22 - Wake-Up Call
Wind whipped through Hiccup's hair as he whistled through the air. The powerful body beneath him thrummed as the wind thrashed around the rapid beats of its wings. Icy gusts stung the rider's eyes, but he didn't care. The exhilaration of flying at such high speeds was topped only by the thrill of fighting for his own life.
His wide grin was mimicked by his dragon, who puffed out his cheeks to gather up a fireball. The Night Fury's wings locked for a moment as he took aim. Time seemed to hang still, as did the breath caught in the rider's throat. An indigo bolt streaked through the air, striking a Zippleback at the base of its two necks, exploding in a violent blast that tore through flesh and shattered bones.
Roaring and whooping, dragon and rider sailed above the enemy, now choking on its own blood, as the force of the blast pushed them even higher. Unhooking his flight harness from the saddle, Hiccup pulled a dagger out of its sheath at his hip and slid off the side of Toothless.
Plummeting down a short distance, he landed with a distinctly visible lack of grace on the back of a male emerald Deadly Nadder, directly over his rear haunches. Hiccup started to slide off to the right, but lunged forward, digging his blade into the back of the rider who was sitting at the base of the Nadder's neck, drawing out a pained gasp from his victim. The dagger's handle proved to be a very useful handhold for Hiccup to haul himself back up and onto the dragon, causing the other rider to lose balance and fall off.
The Nadder, noticing the brief mutiny on his back, squawked in fear and started to flutter his wings in panic. Hiccup rubbed the dragon's neck, humming soothing nothings to calm him down.
Over to his right, Toothless was perched on the back of a Monstrous Nightmare, claws dug in deep and teeth wrapped around the base of its left wing. As the large dragon shrieked and fell with a limp wing that could no longer sustain flight, the Night Fury jumped off, spreading his wings to fly alongside Hiccup and his newly acquired mount.
The fading, screeching wail marked the Nightmare's descent. The bone-crunching thud far below marked its death.
"You know you can't keep him," Toothless said, dryly.
For some reason, the fact that the Night Fury was speaking in a low, guttural, rumbling voice didn't bother Hiccup at all, even though he recognized such a thing was impossible.
He looked over at Toothless with a big smirk on his face as he grabbed the Nadder's spikes that crowned his head, guiding him to the left. The Night Fury adjusted his course to stay in formation just off to the side.
"You're just jealous, Toothless. You want me all to yourself. You can't share your most precious rider." Said rider stuck out his tongue.
Toothless rolled his eyes and said, "It's too late for that Nadder and you know it. There is no fixing him."
"Admit it," Hiccup taunted. "You just want me to exercise control over you. You feel lost without my direction. You feel a Hiccup-sized void in your life if I'm not there on your back, commanding you. Fly there. Fetch this. Kill that. Come here. Do a barrel roll!"
The Night Fury huffed his annoyance. "Just get on my back now or I'll grab your flight harness with my teeth and... and... let you dangle for a while." Hiccup gasped in mock horror. "Before you ask, yes, I would put up with some more flight with this fixed tailfin if it means getting you off that thing."
"Not a thing. He's a male. You can tell by the shorter spikes on his head and the set of his hips."
The Night Fury swept over and took a swipe to snatch Hiccup, who ducked and shoved the Nadder's head forward to descend."
"Alright, alright," Hiccup chuckled. "I'm coming. Just don't forget to catch me."
He grabbed a knife out of a sheath on the Nadder's saddle and said, "Sorry, boy. There's no other way."
With a well-practiced thrust, the blade was inserted into the back of the dragon's neck, between the spinal discs, ending his life instantly. The poor thing didn't even feel any pain.
Hiccup froze as he watched the Nadder's lifeless head loll around in the wind.
I did this!
There it was again. That instinct, that voice, that damn stupid conscience rearing its head at the most inconvenient moment, reminding him about the moral integrity he abandoned that had landed him on the back of a Night Fury in the first place.
A bark from the side snapped Hiccup's attention to Toothless. The Nadder on which he sat was falling, tumbling listlessly on the winds. No surprise there; dragons have a tendency to do that when murdered in flight. Hiccup shoved his annoying conscience aside, released his death grip from the bloodied neck, and spread his arms and legs to fall onto the back of Toothless.
