12 - Like Rider, Like Dragon
Back when there was snow flying on Berk, on the festive holiday of Snoggletog, little Gustav had used various bits of charred wood to cobble together a costume that looked sorta like a Night Fury. It was quite a sight to behold and even rivaled the green empty ale barrel Gronckle with the mace for a tail. When Toothless saw his likeness, he oozed all over the boy, completely flattered by such imitation. Ever since then, when the dragon was in a goofy mood, he would sometimes walk on his hind legs for a few steps, just like Gustav the Night Fury.
Even after having seen it for the hundredth time, even while saddled on said dragon's back, Hiccup would always completely lose himself in a fit of laughter.
Toothless chortled at his own antics and leaned forward to dive off the edge of the cliff, spreading his wings to soar over the harbor for a moment before rising up into the clouds. Hiccup had grown quite fond of this maneuver as there was no whiplash that he normally gets when Toothless springs up from the ground. Others call it lazy, but they haven't ridden a Night Fury that kicks like a yak and jumps like a cat.
The sun had just dipped below the horizon, painting the sky and illuminating the underside of the clouds in hues of red and pink. He knew the way to Bog Burglar island very well, including every island, jutting rock, or other landmarks on the way for navigation. Even without that, he knew the direction from the constellations.
Stoick had already taken off the previous day in the tribe's main trade ship. With good sailing winds to be expected, he should be about fifty leagues away and would reach the Bog Burglar island around dawn. At a casual cruising speed with a partial tailwind, Hiccup figured he should catch-up halfway through the night.
The plan was simple. Land on the boat to meet up with his father, Snotlout, Spitelout, and some others on a regular visit to their friendly neighboring tribe. Naturally, Hookfang followed his rider along. Once they arrived on the island, the dragons would either hide on the ship or go fly off and spend the time on an uninhabited island before docking while the Hooligans would do regular business with the Burglars.
Ever since Hiccup and the Bog Burglar heiress, Camicazi, were old enough to join these voyages, they had always just run off into the wilderness to get into Loki-knows-what kind of trouble. Hiccup planned on making sure that happened again, this time, which would give him an opportunity to introduce her to Toothless... in a way that doesn't send her running and screaming... or scare her into stabbing him... and gets her to like his dragon...
As Gobber said to Hiccup before taking off, "No pressure at all, laddie!"
From there, well... maybe that will be the end of the dragon introductions or maybe Camicazi can help convince the rest of her tribe to accept some training on how to interact with dragons. Hiccup was certainly nipping at the bud to teach anyone who would listen.
To take his mind off the weight of their mission, he decided to train himself in hearing and projecting thoughts. By now, he could hold a conversation with any dragon he touched. Of course, he wasn't perfect at it and his brain still cramped up at how to make sense of the feeling of brown, the tone of a warm bed of coals, and even stranger things his mind would process as gracefully as Gobber could run in a foot race.
Toothless insisted his rider's projections were getting much clearer and easier to understand, though. Hiccup has spent the past several days simply sharing stories with his dragon with these projected thoughts to strengthen himself. It causes headaches at times, but both parties absolutely enjoy seeing the other's perspective during certain interactions in the past. Hiccup would come up with some sort of prompt or event and they would take turns sharing it from their own perspective. It was during such exercises, for example, that he learned the real reason Toothless had coughed up a fish and made him eat it when they met in the cove for the first time. Suffice to say one of them was thoroughly entertained.
"Ok, Bud, how about…" Hiccup hummed in thought. "The most terrifying moment we've experienced together while on the ground. And no Red Death! Our ever-so-graceful landing there would only be a repeat of your most terrifying moment in the air."
Hiccup couldn't see much more detail than a black blob of his dragon's head twisting to the side, obscured by the clouds, but he could feel approval of the idea. Toothless was always ecstatic to converse with his rider no matter what they talked about.
"I'll start so I can get warmed up," Hiccup said as he wiped the stinging, icy water from the cloud off of his face. "Projecting is always easier than hearing, anyway."
He leaned forward, pressing his hands against his dragon's neck, rubbing it in lazy circles. This physical contact wasn't really needed for a dragon to hear the unspoken words since they were naturally attuned to such a method of communication. Still, the added depth of connection and feeling some sort of feedback felt... fulfilling. The skin-to-scale contact was made possible thanks to Skuf's suggestion to cut the palms out of his mittens. Since Toothless always generated a lot of heat while flying, it did a nice job of keeping Hiccup warm this way.
The rider closed his eyes and took a deep breath, working on how to arrange his images, emotions, sensations, and understanding for his mount. The memory he chose to share was the day after he first approached the Night Fury with a fish as a peace offering. Even after that magical moment of drawing in the sand, Hiccup knew so little about the dragon aside from the fact it was an amazing and intelligent forgiving creature.
Feeling full of confidence in his newly-formed relationship with the offspring of lightning and death, Hiccup made a detour on the way to the cove. He wanted to recover the iron weights and hooks that were part of his bola that shot down the dragon. He was so proud when he saw the Night Fury fall. Since then, nothing has ever made him feel so ashamed of his motives.
After collecting the components, using some of the rope from the bola to tie the parts together for carrying, he started to walk back toward town, up the channel the dragon had carved in the forest floor. He stopped when he noticed something strange caught in the splintered stump of one of the broken trees the dragon had impacted when it crashed.
