Chapter 9: Feeding Time

Berk

March 3

Gobber tapped his (only) index finger against Stoick's right foot.

"Ow! Gobber!" Stoick complained.

Three days had passed since Hiccup's birth and he, Stoick and Valka were still bedridden. Each day, Gobber, Valencia and Gothi had come to their house to look after them and that's exactly what they were doing now. Well, at least Valencia and Gothi were doing a good job looking after the Haddocks. Gobber's way of looking after his best friend was…on the questionable side.

"What?" Gobber asked in his defense. "I'm just checking to see if your foot still feels sore. That's what my mother always did whenever I had sore feet." He glanced down awkwardly at his good foot and wooden foot. "Well, back when I had both feet anyway. Heh heh."

He reached over to tap against Stoick's left foot.

"Ow!" Stoick said and glared at his friend.

"Um, Gobber, maybe instead of tapping on Stoick's feet to see if they're still sore, just ask him if they still feel sore," Valencia suggested.

"All right, Valencia, you're right," Gobber smiled sheepishly. "Stoick, do your feet still feel sore."

"Yes, they do," Stoick said, still glaring.

Sure enough, his feet did still feel sore. But over the last three days, the swelling had decreased and the bruises on the feet were fading as were the bruises on his arms. But it was still going to take some time for the bruise on his chest caused by the red Monstrous Nightmare's tail to fade away.

"Perhaps you'd better let a professional doctor tend to Stoick's injuries," Valencia continued, gesturing to Gothi.

"Of course, of course," Gobber nodded. "Go right ahead, Gothi."

Gothi nodded and proceeded to rub a damp cloth against Stoick's bruised feet.

Stoick closed his eyes and sighed relaxingly. "Ah, that's better, Gothi, thank you."

Valka, in the meantime, was paying no attention to any of this. She kept her mind on feeding her new baby son. She had Hiccup cradled against her chest and was desperately trying to get him to suckle.

"Please, baby, you must to eat something," she said quietly.

But Hiccup pulled his head back and made a fussy noise.

Stoick's relaxed look was replaced by a concerned one as he looked over at his wife and son. "What's the trouble, Val?"

"I'm trying to get Hiccup to eat but he just won't do it," Valka answered. "I don't know why."

"Maybe he's just not hungry right now," Stoick said.

"That's the trouble," Valka said. "He never seems to be hungry."

"He's eaten before," Valencia pointed out.

"But he doesn't seem to eat enough," Valka replied. "He nurses for a short time then pulls away."

The couple was interrupted by the sound of Gothi tapping the bottom of her staff against the floor.

"It appears to me that Gothi has something to say," Gobber said.

"Fire away, Gothi," Stoick said.

The Elder nodded and proceeded to do her usual writing on the floor. Gobber looked down at the writing then looked up and translated:

"'About Hiccup not seeming to be hungry and eating enough, that's very common with early babes. Unlike most babes, they have very little appetite and tend to eat less'."

"But if he keeps refusing to eat, he'll starve," Valka said, her heart sinking. "Oh, I knew I should've held him in. I don't care if I had died. Better me than him anyway."

"Oh, Valka, I wish you wouldn't talk like that," Valencia said sadly.

"And you do remember Gothi warning you that if you had tried to hold him in, Hiccup would've died too, right?" Gobber pointed out.

"Gobber!" Stoick scolded.

"Sorry," Gobber said sheepishly.

"Let me handle this," Stoick insisted. "Bedridden or not, I'm still the Chief and my son's father." He leaned towards Valka and Hiccup and said softly, "Hiccup?"

Hiccup looked up at his father and the sound of his voice.

"It's okay, Hiccup. Your daddy's right here," Stoick continued.

He held out his thumb towards the baby. Hiccup lifted his grape-sized hand to grasp his father's thumb but Stoick pulled his hand away before he could clasp onto it.

"I won't let you hold my thumb until you eat for your mother," Stoick said, now sounding stern. "If you're going to become the Viking we all want you to be, you've got to eat and then you've got to learn how to fight and use your weapons."

Valka suddenly cracked a smile and burst into laughter.

"What's so funny, Val?" Stoick demanded.

"There's no need to get ahead of ourselves, Stoick," Valka replied. "He's only three days old after all."

Stoick stared at his wife with an annoyed look for a moment then softened as he looked down at Hiccup and said, "But in the meantime, you should at least eat your breakfast to help you grow big and strong."

But Hiccup just continued looking at his father. Then Stoick had an idea and began to sing softly:

"You'll grow big and strong every day, my son. But in order to do that, you must eat your breakfast."

Then Valencia joined in: "Someday, Hiccup, you'll become the greatest hero in all of Berk. But first you must eat for your family."

Before long, even Valka began to sing as she rubbed the back of Hiccup's head.

"Eat for me, Hiccup and then you will grow big and strong like your father said."

"And I know that I'll be right, Hiccup," Stoick sang. "I'll keep believing in you if you keep nursing for your mother and me. Is that a deal?"

"Eat up, Hiccup," Gobber sang. "Eat up or you'll grow up to be nothing but skin and bones."

