"I gave my best friend a pretty great gift...he gave me a better one."
Toothless and Hiccup spent the whole day in the skies, the place they call their second home. The two shot through the skies, moving together like the sun and the moon working together to provide light for their subjects. The wind hit the both of them like a tsunami wave, while the feeling of freedom flooded their hearts.
The bond they shared ran deep through their vains, their hearts colliding as two became one. They quickly realized that life would'nt be life without the other, and they would give anything to see the other live. They completed eachother, they were one soul. Nothing could ever change that; not now, not ever. Toothless proved that this morning.
When Hiccup spent all night building that new tail, he was sure his best friend would be happy that he'd be able to fly like a normal dragon again. But he never expected his best friend to turn around and leave like nothing happened. He was heartbroken that day. Never before had he felt so lonely, not even in the days before he met Toothless. Never before had he felt so betrayed, not even when his father dissowned him. But most of all, never before had he felt so worried. For all he knew, something terrible could've happened to his best friend and he couldn't do anything about it.
As the day slowly turned into the next, the feeling of betrayal turned into guilt. As mentioned before, what if something had happened to his Toothless? He couldn't do anything about it! And here he was moping about how he felt betrayed! Some friend I am, Hiccup scolded himself at one point.
Three slow and painful days had passed and still no sign of Toothless. Hiccup grew more and more depressed as the hours went by, although he was merely hiding it. Vikings don't get depressed, so he tried not to show it. During the day he seemed fine. But during the night, he'd cry-no bawl his eyes out, desperately longing for his Toothless to be there with him. He missed Toothless's scent; the scent he would smell while giving him a big hug. He missed his scales; the scales he'd feel when he was being held protectively in those reptilian limbs and wings. He missed his smile. Toothless had a lovely smile for a reptile. Whenever they went flying together, Hiccup noticed Toothless often smiling up at him. His smile was-in a way-similar to the way a proud father would smile at his son, like the son had done something right. Toothless was proud of him, Hiccup knew it. And it was nice to know that he had done something right for once.
The more Hiccup thought about it, the more depressed he grew. He even broke down sobbing in Astrid's arms while saying goodnight to her. She understood his pain, her dragon was gone too. So she held him til he was ready to release and go to bed for another sleepless night.
The next day, Hiccup made a new discovery. The dragons left Berk for a reason; to hatch their babies. It took a minor discovery of Fishlegs keeping his Gronckle, Meatlug tied up in a garage. When Hiccup had opened the door to the garage, Meatlug wasted no time in escaping. He didn't even wait for Hiccup to get out of the way, he just broke free of the chain and zoomed out of there.
So Meatlug ended up carrying Hiccup to the dragons's hatching nest. And boy was Hiccup surprised by the hundreds or even thousands of dragons hatching, feeding and mothering their young. There, he was reunited with Hookfang (Snotlout's Nightmare), Stormfly (Astrid's Nadder) and Kira and Kia (Ruff and Tuff's Zippleback). But unfortunately, no sign of his Night Fury. He was disappointed by that, but he had no time to wallow now. He had to get home. So he asked Hookfang for a ride, only to start the return migration.
The babies weren't ready to fly for long distances yet, so Hiccup and the dragons placed their young in an abandoned ship the Vikings have lost while trying to find the nest. With the help of the dragons, Hiccup carried the ship back to Berk. Joy took over the atmosphere as everyone were reunited with their dragons: Hookfang and Snotlout, Stormfly and Astrid, Meatlug and Fishlegs and Ruffnut and Tuffnut with Kira and Kia. Loneliness filled Hiccup's mind once more, as he couldn't help but think about Toothless.
Third night; it was the third night and Toothless still wasn't here with him. No, no he must not think like that, he told himself. If the other dragons came back, Toothless will have to eventually too. Hiccup would love to think that, but three days is too long. His mind told him that Toothless may not come back. Boy was he wrong about that.
Just out on the docks of Berk, a familiar black silhouette could be seen in the dusky skies. With such long wings, and a mighty screetch, this silhouette was the dragon every being has feared for centuries. The silhouette landed on the wooden docks, taking a look around being the first thing he did. Berk was like a ghost town. No one seemed to be present, and the houses looked like they've exploded from the inside.
'What happened to this place?' the figure asked himself in a deep, low voice, indicating this dragon was male.
'It's about time you got here, old Night Fury.' another male voice, although slightly higher, echoed from behind. A Nightmare approached the figure, standing next to him. The silhouette was small compared to him.
'Hookfang? What are you doing out here?' The Night Fury asked, looking up at him. 'I thought you were hatching your young.'
