A/N: Yay, it's done! I first want to quickly state that the quote used for 'Laws of Ishgard' (you'll see what I mean, I use it quite a bit), was not originally from the game - it's a rewritten prose combination of dialogue from two NPCs from FFXIV 1.0 (Hubairtien and Janlenoux), put together by scholarofnym of Tumblr. So that belongs to her! It was just so very beautifully stated such that I wanted to use it in that format.
Secondly... well, here's an Eorzean version of a very famous scene from the movie. :)
Enjoy!
The Laws of Ishgard
To all of my children, to whom Death hath passed his judgment…
Hiccup stared at the words on the page. He was glad that song had been so vivid that he could still recall the basic melody, though the memory was fading. The lyrics helped it return.
It couldn't have been Nidhogg's song, could it? He brushed his hand over the charcoal writing. I mean, none of the lyrics sound particularly threatening, or seem to be, like… ordering me to ally myself with the Dravanians or anything… what is it even that heretics even do? What's happened to me?
And if that Night Fury is being truthful, then…
The sound of approaching footsteps from the aisle prompted him to slam the notebook shut and stow it away in his vest.
"Hiccup? Yeh find the books? What're yeh' doin' over by the history section?"
"Looking for books on Haldrath," he lied, looking up at Gobber and hefting a few books into his arms from where he had temporarily left them on the stone floor. In actuality, he had been for anything on heretics who claimed to see visions, understand Dragonspeak, or hear songs in their dreams.
… in hindsight, it was probably not a good idea for him to do this while meeting with his class.
Gobber chuckled and clapped Hiccup hard on the back with his one hand. Hiccup nearly dropped all the books in his arms.
"I see you're interested in the Azure Dragoon, eh?" the man grinned, beckoning with his dull metal hook and striding back out of the aisle. "Haldrath didn't tear out Nidhogg's eye by readin' history books to 'im."
"It's still pretty interesting," Hiccup shrugged as followed. "Though he didn't take up the throne afterwards, which I still find kind of strange…"
Gobber shrugged. "Yeah, guess he wasn't interested. Bah, yeh'll find out why," he waved the hook at him. "Now come on, the others're waiting."
They walked out into the main central floor, where a few scholars, astrologians, and a pair of off-duty dragoons milled about. The room was lined with shelves and books that stretched out in a spiral, with stairs off to the side that led up to other floors. Everything held a faint musty scent, though with a soft touch of dark chestnut wood.
The chapel library was filled with all the current knowledge on the Dragonsong War. As a venerated village known for the quality of its dragoons, the Holy See had gifted them with copies of several hundred tomes from the library in Ishgard, and continued to do so whenever a book of particular import was published. In return, Berk often sent back their own books on training techniques, new technological advances, and intelligence on Dravanian activity.
The other members of the class were already at a table of their own, with several stacks of scrolls and manuscripts haphazardly piled around them. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were batting at each other while Snotlout egged them both on; Fishlegs, and to Hiccup's surprise, Astrid, were busy perusing a couple of articles.
Gobber heavily sat himself at the table with a loud 'thump' and slid a large tome across the surface. Hiccup deposited his stack of books as well, then glanced about for a spot. When he saw no extra chairs and no one moved to make space for him, he rolled his eyes, grabbed a chair from the next table over, and made himself a little spot on the corner by Fishlegs.
The other boy only glanced up from his article when Hiccup squeezed into his seat, and then hurriedly scooted over, looking apologetic. Hiccup shrugged and smiled. "Don't worry about it," he whispered.
"'ey you two, at attention!" Gobber barked at the twins, who immediately settled despite looking clearly unhappy about it.
"Do we have to reaaad, seriously?" Ruffnut whined, gesturing dramatically at the ceiling.
"Well do yeh feel like practicin' the Jump out in the rain while yeh still don' know what you're doing?" Gobber asked pointedly. Everyone looked at each other. "Didn't think so. Now then, if all of you are settled?"
The pouring rain outside pattering against the stonework of the chapel library only seemed to accentuate Gobber's point. Hiccup only partially listened as the others at the table commented, wondering what that Night Fury was doing – was there shelter in that cove for him? Was he being forced to sit out in the open? Did dragons even get sick from cold weather?
"So all of you know the basics about the Dravanians," Gobber's voice stated, pulling Hiccup from his reverie. Everyone had their full attention on the man now. "Many types. Yeh get the true beasts – creatures like dragonflies, drakes, biasts – Dravanians they may be, but they're certainly not dragons. When yeh move up, you get those Dravanians like aevis', syrictas, diresaurs – someone at this table has slain one," he chuckled, and everyone looked briefly at Hiccup. "More on those eventually. But when yeh get to the top o' the Dravanian hierarchy… well, that's why we've got all 'o this," he motioned to all the books and scrolls.
Snotlout frowned. Like almost everyone else, he had forgone armor for the day and was in a simple tunic, though he still wore his horned helmet. "But aren't the Dravanians just like, monsters that attack us? I mean, Nidhogg's just controlling them all, right? So you just have to go and stab 'em with your spear!" he mimed the movement for driving a spear downwards.
Astrid rolled her eyes at him. She was the sole armor wearer amongst the group, having clearly planned to continue training regardless of the weather. "Dravanians are like us, remember? They're smart and have the intelligence of man. They plan and coordinate their attacks. You can't just blindly stab them to death."
"I'm a man," Snotlout suddenly winked, grinning. "So does this mean the Dravanians are just as smart and intelligent as me?"
"They're certainly better looking," she automatically scoffed at him, rolling her eyes.
The twins laughed as Snotlout's face briefly twisted like some dried Doman plum. Astrid just turned away, feigning utter ignorance and paying full attention to Gobber once more.
Fishlegs gave Snotlout a pitying glance. "That was just bad," he commented, shaking his head. "But Astrid is right, the Dravanians are smart, and there's a reason why we have to study up on everything we know about them…"
"Aye," Gobber nodded. He slammed his hand and hook down on the table in a gallant fashion, making a nearby pair of astrologians jump and silently glare at him. "The more yeh know about our enemy, the better you can slay 'em. And up here in Berk, we've got our own special set of dragons ta' deal with aside from the usual Dravanians we see. So!"
With that, he slapped the cover of the tome he had placed on the table.
"This here is the Book of Dragons," he stated. "Our main basic resource for those lookin' for a nice primer. Knowledge on the different types an' how to deal with 'em. You need to live and breathe this stuff. Though I suspect most of you have already read it or heard yer elders talkin' about it."
