Astrid explained, raising a brow in puzzlement.
"Oh, I would be up there now if I could, really. I just can't seem to find my ride," Hiccup answered with a shrug.
"Don't tell me. He got into the fish again."
"No..."
"You lost another helmet and he's trying to find it?"
"No."
"Gobber started singing during his blacksmithing?"
"No, no, none of those..." Hiccup grumbled, the flustered reaction making Astrid giggle to herself. She knew it would wind him up since these had all been legitimate reasons for Toothless vanishing in the past. Though she found herself pausing when Hiccup continued to speak with a noticeable bit of concern in his voice.
"No accidents, no terrible singing or food, he's just...gone." Astrid's smile faded. A small tinge of guilt at her attempt at humor appeared seeing Hiccup's slight worry bubble to the surface. She raised one of her hands to tell Stormfly to wait where she was before taking Hiccup's hand in her free one encouragingly. She began to tug him towards the Arena, seeing that's where he was headed from the ground.
"Well, he can't be far! You haven't checked here, right? Maybe he just wanted to stretch his wings or something." Hiccup nearly stumbled over himself as his girlfriend's enthusiasm got the better of him, dragging him along with strength that continued to surprise him every time she used it. As the pair of them finally reached the Arena threshold, Hiccup managed to break free of her grasp and speak up.
"Now, come on, Toothless can't stretch his wings like that unless I'm..." His words trailed off when they focused their attention on the Arena itself.
The space looked like a battle zone. Shields, spears and all sorts of weaponry were scattered around the ground either whole or in pieces, as if someone had ripped them from their storage racks for the sole purpose of making clutter. The ground itself had been cut into and carved in long streaks, scorch marks over particular areas evident from the way some of it still smoldered and left trails of stream rising into the air. And in the center of all of the mess, stood Toothless. The dragon had his back turned towards the entrance, unaware of the two Vikings as his body turned and moved about obscured by his wings. His head was leaned down, like he was focusing intently on something lying at his feet. What Hiccup and Astrid couldn't see was Toothless' activity was the cause of all of this mess.
"What is he doing?" Astrid whispered.
"I have no idea..." Hiccup murmured back. Toothless could be a bit mischievous at times, but not to the point of simple vandalism. What he didn't know was that long before his human had woken this morning, the Night Fury had come to the Arena knowing that it wouldn't be in use to practice what he had learned. Emphasis on trying. He was tired. His head hurt. His claws hurt too. But he had persisted. He had memorized the shapes and words that Hiccup had used in his writings to the best of his ability, the ones that mentioned the words he loved to hear Hiccup say. And from that, he had tried different ways to cut them into the ground, just like Hiccup had done all that time ago in the cove, to surprise him when he was eventually found. At first, Toothless had tried to use the spears in his jaws, but they had provided him with all of the dexterity of when he was using branches and giant icicles and had proven useless. The swords were obviously too sharp to consider being near his mouth and even the thought of using one of Hiccup's pencils had been tossed aside. Way too small for his claws. Thankfully, despite the dragon's obvious outbursts of frustration and fire at not getting the symbols right with the other tools (and there were a lot of marks to show it had happened plenty of times), Toothless felt a little happy with himself when he had come up with the idea to use his claws instead. They were certainly sharp enough to get the job done, allowing him to be much more precise in making those funny shapes. Besides, Hiccup used his own claws to do the writing in the first place. It was perfect! Now if only he could be sure what he had done was correct.
Toothless tried to shake away the doubt with a snort and stretched his claws, now aching from their exertion against the ground. Now he knew why Hiccup's claws had felt the way they had before, this writing business really hurt if you did too much. How did Hiccup get by? Either way, at least he would finally be able to show his human what he had learned. Or so he had hoped. He still couldn't be sure whether his memory was playing tricks on him when it came to the shapes or whether what he had managed to carve was legible in the first place. It did seem pretty wonky... the uncertainty made him want to burn the ground again!
'Rgh, if only I could ask Hiccup to help me...I just hope he understands.'
The dragon was in a frantic state, worried that Hiccup would see an incomplete version and just think he had done something bad for no good reason. He didn't like it when Hiccup was mad with him. He just wanted Hiccup to be pleased with what he had tried to do.
