Alright! this is the last part of this story, after this it's a new one! Let me know what you though of it!

Enjoy!

The Adventurous Adventures of Hiccup and Wrenlou

Crystal Light, Part VII

He inhaled deeply, the sleep still clouding his mind as he vaguely registered something laying on his legs. He groaned and felt a scaly nose press into his cheek, followed by a soft croon.

"Mm, Toothless..." he muttered, half asleep as he turned away from the dragon and pulled the blanket around his shoulders.

Toothless crooned again and walked around the bed, pressing his nose against his chest before he started licking his hair. Hiccup groaned again and weakly swatted the dragon away. Toothless grunted, then trotted around the bed again and gently pushed against his back. Hiccup let out a long moan, followed by a sigh and he turned to the dragon again, opening his eyes and blinking against the light.

"Hey bud. Yes, I'm awake now. No, stop it. Toothless... GAH!" he shrieked when the dragon started licking his face, "Toothless! No! I'm awake! I'm awake..."

Toothless sat back and cocked his head, staring at him with big green eyes. Hiccup stared back, still laying on his side. He sighed as he stared at the dragon's expectant face and sat up, rubbing his eyes. He sat like that for a while, all trace of exhaustion gone and he felt more rested than he had felt in days. Toothless came up to him again, crooning softly. Hiccup flinched a little, but Toothless rested his head on Hiccup's legs, purring softly. This made the boy smile, and he rubbed the scaly nose of his best friend.

"You have to get off my legs if you want me to get up bud," he said softly, but Toothless didn't move, "oh so that's how it is. You woke me up so I can pay attention to you huh. Well, if that's the case, I'm going back to sleep."

He curled under the covers again, even if he wasn't sleepy at all and he heard Toothless wail loudly. He chuckled, but suddenly bolted upright, coughing and gasping for air with his hands around his stomach.

"Toothless!" he coughed and he glared at the dragon.

Toothless crooned again and nudged his shoulder, as if he hadn't just jumped on Hiccup's stomach. The boy sighed and wrapped his arms around the dragon again.

"It's alright bud, I'm okay. Now, let me get dressed. Come on, move."

Toothless wailed again and put his head on Hiccup's chest, pinning the boy to the bed. Then he huffed and closed his eyes. Hiccup pushed against the dragon's head, but Toothless didn't move.

"Toothless! Come on! Let me get dressed! Do you want me to walk around half naked all day? I'll get sunburned, you know that!"

The dragon just let out a long purr, but didn't move his head.

"Tooth... less!" Hiccup shrieked as he pushed against the dragon, "come on! Let me get up!"

Finally, Toothless opened his eyes and pulled his head from Hiccup's chest. The boy lay panting for a moment, before he scowled at the dragon and slid out of the bed. His bare feet patted against the wooden floor as he walked to the closet to get a clean tunic and a fresh pair of pants. After he changed into the new clothes, he turned to Toothless.

"Alright bud, come on then."

He spread his arms and the dragon jumped on the bed before launching at Hiccup. Throwing the covers and the pillow on the ground with his happy pounce, Toothless pinned Hiccup to the ground and started licking his face vigorously.

"Toothless! Not that! Get off me!"

A loud rumble escaped the dragon's throat as he sat back, curling his tail around his paws and cocking his head. Hiccup glared at him while he rubbed the saliva from his face. Then he sighed and opened the door.

"Come on bud. Let's see if Dale..." he stopped, suddenly realizing that Dale hadn't woken him, as he had every morning, "oh... do you think we're in trouble?"

Toothless huffed and pushed him out of the door. He stumbled a few steps, but then regained his balance and straightened his back.

"Come on Toothless, let's see if Wrenlou is awake yet."

He walked over to Wrenlou's cabin, Toothless in close pursuit, and softly knocked on the door. When there was no response, he knocked again, a little harder. When that elicited no response, he opened the door and stepped inside. He stopped, staying in the doorway as he stared at the bed. He had never seen Wrenlou asleep before, as he was usually the first one awake. Now though, he was looking at Wrenlou's sleeping form, the boy curled up so that just his hair was visible above the blanket. Snowflake lay curled up at Wrenlou's feet, her head resting on his legs as she too was still asleep.

