Toothless landed in a cave mouth. She was at a small, tiny island with a large rock that served as a cave. It was inaccessible to humans, since the island itself was tall, there was no way for ships to dock there. It was her place to stay, whenever she went to visit Barbaric Archipelago.
Going into the cave, the large path led her into a clearing. It was a large cave clearing. There were some scorch marks on the ground somewhere at the corner. It was where she usually slept in, whenever she went to rest. It was a nice nest for herself.
"Prryu..." Toothless yawned as she stretched herself. She reared her body and wings and rewarded with pops on her joints. Feeling relief, the dragoness went to the makeshift bed. She circled around as she fired stream of plasma onto it. Once it was hot enough, she rested on the ground.
While resting, she thought more about the Night Fury she just met. Hiccup.
For some reason, she could not stop thinking about him. The way he flew, spoke and behave; he was interesting to her. She admitted that she found him attractive. However, what truly made her curious was how familiar he felt. It was as if she had met him before.
'He trusted me not to run away again, even after he came out worse than me.' Toothless pondered. 'He was going to subdue because I was trespassing, and I had been there going for the kill. He was either incredibly na ve, or...'
She paused on that thought. Toothless did thought about incapacitating the dragon and dragging him to Caldera - a dragon like him should not be serving Dragon Rebellion. Night Furies were above such petty fights; there were better things to prey on.
However, the more she thought about it, the more she realised that she did not think her plan through.
'At least he's nice. Most wouldn't hesitate to breed me in that net right there and then.' Toothless admitted.
She had grown bitter by the fact that most dragons - Light Fury, specifically - were so eager on wooing her. There was so many of them, it was not even funny anymore. Most dragons tried to court her, and some tried to breed her straight away. There was a reason why she rarely had any friends to begin with.
This time, however, she found a dragon with some semblance of moral. Toothless wondered what kind of life he went through, considering Dragon Rebellion war dragons were often vain about human killing. Granted, there were fair share of dragons with trauma, but none of them regretted it.
'Then again, most of those dragons came from Greater Archipelago.' Toothless mentally mused to herself. 'Dragons here sounded like they hate the war.'
It also meant that Hiccup could be largely untainted by the war, despite participating in one. Toothless realised that it was her opportunity to have her first male friend - something she rarely had good experience with. It helped that she was interested in him.
There was also something that reminded her of her human. It was a coincidence that Hiccup the human and Hiccup the Night Fury shared the same name. The difference was that Hiccup the human was a small fledgling that could not help himself. Hiccup the Night Fury, however, was a human hating dragon.
'One does not join the Dragon Rebellion willingly.' Toothless thought as she rested her head onto the heated bed. 'Especially Night Furies. Something must have happened.'
She tried to guess the cause of his participation. However, tried as she might, it was difficult to imagine. Instead, her mind wandered and thought more about him. She began to wonder; how would he treat female dragon in heat?
'No. No. No.' Toothless mentally scolded herself. 'You just met him. What is wrong with me?'
It took her a while to realise the cause. Amber often talked about her sex life with her. As her friend, she was willing to listen to her accomplishments and woes about her breeding stories.
While she did not understand them all that much, at least she listened. However, now that she had someone that she fancied, she found herself understood what Amber was talking about.
At this point, she could not stop imagining things.
Toothless covered her eyes and wailed. "DAMN YOU, AMBER!"
It was then she realised what Amber did. She had been trying to get her a mate. It made sense why she often told her tales.
The mischievous white dragon had been corrupting her; telling all sorts of things about different sexual adventures with various Light Furies across Caldera. It had no effect because she was not interested in anyone.
That is, until she met Hiccup the dragon.
'By the skies, I will skewer her with a pike.' Toothless let out a growl. 'I should have known that was her plan all along!'
Suddenly, the thought of her being there filled her with jealousy. She was rather quick to interpret that feeling; Toothless had mentally claimed Hiccup the dragon. Hiccup had also fulfilled the requirement to become mates together. She was quite sure that he did not know that was even a thing.
Her situation was not any better, either. Toothless barely had experience in any sort of interaction with a male Fury genus, let alone an actual relationship. She was completely unprepared to deal with the situation. She did not know what to do.
'But this is an opportunity I could not pass up.' Toothless finally decided. 'I will have him as my mate, if only to shut her up.'
She needed some distraction. She needed to stop imagining things. Thankfully, her mind did comply and began to wander elsewhere.
