Too Many Teeth

Chapter Four

Cautiously, Hiccup stepped forward. He could hear Toothless making worried snuffling noises behind him, but he put out a hand. “It’s okay.” He wasn’t sure if he was talking to his dragon, or to the Whispering Death. The snake-like dragon was staring at him now, eyes wide and questioning. At least, Hiccup thought they were questioning. They weren’t expressive, not like his dragon’s eyes. But the Whispering Death was definitely staring at him with interest, its head cocked to one side. Waiting to see what this tiny Viking was going to do. Hiccup swallowed hard and bent down to pick up the toothbrush.

            The Whispering Death moved, turning its head the other way. Its mouth wasn’t open as wide now, it wasn’t growling or about to shoot fire at them anymore. At least that was a good sign. Step by step, Hiccup approached the massive creature. His hands were trembling, but he held the toothbrush out.

            “Is this…is this what you want? The toothbrush?”

            The Whispering Death blinked at him, then it opened his mouth wide again, revealing the rows of crusted yellow fangs. Hiccup tried to hide his grimace. There was a reason they called it “dragon breath” and this one was worse than usual. Sawing through rock and dirt all day obviously made your teeth pretty disgusting. He started towards the dragon, heart beating hard against his rib cage. This is just like it was with Toothless, he kept telling himself. Only this dragon had about ten sets of razor sharp teeth instead of one, that was all. Not reassuring.

            Hiccup stretched the toothbrush out, but the Whispering Death suddenly pulled his head back, lips curling in a snarl of displeasure. He jumped back, terrified, sure the dragon was going to chew him into tiny pieces and spit him out. But the Whispering Death wasn’t attacking, it wasn’t doing anything. It kept looking from him, to Snotlout, then back to him.

Wait. The dragon wasn’t looking at Hiccup - he was looking at the toothbrush in his hand. The dragon was looking at the toothbrush and then back at Snotlout.

            Hiccup tried to hide a smile. “I think…I think he wants you to brush his teeth, Snotlout.”

            The burly Viking stared at him. “What? No way! I’m not doing that. That’s disgusting—” he leapt back as the Whispering Death slithered closer, growling, showing its teeth. “Uh, okay. Alright I’ll do it.” He took the toothbrush from Hiccup, giving him a scorching look.

            Snotlout approached the cavernous mouth, hands shaking, looking like he was about to walk into the jaws to be devoured. Maybe he was, if his teeth brushing technique wasn’t to the dragon’s liking.

            The others watched in astonishment as the Whispering Death opened its mouth wider, allowing Snotlout to brush its yellow teeth. Snotlout reached out, trembling violently, rubbing the toothbrush over the first set of teeth. Nothing happened, the dragon didn’t move. As he continued brushing, the Viking’s fear seemed to slowly vanish, quickly being replaced by disgust.

            “This is gross. Ugh. I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

“Would you rather be eaten?” Astrid snapped.

“Why couldn’t Hiccup do it? Why does this thing want me to brush its nasty teeth?”