After strapping himself in, he leaned far forward and closed his eyes, draping his arms around Toothless' head and mumbled, "It never gets easier, Bud. It's so fun to watch you do it. You make it look like it's just a game. But when it's by my own hands, I… It hurts every time."
With his ear pressed against the top of the Night Fury's head, Hiccup could hear a rumbling sound resonating inside the dragon as he built up another ball of fire.
pop
Whoosh!
BOOM!
Another fireball. Another solid hit. Hiccup didn't even look. The twin screams of a Zippleback left little room for the imagination. He could feel the rumble of Toothless crooning in satisfaction.
"You did the right thing," the black dragon said. "I don't know why killing is so hard for your mind to accept, but I hope you become more comfortable with it, soon. You'll be doing it a lot more in the coming days."
"No!" Hiccup sat up straight. His knuckles whitened around the saddle grips. "If killing feels so wrong, then there must be another way. Toothless, why can't we just reason with them? They close their ears and draw their weapons so easily. They think that they can just bludgeon their problems over the head and make life better. They wield dragons like they're just... spears to fling at us. It's… It's… Unnatural!"
"It is better this way, Hiccup. Death is clean. A corpse cannot betray you. You will lose your life if you do not guard it. If they cannot leave us alone, then they must-"
The dragon never finished his sentence. A large, blood red Monstrous Nightmare smashed into them from the side.
Shrieks filled the air.
Hiccup was thrown about violently. One of the straps securing him to the saddle snapped from the force. A large talon sliced through the air, trying to end his life, but severed the other strap instead. Hiccup screamed as he flailed around in free-fall. Already, the Nightmare was dead, bloodied neck bent at an unnatural angle. Toothless was not unscathed, though. A large gash on his left side spanned from the top of his neck to the side of his belly. Blood sprayed out in a spiraling crimson disk as the dragon spun violently in the air.
"Hiccup! Come to me! HICCUP!"
"TOOTHLESS!"
Hiccup's eyes widened in terror as he noticed a dark-blue Nadder diving at them, wings folded, tail straight as an arrow, talons extended out. The rider on the dragon's back held a spear in his hand, ready to throw. The talons and spearhead glinted with malice and the promise of pain and regret.
Toothless made one last, frantic lunge and craned his neck around to grab his rider's left forearm in his jaw. Sharp teeth sunk deep into flesh. Blood poured out, adding red marks to the dragon's already stained maw. Hiccup screamed in pain as he was pulled in and black wings enfolded him to block out all light.
Over the whistling of air rushing past, Hiccup could hear his dragon whine. No, not a whine, but that signature shriek of a Night Fury on a fire run, quiet at first, but rising in volume. It only got louder and louder, driving into his skull, deafening him with its intensity.
Something cold and wet slapped against Hiccup's forehead and his body convulsed.
"WH- What the- TOOTH-" Hiccup gagged and coughed. "TOO-" He gagged again.
The whining exploded into a loud, pained yowl.
Hiccup tried to bolt upright, but a fire seared his abdomen and made him go slack again. His heart throbbed painfully in his temples. He blinked his eyes, willing the world around him to come into focus.
I knew it, I'm dead.
He realized that could not be, though. The dead don't gasp for air. The dead don't squint at the light assaulting their eyes. The dead don't feel pain. Such things are reserved for the living. That is, until their lives are ended by some painful and pointless display of pride.
Blinking his way into whatever world decided to appear before him, a wall of plain wooden slabs came into focus. No, wait, if people sleep on the floor or a bed - except the Thorston twins, of course - that must be a ceiling. And where there is a ceiling...
Hiccup jerked his head to look right. All around, the walls were littered with assorted herbs, hanging by twine and tacks. Their smells, mixed with various oils, were overpowering if not pleasant. Since the floor didn't rise up to greet the edge of his vision, he realized he must have been on a bed. It was actually quite comfortable.
So, why did I wake up in the first place, then? Oh, right, dying in a dream sorta does that.
