Later on that evening, Astrid and I were watching over Kala in my room as she played with one of my blankets. She was rather bubbly considering she was close to dying merely hours ago. I stifled a laugh when she got tangled in the furs and chirped at me for help. Astrid just shook her head with a smile from where she was leaning against the wall near the window of my room.
"Well if you weren't wiggling about the way you were, this wouldn't have happened." I said as I got up from my desk and helped her get free of the confines of the blanket she found herself wrapped up in. "There. Be careful. You're not fully healed yet, little one."
"Hiccup!" I heard my father shout from the first floor of the hut as the door closed roughly behind him.
I sighed and rubbed Kala's head, trying to gather the courage to go talk with him.
Astrid came over and rested a hand on my shoulder. "I'll keep an eye on her."
I smiled gratefully at her and nodded, then made my way downstairs. "Yes, Dad?"
"I need to speak with you, son." He said as he laid a bundle of something atop the table and rolled his shoulders to get rid of the tension.
"Okay? What about? Also what is that?" I asked as I made my way over to the table to get a closer look.
"The pelt of that Night Fury you shot down."
My eyes widened and I looked at him. "You killed it?"
"Well of course I killed it, Hiccup. Did you honestly think I'd allow a beast like that to roam my island or cause damage to the village? Absolutely not. That thing was too dangerous to lock up anyway." Dad explained.
I glanced upstairs worriedly then looked back at my dad as he undid the pelt and laid it out on the table. He must have noticed my worry, because he sighed and looked at me.
"Oh don't get all worried, son. I won't harm that pet of yours. Just keep it out of trouble or else I'll kill it like I did this one." He said as he gestured to the pelt on our table.
I glared at him slightly. "She's not a pet."
"Oh really? Then enlighten me, Hiccup. What is that dragon to you, hm?" Dad asked with his arms crossed.
"I-I don't know! I'm just protecting her! But she's definitely not a pet!" I retorted, my hands balling up into fists.
Dad sighed and ran a hand down his face. "Odin give me strength.." He muttered as he looked up then looked back at me. "We're getting off topic. Dragon Training. You start in the morning."
My eyes widened yet again as it fully sunk in. "What? But Dad!"
"You'll need this." He said as he passed me an axe that was way too large for me.
I struggled under the weight of it a bit and fumbled slightly as I tried to get a proper hold on it.
"I don't want to fight dragons." I blurted out of frustration.
"Come on. Yes, you do." My dad reasoned.
"Rephrase: Dad, I can't kill dragons."
"But you will kill dragons."
"No, I'm really very extra sure that I won't."
"It's time, Hiccup."
"Can you not hear me?!" I growled out, very frustrated by this point.
"This is serious, son! When you carry this axe, you carry all of us with you." My dad said as he pointed to the axe he handed me. "Which means you walk like us. You talk like us. You think like us. No more of...this." He said as he gestured to my entire body like Gobber had done just hours before during the raid.
"You just gestured to all of me." I said in a monotone voice, done with this conversation.
"Deal?" My dad asked.
"This conversation is feeling very one-sided."
"DEAL?!"
I sighed and nodded. "Deal."
"Good. Train hard." My dad said as he hoisted a premade bag that he had reserved especially for Nest searches over his shoulder. "I'll be back. Probably."
"And I'll be here. Maybe." I said dejectedly as he left the hut for who knows how long.
I sighed and rested the axe against the wall as I made my way back up to my room. When I opened the door, Kala ran to me and started to claw her way up my leg. I smiled softly and picked her up, rubbing her head. She purred happily and leaned into my touch as I walked to my bed and sat down.
Astrid claimed the spot next to me and hugged me tightly from the side. "I heard the whole thing. I'm sorry that he's forcing you to go to Dragon Training. I'll help you out however I can, alright?"
I smiled and leaned into the hug, hugging her back with one arm. "Thanks Astrid.."
~~~HTRYNF~~~
After training the next day, Hiccup got Kala from the hut and took her to the forest to get some fresh air and stretch her legs.
She bounced about as they walked down a path and played with random things on the forest floor here and there every so often.
Hiccup smiled as he watched her. "You must've been bored all morning, huh?"
Kala chirped happily at him and nuzzled his legs, then she froze in place as her earplates moved about.