Dull black, leathery, and ribbed, it hung there, contemptuously decrying his most grievous offense. The hooks and iron weights dropped out of his slackened hands as he approached the object. He gingerly pulled it out of the stump, gently running his fingers over it. The flesh was surprisingly well preserved; the edges had barely begun to dry. Bones ran through the membrane, flaring at one end where they would have connected to a ball-in-socket joint. Even two days after it was torn from the dragon's tail, it still seemed so... alive.
A lump formed in Hiccup's throat. This was part of a living creature. Not just some animal, but a merciful and intelligent and fiercely curious dragon that could forgive and draw in the sand and fulfill a foolish boy's dreams. The tailfin of the dragon he maimed, clutched in his trembling hands, seemed to taunt him. It was as if the thing was crying out with its own voice in mockery.
You failed to kill the dragon. You refused to grant it a merciful death. Now the poor thing is stuck, enduring humiliation at your hands so you can feed it like some pet. To torture is crueler than to kill. You are worse than the most brutal Viking.
Hiccup suddenly dropped the fin from his pale hands and fell to his knees. His stomach couldn't take it. His breakfast evacuated onto the forest floor. He couldn't stand the sight of the tailfin. All he could hear was the terrified shriek when he shot the poor dragon down. After spending a few moments spitting out bile and his half-digested breakfast, he crawled back to the tail fin.
What do I do? He screamed inside his head. What do I DO?
His oppressive guilt started to tinge with determination. Maybe this situation could be salvaged? Maybe the fin could be grafted back onto the tail? He had heard about young children who had cut off a finger or toe with an ax, but the missing appendage could sometimes be grafted to grow back into the rest of the body and function again. Maybe it would work with a dragon's tail fin, too? As far as he knew, nobody has ever healed a dragon. Then again, has anyone tried?
Feeling the press of time, he gently wrapped the membrane of the tailfin around his arm and sprinted toward the cove with reckless speed, protecting it for all he was worth whenever he tripped or stumbled.
This has to work, he kept telling himself. It MUST work.
The tailfin, though, voicing the boy's deepest insecurities, seemed to think otherwise.
Naive fool! You had everything you ever wanted at the tip of your knife and you let it all go! You think you can reclaim that which was lost? You run quick as a rabbit, but you are drawn only to the snare. Your salvation will become your doom.
Hiccup sprinted down the winding pathway to the cove, stumbling over a rock he didn't notice. He rolled and winced as a finger took a bit too much of the impact. It would hurt for a couple days, but far worse has been dealt with. All that mattered was to quickly deliver the tailfin to the dragon safely. The sooner that happened, the sooner the torn fin would stop taunting and mocking him.
Run, little rabbit, run! The snare is just ahead. Do you smell the cider and carrots? Oh, what fortune!
Winded and gasping for air, he broke through the opening into the cove. The dragon, which was drinking from the lake, started to approach him with cautious curiosity. Hiccup remembered his knife on his belt and pulled it out, tossed it to the entrance of the cove, and took a few steps forward. Just seeing the Night Fury made him smile and forget his troubles. It felt good to be here with his secret friend again. It was almost enough to make the mean tailfin shut up.
The rabbit sees only a feast on the trigger stick.
Almost.
The young Viking reached his free hand forward. He wanted to establish contact with the dragon before showing the tail fin clutched in his other hand. He wanted - needed - to establish trust.
The Night Fury approached, casually sniffing at his outstretched hand. It stopped suddenly, pupils constricting to narrow slits. A low growl came out as it bared its teeth in an aggressive posture.
Trying to salvage the situation, Hiccup slowly extended the hand holding the tail fin, unwrapping the black, leathery membrane. It felt awkward to remain silent as he had the previous day, when they were drawing shapes in the sand, so he spoke over the low growling, trying to be soothing and placating.
"Easy there, buddy. It's yours," he pleaded. "This belongs to you. It came from your tail. I feel so terrible that I did this to you, but we can fix this. We can graft this back onto your tail. We can fix your tail!"
Growling gave way to snarling. Hiccup's determination turned to fear. Surely, the dragon must recognize what is only an attempt to make amends, right? Right? It had seemed to be pretty smart and aware of such things.
Holding onto the tailfin didn't feel right, anymore. Hiccup set it down on the ground, but leaving it there felt wrong, too.
"C'mon, let me help you, buddy. I'll go to town and get some supplies. Ummm, some needles, sutures, braces, wraps. We can graft this back onto your tail. I'll be right back!"
As Hiccup turned to walk away, something struck his shoulders hard, jarring his whole body. He sprawled out on the ground, the breath knocked out of him.
Fear turned to terror. The tailfin still lay there, ignored by the angry dragon and hapless Viking. The damned thing only continued to mock him.
The bait has been taken. The snare has been sprung! Die little rabbit! Die!
"No, please!" he frantically wailed. "I'm trying to help you! I want to help!"
The Night Fury pounced and swiped its paws, rolling the boy across the ground. Hiccup curled up and held his arms over his face, weathering the blows as he cried out to the dragon.
"Please, don't!"
THUD!
A clawed paw struck his right shoulder, tumbling him onto his side.
"Stop!"
THUD!
A bolt of lightning arced down his spine as another blow rolled him over again.
"Please!"
THUD!
"I yield!"
THUD!