Carefully, he walked forwards and Snowflake stirred. She didn't wake up just yet, but her movement woke Wrenlou and he groaned while he turned to his other side, pulling his legs free from the dragon. Not knowing what to do, Hiccup stood idle for a moment, then he walked to the bed and sat down on the edge. He extended a hand and gently shook Wrenlou's shoulder. The boy groaned and pulled his pillow over his head.

"Five more minutes..." he mumbled, his voice muffled by the pillow, "go away..."

Hiccup chuckled and shook a little harder, causing Wrenlou to grunt in annoyance. He kept shaking his shoulder until Wrenlou pulled his head from under the pillow and turned to face him. His eyes were a bit unfocused at first, but when they focused and met Hiccup's, he smiled.

"What time is it," he muttered, his voice a little harsh from the sleep.

Hiccup shrugged. "I don't know. Dale let us sleep though, is that bad."

Wrenlou pushed himself up until he was in a sitting position and rubbed his hands over his face. "I don't know. I'm not tired anymore though."

"Me neither," Hiccup nodded, "I slept like a baby!"

"Yeah, after you collapsed and I had to drag you to bed," Wrenlou chuckled, but his expression grew serious when he saw Hiccup's face. "Dale had to drag me to bed."

"Really?" Hiccup asked and Wrenlou nodded.

"I collapsed not long after you. I was just so tired, my legs felt like they were made from metal or something, so heavy."

Hiccup nodded at Wrenlou's words. "Yeah, that's how I felt."

Wrenlou sighed and slipped out of bed, going to get a tunic. Hiccup stared at his back while he was trying to get his arms through the sleeves so that he could slip it over his head and when he had pulled the fabric down over his smooth skin, he turned to Hiccup.

"Come on, let's go to the Hall and see what Dale has planned for us today."

Hiccup nodded and stood up. Wrenlou went over to Snowflake to wake the white Fury, but the dragon groaned and curled up on the floor. When Wrenlou shook her again, she put her head under her wing and did her best to ignore him. Wrenlou sighed.

"Fine. No fish for you then."

In an instant Snowflake was on her feet, wailing loudly as she nudged Wrenlou's shoulder and pushed her nose against his chest. He laughed and scratched her chin, then led her to the door.

"Come on, let's go to the Hall."

As they were walking to the Hall, Snowflake and Toothless ran around, chasing each other and trying to catch each other tails. When they entered the Hall, they found it empty except for Dale, who looked up when they entered. He gestured the over when they hesitated, and pushed a bowl of soup in their direction when they sat down.

They ate silently, avoiding Dale's gaze as he watched them eat, the dragons still running around and chasing each other. Dale eventually stood up to bring them a basket of fish and with that they finally settled down. Dale sighed when the boys finished eating and cast a glance and both of them.

"Alright," he said while he sat back and crossed his arms, "there are a few things I have to say to you. And I want you to listen very carefully, do you understand that?"

Both boys nodded and Dale sighed.

"Okay. First of all I want to say that I never meant to let you work so hard that you completely exhausted yourself. But do you understand why I did it? Do you understand why I couldn't just let it go?"

When they nodded he continued: "I am responsible for you, for your life, your safety and that of your dragons. If something were to happed to you, to either of you, not only will I feel incredibly guilty for failing to protect you, I will also be the one to tell the Council. What would your father say, Wrenlou, when I have to tell him that his son was attacked by a wild Night Fury because he invaded their territory? How do you think that would be for me, if I had to face him, and tell him his son lost a limb, or worse, in front of all the other Council members? And what would Broghan have thought if he had found out what you did?"

Wrenlou swallowed hard and turned his gaze to the table, plucking at a knot in the wood.

"And Hiccup, you may not have any family here, but I am still responsible for your safety. If you were to get hurt, what would happed to Toothless? What would happen with you if he had died? You can't stay here without a dragon."

"I... I'm sorry..." Hiccup mumbled and tears filled his eyes.

Dale's eyes grew softer and he stood up, walking around the table until he was behind the boys. Then he put a hand on their shoulders, his left on Hiccup's and his right on Wrenlou's, and they looked up, staring back at him.