Turning his head to the other side, Hiccup could see his cherished dragon standing next to his bed, nibbling on his left arm with toothless gums, whining and trilling nervously. The dragon seemed to be in mental anguish.
Hiccup squinted at Toothless in thought. Wasn't there blood covering that maw and splattered along his underside? He was so certain of it.
Toothless projections were full of guilt and worry, but took on a tinge of confusion at his rider's staring. {I cleaned it off as soon as I could. You know how practical my scaly hide is. I drag myself through silt and sand, roll around in the water, and I'm good as new.
"Take it easy, son," Stoick said from where he stood at the head of the bed, patting a cool, wet cloth on his son's head.
"Wha-" Hiccup gasped and swallowed. "Ha... Where... How did I... Toothless, stop!"
The Night Fury suddenly froze for a moment before lowering the arm that was clenched in his mouth down to the bed to release it. Hiccup winced at the sight of the gashes Dagur sliced into his arm because the madman thought it was funny. Pain flared up in the cool air when the dragon spat the limb out.
"Nevermind. Don't stop."
The dragon grumbled and wrapped his gummy maw around the arm again. He shifted around to lightly rest his head atop his rider's bare chest. Hiccup let out a contented hum that slid into a sigh. The soft purring, felt through the bottom of the dragon's head and neck, caused the rider's tense body to relax and sink into the bed beneath him.
Hiccup felt something against his side and lifted his head a little bit to take a look. Below his arm, leaning against his torso - on the side without any broken rib, thankfully - was a sky blue Terrible Terror. Slender steel rods acted as splints for his broken leg and wings. The poor thing was trembling and whining.
"Hi there-" Hiccup choked. His mouth felt like cotton. His throat was a desert. Instead, he focused on silently projecting his thoughts. {Hello, there, little mink dragon. I'm glad to see you made it. I was worried about you.}
As he gently stroked the dragon's head, he could feel concern and gratitude through the contact. The Terror's trembling and whining shifted into purring that melded with Toothless'. Hiccup just melted into the soothing ministrations that only these two species of dragons could provide.
A small water skin appeared next to his head, which Stoick uncapped and tilted so a little bit sloshed into Hiccup's mouth. He swallowed after his head was lowered down to open his throat and they repeated this process a few more times. He had felt like his voice was about to choke off before, but the water helped a lot.
"Thanks." Hiccup said. "I really need a reality check. Toothless, can you talk? With words?"
{Of course not, Firefly! Why did you dream of such things? You know I would never push you to go against your own instincts! It was your instincts that told you to spare my life and help me fly when you had every reason to kill me. It was your instincts that helped us destroy the demonic queen. I may be more inclined to physical violence than you, but please don't hate me for that. You repress my rage and prideful retaliations and I allow it because I trust you. I need you! I trust your instincts, even though it can be infuriating at times.}
It was as if the black dragon was trying to reconcile everything all at once. The projected thoughts all came out in a flash flood that made Hiccup's head spin. Toothless noticed this and suddenly halted with a whine.
Stoick walked over to the other side of the room and said, "You should know they can talk, son. By the way, I recently learned Fishlegs has started to hear dragons - or, at least, his Gronckle."
"Oh, gods!" Hiccup groaned in embarrassment as realization dawned on him. "That dream. I really projected that?"
That would also explain why the Terror was so shocked. Though dragons had an amazing memory, dreaming or any other form of imagination was foreign to them. Such an invasion of their senses meant they had a harder time accepting that dreams weren't real after waking up. Lately, as Hiccup's abilities with telepathic communication grew, he has been inadvertently projecting his dreams. Fortunately, his range of projection was very small and only Toothless would be affected. The dragon was starting to get used to it.
"I'm so sorry Bud! That was just messed up on so many different levels. Oh, gods! Toothless, your side! Let me see!"
The dragon complied, lifting his head and shifting over so Hiccup could see. The last time he saw his dragon's side, it had a nasty gash from a Monstrous Nightmare. Hiccup knew it was a dream, but he had to see for himself. His hand traced along the neck and shoulder. The scales were smooth and cool to the touch. He sunk back into the bed with a sigh of relief.
It was all a dream.
Just a stupid dream.
