Night Fury's Venom

Part 26: Realizations

We watched Hiccup's tail disappear into the underbrush, unheeding of our words.

"Uh, oh..."

"What went wrong?" Stormfly whined, "he just freaked out!"

I swallowed, my throat feeling dry. I had definitely taken this too far. "I think... I think he panicked..."

I honestly thought Hiccup just didn't want to admit it. I assumed that he was lying through his teeth because he didn't want to admit to being attracted to a dragon. He was a Scaleless not too long ago. I thought he was just being stubborn! However, this reaction told me he wasn't stubborn, he actually didn't know all along! I literally just threw a life-changing event into his face, probably turning his whole world upside-down. He must've been overwhelmed and did the only thing he could think of.

He ran away from the source. Stormfly.

"Panicked?!" Stormfly whined, "am I really that bad?!"

I blinked. I didn't realize Stormfly had accepted this. I knew that she was aware of what was happening between them, but not that she had accepted it!

"I don't think that's it," I assured quickly, "I don't think he knew that he didn't actually like the Scaleless. He liked..."

Stormfly looked at me with disbelieving eyes. "Me..." She finished with a whisper. Then, her eyes widened. "He ran away! He ran away on an island full of Scaleless! We have to find him!"

"No!" I hissed quickly, making her freeze. "Not you! You are tied to the reason he is freaking out, so if you chase him, it might do something worse!" She fidgeted desperately, giving me a pleading look. "I know you're happy he returns your feelings," I crooned, "at least a little. But something is wrong here. Just wait at the cave, okay? You know the one."

She drooped. "Okay," she whispered, "I'll wait there." She turned and began slowly walking away. I knew she would be fine, there were no Scaleless-made objects anywhere near that direction.

I steadied myself, then took off in a trot, ensuring to stay on Hiccup's scent trail. I had to make this right.

His scent trail ended abruptly at a rocky bluff, making my heart leap with fear, only to sigh with relief when I looked down. There was a beach down below, entirely empty except for a few dark stones and one black dragon. Hiccup sat as close to the water as he could without it touching him, his head and wings lung low.

Well, at least he can glide. That's the only way down there, after all.

I spread my wings and dropped, slowly spiraling down to him in a glide until I landed gently in the sand a tail-length behind him. He didn't react. "Hiccup?" I crooned gently, making him tense. "It's Toothless. Stormfly isn't with me." Just as I expected, he relaxed a little.

"What do you want?" He warbled tiredly, "are you here to gloat? I'll make it easy for you. You were right, I apparently have a crush on a dragon... Happy now?"

I cringed. I had definitely messed up. "No," I crooned, "that's not why I'm here. I-"

"Oh, so it's teasing?" Hiccup asked with annoyance, "great. That's just the cherry on top, isn't it?"

I had no idea what a 'cherry' was, but I assumed it wasn't a good thing. "Not that either," I replied, moving slowly to sit next to him. "I just wanted to apologize. I thought you knew about this?"

He huffed. "Knew that my love for Astrid was shallow and that I had a crush a dragon instead? Oh, yeah. I knew all about that!"

I ignored his biting tone. It was apparent he was bitter about all of this, and I knew from experience that venting was a good way to fix that. "You're frustrated, aren't you? Maybe even mad? I caused all of this. I transformed you, I forced you away from your home, and I made you realize your love for 'Astrid' wasn't real. What do you think of that?"