"I care for you. Both of you," Dale said, emphasizing the word both, "and I was worried sick about you when you didn't come back. And when you said you'd been to the Cove... I could have lost you. You could have died. And as I said, it would have been my task to tell the Council that you were dead. I can't do that. I can't walk in there, look them in the eye and tell them that two of my students and their dragons were dead because they invaded the territory of the wild Night Furies, and the dragons murdered them. Even less because your father is in the Council." He looked at Wrenlou.

Hiccup sniffed, a tear slipping down his cheek, and Dale took his face in his hands, gently wiping it away with his thumb.

"I'm sorry," Hiccup mumbled and he sobbed, "I didn't think..."

"It's okay," Dale hushed him, "you are safe. You both are. That doesn't mean that I wasn't angry, or worried. Because I was. And I was so relieved when you came back safely. Here, drink something."

He handed Hiccup a cup of water and the boy accepted it gratefully. He drank eagerly and then wiped his tears on his sleeve. After that he looked up at Dale again. The man took a deep breath.

"I have decided that you won't have to work today, or tomorrow. Get the rest you need. You still aren't allowed to fly, that stays for the remainder of this week, but I think I can trust you with the dragons?"

Hiccup nodded, twirling the cup around in his hands, then he suddenly wrapped his arms around Dale's waist and pressed his head against the man's chest. Dale went down on one knee, taking Hiccup in his arms as the boy cried softly.

"I'm sorry," Hiccup sobbed, "it was my idea, and it was stupid, and it's my fault..."

"Hey," Dale said, gently lifting his chin with his finger, "it was stupid, yes, but you didn't get hurt. That's what counts. You're safe, Toothless is safe, Wrenlou and Snowflake are safe. And I don't blame you for being curious, there's nothing wrong with wanting to learn and the need to know, you just have to find a way that doesn't put you and others in danger, do you understand that?"

Hiccup nodded and Dale dried his tears, then he stood up again and turned to Wrenlou.

"And you should have known better. You know the rules, you know the laws, and you went ahead and broke them. You're lucky no one got hurt."

"I know," Wrenlou mumbled while he fumbled with the bandage around his hand.

Dale smiled weakly and took his hands, stroking the bandage carefully. "I'm not mad at you Wrenlou. I was, I'll admit that, but I'm not anymore. I was worried about you, I was worried sick. I didn't know where you'd gone, we searched everywhere and couldn't find you. I thought something had happened and it scared me. Hey, look at me. Both of you, look at me."

Still kneeling on the ground, Dale looked from Hiccup to Wrenlou, then back to Hiccup.

"Don't go back to Crystal Cove," he said, "promise me you'll never put your life in danger like that again, promise me. Please, promise me."

Wrenlou looked up, his eyes shining with tears. "I promise. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry..."

"It's okay," Dale whispered and he pulled both boys in an embrace, "just, never scare me like that again, okay?"

They nodded and he let them go, standing up and straighting his clothes. "Alright. As I said, no flying today, or tomorrow. Just rest some, and stay out of trouble and away from the Cove, please."

They nodded again and after a quick ruffle over their heads, Dale left. Hiccup sighed and wiped the remaining tears from his face. Then he turned to Wrenlou. The boy was drying the tears from his eyes and smiled when his gaze met Hiccup's.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled while he used his sleeve to dry his cheeks, "I never meant to..."

"To what?" Hiccup asked, "to get us in trouble? That was my fault you know. I pushed you to bring me there."

"That's okay. I could have said no. I didn't. I let my own curiosity cloud my judgement. I'm just as guilty as you are. I just never really thought about the fact that he has to tell the Council if something happens..."

He cut off, sniffing hard and Snowflake came up to him, crooning softly. Wrenlou took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, then he turned to Hiccup.

"Let's just not think about that, okay? Come on, let's go to the beach and do nothing all day."

Hiccup smiled and he nodded. After five days of practically working himself to death, a few days of absolutely nothing seemed like a blessing he never expected. He followed Wrenlou outside, Toothless bouncing behind him and breathed in the clear air of the afternoon. They had woken up late, and the day was almost over, but that didn't stop them from going down to Wrenlou's secret beach. There they sat until the sun went down, their feet in the clear water.