"Toothless?"
The familiar voice made the dragon freeze and raise his head up, glancing over his wings and seeming a little alarmed that both Hiccup and Astrid were now staring at him. They were here so early! With a noise that sounded almost like a yelp, Toothless whipped his body around to shield the ground in front of him as he tried to play innocent, keeping his attention focused on the two young adults that seemed to be both in awe and confused as to why the Night Fury had made such a mess. Hiccup and Astrid both began to walk towards him, looking at the pieces on the cluttered ground in a vague attempt to try and understand what had happened.
"Bud, what are you doing down here? I know you don't like the fact we still have some weapons here and all, but this is a bit much, don't you think?" Hiccup asked in his usual dry tone, glancing around the ones that were broken. Toothless didn't even make a noise in response, focusing his attention on the chief as if waiting for the right moment. Hiccup didn't really seem particularly angry as such, so that was a good start. Maybe that was the best time to reveal his work, when the Viking was least likely to be focused on the admittedly blatant destruction around them. Meanwhile, Astrid had circled to Toothless' side, catching sight of the ground behind him with a curious eye.
"Hiccup? Come take a look at this," she called over, followed moments later by leather and metal footsteps against the rock. "Looks like he was...digging or something." As if on cue to match with the girl's yelling, the Night Fury stepped partially to the side with an excited noise, hunching his body low to the ground as if waiting for a reaction.
'Yes, I did that! I did it so you can read!'
Hiccup laid his eyes on the peculiar sight as he approached the scene. Digging? Didn't sound like Toothless.
"I don't think Night Furies are really known for being treasure hunters. More of a job for Skullcrusher or another Tracker."
"Maybe, but that's what it looks like. I mean, those are claw marks, right?" Astrid asked, kneeling down to examine closely. "But...they're not even in the same place, they're all in weird lines an-"
"Wait..." Hiccup interrupted, joining her on her knees as his hands began to brush over the canyons and valleys of carved rock. "Astrid, these aren't just lines. Look at this, there are curves here and crosses. It's almost like they're shapes. That one even looks like a letter."
'They are! They are letters! I hope it turned out OK, read it!'
Toothless growled and wiggled his body, hopping around to near the end of the line of marks he had made to try and direct Hiccup's attention to them. The Viking did so and continued to scan over the impressions in the rock. He watched Toothless with confused awe as his prosthetic squeaked from standing and resting his weight upon it once more. His eyes went wide at what they saw. The one at the far end looked just like an A. That one looked like a T. And this one looked like an O. All in a line. It wasn't a long line and there weren't that many marks, but it didn't have to be. The idea it created was too huge to resist thinking about. Astrid stared at her boyfriend, trying to wonder what was running through his head.
"Uh, Hiccup? You having a brainwave or a brain freeze there?"
"They...all look like letters..." Hiccup concluded, his mouth almost hanging open a little as a thought began to form in his mind. Was Toothless..?
"Letters?" Astrid protested with a raised brow. As she watched the connections form in her partner's head in his expression, the Viking girl raised her hands up in protest. "Oh no, come on, Hiccup. You can't be serious. Dragons can't write!"
"No, b-but they can imitate!" Hiccup rebuffed, his words stumbling over themselves as he started to get excited at the prospect of learning new dragon behaviour. "Gah, how come I didn't see it before? Think about it! I mean, they get to know us, they understand what we say to them and do with them! They learn! And Toothless, he... Look, I've always thought that most dragons learned by association. They see or hear something and associate it with something else and respond to that association. Like with my Mom and that stick thing she has. But what if... what if they can understand? Not just associate? What if they can take something they see and try to do it themselves to understand it? I mean, it would explain why Toothless has tried to copy me before! He could..."
Hiccup's voice trailed off as he noticed Astrid seemed a little lost with his babbling. He should his head, raising his arm as if to dismiss what he was saying before he started to try and 'read' what his dragon had done. And, hopefully, also answer a million different questions flying around in his brain. Nevermind that this would expand his work on the Book Of Dragons, this was much more important. How did Toothless know what the concept of writing meant? How did he know what letter meant what? Did these claw marks actually mean anything or did they just look like it? And, most importantly, why? The Viking quickly flicked out his notebook from under his shirt, already beginning to scrawl down what he was seeing. Astrid, starting to grow warm to the idea at seeing Hiccup so invested in deciphering this, came to his side and watched his pencil start to jot down. Toothless meanwhile whined, anxious to see whether Hiccup would understand it. He really hoped that he would with almost his entire being.
