HTTYD - My Rider- Chapter 8

Toothless sat, staring out at the lake as he pondered over what had happened just under a week prior. Once Hiccup had calmed down, they had both sat, with Hiccup leaning against Toothless lightly. Hiccup had murmured a soft thank you and had fallen asleep, and Toothless put out the fire and wrapped a wing around Hiccup to keep him warm. The next morning, Hiccup had left, looking much better, happier even, and had promised to come down after training.

Toothless continued to think about what Hiccup had told him and growled slightly, feeling anger build up inside of him.

'The other humans should learn to accept Hiccup, especially his sire!' He thought, baring his teeth at the thought of Hiccup's father. If they met, Toothless would make sure to punish the older Viking for the pain he caused his rider. On another note, Hiccup had called him his best friend, had opened up to him, and Toothless didn't know how to feel about that. He knew it was taboo, a human and a dragon becoming friends, bonding, riding together…And yet, it felt so right to him. The hug he had given Hiccup was the first time he had comforted another living creature, and the pain he felt, seeing Hiccup break down was immense.

Truth be told, he was proud that he was Hiccup's best friend. He was smart, honest, kind and caring. Why the idiotic Vikings in the village couldn't see that was beyond him. Toothless stretched out his limbs and padded towards the lake to take a drink. As he did so, he reflected on how things had changed for him in such a short space of time. If someone would have told him a few weeks ago that he would be rendered flightless, only to become best friends with a human and have that flight restored, he would have blasted them down to Hel for their impudence, yet, here he was.

"Toothless!" he heard his human call, and looked up to see a smiling Hiccup running towards him, a strange harness like object wrapped around his torso, the red cord attached to it.

Toothless bounded over towards him and sniffed the new leather in curiosity.

'What's this?' He asked, staring at it.

Almost as if understanding him, Hiccup replied. "This is a new harness…It's more effective than the last one and it'll stop me from falling too far away from you."

The both of them cringed as they thought back to the disastrous week they'd had trying to fly, all which included Hiccup flying unceremoniously from the saddle, the cord not helping much, into a heap on the ground.

"Anyway Toothless" Hiccup smiled. "I think they're finally starting to accept me down at the village. It's because I'm doing so well in training now I know how to tame the dragons there, but it's giving me some hope."

'That's great Hiccup' Toothless told the boy, pleased.

"With some work, they might stop hating dragons altogether" Hiccup said optimistically.

'It's going to be a bit harder than that' Toothless snorted, shaking his head at his humans' naivety.

"No you're right" Hiccup agreed, understanding the snort to be skepticism. "It's gonna take a lot of work, but I hope we can get there someday." He smiled at the black dragon. "Thanks Toothless. This is because of you."

'No Hiccup' Toothless told him, a fond note in his voice. 'It's your compassion which has made this possible.'

Hiccup began to scratch Toothless in his favorite position, and Toothless tilted his head back happily. Hiccup used both of his hands to scratch him and Toothless closed his eyes, lifting one leg off the ground.

'That feels really nice' Toothless purred. It was nice to have someone to scratch those hard to reach spots. Hiccup gently scratched him under the chin and for a brief moment, the dragons' eyes opened wide before rolling back into his head as he slumped down on the floor, feeling pure bliss generate through his body. He found himself unable to move, not that he really wanted to, and simply lay there, lightly purring.

"Toothless? You okay there buddy?" Hiccup probed, kneeling by him.

'Five more minutes Hiccup…' Toothless mumbled, curling up slightly.

"I guess you like being scratched under the chin" Hiccup laughed. "That's pretty useful to know. I wish I'd known this the day I made your saddle. It would have made getting it on your back a lot easier."

'Sure Hiccup…Whatever you say…' Toothless mused, just before falling into a blissful slumber.

--

When he awoke, Toothless sat up blearily, looking around in confusion. He heard a soft tapping noise and glanced over in the direction it was coming from.

'Hiccup?'

Toothless padded over, and saw the redhead sat behind a rock with a new contraption lay on it, working with some tools he had brought. Toothless sat on his haunches and watched the Viking work, feeling a sense of curiosity hit him. Hiccup glanced up and smiled.

"Oh hey buddy. You were out like a light, so I went to training and brought my things here to work on. You sure can sleep."

'Sorry' Toothless apologized, and then tilted his head to the side. 'What's that?'

Hiccup continued to talk, but Toothless paid him no mind and instead stared down at the floor where a small glimmer of light lay. As he watched it, the light moved, and Toothless followed it with his eyes.

'What IS that?' Toothless thought, following the movement perfectly with his eyes. 'Maybe I'll catch it and find out…'

He lowered himself into a crouching position, waving his hindquarters in the air slightly, and when the movement stopped, he pounced forward onto it.

'Gotcha!' He thought in delight, and moved his paws slightly, only to find it wasn't there. He looked around in confusion. 'What the… Guess it's faster than I thought…There!' He spotted it again and pounced, rolling forward slightly.

"Toothless, what are you doing?"

'Shh Hiccup! You'll scare it away!' Toothless hissed urgently, and glanced around quickly, looking for the gleam of light once more. 'Aha! I've got you now!' He exclaimed and bounded forward, trying to trap it in his paws, to no avail.

"…Are you chasing the light from my hammer?"

'No Hiccup. I'm chasing this…this thing!'

He heard Hiccup laugh and push the project he was working on to the side. "Alright then Toothless…This should be fun."

'There it is again!' Toothless cried, and jumped forward at it. It seemed to have more direction now, like it was taunting him, teasing him to come closer, and then it would fly away quickly as he tried to. 'You won't evade me that easily!'

He let out a growl as it vanished from his sights once again, and heard Hiccup's laughter. He turned and glared at the red-head.

'This isn't funny Hiccup!'

"Sorry T-Toothless!" Hiccup chuckled. "I just find it funny how a proud dragon like you could be so entertained by a speck of light on the floor. You're just like a cat!"

'A cat?' Toothless cried, insulted. 'Oh I'll get you for that one' he growled, moving forwards.

"Toothless…What are you-? No! Toothless come on!"

Toothless grabbed the back of Hiccup's harness in his teeth, ignoring the teen's desperate pleas and struggles to escape. He picked him up effortlessly and bounded over to the lake.

"Toothless come on! I'm sorry I called you a cat okay? You're uh… a real strong, proud, awesome dragon" Hiccup said quickly.

'Yes. Yes I am' Toothless said smugly, holding his head a little higher.

"With a big ego" Hiccup muttered, not intending for the dragon to hear. Unfortunately, he did.

'Alright Hiccup. That does it' Toothless growled, narrowing his eyes. He swung his head back and forth several times, finally letting go, causing Hiccup to fly through the air with a loud scream, into the cold water. Toothless sat back on his haunches, and when Hiccup broke the surface and glared at him, gave the boy his most innocent stare, his lips curving up into his favorite toothless grin.

"Thanks Toothless."