"I'm sorry!"
THUD!
"I'm so sorry!"
Over and over, the dragon continued to swipe with unrestrained contempt, venting its anger. Blood started to seep into Hiccup's tunic, but the cuts were not deep.
As suddenly as it began, the barrage ceased. The dragon leaped away, clawing at a tree in furious anger, bucking and thrashing wildly, tearing off branches in its mouth and breaking them with its jaw. Hiccup could only lay there in the fetal position, ignoring the blood soaking into his torn tunic as he tried to control his sobbing breath, shouting "I'm so sorry!" between gasps for air. He spared a moment to gave a baleful stare at the dismembered tailfin.
Hush, little rabbit. Hush. Luck is with you. This time.
After some time, the Night Fury tired itself out, panting heavily as it glared at the Viking, its fury finally expended. Even though it was shaking from the exertion, it seethed at the tailfin. Such a small scrap of flesh to lose that robs a dragon of flight.
Feeling the anguish, guilt, and terror of the boy, the dragon was moved to compassion. It recognized the attempt at altruism no matter how much this whole situation stung him inside and out.
Through blurry, tear-streaked vision, Hiccup could see a large, dark form approach him. He could not tell for what purpose; he just shut the world out as he lay there, curled up, wheezing, still recovering from the mental shock. He could tell the dragon did not really want to kill him. Indeed, it would have been through a conscious effort to hit him without tearing his flesh to ribbons or crushing every bone in his body.
The Night Fury bent down and started to lick at the cuts under the torn fabric. It gently tugged at the boy's tunic with toothless gums until he realized its intent and took it off, allowing the dragon to lick the wounds on his back, chest, and arms. The cuts were not deep, but they spotted his entire upper body. They stung like coals under the skin, but the pain dissipated under the dragon's tongue. Soft crooning drifted from above as he slowly sat up, testing his limbs for broken bones. Amazingly, his body was intact with only cuts and bruises to show for the abuse.
The dragon took a step back to look at the Viking. Hiccup reached over to grab the tail fin. It was so close and still mocking him for being the foolish rabbit caught in a snare and Hiccup wanted to do something about it. However, the dragon growled and knocked him to the ground with the pad of its paw. Hiccup really wanted to help, but it seemed the dragon would not allow him near the tail fin.
What rabbit that trips a snare and survives would ever make the same mistake twice?
In utter shock, Hiccup looked up at the Night Fury, instinctively reaching towards it. The dragon seemed to sigh as it closed its eyes and pressed its nose into the outstretched hand. Once again, he felt the close connection to the dragon as if they could peer into the other's heart.
"I'm so sorry," Hiccup softly said, hoping to reach out to the dragon in some way. "I just want to help. You don't deserve the harm I have done to you, but I want to make it better. Please... I want to help you. Let me help."
The dragon pulled back with a snort. It grabbed the tailfin in its mouth and snapped its head to the side to send it fluttering onto a large rock. At the telltale shriek of a Night Fury charging up a shot, Hiccup jumped to his feet with a shout, but a wing stopped him from moving forward. A blue bolt of fire impacted and sent little bits of bone and hide flying in all directions.
Tired, hurt, regretful, depressed, the dragon sauntered over to the lake. Dipping its tail into the cold water, it laid down to go to sleep. The message was clear. The giver has been accepted, but the gift has been rejected.
Hiccup sauntered out of the cove. When he had entered, he had such high hopes of helping the dragon. Now, he felt like the dragon just crushed his soul. His dreams of sewing the tailfin back on and watching it heal so the dragon could fly and galavant in the air were now as torn-up as those ragged bits of flesh. It was all so frustrating!
However, his chin lifted as a thought came to mind. The base of the fin where it connected to the tail was about toe to chin. The five bones acted as movable spars that swept forward and backward to fold and unfold the membrane. They must also rotate up and down, too. The leading one was the shortest, maybe armpit to fingertip, then the next was twice as long, then another little longer, a little longer still, and the last was almost as short as the first. Stretch some leather between the spars and strap the whole thing onto the tail and maybe… Yes, just maybe…
Frustration turned to inspiration, a plan, determination. Determination turned into hope. A smile crossed the boy's face as he broke out into the forest above the cove. Next time, he would not ask for permission. He would use every dirty trick he knew. He would make the dragon accept his help. The dragon needed him, even if it didn't want to admit it.
First, he had a date with the forge.
Hiccup opened his eyes. His head was starting to ache from the effort of projecting so much at once. He poured his whole heart and soul into communicating every little detail he could recall and felt a little dizzy as a result. There was a moment of complete silence as Toothless flew over the clouds.
{I almost forgot about that incident. Now I feel like I just flew into a cliff. Thank you for that.}
Hiccup smiled at the sarcasm pouring out of his dragon.
"Fine, next time, you pick the topic - but no more fish!"
A rude snort answered the Viking's requirement. He couldn't even count how many times Toothless had shared his memory of that one day he made Hiccup eat the regurgitated fish.
"So, how'd I do, Bud? Did I project it clearly?"
{Much clearer than my tear-blurred vision.}
"Dragons can't cry."
{Figure of speech.}
"... Oh. I knew that. Anyway, I was aiming for drama. It took me a while to come to terms with what I had done. You sure gave me a good scare, but I smile at that memory. It helped me see you as someone who is so... human."
