The first three nights were long. The hatchling would cower away from the two dragons and jump at every movement. He would ask to go home, cry for his sire, and finally settle to sleep as the sun rose and sheer exhaustion overcame him. He would wake in the early afternoon. Such behaviour was to be expected. The days were better. The Nightmare would let him out of the cave but they stayed in the clearing. The Vikings were always above on the ledge looking down, they kept out of sight and the hatchling was unaware but she wasn't. She was ready to leave at a moment's notice, but only if necessity demanded it. There was shelter here, and a river nearby for water that she took the hatchling to each day. The clearing was a good size and well protected. Plus, she had spent time preparing this nest for her little one.
The third morning began like the others; the Nightmare washed the saltiness off her hatchling's face and ignored his complaints. Then all three left the cave; her mate to fish in the sea and the Nightmare carried her hatchling to the river to drink, again ignoring his complaints. She hesitated at the mouth of the cave and sniffed the air; the Vikings were still there, however the sire was gone. In fact none of the Vikings smelt familiar, new ones must have come. The Nightmare paused at the edge of the trees and lifted her head to catch the scent better, her hatchling hanging from her mouth pouting.
"Can we go now? Or put me down."
She shook her head making him sway slightly as she huffed and went into the trees. There were new Vikings. Stupid beasts didn't know when to give up. The Nightmare fumed the whole way to the river; she had thought that when the sire left the others would leave too. She hadn't expected more Vikings to come.
While the hatchling was getting used to her and his new life, the Nightmare knew better than to give him freedom to wander. He was kept between her wings with the river before him. She rolled her eyes at his splashing about; no wonder Vikings took so long to get any flame out if they all insisted on wetting themselves. Using her chin she pushed the little one back away from the water.
"Hey!"
The Nightmare just chuffed a 'look at me' sound, he'd catch on eventually, and took a drink. This is what you did with water, not play with it.
"You done?"
Snarky little thing she thought as she gestured to the river again. The hatchling gave her a look as if he didn't trust her and crawled to the bank. She dipped her head and drank again then nudged him.
"You want me to drink?" He asked. The Nightmare nodded. He gave an exasperated sigh, "I'm not thirthty and I already had a drink."
They weren't coming back till tomorrow so he would need to drink more. The Nightmare barked at the hatchling to smarten up and gestured at the water again.
"Fine," He said throwing his hands up. He scooted closer to the water and cupped some in his hands, "Bosthy reptile."
She ignored him and bent for another drink. She missed the mischievous grin Hiccup shot her and the glance from the water in his hands to her head. If she had seen that she may have been prepared for the splatter of water on her nose. Jerking back she blinked down at her hatchling in shock as he giggled. He definitely wasn't afraid of her anymore. Narrowing her eyes she growled right before she threw water at him in a small wave with her snout.
"Hey!" Hiccup pushed his now dripping bangs out of his eyes but smiled, "You wanna fight? I have to warn you I am a mighty Viking, thon of Thtoick the Vatht, who can take on any dragon." He puffed out his chest as he said this.
The Nightmare narrowed her eyes; he was a dragon now, but time was needed to change alliances. She hunched herself around him and roared quietly before splashing him again. He retaliated in kind: giving a war cry and dodging her splashes. They carried on till the sun had moved a pace or two in the sky. Her mate would have returned which was good as her flame was dowsed for now. She picked her hatchling up and made her chuff bark sound for home so he would learn it.
"I can walk."
The Nightmare rolled her eyes, he said this every day. She wasn't stupid, there was no way she was going to risk her little one running away in the trees. He was soaked, hair and coverings dripping. Weren't Viking hatchlings supposed to be kept dry? Wasn't that something she had learned during that long time of watching? The Nightmare stopped.
"What'th wrong?"
She set him down and snuffled over him, was he ok?
"What are you doing? What'th wrong?" He tried to push her away but she persisted. Her hatchling smelled fine. More like a Viking than he had since she brought him home. She began dragging her tongue over him; partly to wash the water off and partly to cover the Viking smell with hers again.
"Again with the tongue? Ugh, why, I jutht got clean." He gave up on stopping her and crossed his arms to wait till she was done. She snuffled over him again and picked him up.
"Are you done? You sure, you probably mithed a thpot." He grumbled. She ignored him and carried on home.
Hiccup pouted the rest of the way to the clearing. He had been soaked and cold, it was still spring after all, but he had been clean. The dragon spit had been rinsed off but no, the stupid beast just had to go and cover him in her spit again. It stiffened his clothes up and was uncomfortable.
They entered the clearing and Hiccup forgot to be upset when he saw the bigger dragon pacing back and forth; clearly agitated. It growled and Hiccup curled up trying to make himself smaller. The Nightmare holding him chuffed and crooned. When it saw them the big dragon stopped and barked before coming toward them. Hiccup held his breath as it snuffled over him but relaxed when all it did was give him a quick lick. He blinked up at it but the dragon had shifted his focus to his mate. Hiccup stared up at them from where he hung from the smaller dragon's mouth. They both seemed…worried. But they were dragons, beasts, they shouldn't worry.
