Carried Off: Beloved, a DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon fanfic by Raberba girl
Summary: Hiccup's abduction from Toothless's perspective.
A/N: In this AU, Wanderer, Rainbow Chaser, and Feather Snatcher all survive longer than they do in my other fics; also, Slyfoot is in the Red Death's flock, but he's still a hatchling too young to join the raids yet. (...I don't know who his parents are [yet?], but it's not important [yet?].)
Chapter 1 (rough draft)
BREEDMATES! I was the only only only nightwing for sooooo long, but now I finally found breedmates~!
There is an older male and a young female and a young male. They are with this(our?) big flock of fireskins and spinetails and rock-eaters and two-heads and venomfangs, and they are attacking a human nest. I don't know why they are stealing food from the humans, but humans are monsters and humans are hurting dragons and knocking them out of the sky, so I will help my- I will help!
I fly and shoot like the female nightwing shows me, and then I see that the blades and other hurting things keep coming from that place. I will burn it, and hurting things will stop coming out of it.
Except when I shoot it I hear babies screaming, I rush to rescue them and then realize I did something very stupid because they're not hatchlings, they're cubs. Monster cubs.
They are very small and soft and helpless, they flail in their bed but can't move to run away. The male is scared sad scared sad scared; the female bats my nose with her paw and stops being scared. She likes my nose and tries to bat it again.
I move out of her reach and sniff at her sibling, who wants his parents very much. I lick him and he stops screeching.
Someone rushes in, monster human, roaring at me and brandishing a blade. I will fight him and kill him, except when I get close I realize that he's not hating - the thing his body is screaming is "PROTECTION-TERROR/FURY!"
He is the sire of those two cubs. They are precious to him, he is defending them as fiercely as a mama bear would defend her bear cub. He will be very dangerous to fight if he is protecting precious things.
But now he's different, backing away from me. He's more afraid and desperate now, warbling at me with strange monster sounds, almost coaxing. His cubs are calling for him.
Ohhhh. I understand. He is a most devoted parent - he will lure predators to him and give his body to them so that they will forget about his cubs and they will live. He thinks I want to eat them. He can't be a monster; he is human but he can't be a monster, monsters can't love anyone as much as this brave human loves his babies.
He roars again and charges, but I don't know why he dropped his weapon. He is gathering his offspring into his forelegs, he will carry them away somewhere safe and hide them.
But he doesn't, he sees me and is frightened, he crouches down and shields his cubs beneath him. He has very much love but is not smart at all, I didn't make any threats! I don't want his cubs, but he is protecting them from me anyway.
I investigate this terrified not-monster human. He smells like distress and coal and metal. He mates often and is unhappy often. He smells too much like fire and metal, I think he is bad to make those hurting things. He smells like his cubs and they smell like him - they smell more like him than their dam, he touches them more often than she does. He is like my own sire who loved me very much even when he didn't need to take care of me anymore. I will give this human a name that reminds me of my companion/sire. His flesh feels so nice under my tongue, smooth and soft and rich with scents.
The cubs are upset, the female doesn't like being pinned in the dark and the male wants to be comforted. I want to investigate them, too, but when I try, the human I named Loves-his-children roars at me and shoves me away. Why is he so stupid?! I will not hurt your cubs, you silly human, I just want to talk to them! I try to tell him this, but he is frightened and hides his face from me.
Somebody is roaring, a female monster this time. She and Father-love bellow at each other as if they're talking, Father-love is relieved and worried, the female that I smell is his mate is ANGRY ANGRY ANGRY like a normal monster. She is not a person, so I can kill her; those cubs have their sire who loves them and will take care of them, they don't need their dam.
But maybe Father-love loves his mate, too, because he charges me so that I miss when I try to shoot. He saves his mate from being killed by me.
This human is good to have so much love, he shouldn't be here in a nest with monsters. They are making him bad, maybe it's their fault he makes hurting things to hurt and kill dragons. I will take him away to my good wonderful- ? I will take him away. I(we/Him?) will teach him to be good and love people that deserve to be loved. Maybe we will teach him to be smarter and not be afraid when there's no threat.
I should take his precious things, too, but I can't carry three things all together. I know what I'll do, I'll take Father-love away with me, and when we teach him to be good, then he can come back and rescue his cubs from this monster nest, too. Their dam will take care of them while they wait for him.
I seize my interesting human in my claws. He shrieks and struggles because he is very stupid, but after a while he goes limp and just whimpers quietly. Stop being so scared, Stupid, I won't hurt you!
Except after a long time I think maybe I am hurting him, I don't know how. I'm worried, he's making crying sounds and I can tell his body is distressed, there's something wrong. I have to land and tend to him.
He is still frightened of me when I examine him, but he doesn't fight me or flee. His skin is so soft and fragile but not bleeding. His limbs...there's something a little bit wrong with them, I don't know what, little breakings under the skin that-
Oh. He is so raw with no scales to protect him, only these flimsy useless dead coverings that are even softer than his skin. I just hurt him by carrying him all this way, poor little stupid weak thing! I will feed him so he will be stronger.
I have to go fishing, it's hard to find fish but I do, and I am proud of myself when I bring it back to him but he won't eat it. Even when I make him take a bite, he is disgusted and annoyed and still a little afraid, and he won't eat even though he needs to. He is the most stupid creature I ever met, maybe I was wrong to rescue him. I will bring him to- (Him?) Hmmm. I am confused...I will bring him to...I have to take him- I have to get away...I will fly, we will fly, fly, fly, I want to go back there but I want to go there, too...