"What is it? There something hiding up ahead?" Hiccup asked her as he looked in the direction she was so focused on now.
Before he knew it, Kala dashed off at full speed in the exact direction.
"Wha–hey! Kala!" Hiccup exclaimed as he rushed after the baby dragon.
After what felt like ages of running, but was only a few minutes, Hiccup caught up with Kala at the bottom of a hidden cove. He looked around as he caught his breath.
"W-why in Thor's name did you run all t-the way to this cove..?" The boy asked as he looked back at Kala, but froze when he took notice of what was in front of them.
"What are you doing here little one?" Hiccup heard, which made him freeze up even further.
There was a white dragon that looked very similar to a Night Fury that was leaning down to get a better look at Kala. It had a curious yet worried look upon its face as it took notice of the bandages that were wrapped around her injuries.
"How did you get these wounds? Did humans do this to you?"
Kala chirped happily at the other dragon then dashed happily towards Hiccup and nuzzled his leg. The dragon looked at Hiccup and tilted its head in curiosity.
"Did this human help you, little one?"
Hiccup's eyes widened when he finally put together where that voice was coming from.
"Oh Thor almighty..you can talk?!"
The dragon's eyes widened as its, wait no, her earplates perked up in shock.
"You can understand dragon tongue, human?!"
"Uh, uh. I-I guess so?" Hiccup sputtered out as the dragon circled around the boy, sniffing and nudging at him as she did.
"How curious. The hatchling has claimed you as her father. That must be why you can understand our language. How did you come across her?"
"There was a raid yesterday morning in my village. S-she was being harmed by another Night Fury while it was going on. I shot them down and caught her as she was falling." Hiccup explained as Kala clawed her way up his leg and back, then claimed the top of his head as a resting spot. He then froze as something clicked in his mind. "Wait. Did you just say she claimed me as her father?!"
"I did." The dragon said as she sat on her haunches in front of the odd duo. "She has taken quite a liking to you, human. Which is to be expected considering she is only a couple days old."
"What? How can you tell?" Hiccup asked as he caught Kala as she slipped from his head and held her close to his chest, although he was still very shocked by the revelation of the little one claiming him as her parental figure.
"By her scent. Not to mention her size. She must have hatched too soon, as you must have. You are smaller than most, and by your scent I can tell your mother had you too early. That must be another reason you have bonded to the little one so strongly." The dragon explained as she leaned down towards Kala and chuffed at her, which earned a joyous chirp from the baby dragon.
"Wow..I-I had no idea dragons could do that."
"As to be expected. You are a member of the tribe that resides on this island, yes?" The dragon questioned and Hiccup nodded. "I had a feeling you were. That would explain why you have no knowledge on dragons other than ways to harm them. But by the looks of it, this little one has changed your perspective drastically."
"You could say that.." Hiccup muttered as he rubbed Kala's head then smiled softly at her purrs.
"You have become very attached to her, human."
"Yeah, I guess I have..kinda hard not to be with how adorable she is..I just can't wrap my head around why the other Night Fury would even think of harming Kala in such a way.."
Kala chirped happily as her name was called and nuzzled close to the boy with cheerful purrs.
"So that is the name you have bestowed upon her. It is quite fitting."
"You think so? It was the first thing that came to mind, if I'm being honest. She seems to like it, so I haven't tried calling her anything else."
"It seems that her birth parents never bestowed a name to her the day she hatched. That must be the reason she took a liking to the name Kala so quickly. You naming her solidified the father daughter bond between the two of you."
Hiccup looked down at Kala as he mulled over the new information, a soft smile forming on his lips as she began to drift off to sleep in his arms.
'Maybe being Kala's father won't be so bad. She's definitely gotten a strong hold on my heart in only a day of caring for her. Plus, how could I say no to raising such an adorable little face like hers?' He thought, not noticing the kind look the white dragon gave him.
"I see you are starting to accept your new role, human. It is hard to deny it, isn't it?" The dragoness asked, which broke Hiccup out of his trance.
"Oh! Uh. Yeah. Yeah, I suppose it is. Also, um..is it common for hatchlings to be named as soon as they hatch?" Hiccup asked, rather curious now as to why Kala's birth parents did not name her.
