~Ouroboros~
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1st – 25. Growing Bonds ~ Flight
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The journey back to camp and the travel back to the village the following day passed by in a blur. Though Hiccup insisted on helping out with gutting the deer, the entire process was hazy in his mind at best, his hands having worked almost on automatic. As with all the younglings he had helped prepare countless sheep in much the same way, though it felt different to be doing it to a creature he himself killed.
It was several hours before sunset that the two of them crossed the bridge into their village, Gobber carrying the young deer across his shoulders along with the rest of the equipment in his backpack. Hiccup's own smaller backpack was the only thing hanging off his, its weight barely registering in his mind after lugging it across both forested and rocky terrain for days on end.
No one greeted them, and both were glad for that. Even Gobber was slightly tired, not having gone on a hunting expedition (though with only him and Hiccup there, it could hardly be called such) for the past few years; both wanted nothing more than to get some rest on a good bed with a roof over their heads. Doubly so because it rained almost the entire day, and by the time they entered the village they were soaked to the bone.
Hiccup just stumbled into the forge and aimed straight towards his room, pausing only to take off his clothing that seemed to have seeped in several pounds of water. He was so tired that he didn't even think of washing off the grime that had accumulated over the four day journey and instead focused solely on getting some sleep.
Well what do you know – Tomorrow morning will be exactly four days since I've last seen Toothless… Hopefully the tailfin served him well enough… Hiccup thought, barely finishing before sleep claimed him.
Gobber wanted nothing more than to follow the footsteps of his apprentice, the hundred pound weight of the deer added on top of the rest of the equipment having taken its toll, not to mention that they set off from the elder forest at first light and only stopped for an hour to rest at Norns' falls before proceeding on. Still, he didn't let himself do that until the deer's carcass was safely hung away outside to be taken apart the next day, the nights of Berk being more than cold enough for that.
In all seriousness, he was proud of his apprentice. The two days that Hiccup had spent in the woods after that fiasco of a dragon training session seemed to have been exactly what Hiccup needed, as he hardly hesitated when faced with having to take another life. Gobber always knew that his apprentice had an iron will and persistence to spare (the fact that Hiccup never stopped trying to bring down a dragon despite almost village-wide ire and disbelief more than proved that), but even so he expected it to take two or three kills before Hiccup could do what needed to be done with such calm.
Perhaps the Zippleback's death helped him out in the end – after he got over it of course. He mused as he hobbled his way off to bed.
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The next day found Hiccup in the cove again, having rushed off not even an hour after he woke up. It was still noon when he got there though – he had been so tired when they got back that he slept for almost twelve hours straight.
Gobber had decided to postpone dragon training until the next day, saying that there wasn't any time during the hunting expedition to plan out training and thus he needed a day to decide what to put his trainees through next. Hiccup had a suspicion that his mentor was slightly bending the truth and was in a roundabout way giving him a day to rest, but he didn't want to call Gobber out on that and instead ran off before his mentor could change his mind – an entire day he could spend alone with Toothless wasn't something to be wasted after all.
"Toothless! I've brought breakfast!" he yelled, swiveling his head around to try and spot the Nightfury. Although he knew that with the artificial tailfin Toothless could now hunt by himself, he was still loath to throw away something that had almost become a ritual between them. Oh, he didn't lug an entire basket of fish this time around, only bringing four large salmon that were currently hanging over his shoulder by their tails – still, it was the thought that counted.
"Toothless! You around buddy!?" he called out again, and after a minute of listening to nothing but bird calls and rustling leaves sat down with his back against one of the boulders littering the cove. Opening up his rapidly filling journal, Hiccup resigned himself to waiting for Toothless to return from hunting, not even a sliver of doubt existing in his mind that Toothless would.
Toothless wouldn't leave him alone after all – he didn't know why he was so sure of that, but he was.
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It was the night of the same day I watched Hiccup leave with one of the adult humans of his tribe, the two of them setting off into the woods eastwards of my cove. The tailfin that Hiccup brought around last time worked much better than the previous one, and I was easily able to fly up and hide myself in the forest's canopy near to the human tribe.
At that time, when I spotted Hiccup pass by several wingspans away from the tree I was perched in, I had an almost irresistible urge to follow him (silently of course) and help him out by spooking prey I spotted towards him. Fortunately I was able to resist, and watched as Hiccup disappeared in between the trees.
It was his first hunt after all – I would only be hurting Hiccup if I interfered; human or dragon, all hatchlings have to learn how to hunt for food.
