Chapter 8: Toothless

Night Fury Island

February 29

After he was sure he had gotten that eel taste out of his mouth, Dusk hurried back to the den where he found Sapphire standing up and looking down at the eggs. Sensing his presence, she looked up at him.

"Did you find out what danger was out there?" she asked.

"I did," replied Dusk, nodding. "But I took care of it and that intruder will never bother us again."

"Well, it looks like you drove that intruder out of here just in time," Sapphire said in relieve.

"How do you mean?" Dusk asked, tilting his head curiously.

Sapphire looked down at the eggs. "The eggs are hatching."

Dusk's face lit up and his ears perked up in excitement. He approached his mate and rubbed his head underneath her chin.

"Now what did I tell you? Didn't I tell you today would be the day?"

"Yes, you did," Sapphire said, rubbing the top of her mate's head. "And I'm so glad you were right."

The two Night Furies looked down at their clutch. The egg in the middle was shaking like mad and the other four around it were shaking a wee bit as well.

Dusk and Sapphire waited and waited, watching all five of their eggs shaking.

Before long, cracks formed around the middle egg's black shell and from within them, bright violet lights. And then…

BOOM!

The very first Night Fury hatchling tumbled across the rocky floor and landed on her back, right at the foot of her new parents.

Dusk and Sapphire looked fondly at their firstly hatched baby – their daughter.

Still lying on her back, the young girl Night Fury slowly opened her eyes – deep sapphire blue like her mother's – and stared up blankly at her parents.

Sapphire lowered her head and licked her daughter's face. The daughter then gurgled and waved her four paws in the air playfully.

"Oh, our little one," Sapphire crooned.

"No, she's not a little one," Dusk insisted, also lowering his head to nuzzle the daughter. "She's a big one."

"Yes, she is a big one," Sapphire agreed, pulling her head back to inspect her daughter.

Then Dusk placed his snout under Big One's back and gently rolled her onto her belly. Big One stood unsteadily on her feet and rubbed her mother's legs in a cat-like manner and again Sapphire lowered her head and rubbed the top of her daughter's head. Dusk also lowered his head to lick Big One's face.

The three Night Furies – the two adults and the baby – then turned towards the other four eggs.

Big One looked up curiously at her mother.

"All the rest of your siblings are going to be here soon, Big One," Sapphire assured her.

Before long, violet cracks zigzagged across one of the eggs and then…

BOOM!

The second Night Fury baby flew about a foot from the exploding shell and Sapphire lifted her paw and caught it.

As she lowered the second born, she could see that it was a boy. The boy opened his eyes which were dark forest green like Dusk's and looked up at his mother.

"Hello there," Sapphire greeted.

As if in response, the boy began to nibble at her paw. Surprised, Sapphire tried to pull her paw away but the boy held on tightly to his mother's paw with his tiny round sharp teeth.

Dusk gently took the biting son by the nape of his neck, gently pulled him away from Sapphire's paw and placed him on the ground. But as soon as he did, the second baby began to nibble on Dusk's paw as well.

Dusk's eyes widened in surprise but he relaxed. "Well, aren't you quite the biter?"

Big One approached her brother, Biter and chirped in an important sort of way. Biter stopped nibbling and cowered slightly at his big sister. Big One nodded as if to say, "That's better."

The quickly growing family turned to watch the rest of the eggs hatch. Similar to the previous two, the third egg shook until violet cracks formed around it.

BOOM!

The third Night Fury baby rolled across the floor until he bumped into Biter, knocking him down on his back. Biter stared at his sibling which happened to be another boy who was lying right on his stomach.

The second boy Night Fury opened his eyes – also sapphire blue – and stared eye-to-eye with his brother. Biter lifted his front paws up at his brother. The brother looked at Biter's paws and slowly placed his own front paws against them. This made Biter chirp cheerfully and the brother began to chirp cheerfully back.

The third hatched Night Fury stood up clumsily and hopped off Biter's belly, right at the foot of Sapphire's paws. He lifted his right front paw in front of her and Sapphire lifted her much larger front right paw and placed it against her second son's tiny one.

"You have such soft paws," she commented.

Biter nibbled Soft Paws' ear affectionately and Soft Paws batted him with his paw playfully. The brothers' playtime was interrupted by the violet lights forming from within the cracks of the fourth egg and the whole family kept their eyes, both sapphire blue and forest green, on it.