{I really just wanted to kill you that day. I don't think I understood your motive - I felt so humiliated. You just dropped my tailfin in front of me and started to walk away.}
Hiccup grimaced, then chuckled nervously. "Yeah… didn't quite think that one through all the way."
He looked up at the darkened sky above to check their bearing. The light from the moon and stars bathed the sea of clouds below in a pale light. He always marveled at the beauty of the clouds. Whether viewed from below as the sun peeked over the horizon, or from above in the night, its majesty always took his breath away.
"Hey Toothless, that whole thing with the tailfin mocking me with the rabbit and the snare… I remember it so clearly. Was I… was I somehow hearing you in some way. Maybe you were warning me that was a bad idea?"
{No. You're just crazy.}
Hiccup scoffed. "You're lucky you're so adorable. Really, though, there were certain details I shared that I didn't know. Like your feelings towards me and that tailfin. There's no way I would have known that. I'm certain I didn't make it all up, but maybe I just guessed how you would feel?"
Toothless cocked his head in thought. {Perhaps I supplied that part as you projected the details. Its just so natural I don't even notice it. Communication can go both ways. It is a sharing of understanding between creatures. Understanding can be shared, but never taken away.}
"Sooo... you supplied those impressions and I received them… and included them in what I projected... without even knowing it? It's like we were both talking and listening to each other at the same time..."
Toothless looked back at his rider and gave a knowing smirk.
Hiccup snickered as he idly rubbed his dragon's neck. "You are so weird, Bud."
Dragon and rider flew on in silence, lost in their own thoughts. The clouds parted to give a magnificent view of the sea. Each ripple in the water seemed to sparkle from the celestial lights. Now that Hiccup wasn't focusing all his efforts on projecting his memory, he could focus on seeing through the Night Fury's eyes. He simply leaned forward and draped his arms around his dragon's head, closing his eyes and enjoying the sight with the enhanced clarity of night vision.
After a while, he sat up and said, "Bud, you've seen stitches, right? A large gash in the skin can be sewn shut. In rare cases, entire limbs that have been cut off could be mended. I know dragons heal and mend a lot faster than people. If you had allowed me to graft that fin back onto your tail, do you think it could have worked?"
There was a long pause, filled with nothing more than the whistling of the wind in his ears, the rush of air from the dragon, and the delicate flutter of the wings as they glided on the breeze.
{I am glad you didn't. If it did work, I may have never realized how incomplete I am without you.}
Hiccup leaned forward and vigorously rubbed his dragon's snout.
"Awww, you really know how to make me happy, Bud!"
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Later that night, Hiccup noticed his dragon's sensor flaps stiffen, then pulsate rhythmically, twitching here and there to briefly hold that position. Skuf had mention these weren't really ear fins, but served some other purpose - besides slapping Hiccup's face when they're flying as a sign of irritation. Hiccup had received sight, sound, and touch from his dragon, but never tried whatever sense involved those sensor lobes.
"What are you doing there, Bud? I've seen you do it before, but I never bothered to ask."
The Night fury stopped and relaxed his sensor lobes for a moment. {I'm reaching out with my senses. All dragons can project and receive thoughts. Most dragons can barely communicate farther than a growl could be heard. My sensors greatly increase my range. Right now, I can hear Hookfang.}
Hiccup just sat there and breathed in wonder as his dragon continued to flex his sensor flaps, vibrating them at times, then flicking them into certain positions, holding them there. Sometimes, the two larger flaps would hold still while the dragon cocked his head in concentration, but the smaller flaps would pulsate.
"Can you show me, Bud, like you did with your eyes, earlier?"
A feeling of vertigo overcame the rider as he received… Well, he wasn't quite sure what he received from his dragon. It was images that had a certain sound, sounds that had a certain taste, smells that had a certain feel to them. His mind struggled to fit this sensation into a meaningful context, like when he would try to catch the clouds, but end up with only wet, cold hands. It was a strange, formless understanding of the world around him.
Quite some distance ahead, he could feel the projected thoughts of a cluster of creatures. Toothless indicated that he could discern direction and distance to some degree because those sensor lobes were fanned out around his head. One such creature he detected could be identified as Hookfang by the unique signature of his projections. Hiccup didn't understand how he knew that, he just knew. He could identify alarm in this "voice", then recognition, followed by relief and joy as Toothless identified himself to Hookfang in some wordless way. Toothless informed Hookfang that his rider was snooping on their conversation and the Monstrous Nightmare roared with excitement. The groggy Vikings on the same ship roared back at him to quiet down.
Hiccup could also feel another creature's impossible-to-his-senses signature of Stoick. Again, Hiccup just knew, somehow. There was no room for doubt. He could tell by following the hum of yet another creature, Snotlout, that he was having some sort of exchange of information with his dragon. With enough poking and prodding, Hookfang was able to wake his rider to prepare a place for the Night Fury to land.
Hiccup just sat there, dumbfounded, jaw dropped as he took it all in. After a few moments, the dragon's sensor flaps relaxed and he looked back at his rider with a big smirk. Hiccup had to grant his dragon this moment of pride in himself. What other response was there to watching one's dragon communicate with others from leagues away?
"Bud, you are... one amazing creature! Let's go say hi."
