Another Nightmare book 1

Chapter 12

Toothless was behaving strangely. He seemed to be not just worried but actually afraid of something. Hiccup hadn't sensed anything like it from Toothless before and he didn't like it. It took all his self-restraint not to use his new skills and try to pry out the information from Toothless memories. It wouldn't have been right. Hiccup waited until they arrived at the cove where Toothless had promised to tell him what was wrong. They both agreed it would be the best place to do so.

Hiccup used his normal route to get down while Toothless glided from the edge. He was knowingly trapping himself again and trusting that Hiccup would help him leave. The dragon was already waiting next to the remains of Hiccup's shield. Hiccup guided him to the spot of burned ground Toothless had slept on before and now laid on again. Hiccup sat cross legged next to the black head. He placed a hand on Toothless' forehead to calm the dragon.

'Thank you Hiccup.'

'Anytime bud... Can you tell what you meant when you said you might put me in danger?'

'Hiccup, you have seen some of my memories, did you ever see any from when I was a hatchling?'

'No, I really only saw deeper into your memories on the first time, by accident. I didn't want to intrude after that.'

'You could never... I should have told you about my life earlier.'

Hiccup could feel the dragon's mind opening, welcoming him. He could sense memories Toothless was bringing on the surface. Hiccup could see everything that Toothless was telling him although memories were generally fuzzier the older they became.

'My parents died before I even hatched. Usually other dragons from the same race would have taken care of me, but there weren't any other Night Furies left. I may not have survived but some terrors took me in. They raised me when no one else cared.'

'I'm glad they did. I have to thank them if we ever...' Hiccup fell silent sensing a burst of emotions from the dragon next to him.

'Is something wrong?'

'We aren't going to have a chance to thank them...' Toothless turned his head to lay it down on Hiccup's crossed legs. 'Life in the nest isn't easy for small dragons like terrors. They had to constantly avoid other dragons and find places that others hadn't claimed because they didn't have the strength to fight for themselves. Sometimes other dragons might kill them just to get them out of the way, but they still took care of me and taught me to fly. They were my family and when I grew and got my fire, I did my best to help and protect them even when I had to fight larger dragons. We actually managed to keep a better cave than usually. Then I got old enough to take part in raids.'

Now Hiccup was sure something had happened. The memories from this part of Toothless' life were much clearer than earlier ones, but they were also accompanied by more powerful emotions. Hiccup expected what was coming and leaned closer to Toothless' head, holding onto it with both hands.

'For a moment, that was the best day of my life. I succeeded in destroying many Viking catapults. Back then I was still thinking that serving our queen was a great honour. I was finally accepted by other dragons and ecstatic to tell my family, but when we returned to the nest... I could smell something was wrong before I even reached our cave. They were dead Hiccup, all of them!'

Hiccup couldn't stop tears from flowing from his eyes as he relived the events and emotions through Toothless' memories.

'There was a pair of Nadders', Toothless' emotions made complete turn from heart-breaking sadness to all consuming anger. Low growling emanated from the dragon and his claws dug into burned ground. Hiccup held Toothless' head trying to offer what support he could to his friend through their mental bond.