Toothless was reminded of Hiccup the human. It had been some time since the last time she saw him. 'I wonder if he's okay. I should probably check on him.'
Days passed. Hiccup had been studying languages in his room.
The language books were clear and comprehensive. Hiccup found himself learning them at relatively fast pace. This really surprised him. Certain languages, such as English, Latin and German were somewhat easy to learn.
Other languages, such as Chinese, Russian and others took some time to learn. Hiccup hoped that he could finish them all that year. He wanted to read the actual books.
The boy was sitting on the chair in his room. He was reading a book. The window was open, revealing the bright blue sky outside. It was evening. There was not much that was going on outside, since everyone was busy doing their own thing.
Suddenly, Hiccup heard noises coming from his stomach. He was hungry. He stood from the chair and walked out from his room, leaving everything there. The book was left open, so he could continue reading them when he returned to it.
Hiccup entered the Mead Hall. The door was left open because it was lunch time. The place was somewhat crowded, with Vikings eating and drinking around the tables.
Like many other places around Berk, the building was made of wood. It was one of the largest buildings at Berk, since it was often packed at certain times.
The boy walked towards the front side. There were foods on the table there. He grabbed a plate and took some fishes. He took a glass of water, before moving away. Hiccup walked to the corner and sat there. After that, he began eating his lunch.
While eating, he noticed that his father was sitting with Gobber. They were listening to a tall, lanky old man with grey hair and blue eyes. He wore simple leather shirt and kilt, and a Viking helmet. The man also held a wooden staff with bones on them. Hiccup recognised this man. This man was Mildew.
"... tramped over my cabbage!" Mildew complained to the chief. "You need to do something about those wolves."
"Everyone's getting ready for the wolf culling." Gobber pointed out, reminding the old man. "Give it some time. 'need to sharpen the axes and get the traps ready."
"We should be ready by tomorrow morning." Stoick rumbled his voice. "We don't have the supplies. If we attack now, we will not have anything to rebuild in case of attack."
"It's not like there's going to be any attack." The lanky man argued.
"We'll never know." The chief grumbled. Mildew scowled in response.
Gobber wanted to get it over with. "Is that all?"
"There's another." Mildew started. He leaned closer to them. "It's about Hiccup."
Stoick let out a sigh. "What did he do this time?"
"Are you sure he's going to be the next chief?" The lanky man questioned. "He's not even as big or strong as children of his age."
"He will become the chief. It was his birth right."
"Yes, but that boy? He can barely lift an axe!"
"It's a bit too early to talk about it." Gobber pointed out. "He hasn't gotten his growth sprout yet. That comes to age at 13."
"Oi, oi, oi, what's this then?" Another man joined in. This one was a muscular man, wearing leather tunic dress and Viking hat. This man was the father of Snotlout; Spitelout. "Talkin' about puberty?"
Stoick and Gobber looked at each other. Then, they looked back to him. "We were talkin' about the kids."
"Ah." Spitelout slowly nodded. "Just to report; Snotlout had his growth sprout weeks ago."
"See?" Mildew smirked.
"There's more to chieftain other than muscle and brawl." Stoick argued.
"Mind is something that can be changed in the future." The lanky man responded. "But you can't change body shape, especially when the boy was born that way."
The chief wanted to argue, before stopping himself. He paused as he stared at Hiccup at the corner. The boy was eating, seemingly oblivious to the interaction. His eyes softened. He stared at his son with sad expression. Gobber noticed this. The blacksmith grimaced.
"It goes both ways." Gobber commented.
Hiccup had finished his lunch. He pushed them aside, as it would be taken away by the kitchen staff. The boy relaxed himself, feeling content that he had eaten and full of food.
It was best to take a break for a few minutes from reading. He could practice speaking some of the languages there, somehow.
Thinking about books reminded him of Toothless. He wondered what happened to her. Ever since that day last year, she had completely disappeared. He had been looking for her for some time. He hoped that she was okay.
Coincidentally, she appeared in his dream recently. He wondered if it meant anything.
"Boy."
Hiccup snapped out of his thought. The boy looked up from the table. Mildew was standing at the opposite side. The man was scowling at him. He wondered what he wanted from him.
The boy stared at him. "Yeah?"
"Chief said you're gonna be the chief one day." Mildew spoke to him. "But you can't be the chief if you stay like this."
"What do you mean?"
