The first step in training a dragon usually requires having your dragon. I wasn't at this point, not even after the first trip Hiccup and I made to try and fulfill it. Nor the following four trips spread out over the course of several weeks. Hiccup was starting to think I just didn't want a dragon, which couldn't have been further from the truth. I just wanted something different. A small part of me was hoping to manage to find a dragon that nobody else on the island had, or one that very few had managed to train. Maybe a Whispering Death, or one of those strange water dragons that Hiccup had been telling me about.
This time, Hiccup was determined I come back to Berk with a dragon. Even if that meant going to rather extreme lengths.
"It's been two whole days, Hiccup," I complained. We'd spent the majority of the past 48 hours flying. Just flying. We stopped on a few islands to rest and eat something, but the remainder of the time was just flight. I wasn't sure if Hiccup intended to ever stop, or if he had kidnapped me and planned on finding the edge of the ocean. Which was the only thing I had seen for the past 5 hours; ocean, ocean, ocean, did I mention ocean? I am so tired of the ocean--
"I thought you wanted a 'special' dragon," he retorted, distracting me from my thoughts.
"It's not worth it anymore, just drop me anywhere, oh my Gods," I said, partially as a joke but it was pretty much what I was feeling.
"Okay, okay.. I think I see one, so we'll stop there," Hiccup chuckled. I breathed a thank you before leaning against his back, letting my eyes fall shut for the remaining time.
We finally were getting closer towards some land mass. I had to squint to try and see it, because there seemed to be some form of fog or mist surrounding the island. Hiccup didn't mention it or anything, so I disregarded it as well as we flew down in its direction. Not much later, we touched ground in an opening. There were some trees scattered around, with bushes and plants, but absolutely no sounds. No birds, no critters, no dragons roaring in the background. I slid off of Toothless, turning in a full circle as I observed our surroundings. Hiccup stepped next to me a bit later, glancing around before his hand brushed my shoulder for a moment.
"Stay here," Hiccup said. I gave him a confused look.
"Just gonna scout out the island quick before we start looking properly," Hiccup explained, rubbing his hands together before starting towards Toothless.
"Okay. Be careful," I said. I wasn't too keen on the utter lack of life besides the greenery here. He gave me an amused smile.
"Always," he assured with an air of playfulness before pressing a kiss to my cheek, climbing onto Toothless. I watched them take off until I couldn't see them any longer. At that point, I wasn't quite sure what to do, puffing my cheeks up with air before expelling it, drumming my fingers on my forearm. I let my eyes wander for a bit before my feet did the same, pushing through a couple trees before I came across a small opening. I strolled to the center, inhaling deeply before deciding I should stay where I had been. It'd be easier for Hiccup to find me if I did so. I heard a rustling from behind me to the right, and I turned my head, catching sight of Toothless inching slowly through the trees. I furrowed my eyebrows before shrugging, turning towards him.
"Whoa, you guys did that pretty fast," I said, eyes widening in disbelief. I had been wandering for just a minute or two. I knew Toothless was fast, but I didn't quite expect this level of rapidity. Toothless only stared at me and tilted his head a bit. It was then that noticed the lack of Hiccup on his back.
"Where's Hiccup? Did you leave him behind? I don't blame you," I said playfully, starting to step towards the dragon. He moved back at the same time and I paused, eyes narrowing in confusion.
"Toothless? What's wrong?" I asked. I was starting to worry now, unsure if Hiccup was in danger or if Toothless was hurt somehow. I moved closer, eyes scanning his body for injuries when he gave a sharp huff and flew away. I watched in alarm as he shot off. I caught a quick sight of his tail before he disappeared further into the clouds, and the lack of red against the black took me off-guard. Everything began to piece itself together in my mind; his ability to fly by himself, the lack of prosthetic and rider.
---
"(Y/N)?"
I jumped, turning swiftly as Hiccup's call reached my ears. I couldn't form a reply, eyes flickering back to where Toothless-- or, at least, what I had thought was Toothless-- had flown off. I wasn't sure how much time had passed, if it had passed at all or too quickly. He repeated my name again, louder that time, and I managed a weak response.
"An answer the first five times would've been nice," Hiccup teased as he appeared from a cluster of trees a few minutes later, his dragon behind him.
I eyed Toothless without a word, trailing along until they landed on the red prosthetic opposite his right fin. I exhaled in relief, but it only further sent my mind spiraling into uncertainty.
"Are you okay?" Hiccup asked, moving to rest a hand on my upper arm as he surveyed me with concerned eyes. My gaze remained on Toothless for a few seconds before moving onto Hiccup. I nodded once, turning to look back to where I had been earlier.
"You don't seem okay," he murmured, following my eyes for a moment before observing my face again.
"Toothless is the only Night Fury, right?" I finally managed to speak, scanning the clouds for any sign of movement.
"As far as we know, yeah.." Hiccup said slowly. Toothless gave a gentle croon before tilting his head, watching us.
"Are you sure?"
"I guess so, I mean.. (Y/N), are you honestly okay? Did something happen?" He changed the subject halfway through, and I huffed in annoyance, pulling away from his hand to start looking around.
"I don't think... Has anybody ever been on this island before?" I called out, stepping over a hole in the ground. There was an odd amount of them scattered around, but I didn't waste another thought on them.
"I highly doubt it. It took us two straight days flying, I don't think anyone on Berk would've sailed for so long." Hiccup began to follow me at a leisurely pace, opting for playing along versus bombarding with further questions. I placed a hand on my hip, looking at the sky.
"What are the chances of finding another Night Fury here?"