Gobber's lyrics caused Stoick shoot his friend an annoyed look.

"Okay, I'll shut up," Gobber sang, looking away with a nervous smile.

While everyone else was singing, Gothi softly tapped the bottom of her staff on the floor rhymatically like a drum.

As if understanding what his family was trying to tell him, Hiccup leaned over and began to nurse.

"That's it, Hiccup, that's it," Stoick said proudly, holding out his thumb which Hiccup happily latched his fingers onto while he ate.

"Thank you, baby, thank you," Valka said in relief. She looked up at her loved ones. "And thank you, Stoick, Mom, Gothi and Gobber."

"No problem-o, Val," Gobber said kindly.

"It's a pleasure to help, sweetheart," Valencia said.

"That's what families are for, dear," Stoick said.

Hiccup nursed for a good, healthy amount of time until he was ready for a well-deserved nap, still keeping his grip tight on Stoick's thumb.

"Shhh," Stoick and Valka whispered, holding fingers up to their lips as they looked at Valencia, Gobber and Gothi.

"Right," Gobber whispered. "I'll just go downstairs and read a nice, quiet book."

"But you hate reading," Stoick pointed out.

"Yes, but it's the only thing I can do without interrupting the little nipper's nap."

Gothi scribbled runes on the floor.

"Gothi says she's going off to check on the other expecting moms on the island and she'll be back to check on you all this afternoon," Gobber said.

"Thank you, Gothi," Stoick said.

Gothi nodded and then she and Gobber headed down the stairs together.

"I think I'll take a little rest myself," Valencia said, sitting down in a stool opposite of the bed.

She closed her eyes, placed a hand to her forehead and heaved a heavy sigh.

"Mom, are you all right?" Valka asked, becoming worried again.

"Yeah, Valencia, I notice you seem a little pale," Stoick added, also worried.

Valencia looked up, cracked a smile and laughed (which sounded forced). "Oh, don't you two worry about it. I'm just a little tired from taking care of you and Hiccup these past three days. Once I rest up, I'll be just fine."

Stoick and Valka looked at each other, their worried expressions still vacant. They weren't quite sure they believed what Valencia told them.

…

Night Fury Island

March 3

On the edge of their island home overlooking the ocean perched the Night Fury family.

Dusk sat on a rock keeping watch over his family with Noserubber sitting right beside him. Toothless and Big One sat side-by-side, looking up at her mother expectantly. A little ways from them, Biter and Soft Paws were playfully having a round of tug-of-war with a tree branch.

"Biter, Soft Paws, come over here please!" Sapphire called.

The brothers glanced up at their mother for a second then resumed their game.

"Sons! Listen to your mother!" Dusked called a little more firmer than Sapphire.

Biter and Soft Paws looked up again with cringed looks at the sound of their father's firm call. They groaned and looked down sadly at their branch but they obediently placed it on the ground and trotted over to join their siblings and mother.

"You'd better join your siblings as well, Noserubber," Dusk warbled, looking down at his second daughter.

Noserubber rubbed the side of her head against her father's leg and hopped down from the rock and sat along with her sister and brothers in a row.

"Today, you will all be learning how to catch your own fish," Sapphire explained, looking out over the water before them.

The five youngsters looked out at the water uneasily.

"And your mother and I will take turns swimming right beside you as we show you how it's done," Dusk assured them from his perch.

"Big One, you and I will go first," Sapphire encouraged.

Big One started to approach the edge when Noserubber skidded in front of her and nuzzled her. Then she stood on her hind legs to nuzzle her mother. Then Big One and Sapphire stood by side-by-side at the edge and dived into the water together.

The four other Night Fury babies walked over to the edge and watched the dark figures of their mother and sister swim away from them.

"Don't worry, young ones," Dusk crooned reassuringly. "Your mother will make sure nothing will happen to her or your sister."

The young Night Furies sat near the ledge waiting for their mom and sister to return. About a while later, they both rose up from the water and landed right on the ledge beside them. Big One had a large, silver trout between her teeth, a proud look on her face.

After that, Dusk accompanied Biter when it was his turn. Then Sapphire went along with Soft Paws. Then when it was Noserubber's turn, Dusk went with her. With every young one's turn, the remaining young ones watched anxiously for their sibling and parent to return. Before her turn, Noserubber made sure to nuzzle her older brothers and parents before they left. As they waited for each sibling and parent to return they could hear high-pitched sounds coming from under the water and they thought they saw purple lights shimmering underneath the surface as well. But it didn't take long for all four young ones and parents to successfully return safe and sound along with the fish they had caught.

"It's your turn now, Toothless," Sapphire crooned to her lastly-hatched son.

Toothless looked towards the water a little below the ledge and stepped back nervously with a whine. He hadn't forgotten his first encounter with sea when he had accidentally flew too close to it. But he was getting very hungry and the smell of the fish his siblings caught was making his tummy growl something awful.

Sapphire lovingly wrapped her wing around the young one and pulled him close. "I'll be keeping close to you the whole time."

"Promise?" Toothless murmured questioningly.