"L, O, A...I think those are Es?" Hiccup mumbled to himself, taking steps that rested at the base of each symbol. The steps between each one were uneven, the runes just appearing one after the other without any real structure. Unsurprising, but the fact they were shapes at all was amazing in itself. It would take a little to try and figure this out.
DR A GOnto otHL E S SproTe CTgre atEs tFR I E NDHI ccUp
The letters were now written on the page. It had taken quite a while to make educated guesses since most of the actual letters themselves were hard to make out or even illegible thanks to the sheer number of tears in the ground. But Hiccup and Astrid finally had it in front of them. And frankly, it looked like gibberish. A random assortment of letters that Toothless had simply chosen as if to prove he could remember what they looked like. A feat worthy of respect and documentation for sure, but not the communication milestone Hiccup had been hoping for. Astrid was first to voice her disapproval.
"Well, that's...something," she mumbled, looking between the note and the actual markings on the ground. "You sure you got this down right?"
"Remember you're talking to the dragon nerd, here," Hiccup replied dryly. "This is correct, I'm sure of it but...I don't know, I can't make anything out." Toothless, at hearing Hiccup was stumped by what he was looking at, whimpered rather loudly as his ear plates drooped downwards against his neck. Had he made a mistake in something? Did Hiccup not understand...?
'Please, read it again! It's really true, Hiccup, it is!'
The Night Fury hurried over and shoved into Hiccup's side rather firmly, letting out a defiant whine to not let him give up. Hiccup held Toothless' head still at being pushed and rubbed over the spines on the dragon's forehead to keep him calm.
"Hey, hey, it's OK, Toothless...!" he cooed, trying to be reassuring as he knelt down to his friend's level. "Are you trying to tell me somethin', bud?" Toothless bobbed his head down once as confirmation, appearing worried with his continuous noises. Hiccup nodded in return as he got back to his feet. Astrid seemed a little puzzled by it all more than anything. They were already late for their patrols, this could wait until later, couldn't it?
"Hiccup, maybe it's just..."
"No," Hiccup interrupted her. "I'm sorry, but...I think Toothless wants me to figure this out now. He wouldn't come out all this way and do all this without a reason." Astrid looked down at Toothless, the dragon giving her much the same look of pleading to try again. She couldn't help but smile a little at the insistence as she rolled her shoulders with a bit of a sigh.
"OK, dragon translation's better than other work for now." she admitted, brushing her fringe out of her face. "So what first?"
"I don't know...maybe the spacing is throwing me off," Hiccup suggested, rewriting the letters beneath the original note without the gaps. "...oh."
DRAGOntootHLESSproTeCTgreatEstFRIeNDHIccUp
Almost immediately that made things much easier. The pair of Vikings's eyes went wide when they began to see actual words they recognized amidst all the runes without the awkward spacing.
"Dragon...tooth..." Astrid murmured, pointing out the words she found on the page with her finger.
"Protect..." Hiccup nodded eagerly as he rewrote the words into something more legible beneath their initial note. He began to look over for any more words that made sense whilst jotting down what Astrid found beneath his first note. A few more moments of frantic scribbling at deciphering the wrong letter cases and spaces were all it would take before it suddenly dawned on Hiccup what his dragon was trying to say to him. His pencil clattered to the ground as he held onto his journal, vision fixed on the sentence now written before him. An actual sentence. And not just any sentence. A sentence from Toothless himself.
dragon toothless protect greatest friend hiccup
Hiccup stopped, freezing in place as the words sank into his mind.
"Toothless..." he started to say, unable to make his mouth do much as his thoughts stopped him speaking out loud. Astrid stared at the page over his shoulder with an equal amount of surprise as she pulled away from her leaned in posture.
"Well, would you look at that," she mumbled, nudging Hiccup on the shoulder with a playful jab before crossing her arms. "Looks like you were right he wanted to tell you something." Hiccup didn't react to her hit and slowly lowered his journal from in front of his face to stare at Toothless. The Night Fury was sat by his creation in the ground, his eyes big and shiny as he took a tentative step forward towards the young chieftain as if to check whether he had succeeded in his task.