"What'th wrong?" Hiccup asked again, mostly to get their attention and maybe be let down. The big one gestured at the cave and Hiccup was brought there and put down. The Nightmare gave her harsh bark that Hiccup was beginning to think meant "stay" or something of the sort. The big one brought up some fish again and burned one then nudged it to Hiccup. He waited for Hiccup to accept the fish and laid down in the cave entrance to watch his mate as she went into the trees.
Hiccup found it aggravating being left in the dark. Dragons were worse than grownups because they couldn't tell him what was going on. At least grownups would give some watered down explanation. Hiccup picked at his fish, pulling the crumbled black pieces off and nibbling on the bits underneath. He was hungry so he ate it, ignoring the fact that the dragon had previously swallowed it. It was getting easier to do that. Hiccup took a bite and stopped. His tooth felt funny. Swallowing the fish Hiccup felt his remaining front tooth and pushed it. The tooth was loose. Hiccup sat there in the cave with a charred fish in his lap wiggling his tooth. It wasn't very loose; it would be a while before it was ready to come out if Hiccup left it alone like his father wanted him to the last time. Hiccup was determined not to lose the tooth until he made it back home so he could give it to his father. At that thought he sniffled. It had been three days. Hiccup wasn't afraid of the dragons, at least not the smaller dragon, but he missed his dad. And Gobber. The other kids and his house and his bed and food other than half burnt half raw fish and clean clothes and he just wanted to go home. Hiccup sniffed again and wiped has nose on his sleeve. The large dragon crooned a question.
"I wanna go home." Hiccup said picking at his fish. He expected a growl or other harsh sound at the mention of his home like the other dragon did. Instead the dragon nudged him and made a humming sound. How had Hiccup not noticed that he had kind eyes? The dragon sighed before shifted its body closer to Hiccup and pulling the boy closer with his cheek. It hummed to Hiccup and the boy let himself be comforted.
"Pleathe? I jutht want to go home. I mith my dad." Hiccup whispered the last. He knew that the other dragon hated it when Hiccup cried or asked to go home. She really hated it when he mentioned his dad. The one curling around him now wasn't angry. He rumbled so that the sound vibrated through Hiccup.
There was a rumble-bark and the dragon looked up from Hiccup to his mate. He gave a rumble back and they bumped noses. She reached around and nuzzled Hiccup quickly then retreated and left. Hiccup scrambled up to watch her go. The dragon next to him sighed and chuffed. He seemed worried and Hiccup frowned.
"Where'th she going?"
The dragon whipped his head around so fast and glared at Hiccup. The boy flinched and backed up, afraid of the accusing fire in the beast's eyes. Hiccup held his hands up in a surrender motion.
"Umm, nithe dragon?" Hiccup hit the cave wall in fear at the dragon's agitation. Noticing his fear, the dragon softened his eyes and shifted. The boy relaxed slightly. Sighing, the drake turned back to watch the twilight sky.
"Hey, Stoick."
"Wha'?" Stoick sat up and blinked blearily. Gobber was standing next to him and the fires were burning low, the torches already out. No one else was there.
"Have you even been home in the past couple a' days?" Gobber asked. He smiled as if it were a joke but there was concern in his voice. Stoick narrowed his eyes and stared straight ahead. Of course he hadn't been home. Why would he go home? Stoick could eat and sleep in the Great Hall so he had no reason to go home once Hiccup's swing had been put up.
"Stoick, he's fine. Spitelout told ya that himself this morning. The beasties are feeding him and he's doing well. So stop yer moppin."
Stoick snorted, that was easy for Gobber to say; he didn't have to go home to an empty, quiet house full of Hiccup's things. Gobber couldn't possibly understand what Stoick was feeling right now. That wasn't fair, though, Hiccup did spend a lot of time at the forge, and Gobber had even cleaned out the back room for the lad. Gobber was missing Hiccup almost as badly as Stoick himself.
"I can't, Gobber, not while Hiccup's out there all alone." He put his head in his hands. He had failed the most basic task of fatherhood: keep the child safe. If Stoick couldn't do that for his own son how was he supposed to keep the whole village safe?
Gobber placed his hand on Stoick's shoulder, "I know, but you need to take care of yourself or you won't do anyone any good."
Stoick sighed. All he wanted right now was to get his son back and forget about the village, but he was the chief and didn't have the luxury of simply being a father. He wished Valka were here. Then, one of them could be out there with Hiccup at least. A crash sounded outside and the doors rattled.
Stoick stood, "What was that?"
"Ah, right. That's what I came here for," Gobber said, "Dragons are raiding."
Stoick shot Gobber an exasperated look but didn't bother to say anything as he grabbed his hammer and ran out the door.
The torches were up and there was a chaos of noise and movement. Without pausing to think Stoick rushed in making his way down to the catapults. While Stoick dealt with dragons on his way. He did not allow himself to get caught up in any of it though, deal with it and move on. Stoick needed to get up to the tower to see where he was needed most and what he was dealing with. It would feel extra good beating the beasts off tonight.
