Before long, the wall came alive again, showing a dark tunnel. Not-Hiccup was there, once again older, with Not-Toothless and a woman Toothless didn't recognize. When he crooned a little questioningly, Hiccup shrugged, still wiping away the saliva. Astrid looked confused, too, though her eyes seemed to study the woman like she found her rather interesting. And she was – whatever it was she wore… it made her look almost like some kind of dragon. The only one who seemed to recognize the woman was Stoick. His mouth was wide open and he gasped a little, as if unable to grasp the meaning of the woman being there. Seriously, who was she?
"Uh, h-hold on. Wait just a minute!" Not-Hiccup called after the woman, trying to reach her as she moved forward, almost crawling like a dragon. Toothless cocked his head to the side and observed her. She looked so… different. She urged Not-Hiccup on, crouching on the ground for less than a moment to signal for him to follow her. She had lots of armour/suit on top of her so it was hard to tell, but she looked just as slender as Not-Hiccup. "Come back here! You can't just say something like that and run off. You're my mother?!"
"What?!" Hiccup jumped and turned his eyes to stare confusedly at his father. The man was still just gaping at the magical wall like he himself was having trouble with what he was seeing. It just didn't seem to compute in his mind. "Dad, didn't you say a dragon took Mom away? S-she's gone." He waited for a moment but Stoick didn't say anything and Toothless warbled lightly, noticing the way Astrid's eyes widened as she looked between the woman on the wall, apparently Hiccup's mother, and the boy himself. "D-Dad. She's gone. R-right?"
Blinking slowly, Stoick turned to face his son, his eyes slightly distant, as if he was stuck in a different time, reliving an old memory. Hiccup's breath hitched. "I thought she was." That was all Stoick managed to say before he frowned and turned back to the wall, probably desperate to see more of his mate. Toothless didn't get it. If she was alive… why would she not come back for her husband and son? Did she not care? Was she really taken by a dragon? They didn't really tend to take humans with them. The queen didn't mind eating a human, but it wasn't something the dragons were particularly fond of.
Looking dazed, Hiccup followed his father's action and slumped back down against Toothless. When Toothless tried to get his attention by warbling and grunting, the boy just kept on blinking, staring at the future with wide, wonderous eyes. He was definitely in shock. So Toothless just huffed and cuddled against the hatchling, deciding to do his best to be there for him.
"I mean, what the…?!" He ducked to avoid hitting his head with a rock, Not-Toothless following behind Not-Hiccup but mostly kept his eyes on the back of his mother. "Do you… do you grasp how insane it sounds? I have questions!" He called after her and tried to climb the wall she seemed to almost flow over. When he didn't make it on his own, Not-Toothless supported him and Not-Hiccup quickly went on after the woman. "Where have you… ugh… been all this time? What-what have you been doing? But they-they said you were dead! Everyone thinks you were eaten by…"
He trailed off when he finally emerged from the end of the tunnel, arriving at a beautiful paradise-like place made of ice and rocks and grass. There were dragons everywhere, flying around and looking peaceful and friendly. Toothless crooned longingly at the wall. This was what a Nest was supposed to look like. And yet… somehow he and the other dragons ended up being stuck with the queen. This tyrant. This stupid, evil dragon wouldn't let them leave if they didn't give her back the food they could find.
Hiccup and Astrid were both awed at the scene, their eyes unblinking to take it all in. Stoick himself had this slightly less stoic expression on his face as he observed the place with wide, amazed eyes. It sure did look like some kind of utopia for dragons, Toothless thought. And his future self looked around with wonder as well, probably thinking about how different this Nest was compared to his own. Not-Hiccup and Not-Toothless enjoyed the view until Not-Toothless' eyes focused on something to their right and he growled, nudging Not-Hiccup so he'd notice as well. When they turned, Not-Hiccup gasped at his mother and a dragon hanging from the wall, watching them with almost… fascination.
"This is where you've been for twenty years?" He asked her, his voice less frantic than before. He sounded much more like he was trying to comprehend everything right then and there. Behind him, Not-Toothless backed away a little, as if not sure about what to do. The woman nodded once. "You-you've been rescuing them." She nodded and behind Not-Hiccup's back, a dragon began to crawl curiously towards Not-Toothless, making the dragon flinch away. "Unbelievable."
The woman leaned down. "You're not… upset?" She asked unsurely.