'Do you like it? I mean all of it.'
Hiccup's mouth stayed open, the brisk air making it feel dry as he still felt unable to speak. He copied Toothless' action of a single forwards, eventually increasing his stride until he came within touching distance of the dragon's snout. Within an instant, the Viking had knelt to the ground and thrown his arms around the Night Fury's neck, squeezing him tightly towards him as he started to laugh and rub around the black scales.
"Bud, you...you are just amazing! Attaboy!" he eventually exclaimed, refusing to let Toothless go even as the dragon's entire body started to move about excitedly. "Those were all words from the Book, weren't they? You wanted to try and use them with me!" The Night Fury must've been trying to remember these particular words in order to surprise Hiccup later, that's why he was reading them when Valka saw him. Toothless had learned to spell out just this one thing all for the sake of speaking what he couldn't speak. He was smarter than Hiccup had ever realized before. The dragon happily let out a yelp at Hiccup's hug, pushing his head down to nuzzle along the young man's hair as Astrid chuckled at the sight of the two together. Dweebs, both of them, but lovable all the same, her heart almost soaring at seeing Hiccup so elated at this discovery. She kept herself purposely back away from it all to continue watching, just as Hiccup relaxed his grip around Toothless' neck to hold the dragon's large head in his hands.
"Toothless...you protect me? I'm your greatest friend? Is that what you meant, bud...?" he asked, his tone suggesting a hint of hesitation that he may have been mistaken. Toothless blinked once, pushing his head further forward to brush Hiccup's fringe with a huff of air to prove he wasn't. The young chief's smile was warmer than the sun as it shone towards the Night Fury with all the same affection he had shown that stormy night. His hand reached up to rub around Toothless' ear plates as his voice found strength again to speak.
"You know, bud...you didn't have to do this," Hiccup said, keeping his voice hushed in case Astrid would tease him playfully about what he was going to say. Toothless's head tilted to the side in puzzlement at his human's words. "I'm so thankful you tried to learn all of this just to say that to me. I'm proud of you for figuring out how. But I already know what you wanted to say, bud. I know that you'll protect me. And I promise that I'll protect you too, until the end."
Toothless vibrated, his tone almost shaky from the welling of emotion in his throat as even his tail began to sway like clockwork at his ecstatic mood. The pair of them remained together, lost in the warmth of each other's embrace until a voice broke them out of it.
"You know we still have a patrol to finish when you two are through, right?" Astrid spoke up with a laugh, gesturing to the Arena entrance with her usual teasing look. Hiccup glanced over his shoulder with a nearly embarrassed smirk, rubbing over the back of his head after he released Toothless from his arms. Toothless nudged into his side with an insistent growl, his wings fluttering as if to invite them to take off and prove her wrong. Hiccup nodded his head in silent agreement and fluidly slid himself into the saddle on Toothless' back. He raised a brow at Astrid, his smile cocked up to one side of his face as Toothless moved his body low to the ground.
"Then try to catch up, milady!" he called, just as the Night Fury's legs tensed and sent them rocketing forward, zooming past Astrid in a flurry of black scale and leather. Astrid herself barely ducked out of the way, shaking her head with a smirk of her own as she followed them out on foot. Stormfly would show them for sure!
As Hiccup and Toothless soared higher into the air to look over their ever dwindling in size home, Toothless paused their ascent to hover in place. He leaned back to keep his wings beating, turning his head towards his human in hope of getting more hand rubs. Hiccup was more than happy to dispense them, making sure to get all the right spots without risking their flight. A useful skill for a dragon rider.
"You will never cease to amaze me, bud. Thank you. Really." Toothless' ear plates fluttered as the vivid memory of their tandem ascension to leadership appeared in his mind at those words. Hiccup, with the wind running through his hair up here without worries or fear of the future, couldn't hide his pride. Though he did have a bit of advice in case Toothless wanted to try drawing again.
"Just try not to destroy the Arena in the process next time, 'kay?"
Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay on this one! Illness and Christmas week together are never fun, buy I hope you enjoy either way!