"Anything interesting about the dream?" Stoick asked.
{Absolutely not! You have my permission to never dream again.}
"Oh, ya know, boring images to fill the time while I sleep," Hiccup said in a dry tone. "Just something about an enemy tribe that had warriors on dragons, trying to burn our existence to ashes. Toothless could talk like us and he was trying to console me when I had a nervous breakdown after killing a rider and his dragon. Oh, and then we died. I just love dreams like that. Don't you, Dad?"
Stoick waved a hand dismissively. "I've had dreams of the dragon that took Val. It came back to taunt me and told me-" He grunted as he grabbed the rag from Hiccup's forehead to dip into a bucket. "Must run in the family. You've a strange imagination, son. Could be nothing at all. Could be a sign from the Gods of what will be. Could be a sign of what could be. Let's hope it's not option number two."
Hiccup took a deep breath to steady himself and prepare mentally for something he needed to address. "Skuf..."
"I'm sorry, son. He died in battle, fighting bravely and selflessly. We owe him a lot in organizing that dragon army."
"Dragon... army..."
"Yes. About three hundred, including Terrible Terrors. They made it clear they didn't want to fight our war, but they wanted to save you. You'll be happy to know that none of them died, though there were some injuries. They should-"
The chief was cut off by a loud, sharp whine. Hiccup suddenly realized that his fingers, which had been idly scratching the base of one of his dragon's sensor fins, were digging into the scales with whitened knuckles. He instantly jerked his hand away, gasping as pain shot through his torso.
"Sorry, Bud. Really, I'm so sorry you had to be a part of... this."
Toothless pressed his nose into his rider's hand and fixed him with a hard stare. {I did what was necessary to save you and I have no regrets. You have nothing to regret except your own frailty and the fact that you have to deal with my anger management issues. Don't ever make me leave you alone like that ever again. I would sooner die!}
Hiccup groaned. "It's all my fault, Bud. I shouldn't have pressed the issue about your family. It was rude and disrespectful of me. I'm-"
Toothless cut him off with a grunt. {You can be aggravating, sometimes, but don't even dare try to blame yourself.}
"Hiccup," Stoick said. "Things could have been so much worse without the help of those dragons. They came to save you, but ended up saving all of Berk as a collateral blessing. Well, for now, at least. With their help, we-"
"Dad! Toothless!" Hiccup snapped. His head throbbed. Stoick and Toothless both snapped their jaws shut with an audible click. "Both of you. Can we drop that for now?" His tone softened. "Please?"
Stoick waved a hand dismissively. "That would actually be a good call. You're still recovering, so best not to stress about anything if it can be avoided. Gothi says pretty much all of whatever they put in you should be worked out of your body by now. You should be fine, minus the bruising and broken rib. You look and sound a lot better.
Toothless trilled briefly and rested his head on his rider's chest again, purring. The Terror licked at Hiccup's exposed torso.
Out of the corner of his eye, Hiccup saw Gothi enter the room, leaning on her staff. She batted Toothless' head away to wrap the arm in some fresh bandages. Hiccup dropped his head down into the pillow and closed his eyes, taking in a long, deep breath. At least, he tried, but a sharp pain shot through his chest after his lungs filled halfway, drawing out a pained groan.
"How long have I been out?"
"Only a few days," he heard Astrid say as she strode into the room. "Much better for Toothless' peace of mind compared to your usual half-year recovery from some apocalyptic injury following some crazy stunt. Which reminds me..."
Something impacted Hiccup's left shoulder hard enough to tell he just got punched, but light enough that it didn't really hurt.
"That's for almost dying!" the shieldmaiden said. Then, leaning forward, she pecked a quick kiss on his forehead. Hiccup felts sparks of heat and energy zap his nerves all throughout his body. "And that's for pulling through."
Hiccup grinned widely at her and took another deep breath. This time, he looked straight ahead, towards the ceiling, and tried to inhale very slowly to fill his lungs completely with only a dull pain to protest.
"Firefly!"
He recognized Tofa's excited squeal and flicked his eyes to see her run into the room, followed by her usual gaggle of Terrible Terrors, but she skidded to a stop just after clearing the doorway. A few Terrors flocked around the injured one to croon and lick him. Toothless nipped at any who would dare jostle his rider's broken rib.