"What? No. I-I don't know. I…" Not-Hiccup stammered awkwardly, looking almost like he was trying not to panic. Toothless snuggled closer to Hiccup who finally unfroze and rubbed his head, if a little mechanically. "I-it's a bit much to get my head around, to be frank." Not-Toothless turned his back to the dragon annoying him, trying to ignore him. "It's not every day you find out your mother is some kind of… crazy, feral, vigilante dragon lady."
Astrid chuckled a little at the description and finally made Hiccup's shoulder lower back down again. He was beginning to relax after the revelation. His father, on the other side, still looked shocked. And his eyes never left the image of the woman, like he was trying to remember her the best he could for as long as possible.
Using the staff in her hand and the dragon with her, the woman got down to the ground, a few feet away from Not-Hiccup. "Well… at least I'm not boring, right?" She looked and acted so much like a dragon, it let Toothless know she was nervous and unsure about what to do. She's probably been around only dragons for years now… she didn't have any experience with other humans for a while, then. And if she just met her son after all this time… Toothless pitied both of them. Scratch that, he pitied the three of them because Stoick was a part of this torn-apart family.
"Well, I suppose there is that…" Not-Hiccup said, a little calmer. A dragon nudged him lightly and the boy turned to him to pet him a little. "…One specific thing."
Creeping closer to him, she smiled again, looking cautious yet optimistic. "Do-do you like it?"
"Yes." Whispered Hiccup, his gaze not leaving the wall. Not when Toothless purred and not when Astrid touched his arm a little, as if to be there for him. He looked like he was oblivious to the world around him. Completely engrossed in the story on the magical wall, where his lost mother was. Toothless assumed that was to be expected – he and his father did think she was dead, after all.
Looking around, Not-Hiccup looked at the entire place, the dragon rumbling lowly next to him. "I-I don't have the words." He said. By now his mother was right next to him, still crouching, and Not-Toothless was surrounded by a bunch of other dragons that looked at him, probably intrigued. When one of them got too close while sniffing him, Not-Toothless bared his teeth and hissed and growled at all of them, making them all back away. Finally.
Not-Hiccup's mother chuckled and looked at the Night Fury, pointing at him and looking uncertainly at her son. "C-can I…?" And at Not-Hiccup's shrug, she crawled over to Not-Toothless. "Oh, he's beautiful!" She said and Not-Hiccup watched her from over her shoulder. Toothless lifted his head proudly, making Astrid and Hiccup chuckle as well at his reaction to the praise. The elation in Toothless' mind swelled even more at the realization that this seemed to snap Hiccup back to the present if only a little. "Oh, incredible." She added when Not-Toothless rubbed his head around her cheek. Not-Hiccup smiled at them when the dragon began to play around with the woman. "He might very well be the last of his kind. Oh, and look – he's your age!"
"Wow." Hiccup said at the same time as his future self, turning to grin down at Toothless. The dragon warbled at him, still looking proud. Hiccup laughed and shook his head fondly.
"No wonder you get along so well." She nodded her head at the Night Fury when Not-Toothless opened his mouth and bobbed his head happily. The woman gasped in delight when he retracted his teeth and she actually entered her head into his mouth to examine everything. Stoick flinched at that and Hiccup snickered. "And retractable teeth. How did you manage…?"
"Oh, boy." Hiccup tensed a little and sent Toothless a nervous grin. Toothless assumed he knew why he looked so awkward at the question. Toothless – present Toothless – knew all about how Hiccup was the one to shoot him down. They all saw it, after all. But the future him… what if he came to the conclusion that Hiccup wasn't the same Viking to ground him like that? After all, why would the Viking who intended to shoot down and then kill Toothless choose to let him go and help him fly again? What if Not-Toothless… didn't know the truth?
Smiling awkwardly, Not-Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck. "I found him in the woods," Not-Hiccup said, looking sheepish as he watched the woman and Not-Toothless mess around. Not-Toothless, for his part, didn't look like any part of the conversation bothered him too much. "He was…" Not-Hiccup gestured with his hand, his head bowed. "Shot down and wounded."
When his mother turned around, her gaze was serious and grave. Not-Hiccup just put his hands behind his back and looked at her with timidness, like he wasn't sure about how she'd react. Toothless nudged Hiccup's hand, making him rub his head again. The boy looked no less sheepish than his future self as he gave Toothless an apologetic smile that looked more like a grimace. Toothless found that he was no longer minded. Sure, all of this was still to come for the both of them, but he could tell Hiccup was a good person who truly cared – or rather, would care – about him. And if his tailfin was the price he had to pay to meet the boy, then he'd pay it. Not that he had a choice – he was already shot down and wounded.
