Chapter Twenty-Nine

Hiccup washed his breakfast dishes in a nearby stream, rolled up his bedroll, strapped it to his pack, and got out the small disk with the needle and marking that Alpha had given him. The man had said it would lead him to the tree that held the much-protected coal, if, when he started traveling for the day, matched the needles with the Tallest mark and set his course one mark to the right. The prince didn't know how it worked, but he couldn't wait to find out. But before he did that, he would free Toothless.

He plowed through the underbrush, but his thick leather practice armor with metal pieces here and there kept out most of the thorns. A root tripped him and his mouth filled with dead leaves. He grimaced and spat the things out. Why did he have to be so clumsy? But the momentary stop of the crashing and scraping sounds of his passage through the forest let other sounds be heard, namely a soft keening.

He tried to ignore it. He whistled, sang, even counted his steps, but every time he heard one of those moans, he could feel Toothless' disapproval. She would never want him to turn down someone in need. Finally he threw his hands up in defeat and headed in the direction of the moans. He plodded along more slowly, trying to keep the noise to a minimum so he could still hear the soft moans. He came out into a small clearing and saw something he'd thought to never lay eyes on. A huge Whispering Death lie on the ground, facing a large hole filled with water. What had happened?

Okay, what did he know about Whispering Deaths? They liked rodents and other underground dwellers, made their homes by digging tunnels with their circular mouths brimming with teeth, and didn't like to move unless forced out of their tunnels. He looked back at the beast moaning at the watery hole in the ground. The hole must be its home, and it had to abandon it because of the water. Well, if he wanted to help, he'd have to get close first.

Slowly, Hiccup walked out of the bushes and towards the dragon. It lifted its head and roared at him, but instead of running back into the cover, he held up both his empty hands and stood his ground. The beast rose up and screamed at him again, but he just stood like a rock. Finally the animal calmed down. He took a step forward.

It roared again. He stood stock still and kept his hands up. The dragon quieted again, noticing how still he stood and the fact that he had no weapons. Hiccup took another step, and this time the dragon didn't rise up against him.

Slowly, he made his way towards the tunnel mouth and looked in. The hole went down several feet, and it looked like the adjoining tunnel was only halfway full of water. He looked back at the dragon, which no longer paid any attention to the skinny nuisance, and jumped in.

The water reached halfway up his chest and was absolutely frigid. It also had a current. That gave Hiccup an idea. He followed the current through the tunnels, leaving a stripe down the tunnel walls above the waterline so he could find his way back later. After his toes felt frozen and he wished for the sixteenth time that he'd just ignored the dragon, he heard a roar and was pushed back by a very strong current. Bracing his feet and hands against the walls, he lifted himself above the torrent and saw the cause of this whole thing. The Whispering Death had tunneled into the side of a river. It was a miracle the tunnels weren't all the way flooded already.

Wait. If the river kept pounding water into the tunnel, but they hadn't yet flooded, that meant there was an outlet somewhere that let water out of the network. He just had to find it. Hiccup let go of the walls and let the current sweep him away, towards the solution to the problem.

After a while he had to actually put his feet down and start walking in the direction the water pulled him, but he found the hole soon enough. It was about the size of his fist, probably due more to erosion than actual digging, although the water had certainly help tear out the opening. He brought up his prosthetic foot and pounded it against the wall. Dirt fell away and the hole grew by a few inches. He did this again and again until the hole was bigger than the other one. With this, there would always be a little water in the tunnels, but it would be much better than before, and Whispering Deaths liked their homes a little damp, if he remembered correctly. He swam back through the tunnels following his marks and climbed out the top.

The dragon watched him pull himself out of the tunnel before diving down into the network to see what the boy had done. It shrieked, zoomed back up into the open air, and coiled itself around Hiccup. He stood absolutely still. Had the dragon not liked what he'd done? Was it planning to constrict and suffocate him? Then he noticed that the dragon was purring. Of course! This was the dragon version of a hug! Just as he thought that, the dragon loosened its coils and dove back into the ground now that it had satisfied the need for gratitude. Hiccup laughed, shook his head, and continued on his way.

As he walked, he thought about his escapade in the tunnels. That current had been very strong, yet he'd swam against it for almost the whole time he was down there, and he still wasn't very tired. He tensed his arms and admired the smooth curve of muscle. Maybe Toothless was right. He wasn't as much of a fishbone as he'd led himself to believe.

Below the surface, the Whispering Death curled up in its now comfortably cool and moist tunnels and thought about the boy who'd solved the flooding problem for him. Perhaps a hug wasn't enough to repay the boy's services. So the Whispering Death deserted its network and flew discreetly behind the boy, waiting for the moment he could repay the kindness. He gave the kid a week to find something for him to help with. After that, it was back to the tunnels.

You wanted problem solving, you got problem solving. I have no idea if this would actually work, so just go with me on this.

Please Review! I haven't been able to write for three days, I don't have enough inspiration! I need a couple of good ideas!