A while later, they descended down below the clouds to spot the ship. It was a large Knarr with a cabin built into the deck that spanned the entire width and most of its length. The Berk crest could be seen displayed boldly on the mainsail that propelled the ship toward its destination. The people Hiccup could see on the deck were waving at him and cleared a spot at the stern.
Toothless angled into the broad-reaching wind that blew across the stern and port of the ship to bleed off speed and altitude. After slowing to almost a hover, they angled in to make a graceful landing just inside of the railings without any sound at all.
Hiccup sat there in silence for a moment and then dramatically snapped back into reality and affectionately pat the top of his dragon's head. "Oh, we landed! How long have we been here, Bud?"
Toothless chortled at the compliment. He has always taken great pride in his grace and precision in flight.
With one well-practiced motion, Hiccup dismounted from Toothless and ran to his father, prosthetic foot clinking against the wooden deck, and jumped into his arms. After a brief embrace, Stoick let his son down and looked at him. Snotlout made a face at his cousin, but that was all.
About a year ago, when Hiccup hugged his father in public for the first time, Snotlout mocked him for that in front of half the village. Stoick had scowled, caught between embarrassment for being seen as soft and contempt for his nephew being so callous. Before anybody could say anything, Snotlout was suddenly on his back, pinned under Toothless' paw. To the bully's dismay, Hookfang simply stood off to the side, chortling at the antics. Needless to say, Snotlout refrained from any verbal insinuations after that.
"Welcome aboard, Hiccup," Stoick said.
Hiccup smiled up at his father as he slapped his thighs, working feeling back into the numb legs.
"Thanks, Dad. It really means a lot to me - and Toothless - that you're putting forth the effort to make this happen. I know it's not easy, but this mission could be the start of something big."
Then, turning to Snotlout, "I bet you're the one who suggested they make the stern of the ship the landing zone instead of the bow. Thanks! That was good thinking on your part."
Snotlout gave a crooked grin. "Yeah yeah, let's just hope this whole trip is worth it. I'm going back to sleep."
The crew of twenty Vikings dispersed and soon did likewise. Hiccup and Stoick reviewed their plans for the next day. Hiccup offered to take the night watch since this would be the midday point for the nocturnal rider and dragon. Stoick agreed, but told his son to try to get some sleep when Ack takes up his shift in a while so that Hiccup could spend more of the daylight hours interacting with the Bog-Burglars.
The rider found a basket of fish and gave it to Toothless, who greedily gobbled it up, smacking his lips in delight. After Stoick joined the others inside the cabin to sleep, Hiccup ducked into the cabin. There was one more thing he needed to check on before attending to his dragon.
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The soft taps of a leather boot alternated with the metallic clangs as Hiccup made his way through the cabin to access the bow of the ship. He stepped out, closed the door behind him, and smiled up at the massive form looming above.
Hookfang's maroon scales, dotted with black spots, glistened in the moonlight. Clawed talons gripped the stout railing that encircled the entire ship. The claws extending from the "wrist" of the wing's bone structure held him steady against the side of the cabin. He allowed his legs and wings to sway with the rhythm of the wave-tossed boat in an attempt to keep his body at rest.
Hiccup casually waved. "Hi, Hookfang."
The dragon gave a subtle nod, but Hiccup could tell he was feeling a little... off. "Hey sir, may I... uh, may I speak with you for a moment?"
Hiccup tentatively reached his hand, inviting the dragon to make the next move to decide if he wanted to make contact. The Monstrous Nightmare stepped down to the flooring. Although his head was lowered to Hiccup's level, he felt that familiar sense of the dragon's imposing and overwhelmingly immense size and power. Unlike most other Vikings, though, it made Hiccup feel safe rather than threatened. This dragon tried to kill him the first time they met, but since then, has always respected Hiccup, even if he tried not to show it.
Hookfang pressed his snout into Hiccup's outstretched hand. Now that the rider could hear the dragon, everything clicked into place. This was Hookfang's first time on a ship and the constant rocking was making him feel very queasy. Snotlout didn't even know because his dragon was too proud and stubborn to show any signs of his discomfort. Hookfang didn't dare take off and fly to stop his head from spinning for fear of falling into the ocean and floundering until he drowned or, worse still, would need to be rescued.
A sudden jerk pulled the snout away from Hiccup as the dragon lunged for the side of the ship and leaned over the railing to retch into the sea. Hiccup quickly grabbed a large bowl they had been using to give the dragon water, dashed into the cabin to fill it from the water barrel, and went back out and set it down for Hookfang, who was coughing out the last bits from his mouth.
As Hookfang greedily drank up the water, Hiccup said, "Toothless has had to ride a ship a few times and he used to get seasick, too. Taking some short flights every now and then seemed to help him adjust to the motion of the sea without all..." Hiccup gestured to the dragon, "...this.
The Monstrous Nightmare extended his neck, pressing his snout towards Hiccup, who reached a hand out and made contact again.
{Cougar says I will get used to it and I just need to watch the horizon.}
Hiccup smiled at the name the dragon gave Snotlout. On the day Skuf first talked to all the dragons and riders, he told them their "dragon" names. Hookfang named his rider "Cougar" for being so obnoxious, loud, boastful, and unrelenting.
"Yes, looking at the horizon could help. Did he ask you not to fly?"
Negation could be felt from the dragon.
"C'mon, then. Trust me. I know you're feeling really dizzy now, but I'll just hop on Toothless and you can follow us up until you start to feel better. Does that sound good?"