Mildew snorted. "You're not stupid, boy." He sneered. "If you're gonna be the chief, you gotta help around the village!"
"But I'm a blacksmith."
"Not enough!" The lanky old man snapped. "Future chief shouldn't bother with blacksmithing. You need to do something better; something to prove yourself to the village."
Hiccup tilted his head. "How can I do better?"
Mildew smirked. His eyes glinted for a moment. "You can always make new things." He responded. "You're a blacksmith, aren't you? You can make something to make our lives easier. You can do more than just..." He gestured to him. "... this."
Hiccup pondered what Mildew just said. It sounded like a good idea. He had made contraptions before, but those were experiments to see what would happen if he made them. He did consider making things that might potentially help the village live for the better. He had the skills and knowledge to do it.
However, there was a risk of sabotage and theft. Snotlout and others had a habit of stealing things from him. They could possibly steal his contraptions and claim them as their own. Reporting them typically resulted in nothing, as nobody seem to believe him when he told them about the theft or sabotage. His father did not believe him either.
It was worth considering, however. If things were brighter for him, he might do just that.
"I'll think about it." Hiccup eventually responded to Mildew.
The lanky old man scowled. "Think fast, boy." He sneered. "We don't have forever to think. You better prove yourself to the village, or nobody want you to be the chief!"
Hiccup nodded. He looked back down at the table, thinking about it. Mildew frowned. "If ye want to be useful now, ye can always get some berries for the chief." He suggested. "He likes them wild and picked from the woods."
With that, Mildew walked away, leaving Hiccup pondering what he had just said.
Later that day, Hiccup decided to follow Mildew's advice. The boy was wandering around the forest, carrying a woven basket on his hand. He had been picking up wild berries for his father. The forest path was the safest to wander around.
"Hn..." The boy hummed. Walking down the forest path, there was not much to see. There were barely any critters around, which was somewhat unusual.
After some time, Hiccup reached a forest clearing. There were a lot of red berry bushes somewhere around the corner. Entering the area, he walked to the bushes. He placed down the basket and began picking berries from the bushes. While picking them up, he noticed that the forest had gone very quiet.
That made him shudder. The last time the forest had gone quiet, he almost got eaten by dragons. The boy slowed down his pace, as he began looking around for signs of threat. He did overhear that there was a problem with wolf population around the forest. He hoped that there were no wolves wandering around the area.
Half an hour later, he had filled the basket. He did pick one up and smelled them earlier. The taste was sweet. The boy was lucky to find a bush that was ripe for the picking. It was time for him to come back to Berk and bring it to his father.
"Prryu?"
Hiccup almost jumped. He turned around to look at the centre of the clearing. There, he saw a familiar black dragon sitting on his hindlegs. "Toothless!"
The Night Fury was smiling at him. She stared at him with her wide, acidic eyes. "Krr..."
Hiccup ran to her. He crashed onto her and enveloped her into a hug. Toothless looked happy to see him as well. She wrapped her head around him. "Hrr..."
After some time, the boy let go of her. He looked at the dragon with bright expression. "You're back!"
Toothless gave him her signature toothless smile. Hiccup looked relieved to see her there. "I'm so glad you're okay. You disappeared last year, and I thought those dragons got you."
The dragon snorted, as if telling him that those dragons stood no chance against her. The boy scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry you have to show yourself. I was looking for you at the cove and you didn't come. My dad was looking for me. I didn't mean to get into trouble-"
"Krr..." Toothless growled. She leaned forward and nudged him, as if telling him to stop apologising.
"Okay, I'm sorry-"
"Hrr..."
Hiccup reached and scratched her neck. Toothless widened her eyes as she felt itch that she had never felt before. "Hrrr..." She leaned closer to him, trying to get more of the scratches.
"I guess you like this, huh?" Hiccup teased.
Toothless' eyes dilated. The boy moved to scratch under her chin. The black dragon gasped, before collapsing onto the ground, feeling content. "Hrr..."
The boy was concerned for the dragon, fearing that he accidentally hurt her. "Are you okay?"
"Mrrrr..." Toothless purred as she stared at him with adoring eyes. Her pupils fully dilated as she rested on the grassy clearing. Hiccup relaxed; she was simply resting.
The boy let out a sigh. "Well, at least you're fine." He spoke as he began walking back to the berry bushes. Toothless stood from the ground and followed him behind. "You saved me from getting eaten by a dragon. Thank you."
