Without Saying

Chapter 5 - The Rise of Sun

~ Eight Months Later ~

It's been eight months. Eight long, terrible months since Toothless saw Hiccup last, being carried away by those monsters that shot them out of the sky. Shadows danced across the dragon's face as his emerald orbs trained their sights on the nest for the dragon killer's water skimmers. It took him three months to find this place, although it might have been sooner if he could still fly. While Toothless stared down at the human nest below, Raz - a Timberjack that Toothless befriended on the island - came up behind him. Upon hearing the Night Fury's story, the Timberjack was intrigued. Never had he heard of a dragon, especially a Night Fury, and a human sharing such a bond. That was why he agreed to help Toothless by being the Night Fury's wings until they found his friend.

"*Are you certain, your human hatchling is here?*"

Toothless nodded. How could he not be?! The entire island reeked of the boy, especially one dragon killer in particular, the one with the big, spiky shoulders and green swords. Ryker, he heard the others call him. He smelled like Hiccup the most but not in a good way. He reeked of fear, and it was not his own. Toothless wasn't sure he wanted to see what the dragon killer might have done to his little viking, but leaving him there was out of the question. He was desperate to get Hiccup back. Finding him already took way longer than Toothless cared for. He knew that he and Raz couldn't get Hiccup out of there alone. They needed help; so, the last couple months Toothless and Raz flew around gathering a small army of dragons to join them. It wasn't easy to persuade them to help but being that Toothless was a Night Fury they decided to help him because if a Night Fury - the dragon that was nearly hunted to extinction by humans - could find friendship that strong with a human then maybe there was hope for peace. Either way 'a dragon defends his own', right?

That night, they were ready. They had the numbers, they had a plan, they had the scent, and a large group of water skimmers just left the nest along with many dragon-killers. As soon as the ships were out of sight, they attacked, Deadly Nadders, Gronkles, and Monstrous Nightmares alike. Raz flew Toothless down to the prison amidst all the chaos the other dragons were causing.

"*Be quick, Night Fury. I'll keep the dragon killers from entering.*"

Raz landed with a thud and immediately started firing at anything that got too close. Toothless bounded through the chaos till he was below deck of the main ship, which they had located before beginning the attack. He did have to sniff around for a second though to relocate Hiccup's scent among the many others that the ship held. The haul itself was a nasty place. A truly torturing place for a dragon to stay in. It was cold and wet, and although those types of places are normally associated with dragons; it truly was not the most ideal place for one because dragons were cold blooded, and wet skin was extremely irritating for a dragon's scales. He passed through the halls as fast as he could, given that they were incredibly narrow. He wouldn't be surprised if the dragon killers planned it that way so it would be harder for a dragon to fight back. As he got deeper into the winding hallways, it grew harder to tell which way to go. Hiccup's scent was everywhere, old and new, but there was one room in specific where the scent was incredibly strong. It was had small, wooden door with little to no markings. Curious, Toothless pushed it open to see the inside but quickly wished he hadn't when he realized what that room was used for. Toothless was glad he didn't find Hiccup in there, but he shuddered to think of what did happen in there over the last eight months. Eventually, Toothless just resorted to searching the general area: passing through halls, looking in each cell, etc.; but a faint,

"Toothless?"

Stopped the Night Fury in his tracks. It was Hiccup alright, the dragon could tell by his voice, but what he found was not the Hiccup he knew.