There was a lot of nodding around the table. Fishlegs began muttering facts and statistics under his breath, while both twins and Snotlout grinned eagerly. Astrid had a very determined look on her face. Echoes of the words 'Nightmare' and 'Nadder' ran through Hiccup's head.
"So all of yeh' know how important it is?" Gobber glanced around with an odd look of finality. Everyone nodded again. "Good. Study up!"
Mostly everyone stared at their teacher as he proceeded to slap the table and make his way towards the stacks.
"Wait – you mean read?" Tuffnut asked incredulously.
"While we're still alive?" Ruffnut threw her arms up into the air.
Gobber apparently chose to ignore them as he disappeared around into a set of shelves.
Snotlout gazed over all the various books, tomes, and scrolls on the table. "Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?"
"Uh, maybe because the Dravanians will still kill you and you need all the help you can get?" Astrid pointed out, already reaching for a nearby tome.
"Yeah!" Fishlegs piped up. He was practically jumping in his seat with excitement. "Because we've got all these special dragons that mostly attack us and all the Northern Coerthan zones, and they're all way more diverse and different than most of the other Dravanians, and whenever there's these Berk dragons that show up in the Central Highlands the Holy See needs us to help out – you know there's this water dragon that shoots boiling water at your face, and there's this other one, that buries itself - "
Snotlout's face had gone from confused to disinterested very quickly. He responded by pointing at Hiccup. "What does it matter? We can kill them anyway! I mean, Useless didn't read up on it and he still killed an aevis!"
"Actually, I think I kinda would've liked more of a primer on aevis' before I ran into one," Hiccup shrugged, glancing back down at his right forearm. It was perfectly intact and not half-mauled. He much preferred it that way. "Arm biting aside."
"Exactly," Astrid nodded at him. She gave him a knowing look and then turned back to Snotlout. "And that's why you should probably read. Unless you actually want your arm bitten off, and then you'll have a fantastic time killing dragons."
Snotlout glanced at Hiccup, then audibly grumbled and grabbed the nearest tome. He rolled his eyes, muttering something about 'useless cousins' and 'dragoons' as he opened it straight to the title page.
Ruffnut and Tuffnut seemed to take this as a sign that they too should probably study, and they grabbed the nearest scrolls to peruse. Astrid and Fishlegs shared a look, then turned to their own set of interests – Astrid with a book of dragoon unit battle tactics, and Fishlegs with a repository on the differences between the Berk dragons and other Dravanians.
Hiccup sighed, knowing that he was mostly uninterested in anything on the table. Nothing here was going to answer his questions about heretics or anyone who understood Dragonspeak, or what the Dragonsong sounded like to Nidhogg's brood. It likely wouldn't tell him anything about those heretics who drank of the dragons' blood and turned into aevis', if he guessed correctly; certainly nothing he had heard of before stated this.
So in the end, he contented himself with looking over the Book of Dragons again.
He had read it before, like most younglings growing up in Berk did at one point or another while they waited for their chance to enter lancer training, but he wanted to go over it again. He knew that the regular types of Dravanians that often attacked Ishgardian settlements, but for some reason Berk had a specific mix of Dravanians that were very strong and very particular in their varieties. He turned to a random page, perusing the many types of dragons, only some of which he had seen.
Thunderdrum. Inhabits sea caves and dark tidepools. Releases a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight.
Timberjack. Razor sharp wings that can slice through full grown trees. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight.
Scauldron. Oh here's that water dragon Fishlegs was talking about. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight.
Changewing. Gronkle. Zippleback. Skrill. Boneknapper. Whispering Death. Oh Halone.
Kill on sight. Kill on sight. Kill on sight –
Are all of these 'kill on sight'? Has anyone even talked with one of the dragons before? No of course not, because the teachings say you can't, and you have to kill on sight…
His thoughts were interrupted as he finally reached the back page and recognized the telltale title of the dragon subspecies.
Night Fury.
The page itself was mostly empty, but for a short note at the bottom.
The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Do not engage this dragon. Your only chance is to hide and pray it does not find you.
And yet, he didn't kill me.
He likes fish.
I promised I'd help him. And bring fish.
His mind wandered to a basket of fish hidden amongst a pile of boulders near the docks. It had been extremely easy to swipe, as the weather prompted all the fisherman to go inside for some dry clothes and warm soup after their work was done (except for one very adamant fisher who swore he would catch 'the big one' during a rainstorm). He was still a bit shocked at himself for going through with it, but based on all his experience with this dragon so far, there was fairly little he could expect other than to be shocked.
He glanced around the table. Snotlout was still staring blankly at the title page of his tome as though his life depended on it, while everyone else at least seemed focused on their respective reading.
He looked back down at his right arm, remembering that night with the aevis.
I understood it – but if it was originally a man… it doesn't explain why I can understand that Night Fury using Dragonspeak though…
All of this… all of this…
Without really intending to, but needing some way to just explain what was happening to him - because he didn't know what to make of any of it, or know if all of this was Nidhogg's method of enthralling him, because he was already a heretic now, and if that dragon had been telling the truth about aevis' – he stood up.
Snotlout immediately looked at him.
"Where're you going, 'cuz?" he asked.
Everyone else stopped briefly to stare at him too.
Now feeling exceedingly foolish, but with that horrible feeling in his chest, Hiccup deftly scooted himself out of his chair.
"I… I gotta talk to Gobber," he muttered, and he sped away right in the direction their instructor had gone.
It didn't take long to find him. The retired dragoon was perusing a shelf of books that Hiccup recognized as a collection delving into the uses of various beast hides for armor ('Aldgoat, Buffalo, and Coeurlskins'), apparently seeking something interesting to read while his students went over knowledge on the Dravanians.
He blinked as Hiccup approached.
"There something yeh need, lad?" he asked, tilting his head.
Hiccup felt only a little bit more comfortable with the man than he thought he would. Having apprenticed under Gobber for years as a smith probably helped, though it likely wouldn't help the storm of questions that he was about to weather.
"Yeah, uh, hey, Gobber?" Hiccup chuckled nervously. "Can I ask you something?"
Gobber gave him a rather keen look.
"This is a bit outside your usual desires to aid our engineers by inventin' new contraptions," he said slowly after a moment. "Something in the Book of Dragons catch yer eye?"
"Well uh, no, it's not that - "
Now Gobber looked more curious. "Something else entirely, eh."
"Yeah. Uh… keep this down, please, but I really have to ask this…"
"Go ahead. Shoot."