Toothless was proud of herself. Hiccup bent down and began picking berries for the basket. "... You know, my dad told me not to try befriending dragon."
"Hrr?"
"Except you. He said you're special." Hiccup admitted, recalling what his father told him a year ago. "... I guess you are, since you're a Night Fury. I just didn't expect him to accept me befriending you, but not other dragons."
"Mrr..."
"Sorry, it's just that..." The boy paused as he picked more berries from the bushes. "... Hooligan tribe is a dragon hunter tribe. It's been like this since... forever. My dad proved himself as a chief after killing five Titan Wing Monstrous Nightmares at once, all by himself."
Toothless sat on her hindlegs. She tilted her head. "Hrr?"
"That's what he told me." Hiccup shrugged. "I never see the proof of it. My dad doesn't like to keep trophy, not like most Vikings there, so I never know. I always wondered why, but everyone has different answer."
"Hrr..."
"... come to think of it." Hiccup pondered. "They say that when he was a baby, he popped a dragon's head clean off its shoulders."
"Mrr?"
"Do I believe it?" The boy paused. "... maybe. That's what the village told me. My dad told me not to question it."
"Hrr."
Hiccup paused. He looked down to the basket. It was full of berries. It seemed that the bushes had more berries than he could collect them. "Then, there's my mom..."
Toothless perked up at the mention of Hiccup's mother. "Hrr?"
"My dad told me she died; taken by a dragon." Hiccup muttered, staring down at the basket. "Others said the same, but I felt like something isn't right."
"Mrr." Toothless moved to nudge him.
Hiccup looked back and pat her head. The black dragon purred as she stared at his eyes. "Hrr..."
"I mean." The boy paused, thinking. "It's fine to say that they died when they were taken by a dragon. Why else they would take someone away?"
The Night Fury gave him a deadpan look. Hiccup frowned as he looked back to the basket full of berries in front of him. "It's something that made me think for years, and I don't know why. Why would a dragon take my mother? Why not just... attack her right away?"
"Hrrm." Toothless huffed. She moved over to the side. The dragon noticed the basket of berries. "Hrr?"
"This?" Hiccup spoke as he moved to the side, showing more of the basket. "It's a basket of wild berry."
"Mrr..."
Hiccup picked one from the bush. He offered it to the dragon. "Here. Try this."
Toothless opened her mouth and the boy placed it into her tongue. He pulled his hand back and allowed her to eat it. The dragon instantly swallowed it. She blinked, unsure what to make of it. The Night Fury shrugged her wings, as if telling him that it was bland.
"... huh." The boy blinked. "Is it sweet? Sour?"
Toothless shook her head.
"... Bland?"
Toothless nodded.
"Hmm..." Hiccup hummed, thinking. He slowly plucked another berry from the bushes. The boy squeezed the berry, exposing its internals. Sweet fluid dripped from the fruit, which made Toothless curious.
The boy offered it to her. "Here."
Toothless took the offer and ate the berry. Her eyes widened when the berry touched her tongue. After he pulled his hand back, she happily swallowed the fruit. "Prryu..." The dragon purred, feeling the sweet taste of it.
"Is it sweet?"
"Hrr..." The Night Fury leaned forward and began licking his hand. Hiccup simply watched as she licked his hand clean of the fruit juice. Once that was done, Toothless licked her lips. The boy's hand was covered in saliva.
"I guess you like it crushed." Hiccup hummed, looking down the basket. "... I need to get this back to my dad."
"Hrr?"
"Mildew suggested me to 'be helpful' around the village by picking wild berries for my dad in the forest." The boy spoke, somewhat sarcastic. "I don't think I should complain. I get to see you again!"
"Mrr."
"I heard him complaining to my dad about me." Hiccup absentmindedly spoke as he picked up the basket. "He said I'm not worthy to become the chief."
"Krr..." Toothless growled.
The boy turned around to face the dragon. "I'm not really the strongest Viking around." He admitted. "The others don't really like how I turned out. They want someone strong that can lead the village."
Toothless purred as she nudged him. "Hrr..."
Hiccup smiled. "My dad told me it's my birth right." He explained to her. "But Mildew told me I need to prove myself; make myself useful to the village. Here I am. My first attempt."
"Hrrm." The dragon looked pleased.
"Although..." The boy frowned, looking ahead into the forest. "It's kind of strange he told me that after complaining about wolf population in the forest."
