New Life Ahead [HTTYD]

Chapter 2: Questions, Instincts, and Fish

Author's Notes: I would like to point out that this isn't really following the established facts from the movie.

One: there is no Red Death (queen dragon) in this fanfic.

Two: the dragons don't really have names in their society. Hence, why I simply refer to 'Toothless' as 'dragon' or 'Night Fury'.

Hiccup eventually awoke to the smell of something burning, his eyes slowly opening to see a small, comfortable looking fire. He looked up to see that the sun setting, but the sky was still a red-orange color, making him realize he had slept until the evening.

As he groaned, his thoughts turned to the events that had happened beforehand. He turned his head towards the crackling fire, and saw that the Night Fury was tossing his shredded clothes into the fire. Hiccup had an urge to stop the dragon, but realized that the clothes no longer held any meaning to him. He was a dragon now, and the clothes were already burned to ashes. What did catch his attention was the mound of fish in front of his face.

"Well?" The Night Fury asked, "Eat up, we have a long journey ahead of us."

It took a moment for the implications of this statement to sink into the boy's mind. "WAIT A MINUTE! I never said that I would go with you! What, you think I'm going to help you with the raids now that I'm stuck like this?" Hiccup exclaimed as he growled loudly.

The Night Fury looked at Hiccup with a half-lidded expression, clearly tired of the new dragon's complaints. "I don't think you understand: you are a dragon, that village is full of humans, humans KILL dragons..." The Night Fury growled as he said this, making Hiccup learn his place as the former human immediately stopped growling and lowered his ears and body in submission.

The Fury, not wanting to scare the human away, took a deep breath and exhaled. "Earlier, you were wondering why I just didn't bother to erase your mind."

Hiccup's eyes widened. Was it going to change its mind in that decision?

The dragon rolled his eyes. "Why would I get rid of one of the few humans I've seen who actually sees us dragons as something other than mindless beasts? Especially after being transformed?" he asked.

The former human realized that that was a very good point. However, something about the question caught his attention.

"You make it sound like this has happened before." Hiccup pointed out.

The dragon's face deadpanned. "It has been done before, just not for a really long time. Even then, you probably wouldn't hear of it, because most changed humans react with insult, anger, and violence. They eventually become not only a danger to themselves, but other dragons, giving us no choice but to reset their minds. It's sad really."

Hiccup's jaw dropped in shock. "You mean to tell us that you dragons are able to do this to us AT ANY TIME!"Hiccup thought about this for a minute, his fear-filled face slowly becoming one of confusion. At the same time, he glanced over at the fish pile, his stomach rumbling slightly.

"Wait a minute..." Hiccup's eyes narrowed at the dragon. "If that's so, then how come other Vikings with bite wounds don't change at all?"

The Night Fury lowered his head in sadness. "Most humans we come across are usually very formidable. They usually shake off the dragon before our magic can take place. They're not...errrrrr... small and helpless like you."

It was Hiccup's turn to deadpan in annoyance. Usually, most Vikings would describe him as puny, underdeveloped, weak, and his own personal favorite: talking fishbone.

Classic.

The dragon continued, "Even then, if a human has enough willpower, they can usually prevent the change from occurring. In your case, I would say that it was simply inevitable considering that from what I sensed in your heart, you do have self-esteem issues."

Hiccup raised a brow, while subconsciously walking over toward the fish. "Sense my heart?" he asked.

The dragon nodded. "I was confused about why you let me go, so I check your feelings by placing my paw on your chest." The dragon rumbled as it gave out its own version of a chuckle. "I must admit, for a minute, I thought that you would be more resistant and repulsive. If your heart was like the majority of the Vikings on this island, it would have felt like a piece of eel was imbedded inside you."

Hiccup was even more confused; what did eels have to do with any of this?

The dragon quickly gave him an answer. "Eels are very poisonous to us dragons. They have a repulsive smell and can be deadly if they are eaten. That's why you hardly see a human get eaten alive by a dragon. We just can't stand the taste." The dragon stuck out his tongue is disgust.

While Hiccup was fascinated by this piece of information, he lowered his head toward the now-irresistible piece of fish. The dragon noticed this and chuckled amusedly. "Don't choke." It warned.

This caused Hiccup to realize that he was about to eat RAW fish, and he immediately got up and shook his head. The dragon simply grumbled in laughter and walked towards the fish, grabbing a dead cod in its mouth and devouring it in two bites, licking its lips while staring at Hiccup, who was currently lying on his side gripping his head with both paws.

The former human was struggling between acting like the civilized human being he was before, and the loud growling his stomach was making. The boy had had nothing to eat since the last dragon raid, and as the day was nearly over, his hunger grew so intense that he felt he could devour a whole sheep...which he probably could considering the size of his new body.

Hiccup's sharp teeth suddenly popped into existence as his hunger overcame him. In seconds, he sat up on all fours, headed towards the fish, and proceeded to shove his face directly into the pile. Loud chomping and slurping followed as the boy swallowed the fish whole, only chewing occasionally when necessary.

After he had his fill, the young dragon sat back on his haunches, a look of content on his face. After several moments though, his face dissolved from a look of satisfaction to a look of horror as he realized his face was covered in red, the pile of fish in front of him reduced to pieces of flesh, scales, and body fluids.

Also known as blood.