Forget (HTTYD Hiccup Haddock)

000

      Of all the ways to go out, drowning in a shipwreck wasn't what Eska wanted to do.

"Would you stop that already!" She scolded the giant lizard on her ship, who was nervously knowing on the mast. She slapped his snout, which rippled in colors of green, yellow, and red. It finally settled on blue, just like the raging sea around them. Eska pointed at the melting wood. "See! Look what you did, Cheese!"

Cheese let out a long, regretful gull as the thunder cracked above them both. She yelled as the ship rocked, fingers grappling onto her safety rope. Eska's dragon let out a rumbling call of distress, watching her struggle to stay upright.

"I'm fine, I'm fine- Cheese, no!" She gasped as he scrambled to keep her from falling overboard, but his weight shifted the tides and almost sent her overboard. Thankfully he listened, shuffling back in time. She gasped as her back hit the railing before she was thrown forward again, slipping on the wet planks.

Cheese's long and winding tail stuck out and wrapped around her waist, pulling her close and stopping the assault. Eska grabbed hold of his neck and then the sails rope, hoping to solidify herself and keep from tossing overboard.

"We're okay! We're fine!" She shouted over the wind, yanking on the rope to tighten the knot around the sails. Thunder struck loud and deafening, followed by a searching bolt of lightning. Eska watched in horror. "No... no, no, no, no!"

Cheese pushed her down and covered her with his body, just as the bolt struck wood. There was a loud crack, a shock in the air, her skin tingled and that was it. Everything went quiet.

~~~

"N-now, listen." Hiccup pushed back against Toothless, a faux confidence on his nervous face. "Y-you can't just- just push me around like this!"

The black scaled nightfury gave him a less than delicate shove, nearly throwing the petite boy forward. Hiccup flailed to keep his balance on his thin legs and prosthetic.

"Whoa-! Okay! Okay, maybe you can." The brunette gave his dragon the best stink eye possible. "But that doesn't mean you should!"

Toothless huffed.

"Look, we can go fishing. Fishing is fine!" He gestured towards the ocean. "But-but you can't just go shoving me around! I didn't even get a chance to grab my fishing pole!"

Tootless grumbled, his belly letting out it's own growl. Hiccup glared, but the black scaled reptile lowered his ears and gave his best pouty eyes. Hiccup was no match for his dragons persuasive ways.

"Ugh, I hate you."

Toothless continued to nudge Hiccup in the back, shoving him forward down the beach to their favorite fishing spot. But, as they grew near, both stalled.

The flat stones they used to hop across were scraped and tattered, planks of wood and spoiled provisions littered about the area.

"A shipwreck?" Hiccup questioned himself quietly, stepping forward. His delicate hand touched the broken mast, jutting out from the sand in splinters and ruin. He trailed his fingertips over the burns in the wood, branching and electrical. "From last nights storm..."

Hiccup ducked beneath the ruin mast and charred sails, following the wreckage.

"Broken mast... floorboards... rotten provisions..." he trialed off with confused eyes, face scrunching. He shook his head, looking over the mess as a whole.

Something shiny caught his eye, and he looked down at a broken necklace. Hiccup lifted it from the rubble, wiping sand off the small carved rock. The chain was melted and ruined, but the stone remained intact. It was odd, a funny green color that seemed almost clear. And yet, it held a smoky color that diluted its clarity.

"Weird..." he titled his head, tossing the pendant lightly. "All this... but no people?"

"No people, no people..." he muttered, trying to figure out the missing piece in his head. He followed the wreckage along the beach. Something didn't fit, something was weird. Why were the provisions spoiled if the ship only crashed the night before? "No good food... broken ship-"

Hiccup let out gasp as he tripped over nothing, and Toothless shot to his side. The poor boy was dazed as the Nighfury took a defensive stance between his boy and the threat, which Hiccup was still struggling to see.

"Buddy, what-?" Hiccup stumbled as Toothless shoved him back, but from the ground he could peer through the dragons legs.

On the sandy shore was a shimmer, the ground rippling. What clearly looked like sand was fluctuating between yellow and green, as if it was fighting to keep its colors. Hiccup watched in awe and confusion as he made out the shape of a dragon, hunkered down over the sand. Toothless hissed at it, and it jumped as of to attack, only to hold itself back and coil closer to the ground.

"A Changewing?!" Hiccup gaped, scrambling back. He lowered himself to the ground, observing the defensive beast. Toothless let out a full, dangerous and full. The Changewing returned it, easily three times the Nighfury's size and yet not attacking. "What are you doing here..."

Hiccup caught a glimpse under the dragon's wing, blinking in surprise. There was a person under the dragon, laid out in the sand. The glimpse was just that, and the Changewing put his wing down aggressively to try and ward off Toothless's snaps.

"W-wait! Wait, wait, wait! Toothless, stop!" Hiccup jumped up, palming his dragons head and pulling him back. Toothless fought against his pull, but the skinny boy managed to get between the two dragons. "Stop! Look! Look, he's protecting someone!"

Toothless faltered.

"He doesn't want to hurt us! Just- just please relax." Hiccup managed to calm Toothless down enough, and turned his full attention to the defensive Changewing. Hiccup held out his thin, open hand. "Easy- easy boy, hey..."

The dragon let out a deep growl, slitted eyes glaring holes into the poor teen. Hiccup swallowed his fear, reaching out to the rarely pigmented lizard. Toothless hummed deeply, and the Changewing looked between them.

"I just- I just want to help.." Hiccup spoke softly, his empty palms raised to show innocence. The Changewing lowered his head. "Can- can I see? I'm not here to hurt them, I promise."

Hiccup gestured down to the body being coddled by the lizard, and reluctantly, the dragon obliged. The green and blue dragon stopped trying to camouflage and raised his wing, allowing Hiccup to get close.

Hiccup kneeled on the ground, gentle hands turning the unconscious person over on their back. He blinked owlishly. It was a girl, but not one he recognized. She must have been on the ship the crashed, Burk didn't have many young women. Those it did, he already knew.

Hiccup shook his head and pressed two fingers to her neck, feeling a pulse. He let out a breath of relief, brushing sand and salt from her face before pressing the back of his hand to her forehead. No fever, so at least she wasn't sick. Yet. Her clothes were soaked, and he looked them over with nervous hands. Blue scale armor, her dragons shedded skin. Her gear was solid, well made. She was clearly from somewhere adept with dragons, somewhere other than their village.

"I-uh... hmm..." Hiccup sighed stressfully. He checked her over for any injuries, and didn't find anything besides dark bruises and scrapes. But Hiccup knew that didn't mean much, he couldn't see under her armor and with the way she was bruised? Internal damage was high on his list of possible dangers. His hands hovered as he realized he'd have to carry her back to town, and he looked up to her still on edge Changewing.

"U-uhhhhh.... Shit."