Toothless narrowed her eyes, as if realising something from what he told her. Hiccup continued speaking. "I guess it's just that... something doesn't feel right when he said it."
Suddenly, Toothless perked up. She looked at a direction somewhere at the forest, before taking off flying elsewhere. Hiccup knew what it meant. Someone was coming to the clearing. The boy faced the direction where she looked before.
Several minutes later, Spitelout came into the clearing. The man had an axe on his hand. He looked around the clearing, before noticed that Hiccup was there. He looked surprised to see him there.
"Hiccup?" He asked, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"I was just picking wild berries for my dad." Hiccup explained.
The man eyed the boy. "It's dangerous to wander here, lad. Wolves could be anywhere. Did your dad tell you that? Who told you to pick berries here?"
"No." Hiccup shook his head. "Mildew suggested it to me."
Spitelout was surprised to hear it. "Mildew?"
"Yeah."
The man grimaced. Stoick would not like this. "Why don't ye go back to your father? He's just in another clearing down the path."
"Okay." Hiccup responded. He looked at the path Spitelout was referring to. Upon spotting it, he began walking towards that direction, leaving the chief's second in command alone at the clearing.
Hiccup found himself walking down into a clearing. Unlike others, this place had a table and bench. Stoick was sitting there, with a game board called Maces and Talons. The boy assumed that he had been playing all by himself.
"Dad?" Hiccup called out as he walked towards him.
The man looked up from the game. He was surprised and confused to see him there. "Hiccup?" He asked. "What are you doing here?"
"I gathered wild berries for you." The boy spoke as he reached the table. He placed the basket onto the table, next to the game board. "Mildew suggested it."
Stoick held back a scowl. He softened his expression. "Hiccup, do not listen to what that man says." He scolded him. "We have wolves in the forest. You could be in danger."
Hiccup slumped his shoulder. "I'm sorry, dad."
The chief eyed his son for some time. It was surprising that he was in the forest. Hiccup should not get back home alone, as it would risk him getting attacked by wolves. He did not want a repeat incident. Stoick was waiting for Spitelout to finish his part and get back to him. It was best that Hiccup stayed there with him.
The chief had decided. "Take a seat."
Hiccup sat at the opposite side. Stoick rearranged the pieces on the game board. "Do you like the books?"
The boy nodded. "I'm still learning new languages."
The man hummed as he rearranged the pieces. "It's good learning new languages." He commented. "You can talk to foreigners from far lands. They speak language other than Norse."
"I just want to learn everything from the books." The boy shrugged.
"Yes." Stoick nodded. "But when you grow up, you will thank your younger self for learning them. It is important for you to learn as much as you can now, because you won't have time for them when you're older."
"Okay, dad."
The father and son began playing Maces and Talons. While the game had its own importance, they had their fun playing them. Stoick was leaning on his hand as he rested his elbow on the table. Hiccup was staring down on the board, thinking on his manoeuvres on the pieces.
It was how they spend their time. It was how they had fun.
While playing, Stoick noticed something. Hiccup looked a bit distracted. He did not seem to focus onto the game, but he did move the pieces anyway. He noticed this when the boy made some mistakes that he did not usually make.
"You're not paying attention." Stoick commented.
The boy perked up. "Huh?"
"You are not focused to the game." The chief repeated himself. "But you keep moving your piece. You're not thinking this through. You need to pay attention, because if you don't..."
Stoick moved his piece and took Hiccup's piece. The boy looked down and blinked. Where his Viking Chief piece had been, there was Stoick's Impostor piece. Hiccup internally cursed himself. Looking over the board, he noticed several disparities in piece location and mistakes that he did without noticing.
Hiccup looked crestfallen. "Oh."
"Yes." Stoick commented as he took a berry from the basket. "Be very careful. Even when distracted; think before you act."
The boy pondered for some time. He began rearranging the pieces as Stoick was eating the berries. Once that was done, Hiccup looked down to the pieces on the board. "Think before I act."
"Yes."
The son and father began playing once more. Hiccup was still distracted about something else; mostly about the books that he had. However, Stoick noticed that he was slower in taking decisions.
He wondered if he was trying to focus two things at once. It would not be surprising. While Hiccup had the attention span of a sparrow, he could do multiple things at once.
Few moments later, the chief grimaced. He noticed that his Viking Chief piece was locked between Chief of the Marauders, Accomplice and Longship pieces. The Dragon pieces had his Chief Marauder piece stuck. The Impostor pieces had been eaten, meaning that the game was slowly ending.
