Story request by Niccunningham and based on "How to live Without Dragons" by 1otter.
New phases. They were natural parts of life, but that did not make them easy to experience. Toothless's heart ached as he flew without his rider. He would have to adjust to the lightness on his back. This was necessary if he was going to be a proper king for all the dragons in the Hidden World. Toothless led the other reptiles back to the sanctuary with a troubled mind. When they arrived, the residents moved away, wearing uncertain expressions.
"Everyone," he called out to them, "on Berk, the island was getting overrun by dragons. If we don't want that to happen here, we'll need to plan how we're going to live together."
"That answer's simple," a Timberjack growled. "We don't."
"What right do you have to bring all these dragons to our home?" a Raincutter snarled. "None of you should be here. Who even made you king in the first place?"
More of the residents began baring their fangs at the strangers. Meatlug sadly backed away from one while Barf and Belch seemed unsure what to do. Hookfang started snarling at the reptiles.
"He became king when he defeated a Bewilderbeast."
This caused the other dragons to hesitate in their growling. A Shiver Tooth appeared doubtful.
"Impossible. He's just one dragon."
"He had us with him too," Stormfly declared.
The rest of the Berk reptiles raised their heads confidently. It had a mild effect on the residents.
"Fine, let's say that you did defeat the former king of dragons," a Catastrophic Quaken conceded. "It would explain why none of us have felt him in our minds this year. Still, that doesn't mean you should be our king."
"Uh, I think it means just that," Barf said, confused.
"Yeah," Belch added. "You beat the king and become one. Isn't that how it works?"
"It's never happened before," Skullcrusher admitted. "This is new territory for us all."
"It might be new," Toothless stated, "but we're here now. There are Dragon Hunters and Trappers out there. The only way to keep everyone safe is to stay together."
A chuckle came from a Death Song. "Stay together? For safety? Risky plan considering how some of us view other dragons as prey."
These sentiments were shared by a Cavern Crasher who licked its lips. "Exactly. I hope you don't expect me to spare your eggs when you lay them."
Meatlug's shyness faded as protectiveness consumed her. She hovered over to the other reptile.
"You are not eating our eggs," she said, a threat audible in her voice.
"Then leave." The Crasher turned, flicking its tail. "We're just letting you know what you're in for. If you want a happy existence, go back to your Viking pets. Otherwise, you'll just have to deal with things the way they are. This is the wild now. There's no loyalty."
"It doesn't have to be that way anymore," Toothless assured the group, stepping forward. "I used to feel that way too. The only thing I worried about was when I'd have my next meal. After I met the Vikings, I realized how much more there was to life. I learned about teamwork that crosses species. Imagine what we could do if we worked together."
Suddenly, a strong gust of wind hit Toothless as a dragon flew at him. In the next instant, he was staring at the giant, red eyes of a Screaming Death.
"Why would we obey a Night Fury? Your species wasn't even strong enough to protect itself. How can you help us? You're weak, only made weaker by your association with humans." Its jaws started to open wider, showing the rows of fangs. "I could bite you in half right now and end this."
Toothless's friends started to go over to him, but they stopped when his body sparkled with electricity. His eyes narrowed and were fierce–deadly even.
"I am the king of dragons," he declared. "I earned that title by freeing us all from the past king's control. You might not like it, but this is the reality we live in. Accept it and the fact that my friends and I are not going anywhere. So, you can complain or participate in making this place the best home dragons have ever known."
The Hidden World went quiet. The only sound was that of Toothless's lightning. In spite of the Screaming Death's irritation, it turned away. By right of combat, the Night Fury was their rightful ruler. As much as the challenger did not want to admit it, a fight with the leader would not result in a new king. Toothless started to calm down, seeing that the mood had changed in the area.
"I'm not here to be a tyrant like the queen or our last king," he stated. "I really just want us to find a way to live safely."