The logic in that had done nothing to decrease the longing wedged in my chest, and I had flown off back to the cove to sleep. It had been only a few hours since I had woken up, but sleep seemed to be the best way to wait while time passed by.
Besides, now that I was capable of flight once more, it was time for me to see just how much my hunting skills have atrophied after almost an entire moon cycle of relying on Hiccup to feed me – and the best time for that was at night (no matter how short they are during the summer).
Only the peaks of the trees surrounding the cove were bathed in the sun goddess' light when my eyes opened once more, and uncurling from my bed of ashes I performed several stretches in preparation of what was to come.
I would have to stalk land prey today. Fishing was still impossible for me, mostly because I would need to constantly reinforce my weakened wings in order to attempt even the simplest diving maneuver (to say nothing of having to stay in the air for hours on end spotting schools of fish from above). Land hunting was comparatively easier – the sorry state of my wing muscles was only a minor inconvenience due to them being used only in sporadic bursts to increase manoeuverability.
As the last bit of sunlight disappeared, immersing the world in the pale glow of the moon goddess, I spread my wings and took off. With full-moon only a couple sun cycles away there was enough light for even humans to see (at least I hoped so – they weren't that blind, were they?). A for me… the OiraRae have been blessed by the moon goddess, and being one meant that I could see just as well (if not better) in the darkness than during the day. What I lost through the disappearance of colors from my vision was more than made up by the detail in everything I could see.
I stopped my upwards accent only when I was high above the peaks of even the tallest trees, and glancing around I surveyed the island once more. I do not know exactly how many Cycles ago I fell under the influence of the cursed darkness, and I could only hope that the places deer and other land prey frequent hasn't changed since then. I didn't have any time after I regained my freedom to check after all – what with the… missing tailfin and all.
I angled off towards the closest one, closing my wings tightly against my sides and shutting my eyes to experience an almost floating sensation as I plummeted down to the ground. I switched back into a glide not even halfway down – when I had done this before I was able to break off so close to the forest's canopy that if I reached with my paw I could brush against the tips of the tallest trees, but that was then.
With the tailfin that Hiccup made for me, I wasn't sure I could pull up properly with as little control as I had over it… in any case, without me strengthening my original tail the maneuver could result in the bones of my tailfins snapping, and I wasn't about to check just how strong (or weak) the new tailfin was compared to my original.
Besides, loath as I was to admit it, there was a sliver of fear in my heart of falling… of making that small mistake that would lead to me losing my sky once more. It pained me even now – flight by its very definition held within it the danger of losing control and crashing down; and as my sire told me, it is impossible to fly if you are afraid of falling.
The branch I landed on sagged slightly under me, and I growled at the relief I felt at the solid feeling under my paws. The first few times I flew with the new tailfin were so euphoric that I was simply incapable of feeling anything else, but now that the marvel of being whole once more was over I found that I preferred to stay on the ground.
A dragon who fears the sky… The memory of Hiccup's breaking mind flashed before my eyes, and I couldn't help but think just how similar we were. No wonder we bonded so fast…
I closed my eyes and put those thoughts away. Perhaps in time those unseen wounds would heal, but there was truly no point in thinking about it – only time and a sense of belonging can truly close the deep emotional scars that both Hiccup and I carry within us… and fortunately for us, we have both – now that I am whole once more.
The way down was quite simple and the only sound that could be heard being the slightly louder rustling of leaves as I moved past them. Looking around I surveyed the landscape around me, and finding several landmarks that even the Cycles I had been away had been unable to remove managed to locate exactly where I was. Smelling and tasting the air around me for any sign of prey, I stalked off.
Completely silent, I moved through the forest – mindful of any twigs or unstable rocks that could reveal my position. A familiar sense of excitement grew within my chest as I crept along, the hunter's instincts that my sire instilled upon me coursing through my veins. It didn't take all that long for me to come across the faint scent of deer, and I followed it since.
I spotted five hares before I came to a halt, the horns of a sleeping deer poking over the top of the foliage blocking the rest of it from my view. I hadn't wanted to break my cover and spook the actual prey I was stalking by catching a hare, and that paid off.
I closed my eyes, centering my mind and preparing my muscles for what was to come. Slightly digging in my paws I spread my wings so as to give me that split second boost that could be all that stood between a full stomach and watching the deer run off – I had no doubts that once it could easily escape if I allowed it to take more than a few steps, my body not being ready for a prolonged chase.
A single breath, a slight tensing of my muscles and… Now!
