Here you go people, the next part. There is a little question for you at the bottom, I am very interested in your answer. But please, read the chapter first!

Enjoy!

The Adventurous Adventures of Hiccup and Wrenlou

Finding Night Fury Island, Part VI

'You did what!?'

Hiccup glanced over at Wrenlou. The boy was staring at him with utter disbelief written all over his face.

'I... eh... I shot him down...'

'You... shot... him down... why would you even do that!'

'Well... eh... I... you see, I was...'

'Come on, spit it out. Why would you shoot down a Night Fury, then help it to fly again?'

'Oh gods... okay. Berk is at war with the dragons.'

'At war? But how...'

'Look, I can't tell you the story if you keep interrupting me.'

'Sorry.' Wrenlou mumbled.

'Right. So we're at war. And I was trying to prove to my dad that I could be a real viking.'

'Wait... you weren't a real viking before?'

Hiccup turned his head away, staring at the plaza below. Then he took a deep breath. 'Not the way my father wanted me to be. I'm way too small for a viking. But I really don't want to talk about that.'

Wrenlou nodded, running a hand through his black hair, spiking it in every direction. Hiccup chuckled at the sight.

'Anyway, I wanted to make my father proud, so the last dragon raid I went out, even if I wasn't supposed to, with this thing I invented. A sort of catapult and wheelbarrow combined, and I went to a hill. There I waited. I hit him by chance really. It was the middle of the night and I couldn't see a thing, but I hit him. But no one would believe me and I went to look for him myself the day after.'

'No one believed you shot down a freaking Night Fury? Man, are they stupid.'

'Yeah. I went looking for him, which wasn't easy, but I found him. And when I did, I... I wanted to kill him, to take his heart to my father, but I couldn't. I couldn't do it. 300 years and I'm the first viking who wouldn't kill a dragon.'

'Why not?'

'I... I'm not sure... I looked in his eyes and saw my fear reflected in them. I looked at him, and saw myself. So I set him free. At that moment I had no idea what had happened to his tail. He could have killed me, right there on the spot, but he didn't. He just roared in my face and took off.'

'That was lucky. I know a few dragons who would have bitten your head clean off.'

'I know, I couldn't believe it myself. Anyway, when I got home, my dad announced that he would go look for the dragons nest one last time before the ice set in, and that I was to start dragon training in the morning.'

'Dragon training? What's that?'

'It's basically where we learn how to kill dragons. I tried to talk to him, to tell him that I couldn't kill dragons, but as usual, he didn't listen. So the next day, I went to dragon training. There I learned that dragons supposedly always go for the kill. That got me thinking. Toothless could have killed me. He didn't. Why was that if dragons were all such ferocious killers? I went back to the place I had last seen him, went in the direction he flew off to, and found him stuck in some cove. He was grounded because of his tail, and starving, so the next day I brought him some food. He approached, tentatively, and wouldn't come closer until I had thrown away my dagger. After I gave him the fish, he wanted more, but I didn't have more. And suddenly I found myself backed up against a rock with half a regurgitated fish in my lap and a dragon eyeing me expectingly.'

'He made you eat it, didn't he?'

Hiccup nodded, surprised. 'He seemed contend with one bite, but he made me swallow it. The taste of raw fish...'

'Don't start. Snowflake does that all the time. I recently got her to roast it for me, but at first...' He shuddered.

Hiccup smiled. 'After that I went back every day and gradually he started to trust me. He would even go to sleep with me there. He didn't let me touch him at first, but one day, I was sitting on this rock, drawing his face in the sand and he comes up to me. He looks at what I'm doing, then saunters off. The next thing I know I hear a loud crack and he starts walking around me, half a tree in his mouth, drawing his own pattern on the ground. After he's finished he's drawn it all around the rock and he sits down, looking completely happy with what he made. I don't think it represented something, but he saw something in it, because when I stepped on the lines, he growled.'

Wrenlou smiled. 'Night Fury's are very playful when you get to know them.'

