Come Darkness, Come Light

Chapter 5 - Family Matters

A/N: This is my fifth chapter in two days. I seriously need to take a break...I just can't stop writing! Also, as a warning, this story will contain some pretty big time jumps. Not in this chapter...actually, I'm not sure exactly when I'll skip ahead, just know that it will happen.

Disclaimer: HTTYD, will you be mine? No? Oh...Okay...

VALKA'S POV

One important fact about Night Furies? They are clingy. Toothless spends almost every moment of the day with Hiccup. Meal time, bath time, play time, sleep time, you name it. I couldn't even complain, either, because Hiccup has never been happier. The only time he cried these days was when Toothless was out of his sight. I never expected to have to adopt a Night Fury into our little family, but that was clearly going to be the case here. I think Hiccup would self-combust if his dragon was taken away from him.

I no longer felt nervous about the possibility of Toothless attacking Hiccup. After the past couple weeks, I was almost sure he had a lesser chance of hurting Hiccup than I did. The little dragon was extremely self-aware and gentle. He hadn't accidentally scratched Hiccup, and he kept his teeth sheathed near him (his ability to retract and extend his teeth at will had been a pleasant surprise). So far, he respected my boundaries as well. Part of me thought he was just trying to get on my good side, but he seemed to understand that I was Hiccup's mother, and that I made the decisions.

Speaking of mothers, I saw Jade and her other hatchling less and less as the days went by, and I found it slightly concerning. If she left, would she take Toothless with her? I knew he was hers—Cloudjumper had confirmed it using my "blink twice" method. Toothless didn't seem to have any sort of bond with her, and in turn she didn't feed or protect him. It was sad to think about, but perhaps it was a common occurrence for Night Fury mothers to basically abandon one of the eggs so she could focus solely on the other. It sometimes happens with other animals. Luckily Toothless didn't even care. He much preferred Hiccup's company anyway.

Toothless' intelligence was off the charts, especially for just being a hatchling. Whatever I said, he understood, but he was also a huge help. It was like having a full time babysitter that worked for free. When Cloudjumper returned with food for Hiccup and animal furs for me, Toothless would smash up the fruit and feed it to Hiccup while I made clothes and other materials from the furs. When Hiccup was bored, they would play together, which mostly involved Toothless hopping around as Hiccup tried to crawl after him. If Hiccup wandered too far, Toothless would bring him back into my line of sight.

I'd made an extra bed for Hiccup next to mine, since Toothless had taken it upon himself to be a living crib. Every night my son slept in the warm embrace of his dragon. I never woke up in the middle of the night to take care of a crying child anymore. Toothless' presence had improved our lives, and I was utterly grateful for him.

Still, as I said before, there is the clinginess issue. Well, not so much an issue as a quirk.

"Toothless, you're just going to have to be patient," I huffed for the tenth time in the past five minutes. I was carrying Hiccup into the lake for his daily bath, and the Night Fury was greatly upset at having his cuddle buddy stolen away. I waded forward until I was waist deep in the water, lowering Hiccup slowly. Toothless whimpered from the shoreline, pacing back and forth in agitation. He wasn't a fan of water. Cloudjumper chuffed in draconic laughter at the little dragon's expense. Those two had a...complicated relationship. They were like brothers who preferred to tease each other and wrestle occasionally than show affection.

Toothless ignored him, poking a single paw into the water before quickly drawing it back tightly against his chest. I hid my smile, trying not to upset him, and started scrubbing carefully at Hiccup's skin. My baby slapped the water with his hands, distracting himself while I worked, completely unaware of his dragon's dilemma. A particularly loud whine from Toothless made me sigh, and I looked over my shoulder. "Either suck it up and jump in or go lay down by Cloudjumper!" I demanded. His ears drooped and he shuffled over to Cloud, dragging his paws the whole way. I couldn't blame him for being scared. Night Furies weren't exactly built for swimming. His large wings, while useful in flight, would probably just drag him down in the water.