"Do… do people usually understand aevis'?"
Gobber stiffened.
"…the night yeh killed it?" he asked after a moment.
Hiccup nodded, inwardly grimacing and wondering if this was a good idea. He was already regretting this. In fact, he realized, with a very quickly sinking feeling in his stomach, this might be something to act as proof of his heresy…
To his surprise, his mentor sighed, rubbing his head and grimacing.
"Look, I'll only tell yeh because you've already killed one," Gobber replied, his eyes downcast. "The thing about aevis' – they're all men who took dragon blood. The kind that's magicked by the heretics. A lot o' the newer ones still speak Eorzean. So don' be too worried if yeh understood it. It's still a dragon, still the enemy."
So that dragon was right. But that aevis was definitely not using Eorzean. This is… weird.
"… oh."
Hiccup was more relieved that Gobber took this as regular instance rather than a sign of heresy, but the implications of it all struck him. Not only was that dragon right – that the aevis had not only once been a son of Ishgard, but had also partaken of the cursed dragon's blood – but Gobber knew about this. He hadn't told them in any of their lessons. And he hadn't hid it the moment Hiccup asked. It was almost as if…
"… you're not as surprised as I thought you'd be," Gobber commented, both eyebrows raised.
Hiccup cringed, trying to shake off some nervousness. "I, uh, overheard someone talking about it yesterday. Left me pretty shocked."
"Yeah, there's a reason why we don't tell recruits until they've completed training and been in a few battles," Gobber sighed, rubbing a temple. "I guess you havin' killed one means yeh get privy to the knowledge. Don't tell the rest of yer class, if yeh don't mind."
Hiccup shook his head. "I won't, don't worry." He tried to hide his immense relief that Gobber was taking this well – and seemed to not note any part of him being able to understand Dragonspeak. "Since it's still like… a heretic. Right?"
Gobber nodded, looking very grave. "Aye. Traitor ta' Ishgard and all of us, seekin' our downfall. And if it wasn't a heretic before? Death is probably a mercy to the poor chap, rather than spend the rest of his life as a Dravanian, forced ta' fight for Nidhogg."
Hiccup stared for a moment, thinking about all the times he had heard about aevis', and all the stories the dragoons and other fighters of the village told over ale in the Great Hall. All of them once people. Most of them heretics. Those that were not, forced to join the Dravanian Horde.
"Puts more weight upon the laws o' the Archbishop," Gobber commented at Hiccup's expression, sighing. Then quietly, he quoted. "'A man must lay his hands not upon the flesh nor blood of a dragon.'"
A man must gaze not upon the eyes of a dragon. A man must hearken not the words of a dragon. A man must lay his hands not upon the flesh nor blood of a dragon.
The unbeliever is not to be given succor. The unbeliever is not to be given absolution.
The archbishop, his Holiness, declares thus, and thus it is law.
The words all children of Ishgard learned at an early age.
"Explains all the spiked dragoon armor," Hiccup chuckled nervously, though he didn't quite see a reason for it.
"Eh, remember the blood has to be magicked else it won't have an effect," Gobber shrugged. "But still. I think stabbin' the beast with a spear tends ta' get you past that law. Dragoon armor's ta' make yeh fly better."
"Makes you wonder what exactly causes it," Hiccup rubbed his head. "That change. And it happens to anyone?"
Gobber grimaced, seeming very resigned. He suddenly looked much older, less a jovial blacksmith than a resigned veteran who had seen too much. The mechanical prosthetic leg seemed much more a horrific scar, the sign of a maimed man who had lost part of himself in battle.
"Only if yeh're one o' the children of Ishgard," he replied. "Lots of scholars an' clergy think it's a curse Nidhogg put on us. Sons and daughters of Ishgard turn into dragons, and we must then kill our own kin. Makes yeh wonder, eh?"
Hiccup didn't quite know how to answer. He had gone to Gobber with one question, and come away with confirmation and greater explanation.
And it still didn't explain that vision, the female voice, the song, and the ability to understand Dragonspeak.
He suddenly recalled the mysterious vision he had seen in the cove with the Night Fury.
That dragon didn't – he wanted to keep his fellows safe, and didn't want to make… who was that he didn't want to make angry…? Why did I even see all of this in the first place? How could I understand everything that was happening?
"Yeh look a bit peaked, Hiccup," Gobber's voice woke him from his thoughts. "Much as you need to study, I'd be all right with lettin' yeh go early today."
He shook his head. "No, I'll go study. Need that information to be a better dragoon, right?" he tried to give a strong, cheery grin.
Gobber chuckled and clapped his shoulder. "That's a strong lad, there. Well, get back to it!"
"On it!"
Hiccup gave a quick salute and turned, marching back to the table. He was going to learn everything they had on the dragons now… and then get the Dravanian side of things. He knew exactly where to find a reasonably talkative Dravanian, after all.
Hiccup's grand plan to sneak out of the village ended up better than expected. The rain let up by lunch, and by that point everyone was itching to go back to the training ground. Hiccup had elected to go pick up a leve from the levemaster again; the man had been quite pleased with his work the day before, and was happy to give him another task to complete out in the woods.
It gave Hiccup an excuse to leave the village.
One very careful roundabout trip to the docks and four skinned hippocerfs later (the corpses from the previous were an odd mixture of devoured and partially dissolved into aether – he took this as a sign he should be a bit more cautious about his trips in), Hiccup found himself wandering back into the cove.
A quick scan of the area initially showed nothing. He frowned, the basket of fish still fresh and hanging off his shoulder, right by the spear.
"Hey, I'm back!" he called, waving.
A black winged figure slunk out from the shadows at the far side of the cove, right next to the water. The Night Fury raised his head, blinking with slightly shocked green eyes.
"… you came back," the dragon said, sounding a bit overwhelmed.
"Of course I did!" Hiccup chirped, knowing that he sounded far too cheery for this. He was simply glad that there had apparently been cover of some sort for the dragon to use. Injured, starving, and sick seemed for a very bad combination.
He hefted the basket further onto his shoulder. "I brought you fish!"
The dragon's eyes grew even wider and more shocked at the whole thing.
Taking the Night Fury's reaction in stride and feeling rather proud of himself, Hiccup took a step forward, steadying the weight of the basket. The rain from earlier had definitely soaked into ground, dying the grassy area and the sandy bank by the pond a darker shade.
And judging by how he then proceeded to slip, it had also left the rock face slick with both water and mossy mud.
"Whoa!"