'I know, right? And to imagine we called them the unholy offspring of lighting and death itself.'

'Really? You did that?'

Hiccup nodded. 'But anyways, after some sort of funny dance stepping between the lines he drew, I find him behind me. And I decide to do the stupidest thing ever. If my father would have seen that, he would have killed the dragon on the spot and given me a day long speech about how we not play with dragons. But at that moment, I guess it seemed like a good idea.'

'So what did you do?'

'I reached out to him. At first he growled, but when I turned my head away, he pressed his nose against my palm. That was the moment we really bonded. After that, well, I build him a new tail, but discovered it wouldn't work on it's own, and that I needed to be on his back with him. At first he seemed to resent the idea, but then he embraced it. And after our first flight, I was hooked on flying.'

'Yeah it's quite a feeling. It can be addictive.'

'I learned so much from him! I learned that dragons aren't what we thought they are. Dragon Nip...'

'Chasing lights?'

Hiccup nodded. 'I used all that I learned in dragon training, and I became the best. I got so good that the village elder chose me for the Final Exam. The Final Exam means I would have to kill a dragon... while the entire village was watching me. But it was all wrong. For the first time my father was proud of me, and for the first time that wasn't what I wanted.'

'You couldn't kill the dragon.'

'I would never be able to kill a dragon. That's... that's when I decided it was best if we left... me and Toothless. My dad would have killed him if he had found out about him. I couldn't let that happen.'

'How long have you been alone?'

'I left about seven... no, eight months ago.'

'Eight mo... really? Eight months on your own?'

'I wasn't alone, I had Toothless.'

'But no human companionship.'

'It's not like I ever had that.' Hiccup mumbled. He wasn't sure Wrenlou had heard it.

'You do now.'

He looked up. His eyes met Wrenlou's. The boy was smiling, the sparkle in his eyes clearly visible. Hiccup smiled back, turning to the dragon when Toothless nudged him gently.

'Wrenlou? How did he get up here?'

'I flew him up. When I found you on that beach, I wanted to fly you back on Snowflake. But then he stopped me, showed me his tail. I spend an hour trying to get that thing under control enough to be able to fly him and you back.'

'You did that? To save me?'

'Yep. I totally did. Accept it Hiccup, I will be here every step of the way if you decide to stay. Because if you decide to stay, you'll have a whole new life to adjust to, a new language to learn. It's not going t be easy, but you're not alone anymore.'

'You would help me?'

'Did you think I would save your life, make you feel heard, become your friend and than ditch you? That's not the way things work in Dragoncity Hiccup. Here, people stick together, look out for each other. All the dragon riders are one big family. If you stay, you become part of that family. Probably part of mine, because I am not letting you out of my sight until I know you can fend for yourself. Probably not after that either.'

Hiccup smiled shyly. 'You would really do that for me?'

Wrenlou put a hand on his shoulder, the other on his heart. 'I swear it.'

'But why?'

'Because you're a nice kid. Because I knew there was something special about you the moment I saw you on that beach. Because it's the right thing to do. Because I know somewhat what it's like to be bullied.'

'Hiccup frowned. 'You do?'

'Yeah, well... Snowflake isn't exactly what you would call an average Night Fury. Some of the other riders resent her, don't want her around their dragons. They call her all kinds of things. It affects both of us.'

'I... I didn't realize...'

'I'm not exactly the cool kid around here Hiccup. You would think that having a white dragon is cool, that the others would find it cool, and don't get me wrong, plenty of people do, there's just some who have to spoil the fun. I wouldn't want any other dragon though.'

'Do you think they'll make fun of Toothless? For having half a tail?'

'Maybe. But Hiccup, a dragons tailfin can grow back.'

Hiccup sat up sharply, cringing a little at the pain in his back. 'Really?'

'Yes. It takes ages though. It could take anywhere between fifty to eighty years for it to fully grow back, but grow back it will.'

'If we life that long. In eighty years I will be ninety-six, I don't think I'll be doing much flying then.'

