The darkness was perfect, total and all-encompassing. With a grunt of effort, the old man stands, picking himself up from the smooth floor he found himself on. “Hello!!” He shouts, but even his words are swallowed up by the darkness. A strangely familiar weight hangs from his hip. A hefty metal cylinder hangs from his belt. One hand wraps itself around the leather-wrapped tube, while the other touches his own chest, finding his fingers stopped by hard and smooth scales. With a click, the tube jumps in his hand as a 3 foot ‘blade’ of metal and fire extends, dispelling a small portion of the omni-present darkness.
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third stands in the heart of nowhere, surrounded on all sides by an almost physical shadow. The look of confusion on his face is hidden behind the helmet on his head. Taking a moment to take stock of his situation he is surprised by how well his old flight suit-armor still fits, and even more so by the ‘blade’ in his hand. “How are you working? I’ve been out of Nightmare saliva for years.” He gives his ‘sword’ a shake, finding it feels full. A quiet growl catches his attention. Eyes cast into the darkness, as he slowly lifts Inferno above his head to peer deeper into the darkness.
The growls grow louder, but without other sensory cues, Hiccup can’t isolate the sound, even going as far as being unable to tell if it is growing closer. As suddenly as the growl began, it ends. Hiccup takes a wide step back, turning on his good foot only to have his world explode in pain. Something large and heavy slamming into his chest, knocking him to the ground and expelling his breath in a chuff. His eyes grow wide as he peers up into the slitted green eyes of a dragon.
Venom green eyes, framed in a familiar black-scaled face. “T…Toothless?” he stammers in surprise. At the sound of his name, the dragon’s eyes grow wide in recognition.
The dragon’s nose begins to work in overdrive, exploring every inch of the pinned Viking it can reach. From his position under the great beast, Hiccup can only watch as the dragon above shifts from aggressive to curious to ecstatic.
“No no… no no nononononono!” Hiccup has half a second to process the sudden change in the dragon’s face. His own eyes grow wide just before his vision is obscured by the dragon's large pink tongue. Without a doubt, the dragon now aggressively licking him MUST be Toothless. With effort, Hiccup grabs his friend's head and pushes him away.
Sitting up, he wipes at the viscous fluid now covering his chest, and helmet. “Ewww!!! Why do you do that? You know that doesn’t wash out…”
His mock displeasure brings a deep throaty warble, ‘I know… It’s just funny.’
“It isn’t funny.” With a flick of his wrist he shakes some of the slime off his hands into Toothless’ face, bringing another chuckle from the dragon.
‘I still think it’s funny. By the Twins I’ve missed you…’
“I’ve missed you too bud…” Hiccup removes his helmet, his bright green eyes framed in wrinkled face and silver-grey hair and beard, gape at his friend. “Toothless??”
The Night Fury tilts his head in curiosity, ‘What?’
“I can understand you…” Picking up Inferno from where it rolled, Hiccup flicks the switch to retract the ‘blade’ and extend it again, refreshing its coating of nightmare saliva and returning the pair to the light. “How can I understand you?”
‘I would have thought that was obvious. We are dead.’ Before Hiccup can interrupt, Toothless waves his healthy and whole tailfin at him.
Hiccup sees the mechanical prosthetic missing and a flesh and blood fin in its place. Glancing down at his own leg he is shocked to not find the wood and iron tool he had used and modified over the decades, but instead a real foot mirroring the other. Hopping back and forth, then jogging in place brings a grin to the old man.
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Broken Prophecy: Tangled Fates
FanfictionIn a place where Time has no meaning, faces both familiar and strange come together