Hiccup yelped as he tumbled forward – right off the ledge and headfirst into the cove. For a moment, he scrambled to regain balance and panicked as all the gravity seemed determined to make him land on his face – and then a few days of dragoon training kicked in, and a circle of aether buoyed him just enough to break his fall.
It still hurt of course.
"… ow."
Hiccup rolled over, a bit dazed and feeling a sense of déjà vu regarding a certain tree he had accidentally demolished. Miraculously, his spear was still on his back, and the basket of fish, while tossed away by the fall, had not spilled open.
The dragon just stared at him, utterly bemused.
Hiccup coughed and pulled himself to his feet. He grabbed the basket and held it up in his arms, grinning as though he had not just tumbled over and embarrassed himself.
"So I didn't manage to get a huge amount, but I got what I could," he said earnestly, opening up the basket lid and pulling out a fish. "So here we are! Fish!"
The dragon blinked at him again.
"… I can see that," he remarked. "And you're back."
Hiccup shrugged. "I said I would be. And I promised that I'd help you somehow, I really meant it."
The dragon glanced up at him, then at the basket of fish. Then he eyed Hiccup again, as though extremely uneasy, and growled.
"Spear, weapons. Drop."
Hiccup cringed, feeling the weight of the polearm on his back. A spear would make any dragon nervous.
So he did as he was told.
He threw his spear to the side, far out of reach, then unsheathed his regular dagger and tossed it away to join it. To his horror, the dagger hit the spear at an awkward angle, knocking both weapons into the pond.
Well then.
That hadn't been his intention at all, but the dragon looked surprised by this, sitting up and staring at him with wide, confused eyes. Hiccup noticed that his pupils had become large, almost squarish in shape; it made the dragon look oddly… nonthreatening.
"You would – you actually – really?" the dragon tilted his head, glancing back and forth between Hiccup and the edge of the pond.
"Uh… yeah," Hiccup chuckled nervously, trying to pretend that knocking his weapons into the pond had not been an accident. "Look, I'm not here to hurt you. I really want to help."
The Night Fury took a deep breath and crept forward onto his front legs. He approached with cautious steps, eyes very firmly on Hiccup while his ear flaps twitched. Then he sniffed disdainfully as he came towards the basket.
"You still smell like freshly killed hippocerf," he wrinkled his nose.
Hiccup shrugged as he set the basket down. "Well, it was the best excuse to get out here – take an assignment to kill hippocerfs. Do you want me to keep it like this for you or should I tip it over, or…"
The dragon responded by knocking the basket over with his nose, spilling fish all over the sandy bank.
"Hippocerfs are nasty," he nodded gravely. Then he proceeded to bury his face in the pile of fish.
Hiccup smiled and stepped back to watch. He noticed that the Night Fury did not chew; the dragon would always gobble a fish whole, sometimes one at a time, sometimes slurping up the smaller ones. He couldn't be sure, but he would see flashes of teeth, but then they would entirely disappear and leave nothing but gums. It was strange.
The Night Fury looked up from his feast for a brief moment. "Thanks for the fish," he mumbled, sounding an odd mixture of grateful and uncertain. "Do you have to… watch like that?"
"I mean, I've never seen a dragon eat before," Hiccup scratched his head. "You don't chew."
The dragon continued gobbling up his meal. "You don't swallow your meat?"
"We do, we just chew beforehand."
The dragon tilted his head as he gulped down a particularly large fish. "You have smaller mouths than the fish," he commented. "You bite them though, right?"
"We do that, yes."
"… just bite small pieces?"
"We… can also choke if we do that. So we chew."
The dragon looked at him very strangely and slurped up the last of the fish.
The two of them blinked at each other, then stared at the basket.
"You ate those really fast," Hiccup commented.
"A few days without food does that," the dragon replied dryly. He poked his nose into the basket. "There's another fish in here. It looks stuck." He tried to shove his head through the basket rim, which unfortunately did not fit and only succeeded in pushing it forward. "Can't reach!"
Hiccup groaned and grabbed the basket, pulling it off of the Night Fury's head. The dragon growled at this until Hiccup proceeded to reach his own hand into the basket and retrieve the offending fish, unsticking its fins from the wickers and holding it high for all to see.
"There we go, got it!" he grinned triumphantly. He held it out, trying to seem friendly.
The dragon looked from him, to the fish, to him, then the fish again. Then with a resigned grunt, he approached, mouth wide open to take the fish.
It was now that Hiccup was close that he could see the dragon had no teeth in his mouth – all pink gums. Except that he knew he had seen flashes of sharp white, and they had just been talking about biting, of all things. He blinked and peered in.
"Huh… toothless…" he commented as the dragon reached forward to take the fish. "I could've sworn you had - "
The dragon made a very irritated growling noise, and a row of sharp white teeth popped out of his gums.
"Teeth!"
The dragon then proceeded to leap forward and pull the fish out of Hiccup's hand, chomping it back and gulping it down entirely.
Then he glared at Hiccup.
"Really? 'Toothless'? As you can clearly see, I do not lack teeth."
Hiccup gave an awkward shrug, both arms hugging his chest. It just hit him how close he had come to having his arm bitten and mauled – again. "I mean, I thought you did, and then you came up for that last fish and you didn't have any, I just thought that was weird!"
The dragon huffed. "I just didn't want to bite off your hand, mister shorty Hyur."
"Ehe. I appreciate that, thanks."
It was only then that Hiccup realized that he could have easily just thrown the fish to the dragon and avoided this whole awkward scenario. Well, the fish was gone now. No use about it apparently.
The dragon made a gurgling noise in the back of his throat as though audibly shrugging. His tail lashed back and forth expectantly.
"… so you wouldn't happen to have any more on you, would you?"
"Uh…"
The dragon gave him a look of consternation, and then with a boldness that belied his earlier caution, marched straight towards him. Hiccup automatically backed up and fell over backwards, dropping the basket as he now realized that he had a hungry dragon standing over him.
"No, I, I, I don't have any more," he gasped.
The dragon sat up and stared at him.
"Wait - I ate all your fish?"
"Um… yeah."
The dragon blinked. Then he suddenly looked… abashed? Could dragons look abashed? This one did.
"Oh… oh, that wasn't nice of me was it…" he mumbled.
He promptly began making hacking noises as though throwing up.
Hiccup stared. "Uh, what are you…"
The dragon proceeded to open his mouth, lean down, and deposit half a fish in his lap.
"There you go," he replied, sitting back on his hind legs once again. "I hope it's enough? I'm uh, a little new to this, that's all I could get back for you."
