The Gift of the Princess (HTTYD)

Changes of Heart

When the Light Fury did not instantly shoot at him, he cautiously took several step. As soon as he was visible, the Light Fury snarled, arching her back. Toothless barked at her and got in her way. Then he whined at her before looking sadly at Hiccup. The Light Fury continued to eye the human suspiciously, but she made no move to attack.

"Hello there," Hiccup said, smiling weakly. "I see you're friends with Toothless. He's my friend too... so maybe we can all get along?"

Toothless looked at her happily, nodding, but the Light Fury narrowed her eyes in suspicion. When Hiccup took another step forward, she snarled threateningly. Toothless barked at Hiccup, so he stepped back, and the Light Fury calmed slightly.

Hiccup let out a long breath. "Okay, you're not ready for that. Maybe you can help me out with something. I am missing two friends I think you might have seen. They hang around with a Monstrous Nightmare and Hobblegrunt."

The Light Fury appeared confused, so Toothless quickly drew on the ground with a stick. Hiccup wanted to get closer to examine it but stayed back in case it set off the female dragon again. Toothless looked at her hopefully when he finished. To the surprise of both males, she instantly turned her nose up and flew away. Toothless watched her go with a dejected look.

"That was unexpected," Hiccup said, approaching Toothless. "Don't worry, bud. I'm sure it will work out with her eventually. She didn't try to kill me this time, right? I'd say that progress." Toothless merely snorted. Hiccup understood the feeling.

***

Eira enjoyed another visit with Swiftwings, who was still doing well. When she returned to the village, Oliver dragged her off to play a ball game against Krogan and Jarl. He insisted they were working too hard and needed a break, to which she could not disagree. She wondered how Krogan got roped into it but did not ask.

"What exactly is this game?" Krogan said suspiciously as Jarl handed out large sticks shaved of their bark and a piece that jutted out at the end.

"We hit this with our sticks," Jarl said, dropping a small, wooden ball onto the ground. "We try to keep it away from each other."

"Is there a point to this?"

Jarl shrugged. "It's fun."

"It sounds interesting to me," Oliver said. He glanced at Eira. "We never got to play many games like this in Torvald."

Jarl looked at him in shocked. "That's terrible! Is it because you're princes and princesses?"

"That's part of it," Eira said. She did not think the young boy needed to know the details.

"There are many reasons children are unable to play games," Krogan said. "Not all have the luxury." He paused and looked over the group. "Let us take the opportunity while we can."

Jarl beamed at him. "Awesome!"

The four of them began chasing after the wooden ball. The game consisted of a lot of running and not much point scoring. Eira was not sure this was a real games at all, but she enjoyed it just the same. It was nice to do something for the sole purpose of having fun. She only wished their dragons could join in.

"We win!" Jarl declared when they decided to call it quits.

"There were no points," Krogan said.

"But I ended up with the ball," Jarl said with a grin.

Oliver laughed. "Just be happy with it."

Krogan shrugged, not seeming too displeased. "Fine. Good game." His gaze drifted to the forest, and Eira caught a hint of concern in his eyes.