How to Be Your Dragon
Chapter Six: The Magic of Amends
Note: I do not own How to Train Your Dragon nor any related copyrights such as Hiccup, Toothless, Berk, Astrid, and other such related characters and places.
Author's Note: I'm sorry for the incredible delay for this next part, but I had a major writer's block for the second half of the chapter. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy.
Trapped.
Alone in the nest of boulders, Toothless curled into a ball of dark scales. As the sounds of dragons disappeared, the once proud Night Fury sulked. All alone he lay, looking at the artificial tailfin that dangled in front of its face. Snorting in anger, Toothless moved his tail aside and closed his eyes.
Forsaken.
He knew Hiccup did care for him. Odin knows the boy's love for him was only rivaled by his love for the boy. Still, once Hiccup became a Night Fury, he should have known that not just something would change, everything would change. Now Hiccup was able to fly free in the sky with Astrid while he…
The gods could not hate me more, the dragon thought.
"Hi."
Toothless glared at the white-haired intruder. Thank you for proving me wrong…
Nervously, Merlin walked towards the pile of rocks and climbed onto one of the boulders on the perimeter. "So…" Merlin attempted to begin, but the Night Fury growled and lurked away from the wizard. Settling down at the far end of the pile, he closed his eyes and pretended that the wizard was not there.
"It's the saddle, right?"
Toothless opened one eye and looked back at Merlin, who persisted in approaching the sulking dragon. "The saddle allows you to fly." Merlin pointed at the mechanics attached to Toothless' back and tail. "I'm no blacksmith, but I do know a little about pulleys and levers. The saddle allows someone to ride on your back and help you fly. Am I right?" Toothless continued to stare into the wizard's terrified blue eyes.
"Seeing as you'll only let Hiccup ride you," Merlin continued after an uncomfortable pause, "and that he can't exactly… you know…" Toothless curled up even tighter. Merlin sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to figure out the appropriate way to say it.
"I can help you."
These words, even spoken by the person he hates most on the island, caused Toothless to perk up and turn to face the wizard in shock. He narrowed his eyes and proceeded towards Merlin's stiff figure.
"I think I know how to get you to fly… without requiring someone to manipulate the saddle." Toothless' heart leapt at the thought. Happy images of flying through the sky once again, to fly through the sky with Hiccup no matter what… Toothless again narrowed his eyes, more wary of the wizard's actions.
Pulling out his wand, Merlin started, "You see, there's this spell…"
"OKAY!" Merlin cried as the dragon leapt right in front of him, nearly knocking him off of the boulder he was precariously perched on. Holding up his hands defensively, he spoke over Toothless' angry growl. "I get where you're coming from. Magic bad, baaaaaaaad magic. Magic did crazy stuff. I get that you don't trust me. I wouldn't trust me in your situation." Placing his head in his free hand, Merlin muttered, "You're not helping yourself…"
Gathering himself together, Merlin looked directly into the Night Fury's eyes. "I know just as well as you do that dragons and magic do not mix; it's Wizard's Rule Number 35. But, this spell doesn't affect you, it affects that contraption on your back." The wizard paused for this to sink in. "Will you at least let me explain?"
Toothless glared at the wizard, but eventually settled down and listened. "Great," Merlin said, letting out a sigh of relief, "you won't regret this. It's called Psychokinetically Enhanced Subservient Substitutiary Locomotion." Toothless cocked his head in confusion. "To explain, what I'm doing is making the saddle… smarter. I'm giving it enough intelligence to understand what needs to happen in order to enable its function, in this case how to fly. I'll also make it subservient to your thoughts, meaning that all you need to do is remember the motions. It'll be just like flying as you used to… what do you say?"
Toothless looked at the wizard for some time. Anxiously, Merlin held his breath, but he knew the answer as he could have sworn he saw a tear form in the corner of Toothless' right eye. Purring in satisfaction, Toothless, turned so that the saddle faced the wizard.
"Thank you." Merlin said, as he took his wand and pointed it at the saddle. Several seconds passed as the wizard moved his wand in intricate patters and mumbled the arcane language under his breath. But suddenly he stopped, his eyes searching the sky. "How does this go again…?"