It seemed Hiccup had taken his advice, despite not doing it like he intended him to.
After some time, Stoick moved his piece. It took him some time to realise that he had fallen for Hiccup's trap. The boy moved his own piece; his Kingship moved and ready to take Stoick's Viking Chief. "Checkmate."
The chief looked up to his son. The boy was smiling at him. Stoick smiled back, proud of his son for defeating him. "Well done."
"Stoick."
Hiccup and Stoick looked to the side. Spitelout was walking towards them. The man had an axe holstered on his hips. Upon reaching them, he looked at Stoick. "The traps are ready."
The chief nodded. He looked back at his son. "Stay here."
"Okay."
With that said, Stoick stood from the bench. He turned to face Spitelout. "Show me."
Spitelout nodded. Both Stoick and his second-in-command went off walking down the forest path, leaving Hiccup alone there.
After Stoick and Spitelout disappeared into the forest, Hiccup began rearranging the board. There was some strategy and scenario that he wanted to test. The game was entertaining for him, because it focused on logics. It was something that he liked to think about.
Just as Hiccup finished arranging it, a black dragon swooped in. Toothless landed right behind him. The boy turned around and gave her a bright smile. "Toothless!"
Hiccup stood from the bench and moved to hug her. The Night Fury purred, pleased to see him there. "Prryu."
After some time, the boy let go of her. He took several steps back and see her. "You came back."
"Hrr." Toothless rumbled, before walking to the table. There was the basket full of berries from before, and there was the board game. The dragon sniffed the basket, before moving to look at the board. She tilted her head. "Hrr?"
Hiccup moved over to sit on the bench. "It's a board game called Maces and Talons." He explained to her. "It's a game of two player. Everyone gets eight Hunter pieces; two pieces of Kingship, Longship, Dragon and Accomplice each; and one pieces of Viking Chief, Chief Marauders and Impostor. White pieces versus black pieces."
The boy began explaining how it was played. "Viking Chief piece can only move one block in all direction." He pointed to the said piece. "Chief Marauder piece can go in all straight or diagonal direction..."
As Hiccup was explaining it, Toothless paid close attention to it. She paid attention to the boy explaining each pieces to her. The dragon was curious; she never really knew what humans play. This seemed like a hobby that humans do.
"... the winning condition is simple." Hiccup finished his explanation. "If you can get the Viking Chief piece, you win."
"Krr." Toothless growled a bit as she moved over to the opposite of the table. She sat on her hindlegs and looked down onto the game board. The dragon tilted her head, thinking. After some time, she carefully moved a piece with her claws. She had made the first move.
After she made her move, Toothless looked at the boy. Hiccup blinked owlishly. He did not expect her to make a move. However, it meant that she wanted to play. The boy moved his own piece, as they began playing Maces and Talons together.
It did not take a while for Hiccup to win. That was expected. Toothless was new to the game; she was simply moving the pieces that she thought was a good idea to move. The dragon looked sad when Hiccup took her Viking Chief piece. It meant that she had lost the game.
"Mrr..." Toothless let out sad croon.
"It's okay to lose." Hiccup encouraged her. "I didn't win the first time, either."
"Hrr?"
"This game is a thinking game." The boy explained. "It makes you think. Thinking makes you smarter, at least that's what my dad said. They said it's a game to test abilities and decision-making expertise of future chiefs in the heat of battle. The more you play them, the better you think."
Toothless slowly nodded, understanding the purpose of the game. Hiccup looking down to the board, before gesturing to some of her pieces. "Here's what you did wrong." He explained. "You're moving them for the sake of just moving the piece. You have to guess what move I'm going to take, and then make a move from there."
"Hrr."
Hiccup began rearranging the board. Toothless simply watched. After it was arranged, they began playing once more. The boy gestured to the board. "White piece. You go first."
The boy and the dragon began playing Maces and Talons once more. Hiccup noted that Toothless seem to think through on her moves. It made the game slower.
That was good; it meant that she was on par with human intelligence. The boy was happy that the dragon could be reasoned with. He was happy that she was willing to spend time with him.
Like before, Hiccup defeated Toothless. The dragon looked dejected when Hiccup took her Viking Chief piece. "Mrr..."
"You're getting better." Hiccup admitted as he began rearranging the pieces. "Say... how old are you?"
"Hrr?" Toothless tilted her head.
