Another Nightmare book 1

Chapter 23

"Even if Toothless could break the gates, it would be loud and take too long. Plus, I don't think he has enough shots for all of the gates," Hiccup said as he sat on a rock. His eyes wandered the gaps between the trees, barely seeing the nearest buildings from the village. He didn't want to be caught off guard, and didn't have Toothless' sharp senses, so he was left constantly scanning his surroundings.

"And if we try to open them, everyone is going to be immediately suspicious. This is a tricky problem," Fishlegs shared Hiccup's worry: It was good to have someone who did. "The big question is; who or what gets the blame for their escape?"

"There aren't many options for that," Hiccup sighed. "I don't have any ideas"

"How about Toothless? Has he got any good ideas?"

"No, his best idea was to eat Snotlout and the twins as a distraction, but that doesn't really help us," Hiccup knew that the thought of Toothless' half-serious suggestion was supposed to be horrible, but he couldn't help a small smile from reaching his face. Fishlegs apparently didn't notice this immediately.

"He wanted to eat them?" The larger teen seemed appalled. "And that was his best idea?"

"Well... it's better than burning the village. Listen, he isn't evil, and he wasn't even completely serious when he made those suggestions. He just doesn't have any ties to the village except for me. Toothless is reeaaly protective, and knows pretty much every bad thing that has happened to me here..."

"Okay, but... are you sure he wasn't serious?" Hiccup answered Fishlegs' question with a 'Did you really just ask that?' look.

"We are literally in each other's head every day, so yes, I'm sure," Hiccup deadpanned.

"Speaking of that: Hiccup, are you sure it's a good idea to be linked like that all the time? It seems like it's becoming more difficult for you to be separate. Maybe some of that is because of your injuries, but what if your minds somehow become... too tightly connected, so that you can't be away from each other?" Fishlegs expressed a worry that Hiccup hadn't even considered before. It was true that returning to the village in the morning was increasingly unpleasant, and every day Hiccup felt more restless there, but was it because of an increasing dependency on Toothless, or just his disdain of going home?

"Maybe; I don't claim to completely understand what I can do, but that's a risk that I don't mind taking. Toothless can't go too far from me anyway as long as the Queen is still around, and he already needs me to fly. If I depend on him to stay sane, then at least we are even on those terms, and we don't have to be alone anymore," Hiccup declared, while reaching out with his thoughts. "Anyway, I should go. Toothless is getting restless."

"Not just him."

"Maybe I just prefer to stay with someone who has accepted and stood up for me from the beginning instead off picking on... or avoiding... me..." Hiccup realized the exact implications of his words the moment they had left his lips.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that," he said meekly, instantly trying to correct his mistake.

"Yes, probably. It's true though," Fishlegs admitted, a little taken aback by Hiccup's direct words. "Just remember what I said."

"I'm fine." Hiccup stuck to his opinion. "I'll see you this evening?"

"I'll try to come."

Hiccup carefully stood up from the rock he had been sitting on. His wounds were healing rapidly with frequent Night Fury saliva treatments, but there were still more than enough sore spots. Even those got better once he reached the cove. Toothless insisted in sharing his pain, and Hiccup's human pains didn't seem to be much of a hindrance to the powerful dragon as Toothless circled around his human. Hiccup felt like a load was taken from his shoulders, when their minds could finally reach each other properly. Hiccup simply stood there for many seconds, breathing calmly. How could Fishlegs ever understand how amazing and important this was to him?