The deer jumped to its legs and tried to bolt, but by then I had already halved the distance between us. Heedless of the noise I was making, the time for silence already past, I jumped. Another boost of my wings shot me straight over the bushes that could have held back a wolf or a lynx for that single vital instant, and I felt my claws pierce into the side of my prey.
My head snapped forward, the action coming as naturally as if the Cycles I went without hunting never happened. I closed my jaw upon the deer's neck, cutting off its frightened scream, and a moment later shook my head, tearing away at the flesh and feeling the chest muscles clamped in my claws spasm a few times before stilling forever.
Just to be safe I waited a few seconds before stepping away and looking with pride at my downed prey. Apparently my fears about my skill in hunting declining over the course of my incarceration were completely groundless, as even my sire could hardly have done a better job. Not even half a moonfull seconds passed since my initial lunge, and I felt a deep sense of satisfaction at not causing my prey to suffer longer than absolutely necessary. It may not have been a soul-carrier, but as my mother taught me – life is life, no matter the particulars.
Any hesitation would have hurt both of us after all.
I moved in, taking a bite and savoring the taste of a hunt done well.
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The next few days passed by quickly, though most afternoons found me sleeping within the cove, hoping that Hiccup would come around. The rest of the time I was away – the four hour nights I spent hunting until the sun goddess appeared over the horizon, after which I simply wandered around the island, staying far enough from the areas the human tribe frequented so as not to be spotted. I didn't want to stay in the cove all the time – not that it wasn't beautiful, far from it in fact – but having been trapped within it for almost an entire moon cycle reminded me all too much of the darkness I spent an indeterminate number of Cycles in…
I wasn't sure how long it would be before Hiccup returned, him having told me that he would be away for a 'couple of days'. Still, when my sire took me out to show me how to hunt we went for a quarter of a moon cycle before returning, so I assumed Hiccup's trip would last roughly as long.
As such I was pleasantly surprised when on the fourth day after watching Hiccup leave with one of the elder humans of his tribe I noticed a familiar shape lounging in the middle of the cove. It was a bit after noon, and I had just been returning from the southern shore intent on getting some sleep. Of course all of that flew out of my head as soon as I spotted Hiccup, and jumping off the ledge I glided down towards him, releasing a short roar in happiness.
:: Hiccup! You're back! ::
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It really says a lot about how much the past month had changed me that a shrill draconic cry sends a sense of relief through me than any kind of fear, thought Hiccup as he put away his journal and stood up to greet the Nightfury that was hurling towards him. The feelings of happiness emanating from Toothless accentuated his own, and he basked in them, allowing all of his worries to fade away.
"Hey there bud! Glad to see-" He yelled out, but the rest of it was lost along with the air in his lungs when several thousand pounds of ecstatic dragon barrelled straight into him.
Momentarily stunned, all Hiccup could do was lay there on the ground and try to get his bearings straight. Toothless standing over him and nuzzling him was hardly helping matters, though it did prompt him to start struggling when the wet and sand-like texture of Toothless' tongue dragged itself over his face.
Pushing with all his might at his friend's snout, Hiccup didn't even try and hold back the laughter bubbling up his throat. "Come on you overgrown lizard – that's enough! I didn't come here to drown in your slobber!"
Toothless just rumbled in reply, not even pausing in his administrations, causing Hiccup to redouble his efforts to squirm away. When several failed attempts proved that to be useless, he switched tactics and the next time Toothless' head shot forward he made a grab for the lower ear-flaps.
Toothless paused, and Hiccup was able to safely take a couple of breaths. "Glad to see you as well," he said once he got a handle on his laughter, and a few moments later released his grasp on Toothless, who seemed to smirk as he gave Hiccup a parting lick before moving to curl around Hiccup's sitting figure.
"Good for nothing reptile…" Hiccup grumbled out, though his words lacked any anger. Toothless just blew off a ring of smoke into his face, and Hiccup coughed, waving his hands in front of himself. "You aren't doing a good job proving me wrong you know."
Watching Toothless' smug face, Hiccup just rolled his eyes and reached for his journal. Leaning back to rest against the pleasantly warm scales of his friend, he motioned for the all of a sudden curious dragon to lean forward. Over the course of their friendship he found that Toothless really liked his sketches, unlike others like his father that seemed to think that drawing anything besides maps or diagrams detailing draconic weak points was a complete waste of time. Even Gobber didn't understand Hiccup's fascination to drawing landscapes – 'sure they look good, but it isn't like you can do anything with them' he would say before directing his apprentice to practice one aspect of smithing or another.