{It's worth a try.}
With a smile, Hiccup pulled away from the dragon, refilled the water bowl, and quietly moved back through the cabin to the stern where Toothless was finishing up his fish.
"You probably already heard all that, right? Wanna do a little more flying?"
Toothless rolled his eyes and plopped his belly on the deck. Hiccup grumbled and started playfully batting at his dragon's sensor lobes. Hookfang has more than made up for the time he almost killed Hiccup that first time they met in the Kill Ring, but he and Toothless have always had a sort of brotherly rivalry between them.
"Toothless," Hiccup chided in a lilting voice. "I know you're haughty and pretentious-"
The dragon snorted and used his snout to squish Hiccup against the cabin.
"But you know how I deal with those I don't like." he wheezed out
{Yes, you treat them as friends because you are a crazy land-strider.}
Toothless let off the pressure and Hiccup grinned. "Correction: I am your crazy land-strider. C'mon, Bud. Please?"
There was no surprise when Toothless grumbled and flicked his head for his rider to mount up. He always had great difficulty in saying no to anything his rider wanted. Hiccup jumped up, clipped in, and they took off.
"Alright, Bud, you wanna do the talking? Just ask Hookfang to take off fast and follow us. You remember how it felt your first time on a boat?"
Toothless groaned at the thought of his ride to the Red Death's nest.
"Err, I mean, the second time!" Hiccup corrected with a grimace. That was actually the memory Toothless shared tonight. During the boat ride back to Berk after killing the Red Death, the nauseating twisting of his stomach was the least of his concerns. His rider was unconscious and not entirely whole. Oh, and they were surrounded by a lot of fidgety Vikings and dragons. The Hooligans had never seen a dragon shed half his scales like that.
Toothless took the opportunity to remind Hookfang that he has it easy in comparison. The Monstrous Nightmare positioned himself on the railing, coiled up, and sprang into the air. After a moment of somewhat uncoordinated flapping and almost splashing into the water with an undignified squawk, he managed to recover just in time and followed the Night Fury as they ascended to fly in wide circles around the ship.
Hiccup didn't say anything, but just let Toothless take the lead. He trusted that his dragon would know what to say and do to help the poor Monstrous Nightmare get over his seasickness. After making some more lazy flight patterns in the sky, Hookfang peeled off to go fly on his own.
Toothless looked back at his rider with a grin. {Hookfang is feeling much better and is going to dive for some fish before landing. He thanks you for the suggestion and says he feels much better and, perhaps, can get some sleep now.}
As Hiccup nudged his dragon to ascend, flying higher into the clouds, he decided to act on a whim to voice something that has been bugging him.
"Hey, Bud, I've been thinking. Is it just me or does nobody else seem to have the same... uhhh... sort of bond that we have?"
Toothless cocked his head to the side in thought for a moment. {Different dragons and different land-striders will behave differently. I agree that their bond isn't as strong as ours, but I don't think that matters. Hookfang is happy with his relationship with Cougar. He does not feel any jealousy that we sleep together or that I only fly with you on my back. They are just more content on their own than we are.}
Wind whipped through Hiccup's hair and around his ears as they flew in thoughtful silence. It bothered him how casually Toothless accepted that. I only fly with you on my back. It was an obvious statement; how else could Toothless fly? Hiccup always said that his missing foot and the dragon's missing tailfin were an even exchange, but that was so far from the truth. He could always make a prosthetic foot to get around on his own, but what about the dragon? The master of the sky had no such luxury and was completely dependant on the worst Viking in the history of Berk. What was he missing out on? In what ways was his rider holding him back?
"Toothless, what do you think you would be doing right now if you didn't have to rely on me for flight?"
The Night Fury craned his neck around and snarled, snapping at his rider's foot. Hiccup was used to his dragon expressing himself in such a way. He had absolutely no concern for his safety, so Toothless often took the liberty to treat his rider like a dragon.
{Don't you dare start feeling guilty again!} There was vehement outrage so intense it was almost frightening.
"Woah, there, Bud. I didn't mean it that way, really. I wasn't trying to go there. Ummm, let me try again. What do you think other Night Furys would be doing right now, who don't have a rider as you do?"
Toothless locked his wings and soared for a few moments, taking some deep breaths to regain his composure.
{Living a life that is far more boring and inferior to what I experience.}
Hiccup smiled.
"Bud, I think I shall never see the day when I can say I have earned all the kindness you show me, but I think I'm just not asking the right question here. With all these crazy adventures we go on, like this mission we're on right now, I sometimes feel like I'm just using you because you are always following my lead and-"
Before Hiccup could continue, his Night Fury barked at him. {You are my alpha. Accept it! I have accepted this long ago and have absolutely no regrets! The demonic queen was my alpha before you. She used some trickery to force us to obey. When you freed me from that mind-snare with your land-strider magic, I gladly replaced her with you. If you suggest that was a mistake, I will sit on you until you pass out!}
Unfazed by such a threat, Hiccup scratched his head. "Huh, I never thought about it that way. Is it, like, a natural desire for a dragon to seek out a leader to follow?"
