First Friends

Chapter 22

A couple weeks later, I sensed a change, and a major one at that. I followed Hiccup to the clearing where the dragon, who he called Toothless, was waiting. He had a saddle of sorts in his arms, and a small basket of fish. I was extremely curious as to what he intended to do with the odd mishmash of items. The dragon let him put his contraptions on, then allowed him to guide me over. Once there he bent down and hefted me onto the saddle and clipped my harness in. He swung up onto the saddle in front of me and we took off. I yelped and dug my claws in. The swaying was waaaay too intense up here.

"ARGH! Get me off of this thing!" I howled, voice going shrill from fear. The creature turned back to look at me as best he could and dove, spinning upside down to drag me through the treetops. I dangled for a while before the straps snapped.

"Tiger!" Hiccup screamed, turning the dragon around to get me. But it was too late. I'd already fallen to the underbrush. I shook my head dazedly and staggered toward his voice which came through the trees. He fell to his knees and motioned for me to lie down. I did so, and he felt me all over, giving me a massage and checking to make sure I wasn't hurt. I lifted my head and looked at him as his hands moved up my body, meeting his green eyes with my golden ones. "I'm guessing you don't like flying, huh, Tiger?" I shook my head no and groaned, laying down to keep from vomitting. I rolled onto my stomach and nibbled on the sparse grass, using the greenery to calm my churning stomach.

"Bleh," I said. It was the only sound the humans understood aside from my gagging sound, which also resembled the coughing noise.

Hiccup laughed and ran a hand down my back. My guts settled down, occasionally gurgling in displeasure. I spoke without looking at him, "Come on, let's head back to the village." I got to my feet and nudged him to his. We headed back towards the village but he turned down the other path.

"I'll be back for supper, Tiger. Don't worry," he called as he trotted down the pathway to the glade. I followed him, rolling my eyes and trying not to think about him flying thousands of feet in the air and falling to the ground, which, if memory served, would leave a nice splatter on the rocks or ground.

"Hey!" I called to the dragon, who gave me a venomous look, which I returned. "Look. Clearly he's including you in his life, for whatever reason. How about we make a truce, just to keep him safe?"

He huffed and growled before looking back up at me, a fiery intenseness in his eyes I'd never seen in anyone else's except for Stoick's when he was worried about Hiccup. "Deal. I'll protect him, don't worry," he said, spitting fire on the ground. I made my way down into the clearing, licked my good paw and held it out to him. He seemed a bit taken aback, but then licked his own paw and we wrapped them around each others paw. He curled his lip slightly, matching my expression. "Why did you do that?"

"It's a human thing," I said dismissively. "He rescued me from the Big Cold water when I was a few seasons old. I saved him from a bear, which is how I got this-" I showed him my metal paw. "-and also earned the hunting respect from the villagers."

"So you're the Hunter," he said, putting together some complex dragon puzzle that he knew about. I tilted my head curiously, then noticed Hiccup check the saddle one last time, mark something down in his field journal, then look at us inquisitively. "Among our people, at my old Nest, we heard rumors about a hunter who can move like the wind, swift and quiet, taking down even the prey that we couldn't find. I'd thought it was just the tales of fiction, but seeing and meeting you personally, I'm beginning to think that you've made quite a name for yourself."

"Ready to go, Bud?" Hiccup asked, leaning over to look at Toothless' face. He snorted a "yes", then turned back to me.

"Meet me back here when the moon is high. We can continue talking then, okay?" he said to me. I nodded silently, scrambling back when he raised his massive wings that blocked out the Sun and took up all of the sky. With a leap that propelled then high in the sky and the wingbeats of the Night Fury's inky wings keeping them aloft, I felt a bit more comfortable leaving Hiccup in Toothless' care.