Turning around, the woman went over to a different dragon, looking sad. "This snafflefang lost his leg to one of Drago Bludvist's iron traps." She said and pointed at the stump of the dragon. Then she moved past Not-Hiccup to a different dragon that had a wounded wing. "This Raincutter had her wing sliced by razor netting." She moved onto a purple dragon and Not-Hiccup watched with a pained expression as it crooned at her blindly. "And this, oh, poor Hobblegrunt was blinded by a tree snare… and then left to die alone and scared. And what of this?" She leaned down to hold up Not-Toothless' prosthetic, red tailfin and Not-Hiccup nodded his head before wincing. "Did Drago or his trappers do this, too?"
Standing next to a nonchalant Not-Toothless, Not-Hiccup sounded even more nervous when he answered. "Oh… yeah." He chuckled a little, his arms moving around him limply, like he lost control of them. Not-Toothless turned to him with wide, friendly eyes. And Toothless knew he was aware of the topic of conversation, so if he didn't look like it bothered him at all… then he must know in the future. Right? Not-Hiccup's sheepish grin turned into a concerned grimace he shifted his gaze between Not-Toothless and his mother. "Well, crazy thing is… I'm… actually… the one who shot him down." He said and Not-Toothless lowered his head before picking up his human's hand, making him rub his scales. "Hey, it's-it's okay, though. He got me back." Not-Toothless chortled happily and Not-Hiccup grinned at him. The poor woman just looked at them, confused. "Right bud? You couldn't save all of me, could you? You just had to make it even. So… peg-leg!"
Not-Hiccup lifted his metal leg, showing it off, and then Not-Toothless warbled and moved his black head underneath Not-Hiccup, making him slide to his back where Not-Hiccup seemed to hug his head while rubbing his chin with a wide smile. The dragon purred happily at the attention and only lowered his head when the woman talked again, distracting Not-Hiccup.
"What did your father think of your Night Fury friend?"
"Oh, uh, he didn't take it all that well," Not-Hiccup admitted and Stoick winced, sending his son an apologetic look that finally made him cut his gaze away from his wife. Hiccup blinked at him for a moment and then smiled crookedly, clearly not sure about how he should react to this. "But then, he changed. They all did." The woman looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Pretty soon everyone back home had dragons of their own."
His mother turned back to Not-Toothless. "If only it were possible."
"No, really – "
"Believe me, I tried as well. But people are not capable of change, Hiccup." She said gravely and stood up. "Some of us… were just born different." She looked away as if remembering something. "Berk was a land of kill or be killed, but I believed peace was possible. It was a very unpopular opinion." She kept on speaking and Stoick lowered his head, looking like he was trying to come to terms with how the past went. "Then one night a dragon broke into our house, finding you in the cradle." Hiccup leaned in, completely mesmerized by the story. "I rushed to protect you, but what I saw was proof of everything I believed. This wasn't a vicious beast, but an intelligent, gentle creature whose soul reflected my own."
Toothless crooned and Hiccup smiled. "Yeah, like us, bud." He agreed.
"You and your father nearly died that night." The woman went on and both she and Not-Hiccup looked down at the ground, pained. "All because I couldn't kill a dragon." She finished and looked back up at Not-Hiccup. The boy smirked and nodded a little.
"Eh, runs in the family." And then the scene flickered quickly. They were still in the same area, only now the woman walked towards a cliff overlooking an Alpha. Toothless' eyes widened at the sight of the dragon and the Vikings in the room gaped at him, all taken aback. "Wait, that's the ice-spitter?! He's responsible for all that destruction?"
The woman smiled calmly. "He protects us. We all live under his care and his command." She explained and then seemed to notice the baby dragons flying over to Not-Toothless. The dragon didn't seem amused by the attack of hatchlings and Toothless could sympathize with his older self. Seriously, what was it with dragons surrounding him like that? "All but the babies, of course, who listen to no one."
She added the last part with a laugh when her dragon roared at the babies and sent them flying to the Alpha. The giant dragon didn't look impressed and blew cold air at them, sending them away, before lifting his head and looking at Not-Hiccup. The woman bowed down in respect while Not-Hiccup just stood there, watching in awe. Not-Toothless looked at the dragon and found himself lowering his head, clearly unhappy about it and yet not finding the power in him to disobey the Alpha's command.