Just two more eggs to go.

BOOM!

The fourth Night Fury baby went flying a foot across the floor and as if by instinct, landed on her paws. She stood perfectly straight for about a second or two before her baby paws wobbled and she landed on her belly with her paws stretched out nice and long.

Dusk leaned forward and gently rubbed his second daughter's nose and the daughter opened her eyes. Her eyes were also forest green. She let out a happy cry and rubbed her nose against her father's again.

"You're such a nose rubber," Dusk complimented.

"Yes, a nose rubber," Sapphire agreed, lowering her head at the daughter.

Noserubber nuzzled her mother as well. As Big One approached her, the two sisters bumped each other's noses as well. Then Biter approached and gently nibbled her ear. Noserubber didn't seem to mind having her ear nibbled on, she just nuzzled her first oldest brother. She also did the same with Soft Paws as well as batting their front paws against each other's.

All eyes then turned to the final egg which was still shaking. Cracks formed on a few corners of the egg and violet lights emitted from it and then…

BOOM!

The final Night Fury hatchling was sent flying a wee bit higher than the others. Sapphire arched out her neck and the fifth baby landed on her snout.

Lowering her head and holding out her paws, she gently allowed the fifth baby to slide slowly off her nose, hind legs first into the palms of her paws. He was lying on his belly, cradled in his mother's paws by the time he slid off her snout.

Lifting his head, he opened his mouth revealing a forked pink tongue and two rows of soft, pink gums and yawned. After closing his mouth, he looked up at Sapphire and opened his eyes. They were also green but they were not dark forest green like Dusk's or Biter's or Noserubber's. They were a much lighter, brighter shade like limes.

Sapphire softly licked her third son's cheek. "It's all right, little one. Your family is right here."

The fifth Night Fury baby opened his wide mouth again, showing off those gums again and let out a happy roar.

"Well, aren't you a toothless little fellow?" Dusk commented, lowering his head beside the youngest hatchling.

The fifth baby roared again showing off those gums of his.

"Yes, you are toothless," Sapphire agreed.

Both Sapphire and Dusk opened their mouths revealing their round sharp teeth. Then they both retracted their teeth deep into their gums and they looked toothless as well.

Toothless tilted his head curiously and opened his mouth again. With all his might, he retracted his own tiny teeth out of his gums, no longer looking like he had no teeth.

The four siblings approached their youngest brother and Toothless looked at them curiously.

"Toothless, these are your brothers and sisters," Sapphire introduced. "That's Big One, and here's Biter and he's Soft Paws and she's Noserubber."

Toothless continued looking at his siblings, still unsure what to make of them. His siblings opened up their wide mouths to show off their own teeth and in unison all four of them retracted their teeth into their gums. This made Toothless roar happily again and retracted his teeth back into his mouth. Now the whole Night Fury family was showing off their gums.

Standing up on his wobbly legs, Toothless stepped out of Sapphire's paws and approached his siblings. Big Paw pounced on him and the brother and sister were rolling about playfully on the rocky floor. Biter approached and nibbled Toothless' ear affectionately causing Toothless to bat at him also affectionately.

Seeing his youngest brother lift his paw, Soft Paws lifted his own paw and pressed it against Toothless'. Then Noserubber nuzzled against his nose and Toothless nuzzled her back.

Dusk and Sapphire leaned against each other, watching fondly as their young ones played together. Then Dusk's ears perked up as an idea popped into his head.

"Young ones!" he grunted.

The tiny Night Furies stopped playing and five pairs of eyes – two sapphire blues, two forest greens and one lime green – stared up at him.

Dusk tilted his head towards the den's exit and said, "Come with me. I want to show you something."

At the same time, the five baby dragons practically leaped to their feet and tried to head for the direction their father tilted his head towards but because they were still so close together and because their baby feet were still on the wobbly side, they all tumbled.

With their eyes wide with slight alarm, Sapphire and Dusk lowered their heads to make sure their hatchlings weren't hurt. Fortunately, they weren't, just a little disoriented.

Another idea popped into Dusk's head and he moved his tail towards the fallen babies. The babies looked curiously at their father's long spiked tail and the two fins attached on either side of it.

"Climb on," Dusk encouraged.

Biter and Soft Paws were the first to hop onto the flapped fins of Dusk's tail. Dusk lifted his tail to the level of his back and the two sons climbed on top. Sapphire used her teeth to pick up Noserubber by the scruff of her neck and placed her between her two brothers.