That wasn't to say there was no art in the village – almost every house was decorated with simplistic dragon heads and intricate weaving patterns, and there was hardly an axe or a shield without some carving or drawing upon it; but as Hiccup had found, his dissimilarity to other Vikings stretched to his sketching preferences.
It's certainly ironic, he thought as he watched Toothless take in the highly detailed drawing of Norns' falls that he managed to sketch down during the three hours' rest on the return journey. He never would have imagined that he would find a similar love for art within a dragon of all creatures.
The silence stretched, both dragon and human soon enough lost within the intricate lines of Hiccup's drawings. There wasn't that much free time during his hunting expedition, but he made the most of it (along with several hours that he waited for Toothless to come around), the end result being seven new additions in his journal along with several pages of quick sketches of interesting plants and trees on a white background.
The last drawing was only halfway finished, Toothless having returned when Hiccup was just starting to fill in the details of the trees looming over the cove's edge. With barely a moment of hesitation Hiccup took out his pencil and settling into a more comfortable pose began to scribble in the lines that were all that stood between a good sketch and a beautiful picture.
From the feelings of serenity he could feel from the dragon, Hiccup knew that Toothless was content to watch him for however long it took to finish.
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I watched Hiccup add another line to the physical memory he was putting down, and marveled once more at his skill. While I profess that my interaction with other humans was limited to a few hours before my stupidity resulted in me flying straight to the darkness waiting to sink its claws into me, I still doubted there was anyone else that could do something as magical as this.
Hiccup told me once that he never shown most of his memories to the others of tribe, and I couldn't help but wonder why – even to a dragon like myself his work was captivating in its beauty, and that was with the bulk of the physical memories focusing on this island's landscape (and me – I was quite surprised to see how many of his memories had me in them… surprised and quite honestly honored). If I could, I would have taken Hiccup up into the sky with me, if for no other reason than to see how he would depict that memory in that journal of his.
I paused at that.
Back before I lost my other tailfin I had easily been able to carry an entire deer in my claws as I flew, and even though my flight now could hardly be compared to what it was, I should still be able to lift a human – especially a hatchling like Hiccup. I glanced up at Hiccup in speculation, and found it fortunate that his entire focus was on the final details of the physical memory he was putting down – otherwise he might have been spooked by the almost predator like appraisal I was giving him.
Yes, I decided – it would certainly be possible for me to carry him while flying. I mused for a bit about how to bring up the topic, before settling on doing things the dragon way. As my sire once showed me, there was truly only one way of introducing the sky to another.
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Hiccup put down the last line detailing the calm surface of the pool in the middle of the cove, and with a yawn that made his eyes water stretched backwards, feeling his muscles protest at moving after being stuck for so long in a single position. Giving his sketch a last critical glance, he turned his attention towards Toothless.
"So, what do you think?" Hiccup said, and watched as Toothless gave a nod in reply, crooning softly as he enjoyed the latest of Hiccup's works. "It didn't turn out all too bad I think – what with me changing my position halfway through all thanks to you."
Toothless looked down at Hiccup's journal for a moment longer before standing up, and uncurling from around Hiccup moving to sit directly behind him. Figuring that Toothless wanted to see the scene he had been drawing from his position, Hiccup thought nothing of his friend's actions until a pair of paws gripped his shoulders, pressing inwards firmly yet gently such that it was quite impossible for him to wiggle away.
"Uh, bud? What are you doing?" he said uneasily, only his iron hard belief that Toothless would never do anything to hurt him keeping him from freaking out – from so close he could easily see the serrated edge adjourning the tips of the Nightfury's claws, and knew all too well from Gobber's lectures that a Viking's life was basically forfeit the moment he allowed himself to be caught within a dragon's grasp.
The opening wings that he could see in the periphery of his eyesight did little to calm him down, and with a sinking feeling Hiccup realized that there was only one thing that a dragon needed to spread its wings for. "Toothless, old buddy old pal, you better not be-"
Whatever else he wanted to say was completely lost as the claws holding him pulled him upwards, the black tips of Toothless' wings appearing at his sides. A primal scream ripped its way out of his throat as he uselessly clawed at Toothless' paws, not even sure himself if he was fighting for his freedom or attempting to get at least a single grasp at Toothless' leg in the case that the thrice forsaken reptile decided to let go.