The following silence was less tense. It was for the residents to mull over what they had learned. Slowly, the dragons started to go back to their individual homes as they considered this deeper. The Light Fury went over to Toothless, nuzzling his head with hers.
"They'll come around," she assured him.
"And if they don't, we can just blow this whole place up!" Barf suggested.
Belch eagerly agreed and their friends grunted quietly.
"I guess we could leave if they really don't want us here," Meatlug mentioned. "There are other islands we can go to."
Grump let out a heavy sigh. "But we just got here. It'll be a long flight to find another place."
"It's not about the distance," Hookfang commented. "We can't let them push us out."
"We won't," Toothless said, certain. "It'll just take some time for everyone to figure out their place here. Speaking of," he added, looking around. "We all need to find areas to sleep."
"Preferably where no one will eat us," Skullcrusher grumbled.
The friends began going deeper into the habitat, splitting up to find where they would go. Grump and Skullcrusher went off first, then Stormfly and Barf and Belch. Meatlug's eyes were low as a realization dawned on her.
"I won't get to lick Fishlegs."
"You two are so weird," Hookfang said. He paused, then sighed when he saw how lonely she looked. "But I guess you can join me in finding a spot."
Meatlug's eyes lit up and she joyfully trotted beside the Monstrous Nightmare. "You're happy to not be all alone too, aren't you?"
"Of course not. I don't need to set Snotlout on fire to sleep. I can light the ground just as easily. I'm just doing you a favor."
"If you say so," the Gronckle commented, not believing him for a moment.
The dragons went off, eventually finding a place to stay near a stream. Without any particular invitation, Meatlug snuggled up next to the larger reptile. He was about to complain, but he reluctantly accepted this. It was actually not that bad. As they drifted off to sleep, Toothless and the Light Fury found a cave to enter. It was quiet, allowing the only sound in the Night Fury's mind to be all his worried thoughts.
"You can do this," the other reptile told him.
"I'll have to, but I'm barely used to being king. I've never been in charge of this many dragons before." He turned to the other Fury. "I'm not even sure how to keep them from cannibalizing each other. At least Hiccup isn't dealing with that back on Berk."
Amusement covered the Light Fury's face. "No, I doubt that's a concern for them."
Toothless still looked worried, so the other dragon laid down next to him.
"It's been a long day for everyone. Get some rest and you'll be able to think clearer in the morning."
Reluctantly, Toothless followed this suggestion. He doubted that he would be able to sleep, but slumber graced him with its presence after an hour passed. The dragon awoke before most of the others did. He left the cave and began walking around the Hidden World.
"We don't have sufficient food," he thought. "There's just fish in the stream or ocean if we decide to leave. That won't be enough to convince some of the others to stop eating dragons. We need more prey. We need…yaks for them. Maybe sheep too. We could keep them like Hiccup and the other Berkians did. Then the rest of us can eat fish. That way, there'll be enough food for everyone,"
Toothless started returning to the cave, but he stopped when there was a loud explosion. The Night Fury did not even need to get confirmation before he knew who was the cause. Grunting, he followed the trail of smoke to Barf and Belch. They were bopping their heads against each other and standing near a flaming tree.
"He started it!" they both cried.
Toothless squinted at them. "We just got here. You can't destroy the place."
The Night Fury used his wings to put out the fire. All the noise drew Stormfly's attention, so she joined Toothless in extinguishing the flames. When they were done, they turned back to their friend.
"Sorry," both heads said in unison.
"No one was hurt at least," Toothless stated, looking around.
Some of the other dragons were nearby and regarding the newcomers with contempt.
"We did this a lot with the twins in the morning," Belch commented.
"It was really fun," Barf added.
"I know," the Night Fury sighed. "Things have to be different here. The other dragons won't be as willing to help clean up the messes like the Berkians were."
Immediately, this caused the Hideous Zippleback to look dismayed.
"Explosions are what we're best at," Barf said sadly.
"What do we do now?" Belch inquired.