As Dusk lowered his tail again, Big One nudged her youngest brother onto the tail before joining him. Dusk lifted his tail and Big One and Toothless joined the rest of their siblings.

With all five hatchlings on his back, Dusk stepped towards the exit with Sapphire right behind him.

Once they were all outside, Dusk looked over his shoulder towards the hatchlings and then looked back to their surroundings.

"This, young ones, is the world we live in," he announced. "Feel free to explore it."

"As long as you keep close to us," Sapphire added.

Dusk lowered himself to the ground and all five hatchlings climbed off and four of them took off in a different direction to check out the first things they saw in the world outside the den they were born in.

Big One saw all the trees surrounding the den and she sauntered over to one, turned around, stood on her hind legs and scratched her back against the bark. Biter approached a small tree branch and began to nibble on it. Suddenly, his eyes popped open and he made spitting noises, his tongue hanging out.

Soft Paws looked down curiously at a pile of slushy snow and gently patted it with his paws. It felt cold and wet but also very good. Chirping happily, he pranced all around the pile. As for Noserubber, she discovered a small stone half buried in the earth. Rubbing her nose against it, she sniffed at it and then rubbed against it in a cat-like manner.

Toothless just stayed where he was and kept his head lifted up. He didn't see any of the things his siblings saw and checked out. In fact, the very first thing he saw when he was carried out of the den was…was…Actually he didn't know what to call it. All he knew was that it was hovering over him and his family. It was darkly colored like his and his family's scales and sprinkled with tiny white dots.

Still keeping his head lifted, Toothless stood on his hind legs to get a better look at the thing high above him. But his knees shook and buckled. With a squeal, he fell backwards, landing on his back. But he didn't care, he just couldn't keep his eyes off that wonderful, beautiful…whatever it was above him.

His view was blocked by the concerned faces of his parents. He moved his head away from them to try to see the thing above them again.

Looking up and then back down at Toothless, Sapphire said, "I see you've discovered the sky, Toothless."

Toothless eyes lit up in awe. "The sky"? Was that what the thing was called? Awkwardly, rolling onto his belly and standing up, Toothless looked up at the thing his mother called "the sky".

"That's where we dragons fly," Dusk added.

At the word "fly", Toothless looked at this father curiously.

"Would you like to learn how to fly, son?" Dusk asked.

Crooning, Toothless tilted his head and nodded.

Sapphire shook her head good-naturedly. "He just hatched and already you want to teach him how to fly."

"Well, flying is what we dragons do best," said Dusk proudly. "If they're gonna fly, they might as well do it now." Then he let out a bellow. "Young ones, come here!"

The rest of the Night Fury babies stopped what they were doing and trotted over to their parents and brother.

"Your mother and I have decided it's high time for you how to fly," Dusk explained.

All hatchling's eyes lit up with awe and curiosity, similar to Toothless.

Sapphire unfolded her wings and moved her head left and right. "These are our wings. They help us to fly."

The five hatchlings all unfolded their wings and looked curiously at them.

"Next you flap them," Sapphire continued, gently flapping her wings.

The hatchlings followed suit. At first Toothless was flapping as gently as his mom and siblings but he was enjoying the feeling so much that he started flapping much quicker. As a result, he started to go around in circles even with his feet planted to the ground. He tried to stop but he just couldn't and he ended up blowing a large amount of air which almost blew his siblings away.

Finally, Sapphire had to place her paw gently on Toothless' back which finally made him stop.

"But not so fast," she instructed gently.

"Next you take off into the air like this," Dusk explained, crouching to the ground before lifting himself up a few feet in the air.

Imitating his father's moves, Toothless also crouched down to the ground and lifted himself about a foot off the ground, flapping his wings to keep himself lifted.

Next Big One crouched down and lifted herself up a foot off the ground followed by Noserubber. Then Biter and Soft Paws did the same thing. Sapphire was the last to take off over the ground, keeping a close eye on her little ones.

A new feeling suddenly came to Toothless as he flapped his wings and hovered above the ground. This thing that they were doing – flying – it felt so wonderful. And he loved it. He wanted to go higher.

Looking up at the big, dark sky above them, he flapped his wings faster and felt himself lift higher and higher into the air, drawing ever so closer to that beautiful sky.