Frightened, Toothless looked at the wizard in shock. Defensively, Merlin quickly said, "No, everything's okay. I just need to remember how this next section goes. But it's not all important." Toothless still looked at the wizard fearfully. Eventually, the wizard conceded, "Okay, it's the part of the spell that divides it between a Locomotion spell and a Non-Locomotion spell, but don't worry! I've got it now." Merlin pointed his wand back at the dragon as he muttered, "…mostly…"
Merlin resumed speaking in the arcane language as his wand slowly moved through the air like a sword, cutting away bindings of the inherent magic in the world. His voice rose, dark energies poured forth and surrounded the dragon. Disturbances in the air caused minor tornadoes to form around the wizard and dragon. Toothless winced as unfamiliar energy surrounded him, only to focus itself around the saddle on his back. The wizard started to speed up, carried on the back of his own magic. Energy swirled around the dragon; Toothless closed his eyes as the saddle on his back started to rattle. Energy was imbued in every crack of the creation. Finally, with a great sweep of the wand, Merlin ended the spell and everything stopped.
Toothless opened one eye. The saddle twitched slightly before settling down. Merlin stood some distance away, panting heavily. Toothless turned his attention back to the saddle on his back. Closing his eyes, he attempted to move his missing right tail fin.
With a creak, the saddle moved the prosthetic.
Is heart racing Toothless was still on the ground, watching as a once immobilized part of him started moving up and down, left and right, in and out. Eventually, the urge was simply too great to contain. The Night Fury suddenly started to leap around joyfully, rejoicing at the return of his appendage. Screeching, Toothless flapped his wings and took to the skies. The tail fin responded by stabilizing him so that instead of being bound to the valley yet again, Toothless was…
Free.
"Is that all the thanks I get?" Merlin called after Toothless as the dragon raced through the air towards the village. "Not even a ride! Hey, get back here!" Sighing, the wizard walked towards the edge of the small canyon. "Looks like I'm still walking…"
… … …
"Fishlegs' back!"
Gobber looked up from his anvil as the Viking flew into the village on the back of a staggering Gronkle. He dropped the fishing hook he was working on and immediately rushed towards where Fishlegs began to descend. Since Stoic and some of the others took off to find Hiccup, Astrid, and the wizard, many of the Vikings were murmuring about foul play. Some said that Hiccup and Astrid had left the island for some unfathomable reason; some said that Toothless had taken them off to parts unknown; most said that the wizard put a spell on the Viking teenagers.
Gobber personally believed that Astrid and Hiccup were simply just off in the forest playing with Toothless and…
"Help! Help!" Fishlegs called as he spiraled into the village center. In a second, Fishlegs found himself and his dragon crashed headfirst into the cobblestone walkway.
Ooh boy… Gobber thought as he hobbled towards the boy.
"Easy now, let's get him up." Gobber organized the Vikings as they pulled the large Viking teenager to his feet. Red-faced and gasping for breath, Fishlegs pushed the helping hands away and nearly fell into Gobber's arms.
"Hiccup…" Fishlegs gasped.
"Hiccup? You've found Hiccup?" Gobber asked while steadying Fishlegs.
"Yes… No… well, yes but…"
"Fishlegs, stop and take a deep breath." The Viking complied to Gobber's request, taking a big wheezing breath. "Good. Now, did you find Hiccup and Astrid?"
"Yes… and no…"
Gobber looked at the Viking mouth agape. "You know what, I'm going to take that as a yes. Are they all right?"
"Yes… and no…"
"Fishlegs, you're really not helping right now…"
Before the winded Viking could continue, an iconic screech echoed through the village. Gobber looked up in time to see a large black figure round the mountain and approach the village at top speed.
"Night Fur…!" A Viking began to shout just before he was interrupted by another back figure closely following the other. At high speeds, the two dragons flew into Berk and straight towards the crash site.
"Er… TWO Night Furies!" The Viking corrected himself.
Fishlegs fell back as the two dark dragons landed in the square, scattering the assembled Vikings. Immediately, the first one tackled Fishlegs to the ground, causing him to scream in shock.
"Got you!" The first dragon gasped in a familiar feminine voice. "All right, stop running off…"
"Uh… Astrid?" The other Night Fury asked in another familiar voice, looking around at the crowd of onlookers.