'We were, til your boy came along that is.' The Nightmare replied, sighing. 'He needed a ride home, and we accidentally started the return migration.'
The Night Fury chuckled at the thought. 'Yeah, my Hiccup's quite the big hit with the dragons.'
'Where have you been anyway? He misses you like hell. I could sense it in my scales! '
'I was getting his helmet back for him. He lost it on one of our flights.'
'Oh that's nobel of you, old Night Fury.' Hookfang mischievously smirked there, as he loved "yanking Toothless's chain," as he would call it.
'I'm not old, who are you calling old?' Toothless snapped back, returning the smirk before growing serious again. 'What are you doing out here anyway?'
'Just watching the stars. I trust my Snotlout with my kids.'
Toothless looked up at him again. 'You have children? Who's the mother?'
Hookfang grew solemn, sighing. 'She died during childbirth. She was pretty sick and I promised her I would save the children.'
'Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.'
'Yeah, but don't worry about me. I'll get through it. But I think now's the time you get to your boy. He missed you like crazy, and I'm pretty sure he's dying to see you again.'
Toothless gazed up at him worriedly. He didn't want to leave one of his own kind in pain. But he didn't want to leave his boy either. 'Oh right. Of course! Are you sure you'll be alright out here? You sure you don't need the company?'
'Oh no! I'm perfectly fine! I like the silence anyways, it puts my mind at ease. You just go and reunite with your boy. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to see you.'
'Oh okay then. It's about time I'd get this damn metal thing out of my mouth anyway. It's really starting to irritate me.' Toothless smiled at him one last time before bolting away from the Nightmare toward Hiccup's house.
'Toothless wait!'
The Night Fury stopped in his tracks, looking back at the Nightmare. 'What?'
'I believe your Hiccup would be that way.' Hookfang informed him, pointing to the top of the tallest hill on Berk.
'Oh right! Thanks, Hookfang!' Toothless bolted himself into the air, passing the Nightmare a gummy grin before doing so. He landed in the door way, his heart pounding in his chest. He was quite happy to be home, but he couldn't help but wonder if Hiccup would forgive him for leaving like that. What am I thinking? Of course he will! he thought to himself before nudging the door open.
He scanned the place for his boy, noticing that this place was so full of life. Vikings were everywhere, laughing and celebrating as if the world could end at any moment. Lights of all different colors were hung on the ceiling, igniting the place in a beautiful melange of green, red, blue and yellow. Finally, his eyes came to rest on his boy.
Hiccup had his back turned to him, relaxing in the arms of his girlfriend. Astrid spotted him, and a smirk spreaded on her lips. "Wow, wouldn't want to be you right now!" the blonde declared, breaking the hug and giving him a nudge in the shoulder.
Toothless tilted his head, wondering what she was doing. Rookies... he thought to himself, assuming this is what all rookies would do. He started to sneak up on his boy, remaining as silent as he can.
"You've brought except everyone's dragon except your own!" Astrid continued, and Toothless suddenly realized what she was doing as he drew nearer, closing in on the two.
"Yeah, this isn't really helping," Hiccup said, clearly annoyed with her. "at all."
Silly Hiccup, maybe if you look behind you, you'll see that she really was. Toothless thought to himself, rolling his eyes.
Astrid grinned playfully, pushing Hiccup towards the excited dragon. As Hiccup's eyes came to rest upon his dragon, Toothless felt as light as a feather. His heart melted, fluttering with the love he felt for the boy. His legs shook, his throat suddenly tightening. He coughed, or more like the dragon version of coughing. 'H-Hiccup...' he spoke, his voice translating to purrs and croons in the human language.
"TOOTHLESS!" His Hiccup shouted, joy filling his body as he raced towards his friend.
'HICCUP!' just like that, the dragon was flying directly towards his boy, creating a beeline between the two. When the two met, Toothless stopped to sit upright to stop himself from tackling Hiccup to the ground. Hiccup stopped himself as well, tears of joy welling in his eyes. What happened next surprised the dragon.
Hiccup threw his arms around the Night Fury's neck, hugging him tightly. Of course, they have hugged before, but Hiccup has declared in the past that he doesn't like showing affection in public. Toothless would have hugged him back, but Hiccup broke away too soon.
"Bad dragon!" he began declaring, pointing at him. "You are a very bad dragon!"
Toothless knew what the boy was talking about, but he also knew by the smirk on his face that he was only joking.
"Dont you ever stay away that long again," Hiccup noticed that Toothless began opening his mouth. "And what is in your mouth?"