"Hoowee! You stink Mr. Firefly sir!" Tofa said, pinching her nose.
Hiccup blushed.
Astrid chuckled and said, "He has been in that bed for a few days. We can feed him broth and water while he sleeps, but, well, ya know, he couldn't get up, so..."
Tofa's eyes widened. "Ohhhhhh..."
"Hiccup," Stoick said, returning to his son's side. "Gothi says you should be able to get up and move around a bit. Let's get some food in ya and we have a bath set up for ya, then take a walk. Not too far, but it will help to get the blood flowing a bit to work out anything still lingering in your body. She kept you sleeping to allow your body to recover from the shock and spare you from the pain, but moving around will help your recovery.
Hiccup turned his head to look at his father. "Dad, did we already send him off?" He remembered something happened to Skuf, but everything was so blurry.
"Skuf? Aye," Stoick said. "Sorry we couldn't wait for ya. Couldn't afford to with all the cleanup we had to do."
Hiccup never enjoyed taking part in a Viking warrior funeral. Watching the funeral pyre engulfed in flames only served as a reminder of how unnecessarily violent and cruel wars could be. Whether the Gods accept their souls - or even if they exist for that matter - was something he was always skeptical about. If the gods exist, they're all just a bunch of immature beings, anyway, toying with people because they're cursed with immortality and all the boredom and insanity that must go along with it.
He let out a puff of air. "Good."
Stoick's face suddenly switched back to its usual impassive facade behind the braids of his red beard. He put a large hand under Hiccup's back.
"Try, slowly, to get up."
Hiccup gradually raised himself up. There was a dull pain and he winced at one moment, but he got up without any issues. Swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, he tried to grab his prosthetic foot from Astrid, but she slapped his hand away and managed to get it strapped on by herself. A binding wrapped around his ribcage supported the broken rib and, as he stood up - a feat in itself for how weak and hollow he felt - the pain started to lessen.
Hiccup stumbled and ended up draping himself over his dragon's snout. He took that moment to just close his eyes and give a big hug. "Toothless, I-"
{Don't say it.}
Hiccup sighed. "Thanks. For everything, Bud."
{Anything for my Firefly!}
"That dream-"
{What did I just tell you?}
"I'm afraid of what I could become. I'm afraid I'll forget that brave-but-scared boy who freed the Vikings' most hated enemy just because it felt right. I'm worried I'll betray your trust you put in me."
{Firefly, you will never be without my wings no matter where you go or what you do. That is my desire. If you deny it then you call me a liar. You are the most amazing creature in this world no matter what you say and I'll sit on anyone who denies it until he turns blue.}
Hiccup smiled. "Including me?"
Toothless nudged his rider into a standing position. {Especially you! To insult you is to insult me and I will not tolerate that.}
The rider idly stroked his dragon's snout. "Promise me one thing, Bud? Don't ever change."
{You first.}
Stoick clasped his hands together. "Well, that one-sided conversation was not awkward, no, not one little bit. Now, get cleaned up, get some food and water, and then go for a walk. Take it slow and easy and do not ride Toothless. No flying. Don't even ride him on the ground. You could hurt your healing rib by bouncing on his back in a sitting position or tumbling off."
Hiccup looked at Stoick with wide eyes. "Could you say that again, Dad? Don't ride... who?"
Stoick gave his son a confused look. "Don't ride Toothless... or any dragon for that matter..."
The chief noticed the look in his son's eyes and a grin broke out behind his beard. He laughed and clapped Toothless on the shoulder. The dragon yelped and nipped at him.
"Oh, right," he said. "These past few days forced me to take a step forward in my relationship with dragons. Well, many steps in rapid succession. By some stroke of luck, I haven't tripped, yet. Can you believe it? I rode a dragon."
The distinctively low, rumbling roar of Skullcrusher could be heard from somewhere nearby, outside the building.
"Ya," Stoick said with a grin. "That one. I think I must be going insane!"
Hiccup grinned from ear to ear. "What is the world coming to, eh?"
