How To Train Your Dragon 3 - A Tale of Two Tails -

Chapter Seventeen: Their Pain

"... and very shortly after that, I was banished from my tribe."

Toothless was completely speechless. After all, he didn't even know what to say. Gobber had been right about the mermaids. They were killing for sport. It had been a literal game for them.

But despited everything, he knew that deep down, he felt so relieved because he had been right too. Sirena wasn't like them. 

"Y-you... You saved Stoick..." he found himself saying blankly.

She remained silent.

"You saved him," he repeated weakly before he placed his paws on her shoulders, "Thank you thank you thank you t-thank you..."

He was giving her a hug, as far as his anatomy would allow him. It felt awkward and he had to balance so he wouldn't fall on top of her but it was a hug nonetheless. He really wanted her to know the gratitude he felt for her but then...

He didn't know how to feel at the moment.

What was he supposed to feel?

Here he was standing in front of Stoick's saviour, but did it really matter? 

Stoick was dead.

It felt like he was underwater, like something was pressing on his lung and suffocating him. He thought he was drowning but he knew he wasn't. His body felt heavier as he began to convulse. His head droop down as he grew increasingly tired.

It was only when his chin touched Sirena's head when he snapped out of it.

He shakily released her small frame before wobbly standing amongst the waves which crashed against his body.

Toothless waited for her to say something and found that in a panicked state, grew more and more anxious in the silence. He felt scared that she looked more solemn than usual, and that her eyes lacked the sparkle they usually had.

He felt obligated to say something; anything.

"What happened after t-that?" he asked timidly.

After a long silence, she finally looked up at him and he thought she bore the same expression as a small scared child.

"I..."

She took a big gulp of air, as he watched her gills falter slightly.

"Right after I stopped Gale, I was captured by two mermen and brought to the King's caverns."

Sirena did not look up at him. The only movements that came from her were that of her lips. Otherwise, her head remained low and her body, still. 

"I-I..." she breathed shakily, "He called me a disgrace. A traitor. Marianna lost her entire catch because of m-me..."

Her entire body arched suddenly as a sharp pain shot through her abdomen.

She shivered in terror. She thought she heard Toothless' voice calling for her, but he couldn't reach her. She thought she felt the shooting pain again and it felt like the world had been forced onto her shoulders.

"He threatened to have me executed on the spot."

"Executed? Why? I don't--"

"I saved Stoick, the leader of the vikings who went on to interfere with the games. It's because of me that Marianna's entire catch was lost. She wasn't able to produce any deaths. Not a single one. The King had her slaughtered right before he banished me."