Ch.16
It was going on mid-day when Eletra returned to Toothless after evading Cloudjumper in the cove. Toothless was awake, but only recently. "I wondered where you'd gone off to; I'm glad you're alright." Eletra wanted to say what'd happened to her while he slept but found she could not. Toothless stretched his wings and moved, he looked back at Eletra puzzled. "Aren't you coming with me? I didn't think you wanted to say in this spot all day." Toothless resumed walking, only a few seconds when by before he heard the unmistakable sounds of Eletra behind him. "Where are we going?" she called up to him, curious. "There's a cove I often go to relax. It has water, shade, sunny areas and even a few fish swimming in the pond. I thought that would be a good place to ask me any questions you still have." Eletra blinked, "I wonder if he's referring to the pond that I stumbled across earlier today?" she thought and hoped Cloudjumper had left. It did not take long to reach the cove, and to Eletra's relief, it was deserted. "You okay?" "Huh?" Toothless was looking at her, a puzzled look on his face. "Me? Oh, I'm…I'm in a daze. I mean so much has happened and it's just a lot to take in." Toothless nodded and jumped down to the grassy cove bottom without another word.
"Should I tell him now? Or should I tell him later?" Eletra looked over at Toothless who was attempting to catch a fish in his mouth. He looked up realizing she was staring at him, "Yes?" "Oh don't yes me, you've been stalling about telling me about this place, now what is it that I shouldn't know?!" Eletra stated frustrated. She hadn't meant to come across as rude but the knowledge of knowing she knew nothing about the island frustrated her. Toothless's eyes narrowed, and he took a step back in surprise. "I..I'm sorry. I didn't want you to be upset." Eletra said regretting her previous words. Toothless's eyes dilated once more, and he positioned himself beside his new mate. "Eletra, you're right, I've not told you anything about where we are. You've followed me here on a promise. I'm sorry." Eletra was shocked, "I am? Th-thank you." Toothless nudged her muzzle with his own before starting.
"This is Berk, and I believe I told you that before we landed, what I didn't tell you is the brightly lit area comprises of Vikings, Vikings, and dragons of all sorts. I didn't want you to land like it was no big deal in the middle of that. "But It wouldn't be a big deal; there are still a lot of Night Furies left. We just hide in the shadows, which does bring up the question of how you are here." Toothless looked pointedly at her before continuing. "Berk believes that I am the last of my kind and therefore would be shocked and overjoyed to learn that another Night Fury has shown up." "What's wrong with that? Are you saying you'd rather keep me hidden in the shadows while you continue to be the last Night Fury to everyone on Berk?" "NO!" Toothless was appalled by the very idea. "I am worried about you, Vikings ride dragons and I couldn't stand to see you have a rider—" "You really think I'd let that happen?" Eletra interjected, "No, I don't think you would. Right now you're confused, in a daze, and trying to learn about your new home; how would calling massive amounts of unwanted attention from dragons or Vikings help you?"
Eletra thought about it, "So, you're doing it to protect me, it has nothing to do with you being the last Night Fury? Eletra asked trying to clarify things in her mind. "Yes, I do want to show you off at some point, but now is a terrible time." Eletra felt a warmth in the pit of her stomach at this remark, she tried to look offended but failed. Changing the subject, Eletra spoke again "so; it snows here I assume?" Toothless was confused why she'd asked such an obvious question but obliged. "It does, why did you ask such a question?" "Well, I thought it would be a good idea to find a cave for us before it starts to snow." She replied with an equally obvious answer. Toothless looked stunned. "how could I forgot such an important matter?" Toothless thought before looking back at Eletra, "I take it you've been exploring and scouting one out?" "a little, I was going to continue searching once we'd finished talking." With this statement, Toothless stood, "I should see what Hiccup is up to, maybe he is making me a new tailfin." They touched muzzles, and Toothless flew off leaving Eletra to go cave hunting.
In the forge, Hiccup had started sketching out an improved and previously abandoned version of Toothless's tailfin. He had thought about the autonomous tailfin he'd make the first year dragons and Vikings shared celebrated Snoggletog together; it allowed Toothless independence from Hiccup and total control over his flying again. Much to Hiccup's surprise, he'd used it once and promptly destroyed it; he hoped this time would be different. "Hiccup, c'mon you got orders ta fill," Gobber said impatiently near the front of the forge. After Hiccup had escaped from the Forge a bit later with his sketchbook, he sat on a grassy spot in the sun fleshing out his idea. "I thought you'd gotten lost again" Hiccup flinched and looked up to see Astrid smiling at him as she climbed off Stormfly. "I'm not living that down anytime soon am I" Hiccup muttered to himself, just loud enough for Astrid to hear. "Not if I can help it" Astrid teased as she leaned down giving Hiccup a peck on the cheek lying down to look at the sky. "How's Toothless? I haven't seen him since we got back to Berk. Is he okay?" She asked sitting up to look at Hiccup. "The strange thing is, I haven't seen him since we got back either. I don't know how he's doing, I removed what remained of his saddle and tailfin before attaching a half-finished tailfin I'd abandoned, but after that, he just disappeared." He said a worried expression washing over him.
Astrid was just as worried but unsure what to say, changed the subject. "What's this?" Hiccup gave her a funny look as he looked the charcoal sketch and then back to her. "I still need to make all new riding gear for Toothless and a new tail-fin so he can fly." Astrid detected a pane of guilt in his voice but said nothing. "I thought that after what happened, Toothless might be willing to fly on his own now. With my new duties, I haven't flown with him as much as Toothless needs, without me he stays grounded. That isn't fair to him." Hiccup had, without Astrid realizing it, sank into a sulk of guilt and depression. Astrid looked to find Hiccup lying on his back staring at the sky, his face scrunched as if trying to stop tears from rolling down his cheeks. "What are you going to do about it?" Astrid wasn't one to tolerate self-pity for any length of time. "I told you, make a new tailfin that will allow Toothless to fly by himself." Hiccup gestured frustratedly at the charcoal sketch sitting up once more. "And..?" Astrid asked trying to lead his thoughts, "and what? I told you." Hiccup had changed positions again and was staring at the paper. Astrid's patience was at an end, she grabbed Hiccup but the shoulder and turned him to face her. "Hiccup, I don't know what's happened to you, but you need to snap out of it." Astrid shook Hiccup, grabbed his face and looked him in the eyes. "I know the real Hiccup is in there somewhere, the Hiccup I know doesn't let anything stand in his way, not me, not Drago, not even generations of Viking tradition. This behavior is not you Hiccup." Astrid got up, walked over to Stormfly who'd been resting and departed. Hiccup just sat there for a moment too shocked to move. Once Hiccup had recovered from the unexpected pep talk, he mulled over what she'd said in his mind before returning to his sketches.