The day was getting worse and worse. New Vikings by her nest and then the discovery of Viking objects in the woods by her cave. She had wanted to blast the accursed things but then her hatchling would want to investigate it. Instead, she had merely picked them up and got them away from where her hatchling would find them; further into the trees and closer to where the Vikings would be. She hoped they would get the message. However, the final straw to the Nightmare's bad day had been when She called for a raid to feed Her. The Nightmare's mate had gone last raid and she had to go for this one. As much as she enjoyed destroying village the Nightmare did not want to waste unnecessary amounts of time away from her hatchling. She would just snatch a tribute tonight.
That had been the plan anyway, till she saw her hatchling's sire swing a gronkle into the air by its tail. If the sire was gone the Vikings might leave her nest alone and it would then be easier for the hatchling to adapt to his new life. With two beats of her wings the Nightmare landed. She had planned on stalking up to him but he had seen and recognized her. Based on how he gripped his hammer tighter and ran at her the Nightmare was willing to bet that he hated her as much as she hated him.
She lit herself and roared before dodging his first blow. The Viking rolled out of the way of her fire and popped up to swing his hammer at her again, catching her in the cheek. The Nightmare growled and snapped at him; her flames licking out to sizzle his hair but the Viking kept at it. He aimed to kill her, not drive her away.
Her fire was going to die soon and the Viking was not backing down. In a last ditch effort the Nightmare swung her flaming tail at him but the Viking rolled under it and came up swinging at her left flank. She was beginning to think this was a fight she couldn't win. Before the Viking got another hit in the Nightmare leapt into the air letting her fire die out in some sparks that fell back to the ground. She got enough air to circle round and snatch a couple of sheep before leaving for the nest.
She took her place in a cloud of dragons all flying through the mists into the fog and on to the island. Then, up and up to one of the many entrances and inside the mountain. The Nightmare circled round with the others to drop her offering in. The Nightmare wanted to stay in the middle, go unnoticed and get out quick. It didn't go as planned as Her voice sounded in the Nightmare's head.
One? One? No two?
The alpha was questioning why the Nightmare was alone without her mate.
Hatchling. One. Nest. Small. The Nightmare was careful to give an image of a small Nightmare hatchling. A foundling, not an egg hatchling. A growl came from below sending many of the younger ones skittering away in fear.
No truth. No scent. Viking. Viking scent.
Not waiting things to develop further the Nightmare was away out of the nest, her heart pounding.
No Viking She insisted, Raid scent. Hatchling. Youngling late. Foundling no Viking By then the Nightmare was far enough away to escape further questions.
She glided down to her nest in the moonlight. Her mate was curled in the mouth of the cave watching and waiting for her. They bumped noses and he crooned, concerned. The Nightmare simply rumbled to assure him she was alright and checked her hatchling's nest. Her heart skipped a beat; her little drake was not there. Panic didn't have time to settle in though because her mate gave a quiet bark and shifted his wing to show the little one curled up and sleeping at his side.
The Nightmare gave an appreciative rumble and lay down beside them to fall asleep herself.
A/N: I'm really sorry guys, but I think I'm going to go on hiatus after next week, probably only a week or two. I've been having a tough time this month; I was transferred to a different department at work which has stressed me out. I'm still mourning my father who passed away May 28 from lung cancer that spread to his back. Unfortunately, due to the added stress of work I haven't felt like doing anything in my time off. I can't tell you how long I've spent staring at a blank page with a pen in my hands which sucks because I love writing. I'm switching back to my old department on the 15th so I should get back to normalish and continue with the story, CB will see to that so don't worry. And next week's chapter will be posted as scheduled. Hopefully the break will only be a week, it may be two though. Thank you for all the reviews; they really brighten my day.
Midnightsky0612: It is a dilemma isn't it…
KaliAnn: The way I see it Spitelout is the chief's little brother, he grew up with authoritative people so he would naturally take that role when needed. Plus his big brother needs him. To be honest I was surprised it was him too; sometimes the characters get away from me when I write and do things I don't expect. My favourite aspect of mother alligators and crocodiles is their gentleness. They carry their young in their mouths and the babies are so tiny. They are beautiful creatures too, I've been lucky enough to be only a few feet away from young ones in the Everglades on three separate occasions and I recommend it because pictures don't do them justice. (But if you do, make sure you are being safe, I was with my grandfather who has been photographing them and the Everglades since my mother was 13.)
ChristineBH: Thank you so much. Yeah, I'm terrible to all the characters involved, things get better, maybe. For some of them. Right now I could go two ways with it, they both end the same way it's how long it takes to get there that's different. As for Stoick he's definitely not the worst father in fiction; far from it I'd say. Sure he isn't the best, but he loves his son and Hiccup isn't the easiest child (he destroys the village and there's indications that it isn't the first time he's done that). I'd say Denethor from LotR is the worst father, he loves one son and tells the other that he wishes Boromir had lived and Faramir died. The capacity to love is there, but he chooses to withhold it from one son. That to me is what makes a bad father, not communication issues so long as the attempt is there.
As always special thanks to CB, especially this week as I did very little revision before she edited this chapter.