There were dragons when I was a girl.
Oh, there were great grim sky dragons that nested on the cliff tops like gigantic scary birds.
Little brown scuddely dragons that hunted down the mice and rats and well-organized packs.
Preposterously huge sea dragons that were 20 times as big as the big blue whale.
Some say they crawled back into the sea leaving not a bone or a fang to remember them.
Others say they were nothing but folk tales to begin with. I'm okay with that.
Nine years later. A young boy with white hair, revealed to be Hiccup and Athena's son, is held by a now-bearded Hiccup on a sailing a boat. Meanwhile, Athena and their daughter, a young red-haired girl, raise one of the sails as the boat journeys across the sea.
Hiccup suddenly notices something through a thick fog and then discovers Toothless and the Light Fury sitting on a small island with three baby dragons of their own.
Toothless, now wild, notices the strange-looking bearded man on the boat. He flies over and lands on the bow of the boat and gives Hiccup a wary look.
"Hey. Hey there, bud. Remember me?"
Toothless continues to eye Hiccup suspiciously and slowly advances toward him. The two children cringe in fear and hide their faces while Athena comforts them.
"It's okay. He's ok."
Hiccup holds out his hand while turning his head away. Toothless sniffs Hiccup's hand and immediately recognizes his old friend. He then embraces Hiccup while tackling him to the deck of the boat.
"Oh! Ah! Oh-ho-ho. Hey, I'm glad to see you, too, bud."
Toothless jumps around Hiccup excitedly. Athena shows a relieved look on her face, and starts laughing.
"He's not gonna eat your father."
Toothless then looks to Athena, and slowly goes up to her.
"It's me." She says, crouching down. And, after hearing her voice, Toothless tackles Athena too, and starts licking her.
"How's the tail holding up? Could probably use some oil and little fine-tuning, from Hiccup." She jokes.
"Look, it's okay. We're friends." Hiccup tells his children.
The two children look up and watch. Toothless nuzzles Hiccup's face and licks him again, and does the same to Athena.
Toothless turns his gaze to Hiccup and Athena's children.
"Here."
"Go on. It's alright..." Athena encourages her children, noticing another dragon.
After gently nudging the two children, they nervously approach Toothless.
"Come. He won't hurt you. Hold your hands out. Like this. That's it." Hiccup helps them each hold out a hand. The two children cover their faces in fear.
"Let him come to you."
Toothless gently presses his snout against the two children's hands. They both gasp and look amazed.
"Puff!"
Later, Hiccup and his son fly on Toothless. Hiccup throws his son at one point and then catches him. The Light Fury flies beside them with her three baby dragons. One baby dragon does an invisibility maneuver and reappears.
Athena and her daughter fly on Puff and whoosh past Toothless. Hiccup shakes his head, and smirks mischievously, as he gives Toothless a gentle pat, and Toothless catches up to Puff.
Legend says that when the ground quakes or lava spews from the earth, it's the dragons letting us know they're still here, waiting for us to figure out how to get along.
Hiccup's son dismounts and rides on Puff, while Athena's daughter dismounts and rides on Toothless.
Yes, the world believes the dragons are gone, if they ever existed at all.
But we Berkians... we know otherwise.
The dragon's fly off into the distance.
And we'll guard the secret until the time comes when dragons can return in peace.
~
Finding the Hidden World.
YOU ARE READING
Finding the Hidden World
Fanfiction"Who do you think you are?!" "I am surprised you don't remember me, Athena." Athena Stockwell has finally settled into Berk, she has her best friend Puff, her boyfriend Hiccup, and all of her other best friends. She is living a perfect life, she sa...