"Toothless, come back here!" his mother called.

But Toothless didn't want to come back, he wanted to go higher and higher. The higher he flew, the closer the sky became. This flying thing felt so good. So good! He let out a series of roars to express his joy.

"Young ones, wait!" Sapphire called.

It was then that Toothless looked around and saw that all his brothers and sisters and joined him in flying higher and they too were roaring with joy. Soon their parents also flapped up to where they hovered, Sapphire keeping close watch on all of them. Toothless noticed that she seemed to be keeping an extra close watch on him being that he the youngest as well as the highest.

"Now stay close, all of you," Sapphire warned.

"That's right, stay close and follow me," Dusk called out. And with that he hovered over the treetops.

The rest of the family followed him.

"Now, do as I do," Dusk said as he glided over the treetops.

Watching what their father was doing, the five tiny Night Furies kept their wings still as they glided over the pointed tree tops, still covered in late winter snow. Sapphire kept right behind them the entire time.

Soft Paws let out a high-pitched roar and flew smack into the top of a pine tree, causing the snow that had covered it to sprinkle right off towards the ground. Soft Paws shook his head and Sapphire, Big One and Biter approached to see if he was all right.

Soft Paws grunted, a little dazed but just fine. Sapphire and Biter smiled in relief while Big One just shook her head in a rather annoyed but good-naturedly.

Noserubber glided over to Dusk and flapped her wings as she hovered in front of his face. She rubbed her nose against his and Dusk purred relaxingly.

Toothless just couldn't keep his eyes off of all that surrounded him and his family. All around him were the tops of trees and the big dark sky seemed closer and bigger than ever. Why it seemed to go on forever. The tiny, white dots covered the entirety of the sky along with clouds that were dark as well but slightly lighter than the sky itself and now he could make out the full moon from up above them. The large white circle seemed to light up the dark sky even more.

He just had to fly up to it!

With his tongue hanging out of his mouth, Toothless flapped away from his family and headed towards the spectacular sky even higher.

"Toothless!" Sapphire and Dusk called out together.

Toothless ignored them. He just wanted to keep flying, he never wanted to stop.

Closing his eyes, began to spin around in circles as he went higher and higher and higher. Finally, he paused and opened his eyes and saw that he seemed so close to the moon now. He relished the sight of the large, white circle in front of him reflecting in his eyes before he fell backwards and let out a long, happy squeal.

"Toothless!" he heard Sapphire call out again.

Flipping himself over, he glided rather quickly through the air before bumping into something: Sapphire's snout.

Shaking his ears, Toothless chirped happily at his mother. In response, Sapphire looked at him with a sort of embarrassed look but chirped happily back at him.

Still flapping his wings, Toothless observed his surroundings. Looking down he could make out the trees, the snowy meadows and pond which looked small from up above. He looked at the large body of water surrounding their island. Like the sky, the sea seemed to go on forever as well.

But none of these sights were more beautiful than the sky with its dark color, its fluffy clouds, the tiny white stars and the big, round moon.

Toothless let out a breath of awe.

"Yes, it is a wonderful sight," Sapphire crooned.

Just then, Dusk and the other four hatchlings flew over to them. The whole Night Fury family hovered in a circle, flapping their bat-like wings.

"Young ones, watch this," Dusk advised.

Lifting his head towards the sky, he drew his head back a bit before moving it forwards, opened his mouth and released a plasma blast. The bright violet fireball exploded above them like a firework. The hatchlings cooed in amazement and they could feel the heat from the exploding heat around them.

Turning to his mate, Dusk nodded encouragingly. Nodding back, Sapphire lifted her head and released her own plasma blast which shot up above them and exploded as well. Again the hatchlings exhaled in amazement.

The hatchlings looked at each other and, as if thinking the same thing, nodded and lifted their heads upwards to the sky. They too released their own plasma blasts but because they were still babies, the blasts were more like tiny sparks and as they exploded, they made very tiny popping noises instead of the loud crackling pops like their parents' blasts.

Toothless seemed especially disappointed by the way his own blasts were so tiny and pathetic. Sensing his disappointement, Sapphire nuzzled his cheek.

"Don't worry, your blasts will get better as you grow up," she crooned.

"Of course, it will," Dusk agreed. Turning to the other young ones, he added, "All of your blasts will get better and better. All right now, follow me everyone."

