Hiccup and Astrid

memories part 9: toothless diary

This part is related to " memories part 8"
Enjoy
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The great fireball lifted in the sky signaling another day. The Vikings had all eventually made tiny nests in the sand to sleep, and now they raised themselves, stretching and yawning. Toothless hadn't slept, though he desperately wanted to. He is hurt. He is hurt even more than when the strange vines and stones had pulled him out of the sky, but he wasn't as scared. Hiccup was still close by and alive. Toothless had sat up the whole night just listening to his rider's heartbeat. But he wasn't alone. The girl sat close by as well. She had only moved a few times in the night, one of which was to pull the charred and ruined gear off his back. That had been a relief and alleviated some of the pain, but the rest was inside. There were some broken places, he knew. His wing sat at a strange angle and it hurt to pull it close to his side. A good night's sleep would help, but for now he couldn't sleep, he could only watch.
Hiccup's pain was far greater than his own. He'd lost a paw, one of the big ones the humans walked with and since they were too deformed to walk on four paws that would seriously limit his mobility. He would need Toothless! Would they still be able to fly though?
The girl and the other boy human were talking. They had had harsh words before, which worried Toothless, but now their words were soft and no cause for alarm. Then the other young humans roused from their nests and came over to look at Hiccup. Toothless couldn't sense any malice from them, but he was still concerned. Too many people around Hiccup, cutting Toothless off from him.
The Night Fury heaved himself up with great effort. His right front paw hurt the most. It was the first to hit the ground when they fell and now it felt loose and wouldn't do what he wanted, but that didn't stop him from crawling forward and pressing his nose between a pair of the young humans.
"Toothless!" the girl cried with a start. "You shouldn't be walking around."
He mrred at her softly and pressed forward until he could nuzzle at Hiccup's neck. Then his legs grew too weak, and he dropped down just breathing in Hiccup's scent.
"It's okay," she said softly and scratched along his ear flaps. "We're going home soon. Then we can all rest and you can get better."
Toothless rolled his eyes at her. He needed fish and sleep, but Hiccup needed him more.
Noises from above grabbed his attention and he looked up to see the four dragons emerge from the volcanic nest, blinking and rested. They regarded the Vikings around the island cautiously before noticing the young ones around the bonfire and as a cluster scampered over. This seemed to amuse the young humans as they greeted the dragons happily with scratches and pleasant words. The Hideous Zippleback wrapped its two necks around the twin pair in a firm embrace while the Gronckle peered up at the large boy with wide eager eyes. The Deadly Nadder preened and danced from afar eagerly until the girl approached her with an affectionate pat on the neck. The Monstrous Nightmare was most aloof of the lot, hunkering down and slowly tossing his head back and forth, but the dark-haired boy eventually met him with a respectful hand to his snout. This pleased the large beast enough to lap at him with his tongue.
"All right, kids! Ship's ready to sail. Time to go home."
"We'll fly," the twins announced.
"Me too," the large one said.
"Yep, same here," said the dark-haired boy.
"Sounds fine to me. More room on the boat the better. Astrid?"
The blonde looked down at Toothless and Hiccup and then said, "I'll stay with them." She looked back at the Nadder. "Hopefully she'll follow on her own."
"Okay. Help me get him on board?"
Toothless watched helplessly as they picked Hiccup up and carried him to the floating rock. He didn't want to go back on the rock for fear of being strapped down again, but his fear for Hiccup was far greater. He made an attempt to follow them, but he couldn't move very far for very long and was only about halfway across the beach when they returned.
"Oh, Toothless," the girl said sadly. "Gobber, I think his front leg is broken. Possibly a wing too. How are we going to get him on the ship?"
"Well, same way we got him on the first time I suppose."
Before he knew it a flurry of activity grew up around him. He allowed hands to lift him and maneuver a large false wing that had been used to catch the wind on one of the rocks underneath him. Then they dragged him along the sand towards the floating rock. It wasn't a pleasant form of transportation, but it was quicker and less painful than trying to pull himself along. Once at the rock, the wing beneath him was attached to vines and folded up around him like a cocoon. The largest Vikings on the rock pulled at the vines lifting him into the air. Toothless' nose was sticking out and he sniffed in interest as the ground fell away from him without even the use of his wings, similar to the last time, though he was able to appreciate it more without having the hard vines holding him in place. As he reached the top of the rock and was swung even with it, he saw Hiccup lying there and started crooning and honking eagerly to reach him.
"Easy there, beast! Don't want to be flipping yourself off now and hurting yourself even more, do you?"
Eventually he was set down on the hard surface and the wing was loosened around him. He tested and found he had complete freedom of movement, plus his mouth had not been sealed shut. He hauled himself to the boy and settled down as comfortably as he could. The large man with the face full of fur approached him. This was the man that had taken him last time, who had wished him nothing but ill will on the voyage over, but now that ill will had vanished.
"We're going home," Fur-face said to him. "All of us." The fur parted to show his small teeth, just as Hiccup had done that day in the cove. It amazed Toothless that this gesture of showing your weapons was a sign of goodwill and trust instead of dominance and aggression, but so be it. Toothless made the smile-face back and blinked wearily. He had to trust them now, for his sake, for Hiccup's sake, even for the sake of the other dragons. Things were different now. They wouldn't fight and kill and steal. They would live and trust and maybe fly.
Fur-face seemed to approve of his smile-face and gingerly reached his hand out to him, letting it fall on Toothless' head, as he had done the night before. Then he turned away and shouted for the rock to move. Toothless sighed and nuzzled Hiccup. The girl was on the other side, eyes focused on Hiccup. Toothless didn't know what to think of her. She had been loud and aggressive when she first came into their cove, then she had become quiet and soft. It wasn't unlike what had happened with Toothless, first wanting to attack the humans, then not. Maybe it was all Hiccup. Maybe he had the magic to transform anything from its worst to its best. But Toothless was too tired to ponder that further. There were more important matters to worry about now as the gentle swaying of the rock carried them across the water.
Home. Sleep. Fish. And, of course, Hiccup.
Once Hiccup woke up, all things would be right again.

Astrid sighed as she remembered all that and smiled to herself before falling asleep.
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And I finally finished that story