{Not only that, but the dragon practically demanded that your sire be his rider. He would not take no for an answer. For a moment, I was concerned they would come to blows.}
Hiccup saw an interesting scene unfold from Toothless' eyes as he recalled what happened for his rider just this morning. Stoick was walking the streets, doing his duties, when Skullcrusher jumped in front of him and lowered his chin to the ground. The dragon had developed a great respect for the man and, in his desire to find some direction in life, something to fight for, decided that his answer was to be Stoick's dragon and spend time with him. Stoick always seemed to have enemies to fight and Skullcrusher wanted to be a part of that.
At first, Stoick was startled and reached for his weapon. He relaxed, though, when he realized the dragon wasn't attacking him. Suffice to say, the old man got the message and accepted, though he was quite unsure of how to be a rider or even how that could possibly fit into his duties as chief. Still, he felt he owed it to the dragon if he really wanted it so badly.
"Yeah, what Toothless said, but it was amazing!" Tofa threw in with giddy excitement. "Skullcrusher was like 'Be my rider!' and Mr. Stalwart was like 'I dunno...' And then Skullcrusher was like 'Pleeeease!' and then Stalwart was like 'Oh, alright, I guess.' And then Skullcrusher was like 'Yes!' and licked him and was like 'Eeeew! Your beard is gross!' and then he gagged and licked trees and rocks to get the hairs out of his mouth. Oh, by the way, Beast is now called Stalwart. Skullcrusher named him."
Hiccup just looked at his father with a slack jaw.
Stoick winked and put on his usual face as he donned his coat and straightened his posture. "Anyway, Astrid, I still have a lot of cleanup to do. Can you take care of Hiccup for me? Tofa, give Hiccup some privacy. And stop making faces at Toothless or you'll get stuck like that for the rest of your life. Toothless, don't encourage her. C'mon, Tofa, you can help me tell Skullcrusher that I don't need a ride on his back when I'm just going down the street. Astrid, help Hiccup get cleaned up, please. But try not to look. He's really squeamish."
Hiccup protested, face turning red. "Dad, I don't need-"
"And Toothless," Stoick interrupted, "Don't let Hiccup ride you. We both know how stubborn the boy is and he needs someone to do what's right. Sit on him if you need to. If I see him on your back, I'll chop off your tail and beat you senseless with it."
The Night Fury gave the chief a gummy smile, drawing a scowl from Hiccup. "Dad, it's great to see you getting a little less formal with Toothless, but do you really need to talk to him like that?"
Stoick laughed. "Dragons are tough critters, son. They love tough love."
Hiccup rolled his eyes and dryly toned, "Thanks, Dad, for this training on dragons."
Stoick winked. "Anything for you, son."
With that, he spun around and headed out.
A/N:
Thanks for reading! Two chapters to go to wade through this political mess (or, at least, get a hopefully satisfying start on it).
10Blue10: Ya, Toothless is the best at negotiating. Toothless for president 2020 let's go!
So, I like to include some, hmmm, Easter egg themes in my stories. Ya know, little running gags in the background that I don't explicitly call out, but hope you catch onto (like Ruff-n-Tuff's accomplice/rivalry duality that many viewers didn't notice in HTTYD1, but took center stage in some of the TV series). For example, you've noticed for almost this entire story, each section is from a single person's POV. I'm curious if you've noticed the transition in how Stoick sees dragons. His development in this way was a sorta side-quest in my story where he always referred to dragons as "it" and his mind railed against Hiccup's new-age "dragons are people" thinking. Sure, he made allowances in his tribe and home, he outwardly declared this or that, but was never comfy with dragons. Then, I used Hiccup's capture as the carrot on a stick to force Stoick to work with dragons and he started seeing them as not just a smart beast, but "him" or "her" or using their name as if they're equals, worthy of the respect of a fellow Viking. I'm curious how much of that you picked up from reading (before this A/N). I like trying to include little subtle bits, but being too subtle is just bad writing that wastes your time on unnecessary words. If I could ask a favor, I'm wondering how clear this Easter egg was. If you have any critiques (positive or negative), I'd appreciate any PMs or comments. Thanks!