Come Darkness, Come Light

Chapter 4 - Unlikely Friends

My dad had laughed as he told my mom about it, and no one ever believed the trader. His story had turned into a tall tale, one which was rarely ever told, except to scare children into eating their vegetables.

I gulped, forcing myself back to the present. The black dragon—the Night Fury—continued eating her meal below, every now and then tossing her hatchling a fish. So now I was sharing a home with two legendary dragon species, one of which was an expert killer. Wonderful.

I stomped back over to Cloudjumper, putting a hand on my hip as I pointed behind me. "Did you know about this? That you have a freaking Night Fury in your nest?!" I exclaimed. He lowered his head at my tone, warbling in confusion. Right. He doesn't even know what a Night Fury is, since it's a term that was given by humans. I run a hand down my face, then bent over to pick up my son. He stuck out his tongue and made random babbling noises, reaching back towards Cloud. I rolled my eyes at his attachment to my dragon. "Come on, darling, Mommy needs to lie down. This is just too much," I muttered. He started to cry as I walked into the tunnel, upset at being taken away from Cloudjumper. I patted his back and murmured soothingly in his ear, but it didn't help.

When we reached the cavern, I set him down on the bed. I had hunted and skinned a few deer that lived on the island using the tools I'd stolen from the markets, and switched out the leaves with the pelts to make the bed more comfortable and warm. It was cozier than the one I had on Berk, to be perfectly honest.

Hiccup continued to wail as I filled my cup (which I'd carved by hand) to the brim with water and downed the entire thing. Once again, a flash of black appeared for an instant in my peripheral vision. This time, I didn't ignore it, and slowly crept towards the tunnel that ran deeper into the mountain. I'd never ventured down it. There was never really any reason to, but now I found myself wishing I had. It was always dead silent in these tunnels, save for the constant drip drip drip of the water hitting the ground. I just assumed there was nothing alive in here. I squinted into the pitch black, straining my ears for the slightest sound. It took a few, tense seconds before I realized that it was silent.

Hiccup wasn't crying.

I spun around so fast that the cup went flying out of my hand and bounced off the icy wall with a loud clang. My heart dropped to my stomach and my breath caught in my throat when I saw the little dark shape right next to my son. It was a Night Fury hatchling—not the same one I'd been seeing, since this one had vivid green eyes. It was sniffing Hiccup all over, its little nose twitching side to side like a bunny. Hiccup giggled, reaching out to touch the dragon. Its ears perked up, and it leaned forward, nudging his hand lightly.

My legs refused to move. What if I scared it into attacking Hiccup? It was right there! There was no way I could get to my baby before he'd get torn to pieces. As my thoughts went to war with one another, the small hatchling curled around Hiccup, licking the thin hair on top of his head. Hiccup squealed at the unfamiliar sensation.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I'd just watched Jade expertly kill another dragon, and now her hatchling and my baby were cuddling. I slowly took a step forward, then another. The hatchling paid me no attention, so I continued until I was right next to them, going down to my knees. As much as I wanted to snatch Hiccup away, there was something about their exchange that made me pause.

The little dragon crooned softly, pupils dilating as he nuzzled against Hiccup's cheek. My son giggled, reaching his arms up over his head as he attempted to pet the Night Fury. I simply sat back and stared in amazement at their interaction. The hatchling took one of Hiccup's arms in his mouth, chewing softly. I gasped, jumping forward to push him away, only to notice that the dragon had no teeth. "What the...toothless?" I murmured in confusion. I could've sworn the other baby dragon had teeth. This one tilted his head, glancing up at me with an expression that read, you seriously thought I was gonna bite him? I relaxed with a chuckle, letting him do as he pleased. If anything, Hiccup was enjoying the hatchling's attention, and kicked his legs happily. "Well, Toothless, meet my son, Hiccup," I introduced with a grin. Toothless warbled in a friendly manner, releasing Hiccup's arm so he could nuzzle against his cheek again.

I wondered vaguely why this hatchling was never with his mother. She was so protective of the other one. Toothless was obviously the shadow I'd been seeing the past few days, thinking it was just my imagination. Why would he be hiding out in these tunnels if he had Jade to watch over him? The more pressing matter was his blatant interest in my baby. He seemed harmless now, but maybe it took time for the killer instincts to kick in. The yellow-eyed hatchling was jumpy like his mother, but he was too small to do any damage. Toothless was perfectly at ease around me and Hiccup, though. His posture was confident, his movements gentle. Maybe I shouldn't judge him based on Jade's actions.

An idea sprang to mind, and I grinned, carefully lifting Hiccup into my arms. Toothless whined and jumped at my legs in protest. "Oh, stop it. You can live without him for a few minutes. Come on," I ordered, heading down the familiar tunnel. It felt unnatural to be bossing around a Night Fury of all things, but I figured it was important to set the standard early. I wasn't to be messed with. Toothless followed on my heels, and I narrowly avoided tripping over him. It was getting easier to navigate the tunnels, but I didn't have night vision and Toothless was invisible in the darkness.

Cloudjumper was waiting expectantly at the entrance by the time we came out. He must've heard us, or smelled us. I stopped in front of him, gesturing towards the small Night Fury that was still pawing at my leg. "So...Hiccup found a friend. What do you think? Is he dangerous?" I asked, nervously biting on my lip as I awaited his response. Cloud blinked in surprise at my question, then crept forward to sniff at the hatchling curiously. Toothless noticed the big dragon's approach and narrowed his eyes, his front paws still resting on my upper thigh. Cloudjumper blew a hot puff of air into Toothless' face and nudged the hatchling's tail with his his snout, attempting to get some sort of reaction.

Toothless finally dropped to all fours, launching himself at Cloudjumper's face with what I think was supposed to be an intimidating roar. He gripped onto the Stormcutter's horns with his claws. Cloud lifted up, leaving Toothless scrabbling to hold on, and grumbled in irritation. After a bit of struggling, Toothless managed to climb on top of my dragon's head. He turned and leaned over to meet Cloudjumper's owlish gaze, his tongue lolling out playfully. The Stormcutter glanced down at me with hooded lids, then shook his head roughly. Toothless yowled as he was tossed into the air, and he quickly extended his wings, catching the breeze and gliding down to the ground. I burst into laughter at the sight, clutching at my stomach with one hand while I held Hiccup with the other. Toothless ruffled his wings, sending Cloudjumper a petulant glare as he padded back over to me.

I kneeled and held out my hand, and Toothless rubbed his head against it. As soon as my guard was down, he leapt onto my lap, licking Hiccup's face triumphantly. I chuckled, shaking my head. "You're alright, Toothless. You're alright," I murmured fondly.