I'm Leaving Forever (a HTTYD Runaway Fanfic ~ Book 1)

2 - A New Life

Hiccup and Toothless had been flying for a few days now. They occasionally stopped at sea stacks and small islands to rest, but they have yet to find an island suitable for the both of them to call home. Just yesterday, the two had flown through the fog bank that marked that border of the archipelago and Hiccup soon realised that he was now somewhere where most Vikings may not even know about. To be the first to discover new territory like this beyond anyone's knowledge gave Hiccup a sense of accomplishment. Knowing that he had bought his notebook and pencils with him, he was tempted to record his all his discoveries and if he had enough paper, he could be ambitious and start a map of his own.

Night was falling, and the darkness gradually concealed Hiccup and Toothless from view. Thick clouds blotted out the light from the half moon and the stars were only visible as little white dots through the gaps between the clouds. Because of the look of the sky, Hiccup wasn't surprised when he started to feel drops of water hit his skin. The dropping temperature was really affecting the young Viking now, so he carefully manoeuvred the basket in front of him, not taking his legs out of the stirrup and felt around for one of the thicker fur jackets he had packed. After getting it on and putting the basket over his back, Hiccup turned his attention to Toothless, who was looking quite tired from flying.

"Hey bud, you wanna rest up for the night?" Toothless grumbled in response, agreeing with Hiccup's choice. It was definitely a good suggestion because both of them looked up at the dark clouds to see flashes of lightning zip across the sky, disappearing as soon as they came. There was clearly a storm approaching and Hiccup hoped that there would at least be a sea stack nearby by. The two hadn't come across a storm yet in the past three days so Hiccup had the thought that Berk already had some of the most brutal storms, but clearly, he was wrong. This storm was probably the strongest, most violent storm he had seen so far, and the lightning didn't stay high in the sky. Sometimes, they would strike quite near to them, making them very alert. The last thing they needed was one of them injured.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning almost struck Hiccup's leg as he and Toothless were trying to weave themselves out of the clouds. The light was so bright that if Hiccup hadn't looked away, he was sure he would've been blinded. Toothless roared in surprise and he was momentarily thrown off course and he had to take a few seconds to regain his balance. Hiccup's desperation to find some sort of landmass had increased. The rain made it difficult to see out into the horizon and all he could see were the raging waves and dark clouds. The rain began to pummel down onto Hiccup and Toothless with more force than before and now they felt like needles soaking Hiccup's hair to his head. His body was numb, and his hands were starting to hurt from the cold, but Hiccup didn't let it get to him. He had to focus on finding somewhere to stop soon, otherwise he could get hypothermia and/or Toothless could fall out of the sky due to exhaustion. Even a Night Fury couldn't go on in a storm forever. Hiccup scanned his surroundings, seeing if he could find something in the haze of the storm and to his luck, he did and without thinking twice, he directed Toothless towards it.

It wasn't a very big island, but it provided decent enough shelter with an overgrown canopy that stretched over the whole landmass, the only exceptions being areas which had a few mountain peaks protruding out of the vegetation. Neither were bothered to look for an opening in the canopy so Toothless simply shot a plasma blast to burn away an opening in the canopy himself. The landing was a little rough, but the damp ground made it a little softer.

"It doesn't look like we'll be flying out any time soon bud," Hiccup said, looking up at the storm raging on outside, sighing. The thunder hadn't quietened down just because they weren't in the air. In fact, the noise was amplified even further giving for a more intimidating effect and the lightning was still visible as white, jagged lines flashing in the sky with a purple tint created around them. Toothless nudged Hiccup's arm and the boy scratched him under the chin. The two were far too exhausted to seek out a proper shelter so Toothless heated up the patch of ground they were standing on and Hiccup pulled out a fur blanket and placed it down next to Toothless' side. It was a little challenging due to the harsh winds, but he was eventually laying down on it with his head supported by Toothless' stomach. The Night Fury curled his head towards Hiccup and covered the shivering Viking with his large wing as a way to keep him warm. Hiccup looked quite distant, just laying there, but Toothless couldn't blame him. In the end, Berk (at least, he thought that was the name) was his home island and no matter how easy Hiccup made it look like to leave, it was certainly the opposite. It was the place where he grew up and he may not have had a good life there, but there would still be attachments that would be hard to break.