"What?" The first Fury snapped back. However, she soon caught on and looked around at the villagers. In shock, she lifted her foot off of Fishlegs, allowing him to escape. "Oooooh…" Astrid realized, "We're back in the village… aren't we…?"
"Pretty much." Hiccup said, looking around at the frozen Vikings. All of the great warriors looked on as the two former Vikings straightened up and nervously smiled. "Uh… Hi everybody…" Hiccup tried.
The Vikings stared dumbstruck.
"Um… okay…" Hiccup nervously said, straightening up nervously. "Um… I know all of this seems strange but… um… you see…"
"Stoic!" One of the Vikings yelled, causing the villagers to suddenly look up to the sky. The Dragons and their riders finally caught up to the Vikings-turned-Night-Fury and landed in the center of the city, Stoic leaping off of his Nightmare before it even touched the ground.
Oh thank Odin Hiccup inwardly sighed, glad to have his father here to explain everything.
"Everyone!" The Viking chief hollered, holding his hands to the sky. "May I have your attention?"
"I think you've got it." Astrid muttered to Stoic as the Vikings silently watched.
Looking around at the assembled mass, Stoic nodded and explained, "My son and Astrid Hofferson have been turned into dragons!"
"We kinda figured that…" One of the Vikings started but faltered when Stoic glared at him for interrupting.
"As I was saying," Stoic resumed, "Hiccup and Astrid have been turned into dragons by an enchanted stone that has been dropped by the wizard." The Vikings started muttering, but another glare into the crowd silenced them. "However, this stone has been lost and Odin knows what kind of trouble it can cause if left alone…"
In the midst of the muttering that started up, a lone Viking asked, "Where's Toothless?"
Stoic looked at Hiccup, who, in turn, looked at the ground. "Toothless," Stoic began, looking back at the village, "is…"
"Another Night Fury!" A Viking called out in shock and exasperation. Everyone looked in shock at the black figure that was now making a beeline for the center of the village, a familiar red fabric tailfin flapping in the wind.
"Tooth…" Hiccup began, only to be tackled by the speeding Night Fury. The two flipped over and over until they both crashed into the side of a building. Without warning, Toothless began licking Hiccup's face much like a dog excited to see his master return. Astrid ran over to the two dragons, in concern and shock. And yet a dark jealousy simmered in the back of her mind.
"Toothless, stop!" Hiccup laughed as he pushed the beast off of him and pushed himself onto all fours. "Toothless… how?"
An ecstatic Toothless flipped around and showed how the tail moved on its own accord, the stirrup clicking eerily. "Did… did Merlin…?" Toothless nodded happily and began rubbing his head up against Hiccup's, causing a nearly inaudible growl from Astrid.
"I think that answers your question." Stoic said, causing the three Night Furies and the Vikings to turn and face Stoic. "Now, we need to find that stone. It could be anywhere on the island by now, and it will take everyone working all day to find it."
The great chief looked around at the sheepish Vikings, smirking as he remembered the day he called the search for the Dragon's Nest. "Okay…" Stoic said, "but do you want an angry Astrid breathing down your neck… especially now?"
To underline his point, Astrid growled fiercely.
In a flash, the Vikings were running all over the village. Some ran for their dragons, others jumped in their homes to grab tools and supplies, but most simply ran towards the forest…
…and straight into the returning form of the panting, tired, wizard.
"What did I miss?" Merlin asked after he finally stood up and checked that he had no broken bones.
"Come on wizard," Stoic said, grabbing onto Merlin's arm." You're coming with me to look for your little stone."
"What? But… I…" However, Merlin sighed, resigning himself to his fate. "Why do I even bother…" He muttered as he was dragged into the forest by the burly Viking chief.
… … …
Author's Notes: Oh my god, I'm alive! To all of those who feared this was gone forever, it's back! After all, I planned out this entire story last summer when I started writing it. For the love of god, I HAVE A SEQUEL IN MIND. In any case, I am definitely back and I can GARUNTEE that this story will be finished before I leave for school late August. Hell, I think I'll be done before July!
Then again, don't hold be to that…
To those directed here because they subscribed after some of my other more recent stories. Be patient, I'll get to them eventually. In the meantime, check out some other stories. You know, ones that actually update regularly…
To my readers, thank you for your patience and thank you for your reviews.