"I'm 11." The boy responded. "What about you?"
The dragon looked surprised. She tilted her head, before pointing her claws to him. "Hrr..." And then back to her.
Hiccup blinked. "... same age?"
Toothless nodded. The boy simply stared at her. "I guess that's something we have in common." He commented, before continued rearranging the pieces. "Most people my age doesn't really like things like this. I'm happy that you want to play with me."
The dragon looked pleased with herself. Hiccup finished rearranging them. The boy looked at the dragon and gave her a smile. "I'll teach you as we go. You're white, so you go first."
Hiccup and Toothless played Maces and Talons for many hours. Both were entertained by the game board. The dragon would lose games against him, and the boy would tell her what she did wrong.
She tried her best not to repeat her mistakes, but there were times where she could not help herself. Hiccup was amused to see her change in expression. She looked pleased when she made a move; thoughtful when he made a move; and panicked when he was about to defeat her.
The dragon was improving. Hiccup was happy; he considered her his best friend. She had interest in his games and things, which was nice. It meant that they have something to relate to.
"Check." Hiccup called as he moved his piece.
"Hrr..." Toothless looked exasperated. Her wings were slumped on her sides. It seemed that she was getting tired of the game.
"... you know." The boy spoke, getting her attention. "If you moved your Kingship to that position, you could've checked my Viking Chief piece. I've been on offensive the whole time."
"Krr..." Toothless growled a bit, cursing herself for not noticing it.
Suddenly, the dragon perked up. She looked at the direction of the forest path, before running back and took off into the air. Hiccup knew what that meant. Someone was coming into the clearing.
Sure enough, someone did. Stoick the Vast walked into the clearing. He had his axe on his hips. The man walked to him and sat on the opposite side. "Ah..." He let out a relieved sigh.
"Hi dad." Hiccup greeted him.
"Hiccup." His father replied as he took a berry from the basket. Those were still there for some reason. He did not complain, however. He needed to take some rest.
Stoick looked at the game board. He noticed that it looked like someone had been playing with it. There were scratches on the pieces. The man stroked his beard. No pieces were missing.
The chief looked up to his son. "Why are there scratches on the pieces?"
Hiccup was nervous. He shifted on his seat. "I was playing with Toothless."
Stoick stayed silent. The boy wondered what his father was thinking. After some time, his father asked. "She came back?"
The boy nodded. Stoick stroked his beard once more. "What have you been doing with her?"
"We were just playing games." Hiccup spoke as he gestured to the board. "She came after you left."
The man nodded. "Anything else?"
"... she came back when I was getting wild berries." The boy admitted. "I've been talking to her. She understands. She's very smart dragon."
"Hmm..." Stoick frowned. He inspected the boy in front of him. There were no injuries whatsoever. That was a relief. The dragon did not mean any harm so far. However, he still did not know the motive of that Night Fury.
Looking down at the game board, it seemed they really had just been playing.
The chief grabbed the basket of berries. "It's best if we return now." He spoke as he stood from the bench.
"Okay, dad."
The father and the boy were walking down the forest path when they noticed how quiet the place was. Hiccup grabbed his father's hand. The man gave him the berry basket. "Hold this."
The boy grabbed the basket. "Okay."
Stoick pulled out his axe. They casually walked down the forest path, as the man kept being vigilant to his surroundings. His eyes roamed around the forest, careful with his observation. He listened to the sound or any disturbance in the forest.
Suddenly, Stoick let go of Hiccup. He turned around as he swung his axe. A leaping wolf was instantly sliced in half by his axe; it went sailing past him and crashed behind the bushes.
"Stay close!" The father shouted as he readied himself.
There was a long, chilling howl came from the forest. Those were the wolves. Stoick narrowed his eyes. Moments later, three wolves sprung out towards him. The man swung his axe and sliced through their heads. That did the job; they died on the spot. More would most likely come to them soon.
"Let's go!" Stoick spoke as he hurried himself along with his son. They both ran down the forest path, intending to go back to Berk as soon as possible.
Running down the forest path, they came to an open, somewhat rocky field. The path was still clear for them. Behind them, they heard more wolves howling after them. Stoick glanced backward to see wolves running out from the woods. There were dozens of them. They were heading towards them, intending to kill and feast on them.
Hiccup was running as fast as he could. He looked back for a moment and suddenly tripped on a rock. "Aah!" He fell onto the grassy ground. Berries went flying as the basket was flung into the air. It fell right in front of him.