Hiccup had no idea how to react to this. It didn't help that this was quite possibly the most polite this dragon had been to him yet.
"Um… thank you?" he replied as he sat up, staring at this half of a fish covered in gods-knew-what in his lap. This had definitely not been anything he had expected as of that day, and he had skinned four hippocerfs.
The dragon looked at him expectantly.
Hiccup stared back at it, fish still in his lap.
The dragon continued looking at him.
Hiccup continued staring back.
The dragon visibly frowned.
"You know you can eat that right?" he nodded at it. "It's for you."
Hiccup blinked and glanced down at the fish. There it was, still half a fish, still raw, and still covered in gods-knew-what.
He picked it up, grimacing at the slime now all over his fingers. The fish made a squelching noise in his hands, releasing a little bit of juice that oozed out and dripped onto his armor.
Yeah, this is really appetizing. Ugh.
The dragon was still watching.
Not much of a choice I guess… here goes…
Hiccup took a deep breath, tried to ignore what was right in front of him, and took a bite.
He immediately regretted it.
Nope nope nope nope nope nope nope chew just chew ugh chew chew chew ugh ick ick nope nope –
The dragon an alarmed yelp.
"Shorty? Shorty?! Don't die don't die I need you for fish bad fish bad fish bad fish - "
"I'm okay," Hiccup croaked as he finally managed the piece of fish down, scales and dragon grime and all. "Not what I expected." He gagged. "Got it down. Good to go!" he gave a very weak grin and gave the dragon a thumbs up.
He realized that the dragon was now on all fours and half crawled to him again out of what looked like sheer terror that he might lose his food supply. He didn't seem any more convinced that the man hatchling before him was actually fine after whatever ordeal he had just gone through.
"Um… just, uh… us, us men, we don't normally eat raw fish…" Hiccup tried to explain. Much less regurgitated fish. Eugh…
The dragon looked horrified at this news. "But – you eat fish all the time right? You won't die from it?!"
Hiccup took a few deep breaths. "I mean, we eat fish, yes, but not raw. Like, cooked. Over fire. We cook it over a fire first, most of the time."
The dragon tilted his head. He blinked, seemingly confused. Then his eyes widened in understanding and his ear flaps stood up.
"Oh! Oh, I get it! Here, put the fish down for a second."
Hiccup very warily set the fish down on the ground and scooted away from it, eying the dragon with much trepidation. Considering what he knew about dragons, he had a very good feeling what this one was about to do.
The dragon watched him, then nodded and glanced at the fish. There was a sudden pulse, a purple light – and then what looked like a bright blast that exploded directly onto the fish.
"There we go! Now it is… cooked!" the dragon crowed triumphantly. Then he gave Hiccup a hopeful look. "You won't die eating this right?"
"Uh… I hope not," Hiccup managed, staring at the smoking remains of what had once been half a fish. "It's, uh, a little more cooked than I'm used to, but it looks good! Really hot right now, so I'll wait until it's cooled down, but good!"
He tried to look as grateful as possible, and the dragon gave a pleased croon, rocking back and forth happily.
It struck Hiccup that all of this was not at all what he had expected while interacting with a Dravanian. This dragon was, if he could describe him in any way… awkward. Eager to please too, apparently, despite his only other contact being an Ishgardian dragoon-in-training. Just knowing this dragon acted nothing like he had ever experienced or been told – bloodthirsty Dravanians fighting for Nidhogg who wanted the blood of every son and daughter of Ishgard – told him that something was very off about the initial judgment.
And here he was, trying to help this dragon somehow.
Said dragon was now examining curiously. One of his ear flaps was stuck up in the air.
"So, uh," the dragon started, glancing him over. "What now?"
Hiccup sat up, thinking. He realized that he was close enough to the dragon that he could reach out and touch his black hide if he so desired.
A man must lay his hands not upon the flesh nor blood of a dragon.
… I sort of just took a bite out of a fish that had been in a dragon's stomach. Does that count? Am I already enough of a heretic?
"Uh… since I'm already talking with you and we can talk even though you're using Dragonspeak and I'm using Eorzean," Hiccup rubbed his head. "Let's see if we can figure out a plan for getting you out of this cove."
The dragon sighed as though expecting this conversation. His ear flaps drooped, and his wings sagged in defeat.
"Well I can't fly," he stated. "And I can't really climb the walls here. So there's that."
Hiccup glanced over at the dragon's tail. The dissymmetry of the tail fin struck him again, how it had been ripped away, and it had been entirely his fault.
The dragon did not mention that fact, but Hiccup knew it was on both of their minds. He coughed and grimaced, trying to keep hold of the situation.
"Well I can try to make a ramp or ladder of some kind," he remarked, staring up at the cliff walls. For that matter, he wasn't sure how to get himself out. "Might be an interesting engineering project. Or find some way to help you fly."
The dragon huffed dejectedly. "If you have some way of making my tail fin grow back, sure."
Hiccup gasped as the image suddenly floated back to him, and the dragon's head shot sharply towards him.
Gobber's prosthetic leg, used as a replacement, one that allowed him to walk. The specialized one with a mechanism that allowed him to retain his ability to perform the Jump. Skills he maintained long after leaving active duty as a dragoon.
"Perfect!"
"What?"
Hiccup motioned to the baffled dragon as he hopped towards his tail. "Your tail fin! I need to look at it, the one that's still remaining. I'm gonna' make a prosthetic of it. A second fin that we can attach to your tail so you'd be able to fly again!"
The dragon's eyes widened.
"You… you can do that?" he whispered, mouth wide open with gums visible.
Hiccup nodded as he wiped off the remainder of the fish on his breeches and grabbed the notebook tucked in his armor. "We make prosthetics for people who've lost limbs, so they can keep walking and fighting and everything. My teacher has one on his leg, it works otherwise there's no way he'd be able to walk." He flipped to an empty page and began sketching with a fresh piece of charcoal.
The dragon tilted his head. He padded around, trying to look at Hiccup's notebook, dragging his tail behind him. "What are you doing?"
Hiccup sighed and moved after the tail. "Trying to sketch your tail fin. Stay still, will you?"
"Sketch… sketch…"
The dragon had paused, as though trying to compromise meanings in his head. He seemed perplexed at it. Hiccup suddenly realized, very belatedly after everything, that this dragon could understand Eorzean, but apparently could not speak it.