Not-Hiccup's stunned gaze was locked on the dragon before him and his mother spoke up again. "I've lived among them for twenty years, Hiccup. Discovering their secrets." She moved aside when the Alpha blew frost in their direction, covering Not-Hiccup in little particles of ice. The boy looked like he was too amazed to be cold or annoyed by it. "He likes you." She commented with amusement when Not-Hiccup tussled his hair to get the ice out.
It went dark after this, once more, and the Vikings and Toothless were left to wonder about it all. So… it looked like Toothless did know who shot him down. And he didn't seem to mind at all, not that present Toothless minded. It was just nice to know that Hiccup wasn't going to pretend all of this wasn't his fault. No, he was aware of what he did and took full responsibility. Plus… it looked like Toothless saved him but couldn't save his leg. Whatever happened in the past – their future – it had to have something to do with the queen, Toothless was sure of that. And it left Hiccup and Toothless the same – both missing their left limbs and both counting on each other and on the prosthetics Hiccup could make.
Oh, yeah, and Hiccup's mother was still alive.
Toothless knew those were huge, enormous news for everyone, but he didn't even know the woman was supposedly dead in the first place so it didn't really shock him too much. He was just happy to hear that Hiccup got to have both his parents in the future. Obviously, Astrid, Hiccup and Stoick were all mostly affected by this part and not the rest of it, but Toothless decided they probably deserved to focus on this more than, say, the Alpha. The huge Alpha Toothless didn't even know still existed!
From his place, Stoick looked forward with practical stars in his eyes. "She's alive… Valka…"
Hiccup nodded in agreement and then looked down to his hand, finding Astrid's one still holding it. When he gave the girl a confused, flustered smile, she just smiled in return and squeezed his hand a little. Yeah, Toothless approved of her. She was alright once she got over the initial need to, you know, kill all dragons. Hiccup seemed to agree because his smile widened a little and he quickly looked away to hide his flushed face from her. Toothless chortled at him and received a mock glare from Hiccup for laughing. Suffice it to say, the Night Fury didn't care one bit.
It was quiet for a few moments and then the wall decided it was enough time to digest everything and lit up again with the image of a bright, blue sky and Not-Hiccup and Not-Toothless flying over the ocean, close to Berk. Toothless sniffed a little at the sight of Not-Hiccup having both his legs again and the brown, simple tailfin he himself had. When Not-Hiccup looked back at the tailfin, his expression was both cautious and determined. Toothless crooned and looked on, intrigued. Next to him, Hiccup hummed in curiosity as well.
"Alright, it's gone time. It's going time." He muttered and then turned back forward and both he and Not-Toothless dived down, the shriek of their speed filling their ears. "Come on, buddy! Come on, buddy!" Not-Hiccup encouraged Not-Toothless and suddenly it was obvious to Toothless that this was one of their test flights (there had to be more than one. Even if Hiccup was smart, he wasn't a dragon. They had to go through a few tests before actually flying well enough to not immediately crash).
Flying in parallel to the sea, Not-Toothless grunted in anticipation and slight worry when they made their way towards an arch of stone before them. It was clearly their goal right now and, to Toothless' concern, Not-Hiccup looked worried the closer they got to it. But the moment they moved past it, his face lit up and Not-Toothless looked proud of himself.
Looking over his shoulder, Not-Hiccup nodded his head. "Yes, it worked!" He called, but a moment later they tried to change direction only to bump into a rock pillar. Toothless and Hiccup winced while Not-Toothless whimpered in annoyance. "Sorry!" It happened again soon after. "It was my fault," Not-Hiccup said and Not-Toothless slapped him with one of his earflaps. "Yeah, yeah. I'm on it." He looked down and Toothless crooned at the sight of a leather sheet with drawings of the tailfin on it. "Position four. No, three."
Toothless didn't like how Not-Hiccup had to check with this paper what to do to make them fly. And he didn't like how unsure about his decisions he was. But he couldn't do anything but watch. At least he wasn't too worried, unlike Stoick whose hands clenched until his knuckles were white. Astrid bit her lip worriedly. And the worry increased when suddenly Not-Toothless and Not-Hiccup flew up, to the clouds.
"Yeah! Go, baby!" Not-Hiccup called in delight and Not-Toothless roared in enthusiasm as well, flapping his wings hard to make them go higher and higher. Hiccup bounced in his place, restless. He looked at the wall like he wanted to be there right now and go through that. Like he wanted to get to this moment in time as quickly as possible. "Yes! Oh, this is amazing! The wind in my – CHEAT SHEET! STOP!"
