Fly On Your Own

Chapter 8

              I let out a deep sigh and blinked against the darkness, wanting to close my eyes and just drift off to sleep. My daughters, thankfully, had slept through the night, but I couldn't say the same. Sleeping conditions had ended up being a little tight with the crib, so Hiccup, Toothless, and I ended up having to cram in close together. Toothless tried his best to give us room by laying on his side, while Hiccup had laid down beneath me. His arms were secured tightly around my waist as he slept soundly, oblivious to the fact his wife hadn't been able to do the same.

              But he wouldn't be asleep much longer. The sky had just begun to take on a deep blue color, indicating that the sun would soon peek over the horizon, when Toothless suddenly shot up, knocking Hiccup and I to the ground. His eyes snapped open a split second before we hit the dirt, and his hand snaked up behind my head, cushioning my fall slightly. He groaned in frustration, refusing to move at first.

              "Toothless! No, it's too early," he whined, slurring his words slightly, since he'd just been jarred from his sleep. Toothless bounded out of the tent, clearly following something he either heard or smelled. I shook my head and tried to push Hiccup up so we could follow him. He looked down at my face a moment, and it contorted slightly. "Did you sleep?" I shook my head. "Maybe you should stay here and get some rest."

              "No, no, I'll be fine. I'll go to sleep after we follow Toothless... wherever."

              Shaking his head at me, Hiccup pushed himself off the ground and extended his hand down to me to help me get up. Hiccup made his way over to the twins' crib and scooped them up while I tied the sling around my neck. I watched as he looked down at them for a moment, affectionately smiling at their sleeping faces. My heart did a funny sort of flutter in my chest as I watched them. Hiccup's lips twitched into a smile as he leaned down and kissed each of their foreheads. With a sigh, I approached him and wrapped my arms around his waist, leaning my cheek against his arm.

              "Come on, we have to follow Toothless," I muttered.

              Hiccup sighed and delicately placed each of the girls in their sling, and with a yawn, opened the flaps of our tent and looked around. Toothless had long ducked out of sight, leaving us at a loss.

              "Which way did he go?" he whispered. I looked around, trying to spot some sign of the large dragon walking around. Off in the distance, I heard the cry of a Night Fury. Hiccup and I glanced at each other, then rushed off toward the source. We made our way to a cliff side, crouching down so we wouldn't be seen. Down on the remote beach, Toothless and the Light Fury sat opposite each other, staring as one of them waited to make the first move. The two of us tried our best to stay out of sight as we watched them.

              The Light Fury spread her wings and began to delicately prance in a circle, never losing eye contact with Toothless before she settled back down into the sand, purring curiously. Toothless blinked at the female dragon, then looked up toward Hiccup and I, as though asking for help. Hiccup's eyes moved to me, and after I shrugged, he sat up a little bit and started flapping his arms up and down, as though they were wings. Toothless began to flap his own, mildly at first. But then, he started to flap them harder, kicking up sand as the wind beneath his wings began to spin him in circles. Hiccup glanced at me, and we both grimaced before trying to get Toothless' attention again. He stood and started to flap his arms up and down while moving his legs in an odd way. I clamped a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing, when Hiccup's metal leg suddenly came down on a twig, snapping it. Our eyes widened, and I wrapped an arm around Hiccup's waist before yanking him down. Thankfully, the Light Fury didn't seem to see us, and slowly, we peeked back up again to see she'd gone back to focusing on Toothless.

              He started flapping his wings again, this time more furious than the last. Sand flew into the air, shooting in all directions. Toothless seemed pleased with himself, until he got a little too close to the Light Fury. He suddenly stopped short to keep from crashing into her, but caused sand to fly into her face. She sneezed and glared at him, unamused with his attempts at flirting. Toothless looked up at Hiccup and I, and while my face landed in my palm, Hiccup offered the dragon a thumbs up before standing and performing some sort of imitation mating dance. Toothless mimicked his rider, but that meant standing up on his hind legs and dancing around. The Light Fury looked at him with a mix of confusion and fear. He paraded around her a few times, and when he realized that wasn't working, stopped short and ducked down. He began to frantically imitate the mating dance he'd seen the Nadders doing in the stable, while adding in his own... flair. Hiccup and I watched, dumbfounded, as he somehow dipped further and further into the madness of his dance. The Light Fury watched him bounce up and down and duck in and out of the curtain of his wings, until he got too close for comfort. She reached out her white paw and smacked him on the nose, getting him to back off. She fled up to the safety of a large branch, dangling from it like a bat as she closed her wings around her body.

              Toothless glanced back at Hiccup and I momentarily before approaching the Light Fury, ear plates pinned back. He disappeared behind the rocks, then popped up again on the branch. He looked up in our direction, pointing his wing at the white dragon. The closer he got to the Light Fury, the more the branch began to sag. I hissed as it creaked, bending to his weight more and more. He looked up at us and purred, cocking his head to the side. Hiccup placed two of his fingers on his other hand, bouncing them up and down and shaking his head. Despite the clear warning of what not to do, Toothless began to bounce himself up and down. The Light Fury began to flail her legs and squeal, protesting what Toothless was doing. Unfortunately, the Night Fury inadvertently ignored her. The branch suddenly snapped, just like Hiccup tried to warn Toothless, sending him tumbling back down onto the sand. Hiccup waved his arms around haphazardly as Toothless continued to stare up at the Light Fury. He remained completely oblivious to his rider's attempts at getting his attention, instead diving for the piece of the branch that he had knocked down. He picked it up in his teeth and started to drag it through the sand, creating lines and curves in the white grains. Slowly, the Light Fury opened her wings and peered out, curious as to what Toothless was doing. He erased a piece of his drawing with his tail as she climbed down, cocking her head and staring at the drawing. Toothless stepped back for a moment, assessing his work before adding one, final touch. I smiled as I looked down at Toothless' drawing of the Light Fury.

              "Oh, now you can draw." I reached over and playfully smacked Hiccup on the back of his head.

              The Light Fury took a step forward, right onto a line from Toothless' drawing. His eyes suddenly narrowed and he growled at her, but instead of backing down, the Light Fury did the same. He held the gaze for another moment, before leaning back and dropping his stick. Subconsciously, my hand reached out for Hiccup's and he laced our fingers together as a proud smile crept onto my face. The Light Fury made her way around the drawing of her face and approached Toothless. Both their pupils widened the closer she got, until their faces were nearly touching. They hesitated for a moment, then the Light Fury turned away, but this time, she seemed to be inviting Toothless to follow. She took to the air, flying in circles over the water. Toothless bounded over to the edge of the rocks. He called out and stood on his hind legs, as though trying to tell her he couldn't fly on his own.

              Suddenly, her gaze flicked up, and she glowered in Hiccup and my direction before turning and flying off again. Roaring, Toothless tried to fly after her, only to splash down into the water. My expression dropped, feeling a tremendous amount of guilt. As long as Hiccup and I were around, that Light Fury wouldn't trust Toothless. 

              My eyes flickered over to Hiccup, and I looked his face up and down. It only took one look for me to understand the expression on his face. Gently, I brought his hand closer to my face and placed a kiss on the back of it. He let out a sigh and forced a smile, but I knew the wheels of his brain were already turning. Without a word, we stood and made our way back to our tent, knowing Toothless could make his way back on his own. I passed the twins off to him, and before I laid down in an attempt to get some sleep, he kissed my forehead and smiled down at me.

Total lines of dialogue in this chapter: 8