"(Y/N), come on.."
"I'm serious, Hiccup." I cut him off, turning to look at him. I held his eyes, and he only sighed before giving me a shrug.
"A bit higher than places we've already been," he offered with a thin tone of sarcasm. It was silent apart from our footsteps as we trudged deeper into the island, and I argued in my head over whether I should say something about what had happened or not.
"What brought on the Night Fury stuff?" Hiccup asked quietly, and I haphazardly settled on a decision.
"I saw one."
"So did I," Hiccup said in a serious voice and my eyes widened, looking at him. Toothless began to walk in front of us at that moment, and Hiccup gestured towards him.
"Look! There he goes again!" he exclaimed in a heavily sarcastic voice and I let out the breath I'd been holding, rolling my eyes.
"I'm being serious, Hiccup!" I insisted. He laughed that time, shaking his head.
"We've all seen a Night Fury, (Y/N), I'm not sure what you're going on about," he replied.
"I saw another one."
That took him off-guard that time, and he slowed his walk, staring at me with furrowed eyebrows.
"What are you talking about?"
I began to explain what had happened, from me wandering to the dragon's appearance.
"You probably saw Toothless and got hopeful," Hiccup started but I shook my head intently.
"It was literally a minute after you two had left," I argued.
"Then you confused a different dragon," he said.
"Hiccup, honestly!" I groaned.
"You expect me to believe you randomly saw a Night Fury? I've been looking for the past 5 years, (Y/N), I highly doubt you would've just found another," he said with an incredulous laugh. I grumbled into my hands, sighing.
"I thought it was Toothless--"
"Then it was!"
"But it wasn't!"
"How are you so sure about that?" Hiccup said, stopping suddenly. He crossed his arms, waiting impatiently for my response.
"It flew off by itself and it was not missing any part of its tail," I replied slowly. I watched his eyes widen for a moment before he began to shake his head, turning away.
"You're definitely just seeing things," he muttered. I made an exasperated noise.
"Fine! If you're so confident about that, then I'll just go find it myself," I replied in frustration, beginning to walk briskly again. I passed by Toothless, whom had been watching the argument with utter interest in his eyes, and kept my own scanning the scenery in front of me. I faintly heard Hiccup mumble to himself before he called out my name, followed by his footsteps growing closer.
"Can you please just explain to me what's going on?" he asked as he reached me.
"I already did."
"No, I mean seriously this time."
"I already did," I repeated. He exhaled a harsh breath before rubbing a hand on his face.
"So you're telling me that you saw a Night Fury earlier.. that was not Toothless, and was still definitely a Night Fury?" he tried. I could tell he was still in disbelief about the whole thing, and I understood that it probably sounded impossible, but it didn't change the facts. I nodded in agreement, and he was quiet for a few moments.
"Are you sur--"
"Hiccup," I warned.
"Okay, alright. And where was this so-called Night Fury?" he asked, giving me a skeptical look. I gestured behind us, and he raised an eyebrow.
"It was where you found me. It flew off before you got there," I explained. He nodded once, looking thoughtful for a moment as he rubbed the underside of his jawline.
"And with your logic, we're going to find it in the opposite direction of where it flew off?" he said. I slowed my pace, glancing down for a second as I considered his words.
"My logic stopped working as soon as you pissed me off," I muttered, turning around reluctantly. He laughed, crossing his arms and watching me with a smirk.
"Shut up," I grumbled halfheartedly. He only grinned wider, giving me a shrug.
"I didn't say anything," he pointed out.
"Yeah but it's all over your stupid face." I swirled my finger around in the air towards him.
"And here I was thinking you liked my face," he said playfully. I failed to suppress a smile, crinkling my nose at him instead. He imitated me for a moment until Toothless distracted us with a bored noise, nudging Hiccup with his snout. His presence seemed to remind us at the same moment about the current situation and Hiccup shared my gaze for a second before he began thinking, staring at Toothless intently.
"Hey bud, do you know any Night Fury calls?" he tried, still contemplative. Toothless regarded his rider for a moment before huffing with a quick head shake. Hiccup pursed his lips to the side before sighing.
"Can you try anything to get them to hear you?" he continued. I wasn't sure if he had finally started to believe me or he just didn't feel like arguing over it any longer, but his expression remained serious.
Toothless looked at Hiccup before stepping away from us. Our eyes followed him, slightly confused, but he only continued until he was a good distance away before looking upwards. I managed to predict what he was going to do only a second before he made the distinctive sound of his fire charging up, shooting a single blast into the sky. He sat up straight, watching Hiccup with patient eyes.
It was deafening, the silence that followed. With each second passing, I felt more and more anxious. Hiccup watched me, and after a minute passed, I saw disappointment glimmer in his eyes for a second before he looked away. I was starting to feel bad and embarrassed, even wondering if I had just been seeing things. I sighed, turning to apologize to Hiccup when I was interrupted by a familiar screeching noise. The only difference was that this one came from deep into the island, and the purple-tinted blast that erupted in the clouds wasn't as visible as Toothless' had been. My eyes flickered towards Hiccup's moments after and I watched his lips part with an audible gasp, astonishment overtaking his features. His eyes remained glued in the direction of the blast, and I turned mine onto Toothless. His ears perked, eyes sharp and following Hiccup's gaze.
"I.." Hiccup's quiet voice drifted off with a sharp exhale before he turned his head towards me. I held his eyes until Toothless broke the silence, nudging Hiccup with a radiating excitement. Hiccup looked at his dragon for a moment, expression still enveloped in awe.
"I guess we found another one, bud."