Come Darkness, Come Light

Chapter 22 - See You Later, Dragon Boy

A/N: I was doing some editing (I'm constantly fixing punctuation errors, it's infuriating), and I can't help but cringe whenever I see a sentence that ends in a preposition. The grammar rules state that you aren't supposed to end a sentence with a preposition—I'm aware of this; however, I've decided to let it slide for two reasons. One: sometimes it's really difficult to arrange certain sentences to fit the rules. Two: I feel like it's very common in colloquial conversation. That being said, I'm a perfectionist and it will always bother me.

~Thanks for coming to my TED Talk. I'll see you next chapter.

Stardust333 —He needs to learn how to use a bow ;D Cami is most definitely skilled in the art of battle. Maybe she'll help someday. We shall see.

Disclaimer: Gosh darn it, I said no.

HICCUP'S POV

"Where do you live? Did you bring any other dragons with you? What are you doing on Amity Island? Can you control dragons—"

I groaned at the endless flow of questions, effectively cutting off Camicazi before she could get too carried away. She wasn't lying when she said there was a lot she wanted to ask me. Her last question was especially ridiculous.

"Of course I can't control dragons! I'm still a human, even if I grew up in a nest," I pointed out, shaking my head in amusement.

Cami pursed her lips, studying my face to make sure I wasn't lying. Due to her lack of concentration on our surroundings, she ended up tripping over a tree root. She stumbled forward with a startled yelp, and I quickly grabbed her arm with my free hand before she could faceplant. Her momentum almost sent me down with her, but I felt a tug on my shirt that held both of us up. When my balance returned, I twisted my head around to see Toothless walking directly behind me.

*Thanks, bud.* I said gratefully, adjusting my grip on the Tiny-wing. I'd decided to call her Lucky, since it was the perfect description. If I hadn't come along, she most likely would've died, either by natural causes or perhaps even Thuggory. I couldn't say for sure yet whether I saved her wing or not, but at least I'd saved her life. I'd always considered Perch to be my first dragon rescue, but I saved Lucky without the help of my mom or Toothless. I'd always look back on this day with pride.

Toothless blew out a warm puff of air that sent my hair flying in all the wrong directions, a nonverbal scolding for not being more careful. I'm not the one who tripped! I thought indignantly, turning back around to check on Camicazi. We'd kept walking, but she was staring over my shoulder at Toothless with wide eyes, obviously uncomfortable with his proximity. She'd been so ready to pet him before, and now walking near him was too much? It was hard to imagine Toothless as an intimidating creature. I mean, sure...he's got sharp teeth and claws, and he's eerily silent when he moves, but he's so gentle with me.

"I meant what I said before—he won't hurt you," I reassured her. Cami reluctantly broke her gaze away from my dragon, which was probably the smart thing to do. I could feel him growing antsy with all her staring. He kept his eyes forward, ignoring her altogether. I wondered how he was taking all of this. The last time he saw humans, it had been bloody. Maybe he could sense that I wasn't in danger now, so he had no reason to be aggressive towards my new friend. That didn't mean he liked her, though. I knew him better than that. He didn't do well with strangers—human or dragon.

"So if you can't control dragons, how do you get him to listen to you?" Camicazi wondered, jerking her chin towards Toothless in what she probably considered to be a subtle manner. I wasn't sure if it would be beneficial for her to know that he understood every word she said, so I chose not to mention it.

"Toothless is my friend—my brother, really," I admitted. "We respect each other." I shrugged, unsure what else to say about it.

"You make it sound like he's a human," she commented.