Sapphire nodded. "Promise."

"You can do it, Toothless!" Big One cheered.

"Go, Toothless!" Biter roared.

"Catch a fish!" Soft Paws encouraged.

"We love you!" Noserubber purred.

"Go on, son," Dusk warbled.

If his family believed in him, maybe he should do it.

"I'll do it," Toothless warbled to his mother.

"All right, let's go then," Sapphire said.

Sapphire kept her wing around Toothless as they approached the ledge. Looking down at the crystal blue water waiting to swallow him up, Toothless took a step back.

"Don't even think about what happened before," Sapphire advised him. "Think about what's to happen next."

Toothless nodded. "I'm ready."

"Together now," Sapphire crooned.

And with that, Toothless and Sapphire crouched down and dove into the water together.

Toothless kept his eyes squeezed shut as he entered the cold, wet world. Even with his internal dragon heat, he could still feel the chill of the water around him. He opened his eyes a slit for a moment but opened them wide in surprise. He could see surprisingly well underwater almost as well as he could see in the dark. And it didn't look so bad underwater. It wasn't the sky but at least there were some good things about it like the flowing green plants waving about from the sand and some shells and pebbles on the sand. Toothless looked at his mother in wonder and Sapphire tilted her head encouragingly.

As they swam side-by-side, Sapphire turned to her young son. "Let me show you what your father and I taught your brothers and sisters, Toothless."

She opened her mouth and a high-pitched sound emitted. It was the same high-pitched sound he kept hearing when his siblings went for a turn in fishing. Along with the sound, some purple waves shimmied out in front of them. So those were the purple lights that he saw beneath the surface!

"Now you try it," Sapphire encouraged.

"Okay, Mom." Toothless opened his mouth and he too released the high sound and purple waves. "But why do I have to do it?"

"Just keep doing it and see what happens," Sapphire replied. "And be sure to do it in each direction around you."

Toothless did as he was told. Turning in every direction around him, he released the high sound and purple lights. And every time he did, the purple waves shimmied away from them. But then, when he did it again, something different happened: the waves seemed to come right back to him.

"Mom, did you see that?" Toothless roared excitedly.

"Yes, yes, I did," Sapphire warbled, also excited.

Toothless released the waves again and instead of shimmying away, they returned right back to him. It was as though the waves had bounced off of something a few feet away from them. And he was certain that something had to be a fish!

"Let's check it out!" Toothless roared, turning to his mother.

And Toothless swam forward with Sapphire close behind. As they swam further and further, they could see a school of…

"Fish!" Toothless and Sapphire cried.

Yes, it was fish they saw. A school of large, silver-colored trout!

Without waiting another second, Toothless swam towards the school and snapped his jaws at them, causing the fish to scatter. Toothless managed to latch his teeth onto the lower part of one fish's tail but it easily slipped away. Toothless glared after the fish as it swam away.

"Well, I didn't expect you to catch it the first time," Sapphire said, swimming over to her son. "Let's try again. But this time, try to time your attacks carefully. Come, let's wait and watch behind this rock."

Toothless nodded and followed his mother as they ducked behind a rock. The two of them watched as the trout joined together again. Toothless' lime-green eyes flashed in an amused, cocky sort of way as the trout resumed their swimming, thinking they were safe at last. He looked at Sapphire who nodded approvingly.

"Do it."

Toothless swam away from his hiding place and this time, instead of going straight towards the fish, he swam right underneath them and then timing it just right, he swam upwards with his mouth wide open.

Then he clamped his teeth against the underbelly of one of the fish and kept swimming upwards with the prize between his teeth as the rest of the fish scattered away. The caught trout squirmed as it tried to free itself from its predator but Toothless had an idea.

Toothless flew upwards to the surface, released the fish for a second then released a violet plasma blast right at it. After the blast struck it, the fish squirmed one more time then stopped moving completely.

It fell limply back into Toothless' teeth and the young Night Fury splashed back into the water. Toothless lifted his head above the water with his trout still between his teeth. A moment later, Sapphire's head popped out of the water, pride flashing in her dark blue eyes.

"I knew you could do it," she crooned. "Come, let's show your father and silbings your success."

She carefully clamped her own teeth onto the fish's head and helped Toothless carry it all the way back to the ledge where the rest of the Fury family was waiting for them.

Pride was also flashing in Dusk's dark green eyes and the brothers and sisters were bucking, bouncing, flapping their wings and roaring excitedly for their brother.

Sapphire and Toothless leapt back onto the ledge. Toothless placed his paw on top of his trout and lifted his chin up with pride.

"You all caught your first fish today, young ones and now you may eat," Dusk warbled.

And so Toothless started to help himself to his trout. For the past three days, he had eaten the fish his parents caught for him and his siblings and they all tasted good. But he thought this fish tasted extra good because he had caught it all by himself. His siblings were helping themselves to the fish they had caught and from the looks on their faces, they seemed to be thinking the same thing about their own fish.

After all the fish had been eaten, Sapphire wrapped her finned tail around all five of her young ones and nuzzled the tops of their heads proudly.

"I'm so proud of you all."