As he started off again, the rest of the Night Fury family formed a single line behind him – first Big One, then Biter and Soft Paws, Noserubber and Toothless with Sapphire in the back of the line. The seven Night Furies flew in single file over the trees and straight for the sea.

At first they glided over the seawater but then they all flew towards it and soon they were just a couple of inches right over it. Now that they were so close, the dragons could see their reflections against the water's dark, glassy surface. Toothless looked down at his own reflection and could make out his lime-green eyes.

"Again!" Dusk called out and released another plasma blast right.

It exploded into purple flames as the whole family flew right through it. Despite their bodies already warmed up by their internal heat, the Furies enjoyed the feeling of the blast's heat.

Chirping happily, Toothless also released his own tiny blast which exploded into sparks in front of him. As he flew through the itsy-bitsy sparks, he could only feel bits and pieces of heat from them. But no matter, at least he was good at flying.

Tilting downwards a bit, he stuck the tip of his wing into the water and it glided like a shark's dorsal fin as he flew in a straight line. Enjoying this feeling, Toothless started to go faster and faster….

But perhaps he went a little too fast because the next thing he knew, he plunged headfirst into the water!

Toothless' eyes popped open as cold, salty water filled his nostrils and mouth. Flapping his wings frantically, he made his way to the surface. He continued to flap, desperately trying to escape this wet, watery prison and he let out a series of shrieks for anyone to come to his rescue.

Luckily for him, Sapphire swooped down and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck with her teeth. Toothless stopped flapping and shrieking as his mother flew upwards a few feet above the water.

Dusk, Big One, Biter, Soft Paws and Noserubber flew right up to them with concerned looks, obviously worried about Toothless' safety.

Looking at Dusk in the eye, Sapphire tilted her head back towards the island and Dusk nodded, understanding. They had done enough flying for one night.

"Come along, young ones," Dusk instructed as he started flying back to the island.

Big One, Biter, Soft Paws and Noserubber followed their father. Saphire kept close behind them, still carrying Toothless in her mouth.

The seven black dragons flew over the treetops all the way towards the entrance to the den. All six dragons landed on the ground and Sapphire gently placed Toothless down. Toothless looked up admirably at his mother before following his siblings and father into the den. He loved the feeling of his mother's presence close behind him.

After Toothless sat down with his brothers and sisters, Sapphire walked around them and stood next to Dusk so now both parents were facing them.

"Now my young ones, watch this," Sapphire advised.

Walking in a circle, Sapphire gently exhaled a low purple flame on the ground and stepped on the tiny flames, dousing them. Soft Paws batted his paw on the spot his mother had breathed the flame on and chirped happily, realizing how warm and good it felt.

"Now, all of you, try it," Sapphire continued encouragingly.

Chirping happily, all five Night Fury hatchlings walked in circles and breathed out tiny sparks on the ground before jumping on them. In all the commotion, they ended up knocking over each other and they all laughed their little dragon laughs. Sapphire and Dusk couldn't help but laugh their dragon laughs as well.

"Now all of you settle down," Sapphire instructed gently. "You all need your rest for another day tomorrow."

"And for more flying,'' Dusk added.

"Yes, and for more flying," Sapphire laughed good-naturedly.

Lying down on the warmed ground, Sapphire tilted her head. "Come on, time for bed."

Standing up, the baby Night Furies trotted over towards their mother and snuggled up against her belly. With a serene expression, Sapphire wrapped her tail protectively around her babies.

While the rest of his siblings were already drifting off into a peaceful sleep, only Toothless remained awake and he watched as his father breathed a low flame warming up his spot right next to his mate and little ones before lying down as well. He also curled his tail around his mate and rested his head against his forepaws.

Looking towards the entrance of the cave, Toothless could see the moonlight shining against the ground and trees outside. He just couldn't wait to go flying back up in that wonderful sky again.

Then he stood up from the spot where his siblings rested and walked over to the front of his mother. Sapphire lifted her head and stared at her youngest son, curious to know why he was still up. Toothless then snuggled up cat-like against his mother's chest and rested his head and paw against her forepaw.

As he drifted off to sleep at last, Toothless wore a relaxed expression as he felt his mother's head lean gently against his body.

…..

Toothless' parents and all of his siblings also make short appearances in my first fanfic, "How to Live Without Dragons". If you hadn't already read it, I suggest you do – that is, if you want to.