'Hold still, you overgrown toothpick!' Toothless placed the saliva-covered helmet on top of his struggling boy's head, causing crowd to flinch in disgust. 'There we go. How's that for size?'
"Ugh," Hiccup moaned, wiping the dragon's saliva off him. "Yeah, you found my helmet." He stopped there, realizing that his dragon had spent the last three days hunting for the helmet just for him. "Hey! You found my helmet! That's where you've been?"
The Night Fury nudged him, feeling satisfied at his work. 'Yep, all three of the days and nights.'
"Buddy, thank you." Hiccup said, gazing right into the dragon's eyes. "You are amazing."
He hugged him again. He just approached his neck, and hugged it like it was his source for life. The dragon let out a croon, nuzzling the boy gently. By now, he would have expected the boy to let go. But he never did. The boy was clinging to him, never wanting to let go.
After a minute or two, he realized that his boy was not going to let go any time soon. So he brought an arm up around him, pulling him closer to his body. Instantly he felt the boy's arms tighten around his neck, refusing to let go. His face softened even more to a warm, friendly smile and nuzzled his boy affectionately. 'This won't happen again, Hiccup. I promise. I'm not going anywhere...even if you wanted me to.' he crooned.
The next few minutes was like an eternity, not that the two had a problem with that. They wanted this moment to last an eternity. They didn't care that people were watching; that was the last thing on their minds. What they cared about was the here and now, being reunited with eachother, promising to never be apart again. "I love you, Toothless," Hiccup whispered softly in the Night Fury's ear.
Toothless almost fainted at that, and his heart melted again. His soft smile grew wider, and joy filled his body. He tightened his arm around his boy and brought up the other to envelope him deeper into the hug, the tip of his wings landing on the floor to keep him balanced. If dragons could cry, Toothless would be bawling happily right now. 'I love you too, Hiccup.' he purred, nuzzling him. 'Always and forever.'
The two finally broke the hug, smiling softly at eachother. They gazed into eachother's eyes, witnessing themselves in both of their eyes. "What do you say we go for a midnight flight? Just the two of us?" Hiccup proposed.
'As if I could ever turn that down.' Toothless smiled with his familiar gummy grin before crouching low so Hiccup could hop on to his back.
"Alright! Let's go, bud!" the boy shouted happily as Toothless made a run for the open door ahead.
'Hold on, Hiccup. This is bound to be one windy ride!' Toothless spreaded his wings and took off into the moonless, starry sky. He gained altitude, watching as the sky drew nearer and the ground grew farther away. Stars were glittering, covering the night sky with tiny twinkling orbs of light. Hiccup wrapped his arms around his dragon's neck, tightening his legs to get a better hold. Toothless smiled at the boy, and he took them higher into the sky.
As if they had triggered it, the Northern Lights lit up the skies, creating a melange of red, yellow and green. Hiccup gasped at the beautiful sight, then beamed, as this flight brought back memories. He remembered when he took Astrid on a flight similar to this, but he remembered a time when he and Toothless would go see the Northern Lights before Astrid was ever involved. Those were probably the fondest memories he had of Toothless and it was nice to relive them.
Hiccup rested his head on the Night Fury's, enveloping that neck in a big hug again. "You know what, Toothless?" he asked, breaking the ice between them.
'What?' Toothless replied with a grunt, although he knew the boy couldn't understand him.
"I have no idea what on earth I'd do without you."
'I don't know what I'd do without you too, so I guess we're even.' he joked, snorting in amusement.
"No, I'm serious! What you did back there was the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me!"
'Bleh, you'll get used to it.' he snorted again, chuckling to himself.
"Don't give me that snort! Just listen." Hiccup sighed to himself. "You spent three days-three days-out in the cold, probably fighting off blizzards and possibly other dragons just to find me this helmet! And here I was moping around like you betrayed me or something! I really thought you were just befriending me so you could fly. Then, I realized something could've happened to you, and I started to feel guilty for feeling betrayed! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I must be the worst friend eve-"
The boy was cut off by a slap in the face from Toothless's ear. "Ow! Okay okay! I get it! Respect myself more! Sheesh, you bossy dragon!" Hiccup let out a playful smirk there, but he couldn't help but feel such gratitude for his friend.
'That's my boy.' Toothless nodded in approval, flapping his wings to maintain his speed. The boy rested his head on his Night Fury's, enjoying the brush of wind in his face. He closed his eyes, noticing that he was growing tired. Putting his trust in the Night Fury below him, he slowly drifted off into a peaceful slumber.