{Yes. The demonic queen's death left a void in our minds. An itch, if you will. Though we dragons are much more solitary than your kind, we have always had a craving for order, for direction, for leadership, for purpose. That is why all those dragons initially flocked to your island after we killed the demonic queen. They sought guidance and order. Even after they realized they had to find nearby islands to live on, they still established tribes with an alpha on each island, usually an older dragon or one who has proven his dominance and worth.}
Hiccup scratched his chin in thought. Tribe. His dragon said "Tribe". Well, his dragon didn't say anything, but at least that was the word his mind decided to use to represent the thought. He had never seen dragons organize themselves into groups. Then again, he barely got to see them after waking up with a missing limb. They had all flown off in the following days of resting to gain enough strength to fly Toothless again. In all his flying around, it never felt right to just drop in on them and say, "Hi. Toothless and I are the one who saved you all. So, uhhh, how's it going?"
After a while, Hiccup let out a deep sigh and pressed on with his questioning. "What I'm trying to get at is that we've never done anything to seek out your dreams and goals. You're not my pet; you're a dragon! You willingly carry me around and I'm very grateful, but if you could go anywhere you want, do anything you want to do, where would you go? What would you do?"
{I would follow my alpha. I would follow you.}
That took Hiccup's breath away. There was such a somber sincerity and sense of commitment. His dragon accepted his rider as the alpha of the pack in the same casual, matter-of-fact way one would declare that the setting sun would rise the next day.
Suddenly, it all clicked. Toothless has chosen to make himself a bondservant. As such, it was now the rider's responsibility to look after his dragon's needs and wants. What would a Night Fury want to do, though, aside from patrolling around Berk, mapping the Archipelago, and goofing off in the air with random stunts?
"I mean, don't you want to search around to find more Night Furies? Surely, you can't be the only one in the entire world. Maybe find a female? What about your family? Do you have brothers and sisters? We should see if we can find your parents-"
A low, threatening growl could be felt from the dragon, rattling the rider. bitterness and anger fumed from him.
{Do not talk about that!}
Hiccup was stunned. He really wanted to delve into this deeper. Was Toothless exiled from his family? Is that how he, and he alone, ended up in the Red Death's mind snare? Maybe his parents were so pretentious as to say, "Well, if little Toothless got caught up in the Red Death's mind snare, then I will have nothing more to do with him, even if he killed her and freed all the dragons in her grip." Maybe there's nothing but bad memories down that lane and Toothless knew that?
Better dance around that for now.
"Alright, Bud. I'm sorry. Me and my unyielding curiosity."
Toothless craned his neck to solemnly look back at his rider out of the corner of one of his eyes. {You are my alpha and I accept your direction. My wings are yours, Firefly. Accept your position.}
"I'm not your slave driver."
Toothless growled impatiently. {I am not your slave.}
"Then tell me what you want in life!"
{I want to follow my alpha. This conversation is over!}
Toothless flicked his head forward to pull his scales away from Hiccup's hand. Hiccup gasped. There was nothing stopping him from leaning down to touch the dragon's neck, but he knew that's not what he wanted. They angled back toward the ship and flew in silence for what felt like an eternity. Hiccup just sat still. He felt cold without any contact with his dragon.
"Toothless?"
Silence.
"I'm sorry I upset you. I really didn't mean to, Bud."
More silence. One thing Hiccup had learned is that, even though speaking naturally makes him project his thoughts, it's only the projections the dragon understands, not the spoken words. Dragons can also completely block out someone if they so choose. Toothless could choose to be literally unable to hear his rider. Hiccup didn't care if he was talking to a wall; he felt the need to say something.
"It's just a lot to swallow for me. You know how my life was like before I met you. I had nothing. I was nothing. And now I have the offspring of lightning and death telling me this."
Hiccup held his breath at the lack of response or even acknowledgment of being heard.
"I love you, Bud. You know that, right?"
It was a rhetorical question, really, though he would never say it around his peers because they would just take it in a very immature direction. Though he never explicitly told Toothless, Hiccup always loved the dragon. He concerned himself with his dragon's needs above his own. He would always give to his dragon before taking for himself. He could never be content when his dragon was not.
Toothless let out a long, rumbling sigh and flicked a sensor lobe back toward his rider. Hiccup placed his hand on it. Through the connection, he could feel it in his heart. He was fine. They were fine.
{I know, my precious little Firefly, and you know the feeling is mutual, but you sure can be stubborn!}
Hiccup smiled wide and leaned down to throw his arms around his dragon's head. "Like rider, like dragon. I just don't want to take advantage of your kindness or show any disrespect. That's all."
{Don't worry. There is no shame in following your lead. If I feel degraded, I will make sure you are aware. I will tackle you and sit on you so there is no room for doubt, just like usual.}
The rider breathed a sigh of relief. There was no irreparable damage to their relationship. With the wave of calm that settled in, he realized he forgot something he meant to do before arriving at Bog Burglar island.
"Hey, speaking of bossing you around, we haven't tested the new feature I added to your tailfin, yet. Wanna do that now?"
Toothless looked back with a grin. His excitement for testing new and clever inventions his rider made with his hands was as strong as his admiration for his rider's ingenuity. Hiccup was actually quite proud of this one, though it was inspired by Skuf's impromptu modification to affix the lever that controlled the tailfin angle.
It was a simple little addition. Two torsion springs in the tailfin forced some brackets to lock it fully extended in the neutral position. Pressing down on the control pedal would release the brackets to work the fin. Releasing the pedal would re-engage them. All Toothless would need to do is flick the tail to snap the fin out and the locks would engage.