Stoick turned around. The wolves were getting closer! "HICCUP!"
Suddenly, they heard a familiar, chilling shriek. "KRAAAAA!!!"
A purple plasma blast came down and struck the crowd of wolves. Overhead, they saw a familiar black dragon flying and snarling at the wolves. "KRAAAOOOOOOO!"
Upon spotting the dragon, the wolves instantly fled back into the woods. Toothless was not feeling merciful, however. She kept flying ahead and fired another plasma blast. The explosion struck something in the woods. The Night Fury disappeared from their sight, but they could hear faint screeching and explosion in the distance.
"ka-ka-ka..." boom!
"krooaaaa..." boom!
"kraaa..." boom!
There was a faint chilling shriek at the distance. A large explosion struck deep into the forest. After some time, there was a large plume of smoke at far distance.
Stoick decided not to waste the opportunity. He holstered his axe and reached for his son. Hiccup was lifted off the ground, as his father carried him away. The man ran off to the village, hoping to run away from the wolves while it was being distracted by the dragon.
Stoick barged into Gothi's hut. "Gothi!"
The old woman turned around, surprised to see him there. However, one look at Hiccup on his arm, she understood. Gothi gestured to the bed next to the table. The man moved and rested his son onto it.
Gothi quickly worked on him. She inspected the boy and found some injuries on his leg. The elder turned to look at the father. Knowing what she was asking, Stoick explained to her. "He fell when we were running from wolves."
The woman nodded. The chief spoke. "I will leave him to you."
Stoick turned around and walked out from the house. It was time for the wolf culling to start.
The Great Hall was a large, open room with chairs and tables around the place, with a large one at the centre end of the room. This was the chief's chair. The main room of the Great Hall had several doorways, which led to some rooms for Viking ceremonial purposes.
There were decorations, such as shields, axes and swords on the walls, and banners of Hairy Hooligan Tribe symbol. There were not that many people there. Spitelout and Gobber were there, talking to each other.
Suddenly, the Great Hall barged open. Spitelout and Gobber turned to look at the newcomer. It was their chief. He looked angry. The man approached them. He focused onto his second-in-command. "Is everyone ready for the culling?"
Spitelout nodded. "Yes, but-"
Stoick interrupted. He pulled out his axe. "We start today."
The two men were surprised to hear that. "I thought we're starting tomorrow."
"Change of plan." The chief spoke to them. "If we don't do this now, they would go after our children. I will not allow that. Not again."
Spitelout and Gobber understood. The axe looked bloodied, meaning that he had fought against the wolves in the forest. He seemed to insinuate that someone was injured, and based on his expression, he was most likely with Hiccup when that happened.
Then again, Snotlout had been talking to his mother about things he found in the forest.
Spitelout nodded. "I will gather the others." With that said, he walked out from the Great Hall, leaving Stoick and Gobber there.
After Spitelout left, Gobber looked at his best friend. "Is Hiccup okay?"
Stoick looked at him. "He's with Gothi."
"I heard somethin' in the forest." The blacksmith spoke as he eyed the chief. "I thought it was angry dragons that attacked ye."
"... It was her attacking the wolves."
Gobber stared at him, surprised. "She came back?"
The chief nodded. "That was her killing those wolves. She came back to protect him."
Gobber shrugged as he looked at the open door of the Great Hall. "Well, that's less wolves to deal with." He commented. "She seemed to care a lot about him. I wonder if she kept watch on him the whole time."
"That's what I'm afraid of." Stoick grimaced. "She could attack the village if Hiccup got himself injured."
"I wouldn't worry 'bout that." The blacksmith dismissed him. "She didn't come up when the others started hitting him."
The man paused. "Hitting him?"
"Aye." Gobber nodded. "Every time they took his stuff."
Stoick scowled at him. He did not know they were hitting him. "Why nobody told me this?"
The blacksmith shrugged. "I thought you knew." He paused, before remembering what he had told him. "Ye said everything would change when he got his growth sprout."
The chief grimaced. Gobber carefully watched his expression. Stoick looked deeply concerned but did not say anything. That concerned him. "Did ye changed yer mind?"
"... Don't tell anyone about this." Stoick spoke with serious tone. "For Hiccup's safety."
"Aye. Ye already told me that."
"Just a reminder." The chief nodded. "Now let's get going. We need to finish the culling before dark."