Toothless noticed this and chuckled, his voice sounding like chattering to the human ear. He decided it was time for bed after all. It was pretty late, and the boy had a very long day. So he landed on the foot of Hiccup's house and nudged open the door. It was pitch black inside, but that was no problem for the Night Fury. With one tiny fireblast, Toothless lit up a couple of candles so he could see where he was going.
He carried the boy up the narrow wooden footsteps and to his room. The door was already open, so Toothless lit up a candle in there for the same reason as before. He wrapped his tail around his boy, lifting him off his scaly back and set him on the bed. He bit the blankets and tucked him in.
He took a second to look at the sleeping teenager and he couldn't help but smile. No words could describe how cute Hiccup looked when he was dozing off. The youth seemed like a sleeping child, having the happiest dreams. 'Wow. A human and dragon as friends. I never thought it was possible...til you came along.' He crooned to himself. 'Flying was my life, and it was my dream to go out and see the world. I never realized that I was looking at it this whole time. You are my world, Hiccup. I wouldn't change that for every cod in the sea.' He nuzzled him gently and lovingly, enjoying the sensation of the boy's soft hair rub against his scales. He uncurled his tail, observing it carefully. The boy had given him his flight back, but it wasn't the same. Toothless remembered he had made a promise to himself and Hiccup. The boy would never be alone again. And he intended to keep that promise. 'Sweet dreams, my angel.'
The boy seemed to croon in response-'Like a Night Fury,' Toothless added, purring as he felt proud of the teen. 'My boy...my precious little human.' He gave him a small lick to the cheek before nuzzling him one last time. He turned away to go to his own hut that the Vikings had made for him. He strolled out the door, stepping down the staircase.
"Toothless! What are you doing in my house?" A familiar tone with a Scottish accent stopped the Night Fury dead in his tracks. Stoick. He had come home for the night and now he was getting ready to scold the dragon.
Toothless sighed in annoyance and defeat. 'Aww no!'
Morning quickly rid the night, the sun rising in the east. The sky was covered in an aquatic blue tint, not a cloud in the sky. Toothless sighed, taking in the fresh scent of the morning air. He was standing upon the roof, getting ready to give his call. Three...two...one. Now, he decided, was the time to show Hiccup that he was no longer alone.
'WAKE UP! WAKE UP!' he roared at the top of his lungs, bouncing on the roof, his wieght causing mini earthquakes. 'SLEEP TIME'S OVER! TIME TO GET UP, YOU LAZY BONES!' Finally, the door opened, and the boy came running out. Toothless slid himself to the ground to get ready for his friend's reaction.
Hiccup stopped before the dragon, going silent after muttering something Toothless couldn't make out. What sat before the boy was his dragon, sitting tall next to the old saddle and tailfin. "What'd you pull this out for? You don't need this anymore." Hiccup said, kicking the gear away.
'I made a promise, Hiccup and I intend to keep it.' Toothless snorted, the two of them switching sides as Hiccup tried to get on his back. Hiccup tried again, only for them to switch once more.
"Would you stop fooling around? You have your new tail now!" Hiccup said, still not getting the point. He tried to get to the dragon, to get him to see his views. But it only resulted in the two of them switching again.
'I'm not flying without you, new tail or not.' With that, the Night Fury straightened his tail out and observed it. He watched as the prosthetic tail of his moved in perfect rythem with his remaining tailfin.
He turned back to the boy, seeing a confused look on his youthful face. He moved his tail up in an arch-like shape, then he pounded the prosthetic tail into the snow like there was a fly or two near by. Bang! Bang! Bang! Swish! The metal prosthetic lost its hold on the Night Fury's tail, and was thrown into the snow. Toothless grabbed the saddle in his mouth and pulled it in front of him. By now, his boy looked dumbfounded.
'I told you; I won't fly without you.' he crooned, nudging the saddle with his paw.
Hiccup half smiled, still amazed at his best friend. He was breathtaken, having no idea what to say. Could he get any more amazing? he asked himself, blinking in shock.
"Wow..." he muttered. Damn it, Hiccup! Do something you idiot! "You wanna go flying?"
'I thought you would never ask.'
And so, the two were high in the air, conquering the skies as they had done before. The gush of wind through their faces, the feeling of freedom flooding their hearts once more; it was all a heavenly bliss. This was a time to be careless and free! The feeling of hurt and betrayal Hiccup had felt in the last three painful days no longer mattered, the blizzard that had almost swept Toothless out of the sky while trying to find his boy's helmet no longer mattered. Nothing mattered as long as they were together. And nothing could ever change that.