He continued drawing out the fin as best he could, taking note of the proportions, how it opened up when the dragon fanned it back and forth. He grinned briefly as he finished the scale sketch of the tail fin, and ideas of how he might be able to put it together and attach it onto the tail would work. He would need to get closer for better measurements though.
"What is that thing you're doing with your mouth?"
Hiccup blinked and saw the dragon staring at him.
"Huh?"
"The corners of your mouth. They go up, and you show your teeth, but you don't look like you're trying to be threatening. What is that?"
Hiccup was slightly confused. "You mean like… this?" he gave an approximation of a grin.
The dragon gave an affirmative, interested grunt. "Yeah, that! What is that?"
"It's a… smile."
"Smile…"
Hiccup noticed that the dragon had said this in Eorzean, though with a rather strong, garbled accent.
Then much to his shock, the edges of the dragon's mouth began to curl.
Lips peeled away slightly to reveal gums, while the corners attempted to upturn. The dragon's entire mouth was shaky with the attempt, but it was quite clear what he was trying to do.
Hiccup stared at the sight, not entirely sure what to make of it. Along with all of his other experiences with dragons thus far, this was another to add to the list of 'unexpected moments'.
A dragon trying to smile like a man. Who would've thought?
And of course, there were again no teeth.
"You're toothless again," he blurted before he could stop himself.
The dragon dropped the smile attempt, releasing what sounded like a mixture between an exasperated groan and an irritated growl.
"I do too have teeth!" he announced, and the white row of sharp teeth popped back into view.
Hiccup barely held back another flinch at the sight of potential attack, and he gave a gentle frown as he tried to explain himself. "I know that, but when you do that… thing, it's – no teeth."
The Night Fury growled again, though Hiccup could have sworn he was also pouting. "They are retractable. Do men not know what retractable is? And you're one to talk, I don't think you can retract your height, Shorty!"
It was now that Hiccup finally realized that this seemed to be the dragon's name for him.
He crossed his arms. "Wait… so if you're calling me Shorty… that still makes you Toothless."
The dragon gave him a look of unbelieving exasperation.
"… Shorty," he puffed.
Hiccup shrugged. He could play this game.
"Toothless."
"Shorty."
"Toothless."
"Shorty!"
"Toothless!"
"I already showed you my teeth!"
"Tooooothleess!"
The dragon roared at him, but to Hiccup's surprise, didn't try to attack or fire a bolt at him. He wasn't even sure how he'd had the courage to goad him like that in the first place.
With a very nervous chuckle, and the fact that he was very much unarmed (though he might be able to Jump out of the cove if he absolutely had to), he leaned back, still gazing at the Night Fury. He had never expected being face to face with a dragon in this manner, having such a conversation, realizing how… similar they were. And yet they were on two different sides of a war.
He was committing heresy and treason just by being here.
"Well it's not like my real name is any better," he shrugged with a helpless smile. "It's Hiccup. It's the name traditionally given to the runt of the litter, so by the Fury, I really, really know that I'm short."
The dragon stared at him.
And began laughing.
"Hiccup?!" he chortled. "In Eorzean?! Of all the – wow that about covers it!"
"Gee, thanks," Hiccup muttered, a bit displeased. But if it lessened any tensions, it worked for him.
It was also the first time he had ever heard a dragon laugh. It was an odd, gulping croak sort of sound, amplified by the deep lungs of the large body. It really was a day of firsts.
He sat back, gazing at the Night Fury. The whole experience was a bit surreal, yet somehow… it was as though he was acquainting himself with a new classmate. A slightly awkward one who happened to be a dragon.
… wait, do dragons have names? I mean like, we all know about Nidhogg and Midgardsormr, but what about the ones that aren't great wyrms?
"So, uh… what do I call you? Not Toothless, I'd guess," he offered, trying to remain gentle with the previous prod.
The Night Fury opened his mouth, then closed it. There was a flash of apprehension that took Hiccup by surprise, as the dragon had not seemed frightened of him since the moment his spear and dagger fell into the pond.
"… actually, Toothless is fine," the dragon replied after a moment, looking contemplative. "If… this whole thing going on, if this is all really happening…"
It was a strange thing for the dragon to reply with, especially after having been so adamantly against it previously. Hiccup decided to keep it in mind for later, but accept the dragon's choice.
"Toothless," he nodded. The dragon's mouth was slightly open, and again there were only gums. "It does fit you. Sometimes."
"Only when you can't see them," Toothless replied, sticking his tongue out. His tail waved back and forth lazily.
The sight of it reminded Hiccup of his task. "Oh yeah!" he straightened, grabbing his notebook again. "Keep your tail still, I need to draw and measure it."
Toothless gave him a strange look, but his tail flopped down into the sand and fanned out, sending a few grains into the air as it settled.
"Great, thanks. Keep it like that."
"… okay?"
Hiccup had already begun sketching in more of the detail, noting the direction it currently was in relation to the tail itself. He checked where he knew bone and cartilage interlaced, with the tough dragon skin webbing between them – he would likely have to use some type of leather, ideally one similar to a dragon's actual skin…
He recalled that dragon leather was something that Gobber occasionally worked with.
Well, now he felt a bit like throwing up.
So, we'll just go with whatever we can find for now, he thought to himself, focusing on the sketch.
He crept up and measured it with the length of his arm, being careful not actually touch the dragon (his conversation with Gobber earlier that day was still fresh), but noting how long each piece of the tail fin spine was and how much he might have to adjust. He would need a decent amount of leather for this, but no more than what one normally needed to craft a cuirass or tabard… and perhaps rods of some sort as a 'scaffolding' to hold it together…
It was in his position, this close to the dragon's tail, that he saw the cauterized, bare remnants of where the other tail fin had been, from ripped skin to healing nubs. It made him pause, remembering the reason why he was doing this in the first place.
I shot Toothless from the sky, he thought, sitting back for a moment and staring. I shot him down, I maimed him. I saw his view in that vision. I killed an aevis – a, a man turned dragon! That night. It all changed that night. I had that dream with the song that night… and this, this here, I am now here and helping this dragon because I did this… this… it was me…
Hiccup suddenly reached over and grabbed a nearby stick off the ground. Using his sketch and the tail fin before him as a guide, he very carefully traced the outline of the missing tail fin where it should have been.
He stared at the lines drawn in the wet sand, the perfect ghost parallel to what was left.
Toothless made an odd choking noise from above.
Neither of them said anything, but the remaining tail fin twitched, folding slightly. The mirrored sketch remained as it was.
"… bah," Toothless grunted, and he brushed his tail over the drawn fin, smudging it out. Then he stomped away, tail swishing angrily behind him.