Wrenlou laughed. 'Maybe. Who knows. Maybe you'll be missing an arm or something in eighty years.'

'Missing an arm?'

'Or a leg I don't know. A lot can happen in eighty years. Maybe you'll be bald. Or humpbacked. Maybe you'll have a beard that reaches half way across the plaza. Maybe your hair will be white. Lots and lots of possibilities.'

'I can't imagine what it would be like to miss a leg or something. Are many people missing limbs here?'

'Depends on what you call many. There are around sixty riders at the moment, us included, and four of them are missing a limb. Three of them are missing an arm, so I guess that, statistically, you're more likely to lose and arm.'

Hiccup looked down on his hands. He couldn't imagine having to miss one. And what if he would lose his dominant left? How would he write? Draw? He felt a hand on his shoulder, the other lifting his chin.

'Don't think about losing limbs. Think about if you want to stay or not. Think about everything we could teach you if you did stay. You're far from danger at the moment, don't throw your mind back into it.'

Hiccup smiled at him and looked down on the plaza again. Had he not left Berk to find a place for him and Toothless? Had he not wanted to find a place where they would be accepted? He bit his lip, still unsure.

'Why don't you get back into bed and get some rest. You don't have to decide right away, there is plenty of time for that later.'

Hiccup nodded. The little trip to the chair and talking way more than he had ever talked had eaten away his energy. He allowed Wrenlou to carry him to the bed again, but didn't want to lay down just yet. So Wrenlou set him down with the pillows in his back, the blanket draped around his knees.

'Alright. I have to go take care of some things, but I will be back as soon as possible, okay? I will leave Snowflake here. Do you want it open?'

He gestured to the curtain. Hiccup looked out to the small bit of the city he could see and nodded.

'Wrenlou? Where's my saddlebag?'

'Saddlebag...? Oh! Hang on...'

Wrenlou disappeared from view for a moment, then came back.

'Here you go. I have to go now, I'll be right back.'

'Wrenlou!'

'What is it?'

'I want to stay! I want to stay and learn. I want to be part of the family.'

Wrenlou smiled widely before nodding. 'And so you will be, believe me, you will be. I guess I'll add that to my list of things to do. "Tell the council Hiccup stays." Very important, don't forget.'

Hiccup laughed at Wrenlou while he mimed writing on a sheet of paper. Wrenlou pretended to fold the paper and put it in his pocket, then he winked at Hiccup.

'All craziness aside, I'm glad you decided to stay. I have started to enjoy your company. You're a nice kid Hiccup, no matter what anyone says, and I like you. I guess you could call me your friend. If that's what you want.'

Hiccup chuckled, looking down on the bag. 'You make me laugh. You're the first to make me laugh. You're also the first to care about me.'

'Hmm... What about Toothless? He cares.'

'Fine. The second to care about me. But the first human!'

'Yeah yeah alright. I really should be going now.'

'Wrenlou? Could you bring more soup later?'

'I think I can.' He turned to the door and sighed. 'Now I have to walk 287 steps down. I hate stairs. I hate not being allowed to fly. It would make things so much easier.' He looked back to Hiccup. 'If you need anything, send Snowflake to come and find me. I will ignore the no flying rule and take the easy way up.'

Hiccup smiled and pulled his notebook out of the saddleback. He heard Wrenlou open the door and mumble another: "I hate stairs", then the door closed softly. Snowflake curled up on the floor next to the bed, Toothless put his head on Hiccup's legs. Smiling, Hiccup scratched the dragon's head, before he opened his notebook.

He flipped through the pages, several different designs for Toothless' tailfin and saddle, but also numerous other things he encountered passing before his eyes. He stopped at the first empty page and dug his pencil out of the bag. Thank Thor it wasn't broken. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, before quickly recreating the plaza and the buildings on the page. It was a rough sketch, but recognizable. Then he wrote something above it, in Norse runes.

I am home.

~0~0~0~

Should I end here? I have some ideas on how to continue, but I could also make that a new story. What do you think? What do you want? Review and let me know!