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

4 - Call From Berk

~7 Years Later~

Toothless was all too familiar with the stunts Hiccup was well known for pulling off, and anyone would think his concern for his rider's safety would've died down, but that wasn't the case. These stunts often cam with a high risk of Hiccup dying, and Toothless couldn't exactly bury him anywhere. So, he grumbled disapprovingly at Hiccup's idea to perform a free fall.

"Toothless, it'll fine," Hiccup said, his laughter slightly muffled due to the helmet he was wearing. He unhooked himself from Toothless' saddle and locked the connection of the stirrup that held Toothless' tail completely spread out. "You ready," Toothless grumbled again, but even he couldn't deny how much he liked to free fall with Hiccup. He didn't even have to use his wings too much, so not much work. Worked for him. Hiccup let himself slide off of the saddle, falling head-first with Toothless quickly in tow.

The Night Fury had to fold his wings closer to his body in order to catch up to Hiccup, who had a head start over him, but eventually, they were both facing each other upside down. Hiccup looked at Toothless this helmet and Toothless looked at Hiccup, smiling while sticking his tongue out. They both continued to fall until they could see the dark blue ocean surface below, and that was when Hiccup pulled out his flight suit. Leather extensions attached to the top of his boots and to the tips of his wrists. This made him shoot upwards, away from the water, and Toothless followed after. That's where they stayed for some time. Hiccup and Toothless flying by themselves, with Toothless shooting plasma blast underneath Hiccup to help keep him in the air.

After some time of that, again, they broke out into a free fall, upside down facing each other. This time, they held it until they were very close to the water and that was when Hiccup got back on the saddle and pulled on the handles so Toothless would skim the ocean surface, the water rising with him as he did.

"Haven't been able to do that in a while, right bud," Hiccup sighed out and Toothless warbled in agreement. Since they were fighting in a war, the times where the two could just relax without a care in the world had decreased immensely. It was hard to do anything with a carefree attitude anymore. Even now, they had to be on guard in case they spotted enemy ships. So, Hiccup always relished times like this where he could just fly with his dragon as freely as he could when they were younger. Everything was so much easier back then.

They had started out by just exploring Dragons' Edge further, familiarising themselves with the forests, mountains, cave and beaches, before setting off to other islands in the archipelago. Discovering many knew places and dragons, Hiccup got the idea of building a map where he could record all his findings. But it was on one of these explorations when Toothless had been captured by a hunter ship and Hiccup was left to drown in the ocean with nothing to hold onto but a wooden plank that came from one of the ships, they had damaged. Luckily for Hiccup, the currents of the stormy ocean and dragged him towards an island he had yet to discover so he wouldn't die out at sea. There, he met and befriended another dragon, a Deathsong he named Garff. Together, they tried to rescue Toothless, who was being prepared for an auction, and managed to escape after sinking a couple of ships. That was essentially the event that sparked the whole war between Hiccup and the Dragon Hunters, and he would never forget it.

But of course, it wasn't just him, Toothless and the other dragons on the Edge fighting this war. Surprisingly, Hiccup had found a friend to turn to for support in the Berserkers. It started nearly a year after he officially claimed Dragons' Edge his home. One day, Hiccup and Toothless had found the body of an unconscious girl underneath a shipwreck. She definitely needed some medical attention and Hiccup offered that to her. Her name was Heather and she and her family had been attacked by another ship. Her family had been taken hostage, but she managed to escape. Hiccup let her stay on the Edge, and during that stay, Heather had taken interest to how Hiccup thought of dragons. She was never against them in the first place, and always felt a sense of awe when she saw them, so with that interest, Hiccup ended up helping her train her own dragon. It was a Razorwhip she had named Windshear and Heather stayed for a few more months afterwards before she had to leave. On one of her flights around the archipelago, she was nearly captured by the same ships that took her family. Thankfully, she managed to escape, but Heather wanted answers and Hiccup understood that. He distinctively remembered their goodbye, and him telling her that if she needed somewhere to stay, she could always come to Dragons' Edge.