Hiccup watched him go, fists clenched with the notebook forgotten next to him.
I will do this. I'm going to help him. I don't care if this makes me a heretic. This is what's right. He's not – I don't think he wanted any of this, and he's…
It was strange to think of the dragon as a kindred soul, but their conversation and interaction with each other that day had been… congenial. There was curiosity from both sides. A sense of familiarity that Hiccup couldn't place.
And despite all his upbringing – Dravanians took your mother! You were attacked by them! Remember the teachings! What he saw before him, what he had experienced with this dragon, was nothing at all like all those of the Dravanian Horde he knew of.
There was a fluttering of wings and a light whistle. Toothless' head perked up, staring and watching as a white bird flew up through the trees. Then he sighed and poked his paw in the sand.
It took Hiccup a few moments to realize that the dragon was attempting something. He cautiously approached, tiptoeing around and giving Toothless a reasonably large berth, to see what exactly was happening.
Toothless released an irritated growl as his front paw brushed back and forth. He tipped an edge into the sand and drew it across, but only succeeded in smoothing over the pattern before him, ending it with a partially defined footprint.
He turned his head backwards and glanced at Hiccup.
"Uh, Shorty… Hiccup," he corrected himself, looking back sheepishly at the odd space before him, "How do you do that… thing you did with the stick?"
Hiccup blinked at him.
He's… he's trying to draw?!
"Drawing?" he asked after a shocked moment.
"Is it like a sketch?" Toothless tilted his head.
"Same… sort of thing, but a sketch is more like, a preliminary drawing to get the concept down. Sort of like that."
Now the dragon looked confused. "You have two words for the same thing?"
Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "It's… not quite the same thing."
"But you just… you don't need another word, the meaning is already there!"
"… maybe it's an Eorzean thing?"
"Eorzeans are weird."
Hiccup supposed that this was likely a language difference, especially considering how Toothless was still using Dragonspeak. However, seeing as how everything came in and was translated in his mind, he couldn't quite tell exactly how.
He shrugged and checked the stick still in his hand.
"But anyway, if you use something like a stick, you poke the end in the sand," he demonstrated, "And it makes clear lines that way." He began scratching out a shape. "See?"
Toothless gave an interested croon.
"So you need something pointy…" he murmured, watching.
Almost on a whim, Hiccup adjusted the outline to resemble the Night Fury's head. The shape shifted, creating the dragon's jawline and ear flaps, forming two eyes that gazed out from the flat sand canvas.
The watching dragon gave an intrigued hum.
Then he straightened.
"Oh!"
Hiccup blinked and turned around as Toothless lumbered off on his hind legs towards the nearest pile of fallen tree debris. The dragon grabbed a thick branch in his teeth and snapped it away, then proceeded to adjust his grip and poke the end of it into the sand.
… wait, is he…?
To Hiccup's astonishment, Toothless began dragging the branch with him, spinning it about every so often as he circled the entire area. As he watched, the dragon would intercross, draw the branch in loops, and – he had to blink at it – occasionally peer in his direction for a few moments before continuing, usually in an adjustment.
He once accidentally whacked Hiccup on the head with a full bough of leaves. "Sorry!" he practically chirped, nonchalantly continuing on his way. Hiccup just laughed, brushing the leaves out of his hair.
Gazing at everything, the dragons' sketch surrounded him, Hiccup quietly stood to better view this creation. He couldn't tell what it was exactly, but it was undeniable that Toothless was trying to draw something… and here, with someone so very unlike him yet familiar, it felt like standing in the midst of the trails of the dragons' mind.
And somehow, it spoke to him.
As Toothless dropped the branch off to the side, nodding in approval at his drawing, Hiccup tried to ascertain what it was. To him, it seemed like a series of large loops and squiggles, but seeing as how he had never seen anything created by dragons – just destroyed by them – this was very new.
He took a step and heard a sudden growl from Toothless.
"Hey!" the dragon barked.
Hiccup glanced down and realized his foot was on one of the lines.
"Oops! Sorry!" he quickly lifted it, gently fixing the line with the toe of his boot.
Toothless softened and gave a croon.
Hiccup smiled kindly and carefully began to make his way out, making sure not to step on any more of the dragon's art. He had to hold his arms out for balance, but he stepped, turning, practically dancing his way through the thoughts and ideas of this dragon. It astounded him in the realization, again with the familiarity and similarity, this sentient being his people had warred with for a thousand years, and yet…
As he managed to twist and twirl his way through, hands still held out for balance, he gained more a recognition for the drawing as a whole. A circular shape, loops and a nose, something that might have passed for hair, and hand…
Is this… me?
He finally stepped out of lines, staring at all of it, when he felt a warm breath on his back. He yelped and turned, only to come face to face with a draconic black snout and a pair of luminescent green dragon eyes.
A man must gaze not upon the eyes of a dragon.
Toothless blinked, then tilted his head. "You liked? I mean, not like I've ever tried that before, but…"
Hiccup nodded, still in awe and more than a little frozen at how close he was to the dragon.
A man must hearken not the words of a dragon.
He realized, his hands outstretched from his attempts to balance, that he was very close to touching the dragons' face.
Toothless had clearly noticed this too, but he had not moved. His nose twitched and he blinked, but he remained as though equally curious, but apprehensive about all of this.
"You're… very different… for a child of man," he spoke after a moment.
"And you're not… anything like how I thought Dravanians would be…" Hiccup replied, still staring, his right hand still outstretched.
A man must lay his hands not upon the flesh nor blood of a dragon.
Almost out of shame, out of unease, out of not even knowing what to expect, having broken the laws of Ishgard so very thoroughly, Hiccup looked away. He had never thought any of this would happen to him. He, who had wanted to badly to become a dragoon, to join the ranks of the Ishgardian dragon slayers, who had discovered he could not kill one in cold blood, who knew now having encountered this Night Fury that he never could…
And now here was, at the mercy of the dragon he had maimed and spared, the dragon who had every reason to take his vengeance for what he had suffered, who had every right to take an arm in exchange for the lost tail fin. To willingly let this occur was unheard of for an Ishgardian. It was unheard of for a Berkian! And yet, this dragon was so much more than any of the tales and horrors told, and Hiccup wanted nothing more than to make things right, and to speak, to understand, to answer…
A warm, leathery snout pressed his palm.
Hiccup exhaled the breath he hadn't realized he was holding and shakily turned his head to look up.