...
I am flying... Why am I carrying a human? I was- I was-
What?!
Breedmates, yes, but...I was not their flockmate! Why did I think I was their flockmate?! I was...fighting...alongside them...fighting monsters-
I am carrying a monster.
I was fighting monster humans, helping my breedmates-who-are-not-flockmates, I found human cubs and I found their sire and I am bringing him to my alpha so he won't be a monster anymore, but...
What happened to me?
SKY-KING.
There is a sky-king back there in that territory, she tried to STEAL ME.
HOW DARE SHE TRY TO STEAL ME. I BELONG TO MY GOOD SEA-KING ALPHA WITH MY GOOD FLOCK IN OUR GOOD NEST IN OUR GOOD TERRITORY, I DO NOT BELONG TO ROTTEN SCARY SNEAKY FLOCKLING-STEALING SKY-KINGS!
I still have this human, oops... I stole him. He's a monster so I was not bad to steal him, but he would still be with his little babies if I hadn't stolen him, so I don't think I should drop him down into the ocean so that he dies... I must still take him to Alpha. Alpha will know what to do.
My flockmates greet me and are very interested in the human I have brought to our home.
"He will be another Clever Paws for us?"
"I miss her..."
"Oooohhh, he is her offspring."
"So?"
"Alpha said that parents and offspring are VERY SO MUCH IMPORTANT for humans. If Clever Paws was still here, she would be very much glad to see her cub."
"He's not a cub, he's an adult."
"He has his own cubs now," I say. "If he stays here and stops being scared and stupid, I will bring his cubs here, too."
My human is not just scared, he is so terrified and frantic that I keep thinking he will flee and hide, but he keeps just playing dead. Does he still think we will eat him?
"What's wrong with your human, Nightwing?"
"He is very stupid and thinks he is prey."
My human leaps up and dashes, I think he will hide but no, he's roaring at us and brandishing a stick at us. He is so scared I think I have to make that his new name.
"Stop that, silly." I take him to Alpha. My human sees Alpha and is so horrified and scared that he's not even scared anymore, just heart-sick.
Alpha looks at us. "Clever Paws Valka's child."
Maybe parents and grown-up offspring really are important for humans. I wonder why. "I rescued him from monsters, but something's wrong with him."
Alpha tries to talk to Scared in that strange human way we not-alphas-or-humans can't understand, but Scared is too scared to respond.
"Alpha, what do I do with him?"
"He is too frightened now. Hide him and let him rest, comfort him. When he feels safe, he will tell me."
"Clever Paws wasn't as frightened as this one is."
"Clever Paws wasn't as hurt as this one is."
"I didn't hurt him!" Well, I didn't hurt him on purpose...
"You said monsters hurt him."
Oh. "But he's safe now!"
"He doesn't know that. He thinks we're monsters."
"WHAT?!"
"There is something very bad and wrong with that human nest, I don't know what..."
I carry Scared away even though he squawks at me and struggles. He thinks I'm a monster! That's wrong! I wish he could talk so that I could tell him he's wrong wrong wrong, that he's safe now and I will take care of him and protect him from real monsters.
He is scared of flying and he's scared of me and he's scared of the nest and he's scared of Alpha and he's scared of darkness and he's scared of being alone, he's scared of everything. I think maybe he will calm down when he's somewhere dark and quiet with no one to investigate him and bother him, but he doesn't, he's just scared scared always scared.
"I won't hurt you," I say as I approach, but he tries to flee as if I said 'I will kill you' instead. He curls up and covers his soft weak head with his soft weak forelegs as if that could protect him. How do humans hurt and kill so many of us when they're so soft and small and weak?
I lie down with my human to comfort him, even though of course he's scared of being comforted, too.
But after a long time he finally finally finally is only a little scared instead of a lot scared. He shifts and looks into my eyes. I don't like it, it feels threatening, but somehow I know that he doesn't know he's threatening me.
He makes soft question-sounds, but I don't know what he's asking because he can't talk.
"I don't know what you want. Come here and be comforted, silly." I pull him back and lick him. He makes grieving sounds and then water starts leaking from his eyes, just like Clever Paws did whenever she was Very Sad. "I know you're Very Sad, that's why I'm comforting you! I wish you were not so stupid, you poor little human."
He starts to relax a little, but it's giving-up relaxing, not happy relaxing. He still doesn't feel safe, even though no enemy at all could get past the flock guardians and sneak past our good sea-king alpha and defeat me to hurt him. What is wrong with him that he thinks monsters can still reach him even though he's safe safe safe?!
After a long time, he gets up and says "I will defend myself from you" with his paws even though he can't protect himself with paws that are so tiny and soft. He chitters nervously at me and moves to go outside, I don't know why he wants to go outside when he's scared.
Yes, he is more scared again when he looks outside. He moans and curls up in the dark again. He thinks we are monsters. Poor human thinks he is in a nest full full full of monsters who will hate him and hurt him; no wonder he's so scared. I wish he could talk so he could understand when I tell him that we're people and we have love and he is safe.
To be continued...
Author's Notes: "Clever paws" is the dragon phrase for human hands that comes from Le'letha's fanfic Nightfall.
I honestly don't know what was going through Cloudjumper's head in canon. He knew that Valka had a baby, yet he still took her away from Hiccup anyway?! I have a really hard time trying to understand his motivations in that scene, but I did my best here in this alternate version with Toothless.