Toothless hesitated with his answer. He still needed to figure that part out.
"I'll let you know soon. First, I want to get everyone together to discuss some new plans."
"I can gather them," Stormfly volunteered.
She flew off to retrieve the other reptiles. The Deadly Nadder agilely went through the trees, finding where each of them were located.
"Our king has plans to share," she revealed.
Some dragons felt curiosity whereas others felt annoyance for having to do this. Regardless, everyone gathered to hear the ruler's news. The Night Fury saw this mix of emotions in the audience. After he took a breath, he addressed them.
"I know that meals are going to be an important area to take care of," Toothless announced. "Therefore, we'll bring yaks and sheep here. The dragons who eat fish will be in charge of keeping the livestock. That way, we'll always have food." A serious look entered his eyes. "We aren't eating each other. That has to end. If we can't feel safe in our own home, that means it's not much of one."
This caused a disappointed grumble to come from some of the dragons. Their stomachs were already getting ready to be filled with dragon meat.
"What if we don't want to eat sheep or yaks?" someone asked.
"Then you can eat fish. As long as it's not one of us or poisonous, feel free to eat it," Toothless said.
Although the cannibals were unhappy with this news, the other dragons looked receptive to the idea.
"We'll go find some livestock, then return," Toothless stated, looking at his friends.
They started going towards him and the rest returned to their business. Toothless's eyes twinkled when he saw an assuring look from the Light Fury. Quickly, he and the Berk dragons took to the sky. It was quiet for a few minutes until Hookfang let out a warble.
"Feels good to get out of there," he said. "It's like we have to be careful how we act around everybody."
"You should just light something on fire," Barf suggested.
"It's a great way to let out your feelings," Belch assured him.
"No," Toothless interjected. "That's the last thing we should be doing." He paused briefly. "There's another reason why I wanted you all specifically to join me. We're not like most dragons anymore. We've been around humans too long for that. I don't think that's a bad thing, but it's going to change how the others see us. There's no real way to avoid it."
"So, we embrace it instead?" Skullcrusher asked. "Make the most of it?"
"At least until we readjust." Toothless turned to Barf and Belch. "You both are especially going to need tasks to keep you from killing someone by accident. So, when we get the cattle, you can set up traps to stop them from escaping different areas. We won't be able to make pins like the Vikings did. What you set up will have to replace them."
"Alright!" the Zippleback cheered, headbutting each other.
"Stormfly, since you're used to surveillance, can you help keep an eye on everything?" Toothless asked, looking at the Nadder. "If we've got new dragons or unfamiliar Vikings getting too close, we need to know."
"I can handle that."
"Meatlug, do you remember most of what Fishlegs told you about different dragons he studied?"
"Probably all of it."
"Good, then you can be in charge of helping the other newcomers adjust to the dragons they've never been around."
"What about me?" Hookfang asked. "I don't know how testing out weapons with Snotlout is going to be useful here."
"It might have to change a little, but you could use those ideas he had to help the smaller dragons have ways to defend themselves. Some of the larger ones are going to see what they can get away with. The smaller ones will need to be ready. We can't be everywhere and don't want anyone getting hurt if we can't protect them."
"And I can help keep the larger ones in check," Skullcrusher offered. "They might just need a reminder that no one's unstoppable, so if they try to eat any dragon, I'll stop them."
Looks of determination entered the reptiles' eyes, but they started to notice Grump's silence.
"Let me guess," Hookfang commented, "you're just going to be sleeping?"
"Sounds about right," the Hotburple agreed. "If you need me, roar really loudly. That'll…probably wake me up."
"Then we have a plan," Toothless stated, feeling better already. "I'll keep an eye on everything to make sure nothing's going wrong."
"It'll be strange being here," Meatlug admitted.
"It will, but we'll make the Hidden World our home too." Toothless glanced behind him, eyes in the direction of Berk. "It'll just take some time to get used to everything."
