The next day Hiccup woke up alone. He felt around for his dragon but was disappointed when he couldn't find him. He rubbed his eyes and got up. A Deadly Nadder quickly greeted him.
"Where's Toothless?" Hiccup yawned.
"He's gone out with the hunting party." The Nadder replied.
"Did he say when they'd be back?"
"If he told someone, it wasn't me. And I haven't been told by anyone so I don't know."
Hiccup sighed to himself. He began to jump down to the main level of his mountain. He avoided eye contact with any of the dragons he passed and barely said any hellos to them. He met up with his group to continue repairs on the hole. He noticed that everyone was working much slower than usual. He couldn't help but guilty and sick. He got down from his spot and called the group to him.
"Hey everyone." He spoke softly. "Uhm. Take the rest of the day off. In fact, just tell everyone to do the same. I just… I don't." He sighed unhappily. "I'm sorry." He whispered. He walked away stiffly, trying to act normal. As he climbed to his shelf, his hands shook horribly. By the time he reached his home, he could barely pull himself up. He ran to the back and sat. Pulling his knees to his chest. He laid his head down on them.
What happened the night before began to really sink in. He felt hot and had a headache and couldn't stop thinking about the damage he caused. He quietly sobbed into himself.
"Hiccup?" Toothless' familiar voice called for him. Hiccup looked up above his arms. Toothless moved and sat in front of him. "I heard you told everyone to take the day off." Hiccup nodded. "Can I ask why?"
Hiccup put his chin on his arms. "No one was working well. It was slow and obviously everyone is hurting right now. None of them wanted to do anything today. I just thought, if I gave them a break than we can heal. I caused a lot of damage yesterday." Hiccup sighed. "I just don't want to lose this. We fought to get here. We went through so much and now. I don't know what we'd do if something happened. If we had to leave this place. We finally have a home that isn't in danger. And what do I do? Put us all in danger. Get our people in trouble."
Toothless moved next to his mate, allowing him to lean on him. "Hiccup I don't know what you were thinking. And I don't know why you took what I said so seriously. I know that you wanted to prove yourself. But the problem was that you don't have to prove anything to anyone. We lead these people. They look to us for answers. And what do you think it looks like when something like yesterday happens?" Hiccup shrugged his shoulders. "It looks like you're not ready to lead. It's too bad that I know that you are. Right now Hiccup, we just need to show them that we can still be trusted. You're Strong, smart, and very charismatic. It'll be fine."
Hiccup sighed and pushed into his dragon. "I don't feel very strong." He mumbled.
"It'll return. Just give it time. On a happier note we multiply faster than them. We will be able to recover faster."
Hiccup pulled back. "You don't plan to attack them again. Do you?" He whispered. Toothless hummed deep in his throat.
"I hadn't planned on it. Or had even thought about it. Hiccup I will keep my promise to you. I will not attack Berk unless I have a reason to. You are my reason to move forward. And I will do anything to keep it that way. But for now we will recover. And continue to work on our home." Hiccup nodded.
They're days quickly passed and soon the freeze set in.
"Everyone please gather around."Hiccup called. "The year is almost over and we have come a long ways. We've had our highs and we've definitely had some lows. There were days we ate like kings and others we didn't eat at all. But all in all we're doing great. The hole in our home is almost finished being closed up. And I've even heard that many of the ones who decided to move away are doing well too. Overall you should be proud of yourselves. No one could have done this without some help. The trail is still long and for now there is nothing blocking our way.
Tonight the hunting and fishing parties has gone the extra mile. Tonight we feast. And toast to another good year." Hiccup shouted. The dragons erupted with cheering. Hiccup watched as they fled off towards the dedicated eating area. He slowly followed behind the large group.
Toothless snaked up behind his human. "I liked your speech. Short and accurate." Hiccup stumbled but was caught by the Night Fury.
"Toothless!" Hiccup complained. "You startled me. And thank you." He bumped his shoulder into his dragon's. "Do you really think it was that good? I didn't have anything planned. I just said what came to mind and tried to emulate what my dad's speeches sounded like. Powerful and confident."
"Yes, I do think it was a good speech. Did you see how they reacted? They truly believed what you said. As they should. And you're right about us coming a long way. We should be happy. I hope you're right about our future. It would be nice to at least stay the same. We want this to be an escape from the life we had before, not just bring more people into it."
Hiccup nodded. "That would be nice, huh? But you can't say our old place was terrible. Sure a lot of bad memories and some close calls. Right up until we were found by my dad our lives were peaceful. This happened to me while we were there." He gestured to his tail and lightly scales skin. Toothless chuckled at him.
"Of course there were good times Hiccup. But in the end we went through a lot of crap to get where we are. From almost dying, to almost dying, forgetting who I was and who you were, and then almost dying again. So all in all pretty good."
Hiccup laughed. "You're just looking at all the negative. We did what we could and well I think we did the best we could." The two entered the eating area. Joining the rest of their group. They ate well and fell asleep with the rest of the dragons.