Aaaaaand of course it had to go south. Toothless grumbled and Hiccup leaned back, his shoulders slumped at the sight of him losing his cheat sheet to the strong wind. The other two Vikings gulped loudly and watched with horror as Not-Hiccup reached for his sheet and finally grabbed it only to realize Not-Toothless obeyed the single-worded command and stopped flapping his wings. The force of their climb made Not-Hiccup rise a little higher despite the dragon stopping and the harness he had connecting him to the Night Fury disconnected, sending them both apart, flailing frantically in the air.
They were falling from the sky towards the ocean rapidly and despite knowing they would both survive this, Toothless could tell everyone was tense. "No!" Not-Hiccup screamed in a panic. Not-Toothless roared in alarm as well, his eyes wide and his limbs all moving desperately to try and catch himself and Not-Hiccup. It didn't do much. "Oh, gosh. Oh, Gods. Oh, no!" Not-Hiccup spread his limbs to try and fall a bit slower and seemed to catch himself enough to try and evaluate the situation. "Alright, okay, you've gotta kinda angle yourself. Okay, no, no, no, no." Not-Toothless tried to listen and ended up spiralling in the air, out of control. "Come back down towards me. Come back down – ouch!"
He was hit by one of the limbs and they all winced when he was sent back, for a moment, from the swing, before he turned back to Not-Toothless. Without a word, he bit the sheet to keep it from flying away and to keep both his hands free, reached for the saddle on the Night Fury's back and fought against the pressure of the wind, seating himself back on top of the dragon. He attached himself to the saddle again and then pulled as hard as possible to try and help Not-Toothless who spread his wings, still unable to fly. They both glided down, the wind rushing past them and almost hurting Not-Toothless who shrieked in pain and fear at the approaching land.
Not-Hiccup pulled the sheet out of his mouth and tried to read it, panicked, his eyes dancing from the instructions to the front quickly, over and over again. Unfortunately, the wind made the leather flip in his hand so he couldn't see a thing and after a few agonizing moments, he threw the sheet to the wind and watched the pillars of the sea that were getting closer and closer to them. With nothing better to do, he moved his foot in the pedal controlling the tailfin and somehow, miraculously, it was the right thing to do.
Toothless' eyes widened at the natural talent Not-Hiccup had. They were going to crash when he counted on the cheat sheet, yet the moment he let it go and counted on his own instincts to control the tail, the two of them managed to twist and turn quickly between all of the pillars and stay alive. It was a swift fly of them spinning and turning and weaving between the pillars until they were all behind their backs.
Not-Hiccup's breaths were quick and thrilled. He heaved and blinked in confusion and alarm at the open sea before him before his face split into an excited grin. Not-Toothless looked proud of their accomplishment as well. "YEAH!" He lifted his arms in the air and Not-Toothless, still filled with adrenaline, shot a plasma blast forward. Not-Hiccup groaned. "Oh, come on." And they both flew straight through the fire before the wall turned black once again.
"Yes!" Hiccup cried out in delight and Toothless warbled and rumbled happily with him, circling him a little on light feet. It was amazing. Sure, they almost died but they didn't! They didn't and they were amazing! Who knew Hiccup would have such a knack for flying after being grounded all his life, seeing as he was a human and didn't actually have wings of his own? "Toothless, I-I honestly can't believe we survived that."
Next to them, sulking was Stoick. He stared at the wall and then at his son and his dragon and he looked a little like he was going to be sick. His face was pale and his eyes bulged out of their sockets. He looked at Hiccup as if the boy was a walking corpse. There was mostly relief and fear in his eyes, shining brightly. Astrid moved past her shock faster and smiled contently at the pair, her head bobbing in approval they didn't really need. Well, Toothless didn't need it. Maybe Hiccup did.
It was completely shocking to realize the boy who had never before flown on the back of a dragon could have such great instincts on one of his first real tries. Toothless knew hatchlings took some time to learn how to fly and their wings had to develop for a while before they could actually carry their bodies in the air and against the wind currents. And yet… Hiccup wasn't a dragon who had the nature of flight in his body ever since he was born. He was a human, doomed to walk on the ground forever, and somehow… able to move in complete sync with a Night Fury as if it was the most natural thing in the world for him.
Yeah, Toothless was glad this was going to be the human he would be stuck with for the rest of their lives. He… he had the soul of a dragon, it wasn't even a question. This boy was going to do great things and Toothless would be there with him every step of the way, supporting him on the ground and in the sky. They were going to function like a well-oiled machine and Toothless didn't have any doubts about it after everything they've seen so far. And he could tell Hiccup was feeling the exact same way.