{It sounds fun and dangerous. Tell me what to do.}
Hiccup removed his legs from the stirrups. Toothless gave a yelp as he started to lose control.
"Flick your tail left, then up and down." He focused his mind on imagining what his dragon should do.
Toothless complied and two distinct clicks could be heard as the tail fin locked into place. After some climbing, diving, and turns, Hiccup was satisfied with the fin's performance. It was nowhere near as controlled or smooth as normal, but Toothless started to get the hang of controlling his flight with a fixed tailfin. He had to roll and angle himself in strange ways to achieve a climb or to change direction in a controlled manner. Hiccup could tell it wasn't pleasant, but it worked.
His heart sank, though, when he put his left foot back in the stirrup and tried to press down. The stirrup didn't extend back to its normal position as it was supposed to. Hence, the locking mechanism wouldn't disengage.
"Umm, Bud, it's jammed. I think I can fix it later with some grinding when we land. Got a small file in the saddlebag."
{I can land us like this, but it won't be pretty.}
Hiccup chewed on his lip in thoughtful silence, then snapped his fingers with a big smile on his face. "I got it! Flick your tail to the left again."
As the dragon complied, Hiccup pressed his foot down into the stirrup. With the force taken off of the locking mechanisms for an instant, he was able to extend the stirrups to disengage the lock.
"Yes! I'm awesome!" he whooped.
Toothless trilled with delight at having proper control again. An idea came to mind. They were more than high enough for some goofing off.
"Alright, Bud, one more little test. Do your tail flick again."
This time, Hiccup not only took his feet out of the stirrups, but also released his flight harness from the saddle and raised himself up, balancing his one good foot on his dragon's forehead. Toothless flicked his tail, clicking the fin into place.
Feeling the weight of his rider on his head, the Night Fury chortled and flew along, angling his neck to balance his rider as he maneuvered - before flipping over to grab him in his front paws.
It didn't take long after holding his rider by his good foot, swinging him around like a pendulum, for Toothless to realize that he could not get Hiccup to scream in terror. Indeed, it seemed he enjoyed being manhandled by his dragon. In fact, the rider pulled a fast one when he went completely slack after being tossed up and caught, pretending he passed out. The dragon whined in fear until he heard his rider burst into laughter beneath him.
After a while, both rider and dragon had their fill of senseless excitement and Toothless put his rider back in the saddle with a graceful diving barrel roll, tossing him up while inverted so he could fall back down onto the dragon's back after completing the roll. This was one of the tricks Toothless could still perform with a locked tailfin because rolling relied mainly on his aileron flaps that were immediately behind his wings.
As they made their approach to the ship, they saw Hookfang curled up at the bow, who appeared to be sleeping. Toothless and Hiccup landed at the stern again and settled into their night watch routine, just like they did when sailing from Berserker Island with Skullcrusher. Hiccup trimmed the sail and adjusted the rudder to maintain their course.
After removing the saddle and tail fin, he found another large bowl and was about to fill it with water, but decided to just grab a water skin instead, and poured the water into his dragon's mouth. Not only did it make Toothless look a bit more dignified than slurping water from a bowl on the deck like some dog, but he also was enjoying the novelty of drinking this way.
After a few refills of the water skin, when Toothless was all set, the young Viking rummaged through the saddlebag and retrieved a wooden massaging stone that Fishlegs had made for Toothless. The Night Fury lay on his side and wriggled in anticipation as Hiccup pressed the tool along his flank and under his wings to work the tensed up muscles.
Toothless rolled his eyes back and let his tongue hang out as he melted into a draconic puddle of bliss. Hiccup always found it quite entertaining to watch and almost expected his dragon to ooze between the boards of the decking. After finishing one side, Toothless gladly rolled over to receive the same treatment on the other.
"Oh, I' sor'y, would 'ya two like some prive'cy? Perhaps your own room at an inn?"
Hiccup yelped in surprise and looked up to see an older Viking with a broad frame, brown eyes, a long, gray beard, and an impish grin. He then realized that Toothless had been audibly huffing and sighing with pleasure as his rider worked the knotted muscles loose with the massaging stone.
"Ack! Don't even think of going there! Imagine how sore your legs would be if you were running from sunrise till noon. Imagine how amazing a massage would feel after such a run."
Ack chortled and waved his hand, dismissing it all for the silly joke it was. "Ya ya. When yer ready, go gi' some sleep, ya li'l night owl. I'll keep the ship until we get there."
Dragon and rider made their way through the cabin to the front of the ship. They curled up together at the bow, next to Hookfang, who was curled up into a ball with his head and tail tucked in, torso swelling gently with his breathing. Hiccup hugged one of his dragon's forelegs and a wing cocooned them both.
He thought back to their first time flying, after they had that fall and survived the rocky maze of death and everything just clicked into place. He focused on projecting his feelings as they soared through the air. They were free. They were untouchable. They were gods looking down on the little mortals below.
They were one.
Toothless purred and snugged his rider in tight. Hiccup made a vow right then and there. He would never sleep in a bed ever again.
A/N:
Thanks for reading, y'all.
In answer to Blackberry Avatar's question, I don't plan on making Skuf any more potent with his telepathy than what we've seen so far. No Jedi knights in my story. ;)