Toothless' eyes were closed, though he himself was rumbling slightly in an odd, trusting peace. Hiccup stared, feeling the breath and the underlying scales that protected from what felt like a life-fire beneath.
The unbeliever is not to be given succor. The unbeliever is not to be given absolution.
The archbishop, his Holiness, declares thus, and thus it is law.
Those were the teachings. But this was the present. And nothing, absolutely nothing, he had learned through the clergy or the Church or any of what he had been taught could have prepared him for this. It was only by breaking those laws that he could have ever approached Toothless in the first place.
He no longer cared if he was branded a heretic.
He would bear it for the sake of this dragon.
Toothless finally opened his eyes, blinking again. His eyes crossed briefly at the palm still on his snout, then gazed up at Hiccup.
They stood there for a good few moments, staring at each other.
"Uhhhh…" Hiccup started.
"… so what now?" Toothless asked awkwardly.
They stood there for a few more moments.
"Well, it proves I'm a heretic by Ishgard's laws," Hiccup answered cheerfully.
"Oh, really?" Toothless asked, tilting his head. He shook his snout away from Hiccup's hand, twitching his nose as he did so. "I think I like you more now."
Hiccup chuckled, retracting his arm. He gazed briefly at his palm, still feeling the remnants of the warm touch of dragon skin. It was very different from the harsh sensation of aevis teeth mauling his arm.
"Well, I don't think Nidhogg will like me much," Toothless made a shrugging motion, both wings flaring slightly. "Morn Rhe didn't. This is… probably a good thing, honestly, that we've met. I think I'm glad?"
The dragon sounded more confused than Hiccup felt, so he chose not to pry too far.
He took a deep breath as he wandered back towards where the original scratching of the tail fin had been, his notebook open beside it.
"I'm sorry about all of this," he spoke, picking up the book. It was still open to the sketch. "I'm going to make this right, I swear. I'll get you flying again somehow. And… back to the other Dravanians."
He felt uneasy saying that, knowing exactly what it meant.
"Maybe… don't tell them about me though. Safer that way," he added.
"I don't want to go back."
Hiccup whirled and stared at Toothless. "Wait – what?"
The dragon snorted at him. "It's not you, Shorty. I've got a good reason. If only the rest of my brood-siblings were as lucky."
Hiccup wasn't entirely sure that being shot out of the sky and having an entire tail fin sheared off could be considered lucky, but he guessed that there were Dravanian-specific matters he knew nothing of.
He considered asking, but the deep orange ray of sunlight that peeked through the tree canopy caught his attention. As he stowed the book back into his armor, he looked up towards it and yelped as he realized exactly what time of day it was.
"Oh gods, I need to get home!" he panicked, staring at the setting sun and trying to recall just how much time it would take for him to get back. "More monsters come out at night, it'll take a while for me to get back to the village, and uh… ah."
He had entirely forgotten that his spear, which he needed to defend himself with, was currently at the bottom of the pond.
Toothless tilted his head, both ear flaps upturned in concern. "They are… dangerous things in the forest, right? Many vengeful hippocerfs?"
Hiccup winced, thinking of the several dead hippocerfs over the last few days.
"That and direwolves… maybe an ogre," he chuckled weakly. "Uh, so I'm really sorry about this, but uh… remember that I knocked my spear into the pond? I kinda… need to get it back."
Toothless gave him a very even look.
"… good job."
Hiccup cringed. "I mean, thing is, besides kind of needing it to protect myself - I'm a lancer," he replied. "I can't just walk into town saying I lost my spear. Plus it's kind of a bit of a walk back to Berk, I might need it if I get attacked by a snow goobbue or something."
The dragon exhaled, rolling his eyes and releasing what sounded like a thunderous groan. Then he lurched to the side, flaring both wings and jumping into the air.
Hiccup's eyes widened. "Wait, what are you - "
Toothless glided briefly up, then folded his wings and dove straight into the pond.
Hiccup's mouth was still dropped open in utter shock as the dragon returned a moment later, a soaked spear gripped in his jaws. Toothless shook the droplets off of himself and marched directly up, depositing the spear at his feet.
Then he backed away, looking extremely nervous.
Hiccup carefully leaned down, picking up his spear. He quietly placed it in its usual spot on his back, watching the nearby dragon with a sense of trepidation.
"You got it back for me," he managed, staring. "… thanks."
"… you will need it to go home safely," Toothless replied, eyes never leaving him. "And to catch fish."
Hiccup could guess the real reason why the dragon was anxious. "I'm not going to hurt you, you know that right?" Never mind the fact that I've never spear fished before.
"It wouldn't seem that way," Toothless admitted. "But I saw how you landed when you fell. And you use a spear. You are… drahorh."
Dragoon.
Hiccup sighed and shook his head. "Not yet, I'm in training. Though I'm not sure I want to be anymore."
He busied himself with retrieving the basket, trying to keep himself occupied. He knew he would have to use this basket each day to keep Toothless fed. Hopefully no one would notice it missing from the fishery.
He really didn't know if he could keep up the charade of wanting to become a dragoon after this.
"… keep training. Learn how to be a drahorh… just in case."
It was an incredibly strange thing to hear from a dragon.
Just in case. Why, just in case?
He turned back, gazing over the ground at the various drawings, created by both man and dragon alike. The remains of that burnt fish. The space where a tail had flopped into the sand.
He could still feel the ghost of warm leathery scales on his palm.
"I'll be back tomorrow with more fish," he stated cheerily. They could at least try to pretend there was some measure of peace here in this cove, away from the war. "And some more figured out on the tail fin!"
Toothless perked up, lifted from the somber mood.
"Don't get eaten by a snow goobbue!" he called helpfully. "And don't forget your fish!"
"Oh – right," Hiccup laughed, and he quickly jogged over to fetch the burnt fish. It was surprisingly crispy, with blackened flakes rubbing off on his bracers. He probably couldn't bring this one back with him to the village.
With basket, fish, and spear in tow, (he supposed his dagger would just have to be a sacrifice to the pond and dragon relations at this point), he glanced upwards, trying to figure out the best method of jumping that wouldn't result in him breaking a tree in half and knocking himself out. To his great relief, he saw another opening at the floor of the cove large enough to fit, and he strode forward, waving with the fish as he did.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Toothless," he smiled.
The dragon chortled and smirked at him. "See you then, Shorty Hiccup."
Hiccup laughed as he made his way out.
Well, he certainly had his work cut out for him now.
He didn't really mind. It was more reason to keep meeting with this dragon.
He would gladly risk heresy for this.