Lost and Found

Chapter 8: Together Again

There is a heavy panting in my ear as I wake. When I inhale, I get a nose full of hot dragon breath. With a groan, I roll away from the smell. Unfortunately, it's not enough to dissuade the dragon as soon I feel the sandpaper tongue licking my face.

"Ugh, alright, alright, jeez. I'm up." I mutter as I blindly raise my arms to push the dragon away. Using the furs around me, I wipe the saliva from my face before blinking and taking in my surroundings. To my left, a happy night fury sits by my bed with his tongue hanging out. "Toothless?" He's not the dragon I was expecting.

I hear a warble echo in the cave and look up to see Atlas bound in. She growls playfully and chases Toothless out of the cave. Stretching my arms over my head, I pivot in my bed to swing my legs over the side. A yawn shakes my lungs as I stand and run a hand through my hair. As I look around the now bright cave, a realization hits me: I didn't have any nightmares last night. In fact, my dreams were relatively peaceful. I don't recall where I was in my dream, but it was a large, colorful village with dragons and people living harmoniously.

Mindlessly my hands work to fasten my belt back around my waist and put my dagger back in its sheath. I step out into the brightness of the nest and blink a few times to get my eyes adjusted to the light. In front of me, I see Valka and Hiccup talking. Atlas and Toothless race by chasing each other joyously.

"Morning." I wave as I approach.

The mother and son duo smile in greeting. "Good morning." They respond.

After a quick meal, Valka and I disperse to check up on some of the dragons and go about our chores. Hiccup follows me as I head over to check on Thump and apply a salve to her torn wing. As we walk around, Hiccup and I make light conversation as if we've been friends for ages. I explain many cool facts and hidden secrets about dragons I've learned over the years.

As the sun rises higher in the sky, I finish my chores, and we return to the ledge. Toothless is curled up and resting. Atlas trots over and makes a low noise; she wants me to follow her. I glance over my shoulder to Hiccup. "I'll be right back. You can wait here." I say.

Hiccup seems to want to say something, but he just smiles, "Alright, see you soon."

I nod and turn away to follow Atlas. Her head perks up when she hears something, and she quickly grabs me, climbing up the walls to perk in the shadows hidden from view. I situate myself and wait quietly. I feel like I'm spying on Hiccup as I watch him stare in awe at the dragons flocking around the nest.

I hear some squealing and look toward Toothless to see two baby Scuttleclaws jumping on him. One bites his foot while the purple one licks his face. Annoyed, the night fury bats the baby green Scuttleclaw. I giggle softly at the sight. I laugh a little louder as another baby comes over, and the group begins ruffly playing with Toothless. Atlas glances at me, and I silence my laughter.

We both turn back to the scene below us.

"Well, bud, we can't wait around for Drago to attack this place. We've gotta find him first." Hiccup says as he fastens his armor. He's leaving? After I warned him not to?

Was he even going to say goodbye?

For some reason, the thought of him leaving without saying goodbye stung. I shake the thought away and watch as Toothless shakes the babies off, causing them to flee. A smile comes to my lips when I see a fourth baby gnawing on Toothless' tail. Toothless glares at the baby, and the baby defiantly munches again.

I feel Atlas stiffen under me and notice a large viking wearing brown furs sneak up behind Hiccup. My hand instinctively goes to the hilt of my sword. The giant Viking puts a hand on Hiccup's mouth to keep him from shouting out in surprise.