"Oh gods Toothless, let me down! Contrary to what you may think, if humans were meant to fly Odin and the others would have granted us wings!" he blabbed onwards, not even paying any attention to whatever he was saying – his entire mind focused singularly on the rapidly shrinking ground below. "If you want me to see just how happy you are to be able to fly again, you are most definitely doing it the wrong way! Trust me when I say I feel much safer when I am not in a perpetual danger of getting splattered across the landscape!"
Toothless growled, and even with the wind in his ears Hiccup could tell that the Nightfury was slightly peeved that he even thought that Toothless would drop him. "I don't care how sure you are about my safety; get me down now!"
The climb leveled off and Hiccup let loose another startled scream when Toothless almost overbalanced, the mercifully brief moment feeling something akin to leaning backwards and not encountering the wall you knew was there.
"Oh no; no no no no no…" he chanted under his breath before trailing off, the almost hereditary fear of heights displaced by the growing wonder of the scene around him. The deep blue sky above him was clear as far as the eye could see, the sheer boundlessness of it filling him with awe even as the brightness of the sun caused his eyes to water. It's no wonder that Toothless loved flying so much, he thought; not when the world is so beautiful from up here.
The clouds bunched up under them seemed to glitter, looking almost like an ocean spreading in all directions with scarcely a break in it. What I wouldn't give to be able to draw this – right here, right now. The death like grip he had on Toothless' paws loosened. Without breaking his gaze away from the scene spread out all around him, Hiccup padded his jacket, searching for his journal. It wasn't there though. With a curse he remembered that he hadn't put it away before Toothless carried him up – he had thought that the Nightfury just wanted to see his latest drawing from behind him, and in his surprise at finding Toothless' claws gripping his shoulders must have dropped it.
His arms dropped down in defeat. Sure he could draw what he saw once he was back on the ground, but he doubted it would turn out even half as good – it just wouldn't have the same presence… the soul that he tried to imbue his sketches with.
He was just wondering if Toothless would object to taking him up again when Toothless' claws opened, sending him tumbling down through the air.
His mouth gaping wide in an attempt to let out a scream that seemed to have gotten tangled with his heart somewhere in the middle of his throat, Hiccup couldn't form a single coherent thought as the sky and ground flipped themselves over each other in a nauseating display of colors.
There was a brief flash of light as the sun came into view, and then his entire world was consumed in whiteness. Am I dead? He wondered as he watched the white smoke flow around him. There was a shrill scream somewhere close by, but he barely heard it due to the gull of air whistling in his ears. Still, it was familiar…
Toothless? He wondered. What are you doing here?
His thoughts ended just as abruptly as the white mist, the approaching greenness of the ground below replacing it. Somewhere in the back of his naturally analytical mind something clicked into place and he realized that he had simply fallen through the layer of clouds. He couldn't blink as he watched the ground coming closer, his fear and terror replaced with something akin to numbness.
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Hiccup stirred, coming out of unconsciousness in response to whatever it was that was ribbing him in the side. Blinking open his eyes he looked in incomprehension at a jaw full of razor sharp teeth grinning down at him. Wait, what!?
With sleep ripped out of him by possibly the largest dose of adrenaline he had experienced in his short life, Hiccup flailed his way from underneath the dragon, screaming his lungs out the entire time. Scrambling along the grass he blindly groped for the dagger he always carried on the inside of his jacket before flipping around, ready to bravely fight to the death against the horrifying dragon that was even now sitting on the ground and… staring with worry at him?
Oh… right.
"Toothless you flaming reptile… don't you dare ever wake me up like that." Hiccup said once he got his spiking heart rate under control, his voice coming out in brief bursts. Forcing himself to take a few deep breaths so as not to fall unconscious again from hyperventilating, Hiccup stared in exasperation at his friend. "I literally felt years of my life get sheared off!"
Toothess crooned in reply and Hiccup shook his head before clutching at it – with everything else he should have really expected the splitting headache on top of everything else. His back muscles were sore, his throat was about as parched as if he hadn't had a drink in days, and lest he forget, his head felt like Gobber just used it as a makeshift anvil while fixing a broadsword or two (possibly cursing the entire time and hefting the hammer just a tad harder than he had to).
There were some sounds of movement, and Hiccup heard Toothless croon in worry a few feet away at most. He raised his head slowly and gave the dragon as sharp a glare as he could, putting his memory of his father's and Gobber's glares to good use. He would bet his left leg that this was all Toothless' fault. He couldn't quite remember what happened, but it revolved around the Nightfury in one way or another, and at the moment it just felt good to blame someone for the pains his body was putting him through.