The dragoness nodded. "For most species, yes. But it also just depends on the nest and if the parents are present in the hatchling's life. For me, I was bestowed the name Lunaris. Most call me Luna."
Hiccup smiled. "That's a pretty name. What does it mean in your language? Because in mine it pertains to Mani, which is the moon in my language."
"It means 'moonshine' in the dragon tongue. Now that you know my name, what is yours, human?" Luna asked politely.
"Oh. It's Hiccup. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third."
"Hiccup. If I recall, that name means 'little one' in your language, yes?"
Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck as he held all of Kala's weight with one arm. "In a way, yeah. Some people in my tribe like to think I was named that because I'm a runt, but it is what it is I guess."
"I see. If you do not mind me asking, why did you choose to name the little one Kala? Does that not mean 'to freeze' or 'to be cold' in your language?" Luna asked with a tilt of her head.
Hiccup froze slightly as he looked down at his daughter wrapped loosely in his arms. "I..don't know. It just seemed so right. Like it was meant to be her name. I didn't choose it because of its meaning. Why? What does it mean in the dragon tongue?"
Luna gave her own version of a smile as she looked at the baby Night Fury in the boy's arms. "The name Kala in the dragon tongue means 'little flower'. It is why I mentioned how fitting that name was for her earlier."
Hiccup smiled and rubbed Kala's head gently. "Yeah..I think that's why I chose it.. I just had this gut feeling that it was meant for her..and now I know why.."
Kala then woke up as her earplates moved about once more and she chirped excitedly, beginning to squirm within her father's arms as she became full of energy once more. Hiccup laughed and put her down before she tore up any of his clothes.
"Just needed a power nap, huh?" He asked with a small chuckle as he watched his daughter dart about the cove, but he then raised a brow as he noticed she was looking for something. "What are–"
Before he could get another word out, another Night Fury that was twice Kala's size (but was still very tiny considering Kala was only the size of a fully grown Terrible Terror) came into the cove. Kala darted around the older hatchling chirping excitedly and the older joined in happily as though something registered in its mind.
"There you are Toothless." Luna said as she walked over to the hatchling. "Where did you run off to this time?"
The older hatchling stopped in its antics with Kala and looked at the adult dragoness. "Sorry Ms. Luna. I was too curious about the island. I should've told you where I was going."
Hiccup smiled a bit, glad to know the other hatchling was a male. But that smile faded as he grew curious about why said male hatchling was so excited to see his daughter and visa versa.
"It is alright dear. Just remember for next time." Luna said as she sat back on her haunches once again with a kind smile, or what Hiccup assumed was a kind smile.
The male hatchling then looked at Hiccup and bounded over to him, stopping just in front of him and giving an adorable gummy smile. "Hi! My name is Toothless. Are you the human my baby sister claimed?"
Hiccup's eyes widened. "Wait. You're related to Kala? But how?"
"I can tell by her scent that she's my sister. I'm seven winters older than she is. Our parents kinda forgot about me since I was the runt of my litter. And it seems like they chose to give my baby sister the same treatment for being a runt herself." Toothless said as he looked at the baby dragoness as she chased a butterfly a few feet away from the small group.
Hiccup smiled sadly. 'Well that explains why they were so excited to see each other. Kala must've sensed him when she woke up. I guess dragons have a sixth sense when it comes to their families.'
"So is Luna your caretaker?" Hiccup asked, now wanting to know how the young dragon knows the adult dragoness.
Toothless nodded happily. "Mhm. She took me under her wing when she found me five winters ago. I am forever grateful for her kindness. No other dragon has shown me kindness like she has. Not even her own kind, which are the Light Furies."
"Light Furies?"
"Why yes." Luna said, which got Hiccup to look at her. "Night Furies are not the only Fury species out there. Has your tribe never come across them before?"
Hiccup shook his head. "No, we haven't. We didn't even know what Night Furies looked like until yesterday."
"I see. Well, if you would like, Toothless and I could help you learn all you need to know about them all to help you raise your daughter better?" Luna offered.
Hiccup's eyes widened slightly. "You would do that?"
"Of course!" Toothless said excitedly. "You're family now. We'll help you out in any way we can."
Hiccup smiled and nodded. "Okay."
~~~HTRYNF~~~