Toothless had the decency to look away in shame, and feeling vindicated Hiccup thrust his finger out in accusation; "So it is your fault that I feel like death warmed over! Spill – what did you do?"
:: … don't you remember? ::
Hiccup just intensified his glare. "Of course not, that's why I am asking you!"
:: ah, well – not sure how that's possible, but perhaps it is for the best then? I mean if you don't- :: He could feel shame and embracement emanating from the dragon, and for a moment wondered if it really was such a big deal. I mean, if Toothless doesn't want to talk about it… He squished that thought.
"Speak. Now."
The silence stretched between them, making Hiccup's headache even more pronounced now that he had nothing to distract him. Still, he refused to lower his gaze. In front of him Toothless shuffled around, absentmindedly scratching at the ground with the claws of his front left leg. All in all Toothless looked like a child who was being told off by his father – something that Hiccup did not expect to see any dragon emulate… especially not Toothless.
:: Well… you see… I decided to take you up into the sky so you could make a physical memory of it and when we reached the peak of our flight I kind of sort of let you go. :: The entire thought came as one jumbled up mass, and it took a moment for Hiccup to make sense of it. When he did, he could only stare at Toothless in disbelief.
"You- you dropped me!?"
Completely disregarding his raging headache and moaning muscles, Hiccup snapped around to pad himself all over, checking if he was all in one piece. "Why!?"
:: My instincts took over – my sire did the same thing to me when he first took me up on my first flight, and I guess I did the same thing to you… Was definitely a sinking moment when I remembered that you weren't going to open up your wings and fly like I did… ::
Hiccup's frantic search to find a broken bone or two ground to a halt as his mind tried to process Toothless' answer. For the life of him he couldn't imagine a good reason why a dragon would drop its child from thousands upon thousands of feet up in the air – it sounded all too much like pushing a human child out into a dragon raid and expecting him to come back safe and sound with a dragon's head or two on a pike…
On second thought, dropping your child high above the clouds and expecting it to learn to fly before slamming into the ground makes perfect sense, at least according to Viking traditions... perhaps dragons and Vikings aren't as different as I thought.
Still, as enlightening as Toothless' answer was, it wasn't what he was looking for when his befuddled mind blurted out his single word question. "Not quite what I was asking there – I meant to ask why I was still alive if I fell from the sky… as far as I know humans can't fly."
:: I caught you of course :: Toothless replied in surprise, as if he couldn't understand why Hiccup did not come to that conclusion himself. :: It was impossible to completely break out of our dive, but I did all I could and the lake here did the rest ::
Lake? Hiccup wondered before shivering. Now that his adrenaline levels were finally decreasing and he no longer had more pressing matters to attend to, he noticed all too well that he was soaked to the bone – his jacket alone having gained at least ten pounds in weight. Ri-i-ight… that lake. Wonder how many times that makes it that I had been completely soaked in it?
He shivered again and turned to look at Toothless, this time with an almost pleading look in his face. "Umm… Toothless… think you can light us up a fire? I don't know about you, but I swear I will get pneumonia if I have to sit around in wet clothing for even a moment longer."
Toothless was all too happy to oblige, glad that Hiccup decided to drop the awkward topic.
With the fire merrily burning in what was quickly becoming the permanent fire-pit of their cove, Toothless dozed off curled around it while Hiccup only took a moment to once again throw his clothes over the Nightfury's tail before leaning back against Toothless' side and joining his friend in slumber.
Even counting that overall unnecessary mess up, the day wasn't all that bad… Hiccup thought as he drifted off to sleep; no – it wasn't that bad at all.
For the first time since skylust left him, Toothless dreamed of the skies; of flying high within its boundless grasp, of darting through the clouds and racing through the intricate cave like rock formations lining this island. For the first time in a while, he dreamed of freedom.
Lying with his bare back pressed against Toothless' scales, Hiccup dreamt the same dreams.
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A/N
Anyone wondering about toothless flying without Hiccup - he can (the tailfin is always in the fully open position), but quite badly. This will change once Hiccup comes up with the saddle idea.
… And that takes care of all of my padding chapters. I haven't had any time to write in the past month, and now that the last chapter that I had written has been posted I have nothing else left. If I get some time I might post next week, but chances are that I will have to take some time off. Once I start posting again it will be every Tuesday, but until then bear with me.
Sorry for that – real life just sucks that way…
The next chapter (once it's out) will be called 'Dragon and Rider', so you can probably guess what it is going to be about. 'Til then people!
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Saienai